JP2005205788A - Material feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a material feeding device which can stably feed a material while being synchronized with an injection molding machine without remodeling the injection molding machine. <P>SOLUTION: The material feeding device 12 for feeding the material to the injection molding machine 14 having a hollow cylinder 25 with a material feeding port 29 and a rotatable screw 24 for injection arranged in the cylinder 25 has a material feeding screw 22 for feeding the material to the injection molding machine 14, a proximity sensor 28 detecting the rotation of the screw 24 for injection, and a control part which responds to the output of the proximity sensor 28 and controls the screw 24. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a material supply apparatus, and more particularly, to a material supply apparatus used for injection molding according to a starvation material supply method.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the field of injection molding machines such as resins, a method called a starvation material supply method is known in which materials are supplied little by little into a cylinder of an injection molding machine. According to this method, gas and water vapor generated when the material is heated and melted at the tip of the cylinder can be easily released to the material supply port side of the cylinder. For this reason, it is hard to generate | occur | produce clouding etc. in a product and it can reduce inferior goods.

In this starvation material supply method, it is necessary to supply a small amount of a certain amount of material per unit time into a cylinder of an injection molding machine. For this reason, a material supply device capable of supplying a constant amount of material little by little has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1).
JP 2001-71363 A

When performing injection molding, it is necessary to supply the same amount of material as the amount of material consumed by the injection molding machine from the material supply device while synchronizing the injection molding machine and the material supply device. For example, if the amount of material consumed by the injection molding machine per unit time is 10 g, the material supply device needs to newly supply 10 g of material.
However, the conventional material supply apparatus has to receive some signal from the injection molding machine side in order to synchronize with the injection molding machine. For this reason, there is a problem that some modification must be made to the injection molding machine, which is costly.

  In the starvation material supply method, it is necessary to manually adjust whether or not the material supply to the injection molding machine is performed while maintaining the starvation state in the initial stage of injection molding. However, conventionally, the state in the cylinder of the injection molding machine could not be visually confirmed. For this reason, a stable material supply amount is determined while increasing or decreasing the material supply amount while monitoring the state of the injection molded product. For this reason, in order to determine the optimum material supply amount, the user has to be forced to perform complicated work, and there is a problem that time is wasted.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and provides a material supply device that can stably supply materials while synchronizing with an injection molding machine without remodeling the injection molding machine. 1 purpose.
It is a second object of the present invention to provide a material supply apparatus capable of determining an optimum material supply amount without forcing a user to perform complicated work or wasting time.

  In order to achieve the above object, an injection molding machine according to an aspect of the present invention includes an injection molding machine having a hollow cylinder having a material supply port and a rotatable injection screw disposed inside the cylinder. A material supply device for supplying a material to the machine, the material supply means for supplying the material to the injection molding machine, a rotation detection means for detecting the rotation of the injection screw, and a response to the output of the rotation detection means. And a control means for controlling the material supply means.

In response to the output of the rotation detecting means, the material supply to the injection molding machine is controlled. For this reason, the material supply apparatus which can supply a material stably can be provided, synchronizing with an injection molding machine, without modifying an injection molding machine.
Preferably, the above-described injection molding machine further includes a parameter setting unit that acquires a parameter for controlling the material supply unit from the injection molding machine and sets the parameter in the control unit.

Even if the injection-molded product is changed, various parameters are obtained from the injection-molding machine and set in the control means, so that it is optimal without forcing the user to perform complicated work or wasting time. The material supply can be determined.
An injection molding machine according to another aspect of the present invention is a material for supplying a material to an injection molding machine having a hollow cylinder having a material supply port and a rotatable injection screw disposed inside the cylinder. A supply device, comprising: a material supply means for supplying a material to the injection molding machine; a photographing means for photographing an image inside the cylinder; and a display means for displaying an image photographed by the photographing means. The photographing means is preferably a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) camera.

  The state inside the cylinder of the injection molding machine can be visually confirmed by an image taken with a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) camera. For this reason, the user can know whether or not the material is in a starved state, and can easily adjust the supply amount of the material without forcing the user to perform complicated work or wasting time. . It is also possible to know whether the injection screw is rotating normally.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the material supply apparatus which can supply a material stably can be provided, synchronizing with an injection molding machine, without modifying an injection molding machine.
In addition, it is possible to provide a material supply apparatus that can determine an optimum material supply amount without forcing the user to perform complicated work or wasting time.

Hereinafter, an injection molding system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is an external view of an injection molding system. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an internal cross section of the injection molding system shown in FIG.

The injection molding system 10 is a system for injecting and molding resin into a mold, and includes an injection molding machine 14, a material supply device 12, a hopper 16, and a monitor device 58.
The injection molding machine 14 is a device that injects a resin into a mold by a starvation material supply method, and includes a metal injection screw 24. The injection screw 24 has a spiral convex portion and rotates in a direction in which a right screw is wound with respect to the direction A in FIG. The injection molding machine 14 rotates the injection screw 24 to move the resin material 26 supplied from the material supply port 29 in the A direction in FIG. At the distal end portion 27 of the injection screw 24, the material 26 is melted, and a preset amount of the material 26 is injected into a measuring chamber (not shown) for measuring. When injecting the material 26 into the measuring chamber, the rotation of the injection screw 24 is stopped and the injection screw 24 is moved in the A direction. When a certain material 26 is injected into the measuring chamber, the material 26 is injected into a mold (not shown) and molded.

  In the starvation material supply method, the material 26 is supplied to the injection molding machine 14 so that the amount of the material 26 near the material supply port 29 is reduced and the amount of the material 26 increases as the tip portion 27 is approached. Is done. This creates a space behind the cylinder 25 of the injection molding machine 14. Therefore, gas, water vapor, and the like generated from the material 26 melted at the distal end portion 27 can escape to the inside rear of the cylinder 25. Therefore, it becomes difficult for water vapor, gas, or the like to enter the molten material 26, and the quality of the product can be stabilized.

The hopper 16 has a funnel shape, and is for supplying the material 26 from the upper part thereof.
The monitor device 58 is a device that projects an internal state of the injection molding machine 14 captured by a CCD camera described later.
The material supply device 12 is provided between the hopper 16 and the injection molding machine 14, while adjusting the supply amount of the material 26 in order to realize the starving material supply method of the material 26 in the injection molding machine 14. The material 26 is supplied from the material supply port 29 to the injection molding machine 14.

The material supply device 12 includes a material supply screw 22, and supplies the material 26 from the material supply port 29 into the cylinder 25 of the injection molding machine 14 by rotating the material supply screw 22.
The material supply device 12 further includes a proximity sensor 28. The proximity sensor 28 is fixed to the upper position of the injection screw 24 near the material supply port 29. The proximity sensor 28 is fixed by the pointing arm 30. The proximity sensor 28 is a sensor that is turned on when the metal approaches, and is fixed so that it is turned on when the peak portion 21 of the injection screw 24 comes directly below and turned off when the valley portion 23 comes directly below. The position is adjusted. The output of the proximity sensor 28 is transmitted to a control unit (not shown) of the material supply device 12 via the signal line 32. The control unit controls the rotation of the material supply screw 22 based on the output of the proximity sensor 28.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between the output of the proximity sensor 28 and the rotation of the material supply screw 22. FIG. 3A shows an example of an output signal output from the proximity sensor 28 when the injection screw 24 rotates a certain number of times and the valley 23 of the injection screw 24 stops at the lower position of the proximity sensor 28. . FIG. 3B shows an example of a rotation signal for rotating the material supply screw 22 output from the control unit in response to the output signal shown in FIG. FIG. 3C shows an example of an output signal output from the proximity sensor 28 when the injection screw 24 rotates a certain number of times and the peak 21 of the injection screw 24 stops at the lower position of the proximity sensor 28. Indicates. FIG. 3D shows an example of a rotation signal for rotating the material supply screw 22 output from the control unit in response to the output signal shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3C, the proximity sensor 28 is turned on at the peak portion 21 of the injection screw 24. Further, while the injection screw 24 is rotating, a pulse wave is continuously output. When the control unit turns on the rotation signal as shown in FIGS. 3B and 3D while the pulse wave is output from the proximity sensor 28, and the pulse wave is no longer output from the proximity sensor 28 When the injection screw 24 is stopped, control is performed such that the rotation signal is turned off after a predetermined time has elapsed.

  As described above, the rotation of the injection screw 24 and the rotation of the material supply screw 22 are the same because the material supply screw 22 is rotated for a certain period of time after the injection screw 24 is stopped to continue supplying the material. This is because it may not be possible to make a fine adjustment of the material supply amount only by making the above. Further, when the injection screw 24 melts the material 26 and injects the material 26 into a measuring chamber (not shown), the injection screw 24 is advanced in the direction A in FIG. 2 without rotating. For this reason, there is a portion where the material 26 is not supplied in the vicinity of the material supply port 29 inside the cylinder 25, and thus it is necessary to supply the material to that portion. The injection screw 24 naturally returns to the original position by the internal pressure of the measuring chamber when the melted material 26 accumulates in the measuring chamber.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the material supply device 12 further includes a CCD camera 54. The CCD camera 54 is attached by a pointing arm 56 at a position where the vicinity of the material supply port 29 can be photographed. The video imaged by the CCD camera 54 is displayed on the monitor device 58. The user can know whether or not the material 26 is in a starved state by viewing the image of the material supply port 29 displayed on the monitor device 58, and can easily adjust the supply amount of the material. . It is also possible to know whether the injection screw 24 is rotating normally.

In addition, when an injection molded product changes, it is necessary to switch a mold and a material. In this case, various parameters such as the amount of material supplied from the material supply device 12, the rotation start timing, the rotation speed of the material supply screw 22, and the supply time must be switched according to the molding conditions of the injection molded product.
Such various parameters can be obtained from the injection molding machine 14 and set on a control plate (not shown) of the material supply device 12 or by the operator himself / herself on the control plate. In the method in which the operator himself sets the control board, the operator downloads desired parameters to the control board from a parameter storage device (not shown) in which various parameters are stored, and sets the parameters.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the material is supplied from the material supply device 12 to the injection molding machine 14 in response to the output signal from the proximity sensor 28. Therefore, it is possible to provide the material supply device 12 that can stably supply the material 26 while synchronizing with the injection molding machine 14 without modifying the injection molding machine 14.
Further, the state in the vicinity of the material supply port 29 in the cylinder 25 of the injection molding machine 14 can be visually confirmed by the image taken by the CCD camera 54. For this reason, the user can know whether or not the material 26 is in a starved state, and can easily adjust the supply amount of the material without forcing the user to perform complicated work and wasting time. it can. It is also possible to know whether the injection screw 24 is rotating normally.

  Furthermore, even if the injection-molded product is changed, various parameters are obtained from the injection molding machine 14 or the parameter storage device, and set on the control plate of the material supply device 12, thereby complicating the user's troublesome work. The optimum material supply amount can be determined without wasting time.

(Embodiment 2)
The injection molding system according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention uses a material supply device 42 instead of the material supply device 12 in the injection molding system 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an internal cross section of the injection molding system according to the second embodiment.

The injection molding system 20 is a system for injecting and molding a resin into a mold, and includes an injection molding machine 14, a material supply device 42, a hopper 16, and a monitor device 58.
The injection molding machine 14, the hopper 16, and the monitor device 58 are the same as those in the first embodiment.
Unlike the material supply device 12, the material supply device 42 uses an infrared sensor 44 instead of the proximity sensor 28. Other parts are the same as those of the material supply device 12. The infrared sensor 44 is fixed to the upper position of the injection screw 24 near the material supply port 29. The infrared sensor 44 is fixed by the instruction arm 46. The infrared sensor 44 is a sensor that is turned on when an object approaches, and is fixed so that it is turned on when the peak portion 21 of the injection screw 24 comes directly below and turned off when the valley portion 23 comes directly below. The position is adjusted. The output of the infrared sensor 44 is transmitted to a control unit (not shown) of the material supply device 12 via the signal line 48. The control unit controls the rotation of the material supply screw 22 based on the output of the infrared sensor 44.

The relationship between the output of the infrared sensor 44 and the rotation of the material supply screw 22 is the same as that shown in FIG. Therefore, detailed description thereof will not be repeated.
As described above, according to the present embodiment, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained.
The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above. For example, the rotation of the injection screw 24 may be detected by performing image processing on an image captured by the CCD camera 54.

  The present invention can be applied to an injection molding machine, and particularly applicable to an injection molding machine using a starvation material supply method.

It is an external view of an injection molding system. It is a figure which shows the internal cross section of the injection molding system shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the output of a proximity sensor, and rotation with the screw for material supply. It is a figure which shows the internal cross section of the injection molding system which concerns on Embodiment 2. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Injection molding system 12,42 Material supply apparatus 14 Injection molding machine 16 Hopper 22 Screw for material supply 24 Screw for injection 25 Cylinder 26 Material 28 Proximity sensor 29 Material supply port 30, 46 Indicating arm 32, 48 Signal line 44 Infrared sensor 58 Monitor device

Claims (9)

A material supply device for supplying a material to an injection molding machine having a hollow cylinder having a material supply port and a rotatable injection screw arranged inside the cylinder,
Material supply means for supplying material to the injection molding machine;
Rotation detecting means for detecting rotation of the injection screw;
A material supply apparatus comprising: control means for controlling the material supply means in response to an output of the rotation detection means. The control means supplies the material to the injection molding machine while detecting the rotation of the injection screw and at a fixed time after detecting the rotation of the injection screw. The material supply apparatus according to claim 1. The injection screw is made of metal;
The material supply device according to claim 1, wherein the rotation detection unit is a proximity sensor fixed to an upper position of the injection screw near the material supply port. The material supply device according to claim 1, wherein the rotation detection unit is an infrared sensor fixed to an upper position of the injection screw near the material supply port. Furthermore, the parameter setting means which acquires the parameter for controlling the said material supply means from the said injection molding machine, and sets to the said control means is provided. The any one of Claims 1-4 characterized by the above-mentioned. Material supply device. Furthermore, the parameter setting means which acquires the parameter for controlling the said material supply means from the parameter memory | storage device which memorize | stores the said parameter, and sets to the said control means is provided, The any one of Claims 1-4 characterized by the above-mentioned. The material supply apparatus according to item. Furthermore, photographing means for photographing an image inside the cylinder;
The material supply apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising display means for displaying an image photographed by the photographing means. A material supply device for supplying a material to an injection molding machine having a hollow cylinder having a material supply port and a rotatable injection screw arranged inside the cylinder,
Material supply means for supplying material to the injection molding machine;
Photographing means for photographing an image inside the cylinder;
A material supply apparatus comprising: display means for displaying an image photographed by the photographing means. The material supply apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the photographing unit is a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) camera.

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