JP2009255367A - Mold - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To materialize a mold with a cooling pipe in which the valve of a fluid coupler for feeding cooling liquid can smoothly be opened even when residual heat remains. <P>SOLUTION: In the mold 10, the fluid couplers 14a, 14b having valves closed in a non-connected time and opened by pressure from the outside are mounted on ends of a cooling liquid pipe 12. The mold 10 has an air tank 18 (pressure governor) keeping the pipe inner pressure at a certain value or less at the cooling liquid pipe 12. In the mold 10, the air tank 18 keeps the pipe inner pressure at a certain value or less even if remaining heat remains, causing no increase of resistance when opening the valves. The mold 10 allows smooth opening of valves of the fluid couplers 14a, 14b for feeding cooling liquid even if remaining heat remains. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a mold used for casting or resin molding. In particular, the present invention relates to a mold having a pipe for coolant.

A mold having a pipe for coolant is known (for example, Patent Document 1). By passing the cooling liquid through the mold, the temperature rise of the mold is suppressed and the molding time is shortened.
Since different molds are used depending on the parts to be molded, the molds attached to the molding apparatus may be exchanged. Therefore, a fluid coupler for connecting the pipe and the coolant supply device is provided at the end of the cooling pipe of the mold. In order to prevent the coolant from leaking when changing the mold, the fluid coupler has a valve that is closed when not connected. After connecting the fluid coupler to the coolant supply device, the valve is opened by applying pressure from the coolant supply device side.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-195854

Since the fluid coupler has a valve that is closed when not connected, the coolant is confined in the pipe of the mold removed from the molding apparatus. The residual coolant is heated and expanded by the residual heat of the mold. Therefore, the internal pressure of the pipe increases.
When the mold removed from the molding apparatus is left for a while, the temperature of the cooling liquid is lowered to room temperature and the internal pressure of the pipe is restored. However, when a mold with residual heat remaining is attached to the molding apparatus again, the coolant supply apparatus must be connected to the fluid coupler with the pipe having a high internal pressure. An increase in the internal pressure of the pipe may cause a situation in which an excessive force must be applied from the coolant supply device side in order to open the valve of the fluid coupler.
The present invention was created in view of the above problems. It is an object of the present invention to provide a mold capable of suppressing an increase in internal pressure of a coolant pipe due to residual heat and smoothly opening a valve of a fluid coupler.

  In the mold of the present invention, a fluid coupler having a valve which is closed when not connected and opened by applying a force from the outside is attached to the end of the coolant pipe. This mold is provided with a pressure regulator for maintaining the pipe internal pressure below a certain value in the coolant pipe. This mold can maintain the internal pressure of the pipe below a certain value even if residual heat remains, so that the resistance when the valve is opened does not increase. This mold can smoothly open the valve of the fluid coupler for supplying the coolant without applying excessive force even if the residual heat remains.

  Since this mold only needs to maintain the internal pressure of the pipe for cooling liquid below a certain value, the pressure regulator may have a simple structure. For example, the pressure regulator may be an air tank that communicates with a pipe for coolant and is attached vertically above the pipe. Since the air tank is positioned vertically above the pipe, when the coolant is supplied, gas accumulates in the air tank. As the cooling liquid expands, the gas in the air tank contracts, and the internal pressure is maintained below a certain value. The gas may typically be air.

  When the coolant supply side pipe and the coolant discharge side pipe are extended from the mold, it is preferable that the pressure regulator is attached to the coolant discharge side pipe. The discharge side pipe has a smaller pressure fluctuation than the supply side pipe, so it is suitable for installation of a pressure regulator.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the metal mold | die which can open the valve of the fluid coupler for supplying a cooling fluid smoothly even if residual heat remains can be implement | achieved.

The metal mold | die which concerns on this invention is demonstrated with reference to drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a mold 10. In FIG. 1, illustration of an internal structure (for example, a cavity) of the mold 10 and a molding apparatus for attaching the mold 10 are omitted. This mold 10 is used for pouring molten resin into a part having a predetermined shape.
A cooling liquid pipe 12 is attached to the mold 10. By flowing the coolant through the coolant pipe 12, the poured resin can be solidified in a short time. Hereinafter, the coolant pipe 12 is simply referred to as a pipe 12. The pipe 12 is divided into three parts. One is a main pipe 12 c embedded in the mold 10. The other two are a supply side pipe 12a and a discharge side pipe 12b extending from the mold 10. The pipes 12a and 12b communicate with the main pipe 12c, respectively.

  Fluid couplers 14a and 14b are attached to the ends of the pipes 12a and 12b. When the mold 10 is used, that is, when the mold 10 is attached to a molding apparatus (not shown), the fluid couplers 50a and 50b of the coolant supply apparatus 50 are connected to the fluid couplers 14a and 14b. When the mold 10 is used, the coolant supplied from the coolant supply device 50 flows into the main pipe 12c through the supply side pipe 12a, and returns to the coolant supply device 50 through the discharge side pipe 12b. The discharge side pipe 12b is divided into two forks on the way. A fluid coupler 14b is attached to one of the two branches, and a drain coupler 20 is attached to the other. The drain coupler 20 is used to discharge the coolant remaining in the pipe 12 when storing the used mold 10.

  An air tank 18 and a pressure gauge 16 are attached to the discharge side pipe 12b. The air tank 18 is positioned vertically above the pipe 12.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the discharge side pipe 12b.
The opening 34 of the fluid coupler 14b is formed in a tapered shape that tapers outward. A valve 32 urged outward by a spring 30 is pressed against the opening 34. The tip of the valve 32 has a tapered conical surface, and this conical surface is in close contact with the tapered inner peripheral surface of the opening 34. That is, in the fluid coupler 14b, the valve 32 is closed when the fluid coupler 50b of the coolant supply apparatus 50 is not connected. The fluid coupler 50b is connected, and the valve 32 is opened by applying a force stronger than the biasing force of the spring 30 from the fluid coupler 50b side. The fluid coupler 14a shown in FIG. 1 also has the same structure as the fluid coupler 14b.
The drain coupler 20 has basically the same structure as the fluid coupler 14b. The opening 42 of the drain coupler 20 is formed in a tapered shape that tapers outward. A valve 40 that is urged outward by a spring 44 is pressed against the opening 42. The tip of the valve 40 has a tapered conical surface, and this conical surface is in close contact with the tapered inner peripheral surface of the opening 42. The valve 40 of the drain coupler 20 is closed when not connected. The valve 40 is opened by applying a force stronger than the biasing force of the spring 44 from the outside.

  An air tank 18 is attached vertically above the discharge side pipe 12b. A pressure gauge 16 is attached above the air tank 18. The discharge side pipe 12b and the air tank 18 communicate with each other. Since the air tank 18 is attached vertically above the pipe 12, the coolant W enters below the air tank 18, but an internal space 18 a filled with air is formed above the air tank 18. More specifically, the liquid level Wa is located where the pressure of the coolant W and the air pressure of the internal space 18a are balanced.

  As described above, since the fluid couplers 14a and 14b and the drain coupler 20 are closed when not connected, when the mold 10 is removed from the molding apparatus, that is, when the coolant supply apparatus 50 is removed from the mold 10, The coolant is confined in the pipe 12. At this time, as shown in FIG. 2, air is trapped in the internal space 18 a of the air tank 18. After removing the coolant supply device 50 from the mold 10, the coolant is heated and expanded by the residual heat of the mold. Since the air inside the air tank 18 is compressed as the coolant expands, an increase in the coolant pressure is suppressed. The pressure of the coolant is maintained below a certain value. That is, the air tank 18 functions as a pressure regulator. By the air tank 18 functioning as a pressure regulator, an excessive pressure is suppressed from being applied to the valve 32 of the fluid coupler 14b. Therefore, when the coolant supply device 50 is connected again to the mold 10 where the remaining heat remains, the valves 32 of the fluid couplers 14a and 14b can be smoothly opened without applying excessive force from the outside.

Other advantages of the mold 10 are listed below.
(1) The air tank 18 arranged vertically above the pipe 12 maintains the internal pressure of the pipe 12 below a certain value. With a simple configuration in which the air tank 18 is added, the internal pressure of the pipe 12 can be maintained below a certain value. This is due to the fact that no strict pressure adjustment is required to open the valve 34 smoothly.
(2) The pressure of the coolant is adjusted by compressing the air in the internal space 18a. When the pressure is adjusted, the coolant does not leak outside.
(3) The air tank 18 is provided on the discharge side pipe 12 b extending from the mold 10. The coolant flows in from the supply side pipe 12a, returns to the coolant supply device 50 through the main pipe 12c and the discharge side pipe 12b. That is, the discharge side pipe 12 b is located on the downstream side of the pipe 12. While the coolant is circulated, the pressure decreases from upstream to downstream due to the flow path resistance. By disposing the air tank 18 at a lower pressure, the air in the internal space 18a is prevented from being unnecessarily compressed. A lower air pressure in the internal space 18a can effectively suppress an increase in pressure due to residual heat.
Also, the downstream side has less pulsation of the coolant than the upstream side. Therefore, the vertical movement of the liquid level Wa in the air tank 18 does not increase, and the air in the internal space 18a can be prevented from escaping from the fluid coupler 14b.

Specific examples of the present invention have been described in detail above, but these are merely examples and do not limit the scope of the claims. The technology described in the claims includes various modifications and changes of the specific examples illustrated above. For example, the coolant pipe may be embedded in the mold or may surround the mold.
The technical elements described in this specification or the drawings exhibit technical usefulness alone or in various combinations, and are not limited to the combinations described in the claims at the time of filing. In addition, the technology exemplified in this specification or the drawings can achieve a plurality of objects at the same time, and has technical usefulness by achieving one of the objects.

It is a schematic diagram of a metal mold | die. It is a typical sectional view of a cooling fluid discharge side pipe.

Explanation of symbols

10: Mold 12a: Supply side pipe 12b: Discharge side pipe 12c: Main pipe 14a, 14b: Fluid coupler 18: Air tank (pressure regulator)
50: Coolant supply device

Claims (3)

A mold to which a pipe for cooling liquid is attached,
A fluid coupler having a valve that is closed when not connected and opened by applying a force from the outside is attached to the end of the pipe, and has a pressure regulator that maintains the pipe internal pressure below a certain value. Mold.   The mold according to claim 1, wherein the pressure regulator is an air tank attached vertically above a pipe for coolant.   The metal mold according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a cooling liquid supply side pipe and a cooling liquid discharge side pipe are extended from the mold, and the pressure regulator is attached to the cooling liquid discharge side pipe. Type.

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