JP2012201080A - Precision molding apparatus and method for molding the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a molding apparatus and a molding method of a molding having a fine pattern by accurately measuring and supplying materials in the molding of the molding.SOLUTION: The molding apparatus includes: a material storage means 2 for storing the material; a material supply means 3a for taking out the appropriate amount of the material from the material storage means 2; a material measuring means 4a for measuring a prescribed amount of material from the appropriate amount of material taken out by the material supply means 3a; a carrying means 9 for carrying the measured material measured by the material measurement means 4a onto a molding plate 12 having a prescribed pattern and mounting it; a heat-melting means 14 for heat-melting the measured material mounted on the molding plate; a molding means 18 for molding the material heat-melted by the heat-melting means 14; a cooling means 21 for cooling the molding 23 molded by the molding means 18; a peeling means 22 for peeling the molding from the molding plate after being cooled by the cooling means 21; and a molding takeout means 24 for taking out the molding peeled by the peeling means 22.

Description

  The present invention relates to a molding apparatus and a molding method for molding a molded body. In particular, the present invention relates to a molding apparatus and a molding method thereof capable of measuring and supplying a material with high accuracy and molding a molded body having a fine pattern.

  As an apparatus for molding a molded body, an injection molding apparatus as disclosed in Patent Document 1 is generally known. This apparatus measures the melted material in a cylinder, and injects an appropriate amount of material into a mold for molding.

  However, in the method of supplying the molten material in this way, there is a problem with respect to the supply accuracy of the material such as the molten state of the material, the viscosity of the material, the temperature, the injection pressure, the injection time, the nozzle diameter, and the remaining amount in the melting tank. There are many stabilizing elements, and it is difficult to stably supply a small amount of material.

  In addition, when a material is supplied to a mold having a fine pattern to form a molded body, there is a problem that bubbles remain without the material being sufficiently filled in the fine pattern portion of the mold. In other words, depending on the viscosity of the melted material and the injection pressure, it becomes difficult to fill the material in every minute pattern part of the mold, and bubbles remain, resulting in a molded body of a predetermined shape and quality. It may not be obtained.

  Further, since the material is melted in a large amount in a melting tank and kept at a high temperature for a long time, there is a problem that a material that is easily affected by heat causes a decrease in molecular weight or discoloration such as yellowing. In the case of a method using a molten material, the material remaining inside the tank, screw, cylinder, etc. is wasted, reducing the use efficiency of the material and increasing the cost. In particular, when the material is expensive, it is necessary to avoid such waste of material.

  Further, when the apparatus is cleaned, it is difficult to remove the material remaining after being melted in the tank, screw, cylinder, etc. due to the structure of the apparatus, and there is a problem that the maintainability is poor.

JP 2003-1668 A

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems. A small amount of material is accurately metered and there is no residual or generation of bubbles even in a molded body having a fine pattern, and the thermal influence on the material With a molding device and its molding method that can improve the quality by minimizing the amount of waste, improve the productivity by reducing the waste of materials as much as possible, and improving the cleaning performance and other maintainability. is there.

In order to solve the above problems, an invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is an apparatus for molding a molded body,
A material storage means for storing granules, powders, or a mixture of granules and powders;
Material supply means for taking out an appropriate amount of the material stored in the material storage means;
Material weighing means for weighing a predetermined volume of material from an appropriate amount of material taken out by the material supply means;
Conveying means for conveying and placing the weighed material weighed by the material weighing means on a molding plate having a predetermined pattern;
A heating and melting means for heating and melting the measured material placed on the molding plate;
Molding means for molding the material heated and melted by the heating and melting means;
Cooling means for cooling the molded body formed by the forming means;
Peeling means for peeling the molded body from the molding plate after cooling by the cooling means;
And a molded body taking-out means for taking out the molded body peeled off by the peeling means.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the molding apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the material storage means includes a material mixing mechanism for mixing granular and powdery materials.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the material metering means includes a material tableting mechanism for measuring a granule, a powder, or a mixture of a granule and a powder, and then tableting to form a tablet material. A molding apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2 is provided.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the molding apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein a plurality of sets of the material supply means and the material metering means are provided.

  The invention according to claim 5 is a molding method for molding a molded body using the molding apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

  According to the invention according to claim 1, in the apparatus for forming a molded body, unlike the case of melt supply, the apparatus includes material measuring means for supplying an appropriate amount of granular or powder material by volumetric measurement. There are no unstable factors with respect to the supply accuracy, such as the molten state of the material, the viscosity of the material, the temperature, the injection pressure, the injection time, the nozzle diameter, the remaining amount in the melting tank, and a stable small amount of metering is possible. .

  In addition, since the material is supplied in granular or powder form onto the mold and then melted, an air escape path is secured in the process of melting the granular or powder material, and air bubbles are generated in the fine pattern of the mold. Since the molten material is filled without biting, it is possible to mold without remaining bubbles. Also, the generation of bubbles due to moisture absorption is less affected by the air escape path that is secured in the process of melting the granular or powder material.

  In particular, when the material of the molding plate is soft, the supply of granular or powdery material reduces physical damage such as scratches or nicks on the molding plate compared to the supply of pellet or plate material. It becomes possible. Furthermore, since the filling property is also good, the pressure during molding can be lowered, and the burden on the plate can be reduced.

  Since only a necessary amount of the material is melted on the molding plate, the melting time is short as compared with the melt supply. Therefore, the thermal influence on the material is reduced, and as a result, there is almost no decrease in molecular weight, and no discoloration such as yellowing occurs, so that the quality of the material can be maintained. In addition, since it is not necessary to melt a large amount of materials all together, there is no waste of material remaining in the tank, screw, and cylinder, and material use efficiency close to 100% can be realized. This is advantageous in terms of cost, particularly when expensive materials are used.

  During maintenance, it is not necessary to remove the molten material remaining in the tank, screw, and cylinder as in the case of melting supply, and the equipment structure can be simplified, so that the equipment can be easily cleaned. Productivity can be improved.

  Since the device configuration is simple compared to the melt supply method, the price of the device can be reduced, and the material weighing method is a volumetric measurement method without using a weight measuring device such as a load cell, which is advantageous in terms of cost. .

According to the invention which concerns on Claim 2, in the material storage means of the apparatus which shape | molds a molded object, by providing the mechanism which mixes a granular material and a powdery material, a granular material and a powdery material are mixed ( The mixing ratio is arbitrary), and the material density can be further improved by stabilizing the material density.
By improving the supply accuracy, the quality of the molded body is improved and the surplus of material is eliminated, which is advantageous in terms of cost.

  According to the invention of claim 3, the material measuring means of the apparatus for forming the molded body has a mechanism for tableting after supplying an appropriate amount of granular material, powdery material or a mixture of granular material and powdery material. As a result, the material is made into a tablet shape and is supplied onto the molding plate without scattering of the material, so that the material supply performance can be improved.

  By making the material into a tablet shape, the occurrence of burrs during molding can be eliminated, the quality of the molded body can be improved, and the productivity can be improved. In addition, tableting reduces the volume of granules, powders, or a mixture of granules and powders, and increases the material density, thereby increasing the heat transfer efficiency during molding and shortening the melting time. As a result, productivity can be improved.

  Also when the material is shaped like a tablet, only the necessary amount of material is melted on the molding plate, so that the heater capacity can be reduced and energy can be reduced. Further, as in the case of granular or powder materials, an air escape path is ensured in the melting process, and bubbles are filled into a fine pattern without being bubbled, and molding is possible without remaining bubbles.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 4, in the apparatus which shape | molds a molded object, by providing multiple material measurement supply parts, it becomes possible to shape | mold a plurality of molded objects simultaneously, and it becomes possible to improve productivity. .

The schematic diagram which shows the outline of a structure and operation | movement of the shaping | molding apparatus which is embodiment of this invention. The schematic diagram which shows the outline of a structure and operation | movement of the shaping | molding apparatus which is embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, a molding apparatus and a molding method for a molded body, which are examples of embodiments of the present invention, will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 schematically show the configuration and operation of the molding apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  The hopper 2 stores the charged granular material, powdered material, or the mixed material 1 and granular material, and supplies the material 1 to a material metering unit 3 (described later). The hopper 2 desirably has a material diffusion mechanism (not shown) such as an auger for stirring the charged granular or powdered material 1 and a moisture-proof function of the material 1.

  The material 1 is supplied from an input port 2 a at the upper part of the hopper 2 and supplied to the material metering supply unit 3 from a supply port 2 b provided at the lower part of the hopper 2.

As the material 1, a thermoplastic material can be used.
In the present invention, the material supplied to the material metering unit 3 is characterized by using a granule, a powder, or a material in which a granule and a powder are mixed.

  In the present invention, the granular material is defined as a particle having a particle size of 0.1 to 3.0 mm. In the present invention, the powdered material is defined as a material having a particle size of less than 0.1.

  In the present invention, as the material 1, it is preferable to use a material in which granular and powder are mixed. As a result, the material density can be stabilized and the material supply accuracy can be improved.

  The material metering supply unit 3 is a plate-like member having a material supply unit 3a and a material transport unit 9 at predetermined positions, and can be slid in a state where one surface is in contact with the supply port 2b of the hopper 2. It has become. Both the material supply unit 3 a and the material transport unit 9 are through holes formed at predetermined positions of the flat material metering supply unit 3. Due to the sliding movement of the material metering supply part 3, the part of the material supply part 3a moves just below the supply port 2b, or the part where nothing is formed moves.

[1. Material supply process]
When the material supply unit 3a moves directly below the supply port 2b and stops, the material 1 is filled into the material supply unit 3a, which is a through hole (see FIG. 2).
Since the support member 4 is disposed under the material metering supply unit 3, a predetermined amount of the material 1 is held inside the material supply unit 3a. The surface of the support member 4 on the side in contact with the material metering supply unit 3 is flat, and the material metering supply unit 3 can slide.

[2. Material weighing preparation process]
Next, the material measurement supply unit 3 moves to a position where the material supply unit 3a is disposed directly above the material measurement unit 4a formed on the support member 4, and temporarily stops (see FIG. 1).
The material measuring unit 4a is a through hole formed in the support member 4, and a tableting lower punch 7 is inserted into the lower opening of the material measuring unit 4a. A part of the material 1 filled in the material supply unit 3a is filled into the material measurement unit 4a through the upper opening of the material measurement unit 4a and is held on the upper surface of the tableting lower punch 7.

[3. Material weighing process]
Furthermore, the material metering supply unit 3 moves so that the material transport unit 9 is positioned directly above the material metering unit 4a formed on the support member 4, and temporarily stops (see FIG. 2).
By this movement of the material metering unit 3, the material metering unit 4a can be ground in a state in which the material 1 is filled, and even when the material 1 is small, it can be accurately metered.

[4. Tableting process]
In the material weighing unit 4a, the above-mentioned [3. The weighed material 5 weighed in the material weighing step] is held (see FIG. 2).
The metered material 5 is tableted with the optimal combination of predetermined pressure, temperature, and time by the lower tableting punch 7 and the upper tableting punch 8 of the tableting unit 6 to form the tablet-like material 13.

  The lower punch 7 for tableting is [2. The amount of the material 1 to be weighed can be arbitrarily adjusted by adjusting the insertion length from the lower opening of the material metering portion 4a in the material metering preparation step]. Moreover, the shape of the tablet-shaped material 13 can be made into a predetermined shape by selecting in advance the cross-sectional shapes of the tableting lower punch 7 and the material measuring portion 4a. That is, when the tableting lower punch 7 and the material measuring part 4a are formed in a columnar shape, a disk-shaped tablet-like material 13 can be obtained, and the tableting lower punch 7 and the material measuring part 4a are formed in a regular hexagonal column. In this case, a regular hexagonal flat tablet-like material 13 can be obtained.

  The pressure, temperature, time, and stroke amount of the tableting unit 6 can be managed within an appropriate numerical range. In addition, the metered material 5 does not need to be tableted if there is no problem such as scattering even in the granular state or powder state on the molding plate (described later).

[5. Transport process]
The tablet-like material 13 or granulated or powdered metered material 5 is lifted to the material conveying section 9 by a tableting lower punch 7.
A material plate supply unit 10, which is a through hole, is provided at a predetermined location of the support member 4, and a molding plate 12 held by the molding plate setting unit 11 is disposed directly below the material plate supply unit 10. When the material metering supply unit 3 moves and stops once (see FIG. 1) so that the material transport unit 9 is positioned directly above the material plate supply unit 10, the tablet-like material 13 or the metered material 5 is Then, it is placed at a predetermined position on the molding plate 12.

  The molding plate 12 on which the tablet-like material 13 or the measured material 5 is placed is held from the lower part of the support member 4 by a moving mechanism (not shown) such as a turret or a linear moving mechanism while being held by the molding plate setting unit 11. It goes out and moves to a place with the heating and melting part 14.

[6. Melting process]
The tablet-like material 13 or the granular or powdery metered material 5 supplied to the molding plate 12 is optimized at a predetermined temperature and melting time in the lower heating unit 15 and the upper heating unit 16 of the heating and melting unit 14. In such a combination, even on the molding plate 12 having a fine pattern, the molten material 17 is melted in a state where no bubbles remain or are generated. The temperature and melting time of the heating and melting part 14 can be managed within a predetermined numerical range.

[7. Molding process]
When the molten material 17 on the molding plate 12 is in a predetermined molten state, the non-molding punch 19 of the molding portion 18 is brought into close contact with the molding plate 12 so that the molten material 17 does not leak, Pressurize with the optimal combination of pressure, temperature and pressurization time. The pressure, temperature, and pressurization time of the molding unit 18 can be managed within a predetermined numerical range.

  By selecting the shapes of the non-molding punch 19 and the molding inner punch 20 of the molding unit 18 in advance, the shape of the molten material 17 can be a predetermined shape. That is, when the shape of the space surrounded by the outer punch 19, the inner punch 20 and the molding plate 12 is a disc shape, the disc-shaped molten material 17 can be obtained, When the shape of the space surrounded by the punch 20 and the molding plate 12 is a regular hexagonal flat plate, a regular hexagonal flat plate-like molten material 17 can be obtained.

  Through this molding process, the molten material 17 spreads throughout the mold 12 having a fine pattern and is filled without any remaining or generated bubbles, and there is no occurrence of burrs or the like, and molding is performed with high precision. The molten material 17 becomes the molded body 23.

[8. Mold release process]
After molding, the molded body 23, the outer punch 19 and the inner punch 20 can be separated from each other, so that the cooling unit 21 having cooling means such as air and Peltier elements can optimize the predetermined temperature and cooling time. With this combination, the molded body 23 is cooled and released from the non-molding punch 19 and the molding inner punch 20. The temperature and cooling time of the cooling unit 21 can be managed within a predetermined numerical range.

  The molded body 23 on the molding plate 12 is molded in the vertical direction so that the molding plate 12 having a fine pattern and the molded body 23 are not damaged due to a bending stress or the like after being held by the peeling portion 22. Peel from plate 12.

  The molded body 23 peeled from the molding plate 12 is transferred to a predetermined position of the molded body take-out section 24 at the peeling section 22.

  According to the above process, only the necessary amount of the material 1 is supplied and used, so that there is almost no material 1 that is wasted. Moreover, since the time for heating and melting the material 1 can be shortened, the thermal influence on the material 1 can be minimized.

  A plurality of materials can be mixed and supplied by installing a plurality of hoppers 2 in series. Moreover, it is good also as a structure which is equipped with two or more material measurement supply parts 3, and can shape | mold the molded object 23 simultaneously.

In the molding apparatus of the present invention, for example, a mixture of granular and powdery materials 1 is used as the material 1, and a mixing mechanism (not shown) is used to stabilize the material density when the material 1 is supplied to the material metering unit 3. ) May be provided.
As a mixing mechanism, a granular material hopper and a powdery material hopper are installed on the upper part of the hopper 2, and a predetermined amount is supplied from each to the hopper 2, and the granular material is provided by the material diffusion mechanism equipped in the hopper 2. And a powdered material can be mixed.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Material 2 ... Hopper 2a ... Hopper insertion port 2b ... Hopper supply port 3 ... Material measurement supply part 3a ... Material supply part 4 ... Support member 4a ... Material measurement part 5 ... Weighed material 6 ... Tableting part 7 ... Lower punch 8 for tableting ... Upper punch 9 for tableting ... Material conveying unit 10 ... Material plate supply unit 11 ... Mold plate setting unit 12 ... Mold plate 13 ... Tablet-shaped material 14 ... Heating and melting unit 15 ... Lower heating unit 16 ... Upper side Heating part 17 ... Molten material 18 ... Molding part 19 ... Molding punch 20 ... Molding punch 21 ... Cooling part 22 ... Peeling part 23 ... Molded body 24 ... Molded body takeout part

Claims (5)

An apparatus for molding a molded body,
A material storage means for storing granules, powders, or a mixture of granules and powders;
Material supply means for taking out an appropriate amount of the material stored in the material storage means;
Material weighing means for weighing a predetermined volume of material from an appropriate amount of material taken out by the material supply means;
Conveying means for conveying and placing the weighed material weighed by the material weighing means on a molding plate having a predetermined pattern;
A heating and melting means for heating and melting the measured material placed on the molding plate;
Molding means for molding the material heated and melted by the heating and melting means;
Cooling means for cooling the molded body formed by the forming means;
Peeling means for peeling the molded body from the molding plate after cooling by the cooling means;
And a molded body taking-out means for taking out the molded body peeled off by the peeling means.   The molding apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a material mixing mechanism that mixes granular and powder materials in the material storage unit.   The material metering means is provided with a material tableting mechanism for measuring a granular material, a powdery material, or a mixture of a granular material and a powdery material, and then tableting to form a tablet material. The molding apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.   The molding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of sets of the material supply unit and the material metering unit are provided.   The shaping | molding method which shape | molds a molded object using the shaping | molding apparatus of any one of Claim 1 thru | or 4.

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