JPH04115909A - Exchange device for mold - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To smoothly carry out the movement of a mold to a mold clamping part at the time of an exchange of the molds and the molds are exchanged easily, by a method wherein a conveyor body is made narrower than a mold thickness and the top of the same is made into a mold placing surface and a rail is fixed so that the conveyor body is guided on a position within a range of the mold thickness from a mold fitting surface of a stationary platen. CONSTITUTION:A conveyor body 15 on which a mold B is put is pushed manually in the direction of a mold C, shunted from a mold clamping part 9, a mold position stopper 22 on a mold C side is ejected, the conveyor body 15 on which a mold A is put is pushed manually and the same is caused to abut against the stopper 22. The order side mold position stopper 22 also is ejected and the mold A is positioned precisely. A rail 14 is raised by operating a handle 21 in the opposite direction, through which the surface of a stationary platen 4 side of the mold A is brought into contact with a mold fitting surface of the stationary platen 4 and a movable platen 5 is moved up to a mold contacting position. In this case, since a width of the conveyor body 15 is smaller than the mold thickness of the mold A, a movement of the movable platen 5 is not disturbed. Then since the ejected stopper 22 also is positioned between the stationary platen 4 and rail 14, the same does not stand in the way of the movable platen 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention This invention relates to a mold changing device for a molding machine using a mold.

Molding machines that use prior art molds require replacement of the mold when changing the product to be molded.

When replacing the mold, in order to avoid the danger and heavy workload associated with replacing the mold due to its large weight, the mold is transported from the standby position to the side of the mold clamping section, and the mold is removed from that position. A mold transport/feeding device may be used to feed the mold between the fixed platen and movable platen of the clamping section.

However, with such a mold transport/feeding device, the movement from the mold transport/feeding device to the mold mounting position of the mold clamping section is difficult.
When mounting molds on the fixed platen and movable platen, the support rollers of the mold conveyance/feeding device are sequentially passed from the support rollers to the intermediate support rollers, and then to the in-panel support rollers that are pivotally supported at the bottom of the surface. is unstable and requires great care when working. Further, the mold conveyance/feeding device itself is a large-scale device with self-propelled ability and automatic mold feeding function, is expensive, and requires equipment around the molding machine such as a conveyance rail.

On the other hand, when molding a small product such as a lens, the mold is relatively small, and although an appropriate mold conveying/feeding device is necessary, such a large-scale device as described above may not be necessary.

Particularly in the case of high-mix, low-volume production, molds must be replaced frequently, so something that is easy to use is required.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention The present invention aims to provide a mold changing device that allows the mold to be smoothly moved to the mold clamping part when changing the mold, and that allows the mold to be changed easily and efficiently. Take it as a challenge.

Means to solve problems It includes a rail and a carrier that moves on the rail.

The carrier has a width narrower than the thickness of the mold, and its upper surface serves as a mold mounting surface.

The rail is placed above the lower tie bar of the mold clamping part of the molding machine in a direction perpendicular to the mold clamping axis, and fixes the conveyor. Fix it as shown.

Preliminary temperature control means may be provided on the mold mounting surface of the carrier.

Sometimes the rails can be moved vertically in parallel.

A stopper may be provided to define the left and right positions of the mold mounting range.

action The rail supports the mold.

The conveyor carries the mold and is movable between the mold mounting position and the retracted position of the mold clamping section.

Embodiment FIG. 1 shows a mold clamping unit 2 in an injection molding machine 1. Reference numeral 3 indicates the tip of the cylinder assembly, which is on the injection unit side (not shown).

The mold clamping section 2 includes a fixed platen 4, a movable platen 5, and a rear platen 6. The fixed platen 4 and the rear platen 6 are connected by a tie bar 7, and the movable platen 5 is attached to the tie bar 7 so as to be slidable back and forth. There is. Between the fixed platen 4 and the movable platen 5 is a mold clamping part 9 to which a mold 8 is attached.
In this embodiment, a mold clamping crank 10 is installed between the movable platen 5 and the rear platen 6.

Reference numeral 11 is a mold clamping servo motor that drives the crank 10.

The fixed platen 4 and the movable platen 5 each have a clamping device 12 on the surface side for mounting the mold.

Note that there are four tie bars 7 on the top, bottom, left and right.

Reference numeral 13 is a mold changing device, which includes a rail 14 and a mold carrier 1.
5.

The carrier 15 has a width narrower than the mold thickness of the mold 8 placed on it, and its upper surface is formed into a placing part 16 (Figs. 3 and 4). The molds 8 (the movable side and the fixed side are joined to form one unit) are placed individually.

Further, the rail 14 extends above the lower tie bar 7.7 of the mold clamping section 9 in the injection molding machine 1 in a direction perpendicular to the mold clamping axis a, and also fixes the carrier 15 for mounting the mold on the platen 4. is fixed so as to be guided at a position within the mold thickness range of the mold from the surface.

The carrier 15 is fitted onto the rail 14 via a pole bearing or the like like a commercially available linear guide, so that it can be moved easily.

Note that an electric heater 18 surrounded by a heat insulating material is disposed on the mounting portion 16 of the carrier 15 as a preliminary temperature control device 17 (shown as hatched in FIG. 1) for the mold 8. 4
figure). The temperature of the pre-temperature control is determined by a thermostat that can set the temperature provided for each pre-temperature control device 17, or a control device (not shown) that detects the temperature with a thermocouple and controls the power supply of the electric heater 18 on and off. ) is adjusted to the set value.

Furthermore, the mold thicknesses of the molds 8 placed on the carrier 15 are unified to the same size.

In this embodiment, the rail 14 has a length L that allows five molds 8 to be arranged at predetermined intervals as shown in FIG.
1 and stoppers 19 at both ends to prevent the moving carrier 15 from falling. Furthermore, both ends of the rail 14 are supported by actuators 20, 20 that move up and down with a slight inclination toward the fixed platen. The actuator 20 has a stroke of about 2 mm, and can be moved up and down by operating the handle 21 so that the rails 14 are parallel to each other, and the fixed platen 4 is moved toward and away from the mold mounting surface. When moved upward, the mold 8 on the carrier 15 is attached to the fixed platen 4 and the movable platen 5 in the vertical direction, and due to the inclination of the actuator 20, the fixed platen 4 side of the die 8 is attached to the fixed platen. 4. Mold attachment comes into contact with the surface.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 22 denotes a mold position stopper fixed on stays 23 on both sides extending from the fixed platen 4.
The left and right positions of the mold mounting range in the mold clamping section 9 are defined.

This stopper 22 is located between the mold mounting surface of the stationary platen 5 and the rail 14 when viewed from the front as shown in FIG. When protruding, it comes into contact with the side surface of the mold 8, and when it descends, it retreats from the movement range of the mold 8.

In Fig. 1, molding using mold B is completed, and molding using mold A is completed.
When exchanging the mold, the following work is performed using the mold exchanging device 13.

Using the operation panel of the injection molding machine 1, the movable platen 5 is moved to the mold touch position, and the movable mold is joined to the fixed mold to integrate them.

The handle 21 is operated to raise the rail 14 and bring it into contact with the bottom surface of the mold B.

The clamp 12 is released and the mold B is removed from the fixed platen 4 and movable platen 5. The mold B is placed on the rail 14.

The movable platen 5 is moved back, and then the rail 14 is lowered using the handle 21, and at the same time, the mold B is slightly separated from the mold mounting surface of the fixed platen 4, thereby facilitating the movement of the mold B1 and the mold A. The mold B remains on the rail 14.

The carrier 15 on which the mold B is placed is pushed by hand in the direction of the mold C and is evacuated from the mold clamping section 9.

The mold position stopper 22 on the mold C side is projected, and the conveyor 15 on which the mold A is placed is pushed by hand.
2.

The other mold position stopper 22 is also projected to accurately position the mold A.

The handle 21 is operated in the opposite direction to raise the rail 14, and thereby the surface of the mold A on the fixed platen 4 side is brought into contact with the mold mounting surface of the fixed platen 4.

Move the movable platen 5 to the mold touch position.

In this case, since the width of the carrier 15 is smaller than the mold thickness of the mold A, the movement of the movable platen 5 is not obstructed. In addition, since the protruding stopper 22 is also located between the fixed platen 4 and the rail 14, the mold A which does not get in the way of the movable platen 5 is clamped, and the fixed platen 4 and the movable platen 5 are clamped.
be fixed respectively.

The mold position stopper 22 is lowered.

Operate the handle 21 to lower the rail 14.

Through the above steps, the mold A is attached to the mounting part of the mold clamping part 9,
The mold is replaced. During this time, the movement of the mold placed on the carrier 15 is light, and only involves retracting the mold B and moving the mold A, which had been prepared in advance, to the installation part of the mold clamping part 9. , it's easy. Since the mold A moves on the same rail 14 and reaches the attachment part of the mold clamping part 9, there is no fear that the mold will wobble during movement. Moreover,
The temperature of the mold A is preliminarily controlled, and the molding operation using the mold A can be started immediately.

When replacing the mold C with the mold B, or when returning the mold B to the mounting position, the replacement can be done in the same operation, just in a different direction.

In the above, the reason why the rail 14 is lowered after mounting the mold A is because the lower surface of the movable mold, which moves back and forth when the mold is opened and clamped during the molding operation, comes into sliding contact with the mounting portion 16 of the carrier 15, and both There is also a reason to prevent damage from occurring.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment, which differs from the mold changing device 13 of the first embodiment in the structure of the carrier 15.

In other words, the conveyor 15 is a continuous integral piece without being divided into individual molds, and the mounting portion 16 and therefore the preliminary temperature control device 17 are arranged at equal intervals in the longitudinal direction, and the conveyor 15 is not divided into individual molds. It is a partial structure.

For this reason, when replacing the molds, all the molds 8 are moved left and right, which makes the movement somewhat heavy, and when the conveyor 1 is in the retracted position.
Although there is a disadvantage that the length L2 of the rail 14 becomes somewhat longer since the interval between the two parts cannot be narrowed, there is an advantage that the transport body 14 can be moved only once for - times of mold exchange.

FIG. 6 shows a third embodiment, in which the carrier 15 in the second embodiment can be moved by operating a handle 25.

That is, as shown in the figure, a rack 26 is formed on the lower surface of the carrier 15, and a pinion 27 driven by the worm of the handle 25 is engaged with the rack 26. Therefore, when the handle 25 is turned, the carrier 15 is moved via the pinion 27.

The above is an example.

The number of molds 8 disposed on the rail 14 is not limited to three.

The preliminary temperature control device 17 can be provided as necessary.

If the sliding contact between the movable mold bottom surface and the mounting portion 16 of the rail 14 during the molding operation is acceptable, the rail 1
A mechanism for raising and lowering 4 is not essential.

Since it is possible to move the carrier 15 and stop the mounted mold 8 at the mounting position of the mold clamping part 9 by visual inspection, the stopper 22 is not necessarily essential.

The handle 25 in the third embodiment is driven by a servo motor controlled by a control device (NC device) included in the molding machine, and when the control device shifts to the mold change mode, the mold change operation is automatically performed. You can also enter it.

Effects of the Invention The molds can be easily replaced, and by preparing a plurality of molds, the replacement efficiency can be improved.

Since there is no transfer point when moving the mold, the movement is smooth and unnecessary attention is not required.

The structure is simple and can be provided at low cost.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a plan view, Fig. 2 is a side view showing a section along line I-I in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 (a) is an enlarged view of the main part of the side view, and Fig. 3 Figure (B) is a front view along the line ■-■ in Figure 1, Figure 4 is an enlarged view of the main part of the front view, Figure 5 is a side view of the second embodiment similar to Figure 1; FIG. 6 is a side view of a third embodiment similar to FIG. 1. 13...Mold changing device, 14...Rail, 15...
- Conveyor, 16... Placement section, 17... Preliminary temperature control device. Figure 2 (a) Figure 3 (b) Procedures Amendment document November 20, 1990

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) Equipped with a rail and a carrier movable on the rail,
The conveyor is narrower than the thickness of the mold, and its upper surface is used as the mold mounting surface.The rail is placed above the lower tie bar of the mold clamping section in the molding machine, and runs across in a direction perpendicular to the mold clamping axis. ,and,
A mold changing device characterized by being fixed so as to guide a carrier from a mold mounting surface of a fixed platen at a position within the mold thickness range of the mold. (2) The mold changing device according to claim 1, further comprising preliminary temperature control means on the mold mounting surface of the carrier. (3) The mold changing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the rails are movable vertically in parallel. (4) The mold changing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a stopper that defines the left and right positions of the mold mounting range in the mold clamping section of the molding machine.