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Injection Machine Quick Connect Upgrade

Injection Machine Quick Connect Upgrade

Martin Lathuille
martin-lathuille
Created 4y. Edited 1y.Created about 4 years ago. Last edit over 1 year ago.
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This How-To will show you how to upgrade your injection machine and molds to make your injection process faster, safer, and more efficient! This trick works on any injection mold that have a threaded connection to the machine nozzle. Install a brass garden hose connector and voilà!
< 5 hours
Easy
injectionhackmould
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More Information
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1

The problems with injection

The injection machine is a great tool to raise awareness about plastic pollution and demonstrate the plastic recycling process. However if you need to produce many parts, the process can be a little tedious and wasteful: -Threaded Connection ---> Often get clogged up by molten plastic, making the assembly difficult and require cleaning between each cycle -Hard to demold ---> Mold connector creates undercut shapes and is hard to demold Here are the specifications that the upgrade system must achieve: 1- Allow molds to be attached and detached from the machine in 1 movement 2- Reduce uncomfortable position for the operator 3- Reduce production waste 4- Be usable with gloves easily 5- Reduce cycle time 6- Revoke the need for a plug 7- Do not require cleaning between each cycle The trick is to use a brass garden hose connector, available in gardening and home improvement store, to easily connect your mold ans be more efficient!
Step 1 Gallery image 1

2

Bill of materials:

You'll need : 1 - ¾ inch female brass garden hose connector with threads 2 - ½ inch male brass garden hose connector (or any other size depending on what fits on your mold), with INSIDE threads 1- ½ inch brass endcap 1 - 1 cm long piece of M14 threaded rod (or a 14mm diameter round) 1- 10mm drill bit ATTENTION: Buy the right hardware! See pictures
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3

Assembly

For this step you will need a drill and a vise or even better a drill press . 1- Drill a 10 mm hole trough the piece of M14 threaded rod 2- Place this part inside your mold ½ connector, it should fit inside and fill the space. 3- Screw the male connector on top of it 4- Drill with the 10 mm drill trough all the parts to enlarge the hole diameter. 5- Take the second male connector and screw it to the endcap --> Here's your new plug :) .
Step 3 Gallery image 1

4

No more undercut!

The piece of rod is here to fill the space inside the ½ inch connector. The molten plastic then flows trough the 10 mm round channel, and the sprue can be pulled out from the mold easely! If you forget the spacer
Step 4 Gallery image 1
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