The Micro-Molder is a liquid injection molding machine (LIM) designed and built to meet the medical industry’s need for a machine that can accurately mold small amounts of silicone material on or around inserts such as silicone, thermoplastics and metallic components, a process also commonly referred to as over-molding. It is designed for operating in a clean room. The Micro-Molder is a compact unit with a foot print of 58” X 28”. It stands 73” tall. It weighs only 1000 pounds and is designed for setting on the floor or on leveling pads.
The Micro-Molder is a vertical clamp – vertical injection press equipped with a rotary table to provide for convenient and efficient insert molding. The Micro-Molder uses no hydraulics so it will never leak oil. Electric actuators drive the clamping system and the injection unit. Pneumatics are used to move the ejectors, the injection carriage, the metering cylinders and the material feed tubes.
The press is equipped with an 8 ton toggle clamp that is driven by an electrical actuator. The machine is equipped with an electrically driven 180 degree oscillating rotary table. The rotary table is turned by a D-C electric motor with a built in gear reducer.
The injection unit is the key feature on the Micro-Molder. In most cases the two components must be delivered in equal volumes and uniformly mixed before injection into the mold. This is readily accomplished in the Micro-Molder injection unit. The injection unit is comprised of two Syringe type feed tubes for the A & B LSR components, a two-plunger metering system, two static mixers and an electrically actuated injection unit. The system is designed to insure a very accurate shot size based on volume and pressure.
The positional accuracy of the injection plunger is within 0.001 inches. The injection stroke is 100 mm and depending on the required shot size and accuracy, the user can choose among several different diameter injection plunger diameters.
Diameter Total Shot Volume 4 mm 1.25 cubic centimeters 6 mm 2.80 cubic centimeters 8 mm 5 cubic centimeters 10 mm 7.8 cubic centimeters 16 mm 20 cubic centimeters
The MicroMolder can mold parts as small as 0.0125 cc.
A smaller injection unit similar to the one used on the LMG Nano injection press is also be available. This unit will have a plunger stroke of 60 mm and an injection plunger diameter of 1.6 mm. The shot size control will be repetitively capable of molding parts that are as small as 0.005cc.
The Micro-Molder injection unit is designed so that the unit can be removed in two minutes. This would allow the molder the opportunity to install a second injection unit in its place with only a minimal (less than 10 minutes) disruption in the cycle time.
Control
The Micro-Molder uses an Allen Bradley Micrologix PLC and a Parker CTC computer operator interface. All Molding parameters including heat are set on the operator interface. The CTC is capable of the optional data collection, real time graphing and Ethernet connectivity.