CHAPTER 3 :

MOULD
(PART 3)
 OBJECTIVE :
3.3 Sketch types of injection mould
a. Two plate mould and three plate mould
b. An application of two plate moulds
c. Functions of mould components attached at two plate moulds

3.4 Complete mould designing

a. Core, Cavity, Insert and Parting line
b. Feed system in mould
i. Sprue
ii. Runner
iii. Gate system
c. Ejection system
d. Mould shrinkage, tapper and tolerances
e. Cooling system
f. Split, side cores and side cavities

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3.3 Sketch types of injection mould
• There are two main type of plastic injection mould:
a. Two-plate Mould and Three-plate Mould

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i. Two-plate Mould
• Two plate moulds are moulds whose sprue,
runners, gates, and cavities are all on the same side of the
mould as shown in Fig. 1, divided by the parting line into
moving half and fixed half.
1.sprue bush
2.guide pin
3.cavity retainer plate
4.core
5.core-retainer plate
6.support plate
7.sleeve
8.stop pin
9.spacer block
I0.core
11.screw
12.clamping plate of the moving half
13.ejector-retainer plate
14 sprue puller pin
15.ejector support plate
16.return pin
Fig. 1: Two-plate injection mould
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i. Two-plate Mould
• Their features are:
1. Simple structure, easy to operate, and satisllietory to
have the plastic part to drop off freely.
2. Minimal operational probIems, long lifespan, and
shortened moulding cycle.
3. Inexpensive mould cost.
4. Easier to choose gate shape and location.
5. Other than direct gates, gate location is limited to the
side of the plastic part.with certain exceptions.
6. After moulding, there is need to cut off the gate from
the part.

• The structure of Two-plate Mould :

a. Direct gate method
b. Side gate method
c. Side gate with stripper plate

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ii. Three-plate Mould
• Three-plate mould is a mould which has a runner plate in betteen
moving half and fixed half. The runner exists between the runner
plate and the fixed half as shown in Fig.2.
• The cavity is located in between the runner plate and moving half of
the mould. Pin-point gates typically locate at the middle of the
plastic part, away from its edge. satisfying the aesthetic
requirement and eliminating the process tot cutting off the gates.
1.sprue bush
2.guide pin
3.clamping plate of the fixed half
4.cavity-retainer plate
5.spring
6.stop Pin
7.core
8.core retainer plate
9 support plate
10.spacer block
11.screw
12.return pin
13.ejector pin
l 4 clamping plate of the moving half
15.ejeclor-retainer plate~
Fig. 2: Three-plate injection mould 16.ejectore-support plate
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ii. Three-plate Mould
• A three-plate mould has the following features:
1. Its gates can be located at the middle of the plastic part.
2. It allows pin point gates.
3. It may eliminate cutting off the gates manually, when
pin-point gates or submarine gates are used.
4. It has to take out both tile part and the runner
respectively.
5. The injection moulding machine should have sufficient
mould opening distance.
6. It has a complex structure, more problematic and less
durable.
7. It carries a higher mould cost.
8. It has a long moulding cycle.

• The structure of Two-plate Mould :

a. Pin point gate method
b. L type runner method

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b. An Application of Two-plate Mould
• For mass production, it can save money and time.
Besides, two plate mould drops the plastic part freely.
But after moulding, there’s a need to cut off the gate
manually.
• What’s more, it’s easier to choose a gate shape and
location when it comes to two plate mould.
• The gating method includes a side gate, direct gate or
submarine gate, and side gate and direct gate are
generally used.
• With submarine gates, parts and runner are separate.
• Other than direct gates, gate location is limited to the
side of the plastic part, with a few exceptions.

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b. An Application of Two-plate Mould
• Fig. below is the photos of two plate injection
mould with one cavily for a plastic ear rack of
Bluetooth product which has been installed on a
plastic injection moulding machine.

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c. The Functions Of Mould Components
1. Fixed Clamping Plate or Top
Plate
Holds The fixed side of the mold to
attached at the fixed platen of the
injection machine. at this plate will
attach locating ring, eye bolt, and
sprue bush.
2. Runner Stripper Plate
This plate only used in 3 plate
molds type, the function is to cut
resin from nozzle in top of sprue
bush, and pull the runner by runner
locking pin.
3. Fixed Mold Plate or Cavity plate.
Use to hold cavity side of product,
leader pin, support pin, Puller
bolts, and Angular pin when slider
attached.
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c. The Functions Of Mould Components
4. Movable Cavity Plate or Cavity
plate
It used to attach core side of
product, return pin, leader bush
and slider core if needed.
5. Back up Plate or Support plate
Used to support cavity plate,
attach the hole for return pin's
spring, and cooling channel when
in cavity plate can not make it.
6. Spacer Block
Mounted between the movable
clamping plate (bottom plate) and
the movable cavity plate to give
space and allow the ejector plate
to move when ejecting the
part. the required length of spacer
block depend on ejector stroke that
needed to eject product.
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c. The Functions Of Mould Components
7. Ejector retainer plate
to hold the ejector, Z pin, shoulder
bolts and give space to ejector
leader pin and support pillar.

8. Ejector Plate
Pushes the ejector pins and return
pins, connected with ejector rods.

9. Movable Clamping Plate or

Bottom plate
Holds The movable side of the
mold like spacer block, support
plate, cavity plate and ejector
mechanism to the movable platen
of the injection machine.

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3.4 Complete mould designing
a. Core, Cavity, Insert & Parting line
CORE
• Refers to side of the tool where the plastic part will
stick to and is ejected from, also known as bottom
half of the tool.
The Core :
- It forms the internal shape of
the moulding.

The Cavity :
- It gives the external form to
the moulding.
Arrangement of Core and Cavity into the mould 13
CAVITIES
• Are actual moulding locations.
• Resin enter the cavities through gate, fills the cavities, and
cools to form the solid. The parts are ejected and finished.
• Cavities are the heart of the moulding process, and must be
precisely prepared.
• The shape of the cavities determines the shape of the part.

– Where the part is made

– Layout is critical to
material flow

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INSERT
• Cavities and cores are divided into pieces, called inserts,
and sub-assemblies, also called inserts, blocks, or chase blocks.
• By substituting interchangeable inserts, one mould may make
several variations of the same part.

Insert form recess Core pin insert

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 PARTING LINE
• A parting line in mouldmaking is
the place where two or more parts of
the mould meet.
• At times, either because the mould
halves do not meet with enough
precision or because injection
pressure is high, material will creep
into the space between the moulds.
This material is generally called
moulding flash or simply flashing.
• At times the parting line shows up as
a raised line around the product
(witness mark) on commodity
products such as toys.
• In engineering drawing, parting line
is often abbrivated as PL. ASME's
Y14.8 standard specifies a symbol for
parting line.
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b. Feed system in mould
i. Sprue
ii. Runner
iii. Gate system
Before entering the cavity
the plasticized material
passes through:
• The sprue
• Main runner
• Branch runner
• Gate
This is called the feed system.
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i. Sprue
• Is perpendicular to the runner and is the channel that
links the injection moulding machine nozzle to the runner.
• The channel that run through the stationary plate of the
mould is called the sprue channel (material that is in the
channel is called the sprue).
• The solid sprue is removed from the finished part
assembly after the part is ejected from the mould.
• Resin flow from the sprue through the runner (connecting
channel) to the mould cavities.

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ii. Runner
• Distribution system for the resin from the sprue
to the cavities.
• Flow characteristics (viscosity), temperature and
other factors are important in determining the
runner diameter and length.

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• If the diameter of the runner is too small or the length is
too long,the resin can freeze in the runner before the
mould is completely full.
• If the runner system is too large, excess material would
be ejected and too much regrind created.

• Runner Layout :
Conventional Improved Balanced “H” Circular

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 Runner Layout :
Conventional Improved Balanced “H” Circular

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• If the resins have a high viscosity, larger runners are needed
compared to low viscosity resin.
• The optimum flow of the resin through the runner system
depends on the shape and diameter of the channel.
• Round channel give the best flow characteristics but difficult
to machine.
• Better shape where the depth of the channel is at least two-
thirds the size of the width and the sides are tapered between
2 to 5º.

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iii. Gate System
• The end of runner and the entry path into the
cavity. (A narrow constriction between the
runner and the cavity).
• The gate shape can also affect the filling of
the cavity, dimension and properties of the
parts.
Function:
Allow the mould to be easy seperated from
the runner and sprue, prevent the backflow
from cavity during screw back,acts like a
valve to control the flow rate and melt
flowability.
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• Gate

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• Types of Gates

Submarine Gate

Fan or Edge Gate

Pinpoint Gate
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c. Explain An Ejection System
Ejection System
• An ejection system is needed to eject the molded
part from the cavity at the end of the molding cycle.
Ejector pins built into the moving half of the mold usually
accomplish this function. The cavity is divided between the two
mold halves in such a way that the natural shrinkage of the molding
causes the part to stick to the moving half. When the mold opens,
the ejector pins push the part out of the mold cavity.

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• Ejector system
Ejector pins

Return
Springs

Ejector
Plate

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Picture below shown common and main component for ejector system.
The target is to eject the product (black) from core insert after mold open.

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When the ejector system work and push the product to outer parting
line the side view picture is like below:

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How could the ejector
push the product ????
1. After cavity of mold injected with plastic material, and cooled
mold base will open, and product have to eject from the core
insert.
2. After mold base in open condition, rod from injection machine
will push the ejector rod, because ejector rod connected to
ejector plate, ejector plate will move forward.
3. Ejector guide pin will guide those moving, to prevent scratch
and guide the moving more easily use ejector guide bush,
ejector pin and ejector guide bush will have little friction.
4. Ejector pin clamped between two ejector plate, because that
ejector pin will also move forward push the product.
5. After product take it out from cavity, mold base will moving
close again.
6. And because at the return pin have spring, spring and closing
mold will guide ejector back to the position. 31
Ejector Component List :
1. Ejector plate, place for ejector and ejector guide bush, shoulder bolts
and return pin.
2. Ejector Backing Plate, place for clamping the ejector and push back
the ejector.
3. Return pin, push the ejector plate and ejector backing plate to first
position.
4. Spring in return pin, to make sure and holds the ejector plate so it's
always in back position, when in assembling process, it can lift up the
ejector pin, and ejector plate so the position always in back, give the little
preloads to ejector plate to make sure the ejector plate position.
5. Shoulder bolts, first time lock in assembling molds
6. Ejector pin, eject and push the product from core.
7. Ejector guide pin, guide the moving of ejector plate.
8. Ejector guide pin bush, to make sliding and prevent large contact
when moving.
9. Support pillar, to prevent large deflection of core plate when injecting
the plastic material process held.
10.Ejector rod, contact with rod in injection machine, this also passing
force from injection machine to ejector plate.
11.Ejector bolts, to tie up between ejector plate and ejector backing plate. 32
d. Mould shrinkage, tapper and tolerances
WHAT IS SHRINKAGE ?
• Shrinkage is inherent in the injection molding process. Shrinkage
occurs because the density of polymer varies from the processing
temperature to the ambient temperature.
• There are linear and volumetric shrinkage. Both methods are difficult
to measure accurately.

BASIC FORMULA OF SHRINKAGE

with
D' = D x(1+shr) D' is dimension after shrinkage
D is dimension before shrinkage
shr is shrinkage (in persen %)

so to calculate shrinkage we can use formula

shr = (D'/D)-1
from this basic formula we can develop by substitute with other formula
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SHRINKAGE
• Moulding shrinkage is affected by various conditions.
The main ones being:

Shrinkage increases with

- Increase of material temperature.
- Increase of mould temperature.
- Increase in section thickness.

Shrinkage decrease with

- Higher cavity pressure (injection pressure).
- Longer injection time.
- Presence of fillers.

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Picture below shown relation between shrinkage and
injection machine parameter.

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e. Cooling System
Cooling
– Reduce cycle time
– Control formation of crystalline areas
– Freeze part

Mold cavity

Cooling lines

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 Mold cooling system overview
Importance of cooling system design
Mold cooling accounts for more than two-thirds of
the total cycle time in the production of injection
molded thermoplastic parts.

FIGURE 1. Mold cooling accounts for more than two-thirds of the total cycle37time
 An efficient cooling circuit design reduces the cooling
time, which, in turn, increases overall productivity.
Moreover, uniform cooling improves part quality by
reducing residual stresses and maintaining dimensional
accuracy and stability (see Figure 2).

FIGURE 2. Proper and efficient cooling improves part quality and productivity
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Mold Cooling System components
A mold cooling system typically consists of the
following items:
- Temperature controlling unit
- Pump
- Supply manifold
- Hoses
- Cooling channels in the mold
- Collection manifold
The mold itself can be considered as a heat
exchanger, with heat from the hot polymer melt
taken away by the circulating coolant.

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Figures 3 and 4 illustrate the components of a typical cooling system.
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Factors Affecting The Cooling
Conditions In A Mould
The thermal conductivity the mold materials;
The surface area and nature of the cooling channels;
The number of cooling channels and their proximity to the mold
cavity walls;
The flow rate of the circulating fluid;
The nature of the flow in the cooling channels

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 Cooling Channel Designs
 In the best designs , the maximum cooling is directed
where the plastic melt is hottest.

Typical cooling of molded cup 42

Parallel & Series Cooling Method At Flat Type Plate
of Mold Base
Almost mold designer know that cooling is biggest part that effect
cycle time of injection mold, a good design in cooling will make heat
exchange between resin after injected and mold will reduce cycle time
and give good product.
At flat type of mold base plate like stripper plate between top plate and
cavity plate, top plate it self, and support plate after core plate, at the
top plate cooling not always used, it very depend on resin type, and
product shape.
The picture below shown some flat mold base that we can use parallel
or series cooling methods.

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 Parallel Cooling Channel
Parallel cooling channels are drilled straight trough supply manifold cooling
pipe, due the parallel design flow characteristics, the flow rate along various
cooling will different, because each cooling pipe have their own flow
resistance.
As a results, cooling of the mold will not uniform. So, it's clear that parallel
circuit of cooling in molds are very poor flow rates.

Basic mold base cooling have 3

parts, they are :
1. Main Cooling pipe,
commonly cooling pipe make by
drilling using bore, the longer drilled
hole
2. stopper plugs,
like at slider cooling and cavity
cooling stopper plugs is prevent
water or oil coolant flow to
undesirable way.
3. Inner stopper plugs,
the function is same as stopper
plugs, but assembly methods and
location is different, it assembled at
inner of cooling pipe.
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 Series Cooling Channel
The parts is same with parallel cooling type, but the construction is
different, at the series cooling channel types, it connected in single
loop from the coolant inlet until its outlet, we can configure the flow
by adjust the inner stopper plug type.
When design it is recommended to use same size of diameter
cooling, because it's can maintain the turbulent flow, turbulent flow
enables heat to be transferred more effectively.

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 Straight Type Cooling For Cavity
Basically cavity system cooling can divide into two type: 1. Straight type
2. Circular type
Straight type system, usually have in and out of water pipe in not same side of
mold or cavity.
Although the pipe that cool of insert part doesn't straight, but if inlet and outlet
cooling fluid is not in same side we can consider that those type of cooling is
straight. red color pipe indicate inlet and blue color pipe indicate outlet.
Yellow part at each side is plug to prevent unwanted flow of cooling, pink
block at the center is core insert part. with attach to core block using bolt.
Block with blue color is core block before inserted to mold base.

Without the cavity block Include the cavity block 46

f. Split, Side Cores and Side Cavities
• Basically the standard molds is same as two plate molds construction,
they divided in two side : cavity side and core side,
• Cavity side is the side that construct to flowing plastic material from
nozzle to cavity parts, basically they consist of sprue, runner.
• Core side construct to make shape for core, ejection system, at this
side we design ejection system.
• Standard mold have one parting line, and have one opening direction.

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f. Split, Side Cores and Side Cavities
• Basically the split cavity is same as 2 plate standard mold, but the
cavity have split block to make undercut product or external threads.
• This type of mold use when the slider is not enough to make the
undercut or the threads.
• The disadvantages of this mold is when use for little parts, the
construction will difficult.

• There are other parting (or split) lines

than those that separate the cavity and
core halves.

• These are the separating lines between

two or more cavity sections if the
cavity must separate (split or retract)
to make it possible to eject the molded
product as the mold opens for ejection.
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