| Pennsylvania’s
leading plastic injection molding manufacturer, Aline Components,
Inc. is skilled in creating cold runner molds to deliver
molten thermoplastic material to the mold cavities for custom
plastic part or component replication. The design of cold
runner systems is an area that requires some review to ensure
the highest level of accuracy and efficiency that those
in the industry have come to expect. However, at Aline we
have many years of experience in cold runner technology
and have established techniques that help us produce reliable
product quality while minimizing runner scrap.
Contrary to hot
runner molds, cold runner molds produce both a part
and a runner for every cycle. With heightened interest in
maintaining our natural resources there has been some concern
as to whether cold runner systems are environmental-friendly.
In a cold runner mold, the runner consists of excess plastic
material retained in feed channels that is cooled and ejected
with every part. After production, runners are either disposed
of or reground and reprocessed with the original material.
This not only increases steps in the manufacturing process,
but also decreases the plastic’s mechanical properties.
Despite these concerns, there are many significant advantages
to using a cold runner mold.
Advantages of Aline’s
Cold Runner Molds
- Less expensive than hot runner molds
- Less mold maintenance
- Less skill necessary for setup and operation
- Easy color changes
Two primary types of cold runner molds are
two-plate and three-plate molds. Easiest and least expensive,
two-plate cold runner molds are equipped with a single parting
plane in which the mold splits and forms two halves. Since
the runner system is located on the parting plane, plastic
parts or components can only be gated on their perimeter.
Three-plate cold runner molds have two plates with two parting
planes in which the mold splits into three sections each
time the part is ejected. Since the runner system can be
located on one of the two parting planes, plastic parts
or components can be gated in the most efficient locations
for greater flexibility and easier separation.
For simple and economical mold designs,
rely on cold runner molds from Aline Components.
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