Mold stack having a floating cavity insert

摘要

There is provided a mold stack (100). The mold stack comprises a cavity insert (110) configured to define a portion of a molding cavity (108) for defining a body portion of a preform to be molded therein, the cavity insert (110) positionable, in use, within a bore (113) in a cavity plate (114) in a loose fit arrangement, allowing for a degree of float, in a lateral direction, of the cavity insert (110) relative to the cavity plate (114).

主权项

1. A mold stack comprising:
a cavity insert configured to define a portion of a molding cavity for defining a body portion of a preform to be molded therein, the cavity insert positionable, in use, within a bore in a cavity plate in a loose fit arrangement, allowing for a degree of float, in a lateral direction, of the cavity insert relative to the cavity plate; a flange insert, positionable in use and at least partially within the bore in the cavity plate in association with the cavity insert, the flange insert is coupled to the cavity plate with a floating retainer structure, whereby the flange insert is provided with a degree of float; the flange insert includes a flange member, the flange member projecting away from a mold face (114a) of the cavity plate, the flange member projects into a space between the bore and a portion of the cavity insert, the flange member is sandwiched in-between the cavity insert and the walls of the bore in a pocket defined in the cavity plate; the flange insert is positionable, in use, in-between the cavity insert and the bore; the mold stack further includes a split mold insert that includes at least a split mold insert pair; during initial stages of mold closing, the flange insert aligns with the split mold inserts along a first interface and through an alignment process the flange insert is able to move laterally whereby the cavity insert and a gate insert move and align therewith as a whole.