GATE- ALIGNED NOZZLE STACK FOR INJECTION-MOLDING APPARATUS

摘要

An injection molding apparatus that includes a nozzle stack that achieves alignment of its valve-stem tip with a gate orifice via two primary alignment interfaces between the nozzle stack and the gate region containing the gate orifice. By keying nozzle-stack alignment off of a unitary structure, alignment errors due to cumulative locational deviations are avoided. In one example, one of the primary alignment interfaces is provided by a seal ring that is sealingly engaged between the nozzle stack and the gate region proximate to the gate orifice. In that example, the second one of the primary alignment interfaces is located distally from the gate orifice and includes first and second alignment features on the nozzle stack and the gate region, respectively, that engage one another to effect the desired valve-stem-tip/gate orifice alignment.