The Robotic Future in Injection Molding

Injec­tion mold­ing robots pro­duce parts by inject­ing var­i­ous types of mate­ri­als into a mold. With their long reach (hor­i­zon­tal­ly and ver­ti­cal­ly) and their high degree of flex­i­bil­i­ty, these robots are becom­ing more fre­quent in many indus­tries. They are designed for sev­er­al process­es, like load­ing com­po­nents into the injec­tion mold­ing machine, and fin­ish­ing and assem­bling injec­tion mold­ed parts. They can even per­form sec­ondary process­es like in-mold dec­o­rat­ing and label­ing. Robots used for injec­tion mold­ing are cost-effec­tive and time-efficient.

Injec­tion mold­ing work cells are now also per­form­ing son­ic and laser weld­ing oper­a­tions. Using the injec­tion mold­ing cell to weld reduces cycle times, which is crit­i­cal in the injec­tion mold­ing indus­try. Fur­ther, injec­tion mold­ing work cells can pre-treat plas­tic or rub­ber parts. This is use­ful before apply­ing adhe­sives or paint­ing the part.

One of the main types of sec­ondary robot­ic injec­tion mold­ing is insert load­ing. With­in the cycle time, robots can insert met­al or plas­tic parts into the machine for the mold­ing process. Then they can unload the machine, take the mold­ed part and insert it into anoth­er machine for the over-mold­ing process. 

Dur­ing the over-mold­ing process, two mate­ri­als are merged to form one cohe­sive com­po­nent. Not only can the robot remove the part from the injec­tion mold­ing machine, but it can do sec­ondary appli­ca­tions as well. While the injec­tion mold­ing machine is work­ing, the robot can take advan­tage of its valu­able free time by per­form­ing trim­ming, de-gat­ing, or oth­er sec­ondary process­es. This leads to increased effi­cien­cy and output. 

There are in-mold label­ing work cells avail­able, where a robot pulls down labels into the injec­tion mold­ing machine to become inte­grat­ed with the part. This ensures the label is per­ma­nent on the part and can­not be removed or damaged.

A wide range of robots with vary­ing pay­loads can be used for automa­tion on injec­tion mold­ing machines. 3‑axis robots are used for hor­i­zon­tal plas­tic injec­tion mold­ing machines and high-speed process­es, where­as 6‑axis robots are flex­i­ble in both hor­i­zon­tal and ver­ti­cal injec­tion mold­ing machines, allow­ing a larg­er work enve­lope. They are also suit­able for floor space con­straints. SCARA robots pro­vide a cir­cu­lar work enve­lope and are ide­al­ly used for loading/​unloading ver­ti­cal injec­tion mold­ing machines. Side Entry robots, tai­lored to a spe­cif­ic appli­ca­tion, are per­fect for in-mold label­ing and dec­o­rat­ing. Ser­vo Sprue Pick­ers are used for sprue removal in injec­tion molding.

What­ev­er the type, robots are being increas­ing­ly used as an option for injec­tion mold­ing. They are the future of the process. Robots​.com remains com­pet­i­tive by pro­vid­ing var­i­ous new and used, but recon­di­tioned, robots for cus­tomers to choose from. Con­tact us today at 877−762−6881.