Injection molding dies, as the most crucial production equipment in injection molding factories, determine the appearance, specifications, dimensions, and surface smoothness of products. The die material is stainless steel, generally consisting of a front mold and a rear mold.

1. Mold Protection

Because molds have characteristics such as specificity, accuracy, and susceptibility to damage, safety protection of molds is particularly important. The overall management includes several aspects:

(1) Rust prevention: Avoid rust caused by water seepage, condensation, rain, fingerprints, etc., on the injection molding die;

(2) Anti-slip: Prevent damage to the mold due to cracked ejector pins or untimely return;

(3) Burr removal: Prevent mold burrs caused by wiping with cloth, material impact, hand wiping, contact with sprue cutters, or knife contact;

(4) Missing parts: Prevent damage to the mold during use due to lack of support rods, seals, or other parts;

(5) Pressure prevention: Prevent mold damage caused by clamping while product residue remains;

(6) Low-pressure protection: Prevent damage caused by excessive low-pressure protection pressure.

Among them, mold damage caused by cracked ejector pins, untimely ejector pin return, product residue in the mold, and lack of auxiliary parts accounts for a high proportion. Because these occur frequently, over 85% of mold damage is caused by these reasons. Since mold repair costs are generally high, preventing such occurrences is directly related to the interests of the injection molding industry.

To avoid production delays and expensive repair costs caused by mold damage, and to save labor resources, some companies have conducted continuous research and improvement, using machine vision technology to develop a product called a "mold protector".

Mold monitors, or mold protectors, also known as mold electronic monitoring, can effectively protect valuable molds. Mold experts indicate that injection molding mold protection systems, installed on plastic machines, can directly check whether products meet standards and check for residue before clamping to prevent mold damage.

During the operation of the plastic machine, in each cycle, expensive molds may be at risk of damage due to plastic residue or slider displacement. The mold protector can prevent this from happening, automatically preventing mold closure and issuing an alarm in case of an abnormality.

2. Mold Repair

(1) When assembling and disassembling molds, prevent scratches and water splashing, and move steadily;

(2) Spray hot mold, then spray a small amount of release agent;

(3) Conduct a comprehensive inspection of the mold and perform rust prevention treatment. Carefully wipe dry the water and dirt from the cavity, core, injection unit, and guide posts, and spray mold rust preventive oil and apply salt-free butter.

3. Mold Maintenance

During continuous operation, molds are prone to problems such as wear and tear of parts, lubricant deterioration, water seepage, and plastic extrusion damage during movement, requiring mold maintenance.

Mold maintenance is generally divided into daily maintenance and major maintenance.

(1) Daily mold maintenance generally includes the following aspects:

① Regular rust prevention (appearance, PL surface, mold core, core, etc.);

② Regularly replenish lubricant (injection unit, guide posts, etc.);

③ Regularly replace easily worn parts (support rods, anchor bolts, etc.).

(2) Major mold maintenance requires professional maintenance personnel to disassemble the mold and conduct professional inspection and protection of the mold core, ejector pins, etc.