Apparatus and method for detecting a position of an actuator piston

• Main Authors: Tan, Zhuang Rui, Yang, Lin
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 01.01.2019
• Subjects: AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING; CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; CONTROLLING; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MEASURING; MEASURING ANGLES; MEASURING AREAS; MEASURING IRREGULARITIES OF SURFACES OR CONTOURS; MEASURING LENGTH, THICKNESS OR SIMILAR LINEARDIMENSIONS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS ORELEMENTS; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHYSICS; REGULATING; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDEDFOR; SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; TESTING; TRANSPORTING; WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE, IN GENERAL

Apparatus and method for detecting a position of an actuator piston driving a valve pin in an injection molding system. The apparatus includes an actuator housing having a body portion, surrounding an axial bore, of a substantially non-magnetic and/or magnetically permeable material, a piston, movable within the axial bore for driving a valve pin, the piston including a magnetic member generating a magnetic field such that axial movement of the piston in the bore modifies the magnetic field according to the position of the piston relative to a detection position, and a magnetic field detector attached to an exterior surface of the body portion at the detection position for detecting the magnetic field associated with the position of the piston and generating an output signal determined by the piston position.