Injection Moulding
Operating Procedure
Note: The Nissei ES2000 Injection Molding Machine has several switches and
buttons, and also has a touch screen. To minimize confusion in distinguishing between
which buttons are located in which positions on the machine, the buttons and switches are
divided into three categories:
[ ] – these brackets indicate a button that is located on the panel
< > – these brackets indicate a switch that is turned clockwise or
counterclockwise
( ) – these brackets indicate a button that is located on the touch screen
Startup Procedure
1. Turn on the machine by turning the key switch to the ‘On’ position.
2. Sign in by entering name, email, material, etc. in the log book.
3. Turn on the key switch, which is located on the lower right side of the
machine.
4. Turn on cooling water to the machine by switching the correct valve to the
open position. It is very important to remember to turn the cooling water on,
as the high temperature of the machine could melt the polymer before it
actually enters the heating chamber, resulting in a blockage in the barrel.
5. Turn on the operating power by pressing the orange [OPER POWER] button
located on the lower right side of the panel. The button should light up if the
machine is actually receiving power. If it doesn’t, see Steve Hodgson and ask
him to turn on the power switch, and try again.
6. After about 20 seconds the machine will start up and the touch screen will
display an image. You must now ensure that the proper operating program is
loaded for the polymer that you are working with (TEST_PE for polyethylene
or TEST_PP for polypropylene). Push [DATA CHANGE] to view which
program is currently loaded and to see a list of all other available programs.
To load a new program, click on the icon in the upper left side of the touch
screen that looks like a filing cabinet (this means that you are going to load a
program from the system’s hard drive, as opposed to a floppy disk). Scroll up
and down the screen by pushing the directional arrows on the panel. Once the
proper program is selected, load it by pressing (CONFIRM).
7. Ensure that the machine is set to heat to the desired temperature. Push
[TEMP] to access the temperature profile of the heating barrel. If the
temperatures indicated are not correct, they can be changed by touching the
temperature location (nozzle, front, middle, rear) and input the new
temperature using the number pad on the panel. Temperatures should be at
least 50 oC above the melting temperature for the polymer.
8. Ensure that all switches are in the neutral position (indicated by ‘o’), and that
the machine is set to operate manually (indicated by a hand icon ‘ ’).
9. Turn on the heater and motor power by pressing the orange [MOTOR
POWER] and [HEATER POWER] buttons near the [OPER POWER] button.
NOTE: It is very important that the machine is not re-started within 60 s of a
shutdown. Doing so could cause a surge in power, destroying all electronics
on the machine. See attached file.
10. Wait 40 minutes for the machine to heat up.
Operating Procedure
1. Open hopper supply gate to allow polymer pellets to enter the heating barrel.
2. Ensure that the injection unit is positioned away from the mold. If it is not,
manually move it by turning the <INJECT UNIT> switch to the ‘BWD’
position. Once the unit stops moving, return the switch to the neutral position.
3. Purge the extruder by pressing the [PURGE] button once. Once the purge has
stopped, push the [PURGE] button again to turn off the purge function and
wipe off the end of the nozzle. CAUTION: The purged polymer is very hot!
Allow it cool before removing it from underneath the injection unit.
4. Align the screw before beginning a mold by pressing and holding the
[SCREW MOTOR] button ‘ ’ until the screw stops turning.
5. Check the settings of all controlled variables (times, pressures, velocities, etc.)
to ensure that they are at desired levels.
6. Ensure that operation safety door is closed. If not, an alarm will sound when
molding begins.
7. The machine is now ready to begin molding. To run the machine, turn the
[OPERATION] switch from manual ‘ ’ to single-cycle automatic mode ‘ ’.
8. Operational variables can now be manipulated. For a list of what variables can
be manipulated and how to manipulate them, see below.
Shutdown Procedure
1. Turn the machine into manual mode by turning the [OPERATION] switch
from automatic ‘ ’ to manual ‘ ’.
2. Turn the [INJECTION UNIT] to the ‘BWD’ position to move the extruder
away from the mold.
3. Close the hopper gate.
4. Purge the barrel until empty.
5. Turn off the heater, motor, and operating power by pressing the orange
[OPER POWER], [MOTOR POWER], and [HEATER POWER] buttons.
6. Turn off the cooling water.
7. Turn key switch to the ‘Off’ position.
8. Clean up all material and sign out in the log book.