Glossary
ASTM
(American Society for Testing Materials) A voluntary membership organization with members from a broad spectrum of individuals, agencies, and industries concerned with materials. As the world's largest source of voluntary consensus standards for materials, products, systems, and services, ASTM is a resource for sampling and testing methods, health and safety aspects of materials, safe performance guidelines, and effects of physical and biological agents and chemicals.
"A" PLATE
Part of the stationary section of the mold into which the leader or guide pins are mounted. Also used to hold core, cavity blocks, and sprue bushing.
ANSI
(American National Standards Institute) A privately funded, voluntary membership organization that identifies industrial and public needs for national consensus standards, and coordinates development of such standards. Many ANSI standards relate to the safe design and performance of equipment, such as safety shoes, eyeglasses, smoke detectors, fire pumps and household appliances; and safe practices or procedures, such as noise measurement, testing of fire extinguishers and flame arrestors, industrial lighting practices, and the use of abrasive wheels.
ABRASION RESISTANCE
The ability to resist localized surface damage from contact with other material in use, such as gouging, grinding, scratching or erosion.
AUTOMATIC MOLD
A mold designed and constructed in which the material is loaded into the mold and the finished parts are ejected from the mold without an operator.
BACK TAPER
Sometimes called back draft or reverse draft.
BACK-UP PLATE
See SUPPORT PLATE
BALANCED RUNNER SYSTEM
A runner system that is designed to fill each mold cavity equally, continuously, and simultaneously.
BALL END MILL
A hardened cutter, capable of machining a half-round slot, or shape into annealed metal using the milling machine.
BENCHING
Term used to define the initial steps in polishing to prepare cavity and core blocks for the actual polishing process.
BERYLLIUM COPPER
Beryllium is added to copper to form a hard, strong alloy. It is excellent as a heat sink, or heat absorber, for a component portion of the mold that is hard to reach by typical cooling design. It can also be used to conduct heat.
BOTTOM CLAMPING PLATE
Holds the moving portion of the mold to the movable platen of the injection machine.
"B" PLATE
Top plate of the movable section of the mold. Forms the parting line of the mold with "A" plate. Used to hold the leader pin bushings as well as core and cavity blocks.
BUSHINGS
Hardened and ground steel bushings which are pressed into one of the plates. They serve as bearing surfaces for the leader pins.
CAVITY
The depression or female portion of the mold which gives the external surface to the part being produced.
CHILLER
See COOLING UNIT
CHILLING UNIT
A mechanical refrigerator designed for outgoing water of a specific temperature. Ethylene glycol can be added to the water if a temperature below freezing is required.
COLD SLUG WELL
A recess or groove, at the end of a long length that traps the leading cooled plastic. A Cold Slug Well is typically machined in a runner part of a balanced runner system, and can be used to prevent or minimize weld lines.
CONDUCTION
Transferring heat from two or more bodies that are in contact with each other, such as heat conducted by mold-base steels.
CONVECTION
The ability of a medium to carry heat from one place to another, such as coolant traveling through mold steel channels.
1
2
3
4
5
6