In manufacturing of plastics products using injection molding process, molds are perhaps the most expensive investment in the entire operation. Plastics parts or products take its shape from the mold. It is often said that you may have the best injection molding machines but if the mold is poorly made, you will still get a poor product in the end.

An injection mold is a block of steel, assembled with different metal parts – each with a specific function. It has one or more cavity spaces inside the mold that allow molten plastics to flow into and to form its shape.

A mold have to perform several functions before a product is formed:

1. To receive the molten plastics material
2. To distribute the material
3. To form and shape the product
4. To cool and solidify the molten material
5. To eject the product from the mold

To operate these functions, a mold requires the following functional systems:

1. Spue and Runner system to receive the material and distribute the molten material.
2. Core and Cavity Inserts to form and shape the product.
3. Venting system to expel air that are trapped in the mold after it closes.
4. Cooling system to keep the mold cool and to solidify the molten material after the shape is formed.
5. Ejection system to remove the finished product from the mold.
6. Guiding system to avoid misalignment when the mold open and close during operation.
7. Mounting system to enable a mold to be mounted on a molding machine.

Click on link to view the Types of Injection Molds.

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