ME 470-001

Homework 6
11/7/16
Examine carefully a product with at least one component that was injection molded.
a)
Sketch the component, indicating on the sketch the location of (i) the gate; (ii) the parting
line where the mold halves met; and any weld lines that may be visible.
The product chosen for this assignment is plastic army men figures:

Location of gates
Mold parting lines

The mold parting lines run down the center of the toy as shown in the figure above. The location
of the gates are setup in either one or two locations depending on manufacturer. In the figure
above, the gates are located at the bottom of the base, the figure below shows two gates one on
the helmet and one on the base. Sample of the molded part shown below:

b) List the advantages and disadvantages of locating the gate of the molding

(your product) in alternative positions.

The advantage of having the gate at the bottom and the top of the army soldiers is that the gates
do not impact the detail of the figure and it also allows the material to flow evenly in the mold
cavity. Moving these gates could impact the detail by leaving material on a detailed portion of
the army figure. Additionally, the base and helmet have no need for structurally since these
figure are used free-standing and without loads.