Wax Injection Press Nozzles
Redesign of Wax Injection Press Nozzle
Increased efficiency and durability of the nozzles of the wax injection presses. Utilized a Straight Thread to NPT thread adapter to fit a milled HDPE disk.
Overview
At PCC Structurals, there was the use of wax injection presses to create the positive mold that would be used to create the negative shell. These presses had nozzles that had an uncommon thread, inconsistent seal, expensive replacements, and weak nozzles.
Requirements
Replaceable Nozzles
Increased Durability
Improved Seal
Nozzle and Adapter to be Machined
Design
The nozzle thread on the press itself could not be changed but I could create an adapter to hold a HDPE disk. This disk would be used to create a better seal on the mold. Furthermore, this would make the nozzles easily replaceable and cheap to replace. This was achieved by designing an adapter in Solidworks that would have positive parts that would slip into pockets that would reside in the HDPE pucks. Additionally, the pucks would be screwed into the adapter to ensure a solid connection.
After creating the nozzle adapters, I had to design the HDPE disks that would serve as the nozzles for the injection press. I had to account for the size of the metal extrusions and the size of the screw holes that the nozzle adapter had.
Results
I designed both male and female straight thread adapters that could be machined in any of the PCC Facilities to increase efficiency across all of the was presses in the corporation. Furthermore, the use of replaceable HDPE disks made the wax presses more reliable, reduced the cost of the nozzles, and increased the durability of the nozzles.
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