An on-line quality monitoring system for thermoplastic injection molding

Modern injection molding machines utilize sophisticated systems for control of machine parameters and plastic process variables. The relationships between these variables and selected aspects of molded part quality have been widely studied. While these approaches have produced some interesting correlations regarding molded part quality, they can not generally guarantee satisfactory parts without time consuming and uneconomical application specific research. This paper discusses the challenges and design strategies of an on-line quality monitoring system incorporating twenty man-years of research.