<!DOCTYPE html
  PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">

<!--
Copyright (c) 2006 UGS Corp.

All Rights Reserved.

This software and related documentation are proprietary to UGS Corp.
-->
<html>
   <head>
      <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
      <title>Gate Overview</title>
      <script language="javaScript">
        abridged="false";
        displayConditions=new Array();
      </script>
      <link type="text/css" href="../css/main_styles.css" rel="stylesheet">
   </head>
   <body class="bodydocs" onload="top.pageLoader()" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
      <div class="title_topic2" id="xps10_pagetitle">Gate Overview</div>
      <hr noshade="true">
      <p class="para_topic">Plastic molds have flow pathways that direct the plastic to the mold cavities. The design of these pathways varies depending upon the part shape, size, and number of parts to be molded. The most common type of pathway is called a cold runner. Cold runner systems have three types of channels.</p>
      <div class="figure">
         <p align="center"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/ico_t_gate.gif"></p>
      </div>
      <div class="title_figure">Gate button</div>
      <table align="center">
         <tr valign="top">
            <th bgcolor="#c0c0c0" colspan="1" rowspan="1" width="12%">
               <p class="para_th">Channel</p>
            </th>
            <th bgcolor="#c0c0c0" colspan="1" rowspan="1" width="87%">
               <p class="para_th">Function</p>
            </th>
         </tr>
         <tr valign="top">
            <td bgcolor="#f7f7f7" colspan="1" rowspan="1" width="12%">
               <p class="para_td">Sprue</p>
            </td>
            <td bgcolor="#f7f7f7" colspan="1" rowspan="1" width="87%">
               <p class="para_td">This is the path from the outside of the mold to the parting surface. A standard sprue bushing usually forms this section.</p>
            </td>
         </tr>
         <tr valign="top">
            <td bgcolor="#f7f7f7" colspan="1" rowspan="1" width="12%">
               <p class="para_td">Runner</p>
            </td>
            <td bgcolor="#f7f7f7" colspan="1" rowspan="1" width="87%">
               <p class="para_td">This is the channel that is cut into the parting surface of a cavity or core or both. It begins at the end of the sprue and provides a pathway to the fill location of the mold cavity.</p>
            </td>
         </tr>
         <tr valign="top">
            <td bgcolor="#f7f7f7" colspan="1" rowspan="1" width="12%">
               <p class="para_td">Gate</p>
            </td>
            <td bgcolor="#f7f7f7" colspan="1" rowspan="1" width="87%">
               <p class="para_td">This is the final pathway from the runner to the cavity. Gates come in a variety of designs depending upon the modling characteristics and cosmetic requirements of the molded product.</p>
            </td>
         </tr>
      </table><br><p align="center"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/illustrations/gate01_1.gif"></p>
      <ol type="1" start="1">
         <li>
            <p class="para_item">Product</p>
         </li>
         <li>
            <p class="para_item">Sprue</p>
         </li>
         <li>
            <p class="para_item">Gate</p>
         </li>
         <li>
            <p class="para_item">Runner</p>
         </li>
      </ol>
      <div class="figure">
         <p class="para_figure"></p>
      </div>
      <div class="title_figure">Sprue, Runner, Gate, and Product</div>
      <p class="para_topic">Mold Wizard provides tools to design sprues, runners, and gates. You can choose gate types from the gate library. You also can customize your own gate type. The gate point sub-function enables you to easily indicate the gate point.</p>
      <div class="figure">
         <p align="center"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/gate_icon.gif"></p>
      </div>
      <div class="title_figure">Gate button</div>
      <p class="para_topic">The gates are fully associative with their pockets. When you change the gate's size or position, the pocket will change with it. When you remove a gate, the pocket is deleted.</p>
      <div class="title_division">Gate Modeling Process</div>
      <p class="para_division">The Gate modeling is as follows:</p>
      <ol type="1" start="1">
         <li>
            <p class="para_item">Dialog Setup:</p>
            <p class="para_item">Cavity Layout type: balanced or unbalanced</p>
            <p class="para_item">Gate position: cavity or core</p>
            <p class="para_item">Method: Add or Modify</p>
         </li>
         <li>
            <p class="para_item">Gate Point Origin Definition:</p>
            <p class="para_item">General Point Subfunction and Advanced Gate Point Indication Methods</p>
         </li>
         <li>
            <p class="para_item">Selection:</p>
            <p class="para_item">Selection from the gate library</p>
         </li>
         <li>
            <p class="para_item">Orientation and Positioning</p>
         </li>
         <li>
            <p class="para_item">Sizing</p>
         </li>
         <li>
            <p class="para_item">Subtraction from Cavity or Core</p>
         </li>
      </ol>
      <div class="title_division">Gate Concepts</div>
      <div class="title_division">Layout Type</div>
      <p class="para_division">Mold cavity layouts contain single or multiple products, and single or multiple cavities.</p>
      <p class="para_division">The following figure illustrates the difference between a two-cavity balanced layout and a two-cavity unbalanced layout. For the purpose of gating, the difference is that the same gate size and location can be used in both the cavities in the balanced layout. However, the unbalanced layout requires unique gates for each cavity.</p>
      <p align="center"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/illustrations/gate02_1.gif"></p>
      <ol type="1" start="1">
         <li>
            <p class="para_item">Balanced</p>
         </li>
         <li>
            <p class="para_item">Unbalanced</p>
         </li>
      </ol>
      <div class="figure">
         <p class="para_figure"></p>
      </div>
      <div class="title_figure">Balanced and Unbalanced Cavity Layout</div>
      <div class="title_division">Gate Position (Core or Cavity)</div>
      <p class="para_division">You can position gates in the cavity or core, as shown in the following figure. The Position setting determines the orientation of the resulting gate model.</p>
      <p align="center"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/illustrations/gate03_1.gif"></p>
      <ol type="1" start="1">
         <li>
            <p class="para_item">Cavity Side Gate</p>
         </li>
         <li>
            <p class="para_item">Core Side Gate</p>
         </li>
      </ol>
      <div class="figure">
         <p class="para_figure"></p>
      </div>
      <div class="title_figure">Cavity and Core Gating</div>
   </body>
</html>