US 12,109,735 B2
Construction of conformal cooling channels for injection mold designs
Zhi Li, Cypress, CA (US); Liwen Wang, Shanghai (CN); Chee-keong Chong, Irvine, CA (US); and Shunshun Zhou, Chengdu (CN)
Assigned to Siemens Industry Software Inc., Plano, TX (US)
Appl. No. 18/681,341
Filed by Siemens Industry Software Inc., Plano, TX (US)
PCT Filed Aug. 27, 2021, PCT No. PCT/CN2021/114882
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Feb. 5, 2024,
PCT Pub. No. WO2023/024052, PCT Pub. Date Mar. 2, 2023.
Prior Publication US 2024/0262017 A1, Aug. 8, 2024
Int. Cl. G06F 30/13 (2020.01); B29C 33/38 (2006.01); B29C 45/73 (2006.01); B29C 64/386 (2017.01); B33Y 50/00 (2015.01); B33Y 80/00 (2015.01)
CPC B29C 33/3842 (2013.01) [B29C 45/7312 (2013.01); B29C 64/386 (2017.08); B33Y 50/00 (2014.12); B33Y 80/00 (2014.12)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method comprising:
by a computing system:
accessing an injection mold design;
constructing conformal cooling channels for the injection mold design, including by:
extracting a cooling surface of the injection mold design, wherein the cooling surface corresponds to specified portions of the injection mold design to be cooled through the conformal cooling channels;
generating a central offset surface positioned at a central offset distance from the cooling surface;
projecting cooling lines on to the central offset surface;
detecting sharp portions of the projected cooling lines based on sharpness criteria;
smoothing the detected sharp portions of the projected cooling lines to form smoothed cooling lines; and
generating the conformal cooling channels using the smoothed cooling lines along the central offset surface as a center line for the conformal cooling channels; and
providing the injection mold design that includes the constructed conformal cooling channels for physical manufacture to physically manufacture the injection mold design through an additive manufacturing process.