Injection molding apparatus for partitioned containers

Claim 1

An injection mold for manufacture of an article having first and second pairs of opposed sidewalls defining a generally rectangular enclosure with an open top and bottom and having a plurality of partition walls extending between one of said pairs of opposed sidewalls for dividing said enclosure into a plurality of cells, comprising: first mold means including a first base member and four sidewall members being movable between a closed position in which said four sidewall members are adjacent said first base member and cooperatively form a rectangular mold cavity conforming to the desired exterior dimensions of said generally rectangular enclosure and an open position in which said sidewall members are displaced along a predetermined angular path relative to the sidewalls of the article away from said first base member and laterally outwardly from one another; core mold means disposed within the rectangular enclosure formed by said four sidewall members; second mold means comprising a second base member movable between a closed position abutting one end of each of said four sidewall members for defining in conjunction with said core mold means and first mold means, when said four sidewall members are in said closed position, a mold cavity corresponding to said article and an open position in which said second mold means is displaced relative to said first mold means by a distance greater than the sidewall length of said article and along a path parallel to said four sidewalls of said article; said core mold means comprising a first set of core elements rigidly secured to said first mold means and extending the major length of said sidewall members and a second set of core elements rigidly secured to said second mold means in registry with said first set of core elements and extending upwardly the remaining length of said sidewall members, said first and second sets of core elements being constructed and arranged for interlocking with one another when said second mold means is in its closed position to maintain a predetermined alignment of said first and second sets of core elements during molding of said article; stripper ring means comprising a rectangular ring member of interior peripheral dimensions corresponding to the perimeter of said article and disposed adjacent the end of said sidewall members opposite said one ends and mechanically interlocked with said sidewall members for co-ordinated movement therewith and for engagement of the adjacent ends of the four sidewalls of the molded article to strip said article from said first set of core elements upon movement of said sidewall members from said closed to said open position; said stripper ring means further including ejector means supported by said second mold means and comprising a plurality of ejector rods for ejecting said article from said second set of core elements; and interlock means for mechanically coupling said four sidewall members to said second mold means for co-ordinated movement from said closed position toward said open position of said second mold means and for releasing said sidewall members from said second mold means at approximately the open position of said sidewall members and for permitting continued movement of said second mold means to its open position.