US Patent 9931773 Injection molding system and method of fabricating a component

The present disclosure provides an injection molding apparatus and a method of fabricating a component. The apparatus may include a barrel comprising a first section having an end associated with a mold through a nozzle or a gate insert, a second section coupled to a hopper configured to fill a material into the barrel, and a temperature transition section between the first section and second section. The apparatus may include an extrusion screw placed inside the barrel and rotatable relative to the barrel. The apparatus may include one or more heaters associated with the first section of the barrel to heat the material inside the barrel. Rotation of the extrusion screw relative to the barrel may continuously extrude the material into the mold.