Plastic and nonmetallic article shaping or treating: processes – Mechanical shaping or molding to form or reform shaped article – Shaping against forming surface
Patent
1996-07-29
1998-07-21
Derrington, James
Plastic and nonmetallic article shaping or treating: processes
Mechanical shaping or molding to form or reform shaped article
Shaping against forming surface
249127, 264334, 425440, B28B 706, B28B 1306
Patent
active
057831351
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This application is a national stage application, according to Chapter II of the Patent Cooperation Treaty. This application claims the priority date of Oct. 23, 1993, for UK Patent Application No. 9321923.6.
This invention relates to demoulding apparatus, particularly apparatus for automatically removing flexible moulds from moulded components such as concrete building products.
At the present time, flexible moulds, such as polyurethane moulds, are usually manually stripped from moulded concrete building products. This has several disadvantages, not the least of which is that the demoulding is very labour intensive. In GB1498833, an open-topped flexible mould with a moulded component therein is moved along a belt conveyor. At the position of a drum roller at the end of the conveyor, edges of the mould engage with abutment members which cause the mould to move around the drum roller but enable the moulded component to continue on a linear path away from the mould. Such an arrangement has limited use, for example only for shallow moulds.
According to the present invention there is provided demoulding apparatus comprising means for supporting a mould with a moulded component therein, characterised by means for releasably gripping the mould, and means for moving the gripping means in such a direction away from the support means that a mould formed of a flexible material, when gripped at one edge by the gripping means, can be stripped from said one edge of the component to an opposed edge thereof, whereby to remove the mould from the component.
Preferably the apparatus includes means for retaining the moulded component on the supporting means while the mould is stripped from the component.
Preferably also the supporting means includes a conveyor for moving the mould with the component therein in a linear path to an operative location of the gripping means. The supporting means may further include means over which the component can continue to move in the linear path as the mould is separated therefrom.
The gripping means may include a clamp which is movable between an inoperative position and an operative position wherein the clamp grips said one edge of the mould. The clamp may be supported by an arm arrangement which is movable through an angle. The clamp may comprise clamping jaws, the movement of which is pneumatically controlled, preferably by a pair of spaced pneumatic piston and cylinder assemblies towards respective ends thereof.
The retaining means may be movable between an inoperative position and an operative position wherein the retaining means engages the mould with the component therein in a spaced relation to said one edge, whereby to enable stripping as the component continues to move along the linear path. The retaining means may be in the form of a freely rotatable roller, or in the form of a trolley with freely rotatable wheels, which may be controlled by a pneumatic piston and cylinder assembly.
The apparatus may be associated with a further conveyor, one end of which is located adjacent to a loading position, and the other end of which is located adjacent to means for moving the demoulded component and the empty mould, whereby a mould supporting member can be removed from the mould before loading the latter, and the mould supporting member can be moved by the further conveyor from said one end thereof to the other where the mould support member can be reunited with an empty mould. The apparatus may be adapted to strip a plurality of moulds from respective components simultaneously.
The invention also provides a demoulding method comprising the steps of supporting a flexible mould with a moulded component therein, and characterised by gripping one edge of the mould, and moving the mould in a direction away from the supporting means, whereby to strip the mould from said one edge of the component to an opposed edge thereof, whereby to remove the mould from the component.
Preferably the method includes the step of retaining the component on the supporting means while the mould is stripped from
REFERENCES:
patent: 2269557 (1942-01-01), Sexton
patent: 3061500 (1962-10-01), Kreier, Jr.
patent: 3142106 (1964-07-01), Wise
patent: 3655317 (1972-04-01), Funkhouser et al.
patent: 4008034 (1977-02-01), Kane
Allen Leslie Richard John
Sims Maurice Roy
Smith Alan John
Camas UK Limited
Derrington James
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