Plastic article or earthenware shaping or treating: apparatus – Preform reshaping or resizing means: or vulcanizing means... – Including both heating and cooling means
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-17
2001-05-01
Pyon, Harold (Department: 1722)
Plastic article or earthenware shaping or treating: apparatus
Preform reshaping or resizing means: or vulcanizing means...
Including both heating and cooling means
C425S397000, C425S403100, C425S407000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06224366
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an improved on-line thermoforming machine.
The field of the invention is that of industrial machines for making, for example, domestic refrigerators cells and doors, bag casings or shells, as well as other hydrosanitary and the like articles made starting from a thermoformed sheet-like plastic material.
Conventional on-line thermoforming machines, of the type the present invention relates to, substantially comprise a loading station for loading a sheet-like plastic material (in the form of a plate or a coiled sheet), a heating station for heating the plastic material to its thermoforming temperature, a thermoforming-molding station, as well as a thermoformed material unloading station.
More specifically, the heating stations used in prior thermoforming machines conventionally include a plurality of heating ovens, which can be driven from a working position, inside the machine construction, to a rest or inoperative position, arranged laterally outside of said machine.
Because of the above disclosed construction, prior thermoforming machines have a lateral size which substantially corresponds to the size of the heating ovens and, accordingly, to the width of the on-line machine. Thus, with the heating ovens in their deactuated or off condition, said machine will have a width size substantially corresponding to two times the width of the machine in its operating or working condition.
Because of the above mentioned size, prior on-line thermoforming machines provide to exploit the spaces on the sides of said machines for arranging therein, for example, double loaders for loading the plate or sheet like plastics material, as well as for arranging control centers and the like. Accordingly, the overall construction of the machine is rigidly related to the position of the machine operator (either leftward or rightward with respect to said machine), and this without any possibilities of modifying the original construction and arrangement of the machine and related apparatus.
Thus, said prior thermoforming machines have the drawback that, for transportation purposes, they must be disassembled in several parts of less size, which would involve frequent errors in the reassembling operations, in addition to great labour costs and times for disassembling and assembling again said machines.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the aim of the present invention is to provide an improved on-line thermoforming machine, in which the above mentioned drawback of the prior art thermoforming machines are overcome.
Within the scope of the above aim, a main object of the present invention is to provide such an on-line thermoforming machine, which has a very reduced side size, which is substantially independent from the operating or not operating condition of the machine.
A further object of the present invention is to provide such a thermoforming machine which is very flexible in operation and which would allow the operator to operate either at a left or at a right position with respect to the machine construction, even as the machine is originally installed.
A further object of the present invention is to provide such a thermoforming machine which can be easily transported, with a very reduced number of handling operations.
According to one aspect of the present invention, the above mentioned aim and objects, as well as yet other objects, which will become more apparent hereinafter, are achieved by an improved on-line thermoforming machine for making molded articles from sheet-line plastic materials, of the type comprising at least a loading station for loading said plastic material, at least a heating station, including heating ovens, for heating said plastic material, a thermoforming station and an unloading station for unloading the thermoformed plastic material, and being substantially characterized in that said sheet-like plastic material heating station comprises a plurality of ovens which, in their deactuated condition, do not cause any increase of the side size of said machine with respect to the size thereof necessary for performing the heating operations.
According to further features of the invention, said ovens are of a type comprising two panel portions which can be mutually closed as the pages of a book, as disclosed and illustrated in the Italian patent application No. MI96A00607 in the name of DE NICHILO Giorgio. These ovens have a oven construction made of two separated portions, respectively a “front” and a “rear” portion, as disclosed and illustrated in a prior Italian patent application No. MI 96A00607 in the name of DE NICHILO Giorgio.
The on-line machine according to the invention, is further characterized in that it comprises a push-button board as well as an electric panel, which can be arranged either on a side or on the other side of said machine.
According to yet further characteristics of the inventive machine, said sheet-like plastic material loading station is provided with tilting side closing doors adapted to allow, in a tilted position thereof, pallets supporting said plastic material sheets or plates to be easily driven. Said doors are moreover provided, on their side facing the inside of the loading station, with a plurality of wheels.
The heating station of the thermoforming machine according to the invention is also provided with side closing tilting doors for closing said stations and which can be opened in order to allow the mold included in said station to be removed and/or replaced.
The subject machine is furthermore characterized in that said machine has a width less than 2 m, both in its heating condition, and in the off condition of the heating ovens. Said sheet-like plastic material is moreover constituted by a plate element or a continuous strip fed from a strip coil.
With respect to conventional on-line thermoforming machine, the inventive thermoforming machine has the advantage of having a width which is substantially a half, since the heating ovens included in the machine heating station do not project laterally from the machine. Accordingly, the subject machine can be transported in an assembled condition, i.e. it is not necessary to disassemble the machine before transportation and assemble it again at the working place, with a great saving in the required labour.
A further advantage directly deriving from the above disclosed features, is that the inventive thermoforming machine has a construction allowing an operator to indifferently operate on the left or on the right side of the machine. Also the inlet and outlet of the mold can be reversed, as well as the inlet and outlet side of the pallet transporting the sheet-like plastic material.
Thus, the inventive machine is much more simple, economic and operatively flexible than prior like machines.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4475881 (1984-10-01), Borst et al.
patent: 5571473 (1996-11-01), Fujii
patent: 5619913 (1997-04-01), Padovani
patent: 5778145 (1998-07-01), De Nichilo
patent: 5808279 (1998-09-01), De Nichilo
Bucknam and Archer
Gam Impianti S.A.
Heckenberg Donald
Pyon Harold
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