Method and apparatus for manufacturing sustainable products with a blown, foam structure
AssigneePaperfoam B.V.
InventorsJan Wietze Huisman, Nynke Margaretha Zandstra, Johan Hendrik Adolf Arentsen, Hugo Mark Geerts
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Abstract
A method for manufacturing sustainable products with a blown, foam structure, wherein a mass comprising at least natural polymers such as starch is passed under pressure into a mold cavity (4) or through a mold die, and the mass is heated in the mold in a manner such as to stabilize the foamed structure to form the product, wherein the method comprises prefoaming of the mass prior to injection in the mold. Preferably, the prefoamed mass is kept under pressure until insertion in the mold. The invention further relates to an apparatus to be used in said method.
Claims22
A method for manufacturing a sustainable product with a blown, foam structure, the method comprising:
- prefoaming a liquid batter comprising water and at least one natural polymer to form a pressurized, prefoamed liquid batter, wherein said prefoaming is conducted by introducing an amount of pressurized gas into the liquid batter while pressure is applied to the liquid batter to form gas bubbles in said pressurized liquid batter;
- conveying the pressurized, prefoamed liquid batter toward a cavity of a mold;
- passing the pressurized prefoamed liquid batter into the cavity of the mold, wherein the pressurized, prefoamed liquid batter is depressurized upon said passing;
- and
- heating the prefoamed liquid batter in the mold to stabilize the prefoamed liquid batter and form the blown, foam structure,
- wherein the pressurized, prefoamed liquid batter remains pressurized between said prefoaming and conveying steps and until said passing into the cavity of the mold.
The method according to claim. 1, wherein after said prefoaming, the pressurized, prefoamed liquid batter has a lower density than the liquid batter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.