Production apparatus for forming plastic molded articles

A plastic forming apparatus for making plastics from at least two different particulate plastic materials, comprising:

• two complementary open molds, each mold being mounted on a rolling cart, where said molds are capable being moved along a trunion track and capable of being heated;
• said molds having at least one open end with a sealing edge for mating with the other open mold, said open end being disposed for receiving the particulate plastic materials;
• at least one hopper for dumping a first particulate plastic into the molds, said hopper having a distributor arm with a downwardly facing distributor tube including louvers for opening and closing the louvers to distribute the particulate material into the molds, said hopper being capable of being recharged with surplus particulate plastic material after the molds are used;
• a supply of heat for heating the complementary molds;
• a second hopper for dumping a second particulate plastic into the molds, said second hopper also having a distributor arm with a downwardly facing distributor tube including louvers for selectively opening and closing the louvers to distribute the particulate material into the molds, said hopper being capable of being recharged with surplus particulate plastic material after the molds are used;
• a cooling station for cooling the heated molds;
• and
• a track for rolling the two carts from under the first hopper to a position under the second hopper and then into the cooling station.

A method of forming plastic articles from a particulate plastic material, comprising:

• heating two complementary open molds mounted on a rolling cart, where said molds are capable being moved along a trunion track and capable of being heated;
• dumping a first particulate plastic into the molds from a fist hopper, said hopper distributing the plastic into the molds through a distributor arm with a downwardly facing distributor tube including louvers for opening and closing the louvers to distribute the particulate material into the molds;
• tipping the molds to discharge any excess particulate plastic material after a skin of melted plastic has been formed on the molds;
• moving the rolling cart along the trunion track from underneath the first hopper to a second position under a second hopper;
• dumping a second particulate plastic into the molds from a second hopper also having a distributor arm with a downwardly facing distributor tube including louvers for selectively opening and closing the louvers to distribute the particulate material into the molds, said hopper being capable of being recharged with surplus particulate plastic material after the molds are used;
• moving the rolling cart along the trunion track from underneath the second hopper to a final position in a cooling station for cooling the heated molds;
• and
• spraying the heated mold with cool water to cool the molds and removing the resulting article.