Molding apparatus for wet friction material

A molding apparatus of a wet friction material for sticking one of a ring-shaped friction material substrate or a plurality of segment pieces cut out of a friction material substrate on one or both surfaces of a core metal of a flat ring shape, comprising:

• at least three molding dies vertically piled up on each other so as to move up and down to each other, a lowermost one of the molding dies including an upper surface provided with a mounting surface for mounting a half-product of the wet friction material, a middle one of the molding dies including the lower surface provided with the mounting surface and an upper surface provided with a pressing surface for pressing an entire surface of the half-product of the wet friction material mounted on the mounting surface of an underside molding die, an uppermost one of the molding dies including the lower surface provided with the lower surface provided with the pressing surface, the half-product having the ring-shaped friction material substrate or the plurality of segment pieces stuck on one or both surfaces coated with a thermosetting adhesive of the core metal;
• heating mechanisms provided on the molding dies, respectively, for heating the mounting surface and/or the pressing surface;
• and
• a pantograph-type open-close link mechanism provided on side surfaces of the molding dies so as to move up and down the molding dies near to each other and apart from each other all at once in a synchronous manner.