Safety and Clamping Device for an Apparatus for Fabricating Parts
AssigneeAktiebolaget Skf
InventorDavid A. Notter
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus of the present invention presents a housing for engaging a mold device that includes a top plate having a top mold and a bottom plate having a bottom mold. The top plate presents side edges presenting a plurality of male elements extending therefrom. A top portion of the housing presents a safety and locking device (the device) to secure the top plate. The device presents several plates movable relative one another to secure the top plate. In case of a power outage, an actuator cooperably connected with the device prevents a shaft, connected to one of the plates, to move back to its idle position thereby locking the top plate within the device to prevent disengagement of the top plate from the device.
Claims35
An apparatus for forming parts from polymeric and non-polymeric materials, said apparatus comprising:
- a mold device having a first part and a second part with said first and second parts defining a cavity therebetween to form the part with said first part presenting side edges defining a plurality of male connectors extending therefrom;
- a housing adaptable to receive and support said mold device;
- an actuator cooperable with said housing;
- and
- a mold engaging device connected to said housing and operably communicated with said actuator and presenting two elements sliding relative to one another for engaging said first part of said mold device, said two elements presenting a plurality of extensions spaced from one another to define voids and moving between a first position as said two elements are aligned with one another to receive said male connectors extending between said extensions and a second position as one of said two elements is moved relative the other of said two elements and said first part of said mold device thereby supporting and locking said male connectors of said first part between said at least two elements and preventing said first part from disengaging from said mold engaging device in the event of power outage in said actuator thereby keeping said first part in a locked position by said mold engaging device.
An apparatus for forming parts from polymeric and non-polymeric materials, said apparatus comprising:
- a mold device having a top plate and a top mold extending from said top plate and presenting a first cavity for forming the part, said top plate presenting side edges defining said male connectors extending therefrom and a bottom plate and a bottom mold extending from said bottom plate and presenting a second cavity for forming the part, said bottom plate presenting side edges extending to lip portions;
- a housing adaptable to receive and support said mold device;
- an actuator having a shaft;
- a mold engaging device connected to said housing and operably communicated with said actuator through said shaft and presenting two elements sliding relative to one another for engaging said first part of said mold device and having a plurality of extensions spaced from one another to define voids;
- and
- a controller operably connected to said actuator to send signals to said actuator for moving said two elements between a first position as said two elements are aligned with one another to receive said male connectors extending between said extensions and a second position as one of said two elements is moved relative the other of said two elements and said top plate of said mold device to support and lock said male connectors of said top plate between said two elements thereby preventing said top plate from disengaging from said mold engaging device in the event of power loss in said actuator thereby keeping said top plate in a locked position by said mold engaging device.
A safety and clamping device for an apparatus adaptable for forming parts from polymeric and non-polymeric materials and having a housing, a mold device with a first part and a second part defining a cavity therebetween to form the part, said safety and clamping device comprising;
- an actuator cooperable with the housing;
- and
- a mold engaging device connected to the housing and operably communicated with said actuator, said mold engaging device presenting two elements sliding relative to one another for engaging the first part and presenting a plurality of extensions spaced from one another to define voids, said two elements movable between a first position as said two elements are aligned with one another to receive the first part extending between said extensions and a second position as one of said two elements is moved relative the other of said two elements and the first part thereby supporting and locking the first part between said two elements and preventing the first part from disengaging from said mold engaging device in the event of power loss supplied to said actuator thereby keeping the first part in a locked position by said mold engaging device.
A method for clamping a mold device in an apparatus for forming parts from polymeric and non-polymeric materials, said method comprising the steps of:
- placing a mold device in a housing with the mold device having a first part and a second part defining a cavity therebetween to form the part with the first part presenting side edges defining a plurality of male connectors extending therefrom;
- positioning a mold engaging device including at least two elements presenting a plurality of extensions spaced from one another to define voids and movable relative to one another for engaging the first part of the mold device;
- connecting an actuator to the mold engaging device to move one of the two elements relative one another;
- and
- moving the two elements between a first position by aligning the two elements with one another to receive the male connectors of the first part extending between the extensions of the two elements and a second position as one of the two elements is moved relative to the other of the two elements and the first part of the mold device to support and lock the male connectors of the first part between the two elements thereby preventing the first part from disengaging from the mold engaging device in the event of power loss in the actuator to keep the first part in a locked position by the mold engaging device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.