Apparatus for melting and dispensing thermoplastic material

An apparatus for converting solid thermoplastic material to molten thermoplastic material and for dispensing the molten thermoplastic material, comprising

• a housing including a hopper having side walls for receiving solid thermoplastic material,
• a flow through grid melter having a continuous side wall, a bottom wall, and a open top for receiving said solid thermoplastic material from said hopper, said bottom wall comprising a plurality of spaced heating sections,
• a plurality of discharge openings in said bottom wall of said grid melter between said spaced heating sections,
• a reservoir mounted beneath said grid melter and adapted to receive molten material from said discharge openings of said grid melter,
• means for heating said bottom wall of said grid melter,
• a dispenser operable to dispense said molten thermoplastic material,
• a pump for supplying said molten thermoplastic material from said reservoir to said dispenser, and
• cooling means for maintaining said hopper side walls below the solidification temperature of said molten material so as to prevent the melt back of molten material from said grid melter into said hopper, said cooling means comprising
• a shroud surrounding at least the lower portion of said hopper, said shroud defining an air chamber between the inner walls of said shroud and the outer walls of said hopper, and air flow means for supplying a flow of forced air through said air chamber so as to cool the lower portion of said hopper.