Plastic tile corrugator

A corrugator for molding corrugated plastic tile from plastic received from an extruder, said corrugator comprising:

• a frame having a forward trackway, a return trackway and having front and rear trackways cooperating with the forward and return trackways to define a continuous trackway about said frame;
• a plurality of separate carriages disposed along said trackways for continuous rolling action therealong, each of said carriages being pivotable about an axis generally aligned with said trackway;
• a pair of mold blocks mounted to each carriage, said mold blocks opening and closing by pivoting of said carriage to define a corrugated tile mold when closed;
• a driven sprocket disposed adjacent to said front trackway for engaging and driving said carriages to continuously roll about said trackway, said mold blocks of adjacent carriages traveling in abutting relationship along said forward trackway;
• rolling followers associated with each of said carriages;
• a first cam which engages said followers to pivot said carriages to close said mold blocks as they encounter the forward trackway, said sequentially closed mold blocks cooperating to define a plastic receiving and molding corrugating tunnel which is parallel to the forward track;
• and
• a second cam which engages said followers to pivot said carriages to radially open said mold blocks from the molded tile as they leave the forward trackway, said mold blocks thereafter rolling along said rear and return trackways for return to said sprocket.

A corrugator for receiving plastic from an extruder and molding the same into a corrugated plastic tile, said corrugator comprising:

• a frame having thereon a forward trackway, a return trackway and having front and rear trackways, the trackways cooperating to define an endless trackway about said frame;
• a plurality of individual mold assemblies each of which has a pivotable carriage with rollers disposed on said endless trackway for rolling action therealong and a pair of mold blocks mounted to said carriage for opening and closing transversely with respect to said endless trackway, said mold blocks when closed forming a corrugated tile mold extending therethrough;
• a driven sprocket, said sprocket including a plurality of tongues to sequentially engage said mold assemblies and continuously drive them about said frame, said carriages of adjacent mold assemblies being pushed in abutting relationship to arrange said mold blocks of adjacent mold assemblies contiguous to one another along said forward trackway;
• a cam surface along said forward trackway to pivot said carriages and close said mold blocks therealong to form a molding section defined by a corrugated tunnel to receive, move with and mold extruded plastic, said cam surface pivoting said carriages to open said mold blocks radially away from said molded tile at the end of the molding section;
• an annular opening in said mold blocks and around the tunnel, said opening being in communication with radially spaced longitudinal bores in said mold blocks which are in turn in communication with said tunnel through a plurality of slits;
• and
• a vacuum manifold spaced closely from said mold blocks along said forward trackway, said manifold communicating with said annular opening through a port in said mold blocks which registers with said manifold along said molding section.