Machine and method for producing footwear
AssigneeBata Industries Limited
InventorWaldemar Schilke
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A molding machine for producing footwear soles includes a frame carrying a pair of extruders for thermoplastic material at one end; a pair of bottom molds mounted on hot runner systems on the other end of the frame; a pair of vertically movable top molds mounted above and cooperating with the bottom molds to define mold cavities for receiving the thermoplastic material from the hot runner systems; a swing out system for swinging each top mold from a horizontal molding position to an unloading position; gripper jaws for gripping the soles and removing them from the top molds; and swing arm assemblies carrying the gripper jaws for carrying the soles away from the molds to conveyor or packaging locations.
Claims9
A method of producing a footwear sole comprising the steps of:
- (a) forming a mold cavity by moving a top mold assembly downwardly against a bottom mold assembly;
- (b) injecting plastic material into said mold cavity to form the sole;
- (c) opening the mold cavity by moving the top mold assembly upwardly away from the bottom mold assembly with the sole attached to said top mold assembly;
- (d) swinging at least a portion of the top mold assembly downwardly around a horizontal axis to present the sole in a substantially vertical position for removal from the top mold assembly;
- (e) gripping said sole to remove the sole from the top mold assembly;
- (f) rotating said sole through approximately 180.degree. around a vertical axis away from said top mold assembly;
- (g) rotating said sole through approximately 90.degree. around a horizontal axis to a discharge position;
- and
- (h) releasing said sole, whereby the sole is discharged for further processing or packaging.
A machine for molding footwear soles comprising:
- (a) frame means for carrying a plastic extruder;
- (b) bottom mold means mounted on said frame means;
- (c) movable top mold means mounted on said frame means for cooperating with said bottom mold means to define a mold cavity for receiving plastic from said extruder for forming a footwear sole;
- (d) means for moving said top mold means between a closed cavity forming position and an open position in which the molded sole is retained by said top mold means;
- (e) first swing means for swinging said top mold means between the open position and an unloading position;
- (f) gripper means for gripping and removing a sole from said top mold means;
- and
- (g) transfer means carrying said gripper means, said transfer means including
- (i) arm means carrying said gripper means for moving said gripper means between said unloading position and a sole discharge position;
- (ii) second swing means for swinging said arm means around a vertical axis for moving the gripper means and a sole away from the top mold means, and
- (iii) rotary means for rotating said arm means around a horizontal axis for moving the gripper means and sole to the discharge position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.