Apparatus for producing shaped products

A machine for producing configurated products comprising

• a rotary die roll having an open interior and cavities arranged in a series of longitudinal rows and circumferential columns,
• movable dies disposed in each of said cavities, said dies being made from a porous material,
• means for introducing product into said cavities,
• means for ejecting said product from said cavities, said ejection means comprising
• means for moving said dies outwardly in said cavities until the outer surfaces of said dies are approximately flush with the surface of said roll,
• gas supply means for supplying gas at a regulated pressure to the underside of said porous material dies as said dies are moved outwardly in said die cavities, said gas being operable to eject said product from said dies and to prevent said product from sticking to and clogging the pores of said dies, and
• means for independently adjusting and presetting the gas pressure supplied to the underside of each of said porous material dies so as to enable the presssure supplied to all of said porous material dies to be equalized.

A machine for producing configurated products comprising

• a rotary die roll having an open interior and cavities arranged in a series of longitudinal rows and circumferential columns,
• movable dies disposed in each of said cavities, said dies being made from a porous material,
• means for ejecting said product from said cavities, said ejection means comprising
• means for moving said dies outwardly in said cavities until the outer surfaces of said dies are approximately flush with the surface of said roll,
• gas supply supplying gas at a regulated pressure to the underside of said porous material dies as said dies are moved outwardly in said die cavities, said gas being operable to eject said product from said dies and to prevent said product from sticking to and clogging the pores of said dies,
• a pair of pressure rolls located in close adjacency to said die roll so as to define a nip between each of said pressure rolls and said die roll,
• said feed rolls and die roll defining between them a generally triangular cross section product material pressure chamber therebetween,
• hopper means for supplying product material to said feed rolls,
• a cutoff knife extending into the nip between one of said pressure rolls and said die roll, and
• a backing knife located between said other of said pressure rolls and said die roll, said backing knife extending into and occupying a substantial portion of the volume of said generally triangular cross section product material pressure chamber so as to reduce the quantity of product material contained in said pressure chamber and the working of the product material contained in said pressure chamber.

A machine for producing configurated products comprising

• a rotary die roll having an open interior and cavities arranged in a series of longitudinal rows and circumferential columns,
• movable dies disposed in each of said cavities, said dies being made from a porous material,
• means for ejecting said product from said cavities, said ejection means comprising
• means for moving said dies outwardly in said cavities until the outer surfaces of said dies are approximately flush with the surface of said roll,
• gas supply means for supplying gas at a regulated pressure to the underside of said porous material dies as said dies are moved outwardly in said die cavities, said gas being operable to eject said product from said dies and to prevent said product from sticking to and clogging the pores of said dies,
• a pair of pressure rolls located in close adjacency to said die roll so as to define a nip between each of said pressure rolls and said die roll,
• hopper means for supplying product material to said pressure rolls,
• a cutoff knife having a cutting edge extending into the nip between one of said pressure rolls and said die roll, and
• cutoff knife support means for resiliently maintaining said cutoff knife in said nip so that said cutoff knife may be forced out of and away from said nip in the event of excessive pressure against the cutting edge of said cutoff knife.

A machine for producing configurated products comprising

• a generally tubular rotary die roll having an open interior and cavities arranged in a series of longitudinal rows and circumferential columns,
• movable dies disposed in each of said cavities, said dies being made from a porous material,
• means for introducing product into said cavities,
• means for ejecting said product from said cavities, said ejection means comprising
• means for moving said dies outwardly in said cavities until the outer surfaces of said dies are approximately flush with the surface of said roll,
• gas supply means for supplying gas at a regulated pressure to the underside of said porous material dies as said dies are moved outwardly in said die cavities, said gas being operable to eject said product from said dies and to prevent said product from sticking to and clogging the pores of said dies,
• said means for moving said dies comprising longitudinally extending flight bars mounted within said die roll, said dies being mounted upon said flight bars, and
• said die roll being supported from a central support shaft and spokes extending from said central support shaft to the interior surface of said die roll, said flight bars being located between said spokes.

A machine for producing configurated products comprising

• a rotary die roll having an open interior and cavities arranged in a series of longitudinal rows and circumferential columns,
• movable dies disposed in each of said cavities, said dies being made from a porous material,
• means for introducing product into said cavities,
• means for ejecting said product from said cavities, said ejection means comprising
• means for moving said dies outwardly in said cavities until the outer surfaces of said dies are approximately flush with the surface of said roll,
• gas supply means for supplying gas at a regulated pressure to the underside of said porous material dies as said dies are moved outwardly in said die cavities, said gas being operable to eject said product from said dies and to prevent said product from sticking to and clogging the pores of said dies,
• said means for moving said dies comprising longitudinally extending flight bars mounted within said die roll, said dies being mounted upon movable pistons, said pistons being attached to piston rods and said piston rods being mounted within said flight bars, and
• a flight bar locking plate slidably mounted on each of said flight bars, said flight bars having a plurality of holes into which said piston rods extend, said flight bar locking plate having a plurality of keyhole slots through which said piston rods extend, and said piston rods each having an annular groove for reception of a narrow portion of one of said keyhole slots of said flight bar locking plate so as to lock said piston rods within said holes of said flight bar.

A machine for producing configurated products comprising

• a rotary die roll having an open interior and cavities arranged in a series of longitudinal rows and circumferential columns,
• movable dies disposed in each of said cavities, said dies being made from a porous material,
• means for introducing product into said cavities,
• means for ejecting said product from said cavities, said ejection means comprising
• means for moving said dies outwardly in said cavities until the outer surfaces of said dies are approximately flush with the surface of said roll,
• gas supply means for supplying gas at a regulated pressure to the underside of said porous material dies as said dies are moved outwardly in said die cavities, said gas being operable to eject said product from said dies and to prevent said product from sticking to and clogging the pores of said dies,
• said means for moving said dies comprising longitudinally extending flight bars mounted within said die roll, said dies being mounted upon said flight bars,
• a roller mounted upon each of the opposite ends of each of said flight bars, said rollers being movable within eccentric cam track means fixedly mounted at the opposite ends of said die roll, a pair of guide cylinders fixedly mounted upon opposite ends of said die roll in radial alignment with each of said flight bars, a pair of guide rods extending from each of said flight bars, each pair of said guide rods being slidably received in a pair of said guide cylinders, and
• means for lubricating said guide rods and said rollers, said lubricating means comprising oil passage means extending from one end of said die roll to at least one of each pair of said guide cylinders and from said one of each pair of said guide cylinders through the guide rod slidably mounted in said one of each pair of said guide cylinders into one of said flight bars and through said one of said flight bars to at least one of said rollers.

A machine for producing configurated products comprising

• a rotary die roll having an open interior and cavities arranged in a series of longitudinal rows and circumferential columns,
• movable dies disposed in each of said cavities, said dies being made from a porous material,
• first means for introducing a first, non-moldable solid product into said cavities,
• second means for introducing a second moldable product into said cavities downstream of said first introducing means,
• means for ejecting said product from said cavities, said ejection means comprising
• means for moving said dies outwardly in said cavities until the outer surfaces of said dies are approximately flush with the surface of said roll, and
• gas supply means for supplying gas at a regulated pressure to the underside of said porous material dies as said dies are moved outwardly in said die cavities, said gas being operable to eject said product from said dies and to prevent said product from sticking to and clogging the pores of said dies.

A machine for producing configurated products comprising

• a rotary die roll having an open interior and cavities arranged in a series of longitudinal rows and circumferential columns,
• movable dies disposed in each of said cavities, said dies being made from a porous material, each of said dies having at least one product receiving recess formed in an outer surface thereof,
• first means for introducing a first product into said recesses of said dies,
• second means for introducing a second moldable product into said cavities,
• means for ejecting said products from said cavities, said ejection means comprising
• means for moving said dies outwardly in said cavities until the outer surfaces of said dies are approximately flush with the surface of said roll, and
• gas supply means for supplying gas at a regulated pressure to the underside of said porous material dies as said dies are moved outwardly in said die cavities, said gas being operable to eject said product from said dies and to prevent said product from sticking to and clogging the pores of said dies.