US 5,326,517 AGranted

Method of forming finished cups of expanded resin

AssigneeSekisui Kaseihin Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

InventorsMasato Yaita, Toshikazu Ohmori

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Abstract

A method of and an apparatus for forming finished cups of expanded resin of the present invention employ a transfer mold capable of transferring a performed article obtained through a preforming process to the female member of a finish-forming mold, and simultaneously collecting from the male member of the finish-forming mold a finished article, obtained through compression forming and discharging it after an inspection process, and enable a first process where the transfer mold receives a preformed article through a feeding device, a second process where the finished article is discharged from the transfer mold to a sorting device wherein conforming articles are counted and stacked, and a third process where another preformed article is heated and compressed within the finish-forming mold, to be conducted simultaneously. Further, a fourth process where the preformed article is transferred by the transfer mold to the female member of the finished-forming mold, and a fifth process where the finished article is transferred from the male member of the finish-forming mold to the transfer mold can be conducted simultaneously. Also, a sixth process where the conformity of the finished article is checked, and a seventh process where defective articles are removed and conforming articles are counted, are executed while the transfer mold is moving. The time required to perform all the processes is thus significantly reduced.

Claims13

Dependent claims

A method of forming finished cups of expanded resin employing transferring means capable of a) transferring a performed article that was supplied thereto, to a finish-forming mold for subjecting said preformed article to a process for forming finished articles, said preformed article being obtained through a process for forming preformed articles by filling a mold cavity formed in a preforming mold with expandable thermoplastic resin particles and heating said particles such that they are expanded and fused, b) collecting from said finish-forming mold a finished article that was formed by heating and compressing said preformed article in said finish-forming mold and whose wall thickness is thinner than the wall thickness of said preformed article, and c) discharging said finished article, and said method comprising the steps of:

a first step of supplying a first preformed article to said transferring means after said first preformed article went through said process for forming preformed articles;
a second step of discharging a first finished article from said transferring means;
a third step of heating and compressing a second preformed article in said finish-forming mold and forming a second finished article;
a fourth step of transferring said first preformed article, supplied to said transferring means, to said finish-forming mold;
and
a fifth step of transferring said second finished article after it was formed from said finish-forming mold to said transferring means,
wherein said first step, second step and third step are conducted simultaneously, and said fourth step and fifth step are conducted simultaneously.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.