Method and apparatus for stacking and fabricating honeycomb insulating material

In a method for mass producing one or more individual stacks of expandable tubular strips forming a honeycomb panel, each stack to comprise N secured-together such strips of a length L, said method including, providing a continuous flexible web of material forming a flattened tube having flat faces on the opposite sides thereof;

• applying at least one band of adhesive to the central region of one face of said web;
• cutting said continuous web into successive strips of said length L to be stacked and secured together;
• providing a stacking chamber with an inlet for receiving the strips cut from the web, said inlet having laterally spaced support shoulders defining a longitudinally extending pass-through slot of at least a length to receive said successive strips and of a width narrower than the width of said strips;
• providing a pushing member opposite said inlet and passable through said chamber slot for pushing the successive strips into said chamber, said pushing member having a strip-holding face lying in a given plane and in an initial position said strip holding face faces said pass-through slot;
• sequentially delivering the cut strips opposite said stacking station inlet with the adhesive coated face facing said stacking chamber inlet;
• the improvement wherein said strip holding face of said pushing member is provided with suction apertures on its strip holding face for engaging the non-adhesive coated face of each successive strip and holding the same in said plane;
• sucking air through said suction apertures, and moving said pushing member back and forth through said slot with said strip-holding face presented parallel to the non-adhesive coated flat face of a previous strip pushed into said chamber, to push the adhesive coated face of the strip held against the non-adhesive coated flat face of the previous strip pushed into said chamber, adhesively to secure the strips together and form a substantially unwrinkled stack of aligned strips.

In an apparatus for mass producing one or more individual stacks of expandable, secured together tubular strips, said apparatus including:

• a stacking station having a stacking chamber with an inlet and a conveyor system which can sequentially deliver flat tubular strips having flat faces on opposite sides thereof and an adhesive applied to one face thereof to a point opposite said stacking chamber inlet, and pushing apparatus opposite said inlet for engaging and pushing the face not coated with adhesive toward said inlet to push the entire strip into said chamber, the improvement wherein said pushing apparatus includes a pushing member having a strip-holding face lying in a given a plane and having suction apertures for holding said non-adhesive coated flat face of sequential strips delivered to said plane;
• said pushing member being a section of said conveyor system and is an apertured endless conveyor belt which is bodily movable into and out of said stacking chamber;
• means for stopping said conveyor belt when the strip is aligned with the stacking chamber inlet;
• means for sucking air through said suction apertures;
• and means for moving said pushing member back and forth into and out of said stacking chamber at said inlet with said strip-holding face presented parallel to the non-adhesive coated flat face of a strip previously pushed into said stacking chamber, to push said adhesive coated flat face of the strip being delivered opposite the stacking chamber inlet against the non-adhesive coated flat face of the strip previously pushed into said chamber, to secure the strips together and form a substantially unwrinkled stack of aligned strips.