Apparatus for continuously manufacturing sandwich elements

An apparatus for continuously manufacturing sandwich elements having foam cores and top and bottom facings comprising:

• i) a double conveyor belt having a feeding means for a top facing, a feeding means for a bottom facing and a feed device for applying a foam-producing reaction mixture onto said bottom facing, said belt conveying said mixture in a first direction and at a first speed,
• ii) a first carriage with a cross cutter downstream of said double conveyor belt and movable in said first direction;
• iii) a transport carriage with a cleaning device, said transport carriage being movable in said first direction and being located downstream of said first carriage;
• iv) a controlling and regulating means connected to the cross cutter, said first carriage, said transport carriage and said cleaning device, for controlling and regulating the movement thereof;
• v) a switch rod carried on said first carriage, said switch rod cooperating with two proximity switches, disposed one behind the other on said transport carriage and connected via said control and regulating means to the transport carriage, with the first proximity switch closest to said switch rod being used to brake the transport carriage and the second proximity switch being used 1) to accelerate the transport carriage in said first direction to a speed slightly higher than said first speed so that said transport carriage moves away from said first carriage and 2) to continue to advance the transport carriage at a speed corresponding to said first speed.