Method and apparatus for controlling an assembly for bonding a cover material to foam

An apparatus for controlling an assembly for bonding a cover of material over the surface of a foam cushion with an adhesive material, the assembly including a support structure, a ram mounted on the support structure for vertical movement, a ram actuator cylinder coupled to move the ram, a plenum chamber attached to a lower end of the ram and having a plurality of hollow needles extending downwardly therefrom in fluid communication with the plenum chamber, an air heater attached to the ram and in fluid communication with the plenum chamber, a pair of plate actuator cylinders attached to the ram, a compression plate positioned below the plenum chamber and attached to the plate actuator cylinders for vertical movement relative to the needles, an air cooler in fluid communication with a lower surface of the compression plate, a tool hingedly mounted on the support structure, a tool actuator cylinder attached to the support structure and the tool for tilting the tool between a working position and a loading position, and a vacuum source in fluid communication with the tool through a vacuum control, the apparatus for controlling comprising;

• an operator control means having an output and being responsive to actuation by an operator for generating command signals at said output;
• a CPU module connected to a bus for generating bus signals;
• an input module connected to said bus and having an input connected to said operator control means output for receiving said command signals and sending said command signals to said CPU module over said bus;
• a thermocouple adapted to be mounted in a plenum chamber of an assembly for bonding for generating a feedback signal representing an actual temperature of air in the plenum chamber;
• a thermocouple module connected to said bus and having an input connected to said thermocouple to receive said feedback signal and send said feedback signal to said CPU module over said bus;
• an air heater control connected to said bus and having an output adapted to be connected to a heater of air for the plenum chamber for generating a heater control signal for controlling the actual temperature of air in the plenum chamber;
• and
• an output module connected to said bus and having an output adapted to be connected to mechanisms of the assembly for bonding, the mechanisms including a ram actuator cylinder, a pair of plate actuator cylinders, an air cooler, a tool actuator cylinder and a vacuum control, whereby said CPU module is responsive to said command signals and said feedback signal for generating bus signals over said bus to said air heater control and to said output module, said air heater control is responsive to said bus signals for generating said heater control signal and said output module is responsive to said bus signals for generating control signals at said output module output, said control signals including signals for controlling the ram actuator cylinder to raise and lower the plenum, the plate actuator cylinders to raise and lower a compression plate, the air cooler to supply cool air to the compression plate, the tool actuator cylinder to tilt the tool between a working position and a loading position and the vacuum control to supply vacuum to the tool thereby controlling the assembly for bonding to bond a cover to a cushion with an adhesive material.

A method of controlling a bonding assembly for bonding a cover layer of material over the surface of a foam cushion comprising the steps of:

• a. controlling a tool actuator cylinder to tilt a tool from a working position to a loading position while spreading a finished side of a cover over a working surface of the tool and placing an adhesive material on a backside of the cover and returning the tool to the working position;
• b. controlling a heater to heat air to a predetermined temperature range at which the adhesive material melts;
• c. controlling a ram actuator cylinder to move a ram to position a cushion on the adhesive material;
• and
• d. applying the heated air to preheat the cushion and elevate a temperature of the cushion to melt the adhesive with the transfer of heat from the heated cushion and bond the cover to the cushion.