Thermoformer for forming and heat bonding a thermoplastic sheet to a substrate

A thermoformer apparatus for forming each of a pair of sheets of plastic onto a respective one of a pair of substrates loaded onto tooling on a lower platen of a thermoformer press included in said apparatus, comprising a pair of retractable substrate heaters each including a heater holder mounted for movement between an advanced position cantilevered over said lower platen to overlie a respective substrate to position said heater on said holder over a respective substrate on said lower platen to heat the same, and a retracted position withdrawn from said advanced position over said lower platen to allow positioning of a sheet of plastic over said substrate, a drive system for moving each of said heater holders between said advanced and retracted positions, and a power supply for energizing said substrate heaters while in said advanced position to heat said substrates;

• a roll of plastic sheet material, a roll stand mounting said roll, and a feed arrangement for advancing a strip of plastic from said roll and cutting plastic sheets successively from said strip for thermoforming in said apparatus;
• a pair of rotary tables alternately receiving successive pieces of plastic cut from said roll, each of said rotary pair of tables rotatable after receiving a cut sheet of plastic deposited thereon to allow reorientation of each of said sheets with respect to said respective substrates prior to being introduced into said press;
• an oven interposed between said pair of rotary tables and said press enabling preheating of said cut sheets prior to be introduced into said press;
• and
• a positioner clamping frame and a drive for shuttling said clamping frame between said pair of rotary tables, said oven, and said press, said clamping frame receiving both of said cut sheets deposited on said pair of tables and releasably clamping the same to carry said reoriented sheets of plastic into said oven and thereafter into said press.