Automatic pulp-forming mold-releasing machine

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6245199
  • Patent Number
    6,245,199
  • Date Filed
    Thursday, September 23, 1999
    25 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, June 12, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Silverman; Stanley S.
    • Hug; Eric
    Agents
    • Bacon & Thomas, PLLC
Abstract
A automatic pulp-forming mold-releasing machine comprising a lower mold disposed inside of a frame body, capable of reciprocatingly turning upside down and having protruding forming parts at top and bottom sides thereof which include air vents on the surface thereof capable of drawing and blowing air, and two synchronically reciprocatingly laterally shifting slide holders disposed at the top of the frame body and having upper mold lifting devices to drive the upper molds to move upwards and downwards, and air-drawing and air-blowing vent provided inside of the upper molds, and a liftable pulp container disposed under the lower mold of the frame body, characterized in that the pulp is absorbed to the forming parts at the bottom side of the lower mold; thereafter, it turns upside down to the top side, after dehydrated by the down-pressing of the upper mold, the formed pulp is absorbed upwards and lifted to be separate from the mold while the upper mold is laterally slid by the slide holder in position so that the mold-releasing formed pulp falls on the transport belt in order to achieve a rapid, effective and automatic pulp-forming mold-releasing effect.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates to an automatic pulp-forming mold-releasing machine, and more particularly, to a machine having a double-sided turnable lower mold to press and to release mold in coordination with two upper molds while the formed pulp is placed on the pre-arranged transport belt in order to reach the goal of rapid and automatic production.




2. Description of the Prior Art




As shown in

FIG. 1

, the conventional pulp-forming mold-releasing machine is provided with a pulp container


51


fixed in the frame body


5


and containing pulp raw material. An vertically liftable upper mold


52


driven by an upper mold driving device


521


is disposed over the pulp container


51


and includes a plurality of protruding forming parts


522


at the bottom side thereof having a plurality of air vents on the surface thereof through which the suction or the pushing force is created when the air flows in and flows out. A laterally movable table


531


is disposed between the pulp container


51


and the upper mold


52


and includes a plurality of mold seats


53


at one side thereof which are moved with the mold seats


53


to the descending route of the upper mold


52


. The upper mold


52


contains a vertically liftable die casting


54


driven by a die casting driving device


541


and disposed at one side thereof. The die casting


54


includes air-passing vents on the surface thereof.




The whole operation is performed as follows: The upper mold


52


is driven by the upper mold driving device


521


to descend into the pulp container


51


while a vacuum suction is created in the air vents on the surface of the forming parts


522


to absorb pulp of certain amount. Thereafter, the upper mold driving device


521


drives the upper mold


52


to ascend while the movable table


531


is laterally so shifted that the mold seat


53


is located under the upper mold


52


, and the air vents on the surface of the forming parts begins to blow air so that the slightly formed pulp on the surface thereof falls into the mold seat


53


, and then the movable table returns to the original position so that the mold seat


53


is shifted under the die casting


54


. Driven by the die casting driving device


541


, the die casting


54


descends to press on the mold seat


53


so that the pulp therein is dehydrated and formed. Thereafter, the air vents on the surface of the die casting


54


draw air so that the formed and dehydrated pulp is absorbed to rise with the die casting


54


. At this time, the movable table


531


is laterally shifted to the lower side of the upper mold


52


again (the upper mold


52


absorbs pulp of certain amount by means of the forming parts


522


again) in order for the mold seat


53


to receive the pulp supplied by the upper mold


52


. Meanwhile, the air vents on the surface begin to blow air so that the formed and dehydrated pulp falls on another side of the movable table


531


and is transported with the return of the movable table


531


to the next working procedure (e.g. wind drying etc.) for further processing.




Though the above-mentioned construction can reach the basic automatic processing, the whole operation procedure is too complex. Additionally, each processing step will take certain time to create a best production effect. Accordingly, the production efficiency is too low to meet the economic requirement and the whole production procedure is seriously influenced.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




It is a main object of the present invention to provide an automatic pulp-forming mold-releasing machine comprising a lower mold disposed inside of a frame body, capable of reciprocatingly turning upside down and having protruding forming parts at top and bottom sides thereof which include air vents on the surface thereof capable of drawing and blowing air, and two synchronically reciprocatingly laterally shifting slide holders disposed at the top of the frame body and having lifting devices to drive the upper molds to move upwards and downwards, and air-drawing and air-blowing vents provided inside of the upper molds, and a liftable pulp container disposed under the lower mold of the frame body, characterized in that the pulp is absorbed to the forming parts at the bottom side of the lower mold; thereafter, it turns upside down to the top side, after dehydrated by the down-pressing of the upper mold, the formed pulp is absorbed upwards and lifted to be separate from the mold while the upper mold is laterally slid by the slide holder in position so that the mold-releasing formed pump falls on the transport belt in order to achieve a rapid, effective and automatic pulp-forming mold-releasing effect.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




The drawings disclose illustrative an embodiment of the present invention which serves to exemplify the various advantages and objects hereof, and are as follows:





FIG. 1

is a schematic drawing of a conventional pulp-forming mold-releasing machine;





FIG. 2

is a perspective assembly of the present invention;





FIG. 3

is a perspective assembly view of the partial structure of the present invention;





FIG. 4

is a perspective view of a lower mold of the present invention;





FIG. 4A

is a sectional view of the lower mold of the present invention taken along the line A—A of

FIG. 4

;





FIG. 4B

is a sectional assembly view of the upper and lower mold of the present invention;





FIG. 5

is an exploded view of the lower mold of the present invention;





FIG. 6

is a side view of the present invention;





FIG. 7

is a first schematic drawing of the present invention illustrating the working operation thereof;





FIG. 8

is a second schematic drawing of the present invention illustrating the working operation thereof;





FIG. 9

is a third schematic drawing of the present invention illustrating the working operation thereof;





FIG. 10

is a fourth schematic drawing of the present invention illustrating the working operation thereof; and





FIG. 11

is a fifth schematic drawing of the present invention illustrating the working operation thereof.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




As shown in

FIG. 1

, the configuration and disadvantages of the conventional pulp-forming mold-releasing machine have been described above and will not repeat hereafter.




FIG.


2


and

FIG. 3

show perspective assembly views of the present invention. As shown in

FIG. 3

, the present invention includes a frame body


1


, a lower mold


2


, a pulp container


3


and an upper mold


4


. The top sides of the frame body


1


are respectively provided with two parallel extending guide rails


11


having trigger switches


111


,


112


at the ends thereof. The two side of the central part of the frame body


1


contains two bearing blocks


12


corresponding to the guide rails


11


while a vent pipe


13


is disposed in the middle of the bearing block


12


in order to connect to the external part. The lower mold


2


is mounted inside of the frame body


1


and has a shaft


21


respectively outwards laterally disposed at two sides of the center thereof and two shafts


21


penetrate through respective bearings pre-arranged in the bearing blocks


12


and are connected to the vent pipes


13


so that the lower mold


2


can be rotated on the shafts


21


. The end of the shaft


21


includes a gear


24


while a rotation driving device


25


is provided at the side of the bearing block


12


to drive a gear chain


251


to engage with the gear


24


. The pulp container


3


is provided under the lower mold


2


and the two sides thereof are upwards and downwards movable by means of at least two lifting devices


31


for the pulp container


3


. A plurality of the upper molds


4


are disposed over the top of the lower mold


2


and each upper mold


4


is located on the slide holder


44


by means of the lifting device


45


for the upper mold. The slide holder


44


is placed on the two guide rails


11


and movable on the guide rails


11


by means of a lateral shifting device


46


for the upper mold. Moreover, the upper mold


4


is reciprocatingly upwards and downwards movable by means of a lifting device


45


for the upper mold.





FIG. 4

shows a perspective view of a lower mold of the present invention. Referring also to

FIGS. 4A

,


4


B and


5


, the middle section of the lower mold


2


is laterally provided with a ventilation airway


22


which is outwards extended from two ends thereof by means of the shaft


21


. The center of the ventilation airway


22


includes a partition


221


by which the ventilation airway


22


is divided into an upper and a lower airway. The two ends of the upper and lower airways are slantwise blocked by bracing plates


222


respectively so that the upper and lower airways are respectively connected to the shaft


21


at two sides. A plurality of air vents


223


is provided to be connected to the inside of the lower mold


2


. The top and bottom of the lower mold


2


can be covered with a cover


23


respectively on which a plurality of forming parts


231


are protrudingly provided each of which includes a plurality of air vents


232


to connect to the external elements.





FIG. 6

shows a side view of the present invention. Referring also to

FIGS. 2 and 4B

, the shaft


21


of the lower mold


2


is placed on the bearing blocks


12


by means of the bearing to be connected to the vent pipe


13


. The gear


24


at the end of the shaft


21


is engaged with the gear chain


251


driving the rotation driving device


25


. The lower mold


2


includes a parallel extending transport belt


14


respectively at two sides thereof which is situated on the movement route. The bottom side of the upper mold


4


is concavely provide with forming parts


41


corresponding to the forming parts


231


while a plurality of air vents


421


are disposed in the forming parts


41


connected to the ventilation airway


42


in the upper mold


4


. The ventilation airway


42


is connected to the external by means of another ventilation pipe


43


.





FIGS. 7 through 11

show schematic drawings of the present invention illustrating the working operation thereof. In

FIG. 7

is shown that the pulp container


3


is driven by the lifting device


31


and lifted to the bottom of the lower mold


2


so that one side of the shaft


21


connected to the ventilation airway


22


of the bottom side begins to draw air while the pulp


32


in the pulp container


3


is drawn to the external surface of the forming parts


231


(as shown in

FIG. 4B

) by means of the vacuum suction of the air vents


223


,


232


. The suction will be diminished when the pulp


32


becomes thicker and thicker. The slide holder


44


is exactly located over the lower mold


2


. And the upper mold


4


is lowered by the lifting device


45


so that the forming parts


41


thereof are pressed on the forming parts


231


of the lower mold


2


. The moisture in the pulp


32


on the surface of the forming parts


231


is squeezed out and the pulp


32


is fixed and formed. At this time, the ventilation pipe


43


begins to draw air while the shaft


21


connected to the ventilation airway


22


at the top side is gradually charged with air (see FIG.


4


B). After the pulp


32


is dried and formed, the pulp container


3


is lowered (the pulp


32


with appropriate thickness has been absorbed and attached on the surface of the forming parts


231


). At the same time, the upper mold


4


is lifted by the upper mold lifting device


45


. The ventilation pipe


43


keeps evacuating so that the ventilation airways


42


are almost in a vacuum state. The suction is produced by means of the air vents


421


so that the formed pulp


32


will be attracted by the forming parts


41


to be separate from the forming parts


231


(as shown in FIG.


8


). Then, the lateral shifting device


46


for the upper mold is activated to move the two slide holders


44


with a synchronic sliding (the slide holder


44


at the center slides to the side while another slide holder


44


at the side is moved to the center). In addition, the rotation driving device


25


drives the gear chain


251


to move the gear


24


so that the lower mold


2


is turned on the shaft


21


at 180° (as shown in FIG.


9


). The slide holder


44


will stop in touching either of the trigger switches


111


,


112


. The upper mold


4


originally at the side is moved to the top of the lower mold


2


at the center for locating in place. Thereafter, the lifting device


45


is activated to place the upper mold


4


at the top of the transport belt


14


, and the ventilation pipe


43


is charged with air while the air is driven outwards through the air vents


421


so that the formed pulp


32


in the forming parts


41


is blown off at the top of the transport belt


14


(shown in

FIG. 10

) for transporting to the next working procedure (e.g. air blowing, wind drying etc.). Thereafter, the lifting device


45


for the upper mold is returned in a collection state in order that the upper mold


4


is lifted in place (as shown in FIG.


11


). All steps of

FIGS. 7 through 11

are repeated to perform the next cycle.




Many changes and modifications in the above-described embodiment of the invention can, of course, be carried out without departing from the scope thereof. Accordingly, to promote the progress in science and the useful arts, the invention is disclosed and is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.



Claims
  • 1. An automatic pulp-forming mold-releasing machine at least comprising:a frame body having two parallel extending guide rails at top sides thereof, having two transport belt laterally and parallel extending along said guide rails at two sides of the central part thereof, two bearing blocks corresponding to said guide rails while a vent pipe is disposed in the middle of said bearing block in order to connect to the external; a lower mold disposed inside of said frame body, having protruding forming parts at upper and lower sides which include air vents on the surface thereof for drawing and supplying air, and the middle section thereof is laterally provided with a ventilation airway, the center of which includes a partition by which said ventilation airway is divided into an upper and a lower airways respectively connected to forming parts of the top and bottom sides, and said lower mold having a shaft respectively outwards laterally disposed at two sides of the center thereof while said two shafts are connected to said upper and lower ventilation airways, penetrate through respective bearings pre-arranged in bearing blocks, are connected to vent pipes, and are respectively connected to a rotation driving device so that said lower mold can be rotated on said shafts; a pulp container disposed under said lower mold and upwards and downwards liftable by means of a plurality of lifting devices at two sides thereof; two upper molds respectively located by two lifting devices on two slide holders which are placed slideable on said two guide rails, and said upper molds having concave forming parts at the bottom side, including air vents on the surface thereof for drawing and supplying air, and said upper molds driven by a lateral shifting device so that two slide holders can be slid on said guide rails while said upper molds is driven by a lifting device to bring said upper molds in a reciprocating lifting movement; characterized in that said pulp container is lifted to be adjacent to the bottom side of said lower mold while said shafts connected to said forming parts at bottom side begin to draw air so that the pulp can be absorbed and attached on the surface of said forming parts; thereafter, said upper mold is turned over at 180° to let the face of said absorbed and attached pulp upwards while said forming parts of said upper mold are driven by said shifting device to press on said pulp; thereafter, when said pulp is dehydrated by pressing and formed, said upper mold begins to draw air to absorb said formed pulp which is carried by lateral shifting device to the upper side of said transport belt while said upper mold blows said formed pulp to fall on said transport belt so that the rapid and effective pulp-forming and mold-releasing action can be achieved by the reciprocating turning upside down of said lower mold in coordination with the reciprocating lateral shift of said upper mold.
  • 2. The automatic pulp-forming mold-releasing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the end of said shaft includes a gear while a rotation driving device is provided at the side of said bearing block to drive a gear chain to engage with said gear so that said lower mold is rotateable after the activation of said rotation driving device.
  • 3. The automatic pulp-forming mold-releasing machine as claimed in claim 2, wherein said rotation driving device is a pneumatic cylinder.
  • 4. The automatic pulp-forming mold-releasing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein two trigger switches are respectively disposed at the external end of said two guide rails at the top of said frame body and can be used to locate said lower mold exactly over said lower mold after being touched by said slide holders.
  • 5. The automatic pulp-forming mold-releasing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said upper molds are provided inside with ventilation airways connected to said air vents of said forming parts while a vacuum and blowing effect is created by said air vents of said forming parts when said ventilation airways draw and supply air.
US Referenced Citations (4)
Number Name Date Kind
2234979 Randall et al. Mar 1941
2494743 Chaplin Jan 1950
5971169 Bodary et al. Oct 1999
6048440 Baker Apr 2000