Claims
- 1. A shrink oven for heating and shrinking plastic film disposed about loads, said oven having an exit opening for exit of a first load, said oven characterized in having movable means to move a second load through an entry opening into said oven, synchronizing means for causing said movable means to move in a manner dependently with exit movement of said first load to displace heated oven air to fill the air space left behind said first load as it exits the oven, thereby to limit inward flow of cool air during exit of the load, means to stack an entering or exiting load closely adjacent to another load to limit flow of heated air at the outer end of said load as it enters or exits said oven, and means to maintain spacing of a load from adjacent loads while said load is resident in said oven to expose the end of said load to heat, there being first and second conveyors at the entrance and exit openings, respectively, of said oven, operable at the same speed for supplying a fresh load while a heated load is removed, and a further conveyor within said oven operable to remove a load from said first conveyor, position said load for exposure of its ends to heat and deliver the heated load to said second conveyor,
- said further conveyor driven dependently with, and at a faster speed than, said first and second conveyors, said conveyors adapted to stop in unison while a load is on said further conveyor in said oven and spaced from adjacent loads, whereby conservation of energy and improvement in the shrink cycle can be obtained.
- 2. The shrink oven of claim 1 further characterized by being sized and adapted to receive loads on pallets covered by shrinkable plastic film.
- 3. The shrink oven of claim 1 in which said entry and exit openings are associated with means limiting air flow past the sides of said entering and exiting loads.
- 4. The shrink oven of claim 1 further characterized in having doors for said openings, conveyor means extending through said oven and means to establish spacing of said loads thereon at a distance corresponding to the distance between said openings, and a means responsive to the position of said loads in close proximity to said oven doors to open and close said doors.
- 5. The shrink oven of claim 4, further including shroud means both inside and outside of said oven at each of said openings, adapted to limit the flow of air past said load when said doors are open.
- 6. The shrink oven of claim 1 in which there is a door for a said opening and positioning means to assure close positioning of a load at said opening whenever said door is open.
- 7. The shrink oven of claim 6 wherein said load in its movements relative to said opening is at one time at one side and at another time at the other side of said door when said door is open, and said positioning means are arranged to maintain said load in a close position to the door on each side of the door.
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation-in-part of my application U.S. Ser. No. 575,888 filed Feb. 1, 1984.
US Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
3399506 |
Howe, Jr. |
Sep 1968 |
|
3807126 |
Schwarz |
Apr 1974 |
|
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
575888 |
Feb 1984 |
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