Ppg Industries, Inc.

Philippe Scandella

Robert G Frank

Michael T Fecik

William B Zimmerman

Olivier Meunier

The present invention provides an arrangement for shaping multiple sheets of heat softenable material which includes a shaping station and a conveying system to deliver a plurality of heat softened sheets into the shaping station. The shaping station includes an upper vacuum mold having a plurality of downwardly facing sheet shaping surfaces each generally conforming to a desired shape of a sheet to be shaped and a plurality of stops positioned below the upper mold such that each of the sheets is aligned below a corresponding one of the upper mold sheet shaping surfaces when the sheet contacts selected stops. Lower molds are positioned below the upper mold sheet shaping surfaces to lift and press the aligned sheets against the upper mold sheet shaping surfaces to shape the sheets. A vacuum is drawn along the upper mold sheet shaping surfaces to secure the sheets to the upper mold and shape the sheets. The upper mold and shaped sheets are moved to a transfer station having a conveying surface generally corresponding to the desired shape of the sheets and the vacuum in the upper mold is released to deposit the shaped sheets from the upper mold onto the conveying surface. The stops are selectively movable within the shaping station to allow the sheets to be conveyed into the shaping station either in a side-by-side or serially aligned orientation and positioned below the upper vacuum mold.

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Poix-Terron, France

Philippe Scandella