The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 15, 1997
Filed:
Feb. 10, 1994
James P Hart, Portage, WI (US);
Wesley W Roberts, Lake Mills, WI (US);
Charles G Geurts, Cambria, WI (US);
Penda Corporation, Portage, WI (US);
Abstract
A four-station rotary thermoformer has a rotary carriage which transports a sheet of thermoplastic material clamped on a subframe through a load/unload station; a heating station; a forming station where the sheet is molded; and a cooling station removed from the mold where the part is cooled on the subframe. The molded sheet is cooled in a cavity which has a lower portion mounted on a lift which travels vertically to engage against an upper portion and enclose the sheet for cooling. A multiplicity of air vents discharge cooling air into the cavity. Cooling air leaves the cavity through recirculation duct. The supply of air within the cooling cavity results in a uniform current of air against the article's surface, thus providing uniform cooling. A programmable controller controls the supply of cooling air and receives input from an infrared sensor which detects the temperature of the thermoformed article and also receives information from a sensor of the cooling air temperature. The programmable controller is programmed to provide a cooling cycle consisting of a three-parts. In the first part, the air is recirculated using the heat capacity of the recirculating air in the air supply system to start cooling at a low rate. During the second part, the flow of cooling air temperature is lowered until a pre-determined maximum cooling rate is reached and held for a selected time. During the third part, the cooling air is again recirculated.