GB2187996A - Process for producing shaped products - Google Patents

Process for producing shaped products Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2187996A
GB2187996A GB8704537A GB8704537A GB2187996A GB 2187996 A GB2187996 A GB 2187996A GB 8704537 A GB8704537 A GB 8704537A GB 8704537 A GB8704537 A GB 8704537A GB 2187996 A GB2187996 A GB 2187996A
Authority
GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
expanded
mould
particles
reground
mould cavity
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
GB8704537A
Other versions
GB2187996B (en
GB8704537D0 (en
Inventor
Norman William Bibby
Oskar Linus Willi
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Trondex Ltd
Original Assignee
Trondex Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Trondex Ltd filed Critical Trondex Ltd
Publication of GB8704537D0 publication Critical patent/GB8704537D0/en
Publication of GB2187996A publication Critical patent/GB2187996A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of GB2187996B publication Critical patent/GB2187996B/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29B—PREPARATION OR PRETREATMENT OF THE MATERIAL TO BE SHAPED; MAKING GRANULES OR PREFORMS; RECOVERY OF PLASTICS OR OTHER CONSTITUENTS OF WASTE MATERIAL CONTAINING PLASTICS
    • B29B17/00—Recovery of plastics or other constituents of waste material containing plastics
    • B29B17/0026—Recovery of plastics or other constituents of waste material containing plastics by agglomeration or compacting
    • B29B17/0042—Recovery of plastics or other constituents of waste material containing plastics by agglomeration or compacting for shaping parts, e.g. multilayered parts with at least one layer containing regenerated plastic
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
    • B29C44/00—Shaping by internal pressure generated in the material, e.g. swelling or foaming ; Producing porous or cellular expanded plastics articles
    • B29C44/02—Shaping by internal pressure generated in the material, e.g. swelling or foaming ; Producing porous or cellular expanded plastics articles for articles of definite length, i.e. discrete articles
    • B29C44/10—Applying counter-pressure during expanding
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
    • B29C44/00—Shaping by internal pressure generated in the material, e.g. swelling or foaming ; Producing porous or cellular expanded plastics articles
    • B29C44/34—Auxiliary operations
    • B29C44/36—Feeding the material to be shaped
    • B29C44/38—Feeding the material to be shaped into a closed space, i.e. to make articles of definite length
    • B29C44/44—Feeding the material to be shaped into a closed space, i.e. to make articles of definite length in solid form
    • B29C44/445—Feeding the material to be shaped into a closed space, i.e. to make articles of definite length in solid form in the form of expandable granules, particles or beads
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
    • B29C43/00—Compression moulding, i.e. applying external pressure to flow the moulding material; Apparatus therefor
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
    • B29C44/00—Shaping by internal pressure generated in the material, e.g. swelling or foaming ; Producing porous or cellular expanded plastics articles
    • B29C44/34—Auxiliary operations
    • B29C44/3415—Heating or cooling
    • B29C44/3426—Heating by introducing steam in the mould
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29K—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASSES B29B, B29C OR B29D, RELATING TO MOULDING MATERIALS OR TO MATERIALS FOR MOULDS, REINFORCEMENTS, FILLERS OR PREFORMED PARTS, e.g. INSERTS
    • B29K2025/00—Use of polymers of vinyl-aromatic compounds or derivatives thereof as moulding material
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02W—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO WASTEWATER TREATMENT OR WASTE MANAGEMENT
    • Y02W30/00—Technologies for solid waste management
    • Y02W30/50—Reuse, recycling or recovery technologies
    • Y02W30/62—Plastics recycling; Rubber recycling

Abstract

A process for producing a shaped product of an expanded polymeric styrene material comprising introducing an expanded polymeric styrene material into a mould cavity (11), introducing heating fluid into the mould cavity to heat the expanded material to a temperature at which at least some of the material is softened, and then applying moulding pressure to compress the material into the desired shape of the product. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Process for producing shaped products This invention relates to a process for producing shaped products from expanded material.
Shaped products of expanded material are moulded by introducing particles of polymer incorporating an encapsulated volatile expanding agent into a closed mould and introducing steam into the mould to heat the particles causing them to soften and expand. The expanded particles generate pressure within the mould causing the particles to fuse together to produce a product the shape of the mould and also prevent further steam entering the mould.
Expanded polystyrene products are conventionally made in this manner.
The moulding process inevitably produces a proportion of scrap material and this has to be disposed of. This is expensive as. not only is a portion of the polymer material wasted but the disposal involves additional expense.
The scrap material cannot be used again except as a small proportion of a mixture of scrap and fresh material as the encapsulated volatile expanding agent has been expended and if it is reintroduced into a mould it does not have the capacity to expand.
An object of the present invention is to provide a process producing a shaped product of an expanded material which is suitable for use with expanded material which does not have an expanding agent.
According to the present invention we provide a process for producing a shaped product of an expanded polymeric styrene material comprising introducing an expanded polymeric styrene material into a mould cavity, introducing heating fluid into the mould cavity to heat the expanded material to a temperature at which at least some of the material is softened, and then applying moulding pressure to compress the material into the desired shape of the product.
Preferably the pressure is applied by means of a movable wall.
The process of the invention is particularly suitable for producing shaped products of reground expanded polymeric materials especially expanded polymeric materials which achieve expansion by means of an encapsulated volatile expanding agent, such as expanded polystyrene.
The material is conveniently introduced into the mould cavity in the form of particles. The particles may comprise reground expanded polymeric styrene material, and desirably, the particles comprise a mixture of reground polymeric styrene material and fresh pre-expanded polymeric styrene material.
The expanded polymeric material may be reground in any conventional regrinding machine to a size range which is suitable for the shaped product to be produced. Fines may be removed by a suitable sieving technique.
The process enables waste expanded materials to be moulded into an end product and thus considerably reduces the material costs.
A particular process is described with reference to the accompanying drawing which is a schematic illustration of a suitable mould arrangement.
The mould comprises a female mould part 10 having a mould cavity 11 and a second mould part 12. The second mould part 12 is arranged to be movable into the mould cavity under a controlled pressure. if desired, of course, either or both mould parts can be arranged to move.
Particles of required expanded polymer material are introduced irito the mould cavity 11 and steam is then introduced to cause sufficient softening of the material for it to be capable of fusing together under the controlled pressure. The steam supply is then interrupted and pressure applied to the second mould part. When the material is coherent it is removed from the mould cavity as a product and the process repeated.
If desired the steam supply can be maintained during or after compression. The process is particularly suitable for moulding reground expanded polystyrene and can be used for making a wide variety of products, such as protection packaging, horticultural packaging and other products conventionally produced from expanded polystyrene.
The process is suitable for moulding 100% reground expanded polystyrene bead as well as any mixture of reground and fresh pre-expanded bead.
1. A process or producing a shaped product of an expanded polymeric styrene material comprising introducing an expanded polymeric styrene material into a mould cavity, introducing heating fluid into the mould cavity to heat the expanded material to a temperature at which at least some of the material is softened, and then applying moulding pressure to compress the material into the desired shape of the product.
2. A process according to Claim 1 whereby the moulding pressure is applied by means of a movable wall.
3. A process according to Claim 1 or 2 wherein the material is introduced into the mould cavity in the form of particles.
4. A process according to Claim 3 wherein the particles comprise reground expanded polymeric styrene material.
5. A process according to Claim 3 wherein the particles comprise a mixture of reground polymeric styrene material and fresh pre-expanded polymeric styrene material.
6. A process according to any preceding claim wherein the heating fluid is steam.
**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (7)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. SPECIFICATION Process for producing shaped products This invention relates to a process for producing shaped products from expanded material. Shaped products of expanded material are moulded by introducing particles of polymer incorporating an encapsulated volatile expanding agent into a closed mould and introducing steam into the mould to heat the particles causing them to soften and expand. The expanded particles generate pressure within the mould causing the particles to fuse together to produce a product the shape of the mould and also prevent further steam entering the mould. Expanded polystyrene products are conventionally made in this manner. The moulding process inevitably produces a proportion of scrap material and this has to be disposed of. This is expensive as. not only is a portion of the polymer material wasted but the disposal involves additional expense. The scrap material cannot be used again except as a small proportion of a mixture of scrap and fresh material as the encapsulated volatile expanding agent has been expended and if it is reintroduced into a mould it does not have the capacity to expand. An object of the present invention is to provide a process producing a shaped product of an expanded material which is suitable for use with expanded material which does not have an expanding agent. According to the present invention we provide a process for producing a shaped product of an expanded polymeric styrene material comprising introducing an expanded polymeric styrene material into a mould cavity, introducing heating fluid into the mould cavity to heat the expanded material to a temperature at which at least some of the material is softened, and then applying moulding pressure to compress the material into the desired shape of the product. Preferably the pressure is applied by means of a movable wall. The process of the invention is particularly suitable for producing shaped products of reground expanded polymeric materials especially expanded polymeric materials which achieve expansion by means of an encapsulated volatile expanding agent, such as expanded polystyrene. The material is conveniently introduced into the mould cavity in the form of particles. The particles may comprise reground expanded polymeric styrene material, and desirably, the particles comprise a mixture of reground polymeric styrene material and fresh pre-expanded polymeric styrene material. The expanded polymeric material may be reground in any conventional regrinding machine to a size range which is suitable for the shaped product to be produced. Fines may be removed by a suitable sieving technique. The process enables waste expanded materials to be moulded into an end product and thus considerably reduces the material costs. A particular process is described with reference to the accompanying drawing which is a schematic illustration of a suitable mould arrangement. The mould comprises a female mould part 10 having a mould cavity 11 and a second mould part 12. The second mould part 12 is arranged to be movable into the mould cavity under a controlled pressure. if desired, of course, either or both mould parts can be arranged to move. Particles of required expanded polymer material are introduced irito the mould cavity 11 and steam is then introduced to cause sufficient softening of the material for it to be capable of fusing together under the controlled pressure. The steam supply is then interrupted and pressure applied to the second mould part. When the material is coherent it is removed from the mould cavity as a product and the process repeated. If desired the steam supply can be maintained during or after compression. The process is particularly suitable for moulding reground expanded polystyrene and can be used for making a wide variety of products, such as protection packaging, horticultural packaging and other products conventionally produced from expanded polystyrene. The process is suitable for moulding 100% reground expanded polystyrene bead as well as any mixture of reground and fresh pre-expanded bead. CLAIMS
1. A process or producing a shaped product of an expanded polymeric styrene material comprising introducing an expanded polymeric styrene material into a mould cavity, introducing heating fluid into the mould cavity to heat the expanded material to a temperature at which at least some of the material is softened, and then applying moulding pressure to compress the material into the desired shape of the product.
2. A process according to Claim 1 whereby the moulding pressure is applied by means of a movable wall.
3. A process according to Claim 1 or 2 wherein the material is introduced into the mould cavity in the form of particles.
4. A process according to Claim 3 wherein the particles comprise reground expanded polymeric styrene material.
5. A process according to Claim 3 wherein the particles comprise a mixture of reground polymeric styrene material and fresh pre-expanded polymeric styrene material.
6. A process according to any preceding claim wherein the heating fluid is steam.
7. A process substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.
GB8704537A 1986-02-27 1987-02-26 Process for producing shaped products Expired GB2187996B (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB8604910A GB8604910D0 (en) 1986-02-27 1986-02-27 Producing shaped products

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB8704537D0 GB8704537D0 (en) 1987-04-01
GB2187996A true GB2187996A (en) 1987-09-23
GB2187996B GB2187996B (en) 1989-11-08

Family

ID=10593784

Family Applications (2)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
GB8604910A Pending GB8604910D0 (en) 1986-02-27 1986-02-27 Producing shaped products
GB8704537A Expired GB2187996B (en) 1986-02-27 1987-02-26 Process for producing shaped products

Family Applications Before (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
GB8604910A Pending GB8604910D0 (en) 1986-02-27 1986-02-27 Producing shaped products

Country Status (1)

Country Link
GB (2) GB8604910D0 (en)

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2314524A (en) * 1996-06-25 1998-01-07 Northern Telecom Ltd Antenna ground plane substrate
GB2314523A (en) * 1996-06-25 1998-01-07 Northern Telecom Ltd Antenna dielectric
EP1292437A1 (en) * 2000-05-04 2003-03-19 Bale Fusion Limited A method and apparatus for forming an article and an article formed thereby
EP2610043A1 (en) * 2011-12-29 2013-07-03 Kurtz GmbH Foaming device and method for producing insulation panels

Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB884896A (en) * 1958-12-27 1961-12-20 Koppers Co Inc Process and apparatus for utilization of scraps of polystyrene foam
GB896473A (en) * 1959-03-11 1962-05-16 Ernest Crabb Process for the manufacture of moulded products from expanded polystyrene
GB1080541A (en) * 1964-01-06 1967-08-23 Jablo Plastics Ind Ltd Improvements in or relating to moulding presses
GB1185006A (en) * 1968-01-02 1970-03-18 Shell Int Research Method of Forming Articles of Thermoplastic Material
GB1369204A (en) * 1971-11-16 1974-10-02 Plastic Recycling Ltd Plastics
GB1407564A (en) * 1972-05-10 1975-09-24 Koelsch L M Foamed plastic sheet material
GB1412465A (en) * 1972-10-13 1975-11-05 Shell Int Research Method of forming an article from resin-impregnated plastics material
GB1424327A (en) * 1972-07-11 1976-02-11 Kay Metzeler Ltd Moulded products

Patent Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB884896A (en) * 1958-12-27 1961-12-20 Koppers Co Inc Process and apparatus for utilization of scraps of polystyrene foam
GB896473A (en) * 1959-03-11 1962-05-16 Ernest Crabb Process for the manufacture of moulded products from expanded polystyrene
GB1080541A (en) * 1964-01-06 1967-08-23 Jablo Plastics Ind Ltd Improvements in or relating to moulding presses
GB1185006A (en) * 1968-01-02 1970-03-18 Shell Int Research Method of Forming Articles of Thermoplastic Material
GB1369204A (en) * 1971-11-16 1974-10-02 Plastic Recycling Ltd Plastics
GB1407564A (en) * 1972-05-10 1975-09-24 Koelsch L M Foamed plastic sheet material
GB1424327A (en) * 1972-07-11 1976-02-11 Kay Metzeler Ltd Moulded products
GB1412465A (en) * 1972-10-13 1975-11-05 Shell Int Research Method of forming an article from resin-impregnated plastics material

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2314524A (en) * 1996-06-25 1998-01-07 Northern Telecom Ltd Antenna ground plane substrate
GB2314523A (en) * 1996-06-25 1998-01-07 Northern Telecom Ltd Antenna dielectric
EP1292437A1 (en) * 2000-05-04 2003-03-19 Bale Fusion Limited A method and apparatus for forming an article and an article formed thereby
EP1292437A4 (en) * 2000-05-04 2004-07-21 Bale Fusion Ltd A method and apparatus for forming an article and an article formed thereby
EP2610043A1 (en) * 2011-12-29 2013-07-03 Kurtz GmbH Foaming device and method for producing insulation panels

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB8604910D0 (en) 1986-04-03
GB2187996B (en) 1989-11-08
GB8704537D0 (en) 1987-04-01

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Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
732E Amendments to the register in respect of changes of name or changes affecting rights (sect. 32/1977)
PCNP Patent ceased through non-payment of renewal fee

Effective date: 19970226