GB676681A - Manufacture of felt blanks - Google Patents

Abstract

676,681. Felt. BATA, NARODNI PODNIK. Dec. 6, 1946 [June 5, 1943], No. 36100/46. Class 42 (ii). Felt blanks are made by conveying fibres in an air stream to an accumulating station, forming a supply of fibres at the station into a loose formation which has the shape of a blank, i.e. of the plan view of an article, such as an intermediate house-shoe sole, but is far deeper than the thickness desired for the blank, applying pressure to reduce the depth of the formation while maintaining the said shape, moving it to a felting station, and there applying sufficient heat and pressure to the formation to compress it to the desired blank thickness whilst still maintaining said shape. The fibres may be accumulated in a pair of moulds formed by the plates 1, 2, having openings 3, 4, of the shape of intermediate house-shoe soles and separated by hollow components 5 of the same shape and of the depth of the formation to be produced. The plate 2 is hinged at 8 to a slide 9 so that on raising the plates 1, 2 to the vertical position they may be slid between the walls 10, 11 of a shaft 12. Each of the openings 3, 4 is positioned successively between a screen 16 connected by piping to a ventilator, and a mouthpiece 13 through which hair is introduced. The plate 19, which carries hot plates 20 which are surrounded by hollow members 24 on a resiliently mounted plate 21 having openings 22, 23 corresponding to those in the plates 1, 2, is then moved along slides 18 on to the table 17, the plate 2 swung over it, and the fibre formations 6 transferred to the hollow components 24. The plate 19 is then moved under a felthardening plate 25 which is movable eccentrically and driven by a motor in housing 26, and the formations are felted, being steamed if required. They are then removed, and compressed in a further mould to final thickness. In order to build up the heel to a greater thickness than the remainder of the sole, hinged dampers 31, 32 (Fig. 8) may be provided in the ducts 28, 30 carrying air to and from the mouthpiece 13. These are connected with a handle 35 by a linkage which moves them equally. The side-wall of the moulding component may be provided with perforations 37 where the thickened portion 27 is to be formed, and surrounded by an additional side wall 38.