JP2000239999A - Production of molded pulp article - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a process capable of easily producing a hollow molded pulp article having small cross-section of the mouth part. SOLUTION: An expandable hollow core 8 is folded to a prescribed form and inserted into a cavity 4 of a mold 1 containing a formed pulp layer 7. A pressurized fluid is introduced into the inserted core 8 to press the pulp layer 7 against the inner face of the cavity 4 with the expanded core 8.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for producing a pulp molded article, and more particularly to a method for producing a pulp molded article particularly suitable for producing a hollow molded article having a small cross-sectional area of an opening.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the production of a pulp molded article, a pair of split molds comprising a male mold and a female mold is used, and a pulp slurry is introduced between the two molds. A method of manufacturing a shallow tray or dish by dewatering the slurry, or forming a splitter using a pair of split dies, and bonding two splitters together to form a hollow molded body such as a bottle. A method for producing is known.

However, in the method using a male type and a female type,
It is not easy to manufacture a molded article having a complicated shape having a so-called undercut portion, and in the laminating method, a seam due to laminating occurs on the surface, and the strength and appearance are impaired. It is not easy to manufacture a hollow molded article having a small cross-sectional area.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a pulp molded article capable of producing a molded article having a complicated shape without causing a seam to be formed on the surface. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a pulp molded article that can easily produce a hollow molded article having a small cross-sectional area of an opening.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a pulp molded article having a pulp layer formed on an inner surface of a cavity of a mold and drying the pulp layer to obtain a pulp molded article having an opening. Then, in advance, the core that is expandable and contractible and has a hollow shape is folded so as to have a cross-sectional shape smaller than a cross-sectional shape of a portion corresponding to the opening in the pulp layer, and the pulp layer is After the formation, the folded core is inserted into the cavity, a pressurized fluid is supplied into the inserted core, and the pulp layer is pressed against the inner surface of the cavity by the core. The above object has been achieved by providing a method for producing a molded article.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a method for producing a pulp molded article of the present invention will be described based on preferred embodiments with reference to the drawings. The pulp mold manufacturing method of the present embodiment is an example of manufacturing a hollow molded body having an opening, and FIG. 1 shows a paper making step of such a manufacturing step. In FIG. 1, (a) is a papermaking process, (b) is a core insertion process, (c) is a pressure / dehydration process, and (d) is a process of opening a papermaking mold and taking out an intermediate of a molded product. is there.

First, as shown in FIG. 1A, a papermaking mold 1 in which a cavity 4 having a predetermined shape is formed by abutting a pair of split molds 2 and 3 is prepared. Split type 2,
In a state where 3 is abutted, as shown in FIG.
A mouth 5 communicating with the cavity 4 is formed in an upper part of the papermaking mold 1. Each of the split dies 2 and 3 is provided with a plurality of communication holes 6 communicating with the cavities 4 from the outer surfaces thereof. The inner surfaces of the split dies 2 and 3 are covered with nets (not shown) each having a mesh of a predetermined size.

Next, pulp slurry is injected into the cavity 4 through the mouth 5. At the same time, the split dies 2 and 3 are sucked from the outside through the communication holes 6 to depressurize the inside of the cavity 4, suck moisture in the pulp slurry and deposit pulp fibers on the net covering the inner surface of the cavity 4. As a result, a pulp layer 7 on which pulp fibers are deposited is formed on the net. In the pulp layer 7, a portion 7a corresponding to the opening in the molded article to be formed (hereinafter, this portion is referred to as an opening corresponding portion) 7a is formed near the mouth 5 of the papermaking mold 1. The cross-sectional shape of the opening corresponding portion 7a is circular.

When a predetermined amount of the pulp slurry is injected into the cavity 4, the injection of the pulp slurry is stopped and the inside of the cavity 4 is completely sucked and dehydrated. Continuing with FIG.
As shown in (b), the inside of the cavity 4 is suctioned and depressurized, and a hollow core 8 that is expandable and contractible and has a hollow shape is inserted into the cavity 4 through the opening 5 of the papermaking mold 1. The core 8 used in the present embodiment is formed of a material having elasticity and capable of expanding and contracting. The core 8 is previously folded so as to have a smaller cross-sectional shape than the cross-sectional shape of the opening corresponding portion 7a, and is inserted into the cavity 4 in a folded state. At this time, it is preferable that the inside of the core 8 be decompressed by suction and folded further smaller. In the present embodiment, the core 8 is inserted into the cavity 4 in a folded state so that a large number of folds are formed in the insertion direction into the cavity 4.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show a side view of the core 8 and a sectional view taken along line II. The core 8 is a hollow body in which the tubular portion 8a and the fold portion 8b are integrally formed, and the distal end of the tubular portion 8a communicates with the outside. Tubular part 8
A flange 8c is formed on the peripheral surface of the leading end of a. The core 8 is fixed to these fixed plates by sandwiching the flange 8c between the upper fixed plate 9a and the lower fixed plate 9b. The upper fixed plate 9a is provided with a connecting portion 9c used for supplying a pressurized fluid, which will be described later.
The pressurized fluid is supplied into the core 8 through the core.

As shown in FIG. 2 (b), the fold 8b
It is configured such that eight leaf folds 8d are formed radially in its cross-sectional shape. Furthermore, each fold 8d is
The fold 8e is a circle C drawn by a dotted line shown in FIG.
It is formed so that it may circumscribe. The size of the circle C is smaller than the circle forming the cross-sectional shape of the opening corresponding portion 7a. Therefore, the core 8 is inserted into the cavity 4 without contacting the opening corresponding portion 7a, and the pulp in the opening corresponding portion 7a is prevented from falling off.

The core 8 used in the present embodiment is made of a material such as urethane, fluorine rubber, silicone rubber or elastomer having excellent tensile strength, rebound resilience and elasticity. Further, these materials can be formed by coating a stretchable cloth or the like. Core 8
When the tubular portion 8a and the fold portion 8b are formed of different materials, it is preferable that at least the fold portion 8b is formed of the above-described material. In addition, core 8
Is substantially the same as or larger than the shape of the cavity 4, so that the expansion ratio of the core 8 can be reduced and its durability can be improved. This is preferred.

Returning to FIG. 1, the core 8 is inserted into the cavity 4 and the lower fixing plate 9 is inserted, as shown in FIG.
While the mouth 5 is closed by b, a predetermined pressurized fluid is supplied from the supply source of the pressurized fluid to the inside of the core 8 and the inside of the cavity 4 is sucked through the connecting portion 9c. Thus, the core 8 is released from the folded state. Further, the pressurized fluid is supplied to expand the core 8, and the expanded core 8 presses the pulp layer 7 against the inner surface of the cavity 4. The expanded core 8 has a shape similar to the shape of the cavity 4. As the pressurized fluid used to expand the core 8, for example, compressed air (heated air), oil (heated oil), and other various liquids are used. The supply pressure of the pressurized fluid is 0.01 to
It is preferably 5 MPa, particularly preferably 0.1 to 3 MPa.

By pressing by the core 8, the inner surface shape of the cavity 4 is transferred to the pulp layer 7 and dehydration further proceeds. As described above, since the pulp layer 7 is pressed against the inner surface of the cavity 4 from the inside of the cavity 4, the shape of the inner surface of the cavity 4 is accurately transferred to the pulp layer 7 even if the shape of the inner surface of the cavity 4 is complicated. Is done. Further, since the shape of the expanded core 8 is similar to the shape of the cavity 4 as described above, the pulp layer 7 is pressed with almost the same pressure at any part thereof. As a result, the thickness of the pulp layer 7 becomes uniform. In addition, unlike the conventional manufacturing method, there is no need to use a bonding step, so that the obtained molded article does not have a seam or a thick portion due to bonding. As a result, the strength of the obtained pulp molded article is increased and the appearance impression is improved.

When the shape of the inner surface of the cavity 4 is sufficiently transferred to the pulp layer 7 and the pulp layer 7 can be dehydrated to a predetermined moisture content, as shown in FIG. Pull out. Further, the inside of the core 8 is suctioned under reduced pressure. As a result, the core 8 contracts and returns to the original folded state. Then core 8
Is taken out of the cavity 4. Since the core 8 has the same size as before being inserted into the cavity 4, it is taken out of the cavity 4 without contacting the opening corresponding portion 7a, and the pulp in the opening corresponding portion 7a is prevented from coming off. Is done. Next, the papermaking mold 1 is opened together with the removal of the core 8, and a wet intermediate pulp molded product 7 'having a predetermined water content is removed.

The removed intermediate 7 'is then subjected to a heating and drying step. In the heating / drying step, substantially the same operation as in the paper making step shown in FIG. 1 is performed except that the paper splitting / dewatering is not performed and a heated split mold is used.
That is, first, a heating mold in which a cavity having a shape corresponding to the outer shape of a pulp molded article to be molded is formed by abutting a pair of split molds is heated to a predetermined temperature. Then, the intermediate in a wet state is loaded into the cavity of the heating mold in a heated state, and the intermediate is pressed and heated and dried using a core similar to the core 8, and then dried. The molded pulp molded product is taken out.

The pulp molded article 20 obtained in this manner has an opening 21 and a body 2 as shown in FIG.
2 and a bottom 23, and the cross-sectional area of the opening 21 is
A cylindrical bottle-shaped hollow body smaller than the cross-sectional area of No. 2 is used as a hollow container suitable for storing various contents. Further, in this pulp molded body 20,
The angle between the ground surface of the bottom portion 23 and the outer surface of the side wall of the body portion 22 is substantially 90 °. The height is 50 mm or more, preferably 100 mm or more. Although the container is a deep-bottomed container and has a small cross-sectional area of the opening 21, it is manufactured by the above-described method. In addition, there is no seam in the body 22 by bonding.
In addition, the outer surface and the inner surface are smooth. In particular, the center line average roughness (Ra) is 50 μm or less, and the maximum height (Ry) is 500 μm or less.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above,
For example, as the folded shape of the core 8 in the above embodiment, various shapes can be used according to the shape of the cavity 4. In addition, the production method of the present invention is suitable for producing a bottle-shaped molded body in which the cross-sectional area of the opening is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the body. The present invention may be applied to the production of a box-shaped carton-shaped molded article. In the case where a molded body having a wide opening and having a shape that does not require much expansion and contraction of the core 8 is formed, the core 8 only needs to have expandable and contractible flexibility. Sex) is not required. Such materials include
For example, polyethylene, polypropylene and the like can be mentioned.
The cores and the like used in the papermaking step and the heating and drying step may have shapes and materials different from each other. In addition, after molding of the molded body 20, a plastic layer or a coating layer is provided on the outer surface and / or the inner surface thereof to further enhance the strength of the molded body 20, effectively prevent leakage of contents, and the like. Or you may give decoration. Also, the molded body 20
A reinforcing member made of plastic or the like is disposed in a portion where a load is applied when using, for example, the opening 21 and the bottom 23,
The durability of the molded body 20 may be improved. Further, some of these parts may be formed of plastic or the like. Further, the opening 21 of the molded body 20 may be polygonal. Further, the manufacturing method of the present invention may be applied to a method of manufacturing an object such as an ornament, in addition to a method of manufacturing a hollow body (hollow container) used for storing contents.

[0019]

According to the method for producing a pulp molded article of the present invention, a molded article having a complicated shape can be produced without causing a seam due to bonding on the surface. In particular, the production method of the present invention is particularly effective when producing a hollow molded body having a small cross-sectional area of the opening.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a paper making process in a manufacturing process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 (a) is a side view of a core, and FIG. 2 (b)
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line II in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Mold 2, 30-piece mold 4 Cavity 5 Mouth 6 Communication hole 7 Pulp layer 8 Core 8a Tubular part 8b Fold part

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] March 1, 2000 (200.3.1)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Claims]

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0005

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a pulp molded article having a pulp layer formed on an inner surface of a cavity of a mold and drying the pulp layer to obtain a pulp molded article having an opening. Then, in advance, the core that is expandable and contractible and has a hollow shape is folded so as to have a cross-sectional shape smaller than a cross-sectional shape of a portion corresponding to the opening in the pulp layer, and the pulp layer is After the formation, the folded core is inserted into the cavity, a pressurized fluid is supplied into the inserted core, and the pulp layer is pressed against the inner surface of the cavity by the core. The above object has been achieved by providing a method for producing a molded article. In addition, the present invention
As a core that is preferably used in the manufacturing method,
Radial folds in a hollow cross-section
Pulp molding configured to be formed
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a core used for manufacturing a body.

[Procedure amendment 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0007

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

First, as shown in FIG. 1A, a papermaking mold 1 in which a cavity 4 having a predetermined shape is formed by abutting a pair of split molds 2 and 3 is prepared. Split type 2,
In a state where 3 is abutted, as shown in FIG.
A mouth 5 communicating with the cavity 4 is formed in an upper part of the papermaking mold 1. Each split mold 2, 3, a plurality of communication holes 6 Ru is communicating with the outer surface and the cavity 4 are provided, respectively. The inner surfaces of the split dies 2 and 3 are covered with nets (not shown) each having a mesh of a predetermined size.

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Tokuo Tsuura 2606 Akabane, Kaigamachi, Haga-gun, Tochigi Prefecture F-term in the Kao Corporation Research Laboratories (reference) 4L055 BF07 BF08 FA30

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A method for manufacturing a pulp molded article, comprising: forming a pulp layer on an inner surface of a cavity of a mold; and drying the pulp layer to obtain a pulp molded article having an opening. The hollow core is folded so as to have a smaller cross-sectional shape than a cross-sectional shape of a portion corresponding to the opening in the pulp layer, and after the pulp layer is formed, the core is folded. A method for producing a pulp molded article, wherein the core is inserted into the cavity, a pressurized fluid is supplied into the inserted core, and the pulp layer is pressed against the inner surface of the cavity by the core. 2. The pulp molding according to claim 1, wherein the core is inserted into the cavity in a state where the core is folded so as to form a large number of folds in the insertion direction into the cavity. How to make the body.