JPH0241216A - Slush molding apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automate most of molding works by providing a robot arm which receives a slush mold from a mold carrying arm, sequentially feeds it to a powering unit, a heater and a cooler, and then feeds, after the molded pieces is removed, the mold again to a desired carrying arm. CONSTITUTION:A slush mold 1 is fed from an inlet 4a of a hot blast furnace 4 into the furnace, and sufficiently heated therein. When the mold 1 is discharged from the outlet 4b of the furnace 4, a robot arm mechanism 23 receives the mold 1, and feeds it to a powering unit 12 of an initial stage. The mold 1 applies powder completely in the unit 12, is again fed to a powering unit 13 of next stage, and similar powder applying work is conducted therein. Then, the mold 1 is again sequentially fed by the mechanism 23 to a heater 20, a cooler 21 and a mold releasing unit 22. The mold 1 from which a complete product is removed is fed again by the mechanism 23 to a mold carrying arm 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a Sura Nosh molding apparatus for molding a thin layered resin product using powdered resin material.

(Prior art) The slush molding method is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-10042.
It is described in Publication No. 2. In conventional slush molding equipment for performing this molding, an endless chain conveyor that suspends the slush molds runs along a nearly horizontal plane, and a part of the endless chain conveyor runs in a heating furnace (
The slush mold is heated by passing through a Yamagata furnace). Therefore, the conventional slush molding apparatus requires a large floor space for the endless chain conveyor to run. Particularly, the Yamagata furnace needs to be made longer and larger in order to increase the heat storage efficiency, so there is a problem in that the entire device becomes large.

In addition, in conventional slush molding equipment, the slush mold is fixed to the endless chain conveyor with bolts, so when the slush mold is removed from the endless chain conveyor and transferred to the powdering equipment, and when the molding process is completed, When returning the slush mold to the endless chain conveyor, it was necessary to manually attach and detach the bolts, which reduced production efficiency.

Furthermore, in conventional slush molding equipment, the slush mold is manually transferred to the powdering device, reheating device, and cooling device in order, which results in a decrease in molding work efficiency and an increase in molding costs. It had become.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The present invention was made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and its purpose is to make the whole compact and automate almost all of the molding work. It is an object of the present invention to provide a slush molding device that can improve work efficiency and reduce molding costs.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The slush molding apparatus of the present invention includes an endless chain conveyor that spans sprockets at both ends installed at approximately the same height so as to convey a slush mold along an approximately vertical plane. a hot air stove installed almost directly above the endless chain conveyor so as to allow the upper traveling portion of the endless chain conveyor to pass therethrough; a plurality of mold carrying arms installed at a plurality of locations on the endless chain conveyor;
An appropriate number of powdering devices are arranged almost directly below the endless chain conveyor and apply powdered resin material to the slush molding mold, and the slush molding mold to which the powdered resin material is deposited within the powdering device. A heating device for reheating, and after the powdered resin material is heated by the heating device until it is completely melted, the slush mold to which the molten resin material is attached is cooled to convert the molten resin material into a molded product. a cooling device that receives the slush mold heated by passing through the hot blast oven from the mold carrying arm and sequentially transfers it to the powdering device, the heating device, and the cooling device; A robot arm is provided for transferring the slush mold again to the desired carrier arm after the molded article has been removed from the mold.

(Function) The slush molds are automatically attached to the mold carrying arm on the endless chain conveyor by the robot arm, and the endless chain conveyor passes through the hot air oven to bring these slush molds to the required temperature. Heat. The slush molding mold that has passed through the hot air oven is removed from the mold carrying arm by the robot arm, and at least one
The powder is transferred to a powdering machine. The slush mold, on which the powdered resin material is deposited in the powdering device and which has become under-temperature as a result, is transferred by the robot arm to the heating device, where it is sufficiently reheated.
Completely melt the powdered resin material adhering to it.

Next, the slush mold is transferred by the robot arm to a cooling device, where the molten resin material hardens into a complete molded product. This molded article is removed from the slush mold by appropriate means. The slush mold from which the molded product has been removed in this way is again attached to the mold carrying arm on the endless chain conveyor by the robot arm, and the same operation is repeated thereafter.

(Example) Examples will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2, the slush molding apparatus according to the invention comprises a pair of parallel endless chain conveyors 2.2 for conveying the slush molds l along a substantially vertical plane.
Equipped with: The endless chain conveyor 2 is spanned between sprockets 3.3 at both ends installed at approximately the same height. Therefore, the linear upper and lower running portions of the endless chain conveyor 2 run substantially horizontally. A hot air stove 4 is provided almost directly above the endless chain conveyor 2, through which the upper running portion of the endless chain conveyor 2 passes. As the hot air stove 4, the hot air drying furnace (flat furnace) disclosed in Patent Application No. 230016 filed in 1985 by the present applicant is particularly advantageous because it is compact and does not reduce heat storage efficiency.

Further, a plurality of die supporting arms j are installed at a plurality of locations on the endless chain conveyor 2 in order to carry the slush molding die 1 and pass it into the hot blast furnace 4.

To explain the detailed structure of the mold carrying arm i, this is the third
As shown in the figure, a bracket 7 whose one end is fixed to the side plate 6 of each endless chain conveyor 2;
Consisting of a support shaft 8 fixed to the other end of each bracket 7 facing each other and installed between both brackets 7, and a hook 9 attached to the upper part near both ends of this support shaft 8 so as to be freely rotatable. has been done. Ends of gripping shafts 11 protruding from the slush mold 1 to both sides are placed in the hooking recesses 1O at the bottom of each hook 9, respectively. When transporting the slush mold 1 with such a mold carrying arm i,
Although the orientation of the bracket 7 changes between the upper and lower running parts of the endless chain conveyor 2, the hook 9 is rotatable around the spindle 8, so the hooking recess 10 of the hook 9 is always located at the lower side. Therefore, the slush mold l can be transported without falling.

Next, almost directly below the endless chain conveyor 2, there are, for example, two
A powdering device 12.13 is installed. The powdering device 13 at the second joint is provided to make the molded product have a two-layer structure, but it may be omitted in some cases. Devices (not shown) may also be arranged in series.

The powdering device 12, 13 has a known structure, but to briefly explain it, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, it has a reservoir tank 14 containing powder of resin material, and , and a pedestal 15 that supports the reservoir tank 14 rotatably around a horizontal axis. A rod-shaped lid 17 that is opened and closed by a desired number of fluid cylinders 16 is provided at the upper opening of the reservoir tank 14 . The frame-shaped lid 17 has a shape corresponding to the outer shape of the opening of the reservoir tank 14 and the outer shape of the base end of the slush mold 1, and the slush mold 1 is fitted into the opening of the reservoir tank 14 in a predetermined posture. After the slush mold 1 has been formed, the periphery of the proximal end of the slush mold 1 is tightened and fixed to the opening of the reservoir tank 14, and thereby serves to seal the opening of the reservoir tank 14. The pedestal 15 is provided with a drive device 18 for reversing the reservoir tank 14 in which the slush mold 1 is housed and fixed, and the drive device 18 is provided with a drive shaft 19 forming the horizontal rotation axis. When the reservoir tank 14 is inverted, the powder therein moves and deposits on the slush mold l.

After that, the reservoir tank 14 is returned to its original position, excess powder falls from the slush mold 1, and then the frame lid 1
7 is loosened and the slush mold 1 is taken out and transferred to the next process.

A heating device 20 is installed at a position next to the powdering device 13 at the final stage to reheat the slush mold 1 whose temperature has become insufficient due to adhesion of powder. Heating device 2
A cooling device 21 is provided at a position next to 0 to harden the resin material on the slush mold 1 that has been sufficiently heated and completely melted in the heating device 20 to form a molded product. Further, a demolding device 22 for removing the molded product from the slush mold 1 may be provided at a position next to the cooling device 21, but this film forming operation can also be performed manually.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, a desired number of robot arms of different types are provided below the endless chain conveyor 2 for transferring the slush mold 1 to various devices. For each robot arm model, the slush molding mold I heated by passing through the hot blast furnace 4 is received from the mold holding arm, and is sequentially powdered by a powdering device 12, 13, a heating device 20, and a cooling device 2.
1 and the demolding device 22. Each robot arm model has a known structure that is automatically controlled by a computer, but to briefly explain its configuration, each robot arm model has a structure in which both ends of the gripping shaft 11 provided on the slush mold 1 are mounted. Placement recess 2 for placement support
It has a pair of arms 25.25 with 4. The arm 25 is supported by a guide frame 26 and
You can move up and down along 6. In addition, the guide frame 26
can move substantially along the running direction of the endless chain conveyor 2, and transfer the slush mold 1 carried by the arm 25 to the powdering device 12, 13, heating device 20, cooling device 21, and demolding device 22. can do.

To explain the operation of the slush molding apparatus configured as described above, first, the slush mold l, which is unused or from which the molded product has been removed, is hung on the endless chain conveyor 2 by an appropriate mold carrying arm eve, depending on the robot arm model. be done. As a result, the slush mold l is passed into the hot air stove 4 from the inlet 4a side, and is sufficiently heated during that time. When the slush mold 1 comes out from the outlet 4b side of the hot air stove 4, a robot arm according to model receives this slush mold 1 and transfers it to the first stage zero powdering device 12. After the slush mold 1 is completely coated with powder in the powdering device 12, it is again sent to the next powdering device 13 according to the robot arm model, where the same powder coating work is performed. Next, the same slush mold 1 is again sequentially transferred to the heating device 20, the cooling device 21, the demolding device 22, etc. by the robot arm mechanism υ. Finished product (molded product)
The slush molding die 1 from which the slush molding die 1 has been removed is again transferred to the die carrying arm E by the robot arm mechanism U. Thereafter, similar operations are repeated. The number of slush molds 1 is selected as appropriate.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, since the endless chain conveyor and the hot air stove are arranged in a vertical relationship, they occupy less floor space compared to the conventional device in which both are arranged horizontally in parallel. It has the advantage that the area can be significantly reduced. Moreover, as a result, it becomes possible to use a short and compact hot air stove with high heat storage efficiency, and it is also possible to make it more compact. Furthermore, a robot arm mechanism that can be automatically controlled by a computer is used to sequentially circulate the slush molds from the mold carrying arm on the endless chain conveyor to the powdering device, heating device, cooling device, etc., improving work efficiency. It is possible to obtain a slush molding device that reduces molding costs.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic partial cross-sectional elevation view of a slush forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an endless chain in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the main parts of the conveyor, and FIG. 4 is a schematic enlarged explanatory view of the powdering device in FIG. 1. l・--111-----Slash mold, 2--
・-Endless chain conveyor, 3---1 sprocket, 4------1 hot air stove, 4a...
-1------・-・Entrance, 4 b---------・-
Outlet, knee=-・---type carrying arm, 6-・----
------Side plate, 7・----Bracket, 8
-1--Spindle, 9--Hook, 10--1 Hook recess, 11-
−−−−−・・Gripping shaft, 12.13・−・−・−・・
Powdering device, 14-----111- Reservoir tank, 15-------- Frame, 16--
-----------Fluid cylinder, 17-- Frame-shaped lid, 18-------- Drive device, 19...--
1-----Drive shaft, 20----------1 heating device, 21---------1 cooling device, 22--.
Demoulding device, υ----------Robot arm mechanism, 2t-/mounting recess, 25---------One arm,
26---------Guide frame.

Claims (1)

[Claims] An endless chain conveyor that spans sprockets at both ends installed at approximately the same height so as to convey the slush mold along a substantially vertical plane, and an upper running portion of the endless chain conveyor. A hot air stove installed almost directly above the endless chain conveyor, and a plurality of hot air stoves installed at multiple locations on the endless chain conveyor to removably support the slush molds and pass them into the hot air stove. A mold carrying arm, an appropriate number of powdering devices that are arranged almost directly below the endless chain conveyor and that attach powdered resin material to the slush mold, and a powdered resin material that is attached within the powdering device. a heating device for reheating the slush mold; and a heating device for heating the powder resin material until it is completely melted by the heating device, and then cooling the slush mold to which the molten resin material is attached to melt the molten resin. a cooling device that turns the material into a molded product; a powdering device that receives the slush mold heated by passing through the hot air oven from the mold carrying arm;
and a robot that transfers the molded product to the heating device and the cooling device, and then transfers the slush mold again to a desired mold holding arm after the molded product is removed from the slush mold. Slush molding equipment.