NZ504111A - Method and plant for the continuous production of building components comprising an insulating plate between wire lattice mats - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for the continuous production of building elements whereby two parallel flat wire lattice mats (M, M') made by crossing longitudinal and transversal wires (L, Q) that are welded to each other at the crossing points, are advanced in a production line and an insulating body K is introduced between wire lattice mats (M, M'). Straight web wires (S, S') are guided through insulating body (K) and their ends are welded to wire lattice mats (M, M') so that the wire lattice mats will be held at a specified distance from each other. First an endless continuous insulating material web (B) is produced from the single insulating plates (I1). It is advanced and then the insulating bodies are separated from this insulating material web (B) into selectable lengths. A plant to carry out the method is also disclosed.

Description

Patents Form 5 N.Z. No.

NEW ZEALAND Patents Act 1953 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION * ;METHOD AND PLANT FOR THE CONTINUOUS PRODUCTION OF BUILDING COMPONENTS ;We, EVG ENTWICKLUNGS- U.VERWERTUNGS-GESELLSCHAFT an Austrian ;Company of, Gustinus-Ambrosi-Strasse 1-3, A-8074 Raaba, Austria, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement ;- 1 - (Followed by 1A) ;INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE OF N.Z. ;19 APR 2000 RECEIVED ;14 ;Method and plant for the continuous production of building components ;The invention concerns a method and a plant for the continuous production of building components, comprising two parallel, flat wire lattice mats made from 5 crossing each other longitudinal and transversal wires that are welded to each other at the crossing points, straight web-wires keeping the two wire lattice mats at a specified distance from each other, as well as an insulating body arranged between the wire lattice mats which insulating body is penetrated by the web-wires. ;10 ;^ From WO 96/03234 a plant is known that has two storage bunkers for the wire lattice webs and the wire lattice mats, straightening and cutting machines for each wire lattice web, a feed device for insulating plates, at least one group of web-wire feed coils together with the associated web-wire feed devices and 15 cutting machines, web-wire welding machines, web-wire trimming machines, and several conveyor elements coupled with each other for the wire lattice webs and the wire lattice mats, for the insulating bodies and for the building element. ;20 In this known plant two straightened wire lattice webs, uncoiled from one feed coil each, are separated into wire lattice mats of a required length, and the wire lattice mats produced in this manner are brought to a parallel position at a distance from each other that corresponds to the required thickness of the building component to be produced. The feeding of the wire lattice mats, 25 already cut to length, is also provided. An insulating body is inserted into the immediate spaces between the wire lattice mats at a selectable distance from the wire lattice mats, which insulating body is either cut off from an insulating material web or is inserted as a single plate. Both wire lattice mats, together with the insulating body, are fed to the web-wire feed device and the cutting 30 machine, in which first of all several wires are simultaneously uncoiled from vertically superposed feed rollers, straightened and separated into web-wires of required lengths, and subsequently the web-wires are pushed from the side ;2 ;through the meshes of both wire lattice mats and the insulating body, while the ends of each web-wire rests on a wire of the wire lattice mat. The semifinished building component produced in this manner is fed to the web-wire welding machines, in which the ends of the web-wires are welded to the wires 5 of the wire lattice mats. Following this the building element is fed to the trimming machines, in which the lateral protrusions of the web-wires projecting past the wires of the wire lattice mats are trimmed. ;It is a disadvantage of this known plant that the production of an endless 10 insulating material web is very expensive and, above all, due to the rigidity of ^ the insulating material the feeding of these endless insulating material webs requires very large radii for the curvatures and, consequently, requires a very large floor space. In addition, the known plant does not provide any hints with regard to the specific embodiment of the cutting machine for the insulating 15 material web. ;The object of the invention is to provide a method and a plant of the type mentioned in the introduction, that prevents the disadvantages mentioned and makes it feasible to feed an endless, simply produced insulating material web 20 to the plant and to separate the insulating body of the building element from the insulating material web in a simple manner. ;Thus the invention concerns a method for the continuous production of building elements, whereby two parallel, flat wire lattice mats made from crossing each 25 other longitudinal and transversal wires that are welded to each other at the crossing points, are advanced in a production line and an insulating body is introduced between the wire lattice mats, whereupon the straight web-wires are guided through the insulating body and their ends are welded to the wire lattice mats, so that the wire lattice mats will be held at a specified distance 30 from each other, characterised in that first an endless, continuous insulating material web is produced from the single insulating plates, it is advanced and ;3 ;then the insulating bodies are separated from this insulating material web into selectable lengths. ;The insulating plates are conveyed preferably singly and consecutively in the 5 production line and for the purpose of producing the insulating material web they are moved relative each other in their longitudinal direction, by virtue of which the end faces of the adjacent insulating plates are joined with each other in a form- and force-locking manner to form the insulating material web. ;10 As an alternative, insulating plates having flat end faces are used, and for the purpose of producing the endless, continuous insulating material web an ^ adhesive is applied to at least one end face of the adjacent insulating plates or the end face is provided with a self-adhesive film. ;15 A further subject matter of the invention is a plant to carry out the method, with two storage bunkers for the wire lattice webs, with straightening and cutting machines for each wire lattice web, with a feed device for the insulating plates, with at least one group of web-wire feed coils together with associated web-wire feeding devices and cutting machines, with web-wire welding 20 machines, with web-wire trimming machines and with several conveying devices coupled with each other for the insulating bodies, for the wire lattice ^ webs and the wire lattice mats, for the lattice bodies and for the building element, characterised in that a feed device to displace the insulating plates relative to an insulating material web for the purpose of forming a form- and 25 force-locked joint between the insulating plates and the insulating material web and a cutting machine that can be displaced parallel to the production line to separate an insulating body from the insulating material web, are provided. Alternatively, the cutting machine has a cutting wire that can be heated by means of a heating transformer and can be moved transversely to the 30 insulating material web. ;Further features and advantages of the invention are explained in detail in the following using embodiments with references to the drawings. They show in: ;Fig.l - a schematic top view on a plant according to the invention, ;Fig.2 - a further embodiment of the material feed to the plant according to the invention, and ;Fig.3 - a further embodiment of the material feed to the plant according to the invention. ;The plant illustrated in Fig.l is used for the continuous production of a building component P comprising: ;• two parallel, flat wire lattice mats M, M' made from crossing each other longitudinal and transversal wires L and Q, respectively, that are welded to each other at the crossing points, ;• straight web-wires 5, 5' extending obliquely between the wire lattice mats M, M' and keeping the two wire lattice mats M, M' at a specified distance from each other, the web-wires at their ends being welded to a wire L and Q each, respectively, of the two wire lattice mats M, M', ;• as well as an inherently stable insulating body K, a foamed plastic plate for example, provided between the wire lattice mats M, M' at a specified distance from them. ;The construction and the technical properties of a building component P of this type are described in detail, for example, in the application document WO 94/98264. ;Viewed in the direction of production Plt the plant comprises a feed device 1 for the insulating material, a feed device 2 for the wire lattice web, a feed device 3' for the wire lattice mat, two feed devices 4, 4' for the web-wire, two welding machines 5, 5' for the web-wire, two trimming machines 6, 6', a ;§ ;cutting machine 7 to separate the insulating material web 6 and a feed device 8 for the building component. ;The feed device 1 for the insulating material has a push-in device 9, which 5 feeds the insulating plates h necessary for the construction of the insulating body K of the building component P, in the direction of the arrow P2 of the production line Z-Z. On one end face the insulating plates Ji have a groove N and on the other opposite situated end face they have a tongue F, while the construction of the groove and tongue is such that the tongue of an insulating 10 plate h fits the groove of another insulating plate in a form- and force-locking manner. The push-in device 9 comprises two working cylinders, the piston rods ^ of which are moved in accordance with the double arrow P3 and have a pressure plate 11 on their ends. In the production line Z-Z a conveyor belt 12 is provided, that can be driven with the aid of a conveyor drive 13 in the 15 direction of production Pi and moves the insulating plate 11 in this direction along the production line Z-Z. On a stand 14 a transversely displaceable stop frame 15 is secured, that limits the feeding movement P2 of the insulating plate h and accurately fixes the position of the insulating plate h in the production line Z-Z. On the inlet side of the conveyor belt 12 a feed device 16, 20 a working cylinder for example, is provided. The piston rod of the working cylinder 16 can be displaced in accordance with the double arrow P4 and has a ^ pressure plate 17 which fits the end face of the insulating plate h with the groove. With the aid of the feed device 16 the insulating plate //, situated on the conveyor belt 12, is additionally moved according to arrow Plt to move the 25 insulating plate 1/ relative to the already formed insulating material web B and consequently to join the insulating plate I/ in a form- and force-locking manner with the end of the insulating material web B and to produce an endless, continuous insulating material web B. On this occasion the tongue of the insulating plate // engages the groove of the last element of the insulating 30 material web B. The construction of the grooves and tongues is matched to suit each other in such a manner that a form- and force-locking clamped joint t 1 ;6 ;occurs, that ensures an alignment of the insulating plates h, Ii to be joined as well as their firm joining with each other. ;To the conveyor belt 12 a transport chain 18, extending over the entire 5 production line Z-Z, is connected, that can be driven in accordance with the direction of production Pi and moves the insulating material web B in the production line Z-Z in cycle in accordance with the direction of production Pj. The transfer position between the conveyor belt 12 and the commencement of the transport chain 18 is laterally bound by side plates 19, 19'for the purpose 10 of preventing a lateral deflection of the insulating plate I/ when joining the ^ adjacent insulating plate I/ to form the insulating material web B. The distance of the side plates 19, 19' can be adjusted to ensure an as tight as possible guiding even when the insulating plates J/ have various thicknesses. Within the scope of the invention it is feasible to provide additional clamping elements 15 engaging the insulating material web B to provide additional fastening for the joint of the insulating plate // with the already formed insulating material web B. ;From a feed coil 20 a wire lattice web G, standing on edge, is uncoiled in the 20 direction of arrow Ps with the aid of a feed roller 21 that can be driven in accordance with double arrow P$ and fed to a straightening device 22. The ) straightening device 22 comprises two rows of straightening rollers 23 ;arranged offset relative each other and adjustable eccentric rollers 24. With the aid of the feed rollers 21 the wire lattice web G is fed to a cutting machine 25 25 that basically has an interacting pair of cutter bars 26 and separates the wire lattice mats M of a specified length from the endless wire lattice web G. In the embodiment shown, the cutting machine 25 operates in such a manner that it cuts out a selectable portion from the wire lattice web G so that the wire lattice mats M fed to the production line Z-Z will follow each other at a 30 distance. Within the scope of the invention it is, however, also feasible, to construct and control the cutting machine 25 in such a manner that it will carry out a separating or a trimming cut. ;1 ;The wire lattice mat M reaches the production line Z-Z via guiding devices (not illustrated) and with the aid of conveying elements pairs 27, 27' that can be driven in the direction of arrows P7, P/ is fed there at a distance from and parallel to the insulating material web B in the direction of production Pi 5 gradually along the production line Z-Z together with the insulating body web B to the processing machines and devices 4, 4'; 5, 5' and 6, 6', connected downstream. ;With the aid of a feeder 29', that can pivot in accordance with the double arrow 10 Pe, wire lattice mats M' are removed from a stack 28' of mats and deposited into a holding rail 30. With the aid of a push-in device 31' the wire lattice mats M' are fed in the direction of arrow P9' following each other via a dressing device 32' to a feed roller 33' that can be driven in accordance with the double arrow Pw'. The push-in device 31' comprises, for example, a working cylinder, 15 the piston rod of which can be moved in accordance with double arrow Pj/and that has a gripper 34 to grasp the wire lattice mat M'. The dressing device 32' has dressing rollers 35 arranged offset relative each other and eccentric rollers 36. The feed roller 33' moves the wire lattice mats M' following each other gradually into the production line Z-Z, wherein at a distance from and parallel 20 to the insulating material web B and together with it they are fed with the aid of the conveying elements pairs 27, 27' in the direction of production Pi £ gradually along the production line Z-Z to the processing machines and devices 4, 4'; 5, 5' and 6, 6', connected downstream. ;25 In the web-wire feed devices 4, 4' several web-wires S, S' are fed simultaneously from both sides in accordance with the directions of arrows P12 and Pi2, respectively, and advanced in the horizontal direction at a selectable angle through the meshes of the wire lattice mats M, M' and through the insulating material web B, whereby the web-wires S, S' at both ends abut 30 against the corresponding wires L or Q of the wire lattice mats M, M' with a slight lateral projection. Within the scope of the invention the web-wires 5, S' ;g can be separated from a wire supply with the aid of suitable shears or fed to the web-wire feed devices 4, 4' as already cut to length, straightened bars. ;With the aid of the conveying elements pairs 27, 27f the wire lattice mats M, 5 M', together with the insulating material web B that has been fitted with the web-wires S, 5', are moved by means of the transport chain 18, to the downstream positioned web-wire welding machines 6, 6' in which the web-wires S, S' are welded to the relevant wires L or Q of the wire lattice mats M, M'. The lattice body H formed in this manner, together with the insulating body 10 web B, is conveyed with the aid of conveying elements pairs 37, 37' that can ^ be driven in accordance with the directions of arrows Pjj, P13' to the downstream connected trimming machines 6, 6', wherein the projections of the web-wires protruding past the wires L or Q of the wire lattice mats M, M' are trimmed flush. ;15 ;With the aid of conveying elements pairs 37, 37'the lattice body H, together with the insulating material web B, is conveyed to the cutting machine 7. The cutting machine 7 separates the insulating body K from the insulating material web B into selectable lengths and has at least one cutting disc 39 that can be 20 driven by a cutting drive 38. To increase the cutting capacity a further cutting disc 39', together with drive 37', can be used. During cutting the cutting ^ machine 7 is moved synchronised with the feed movements of the conveying element pairs 27, 27' and 37, 37', corresponding to the direction of production Pi, and after the conclusion of the cutting it is returned to the initial position, 25 while these movements are carried out in accordance with the double arrow Pi4. The forward movement to the cutting position and the corresponding reversing movement from the cutting position is carried out in accordance with double arrow Pi5- Within the scope of the invention the length of the insulating body K may correspond exactly to the length of the wire lattice mats M, M', so 30 that the cutting machine 7 has to cut out a corresponding piece from the insulating material web B. However, it has proved itself advantageous to let the insulating body K protrude slightly past the wire lattice mats M, M', thus ;9 ;achieving an almost continuous insulation when using the building components P in walls built from them. ;The completed building component P is conveyed along the production line Z-Z 5 to a transverse conveyor 42 by means of a feeder 41 having correspondingly constructed grippers 40. The feeder 41 may comprise, for example, a working cylinder, the piston rod of which can be moved in accordance with double arrow Pie- The transverse conveyor 42 moves the completed building components P in accordance with the direction of arrow PJ7 out from the 10 production line Z-Z. The transverse conveyor 42 may comprise, for example, ^ two working cylinders, the piston rods of which can be moved in accordance with double arrow Pis and each of which has a push plate 43. ;In Fig.2 the inlet region of a further embodiment of a plant according to the 15 invention is schematically illustrated. According to this embodiment the insulating plates I2 used in this case have flat end faces E in contrast to the insulating plates h, //, described in Fig.l. The feed of the insulating plates h to the production line Z-Z on the conveyor belt 12 is carried out by means of the push-in device 9. To produce an endless insulating material web B, the 20 insulating plate 12 is joined with the insulating material web B by hot welding with the aid of a heating device 44. The heating device 44 basically comprises ) a heating plate 45 and a heating transformer 46 serving the purpose of heating the heating plate 45. ;25 The endless insulating material web B is produced in the following manner: the insulating plate I2', situated on the conveyor belt 12, is moved with the aid of the feed device 16 in accordance with arrow Pj until the insulating material web B abuts against the heating plate 45 which abuts against the rear end face of the insulating material web B. Following this the heating plate 45 is heated 30 up with the aid of the heating transformer 46 until the abutting end faces of the insulating material web B and of the insulating plate I2' become soft. The heating plate 45 is then quickly moved out in accordance with the ;lb corresponding direction of double arrow P19 from the intermediate space between the insulating plate I2' and with the aid of the feed device 16 the insulating material web B and the insulating plate // are advanced somewhat forward in accordance with the direction of production Pj, with the purpose of 5 pressing the heated-up end faces against each other and thus weld the insulating plate I2' together with the insulating material web B to form a form-and force-locked joint. Since the insulating material web B is conveyed gradually during the joining process by the conveyor belt 12, in phase with the entire production plant in accordance with the direction of production Pi, the 10 heating device 44 is also moved gradually during the heating-up in accordance ^ with the relevant direction of double arrow P20 and after the pulling out of the heating plate 45 it is returned to the initial position in accordance with the corresponding opposite direction of double arrow P2o- ;15 As Fig.2 illustrates, within the scope of the invention it is feasible to arrange the cutting machine 7 for the cutting of the insulating material web B in the production line Z Z directly behind the heating device 44 and before the feeding of the wire lattice mats M, M'. Since the cutting machine 7 is also conveyed gradually during the cutting of the insulating material web B by the 20 transport chain 18 in phase with the entire production plant in correspondence with the direction of production Plf during the cutting the cutting machine 7 is 9 also moved gradually in accordance with the relevant direction of double arrow P14 and after the completion of the cutting it is returned to the initial position in accordance with the opposite direction of double arrow PJ4. The transport chain 25 18 conveys the insulating body K, separated from the insulating material web B, to the subsequent processing machines of the plant in accordance with the direction of production Pi. ;Since the transport chain 18 must not protrude into the movement paths of 30 the heating device 44 and of the cutting machine 7, the insulating material web B is supported in this region by at least two supporting elements 47 that can be moved with the aid of a working cylinder 48 in accordance with double ;1*1 arrow P2i away from the movement paths of the heating device 44 and the cutting machine 7.

As Fig.2 illustrates, within the scope of the invention it is feasible to provide 5 two feed coils 20, 20' with the wire lattice webs G, G' for the purpose of manufacturing the wire lattice mats M, M'. In this case the corresponding elements have the same reference numerals which may or may not have apostrophes.

In Fig.3 the inlet region of a further embodiment of a plant according to the ^ invention is schematically illustrated. According to this embodiment the insulating plates I2 already described in Fig.2 are being used. The feed of the insulating plates I2 to the production line Z-Z onto the conveyor belt 12 is carried out by means of a push-in device 9. For the purpose of producing an 15 endless insulating material web B the insulating plate I2 is joined with the insulating material web B by bonding with the aid of a bonding device 49. The bonding device 49 has a spray nozzle 50 together with the storage tank, that is filled with a suitable bonding agent. The bonding agents has to be suitable for the bonding of the materials of the insulating plates I2 and have a drying time 20 which is harmonised with the production speed to achieve a reliable joint of the insulating plate 1/ with the insulating material web B. The bonding device 40 ) can be moved in the horizontal and vertical directions in accordance with double arrow P22. To spray the bonding agent onto the end face E of the insulating plate I2, the bonding device 49 is moved in correspondence with 25 these directions. To accelerate the application of the bonding agent, within the scope of the invention several bonding devices 49 may be used simultaneously. Within the scope of the invention it is also feasible to spray several insulating plates I2 with the bonding agent simultaneously.

The endless insulating material web B is produced in the following manner: immediately before the feeding of the insulating plate I2 to the production line Z-Z one end face E of the insulating plate I2 is provided with the bonding f 1-2 agent. With the aid of the feed device 1 the insulating plate I2 is first moved forward on the production line Z-Z in accordance with the direction of arrow P2 and placed onto the conveyor belt 12. Subsequently the insulating plate I2' is moved somewhat forward with the aid of the feed device 16 in the direction of 5 production Pi, thus pressing the end face of the insulating plate I2, provided with bonding agent, against the end face of the insulating material B and thus joining the insulating plate I2 with the insulating material web B.

Fig.3 illustrates a further embodiment of a cutting machine 7 to separate the 10 insulating body K from the insulating material web B. The cutting machine 7 has a straight-guide block 51, which can be displaced along a rail 52 in accordance with double arrow P14, while the movement in the direction of production 1 takes place synchronously with the feed of the insulating material web B. On the straight-guide block 51 a cutting wire 53 is secured, that can be 15 moved in accordance with double arrow P23 transversely to the insulating material web B and can be heated with the aid of a heating transformer 54. To separate the insulating body K from the insulating material web B, the heated-up cutting wire 53 is moved through the insulating material web B and reaches the position shown in dotted line in Fig.3. After cutting the straight guide block 20 51, together with the cutting wire 53, is returned to its initial position.

Within the scope of the invention it is feasible to replace the cutting machine 7 illustrated in Fig.l by the cutting machine described above, i.e. to arrange the above described cutting machine after the trimming machines 6, 6'.

As is illustrated in Fig.3, within the scope of the invention it is feasible to provide two mat stacks 28, 28' with wire lattice mats M, M'. On this occasion the corresponding elements have the same reference numerals, which may or may not have apostrophes.

It is understood, that within the scope of the overall inventive concept the embodiments illustrated may vary, in particular with regard to the 18 constructions and executions for the joining of the insulating plates to form an endless insulating material web. When using corresponding bonding agents, both the end faces of the insulating plate and of the end face of the insulating material web may be provided with bonding agent.

Furthermore, within the scope of the invention it is feasible to provide one or both flat end faces, which are to be joined, of the insulating plates with a self-adhesive film. The film may be applied already at the production of the insulating plates and appropriately will be protected by a removable film.

Furthermore, it is feasible within the scope of the invention to provide the end face of the insulating plats, having a tongue and groove, with a bonding agent, thus ensuring a reliable joining of the insulating plates. is Within the scope of the invention the adjacent end faces of the insulating plates, forming the insulating material web, may be provided with other clamping elements having a form- and force-locking effect, which may have a dovetail shape.

Furthermore, it is feasible within the scope of the invention to use other cutting methods and devices to separate the insulating body from the insulating ^ material web. These methods and devices have to be harmonised to suit the properties of the insulating materials and to ensure that the cut will result in an as smooth as possible edge and the properties of the material of the 25 insulating body will not be impaired, by melting, for example.

Claims (17)

i4 The claims defining the invention are as follows:

1. A method for the continuous production of building elements, whereby two parallel, flat wire lattice mats made from crossing each other longitudinal and transversal wires that are welded to each other at the crossing points, are advanced in a production line and an insulating body is introduced between the wire lattice mats, whereupon the straight web-wires are guided through the insulating body and their ends are welded to the wire lattice mats, so that the wire lattice mats will be held at a specified distance from each other, characterised in that first an endless, continuous insulating material web is produced from the single insulating plates, it is advanced and then the insulating bodies are separated from this insulating material web into selectable lengths.

2. A method according to claim 1, characterised in that the insulating plates are conveyed singly and consecutively in the production line and for the purpose of producing the insulating material web they are moved relative each other in their longitudinal direction, by virtue of which the end faces of the adjacent insulating plates are joined with each other in a form- and force-locking manner to form the insulating material web.

3. A method according to one of the claims 1 or 2, characterised in that for the purpose of producing the endless, continuous insulating material web the insulating plates are joined with each other at their end faces by clamping in a form- and force-locking manner.

4. A method according to claim 3, characterised in that the end faces are joined with each other by a clamped tongue and groove joint in a form-and force-locking manner.

5. A method according to one of the claims 3 or 4, characterised in that the end faces are provided with an adhesive. 15

6. A method according to one of the claims 1 or 2, characterised in that insulating plates having flat end faces are used, and for the purpose of producing the endless, continuous insulating material web an adhesive is applied to at least one end face of the adjacent insulating plates or the end 5 face is provided with a self-adhesive film.

7. A method according to one of the claims 1 or 2, characterised in that insulating plates with flat end faces are used and for the purpose of producing the endless, continuous insulating material web the end faces of io an insulating plate and the rear end face of the insulating material web are ^ heated up together and joined by welding.

8. A plant to carry out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, with two storage bunkers for the wire lattice webs, with straightening and is cutting machines for each wire lattice web, with a feed device for the insulating plates, with at least one group of web-wire feed coils together with associated web-wire feeding devices and cutting machines, with web-wire welding machines, with web-wire trimming machines and with several conveying devices coupled with each other for the insulating bodies, for the 20 wire lattice webs and the wire lattice mats, for the lattice bodies and for the building element, characterised in that a feed device to displace the ^ insulating plates relative to an insulating material web for the purpose of forming a form- and force-locked joint between the insulating plates and the insulating material web and a cutting machine that can be displaced 25 parallel to the production line to separate an insulating body from the insulating material web, are provided.

9. A plant according to claim 8, characterised in that the cutting machine has at least one cutting disc that can be driven and can be moved in the 30 horizontal and vertical directions.

10. A plant according to claim 8, characterised in that the cutting machine has a cutting wire which can be heated by means of a heating transformer that can be moved transversely to the insulating material web.

11. A plant according to any one of claims 8 to 10, characterised in that for the purpose of producing the insulating material web a heating plate is provided, with which the end face of an insulating plate and the rear end face of the insulating material web are heated up together.

12. A plant according to any one of claims 8 to 10, characterised in that for the purpose of producing the insulating material web at least one bonding device is provided that can be moved in the horizontal and vertical directions, with which an adhesive layer can be applied to at least one end face of adjacent insulating plates.

13. A plant according to any one of claims 8 to 12, characterised in that viewed in the direction of production the cutting machine is arranged after the trimming machine.

14. A plant according to any one of claims 8 to 12, characterised in that the cutting machine for the insulating bodies is arranged before the conveyor and that in the region between the feeding device for the insulating plates and the conveying device for the insulating bodies displaceable support elements are provided in the feed path of the insulating material web

15. A plant according to any one of claims 8 to 14, characterised in that a feeder is provided to remove wire lattice mats already cut to length from at least one mat stack, and for the pushing in of the wire lattice mats into a dressing device a push-in device as well as for the pushing in of the straightened wire lattice mats into the production line a feed roller that can be driven are provided, wherein the feed roller is coupled with the conveyor for the insulating material web and the insulating body, with the 17 conveying devices for the wire lattice mats, with the conveying devices for the lattice bodies and, possibly, with the feed rollers for a wire lattice web.

16. A method according to claim 1 substantially as herein described or exemplified.

17. A plant according to claim 8 substantially as herein described or exemplified. 2 0 JUL 2000 ££ce/ved EVG ENTWICKLUNGS- U.VERWERTUNGS-GESELLSCHAFT M.B.H. By Their Attorneys ^ HENRY HUGHES \ J Per: ^