Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
The pXesent inYention relates to the molding of
material~ and particula~ly the hot moldiny o~ ~abr~cs formed ~
from synthetic fi~ers to p~oduce three'd~mensional articles of '''
apparel, for example molded cups for brassieres.
~ t present, brassiere cups are made by placing
manually a sheet of suitable ~abric onto a heated female die part
which has two depressions suitably shaped for forming the-two
cups of a brassiere,using an annular holding member which
surrounds the two depressions to hold the edges of the fabric in
a yieldable manner, and then bringing down a heated male die part
to mold the fabric into the female die part while the material is
simultaneously pulled down into the depressions.
This procedure is wasteful of material in that an
operator needs to use a fairly large blank sheet of the fabric so
that this can be suitably positioned on the female die part, without
too much sagging into the depressions of the die part, and without
the operator burning his fingers. Another problem with thl;s
procedure is that the molded fabric must be removed from the female
die while it is still hot, for cooling in a cooling tower, and the ;~
fabric is very easily damaged while it is in this hot condition.
The invention provides an apparatus which avoids
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these problems, and which can be used in other molding situations ;
where it is required to mold a piece of flexible material
between heated dies.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention,
apparatus for molding material includes a material holding
frame movable relative to a form,ing die so as to be ~; ~
positionable adjacent tne die and also remova~le to a coolin~ ;
position. Thè material holding frame has two parts each'''with~
an aperture and ~hich are hinged 'tQge~the~'s~ as to
be movable from a c:losed position in which the apertures of the
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two parts are in register and form a common aperture, and in
which a piece of material may be held between these parts
so as to extend across the common aperture, to an open condition
in which material may be loaded and unloaded into and out of the
holding frame at a position conveniently spaced from the die. One
of the hinged parts has spring biased movable mountings carrying
pins which project towards the other of said hinged parts so that
in the closed position the pins penetrate and hold material lying
between said parts, these mountings allowing the pins to move
towards the aperture of the one part against a spring resistance.
A rotatable support may be used, capable of placing
one holding frame in position relative to the die while a second
holding frame is situated conveniently for loading or unloading.
Thus, in accordance with another aspect of the invention r there
is provided apparatus for molding of material, including a
vertically movable material forming die and a pair of material
holding frames movable relative to the die, each of said material
holding frames being capable of holding the edge portion of a
piece of material while a central portion thereof is molded,
said apparatus also including a support for said holding frames
rotatable about a vertical axis and also capable of vertical
movement, said support having means for locating each of said
pair of holding frames in symmetrically spaced apart locating
positions on opposite sides of said vertical axis, such that
when one holding frame carrying a piece of material is suitably
located for molding of material held thereby by said die, the
other of said frames is displaced from the die to facilitate
removal of molded material therefrom and its replacement by
material to be molcled
Where the apparatus is used for the molding of brassiere
cups, each of the two parts of the holding frame preferably has two
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apertures, so that the holding frame will have two common
apertures, suitably shaped and positioned for co-operating
with the two female and two male die parts.
The invention will be described in more detail with
reference to the accompanying drawings, and in which:-
Figure l shows a side elevation of the main parts of
the apparatus, I`
Figure 2 shows a diagrammatic view of the support forthe holding frames, with one frame shown removed,
Figure 3 shows holding frame removed from the support,
Figure 4 shows a plan view of an element of the holding
frame,
Figure 5 shows a sectional view of lines 5-S of -
figure 4. -
Figure 1 shows the molding apparatus lO including a
lower stationary die part 12, and a vertically movable upper,
male die part 14. Means are provided for heating both of the ~
die parts The die parts are of known form for molding brassiere -
cups, the female part 12 having two depressions, and the male die
part 14 having two projections or mounds, so that the combined
effect of the two die parts i5 to produce the two molded cups of
a single brassiere.
~ eld adjacent the molding apparatus 10 by horizontal
upper and lower brackets 16 and 18, is a vertically movable shaft
20 carrying at its upper end a bearing 21, which in turn carries ;
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a short rotatable spindle 22 carrying a rotatable support 23, which
latter item is shown more fully in figure 2. The shaft 20 is
urged upwards by a compression spring 24 acting between the lower ; ~1-
bracket 18 and a stop on the shaft, and the shaft is arranged
to be lowered against the spring 24 by a foot pedal 26. When in
the lowered position, the support contacts a stop 28 which locates ;;
the support so that a frame carried thereby is in the proper molding
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position.
Support 23 comprises a mounting disk 30 attached to
s~indle 22, which carries a cross plate 32, which in turn carries
four angled members 34 arranged in oppositel~ extending pairs,with
each pair defining a parallel sided recess suitable for receiving
the sides of a rec~angular frame 40 to be described. The support
is symmetrical so that the receiving positions for the frame
provided by the support are arranged symmetrically on opposite
sides of the axis of shaft 20. Membe~s 34 have elongated slots
35 which allow frames 40 to be adjustably held in the support
by scre~s.
The frames 40 which provide the holding means for
the rabric are shown in detail in ~igures 3 to 5. Each frame is
formed of two similar wood panels 42 hinged together at their
longer sides and each having two apertures which are in register
when the panels are closed together thus providing the frame with
two common apertures each suitably sized and shaped to allow the
die parts to act therethrough
The inwardly facing surfaces of the two panels 42
are substantially smooth and provide some limited, yieldable
gripping action on fabric placed between the twopanels, when the -~
two panels are held pressed together by a spring clip 43 as
shown in figure 2. The holding effect of the panels is however
largely provided by movable pins held in fixtures 50 which are
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indicated in figure 3 and shown in detail in figures 4 and 5.
~ e f:Lxtures 50, which are arranged around each of
the apertures in the upper panel 42a, each comprise a tube 52
which rests within a groove in the panel, one end of the groove
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f~
communicating with the aperture in the panel, the tube also
lying parallel to the upper and lower surfaces o~ the panel, The
tube is retained in place by a plate 53. The tube carries a
movable plunger 55, outwardly spring biased by a spring 56, and
the plunger carries a laterally projecting pin 58 which projects
through a slot 59 in the bottom surface of the upper panel and
also through an ajacent slot in the bottom of the tube 51. The
lower panel 42b is provided With grooves which allow free movement
of the pin 58 when the two panels are closed together. The arrangement
is such that the pins 58 will penetrate the fabric which is
sandwiched between the two panels, and while the fabric is being
molded by the ~ies the pins ~oye inwardly tow~rds the apertures
against the force of the spring 56. Dif~e~ent springs or different
spring combinations may be used to give different ~esIstance to
movement as required by different fabrics. Also, although not
shown, a graduated scale is preferably provided to indicate the
amount of movement which occurs in the spring.
- In operation, a piece of fabric is placed on the
bottom panel 42b of a frame while this is conveniently situated for
the operator, i.e. is on the right hand side of Fig. 1. The
upper panel 42a is then brought down on the material and held in
place by a spring clip 43. The support is manually rotated ~hile
in the elevated position shown in figure 1, i.e. with the support
and frame clear of the lower die 12 and clear of stop 28. When
the frame is suitably positioned over die 12 r the foot pedal 26
is pressed to allow the material to rest on the lower mold, and
the operator locates the support against stop 28. Operation of
the mold is then initated, causing the upper die part 14 to
descend and mold the material in a preselected time cycle, sub-
sequently rising back to the position shown in figure 1. As thedie part 14 rises, :it allows the support 23 to also rise under
the influence of spring 24, foot pedal 26 having been released.
Thus, the material is lifted clear of the die parts as soon as
they separate so that the amount of heat which the fabric receives
is more closely controlled than when manual removal is used. Sub-
sequently, a further piece of material having been positioned in
the outer frame of support 23, this support is again rotated
through 180. When molding of this second piece of fabric has
commenced, the first piece has cooled sufficiently to allow its
removal from the frame.
The invention allows for less wastage of material,
since a blank piece of fabric can he accurately positioned in the
frame 40 without the operator worrying about burnt fingers. Oper-
ation is faster than with the conventional method since the
only operations required when the die parts are open is for
the support to be rotated through 180, bringing the ne~t piece
of fa~ric into its operative position. Also, there is no need
for an operator to touch the hot fabric, since this can be
allowed to cool while still in the frame.
In a modification of the process, the frames may be
made readily removable from the support, and more than two frames
can be used so that after molding fabrics may be removed from
the support, still in the frame, and moved to a cooling tower
for more prolonged cooling before being removed from the frame.
The use of spring biased pins is not essential to
the invention, and .stationary pins may be used, with otherwise
similar frames, and the rotatable support, as described.
