JPH0583060B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a method of laminating and press-molding a plurality of sheet materials that become sticky when heated, such as SMC sheet materials and thermoplastic sheet materials.

(Conventional technology) In recent years, parts made by press-forming thermoplastic sheet materials such as SMC sheets and stampable sheets have been used in place of metal parts in order to reduce weight and simplify assembly in automobiles, etc. be.

Sheet materials such as the above-mentioned SMC sheets are made by impregnating fibers such as glass fibers and carbon fibers with thermoplastic resin, and these sheet materials are heated and softened before being put into a press molding device such as a mold. and molded.

When these sheet materials are used to press-form parts such as automobile bumper beams and axles that have locally uneven parts with different wall thicknesses, the molding At times, plastic flow of the sheet material within the mold is difficult to occur. For this reason, multiple sheet materials of varying lengths and widths are laminated and molded to ensure sufficient strength of the component. At this time, each of the sheet materials to be laminated must be sufficiently heated and softened. Therefore, each sheet material to be laminated must be heated and softened separately, and then laminated and put into the mold. Ru.

In addition, sheet materials such as SMC sheets become sticky when heated and softened as described above, and when stacking these sheet materials or feeding them into forming equipment, vacuum adsorption methods are not used like conventional steel sheets. cannot be used.

For this reason, when forming sheet materials by laminating them as described above, a holding device equipped with a needle-shaped body as seen in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 194009/1983 or Publication No. 50987/1987 is used. A needle-shaped object is used to pierce a plurality of separately heated sheet materials one by one in the order in which they are laminated to hold the stack, and then this holding device is moved into a forming device to form needle-shaped sheets from the laminated sheet materials. A method has been proposed in which sheet material is introduced into a forming apparatus by disengaging the body.

However, when forming laminated sheet materials by press forming means, the sheet material is heated and softened and is difficult to handle, and the work of feeding the sheet material into the press forming apparatus, taking it out after forming, and feeding it again is necessary each time. Since the process is repeated, there is a disadvantage that the efficiency of the press molding operation is low. Therefore, it is desirable to be able to simultaneously input the sheet material into the press molding apparatus and take out the molded product.

In this case, the laminated sheet materials are heated and softened prior to molding, so if there is a large drop when feeding them into the press molding equipment, the laminated sheet materials may become deformed. To avoid this risk, it is preferable to once transfer the sheet material from the needle-like body of the holding device to the charging means, and then charge the sheet material into the press molding device via this.

On the other hand, as mentioned above, in order to simultaneously load the sheet material into the press molding apparatus and take out the molded product, it is a good idea to provide the sheet material input means with a molded product receiving means. However, since the sheet material must be once transferred from the holding device to the input means, it is difficult to use such a molded product receiving means in conjunction with the input means.

(Problems to be Solved) The present invention aims to eliminate such inconveniences and provide a method that can efficiently laminate and press-form thermoplastic sheet materials that become sticky when heated, such as SMC sheets. purpose.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The method for molding a thermoplastic sheet material of the present invention includes the steps of heating the thermoplastic sheet material to a predetermined temperature;
A step of removably holding the heated sheet material by a holding means, positioning a sheet placing means for removably placing the sheet material below the holding means, and removing the sheet material from the holding means to place the sheet. A step of transferring the sheet material to the placing means, moving the sheet placing means with the sheet material transferred in the direction of the sheet material press forming means, and placing the sheet material on the sheet placing means on the way. a step of removably transferring a receiving tray located above a position to accommodate a press-molded product of sheet material to the sheet loading means; and a step of transferring the sheet loading means to which the sheet material and the tray have been transferred into the press means. The sheet material is moved to the sheet material loading position, and the sheet material is loaded from the sheet loading means into the lower mold side of the press molding means, and the molded product of the sheet material supported by the upper mold side that has already been press-molded. A step of transferring the sheet material to a receiving tray, and moving the sheet loading means to which the press-formed product was transferred to the outside of the forming position of the press-forming means, and at the same time transferring the sheet material loaded by the press-forming means. The method is characterized by comprising a step of molding the material, and a step of removing the tray containing the press-formed product from the sheet mounting means during the movement of the sheet mounting means to a position below the holding means.

(Function) According to this method, the heated sheet material is transferred from the holding means to the sheet placing means, and then, with the tray being transferred to the sheet placing means, the sheet placing means is moved to the press. It is moved to the input position of the molding means. Next, at the loading position, the sheet loading means loads the sheet material to be loaded into the press molding means, while receiving the molded product with the receiving tray. In this way, the sheet mounting means that has received the molded product is moved from the press-forming means, and then the tray that has received the molded product is removed in preparation for molding the next sheet material. In this way, the sheet material can be loaded into the press molding means and the molded product can be taken out at the same time via the sheet loading means and the tray, and the time required for molding the sheet material can be shortened. Become.

(Example) An outline of an example of the method for laminating thermoplastic sheet materials of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIGS. 1 and 2 are a schematic plan view and a schematic side view, respectively, of a molding line according to the above method.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, A is a loading device 1 in which strip-shaped sheet materials X required for molding are loaded from a cart P onto a pallet Q whose support part is made of a net-like body in the order of stacking, B is a heating process in which the pallet Q on which the sheet material X is placed is transported through the heating furnace S on the conveyor R to heat the sheet material X; C is the heated sheet A stacking process in which material E is a sheet material charging step in which the laminated sheet material X is charged into a molding die T, and E is a molding step in which the loaded sheet material are arranged linearly in sequence toward the molding die T.

In the carrying-in process A, the sheet materials X required for molding are stacked on the cart P in parallel in the order of stacking. The sheet materials X are held in this parallel state by the suction means of the carrying-in device 1. Next, the carry-in conveyor 5a, which can be raised and lowered by the lifter 4a, is raised to the position of the conveyor R, and the sheet material X is placed on the pallet Q placed thereon. They are arranged in stacked order in the direction of the molding line. Next, this pallet Q is moved toward the heating step B by the operation of the carry-in conveyor 5a, and is transferred onto the conveyor R.

The pallet Q transferred onto the conveyor R is transferred through a heating furnace S in a heating step B. In the heating furnace S, an infrastructure heater U is connected to a conveyor R.
Sheet materials X arranged above and below the pallet Q are heated to a predetermined temperature as they move on the conveyor R together with the pallet Q. At this time, since the support part of the pallet Q is a net-like body, both sides of each of the sheet materials X are heated. The pallet Q passing through the heating furnace S while being heated in this way is transferred to the conveyor R.
The sheet is then moved toward the stacking step C, and after passing through the heating furnace S, is transferred onto the take-out conveyor 5b which can be raised and lowered by a lifter 4b in the same way as the carry-in conveyor 5a.

The pallet Q is transferred onto the delivery conveyor 5b.
is stopped at a predetermined position on the delivery conveyor 5b in the stacking process C. After the stop, pallet Q
The sheet materials X arranged in parallel above are simultaneously held in the parallel state by the holding device 2 and raised to the same height. Next, the sheet loading device 3 moves from the transport conveyor R side toward the mold T below the held sheet material X, and as the sheet material X moves, the sheet material and placed on the sheet placing device 3. After the stacking, the sheet placing device 3 moves to the sheet material input step D. Then, during the movement, the tray 6 for the molded product Y is placed above the stacked sheet materials.

In the sheet material input process D, the sheet loading device 3
The sheet material X stacked on top is pressed between the tray 6 and the sheet stacking device 3
At the same time, the sheet material X is moved to the injection position in the mold T. At the input position, the sheet material X is removed from the sheet placement device 3 in its stacked state and is input onto the lower mold T _L. Also, the molded product Y attached to the upper mold T _U due to the previous press molding
is detached from the upper mold T _U and dropped into the saucer 6.
Thereafter, the sheet placement device 3 moves in the opposite direction to the above-mentioned direction together with the tray 6, and the molded product Y in the tray 6 is taken out.

The sheet material X put into the mold T is press-molded by the mold T in a molding process E. In this molding process E, a plurality of molds T are provided and are replaceable, so that a molded product different from the molded product Y can also be molded.

The pallet Q after the sheet material X is held by the holding device 2 in the stacking step C is lowered by the lifter 4b together with the delivery conveyor 5b, and then moved to the bottom of the heating furnace S by the operation of the conveyor 5b. It is transferred onto a conveyor V whose side faces toward input process A, and is conveyed to input process A. In this way, the pallets Q are circulated between the carrying-in process A and the stacking process C.

Further details of the illustrated embodiment are as follows. The carrying-in device 1, lifter 4a, and carrying-in conveyor 5a will be explained with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a side view of these devices.

The carry-in device 1 includes an elevating frame 8 and a main frame 9, each of which has a suction member 7 arranged side by side on its lower surface, and the elevating frame 8 is fixed to the main frame 9 with the center portion of its upper surface facing vertically downward. It is connected to the piston rod 11 of the cylinder 10 and is movable up and down along guide rails 12, 12. The adsorption members 7 are arranged in parallel in the direction of the forming line in the same number as the number of sheet materials X arranged in parallel on the cart P. Further, the main frame 9 is movable in a direction perpendicular to the molding line.

On the other hand, the carry-in conveyor 5a has its frame 1
The frame 13a is driven in the forward and backward directions by a motor 14a fixed on the frame 13a.
The lower part of is supported by a lifter 4a.
The lifter 4a includes two arms 15a, 15b connected in an X shape, and the arms 15a, 1
5b is rotatable around its transverse axis 16. The upper end of the arm 15a is connected to the conveyor 5.
It is rotatably connected to the lower part of the frame 13a of the frame 13a around the shaft 17, and its lower end is fitted into the cam groove 18 and connected to the piston rod 20 of the cylinder 19 fixed in the direction of the cam groove 18, The lower end portion is horizontally moved along the cam groove 18 by the cylinder 19. Further, the upper end of the arm 15b is fitted into a cam groove 21 in the lower part of the frame 13a and is horizontally movable along the cam groove 21,
Its lower end is rotatably supported around a shaft 22.

Therefore, in the lifter 4a, the cylinder 1
9 opens and closes both lower ends of the arms 15a and 15b, thereby raising and lowering the carry-in conveyor 5a. The conveyor 5a is located at the same height as the transport conveyor R passing through the heating furnace S when ascending, and at the same height as the transport conveyor V passing below the heating furnace S when descending.

Next, the mutual operations of the carrying-in device 1, the lifter 4, and the carrying-in conveyor 5a will be explained with reference to FIG.

The empty pallet Q transferred from the stacking process C by the conveyor V is transferred onto the conveyor 5a while the carry-in conveyor 5a is lowered by the lifter 4a. At this time conveyor 5
A is driven in the backward direction and is stopped when the pallet Q has moved to a predetermined position on the conveyor 5a, and after the stop, the conveyor 5a is lifted by the lifter 4a. Next, the suction member 7 is lowered together with the elevating frame 8 by the cylinder 10 of the carry-in device 1 from above the cart P located on the side of the conveyor 5a toward the sheet material X on the cart P, and each suction The sheet material X is attracted and held by the member 7. After the adsorption, the sheet material X is transferred to the conveyor 5.
A is moved to a position above the pallet Q, and then lowered together with the suction member 7 by the cylinder 10, and placed on the pallet Q in parallel. After the placement, the suction member 7 is separated from the sheet material and ascends, and the conveyor 5a is driven in the forward direction to move the pallet Q toward the heating furnace S, where it is transferred onto the conveyor R. .

Next, the holding device 2 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. 4 and 5 are a front view and a plan view of the holding device 2, respectively.

This holding device 2 includes a main frame 23 and an elevating frame 25 below the main frame 23 that is movable up and down along a guide rail 24, and the upper surface of the elevating frame 25 is fixed to the center of the main frame 23 in a vertically downward direction. Piston rod 2 of cylinder 26
It is connected to 7. And the elevating frame 25
A cylinder 29 having two needle-shaped bodies 28, 28 at its tips is fixed diagonally downward. The cylinders 29 are arranged in parallel in the direction of the molding line at equal intervals equal to the number of sheet materials X placed in parallel on the pallet Q, and two cylinders are arranged on both sides of the center line of the lifting frame 25 in a direction perpendicular to the molding line. They are arranged side by side at equal intervals. As shown in the fourth figure, four cylinders 29 are arranged in parallel in a direction perpendicular to the molding line, and are arranged diagonally downward in opposite directions with the center line as a boundary, and are arranged in parallel in a V-shape. ing.

This cylinder 29 will be explained in more detail with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. 6 and 7 are a front view and a plan view from below of the cylinder 29, respectively.

As described above, the cylinder 29 is fixed to the lifting frame 25 so as to face diagonally downward, and the flat plate member 31 is connected to the tip of the piston rod 30. Needle-shaped bodies 28, 28 are provided on both sides of the flat plate member 31 to project downward in the same direction as the piston rod 30. Further, a horizontal flat plate 32 is provided at the tip of each needle-shaped body 28 and extends from the elevating frame 25.
2 has a through hole 33 so that the needle-like body 28 can pass therethrough.
is provided. Therefore, as the piston rod 30 of the cylinder 29 moves obliquely downward, the needle-shaped body 28 penetrates the through hole 33 and projects below the flat plate 32.

The holding device 2 configured in this way holds the above-mentioned needle-shaped body 28 by piercing the sheet material X, and one sheet material It is held by the needle-shaped body 28 of the cylinder 29. When holding the sheet material X, each cylinder 29 is held vertically below the four cylinders 29 when each of the sheet materials The cylinder 26 lowers the flat plate 32 together with the lifting frame 25, and the sheet material
Then, each needle-shaped body 28 is simultaneously projected from the through hole 33 of the flat plate 32 by the cylinder 29 and pierces the sheet material X. In this way, each sheet material X is pierced by the needles 28 of four cylinders 29, and then
6 together with the elevating frame 25, and is held as shown by the phantom line in FIG. At this time, since the four cylinders 29 are arranged in parallel in a V-shape as described above, the sheet material X does not fall off from the needle-shaped body 28. Further, since the sheet material X is in contact with the flat plate 32 in this held state, the needle-shaped body 28 can be easily extracted from the sheet material X. If the needle-like body 28 is heated at this time, the needle-like body 28 can be more easily pulled out from the sheet material X, and a part of the sheet material X can also be prevented from adhering to the needle-like body 28. .

Next, it passes through the heating furnace S and the delivery conveyor 5
The mutual operation of the conveyor 5b and the holding device 2 when the holding device 2 holds the sheet material X from above the pallet Q that has been conveyed to the top of the pallet Q will be explained with reference to FIG. Figure 8 shows the delivery conveyor 5b.
and a side view of the holding device 2.

In FIG. 8, the delivery conveyor 5b is raised and lowered by a lifter 4b in the same manner as the carry-in conveyor 5a, and is driven in the forward and backward directions by a motor 14b fixed on its frame 13b. After passing through the heating furnace S on the conveyor R, the pallet Q is transferred onto the delivery conveyor 5b in an ascending state. At this time, the conveyor 5b is being driven in the forward direction, and the pallet Q is moved on the conveyor 5b until it is located below the holding device 2. Next, the guide rails 35, 35 are moved by the cylinder 34 fixed on the frame 13b of the conveyor 5b.
A horizontal backing plate 36, which is raised and lowered by The material X can be easily pierced by the needle-shaped body 28 of the holding device 2. Thereafter, the holding device 2 is operated as described above, and each sheet material
It is held and raised by 8. The empty pallet Q, in which the sheet material
Then, the conveyor 5b is driven in the backward direction, and the pallet Q is transferred onto the conveyor V and conveyed to the carrying-in step A.

Next, the sheet loading device 3 is moved as shown in FIGS.
This will be explained according to the diagram. Figure 9 shows the sheet loading device 3.
The plan view, FIG. 10, and FIG. 11 are a sectional view taken along the line AA and sectional view taken along the line BB, respectively.

In FIGS. 9 to 11, 37 is a main frame that is movable in the direction of the molding line along a conveyance rail 39 by a conveyance motor 38, 40 is a sheet placement member on which sheet materials X are stacked, and 41 is the sheet A cylinder 4 fixed to the main frame 37 that moves the mounting member 40 along guide shafts 42, 42 provided on the main frame 37 in the molding line direction.
3 is an elevating motor for elevating the sheet placement member 40; 44 is a subframe fitted to guide shafts 42, 42 and coupled to tubular bodies 45, 45 movable along the guide shafts 42; 46a, 46b are This is a guide plate that guides the sheet material X placed on the sheet placement member 40.

The conveyance motor 38 is fixed to both sides of the main frame 37, and a pinion gear 48 at the tip of a rotational drive shaft 47 meshes with rack rails 49 provided on both sides of the main frame 37 in the direction of the molding line. . Therefore, the transport motor 3
8 is driven, the main frame 37 moves on the transport rail 39 together with the transport motor 38.

The sheet mounting member 40 is a combination of the rear ends of a plurality of elongated pins 50 arranged horizontally at equal intervals in a direction perpendicular to the molding line, and the center portion of the rear end is connected to the tenth pin. As shown in the figure, it is fitted into a ball screw 51 provided at the front part of the subframe 44 so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction. The ball screw 5
A pulley 52 is coupled to the upper end of the motor 1, and the gear 52 is connected via a belt 53 to a pulley 55 at the upper end of a rotary drive shaft 54 of the lifting motor 43 fixed to the rear of the subframe 44. There is. Therefore, the ball screw 51 is rotated by the drive of the lifting motor 43, and the sheet mounting member 40 is raised and lowered along the guide rails 56 provided vertically at the front portions of both sides of the subframe 44. . In FIG. 10, the sheet placing member 40 shown by a solid line shows a lowered state, and the sheet placing member 40 shown by a phantom line shows a raised state.

Further, as the piston rod 57 of the cylinder 41 fixed to the rear center of the main frame 37 moves in its axial direction, the subframe 44 moves in the direction of the molding line, and the sheet is seated at the same time. The mounting member 40 also moves in the direction of the molding line. The sheet placement member 40 shown by the solid line in FIG. 11 moves to the position shown by the imaginary line.

The guide plate 46a is fixed in the vertical direction to a frame 58 provided at a position above the rear part of the sheet mounting member 40 in a direction perpendicular to the forming line,
A plurality of them are arranged in parallel on the frame 58 at equal intervals. Further, the guide plates 46b are vertically fixed to a rotating shaft 59 provided above the sheet placement member 40 and parallel to the frame 58, and are arranged in parallel at positions facing the guide plates 46a. The upper ends of the guide plates 46a, 46b are bent in opposite directions. The frame 58 has racks 62 on both sides of which are engaged in the direction of the forming line at the lower part of a pinion gear 61 of a rotary cylinder 60 fixed to the main frame 37 at positions on both sides of the sheet placement member 40.
It is connected to the rear end of a. Further, the rotation shaft 59 is rotatably supported by an intermediate member 63, which is connected to the front end of a rack 62b that engages with the upper part of the pinion gear 61 of the rotary cylinder 60 in the direction of the molding line. ing.

Therefore, the guide plates 46a, 46b move in opposite directions together with the racks 62a, 62b by the rotation of the rotary cylinder 60.
The distance between the guide plates 46a and 46b can be changed depending on the width of the sheet material X placed on the sheet placement member 40. Further, the rotation shaft 59 is connected to a rotation drive shaft 65 of a rotary cylinder 64 fixed to an intermediate member 63, and is rotated by the rotary cylinder 64, thereby tilting the guide plate 46b. .

Incidentally, two support rods 66 vertically provided on the main frame 37 at front and rear positions on both sides of the sheet placement member 40 are for supporting the saucer 6, and will be described later. do.

Sheet material
When placing the guide plates 46a, 46
With the width between b matched to the width of sheet material X,
Sheet material X sequentially from above the sheet placement member 40
is dropped and placed on the sheet placement member 40 while being guided by the guide plates 46a and 46b. At this time, the sheet placing member 40 is raised and lowered as described above to keep the height of the sheet material X constant. Therefore, as the sheet material X is stacked on the sheet placement member 40, the sheet placement member 40 is lowered. Also, by tilting the guide plate 46b during the placement, the sheet material
46b and is securely placed on the sheet placement member 40.

Next, the saucer 6 will be explained in detail with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13. FIGS. 12 and 13 are a front view and a side view, respectively, of the tray 6 and a tray holding device that detachably holds it. The saucer 6 is formed into a long box shape in a direction perpendicular to the molding line, and one side thereof is open.

This tray 6 is connected to the sheet loading device 2 as described above.
The saucer 6 is placed on top and carried into the mold T, but before being placed on the shelf, the rear part of the saucer 6 is removably held by a saucer holding device 67 as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13. There is. The saucer holding device 67 has a main frame 68 fixed to the end of the main frame 23 of the holding device 2 on the mold T side, and the saucer 6 is a guide rail provided vertically on both sides of the front surface of the main frame 68. 69, 69, and a swing cylinder 71 that moves the receiving tray 6 in the direction in which the open end of the receiving tray 6 descends. The elevating cylinder 70 is vertically fixed to the lower surface of the front part of the main frame 68 at a position slightly to the side of the center line of the saucer 6, and its piston rod 2
is a subframe 7 arranged in the longitudinal direction of the saucer 6.
It is connected to the center of the lower surface of 3. A swinging frame 74 is disposed in front of the subframe 73 in the longitudinal direction of the saucer 6, and the center of the back surface of the swinging frame 74 has a swinging shaft protruding from the center of the front surface of the subframe 73. 75 in a rotatable manner. The swing cylinder 71 has its rear part connected to the side of the sub-frame 72 so as to be rotatable around a shaft 76, and its piston rod 77 is connected to an intermediate member 78 provided at the center of the lower surface of the swing frame 74 as a shaft. It is rotatably connected around 79. Further, pins 80a and 80b are provided upwardly in the upper and lower positions of both sides of the swing frame 74, respectively, and these pins 80a and 80b are connected to the through holes 82a and 82 of the rear projections 81a and 81b of the saucer 6, respectively.
b, thereby holding the saucer 6 as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13.

Therefore, this saucer 6 is raised and lowered together with the swing frame 74 as the subframe 73 is raised and lowered by the raising and lowering cylinder 70. Further, the swing frame 74 is moved to the swing shaft 75 by the swing cylinder 71.
As the tray 6 is swung around, the saucer 6 is also swung.

Furthermore, a protrusion 84 having a through hole 83 into which the upper end of the support rod 66 erected on the sheet mounting device 3 can be inserted is provided at the front and rear of the tray 6 . When the tray 6 is placed on the sheet placement device 3, the sheet placement device is placed vertically below the tray 6 held by the tray holding device 67 as described above, as shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 3 is positioned, and in this state, the tray 6 is lowered by the lifting cylinder 70 and the upper end of the support rod 66 is inserted into the through hole 83, whereby the tray 6 is supported by the support rod 66.

Thereafter, the subframe 73 and the swing frame 74 are further lowered by the lifting cylinder 70, the pins 80a and 80b of the subframe 73 are extracted from the protrusions 81a and 81b of the saucer 6, and the saucer holding device 67 is removed from the saucer 6. Will be left.

Furthermore, a pressing member 85 is provided on the lower surface of the saucer 6 so as to face downward. This pressing member 85
is for pressing the sheet materials X stacked on the sheet mounting device 3 to remove gaps between the sheet materials X. and laminated sheet material X
When pressing, the sheet placing member 40 is raised with the tray 6 placed on the sheet placing device 3, and the upper surface of the stacked sheet materials X is brought into contact with the pressing member 85. As a result, the gaps between the sheet materials X are removed, and air is not drawn in during press molding to prevent the strength of the molded product Y from being impaired. In order to press the sheet material X in this manner, the tray 6 is made relatively heavy.

The mutual operations of the holding device 2, sheet placing device 3, and tray 6 described above will be sequentially explained with reference to FIGS. 14 and 15. FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the mutual operation of the holding device 2 and sheet loading device 3, and FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the mutual operation of the sheet loading device 3 and the tray 6. .

First, in FIG. 14, the sheet materials X are held and raised from above the pallet Q by the holding device 2 as described above, and are held in parallel as shown by the solid lines. Next, the sheet mounting device 3 moves the lower side of the sheet material X held toward the mold T from the heating furnace S side on the rack rail 49 as described above. At this time, the sheet placement member 40 is raised as shown by the solid line. The movement of the sheet placement device 3 is temporarily stopped every time the sheet placement member 40 is positioned vertically below each sheet material 28
The guide plate 46a,
46b and is placed on the sheet placement member 40. In this way, the sheet materials X are successively separated from the needle-shaped bodies 28 and stacked on the sheet placement member 40. Further, at this time, the sheet placing member 40 is gradually lowered each time the sheet materials X are stacked, so that the height difference of each sheet material X becomes the same.

Next, in FIG. 15, the sheet placing device 3 on which all the sheet materials X held by the holding device 2 are stacked as described above moves further, and the sheet placing member 40 is held by the tray holding device 67. It is stopped when it is located vertically below the tray 6. When stopped, the tray 6 is lowered by the tray holding device 67, supported by the support rod 66 of the sheet placement device 3, and separated from the tray holding device 67. Next, the sheet placing member 40 is raised toward the pressing member 85 of the receiving tray 6, whereby the stacked sheet materials X are pressed as described above, the gaps between the sheet materials X are removed, and the pressing Afterwards, the sheet placement member 40 is lowered again.

Thereafter, the sheet loading device 3 moves into the mold T together with the receiving tray 6 and is stopped at a position where the sheet material X is introduced. At the time of stopping, the sheet placing member 40 is horizontally moved by the cylinder 41 until it separates from the sheet material X, and the sheet material X is placed in the lower mold T _L
It falls along the guide plates 46a and 46b to the upper loading position.

On the other hand, the molded product Y that has already been molded earlier is detached from the upper mold T _U and falls onto the tray 6.
The molded product Y is placed inside.

Input the sheet material X laminated in this way,
After holding the molded product Y, the sheet mounting device 3 moves to a position where the tray 6 is placed thereon, and at this position, the tray 6 is again held by the tray holding device 67 and removed from the sheet loading device 3. Thereafter, the sheet mounting device 3 moves to the initial position toward the heating furnace S, the tray 6 is swung as described above, and the molded product Y is discharged from the open end of the tray 6. Further, the sheet material X introduced into the mold T is press-molded by the mold T.

As explained above, in this embodiment, when stacking the sheet material X on the sheet stacking device 3, the sheet stacking device 3 is moved relative to the holding device 2 holding the sheet material Although the material X is stacked, it is of course possible to stack the sheet materials X by stopping the sheet placing device 3 and moving the holding device 2.

(Effects) According to the thermoplastic sheet material forming method of the present invention, the heated and softened sheet material, which is difficult to handle, can be quickly supplied to the press forming means via the sheet mounting means, and the sheet material can be quickly supplied to the press forming means via the sheet mounting means. Inserting sheet material and taking out the formed sheet material can be done simultaneously via the sheet loading means and the tray, which can shorten the time required to form the sheet material and greatly improve work efficiency. be able to.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 and 2 are respectively a schematic plan view and a schematic side view of a molding line in an example of the method of laminating thermoplastic sheet materials of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a carrying-in device 1, a lifter 4a, and a carrying-in conveyor 5a. 4 and 5 are respectively a front view and a plan view of the holding device 2, and FIGS. 6 and 7 are a front view and a plan view from below of the cylinder 29 provided with the needle body 28, respectively. , FIG. 8 is an explanatory side view of the delivery conveyor 5b and the holding device 2, FIG. 9 is a plan view of the sheet placement device 3, and FIGS. 10 and 11 are cross sections taken along line A-A in FIG. 9. Figure, BB line sectional view, 1st
2 and 13 are front and side views of the tray 6 and tray holding device 67, respectively, FIG. The figure is an explanatory diagram for explaining the mutual operation of the sheet placement device 3 and the receiving tray 6. 3...Sheet mounting means, 28...Needle body, T...
...Press molding equipment (mold), X...Sheet material.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A step of heating a thermoplastic sheet material to a predetermined temperature, a step of removably holding the heated sheet material by a holding means, and a step of removably placing the sheet material below the holding means. a step of positioning a sheet loading means to be held, removing the sheet material from the holding means, and transferring the sheet material to the sheet loading means; a step of moving the container in the direction of , and removably transferring a tray for storing a press-molded product of sheet material to the sheet loading means by positioning it above the sheet material loading position of the sheet loading means in the middle of the movement; , move the sheet loading means on which the sheet material and the tray have been transferred to the sheet material loading position in the press means, and load the sheet material from the sheet loading means into the lower mold side in the press forming means. At the same time, there is a step of transferring a molded product of sheet material that has already been press-formed and supported on the upper mold side to a receiving tray, and a step of charging the sheet material and press-forming the sheet mounting means to which the press-formed product has been transferred. a step of moving the sheet material outside the forming position of the means and forming the sheet material introduced by the press forming means; and a receiving tray storing the press-formed product while moving the sheet placing means to a position below the holding means. 1. A method for forming a thermoplastic sheet material, comprising the steps of: removing the material from the sheet mounting means.