US-12617143-B2 - Thermoforming oven with separating heating elements

US12617143B2US 12617143 B2US12617143 B2US 12617143B2US-12617143-B2

Abstract

An apparatus for supporting heating elements of a thermoformer oven includes a first heating element support frame, a second heating element support frame, and one or more actuator. The first heating element support frame is operable to support one or more of the heating elements on a first side of a surface for supporting material to be thermoformed. The second heating element support frame is operable to support one or more of the heating elements on the first side of the surface. The one or more actuator is configured to shift the first and second heating element support frames toward one another in directions with vector components of motion parallel to the surface.

Inventors

Petrus Wilhelmus Maria Haase
Hannes Groeger

Assignees

BROWN LLC

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20240819

Claims (11)

1 . An apparatus for supporting heating elements of a thermoformer oven, the apparatus comprising: a first heating element support frame operable to support one or more of the heating elements on a first side of a surface for supporting material to be thermoformed; a second heating element support frame operable to support one or more of the heating elements on the first side of the surface; one or more actuator configured to shift the first and second heating element support frames toward one another in directions with vector components of motion parallel to the surface, wherein the one or more actuator is a linear actuator configured to extend and retract an actuating end; a first rail portion extending along a lateral axis that is parallel to the surface; a second rail portion spaced apart from the first rail portion along the lateral axis; a first carriage shiftably coupled to the first rail portion and supporting the first heating element support frame; a second carriage shiftably coupled to the second rail portion and supporting the second heating element support frame; a first support bar operatively associated with the first heating element support frame; a second support bar operatively associated with the second heating element support frame; a third heating element support frame operatively associated with the first support bar and operable to support one or more of the heating elements on a second side of the surface for supporting material to be thermoformed; a fourth heating element support frame operatively associated with the second support bar and operable to support one or more of the heating elements on the second side of the surface; a first link arm rotatably coupled to the actuating end of the one or more actuator and the first heating element support frame; and a second link arm rotatably coupled to the actuating end of the one or more actuator and the second heating element support frame.
2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising: one or more longitudinal rail portion extending transversely to the first and second rail portions; and one or more longitudinal carriages shiftably coupled to the one or more longitudinal rail portion and operatively associated with the first and second heating element support frames, wherein the one or more actuator is configured to extend the actuating end so that the first and second heating element support frames shift toward one another and along the one or more longitudinal rail portion.
3 . A thermoformer oven comprising: a rail for supporting material to be thermoformed along an imaginary plane and including a first side and a second side opposite to the first side; a first heating element positioned on the first side of the rail; a second heating element positioned on the first side of the rail; one or more actuator configured to shift the first and second heating elements toward one another in directions with vector components of motion parallel to the imaginary plane, wherein the one or more actuator is a linear actuator configured to extend and retract an actuating end; a first rail portion extending along a lateral axis that is parallel to the imaginary plane; a second rail portion spaced apart from the first rail portion along the lateral axis; a first carriage shiftably coupled to the first rail portion and supporting the first heating element; a second carriage shiftably coupled to the second rail portion and supporting the second heating element; a first support bar operatively associated with the first heating element; a second support bar operatively associated with the second heating element; a third heating element operatively associated with the first support bar and positioned on the second side of the rail; a fourth heating element operatively associated with the second support bar and positioned on the second side of the rail; a first link arm rotatably coupled to the actuating end of the one or more actuator and the first heating element; and a second link arm rotatably coupled to the actuating end of the one or more actuator and the second heating element.
4 . The thermoformer oven of claim 3 , further comprising: one or more longitudinal rail portion extending transversely to the first and second rail portions; and one or more longitudinal carriages shiftably coupled to the one or more longitudinal rail portion and operatively associated with the first and second heating elements, wherein the one or more actuator is configured to extend the actuating end so that the first and second heating elements shift toward one another and along the one or more longitudinal rail portion.
5 . A thermoformer oven comprising: one or more surface extending along a longitudinal axis for supporting material to be heated; a frame comprising one or more gantry extending parallel to the one or more surface and transversely relative to the longitudinal axis; a proximal carriage assembly configured to shift along the one or more gantry; a distal carriage assembly positioned distal to the proximal carriage assembly and configured to shift along the one or more gantry, wherein the proximal carriage assembly and the distal carriage assembly are configured to shift along the longitudinal axis; a proximal heater bank operatively associated with the proximal carriage assembly; a distal heater bank operatively associated with the distal carriage assembly; one or more actuator configured to shift the proximal carriage assembly and the distal carriage assembly toward one another along the one or more gantry, wherein the one or more actuator comprises a linear actuator with an actuating end; a guide block operatively associated with the actuating end; a proximal link arm pivotally connected to the guide block and the proximal heater bank; a distal link arm pivotally connected to the guide block and the distal heater bank; a guide track supported on the frame and defining: a proximal slot including: a lateral portion extending transversely relative to the longitudinal axis with a first end proximal to the guide block and a second end opposite to the first end, and a longitudinal portion extending parallel to the longitudinal axis from the first end of the lateral portion, and a distal slot including: a lateral portion extending transversely relative to the longitudinal axis with a first end proximal to the guide block and a second end opposite to the first end, and a longitudinal portion extending parallel to the longitudinal axis from the first end of the lateral portion; a proximal guide operatively associated with the proximal heater bank and extending into the proximal slot; and a distal guide operatively associated with the distal heater bank and extending into the distal slot.
6 . The thermoformer oven of claim 5 , wherein the proximal link arm is pivotally connected to the proximal heater bank via the proximal guide, and the distal link arm is pivotally connected to the distal heater bank via the distal guide.
7 . The thermoformer oven of claim 6 , wherein the one or more surface is define by a pair of rails extending parallel to one another.
8 . The thermoformer oven of claim 7 , wherein the one or more gantry includes: a left gantry with a pair of left legs straddling the pair of rails and a left girder extending between the pair of left legs; and a right gantry spaced apart from the left gantry along the longitudinal axis, the right gantry including a pair of right legs straddling the pair of rails and a right girder extending between the pair of right legs.
9 . The thermoformer oven of claim 8 , further comprising a left lateral shaft extending between the pair of left legs, and a right lateral shaft extending between the pair of right legs.
10 . The thermoformer oven of claim 9 , wherein the proximal carriage assembly comprises: one or more proximal shaft shiftably supported by the left lateral shaft and the right lateral shaft; and one or more proximal heater bank frame member shiftably supported by the one or more proximal shaft and supporting the proximal heater bank.
11 . The thermoformer oven of claim 10 , wherein: the distal carriage assembly comprises: one or more distal shaft shiftably supported by the left lateral shaft and the right lateral shaft; and one or more distal heater bank frame member shiftably supported by the one or more distal shaft and supporting the distal heater bank, the one or more proximal shaft and the one or more distal shaft are supported by the left lateral shaft and the right lateral shaft via guide rollers, and the one or more proximal heater bank frame member and the one or more distal heater bank frame member are shiftably supported by the one or more proximal shaft and the one or more distal shaft, respectively, via one or more linear bearings.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The current patent application is a non-provisional utility patent application which claims priority benefit, with regard to all common subject matter, of earlier-filed U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/550,404; titled “THERMOFORMING OVEN WITH SEPARATING HEATING ELEMENTS”; and filed Feb. 6, 2024. The Provisional Application is hereby incorporated by reference, in its entirety, into the current patent application. BACKGROUND A thermoforming system includes an oven for heating sheets of material to be thermoformed at the press. One existing oven used for this purpose is a c-style oven having heater banks that are the full width of the tooling with top and bottom heater banks that are either independent or connected via a frame. This type of oven is usually driven by multiple air cylinders to move the heater banks over the sheets and inwards toward the tooling and then to retract the heaters away from the tooling. Another existing oven is a clam shell type oven having heater banks that are also the full width of the tooling. The top heater bank pivots up and the bottom heater bank pivots down. The heater banks are also usually driven by multiple air cylinders to move the oven over the sheet and in towards tool. This type of oven requires the sheets of material to be removed after the machine is stopped. Thus, there is a need for an improved thermoformer oven. The background discussion is intended to provide information related to the present invention which is not necessarily prior art. SUMMARY The present invention solves the above-described problems and other problems by providing an improved apparatus for supporting heating elements, a thermoformer oven, and a method of heating material in a thermoforming process. An apparatus for supporting heating elements of a thermoformer oven according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a first heating element support frame, a second heating element support frame, and one or more actuator. The first heating element support frame is operable to support one or more of the heating elements on a first side of a surface for supporting material to be thermoformed. The second heating element support frame is operable to support one or more of the heating elements on the first side of the surface. The one or more actuator is configured to shift the first and second heating element support frames toward one another in directions with vector components of motion parallel to the surface. By positioning and shifting the heating elements on the same side above the sheet enables smaller heater banks, such as heating elements that are only half the width of a c-style oven, thereby making it possible to reduce the footprint of the thermoformer oven. It also enables accessing or reaching the heaters for maintenance and cleaning and obviates the need to remove thermoforming material from the thermoforming machine between production runs. This enables configurations where heater banks can be disconnected from the drive system and moved individually for maintenance. The one or more actuator can serve as a single drive mechanism, which simplifies maintenance compared to multi-cylinder mechanisms required to move heater banks of existing conventional ovens. The one or more actuator acting as a single drive mechanism simplifies the pneumatic controls performing the retraction, which is more reliable and avoids excessive sag. The split heaters also have a shorter retraction travel distance and therefore will be away from the plastic quicker than a conventional C-style oven, making it safer in case of excessive plastic sag. A thermoformer oven constructed according to an embodiment of the invention includes a rail, a first heating element, a second heating element, and one or more actuator. The rail is operable to support material to be thermoformed along an imaginary plane and includes a first side and a second side opposite to the first side. The first heating element is positioned on the first side of the rail. The second heating element is also positioned on the first side of the rail. The one or more actuator is configured to shift the first and second heating elements toward one another in directions with vector components of motion parallel to the plane. A thermoformer oven according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a frame, a proximal carriage, a distal carriage, a proximal heater bank, a distal heater bank, and one or more actuator. The one or more surface extends along a longitudinal axis for supporting material to be heated. The frame includes one or more gantry extending parallel to the one or more surface and transversely relative to the longitudinal axis. The proximal carriage assembly is configured to shift along the one or more gantry. The distal carriage assembly is positioned distal to the proximal carriage assembly and configured to shift along the one or more gantry. The proximal heater bank is