U.S. patent number RE36,324 [Application Number 08/768,425] was granted by the patent office on 1999-10-05 for hopper convertible material container.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Nissei Plastic Industrial Co., Ltd.. Invention is credited to Kazuyuki Okubo, Kenji Urasawa, Tsukasa Yoda.
United States Patent |
RE36,324 |
Yoda , et al. |
October 5, 1999 |
Hopper convertible material container
Abstract
A material feeding apparatus including a material container as a
hopper serves to feed a molding material sealably received in the
material container to a molding machine via a heating sleeve. The
material feeding apparatus includes as essential components a
material container molded of a transparent synthetic resin or a
translucent synthetic resin so as to enable a quantity of molding
material remaining in the material container to be visually
confirmed from the outside, and an adapter of which one end is
formed in the shape of an open end part to be threadably fitted
into an opening portion .Iadd.of the outer wall .Iaddend.of the
material container and of which the other end is formed in the
shape of an open end part to be fitted onto a receiving member of
the molding machine. To openably shut the interior of the material
container, a shutter is slidably displaceably arranged in the
adapter. In practical use, the material container is fitted onto
the receiving member via the adapter while assuming an inverted
attitude in order to serve also as a hopper. Since the small-sized
material container having the molding material sealably received
therein can be used as a hopper, a material controlling operation
and a material exchanging operation can be achieved at a high speed
without any necessity for drying the molding material prior to each
molding operation.
Inventors: |
Yoda; Tsukasa (Sakaimachi,
JP), Okubo; Kazuyuki (Sakaimachi, JP),
Urasawa; Kenji (Sakaimachi, JP) |
Assignee: |
Nissei Plastic Industrial Co.,
Ltd. (JP)
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Family
ID: |
26380737 |
Appl.
No.: |
08/768,425 |
Filed: |
December 18, 1996 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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Reissue of: |
266429 |
Jun 27, 1994 |
05513777 |
May 7, 1996 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
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Jun 30, 1993 [JP] |
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5-041175 U |
Apr 26, 1994 [JP] |
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6-109179 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
222/325; 141/364;
222/561 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B29C
45/18 (20130101); B29C 48/286 (20190201); B29C
48/03 (20190201) |
Current International
Class: |
B29C
45/18 (20060101); B29C 47/10 (20060101); B65D
088/54 () |
Field of
Search: |
;222/146.2,185,325,413,561,568,461,462 ;425/578,585 ;141/364 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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2255080 |
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Oct 1992 |
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GB |
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91006497 |
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May 1991 |
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WO |
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Primary Examiner: Derakshani; Philippe
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Ostrolenk, Faber, Gerb &
Soffen, LLP
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A material feeding apparatus including a material container as a
hopper, comprising:
a material container molded of a synthetic resin so as to allow a
material to be molded to be sealably received therein and
an adapter having a shutter interposed between a funnel-shaped
portion and a connecting portion for openably shutting the interior
of said material container, the upper end part of said
funnel-shaped portion being formed in the shape of an open end part
to be threadably engaged with a plurality of .[.female.]. threads
formed around the .[.inner.]. .Iadd.outer .Iaddend.wall surface of
an opening portion of said material container, and the lower end
part of said connecting portion being formed in the shape of an
opening portion to be fitted onto a receiving member of a molding
machine,
whereby the adapter is threadably fitted into said opening portion
of said material container, while said material container is fitted
onto said receiving member with an inverted attitude said adapter
so as to allow said material container to serve also as a hopper
for the molding machine, and
wherein said adapter is made of a metallic material and includes a
first portion having an inner funnel-shaped surface or which one
end is formed in the shape of an open end part adapted to be
threadably fitted onto said opening portion of said material
container and a second portion having a plurality of screw holes
formed therethrough so as to allow a plurality of screws to be
inserted through said screw holes, the other end of said portion
being formed in the shape of an open end part to be fitted onto
said receiving member on the injection machine side, and wherein
said shutter is interposed between said first portion and said
second portion both of which are integrated with each other by
tightening said screws.
2. The material feeding apparatus as claimed in claim .[.1.].
.Iadd.11.Iaddend., wherein said material container is molded of a
synthetic resin or a translucent synthetic resin.
3. The material feeding apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein
said material container is molded of a polyethylene terephthalate
resin by employing a stretch blow-molding process.
4. The material feeding apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein
said material container is molded of a polycarbonate resin by
employing a stretch blow-molding process.
5. The material feeding apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein
said material container is molded of a polypropylene resin by
employing a stretch blow-molding process.
6. The material feeding apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein
said material container is molded of a polyethylene terephthalate
resin in the form of a composite article by employing a stretch
blow-molding process said composite article including an
intermediate layer made of an ethylenevinyl acetate copolymer.
7. The material feeding apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein
said shutter is composed of two upper end lower circular plates
each having a plurality a radially extending openings, the central
part of each of said circular plates being rotatably supported to
rotate about a shaft the periphery of said upper circular place is
fixedly secured to the wall surface of said adapter by tightening a
plurality of screws, and said lower circular plate is rotatably
supported on the upper wall surface of said funnel-shaped portion
of said adapter so as to open or close said radially extending
openings relative to said radially extending openings of said upper
circular place, said lower circular plate including a plurality of
pawl pieces projected outside of the periphery thereof, each of
said pawl pieces being inserted into the corresponding
circumferentially extending elongated slit formed on the upper wall
surface of said funnel-shaped portion via the corresponding
vertical groove.
8. A material feeding apparatus including a material container as a
hopper, comprising:
a material container molded of a synthetic resin so as to allow a
material to be molded to be sealably received therein and
an adapter having a shutter interposed between a funnel-shaped
portion and a connecting portion for openably shutting the interior
of said material container, the upper end part of said
funnel-shaped portion being formed in the shape of an open end part
to be threadably engaged with a plurality of .[.female.]. threads
formed around the inner wall surface of an opening portion of said
material container, and the lower end part of said connecting
portion being formed in the shape of an opening portion to be
fitted onto a receiving member of a molding machine,
whereby the adapter is threadably fitted into said opening portion
of said material container, while said material container is fitted
onto said receiving member with an inverted attitude said adapter
so as to allow said material container to serve also as a hopper
for the molding machine, and
wherein said adapter is composed of a funnel-shaped portion and a
cylindrical connecting portion located below said funnel-shaped
portion with said shutter placed on the upper wall of said
funnel-shaped portion, said material container is threadably fitted
into a threaded ring disposed on the open end part of said
funnel-shaped portion with an inverted attitude, and said adapter
is mounted on a heating sleeve or a molding machine by fixedly
securing the open end part of said connecting portion to the
periphery of a feeding port for said heating sleeve by tightening a
plurality of bolts.
9. The material feeding apparatus as claimed in claim .[.8.].
.Iadd.12.Iaddend., wherein said shutter is composed of two upper
and lower circular plates each having a plurality .[.a.]. .Iadd.of
.Iaddend.radially extending circular plates each having a plurality
a radially extending openings, the central part of each of said
circular plates being rotatably supported to rotate about a shaft,
the periphery of said upper circular plate is fixedly secured to
the wall surface of said adapter by tightening a plurality of
screws, and said lower circular plate is rotatably supported on the
upper wall surface of said funnel-shaped portion of said adapter so
as to open or close said radially extending openings relative to
said radially extending openings of said upper circular plate, said
lower circular plate including a plurality of pawl pieces projected
outside of the periphery thereof, each of said pawl pieces being
inserted into the corresponding circumferentially extending
elongated slit formed on the upper wall surface of said
funnel-shaped portion via the corresponding vertical groove.
10. A material feeding apparatus including a material container as
a hopper, comprising:
a material container molded of a synthetic resin so as to allow a
material to be molded to be sealably received therein and
an adapter having a shutter interposed between a funnel-shaped
portion and a connecting portion for openably shutting the interior
of said material container, the upper end part of said
funnel-shaped portion being formed in the shape of an open end part
to be threadably engaged with a plurality of .[.female.]. threads
formed around the inner wall surface of an opening portion of said
material container, and the lower end part of said connecting
portion being formed in the shape of an opening portion to be
fitted onto a received member of a molding machine,
whereby the adapter is threadably fitted into said opening portion
of said material container, while said material container is fitted
onto said receiving member with an inverted attitude said adapter
so as to allow said material container to serve also as a hopper
for the molding machine, and
wherein said shutter is composed of two upper end lower circular
plates each having a plurality a radially extending openings, the
central part of each of said circular places being rotatably
supported to rotate about a shaft, the periphery of said upper
circular plate is fixedly secured to the wall surface of said
adapter by tightening a plurality of screws, and said lower
circular plate is rotatably supported on the upper wall surface of
said funnel-shaped portion of said adapter so as to open or close
said radially extending openings relative to said radially
extending openings of said upper circular plate, said lower
circular plate including a plurality of pawl pieces projected
outside of the periphery thereof, each of said pawl pieces being
inserted into the corresponding circumferentially extending
elongated slit formed on the upper wall surface of said
funnel-shaped portion via the corresponding vertical groove.
.Iadd.11. The material feeding apparatus as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the adapter has female threads on the inner wall surface of
an open end part. .Iaddend..Iadd.12. The material feeeding
apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein the adapter has female
threads on the inner wall surface of an open end part.
.Iaddend..Iadd.13. The material feeding apparatus as claimed in
claim 10, wherein the adapter has female threads on the inner wall
surface of an open end part. .Iaddend.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a material feeding apparatus
including a material container as a hopper for a synthetic resin
molding machine, especially, a small-sized molding machine wherein
a material to be molded (hereinafter referred to as a molding
material), i.e., a synthetic resin is sealably contained in the
material container.
2. Background Art
When a molding material is shipped from a manufacturer to users,
containers or bags each having a comparatively large volumetric
capacity are generally used. Prior to each molding operation, a
user relocates the molding material to a hopper, and subsequently,
on completion of the relocating operation, the molding machine is
driven to successively perform molding operations.
In the circumstances as mentioned above, in the case that a small
quantity of molding material is consumed during each molding
operation such as production of small lots of many kinds of molded
articles, on a molding operation test or a trial molding operation
is performed for a new molding die, useless consumption of the
molding material is liable to occur. In addition, since the molding
material once delivered to a user absorbs moisture while it is kept
in storage, it is rarely used for molding operations directly from
storage. This leads to the result that it is necessary that most of
the molding material is dried directly before each molding
operation is performed. For this reason, the molding operation can
not be started until the molding material is completely dried,
resulting in the efficiency of each molding operation being
adversely affected.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made in consideration of the
aforementioned background.
An object of the present invention is to provide a material feeding
apparatus including as a hopper a container having a predetermined
volume of molding material sealably received therein wherein the
material feeding apparatus assures that the material container can
be used as a hopper as it is under the condition that an adaptor is
employed for the material feeding apparatus with the result that a
material controlling operation and a material relocating operation
can be achieved at a high speed, and moreover, a drying time is not
required.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a material
feeding apparatus of the foregoing type which assures that the
material container is molded of a transparent synthetic resin so as
to enable a quantity of molding material remaining in the material
container serving as a hopper to be visually confirmed as seen in
any direction.
To accomplish the above objects, the present invention provides a
material feeding apparatus including a material container as a
hopper, wherein the material feeding apparatus comprises a material
container molded of a synthetic resin so as to allow a material to
be molded to be sealably received therein and an adapter having a
shutter interposed between a funnel-shaped portion and a connecting
portion for openably shutting the interior of said material
container, the upper end part of the funnel-shaped portion being
formed in the shape of an open end part to be threadably engaged
with a plurality of female threads formed around the inner wall
surface of an opening portion of the material container, and the
lower end pan of the connecting portion being formed in the shape
of an opening portion to be fitted onto a receiving member of the
molding machine, whereby after a seal is peeled off from the
material container, the adapter is threadably fitted into the
opening portion of the material container, while the material
container is fitted onto the receiving member with an inverted
attitude via the adapter so as to allow the material container to
serve also as a hopper.
A characterizing feature of the material feeding apparatus
constructed in accordance with the present invention consists in
that the material container is molded of a transparent synthetic
resin or a translucent synthetic resin. The synthetic resin
preferably employable for molding the material container is
exemplified by polyethylene terephthalate resin, polycarbonate
resin and polypropylene resin, each of which is a single kind of
synthetic resin capable of being molded by employing a stretch
blow-molding process. In some cases, the molding material may be a
composite component including an intermediate layer made of an
ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) having an excellent gas
barrier property.
A container molded with a wide pouring port and a volumetric
capacity ranging from 1.0 to 20.0 liters by employing a stretch
blow-molding process can be employed as a material container for
the material feeding apparatus as it is, and an opening portion of
the material container can sealably be closed with conventional
sealing means such as a metal seal, a screw cap or the like.
With such construction, since the material container is mounted as
a hopper on a molding machine with an adapter attached thereto, a
predetermined quantity of molding material received in the material
container can be fed to the molding machine via a feeding port
formed through the receiving member by opening the shutter. In
addition, since the molding material sealably received in the
material container is kept dry, there does not arise a necessity
for drying the molding material prior to each molding operation,
and moreover, it is possible to exchange the present material
container having a certain quantity of molding material received
therein with another one having the other kind of molding material
received therein.
Thus, the material feeding apparatus can be designed and
constructed with small dimensions so that a predetermined quantity
of molding material can be fed to the molding machine corresponding
to the number of products to be molded, whereby each molding
operation can be achieved with a reduced quantity of material loss
regardless of the kind of molding operation such as a molding
operation to be performed for producing many kinds of molded
articles in a small production lot, a molding operation test or a
trial molding operation to be performed when the currently used
molding die is exchanged with other one. In addition, since the
currently used material container can easily be exchanged with
other one, the currently used molding material can quickly be
exchanged with the other kind of molding material. Additionally,
since the dried molding material can be fed directly from the
material container, no drying operation is required, resulting in
the stored state of the molding material being easily
controlled.
Further, since the material container is molded of a transparent
synthetic resin or a translucent synthetic. resin, it is not
necessary to dispose a transparent window on the material container
for visually confirming the stored state of the molding material.
In other words, since the interior of the material container can
visually be observed in any direction, the of conventional
operation for visually confirming a quantity of molding material
remaining in the material container through a transparent window is
not required Thus, the quantity of molding material remaining in
the material container can easily be confirmed from a position
located remote from the hopper.
In view of the fact that the time required for drying the molding
material prior to each molding operation can be eliminated, the
currently used molding material can simply be exchanged with the
other kind of molding material, and loss of the molding material
can be reduced, each molding operation can be achieved not only at
an improved efficiency but also at a reduced cost. Especially, in
the case that a small number of molded articles are produced using
a different kind of molding material, advantageous effects
obtainable from the material feeding apparatus constructed in
accordance with the present invention become more remarkable.
Since the material container can be molded with a small thickness
and a light weight by employing a stretch blow-molding process, it
exhibits an excellently high strength at the time of a drop test,
and moreover, it can be produced at an inexpensive cost. In
addition, after the material container becomes empty due to
complete consumption of the molding material received therein, it
can be reused as it is by recovering it from the molding
machine.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention
will become apparent from reading of the following description
which has been made in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a partially exploded front view of a material container
usable as a hopper for a material feeding apparatus constructed in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of an adapter employable for
the material feeding apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional front view of the material feeding
apparatus of the present invention, showing in the disassembled
state that the material container is threadably fitted into the
adapter.
FIG. 4 is a partially exploded front view of a material feeding
apparatus constructed in accordance with another embodiment of the
present invention.
FIG. 5 is a sectional plan view of the material feeding apparatus
shown in FIG. 4.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The present invention will now be described in detail hereinafter
with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate
preferred embodiments thereof.
In the drawings, reference numeral 1 designates a transparent
material container molded of a polyethylene terephthalate resin to
form a wide opening portion while assuming a volumetric capacity of
1.5 to 3.0 liters by employing an injection stretch blow-molding
process. A few male threads 3 are formed around the outer
peripheral surface of the opening portion of the material container
1. The opening portion of the material container 1 is sealably
closed with a metal seal 2. As desired, the material container can
be used as a packing container by threadably fitting a screw cap
(not shown) to the male threads 3 when a material received in the
material container is to be commercially sold.
Reference numeral 4 designates an adapter made of a metallic
material. The adapter 4 is composed of a funnel-shaped portion 6
including an opening portion having a few female threads formed
around the inner wall surface of an open end part 5 thereof and a
connecting portion 8 having a plurality of screw holes formed
therethrough. An open end part 7 adapted to be fitted onto a
receiving member of a heating sleeve of a molding machine (to be
described later) is formed in the lower end part of the connecting
portion 8, and the funnel-shaped portion 6 and the connecting
portion 8 are integrated with each other by tightening a plurality
of screws while a shutter 9 is interposed therebetween so as to
openably shut the interior of the funnel-shaped portion 6
therewith.
The shutter 9 is designed in the form of a plate having a
communication hole 11 formed therethrough to make communication
between the open end part 5 of the funnel-shaped portion 6 and the
open end part 7 of the connecting portion 8 via a communication
hole 10, and a guide plate 12 is brought in slidable contact with
the lower surface of the shutter 9 so as to allow the latter to be
slidably displaced along the lower surface of the guide plate 12.
In other words, the shutter 9 is slidably disposed between the
connecting portion 8 and the guide plate 12.
In FIG. 3, reference numeral 13 designates a receiving member
disposed on a heating sleeve 14 for the molding machine. A feeding
port 15 is formed through the receiving member 13, and a stepped
part 16 adapted to allow the open end part 7 of the connecting
portion 8 to be fitted onto the receiving member 13 is formed
outside of the receiving member 13. Reference numeral 17 designates
a screw for plasticizing the molding material.
When the material container 1 is to be mounted on the heating
sleeve 14 for the molding machine, first, the metal seal 2 is
peeled off from the opening portion of the material container 1,
and subsequently, the adapter 4 is fitted to the material container
1. At this time, this fitting is achieved by threadably engaging
the female threads at the open end part 5 of the funnel-shaped
portion 6 with the male threads 3 at the open end part of the
material container 1. Next, it is confirmed that the interior of
the adapter 4 is kept closed by the shutter 9, and thereafter, the
material container 1 is turned upside down as shown in FIG. 3 so as
to allow the adapter 4 to be located above the receiving member 13.
The open end part 7 of the connecting portion 8 is fitted onto the
receiving member 13 to come in contact with the stepped part 15,
and thereafter, a screw (not shown) is threadably fitted to the
connecting portion 8 from one side until the adapter 4 is firmly
secured to the receiving member 13. Now, the material container 1
can serve also as a hopper so as to enable a molding material to be
fed into the heating sleeve 14 by opening the shutter 9.
FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 show a material feeding apparatus constructed in
accordance with another embodiment of the present invention,
respectively. In this embodiment, an adapter 4 is composed of a
funnel-shaped portion 6a and a cylindrical joint portion 8a
integrated with the funnel portion 6a below the latter, and a
shutter 9 is placed on the upper wall surface of the funnel-shaped
portion 6a. A material container 1 is fitted to the adapter 4 with
an inverted attitude by threadably engaging a plurality of female
threads formed around the inner wall surface of a threaded ring 5a
received in the open end part of the funnel-shaped portion 6a with
a plurality of male threads formed around the outer peripheral
surface of the open end part of the material container 1.
The adapter 4 is mounted on the heating sleeve 14 for the molding
machine by bolting a flange 8b integrated with the open end part of
the connecting portion 8a to the periphery of a feeding port (not
shown) of the heating sleeve 4, whereby the adapter 4 constitutes a
hopper in cooperation with the material container 1.
The shutter 9 is composed of two upper and lower circular plates 9a
and 9b having radially extending sector-shaped openings 12a and 12b
formed therethrough in the equally spaced relationship as seen in
the circumferential direction, and central parts of the circular
plates 9a and 9b are rotatably fitted onto a shaft 18 so as to
allow the circular plates 9a and 9b to rotate relative to each
other. The peripheral part of the upper circular plate 9a is
fixedly secured to the adapter 4 by tightening a plurality of
screws. On the other hand, pawl pieces 20 projecting outside of the
periphery of the lower circular plate 9b are inserted into four
circumferentially extending elongated slits 19 via four vertically
extending grooves 22, causing the lower circular plate 9b to be
rotatably supported in the adapter 4 to rotate relative to the
upper circular plate 9a in order to open or close the sector-shaped
opening portions 12a and 12b relative to each other. One of the
four pawl pieces 20 is radially projected outside of the lower
circular plate 9b so as to serve as an actuating piece 21 for
opening or closing the shutter with an operator's hand.
It should be noted that fitting of the adapter 4 to the material
container 1 may be achieved by matching projected parts with the
corresponding recessed parts, and moreover, fitting of the adapter
4 to the heating sleeve 14 may be achieved by inserting projected
parts of the adapter 4 into the corresponding recessed parts on the
heating sleeve 14 side. Although not illustrated, the fitting of
the adapter 4 to the material container 1 by way of a fitting
operation may be attained by disposing a receiving plate having
slide grooves formed on the opposite sides of the receiving member
at the upper end of the latter, inserting into the slide grooves
slide plates projected downward of the lower end of the adapter on
the opposite sides of the latter from one side and then fixedly
securing the slide plates to the receiving member by tightening a
plurality of screws.
While the present invention has been described above with respect
to two preferred embodiments thereof, it should of course be
understood that the present invention should not be limited only to
these embodiments but various change or modification may be made
without departure from the scope of the present invention as
defined by the appended claims.
* * * * *