초록

Apparatus for welding items which are each made from a plurality of substantially plastic components operate to maintain the components in fixed positions relative to each other while moving them along a feed path, including welding and cooling stages.

대표청구항 ▼

Apparatus for the induction welding of containers which are each made from a plurality of substantially plastic components, comprising a plurality of pairs of support members, each pair of support members supporting a corresponding pair of components in positions they are to assume in a completed co

Apparatus for the induction welding of containers which are each made from a plurality of substantially plastic components, comprising a plurality of pairs of support members, each pair of support members supporting a corresponding pair of components in positions they are to assume in a completed container and including a first support member movable along a feed path for supporting one of the components in a predetermined position and a second support member movable along said feed path for supporting another of the components substantially independently of said one component and said first support member but in a second predetermined position, which is fixed relative to said first predetermined position, said first and second predetermined positions corresponding to fixed positions said components are to assume in a completed container; a multiplicity of welding tools, each of which is included in one of said first and second support members of a corresponding pair of support members for welding together components supported by said corresponding pair of support members to form a corresponding container; moving means for continuously moving said plurality of pairs of support members along said feed path, said moving means including a generally round table rotatable about a fixed axis of rotation extending generally perpendicular to a plane containing a diameter of said table, said plurality of pairs of support members being mounted on said table in a circular pattern in which said welding tools are spaced apart equidistantly; and energizing means for simultaneously energizing at least a pair of adjacent welding tools which are moving over a predetermined portion of said feed path at one time, whereby a multiplicity of containers may be welded simultaneously, said energizing means including a high-frequency electrical generator, a stationary manifold electrically connected to said generator and arranged radially adjacent to a circumferential outer edge of said table so as to delimit said predetermined portion of said feed path, and a plurality of pairs of spaced-apart rails attached to said circumferential edge of said table, each pair of rails being engageable with said manifold and electrically connected to a corresponding one of said welding tools, said first and second support members of each pair of support members maintaining a corresponding pair of components in said fixed positions during the welding of said corresponding pair of components and thereafter, until the welded area of said corresponding pair of components reaches a predetermined low temperature which is less than the temperature that said welded area normally reaches during welding and sufficiently low to inhibit shrinkage deformation of a container formed from said corresponding pair of component.