Fiber mold filling system and method

摘要

A fiber filling box divided into compartments by slotted divider walls, preferably comb-like divider fences with vertical tines extending downwardly from a top frame, is lowered onto an air-permeable conveyor over at least one vacuum box in a fiber filling station. A multi-axis controlled nozzle blows fiber material to different depths and/or densities in the individual compartments. The divider fences allow continuous intertwining of fibers between adjacent compartments, but sufficiently contain the fibers to maintain well-defined boundaries between different fiber depths and/or densities in the individual compartments. Hold-down plates are lowered onto the fiber material, the fiber filling box is lifted away, and then the hold-down plates are lifted to release a shaped fiber mass, which is then heated and compacted in a heating station to form a fiber preform. The hot fiber preform is then molded, compressed and cooled in a molding station to produce a molded fiber component.

主权项

1. A fiber filling apparatus comprising:
a support; a movable fiber filling box adapted and arranged to be selectively lowered toward and lifted upwardly away from said support, wherein said fiber filling box has an open top, an open bottom, perimeter walls bounding a perimeter thereof, and at least one vertically slotted divider wall that divides, into at least two compartments, an interior space of said fiber filling box bounded within said perimeter walls, wherein said divider wall has vertically extending slot openings and vertically extending divider elements that alternate with one another horizontally along said divider wall, and wherein said slot openings are open to said open bottom of said fiber filling box; and a fiber supply movably arranged above said fiber filling box and adapted to supply a loose fiber material into said compartments of said fiber filling box; wherein said at least one divider wall is configured and dimensioned to permit some cross-over of fibers of said loose fiber material between adjacent ones of said compartments through said vertically extending slot openings while sufficiently bounding said loose fiber material to maintain different thicknesses and/or densities of said loose fiber material respectively in said compartments.