FLOATING CUTTER FOR PROCESSING PLASTICS ARTICLES

摘要

A floating cutter for use in producing thermoformed articles from a web 5 of thermoplastics material, the cutter including a floating cutter blade 21 which is aligned with and by thermoformed portions 30 of the thermoformed web 5, a heater 33 for heating the blade 21, a cutter support 22 for supporting the blade 21, and a retaining plate 23 which retains the cutter support 22 between it and the heater 33 when the blade 21 is not in contact with the web 5 and is thermally coupled to the heater 33 by at least one thermally conductive land 24, there being clearances between the retaining plate 23 the cutter support 22 and the heater 33 to allow the blade 21 to float, characterised in that the cross sectional area of the land 24 is from 20 to 40 % of the area of contact between the retaining plate 23 and the cutter support 22 when the support 22 and the plate 23 are in contact with each other.