Method and apparatus for making structured packing element

摘要

Upper and lower mirror image die plates are resiliently supported and have predetermined displacement values for forming vortex generators and foldline crease channels without compressive deformation in a porous sintered metal fiber sheet material. Cutters and ridges coupled to the upper and lower die plates form the respective vortex generators and channels. The sheet of so formed material is then placed in an apparatus for bending the sheet at the foldline channels to corrugate the sheet without deformation of the sheet material between the corrugation bends. Fingers align with and engage the channels. The fingers are on plates that are ramped closer together simultaneously while the fingers on two mirror image coplanar sets of plates displace toward each other as the sheet material is folded. Pins on a pair of rotating levers engage each of the finger plates of the two sets for relatively horizontally displacing the plates and corresponding fingers as they are ramped together vertically.