Apparatus for molding roofing panels having a stepped portion

摘要

An apparatus for molding roofing panels having an insert portion extending from one end of the main body of the panel and offset stepwise from the surface of the main body. The apparatus comprises a lower die divided into a die segment for forming the insert portion and a die segment for forming the main body which have cavities conforming to the shapes of the insert portion and the main body of the panel respectively, and a movable hopper disposed to the front of the insert portion die segment and adapted to feed a material in a specified thickness. The main body die segment is initially held in its raised position with the bottoms of the two die segments positioned at the same level, and the movable hopper is reciprocated to feed the material into the combined cavity of the lower die to a uniform thickness. Subsequently an upper die is lowered into the lower die cavity to press the material, with the main body die segment also lowered by the amount of the offset of the panel insert portion. The insert portion and main body of the roofing panel thus formed are substantially equal in thickness.