Patent ID: 6095787
Filing Date: 2000-08-01
Classification: B29C,B29K,Y10T

Abstract:
An apparatus for thermoforming an object with a skid-resistant surface said apparatus comprising;an extruder for forming a continuous sheet of thermoplastic material, said sheet having a top surface and a bottom surface;a conveyor for delivering said sheet of material from said extruder to an abrading station, said abrading station having a cylindrical wire brush mounted to extend transversely to said sheet of material, said wire brush forming a plurality of apertures in said top surface of said sheet;a motor for rotating said wire brush against the top surface of said sheet;a shear located downstream of said abrading station to trim said sheet into a plurality of blanks; anda thermoforming machine for receiving said blanks, said thermoforming machine including a mold and means for heating and drawing said blanks into the mold to form molded objects and increase the diameter of said plurality of apertures in said blanks thereby altering the roughness of said blanks.