Patent ID: 6139789
Filing Date: 2000-10-31
Classification: B29B,B29C,B29K

Abstract:
A method for thermally conditioning molded articles outside of a mold comprising the steps of:forming a plurality of molded articles in a molding machine;removing said molded articles from said molding machine while said articles are warm and not fully solidified;providing a thermal conditioning station having at least two internal thermal conditioning levels, said thermal conditioning station comprising a plurality of tubes having a plurality of levels and internal means for automatically transferring molded articles in said tubes from one level to a next level;transferring said molded articles to a first level of said thermal conditioning station, said transferring step including placing an individual one of said molded articles into a respective one of said tubes; andthermally conditioning said molded articles within said first level of said thermal conditioning station to improve the quality of the molded articles without increasing mold cycle time by subjecting said molded articles to at least one convective thermal treatment.