Abstract:
A shaping mold of an air filter includes an upper mold base and a lower mold base, and a filter material having a corresponding shape is placed and fixed at a partition plate of the lower mold base to reduce manufacturing time and material cost of the mold, and also achieve the effects of providing a higher precision of positioning the filter material and improving the production efficiency, quality and reliability of the product.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a shaping mold of an air filter, and more particularly to a shaping mold with an excellent manufacturing efficiency, simplified components, and a capability of forming an air filter by a one-time molding process. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    With reference to  FIG. 1  for a conventional shaping mold  10  of an air filter, the shaping mold  10  is comprised of upper, middle and lower mold bases  11 ,  12 ,  13 , wherein the upper and lower mold base  11 ,  13  includes a plurality of equidistant convex partition plates  111 ,  131  arranged alternately, and the middle mold base  12  forms a hollow mold hole  121  at the center of the middle mold base  12 , such that when the upper mold base  11  is engaged with the lower mold base  13 , the middle mold base  12  is clamped in the middle between the upper and lower mold bases  11 ,  13 , such that the mold hole  121  is enclosed by the convex partition plates  111 ,  131  precisely. 
         [0005]    When the shaping mold  10  is used for integrally forming an air filter  14 , the middle mold  12  is engaged with the lower mold  13  first, and then a flat filter cotton plate  141  is placed at the top of the lower mold  13 , and the upper mold  11  is pressed onto the middle and lower molds  12 ,  13  as shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 . Now, the filter cotton plate  141  is pressed and squeezed by the alternate actions of the convex partition plates  111 ,  131  of the upper and lower mold bases  11 ,  13 , such that the filter cotton plate  141  will be bent repeatedly in a form of having a predetermined interval apart equidistantly from one another, and then an injection device is provided for a rubber material from an injection runner  15  of the upper mold  11  and an injection hole  16  of the middle mold  12  into a mold hole  121  to form a plastic frame  142  wrapped around the external periphery of the filter cotton plate  141 , and finally the upper, middle and lower molds  11 ,  12 ,  13  are separated into appropriate positions for removing the air filter and pressing the middle mold  12  downward to engage with the lower mold  13  so as to form the air filter  14  product. 
         [0006]    However, the conventional shaping mold  10  can integrally form the air filter  14 , yet the overall structural design involves a complicated inconvenient manufacturing process, and the actual manufactured products cannot meet the high quality requirements, and defects will be produced easily due to the following reasons: 
         [0007]    1. The conventional shaping mold  10  requires the use of the upper, middle and lower molds  11 ,  12 ,  13 , not just wasting manufacturing time and material cost of the molds, but also requiring a high precision for combining each mold in the manufacturing procedure, or else poor connecting positions will result and affect the external look of the product significantly. 
         [0008]    2. The filter cotton plate  141  is formed directly by using the convex partitions  111 ,  131  of the upper and lower molds  11 ,  13  directly. Since the upper and lower molds  11 ,  13  are fixed onto the injection device already in the manufacturing procedure, and no accessory device is provided on the injection device for fixing and positioning the filter cotton plate  141 , therefore the filter cotton plate  141  is simply placed on the lower mold  13 . As a result, the filter cotton plate will be deviated or shifted easily when the upper and lower molds  11 ,  13  are engaged with each other, and an excessive deviation or shifting will cause the filter cotton plate  114  to retreat to a lateral edge  143  and fail to combine with the frame  142  to give rise to a defective product, or the whole filter cotton plate  141  may be tilted to affect the quality of the product significantly. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    In view of the shortcomings of the prior art, the inventor of the present invention based on years of experiment in the related industry to conduct extensive researches and experiments, and finally developed the shaping mold of an air filter in accordance with the present invention. 
         [0010]    It is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a shaping mold of an air filter comprising an upper mold and a lower mold, and a filter material having a predetermined shape is placed and fixed at a partition plate of the lower mold base to reduce manufacturing time and material cost of the mold, and also achieve the effects of providing a higher precision of positioning the filter material and improving the production efficiency, quality and reliability of the product. 
         [0011]    The objective of the invention, its structure, innovative features, and performance, will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]      FIG. 1  is a partial exploded view of a conventional shaping mold of an air filter; 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is a schematic view of a closed conventional shaping mold of an air filter; 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is a schematic view of an opened conventional shaping mold of an air filter; 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a shaping mold of an air filter in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  is a partial perspective view of an upper mold of a shaping mold in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  is a partial cross-sectional view of a shaping mold in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0018]      FIG. 7  is a schematic view of closing a shaping mold in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0019]      FIG. 8  is a schematic view of injecting a closed shaping mold in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0020]      FIG. 9  is a schematic view of opening a closed shaping mold in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0021]      FIG. 10  is a perspective view of an air filter product in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0022]      FIG. 11  is a partial cross-sectional view of a shaping mold in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0023]    With reference to  FIGS. 4 to 6  for a shaping mold of an air filter in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the shaping mold comprises an upper mold  20  and a lower mold  30 . 
         [0024]    The upper mold  20  is substantially in a rectangular shape, and includes an upper cavity  21  concavely disposed at the bottom of the upper mold  20  and having a predetermined depth, a plurality of equidistant partitions  211  extended downwardly from the bottom of the upper cavity  21 , and an upper containing space formed between two partitions  211 , wherein the partitions  211  are arranged in a triangular shape, and a containing groove  212  formed therein is also a triangular groove, and the periphery of the upper cavity  21  is not connected, so as to form a circular groove  213  with a predetermined distance apart, and a plurality of injection holes  213  are formed at predetermined positions of the circular groove  213  and interconnected with the top of the upper mold  21 , and the top of the upper mold  21  includes a plurality of injection runners  215  interconnected with one another and communicated with the injection holes  214  for guiding and injecting the raw plastic material from the injection holes  214  into the circular groove  213 , wherein some injection holes  214  are near the four sides of the circular groove  213 , and a connecting hole  216  is disposed on the four sides of the bottom side of the upper mold  21  and disposed a slightly inner position separately. 
         [0025]    The lower mold  30  is engaged to the bottom of the upper mold  20 , and includes a lower cavity  31  disposed at the top of the lower mold  30 , a plurality of equidistant lower partitions  311  protruded upwardly from the bottom of the lower cavity  31  and arranged into a triangular shape, a lower containing groove  312  formed among the partitions  311 , such that when the upper and lower molds  20 ,  30  are engaged, the partitions  211 ,  311  are installed alternately and respectively into the containing grooves  312 ,  212 . In addition, the partitions  311  are not connected with the periphery of the lower cavity  30  to form a circular groove  313  with a predetermined interval apart and corresponding to the circular groove  213  of the upper cavity  21 , an the circular groove  313  is formed into an arc groove. In addition, a connecting rod  314  is disposed at a slightly inner position of four sides of the top of the lower mold  30  and inserted into the respective connecting hole  216 . 
         [0026]    The structure, position and interconnection of each component of the present invention are disclosed as above, and the shaping process and the expected effects of the present invention will be described as follows: 
         [0027]    Firstly, when the air filter  40  of the invention is molded as shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , the shaping mold is preinstalled onto an injection device, such that when the manufacture takes place, a filter material  41  pre-shaped with repeated concave bent shape is placed onto the partition  311  of the lower cavity  31 , and then the upper and lower molds  20 ,  30  are engaged with each other into a closed state. Now, the partitions  211  in the upper cavity  21  and the partitions  311  in the lower cavity  31  are clamped and pressed alternately onto the filter material  40 . With reference to  FIGS. 1 and 8 , the injection device is provided for injecting a rubber injection material from the injection runners  215  and the injection holes  214  into the circular grooves  213 ,  313  of the upper and lower cavities  21 ,  31 , and a frame  42  is formed by wrapping and combining a portion of the filter material  41  around the external periphery of the air filter  40 . With reference to  FIGS. 9 and 10 , until the aforementioned injection is completed, the upper and lower molds  20 ,  30  are separated into an open mold state, and the air filter  40  product is removed such that the integrally formed structure has an excellent structural strength, and a stable quality. 
         [0028]    In  FIG. 9 , the filter material  41  of the preferred embodiment is comprised of a filter fabric  411  or a metal mesh layer  412 , wherein the filter fabric  411  is a piece of unwoven cloth or cotton cloth, and the metal mesh layer  412  is wrapped around the surface of the filter fabric  411  for enhancing the structural strength. In addition, the filter material  41  can be metal mesh layer made of stainless steel or filter fabric according to the customer requirements to provide different levels of the filtering effect. The circular groove  313  of the lower cavity  31  of the lower mold  30  is a circular arc groove, such that after the frame  42  of the air filter  40  is formed, a guide surface  421  with a predetermined curvature is formed at the top edge of the frame  42 . When the air filter  40  is used, the smooth circumference of the guide surface  421  is provided for guiding the air through the filter material  41  to achieve the effects of filtering and reducing the chance of producing reflecting airflow, and enhancing the intake of airflow of a high efficiency engine. 
         [0029]    In  FIGS. 1 and 7 , some of the injection holes  214  of the upper mold  20  are designed next to the four sides of the circular groove  213 , such that when the injection material can be injected and filled into everywhere inside the circular grooves  213 .  313  quickly, and the sides of the filter material are wrapped and fixed by the filled injection material, so as to prevent deformation or warping occurred at any sides of the filter material  41  when overheated, and achieve an excellent shaping quality. 
         [0030]    With reference to  FIG. 11  for a shaping mold comprised of an upper mold  20  and a lower mold  30  in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the partitions  211   a ,  311   a  are made into corresponding cylindrical shape with a circular arc surface at distal ends, and the containing grooves  212   a ,  312   a  are also cylindrical grooves, and the filter material  411   a  is also in a corresponding cylindrical shape with continuous concave bends, such that the overall manufacturing efficiency and the product quality can be enhanced regardless of different shapes of the product. 
         [0031]    It is noteworthy to point out that the shaping mold of an air filter in accordance with the present invention simply adopts an upper mold and a lower mold to achieve the effect of molding the air filter in a one-time molding process, and the overall structure of the invention is simpler than the conventional shaping mold, not only saving the cost for the molds, but also providing a quick and convenient mold closing and opening procedure for manufacturing the air filter since the shaping mold is composed of the upper and lower molds, so as to enhance the production efficiency effectively. In addition, the filter material is manufactured into a shape with continuous concave bends in the upper and lower cavities in advance, and thus the filter material can be positioned quickly during the manufacturing process without the risk of having a deviation or shifting easily, and the filter material and the frame can be combined with one another precisely. Overall speaking, the quality of the product can be improved. 
         [0032]    In summation of the above description, the present invention herein enhances the performance than the conventional structure and further complies with the patent application requirements and is submitted to the Patent and Trademark Office for review and granting of the commensurate patent rights. 
         [0033]    While the invention is described in some detail hereinbelow with reference to certain illustrated embodiments, it is to be understood that there is no intent to limit it to those embodiments. On the contrary, the aim is to cover all modifications, alternatives and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.