Patent Publication Number: US-2018029281-A1

Title: Process of manufacturing hollow products

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to manufacturing processes and more particularly to a process of manufacturing hollow products. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Conventional processes of manufacturing hollow products are disadvantageous because it is difficult of removing supports in the mold after finishing the product. 
     Thus, the need for improvement still exists. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore one object of the invention to provide a process of manufacturing a hollow product comprising the steps of activating both a rotational device and a lifting device to dispose a platform in a first tank filled with a first liquid; activating a light curing device to cure a portion of the first liquid so that a portion of a mold is formed on the platform; activating both the lifting device and the rotational device to dispose the platform and the unfinished mold from the first tank to a second tank filled with a cleaning agent; cleaning the platform and the unfinished mold; activating both the lifting device and the rotational device to dispose the platform and the unfinished mold from the second tank to a third tank filled with a second liquid different from the first liquid; activating the light curing device to cure a portion of the second liquid to form a plurality of inner supports in the unfinished mold and a plurality of outer supports on the unfinished mold respectively; activating both the lifting device and the rotational device to dispose the platform and the unfinished mold from the third tank to the second tank; cleaning the platform and the unfinished mold including the inner supports and the outer supports in the second tank; activating both the lifting device and the rotational device to dispose the platform and the unfinished mold including the inner supports and the outer supports from the second tank to the first tank; activating the light curing device to cure a portion of the first liquid to form on the unfinished mold; repeating steps 3 to 10 until a complete mold is created; activating both the lifting device and the rotational device to dispose the platform and the finished mold including the inner supports and the outer supports from the first tank to the second tank; cleaning the platform and the finished mold in the second tank; activating both the lifting device and the rotational device to dispose the platform and the finished mold including the inner supports and the outer supports from the second tank to a fourth tank; activating the light curing device to further cure the finished mold including the inner supports and the outer supports; activating both the lifting device and the rotational device to dispose the platform and the finished mold including the inner supports and the outer supports from the fourth tank to an oven; activating the oven to heat the finished mold including the inner supports and the outer supports to melt the inner supports and the outer supports, cause the molten material to exit the mold via an opening of the mold, and create a hollow product; and activating both the lifting device and the rotational device to remove the hollow product out of the oven. 
     The above and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a flow chart of a process of manufacturing hollow products according to the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a longitudinal sectional view of a mold in an initial phase of the process; 
         FIG. 3  is a longitudinal sectional view of a mold in a final phase of the process; 
         FIG. 4  is a top view schematically showing an apparatus tied to the process; and 
         FIG. 5  is a side elevation of  FIG. 4 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 to 5 , a process of manufacturing hollow products in accordance with the invention is illustrated and comprises the following steps: 
     Step S 1 : activating both a rotational device  30  and a lifting device  31  to dispose a platform  32  in a first tank  20  which contains a first liquid (e.g., liquefied ceramic). 
     Step S 2 : activating a light curing device  4  to cure a portion of the first liquid so that a portion of mold  1  can be formed on a top surface of the platform  32 . In another embodiment, the mold  1  is formed on an underside of the platform  32 . 
     Step S 3 : activating the lifting device  31  and the rotational device  30  to dispose the platform  32  and the unfinished mold  1  from the first tank  20  to a second tank  21  which contains a cleaning agent. 
     Step S 4 : cleaning the platform  32  and the unfinished mold  1 . 
     Step S 5 : activating the lifting device  31  and the rotational device  30  to dispose the platform  32  and the unfinished mold  1  from the second tank  21  to a third tank  22  which contains a second liquid (e.g., liquefied material capable of being cured by impinging light thereon and having a melting point much less than that of the first liquid). 
     Step S 6 : activating the light curing device  4  to cure a portion of the second liquid so that a plurality of inner supports  12  are formed in the unfinished mold  1  and a plurality of outer supports  11  are formed on the unfinished mold  1  respectively. 
     Step S 7 : activating the lifting device  31  and the rotational device  30  to dispose the platform  32  and the unfinished mold  1  from the third tank  22  to the second tank  21 . 
     Step S 8 : cleaning the platform  32  and the unfinished mold  1  including the inner supports  12  and the outer supports  11 . 
     Step S 9 : activating the lifting device  31  and the rotational device  30  to dispose the platform  32  and the unfinished mold  1  including the inner supports  12  and the outer supports  11  from the second tank  21  to the first tank  20 . 
     Step S 10 : activating the light curing device  4  to cure a portion of the first liquid to form on the unfinished mold  1 . 
     Step S 11 : repeating steps S 3  to S 10  until a complete mold  1  is created. 
     Step S 12 : activating the lifting device  31  and the rotational device  30  to dispose the platform  32  and the finished mold  1  including the inner supports  12  and the outer supports  11  from the first tank  20  to the second tank  21 . 
     Step S 13 : cleaning the platform  32  and the finished mold  1 . 
     Step S 14 : activating the lifting device  31  and the rotational device  30  to dispose the platform  32  and the finished mold  1  including the inner supports  12  and the outer supports  11  from the second tank  21  to a fourth tank  23 . 
     Step S 15 : activating the light curing device  4  to further cure the finished mold  1  including the inner supports  12  and the outer supports  11 . 
     Step S 16 : activating the lifting device  31  and the rotational device  30  to dispose the platform  32  and the finished mold  1  including the inner supports  12  and the outer supports  11  from the fourth tank  23  to an oven  6 . 
     Step S 17 : activating the oven  6  to heat the finished mold  1  including the inner supports  12  and the outer supports  11  to melt the inner supports  12  and the outer supports  11  only because both the inner support  12  and the outer support  11  have a melting point much less than that of the mold  1  which is formed of the cured first liquid. The molten material exits the mold  1  via an opening  10  of the mold  1 . As a result, a hollow product  5  is created. 
     Step S 18 : activating the lifting device  31  and the rotational device  30  to remove the hollow product  5  out of the oven  6 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5  specifically, the first, second, third and fourth tanks  20 ,  21 ,  22  and  23  are arranged as a circle and the rotational device  30  is located at a center of the circle. The rotational device  30  is capable of rotating about its longitudinal axis (see four arrows). In another embodiment, the rotational device  30  is located externally of the circle and is capable of further moving on a plane (i.e., along X and Y axes). 
     The lifting device  31  extends out of the rotational device  30  and is capable of lifting or lowering relative to the rotational device  30 . The platform  32  is disposed at an end of the lifting device  31  and is capable of lifting or lowering relative to the rotational device  30  as the lifting device  31  so as to either leave the first tank  20 , the second tank  21 , the third tank  22  or the fourth tank  23  or enter same. The light curing device  4  is capable of disposing in a position proximate the mold  1  to cure the first liquid, the second liquid, or the finished mold  1  including the inner supports  12  and the outer supports  11 . In another embodiment, the number of the tanks  4  is greater than  4  if the first liquid is a liquefied composite material or a hollow product having more than one color is to be created in which each tank is for the creation of a portion of the mold having a single color. 
     While the invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modifications within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.