Patent Description:
A thermoforming machine is a device used to manufacture interior parts of a vehicle such as a door trim, instrument panel, dashboard, headliner, carpet, and luggage board, etc. Particularly, various techniques used to adhere a cover sheet to the surface of a material such as the door trim or the instrument panel of a vehicle have been developed.

Generally, as for the door trim or the instrument panel of a vehicle, in a molding apparatus, a hard material molded into a predetermined shape is placed on a lower mold; a cover sheet heated by a heating device is placed on the hard material; an upper mold is lowered toward the cover sheet, and the cover sheet is compressed therebetween to be formed. Furthermore, the size of the cover sheet is determined according to the size of the material.

However, when the cover sheet is heated and lengthened by the heating device, the size of the cover sheet is increased. In this case, if a device supporting the cover sheet at a lower part thereof is fixed, the cover sheet lengthened by the heating becomes useless, and a cover sheet which exceeds the size of the material is discarded as scrap. Normally, a cover sheet is expensive, so manufacturing cost is increased as the amount of the cover sheet discarded increases. In addition, when a cover sheet is lengthened, the cover sheet sags downward, so that it is difficult to uniformly heat the entirety of the cover sheet, and the cover sheet has wrinkles occurring during the formation thereof, and becomes defective.

Accordingly, even in a prior art, a device adjusting clamps installed along the edge of a cover sheet is used in order to make the cover sheet lengthened by heat taut. However, the device adjusting the clamps clamps a surface of the edge of the cover sheet in a bundle, so a slack cover sheet can be stretched in opposite directions. However, the slack cover sheet cannot be stretched in directions orthogonal to the opposite directions. That is, the adjustment of interval between each clamp is impossible, so the entire surface of the slack cover sheet cannot be uniformly stretched. Accordingly, the effect of saving the cover sheet is low, and it is also difficult to improve the quality of a molded product of the thermoforming machine due to the ununiformed stretching of the entirety of the cover sheet.

In relation to such a cover sheet supplying apparatus for a thermoforming machine, "Apparatus of transferring skin cover for vacuum forming machine" in <CIT>, "Apparatus of transferring skin cover for thermoforming machine with moving clamp" in <CIT>, and "Apparatus of transferring skin cover for thermoforming machine with adjustable clamp" in <CIT> have been applied by the applicant of the present invention.

However, according to such a cover sheet supplying apparatuses for a thermoforming machine, in the entire supplying process of a cover sheet, the cover sheet is moved while being fixed to clamps, and thus interference between components that clamp and transfer the cover sheet may occur, whereby the driving stability and efficiency of the apparatus is decreased. To prevent this, the configuration of the apparatus becomes complicated.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and is intended to propose a new type of a cover sheet supplying apparatus for a thermoforming machine having an adjustable pin, wherein fixing pins supporting a cover sheet at a lower side thereof and fixing the cover sheet in horizontal arrangement are allowed to be moved to the outside in response to the sagging of a cover sheet or the change of a size thereof caused by heating, so that the entire portion of the cover sheet maintains a flat state without sagging, whereby the cover sheet is uniformly heated and the entire portion thereof is uniformly stretched. Accordingly, the quality of a molded product is improved, and fabric consumption is reduced. Furthermore, in the process of clamping and transferring the cover sheet, interference between components is prevented, so the driving stability and efficiency of the apparatus are increased, and due to the simplified configuration of the apparatus, durability of the apparatus is improved, and manufacturing cost thereof is reduced.

According to the features of the present invention in order to accomplish the above objectives, the present invention provides a cover sheet supplying apparatus for a thermoforming machine having an adjustable pin, the apparatus adhering a cover sheet to a material, the apparatus including: a position adjustable pin fixing unit having a plurality of fixing pins arranged perpendicularly to edge portions of a cover sheet, each of the fixing pins supporting the cover sheet at a lower side thereof received from the outside to fix the cover sheet in a state of a horizontal arrangement, and being moved in response to sagging of the cover sheet or change of a size thereof caused by heating; a cover sheet heating unit arranged at a preset position, and heating the cover sheet fixed to the position adjustable pin fixing unit; and a controller controlling operations of the position adjustable pin fixing unit and the cover sheet heating unit.

In such a cover sheet supplying apparatus for a thermoforming machine having an adjustable pin according to the present invention, the position adjustable pin fixing unit may include two left-and-right-column fixing pin lines on edge portions of the cover sheet located at left and right sides of width directions thereof, each of the left-and-right-column fixing pin lines having a structure in which the preset number of the fixing pins is linearly arranged, or may include two front-and-rear-row fixing pin lines on edge portions of the cover sheet located at front and rear sides of longitudinal directions thereof, each of the front-and-rear-row fixing pin lines having a structure in which the preset number of the fixing pins is linearly arranged, or may include all of the left-and-right-column fixing pin lines and the front-and-rear-row fixing pin lines.

In such a cover sheet supplying apparatus for a thermoforming machine having an adjustable pin according to the present invention, the position adjustable pin fixing unit may include: a link member having a structure in which multiple sticks are coupled to each other by hinges, each of the fixing pins being fixed to a portion at which the sticks cross each other in an X shape, and a link member actuator inducing a link movement of the link member and increasing a distance between the fixing pins in response to the sagging of the cover sheet or the change of the size thereof caused by the heating, wherein the controller may generate an operation control signal for the link member actuator in response to a sagging amount of the cover sheet or a changing amount of the size thereof, and control an operation of the link member actuator.

In such a cover sheet supplying apparatus for a thermoforming machine having an adjustable pin according to the present invention, the position adjustable pin fixing unit may further include a sagging amount detection sensor detecting a present sagging amount of the cover sheet, and
the controller may include: a first memory unit temporarily storing the present sagging amount of the cover sheet by receiving the present sagging amount thereof from the sagging amount detection sensor; a second memory unit receiving and storing the operation control signal for the link member actuator; a big data storage unit storing a database of present sagging amount of the cover sheet-operation control signal history information as big data by receiving the present sagging amount of the cover sheet temporarily stored in the first memory unit, and the operation control signal stored in the second memory unit, and generating the present sagging amount-operation control signal history information accumulated in chronological order by interlocking the present sagging amount of the cover sheet and the operation control signal to each other at the same time; a big data analysis unit analyzing the big data of the present sagging amount-operation control signal history information stored in the big data storage unit, and generating an optimal operation control signal for the link member actuator in response to the present sagging amount of the cover sheet; and an actuator control unit receiving the optimal operation control signal from the big data analysis unit, generating the operation control signal for the link member actuator, and transmitting the operation control signal to the link member actuator.

According to the cover sheet supplying apparatus for a thermoforming machine having an adjustable pin of the present invention, in the process that a cover sheet adhering to a material of a door trim or the instrument panel is heated, fixing pins supporting the lower portions of the edge portions of the cover sheet are configured to have adjustable positions to be moved to the outside in response to the sagging of the cover sheet or the change of the size thereof caused by heating, so that the entire portion of the cover sheet maintains a flat state without sagging, whereby the cover sheet is uniformly heated and the entire portion thereof is uniformly stretched. Accordingly, the quality of a molded product is improved, and fabric consumption is reduced. Furthermore, the present invention has the structure in which the position adjustable pin fixing unit is arranged at the lower portion of the cover sheet, and a clamp unit in the loading step or a clamp unit in the molding step is arranged at the upper portion of the cover sheet, so in the process of clamping and transferring the cover sheet, interference between components is prevented, thereby increasing the driving stability and efficiency of the apparatus, and improving durability of the apparatus and reducing manufacturing cost thereof due to the simplified configuration.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to <FIG>. Meanwhile, in a material of a door trim or an instrument panel, a cover sheet, a thermoforming machine, a cover sheet supplying apparatus for a thermoforming machine, a clamp, a heater, a link member, a sagging amount detection sensor of the accompanying drawings and detailed description, which are normally used, drawings and description for the configuration and operation thereof easily understood by those skilled in the art have been simplified or omitted. Particularly, in the illustrations and detailed description of the drawings, the detailed descriptions and illustrations of the detailed technical configurations and operation of elements that are not directly related to the technical features of the present invention are omitted, and only technical configurations related to the present invention are briefly illustrated or described.

The present invention relates to the cover sheet supplying apparatus <NUM> for a thermoforming machine for adhering a cover sheet A to a material a of a door trim, an instrument panel, a dashboard, or headliner, etc. for a vehicle, and is configured to include a clamp unit <NUM> in a loading step, a position adjustable pin fixing unit <NUM>, a cover sheet heating unit <NUM>, a clamp unit <NUM> in a molding step, and a controller <NUM> as described in <FIG>.

The clamp unit <NUM> in the loading step is a device that holds the cover sheet A by clamping the cover sheet A in a horizontal arrangement according to a first clamping signal; moves the cover sheet A forward by a predetermined distance by moving forward according to a first forward movement signal; unclamps the cover sheet A according to a first unclamping signal; and is restored to an initial position thereof by moving rearward according to a first rearward movement signal. To this end, the clamp unit <NUM> in the loading step may be configured to include a clamp moving rail <NUM> in the loading step, clamps <NUM> in the loading step, and a clamp actuator in the loading step as illustrated in <FIG>.

The clamp moving rail <NUM> in the loading step is installed at areas of positions at which the clamp unit <NUM> in the loading step and the position adjustable pin fixing unit <NUM> are arranged, and induces the movements of the clamps <NUM> in the loading step. The clamp unit <NUM> in the loading step allows a pair of clamp moving rails <NUM> in the loading step to be arranged to be parallel to each other at left and right sides of width directions w of the clamp unit <NUM>.

The clamps <NUM> in the loading step are movably mounted to the clamp moving rail <NUM> in the loading step. The clamp unit <NUM> in the loading step allows two left-and-right-column clamp lines 130a and 130b in the loading step to be formed on the edge portions of the cover sheet A located at left and right sides of width directions thereof, each of the left-and-right-column clamp lines having a structure in which the preset number of the clamps <NUM> in the loading step is linearly arranged, or allows two front-and-rear-row clamp lines 130c and 130d in the loading step to be formed on the edge portions of the cover sheet A located at front and rear sides of longitudinal directions thereof, each of the front-and-rear-row clamp lines having a structure in which the preset number of the clamps <NUM> in the loading step is linearly arranged. Furthermore, the clamp unit <NUM> in the loading step allows the two left-and-right-column clamp lines 130a and 130b in the loading step and the two front-and-rear-row clamp lines 130c and 130d in the loading step to form a rectangular frame.

The clamp actuator <NUM> in the loading step is an actuator which allows the clamps <NUM> in the loading step to move forward and rearward along the clamp moving rail <NUM> in the loading step.

The position adjustable pin fixing unit <NUM> is configured to include a plurality of fixing pins <NUM> arranged perpendicularly to the edge portions of the cover sheet A, and supports the cover sheet A at a lower side thereof received from the clamp unit <NUM> in the loading step to fix the cover sheet A in the state of a horizontal arrangement. Particularly, the position adjustable pin fixing unit <NUM> allows each of the fixing pins <NUM> to be moved to the outside in response to the sagging of the cover sheet A or the change of the size thereof caused by heating. Accordingly, as the cover sheet A is pulled, the entire portion of the cover sheet maintains a flat state without sagging, whereby the cover sheet is uniformly heated and the entire portion thereof is uniformly stretched. Accordingly, the quality of a molded product of the thermoforming machine is improved, and fabric consumption is reduced. To this end, as illustrated in <FIG>, the position adjustable pin fixing unit <NUM> according to the embodiment of the present invention allows two left-and-right-column fixing pin lines 220a and 220b to be formed on edge portions of the cover sheet A located at left and right sides of width directions w thereof, each of the left-and-right-column fixing pin lines having a structure in which the preset number of the fixing pins <NUM> is linearly arranged, or as illustrated in <FIG>, allows two front-and-rear-row fixing pin lines 220c and 220d to be formed on the edge portions of the cover sheet A located at front and rear sides of longitudinal directions d thereof, each of the front-and-rear-row fixing pin lines having a structure in which the preset number of the fixing pins <NUM> is linearly arranged. Furthermore, as illustrated in <FIG>, the position adjustable pin fixing unit <NUM> may include the two left-and-right-column fixing pin lines 220a and 220b and the two front-and-rear-row fixing pin lines 220c and 220d.

Here, the position adjustable pin fixing unit <NUM> according to the embodiment of the present invention is configured to include a guide rail <NUM>, the link member <NUM>, a link member actuator <NUM>, and the sagging amount detection sensor <NUM> as illustrated in <FIG>.

The guide rail <NUM> is a rail to which the lower end portion of each of the fixing pins <NUM> is movably mounted. A pair of guide rails <NUM> corresponding to the fixing pin lines 220a and 220b may be formed, and a pair of guide rails <NUM> corresponding to the fixing pin lines 220c and 220d may be formed.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the link member <NUM> has a structure in which multiple sticks <NUM> are coupled to each other by hinges <NUM>, wherein each of the fixing pins <NUM> is fixed to a portion at which the sticks <NUM> cross each other in an X shape. In relation to the detailed configuration of such a link member <NUM>, the configuration of a horizontal link member and a vertical link member disclosed in in <CIT> titled "Apparatus of transferring skin cover for thermoforming machine with adjustable clamp", which is applied by the applicant of the present invention, can be seen as a reference.

The link member actuator <NUM> is an actuator which induces the link movement of the link member <NUM> and increases distance between the fixing pins <NUM> in response to the sagging of the cover sheet A or the change of the size thereof caused by heating.

Meanwhile, the position adjustable pin fixing unit <NUM> according to the embodiment of the present invention includes the sagging amount detection sensor <NUM> detecting the present sagging amount of the cover sheet A as illustrated in <FIG>. The sagging amount detection sensor <NUM> transmits the value of the present sagging amount of the cover sheet to the controller <NUM> in real time.

The cover sheet heating unit <NUM> is arranged at a preset position, and heats the cover sheet A fixed to the position adjustable pin fixing unit <NUM>. Such a cover sheet heating unit <NUM> may be configured as a plate-shaped heater <NUM> arranged horizontally at the lower side of the cover sheet A fixed to the position adjustable pin fixing unit <NUM> as illustrated in <FIG>.

The clamp unit <NUM> is a device which moves the cover sheet A forward by a predetermined distance by moving forward according to a second forward movement signal, and transfers the cover sheet A to a molding apparatus C of the thermoforming machine B after moving rearward and clamping the cover sheet A fixed to the position adjustable pin fixing unit <NUM> according to a second rearward movement signal and a second clamping signal. To this end, the clamp unit <NUM> in the molding step may be configured to include a clamp moving rail <NUM> in the molding step, clamps <NUM> in the molding step, and a clamp actuator <NUM> in the molding step as illustrated in <FIG>.

The clamp moving rail <NUM> in the molding step is installed at areas of positions at which the clamp unit <NUM> in the molding step and the position adjustable pin fixing unit <NUM> are arranged, and induces the movements of the clamps <NUM> in the molding step. The clamp unit <NUM> in the molding step allows a pair of clamp moving rails <NUM> in the molding step to be arranged to be parallel to each other at the left and right sides of width directions w of the clamp unit <NUM>.

The clamps <NUM> in the molding step are movably mounted to the clamp moving rail <NUM> in the molding step. The clamp unit <NUM> in the molding step allows two left-and-right-column clamp lines 420a and 420b in the molding step to be formed on the edge portions of the cover sheet A located at left and right sides of width directions thereof, each of the clamp lines 420a and 420b having a structure in which the preset number of the clamps <NUM> in the molding step is linearly arranged, or allows two front-and-rear-row clamp lines 420c and 420d in the molding step to be formed on the edge portions of the cover sheet A located at front and rear sides of longitudinal directions thereof, each of the clamp lines 420c and 420d having a structure in which the preset number of the clamps <NUM> in the molding step is linearly arranged. Furthermore, the clamp unit <NUM> in the molding step allows the two left-and-right-column clamp lines 420a and 420b in the molding step and the two front-and-rear-row clamp lines 420c and 420d in the molding step to form a rectangular frame.

The clamp actuator <NUM> in the molding step is an actuator which allows the clamps <NUM> in the molding step to move forward and rearward along the clamp moving rail <NUM> in the molding step.

The controller <NUM> controls the operations of the clamp unit <NUM> in the loading step, the position adjustable pin fixing unit <NUM>, the cover sheet heating unit <NUM>, and the clamp unit <NUM> in the molding step. Here, the controller <NUM> according to the embodiment of the present invention is configured to include a first memory unit <NUM>, a second memory unit <NUM>, a big data storage unit <NUM>, a big data analysis unit <NUM>, and an actuator control unit <NUM> as illustrated in <FIG>.

The first memory unit <NUM> is a unit which temporarily stores the present sagging amount of the cover sheet by receiving the present sagging amount from the sagging amount detection sensor <NUM>, and the second memory unit <NUM> is a unit which receives and stores the operation control signal for the link member actuator <NUM>.

The big data storage unit <NUM> receives the present sagging amount of the cover sheet temporarily stored in the first memory unit <NUM>, and the operation control signal stored in the second memory unit <NUM>, and generates present sagging amount of the cover sheet-operation control signal history information accumulated in chronological order by interlocking the present sagging amount of the cover sheet and the operation control signal to each other at the same time, and stores a database of the history information as big data.

The big data analysis unit <NUM> analyzes the big data of the present sagging amount-operation control signal history information stored in the big data storage unit <NUM>, and generates an optimal operation control signal for the link member actuator <NUM> in response to the present sagging amount of the cover sheet. The existing operation control signal of the controller <NUM> is replaced with the optimal operation control signal generated in such a way. Such a big data analysis unit <NUM> can generate the optimal operation control signal through the process of evaluating the adequacy of the operation control signal at an immediately preceding point by a difference value between the present sagging amount of the cover sheet at the immediately preceding time and the present sagging amount of the cover sheet at the next time.

The actuator control unit <NUM> receives the optimal operation control signal from the big data analysis unit <NUM>; generates the operation control signal for the link member actuator <NUM>; and transmits the operation control signal to the link member actuator <NUM>.

In the cover sheet supplying apparatus <NUM> for a thermoforming machine having an adjustable pin according to the embodiment of the present invention, which has the above-described configuration, the fixing pins <NUM> supporting the cover sheet A at the lower side thereof and fixing the cover sheet A in the state of the horizontal arrangement are moved in response to the change of the size of the cover sheet A caused by heating. Accordingly, the entire portion of the cover sheet A is uniformly heated and is uniformly stretched without wrinkling, so the quality of a molded product is improved, and fabric consumption is reduced. Furthermore, the cover sheet supplying apparatus <NUM> for a thermoforming machine having an adjustable pin according to the embodiment of the present invention has the structure in which the position adjustable pin fixing unit <NUM> is arranged at the lower portion of the cover sheet A, and the clamp unit <NUM> in the loading step or the clamp unit <NUM> in the molding step are arranged at the upper portions of the cover sheet A. Accordingly, in the process of clamping and transferring the cover sheet A, interference between components is prevented from occurring, so the driving stability and efficiency of the apparatus is increased. Furthermore, the configuration of the apparatus is simplified, so durability thereof is improved, and manufacturing cost thereof is decreased.

Claim 1:
A cover sheet supplying apparatus (<NUM>) for a thermoforming machine having an adjustable pin, the apparatus adapted to adhere a cover sheet to a material, the apparatus comprising:
a position adjustable pin fixing unit (<NUM>) having a plurality of fixing pins (<NUM>) arranged perpendicularly to edge portions of a cover sheet (A), each of the fixing pins adapted to support the cover sheet at a lower side thereof received from the outside to fix the cover sheet in a state of a horizontal arrangement, and being moved in response to sagging of the cover sheet or change of a size thereof caused by heating;
a cover sheet heating unit (<NUM>) arranged at a preset position, and adapted to heat the cover sheet fixed to the position adjustable pin fixing unit; and
a controller (<NUM>) adapted to control operations of the position adjustable pin fixing unit and the cover sheet heating unit.