Patent ID: 7108495

Claim:
An apparatus for continuously vacuum forming a shaped polymeric article over a flexible rotating belt, comprising: (a) an extruder for producing an extruded sheet of hot polymeric material; (b) rotating belt means comprising a drive roller, an idle roller, and a flexible belt suspended over said drive and idle rollers, said flexible belt including a resilient mold belt portion for contacting said extruded sheet, said mold belt portion comprising a plurality of apertures therethrough and a mold impression therein; (c) vacuum means for applying vacuum pressure to said extruded sheet through at least said apertures in said mold belt, so as to draw said extruded sheet into intimate forming contact with said mold impression to form a patterned portion and a remaining portion of said extruded sheet while said polymeric material is still hot; (d) cooling means capable of reducing a temperature of said patterned sheet portion below a heat deflection temperature of said polymeric material; (e) shielding means for selectively applying said cooling means to said patterned sheet portion while leaving said remaining portion of said extruded sheet above said heat deflection temperature; (f) shaping means for forming said remaining sheet portion; (g) further cooling means for cooling said remaining sheet portion below said heat deflection temperature; and (h) cut-off means for severing a length of said extended sheet to produce a shaped polymeric article.