Patent ID: 7232302

Claim:
An apparatus for continuously and permanently shaping an undulated profile into a plate of polymeric material comprising: a reel having a supply of the plate of polymeric material thereon, said supply being covered around said reel; a guide and positioning surface positioned so as to receive the supply from said reel thereof; a moulding and transferral wheel having a plurality of seats formed on a periphery thereof, said plurality of seats extending transversely relative to an advancement of the plate of polymeric material, said plurality of seats conforming to the undulating profile; and a pressing means positioned independent of and adjacent to said periphery of said wheel, said pressing means being axially mobile between a first position away from said plurality of seats and a second position received in at least a portion of said plurality of seats, said pressing means for forming the undulating profile in conjunction with said plurality of seats of said moulding and transferral wheel, said pressing means comprising: a preform presser; a forming presser arranged downstream of said preform presser; and a stabilizing presser positioned downstream of said forming presser.