Patent ID: 7247014

Claim:
A compression molding machine that includes: a wheel mounted for rotation around an axis and a plurality of angularly spaced molds disposed around said wheel, each of said molds including a first mold segment and a second mold segment, at least one of said mold segments being movable with respect to the other mold segment between a closed position for compression molding a plastic article and an open position for removing a molded article from said mold and placing a mold charge into said mold, and an apparatus for placing mold charges into said molds in sequence, which includes: a plate for rotation around a first axis and a mold charge placement mechanism carried adjacent to a periphery of said plate, said mold charge placement mechanism including a placement arm mounted for rotation around a second axis perpendicular to said first axis and a cup at an end of said arm for placing mold charges into said molds as said molds pass in sequence adjacent to said periphery of said plate.