Apparatus for producing sandwich laminations

Claim 1

A LAMINATING MACHINE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A SANDWICH LAMINATION OF TWO COVER MATERIALS AND FOAM THEREBETWEEN, SAID LAMINATION OCCURRING WITHIN A SINGLE PASS THROUGH SAID MACHINE, SAID MACHINE COMPRISING: A FIRST PAIR OF COACTING NIP ROLLS DEFINING A FIRST LAMINATING STATION; A SECOND PAIR OF COACTING NIP ROLLS DEFINING A SECOND LAMINATING STATION SPACED AWAY FROM SAID FIRST LAMINATING STATION; FIRST AND SECOND HEATING MEANS DISPOSED RESPECTIVELY ADJACENT SAID FIRST AND SECOND LAMINATING STATIONS; MEANS FOR CONTINUOUSLY FEEDING A FIRST COVER WEB AND A FOAM WEB FROM SEPARATE SOURCES TOWARD SAID FIRST LAMINATING STATION; SAID FIRST HEATING MEANS SOFTENING AND PARTIALLY MELTING A SURFACE OF SAID FOAM WEB AS IT FEEDS TOWARD SAID FIRST LAMINATING STATION; SAID FIRST PAIR OF NIP ROLLS PRESSING SAID FIRST COVER WEB INTO ADHERENT CONTACT WITH THE SOFTENED SURFACE OF SAID FOAM WEB TO FORM A SINGLE LAMINATE; FURTHER MEANS FOR CONTINUOUSLY FEEDING SAID SINGLE LAMINATE AND A SECOND COVER WEB TOWARD SAID SECOND LAMINATING STATION; SAID SECOND HEATING MEANS SOFTENING AND PARTIALLY MELTING THE FOAM SIDE OF SAID SINGLE LAMINATE; SAID SECOND PAIR OF NIP ROLLS PRESSING SAID SECOND COVER WEB INTO ADHERENT CONTACT WITH THE SOFTENED FOAM SIDE OF SAID SINGLE LAMINATE TO FORM A SANDWICH LAMINATION; AND CONROLLED TENSIONING MEANS BETWEEN THE FIRST AND SECOND NIP ROLL PAIRS, SAID CONROLLED TENSIONING MEANS CAUSING SAID SINGLE LAMINATION TO PASS FROM SAID FIRST NIP ROLL PAIR SUBSTANTIALLY WITHOUT SAG OR STRETCH, SAID CONTROLLED TENSIONING MEANS TENSIONING SAID SINGLE LAMINATE SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME AMOUNT AS SAID SECOND COVER WEB, SAID CONTROLLED TENSIONING MEANS INCLUDING DRIVE MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO BOTH PAIRS OF NIP ROLLS SO AS TO CONTROL THE SPEED OF ONE OF SAID NIP ROLL PAIRS RELATIVE TO THE SPEED OF SAID OTHER NIP ROLL PAIR, SAID DRIVE MEANS BEING ADJUSTABLE.