Method and apparatus for the continuous production of a block of reconstituted foam material

Claim 1

A method for the continuous stepwise production of a cylindrical block of reconstituted foam material from foam crumb comprising: (a) Placing in an open-ended moulding cavity a mixture of foam crumb and a binder compatible with said mixture; (b) Compressing the mixture to a height of about 1 foot; (c) Heating the mixture to cure the binder and form a solid product layer; (d) Lowering said solid product layer from the moulding cavity and supporting said solid product layer relative to the cavity to provide a solid product layer surface at one end of said cavity for the reception of and binding to of a further mixture of foam crumb and binder; (e) Placing a further mixture of foam crumb and binder on the solid product layer surface; (f) Repeating steps (b) (c) (d) and (e) to create successively connected solid product layers until a block of the required length is obtained.

Claim 2

A method for the continuous stepwise production of a cylindrical block of reconstituted foam material from foam crumb comprising: (a) Placing in an open-ended moulding cavity a mixture of foam crumb and a binder compatible with said mixture; (b) Compressing the mixture to a height of about 1 foot; (c) Heating the mixture to cure the binder and form a solid product layer; (d) Lowering said solid product layer from the moulding cavity and supporting said solid product layer relative to the cavity to provide a solid product layer surface at one end of said cavity for the reception of and binding to of a further mixture of foam crumb and binder; (e) Placing a further mixture of foam crumb and binder on the solid product layer surface; (f) Repeating steps (b) (c) (d) and (e) to create successively connected solid product layers until a block of the required length is obtained.

Claim 6

An apparatus for the continuous production of a cylindrical block of reconstituted foam material comprising: a vertically-disposed, cylindrical, open-ended moulding cavity; a support member, placed at the lower end of said cavity and movable relative to said cavity; a compression member, placed at the upper end of the cavity and movable relative to said cavity for compressing a charge of foam crumb and binder in said cavity to a height of approximately one foot; means for feeding a charge of foam crumb and binder to said cavity; means for heating the cavity and a charge of foam crumb and binder therein; said compression member compressing a charge of foam crumb and binder and said heating means heating said cavity during said compression such that a layer of reconstituted foam material is formed, said support member being movable to lower said layer from said cavity to an extent that a surface of said layer previously contacting said compression member forms a cavity support surface for a subsequent charge of foam crumb and binder.

Claim 7

An apparatus for the continuous production of a cylindrical block of reconstituted foam material comprising: a vertically-disposed, cylindrical, open-ended moulding cavity; a support member, placed at the lower end of said cavity and movable relative to said cavity; a compression member, placed at the upper end of the cavity and movable relative to said cavity for compressing a charge of foam crumb and binder in said cavity to a height of approximately one foot; means for feeding a charge of foam crumb and binder to said cavity; means for heating the cavity and a charge of foam crumb and binder therein; said compression member compressing a charge of foam crumb and binder and said heating means heating said cavity during said compression such that a layer of reconstituted foam material is formed, said support member being movable to lower said layer from said cavity to an extent that a surface of said layer previously contacting said compression member forms a cavity support surface for a subsequent charge of foam crumb and binder.