Kiefel GmbH

Pulp reservoirs for a fiber molding plant and methods for suctioning and forming fibers out of a pulp from a pulp reservoir of a fiber molding plant are described.

A method for manufacturing three-dimensional products with at least one inclined product portion made of a fiber-containing material using at least one forming tool and a forming tool are described. Vibrations are introduced via a device and this results in an improved compression of fiber-containing material in the region of inclined portions.

A method for temperature control in a molding tool is described. The molding tool has a tool base body and at least one cavity. The method includes producing molded parts from a fiber-containing material where a temperature of the molding tool is controlled in operation between a standby temperature and a maximum production temperature of a production temperature range. The standby temperature is lower than a minimum production temperature. The molding tool is kept at a base state by heat input where a molding process is brought from the base state into a production temperature range by an additional heat input. The production temperature range lies between the minimum production temperature and the maximum production temperature. A molding process is started after reaching the minimum process temperature in the molding tool and the additional heat input into the molding tool is maintained only during the molding process.

An apparatus for transferring a material web in a thermoforming machine is disclosed. The thermoforming machine may have a forming tool. The forming tool is tilted about an axis running transversely to the feed direction of the material web during a forming process. The material web is transported from a forming region of the forming tool of the thermoforming machine to a downstream station of the thermoforming machine. The material web is moved from the forming region to the downstream station, where the transfer apparatus includes a transport unit with a transport device that is displaced in a first direction between the forming tool and the downstream station and is engaged with an initial portion of the material web in a first region facing the forming tool and is disengaged in a second region facing the downstream station.

A transfer device for transferring parallel-arranged rows of stacked molded parts, a transfer station with a transfer device, a thermoforming system with a transfer station, and a method for transferring thermoformed molded parts are described. Thermoformed molded parts are transferred from a stacking basket to a transport unit using a transfer device. Stacked molded parts are transferred row by row from the receiving compartments of the stacking basket to a transfer device for transferring stacked molded parts via a shifting unit. The transfer device has transfer elements arranged parallel relative to one another, which in each case hold a row of stacked molded parts during a transfer to a transport unit. The transport unit has parallel-arranged receptacles for stacked molded parts. The spacing of the transfer elements relative to one another is modified after the receiving of the stacked molded parts and prior to the transfer to the transport unit.

The invention relates to a production machine with a control program for visualizing stations and/or machine components, highlighting the speed-determining station and/or the speed-determining machine component in order to optimize the process time. The invention also relates to a method of optimizing the process time for a production machine with such a control program and to a data carrier with such a control program.

A tool component, a hot-pressing device and a method for hot pressing preforms from a fiber-containing material are described, wherein the hot-pressing device has a first tool component with a first tool body and at least one first molding device and a second tool component with a second tool body and at least one second molding device. The method includes providing at least one preform made of fiber-containing material, heating the first tool body and the first molding device via a temperature control device, placing a preform on first contact surfaces of the first molding device, moving the second tool component relative to the first tool component, and pressing the first tool component and the second tool component until the first contact surfaces and the second contact surfaces form a closed cavity.

A three-dimensional molded part made of fiber-containing material and a molding tool for producing molded parts made of fiber-containing material are described. The molded part is produced from fiber-containing material in a production process under pressure and thermal action. A surface of the molded part has elevations formed by fiber-containing material that has been sucked into corresponding openings in a molding surface of a molding tool during the production of the molded part when steam emerging from the fiber-containing material during pressing is removed. The elevations form at least one pattern along a surface of the molded part.

A three-dimensional molded body of fiber-containing material and a method for producing a three-dimensional molded body of fiber-containing material are described. The molded body has a circumferential side wall, which surrounds an interior of the molded body, and an edge region. A stacking shoulder is formed in a transition from the side wall to the edge region, and the edge region has an undercut.

A three-dimensional molded part made of fiber-containing material and a molding tool for producing molded parts made of fiber-containing material are described. The molded part is produced in a production process under pressure and thermal influence. A surface of the molded part has at least one elevation formed by fiber-containing material that, during the production of the molded part, has been suctioned into a corresponding opening in a molding surface of a molding tool when steam, which escapes from the fiber-containing material during pressing, is removed. The at least one elevation is arranged in a first surface portion that has a different configuration than an adjacent at least one second surface portion. The at least one elevation is integrated into the configuration of the first surface portion.