Transfer device

Abstract

A hollow moulded fibre product manufacturing system, comprises a transfer device comprising a vacuum contact surface. The transfer device is configured to: (i) move the vacuum contact surface towards a product located at a first location when the product is at the first location. The product is a partially formed hollow moulded fibre product or a hollow moulded fibre product. The transfer device is further configured to: (ii) apply a vacuum to the vacuum contact surface to retain the product in contact with the vacuum contact surface, and (iii) move the vacuum contact surface relative to the first location while the vacuum is applied to the vacuum contact surface to retain the product in contact with the vacuum contact surface, such that the transfer device carries the product towards a second location.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A hollow moulded fibre product manufacturing system, comprising:
 a transfer device comprising a vacuum contact surface, wherein the transfer device is configured to:   move the vacuum contact surface towards a product located at a first location when the product is at the first location, wherein the product is a partially formed hollow moulded fibre product or a hollow moulded fibre product;   apply a vacuum to the vacuum contact surface to retain the product in contact with the vacuum contact surface; and   move the vacuum contact surface relative to the first location while the vacuum is applied to the vacuum contact surface to retain the product in contact with the vacuum contact surface, such that the transfer device carries the product towards a second location.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the vacuum contact surface is removeable from the transfer device; and   the transfer device comprises a holder configured to couple with the vacuum contact surface.   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the product is a partially formed hollow moulded fibre product, and the system further comprises:
 at the first location, a first mould cavity configured to receive a fibre suspension for forming the partially formed hollow moulded fibre product therein;   at the second location, a second mould cavity configured to receive the partially formed hollow moulded fibre product from the first mould cavity for further processing the partially formed hollow moulded fibre product in the second mould cavity to provide a hollow moulded fibre product; and   wherein, the transfer device is configured to transfer the partially formed hollow moulded fibre product from the first mould cavity to the second mould cavity.   
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the system further comprises:
 at the first location, a plurality of first mould cavities configured to receive a fibre suspension for forming respective partially formed hollow moulded fibre products therein;   at the second location, a plurality of second mould cavities configured to receive the respective partially formed hollow moulded fibre products from the plurality of first mould cavities for further processing the respective partially formed hollow moulded fibre products in the plurality of second mould cavities to provide hollow moulded fibre products;   wherein:
 the transfer device comprises two or more vacuum contact surfaces, each vacuum contact surface being configured to contact a respective partially formed hollow moulded fibre product; and 
   the transfer device is configured to simultaneously transfer two or more partially formed hollow moulded fibre products from respective first mould cavities of the plurality of first mould cavities to respective second mould cavities of the plurality of second mould cavities.   
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the product is a hollow moulded fibre product, and the system further comprises:
 at the first location, a second mould cavity configured to receive a partially formed hollow moulded fibre product for further processing the partially formed hollow moulded fibre product in the second mould cavity to provide a hollow moulded fibre product; and   wherein, the transfer device is configured to transfer the hollow moulded fibre product from the second mould cavity towards the second location.   
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the transfer device is configured to:
 stop the vacuum contact surface at a position in which the hollow moulded fibre product does not contact another surface at the second location; and   one or more of:
 remove or reduce the vacuum from the vacuum contact surface such that the hollow moulded fibre product is deposited at the second location; and 
 apply a positive pressure to the hollow moulded fibre product on the vacuum contact surface to urge the hollow moulded fibre product away from the vacuum contact surface, such that the hollow moulded fibre product is deposited at the second location. 
   
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the system further comprises, at the second location, a moving surface, and wherein the transfer device is configured to:
 move the vacuum contact surface to a position in which the hollow moulded fibre product contacts the moving surface at the second location such that the movement of the moving surface causes the hollow moulded fibre product to move away from the vacuum contact surface.   
     
     
         8 . A receptacle manufacturing line comprising the hollow moulded fibre product manufacturing system of  claim 1  and apparatus for performing at least one additional process on at least one of the products to provide a receptacle. 
     
     
         9 . A method, comprising:
 moving a vacuum contact surface of a transfer device towards a product when the product is at a first location, wherein the product is a partially formed hollow moulded fibre product or a hollow moulded fibre product;   applying a vacuum to the vacuum contact surface to retain the product in contact with the vacuum contact surface; and   moving the vacuum contact surface relative to the first location while the vacuum is applied to the vacuum contact surface to retain the product in contact with the vacuum contact surface, such that the transfer device carries the product towards a second location.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein:
 the product is a partially formed hollow moulded fibre product;   the first location comprises a first mould cavity configured to receive a fibre suspension for forming the partially formed hollow moulded fibre product therein;   the second location comprises a second mould cavity configured to receive the partially formed hollow moulded fibre product from the first mould cavity for further processing the partially formed hollow moulded fibre product in the second mould cavity to provide a hollow moulded fibre product; and   the method comprises moving the partially formed hollow moulded fibre product from the first mould cavity to the second mould cavity using the transfer device.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein:
 the product is a hollow moulded fibre product;   the first location comprises a second mould cavity configured to receive a partially formed hollow moulded fibre product for further processing the partially formed hollow moulded fibre product in the second mould cavity to provide a hollow moulded fibre product; and   the method comprises moving the hollow moulded fibre product from the second mould cavity to the second location using the transfer device.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein moving the hollow moulded fibre product from the second mould cavity towards the second location using the transfer device comprises:
 stopping the vacuum contact surface at a position in which the hollow moulded fibre product does not contact another surface at the second location and one or more of:
 removing or reducing the vacuum applied to the vacuum contact surface such that the hollow moulded fibre product is deposited at the second location; and 
 applying a positive pressure to the hollow moulded fibre product on the vacuum contact surface to urge the hollow moulded fibre product away from the vacuum contact surface, such that the hollow moulded fibre product is deposited at the second location. 
   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the second location comprises a moving surface and wherein moving the hollow moulded fibre product from the second mould cavity towards the second location using the transfer device comprises:
 moving the vacuum contact surface to a position in which the hollow moulded fibre product contacts the moving surface at the second location such that the movement of the moving surface causes the hollow moulded fibre product to move away from the vacuum contact surface.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein moving the vacuum contact surface relative to the first location while the vacuum is applied to the vacuum contact surface to retain the product in contact with the vacuum contact surface, such that the transfer device carries the product towards the second location, comprises moving the vacuum contact surface to a position in which the product is in contact with the second mould cavity. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein moving the vacuum contact surface of the transfer device towards the product when the product is at the first location comprises stopping the vacuum contact surface at a position in which the vacuum contact surface does not contact an outer surface of the product when the product is at the first location; and
 wherein applying the vacuum to the vacuum contact surface to retain the product in contact with the vacuum contact surface comprises:
 applying the vacuum such that the product moves from the first location to being in contact with the vacuum contact surface via a position in which the product does not contact any surface. 
   
     
     
         16 . A hollow-moulded-fibre-product-manufacturing-system controller configured to cause a hollow moulded fibre product manufacturing system to perform the method of  claim 9 . 
     
     
         17 . A non-transitory storage medium storing machine-readable instructions that, when executed by a hollow-moulded-fibre-product-manufacturing-system controller, cause a hollow moulded fibre product manufacturing system to perform the method of  claim 9 .