Plant for the manufacture of particleboard

Claim 1

A plant for the manufacture of particle board comprising: a stationary scattering station for forming a mat of particulate material; an endless forming band onto which said mat-forming material is scattered, said forming band being mounted on stationary supporting means; means for continuously moving said forming band beneath said scattering station at a constant speed; a movable mat cutting saw disposed above said mat for dividing said mat into individual mat sections; a plurality of mat carriers each having first and second sides and a head strip; an intermediate endless conveyor disposed after said forming band for moving said mat carriers beneath mat sections supplied from said forming band, whereby each mat section is transferred onto a respective mat carrier; a vertically and horizontally moveable transfer table disposed between said scattering station and said intermediate conveyor, said transfer table having an end which overlaps said intermediate conveyor and said endless forming band, moving from said scattering station over said transfer table and being deflected around said end of said transfer table; means for advancing and retracting said transfer table relative to said intermediate conveyor to vary said overlap, whereby said transfer table is in an advanced position at the start of transfer of a mat section from the forming band to a respective one of said mat carriers and in a retracted position at the completion of said transfer; a cyclically operating press disposed after said intermediate conveyor and having an inlet and an outlet; loading and unloading means for said press, with said forming band, said intermediate conveyor and said loading and unloading means corresponding to move said mat section in a transport plane; means for separating pressed mat sections from said mat carriers at said outlet of said press; means disposed beneath said transport plane for returning mat carriers separated from said pressed mat sections to said intermediate conveyor; wherein said intermediate conveyor simultaneously serves to supply said mat carriers to said loading means and has transport means for engaging said head strips at said first and second sides; wherein said loading and unloading means means includes further transport means for engaging said head strips at said first and second sides; wherein said further transport means move during part of their movement in said transport plane parallel to and alongside the first said transport means; wherein said means for returning mat carriers separated from said pressed mat sections includes a transfer station disposed between said loading and unloading means and said intermediate conveyor; and wherein said intermediate conveyor is constructed as an accelerating conveyor, there being means for driving said intermediate conveyor at said constant speed of said forming band during transfer of a said mat section onto a said mat carrier and for accelerating said intermediate conveyor when the said mat section is fully transferred to said mat carrier.