MOULDING APPARATUS

Abstract

An apparatus for delivering a mould including a first and a second part into a dosing position. The apparatus includes a reorientation conveyor portion comprising first and second opposed retainer members. At least one of the first and second retainer members includes a conveyor. The first and second retainer members are operable to form a separation therebetween and the reorientation conveyor portion is operable to receive the mould into the separation between the first and second retainer members with the first and second retainer members in a first orientation and then move the first and second retainer members into a second orientation while substantially maintaining the first part of the mould in the same position relative to the second part of the mould. The apparatus further includes a mould-separation portion. The reorientation conveyor portion is operable to at least partially eject the mould into the mould-separation portion when the first and second retainer members are in the second orientation. The mould-separation portion is operable to actuate at least partial separation of the first and second parts of the mould.

Claims

1. An apparatus for delivering a mould comprising a first and a second part into a dosing position, the apparatus comprising: a reorientation conveyor portion comprising first and second opposed retainer members, wherein at least one of the first and second retainer members comprises a conveyor, and wherein the first and second retainer members are operable to form a separation therebetween, and wherein the reorientation conveyor portion is operable to receive the mould into the separation between the first and second retainer members with the first and second retainer members in a first orientation and then move the first and second retainer members into a second orientation while substantially maintaining the first part of the mould in the same position relative to the second part of the mould; the apparatus further comprising a mould-separation portion, wherein the reorientation conveyor portion is operable to at least partially eject the mould into the mould-separation portion when the first and second retainer members are in the second orientation, and wherein the mould-separation portion is operable to actuate at least partial separation of the first and second parts of the mould.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a biasing member operable to bias the separation between the first and second opposed retainer members to a first distance.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the biasing member is operable to apply sufficient force to substantially maintain the first part of the mould in the same position relative to the second part of the mould during movement of the first and second opposed retainer members from the first orientation to the second orientation

4. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the biasing member is sprung-loaded.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus further comprises a dosing member operable to dispense a moulding composition into the mould.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the dosing member operable to dispense a a liquid ceramic composition, such as a gel-cast composition.

7. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the dosing member is operable to move laterally above the mould.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus further comprises an infeed conveyor portion operable to feed the mould into the reorientation conveyor portion.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus further comprises an outfeed conveyor portion operable to receive and move mould ejected from the reorientation conveyor portion.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first and second retainer members of the reorientation conveyor portion comprise a conveyor.

11. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveyor comprises a belt conveyor.

12. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the conveyors of the first and second retainer members are operable to move at the same speed.

13. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveyors of the reorientation portion, infeed conveyor and/or outfeed conveyor are operable to provide torque in an amount of at least 0.1 Nm.

14. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the angle between the first and second orientation of the reorientation conveyor portion is from 30 to 90?.

15. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reorientation conveyor portion comprises a pivot point about which the reorientation conveyor portion is operable to rotate.

16. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein pivot point is a laterally extending pivot point that is proximal to, but off-set from, the lateral centre line of the reorientation conveyor portion and distal to an end of the reorientation conveyor portion.

17. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reorientation conveyor portion is operable to at least partially eject the mould into the mould-separation portion, when the first and second retainer members are in the second orientation, at a speed of at least 500 mm/min, while maintaining the necessary relative alignment of the first and second mould parts.

18. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reorientation conveyor portion is operable to drive at least partial repossession of the partially ejected mould back into the reorientation conveyor portion such that at least partial re-closure of the first and second parts of the mould occurs.

19. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus further comprises a mould comprising a first and a second part.

20. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mould comprises a reservoir forming member, and wherein the mould is operable to be moved from an open position in which the first and second parts are at least partially spaced such that the reservoir member forms a reservoir cavity and the mould cavity is open, to a partially closed position in which the location of the reservoir cavity has moved with respect to the mould cavity and/or the volume of the reservoir cavity has reduced, and then to a closed position in which the first and second parts are engaged such that the mould cavity is closed

21. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first and/or second mould parts are resiliently deformable.

22. A method of dosing a mould comprising a first and a second part using an apparatus according to claim 1 comprising the steps of: (a) arranging the mould into the separation between the first and second retainer members with the first and second retainer member in a first orientation; (b) moving the first and second retainer members into a second orientation while substantially maintaining the first part of the mould in the same position relative to the second part of the mould; (c) at least partially ejecting the mould into a mould-separation portion so that at least partial separation of the first and second parts of the mould occurs; and (d) dosing the mould with a moulding composition.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein the method further comprises the step of (e) the first and second retainer members repossessing the mould so that at least partial re-closure of the first and second parts of the mould occurs.

24. The method according to claim 22, wherein the method further comprises the step of (f) moving the first and second retainer members back into the first orientation or into a third orientation while substantially maintaining the first part of the mould in the same position relative to the second part of the mould.

25. The method according to any of claim 22, wherein the method further comprises the step of (g) curing the moulding composition in the mould, such as to form a green body.

26. The method according to claim 22, wherein the apparatus or method is for manufacturing a packing member from a liquid ceramic composition.

27. The method according to claim 26, wherein the apparatus or method is for manufacturing a packing member comprising a ceramic material and further comprising surface structures on the outer surface of the packing member.

28. The method according to claim 22, wherein the apparatus or method is for manufacturing a packing member by gel-casting.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0146] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a reorientation conveyor portion of an apparatus according to the present invention.

[0147] FIG. 2 shows a side plan view of the reorientation conveyor portion of FIG. 1.

[0148] FIGS. 3 shows a plan view of a first part of a mould.

[0149] FIG. 4 shows a top perspective view of a mould-separation portion of the apparatus according to the present invention with a two-part mould in a partially open position.

[0150] FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of a packing member produced using the apparatus of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0151] The invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0152] FIGS. 1 and 2 show part of an apparatus according to the first embodiment of the invention. The apparatus comprises reorientation conveyor portion 102, mould-separation portion 300, an actuator (not shown) and a dosing member (not shown). Reorientation conveyor portion 102 is formed of a first and second retainer member 106a and 106b. First and second retainer members 106a, 106b are rectangular 650 mm long conveyor belts arranged so that the first retainer member 106a is located directly above the second retainer member 106b and the second retainer member 106b is suspended from the first retainer member 106a . The first and second retainer members 106a, 106b are arranged above and parallel to one another such that there is a separation 108 between the first and second retainer members 106a, 106b. Separation 108 is wide enough to allow a mould to pass between the first and second retainer members 106a, 106b whilst still maintaining sufficient force to hold the mould through biasing members 110. The reorientation conveyor portion 102 has a longitudinal axis represented in FIG. 1 as axis X and a lateral axis represented as axis Y. The conveyor belts of the first and second retainer members 106a, 106b can move in both directions along the X axis. The conveyor belts are formed of a high-grip belt with visible grooves.

[0153] The first and second retainer members 106a, 106b are attached together by biasing member 110. Biasing member 110 is a sprung-loaded member. Biasing member 110 is formed of four sprung-loaded bars 112, two on each side of the reorientation conveyor portion 102, which are attached to the first and second retainer members 106a, 106b via screw attachment members 114. Sprung-loaded bars 112 are cylindrical bars which are vertically attached to the first and second retainer members 106a, 106b toward ends thereof. Bars 112 bias and support the second retainer member 106b towards the first retainer member 106a to a separation distance Z. The springs (not shown) to allow the distance between the first and second retainer members 106a, 106b to vary from separation distance Z to a large separation while biasing the separation distance toward distance Z.

[0154] The reorientation conveyor portion 102 also comprises a support member 116. Support member 116 comprises two upper flat plates 116a that fixedly attached along opposing sides (on axis Y) of the first retainer member 106a and two lower flat plates 116b that are fixedly attached along opposing sides of the second retainer member 106b. Upper and lower plates 116a, 116b are arranged parallel to longitudinal axis X extending along the side of the first and second retainer members 106a, 106b. Upper plates 116a extend above and below the first retainer member 106a such that it is at least partially covering the sides of the separation 108 between the first and second retainer members 106a, 106b.

[0155] Upper plates 116a each comprise a runner (not shown) on the inside surface which extends along the X axis and is located on the portion of upper plates 116a that extend below first retainer member 106a. As such, the runners are located on the portion of upper plate 116a located at the separation 108 between the first and second retainer members 106a, 106b and extends along the X axis. The runner can cooperate with guide members (not shown) on the mould to keep the mould aligned.

[0156] Upper plates 116a each further comprise pivot attachment members 122 that are operable to form a pivot point for the reorientation conveyor member 102. Pivot attachment members 122 are offset relative to the reorientation conveyor portion 102 such that they are located proximal to but off-set from the lateral (along the Y axis) centre line of the reorientation conveyor portion 102 while being distal to an end of the reorientation conveyor portion 10. Pivot attachment members 122 each extend upwardly from a top corner of the opposing upper plates 116a on each side of the reorientation conveyor member 102. Pivot attachment member 122 comprises a cuboidal shape which has two parallel flat square-shaped projections 124 extending upwardly from the cuboid. Projections 124 are parallel with the X axis and each comprise an aperture. Pivot attachment members 122 are operable to receive a pivot shaft (not shown) extending between the pivot attachment members 122 along the Y axis which pivot shaft is in turn operable to be coupled with an actuator (not shown). The pivot shaft is coupled to the actuator such that the linear movement of the actuator caused rotation of the reorientation conveyor portion 102 about the pivot shaft.

[0157] In another embodiment of the reorientation conveyor member (not shown), a first retainer member comprises a fixed unmoving portion (not shown) and a second conveyor member is a belt conveyor. The first retainer member applies pressure to the mould to keep the first and second parts of the mould together during reorientation, while it is the second retainer member which is operable to move the mould.

[0158] FIG. 3 shows a first part of two-part mould 20, which is substantially cuboidal and is formed of a first mould part 400 and a second mould part 500. First part 400 and second part 500 each contain about half of the mass of mould and each are formed of a resiliently deformable two-part silicone-based rubber.

[0159] First mould part 400 is formed of substantially cuboidal body 402. Body 402 has a rectangular inner face and a rectangular outer face. The inner face forms an inside face of the mould and the outside face forms an outside face of the mould when the mould parts are engaged. Body 402 also has a rectangular front face, rear face, and two side faces.

[0160] The inner face of body 402 has a grouping of twelve discrete generally hemispherical partial mould cavities 405 that contain surface texturing on the moulding surfaces of the cavities. The mould cavities are arranged in a grouping of eleven rows with fifteen cavities 405 per row. The partial cavities 405 are spaced equidistantly from adjacent mould cavities to form a grid-like grouping arrangement located laterally centrally on the inner face. The first row is located proximal to, and parallel with, but spaced from, the edge of the inner face that is adjacent to the front face of the body 405 and the last (eleventh) row is located proximal to, and parallel with, but spaced from the edge of the inner face that is adjacent to the rear face. The first row is closer to its abovementioned edge than the last row is to its respective abovementioned edge. Extending along either side of the grid-like grouping of partial cavities 405 there are side reservoir member cavity 406a and 406b. Side reservoir member cavity 406a, 406b are generally cuboidal shaped and which extend longitudinally along the inner face from the edge that is adjacent to the front face to just after the last row of partial cavities 405. Side reservoir members 406a, 406b are connected at the bottom end (i.e. the end proximal to the rear face of body 402) via base reservoir member tongue 406c. Base reservoir member 406c is the same depth as side reservoir members 406a and 406b and it extends laterally across the inner face to connect reservoir members 406a and 406b. Reservoir members 406a, 406b are integrally connected at each end of base reservoir member 406c to form a generally U-shaped cavity that surrounds the grid-like grouping of partial cavities 405 on both sides and at the bottom (i.e. the end proximal to the rear face of body 402). This enclosure forms part of a reservoir cavity 408, in which the partial cavities 405 are located. The reservoir cavity has a laterally extending mouth in the form of an open end that extends between the ends of the side reservoir members that are not connected to the base reservoir member. As such, the mouth is arranged between the first row of partial cavities and the edge of the inner face that is adjacent to the front face of the body 402.

[0161] Mould part 400 further has two sets of three post-dosing cube-shaped retaining members 410a, b that is integrally formed on two sides with the inner face and the side reservoir members. Each of the post-dosing retaining members extends outwardly from the inner face and side reservoir members. The first set of retaining members 410a is arranged along the outer side face of side reservoir member 406a (relative to the reservoir cavity), and the second set of retaining members 410b is arranged opposite to the first set on the outer side face of side reservoir member 406b. The three retaining members of each of sets 410a and b are equidistantly spaced longitudinally down the inner face from the adjacent retaining member of the set and each retaining member is directly opposite a corresponding retaining member on the opposite side reservoir member.

[0162] Inner face of body 402 is formed of dosing retaining tongue member 412 spaced from, located below, and extending parallel with, base reservoir member 406c, and proximal to, and extending parallel with, but spaced from, the edge of the inner face that is adjacent to the rear face. Dosing retaining member 412 is a generally cuboidal protrusion and extends laterally across body 402 and is spaced from the side edges.

[0163] An elongate recess 414 is located on the inner face between the mouth of the reservoir cavity 108 and proximal to, but spaced from, the edge of the inner face that is adjacent to the front face of the body 402. Recess 414 is positioned relatively laterally centrally on the inner face between, and spaced from, the side edges of body 402. Recess 414 is generally oval shaped. Recess 114 is generally coterminous with the width of the mouth of the reservoir cavity.

[0164] First mould part 400 also has three cylindrical spaced reinforcing rods 416 which extend laterally through the centre mass of body 402 from one side face to the other side face at three different points along body 402. Rods 416 protrude out from the side faces on both sides so that there are three protrusions on either side of the first mould part 400 to act as guide members. Rods 416 are spaced equidistantly along the longitudinal length of body 402.

[0165] Second mould part 500 is the same as first mould part 400 but has outwardly extending male equivalents of the reservoir members and retaining members. As such, second mould part 500 has corresponding male reservoir members 506a,b which are cuboidal grooves within the body suitable for receiving the reservoir members of the first mould part 400, and also female retaining members 406 allow the male retaining members 506a,b to fit within so that they are engaged, and hold the first and second mould parts 400, 500 in alignment. When the first mould cavity 400 and second mould cavity 500 are engaged together the partial cavities 405 form closed enlarged generally spherical mould cavities (not shown). In mould part 500, to engage with the side reservoir members 406a, 406b, extending along either side of the grid-like grouping of partial cavities 504 protrudes side reservoir member tongues 506a and 506b. Side reservoir member tongue 506a, 506b are generally cuboidal shaped with a convex upper face which extend longitudinally along the inner face from the edge that is adjacent to the front face to just after the last row of partial cavities 504. Side reservoir members 506a, 506b are connected at the bottom end (i.e. the end proximal to the rear face of body 502) via base reservoir member tongue 506c. Base reservoir member 506c is the same height as side reservoir members 506a and 506b and it extends laterally across the inner face to connect reservoir members 506a and 506b. Reservoir members 506a, 506b are integrally connected at each end of base reservoir member 506c to form a generally U-shaped cavity that surrounds the grid-like grouping of partial cavities 504 on both sides and at the bottom (i.e. the end proximal to the rear face of body 502). This enclosure forms part of a reservoir cavity 508, in which the partial cavities 404 are located. Reinforcing rods 416 can fit into grooves 304 on the respective sides of the mould parts to allow the mould 20 to travel along the grooves 304 and to be held vertically so that the front face of mould parts 400 and 500 are pointing upwards and the rear face is pointing downwards.

[0166] FIG. 4 shows mould-separation portion 300, which comprises two guiding members 302. Guide members 302 are in a vertical orientation. Each guiding member 302 has two cuboidal shaped grooves 304 running longitudinally down the guiding member 302 at a slight diagonal so that the distance between the two grooves 304 is smaller at the bottom of the guiding member 302 than at the top of guiding member 302. The grooves 304 of each guiding member 302 are arranged to face toward and directly oppose a corresponding groove of the other guiding member 302.

[0167] In use, the reorientation conveyor portion 102 is located below mould-separation portion 300 such that the lateral Y axis is parallel with the lateral axis of the mould-separation portion 300 and the pivot shaft of the reorientation conveyor portion 102 is arranged proximal to, but slightly offset from, the vertical axis of the mould-separation portion 300 such that upon rotation of the reorientation conveyor portion 102 from the horizontal first orientation to the vertical second orientation, the separation between the first and second retainer members 106a, 106b is aligned with the bottom end of the mould-separation portion 300 such that mould 20 may pass from the reorientation conveyor portion 102 to the mould-separation portion 300 and the rods 416 of the mould parts 400 and 500 engage with the respective grooves 304 of the guiding member 302.

[0168] The apparatus may further comprise an infeed conveyor portion (not shown). The infeed conveyor portion is a 650 mm long rectangular belt conveyor supported at the correct height to align with the reorientation conveyor portion 102 on support legs. The infeed conveyor further comprises plastic side runners to keep the mould laterally aligned.

[0169] The apparatus may further comprise an outfeed conveyor portion (not shown). The outfeed conveyor portion comprises a 2500 mm long belt conveyor formed of a high-grip belt and an overhead compression roller. The conveyor and roller are arranged such that the roller is located above the belt conveyor so that a separation is created therebetween. The separation is wide enough to allow the mould to pass between the two conveyors, while the roller applies a pressure to the mould to keep the first and second parts of the mould together during the substantially horizonal movement along the conveyor.

[0170] In use, the mould 20 was placed on the infeed conveyor portion. Plastic side runners on the infeed conveyor portion restricted side movement of the mould and kept it straight to feed into the reorientation conveyor portion 102. When the reorientation conveyor portion 102 was ready to accept the mould the mould was driven into the separation in reorientation conveyor portion 102 in the first substantially horizontal orientation. Motors (not shown) were used as the driving force of the conveyor.

[0171] The mould 20 was thereby inserted between the first and second retainer members and biasing member 110 allowed the first and second retainer members to maintain force on mould 10. The runners on the reorientation conveyor portion 102 helped to keep the mould aligned within the reorientation conveyor portion 102. Once the mould was in place within the reorientation conveyor portion 102 movement of the mould was stopped and the reorientation conveyor portion 102 was rotated 90 degrees via the actuator into a substantially vertical orientation in which the reorientation conveyor portion 102 was directly underneath the mould-separation portion 300. The mould 20 was then driven upwards, vertically, into the mould separation portion by the first and second retainer member 106 conveyors driving synchronously. The conveyors were powered by a motor (not shown). The force applied by the biasing members maintained the relative positions of the first and second mould parts.

[0172] As the mould started to exit the top of the belt conveyors of the reorientation conveyor portion, the mould rods 416 entered grooves 304 at the bottom of the two guiding members 302. The mould was driven up the mould-separation portion 300 by the force applied by the belt conveyors of the reorientation conveyor portion until the mould parts become spaced at the upper end to give an open position in which a reservoir cavity in the space between the mould parts was formed. In this position the dosing retaining members 412 were cooperatively engaged at the lower end of the mould to hold the first and second mould parts 400, 500 in alignment and to allow for a large reservoir cavity to form in which the base reservoir member formed the base of the cavity and all of the mould cavities were open.

[0173] With the mould in this position, a moulding composition was dropped into the option portion of the mould from above the mould. The moulding composition was formed as follows. Alumina powder, pore former and dispersant in the amounts given below were mixed to form a powder mixture. An aqueous monomer solution containing a polymerisable monomer, a crosslinking monomer and the water in the amounts given below were added to the powder mixture to form an aqueous slurry. A catalyst and initiator in the amounts given below were then added to the aqueous slurry. The amounts of each component in the resulting slurry were:

TABLE-US-00001 Amount Alumina powder 475 Pore former 60 g Dispersant 12.25 g Polymerisable monomer 16.3 g Crosslinking member 8.2 Catalyst 3 ml Initiator 8 ml Water 135 g

[0174] The resulting aqueous slurry was then cast into the reservoir cavity of mould 20 from a reciprocating feeding nozzle arranged above mould 20 while mould 20 was in the partially open position. The initial reservoir cavity 408 received the moulding composition by dropping the liquid composition from above the spaced front faces of the mould parts into the mouth 454 of the reservoir cavity 408. The composition received was held in cavity 408 and filled the mould cavities 405 that were within the initial reservoir cavity. The mould was held for a short period of time (approximately 2 seconds), for a small reservoir of composition to build-up in the two parts of the mould. The mould was then slowly lowered back into the reorientation conveyor portion 102 by the conveyor belts of the first and second retainer members 106 moving in the opposite direction along the longitudinal X axis, whilst the dosing member was still dosing the mould. Whilst dosing the mould 20, the dosing member moved laterally above mould 20. Mould 20 was gradually moved from the open position to more closed positions as the dosing continued. Dosing then stopped and the mould was closed with further movement back toward the reorientation conveyor portion.

[0175] The force of the conveyor belts of the first and second retainer members 106 moving in the opposite direction along the longitudinal X axis moved mould 20 into the closed position, as shown in FIG. 4, by moving the mould down the guiding member 302 along the grooves 304 to further engage the side reservoir members 406, 506 and inner faces of the mould parts in a graduated manner from the base reservoir member upwards toward the mouth of the reservoir cavity. In the partially closed position, the side reservoir members and inner mould faces were further engaged to move the reservoir cavity further up mould 20 toward the front faces of the mould parts. This action also closed the initial reservoir cavity thereby also closing the filled mould cavities that were arranged within the initial reservoir cavity. The relocated reservoir cavity carried any remaining composition that was not taken up by the initially filled mould cavities. This had the effect of transferring a portion of the liquid ceramic composition higher up the grouping of cavity members to thereby allow for the composition to move from the relocated reservoir cavity 408 into the previously empty open mould cavities that now fell within the relocated reservoir cavity 408. The relocated reservoir cavity was also able to receive additional composition from the dosing member. In a partially closed position, the base of the reservoir cavity was eventually formed by abutment of the inner faces of the mould parts.

[0176] The mould parts 400, 500 were then be moved to a closed position by the conveyor belts of the first and second retainer members 106 moving further in the opposite (backwards) direction along the longitudinal X axis, causing the reservoir members 406, and post-dosing retaining members 510 to be fully engaged, thereby closing the reservoir cavity 408 and also closing all of the mould cavities to hold the liquid ceramic composition within the closed mould cavities. Any excess composition was captured in recess 414.

[0177] Once the mould had been fully lowered back between the two belt conveyors of the first and second retainer members 106, the mould was stopped and the reorientation conveyor portion 102 was rotated 90 degrees, back into the original substantially horizontal position.

[0178] The mould was then driven out of the reorientation conveyor portion 102 and onto the outfeed conveyor portion. This conveyor transferred the mould out of the reorientation conveyor portion 102 and allowed another mould to take its place.

[0179] Once the moulding composition had gelled into a plurality of solid green bodies within the closed enlarged mould cavities the green bodies were then demoulded. At this point the green bodies had a rubbery, jelly-like consistency. The green bodies were then left to dry at room temperature for 24 hours. The dried green bodies were then fired to 1450? C., at which point the binder and pore formers were burnt off to leave a plurality of solid, porous, packing members.

[0180] The packing members were then dipped in an aqueous solution containing catalytic material Ni(NO.sub.3).sup.2 before drying at 500? C. This catalytic material impregnation step was repeated two more times to produce supported catalysts.

[0181] The supported catalysts produced had a macrostructure and surface structure as shown in supported catalyst 600 of FIG. 5. Supported catalyst 600 had macrostructure in the form of a cylindrical cog shape with a plurality of bores (5 in total) extending through the longitudinal length of the support and a plurality of spaced longitudinally orientated castellations (10 in total) that projected radially outwards from the support. The macrostructure of supported catalyst 600 further had a depression 602 in the upper face of the support 600. Each of the castellations of the cog were tapered in depth such that the supported catalyst 600 had a largest outer width F at the base (38.0 mm) to a smallest outer width E at the upper face of supported catalyst 600 (35.1 mm). Each castellation was further tapered in width, from a widest point at the base of supported catalyst 600 to a narrowest width at the upper face of supported catalyst 600.

[0182] Support catalyst 600 had surface structures extending over substantially the whole outer face of the supported catalyst 600. The surface structures were generally in the form of interconnected hexagon-shaped ridges 604.

[0183] In this manner, packing members and supported catalysts having improved properties may be manufactured using open vertical filling at the high quantity required in the necessary timespan to achieve a commercially viable production.

[0184] Attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with or previous to this specification in connection with this application and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference.

[0185] All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive.

[0186] Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

[0187] The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiment(s). The invention extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.