Retaining plate

Abstract

The invention relates to a retaining plate for a vacuum cleaner bag which has an inlet opening, the retaining plate being formed by thermoforming and subsequent stamping of a film made of a thermoplastic material.

Claims

1. A retaining plate for a vacuum cleaner bag which has an inlet opening which can be closed with a flap, the retaining plate comprising: a film made of a thermoplastic material, wherein the retaining plate is formed by thermoforming and subsequent stamping of the film.

2. The retaining plate according to claim 1, wherein the retaining plate comprises a one-piece component.

3. The retaining plate according to claim 2, wherein the retaining plate and the flap comprise a one-piece component.

4. The retaining plate according to claim 3, wherein the flap is joined to the retaining plate in one-piece via a hinge.

5. The retaining plate according to claim 1, wherein the film is a single or multilayer film (laminate) with a thickness in the range of 0.2 to 2.5 mm.

6. The retaining plate according to claim 5, wherein the multilayer film is formed from two to twenty layers.

7. The retaining plate according to claim 6, wherein the thermoplastic material of at least one layer is different from the thermoplastic material of at least one other layer.

8. The retaining plate according to claim 1, wherein the film has an anisotropic morphology.

9. The retaining plate according to claim 1, wherein the film is reinforced.

10. The retaining plate according to claim 9, wherein the retaining plate has reinforcing ribs or beads.

11. The retaining plate according to claim 1, wherein the thermoplastic material is selected from polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polyvinylchloride (PVC), polycarbonate (PC) or polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

12. The retaining plate according to claim 5 wherein the film has a thickness in the range of 0.5 to 1.5 mm.

13. The retaining plate according to claim 5, wherein the multilayer film is reinforced.

14. A vacuum cleaner bag comprising: a bag comprising a nonwoven material; and a retaining plate for the vacuum cleaner bag having an inlet opening which can be closed with a flap, the retaining plate comprising: a film made of a thermoplastic material, wherein the retaining plate is formed by thermoforming and subsequent stamping of the film.

15. A method of manufacturing a retaining plate for a vacuum cleaner bag having an inlet opening that is closable with a flap, the method comprising: thermoforming the retaining plate from a film made of a thermoplastic material; and stamping the thermoformed retaining plate.

16. The method according to claim 15, comprising joining the retaining plate to the flap via a hinge in a one-piece configuration.

17. The method according to claim 15, comprising manufacturing the retaining plate as a one-piece component.

18. The method according to claim 15, comprising reinforcing the film.

19. The method according to claim 15, comprising joining the retaining plate to the flap of the vacuum cleaner bag comprising a nonwoven material.

Description

(1) The invention is explained subsequently in more detail with reference to two Figures.

(2) FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a retaining plate according to the invention and

(3) FIG. 2, schematically, the course of the process during thermoforming.

(4) The retaining plate 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 has an inlet opening 2 which can be closed with a flap 3. The embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is configured as a one-piece component, i.e. the retaining plate 1 was formed by thermoforming and stamping from a film. The retaining plate 1, as described in FIG. 1, has furthermore reinforcing ribs 4. The reinforcing ribs 4 can be configured in various ways. Preferably, they are configured, like the reinforcing rib 4, in arrow form in a high-deep structure. The reinforcing rib 4 can also be replaced by reinforcing fibres which are present in the film or are present in combination with the reinforcing ribs. The flap 3 is thereby joined to the retaining plate 1 in one-piece via a hinge 5. As a result of the fact that the flap 3 can be joined to the retaining plate 1 via a film hinge 5, an economical production of retaining plates is possible because the flap 3 need not be joined to the remaining component of the retaining plate 1 in a separate procedure but rather can be configured in one-piece. As material for the retaining plate 1, as illustrated in FIG. 1, any materials which can be formed thermoplastically can be used. The selection of the thermoplastic material is thereby directed according to the purpose of use. Thus it can be advantageous to form the retaining plate 1 from two layers of different plastic materials which are disposed one above the other. In this case the layer, orientated towards the filter bag, is formed from a thermoplastic material with a lower melting point than the side orientated away from the filter bag so that the welding process for joining the retaining plate 1 to the filter bag can be effected rapidly and in an energy-saving manner.

(5) In FIG. 2, a unit for thermoforming with roll material which is known from the state of the art is shown in a schematic illustration. As emerges from FIG. 2, the film material from a roll 10 is guided into a heating station 11 which has heat radiators 12. In the heating station 11, heating radiators 12 can thereby be present on one or both sides. In the tool station 13, the film is then retained by means of a tensioning frame, pre-stretchers and the thermoforming tool pass through the film plane and specify the finished contour very roughly. Subsequently, compressed air is then produced from the one side and vacuum from the other side in order to bring the film quickly and firmly against the cooled wall (contour) of the moulding tool 15. The cooled and now solid film is separated from the moulding tool 15 and supplied to the stamping station 14 in the next operating step.

(6) The operating course described, as above in the case of FIG. 2, is also applied for the retaining plate illustrated in FIG. 1.