Method and apparatus for producing plant container liners particularly from sphagnum moss

摘要

Apparatus for forming three dimensional shaped products from particulate sphagnum moss material including: a conveyor including a belt (50) formed of a flexible and resiliently deformable material and arranged to carry the particulate material and to move in steps; means for continuously delivering particulate moss material (23) onto the conveyor for conveying to a press forming stage and a spreader (40) for spreading the particulate material to a substantially even thickness layer on the belt of the conveyor; a press forming stage including a cavity die member (27) positioned beneath the belt of the conveyor and including a die shaped cavity, and a co-operating die member (26) positioned above the belt of the conveyor which delivers fresh particulate moss material between the die members, to press the section of the belt of the conveyor between the die members and the particulate material thereon into the cavity die member, to form a shaped product, the belt of the conveyor having sufficient resilience to lift the press formed product from the cavity die member after each operation of the press forming stage, and the conveyor being arranged to convey the formed products away from the press forming stage.