A mold includes a first shell and a second shell that are suitable, in the closed position, for imparting a shape to a part that is to be molded in the mold, a main axis being perpendicular to the main plane in which the first shell and the second shell extend. The mold further includes a slide that is situated between the first shell and the second shell and that is in contact with the first shell and the second shell when the mold is in the closed position, and that is to come into contact with the molded part, the slide presenting a first face that constitutes its interface with the first shell, the first face presenting a primary direction along which the slide is suitable for sliding along the first face when the mold is in the open position.

There is described a process for manufacturing an ophthalmic lens and an apparatus for forming an ophthalmic lens, in particular a silicone hydrogel contact lens, wherein in a mold assembly a first and a second mold half (101, 102) are first arranged in an intermediate closed position in which the mold surfaces of the two mold halves are spaced apart from each other at a distance increase (d1) of preferably 1 to 100 m relative to a final distance (d0) in a final closed position, and wherein, during curing of the lens forming material (202), the mold surfaces (105, 106) of the mold halves (101, 102) are actively or passively moved or moving from the intermediate closed position to the final closed position, where the distance increase (d1) is 0.

A tooling system may include a cure tool and a biasing element. The cure tool may have a cure tool coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and may be configured for curing a composite article formed of two or more components having dissimilar component CTEs. The biasing element may be fixedly attached to the cure tool and has a biasing element CTE that may be different than the cure tool CTE. The biasing element may be configured such that a combination of the cure tool CTE and the biasing element CTE causes a heat-up displacement in the cure tool when heated and the composite article is cured in a distorted shape. When the cured composite article is cooled, the cured composite article may substantially assume an as-designed shape.

The present invention provides a method for preparing a customized polymeric article including: providing two mold half-sections, each half-section having an outer surface and an inner surface; assembling the two mold half-sections to form a mold assembly such that the inner surfaces define a cavity there between; applying one or more magnetic fluids to the inner surface of a mold half-section; inserting a fluid polymeric material into the cavity; controllably applying a magnetic field to the magnetic fluids to form a customized reversible surface in accordance with a predetermined specific surface topography; subjecting the mold assembly to conditions sufficient to effect polymerization or hardening of the fluid polymeric material; and separating the two mold half-sections. Articles prepared by the method also are provided.

A method of injecting a sealing gel into a recess of a work piece, comprising steps of: injecting the sealing gel into the recess and stopping the injection of the sealing gel when the sealing gel reaches a first depth less than the total depth of the recess; after the sealing gel has cooled and solidified, continuing the injection of the sealing gel into the recess and stopping the injection of the sealing gel when the sealing gel reaches another depth higher than the first depth; and repeatedly performing the previous step until the cooled and solidified sealing gel in the recess has a top surface beyond a sealing interface surface of the work piece.

A spacer (1) is injection molded by using an injection molding die having resin flow channels that are designed such that a plurality of gates (6) are arranged along the longitudinal direction at a position corresponding to the outer peripheral surface of a side wall part (4) in which a plurality of arc-like peripheral surface parts (2) are connected through a waist part (3). After opening the mold and ejecting the spacer, the spacer is cooled with a runner (7) being connected to the gate (6), and thereafter, the runner (7) is cut off. As a result, when producing a water jacket spacer that is assembled to the inside of the water jacket and controls the flow of cooling water by injection molding, while producing with a high productivity without being affected by design constraints caused by draft angle, deformation in the post-molding cooling step is prevented.

An apparatus for molding a pouch includes: a die assembly with a die; a stripper assembly to press and fix both sides of a pouch film disposed on the die; and a punch assembly with a punch to mold an electrode assembly accommodation part in the pouch film. The stripper assembly includes: a stripper disposed at a punch assembly lower portion to press and fix the pouch film; a stripper driving piece at a punch assembly upper portion to provide force so that the stripper presses the pouch film; and a connection part to connect the stripper driving piece to the stripper to transmit the force. The connection part includes: two or more connection rods coupled to the stripper; a connection bar coupled to the stripper driving piece; and a connection piece to connect one or more of the connection rods to the connection bar to transmit the force.

A composite curing system includes system includes a constraining container and an expandable medium. The constraining container includes a base and a cover and has an interior volume. The constraining container is configured to enclose at least a portion of a composite structure. The expandable medium configured to be disposed within the interior volume between at least a portion of the constraining container and the composite structure. The interior volume of the constraining container is selectively variable.

A polymeric sheet includes a gradient repeating domain structure represented as -(A-AB.sub.1-B-AB.sub.2).sub.n-, -(A-AB-B).sub.n-, -(A-AB).sub.n-, -(AB).sub.n-, or -(AB.sub.1-AB.sub.2).sub.n- where A represents a domain region of component A, B represents a domain region of component B, and AB.sub.1, AB.sub.2, and AB each represent domain regions containing one or more mixtures of thermoplastic polymer A and thermoplastic polymer B. The polymeric sheet is configured as a dental appliance for positioning a patient's teeth.