An apparatus for thermoforming plastic containers comprising a pickup station (24), a feeder (25) for feeding flat sheets (8) of thermoformable plastic material to the pickup station (24) and a plurality of thermoforming devices (3) each of which in turn comprises a shaped mould (4) and a closing element (5), the shaped moulds (4) and the closing elements (5) of said plurality of thermoforming devices (3) being simultaneously movable at least between corresponding home and forming positions; the pickup station (24) comprising a positioning device (27) for, in use, positioning a plurality of flat sheets (8) arriving from the feeder (25), in a plurality of pickup locations (28), the number of pickup locations (28) being equal to the number of thermoforming devices (3); a transferring device (26) also being provided, designed to simultaneously transfer a plurality of flat sheets (8) that are positioned in the pickup locations (28) to the closing elements (5).

An apparatus for thermoforming plastic containers comprising a pickup station (24), a feeder (25) for feeding flat sheets (8) of thermoformable plastic material to the pickup station (24), at least one thermoforming device (3), and a transferring device (26) for transferring the flat sheets (8) from the pickup station (24) to the thermoforming device (3), the feeder (25) comprising at least one support (50) for a reel (51) of a web (52) of thermoformable plastic material, unwinding means (53) for unwinding the reel (51) of web (52) which are designed, in use, to feed the web (52) along a sliding path extending from the at least one support (50) to the pickup station (24), and a cutting device (54) for cutting the web (52), positioned along the sliding path, for dividing the web (52) into a plurality of pieces each of which corresponds to a flat sheet (8) to be fed to the pickup station (24).

An apparatus for thermoforming plastic containers comprising a thermoforming device (3) in turn comprising a shaped mould (4) and a closing element (5) movable relative to one another at least between a home position and a forming position, and an extracting device (9) for extracting the thermoformed container (2) from the shaped mould (4), the extracting device comprising at least one gripper element (68) shiftable between a pickup position and a releasing position; in which when the shaped mould (4) and the closing element (5) are in an extracting position, the gripper element (68) in the pickup position can grip a projecting edge (66) of a projecting flange (71) of the container (2) for retaining it, whilst when the gripper element (68) is in the releasing position it can release a thermoformed container (2), retained by it, onto a conveying device (69); and in which the gripper element (68) and the shaped mould (4) are also movable relative to each other, starting from the position in which the gripper element (68) has gripped the edge (66) of the container (2), along an extracting line, for causing the container (2) to come out of the shaped mould (4).

Bone tissue biomimetic materials, biomimetic constructs that can be formed with the materials, and methods for forming the materials and constructs are described. The bone tissue biomimetic materials include electrospun nanofibers formed of polymers that are conjugated with peptides that include acidic amino acid residues. The materials can incorporate high levels of mineralization so as to provide mechanical strength and promote osteogenesis and/or osteoconductivity on/in the bone tissue biomimetic materials. The materials and constructs can be utilized in forming tissue engineered structures for in vitro and in vivo use. Macroscopic bone tissue biomimetic scaffolds formed from the materials can be seeded with osteogenic cells and utilized to develop bone graft materials that can exhibit strength and osteoconductivity similar to the native bone and that exhibit uniform distribution of nutrients in the scaffolds.

Bone tissue biomimetic materials, biomimetic constructs that can be formed with the materials, and methods for forming the materials and constructs are described. The bone tissue biomimetic materials include electrospun nanofibers formed of polymers that are conjugated with peptides that include acidic amino acid residues. The materials can incorporate high levels of mineralization so as to provide mechanical strength and promote osteogenesis and/or osteoconductivity on/in the bone tissue biomimetic materials. The materials and constructs can be utilized in forming tissue engineered structures for in vitro and in vivo use. Macroscopic bone tissue biomimetic scaffolds formed from the materials can be seeded with osteogenic cells and utilized to develop bone graft materials that can exhibit strength and osteoconductivity similar to the native bone and that exhibit uniform distribution of nutrients in the scaffolds.

The invention relates to an article comprising a monolayer or multilayer thermoplastic material, said material comprises (i) 38.00 to 99.95%, preferably 67.00 to 99.9%, more preferably 57.00 to 99.85%, by weight of polylactic acid, (ii) 0.05 to 4.90%, preferably 0.10 to 2.90%, more preferably 0.15 to 2.00%, even more preferably 0.2 to 1.00%, most preferably 0.25 to 0.75%, by weight of an epoxidized vegetable oil; (iii) 0 to 60.00%, preferably 0 to 40.00%, more preferably 0 to 30.00%, by weight of further additives selected from the group consisting of impact modifiers, plasticisers, crosslinking agents, foaming agents, fillers, colorants, stabilizers, lubricants, and mixtures thereof, the weight percentages being relative to total weight of the monolayer or multilayer thermoplastic material and adding up to 100%.

The invention relates to an article comprising a monolayer or multilayer thermoplastic material, said material comprises (i) 38.00 to 99.95%, preferably 67.00 to 99.9%, more preferably 57.00 to 99.85%, by weight of polylactic acid, (ii) 0.05 to 4.90%, preferably 0.10 to 2.90%, more preferably 0.15 to 2.00%, even more preferably 0.2 to 1.00%, most preferably 0.25 to 0.75%, by weight of an epoxidized vegetable oil; (iii) 0 to 60.00%, preferably 0 to 40.00%, more preferably 0 to 30.00%, by weight of further additives selected from the group consisting of impact modifiers, plasticisers, crosslinking agents, foaming agents, fillers, colorants, stabilizers, lubricants, and mixtures thereof, the weight percentages being relative to total weight of the monolayer or multilayer thermoplastic material and adding up to 100%.

A method for shaping a preform made from thermoplastic material, and a facility for implementing the method, comprising the following steps: a) providing a preform made from thermoplastic material having a surface; b) supplying thermal energy to the preform by radiation in such a way as to make it ductile; and c) shaping the ductile preform inside a forming mould. Step b) further involves simultaneously spraying a gaseous fluid onto the surface of the preform in order to preserve the surface.

A method for shaping a preform made from thermoplastic material, and a facility for implementing the method, comprising the following steps: a) providing a preform made from thermoplastic material having a surface; b) supplying thermal energy to the preform by radiation in such a way as to make it ductile; and c) shaping the ductile preform inside a forming mould. Step b) further involves simultaneously spraying a gaseous fluid onto the surface of the preform in order to preserve the surface.

A thermoformed article is disclosed that includes a self-supporting structural base layer, a covering applied to a first side of the base layer, and one or more secondary features co-injected upon a second side of the base layer. The covering and the secondary features of the thermoformed article are applied to the base layer during the same molding operation. Also disclosed is a process for forming a thermoformed article that includes placing a covering in a mold tool as a first layer, placing a self-supporting structural base layer in the mold tooling as a second layer, closing the mold tooling with the covering and base layer, and co-injecting upon a side of the base layer opposite to the covering one or more secondary features.