A method for producing an element of a capsule, the capsule being intended to contain a product having at least one component that can be extracted by means of an extraction fluid, comprises the step of obtaining at least one preparatory zone intended to define, during use of the capsule, a passage for the extraction fluid, so that the extraction fluid can pass through the capsule in order to extract said component. The preparatory zone is obtained by means of a cutting operation carried out before the capsule is filled with the product and after the capsule element has been formed. The cutting operation is carried out by means of a blade element.

A method of manufacturing a plastic container having a curled rim (320) comprises the steps of providing a sheet of plastic material; drawing a portion thereof into a mould (120) to form a bottom and wall (310′) of the container, leaving a surrounding portion of material to form a rim (320) of the container; cutting the rim loose from a remaining portion of material; and curling the rim. In the curling step, an inner part of the rim is supported by a supporting member while an outer part is pressed by a pressing member (230) moving relative to the supporting member for the rim to be bent around the supporting member.

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).

Methods and apparatus are provided for forming a patient-specific surgical implant based on mold system. The apparatus comprises a forming tool and a mold that may be generated using imaging and processing techniques and rapid prototyping methods. The mold apparatus includes at least two non-adjacent surface features for securing an implant forming material (such as a titanium mesh) during the forming process, enabling the implant forming material to be stretched beyond its elastic and thus permanently deformed with the correct patient-specific curvature. The implant may include one or more anatomic surface features for guidance and registration when transferring the implant to a patient.

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.

An object stage and a hot pressing apparatus are disclosed. The object stage includes a base (1) and a support device (2) fixed on the base (1), wherein the support device (2) includes a plurality of detachable support sub-devices (21): the support device is configured to allow a printed circuit board (3) with at least one protruding structure (4) to be placed thereon, and no support sub-device (21) is disposed at a position on the support device (2) corresponding to the protruding structure (1). The object stage reduces manufacture cost, saves production time and improves production efficiency.

There is provided a method of making a curved barrier film, including: depositing a barrier layer between a first organic layer and a second organic layer to form a barrier film; and thermoforming or vacuum-forming the barrier film from a flat barrier film to a curved barrier film; wherein the barrier film includes the barrier layer having two opposing major surfaces, wherein the barrier layer includes buckling deformations and non-buckling regions; the first organic layer in direct contact with one of the opposing major surfaces of the barrier layer; and the second organic layer in direct contact with the other of the opposing major surfaces of the barrier layer.

A vacuum plastic molding machine includes a heating device, a plurality of upright posts, a carrier assembly, and a demolding mechanism. The carrier assembly includes an upper carrier and a lower carrier. The upper carrier includes an upper frame, multiple upper movement structures, at least one rotation plate, at least one driving member, and at least one linking mechanism. An adjusting space is defined between the at least one rotation plate and the at least one linking mechanism. The lower carrier includes a lower frame, multiple lower movement structures, and at least one locking tenon. The locking tenon is placed into the adjusting space. The at least one driving member is rotated to change the position of the at least one locking tenon in the adjusting space, and to adjust the distance between the upper carrier and the lower carrier.

Production process of a composite product (1) comprising a core (2), a first layer (3) comprising a sheet impregnated with a solid polyurethane material, and a polymer-based film (7) applied to the first layer (3), wherein the process comprises: producing a semi-finished product comprising the core (2) and the sheet impregnated by a liquid mixture precursor of the solid polyurethane material; adhering the film (7) to a first half-mould (11) by applying a depression between the film (7) and the half-mould (11); pressing two half-moulds (11, 12) against each other with the semi-finished product interposed between two shaping surfaces (13), so that the film (7) comes into contact with the liquid mixture; with the semi-finished product in the mould, thermosetting the liquid mixture to transform it into the polyurethane solid material so that the film (7) firmly adheres to the first layer (3) and thus producing the composite product (1).