A molding die and a molding method are provided, which allow high-cycle manufacturing of molded bodies of a thermoplastic resin or thermoplastic resin-fiber composite material, thereby improving productivity. Molding is performed using a molding die including a plurality of die portions that form a cavity in which a molded body is molded, the molding die including: a first temperature adjusting unit disposed in the vicinity of the cavity surface and capable of at least cooling the cavity surface; and a second temperature adjusting unit disposed on a side of the first temperature adjusting unit opposite from the cavity surface and capable of at least heating the cavity surface, wherein a distance L0 from the cavity surface to the first temperature adjusting unit and a distance L1 from the cavity surface to a surface of the corresponding die portion opposite from the cavity surface satisfy the relationship: (L1/L0)>3.

The invention relates to a tool insert for a primary shaping tool, comprising a thermal insulator disposed on a main part having a molding surface contacted by the molten material to be shaped, said surface being at least partly spaced from the main part of the tool insert by a thermal insulator. The thermal insulator comprises bulk metallic glass.

A method for producing a molded body is provided. The molded body is made of a thermoplastic material and can be produced in a short molding cycle. The method includes a step of compressing a molding precursor including a thermoplastic resin between a pair of molding dies having an insulation site at a surface that comes into contact with the molding precursor, in order to obtain a molded body. The temperature T.sub.A of the molding precursor at the start of compression satisfies the following Formula 1: E(100)0.04<E (T.sub.A)<E(100)0.13. The temperature T.sub.B of the pair of molding dies at the start of compression satisfies the following Formula 2: E(100)0.3<E(T.sub.B)<E(100)0.7. The insulation site has a heat conduction coefficient of 5 W/(m.Math.K) or less, and the surface that comes into contact with the molding precursor has a dynamic friction coefficient of 0.25 or less.

A resin-molding device capable of preventing a resin-molded product from being non-uniform in thickness. A resin-molding device includes: a first and second platen (outside-loaded platen) which are two plate-shaped members arranged parallel to each other to allow a molding die to be arranged in a die arrangement section which is a central region between the platens; a force applier (toggle link and tie bars) for applying a force to the platens from loading points located outside the die arrangement section; a heating mechanism (lower and upper heater plates) provided between the outside-loaded platen and the molding die; and a heat-insulating member (lower and upper heat-insulating members) formed by a plurality of elastic pillar members arranged between the outside-loaded platen and the heating mechanism, the pillar members configured so that the amount of deformation of each pillar member increases from the center of the die arrangement section toward the loading point.

A fiber reinforced composite member molding apparatus includes a pair of molds for clamping layered prepreg, or stacked sheets of prepreg formed of long carbon fibers impregnated with resin, induction heating coils for heating thermoplastic resin contained in the prepreg via the molds, and cooling passages for cooling the resin via the molds after the resin is melted, wherein the molds each have a design surface brought into contact with the layered prereg, the design surface being divided into a plurality of regions, and a plurality of cells provided along the design surface to be open at the back of the design surface and individually correspond to the regions of the design surface, the induction heating coils are arranged in the cells, and the cooling passages are formed in each of the molds to run along the design surface. This configuration allows the molds to have sufficient rigidity and produces a uniform temperature distribution in heating and cooling.

A mould with a heating device is disclosed. The mould mainly comprises an upper mould, a lower mould, a conductive layer, an insulating layer, at least a pair of electrodes capable of being arranged in the conductive layer in a conductive manner, at least one first conductive unit and at least one second conductive unit. As a first outer conductive section of each first conductive unit and a second outer conductive section of each second conductive unit can penetrate through a conductive side surface of the conductive layer and are located on a same side surface of the conductive layer, the first conductive unit is provided with a first inner conductive section corresponding to a cavity of the lower mould, the second conductive unit is closer to the insulating surface of the conductive layer compared with the first conductive unit, a current path flowing through the conductive layer can be controlled by means of configuration of the first and second conductive units, so that the current is relatively gathered on the surface of the conductive layer in a centralized manner, particularly gathered in the cavity in the centralized manner. Therefore, the cavity is preheated from room temperature to working temperature, and the purpose of enhancing the heating effect of a die cavity heating area is realized.

A method and apparatus for manufacturing composite components. A tool is present for use in manufacturing composite components. The tool comprises an encapsulation layer having a shape, an insulation layer on the encapsulation layer, and an isolation layer on the insulation layer. The isolation layer has an outer surface capable of contacting a composite material laid up on the outer surface. The insulation layer is capable of insulating the encapsulation layer from heat applied to the composite material. The encapsulation layer is capable of maintaining a shape with the composite material laid up on the isolation layer during a curing process to form a composite component from the composite material.

In order to provide a manufacturing method of the three-dimensional shaped object having a more proper heat property to be used as a metal mold, there is provided a method for manufacturing a three-dimensional shaped object by alternate repetition of a powder-layer forming and a solidified-layer forming, the repetition comprising: (i) forming a solidified layer by irradiating a predetermined portion of a powder layer with a light beam, thereby allowing a sintering of the powder in the predetermined portion or a melting and subsequent solidification of the powder; and (ii) forming another solidified layer by forming a new powder layer on the formed solidified layer, followed by irradiation of a predetermined portion of the newly formed powder layer with the light beam, wherein the three-dimensional shaped object is manufactured such that it has a heat source element in the three-dimensional shaped object, and also has a surface in a form of a concavity-convexity, and wherein a main surface of the heat source element and the surface of the concavity-convexity have the same shape as each other.

The present disclosure relates to a tool such as an injection molding tool or an embossing tool. A heating device including a stack of layers is provided for heating a tool surface. The stack may include a coil carrier layer with a number of wound coils for generating a magnetic field, and a conductive top layer, being adjacent to the tool surface currents are induced in the top layer to heat the surface. Efficient heating may be provided by solutions involving low resistivity layers that lead currents to the top layer without themselves developing heat to any greater extent. A conduction frame device can be provided beneath the top layer and around the perimeter thereof to provide reliable contact with a backing layer. A thermal resistance layer may placed between the intermediate layer and the top layer, and may comprise a heat resistive plastic material such as a polyimide.

A mold capable of inhibiting supercooling is provided. The mold includes a cooling channel formed therein and has a recess formed in a cavity surface, and a heat-insulating barrier formed between the cooling channel and a bottom surface of the recess formed in the cavity surface. The heat-insulating barrier includes a space formed between the cooling channel and the bottom surface of the recess formed in the cavity surface. The space is filled with a medium (for example, air) having a thermal conductivity lower than that of other portions of the mold.