A hard case for housing and transporting objects includes a first shell and a second shell, hinges for connecting the shells and enabling the latter to be arranged in a closed configuration or in an open configuration, and a closing device to lock the shells in the closed configuration. The shells include respective main panels formed by thermoforming an interwoven polypropylene sheet including a plurality of superimposed layers, each layer having oriented polypropylene fibers therein, the layers being arranged to interweave the superimposed fibers, and respective side elements including respective interface edges intended to be coupled to each other in the closed configuration. The side elements are made of polypropylene by injection molding and are fixed to the main panels to carry out respective joining portions in which the injected polypropylene of the side elements and the interwoven polypropylene of the main panels are melted and joined to each other in order to form the shells in a single part and entirely made of polypropylene.

The present invention relates to: a tubular medical device cleaning ball; and a manufacturing method therefor and, more specifically, to: a tubular medical device cleaning ball capable of cleaning a tubular medical device by being injected together with a cleaning solution without using a separate brush and the like in order to clean the tubular medical device inserted into the human body during minimally invasive surgery; and a manufacturing method therefor. To this end, the cleaning ball is manufactured as a sphere having surface roughness and a cavity therein.

Methods of making a male touch fastener product, by shearing distal portions of loops extending from a side of a flexible fabric, leaving fibers extending from the side of the flexible fabric in place of the sheared loops, the fibers extending to respective free distal ends, while leaving other loops extending from the side of the fabric intact, and then heating the distal ends with energy supplied by a linear energy source, such that resin of the distal ends flows to form enlarged heads on the extending fibers, while leaving at least some of the other loops intact. A male touch fastener product has a flexible fabric base with a broad side, and fibers extending from the broad side of the base. The fibers form both loops of fibers, each loop extending from the base at two spaced-apart points, and fiber segments extending from the base to respective distal fiber ends spaced from the base. Each distal fiber end forms an enlarged head of fiber resin for snagging other fibers.

A system and method for forming a part using a moveable heater to heat a pre-aligned blank and an alignment mechanism to maintain the alignment of the heated blank during the forming process. A frame receives and holds the blank in the pre-aligned position within an open press. The heater advances into the press to heat the pre-aligned blank to a forming temperature, and withdraws to allow the press to close and form the heated blank into the part. The alignment mechanism maintains the blank in the alignment while the blank is heated and the press is closed, and includes a rail extending through the press and the frame and allowing the press to move between open and closed positions, and a collapsible member which pushes the frame as the press closes and collapses to allow the press to fully close and form the heated blank into the part.

A hard case for housing and transporting objects includes a first shell and a second shell, hinges for connecting the shells and enabling the latter to be arranged in a closed configuration or in an open configuration, and a closing device to lock the shells in the closed configuration. The shells include respective main panels formed by thermoforming an interwoven polypropylene sheet including a plurality of superimposed layers, each layer having oriented polypropylene fibers therein, the layers being arranged to interweave the superimposed fibers, and respective side elements including respective interface edges intended to be coupled to each other in the closed configuration. The side elements are made of polypropylene by injection molding and are fixed to the main panels to carry out respective joining portions in which the injected polypropylene of the side elements and the interwoven polypropylene of the main panels are melted and joined to each other in order to form the shells in a single part and entirely made of polypropylene.

A semifinished product for making a composite fiber molded part is made by first spinning from a row of orifices of a spinning nozzle low-melting fibers of a thermoplastic. These low-melting fibers are then combined into a laminated semifinished product with high-melting reinforcement fibers of the same thermoplastic but having a melting temperature higher than the melting temperature of the low-melting fibers.

A guard for providing a cut-resistant pathway through a body orifice or incision to circumferentially protect tissue at the margin is provided. The guard is made of flexible, cut-resistant mesh material having a plurality of interwoven thermosetting filaments. The guard has a central lumen and at least one flared end. The flared end, which serves to anchor the guard in the body opening, is deformable into a reduced configuration to facilitate its insertion and removal. The layer of mesh stretches laterally to increase the diameter of the central lumen. The flexibility and expandability of the guard allows the guard to conform to body openings of different sizes. The guard may include a drawstring to cinch the flared distal end from the proximal end. The guard is thermoset with the flared distal end that is biased to spring back to its normal, undeformed configuration when released from a deformed configuration.

Disclosed is a method for producing an automobile sound absorbing member through molding. In the method, a first fiber and a second fiber are bonded to each other and molded at the same time, so that a working process and a process cycle are simplified, thereby improving production speed and reducing investment for equipment and facility. The method includes (a) preparing a first fiber and a second fiber, (b) providing an adhesive member between the first fiber and the second fiber and placing an aggregate of the first fiber, adhesive member, and the second fiber in a molding machine, and (c) pressing an upper mold and a lower mold of the molding machine so that the first fiber and the second fiber are bonded and molded into a molded body.

Molds for forming fiber reinforced insulation and methods of using the molds are described. One exemplary mold may include an upper mold and a lower mold. The upper mold and the lower mold may be coupleable to define a mold cavity for receiving therein a fiber reinforced insulation preform. The upper mold may include a plurality of apertures that may be configured to allow moisture from the fiber reinforced insulation preform to pass through the upper mold while substantially preventing fibers from the fiber reinforced insulation preform from passing through the upper mold such that the fiber reinforced insulation preform dries and cures to form the fiber reinforced insulation product. The plurality of apertures may collectively define an open area of at least 20% of an inner surface area of the upper mold that may contact the fiber reinforced insulation preform.

Provided is a process for thermoforming a gas and liquid permeable layer (10) of thermoplastic material having an average thickness of less than 1.0 mm, the process comprising the steps of bringing the layer of thermoplastic material, at a temperature below that required for thermoforming, into contact with a mould (16) at a temperature above that of a thermoforming temperature of the thermoplastic material; pressing the mould into contact with the layer of thermoplastic material, the contact between mould and thermoplastic material causing heat to transfer from the mould to the thermoplastic material and raising the temperature of the thermoplastic material to a thermoformable temperature; such pressing thereby causing thermoforming of the thermoplastic material to conform to the shape of the mould.