A container for transporting a beverage has at least one part made of a sandwich structural laminate. The sandwich structural laminate has a thermoplastic resin foam core, a fiber reinforced resin outer skin, and a fiber reinforced resin inner skin.

A method for manufacturing an object is disclosed. The method includes the step of obtaining a preform of the object, with the preform having a first panel having a planar portion and at least one second panel. The second panel has an orientation which is different from that of the first panel. The planar portion of the first panel of the preform is thermoformed so as to have a protruding element. The thermoforming is done in a selective manner such that the at least one second panel is not thermoformed. The invention is also directed to a thermoforming device for performing the thermoforming.

The semirigid plastic content of a fresh produce container is reduced by omitting or removing a central portion of a semirigid plastic lid to form a central opening therein. The central opening is covered and sealed by a plastic film, which can be applied before, during, or after packaging. The film can include visible indicia. The plastic film can be attached to an inner flange of the lid that surrounds the central opening, and can be by a resealable adhesive. During a packaging step, the tray is filled with the fresh produce, and then the lid can be sonically spotwelded to the tray. The sonic spotwelding can be of an outer lid flange to a corresponding outer tray flange. In embodiments where the central portion of the lid is removed, the removed plastic can be combined with precursor plastic and used to form additional semirigid plastic lids.

A system and method of sterilization for medical instruments within a hydrogen peroxide sterilization process is provided. A medical instrument is housed in a sterilization tray, wherein the sterilization tray is formed from polypropylene and a glass material. The medical instrument and sterilization tray are subjected to a hydrogen peroxide sterilant.

The disclosure relates to forming shaped thermoplastic articles having smooth peripheries. Many thermoplastic articles have sharp edges formed upon molding or cutting the article from a feedstock sheet. Such sharp edges can damage thin plastic films or flesh which they contact, and smoothing the edges is desirable. Described herein are methods of forming a smooth periphery for such sharp-edged articles by rolling over the sharp edge. The smoothing operation is performed by forming a deflectable flange including a bend region separated from the potentially sharp peripheral edge by a spacer, deflecting a portion of the deflectable flange, and softening at least one bent portion of the deflectable flange to yield a smooth periphery upon cooling. The deflection can include curling the spacer at or near the peripheral edge. The methods can be performed incrementally and/or in a reciprocating fashion.

Disclosed is a method for making a flexible container. The method implements an injection mold having a collapsible core that expands/moves to define the apertures and, in some embodiments, holds a flexible film in place during the injection mold process and collapses/moves back post-injection molding to allow for the flexible container to be readily removed from the die. In addition, the method described includes a post-injection molding anneal process that is implemented to allow the flexible film to shrink so as to provide for form-fitting of the film to the molded portion of the container.

A method for improving the impact resistance of a fiber-composite part includes positioning fibers within an expected impact region of the part, wherein at least a portion of most of the positioned fibers is oriented to be within about 45 degrees of parallel to an impact vector of an impact that occurs at the impact region. At least some of the fibers in the impact region should have relatively high impact resistance, such as glass fiber or aramid fiber, and the matrix in the impact region should have relatively high impact resistance.

A container for transporting beverage has at least one part made of a sandwich structural laminate. The sandwich structural laminate has a PU and/or PET foam core, a resin outer skin, and a resin inner skin.

A container configured to hold one or more units of a product is provided. The container may comprise a lid and a base. The lid and/or the base may be constructed from a pulp derived from a plant material. For example, the pulp derived from the plant material may be a wood pulp material. A related method is also provided.

A corrugated plastic box and a method for manufacturing a corrugated plastic box from a blank are provided. The method includes the steps of forming rounded edge seals on the perimeter edges of the blank, pre-sealing portions of the blank to form a plurality of areas in which major and minor flap slots and a glue tab are desired, ultrasonically scoring the blank to form a plurality of flap score lines, and cutting the blank through the plurality of pre-sealed flap slots and glue tab, leaving a sealed edge.