In a molding die, movable die elements are respectively received in die element receiving holes formed in a frame plate. An end surface of the frame plate, which faces a cavity at a location that is other than locations of the die element receiving holes, forms a frame portion compression surface. An end surface of each movable die element, which faces the cavity, forms a split compression surface. Die element drive devices respectively drive the split compression surfaces of the movable die elements. A whole compression plate commonly supports an opposite end part of the frame plate and opposite end parts of the movable die elements, which are opposite from the cavity. When the whole compression plate is moved forward, the whole compression plate integrally drives the frame plate and the movable die elements forward. A whole drive device drives the whole compression plate.

An interior part for a vehicle is formed by core-back expansion molding. The interior part includes a foamed plastic body formed by injecting a foamable plastic resin into a mold and separating the mold portions of the mold to allow foaming expansion of the foamable plastic resin. An edge portion of the foamed plastic body includes a projecting freeze section and a core-back expansion radius located adjacent to the projecting freeze section. The projecting freeze section is formed in a freeze seal area of the mold adjacent a parting line to help prevent excessive flashing of material at the parting line during separation.

A molding system and a method for operation of the molding system are provided. The method includes flowing a molten polymeric material from an upstream device into an in-mold tuning chamber in a filling position where the in-mold tuning chamber is positioned at least partially within a mold cavity. The method also includes adjusting at least one of a temperature of and a pressure applied to the molten polymeric material in the in-mold tuning chamber to create a first tuned molten polymeric material and releasing the tuned molten polymeric material into the mold cavity from the in-mold tuning chamber.

There is disclosed a mould for forming a collapsible container from an expandable material, the container comprising, when assembled, at least a base and a two pairs of a side walls extending at right angles from opposing sides of the base, the mould comprising: a first mould member and a second mould member movable with respect to each other between an open and a closed moulding position to define a mould cavity; a control means for delivering expandable material into said mould cavity and for delivering steam to facilitate expansion of the expandable material within said mould cavity to form said container; and a plurality of anvils mounted on a rear surface of at least one of the first mould member and/or second mould member, each anvil being movable so as to be extended into the mould cavity so as to form one or more hinges in the expandable material at predetermined locations within the mould cavity; wherein the mould cavity defined by the first mould member and the second mould member is a three-dimensional representation of an inside-out configuration of the assembled container.

The present invention relates to an enhanced method for the manufacture of a plastic component (135), in particular a cushioning element for sports apparel, the method comprising: opening a mold (100) by a predetermined amount into a loading position, wherein the mold comprises at least two mold parts (110, 112) and wherein the amount by which the mold is opened influences an available loading volume of the mold, loading a material comprising expanded particles (130) into the loading volume, closing the mold into a closed position, wherein during closing of the mold the mold parts are moved together over different distances (140) in different areas of the mold, compressing the expanded particles by closing the mold and fusing at least the surfaces of the expanded particles to mold the plastic component.

There is described a method of creating a hinge in a body of expandable material, said body being substantially flat and having at least two planar regions connected by said hinge to facilitate folding of the planar regions about said hinge, comprising: expanding said expandable material to form said body; creating a region of excess expandable material in said body adjacent said hinge; and compressing said region of excess expandable material into the hinge of said body after the expandable material has fused to create a hinge having a concentrated volume of expanded material when compared to said at least two planar regions of said body.

Integrally molded insulated concrete form skeleton modules are discussed, along with various other insulated concrete form skeletons and related methods and technologies. Insulated concrete corner forms are discussed, and ways to make same are also discussed. One or both folding and cutting steps may be used to create a corner form from a planar form, or from two independent concrete forms.

A molded body, comprising a foamed portion in which a skin layer A, a foamed layer and a skin layer B are disposed in this order in a thickness direction, wherein in the foamed portion, the foamed layer has a ratio of thickness, with respect to a total thickness of the skin layer A, the foamed layer and the skin layer B, of from 73% to 88%.

Device for manufacturing board-like insulating elements, comprising a mould with a mould cavity for forming a board-like insulating element therein, wherein the mould cavity has an overall width, an overall height and an overall depth which correspond with respectively an overall width, an overall length and an overall thickness of the board-like insulating element, wherein the mould is configured to adjust the overall width of the mould cavity along the overall height and the overall depth of the mould cavity and/or the overall height of the mould cavity along the overall width and the overall depth of the mould cavity.

Proposed is an apparatus and method for manufacturing automotive interior materials. The apparatus includes a first mold unit with a first molding surface and a gate disposed on the first molding surface, and a second mold unit provided with a second molding surface facing the first molding surface, wherein a skin is set on the first molding surface; and the first mold unit and the second mold unit are configured, when combined, to provide a volume-variable injection space between the set skin and the first molding surface, wherein the volume-variable injection space is in a first volume state while molten resin is injected through the gate, and after completing the injection of the molten resin, the volume-variable injection space changes to a second volume state that a volume of the injection space is reduced compared to the first volume state to compress the molten resin.