An article enclosing at least one built-in fitment component in the form of a hollow body of thermoplastic material. The hollow body is preferably in the form of a fuel tank. The built-in fitment component is pressed against the inside wall of the article while still plastic so that the plastic material of the hollow body penetrates through at least one recess or opening of the built-in fitment component and flows therebehind.

An object of the invention is to provide a blow-molded foam which has homogeneous foamed cells in size, is light in weight, and is excellent in surface smoothness, and a process for producing the same. The invention is directed to a blow-molded foam 1 having a wall portion formed in such a manner that a thermoplastic resin containing a foaming agent mixed therewith is subjected to blow molding. Herein, the wall portion has a closed cell structure in which a plurality of foamed cells are contained. The wall portion has an expansion ratio of not less than 2.0 times. The wall portion has an outer face having a center-line average surface roughness Ra of less than 9.0 m. The foamed cell has a cell diameter having a standard deviation of less than 40 m in a thickness direction of the wall portion.

A method for manufacturing a plastic fuel tank including: a) inserting a plastic parison including two distinct parts into an open two-cavity mold; b) inserting a core, bearing at least part of a reinforcing element configured to create a link between the two parison parts, inside the parison; c) pressing the parison firmly against the mold cavities, for example by blowing through the core and/or creating suction behind the cavities; d) fixing the part of the reinforcing element to at least one of the parison parts using the core; e) withdrawing the core; f) closing the mold, bringing its two cavities together to grip the two parison parts around their periphery to weld them together; g) injecting a pressurized fluid into the mold and/or creating a vacuum behind the mold cavities to press the parison firmly against the mold cavities; and h) opening the mold and extracting the tank.

A process for laminating elements together to form an article having a predetermined shape including an interior cavity comprises: placing a first sheet atop a first die; placing a first pressure introduction port atop the first sheet; placing a second sheet atop the first port and atop the first sheet; placing a second die atop the second sheet; clamping the first sheet, first port, and second sheet between the first and second dies to form an assembly comprising first die, first sheet, pressure introduction port, second sheet, and second die; introducing an applied gas pressure between the first and second sheets of the assembly, via the first pressure introduction port; heating the assembly to a temperature at which the first and second sheets can thermally deform, thereby achieving simultaneous lamination and blow molding of the first and second sheets; and cooling the assembly, such that the article is created.

A foam seating article includes a layer of molded foam surrounding a hollow shell made of hard plastic. A fabric covering encloses the shell and molded foam. The foam seating article can take the form of a chair, stool, sofa, chaise lounge, bench or Ottoman. The hollow shell can be formed using blow molding, injection molding or by capping both ends of a tube with disks. Air pressure inside the airtight hollow shell prevents the shell from collapsing inwards under the weight of an occupant. Alternatively, the hollow shell of the seating article can be accessed through a removable lid. The seating article includes no wood or metal. The layer of molded foam includes sections of different foam types, such as high density (HD) foam, memory foam and latex foam. Molding foam around a hard plastic shell is simpler and less costly than making conventional metal or wood framed furniture.

A method for molding a two-piece blow molded hollow tank by using auxiliary male molds includes the following steps: 1) blanking two parisons; 2) closing mold halves of a mold and a pre-molding template; 3) pre-stretching the molten parisons by using auxiliary male molds in the pre-molding template; 4) performing internal high-pressure blow molding, and pre-molding two housing portions; 5) opening the mold, and withdrawing the pre-molding template; 6) moving in a component built-in mechanism to perform built-in component connection; 7) moving out the component built-in mechanism; 8) closing the mold for the second time and finally blow molding a hollow tank; and 9) opening the mold and taking out the product.

A resin-made fuel tank includes: a resin-made fuel tank main body provided by joining an upper half and a lower half; a barrier sheet layer that is provided on an inner surface of the fuel tank main body and that reduces permeation of a fuel from the fuel tank main body; and a front mounting stay and rear mounting stays for mounting the fuel tank main body to a vehicle body. The front mounting stay and the rear mounting stays are provided on the fuel tank main body at positions vertically spaced from an upper joint surface and a lower joint surface at which the upper half and the lower half re joined to each other.

A skinned panel for stably molding a thin skin material and a molding method thereof. An extruding device is configured to extrude a pair of multilayered resin sheets, each of which has a lamination structure of an inner layer made of a foamed resin and an outer layer made of a non-foamed resin that is changed into a skin material of a sandwich panel as a skinned panel. The pair of the resin sheets is abutted to the circumferential part of the pair of the split molds for producing sealed spaces. The sealed spaces are sucked for pressing the pair of the resin sheets onto cavities of the pair of the split molds. Accordingly, the pair of the resin sheets is formed in a shape substantially identical to the outline of the sandwich panel.

A method of thermoforming a container includes forming a lid having a lid rim, and forming a base including a base rim. The method also includes forming a foldable section that joins the lid rim and the base rim and includes a lid hinge panel extending from the lid rim to a hinge and a base hinge panel extending from the base rim to the hinge. The method also includes forming a frangible line that extends from an edge of the lid hinge panel, across a portion of the lid hinge panel to a first point, from the first point across the lid hinge panel to the hinge, across the hinge, across the base hinge panel from the hinge to a second point on the base hinge panel, and from the second point across a portion of the base hinge panel to an outside edge of the base hinge panel.

The method comprises the step of forming pipes (12) by clamping a bag between shells (13, 14) and by injecting an inflating agent via an inflating connector. The circuit comprises a bag (126) and a press (10) comprising two shells (13, 14) clamping said bag in a state in which pipes (12) are formed between the films (25, 26) of the bag.