The invention relates to an apparatus for laminating a film part, in particular a decorative layer, on a carrier part having a laminating region in which the film part can be laminated onto the carrier part, in particular onto a motor vehicle interior trim part, having an edge region arranged adjacent to this laminating region in which the film part projects beyond the carrier part in order to produce a bend-around region on the film part which can subsequently be bent around a carrier part edge, and having a tool in which the tool comprises a first tool half for producing a surface design on the film part and a second tool half for receiving the carrier part, wherein the first tool half comprises thermally differently acting sub-regions, namely a first sub-region with a contour for the surface design which interacts with the laminating region and a thermal sub-region which interacts with the edge region adjacent to the laminating region.

A system includes a heating section configured to heat a sheet of plastic to generate a heated sheet of plastic. The system includes a plate configured to secure a mold associated with a dental arch of a patient. The plate includes a locking mechanism. The mold includes feature configured to interface with the locking mechanism. The system further includes a thermoforming chamber configured to thermoform the heated sheet of plastic to the mold that is secured to the plate via an interface of the locking mechanism with the feature to generate a thermoformed sheet of plastic. The locking mechanism is configured to extend through the mold and overlap an upper surface of the mold to lock the mold in a z-direction that is orthogonal to a plane defined by the plate. The system further includes a cutting tool configured to trim an aligner from the thermoformed sheet of plastic.

A rotary thermoforming apparatus including a rotatable drum having a plurality of cavity flats positioned on an outer surface of the drum together defining a mold cavity section of the drum, each cavity flat having one or more mold cavities, a plug assist assembly positioned adjacent each corresponding cavity flat when in a first retracted state, the plug assist assembly secured to, and rotatable with, the outer surface of the drum, each plug assist assembly having one or more plug assist members corresponding to the one or more mold cavities in the adjacent corresponding cavity flat, wherein each plug assist member is extendable into its corresponding mold cavity, and retractable from its corresponding mold cavity, wherein each plug assist assembly is extendable from the first retracted state to an extended state positioned over the corresponding cavity flat, and wherein each plug assist assembly is retractable from the extended state back to the first retracted state.

An apparatus for thermoforming plastic containers comprising a pickup station (24), a feeder (25) for feeding flat sheets (8) of thermoformable plastic material to the pickup station (24), at least one thermoforming device (3), and a transferring device (26) for transferring the flat sheets (8) from the pickup station (24) to the thermoforming device (3), the feeder (25) comprising at least one support (50) for a reel (51) of a web (52) of thermoformable plastic material, unwinding means (53) for unwinding the reel (51) of web (52) which are designed, in use, to feed the web (52) along a sliding path extending from the at least one support (50) to the pickup station (24), and a cutting device (54) for cutting the web (52), positioned along the sliding path, for dividing the web (52) into a plurality of pieces each of which corresponds to a flat sheet (8) to be fed to the pickup station (24).

An apparatus for thermoforming plastic containers comprising a thermoforming device (3) in turn comprising a shaped mould (4) and a closing element (5) movable relative to one another at least between a home position and a forming position, and an extracting device (9) for extracting the thermoformed container (2) from the shaped mould (4), the extracting device comprising at least one gripper element (68) shiftable between a pickup position and a releasing position; in which when the shaped mould (4) and the closing element (5) are in an extracting position, the gripper element (68) in the pickup position can grip a projecting edge (66) of a projecting flange (71) of the container (2) for retaining it, whilst when the gripper element (68) is in the releasing position it can release a thermoformed container (2), retained by it, onto a conveying device (69); and in which the gripper element (68) and the shaped mould (4) are also movable relative to each other, starting from the position in which the gripper element (68) has gripped the edge (66) of the container (2), along an extracting line, for causing the container (2) to come out of the shaped mould (4).

A gripper is disclosed for a draping frame having a gripper chassis and at least two opposing mutually movable gripper jaw elements for gripping a film element. The gripper jaw elements are provided on a gripper head part of the gripper. The gripper head part of the gripper is movably mounted, at least with one degree of freedom, relative to the gripper chassis.

A vacuum plastic molding machine includes a heating device, a plurality of upright posts, a carrier assembly, and a demolding mechanism. The carrier assembly includes an upper carrier and a lower carrier. The upper carrier includes an upper frame, multiple upper movement structures, at least one rotation plate, at least one driving member, and at least one linking mechanism. An adjusting space is defined between the at least one rotation plate and the at least one linking mechanism. The lower carrier includes a lower frame, multiple lower movement structures, and at least one locking tenon. The locking tenon is placed into the adjusting space. The at least one driving member is rotated to change the position of the at least one locking tenon in the adjusting space, and to adjust the distance between the upper carrier and the lower carrier.

Production process of a composite product (1) comprising a core (2), a first layer (3) comprising a sheet impregnated with a solid polyurethane material, and a polymer-based film (7) applied to the first layer (3), wherein the process comprises: producing a semi-finished product comprising the core (2) and the sheet impregnated by a liquid mixture precursor of the solid polyurethane material; adhering the film (7) to a first half-mould (11) by applying a depression between the film (7) and the half-mould (11); pressing two half-moulds (11, 12) against each other with the semi-finished product interposed between two shaping surfaces (13), so that the film (7) comes into contact with the liquid mixture; with the semi-finished product in the mould, thermosetting the liquid mixture to transform it into the polyurethane solid material so that the film (7) firmly adheres to the first layer (3) and thus producing the composite product (1).

A material forming apparatus comprises: a support which is positioned at a side of a forming tool with respect to a material arranged on the forming tool to have a first part covered by the forming tool and a second part separated from the forming tool, and which supports the forming tool; a diaphragm which presses the second part of the material while the outer surface of the expanded diaphragm comes in close contact therewith, in a state in which the first part of the material is compressed by the forming tool and the outer surface of the diaphragm; and a volume-varying member which is disposed near the forming tool between the diaphragm and the support so that at least a portion thereof is positioned on the second part of the material.

Process of making a plastic component (1), in particular luggage shell, from self-reinforced thermoplastic material, to a plastic component (1) made of self-reinforced thermoplastic material and an apparatus for making such a plastic component, in particular luggage shell (7). The invention provides a new product and process for manufacturing same on the basis of self-reinforced thermoplastic material by means of the step of tensioning said material (lamina), at least partially tensioning said lamina during all follow-up component shaping and/or molding steps up to a release of a component pre-form shape from the remainder lamina, to form the component. The present invention allow the manufacturing of an ultra-light weight luggage shell (7) on the basis of using self-reinforced thermoplastic material, the manufacturing of same can be further enhanced by permanently tensioning said material during all manufacturing steps up to the final finishing of the product.