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 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. A liner sheet may be attached to the feedstock sheet prior to, during, or after forming and can be peelable therefrom.

An apparatus for thermoforming plastic containers (2) comprising at least one thermoforming device (3) suitable for thermoforming a flat sheet (4) for making a container (2) equipped with an upper flange (5) projecting outward and at least one extracting device (6) associable with the thermoforming device (3) for extracting the thermoformed container (2) from it; when the extracting device (6) is associated with the thermoforming device (3) for extracting the already thermoformed container (2), the extracting device (6) and the thermoforming device (3) define a perimetric mould (7) suitable for hot bending the annular flange (5) of the already thermoformed container (2) before it is extracted from the thermoforming device (3).

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 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.

Three-dimensional decorative articles are produced from blanks of heat-shrinkable plastic sheet material, using a mold base having an outer surface with a recess over which a blank is placed, and a convex mold insert that moves into the recess by gravity as the blank softens and cooperates with the interior wall of the recess to shape the sheet material into a three-dimensional decorative article. A guide peg extends outward from the bottom of the recess past the outer surface of the mold base and extends through a hole formed in the blank, and through a guide hole in the mold insert to support the mold insert before heating and to guide the mold insert as it moves into the recess of the mold base.

A shaped tile and its manufacturing method are described. The manufacturing method for fabricating a shaped tile comprises a thermoforming process, which comprises using a thermoforming mold to perform heat-compression on an intermediate tile so as to melt and deform the intermediate tile while heat-compression is applied, and to form a molding edge on at least one periphery of the intermediate tile such that the intermediate tile is turned into a shaped tile. By employing the proposed present invention, it is advantages of maintaining a final configuration of the shaped tile without getting any distortion.

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. A liner sheet may be attached to the feedstock sheet prior to, during, or after forming and can be peelable therefrom.

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.

A device and method for thermoforming of a product from a plastic film includes a mould assembly which is used in such a device. The plastic film is clamped between the mould parts in primary and secondary manner. The forming process can hereby be divided into more or less independent zones. Different forming techniques, positive or negative, can be used in the different zones. This makes it possible to combine the advantages of the two techniques in one forming process.