A molding device includes a lower mold seat including a lower mounting portion, a lower die core assembly mounted in the lower mounting portion and including a lower die core unit defining a mold cavity, an upper mold seat including an upper mounting portion, an upper die core assembly mounted in the upper mounting portion and including an upper die core unit covering the mold cavity, and upper and lower heating units respectively including upper and lower high-frequency heating members respectively inducing eddy current in at least one of the lower die core unit and the lower mold seat and at least one of the upper die core unit and the upper mold seat.

An injection molding apparatus and method are provided, comprising: a core plate having a male protrusion; a cavity plate having a female cavity configured to be mated with the male protrusion; a first insert plate; a second insert plate connected to the first insert plate by a rotating arm; a motor; connected to the rotating arm, operable to rotate the first insert plate and the second insert plate in and out of the female cavity of the cavity plate; and an induction heating device, positioned outside of the cavity plate, operable to cause an induction current on a surface of either the first insert plate or the second insert plate when either are rotated outside of the female cavity.

The present disclosure relates to a tool such as an injection molding tool or an embossing tool. A heating device including a stack of layers is provided for heating a tool surface. The stack may include a coil carrier layer with a number of wound coils for generating a magnetic field, and a conductive top layer, being adjacent to the tool surface currents are induced in the top layer to heat the surface. Efficient heating may be provided by solutions involving low resistivity layers that lead currents to the top layer without themselves developing heat to any greater extent. A conduction frame device can be provided beneath the top layer and around the perimeter thereof to provide reliable contact with a backing layer. A thermal resistance layer may placed between the intermediate layer and the top layer, and may comprise a heat resistive plastic material such as a polyimide.

A method and apparatus for forming a stiffened thermoplastic panel is presented. The method may comprise placing a number of forming tools within a number of concave areas of a thermoplastic preform. The method may also place the thermoplastic preform with the number of forming tools within the number of concave areas on a thermoplastic lay-up to form a workpiece. The method may also position the workpiece within a tool. The tool may have a number of die liners configured to generate heat in response to a magnetic field. The method may also consolidate the workpiece to form the stiffened thermoplastic panel. Consolidating may comprise applying a magnetic field to the number of die liners to heat the workpiece to a consolidation temperature.

An incremental forming machine and a process are disclosed that comprise selecting a blank and selecting a stylus that has a tip at one end. The stylus may be heated to a desired temperature before contacting the blank with the stylus to change a characteristic of the blank or part. The stylus apparatus may include a tip on an end of a shaft and a resistance heating element disposed inside the tip. Alternatively, the stylus apparatus may include an induction heating coil disposed around the tip. The tip of the stylus may have a rotatable ball that engages the blank or part.

A processing apparatus such as a heating and/or debulking apparatus that may be used to debulk a plurality of uncured composite layers to form an article such as an aircraft component may include a plurality of interconnected smart susceptor heater blankets. The plurality of smart susceptor heater blankets may be connected in series or in parallel, and may be controlled to uniformly heat the component during formation.

An enclosure for heating a three dimensional structure. The enclosure comprising a body defining a cavity therein. The cavity sized to receive a three dimensional structure. A plurality of heating blankets configured to heat the three dimensional structure to a substantially uniform temperature. At least one of the plurality of heating blankets comprises a conductor for receiving current and generating a magnetic field in response thereto, a first susceptor wire comprising an alloy having a first Curie temperature point and a second susceptor wire. The second susceptor wire comprising a second Curie temperature point that is different than the first Curie temperature point of the first susceptor wire.

A processing apparatus such as a heating and/or debulking apparatus that may be used to debulk a plurality of uncured composite layers to form an article such as an aircraft component may include a plurality of interconnected smart susceptor heater blankets. The plurality of smart susceptor heater blankets may be connected in series or in parallel, and may be controlled to uniformly heat the component during formation.

A method is provided during which a first thermoplastic body is provided. The first thermoplastic body includes first fiber-reinforcement with a first electrical conductivity. A second thermoplastic body is provided. The second thermoplastic body includes second fiber-reinforcement with a second electrical conductivity that is greater than the first electrical conductivity. The second thermoplastic body is arranged with the first thermoplastic body. The second thermoplastic body is induction welded to the first thermoplastic body using an induction welding coil. The second thermoplastic body is arranged between the first thermoplastic body and the induction welding coil.

Thermoplastic components may experience local damage, including cracks and decohesion of fiber reinforcements, among others. Such thermoplastics may be repaired by heating them to a suitable softening/melting temperature under pressure and maintaining them under pressure and at elevated temperature until the damage is healed. This may be done in-place using custom-fabricated, suitably-shaped die portions maintained under pressure by magnetic attraction. Various heating methods and die portion fabrication methods are described.