A station for feeding closing seals for containers, which includes at least one fixed magazine of seals which is provided with an outlet from which the seals can be taken individually. The station includes a carousel for feeding seals which can rotate with respect to a first central rotation axis and is provided with pickers which are radially spaced apart from the first rotation axis. The pickers are individually rotatable about a second rotation axis which is not parallel to the first axis of the carousel. During the rotation of the carousel, at least one picker can is configured to rotate about the second axis from a position for taking the seal from the magazine to a position for releasing the seal.

A station for heating thermoplastic sheet-like blanks for a thermoforming line includes a heating carousel which can rotate continuously about a central axis and which has a number of heating heads radially spaced apart from the central axis. Each heating head is adapted to receive at least one respective thermoplastic sheet-like blank at a first peripheral region which is outside the carousel, to retain the at least one blank during the rotation of the carousel while supplying heat to it, and to release the at least one blank to a second peripheral region which is outside the carousel and is angularly spaced apart from the first region.

The disclosure relates to a deep-drawing apparatus for deep-drawing a continuously fed film web, an associated packaging machine, and a corresponding method. A cyclically sequenced forming station, which runs along from a start position to an end position and runs back from there to the start position is provided, wherein individual format plates are sequentially firstly connected up to a forming vacuum device and then with a following holding vacuum channel. The forming vacuum device is part of the cyclically moved forming station. The holding vacuum channel includes two interlocking telescopic channel portions, a first telescopic channel portion being part of the cyclically moved forming station, and a second telescopic channel portion being mounted statically relative to the fixed machine frame.

Described are methods of two-dimensionally and three-dimensionally forming an article of wear using vacuum forming in an automated process. In the two-dimensional method, the article of wear comprises a generally flat shape with three-dimensional features molded into the first material layer.

A method for shaping a preform made from thermoplastic material, and a facility for implementing the method, comprising the following steps: a) providing a preform made from thermoplastic material having a surface; b) supplying thermal energy to the preform by radiation in such a way as to make it ductile; and c) shaping the ductile preform inside a forming mould. Step b) further involves simultaneously spraying a gaseous fluid onto the surface of the preform in order to preserve the surface.

Described are methods of two-dimensionally and three-dimensionally forming an article of wear using vacuum forming in an automated process. In the two-dimensional method, the article of wear comprises a generally flat shape with three-dimensional features molded into the first material layer.

Apparatus and methods of forming selected portions of integral sheets of material are disclosed. Unformed portions of the sheets may remain undistorted during the forming process, allowing them to contain text, art work, or other desired information without material risk of the information being degraded or becoming unintelligible during the forming process. This result may be accomplished, moreover, with less trim than usually occurs in conventional forming processes.

A method for producing a composite glass pane, includes placing a first glass pane having a thickness less than or equal to 1 mm on a support mould, wherein the first glass pane is curved into a shape determined by the support mould; placing at least one thermoplastic film on the first glass pane; placing a curved second glass pane having a thickness greater than or equal to 1.5 mm on the thermoplastic film; and joining the first glass pane to the second glass pane via the thermoplastic film to form a composite glass pane by lamination.

A thermoforming device includes: a base configured to hold a substrate; a hot plate including a heating surface facing vertically downward; a sheet transport portion that supplies a sheet onto the heating surface of the hot plate; and a substrate supply portion configured to attach the substrate to the base and detach the substrate from the base, and to dispose the substrate at a substrate supply position positioned in a lower area of the sheet which is opposite to a side of the sheet in which the heating surface is provided. In the thermoforming device, heating of the sheet using the hot plate and attachment and detachment of the substrate with respect to the base are performable at the same time, and the sheet heated and softened by the hot plate is attached to the substrate at the substrate supply position.

The disclosure relates to a film transportation plate and a film transportation system for transporting a film web through processing stations of a film packaging machine. The film transportation plate has two opposite lateral edges and, therebetween, at least one mold impression for thermoforming the film web. Retainers for the film web are arranged on the two lateral edges. The retainers are each formed by a fixed clamping surface and at least one clamping jaw, which is movable relative to the clamping surface, for pressing the film web so as to clamp it against the clamping surface. The retainers also each have at least one retaining magnet for attracting the clamping jaw against the clamping surface, and an actuating extension for lifting the clamping jaw off the clamping surface. The film transportation system also includes actuating means which act on the actuating extensions of the clamping jaws.