15. In-line thermoforming

In in-line thermoforming, avoiding the reel stage leads to substantial savings in :

• labor costs ;

• scrap (no banks) and direct in-line recycling ;

• overall energy consumption ;

• handling and storage costs.

Systems differ according to the type of thermoforming (depth) and the polymers (amorphous – crystalline).

• Direct extrusion on a large-diameter drum cylinder: this acts as a draw-roller, cooling unit and mold-holder: objects are vacuum-thermoformed row by row, then die-cut in the next step (figure 35 ). This system is ideally suited to the manufacture...