Process and Mould for Thermoforming Containers

A horizontal intermittent motion thermoforming machine comprising a mould, wherein said mould contains a plurality of pocket forming cavities, defined by side walls and a base, in a 2-dimensional array, each cavity being surrounded by a planar surface of the mould on all sides in which the shortest dimension of the planar surface between two adjacent cavities is at least 3 mm and between an edge of the mould and the closest cavity is at least 1.5 mm, and in which the cavities are positioned in the array such that there are a plurality of continuous strips of uninterrupted planar surface of the mould from a leading to a trailing edge of the mould, wherein bottom corners, formed where the cavity side walls meet the cavity base and edges, formed where the cavity side walls meet an upper surface of the mould, are rounded.

A horizontal intermittent motion thermoforming machine as claimed in claim 3, wherein said plurality of support means are arranged along at least every other one of said plurality of continuous strips.