Laminating film to plastics extrudate and cornering extrudate with selected radii

A mold comprising a plurality of mold portions associated with one another for movement between open and closed positions and defining a mold cavity therein, one of said mold portions having at least first and second forming die sections, each of said sections having end wall means spaced from one another, said end wall means of the second of said die sections defining one end of said mold cavity to mold plastics material supplied to said cavity into a molded part with a predetermined shape having at least one end with a squared corner having a minimized radius as determined by the amount of spacing between end walls of said first and second forming die sections, the first of said of said forming die sections having a recess therein which extends through the end wall means thereof and forms a portion of said cavity, gas venting means provided by the space between said end wall means of said sections, gas discharge means pneumatically communicating with said gas venting means for transmitting and exhausting gases from said mold generated during molding so that said plastics material will flow against said end wall of said second section and completely fill said cavity to fully form said molded part with said squared corner, and means connecting said second die sections to said one of said mold portions for adjustable movement relative thereto so that the gas capacity of said venting means can be varied to vary the radius of said squared corner of said one end of said molded part.

A method for making finish moldings having a finished show surface for application to support surfaces comprising the steps of:

• extruding a profiled strip of heated plastics base material,
• passing a paint film of plastics material through a guide plate for guiding and progressively preforming said paint film of plastics material into a shape for fitting on said heated and profiled strip while maintaining said show surface of said paint film outboard of said guide plate as said strip is extruded,
• applying said preformed paint film onto said profiled strip so that it laminates directly thereto and so that said strip and film form a composite with said film providing a finish coat therefor, and
• compression forming said composite with a multi-part die so that said composite is finished with a squared corner at one end within a predetermined range of corner radii.

A mechanism for making moldings of predetermined lengths with a squared end corner and having a finished show surface for attachment to support surfaces comprising:

• plastics extrusion means for extruding a profiled strip of heated plastics material,
• a supply of paint film,
• film guiding and film curving means for curving said film while guiding said film from said supply to a station adjacent to said strip while said strip is being extruded from said plastics extrusion means,
• apply wheel means located at said station for applying said film to said profiled strip so that it laminates thereto,
• compression mold means having a plurality of mold portions associated with one another and relatively movable between open and closed positions and defining a mold cavity therein, one of said mold portions having at least first and second forming die sections, each of said die sections having end wall means spaced from one another, said one of said end wall means defining one end of said cavity to mold plastics material supplied to said cavity into a part with a predetermined shape having at least one end with a squared corner having a minimized radius as determined by the amount of spacing between end walls of said first and second forming die sections, the first of said forming die sections having a recess therein to define a portion of said cavity, gas venting means provided by the spacing between said end wall means of said sections and gas discharge means pneumatically communicating with said gas venting means for transmitting and exhausting gases from said mold generated during molding so that said plastics will completely fill said cavity to fully form said molded part with said squared corner.