Mold-press forming apparatus and method of manufacturing a formed product

A formed product manufacturing method comprising:

• supplying a forming material in a mold which comprises an upper mold, a lower mold, and a sleeve, said mold comprises a cylindrical body mold as said sleeve, said upper mold and said lower mold being fitted to an upper part and a lower part of said cylindrical body mold, respectively, said cylindrical body mold having a plurality of ventilation holes in a circumferential direction, each of said plurality of ventilation holes connecting a forming space defined by said upper and said lower molds and by said cylindrical body mold to an outside of said cylindrical body mold,
• press-forming said forming material into a formed product as said forming material in a softened state is contained in said mold, which method further comprising:
• a pressure reducing step of, prior to said press forming, reducing a pressure of an airtight chamber as containing into which said mold containing said forming material is introduced, a pressure reducing rate being changed during the course of said pressure reducing step, and
• introducing said mold containing said forming material from said airtight chamber into a forming chamber which comprises at least one of processing chambers including a heating chamber, a pressing chamber, and a cooling chamber and which is different from said airtight chamber, said forming chamber having a predetermined atmosphere therein,
• wherein said pressure reducing rate is increased in the course of said pressure reducing step, and
• wherein said plurality of ventilation holes of said cylindrical body mold contribute to evacuation carried out in said airtight chamber without causing displacement of said forming material in said mold during said pressure reducing step.