Process for forming plastic, apparatuses for forming plastic, and articles made therefrom

A process for forming a plastic composite into a predetermined shape from a plastic particulate material and an expandable plastic filler material, each plastic material having a respective melting point, said process comprising:

• providing open face complementary open molds made of a material selected from the group consisting of alloys, metals, ceramics, cermets, plastics, and combinations thereof, said molds being formed into a predetermined shape with at least an open face portion on each of said open complementary molds to impart the desired shape;
• heating at least the open face portions of the complementary open molds to an elevated temperature of from about 130° C. to about 865° C. which is above the melting points of the respective plastic particulate material and the plastic filler material;
• contacting the face portions of the complementary open molds to the plastic particulate material resulting in two melted plastic skin layers on the open face surfaces of the open molds, said contacting occurring while the plastic particulate is at least at room temperature for a dwell time period of from about 1 second to about 30 minutes, said dwell time period being pre-selected to melt the plastic particulate into a layer of a desired thickness prior to ceasing contact with the plastic particulate, and removing the excess plastic particulate to leave a molded skin of the desired thickness in the open mold;
• contacting the skin layer on the face portion of at least one of the open face complementary open molds with the expandable plastic filler material;
• holding together while spacing apart the two complementary open molds from one another at a predetermined distance such that the expandable plastic filler material may be sandwiched between the molds to form a double skinned composite with a plastic filler material in the middle of the two skins, with an overall predetermined thickness of the composite;
• and
• cooling at least one of the complementary molds to loosen and remove the article.

A process for forming a plastic composite into a predetermined shape from a plastic particulate material and an expandable plastic filler material, each having a respective melting point, said process comprising:

• providing open face complementary open molds made of a material selected from the group consisting of alloys, metals, ceramics, cermets, plastics, and combinations thereof, said molds being formed into a predetermined shape with at least an open face portion on each of said complementary open molds to impart a desired shape;
• providing a means for heating the open face complementary open molds to an elevated temperature of from about 100° C. to about 865° C. which is above the melting points of the respective plastic particulate material and the expandable plastic filler material, such that contacting the complementary molds to the plastic particulate material will result in a melted plastic layer on the surface contacted;
• heating said complementary open molds by said heating means at least on their open face portions to a temperature above the melting point of the plastic particulate, and then contacting the face portion of the two molds with the plastic particulate while the plastic particulate is at least at room temperature for a dwell time period preselected to melt the plastic particulate into a skin layer of a desired thickness on the face portion, prior to ceasing contact with the plastic particulate;
• and
• holding the two open face complementary open molds apart from one another at a predetermined distance and placing expandable plastic filler material between the two heated complementary molds such that the expandable plastic filler material is sandwiched and expanded between the molds to a thickness determined by the distance the molds are spaced apart.