Method and apparatus for preparing a molded article

A method for preparing a molded article comprising:

• a. providing a mold apparatus comprising,
• i. a mold portion having an exterior mold surface, and a perimeter edge, said exterior mold surface having a contour and a plurality of perforations;
• and
• ii. four separate flat table structures having an upper surface, said four separate flat table structures having no perforations for applying a vacuum and no clamps on the four separate flat table structures;
• said four separate flat table structures having a longitudinal axis that is oriented along at least a portion of said perimeter edge, said table structure being reversibly and controllably positionable along at least one of an x-axis, a y-axis and a z-axis relative to said perimeter edge;
• b. positioning said four separate flat table structures such that the upper surface of said four separate flat table structures are located above said perimeter edge and on a plane equivalent to the top surface of said mold portion;
• c. forming, from at least one thermoplastic composition, a heated thermoplastic sheet having a temperature that allows said heated thermoplastic sheet to be thermoformable;
• d. contacting a first portion of said heated thermoplastic sheet with at least a portion of the upper surface of one of the four flat table structures;
• e. moving said mold apparatus relative to said thermoplastic sheet to allow deployment of said thermoplastic sheet across the plane formed by the top surface of said mold portion and the remaining three separate flat table structures;
• f. moving each of the four separate flat table structures independently down along the z-axis and away from the center of said mold portion in either the x-axis or y-axis direction, allowing said four separate flat table structures to slide from underneath said thermoplastic sheet so that said thermoplastic sheet steadily drapes down under the force of gravity and across said exterior mold surface, substantially matching the contour of said exterior mold surface;
• g. drawing reduced pressure through said plurality of perforations of said exterior mold surface of said mold portion, such that the heated thermoplastic sheet substantially matches said contour of said exterior mold surface of said exterior mold portion;
• h. cooling said heated thermoplastic sheet thereby forming a shaped thermoplastic sheet that retains said contour of said exterior mold surface of said mold portion;
• and removing said shaped thermoplastic sheet from said first mold portion, wherein said shaped thermoplastic sheet is said molded article.