Conopco, Inc.

Novartis Ag

Paul Hartmann Ag

Unilever Plc

Unilever, N.v.

Unilever Plc, a Company Registered in England and Wales Under Company No. 41424

Adrian Michael Woodward

Roger Biel

Pierre Croizat

Katrin Sylke Lorenz

Stephen George Fleck

James Robert Stirling Howarth

Thomas David Reid Ford

Katrin Sylke Struckmeier

Suzanne Emma Axe

Johanna Klusmann

Karina Beyrle

James Edward Stein

Stephen John Grimwade

Provided is a process for thermoforming a gas and liquid permeable layer () of thermoplastic material having an average thickness of less than 1.0 mm, the process comprising the steps of bringing the layer of thermoplastic material, at a temperature below that required for thermoforming, into contact with a mould () at a temperature above that of a thermoforming temperature of the thermoplastic material; pressing the mould into contact with the layer of thermoplastic material, the contact between mould and thermoplastic material causing heat to transfer from the mould to the thermoplastic material and raising the temperature of the thermoplastic material to a thermoformable temperature; such pressing thereby causing thermoforming of the thermoplastic material to conform to the shape of the mould.

Process and apparatus for producing packets

A process for forming a sheet of thermoplastic material into a three-dimensional shape comprising at least one vertex, the process comprising the steps of (i) forming the sheet by means of a former having a profile such as to produce a first formed shape in the sheet, followed by (ii) positioning a male former within the first formed shape, the male former having a profile within the first formed shape comprising at least one vertex and (iii) raising the temperature of the first formed shape above that of forming in step (i), thereby causing the first formed shape to shrink back towards its original sheet form and thereby adopting the profile of the male former.

Process for producing formed thermoplastic

There is described an apparatus and method for transporting contact lenses through dipping baths () for e.g. rinsing, extraction, coating or loading purposes. The lenses are individually accommodated in respective containers () which are capable of enabling a flow of treatment fluid (S) into and out of the container (). During their automatic transport through the dipping baths () the containers () are held in carriers (). Lifters () are provided for automatically lowering and raising the carriers () in a reciprocating manner along their travel through the dipping bath (). The reciprocating lowering and raising of the containers () is accomplished such, that a portion of each container which accommodates a contact lens remains immersed in the treatment fluid (S) which is contained in the dipping bath () while the container () suspended from the carrier () is advanced through the dipping bath () from a starting end to a leaving end thereof.

Apparatus and method for transporting contact lenses through dipping baths

Provided is a process for forming a sheet of thermoplastic material into a three-dimensional shape, the process comprising the steps of (i) forming the sheet at a temperature below its glass transition temperature to produce a first formed shape in the sheet, followed by (ii) raising the temperature of the first formed shape () to above its glass transition temperature whilst a male former (), having at least a portion of its profile being substantially the same as that of the first formed shape (), is positioned to substantially align at least a portion of its profile with that of the first formed shape (), thereby restricting the first formed shape from shrinking back towards its original sheet form, followed by (iii) further forming the first formed shape () at a temperature below that of the glass transition temperature, to form a second formed shape (), followed by (iv) raising the temperature of the second formed shape () to above its glass transition temperature whilst a male former (), at least a portion of its profile being substantially the same as that of the second formed shape (), is positioned to substantially align at least a portion of its profile with that of the second formed shape (), thereby restricting the second formed shape () from shrinking back towards its original sheet form.

Process for forming a sheet of thermoplastic material

A process for sequentially forming a plurality of enclosed containers () comprising a product, the process involving passing a continuous web (), comprising a strip of container material having two opposing edges (), to a folding station (), whereupon each open container is sequentially formed by folding the web, to bring into contact two contiguous edge portions () from only one edge of the web, then sealing the two edges together to form a portion of the web into an open container, depositing the product onto the web so that it is held within the open containers, and then sealing the open containers to form the enclosed containers.

There is described a container () for the accommodation of a contact lens during treatment process such as extraction and/or rinsing and/or coating processes, which comprises an elongated tubular body () having a sidewall () and at one longitudinal end thereof a bottom () which protrudes convexly towards the outside of the tubular body (). At the opposite longitudinal end the tubular body () has an access opening (). The bottom () is provided with a number of apertures () which enable a free flow of a liquid into and out of the tubular body (). A retaining element () is located inside the tubular body (), which allows access of a transfer means into the tubular body () towards the bottom () thereof for insertion and removal of a contact lens, and enables a free rising of the liquid inside the tubular body (), but prohibits the contact lens from being washed out of the tubular body ().

Container for the accommodation of a contact lens

Growing community of inventors

Bury St Edmonds, United Kingdom

Adrian Michael Woodward