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A light irradiation molding apparatus 1 includes a pair of rubber die units 2A and 2B, which are formed of a rubber material having a property of transmitting light X therethrough and form a cavity between facing sides which face each other, and a light irradiation means 4, which applies light X to

A light irradiation molding apparatus 1 includes a pair of rubber die units 2A and 2B, which are formed of a rubber material having a property of transmitting light X therethrough and form a cavity between facing sides which face each other, and a light irradiation means 4, which applies light X to a particulate or solid thermoplastic resin 6 arranged in the cavity 20 through surfaces of a pair of the rubber die units 2A and 2B. The light irradiation molding apparatus 1 is constituted so that a pair of the rubber die units 2A and 2B are made to come close to each other while the thermoplastic resin 6 arranged in the cavity 20 is molten by the light X applied from the light irradiation means 4, and a molded article 7 of the thermoplastic resin 6 is formed in the cavity 20 having a reduced volume.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A light irradiation molding method comprising: providing a pair of rubber die units which are formed of a rubber material having a property of transmitting light and which form a closed cavity between respective facing sides of the pair of rubber die units which face each other and define surface

1. A light irradiation molding method comprising: providing a pair of rubber die units which are formed of a rubber material having a property of transmitting light and which form a closed cavity between respective facing sides of the pair of rubber die units which face each other and define surfaces of a part to be molded;providing a particulate thermoplastic resin in the closed cavity;applying light to the particulate thermoplastic resin, arranged in the closed cavity, through surfaces of the pair of the rubber die units;moving the pair of the rubber die units towards each other to reduce a volume of the closed cavity, while the thermoplastic resin arranged in the cavity is molten by applying light emitted from the light irradiation device, thereby forming a molded article of the thermoplastic resin in the closed cavity having a reduced volume; andproviding a plurality of vacuum openings in at least one of the respective facing sides of the pair of rubber die units such that pressure inside the closed cavity can be reduced. 2. The light irradiation molding method according to claim 1, further comprising: providing a vacuum pathway in one of the rubber die units, the vacuum pathway being in communication with the closed cavity by said plurality of vacuum openings; andmaking a pressure inside the closed cavity lower than a pressure outside the pair of the rubber die units by the vacuum pathway and vacuum openings to generate a suction force on the pair of the rubber die units, whereby the pair of the rubber die units are made to move towards each other under said suction force when the thermoplastic resin is molten. 3. The light irradiation molding method according to claim 2, wherein the applying light comprises applying said light to the outside surface of the other of the pair of the rubber die units, said vacuum pathway comprising suction gates which are prevented from closing by melting and filling the particulate thermoplastic resin such that the vacuum suction by a vacuum device is continued until the thermoplastic resin is filled in the whole closed cavity. 4. The light irradiation molding method according to claim 2, wherein said applying light comprises applying the light moving partially and sequentially from one side of the outside surface of the other of the rubber die units to an opposite side of the other of the rubber die units, andthe thermoplastic resin is sequentially filled in the cavity from one side of the closed cavity to an opposite side of the closed cavity. 5. The light irradiation molding method according to claim 1, further comprising setting said pair of rubber die units in an initial position by engaging an engaging protrusion formed in one of the rubber die units with an engaging depression to be engaged formed in the other rubber die unit before the pair of rubber die units are made to move towards each other, wherein a parting plane formed between the pair of the rubber die units is entirely closed by the engaging protrusion and the depression to be engaged. 6. The light irradiation molding method according to claim 1, further comprising setting the pair of rubber die units in an initial position by arranging a cavity-forming protrusion formed in one of the rubber die units, in a cavity-forming depression formed in the other rubber die unit before the pair of the rubber die units are made to move towards each other, wherein a parting plane formed between a pair of the rubber die units is entirely closed by a resin tape which is pasted to an entire circumference of the parting plane. 7. The light irradiation molding method according to claim 1, wherein one of the pair of the rubber die units comprises a cavity-forming protrusion which forms a reverse face of the molded article, an annular engagement depression which is formed on an entire circumference of a fringe area of the cavity-forming protrusion, and an annular outer circumference protrusion which is projected from an entire circumference of a fringe area of the annular engagement depression;the other rubber die unit comprises a cavity-forming depression which has the cavity-forming protrusion arranged therein to form a designed face of the molded article, and an annular inner circumference protrusion which is projected from an entire circumference of a fringe area of the cavity-forming depression and is engaged with an inner circumferential surface of an annular outer circumference protrusion so as to be arranged in the annular engagement depression;the cavity is continuously formed between an apical surface of the cavity-forming protrusion and a bottom face of the cavity-forming depression, between an outer circumferential surface of the cavity-forming protrusion and an inner circumferential surface of the annular inner circumference protrusion, and between a bottom face of the annular engagement depression and an apical surface of the annular inner circumference protrusion, in an initial position before the pair of the rubber die units are made to come close to each other; andsaid plurality of vacuum openings comprising a suction port which opens in an apical surface of the cavity-forming protrusion, and suction gates which open in a bottom face of the annular engagement depression, are formed in one of a pair of the rubber die units, wherein the method further comprising using a vacuum device to evacuate the suction port and the suction gates communicated with the vacuum suction pathway. 8. The light irradiation molding method according to claim 7, further comprising throwing the particulate thermoplastic resin into the cavity. 9. The light irradiation molding method according to claim 7, wherein the pair of rubber die units are made to move towards each other until a bottom face of the annular engagement depression in one of the rubber die units comes into contact with the apical surface of the annular inner circumference protrusion in the other rubber die unit, and the thermoplastic resin is supplied from a surplus space formed between the bottom face of the annular engagement depression and the apical surface of the annular inner circumference protrusion to a stand-up wall space formed between the outer circumferential surface of the cavity-forming protrusion and the inner circumferential surface of the annular inner circumference protrusion so as to form the molded article.