Patent ID: 7393202

Claim:
Thermoforming apparatus comprising: a pallet for use with a thermoforming machine that thermoforms a plastic billet into a usable form, said pallet comprising a billet support surface for supporting thereon a billet, and a gripper mounted on said pallet and arranged for movement between a first position, wherein said gripper does not grip a billet placed on said billet support surface, and a second position, wherein the gripper grips the billet placed on said billet support surface; and a thermoforming machine that comprises a plurality of stations for storing, transporting and scraplessly transforming a billet into an object, wherein the billet is transported in said pallet from one station to another station; wherein one of said stations comprises a pressure vacuum station for solid-phase thermoforming said billet into an object, said pressure vacuum station comprising an upper pressure unit arranged to move down against said billet and a lower vacuum molding unit arranged to move up and against said billet from an underside thereof, wherein when said upper pressure unit moves down against said billet, an inclined surface of said upper pressure unit abuts against an inclined surface of said gripper such that said upper pressure unit displaces said gripper outwards and away from said billet so that said billet is now held by said upper pressure unit and not by said gripper.