Patent ID: 7550103

Claim:
A method of producing plastic articles, comprising: preheating a metal mold having a backside having a contour and positioning infrared energy from a plurality of electric infrared energy heating elements in an array, wherein each element is bent in a pattern to conform to and is spaced from said contour and provides infrared energy at the backside of said mold to heat said mold, wherein said mold does not rotate relative to said heating element array; casting a plurality of plastic materials onto said preheated metal mold; fusing said plurality of plastic materials using infrared energy; cooling said metal mold by contacting said metal mold with a material which can change state; removing the cast plastic article from said metal mold, wherein said array comprising said plurality of conforming electric infrared energy heating elements is spaced 0.01-5.0 inches from the backside of said mold and said elements are further spaced about 1-3 inches apart running along the backside of said mold to provide relatively uniform coverage of said backside of said mold.