Vacuum forming

Vacuum forming, commonly known as vacuforming, is a simplified version of thermoforming, whereby a sheet of plastic is heated to a forming temperature, stretched onto or into a single-surface mold, and held against the mold by applying vacuum between the mold surface and the sheet. The vacuum forming process can be used to make most product packaging, speaker casings and even car dashboards.
Vacuum forming is usually – but not always – restricted to forming plastic parts that are rather shallow in depth. A thin sheet is formed into rigid cavities for unit doses of pharmaceuticals and for loose objects that are carded or presented as point-of-purchase items. Thick sheet is formed into permanent objects such as turnpike signs and protective covers.
Relatively deep parts can be formed if the form-able sheet is mechanically or pneumatically stretched prior to bringing it in contact with the mold surface and before vacuum is applied.
Vacuum Forming is a low cost alternative to sheet metal or injection molding for producing plastic parts. Shipping Trays, Covers and Enclosures of virtually any shape are good examples of Vacuum Formed products. Some advantages of Vacuum Forming are:

• Tooling costs are substantially lower then injection molding tooling costs.
• Vacuum Forming has a greater degree of versatility in the finished product than injection molding.
• Vacuum Forming has the ability to produce parts in volume with accurate replication of the original part.