Abstract: A pourable substance is introduced into a container having a perforated bottom which defines, together with a mold, a forming space which is to be filled with the pourable substance. The forming space has a configuration substantially corresponding to that of the preform to be made, and the pourable substance passes through the perforations of the bottom of the container and is distributed throughout the forming space, owing to vibrations to which the perforated bottom of the container, either alone or together with the container, is subjected. The pourable substance is compacted within the forming space due to the vibration of the perforated bottom so that the preform can be subsequently taken out of the mold and compressed elsewhere into a profiled article, or the profiled article can be produced from the preform directly in the mold.

Abstract: A composite article is obtained by forming a body of a mixture of a fibrous material with a heat-hardening binder, by interposing between the body and a coating layer an intermediate layer having a tear-resistance and stiffness exceeding those of the coating material and impregnated with a resin which softens more slowly than a different resin with which the coating layer is impregnated, and by transforming the assembly of the body with the layers into the final article. During the transformation, the assembly is heated to a temperature at which the binder of the body hardens, and the resin of the intermediate layer softens more slowly than that of the coating layer. The intermediate layer may include asbestos fibers, or it may be a metallic foil or a soda craft paper.