A dental appliance for positioning a patient's teeth includes a removable orthodontic tooth positioning appliance having teeth receiving cavities shaped to directly receive at least some of the patient's teeth and apply a resilient positioning force to the patient's teeth. The appliance includes a hard polymer layer having a hard polymer layer elastic modulus disposed between a first soft polymer layer having a first soft polymer layer elastic modulus and a second soft polymer layer having a second soft polymer layer elastic modulus. The hard polymer layer elastic modulus is greater than each of the first soft polymer layer elastic modulus and the second soft polymer layer elastic modulus. At least one of the first soft polymer layer and the second soft polymer layer has a flexural modulus of greater than about 35,000 psi.

A polymer composition containing a polyoxymethylene polymer having low shrinkage characteristics and/or an expanded processing window is disclosed. The polymer composition is particularly well suited for use in three-dimensional printing systems, such as printers that use filament fusion technology. The polymer composition, for instance, can be a feed material in the form of a filament or polymeric pellets. The feed material can be placed in a printer cartridge for insertion into a three-dimensional printing system. In accordance with the present disclosure, a polyoxymethylene polymer is combined with one or more dimensional stabilizing agents for dramatically improving the processing characteristics of the polymer.

A composite article and a method for insulating an appliance are disclosed. In general, the appliance is selected from the group of major, domestic or household appliances (e.g. ovens, stoves, ranges, etc.). The appliance has a first surface that defines a heating cavity, and a second surface opposite the first surface. The composite article comprises a backing layer spaced from the first surface, and an insulating layer sandwiched between the second surface and the backing layer. The insulating layer reduces heat transfer from the heating cavity to the backing layer (e.g. during use of the appliance). The insulating layer comprises a foamed silicone. The foamed silicone can be one formed via a hydrosilylation-curable silicone composition, a condensation-curable silicone composition, or a combination thereof. The insulating layer may comprise a foamed room-temperature-vulcanizing (RTV) silicone. The backing layer comprises a foamed polyurethane (PUR), a foamed polyisocyanurate (PIR), or a foamed PUR/PIR hybrid.

A plug assembly for use in a process for manufacturing an insulated register box has a body having a bottom and at least one side wall extending upwardly from the bottom, a rotatable element at the bottom of the body, and an actuator connected to the rotatable element and positioned above the rotatable element. The rotatable element is adapted to seal an end of a duct in an interior of the box of the insulated register box. The rotatable element is movable between an installation position and a sealing position. The actuator is cooperative with the rotatable element so as to move the rotatable element between the installation position and the sealing position.

The present disclosure provides for making annealed additive manufacturing powder, where the powder can be used to make structures using additive manufacturing processes. The additive manufacturing powder can be annealed to improve the flowability of the powder. Once annealed, the powder can be used in the additive manufacturing process and structures can be formed by affixing the powder particles to one another (e.g., by reflowing and re-solidifying a material present in the powder particles). The annealed additive manufacturing powder can be formed in a layer-by-layer additive process to produce articles such as a component of an article of sporting equipment, apparel or footwear, including a sole structure for footwear.

Described are methods for manufacturing a plastic component, in particular a cushioning element for sports apparel, a plastic component manufactured with such methods, for example a sole or a part of a sole for a shoe, and a shoe with such a sole. The method for the manufacture of a plastic component includes loading a mold with a first material includes particles of an expanded material and fusing the surfaces of the particles by supplying energy. The energy is supplied in the form of at least one electromagnetic field.

A method for sorting flexible polyurethane foams including: a) providing two or more calibration samples of conventional flexible polyurethane foams, two or more calibration samples of high resilience (HR) flexible polyurethane foams, and two or more calibration samples of viscoelastic flexible polyurethane foams, and obtaining a mid-infrared (MIR) spectrum of each calibration sample; b) carrying out a spectral pre-processing of the spectra of all the calibration samples and, then a first PCA to define a first library; c) carrying out a spectral pre-processing of the infrared spectra of conventional and HR calibration samples and, then a second PCA to define a second library; d) obtaining the MIR spectrum of a sample of polyurethane foam and, based on the first and second libraries, classifying the sample of polyurethane foam as a conventional, HR or viscoelastic polyurethane foam, or as a foam that is neither a conventional, a HR or a viscoelastic polyurethane foam.

An example of a three-dimensional (3D) printing kit includes a build material composition and a fusing agent to be applied to at least a portion of the build material composition during 3D printing. The build material composition includes a semi-crystalline thermoplastic polymer having a surface energy density greater than 41 mN/m. The fusing agent includes an energy absorber to absorb electromagnetic radiation to coalesce the semi-crystalline thermoplastic polymer in the at least the portion.

A pressure sensing system (24), seat cushion (20) incorporating the pressure sensing system, and method of sensing a weight group associated with an occupant of an automotive seat are described. The pressure sensing system includes a layer of an electrically conductive foam (28) and a flexible printed circuit (26) that includes a flexible substrate (26a) and N horizontal sensing wires (26b) and M vertical sensing wires (26c) securely placed on a top surface of the flexible substrate. The horizontal sensing wires intersect with the vertical sensing wires and form N?M intersections. The layer of an electrically conductive foam is placed on top of the N horizontal sensing wires and the M vertical sensing wires. When a pressure is applied to the layer of the electrically conductive foam, each intersection generates in real time an electric flux density value to reflect a degree of a compression caused by the pressure to a corresponding point of the electrically conductive foam.

The present invention relates to an enhanced method for the manufacture of a plastic component (135), in particular a cushioning element for sports apparel, the method comprising: opening a mold (100) by a predetermined amount into a loading position, wherein the mold comprises at least two mold parts (110, 112) and wherein the amount by which the mold is opened influences an available loading volume of the mold, loading a material comprising expanded particles (130) into the loading volume, closing the mold into a closed position, wherein during closing of the mold the mold parts are moved together over different distances (140) in different areas of the mold, compressing the expanded particles by closing the mold and fusing at least the surfaces of the expanded particles to mold the plastic component.