A synthetic leather is a layered material that includes a biodegradable layer, a backing layer, and an adhesive layer. The layered material is formed by bonding a first surface of the biodegradable layer to a first surface of the backing layer through the adhesive layer. In some embodiments, the biodegradable layer is made from a mixture of polyurethane (or other plastics such as polyvinyl chloride), a biodegradable additive, and in some cases, a colorant. The biodegradable additive in the mixture enhances biodegradability of polyurethane. In some embodiments, there is 1 to 2 wt % of the biodegradable additive in the synthetic leather. The backing layer is a layer of plastic fibers made from recycled plastic products. The plastic fibers can be PET, nylon, or acrylic fibers. A biodegradable coating may be formed on a second surface of the backing layer to further enhance biodegradability of the layered material.

Presented are manufacturing systems, methods, and devices for forming footwear using scrap or waste plastic materials. A method for manufacturing an article of footwear, such as an athletic shoe, begins with receiving a batch of recycled plastic, which may include thermoplastic elastomers or ethylene-vinyl acetate, and grinding the batch of recycled plastic material. The ground recycled material is processed, for example, by adding a foaming agent that activates at elevated temperatures. The processed recycled material is placed into the internal cavity of a final mold that is shaped like a segment of the footwear, such as a unitary sole structure. To form the footwear segment, the processed recycled material is heated past the threshold activation temperature of the foaming agent such that the foaming agent causes the recycled material to expand and fill the internal cavity of the final mold. The formed footwear segment is then extracted from the mold.

Physical foaming a footwear component with a single-phase solution of a polymeric composition and a supercritical fluid is provided. The method include temperature conditioning a mold and then engaging the mold with a robot that conveys the mold to a press. At the press a gas counter pressure is applied to a cavity of the mold before injecting a single-phase solution of a polymeric composition and a supercritical fluid into the cavity of the mold. The process continues with releasing the gas counter pressure from the cavity of the mold and then removing the footwear component from the cavity of the mold. The parameters of the method are configured for the formation of the footwear component in an automated manner.

An upper for an article of footwear is configured to be connected to a sole structure and is configured to receive a foot. The upper includes a knitted component having a strobel portion that is configured to be disposed underneath the foot. The strobel portion defines an interior surface and an exterior surface of the knitted component. The strobel portion defines a strobel passage between the interior surface and the exterior surface. Also, the upper includes a tensile strand that extends through the strobel passage.

The present disclosure discloses a method for preparing cellulose fiber. The method includes the following steps: 1) mixing cellulose pulp with NMMO aqueous solution of a mass concentration of 60%-85%, preferably 70% to 76%, to obtain a uniform mixture; 2) subjecting the obtained uniform mixture to dewatering for swelling, dissolution, and deaerating to obtain a cellulose spinning stock solution; 3) the cellulose spinning stock solution entering into a spinning machine after being filtered and heat exchange, and entering into a coagulation system after carrying out extruding by a spinneret-pack and cooling by air, and then coagulating in a NMMO coagulating bath of a mass concentration of 50% to 72% to obtain nascent fiber; and 4) subjecting the nascent fiber to rinsing to obtain a fiber filament bundle, and then, performing subsequent-section treatment to obtain cellulose fiber.

A knit component may include a knit-in tensile area, which may include an opening at least partially bounded by a first intersecting portion and a second intersecting portion. A course of tensile material that is integrally knitted with the first intersecting portion via a knit stitch may include a float extending from the first intersecting portion, across the opening, to the second intersecting portion. A knitting method may knit courses of the knit component on needle beds and then widen and/or narrow parts of the opening by transferring stitches of one of the courses of the knit component to different needles.

The present invention relates to the use of an anisotropic fluoropolymer having a different intrinsic thermal conductivity in at least two directions as a heat conducting material in a thermally conductive article, to a thermally conductive article comprising said anisotropic fluoropolymer and to a process for the production of said anisotropic fluoropolymer.

A continuous wire drive system for a needleless electrospinning apparatus, the electrospinning apparatus including an electrospinning enclosure and within which a nanoscale or submicron scale polymer fiber web is formed onto a substrate from a liquid polymer layer coated onto a plurality of continuous electrode wires passing through the electrospinning enclosure. The continuous wire drive system includes a master wire drive drum and a slave wire drive drum, each of the master wire drive drum and slave wire drive drum including a plurality of wire guides, each of the wire guides including a channel or groove for receiving one of the plurality of continuous electrode wires. The continuous wire drive system is external to the electrospinning apparatus, and the continuous wire drive system drives the plurality of continuous electrode wires through the electrospinning enclosure.

An apparatus for continuous needleless electrospinning of a nanoscale or submicron scale polymer fiber web onto a substrate includes an electrospinning enclosure that includes at least one liquid polymer coating device and an electro spinning zone and a wire drive system located external to the electro spinning enclosure. The wire drive system drives a plurality of continuous electrode wires through the electrospinning enclosure. A liquid polymer recycle and feed system is located external to the electrospinning enclosure and includes a recycle and feed tank that supplies liquid polymer to and receives overflow liquid polymer from the at least one liquid polymer coating device. A vapor collection and solvent recovery system includes at least one exhaust stream, collects and processes vapors generated in the electrospinning enclosure, and maintains a pressure in the electrospinning enclosure that is lower than atmospheric pressure.

A decentralized private blockchains network is provided. In some implementations, the system performs operations comprising receiving, at a client system, data having a sensitivity level, the operations further comprise splitting, at the client system, the data based on the sensitivity level, the splitting comprising splitting the data into data portions. The operations further comprise storing, at a decentralized storage system, the decentralized storage system comprising a plurality of private blockchains, each of the data portions in a separate private blockchain of the plurality of private blockchains. The operations further comprise storing, at a multi-decentralized private blockchains network (MDPBN), pointers to locations of the data portions within the decentralized storage system. Related systems, methods, and articles of manufacture are also described.