A yarn or thread may include a plurality of substantially aligned filaments, with at least ninety-five percent of a material of the filaments being a thermoplastic polymer material. Various woven textiles and knitted textiles may be formed from the yarn or thread. The woven textiles or knitted textiles may be thermal bonded to other elements to form seams. A strand that is at least partially formed from a thermoplastic polymer material may extend through the seam, and the strand may be thermal bonded at the seam. The woven textiles or knitted textiles may be shaped or molded, incorporated into products, and recycled to form other products.

A method and system are disclosed. A method of printing onto a base having an upper surface spaced from a lower surface by a base thickness includes dispensing a yarn from a nozzle of a printing system and selectively attaching the yarn to a first attachment region. The step of dispensing the yarn includes dispensing a heat-moldable material and a melt-resistant material. The step of selectively attaching the yarn to the first attachment region includes moving the nozzle into the first attachment region. The step of moving the nozzle into the first attachment region reduces the base thickness by a prodding distance. The heat-moldable material bonds to the first attachment region.

This document discloses a process for manufacturing recyclable injection molded microcellular foams for use in, footwear components, seating components, protective gear components, and watersport accessories, The process includes the steps of providing a thermoplastic polymer which comprises at least one monomer derived from depolymerized postconsumer plastic, inserting a fluid into a barrel of a molding apparatus. The fluid is introduced under temperature and pressure conditions to produce a super critical fluid. The process further includes mixing the thermoplastic polymer and super critical fluid so as to create a single phase solution, and injecting the single phase solution into a mold of an injection molding machine under gas counter pressure. The process further includes foaming the single phase solution by controlling the head and temperature conditions within the mold.

Disclosed herein are methods, apparatus and computer program products for use in manufacturing an anatomical protective item for one or more users. Embodiments of anatomical protective items may comprise a single layer of energy controlling cells. Input data associated with one or more users is obtained. The obtained input data is processed to identify one or more energy controlling criteria for the anatomical protective item. A packing process is employed to generate each energy controlling cell in the single layer. Each energy controlling cell comprises one or more walls which extend from an upper surface of the single layer to a lower surface of the single layer. The packing process is performed at least on the basis of the identified one or more energy controlling criteria. The anatomical protective item comprising the single layer of energy controlling cells is manufactured.

A flexible inner socket is fabricated by forming a pre-socket. The pre-socket includes a body formed with an opening and an enclosed end. The enclosed end is opposite to the opening. The body of the pre-socket has an outer circumference that is smaller than the inner circumference of the rigid prosthetic socket. Different portions of the body may have different thicknesses. The preform socket is heated. After the heating, the flexible inner socket is formed by molding the pre-socket onto the inner surface of the rigid prosthetic socket to form the flexible inner socket. The inner circumference of the rigid prosthetic socket is reduced by a thickness of the flexible inner socket when the flexible inner socket is attached to the inner surface of the rigid prosthetic socket. An opening of the flexible inner socket may be trimmed after the formation to fit contours of an opening of the rigid prosthetic socket.

A method of printing a three-dimensional color object having a contoured surface onto a substrate includes printing color ink layers and structural ink layers. A color ink layer is printed onto the substrate. Structural ink layers are printed onto the color ink layer to build the three-dimensional shape of the object. The contoured surface is formed from varying the heights of pixel columns in the printing information. The heights of the pixel columns may be varied by printing different numbers of layers in adjacent columns or by printing the same number of layers in adjacent columns where some pixels in a column have different thicknesses than other pixels in the column.

The present invention is a composite material which can transfer heat very fast, for many applications such as car seat, wheelchair, stroller, apparel, medical care and therapeutic heating items. The present invention is a heating element to produce heat by applying a power supply, the heating element comprises of an interconnected mesh of a conductive filament deposits by a 3D printer on a non-woven fabric filler which acts as a thermal bed on the 3D printer to form a first layer, wherein the interconnected mesh of a conductive filament comprises of a combination of a plurality of parallel or series conductors with a plurality of connection nodes, and a double-sided adhesive lining to connect the first layer to a covering layer.

A method and system are disclosed. A method of printing onto a base having an upper surface spaced from a lower surface by a base thickness includes dispensing a yarn from a nozzle of a printing system and selectively attaching the yarn to a first attachment region. The step of dispensing the yarn includes dispensing a heat-moldable material and a melt-resistant material. The step of selectively attaching the yarn to the first attachment region includes moving the nozzle into the first attachment region. The step of moving the nozzle into the first attachment region reduces the base thickness by a prodding distance. The heat-moldable material bonds to the first attachment region.

A bottom hem of a garment and a garment are provided. The bottom hem of a garment includes: a front piece of cloth having an outer side and an inner side that are opposite to each other; a dot glue layer provided on the inner side of the front piece of cloth; and a rear piece of cloth adhered to the inner side of the front piece of cloth, the rear piece of cloth being adhered to the front piece of cloth by means of the dot glue layer.

The present invention is directed to a method of making at least a portion of a garment that includes at least one three-dimensional contour. The disclosed method includes providing a fiber and solvent mixture that includes fibers and a solvent capable to causing a plurality of covalent bonds to be created between the fibers. In many embodiments, the plurality of covalent bonds form when a catalyst, such as heat, is provided to the fiber and solvent mixture. The process can be performed using, for example, either a 3D printer or mold form. The fibers used can be natural, synthetic, or a blend of natural and/or synthetic fibers. The solvent preferably includes ionic salts in water.