A method for producing a foam body (10) having an internal structure (100, 200, 300), comprising the steps: I) selecting an internal structure (100, 200, 300) to be formed in the foam body (10), the structure comprising a first polymer material; II) providing a foam body (10), the foam body (10) comprising a second polymer material which is different to the first polymer material; III) injecting, by means of an injection means (20), a predefined amount of a melt of the first polymer material or a predefined amount of a reaction mixture (30, 31, 32) which reacts to form the first polymer material at a predefined location inside the foam body (10), corresponding to a volume element of the internal structure (100, 200, 300); IV) repeating step III) for further predefined locations inside the foam body (10), corresponding to further volume elements of the internal structure (10), until the internal structure (10) is formed. The invention also relates to a foam body (10) which has an internal structure (100, 200, 300) and is obtainable by the method according to the invention.

A structured fiber product is constructed with fibers oriented primarily in a vertical direction. Fibers made from recycled materials are combined with binder fibers which have a lower transition temperature than the recycled fibers. A three dimensional web is formed from the fibers oriented in a horizontal direction. The web is heated to bind the fibers and cooled to fix the web in a predetermined thickness. Sections of the web are stacked while maintaining substantially parallel orientation of the fibers in the horizontal direction, heated to bind the fibers and cooled to fix a predetermined thickness of the structured fiber product. The structured fiber product is rotated so that the fibers are oriented in the vertical direction. One or more slabs of the structured fiber product with vertically oriented fibers may be configured to form a resilient structure such as a mattress core.

It is a feature of a porous body comprising a three-dimensional network of node points joined to one another by struts, and a void volume present between the struts, that the struts have an average length of 200 m to 50 mm, the struts have an average thickness of 100 m to 5 mm, and that the porous body has a compression hardness (40% compression, DIN EN ISO 3386-1: 2010-09) in at least one spatial direction of 10 to 100 kPa. The porous body according to the invention combines the advantages of a conventional mattress or cushion with ventilatability which results from its porous structure and is not achievable in conventional foams. The invention further relates to a method of producing such a porous body and to an apparatus comprising said body for supporting and/or bearing a person.

A mold that: makes it possible to manufacture a molded foam body wherein a reinforcing member extends to a portion of the outer face of the molded body main body that corresponds to a parting line in the inner face of the cavity of the mold; and prevents molding problems stemming from the reinforcing member getting into the aforementioned parting line. Also: a method for manufacturing a molded foam body using the aforementioned mold; and a molded foam body manufactured thereby. The aforementioned mold (1) is provided with a seal member (7) that seals the space between mating faces (2a, 3a) of mold parts (2, 3) when the mold is fastened, and said seal member (7) is designed so as to be able to seal the space between the mating faces (2a, 3a) even if the reinforcing member (22) gets in between the mating faces (2a, 3a) on the cavity (4) side of the seal member (7).

Expandable substrates, which are referred to as blanks, are created by compressing thermobonded nonwovens after heating the binder material above its melting temperature, and then cooling the compressed nonwovens so that the binder material hardens and holds the fibers of the nonwoven together in a compressed configuration with stored kinetic energy. A mold for the component to be manufactured can be partially filled with a number of boards (or blanks) in a stacked, vertically, adjacent or even random orientation. Upon application of heat to the boards or blanks or parts in the mold, the binder material is melted so as to allow the nonwoven material to expand in one or more directions, and thereby fill all or part of the mold. Upon cooling, the binder material again hardens, and the molded component is retrieved from the mold.

An apparatus for welding together webs, the apparatus comprising first and second weld tools, wherein at least the first weld tool is rotatable about an axis of rotation and has a substantially cylindrical surface on which is located a welding contact portion, and wherein the welding contact portion extends at least partly circumferentially around the cylindrical surface and at least partly axially along the cylindrical surface.

A method of making a foamed article comprises (a) milling a block or sheet of thermoplastic polymer to form a precursor; (b) crosslinking the thermoplastic polymer; (c) heating the precursor to a first temperature to soften the thermoplastic polymer; (d) infusing the thermoplastic polymer with at least one inert gas at a first pressure that is sufficient to cause the at least one inert gas to permeate into the softened thermoplastic polymer; and (e) while the thermoplastic polymer is softened, reducing the pressure to a second pressure below the first pressure to at least partially foam the precursor into a foamed article, wherein the foamed article is substantially the same shape as the precursor.

Methods and systems for no-glue pocketed spring unit construction. Rows of pocketed springs, preferably arranged into modules of more than two pocketed springs surrounding a central hole, are ultrasonically welded together when paired vibrating probes and anvils press layers of pocketed spring fabric from the rows of pocketed springs together and a welding pulse is transmitted to the vibrating probe.

An inflatable product including tensioning beams is described. The inflatable product may include a first wall, a second wall spaced apart from the first wall, and an air chamber defined by at least the first and second walls. The inflatable product includes a plurality of tensioning beams disposed in the air chamber and coupled to the first and second walls. Each of the tensioning beams can include a first sheet made of a first flexible material and having an outer perimeter and a second sheet made of a second flexible material and having an outer perimeter, the outer perimeter of the second sheet overlapping the outer perimeter of the first sheet. Each of the tensioning beams can include a first layer, a first and a second pair of coupling layers, and a sandwiching arrangement.

It is a feature of a porous body (10, 20) comprising a three-dimensional network of node points (200) joined to one another by struts (100), and a void volume (300) present between the struts (100), that the struts (100) have an average length of 200 to 50 mm, the struts (100) have an average thickness of 100 m to 5 mm, and that the porous body has a compression hardness (40% compression, DIN EN ISO 3386-1: 2010-09) in at least one spatial direction of 10 to 100 kPa. The porous body according to the invention combines the advantages of a conventional mattress or cushion with ventilatability which results from its porous structure and is not achievable in conventional foams. The invention further relates to a method of producing such a porous body (10, 20) and to an apparatus comprising said body (10, 20) for supporting and/or bearing a person.