Method for recapturing and reusing heat provided in the course of fabricating a molded plastic product.

A deodorization method and apparatus are disclosed to eliminate, reduce or correct the odour of incoherent plastics, i.e. in the form of granules and/or microgranules and/or powder and/or flakes or the like, with a container of the incoherent plastics, an actuator for generating a process gas flow from a gas inlet to a gas outlet of said container, an olfactory sensor arranged to detect odorous emissions in the process gas exiting from said container, a controller configured to control at least one parameter of the process gas on the basis of an odour intensity measured by said olfactory sensor, with the aim of eliminating the substances that cause undesired odours from the incoherent plastics that is usable in a transformation process to make an end product.

The invention relates to heat treatment of polymorphic semicrystalline or crystallizable polymers to increase the content of the highest melting crystalline form. Such heat treatment results in a polymer powder that has a consistent, uniform melting range, improved flow and improved durability of the powder particle size for applications that require powder flow at elevated temperatures. In addition to improved powder properties, the articles produced from the powders also exhibit better physical properties in both appearance and in mechanical properties. Thus the invention also includes polymer powders and articles produced by the described processes.

Some examples include an additive manufacturing machine including a dose plate to receive build material onto, a heating element to selectively heat the build material dispensed on the dose plate, the build material selectively heated in at least two zones, a sensor to detect a temperature of each of the at least two zones, and a controller to control the heating element based on the temperatures of each of the at least two zones.

A method and apparatus for heat treating powders of semi-crystalline or crystallizable polymers. The apparatus includes a heating device for heating the powder to a temperature that is less than the melting temperature of a highest melting crystalline form of the powder, a vessel containing the powder that is exposed to heat produced by the heating device, and a mechanism for moving the vessel to cause the powder within the vessel to move with respect to the vessel.

The invention relates to heat treatment of polymorphic semicrystalline or crystallizable polymers to increase the content of the highest melting crystalline form. Such heat treatment results in a polymer powder that has a consistent, uniform melting range, improved flow and improved durability of the powder particle size for applications that require powder flow at elevated temperatures. In addition to improved powder properties, the articles produced from the powders also exhibit better physical properties in both appearance and in mechanical properties. Thus the invention also includes polymer powders and articles produced by the described processes.

A method and apparatus for heat treating powders of semi-crystalline or crystallizable polymers. The apparatus includes a heating device for heating the powder to a temperature that is less than the melting temperature of a highest melting crystalline form of the powder, a vessel containing the powder that is exposed to heat produced by the heating device, and a mechanism for moving the vessel to cause the powder within the vessel to move with respect to the vessel.

The present disclosure is directed to improved poly(arylene ether ketone) powders for use in laser sintering.

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 (10), including a sole structure (30) for footwear (10).

A process for producing a unitary graphene matrix composite, the process comprising: (a) preparing a graphene oxide gel having graphene oxide molecules dispersed in a fluid medium, wherein the graphene oxide gel is optically transparent or translucent; (b) mixing a carbon or graphite filler phase in said graphene oxide gel to form a slurry; (c) dispensing said slurry onto a surface of a supporting substrate or a cavity of a molding tool; (d) partially or completely removing the fluid medium from the slurry to form a composite precursor; and (e) heat-treating the composite precursor to form the unitary graphene composite at a temperature higher than 100 C. This composite exhibits a combination of exceptional thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity, mechanical strength, surface hardness, and scratch resistance.