A method for obtaining an object, such as an interior design object or a piece of furniture, includes the steps of producing a base structure of the object, and applying a coating to at least part of the base structure. The step of applying the coating includes distributing, onto the base structure, a material castable in a mold or producing one or more preformed blocks of this castable material in a mold to be joined to the base structure, and subsequently machining the coating using machine tools to generate a final shape.

Methods of recovering and/or recycling expanded polymer tooling, the methods including collecting expanded polymer tooling, reducing the collected expanded polymer tooling into smaller particles, treating the reduced expanded polymer tooling in order to yield an at least partially purified recovered polymer composition, and then collecting the at least partially purified recovered polymer composition. The at least partially purified recovered polymer composition can then be used to form new expandable polymer tooling.

Methods of recovering and/or recycling expanded polymer tooling, the methods including collecting expanded polymer tooling, reducing the collected expanded polymer tooling into smaller particles, treating the reduced expanded polymer tooling in order to yield an at least partially purified recovered polymer composition, and then collecting the at least partially purified recovered polymer composition. The at least partially purified recovered polymer composition can then be used to form new expandable polymer tooling.

This disclosure relates to a foam-molding mold having channels formed therein and a physical foaming process using the same, and more specifically, the foam-molding mold is characterized by comprising a cavity formed therein for accommodating mixed resin for foaming, and having channels formed therein for guiding gas to the cavity.

A molded foam manufacturing apparatus 1 includes a cylinder 2 in which a plasticization zone 21 where a thermoplastic resin is plasticized and melted, a starvation zone 22 where the molten resin is put into a starvation state and an injected physical foaming agent is dissolved in the molten resin, and a feeding zone 23 where the molten resin in which the physical foaming agent is dissolved is compressed and metered are provided in this order from an upstream side, and a screw 3 that is installed inside the cylinder 2 so as to be freely rotatable around an axis of the cylinder and has flights formed in a spiral shape on an outer circumference of a shaft 31, wherein a lead angle R of the flights of the screw 3 corresponding to the feeding zone 23 is set smaller than a lead angle of the flight corresponding to the starvation zone 22, and the number of pieces of the flight of the screw 3 corresponding to the feeding zone 23 is set smaller than the number of pieces of the flight corresponding to the starvation zone 22. In this way, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the flow rate of the molten resin transported in the starvation zone and the feeding sone and manufacture high-quality molded foams with high production efficiency.

A molded foam manufacturing apparatus 1 includes a cylinder 2 in which a plasticization zone 21 where a thermoplastic resin is plasticized and melted, a starvation zone 22 where the molten resin is put into a starvation state and an injected physical foaming agent is dissolved in the molten resin, and a feeding zone 23 where the molten resin in which the physical foaming agent is dissolved is compressed and metered are provided in this order from an upstream side, and a screw 3 that is installed inside the cylinder 2 so as to be freely rotatable around an axis of the cylinder and has flights formed in a spiral shape on an outer circumference of a shaft 31, wherein a lead angle R of the flights of the screw 3 corresponding to the feeding zone 23 is set smaller than a lead angle of the flight corresponding to the starvation zone 22, and the number of pieces of the flight of the screw 3 corresponding to the feeding zone 23 is set smaller than the number of pieces of the flight corresponding to the starvation zone 22. In this way, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the flow rate of the molten resin transported in the starvation zone and the feeding sone and manufacture high-quality molded foams with high production efficiency.

In a method for producing a lining part, in particular for the interior of a vehicle, a support substrate is positioned opposite a flexible decorative layer with the interposition of a foam coating, and the support substrate is adhesively connected thereto, wherein the raw foam compound used to form the foam layer is foamed using a gas as a physical blowing agent and is applied onto the rear face of the decorative layer and/or the support substrate face facing the decorative layer in the form of an expanded foam. As long as the expanded foam coating is still flowable, the support substrate is positioned at a defined distance to the rear face of the decorative layer with the interposition of the expanded foam coating so that the decorative layer is connected to the support substrate by the foam coating and is held until the cross-linking process of the foam coating has at least mostly concluded, wherein a part of the foam layer which fills the original distance between the decorative layer and the support substrate is displaced and plastically compressed at least in some regions by the support substrate during the process of positioning same.