An inner sole board having varying regions of flexibility is provided for use in an article of footwear. The inner sole board may include different materials along its length at different locations that vary its flexibility. An inner sole board is manufactured in an injection molding process requiring only one mold. The process includes a first step of providing a mold, a second step of providing an injection molding assembly, a third step of preparing an injection molding assembly and mold, a fourth step of injecting material into the mold, and a fifth step of establishing the dimensions of a first portion. During the injection molding process, the flow rate of at least one material may be controlled by a nozzle gate to control the shape and size of the flex zone it creates. In this manner, the inner sole board may be customized for a specific sport or individual.

A carousel-like continuous co-injection molding system includes an arrangement of upper and lower inclined feed channels. Each of the feed channels has a valve therein positioned upstream of an inlet to an associated mold cavity. The valve is controllable so that adjustments may be made in real time to achieve or maintain delivery of molten polymeric material to the mold cavity at constant pressure.

A method of producing a plastic member of a hair ornament comprises providing first and second plastic materials which are different in material and color. The first plastic material is transparent or translucent. The second plastic material is in the form of a plurality of particles. The first plastic material, the second plastic material, and a bridging agent are mixed and filled into an injection molding machine. The first plastic material melts and envelops the particle-shaped second plastic material. The enveloped particle-shaped second plastic material is outputted to a mold for forming the plastic member of the hair ornament. A hardened product of the plastic member is removed from the mold. The first plastic material forms an outer surface layer of the plastic member. The shape and the color of the second plastic material are directly viewable from an outer side of the product of the plastic member.

This invention relates to the prevention and formation control of visible defects within multi-color and light-transmissive polymeric structures manufactured through multi-shot mold injection processes. The system and method can be applied to fabricate multi-layer light-transmissive products that control and eliminate visible or conspicuous defects and thus enhance the aesthetics of the associated structures such that visible defects or molded-in imperfections are effectively eliminated or not discernable to a casual observer.

Disclosed herein is an injection mold for production of marbled moldings, including at least one hot runner, a cavity, an entry opening into the injection mold and an inlet into the cavity, where the hot runner has at least two ducts that are connected at a first end of each duct to the inlet into the cavity and at a second end of each duct to the entry opening into the injection mold, where the at least two ducts each at least partly form a spiral, and the at least two ducts are bounded by a one-piece component. Further disclosed herein is a process for producing the injection mold and a process for producing marbled moldings.

Disclosed herein is a process for producing marbled moldings, where a first molding compound and at least one further molding compound are injected from an injection unit of a screw injection molding machine into an injection mold, where the injection unit includes a barrel, a screw having a screw tip and a nozzle where the screw is rotatable and is disposed in the barrel so as to be movable between a forward position and a backward position, with a smaller distance between the screw tip and the nozzle in the forward position than in the backward position, and where the first molding compound includes a first polymer compound and a first colorant, and the at least one further molding compound includes a further polymer compound and optionally at least one further colorant. Further disclosed herein is an apparatus for production of marbled moldings, and a process for producing the apparatus.

A method of producing a plastic member of a hair ornament comprises providing first and second plastic materials which are different in material and color. The first plastic material is transparent or translucent. The second plastic material is in the form of a plurality of particles. The first plastic material, the second plastic material, and a bridging agent are mixed and filled into an injection molding machine. The first plastic material melts and envelops the particle-shaped second plastic material. The enveloped particle-shaped second plastic material is outputted to a mold for forming the plastic member of the hair ornament. A hardened product of the plastic member is removed from the mold. The first plastic material forms an outer surface layer of the plastic member. The shape and the color of the second plastic material are directly viewable from an outer side of the product of the plastic member.