Methods for manufacturing articles of footwear are provided. In various aspects, the methods comprise utilizing additive manufacturing methods with foam particles. In some aspects, the additive manufacturing methods comprise increasing the temperature of a plurality of foam particles with actinic radiation under conditions effective to fuse a portion of the plurality of foam particles comprising one or more thermoplastic elastomers. Increasing the temperature of the foam particles can be carried out for one or multiple iterations. The disclosed methods can be used to manufacturer articles with sub-regions that exhibit differing degrees of fusion between the foam particles, thereby resulting in sub-regions with different properties such as density, resilience, and/or flexural modulus. This abstract is intended as a scanning tool for purposes of searching in the particular art and is not intended to be limiting of the present disclosure.

A process for producing a molded article involves providing a thin-walled, gas-permeable shell; filling the shell with a foamed pelletized material composed of a polymer; and welding the foamed pelletized material to obtain the molded article. Molded articles are obtainable or obtained by such a process, and can be used as a footwear sole, part of a footwear sole, a mattress, a seat cushion, an underlay, a grip, a protective film, a component in automobile interiors and exteriors, a gymnastics mat, a body protector, a trim element in automobile construction, a sound insulator, a vibration damper, a cushion, a bicycle saddle, a toy, a tire or part of a tire, a covering for a track and field surface, a covering for a sports hall or a pathway, a damping layer or a damping core in a sandwich element, or a packaging.

Described are methods for the manufacture of a plastic component, in particular a cushioning element for sports apparel, a plastic component manufactured with such a method, for example a sole or a part of a sole for a shoe, and a shoe with such a sole. According to an aspect of the invention, a method for the manufacture of a plastic component, in particular a cushioning element for sports apparel, is provided which includes loading a mold with a first material which includes particles of an expanded material, and, during loading the mold, pre-heating the particles by supplying energy, wherein the energy is supplied in the form of at least one electromagnetic field.

The invention relates to an apparatus and a method for the manufacture of a shoe sole or part of a shoe sole from foam particles. Disclosed is an apparatus for the manufacture of a shoe sole or part of a shoe sole from foam particles, wherein the apparatus comprises: a.) a molding tool which is formed from at least two molding halves and which defines a molding cavity, and b.) at least two capacitor plates which are arranged adjacent to the molding cavity, wherein c.) at least one of the capacitor plates is connected to a radiation source, and wherein d.) at least one of the capacitor plates comprises several segments that have an adaptable distance to the molding cavity. Also disclosed is method for using such an apparatus in the manufacture of a shoe sole or part of a shoe sole from foam particles.

The present invention relates to two-dimensional and three-dimensional shaped parts and composite materials made of popcorn and synthetic and/or natural binding agents which are cured in automatic moulding machines or similar pressing installations by means of radio wave technology or microwaves. By means of these technologies, lightweight, two-dimensional and three-dimensional shaped parts and composite materials can be produced for packaging, as interior and exterior parts (for example in automobile and mobile-home construction), shock absorbers, space-dividing elements, furniture, consumer goods, for the building trade of for heat insulation.

In a pallet manufacturing method, variations of pallets, having different thicknesses of pallet bodies, heights of legs, or foaming ratios thereof, are manufactured at low cost and with high quality. The method includes a pallet body molding step for molding a plurality of the pallet bodies of a plurality of types having different thicknesses or expansion ratios of foaming; a leg molding step for molding, separately from the pallet body, a plurality of legs of a plurality of types having different heights or expansion ratios of foaming; and a vacuum forming step for forming a resin sheet for covering and integrating the pallet body and the legs from a bottom surface side of the pallet by vacuum integral forming after the pallet body and the legs are selected, respectively, from the plurality of types and assembled in a state that the legs are mounted on the pallet body.