A formulation for producing a polymeric material including polypropylene, a chemical blowing agent, and optional components as described.

A method for producing a skin-covered molded article including filling polypropylene-based resin expanded beads in a hollow space of a thermoplastic resin skin and feeding steam into the hollow space to fusion-bond the expanded beads together, the expanded beads showing specific DSC characteristics involving a specific high temperature peak(s) with specific heat of fusion.

Provided are skin-forming apparatus and method. The apparatus includes a mold having a cavity defining a skin-forming space and a vent core system coupled to the mold for discharging residual gas. The vent core system includes a vent hole formed in the mold and connecting the cavity of the mold to the outside, a vent core mounted in the mold for opening an inlet of the vent hole to discharge the residual gas or closing the inlet of the vent hole to block leakage of the resin, a temperature sensor disposed in a resin flow course in the cavity while being spaced apart from the inlet of the vent hole by a predetermined distance, a controller, and a core driving unit for driving the vent core to perform opening and closing operations based on the control signal of the controller in accordance with the temperature measured by the temperature sensor.

A method of forming a three-dimensional object, wherein said three-dimensional object is a footwear sole, heel, innersole or midsole, is described. The method may use a polymerizable liquid, or resin, useful for the production by additive manufacturing of a three-dimensional object, comprising a mixture of (i) a light polymerizable liquid first component, and (ii) a second solidifiable component that is different from said first component.

A method of forming a three-dimensional object (e.g. comprised of polyurethane, polyurea, or copolymer thereof) is carried out by: (a) providing a carrier and an optically transparent member having a build surface, the carrier and the build surface defining a build region therebetween; (b) filling the build region with a polymerizable liquid, the polymerizable liquid comprising a mixture of: (i) a light polymerizable liquid first component, and (ii) a second solidifiable component that is different from the first component; (c) irradiating the build region with light through the optically transparent member to form a solid blocked polymer scaffold and advancing the carrier away from the build surface to form a three-dimensional intermediate having the same shape as, or a shape to be imparted to, the three-dimensional object, with the intermediate containing the second solidifiable component; and then (d) contacting the three-dimensional intermediate to water to form the three-dimensional object.

The present invention relates to methods for forming a composite product having a patterned surface. A substrate including a porous structure (136), a sheet-form material (134) and a patterned sheet (131) are pressed together to form the composite product. In preferred examples, the patterned sheet is permeable to curable material in the sheet-form material.

A method of forming a three-dimensional object is described. The method may use a polymerizable liquid, or resin, useful for the production by additive manufacturing of a three-dimensional object, comprising a mixture of (i) a light polymerizable liquid first component, and (ii) a second solidifiable component that is different from said first component.

A method of forming a three-dimensional object is carried out by: (a) providing a carrier and an optically transparent member having a build surface, the carrier and the build surface defining a build region therebetween; (b) filling the build region with a polymerizable liquid, the polymerizable liquid including a mixture of (i) a light polymerizable liquid first component, and (ii) a second solidifiable component that is different from the first component; (c) irradiating the build region with light through the optically transparent member to form a solid polymer scaffold from the first component and also advancing the carrier away from the build surface to form a three-dimensional intermediate having the same shape as, or a shape to be imparted to, the three-dimensional object, and containing the second solidifiable component carried in the scaffold in unsolidified and/or uncured form; and (d) concurrently with or subsequent to the irradiating step, solidifying and/or curing the second solidifiable component in the three-dimensional intermediate to form the three-dimensional object.

Molded foam articles are provided. The molded foam articles have at least one surface having at least a portion that has been skin-formed for forming a skin-formed living hinge for enabling a robust living hinge capable of hundreds of open/close cycles at angles of up to 270.

A method of forming a composite product is described. An example of the method comprises providing a layer (34) comprising a sheet-form moulding material and providing a substrate (36). The layer of sheet-form material is applied onto a surface of the substrate (36); and pressed to the substrate in a mould (30). In some examples, the substrate (36) is an open celled foam and gas and/or vapour can be displaced from the pressing region.