Described are methods for manufacturing a plastic component, in particular a cushioning element for sports apparel, a plastic component manufactured with such methods, for example a sole or a part of a sole for a shoe, and a shoe with such a sole. The method for the manufacture of a plastic component includes loading a mold with a first material includes particles of an expanded material and fusing the surfaces of the particles by supplying energy. The energy is supplied in the form of at least one electromagnetic field.

In a method for producing a fiber-reinforced resin molded body (10) by heat-compressing fiber substrates (11A to 11D) together with a thermosetting resin (15) so that the thermosetting resin (15) is impregnated into the fiber substrates (11A to 11D) and cured, a thermosetting resin powder (15A) is disposed in contact with at least one surface of the fiber substrates (11A to 11D), the fiber substrates (11A to 11D) are heat-compressed together with the thermosetting resin powder (15A) by a mold (30) so that the thermosetting resin powder (15A) is melted, impregnated into the fiber substrates (11A to 11D), and cured. Also disclosed is a fiber-reinforced resin molded body as well as a vehicle or airframe including a fiber-reinforced resin molded body.

A method for manufacturing an insulation member for a vacuum insulated structure includes the steps of forming a bag that has an opening using a single layer porous fabric, filling the bag with insulation materials via the opening, sealing the opening of the bag, and vibrating the bag to evenly distribute, de-aerate, and densify the insulation material to form a pillow. The method further includes the steps of compressing the pillow within a mold to define a compressed insulation member, and evacuating the compressed insulation member within an insulated structure to define a vacuum insulated structure.

A three-dimensional shaped article production method for producing a three-dimensional shaped article by stacking layers to form a stacked body includes a first layer formation step of forming a first layer on a support by supplying a first composition containing first particles and a binder, a second layer formation step of forming a second layer composed of one layer or a plurality of layers on the first layer by supplying a second composition containing second particles and a binder, and a separation step of separating the second layer from the support through the first layer, wherein after the separation step, a sintering step of sintering the second layer is performed.

A process is disclosed for combining a polysaccharide ester polymer with one or more plasticizers in a way that produces a homogeneous blend. The polysaccharide ester polymer can be in the form of particles and fed to a heated extruding device. Separate quantities of plasticizer can then be combined with the polysaccharide ester polymer particles as they are conveyed through the extruding device. Through the process of the present disclosure, a homogenous blended product can be formed that can then be used to form various articles including fibers, films, and molded articles.

A method is provided of making an upper for an article of footwear, the method including applying a liquid to select portions of a first substrate sheet of material, applying a powder to the first substrate sheet of material, applying suction to the first substrate sheet of material in order to remove the powder from portions of the first substrate sheet of material that are not coated with the liquid to form a selectively powdered sheet of material, applying additional liquid, additional powder, and additional suction to additional substrate sheets of material to form a stack of selectively powdered sheets of material, using compression and heat to join the stack of selectively powdered sheets of material into a partially cured structure, and removing uncured portions of sheet material from the partially cured structure leaving a cured structure. Different portions of the cured structure can have different properties.

An implantable medical device is disclosed comprising a thermoplastic composite body having anterior, first lateral, second lateral, posterior, superior, and inferior surfaces, and at least one dense portion and at least one porous portion which are integrally formed. The at least one dense portion is formed of a first thermoplastic polymer matrix that is essentially non-porous, and which is continuous through a thickness dimension from the superior surface to the inferior surface. The at least one porous portion is formed of a porous thermoplastic polymer scaffold having a second thermoplastic polymer matrix which is continuous through the thickness dimension. A method for forming the thermoplastic composite body is disclosed comprising disposing a first powder mixture in a first portion of a mold, disposing a second powder mixture in a second portion of the mold, simultaneously molding the first powder mixture and the second powder mixture, and leaching porogen.

A curable particulate silicone composition is disclosed. The composition comprises: (A) hot-melt silicone fine particles having a specific reactive functional group; (B) an inorganic filler; and (C) a curing agent. The content of component (B) is in the range of from 87 to 95 vol. % of the total composition. The curable particulate silicone composition provides a cured product having an average linear expansion coefficient of not greater than 15 ppm/° C. in a range of from 25° C. to 200° C. The curable particulate silicone composition provides a cured product having a very low average linear expansion coefficient over a wide temperature range when cured and is particularly suitable for overmold molding and the like.

A method is provided for fabricating a unitary element, such as an exercise weight, including a composite material. The method includes providing a plurality of solid fragments including at least one non-thermoplastic material. The method further includes providing a plurality of solid particles including at least one thermoplastic polymer and/or elastomer material, at least 75% of the solid fragments having sizes in a fragment size range from zero to 32 millimeters and at least 75% of the solid particles having sizes in a article size range from zero to 1.5 millimeters. The method further includes forming a mixture of the plurality of solid fragments and the plurality of solid particles, the mixture including 90% to 20% of the fragments by volume and 10% to 80% of the particles by volume. The method further includes molding or extruding the mixture into a unitary element through the application of heat and/or pressure.

The present invention relates to a thermosetting material for use in a 3D printing process comprising: a) at least one epoxy resin A, b) at least one elastomer-modified epoxy resin B, c) at least one resin C with a dynamic viscosity of below 4 Pas at 150° C., d) at least one of a curing agent D capable of reacting with A, B and optionally C, e) and optionally additional compounds,
wherein the glass transition temperature of the uncured material is at least 30° C., preferably at least 40° C. as measured with DSC at a heating rate of 20° C./min.

The invention further relates to a method of producing a cured 3D thermoset object and the use of the above-mentioned thermosetting material in a 3D printing process.