A structural carrier comprising: a foam core and an outer layer, the foam core and the outer layer being free of structurally reinforcing ribs and open pockets, wherein the structural carrier is curable at a temperature of about 0? C. to about 50? C. The structural carrier may also foam at room temperature. The structural carrier may have an adhesive material disposed on at least a portion of the outer layer.

Described are methods for making three dimensional objects. A nozzle is positioned within a gel inside a container of gel. The position of the nozzle within the gel is changed while depositing solidifying material through the nozzle. The gel supports the solidifying material at the position at which the solidifying material is deposited. The solidifying material is solidified to form a solid material, which is a three-dimensional object.

A foamed part, includes: a long glass fiber filled polymeric material, wherein the long glass fibers have an initial length before molding of the foamed part and a final length after molding of the foamed part; wherein a post-molding length of the long glass fibers in the foamed part is greater than or equal to a post-molding length of long glass fibers in a similarly dimensioned foamed part made without a pressurized plasticizing unit.

A method of forming a polymeric foam material is provided and includes providing a precursor material having a first thickness, the precursor material being an open-cell foam material and applying a uniaxial compressive force to the precursor material to compress the precursor material to a second thickness, the compressive force causing a cell structure of the precursor material to collapse. The method also includes heating the precursor material at a molding temperature for a first time period while the compressive force is applied, the first time period being sufficient to heat the precursor material to a softening temperature, removing the compressive force from the precursor material, and maintaining the cell structure of the precursor material in a collapsed state.

Skinned cell structures and methods of producing the same are disclosed. A disclosed example apparatus includes a placer to place foamable structures together to define a bundle, a restrainer to restrain the bundle, an activator to activate the foamable structures to expand and form a cell structure within the restrainer, a trimmer to trim the cell structure to define a core, and an assembler to couple a skin to the core to define the skinned cell structure.

A composite article and a method for insulating an appliance are disclosed. In general, the appliance is selected from the group of major, domestic or household appliances (e.g. ovens, stoves, ranges, etc.). The appliance has a first surface that defines a heating cavity, and a second surface opposite the first surface. The composite article comprises a backing layer spaced from the first surface, and an insulating layer sandwiched between the second surface and the backing layer. The insulating layer reduces heat transfer from the heating cavity to the backing layer (e.g. during use of the appliance). The insulating layer comprises a foamed silicone. The foamed silicone can be one formed via a hydrosilylation-curable silicone composition, a condensation-curable silicone composition, or a combination thereof. The insulating layer may comprise a foamed room-temperature-vulcanizing (RTV) silicone. The backing layer comprises a foamed polyurethane (PUR), a foamed polyisocyanurate (PIR), or a foamed PUR/PIR hybrid.

The invention relates to a method for the combined processing of at least two polymer melts selected from the group consisting of (M1), (M2) and (M3), wherein (M1) is a polymer melt comprising a terephthalate polyester (A1), (M2) is a polymer melt comprising a copolyester (A2) on the basis of terephthalic acid, at least one aliphatic, ?-dicarboxylic acid and at least one aliphatic 1,?-diol, and (M3) is a polymer melt 0 comprising a copolyester (A3) on the basis of terephthalic acid, at least one polytetramethylene glycol and at least one aliphatic 1,?-diol. The method comprises the alternating processing of the at least two polymer melts into at least one product selected from the group consisting of pellets (P1), fibers (P2), expanded particles (P3), preforms (P4) and articles (P5).

A method for sorting flexible polyurethane foams including: a) providing two or more calibration samples of conventional flexible polyurethane foams, two or more calibration samples of high resilience (HR) flexible polyurethane foams, and two or more calibration samples of viscoelastic flexible polyurethane foams, and obtaining a mid-infrared (MIR) spectrum of each calibration sample; b) carrying out a spectral pre-processing of the spectra of all the calibration samples and, then a first PCA to define a first library; c) carrying out a spectral pre-processing of the infrared spectra of conventional and HR calibration samples and, then a second PCA to define a second library; d) obtaining the MIR spectrum of a sample of polyurethane foam and, based on the first and second libraries, classifying the sample of polyurethane foam as a conventional, HR or viscoelastic polyurethane foam, or as a foam that is neither a conventional, a HR or a viscoelastic polyurethane foam.

A pressure sensing system (24), seat cushion (20) incorporating the pressure sensing system, and method of sensing a weight group associated with an occupant of an automotive seat are described. The pressure sensing system includes a layer of an electrically conductive foam (28) and a flexible printed circuit (26) that includes a flexible substrate (26a) and N horizontal sensing wires (26b) and M vertical sensing wires (26c) securely placed on a top surface of the flexible substrate. The horizontal sensing wires intersect with the vertical sensing wires and form N?M intersections. The layer of an electrically conductive foam is placed on top of the N horizontal sensing wires and the M vertical sensing wires. When a pressure is applied to the layer of the electrically conductive foam, each intersection generates in real time an electric flux density value to reflect a degree of a compression caused by the pressure to a corresponding point of the electrically conductive foam.

Physical foaming a footwear component with a single-phase solution of a polymeric composition and a supercritical fluid is provided. The method include temperature conditioning a mold and then engaging the mold with a robot that conveys the mold to a press. At the press a gas counter pressure is applied to a cavity of the mold before injecting a single-phase solution of a polymeric composition and a supercritical fluid into the cavity of the mold. The process continues with releasing the gas counter pressure from the cavity of the mold and then removing the footwear component from the cavity of the mold. The parameters of the method are configured for the formation of the footwear component in an automated manner.