A method sets machine parameters of a foam production machine. The foam production machine includes an intermediate conveyance unit configured to receive a reactive mixture, a plurality of fall plates having vertically adjustable ends and configured to receive the reactive mixture from the intermediate conveyance unit, and a conveyor configured to receive the reactive mixture from the fall plates. The method includes executing software by a computer system, where executing the software includes importing characteristics of the foam production machine and a rise profile for the reactive mixture, and iteratively determining process and machine parameters, including reactive mixture flow rate, conveyor speed, a dimension of the intermediate conveyance unit, and vertical positions for the ends of each fall plate resulting in a predefined predicted profile of the reactive mixture on the plurality of fall plates.

A method of manufacturing the foamed shoe material and semi-finished product including the following steps. Step S1: a foamable material is injected into a cavity of a blank mold to solidify, thereby generating a semi-finished product of the shoe material and a runner waste that are unfoamed. The runner waste could be shed for reusing directly as the foamable material without a granulating process. Step S2: the semi-finished product is cooled down and put into a cavity of the foaming mold, and the semi-finished product is evenly foamed in the cavity of the foaming mold to obtain a shoe material wherein the waste generated during the method of manufacturing the foamed shoe material could be effectively reused, and the yield rate of the shoe material thereby enhanced.

Molds and method of using the molds to produce a product are provided. The molds include a first mold piece having a first wall with a first column member protruding therefrom that includes first sidewalls and a first distal end, and a second mold piece having a second wall with a second column member protruding therefrom that includes second sidewalls and a second distal end. The first and second mold pieces are configured to releasably mate to define a mold cavity therebetween and such that the first and second column members releasably mate with the first distal end being received within a cavity of the second distal end to form a seal therebetween. The mold cavity is configured to receive a product material therein and form the product therefrom. The first sidewalls and the second sidewalls are configured to define a pass through in the product.

Polyurea/polyurethane composites and methods for making the same are disclosed. Four primary layers, an aliphatic polyurea layer, a first elastomeric layer, a structural foam layer, and second elastomeric layer, can be applied to a mold sequentially. By using plural component spray systems to spray isocyanate components and resin components corresponding to each layer at specifications, such as the temperatures and pressures of the material components, structurally sound molded composites can be formed. The spray system for the aliphatic polyurea layer can use a liquid or mechanical purge type spray gun, while the spray systems for the first elastomeric layer, the structural layer, and a second elastomeric layer can use air, mechanical or solvent purge type spray guns. Optional layers may be applied in between the primary layers, such as polyurea/polyurethane layers after the aliphatic polyurea layer or one or more additional structural foam layers after the primary structural foam layer.

A method of making expanded fluoropolymer articles thermally bonds portions of expanded fluoropolymers together, without using an adhesive or crushing force, to produce stronger bonds at the joint between the expanded fluoropolymers than the bonds within the constituent expanded fluoropolymers. The method involves placing the portions of expanded fluoropolymers to be thermally bonded together in intimate contact with each other after wet-stretching the expanded fluoropolymers, and removing the wetting agent used to wet-stretch the expanded fluoropolymers, without subsequent expansion or stretching, to yield an expanded fluoropolymer article exhibiting unexpected and superior properties that can be used in a variety of medical and industrial applications.

A therapeutic, fitness and sports enhancement device which includes a cylindrically shaped body having a predetermined density and predetermined diameter, the body including a plurality of projections of a predetermined shape. One or more of the predetermined density and the predetermined diameter in combination with the predetermined shape of the projections optimize mobilization of soft tissue structures of the human body.

A method for producing a molded article of thermoplastic resin expanded beads includes a cracking filling step and an in-mold molding step. Expanded beads to be used in the cracking filling step each have a columnar shape and each have one or more defective portions of one or two kinds, the defective portions being selected from the group consisting of through holes and grooves. A molding cavity of a mold has a first portion having a length in an opening/closing direction of the mold greater than an average length L.sub.A and a second portion shorter than the average length L.sub.A. In the cracking filling step, a difference P2.sub.maxP1.sub.min between a minimum value P1.sub.min of the compression rate of the first portion and a maximum value P2.sub.max of the compression rate of the second portion is 5% or more and 100% or less.

Provided is a cavity-containing polyester film that exhibits excellent lightness, film formability, concealing properties, and whiteness even in a case of mainly using a polyolefin resin (for example, polypropylene resin) as a cavity generating agent. The cavity-containing polyester film is a laminated body in which a first coating layer B1 that includes a polyester resin containing an inorganic pigment, a cavity-containing layer A that contains cavities inside, and a second coating layer B2 that includes a polyester resin containing an inorganic pigment are laminated in this order. This cavity-containing layer A includes a composition containing a polyester resin, a polyolefin resin, and a silicone resin. The apparent density of this cavity-containing polyester film is 0.80 g/cm.sup.3 or more and 1.20 g/cm.sup.3 or less. The inorganic pigment in the first coating layer B1 and second coating layer B2 is, for example, titanium oxide.

A drive belt includes a foamed undercord layer having void spaces located throughout the foamed undercord layer. The void spaces extend from a backing layer of the undercord layer to an exterior surface of the backing layer, and may include some void spaces at the exterior surface that are open to the external environment. The foamed undercord layer may exhibit a 20% reduction in specific gravity as compared to an unfoamed version of the undercord layer. The manufacturing process for making the foamed undercord layer can include incorporating foaming agent in the undercord layer such that the undercord layer both foams and cures when heat and pressure are applied to the undercord layer. The foamed drive belt incorporating the foamed undercord layer may exhibit reduced bending stiffness and improved energy efficiency.

A method for producing expanded particles having a high expansion ratio by a pressure-release expansion with a simpler configuration and at a low facility cost is provided. A production device includes an expansion cylinder being provided with a connecting port that connects with open-system branch cylinder and having a space of a saturated steam atmosphere. The space of a saturated steam atmosphere may be a different space from a space inside the branch cylinder. A temperature (T1) inside the expansion chamber exceeds 102 C. and is not higher than a higher one of 108 C. and a temperature obtained by a melting point Tm of a thermoplastic resin minus 14 C. A temperature (T2) at a connecting port is not lower than 100 C., and the temperature (T1) is higher than the temperature (T2).