According to the present invention, a side part cavity (23) in which a side part is molded, a body part cavity (24) in which a body part is molded, and an attachment part cavity (25) in which an attachment part is molded are formed between a plurality of molding molds (21, 22), and a guiding part (26) that is configured to guide a foam to the body part cavity when an undiluted foam solution of the second synthetic resin material supplied to the side part cavity foams is arranged at a part of the side part cavity adjacent to, in a left-right direction X, a rear end part of the body part cavity in which a non-contact part is molded.

According to the present invention, in a plan view of a seat surface (10a), a plane area of a part surrounded by an inner edge (17a) of a rear part (17) in a left-right direction (X) and a contour (L) is larger than a plane area of a part sandwiched by an inner edge (18a) of a front part (18) in the left-right direction (X) and the contour (L) in the left-right direction (X). In addition, a part of a pair of left and right second synthetic resin materials forming a lower part having a maximum gap therebetween in the left-right direction (X) is positioned in a thigh rest part (14) and a part having a minimum gap is positioned in a hip rest part (15), and a maximum value (W1) of the gap between the pair of left and right second synthetic resin materials forming the lower part in the left-right direction (X) is two times or more a minimum value (W2) of the gap in the left-right direction (X).

A heat-insulating housing (21) includes: a wall body; and an open-cell resin body (4) of thermosetting resin with which a heat-insulating space formed by the wall body is filled by integral foaming, the open-cell resin body including: a plurality of cells (47); a cell film portion (42); a cell skeleton portion (43); a first through-hole (44) formed so as to extend through the cell film portion; and a second through-hole (45) formed so as to extend through the cell skeleton portion, wherein the plurality of cells communicate with one another through the first through-hole and the second through-hole.

The instant application discloses, among other things, ways to manufacture reduced density thermoplastics. A rapid foaming process which may create a polymer product by saturating thermoplastic sheet or preforms, heating, and then forming into final shape, is described. The polymer product may include an integral solid skin. This method may be utilized with any thermoplastic. The material handling, saturation methods, and end products are also described.

A method of making a vehicle headrest restraint and connecting first and second molds to form a mold cavity. A first material is injected with a first density into the mold cavity. A second material is injected with a second density into the mold cavity. The first and second materials are allowed to develop an integrally formed headrest.

Expanded rubber articles and processes for making such, comprising: partially curing an expandable rubber formulation by heating it in a first mould cavity to form a moulded blank; releasing the moulded blank from the first mould cavity and allowing the moulded blank to expand to form an expanded moulded blank; and further curing and expanding the expanded moulded blank by heating it to form the expanded rubber article comprising an expanded rubber part, wherein the expanded moulded blank is heated in a second mould cavity. Optionally, the expanded moulded blank is contacted with a further rubber formulation and a substrate comprising a base material and an elastomer bonding layer in the second mould cavity to form an expanded rubber article additionally comprising a solid rubber part and a substrate.

A molded vehicle component (10) having a skin (14) and a lower density core (16) formed by a co-injection molding process. In a first phase, a first material for forming the skin of class A surface material is injected into a mold to partially fill the mold cavity (104). Thereafter, in a second phase, a second material is injected into the same cavity (104) to complete filling of the mold cavity (104). The second material can flow only to portions of the part where the first material is still molten and displaces the molten core of the first phase, pushing it away from co-injection gates until the mold cavity is full. The second material is pre-treated with a chemical blowing agent in order to reduce part weight by foaming the core material. The finished co-injection molded part (10) has one material on all visible class A surfaces (14) and a core (16) that is a different, less dense material.

Devices and methods for making a polymer with a porous layer from a solid piece of polymer are disclosed. In various embodiments, the method includes heating a surface of a solid piece of polymer to a processing temperature and holding the processing temperature while displacing a porogen layer through the surface of the polymer to create a matrix layer of the solid polymer body comprising the polymer and the porogen layer. In at least one embodiment, the method also includes removing at least a portion of the layer of porogen from the matrix layer to create a porous layer of the solid piece of polymer.

A process for producing a polymeric article is provided that includes: sequentially filling a female mould (11) with a first, second, and third batches, wherein the first and third batches include first and third polymeric materials (1p, 3p), and the second batch includes a second polymeric material (2p) and a blowing agent (2b), closing the thus filled cavity with a lid (12) to form a mould defining a closed cavity (10c) of constant volume in time, heating the mould (10) to a processing temperature, to melt the first, second, and third polymeric materials (1p-3p) and to expand the second polymer agent by activation of the blowing agent, cooling and removing the lid (12) to open the cavity and extracting the polymeric article. At least the second polymeric material (2p) includes at least 50 wt. % of recycled polymer in the form of shredded flakes.

Components for articles of footwear and athletic equipment including a foam are provided. The foam portion of the components and articles include a composition which includes a thermoplastic copolyester, the composition having a foam structure. A polymer layer is provided on at least on surface of the foam portion. The polymer layer can control or reduce the water uptake of the foam portion. Methods of making the compositions, foams, and components are provided, as well as methods of making an article of footwear including one of the foam components. In some aspects, the foams and foam components can be made by injection molding, or injection molding followed by compression molding.