A method is provided for manufacturing a seamless, reinforced panel of any desired length using a single mold. The seamless panels of the present invention may be used in a variety of construction application. In one embodiment, the method includes inserting at least a portion of a plurality of lattice trusses into a mold having an axial length, inserting a first filler material into the mold, the first filler material encapsulating at least a portion of the plurality of lattice trusses to form a panel segment, translating the panel segment a linear distance, the linear distance less than the axial length of the mold such that a portion of the panel segment remains in the mold, and inserting a second filler material into the mold, the second filler material intermixing with the portion of the panel segment remaining in the mold to form a seamless panel.

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.

A method for selectively producing a first or a second variant of a multi-layer plastic component, where both variants have a substrate part, a decorative layer, and a foam layer between the substrate part and the decorative layer, includes producing the foam layer in a foaming mold which has a first mold half, into which the substrate part is inserted before the foaming process. To produce the first variant, the decorative layer is inserted into a second mold half of the foaming mold before the foaming process. To produce the second variant, a spacer layer is inserted into the second mold half before the foaming process where, after the foaming process, the spacer layer is removed from the foam layer and the decorative layer is applied to the foam layer. The foam layer includes at least one first portion having a higher contour stability than a second portion.

An injection molding method includes providing a molding device including a first mold, a second mold over the first mold and a first mold cavity defined by the first mold and the second mold; injecting a first material into the first mold cavity; forming a first layer from the first material; replacing the second mold by a third mold; injecting a second material into a second mold cavity defined by the first mold and the third mold; and forming a second layer from the second material disposed over the first layer, wherein the first material is different from the second material.

An apparatus for forming a three-dimensional image, the apparatus including a cartridge that stores ink which a printing head discharges and which has a photothermal conversion property; a conveying unit that conveys a thermally expandable material so as to pass the thermally expandable material through a first position where the printing head faces and so as to form an image on the thermally expandable material with the ink discharged by the printing head; and a light irradiating unit that emits light toward a second position which is in a downstream side from the first position in a conveying path of the conveying unit, so as to perform photothermal conversion. The cartridge is disposed at a position which deviates from an extending line of an irradiation path of the light irradiation unit.

A method for making an insulated vehicle extension dash panel includes injection molding an extension dash panel from a structural polymer. The method further includes adding a plurality of components to a mixer to form an insulating foaming layer. The plurality of components includes a two-part liquid silicone compound, a catalyst, and a foaming agent. A screw is then coupled to the mixer and the insulating foaming layer is injection molded to an inner face of the extension dash panel. The insulating foaming layer is then cured to the inner face of the extension dash panel to form the insulated vehicle extension dash panel.

An injection molding method comprising: a mold clamping step of clamping a first mold and a second mold to form a mold cavity; a first injection filling step of injecting a foamable molten resin into the mold cavity to fill an interior of the mold cavity with the foamable molten resin, after completion of the mold clamping step; a mold cavity expansion step of expanding the mold cavity by a specified quantity to cause the foamable molten resin to foam, after the start of the first injection filling step; and a second injection filling step of pouring a molten resin or gas into the foamable molten resin within the mold cavity, after the completion of the first injection filling step, and after the start of the mold cavity expansion step.

The invention disclosed herein relates to relates to foamed thermoplastic material objects and articles of manufacture having an internal layered cellular structure, as well as to methods of making the same. In one embodiment, the invention is directed to a multi-layer foamed polymeric article of manufacture, comprising: a non-laminated multi-layer thermoplastic material sheet, wherein the multi-layer thermoplastic material sheet has first and second discrete outer layers sandwiching a plurality of discrete inner foamed layers, and wherein the two outer layers and plurality discrete inner foamed layers are integral with one another. The thermoplastic material may be a semi-crystalline polymer such as, for example, PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PEEK (polyetheretherketone), PEN (polyethylene naphthalate), PBT (polybutylene terephthalate), PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate), PLA (polylactide), polyhydroxy acid (PHA), thermoplastic urethane (TPU), or blends thereof. The two outer layers may be unfoamed skin layers having smooth outer surfaces, and the discrete inner foamed layers may be microcellular.

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.

A method for making a polymer with a porous layer from a solid piece of polymer is 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.