The present invention relates to a method of controlling a step of a process carried out by a machine. The invention is characterized in that a sensor is used to measure a variable characteristic with an exponential course for a step, and with the aid of several consecutive measurements of the characteristic variable a time constant of the exponential change is determined, and the step is ended after it has been carried out for a period of time corresponding to a predetermined multiple of the time constant.

Embodiments disclosed herein relate to polymer resins having a first thermoset and one or more additional components (e.g., a second thermoset and/or a thermoplastic), composite laminates including the same, methods of making and using the same, and composite laminate structures including the same.

An expanded polypropylene resin particle is obtained from a base material resin having a melting point of 140° C. to 150° C., wherein the base material resin includes a polypropylene resin A including 3 weight % to 15 weight % of 1-butene and having a melting point of 130° C. to 140° C.; and a polypropylene resin B having a melting point of 145° C. to 165° C., and wherein the expanded polypropylene resin particle has an average cell diameter of 100 μm to 340 μm.

The present invention disclosed a foam product and the manufacturing method thereof. The foam product includes a foam core, an outer skin, a cross-linked foam sheet and a bottom plate, wherein the aforementioned layers are all pre-made. The cross-linked foam sheet is laminated onto a bottom surface of the foam core, and the outer skin is then laminated onto a top surface and a periphery of the foam core. Lastly, the bottom plate is laminated onto the cross-linked foam sheet, wherein, the bottom plate has a non cross-linked foam sheet and a non-foam plastic plate, so that when the bottom plate is laminated onto the crossed-link foam sheet, the non cross-linked foam sheet is sandwiched between the cross-linked foam sheet and the non-foam plastic plate.

An apparatus and method for forming a design on an expanded bead foam article such as an exercise roller is provided.

A method of manufacturing a footwear sole component is provided including projecting elongated pins into a mold cavity in the shape of the footwear sole component and partially filled with an expandable material including multiple unexpanded beads, and introducing steam into the cavity through ports defined by one or more cavity walls and through the pins in an internal region of the expandable material, to expand both exterior beads and interior beads in the internal region a predetermined amount. With the elongated pins, the interior beads can be expanded more, less and/or the same amount as exterior beads to provide particular physical characteristics to the component. For example, the interior beads can be fully expanded to a similar density as exterior beads, or expanded less to provide more density and rigidity in the internal region, or expanded more to provide less density and rigidity in the internal region.

Methods for manufacturing cushioning elements for sports apparel are described. A method is provided for manufacturing a cushioning element for sports apparel from randomly arranged particles of an expanded material. The method includes positioning a functional element within a mold and loading the mold with the particles of the expanded material, wherein the loading occurs through at least two openings within the mold and/or wherein the loading occurs between different movable parts of the mold.

A mold and a relative molding process for the manufacture of sporting helmets, in particular cycling helmets. The mold includes a frame provided with at least one molding concavity; a counter frame engageable to the frame to hermetically close the respective molding concavity and allow the execution of at least one molding cycle. The mold further includes at least one intermediate support element for supporting and positioning one or more components of the sporting helmet to be manufactured inside the respective molding concavity of the frame. The intermediate support element is kept inside the respective molding concavity during the entire molding cycle in order to keep the components of the sporting helmet to be manufactured in their assigned positions.

This invention concerns a process for producing particle foam part in which foam particles are heated in a molding tool so that they weld to the particle foam part. Heat is supplied to the foam particles by means of electromagnetic RF radiation. The foam particles are made of polyurethane (PU), polylactate (PLA), polyethylene block amide (PEBA) or polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

Provided are a method for manufacturing a molded foam, and a molded foam. A method for manufacturing a molded foam includes: a molding step of molding the molded foam; and a releasing step of opening a fixed mold and a mobile mold and extruding the molded foam from the fixed mold by an ejector pin. The molded foam has an inclined face that is inclined relative to a direction of opening the mold. The inclined face has a recess for extruding of the molded foam by the ejector pin. The tip surface of the ejector pin has a first extruding surface that is perpendicular to the mold opening direction and forms a bottom face of the recess, and a second extruding surface that is inclined relative to the first extruding surface.