A manufacturing method of a halogen-free flame-retardant thermoplastic braided fiber reinforced polymer composite board, comprising steps of: preparing a recycled material containing a halogen-free flame-retardant thermoplastic braided fiber reinforced polymer composite; adding a polymer base material to the recycled material to form a core layer material and extruding the core layer material with a low shear extruder; hot pressing the core layer material by rollers to obtain a recycled fiber core layer; preparing a reinforcement layer containing a fiber material or a fabric with pores; and stacking and hot pressing the recycled fiber core layer and the reinforcement layer.

In an exemplary embodiment, a system for forming a flexible mat having an open mesh embedded in and interconnecting a plurality of blocks of a hardened paste includes a rotating drum having a plurality of mold cavities about an outer periphery thereof that receive a hardenable paste; a sheet of the open mesh that is fed over the mold cavities so that the mesh is embedded in the hardenable paste deposited in the mold cavities; and a flexible sheet that is placed against the outer periphery of the drum over the mold cavities containing the hardenable paste and the sheet of open mesh of the rotating drum to retain the hardenable paste within the mold cavities and retain the open mesh embedded in the hardenable paste as the hardenable paste solidifies to form the flexible mat.

A method for producing a vehicle interior component includes placing a polymeric cushion blank in a mold having a plurality of apertures and a mold cavity. The method may include the step of passing a first fluid having a first predetermined temperature through at least some of the apertures and through the cushion blank to heat the cushion blank to a compliant, non-liquid state. The method may also include passing a second fluid having a second predetermined temperature lower than the first predetermined temperature through the mold and through the cushion blank to cool cushion blank to a non-compliant state.

In embodiments, a flexible mat forming system includes a rotating drum having a plurality of mold cavities; a hopper that receives a hardenable paste and deposits the hardenable paste into the mold cavities as the drum rotates relative to the hopper; and a sheet of mesh material that is fed between the hopper and the mold cavities facing the hopper. The hopper includes a plurality of side walls and a bottom panel having an opening, wherein the plurality of walls and the bottom panel define an interior chamber; and an auger rotatably mounted in the interior chamber and having a plurality of radially extending protrusions along a length thereof, the radially extending protrusions including angled surfaces to displace the material received in the interior chamber along a length of the interior chamber to fall through the opening into the mold cavities.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a thermoplastic polyurethane (“TPU”) infused mesh material that is molded to form at least a portion of a shoe. The TPU infused mesh may be formed as an upper, a portion of sole or other components of a shoe. The TPU infused mesh is formed, in an exemplary embodiment, through the application of liquid TPU to a surface of a spacer mesh. The liquid TPU infused spacer mesh is then cured, cut to a pattern, and heat molded to form a desired portion of the shoe. The heat molded TPU mesh is coupled to other portions of the shoe (e.g., sole) to form an article footwear in an exemplary embodiment.

Various embodiments disclosed relate to injection-molded or compression-molded articles. A method of injection molding or compression molding an article includes directing a shot of molten material into a mold cavity including a plurality of contacting substantially identical modular mesh parts to fill the mold cavity. The method also includes solidifying the shot of molten material to form the article including the plurality of modular mesh parts and the solidified shot of molten material. Various embodiments also provide parts machined from a block produced by various methods of injection molding or compression molding.

The present disclosure may be embodied as a method for creating a restriction pattern from a mask material having a strain (ε.sub.mask) an for mapping elastomeric membrane having a strain (ε.sub.membrane) into a target 3D shape. The method may include discretizing the target 3D shape into a plurality of radial segments, and a radial strain (ε.sub.r) is determined for each radial position (r) on each radial segment of the plurality of radial segments. A restriction pattern is determined, wherein the restriction pattern comprises a quantity of mask material for each position r to provide a composite strain (ε.sub.mask, ε.sub.silicone). In some embodiments, the method further includes depositing a first membrane layer into a mold and placing mask material into the first membrane layer according to the determined restriction pattern. The first membrane layer is cured.

A three-dimensional electronic, biological, chemical, thermal management, and/or electromechanical apparatus can be configured by depositing one or more layers of a three-dimensional structure on a substrate. Such a three-dimensional structure can include one or more internal cavities using an additive manufacturing system enhanced with a range of secondary embedding processes. The three-dimensional structure can be further configured with structural integrated metal objects spanning the internal cavities (possibly filled with air or even evacuated) of the three-dimensional structure for enhanced electromagnetic properties.

In embodiments, a flexible mat forming system includes a rotating drum having a plurality of mold cavities; a hopper that receives a hardenable paste and deposits the hardenable paste into the mold cavities as the drum rotates relative to the hopper; and a sheet of mesh material that is fed between the hopper and the mold cavities facing the hopper. The hopper includes a plurality of side walls and a bottom panel having an opening, wherein the plurality of walls and the bottom panel define an interior chamber; and an auger rotatably mounted in the interior chamber and having a plurality of radially extending protrusions along a length thereof, the radially extending protrusions including angled surfaces to displace the material received in the interior chamber along a length of the interior chamber to fall through the opening into the mold cavities.

Techniques for inlaying a composite material within a tooling shell are disclosed. In one aspect, an additively manufactured tooling shell is provided, into which a composite material is inlaid and cured. A surface of the tooling shell is provided with indentations or another mechanism to enable adherence between the composite material and the tooling shell. The resulting integrated structure is used as a component in a transport structure.