A method for fabricating emulated wood with pores and fibers, comprising: immersing a plurality of synthetic fibers configured parallel in a plane into a resin so that the resin is coated on the surfaces of the plurality of synthetic fibers and in the gaps between the plurality of synthetic fibers; placing the plurality of synthetic fibers between two sheets, wherein the two sheets are planar sheets made from a uniform composition comprising a thermoplastic elastomer, a foaming agent, and a crosslinking agent; carrying out a heat-press process on the two sheets so that the foaming agent undergoes microcellular foaming and forms dense closed pores in the two sheets, and so that the composition on inner surfaces of the two sheets expands towards the plurality of synthetic fibers and penetrates through the gaps between the plurality of synthetic fibers; and cooling the two sheets to yield an emulated wood board.

The present invention relates to an expanded beads molded article, which is obtained through in-mold molding of expanded thermoplastic elastomer beads, has voids, and has a density of 150 to 300 kg/m.sup.3 and a voidage of 10 to 70% by volume.

A molded foam is provided in which even when a force in a sliding direction is applied to another member in contact with its surface, the occurrence of a shift in position relative to the other member can effectively be prevented and the occurrence of unusual noise due to rubbing between its surface and the other member can effectively be prevented. The molded foam is formed by heating expandable resin particles filled into a foaming mold. The molded foam has a plurality of first ridges arranged in one direction and a plurality of second ridges arranged in another direction and disposed so as to intersect the first ridges, the first and second ridges being provided on the surface of the molded foam.

The invention relates to an injector for filling a mold with plastic particles, with a front part (2) and a base part (3), wherein the front part (2) has a mold-side orifice (23) and a feed for compressed air (15) and a feed for plastic particles (11), and the base part (3) is attached axially in the direction of conveyance behind the front part (2) and has a piston-cylinder unit (30, 37, 38), wherein a closing piston (49) for closing the mold-side orifice (23) is axially movable through the front part (2), together with an apparatus and a method for the production of a particle form part. The injector is characterised in that the closing piston (49) and the piston rod (47) bearing the closing piston on its front side have equal diameters or substantially equal diameters and the method comprises the following steps: feeding form particles from a material container to a mold by means of a pipe thermoplastic welding of the form particles in the mold into a particle form part under a supply of heat,
wherein steam is added to the form particles to be fed.

The invention relates, among other things, to a method of making a thin panel (10) for outdoor applications, comprising, among other things, the following steps: a) providing a deep-drawable film (10) of a transparent plastic, b) deep-drawing the film (11) in a mold (34), c) mounting a structure (19) having solar cells (32) on an inner face (16) of the deep-drawn film (12), d) placing the deep-drawn film (12) with mounted structure (19) in a cavity (33) of a mold (34) having in particular at least two mold halves (13, 14), e) introducing a liquid polyurethane casting compound (24) into the cavity (33) of the mold (34) and spreading the polyurethane casting compound (24) over an inner face (18) of the structure (19) and/or over the inner face (16) of the film (12), f) curing the polyurethane casting compound, in particular with the mold closed, to form a reinforcement layer (30), or comprising the following steps j) and k) instead of the steps e) and f): j) introducing a granular particle foam mass into the cavity (33) of the mold (34) and spreading over an inner face (18) of the structure (19) and/or over the inner face (16) of the film (12), k) baking and curing the particle foam mass, in particular with the mold closed, to form a reinforcement layer (30).

The present disclosure relates to a polymer foam and a preparation method thereof. The polymer foam is obtained by physically foaming a thermoplastic elastomer or a polyolefin material, and has an apparent density of 0.30 g/cm.sup.3 or less and a rebound degree of 50% or more as measured according to ASTM D2632.

The present disclosure relates to a method for physically foaming a polymer material and a foamed article. The method for physically foaming a polymer material comprises: (1) making a thermoplastic elastomer or a polyolefin material into a blank with an injector, an extruder, or a molding press; (2) subjecting the polyolefin blank to a crosslinking reaction to obtain a crosslinked polyolefin blank; (3) subjecting the thermoplastic elastomer blank or the crosslinked polyolefin blank to a high pressure impregnation with a supercritical fluid in an autoclave, then releasing the pressure to a normal pressure to obtain a supercritical fluid-impregnated blank; and (4) placing the supercritical fluid-impregnated blank into an end-product mold to perform an 1:1 in-mold foaming to obtain a finished foam article.

A tool for the production of particle foam parts through the welding of foam particles by means of electromagnetic waves comprises two mould halves which bound a mould cavity. At least one of the two mould halves is made of a material which is transparent to electromagnetic waves and has a boundary wall which bounds the mould cavity and one or more supports serving to support the boundary wall on a capacitor plate on the side facing away from the mould cavity and forming one or more hollow spaces. A tool system for the production of particle foam parts has the tool and at least one trimming body, which is designed for introduction into the hollow space or at least one of the hollow spaces. A method for the production of a particle foam part with the tool or tool system is also specified.

A molded article of polypropylene-based resin expanded beads, obtained by in-mold molding of the polypropylene-based resin expanded beads, each bead including: a core layer, in a foamed state, having a polypropylene-based resin; and a covering layer, which covers the core layer, having a polyethylene-based resin. A molded article magnification X [times] of the molded article is 55 times to 90 times, a value of a product X.Math..sub.50 of a 50% compressive stress .sub.50 [kPa] and the molded article magnification X is 6500 or more, and a 5% compressive stress .sub.5 of the expanded beads molded article is 5 kPa to 25 kPa.

Processes for preparing polystyrene-phenolic foam composites and precursor compositions are described. The processes yield composites having advantageous properties particularly useful in insulation and fire resisting applications.