A method of forming a polymeric foam material is provided and includes providing a precursor material having a first thickness, the precursor material being an open-cell foam material and applying a uniaxial compressive force to the precursor material to compress the precursor material to a second thickness, the compressive force causing a cell structure of the precursor material to collapse. The method also includes heating the precursor material at a molding temperature for a first time period while the compressive force is applied, the first time period being sufficient to heat the precursor material to a softening temperature, removing the compressive force from the precursor material, and maintaining the cell structure of the precursor material in a collapsed state.

A wound treatment system comprises a wound-treatment apparatus and a wound dressing coupled to the apparatus. The wound dressing includes a foam structure wound insert having pores with a greater cross-sectional area when viewed from a first direction and a smaller cross-sectional area when viewed from an orthogonal direction. Methods for making such wound inserts may include compressing foam structure material having pores with a substantially uniform cross-sectional area. Methods for treating a wound using a wound insert.

A bicycle saddle manufacturing method includes the steps of expanding a foamable material to form the foamable material into a semi-finished saddle body, and performing a thermoforming process to form the semi-finished saddle body into a saddle in a forming mold. As a result, the bicycle saddle manufacturing method of the present invention can avoid waste of material and environmental pollution.

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 a process for producing a fiber-foam composite (FSV1), wherein a first fiber material (FM1) is applied to a first foam body (SK1) to give a first structured fiber surface (FO1) to which a second foam body (SK2) is subsequently applied to give the fiber-foam composite (FSV1).

Methods for branding foam articles are provided. The methods include forming molded foam articles from polylactic acid, heating a surface, and pressing the surface against the molded foam article to produce a brand. Branding PLA-based molded foam articles advantageously produces a brand having high contrast and high resolution compared to other foam material.

A disclosed process includes steps of heating a foamed material by irradiation with near infrared radiation having a wavelength between 0.78 and 1.40 m to form a heated material, forming the heated material with a forming tool to obtain a formed material, and cooling the formed material and demolding to obtain a final workpiece. The foamed material may be constructed as a composite ply construction including an outer material and a foamed core between the outer material. The foamed material may contain a poly(meth)acrylimde, a polypropylene or a highly-crosslinked polyurethane.

The present invention relates to a method for mould production including: preparing a first core made of polystyrene; shaping the first polystyrene core, thereby obtaining a first shaped core; executing a first thermoforming operation to coat the first shaped core with a first thermoformable thermoplastic material, thereby obtaining a first coated structure.

A method of foaming and shaping a thermoplastic sheet comprising a poly(phenylene ether), a polyetherimide, or a combination thereof includes foaming the thermoplastic sheet with supercritical carbon dioxide to form a foamed thermoplastic sheet, and shaping the foamed thermoplastic sheet to form a shaped foamed thermoplastic sheet. The shaping step includes compressing the foamed thermoplastic sheet between a first metal plate and a secondi metal plate, each of which has a grooved surface facing the thermoplastic sheet. The first metal plate and the second metal plate are connected by a flexible, compressible linkage capable. When the flexible, compressible linkage is in its uncompressed state, only the second (lower) metal plate is in contact with the shaped foamed thermoplastic sheet. When the flexible, compressible linkage is in its compressed state, both the first (upper) and second (lower) metal plates are in contact with the shaped foamed thermoplastic sheet.

Styrenic polymer foams having one or two densified major surfaces are produced by applying heat and pressure (4) to such surfaces to soften the polymer and collapse cells adjacent to said surface to form a densified skin on such surface. The heated surface or surfaces are then cooled under pressure to form a foam having an undensified core (7) and densified skins (5) on one or both sides. The partially densified foams are especially useful for forming laminates in which the foam forms a core. Adhesion to external layers (30,32) is improved due to the presence of the densified layer.