The present invention relates to an enhanced method for the manufacture of a plastic component (135), in particular a cushioning element for sports apparel, the method comprising: opening a mold (100) by a predetermined amount into a loading position, wherein the mold comprises at least two mold parts (110, 112) and wherein the amount by which the mold is opened influences an available loading volume of the mold, loading a material comprising expanded particles (130) into the loading volume, closing the mold into a closed position, wherein during closing of the mold the mold parts are moved together over different distances (140) in different areas of the mold, compressing the expanded particles by closing the mold and fusing at least the surfaces of the expanded particles to mold the plastic component.

The invention relates to a method and a device for producing a particle foam part. The device comprises a molding tool (3) which delimits a molding chamber (14), wherein at least two capacitor plates (15, 16) are arranged adjacently to the molding chamber, said plates be connected to an RF radiation source. The RF radiation source is designed to dispense RF radiation, and the molding tool (3) has means for controlling the temperature of the molding tool in the region of an inner delimiting surface (19) delimiting the molding chamber (14) and/or for supplying a heating medium to the molding tool region lying against the inner delimiting surface.

The present invention can provide a fiber-reinforced expanded particle molded article having a reinforcing material fused and integrated with the surface of an expanded molded article, wherein the reinforcing material is a fabric or a braided product produced by weaving a linear composite material produced by melting and integrating a thermoplastic fiber comprising a low-melting component fiber and a high-melting component fiber, as two or more threads selected from the group consisting of a warp, a weft and a slant thread, the fiber-reinforced expanded particle molded article exhibiting an excellent reinforcing effect; and a method for economically producing the molded article by in-mold molding with a small number of steps.

The present invention relates to an enhanced method for the manufacture of a plastic component (135), in particular a cushioning element for sports apparel, the method comprising: opening a mold (100) by a predetermined amount into a loading position, wherein the mold comprises at least two mold parts (110, 112) and wherein the amount by which the mold is opened influences an available loading volume of the mold, loading a material comprising expanded particles (130) into the loading volume, closing the mold into a closed position, wherein during closing of the mold the mold parts are moved together over different distances (140) in different areas of the mold, compressing the expanded particles by closing the mold and fusing at least the surfaces of the expanded particles to mold the plastic component.

High-temperature foams are produced and used in the construction of aeroplanes, ships and rail and other vehicles. In particular, the foams are further processed into sandwich materials by joining with two outer layers. To this end, a novel process is used for producing high-temperature foams (HT foams) which are particularly suitable for producing such sandwich components for lightweight construction. This process achieves an improvement in the processability of the HT foams produced and a weight reduction of the sandwich materials. The HT foams are furthermore rigid particle foams which are markedly more economic to produce than rigid block foams. In particular, a reduction is brought about in resin absorption in fibre composite processes through a process-related optimization of the surface constitution.

A method for manufacturing a foamed plastic molded body with a film layer coating by using a tool mold with at least one tool cavity to form a shaping mold cavity, including A) heating at least one tool cavity of the tool mold; B) applying a granulate to the at least one heated tool cavity; C) fusing the granulate in the heated tool cavity to form a liquid film layer; D) applying the liquid film layer to a foamed plastic molded body to form a film layer coating on the surface of the plastic molded body by fusing the liquid film layer with the surface of the plastic molded body; and E) cooling the at least one tool cavity and ejecting the plastic molded body coated with the film layer.

An expanded beads molded article containing a block copolymer of a polyethylene block and an ethylene-α-olefin copolymer block and having a density of 150 kg/m.sup.3 or more and 500 kg/m.sup.3 or less and a tensile strength of 0.5 MPa or more.

Methods of forming a lightweight reinforced thermoplastic core layer and articles including the core layer are described. In some examples, the methods use a combination of thermoplastic material, reinforcing fibers and bicomponent fibers to enhance retention of lofting agents in the core layer. The processes permit the use of less material while still providing sufficient lofting capacity in the final formed core layer.

The invention relates to an apparatus and a method for the production of a particle foam part, wherein a mould cavity (5) is filled with foam particles, the foam particles are welded into a particle foam part and the particle foam part is cooled down in the mould. The foam particles are heated by means of a ceramic body (17) with integrated resistance heating and by the application of electromagnetic waves.

A method and compression mold are provided for producing a sandwich component, in which an outer shell and an inner shell are compressed, together with foam particles in a cavity between the shells, which cavity is formed by two mold halves of a mold, under pressure and at an increased temperature to form the sandwich component. At least one mold half is heated in a first temperature-control zone to a higher maximum temperature than in a second temperature-control zone.