Components for articles of footwear and athletic equipment are provided including a foam. A variety of foams and foam components are provided. The articles include a composition having a foam structure, wherein the composition includes an ionomeric polymer and a plurality of cations, wherein the ionomeric copolymer is crosslinked by the cations. The crosslinks are ionic, so in some aspects the composition is free or essentially free of any covalent crosslinks between the ionomers. In particular, midsoles including the foams are provided for use in an article of footwear. Methods of making the compositions and foams are provided, as well as methods of making an article of footwear including one of the foam components. In some aspects, the foams and foam components can be made by injection molding or injection molding followed by compression molding.

A method for producing expanded thermoplastic polymeric (eTP) material and tuning the density of the eTP during the process of producing said eTP wherein the density of the eTP material can be decreased by increasing the partial pressure of the at least one gas which is soluble in the TP material and/or by increasing the total pressure during the charging step.

The invention concerns an apparatus (1) for the dispersion of an expansion gas even in supercritical conditions, e.g. carbon dioxide, in a reactive resin, of the kind in which a reaction chamber having an input (27) for gas and an input (37) for resin is provided. Advantageously, the chamber is a dispersion and containment chamber made into a casing (2) of predetermined high resistance susceptible to sustain high pressure and is divided into two sections (6,7) by a head (14) of a dispersion and mixing cylinder-piston group (4) in fluid communication between themselves by means of at least one pouring passage (31, 36, 32, 39) provided with a static mixer (38), motor means (3) being provided for piston (34) control of said mixing cylinder-piston group (4). The invention also concerns a process for the formation of a polyurethane foam starting with the dispersion of carbon dioxide, even supercritical, in a reactive resin in which at least one initial dispersion and mixing controlled phase of the two components is provided in a dispersion and containment chamber under pressure divided into two sections (6,7) by a head (14) of a cylinder-piston mixing group (4) in fluid communication between themselves by means of at least one pouring passage (31, 36, 32, 39) provided with a static mixer (38) and in which adduction, dispersion and mixing occurs under high pressure (at least greater than 75 bar).

Tooling and components of an injection-molding system may be used to mold a foam article. The tooling and components may include features that control parameters of the injection-molding and foaming process, such as temperature, pressure, shot size, shot placement, and the like.

Tooling and components of an injection-molding system may be used to mold a foam article. The tooling and components may include features that control parameters of the injection-molding and foaming process, such as temperature, pressure, shot size, shot placement, and the like.

A foam article, such as a cushioning element for an article of footwear, apparel or sporting equipment is provided that comprises a foam component, such as a midsole, having a number of beneficial physical characteristics. The cushioning element is a low-density foamed component with a surface skin that encases the remaining foam volume. The cushioning element has a number of foam volumes, arranged to achieve a more consistent foam component. Additionally, the cushioning element includes a series of concentric ridges extending radially outwardly from injection gate vestige locations, and a number of striation bands near the perimeter of the cushioning element. The location of the gate vestiges can be beneficially arranged to produce intersecting flow boundaries that are located away from key strain areas of the cushioning element. The cushioning element is more environmentally-friendly, requiring less energy to produce while still providing acceptable energy return and low density.

A preparation method of a polyacrylonitrile-based three-dimensional macroporous carbon monolith. The process route of the method includes the following steps: completely dissolving polyacrylonitrile in an organic solvent, then carrying out drying, cutting, hot-pressing and punching to obtain a foam precursor, next, preparing a polyacrylonitrile foam with a controllable pore structure by a supercritical carbon dioxide batch foaming method, and finally carrying out pre-oxidation and carbonization treatment to obtain the polyacrylonitrile-based three-dimensional macroporous carbon monolith. The preparation method of the polyacrylonitrile-based three-dimensional macroporous carbon monolith of the present invention is simple, easy to control, environmentally friendly and low in cost, thus, the present invention is conducive to large-scale production of the carbon monolith. The prepared polyacrylonitrile-based three-dimensional macroporous carbon monolith has the characteristics of uniform and controllable pore structure and good conductivity, and has a broad application prospect. The method has simple steps, convenient operation and high practicability.

The invention relates to a non-cross-linked copolymer foam with polyamide blocks and polyether blocks, wherein: the polyamide blocks of the copolymer have an average molar mass of from 200 to 1,500 g/mol; the polyether blocks of the copolymer have an average molar mass of from 800 to 2,500 g/mol; and the weight ratio of the polyamide blocks to the polyether blocks of the copolymer is from 0.1 to 0.9. The invention also relates to a method for manufacturing said foam and items manufactured from said foam.

The invention relates to an acoustic phase mask, the phase mask having a variation in the acoustic index n, characterized in that the phase mask comprises a body comprising: at least one matrix formed from a deformable solid material, having a shear modulus of less than 10 MPa, and pores formed in the matrix, the pores being mostly filled with gas, the deformable solid material extending between the pores, the body having a porosity φ less than or equal to 50%, and a controlled porosity φ gradient resulting in a variation of the acoustic index n spatially in the body.

A method of preparation of a cardo polyetherketone structural foam material, including the following steps: 1) performing a mould pressing on a cardo polyetherketone resin by a high-temperature vulcanizing machine to prepare a foaming billet; 2) placing the foaming billet in a foaming cavity of a mould-pressing machine, performing a penetration and a swelling by introducing a supercritical fluid to achieve diffusion equilibrium, forming a polymer-supercritical fluid homogeneous solution, and 3) making the polymer-supercritical fluid homogeneous solution supersaturated through a sudden release of the inner pressure of the system, thereby inducing nucleation and foaming, and finally forming a structural foam having a closed pore structure with a uniform pore size and an adjustable pore density. The production process of the present invention is clean, environmentally friendly, and has relatively high efficiency. The obtained structural foam has good mechanical properties.