Electrically conductive thermoplastic polymer composites of particulate thermoplastic polyester polymers, electrically conductive components (carbon nanofibers, graphene nanoplatelets, and/or conductive metal nanoparticulates), processing aids such as plasticizers, thermal stabilizers, etc., as well as nanoscopic particulate fillers such as nanoscopic titanium dioxide, etc., the electrically conductive components being distributed substantially uniformly in the composite to form an electrically conductive network. Also, methods for preparing thermoplastic polymer composites, a system for collecting extruded filaments prepared from thermoplastic polymer composites as a coil of filament, as well as method for tempering articles formed from thermoplastic polymer composites to increase the degree of crystallinity of the thermoplastic polymers and thus their mechanical strength properties.

An aspect of the invention is directed to a method for producing a connector using injection-molding by providing at least one conductor and at least one contact pin which are electrically connected at a contact point, producing a thermoset premold from a thermoset using injection-molding, wherein the thermoset is injection-molded around at least a first section of the at least one conductor and/or around at least a second section of the at least one contact pin, and injection-molding of a thermoplast on the thermoset premold, wherein the step of injection-molding takes place before the thermoset premold has obtained a degree of curing of 90%. Another aspect of the invention is a connector comprising at least one conductor and at least one contact pin is disclosed.

A device is provided for radially strengthening a polylactic acid tube, which includes a tubular mold, a rotating blade and a distal blade, wherein a rotating shaft of the rotating blade is arranged at an axial position of the tubular mold, a first end of the distal blade is movably connected to the rotating blade, and a second end of the distal blade is controlled by a control rod so as to open and close the distal blade. A strengthening method is provided, in which the device for radially strengthening a polylactic acid tube is used. The method includes loading a polylactic acid tube to be strengthened into the strengthening device, heating the strengthening device for a first preset time, rotating the rotating blade in a constant direction while opening the distal blade at a first speed such that the second end of the distal blade approaches the tubular mold, closing the distal blade and restoring the distal blade to an initial state after squeezing and scraping for a second preset time, cooling the strengthening device to room temperature, taking out a strengthened polylactic acid tube, and cutting off redundant sections. The tube strengthened by the above-mentioned strengthening device and method has a better wall thickness uniformity, more precise inner and outer diameter dimensions, with no axial orientation, and no thermal creep in a low temperature range such as body temperature, etc.

The present invention relates to a method for producing a treated object, comprising the steps of: applying a layer of particles to a target area; applying a liquid binder to a selected portion of the layer in accordance with a cross-section of the object, so that the particles in the selected portion are bonded; repeating the steps of applying a layer of particles and applying a binder for a plurality of layers so that the bonded portions of the adjacent layers are bonded to form an object, wherein at least a part of the particles comprises a meltable polymer. A binder which cures by cross-linking is preferably selected as the binder. The obtained object is at least partially contacted with a liquid heated to ≥T or with a powder bed heated to ≥T in order to obtain the treated object. T represents a temperature of ≥25° C., the liquid does not represent a solvent or a reaction partner for the binder present in the object and the meltable polymer, and the powder bed is different from the particles of the meltable polymer. The invention also relates to a treated object that can be obtained by the method according to the invention.

A dimensionally stable B-pillar for an automotive vehicle including tailored material properties is provided. The B-pillar includes at least one localized soft zone surrounded by a hard zone. The hard zone typically has a yield strength of 950 MPa to 1700 MPa; a tensile strength of 1200 MPa to 2100 MPa; and an elongation of greater than 4%. The soft zones each have a yield strength of 340 MPa to 780 MPa; a tensile strength of 400 MPa to 980 MPa; and an elongation of greater than 10%. The microstructure of the hard zone is martensite, and the microstructure of the soft zones is tempered martensite, ferrite pearlite bainite, ferrite pearlite austenite, ferrite pearlite, ferrite bainite, cementite austenite, and/or cementite bainite. The soft zones of the B-pillar are manufactured with a slow cooling step, which can be conducted in air outside of the dies.

The present invention relates to a method for producing a treated object, comprising the steps of: applying a layer of particles to a target area; applying a liquid binder to a selected portion of the layer in accordance with a cross-section of the object, so that the particles in the selected portion are bonded; repeating the steps of applying a layer of particles and applying a binder for a plurality of layers so that the bonded portions of the adjacent layers are bonded to form an object, wherein at least a part of the particles comprises a meltable polymer. A binder which cures by cross-linking is preferably selected as the binder. The obtained object is at least partially contacted with a liquid heated to T or with a powder bed heated to T in order to obtain the treated object. T represents a temperature of 25 C., the liquid does not represent a solvent or a reaction partner for the binder present in the object and the meltable polymer, and the powder bed is different from the particles of the meltable polymer. The invention also relates to a treated object that can be obtained by the method according to the invention.

The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a laminate, comprising the step of co-extruding a polycarbonate and an adhesive composition to thereby form a polycarbonate layer (A) and an adhesive layer (B) at least a part of which is laminated to the layer (A); and the step of heat-treating the polycarbonate layer (A) and the adhesive layer (B), wherein the adhesive composition satisfies the following requirements (i) to (iii): (i) comprising a polyolefin formed through a reaction between a polyolefin (a) having a group reactive with a carbodiimide group and a carbodiimide group-containing compound (b); (ii) comprising carbodiimide groups in an amount of 0.1 to 50 mmol per 100 g of adhesive composition; and (iii) having a density of 0.870 g/cm.sup.3 to 0.940 g/cm.sup.3.

Methods of making anti-sticking perfluorinated articles are described. The methods include molding curing, and heat-treating a composition prepared from a coagulated and dried blend of latex dispersions of a perfluoro-elastomeric gum and a perfluoroplastic. The curing steps are performed at temperatures below the melting point of the perfluoroplastic, while the heat-treatment step occurs at a temperature above this melting point. The resulting articles are also described.

A method of making a mechanical fastening strip and a reticulated mechanical fastening strip are disclosed. The method includes providing a backing having upstanding posts; providing interrupted slits through the backing, the interrupted slits being interrupted by at least one intact bridging region; spreading the slit backing to provide multiple strands separated from each other between at least some of the bridging regions to provide at least one opening; and fixing the multiple strands of the backing in a spread configuration. The reticulated mechanical fastening strip includes multiple strands of a backing attached to each other at bridging regions in the backing and separated from each other between the bridging regions to provide openings. Upstanding posts on each of the multiple strands have bases attached to the backing, and each of the multiple strands has a width that is greater than that of the bases of its attached upstanding posts.

A dimensionally stable B-pillar for an automotive vehicle including tailored material properties is provided. The B-pillar includes at least one localized soft zone surrounded by a hard zone. The hard zone typically has a yield strength of 950 MPa to 1700 MPa; a tensile strength of 1200 MPa to 2100 MPa; and an elongation of greater than 4%. The soft zones each have a yield strength of 340 MPa to 780 MPa; a tensile strength of 400 MPa to 980 MPa; and an elongation of greater than 10%. The microstructure of the hard zone is martensite, and the microstructure of the soft zones is tempered martensite, ferrite pearlite bainite, ferrite pearlite austenite, ferrite pearlite, ferrite bainite, cementite austenite, and/or cementite bainite. The soft zones of the B-pillar are manufactured with a slow cooling step, which can be conducted in air outside of the dies.