Components for articles of footwear and athletic equipment including a foam are provided. The foam portion of the components and articles include a composition which includes a thermoplastic copolyester, the composition having a foam structure. A polymer layer is provided on at least on surface of the foam portion. The polymer layer can control or reduce the water uptake of the foam portion. Methods of making the compositions, foams, and components 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 a vehicle composite component with a layer structure having a core layer in a molding tool, the core layer being formed with regions of different thickness is provided. Steps for this method may include placing a cover layer, in particular a preformed cover layer, which in particular forms an outer skin of the vehicle composite component, onto a mold base plate of the open molding tool; introducing a first fiber layer, which is impregnated with PU resin and has not been subjected to forming, between the cover layer and a first mold counterplate of the open molding tool; closing the molding tool and compression molding the first fiber layer, which is impregnated with PU resin, against the cover layer, as a result of which a preform with a first support layer containing the first fiber layer is formed and hardened while supplying heat.

According to the present invention, a side part cavity (23) in which a side part is molded, a body part cavity (24) in which a body part is molded, and an attachment part cavity (25) in which an attachment part is molded are formed between a plurality of molding molds (21, 22), and a guiding part (26) that is configured to guide a foam to the body part cavity when an undiluted foam solution of the second synthetic resin material supplied to the side part cavity foams is arranged at a part of the side part cavity adjacent to, in a left-right direction X, a rear end part of the body part cavity in which a non-contact part is molded.

A method of additive manufacturing including generating a stress model driven slice file for a structure and additively manufacturing a variable density foam core with respect to the stress model driven slice file such that a density of the variable density foam core is varied relative to a modeled stress in the structure manufactured with the variable density foam core. An additively manufactured structure includes a composite skin bonded to the variable density foam core.

The instant application discloses, among other things, ways to manufacture reduced density thermoplastics. A rapid foaming process which may create a polymer product by saturating thermoplastic sheet or preforms, heating, and then forming into final shape, is described. The polymer product may include an integral solid skin. This method may be utilized with any thermoplastic. The material handling, saturation methods, and end products are also described.

A thermally expandable sheet according to the present invention includes a stress buffer layer provided on one surface of a base material and having an elastic property, a thermal expansion layer provided on the stress buffer layer and containing a first thermally expandable material that expands according to heat and a first binder, and a cover layer provided on the thermal expansion layer and having an elastic property.

A method for making a polymer with a porous layer from a solid piece of polymer is disclosed. In various embodiments, the method includes heating a surface of a solid piece of polymer to a processing temperature and holding the processing temperature while displacing a porogen layer through the surface of the polymer to create a matrix layer of the solid polymer body comprising the polymer and the porogen layer. In at least one embodiment, the method also includes removing at least a portion of the layer of porogen from the matrix layer to create a porous layer of the solid piece of polymer.

A method for producing a vehicle composite component with a layer structure having a core layer in a molding tool, the core layer being formed with regions of different thickness is provided. Steps for this method may include placing a cover layer, in particular a preformed cover layer, which in particular forms an outer skin of the vehicle composite component, onto a mold base plate of the open molding tool; introducing a first fiber layer, which is impregnated with PU resin and has not been subjected to forming, between the cover layer and a first mold counterplate of the open molding tool; closing the molding tool and compression molding the first fiber layer, which is impregnated with PU resin, against the cover layer, as a result of which a preform with a first support layer containing the first fiber layer is formed and hardened while supplying heat.

There is provided a vehicle seat including a seatback frame including: a first base member formed of a thin plate member made of resin; a second base member formed of a thin plate member made of resin and disposed facing the first base member; a pass-through portion that is formed to at least one of the first base member or the second base member, and that enables insertion of an injection nozzle for injecting a foaming liquid for a foamed body; and a core section that is configured by the foamed body, that is disposed between the first base member and the second base member, and that is adhered to the first base member and the second base member.

The present invention is directed to a deep draw microcellularly foamed polymeric container comprising a polymeric sidewall integrally connected to a polymeric base along a bottom edge. The polymeric sidewall and base are contiguous with each other and define a shape of an open top container. The polymeric sidewall and base have a contiguous inner microcellular foam structure (having average cell diameters ranging from about 5 to about 100 microns) surrounded by a smooth outer skin layer integrally connected therewith. The polymeric sidewall defines a container height and a top opening, wherein the top opening defines a top opening width, and wherein the polymeric base defines a container base width, and wherein the area defined by the top opening is greater than the area defined by the polymeric base, and wherein the ratio of the container height (h) to the top opening width (w) is greater than about 1:1 (h:w).