Lightweight, structurally reinforced thermoplastic objects comprising at least one reinforcement zone are manufactured by providing a heatable rigid forming chamber with a chamber volume. At a temperature below the thermoplastic softening temperature, the chamber is loaded with a plurality of thermoplastic lofting bodies and a plurality of thermoplastic reinforcement bodies wherein the lofting bodies are heat-loftable bodies comprising a thermoplastic matrix containing an elastically compressed assembly of reinforcement fibers embedded therein, lofty non-woven bodies comprising an elastically compressible assembly of reinforcement fibers and thermoplastic fibers. Upon closing the chamber, lofting bodies of lofty non-wovens are elastically compressed, producing an internal pressure. After heating the chamber above softening temperature, reinforcement bodies and lofting bodies are ow thermoplastically formable, and lofting bodies configured as heat-loftable bodies produce a second internal pressure. After a predetermined processing time, the chamber is cooled yielding a structurally reinforced object.

A molding method includes providing a molding device, wherein the molding device includes a first mold and a second mold corresponding to the first mold; moving the first mold towards the second mold to form a first mold cavity; supplying a gas to the first mold cavity; injecting a material into the first mold cavity; and moving the first mold away from the second mold to form a second mold cavity and discharge at least a portion of the gas out of the molding device, wherein a first volume of the first mold cavity is substantially less than a second volume of the second mold cavity.

A shoe component includes a foam member including a thermoplastic material and a mixed material mixed to each other, wherein the weight percentage of the thermoplastic material is 90 wt % to 99 wt %, and the weight percentage of the mixed material is 10 wt % to 1 wt %. A manufacturing method of the shoe component is also disclosed herein.

Described herein are expandable foaming molds. The foaming molds described herein permit mold boundaries to expand along with the expanding polymer and thereby conform to the foaming dynamics of the polymer material. By modifying the temperature and pressure applied to the mold devices described herein, the properties of the resulting foamed polymer can be fine-tuned for specific applications.

A method for producing a foam component includes providing a particulate starting material in a mold, softening the starting material, inducing a pressure change within the mold to cause foaming in at least a portion of the softened starting material without the use of a blowing agent, and solidifying the foamed starting material.

A molding method includes providing a molding device, wherein the molding device includes a first mold and a second mold corresponding to the first mold; moving the first mold towards the second mold to form a first mold cavity; supplying a gas to the first mold cavity; injecting a material into the first mold cavity; and moving the first mold away from the second mold to form a second mold cavity and discharge at least a portion of the gas out of the molding device, wherein a first volume of the first mold cavity is substantially less than a second volume of the second mold cavity.

The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for the production of a foam particle part. The method comprises the following steps: feeding of foam particles from a material container to a mould by means of a pipe thermoplastic welding of the foam particles in the mould to make a foam particle part with the input of heat,
wherein steam is added to the foam particles to be fed.

Aspects hereof provide methods for molding a single-phase solution comprised of a polymer composition and a gas. The polymer composition and the gas are maintained under pressure during the molding operation to prevent a cellular structure from being formed by the dissolved gas in the polymer composition coming out of solution. The mold cavity in which the single-phase solution is introduced for molding purposes is pressurized to a mold pressure that is sufficient to maintain the single-phase solution as a single-phase solution as the mold cavity is filled. Subsequent to filling the mold cavity with the single-phase solution under pressure, the resulting article may be exposed to a reduction in pressure causing the entrapped gas to form a cellular structure.

A foaming process for converting fibrous material into a cellular foam structure includes mixing fibrous material and a solvent-based binding agent to form a mixture; saturating the mixture with a pressurized gas to form a gas-saturated mixture; expanding the gas-saturated mixture by reducing the pressure of the pressurized gas to form an expanded mixture with voids in the fibrous material; and curing the expanded mixture to set the fibrous material and drive off the solvent to provide a stable network of fibrous material having cushioning properties.

Aspects hereof provide methods for molding a single-phase solution comprised of a polymer composition and a gas. The polymer composition and the gas are maintained under pressure during the molding operation to prevent a cellular structure from being formed by the dissolved gas in the polymer composition coming out of solution. The mold cavity in which the single-phase solution is introduced for molding purposes is pressurized to a mold pressure that is sufficient to maintain the single-phase solution as a single-phase solution as the mold cavity is filled. Subsequent to filling the mold cavity with the single-phase solution under pressure, the resulting article may solidify entrapping the compressed gas, or the article may be exposed to a reduction in pressure causing the entrapped gas to form a cellular structure.