Foamed articles and methods of making the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12036706-B2
Application number	US-202217647017-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 5, 2022
Priority date	Feb 24, 2021
Publication date	Jul 16, 2024
Grant date	Jul 16, 2024

Abstract

Foamed articles including a foamed thermoplastic elastomeric material, methods of making the foamed articles, and methods for manufacturing articles of footwear, apparel, and athletic equipment incorporating such foamed articles are provided. In one aspect, a method for making a foamed article comprises placing an article comprising a foamable material and carbon dioxide in a vessel, maintaining the vessel at a first pressure and first temperature at which the carbon dioxide is a liquid and carbon dioxide is soluble in the foamable material, optionally exposing the infused article to a second temperature and second pressure, and subjecting the article to a third pressure and third temperature at which the infused carbon dioxide phase transitions to a gas, thereby expanding the foamable material into a foamed material and forming the foamed article.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for making a foamed article, the method comprising:
placing an article and carbon dioxide in a vessel, wherein the article comprises a solid foamable material which is a thermoplastic elastomeric material comprising one or more first thermoplastic elastomers;
after the placing, maintaining the vessel at a first pressure and first temperature, wherein the first pressure and first temperature are a pressure and temperature at which the carbon dioxide is a liquid and the liquid carbon dioxide is soluble in the solid foamable material, and wherein the maintaining includes holding the article and the liquid carbon dioxide in the vessel for a duration of time sufficient for at least a portion of the liquid carbon dioxide to infuse into the solid foamable material of the article;

following the maintaining and holding, optionally exposing the infused article to a second pressure and second temperature at which the carbon dioxide remains infused within at least a portion of the solid foamable material;
following the maintaining and holding and the optional exposing, subjecting the article to a third pressure and third temperature at which the carbon dioxide infused in the solid foamable material phase transitions to a gas, thereby expanding the solid foamable material into a foamed material and forming the foamed article; and
wherein the article is configured as a series of two or more regions including a first region including a first regional material and a second region including a second regional material, wherein the first regional material or the second regional material or both the first regional material and the second regional material are different solid foamable materials.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first region or the second region forms an outermost surface of the article, or wherein both the first region and the second region individually or jointly form the outermost surface of the article.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more first thermoplastic elastomers comprise one or more thermoplastic elastomeric polyolefin homopolymers or copolymers, one or more thermoplastic elastomeric polyamide homopolymers or copolymers, one or more thermoplastic elastomeric polyester homopolymers or copolymers, one or more thermoplastic elastomeric polyurethane homopolymers or copolymers, one or more thermoplastic elastomeric styrenic homopolymers or copolymers, or any combination thereof.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein, in the article, the first region forms the outermost surface of the article and the second region forms an inner layer of the article.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein, in the article, the first region comprises or consists essentially of the solid foamable material, the solid foamable material of the first region is a first regional solid foamable material, and in the steps of subjecting and expanding, the first regional solid foamable material remains as the first regional solid foamable material.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein, in the article, the first region comprises or consists essentially of the solid foamable material, the solid foamable material of the first region is a first regional solid foamable material, and in the steps of subjecting and expanding, the first regional solid foamable material expands into the foamed material, wherein the foamed material of the first region is a first regional foamed material.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein, in the article, the second region comprises or consists essentially of the solid foamable material, the solid foamable material of the second region is a second regional solid foamable material, and in the steps of subjecting and expanding, the second regional solid foamable material remains as the second solid regional foamable material.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein, in the article, the second region comprises or consists essentially of the solid foamable material, the solid foamable material of the second region is a second regional solid foamable material, and in the steps of subjecting and expanding, the second regional solid foamable material expands into the foamed material, wherein the foamed material of the first region is a first regional foamed material.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first regional material or the second regional material comprises or consists essentially of a barrier material.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein
the first region comprises or consists essentially of the first regional solid foamable material,
the steps of maintaining and holding include holding the article and the liquid carbon dioxide in the vessel for a duration of time sufficient for at least a portion of the liquid carbon dioxide to infuse into at least a portion of the first regional solid foamable material, and
the steps of subjecting and expanding include expanding the at least a portion of the first regional solid foamable material into the foamed material, wherein the foamed material of the first region comprises a first regional foamed material.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein
the steps of maintaining and holding include holding the article and the liquid carbon dioxide in the vessel for a duration of time sufficient for the at least a portion of the liquid carbon dioxide to infuse into at least a portion of the first region, wherein the duration of time is not sufficient for at least a portion of the liquid carbon dioxide to infuse into at least a portion of the second region;
and the steps of subjecting and expanding include expanding the at least a portion of the first regional solid foamable material into the first regional foamed material without expanding the second regional material.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein
the steps of maintaining and holding include holding the article and the liquid carbon dioxide in the vessel for a duration of time sufficient for the at least a portion of the liquid carbon dioxide to infuse into at least a portion of the first region and into the at least a portion of the second region, and the method further comprises the step of exposing the infused article to the second pressure and second temperature for a duration of time such that the at least a portion of carbon dioxide infused into the at least a portion of the second region diffuses out of the at least a portion of the second region, while at least a portion of the infused carbon dioxide infused in the first region remains infused in the at least a portion of the first region following the exposing; and
the steps of subjecting and expanding include expanding the at least a portion of the solid foamable material of the first region into the first regional foamed material without expanding the second regional material of the second region, thereby forming a foamed first region while maintaining the second region in a solid unfoamed state.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein, immediately before the step of subjecting and expanding, the second region is substantially free of infused carbon dioxide.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein
the second region comprises or consists essentially of the solid foamable material,
the steps of maintaining and holding include holding the article and the liquid carbon dioxide in the vessel for a duration of time sufficient for at least a portion of the liquid carbon dioxide to infuse into at least a portion of the second regional solid foamable material, and
the steps of subjecting and expanding include expanding the at least a portion of the second regional solid foamable material into the foamed material, wherein the foamed material of the second region comp

Assignees

• Nike Inc

Inventors

• Chang Yihua
• Hanson Lyle R
• Khlyabich Petr
• Watkins Richard L

Classifications

• C08J2375/04

  Polyurethanes · CPC title

• C08J2203/06

  CO2, N2 or noble gases · CPC title

• C08J9/122

  Hydrogen, oxygen, CO2, nitrogen or noble gases · CPC title

• B29L2031/52

  Sports equipment {; Games; Articles for amusement}; Toys (B29L2031/54 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B29L2031/504

  Soles · CPC title