Particle foam component having a textured surface and method and mold for the manufacture thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9457499-B2
Application number	US-201414211029-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 14, 2014
Priority date	Mar 15, 2013
Publication date	Oct 4, 2016
Grant date	Oct 4, 2016

Abstract

An element molded from a particle foam, including for example expanded polypropylene foam, includes at least one visible exterior surface defined by the particle foam. The visible exterior surface is textured having a roughness depth of less than or equal to 1.00 mm and a plurality of vent interfaces each having a maximum width of less than or equal to 0.4 mm. Methods of molding the element, together with a mold and a method of making the mold, are also provided.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A molded component comprising:
an element molded from a particle foam, said element comprising at least one visible exterior surface defined by said particle foam, wherein said visible exterior surface includes a class-A surface texture having a roughness depth of less than or equal to 1.0 mm and a plurality of vent interfaces each having a maximum width of less than or equal to 0.4 mm.

2. The molded component of claim 1 wherein said particle foam comprises an expanded polypropylene foam.

3. The molded component of claim 2 wherein said roughness depth is less than or equal to about 0.5 mm.

4. The molded component of claim 2 wherein said plurality of vent interfaces are distributed with a density of one vent interface per 100 mm 2 of surface area or less.

5. The molded component of claim 2 wherein said expanded polypropylene foam is formed from polypropylene beads having a pearl size of less than or equal to 5.0 mm.

6. The molded component of claim 2 wherein said at least one visible exterior surface comprises a pair of opposite visible side exterior surfaces.

7. The molded component of claim 6 wherein said at least one visible exterior surface further comprises an upper and lower visible exterior surface.

8. The molded component of claim 2 wherein said element comprises a partition wall.

9. The molded component of claim 8 wherein said partition wall comprises an in-molded accessory interface.

10. The molded component of claim 2 wherein said roughness depth is less than or equal to 0.4 mm.

11. The molded component of claim 2 wherein said expanded polypropylene foam is formed from polypropylene beads having a bulk density of less than or equal to 90 g/l.

12. The molded component of claim 2 wherein said vent interfaces are circular and have a diameter of less than or equal to 0.4 mm.

13. A partition system comprising:
a wall element molded from a particle foam comprising at least one visible exterior surface defined by said particle foam, wherein said visible exterior surface includes a class-A texture having a roughness depth of less than or equal to 1.0 mm and a plurality of vent interfaces each having a maximum width of less than or equal to 0.4 mm.

14. The partition system of claim 13 , wherein said class-A texture includes a crepe texture.

15. The partition system of claim 13 , wherein said wall element is curved.

16. The partition system of claim 13 , further comprising a plurality of additional wall elements connected together.

17. A partition system comprising:
a wall element molded from a particle foam comprising at least one visible exterior class-A surface defined by said particle foam, wherein said visible exterior surface includes a plurality of vent interfaces having a maximum width of less than or equal to 0.4 mm and distributed with a density of at least one vent interface per 100 mm 2 of surface area or less.

18. The partition system of claim 17 , wherein said visible exterior class-A surface includes vent interfaces distributed with a density of three vent interfaces per 100 mm 2 of surface area or less.

19. The partition system of claim 17 , wherein said visible exterior class-A surface is textured having a roughness depth of less than or equal to 1.0 mm.

20. The partition system of claim 17 , wherein said particle foam comprises an expanded polypropylene foam formed from polypropylene beads having a pearl size of less than or equal to 5.0 mm.

Assignees

• Miller Herman Inc

Inventors

• Maidl Janja
• Plikat Claudia
• Schmitz Johann Burkhard
• Zwick Roland Rolf Otto
• Zwick Carola Eva Marianne

Classifications

• B29C33/442

  with mechanical ejector or drive means therefor · CPC title

• Y10T428/24355

  Continuous and nonuniform or irregular surface on layer or component [e.g., roofing, etc.] · CPC title

• C08J9/232

  by sintering expandable particles · CPC title

• B29C44/445

  in the form of expandable granules, particles or beads · CPC title

• B29K2023/12

  PP, i.e. polypropylene · CPC title