An impact resistant textile-supported garment, or component thereof, comprises a fabric layer, and (i) at least five non-interconnected impact resistant polyurethane segments upon an outer surface of the fabric layer, wherein at least two of the non-interconnected impact resistant polyurethane segments has a depth of at least 3 mm, preferably at least 4 mm, and wherein at least five of the plurality of non-interconnected segments have dimensions smaller than 1.75 cm × 1 cm × 1 cm; or (ii) at least one non-interconnected impact resistant polyurethane segment, wherein the at least one segment has a depth of at least 3 mm at its deepest part, and wherein the at least one segment is a hollow segment comprising one or more regions defined by an outer polyurethane perimeter, surrounding a region of fabric that is not covered by polyurethane.

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.

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 an infusing pressure and infusing 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 first intermediary holding temperature and first intermediary holding pressure, and subjecting the article to an expanding pressure and expanding 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.

Proposed is lower rollers of a hot air welder, and more particularly, to a lower roller structure of a hot air welder, which includes a first lower roller unit installed on a worktable to be pivoted vertically and a second lower roller unit installed on a main body to be slidably moved in front and rear, such that a welding operation of flat fabric and a welding operation of a cylindrical shape can be performed in a single hot air welder through alternate use of the first and second lower roller units.

A mold, a molding apparatus, and a method for manufacturing articles or components is used to manufacture an article or component of the article that at least partially comprises an ultraviolet (UV) curable material. The mold and apparatus comprise at least one mold wall formed of a cyclic olefin copolymer, which is in contact with UV radiation curable material and allows the article or component of the article to be exposed to UV radiation for a period of time in order to provide for at least partial cure thereof.

A performance monitoring system includes an athletic band or other article of apparel worn by a user, with a pocket supported by the article and defining a cavity, where the pocket has a sensor opening extending through an inner wall of the pocket and an access opening providing access to the cavity. The system also includes an electronic module received in the cavity such that the module can be inserted and removed from the cavity through the access opening. The module has a projection on an underside of the electronic module and a sensor mounted on the projection, where the projection extends through the sensor opening when the electronic module is received in the cavity and is configured to place the sensor in close proximity to skin of the user, such that the sensor is configured to sense a physiological parameter of the user.

The present invention relates to a sensing device (10) designed for being applied on a first flap (11) and on a second flap (12) of an opening (13) arranged in a wearable item (14). The sensing device (10) comprises: a triggering element (20) arranged on the first flap (11) of the opening (13) and comprising an activating component (23); a switch element (30) arranged on the second flap (12) of the opening (13) and comprising a sensing component (33); the sensing component (33) being designed for emitting an electrical output signal when it is put in a predetermined mutual position with respect to the activating component (23). According to the invention the triggering element (20) is provided with at least one alignment component (22; 22A, 22B) designed for interacting with a corresponding alignment component (32; 32A, 32B) of the switch element (30) so as to autonomously and automatically put in said predetermined mutual position the activating component (23) and the sensing component (33) when the first flap (11) is drawn close to the second flap (12), or viceversa. The invention also relates to a closure device comprising said sensing device (10) and to a method for manufacturing said sensing device (10).

A sonic label welding device for welding multiple labels together using ultrasonic welding is disclosed. The sonic label welding device comprises a digital controls main menu screen which includes touch screen buttons that are utilized to go to specific screens to program the device to perform in a certain manner. For example, a user can press the cut to length button if wanting to cut a label to a specific length, or the label weld count button to specify the number of labels being sonically welded. Further, the sonic label welding device comprises a head for allowing multiple labels to be assembled under pressure and an anvil for directing the high frequency vibrations. A method of manufacturing a multi-layer care label is also disclosed.

Described are methods of two-dimensionally and three-dimensionally forming an article of wear using vacuum forming in an automated process. In the two-dimensional method, the article of wear comprises a generally flat shape with three-dimensional features molded into the first material layer.

Methods for manufacturing articles of footwear are provided. In various aspects, the methods comprise utilizing additive manufacturing methods with foam particles. In some aspects, the additive manufacturing methods comprise increasing the temperature of a plurality of foam particles with actinic radiation under conditions effective to fuse a portion of the plurality of foam particles comprising one or more thermoplastic elastomers. Increasing the temperature of the foam particles can be carried out for one or multiple iterations. The disclosed methods can be used to manufacturer articles with sub-regions that exhibit differing degrees of fusion between the foam particles, thereby resulting in sub-regions with different properties such as density, resilience, and/or flexural modulus. This abstract is intended as a scanning tool for purposes of searching in the particular art and is not intended to be limiting of the present disclosure.