Patent ID: 11911936
Assignee: NIKE, INC.
Field: Other special machines (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 12:
13. A method of molding a footwear component using a single-phase polymer and gas solution, the method comprising:
mixing a polymer composition above a glass transition temperature of the polymer composition with a gas above atmospheric pressure to form a single-phase solution;
pressurizing a first mold cavity of a mold above atmospheric pressure to a mold pressure, wherein the mold pressure is at least a pressure to maintain the single-phase solution as a homogeneous solution;
while maintaining the first mold cavity at least at the mold pressure, injecting the single-phase solution into the first mold cavity;
depressurizing the first mold cavity below the molding pressure; and
cooling the polymer composition below the glass transition temperature to form an article in the first mold cavity,
wherein the mold comprises a pressure regulator that maintains at least the mold pressure as the single-phase solution is injected into the mold cavity and wherein the mold cavity remains a constant volume.