PPM EARNS PATENT ON ENERGY ABSORPTION DESIGN FOR FOOTWEAR & FOOTCARE PRODUCTS
Butler, PA, January 23, 2007
Pittsburgh Plastics Manufacturing Inc. (PPM) has been granted a U.S. patent (No. 7124520) for an “energy absorbing pattern” used in the manufacture of footcare insoles, massaging gel insoles, heel cups and forefoot pads made of styrene ethylene butylene styrene (SEBS) polymers and polyurethanes. The design can also be employed in footcare device applications, and allows for diffusion of pressure to make walking more comfortable.
“This patent is a prime example of our technical excellence, and resulted from collaboration among our engineering, product design and manufacturing teams to anticipate and meet the needs of the marketplace,” says James E. Zona, PPM’s chairman and CEO. “The pattern’s layered and vectoring pillars enable pressure dissipation for increased comfort.”
PPM incorporates advanced polymers and foams in the design and production of customized cushioning products for foot care, medical and safety applications on a contract manufacturing basis. PPM operates a 91,000 square-foot manufacturing facility in Butler, Pennsylvania (near Pittsburgh) and recently established operations in Chang Zhou, China. The company, which began in 1985, also maintains an international sales office in the United Kingdom.
Technologies that the company uses in manufacturing include: compression molding, which involves the blending and curing of chemicals in a closed cavity under heat and pressure, much like the making of a waffle; injection molding, or heating material to a fluid state and injecting it under pressure into a mold, which is heated and cooled simultaneously to balance plastic flow and enhance part solidification; RF welding, where high-frequency radio energy excites the poles of the polymer molecules causing them to alternate and change fields; ultrasonic sealing, which uses high-frequency sound waves to fuse two dissimilar materials and create a solid weld; polymer processing, which consists of dispensing gels into pre-formed cavities to produce two- or three-dimensional parts (casting), or dispensing gels into a pre-formed bladder, creating a protective covering (encapsulation); and thermoforming, which heats the material until soft and presses a male core plug against the material with an air-pressure vacuum to create a newly formed shape
For more information, contact Laura Bellini, PPM, at 724.789.9300, e-mail lbellini@pittsburghplastics.com or visit www.pittsburghplastics.com