Apparatus for and method of foam molding

摘要

A system comprising: a barrel (32) having an inlet (46), at an upstream end (34), designed to receive a polymeric article precursor, and an outlet (67) at a downstream end (36), the barrel (32) including a blowing agent port (54), between the upstream end and the downstream end, fluidly connectable to a blowing agent source (56) for introducing blowing agent from the source into the precursor in the barrel (32) to form a mixture of precursor material and blowing agent in the barrel; a metering device (58) having an inlet connected to the blowing agent source (56) and an outlet connected to the barrel, the metering device constructed and arranged to meter the mass flow rate of the blowing agent form the blowing agent source to the blowing agent port; and a molding chamber (37) having an inlet (70) in fluid communication with the outlet of the barrel to receive the mixture of precursor material and blowing agent from the barrel. <IMAGE>