Foam


From: sando@lunar.com

Subject: Foam Expert...Compilation

Date: November 12, 2006 8:02:23 PM PST

To: design-alumni@lists.Stanford.EDU

 

ORIGINAL POST:

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Can anyone recommend an expert in foam?

 

Would love to find someone who knows all about:

--skinning foam

--memory foam

--prototyping molded foam forms

--foam durability overtime/over washing cycles

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OUTCOME:

My need was very medical vs the more consumer product responses I rcvd,

so I ended up finding an expert under www.intota.com ...they find

experts for consulting and/or witness services. Pretty impressive skill

sets available within their database; it's my first time using them.

They connected us with http://www.jamesiwright.com/ and we just signed

a contract.

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OTHER PD LIST RESPONSES:

 

While I know a little from my days at OddzOn making Vortex footballs and

the

like, my boss from then might be of more help since he was there longer

than

I. He consults from his home in Napa as Tom Grimm Int'l Product

Development,

and is a Stanford PD grad from the Bob McKim days.

 

You'll find him at www.tga-ipd.com

 

Good luck,

 

Arne Lang-Ree

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Not meaning to toot my own horn but I know a thing or two about foam. I

worked for Arcteryx for three years from 95-98 and developed a number of

proprietary foam molding processes for them.

 

You can check them out at arcteryx.com

 

I am currently working at Tesla but would be happy to lend some

expertise.

 

Let me know what you are interested in.

 

Cheers,

 

Paul-- fallprey@gmail.com

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i spent a whole summer working with foams trying to find something that

would mimic human tissue.

 

Here's what i know: There's basically two types of foam:

open cell and closed cell.

 

open cell foams (like sponges) are able to pass air and soak up fluids.

the relative durometer, for the most part, and durability is dependent

on the material used. the open cell foams I've worked with were

basically from ear plugs. if i recall correctly, the pvc foams tore

much more easily than the polyurethane foams. memory foams are a subset

of open cell foams. they essentially have really small holes in the

cells that allow air (or liquid) to pass through them. the size of the

holes and the stiffness of the material used will determine the speed in

which memory foam will "spring back" to its original shape. i believe

the company, Nottco. , had sent me some good samples of different memory

foams

 

closed cell foams come in a huge variety of materials and durometers (i

bought many samples from mcmaster). since they don't have pores, they

generally don't get moldy (think foam beer holders) and are generally

more durable. again, i had luck with Nottco in getting some samples.

 

hope that helps,

 

Jin--jtsubota@gmail.com

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There is a very knowledgeable technical guy who knows almost everything

there is to know about Poron (open cell foam) and probably knows a ton

about lots of other foam materials as well.

 

His name is Steve Ubelhoer. I believe his email is

steve.ubelhoer@rogerscorp.com, though I'd have to go through some old

email archives to be 100% certain about the address. You might also want

to call the main line to Rogers Corporation and double check -

860.779.5735. Steve has helped me out several times and is generally

very responsive except when he is on the road / at a conference / in

transit.

 

Good luck.

 

Carl

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END

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Thanks all!

-Art Sandoval