Method for producing skin-covered foamed molded article and resulting product

1. A method for producing a skin-covered foamed molded article, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a parison that is in a molten or softened state;

(b) blow molding the parison into a skin defining a hollow interior space;

(c) filling expanded polystyrene beads in the hollow interior space; and

(d) heating the expanded polystyrene beads filled in the hollow interior space to fuse-bond the expanded polystyrene beads to each other and to form a foam layer fuse-bonded to the skin,

wherein step (a) comprises:

melting and kneading a mixture of 10 to 30 parts by weight of a polystyrene resin (A) having a ratio Mw A (abs)/ Mw A (r) of at least 1.4, where Mw A (abs) and Mw A (r) represent a weight average absolute molecular weight and a linear polystyrene equivalent weight average molecular weight, respectively, of the polystyrene resin (A), 5 to 30 parts by weight of an impact resistant polystyrene resin (B) containing a rubber component, and 40 to 80 parts by weight of a recycled polystyrene resin (C) to obtain a polystyrene resin composition; and

extruding the polystyrene resin composition into the parison,

wherein the total of the polystyrene resin (A), impact resistant polystyrene resin (B) and recycled polystyrene resin (C) is 100 parts by weight,

wherein the recycled polystyrene is obtained from a resin composition which contains the polystyrene resin (A) and the polystyrene resin (B) and which has a weight ratio of the polystyrene resin (A) to the polystyrene resin (B) of 30:70 to 70:30,

wherein the linear polystyrene equivalent weight average molecular weight Mw A (r) of the polystyrene resin (A) is 3.5×10 5 to 4.5×10 5 , and

wherein the polystyrene resin composition meets the following requirements (1) to (3):

(1) the polystyrene resin composition has a Charpy impact strength at 23° C. according to ISO179/1eA of at least 5 kJ/m 2 ;

(2) the polystyrene resin composition has a melt mass flow rate at a temperature of 200° C. and a load of 5 kg of 1.5 to 3.0 g/10 min;

(3) the polystyrene resin composition has a ratio Mws(abs)/ Mws(r) of at least 1.4 where Mws(abs) and Mws(r) represent a weight average absolute molecular weight and a linear polystyrene equivalent weight average molecular weight, respectively, of the polystyrene resin composition.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the polystyrene resin (A) comprises a copolymer of a styrenic monomer with a multibranched macromonomer having a plurality of polymerizable double bonds.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the skin-covered foamed molded article has a length of 1 to 5 m.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the skin has an average thickness of 1 to 3 mm.