Process for making a laminated sheet

摘要

A process is provided for making stiff, lightweight laminate materials. At least one sheet of textured lamina having raised pointed structures is forced against a softer plain lamina so as to embed the structures therein. The pointed structures raised from grooves carved into the surface of the sheet material by means of a set of teeth carried on a knife element. The pointed structures may pierce through the softer lamina such that the protruding tips may be bent over or clinched to prevent their easy withdrawal. Two such texturized lamina may be used to sandwich and pierce through the softer lamina and are co-clinched by the other. In this way a light and stiff laminate is created.

主权项

1. A process for making a laminate sheet, comprising:
providing a sheet of a first material, the sheet having at least one textured face textured with a plurality of generally pointed structures that have been raised from the sheet; bringing the textured face of the first material into contact with a face of a second material; and forcing the textured face and the face together such that at least some of the pointed structures enter the second material to form a laminate sheet, wherein the forcing step causes at least the tips of the pointed structures to pierce through the second material, such that the tips protrude at a second face of the second material; and deforming the protruding tips to direct them over or onto or into the second face of the second material, wherein the tips are deformed by pressing downward on the tips via a second sheet of the first material.