DECORATIVE LAMINATE MATERIAL AND PROCESS FOR MAKING THE SAME

摘要

A decorative laminate material and a process for making the same are provided herein. The process comprises the first step of providing an unbonded fibrous batt of the desired thickness having a thermosetting binder material dispersed therethrough. The next step comprises applying a layer of the desired thickness of a cureable latex to at least one side of the fibrous batt. The next step comprises drying that layer to a predetermined moisture level to provide a dried composite material. The final step comprises heating and compression molding the dried composite material simultaneously to mold the composite, cure the layer and cure the binder material by embossing a pattern into the exposed side of the layer before the layer and the binder material are cured, to cause the layer to be contoured with the pattern substantially throughout the thickness thereof. This provides an improved decorative laminate material over that achieved in the past, e.g., by the stitching of a facing sheet and a pad material to each other which is an extremely costly and time-consuming operation. The pattern is caused to be substantially impressed into one side of the batt so that the resulting embossed and cured layer has a substantially uniform thickness. One side of the cured batt also substantially conforms to the embossed contour of the layer.