Resilient panel having anisotropic flexing characteristics and method of making same
AssigneeSupracor Systems, Inc.
InventorsCurtis L. Landi, Susan L. Wilson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A resilient panel having anisotropic flexing characteristics in which thermal compression bonding techniques have been to laminate a plurality of sheets of thermoplastic polyurethane material together with bonds that are in strip form, spaced at regular intervals, and staggered between alternate sheets of material. The laminated stack was then cut into slices of appropriate thickness, and the slices were expanded to form a honeycombed core which, while held in spread apart disposition, was thermally pre-formed and made ready to receive facing materials. The facing materials were then thermal compression bonded to each side of the honeycombed core, and the panels were trimmed to assume their final dimensions.
Claims12
A process for manufacturing a flexible honeycombed panel having anisotropic characteristics comprising the steps of:
- thermal compression bonding together a plurality of sheets of plastic material to form a laminated block wherein bonds between adjacent sheets are along regularly spaced rows with the bond rows between alternating sheets being laterally offset relative to the bond rows between the other sheets;
- cutting a core strip from said block by severing the block along a plane intersecting the block normal to both the length of the bond rows and the surfaces of each said sheet;
- expanding said core strip to form a honeycomb shaped core having cells of a particular configuration;
- and
- thermal compression bonding sheets of resilient facing material to opposite sides of said core by simultaneously applying heat and pressure to the joinder of said facing and said core.
A resilient, honeycombed panel having anisotropic flexing characteristics comprising:
- a honeycomb core formed of undulated strips of thermoplastic material, thermal compression bonded together to form cells, said core being thermally compressed such that the upper and lower edges of each cell wall conform to a predetermined boundary shape;
- and
- first and second facing sheets of resilient material, thermal compression bonded to the respective upper and lower surfaces of said core formed by said upper and lower edges of each said cell by simultaneously applying heat and pressure to the joinder of said facing sheets and said core.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.