Thermoplastic article having textile fiber fabric embedded therein

Abstract

Disclosed is a novel thermoplastic article having a fabric comprised of textile fibers embedded therein produced by applying heat and pressure to a laminate comprising, in order, (1) an upper sheet material, (2) a fabric comprised of textile fibers, and (3) a lower sheet material to produce a thermoplastic article having the fabric embedded therein. The upper and lower sheet materials are formed from a copolyester having an inherent viscosity of 0.5 to 1.2 dL/g, when measured at 25.degree. C. using 0.50 grams of polymer per 100 mL of a solvent consisting of 60 weight percent phenol and 40 weight percent tetrachloroethane, comprising (i) diacid residues comprising at least 80 mole percent terephthalic acid residues; and (ii) diol residues comprising from 98 to 1 mole percent ethylene glycol residues and from 2 to 99 mole percent residues derived from 1,3- or, preferably, 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol in which the ethylene glycol and cyclohexanedimethanol residues constitute at least 80 mole percent of the diol residues.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.