MXPA00005093A - Molded article and process for preparing same - Google Patents

Abstract

A molded article including a plastic layer and an outer film over the plastic layer forming a composite laminate with the plastic layer and a process for preparing same. The outer film has an inner surface adjacent and bonded to the plastic layer and an outer surface opposed to the inner surface. The molded article also includes a reinforcing material adhered to the inner surface of the outer film layer and preferably at least partly embedded in the inner surface of the outer film layer.

Description

MOLDED ARTICLE AND PROCESS FOR PREPARATION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION According to the U.S. patent 5,401,457 for PROCESS FOR FORMING A COLOR COATED ARTICLE, by Emery I. Valyi, patented on March 28, 1995, a process is provided to form a coated article with color. According to the method of the '457 patent, a substantially flat film is placed over a mold cavity and is deformed by a core half and by a molten plastic that enters through a sprue. However, the process of the '457 patent is difficult to control, particularly when molding parts with large surfaces and curvatures that vary abruptly. The Difficulties are increased when the plastic is molded under pressure at temperatures high enough to substantially reduce the strength of the film, as in the case of conventional injection molding processes. According to the U.S. patent application. number of series 09 / 130,864 filed on August 7, 1998 by Emery I. Valyi et al. , a colored coated article is prepared by depositing molten plastic on a film and forming the melted film and plastic combination in a mold cavity. This procedure and the resulting article form effectively and efficiently an article coated with color. Without However, it would be particularly desirable to further improve the resulting article, particularly the degradation of the film, and particularly the thinning of the color layer after shaping. Accordingly, a main objective of the present invention is to provide an improved film-plastic laminate which can be conveniently and expeditiously obtained. A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved laminate as mentioned above which reinforces the film without loss of properties therein and without impairing the ease and convenience of the preparation of the final article. The additional objects and advantages of the present invention will appear in the following.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, the above objects and advantages are easily obtained. The molded article of the present invention comprises: a plastic layer; an outer film layer on the plastic layer and forming a composite laminate thereon, the outer film layer has an inner surface adjacent and bonded to the plastic layer and an outer surface opposite to the inner surface; a reinforcing material adhered to and preferably at least partially embedded in the inner surface of the outer film layer; and a decorative layer with color, with uniformity of color on the outer surface of the outer film layer. The reinforcing material may desirably be metal, such as a metal mesh or wire mesh, plastic, carbon fiber, glass fiber, textile materials (natural or synthetic) or a combination thereof. The process of the present invention comprises: providing a composite laminate having an outer film layer with an inner surface and an outer surface opposite the inner surface, an inner plastic layer bonded to the inner surface, and a decorative layer, with color , on the outer surface; reinforcing the inner surface of the outer film layer with a reinforcing material between the outer film layer and the inner plastic layer; and molding the plastic article from the reinforced composite laminate, wherein the decorative color layer maintains uniformity of color in the molded article. In the preferred embodiment, the color layer has a thickness of less than 0.25mm (0.01 inches), and desirably 0.025-0.15mm (0.001-0.006 inches). It is a particular advantage of the present invention that the resulting molded article has a color change after molding of less than 2 McAdam units, particularly considering the thin color layer and the molding operation. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the molded plastic article comprises: a composite laminate having an outer film layer with an inner surface and an outer surface opposite the inner surface, an inner plastic layer bonded to the inner surface, and a decorative layer with color on the outer surface; a first reinforcing material bonded to the inner plastic layer; and a second reinforcing material bonded to the inner surface of the outer film layer between the first reinforcing material and the outer film layer which prevents the first reinforcing material from being visible through the colored layer. A preferred process of the present invention comprises: providing a composite laminate having an outer film layer with an inner surface and an outer surface opposite the inner surface, an inner plastic layer bonded to an inner surface and a decorative layer with color on top the outer surface; reinforce the composite laminate with a first reinforcing material bonded to the inner plastic layer; further reinforcing the composite laminate with a second reinforcing material bonded to the inner surface of the outer film layer between the first reinforcing material and the outer film layer, which prevents the first reinforcing material from being visible through the layer of color; and molding a plastic article from the reinforced composite laminate wherein the decorative color layer maintains uniformity of color in the molded article. The additional features of the present invention will be apparent from the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will be understood more easily from the following illustrative drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a partially schematic view showing an embodiment for the preparation of the molded article of the present invention; Figure 2 is a partial sectional view showing the article prepared in Figure 1; and Figures 3-6 show additional embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED MODALITIES According to the illustrative embodiment of Figure 1, a film or preform 10 is held on the mold 12 by a holding frame 14, with reinforcing material 16 adhered to at least partially embedded in the inside face 18 of the film 10. The outer face 20 of the film opposes the inner face and forms the outer surface of the film or preform 10 in the embodiment of Figure 1. The decorative layer 10 'with color, is on the outer face or the outer surface 20 5 of the film 10. The thick plate 22 is shown with a mandrel 24 formed, which desirably is a solid metal mandrel but which may also be, for example, an elastomeric mandrel, and which it may contain air slots 26 and a pressure control means 28 connected thereto. Mold 12 includes a mold cavity 30 therein which forms the shape of the desired molded article 32, which is shown in Figure 2. Naturally, any desired mold cavity shape can be used. Also, if desired, one can texturize the surface of the mold to have the finished texturing desired in the final product. Hot plastic 34 is injected or deposited onto the film 10 of the reinforcing material 16 in combination with any desired medium, for example with an extruder, to form the layered structure shown in Figure 1. As shown in the embodiment of Figure 1, slots 26, if used, intersect a multiple slot 36 which is connected to a source of fluid pressure. In operation, the mandrel 24 enters the holding frame 14. Pressurized air is applied to the groove 26 and is used to expand the slots within the passages. Therefore, the < »Pressure is applied to deposited plastic 34 and layer 10 'with color-film 10-of the reinforcement material combination. The apparition may also be present in the mold cavity to support the layers on the mold before molding, as well as by air slots in the mold 12 (not shown) which can be controllably released at the same time as the layers are made inside the mold cavity. This will result in the formation of the layers by blow molding within the molded article shown in Figure 2. The mandrel 24 moves simultaneously downwardly within the mold cavity 30 in the direction of the arrow 32. According to the plastic and the film reaches the surface of the mold, the mandrel continues and conforms to the surface of the plastic moving away from the layers of film 10-reinforcing material, and the continuous pressure through the thick plate results in the formation of the final desired article, as it is shown in figure 2. The mandrel and the mold are preferably cooled. If a solid mandrel is used, it must conform to the desired shape of the final article. If desired, the combination of colored layer-film-reinforcing material can first conform to the shape of the mold cavity 30, the mandrel 24 housed in the mold 12 and the plastic material 34 injected against the film reinforcement material. to form the final article. The resulting molded article 32 includes the outer film layer 10, the outer color layer 10 ', the inner reinforcement layer 16 which adheres to and / or is embedded at least partially in the outer film layer, and the outer layer 34 plastic interior. The resulting molded article 32 has the shaped configuration that is desired, determined by the shape of the mold cavity. Furthermore, advantageously, despite the shaping operation, the color layer is characterized by color uniformity and a color coated article is made in a simple and convenient manner. The preform or the film 10 is plastic, and any plastic material desired for the preform 10 or the molten plastic material 34 can be used, for example, polyolefins, polyurethanes, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, polycarbonates, polyesters, et cetera, and any desirable combination of the foregoing. The colored layer can be coated directly on the film or the preform or it can be a separate layer as a colored plastic layer, as in the above. Layers 10 and 34 may be the same or different materials. If the same materials are used, one can obtain fusion bonding between the materials, for example through openings of the reinforcing material. If different materials are used, one can obtain a mechanical bond in fibers in reinforcement material, or the adhesive bond can be used. The layers can be cut or stamped from a roll and a supply that has the size and shape to fit on or inside the mold cavity which is held adjacent to the mold for transfer to the mold as needed, the colored layer coated on the film. The depth of color in the colored layer can be varied so that it at least partially adapts to the thinning during processing and so that it is at least partially adjusted to the depth of color to the amount of deformation any portion can undergo. Dadaist. Thus, for example, thicker paint coatings can be applied to a preform or selective film positions so that greater deformation is obtained during processing in order to obtain at least partially uniformity of color in the final molded product. However, this is difficult to obtain, and may not be completely successful. However, the present invention effectively minimizes color thinning. The preform or film can, for example, be subjected to engraved void with a thin colored layer. Therefore, according to the present invention, a reinforcing material 16 adheres to and / or is embedded at least partially on the inner surface of the film or preform in order to eliminate or significantly minimize the thinning of color. Desirably, the reinforcing material is a textile, synthetic or natural material. However, one can easily use a fiberglass grating or grid or a random fiberglass material, or an additional metal or plastic. The metal can be a metal mesh or a metal which is lengthened or conformed under pressure. The plastic should be selected to have a tensile strength at the conformation temperature sufficient to distribute the forming forces. The fiberglass grating or grating can be desirably knitted. This will reactively strengthen the film without impairing the color tones or the color coated film and without interfering with the shaping operation. The reinforcing material serves to distribute the elongation forces produced by the coupling with the most protruding areas of the mold core. Therefore, the entire film 10 and 10 'of color are caused to lengthen further than the immediate contact area. Accordingly, the thickness of the film and color layers remain relatively uniform after the part is formed. The preform and the colored layer can be applied to the mold by means of a robot or they can be attached removably to a strip of carrier film. The carrier film strip can be provided with means for aligning the position of the preforms with color in relation to the mold half on which the preforms are to be placed, for example, edge perforations. The carrier, with the preforms attached, can then be supplied from a roller. Once the preform and the mold are juxtaposed, suction is applied to the edge of the preform by the mold, for example through channels, enough to separate the preform from the carrier strip. Naturally, other transfer means can be easily used. Natural way, any other suitable or desirable plastic supply means or some other molding process can be used while still maintaining the advantages of the present invention, such as, for example, alternative compression molding techniques, injection molding or blow molding and injection molding. . Similarly, multiple plastic layers can be deposited on the combination of film-reinforcing material. Alternatively, a polymer can be deposited in a designed pattern, and a second polymer or a plurality of second polymers are deposited in a designed pattern. This can be carried out with one or more extruders that feed, for example, separate channels to deposit a predesigned pattern of multiple resins. As a further alternative, one can sequentially feed polymers of different characteristics to provide the properties designed in the finished product. A significant feature of the present invention is the uniformity of heating the color film or the preform without having to resort to external means, and ensuring that the shaping operation is carried out simultaneously, the color film or the preform , the reinforcement material and the support layer, followed by the application of sufficiently high molding pressures to provide molding conformation of all the layers. The finishing of the film in this way is conserved and optically detectable imperfections and thinning of color are avoided. In addition, this procedure requires a much lower clamping pressure than conventional procedures. Although the above procedure is mainly aimed at the application on the outside of vehicles, it should be noted that there are many other types of components that can benefit from the present molding process, such as compression molding, with a color finish and with a precision molded item, particularly for household electrical items and architectural components. The above produces an improved final product, particularly thick and large panel-like parts and eliminates or reduces the thinning of color and the degradation of the film coating. The present invention is useful with any plastic film since it prevents local degradation or thinning of the plastic film. As a further alternative, one can use coextrusion for molten plastic. The plastic of a die can be extruded into joint layers (co-layers) or multiple passes from two heads to deposit polymers and / or different compositions and / or fillers.

As an additional alternative, one can use various types of films, ta * ^ 96j | ® a conductive film (EMI-RFI), a film with UV and / or infrared absorption characteristics, or any desired and convenient film with the desired range of properties to obtain particular results. Therefore, according to the present invention, the final appearance of the molded film is improved by providing a reinforcement on the inner sce of the film to obtain a uniform thinning of the film. In addition, the present invention can improve the strength of the molded part and its impact resistance. According to one embodiment is in the present invention, the replacement material adheres, or at least is partially embedded in the inner sce of the plastic film, such as the thermoplastic sheet, to form a reinforced sheet. Then a clear coating, such as a plastic coating, can be applied to the outer sce of the reinforced sheet. The transparent coating may be an inked or translucent sce in order to provide any desired effect in the final product. In Figure 3 the resulting product is shown, wherein the plastic layer 40 injected or deposited is on the inside, followed by the reinforcing material 42 which in turn is followed by the film 44 and the layer 44 'with color, and with a transparent outer covering 46 on the film 44. By first incorporating at least partially the reinforcing material into the thermoplastic film sheet, intimate saturation and bonding between the reinforcing material and the film is ensured. Subsequently, in the molding operation, it is only necessary to join the reinforced film sheet to the molded resin. A base coat / clear coat may be applied outside the coating to the color film, sequentially in a process operation, or separately, in a plurality of process operations. If the reinforcing material is for example a reinforcing fiber grid, the outer covering will help to minimize the fibers extending through the exterior of the coated article. Alternatively, the film can be extruded between the reinforcing material and the transparent outer layer. High reinforcing fillers may be concentrated and, if a large fiber reinforcement is desired, such as glass fibers, carbon fibers, natural fibers, desirably with fiber lengths of at least 30mm and possibly at least 100mm when desired, in the molded part. In addition, the reinforcing material of the present invention, according to the fibers, particularly the long fibers mentioned above, can effectively be included in the plastic layer 34. The resulting part can be desirably designed Tssai- to have rigid sce areas of high modulus, and an interior area resistant to high impact. The resulting molded article with a transparent outer coating can be thermoformed to make 5 more rigid adapters having excellent dimensional stability. A further improvement is obtained by the application of an aligned reinforcement. In the aligned reinforcement, the reinforcement material is placed so that it aligns with the topography of the sce to be molded. The deeper the extraction or the extension of the sce, the more or more dense the reinforcement must be. This is shown in Figure 4, which shows a molded article 32 including a film 10 and a layer 10 ' with exterior color, the reinforcing material 16 and the plastic 34 that is obtained according to the embodiment of Figure 1. However, the reinforcing material 16 includes a relatively thicker area 16 'in the deeper extraction area. , and a relatively thin area 16"in the area of more moderate extraction. The aligned reinforcement can be obtained by any means that restricts the stretching of the finish of the film in areas of greater extraction, forcing the finished to stretch more in areas of lower extraction at the molding temperature. The representative examples of reinforcement materials are: woven fibrous materials, braided, tricolored or not fibrous fabrics such as glass, synthetic polymers or natural fibers. Alternatively, the reinforcing material may be a compatible (bondable) polymer film having a greater resistance to tensioning compared to the film finish under the conditions of temperature and pressure molding. The reinforcement material may be applied prior to the film finish by any means, such as with an adhesive, a static tackifier or heat under pressure, to hold it in place and in alignment until molding takes place. Alternatively, the reinforcement material can be manually or mechanically placed after the film finish and fixed on the mold cavity. The present invention desirably uses a mat or fiber web as a reinforcing material, which may be woven, nonwoven or filament yarns, which may be glass, plastic, carbon or metal fibers, wherein the fiber is selected for its cost and operating properties. As indicated above, the reinforcing material (such as fibers) can also be applied to the deposited plastic. Reinforcement in one direction is possible by feeding filaments onto the plastic deposited as the die passes through the mold. Alternatively, a reinforcement may be placed on top of the retina deposited, either manually or robotically, just beforehand to hold the closure. In addition, the mat can be preformed to the contour of the mold core and You can place over, and keep in the core before you close the mold. The previous shaping is advantageous in the case of deep draws or severe contours that can create wrinkles in a flat reinforcement sheet. That embodiment is shown in Figure 5, which includes an additional reinforcing material 48 on the plastic 40 deposited as shown in Figure 3. In a further embodiment shown in Figure 6, a reinforcement material, such as a fiber mat 48 may be placed on resin 40 deposited, and a second resin reservoir 50 is made to encapsulate the reinforcement material before the mold is closed. In a further embodiment, a mat of a description can be placed on the film before the resin is deposited, then the resin is deposited and a second mat of the same or different description can be placed on the hot resin and the fastener is closed . The result is an "I-beam" effect in which the reinforcement is concentrated on both sides of the molding resin. It is a particular advantage of the present invention that the reinforcement in the colored film layer serves to minimize localized thinning of the film due to heat and pressure as the mold is sawed. The reinforcement causes the film to be extracted / pulled from adjacent areas to an area of higher tension, so it dissipates the tension in a larger area and there is a reduction of the thinning in the localized area. Thus, for example, the reinforcing layer or layers provide a measure of structural improvement (either impact resistance or flexural strength) to the entire molded part. In addition, especially in the case of fibrous film reinforcements such as natural fibers, plastic fibers or the like, the reinforcing layer or layers provide a mechanical bond for molding or deposited resins, and such resins are different from the carrier film. A preferred film reinforcement is a non-woven grid or grid which contains olefin fibers, especially of the same composition as the film layer and at least one fiber melting at high temperatures which is selected from polymer fibers that melt. high temperature, glass fibers, carbon fibers or metal fibers and mixtures thereof. The olefin fibers will be melt bonded to the carrier film and also to the molding resin ensuring binding integrity through the molded article. The high temperature fiber or fibers provide strength after the olefin fibers are softened so that the tension forces are laterally distributed to adjacent areas of the film that are under less stress. The high temperature fibers provide a measure of the strength and impact resistance of the molded article. The examples of fibers Polymers that melt at high temperature are polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Kevlar, and liquid crystal polymers. The fibers in the grid are desirably thin-sectioned to minimize marking across the surface and desirably evenly distributed in the grid. The grid can be made thicker in certain areas to align with deep extraction areas in the molded article. The nonwoven grid or grid may contain only fibers that melt at high temperature. In this case, the grid is mechanically attached to the carrier film and the molding resin, or is mechanically immobilized between the carrier film and the molding resin by causing the molding resin to penetrate through the grid and to join it to the carrier film. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, two (2) reinforcement layers are provided as in Figures 5 and 6, with the outermost reinforcement material 42 preventing the innermost reinforcement material 48 from being visible through the layer with colour. The outermost reinforcing material 42 should be located between the innermost material 48 and the outer film layer 44. A particularly advantageous outermost reinforcing material is a plastic foam, such as for example an olefin foam or a polyurethane plastic foam, such as a closed cell polypropylene foam. Naturally, other materials may be used in the outermost reinforcing material to prevent the innermost reinforcing material from being observed through the colored layer, such as, for example, a metal sheet or layers of plastic sheets. Thus, for example, the outermost reinforcing material, such as the reinforcing material 42 in Figures 5-6, may desirably be a foamed polymer which may be adhesively bonded or melt bonded, if a foam is used. of olefin as the layer 42 to be joined to a similar olefin-bearing film as the layer 44. The foam layer reinforces the article and isolates the carrier film. Therefore, the carrier film retains strength to a greater degree and can resist localized thinning. The foam layer also cushions the structure and conforms to the resin layer 40 so that the surface marking is minimized or completely eliminated through the innermost reinforcing layer 48. This is a particular advantage when the innermost layer 48 is a fibrous layer. The preferred outermost reinforcing layer is a thin closed cell olefin foam sheet which will be melt bonded to the carrier film. A particularly preferred reinforcing material is woven textiles or a woven fiberglass grid discussed in the foregoing. The yarns used in the fabric are naturally larger in diameter than the individual fibers used to make a random grid. Nevertheless, '- _** \! ,-TO. 21 - particularly the high elongation of the carrier film, the woven yarn pattern can become visible through the surface of the shaped part. Naturally, this is not desirable. Therefore, it is particularly advantageous to use the woven fabrics as the innermost reinforcement layer 48 together with a masking reinforcement material, such as a closed cell olefin foam as the outermost reinforcement layer 42 so that it does not show the pattern woven from the surface of the formed part. As a further alternative, the outermost reinforcing layer, which can be a single reinforcing layer, can be coextruded with the outer film layer 10 or 44 so that the outer film 10 and 44 is a monolithic reinforced film. . As a further alternative, the color layer 10 'or 44' need not be a separately defined layer but can be mixed with the outer film 10 or 44 so that the color forms the outermost surface of the molded article, optionally covered by a transparent coating. Naturally also, when only a single reinforcing material is used, the reinforcing material can be a plastic foam, if so desired. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the described illustrations illustrated herein, which are considered only as illustrative of the best modes for carrying out the invention, and which are amenable to modification or shape, size, arrangement of parts and details of the invention. operation. Rather, the invention is considered to be encompassed by all those modifications which are within the spirit and scope as defined by the claims.

Claims (32)

1. A plastic article ?! molded, which comprises: a plastic layer; an outer film layer on the plastic layer and forming a laminate composed therewith, the outer film layer having an inner surface adjacent and attached to the plastic layer and an outer surface opposite the inner surface; a reinforcing material adhered to the inner surface of the outer film layer; and a decorative layer, with color, with uniformity of color on the outer surface of the outer film layer.

2. The article as described in claim 1, wherein the reinforcing material is at least partially infiltrated on the inner surface of the outer film layer.

3. The article as described in claim 1, wherein the article is compression molded.

4. The article as described in claim 1, wherein the reinforcing material is selected from the group consisting of metal, plastic, carbon fibers, glass fibers, textiles and mixtures thereof ^^^

5. The article as described in claim 1, wherein the outer film is plastic.

6. The article as described in claim 1, wherein the reinforcing material includes reinforcing fibers having long fibers of at least about 30mm in length. 10 length.

7. The article as described in claim 1, wherein the plastic cap includes reinforcing fibers having long fibers of at least about 30mm in length.

8. The article as described in claim 1, wherein the molded article includes a more transparent outer coating on the colored layer.

9. The article as described in claim 1, wherein the molded article includes an additional reinforcing material on the plastic layer on the side opposite the film layer.

10. The article as described in the claim 9, wherein the molding-ds article includes an additional plastic layer "# * ™" on the additional reinforcement material.

11. The article as described in claim 1, including: a first innermost reinforcing material bonded to the plastic layer; and a second outermost reinforcing material bonded to the inner surface of the outer film layer between the first reinforcing material and the outer film layer, which prevents the first reinforcing material from being visible through the colored layer. .

12. The molded article, as described in claim 11, wherein the second reinforcing material is a foamed plastic.

13. The molded article, as described in claim 12, wherein the second reinforcing material is melt bonded to the outer film layer.

14. The molded article, as described in claim 11, wherein the colored layer is a layer separated from the outer film layer and bonded thereto.

15. A molded article, as described in claim 11, wherein the outer film layer and the color layer are mixed together.

16. The molded article, as described in claim 12, wherein the foamed plastic is a closed cell olefin foam.

17. The molded article, as described in claim 11, wherein the first reinforcing material is a woven fabric.

18. The molded article, as described in claim 11, wherein the second reinforcing material is coextruded with the outer film layer.

19. The molded article, as described in claim 11, wherein the second reinforcing material contains olefin fibers and at least one fiber with a high melting point which has a melting point higher than that of the olefin fibers.

20. A process, which comprises: providing a composite laminate having an outer film layer with an inner surface and an outer surface opposite to the inner surface, a plastic layer and a decorative layer reinforcing the inner surface of the film layer outer with a reinforcing material between the outer film layer and the inner plastic layer; and molding a plastic article from the reinforced composite laminate, wherein the decorative color layer maintains uniformity of color in the molded article.

21. The process as described in claim 20, including the step of at least partially embedding the reinforcing material in the outer film layer.

22. The process as described in the claim 20, which includes the step of compression molding the plastic article.

23. The process as described in claim 20, which includes selecting the reinforcing material of the group consisting of metal, plastic, carbon fibers, glass fiber, textiles and mixtures thereof.

24. The process as described in claim 20, which includes providing reinforcement having long fibers of at least about 30mm in the plastic layer.

25. The process as described in the claim 20, which includes the step of providing additional reinforcement material in the plastic layer on the side opposite the outer film layer.

26. The process as described in the claim 20, which includes the step of providing an additional plastic layer on the additional reinforcing material.

27. The process as described in claim 20, including: reinforcing the composite laminate with a first innermost reinforcing material bonded to the inner plastic layer; and further reinforcing the composite lick with a second outermost reinforcing material bonded to the inner surface of the outer film layer between the first reinforcing material and the outer film layer, which prevents the first reinforcing material from being visible to through the layer with color.

28. The process as described in claim 27, which includes molding a plastic article from a reinforced composite laminate, wherein the colored decorative layer maintains uniformity of color in the molded article and wherein the first reinforcing material is not visible through the layer with color.

29. The process as described in claim 27, which includes providing a second nonwoven reinforcing material consisting of at least one olefin fiber and at least one fiber having a high melting point which has a higher melting point than that of the * olefin fiber.

30. The process as described in claim 27, which includes providing a foamed plastic as the second reinforcing material.

31. The process as described in claim 27, including melt-bonding the second reinforcing material to the outer film layer.

32. The process as described in claim 27, which includes coextruding the second reinforcing material and the outer film layer.