1. Process for assembling, by jointing, two surfaces A and B, these surfaces being made of various materials such als glass, plastics, metal etc., characterized in that it consists in : a) applying to the surface A a seal in the shape of a strip of a thermoplastic material, based on a polymer chosen from the group comprising thermoplastic polyurethanes, polyetheramides or mixtures of both these thermoplastic polymers, b) placing the surface A so as to face the surface B, via its seal, and c) producing the assembly by melting the surface layer of the seal which is facing the surfaces B, placing in contact and cooling under a slight pressure.

A method of forming a polymer device including the steps (i) of depositing on a substrate a solution containing a polymer or oligomer and a crosslinking moiety, to form a layer, and, (ii) curing the layer formed in step (i) under conditions to form an insoluble crosslinked polymer, wherein the crosslinking moiety is present in step (i) in an amount in the range of from 0.05 mol % to 5 mol % based on the total number of moles or repeat units of the polymer or oligomer and the crosslinking moiety in the solution.

A method for making a plate-like fiber-reinforced product to be used as building or packing material, the method comprising: placing fibers on a lower laminate; applying a binding agent on the fibers so that the fibers are surrounded by the binding agent; transferring the fibers with binding agent between the lower laminate and an upper laminate between lower and upper rotating pressing plates; allowing the binding agent to foam up, expand and harden between the upper and lower pressing plates. A manufacturing apparatus and a plate-like product are also indicated.

The invention relates to a composite material (1), for closure elements, mad from a support material (2) and a thermoplastically moulded layer (3) with projecting and recessed sections (4,5). According to the invention, the thermoplastically moulded layer (3) is thinner in the region of the recessed sections (4) than in the region of the projecting sections (5). Said surface structure may for example be produced by embossing by means of ribbed rollers or embossing plates. The composite material (1) is suitable for the production of sealing elements, such as for example, cup tops, usually stored in stacks. The cup elements stacked thus can easily be unstacked after stacking, precisely by means of said recessed or projecting sections(4, 5). On the side of the composite material facing the consumer a decorative and/or informative impression (6) can further be provided.

An arrangement of building elements capable of a snap-fastening interconnection comprises an element, especially the tongue, consisting of a different material from the other building elements. An MDF/HDF panel, is initially milled along the longitudinal and/or transverse sides, and the resulting groove is then provided and/or foam-filled with extrudates. Finally, the free ends of the extrudates are milled to form the profile of the tongue. Alternatively, or additionally, a groove may also be milled into the extrudates.

The invention relates to a method for coating a substrate with a layer of a material, such as a metal, in which a quantity of electrically conductive material is vaporized in a space with a low background pressure and energy is supplied to the material which is to be vaporized in order to vaporize this material. According to the invention, the material which is to be vaporized, while it is being vaporized, is kept floating, without support, in the space and is enclosed in an alternating electromagnetic field, the alternating electromagnetic field being generated with the aid of a high-frequency alternating current. The invention also relates to a device for coating a substrate and to a substrate.

Device for the piece-wise or batch-wise refining of pieces of a substrate, in particular a textile substrate, under high pressure with a treatment medium, comprising: a substantially cylindrical pressure vessel ( 1 ), which is provided with a closable feed aperture ( 4 ) for placing the pieces of substrate in the pressure vessel ( 1 ); a pipe system ( 7 ) for feeding a treatment medium to and discharging it from the pressure vessel ( 1 ) under high pressure during treatment. The cylindrical pressure vessel is provided on at least one of the two end faces with an aperture that is closable by a lid ( 2, 3 ), which aperture forms the feed aperture ( 4 ). The device comprises retaining means for keeping the lid ( 2, 3 ) in place in a sealing manner during treatment, and the retaining means comprise a bounding frame ( 10 ) that is circumferentially closed, with two interconnected end pieces ( 11, 12 ) situated at a distance from each other, which end pieces in a closed position can be slid over the pressure vessel ( 1 ) and thereby retain the end faces of the pressure vessel ( 1 ) in the axial direction.

The inventive method for the wedge-free bonding of planar surfaces comprises, in essence, a concluding phase involving bringing the surfaces to be bonded closer together. During this phase, the surfaces are brought closer together essentially by means of capillary forces and, optionally, with the aid of gravity. It is advantageous, before the actual bonding process, to parallelly align the surfaces to be bonded by simply placing one component atop the other. This enables, once adhesive (11) has been applied to the center of the first surface, the second surface, in the initial phase, to be quickly advanced toward the first surface up to a distance of 0.5 mm therefrom. In the intermediate phase of bringing the surfaces closer together, a slow average speed is selected in order to prevent the formation of bubbles once the adhesive comes into contact with the second surface.

The invention relates to a method of assembling a first substrate (10) and a second substrate (12) by means of bonding with at least one joint (14). The invention is characterised in that it comprises the following successive steps consisting in: positioning at least one polymer joint (14) between the first (10) and second (12) substrates, said at least one joint comprising at least one migrating agent which can migrate to at least one of the interfaces of the at least one joint in order to generate a layer with low cohesion; pressing the two substrates (10, 12) against one another; and polymerising the at least one joint (14) in order to obtain a bonded assembly comprising said two substrates (10, 12).

A method of treating a domestic, institutional, industrial, and/or commercial surface, the method comprising the step of contacting a surface with a surface-treating composition containing a water-soluble, sulfonated/carboxylated polymer, is provided.