Shaped laminate, particularly internal lining part for motor vehicles, as well as process and apparatus for the production thereof

The invention relates to a shaped laminate, particularly an internal lining part for motor vehicles. The laminate (1) has a substantially stiff supporting sheet (2) of thermoplastic material. The latter is covered on at least one and preferably both sides with a surface layer (3, 4) in the form of a nonwoven fabric. The joint between the nonwoven fabric and the plastic sheet is a thermal bond. For forming the bond the nonwoven fabric at least partly and preferably completely is made from the same type of plastic as the sheet. The invention also relates to a process and an apparatus for producing the laminate. For forming the adhesive joint the sheet is heated on at least one side to a temperature in the adhesive range of the thermoplastic material, the sheet interior being kept at a lower temperature. As a result of this procedure the nonwoven fabric structure is protected during the adhesion and shaping process. The invention makes it possible in simple manner to produce type-pure laminates, so that they can be recycled again as a whole, as can the waste material produced during their production.

The invention relates to a shaped laminate, particularly an internal lining 
part for motor vehicles, having a support layer made from a stiff sheet of 
a thermoplastic material and at least one surface layer of a textile 
fabric, as well as to a process and an apparatus for the production 
thereof. 
Internal lining parts for motor vehicles frequently comprise a laminate, 
which is shaped in accordance with the walls of the inner area and has on 
its side facing the latter a textile fabric, particularly in the form of a 
needle web. For the production of such internal lining parts 
thermoplastics, particularly polypropylene are extruded to sheets and onto 
the hot sheet is directly laminated the textile fabric, the fibres of the 
needle web being pressed into the still soft mass of the sheet and are 
embedded therein. It is standard practice for the needle web serving as 
the surface layer to be made from a material, which does not melt at the 
extrusion temperature, which is approximately 240.degree. C. in the case 
of polypropylene, because otherwise the needle web structure would be 
destroyed. 
Attempts have already been made to laminate polypropylene needle webs onto 
extruded polypropylene sheets, leading to a welded joint between the sheet 
and the web, but this has led to significant structural changes to the 
web, because the fibres begin to melt and lose strength. 
The problem of the invention is to improve a shaped laminate and its 
production and in particular so as to permit an environmentally friendly 
structure of a high quality laminate and extend the design possibilities 
during its production. 
The invention is characterized in that fibres of at least one surface layer 
at least partly comprise a thermoplastic material of substantially the 
same type as the sheet and the surface layer is joined to the sheet by 
thermal bonding of said fibres. 
As opposed to the mere embedding of fibres of unmeltable material or 
thermoplastics, whose softening range is below the extrusion temperature 
of the sheet, according to the invention the joint between the textile 
surface layer and the sheet is constructed as a bond, in which the fibrous 
material of the textile surface layer is adhesively connected to the 
thermoplastic material of the sheet by means of common interfaces. This 
ensures a good joint without any additional adhesives being necessary. 
Whereas in the case of the aforementioned welded joint the phase boundaries 
between the sheet material and the layer material are dissolved and the 
fibres of the textile layer in the sheet-near area thereof liquefy on 
melting, in the case of the bond according to the invention the phase 
boundaries between the sheet material and the fibrous material are largely 
retained. The fibres are deformed and sintered together in the sheet-near 
area. In the sintered area the fibrous structure is compressed, so that a 
fibre union is formed, which is bonded to the sheet surface, optionally 
accompanied by the formation of impressions or depressions in the sheet 
surface. The fibre cross-section and the interfaces of the fibres are 
largely retained, even in the sheet-near area. Directly alongside the same 
the structure of the textile fabric is unchanged, i.e. has remained in its 
original form. 
The thickness of the compressed or sintered area of the fibres is 
approximately 1 to 10 times and in particular approximately 1 to 5 times 
the fibre thickness. There are three surface zones of the sheet between 
individual bond points. 
Thermoplastic materials of the same type are understood to mean plastics, 
which are the same or substantially the same as the plastics of the sheet 
or different therefrom, but in which the softening and tackiness range is 
roughly at the same temperature level, so that they can be thermally 
bonded together and are able to form a common melt during recycling. The 
textile surface layer is in per se known manner preferably a non-woven 
fabric, preference being given to those fabrics which are free from a 
textile support. The laminate is generally a three-dimensionally shaped 
laminate, which has acquired its three-dimensional structure from the 
original plane of the sheet by the shaping of the latter. The laminate is 
preferably a trunk internal lining. The surface layer is appropriately 
constructed as a surface decoration. According to a preferred embodiment 
of the invention the laminate is provided on both sides, i.e. two surface 
layers and once can serve as a decorative layer and the other as a 
backing. One surface layer can be constructed as a sound-absorbing 
backing. The second surface layer or the backing is preferably also formed 
by a nonwoven fabric, particularly a needle web. 
The thermoplastic material of the sheet is in per se known manner 
preferably a polyolefin, particularly a polypropylene. Polypropylene has 
satisfactory mechanical characteristics and is suitable for recycling. 
Preferably at least one surface layer and in particular the decorative 
layer is completely made from substantially the same material as the 
sheet, especially polypropylene. It is preferred according to the 
invention to give the laminate a type-pure structure or at least form it 
from those materials which can be jointly recycled. A support sheet made 
from polypropylene and at least one surface layer of polypropylene fibres 
constitutes such a type-pure structure. 
It is also possible, if desired, for at least one surface layer, 
particularly a backing layer, to be partly and in particular largely 
formed from fibres, which are not bondable with the sheet material, the 
layer, for forming the adhesive bond, having a fibre proportion 
appropriate for fusing with the thermoplastic material of the sheet. Such 
a surface layer can e.g. be a needle web, which is produced from waste 
materials from the textile industry, particularly using cotton and/or 
acrylic fibres. The nonwoven fabric has a minimum proportion of fibres 
from a plastics material, which is thermally bondable with the sheet 
material, the union between the nonwoven and the sheet being obtained by 
bonding said fibres to said sheet. The content of fibres from a material 
which is thermally bondable to the sheet material is generally at least 
10% by weight and is preferably approximately 20% by weight or more. The 
proportion of said fibres is preferably uniformly distributed within the 
nonwoven. It is also possible to increase the proportion of fibres 
bondable with the sheet on the nonwoven side facing the sheet. In such 
cases weight proportions of fibres from the material bondable with the 
sheet of approximately 5% are adequate. 
Particularly when the laminate is constructed as a trunk internal lining 
its production involves a high proportion of waste caused by the cutting 
operations. The waste proportion can be approximately 50%. According to 
the invention, said waste is recycled during laminate production. It is 
therefore particularly preferred if the laminate has a type-pure structure 
or is at least made from those materials able to form a common melt, 
because it is then particularly simple to disintegrate the waste and 
return same to the extruder for the production of the sheet. It has 
surprisingly been found that a limited proportion of extraneous fibres, 
which are not present in the melted state at the melting temperature of 
the sheet material is not prejudicial. In the case of a correspondingly 
fine disintegration of said fibrous proportion during the disintegration 
of the waste, said fibrous proportion can be concomitantly processed in 
the extruder and serves as a fibre reinforcement for the sheet. Larger 
extraneous fibre quantities are preferably removed from the sheet prior to 
recycling. 
In a preferred embodiment of the invention at least one side of the sheet 
is covered in full-surface manner with an open-cell or pore layer of a 
thin web material, which is shaped in accordance with the sheet and at 
least one surface layer. The pores of the web material are preferably so 
wide and the web material layer thickness so thin that the adhesive bond 
between the sheet and the surface layers penetrates the pores. As a 
result, the web material, whose significance will be described 
hereinafter, does not impair the union between the surface layer and the 
sheet, if the web material layer is located between the surface layer and 
the sheet. The web material is preferably in the form of a very thin 
nonwoven constituting a fibrewoven fabric, in which the fibres are located 
in the web material plane. The web material is preferably a spunbonded 
fabric. The web material layer weight is very low, generally between 10 
and 50 g/m.sup.2, particularly at approximately 30 g/m.sup.2. According to 
an embodiment of the invention the web material is formed by a hidden 
supporting web, which remains in the laminate. 
In a preferred embodiment of the invention the support sheet is at least 
zonely provided with perforations. These perforations are preferably used 
for sound absorbtion purposes and can also have a ventilating function. At 
least one surface layer and in particular a visible decorative layer is 
advantageously free from perforations, i.e. it covers the perforations of 
the sheet, so that they are not visible from the outside. If there are 
surface layers on both sides of the sheet, then preferably both surface 
layers are free from such perforations. At least part of the perforations 
can be deformed as a function of the deformation of the sheet. This is the 
case if the surface areas in which the perforations are located are 
provided at those points, which are stretched during the shaping of the 
sheet, particularly during a subsequently described deep drawing process. 
The perforated surface areas are advantageously limited to those points of 
the laminate, which are used for covering low-noise areas of a motor 
vehicle. In this way it is ensured that the noise to be destroyed by the 
perforations penetrates the low-noise areas behind the same and is 
consequently absorbed. The perforations can have a cross-sectional surface 
of 0.5 to 5 mm.sup.2. Based on the surface of the perforated areas, the 
proportion of holes can be approximately 0.3 to 8%, particularly 1 to 6%. 
The individual perforations can have random shapes, but are preferably 
circular. Their internal diameter can be in the range 1 to 3 mm, 
preferably approximately 1.5 mm. The spacing of the holes can be adapted 
to the acoustic conditions and is generally between 0.5 and 3 cm, 
particularly between 0.7 and 1.5 cm (distance between the hole centres). 
As mentioned hereinbefore, the surface layer serving as the backing can 
advantageously be used for sound absorbtion or insulation purposes. 
Therefore the backing advantageously has a greater material thickness than 
the decorative layer. The backing generally has a full-surface 
construction. At points where particular sound absorbtion is important it 
can be reinforced by separate added coatings. This is advantageously the 
case at points where there are larger openings in the outer surface of the 
vehicle body and which are used for the now standard forced ventilation of 
a vehicle interior through the trunk area. 
The invention also relates to a process for the production of a shaped 
laminate with a support layer of a substantially stiff sheet of 
thermoplastic material and at least one textile surface layer by 
connecting and shaping at elevated temperature. This process is 
characterized in that a thermoplastic material sheet, which on at least 
one surface has a temperature in the melting range and in the interior a 
lower temperature close to the plastic deformability range, is connected 
by thermal bonding to at least one textile surface layer, the temperature 
level in the interior being utilized for the deformation or shaping of the 
sheet. 
It has been found that a particularly careful and material-compatible 
adhesive joint for the textile surface layer is obtained if instead of the 
entire sheet, only its surface areas to be bonded with the textile surface 
layer are at a temperature level suitable for the adhesive connection, 
whereas the sheet core and optionally a surface which is not to be coated 
are preferably at a lower temperature level. This avoids an overheating of 
the surface layer and consequently undesired damage thereto. It is 
simultaneously ensured that an undesired post-curing from the inside is 
unnecessary and the cooling time for the laminate in the deforming 
apparatus is relatively short. In addition, due to the lower temperature 
level in the sheet core, the sheet is still relatively stable, so that 
undesired deformations prior to the actual shaping process can be 
prevented with technically simple means. 
During the bonding of the surface to the surface layer, the sheet interior 
or sheet core is preferably at a temperature level corresponding to the 
shaping temperature of the thermoplastic material. Particularly in the 
case of thermoplastics having a crystalline proportion, the shaping 
temperature is at the transition from the crystalline into the amorphous 
range. 
The temperature variation can be obtained in that at least one surface of a 
firm sheet, particularly a sheet web of a thermoplastic material is 
brought by surface heating to a surface temperature in the tackiness range 
of the thermoplastic material, so that the temperature in the interior of 
the sheet does not exceed the temperature required for the plastic 
deformation of the sheet. Surface heating advantageously takes place by 
infrared radiation. If only one side of the sheet is to be joined to the 
surface layer, then heating only takes place on one side. Preferably this 
one-sided heating is combined with a simultaneous cooling of the other 
side, a cooling with cold gases, particularly cold air being preferred. 
The thermoplastic material of the sheet can contain conventional fillers. 
According to the invention it is also possible for a sheet, which is 
already provided with a surface coating, to be subsequently joined on the 
other side to a second surface coating, in that the side of the coated 
sheet provided for the adhesive bond is heated and the coated side is 
preferably simultaneously cooled. 
The surface layers to be joined at the time of application are 
advantageously at ambient temperature, i.e. they are brought onto the 
sheet to be coated without prior heating. This is particularly 
advantageous if the surface coating is entirely made from the same 
material as the sheet. Through the cold supply of the surface coating, 
e.g. in the form of a needle web, the structure thereof is maintained. 
The connection between the at least one surface layer and the sheet can 
take place before, during or after shaping the sheet and is appropriately 
carried out at the latest during the shaping of the laminate. Preferably 
the adhesive joint is partly or completely formed when the individual 
coatings of the laminates have not yet undergone shaping. The connection 
is preferably carried out following onto the heating of the sheet, in that 
the individual coatings are brought together under moderate pressure, e.g. 
are jointly passed through a pair of rollers or through clamping beams. A 
performance of the adhesive connections separate from the actual shaping 
process also makes it possible to regulate the contact pressure separately 
from said shaping process and directly utilize the temperature level of 
the surface coating of the heated sheet for the adhesive joint, so that 
there is no need to heat to a higher temperature than is actually 
necessary. 
The actual shaping in the three-dimensional body advantageously takes place 
in per se known manner rising a drawing or extrusion press having a male 
mould and a female mould, the entire shaping process being performed in 
one step. The press moulds are appropriately thermostatically controlled 
at a temperature below the hardening range of the thermoplastic material 
of the sheet. The shaped laminate is kept between the moulds until the 
plastic of the sheet has solidified to such an extent that an undesired, 
subsequent deformation of the laminate following mould release is avoided. 
Preferably the moulds are thermostatically controlled by a sole to a 
temperature of -3.degree. C. and the mould surface temperature is 
advantageously approximately +5.degree. C. The shaping process between the 
moulds is performed discontinuously, i.e. stepwise. The individual 
coatings or layers which are brought together and which jointly form the 
laminate can be drawn stepwise from delivery rolls, particularly as the 
heating of the supporting web advantageously also takes place stepwise. It 
is also possible to continuously shape the plastic sheet from an extruder 
slot die, allow it to cool and then pass the sheet web in the form of a 
continuous web up to the press and between the extruder and the heating 
zone is preferably incorporated a levelling loop or the like, in order to 
bring about a levelling between the continuous extrusion and the stepwise 
shaping process. 
During the heating process the sheet is preferably held on a supporting 
web, which prevents an undesired deformation of said web in the heated 
state. It has proved particularly advantageous to construct said 
supporting web as a so-called hidden support, which remains as an 
additional layer in the shaped laminate. To this end the supporting web is 
preferably constructed in such a way that it has the necessary tensile 
strength required in order to prevent an undesired deformation of the 
softened sheet due to its own weight, the tensile strength of the 
supporting web also being limited, so that the three-dimensional shaping 
during swaging is not prevented, i.e. the structure of the supporting web 
during swaging gives way and takes part in the drawing path of the sheet 
during pressing without cutting into the same. The supporting web is 
laminated onto the sheet, provided that when the latter leaves the 
extruder slot die it is still hot enough in order to permit an anchoring 
of the supporting web with the sheet. It has proved advantageous to make 
the supporting web from a material which is stable at the temperature at 
which the sheet material leaves the extruder. In the case of a 
polypropylene sheet material the exit temperature is approximately 
240.degree. C. and rapid cooling takes place. A supporting web made from 
textile fibres is particularly suitable, polyester fibres being preferred, 
which are still adequately stable at the softening point of polypropylene. 
The supporting web preferably has an open structure, which is particularly 
advantageous if the sheet side covered with the said web is to be provided 
with a surface layer. The pore size or the open structure is 
advantageously such that it is possible for an adhesive joint to be formed 
between the fibres of the surface material and the thermoplastic material 
of the sheet, without impediment, through the supporting web pores. The 
supporting web preferably is kept very thin, which also has a positive 
effect on the good connection between the surface layer and the sheet. 
Particularly suitable for a supporting web is a spun bonded fabric, i.e. a 
nonwoven, in which the fibres are located in the plane of the fabric. 
Supporting webs with a layer weight of 10 to 50 g/m.sup.2 and in 
particular 20 to 40 g/m.sup.2 are especially preferred. The supporting web 
thickness is preferably approximately 1 to 5 times the fibre thickness. 
During the heating process the sheet is preferably guided and/or held on 
its longitudinal edges. This can e.g. take place in such a way that the 
longitudinal edges are tensioned or hung in spiked chains. This also 
covers the supporting web. However, the surface layers which are to be 
supplied to the hot sheet are preferably kept narrower, so that they do 
not cover the marginal area of the sheet, which is trimmed. 
If the sheet is to have perforations, then the corresponding holes are 
preferably made while the sheet is in a solid state, i.e. after hardening 
following production by extrusion and before heating takes place. The 
perforations can be made with perforating or spiked rollers. The 
perforations can be made over the entire surface area of the sheet or, if 
desired, to acoustically preferred areas. If the holes are in areas which 
are drawn during the deep drawing process, then the holes are 
correspondingly deformed, i.e. they are generally enlarged in at least one 
direction. This is taken into account when dimensioning the size of the 
holes when the perforations are made on the cold sheet. 
In the unshaped state the plastic sheet advantageously has a weight per 
unit area or layer weight of 500 to 3000 g/m.sup.2, particularly 900 to 
1600 g/m.sup.2. A textile surface layer, which is to be used as a 
decorative layer, generally has a weight per unit area of 100 to 600 
g/m.sup.2, particularly 200 to 350 g/m.sup.2. A surface layer to be used 
for sound absorbtion purposes has, as a function of the desired sound 
absorbtion and when used on the back preferably a higher weight per unit 
area, which can be up to 1500 g/m.sup.2 or more. 
For sound absorbtion purposes it is advantageous to use textile needle 
webs, which are produced from waste fibres from the clothing industry and 
for the preferred formation of the bonded joint, also in the damping or 
absorbing layer there is a minimum proportion of fibres usable with the 
sheet material. 
If the sheet is made from polypropylene, then the heating of the sheet is 
preferably controlled in such a way that the sheet surface reaches a 
temperature of approximately 180.degree. C., said temperature being 
measured with a radiation pyrometer. At this surface temperature the 
polypropylene is sufficiently tacky in order to form a thermoplastic bond 
with the fibres of the surface layer, which are made from the same type or 
an identical material. The core temperature of the sheet is preferably 
kept in the range 140.degree. to 160.degree. C. and corresponds to the 
shaping range of the polypropylene with plastic deformability, a minimum 
strength being maintained. Due to the fact that, according to the process 
of the invention, there is a core temperature in the deformation range and 
a surface temperature in the tackiness range, a good bond can be obtained 
between the sheet and the textile surface layer, the adhesion process, due 
to the limitation of the thermal energy of the sheet, having no 
disadvantageous effect on the structure of the surface layer and the 
thermal energy present in the sheet is sufficient in order to 
simultaneously utilize it for the production of the laminate by 
deformation. 
The apparatus according to the invention for producing the laminate has a 
heating device for the sheet, a device for bringing together the at least 
one surface layer and the sheet, as well as a shaping device. These 
devices are preferably arranged in substantially directly succeeding 
manner along the sheet conveying path. If only one side of the sheet is to 
be welded to a surface layer, the heating device preferably has a cooling 
device for cooling the other side of the sheet.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1 there is a trunk inner 
lining in the form of a laminate 1 and which has been built up from three 
layers. A support layer 2 of a polypropylene sheet has been shaped by 
thermal deformation from a flat material and has been adapted to the shape 
of a trunk, so that a three-dimensional laminate has been formed. On both 
sides the support layer 2 has been coated with a textile needle web as a 
surface layer. A surface layer 3 is constructed as a decorative layer, 
whereas the surface layer provided on the not visible side of the trunk 
inner lining is constructed as a backing 4 and is used for sound 
absorbtion purposes. Between the decorative layer 3 and the support layer 
2 there is a very thin intermediate layer 5, which is provided with 
perforations and is formed by a hidden supporting web. Both the decorative 
layer 3 and the backing 4 are made from a polypropylene fibre needle web. 
The layer weight of the needle web of the decorative layer is 
approximately 350 g/m.sup.2, whereas the layer weight of the backing 
needle web is roughly twice as high. The two needle webs are joined to the 
polypropylene sheet by thermal bonding. This means that individual fibres 
or agglomerated fibres, which are located on the side of the needle 
fleeces facing the sheet, are sintered to the sheet surface. Thus, there 
is a very good joint between the three layers, without any additional 
adhesive being used. The intermediate layer 5 consists of a polyester 
fabric in the form of a very thin, light fibrewoven fabric with a layer 
weight of 30 g/m.sup.2. This fibrewoven fabric is very thin and has, apart 
from its relatively large openings, a material thickness of 1 to 
approximately 5 times the fibre thickness. The proportion of holes or 
pores in the fibrewoven fabric is approximately 90% or higher. The 
polypropylene sheet has on non-deformed areas a layer weight of 
approximately 1600 g/m.sup.2. It is correspondingly lower at those points 
which are stretched during deformation. 
Thus, the represented laminate has a substantially type-pure structure. The 
small proportion of polyester fibres introduced through the supporting web 
5 plays no part when the laminate is reprocessed and can be ignored, 
particularly as the polyester fibres are very thin and are disintegrated 
during any pelletizing of the laminate on recycling. 
The type-pure structure is particularly advantageous if there are large 
quantities of clippings during laminate production, such as would be the 
case for a trunk internal lining. Due to the complicated shapes of such 
trunk internal linings the clippings can be up to 50%. The clippings can 
be used without difficulty for producing the supporting sheet. 
The support layer 2 has in the side wall area 6 of the trunk internal 
lining perforations 7. These perforations have a diameter of approximately 
1 to 2 mm and are spaced from one another by 0.5 to 2 cm, whilst in the 
areas where the polypropylene sheet is stretched the holes are 
correspondingly deformed and enlarged as compared with the original 
circular shape. The intermediate layer 5 is disintegrated in the stretched 
areas of the sheet, i.e. the fibre structure has been wholly or partly 
dissolved in these areas. The needle webs of the decorative layer 3 and 
the backing 4 have fully participated in the deformation of the supporting 
sheet and are therefore correspondingly stretched at those points where 
the sheet is stretched, without this being visible on the surface. The 
perforations provided in the supporting layer are covered and rendered 
invisible by the decorative layer. Airborne sound which has penetrated the 
trunk can pass through the perforations 7 into the covered trunk areas 
located behind the same and is completely deadened therein, so that there 
is an effective sound absorbtion. Thus, the backing 4 mainly fulfils a 
sound absorbtion function. At the unperforated points the supporting layer 
prevents sound, which has penetrated into the vehicle interior from 
outside through openings in the vehicle body, e.g. at the locations of the 
forced ventilation system, can penetrate through the trunk internal lining 
into the interior of the trunk. 
It is also possible in individual surface layers to provide only a 
proportion of fibrous material bondable with the sheet material or to only 
thermally bond one surface layer to the supporting sheet. However, 
preferably the proportion of extraneous fibres is kept so low that it is 
still possible to reutilize the entire laminate through thermoplastic 
processing. 
FIG. 2 diagrammatically shows an apparatus for producing the laminate 
according to the invention and the operation thereof. The support layer 2 
is extruded as an endless web from an extruder 11 and passes out of the 
not shown slot die of the extruder in the form of a plastic, easily 
deformable polypropylene continuous web. A web-like fibrewoven fabric is 
supplied from below from a delivery roll 12 to the said web and forms the 
supporting web or intermediate layer 5. On bringing together the 
supporting web and the still hot polypropylene web, the polypropylene 
fibres of the supporting web are partly embedded in the soft 
polypropylene. The leads to a good connection between the supporting web 
and the polypropylene sheet, the fibres of the supporting web not being 
modified as a result of the thermal stability of the polyester fibres. The 
resulting polypropylene sheet 2 joined to the supporting web 5 can, after 
cooling and hardening, be rolled up and intermediately stored. The roll 
can then serve as a delivery roll during the further processing. However, 
it is also possible to immediately supply the supporting web to the 
further processing operations in the manner shown in FIG. 2. The cool 
supporting web is then provided with perforations by means of a 
perforating roller 13 and this can also include marginal perforations for 
retaining the web in a following heating device 14. Upstream of the 
heating device 14 the supporting layer web is appropriately placed in a 
levelling loop 15, which levels the transition from the continuous 
extrusion to the discontinuous heating and shaping. 
The heating device 14 operates with infrared lamps and is equipped in the 
represented embodiment for the surface heating of both sides. In the 
heating device is heated a web portion, which essentially corresponds to 
the size of a portion to be used for producing a trunk internal lining. 
The surface layers, namely the decorative layer 3 and the backing 4, are 
drawn from delivery rolls 17, 16 and simultaneously combined on both sides 
with the heated support layer. The combining and joining preferably takes 
place by means of guide rolls 18, which simultaneously serve as pressure 
rolls. It is also possible to provide for this purpose additional gripping 
jaws 19. As a result of the heating process the surfaces of the support 
layer 2 are heated more than the interior of the sheet. Following the end 
of the heating process the sheet surface has softened to such an extent 
that it can be thermoplastically bonded with the polypropylene fibres of 
the decorative layer 3 and the backing 4. The sheet core is sufficiently 
firm, that it is able to withstand the contact pressure for joining the 
three layers. Simultaneously the sheet core is heated to such an extent 
that its temperature is in the shaping range of the polypropylene, so that 
the shaping of the still flat laminate can take place directly following 
the combining of the three layers in a drawing or extruding press 20. The 
latter has a male mould 21 and a female mould 22, which are 
thermostatically controlled on a permanent basis and are in particular 
cooled. The cooling brings about a protection of the needle webs of the 
surface layers and simultaneously harden the support layer, after the flat 
laminate has been shaped into a three-dimensional laminate. Marginal 
trimming of the finished laminate can take place simultaneously with the 
extrusion pressing or subsequently. 
In the case of the embodiment of FIG. 3 a delivery roll 31 is provided and 
carries a supply of polypropylene sheet, which has already been joined to 
a surface layer 3 of a decorative web and a supporting web, which 
subsequently forms the intermediate layer 5. The supporting web is located 
between the web of the supporting layer 2 and the web of the decorative 
layer 3. This previously formed laminate 32 is supplied stepwise to a 
heating/cooling device 33, which has on its surface an infrared heating 
device 34 for heating the exposed surface of the support layer and on its 
underside has a cooling device 35 for the simultaneous cooling of the 
decorative layer 3 on the other side. Heating once again takes place in 
such a way that the support layer surface intended for the adhesive bond 
is brought to a temperature of approximately 180.degree. C., whereas the 
sheet core and the other support layer side does not exceed a temperature 
in the shaping range of 140.degree. to 160.degree. C. A backing layer 4' 
is drawn as web material from a delivery roll 36 and is in the form of a 
needle web, which entirely comprises polypropylene fibres or extraneous 
fibres and a minimum proportion of polypropylene fibres for the formation 
of the adhesive bond. The connection of the backing layer 4 to the 
previously formed laminate 32 takes place, in much the same way as in the 
embodiment according to FIG. 2, by means of a pair of rollers 37. The 
shaping of the still flat laminate to a three-dimensional laminate once 
again takes place by means of an extruding press 20 with a male mould 21 
and a female mould 22.