Patent ID: 7704342

Claim:
A process for making a laminate comprising: positioning a plastic material selected from the group consisting of polyvinyl butyral and ionomeric resins, having a moisture content below 0.35 percent by weight of the plastic material, opposite at least one rigid substrate; pre-heating the at least one rigid substrate, or the plastic material, or any combination thereof, to a tacking temperature of about 40° C. to about 130° C.; tacking the plastic material and the at least one rigid substrate through a nip roll in a short term pressure application having a duration of less than about 15 minutes, without using vacuum de-airing, to form a pre-laminate having partial adhesion of plastic material to the substrate; heating the pre-laminate at a temperature of about 125° C. to about 220° C. for a time effective to relax stresses in and dissolve air into the plastic material and finish bond the plastic material to the at least one rigid substrate; wherein said heating is conducted at a pressure ranging from about 1 atmosphere to about 3 atmospheres; without a subsequent or preceding autoclave step at a pressure above about 3 atmospheres.