Formica laminate is a laminated composite material found at Westinghouse Electric Corporation in the United States in 1912. Originally used to replace mica in electrical applications, it has since been produced for various applications. This product is now produced by New Zealand-based Formica Group since 2007. The word Formica refers to the company's classic product: laminated paper or heat-resistant and wipe-clean paper with melamine resin.
Today, the product name Formica mainly refers to a decorative product consisting of several layers of kraft paper impregnated with melamine thermosetting resin, or an integrated core, and covered with a melamine-protected decorative layer, then compressed and healed with heat to create a hard and durable surface.
Formica Group, a division of the Fletcher Building company in New Zealand, consists of Formica Canada, Inc., Formica Corporation, Formica de Mexico SA de CV, Formica IKI Oy, Formica Limited, Formica SA, Formica SAS, Formica Taiwan Corporation, Formica (Formica) Thailand) Co., Ltd., and Formica (Asia) Ltd., among others.
Video Formica (plastic)
Etimologi nama
Mica minerals are commonly used at that time for electrical isolation. Since the new product acts as a substitute for " for mica ", Faber uses the name " Formica " as a trademark (the word already exists as the scientific name for wood ants, from which formic acid and the formaldehyde derivatives used in the resin were first isolated.)
Maps Formica (plastic)
History
Formica laminate was invented in 1912 by Daniel J. O'Conor and Herbert A. Faber, while working at Westinghouse, producing a patent grant on February 1, 1913. They originally consumed it as a substitute for mica used as electrical insulation, made of wrapped in woven fabrics coated with a Bakelite thermosetting resin, then a crack lengthened, leveled, and healed in the press. They left Westinghouse immediately.
O'Conor and Faber left Westinghouse to start a business on the basis of products, asking lawyers and banker John G. Tomlin as investors. Tomlin provides a capital of $ 7,500 as a silent business partner. The company began operations on May 2, 1913, and soon succeeded: in September, the Formica Products Company employs eighteen people seeking to meet the growing demand for electrical parts for Bell Electric Motor, Ideal Electric and Northwest Electric.
After the General Bakelite Company decided to sell resin for sheet insulation only to Westinghouse, which enabled Formica companies with other forms with smaller markets, they switched to a similar competitive phenolic resin, Redmanol. After a favorable patent litigation for Baekeland in 1922, Redmanol Chemical Products Company, founded by L.V. Redman, joined the General Bakelite Company founded by Baekeland in 1910, and the Kondensit Company (founded by J.W. Aylesworth) to form The Bakelite Corporation.
An important application made in 1920 was the use of phenolic laminated fabric for gears; Cut on conventional hobbing machines, hard and quiet gears, which are important for automotive time gears. In 1932, Formica Isolation Company produced 6,000 empty glues per day for Chevrolet and other car makers.
In 1927, the Formica Isolation Company obtained a patent on a blurred barrier that allowed the use of rotogravure printing to create wood or marble laminates, the first of many innovations that linked the name "Formica" with a decorative interior product..
In 1938 melamine thermosetting resin was developed by the American Cyanamid Company. It is heat resistant, abrasion and moisture better than phenolic or urea resins and can be used to make more colors; Soon after, the Formica Company purchased all melamine from American Cyanamid.
During World War II it produced "Pregwood" wood-impregnated wooden propeller planes and bomb parts. Post-war, the use of declining techniques, ceased in 1970 in favor of decorative laminates.
The company is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, for many years. After World War II, entered the European market through licensing agreements.
Acquisitions
In 1956, American Cyanamid acquired Formica Corp. The main reason is to have a captive buyer for melamine, because Cyanamid is one of the largest producers. However, this was quickly thwarted due to anti-trust measures by the US Department of Justice. Through a settlement agreement, Formica Corp is required to purchase a significant portion of its melamine requirements from competing producers.
Cyanamid operates Formica Corp. as a fully consolidated subsidiary, not as an operating division, allowing it to retain the term "Formica" as its name. This provides additional protection against trademarks, helping to protect the word from being generic - which has been tried by many competitors, against whom Cyanamid gets legal order - to protect this valuable trademark name. (Historically, trademarks owned by other companies that have become common words, such as "shredded wheat", are no longer the exclusive property of their originator.Cyanamid firmly defends the Formica brand name.)
Dan O'Conor, the son of the inventor, continued as president of Formica Corp. after the acquisition, and is widely regarded as the next American Cyanamid Chairman. However, he was thrown from his horse during a steep incident, suffered a broken neck and became paralyzed, ending his business career and, many executives felt, prevent Cyanamid from achieving growth and profitability that may occur.
After purchasing management in 1984 from American Cyanamid, Formica diversified with products such as solid surface, metal laminate and floor materials.
Since 2007 has been a subsidiary of the Fletcher Building group, which bought it from private equity investor Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. and Oaktree Capital Management, LLC.
Product evolution
Decorative laminates are made by impregnating large sheets of kraft paper with phenolic resin, which is then partially healed (B-staged by passing a long drying oven) and cut into length at the oven exit. The treated sheets are dry stiff and slightly brittle. Decorative sheets (solid colored, or wood-grained, or patterned), impregnated with melamine and staged B-resin and cut lengthwise in a manner similar to a phenolic core sheet, placed on a polished stainless steel press plate. Then some layers or layers of kraft paper impregnated with phenolic resin are placed on top of the decorative layer. The number of kraft layers used produces products of varying thickness depending on the final use requirements. Furthermore, a piece of release paper that will not be tied to a phenolic resin is placed on top of the phenolic kraft and the following is a shadow image already present on the press plate. Finally, a polished stainless steel press plate is placed on top of the pack assembly. On the other side of this plate another similar assembly is constructed until there are multiple laminates in a single packet of press to fit into a single hole in the hydraulic press. Large hydraulic press, perhaps 5 feet by 12 feet, has plenty of heat openings so that many laminates can be produced in one press cycle for about an hour of duration. Large pressures (over 1000 psi and heat up to 150 degrees Celsius) are applied to each press package. The first B-staged melamine and phenolic resin was first channeled to unite the interlaminar layer, then the thermoset plastic resin to provide a very durable product that can tolerate a lot of heat and abrasion.
The variant is to use a slightly rougher steel sheet on top of the cover sheet, resulting in a matte surface lamination. A similar effect can be achieved by using different types of paper release between the steel press plate and decorative melamine surface. Some users find it more appealing than the truly flat and shiny surface created by a very fine stainless steel separator. After removal from the press, individual laminates are sanded on the side of the phenolic kraft to a uniform thickness. This sanding operation also increases the rear surface area so that a safer bond to the substrate such as a kitchen table can be achieved.
This lamination process is expensive and labor intensive. Broad handling of each sheet is required. The bedspread was more fragile than potato chips, so it was easily damaged. Solve even small corners making the sheets unusable (and can not be repaired or recycled). But no better process has been made, since the beginning of the product. After a meeting of the Company's Master Coordinating Research Committee, Cyanamid Corporate Development and Planning Director, Mr. Kent L. Aldershof, suggested a new approach to the Director of Formic Research, Dr. Arthur Giddings.
The proposal was to cut the entire paper-making process and collect individual sheets, to then be laminated. Instead, Aldershof proposes making a thick paste of cellulose powder and phenolic resin, to form a nucleus in one section before drying. The impregnated melamine cover sheet will be placed on top of it, in forming the press package.
This approach was pursued in the Formica research laboratory, with some success. After that, Formica's decorative surface is produced with what is called Corex Corex. The product was never commercialized for two reasons. First, the expected economy does not exist. It was found that the only source of suitable cellulose fiber comes from kraft paper sheets that have been made and then milled and the resulting laminates have different physical properties. Secondly, traditionally made laminates of paper layers have different lengths and physical properties and the industry grows and develops based on rectangular laminations so cross-plying is not possible. The Corex core provides uniform long and uniform properties that are at once an advantage not because of the way the entire laminate application industry is developed to take into account non-symmetrical properties.
A further advantage may be that the core material may be impregnated with pigment, approximately in accordance with the color of the top sheet that will be applied. The phenolic resin turns to very dark brown during the preservation process, so a narrow brown line will be visible when the material is then used in a table. Pigmented Unified Core provides an indistinguishable advantage of surface color, giving a more pleasing overall appearance to the product.
Because Corex products can not be commercialized due to the reasons described above, more conventional methods were developed to create a product called Colorcore that provides uniform colors throughout the laminate and removes brown lines.
An interesting variant of this product is also developed, known as Deep-Textured Formica Surfacing. The use of cellulosic pastes is permitted using highly textured textured sheets, or sculptures, on decorative sheets, producing a surface that is formed. The researchers spread the stainless steel sheets with cement stoves, easily sculpted or textured materials, and able to withstand high heat during the curing process. They will carve into this cement an illustration, like a natural slate in negative form. When the furnace cement hardens, and the sheet is used in the press package, the final Integrated Core product will have a three-dimensional or higher image.
It is estimated that such an approach will produce large panels, can be used for example as wall decoration in the hotel lobby or corporate office. In further development, the researchers used very thin copper sheets in place of decorative sheets (still overlay ones with melamine-impregnated top sheets). The overall effect is like a large metal medal, or a copper statue. Many impressive examples emerged from the research laboratory. The natural slate simulation product proved to be a very popular product and was a leading seller for many years.
The decorative edge known as the "Ideal Edge" was originally created by John W. Pehr and later purchased by Formica Corp. All rights to this product now belong to "Company Diller", or Formica.
Related material
- Formica Group, a leading provider of high-pressure and laminated coatings designed worldwide
- Arborite, a similar and also popular melamine-like composite, was developed in Canada in the 1940s.
- Micarta, a trade name for Westinghouse decorative laminates, now produced by Norplex-Micarta
- A laminate line similar to Formica is made by Wilsonart International, Temple, Texas.
- Laminate is similar to Formica, but with a top surface made of multilaminar veneer and sprayed with a resin called Alpikord, made by Alpi SpA.
- Consoweld a similar twentieth-century product produced by Consolidated Paper of Wisconsin.
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments