A thermoplastic resin, such as PET, is molded to define a 2D code signal, such as a digital watermark pattern. The mold can comprise an array of hole or spike features, some of which are directly vented to atmospheric pressure. A network of channels can link the other features to the directly-vented features, so all features are vented. A mold comprising spike features can form a digital watermark pattern on an item such that the watermark payload is decodable both from the side of the item that contacted the mold, and also from the opposite, non-contact side of the item. To aid entry of viscous thermoplastic among the very fine elemental features of a mold representing a watermark signal pattern, the features can be overlapped, forming a connected binary mark having larger features. A variety of other improvements and arrangements are also detailed.

An imprint apparatus includes a processing unit that forms a pattern of an imprint material on a substrate by using a mold, a chamber that accommodates this processing unit and includes a first gate to which a first containment unit that contains the substrate before being processed by the processing unit is connected and a second gate to which a second containment unit that contains the substrate after being processed by the processing unit is connected, and a control unit that prohibits opening of the first gate until a predetermined time elapses since the substrate on which the pattern is formed by the processing unit is contained in the second containment unit and the second gate is closed.

An imprint device that can simply detect an abnormality such as dirt of a mold chuck is provided. The imprint device includes a holding mechanism configured to hold a mold, a mold shape correcting mechanism configured to modify a shape of the mold, a mold shape measuring unit configured to measure the shape of the mold, and a determination unit configured to determine whether there is dirt on a mold holding surface of the holding mechanism or the mold based on mold modification characteristics which are measured by the mold shape measuring unit with respect to target mold modification values in the mold shape correcting mechanism.

A flexible packaging laminate is formed to have a built-in opening and reclose feature by forming the laminate as a two-part structure having an outer structure joined in face-to-face relation with an inner structure. Score lines are formed in both structures to enable an opening to be formed through the laminate by lifting an opening portion (e.g., a flap or the like) of the two structures out of the plane of the laminate. The score line through the outer structure defines a larger opening than the score line through the inner structure, such that a marginal region of the outer structure extends beyond the edge of the opening portion of the inner structure. A pressure-sensitive adhesive is used to re-adhere the marginal region to an underlying surface of the inner structure adjacent the opening through the laminate.

A resin molded body, includes: a polyolefin element including a crystalline region and an amorphous region; and a hydrophilic polymer contained in a region from a surface of the polyolefin element to part of the amorphous region located below the surface. Or, a method for producing a resin molded body, includes: preparing a polyolefin element including a crystalline region and an amorphous region; forming a coating of a hydrophilic polymer on a surface of the polyolefin element; and applying heat treatment to the polyolefin element on which the coating of the hydrophilic polymer is formed, wherein by applying the heat treatment, the coating of the hydrophilic polymer is immersed in a region from the surface to part of the amorphous region located below the surface.

A molding apparatus that molds a composition on a substrate with a mold includes a mold holding unit configured to hold the mold, a substrate holding unit configured to hold the substrate, a first elastic member configured to apply a first elastic force to the mold holding unit in a direction away from the substrate holding unit, and a control unit configured to cause the mold holding unit to move in the direction away from the substrate holding unit in a case where the control unit determines that an abnormality has occurred.

A molding apparatus that molds a composition on a substrate with a mold includes a mold holding unit configured to hold the mold, a substrate holding unit configured to hold the substrate, a first elastic member configured to apply a first elastic force to the mold holding unit in a direction away from the substrate holding unit, and a control unit configured to cause the mold holding unit to move in the direction away from the substrate holding unit in a case where the control unit determines that an abnormality has occurred.

A method of controlling a control apparatus for controlling a forming apparatus operable to form a layer of a formable material on a substrate is provided. The method includes acquiring data that specifies a drop amount and a drop position on the substrate of each of droplets, calculating a spread of each of the droplets assuming that a spread shape of each of the droplets is a polygon, and calculating a surface area of an overlapping region in which a region of a droplet that spreads into the polygon and a region of a recessed portion in the mold to be filled with the formable material overlap, and correcting, based on a result of the calculation, the data so that the recessed portion is filled with the formable material.

The present invention provides an imprint method of forming a pattern of an imprint material on a shot region of a substrate using a mold, the method comprising: supplying the imprint material onto the shot region so as to arrange droplets of the imprint material in arrangement patterns different from each other between a first partial region and a second partial region adjacent to each other in the shot region; performing alignment between the mold and the shot region after it is started to bring the mold and the imprint material into contact with each other; performing preliminary curing of irradiating the imprint material on the shot region with light to increase a viscoelasticity of the imprint material before the alignment is completed; and performing main curing of curing the imprint material on the shot region after the alignment is completed.

A leather product such as a leather covering for a vehicular part includes a segment of leather with a base coat applied to a hide side and a color coat applied to the base coat to create an intermediate stage leather segment. A foil transfer is embossed into and secured with an adhesive to the intermediate stage leather segment. A top coat is then applied to the foil transfer and a surrounding portion of the intermediate stage leather segment after the foil transfer is secured to complete the leather product. A system and method of making the leather product is also disclosed.