A plastic sheet for manufacturing of a plurality of smart cards which respectively include a plurality of electronic units, includes a first sheet formed of a first material having a first hardness or a first Vicat softening temperature, the first sheet including a plurality of apertures and/or cavities. The plastic sheet includes a second material having, when the first material has the first hardness, a second hardness lower than the first hardness, and when the first material has the first Vicat softening temperature, a second Vicat softening temperature lower than the first Vicat softening temperature, the second material being located inside the apertures and/or cavities in the first sheet. The apertures and/or cavities with the second material located inside the apertures and/or cavities are configured to respectively receive said electronic units via an at least partial penetration from the electronic units into the second material.

Methods and apparatus for separating substrates are disclosed, as are articles formed from the separated substrates. A method of separating a substrate having first and second surfaces includes directing a beam of laser light to pass through the first surface and, thereafter, to pass through the second surface. The beam of laser light has a beam waist located at a surface of the substrate or outside the substrate. Relative motion between the beam of laser light and the substrate is caused to scan a spot on a surface of the substrate to be scanned along a guide path. Portions of the substrate illuminated within the spot absorb light within the beam of laser light so that the substrate can be separated along the guide path.

An erosion resistant and hydrophobic article includes a core that has a first hardness and a surface on the core. The surface includes a plurality of geometric features that have a second, greater hardness. The geometric features define a surface porosity by area percent and a corresponding surface solidity by area percent. The surface includes a ratio of the surface solidity divided by the surface porosity that is 1.8 or greater. The geometric features and the ratio establish the surface to be hydrophobic, and the second, greater hardness and the ratio establish an erosion rate of the surface that is equal to or less than an erosion rate of the core under identical erosion conditions.

Disclosed is a method of manufacturing a heat insulation wall body, by which the heat insulation wall body can be manufactured economically. The method is a manufacturing method of a heat insulation wall body having a groove portion formed by a first side wall, a second side wall and a groove bottom. The method includes dispersing and mixing a heat insulating material in an aqueous medium to prepare a slurried heat insulating material, bringing a molding die having a vent and a surface corresponding to a shape of the groove portion, into the obtained slurried heat insulating material, and dehydrating the slurried heat insulating material via the vent, and releasing the molding die from the heat insulating material to prepare the heat insulation wall body in which a depth of the groove portion is fixed, and a width of the groove bottom is varied in a longitudinal direction of the groove portion.

Roll-to-roll fabrication of predetermined or ordered three-dimensional nanostructure arrays is described. Provided methods can comprise imprinting a substrate with a two-dimensional (2-D) pattern by rolling a cylindrical pattern comprising a 2-D array of structures against a substrate. In addition, control or determination of nanostructure parameters via control of process parameters is provided.

A cover panel, for at least partially transparently covering at least one display instrument in a vehicle, has a microstructure applied on at least one surface. The microstructure is suitable for scattering visible light which is incident on the cover panel. The at least one window region of the cover panel is cutout from the microstructure. A method for manufacturing such a cover panel uses a molding tool with an applied microstructure matrix for forming a microstructure on a part of the molding tool which is assigned to a surface of a molded cover panel. The parts of the molding tool which are assigned to window regions are cut out from the microstructure matrix.

Provided is a sheet glass production process for properly producing sheet glass having a convex shape in section in a width direction orthogonal to the advancing direction of a glass ribbon. A glass ribbon G2 advancing on molten metal 22 is heated so as to have both edge portions G2B heated more intensely than a central portion G2A in a width direction thereof in an upstream zone of the molten metal bath, and a plurality of rolls 23 are rotated in contact with both edge portions G2B of the glass ribbon G2 such that upstream rolls 23A in an advancing direction F1 have a lower peripheral speed than downstream rolls 23B in the advancing direction.

There is provided a new material that can form a finer pattern and can be applied to adsorption/adhesion control of various cell species, proteins, viruses, and the like without the limitation of the light source. A light-degradable material comprising: a moiety that is capable of bonding to a surface of a substrate through a siloxane bond; and a structural unit of Formula (2-a) and/or Formula (2-b): ##STR00001##
(where R.sub.2 to R.sub.4 are saturated linear alkyl groups; X is a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group; Z is a carbanion or a sulfo anion; Q is an ester bond group, a phosphodiester bond group, an amido bond group, an alkylene group, or an phenylene group or a combination of these divalent groups; m.sub.1 is an integer of 1 to 200, and n is an integer of 1 to 10).

A fluid-filled chamber, which may be incorporated into articles of footwear and other products, may include an outer barrier, a first tensile structure, and a second tensile structure. Any of the first and second tensile structures may include one or more textile tensile members. The first and second tensile structures may be located within an interior void defined by the outer barrier and may be bonded to the outer barrier. The first and second tensile structures may be bonded to the outer barrier in different areas of the outer barrier that are in fluid communication with each other. The first tensile structure may have a height greater than a height of the second tensile structure. In turn, the relative locations and differences of height between the tensile structures may impart a contour to the chamber.

Methods and apparatus to vent gas and vapor from a panel via venting channels for a decorative layer are disclosed. An example apparatus includes a decorative layer, an adhesive layer to couple the decorative layer to a panel, and a resin layer disposed between the decorative layer and the adhesive layer. The adhesive layer is coupled to a first side of the resin layer. The decorative layer is coupled to a second side of the resin layer. The first side of the resin layer defines venting channels to vent at least one of gas or vapor away from the decorative layer to deter the at least one of gas or vapor from exerting a pressure on the decorative layer to deter separation of a portion of the decorative layer from the resin layer. The venting channels have a depth to impede the adhesive layer from filling the venting channels.