A method for manufacturing a boat windshield comprising providing a piece of glass of an arbitrary shape to form a portion of a boat windshield; and providing a mold or cast defining a cavity for molding or casting an appropriate material therein. The cavity defines a shape of a frame to be molded or cast and having a shape complementary to a contour of the corresponding piece of glass having the arbitrary shape, said frame having otherwise an arbitrary frame shape including variable cross-section, width or thickness along a length thereof; or it can longitudinally extend in a curved manner. After molding or casting said frame (alternatively: additive manufacturing), together with functional features, said frame is secured to the corresponding piece of glass or encapsulating the corresponding piece of glass into said frame having been molded or cast, forming a sub-frame assembly being a panel of the boat windshield.

A method for producing a composite pane, includes arranging a functional element in a recess of a thermoplastic frame film, arranging the thermoplastic frame film along with the functional element between a first glass pane and a second glass pane to form a layer stack, and subsequent joining of the layer stack by lamination to form a composite pane. The thermoplastic frame film and the functional element have a different thickness and the different thickness is at least partially compensated by at least one thermoplastic compensating film, whose thickness is less than twice as large as the difference between the thicknesses of the thermoplastic frame film and the functional element such that the maximum offset in the layer stack is less than the difference between the thicknesses of the thermoplastic frame film and the functional element.

A hybrid-type door outside belt for a vehicle utilizes different materials for a skin layer of a skin body that is mounted to an upper end of a door panel and a main wing that is moved by contacting the door glass, the skin layer of the skin body being made of a material having excellent scratch-resistance, and the main wing being made of a material having excellent compression set (deformation).

A hybrid-type door outside belt for a vehicle utilizes different materials for a skin layer of a skin body that is mounted to an upper end of a door panel and a main wing that is moved by contacting the door glass, the skin layer of the skin body being made of a material having excellent scratch-resistance, and the main wing being made of a material having excellent compression set (deformation).

A structural assembly for a recreational vehicle includes a first structural frame member and a second structural frame member with a side wall having a slot for receiving the side wall of the first structural frame member through a notch formed in the side wall and upper wall of the first structural frame member. The upper wall of the second structural frame member is located in the notch when the second structural frame member is engaged with the side wall of the first structural frame member with the slot.

An example method of joining a first structure and a second structure is described that includes forming a bond cavity between a first structure and a second structure, placing a semi-permeable breather material at one or more exits of the bond cavity, placing a vacuum bag around the bond cavity and the semi-permeable breather material, evacuating the bond cavity via a vacuum port and forcing adhesive into the bond cavity via an adhesive port while the bond cavity is evacuated, and curing the adhesive via one or more heaters to bond the first structure to the second structure.

Process for manufacturing inflatable bodies capable of assuming a desired complexly curved shape comprising two, around their circumference hermetically bonded opposing membranes (3, 4), which are internally linked by a plurality of link tapes (1), which tapes are bonded at an exact length and inclination angle at an exactly determined position. By numerical instructions, a continuous tape is fed and bonded alternately on the insides of the membranes by means of a roboticized tape positioning head, creating bond lines (2) between the tape and a membrane. Any fold occurring through local inclination, or planar angle variation of the tape relative to a membrane is kept between two bond lines on a membrane (3,4). A roboticized tape positioning and bonding head inside, and a bond activation head outside of a membrane can position relative to a membrane (3,4) by means of printed positioning marks, optical and proximity sensors to create the bond lines (2).

Process for manufacturing inflatable bodies capable of assuming a desired complexly curved shape comprising two, around their circumference hermetically bonded opposing membranes (3, 4), which are internally linked by a plurality of link tapes (1), which tapes are bonded at an exact length and inclination angle at an exactly determined position. By numerical instructions, a continuous tape is fed and bonded alternately on the insides of the membranes by means of a roboticized tape positioning head, creating bond lines (2) between the tape and a membrane. Any fold occurring through local inclination, or planar angle variation of the tape relative to a membrane is kept between two bond lines on a membrane (3,4). A roboticized tape positioning and bonding head inside, and a bond activation head outside of a membrane can position relative to a membrane (3,4) by means of printed positioning marks, optical and proximity sensors to create the bond lines (2).

A method for the design, manufacture, and assembly of modular lattice structures composed of cuboctahedron unit cells.

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) composite articles that have a macro textured surface. The composite articles include at least two different PTFE membranes in a layered or stacked configuration. The composite article has a macro textured surface characterized by a plurality of strands raised from the surface of the PTFE membrane. The strands may be formed of either interconnected nodes of PTFE or of at least one nodal mass of PTFE and have a length equal to or greater than about 1.5 mm. The macro textured surface provides a topography to the first PTFE membrane. The composite articles have a bubble point from about 3.0 psi to about 200 psi, a thickness from about 0.01 to about 3.0 mm, and a bulk density from about 0.01 g/cm.sup.3 to about 1.0 g/cm.sup.3.