A method for producing a multi-layered wet friction material includes providing a bottom layer, providing a top layer produced independently of the bottom layer from different materials, and bonding the bottom layer to the top layer. The bottom layer and the top layer may be produced from different formulations and supplied as raw papers. A formulation of the top layer may include twenty to sixty percent (20%-60%) filler, ten to forty percent (10%-40%) wood pulp, five to ten percent (5%-10%) aramid, and twenty-five to thirty-five percent (25%-35%) phenolic resin. A formulation of the bottom layer may include ten to fifty percent (10%-50%) filler, ten to forty percent (10%-40%) wood pulp, five to ten percent (5%-10%) aramid, five to fifteen percent (5%-15%) carbon, and twenty-five to thirty-five percent (25%-35%) phenolic resin.

Cards made in accordance with the invention include a decorative layer attached to a core layer, where the decorative layer is designed to provide selected color(s) and/or selected texture(s) to a surface of the metal cards. At least one of the decorative layers is a layer derived from plant matter (e.g., wood). The cards may be dual interface smart cards that can be read in a contactless manner and/or via contacts.

A floor panel has a rectangular and oblong shape, and includes a substrate and a top layer provided on the substrate and forming a decorative side of the floor panel. The top layer is composed of a print provided on a carrier sheet and a transparent thermoplastic layer situated above the print. The substrate has a thickness from 2 to 10 millimeter and forms at least half of the thickness of the floor panel. The substrate is a polyurethane-based substrate and the transparent thermoplastic layer is polyurethane-based. The floor panel has a length of more than 1.1 meters and has a plurality of reinforcing layers situated outside the center line of the substrate. A reinforcing layer may be provided in combination with the substrate and the top layer.

A floor panel has a rectangular and oblong shape, and includes a substrate and a top layer provided on the substrate and forming a decorative side of the floor panel. The top layer is composed of a print provided on a carrier sheet and a transparent thermoplastic layer situated above the print. The substrate has a thickness from 2 to 10 millimeter and forms at least half of the thickness of the floor panel. The substrate is a polyurethane-based substrate and the transparent thermoplastic layer is polyurethane-based. The floor panel has a length of more than 1.1 meters and has a plurality of reinforcing layers situated outside the center line of the substrate. A reinforcing layer may be provided in combination with the substrate and the top layer.

A floor panel has a rectangular and oblong shape, and includes a substrate and a top layer provided on the substrate and forming a decorative side of the floor panel. The top layer is composed of a print provided on a carrier sheet and a transparent thermoplastic layer situated above the print. The substrate has a thickness from 2 to 10 millimeter and forms at least half of the thickness of the floor panel. The substrate is a polyurethane-based substrate and the transparent thermoplastic layer is polyurethane-based. The floor panel has a length of more than 1.1 meters and has a plurality of reinforcing layers situated outside the center line of the substrate. A reinforcing layer may be provided in combination with the substrate and the top layer.

A cone assembly for furniture or interior accessories is provided. A plurality of cones is arranged in a linear array to form the cone assembly, wherein an inner cone is received by at least one outer cone; and wherein the outer cone is made of a first layer of material being different from the material of the inner cone.

A method, apparatus, and product-by-process, for preparing an RFID access card constructed out of wood is disclosed. The method involved preparing two wooden surfaces of appropriate thickness, preparing an RFID chip emitting an appropriate frequency, and pressing the wooden surfaces and the RFID chip together through the use of adhesive(s) and a hot press and a cold press. The apparatus included an RFID access card constructed out of at least two wooden surfaces where an RFID chip is disposed between the two surfaces. The two wooden surfaces are attached with a hot melt adhesive.

An absorbent pad has: a first, outer layer comprising a permeable or non-permeable film; a second, outer layer comprising a permeable or non-permeable film, placed on a side of the pad opposite the first, outer layer; a third layer disposed between the first layer and the second layer, and comprising a tissue laminate comprising at least a first ply and a second ply, with at least one chemical agent or system fixed in the third layer and being either activated by contact with or soluble in an aqueous liquid, the at least one chemical agent or system being in a predetermined amount distributed substantially uniformly per unit area of the surface area between the at least first ply and second ply: and a fourth layer disposed between the first layer and the second layer and comprising fluff, with or without a chemical agent or system, the third layer being joined to the fourth layer to serve as a substrate for the fourth layer.

[Problem] To address the problem of conventional old wood texture or antique taste boards which lack natural looking worn effects and present an appearance of an artificial treatment applied thereto. [Solution] Unlike a conventional configuration in which the rotary shaft of a roll brush is simply and fixedly arranged parallel to the wood grains of a board to which surface treatment is applied or the painted surface where paint is applied to the wood grains, the rotary shaft may be obliquely set to any angle including a right angle, and may be rotationally driven at high speed at a given inclined angle relative to the horizontal surface of the board along a left to right direction of the roll brush. This makes different contact strength of a roll brush such as a metal brush obliquely applied to each right and left end of the board, thereby causing the inclined roll brush to peel off the wood grains or the painted surface where paint is applied to the wood grains with difference strengths for each end of the board. This makes it possible to implement uzukuri (brushing process) with different designs presented along a left to right direction of the board.

A water-based ink, produced by mixing pigments, binders and viscosity increasing substances such that they are specially adapted to provide and maintain a high quality print during heat and pressure, that no floating or bleeding of the ink drops should take place and that they are compatible with resins and materials used in the substrate such that no delamination or chemical reactions that affect design or surface properties in a negative way should take place. Additionally, a method to form a digital print with the water-based ink on a dense substrate including a polymer material or on surfaces that are heated and pressed after printing. The surface is, prior to the printing step, preferably heated in order to prevent floating of the water-based ink drops.