A machine for welding an overlapped region of two adjacent strips of material and a method of using the same. The machine includes a housing with front and rear ends, a wheel train engaged with the housing for moving the housing across the material; a nozzle on the housing having a welding head at a free end; the nozzle being positionable at least partially beneath the housing's bottom wall for welding the overlapped region; front and rear pressure rollers engaged with the housing, where the front roller is positioned forwardly of the welding head and the rear roller is positioned rearwardly of the welding head; wherein the rear pressure roller applies pressure to the overlapped region when the wheel train moves the housing in a forward direction; and the front pressure roller applies pressure to the overlapped region when the wheel train moves the housing in a reverse direction.

An activation device used for binder activation during the production of a fiber-reinforced plastic laminate. The activation device has at least one light-emitting diode for heating a portion of at least one semi-finished fiber ribbon. A method is used for producing a fiber-reinforced plastic laminate. It comprises automatically laying at least one semi-finished fiber ribbon on a laying support, heating at least one portion of the semi-finished fiber ribbon by means of one or more light-emitting diode(s) of an activation device, and pressing the heated portion of the semi-finished fiber ribbon on the laying support.

A method forms a butt joint between ends of first and second plies and splices the first and second plies together. The method includes the steps of: positioning a first splice edge of a first ply at a first location; positioning a second splice edge of a second ply at a second location, the second splice edge being left bare; wrapping a gum strip around the first splice edge such that the first gum strip forms a U-shaped structure in section that allows the first gum strip to extend from a first planar side of the first ply over the first splice edge to a second opposite planar side of the first ply; not wrapping a gum strip around the second splice edge; placing the first splice edge in abutting relationship to the second splice edge; and stitching the first splice edge to the second splice edge such that stitches each extend from the first planar side of the first ply, through the gum strip, to the first planar side of the second ply.

The present invention is a method for seaming a polymeric material. The method involves forming an interface between a plurality of separate polymeric sheets of materials. Next, heat and pressure are applied to facilitate the diffusion of the polymer molecules at the interface. A diffusion weld is made when the polymer molecules diffuse across the interface.

The present invention is related to a method of bonding tarpaulin and tarpaulin manufactured thereby. More specifically, the present invention is characterized in that the engaging area formed by overlapping the first and second tarpaulin fabrics each other is weld-bonded by means of hot air blowing from the first L-shaped nozzle, and the tarpaulin band is weld-bonded along the upper part of said weld-bonded engaging area by means of hot air blowing from the second L-shaped nozzles, wherein said tarpaulin band is melted in its underside by means of hot air from the second L-shaped nozzles and is weld-bonded to the first and second tarpaulin fabrics to entirely cover the engaging area with a sufficient establishment of a widthwise size. Thus, a better strength is provided in the engaging area and the tarpaulin fabric is improved in its robustness, durability and marketability.

In one aspect, a method for manufacturing a continuous sheet for use within a roller shade may generally include positioning a portion of a first sheet web adjacent to a mandrel, positioning a portion of a second sheet web adjacent to the mandrel and winding the first and second sheet webs around the mandrel such that a folded segment of the first sheet web is secured to a base segment of the second sheet web.

An array of resilient floor tiles is assembled into a continuous sheet after being laid down. An array of included, sacrificial resistive wires is buried along the edges of the tiles and is controllably heated in order to cause welding of the edges of tiles across the paths of the wires to neighboring tiles. Subsequently the wires may be used to give the array integral tensile strength. The welded array is provided with greater strength for resisting use, expansive and contractile forces caused by environmental heat and cold and also long-term tile contraction owing to loss of plasticizer as may be seen with PVC-based tiles.