Formica (plastic)
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| Type | Composite material |
|---|---|
| Invented by |
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| Launch year | 1913 |
| Company | Formica Group |
Formica is a brand of laminated composite materials manufactured since 2007 by New Zealand-based Formica Group. The material was invented in the United States in 1912 and has been manufactured for a variety of applications. Informally, the word Formica refers to the company's classic product: a heat-resistant, wipe-clean, plastic laminate of paper or fabric with melamine resin.
Formica Group, a division of the New Zealand company Fletcher Building, consists of Formica Canada, Inc., Formica Corporation, Formica de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Formica IKI Oy, Formica Limited, Formica S.A., Formica S.A.S., Formica Taiwan Corporation, Formica (Thailand) Co., Ltd., and Formica (Asia) Ltd., among others.
Formica laminate was invented in 1912 by Daniel J. O'Conor and Herbert A. Faber, while working at Westinghouse. They filed for a patent on it on 1 February 1913. They originally conceived it as a substitute for mica used as electrical insulation, made of wrapped woven fabric coated with Bakelite thermosetting resin, then slit lengthwise, flattened, and cured in a press. They left Westinghouse immediately afterwards.
Formica laminate now refers primarily to the decorative product composed of several layers of kraft paper impregnated with melamine thermosetting resin (or, later, a unified core as described below) and topped with a decorative layer protected by melamine, then compressed and cured with heat to make a hard, durable surface.
The mineral mica was commonly used at that time for electrical insulation. Because the new product acted as a substitute “for mica”, Faber used the name “Formica” as a trademark (the word already existed as the Latin name for wood ants, from which formic acid and the derivative formaldehyde compound used in the resin were first isolated.)
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