Abstract: A polymeric foam finishing pad is made by attaching an array of foam fingers to a suitable support substrate. The foam fingers are attached to the substrate in a continuous strip of interconnected fingers or may be individually inserted into a support substrate and attached to the substrate by an adhesive layer. Each of the foam members is preferably formed in and cut from an advancing foam strip and folded and inserted into a preformed opening contained in the support substrate, such that each foam member forms a pair of fingers that extend from the front face of the support substrate. The outer tip of each foam finger may include a pair of slits extending into the foam member from the outer tip to divide each outer tip into a plurality of contact tips, thereby increasing the amount of surface contact between the finishing pad and the surface being finished. The tips of the fingers may also be provided with abrasive particles to provide a more aggressive pad finishing surface.

Abstract: A polymeric foam finishing pad is made by attaching a dense array of individual foam members to a suitable support substrate. The foam members are individually inserted into a support substrate and attached to the substrate by an adhesive layer. When making the foam pad, each of the foam members is preferably folded and inserted into a preformed opening contained in the support substrate, such that each foam member forms a pair of fingers that extend from the front face of the support substrate. The outer tip of each foam finger may include a pair of slits extending into the foam member from the outer tip.

Abstract: A polymeric foam finishing pad is made by attaching a dense array of individual foam fingers to a suitable backing substrate. The fingers may be individually attached to the substrate or attached to the substrate by an intermediate foam strip to which the fingers are integrally joined. When making a circular rotary buffing pad, the foam strip is preferably attached to the substrate in a spiral pattern.

Abstract: A supporting base material for a tufted rotary finishing pad utilizes a three-layer laminate including an outer face layer of a crosslinked ionomer resin of ethylene and methacrylic acid copolymers reacted with a metal salt, an intermediate layer of an open polyester mesh, and an inner face layer of a non-woven polyester fiber. The tufted fiber finishing media is attached to the crosslinked ionomer resin face of the laminated base which is preferably heat formed to provide a curved pad edge. The base is extremely tough and durable, provides excellent shape retention, resistance to moisture, and resistance to fiber tear-out.