Claims
- 1. A protective, optically clear laminate formed of a thin, protective sheet of transparent resin material having a thin coating of transparent, pressure-sensitive adhesive covered by a release sheet, said laminate being wound in a roll before use and said laminate being used by removing said release sheet and pressing said adhesive against the emulsion surface of a photographic element having a developed image to preserve the optical properties of said image of said photographic element during a period when said photographic element is in use for contact printing, said laminate being characterized by:
- a. both surfaces of said protective sheet having a surface finish of less than 10-millionths of an inch RMS;
- b. said release sheet being formed of resin material with both surfaces having a surface finish of less than 10-millionths of an inch RMS;
- c. the surface of said adhesive coating that is exposed when said release sheet is stripped away having a surface finish conforming to said release sheet and being less than 10-millionths of an inch RMS;
- d. said exposed surface of said adhesive having said surface finish of less than 10-millionths of an inch RMS being in contact with said emulsion surface of said photographic element when said laminate is in use; and
- e. the total thickness of said protective sheet and said adhesive being less than 0.002 inches.
- 2. The laminate of claim 1 wherein said adhesive transmits a major portion of incident ultra-violet light and is substantially non-degradable in ultra-violet light.
- 3. A method of protecting the emulsion surface of a photographic element having a developed image to preserve the optical properties of said image of said photographic element during a period when said photographic element is in use for contact printing, said method comprising:
- a. selecting and acquiring a thin, protective sheet of transparent resin material having a surface finish of less than 10-millionths of an inch RMS and being less than 0.001 inches thick;
- b. selecting and acquiring a transparent, pressure-sensitive adhesive capable of bonding said protective sheet to said emulsion surface;
- c. coating a thin layer of said adhesive on said protective sheet so said layer is less than 0.001 inches thick;
- d. selecting and acquiring a resin release sheet having a surface finish of less than 10-millionths of an inch RMS;
- e. covering said adhesive layer with said resin release sheet;
- f. smoothing said adhesive layer by winding up said adhesive-coated protective sheet and said release sheet so the surface of said adhesive layer contacting said release sheet is pressed against said release sheet to conform to said release sheet and acquire a surface finish of less than 10-millionths of an inch RMS;
- g. unwinding said adhesive-coated protective sheet and said release sheet;
- h. stripping said release sheet away from said adhesive-coated protective sheet to expose said adhesive surface having a finish of less than 10-millionths of an inch RMS;
- i. pressing said adhesive layer against said emulsion surface to secure said protective sheet to said photographic element; and
- j. said selection and acquisition of said protective sheet, said adhesive, and said release sheet with said surface finish giving said adhesive layer said surface finish all cooperating to form a substantially distortion-free optical path from said emulsion surface through said adhesive and said protective sheet so said image of said photographic element can be used for contact printing with said protective sheet in place preventing damage to said emulsion surface.
- 4. The method of claim 3 including selecting said adhesive for transmitting a major portion of incident ultra-violet light and for being substantially non-degradable in ultra-violet light.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a continuation of my copending application Ser. No. 504,093, filed Sept. 9, 1974, entitled LAMINATE FOR PROTECTING PHOTOGRAPHIC ELEMENT (abandoned upon the filing of this continuation application) which was a divisional of application Ser. No. 307,093, filed Nov. 16, 1972, entitled PHOTOGRAPHIC ELEMENT PROTECTION SYSTEM, which in turn was a continuation of application Ser. No. 88,755, filed Nov. 12, 1970, entitled PHOTOGRAPHIC ELEMENT PROTECTION SYSTEM.
This is also a continuation of my copending application Ser. No. 504,137, filed Sept. 9, 1974, entitled PHOTOGRAPHIC ELEMENT PROTECTION SYSTEM (abondoned upon the filing of this continuation application) which was a continuation of application Ser. No. 307,093, filed Nov. 16, 1972, which in turn was a continuation of application Ser. No. 88,755, filed Nov. 12, 1970, both entitled PHOTOGRAPHIC ELEMENT PROTECTION SYSTEM.
All the previous applications are now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (10)
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
307093 |
Nov 1972 |
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Continuations (4)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
504093 |
Sep 1974 |
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Parent |
88755 |
Nov 1970 |
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Parent |
307093 |
Nov 1972 |
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Parent |
88755 |
Nov 1970 |
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