MESH SCREEN ASSEMBLY WITH AN IMAGE PATTERN

Abstract

A mesh screen assembly with an image pattern includes: a mesh screen having opposite first and second surfaces and a plurality of screen-holes extending through the first and second surfaces, each of the screen-holes being defined by a hole-defining wall; and a plastic film bonded to the first surface of the mesh screen and having opposite first and second faces and an image pattern formed on the first face. The plastic film is perforated to form a plurality of apertures. Each of the apertures is defined by an aperture-defining wall. The aperture-defining wall of each of the apertures extends into a respective one of the screen-holes and wraps around and is bonded to at least a portion of the hole-defining wall of the respective one of the screen-holes.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority of Taiwanese application no. 101114355, filed on Apr. 23, 2012.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a mesh screen assembly with an image pattern, more particularly to a mesh screen assembly including a mesh screen and a perforated plastic film bonded to the mesh screen and having an image pattern.

2. Description of the Related Art

Mesh screens are commonly used in windows and doors, agricultural housings, shades, fences, etc.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,997,035 discloses a decorative window screen 21 (see FIG. 1) that includes a mesh woven base screen with an image pattern. The image pattern is formed by weaving the base screen with different densities of image areas. In addition, the different densities of the image areas can be woven with different colored strands or wires. Weaving the base screen with the image pattern is expensive.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,680,893 discloses a conventional decorative privacy screen 22 (see FIG. 2) that includes a base screen which is painted or coated with an image pattern. Painting or coating an image pattern on the base screen is inconvenient, which makes it difficult for mass production of the decorative privacy screen.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a mesh screen assembly that can overcome the aforesaid drawbacks associated with the prior art.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of making the mesh screen assembly.

According to one aspect of this invention, there is provided a mesh screen assembly with an image pattern. The mesh screen assembly includes: a mesh screen having opposite first and second surfaces and a plurality of screen-holes extending through the first and second surfaces, each of the screen-holes being defined by a hole-defining wall; and a plastic film bonded to the first surface of the mesh screen and having opposite first and second faces and an image pattern formed on the first face. The plastic film is perforated to form a plurality of apertures extending through the first and second faces. Each of the apertures is defined by an aperture-defining wall. The aperture-defining wall of each of the apertures extends into a respective one of the screen-holes and wraps around and is bonded to at least a portion of the hole-defining wall of the respective one of the screen-holes.

According to another aspect of this invention, there is provided a method for making a mesh screen assembly with an image pattern. The method includes: (a) stacking a mesh screen on a screen mold, the mesh screen having opposite first and second surfaces and a plurality of screen-holes extending through the first and second surfaces, each of the screen-holes being defined by a hole-defining wall; (b) stacking a plastic film, which is printed with an image pattern, on the mesh screen on the screen mold; (c) heating and softening the plastic film on the mesh screen after step (b); (d) perforating the plastic film through vacuum perforation techniques using a suctioning device after step (c) so as to form a plurality of apertures in the plastic film and a plurality of aperture-defining walls, which define the apertures, which extend into the screen-holes, and which wrap around and are melt bonded to the hole-defining walls of the screen-holes, respectively, thereby forming a mesh screen assembly on the screen mold; and (e) cooling and removing the mesh screen assembly from the screen mold.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In drawings which illustrate embodiments of the invention,

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional decorative window screen;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a conventional decorative privacy screen;

FIG. 3 is a schematic top view of the first preferred embodiment of a mesh screen assembly according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along lines IV-IV in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along lines V-V in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating consecutive steps of a method of making a mesh screen assembly with an image pattern according to the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view illustrating how a plastic film is perforated and bonded to a mesh screen on a screen mold using a suctioning device according to the method of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a picture showing a plastic film printed with an image pattern, which is used in the method of making an embodiment of the mesh screen assembly of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a picture showing a mesh screen, which is used in the method of making the embodiment of the mesh screen assembly of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a picture showing a front side of the embodiment of the mesh screen assembly of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged picture of a portion of the mesh screen assembly of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a picture showing a back side of the embodiment of the mesh screen assembly of the present invention; and

FIG. 13 is a sectional view of the second preferred embodiment of the mesh screen assembly according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Before the present invention is described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying preferred embodiments, it should be noted herein that like elements are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the disclosure.

FIGS. 3 to 5 illustrate the first preferred embodiment of a mesh screen assembly 100 according to the present invention. The mesh screen assembly 100 has front and back sides, and includes: a mesh screen 3 having opposite first and second surfaces 33, 34 that respectively correspond to the front and back sides of the mesh screen assembly 100, and a plurality of screen-holes 35 extending through the first and second surfaces 33, 34, each of the screen-holes 35 being defined by a hole-defining wall 351; and a plastic film 4 bonded to the first surface 33 of the mesh screen 3 and having opposite first and second faces 41, 42 and an image pattern 5 formed on the first face 41. The plastic film 4 is perforated to forma plurality of apertures 40 extending through the first and second faces 41, 42. Each of the apertures 40 is defined by an aperture-defining wall 401. The aperture-defining wall 401 of each of the apertures 40 extends into a respective one of the screen-holes 35 and wraps around and is bonded to a portion of the hole-defining wall 351 of the respective one of the screen-holes 35.

The mesh screen 3 has warp threads and weft threads 31, 32 that are interlaced to form the screen-holes 35.

Preferably, at least a portion 51 of the image pattern 5 (see FIG. 4) extends into adjacent ones of the screen-holes 35, and is disposed on the corresponding hole-defining walls 351, thereby permitting viewing of the portion 51 of the image pattern 5 at an inclined angle relative to the first surface 33 of the mesh screen 3.

Preferably, the screen-holes 35 in the mesh screen 3 have a diameter ranging from 70 μm to 2 cm.

The image pattern 5 is made from an ink material printed on the plastic film 4 through conventional ink printing techniques. Preferably, the plastic film 4 is made from a thermoplastic material selected from the group consisting of polyolefins, polyesters and thermoplastic elastomers.

Preferably, the plastic film 4 has a thickness ranging from 15 μm to 70 μm.

The aperture-defining wall 401 of each of the apertures 40 is preferably truncated conical in shape, and is tapered from the front side of the mesh screen assembly 100 toward the back side of the mesh screen assembly 100 so that the mesh screen assembly 100 is capable of providing different visibilities therethrough when viewing from the front and back sides, respectively. As such, the size of each of the apertures 40 can be designed to allow a person standing at the front side of the mesh screen assembly 100 to be able to see through the apertures 40 in the mesh screen assembly 100, and to prevent a person standing at the back side of the mesh screen assembly 100 from being able to see through the apertures 40 in the mesh screen assembly 100.

FIG. 6, in combination with FIG. 7, illustrates consecutive steps of a method of making the first preferred embodiment. The method includes the steps of: (a) stacking the mesh screen 3 on a screen mold 6; (b) stacking the plastic film 4, which is printed with the image pattern 5, on the mesh screen 3 on the screen mold 6; (c) heating and softening the plastic film 4 on the mesh screen 3 after step (b); (d) perforating the plastic film 4 through vacuum perforation techniques using a suctioning device 7 after step (c) so as to form the apertures 40 in the plastic film 4 and permit melt bonding of the plastic film 4 to the mesh screen 3, thereby forming the mesh screen assembly 100 on the screen mold 6; and (e) cooling and removing the mesh screen assembly 100 from the screen mold 6. The mesh screen 3 is made from a material having a melting point higher than that of the thermoplastic material of the plastic film 4.

The printing of the image pattern 5 on the plastic film 4 can be accomplished using conventional printing techniques. Since the printing technology on a plastic film is well developed, the method of the present invention for forming the image pattern 5 on the mesh screen 3 becomes relatively simple and easy. In addition, high resolution of the image pattern 5 on the mesh screen 3 can be easily realized. Furthermore, mass production of the mesh screen assembly 100 of the present invention can be easily achieved.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show the plastic film 4 printed with the image pattern 5 (a plurality of balloons) and the mesh screen 3, respectively, before perforating the plastic film 4 and bonding of the plastic film 4 to the mesh screen 3 to form an embodiment of the mesh screen assembly 100. FIG. 10 shows a front side of the embodiment of the mesh screen assembly 100 made from the plastic film 4 of FIG. 8 and the mesh screen 3 of FIG. 9. FIG. 11 shows a portion of the mesh screen assembly 100 of FIG. 10. FIG. 12 shows a back side of the embodiment of the mesh screen assembly 100 (the balloons can also be seen at the back side) made from the plastic film 4 of FIG. 8 and the mesh screen 3 of FIG. 9.

FIG. 13 illustrates the second preferred embodiment of the mesh screen assembly 100 according to the present invention. The second preferred embodiment differs from the previous embodiment in that the aperture-defining wall 401 of each of the apertures 40 further extends through the respective one of the screen-holes 35, and further wraps around and is bonded to a portion of the second surface 34 of the mesh screen 3. In this embodiment, at least a portion 52 of the image pattern 5 extends through adjacent ones of the screen-holes 35, and is disposed on the portion of the second surface 34 of the mesh screen 3, thereby permitting viewing of the portion 52 of the image pattern 5 from the back side of mesh screen assembly 100.

With the inclusion of the plastic film 4, that has the image pattern 5 and that is bonded to the mesh screen 3, in the mesh screen assembly 100 of the present invention, the aforesaid drawbacks associated with the prior art can be eliminated.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what are considered the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation and equivalent arrangements.

Claims

1. A mesh screen assembly with an image pattern, comprising: a mesh screen having opposite first and second surfaces and a plurality of screen-holes extending through said first and second surfaces, each of said screen-holes being defined by a hole-defining wall; anda plastic film bonded to said first surface of said mesh screen and having opposite first and second faces and an image pattern formed on said first face, said plastic film being perforated to form a plurality of apertures extending through said first and second faces, each of said apertures being defined by an aperture-defining wall;wherein said aperture-defining wall of each of said aperture extends into a respective one of said screen-holes and wraps around and is bonded to at least a portion of said hole-defining wall of the respective one of said screen-holes.

2. The mesh screen assembly of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of said image pattern extends into adjacent ones of said screen-holes.

3. The mesh screen assembly of claim 1, wherein said image pattern is made from an ink material printed on said plastic film.

4. The mesh screen assembly of claim 1, wherein said plastic film is made from a thermoplastic material selected from the group consisting of polyolefins, polyesters and thermoplastic elastomers.

5. The mesh screen assembly of claim 1, wherein said aperture-defining wall of each of said apertures further extends through the respective one of said screen-holes, and further wraps around and is bonded to a portion of said second surface of said mesh screen, at least a portion of said image pattern extending through adjacent ones of said screen-holes and being disposed on said portion of said second surface of said mesh screen.