Patent Application
20180264757
The present invention relates generally to a method for fast molding a flexible plastic on a fabric and a product thereof, and more particularly to a processing method for fast combining a flexible plastic object having raised dots to a surface of a piece of fabric, which is particularly applicable to a product of of logo or mark or a design of a decoration having anti-skidding effect so as to provide, when tied in with the flexible property of the fabric, demonstration of improved adaptability and unique perception of tactility.
Decoration representing a logo or mark attached to a fabric product is often achieved with for example needlework. With continuous emergence of new products and also the progress of processing techniques, diverse products that involve logos or marks formed by combining plastics on fabrics are available. One the most commonly used processes for combining plastics and fabrics is ultrasonic wave based processing methods, which apply ultrasonic waves to fuse a plastic object on a fabric for bonding together. However, since fabrics that is formed through knitting or weaving often exhibit flexibility and demonstrates a property of extendibility/contractibility. This makes the combination strength achieved with the ultrasonic wave based processes very limited and thus insufficiency of stability is always a concern.
Other processes, which apply injection molding to have plastics directly attached to fabrics, are also available. These processes are generally only applicable to logos or marks in the form of a block or a complete piece. For logos or marks that are displayed with dots or raised spots, a plate must be provided as a bottom base and a pattern or figure formed of dots or raised spots is then formed or molded on the plate. This apparently affects overall comfortableness and perceptive effect of vision and tactility. In addition, these processes are generally not applicable to fabric products that involve a large area of skidding-resistance effect.
The known processes of combining plastics with fabrics as discussed above do not suit the need for formation of a pattern formed of an arrangement of raised dots.
Thus, the primary object of the present invention is to provide a method for fast molding a flexible plastic on a fabric and a product thereof, which provides an efficient and easy process for molding and securely attaching a flexible plastic object having a plurality of raised dots to a surface of a fabric in order to exhibit a logo or mark or to achieve a design of a decoration with an anti-skidding effect, and also to enhance unique sense of touch of the product and adaptability thereof.
To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for fast molding a flexible plastic on a fabric, which generally comprises the following steps:
(a) adhering bottom paper and punching holes: a piece of fabric having a predetermined size being adhesively attached with a temporarily and adhesively attached bottom paper on a bottom surface thereof and the fabric and the bottom paper being collectively subjected to punching to form material feeding holes corresponding to mold cavities;
(b) clamping in mold: clamping the fabric that comprises the bottom paper adhesively attached thereto and comprises material feeding holes formed therein in an injection mold that comprises at least two mold blocks, wherein the mold blocks have mold jointing surfaces that are respectively provided with a plurality of dot-like mold cavities that are arranged in a predetermined pattern and channel-like cavities that correspond to the dot-like mold cavities to allow a plastic material to flow therethrough, where the fabric is arranged to face the dot-like mold cavities and the bottom paper faces the channel-like cavities;
(c) molding processing: pouring and feeding, through mold pressurization, a flexible plastic that is mixed with or comprises a substance having a composition different from the fabric but having a similar molecular structure into the forming mold cavities so that under impact of high temperature and high pressure of mold pressurization, the plastic material is forced to flow through the channel-like cavities into the corresponding dot-like mold cavities and penetrating into the surface of the fabric for being molded; and
(d) peeling off bottom paper to provide finished product: removing the fabric after the molding operation and peeling the bottom paper that is located on the bottom, together with strips molded and shaped in the channel-like cavities, to complete a product through fast molding the flexible plastic on the fabric.
The foregoing objectives and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts.
Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.
The following descriptions are exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
Referring to
Referring collectively to
(a) adhering bottom paper and punching holes: a bottom paper 11, which has backside adhesive for temporary bonding through adhesion and allowing for ready removal, being first provided and adhesively attached to a bottom surface of a fabric 10 having a predetermined size and having a surface that is formed, through punching, with a plurality of material feeding holes 12 (as shown in
(b) clamping in mold: the fabric 10 comprising the bottom paper 11 attached thereto and comprising the plurality of holes 12 for material flowing is clamped and securely held in an injection mold 20 (as shown in
(c) molding processing: the mold being closed to have the fabric 10 that comprises the bottom paper 11 adhesively attached thereto clamped and retained in the injection mold 20, wherein a flexible plastic material 30 comprising a substance having a composition different from the fabric 10 but having a similar molecular structure is molded through pouring and feeding through a sprue and runner system into the forming mold 20 and flowing through the channel-like cavities 221 to sites respectively corresponding to the dot-like mold cavities 211, whereby due to high-pressure and high-temperature impact resulting from molding operation, the plastic material 30 is forced to move into the feeding holes 12 and penetrate into the dot-like mold cavities 211 on the surface of the fabric 10 so that molecules of both the plastic material 30 and the fabric 10 are caused by the high temperature to exhibit a fused condition and thus tightly bonded and coupled together to form a desired figure having a predetermined pattern of raised dots 14 (as shown in
(d) peeling off bottom paper to provide finished product: the mold being opened after the molding operation, the de-molding plate 23 being used to first separate and remove the plastic material 30 molded in the sprues (223, 231) so that when the fabric 10 is retrieved, only the raised dots 14 of the desired figure is preserved on the surface of the fabric 10, wherein with the relatively small diameter of the feeding holes 12 connected to strips 15 formed in the bottom paper 11, when the bottom paper 11 is peeled from the bottom or underside of the fabric 10, the small-diameter connection parts can be easily broken at the same time when the bottom paper 11 is peeled off and the strips 15 would be simultaneously removed (as shown in
Referring to
In summary, the present invention provides a method for fast molding a flexible plastic on a fabric that involves a simplified and easy process and allows for formation of a flexible plastic figure composed of a plurality of raised dots molded on a surface of a product to provide an advertisement of exhibiting a logo or a mark, and being also applicable to a design of a decoration having an effect of skidding protection so as to enhance unique sense of touch of the product and adaptability thereof. It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above.
While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the claims of the present invention.
