Patent Application
20170156456
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to bands made of silicone or having a silicone surface including slap bands and slap watch bands, and more particularly, to a method of printing full color, photographic quality imagery and designs on such bands.
2. Description of Prior Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
Bands including conventional watch bands of various styles and shapes made from a variety of different materials are well known. Also known are so called “slap bands” which are bracelets consisting of layered, flexible stainless steel bistable spring band sealed within a fabric, silicone or plastic cover. A watch casing is or may be attached to the slap band. In some cases, interchangeable watch casings of different colors or styles may be used to provide greater fashion versatility.
Often the exterior surface of the band is printed with various patterns and/or colors for aesthetic purposes. However, when the band itself or in the case of a slap band the cover material, is made of silicone, printing of the silicone surface creates special problems because using conventional techniques to print does not render acceptable results.
In particular, conventional printing techniques result in the ink looking blurry when printed directly on the silicone surface of a band. Further, the ink tends to peel off when a varnish or film is applied directly to the silicone before printing.
Silk screen printed silicone bands for watches are currently available on the market. However, on those bands each color ink has to be applied individually, one at a time, and the result is not of photographic quality. Other techniques for full color printing on silicone bands for watches have proved to be unacceptable. The ink easily peels or wears off because the adhesion of the ink to the silicone band surface is poor.
The present invention relates to a process that makes it possible to print a practically indestructible, high quality, full color photographic quality image onto a silicone surface of a band.
For purposes of this specification, the word “band” is used to refer to any bracelet or similar article which can surround the wrist or other body part including a conventional watch band, a slap band or a slap watch band. Further the reference to a silicone “surface” is intended to include bands made in whole or in part of silicone as well as bands which have an exterior or cover layer of silicone, such a slap band.
The present invention relates to a method for printing an image on the silicone surface of a band. The method includes the steps of: treating the surface to remove static electric charge; coating the treated surface with a layer of UV oil varnish; allowing the varnish layer to dry; forming the image on the dried varnish layer; and curing the ink and varnish layer.
The step of treating the surface to remove static electric charge is performed by heating the surface, preferably by using a blow torch flame applied directly to the surface.
The step of coating the treated surface with a layer of UV oil varnish includes selecting the varnish to create a shiny or a matte finish.
The step of coating the treated surface with a layer of UV oil varnish is performed by spraying the varnish on the surface using a compressor. The varnish is sprayed on the surface more than one time, preferably multiple times in different directions.
The step of allowing the varnish layer to dry includes allowing the varnish layer to dry for about 20 minutes.
The step of forming the image on the dried varnish layer may be performed by conventional digital ink jet printing techniques using a large Epson flatbed printer or similar equipment or by image transfer processes.
The step of curing the ink and varnish layer includes heating the band, preferably to a temperature of about 120 degrees Celsius for about 40 minutes.
The method may further include attaching a watch to the band.
The image may be a pattern and/or one or more colors.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a band is provided having a silicone surface with an imprinted image. The surface has a reduced static electric charge. A layer of dried UV oil varnish is situated on the surface. The image is formed by ink on the dried varnish layer. The dried varnish layer with the ink is cured. The band may be a band with a watch casing. It may be a slap band with a bistable metal interior.
To these and to such other objects that may hereinafter appear, the present invention relates to a method of printing on silicone slap watch bands as described in detail in the following specification and recited in the annexed claims, taken together with the accompanying drawings in which:
The image on the slap band of
The slap band of
As seen in
The treated band surface is coated with a layer of UV oil varnish, preferably by spraying the oil onto the surface. The varnish may be sprayed onto the surface using a compressor. For best results, three or four coats of varnish are sprayed in different directions
The varnish may be selected create a shiny or a matte finish. The varnish may be any suitable commercially available product. One such product which has worked acceptably is PU shiny bonding oil available from Dongguan City AOC Rubber Trading Co., LTD of China.
The varnish is allowed to dry for a short period of time, about 20 minutes, depending upon environmental conditions.
After the silicone surface is prepared as indicated above, the image is formed on the surface. The image may be printed by conventional printing techniques including ink jet printing. Ink jet printing could be accomplished using a large Epson flatbed printer or similar machine. Water decals and similar image transfer processes in which designs would be printed on a surface, such as a film, and transferred by soaking in water or other liquid, and then applying the decal to the silicone surface, could also be used.
The varnish with the imprinted ink image is then cured. This is accomplished by heating in an oven for about 40 minutes at a temperature of about 120 degrees Celsius. The result is a silicone slap watch band with a durable, full color photographic quality image.
While only a single preferred embodiment of the present invention has been disclosed for purposes of illustration, it is obvious that many modifications and variations could be made thereto. It is intended to cover all of those modifications and variations which fall within the scope of the present invention, as defined by the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62262467 | Dec 2015 | US |
