Patent Application
20070266876
The noted three dimensional printed article of contoured metallized appearance includes the noted matrix of ink dots 18 printed on the substrate including along non-rectilinear contours of the noted three dimensional contoured profile, and a matrix of metallization dots 22 on the ink dots 18. Ink dots 18 with metallization dots 22 thereon are separated by spaces 20 therebetween along the substrate which spaces and substrate stretch, including along the noted non-rectilinear contours, to alleviate the necessity of metallization at metallization dots 22 having to stretch along such non-rectilinear contours, thus alleviating cracking of the metallization otherwise occurring at non-rectilinear contours. The spaced dot structure and appearance is readily visible close-up,
In one embodiment, a printed layer at 16 is provided on the substrate and has a plurality of printed dots thereon of a first metallization transfer coefficient providing the noted ink dots 18, and leaves the remainder of layer 16 or the substrate exposed at spaces or gaps between such printed dots to provide spaces 20 between ink dots 18, wherein the noted unprinted spaces have a second metallization transfer coefficient (e.g. harder) than the noted first metallization transfer coefficient (e.g. softer), to facilitate transfer of metallization to ink dots 18 and not to spaces 20 therebetween. In another embodiment, a printed layer is provided at 16 on the substrate and has a plurality of printed dots of a first metallization transfer coefficient providing ink dots 18, and having printed spaces between the printed dots to provide the noted spaces 20 between ink dots 18, with the noted printed spaces having a second metallization transfer coefficient less than the noted first metallization transfer coefficient, to facilitate transfer of metallization to ink dots 18 and not to spaces 20 therebetween. Dots 18 and 22 may be circular, rectangular, oval, triangular, diamond-shapes, or other shapes. The dots may be provided in various patterns, and may leave various openings or windows or gaps where there are no dots. During the noted forming to a three dimensional article, the substrate stretches, but the metallized foil at dots 22 does not stretch. It has been found that the present dot construction eliminates the need to use the above noted expensive stretchable metallization material. In the present system, non-stretchable metallization at 22 sits on small islands of ink 18, and the distance or space 20 between islands 18 grows and stretches, but the dot 18 with metallization foil 22 thereon does not stretch, thus avoiding cracking otherwise occurring when attempting to stretch non-stretchable metallization material.
In further alternatives, the noted foil-receptors may be reversed, for example such that a matrix of dots is provided on the substrate, the dots being separated by spaces therebetween, and a matrix of metallization is provided along the spaces 20 in gaps 21 and not on dots 18. Thus, a printed article of metallized appearance is provided including a substrate, a matrix of dots on the substrate, the dots being separated by spaces therebetween, and a matrix of metallization along one of a) the set of dots and b) the set of spaces. In the preferred embodiment, the matrix of dots is a matrix of foil-receptive ink dots printed on the substrate with foil-non-receptive spaces 20 therebetween, and the matrix of metallization is a matrix of metallization dots on the ink dots. In the noted reversed alternative, the areas at dots 18 are foil-non-receptive, and the spaces 20 therebetween are foil-receptive, and the matrix of metallization is provided by metallization along spaces 20 and not along dots 18. In the noted latter alternative, the areas at dots 18 may be printed with foil-non-receptive ink, with the spaces 20 therebetween being a printed matrix of foil-receptive ink. Alternatively, the areas at dots 18 may be left unprinted or otherwise expose a substrate or surface non-receptive to the metallization foil. In the noted three dimensional printed article of contoured metallized appearance including a substrate of three dimensional contoured profile, both the matrix of dots 18 and the spaces 20 therebetween are along the non-rectilinear contours of the profile, and the matrix of metallization is along one of a) the set of dots 18 and b) the set of spaces 20, and the other of a) the set of dots 18 and b) the set of spaces 20 are stretchable including along the noted non-rectilinear contours of the profile. One of a) the set of dots 18 and b) the set of spaces 20 comprise foil-receptive areas, and the other of a) the set of dots 18 and b) the set of spaces 20 comprise foil-non-receptive areas, and the matrix of metallization is provided by a metallization foil layer transferred to the foil-receptive areas and not to the foil-non-receptive areas.
In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity, clearness, and understanding. No unnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom beyond the requirement of the prior art because such terms are used for descriptive purposes and are intended to be broadly construed. The different configurations, methods, and systems described herein may be used alone or in combination with other configurations, methods and systems. It is to be expected that various equivalents, alternatives and modifications are possible within the scope of the appended claims.
