Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Structurally defined web or sheet – Discontinuous or differential coating – impregnation or bond
Reexamination Certificate
1998-05-08
2001-05-15
Hess, Bruce H. (Department: 1774)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Structurally defined web or sheet
Discontinuous or differential coating, impregnation or bond
C428S304400, C428S480000, C428S500000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06231951
ABSTRACT:
The invention relates to printed foam structures and methods of printing onto foam. In particular, the foams are polyolefin type foams which have widespread use for example in children's toys, sports equipment and camping accessories.
In order to provide a printed design on top of a layer of polyolefin foam, it is known first to coat the foam with a material such as polyester to which certain types of inks are able to bond. The requirement of an intermediate bonding layer or coat leads to additional cost and attempts to print directly onto foam has lead to an unsatisfactory quality of the printed image. This is because of the difficulty in rendering the printed image stable and the printed image being inflexible, subject to cracking, having a low rub resistance. Additionally the result is not waterproof and unable to be moulded.
An object of the invention is to overcome the problems of the prior art and to provide better quality printed images on polyolefin foams. Accordingly, one aspect of the invention provides a printed foam structure comprising a layer of foamed polyolefin plastic and a layer of textile ink in direct contact with the foamed polyolefin plastic. A textile ink is one which is suitable for printing on to cotton and other textiles including nylon. For example, the textile ink can be plastisol based and comprise a vinyl resin such as polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl acetate, or vinyl acetate/vinyl chloride co-polymer, or a mixture of these. Preferably, the plastisol based ink comprises a plasticizer such as phthalate.
The textile ink can be one which is suitable for printing onto polyamides such as nylon and such inks are generally polyester based. The ink can be urethane based, or comprise poly(ethylene terephthalate) or indeed 2-PET.
Preferably the foamed plastic is a polyolefin foam such as physically or chemically cross-linked polyolefin incorporating polyethelene and polyethelene containing ethyl vinyl acetate.
Another aspect of the invention provides a method of creating a printed foam structure, comprising the step of bringing a textile ink into direct contact with a layer of foamed plastic.
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Printing Ink Manual, F.A. Askew, H.Heffer & Sons Ltd. Cambridge, 1969, pp. 584-601.
Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione
Hess Bruce H.
Shewareged B.
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