WO1997006943A1

WO1997006943A1 - A method for manufacturing stickers of plastic, and plastic stickers

Info

Publication number: WO1997006943A1
Application number: PCT/BR1996/000033
Authority: WO
Inventors: João Luiz SCAGLIUSI; José PEREIRA TORRES
Original assignee: Scagliusi Joao Luiz; Pereira Torres Jose
Priority date: 1995-08-14
Filing date: 1996-08-14
Publication date: 1997-02-27
Also published as: AU6651996A; BR9503643A

Abstract

The present invention refers to a method of manufacturing stickers of plastic, which comprises the following steps: a) applying a layer of plastic onto a base (7); b) drying the layer of plastic (9), to form a demolding film; c) applying layers of ink (10 - 13) onto the dried layer of plastic (9), and immediately after applying each layer of ink, drying said layer; d) applying at least one layer of plastic (14) onto the layers of ink (10 - 13); and e) drying the layer of plastic (14). The invention further consists of a sticker made in accordance with the cited method.

Description

V

- 1 -

Title: "A METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING STICKERS OF PLASTIC, AND PLASTIC STICKERS"

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention refers to a method for manu- 5 facturing plastic stickers, as well as to the stickers made through this method, which can be applied onto various sur¬ faces.

BACKGROUND ART

Plastic stickers have been known since long ago and 10 they can, for instance, be applied to the window glass of au¬ tomobiles and window panes of houses, etc., or to metals, pan¬ els and fabrics. Such stickers have coloured drawings, educative phrases, soccer-team shields, advertisements of pro¬ ducts and shops on their surfaces, and they can be of two 15 kinds, namely: the non-gluing ones, which serve to be placed on glass windows of automobiles and window panes of houses, for instance, and the gluing ones, which are provided with glue on the back and serve to be glued onto panels.

In both cases, the stickers are manufactured usually

20 on a siliconed base paper and are sold together with this base paper. In order to print either drawings or phrases, known printing methods are used such as silk-screen, off-set, flexografy, tampography, hotstamp or any other.

SHORTCOMINGS OF THE PRIOR ART The method of manufacturing stickers, as well as the stickers proper, in accordance with the prior art, have vari¬ ous drawbacks.

Basically, the method of making such stickers co - prises the following steps: a) placing the siliconed paper on a table; b) applying a layer of plastic material onto the siliconed paper (if the siliconed paper is not already pro¬ vided with the plastic layer); c) applying the layers of ink onto the layer of plastic material; and d) cutting out the sticker without piercing the siliconed paper, or cutting out the sticker together with the siliconed paper. One drawback consists in that the plastic sticker of the prior art necessarily needs a siliconed base paper, which raises the final cost of the product.

Another drawback is the fact that the manufacture method of the prior art requires graphic knives for cutting out the stickers, as stated in step "d" above. These graphic knives are complex equipment, which need always to be adjusted and in good operational condition, in order to make the cut¬ outs with precision, by following the drawing of the sticker in detail. Principally in the case of cutting out the sticker without piercing the siliconed paper, the graphic knife needs to be very well adjusted, since only the plastic sticker should be cut out.

A further drawback consists in that the ink applied onto the plastic layer always remains exposed to scratches. In the case of non-gluing stickers, the surface of the sticker which is not provided with ink is applied onto the glass of a car; the surface provided with ink will always be facing the inside of the car or the atmosphere, thus being exposed to scratches. In the case of gluing stickers, the same thing oc- curs, that is to say, the side provided with glue is in con¬ tact with the panel on which the sticker is glued, and the other side, which is provided with ink, remains exposed.

A further drawback consists in that the plastics for panels, that is, the gluing-type plastics, necessarily need glue on the back.

A further drawback consists in that, when applying the sticker onto fabrics such as the pockets of trousers or shirts, a high-frequency machine is required, which is ex- tremely expensive and complicated.

OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION

The objectives of the invention are to avoid the shortcomings described above; to provide a sticker which will be suitable both BOTH for panels and glasses; to improve the quality of the final product; as well as to reduce the manu¬ facturing costs.

These objectives are achieved with the method for manufacturing plastic stickers which comprises the following steps: a) applying a layer of plastic onto a base; b) drying the layer of plastic, forming a demolding film; c) applying layers of ink onto the dried layer of plastic, and immediately after the application of each layer of ink drying said layer of ink; the application of the layer of ink can be made by any known process of printing, as for instance, silk-screen, off-set, tampography, flexography or hotstamp; d) applying at least one layer of plastic onto the layers of ink; and e) drying the layer of plastic.

Thus, the objectives of the invention are achieved, since the sticker manufactured in accordance with the method defined above has a first layer of plastic, called a demolding film, layers of ink on the first layer of plastic, optionally at least one layer of plastic between two layers of ink, and a layer of plastic on the last layer of ink. The layer of plas¬ tic is constituted, for instance, by a base resin, a plasticizing agent, a fill agent, a stabilizing agent and, if necessary, a pigment; and the base resin is of, for instance, PVC (polyvinyl chloride).

ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION A great advantage of the invention consists in that, in the manufacturing method there is no need for final cut¬ outs, which eliminates the graphic knives and all the draw¬ backs and costs generated thereby. Another advantage is the fact that the sticker in accordance with the invention has the capacity of adhering onto both faces and can be used on both glasses and panels, without the need for glue.

A further advantage consists in that the use of a siliconed paper base, as well as the glue on the back, are op¬ tional, that is to say, in the manufacturing method as well as in the commercialization of the sticker, one may or may not use the paper base and the glue on the back, which reduces the final cost of the product. A further advantage consists in that the sticker in accordance with the invention can be applied onto fabrics, onto industrial uniforms, for instance, by means of any thermical press. According to the prior art, the sticker is applied onto the fabric by means of a high-frequency machine. This machine is expensive requireing special matrixes for each kind of application. Thus, by using the sticker of the in¬ vention, the high-frequency machine becomes unnecessary, and only a mere thermical press is required.

Finally, another advantage consists in that the sticker can be printed on both faces.

The invention will now be described in greater de¬ tail, by way of example, with reference to the acompanying drawings;

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 - an upper view of an sticker in accordance with the prior art;

FIGURE 2 - a section view of the sticker of figure 1;

FIGURE 3 - a view of the printing table with a manu- facturing plate used in the method of the invention;

FIGURE 4 - a view of an sticker manufactured in accordance with the invention, withdrawn from the manufacturing plate; FIGURE 5 - an upper view of an sticker in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 6 - a section view of the sticker shown in figure 5; FIGURE 7 - a section view of a second embodiment of the sticker; and

FIGURE 8 - a view of a stove that can be used in the process.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figures 1 and 2 show a sticker in accordance with the prior art having a first layer 1, constituted by paper; a second very thin layer of silicone 2; a third layer 3 of plas¬ tic and a fourth layer of ink 4. Figure 2 is a cross-section of the sticker shown in figure 1, with much enlarged thick- ness.

In the present case, figures 1 and 2 show a sticker depicting a pumpkin in which the plastic 3 is cut out by means of a graphic knife (not shown), which follows the periphery of the pumpkin without cutting the paper 1 provided with silicone 2. Since the thickness of the plastic 3 is quite reduced (less than 1 mm) , the device which operates the knife has to be a high-precision one and should be well adjusted. It is also possible to cut out the sticker together with the paper 1 pro¬ vided with silicone 2. Figure 3 shows a printing table 5, on which stops 6 and a base 7 are placed. This base 7 can be, for example, of metal, brass, aluminium, acrylic, glass, ceramics, stone, plaster of Paris or paper, and it can be plane, in high re¬ lief, low relief or can have steps. The base 7 is then ad- justed at the stops 6 and, after this adjustment, it receives the layers of plastic and ink which contstitute a sticker. The layer of plastic is constituted, for instance, of a base re¬ sin, a plasticizing agent, a fill agent, a stabilizing agent and, if necessary, a pigment; the base resin is, for example, of PVC (polyvinyl chloride). The constitution of the layer of plastics, according to the above example, enables good elasticity to the sticker, as well as an excellent adherence to any surface, which allows the sticker to be used for both glass and panels, without using glue on the^' back.

Figure 4 shows a finished sticker 8 in accordance with the invention, being detached from the base 7. In the case where the base 7 is of siliconed paper, it is not neces- sary to detach the sticker from the base, that is to say, both can be packed and sold together. In this case, the consumer himself removes the sticker from the siliconed paper, in order to apply it onto any surface.

Figure 5 shows an upper view of the sticker 8 shown in figure 4, which has layers of plastic 9 and 14, as well as layers of ink 10, 11, 12, and 13, which are of different colours. The layers of plastic and the layers of ink are printed by any known printing process, as for instance off¬ set, silk-screen, tampography, flexography or hotstamp. Thus, any shape of layer is obtained in accordance with the matrix used.

Figure 6 shows a cross-section of the sticker 8 shown in figure 5, where one can see in greater detail the first layer of plastic 9, or demolding film, which is applied onto the base 7, shown in figure 4. After drying this first layer, layers 10, 11, 12, and 13 are applied, and after apply¬ ing each layer of ink, a drying procedure is carried out. Finally, a closing layer or plastic layer 14 is applied, which has the same constitution as the layer 9. Thus, the sticker 8 in accordance with the invention has good adherence on both sides and does not need neither siliconed paper nor graphic cutting, while maintaining the ink of the sticker protected against scratches.

Figure 7 shows another embodiment of the sticker of the in- vention, where one can see the layers of ink 10 through 13, placed one upon the other, and a plastic layer 15 disposed be¬ tween two layers. This embodiment allows a sticker to be manu¬ factured in high relief, which brings about a very significant visual effect. The layers of ink can also be applied directly onto each other, and so the sticker will have only one lower plastic layer 9 and the upper one 14.

Finally, figure 8 shows an example of stove E, the heat-emitting source of which can be an electric resistance. infrared radiation, ultraviolet radiation or buthane, for in¬ stance.

In addition to the embodiments presented above, the same inventive concept can be applied to other alternatives or possibilities of utilization of the invention. Thus, it will be understood that the present invention should be interpreted in a broad way, its scope being determined by the terms of the accompanying claims.

Claims

1- A method for manufacturing plastic stickers, characterized by comprising the following steps: a) applying a plastic layer onto a base (7); b) drying the plastic layer (9), to form a demolding film; c) applying layers of ink (10, 11, 12, and 13) onto the dried plastic layer (9), and after applying each layer of ink, drying said layer; d) applying at least one plastic layer (14) onto the layers of ink (10, 11, 12, 13); and e) drying the plastic layer (14).

2- A method in accordance with claim 1, character¬ ized in that the layers of plastic and of ink are appliable by any printing process such as silk-screen, off-set, flexography, tampography or hotstamp.

3- A method in accordance with claim 1, character¬ ized in that each layer of plastic comprises a base resin, a plasticizing agent, a fill agent and a stabilizing agent. 4- A method in accordance with claim 1 or 3, charac¬ terized in that the base resin is of PVC (polyvinyl chloride).

5- A method in accordance with claim 1, character¬ ized in that the base (7) is a plate.

6- A method in accordance with claim 1 or 5, charac- terized in that the plate can be of metal, brass, aluminium, acrylic, glass, ceramics, stone, plaster of Paris or paper.

7- A method in accordance with claim 1, 5 or 6, characterized in that the surface of the plate can be plane, in high relief, in low relief, or it can have steps; 8- A method in accordance with claim 1, character¬ ized in that the drying comprises a step of curing in a thermic stove, followed by cooling.

9- A method in accordance with claim 1 or 7, charac¬ terized in that in the cure effected in the thermic stove, a conveyor transports, along the inside of the stove, the plates (7) on which the layers of plastic and of ink of the sticker are applied.

10- A method in accordance with claim 1, character¬ ized in that the steps of drying are carried out in the open air. 11- A method in accordance with claim 1, character¬ ized in that graphic knives are not used.

12- A sticker manufactured in accordance with the method defined in claim 1, characterized by comprising a first layer of plastic (9), called a demolding film, layers of ink (10, 11, 12, 13) on the first layer of plastic (9) and at least one more layer of plastic (14) on the layers of ink.

13- A sticker manufactured in accordance with the method defined in claim 1, characterized by comprising a first layer of plastic (9), called a demolding film, layers of ink (10, 11, 12, 13) on the first layer of plastic (9), at least one layer of plastic (15) between the two layers of ink, and a layer of plastic (14) on the last layer of ink.

14- A sticker according to claim 12 or 13, charac¬ terized in that each layer of plastic (9, 14, 15) is consti- tuted by a resin base, a plasticizing agent, a fill agent and a stabilizing agent.

15- A sticker in accordance with claim 14, charac¬ terized in that the base resin is of PVC (polyvinyl chloride).

16- A sticker in accordance with claim 12 or 13, characterized in that it is adherent on both faces.