~ 8 B kground of the Invention Field of the Invention The present invention i9 a decorative laminate construc-tion that may be used as decorative trlm on vehicles, e.g., auto-mobiles, on appliances, on signs and on other substrates.
Description of the Prior Art The decorative laminate construction of the present in-vention is novel and unobvious over the most relevant prior art known to the inventors.
Single sheets of transparent film carrying markings there-on which are useful as legend sheets are known and are described in U.S. Patent No. 2,200,203. Such products cannot be used to form a composite image of the type formed by the laminate of the present invention.
Cellulosic ribbon constructions formed by overlaying por-tions of a film containing bands of color are also known and are described in U.S. Patent No. ~Jl56,~0l. The use of bands of color on the films, rather than the use of discrete markings, for ex-ample, dots, also precludes the generation of the type of compos-ite visual patterns that are obtainable from the laminate of the present invention.
Also known are transparent films containing marklngs, such as dots or lines,which are used by draftsmen to achieve shading in pictorial illustrations. Films of this type are available under the trademarks "Letraset" and "Letratone". The markings in such a product lie on the surface of the film and can bP easily scraped off the film to either create highlight effects or to leave an area
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of the illustration free so other detail can show through. The markings are therefore not "protected" as that term will be de-fined below when the present invention is described in greater detail. Although such films can be overlapped to create uniquely interesting patterns, the accessibility of the surface markings to easy removal and the use of low tack adhesives in such films precludes their use as a decorative laminate having the durabil-ity desired for most end uses.
Summary of the Invention l~ The present invention is a decorative laminate which con-tains a plurality of films, at least two of which have a pattern ~hereon formed by a plurality of protected discrete markings, such as dots, linesg triangles, squares, rectangles and the like.
The films overlie one another in the construction with at least one of the films being transparent and containing opaque markings and bei~g arranged so that at least some of the marking3 on the transparent fil~ or films are not superimposed upon the markings on at least one other film. The effect to the viewer is a pleas- ~
ing composite visual pattern of the markings. The effect gener-ated by a particular laminate can be vari~d widely depending upon such factors as the shape, size, color and spacing of the markings on each film and the precise relative positioning of the various films in the laminate. The outer surface of one of the films can be coated with pressure sensitive adhesive, preferably one having high tack, to allow the laminate to be attached to a desired sub-strate. The term "protected" as used herein is meant to indicate that the discrete markings on the films are not readily accessible on the surace of any of the films so as to be readily removable
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by scraping or the like. In a preferred embodiment, for example, the markings on the film in the laminate which will b~ closest to the ultimate viewer when it i9 affixed to a substrate are located behind the film and are not on its o~ter surface. Should the mark-ings be on the surface of the film closest to the viewer, theycould be covered by a suitable transparent protective layer so as to be protected from easy removal.
Description of the Drawings The present invention ~ill be further understood by ex-amination o~ the Drawings which are appended hereto and which forma portion of this specification wherein:
Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing two films which form a portion of one embodiment of the laminate of ~he present inven-tion. The exploded views show the markings that are contained on such films and the arrow indicates that the films will be placed so that they overlay one another in the laminate;
Fig. 2 is a planar view of the laminate formed ~rom the films shown in Fig. l with the exploded view giving a greatly en-larged view of the composite visual image. A portion of the com-posite image is derived from at least a portion of the markingson one of the films and other portions of the composite image are derived from markings on another film or films;
Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the laminate shown in Fig. 2 taken along line 3-3'; and Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view similar to the type of view shown in Fig. 3 of a laminate which forms another embodiment of the present invention.
8~4 Description of the Preferred Embodiment_ The laminate construction of the present invention can contain two or more films, at least one of which is transparent and at least two of which contain protected discrete markings thereon. By placing the respective films over one another in the laminate in such a way that at least some of the markings on a transparent film are not superimposed upon the markings on at least one other film, a composite decorative pattern of the mark ings in the laminate is formed.
The present invention can include various embodiments.
For example, all the films can be transparent and their number can be varied from two in number to greater amounts, providing the si~e and spacing of those markings arranged on the film most remot~
from a viewer's eye still contribute toa~ least a portion of the final composite image. Alternatively, if desired, the film layer that is present in the laminate at a position furthest from a viewer's eye can be non-transparent and only the film or films placed over it would be transparent. If such an arrangement is used, the non-transparent film can be colored and may contain dis-crete markings. In the latter case, one or more transparent films,with either one or more sets of markings,would be placed over such a non-transparent film so as to generate the composite image. If the non-transparent film is merely colored and does not contain any markings, at least two transparent films would be placed over it and at least two of these transparent films would contain dis-crete markings thereon.
Generally, the presence of two transparent films, each containing a pattern of protected discrete markingsJ is all that ~4~
is needed to form a laminate having a pleasing composite image of the markings. The use of more films in the laminate adds to the cost of the laminate and may not be preferred for this reason.
Fig. No. 1 of the drawings illustrates two films ~ and 12 which are both transpar~nt and which each contain a plurality of protected discrete markings 13 ~hereon as shown in the exploded view~ of both sh2ets and as will be shown in ev~n greater detail in Figs. 3 and ~.
The films may be formed of any suitable material with such plastic films as polyvinyl chloride, polyesters, polyacetates, and the like, being preferred. If the film is to be used as an outdoor decorative film, the selected film should have good weather durability. The films shown in Fig. 1 have printed on their respective surfaces a plurality of discrete protec~ive markings which can be widely varied as to size, type, color and spacing. The same pattern of markings need not appear on each film. The print-ing of the markings can be done by conventional printing techniques, e.g., rotogravure printing, on either surface of the films although it is preferred to have the markings on the side of the film that will be remote from the viewer in order to protect it from re-moval by scraping or like acts. Should the markings be placed on the other side of the film, the outer side of the uppermost film can be coated (after application of the markings to the outer side of that film) with a suitablef transparent protective film to pro-tect the markings from easy removal. Normall~, this embodiment of the present invention will not be preferred for economic reasons.
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A layer of a suitable pressure sensitive adhesive tnot shown in Fig. 1) is preferably applied to the surface of the film carrying the markings, and this film/marking/adhesive subcombin-ation will then be placed over the other film in the laminate to allow the films to be securely fastened to one another in the lam-inate. The adhesive that is selected for use in any particular laminate will depend upon the ultimate end use that is desired.
If the decorative laminate lS to be used in outdoor environments and is to have a long service life, the adhesive that is chosen should have both high tack as well dS good resistance to weather-ing. The lamination operation~ ~hich can be carried out by means of any technique known to persons of ordinary skill in the art, is 15~ indicated by the arrow in Fig. l, The laminated product 21 from the operation depicted in Fig. l is shown in Fig. 2 and,~when viewed, produces a composite image of the protected and discrete markings on both films. This composite image is shown in greater detail in the exploded view in Fig. 2 wherein portions of the composite image are derived from various markings on various individual film layers used in the laminate. As was stated before, the size, shape, color and spac-ing of the respective markings on ~he films and the precise posi-tion of one film on the other are responsible for the particular composite image that is produced. Varying any of these parameters will enable a person of ordinary skill in the art to produce a w~de array of differing visual patterns according to his desires.
Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view of the laminate of Fig.
2 showing the two transparent films 31, the protected markings ~ ~9~8 ~ ~
32 ~which can be the same or different) on each film, a layer of suitable pressure sensitive adhesive ~ and release paper 34 to protect the lowermost adhesive layer shown in the Figure from contamination by dirt or other foreign substances. ~emoval of the release paper ~4 allows a person to apply the decorative laminate to a desired substrate.
Fig. 4 illustrates another embodiment of the invention wherein a non-transparent film 42 containing markings 4~ thereon forms the lowermost layer of a laminate. Transparent film 41 carrying markings 4~ overlies it. Adhesive layers k~ and release paper 45 are also contained in the laminate.
The foregoing is a description of some preferred aspects - of the present invention which should be taken as being merely illustrative of the invention. The scope of protection that is desired is set forth in the claims which follow.