U.S. patent application number 12/535884 was filed with the patent office on 2010-01-28 for laminated decorative strip and method for the producion of a laminated decorative strip.
This patent application is currently assigned to KUNSTSTOFF-TECHNIK SCHERER & TRIER GMBH & CO KG. Invention is credited to Dirk Reissenweber.
Application Number | 20100021705 12/535884 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 32714785 |
Filed Date | 2010-01-28 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100021705 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Reissenweber; Dirk |
January 28, 2010 |
Laminated Decorative Strip and Method for the Producion of a
Laminated Decorative Strip
Abstract
The invention relates to a laminated strip, in particular a
decorative strip, comprising an upper layer (12) consisting of
metal, preferably aluminium, whose upper face (22) is embossed with
a structure in relief (18) and whose underside (24) is fixed to a
reinforcement layer (14) consisting of plastic. During the
production of the strip, the reinforcement layer (14) and the
protective layer (16) are applied after the structure in relief
(18) has been embossed on the upper layer (12).
Inventors: |
Reissenweber; Dirk;
(Ebersdorf, DE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ROTHWELL, FIGG, ERNST & MANBECK, P.C.
1425 K STREET, N.W., SUITE 800
WASHINGTON
DC
20005
US
|
Assignee: |
KUNSTSTOFF-TECHNIK SCHERER &
TRIER GMBH & CO KG
Michelau
DE
|
Family ID: |
32714785 |
Appl. No.: |
12/535884 |
Filed: |
August 5, 2009 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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10541676 |
Jul 8, 2005 |
|
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PCT/EP2004/000169 |
Jan 13, 2004 |
|
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12535884 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
428/209 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B32B 7/12 20130101; B32B
3/28 20130101; B44C 1/14 20130101; Y10T 428/24917 20150115; B60R
13/02 20130101; Y10T 29/302 20150115; B44B 5/00 20130101; B32B
17/10018 20130101; B32B 15/08 20130101; B32B 37/153 20130101; B32B
2311/24 20130101; B32B 3/02 20130101; B32B 2305/08 20130101; B32B
15/20 20130101; B32B 2451/00 20130101; Y10T 156/1023 20150115; B32B
27/36 20130101; Y10T 428/24612 20150115; B32B 38/06 20130101; B60R
13/00 20130101; B32B 2307/412 20130101; B60R 13/04 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
428/209 |
International
Class: |
B32B 3/10 20060101
B32B003/10 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jan 13, 2003 |
DE |
103 00 919.1 |
Jan 13, 2003 |
DE |
203 00 435.3 |
Claims
1. Laminated strip, comprising an upper layer (12) consisting of a
thin metal strip, whose upper face (22), constituting an outer face
of said laminated strip, has a structure in the form of a three
dimensional relief (18) and whose underside (24) is provided with a
reinforcement layer (14), wherein: the reinforcement layer (14) is
made of plastic and the reinforcement layer is extrusion-coated on
the upper layer (12), which already carries an embossed structure
in relief (18).
2. Strip in accordance with claim 1, wherein the structure in
relief has sharp edges.
3. Strip in accordance with claim 1, wherein the upper layer (12)
has a thickness of .ltoreq.1 mm.
4. Strip in accordance with claim 1, wherein the structure in
relief (18) has a depth of .ltoreq.0.5 mm.
5. Strip in accordance with claim 1, wherein the reinforcement
layer (14) has a thickness of .ltoreq.1 mm.
6. Strip in accordance with claim 1, wherein the reinforcement
layer (14) contains fibers, for reinforcement.
7. Strip in accordance with claim 1, wherein the reinforcement
layer (14) comprises polyvinylchloride (PVC),
acryinitrilbutadienstyrol (ABS), polyamide (PA) or polypropylene
(PP).
8. Strip in accordance with claim 1, wherein an additional,
transparent plastic layer (16) is arranged on the upper face of the
upper layer (12), which additional layer (16) is loosely bonded to
the upper layer (12) in such a way as to be detachable by hand.
9. Strip in accordance with claim 8, wherein the additional plastic
layer (16) has a thickness of .ltoreq.0.5 mm.
10. Strip in accordance with claim 1, wherein a protective varnish
is applied to the upper face (22) of the upper layer (12) and/or an
adhesive varnish is applied to the underside (24) of the upper
layer (12).
11. A laminated strip according to claim 1 wherein the laminated
strip is a decorative strip.
12. A laminated strip according to claim 1 wherein the metal is
aluminum.
13. A strip in accordance with claim 1, wherein the upper layer
(12) has a thickness of .ltoreq.0.4 mm.
14. A strip in accordance with claim 1, wherein the structure in
relief (18) has a depth of .ltoreq.0.2 mm.
15. A strip in accordance with claim 1, wherein the reinforcement
layer (14) has a thickness of .ltoreq.0.6 mm.
16. A strip in accordance with claim 1, wherein the reinforcement
layer (14) contains mineral fibers for reinforcement.
17. A strip in accordance with claim 1, wherein an additional,
transparent plastic layer (16) is arranged on the upper face of the
upper layer (12), wherein the transparent layer comprises
polyvinylchloride (PVC), acrylnitrilbutadienstyrol (ABS), polyamide
(PA) or polypropylene (PP).
18. A strip in accordance with claim 8, wherein the additional
plastic layer (16) has a thickness of .ltoreq.0.2 mm.
Description
[0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. Ser. No. 10/541,676
filed Jul. 8, 2005, which is a 35 USC .sctn. 371 National Phase
Entry Application from PCT/EP2004/000169, filed Jan. 13, 2004,
which claims the benefit of German Patent Application Nos.
10300919.1 and 20300435.3 filed on Jan. 13, 2003, the disclosure of
which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
[0002] The present invention relates to a laminated strip, in
particular a decorative strip, comprising an upper layer consisting
of metal whose upper face is embossed with a structure in relief,
as well as a production method for the aforementioned type of
decorative strip.
[0003] These decorative strips are used in automotive production,
for example, where they can be attached to sills as the upper
cover. Aluminum is frequently used for the decorative area to lend
the decorative strip an appealing appearance. A structure in relief
is developed in the aluminum surface, such as a name or a
manufacturer's trademark, for example. In addition to automotive
construction, these decorative strips are also used as brand signs
and/or labels for technical equipment of all types. What comes to
mind here are domestic appliances (refrigerators, freezers,
dishwashers, etc.), sanitary equipment (shower handle and/or shower
stall, etc.).
[0004] If these decorative strips are made completely of aluminum,
a specific minimum thickness of the aluminum sheet of approx. 1.5
mm is required to obtain a sufficiently sturdy decorative strip
that retains an embossed structure permanently in an appealing
fashion. Because the embossing depth of the structure in relief is
generally no more than 0.2 mm, a relatively high quantity of
aluminum is required compared to the "visible" surface area. This
relatively high and principally superfluous aluminum portion
represents on the one hand a significant cost factor for these
decorative strips and furthermore also drastically increases the
weight of these decorative strips. When taking into consideration
that these decorative strips, although they are mass items, should
provide a high-quality appearance but contribute only
insignificantly to the production costs, the value of reducing
material costs becomes readily apparent. But replacing the
non-visible portion of the aluminum with other materials that are
lighter and/or less expensive (such as plastic, for example)
presents the problem that a simple embossing of sharp-drawn
structures in relief is no longer successful because of the varying
bonding ability between the individual components of these of
composite work pieces. For this reason, it is not possible to
obtain optically appealing results in the embossing process.
[0005] Another option in the surface treatment of a work piece such
as a decorative strip is to etch the desired structure into the
metal surface. However, with this method, the fact that etching
requires a relatively high production effort because at least one
additional work step is required to coat the surface area with a
masking layer is a disadvantage. Another disadvantage is that the
aluminum surface would be completely bare and not protected against
corrosion after the etching process. Therefore, it is absolutely
crucial that a corrosion protection is applied after the etching
process by anodizing or varnishing, which again results in
significant additional costs. Also, varnishing would flood the
matting introduced earlier by the relief etching. The result would
detract from a high-quality appearance.
[0006] The problem to be solved by the present invention is
therefore to provide a decorative strip of the aforementioned type
where an appealing surface structure in relief can be developed
with a reduced mass of metal, as well as a production method for a
decorative strip of the aforementioned type.
[0007] To solve the aforementioned problem, the present invention
provides a laminated strip, in particular a decorative strip that
comprises an upper layer consisting of metal, preferably of
aluminum. A structure in relief is embossed into the upper face of
the upper layer and the underside is firmly fixed to a
reinforcement layer consisting of plastic. It is especially
advantageous if the reinforcement layer is fixed to the upper layer
after said upper layer has already been formed with the structure
in relief. Because the structure in relief is embossed here in the
upper layer consisting of metal. as long as said upper layer is not
yet connected to the reinforcement layer consisting of plastic,
exact and sharp contours can be obtained in a very simple manner by
means of an embossing procedure. An additional advantage is that
the upper layer consisting of metal is relatively thin in the strip
in accordance with the invention. During the embossing process, the
embossing stamp presses the thin strip, for example an aluminum
strip which forms the upper layer, against a counterpart of
complementary shape, thus also allowing the reproduction of more
complex structures in relief--the reinforcement layer consisting of
plastic, on the other hand, would impair the relief formation
during the embossing, in particular in the area of sharp edges.
Also, it would have to be expected that the cohesion between the
reinforcement layer and the upper layer may suffer after embossing,
at least in some places.
[0008] The application of the reinforcement layer consisting of
plastic to the upper layer consisting of metal, which has already
been treated in this way, may be effected such that the upper face,
which carries the structure in relief, is not altered. In this way,
it is possible to produce a light and cost-effective metal strip
because the quantity of metal required for the production of a
metal strip is reduced to a fraction compared to a conventional
metal strip. If aluminum is used, it can also be guaranteed that a
coating of the upper face (visible face), which protects against
corrosion, remains intact in the production of the strip.
[0009] An extrusion method would be appropriate for attaching the
reinforcement layer to the upper layer, with the reinforcement
layer being available in plasticized form in an extruder and being
attached to the upper layer with extrusion coating. Extrusion
methods are particularly suitable for the production of mass items
because this type of production can achieve a high through-put of
produced items.
[0010] Only a slight thickness of the upper layer is required to
develop a clean surface area with sharply embossed structures in
relief, and therefore it is favorable if the thickness of the upper
layer is less than 1 mm, preferably less than 0.4 mm. The depth of
the structure in relief should not be greater than 0.5 mm,
preferably not greater than 0.2 mm.
[0011] The thickness of the reinforcement layer should be
appropriate to obtain a strip that is sufficiently dimensionally
stable as well as sufficiently resistant. It is desirable, however,
for the strip to retain some flexibility, and thus the thickness of
the reinforcement layer should be favorably .ltoreq.1 mm,
preferably .ltoreq.0.6 mm.
[0012] The stability of the strip can be improved even further if
the reinforcement layer contains fibers, preferably mineral fibers.
These fibers can help to adjust the thermal longitudinal expansions
of the metallic upper layer and the reinforcement layer consisting
of plastic.
[0013] The reinforcement layer advantageously consists of
polyvinylchloride (PVC), acrylnitrilbutadienstyrol (ABS), polyamide
(PA) or polypropylene (PP). Each of these synthetic materials is
relatively easy to handle in the extrusion process and has
sufficient strength at an appropriate thickness (in the range of 1
mm or less). This applies in particular if a fiber-type material is
mixed into the respective synthetic material.
[0014] To protect the structure in relief in the upper face of the
upper layer, it may be provided to arrange another, transparent
plastic layer on the upper face of the upper layer. This additional
plastic layer preferably consists of polyvinylchloride (PVC),
acrylnitrilbutadienstyrol (ABS), polyamide (PA) or polypropylene
(PP). Advantageously, it has a thickness of .ltoreq.0.5 mm,
preferably of .ltoreq.0.2 mm. The additional plastic layer may also
be extrusion-coated on the upper face of the upper layer. It is
especially favorable to simultaneously extrusion-coat the
reinforcement layer on the underside of the upper layer and the
additional plastic layer on the upper face of the upper layer in a
single extrusion machine, thus making an additional production step
obsolete.
[0015] To improve the bond between the upper layer consisting of
metal and the reinforcement layer consisting of plastic, it may be
provided that an adhesive varnish is applied to the underside of
the upper layer. Additionally, it may be provided that a protective
varnish is applied to the upper face of the upper layer, which, for
example, protects the visible surface of the upper layer against
external influences (in particular UV radiation and the use of road
salt). Furthermore, said protective varnish can be used as a design
element by adding minerals or colors.
[0016] Attaching the laminated strip to its final substrate may be
achieved with gluing (such as a double-sided glue strip) or by clip
attachment or welding to the final substrate.
[0017] It is also conceivable to reinforce the strip into a
load-bearing element for another application, for example in
construction.
[0018] To produce the laminated decorative strip in accordance with
the invention, a method comprising the following steps is proposed:
[0019] a) Embossing a structure in relief into the upper face of
the upper layer, and [0020] b) then attaching a reinforcement layer
consisting of plastic to the upper layer.
[0021] It has already been explained that particularly by embossing
the structure in relief into the upper layer consisting of metal as
long as said metal layer is not yet attached to the reinforcement
layer consisting of plastic, the development of exact and sharp
contours is possible in a very simple manner with an embossing
process, even more so because the upper layer consisting of metal
is supposed to be as thin as possible. For an optimally adhesive
attachment of the reinforcement layer consisting of plastic at the
treated upper layer, suitable methods are those where the structure
in relief in the upper face of the upper layer is not undergoing
any more changes. In particular suitable for this purpose are
extrusion processes, with the reinforcement layer consisting of
plastic being attached by extrusion-coating in step b).
[0022] Because the extrusion process is principally a continuous
production process where a specified quantity of a final product is
generated from a specific quantity of starter materials to be added
at each specified time unit, it is not readily possible to combine
said extrusion process with an embossing process, which--at least
if the embossing image is supposed to meet high quality
standards--a discontinuous production method. In the present case,
this presents the problem that during the embossing of the
structure in relief on the metal upper layer, the movement of the
metal upper layer is subjected to a constant change of stopping and
pressing the embossing stamp and continuing the feed, whereas it
has to be moved through the extruder at a constant transport speed.
To coordinate these different movement types of the upper layer in
the production process, it therefore may be provided that the
reinforcement layer is attached to the upper layer immediately
after the structure in relief is embossed, with the upper layer
passing through at least one buffer arrangement where it can
collect from time to time after the embossing and prior to
attaching the reinforcement layer. This can be realized, for
example, in that the upper layer forms a loop-like arrangement
between the embossing unit and the extruder (such as simply
slacking to a certain degree), which alternately gets bigger and
smaller periodically.
[0023] If another plastic layer is arranged as protective layer at
the upper face of the upper layer, it is furthermore advantageous
to attach said additional plastic layer to the upper layer also by
extrusion-coating in step b). A dual extruder may be provided for
this purpose, which has two oppositely arranged extrusion heads
between which the upper layer is transported. In this way, the
reinforcement layer as well as the protective layer can be coated
in a single operation.
[0024] To protect the upper layer and the structure in relief
embossed therein from external influences, such as UV radiation and
corrosion, a protective varnish may be applied to the surface of
the upper layer. The method in accordance with the invention offers
the option to apply said protective varnish on the upper layer
already prior to embossing the structure in relief because the
embossing process will not damage the protective varnish layer.
Strips already treated with a protective varnish, such as aluminum
strips available commercially from strip manufacturers at low cost,
may be used.
[0025] In the same way, an adhesive varnish can be applied to the
underside of the upper layer--if desired, already prior to
embossing--which is supposed to effect a particularly strong
adhesion of the reinforcement layer to the upper layer. These
strips, as well as strips having a protective varnish on one side
and an adhesive varnish on the other side, are also commercially
available at a low cost.
[0026] An embodiment of the invention is described in detail in the
following by means of the included illustrations. They show:
[0027] FIG. 1 a longitudinal section through a laminated strip in
accordance with the invention; and
[0028] FIG. 2 an extremely simplified schematic representation of
an arrangement for the production of the strip in accordance with
the invention in cross-sectional view.
[0029] FIG. 1 shows a section through a laminated strip 10 in
accordance with the invention in longitudinal view. The strip 10 in
accordance with the invention is comprised of three layers, i.e., a
metal layer 12 consisting of aluminum arranged in the center, a
reinforcement layer 14 consisting of plastic arranged under said
metal layer, as well as another protective layer 16 arranged on top
in FIG. 1. All three layers are fixed to one another adhesively,
with the connection between the aluminum layer 12 and the
reinforcement layer 14 being strong enough that the two layers 12,
14 are practically inseparable. The upper protective layer 16, on
the other hand, is only loosely attached to the aluminum layer 12
and can be pulled off easily from the aluminum layer 12 by hand.
The function of the protective layer 16, which preferably also
consists of plastic, is primarily to protect the aluminum layer 12
from mechanical damage during the production process. A secondary
function of the protective layer 16 is the protection until the
strip 10 is finally affixed to an intended product.
[0030] The surface area 20 of the aluminum layer 12 furthermore has
a structure in relief 18 created by embossing a specific text or
graphic symbol into the thin aluminum sheet 12 before said aluminum
sheet was attached to the two plastic layers 14, 16. After
embossing of the structure in relief 18, the two plastic layers 14
and 16 were attached to the aluminum layer 12, for example by
extrusion, such that they attach to said aluminum layer over the
entire upper or lower area of the aluminum layer 12. As desired,
the upper face 22 of the protective layer and/or the underside 24
of the reinforcement layer 14 may be smooth or also have the
contours of the structure in relief--perhaps also in a weakened
form.
[0031] The overall thickness a of the laminated strip 10 shown in
FIG. 1 is 1.2 mm, with the upper protective layer 16 consisting of
plastic having a thickness of 0.2 mm, the aluminum layer 12 having
a thickness of 0.4 mm and the lower reinforcement layer 14
consisting of plastic having a thickness of 0.6 mm. The upper
plastic layer 16 is transparent and made of polyvinylchloride. It
has a relatively low stiffness and thus forms a protective film for
the aluminum layer 12. The lower reinforcement layer 14 is made of
polypropylene and contains mineral fibers that prevent an expansion
and/or deformation of the lower reinforcement layer 14, in
particular in longitudinal direction of the strip 10. The stiffness
of the lower reinforcement layer 14 is clearly higher than that of
the upper protective layer 16, so that the lower reinforcement
layer 14 provides overall stability to the strip 10 as well as the
embossed structure in relief of the aluminum layer 12.
Nevertheless, the strip 10 remains flexible enough that its upper
surface can adapt to curved substrates.
[0032] FIG. 2 shows, in cross-sectional view and extremely
simplified form, a device by means of which the strip 10 in
accordance with the invention can be produced. The production
device essentially comprises an embossing unit 30 to which the thin
aluminum strip 12', which forms the aluminum layer 12, is fed for
embossing the structure in relief 18, as well as an extrusion unit
40, in which the reinforcement layer 14 and/or the protective layer
16 is extrusion-coated on the aluminum strip 12' with the embossed
structure in relief 18 from the top or the bottom respectively.
Furthermore, the production arrangement shown in FIG. 2 comprises a
buffer arrangement 50 between the embossing unit 30 and the
extrusion unit 40, where the aluminum strip 12' forms a downward
hanging loop 52.
[0033] In the embossing unit 30, the structure in relief 18 is
embossed on the aluminum strip 12' by pressing an upper stamp 32 on
an associated, complementary formed lower stamp 34. To that end,
the aluminum strip 12', which has not yet been embossed, is
introduced into the embossing unit 30 in a first step and then
stopped, the upper stamp 32 is pressed down against the lower stamp
34 and released, and then the movement of the aluminum strip 12'
continues to the left in FIG. 2, with the relief that was just
embossed being transported simultaneously out of the stamp area and
the next area of the aluminum strip 12' to be embossed being
inserted into the stamp matrices between the upper stamp 32 and the
lower stamp 34. Because the aluminum strip 12' has a relatively
small thickness, it is not problematic to generate an embossing
structure with sharply defined edges.
[0034] In the extrusion unit 40, plastic layers are then
extrusion-coated on the respective underside 24 and upper face 22
of the aluminum strip 12', which bears the intended structure in
relief 18. For this purpose, the extrusion unit 40 comprises a
first extrusion head 42 as well as a second extrusion head 44,
which are arranged opposite to one another and between which the
aluminum strip 12' is transported in such a way that its underside
24 faces the lower extrusion head 44 and its upper face 22 faces
the upper extrusion head 42. The lower extrusion head 44 contains
plasticized polypropylene with added mineral fibers to form the
reinforcement layer 14. The upper extrusion head 42 contains
plasticized polyvinylchloride to form the protective layer 16 on
the upper face 22 of the aluminum strip 12'. Both layers 14, 16 are
extrusion-coated with the known methods.
[0035] In the extrusion unit 40, the aluminum strip 12' is
processed into the final laminated strip 10 in a continuous manner,
i.e., in FIG. 2, the aluminum strip 12' moves through the extrusion
unit 40 toward the left at a constant speed. Thus, it is up to the
buffer arrangement 50 to coordinate the two different types of
movement of the aluminum strip 12' in the embossing unit 30
(discontinuous movement) and in the extrusion unit 40 (movement at
constant speed) in that the aluminum strip 12' can form a more or
less hanging loop 52 in the area of the buffer arrangement 50.
[0036] To attach the reinforcement layer 14 permanently to the
underside of the aluminum strip 12', an adhesive varnish has been
applied to the underside of the aluminum strip 12'. A protective
varnish is applied to the upper face of the aluminum strip 12' to
protect the upper face of the aluminum strip 12' and its embossed
structure in relief 18 from damage caused by external influences
(in particular UV radiation and corrosion). The two aforementioned
varnishes are applied to the metal strip prior to the embossing
process. Varnished metal strips of this type are available from
metal strip manufacturers.
[0037] The laminated strip, which was produced as described above
and has at least two layers, is characterized by low material- and
production costs and a high dimensional stability, as well as by a
particularly appealing look because it can be provided with a
complex embossing relief.
* * * * *