GB2377201A

GB2377201A - Moulded lenticulated articles

Info

Publication number: GB2377201A
Application number: GB0113953A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David Gifford Burder; Paul James Howard Bagnall
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-06-08
Filing date: 2001-06-08
Publication date: 2003-01-08
Also published as: GB0113953D0

Abstract

A lenticulated article is produced by positioning a printed film inside a mould, which includes a lenticular lens defining surface opposite the surface positioning the film, and injecting transparent plastics material into the mould to produce an article having a film on one surface and a lenticular lens on the opposite transparent surface. The article may be a container having a lenticulated convex exterior surface 3. On the opposite surface of the moulding is an 'in-mould label' (printed film) 2 which comprises two or more images of animation, as stripes. By moving the container, or by moving past the container, the eyes observe the instant changes in the image and hence animation or other special effects are achieved.

Description

Patent Application for lenticulated containers and surfaces having In-Mould Labelling This invention relates to moulded plastic products which display animation or other visually interactive effects.

Dnnking cups for example have a large surface area. This has the advantage of making them ideal for displaying artwork, but the disadvantage of high expense if one convers them with a special expensive material that can create visually interactive effects. There is also the additional cost and the practical problem of adhering the special material which is normally of a thickness between 0.5 and 1. 5mm to the outer surface of the drinking cup in a clean and presentable manner.

According to the present invention, there is provided a transparent moulding which has one surface moulded to create a special lens, and which is then laminated or'in-moulded' to the opposite surface with a printed film so as to give animation effects when the observer moves the moulding or moves past it whilst viewing the moulding through the lens surface. This solution provides a far more cost effective technique than traditional methods, as the printing is carried out on a thinner inexpensive material and the finished product is produced in a single automated operation.

A specific embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which :- Figure 1 shows a section through a moulded container, of typical thickness 0. 4 to 3. Omm, having a convex lenticulated structure on its outer surface. Figure la shows a side section through the moulded cup. Figure 1 b shows an enlarged view of the bottom comer of the cup in Figure la. Figure Ic shows a planar section taken through Figure la at the line A-A and Figure Id shows an enlarged view of the part of the cup wall taken from Figure Ic.

Figure 2 shows the internally located printed film, of typical thickness between 30 and 200 microns, prior to it being introduced into the moulding showing a character waving its arms, with arms initially in position al and a2, and then in position bl and b2. Certain areas FI and F2 of the character remain in the same position.

In Figure I the moulded cup is formed by injecting molten plastic, typically clear polypropylene, into a tool made up of a male and female halves with the plastic being injected at I through the female half of the tool. Prior to injection taking place and while the two halves of the tool are open, the printed film shown in Figure 2 is wrapped around the male side of the tool being accurately positioned at 2, normally by robotic handling and held in place either by vacuum or by static electricity. The mould is then closed and the molten plastic is injected at I with the melt flow passing over the surface of the film up the sides of the container until the mould is full, the heat and pressure of the process causes the film to be perfectly laminated to the inside of the container walls. The printed film, being also made of polypropylene, would normally be white on the inside with the print effectively coming in direct contact with the molten plastic as it is injected. It has been shown that the printing inks will withstand the temperature of the molten plastic and that an excellent chemical bond will be achieved between the molten plastic and the unprinted areas of the film being that they are similar materials. Alternatively where the application demands a'fully printed'film area, the printed side of the film can be laminated after printing with a thin layer of clear polypropylene film, typically 30 microns in thickness, so that again a chemical bond of the film is achieved to the moulded container during the moulding process, hence the term'in-mould labelling'.

The female side of the moulding tool has the concave lenticular structure formed in it to produce a convex lenticular structure on the sides of the finished moulded container as can be seen at point 3 in Figure Id. The printed image on the film is actually made up of a number of thin stripes, typically xxx microns wide, which alternately contain the two images of the characters arms in different positions. Therefore, as the cup is viewed by a moving observer from the outside looking through the convex lenticular structure of the moulded container, the observer's eyes are focused onto different lines of print and the arms of the character'appear'to move up and down.

Claims

Claims:

1. A method of manufacturing a lenticulated product by the stages of introducing a printed filmic material into a mould which is made up of a smooth flat surface on one face and a female lenticular lens on the opposite face which is parallel to the first, injecting transparent material into the mould so that the filmic material is forced onto the smooth flat side of the mould and becomes bonded to the transparent material which fills the mould forming the finished component. The printed filmic material is then viewed through the moulded transparent lens to produce the lenticular effect.

2. A method as described in claim 1 where the printed filmic material contains a series of lines or images so that when viewed through the lens the finished product provides one or several diffraction patterns.

3. A method as described in claim 1 where the printed filmic material contains a number of printed images so that when viewed through the lens the finished product provides a view of one of the printed images at a particular viewing angle whilst the other printed images are revealed by changing the viewing angle slightly.

4. A method as described in claim 1 where the printed filmic material contains a number of printed images so that when viewed through the lens the finished product provides a three dimensional illusion by the combination of the printed images being viewed simultaneously by stereo vision.

5. A method of manufacturing a lenticulated product by the stages of introducing a printed filmic material into a mould which is made up of a smooth curved surface on one face and a female lenticular lens on the opposite face which is parallel to the first, injecting transparent material into the mould so that the filmic material is forced onto the smooth curved side of the mould and becomes bonded to the transparent material which fills the mould forming the finished component. The printed filmic material is then viewed through the moulded transparent lens to produce the lenticular effect.

6. A method as described in claim 5 where the printed filmic material contains a series of lines or images so that when viewed through the lens the finished product provides one or several diffraction patterns.

7. A method as described in claim 5 where the printed filmic material contains a number of printed images so that when viewed through the lens the finished product provides a view of one of the printed images at a particular viewing angle whilst the other printed images are revealed by changing the viewing angle slightly.

8. A method as described in claim 5 where the printed filmic material contains a number of printed images so that when viewed through the lens the finished product provides a three dimensional illusion by the combination of the printed images being viewed simultaneously by stereo vision.

9. A method according to any of the proceeding claims 1 to 8 where the printed filmic material consists of just one layer of film or paper which is printed with printing inks, the moulded material bonds to either the printing inks or the unprinted areas of the film or paper.

10. A method according to any of the proceeding claims Ito 8 where the printed filmic material consists of just one layer of film or paper which is printed with printing inks and then coated with a varnish, laquer or adhesive layer, this outer layer is chosen to chemically bond to the transparent moulded material during the injection process.

11. A method according to any of the proceeding claims Ito 8 where the printed filmic material consists of more than one layer of film or paper with the printing inks being sandwiched between the layers, the layer that will come in contact with the transparent moulding material is also transparent and is chosen to adhere to the transparent moulding material. This transparent film is, prior to moulding, laminated to the base film using either adhesive or thermal lamination techniques.

The transparent film is either'reverse'printed or the base film is printed in normal reading mode to achieve the finished effect of reading the film correctly when viewed through the transparent filmic side.