NL1017626C2 - Wrap closure with decorations. - Google Patents

Description

Title: Wrap closure with decorations.

The present invention relates to a wrap closure consisting of a rectangular metal rail that is rolled in the cross-sectional direction to have a curved cross-section, and which is encapsulated in a strip composed of two or more layers of plastic material welded along the edges outside the rectangular outline of the metal rail and feature decorations. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is known to produce such closures in a rectangular shape with varying lengths and widths, and they have the special property that when bent in the longitudinal direction, e.g. by striking them against an arm or leg, they roll up due to the spring tension generated during rolling. The plastic strip can be provided with decorations, e.g. pasted, printed and / or embossed motifs, and such closures can be used, for example, as jewelery, such as headbands, bracelets or belts. The plastic strip may also be made of a reflective material or contain a reflective material, and such closures are used for wrapping around arms and / or legs as a road safety mark.

The wrap closures can be made of plastic of various colors, and they can be printed with decorations in the form of text and / or figures in single or multi-color printing.

The known wrap closures are, however, limited to a rectangular body with an area of 30-40 mm wide x 250-400 mm long (see Fig. 1). As a result of this limited surface area, printed texts and figures are not very visible and the wrap closures therefore have a dull appearance and are unsuitable for attracting attention.

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PURPOSE OF THE INVENTION

It is the object of the present invention to develop the above wrap closure in a way that makes it more suitable as a safety reflective marker and as a stand-out advertisement, toy, gem or souvenir.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This object is achieved by the wrapping closure according to the invention, which is characterized in that its plastic strip has an arbitrary contour that protrudes beyond the rectangular circumference of the metal rail.

The combination of the wrapping effect and the possibilities of varying the contour has never been seen before and makes the product unique.

Symbols and figures can be placed anywhere on the wrap closure according to the invention and can extend beyond the sides or ends or, most often, beyond both sides of the rectangular outline of the metal rail in the protruding contour. The figures or letters can have any shape / contour, see e.g. Figs. 2 and 3, and they can be any size, up to several times the width of the rectangular part.

These new possibilities for designing a wrapping closure, preferably of a reflective material, make the messages in texts and figures much more visible, and make the wrapping closure according to the invention more suitable as a reflective road security marking and moreover well suited as a striking advertisement, nice toys, beautiful trinket or souvenir.

The wrap closure according to the invention can be created in innumerable designs: Texts in a larger format e.g. POST, RED CROSS, POLICE (see Fig. 2: POLICE).

3 - Logos for various companies and organizations.

- Pictures of e.g. food items, such as apple, banana, chocolate, milk carton (see Fig. 3: milk carton) or industrial products such as light bulb, battery, football, (see Fig. 2: light bulb).

5Cartoon characters, e.g. Donald Duck, Fred Flinstone (see Fig. 3: rabbit).

- Souvenirs, e.g. the Eiffel Tower, the leaning tower of Pisa.

The nice semi-automatic wrapping effect in combination with the raised (protruding) figures or letters make the wrapping closure according to the invention interesting in many different connections as mentioned above. Most importantly, the road safety value in the form of the reflective surface can be combined with clear advertising messages, or with the identification of persons, or with decoration, e.g. in the form of toys or modern trinkets.

A motorist driving on the back of a pedestrian can now e.g.

seeing the large letters or the shape of the light bulb or the milk carton reflective, while a minimal print on a narrow rectangular closure of the known type (see Fig. 1) does not send a message to the motorist, since text and figure become too unclear at 20 the normal distance between pedestrian and driver.

To encourage children to use reflective markers, these markings must be fun enough for the children to wear. Comic characters, the character of which is reflected in the contour: a fat bear, a long-legged stork, a broad-necked duck, can now be visualized by allowing the figure to extend outside the rectangular part and return a fun effect .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

How is a wrap closure according to the invention designed? 4

The basic element is a rectangular shape that corresponds to the circumference of a rail of a coil spring of a steel alloy. Rolling provides the rail with the tension that releases the closure and makes it roll up on its own when pressure is applied to it or hit against an arm or leg.

The rail is divided into suitable lengths in the rectangular shape, e.g. corresponding to the normal diameter of arms and legs. Then the rail is encapsulated between two or more compatible layers of plastic, which are coupled together by high frequency (HF) welding or heat welding, optionally in combination with an embedded layer of hot melt adhesive if the plastic material itself is not weldable.

HF weldable plastic materials include e.g. polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and certain polyolefin blends. Heat-sealable plastic materials include e.g. polypropylene and ethylene / vinyl acetate copolymer; PVC is also heat sealable. Bonding can be accomplished primarily with dry, hot melt type thermoplastic adhesives in the form of a layer applied between the two layers of the plastic and then activated under the influence of heat and pressure. Such heat melt layers based on polyethylene, polypropylene, ethylene / vinyl acetate copolymer, copolyester, copolyamide or TPU are e.g. sold by the company "Sarnatech Xiro AG", CH.

In order to create the various shapes / contours that extend beyond the base elements, the tool connecting the layers is required to be correspondingly shaped.

An HF welding welding tool can be manufactured by bending copper or steel bands to the desired contour. The band has a flat edge, which lies against the plastic layers when the HF energy is emitted and the layers weld together. Usually, the band is also provided on its outside with a cutting edge which cuts the body along the contour outside the weld. If the projecting parts of the contour

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However, taking up too much of the length of the closure, it may also be necessary to control the positioning of the spring rail by applying an additional weld along the edge of the rail; and in that case the copper or steel strip used does not have a cutting edge.

5 Instead of manufacturing a completely new tool for every single task, we have developed the basic tool for the production of the well-known rectangular lock so that it is composed of small, detachable sections, each of which can be unscrewed independently and replaced with a section with the desired contour (see Fig. 4). This saves straight welding belts every time, making the production of the tools more rational.

Normally heat welding is effected by means of Teflon coated metal hands, which are electrically heated to 120-150 ° C. The belts may also preferably have a cutting edge, and the tool may in principle be formed in the same manner as the above HF welding tool.

As mentioned above, gluing is performed by applying a warm melt layer between the plastic layers. In practice, a hot melt layer is applied to the underside (the side facing inward) of one of the plastic films (if one carries reflex images, the other is chosen) and is then heated to 80-185 ° C depending on the type of plastic material and glue. The plastic films are then wrapped around the steel rail, and the adhesive is reactivated where the joint must sit by heating to 129-185 ° C under pressure, e.g. by one of the aforementioned tools for HF welding or heat welding.

In order to prevent contours that protrude far beyond the basic rectangular shape from bending or rolling up from the plane of the rail, an intermediate layer of approximately the same thickness as the rail can be included in the protruding part 6. This layer must be flexible and at the same time have such rigidity that the figure does not collapse when the closure is wrapped. It can e.g. be a hard foil, a foam layer or other flexible but still rigid material, which is preferably weldable with the strip material. Before HF welding, strips of the intermediate layer are then placed between the two layers of strip material along the base shape, and are thus welded together with the strip edge and cut during welding, with the figure clearly visible.

Printing and embossing of the wrapping closure according to the invention.

Text and figures are printed on the top or laterally upside down on the bottom of the plastic layer which is turned outwards when the closure is rolled up. If the plastic layer is a reflective layer, it can be advantageous to print figures in particular in a transparent color, so that the figure is reflected as a whole.

A pattern or figure can also be embossed in the plastic layer prior to welding together, or at the same time as welding the part of the plastic layer that extends outside the rail 20 it can be embossed by an embossing printing plate in the associated part of the tool jig. The relief printing can contribute to providing added character to, for example, a cartoon character.

Claims (8)

1. A wrap closure consisting of a rectangular metal rail rolled in the cross-sectional direction to have a curved cross-section and encapsulated in a strip composed of two or more layers of plastic material joined together along the edges outside the rectangular perimeter of the metal rail and are provided with decorations, characterized in that the plastic strip has a random contour that protrudes beyond the rectangular circumference of the metal rail. A wrap closure according to claim 1, characterized in that at least the layer of the strip facing outward when the closure is rolled consists of a reflective material or contains a reflective material. A wrap closure according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the layer of the strip facing outward when the closure is rolled up is printed with text and / or figure extending beyond the sides or ends of the rectangular outline of the metal rail in the protruding contour. A wrap closure according to claim 3, characterized in that the text and / or figure extend (extends) beyond both sides of the rectangular perimeter of the metal rail. A wrap closure according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the layer of the strip facing outward when the closure is rolled consists of a reflective material or contains a reflective material and is printed with text and / or figure in transparent color. A wrapping closure according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in the layer of the strip that outwardly * Π: '; ? is turned when the closure is rolled on is embossed-printed with a pattern or a figure. A wrap closure according to any of the preceding claims for use as one or more of the following: road security marking, advertising, toys, gem and souvenir. A tool for use in HF welding, heat welding or gluing the plastic strip in the manufacture of a wrap closure according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is composed of small, detachable sections, each of which can be independently unscrewed and replaced by a section with the desired contour.