AU2001100056A4 - Image transfer system for fibreglass products - Google Patents

Description

IMAGE TRANSFER SYSTEM FOR FIRBREGLASS PRODUCTS This invention relates to improvements made in the manufacturing of surfboards and other watercraft where graphic images, corporate logos and other custom designs are incorporated in the manufacturing process.

Historically the surfing and watercraft culture has enjoyed decorating their craft with all manner of graphic images, patterns, designs or colours. In recent years however, the number of personalised craft has declined and the main imagery used on a board has become the corporate logos of surf associated companies and manufacturers.

There are many reasons for this but certainly paramount among them has been the manufacturers reluctance to spend the time and effort necessary to get a satisfactory result. While new technologies involved in the construction and performance aspects have come along at regular intervals, the graphic side of the process has been neglected. This has resulted in an increasingly cost-effective and professional operation that has found it difficult to work with the constraints and costs of outdated graphic methods. This has meant that many manufacturers have produced boards with very little or no graphic embellishment at all.

Presently watercraft manufacturers have three methods of applying artwork to their craft: 1. By screen printing onto rice paper, 2. By spray painting directly onto the board or 3. By applying adhesive stickers to the finished board.

All of these methods have inherent production lapses, structural flaws or significant weathering factors which affect the production and presentation of the final product.

Rice paper for instance, which is still commonly used for manufacturer's decals, is known to weaken the structure of the board when used in large areas. This is due to the resin not properly permeating the paper structure to the foam blank beneath and results in what is call de-lamination, where the fibreglass starts to separate from the foam and eventually cracks, exposing the foam to the elements. Added to this is the fact that screenprinting is a prohibitively expensive process when used for short run prints or one-off designs and has not coped well with photographic subjects in the past.

Spray painting, the current method most used for producing one-off graphic images, is a notoriously unreliable affair where manufacturers are left to the vagaries of a spray artist. Spray painting itself is a time consuming and largely unprofessional process and has contributed, over the years, to a growing tendency for manufacturers to shy away from applying images to watercraft altogether.

Recent developments of UV resistant inks and sophisticated printing presses have meant that mass production of moderate sized images that can be applied to the surface of the finished craft has been possible. These stickers have a relatively soft surface and are subject to abrasion and other weathering factors.

By combining knowledge of surfcraft production and digital imaging technology, this invention is the first to provide a systematic ordering, manufacture and delivery process of images that are created and supplied on a demand basis and can be integrated into the very structure of the board itself without further complicating the manufacturing process. The image transfers are created in an innovative way: created on a desktop computer and printed onto a range of carefully selected fabrics. In some cases these materials were not previously known to either the surfboard industry or considered as acceptable media for the print industry, although after our experiments with various fabrics, they are now accepted by both.

After printing, the fabric image transfer is placed dry onto the foam core of the surfboard where because of the stiffening, it sits firmly without moving or sliding. The normal layer of fibreglass is then placed dry over the image transfer and the resin is applied as per the current method of production.

Where the craft does not have a foam core the image transfer is applied to whatever surface is relevant.

Claims (4)

1. An image is created on computer to fit within the specific shape of a custom built surfboard or other watercraft and digitally printed onto a pre-stiffened fabric such as woven polyesters, cottons or fibreglass that is determined by the performance perimeters of the individual craft. 7

2. The use of the image transfer of claim 1 is incorporated into and greatly streamlines the production process because the stiffening agent allows it to sit firmly between the foam and layer of fibreglass, while the porousness of the selected fabrics allows the resin to permeate freely and form the required bond with the foam core of the surfboard or underlayer surface of other watercraft. 16

3. The inclusion of the image transfer of claim 1 as an additional layer in the manufacturing process of fibreglass coated watercraft strengthens the crafts structure. 21

4. The image transfer of claim 1 can be produced on a one-off basis to meet demand, or can be customised to suit individual tastes without significant change to the resources used in the manufacture of the transfer. 26 The image transfer of claim 1 can reproduce or create photographic quality artwork.