CA2013967A1 - Plastic article with surface texture and method of making the same - Google Patents

Plastic article with surface texture and method of making the same

Info

Publication number
CA2013967A1
CA2013967A1 CA002013967A CA2013967A CA2013967A1 CA 2013967 A1 CA2013967 A1 CA 2013967A1 CA 002013967 A CA002013967 A CA 002013967A CA 2013967 A CA2013967 A CA 2013967A CA 2013967 A1 CA2013967 A1 CA 2013967A1
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
sheet
tool
flock
plastic
flocked
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Abandoned
Application number
CA002013967A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Keith D. Maguire
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Batesville Services Inc
Original Assignee
Individual
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Publication of CA2013967A1 publication Critical patent/CA2013967A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

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  • Blow-Moulding Or Thermoforming Of Plastics Or The Like (AREA)

Abstract

Plastic Article With Surface Texture and Method of Making the Same ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
The method of forming a rigid three-dimensional sheet article having a textile fabric-like surface. A thermoplastic sheet is coated with a thermoplastic flock. The sheet is placed on a molding tool having a fabric texture embossed on its surface. The tool is heated. Vacuum pulls the flocked surface against the embossed surface of the tool to exhaust the air therebetween and pressure above atmospheric is applied against the opposite side of the sheet to force it against the tool.

Description

2~ 3~
, Plastic Article With Surface Texture and Method of Makin~ the Same BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a rigid three-dimensional sheet plastic article and particu-larly to such an article having the appearance and feel of a fabric-covered article.
The process of the invention i8 egpecially useful in the fabrication of a liner for a casket, the liner simulating an upholstered interior for the casket. The process can, of course, have application to other products such as automobile interiors and the like.
The interior of a casket cap or lid may be upholstered. Upholstering is a very expensive process requiring highly skilled artisans who have years of training in the art. Because of the costliness of hand upholstering, it has become conventional to form the interior of a casket cap by preforming rigid panels, covering those panels with a fabric and fltting the panels into the casket cap.

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Although less costly than the completely upholstered interior, the interior that employs fabric-covered panels continues to be labor-intensive with results that vary depending upon the skill of the artisans who are involved in the assembly process.
It is possible to mold the complete casket cap interior from a thermoplastic sheet that is molded and embossed with a fabric texture. Such plastic articles can be produced by numerous molding and fabricating methods, the surfaces being embossed by numerou~ methods employed by those skilled in the art.
However skillfully done, none of the presently-used procedures produces a surface that is not readily detectable by sight and feel as plastic rather than a textile fabric. The surface produced is hard, nonab-sorbent, one-dimensional, and has no hand and eye appeal that is associated with a real woven textile material.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An objective of the present invention has been to provide a material and method of fabricating the material to produce a rigid, three-dimensional article whose appearance, feel, color and texture is virtually indistinguishable from woven textile fabric surfaces.
In attaining the objective of the present invention, the material employed is a thermo-formable, thermoplastic substrate in sheet form of polystyrene, ,'.,/. ; ,J
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ABS, polyvinylchloride, vinyl copolymer, thermoplaftic rubbers, polyolefins, etc. The material is coated with a synthetic fiber flock. The flock can be Nylon or acrylic fLbers or any other fibers which are thermally formable. The process of forming a flocked thermoplastic sheet with which the present invention is used is a well known process.
The flat planar flocked sheet is raised to a temperature sufficiently high to cause the sheet to sag and to enable the flock to flow when placed under pressure. The sheet is thermoformed-by pressing the flocked side of the sheet against the surface of a heated metal tool. The tool has a special surface which is the replica of a real woven textile fabric, During the process, the flocked sheet i5 drawn against the tool by creating a vacuum between the tool and the sheet. At the same time, a positive pressure is applied to the back of the sheet, forcinq the flock on the sheet to flow and conform to the fabric detail on the metal mold. The result is that the flocked surface is transformed and yields a surface of fine detailed appearance in which individual threads of the replicated fabric are clearly visible. Because it is flock that has been molded with the fabric imprint, the surface has a fabric-like touch and appearance.
By way of example, the sheet and flock may be at a temperature of about 300'F. so they will flow ',,~' ' , , , , ' ' ' , , ",' ', : ', . .
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under pressure. The tool against which the flock is pressed is at a temperature of about 120-F. to 180'F.
which is low enough to cool the sheet after the impression is made, but not so cool as to freeze the sheet before the impression is completely made.
The woven textile fabric can be replicated onto the surface of the tool by methods well known in the art, for example, photo etching or casting of duplicates from actual models.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The several features of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description taken in con~unction with the accompanying drawings in which:
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a casket having a cap formed in accordance with the present invention; ~-Fig. 2 is a plan view of a typical headliner for the casket formed in accordance with the present -invention;
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the tooling for the molding process: and --Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken -transversely through the tooling illustrating the - -molding process.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION --Referring to Fig. 1, a casket 10 has a shell 11 having a foot cap 12 and a head cap 13. The head ,~, ,, ,, ,, ", , . , ; , ,:~ ;~, ,; . ," ,, cap 13 has an interior or headliner 14 having the appearance of upholstery formed with conventional textile fabrics.
As shown in Fig. 2, the plastic liner is concave, having a relatively flat central section 20 and a convex frame 21. The edges of the liner are provided with assembly tabs 22 by which the liner can be snap-fitted into the metal cap of the casket. The ` surface of the liner has all the appearance and feel of a woven textile fabric. It is virtually indistin-guishable from an actual textile fabric even upon very close inspection.
The liner 14 is rigid. It i8 formed in -tooling of the type illustrated in Fig. 3. The tooling includes a lower platen 24 and a male tool 25 mounted on the lower platen. The tool 25 has been engraved or etched with the pattern of a woven textile fabric that is to be replicated on the surface of the liner.
As shown in Fig. 4, the tool has transverse passages 26 to its surface 27. The other ends of the passages 26 are connected to a vacuum manifold 28 which is in turn connected to a vacuum pump 29 through a valve 30, all to create a vacuum between the tool 25 and the sheet workpiece. Heaters dlagrammatically ~hown at 35 are connected to the male tool to raise the temperature of the tool to about 120-F. to 180'F.
to provide a gradual cooling of the hot plastic sheet , , . , , ' . , : ' , ~ 'ii . ' ' . ': ' '. ' '' , '' ' ' ,, '' ~' ' ' ' .
' ' ' . . .' S ' ,.,' . ' ' " . ' ' ' ,.' ~ ',; '' " ' ., "'', ,, . ', ,, 2 ~

and flock as they are being formed and embossed. A
power supply 36 is provided for the heaters.
An upper platen 40 is connected to a mecha-nism, not shown, for holding it, under pressure, against the lower platen 24 that supports the tooling 25. Pressure seals 41 are formed around the perimeter of the upper and lower platens so that when the platens are clamped on a workpiece, an airtight seal is formed between the part~.
The upper platen has a cavity 42. A trans-verse passage 43 connects the passage to a source of pressure 44 above atmospheric as controlled by a valve 45.
A thermoplastic, thermo-formable sheet 50 is 15 clamped in a frame 51. The sheet, about .030 inch thick, has previously been flocked with flock of about 0.5 to l.Omm (0.02 to 0.04") length in a conventional manner. The sheet is held with its flock side toward the male tool.
In the process of making the liner, the male tool 25 i8 heated to the desired temperature. The sheet 50 is carried in the frame Sl through an oven until it sags. At that point, its temperature is about 300-F. While in that condition, it is carried to a position overlying the male tool. The flock must be raised to a temperature above the second glass tran~ition point so that the flock will flow when under pressure. Otherwise, the flock -will be too .s ~. , f, ,,,,", . ', ,' ", j ~,, ', ,,,, .' ',, :; ' , ', , . ' ' " ~ :

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brittle to take the impression of fabric on the tool 25.
The upper platen 40 i8 brought down onto the lower platen 24 clamping the sheet between the two platens. With the upper platen 40 held under pressure against the sheet and lower platen 24, vacuum of about 14 psi is drawn on the lower platen to exhaust all air between the sheet 50 and tool 25.
Immediately thereafter, air pressure is applied at a pressure of 25 to 100 psi to press the sheet against the male tool so as to form it to the configuration of tool 25 and to emboss into the surface of the sheet the texture of the fabric that has been earlier replicated on the male tool. Exposure to the lower lS temperature tool freezes the plastic of the flock and sheet with a sharp definition of fabric embossed in the flock.
Following the forming and embossing process, the tooling is opened and the headliner is removed.
All unnecessary plastic around the perimeter of the sheet is trimmed in suitable apparatus.
The headliner of the present invention can simply be snapped into the metal cap of the casket, thereby eliminating many of the assembly steps hereto- -fore required in the forming the interior of the casket. Not only is the labor reduced, but the final product is not susceptible at all to assembly imper-fe¢tions such as failure to form neat mitered corners ~ -; - 3 ~,, , : ~ . . .
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and the like. The product, nevertheless, has the appearance and feel of an actual textured fabric.
A multitude of different designs may be produced, limited only by the designer's imagination.
Some may be almost impossible to duplicate with real textiles.
From the above disclosure of the general principles of the present invention and the preceding detailed description of a preferred embodiment, those skilled in the art will readily comprehend the various modifications to which the present invention is susceptible. Therefore, I desire to be limited only by the scope of the following claims and equivalents thereof:

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Claims (6)

1. The method of forming, from plastic, a rigid, three-dimensional sheet having a textile fabric-like surface texture comprising the steps of:
coating a thermoplastic sheet with a thermo-plastic flock, heating said flocked sheet, replicating a textile fabric on a three-dimensional surface of a molding tool, pressing said sheet against said tool with said flocked surface contacting said tool.
2. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:
heating said tool.
3. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:
preliminarily heating said sheet and flock above the second glass transition temperature of the flock.
4. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:
drawing said sheet against said tool by vacuum between said tool and sheet, and applying air pressure above atmospheric to the side of said sheet opposite said flocked surface to force said flocked surface against said tool.
5. The method of forming from a sheet of thick-ness of about .030 inch plastic, a rigid three-dimensional sheet having a textile fabric-like surface texture comprising the steps of:
coating a thermoplastic sheet with a thermo-plastic flock, heating said flocked sheet to a temperature at which said sheet sags and said flock is flowable, replicating a textile fabric on a three-dimensional surface of a molding tool, heating said tool to about 120°F. - 180°F., pressing said sheet against said tool with said flocked surface contacting said tool, drawing a vacuum between said sheet and said tool, applying a pressure of 20 psi to 100 psi to the surface of said sheet opposite said flock.
6. An article of manufacturing comprising:
a rigid plastic sheet molded into a three-dimensional shape, plastic flock adhering to one surface of said sheet, said flock being embossed while at a temper-ature to be flowable to simulate a textile fabric.
CA002013967A 1989-04-13 1990-04-05 Plastic article with surface texture and method of making the same Abandoned CA2013967A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US33920989A 1989-04-13 1989-04-13
US07/339,209 1989-04-13

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA2013967A1 true CA2013967A1 (en) 1990-10-13

Family

ID=23327984

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA002013967A Abandoned CA2013967A1 (en) 1989-04-13 1990-04-05 Plastic article with surface texture and method of making the same

Country Status (1)

Country Link
CA (1) CA2013967A1 (en)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
AU737429B2 (en) * 1998-09-10 2001-08-16 McSpadden, Jennifer Jane Coffin assembly

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
AU737429B2 (en) * 1998-09-10 2001-08-16 McSpadden, Jennifer Jane Coffin assembly

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Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
EEER Examination request
FZDE Discontinued
FZDE Discontinued

Effective date: 19941005