CA2063267A1

CA2063267A1 - Laminated product

Info

Publication number: CA2063267A1
Application number: CA002063267A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Ian A. Cran
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1989-07-03
Filing date: 1990-07-03
Publication date: 1991-01-04
Also published as: JPH04506488A; KR920703328A; WO1991000177A1; EP0480948A1; EP0480948A4

Abstract

Promotional headgear (1) comprises a brim portion for seating on the head of a user, and a display portion (3) which is pushed into an upstanding position with respect to the brim portion when in use, by the user's head. The headgear (1) comprises an open cell foam material (6) having a printed film (5) adhered to a surface thereof, and can be manufactured by cutting or stamping an outline from a sheet of laminated foam material (38).

Description

WO91/00177 PCT/AU90/002~5 ' - 1 - 2~2~ ~

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, 9 -, 11 , 14 The present invention relates to laminated products, particularly for use as promotional or entertainment 16 devices, and finds particular application in low cost 17 headgear.
18 It is known to produce advertisiny and publicity 19 products out of card, including promotional headgear. The card is printed with relevant publicity or advertising 21 material on a surface which will be exposed in use. An 22 example of such products is a simple hat constructed from a 23 flat piece of card having a central aperture through which 24 the top of a user's head projects. The hat sits on the user's head in the manner of a hat brim, without a crown.
- 26 This form of headgear may also be provided with a logo 27 carrier which projects into the central aperture when the 28 hat is out of use but which is bent to stand upright when 29 the hat is in use, by the user's head as it projects through the central aperture, so as to attract attention.
31 This type of product suffers from the disadvantage that 32 it is relatively delicate and easily destroyed. The logo 33 carrier does not therefore perform its function for a 34 substantial length of time.
It has been recognised in making the present invention 36 that by substituting a foam of polymeric type for card in 37 the manufacture of articles of the type described, a ~ Sl)BSTITUTE SHEET
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WO91/00177 ~ PCT/AU90/00285 1 significantly longer lasting article can be produced.

2 However, a problem arises in that it is not a simple matter 3 to decorate the surface of a suitable foam product with 4 promotional material such as advertising logos, or other decoration. The type of foam product suitable for use in 6 applications such as the manufacture of fun hats as 7 described abovè relies on the use of an open celled foam.
8 It is not possible to print directly on to an open celled 9 foam in a manner that is sufficiently clear, detailed or long-lasting to be acceptable.
ll It is an object of the present invention to provide a 12 laminated product, embodiments of which can be used as a low 13 cost promotional or entertainment device, particularly for 14 instance promotional or entertainment headgear, and a method for producing such a laminated product, wherein the product 16 remains attractive and/or suitable for use over a 17 significant period of time.
18 Embodiments of the present invention have the advantage 19 that they can be manufactured in large numbers, without , 20 excessive cost, and can present a pleasing appearance while 21 being sufficiently robust to withstand considerably rougher 22 and/or longer lasting treatment by a user than has hitherto 23 been possible with a comparable cost product.
24 According to the present invention, there is provided a laminated object, such as a promotional or entertainment 26 device, comprising a foam product having a body of foam and - 27 a printed film which is adhered to a surface thereof.
28 The foam may comprise a known polymeric foam.
29 Preferably, it comprises an open cell foam.
The printed film may comprise a plastics material such 31 as polyethylene or polypropylene.
32 There are substantial difficulties involved in making a 33 low budget, shaped and decorated item out of foam, and in 34 particular out of open cell foam, including the fact that it tends to move during printing or cutting. However, it has 36 now been found possible to apply a printed film to the foam, ; 37 even to open cell foam, and in doing so to overcome a number '.- ; . .
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~ J0177 PCT/AU90/00285 ~ _ 3 2 ~ ~ 3 2 ~ ' l of problems. In more detail, relevant problems and possible 2 solutions are as follows.
3 As mentioned above, foam and particularly open cell 4 foam has a mobile structure which makes direct printing very difficult, as well as cutting out of exact predetermined 6 shapes.
7 A feature of the present invention is that the use of 8 an adhered film not only provides a carrier for the printing 9 but also stabilises the foam for cutting out.
It is not however a simple matter to adhere a suitable ll film to the surface of an open cell foam. Glues tend not to 12 stick to the film, which can present a very flat surface, 13 and it has not therefore been found satisfactory to simply 14 apply a glue treated film to the foam.
To improve the adherence of glue to the film, the 16 surface of the film can be modified, for instance by flame 17 or corona discharge treatment. -18 Another problem lies in achieving satisfactory l9 lamination of a film onto the surface of an open cell foam.
There is a tendency for the film to wrinkle, or for the 21 relative tensions of film and foam to vary so that the 22 laminated product is warped.
23 A significant factor in achieving satisfactory 24 lamination has been found to be the thickness of the film being adhered. This is further discussed below.
26 A further problem has been encountered in that printing 27 inks used in producing printed film were found to react with 28 the film so as to make it brittle. This leads to the 29 problem that with continued use, the film and/or the pattern printed thereon can become damaged and unsightly. Further, 31 a lot of inks and printing processes are too costly for use 32 in a low price item, or the inks themselves are inflexible 33 or will not adhere to the film surface.
34 These problems have been overcome primarily by the use of flexographic inks, and flexographic or gravure printing, 36 in combination with a polyethylene film which has been 37 surface treated for instance by a flame or corona discharge T3~tjTE SHEET , . ~

WO 91/00177 r PCT/AU9~/00285 1 treatment, as mentioned above, to avoid ink being pulled off 2 the film during the production process.
3 The open cell foam to which the printed film is 4 laminated may comprise one of several materials including polyethylene, polyurethane, and polyester, polyethylene 6 foams having been found preferable in terms of cost.
7 The production process comprises in general the surface 8 treatment of polymeric film, particularly polyethylene film, 9 by for instance flame or corona discharge treatment, the application of printing to the film, followed by laminating 11 of the printed film on to a roll of open cell foam in 12 laminating equipment, according generally to a known 13 laminating process. In the laminating process, adhesive is 14 applied either to the foam or to the film, any solvent-based adhesive being found suitable, and the film is then applied 16 to the surface of the foam.
17 Where the printed, laminated foam is to be used to make 18 fun hats it has been found that a thickness of about 7 mm is 19 suitable. This produces a hat which is sufficiently stiff that a portion will stand up so as to be clearly visible 21 when the hat is worn, while the amount of materials used is 22 kept relatively low, thus avoiding extra cost and volume. A
23 foam thickness in the range 5 to 10 mm is preferable, 7 mm 24 having been found to be optimal.
As mentioned above, the thickness of the film has been 26 found to have a significant effect on the success or 27 otherwise of the laminating process. Although a thin film, 28 of a thickness in the range from 25 to 45 microns has been 29 found satisfactory, it may be found mechanically easier to deal with film a little thicker, for instance up to 100 31 microns, or more particularly 60 to 70 microns, in the 32 laminating process. This makes it easier to achieve correct 33 alignment between film and foam, and relative tension of the 34 two.
Embodiments of the present invention will now be 36 described, by way of example only, with reference to the 37 accompanying drawings, in which:

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WO91/00177 PCTtAU90/00285 _ 5 _ ~ ~32~
1 Figure 1 shows a plan view of a fun hat made according 2 to an embo~iment of the present invention;
3 Figure 2 shows a fun hat as shown in Figure 1, in use;
4 Figure 3 shows schematically a laminating process for laminating a printed film onto a strip of open cell foam;
6 Figure 4 shows a cross section on the line A-A of 7 Figure 1, viewed in the direction indicated by the arrows;
8 and 9 Figure 5 shows part of a laminated sheet prior to cutting into fun hats.
11 Referring to Figures l, 2 and 4, a fun hat made 12 according to an embodiment of the present invention 13 comprises a flat panel 1 of open celled foam 6 having a 14 printed film 5 on its upper surface. The composite panel has an aperture 2 therein with a scalloped edge. The 16 aperture 2 has a "cut-out" 3 which extends from an edge 17 thereof into the centre of the aperture. When the hat is 18 placed on a user's head, the cut-out 3 is pushed upwards to 19 stand upright in a clearly visible position.
The scalloped edge of the aperture 2 is merely to 21 provide grip on the wearer's head, and could be replaced by 22 a smooth-edged aperture or by some other shape such as a 23 toothed profile.
24 Referring to Figure 2, it can clearly be seen that the panel 1 of foam must have a certain thickness such that the 26 cut-out 3 will be self-supporting, in use. In embodiments 27 shown, the open cell foam panel 1 has a thickness of 7 mm.
28 Referring to Figure 3, the fun hat is produced usin~ a 29 laminating machine. A roll 4 of open cell foam is fed to a pair 31, 32 of laminating rollers where it meets, and is 31 laminated to, the printed film 33. The printed film 33 is 32 supplied from a roll 30, being fed to the laminating rollers 33 31, 32 via a tensioning roller 34 and an adhesive applying 34 roller 35. At the laminating rollers 31, 32, the adhesive covered surface of the printed film is applied to the open 36 cell foam, whereafter the adhesive is cured and the 37 laminated product 38 stamped or cut into multiple fun hats.
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1 Laminating processes of this general type are known and 2 elements of the equipment are therefore known. For 3 instance, the adhesive applying roller 35 is of known type, 4 having a bath 36 applying adhesive to the surface of the roller 35 and thence to a face of the printed film 33.
6 Conveniently, the adhesive applying roller 35 can be moved 7 away from the printed film 33, for instance, for 8 maintenance, loading and starting up operations.
9 The relative tension between the film 33 and the foam 37 is important. If it is incorrect, the film can tend to 11 wrinkle when applied, or to warp the finished product if it 12 is significantly tighter than the foam in the laminating 13 process. The tension can be adjusted to correct such 14 defects by means of the tensioning roller 34 which is adjustable in the tension it applies. Preferably a "banana"
16 roller is used, such rollers having a slightly convex outer 17 surface in cross section, this having the effect of 18 spreading the film 33 outwards towards the edges of the 19 surface of the roller 34 and therefore keeping it flat.
The application of adhesive for attaching a film to a 21 foam product is a known technique, for instance in the 22 manufacture of carpet underlay and any solvent based 23 adhesive is suitable for use in embodiments of the present 24 invention. However, the use of a printed film which can subsequently be laminated onto an open cell foam material 26 presents certain problems. In addition to the type of ink 27 being used, which should not destroy the flexible and 28 lasting properties of the film to be laminated, it is 29 necessary to treat the film so that it accepts both the ink and the adhesive. Unless the film is treated, films such as 31 polyethylene film tend not to accept adhesive or printing 32 ink well, these either not adhering to the film or being too 33 easily removed. The film is therefore subjected to a 34 surface treatment to improve adherence, such as corona discharge treatment.
36 Corona discharge treatment has the effect of slightly 37 oxidising the surface of the film, so as to increase the ~UBSTITllTE SHEET I -,, .

WO91/00l77 PCT/AU90/00285 - 7 2~'~32 ~

1 plurality of the surface molecules by forming for instance 2 methyl groups. Such surface modification permits the ink or 3 adhesive to spread more evenly on the surface during a 4 subsequent printing or adhesive application step and also promotes the formation of strong chemical bonds. Both 6 factors give increased adhesion. In one form of the 7 technique, the film is passed through a high energy 8 electrical corona discharge formed between an electrode and 9 an earthed roller which may or may not be provided with a dielectric cover. Suitable equipment is commercially 11 available and operates from normal mains voltage to generate 12 sufficient power at high frequency to produce a corona 13 discharge. The film surface is subjected to a high energy 14 electrical and ionic bombardment, the intensity of which is usually controlled by adjustment of the electrical flux 16 applied at the electrode. Corona discharge treatment is 17 described and discussed in the following publications:
18 "Electrode Developments for Treating Advancing" by F
19 Echkart Prinz and Karl-Heinz Meyer, published in PAPER, FILM
AND FOIL CONVER~ER, September 1988;
21 "Alkathene Polyethylene", Technical Service Note A105, 22 2nd Edition, by the Polyolefines Group of ICI Plastics 23 Division in a Series entitled "Printing of Polyethylene - 24 Film".
After corona discharge treatment, the polyethylene film 26 is printed for instance by a known technique such as 27 flexography or gravure to produce an image of a selected 28 decoration on one side of the film, and can then be stored 29 in a roll. Subsequently, glue is spread on the non-printed side of the film, which is then adhered to the open cell 31 foam in the laminating process described above.
32 After laminating, the composite sheet 38 produced must ; 33 be cut in register with the printed fun hats 50. In order 34 to achieve accurate cutting, sets of four fun hats 50 are printed in respective panels 52, each panel 52 being 36 provided with a marker 51. The cutting machine (not shown) 37 detects the marker 51 for each panel 52, each marker 51 ::

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Althou~h different types of film could be used, and 6 different thicknesses, polyethylene film at a thickness in 7 the range 25 to 45 microns has been found suitable, giving 8 the open cell foam sufficient strength for the decorative 9 cut-out to stand up. However, as mentioned above, in order to make the tension adjustment between film and foam easier, 11 film having a thickness in the range 60 to 70 microns is 12 preferable.
13 By using the combination of flexographic ink and the 14 polyethylene film, about six different colours can be printed and photographic images can be reproduced thereby.
16 Either high or low density polyethylene films can be used 17 but low density films are preferred. These films can be 18 either clear and transparent, or coloured.
19 An advantageous alternative material for use as the printed film is polypropylene. Although more expensive than 21 polyethylene, it tends to stretch less and is therefore more 22 easy physically to manipulate, for instance during the 23 laminating process.
24 The film used can be printed on either side with respect to the surface to be adhered to the foam. Either it 26 can be reverse printed on the surface to be glued, or it can 27 be positively printed on the surface which will be exposed 28 in the finished product. If it is reverse printed, only one 29 side of the film must be corona discharge treated since one side of the film only receives both ink and adhesive. This 31 makes the printed but unglued film slightly easier to store 32 on a roll since the untreated side of the film does not 33 significantly lift the ink from the printed side. However, 34 if positive printing is used, the number of colour print runs can be reduced for instance where a background colour 36 is to be applied. In reverse printing, the background must 37 be printed on but in positive printing, the film can itself . _ _ _ _ j SUBST~TUTE SHEET

W091/00177 PCT/~U90/00285 - 9 ~ 7 -. ~
1 be coloured.
2 A suitable type of ink which does not interfere 3 significantly with the printed film, or the adhesive, and g which does not tend to lift off significantly when the printed film is stored in a roll, comprises a solvent-6 resistant, wax-free laminating ink. Such an ink is 7 obtainable under the trade mark "POLARIS" from the Company 8 COLLIE COOK CONSOLIDATED.
9 Products according to embodiments of the present invention are relatively cheap to manufacture, convenient to ll produce in large quantities, for instance in the order of 12 lO,000 a batch, and are long-lasting while remaining 13 brightly coloured and therefore good promotional material.
14 The above-described arrangements and methods have been advanced merely by way of explanation and many modifications 16 may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and 17 scope of the invention which includes every novel feature 18 and combination of novel features herein disclosed.

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Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A laminated article, for use as a promotional or entertainment device, comprising a foam material product having a body of foam material (1) and a printed film (5) adhered to a surface thereof.

2. An article according to claim 1 wherein said body of foam material (1) comprises a polymeric foam material.

3. An article according to either preceding claim wherein said body of foam material (1) comprises an open cell foam material.

4. An article according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said body of foam material (1) comprises a layer of foam material (6) having a thickness in the range 5 to 10mm inclusive.

5. An article according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said printed film (5) comprises a polymeric film having a thickness in the range 25 to 100 microns inclusive.

6. An article according to claim 5 wherein said printed film (5) comprises a polymeric film having a thickness in the range 60 to 70 microns inclusive.

7. An article according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said printed film (5) comprises a polymeric film printed with a flexographic ink.

8. Headgear comprising an article according to any one of the preceding claims.

9. Headgear according to claim 8 comprising a brim portion (1) to seat around the head of a user, and a display portion (3) attached to an inner margin of said brim portion (1), which display portion (3) projects inwardly of the brim portion (1) when the headgear is not in use and projects from the brim portion (1) in an upstanding manner when the headgear is in use, being supported in said upstanding manner by the head of said user.

10. Headgear according to claim 9 wherein said brim and display portions (1,3) are integral.

11. Headgear according to either one of claims 9 or 10 wherein said brim portion (1) has a scalloped or otherwise undulating or jagged inner margin to provide some resistance to removal of the headgear from a user's head, in use.

12. A method of making a laminated article according to any one of claims 1 to 7, the method comprising the following steps:
i) surface treating a polymeric film (5) so as to increase the adherence of ink thereto;
ii) applying ink printing to the polymeric film (5);
and iii) laminating the printed film (5) onto open cell foam material (6), including applying adhesive to one or both of the printed film (5) and the open cell foam material (6).

13. A method according to claim 12 wherein said surface treating step comprises the application of flame or corona discharge treatment to a surface of the polymeric film (5).

14. A method according to either one of claims 12 or 13 wherein said open cell foam material (6) comprises a laminar material, the method further comprising the step of cutting the laminated article from an area of the open cell foam material (6) to which the printed film (5) has been laminated.

15. A method according to claim 14 wherein the printed film (5) carries printed registration marks in addition to printed material for display on said laminated article, the registration marks being for use during said cutting step to align cutting equipment with the position of the laminated articles prior to cutting thereof.