GB1561363A

GB1561363A - Mehtod of producing a decorative article and articles so produced

Info

Publication number: GB1561363A
Application number: GB3801276A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1975-09-17
Filing date: 1976-09-14
Publication date: 1980-02-20
Also published as: IT1077035B; FR2324470A1; FR2324470B3; CA1095716A

Description

(54) A METHOD OF PRODUCING A DECORATIVE ARTICLE AND ARTICLES SO PRODUCED (71) 1, GERALD REGINALD PAULLY, of 12 Ian Street, Noble Park, in the State of Victoria, Australia, a British Subject and Australian Citizen, do hereby declare the invention; for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: The present invention relates to a method of producing a decorative article, and the articles produced therefrom. The invention is particularly suitable to the producing of articles of jewellery, drink coasters, place mats and mountable pictures.

Heretofore, it has been known to pro duce items of decorative jewellery by pre paring an appropriate fitting in the article of jewellery, painting the base of said fitting black, placing and arranging gem chips on the blackened base and covering said chips with a clear resin, and allowing the resin to set and so embed the gem chips in said jewellery fitting.

It will be appreciated that a black background is desirable in setting gem chips as this enhances the colour or colours thereof.

This method of setting the gem chips directly in articles of jewellery has the obvious serious disadvantage that it has to bc performed on the actual article of jewellery which is not always convenient. Furthermore, it is evident that each article has to be separately subjected to the above gem setting procedure, this being time consuming and therefore uneconomical.

It will also be appreciated that gem chips having a high lustre are expensive. There are however many gem chips, synthetic stones and the like which, although cheap, because of their lack of lustre and brilliance cannot be used in such jewellery settings.

Accordingly if these cheaper materials could be used in a manner which enhances the natural character thereof many articles of jewellery could be produced more inexpensively.

It has now been found that if a light diffractive material either alone or as a base for the gem chips, synthetic stones and the like, is used a greater degree of brilliance is achieved, which not only is pleasing in itself but also sets off gem chips, synthetic stones and the like.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of producing a decorative article comprising placing a light diffractive material in a backing member having a peripheral lip and formed of a synthetic polymeric plastics material, adding liquid resin to said backing member to form a transparent cover over said light diffractive material and allowing said resin to cure to form an integral assembly comprising said backing member, said light diffractive material and the transparent cover, an image created by diffracted light being viewable through the cover.

According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of producing a decorative article comprising moulding in a mould a backing member having a peripheral lip and formed of an opaque synthetic polymeric plastics material, placing a light diffractive material in the backing member, adding liquid resin to said backing member over the light diffractive material to form a transparent cover over said light diflractive material with said resin, the liquid resin being selected so that it will adhere on cooling to the backing member, and allowing said resin to cure to form an integral assembly comprising said backing member, said light diffractive material and the transparent cover, an image created by diffracted light being viewable through the cover.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention there is provided a decora tive article produced by either of the methods described above.

The backing member is preferably moulded from acrylonitrile.butadiene-sty rene copolymer, however, any thermoplastic or thermosetting material is suitable.

The plastics materials of the backing member are preferably dyed with an appropriate compatible black dye, however in applications with the light diffractive material covering the entire base of the mould the black dye is not essential. The mould may comprise a flat or curved base portion with a low peripheral lip.

It will be appreciated that the base portion of the mould may have any peripheral shape and this will naturally be determined by the shape of the article required. When the article is to be used in jewellery the shape will be influenced by the fitting provided to hold the setting. Thus the shape may be oval, round, square, etc. to suit complemental fittings aesthetically designed to suit various articles such as jewellery. It will be appreciated that this method enables jewellery settings to be conveniently mass-produced in standard sizes and shapes determined by jewellery requirements and accordingly, will obviously reduce the cost of producing the settings.

The clear resin may preferably be an epoxy resin and must be capable of curing upon exposure to the ambient atmosphere.

It is preferable, however, to subject the resin to heat, after application to the backing member in order to expedite the curing of the resin and to eliminate trapped air bubbles in the resin.

The preferred light diffractive material to be used is an aluminium foil which has been embossed in a manner to diffract light. Such an aluminium foil may conveniently be 0.000001 of an inch thick and laminated with a clear plastics film. The embossed pattern on the foil is formed by arrangements of lines applied at the spacing of the order 14000 lines per inch. The result of the diffraction of light from such a foil provides a broad spectra of colour.

It is usual to add a small excess of the clear resin to the mould in order to produce a convex external surface of "domed" effect, in the resin which it has set. It is noted that the clear resin on setting intensifies the brilliance of the aluminium foil and also protects the surface of the foil from damage, the aluminium foil being extremely soft.

In a further embodiment it has been discovered that by utilizing the light difirac- tive material beneath a masking sheet such as a negative, or a screen print on a transparent material, one obtains a picture in shimmering colours, which changes with movement of the mounting, through the colours of the spectrum.

One other method of producing such an effect is for a picture to be drawn, a negative made of the picture, such that the white parts are black and the black parts clear; the black area is screen printed onto a transparent sheet, and hence the white area, i.e.

the actual picture, being left clear. This is then set in the backing member and the diffractive material will be exposed in the clear areas. If desired drawings, etchings or adhesive transfers may be used to replace the negative or even adhered direct to the light diffractive material prior to covering with the clear resin. It will be appreciated that ornamental decoration may also be printed directly onto the diffractive material.

The invention will now be illustrated by the following Example.

EXAMPLE The embossed aluminium foil on a plastic backing is cut to shape and placed on the base of an appropriately shaped backing member, having a low peripheral lip and moulded from a styrene polymer plastics material.

A small quantity of epoxy resin is placed beneath the foil and the resultant assembly heat for a short period to obtain an even layer of resin between the backing member and foil. This operation also assists the foil to lay fiat on the backing member.

Epoxy resin is then poured into the mould covering the foil until a satisfactory "domed" surface is obtained. The mould is then place in a heater set at between 1200F to 165"F to expedite the curing of the epoxy resin and to allow the escape of trapped air bubbles. The curing time is about 70 minutes to 2 hours (depending on the temperature and size of the article) under these conditions.

In another embodiment opal chips or slices are arranged individually on top of the foil prior to addition of the epoxy resin.

In yet another embodiment several srnall pieces of the foil cut to any desired shape are placed in a random or organized arrangement in the mould. Preferably the mould is black in colour. The epoxy resin is then added to the mould.

If a transparent sheet or film carrying additional decorative material is used a small quantity of resin is placed on the foil before the sheet or film. Again this is heated to obtain an even layer before the main quantity of resin is added to form the "domed" cover.

One practical arrangement of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is an exploded view of a decorative article to be produced by the method of the present invention, and Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view through the finished article.

Referring now to the drawings the article coprises a moulded plastics base 1 having an upstanding peripheral lip la. The height of the lip is slightly greater than the total thickness of the components 2 and 3 to be located within the area defined by the lip so that when these components are so located, portion of the lip still protrudes to form a boundary for the area into which the epoxy resin is to be poured.

The piece of diffractive foil material 2 is cut so as to neatly fit within the area defined by the peripheral lip and is therefore located by the lip. It will be appreciated that in some embodiments of the invention the diffractive material may not be in the form of a single piece but may be several pieces which are arranged in a random or preset formation on the base.

The transparent film 3 is screen printed so that a clear area remains to define an ornamental indicia which in this case is the letter "T". It will be appreciated that the provision of a clear space will enable the diffractive material 2 to be viewed through this clear space in the finished article. As previously disclosed the decorative material placed on the diffractive foil 2 can be in a wide variety of forms including both two dimensional and three dimensional forms.

Aftert the diffractive foil sheet 2 and the transparent film 3 have been correctlv located in the base 1, the transparent cover is formed by pouring clear epoxy resin onto the base in a quantity sufficient to form a "domed" top surface on the resin and the product so produced is cured to produce a final integrated assembly having a cross section as shown in Figure 2.

The article so produced is intended to be subsequently mounted in a jewellery setting such settings being commercially produced in a series of standard sizes and accordingly the articles of the present invention can be produced in the same range of sizes to fit the standard jewellery settings. However it is to be understood that the invention may be applied to the production of a very wide range of articles examples of which are coasters upon which drink glasses may be placed, a wide variety of souvenirs such as ornaments or key rings and decorative plaques and pictures, place mats and even on a large scale, coffee tables and ornamental tables.

WHAT I CLAIM IS:- 1. A method of producing a decorative article comprising placing a light diffractive material in a backing member having a peripheral lip and formed of a synthetic polymeric plastics material, adding liquid resin to said backing member to form a transparent cover over said light diffractive material and allowing said resin to cure to form an integral assembly comprising said backing member, said light diffractive material and the transparent cover, an image created by diffracted light being viewable through the cover.

2. A method of producing a decorative article comprising moulding in a mould a backing member having a peripheral lip and formed of an opaque synthetic polymeric plastics material, placing a light diffractive material in the backing member, adding liquid resin to said backing member over the light diffractive material to form a transparent cover over said light diffractive material with said resin, the liquid resin being selected so that it will adhere on cooling to the backing member, and allowing said resin to cure to form an integral assembly comprising said backing member, said light diffractive material and the transparent cover, an image created by diffracted light being viewable through the cover.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the quantity of liquid resin added is sufficient to form a convex external surface on the cover above the level of the lip on the backing member when the resin is cured.

4. A method as claimed in any preceding claim including the step of locating ornamental material on the diffractive material before adding the resin so that said ornamental material will constitute a portion of the integral assembly.

5. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 including the step of locating an opaque mask intermediate the light diffractive material and the cover to define the image created.

6. A method as claimed in any preceding claim including the step of applying an indicium to the diffractive material.

7. A decorative article produced by the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. A method of producing a decorative article substantially as described in the foregoing example.

9. A method producing a decorative article substantially as hereinbefore described.

10. A decorative article substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

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**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view through the finished article. Referring now to the drawings the article coprises a moulded plastics base 1 having an upstanding peripheral lip la. The height of the lip is slightly greater than the total thickness of the components 2 and 3 to be located within the area defined by the lip so that when these components are so located, portion of the lip still protrudes to form a boundary for the area into which the epoxy resin is to be poured. The piece of diffractive foil material 2 is cut so as to neatly fit within the area defined by the peripheral lip and is therefore located by the lip. It will be appreciated that in some embodiments of the invention the diffractive material may not be in the form of a single piece but may be several pieces which are arranged in a random or preset formation on the base. The transparent film 3 is screen printed so that a clear area remains to define an ornamental indicia which in this case is the letter "T". It will be appreciated that the provision of a clear space will enable the diffractive material 2 to be viewed through this clear space in the finished article. As previously disclosed the decorative material placed on the diffractive foil 2 can be in a wide variety of forms including both two dimensional and three dimensional forms. Aftert the diffractive foil sheet 2 and the transparent film 3 have been correctlv located in the base 1, the transparent cover is formed by pouring clear epoxy resin onto the base in a quantity sufficient to form a "domed" top surface on the resin and the product so produced is cured to produce a final integrated assembly having a cross section as shown in Figure 2. The article so produced is intended to be subsequently mounted in a jewellery setting such settings being commercially produced in a series of standard sizes and accordingly the articles of the present invention can be produced in the same range of sizes to fit the standard jewellery settings. However it is to be understood that the invention may be applied to the production of a very wide range of articles examples of which are coasters upon which drink glasses may be placed, a wide variety of souvenirs such as ornaments or key rings and decorative plaques and pictures, place mats and even on a large scale, coffee tables and ornamental tables. WHAT I CLAIM IS:-

1. A method of producing a decorative article comprising placing a light diffractive material in a backing member having a peripheral lip and formed of a synthetic polymeric plastics material, adding liquid resin to said backing member to form a transparent cover over said light diffractive material and allowing said resin to cure to form an integral assembly comprising said backing member, said light diffractive material and the transparent cover, an image created by diffracted light being viewable through the cover.

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