GB1600246A - Method of coating a sheet with a multi-coloured film and a sheet coated by such a method - Google Patents

Description

PATENT SPECIFICATION

( 11) ( 21) Application No 14022/80 ( 22) Filed 10 Aug 1977 ( 19) ( 62) Divided out of No I 600 245 ( 31) Convention Application No 734 531 ( 32) Filed 21 Oct 1976 in ( 33) United States of America (US) ( 44) Complete Specification published 14 Oct 1981 ( 51) INT CL ' B 05 D 1/28 1/36 ( 52) Index at acceptance B 2 E 1116 1747 CC ( 72) Inventor KENNETH IAN MORTON ( 54) A METHOD OF COATING A SHEET WITH A MULTI-COLOURED FILM AND A SHEET COATED BY SUCH A METHOD ( 71) We, BRUNSWICK CORPORATION, a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware, United States of America, of One Brunswick Plaza Stokie, Illinois 60076, United States of America, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and

by the following statement:-

This invention relates to method of coating a sheet with a multi-coloured film and to a sheet coated by such a method In particular the method is applicable to making camouflaee.

According to the invention there is provided a method of coating a sheet with a multi-coloured film comnrisinq the stens of (a) randomly applying one or more coloured plastiqol agents in nnnredictablv irregular shaped patches to a carrier web so that only randomly preselected nortions of the web are covered bv the agent or agents.

(b) overcoatine the vrevfouslv coloured patches of the web and any uncoated portions of the web with a coloured plastisol agent having a colour different from the colour of the one or nmore plaqtisol agents previously applied to the web, (c) formincn the agents into a film characteri 7 eod bv a ton surface having a single ncolour and a bottom surface immedeliatlv adliarent the web which has a randolmlv distinct irregular and non-repetitive multi-coloured pattern, and (d) transferring and securing the film to the sheet so that the sincle colour film surface abuts the sheet surface and the multi-coloured pattern is exposed to view.

Conventional methods for making camouflaee reaouire the assembly of over a hundred individiel X differently shaned pieces of fabric These pieces are attached to a net by hand using "hog rings" to secure the fabric pieces to the net The pieces of fabric form a multi-coloured pattern corresponding to the mixture of colours composing the terrain in which the camouflage is to be deployed Usually the net has different color patterns on opposite sides For example, on one side of the net the multi-coloured pattern will correspond to a summertime woodland terrain The opposite side of the camouflage will have a multi-coloured pattern corresponding to autumm woodland terrain.

Patent No 1,535,750 describes the equipment used to assemble the numerous pieces of fabric into camouflage This very large equipment advances nets past a series of work stations where labourers attach the coloured pieces to the net This is a time consuming, tedious and costly job, and it would be highly desirable to provide a more efficient and economical way to make camouflage.

Camouflage can be made by a preferred method in accordance with the invention (whose scope is defined in the appended claims) using substantially less labour and without the use of the large equipment featured in the aforesaid patent Consequently, the camouflage so made costs substantially less to manufacture than the prior art camouflage.

In the preferred method, several coloured sheets are assembled in a camouflage having the desired multi-coloured pattern The sheets are attached to a net or the net is eliminated with the sheets simply joined together at their edges The sheets are coloured by applying at least two film-forming agents of different colours to the surface of a carrier web, curing the agents to form a film, and transferring and securing the film(s) to a strong substrate material One or more filmforming colouring agents are applied to the carrier web so that only preselected portions of the web are covered by the agent or agents The agent or agents are spread over the selected portions of the web to partially 1 600 246 1,600,246 colour the web The web, including the partially coloured portions, is then overcoated with another colouring agent which is spread over the entire surface of the web, including previous coated portions On curing, the agents form a continuous film having a multi-coloured surface adjacent the web and a solid coloured surface exposed to view.

This film is then bonded to a substrate, the web or webs for two-sided material then being stripped so that the multi-coloured film surface(s) are exposed to view.

The types and amounts of colouring agents applied to the web are goverend by the multi-coloured pattern of the camouflage.

The individual sheets comprising the camouflage will have different colour arrangements such that on assembly of the sheets there is displayed the desired multi-coloured pattern.

The typical sheet to be colour coated is a spun-bound material sold by the Monsanto Corporation under the trade name CEREX.

This material is light weight but strong.

Preferably the CEREX sheet is treated so the camouflage will have radar scattering capability Other base materials are also used for camouflage cloth construction One treating method comprises applying metal fibres to the surface of the sheet This technique is disclosed in U S Patent No.

3,960,605, The carrier web may be paper or cloth.

Preferably the web is treated with a release agent such as silicone resin so that the multicoloured film can be readily stripped from the web The web may also be treated with a delustering agent One advantage of using a web treated with the delustering agent is that the multi-colored surface of the film upon being stripped from the web will have a generally matte finish That is the film will not have a glossy or shiny appearance This :is highly desirable for camouflage applications.

Typical film-forming colouring agents are polyvinyl chloride plastisol compounds which form a film upon heating to temperatures in the range from about 120 to 180 'C.

The composition of such agents are generally well known to those skilled in the camouflage arts, and they may be purchased from many chemical coating companies The agents are usually applied in a manner to form a film having a thickness ranging between about 2 and 3 mils.

In order that the invention may be well understood there will now be described, by way of example, the preferred method thereof together with camouflage made by that method, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view, with a section broken away, illustrating camouflage made by prior art techniques;

Figure 2 is a plan view illustrating camouflage made by the preferred method of the invention; Figure 3 is an hexagonal net to which coloured sheets made by the same preferred method may be attached; 70 Figure 4 is a side elevational view schematically illustrating equipment used to apply film-forming colouring agents to a carrier web in practise of the same preferred method; 75 Figure 5 is a plan view of the equipment shown in Figure 4; Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view showing the multi-coloured film being removed from the carrier web of Figure 4; 80 Figure 7 is a plan view of a sheet coated on one or both sides with the multi-coloured film shown in Figure 6; Figure -8 is a cross-sectional view of the sheet shown in Figure 7 taken along line 85 8-8; Figure 9 is a side elevational view showing deployed camouflage made by the preferred method of the invention; Figure 10 is an exploded view of the 90 lamination step to produce the sheet of Figures 7 and 8; and Figure 11 is a diagram with an exploded view of the stripping operation to produce the sheet of Figures 7 and 8 95 A typical prior art camouflage 10 is schematically illustrated in Figure 1 This camouflage 10 comprises a hexagonal net 12 such as shown in Figure 3 and a plurality of different coloured and shaped fabric 100 pieces 14 attached -to the net -12 by hog rings 16 As one can readily appreciate, to attach the numerous fabric pieces -14 to the net 12 requires a great deal of manual labour In contrast, camouflage 20 embodying the in 105 vention includes, as shown in Figure 2, five strips 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25 The strips 21are either attached at their edges 26 to each other or attached to a net 27 or both.

(For clarity the edges 26 of the strips 21 110 are emphasized by a dark solid line 26.

These edges 26 are not so-pronounced in the actual camouflage) These strips 21-25 when joined together form a multi-coloured pattern similar to the pattern of the prior 115 art camouflage However, instead of employing over a 100 different coloured fabric pieces 14, the multi-coloured pattern is formed by the relatively few strips 21-25.

The method of making these strips 21-25 120 is illustrated in Figures 4 to 8 Referring to Figures 4-and 5 there is shown a roll of carrier web 28 at an unwind station 30.

The web 28 moves past a first application station 32 through a first oven 34, and then 125 to a second application station 36 and through a second oven 38 to a wind-up station 40 As the web 28 passes the first application station 32, film forming colouring agents are ejected from nozzles 42 onto 130 1,600,246 the web and a doctor blade 46 spreads the agents over preselected portions 44 of the web's surface.

The coated portions 44 will generally have an irregular shape Ordinarily this shape will vary in a somewhat uncontrolled fashion Sufficient control, however, can be obtained by controlling the flow rate of agents through the nozzles 42 and the rate of speed of the web 28 so that the 'area of coverage is regulated even though the shape of the coloured area varies slightly This slight uncontrolled variation in shape of the coated portions 44 is desirable because it creates a randomness in the multi-colour patern Consequently, each camouflage unit will have a multi-coloured pattern which is slightly different from any other unit Since any section of natural terrain is different from any other section of terrain, the multicoloured pattern of our camouflage is like natural terrain not only in colour but also randomness.

On passing the first application station 32, the web 28 moves through the oven 34 which heats the colouring agents 32 so that they cure and form a film On exiting the oven 34 the partially coated web 28 passes by the second application station 36 Here a colouring agent having a colour different from the colouring agents previously applied to the web 28 is applied to the web as an overcoating 37 A doctor blade 50 at the second application station distributes the colouring agent ejected from nozzles 52 uniformly over the surface of the web, covering the entire web surface including the previously coated portions 44 The web then advances through the second oven 38 which cures the last applied colouring agent The coated web 28 a is then rolled up on a spindle 54 at the wind-up station 40 This coated web 28 a bears on its surface a film 58 comprising the portions 44 and the overcoating 37 The side 58 a of the film 58 adjacent the surface of the web 28 is multi-coloured and the opposite side 58 b is a solid colour.

The multi-colour sheet 60 shown in Figure 7 & 8 is formed by laminating the film (or films for two sided camouflage) to a substrate 62, so that the side 58 a of the film(s) is exposed to view on the final product.

This film transfer is achieved in a two step process Step No 1, Figure 10, is the lamination process where the film(s) is aplied to the substrate material 62 by simultaneously passing the coated carrier web(s) and the substrate material through an oven and nip rolls The film(s) softens slightly and adheres to the surface of this substrate 62 on cooling, a strong bond is formed between the film and substrate.

Step No 2 is the stripping process, Figure 11, whereby the carrier web(s) is stripped from the laminated sandwich Stripping of the carrier results in the end product camouflage material with multi-colour patterns exposed to view.

The sheet 60 may be incised such as disclosed in U S Patent No 3,069,796 Thus, when the camouflage 20 employing such incised sheets 21-25 is deployed as shown in Figure 8, portions of the sheets will extend outwards from the planes of the sheets, providing a three-dimensional effect The deployed camouflage will then give the appearance of a leafy structure corresponding to woodland terrain.

Reference is directed to our copending patent application No 33545/77 (Serial No.

1600245) from which the present application has been divided out and which has the same disclosure but claims different features thereof.

Claims (4)

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:-

1 A method of coating a sheet with a multi-coloured film, comprising the steps of (a) randomly applying one or more coloured plastisol agents in unpre 90 dictably irregular shaped patches to a carrier web so that only randomly preselected portions of the web are covered by the agent or agents, (b) overcoating the previously coloured 95 patches of the web and any uncoated portions of the web with a coloured plastisol agent having a colour different from the colour of the one or more plastisol agents previously ap 100 plied to the web, (c) forming the agents into a film characterized by a top surface having a single colour and a bottom surface immediately adjacent the web which 105 has a randomly distinct, irregular and non-repetitive multi-coloured pattern, and (d) transferring and securing the film to the sheet so that the single colour 110 film surface abuts the sheet surface and the multi-coloured pattern is exposed to view.

2 A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the agents are formed into the film 115 by heating.

3 A method as claimed in claim 1 and substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

4 A sheet coated with a multi-coloured 120 film, made by the method as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2.

A A THORNTON & CO, Northumberland House, 303-306 High Holborn, London, W C 1.

Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office by Burgess & Son (Abingdon), Ltd -1981 Published at The Patent Office, 25 Southampton Buildings, London, WC 2 A l AY from which copies may be obtained.