GB2117956A

GB2117956A - Improvements in the production of lettering and signs

Info

Publication number: GB2117956A
Application number: GB08222618A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Kenneth Douglas
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1982-03-31
Filing date: 1982-08-05
Publication date: 1983-10-19

Abstract

Plastics material lettering is cut from flexible or semiflexible plasticised plastics material at least 1 mm thick by means of a knife or a laser beam. The lettering is stuck on to a back board so as to give the effect of relief. Various styles and sizes of lettering are obtained by having a library of various styles which are optically projected to the desired size. Conveniently the optical projection is onto the reverse side of a transfer medium and is traced by a transfer marker so the tracing can be transferred onto the workpiece. The lettering can have chamfered edges.

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in the production of lettering and signs The present invention concerns the production of lettering and signs for shop fascias and the like where the letters have an appreciable thickness so the lettering stands out in relief. The invention particularly relates to lettering of plastics material.

Such plastics material lettering are either moulded from a rigid plastics material which leads to an economic restriction on the range of styles and sizes of lettering or are milled by means of a patagraph controlled milling machine from a sheet of rigid plastics material. There is a prejudice against the use of plasticised plastics material probably due to the difficulty of machininy such material. The only use of plasticised plastics material for lettering known is for very thin lettering giving a flush appearance for internal signs such as notice boards. This thin lettering is punched out from sheet considerably smaller in thickness than 1 mm. and it is dubious whether thicker lettering could have been produced by stamping plasticised material since the stamping would tend to distort the material.

According to the present invention, there is provided lettering for shop fascias and the like comprising a layer of a flexible or semi-flexible plasticised plastics material at least 1 mm thick point-cut into the desired shape.

By "point-cut" is meant cut at a point by a knife or a laser beam.

The plastics material would be coloured as desired and would be ultra-violet-light resistant.

There are many advantages of the present invention. Plasticised plastics material are cheaper than rigid forms of the same material possibly due to an increased filler content, and compared to the use of rigid materials, the flexible materials can be made in a wider range of styles and sizes. When milling rigid materials, the pantagraph demands a metal master of each style or each letter although various sizes can be obtained by varying the linkage. With the present invention only a paper original of each style is needed as will be explained.

Various sizes and styles of lettering according to the present invention can be provided starting from paper illustrations of the various styles available. A chosen letter and style can be optically projected to the desired style either directly on the work piece to be used as a guide for the cutting operation (but this is not preferred since the guide would tend to be obscurred by the cutting operation casting shadows) or onto a transfer medium. The transfer medium would receive a reversed image which would be traced on the medium by a transfer marker such as a wax or other pencil and the medium would then be reversed and placed on the workpiece and the traced outline rubbed down onto the workpiece.

The transfer medium would be a cheap disposable material such as paper or could be cleanable and re-usable. If the rubbed down tracing would not contrast sufficiently with the workpiece, a suitable facing material such as paper could be stuck onto the workpiece and removed after the letter had been cut. The optical projector would be arranged to back project the image with the transfer medium being translucent so the tracking operation would not obscure the image.

The cutting can be done at an angle so as to give a desirable chamfered edge to the lettering.

The invention lends itself to the production of self adhesive letters which can be stuck onto a back board of say 3 mm semi-flexible plastics material such as P.V.C. The workpieces would be treated with a suitable adhesive which would bond to the workpieces and the back board and a release sheet used to protect the adhesive before the lettering was used. The precise adhesive depends on the material of the lettering and of the back board but an adhesive as used on Sellotape (Registered Trademark) which is thought to be a Polyvinyl Acetate adhesive should be suitable for most plastics materials suitable for the present invention such as P.V.C.

It is possible to cut out lettering according to the present invention easily in thicknesses of the order of 1 + of 3 mm by a hand-held scalpel-like knife with the work piece supported on an internally fluted cardboard support.

A good material for the lettering and the back boards in P.V.C. since this is scratch resistant, can be made resistant to ultra violet radiation, and can incorporate colouring which is fade resistant.

It is possible to increase the adhesion between the lettering and the back board by a pressing operation possibly with some heat applied. The adhesive should be resistant to the atmosphere so the lettering does not peel off. The adhesive should not be water based but should be a polymer resistant to moisture, oxidisation, and in so far as it is not screened by the lettering to ultra voilet radiation.

Claims

1. Lettering for shop fascias and the like comprising a layer of flexible or semi-flexible plasticised plastics material at least 1 mm thick point-cut (as herein defined) into the desired shape.

2. Lettering according to claim 1 with chamfered edges.

3. Lettering according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the thickness is between 1 and 3 mm.

4. Lettering according to any one of the preceding claims with a self adhesive layer and a tear-off protective covering for the adhesive.

5. A method of producing lettering according to any one of the preceding claims in which a desired style of letter is selected from a library of such styles and is optically projected so as to form a reversed image on the back of a transfer medium which is translucent, the outline is traced by means of a transfer marker, the transfer medium is reversed and placed on top of a sheet of the plasticised plastics material and the

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

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. SPECIFICATION Improvements in the production of lettering and signs The present invention concerns the production of lettering and signs for shop fascias and the like where the letters have an appreciable thickness so the lettering stands out in relief. The invention particularly relates to lettering of plastics material. Such plastics material lettering are either moulded from a rigid plastics material which leads to an economic restriction on the range of styles and sizes of lettering or are milled by means of a patagraph controlled milling machine from a sheet of rigid plastics material. There is a prejudice against the use of plasticised plastics material probably due to the difficulty of machininy such material. The only use of plasticised plastics material for lettering known is for very thin lettering giving a flush appearance for internal signs such as notice boards. This thin lettering is punched out from sheet considerably smaller in thickness than 1 mm. and it is dubious whether thicker lettering could have been produced by stamping plasticised material since the stamping would tend to distort the material. According to the present invention, there is provided lettering for shop fascias and the like comprising a layer of a flexible or semi-flexible plasticised plastics material at least 1 mm thick point-cut into the desired shape. By "point-cut" is meant cut at a point by a knife or a laser beam. The plastics material would be coloured as desired and would be ultra-violet-light resistant. There are many advantages of the present invention. Plasticised plastics material are cheaper than rigid forms of the same material possibly due to an increased filler content, and compared to the use of rigid materials, the flexible materials can be made in a wider range of styles and sizes. When milling rigid materials, the pantagraph demands a metal master of each style or each letter although various sizes can be obtained by varying the linkage. With the present invention only a paper original of each style is needed as will be explained. Various sizes and styles of lettering according to the present invention can be provided starting from paper illustrations of the various styles available. A chosen letter and style can be optically projected to the desired style either directly on the work piece to be used as a guide for the cutting operation (but this is not preferred since the guide would tend to be obscurred by the cutting operation casting shadows) or onto a transfer medium. The transfer medium would receive a reversed image which would be traced on the medium by a transfer marker such as a wax or other pencil and the medium would then be reversed and placed on the workpiece and the traced outline rubbed down onto the workpiece. The transfer medium would be a cheap disposable material such as paper or could be cleanable and re-usable. If the rubbed down tracing would not contrast sufficiently with the workpiece, a suitable facing material such as paper could be stuck onto the workpiece and removed after the letter had been cut. The optical projector would be arranged to back project the image with the transfer medium being translucent so the tracking operation would not obscure the image. The cutting can be done at an angle so as to give a desirable chamfered edge to the lettering. The invention lends itself to the production of self adhesive letters which can be stuck onto a back board of say 3 mm semi-flexible plastics material such as P.V.C. The workpieces would be treated with a suitable adhesive which would bond to the workpieces and the back board and a release sheet used to protect the adhesive before the lettering was used. The precise adhesive depends on the material of the lettering and of the back board but an adhesive as used on Sellotape (Registered Trademark) which is thought to be a Polyvinyl Acetate adhesive should be suitable for most plastics materials suitable for the present invention such as P.V.C. It is possible to cut out lettering according to the present invention easily in thicknesses of the order of 1 + of 3 mm by a hand-held scalpel-like knife with the work piece supported on an internally fluted cardboard support. A good material for the lettering and the back boards in P.V.C. since this is scratch resistant, can be made resistant to ultra violet radiation, and can incorporate colouring which is fade resistant. It is possible to increase the adhesion between the lettering and the back board by a pressing operation possibly with some heat applied. The adhesive should be resistant to the atmosphere so the lettering does not peel off. The adhesive should not be water based but should be a polymer resistant to moisture, oxidisation, and in so far as it is not screened by the lettering to ultra voilet radiation. Claims

2. Lettering according to claim 1 with chamfered edges.

5. A method of producing lettering according to any one of the preceding claims in which a desired style of letter is selected from a library of such styles and is optically projected so as to form a reversed image on the back of a transfer medium which is translucent, the outline is traced by means of a transfer marker, the transfer medium is reversed and placed on top of a sheet of the plasticised plastics material and the tracing transferred to the plastics material or a layer over that material, and the letter is cut out by means of a knife following the transferred outline.

6. A method according to claim 5 wherein the knife is held at an angle so as to yield chamfered edges.