GB2308332A

GB2308332A - Manufacturing vacuum-deposited gold foil

Info

Publication number: GB2308332A
Application number: GB9526154A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ting-Jone Shih
Original assignee: SHIH TING JONE
Current assignee: SHIH TING JONE
Priority date: 1995-12-21
Filing date: 1995-12-21
Publication date: 1997-06-25
Also published as: GB9526154D0

Abstract

Several celluloid plates (5) are disposed in a vacuum container (1) of a melting/evaporating apparatus and a gold melting/evaporating device (4) is disposed in the vacuum container (1) for melting and evaporating a gold material placed therein. The above gold foil can be taken down from the celluloid plates (5) and used to manufacture a product with solid picture by means of photographical reproduction and the technique of laser sculpture or chemical etching. Alternatively, an epoxy rein or UV adhesive is added to two faces of a plastic film for adhering the gold foil or other print thereto. Then two PU films are adhered to the two faces of the plastic film to cover the gold foil or the print. Then the plastic film is lighted by ultraviolet ray to enhance the adhesion so as to form an integrated product. As an alternative to the celluloid plates a wooden or paper product may be placed in the vacuum container.

Description

A METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING VACUUH-DEPOSITED GOLD FOIL AND APPLICATION PRODUCTS THEREOF BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing vacuum-deposited gold foil and application products thereof. The gold foil is formed by vacuum deposition technique and is patterned with a solid picture by means of the technique of photographical reproduction and cooperative technique of laser sculpture or chemical etching. Alternatively, the gold foil can be laminated with plastic film and PU film to form an integrated product such as a name card, or the gold foil can be directly formed on the surface of a wooden or a paper product by the technique of vacuum deposition to form a golden outer layer thereof.

It is known that the photographic technique is widely applied to the field of printing. However, it is still difficult to achieve an optimal visual effect. For example, a current name card can be printed with various characters and pictures. However, such name card only has a plane pattern with monotonous visual effect. In order to promote the visual effect, a gold foil can be added to the name card. Due to the excellent extensibility of gold, a gold material can be punched, forged or pressed into a gold foil with a thickness of about 0.035 mm for making the name card. It costs much time to perform such procedure and the produced gold foil can hardly have uniform thickness and good quality.

Moreover, conventionally, the gold foil is formed with characters or pictures by punching as seen in casting of a gold coin or a gold medal. However, the conventional punching mold is manufactured by general mechanical processing apparatus and only has a rough profile of the picture. Therefore, the gold foil can be hardly punched with a fine picture. In addition, the produced gold foil is often not effectively protected from breaking.

SUMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing vacuumdeposited gold foil and application products thereof.

Several celluloid plates are placed in a vacuum container and a gold melting/evaporating device is disposed in the vacuum container for melting and evaporating a gold material. The vapor of gold ion is vacuum-deposited on surfaces of the celluloid plates to form gold foils. After the operation of vacuum deposition, the celluloid plates are taken out of the vacuum container and laminate sheets painted with thermoplastic adhesive are adhered to the surfaces of the celluloid plates with the gold foils and heated through a laminator so as to take down the deposited gold foils from the celluloid plates. The gold foil has a uniform thickness which is varied with the preset time of vacuum deposition.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide the above method in which at the starting stage of heating of the melting/evaporating device, the shield cover covers the melting/evaporating device and the other metal impurities which have lower melting points are first evaporated to attach to the shield cover.

Thereafter, the shield cover is opened to permit the vapor of the gold ion to be deposited on the surfaces of the celluloid plates, forming the pure gold foil.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide the above method in which a sheet of glass paper is disposed over the inner wall face of the vacuum container so that the escaping vapor of gold ion is deposited on the glass paper, the glass paper being taken out and molten to retrieve the gold material for further use.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide the above method in which the gold foil can be used to manufacture a product with solid picture by means of photographical reproduction and the technique of laser sculpture or chemical etching. Due to the metalic properties of the gold foil, the light projected onto the gold foil will be reflected in various directions to create a solid picture with foggy, bright, high and low and black and white effect. Then laser base stripes are partially composed according to the principle of gradation, contrast and symmetry so as to present a flickering effect of the picture in accordance with the different reflection angles.

Therefore, a solid effect of the picture is presented in all direction and a shining view is created.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide the above method in which the above gold foil can be used to manufacture a product with plane picture in such a manner that a color or blackand-white transparent plastic film previously patterned with a picture is formed with a number of small dents on two faces, and then an epoxy resin or UV adhesive is added to the two faces of the film, and then the film is heated to keep it with proper adhesion. Then the gold foil is adhered to at least one of the two faces of the film and two PU films are adhered to the two faces of the plastic film by colorless transparent thermoplastic adhesive to cover the gold foils. Alternatively, the faces of the plastic film are treated with transparent paint by ultrasonic wave electric coating or spraying and then lighted by ultraviolet ray so as to enhance the binding thereof without detachment.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide the above method in which with respect to the application of the method to a wooden product, the wooden product is placed in the vacuum container and the gold foil is directly formed on the surface of the wooden product by vacuum deposition and then the surface of the wooden product with the gold foil is treated with transparent paint by ultrasonic wave electric coating or spraying so as to protect the gold foil.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide the above method in which with respect to the application of the method to a paper product, the paper product is placed in the vacuum container and the gold foil is directly formed on the surface of the paper product by vacuum deposition and then the surface of the paper product with the gold foil is treated with transparent paint by ultrasonic wave electric coating or spraying so as to protect the gold foil.

The present invention can be best understood through the following description and accompanying drawing, wherein: BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a flow chart of the method of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective sectional view of the melting/evaporating apparatus of the present invention; Fig. 3 is a side sectional view of the melting/evaporating apparatus of the present invention; Fig. 4 is a front sectional view of the melting/evaporating apparatus of the present invention; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the shield cover and the melting/evaporating device of the present invention; Fig. 6 is a side view of the shield cover and the melting/evaporating device of the present invention, showing the operation thereof; Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing the structure of a name card manufactured by the method of the present invention; and Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing the structure of another type of name card manufactured by the method of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Please refer to Fig. 1. The method of the present invention includes at least the following independent steps: (A) forming the gold foil by vacuum deposition; (B) using the gold foil to manufacture a product with solid picture; (C) using the gold foil to manufacture a product with plane picture; and (D) directly depositing the gold on the surface of a wooden or a paper product by vacuum deposition.

With respect to step (A), please refer to Figs. 2, 3 and 4. The gold foil is made by means of a melting/evaporating apparatus including a vacuum container 1 and a sucking pipe 11 for sucking the air out of the container 1 so as to vacuum the container 1.

An inner wall face of the container 1 is covered by a sheet of glass paper 12. A rotating mechanism is disposed in the vacuum container 1, including a seat body 3 having several wheels 35 under a bottom of the seat body 3. A melting/evaporating device 4 is disposed on the seat body 3 and electrically heated. The melting/evaporating device 4 is made of heat-resistant tungsten. The gold material is placed on the melting/evaporating device 4. Referring to Figs. 5 and 6, the upper portions of lateral sides of the melting/evaporating device 4 are formed with slide channels and a shield cover 411 is disposed in the slide channels. A rack 412 is disposed under one side of the shield cover 411 and a spiral wheel 413 is rotarily disposed on an outer side of the melting/evaporating device 4 to mesh with the rack 412. A spiral rod 4140 of a motor 414 disposed on the outer side of the device 4 meshes with the spiral wheel 413, whereby when the motor 414 operates, the shield cover 411 is shifted to cover or uncover the device 4. Several groups of coaxially and serially connected rollers 33 are disposed on the seat body 3. A pulley 32 is disposed on a central shaft of each group of rollers 33. A belt 34 is connected between the pulleys 32 and a motor 31 is drivingly connected with one of the central shaft, whereby when the motor 31 rotarily drives the central shaft, the other central shaft is rotated synchronously in the same direction. A cylindrical rotary frame 2 is disposed on the rollers 33 with its surface frictionally contacting with the rollers 33. When the rollers 33 rotate, the rotary frame 2 is driven and rotated. The rotary frame 2 is provided with several sets of clips 21 for clipping celluloid plates 5. The clipping manner pertains to prior art and will not be discussed hereinbelow. When it is desired to melt/evaporate the gold material, the seat body 3 together with the rotary frame 2 is moved into the vacuum container 1 by means of the wheels 35. Then the sucking pipe 11 sucks the air out of the container 1 to form an approximately 5 torrs vacuum therein. When starting to manufacture the gold foil, the motor 31 is activated to make the rollers 33 drive the rotary frame 2. Simultaneously, the melting/evaporating device 4 is activated and instantaneously heated into a high temperature to melt and evaporate the gold material. ( The gold material is molten at about 1000 degrees C and evaporated at about 2660 degrees C. ) At the starting stage of heating of the melting/evaporating device 4, the motor 414 is not activated and the shield cover 411 covers the melting/evaporating device 4. At this time, the other metal impurities which are mixed with the gold material and have lower melting points than the gold material, such as silver and copper, will be first evaporated to attach under the bottom of the shield cover 411. After a period of time, the motor 414 is activated to make the spiral rod 4140 drive the spiral wheel 413. The spiral wheel 413 in turn drives the rack 412 to shift the shield cover 411 open. At this time, the evaporated gold material is permitted to escape from the melting/evaporating device 4. Because the celluloid plates 5 are rotated and are made of PET material with static electricity, the vapor of gold ion will be evenly deposited on the surfaces of the celluloid plates 5. In the vacuum condition, the melting/evaporating device 4 only needs to be heated to about 2300 degrees C for evaporating the gold material and this high temperature is limited within a portion on which the gold material is heated. The high temperature is decreased to one half at a portion slightly away from the gold material and is greatly decreased at a portion further away from the gold material. The temperature at the celluloid plates 5 is only the room temperature. Therefore, the heating of the melting/evaporating device 4 will not lead to melting of the celluloid plates 5. After the vacuum deposition is completed, the seat body 3 is moved out of the vacuum container 1 for taking out the celluloid plates 5. Then a laminate painted with thermoplastic adhesive is attached to the surface of each celluloid plate 5 with deposited gold foil and heated through a laminator so as to easily take down the gold foil deposited on the celluloid plate 5. The gold foil has a thickness of about 0.000015 mm for successive processing. Accordingly, the gold foil is made at high efficiency with unified quality. The excessively evaporated gold material will be deposited on the glass paper 12 attached to the inner wall face of the vacuum container. The glass paper 12 can be taken out and molten to retrieve the gold material for further use.

The above gold foil can be used to manufacture a product with solid picture or plane picture or the gold foil can be directly formed on the surface of a wooden or paper product by the technique of vacuum deposition.

With respect to the manufacturing of the product with solid picture, the gold foil is processed in the following manner: 1. Prepare a clear photograph or picture.

2. Photographically reproduce the photograph or picture.

3. Input the reproduced picture into a computer for modification so as to transform the picture into particles.

4. Treat the particles with respect to size, length, angle, shape and amount and, in cooperation with the technique of laser sculpture or chemical etching, synchronously manufacture a mold with the same picture as the photograph.

5. Use the above mold to punch or thermally press the gold foil into a gold photograph with the solid picture.

By means of the metalic properties of the gold foil with the solid picture, the light projected onto the gold foil will be reflected in various directions to create a solid picture with foggy, bright, high and low and black and white effect. Then laser base stripes are partially composed according to the principle of gradation, contrast and symmetry so as to present a flickering effect of the picture in accordance with the different reflection angles. Therefore, a solid effect of the picture is presented in all direction and a shining view is created. The gold foil is corrosionresistant, high temperature-resistant and humidityproof so that it can be kept permanently with artistic value.

With respect to the manufacturing of the product with plane picture, the gold foil is processed in the following manner: Referring to Figs. 7 and 8, a color or black-andwhite transparent plastic film 7 patterned with a picture is prepared. A number of small dents are formed on two faces of the film 7 by high voltage electric punching machine. Then an epoxy resin or W adhesive is added to the two faces of the film 7 to serve as a medium. Then the film 7 is heated to about 200 degrees C to make it with proper adhesion. By means of the small dents, the epoxy resin or the UV adhesive effectively remains adherent. Thereafter, a gold foil 6 is adhered to each face of the film 7. After the film 7 is cooled, the gold foil 6 is firmly adhered to the medium and thus is firmly binded with the film 7. In addition, two outer faces of the gold foils 6 are also added with epoxy resin or W adhesive and two transparent PU films 8 are adhered to the faces of the gold foils 6 to form a laminated structure so as to protect the gold foils 6 from being abraded or broken. Alternatively, a layer of transparent paint can be adhered to the surfaces of the gold foils 6 by the technique of ultrasonic wave electric coating or directly by spraying. The completed gold foil name card is lighted by ultraviolet ray to enhance the adhesion so as to form an integrated product without easy detachment.

With respect to the application of the present invention to a wooden product, the wooden product is directly placed in the vacuum container 1 for the operation of vacuum deposition. The basic principle of this operation is identical to that of the preceding operation. However, the wooden product usually contains water and should be first painted with waterproof adhesive prior to the vacuum deposition so as to avoid cracking and deformation of the wooden product during the procedure of vacuumi2ation. The waterproof adhesive is a thermoplastic adhesive and the successive embossing operation should be performed at a temperature of about 120 degrees C. The surface of the completed product is laminated with a protective layer of transparent paint by the technique of ultrasonic wave electric coating or spraying.

With respect to the application of the present invention to a paper product such as a wall paper, wrapping paper, etc., the paper product is directly placed in the vacuum container 1 for the operation of vacuum deposition. The basic principle of this operation is identical to that of the preceding operation.

However, the surface of the paper product should be first painted with thermoplastic adhesive prior to the vacuum deposition. The completed paper product is processed into a cylindrical shape for facilitating the working and transferring. The surface of the completed product is laminated with an abrasion-resistant layer of transparent paint by the technique of ultrasonic wave electric coating or spraying.

It is to be understood that the above description and drawings are only used for illustrating some embodiments of the present invention, not intended to limit the scope thereof. Any variation and derivation from the above description and drawings should be included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A method for manufacturing vacuum-deposited gold foil and application products thereof, at least comprising the following steps: (A) movably locating celluloid plates in a vacuum container, a gold melting/evaporating device being disposed in the vacuum container for melting and evaporating a gold material placed therein, the evaporated gold material being vacuum-deposited on surfaces of the celluloid plates to form gold foils, after the operation of vacuum deposition, the celluloid plates being taken out of the vacuum container, then laminate sheets painted with thermoplastic adhesive being adhered to the surfaces of the celluloid plates with the gold foils and heated through a laminator so as to take down the deposited gold foils from the celluloid plates; (B) using the above gold foil to manufacture a product with solid picture, a photograph or a picture being photographically reproduced and the reproduced picture being input into a computer for modification so as to transform the picture into particles, the particles being treated with respect to size, length, angle, shape and amount and and in cooperation with the technique of laser sculpture or chemical etching, a mold with the same picture as the photograph being manufactured, the above mold being used to punch or thermally press the gold foil into a gold photograph with the solid picture; and (C) using the above gold foil to manufacture a product with plane picture, a color or black-and-white transparent plastic film previously patterned with a picture being formed with a number of small dents on two faces, then an epoxy resin or UV adhesive being added to the two faces of the film, then the film being heated to keep it with proper adhesion, then the gold foil being adhered to at least one of the two faces of the film, then two PU films being adhered to the two faces of the plastic film by colorless transparent thermoplastic adhesive to cover the gold foils, then the plastic film with the gold foils being lighted by ultraviolet ray to enhance the adhesion so as to form an integrated product without easy detachment.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the gold foil is made by means of a melting/evaporating apparatus including a vacuum container, a rotating mechanism being disposed in the vacuum container, including a seat body having several wheels under a bottom of the seat body, a melting/evaporating device being disposed on the seat body and electrically heated, a shield cover being slidably disposed above the melting/evaporating device, a rack being disposed under one side of the shield cover and a spiral wheel being rotarily disposed on an outer side of the melting/evaporating device to mesh with the rack, a spiral rod of a motor disposed on the outer side of the device meshing with the spiral wheel, whereby when the motor operates, the shield cover is shifted to cover or uncover the device, several groups of coaxially and serially connected rollers being disposed on the seat body, a central shaft of each group of rollers being drivingly connected with a central shaft of the other group of rollers, whereby when the motor rotarily drives the central shaft, the other central shaft is rotated synchronously in the same direction, a cylindrical rotary frame being disposed on the rollers with its surface frictionally contacting with the rollers, whereby when the rollers rotate, the rotary frame is driven and rotated, the rotary frame being provided with several sets of clips for clipping the celluloid plates.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein a sheet of glass paper is disposed over the inner wall face of the vacuum container so that the escaping vapor of gold ion is deposited on the glass paper, the glass paper being taken out and molten to retrieve the gold material for further use.

4. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein when manufacturing the product with plane picture, the gold foil is attached to one face of the plastic film, while an other print is attached to the other face of the plastic film and then the PU films are adhered to both faces of the plastic film to cover the gold foil and the print.

5. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein after the gold foils patterned with pictures are adhered to one or two faces of the plastic film, the faces of the plastic film are treated with transparent paint by ultrasonic wave electric coating or spraying and then lighted by ultraviolet ray so as to enhance the binding thereof without detachment.

6. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein with respect to the application of the method to a wooden product, the wooden product is placed in the vacuum container and the gold foil is directly formed on the surface of the wooden product by vacuum deposition and then the surface of the wooden product with the gold foil is treated with transparent paint by ultrasonic wave electric coating or spraying so as to protect the gold foil.

7. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein with respect to the application of the method to a paper product, the paper product is placed in the vacuum container and the gold foil is directly formed on the surface of the paper product by vacuum deposition and then the surface of the paper product with the gold foil is treated with transparent paint by ultrasonic wave electric coating or spraying so as to protect the gold foil.

8. A method substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.