GB2323333A

GB2323333A - Decorative glass panels with motifs on opposed surfaces

Info

Publication number: GB2323333A
Application number: GB9705533A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Christopher Andrew Ri Browning; Daniel Robert Taylor
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1997-03-18
Filing date: 1997-03-18
Publication date: 1998-09-23
Also published as: GB9705533D0

Abstract

The panels comprise a sheet of plate glass 20 having a foreground element 22 and a background field 24 of a decorative motif imparted separately to the upper and lower surfaces 21,23 of the sheet so as to give a three-dimensional decorative effect. The fields may be imparted by etching or sand blasting.

Description

DECORATIVE PANELS, AND METHODS OF MANUFACTURING THEM This invention relates to decorative panels, and methods of manufacturing them.

We have by chance discovered that a most attractive appearance can be imparted to glass or like translucent sheet material by applying part-only of a decorative motif to one side, and the other part of the motif to the other side of the sheet, so that the two parts of the motif are offset from one another by the thickness of the glass or other sheet material, but otherwise in registration or at least near-registration with each other. The effect thus obtained has something of a three-dimensional appearance, which can be very pleasing.

According to one aspect of this invention there are provided decorative panels, as herein defined, which comprise translucent, generaily-planar sheet material having respective foreground element(s) and background field(s) of a decorative motif imparted separately to the opposed planar surfaces thereof, the respective foreground element(s) and background field(s) being offset from one another by the thickness of the sheet material but otherwise in at least near-registration with each other when viewed normal to the planar surfaces.

It is to be understood that the terms "decorative" and "decoration" are used herein generally to encompass applied surface markings of all kinds, not merely those of a purely aesthetic nature but also those with more functional purposes (as perhaps in wording) and indeed possib!y both.

The decorative panels may be formed of any translucent material, but it will best be fully transparent, and the preferred sheet material is sheet glass.

Especially but not only when the transparent material is glass, the respective foreground element(s) and background field(s) of the decorative motif can conveniently and advantageously be imparted to opposite sides of the sheet material by surface-roughening to reduce the transparency and reflectivity of the thus-roughened surface.

According to another aspect of this invention there is also provided a method of decoration, as herein defined, applied to translucent, generallyplanar sheet material, in which a decorative motif having respective foreground element(s) and background field(s) is at least notionally separated into an array of said foreground elements(s) and a matrix of said background field(s), and the foreground array is imparted to one planar surface while the background field is similarly imparted to the other planar surface of said translucent sheet, the array and the field being spaced apart by the thickness of the sheet but otherwise in at least near-registration with each other.

What one is seeking is an attractive visual effect, which is an aesthetic matter and therefore to some extent subjective and dependent on the observer. We believe that virtually everyone would agree that the effect is pleasing when the foreground array and the background field are in substantially exact registration with each other, and that therefore is our.

preferred arrangement, which we recommend one should strive to achieve.

On the other hand, the visual effect is little affected by slight departures from exact registration, and it should moreover be recognised that the visual effect is to a greater or lesser extent dependent upon the relationship between the size of the individual foreground element(s) and the thickness of the sheet material. When the foreground element(s) are too small andlor the sheet material is too thick the visual effect achieved becomes less and less striking as the disparity in these values increases.

We therefore currently recommend that the mean size of the individual foreground element(s) should be not less that the thickness of the sheet material, and that any departure from exact registration between the foreground element(s) and the background matrix in the plane of the sheet material should never exceed 25% (in any given direction) of the thickness of the sheet material.

So far as we can determine at present, when the decorative motif is a geometrical pattern the mean size of the foreground element(s) will desirably be at least twice the thickness of the sheet material, and preferably in the range of from 2 to 4 times its thickness. There can be no theoretical upper limit on the size of the foreground element(s) relative to the thickness of the sheet material, but the visual effect we are seeking manifests itself at or adjacent the points at which the foreground array and background matrix are in at least near-registration with one another, and the more frequently these effects recur across the sheet the more interesting its general appearance, We therefore venture our opinion that aesthetic considerations will mostly impose a practical upper limit on the size of the foreground element(s) relative to the thickness of the sheet material of not greater than 10 times.

And we further strongly recommend that any departure from exact registration between the foreground element(s) and the background matrix should not be greater than 10% of the thickness of the sheet material, and preferably no more than 5%. As already indicated, we believe that one should aim for substantially exact registration.

As already indicated, the translucent sheet will desirably be substantially transparent, and is best formed of sheet or plate glass, as used for instance in domestic or retail-shop windows.

The method can be carried out in many different ways, since there are of course almost numberless techniques for imparting designs to a surface.

One can envisage the design being applied by embossing the surface while rolling out the translucent sheet material or by roller-coating or silk-screening & c. S iccative coating-forming substances thereon.

Our own currently-preferred method is one which includes the preliminary step(s) of cutting out the foreground array and the background field respectively from relatively opaque flexible sheet material by incising the outline of the decorative motif therethrough, and thereafter physically separating the background field(s) from the foreground element(s) thereof from one another, the separated background field(s) being then affixed to one planar surface of said translucent sheet and the foreground element(s) affixed to the other planar surface.

The most convenient technique which we have devised for carrying out the method may be performed using commercially-available materials and machinery, as described below.

The relatively-opaque flexible sheet material employed can advantageously be that known as "3-year vinyl" as for instance currently employed by sign-makers. This comes already-coated with adhesive well able to anchor the vinyl sheet to a glass surface, but with its adhesive-coated surface protected by mounting it on a wax-coated backing sheet, from which the adhesive-coated vinyl may be peeled off when required.

Using a computer-controlled vinyl plotting cutter the vinyl sheet while still mounted upon its backing sheet is incised with the desired motif, the incision being of such a depth as to fully sever each of the array of foreground element(s) of the motif from the background matrix, but without cutting through the backing sheet. The background matrix (bereft of the array of foreground elements) is then peeled off the backing sheet, and finally positioned on and adhered to one of the planar sides of the translucent sheet to be decorated.

Still mounted upon the backing sheet is the array of foreground element(s), which then must be transferred to the other planar side of the translucent sheet. For this purpose one first applies a further adhesivecoated transfer sheet (or successive strips) to the backing-mounted array, and then peels off this further transfer sheet thereby lifting the array of foreground elements off the backing sheet. Thus temporarily supported on the transfer sheet, the array is then carefully moved and positioned in register with the background matrix, but on the other side of the translucent sheet, and pressed into contact therewith, thus adhering the array of foreground elements firmly in place. And finally the transfer is peeled off, leaving the foreground array still in situ on the second planar surface of the translucent sheet and correctly in register with the background matrix on the other planar surface.

It must however be borne in mind that this currently-preferred technique has one limitation. The adhesive-coated surfaces of the vinylsheet, and thus of both the foreground element(s) and the background matrix, all start facing the same way when mounted on the waxy backing sheet, but the array of foreground element(s) will end up on one of the planar surfaces of the translucent strip, whereas the matrix elements will end up on the other so it follows that there is an inevitable left-to-right inversion between foreground and background elements when finally positioned on the respective planar surfaces of the translucent sheet. Consequently our preferred technique can be employed only: (a) when each individual motif has a plane of symmetry; and (b) when a multiplicity of such motifs is arranged in an array which conforms to a regularly repetitive pattern.

It will of course be realised that the thus-affixed respective foreground and background elements can themselves constitute the decoration.

However, at least when decorating glass sheets, our preferred method includes the subsequent step of using the affixed respective foreground and background elements as masking while decoration is applied to the unmasked areas of the respective sides of the translucent sheet, and thereafter removing that masking.

Using that preferred technique, the decoration could be applied by spraying or roller-coating siccative, paint-like materials which will adhere adequately to the unmasked areas of the underlying translucent sheet material. Currently however we prefer to apply the decoration by chemical and/or mechanical attack to roughen the unmasked and thus exposed surface(s) of the translucent sheet. At present we think it best to roughen the exposed surface by sand-blasting.

It is possible to envisage many kinds of possible decorations, including even pictorial scenes, that could be applied by our technique. At present however it seems to us that the most preferred kinds of decoration will take the form of repetitive patterns, usually we think geometrical in nature, and thus for instance consisting of a repetitive pattern comprising circles, ovals, squares1 rectangles, diamonds, pentagons and/or hexagons.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood it will now be described in more detail though only by way of illustration, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is slanting perspective view of a small segment of the planar surface of a panel decorated in accordance with this invention, taken at a shallow angle of incidence which results in reflection of the major proportion of the incident light, and therefore produces one particular visual effect; Figure 2 is a generally similar perspective view, taken however at steeper angle of incidence which results in refraction of the major proportion of the incident light, and which therefore results in a rather different visual effect; Figure 3 is a plan view of respective upper and lower planar surfaces of a further embodiment of the invention, in which the pattern is nongeometric in nature; and Figure 4 is a similar plan view to that of Figure 3, but is of a still further embodiment in which the pattern is one of repeating circles.

Referring first to Figure 1, there can be seen a panel or sheet (1) decorated by means of the present invention. The panel (1) has a lower planar surface (2) and a corresponding upper planar surface (3), which are separated by the thickness of the panel (4). The panel (1) has pairs of coincident boundary edges (5a & 5b, 6a & 6b, 7a & 7b, 8a & 8b) that are substantially in alignment.

The upper planar surface (3) has a respective foreground element of a decorative pattern of repeating squares (9). The lower planar surface (2) has had a respective background field of a pattern (not shown) that is the inverse of that on the top panel (3). The squares (9) are formed on the planar surface (3) of the transparent panel or sheet (1) by means of altering the respective properties of reflection and transmission of the transparent panel (1). One method of altering those properties is to roughen the surface of the panel by means of mechanical or chemical attack for example sand blasting.

This forms a pattern of areas of relatively different visual properties. In Figure 1 the pattern is of squares (9) that are roughened to reduce their transparency and reflectivity, and the area remaining (10) is untreated.

The panel in Figure 1 is viewed at a shallow angle and therefore all light incident on the surface is reflected rather transmitted. The squares (9) of the foreground element are roughened and therefore do not reflect, whereas the remaining area (10) is untreated and reflects all the incident light1 thus causing a desirable effect.

Figure 2 is a similar panel (20), but viewed at a steeper angle than in the representation of Figure 1. This means that the majority of light is transmitted rather than reflected, and so creates a different visual effect. The panel has an upper planar surface (21) bearing a foreground element (22), and a lower planar surface (23) bearing a respective background field (24) each being separated from the other by the thickness of the panel (20).

The patterns that comprise the foreground element (22) and the background field (24) are, as in Figure 1 formed by changing the properties of the surface of the panel, for example by roughening with a sand-blaster. The squares are areas reduced in transparency so reflect the light. This causes them to stand out compared to the transparent panel (20) and so appear to "float" above the pattern of the respective background field. Because the background field (24) is the inverse of the pattern of the foreground element (22), the overall effect is to produce the appearance of a three dimensional pattern on a flat piece of glass.

Figures 3 and 4 show the upper planar surface (21) of a panel (20) upon which the foreground.element (22) can be seen. Additionally they show a plan of the lower planar surface (23) on which the respective background field (24) is shown. Figures 3 and 4 differ only in that the pattern depicted in the respective foreground fields and background elements are not the same.

Figure 3 has a pattern of repetitive non-geometric shapes, whereas Figure 4 shows a pattern of circles.

Claims

1. Decorative panels, as herein defined, which comprise translucent, generally-planar sheet material having one or more foreground element(s) and background field(s) of a decorative motif respectively imparted separately to the opposed planar surfaces thereof, the respective foreground element(s) and background field(s) being perpendicularly offset from one another by the thickness of the sheet material.

2. Decorative panels as claimed in claim 1, in which the perpendicularlyoffset foreground element(s) and background field(s) are otherwise in at least near-registration (as herein defined) when viewed in the perpendicular direction normal to the planar surfaces.

3. Decorative panels as claimed in.claim I or claim 2, in which the mean size of the foreground element(s) is not less than the thickness of the translucent planar sheet material.

4. Decorative panels as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in which the mean size of the foreground element(s) is not greater than 10 times the thickness of the translucent sheet material.

5. Decorative panels as claimed in claims 3 and 4, in which the mean size of the foreground element(s) is in the range of 3 - 4 times the thickness of the translucent sheet material.

6. Decorative panels as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in which the respective foreground element(s) and background field(s) of the decorative motif are imparted to opposite sides of the sheet material by surfaceroughening motif-defining areas thereof to reduce the transparency and reflectivity of the thus-roughened surface areas.

7. Decorative panels as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in which the translucent planar sheet material is domestic or shop-window glass.

8. Decorative panels as claimed in any of the preceding claims and substantially as herein described.

9. Decorative panels, as herein defined, which comprise respective foreground element(s) and background field(s) of a decorative motif imparted separately to the opposed planar surfaces thereof, substantially as herein described with reference to any of Figures 1, 2, 3 and/or 4 of the accompanying drawings and/or shown therein.

10. A method of decoration, as herein defined, applied to translucent, generally-planar sheet material, in which a decorative motif having one or more foreground element(s) and background field(s) is at least notionally separated into respectively an array of said foreground elements(s) and a matrix of said background field(s), and in which the foreground array is imparted to one planar surface while the background field is imparted to the other planar surface of said translucent sheet, the array and the field being spaced perpendicularly apart by the thickness of the translucent sheet material but otherwise in at least near-registration (as herein defined) with each other when viewed in the perpendicular direction normal to the planar surface.

11. A method as claimed in claim 10, in which each foreground element and corresponding part of the background field depart from exact registration in any direction by not more than 10% of the thickness of the translucent sheet material.

12. A method as claimed in claim 11, in which the departure from exact registration is within 5% of the sheet thickness.

13. A method as claimed in any of claims 10 to 12, in which the translucent sheet is substantially transparent.

14. A method as claimed in claim 13, in which the translucent sheet is formed of domestic or shop-window glass.

15. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims 10 to 14 in which the decoration takes the form of a repetitive pattern.

16. A method as claimed in claim 15, in which the repetitive pattern is geometrical in nature.

17. A method as claimed in claim 16, in which the geometrical decoration takes the form of a repetitive pattern comprising circles, ovals, squares, rectangles, diamonds, pentagons and/or hexagons.

18. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims 10 to 17, which includes the preliminary step(s) of cutting out the foreground array and the background field respectively from relatively opaque flexible sheet material by incising the outline of the decorative motif therethrough, and thereafter physically separating the background field(s) and the foreground element(s) thereof from one another, the separated background field(s) being then affixed to one planar surface of said translucent sheet and the foreground element(s) affixed to the other planar surface.

19. A method as claimed in claim 18, in which the foreground elements are a regular array of a plurality of decorative motifs each having a plane of symmetry, and both that array and the background field are cut simultaneously from a single sheet of said relatively opaque flexible sheet material mounted on a common release backing sheet by incising through the former to sever the foreground elements from the background field without cutting through the backing sheet and adhering it to one side of the planar translucent sheet, then applying an adhesive-coated transfer sheet to the array of foreground elements remaining upon the release backing sheet and thereby lifting the array off the backing sheet, thereafter peeling the background field from the backing sheet and pressing it to adhere to the other side of the planar translucent sheet, and finally peeling off the transfer sheet leaving the foreground array in situ thereon.

20. A method as claimed in claim 18 or claim 19, in which the affixed respective foreground and background elements constitute the decoration.

21. A method as claimed in claim 18 or claim 19, which includes the subsequent step of using the affixed respective foreground and background elements as masking while decoration is applied to the unmasked areas of the respective sides of the translucent sheet, and thereafter removing that masking.

22. A method as claimed in claim 21, in which the decoration is applied to the unmasked areas by chemical and/or mechanical attack to roughen the exposed surface of the translucent sheet.

23. A method as claimed in claim 22, in which the exposed surface is roughened by sand-blasting.

24. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims 10 to 23 and substantially as herein described.

25. A method of decoration applied to translucent, generally-planar sheet material, substantially as herein described with reference to any of Figures 1, 2, 3 and/or 4 of the accompanying drawings andlor as shown therein.

26. Decorated translucent, generally-planar sheet material, wherein respective foreground element(s) and background field(s) of a decorative motif are imparted to opposite planar surfaces of said planar sheet, being thus spaced apart by the sheet but otherwise substantially in register with each other, whenever made by a method as claimed in any of claims 10 to 25.