US2627486A - Process of applying inked indicia to a rubber balloon - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 3, 1953 A. L. SMITH 2,627,486 PROCESS OF APPLYING INKED INDICIA TO A RUBBER BALLOON Filed Aug. 15, 1949 FIG 2 INVENTOR ARTHUR L. SMITH ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 3, 1953 PROCESS OF APPLYING INKED INDICIA TO A RUBBER BALLOON Arthur L. Smith, La J olla, Calif.

Application August 15, 1949, Serial No. 110,284

2 Claims. (01. 154-95) My present invention relates to the application of indicia to elastic balloons.

Heretofore indicia have been applied to such balloons by means of rubber stamps or stencils, which methods have involved definite limitations as to the use of multiple colors, because of the difiiculties of proper registration of the successive application steps. Also indicia thus applied have not had any great degree of permanency because they are easy to wear ofi and become blurred. It has also been proposed to apply indicia to such articles by direct contact transfer from a decalcomania, but by such transfer much of the character definitions of the transferred indicia are lost in efiecting the transfer, and the transferred indicia become distorted when the balloon is inflated and distended.

It is an object of my presentinvention to provide a method of applying indicia, such as reading matter or pictorial illustrations, to elastic balloons, which method has no limitations as to the number and proper registration of colors used, which permits expansion and contraction of the balloon without damage-to the indicia, and which may be carried out in a simple and economical manner. M

It is a further object to provide a method of this character by which printed matter may be removed from an ordinary printed sheet and applied to an elastic balloon without loss of any character definition of the indicia.

A further object is to provide a method of this character by which it is possible to apply indicia to elastic balloons in such manner that they do not blur or wear off.

A still further object is to provide a method which enables application of indicia to an elastic balloon in a manner which causes the indicia to become integrated therewith.

In my copending application, Serial No. 109,068, filed August 6, 1949., I have described a method'of removing inkedindicia from one surface and applying them to an article, and my present invention is in the nature of an improvement upon the invention therein disclosed and claimed.

Without intending thereby to limit the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims, I shall now describe an embodiment which I, at present, prefer, for which purpose I shall refer to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a sheet of printed indicia used in my process;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the sheet of Fig. 1 with my film applied thereto;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of an infiated elastic balloon with the coated sheet of Fig. 2 applied thereto;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the balloon of Fig. 4, illustrating a step involved in removing the sheet which originally carried the printed indicia; and

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the balloon with the indicia applied thereto.

Referring now to the drawings, I show in Fig. 1 a flexible sheet 5 of water permeable or water absorbent material, such as paper or fabric, having printed thereon indicia 6 which it is desired to apply to an elastic or inflatable balloon. The printing should be done in an ink which is compatible with the film to be hereinafter described, and I have found ordinary commercial grades of printing ink suitable for the purpose, particularly where the film is of rubber or has a rubber base. I may even use clippings from ordinary magazine publications for purposes of the printed sheet, although, since the printing becomes reversed in carrying out my process, it should be printed initially in reverse if it has to have any particular orientation such as reading matter must have.

It is my preference that the indicia be screened indicia, that is, they should be printed by a screening process, because such indicia are made up of numerous dots. and permit the balloon to which they finally become applied by my process to be expanded by inflation without distorting the indicia characters.

The next step in my process is best illustrated in Fig. 2, and comprises coating the printed sheet -5 with a liquid film B of a solution of a material compatible with the material of which the balloon is made, carrying a volatile mutual solvent for the material of the film and the material of the balloon. For a rubber balloon, the film should be rubber in solution with a volatile rubber solventthat is, a mutual solvent for both the rubber film and the material of the rubber balloon. The film should be compatible with the material of which the surface of the balloon is composed, since it is an object of my invention to integrate the film with the balloon surface in carrying out the process.

In applying indicia to rubber balloons, I have found the commercially available crude rubber adhesives to be suitable for forming the film. Such adhesives usually contain a rubber solvent, but I add an additional volatile solvent to thin the solution sufficiently to flow the film onto the sheet 5. Any of the Well known volatile rubber solvents may be used, such as benzine, benzene,

3 solvent grade gasoline or other rubber solvents listed at pages 96-97 of Industrial Solvents, by Mellan. Optionally, I may add any of the well known classes of vulcanizing agents such, for instance, as sulfur or sulfur monochloride. Commercial grade rubber adhesives also contain various other ingredients as tackifying agents, activators, etc., but the presence of those well known elements is not essential to my process, nor have I been able to find that they impair the process.

In a simple example, I have carried out my process, in applying indicia to rubber balloons, by using a film prepared merely by dissolving coagulated plantation crude rubber in solution with a volatile rubber solvent such as benzine, enough of the solvent being used to provide a freely flowable solution.

In another example, I use a commercial grade crude rubber adhesive, such, for instance, as Firestone 3K-2 and benzine, or equal solvent; enough of the solvent being used to initially provide a freely fiowable solution.

It is my preference to flow this solution onto the printed surface because the film thus deposited picks up every minute detail of the printed indicia to an unexpectedly greater extent than does a relatively viscous film.

I flow a film of this solution over the printed surface and allow the film to partially volatilize to a tacky state. By the time the thus deposited film reaches the desired tacky state, the printed indicia originally appearing upon the printed surface will have become transferred to the film, somewhat permeating the film. While the film is in this tacky and partially volatilized state, I superimpose it, with .the printed sheet attached to it by virtue of the adhesiveness of the film, on the surface of the balloon [0, after inflating the balloon, as by connecting it with a source H of compressed air or gas. This inflation maintains the balloon in taut and stretched or expanded condition so that a smooth surface is presented to the film. I press the film and sheet against the surface of the balloon as by rubbing over it a cloth or the like, by use of the fingers, or in any other suitable manner, and allow it to remain in that position until the remaining volatile elements of the film have substantially volatilized. The above-described application of the film 8 permits the film to fuse or integrate with the rubber surface of the balloon, the fusion or integration resulting by virtue of the action of the mutual solvent in the tacky film.

Where the indicia are being applied to an inflated balloon of very thin section, I find it desirable to volatilize the film to a greater extent than when the balloon portion is thicker, so that there is no danger of the solvent causing a blowout.

Next, I remove the sheet 5 upon which the indicia were initially printed by subjecting it to a water bath, either cold or warm, until the water of the bath permeates or is absorbed by the sheet 5 sufficiently to soften the sheet. I find that it greatly speeds up and simplifies the operation of removing the softened sheet by taking the still infiated balloon between the thumb and forefinger of the operators hand and squeezing the balloon adjacent the sheet. Thi tends to contract the rubber surface of the balloon, and since the sheet 5 is not contractible, the sheet become evenly loosened so that it may be readily peeled off.

The balloon with the indicia thus finally applied thereto, as shown in Fig. 6, is then deflated, ready for shipment. The balloon then carries a true reproduction of the indicia in finely executed detail, without any blurring or running. The film has become so integrated with the surface of the balloon that it is practically impossible to discern its original boundaries, and the indicia permeate the surface. Since it i my preference .to use screened indicia, the balloon may be ex panded to any extent by inflation without distorting the indicia.

If balloons made of materials other than rubber are used, the film should contain a base material compatible therewiththat is, which may be fused therewith, and should contain a volatile mutual solvent for both the film and balloon.

I claim:

1. The process of applying inked indicia to a rubber balloon which comprises printing inked indicia on to a paper sheet, coating said sheet with a film of crude rubber adhesive in solution with a volatile rubber solvent, drying said coating on said sheet to a tacky state, pressing the coated surface of said sheet against the surface of said balloon while said balloon is inflated to its normal inflated size and then removing said sheet.

2. The process of applying inked indicia to a rubber balloon which comprises applyin inked indicia to a paper sheet by screen printing, forming on the indicia-bearing surface of said sheet a viscous rubber film containing a rubber solvent, evaporating solvent from said film until the latter reaches a tacky state, pressing said film and sheet against the surface of said balloon while the latter is inflated to its normal inflated size and then removing said sheet.

ARTHUR L. SMITH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,496,753 Burkley June 3, 1924 1,552,907 Binmore Sept. 8, 1925 1,610,155 Riley et a1 Dec. '7, 1926 1,649,770 Miller Nov. 15, 1927 1,989,717 Szegvari Feb. 5, 1935 2,092,928 Moody et al. Sept. 14, 1937 2,316,149 Bates Apr. 13, 1943 2,521,992 Nielsen Sept. 12, 1950

Claims (1)

1. THE PROCESS OF APPLYING INKED INDICIA TO A RUBBER BALLON WHICH COMPRISES PRINTING INKED INDICIA ON TO A PAPER SHEET, COATING SAID SHEET WITH A FILM OF CRUDE RUBBER ADHESIVE IN SOLUTION WITH A VOLATILE RUBBER SOLVENT, DRYING SAID COATING ON

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