USRE24114E - Artificial foliage and method of - Google Patents

Description

vJIL AbLER-,JR Y l Rue'fzielfwli myrmrcm. FOLIAGB AND montos' MAKING l' Qin-31u51 mea rieb. 42.1.` 1954 vnu/afar 2 v ppg 47 C007' WITH EAK!" i* A y al INK P1195 TIJL y jf/mkh 'l Zonage/ff dtrfrf Y j 24,114 ARTIFICIAL FOLIAGE AND IMETHOD F d MAKING SAME Y Joseph I. Adler, Jr., Chicago, Ill. ollllllll N0. 2,716,828, dated September 6, 1955, Sel'lll No. 411,731, February 23, 1954. Application for reilueNovember 21, 1955, Serial No. 548,296

Claims. (Cl. 41-13) Matter enclosed ln heavy brackets [Il appears in the :nirlglnal patent but forms no part of this reissue specifin; matter printed in italics indicates the additions made by reisue.

I This invention is particularly concerned with a novel construction for'artificial foliage and method of making same.'

Artificial foliage of various kinds is widely used both for display purposes in commercial establishments and for decorative purposes commercially and in the home. Heretofore, artificial foliage has been made either from cloth, paper or plastic sheeting which has been preformed to a suitable configuration simulating natural foliage. The foliage may have a coating thereon of a suitable agent, such as shellac, to attain a high gloss. In some instances such foliage has been imprinted or embossed with designs simulating the veins of natural foliage and suitably colored to simulate a particular type or leaf, if desired. Artificial foliage of the prior art is attractive and displays of'such foliage are well known to be relatively expensive and in most cases, even more expensive thanthe natural counterparts.

However, these prior art structures all possess many common disadvantages, one of the principal ones of which is inllammability. Especially in the case of the cloth or paper variety,rsubstantially instantaneous consumption could be expected once the'foliage became ignited. Great care has to be exercised as to the location at which the foliage is placed and constant care must be taken to prevent same from catching fire. Other disadnatural foliage, and particularly in the dierent degree of flexibility, texture, and color which natural foliage is found to possess. Artificial foliage of the prior art also fades after extended periods of exposure to sunlight or electric lights and in some instances has been known to shrivel at the edges when exposed to room heat. Even with all of these recognized disadvantages, such artificial foliage continues to be expensive.

Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide articial foliage of the character described and a novel' method 'of making same which will eliminate completely the fire hazards attendant upon prior art structures *and substantially eliminate all of the other disadvantages above enumerated. y

Anotherimportanr object of the invention is to pro- 'vide artificial foliage and method of making same as hereinafter described which will greatly reduce the cost of artificialv foliage displays to the public.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and unique method for making artificial foliage of the character described which may be carried out with marked simplicity,ease and rapidity, which method does not require highly expensive or complicated equipment and which is especially adapted to mass production techniques.-

Other important objects of the invention are to provide artificial foliage of the character described com` paring more favorably'in appearance, texture and liexibility with natural foliage than heretofore has been possible, and which does not fade or shrivel after extended periods of use.

vantages include the failure more closely to replicate ICC 2 Another object of the invention is to provide artificial foliage of the character described and a novel method of making the same in which the foliage comprises a preformed member formed from cloth, paper or plasi tic and coated with a plastisol composition which, .to the best of applicant's knowlege and'belief, has never before I been used in the manufacture of artificial foliage and by reason of which the .distinctive advantages of this inv` vention are attained.

These and other objects ofthe invention will become apparent as the description thereof evolves, a preferred embodiment of the structure and method of making same being more fully described and shownin the specifici. tion and accompanying drawings and lmore particularly pointed out in, the appended claims. in the structural features of the foliage and in the various steps of the method of making same are contemplated without departing from the spirit or scope of the inventron.

Fig. .l is a perspective view of an artificial `leaf `colxstructed in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is a fiowdiagram illustrating the novel method of making said leaf in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional wew takenthrough the preformed member prior to being coated and .greatly enlarged to show details thereof.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken through the said leaf along the line 4--4 of Fig. 1 and in the direction indicated.

Thev reference character 10 tion.

illustrative purposes, it being understood that the foliage embodying the invention may be formed in any desired l .l

size and form. Same comprises a pre-formed shape, carrier blank, a portion 11 of said blank being shown in Fig. 3. 'I'he blank 11 may be formed from cloth,

paper or plastic, but it is preferred that such material may have a portion 15 extending outwardly of the leaf to provide "means for assembling the leaf in a foliage display. s

'Ihe member l1 may have imprinted or embossed thereon a design 16 in the form oflines and shadingv simulating the veins and surfaces of a natural leaf. 'If required, the member 1l may have been colored to. ap-

proximate the color of a natural leaf sought to be replicated. Where imprinted or embossed, it will be found that the surfaces of the member 11' will have become irf regular to provide troughs 17 and greatly exaggerated in Fig. 3.

l1 may also be formed with smooth surfaces, however,

it is believed that the irregular formationl more 'closely approximates its natural counterpart. A A uniform coating 19 of a synthetic plastic co tion is aiiixed over said member 1l completely covering f same, the wire strand 12 and portion l5 thereof. The coating 19 consists of a plastisol composition applied thinly on the member 11, including, of course, the troughs 17 and peaks 18 and solidied thereon. .The coating l is transparent enabling the designV 16 to readily visible therethrough and is flexible to a degree enabling the leaf 10 very closely to replicate the textureappearanee and rtance is that flexibility of a natural leaf. Of prim the coating 19 is flame-proof and resists x' -oration and also, prevents shrivelling of the the leaf 10.

` Re. 24,114 s Minor variations j designates generally an a artificial leaf constructed in accordance with the invert.v The configuration shown in Fig. 1 is strictly for which has been wrapped peaks 1'8 thereon as" Of course, the member' Y 3 Even after long periods of exposure to sunlight or artificial light, Vthe color of member 11 and design 16 does not fade so thatthe .leafV l maintains its beautiful and attractive appearance. l

We now consider: the novel'method of making the leaf l0, reference being `had 'tov Fig. 2 wherein a simplified flow diagram of the'method is shown. The method is particularly suitable f or mass production techniques ,and hence the various- "steps m` ay be carried out on an assembly line including a conveyor' belt system or turntable arrangement at suitable points thereon. The first step is to preform the blank member l1 and attach the strand 12. The member 11 may have been rst imprinted or embossed with vthe design 16. If desired, the member ll may be purchased already pre-formed and with the strand 12 attached and hence this step does not comprise a part of the novel method of the invention.

The ensuing steps may then be carried out employing assembly-line procedure. The member 11 is passed into a heating chamber 20, for instance, by placing same on a conveyor belt or turntable, and pre-heated slowly to drive off any moisture captured in the member. The optimum temperaturefat which the pre-heating is conducted is relatively unimportant, it being necessary only to drive off captured .moisture without charring the member 11.

The pre-heating chamber may lhave heat lamps or filaments suitably arranged for heating the member 11 which is'passing along a conveyor belt or turntable.

, After pre-heating, the member 11 is removed from the chamber 20 and immediately coated with the plastisol composition. The interim between removal from the chamber 20 and coating must be at a minimum so as to reduce absorption of water due to cooling of the hot member l1. A uniform, thin coating of the plastisol is applied either manually such as by rubbing the coating on or by first dipping same into the plastisol and thereafter spreading or squeezing the coating on. Other well known procedures may also be employed. It is desirable thatthe coating be relatively thin since the thicker the coating, the less degree of transparency attained therefor.

`It is important torealize that the plastisol composition is quite viscous, such that dipping, while possible, is none the less impractical.

which achieve the same functions as this manual step are obviously within the scope of the invention. This would include calendaring, squeezing, etc.

After the coating 19 has been applied, the blank 1l is racked and passed into a second heating chamber 22. The leaf is baked in chamber 22 at a temperature of from 275 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit until the coating 19 solidifies. I have found that for satisfactory results at a minimum time in chamber 22, the leaf may be baked at approximately 350 degrees Fahrenheit for from one to three minutes depending upon the thickness of the coating 19. Such a short period of baking enables speedy manufacturing and reduces the cost per leaf.

Pre-heating of the member 11 in chamber 20 and imto be Asatisfactory because they fail to provide the high degree of transparency desired, speed with which my novel method may be carried out with mass production techniques and proper flexibility of the coating 19. An y example of the plastisol composition whichis employed in this invention is as follows: l

The effect ofthe coating of the invention is to produce artificial foliage which is smooth and water-proof, hence easy to clean. It is lustrous and flexible, giving a live appearance. Its transparency enables the colors to appear to come from the interior of the article, which makes the article evenmore life-like. The coating has no effect upon shape, causes no shrinkage or warping or change of color. The article is light in weight and the coating is not so thick as to render the article clumsy or mis- Greatest success has been achieved by simply smearing the plastisol on by hand. Procedures mediate coating thereof upon removal from said chamber l is most important. Ihave found thatwhere the blank is not pre-heated or done `so properly and where the coating is not appliedwith minimum loss of time after removalof the member' 1l f rom the chamber 20 results in bubbling or othe'runsightly eruptions on the coating 19 after it is baked in the chamber 22.- `I prefer also that the member 11 be formed from paper, cloth or plastic of substantially non-porous nature. This reduces the amount of moisture vwhich may be entrapped therein and also prevents saturation of the member 11 by the plastisol. The coating 19 is therefore desired to be only on the surfaces of member 1l, so as more uniformly to provide the desired thin.. transparent coating of plastisol.

The plastisol composition which I employ enables manufacture of the' leaf 10 with its attendantadvantages.

shapen in appearance.

lt is believed that the invention has been described sufficiently to enable same to be comprehended and practiced as required by the patent statutes. It 1s desired to be limited in the scope of inventive achievement only as set forth in the claims hereto appended.

What is desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An artificial leaf comprising a flexible fabric sheet preformed to simulate the configuration of a natural leaf and having reproduced on each surface thereof a leaf design replicating color, veins and surface texture Aof a natural leaf, a stem-forming member secured to a surface of said sheet, said sheet having a coating of transparent, non-inflammable plastisol on said surfaces and encasing the stem member, said coating being thin and substantially unifonn whereby light reflected from said artificial leaf appears to an observer to have originated from within said leaf in simulation of natural leafv effects.

2. An artificial leaf as described in claim 1 in which said coating is a vinyl resin plastisol characterized by its high degree of flexibility.

3. A method for making an artificial leaf comprising forming a flexible fabric sheet member to simulate the configuration of a natural leaf and reproducingl on each surface of said sheet member a leaf design replicating color, veins and surface texture of a natural leaf, aixing a stem-forming member to a surface of said sheet member, pre-heating said sheet member, encasing said sheet member and'stem-forming member in a flexible, uniformly thin [non-inflammable] plastisol envelope and then baking said leaf to solidify the plastisol into a flexible transparent envelope.

4. A method as described in claim 3 in which the time permitted to elapse between pre-heating and encasing of the sheet member is a minimum amount.

5. A method as described in claim 3 in which' said envelope is formed by applying a thin coat of said vinyl resin plastisol to each surface of the sheet member and over the stem member.

References Cited in the file of this patent or the original patent UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES Vinyl Plants, Modern Plastics, June 1921, page

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