ZA200507955B

ZA200507955B - Prining

Info

Publication number: ZA200507955B
Application number: ZA200507955A
Authority: ZA
Inventors: Preez Johannes M Du
Original assignee: Preez Johannes M Du
Priority date: 2004-09-28
Filing date: 2005-09-30
Publication date: 2006-07-26

Description

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THIS INVENTION relates to printing. More particularly, the invention relates to a method of printing. The invention also relates to a method of forming a printed document, and to a printed document. The invention extends further to a printed article.

The invention provides a method of printing, which includes applying ink to a substrate which comprises essentially of a sheet of a biaxially oriented polymer.

Preferably, the sheet is of biaxially oriented polypropylene. The sheet may be surface treated to facilitate printing thereon, the surface treatment promoting the formation of carbonyl bonds, so that the sheet has a carbonyl peak at about 1750 cm™, preferably 1742 cm™ when subjected to infrared spectroscopy. The term carbonyl peak is to be understood in the above context.

The method may comprise printing text characters on the sheet, the text characters optionally being printed on opposite sides of the sheet.

The method may include printing a plurality of biaxially oriented polymeric sheets, and binding the sheets book-fashion, to produce a printed document. It will be appreciated that although the invention finds particular application in the printing of books or the like, the invention can also be applied to the production of other sheet-like articles which carries printing, for instance being used to print advertising material, messages, pictures, or figures on articles such as coasters, business cards, money bills, playing cards, name or logo tags, certificates, money orders, pre-printed cheques, title deeds, forex or travelers cheques, stamps, or the like.

Application of the ink to the substrate may be in a printing press, in which printing type is brought into contact with the substrate. Instead, the ink may be applied to the substrate by spraying or otherwise depositing the ink on the substrate.

The invention further provides, broadly, a printed article which comprises: a sheet-like substrate of a biaxially oriented polymeric plastics material; and printed material applied to the substrate.

Typically, the printed material is in the form of printed characters or devices which have been formed by the application or depositing of ink to an outer surface of the substrate. The substrate may preferably be provided by sheet of biaxially oriented polypropylene, the sheet typically being opaque,

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The invention also provides a printed document which comprises a plurality of sheets which are bound together, each sheet being in the form of a substrate of a biaxially oriented polymer which carries printed material.

The printed material may be in the form of text characters, the printed material preferably having been formed by the application of ink to the polymer substrate. Preferably, the sheets of the book will be of a thickness similar to that of standard paper. Each sheet may thus be 0.005 — 0.1 mm thick, preferably being 0.008 — 0.012 mm thick.

Each sheet will typically be of biaxially oriented polypropylene, and may carry printed material on both sides, optionally from top to bottom or from side to side. The sheets will preferably be opaque, but can be , transparent or partially transparent.

The invention further extends to a method of forming a printed document, such as a book or the like, which method includes: printing a plurality of sheets of a biaxially oriented polymeric plastics material in accordance with a method of printing as defined above; and binding the sheets together in book format.

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The invention will now be further described and illustrated, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic three dimensional view of a printed article in accordance with the invention; and

Figure 2 is a view corresponding to Figure 1 of a printed document in accordance with a further aspect of the invention.

In the drawings, reference numeral 10 generally indicates a printed article in the form of a printed sheet. In this example, the sheet 10 is of A4 size, but it will be appreciated that the sheet may be of any size, in other embodiments of the invention. The article 10 consists of a substrate provided by a sheet 12 of biaxially oriented polypropylene on which text 14 has been printed. Printing of the text characters is accomplished by applying printer's ink to the sheet 12 in conventional fashion. The sheet 12 is of a thickness similar to standard printing paper, in this case being 0.01 mm thick. As can be seen in Figure 2, printed text is provided on both sides 13, 15 of the sheet 10.

In Figure 2, reference numeral 16 indicates a printed document in accordance with the invention. In this example, the document 16 is in the form of a book comprising a plurality of the polypropylene sheets 10 which are bound together along their side edges in conventional book-fashion.

It is an advantage of a book 16 in accordance with the invention that the polymeric pages 10 are more resistant to wear, tearing and damage than conventional paper pages. The book 16 is thus more durable and can be exposed to adverse conditions more readily than conventional books. The

Applicant has found that conventional printing techniques can be employed for printing on sheets of biaxially oriented plastics material. Furthermore, widespread use of the method of printing in accordance with the invention is expected to have a beneficial environmental effect by reducing demand for paper.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A method of printing which includes applying ink to a substrate comprising essentially of a sheet of a biaxially oriented polymer.

2. A method of printing as claimed in claim 1, in which application of the ink is to a substrate comprising a sheet of biaxially oriented polypropylene.

3. A method of printing as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, which includes printing text characters on the sheet.

4. A method of printing as claimed in claim 3, which includes printing text characters on opposite sides of the sheet.

5. A method of printing as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, which includes printing a plurality of biaxially oriented polymeric sheets, and binding the sheets together book-fashion, to produce a printed document.

6. A method of printing as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the application of the ink to the substrate may be in a printing press in which printing type is brought into contact with the substrate.

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7. A method of printing as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 inclusive, in which application of ink to the substrate includes spraying ink on the substrate.

8. A printed article which comprises: a sheet-like substrate of a biaxially oriented polymeric plastics material; and printed material applied to the substrate.

9. A printed article as claimed in claim 8, in which the printed material is in the form of printed characters or devices which have been formed by the application or depositing of ink to an outer surface of the substrate.

10. A printed article as claimed in claim 8 or claim 9, in which the substrate is a sheet of biaxially oriented polypropylene.

11. A printed article as claimed in claim 10, in which the sheet is opaque.

12. A printed article as claimed in claim 10, in which the sheet is transparent.

13. A printed article as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 12 inclusive, in which the substrate has a carbonyl! peak at 1500 — 1800 cm.

14. A printed article as claimed in claim 13, in which the substrate has a carbonyl peak at about 1750 cm.

15. A printed document which comprises a plurality of sheets which are bound together, each sheet being in the form of a substrate of a biaxially oriented polymer which carries printed material.

16. A printed document as claimed in claim 15, in which the printed material includes text characters.

17. A printed document as claimed in claim 16, in which the printed material has been formed by the application of ink to the polymer substrate.

18. A printed document as claimed in any one of claims 15 to 17 inclusive, in which the sheets of the document is of a thickness similar to that of standard book paper.

19. A printed document as claimed in claim 18, in which each sheet is 0.005 — 0.1 mm thick.

20. A printed document as claimed in claim 18, in which each sheet is 0.008 — 0.012 mm thick.

21. A printed document as claimed in any one of claims 15 to 20 inclusive, in which each sheet is of biaxially oriented polypropylene.

22. A printed document as claimed in claim 21, in which the sheets are opaque.

23. A method of forming a printed document, which method includes: printing a plurality of sheets of a biaxially oriented polymeric plastics material in accordance with a method of printing as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7 inclusive; and binding the sheets together in book format.

24. A method of printing as claimed in claim 1, substantially as herein described and illustrated.

25. A method of printing as claimed in claim 1, substantially as herein described and illustrated.

26. A printed article as claimed in claim 8, substantially as herein described and illustrated.

27. A printed document as claimed in claim 15, substantially as herein described and illustrated.

28. A method of forming a printed document as claimed in claim 23, substantially as herein described and illustrated.

DATED THIS 30™ DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2005 = ADAMS & ADAMS APPLICANT'S PATENT ATTORNEYS