Patterned metallized film and method for making same
US5055343A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | May 23, 1989 |
| Grant date | Oct 8, 1991 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 23, 2009 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T428/31678
- WIPO fieldOther consumer goods
- WIPO sectorOther fields
Abstract
A patterned metallized film comprises a transparent or translucent polymeric film coated on one side with a thin coating of metal, with the metal coating and the polymeric film being bonded to each other. The metal coating has a multiplicity of fractures of different sizes distributed throughout the coating in a prescribed pattern so that the reflection of light by the fractured metal coating produces a three-dimensional illusion of the pattern when viewed through said polymeric film. The film may also include a layer of adhesive on the opposite side of the metal coating from the polymeric film, and a paper backing sheet on the opposite side of the adhesive layer from the metal coating. The fractures are preferably formed by heating the metallized film non-uniformly so that selected areas of the film expand and soften at a rate different from the rate at which other areas of said film expand and soften. The different rates of expansion and softening produce multiple fractures in the metal coating between the selected areas and the other areas, whereby the fractures replicate the desired pattern.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.