Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 022331~1 1998-10-09
~l~-LUKED IMAGE LAMINATING FILM
The present invention relates to a textured image
laminating film, and especially to a method of forming
such a film. In addition, the present invention relates
to a method of applying a textured surface to an image
e.g. a print, and to the resultant print with textured
surface.
Oil paintings have an appeal to a significant
portion of the population. While a substantial part of
the appeal is in the subject matter of the oil painting,
and the skill with which the oil painting has been
applied to a surface, at least part of the appeal lies in
the texture of the surface of the oil painting. To many
people, oil paintings have a character that is not
present in various kinds of prints. Thus, whereas
photographic prints, prints formed by a variety of
printing techniques and other images may be of high
quality in a technical sense or have significant appeal
for other reasons, such prints lack the perceived quality
of an oil painting.
Techniques have been developed for stripping a
photograph or lithograph from a substantial portion of
its backing followed by the bonding of the photograph or
lithograph to a textured backing at elevated temperatures
and pressure, to provide an image with a textured
surface. Such a process is described in U.S. Patent No.
4,528,233. Processes for making tri-dimensional
photographs, known as photoreliefography, are described
in U.S. Patent No. 3,772,106. A process for producing an
image on canvas or other backing in which a thin acrylic
polymer continuous self-supporting film is formed, with
an image being formed subsequently on the surface of the
film is described in U.S. Patent No. 3,589,955. It is
also known to laminate a protective layer on a photograph
to extend the life of the photograph and prevent gradual
CA 022331~1 1998-10-09
deterioration due to environmental conditions, as
disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4,378,392.
Techniques for producing a textured surface on a
print, poster, photograph, water colour print, or other
image in an economical manner are still required.
Methods have now been found for forming a textured
image laminating film, and for forming textured laminated
images, as well as the film and the prints thus obtained.
Accordingly, one aspect of the present invention
provides a method of forming an image laminating film
comprlslng:
a) applying an adhesive to one surface of a
polymer film, said film being transparent and capable of
being bonded to acrylic polymers;
b) applying an acrylic gel to the opposed surface
of the polymer film;
c) imprinting a texture to said acrylic gel;
d) heating said textured acrylic gel to dry said
gel and retain the textured surface, the dried gel being
transparent; and
e) laminating a transparent protective layer to
the surface of the gel using an adhesive, said
transparent protective layer conforming to the textured
surface;
said adhesives and film being selected so that the
image laminating film so obtained is transparent.
In a preferred embodiment of the method of the
present invention, the protective layer is laminated by
applying an adhesive to the surface of the dried gel and
laminating the protective layer to the adhesive on the
gel.
In another preferred embodiment, the adhesives and
protective layer are selected so that the image
laminating film is colourless and transparent.
In yet another embodiment, the acrylic gel applied
in step (b) is an acrylic gloss gel.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, a
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peelable release sheet is applied to the heat-activated
adhesive on the one surface of the polymer film,
especially prior to applying the acrylic gel.
In another embodiment, the polymer film of step (a)
is a polyolefin film, especially polypropylene film, and
the transparent protective layer is polyethylene film or
polyvinylidene chloride film.
In a further aspect of the present invention, there
is provided an image laminating film comprising:
a) an adhesive layer on one surface of a polymer
film;
b) a transparent acrylic gel on the opposed
surface of the polymer film, said gel having a textured
surface imprinted therein and having being dried;
c) an adhesive on the surface of the dried gel;
and
d) a transparent protective layer on the adhesive
on the gel,
the adhesives being selected so that the image
laminating film is transparent.
In a preferred embodiment of the image laminating
film of the present invention, a release sheet is
laminated to the adhesive surface on the polymer film.
In another preferred embodiment, the adhesives and
protective layer are selected so that the image
laminating film is colourless and transparent.
A further aspect of the present invention provides a
method of providing texture to the surface of an image on
a substrate comprising of:
a) forming a sandwich of said substrate and a
transparent textured film, said textured film having
opposed surfaces with an adhesive on one surface and a
protective layer on the opposed surface, said adhesive
being placed in contact with the image on said substrate;
and
b) heating said sandwich under pressure for a
period of time to effect bonding of the textured film to
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the image and substrate.
An additional aspect of the present invention
provides a laminate of an image on a substrate, said
image having laminated thereto, in sequence, an adhesive,
a textured film formed from an acrylic gel, a second
adhesive and a protective film.
In a preferred embodiment of the laminated image on
a substrate, the image is in the form of a photograph,
print, poster, water coloured painting or image
transferred onto canvas.
In another embodiment, the substrate is canvas,
batik, hardboard, masonite, foam sheet, foam core or
clipboard.
In another embodiment, the protective layer has a
matte finish or a gloss finish.
The present invention is illustrated by the
embodiments shown in the drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a
texturing processi
Figure 2 is a schematic representation of a textured
laminate;
Figure 3 is a schematic representation of laminating
of a print to a substratei
Figure 4 is a photocopier reproduction of a portion
of a colour print of pansies prior to lamination
according to the invention; and
Figure 5 is a photocopier reproduction of a portion
of a colour print of pansies after lamination according
to the invention.
Figure 1 shows a texturing process, generally
indicated by 1. Texturing process 1 has polymer film
roll 2 from which polymer film 3 is unwound. Polymer
film 3 passes first adhesive roller 4, at which adhesive
is rolled onto polymer film 3. Such adhesive may be and
preferably is a heat-activated adhesive for bonding of
the film to the substrate.
Release film 6 is unwound from release film roll 5.
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Polymer film 3 with adhesive thereon is brought into
contact with release film 6 to form first laminate 7.
First laminate 7 is in the form of release film 6 in
contact with polymer film 3, with adhesive at the
interface. At this stage in the process, polymer film 3
and release film 6 are in a peelable state.
First laminate 7 is then passed by acrylic gel
roller 8, at which the acrylic gel is rolled to the upper
surface of first laminate 7 i.e. it is rolled on the
surface opposed to release film 6. First laminate 7 is
then passed by texturing apparatus 9. In the embodiment
shown in Figure 1, texturing apparatus 9 is in the form
of a press with a textured surface, but it is preferred
that texturing apparatus 9 be in the form of rollers or
stamping apparatus, or the like, having a textured
surface and adapted to imprint the texturing onto the
acrylic gel. Thus, for instance, the texturing apparatus
could consist of two or more rollers e.g. 6-10 rollers,
through which the first laminate 7 is passed, the roller
in contact with the acrylic gel having a textured
surface.
First laminate 7 with the textured acrylic gel on
the surface thereof is then passed through oven 10 at
which stage the acrylic gel is dried. For instance, the
period of drying might be 5-10 minutes at 65-95~C.
Protective film 12 is fed from protective film roll
11 passed second adhesive spray 13. Adhesive is applied
to the protective film at second adhesive spray 13, and
would be an adhesive for bonding of the acrylic gel to
the protective film, for example, a cold liquid spray
adhesive, an example of which is 3M aerosol adhesive.
Subsequently, the protective film is brought into contact
with the acrylic gel layer on first laminate 7. The
resultant laminate, being second laminate 14, is passed
into contact with press roller 15. Press roller 15 would
normally be a heated roller to effect lamination between
protective film 12 and second laminate 14. In particular,
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press roller 15 is preferably a combination of a heated
roller and a second roller between which the laminate is
passed. However, it is preferred to cut the film to a
suitable size e.g. 36" X 48" and use a heat/vacuum press.
The resultant laminate is rolled on laminate roll 16 or
stacked depending on the lamination technique that is
used.
The laminate formed in the process of Figure 1 is
shown schematically in Figure 2. Figure 2 is an exploded
view of the laminate for ease of viewing. Starting from
the bottom of the laminate, the first layer 6 is the
release film, adjacent from which in sequence are
adhesive 20, polymer film 3, textured acrylic gel 21,
adhesive 22 and protective film 12. It is understood
that textured acrylic gel layer 21 is formed from the
acrylic gel spray 8, as described with reference to
Figure 1. All of the layers of laminate of Figure 1 are
bonded together to form a single laminate, except for
release layer 6 which is peelable from the laminate,
before use of the laminate.
An embodiment of forming a laminated image is shown
in Figure 3. A sandwich is formed of a print 30,
textured film 31 and sponge pad 32. The sandwich is
placed between lower press plate 33 and upper press plate
34. The upper press plate 34 is then lowered, so that
pressure is applied to the laminate between upper press
plate and lower press plate 33. It is understood that
one and preferably both of the press plates 33 and 34 are
heated to a controlled temperature suitable for the
lamination process, the temperature being controlled to
effect lamination but not adversely affect the quality of
the print. After a period of time, usually a controlled
period of time, the upper press plate 34 is moved away
from lower press plate 33 and the resultant laminated
textured print is removed. In another embodiment, the
press may be a vacuum press.
In the process of Figure 3, the sponge pad is
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particularly used to protect the laminate that is being
formed. Such use of sponge pads is known, but a variety
of other protective layers may be used. In particular,
the protective layer that is used may be depend on the
laminating apparatus in which laminating is effected.
In other embodiments, the sandwich of print and
image laminating film could be passed through heated
rollers to effect the lamination process.
Figures 4 and 5 are photocopier representations of a
portion of a colour print of pansies before and after
lamination with an image texturing film according to the
invention. The print after lamination exhibits texture
and an impression more closely resembling that of an oil
painting.
The release film may be selected from a variety of
films having release properties from its adjacent
adhesive. The release film would have the properties
understood for such a film, including being peelable
prior to use. Examples of such films include wax and
silicone coated papers.
The polymer film is a transparent film that may be
bonded to the acrylic gel and to the image and substrate.
The polymer film must have the ability to adhere to the
acrylic gel, as well as not adversely affecting the
quality of the print in any significant manner over a
period of time, preferably over a period of several
years. Examples of such films include polyvinyl
chloride, polyvinylidene chloride (saran), polyolefins
e.g. polyethylene and polypropylene, polyester and the
like. Films that are acid-free films are preferred, as
such films exhibit minimal effects on the image. A
preferred film is polypropylene. It is understood that
the nature of the image will have an affect on the choice
of the polymer films e.g. photographic prints are
susceptible to effects of acids, whereas other types of
images e.g. prints, may be less sensitive.
The protective film is also a transparent film, and
CA 022331~1 1998-10-09
is preferably scratch resistance and capable of being
wiped to clean the surface. This film must be capable of
conforming to the texture in the acrylic gel, and not
mask that texture. Examples of such films are known, and
include polyethylene and polyvinylidene chloride.
A wide variety of substrates may be used. The
substrates include flexible substrates e.g. paper,
plastic films, canvas or the like. The substrates also
include more rigid substrates e.g. cardboard, wood
substrates e.g. hardboard or natural wood products, metal
substrates e.g. aluminum, or the like.
The adhesives must be transparent, in order to
retain the aesthetic qualities of the print. In
addition, the adhesives must be capable of bonding to the
films and/or acrylic gel, as the case may be. Water-
based adhesives should not be used.
The polymer and protective films should not exhibit
shrinkage during the steps in the process involving heat.
For instance, the films should exhibit a shrinkage of
less than about 5%. The films should also be
transparent, with minimal cloudiness. Preferably loss of
transmission of light should be less than 10%. It is
also preferred that the films be colourless, although in
embodiments the films could be transparent but coloured
(tinted). For example, one or more of the films could be
tinted with sepia colours, especially if the print is
black and white. Other colours could be used.
The gel is preferably an acrylic gloss gel. Acrylic
matte gels could be used but are less transparent and
more cloudy, and thus less preferred.
In embodiments, the adhesives applied for lamination
of the protective layer may be dried before the
protective layer is applied, and then bonded with heat,
or bonded prior to drying.
The present invention provides a textured image
laminating film, particularly for use with prints,
photographic images, posters, water colour paintings and
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other images, and to the laminated images that are
obtained. The textured images may be on a wide variety
of substrates, as discussed above. In addition to
providing texturing, the laminating film also provides
protection to the image.
The present invention is illustrated by the
following examples.
Example I
A polypropylene film having a thickness of 3 mil was
coated with a heat-activated adhesive from 3M. A release
film was contacted with the adhesive.
Acrylic gloss gel from Tri-Art Manufacturing Inc.
was applied to the polymer film and, using a press with
a textured surface, imprinted with a texture that was
random and with an appearance of being wrinkled or of a
crumpled sheepskin. The gel was dried in an oven for 5-
10 minutes at about 65-95~C. A protective film was bonded
to the textured surface. The protective film used was
0.5-1 mil polyethylene film for a matte finish or
polyvinylidene chloride film for a gloss finish.
The resultant textured laminating film was cut
slightly larger than the size of a lithographic print on
a hardboard substrate. The release sheet was peeled off
the textured film, and the adhesive surface of the
textured film was contacted with the print. The
resultant sandwich was heated in a press at 80-99~C for 2-
5 minutes using a mechanical or vacuum heat press to
effect bonding.
The resultant prints had the appearance of a print
with a textured surface, resembling an oil painting.
The print does not necessarily have to pre-mounted
on a substrate e.g. hardboard, but there is less tendency
for wrinkling of the print if it is mounted.
With respect to the protective layer, it was found
that increasing the thickness of the polyethylene film to
greater than 1 mil tended to resulted in failure of the
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film to conform to the contours of the acrylic gel.
Similar difficulties were encountered with polypropylene
film e.g. the greater flexibility and ability to mould or
conform to contours exhibited by polyethylene film
compared with polypropylene film resulted in a superior
product with polyethylene film. However, polypropylene
film e.g. at a thickness of 3 mil, is a preferred film as
the layer near the print i.e. the "polymer" film, because
of increased stiffness.
