ENCAPSULATED SIGNAGE AND METHOD OF PRODUCTION
First Claim
1. An article of manufacture in the form or a sign or label, the article comprising:
- a substrate forming a flat planar surface, the substrate having one or more edges formed around a periphery of the article, the one or more edges forming a bare edge border;
a design layer formed with inks applied to the substrate in a predetermined pattern to convey visual information to a viewer, the inks applied to the substrate being absent from the bare edge border;
at least one mounting hole formed in the substrate to mount the article to a supporting structure, the at least one mounting hole including an opening bare border positioned as a periphery around the at least one mounting hole, with no portion of the inks being applied to the periphery around the at least one mounting hole; and
a protective layer formed over the inks to provide a protective cover to the inks and to the substrate under the inks,wherein the opening bare border formed as a periphery around the at least one mounting hole is spaced apart and distinct from the bare edge border formed by the one or more edges of the substrate, and separated from the bare edge border by inks of the design layer.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An article of manufacture (160) in the form of a sign or label comprises a disclosed embodiment, produced in accordance with an example method. A substrate (170) is provided which forms a substantially planar surface area having a desired shape, thickness and size. A design layer (173) is formed through the use of inks (172) applied to the substrate (170) in a pre-determined pattern. When the inks (172) are applied to the substrate (170), no ink (172) is applied on one or more edges formed around the periphery of the sign (160) for an edge bare border (130). Also, a mounting hole (168) is provided, and an opening bare border (132) is formed around the mounting hole (168). An encapsulant (176) is then applied over the inks (172) so as to provide a protective cover. Also, the encapsulant (176) is applied to the edge bare border (130) and the opening bare border (132) so that the encapsulant (176) fully covers not only the inks (172), but also all borders, thereby forming edge encapsulation borders (130) and an opening encapsulation border (132), and the sign (160) is therefore fully encapsulated.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An article of manufacture in the form or a sign or label, the article comprising:
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a substrate forming a flat planar surface, the substrate having one or more edges formed around a periphery of the article, the one or more edges forming a bare edge border; a design layer formed with inks applied to the substrate in a predetermined pattern to convey visual information to a viewer, the inks applied to the substrate being absent from the bare edge border; at least one mounting hole formed in the substrate to mount the article to a supporting structure, the at least one mounting hole including an opening bare border positioned as a periphery around the at least one mounting hole, with no portion of the inks being applied to the periphery around the at least one mounting hole; and a protective layer formed over the inks to provide a protective cover to the inks and to the substrate under the inks, wherein the opening bare border formed as a periphery around the at least one mounting hole is spaced apart and distinct from the bare edge border formed by the one or more edges of the substrate, and separated from the bare edge border by inks of the design layer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of manufacturing an article including a sign or label, the method comprising:
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forming a design layer with inks that are applied to a substrate in a predetermined pattern to convey visual information to a viewer, the substrate supporting inks on a surface of the substrate; forming at least one mounting hole in the substrate to mount the article to a supporting structure; when applying the inks to the substrate, refraining from applying any of the inks adjacent one or more edges formed around a periphery of the article to provide a bare edge border; applying a protective layer over the inks to provide a protective cover to the inks and to the substrate under the inks; and continuing the application of the protective layer to fully cover not only the design layer, but also the edge border formed on the substrate; wherein the at least one mounting hole includes an opening bare border positioned as a periphery around the at least one mounting hole, with no portion of the inks being applied to the periphery around the at least one mounting hole, the opening bare border formed as a periphery around the at least one mounting hole being spaced apart and distinct from the bare edge border formed by the one or more edges of the substrate, and separated from the bare edge border by inks of the design layer. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification