Retroreflective sheeting and methods for making same
First Claim
1. A flexible retroreflective cube corner type laminate sheet construction including a thermoplastic web with a light-receiving and transmitting first side and a second side coextensive with said first side, and a cube corner type retroreflective pattern formed on at least a portion of said second side, said construction comprising:
- a layer of hydrophobic granular material deposited on said second side to cover selected portions of said formed cube corner retroreflective pattern with remaining portions of said second side devoid of said hydrophobic granular material; and
a layer of backcoating material deposited on said second side to substantially completely overly said hydrophobic granular material without disturbing the pattern formed by said granular material, said backcoating material substantially fully contacting said portions of said second side devoid of said granular material and being fixedly secured thereto, thereby encapsulating said hydrophobic granular material between said second side and said backcoating layer, the particle size of said hydrophobic granular material being such that the area in which it is deposited will be effectively impervious to said backcoating material whereby said backcoating material is unable to penetrate said granular material and interact with said second side except in the area devoid of said granular material.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A retroreflective relatively flexible laminate sheet construction has a thermoplastic web with a smooth light-receiving first side and a second side coextensive with said first side. A retroreflective pattern is formed on the second side. A slurry of granular material is deposited on the second side to cover selected portions of the formed pattern with remaining portions of the formed pattern devoid of the granular material, and said slurry is dried or cured to produce a well-defined pattern. A layer of backcoating material is deposited on the second side to overlay the granular material, the backcoating material contacting the thermoplastic web where no granular material has been deposited, thereby encapsulating the granular material between the second side and the backcoating layer. An added, outer layer provides additional weather protection for the thermoplastic web. Methods are detailed to manufacture the laminate, and compositions of backcoating mixtures also are disclosed.
129 Citations
67 Claims
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1. A flexible retroreflective cube corner type laminate sheet construction including a thermoplastic web with a light-receiving and transmitting first side and a second side coextensive with said first side, and a cube corner type retroreflective pattern formed on at least a portion of said second side, said construction comprising:
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a layer of hydrophobic granular material deposited on said second side to cover selected portions of said formed cube corner retroreflective pattern with remaining portions of said second side devoid of said hydrophobic granular material; and a layer of backcoating material deposited on said second side to substantially completely overly said hydrophobic granular material without disturbing the pattern formed by said granular material, said backcoating material substantially fully contacting said portions of said second side devoid of said granular material and being fixedly secured thereto, thereby encapsulating said hydrophobic granular material between said second side and said backcoating layer, the particle size of said hydrophobic granular material being such that the area in which it is deposited will be effectively impervious to said backcoating material whereby said backcoating material is unable to penetrate said granular material and interact with said second side except in the area devoid of said granular material. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 67)
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22. A retroreflective cube corner laminate sheet construction comprising:
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a thermoplastic web having a light-receiving and transmitting first side, and a second side coextensive with said first side; said second side having a repeating retroreflective cube corner pattern formed on at least a portion thereof; a layer of hydrophobic granular material disposed on said second side to cover selected portions of said formed cube corner pattern and leaving remaining area of said second side devoid of said hydrophobic granular material; a layer of backcoating material deposited on said second side to overlay said hydrophobic granular material; said backcoating material also contacting substantially all of said remaining area of said second side devoid of said hydrophobic granular material; the particle size of said hydrophobic granular material being such that the area in which it is deposited will be effectively impervious to said backcoating material, whereby said backcoating material is unable to penetrate said granular material and interact with said second side except in said remaining area devoid of said granular material; said backcoating material being in secure attachment to said second side at said remaining area, thereby encapsulating said granular material between said second side and said backcoating material; a layer of adhesive applied to and generally co-extensive with said backcoating material; and a release sheet releably secured to said adhesive layer. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34)
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35. A method for producing a cube corner type retroreflective laminate sheet construction, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) applying a layer of hydrophobic granular material to a web of thermoplastic material having a retroreflective cube corner formed pattern on at least a portion of one side, said granular material deposited so as to form a regular and repeating array on said retroreflective pattern; (b) forming, as part of said array a plurality of paths on said one side devoid of said hydrophobic granular material; (d) applying a layer of backcoating material to overlay said hydrophobic granular material and to fill said paths; and (d) adhering said backcoating material to encapsulate said hydrophobic granular material between said formed side and said backcoating material, the particle size of said hydrophobic granular material being such that the area in which it is deposited will be effectively impervious to said backcoating material whereby said backcoating material is unable to penetrate said granular material and interact with said second side except in the area devoid of said granular material. - View Dependent Claims (33, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
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55. A flexible cube corner type retroreflective laminate sheet construction including a retroreflective web with a light-receiving and transmitting first side and a second side co-extensive with said first side, and a cube corner type retroreflective pattern formed on at least a portion of said second side, said construction comprising:
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a layer of hydrophobic granular material deposited on said second side to cover selected portions of said cube corner pattern, with the uncovered portions of said second side forming paths devoid of said granular material; a layer of backcoating material deposited on said second side to overlay said hydrophobic granular material, said backcoating material contacting said uncovered portions of said cube corner pattern on said second side and being fixedly secured thereto, thereby encapsulating said granular material between said second side and said backcoating layer, the particle size of said hydrophobic granular material being such that the area in which it is deposited will be effectively impervious to said backcoating material wherein said backcoating material is unable to penetrate said granular material and interact with said second side pattern except in said uncovered portions; and said paths being sized and shaped to cover a selected portion of the surface area of said cube corner pattern found in said second web side thereby to control the amount of incident light reflected from said first side of said retroreflective web, without changing said formed cube corner pattern on said second side. - View Dependent Claims (56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66)
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Specification