Second surface metallization
OwnerKenneth Crouse, Steven Abbott +1inventors
InventorsKenneth Crouse, Steven Abbott, Andrew Cameron
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A process for selectively metallizing a transparent or translucent non-conductive substrate including the steps of 1) masking at least a portion of the front surface of the non-conductive substrate with a peelable coversheet; 2) conditioning and activating the non-conductive substrate to accept metal plating thereon; 3) removing the peelable coversheet; and 4) plating the non-conductive substrate. Thus, the portion of the non-conductive substrate masked by the peelable coversheet remains unplated such that the metal plate can be viewed through the front surface of the substrate. The non-conductive substrate may be a three-dimensional molded substrate produced from a molded plastic film.
Claims36
A process for selectively metallizing a clear or translucent non-conductive substrate comprising a front surface and a back surface, said front surface and back surface opposing each other, said process comprising the steps of:
- a) masking at least a portion of the front surface of the non-conductive substrate with a removable coversheet;
- b) conditioning and activating the non-conductive substrate to accept metal plating thereon;
- c) removing the coversheet;
- and
- d) plating the back surface of the non-conductive substrate;
- whereby the at least the portion of the surface masked by the coversheet remains unplated such that metal plate can be viewed through the front surface of the substrate.
A process for producing a molded substrate with a metallic layer deposited thereon, the process comprising the steps of:
- a) providing a plastic film having a front side and a back side;
- b) masking the front side of the plastic film with a removable coversheet;
- c) molding the plastic film into a three-dimensional shape;
- d) conditioning and activating the molded plastic film to accept plating thereon;
- e) removing the removable coversheet from the molded plastic film;
- and
- f) plating the molded plastic film by electroless plating;
- whereby the front side of the molded plastic film remains unplated and the backside of the molded plastic film has an adherent metal plated layer thereon such that the metal plated layer can be viewed through the front side of the substrate.
A process for selectively metallizing a clear or translucent non-conductive substrate comprising a front surface and a back surface, said front surface and back surface opposing each other, said process comprising the steps of:
- (a) selectively activating at least a portion of the back surface to accept metal plating thereon;
- (b) plating the back surface;
- whereby at least a portion of the front surface remains free of metal plating and at least a portion of the back surface is plated with metal such that metal plate can be viewed through the front surface of the substrate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.