Product With Embossments Having A Decreasing Line Weight
AssigneeKimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc.
InventorLee D. Wilhelm
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Embossed sheet materials are disclosed. In accordance with the present disclosure, the embossing pattern includes at least one line element that has a gradually decreasing depth. The gradually decreasing depth has been found to alter the shadow characteristics of the embossing pattern thus creating a line in the embossing pattern that appears to decrease in line weight. The decrease in line weight is accomplished without having to change the width of the embossment, although the width can also be changed in conjunction with the depth. Being able to incorporate line weight variations into embossing patterns can dramatically improve the aesthetic appeal of the patterns.
Claims21
An embossed product comprising:
- a base sheet containing natural fibers, synthetic fibers or mixtures thereof, the base sheet having a first side and a second and opposite side;
- a pattern embossed into the first side of the base sheet, the embossed pattern including a decorative feature that includes at least one line element wherein the depth of the embossed pattern along the line element gradually decreases from a first end of the line element to a second and opposite end of the line element making the line element appear to have a decreasing line weight;
- the line element having a minimum depth of at least about 0.005 inches;
- and
- wherein the base sheet has a bulk of at least about 3 cc/g.
A process for embossing a sheet-like product comprising:
- feeding a base sheet into a nip formed between an embossing roller and a backing roller, the embossing roller including raised portions that emboss a pattern into the base sheet, the raised portions including at least one line portion that has a gradually decreasing profile that embosses a corresponding line element into the base sheet, the line element having a gradually decreasing depth from a first end of the line element to a second and opposite end of the line element making the line element appear to have a decreasing line weight wherein the base sheet has a bulk of at least about 3 cc/g.
An embossed product comprising:
- a base sheet containing natural fibers, synthetic fibers or mixtures thereof, the base sheet having a first side and a second and opposite side;
- a pattern embossed into the first side of the base sheet, the embossed pattern including at least one line element wherein the depth of the embossed pattern along the line element gradually decreases making the line element appear to have a decreasing line weight;
- and
- wherein the line element has a width and wherein the width of the line element changes as the depth of the embossed pattern gradually decreases.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.