Stain resistant retroreflective articles
Assignee3M Innovative Properties Company
InventorsRuby Chakraborty, Cheryl S. Elsbernd, Shri Niwas, Bruce H. Edwards, Chih-Chung Hsu
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Abstract
Retroreflective article and precursor articles formed during the preparation of the retroreflective articles are provided. Also, methods of making both the precursor articles and the retroreflective articles are provided. The retroreflective articles and the precursor articles contain a reflective layer that includes both a reflective metal and a polymeric blend. The polymeric blend includes both a fluorinated polymer and a (meth)acrylate polymer. The retroreflective articles typically have anti-staining properties, anti-corrosion properties, or both.
Claims16
An article comprising:
- a bead bond layer;
- an array of multiple transparent microspheres, wherein the multiple transparent microspheres have a first portion that are embedded in a first major surface of the bead bond layer and a second portion protruding from the first major surface of the bead bond layer;
- and
- a reflective layer having a buried region disposed between the bead bond layer and the first portion of the transparent microspheres, and an interstitial region disposed on the first major surface of the bead bond layer between the transparent microspheres, wherein the reflective layer comprises a reflective metal and a polymeric blend comprising (a) a fluorinated polymer and (b) a (meth)acrylate polymer.
A method of preparing a retroreflective article, the method comprising:
- providing a thermoplastic carrier layer with a first major surface;
- partially embedding an array of multiple transparent microspheres into the first major surface of the thermoplastic carrier layer, wherein the multiple transparent microspheres have a first portion that protrudes from the thermoplastic carrier layer and a second portion that are embedded into the thermoplastic carrier layer;
- providing a reflective layer on the first portion of the transparent microspheres and on an interstitial region of the first major surface of the thermoplastic carrier layer between the multiple transparent microspheres, wherein the reflective layer comprises a reflective metal and a polymeric blend comprising (a) a fluorinated polymer and (b) a (meth)acrylate polymer;
- and
- applying a bead bond composition to form a bead bond layer adjacent to the reflective layer opposite the thermoplastic carrier layer, wherein the first portion of the transparent microspheres and a buried region of the reflective layer that is on the first portion of the transparent microspheres are embedded into the bead bond layer and wherein the bead bond layer adheres to an interstitial region of the reflective layer between the multiple transparent microspheres.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.