Retro-reflective materials
OwnerNigel I. Andersoninventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Retro-reflective material is made by applying a mono-layer of transparent glass beads to a tacky coating formed on a carrier sheet, coating exposed parts of the beads with a reflective material such as aluminium, and embedding the reflectively coated parts of the beads in an adhesive coating on a backing member. The carrier sheet is then stripped off. The thickness of the adhesive coating on the backing member is less than the typical diameter of the beads, and the thickness of the tacky coating on the carrier sheet is less than that of the adhesive on the backing member. In some cases screens or stencils are interposed between the carrier sheet and the backing member. Products resulting from these processes are described.
Claims30
A method of making a retro-reflective body comprising the steps of applying transparent glass beads in a monolayer to a tacky coating formed on a carrier sheet so that a part of the surface of each bead is embedded in the tacky coating and the remaining part is exposed, coating the exposed parts of the beads at least partially with a reflective material, bringing the reflectively coated surfaces of the beads on the carrier sheet into contact with an adhesive coating on a surface of a backing member, applying pressure to the contacting surface so that the reflectively coated surfaces of the beads become embedded in the adhesive coating and stripping the carrier sheet off the backing member, with the improvement, that the pressure applied to the contacting surface is sufficient to cause the beads to be embedded in the full thickness of the adhesive coating, that the thickness of the adhesive coating on the backing member is less than the nominal diameter range of the beads, and that the thickness of the tacky coating on the carrier sheet is less than that of the adhesive coating on the backing member.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.