Elastomeric reflective metal surfaces

Abstract

An elastomeric transfer laminate for providing decorative reflective metal finishes on the outer surfaces of articles of various shapes includes an effectively transparent elastomeric layer, such as polyurethane film, and a layer of highly reflective metal, such as chromium, bonded to the elastomeric layer. The metal is applied in microscopically discontinuous quantities, but in an amount to form an apparently visually continuous, planar, highly reflective surface. A typical technique is vapor deposition. The elastomeric layer provides an effectively transparent protective outer covering for the reflective metal layer when the laminate is bonded to a substrate. The laminate can be stretched to conform to three-dimensional shapes, and bonded to an elastomeric substrate, such as urethane rubber, to produce an article having a reflective metal surface which can be distorted temporarily during use without disrupting the reflectivity of the metal layer.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.