Process for making decorated, extruded, profiled elements

A process for producing a large size metal article (1) including extruded profiles of aluminum alloy of a length up to 20 meters or bent and shaped sheets even provided with indentations, recesses, grooves, which are painted or variously decorated by the transfer of decorations reproduced on a transfer support (2) by means of the combined action of pressure and temperature, said metal article having been preliminarily submitted to operations of surface preparation selected from the group consisting of cleaning, degreasing, chemical conversion and electolytic conversion, comprising the steps of:

• submitting said article (1) to a first painting cycle or to first and to second painting cycles, using a paint selected from the group consisting of a fluid paint and powder paint, carrying our said first cycle with a paint of a prefixed color to constitute a coating of primer, and said subsequent second cycle with a transparent paint to avoid phenomena of diffusion with the colors of the transfer support;
• and in the case of aluminum alloys, submitting said article to anodization, either colorless or colored and not to painting cycles;
• after hardening of said paints by polymerization during said painting cycles or at the end of said anodization, wrapping the article or covering surfaces of the article to be decorated with said transfer support (2);
• covering the article wrapped in said support (2) with a membrane (5) of elastically yielding impermeable material which is so shaped as to substantially adjust to the share of said article;
• interposing between said membrane and the article wrapped in said support a means of flexible permanently yielding material comprising crepe paper, suitable to unify and equalize pressure exercised by said membrane (5) on the surfaces of the article under an action of vacuum;
• applying counter-moulding or pads (9) within said indentations and recesses, between said transfer support (2) and said membrane (5) prior to the vacuum creation, so as to decorate also the internal surface of said recesses;
• or applying said pads (9) directly in touch with the surface of said recesses, so as not to decorate the internal surface of said recesses;
• creating the vacuum under said membrane (5), so as to cause the transfer support to uniformly adhere to the shape of the article (1);
• and
• submitting the whole to a variable heating action up to about 280.degree. C., for a time ranging from 30 seconds to 30 minutes, to transfer the colors from the transfer support to the article and to harden the colors by polymerization.

A process for producing a large size metal article (1) including extruded profiles of aluminum alloy of a length up to 20 meters or bent and shaped sheets even provided with indentations, recesses, grooves, which are painted or variously decorated by the transfer of decorations reproduced on a transfer support (2) by means of the combined action or pressure and temperature, said metal article having been preliminarily submitted to operations of surface preparation selected from the group consisting of cleaning, degreasing, chemical conversion and electolytic conversion, comprising the steps of:

• submitting said article (1) to a first painting cycle or to first and to second painting cycles, using a paint selected from the group consisting of fluid paint and powder paint, carrying out said first cycle with a paint of a prefixed color to constitute a coating of primer, sand said subsequent second cycle with a transparent paint to avoid phenomena of diffusion with the colors of the transfer support;
• and in the case of aluminum alloys, submitting said article to anodization, either colorless or colored and not to painting cycles;
• after hardening of said paints by polymerization during said painting cycles or at the end of said anodization, wrapping the article or covering surfaces of the article to be decorated with said transfer support (2);
• covering the article wrapped in said support (2) with a membrane (5) of elastically yielding impermeable material which is so shaped as to substantially adjust to the shape of said article;
• interposing between said membrane (5) and the article wrapped in said support a means of air-permeable flexible non-yielding not elastically deformable material, suitable to create thin channels between the article wrapped in the support and said membrane;
• causing the complete and uniform exhaust of air in a vacuum creation stage, avoiding disuniformities in the adhesion of the membrane to the wrapped article, and avoiding the formation of air bubbles;
• interposing between said membrane and the article wrapped in said support a further means of flexible permanently yielding material comprising crepe paper;
• apply counter-moulding or pads (9) within said indentations and recesses, between said transfer support (2) and said membrane (5) prior to the vacuum creation, so as to decorate also the internal surface of said recesses;
• or applying said pads (9) directly in touch with the surface of said recesses, so as not to decorate the internal surface of said recesses;
• creating the vacuum under said membrane (5), so as to cause the transfer support to uniformly adhere to the shape of the article (1);
• and
• submitting the whole to a variable heating action up to about 280.degree. C., for a time ranging from 30 seconds to 30 minutes, to transfer the colors from the transfer support to the article and to harden the colors by polymerization.

An apparatus for the decoration of a large size metal article (1) comprising

• a bench (19) on which an article (1) rests which is to be decorated, pretreated and on which said article is prepared by wrapping it with the transfer support;
• a table (7) of a length equal to the length of said bench (19), on which said wrapped article is transferred and positioned;
• a covering means of elastically yielding impermeable material;
• a device (8) to create the vacuum;
• heaters (20) located above said table (7) connected to ventilation and air circulation means (22), positioned in a hood (21);
• said table (7) is provided with a plurality of drilled through holes (6) and that said covering impermeable means is comprised by a membrane (5) to be positioned over said wrapped article resting entirely freely on drilled table (7);
• the vacuum being created between said membrane (5) and said table (7) through said holes (6), so that said membrane adheres and exerts a pressure on said wrapped article;
• and
• said drilled table (7) being horizontally translatable to and from said heaters and said hood.