In-mold label forming surfaces for molded articles

A method of making a molded article having front and back sides and a central portion bounded by a peripheral portion having a perimeter and including an outer boundary located near the perimeter and an inner boundary located near the central portion, with the peripheral portion on the front side of the article transitioning from the outer boundary to the inner boundary by a transition surface comprising a combination of a shallow-angled or sloped surface and a curved surface such that the shallow-angled or sloped surface of the peripheral portion is configured as an open conical surface, and with the article including an in mold label (IML) on the transition surface of the peripheral portion of the article, which method comprises:

• providing an in-mold label comprising:
• a laminated film that includes a backing layer, a printed surface supported by the backing layer, with the printed surface incorporating one or more designs thereon, and a protective film layer upon the printed surface, with the laminated film configured in at least two separate arc segments that conform to the shallow-angled or sloped surface of the peripheral portion of the article, with each arc segment configured for placement to form intersecting ends the ends of the other segment to ensure conformance of the IML to the peripheral portion of the article, with the IML including a central segment for application to the central portion of the molded article and with each arc segment of the IML including a connection neck extending between the inner boundary of the arc segments and the central segment over the curved surface, wherein the arc segments of the IML are provided within the inner and outer boundaries of the peripheral portion;
• providing a mold used in a molding process during which the molded article is fabricated, with the mold having a mold cavity formed by first and second molding surfaces with the first surface corresponding to the front side of the article and the second surface corresponding to the back side of the article, with the mold configured to provide the molded article with a central portion bounded by a peripheral portion having a perimeter and including an outer boundary located near the perimeter and an inner boundary located near the central portion, with the peripheral portion transitioning from the outer boundary to the inner boundary by a transition surface comprising a combination of a shallow-angled or sloped surface and a curved surface and into which mold cavity resin is deposited to form the article and from which the molded article is extracted;
• transferring the IML to the mold so that the printed surface of each arc segment is placed adjacent one of the molding surfaces of the mold cavity in a position corresponding to and within the peripheral portion of the article with the ends of each arc segment configured for placement to form intersecting ends of the other arc segment to ensure conformance of the IML to the angled, sloped and/or curved peripheral portion of the article, and with the connection necks provided upon the curved surface of the molded article;
• closing the mold by bringing the other of the molding surfaces into position to form the mold cavity;
• delivering the resin to the mold cavity having the IML therein wherein the ends of the arc segments are fixed in place to intersect during molding of the article;
• and
• recovering the molded article from the mold with the IML present both on the peripheral and central portions and on portions of the curved surface of the molded article.

A method of making a molded article having front and back sides and a central portion bounded by a peripheral portion having a perimeter and including an outer boundary located near the perimeter and an inner boundary located near the central portion, wherein the peripheral portion on the front side of the article on the front side of the article includes a transition from the inner boundary to the central portion of the article which is a shallow-angled or sloped surface, a curved surface or combinations thereof, and with the article including an in mold label (IML) at least on the angled, sloped and/or curved peripheral portion of the article, which method comprises:

• providing a first in-mold label comprising at least two separate arc segments of a laminated film that includes a backing layer, a printed surface supported by the backing layer, with the printed surface incorporating one or more designs thereon, and a protective film layer upon the printed surface, with the arc segments of the laminated film configured to conform only to part or all of the peripheral portion of the article, with each segment having ends that are configured to intersect with the ends of the other segment to ensure conformance of the IML to the peripheral portion of the article;
• providing a second IML of a laminated film that includes a backing layer, a printed surface supported by the backing layer, with the printed surface incorporating one or more designs thereon, and a protective film layer upon the printed surface, wherein the second IML includes a central segment for application to the central portion of the molded article;
• providing a mold used in a molding process during which the molded article is fabricated, with the mold having a mold cavity formed by first and second molding surfaces with the first surface corresponding to the front side of the article and the second surface corresponding to the back side of the article, into which cavity resin is deposited to form the article and from which the molded article is extracted, with the mold configured to provide the article with a central portion bounded by a peripheral portion having a perimeter and including an outer boundary located near the perimeter and an inner boundary located near the central portion, with the outer and inner boundaries of the peripheral portion being oriented at an angle or slope or being curved with respect to the central portion of the molded article;
• transferring the first and second IMLs to the mold so that the printed surface of each arc segment is placed adjacent one of the molding surfaces of the mold cavity in a position corresponding to and within the peripheral portion of the article with the ends of each arc segment configured for placement to form intersecting ends of adjacent arc segments to ensure conformance of the first IML to the angled, sloped and/or curved peripheral portion of the article;
• closing the mold by bringing the other of the molding surfaces into position to form the mold cavity;
• delivering the resin to the mold cavity having the IMLs therein wherein the ends of the arc segments of the first IML are fixed in place to intersect during molding of the article;
• and
• recovering the molded article from the mold with the IMLs respectively present upon the peripheral and central portions of the molded article such that the molded article includes a ring of the at least two separate arc segments within the inner and outer boundaries on the peripheral portion of the article and the central segment on the central portion of the article, wherein the central segment is spaced from and not in contact with the ring of arc segments.