EP0352298B1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Dry paint transfer process and product
Assignee: Avery Dennison Corp
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Filing: 1988-03-25
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Granted: 1993-11-10
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Expires: 2008-03-25
Abstract
Abstract An automotive quality paint coat (44) is laminated to the exterior surface of a molded plastic car body member or panel (118). In one embodiment, the paint coat (44) includes an exterior clear coat (45) above a color coat (46). During processing, the clear coat (45) and color coat (46) are each coated on a temporary flexible casting sheet (42) and dried. A high gloss surface is transferred to the clear coat (45) from the casting sheet (42). The paint coat (44) is then transferred from the casting sheet (42) to a thin, semi-flexible thermoformable plastic backing sheet (72) by dry paint transfer-laminating techniques. The resulting laminate (70) is thermoformed into a complex three-dimensional shape of the car body member or panel. The preformed laminate (116) is then bonded to an underlying plastic substrate material, by injection-cladding techniques, for example, to form the finished article. The paint coat (44) has sufficient elongation to retain exterior automotive appearance and durability properties during thermoforming without deglossing. The backing sheet (72) absorbs defects in the substrate material so the paint coat retains its appearance and durability properties during the injection-cladding step. The finished article comprises a high gloss, defect-free paint coat on the exterior of a molded plastic car body member or panel. Solution-form polyvinylidene fluoride/acrylic paint systems have remarkably high combined gloss and distinctiveness-of-image levels, together with durability properties required for exterior automotive use.
Inventors
- 👤 Patrick L. Spain
- 👤 Keith Lawson Truog
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-23 20:04
CPC Classifications
B; B05; B05D; B05D7/00; B05D7/50; B05D7/52; B05D7/53; B05D7/536; B05D7/02; B05D1/00; B05D1/28; B05D1/286; B05D7/04; B05D7/56; B05D7/57; B05D7/576; B29; B29C; B29C37/00; B29C37/0025; B29C45/00; B29C45/14; B29C45/14778; B29C45/14811; B29C51/00; B29C51/14; B29C37/0028; B29C2037/0042; B29C43/00; B29C43/02; B29C43/18; B29C2043/185; B29C2043/186; B29C2043/187; B29C45/1418; B29C2045/14237; B29C2795/00; B29C2795/002; B29C43/20; B29C43/203; B29K; B29K2101/00; B29K2101/10; B29K2995/00; B29K2995/0018; B29K2995/002; B29K2995/0026; B29L; B29L2009/00; B29L2009/005; B29L2009/006; B29L2031/00; B29L2031/30; B29L2031/3005; B29L2031/722
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 31
Claim 1
Independent Claim
458 words
A process for making a motor vehicle body panel (130) comprising a supporting molded plastic substrate (118) having a coating (44) laminated to the substrate and conforming to its outer surface, in which the coating (44) comprises a transparent synthetic resinous outer film, and in which: a) a backing sheet (72) is adhered to the film to form a laminate (70), b) the laminate (70) is thermoformed into the shape of the body panel, c) the thermoformed laminate (116) is placed in a mold with the backing sheet (72) facing away from the molding surface of the mold, and d) a moldable polymer is introduced into the mold and adhered to the backing sheet (72) and molded to the shape of said vehicle body panel (130) with the moldable material providing said supporting substrate (118) and the coating (44) providing an outer coating surface of the body panel (130), characterized in that: i) A transparent outer clear coat (45) of a weatherable polymer is cast on a casting sheet (42) and dried; ii) a pigmented exterior automotive color coat (46) is formed on the clear coat (45) in dry film form so as to be visible through the clear coat (45); iii) the dried clear coat (45) and color coat (46)forming said coating being a thermoformable composite exterior automotive paint coat (44) which is transferred and bonded to said semirigid polymeric backing sheet (72), in which the clear coat (45) forms the exterior surface of the transferred composite paint coat (44), and the color coat (46) is bonded between the clear coat (45) and the face of the backing sheet (72), and the casting sheet (42) is removed from the transferred paint coat (44), the exterior clear coat surface of the paint coat (44) having exterior automotive gloss and distinctiveness-of-image levels transferred to it from its previous contact with the casting sheet (42); iv) the backing sheet (72) and the composite paint coat (44) thereon are thermoformed to form a three dimensionally shaped preformed laminate (116); and v) the preformed laminate (116) is placed in a mold and a synthetic resinous substrate material is injected into the mold to bond to the backing sheet (72) and form an exterior vehicle body panel (130) with a finished exterior automotive quality paint coat (44) adhered to its contoured outer surface, the backing sheet (72) having sufficient thickness to absorb defects present in the material of the supporting substrate (118) to retain an essentially defect-free surface on the clear coat (45) following adherence of the laminate to the substrate material, thereby forming a glossy, durable, defect-free exterior automotive quality paint coat (44) with a distinctiveness-of-image of at least 60% on the contoured outer surface of the finished vehicle body panel (130).
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
458 words
A process for making a motor vehicle body panel (130) comprising a supporting molded plastic substrate (118) having a coating (44) laminated to the substrate and conforming to its outer surface, in which the coating (44) comprises a transparent synthetic resinous outer film, and in which: a) a backing sheet (72) is adhered to the film to form a laminate (70), b) the laminate (70) is thermoformed into the shape of the body panel, c) the thermoformed laminate (116) is placed in a mold with the backing sheet (72) facing away from the molding surface of the mold, and d) a moldable polymer is introduced into the mold and adhered to the backing sheet (72) and molded to the shape of said vehicle body panel (130) with the moldable material providing said supporting substrate (118) and the coating (44) providing an outer coating surface of the body panel (130), characterized in that: i) A transparent outer clear coat (45) of a weatherable polymer is cast on a casting sheet (42) and dried; ii) a pigmented exterior automotive color coat (46) is formed on the clear coat (45) in dry film form so as to be visible through the clear coat (45); iii) the dried clear coat (45) and color coat (46)forming said coating being a thermoformable composite exterior automotive paint coat (44) which is transferred and bonded to said semirigid polymeric backing sheet (72), in which the clear coat (45) forms the exterior surface of the transferred composite paint coat (44), and the color coat (46) is bonded between the clear coat (45) and the face of the backing sheet (72), and the casting sheet (42) is removed from the transferred paint coat (44), the exterior clear coat surface of the paint coat (44) having exterior automotive gloss and distinctiveness-of-image levels transferred to it from its previous contact with the casting sheet (42); iv) the backing sheet (72) and the composite paint coat (44) thereon are thermoformed to form a three dimensionally shaped preformed laminate (116); and v) the preformed laminate (116) is placed in a mold and a synthetic resinous substrate material is injected into the mold to bond to the backing sheet (72) and form an exterior vehicle body panel (130) with a finished exterior automotive quality paint coat (44) adhered to its contoured outer surface, the backing sheet (72) having sufficient thickness to absorb defects present in the material of the supporting substrate (118) to retain an essentially defect-free surface on the clear coat (45) following adherence of the laminate to the substrate material, thereby forming a glossy, durable, defect-free exterior automotive quality paint coat (44) with a distinctiveness-of-image of at least 60% on the contoured outer surface of the finished vehicle body panel (130).
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
20 words
The process according to claim 1, characterized by including a dispersion of reflective flakes in the pigmented colour coat (46).
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
40 words
The process according to claim 1, characterized in that the laminate (116) is thermoformed at a temperature greater than 132 ° C (270 ° F), and the composite paint coat (44) elongates greater than about 40% during the thermoforming step.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
31 words
The process according to one of claims 1-3, characterized in that a clear coat (45) made of a fluorinated polymer and acrylic resin-containing material is cast on the casting sheet (42).
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
39 words
The process according to claim 4, characterized in that a clear coat (45) having a fluorinated polymer selected from the group consisting of polyvinylidene fluoride, and copolymers and terpolymers of vinylidene fluoride is cast on the casting sheet (42).
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
48 words
The process according to claim 5, characterized by drying a clear coat (45) such that the dried clear coat (45) contains less than 70% polyvinylidene fluoride and less than 50% acrylic resin, by weight of said total acrylic resin and PVDF solids present in the clear coat (45).
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
90 words
The process according to one of claims 1-6, characterized in that a casting sheet (42) is a high temperature-resistant, flexible, self-supporting casting film that transfers the high gloss surface to the clear coat (45) by drying of the clear coat (45) in contact with the casting sheet (42), the casting sheet (42) having a resistance to elongation from heat applied to dry the clear coat (45), and the casting sheet (42) forms a carrier for the paint coat (44) when transferring the paint coat (44) to the backing sheet (72).
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
31 words
The process according to claim 1, characterized in that the preformed laminate (116) is molded to the supporting substrate (118) by injection cladding, reaction injection molding, or thermoset sheet molding techniques.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
20 words
The process according to one of claims 1-8, characterized by dispersing polyvinylidene fluoride in a solution of the acrylic resin.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
31 words
The process according to one of claims 1-8, characterized by applying a clear coat (45) comprising a fluoropolymer resin in a solution of an acrylic resin to the casting sheet (42).
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
37 words
The process according to one of claims 1-10, characterized by bonding a paint coat (44) with a 60 gloss level greater than 75 gloss units and a distinctiveness-of-image level greater than 80% to the backing sheet (72).
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
37 words
The process according to one of claims 1-10, characterized by forming a backing sheet (72) as a semi-rigid sheet with a thickness in the range from about 0.25 mm (10 mils) to about 1 mm (40 mils).
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
35 words
The process according to claim 1, characterized in that the backing sheet (72) is made from a material selected from the group consisting of ABS, polyester, amorphous nylon, and thermoplastic polyolefins, including polypropylene and polyethylene.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
30 words
The process according to claim 1, characterized by applying a thin film of wax to the casting sheet (42) prior to casting the clear coat (45) on the casting sheet.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
36 words
The process according to one of claims 1-14, characterized in that the thermoforming step is carried out by avoiding contact between the thermoforming apparatus (112) and the clear coat (45) side of the backing sheet (72).
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
28 words
The process according to one of claims 1-15, characterized by applying a clear coat (45) with a distinctiveness-of-image of at least 64% on the finished paint coat (44).
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
31 words
The process according to one of claims 1-16, characterized by including linearly aligned metalic flakes having an average thickness of less than 200 nm (2,000 Angström) in said colour coat (46).
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
26 words
The process according to claim 17, characterized by including metallic flakes having a head-on brightness value greater than about 140 units in the colour coat (46).
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
135 words
An exterior motor vehicle body panel comprising a supporting substrate (118) having a three dimensionally shaped contoured surface and a laminate (70) comprising a flexible exterior automotive paint coat (44) adhered to the substrate (118) and conforming to its contoured surface, the paint coat (44) comprising a substantially transparent outer clear coat (45) and a pigmented color coat (46) on the undersurface of the outer clear coat (45) and visible through the clear coat (45), characterized in that the substrate comprises a molded plastic exterior vehicle body panel, and the clear coat (45) consisting of a weatherable polymer overlying the pigmented color coat (46), the clear coat forming a glossy, durable, defect-free exterior automotive quality paint coat (44), with a distinctiveness-of-image greater than 60%, on said contoured outer surface of the finished body panel (130).
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
135 words
An exterior motor vehicle body panel comprising a supporting substrate (118) having a three dimensionally shaped contoured surface and a laminate (70) comprising a flexible exterior automotive paint coat (44) adhered to the substrate (118) and conforming to its contoured surface, the paint coat (44) comprising a substantially transparent outer clear coat (45) and a pigmented color coat (46) on the undersurface of the outer clear coat (45) and visible through the clear coat (45), characterized in that the substrate comprises a molded plastic exterior vehicle body panel, and the clear coat (45) consisting of a weatherable polymer overlying the pigmented color coat (46), the clear coat forming a glossy, durable, defect-free exterior automotive quality paint coat (44), with a distinctiveness-of-image greater than 60%, on said contoured outer surface of the finished body panel (130).
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
52 words
The panel according to claim 19, characterized in that between the paint coat (44) and said supporting substrate (118) an intermediate shaped polymeric backing sheet (72) is provided having a sufficient thickness to prevent transfer of defects from the outer substrate material to the glossy surface of the outer clear coat (45).
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
23 words
The panel according to claim 19, characterized in that the clear coat (45) comprises a fluorinated polymer and an acrylic resin-containing paint system.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
26 words
The panel according to claim 19, characterized in that the clear coat (45) comprises a thermoplastic paint system which includes polyvinylidene fluoride and an acrylic resin.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
42 words
The panel according to claim 22, characterized in that the dried clear coat (45) contains less than 70% polyvinylidene fluoride and less than 50% acrylic resin, by weight of the total PVDF and acrylic resin components contained in the clear coat (45).
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
50 words
The panel according to claim 22, characterized in that the clear coat (45) is a thermoplastic paint system which consists of 50% to 70% polyvinylidene fluoride and 30% to 50% acrylic resin; and in which the acrylic resin component comprises polymethyl methacrylate, polyethyl methacrylate, or mixtures thereof, including copolymers thereof.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
45 words
The panel according to claim 24, characterized in that the colour coat (46) also consists of 50% to 70% polyvinylidene fluoride and 30% to 50% acrylic resin; and in which the acrylic resin component comprises polymethyl methacrylate, polyethyl methacrylate, or mixtures thereof, including copolymers thereof.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
31 words
The panel according to claim 19, characterized in that the clear coat (45) has a 60 ° gloss level greater than 75 gloss units and a distinctiveness-of-image level greater than 80%.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
33 words
The panel according to claim 20, characterized in that the backing sheet (72) is a semirigid sheet with a thickness in the range from 0.25 mm (10 mils) to 1 mm (40 mils).
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
35 words
The panel according to one of claims 19-27, characterized in that, the material of the backing sheet (72) is selected from the group consisting of ABS, polyester, amorphous nylon, thermoplastic polyolefin, including polypropylene and polyethylene.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
30 words
The panel according to claim 19, characterized in that the clear coat (45) includes a weatherable fluoropolymer resin and the colour coat (46) includes a dispersion of reflective metal flakes.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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