Apparatus for making a lenticular display sheet

Claim 1

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING A LENTICULAR DISPLAY SHEET MATERIAL CONTAINING A VISIBLE ILLUSTRATION WHICH CHANGES TO AN OBSERVER AS HIS LINE OF SIGHT CHANGES RELATIVE TO SAID MATERIAL COMPRISING IN COMBINATION, MEANS FOR PROVIDING A CONTINUOUS WEB OF A TRANSPARENT THERMOPLASTIC MATERIAL AS A SHEET, MEANS FOR CONTINUOUSLY FEEDING SAID SHEET AND PROVIDING AN ILLUSTRATION AGAINST A FIRST FACE OF SAID SHEET WHICH ILLUSTRATION COMPRISES A PATTERN CONSISTING OF A PLURALITY OF PARALLEL AND SEPARATED IMAGE BANDS INCLUDING A FIRST ARRAY OF SPACED BANDS WHICH ARE REPETITIVE IN ARRANGEMENT AND SUBSTANTIALLY EQUISPACED TO DEFINE A FIRST IMAGE FIELD, AND WHICH BANDS ARE INTERPOSED BETWEEN A SECOND ARRAY OF PRINTED BANDS WHICH ARE SUBSTANTIALLY EQUISPACED FROM EACH OTHER AND HAVE DISSIMILAR IMAGE CHARACTERISTICS THAN SAID FIRST BANDS FOR DEFINING A SECOND IMAGE FIELD, SAID APPARATUS INCLUDING MEANS FOR GUIDING AND MOVING SAID SHEET MATERIAL IN A PREDETERMINED PATH, MEANS FOR SUPPORTING SAID FIRST FACE OF SAID SHEET MATERIAL, MEANS FOR RENDERING SAID MATERIAL SEMI-MOLTEN, AN EMBOSSING MEANS INCLUDING A FIRST CYLINDRICALLY SHAPED ROLL WHICH IS VOID OF SURFACE FORMATIONS AND IS SHAPED FOR CONTINUOUSLY SUPPORTING SAID FIRST FACE OF SAID SHEET MATERIAL, A SECOND EMBOSSING ROLL HAVING PARALLEL RIB-LIKE FORMATIONS DEFINING PARALLEL CAVITIES IN ITS WORKING SURFACE, SAID EMBOSSING ROLL ADAPTED FOR SHAPING THE OTHER FACE OF SAID SHEET MATERIAL WHILE SEMI-MOLTEN, IN COOPERATION WITH SAID FIRST ROLL, MEANS FOR GUIDING SAID SHEET MATERIAL THROUGH SAID EMBOSSING MEANS TO EFFECT THE MOLDING OF RIB-LIKE LENTICULAR FORMATIONS IN SAID OTHER FACE OF SAID SHEET MATERIAL WHICH RIB FORMATIONS EXTEND SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO AND ALIGNED WITH SAID IMAGE BANDS AND ARE SHAPED AS A PLURALITY OF ELONGATED LENTICULES WHICH ARE OPERATIVE TO PROVIDE THE AFOREDESCRIBED OPTICAL EFFECT.