Abstract A die assembly incorporating a resilient die face and/or backing for sealing and/or patterning or texturing plastic and other like material through the use of RF heating. The die face contains all of the texturing, embossing, printing and the like of the surface of the material or object being simulated. The die face and/or the resilient backing material are imbedded or otherwise provided or formed with conductive and/or resistive material to enhance the dielectric heating operation, as well as to provide heat flow toward the plastic load immediately upon the institution of the RF heating operation. The resilient die faces may be integrated with the cutting edges forming fixed or compound die assemblies for cutting and/or sealing operations which may be performed substantially contemporaneously with the patterning or texturing operations.
A method of using a compressible die member to form patterns on a plastic sheet comprising the steps of: providing a mold having raised portions of a contour adapted to form cavities in the contoured surface of a resilient material poured into said mold; removing the resilient material from the mold after setting; filling only said cavities with a liquid plastisol; sandwiching a substrate under compression between the surface of said resilient member containing the plastisol and an electrode; dielectrically heating the plastisol by coupling high frequency energy to said resilient member and said electrode to set said plastisol and fuse it to the substrate whereby the contour formed by the plastisol on the substrate substantially exactly reproduces the contour of said cavities.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
123 words
A method of using a compressible die member to form patterns on a plastic sheet comprising the steps of: providing a mold having raised portions of a contour adapted to form cavities in the contoured surface of a resilient material poured into said mold; removing the resilient material from the mold after setting; filling only said cavities with a liquid plastisol; sandwiching a substrate under compression between the surface of said resilient member containing the plastisol and an electrode; dielectrically heating the plastisol by coupling high frequency energy to said resilient member and said electrode to set said plastisol and fuse it to the substrate whereby the contour formed by the plastisol on the substrate substantially exactly reproduces the contour of said cavities.