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US5407721A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Illuminated switches and rubber material for the cover piece therefor

Assignee: Polymatech Co Ltd
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Filing: 1993-11-19
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Granted: 1995-04-18
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Expires: 2013-11-19
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Abstract

Abstract A finger touch member of an illuminated switch prepared by a process comprising printing or coating a surface of a multicomponent rubber material composed of, as essential components, 90-70% by weight of EPDM and 5-30% by weight of liquid polymerized butadiene rubber, with an ink of contemplated color, covering the entire top face of the resulting printed or coated cover piece with a light blocking coating layer and irradiating the so covered top face with a laser beam to cut out the coating layer in a contemplated pattern.

Inventors

  • 👤 Masahisa Fujigaki
  • 👤 Yasuko Kimura
  • 👤 Keiko Hartgae

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-09 11:27
CPC Classifications
H; H01; H01H; H01H3/00; H01H3/02; H01H3/12; C; C08; C08K; C08K3/00; C08K3/01; C08K3/013; C08L; C08L23/00; C08L23/02; C08L23/16; C08L9/00; C08L2555/00; C08L2666/00; C08L2666/02; C08L2666/04; H01H2209/00; H01H2209/002; H01H2221/00; H01H2221/07; H01H9/00; H01H9/18; Y; Y10; Y10T; Y10T428/00; Y10T428/23; Y10T428/234; Y10T428/24; Y10T428/24802; Y10T428/24851; Y10T428/24893; Y10T428/24917

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 10
Claim 1
Independent Claim 98 words
A finger touch member of an illuminated switch prepared by a process comprising printing or coating a surface of a cover piece made of a multicomponent rubber material composed of, as essential components, 90-70% by weight of EPDM and 5-30% by weight of a liquid polymerized butadiene rubber, with an ink of contemplated color, covering the entire top face of the resulting printed or coated cover piece with a light blocking coating layer, and irradiating the so covered top face of the cover piece with a laser beam to cut out the coating layer in a contemplated pattern.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 98 words
A finger touch member of an illuminated switch prepared by a process comprising printing or coating a surface of a cover piece made of a multicomponent rubber material composed of, as essential components, 90-70% by weight of EPDM and 5-30% by weight of a liquid polymerized butadiene rubber, with an ink of contemplated color, covering the entire top face of the resulting printed or coated cover piece with a light blocking coating layer, and irradiating the so covered top face of the cover piece with a laser beam to cut out the coating layer in a contemplated pattern.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 15 words
The member of claim 1 wherein the ink is based on a polyester or polyurethane.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 19 words
The member of claim 1 wherein the coating material for the light blocking coating is based on a polyurethane.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 29 words
The member of claim 1 wherein the ink is based on a polyester or polyurethane and the coating material for the light blocking coating is based on a polyurethane.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 162 words
A finger touch member of an illuminated switch prepared by a process comprising printing or coating a surface of a cover piece made of a multicomponent rubber material composed of, as essential components, 90-65% by weight of EPDM, 5-25% by weight of a first liquid polymerized butadiene rubber and 5-10% by weight of a second liquid polymerized butadiene rubber, with an ink of contemplated color, covering the entire top face of the resulting printed or coated cover piece with a light blocking coating layer, and irradiating the so covered top face of the cover piece with a laser beam to cut out the coating layer in a contemplated pattern, said first polymerized butadiene providing the multicomponent rubber material with high resiliency and with bonding affinity for such ink layer and said second polymerized butadiene being different from the first in providing correspondingly higher resiliency to the multicomponent rubber material and correspondingly increased bonding of the resulting printed or coated ink layer thereto.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 162 words
A finger touch member of an illuminated switch prepared by a process comprising printing or coating a surface of a cover piece made of a multicomponent rubber material composed of, as essential components, 90-65% by weight of EPDM, 5-25% by weight of a first liquid polymerized butadiene rubber and 5-10% by weight of a second liquid polymerized butadiene rubber, with an ink of contemplated color, covering the entire top face of the resulting printed or coated cover piece with a light blocking coating layer, and irradiating the so covered top face of the cover piece with a laser beam to cut out the coating layer in a contemplated pattern, said first polymerized butadiene providing the multicomponent rubber material with high resiliency and with bonding affinity for such ink layer and said second polymerized butadiene being different from the first in providing correspondingly higher resiliency to the multicomponent rubber material and correspondingly increased bonding of the resulting printed or coated ink layer thereto.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 15 words
The member of claim 5 wherein the ink is based on a polyester or polyurethane.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 19 words
The member of claim 5 wherein the coating material for the light blocking coating is based on a polyurethane.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 29 words
The member of claim 5 wherein the ink is based on a polyester or polyurethane and the coating material for the light blocking coating is based on a polyurethane.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US4656078A Cited
US5234744A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1998-04-17 1998-10-17 1999-04-18 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 2002-04-17 2002-10-17 2003-04-18 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2006-04-17 2006-10-17 2007-04-18 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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