US5614286A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Conformable cube corner retroreflective sheeting
Assignee: 3M Co
•
Filing: 1993-10-20
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Granted: 1997-03-25
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Expires: 2013-10-20
Abstract
Abstract Conformable cube corner retroreflective sheetings comprising a plurality of discrete cube corner segments which are conformably bonded together, each cube corner segment comprising a plastic body portion having a substantially planar front major surface and at least one minutes cube corner retroreflective element projecting rearwardly from the body portion and defining a cube corner point side of the cube corner segment. The peripheries of the cube corner segments can be defined by a plurality of separations extending from the cube corner point sides to the front major surfaces, the separations being disposed between adjacent cube corner segments. Adjacent cube corner segments are conformably bonded together in the sense that they are either: (1) separated by a gap of less than about 1 millimeter and bonded together through a conformable carrier layer; or (2) separated by a gap which is substantially filled with a conformable resin that bonds the side walls of adjacent cube corner segments together.
Inventors
- 👤 Chester A. Bacon, Jr.
- 👤 Gerald M. Benson
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-30 21:29
CPC Classifications
B; B29; B29C; B29C39/00; B29C39/14; B29C39/148; G; G02; G02B; G02B5/00; G02B5/12; G02B5/122; G02B5/124; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S428/00; Y10S428/913; Y10T; Y10T156/00; Y10T156/10; Y10T156/1089; Y10T428/00; Y10T428/24; Y10T428/24479; Y10T428/24521; Y10T428/2457; Y10T428/24612; Y10T428/24942
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 22
Claim 1
Independent Claim
69 words
A conformable cube corner retroreflective sheeting comprising a plurality of discrete cube corner segments which are conformably bonded together through a conformable carrier layer, each cube comer segment comprising a plastic body portion capable of retroreflecting light, and having a substantially planar front major surface and side walls and at least one minute cube corner retroreflective element comprising a plurality of faces, said faces projecting from said body portion.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
69 words
A conformable cube corner retroreflective sheeting comprising a plurality of discrete cube corner segments which are conformably bonded together through a conformable carrier layer, each cube comer segment comprising a plastic body portion capable of retroreflecting light, and having a substantially planar front major surface and side walls and at least one minute cube corner retroreflective element comprising a plurality of faces, said faces projecting from said body portion.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
27 words
The sheeting of claim 1 wherein substantially all of the cube corner retroreflective elements located closest to said side walls are intact and capable of retroreflecting light.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
43 words
The sheeting of claim 1 wherein the peripheries of said cube corner segments are defined by a plurality of separations extending from said rear surfaces of said body portions to said front major surfaces, the separations being disposed between adjacent cube corner segments.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
18 words
The sheeting of claim 3 wherein said cube corner segments are defined by a pattern of said separations.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
24 words
The sheeting of claim 4 wherein said pattern comprises a plurality of contiguous polygons selected from the group consisting of parallelograms, triangles, and hexagons.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
30 words
The sheeting of claim 1 wherein adjacent cube corner segments are separated by a gap of less than about 1 millimeter and conformably bonded together through a conformable carrier layer.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
21 words
The sheeting of claim 6 wherein said conformable carrier layer is bonded to said front major surfaces of said body portions.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
27 words
The sheeting of claim 7 wherein said conformable carrier layer comprises a continuous, transparent film and is bonded to said front major surfaces through a transparent adhesive.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
25 words
The sheeting of claim 1 further comprising a specularly reflective coating on the rear surfaces of said body portions of of said cube corner segments.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
14 words
The sheeting of claim 9 further comprising an adhesive on said specularly reflective coating.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
29 words
The sheeting of claim 1 wherein said cube corner segments are conformably bonded together through a conformable resin which bonds the side walls of adjacent cube corner segments together.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
21 words
The sheeting of claim 11 wherein the separation between adjacent cube corner segments ranges between about 0.5 and about 3 millimeters.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
28 words
The sheeting of claim 11 furthercomprising a back sealing film disposed adjacent said cube corner retroreflective elements and bonded to said cube corner segments through said conformable resin.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
26 words
The sheeting of claim 11 wherein a continuous, transparent film is bonded to said front major surfaces through said conformable resin, said conformable resin being transparent.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
31 words
The sheeting of claim 1 further comprising septa which extend rearwardly into sealing contact with a conformable back sealing film, said septa defining hermetically sealed cells or pockets in said sheeting.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
125 words
A conformable cube corner retroreflective sheeting comprising a plurality of discrete cube corner segments bonded together through a conformable carrier layer, each cube corner segment comprising a plastic body portion capable of retroreflecting light, and having a substantially planar front major surface and at least one minute cube comer retroreflective element comprising a plurality of faces, said faces projecting from the rear surface of said body portion, wherein the side walls of said cube comer segments are defined by grooves extending vertically from said rear surfaces of said cube comer segments toward said front major surfaces and terminating at connecting bridges which are disposed horizontally between and are integral with adjacent cube comer segments, said connecting bridges being at least one of fractured and frangible.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
125 words
A conformable cube corner retroreflective sheeting comprising a plurality of discrete cube corner segments bonded together through a conformable carrier layer, each cube corner segment comprising a plastic body portion capable of retroreflecting light, and having a substantially planar front major surface and at least one minute cube comer retroreflective element comprising a plurality of faces, said faces projecting from the rear surface of said body portion, wherein the side walls of said cube comer segments are defined by grooves extending vertically from said rear surfaces of said cube comer segments toward said front major surfaces and terminating at connecting bridges which are disposed horizontally between and are integral with adjacent cube comer segments, said connecting bridges being at least one of fractured and frangible.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
30 words
The sheeting of claim 16 wherein each of said connecting bridges is substantially thinner than and made of the same material as adjacent body portions of said cube corner segments.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
37 words
The sheeting of claim 16 wherein said grooves have a cross sectional shape selected from the group consisting of: an inverted V-shape, an inverted U-shape, and an inverted V-shape wherein the apex of the V is truncated.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
18 words
The sheeting of claim 16 wherein said cube corner segments are defined by a pattern of said grooves.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
24 words
The sheeting of claim 19 wherein said pattern comprises a plurality of contiguous polygons selected from the group consisting of parallelograms, triangles, and hexagons.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2000-03-24 | 2000-09-23 | 2001-03-25 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2004-03-24 | 2004-09-23 | 2005-03-25 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2008-03-24 | 2008-09-23 | 2009-03-25 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |