INJECTION-MOULDING METHOD FOR CREATING VIRTUAL THREE-DIMENSIONAL PATTERNS IN MOULDED BODIES

Abstract

The present invention relates to a process for the generation of virtual three-dimensional patterns in mouldings, in particular to a reactive injection-moulding process for the production of mouldings having a virtual three-dimensional pattern which is formed by flake-form effect pigments, to the mouldings produced by means of this process, and to the use thereof, in particular for decorative purposes.

Claims

1. Reactive injection-moulding process for the generation of virtual three-dimensional patterns in mouldings, where an injection mould is provided which has injection mould parts A and B which can be separated from one another and which in each case have an inside surface A and B and together form an interior cavity, and where, with the injection mould opened, a preform which has a two- or three-dimensional shape and an outside surface is fixed to the inside surface A of injection mould part A in such a way that the outside surface of the preform faces the cavity, where this outside surface has, at least on a part-area thereof, bumps and/or pits which together form a three-dimensional pattern, a thermoplastic film which has been pigmented with flake-form effect pigments is introduced into the interior cavity, the injection mould is closed, a mixture of at least two flowable components which react with one another with polymerisation is introduced into the interior cavity between the thermoplastic film and the surface B of injection mould part B, so that the thermoplastic film is at least partly covered, where the flowable components solidify with one another by polymerisation to give a transparent plastic and the thermoplastic film forms a strongly adherent and positive bond to at least that part of the outside surface of the preform that contains the three-dimensional pattern and at the same time to the transparent plastic formed during the polymerisation, and where the flake-form effect pigments replicate and optically enhance the three-dimensional pattern located on the outside surface of the preform on or in the thermoplastic film, the injection mould is heated or cooled and subsequently the resultant moulding, which has an outside surface comprising a transparent plastic and exhibits on at least part of this outside surface a virtual three-dimensional pattern formed by the flake-form effect pigments, is demoulded or removed.

2. Process according to claim 1, characterised in that the thermoplastic film has been mass-coloured with flake-form effect pigments.

3. Process according to claim 1, characterised in that the three-dimensional pattern is a macroscopic pattern in the form of a pictorial object, an alphanumeric motif, a line and/or dot pattern, a logo, a code or a an abstract pattern.

4. Process according to claim 1, characterised in that the flake-form effect pigments are selected from the group pearlescent pigments, interference pigments, metal-effect pigments, flake-form functional pigments, flake-form structured pigments, or a mixture thereof.

5. Process according to claim 1, characterised in that the flake-form effect pigments have a particle size in the range from 5 to 250 m and an aspect ratio of at least 2.

6. Process according to claim 1, characterised in that the flake-form effect pigments consist of a flake-form substrate and one or more layers on the substrate, where the substrate and the layer located directly on the substrate and/or at least two layers which are in each case adjacent differ from one another in their refractive indices n at least by n=0.1.

7. Process according to claim 1, characterised in that the flake-form effect pigments are present in the pigmented thermoplastic film in an amount of 0.1 to 20% by weight, based on the total weight of the pigmented film.

8. Process according to claim 1, characterised in that the pigmented thermoplastic film, in addition to the flake-form effect pigments, also comprises further organic or inorganic coloured pigments, dyes and/or fillers.

9. Moulding which consists at least of a preform, an interlayer, located on the preform, of a thermoplastic which has been pigmented with flake-form effect pigments, and an outer surface layer comprising a transparent plastic, where the outer surface layer exhibits on at least one part-area thereof a visually perceptible, virtual three-dimensional pattern which is formed in the interior of the moulding by the flake-form effect pigments, and where the outer surface layer of the moulding does not itself have a corresponding spatial three-dimensional pattern, obtained according to claim 1.

10. Moulding according to claim 9, characterised in that it is a polymeric moulding or a composite moulding.

11. Moulding according to claim 9, characterised in that the flake-form effect pigments in each case have a longitudinal axis and these longitudinal axes are in different orientations in the interlayer, relative to a base area of the interlayer.

12. Moulding according to 9, characterised in that the preform is transparent, translucent or opaque.

13. A decorative and/or labelling element or durable consumer goods containing therein a moulding according to claim 9.

14. Durable consumer goods according to claim 13 that are packaging, products in the electrical and electronics industry, domestic appliances, furniture, clothing, leather goods, shoes, sports articles or vehicles.

Description

EXAMPLE 1

[0123] A preform made from PC/ABS (Xantar C CM 406, product from Mitsubishi Engineering Plastics, Co.) having a carbon black content of 1% by weight, based on the weight of the plastic, a size of 100150 mm and a thickness of 4 mm is injection-moulded in an upstream process step. One of the principal surfaces of the preform is provided with a logo. The logo has various pits of 100-600 m each.

[0124] A film produced by means of an injection-moulding process (PC/ABS, Xantar C CM 406, product from Mitsubishi Engineering Plastics, Co.) having a content of 1.5% by weight of Colorstream T10-09 Pacific Twinkle (flake-form effect pigment based on SiO.sub.2 substrates, particle size 20-200 m, product from Merck KGaA) and 0.2% by weight of PV Fast Blue B2G01 (product from Clariant International Ltd.) having a thickness of about 800 m is produced in a size of 100150 mm.

[0125] The preform produced in advance is applied to an inside surface of the injection mould part in a suitable RIM injection mould in such a way that the logo faces the interior cavity of the injection mould. The pigmented, mass-coloured film is then placed in the remainder of the cavity, and the mould is closed. A reactive mixture (2-component PUR system) is introduced into the cavity still remaining between the pigmented film and the free inside surface of the injection mould and allowed to cure.

[0126] After the cooling operation and opening of the mould, a plastic plate is obtained whose first outside surface exhibits an area with uniformly strong blue gloss which changes colour between blue and green and gives the impression of lying behind glass, with a glossy, finely structured virtual three-dimensional pattern located therein in the form of a logo which is formed by the flake-form effect pigments in the film and which corresponds to the motif of the logo on the surface of the prefabricated plastic plate containing carbon black. The other principal surface of the plastic plate obtained is flat, opaque and has a black colour.

[0127] The reactive mixture used as a mixture of 49% by weight of component 1, consisting of Desmophen XP2488 (24.15% by weight), Desmophen C1100 (24.15% by weight), Dabco T-12 (0.5% by weight) and FC 983 (0.2% by weight), and 51% by weight of component 2, consisting of Desmodur N-3600, all products from Bayer MaterialScience.

COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 1

[0128] A preform made from PC/ABS (Xantar C CM 406, product from Mitsubishi Engineering Plastics, Co.) having a content of 1.5% by weight of Colorstream T10-09 Pacific Twinkle and 0.2% by weight of PV Fast Blue B2G01, based on the weight of the plastic, a size of 100150 mm and a thickness of 4 mm is injection-moulded in an upstream process step. One of the principal surfaces of the preform is provided with a logo. The logo has various pits of about 100-600 m each.

[0129] The preform produced in advance is applied to an inside surface of the injection mould part in a suitable RIM injection mould in such a way that the logo faces the interior cavity of the injection mould. The mould is subsequently closed. A reactive mixture (2-component PUR system) is introduced into the cavity between the preform and the free inside surface of the injection mould and allowed to cure.

[0130] After the cooling operation and opening of the mould, a plastic plate is obtained whose first outside surface exhibits an area with blue gloss which changes colour between pale blue and green and gives the impression of lying behind glass, with a glossy, virtual three-dimensional pattern located therein in the form of a logo which corresponds to the motif of the logo on the surface of the preform. The other principal surface of the plastic plate obtained is flat, semitransparent and likewise changes colour between pale blue and green. Compared with Example 1, the visible three-dimensional pattern has lower edge sharpness and less optical depth.

[0131] The reactive mixture used is a mixture of 49% by weight of component 1, consisting of Desmophen XP2488 (24.15% by weight), Desmophen C1100 (24.15% by weight), Dabco T-12 (0.5% by weight) and FC 983 (0.2% by weight), and 51% by weight of component 2, consisting of Desmodur N-3600, as in Example 1.

COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 2

[0132] A preform made from PC/ABS (Xantar C CM 406, product from Mitsubishi Engineering Plastics, Co.) having a size of 100150 mm and a thickness of 4 mm is injection-moulded in an upstream process step. One of the principal surfaces of the preform is provided with a logo. The logo has various pits of about 100-600 m each.

[0133] A commercially available lacquer which comprises a mixture of 5% by weight of Colorstream T10-09 Pacific Twinkle and 0.2% by weight of PV Fast Blue B2G01, based on the weight of the lacquer, is applied to the surface of the preform that is provided with the logo and dried.

[0134] The preform produced in advance is applied to an inside surface of the injection mould part in a suitable RIM injection mould in such a way that the logo faces the interior cavity of the injection mould. The mould is subsequently closed. A reactive mixture (2-component PUR system) is introduced into the cavity between the preform and the free inside surface of the injection mould and allowed to cure.

[0135] After the cooling operation and opening of the mould, a plastic plate is obtained whose first outside surface exhibits an area with blue gloss which changes colour between pale blue and green and gives the impression of lying behind glass, with a glossy, virtual three-dimensional pattern located therein in the form of a logo which corresponds to the motif of the logo on the surface of the preform. The other principal surface of the plastic plate obtained is flat, transparent and virtually colourless. The three-dimensional pattern on the visible surface has weak contours and colour flaking in the background at the motif edges.

[0136] The reactive mixture used is a mixture of 49% by weight of component 1, consisting of Desmophen XP2488 (24.15% by weight), Desmophen C1100 (24.15% by weight), Dabco T-12 (0.5% by weight) and FC 983 (0.2% by weight), and 51% by weight of component 2, consisting of Desmodur N-3600, as in Example 1.