Title of Invention

A METHOD AND AN APPARATUS FOR MAKING AN INSIGNIA WITH A RAISED DESIGN

Abstract

A method and apparatus for making insignias with a raised design is capable of providing more aesthetic appearance to the insignias thus made. The upper mold is formed with a plurality of edge-defining blades near the edges, a plurality of pattern- defining blades, and a plurality of toothed surfaces. During the pressing, heat is also applied to the upper mold and the bottom mold so as to weld the surface sheet with the base sheet. The final product is an insignia with raised design of patterns with shining appearance.

Full Text

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING INSIGNIAS WITH RAISED DESIGNS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention: The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for making insignia used as badges, chevrons, trademarks, or the like, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for making insignias with a raised design that provides more prominent, distinctive, and vivid appearance to the insignia thus made. 2. Description of Prior Art: People usually attach insignias of special designs on their clothing as indication of something special such as membership, authority, or achievement. Besides, the insignias can also bear trademark designs symbolizing deluxe classes that are attached to fashionable goods as jeans, purses, and so on to promote the sales. The designs on insignia are usually made in relief so as to provide a more prominent, distinctive, and vivid appearance, A conventional method for making insignias is to prepare a base sheet on which a decorative material shaped into desired design is formed. Heating means as high-frequency welding machine is used to bond the decorative material on the base sheet and a mold having cutting blades is used to form the deporative material into desired shape. After that, manual work is used to remove parts of the ornamental material that are cut away from the base sheet so as to form patterns on the insignia. The pattern on the insignia is pre-design with the mold which is made in advance according to customer specifications. The aforementioned conventional method has two drawbacks. First, for patterns on the insignia that are formed with a width less than 0.5 mm, the manual work to remove them is very difficult. Therefore, the patterns on the insignia should be arranged with greater widths so as to facilitate the removal of cutaway remnants. However, this would make the insignia with a less degree of fineness and thus a less delicate appearance to the insignia thus made. Second, the ornamental material used by the conventional method can only be used to form a flat design on the insignia. It can not be used to form a raised design that gives a prominent appearance to the insignia. A solution to this problem is to use heat-deformable synthetic resin as the decorative material by which the patterns on the insignia can be made in relief, i.e., raised patterns that provide the insignia with a more prominent, distinct, and vivid appearance. However, the effect is still considered not very satisfactory. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore a primary objective of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for making insignias with raised designs by using composite insulated heating device. It is another objective of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for making insignias with fine and delicate patterns. It is still another objective of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for making insignias with prominent aesthetic appearance. It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus by which the procedural steps for making an insignia are simplified. In accordance with the foregoing and other objectives of the present invention, a new and improved method for making an insignia is provided. The method comprises the following steps of (1) preparing a base material consisting of a base sheet and a surface sheet overlaying the base sheet, the base material being covered with a surface coating; (2) placing the base material between a bottom mold and an upper mold, the bottom mold being coupled to a first heating device and the upper mold being coupled to a second heating device, the upper mold being provided with a plurality of edge-defining blades near the edges, a plurality of pattern-defining blades which are shorter than the edge-defining blades, and a plurality of toothed surfaces which are formed with a plurality of pointed projections much shorter than the pattern-defining blades; (3) pressing the upper mold against the bottom mold so as to form the base material with raised design of patterns, and meanwhile applying heat to the bottom mold and the upper mold from the first heating device and the second heating device, whereby the edge-defining blades define the edge of raised design on the insignia, the pattern-defining blades define a plurality of raised patterns on the insignia; and (4) removing remnants cut away by the pattern-defining blades. The apparatus according to the present invention comprises (a) a bottom mold for supporting a base material of the insignia; (b) a movable upper mold provided above the bottom mold and formed with a plurality of edge-defining blades near the edges, a plurality of pattern-defining blades which are shorter than the edge-defining blades, and a plurality of toothed surfaces which are formed with a plurality of pointed projections much shorter than the pattern-defining blades; (c) means for moving the upper mold toward the bottom mold so as to clasp the base material of the insigni^ placed between the upper mold and the bottom mold; (d) a first electrode electrically coupled to the bottom mold; (e) a second electrode electrically coupled to the upper mold; and (f) means for applying electricity to the first and second electrodes. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The present invention can be more fully understood by reading the subsequent detailed description of the preferred embodiments thereof with references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein; FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional diagram depicting the initial step involved in the method according to the present invention for making an insignia; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view depicting a heating and pressing step involved in the method according to the present invention for making an insignia; FIG. 3 shows an enlarged view of part of FIG. 2; FIG. 4 shows an enlarged view of part of FIG. 3; FIG. 5 shows a cross-sectional view of the finished product of an insignia made by the method according to the present invention; FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional view of the finished product of an insignia made by using a single upper mold to heat and press the base material; FIG. 7A is a cross-sectional diagram used to depict a heating and pressing step carried out by a first upper mold in the apparatus according to the present invention for making the insignia; FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional diagram used to depict a heating and pressing step carried out by a second upper mold in the apparatus according to the present invention for making the insignia; FIG. 7C is a cross-sectional view of the base material being heated and pressed by a set of first movable upper and bottom molds in a first stage; FIG. 7D is a cross-sectional view of the base material being heated and pressed by a set of second movable upper and bottom molds in a second stage; FIG. 8A is a top view of the semi-finished insignia which is made through the process depicted in FIG. 7C; FIG. 8B is a top view of the semi-finished insignia which is made through the processes depicted in FIG. 7C and FIG. 7D; FIG. 9 shows a perspective view of the apparatus according to the present invention for making an insignia; FIG. 10 shows an enlarged view of part of the apparatus of FIG. 10; FIG. 11 shows a side view of the movable upper mold being linked to a cutting knife; and FIG. 12 shows the same in FIG. 11 except for showing the cutting knife being moved downwards to cut away unwanted portions of the insignia. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, the base material for making an insignia by the method according to the present invention is a base sheet 10 overlaid with a surface sheet 12. The base sheet 10 can be made of woven fabric, non-woven fabric, synthetic leather, plastics, or the like, and the surface sheet 12 is a sheet of heat-deformable synthetic resin as polyvinyl chloride or polyurethane. An adhesive layer 14 is coated on the bottom of the surface sheet 12 so as to glue the surface sheet 12 to the base sheet 10. A surface coating 16, which can be a deposited layer of metal or a printed layer of oil ink, is formed over the surface sheet 12. Alternatively, the surface coating 16 can be formed by depositing a layer of metal first and then printing a layer of oil ink over the metal layer. Referring to FIG. 2 together with FIG. 3, the base material is placed on a bottom mold 20 mounted on a platform 22 on a composite welding machine that includes high-frequency electromagnetic wave and electricity heating means for the welding purpose. A movable upper mold 24 is mounted above the platform 22 and is used to press against the base material laying between it and the bottom mold 20. The bottom mold 20 and the upper mold 24 are respectively electrically coupled to the opposite electrodes of an electricity source on the composite welding machine, which is used to perform a composite insulation heating process on the base material. Referring also to FIGs. 2-4, the bottom mold 20 is provided with a plurality of toothed surfaces 23 and that of pattern-defining recess 21 and the upper mold 24 is provided with a plurality of edge-defining blades 28 near the edges, a plurality of pattern-defining blades 30 which are slightly shorter than the edge-defining blades 28, and a plurality of toothed surfaces 32 which are formed with a plurality of pointed projections much shorter than the pattern-defining blades 30 and collectively used to press against the base material. The edge-defining blades 28 are each formed with a pointed tip 34 used to define the edge 17 (see FIG. 4) of the insignia to be made from the base material. The pattern-defining blades 30 are each formed with a pointed tip 36 not as sharp as that of the edge-defining blades 28 and a length slightly less than the overall length of the surface sheet 12 plus its upper and bottom coatings. When the pattern-defining blades 30 is pressed against the surface sheet 12, the surface coating 16 on the surface sheet 12 will be cut apart by the application of heat and pressure thereto and part of the adhesive layer 14 that is in contact with the pointed tips 36 will melt into liquid which then infiltrates into the base sheet 10 so as to glue the surface sheet 12 to the base sheet 10. Each pattern-defining blades 30 thus creates a groove 18 on the surface sheet 12 as illustrated in FIG. 4. The toothed surface 32 is used to press against the surface coating 16 on the surface sheet 12 but will not break it so as to impress a grain-like pattern 19 thereon. During the heating and pressing, those portions of the surface sheet 12 and the adhesive layer 14 that are in contact with the pointed tips 36 will be melted into liquid which then infiltrates into the base sheet 10, allowing the surface sheet 12 to be glued to the base sheet 10. Referring to FIGs. 3, 4, 5, and 8B, since the edge-defining blades 28 are used to cut and define the edge 17 of the insignia, the part 15 of the base material that is to be cut away is not included within the range that is to be pressed by the upper mold 24. Therefore, the cutaway part 15 can be easily removed by workers with suitable tools. On the surface sheet 12, grooves 18 and grain-like patterns 19 are formed. The grooves 18 are pressed by the pointed tip 36 to a depth that allows the underlying base sheet to be substantially visible. This allows the surface coating 16 to display a shining and contrasty appearance due to the quality of the overlaying material, i.e., the deposited layer of metal or printed layer of oil ink. This appearance is similar to the insignias that are made by weaving golden threads on fabrics. In the foregoing process, if it is desired to have a more plump look, a foam member made of heat-deformable synthetic resin as polyvinyl chloride or polyurethane can be inset between the base sheet 10 and the surface sheet 12. Furthermore, a protective film made of plastics can be attached on the bottom side of the finished product of the insignia. After purchase, the consumer can easily remove the protective film and use an iron or the like to heat and attach the insignia onto clothing, hats, or similar articles. Referring to FIG. 6, in other embodiments a single mold can be used instead of two as in the previous embodiment to apply heat and pressure to the base material of the insignia. Here, in the heating and pressing process, the base material of the insignia is placed on the platform 22 and then a movable mold 24mounted on a support 26is used to apply pressure thereto. In order to allow the raised pattern on the insignia to be more sharply defined, the heating and pressing process can be carried out for the second round. As shown in FIG. 7A, in this process a first movable upper mold 80 formed with a plurality of pattern-defining blades 82 and a plurality of toothed surfaces 84 is used to press against the base material of the insignia so as to form a pattern of raised patterns of narrow width. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 7B, a second movable upper mold 86 formed with a plurality of edge-defining blades 88 is used to press the base material of the insignia for the second round so as to define the edge of the insignia. When the finished insignia has a thickness of above 5 to 10 mm by specification, the pattern formed on the insignia may not be clear-cut and the edge thereof could be hairy if the pressing and heating process was carried only once. To eliminate these unfavorable appearances, the pressing and heating process should be carried out at least twice. Referring to FIG. 7C, a first movable upper mold 80 having a pressing cutting knife 82 (which serves as pattern-defining knife) and/or a sawteeth-like pressing surface 84 is used in combination with a fixed bottom mold 90 having a pattern-defining recess 91 and a sawteeth-like top surface 911 are used for the first stage heating and pressing process on the base sheet 10 and surface sheet 12. This allows the finished insignia to have clear-cut patterns with fine line textures, as for example the one shown in FIG. 8A. After that, as illustrated in FIG. 7D, a second movable upper mold 86 having a plurality of heat-cutting knife 88 (which serves as edge-defining knife) is used in combination with the fixed bottom mold 90 for the second stage heating and pressing process on the same. This cuts away the hairy edge on the patterns such that the patterns appears to be more clear-cut, allowing the insignia to have a more apparent looking, as for example the one shown in FIG. 8B. Further, the area of the sawteeth-like pressing surface 84 of the first movable upper mold 80 can be greater than the area bounded by the heat-cutting knife 88 on the second movable upper mold 86, such that after completion of the first stage heating and pressing process, the semi-finished insignia 40- as shown in FIG. 8A has an additional edge texture 19' formed around the main pattern. This edge texture 19' can be removed along with the surface part 15 beyond the outline 17 of the desired pattern on the insignia in the subsequent second stage heating and pressing process. This allows the insignia, as the one 40 shown in FIG. 8B, to be formed with clear-cut, precisely-aligned patterns having appealing looking. In conclusion, the pressing cutting knife 82, sawteeth-like pressing surface 84, and heat-cutting knife 88 on the first and second movable modes 80, 86 can be used to form the pattern as shown in FIG. 8B. Taking the cross section cutting through the line A~A in FIG 8B as example, the apparatus should be provided with three pressing cutting knives 82, a number of sawteeth-like pressing surfaces 84, and six heat-cutting knife 88. Referring to FIG. 9 together with FIG. 10, the heating means employed by the present invention can be a high-frequency wave heater combined with an electric heater, supersonic wave heater, or the like. FIG. 10 shows a combined heating apparatus 50 that includes both the high-frequency wave heater and the electric heater in a unit. The apparatus includes a bottom mold 20 coupled electrically to a first electrode 52 on the heating apparatus and an upper mold 24 coupled electrically to a second electrode 54. In the operation, the base material of the insignia is first placed at a fixed position on the bottom mold 20. Then the operator can tread on a pedal 56 so as to move the upper mold 24 downwards, thereby allowing the upper mold 24 and the bottom mold 20 to together clasp the base material of the insignia placed therebetween. Meanwhile, electricity is applied to the electrodes 52, 54, causing the molds 20, 24 to generate heat to the base material of the insignia and thereby welding the base sheet 10 and the surface sheet 12 together. After the process is completed, the operator releases the pedal 56, which causes the upper mold 24 to move back to the original position. An insignia with raised design is thus produced. The high-frequency wave heater, for generating heat and the pedal for moving the upper mold are all conventional techniques so that detailed description of the structure thereof will not be given in this specification. A heating device 58 for temperature adjustment is further coupled integrally between the platform 26 and the electrode 54. The magnetic flux generated by the electrode 54 and the heat generated by the heating device 58 can thus be transferred to the upper mold 24. These two heat sources are referred to hereinafter in this specification as "composite heat". The use of the composite heat not only significantly shorten the process time, but also allows the apparatus to handle base material of substantial thickness. The drawback in prior art that causes base material of substantial thickness to be insufficiently heated is therefore eliminated. Moreover, the heating device 58 can be manually adjusted by a temperature regulating switch 60 in accordance with the thickness and quality of the base material to generate a sufficient amount of heat for the process. Referring together to FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, the movable upper mold 24 can be alternatively coupled to the inside of a recess 93 in the knife holder 92. The knife holder 92 is fixed at a position below the platform 26 and has its peripheral formed with cutting knives 94 which are used to cut away unwanted parts of the finished insignia. A buffer spring 95 is set between the movable upper mold 24 and the recess 93. When operating the apparatus to make the insignia, the platform 26 along with the knife holder 92 will be driven downwards to a first position as illustrated in FIG. 11, in which position the movable upper mold 24 comes into contact with the surface sheet 12 but the cutting knives 94 keeps at a distance away from the base material. Under this setup, the foregoing heating and pressing process is carried out. After this, the platform 26 along with the knife holder 92 are driven further downwards to a second position as illustrated in FIG. 12, in which position the cutting knives 94 cuts away the unwanted parts of the base sheet 10 and surface sheet 12 beyond the finished insignia. At this time, the buffer spring 95 acts as a resistance to the downward movement of the movable upper mold 24, allowing the movable upper mold 24 to stay at the first position when the knife holder 92 is moved to the second position, thus preventing the insignia from being broken apart. By the foregoing arrangement, the heating and pressing process and the process of removing unwanted parts can be combined into a single process which significantly simplifies the manufacture of the insignias. The present invention has been described hitherto with exemplary preferred embodiments. However, it is to be understood that the scope of the present invention need not be limited to the disclosed preferred embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements within the scope defined in the following appended claims. The scope of the claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements. WE CLAIMS 1. A method for making an insignia with a raised design, comprising the following steps of (1) preparing a base material consisting of a base sheet and a surface sheet overlaying the base sheet, the base material being covered with a surface coating; (2) placing the base material between a platform and an upper mold, the upper molds being coupled to a heating device, the upper mold being provided with a plurality of edge-defining blades near the edges, a plurality of pattemrdefining blades which are shorter than the edge-defining blades, and a plurality of toothed surfaces which are formed with a plurality of pointed projections much shorter than the pattern-defining blades; (3) pressing the upper mold against the platform so as to form the base material with raised design of patterns, and meanwhile applying composite heat to the upper mold from the heating device, whereby the edge-defining blades define the edge of raised design on the insignia, the pattern-defining blades define a plurality of raised patterns on the insignia; and (4) removing remnants cut away by the pattern-defining blades. 2. A method according to Claim 1, wherein said platform is provided with a bottom mold and said bottom is also coupled to said heating device. 3. A method according to Claim 1, wherein said step (1) further comprises a step of depositing a layer of metal on the surface sheet and then printing a layer of colored, translucent material on the deposited metal layer. 4. A method according to Claim 1, wherein in said step (3) said composite heat is applied by a high-frequency wave heater and an electric heater. 5. A method according to Claim 1, further comprising a step of attaching a protective film made of plastics on the bottom of the insignia so that the insignia can be attached to a desired article by customer. 6. A method for making an insignia with a raised design, comprising the following steps of (1) preparing a base material consisting of a base sheet and a surface sheet overlaying the base sheet, the base material being covered with a surface coating; (2) placing the base material on a bottom mold; (3) pressing a first upper mold against the bottom mold so as to form the base material with raised design of patterns, the first upper mold including a plurality of pattern-defining blades and a plurality of toothed surfaces; (4) pressing a second upper mold against the bottom mold so as to define the edge of the insignia, the second upper mold including a plurality of edge-defining blades; (5) pressing the upper mold against the platform so as to form the base material with raised design of patterns, and meanwhile applying composite heat to the upper mold from the heating device, whereby the edge-defining blades define the edge of raised design on the insignia, the pattern-defining blades define a plurality of raised patterns on the insignia; and (6) removing remnants cut away by the pattern-defining blades. 7. A method according to Claim 6, wherein said step (1) further comprises a step of depositing a layer of plated metal on the surface sheet and then printing a layer of colored, translucent material on the plated metal layer. 8. A method according to Claim 6, wherein in said step (5) said composite heat is applied by a high-frequency wave heater and an electric heater. 9. A method according to Claim 6, further comprising a step of attaching a protective film made of plastics on the bottom of the insignia so that the insignia can be attached to a desired article by customer. 10. An apparatus for making an insignia with a raised design, comprising: (a) a bottom mold for supporting a base material of the insignia; (b) a movable upper mold provided above said bottom mold and formed with a plurality of edge-defining blades near the edges, a plurality of pattern-defining blades which are shorter than the edge-defining blades, and a plurality of toothed surfaces which are formed with a plurality of pointed projections much shorter than the pattern-defining blades; (c) means for moving said upper mold toward said bottom mold so as to clasp the base material of the insignia placed between said upper mold and said bottom mold; (d) a first electrode electrically coupled to said bottom mold; (e) a second electrode electrically coupled to said upper mold; and (f) means for applying composite heat to said first and second electrodes. 11. An apparatus according to Claim 10, further comprising: means for adjusting the amount of heat applied to the upper mold and the bottom mold. 12. An apparatus according to Claim 10, wherein said means for moving upper mold includes a pedal. 13. An apparatus according to Claim 10, wherein said plurality of pattern-defining blades are each slightly shorter than the edge-defining blades, and said plurality of toothed surfaces are formed with a plurality of pointed projections much shorter than the pattern-defining blades. 14. An apparatus according to Claim 10, wherein said composite heat is generated from the electrode and the heating device to be transferred to the upper mold. 15. An apparatus according to Claim 10, further comprising: a knife holder fixed to said movable upper mold; a cutting knife mounted below said knife holder; a stand having a recess; and a buffer spring set between said movable upper mold and said recess. 16. An apparatus according to Claim 15, wherein during operation said knife holder is driven downwards to a first position in which said movable upper mold comes into contact with the base material of the insignia and said cutting knife keeps at a distance away from the base material to carry out a heating and pressing process. 17. An apparatus according to Claim 15, wherein after the heating and pressing process the said knife holder is driven further downwards to a second position, in which said cutting knives cuts away the unwanted parts of the base material beyond finished insignia, in which process the buffer spring acts as a resistance to the downward movement of the movable upper mold, allowing the movable upper mold to stay at the first position when said knife holder is moved to the second position. 18. A method for making an insignia with a raised design, substantially as hereinabove described and illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings, 19. An apparatus for making an insignia with a raised design, substantially as hereinabove described and illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Documents:

1855-mas-1996-abstract.pdf

1855-mas-1996-claims duplicate.pdf

1855-mas-1996-claims original.pdf

1855-mas-1996-correspondance others.pdf

1855-mas-1996-correspondance po.pdf

1855-mas-1996-description complete duplicate.pdf

1855-mas-1996-description complete original.pdf

1855-mas-1996-drawings.pdf

1855-mas-1996-form 1.pdf

1855-mas-1996-form 26.pdf

1855-mas-1996-form 4.pdf