Patent ID: 6132662
Filing Date: 2000-10-17
Classification: B29C,B29K,B29L,B44C,B60R,Y10S,Y10T

Abstract:
A method of making a foil-covered plastic part, the method comprising:providing a film sheet;vacuum molding the film sheet in a mold cavity to obtain a decorative preform having plastic top and bottom surfaces;placing the decorative preform in a mold cavity of an injection mold having a shape defining the part;injecting a thermoplastic elastomer into the mold cavity of the injection mold to generate a substrate of the part wherein the generation of the substrate of the part creates sufficient pressure and heat to bond the substrate to the bottom surface of the decorative preform and to form at least one foil-receiving portion at the plastic top surface of the preform;providing a hot stamping foil having a foil top layer disposed on a plastic bottom layer;aligning the hot stamping foil with the at least one foil-receiving portion in a hot stamping machine; andoperating the hot stamping machine for a time sufficient to generate a temperature and a pressure sufficient to melt and combine the top surface of the at least one foil-receiving portion and the plastic bottom layer of the hot stamping foil to form the foil-covered plastic part.