Patent ID: 6551432
Filing Date: 2003-04-22
Classification: B05D,B29C,B29K,B29L,Y10T

Abstract:
A dry paint transfer process for making a plastic vehicular body panel having an exterior automotive quality paint coat on a contoured outer surface of the body panel, in which the paint coat has a glossy clear coat/color coat paint finish, the process comprising:(a) coating an optically clear weatherable and hardenable thermoplastic and thermoformable polymeric clear coat material onto a smooth high gloss surface of a carrier comprising a flexible high temperature-resistant polymeric casting sheet, the clear coat material comprising an alloy of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and an acrylic resin which contains from about 50% to about 70% PVDF and from about 30% to about 50% acrylic resin, by weight of the total PVDF and acrylic resin solids present in the clear coat; (b) hardening the liquid polymeric material to form a thermoplastic and thermoformable optically clear film having a first, exposed face and a second face contiguous with the smooth surface of the carrier; (c) applying to the first, exposed face of the clear film a pigmented color coat comprising a thermoplastic and thermoformable polymeric material with pigments distributed therein, and hardening the color coat to form a clear coat/color coat paint film supported by the carrier; (d) laminating the clear coat/color coat paint film to a preformed continuous and self-supporting semi-rigid thermoformable polymeric backing sheet having a thickness from about 10 to about 40 mils, the laminating step comprising adhering the color coat side of the clear coat/color coat paint film to the backing sheet and separating the carrier from the composite of the backing sheet and the clear coat/color coat paint film to expose the second face of the clear coat as a glossy, smooth outer surface transferred from the surface of the carrier, the composite of the backing sheet and the clear coat/color coat paint film being thermoformable and thereby having an elongated state in which the paint film is sufficiently pliable under the application of heat and pressure during thermoforming to stretch the clear coat/color coat paint film when conforming the film to a contoured shape; (e) thermoforming the composite of the backing sheet and the clear coat/color coat paint film to thermoplastically form a three-dimensionally shaped paint-coated laminate which retains its contoured shape upon thermoforming and in which regions of the clear coat/color coat paint film are subjected to said elongated state while the paint film on the laminate retains said glossy, smooth outer surface, the paint film on said laminate having a gloss level of at least 75 gloss units measured at 60Â° following said thermoforming step; and (f) placing the shaped laminate in a mold with the backing sheet thereof facing away from a contoured mold surface of the mold, the laminate having been thermoformed to a shape conforming to the shape of the contoured mold surface, and molding a resinous substrate material to the backing sheet to form a molded contoured vehicular body panel in which the paint-coated laminate forms a decorative clear coat/color coat paint finish bonded to the outer surface of the molded body panel with the pigmented color coat layer visible through the outer clear coat, the backing sheet having sufficient thickness to absorb defects present in the resinous substrate material to produce an essentially defect-free outer surface with a retained 60Â° gloss value of at least 75 on the finished body panel.