Display with enhanced highlights

A display has a transparent plastic substrate and a colored image formed on the substrate. The colored image is formed on the substrate by process printing a large number of small dots, colored red, yellow, and blue, in a predetermined pattern onto the substrate. The red, yellow, and blue ink dots are translucent to visible light. A pattern of opaque white ink dots is process printed over selected portions of the image to highlight the selected portions and to thereby give the selected portions an appearance of relative depth. A reflective layer can be deposited against the ink patterns to reflect light which passes through the ink patterns and thereby give the image formed by the ink patterns a shiny, metallic appearance.

TECHNICAL FIELD 
The present invention pertains generally to signs and other types of 
displays. More particularly, the present invention pertains to displays 
which can be used on trading cards, decals, packaging material, and the 
like. The present invention particularly, though not exclusively, pertains 
to process printed image displays that have portions of the displayed 
image enhanced to create the appearance of depth of view, to increase the 
effectiveness of the display. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
In the area of marketing, displays and designs have been widely used on 
many products to increase the appeal of the products and thereby make the 
products more attractive to potential purchasers. For example, fanciful 
displays and designs have been used on trading cards, greeting cards, 
packaging materials, labels, decals, and the like to enhance the appeal of 
these products. 
Just one of the many types of displays which are commonly used are displays 
which have a transparent plastic substrate on which a design is formed. As 
can be readily appreciated, a large number of techniques exist for forming 
the desired design on a plastic substrate. Of particular importance to the 
present invention is the technique known as process printing, of which 
lithographic process printing and silk screen printing are well-known 
species. 
In its most basic sense, process printing involves forming an image on a 
substrate by depositing a large number of very small, closely spaced 
colored dots onto the substrate. Each of the dots has one of the four 
primary colors, red, blue, yellow, or black. The desired image is formed 
on the substrate by particularly depositing the variously colored dots 
onto the substrate in a predetermined pattern, in a predetermined color 
combination. The pattern or combination in which the dots are deposited 
forms the desired image and also establishes the colors of the image. 
Typically, when an image is to be formed on a plastic substrate for use as 
a card, label, packaging, and the like, the dots are translucent ink and 
are process printed onto the substrate. The image thus formed has a 
two-dimensional, flat appearance. It has been recognized that the effect 
of process printed displays can be enhanced by making portions of the 
display appear to be metallic and shiny, thereby giving the display a 
three-dimensional appearance. Displays of this type are disclosed in U.S. 
Pat. No. 5,106,126, issued to the present applicants. It has also been 
recognized that the effect of process printed displays can be enhanced by 
depositing a thick layer of ink on the substrate, to give the image an 
embossed or etched appearance. Displays of this type are disclosed in U.S. 
Pat. No. 4,933,218, issued to one of the present applicants. These patents 
are incorporated herein by reference. 
The present invention recognizes that the effect of process printed 
displays can be enhanced by the deposition of a pattern of white ink dots 
over the pattern of colored ink dots, in varying densities, to highlight 
those areas and give the visual impression of depth to the image. An area 
of the image which receives a highlight pattern of a lesser density has 
the appearance of being relatively farther removed from the viewer. An 
area which receives a highlight pattern of a greater density has the 
appearance of being relatively closer to the viewer. The effect created by 
a display incorporating the present invention can be even further enhanced 
by outlining portions of the image with a thick layer of ink, or by 
placing a reflective layer over the image, as disclosed in the above cited 
patents. 
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a display 
which has a plastic substrate and a highlighted image process printed 
thereon. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a 
display which has a highlighted process printed image with portions of the 
image having a metallic, shiny appearance. Another object of the present 
invention is to provide a display which has diverse applications and which 
is cost effective to manufacture. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
A display which can be used as a trading card, greeting card, label, decal, 
packaging material, or the like has a transparent plastic substrate, on 
which is formed a colored image. The image is formed by process printing a 
large number of relatively small, translucent, colored ink dots onto the 
substrate. In accordance with well-known process printing techniques, e.g. 
lithographic process printing and silk screen printing, the ink dots are 
colored black, yellow, blue, and red, and are deposited onto the substrate 
in a predetermined pattern to form the desired colored image. 
Additionally, a highlight pattern of opaque white ink dots is deposited 
over selected portions of the image. This pattern of white ink can also be 
process printed in the form of a matrix of very small dots. The matrix can 
be more dense in some areas, and less dense in other areas. The range of 
density can range from approximately 1% to 100%. Still other areas may 
have no white ink pattern at all. Accordingly, those portions of the image 
which have white ink dots deposited thereon in a more dense matrix are 
more substantially opaque to visible light, and those areas will appear 
closer to the viewer. This is especially true where the layer of white ink 
is placed over a portion of the image which has no colored ink dots. On 
the other hand, those portions of the image which have white ink deposited 
thereon in a less dense matrix are more translucent to visible light, and 
those areas will appear farther from the viewer. 
The image can also have portions outlined in a thick layer of ink to give 
an embossed or etched appearance. Additionally, a reflective layer can be 
deposited over the translucent colored ink dots and white ink dots which 
form the printed image. This reflective layer serves to reflect light 
which passes through the translucent portions of the image, thereby giving 
the translucent portions of the image, whether highlighted or not, a 
shiny, metallic appearance. 
The novel features of this invention, as well as the invention itself, both 
as to its structure and its operation, will be best understood from the 
accompanying drawings, taken in conjunction with the accompanying 
description, in which similar reference characters refer to similar parts, 
and in which:

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring initially to FIG. 1, a display is shown and generally designated 
10. Display 10 includes a transparent substrate 12. Substrate 12 can be a 
plastic sheet or a glass pane, and furthermore can be tinted or clear. In 
any event, substrate 12 must permit the passage of selected wavelengths of 
light in the visible spectrum through substrate 12. Finally, substrate 12 
also has a first surface 14 and a second surface 16, best shown in FIG. 4. 
FIG. 1 also shows that substrate 12 can have any desirable image 18 printed 
thereon, such as the fish 20 jumping over the waves 22, with the bird 48 
flying by. As seen in cross-reference to FIGS. 1 and 4, image 18 is formed 
on substrate 12 by depositing an image pattern 24 of ink onto side 16 of 
substrate 12. 
The ink which is used for image pattern 24 is relatively viscous and is 
curable within a relatively short period of time (e.g. six seconds). More 
specifically, it is preferred that the ink be curable with ultraviolet 
(UV) light. Further, the ink should be relatively viscous, such as any of 
the enamel, epoxy and acrylic inks which are well known in the art. Also, 
it is to be appreciated that the ink which forms predetermined portions of 
image pattern 24 may be translucent, while the ink that forms other 
predetermined portions of image pattern 24 may be opaque. 
It may be desirable to make certain portions of image 18 appear to be 
relatively closer to the viewer, and to make other portions of image 18 
appear to be relatively farther from the viewer. If so desired, light 
which passes through selected portions of image 18, which are to appear 
relatively more or less distant from the viewer, may be partially blocked 
to varying degrees by covering the selected portions with a second pattern 
of ink dots. Preferably, the entire image pattern 24 is translucent, and a 
highlight pattern 32 of non-shiny opaque ink, shown in FIG. 4, is 
deposited over the selected portions of image 18 which are to be given the 
appearance of being relatively more or less distant from the viewer. This 
highlights these portions to varying degrees. 
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the ink which forms image pattern 24 or 
highlight pattern 32 is deposited as a plurality of closely spaced ink 
dots 26. Ink dots 26 are deposited by any suitable method of process 
printing, for example lithographic process printing or silk screen 
printing. As is well known in the art, the dots 26 which are printed as 
image pattern 24 are yellow, black, blue, and red, although other colors 
may potentially be used. In forming image pattern 24, dots 26 are 
deposited in a predetermined color combination which establishes both the 
shape and color of image 18. It is to be appreciated that the diameter 28 
of the dots 26 can be varied, in order to establish a desired density of 
deposition of the ink. For example, when using the well known silk screen 
process printing, a given screen density can be specified between 
approximately 15% and 100%. On the other hand, when using lithographic 
process printing, the diameter 28 of dots 26 can be established to be as 
small as industrially useful. FIG. 2 represents a density greater than the 
density represented in FIG. 3. 
In the preferred embodiment, highlight pattern 32 is a layer of white ink 
which is process printed onto the selected portions of image 18. Selected 
portions of highlight pattern 32 will be deposited more densely, as 
demonstrated in FIG. 2, and other portions will be deposited less densely, 
as demonstrated in FIG. 3. The portions of image 18 upon which highlight 
pattern 32 is more densely deposited will appear to be closer to the 
viewer. The portions of image 18 upon which highlight pattern 32 is less 
densely deposited will appear to be farther from the viewer. 
To illustrate, as shown in cross-reference to FIGS. 1 and 4, no highlight 
pattern 32 is deposited on the portions 34 and 46 of image pattern 24, 
which form the water and sky portions of image 18. In this example, it is 
not desired to give these portions the appearance of being closer to or 
farther from the viewer. On the other hand, as seen in cross-reference to 
FIGS. 1 through 4, it is desired to make the fish 20 appear closer to the 
viewer and to make the bird 48 appear farther away. Therefore, highlight 
pattern 32 is deposited over portion 36 of image pattern 24, which forms 
the fish 20, and over portion 50, which forms the bird 48. Consequently, 
light which passes through portions 36 and 50 will be at least partially 
blocked by opaque stratum 32. 
The portion of highlight pattern 32 which covers portion 36 will be 
deposited more densely, as demonstrated in FIG. 2, while the portion which 
covers portion 50 will be deposited less densely, as demonstrated in FIG. 
3. This will give the fish 20 the appearance of being relatively closer to 
the viewer than the bird 48. Highlight pattern 32 can also be applied to 
portions of image 18 not covered by image pattern 24, to make those 
portions appear relatively more or less distant from the viewer. A density 
of 100% can be used to make the portion of the image appear closest to the 
viewer, and progressively less dense degrees of deposition can be used to 
give a progressively more distant appearance. 
Referring to FIG. 4, a reflective layer 30 is shown deposited against image 
pattern 24 and highlight pattern 32. Furthermore, FIG. 4 shows that 
reflective layer 30 can be deposited against portions of side 16 of 
substrate 12 which are not covered by image pattern 24. It is to be 
understood, however, that reflective layer 30 need only be deposited 
against selected portions of image 18 which are to appear metallic. 
In the preferred embodiment, reflective layer 30 is a sheet of metalized 
mylar which is laminated onto image pattern 24, highlight pattern 32, and 
side 16 of substrate 12. Alternatively, reflective layer 30 can be a layer 
of metallic paint or ink which is deposited by spraying. Reflective layer 
30 can even be a layer of metallic ink or paint which is deposited by 
dipping side 16 of substrate 12 (and, hence, image pattern 24 and 
highlight pattern 32) into a container of the metallic paint or ink which 
is to form reflective layer 30. 
METHOD OF MANUFACTURE 
In the method of manufacturing display 10, reference is made to FIG. 5. In 
accordance with well known methods of process printing, including silk 
screening and lithographic process printing, a large number of relatively 
small, closely spaced colored dots 26 are deposited onto side 16 of 
substrate 12, shown in FIG. 4, to form image pattern 24. This depositing 
step is indicated at block 38 in FIG. 5. Typically, each dot 26 will be a 
red, yellow, or blue translucent ink dot. The variously colored dots 26 
are deposited onto substrate 12 in a predetermined combination, in 
accordance with well known methods of process printing, to form the image 
18 shown in FIG. 1. 
Next, at block 40, a suitable highlight pattern 32 of opaque ink dots 26, 
for example opaque white ink, is deposited over selected portions of image 
pattern 24 (e.g., portions 36 and 50) which form those portions of image 
18 (e.g., fish 20 and bird 48) that are intended to appear relatively more 
or less distant from the viewer. Stratum 32 may be process printed over 
portions 36 and 50 in accordance with well known techniques. 
Next, as shown at block 42 of FIG. 5, reflective layer 30 is deposited 
against portions of image pattern 24 and highlight pattern 32 which form 
portions of image 18 that are intended to appear metallic. As seen in FIG. 
4, however, reflective layer 30 may additionally be deposited against 
portions of side 16 of substrate 12 which are not covered by image pattern 
24. In any case, reflective layer 30 is preferably a metalized mylar 
sheet. The mylar sheet which constitutes reflective layer 30 can be 
laminated or glued on. Or, reflective layer 30 may be a layer of metallic 
paint which can be sprayed or printed on. Layer 30 in the form of metallic 
paint can even be deposited by gently dipping side 16 of substrate 12 into 
a container (not shown) of the metallic paint. Display 10 is subsequently 
cured, for example by exposing display 10 to ultraviolet light, at block 
44. 
While a particular process printed image with highlighted areas as herein 
shown and disclosed in detail is fully capable of obtaining the objects 
and providing the advantages herein before stated, it is to be understood 
that it is merely illustrative of the presently preferred embodiments of 
the invention and that no limitations are intended to the details of 
construction or design herein shown other than as described in the 
appended claims.