Method of producing a decorated article

A mould for producing a decorated article has a base part with a mould cavity and a lid part co-operating with but being movable away from the base part, the surface of the lid part facing the base part being substantially planar or part-cylindrical and extending beyond the wall of the base part. The wall of the base part preferably has a knife edge for engagement with the lid part. The method of producing the article comprises the steps of locating in a predetermined position on the lid part a carrier having ink thereon, charging the base part with plastics material, locating the lid part in a predetermined position on the base part so that the carrier extends beyond the co-operating wall of the base part, and rotationally moulding the article.

This invention relates to rotationally decorated moulded articles and to a 
method and a mould for producing such articles. 
Previously, decorated moulded articles have been produced by first moulding 
the article and printing the decoration thereon. This has proved 
expensive, particularly if multi-coloured printing is required. 
In the case of decorated playballs, it is known to insert in the bottom of 
the mould before moulding a decorated insert of a plastics material which 
has the desired printing thereon, the material of the insert being 
compatible with that of the playball. When moulded, the insert is embedded 
in and fused with the finished playball. However, it is particularly 
difficult to properly locate and retain the insert in position. 
An object of the invention is to provide a method by which a decorated 
article having a high level of quality can be produced relatively 
inexpensively. The method permits accurate location of the decoration of 
the article. 
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a 
method of producing a decorated article using a mould comprising a base 
part with a mould cavity and a lid part co-operating with but being 
movable away from the base part, the surface of the lid part facing the 
base part being substantially planar or part-cylindrical, characterised in 
that the method comprises the steps of locating in a predetermined 
position on the lid part a carrier having ink thereon, charging the base 
part with plastics material, locating the lid part in a predetermined 
position on the base part so that the carrier extends beyond the 
co-operating wall of the base part, and rotationally moulding the article. 
In accordance with another respect to the invention, there is provided a 
method, wherein the co-operating wall of the base part has a knife-edge, 
characterised in that the method includes the step of removing after 
moulding the portion of the carrier which extends beyond the co-operating 
wall of the base part and which has been scored or cut through by the 
knife edge during moulding. 
Preferably, the co-operating walls of the base mould part present a knife 
edge which is engageable with the lid part, the knife edge scoring or 
cutting through the carrier during moulding to avoid the necessity of 
pre-cutting the carrier to the shape of the base part of the mould. 
The knife edge is preferably of a thickness less than 1/32 inches (0.794 
cm). 
The carrier can be of any simple shape, for example rectangular, and is 
preferably located relative to the lid part by suitable locating means, 
for example projections on the lid part which co-operate with holes in the 
carrier. 
The carrier is preferably plastics material which is during the moulding 
operation fused with the plastics material of the article. The carrier 
plastics material is preferably transparent and may be above the ink layer 
in the finished article, in which case it forms a protective layer. It is 
presently preferred, however, that the carrier plastics material is below 
the ink layer in which case it serves to bond the ink layer to the 
substrate of the article and it may be opaque. 
At least part of the surface of the lid part is preferably polished to 
enable the carrier to be attached thereto by suction. The polished surface 
provides a gloss finish on the corresponding surface of the article. The 
surface may be formed on a removable support plate which supports the 
carrier facing the base part. 
Such surface may be etched or engraved to provide a relieved pattern on the 
corresponding surface of the article. The surface may additionally or 
alternatively have recesses which will be filled during moulding by the 
plastics material in the mould and which provide protuberances on the 
surface of the article for a further decorative effect. 
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided an 
article made in accordance with the method of the invention.

The moulding apparatus compises a frame 1 having two arms 2,3 which are 
pivotally interconnected by a hinge 4 at one end and which have at the 
other end a releasable connection 5 which may take any suitable form, for 
example a bolt spacing through co-operating eyes formed in depending 
members 6. One arm 2 of the frame has attached thereto base parts 8 of 
moulds 9 and the other arm 3 carries lid parts 10 of the moulds, the lid 
parts being attached to the arm 3 by supports 11. Preferably, the frame 
has eight moulds 9 arranged in two side-by-side rows of four, in which 
case one lid part 10 may co-operate with two side-by-side base parts. 
As best seen in FIG. 2, the upper edge of the side wall 12 of each base 
part 8 is formed as a knife edge 13 which co-operates with the lid part 
10. 
The lid part 10 has two spigots or projections 14 which serve to locate a 
carrier sheet 15, such as is illustrated in FIG. 3, in which locating 
holes 16 have been punched. Alignment of the holes 16 with the projections 
14 ensures that the carrier sheet 15 will be properly located for the 
moulding process as will be described below. 
The carrier sheet 15 comprises a thin plastics layer 17 having printing 18 
thereon and at least part of the lower surface of the lid part is polished 
to permit the un-printed zone of the carrier sheet to adhere by suction to 
the lid part. Preferably that part of the lid adjacent the printed zone on 
the carrier sheet is also highly polished to provide a high gloss finish 
on the printed part of the finished article. 
To mould the article the arms 2,3 of the frame are unlocked and the frame 
opened to permit each carrier sheet 15 to be located on a lid part 10 
using the locating projections and holes. Each carrier sheet is smoothed 
out to remove any air bubbles between the lid part 10 and the carrier 
sheet 15, which adheres to the lid part by suction. Plastics material to 
form the base or substrate 21 of the article, which is for example 
polyvinyl chloride (P.V.C.) in the form of powder or plastisol, is 
introduced into each mould base part 8, and the arms 2, 3 closed and 
locked together so that they attain the predetermined positions 
illustrated in FIG. 1. The connection of the arms of the frame ensures 
that the lid parts and corresponding base parts are in perfect register 
and the printing 18 is correctly positioned with respect to the mould base 
part 8. 
The mould assembly is rotated and heated in known manner and during the 
moulding process the knife edge 13 of each mould scores or cuts the 
carrier sheet along the edge 19 of the finished article. During the 
moulding process the carrier sheet 15 acts as a gasket between the base 
and lid parts of the mould and prevents leakage of the material from 
within the mould. 
After moulding, the frame is opened and each article is removed from its 
mould and the outer part 20 of the carrier sheet beyond the edge 19 of the 
finished article is simply removed by hand without the need for a further 
cutting operation. Although shown as a sharp edge, the knife edge 13 may 
have a substantial thickness and yet still cut or score the carrier sheet. 
For example, the thickness of the knife edge may be about 1/32 inches, 
(0.794 cm). 
In the illustrated embodiment, the plastics layer 17, which is preferably 
of P.V.C. or other material compatible with the material in the mould, is 
located adjacent the base part with the ink layer 18 in contact with the 
lid part. It has been found that the ink layer 18 and the plastics layer 
17 tend to fuse with each other and with the substrate 21 and the ink 
layer 18 is practically irremovable. 
Optionally, the ink layer could be facing the base part. In this case, the 
fusion of the ink layer and plastics layer with the substrate is not so 
good and it is possible, although difficult, to insert an implement or 
fingernail beneath the ink layer in the finished article and lift the 
layer away from the substrate 21. 
FIG. 5 illustrates a modified form of mould base part which is divided into 
sections 23 by internal walls 24 arranged to provide any desired shape of 
sections. The walls are preferably less than 1/32 inch (0.794 cm) thick 
and have the same effect of scoring or cutting the carrier sheets as the 
knife edges 13 of the side walls of the base part. 
The sections 23 are preferably of the same volume, and may conveniently be 
the same shape, and equal amounts of plastics material are introduced into 
the respective sections to provide the substrate. The moulding operation 
is similar to that described above. 
It will be appreciated that utilising this mould base part the finished 
article comprises a plurality, four as illustrated, of parts which 
interlock in the manner of jigsaw pieces. When interlocked the printing of 
one part registers perfectly with the printing of an adjacent part. 
Furthermore the gap if between the parts which is the same as the 
thickness of walls 24 facilitates assembly and separation of the parts. 
FIG. 6 shows an article which is formed using a mould base part similar to 
that of FIG. 5, but in which dividing walls 24 are an inverted V-shape and 
do not engage with the lid part during the moulding process. The resultant 
article has V-shaped grooves 25 so that each section is separated by a 
thin portion 26 of material which forms a hinge. 
The illustrated article is in the form of a blank for construction into a 
house, the printing on the undersurface of the blank, as seen in FIG. 6, 
being of brickwork, doors and windows etc, to be visible when the blank is 
made up. 
To make up the blank, each of the wall sections 27 is folded about its 
hinge and a base (not shown) is inserted in a groove 28 formed in each 
wall section. The end wall sections have locking means, in the illustrated 
case in the form of co-operating tongue 29 and groove 30, which lock the 
end wall sections together. The roof sections 31 are then folded over 
about their hinges 26 and locked in places by suitable locking means (not 
shown) or by adhesive. The house may be used as a money box in which case 
a slot 32 is provided in the roof. 
It will be appreciated that although a blank for a house is illustrated, 
other articles, for example a boat or a train, could be made from suitable 
blanks. 
Instead of polishing the inner surface of the lid part 1 of a removable 
polished plate, which can be readily replaced, may be attached to the 
underside of the lid part. 
Furthermore, the polished surface may be engraved or be provided with 
recesses to provide a relieved surface on the finished article. 
Although described as flat, such surface may be part cylindrical. 
The above-described method can be carried out by relatively unskilled 
operatives. The carrier sheet need only be located on a similar sized and 
shaped lid part using the simple locating means. After the moulding 
operation and release of the article from the mould, it is necessary only 
to remove the flashing of the carrier sheet, which is scored or cut 
through to permit easy removal. 
The moulded article may be provided with a "squeaker" in known manner and 
may take any suitable form or shape. In a particular example the article 
is in the shape of the outline of a cartoon-type character and the 
printing can provide precise detail of the character. In another example, 
the article takes the form of a greetings card with the printing taking 
the form of a picture and suitable wording. 
The printing may be in any desired combination of colours. 
It will be appreciated that the bottom wall of the base part 8 of each 
mould may be provided by a part (not shown) similar to lid part 10 to 
enable an article with decoration on both sides to be produced. The bottom 
wall may receive a carrier having a decoration which is the same as, or 
different from, the decoration on the lid part 10. The part forming the 
bottom wall may have some or all of the features of the lid part 10 
described above. 
The above-described article has a level of quality which has hitherto 
proved impracticable.