Patent ID: 8586147

Claim:
A method for producing a dimensionally stable non-planar inscription having a plurality of letters interconnected along a specified longitudinal direction, the letters being formed of a plastic material and mountable on a non-planar surface of a motor vehicle, the method comprising the steps of: injection molding a three dimensional plastic matrix that includes the inscription with opposite front and rear surfaces, at least the rear surface having a specified non-planar three-dimensional profile conforming to the non-planar surface of a motor vehicle, a planar holding frame extending continuously around a periphery of the inscription and spaced rearward of the rear surface of the inscription, and a plurality of supporting elements extending from the holding frame to locations on the rear surface of the inscription offset inward from an outer margin of the inscription and being at different respective positions along the longitudinal direction, the supporting elements have lengths corresponding to respective distances between the planar holding frame and the non-planar inscription, surfaces of the supporting elements facing outward on the matrix being sloped continuously from the inscription to a location between the holding frame and the inscription so that the supporting elements have a smallest cross-section adjacent the inscription; chromium-plating the inscription supported on the supporting elements and the holding frame; and separating the supporting elements from the rear surface of the inscription so that the inscription maintains the specified three-dimensional profile formed when injection molding the inscription with the supporting elements and the holding frame.