A method of and kit of parts for making a three-dimensional plaque or picture

Abstract

 The invention provides a method of and a kit of parts for making a three-dimensional plaque or picture. The method comprises obtaining a sheet (1) one side of which has a contact adhesive coating thereon covered by a peelable release paper and the other side of which is printed with a required design or picture (2a, 2b) and with at least one selected part (3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 4c) of the design or picture, the sheet (1) and the release paper being diecut around the design or picture (2) and the at least one selected part (3,4) of the design or picture to enable the removal of those portions having the design (2) and the at least one selected part (3, 4) thereon, removing the portion having the design (2) thereon, peeling the release paper from said one side of the portion and adhesively securing the portion with the design (2) thereon on a backing member (5), removing the at least one portion having a said selected part (3, 4) of the design thereon, and superimposing the at least one portion over the corresponding part of the design (2) with the interposition of spacers (7), the release paper being left in position on said at least one portion so as to impart additional body thereto. The kit of parts comprises a said printed and diecut sheet (1), a backing member (5) and spacer pads. (7).

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a method of and a kit of parts for making a three-dimensional plaque or picture and to the plaque or picture when made by the method.

[0002] It is known to make a three-dimensional plaque or picture(hereinafter and in the claims hereof referred to as a "picture".) by printing a sheet of paper with a required design or picture (hereinafter'and in the claims hereof referred to as a "design".) and with selected parts of the design, to diecut the sheet around the printed design and the selected parts of the design so that the portions of the sheet containing the printed design and parts thereof can be pressed out of the sheet, to paste the design on a backing member and to superimpose the selected parts of the design over the corresponding parts of the design pasted on the backing member using spacers to give a three-dimensional effect.

[0003] With this known method the pasting of the design on the backing member is a messy and time consuming operation. Also, since the design and the selected parts thereof are printed on a single sheet of paper a compromise has to be made in the weight and thickness of the sheet chosen because it is desirable that on the one hand the design pasted on the backing member does not stand too proud of the backing member and so detract from the appearance of the finished picture whilst on the other hand the selected parts of the design which are superimposed thereover should have sufficient body to be self supporting and relatively stiff.

[0004] The present invention has as its object to provide a method of and a kit of parts for making a three-dimensional picture which enables the aforesaid objections with the known method to be overcome.

[0005] The present invention provides a method of forming a three-dimensional picture, the method comprising:-

(a) obtaining a sheet one side of which has a contact adhesive coating thereon covered by a peelable release paper and on the other side of which is printed with a required design and with at least one selected part of the design, the sheet and the realease paper being diecut around the design and the said at least one selected part of the design to enable removal of those portions having the design and said at least one selected part thereon,

(b) removing the portion having the design thereon, peeling the release paper from said one side of the portionrand adhesively securing the portion of the sheet with the design thereon on a backing member by means of the contact adhesive coating,

(c) removing the at least one portion having a said selected part of the design thereon, and

(d) superimposing the at least one portion over the corresponding part of the design with the interposition of spacers to give a three-dimensional effect, the release paper being left in position on said at least one portion whereby to impart additional body thereto.

[0006] The present invention also provides a three-dimensional picture when made by the method of the present invention.

[0007] The present invention further provides a kit of parts for making a three-dimensional picture, the kit of parts comprising:-

(a) a sheet one side of which has a contact adhesive coating thereon covered by a peelable release paper and the other side of which is printed with a required design and with at least one selected part of the design, the sheet and the release paper being diecut around the design and the said at least one selected part of the design to enable removal of those portions having the design and said at least one selected part thereon,

(b) a backing member, and

(c) spacer pads having on opposite surfaces thereof a contact adhesive covered by a peelable release paper.

[0008] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention the method comprises superimposing over the design secured on the backing member at least one portion having a fisrt selected part of the design and then superimposing over the at least one portion a further portion or portions having further selected parts of the_design thereon, again with the interposition of spacers, so as to enhance the three-dimensional effect.

[0009] The spacers used in the method and kit of parts of the present invention preferably comprise pads of foamed plastics material having on opposite surfaces thereof a contact adhesive covered by a peelable release paper.

[0010] Advantageously the design, or said first corresponding part or parts of thedesign, may have markings thereon to indicate the positions at which said self-adhesive spacer pads are to be located.

[0011] The backing member may be of any suitable kind and of any suitable material which will provide an attractive background for the design, e.g., may be a sheet of paper, cardboard or the like, a sheet of glass or plastics material, or a ceramic or other tile. Whatever form the backing member takes it may incorporate a stand or other suitable means which will enable it to be stood-up on a table or other horizontal surface or may have means such as a loop, ring, hook or the like which will enable the three-dimensional picture to be hung on a wall or other vertical surface.

[0012] The invention will be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 illustrates a printed and diecut sheet,

Figure 2 illustrates a backing member in the form of a ceramic tile and

Figures 3 and 4 are plan and side views respectively of a strip of self-adhesive spacer pads.

[0013] Referring to Figure 1 it will be seen that there is illustrated therein a sheet 1 one surface (not shown) of which has a contact adhesive coating thereon covered by a peelable release paper and the other, visible, surface of which has printed therein a required design which in this case is in two parts 2a, 2b. Also printed on the sheet 1 are first selected parts 3a, 3b of the required design together with further selected parts 4a, 4b and 4c. The sheet 1 and the release paper on the reverse side thereof is diecut around each of the parts 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b 4a, 4b and 4c so that the portions on which each of these parts is printed can readily be removed.

[0014] In the illustrated embodiment the required design is to be built up upon a backing member in the form of a round ceramic tile 5 which is illustrated in Figure 2 and which is on a slightly smaller scale than the sheet illustrated in Figure 1.

[0015] The required design is built up on the tile 5 using self-adhesive foamed plastics spacer pads a strip 6 of which is illustrated in Figures 3 and 4. The strip 6 comprises a strip of foamed plastics material 7 the opposed major surfaces of which are coated with a contact adhesive 8 covered by strips of release paper 9 and 10. The foamed plastics material 7 and one release paper 9 are diecut as shown at 11 to form a plurality of narrow strip-like spacer pads 12.

[0016] To form the required three-dimensional design on the ceramic tile 5 the portions of the sheet 1 having the parts of the design 2a, 2b thereon are removed from the sheet 1, the release paper is peeled from the reverse side thereof and the parts 2a, 2b are positioned on the tile 5 and adhesively secured thereto by means of the said contact adhesive coating. The required number of spacer pads 12 are then removed from the release paper 10 and are adhesively secured to the parts of the design 2a, 2b at the locations indicated by the line markings 13 using the contact adhesive 8 on one side of the pads 12. Next the first selected parts 3a, 3b of the design are removed and are superimposed over the corresponding parts of the design 2a, 2b using the contact adhesive 8 on the other side of the spacer pads 12. Further spacer pads 12 are then positioned on the first part 3a at the positions indicated by the line markings 14 and the further parts 4a, 4b and 4c are then removed and superimposed over the corresponding parts of the first part 3a again using the contact adhesive 8 on the spacer pads 12. In this way a design is built up on the tile 5 which gives a three-dimensional effect.

[0017] When securing the selected parts 3a, 3b and the further selected parts 4a, 4b and 4c in superimposed relationship as hereinbefore described, the peelable release paper is left in position on the reverse side thereof so as to impart desirable body and stiffness to these parts. At the same time, removing the peelable release paper from the reverse side of the portions havirgprinted thereon the design 2a, 2b and using the conta adhesive thereon to secure these portions on the tile 5 not only avoids the use of messy paste or the like but also ensures that the portions having the parts 2a, 2b printed thereon do not stand too proud of the surface of the tile 5 and so detract from the appearance of the finished three-dimensional picture.

[0018] To enable the finished picture to be hung on a wall or other suitable surface the tile 5 has secured thereto a _D-shaped metal ring 15, the ring 15 being secured to the tile 5 by means of a loop 16 of textile or other suitable material which is adhesively secured to the reverse side of the tile 5.

[0019] It has been found that a design built up in three layers 2, 3 and 4 as described above gives a pleasing three-dimensional effect. It will be understood, however, that if desired the design could be made up of two layers only or that if desired a fourth or even more layers could be added.

Claims

₁. A method of forming a three-dimensional picture of the kind wherein a sheet of paper is printed with a required design and with at least one selected part of the design, the sheet is diecut around the printed design and the at least one selected part of the design so that the portions of the sheet containing the printed design and the at least one part thereof can be pressed out of the sheet, the design is mounted on a backing member and the at least one selected part of the design is superimposed over the corresponding part of the design mounted on the backing member with the interposition of spacers between the design and the at least one selected part of the design, characterised in that the method comprises the steps of:

(a) obtaining a sheet one side of which has a contact adhesive coating thereon covered by a peelable release paper and the other side of which is printed with a required design and with at least one selected part of the design, the sheet and the release paper being diecut around the design and the said at least one selected part of the design to enable the removal of those portions of the sheet having the design and said at least one selected part thereon,

(b) removing the portion having the design thereon, peeling the release paper from said one side of the portion and adhesively securing the portion with the design thereon on a backing member by means of the contact adhesive coating,

(c) removing the at least one portion having a said selected part of the design thereon, and

(d) superimposing the at least one portion over the corresponding part of the design with the interposition of spacers to give a three-dimensional effect, the release paper being left in position on said at least one portion whereby to impart additional body thereto.

2. A method according to claim 1, characterised in that it comprises the further step of superimposing over said at least one portion having a selected part of the design thereon at least one further portion having a further selected part of the design thereon, again with the interposition of spacers, whereby to enhance the three-dimensional effect.

3. A method according to claim 1 or 2 characterised in that said spacers comprise pads of foamed plastics material having on opposite surfaces thereof a contact adhesive coating covered by a peelable release paper, the method comprising first securing the portion having the design thereon on said backing member, removing the release paper from one side of a required number of spacer pads and mounting these pads at selected positions on the portion having the design thereon using the contact adhesive on the one side of the spacer pads, removing the peelable release paper from the other side of . each of the so mounted spacer pads, and superimposing said at least one selected part of the design over the corresponding part of the portion having the design thereon using the contact adhesive on said other side of said spacer pads.

4. A method according to claim 1, 2, or 3, characterised in that it comprises providing markings on at least the portion having the design thereon to indicate the positions at which spacers are to be provided.

5. A three-dimensional picture when made by the method according to any one of the preceding claims.

6. A kit of parts for making a three-dimensional picture characterised in that the kit of parts comprises:

(a) a sheet one side of which has a contact adhesive coating thereon covered by a peelable release paper and the other side of which is printed with a required design and with at least one selected part of the design, the sheet and the release paper being diecut around the design and the said at least one selected part of. the design to enable removal of those portions having the design and said at least one selected part of the design thereon,

(b) a backing member, and

(c)spacer pads having on opposite surfaces thereof a contact adhesive covered by a peelable release paper.

7. A kit of parts according to claim 6, characterised in that at least that portion having the design thereon is marked to indicate the positions at which said spacer pads are to be provided.

8. A kit of parts according to claim 6 or 7, characterised in that said backing member comprises a ceramic tile.

9. A kit of parts according to claim 8, characterised in that said ceramic tile has a hanging loop secured to the reverse side thereof.

10. A kit of parts according to any one of claims 6 to 9 wherein said spacer pads are in the form of a strip which has been diecut through the peelable release paper on one surface of the pad and through the pad itself to provide a plurality of spacer pads on the peelable release paper on the other surface of the pads.

Drawing