Conventional appliques tend to be rigid plastic appliques, or are flexible plastic appliques having valves or other devices for introducing and trapping air, or appliques formed from flexible materials that must be formed directly on a substrate with a foam material between the substrate and the flexible layer for providing a three-dimensional relief pattern.
A disadvantage of conventional appliques is that they may tend to delaminate from their substrates, are difficult to adhere to thick, highly piled, fluffy or knitted fabrics, such as wool or wool blend fabrics, or collapse after being applied to the substrate when used. This tendency to delaminate from the clothing substrate during laundering, or to exhibit reduced adhesion strength when fixed to substrates is primarily due to the fact that preformed appliques typically comprise a single layer of plastic only.
A disadvantage of conventional appliques made of flexible materials is that they tend not to be provided with relief patterns having raised portions that extend laterally a substantial distance from lowered portions of the relief pattern. In addition, conventional appliques tend not to be provided with relief patterns having walls between raised and lowered portions of the relief pattern that are substantially perpendicular to raised portions and/or lower portions. Thus, without these two features, in particular, conventional appliques cannot be provided in a variety of intricate patterns or shapes.
A further disadvantage of conventional appliques is that they typically cannot be provided with a patterned or printed backing layer or cannot be filled with encapsulated material, such as decorative or loose substances, visible through the three-dimensional top layer or filled with other encapsulated material, such as noise makers, squeakers, or electronic parts, such as sound, music or light-up modules. Moreover, printing on conventional thermoformed appliques tends to distort, and, therefore, is limited to simple printed designs and must be done using pre-distortion printing.
Still another disadvantage of conventional three-dimensional appliques applied to articles of clothing is that they tend to fill with dirt and debris, and even water, which may take time to dry out. As a result, bacteria may accumulate in such conventional three-dimensional appliques. Even further, conventional three-dimensional appliques made from rigid plastics, if compressed, do not readily return to their original three-dimensional shape. In fact, they may be damaged and even crack when compressed. Conventional three-dimensional appliques made of rigid materials tend to be inelastic or inflexible, uncomfortable to wear, and incapable of bending back onto themselves.
Conventional appliques that are made of flexible materials that are inflatable tend to require expensive valves to inflate them, and typically cannot bend back onto themselves. The shapes in which inflatable appliques can be provided tend to be limited in that they need to be provided in large, chunky designs (i.e., designs that do not require intricate detailing), or are limited to those shapes or designs which do not lose their shape when inflated. For example, an applique having a large cross section would tend to puff out significantly in its middle when inflated, causing the edges to pull in and distort. Thus, the shape or design of larger conventional inflatable appliques tends to be distorted, and, therefore, limited to less detailed or less intricate shapes and designs.
Conventional appliques made of flexible materials that are filled with foam or other material for providing the three-dimensional or puffy shape generally cannot be provided so that a decorative or patterned backing or other encapsulated decorative material is visible through the top layer. Further, conventional appliques made of flexible materials typically have relief patterns with walls that taper down from the raised portion to the lower portions or seal area, not walls that extend substantially perpendicular to the lower portions or seal area, and typically do not have relief patterns wherein the upper portion extends a substantial distance from the lower portion. In addition, foam-filled appliques tend to be resistant to folding onto themselves, and therefore less preferred.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,868,288 to Ercolano discloses a three-dimensional applique having only one substantially flat layer that is compressible. In particular, Ercolano discloses a compressible applique vacuum formed from a substantially flat layer while being sealed to the substrate having a relatively simple relief pattern that does not extend a substantial distance from the seal area or raised portion, and that does not have substantially vertical walls. Ercolano discloses a complex method of manufacturing the applique whereby a thermoplastic layer is heated to its softening point while vacuum forming and sealing it to a backing layer, and a substrate.
Ercolano does not disclose a preformed flexible layer, a preformed layer having a relief pattern with at least one raised portion that extends laterally a substantially distance from the plane in which the lowered portion or seal area lies, or a preformed layer having a relief pattern with a raised portion, a lowered portion and a wall substantially perpendicular to the plane in which the lowered portion and/or the raised portion of the relief pattern lies. While Ercolano discloses a backing layer of fluid-impermeable material in between the substrate 2 and the substantially flat layer 3, before the latter is vacuum-formed and bonded to the substrate 2, an applique having a backing layer cannot be made by the process disclosed in Ercolano. The vacuum pressure applied on one side of two fluid impermeable thermoplastic layers would necessarily draw both layers into the vacuum. Thus, an applique without an airtight pocket would necessarily result from the process disclosed in Ercolano. In addition, Ercolano discloses preheating the vinyl layers so they become soft and rubbery, or to a temperature of between about 250.degree. F. and 300.degree. F. Because vinyl fuses together at about 250.degree. F., both layers will not only draw up into the die, but also will likely fuse together thereby prohibiting any airtight from forming. This prevents moreover, the inclusion of encapsulated material between the layers.
The Ercolano process further requires a cooling step before removing the applique from the sealing/vacuum-forming apparatus. The cooling step required by the Ercolano process would slow down the manufacturing time, and, accordingly, increase manufacturing costs, considerably. While Ercolano discloses using compressed air to eject the applique from the mold, this cannot be done unless the applique has cooled considerably, or the applique will not retain its newly formed shape. The cooling time that would typically be required before the applique could be removed from the sealing/vacuum-forming apparatus would be from about thirty to about sixty seconds or more. Moreover, the radio-frequency sealing process disclosed in Ercolano necessarily heats the entire applique assembly, thereby requiring additional cooling before the applique is released. In addition, the process in Ercolano requires that a single garment with an applique be made at a time, further limiting manufacturing efficiencies.
The applique disclosed in Ercolano cannot have a fabric covered vinyl top layer. Ercolano requires conventional vinyl "tear-sealing" (i.e. the automatic cutting away of excess vinyl while the applique is being formed and sealed to the garment). When a fabric covered top layer is used, the applique will need to be die cut before it can be sealed to the garment because tear-sealing will not work on fabric covered vinyl. In addition, the applique and process disclosed in Ercolano, with the excessive heating required, does not allow for the inclusion of electronics into the applique, such as sound, music or light-up modules.
What is desired, therefore, are three-dimensional appliques having a preformed flexible layer with a relief pattern with raised and lowered portions, and a wall formed between a raised portion and a lowered portion and being substantially perpendicular to the plane in which the raised and/or lowered portion of the relief pattern lies. What is further desired are appliques having raised portions extending a substantial distance from the seal area or lowered portion, that are easily compressible, foldable and bendable, that are thick in the seal areas so as to adhere well to substrates, fleece, wool and other difficult to adhere to materials and clothing, and that are constructed of multiple layers so that a variety of complicated printing, patterns, profiles, perimeters or shapes can be provided. What is still further desired are three-dimensional appliques that are capable of being filled with loose or decorative material, that retain their shape or spring back when depressed, yet are comfortable to wear, and that are inexpensive. What is even further desired, therefore, is a method of making three-dimensional appliques, including making an array of three-dimensional appliques at one time, where the appliques have a backing layer, and can be provided with intricate designs and printing and loose decorative fill.