Molded articles having a surface bearing a lenticular image

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a molded article bearing a lenticular image on its surface that is prepared by a method comprising the steps of: A. providing a mold in which to form the molded article; B. inserting a lenticular image into the mold; C. introducing a molten plastic into the mold to form the molded article with the lenticular image attached to a surface of the molded article; and D. removing the molded article with the attached lenticular image from the mold.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for making a molded article, the method comprising the steps of: 
 A. providing a mold in which to form the molded article;    B. inserting a lenticular image into the mold;    C. introducing a molten plastic into the mold to form the molded article with the lenticular lens attached to a surface of the molded article; and    D. removing the molded article with the attached lenticular image from the mold.    
     
     
         2  The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of delivering a plurality of lenticular images to an area near the mold and inserting at least one of the plurality of lenticular images into the mold using a robotic arm.  
     
     
         3  The method of  claim 1  in which the mold has an open cavity defined by a surface and the lenticular image, the lenticular image comprising a lens and an interlaced image, is oriented within the mold cavity such that the lens is positioned along at least part of the cavity surface.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  in which the molten plastic is introduced at a temperature and pressure so as to result in little, if any, of at least one of distortion to the lenticular lens and degradation to the underlying image.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the molten plastic is introduced in a shot size quantity that packs the mold so as to result in little, if any, of at least one of distortion to the lenticular lens and degradation to the underlying image.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  in which the lenticular image further includes at least one of a substrate, an adhesive, and a coating.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  in which the substrate comprises one of: paper, synthetic paper, plastic, metal, glass, or wood.  
     
     
         8 . A molded article having a surface comprising a lenticular image made by the method of  claim 1 .  
     
     
         9 . The molded article of  claim 8  in which the molded article is further defined to be one of a flash molded, a positive pressure molded, a transfer resin molded, a blow molded, or an injection molded article.  
     
     
         10 . A molded article comprising a molten plastic that has cooled and hardened, the article bearing a lenticular image that is joined with the plastic in an integral fashion.  
     
     
         11 . A method for making a molded article, the method comprising the steps of: 
 A providing a mold in which to form the molded article, at least one part of one surface of the mold shaped to impart a lenticular lens configuration to a portion of the at least one surface of the molded article;    B. inserting an interlaced image into the mold, the image positioned over the part of the mold shaped to impart a lenticular lens configuration to the molded article;    C. introducing at least one type of molten plastic into the mold to form the molded article and a lenticular lens configuration comprising lenticules on at least part of the at least one surface of the molded article, the image positioned in a manner so as to correspond to the lenticules of the lens forming a lenticular image; and    D. removing the molded article with the attached lenticular image from the mold.    
     
     
         12 . An in-mold method for making an injection molded article, the method comprising the steps of: 
 A. providing a mold in which to form the molded article, the mold having a cavity with a surface;    B. inserting a lenticular image into the mold so that the lenticular image is placed along the cavity surface;    C. introducing a molten plastic into the mold to form the molded article with the lenticular image attached to a surface of the molded article; and    D. removing the molded article with the attached lenticular image from the mold.    
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the lenticular image is held in place along the cavity surface.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11  further comprising the step of cooling the molded article, the article comprising the attached lenticular image, so as to create a finished molded article.