Nippon Carbide Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Nippon Carbide Industries Co., Inc.

Ikuo Mimura

Keiji Adachi

Chihiro Hayashi

Yutaka Hamada

Keiji Amemiya

Akihiro Matsuda

Takehito Takahashi

Takashi Yoshioka

Osamu Tanaka

Naoki Musashi

Akihiro Mathuda

Hiroshi Hamada

Ippei Imagawa

Naotake Osaki

Mitsugu Shozen

Ichiro Uchijima

Keizo Takayama

Katsuhisa Sirosaki

Takeo Takamatsu

Futoshi Nomura

Hiroki Nippon Carbide Ind Nakazawa

A multilayer sheet includes a first resin layer, a second resin layer, a particle-containing layer disposed at least between the first and second resin layers and including plural particles and gaps formed between the particles, and an intermediate layer disposed at least one selected from between the first resin layer and the particle-containing layer or between the second resin layer and the particle-containing layer, including a copolymer having a weight average molecular weight (Mw) of 300,000 or more and a molecular weight distribution, expressed as a ratio of the weight average molecular weight (Mw) to a number average molecular weight (Mn), of 6.0 or less and a structural moiety derived from a crosslinking agent adapted to crosslink the copolymer, and having a crosslinking density of from more than 0 mol/mto 450 mol/m.

Multilayer sheet

In cube-corner retroreflective sheeting, cube-corner retroreflective elements in at least two mutually adjacent regions A and B rotate with each other around an axis perpendicular to the sheeting, in which cube-corner retroreflective elementsandnot in contact with boundaries between the regions A and B are cube-corner retroreflective elements having a hexagonal shape, and cube-corner retroreflective elementsandin contact with the boundaries between the regions A and B are cube-corner retroreflective elements having a shape obtained by cutting parts of one or two reflective lateral surfaces of the cube-corner retroreflective element having a hexagonal shape where the partly cut reflective lateral surfaces are in contact with the boundaries.

Cube-corner retroreflective sheeting

A sign plateincludes a plate-shaped metal platehaving a a slotwhich penetrates from the front surfacetoward the back surface, an RFID inlayarranged on the front surfaceof the metal plateso as to straddle the slot, and a retroreflective sheetingarranged on the front surfaceof the metal plateand having a mirror reflective regionand a non-mirror reflective region. In a plan view of the retroreflective sheeting, the mirror reflective regionincludes a plurality of mirror reflective regions which are formed as independent regions by being divided by the non-mirror reflective region, the slotregion overlaps the mirror reflective regionand the non-mirror reflective region, and the overlapping mirror reflective regiondoes not straddle the slot

Sign plate

[Object] An apparatus and a method for producing optical sheeting with which increased productivity can be achieved while maintaining the accuracy of produced optical sheeting. [Solution] An apparatusfor producing optical sheeting includes: a first rotating roll Rconfigured to be heated; a second rotating roll R; a first belt mold Sthat has molds for optical elements on a surface thereof, and is configured to turn around the first rotating roll and the second rotating roll; a sheet feeding means Dconfigured to feed synthetic resin sheeting onto a surface of the first belt mold S, a second belt mold Sconfigured to be pressed against the first belt mold Sand to turn with the turning of the first belt mold S; and at least two pressure rolls Rand Raround which the second belt mold Sis mounted and which is configured to press the second belt mold Sagainst the first belt mold S, wherein the pressure roll Ris arranged at a position where the second belt mold Scomes away from the first belt mold Sand cooled at a surface thereof.

Apparatus and method for producing optical sheeting

An object of the invention is to provide a multi-directional cube corner retroreflective article (may be referred to as a retroreflective article, hereinafter) capable of improving entrance angle characteristic and rotation angle characteristic. A multi-directional cube corner retroreflective article, wherein a large number of retroreflective element assemblies, each of which is formed by assembling triangular pyramidal cube corner retroreflective elements each having an isosceles-triangular base (ABC) and an element apex (H) while sharing an apex (C) and base lines of equal length (AC and BC) of the base, are connected, and a shape of an outer circumference of each of the retroreflective element assemblies is a regular polygon and the bases of at least two of the triangular pyramidal cube corner retroreflective elements are not parallel to a common plane including the outer circumference.

Multi-directional cube corner retroreflective article

A hexagonal cube corner retroreflective article has a set of a large number of hexagonal cube corner retroreflective elements. In the retroreflective element, at least one reflective lateral face (face a, face b, and/or, face c) is divided into a pair of an upper secondary reflective lateral face (face aface band/or face c) and a lower secondary reflective lateral face (face aface band/or face c) partitioned by a line segment (EF, FD, and/or DE) connected by apexes (E, F, and/or D) constituting that reflective lateral face, in which two secondary reflective lateral faces constituting the pair of the secondary reflective lateral faces are not on the same plane. By these features the retroreflective article provides excellent observational angle characteristics.

Hexagonal cube corner retroreflective article

A retroreflective article having excellent retroreflective efficiency, entrance angle characteristic, observation angle characteristic, and rotation angle characteristic is provided. In a retroreflective article including a number of cube corner retroreflective elements formed in a closely packed manner on a common plane (plane Sc), each of the cube corner retroreflective elements having three reflective lateral surfaces (surface a, surface b and surface c) that have three edge lines (HD, HE and HF) and one apex (H) in common and an optical axis that passes through the apex (H) and is at equal distance from the three reflective lateral surfaces (surface a, surface b and surface c), the retroreflective article includes at least two or more types of cube corner retroreflective elements having optical axes tilted with respect to each other within a plane (plane Sv) that is perpendicular to a reflective lateral surface (surface c) and includes a common edge line (HF) of the other reflective lateral surfaces (surface a and surface b) and a perpendicular line from the apex (H) to the common plane (plane Sc).

Retroreflective article

The present invention relates to a triangular pyramidal cube corner retroreflective article and a producing method thereof. In the triangular pyramidal cube corner retroreflective article, a triangular pyramidal cube corner retroreflective element pair group is disposed in a closest-packed fashion on a common plane defined by three base lines, and the each of retroreflective elements in a pair having one base line (A-B) shared by the retroreflective elements in the pair. The triangular pyramidal cube corner retroreflective article includes a first element pair group, in which two interior angles (&#x3b1;=&#x2220;BAC and &#x3b2;=&#x2220;ABC) formed by the shared base line of the element pair and two other base lines are different from each other and the element pair is line-symmetrically disposed in relation to the shared base line (A-B); and a second element pair group, in which the element pair is congruent to a line-symmetrical shape to the first element pair in relation to a line segment connecting vertexes of the base planes.

Triangular pyramid type cube corner retroreflection article, and its manufacturing method

A cube-corner retroreflective article is provided with a number of cube-corner retroreflective element pairs each formed by a pair of cube-corner retroreflective elements sharing one side. Each of the cube-corner retroreflective elements has reflective lateral surfaces including two trapezoidal reflective lateral surfaces and one pentagonal or isosceles-triangular reflective lateral surface, and a projection shape of a quadrangle when projected onto a common plane, wherein ratios (rHA/rHC and rHB/rHC) between a length (rHC) of a ridge (HC) shared by the trapezoidal reflective lateral surfaces (HAFC and HBGC) and lengths (rHA and rHB) of other ridges (HA and HB) are in a range of 0.5 to 1.5.

Cube-corner retroreflective article

A retroreflection article formed of groups of grooves in three directions having substantially V-shaped cross sections, including a large number of pairs of cube corner retroreflection elements being disposed, the elements in each pair being formed to be rotationally symmetric while sharing one base line forming the retroreflection elements. A group of parallel V-shaped grooves in one direction (grooves x) forming the group of pairs of retroreflection elements has straight-line bottom tracks, the groups of parallel V-shaped grooves in the other two directions (grooves wand w) have continuous bent-line bottom tracks bent at intersection points with the grooves x, the bottom tracks of the groups of parallel V-shaped grooves in the two directions (grooves wand w) do not intersect with each other, and projection geometries of base planes (A-B-E-Dand A-B-E-D) forming the retroreflection elements are quadrilaterals.

Cube corner type retroreflection article

This invention provides a retroreflective sheeting which at least comprises a printed image-incorporated retroreflective sheeting and an optical element array sheet in which a large number of light-transmissive optical elements are regularly disposed at least at a fixed location; more particularly a printed image-incorporated retroreflective sheeting which reveals a stereoscopic image when the printed image is seen through a lenticular lens sheet or a convex lens array sheet; and a reflective sheeting which uses the stereoscopic image for tamper prevention.

Printed image-set retroreflective sheeting

A retroreflective article including a retroreflective element layer having an array of a large number of total internal reflective cube corner retroreflective elements, an optical property-adjusting layer partially provided on the back side of the retroreflective element layer, and an air layer on the back side of the optical property-adjusting layer. The retroreflective article exhibits optical properties suited for an intended use, such as a reflector of traffic or commercial signs, such as traffic signs, regulating signs, informative signs, and construction signs, or visible, laser or infrared light reflective sensors, by the presence of the optical property-adjusting layer with an adjusted hue or an adjusted area ratio. The retroreflective article can easily be produced at low cost and high efficiency by utilizing an existing retroreflective article.

Adoption of composite cube-corner retroreflective elements in which groups of each at least two sub-retroreflective elements which are each defined by three lateral faces mutually crossing at approximately right angles, as being configured by three-directional V-shaped parallel groove groups having substantially symmetrical sections and intersecting with each other, and which are arrayed in the closest-packed state, projecting on one side of their common sub-plane (SH-SH), each of said groups of sub-reflective elements being disposed on one main retroreflective element which is defined by three lateral faces mutually crossing at approximately right angles, as being configured by three-directional V-shaped parallel groove groups having substantially symmetrical sections and intersecting with each other, and which is disposed on the main plane (S-S).

Composite triangular-pyramidal cube-corner retroreflective sheeting and retroreflective articles

A retroreflective article with excellent wide-angle characteristics is provided. Entrance angle characteristics, observation angle characteristics, and rotation angle characteristics are improved. In a retroreflective article, an assembly of multidirectional retroreflective elements is formed, in which either five, or seven or more unit elements are formed so as to share two common base edges forming the triangular base face of the unit elements and a common vertex at which the common base edges intersect, with an adjacent retroreflective element.

To provide a retroreflective article formed of many triangular-pyramidal cube-corner retroreflective element pairs. One-side groove angle formed between a cross line between a plane vertical to the common plane and to a V-groove vertical plane which includes the base line of a V-shaped groove is vertical to the common plane, and a reflective lateral face containing the base line of the v-shaped groove, and the V-groove vertical plane, does not form a constant angle in the reflective lateral face but the lateral face forms a curved and/or multiple surface. A base line constituting any directional V-shaped groove in retroreflective element pairs is a nonlinear base line which does not form a linear trajectory and the reflective lateral face formed of the V-shaped groove forms a curved and/or multiple surface.

Growing community of inventors

Uozu, Japan

Ikuo Mimura