MATERIAL

The subject of the invention relates to a procedure for producing decoration material and corrugated paper-like decoration material. The subject of the invention can be produced at a low cost, in small quantities, with decoration as required, favourably with advertising text, in different versions, in a cost-efficient way.

In practical life materials made of paper suitable for different purposes are used in several fields. The majority of these paper products is characterised by consisting of several layers, at least one of these layers is raise or corrugated. Such paper product consisting of several layers is described for example in international application priority No. PCT/US/96/13266 and publication No. WO97/08387, in which case the individual layers are fixed to each other with an adhesive compound.

Decowell-type multi-layer materials in the case of which the corrugated surface is glued to a carrying surface are used especially for decoration purposes. In the case of this known solution the paper basic material is provided with decoration, favourably advertising text, in the course of a printing procedure called flexography, then it is corrugated, and the corrugated basic material is glued to the carrying surface. This known solution, similarly to decowell and mini well solutions used for similar purposes, is cost-efficient only in the case of producing rather large quantities due to the flexographic technology used, where the paper material is printed in rolls. Furthermore gluing the paper to the carrying surface at an appropriate quality represents another problem.

The aim of the invention is to overcome the disadvantages of the known solutions and to realise a solution with which even small quantities of decoration material can be produced in a cost-efficient way. A further aim is to improve the quality of the prints placed on the decoration material.

We recognised that in order to realise the aim set in connection with the invention it is not especially necessary to use paper material consisting of several layer, unless the decoration material itself needs to be stable. It means that the difficult process of gluing the individual layers to each other can be cut out. We realised that it is enough to apply a foil cover on top of the decoration, favourably advertising text, put on the paper basic material. The use of a foil layer is very favourable from several aspects. The foil layer make the paper material and the decoration, favourably advertising text, put on it water-resistant and also increases its tear resistance. A further advantage of the foil cover is that if the decoration material is intended to be finished as corrugated material, as compared to multi-layer paper the foil cover is less of an inhibiting factor in the course of packaging the decoration material as corrugated material.

We also realised that in practical life the use of the flexographic printing technology is not favourable in the course of producing decoration material, because in the case of this printing method production can only be cost-efficient in the case of producing a rather large amount of decoration material because of the significant costs of the cliche. We also realised that the

otherwise known offset technology can be favourably used in the course of producing decoration material, in the case that the paper is prepared in sheets rather than rolls. The necessary decoration, favourably advertising text, can be printed on the paper sheets using offset technology. The use of the offset technology in the case of decoration material is also especially'favourable, because the grating of the prints produced using this technology is greater, and so this technology makes it possible to produce prints of a much better quality. It is also supported by a practical fact that the specific costs of printing direct colours used in the offset technology are significantly lower than in the case of fiexography.

With the solution according to the invention different types of decoration materials can be produced, for example "soft" materials that are flexible in optional directions and are easy to shape, and even materials with independent stability. In the case of "soft" decoration materials in the course of producing the end-product the material that has already been printed and provided with a foil cover is practically corrugated, as a result of which the decoration material become morς lasting and also more aesthetic. In the case of the solution with independent stability the material that has already been printed and provided with a foil cover is produced by mounting it onto corrugated cardboard. In this way a stiffer decoration material can be produced. In the case of this stiff solution a natural demand was to make it possible to form the "stiff decoration material too suiting the current application. In the course of our developments we also realised that if incisions are made in this stiff material at least up to half of the thickness of the corrugated cardboard, then along these incisions the decoration material can be bent in the required direction to reach a position suiting the current application. The decoration material can be bent in the direction opposite the direction in which the incisions are made.

The subject of the invention is a procedure for producing decoration material, in the course of which decoration, favourably advertising text, is printed on the surface of the paper, a foil cover is applied onto it and it is finished as corrugated material. In accordance with our invention the procedure is based on that the paper material is prepared in sheets, onto which the decoration, favourably advertising text, is applied by printing. The paper sheets printed in this way are fixed to each other with a foil cover, and then the decoration material is produced by corrugation in a known way.

In the case of a favourable realisation of the procedure decoration, favourably advertising text, is applied onto the paper material by using offset technology. In the case of a further favourable realisation of the procedure, in the course of the corrugation 1-5 mm, favourably 3 mm high and maximum 2-5 mm wide corrugations are made in the foiled paper material.

The invention also relates to decoration material, especially for the purpose of realising procedures described above, and on the surface of the paper material of this decoration material decoration, favourably advertising text, is printed, a foil cover is applied on top of it and it is finished as corrugated material. In accordance with the invention the decoration material is realised in a way that on the foil cover paper material sheets are fixed to each other and finished as a roll of corrugated material.

In the case of a practical construction of the decoration material the foil cover is BOPP foil. In the case of a further practical realisation of the decoration material the BOPP foil is foil with a glossy or matt surface and of a width of 15-40 μ, favourably 30 μ.

The invention relates to a further procedure for producing decoration material, in the course of which decoration, favourably advertising text is printed on the surface of the paper material, foil cover is applied on top of it and is finished as corrugated paper. This further procedure is based on that the paper material is prepared in sheets onto which the decoration, favourably advertising text is applied by printing. The paper sheets printed in this way are fixed to each other with a foil cover, and then the decoration material is produced by mounting it onto corrugated cardboard.

In the course of a favourable realisation of the further procedure decoration, favourably advertising text is applied on the paper material by using offset technology.

In the case of an even further realisation of the further procedure incisions are made in the decoration material mounted onto corrugated cardboard up to maximum half of the width of the corrugated cardboard, and along the incisions the decoration material is bent in the appropriate direction to reach a position suiting the current use, and it is practically fixed.

The invention also relates to a further decoration material, especially for the realisation of the further procedures, and on the surface of the paper material of this further decoration material decoration, favourably advertising text is printed, a foil cover is applied on top of it and it is finished as corrugated material. In accordance with the invention the further decoration material is characterised by that on the foil cover paper material sheets are fixed to each other and mounted onto corrugated cardboard.

In the case of a practical construction of the further decoration material the foil cover is BOPP foil, where the BOPP foil is foil with a glossy or matt surface and of a width of 15-40 μ, favourably 30 μ.

In the case of a fairly practical realisation of the further decoration material according to the invention incisions are made at right angles to the direction of rolling, and the corrugated cardboard is bent along these incisions.

Practically on the further decoration material both sides of the corrugated cardboard are mounted, and incisions are made on both sides, shifted away from each other.

The possible solutions of the decoration materials according to the invention are described in detail on the basis of the attached drawings, where

- figure 1 shows the schematic structure of the decoration material,

- figures 2a), 2b), 2c) are schematic drawings showing the production of the further decoration material,

- figures 3a), 3b) 3c) are schematic drawings showing the production of the further decoration material that can be bent in two directions.

The decoration material shown in figure 1 is made of paper material 1 arranged in sheets 2. On the paper material 1 available in sheets 2 decoration, favourable advertising text is printed, practically by using offset technology. The printed sheets 2 are fixed to each other with a foil cover 3 and finished as corrugated material. Practically the corrugated material is fitted out as a roll not shown separately.

Figure 1 shows an enlarged part of the decoration material, in which it can be seen well that the paper material 1 consists of a series of printed sheets 2, which are fixed to each other with a foil cover 3. In the paper material 1 provided with a foil cover 3 corrugations of an h height of 1-5 mm, favourably 3 mm, and of an s width of a maximum of 2-5 mm are made. In the case of the decoration material according to the invention for example 135-1250 gram offset paper can be used as paper material 1, and practically the foil cover 3 should be BOPP foil. In the case of a possible solution the BOPP foil is of a width of 15-40 μ, favourably 30 μ.

Practically the decoration material according to the invention is produced as follows: the paper material 1 available in sheets 2 is provided with the desired decoration, favourably advertising text, in accordance with the current use, practically by using offset technology. The specific costs of offset printing are significantly lower than the costs of known flexo prints produced in similar amounts. Due to the lower specific costs by using the offset technology according to the invention much shorter rolls can be produced with the same design and in much better quality. In practice it means that smaller users will also be able to make their own decoration materials in smaller amounts, with several different graphics.

After the paper material 1 available in sheets 2 is printed by using offset technology, the sheets are fixed to each other with a foil cover 3.

In this way in the course of producing the decoration material according to the invention a continuous roll is created. Practically the produced rolls are rolled up onto drums of a suitable size, and then they are corrugated. Corrugation can be carried out for example between toothed shafts moving in opposite directions, favourably heated up to 60-100 °C. After performing corrugation in this way, practically the finished decoration material is rolled up into rolls.

Figures 2a), 2b), 2c) are schematic drawings showing the production of the further decoration material according to the invention. In this case too after the paper material 1 available in sheets 2 is printed by using offset technology and the sheets 2 are fixed to each other with a foil cover 3, it is mounted on corrugated cardboard 4 as shown in figure 2a. In figure 2b it can be seen that incisions 5 are made in the corrugated cardboard 4 at right angles to the direction of rolling, and the corrugated cardboard 4 is bent along these incisions 5 as shown in figure 2c.

Figures 3a), 3b) 3c) are schematic drawings showing the production of the further decoration material that can be bent in two directions. In accordance with figure 3a both sides of the corrugated cardboard 4 are mounted, and in accordance with figure 3b the incisions 5 are made on both sides, shifted away from each other. In accordance with it figure 3c shows that the corrugated cardboard 4 can be bent in both directions.

The decoration material in flexible rolls produced as described above can be used both as a basic material or in itself, and its area of use is extremely wide. As compared to prints made using the known flexo technology, due to the higher picture-point density of the offset prints more aesthetic, clearer, more colourful prints can be produced. The foil cover 3, which can be matt or glossy foil chosen optionally, results in a further improvement of picture quality and brighter perceived colours. Due to the foil cover 3 the decoration material becomes more resistant to physical effects and water too.

The production of the decoration material according to the invention is more economical even in the case producing relatively small amounts, e.g.: 1,000 m. Its area of use is fairly wide as it can be used both as an independent advertising surface or as the basic material of advertising mediums. As an independent advertising surface it can be used favourably for example for covering pallet islands, decorating exhibitions, covering different product piles. In the case of using it as a basic material advertising bags, decorative packaging, dining crockery accessories (e.g.: plate mats and glass mats) can be made out of it.

The further decoration material according to the invention provides an extremely large number of possibilities both in packaging technology and in the field of building POS materials, such as display, decoration walls, pallet holders. Due to its flexibility this further decoration material can be used excellently for making different boxes and vessels of a rounded shape. It is easy to cut and extra strong constructions can be constructed of it. The foiled surface has a drip-fast finish, and the high colour-temperature of the prints - offset technology - provide a real aesthetic experience.