Method of manufacturing a vehicle registration plate blank

Abstract

The method 100 includes receiving a sheet of material 102 having a first protective layer 116 applied to a first side 103a of the sheet, and partially cutting through the sheet from an opposite second

Description

Field of the Invention The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a vehicle registration plate blank. Background of the Invention Vehicle registration plates are usually formed from a blank to which other layers are applied to form a finished registration plate that is mounted to a vehicle. The blanks are typically fitted with protective layers (sometimes referred to as liners) to protect the surfaces of the blank from becoming scratched or damaged, and also to protect any adhesive layer, prior to being assembled. However, these protective layers are difficult to remove, often requiring a user to have to scratch away a corner in order to be able to peel the layer away from the blank, which is time consuming and risks damaging or contaminating the surface of the blank, the adhesive layer, or both. It would be desirable to overcome these disadvantages. Summary of the Invention According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a vehicle registration plate blank, the method comprising the steps of receiving a sheet of material having a first protective layer applied to a first side of the sheet of material, and partially cutting through the sheet of material from a second side opposite the first side such that when the sheet of material is separated into a plurality of registration plate blanks a first friable portion is formed at a first corner of each of the plurality of registration plate blanks to aid removal of the first protective layer from each of the plurality of registration plate blanks. In this way, once broken, the first friable portion becomes a pull tab that allows a user to more easily peel the first protective layer away from the registration plate blank together with the first friable portion. Additionally, manufacturing efficiency is greatly increased by partially cutting through the sheet of material from the second side (opposite the side bearing the first protective layer) to form the friable portions prior to cutting the sheet of material into individual registration plate blanks, because the sheet of material is kept larger for longer, and so the number of individual processing steps involved in producing individual registration plate blanks is reduced. Optionally, the sheet of material comprises a second protective layer applied to the second side of the sheet of material opposite the first side. The method may further comprise partially cutting through the sheet of material from the first side such that when the sheet of material is separated into the plurality of registration plate blanks a second friable portion is formed at a second corner of each of the plurality of registration plate blanks different than the first corner to aid removal of the second protective layer from each of the plurality of registration plate blanks. In this way, once broken, the second friable portion becomes a pull tab that allows a user to more easily peel the second protective layer away from the registration plate blank together with the second friable portion when securing the registration plate blank to a reflective backing to form a registration plate. Optionally, partially cutting through the sheet of material to form the first friable portion and the second friable portion occurs before separating the sheet of material into the plurality of individual registration plate blanks. In this way, the sheet of material is kept larger for longer in the registration plate manufacturing process, and so the number of individual processing steps involved in producing individual registration plate blanks is reduced, compared with separating the sheet of material into individual registration plate blanks and then forming the first and second friable portions for each individual registration plate blank. Optionally, one or more of partially cutting through the sheet of material and separating the sheet of material into the plurality of registration plate blanks are performed using one or more of: a laser beam; a water jet; a heated element; a mechanical press; and a mechanical cutting process. The mechanical cutting process may be a milling process and / or a routing process. When partially cutting through the sheet of material and separating the sheet of material into the plurality of registration plate blanks is performed using a laser beam, a cutting speed of the laser beam may be higher when forming the first and second friable portions than a cutting speed of the laser beam when separating the sheet of material into the plurality of registration plate blanks. When partially cutting through the sheet of material and separating the sheet of material into the plurality of registration plate blanks is performed using a laser beam, a power of the laser beam is lower when forming the first and second friable portions than a power of the laser beam when separating the sheet of material into the plurality of registration plate blanks. When partially cutting through the sheet of material and separating the sheet of material into the plurality of registration plate blanks is performed using waterjet, a cutting speed of the water jet may be higher when forming the first and second friable portions than a cutting speed of the water jet when separating the sheet of material into the plurality of registration plate blanks. When partially cutting through the sheet of material and separating the sheet of material into the plurality of registration plate blanks is performed using a waterjet, a pressure of the waterjet is lower when forming the first and second friable portions than a pressure of the water jet when separating the sheet of material into the plurality of registration plate blanks. When partially cutting through the sheet of material and separating the sheet of material into the plurality of registration plate blanks is performed using a heated element, a temperature of the heated element is lower when forming the first and second friable portions than a temperature of the heated element when separating the sheet of material into the plurality of registration plate blanks. When partially cutting through the sheet of material and separating the sheet of material into the plurality of registration plate blanks is performed using a heated element, a dwell time of the heated element on the sheet of material is lower when forming the first and second friable portions than a dwell time of the heated element when separating the sheet of material into the plurality of registration plate blanks. When partially cutting through the sheet of material and separating the sheet of material into the plurality of registration plate blanks is performed using a mechanical press, a pressure of the mechanical press applied to the sheet of material is lower when forming the first and second friable portions than a pressure of the mechanical press when separating the sheet of material into the plurality of registration plate blanks. When partially cutting through the sheet of material and separating the sheet of material into the plurality of registration plate blanks is performed using a mechanical cutting process, a cutting speed of the mechanical cutting process may be higher when forming the first and second friable portions than a cutting speed of the mechanical cutting process when separating the sheet of material into the plurality of registration plate blanks. When partially cutting through the sheet of material and separating the sheet of material into the plurality of registration plate blanks is performed using a mechanical cutting process, a pressure of the mechanical cutting process applied to the sheet of material is lower when forming the first and second friable portions than a pressure of the mechanical cutting process applied to the sheet of material when separating the sheet of material into the plurality of registration plate blanks. Optionally, the sheet of material comprises a rigid material, preferably wherein the sheet of material comprises plastic. Optionally, the sheet of material comprises a transparent material. Optionally, the sheet of material comprises polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). The PMMA may be a modified blend which contains an impact modifier that enables the sheet of material used to form the plurality of registration plate blanks to withstand impact. Optionally, the sheet of material comprises polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Optionally, the sheet of material comprises polycarbonate (PC). Optionally, the sheet of material comprises acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). Optionally, the method comprises applying a layer of adhesive to the second side of the sheet of material, and applying the second protective layer to the second side of the sheet of material. Optionally, prior to step a), the method comprises applying an ionising air flow over the second side of the sheet of material, for example, prior to applying the layer of adhesive to the second side of the sheet of material. Optionally, prior to separating the sheet of material into the plurality of registration plate blanks, the plurality of registration plate blanks may be printed with one or more printed portions (such as registration numbers, manufacturer names, logos, etc). In this way, the number of manufacturing steps may be reduced, compared to printing the printed portions to the plurality of registration plate blanks individually once separated from the sheet of material. Optionally, the sheet of material comprises regions, wherein each region defines a separation line for separating a registration plate blank from the sheet of material, the separation line defining a perimeter of each registration plate blank, and wherein the first friable portion is formed at a first corner of each region. Optionally, separating a registration plate blank from the sheet of material is performed by applying one of more of: a laser, a waterjet, a heated element, a mechanical press, a mechanical cutting process, and a stamping process to the separation line. Brief Description of the Drawings The invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is schematic diagram of a process of forming a first friable portion at a first corner of each of a plurality of registration plate blanks; Figure 2 is a magnified diagram of an individual registration plate blank having a first friable portion formed as a result of the process shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a process of forming a second friable portion at a second corner of each of the plurality of registration plate blanks; and Figure 4 is a magnified diagram of an individual registration plate having a second friable portion formed as a result of the process shown in Figure 3. Detailed Description Figure 1 illustrates a series of steps of a process 100 for forming a friable portion at a first corner of each of a plurality of registration plate blanks. Figure la shows a sheet of material 102 having a first side 103a and a second side 103b opposite to the first side 103a. The first side 103a has a first protective layer 116 applied thereto (as shown by Figure 2B). Figure lb shows a first example approach for forming a first friable portion at a first corner of each of the plurality of registration plate blanks. In Figure IB, a laser beam 106 emitted from a laser 104 is applied to the second side 103b of the sheet of material 102 in order to partially cut through the sheet of material 102 at a series of locations across the second side 103b of the sheet of material 102. By partially cutting through the sheet of material 102 with the laser beam 106, a first friable portion 108a will be formed at each of the series of locations when the sheet of material 102 is later separated into a plurality of registration plate blanks, such that a corner 120 of each registration plate blank bears a first friable portion 108a. Figure 1c shows how the sheet of material 102 is separated into a plurality of individual registration plate blanks 114. For example, the laser beam 106 is passed over the second side 103b of the sheet of material 102 along a series of first and second separation lines 110, 112. Each of the first separation lines 110 may be a horizontal separation line and each of the second separation lines 112 may be vertical separation line, such that the sheet of material 102 is separated into a plurality of individual registration plate blanks 114 by cutting completely through the sheet of material 102 with the laser beam 106. The corners of each of the plurality of individual registration plate blanks 114 may be rounded, and may be cut at the same time as forming the first and second separation lines 110, 112, or as a separate step. Figure 2a shows an individual registration plate blank 114 (when viewed from the second side 103b) formed by the process of Figures la-lc described above. Registration plate blank 114 has a first friable portion 108a formed at a first corner region 120 of the registration plate blank 114. The remaining corners of the registration plate 114 may be rounded corners formed by cutting entirely through the sheet of material 102 during the process of separating the sheet of material 102 into the plurality of registration plate blanks 114 as shown in Figure 1c. The first friable portion 108a enables a user to more easily remove the first protective layer 116 that is applied to the first side 103a of the sheet of material 102. Figure 2b shows a magnified view of the first corner region 120 taken through a thickness of the sheet of material 102 perpendicular to the top view shown by Figure 2a. As shown by Figure 2b, a first weakened region 124 is formed as a result of partially cutting through the sheet of material 102 (and by extension, the registration plate blank 114), but leaving a first weakened region 124 of the sheet of material 102 above the first protective layer 116 uncut. As such, when a user wishes to remove the first protective layer 116 from the registration plate blank 114, the user need only bend the first friable portion 108a in order to break the first weakened region 124 of the registration plate blank 114. Because the first protective layer 116 is left uncut by the laser beam 106 in the first weakened region 124, the user is able to remove the first protective layer 116 by holding onto the first friable portion 108a and peeling the first protective layer 116 away from the registration plate blank 114. As an example, the first weakened region 124 may be formed by cutting through approximately 70% of the thickness of the sheet of material 102. In some circumstances, the sheet of material 102 may also have a second protective layer applied to the second side 103b of the sheet of material 102 in addition to the first protective layer 116 applied to the first side 103a of the sheet of material 102. For example, the sheet of material may have an adhesive layer 128 (e.g., as shown by Figure 4b) applied to the second side 103b of the sheet of material 102, over which a second protective layer 118 may be applied. Following separation of the sheet of material 102 into the plurality of registration plate blanks, the second protective layer 118 can be removed in order to expose the adhesive layer 128 in order to allow the registration plate blank 114 to be adhered to a reflective backing to form a vehicle registration plate. In order to allow a user to more easily remove the second protective layer 118, a second friable portion 108b may be provided for each registration plate blank 114, as discussed below. Figure 3 illustrates a series of steps of a process 200 for forming a second friable portion at a second corner of each of a plurality of registration plate blanks (after forming the first friable portion at the first corner of each of the plurality of registration plate blanks). The process 200 begins with the sheet of material 102 having first and second sides 103a, 103b as shown in Figure la, which is not replicated in Figure 3 for brevity. The sheet of material 102 is then rotated 180° about the x-axis (i.e., the sheet of material is flipped over) so that the first side 103a of the sheet of material becomes the side facing the laser 104, as shown in Figure 3b'. The laser beam 106 emitted from the laser 104 is then applied to the first side 103a of the sheet of material 102 in order to partially cut through the sheet of material 102 at a series of locations across the first side 103a of the sheet of material 102. By partially cutting through the sheet of material 102 with the laser beam 106, a second friable portion 108b will be formed at each of the series of locations when the sheet of material 102 is later separated into a plurality of registration plate blanks, such that a second corner 122 of each registration plate blank bears a second friable portion 108b. Figure 3c shows how the sheet of material 102 is separated into a plurality of individual registration plate blanks 114. For example, after passing the laser beam 106 over the second side 103b of the sheet of material 102 to form each first friable portion 108a, flipping the sheet of material 102, and passing the laser beam 106 over the first side 103a of the sheet of material to form each second friable portion 108b, the laser beam 106 is passed over the first side 103a of the sheet of material 102 along a series of first and second separation lines 110', 112'. Each of the first separation lines 110' may be a horizontal separation line and each of the second separation lines 112' may be vertical separation line, such that the sheet of material 102 is separated into the plurality of individual registration plate blanks 114 by cutting completely through the sheet of material 102 with the laser beam 106. Figure 4a shows an individual registration plate blank 114 (when viewed from the first side 103a) formed by the process of Figures 1 and 3 described above. In addition to the first friable portion 108a shown by Figure 2a above, in Figure 4a registration plate blank 114 also has a second friable portion 108b formed at a second corner region 122 of the registration plate blank 114. The remaining corners of the registration plate 114 may be rounded corners formed by cutting entirely through the sheet of material 102 during the process of separating the sheet of material 102 into the plurality of registration plate blanks 114 as shown in Figure 3c. The second friable portion 108b enables a user to more easily remove the second protective layer 118 that is applied to the second side 103b (over the adhesive layer 128) of the sheet of material 102. Figure 4b shows a magnified view of the second corner region 122 taken through a thickness of the sheet of material 102 perpendicular to the top view shown by Figure 4a. As shown by Figure 4b, a second weakened region 126 is formed as a result of partially cutting through the sheet of material 102 (and by extension, the registration plate blank 114), but leaving a second weakened region 126 of the sheet of material 102 above the second protective layer 118 uncut. As such, when a user also wishes to remove the second protective layer 118 from the registration plate blank 114 (as well as the first protective layer 116), the user need only bend the second friable portion 108b in order to break the second weakened region 126 of the registration plate blank 114. Because the second protective layer 118 is left uncut by the laser beam 106 in the second weakened region 126, the user is able to remove the second protective layer 118 in the same fashion as the first protective layer 116 by holding onto the second friable portion 108b and peeling the second protective layer 118 away from the registration plate blank 114. As an example, the second weakened region 126 may be formed by cutting through approximately 70% of the thickness of the sheet of material 102. Partially cutting through the sheet of material 102 to form the first and second friable portions 108a, 108b may be achieved by adjusting a cutting speed of the laser 104, such that the laser beam 106 only partially cuts through the sheet of material 102. For example, the cutting speed of the laser 104 may be faster when forming the first and second friable portions 108a, 108b (in order to form the first and second weakened regions 124, 126) than a cutting speed used when separating the sheet of material 102 into the plurality of registration plate blanks 114. As another example, a power of the laser 104 may be lower when forming the first and second friable portions 108a, 108b than a laser power used when separating the sheet of material 102 into the plurality of registration plate blanks 114. Whilst the above examples describe the use of laser beam 106 to form the first and second friable portions 108a, 108b, the skilled person would appreciate that other methods may also be suitable in order to partially cut through the sheet of material 102. For example, one or more of a water jet, heated element, mechanical press, and mechanical cutting process, could be used to partially cut through the sheet of material to form the first and / or second friable portions 108a, 108b. The mechanical cutting process may be a milling process and / or a routing process. Similarly, whilst the above examples described the use of laser beam 106 to separate the sheet of material 102 into a plurality of registration plate blanks 114, the skilled person would appreciate that other methods may also be suitable in order to separate the sheet of material 102 into the plurality of registration plate blanks 114 by cutting through the sheet of material 102. For example, one or more of a water jet, heated element, mechanical press, and mechanical cutting process, could be used to cut the sheet of material 102 into the plurality of registration plate blanks 114. The mechanical cutting process may be a milling process and / or a routing process. Whilst registration plate blanks for use in the automotive sector are typically substantially rectangular (as shown in the drawings), the skilled person would appreciate that the processes described above could be modified to form registration plate blanks of any required shape. The sheet of material 102 may be any suitable material for forming a registration plate blank, which may vary depending on the country in which the registration plate is to be used such that the registration plate meets any relevant standards for production and / or use in that country (e.g., British Standards in the UK). The sheet of material 102 may be a rigid material, including a plastic material. The sheet of material may include a transparent material. The sheet of material 102 may be polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). The PMMA used to form registration plate blanks may be a modified blend containing an impact modifier that allows the registration plate blank to be able to withstand impact. The sheet of material may also be one or more of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PC), and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). Whilst the first and second weakened regions 124, 126 have been described as having been formed by cutting through approximately 70% of the thickness of the sheet of material 102, this is only illustrative. For example, the first and second weakened regions 124, 126 may be formed by cutting through greater than 50% of the thickness of the sheet of material 102, or any other suitable percentage of the thickness of the sheet of material 102 that enables a user to break the first and second weakened regions 124, 126 to remove the first and second protective layers 116, 118. In some examples, the process 100 may also include, prior to partially cutting through the sheet of material 102 with the laser beam 106 to form the first and second friable portions 108a, 108b, cleaning the first and / or second sides 103a, 103b of the sheet of material 102 to remove debris and static from sheet of material 102 before the first and / or second protective layers 114, 116 are applied to the sheet of material 102. 5 While the above examples illustrate the first and second friable portions 108a, 108 being applied to particular corners of each registration plate blank 114, the skilled person would appreciate that the first and second friable portions 108a, 108b could be formed at any pair of corners on the registration plate blank 114, provided that the first and second friable portions 108a, 108b are formed by partially cutting through the sheet of 10 material 102 from opposing sides of the sheet of material 102.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing a vehicle registration plate blank, the method comprising the steps of:a) receiving a sheet of material having a first protective layer applied to a first side of the sheet of material; andb) partially cutting through the sheet of material from a second side opposite the first side such that when the sheet of material is separated into a plurality of registration plate blanks a first friable portion is formed at a first corner of each of the plurality of registration plate blanks to aid removal of the first protective layer from each of the plurality of registration plate blanks.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the sheet of material comprises a second protective layer applied to the second side of the sheet of material opposite the first side; andwherein the method further comprises partially cutting through the sheet of material from the first side such that when the sheet of material is separated into the plurality of registration plate blanks a second friable portion is formed at a second corner of each of the plurality of registration plate blanks different than the first corner to aid removal of the second protective layer from each of the plurality of registration plate blanks.

3. The method of claim 2, where partially cutting through the sheet of material to form the first friable portion and the second friable portion occurs before separating the sheet of material into the plurality of individual registration plate blanks.

4. The method of claim 2 or claim 3, wherein one or more of partially cutting through the sheet of material and separating the sheet of material into the plurality of registration plate blanks are performed using one or more of:a laser beam;a waterjet;a heated element;a mechanical press; anda mechanical cutting process.

5. The method of claim 2 or claim 3, wherein partially cutting through the sheet of material and separating the sheet of material into the plurality of registration plate blanks is performed using a laser beam; andwherein a cutting speed of the laser beam is higher when forming the first and second friable portions than a cutting speed of the laser beam when separating the sheet of material into the plurality of registration plate blanks.

6. The method of claim 2 or claim 3, wherein partially cutting through the sheet of material and separating the sheet of material into the plurality of registration plate blanks is performed using a laser beam; andwherein a power of the laser beam is lower when forming the first and second friable portions than a power of the laser beam when separating the sheet of material into the plurality of registration plate blanks.

7. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the sheet of material comprises a rigid material, preferably wherein the sheet of material comprises plastic.

8. The method of any preceding claim, further comprising, prior to step a), applying an ionising air flow over the second side of the sheet of material, applying a layer of adhesive to the second side of the sheet of material, and applying the second protective layer to the second side of the sheet of material.

9. The method of any preceding claim, further comprising, prior to separating the sheet of material into the plurality of registration plate blanks, printing the plurality of registration plate blanks with one or more printed portions.

10. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the sheet of material comprises regions, wherein each region defines a separation line for separating a registration plate blank from the sheet of material, the separation line defining a perimeter of each registration plate blank, and wherein the first friable portion is formed at a first corner of each region.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein separating a registration plate blank from the sheet of material is performed by applying one of more of: a laser, a waterjet, a heated element, a mechanical press, a mechanical cutting process, and a stamping process to the separation line.13

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