Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B44—DECORATIVE ARTS
  • B44C—PRODUCING DECORATIVE EFFECTS; MOSAICS; TARSIA WORK; PAPERHANGING
  • B44C1/00—Processes, not specifically provided for elsewhere, for producing decorative surface effects
  • B44C1/16—Processes, not specifically provided for elsewhere, for producing decorative surface effects for applying transfer pictures or the like
  • B44C1/165—Processes, not specifically provided for elsewhere, for producing decorative surface effects for applying transfer pictures or the like for decalcomanias; sheet material therefor
  • B44C1/17—Dry transfer
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
  • B41M—PRINTING, DUPLICATING, MARKING, OR COPYING PROCESSES; COLOUR PRINTING
  • B41M5/00—Duplicating or marking methods; Sheet materials for use therein
  • B41M5/025—Duplicating or marking methods; Sheet materials for use therein by transferring ink from the master sheet
  • B41M5/035—Duplicating or marking methods; Sheet materials for use therein by transferring ink from the master sheet by sublimation or volatilisation of pre-printed design, e.g. sublistatic
  • B41M5/0358—Duplicating or marking methods; Sheet materials for use therein by transferring ink from the master sheet by sublimation or volatilisation of pre-printed design, e.g. sublistatic characterised by the mechanisms or artifacts to obtain the transfer, e.g. the heating means, the pressure means or the transport means
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
  • B41M—PRINTING, DUPLICATING, MARKING, OR COPYING PROCESSES; COLOUR PRINTING
  • B41M1/00—Inking and printing with a printer's forme
  • B41M1/40—Printing on bodies of particular shapes, e.g. golf balls, candles, wine corks

Definitions

• the present invention relates to the decoration of articles by the transfer of thermoactivatable substances, such as thermoactivable inks, in particular sublimable inks or even gilding substances.
• thermoactivatable substances such as thermoactivable inks, in particular sublimable inks or even gilding substances.
• European patent EP0451067 relates to a method for decorating the surface of an object by transferring a decoration using a machine comprising two frames hinged together, one of the faces of which is integral with a deformable membrane elastically in order to form a sealed enclosure, of the type consisting in: - placing at least one object of any shape on the support sheet in contact with the decoration; - to cover the object with another support sheet so that its decorated face is in contact with said object; - hermetically closing the enclosure, characterized in that it consists: - of sticking an insulating layer on the face of each support sheet opposite its decoration; - Place the support sheet so that its decorated side is facing outwards; - to have at least one object on the support sheet and more particularly on the decoration to be transferred; - to cover the object with a second support sheet so that its decorated face is in contact with said object; - to introduce the support sheet and object assembly into an airtight enclosure; - to place the enclosure under vacuum; - And to introduce the enclosure into an oven regulated at a determined
• European patent EP0606189 describes a machine for sublimating a decoration on objects of any shape, of the kind comprising two frames hinged together and one of their faces being integral with an elastically deformable membrane, characterized in that one at least deformable membranes has preformed pockets capable of completely receiving each of said objects to be decorated.
• European patent EP0544603 describes a process for decorating the surface of an object by sublimation of ink, characterized in that it consists in: using as a sublimable ink support a material sufficiently extensible and breathable to be able adapt to the shape of the object to be decorated without risk of deterioration of the decor to sublimate; - to wrap the object in the ink support so that all of its faces are covered; - And placing the assembly in a vacuum machine known per se which is itself introduced into a hot space to cause the transfer of the decoration on all the faces of the object to be decorated.
• L'OREAL for its part, has filed European patent application EP1099569 concerning a process for applying a decoration to an article comprising the steps consisting in: placing in contact with one face of the article a support coated with ink sublimable; heating the support using heating means to cause the sublimation of the ink and its transfer to the article, while cooling the opposite face of the article using cooling means.
• the company KOLORFUSION has filed a PCT patent application 09962722 which relates to a process making it possible to apply a decoration on the surface of an object using printing with sublimation ink. In this process, a heat-shrinkable film provided with a decoration in sublimation ink is used as ink carrier or as transfer sheet.
• an ink support or a conventional transfer sheet is used, as well as a film overwrap. shrink.
• the film sheet may be provided with seams so as to form an envelope and a decoration with sublimation ink may possibly appear on the interior surface of the envelope.
• the object to be decorated is placed inside the film envelope In case using a conventional transfer sheet, this is placed on the object before the heat-shrinkable film is overwrapped.
• the object Before printing with sublimation ink, the object can be pretreated with a coating on which the decoration will be printed.
• the film envelope is heated so that the film shrinks to fit the surface of the object.
• the shrinkage of the film around the object when combined with heat, produces the pressure necessary to transfer the decoration of the film to the surface or coating of the object to be decorated.
• the film can be kept in place as an overwrap or it can be removed, just like the conventional transfer sheet that may have been used, thus discovering the newly decorated object.
• the solutions of the prior art are not entirely satisfactory because they require numerous and delicate manipulations for carrying out a precise transfer, in particular when the article which is to receive the transfer is fragile or has complex shapes.
• the heating necessary for the sublimation of the ink requires fairly long warm-up times, leading to heating of the article to be decorated. This is not appropriate for fragile items, or made of temperature sensitive materials.
• the object of the present invention is to remedy the drawbacks of the solutions of the prior art by proposing an improved method and equipment.
• the invention relates, according to its most general meaning, to a method of decorating an article comprising a step of preparing a transfer sheet by printing with at least one heat-activatable ink, a step of transfer by application of said sheet on the article to be decorated, and by heating this assembly, characterized in that the heating is carried out by dipping the article to be decorated associated with the transfer sheet in a bath of non-ferrous metal alloy maintained at a temperature nominal for the activation of the heat-activated ink.
• the bath is formed by an alloy based on antimony, tin, bismuth and lead.
• the bath is formed by an alloy based on bismuth, lead, tin, cadmium.
• the bath is formed by an alloy of non-ferrous metals comprising bismuth.
• the article to be decorated is wrapped in a flocked material on which an image has been printed with at least one heat-activatable ink.
• said heat-activatable ink is a sublimable ink.
• the heat-activatable ink is an ink of the "hot-melt" type.
• the method comprises a transfer step where the transfer sheet forms around the article to be decorated a sealed envelope connected to a source of vacuum.
• the heating for the activation of the ink during the transfer step is ensured by a bath of an alloy composed of bismuth, lead, tin, and cadmium. (Bi 50%, Pb 25%, Sn 12.5%, Cd 12.5%) whose melting point is approximately 70 ° C, maintained at a temperature of approximately 190 ° C.
• the invention also relates to equipment for implementing the method characterized in that it comprises a thermostatically controlled tank containing a bath of non-ferrous metal alloy. The invention will be better understood from the description of nonlimiting examples of implementation which follow.
• the transfer sheet for implementing the process advantageously consists of: - a TEFLON film - a sheet of transfer paper used for decorating fabric by sublimation a film of silicone paper a flocked glue - a flocked elastomer - latex natural flocked - synthetic flocked latex - by a flocked natural polyisoprene sheet.
• the flocs are made up of: - cotton fibers - viscose fibers - polyamide fibers - acrylic fibers - polyester fibers.
• the decoration of an article requires a succession of operations. The first is to prepare a blank transfer medium.
• the transfer medium is an elastomer, resistant to the temperatures required for sublimation of the ink.
• the film thus prepared allows printing with a sublimable ink, by a conventional printing process of the transfer image, such as gravure printing, screen printing or simply printing by an inkjet printer.
• the image, scanned and processed by a computer, is printed with a special sublimable ink on a professional inkjet printer or any ad hoc printing equipment.
• Sublimable inks are generally made up of molecules of modest sizes and masses, with a compromise between the existence of conjugated double bonds and conjugated rings allowing the molecules to be colored and the reduction in molecular weights so that the molecules are compatible with sublimation. It is also conceivable to use phase change inks and more particularly hot-melt inks for printing the transfer sheet.
• the printed transfer sheet is then applied to the article to be decorated.
• the article surrounds the article in a sealed manner to form a sealed envelope inside which a vacuum is created.
• the sheet wrapping the article to be decorated is connected for this purpose by a tube to a vacuum pump or a source of vacuum, to ensure the plating of the printed surface against the surface of the article to be decorated.
• the flocking fibers form a porous cavity allowing the passage of air during the depressurization. The absence of structuring of the flocking avoids the marking of the article with a screen, as occurs in the prior art. Heating is then carried out to a compatible temperature and duration required for the transfer of the heat-activatable ink. In the absence of indications ' provided by the distributor of the heat-activatable ink, the skilled person will know by simple routine tests to determine the optimal conditions.
• first temperature and duration for example 180 ° for 2 seconds
• Heating can be provided by a flow of hot air, a bath in a hot fluid.
• the assembly formed by the transfer sheet and the article to be decorated is immersed in a bath of non-ferrous metal alloy with low melting point. It is for example an alloy composed of bismuth, lead, tin, and cadmium. (Bi 50%, Pb 25%, Sn 12.5%, Cd 12.5%) whose melting point is approximately 70 ° C, maintained at a temperature of approximately 190 ° C.
• the method is also intended for the transfer of heat-activatable substances such as gold leaf or metal alloys.
• the substrate consists of a silicone paper.
• the heat-activatable substance consists, for example, of a heat-activated adhesive comprising pigments or metal powders.
• This solution allows hot stamping or the transfer of a metallic film onto an object, in particular a bottle.
• the invention can also be implemented for the decoration of a wire, for example a cable or an electric wire.
• the wire can come into contact with the transfer sheet made in the form of a strip.
• the wire runs between a system of rollers located upstream and downstream of the bath.
• the transfer sheet also runs on a system of rollers located upstream and downstream of the bath.
• the wire and the transfer band come into contact upstream of the bath to plunge together into the heating bath, in which there is a roller ensuring the guidance inside this bath.
• the transfer takes place inside the bath, and the decorated wire emerges from the bath where it is recovered on a spool.

Landscapes

• Decoration By Transfer Pictures (AREA)
• Application Of Or Painting With Fluid Materials (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=33518426

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Families Citing this family (3)

Family Cites Families (14)

• 2003
  • 2003-07-08 FR FR0308343A patent/FR2856630B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2004
  • 2004-06-24 US US10/562,313 patent/US20080190554A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2004-06-24 CA CA002530651A patent/CA2530651A1/fr not_active Abandoned
  • 2004-06-24 WO PCT/FR2004/001599 patent/WO2005000603A2/fr not_active Ceased
  • 2004-06-24 EP EP04767449A patent/EP1644543A2/de not_active Withdrawn

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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