JPH0343009Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed explanation of the idea] [Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a transfer printing device, and more particularly to a device that can efficiently and accurately transfer and print characters, symbols, etc. on molded products, particularly synthetic resin molded products such as key caps.

[Conventional technology]

The applicant previously filed an application for a method for transfer-printing characters, symbols, etc. with excellent abrasion resistance onto synthetic resin molded products in a simple process and accurately at predetermined positions (Japanese Patent Application No. 145291/1982). . In this method, on the base sheet,
A transfer sheet formed by forming a plurality of pattern layers of letters, symbols, etc. using an ink containing a heat-transferable dye is placed in contact with the transfer surface of a synthetic resin molded product on which a plurality of pattern layers are arranged. Then, a transfer pad having a plurality of elastic protrusions with curved tips is used to press the transfer sheet from the base sheet side to connect the pattern layer to the transfer surface of the synthetic resin molded product. are brought into close contact with each other and subjected to a heat dyeing treatment in that state, thereby causing the heat-transferable dye in the pattern layer to be heat-transferred to form a desired pattern such as letters, symbols, etc. on the transferred surface of the synthetic resin molded product, In the method for manufacturing a synthetic resin molded product with characters and symbols, which comprises removing the base sheet after that, before bringing the transfer surface of the synthetic resin molded product into close contact with the pattern layer, only the synthetic resin molded product is removed. This is a method for producing a synthetic resin molded product with characters and symbols, which is characterized by heating. According to this method, it has become possible to perform transfer printing of patterns onto synthetic resin molded products that require extremely precise positioning, such as the formation of characters, symbols, etc. on key caps, through a simple process.

[Problem that the idea aims to solve]

However, when implementing this method industrially, it has been impossible to use various conventional transfer printing apparatuses as they are. The main reason for this is that this method requires that only the object to be transferred be heated before bringing the object and the transfer sheet into close contact with each other. This is because, for example, this point cannot be satisfied, and the positional shift of the pattern occurs. In other words, if you use a conventional transfer printing device as is, when heating the transferred object during the transfer printing process, the fixing jig that fixes the transferred object will also be heated, and this heat will cause the fixing The jig thermally expands and the transferred object fixed to this jig moves, and as a result, the pattern layer of the transfer sheet cannot be accurately brought into close contact with the designated position of the transferred object, resulting in misalignment and misregistration. This is because a deviation will occur.

[Means to solve the problem]

In view of the above-mentioned problems, the inventors of the present invention have conducted various research and improvements in an effort to create a device that can efficiently and accurately transfer and print letters, symbols, etc. on predetermined positions on the keycap base material. This is what we have come to complete. That is, the present invention has the following features: (a) moving a plurality of key cap base materials fixed by fixing jigs made of a material that does not thermally expand from the intake section to the heating section, and then moving them to the transfer section after heating; (b) a key cap base material heating mechanism that heats only the key cap base material by far-infrared radiation in the heating section; (c) a key cap base material moving mechanism that moves the key cap base material to the take-out section after transfer; a transfer sheet moving mechanism that moves a transfer sheet formed with a plurality of pattern layers using ink containing a dye from a paper feed section to a transfer section and then to a paper discharge section after transfer; and (d) a transfer section. (e) a positioning mechanism that fixes the pattern layer of the transfer sheet so that it is in contact with a plurality of key cap base materials, and (e) a positioning mechanism that brings the transfer sheet and key cap base materials into close contact with each other in the transfer section and transfers the heat-transferable dye of the transfer sheet to the key cap base. This is a transfer printing device characterized by comprising a transfer press mechanism that forms a pattern by transferring heat onto a material. Hereinafter, the transfer printing apparatus according to the present invention will be explained in more detail. First, a plurality of key cap base materials 1, which are objects to be transferred, are fixed by a fixing jig made of a material that does not expand thermally, and are moved from an intake part 3 to a heating part by a key cap base material moving mechanism 2. It is configured so that it can be moved to 4. At this time, transfer printing is performed on many pieces at the same time, and the fixing jig 5 is
It is best to fix around 50 to 200 pieces. This fixing jig 5 is made of a material that does not thermally expand when heated by a key cap base material heating mechanism 6 (described later), that is, a material that does not absorb far infrared rays, or a material that has extremely little thermal expansion even when heated. It must be configured with. This is to prevent thermal expansion of the fixing jig 5 when the key cap base material 1 is heated in the heating section 4, and to prevent the key cap base material 1 from shifting. Such materials include aluminum, copper, various chrome-plated metals, and various ceramics. Furthermore, if these are metal materials, it is preferable if they have a polished surface. Next, the key cap base material 1 is heated by the key cap base material heating mechanism 6 in the heating section 4 . The key cap base material heating mechanism 6, which is important in the present invention, is comprised of a heating means 7 that uses far infrared radiation. This far-infrared radiation heating means 7 serves as a heating source only for substances that absorb far-infrared rays. The far infrared rays have a wavelength of 1.5 μm to 1000 μm, preferably 4 μm to 50 μm.
Any device that emits electromagnetic waves may be used. The temperature of the key cap base material 1 in the key cap base material heating mechanism 6 can be adjusted by adjusting the heating time by changing the time during which the key cap base material 1 passes through the heating section 4, or by adjusting the heating temperature by far-infrared radiation (far-infrared radiation). This is done by adjusting the surface temperature of the infrared heater 7 or by adjusting the distance between the key cap base material 1 and the heating means 7 using far infrared radiation. In order to adjust the distance, it is preferable that the heating means 7 using far-infrared radiation can be freely moved up and down using the handle 8. The inner surface of the heating section 4 provided with the keycap base material heating mechanism 6 is preferably made of a material that reflects the far-infrared rays. This is because all of the far infrared rays are reflected within the heating section 4, so that only the key cap base material 1 can absorb the heat efficiently, and the heat can be used effectively. This is because uniform heating can be achieved. As such a material, the same material as the material constituting the fixing jig 5 can be used. After heating, the key cap base material 1 is moved from the heating section 4 to the transfer section 9 by the key cap base material moving mechanism 2, and is positioned at the transfer position of the transfer section 9. As a positioning means, for example, there is a method (not shown) of sequentially fixing four sides of a fixing jig. On the other hand, at the same time as, before, or after the key cap base material 1 is positioned in the transfer section 9, the transfer sheet 10 is moved from the paper feed section 12 to the transfer section 9 by the transfer sheet moving mechanism 11. This transfer sheet moving mechanism 1 is configured to move a transfer sheet 10 placed in advance on a paper feed section 12 to a transfer position of a transfer section 9. The transfer sheet 10 may be moved from the paper feed section 12 by, for example, suctioning the transfer sheet 10. The transfer sheet 10 used in the examples is formed by forming a pattern layer of characters, symbols, etc. on a base sheet, and is mainly a sheet-like material, but a roll-like transfer sheet is used. It is also possible to adopt a structure in which a sheet is used and the transfer sheet is sequentially wound up as the transfer sheet moving mechanism 11. The transfer sheet moved to the transfer position of the transfer unit 9 is configured to be fixed and positioned by a transfer sheet positioning mechanism so that the pattern layer is in contact with each of the plurality of keytop base materials 1.
This positioning can be done, for example, by using a guide pin,
There is a method using a phototube (none of which is shown). The transfer sheet 10 positioned by the positioning mechanism is preferably fixed in advance by the transfer sheet clamp mechanism 13 before it is brought into close contact with the key cap base material 1, which will be described later. This is to prevent the transfer sheet 10 from shifting when the transfer sheet 10 and the key cap base material 1 are brought into close contact with each other. After the key cap base material 1 and the transfer sheet 10 are positioned, the key cap base material 1 and the transfer sheet 10 are brought into close contact with each other by the transfer press mechanism 14. The transfer press mechanism 14 is configured to move up and down in order to bring the key cap base material 1, which is fixed at a predetermined position by a transfer pad 15, into close contact with the transfer sheet 10. The transfer pad 15 is made of an elastic material such as silicone rubber, and when the transfer pad 15 has a curved concave shape like the top surface of the key cap base material, a protrusion with a curved tip is used. Furthermore, it is preferable to provide the number of projections corresponding to the number of key cap substrates to be transfer printed. In addition, the transfer pad is configured to be freely removable.
It is preferable to be able to use transfer pads having various shapes depending on the shape of the keycap base material 1. By bringing the key cap base material 1 and the transfer sheet 10 into close contact with each other as described above, the pattern layer of the transfer sheet 10 is heated by the heat of the key cap base material 1 heated by the key cap base material heating mechanism 6. The key cap is transferred to the surface of the base material 1. The structure of the transfer sheet 10 according to the present invention is such that a pattern layer of characters, symbols, etc. is formed on a base sheet using ink containing a heat-transferable dye. In the present invention, the heat-transferable dye in the transfer sheet 10 is thermally transferred by the heat of the key cap base material 1 heated in the heating section 4 and penetrates into the interior of the base material 1 to form characters, symbols, etc. It is something to do. Therefore, no special heat treatment is required during the above-mentioned close contact. However, if it takes a relatively long time for the key cap base material 1 to adhere after heating, or if the transfer pad 15 is large, or if the temperature of the heated key cap base material 1 decreases significantly during the close contact, the above-mentioned Needless to say, a means for heating the transfer pad, such as using a transfer pad having a heating plate as the transfer pad 15, is required. Further, when the thermal transfer of the heat transferable dye is completed, the transfer pad 15 is raised and at the same time, the transfer sheet 10 and the key cap base material 1 are preferably separated immediately. This is because when the transfer sheet 10 comes into contact with the key cap base material 1 again after being in close contact with the key cap substrate 1, which has been heated and has reached the transfer temperature, the heat-transferable dye remaining on the transfer sheet 10 is transferred and printed again on the contacted area. ,
This is because the characters, symbols, etc. on the keycap base material 1 may be duplicated, or areas that should not be transferred may be contaminated, resulting in a significant loss of product value. In order to do this, a transfer sheet mounting frame 16 is provided at the transfer position, and configured so that it descends when the transfer pad 15 descends and rises when it rises, and when the transfer pad 15 is not descending, It is preferable to keep the transfer sheet 10 separate from the keycap base material 1. After the close contact is completed, the transferred transfer sheet 10 is removed from the transfer section 9 to the paper discharge section 17 by the transfer sheet moving mechanism 11. The transfer sheet moving mechanism 11 may be constructed by using the same mechanism for moving the sheet from the paper feed section 12 to the transfer section 9 and the mechanism for moving it from the transfer section 9 to the paper discharge section 17, but Considering efficiency, it is more preferable to use separate components. On the other hand, the transferred key cap base material 1 is transferred from the transfer section 9 to the take-out section 1 by the transferred object moving mechanism 2.
Moved to 8. When one process is completed as described above, the transferred key cap base material 1 is moved to the take-out section 18 and the untransferred key cap base material 1 is moved to the transfer section 9 at the same time.
By configuring the unused transfer sheet 10 to be moved to the transfer section 9 at the same time that the unused transfer sheet 10 is removed to the paper discharge section 17, the same process can be efficiently repeated. Further, when repeating this process, it is preferable to configure the various movements described above to be performed in conjunction with each other.

[Effect of the idea]

Since the present invention has the above configuration, it has the above effects. In other words, when heating the transferred object during the transfer printing process, only the transferred object is heated without heating the fixing jig that fixes the transferred object, so characters, symbols, etc. Transfer printing can be performed accurately at a predetermined position on the base material without misalignment or misregistration. In addition, heating of the key cap base material, which is the object to be transferred, and transfer printing on the surface of the base material are performed at separate locations, and the transfer printing process can be performed sequentially and efficiently, resulting in extremely high productivity. It is something that Therefore, the transfer printing device according to the present invention has extremely high industrial utility value.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 shows a schematic side sectional view of a transfer printing apparatus according to the present invention (however, the transfer sheet moving mechanism is omitted), and FIG. 2 shows a schematic front sectional view. In the figure, 1... key cap base material, 2... key cap base material moving mechanism, 3... intake section, 4... heating section, 5... fixing jig, 6... key cap heating mechanism, 7... far Heating means using infrared radiation (far infrared heater), 8...handle, 9...transfer section,
10...Transfer sheet, 11...Transfer sheet moving mechanism, 12...Paper feeding section, 13...Transfer sheet clamp mechanism, 14...Transfer press mechanism, 15...Transfer pad, 16...Transfer sheet placement Frame, 17...
Paper ejection section, 18... take-out section.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] 1 (a) A plurality of key cap base materials fixed by a fixing jig made of a material that does not expand thermally is moved from the intake part to the heating part, and after heating, the key cap base materials are transferred to the transfer part. (b) a keycap base material heating mechanism that heats only the keycap base material by far-infrared radiation in the heating section; (c) a base sheet; a transfer sheet moving mechanism that moves a transfer sheet, on which a plurality of pattern layers are formed using ink containing a heat-transferable dye, from a paper feed section to a transfer section, and then to a paper discharge section after transfer; (d) A positioning mechanism that fixes the pattern layer of the transfer sheet in contact with a plurality of key cap base materials in the transfer section, and (e) A positioning mechanism that brings the transfer sheet and key cap base materials into close contact with each other in the transfer section to prevent heat transfer of the transfer sheet. A transfer printing device comprising: a transfer press mechanism that thermally transfers a dye onto a key cap base material to form a pattern; 2. The transfer printing device according to claim 1, wherein the press section of the transfer press mechanism is a transfer pad. 3. The transfer printing device according to claim 2 of the utility model registration, characterized in that the transfer pad is heated.