JPS6159233B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improvement in a transfer film supply method for a thermal transfer machine, and is intended to enable long transfer films to be used without waste and to obtain good transfer conditions. be.

By the way, the outer surface of the three-dimensional article, especially the two
A thermal transfer machine is used when continuous transfer is to be performed on an outer surface that extends beyond the surface of the object. A transfer roller heated by a heat source is pressed against the outer circumferential surface of the article, that is, the surface to be transferred, and rotated together, and a long transfer film is sandwiched between the two, and the film is rotated by the rotation of the article. Accordingly, the article is configured to pass at a speed equal to the circumferential speed of the article, that is, the transfer speed.

On the other hand, the transfer film used in such thermal transfer machines has a structure in which a transfer foil and a heat-sensitive adhesive layer are sequentially stacked on one side of a film base with a release agent layer interposed between them. When the transfer foil is heated and pressed against the transfer surface, the transfer foil in that portion is transferred onto the transfer surface using the adhesive layer only from the pressurized portion. However, the transfer foil transferred as described above is left on the transfer surface by peeling off the film base using the winding of the used film. It is necessary to be careful not to damage the transferred transfer foil, and in order to do so, it is necessary to wait until the transfer film heated by the transfer roller has cooled down to a certain degree and the adhesive layer has solidified. .

In response to this request, in order to keep the transfer film pressed against the surface to be transferred by the transfer roller for some time after that, the film base is changed by winding up the used film. The stripping may be delayed in time. However, when this is done, it is necessary to continue to peel off the film base from the transfer area even after the transfer to the transfer surface is completed, so the film containing the used agent must be further wound. Furthermore, it is unavoidable that new cases will be drawn out. Therefore, in the next transfer, the unused portion of the transfer film that has been pulled out in excess remains as it is, and the next transfer is started. That is, as shown in FIG. 1 [ ], there is a part L where the transfer foil a is transferred from the film base A' of the transfer film A to another part L,
An unused portion l is left between the lengths L, and this unused portion is wound up without being reused. Such a situation is extremely undesirable because it unnecessarily increases the amount of transfer film used, resulting in a lot of waste and an increase in transfer costs.

By the way, to solve the above-mentioned problem with thermal transfer machines, that is, the amount of transfer film used is unnecessarily large, the transfer film that has already been transferred is wound up at a speed lower than that during transfer. A slack is formed in the transferred portion of the film, and the slack is held in a tensioned state by an appropriate tensioning means via a guide roller to bring the slack to the transfer surface, and when the transfer is completed, the slack is tightened as described above. It is conceivable to configure it so that it is rewound toward the unwinding side against the means. According to this, the portion of the transfer film immediately after the transfer is temporarily held on the surface to be transferred by the guide roller, and the peeling off of the used film from the surface is delayed in time. Since the excess unused transfer film supplied to the transfer section is rewound to the feeding side, waste of the film is reduced.

However, with this configuration, the slack portion formed on the winding side of the transfer film is tensioned by the tensioning means, so that the portion of the film immediately after transfer is placed on the transfer surface by the guide roller. Even if the adhesive is held in the attached state, it is unavoidable that some misalignment will occur in the attached part before the adhesive hardens, mainly due to the stretching of the film, resulting in disturbances in the transferred pattern, etc. As a result, a good finished state cannot be obtained. In addition, in the above-mentioned configuration in which the portion of the transfer film immediately after transfer is placed on the surface to be transferred by the guide roller, if the object to be transferred is an odd-shaped object, the radius from the center of rotation to the surface to be transferred and the surface If the direction of the image changes from time to time, the time that the part immediately after transfer is on the surface to be transferred will be different for each part.
Therefore, there is a risk that the transferred film may be peeled off too quickly and some portions may be incompletely transferred.

The present invention addresses the above-mentioned conventional circumstances and aims to enable transfer films to be used without waste and to obtain good transfer conditions. Therefore, it is characterized by the following configuration.

That is, the method for supplying a transfer film for a thermal transfer machine according to the present invention is a method for supplying a long transfer film between a transfer surface of a three-dimensional article and a transfer roller that is pressed against the surface, and in which the transfer film is supplied from the feeding side. The drawn-out transfer film is held between the transfer surface and the transfer roller and transferred to the winding side while transferring from the film to the transfer surface without straining the used transfer film. By winding up the film while maintaining the slack state, the portion of the film immediately after the transfer is kept attached to the surface to be transferred for a while, and then is peeled off. Then, in order to maintain the stuck state for a while, the unused transfer film is pulled out from the feeding side, and after the transfer is completed, the used transfer film is completely peeled off from the transfer surface and then fed out. Constructed to roll back to the side.

According to such a configuration, the portion of the transfer film immediately after being transferred to the transfer surface is not subjected to tension force for absorbing slack or tensile force for peeling off, etc., and is placed naturally on the transfer surface. During this time, the adhesive layer is cooled in the air and solidified, which may cause the transfer foil to be misaligned or incompletely transferred to the surface to be transferred. disappears. Then, as described above, the unused transfer film that has been pulled out in excess in order to temporarily hold the portion of the transfer film immediately after the transfer in a state stuck to the surface to be transferred is rewound to the feeding side. Waste will be reduced.
Hereinafter, this will be explained in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 2 to 9.

In the figure, A is a transfer film having a transfer foil a on one side of a film base A', and B is a three-dimensional object to be transferred. In the figure, three of the four outer sides and the remaining one It is planned that both end portions of the transfer surface b will be used as the transfer surface b. It is assumed that the three-dimensional article B is held by the rotating jig 1 and rotated in the direction of the arrow by an appropriate drive source 2 so that the transfer surface b is the rotating peripheral surface. 3
is a transfer roller made of a heat-resistant elastic material such as silicone rubber, and is supported rotatably at the tip of a support mechanism 5 while being heated by an appropriate heat source 4, and is driven by an appropriate drive source 6. The three-dimensional article B is moved forward and backward relative to the transfer surface b of the three-dimensional article B. Therefore, the transfer roller 3 is pressed against the transfer surface b of the three-dimensional article B during transfer, and is caused to rotate together with the aforementioned rotation of the article. On the other hand, the above-mentioned transfer film A is stored on a feed-out shaft 7, and when used, it is pulled out from the shaft, passes through a pair of upper guide rollers 8, 8, and is then transferred to the three-dimensional article B. It is assumed that the sheet passes between the rollers 3, passes through a pair of lower guide rollers 9, 9, passes between the pinch roller 10 and the presser roll 11, and is wound onto the winding shaft 12. It goes without saying that care must be taken when using the transfer film A at this time so that the transfer foil a faces the transfer surface b of the three-dimensional article B. However, the transfer film A that has been drawn out in excess is attached to the above-mentioned feeding shaft 7.
An appropriate drive source 13 for rewinding the image after the transfer is completed.
are connected, and between them, in order to apply appropriate back tension to the transfer film A that is being drawn out by using rotation in the rewinding direction,
A clutch, for example, an electromagnetic clutch 14, commonly called a powder clutch, which uses magnetic powder as a transmission medium, is interposed so that slippage in the rotational direction can be caused between the two in response to changes in load. In addition, the pinch roller 10 has a function that allows the used portion of the transfer film A to be moved in the winding direction and then moved in the unwinding direction by the amount of excess winding. A drive source 15, such as a DC motor, which can be rotated and also has a slight braking function when stopped, is connected to the winding shaft 12. A drive source 16 is connected via a clutch 17 capable of producing a rotational slip between them in response to load variations. Furthermore, the above-mentioned upper guide rollers 8, 8
is the transfer film A, and the three-dimensional article B when not being transferred.
In order to separate it from both the transfer roller 3 and the transfer roller 3 and align it with the transferred surface b of the three-dimensional object during transfer, it can be moved forward and backward at any time by a drive source 18 such as a fluid pressure cylinder unit. This is a push roller that cooperates with the rollers 8, 8 to ensure that the transfer film A is attached to the transfer surface b of the three-dimensional object only at the start of transfer, and can also be moved forward and backward at any time by a drive source 20 such as a fluid pressure cylinder unit. It's summery. In addition, 21 in the figure is an element for detecting whether or not the three-dimensional article B is ready to start transfer, and 22 is an element for detecting whether the transfer to the transfer target surface b has reached the end of the transfer range. Being an element,
It is assumed that each of these detection elements 21 and 22 is disposed at an appropriate location, such as the outer peripheral surface of the three-dimensional article B, the rotating jig 1, or between the jig and the drive source 2.

In the above configuration, as shown in Figure 2,
The transfer film A passes from the feeding shaft 7 to the upper guide roller 8, passes between the transfer roller 3 and the three-dimensional object B, and then passes from the lower guide roller 9 to the pinch roller 1.
0 and the presser roller 11, then the winding shaft 12
It is assumed that the condition is reached. Also, at this time, the transfer film A is transferred when the pinch roller 10 stops,
By the rotational force in the unwinding direction applied from the drive source 13 to the unwinding shaft 7 via the electromagnetic clutch 14,
Assume that you are feeling nervous. On the other hand, the three-dimensional article B at this time is held stationary by the rotating jig 1,
It is in a position to allow the advancing transfer roller 3 to come into contact with the starting end portion A of the transfer range on the outer surface as the transfer surface b.

In this state, when the upper guide roller 8 and the push roller 19 are moved forward in the direction shown by the arrow in FIG. The film A is attached to the transferred surface b of the three-dimensional article B as shown in FIG.
I am made to accompany it. At this time, the transfer film A
is slightly pulled out from above the feeding shaft 7. However, when the transfer film A is attached to the transfer surface b as described above, the end of the unused portion following the used portion from the previous transfer will be
It is assumed that they are overlapped slightly in front of the starting end a of the transfer range on the transfer surface b.

Subsequently, the transfer roller 3 is moved to a third position by the drive source 6.
The push roller 19 is moved forward in the direction shown by the arrow in the figure, and immediately after this presses against the three-dimensional article B, the push roller 19 is retreated in the direction shown by the arrow in the figure. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the transfer roller 3 presses and heats the transfer film A to the starting end A of the transfer range on the transfer surface b, and also transfers the film A' to the film base A' that was previously used. The portion hangs down in front of the lower guide roller 9, as shown in the figure.

Thereafter, when the three-dimensional article B is rotated by the rotating jig 1 in the direction shown by the arrow in FIG. 7 Start pulling out transfer film A from above,
At this point, the transfer to the transfer target surface b starts. However, the transfer film A that has been pressurized and heated by the transfer roller 3 as described above is transferred to the transfer surface b by the heat-sensitive adhesive layer (not shown) on the transfer foil a, but the adhesive layer You must wait until it cools down before peeling off the film base A'. Therefore, the used film is not wound up for a while after the start of transfer, and the used film is kept slack.

Then, after an appropriate amount of time has elapsed from the start of transcription, the fifth
As shown in the figure, when the used film is moved by the pinch roller 10 in the direction shown by the arrow in the figure when the transfer has progressed to a certain extent, the transfer film A has already been pressurized and heated by the transfer roller 3 and cools down. From a certain portion, only the film base A' begins to be peeled off, leaving the transfer foil a on the transfer surface b. At this time, a slight length overlapped in front of the starting end A of the transfer range on the transfer surface b
Since the transfer foil a' of l' was not pressed and heated by the transfer roller 3, it is separated from the transfer surface b together with the film base A', as shown in FIG. Therefore, the transfer foil a is transferred from the starting end of the transfer range on the transfer surface b, and the peeled-off film base A' is used as a used film.
It will be wound onto the winding shaft 12.
In this case as well, the used film is kept in a slack state as shown in the figure.
The part of the film immediately after the transfer is not subjected to tension and remains stuck to the transfer surface in a natural state, and the film base A' is peeled off after the adhesive layer has solidified. Become. Therefore, the film base may be peeled off before the adhesive layer hardens, resulting in incomplete transfer of the transfer foil, or the transfer foil may be displaced from the transfer surface due to the tension acting on the film. I have never had a problem with the pattern etc. In addition, the part immediately after transfer is held on the surface to be transferred for a while and then is peeled off in a natural manner without any force, so if the surface to be transferred is irregularly shaped as shown in the illustration, Also, the time for which the adhesive remains stuck is approximately constant in each part, or at least there is no chance of it being peeled off too quickly, and therefore a good transfer state can be obtained at any part of the transfer surface. become.

In this way, the transfer to the transfer surface b progresses, and after passing through the state shown in FIG. 6, as shown in FIG. The detection element 22 detects this situation and operates, causing the transfer roller 3 to retreat in the direction of the arrow in the figure. Therefore, the pressure and heating of the transfer film A by the transfer roller 3 is stopped, but at this stage, the peeling of the film base A' from the transfer surface b has not yet been completed, so that the used film becomes slack. The winding is continued while maintaining the same state, and the three-dimensional article B is further rotated, so that unused film is still pulled out from the feeding shaft 7.

After these steps, when the film base A' is peeled off to the terminal end RO of the transfer range on the transfer surface b, the transfer film A is separated from the terminal end as shown in FIG. When the three-dimensional article B rotates once from the start of transfer and returns to the transfer start position as shown in FIG. 9, the detection element 21 detects this situation and operates, stopping the rotating jig 1 and pinch roller 10 is stopped, and at the same time, the upper guide roller 8 is retracted. Then, as shown in FIG. 9, the transfer film A separates from the three-dimensional article B on which the transfer has been completed, and returns to the transfer start state shown in FIG. 2. However, in this case, the unused portion of the transfer film A is drawn out by an extra length l-l' compared to the state shown in FIG.

Then, the pinch roller 10 is rotated in the opposite direction, and the used film is rolled up onto the winding shaft 1.
2, the unused film is rewound onto the unwinding shaft 7 by the rotational force in the rewinding direction of the drive source 13 which was applying back tension to the transfer film A. However, the required unwinding length at this time is nothing but the extra length l-l', but this unwinding amount can be controlled by adding a detection element such as a pulse encoder to the pinch roller 10, or An appropriate detection means is added to the feeding shaft 7, and the drive source 15 of the pinch roller 10 is activated based on the detected value.
It can be made more accurate by manipulating the . Therefore, the transfer film A changes from the state shown in FIG.
It is rewound by the extra length l-l' and returned to the state shown in FIG. 2, in preparation for the next transfer.

In this way, each time one transfer is completed,
While rewinding the excess portion of the transfer film A, the transfer is sequentially performed on two or more three-dimensional objects B, and the used film has the following properties:
As shown in FIG. 1 [], an unused portion l' is left between the used portions L and L. Compared to the conventional unused portion l shown in FIG. 1 [], this unused portion is much shorter.

As described above, in the present invention, the unused film that has been pulled out in excess in order to peel off the film base from the transfer film used for transfer to the transfer surface is rewound immediately after winding of the used film is completed. Therefore, when using the transfer film supply method of the present invention, the transfer film can be used without waste compared to the conventional method, the amount of expensive film used can be kept to the minimum necessary, and the transfer cost can be reduced. This can be expected to have the effect of lowering costs.

Particularly, according to the present invention, by winding up the used film while letting it slack, the part of the film immediately after transfer is held for a while in a non-tensioned state on the surface to be transferred, and then the surface is Since the foil can be peeled off from the foil, there will be no misalignment of the transfer foil due to tension acting on the area immediately after the transfer.
Failure to transfer the transfer foil due to peeling off this portion before the adhesive hardens is prevented, and good transfer is performed on the entire surface to be transferred.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 [ ] is a plan view showing a conventional used transfer film, FIG. 1 [ ] is a plan view showing a used transfer film according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. FIG. 4 is a side view shown in the order of transfer. A... Transfer film, A'... Film base, a... Transfer foil, B... Three-dimensional article, b... Transferred surface.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for supplying a long transfer film between the transfer surface and a transfer roller that is pressed against the transfer surface, in order to perform continuous transfer to the transfer surface using the outer surface of the three-dimensional article, and Then, the transfer film pulled out from the feeding side is held between the transfer surface and the transfer roller and transferred to the take-up side while transferring the transfer film from the transfer film to the transfer surface. The used transfer film is wound up while slackening so that the part immediately after being transferred to the transfer surface is held in a non-tensioned state for a while on the transfer surface, and then is peeled off from the surface. A thermal transfer machine characterized in that the unused transfer film that has been pulled out from the feeding side in order to temporarily hold the portion immediately after the transfer in a state stuck to the surface to be transferred is rewound to the feeding side after the transfer is completed. transfer film supply method.