JPH0350229B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a display member for a watch.
More specifically, our objective is to provide clock display members, such as dials, parting boards, day wheels, and date wheels, in which characters, symbols, and marks have three-dimensional shapes, in a variety of designs that have never existed before, and at a low cost. . A typical example of current display materials in which characters, symbols, and marks are made in three-dimensional form is a clock dial. Since the dial of a watch is the face of the watch, it is required to have excellent design as well as function, and since it is one of the most expensive watch parts, it is important to find a dial with an excellent design at a low price. It has become an important issue. First of all, the biggest problem with current watch dials from the perspective of cost reduction is the typesetting process for letters and marks. The current typesetting process for dials involves manually planting a large number of letters (11 or 12 for each standard letter plan) on the completed dial base board, which cannot be mechanized or automated. It requires a lot of man-hours. The reason why the typesetting process for letters and marks cannot be mechanized or automated is that there are many types of letters and they have complex shapes, making it difficult to align them, and when letters come into contact with each other, they get scratched and have a poor appearance. This is because automatic feeding of characters is extremely difficult. The current dial manufacturing method will be explained in more detail, focusing on the typesetting process. First, the current method of manufacturing characters will be described. Press the surface of the brass plate with a press to form the letter feet and letter parts. (Fig. 1-1, -4) Next, the letter parts are punched out using a press. (Figure 1-2), -5)) Next, the letters 1 punched out with a press are parel polished to remove the burrs from the press punch. Next, apply a Ni undercoat. Next, cut the top of the letter with diamonds and finish with plating to complete letter 1. (Figure 1-3,-
6) In addition, marks and window frames are processed in roughly the same way as for letters. Next, a process of typesetting the completed characters 1 onto the completed dial base plate 2 will be explained. First, grab the hand-completed character 1 with tweezers and insert it into the character hole of the completed dial base plate 2.
Insert the letter feet and plant the letters. Next, manually pour adhesive from the back side of the completed dial base plate 2 into the character holes of the dial base plate.
A character 1 is fixed to a completed dial base plate 2. Figure 2-1 The typesetting process for marks and window frames is done in the same way as the typesetting process for letters. As mentioned above, the work of manually inserting characters is
Typesetting of characters is difficult due to the fact that a large number of characters, at least 11, must be placed on one dial plate, and the width and thickness of characters have become smaller as designs have diversified recently. The process is extremely time consuming and the work involved is extremely demanding. As described above, the present invention aims to eliminate the complexity of the current work of forming, for example, letters on a dial into a three-dimensional shape, and to further expand the variety of designs. That is, a photosensitive resin is used on a transparent plastic film to form protrusions such as letters, marks, windows, patterns, etc., and a pattern is applied to a part or the entire surface of the transparent plastic film on the front side, back side, or both sides. A method for producing a display member for a watch, characterized in that it is coated with a thin film layer of synthetic resin, metal, or inorganic material. The method for manufacturing a timepiece display member of the present invention will be explained in detail. Coat a photosensitive resin monomer to a specified thickness on a transparent plastic film, place a thin transparent film of about 10 μm on top of it, and then place the necessary characters, symbols, pictures, and marks on top of it. When the masks are placed one on top of the other and UV rays are irradiated from the mask side, the photosensitive resin monomer that is not irradiated with UV rays is developed and removed, and three-dimensional letters of a constant thickness are formed using the white outlines of the masks on the transparent plastic film. Ru. A manufacturing method of the present invention for forming characters, symbols, designs, and marks in a three-dimensional shape on the above-mentioned timepiece display member.
First, the shapes of letters, symbols, and marks are determined by masks, allowing for free designs and even graphic designs. Moreover, if you use an automatic drafting machine (CAD), you can freely draw the design. Second, since the basic technology of the manufacturing method of the present invention is photographic technology, batch processing that can process many parts at once and continuous processing using a hoop can be easily performed, and mechanization and automation are easy. The cost is very low. Particularly in the case of dials, the cost reduction effect is very significant. In other words, the process of typesetting characters is completely eliminated, and in the conventional method, 11 or 12 characters were individually machined and typesetting per dial plate, but in the case of the present invention, at least This is because 11 or 12 characters can be created at once. Next, a pattern is applied to a part or all of the front or back side or both sides of the transparent plastic film, and a thin film layer of synthetic resin, metal, or inorganic material is applied. For example, the pattern may be applied by a conventional machining method, but by taking advantage of the plasticity of plastic film, a hot-stamping method using a mold is suitable for patterning. The current method of patterning is to cast a metal plate using a mold, but hot stamping using a plastic film is much superior in terms of transfer accuracy and ease of processing due to low pressure. ing. Furthermore, when forming a thin layer of synthetic resin metal or inorganic material on a transparent plastic film, since the object to be formed is a film, spray painting, screen printing, and offset printing can be easily performed. Both wet and dry methods can be used to form the metal thin film layer. The wet method is a metallization treatment using electroless plating, and the dry method can be applied by vapor deposition, sputtering, etc. A vapor deposition method or a sputtering method can be applied to form the inorganic thin film layer. Since the transparent plastic film is used, the pattern processing and the formation of the thin film layer on the transparent plastic film described above can be performed on both sides, which is very advantageous in expanding the variety of designs. Furthermore, pattern processing and thin film layer formation have the advantage of being easier to automate and perform continuous processing than conventional methods, and are also advantageous in terms of cost reduction. As described above, the method for manufacturing a watch display member of the present invention brings about innovation in dial manufacturing in terms of design variety and cost, compared to the conventional method in which dials are mainly machined. That is clear. Furthermore, other display members other than the dial, such as letters, symbols, pictures, marks, etc. on parting boards, day wheels, date wheels, etc., are generally printed in a flat form using printing methods. However, by using the method for manufacturing a timepiece display member of the present invention, a three-dimensional shape can be realized at a low cost, making it possible to further increase the commercial value. Regarding the manufacturing method of the watch display member of the present invention,
A more detailed explanation will be given based on an example in which the display member is a dial plate. Example 1 First, a 100 μm thick PVC transparent plastic film 3 was patterned by hot stamping. (Fig. 3-1) A patterned mold is pressed onto the film 3 heated to 120°C to transfer the pattern on the mold onto the film 3. The pressure to press the surface is 50
About Kg/ ^cm2 is sufficient. Next, a metal thin film layer is formed on the entire surface of the patterned transparent plastic film 3 by a wet method or a dry method. (Figure 3-2) The metal thin film layer 4 was formed by a wet method by forming a Ni layer with a thickness of 100 Å using Hitachi Chemical's electroless Ni plating process, and a metal thin film layer 4 with good adhesion was obtained. . In addition, the dry method uses a low-temperature sputtering device.
When Al was sputtered to a thickness of 500 Å, a metal thin film layer 4 with good adhesion could be formed. Next, adhesive 5 is partially applied to the front side of the transparent plastic film 3 where characters are to be formed.
(Fig. 3-3) The adhesive used above is not preferably of the ultraviolet curing type from the viewpoint of workability. Also, screen printing is preferable for partial coating. Next, a photosensitive resin monomer is dropped onto the transparent plastic film 3 partially coated with the above adhesive and flattened with a squeegee to form a photosensitive resin monomer layer 6 having a thickness of 350 μm. Furthermore, a 10μ thick transparent mask protective film (PET) and a mask with white Arabic numerals are placed on top of that. In this case, it is important that no air exists between the transparent mask protective film and adhesive layer 5 and the photosensitive resin monomer. As the above-mentioned solvent-free photosensitive resin monomer, a commercially available photosensitive resin manufactured by Asahi Kasei Co., Ltd. for letterpress printing can be used. Next, when UV (ultraviolet light) is irradiated from the mask side, only the white part of the mask 8 is penetrated, and the photosensitive resin monomer 6 is cured by photopolymerization, resulting in a three-dimensional Arabic numeral letter with a thickness of 350μ. is formed from the photosensitive resin monomer 7. (Figure 3-4)
When Asahi Kasei's APR photosensitive resin is used, it cures in 60 seconds under the conditions of ultraviolet light intensity of 5 mmW/cm ² . As mentioned above, when the photosensitive resin monomer is polymerized by ultraviolet rays, the partially applied UV adhesive also undergoes photopolymerization.
Glue the photosensitive resin letters firmly onto the transparent plastic film. Next, an ink layer 9 of a desired color tone is formed only on the character portion by a printing method. (FIG. 3-6) Finally, the above-mentioned plastic film is pasted onto the dial base plate 2 via an adhesive layer to complete the dial according to the method for manufacturing a timepiece display member of the present invention. (FIGS. 3-7 and 3-8) In the above, if the transparent plastic film 3 and the photosensitive resin monomer are transparently colored, a dial with a different texture can be obtained. Example 2 First, a coating film 4 having a patterned color tone was formed by offset printing on the entire surface of one side of a transparent plastic film (PET) 3 having a thickness of 75 μm and having a smooth and glossy surface. (Fig. 4-1) Next, a metal thin film layer 9 is formed on the entire surface of the PET film 3 on which the coating film 4 is not formed by a wet method or a dry method. (Figure 4-2) Next, UV adhesive 5 is partially applied to the area where characters will be formed. (Figure 4-3) Next, the photosensitive resin monomer 6 is dropped onto the surface of the transparent plastic film 3 partially coated with adhesive, and the photosensitive resin monomer layer 6 is flattened with a squeegee to form a 300μ thick photosensitive resin monomer layer 6. Then, a transparent mask protection film and a mask 8 with white Roman numeral characters are set on top of it. Next, UV (ultraviolet light) is irradiated from the mask side. (Figure 4-4) Next, the transparent mask protective film and the mask 8 are peeled off, and the photosensitive resin monomer 6 is dissolved and removed using a developer. Roman numeral letters are formed. Further, of the metal thin film layer 9 formed on the transparent plastic film 3, only the exposed metal thin film layer 9 is removed by chemical etching. (4th
(FIG. 5) Finally, the transparent plastic film 3 is pasted onto the dial base plate 2 via an adhesive to complete the dial according to the method for manufacturing a timepiece display member of the present invention. (FIGS. 4-6 and 4-7) In the above, if the transparent plastic film 3 and the photosensitive resin monomer are transparently colored, it is possible to obtain a dial with a further different texture. Examples 3 and 4 above are for dial plates, but
In the case of other display members, such as parting boards, day wheels, date wheels, etc., three-dimensional characters, symbols, pictures, marks, etc. can be formed in the same manner as on dial boards. As is clear from the example of the dial plate described above, the method for manufacturing a watch display member of the present invention completely eliminates the typesetting process in conventional character manufacturing, and the character formation is done in one step using photographic technology. It can do a lot of things, and it can be easily mechanized and automated, and it is also relatively easy to perform continuous processing using batch processing and hooves, which brings about innovation in dial manufacturing compared to conventional methods that mainly involve mechanical processing. . In addition, in terms of design, the formation of three-dimensional shapes of letters, symbols, designs, and marks can be determined using a mask, allowing for free designs, making it easy to create letters, marks, symbols, etc. in shapes that are extremely difficult with conventional mechanical processing. This allows for an expanded variety of designs. In addition, it is possible to partially or entirely apply a pattern to the front side, back side, or both sides of the transparent plastic film 3, as well as a thin film layer of synthetic resin, metal, or inorganic material. This makes it possible to expand the variety of designs in terms of surface finishes and textures that are difficult to obtain.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1-1 to 6 are cross-sectional views 1, 2, and 3 of the character manufacturing process using the conventional machining method, and corresponding plan views 4, 5, and 6, and Figure 2 is the character manufacturing process using the conventional machining method. 3-1 to 8 and FIG. 4-1 to 7 are cross-sectional views and plane views of the dial manufacturing process according to the method for manufacturing a timepiece display member of the present invention. Show the diagram. 1 is a letter made by conventional machining method, 2 is a dial base plate completed by conventional processing method, 3 is a transparent plastic film, 4 is a synthetic resin coating film or metal thin film layer, 5 is an adhesive layer, and 6 is a A photosensitive resin monomer, 7 a photosensitive resin polymer, 8 a mask, 9 a printing ink layer, and 10 a transparent mask protective film.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A step of forming a pattern or a colored layer on one side of the transparent plastic film, a step of forming a metal thin film layer on the pattern or the colored layer, and a step of applying ultraviolet rays to the other side of the transparent plastic film. partially applying a curable adhesive; applying a photosensitive monomer to the other side of the transparent plastic partially coated with the UV curable adhesive; It is characterized by the following steps: placing a mask with white areas corresponding to the positions of the adhesive and irradiating it with ultraviolet rays, and developing the photosensitive resin monomer irradiated with the ultraviolet rays to form a display member. A method for manufacturing a display member for a watch.