JPH0437510B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a colored patterned cassette.

Recently, recording music on a cassette and playing it back has become mainstream due to the spread of small and inexpensive tape recorders (or playback-only machines), and for this reason, cassettes are being sold in large quantities.

However, while innovative products such as tape recorders and playback machines are being developed one after another as fashionable products that suit the tastes of young people, cassettes have remained largely unchanged, and are made of plastic. It is simply a piece of plastic or a piece of plastic with stickers or paper pasted on it, giving it an inorganic, cold, and featureless appearance.

For this reason, it is conceivable to print a colored pattern over almost the entire surface of the cassette.

However, when printing with conventional solvents, the cassette melts even slightly, causing even slight distortions in the overall dimensions. The dimensions of the cassette are so strict that even the slightest deviation cannot be tolerated, as even the slightest deviation will cause a problem in driving due to the insertion of the reel shaft, capstan, guide pin, magnetic head, etc. For this reason, it is difficult to print using solvents over almost the entire side surface of the cassette, and only a small area can be printed at one point. was impossible.

For this reason, thermal transfer printing could be used, but the application of heat would deform the dimensions of the cassette, making it unsuitable for printing on the surface of the cassette.

Furthermore, since the cassette has a stepped portion at the end in addition to the flat portion, it is difficult to print on both the flat portion and the stepped portion.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to correct the above-mentioned drawbacks and provide a method for manufacturing a cassette in which a colored pattern is applied to almost the entire surface of the flat part and the step part without changing the dimensions of the cassette.

For this purpose, in the present invention, the cassette half is held from the back side with a heated lower mold, a transfer film with tension applied is placed on the front side of the cassette half, and the cassette half is held at approximately the same temperature as the lower mold. The transfer film is pressed onto the surface of the cassette half by a heated contact member to form a colored pattern by thermal transfer on almost the entire surface of the cassette half including the flat and step portions.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, as shown in FIG. 1, a cassette half 14 having a plan view 11 and a lattice-like linear groove 13 in a stepped portion 12 is made by injection molding, for example, of black-colored plastic. The linear groove 13 also opens at the end of the cassette half 14, as shown in FIG. The linear groove 13 is provided in order to release heat toward the end portion in a thermal transfer process to be described later. In Fig. 1, 15 is the reel shaft insertion hole;
16 is a tape viewing window; 17-20 are holes into which tape recorder capstans, guide pins, etc. are inserted; 21-25 are screw holes; 26-30 are front openings. 31 is a recess for pasting a sticker; recess 3
1, the linear groove 13 is shallower by the depression of the recess 31. 32 is a recessed portion slightly deeper than the recessed portion 31, and since the recessed portion is larger than the depth of the linear groove 13, the linear groove 13 is not formed in this recessed portion 32.

Next, the surfaces of the flat part 11 and step part 12 of the cassette half 14 formed by plastic injection molding in this way (excluding the linear grooves 13) are textured to improve the degree of adhesion of the colored patterns. Perform processing.

Next, as shown in FIG.
The cassette half 14 is fitted and fixed from above into a metal lower die 40 which is provided with concavities and convexities opposite to the concave and convex shapes on the lower surface of the cassette half 14. Hole 17 of cassette half 14
~ 20 and the tape viewing window 16 so that the lower mold 4 is flush with the surface of the cassette half 14.
0 has a projection 41 with a flat upper surface as shown in FIG. Therefore, the cassette half 14 is inserted into the lower mold 4.
0, the protrusion 41 fits into the holes 17 to 20 and the tape viewing window 16, and the tip fits tightly into the hole.
The flat tip 41a of the protrusion 41 is flush with the surface of the cassette half 14.

Next, the cassette half 14 attached to the lower die 40
An up-down type thermal transfer device 46 is mounted on the flat surface 11 of the
Thermal transfer of color pattern A is performed using the following method. That is, the transfer film 42 is provided with a pattern A in the shape of the flat part 11 of the cassette half 14, as shown in FIG.

The contact portion 43 of the up-down type thermal transfer device is a recessed portion 44 having the same shape as the stepped portion 12 of the cassette half 14, as shown upside down in FIG.
have. Note that an elastic rubber 45 is attached to the surface of the contact portion 43 by simultaneous molding.

As shown in FIG. 7, the cassette half 14 is fitted into the lower die 40 attached to the base 47 of the up-down type thermal transfer device 46, and the contact part 43 is attached to the lower end of the drive shaft 48 that moves up and down above it, and the contact part 43 is attached to the lower end of the drive shaft 48 that moves up and down above it. Guide bars 49, 5 are installed horizontally slightly below the section 43.
Both ends of the transfer film 42 are fixed to the supply shaft 51 and the take-up shaft 52 so as to span between the two ends.

Transfer film 4 is moved by guide bars 49 and 50.
2 is applied with a predetermined tensile force.

In the present invention, the heated contact portion 43
descends and presses the transfer film 42 against the side surface of the cassette half 14. As described above, the transfer film 42 is applied with a tensile force in the longitudinal direction of the stepped portion 12, so even if it is bent at the boundary between the stepped portion 12 and the flat portion 11, it does not wrinkle, and the corner portion 11' of the flat portion 11 is not wrinkled.
Wrinkling does not occur in the portion 42a corresponding to the corner of the flat portion 11 in FIG. 1 where the stepped portion 12 is cut.

As shown in FIG. 8, the transfer film 42 has a coating 55 containing a matting agent, a gravure printing layer 56 with a colored pattern, and an adhesive layer 57 provided on the lower surface of the film 53 via a release layer 54. and
When pressed by the heated contact portion 43, the release layer 5
4 is dissolved and peeled off from the film 53, and the adhesive layer 5
7 is adhered to the surface of the flat portion 11 of the cassette half 14. At this time, since the linear groove 13 is considerably recessed from the surface of the flat part 11, it is not adhered to the linear groove 13, and as shown in FIG.
It protrudes to the linear groove 13 side and becomes a floating state.

When pressing the adhesive part 43, the adhesive part 4 is heated by the linear groove 13, as shown in FIG.
3 and the surface of the cassette half flat portion 11 is formed with a space 58. Since the linear groove 13 opens at the end of the cassette half 14 as shown in FIG. 2, it forms an air flow passage leading outward. For this reason, even if a wide area is heated by the pressure of the contact portion 43, the heat escapes to the side through the air flow passages formed in a number of vertical and horizontal directions, so that the cassette half 1
4, and therefore the cassette half 14 can be prevented from warping.

In the present invention, in this thermal transfer step,
The lower mold 40 is heated to almost the same temperature as the contact portion 43. Thereby, since there is no temperature difference between the front and back surfaces of the cassette half 14, warping is further prevented.

Next, the color pattern B is thermally transferred onto the stepped portion 12 of the cassette half 14 by a roll-type thermal transfer device 60.

That is, as shown in FIG. 11, the transfer film 59 is provided with a pattern B in the shape of the stepped portion 12 of the cassette half 14, and as shown in FIG. Type 4
The cassette half 14 fitted in the cassette half 14 is placed, and while the moving table 61 is moved, the transfer film 59 is pressed against the step part 12 of the cassette half 14 with a heated roller 62 to transfer the color pattern B. Color patterns A and B together form an integral pattern.

Note that, as shown in FIG. 4, the protrusions 41 of the lower mold 40 are fitted into the holes 17-20 so that the tips 41a of the protrusions 41 are on the same plane as the stepped portion 12. The edge of the roller 62 is strongly supported by the protrusion 41, and the roller 62 is received by the tip surface 41a of the protrusion 41 when pressed. Therefore, even if it is strongly pressed by the heated roller 62,
The edges of the holes 17 to 20 are not deformed downward, and the holes do not collapse.

Next, the colored pattern layer floating in the linear grooves 13 shown in FIG. 9 is blown off and removed by blowing air with an airbrush.

Next, a tape drive mechanism is mounted between the two cassette halves (A side and B side) with color patterns in this way, and the two cassette halves are fixed with screws 63.

The above-mentioned color patterns include, for example, tropical southern seascapes, seascapes dotted with people surfing, pastoral landscapes, sharp mountainous landscapes, city nightscapes, athletes, and other genres of music to be recorded. , it may be colorful depending on the content.

As explained above, in the present invention, when forming a colored pattern on the surface of a cassette half by thermal transfer,
Since the lower mold that holds the cassette half from the back side and the contact body that presses it from the front side are kept at almost the same temperature, a colored pattern can be formed without causing any warping on the surface of the cassette half or causing any deviation in the cassette dimensions. can do. Furthermore, since the transfer film that transfers the pattern onto the surface of the cassette half is pressed under tension, the pattern does not wrinkle at the boundary between the flat part and the stepped part of the cassette half.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 13 are diagrams for explaining the manufacturing method according to the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a cassette half made by injection molding, FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing a linear groove, Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the state in which the cassette half is fitted into the lower mold, and Figure 4 is a perspective view of the cassette half fitted into the lower mold.
5 is a plan view showing the transfer film, FIG. 6 is a perspective view depicting the back side of the contact part, FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the up-down type thermal transfer device, and FIG. 9 is an enlarged sectional view showing the linear groove of the cassette half; FIG. 10 is an enlarged sectional view showing the transfer film pressed against the cassette half plan view at the contact portion; FIG. 11 is an enlarged sectional view showing the transfer film. is a plan view showing the transfer film, the first
FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a roll type thermal transfer device, and FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing an assembled cassette. 11... Plan view, 12... Step portion, 13... Linear groove, 14... Cassette half, 17, 18, 1
9, 20...hole, 40...lower mold, 41...protrusion,
42... Transfer film, 43... Contact portion, 44...
... recess, 45 ... rubber, 46 ... up-down type thermal transfer device, 47 ... base, 48 ... drive shaft,
49, 50... Guide bar, 51... Supply shaft, 5
2... Winding shaft, 53... Film, 54... Peeling layer, 55... Film, 56... Gravure printing layer, 5
7...Adhesive layer, 58...Empty, 59...Transfer film, 60...Roll type thermal transfer device, 61...Moving table, 62...Roller, 63...Screw.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A method for manufacturing a cassette half with a colored pattern, in which a colored pattern is applied to the surface of the flat part and the stepped part of a cassette half having a stepped part protruding from the flat part to the front side, comprising: a heated lower mold; Then, the cassette half is held from the back side, a transfer film with tension applied is placed on the front side of the cassette half, and the transfer film is moved onto the cassette half using a contact body heated to approximately the same temperature as the lower die. A method for manufacturing a cassette with a colored pattern, characterized in that a color pattern is formed by thermal transfer on almost the entire surface of the cassette half surface, including the flat part and the stepped part, by pressing the cassette on the surface.