Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B44—DECORATIVE ARTS
  • B44B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR TOOLS FOR ARTISTIC WORK, e.g. FOR SCULPTURING, GUILLOCHING, CARVING, BRANDING, INLAYING
  • B44B5/00—Machines or apparatus for embossing decorations or marks, e.g. embossing coins
  • B44B5/0004—Machines or apparatus for embossing decorations or marks, e.g. embossing coins characterised by the movement of the embossing tool(s), or the movement of the work, during the embossing operation
  • B44B5/0009—Rotating embossing tools
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
  • B41F—PRINTING MACHINES OR PRESSES
  • B41F19/00—Apparatus or machines for carrying out printing operations combined with other operations
  • B41F19/02—Apparatus or machines for carrying out printing operations combined with other operations with embossing
  • B41F19/06—Printing and embossing between a negative and a positive forme after inking and wiping the negative forme; Printing from an ink band treated with colour or "gold"
  • B41F19/062—Presses of the rotary type

Definitions

• the present invention generally pertains to a system and method for cold foil relief production.
• a number of patents disclose foils for printing on paper, plastic, metal and other substrates (US Patent 4,717,615, 4,837,072, and 5,053,260). These technical solutions teach foil image transfer by means of selective heating and pressing foil to printable substrate. Thermally sensitive adhesive is deposited on a side of the printing foil adjacent to the printable substrate. Pressed and heated areas of the foil become adhered. After removing a foil backing the areas that have undergone pressure and heat exposure remain on the substrate, whereas unexposed areas are removed with the foil backing.
• US Patent 5,520,763 (763) describes selective dispensing thermal sensitive adhesive over the printable substrate. A dry toner used in xerographic process and bonded to paper by fusing, becomes adhesive to foil being heated. A desired pattern is printed on paper by a xerographic method. According to '763, printing foil is then pressed to the paper and heated. The heating causes the printed toner to melt and become tacky. The foil sticks to the tacky toner.
• foil When the foil backing is removed, foil detaches from the foil backing and adheres to the foiling adhesive to cover the areas of the image that it is desired to foil print.
• Foils are generally metallic and are often used for special printing effects.
• US Patents 6,605,174 and 6,977,101 specify chemical composition of xerographic toner used in foil printing.
• US Patent 4484970 discloses a method of applying decorative foil coated with an adhesive and ink to a material to produce an article having portions bearing ink and other portions bearing said decorative foil, comprising 1 , applying ink in a desired pattern to the material to form an inked material having an ink-bearing and an ink-free portion, said ink having therein, a releasing agent which prevents the adhesive coating on said decorative foil from adhering to the said ink; curing said ink; disposing said decorative foil with the adhesive coating adjacent to said inked material; contacting both the ink- bearing and ink-free portions of said inked material with said adhesive coated decorative foil at a temperature and pressure which causes said adhesive to bond said decorative foil to said ink-free portion of said inked material but not to said ink-bearing portion; and removing said decorative foil from contact with said ink-bearing portion of said inked material, whereby is created an article having portions bearing said decorative foil and having adjacent portions in perfect registration therewith free of said decorative foil and bearing ink in said
• US 6605174 discloses a method for producing a printed image having a region that is foil printed comprising: printing at least one region of the image with a toner; printing the region of the image to be foil printed with a foiling adhesive that sticks to a foil on a printing foil, which adhesive has a melting temperature lower than the melting temperature of the toner; and pressing the printing foil to the image and heating the printing foil to a temperature greater than the melting temperature of. the foiling adhesive and less than the melting temperature of the toner.
• US 4196033 discloses a process for producing decorative sheets having a thermosetting resin surface, which process includes in sequence (1) forming a pattern on a paper for decorative use with an ink containing a vehicle resin and a curing inhibitor for a thermosetting resin; (2) impregnating the entire paper for decorative use including the pattern with said thermosetting resin to form an impregnated paper wherein a film of still uncured thermosetting resin is formed over the pattern; (3) assembling a laminated structure by so superposing the impregnated paper on a base material that the surface of the paper bearing the pattern will become the outer surface and further placing a planar shaping member on the paper; (4) subjecting the laminated structure to heating and pressing to cause the thermosetting resin at parts not contacted by the curing inhibitor in the pattern to cure, leaving the thermosetting resin contacted by the curing inhibitor in the pattern in still uncured state; and(5) peeling off the planar shaping member, under heat and after the termination of the pressing, thereby to form concavities in the film of the thermosetting resin by removing at
• US4866539 discloses a foil printing apparatus controllable by a computer, said apparatus comprising: laser printing means connectable to said computer for printing a printed image on a media; and, foil transfer 'means controllable by said computer for automatically transferring foil from a web of material having a transferable foil thereon onto at least part of said printed image, said foil transfer means including a means for supporting said web of material, a heatable roller and a pressure means for bringing said printed image on said media into pressurized contact with said web against said heatable roller, said pressure means including a pressure roller and an actuator for urging said heatable roller and pressure roller towards each other, wherein the pressurized contact of said pressure roller against said heatable roller causes the foil on said web to transfer to at least part of said printed image on said media.
• WO 0234521 discloses an apparatus for applying foil from a foil web to a substrate, the apparatus comprising a printing station for printing the substrate with a curable adhesive in the areas to which foil is to be applied, a first adhesive activation station in which the adhesive on the substrate is initially partially activated, a second adhesive activation station in which the adhesive on the substrate is activated again to complete adhesive cure, and a nip between the first and second adhesive activation stations in which foil can be pressed against the partially activated adhesive, means for transporting the substrate from the printing station, past the first adhesive activation station, through the nip and past the second adhesive activation station and foil transport means for feeding foil to and from the nip.
• the succession of steps comprising said method includes partially curing the adhesive thereby achieving a tacky surface that is brought into contact with the foil web by nipping means. In the following step the foil web is separated from the substrate, thereby on areas of the foil web that were pressed against the tacky surface during the nipping step remain attached to the substrate.
• foil that became attached to the tacky surface is subjected to a second curing step in order to solidify the adhesion between said foil and the adhesive on the one hand, and the adhesive and the substrate on the other.
• WO 0234521 relies on the first stage of curing in order to produce a precise and even degree of tackiness, such that once the nipping step is executed the areas of the web foil that come in contact with the tacky surface must become firmly attached to it. Otherwise, once the subsequent step of separating the foil web is executed, a number of undesirable effects may occur, including: misalignment, displacement, stretching, tearing, lifting of the edges, or a combination thereof. Moreover, in current art during the nipping step, the foil is prone to distortion due to the malleable nature of the adhesive.
• heating in the printing process is not suitable for a wide array of printable substrates such as plastic substrates due to the risk of heat induced deformatoon.
• a printing process not comprising a heating stage is hence a long-felt need.
• the above mentioned adhesive is selected from a group consisting of radical-type or cationic.
• the above mentioned radiation emitting means is selected from a group consisting of ultraviolet radiation, electron beam, or a combination thereof.
• the above mentioned foil consists of a foil layer and foil backing layer.
• the above mentioned system for the production of foil relief according to claim additionally comprises at least one second radiation emitting means, upstream of said nipping means, especially adapted for pre- curing or otherwise initiating said curable adhesive.
• the above mentioned at least one first radiation emitting means emits radiation equal to, or greater than, radiation emitted by said second radiation emitting means.
• the surface of the above mentoned adhesive, prior to exposure to the above mentioned first radiation emission means is non-tacky.
• the above mentioned system for the production of foil relief additionally comprises a printing means adapted to top said substrate with said at least one patterned layer of curable adhesive.
• the above mentioned printing means is selected from a group consisting of inlcjet, toner, silk screen printing, lithography printing, flexographic printing, or a combination thereof.
• the above mentioned adhesive has an initial viscosity of about 10 cps.
• the above mentioned layer of adhesive has a thickness of about 4 to 150 microns. It is within the scope of the present invention that the above mentioned system for the production of foil relief, additionally comprises a conveyer belt, adapted to advance said substrate through said means for simultaneously nipping and foil dispensing.
• the above mentioned system for the production of foil relief additionally comprises a conveyer belt, adapted to advance said substrate through said peeling means.
• the above mentioned means for simultaneously nipping and foil dispensing comprises at least two nipping rollers.
• the distance between of the above mentioned at least two nipping rollers is at least the length of one dimension of said substrate.
• the above mentioned first radiation emitting device is located upstream of one of said nipping rollers and downstream of at least one of said nipping rollers.
• the above mentioned nipping means comprises at least one bottom nipping roller and at least one top nipping roller.
• the above mentioned method for applying foil onto a substrate additionally comprises a step of applying said patterned layer of adhesive to said substrate.
• the above mentioned method for applying foil onto a substrate additionally comprises a step, upstream of said nipping step, of pre-curing or otherwise initiating the curing of said adhesive. It is within the scope of the present invention that the above mentioned method for applying foil onto a substrate, additionally comprises a step of repeating said step of applying said patterned layer of adhesive to said substrate, in order to achieve thickness of said layer of up to about 4 to 150 microns.
• the present invention discloses a foil printing mechanism, wherein said mechanism is adapted for selective adhesion of foil to substrate. It is within the scope of the present invention that the above mentioned printing mechanism further comprises: a substrate feeder; a foil feeder; means for selectively dispensing adhesive over said substrate; means for pressing said foil to said substrate; and means peeling said ' foil, such that only portions of metallic layer that have come into contact with said adhesive remain attached to said substrate; wherein said dispensing means is adapted to dispense said adhesive fluid, in fine droplet form of about 20-150 microns, according to said desired pattern.
• the above mentioned printing foil comprises a foil backing consisting of a detachable structural support layer and a metallic layer.
• the above mentioned substrate is formed from a material selected from the group of materials consisting of methacrylic copolymer resin, polyester, polycarbonate and polyvinyl chloride. It is within the scope of the present invention that the above mentioned substrate is physically characterized by a form or material composition selected from a group, consisting of sheet form, roll form, rigid, flexible, metal, plastic, paper, glass, non- woven fabric, methacrylic copolymer resin, polyester, polycarbonate and polyvinyl chloride.
• It is yet another object of the present invention to disclose a foil printed pattern comprising a substrate; an adhesive layer selectively dispensed on a surface of said substrate; and a metal layer transferred from foil backing; wherein said adhesive layer is dispensed by fine droplets of about 40-150 microns in accordance with said pattern.
• Fig.l schematically illustrates a conventional cold foil stamping device that relies on the tacky surface of the adhesive for the adherence of the foil to the substrate during the process
• FIG. 2 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the present invention in which an inkjet printer injects a pattern composed of a thick layer of adhesive onto the substrate, such that the surface of said adhesive is non-tacky, a conveyer belt advances said adhesive-topped substrate in direction the process direction, exposing it en route to radiation emitted from radiation source, thereby initiating the curing of said adhesive and manipulating said adhesive's viscosity, said adhesive-topped substrate is then nipped between nipping rollers and said conveyer belt such that .the foil comes into contact with the non-tacky surface of said adhesive, once said contact has been achieved said adhesive is further subjected to second radiation that completes the curing of said adhesive, such that once said substrate has traversed the nipping step and is subjected to peeling of excess foil by peeling means, the adhesion of said foil to said substrate has been fully solidified;
• Fig.3 illustrates a schematic view of a stretching effect that afflicts prior art, once the adhesion of the
• FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic view of a preferred embodiment of the present in which substrate topped with adhesive is securely nipped to foil and emerges from the nipping step fully cured by means of radiation source, prior to being subjected to peeling of excess foil;
• Fig. 5b and 5a illustrate respectively a stretching distortion effect of cold foil stamped script that may occur in prior art (5b) as opposed to the precision of cold foil printing of the present invention (5 a).
• 'InkJet Printing' or 'Inkjetting' refers hereinafter to an adaptation of the conventional technology developed for the deposition of ink onto paper, including: thermal inkjets, piezoelectric inkjets and continuous inkjets, as a means for the deposition of various materials in liquid form, including adhesive, onto a substrate.
• 'about' refers hereinafter to a measure being 20% below or above a defined value.
• 'foil' refers hereinafter to film or sheet of any material about 4 microns to 40 microns thick, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention said material is metal.
• 'nipping' refers hereinafter to the action of tightly holding or squeezing at least two together.
• curing' refers hereinafter to the toughening or hardening of a polymer material by cross-linking of polymer chains, brought about by a measure selected from a group consiting of: chemical additives, ultraviolet radiation, electron beam (EB) or heat.
• Toil backing' refers hereinafter to a layer of detachable material that provides structural support for the foil.
• 'relief refers hereinafter to a pattern or modeled form that is raised (or alternatively lowered) from a flattened background.
• Fig., 1 illustrating a conventional cold foil stamping device
• substrate 70 is printed by means of printing device (not shown) with a pattern (not shown) composed of a thin layer of about 3 to 60 microns of curable adhesive 20 having an initial non-tacky surface 20a
• said substrate printed with said adhesive is advanced by conventional transport means in direction 10, en route said adhesive is exposed to radiation emitted from radiation source 30a thereby initiating the curing of said adhesive and converting said initial surface 20a into a tacky surface 20b
• said substrate topped with a pattern of said tacky adhesive is pressed against foil 12 as said foil and said adhesive topped substrate traverse between nipping rollers 80 and 82, once said substrate emerges from the nip of said rollers said foil clings to said tacky surface, subsequently excess foil (not shown) is peeled away by foil peeling means 90, finally the 'sandwich' comprising said substrate topped with said tacky adhesive and further topped with said trimmed foil that has clung to said pattern of said adhesive is subjected to radiation source 30b for completion
• Fig. 2 illustrating a preferred embodiment of the present invention in which inlcjet printer 50, injects a pattern (not shown) composed of a thick layer of about 8 to 200 microns of adhesive 40 onto substrate 140, such that the surface 40a of said adhesive is non-tacky, conveyer belt 28 advances said adhesive-topped substrate in direction 10, exposing it en route to radiation emitted from radiation source 60a, thereby initiating the curing of said adhesive and manipulating said adhesive's viscosity, said adhesive-topped substrate is then nipped between nipping rollers 160a, 160b and said conveyer belt such that foil 24 comes into contact with the non-tacky surface of said adhesive, once said contact has been achieved said adhesive is further subjected to second radiation 60b that completes the curing of said adhesive, such that once said substrate has traversed the nipping step and is subjected to peeling of excess foil by peeling means 180, the adhesion of said foil to said substrate has been fully solidified.
• a pattern (not shown) composed of
• Fig.3 illustrates a schematic view of a stretching effect that afflicts prior art, once the adhesion of foil 12 to adhesive 20 may be distorted by the peeling of excess foil (not shown) prior to the complete solidification of the adhesion between said foil and said substrate by means of radiation source 30b.
• Fig. 4 illustrates a schematic view of a preferred embodiment of the present in which substrate 140 topped with adhesive 40 is securely nipped to foil 24 and emerges from the nipping step fully cured 40c by means of radiation source 60b, prior to being subjected to peeling of excess foil (not shown) by peeling means (not shown).
• Fig. 5b and 5a illustrate respectively a stretching distortion effect of cold foil stamped script that may occur in prior art (5b) as opposed to the precision of cold foil printing of the present invention (5a).

Landscapes

• Printing Methods (AREA)
• Application Of Or Painting With Fluid Materials (AREA)
• Laminated Bodies (AREA)
• Adhesive Tapes (AREA)
• Lining Or Joining Of Plastics Or The Like (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (2)

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• 2008
  • 2008-09-22 EP EP08808070A patent/EP2214994A4/de not_active Ceased
  • 2008-09-22 WO PCT/IL2008/001269 patent/WO2009040797A2/en active Application Filing

Patent Citations (1)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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