JP2006150930A - Foil transfer method and foil transfer apparatus using hot stamping foil - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily transfer a foil regardless of a shape of a transfer target matter. <P>SOLUTION: A left and right reversal pattern 11 of a required pattern is printed with a toner 13 on a foil layer 122 of a hot stamping foil 12 by using a personal computer 1 and a laser printer 2. Thereafter the foil layer 122a of a printing pattern part is transferred to the transfer target material 14 by bonding the toner 13 to a transfer target material 14 by thermocompression bonding a hot stamped foil 12 with the pattern printed thereon in a state of opposing the hot stamp foil 12 with the pattern printed thereon opposed to the transfer target material 14 in a thermocompression bonding apparatus 3. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a foil transfer method and a foil transfer apparatus for transferring a foil to a transfer material using a hot stamp foil.

  Conventionally, foil stamping (hot stamping) has been known as a method for transferring foil onto a material to be transferred. In this method, a hot stamp foil comprising a base film, a release layer, a colored layer, a vapor deposition layer, and an adhesive layer is thermocompression bonded with a dedicated metal mold in which a desired pattern has been formed in advance, thereby releasing a mold other than the base film. In this method, a foil layer composed of a layer, a colored layer, a vapor deposition layer, and an adhesive layer is softened and the foil is transferred to a material to be transferred (see Patent Document 1 described later). Also, a hot stamping method is known in which a transfer foil in which a foil other than a desired pattern is extracted from a hot stamp foil by a thermal head using a drawing ribbon is transferred to a transfer material. (See Patent Document 2 below).

  However, in the conventional foil stamping, since foil transfer is performed by thermocompression bonding with a dedicated mold, not only the apparatus itself becomes large, but also a separate mold is required due to the difference in printing pattern, and the cost It takes. Moreover, it is necessary to select the type of hot stamping foil suitable for the material of the material to be transferred, and it is difficult to stamp the material to be transferred having a high melting point such as glass. Further, depending on the shape of the transfer material (for example, a curved surface), direct foil stamping may be difficult.

  On the other hand, although the hot stamping method of Patent Document 2 requires two steps of transfer foil preparation and foil transfer, there is an advantage that uniform foil transfer can be realized with an inexpensive mechanism and technology. However, in this method, since foil other than the desired pattern is extracted from the hot stamp foil, the printing rate is opposite to that in normal printing, and the printing rate in normal printing is 10 to 15%. The printing rate is 85 to 90%. For this reason, particularly when the transfer foil is continuously formed, an overheating phenomenon of the thermal head occurs, and this causes a phenomenon such as extracting a foil of a desired pattern or more. As a result, characters and figures formed with the transfer foil become unclear. In addition, the transfer foil is finally transferred to the material to be transferred. At that time, it is necessary to transfer the foil by a hot roll or the like. At this time, not only the foil portion but also the whole is pressed in a heated state. Therefore, unnecessary gloss (commonly referred to as “tekari”) may occur in portions other than the foil of the transfer material.

  On the other hand, in Patent Document 3 and Patent Document 4 below, a paper (book cover) on which characters are printed with a toner by a laser printer is overlapped with a foil sheet and thermocompression bonded, and then the paper and the foil sheet are drawn. A foil transfer method is disclosed in which the foil is adhered only to the character print portion of the paper by peeling. However, the methods of these documents print characters on a material to be transferred (paper) with a laser printer and transfer the foil sheet foil to the character part, so that the material to be transferred can be printed with a laser printer. In order to perform foil transfer to a thick transfer material or a transfer material with a complicated shape, which is limited to a thin sheet-like medium, character printing on the transfer material, thermocompression bonding using a foil sheet, and a foil sheet The work such as peeling is complicated and difficult.

JP-A-7-186523 Japanese Patent No. 3270822 JP-A-8-2098 JP 2000-15944 A

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to facilitate foil transfer regardless of the shape of the material to be transferred.

  The present invention is based on a novel idea that has never existed before, in which patterns such as characters and figures are directly printed on a foil with toner or ink. That is, the foil transfer method of the present invention comprises a step of printing toner or ink directly on a hot stamp foil, and a step of transferring a foil layer of the hot stamp foil to a transfer material together with the toner or ink. It is said. The foil transfer apparatus of the present invention comprises means for printing toner or ink directly on the hot stamp foil, and means for transferring the foil layer of the hot stamp foil to the transfer material together with the toner or ink. It is said.

  As a specific embodiment, the foil transfer method of the present invention includes a step of directly printing a right / left reversed pattern of a desired pattern on a foil layer of a hot stamp foil with toner or ink, and a hot stamp on which the left / right reversed pattern is printed. The process of superimposing the foil on the transfer material so that the pattern printing surface faces the transfer material, and thermocompression bonding with the hot stamp foil superimposed on the transfer material to adhere the toner or ink to the transfer material A step of transferring the foil layer of the printed pattern portion to the transfer material. The foil transfer apparatus of the present invention also includes a printing unit that prints a left-right reversal pattern of a desired pattern on the foil layer of the hot stamp foil with toner or ink, and a hot stamp foil on which the left-right reversal pattern is printed by the printing unit. The foil layer of the printed pattern portion is bonded to the transfer material by thermocompression bonding with the transfer material such that the pattern printing surface faces the transfer material, and the toner or ink is adhered to the transfer material. And transfer means for transferring to the recording medium.

  In the first embodiment of the present invention, the printing unit is configured by a laser printer that performs printing with toner, and the transfer unit is configured by a thermocompression bonding apparatus including a hot roller and a platen, which are independent units. According to this, foil transfer can be performed using an existing laser printer or thermocompression bonding device without requiring a special device.

  In the second embodiment of the present invention, the printing means (laser printer) and transfer means (thermocompression bonding apparatus) of the first embodiment are integrated. According to this, a foil transfer apparatus can be comprised compactly. In this case, if the fixing unit provided in the laser printer is also used as a thermocompression bonding apparatus for foil transfer, the configuration can be further simplified and realized at low cost.

  In the third embodiment of the present invention, the printing unit is configured by an ink jet printer that performs printing with ink, and the transfer unit is configured by a thermocompression bonding apparatus including a hot roller and a platen, which are independent units. According to this, foil transfer can be performed using an existing inkjet printer or thermocompression bonding apparatus without requiring a special apparatus.

  In the fourth embodiment of the present invention, the printing means (inkjet printer) and transfer means (thermocompression apparatus) of the third embodiment are integrated. According to this, a foil transfer apparatus can be comprised compactly.

  In the fifth embodiment of the present invention, the printing means is composed of a thermal printer that performs printing with an ink ribbon, and the transfer means is composed of a thermocompression bonding apparatus including a hot roller and a platen, which are independent units. . According to this, foil transfer can be performed using an existing thermal printer or thermocompression bonding apparatus without requiring a special apparatus.

  In the sixth embodiment of the present invention, the printing means (thermal printer) and transfer means (thermocompression apparatus) of the fifth embodiment are integrated. According to this, a foil transfer apparatus can be comprised compactly.

  In the seventh embodiment of the present invention, the printing means is composed of a screen printing apparatus, and the transfer means is composed of a thermocompression bonding apparatus including a hot roller and a platen, which are independent units. According to this, foil transfer can be performed using an existing screen printing apparatus or thermocompression bonding apparatus without requiring a special apparatus.

  According to the present invention, toner or ink is printed directly on the hot stamp foil, and the toner or ink is used as an adhesive. By using this foil as a transfer foil, a thick material to be transferred or a shape of Foil transfer is possible even for complicated transfer materials.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 to 5 are diagrams showing a first embodiment, in which FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a foil transfer device, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a hot stamp foil, and FIG. 3 is another example of a hot stamp foil. FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are process diagrams for explaining the foil transfer method of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a PC (personal computer) as pattern input means, which includes a main body 1a, a monitor 1b, and a keyboard 1c. Reference numeral 2 denotes a laser printer as printing means, which is connected to the main body 1 a of the PC 1 by a cable 10. Reference numeral 3 denotes a thermocompression bonding apparatus as a transfer means, which includes a hot roller 31 for performing heating and pressurization. Here, the thermocompression bonding apparatus 3 is separated from the PC 1, but the thermocompression bonding apparatus 3 may be connected to the PC 1 and the operation of the thermocompression bonding apparatus 3 may be controlled on the PC 1 side. Since all of the above-described PC 1, laser printer 2, and thermocompression bonding apparatus 3 can be used as they are, detailed descriptions of the individual apparatuses are omitted.

  Next, a foil transfer method in the system of FIG. 1 will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 1A, a desired pattern (here, “ABC”) to be printed on the transfer material 14 (FIG. 1C) is left and right by operating the keyboard 1c of the PC 1. An inverted pattern 11 is created on the monitor 1b. Next, when an operation for printing the created reverse pattern 11 is performed, the data of the reverse pattern 11 is sent to the laser printer 2 via the cable 10. A hot stamp foil is set in the laser printer 2 in advance, and a reverse pattern is printed on the hot stamp foil 12 with toner 13 as shown in FIG.

  The hot stamp foil 12 generally includes a base layer 121 and a foil layer 122. The base layer 121 is a portion that remains without being transferred to the transfer material 14, and is composed of the base film 12a as shown in FIG. The foil layer 122 is a portion that is transferred from the base layer 121 to the transfer material 14, and includes the release layer 12b, the colored layer 12c, the vapor deposition layer 12d, and the adhesive layer 12e shown in FIG. ing. In addition, when the colored layer 12c consists of a pigment, the vapor deposition layer 12d may be abbreviate | omitted. The reverse pattern toner 13 in FIG. 1B adheres to the surface of the foil layer 122 (adhesive layer 12e) as shown in FIG. 2B.

  2 shows the hot stamp foil 12 provided with the adhesive layer 12e, the hot stamp foil 12 used in the present invention is a hot stamp foil having no adhesive layer 12e as shown in FIG. 12 may be sufficient. In this case, as shown in FIG. 3B, the toner 13 having the reverse pattern in FIG. 1B adheres to the surface of the vapor deposition layer 12d.

  Next, the hot stamp foil 12 on which the pattern by the toner 13 is printed is overlaid on the transfer material 14 with the foil layer 122 facing down, and is inserted into the thermocompression bonding apparatus 3 and thermocompression bonded with the hot roller 31. The toner 13 is softened and adhered to the transfer material 14. Further, since the foil layer 122 of the toner 13 part is adhered to the toner, the toner 13 is adhered to the transfer material 14, so that the foil layer of the toner part is transferred to the transfer material 14 together with the toner 13. As a result, as shown in FIG. 1C, only the foil layer 122 a corresponding to the print pattern “ABC” is transferred to the transfer material 14. Reference numeral 15 denotes a trace of the foil layer 122a after transfer.

  According to the foil transfer apparatus of the first embodiment described above, the system can be configured using an existing PC, laser printer, and thermocompression bonding apparatus, so that no special apparatus is required and the foil transfer of the present invention can be performed by simple means. Can be realized. Note that the present invention can also be implemented by using an LED printer using an LED (light emitting diode) as a light source instead of the laser printer.

  4 and 5 are views showing the state of foil transfer in the thermocompression bonding apparatus 3. As shown in FIG. 4, the thermocompression bonding apparatus 3 is provided with the above-described hot roller 31 and a platen (support base) 32 facing the hot roller 31. The hot stamp foil 12 and the material to be transferred 14 are overlapped so that the pattern printing surface of the foil 12 (the surface to which the toner 13 is bonded) faces the material to be transferred 14, and between the hot roller 31 and the platen 32. Transport in X direction. This conveyance is performed by a conveyance roller (not shown). At this time, the toner 13 is softened by heat of a heater (not shown) built in the hot roller 31 to generate an adhesive force, and the toner 13 adheres to the transfer material 14 by the pressing force of the hot roller 31 in the Y direction. Is done. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the portion of the foil layer 122 a bonded to the toner 13 is also peeled off from the base layer 121, moved to the transfer material 14 side together with the toner 13, and is printed with the toner 13. Only the foil layer 122 a is transferred to the transfer material 14.

Here, when the hot stamping foil 12 having the adhesive layer 12e as shown in FIG. 2 is used, the toner layer foil layer described above is satisfied by satisfying any of the following conditions (1) and (2). Only transfer can be realized.
(1) There is no adhesion compatibility between the transfer material 14 and the adhesive layer 12e in a portion other than the toner 13.
(2) The melting temperature of the portion of the toner 13 is relatively lower than the melting temperature of the adhesive layer 12e other than the toner 13 (this temperature difference is used to soften the toner portion first, Only the foil layer of the toner portion is transferred by the function).
Further, when the hot stamp foil 12 having no adhesive layer 12e as shown in FIG. 3 is used, the adhesion between the foil 12 and the material to be transferred 14 does not cause a problem. ), Only the foil layer of the toner portion can be transferred.

  According to the above-described foil transfer method, the left-right reversal pattern 11 is directly printed on the hot stamp foil 12 with the toner 13 and the toner 13 is used as an adhesive. Therefore, only the toner necessary for pattern printing is used. Since it is not wasted, the running cost can be reduced. Further, since the pattern is directly formed on the hot stamp foil 12, it is possible to transfer the foil to a thick transfer material or a transfer material having a complicated shape by using the foil 12 as a transfer foil. Become. Furthermore, the adhesive force can be strengthened or the pattern can have a sense of volume by selecting fonts or bold printing at the time of pattern printing or utilizing a plurality of toner cartridges for color printing.

  In the above example, the hot stamp foil 12 and the transfer material 14 are supplied to the thermocompression bonding device 3 in a state where they are preliminarily stacked. However, the transfer material 14 or the hot stamp foil 12 is set in the thermocompression bonding device 3. Alternatively, only the hot stamp foil 12 or the transfer material 14 may be supplied to the thermocompression bonding device 3 so that the hot stamp foil 12 and the transfer material 14 are stacked in the thermocompression bonding device 3. In the above example, the automatic transfer thermocompression bonding device 3 including the hot roller 31 and the platen 32 is used as the transfer means. However, the foil transfer is performed using the manual hot roller and the platen. May be. In this case, even if the material to be transferred 14 has a curved shape, for example, the foil transfer can be performed by adapting the hot stamp foil 12 to the shape of the material to be transferred 14.

  FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of a foil transfer apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the case of the first embodiment (FIG. 1), the laser printer 2 and the thermocompression bonding device 3 are independent, but in the foil transfer device of the second embodiment, the laser printer and the thermocompression bonding device are integrated. In addition, the fixing part of the laser printer also serves as a thermocompression bonding device. In FIG. 6, reference numeral 100 denotes a laser printer as a foil transfer device, which is connected to a PC as in the case of FIG. 1, but the illustration of the PC is omitted in FIG.

  In the laser printer 100, 51 is a photosensitive drum on which a latent image corresponding to a printing pattern is formed by laser light irradiation, 52 is a toner supply unit that supplies toner to the photosensitive drum 51, and 53 is a charge on the surface of the photosensitive drum 51. A charging unit 54 for charging is a transfer unit that transfers the toner adhering to the surface of the photosensitive drum 51 to the hot stamping foil 12 that is a printing medium. These units constitute printing means. 55 is a cleaner for removing the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 51, 56 is a pair of transport rollers for transporting the material to be transferred 14, and 57 is a discharge port through which the material to be transferred 14 after foil transfer is discharged. A fixing unit 60 also serves as a thermocompression bonding device, and includes a pair of rollers 61 and 62 for transferring the toner of the hot stamp foil 12 transferred by the transfer unit 54 to the transfer material 14 together with the foil layer. The roller 61 is a hot roller with a built-in heater, and the roller 62 is a platen roller provided to face the hot roller 61. The fixing unit 60 constitutes a transfer unit. The roller 61 may be a fixed hot plate with a built-in heater (because a winding roll 64 described later serves as a driving source).

  Reference numeral 63 denotes a roll around which the hot stamp foil 12 is wound. The hot stamp foil 12 fed out from the roll 63 is conveyed between the photosensitive drum 51 and the transfer portion 54, and toner is transferred at this portion. The hot stamp foil 12 to which the toner has been transferred is sent to the fixing unit 60 where the foil layer is transferred to the transfer material 14 together with the toner by thermocompression bonding. Reference numeral 64 denotes a roll for winding the hot stamp foil 12 after transfer, and 65 and 66 denote guide rollers for guiding the hot stamp foil 12.

  In addition to the above, the laser printer 100 includes a light source that emits laser light, a polygon mirror that scans the laser light and irradiates the photosensitive drum 51, a lens, and the like, but these are not shown in FIG. It is.

  In order to perform foil transfer using the laser printer 100 as described above, as in the case shown in FIG. When the pattern data is sent to the laser printer 100, the laser printer 100 forms a latent image corresponding to the pattern on the photosensitive drum 51 by scanning the laser beam, and toner adheres to the latent image portion. The toner on the photosensitive drum 51 is transferred to the hot stamp foil 12 in the transfer unit 54. At this time, the toner has not yet been fixed to the hot stamp foil 12, but “printing” in the present invention includes such transfer of the toner in an unfixed state. The hot stamp foil 12 to which the toner has been transferred is sent between the hot roller 61 and the platen roller 62 of the fixing unit 60. On the other hand, the transfer material 14 is conveyed to the fixing unit 60 by the conveyance roller 56, and is superimposed on the hot stamp foil 12 here. And in this overlapping part, the thermocompression bonding by the hot roller 61 and the platen roller 62 is performed. As a result, the unfixed toner on the hot stamp foil 12 is softened and adhered to the transfer material 14, and the foil layer of the foil 12 is transferred onto the transfer material 14 together with the toner. The transfer material 14 for which the foil transfer has been completed is discharged from the discharge port 57, and the hot stamp foil 12 from which the foil layer has been removed is taken up by the roll 64.

  According to the foil transfer device of the second embodiment described above, since the laser printer 100 also has a function as a thermocompression bonding device, the device can be configured compactly. In particular, in the present embodiment, since the fixing unit 60 provided in the laser printer also serves as a thermocompression bonding device, it is not necessary to separately incorporate a thermocompression bonding device, and a small and inexpensive foil transfer device can be realized. . However, this is not essential for the present invention, and once the toner is fixed to the hot stamp foil 12 at the fixing portion of the laser printer, the foil layer is transferred together with the toner by a thermocompression bonding apparatus provided separately from the fixing portion. May be. In the case of the foil transfer device according to the second embodiment, the photosensitive drum 51, the toner supply unit 52, the charger 53, the transfer unit 54, the cleaner unit 55, the fixing unit 60, and the like are those provided in a general laser printer. Since it can be used as it is, the foil transfer device of the present invention can be obtained by making a slight modification to an existing laser printer.

  In FIG. 6, the material to be transferred 14 is supplied to the fixing unit 60 by the transport roller 56, but the material to be transferred 14 may be manually set to the fixing unit 60 at each transfer. In addition, the platen roller 62 may be movable in the vertical direction so that the gap between the rollers 61 and 62 can be adjusted so that the material to be transferred 14 having various thicknesses can be handled. Further, in FIG. 6, the hot stamp foil 12 is wound around the roll 63 and stored in the laser printer 100 in advance, but the hot stamp foil may be supplied from the outside of the laser printer 100.

  FIG. 7 is a system configuration diagram of a foil transfer apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In the first embodiment (FIG. 1), the laser printer 2 is used as the printing unit. However, in the foil transfer device of the third embodiment, the ink jet printer 4 is used as the printing unit instead of the laser printer 2. Since other configurations are the same as those in FIG. 1, the same components as those in FIG.

  The procedure for performing the foil transfer by the foil transfer device of FIG. 7 is basically the same as the procedure in the first embodiment, except that the above-described toner replaces the ink. That is, as shown in FIG. 7A, when the PC 1 generates a left-right reversal pattern 11 of a desired pattern to be printed on the transfer material 14, and sends the data to the ink-jet printer 4, the ink-jet printer 4 uses the above pattern. The corresponding ink is ejected from the ink cartridge, and a reverse pattern of the ink 23 is printed on the surface of the foil layer 122 of the hot stamp foil 12 as shown in FIG.

  Next, the hot stamp foil 12 on which the pattern by the ink 23 is printed is overlaid on the transfer material 14 with the foil layer 122 on the lower side, inserted into the thermocompression bonding apparatus 3 and thermocompression bonded with the hot roller 31. The ink 23 is softened and adhered to the transfer material 14. Further, since the foil layer 122 in the ink 23 portion is bonded to the ink, the ink 23 is bonded to the transfer material 14, whereby the foil layer in the ink portion is transferred to the transfer material 14 together with the ink 23. As a result, as shown in FIG. 7C, only the foil layer 122 a corresponding to the print pattern “ABC” is transferred to the transfer material 14. Reference numeral 15 denotes a trace of the foil layer 122a after transfer. The mechanism of foil transfer in the thermocompression bonding apparatus 3 is basically the same as in FIGS. 4 and 5, and only the toner 13 is replaced with the ink 23, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted.

  Thus, even when the ink 23 is used in place of the toner 13, only the ink necessary for pattern printing is used, so the ink 23 is not wasted and the running cost can be reduced. Further, since the pattern is directly formed on the hot stamp foil 12, it is possible to transfer the foil to a thick transfer material or a transfer material having a complicated shape by using the foil 12 as a transfer foil. Become. Furthermore, the adhesive force can be strengthened or the pattern can have a sense of volume by selecting fonts or bold printing at the time of pattern printing or utilizing a plurality of ink cartridges for color printing. Furthermore, according to the foil transfer apparatus of the third embodiment, since the system can be configured using an existing PC, ink jet printer, and thermocompression bonding apparatus, no special apparatus is required, and the foil transfer of the present invention can be performed by simple means. Can be realized.

  FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram of a foil transfer apparatus according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. In the case of the third embodiment (FIG. 7), the ink jet printer 4 and the thermocompression bonding device 3 are independent. However, in the foil transfer device of the fourth embodiment, the ink jet printer and the thermocompression bonding device are integrated. Yes. In FIG. 8, reference numeral 200 denotes an ink jet printer as a foil transfer device, which is connected to a PC as in the case of FIG. 1, but the illustration of the PC is omitted in FIG.

  In the ink jet printer 200, reference numeral 71 denotes an ink cartridge containing printing ink, and a lower surface thereof is provided with a print head 72 having nozzles for ejecting ink. Reference numeral 73 denotes a platen provided to face the print head 72. The ink cartridge 71 and the platen 73 constitute a printing unit. 76 is a pair of transport rollers for transporting the material to be transferred 14, and 77 is a discharge port through which the material to be transferred 14 after the foil transfer is discharged. Reference numeral 80 denotes a thermocompression bonding apparatus, which includes a hot roller 81 and a platen roller 82 for transferring the ink of the hot stamp foil 12 to the transfer material 14 together with the foil layer. These rollers 81 and 82 are the same as the rollers 61 and 62 shown in FIG.

  Reference numeral 83 denotes a roll around which the hot stamp foil 12 is wound. The hot stamp foil 12 fed out from the roll 83 is conveyed between the print head 72 and the platen 73, and pattern printing with ink is performed in this portion. . The hot stamp foil 12 on which the pattern is printed is sent to the thermocompression bonding apparatus 80, where the foil layer is transferred to the transfer material 14 together with the ink by thermocompression bonding. Reference numeral 84 denotes a roll for winding the hot stamp foil 12 after transfer, and 85 and 86 denote guide rollers for guiding the hot stamp foil 12.

  In addition to the above, the ink jet printer 200 includes an ink carrier that reciprocates while holding the ink cartridge 71, a drive mechanism for driving the ink carrier, and the like. However, these are not shown in FIG. It is.

  In order to perform foil transfer using the ink jet printer 200 as described above, as in the case of FIG. 7, first, a right / left reverse pattern of a desired pattern to be printed on the transfer material 14 is created on the PC. Then, when the pattern data is sent to the ink jet printer 200, the ink jet printer 200 prints a horizontally reversed pattern on the hot stamp foil 12 by the ink ejected from the print head 72 according to the pattern. The hot stamp foil 12 on which the ink pattern is printed is sent between the hot roller 81 and the platen roller 82 of the thermocompression bonding device 80. On the other hand, the transfer material 14 is transported to the thermocompression bonding apparatus 80 by the transport roller 76, and is superimposed on the hot stamp foil 12 here. And in this overlapped part, the thermocompression bonding by the hot roller 81 and the platen roller 82 is performed. As a result, the ink printed on the hot stamp foil 12 is softened and adhered to the transfer material 14, and the foil layer of the foil 12 is transferred to the transfer material 14 together with the ink. The transfer material 14 for which the foil transfer has been completed is discharged from the discharge port 77, and the hot stamp foil 12 from which the foil layer has been removed is taken up by a roll 84.

  According to the foil transfer device of the fourth embodiment described above, since the ink jet printer 200 also has a function as a thermocompression bonding device, the device can be configured compactly. In addition, since a printing mechanism using ink can be used as it is in a general ink jet printer, the foil transfer device of the present invention can be obtained by making a slight modification to an existing ink jet printer.

  In FIG. 8, the transfer material 14 is supplied to the thermocompression bonding apparatus 80 by the transport roller 76. However, the transfer material 14 may be manually set to the thermocompression bonding apparatus 80 each time the transfer is performed. Further, the platen roller 82 may be movable in the vertical direction so that the gap between the hot roller 81 and the platen roller 82 can be adjusted so that the material to be transferred 14 having various thicknesses can be handled. Further, in FIG. 8, the hot stamp foil 12 is wound around the roll 83 and stored in the ink jet printer 200 in advance, but the hot stamp foil may be supplied from the outside of the ink jet printer 200.

  FIG. 9 is a system configuration diagram of a foil transfer apparatus according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. In the third embodiment (FIG. 7), the ink jet printer 4 is used as the printing unit. However, in the foil transfer device of the fifth embodiment, the thermal printer 5 is used as the printing unit instead of the ink jet printer 4. Since other configurations are the same as those in FIG. 7, the same parts as those in FIG. 7 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

  The procedure for performing the foil transfer by the foil transfer device of FIG. 9 is basically the same as the procedure in the third embodiment, except that the ink cartridge in the case of an ink jet printer is replaced with an ink ribbon and a thermal head. That is, as shown in FIG. 9A, when the PC 1 generates a left-right reversal pattern 11 of a desired pattern to be printed on the transfer material 14, and sends the data to the thermal printer 5, the thermal printer 5 Due to the heat generation, the ink corresponding to the above pattern is thermally transferred from the ink ribbon to the hot stamping foil 12, and a left-right reversal pattern by the ink 42 is printed on the surface of the foil layer 122 of the hot stamping foil 12, as shown in FIG. The

  FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the ink transfer of the ink ribbon. (A) is a cross-sectional view of the ink ribbon 40A, 410 is a base layer made of a PET film or the like, and 420 is an ink layer formed on the base layer 410. (B) shows a state in which ink is transferred from the ink ribbon 40A to the hot stamp foil 12, and by causing the thermal head 43 to generate heat, the ink 42 of the ink layer 420 in the heat generating portion is separated from the base layer 410, Transferred to the foil layer 122 of the hot stamp foil 12.

  Next, the hot stamp foil 12 on which the pattern by the ink 42 is printed is overlaid on the transfer material 14 with the foil layer 122 facing down, and is inserted into the thermocompression bonding apparatus 3 and thermocompression bonded with the hot roller 31. The ink 42 is softened and adhered to the transfer material 14. Further, since the foil layer 122 in the portion of the ink 42 is bonded to the ink, when the ink 42 is bonded to the transfer material 14, the foil layer of the ink portion is transferred to the transfer material 14 together with the ink 42. As a result, as shown in FIG. 9C, only the foil layer 122 a corresponding to the print pattern “ABC” is transferred to the transfer material 14. Reference numeral 15 denotes a trace of the foil layer 122a after transfer. The mechanism of the foil transfer in the thermocompression bonding apparatus 3 is basically the same as that in FIGS. 4 and 5, and the toner 13 is merely replaced with the ink 42, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted.

  As described above, even when the ink ribbon ink is used as an adhesive, a pattern is directly formed on the hot stamping foil 12. By using this foil 12 as a transfer foil, a thick material to be transferred or a shape of the material to be transferred can be obtained. Foil transfer is possible even for complicated transfer materials. However, when a normal ink ribbon is used, the adhesive strength may not be sufficient depending on the material of the ink, or it may be difficult to give a volume feeling to printing. Therefore, as a countermeasure, a method using a special ink ribbon as shown in FIG. 11 can be considered.

  11A shows a cross-sectional view of the ink ribbon 40B. 410 is a base layer made of a PET film or the like, and 440 is an ink layer formed on the base layer 410. FIG. The ink layer 440 is formed in a dot pattern by screen printing or the like, and the ink of the ink layer 440 contains a hot melt adhesive. (B) shows a state in which the ink is transferred from the ink ribbon 40B to the hot stamp foil 12, and by causing the thermal head 43 to generate heat, the ink 44 of the ink layer 440 in the heat generating portion is separated from the base layer 410, The dots are transferred to the foil layer 122 of the hot stamp foil 12. The subsequent steps are the same as those in FIG.

  When such an ink ribbon 40B is used, since the adhesive force of the ink 44 is reinforced by the hot melt adhesive, it is possible to transfer the foil to a transfer material of any material and shape. In addition, by adjusting the film thickness of the ink layer 440, it is possible to give the transferred characters, figures, and the like a volume feeling equivalent to screen printing. Furthermore, in selecting the hot stamp foil, consideration for the adhesive compatibility between the foil and the transfer material is not required, and the hot stamp foil can be freely selected from existing foils on the market. In addition, since the ink 44 as an adhesive is printed in dots on the hot stamp foil 12 and each dot is independent, compared to the case where the ink 44 is continuous, the foil is transferred to the transfer material 14. The foil breakage is improved and the printing quality is improved.

  In addition, when the ink ribbon has a release layer between the base layer and the ink layer, the release layer may be partially or partially left on the base layer side during thermal transfer depending on the type of the release material. Although some remain, in the present invention, it is preferable to adopt the one that remains. This is because when the ink of the ink ribbon is transferred to the foil, the release layer is peeled off from the base layer and transferred to the foil side together with the ink. This is because the adhesive force decreases due to the presence of the mold layer.

  According to the foil transfer apparatus of the fifth embodiment described above, the system can be configured using an existing PC, thermal printer, and thermocompression bonding apparatus. Therefore, no special apparatus is required and the foil transfer of the present invention can be performed by simple means. Can be realized.

  FIG. 12 is a schematic configuration diagram of a foil transfer apparatus according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention. In the case of the fifth embodiment (FIG. 9), the thermal printer 5 and the thermocompression bonding device 3 are independent. However, in the foil transfer device of the sixth embodiment, the thermal printer and the thermocompression bonding device are integrated. Yes. In FIG. 12, reference numeral 300 denotes a thermal printer as a foil transfer device, which is connected to a PC as in the case of FIG. 9, but the illustration of the PC is omitted in FIG.

  Since the configuration of the thermal printer 300 has many parts in common with the ink jet printer 200 of FIG. 8, the same reference numerals are given to the same or corresponding parts in FIG. In the following description, the ink ribbons 40A and 40B are collectively denoted by reference numeral 40. Reference numeral 43 denotes the above-described thermal head, which is provided to face the platen 73. Reference numeral 87 denotes a roll around which the ink ribbon 40 is wound, and reference numeral 88 denotes a roll around which the ink ribbon 40 is wound. The ink ribbon 40, the thermal head 43, and the platen 73 constitute a printing unit. The ink ribbon 40 fed out from the roll 87 passes between the thermal head 43 and the platen 73 and is taken up by the roll 88. On the other hand, the hot stamp foil 12 fed out from the roll 83 is conveyed between the thermal head 43 and the platen 73, and pattern printing by the ink ribbon 40 is performed at this portion. The hot stamp foil 12 on which the pattern is printed is sent to the thermocompression bonding apparatus 80, where the foil layer is transferred to the transfer material 14 together with the ink by thermocompression bonding.

  In order to perform foil transfer using the thermal printer 300 as described above, as in the case of FIG. 9, first, a right / left reverse pattern of a desired pattern to be printed on the transfer material 14 is created on the PC. Then, when the pattern data is sent to the thermal printer 300, the thermal head 43 generates heat in accordance with the pattern, and a left-right reversal pattern is printed on the hot stamp foil 12 by the ink of the ink ribbon 40. . The hot stamp foil 12 on which the ink pattern is printed is sent between the hot roller 81 and the platen roller 82 of the thermocompression bonding device 80. On the other hand, the transfer material 14 is transported to the thermocompression bonding apparatus 80 by the transport roller 76, and is superimposed on the hot stamp foil 12 here. And in this overlapped part, the thermocompression bonding by the hot roller 81 and the platen roller 82 is performed. As a result, the ink printed on the hot stamp foil 12 is softened and adhered to the transfer material 14, and the foil layer of the foil 12 is transferred to the transfer material 14 together with the ink. The transfer material 14 for which the foil transfer has been completed is discharged from the discharge port 77, and the hot stamp foil 12 from which the foil layer has been removed is taken up by a roll 84.

  According to the foil transfer device of the sixth embodiment described above, the thermal printer 300 also has a function as a thermocompression bonding device, so that the device can be configured compactly. Further, since the printing mechanism using the ink ribbon 40 can be used as it is in a general thermal printer, the foil transfer device of the present invention can be obtained by making a slight modification to an existing thermal printer. it can.

  In FIG. 12, the transfer material 14 is supplied to the thermocompression bonding apparatus 80 by the transport roller 76. However, the transfer material 14 may be manually set to the thermocompression bonding apparatus 80 each time it is transferred. Further, the platen roller 82 may be movable in the vertical direction so that the gap between the hot roller 81 and the platen roller 82 can be adjusted so that the material to be transferred 14 having various thicknesses can be handled. Further, in FIG. 12, the hot stamp foil 12 is wound around the roll 83 and stored in advance in the thermal printer 300. However, the hot stamp foil may be supplied from the outside of the thermal printer 300.

  FIG. 13 shows the configuration of a foil transfer apparatus according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention. In the foil transfer apparatus of this embodiment, a screen printing apparatus is used as a printing unit. Since other configurations are the same as those in FIG. 1, the same components as those in FIG. FIG. 13A shows a screen plate S, 90 is a plate frame, and 91 is a screen stretched on the plate frame 90. The screen 91 is made of a chemical fiber such as silk, nylon, and tetron, and has a fine lattice-like mesh. Reference numeral 92 denotes a left-right reversal pattern obtained by reversing the desired pattern from side to side. The portion other than the left-right reversal pattern 92 on the screen 91 is covered with a plate film (resist). FIG. 13B shows the screen printing apparatus 6, 93 is a squeegee for ink application disposed above the screen 91, 94 is a plate disposed below the screen 91 and receives the hot stamp foil 12, and 95 A support base 96 for supporting the plate 94 is ink put into the plate frame 90.

  Next, a foil transfer method in the apparatus of FIG. 13 will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 13A, a plate film is formed by a photographic method in which a photosensitive emulsion is cured by exposure while leaving a portion of a left-right reversal pattern 92 on a screen 91 stretched on a plate frame 90. (Resist) is formed. As a result, a screen version S in which the eyes other than the left-right reversal pattern 92 are closed is completed. Next, as shown in FIG. 13B, the hot stamp foil 12 is placed on the plate 94 so that the base layer 121 (FIGS. 2 and 3) is on the lower side, and the ink 96 is placed in the plate frame 90. Then, the squeegee 93 is moved in the direction of the arrow so as to pressurize the surface of the screen 91. Then, the ink 96 is pushed out through the mesh of the part of the screen pattern 91 on the screen 91, and the screen pattern is printed on the hot stamp foil 12 with the ink 96.

  Next, the hot stamp foil 12 on which the horizontal reversal pattern is printed with the ink 96 is overlaid on the transfer material 14 with the foil layer 122 facing down, and is inserted into the thermocompression bonding apparatus 3 and thermocompression bonded with the hot roller 31. Then, the ink 96 is softened and adhered to the transfer material 14. Further, since the foil layer 122 of the ink 96 portion is bonded to the ink, the ink 96 is bonded to the transfer material 14, so that the foil layer of the ink portion is transferred to the transfer material 14 together with the ink 96. As a result, as shown in FIG. 13C, only the foil layer 122 a corresponding to the print pattern “ABC” is transferred to the transfer material 14. Reference numeral 15 denotes a trace of the foil layer 122a after transfer. The mechanism of the foil transfer in the thermocompression bonding apparatus 3 is basically the same as that in FIGS. 4 and 5, and the toner 13 is merely replaced with the ink 96, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted.

  As described above, even in the case of screen printing, a pattern is directly formed on the hot stamp foil 12, so that the foil 12 can be used as a transfer foil so that a thick transfer material or a complicated transfer material can be used. In contrast, foil transfer is possible. Further, according to the screen printing, since the film thickness of the ink 96 after printing can be increased, it is possible to enhance the adhesive force and to give the pattern a volume feeling.

  According to the foil transfer device of the seventh embodiment described above, since the existing screen printing device and thermocompression bonding device can be used, the foil transfer of the present invention can be realized by simple means without requiring a special device. it can.

  In the embodiments described above, examples of using an ink jet printer, a thermal printer, and a screen printing apparatus when pattern printing with ink on a hot stamp foil has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to gravure printing, offset printing, or dispenser. The present invention can also be applied when pattern printing is performed with ink.

1 is a system configuration diagram of a foil transfer apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing of a hot stamp foil. It is sectional drawing of the other example of hot stamping foil. It is process drawing explaining the foil transcription | transfer method of this invention. It is process drawing explaining the foil transcription | transfer method of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram of the foil transcription | transfer apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a system block diagram of the foil transcription | transfer apparatus which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram of the foil transcription | transfer apparatus which concerns on 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a system block diagram of the foil transcription | transfer apparatus which concerns on 5th Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing explaining the ink transfer of an ink ribbon. It is sectional drawing explaining the ink transfer by another ink ribbon. It is a schematic block diagram of the foil transcription | transfer apparatus which concerns on 6th Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the foil transcription | transfer apparatus which concerns on 7th Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 PC
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 2 Laser printer 3 Thermocompression bonding apparatus 4 Inkjet printer 5 Thermal printer 6 Screen printing apparatus 11 Left-right reversal pattern 12 Hot stamp foil 13 Toner 14 Transfer material 23 Ink 31 Hot roller 32 Platen 40A, 40B Ink ribbon 42, 44 Ink 43 Thermal head 60 fixing unit 80 thermocompression bonding device 92 left-right reversal pattern 96 ink 100 laser printer 200 inkjet printer 300 thermal printer 121 base layer 122, 122a foil layer

Claims (2)

In foil transfer method using hot stamp foil,
Printing toner or ink directly on the hot stamp foil;
Transferring the foil layer of the hot stamp foil to a transfer material together with the toner or ink;
A foil transfer method comprising: In foil transfer equipment that performs foil transfer using hot stamp foil,
Means for printing toner or ink directly on the hot stamp foil;
Means for transferring the foil layer of the hot stamp foil to a transfer material together with the toner or ink;
A foil transfer device comprising:

Images