JP4878928B2 - A method for producing a color coating and a color printing body thereby. - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for producing a color coating having a three-dimensional effect on a printed material having a color coating or a curved surface including an antenna pattern mainly applied to a cellular phone or the like, and a cellular phone or a color printed material coated thereby. Is.

With the widespread use of mobile phones, the contents of incoming and outgoing calls are not limited to mere telephone calls, but the application has been expanded to receive and send items over a wide range such as e-mail and music distribution.
Accordingly, the antenna capacity necessary for receiving and transmitting these signals is also increased, and there is a type that uses the outer surface of the mobile phone extensively.
Many researches and developments have been made on the specifications of antennas for portable telephones, and high-level antenna patterns have come out. (For example, see Patent Document 1)
In addition, with the diversification of customers in recent years, the exterior of mobile phones has been required to have a variety of printed exteriors. Therefore, a wide variety of antenna functions can be incorporated, and a variety of aesthetic appearances can be achieved as mobile phone exteriors. There is a strong desire for products to preserve.

In addition, as a recent trend, color printing that gives unevenness to the printing film itself and gives a three-dimensional appearance to the printing screen has been required. From printing on a flat body such as a paper surface, cellular phones, accessories, etc. It has been expanded to a three-dimensional printed material including a curved surface. Along with this, various developments of printing methods different from conventional ones are also progressing. (For example, see Patent Document 2)
JP 2005-167980 A JP-A-2-239972

  If the object to be printed is a flat body, it is easy to give a three-dimensional effect by raising the printing surface to some extent by applying it repeatedly by screen printing. However, in a three-dimensional printed material including a curved surface, it is quite difficult to increase the color printing surface and give a three-dimensional effect, and the cost becomes expensive.

As mentioned above, as a market demand, there is a demand for products that incorporate a wide range of antenna functions and maintain a variety of aesthetic appearances as the exterior of a mobile phone. However, there is considerable difficulty in technologies that satisfy both of these requirements. Exists. In particular, it is extremely difficult to apply and finish the color exterior coating in a state where the wiring pattern printed on the surface of the mobile phone is not floated on the surface.
In order to meet these requirements, the present invention provides a method for obtaining a more beautiful and versatile exterior coating without changing the image of the conventional antenna pattern, and the other market requirement It has been demanded to provide a color printing coating having a three-dimensional effect on a wide range of printed materials including a low cost. In order to meet these demands, the present invention basically provides a color printing method and a color printing body for the purpose of inexpensively performing aesthetic color printing with a more three-dimensional effect without changing the conventional printing method. Its purpose is to provide.

The method of creating the color coating of the present invention is as follows:
1) A method for producing a color coating for a mobile phone or the like including an antenna pattern , the first step of printing the antenna pattern with a conductive ink on the outer surface of the mobile phone, and electroless plating and electrolytic plating on the antenna pattern Or a second step of performing electrolytic plating, a third step of forming a film with an ink containing silicone oil on the outer surface of the electrolytic plating, and a predetermined drying treatment after the third step. A fourth step of coating or solid printing the entire surface except the surface portion of the antenna pattern printing repelled by the water repellency of the containing ink with a paint or ink having a predetermined viscosity; and wettability to the surface of the silicone oil-containing ink And a sixth step of covering the entire surface with a color cosmetic coat after the fifth step. Those were example.

2) In the above 1), the antenna pattern is printed with the conductive ink using a printing ink or a paste agent mixed with conductive powder. It is a micro image line or a parallel image line,
3) In the above 1) or 2), the electroless plating is an electroless plating of Cu or Ni having a thickness of 5 μm or less, and the electrolytic plating is a Cu electroplating having a thickness of 5 to 10 μm. ,
4) In the above-mentioned 1) to 3), the coating with the silicone oil-containing ink is obtained by mixing 5 to 30 vol %, preferably 10 vol % of silicone oil with the normal ink. It covers only the plating surface,
5) Further, in the above 1) to 4) , the treatment method in the fifth step for imparting wettability to the surface of the silicone oil-containing ink is performed by removing the film with an alkaline detergent, or by plasma treatment or blast treatment. The roughness is improved.

In addition, the method of creating the color coating of the present invention is as follows:
The applied 6) and the 1 B forming the antenna pattern printed film to a non-raised printing portions by conductive ink of silicone oil containing printing material, then solid printing or prime the partial printing by a predetermined color ink or paint 2 B process , 3B process which is a heat treatment process for eliminating the color ink or paint on the printed film with the conductive ink, and further electroplating on the antenna pattern printed film with the conductive ink 4B process to be provided is provided.

In addition, the color print of the present invention is
7) Ru mobile phone der, characterized in that the by Ri front surface to create a color saturation coating according to any one of the aforementioned 1) to 6) were coated.

  The color coating for a mobile phone or the like that efficiently satisfies both the demand for color makeup coats in a variety of markets and the requirement not to recognize the presence of an antenna pattern in the lower layer as an appearance by the method of creating a color coating of the present invention. Without changing the coating, and basically the conventional printing method, it is possible to provide an inexpensive aesthetic color printing coating with a three-dimensional effect, and a mobile phone and a color printing body thereby.

Since the method for creating a color coating for a mobile phone or the like of the present invention is mainly intended for a general-purpose mobile phone, there are a wide variety of users, and therefore the color pattern on the surface varies depending on personal preference.
That is, the appearance of the color cosmetic coat on the outer surface needs to be of various properties, and it is common to the color cosmetic coat of these various characteristics, and the mobile phone that does not recognize the antenna pattern in appearance that is the object of the present invention. This is a method for creating a color covering for a telephone or the like.
The present invention is characterized in that even if the surface on which various color cosmetic coats are applied is a surface on which an antenna pattern exists, it is configured in the same state as that on the initial printing surface if it does not exist. .

[Embodiment 1]
FIG. 1 is a process flowchart illustrating the process of the first embodiment.
In the figure, OP1 is an antenna pattern printing process using conductive ink, OP2 is a plating process in which electroless plating and electrolytic plating, or electroless plating or electrolytic plating is performed on the antenna pattern, and OP3 is a printing ink containing silicon oil. (Hereinafter referred to as silicon ink) antenna pattern coating process, OP4 is a color paint application or solid printing process, OP5 is a process for the next process to the silicon ink part, and OP6 is a color cosmetic coat coating process.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory cross-sectional view showing a part of the cross section of the antenna pattern portion corresponding to each step of FIG.
In the figure, (a) is a cross-sectional explanatory view at the end of OP1, (b) is a cross-sectional explanatory view at the end of OP1, (c) is a cross-sectional explanatory view at the end of OP3, and (d) is an end of OP4. (E) is a cross-sectional explanatory view at the end of OP5, (f) is a cross-sectional explanatory view at the end of OP6. In any of the cross-sectional explanatory views, the dimensions of each part are exaggerated for easy explanation.

  FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional reference diagram showing an enlarged cross-section after the final process of the first embodiment. In the figure, 1 is the surface of a mobile phone, 2 is a conductive plating surface by OP1, 3 is a plating surface by OP2, 4 is a silicon ink surface by OP3, 5 is a color coating surface or solid printing surface by OP4, Reference numeral 6 denotes a color cosmetic coat covering surface according to OP5.

Details of the steps will be described below with reference to the process flow charts of FIGS.
An antenna pattern printing surface (hereinafter, referred to as “printed body 1”) of a mobile phone or the like is cleaned in advance by pre-printing processing. The pretreatment is carried out by a commonly practiced method. The printing of antenna pattern 2 with conductive ink in OP1 corresponds to the reception and transmission of TV, navigation, etc., which have been required for mobile phones in recent years, under the conditions described in JP-A-2005-167980. Therefore, it has been required to greatly improve the antenna characteristics. Therefore, in the present invention, for example, a conductive powder is mixed with an antenna pattern based on an assembly line based on a mesh shape or a continuous polygon having a line width of 5 to 1000 μm, preferably 5 to 500 μm and a pitch interval between lines of 5 to 150 μm. It prints with the printing ink which was made. The conductive powder has an average particle size of about 0.001 to 10 μm selected from Cu, Ni, Fe, Mg, Pd, Ag, Au, C or alloys thereof.

In OP2, electroless plating and electrolytic plating or electrolytic plating 3 is performed on the surface of the antenna pattern 2 printed on the substrate 1 to be printed. The electroless plating is an electroless plating having a thickness of 5 μm or less with Cu or Ni, and an electrolytic plating 3 (hereinafter referred to as electroplating 3) is further applied thereon. The electroplating is Cu electroplating having a thickness of 5 to 10 μm.
Needless to say, the layer thickness, antenna pattern shape, etc. of the electroplating 3 have sufficient functions to provide the antenna capacity required for the mobile phone.

In OP3, the antenna pattern printing of the same pattern is laminated with silicone ink on the antenna pattern that has been electroplated 3 in OP2. The silicon ink 4 is obtained by adding an appropriate amount of silicone oil to a normal printing ink, and is printed by the same method as the printing method in OP1. The present invention is characterized in that the same antenna pattern is overprinted with the silicone ink 4.
In other words, due to the water repellency of the silicon ink 4, ink existing on the antenna pattern in the pre-coating of the color coating or solid printing (hereinafter referred to as pre-coating coating) in the next process OP4 is excluded from the antenna pattern. The purpose is to do.
Accordingly, the water repellency performance of the silicone ink is an extremely important condition in this process, and the condition that is most efficiently excluded is selected in consideration of the viscosity and concentration of the preliminary coating 5 used in the OP4 process. The

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the results of testing the exclusion efficiency Ex with silicone ink.
That is, the content A (vol%) of the silicone oil 4 in the silicone ink is changed, and the exclusion efficiency Ex (by the loupe) on the antenna pattern in relation to the viscosity ratio K to the normal ink viscosity of the preliminary coating 5 in the next step. The result of testing (visual measurement) is shown.
As is clear from FIG. 4, when the silicone content V (vol%) in the silicon ink 4 is 10 vol% or less, the removal efficiency Ex from the pattern of the preliminary coating 5 is poor, and when it exceeds 10 vol%, water repellency is caused. Exclusion efficiency Ex becomes favorable. However, when the silicone content exceeds 30 vol%, it becomes difficult to perform lamination printing on the pattern.
Further, the exclusion efficiency Ex is influenced by the viscosity ratio K of the preliminary coating 5 to be excluded, and if the viscosity ratio K is 0.5 or more, a good exclusion efficiency Ex cannot be expected. On the other hand, if it is less than 0.1, the color becomes insufficient. Therefore, the viscosity ratio K to the normal ink viscosity of the preliminary coat coating 5 is 0.1 to 0.5, preferably 0.5, and the silicone content V in the silicon ink is preferably 10 to 30 vol%.

(C) and (d) in FIG. 2 schematically show states in the steps OP3 and OP4 in FIG. Lamination printing with silicon ink 4 is performed on an antenna pattern that has been printed and electroplated 3 on the substrate 1. The thickness of the electroplating 3 is about 5 to 10 μm, and the laminated printing with the silicon ink 4 is a very thin film having a film thickness of about 1 to 2 μm.
The silicon ink 4 is fixed to some extent by a predetermined drying process, and then a preliminary coating 5 is applied to the entire surface of the printing medium 1. Basically, the film thickness of the preliminary coating 5 is determined so that the surface position of the preliminary coating 5 is flush with the surface position of the silicon ink 4.

  The process of OP5 in FIG. 1 imparts wettability to the cosmetic coat coating in the next process OP6 on the surface constituted by OP4, particularly the surface of the silicon ink 4. The imparting of the wettability suppresses water repellency in the silicon ink 4 and activates the surface. The surface activity is imparted by chemical or physical means. Chemically, it is given by treatment with an alkaline cleaning solution, physically by modification of surface roughness by plasma treatment or the like.

The entire activated surface is provided with a cosmetic coat 6 by the OP6 process. The cosmetic coat coating 6 is arbitrarily selected in color, pattern, thickness and the like based on customer requirements.
The decorative coat coating 6 is dried and fixed by an appropriate means to complete a decorative cellular phone case including an antenna pattern.
FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view schematically showing a state in which the steps OP1 to OP6 in the method for creating a color covering for a decorative mobile phone or the like including the antenna pattern of the present invention are completed. In addition, the dimension of each part is displayed arbitrarily.

[Embodiment 2]
FIG. 5 is a process flowchart illustrating the process of the second embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional explanatory view schematically showing a partial cross section of the printing medium in the process of the second embodiment. 6A is a cross-sectional explanatory diagram at the end of the OP1A process, and FIG. 6B is an electric plane explanatory diagram at the end of the OP2A process.
In the figure, OP1A is a printing process on a non-printed printing area with silicone ink, OP2A is a solid printing with color ink or paint, or a pattern printing only on the rising area, 10 is a printing object, and 20 is a printing area with silicone ink. , 30 is the raised printing portion, h1 is the film thickness of the printing portion with silicone ink, and h2 is the film thickness of the raised printing portion.
In any of the cross-sectional explanatory views, the dimensions of each part are exaggerated for easy explanation.

Prior to the OP1A process of FIGS. 5 and 6, at least the printing surface of the printing medium 10 is cleaned in advance by pre-printing processing. The pretreatment is carried out by a commonly practiced method.
In OP <b> 1 </ b> A, the non-pitch printing unit 20 excluding the pre-printed printing unit 30 is printed on the cleaned surface of the substrate 10. The printing ink used in this case is expected to have the function and effect of the silicone oil-containing ink 4 in the first embodiment, and color ink or paint in solid printing or the like by OP2 is applied from the surface of the non-elevated printing portion 20. It is necessary to have an effect that is completely excluded.

From the test results of FIG. 4 described above, the silicone content V in the silicone ink is preferably 5 to 30 vol%, more preferably about 10% vol.
Further, the coating thickness h1 of the coating is preferably as thin as possible as long as the color by the silicone ink can be sufficiently confirmed. Practically, the film thickness h1 is about 1 to 10 μm, preferably 1 to 2 μm.

  In the OP2A step, in order to form the raised printing unit 30 that constitutes the main color pattern that is not covered by the OP1A, printing or coating is first performed by solid printing or color coating with color ink. The top printing method in the OP2A process basically includes 1) removing the solid printing or coating from the non-top printing portion 20 with the silicone ink by the water repellency of the silicone ink, and including the removed portion. A method of forming a sufficient raised printing part and 2) a printing method in which only the raised printing part 30 is printed with a predetermined color ink are used.

The method according to 1) utilizes the property that water-repellent liquid (color ink or paint in the present invention) is condensed and condensed into liquid that has not been water-repellent. This water repellent phenomenon is molecularly influenced by temperature.
In the present invention, in the OP3A step, the printing medium 10 solid-printed or coated with OP2A is immediately subjected to a temperature of 50 ° C. to 80 ° C. for a time of 1 to 20 min. Heat to the extent. By this heating, the color ink or the paint coated on the surface of the silicone ink or the coating surface is quickly condensed and condensed on the raised printing unit 30 that is not coated with the silicone ink.

  The method according to 2) simply performs a predetermined pattern color printing in addition to the coating portion with the silicone ink, and the color printing thickness can be selected relatively freely. In the case of 1), the water-repellent phenomenon of silicone ink is used, so the viscosity of solid ink or paint for solid printing or coating must be selected relatively soft, whereas it is not related to the water-repellent phenomenon In addition, it is possible to select a color ink having a high viscosity, and therefore, it is possible to sufficiently increase the swell amount of the stencil printing.

  Further, when the raised printing part 30 constituted by OP2 is an antenna pattern, the color ink or paint is a conductive ink or paint, and the viscosity of the ink filled with the conductive powder is high. It is impossible to expect sufficient water repellency with the silicone ink in the method 1). Therefore, it is suitable to form a pattern by the method 2).

OP4 is a fixing and fixing step of the coated ink or paint. This step is in accordance with a fixing and fixing step using a normal heater, hot air or UV.
Further, after fixing and fixing in the OP4 fixing and fixing step, after applying a slight surface treatment, the entire surface can be coated with a decorative coat.

[Embodiment 3]
FIG. 7 is a process flowchart illustrating the process of the third embodiment.
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional explanatory view schematically showing a partial cross section of the printing medium in the process of the third embodiment. 8A is a cross-sectional explanatory view at the end of the OP1B process, FIG. 8B is a cross-sectional explanatory view at the end of the OP2B process, and FIG. 8C is a cross-sectional explanatory view at the end of the OP2B process.
In FIG. 7, OP1B is a printing process of a non-printing portion (antenna pattern) with conductive silicone ink, OP2B is a solid printing with color ink or paint, or a pattern printing of only the rising portion, and OP3B is conductive silicone ink printing. A heat treatment step for removing the color ink or paint from the surface with water repellency, OP4B is a step of electroplating the antenna pattern printing portion.
Further, in FIG. 8, 10 is a substrate to be printed, 21 is an antenna pattern printing portion made of conductive silicone ink, 31 is a raised printing portion, 41 is an electric dent plating coating on the antenna pattern, and h3 is made of conductive silicone ink. The film thickness of the antenna pattern printing part, h4 is the film thickness of the raised printing part.
In any of the cross-sectional explanatory views, the dimensions of each part are exaggerated for easy explanation.

The third embodiment is basically a modified embodiment based on the second embodiment. That is, in the third embodiment, the antenna pattern 21 is printed in the OP1B process by using conductive silicone ink as the silicone ink. The conductive powder for imparting conductivity is selected from Cu, Ni, Fe, Mg, Pd, Ag, Au, C, or their respective alloys, and has an average particle size of about 0.001 to 10 μm. Use powder.
The amount of silicone oil to be contained is not limited as long as it has at least water repellency sufficient for water repellency removal of the color ink or paint from the surface of the antenna pattern printing portion 21 by the conductive silicone ink in the OP3B step. It needs to be determined within a range that does not reduce the efficiency of the electroplating process. Experimentally, it was found that the silicone content is preferably about 5 to 20 vol%.
Further, the pattern specifications of the antenna pattern printing 21 are the same as those in the first embodiment, and the pattern specifications (patterns) as a base for the antenna characteristics as a recent request can be sufficiently expected by the electroplating of OP4B described later. Shape, line width b, line pitch p, thickness h3).

  Following OP1B, solid printing or raised portion printing 31 is performed with color ink or paint in OP2B. Any color ink or paint printed or applied by OP2B on the surface 21 printed with the conductive silicone ink is excluded due to the water repellency latent in the silicone ink. In particular, when the OP2B process is solid printing, the heat treatment using OP3B becomes more effective. In the state where the OP3B process is completed, as shown in FIG. 8B, the raised printing portion 31 (pattern shape of non-antenna portion, width p, thickness h4) is formed.

Next, a conductive metal plating coating 41 is formed by electroplating on the surface of the antenna pattern printing portion 21 using the conductive silicone ink in an OP4B process. In this case, the conductive metal plating coating is plated so as to be equal to or less than the upper surface position of the raised printing 31 at the end of the OP3B process. As described above, the specifications of the electroplating coating 41 satisfy the antenna characteristics (pattern shape, line width b, line pitch p, thickness h5) as recent demands as in the first embodiment. There must be. As long as the antenna characteristics are satisfied, the electroplating thickness h5 is preferably as thin as possible to ensure the stereoscopic view of the raised printing portion 31.
The electroplating material is preferably Cu, Ag or an alloy plating thereof.

  In the above-described first embodiment, the printed material 1 is described for a portable telephone. However, the means of the present invention is a mobile radio such as a television, radio, FM, taxi, or reception or transmission for radar. Further, the means of the second embodiment can be applied to the printing medium 10 that requires a general stereoscopic image that does not have an antenna action.

It is a process flow diagram explaining the process of the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional explanatory view showing a part of a cross section of an antenna pattern portion corresponding to each step of FIG. 1. It is the partial cross section which showed typically the state which completed the process of OP1-OP6 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the result of having tested the exclusion efficiency Ex by a silicone ink. It is a process flowchart explaining the process of this Embodiment 2. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional explanatory view showing a part of a cross section corresponding to the step of FIG. 5. It is a process flowchart explaining the process of this Embodiment 3. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional explanatory view showing a part of a cross section corresponding to the step of FIG. 7.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 The to-be-printed body in this Embodiment 1 2 The electroconductive plating surface (antenna pattern printing surface) in this Embodiment 1
3 Electroplating surface in Embodiment 1 4 Pattern coating surface with silicon ink in Embodiment 1 5 Preliminary coating surface in Embodiment 1 6 Makeup coating surface in Embodiment 1 10 Embodiment Printed body in 2 20 Printing surface with silicone ink in Embodiment 2 30 Print-up section with color ink or paint in Embodiment 2 21 Printing surface with conductive silicone ink in Embodiment 3 31 Implementation Printed portion with color ink or paint in Form 3 of the present invention 41 Electroplating surface OP1 in Embodiment 3 Antenna pattern printing process OP2 in Embodiment 1 Electroless plating and electroplating process OP3 in Embodiment 1 Ann with silicone ink in the first embodiment Tena pattern coating process OP4 Preliminary coating process in the first embodiment OP5 Surface activation process in the first embodiment OP6 Cosmetic coat coating process in the first embodiment OP1A Non-upper portion printing process OP2A in the second embodiment Solid printing or top printing process in the second embodiment OP3A Heat treatment process in the second embodiment OP4A Fixing and fixing process in the second embodiment OP1B Antenna pattern printing process with conductive silicone ink in the third embodiment OP2B Solid printing or top printing process in the third embodiment OP3B Heat treatment process in the third embodiment OP4B Electroplating process in the third embodiment h1 Film thickness of the coated surface by the OP1A h2 Top printing part by the OP2A Coating thickness h3O Film thickness of conductive silicone ink printing surface by P1B h4 Film thickness of printing coating surface by OP2B h5 Film thickness of electroplating coating by OP4B b Line width of antenna pattern printing in OP1B p Width of raised printing portion in OP2B (Pitch between antenna pattern lines)

Claims (7)

A method for producing a color coating for a mobile phone or the like including an antenna pattern , the first step of printing the antenna pattern with a conductive ink on the outer surface of the mobile phone, and electroless plating and electrolytic plating on the antenna pattern, or A second step of electroplating, a third step of further forming a coating with an ink containing silicone oil on the outer surface of the electroplating, and a predetermined drying treatment after the third step, followed by a silicone oil-containing ink A fourth step of painting or solid printing the entire surface except the surface portion of the antenna pattern printing repelled by water repellency with a paint or ink having a predetermined viscosity, and imparting wettability to the surface of the silicone oil-containing ink And a sixth step of covering the entire surface with a color cosmetic coat after the fifth step. The method of creating the color coating for the antenna pattern mobile phone including such, characterized in that. The printing of the antenna pattern with the conductive ink is printed with a printing ink or a paste agent mixed with conductive powder, and is a micro-image line or a parallel image line of a mesh shape or continuous polygon with ultrafine lines. A method for producing a color coating for a mobile phone or the like including the antenna pattern according to claim 1 .   3. The electroless plating according to claim 1, wherein the electroless plating is an electroless plating of Cu or Ni having a thickness of 5 μm or less, and the electrolytic plating is Cu electroplating having a thickness of 5 to 10 μm. A method for creating a color covering for a mobile phone or the like including an antenna pattern.   The coating with the silicone oil-containing ink is obtained by mixing the ink with 5 to 30 vol%, preferably 10 vol% of silicone oil in normal ink, and coated only on the electrolytic plating surface. A method for creating a color coating for a mobile phone or the like including the antenna pattern according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The treatment method in the fifth step for imparting wettability to the surface of the silicone oil-containing ink is characterized in that the surface roughness is modified by removing the film with an alkaline detergent, or plasma treatment or blast treatment. the method of creating the color coating for cellular phone or the like including an antenna pattern according to any one of claims 1-4. A first B step of forming an antenna pattern print film with a silicone ink-containing conductive ink on a non-raised print portion of the substrate, and then a second B step of performing solid printing or raised partial printing with a predetermined color ink or paint; 3B process which is a heat treatment process for removing the color ink or paint on the printed film with the conductive ink, and 4B process for further electroplating the antenna pattern printed film with the conductive ink the method of creating the color coating to feature further comprising a. A mobile phone, the surface of which is coated by the method for producing a color coating according to any one of claims 1 to 6 .

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