JPH04247990A - Adhesion of thermal transfer sheet to cubic curved surface and device used therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a method of thermally transferring an image to a cubic curved surface of any shape in a simple manner and at low cost and a device employing the method by minimizing a thermal effect upon a member to which an image is transferred with a cubic curved surface so that the member is not deformed. CONSTITUTION:A thermal transfer sheet 3 with a transfer surface 31 given as the side of a member to which an image is transferred S, a frame-like intermediate plate 2 and an elastic sheet 15 are provided at a mounting chamber 4 where a fixture 40 for mounting the member S is arranged as illustrated by figure 1. In addition, a preheating panel 1 consisting of a compressor 14 connected to a vacuum pump 5 is formed in an isolated state, and the above- mentioned members are put together abutting on each other to form an airtight chamber. Further, the heated elastic sheet 15 is used to press the thermal transfer sheet 3 and thereby an image is transferred to the member S. Finally an additional heating process is performed using a heating device 6.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of adhering a thermal transfer sheet onto a member having a cubic curved surface, and an apparatus used in this method.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the main methods of thermal transfer to a transfer target member include a heat roll method, an in-mold transfer method, and an air bag method.

First, in the heat roll method, since thermal transfer is performed using a heat roll, the main surface is a quadratic curve, and the length of the transfer is determined by the outer diameter of the roll, so a roll with a large diameter may be necessary in some cases. Met. Furthermore, in order to thermally transfer onto a three-dimensional curved surface, the roll must be provided with elasticity, but due to limitations, it is only possible to perform thermal transfer on a small number of three-dimensional curved surfaces.

[0004]Also, with the in-mold transfer method, it is possible to transfer onto a three-dimensional curved surface, but the cost of the mold is high, there are quantitative restrictions, and furthermore, it is unsuitable for small-lot, high-mix production. At the same time, there is a problem of uneven transfer due to deformation that occurs during molding within a mold.

[0005] Furthermore, in the air bag method, in the case of a plastic transfer member, it takes time to transfer and deformation due to temperature occurs, so it is desired to transfer in a short time. However, it is difficult to easily implement this in all cases.

[0006]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in any of the above-mentioned conventional methods, it is possible to extremely reduce the effect of deformation due to heat on the transferred member, which is a cubic curved surface, and to easily create a cubic curved surface of an arbitrary shape at a low cost. The purpose of this research is to develop a method and apparatus that enable thermal transfer.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] According to a first aspect of the present invention, a member to be transferred is disposed on a mounting member, a thermal transfer sheet is disposed with a transfer surface facing the member to be transferred, and, By disposing elastic sheets that can be stretched and heated, and further heating and stretching the elastic sheets, the thermal transfer sheet is pressed onto the transfer target member to form a three-dimensional curved surface to be thermally transferred onto the transfer target member. According to the method of adhering the thermal transfer sheet, the second method includes a mounting chamber in which a member to be transferred is placed and air is sent out to the outside, and a thermal transfer sheet placed oppositely to be able to be thermally transferred onto the member to be transferred. , an intermediate plate that is removably disposed opposite to each other to fix the thermal transfer sheet in an extensible manner, and an elastic sheet that can be expanded, contracted, and heated are provided on the side of the thermal transfer sheet, and air is applied to the elastic sheet. It is possible to blow air, and furthermore,
A method of bonding a thermal transfer sheet to a three-dimensional curved surface, which comprises a preheating plate whose mounting chamber can be brought into and out of contact with an intermediate plate, and the preheating plate, the intermediate plate, and the mounting chamber form a sealed chamber. Thirdly, the above object is achieved by an apparatus used in the method of bonding a thermal transfer sheet to a three-dimensional curved surface according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a heating device is provided on the thermal transfer sheet side of the elastic sheet. That is.

[0008]

[Operation] In the present invention, a transfer member having a cubic curved surface is placed in a mounting chamber of a sealed chamber, a thermal transfer sheet with a transfer surface facing the transfer member is disposed, and the thermal transfer A preheating board with an elastic sheet made of silicone rubber or the like that can be stretched and heated is installed opposite the seat, and the preheating board is equipped with a heater function, and air can be directed towards the elastic sheet. It is arranged so that air is sent outside from the transferred member placement part of the placement chamber, heat is transferred from the preheating plate to the elastic sheet to heat it, and then air is blown to the elastic sheet to transfer the air to the outside. By stretching the provided thermal transfer sheet, it is pressed onto the transfer target member and thermally transferred onto the transfer target member,
Furthermore, by stopping the air blowing to the elastic sheet being pressed and making it atmospheric pressure, the elastic sheet immediately returns to contact with the preheating plate and moves the thermal transfer sheet or presses it against another object. By changing the transfer surface, thermal transfer can be carried out by repeating the above operation as the next transfer surface. As a device for carrying out this method, a jig that can place the transferred material is provided, a mounting chamber is provided to exhaust air to the outside by a vacuum pump, etc., and the transferred material side is transferred. A thermal transfer sheet is placed oppositely as a surface, and an intermediate plate is provided to press and hold the periphery of the thermal transfer sheet in the placement chamber, and furthermore, it can be heated with silicone rubber or the like and can be expanded and contracted toward the thermal transfer sheet side. A preheating plate is provided with an elastic sheet and has a heater function that allows the elastic sheet to be restored by stretching and contracting, and the above-mentioned storage chamber and intermediate plate can be attached to and separated from the preheating plate. By placing the mounting chamber and the intermediate plate in contact with the preheating plate, a sealed chamber in which the thermal transfer sheet and the elastic sheet are sandwiched is formed, thereby making it possible to carry out the method described above. Furthermore, by appropriately disposing a heating device such as a far-infrared heater on the thermal transfer sheet side of the elastic sheet, direct heating can be performed in addition to the heating by the preheating plate, so that it is immediately effective. Become.

[0009]

[Embodiment] In order to further clarify the gist of the present invention, one embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. Figure 1~
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described according to FIG. First, as shown in Fig. 1, a preheating plate 1 is placed at the top,
The preheating plate 1 includes a preheating plate main body 11 having a heater function,
A preheating plate cover 12 is provided to cover the upper part of this and form a passage P on the preheating plate main body 11, and a blower pipe 13 is provided in the preheating plate cover 12 so as to face the passage P. The blow pipe 13 is provided with a switching valve K, and is further connected to a compressor 14. The switching valve K can be switched to supply compressed air from the compressor 14 into the passage P, and can also be switched to open the passage P to the atmosphere, and furthermore, can be switched to supply compressed air from the compressor 14 into the passage P, and can also be switched to open the passage P to the atmosphere. 5, an elastic sheet made of silicone rubber is disposed below the preheating plate main body 11 through an air supply hole 111 penetrating the preheating plate main body 11 to make the inside of the passage P negative pressure. 15 should be sucked upward and brought into close contact. Also, the elastic sheet 15 made of silicone rubber disposed below the lower heating plate main body 11 of the elastic sheet 15 is sucked upward,
It's about to get close. Further, below the elastic sheet 15, a frame-shaped, flat, flat intermediate plate 2 is arranged so as to be movable up and down, and below the intermediate plate 2, a thermal transfer sheet 3 is placed with the transfer surface 31 facing downward, and is rolled. The transfer surface 31 is disposed within the frame of the intermediate plate 2. Further, below the thermal transfer sheet 3, a bottom wall 41 is formed to accommodate a jig 40 on which the transferred member S can be placed;
A mounting chamber 4 is provided with a side wall 42 standing upright on the outer periphery of the jig 40, and an arbitrary number of intake holes 410 are provided through the jig 40, and an intake pipe 51 provided in the lower chamber 4 is connected to the mounting chamber 4. The intake pipe 51 is connected to the vacuum pump 5, and the intake pipe 51 is flexible on the mounting chamber 4 side, and the switching valve 14 is connected to the above-mentioned blower pipe 13 from the middle.
The placement chamber 4 and the intermediate plate 2 are connected to the
The thermal transfer sheet 3 is made into a sandwich shape and is movable so as to come into contact with the preheating plate 1, and in this abutting state, a sealed chamber is formed.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, a heating device 6 is added to the first embodiment, and as shown in FIG. It is arranged so that it can be moved left and right as appropriate,
By directly heating the elastic sheet 15, the preheating plate main body 11 is heated.
It is intended to provide immediate effect by adding to the heat transfer.

Further, a third embodiment of the present invention will be explained as shown in FIG. In the first and second embodiments, the mounting chamber, the intermediate plate, and the preheating plate were arranged vertically opposite each other, but in this embodiment, these were arranged horizontally, and in particular, Elastic sheet 1 compared to the first and second embodiments
5. Since the thermal transfer sheet 3 is disposed in a suspended manner in the vertical direction, it does not sag, resulting in a structure with good workability. Since the other configurations, functions, effects, etc. are the same as those of the first and second embodiments, detailed explanations will be omitted.

A fourth embodiment of the present invention will also be described. In this embodiment, the mounting chamber, the intermediate plate, the preheating plate, and the heating device are arranged vertically in opposition to each other in the second embodiment, but they are arranged in the left-right direction as in the third embodiment. Since the configuration, operation, effect, etc. are the same as this, detailed explanation will be omitted.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments; for example, in the above-mentioned embodiments, the thermal transfer sheet was described as a roll type, but it may also be supplied sheet by sheet, or it may be supplied by a compressor, The structure, combination, etc. of the vacuum pump and other parts may be arbitrary, and the materials of each part may also be arbitrary, and may be arbitrarily determined within the scope of achieving the purpose, operation, and effects described below of the present invention, and such changes are not permitted. It goes without saying that this does not change the gist of the present invention in any way.

[0014]

[Effects of the Invention] In the present invention described in detail above,
A member to be transferred is placed on a mounting member such as a jig in a mounting chamber, and a thermal transfer sheet and an elastic sheet are placed opposite to the member to be transferred, and the elastic sheet is heated and stretched. Since the transfer surface of the thermal transfer sheet is thermally transferred onto the transfer target material, the transfer target material is not exposed for a long time before thermal transfer, and heat is applied only during transfer, so problems such as deformation and deterioration are avoided. In addition, since it is pressed with an elastic sheet, it is possible to easily and reliably transfer even cubic curved surfaces, and the adhesion of the transfer paper is also good. In addition, an elastic sheet made of silicone rubber or the like is attached to a preheating plate equipped with a heater function, and a frame-shaped intermediate plate and a thermal transfer sheet are sequentially placed oppositely to this, and the transfer surface is placed oppositely to the material to be transferred. and place it in the loading chamber.
The placing chamber and the intermediate plate are moved to the preheating plate side, and the elastic sheet and the thermal transfer sheet are stretched thereon using the method described above, so that the chamber is treated as a closed chamber only during thermal transfer, and the heat action becomes efficient. . Furthermore, since a heating device such as an infrared heater is appropriately arranged on the thermal transfer sheet side of the elastic sheet, heating to the elastic sheet can be performed directly in addition to heat transfer from the preheating plate. It becomes heated and has an immediate effect. As described above, the present invention is truly practical and excellent.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing essential parts of a first embodiment and a second embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the closed room state showing the operating state of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the thermal transfer state showing the operating state of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the operating state of the first embodiment and showing the thermal transfer completed state.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the completion of all steps in the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the main parts of the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Preheating board 11 Preheating plate body 12 Preheating plate cover 13　Blow pipe 14 Compressor 15 Elastic sheet 2 Intermediate plate 3 Thermal transfer sheet 4 Mounting room 40 Jig 5 Vacuum pump 6 Heating device

Claims (3)

[Claims] Claim 1: A member to be transferred is disposed on a mounting member, a thermal transfer sheet is disposed with a transfer surface facing the member to be transferred, and an elastic sheet that can be expanded and contracted and heated is disposed opposite to the member. A method for adhering a thermal transfer sheet to a three-dimensional curved surface, further comprising heating and stretching the elastic sheet to press the thermal transfer sheet onto a transfer target member and thermally transferring the transfer onto the transfer target member. . [Claim 2] A mounting chamber configured to place a member to be transferred and to send air outside, a thermal transfer sheet disposed opposite to the member to be transferred so as to be thermally transferable, and a thermal transfer sheet capable of being stretched. Intermediate plates are arranged opposite to each other so as to be able to come into contact with each other so as to be fixed, and an elastic sheet that can be expanded and contracted and can be heated is attached to the side of the thermal transfer sheet, and air can be blown to the elastic sheet. A thermal transfer sheet for a three-dimensional curved surface, comprising a preheating plate whose placement chamber can be brought into and out of contact with an intermediate plate, and the preheating plate, the intermediate plate, and the placement chamber form a sealed chamber. A device used in the method of gluing. 3. An apparatus for use in the method of adhering a thermal transfer sheet to a three-dimensional curved surface according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a heating device is provided on the thermal transfer sheet side of the elastic sheet.