JPH0584884A - Printing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate creases on a transfer film which is afloat on the liquid level of a transfer tank using an air stream from an air blow part. CONSTITUTION:The subject printing device is composed of means 3, 4 for moving a liquid to a specified direction in a transfer tank 1, an air blow part 11 for blowing an air stream from above to the transfer pattern surface of a transfer film 8 which is afloat on the liquid level of a liquid 2 and migrates and thereby spreading the film 8 under pressure and an article supply mechanism for pressing an article to be printed 14 to the transfer pattern of the film 8 thus swollen and expanded and soaking the article in the liquid.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus which presses a transfer film onto the surface of a printed material by using a liquid pressure so that the transfer pattern is transferred to the surface of the printed material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As disclosed in Japanese Examined Patent Publication (Kokoku) No. 52-41682, a printing apparatus utilizing this type of hydraulic pressure is a transfer tank with a swellable film on which a transfer pattern is printed in advance, with the transfer pattern facing upward. It is floated on the liquid surface of the film, and it is submerged in all or part of the liquid while pressing the printed material against the film from above, so that the transfer pattern of the film is pressed and transferred to the surface of the printed material by hydraulic pressure. Has been done.

[0003]

In such a printing apparatus, the transfer film floating on the liquid surface in the transfer tank is required to be spread smoothly, but actually, it is generated on the liquid surface. It is inevitable that wrinkles will occur on the film due to slight irregularities and the swelling motion of the film, so that the transfer pattern transferred to the surface of the printed material will be distorted or missing, and accurate transfer printing can be obtained. There is a problem that there is no.

[0004]

According to the present invention, the liquid surface in the transfer tank 1 is made to flow from one end to the other end of the transfer tank by a liquid flow means, for example, a circulation pipe system 4 equipped with a pump 3. The air blower 11 blows an air flow from above to the film 8 floating on the flowing liquid surface and moving with the movement of the liquid surface, thereby eliminating wrinkles generated in the film 8. is there.

[0005]

According to the present invention, the liquid 2 in the transfer tank 1 moves at a predetermined speed, so that the film 8 is moved by the blower 1
Move below 1. Since the film 8 is applied with an air flow from above while moving on the liquid surface, the film surface is pushed and spread to the liquid surface by the wind pressure, so that the film 8 is uniformly pressed and expanded. Therefore, the film 8 on the liquid surface will not be wrinkled.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a transfer tank in which a liquid such as water 2 is contained. The transfer tank 1 has a heater 1 at the bottom.
a is provided to maintain the water temperature at a predetermined temperature, and water in the tank 2
Is circulated by a liquid flow means, for example, a circulation pipe system 4 equipped with a pump 3, whereby the liquid surface is made to flow in a fixed direction, for example, from right to left in the figure. In order to make the flow of the liquid surface uniform, a rectifying means, for example, a rectifying plate 5 is arranged in the transfer tank 1 to smooth the liquid surface. A film supply unit 6 is arranged on the upstream side of the transfer tank 1. The film supply unit 6 supplies a film feeding means, for example, a feed roller mechanism 7 for feeding a film, and a film 8 to the feed roller mechanism 7. A film holding portion, for example, a holding frame 9 for supporting the film 8 wound in a roll shape, and a film activating means such as a roll coater 10 provided between the holding frame 9 and the feed roller mechanism 7 are provided. Therefore, the printing ink of the transfer pattern 8a printed on the film 8 is activated by the roll coater 10. To activate the printing ink, the solvent of the ink may be applied to the transfer pattern. In the embodiment, the activation solvent is applied to the transfer pattern 8a by the roll coater 10. However, the solvent may be transferred in some cases. You may spray-apply to a pattern. The film 8 is a material that swells with the liquid in the transfer tank 1,
For example, when water is stored in the transfer tank 1 as in the embodiment, polyvinyl alcohol is used to form a series of long films, and a transfer pattern 8a is sequentially printed on one surface of the film 8 while The film 8 is wound in a roll shape.

The film 8 has its transfer pattern 8a.
The film 8 is fed into the transfer tank 1 intermittently or continuously by the feed roller mechanism 7 with the printing side facing up, and fed out.
Moves to the downstream side by the flow of the liquid surface while floating on the liquid surface, and also swells and expands while absorbing the liquid. When the film 8 is expanded, wrinkles often occur on the film surface at the initial stage of swelling, or curling up called curl occurs on the side edges of the film. An air blower 11 is provided in the. The blower unit 11 is configured to apply a wind speed and a wind pressure from an oblique direction to the surface of the film 8 from the upstream side to the downstream side in the film transfer direction, whereby the film 8 is pushed and spread on the liquid surface, Wrinkles on the film surface are evened out and curling up is suppressed.

As shown in FIG. 2, the feed roller mechanism 7 is constructed so that a cutting edge 7a is provided at the roller end portion, and thereby a cut 8b is formed at the side edge of the film 8, and the side edge of the film 8 is formed. The roll-up is eliminated by this cut.
That is, since the film 8 has an extension rate on the transfer pattern 8a side which is inferior to that of the other surface at the start of swelling due to the activator applied to the transfer pattern 8a side, this causes roll-up on the side edges and also the film 8 itself. Since there is also a roll-up due to stress during molding, it is desired to eliminate such roll-up.

The film 8 expands in the width direction and the length direction in the transfer tank 1. The expansion in the length direction is absorbed by the transfer of the film 8, but the expansion in the width direction is caused by the transfer tank 1. Develops until it touches the inner wall of the. Film 8 like this
When the side edge of the film 8 contacts the inner wall of the transfer tank 1, the film side edge adheres to the inner wall of the transfer tank 1 to cause a difference between the moving speed of the central portion of the film 8 and the moving speed of the side portion of the film 8. 8
The transfer pattern 8a is distorted and the transfer effect is deteriorated. For this reason, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, in the transfer tank 1, strip-shaped guides 12, 12 'such as guide chains and guide belts are installed so as to face each other on both side edges of the film 8. The pair of guides 12 and 12 'are supplied to the film by the driving means (not shown), that is, the film 8
It is configured so that the vehicle can run at the transition speed of. In this way, the both side edges of the film 8 have guides 12, 1
Since it is attracted to the 2'and moved by the running of the guides 12 and 12 ', the both side portions and the central portion of the film 8 are moved at the same speed, and the distortion of the transfer pattern 8a is prevented.

An article supply mechanism 13 is provided above the transfer tank 1 so as to be located downstream of the blower unit 11.
By this mechanism 13, the material to be printed 14 is made to appear and disappear in the transfer tank 1. The article supply mechanism 13 is provided with a printed material 14
Of the film 8 is moved obliquely downward from the upstream side to the downstream side of the film 8 so that the film 8 is brought into contact with the transfer pattern 8a of the film 8 and at the same time, all or part of the liquid to be printed 14 contacted with the transfer pattern 8a is submerged. Immerse in the next, and then the substrate 1
4 is inverted in the liquid to move upwardly from the upstream side to the downstream side, so that it is detached above the transfer tank 1. In the embodiment, a holding means for detachably attaching the material 14 to be printed. For example, a holding member 13a for attaching and detaching a jig 15 previously attached to the material to be printed 14, an endless conveying belt 13b such as an endless chain or an endless belt having the holding member 13a fixed at predetermined intervals, and the endless conveying belt 13b are provided. It is provided with three pulleys 13c, 13d, 13e, which are mounted on an inverted triangle and have their vertices brought close to the liquid surface of the transfer tank 1.

The article supply mechanism 13 has a printed material 14 mounted between the central pulley 13c and the right pulley 13d in FIG. 4, while the printed material 14 is mounted between the central pulley 13c and the left pulley 13e. It is set to remove the printed matter 14 and transfer it to the film removing process, and further, the pulley 13c and the pulley 1
In order to clean the holding member 13a between 3d,
Cleaning means, for example, a cloth 13f is provided at this location. That is, since the holding member 13a comes into contact with the film 8 together with the material to be printed 14, the residue of the film 8 and the printing ink of the transfer pattern 8a are often attached, and the residue of the film and the ink to be attached next. The printed matter 14 is cleaned with the wipe cloth 13f so as not to contaminate it.

The article supply mechanism 13 has a structure in which the material to be printed 14 is brought into contact with the film 8 from an oblique direction and is inverted in the liquid to be separated in the oblique direction. Therefore, the film 8 is scooped up by the material to be printed 14. The film 8 can be brought into close contact with each other, and thus it is possible to effectively prevent air bubbles from remaining between the film 8 and the printed material 14, but the approach angle of the printed material 14 with respect to the film 8 is It is necessary to change the shape and size of the material to be printed 14. Therefore, in the embodiment, as shown in FIG.
3d and 13e are arranged so as to be rotatable to a chain line position or a dotted line position so that the angle of incidence of the material to be printed 14 with respect to the film 8 can be adjusted.

[0013]

As described above, the printing apparatus of the present invention applies a wind pressure from above to the transfer film 8 that passes under the air blower 11 as the liquid surface moves, so that the film 8 is placed on the liquid surface. Since it is possible to uniformly spread and remove the wrinkles generated on the film 8, the transfer pattern 8a of the film 8 can be accurately pressed and brought into close contact with the surface of the printing material 14 to obtain beautiful transfer printing. There is an effect that can be said.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view of a main part of a device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a roller mechanism of the same apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a transfer tank of the same apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of an article supply mechanism of the same apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Transfer tank 2 Water 3 Pump 4 Circulation pipe system 8 Transfer film 11 Blower part 14 Printed material

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A transfer tank containing a liquid, a means for causing the liquid in the transfer tank to flow from one end to the other end of the transfer tank, and a film supply unit provided on the upstream side of the transfer tank. An air blower provided close to the film supply unit on the upstream side of the transfer tank, and on the downstream side of the air blower, while pressing the printed material against the transfer pattern of the transfer film, the entire printed material is pressed. Or, it has an article supply mechanism for partially immersing it in the liquid, and the film supply section supplies a swellable film on which a transfer pattern is printed in advance onto the liquid surface of the transfer tank with the transfer pattern surface facing upward. The air blower blows an air flow from above onto the film, so that the film that moves on the liquid surface with the flow of the liquid is pressed and spread on the liquid surface. Characteristic mark Printing equipment.