JPH0661928B2 - Printer - Google Patents

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 liquid pressure to transfer the transfer pattern 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 up. It is floated on the liquid surface of the film, and it is submerged in the liquid in whole or in part while pressing the material to be printed from above against the film, so that the transfer pattern of the film is pressed and transferred to the surface of the material to be printed by hydraulic pressure. Has been done.

[0003]

In such a printing apparatus, since the transfer film is pressed by the transfer film from the vertical direction to sink the transfer film, the transfer film is stuck to the surface of the print object, for example, the back surface. In many cases, the air in the recesses of the recess remains unremoved, and in such a case, air bubbles are generated between the transfer film and the printing object, and the air bubbles prevent the transfer film from adhering to the surface of the printing object.
Therefore, in the conventional printing apparatus, transfer of the transfer pattern is often hindered by air bubbles existing between the transfer film and the printing object, and a dot-like print missing portion is generated, which makes beautiful printing impossible. was there.

[0004]

In the device of the present invention,
The article supply mechanism 13 that brings the printed material 14 into contact with the transfer film 8 includes three pulleys 13c, 13d, and 13e.
Endless conveyor belt 13b attached to these pulleys
And a holding member 13a provided on the outer surface of the endless transport belt 13b at a predetermined interval and detachably holding the material to be printed 14, and the pulleys 13c and 13 are provided.
d and 13e are arranged so that the pulley 13c at the center thereof is brought close to the liquid surface of the transfer tank 1 so that the endless conveying belt 13b is extended in an inverted triangular shape.
b is driven to run in a predetermined direction, and
Is attached to the endless conveyor belt 13b on the side approaching the central pulley 13c, that is, between the pulley 13d and the pulley 13c in FIG.
The side away from 3c, that is, pulley 13c in FIG.
And the pulley 13e.

[0005]

According to the present invention, the material to be printed 14 comes into contact with the film 8 while descending obliquely from above, then descends in the liquid and is immersed in the liquid, and then is reversed in the ascending direction in the liquid. After that, it rises out of the transfer tank 1 and escapes. Therefore, since the film 8 comes into close contact with the material to be printed 14 by being picked up from the advancing end of the material to be printed 14, the film 8 gradually comes into contact with the surface of the material to be printed from the advancing end of the material to be printed 14. 8 is pressure-bonded to the material to be printed 14 while excluding air.

[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 which contains a liquid, for example, water 2. The transfer tank 1 has a heater 1 on 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 caused 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. 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, a 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, in some cases, the solvent is transferred. 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 into a roll.

The film 8 has a 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.
Moves to the downstream side by the flow of the liquid surface while floating on the liquid surface, and also swells and expands by absorbing the liquid while moving. 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. The blower unit 11 is configured to apply wind speed and 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 provided with a cutting edge 7a at the end of the roller so that 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 formation side which is inferior to that of the other surface at the start of swelling due to the activator applied on the transfer pattern 8a side, this causes roll-up on the side edges and also the film 8 itself. Since there is also winding up due to stress during molding, it is desired to eliminate such winding 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 contacts the inner wall of the transfer tank 1, the side edge of the film adheres to the inner wall of the transfer tank 1 to cause a difference between the moving speed of the central portion 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, strap-shaped guides 12 and 12 'such as guide chains and guide belts are installed in the transfer tank 1 so as to face both side edges of the film 8. These pair of guides 12, 12 'are driven by a drive means (not shown) to feed the film, that is, the film 8
It is structured so that the vehicle can run at the transition speed of. By doing so, the side edges of the film 8 are guided to the 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, the print substrate 14 contacting the transfer pattern 8a is wholly or partially in liquid. Immerse in and then 1
4 is reversed in the liquid and is moved upward obliquely from the upstream side to the downstream side, whereby 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 detachably holding a jig 15 previously attached to a material to be printed 14 and the holding member 13a are fixed at predetermined intervals, and driven by a driving means (not shown) in a predetermined direction, that is, an arrow direction in the drawing. An endless conveyor belt 13b such as an endless chain or an endless belt, and three pulleys 13c, 13d, 13 for engaging the endless conveyor belt 13b in an inverted triangle shape and bringing its apex close to the liquid surface of the transfer tank 1.
e, and are provided.

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 removal 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 in an oblique direction and is inverted in the liquid so as to be detached in an oblique direction, so that the film 8 is picked 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 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 can be rotated to a chain line position or a dotted line position so that the angle of entry of the material to be printed 14 with respect to the film 8 can be adjusted.

[0013]

As described above, in the printing apparatus of the present invention, the endless transport band 13b having the inverted triangular shape is used to bring the article to be printed 14 into contact with the transfer pattern 8a of the transfer film 8 from obliquely above, and to bring it into the liquid. Therefore, the film 8 can be gradually applied to the surface of the material to be printed 14 from the advancing end of the material to be printed 14, so that the air between the film 8 and the material to be printed 14 can be removed. The film 8 can be adhered to the surface of the material to be printed 14 while being eliminated as the area to be adhered is increased, and thus the obstruction of the printing effect due to air bubbles can be eliminated. Thus, the device of the present invention can carry out the oblique entry, the inversion in the liquid, and the ascending and removal of the printed material 14 only by running the endless transport belt 13b having an inverted triangular shape. The effect is that management is extremely simple and inexpensive.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view of an essential 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 above apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Transfer Tank 2 Water 3 Pump 8 Transfer Film 13 Article Supply Mechanism 13a Holding Member 13b Endless Transport Belt 13c Central Pulley 13d Pulley 13e Pulley 14 Printed Material

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A film supply unit comprising: a transfer tank containing a liquid; a film supply unit provided at one end of the transfer tank; and an article supply mechanism provided above the transfer tank. Is configured to supply a swellable film on which a transfer pattern is printed in advance onto the liquid surface of the transfer tank with the transfer pattern facing upward, and the article supply mechanism is close to the liquid surface of the transfer tank. One central pulley, two pulleys symmetrically arranged on both sides of the central pulley above the central pulley, and the above three pulleys are engaged with each other and stretched in an inverted triangular shape and in a predetermined direction. It has an endless conveying band that can be run, and while pressing the material to be transferred onto the transfer film obliquely from above by the endless conveying band, all or part of it is immersed in the liquid and inverted in the liquid. A printing device characterized by being configured so that it can be lifted out of the transfer tank and separated.