JPH1159093A - Method for transfer printing - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent external appearance fault due to bubble by counterposing a transfer print film having a predetermined pattern printed on a water soluble resin film between materials to be printed, pressing an outer peripheral surface of the material to be printed by a moist presser, and dissolving the water soluble film, thereby transferring a pattern. SOLUTION: The method for transfer printing comprises the steps of opposing a transfer print film having a transfer printing part of an outer peripheral surface of a shift knob on a water soluble film to be printed via the knob, urging a presser made of sponge containing water and shaped to a split shape of the outer periphery of material to be printed, and then transferring a design or the like to the peripheral surface of the knob while dissolving the soluble film of the print film in the water. The design is carried by the soluble film in an area of the film corresponding to a part covering the peripheral surface of the knob, but not by a part except the above part. After transferring, a mated part of the residual film can be dissolved and removed by injecting the water.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for transferring and printing an outer peripheral surface of a three-dimensional article such as a steering wheel and a shift knob.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a wood grain pattern is printed on a water-soluble resin film, and a transfer printing film having an adhesive layer formed thereon is floated on the water surface in a water tank. A transfer printing method is known in which a steering wheel is pressed against a floating grain pattern surface and then rotated (JP-A-61-5981). In addition, instead of the water tank, an endless belt made of a water-containing cushion material is used, and a swellable transfer film is placed thereon, and a printed material arranged above the predetermined position is brought into contact with the transfer film. A method of transferring a pattern by press-fitting the belt onto the belt is also known (JP-A-53-91811).

[0003]

However, in the former method, the steering wheel is pushed into the wood grain pattern floating on the water surface so that the wheel is completely submerged under the water surface. It expands and spreads on the top, making it difficult to position patterns and characters. In particular, the back side of the wheel is transferred with the pattern flowing.
In the case of a steering wheel, the portion where the pattern flow occurs is usually invisible to the public, but it is still better. However, for example, an article such as a shift knob whose entire outer peripheral surface is visible reduces the commercial value.

Further, in this method, since the transfer printing is performed only by the pressing force of the water pressure, the bubbles generated between the printing thin film and the steering wheel are hard to be removed, and transfer defects such as pattern dropping also occur. Some are bad.

[0005] Furthermore, a water tank is required to dispose the pattern on the water surface, and a large amount of water must be circulated or exchanged. Further, the transfer printing film needs to cover the entire surface of the water tank, and the yield of the expensive transfer printing film is poor, so that there is a problem that the cost is high. Also, since the latter method does not use a water tank, there is no problem due to this, but it is not possible to print the entire outer peripheral surface of the printing material.

In the present invention, under such circumstances, there is no occurrence of pattern flow on the entire outer peripheral surface of the printing material, no appearance defect due to bubbles, and the positioning of pictures and characters can be performed reliably. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a transfer method capable of transferring a predetermined pattern onto a print substrate without defects.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems As a result of intensive studies to solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the present inventor has found that a transfer printing film in which a predetermined pattern is printed on a water-soluble resin film is opposed to a printing substrate. The present inventors have found that it is effective to transfer the pattern by pressing the outer peripheral surface of a printing material with a water-containing pressing body to dissolve the water-soluble film, and have reached the present invention.

That is, according to the present invention, (1) a transfer printing film formed by printing a picture, a character, a symbol, or the like on a water-soluble film via a printing substrate is disposed so as to face the printing film, and then a pressing containing water is performed. A transfer printing method characterized in that the transfer printing film is pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the printing material by the body, and characters and pictures are transferred to the printing material while dissolving the water-soluble film,
(2) The transfer printing method according to the above (1), wherein the transfer printing film is preliminarily shaped so as to correspond to the divisional shape of the outer peripheral surface of the printing medium. The transfer printing method according to the above (1) or (2), wherein the transfer printing method has a shape corresponding to the divided shape of the outer peripheral surface of the printing medium, (4) the pressing body is supported by a support,
(1) characterized by being pressed through a support
To a transfer printing method according to any one of (1) to (3).

[0009] The transfer printing film itself used in the transfer printing method of the present invention is already known, and it is required to screen-print a desired pattern, character, or the like on a water-soluble film such as polyvinyl alcohol, gelatin, and sodium alginate. It is printed by a printing method such as offset printing or gravure printing or a vacuum evaporation method. If necessary, an adhesive layer may be further formed on the printing surface.

The pressing body used in the transfer printing method of the present invention may have any structure that can hold water, such as plastic foam, gelatin, and agar. Further, it is preferable to have a shape corresponding to the divided surface on the outer periphery of the printing medium.
This is pressed against the substrate through the transfer printing film,
The water-soluble film is dissolved by the retained water, and the pattern of the transfer printing film is transferred to the printing material. When pressing the pressing body, the pressing is preferably performed using a support that supports the pressing body.

In the transfer printing method of the present invention,
The transfer printing film may be formed in advance and shaped so as to correspond to a shape obtained by dividing the outer peripheral surface structure of the printing material.

After the predetermined pattern / character has been transferred and printed on the printing material in this way, the excess water-soluble film that does not carry the printing surface remaining on the joining portion of the transfer printing film is removed by spraying water or the like. Can be.

The printing substrate to which the transfer printing method of the present invention is applied is not particularly limited. However, the greatest feature of the method of the present invention is that it can transfer a defect-free pattern or the like to the entire outer peripheral surface of the printing material, and therefore, particularly those having a three-dimensional shape, such as a shift knob, a door knob, a steering wheel, an assist grip, It is suitable for printing on guard bars, roof rails, desks, chairs, and other legs.

[0014]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of a method of transferring a picture or a character to the outer peripheral surface of a shift knob by the transfer printing method of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a transfer printing film provided with a transfer printing portion for transferring to an outer peripheral surface of a shift knob is opposed to a water-soluble film with a shift knob as a printing object sandwiched therebetween. By pressing a pressing body made of a sponge containing water shaped into a divided shape of the surface, a pattern or the like is transferred to the outer peripheral surface of the knob while dissolving the water-soluble film of the transfer printing film in water. The picture is carried on the water-soluble film in a region corresponding to the portion where the transfer film covers the outer peripheral surface of the knob, and is not carried on other portions. After the transfer, the remaining mating portion of the transfer film can be dissolved and removed by spraying water.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a case where the pressing body of FIG. 1 is pressed by a pressing body support having a recess formed along its shape.

FIGS. 3 to 9 show another embodiment.
In this method, the transfer printing film is formed in advance so as to correspond to the divided shape of the outer periphery of the printing material. In this case, the positioning of the pattern / character / symbol becomes more reliable.

FIG. 3 shows a steering wheel 1 of a printing medium.
The printing part (3) to which the transfer printing method according to the present invention is applied is provided in a part (the upper part and the lower part in FIG. 1) of the grip part 2 of FIG. Note that, in this example, the printing unit also includes characters. 4 to 9 are diagrams for explaining the transfer printing method in this case. FIGS. 4 and 5 are explanatory views of a step of forming a transfer printing film in advance so as to follow the outer peripheral shape of the steering. As shown in FIG. 4, a transfer printing film 10 provided with a printing portion 3 on a water-soluble film so as to correspond to an outer peripheral division surface of a steering wheel is placed on a vacuum forming die 5. This vacuum forming die 5 has two concave portions 11 having a shape corresponding to the two divided surfaces of the outer periphery of the steering wheel grip portion, and a convex portion 12 provided on both sides of each concave portion and a concave portion 1 for the concave portion.
3, a vacuum circuit 6 and a vacuum pump 7 communicating with each of these concave portions, and a hinge portion 14.

The printing unit 3 is heated by a heater 8 provided above the transfer printing film. Next, the transfer printing film is fixed to the above-mentioned vacuum forming die by a clamp 9, and further, the transfer printing film is evacuated and formed into two outer peripheral divided shapes of the steering wheel grip as shown in FIG.

After the molding, the transfer printing film is wound around the grip portion. This can be performed by bending the hinge portion at the hinge portion 14 as shown in FIG. Further, in order to perform transfer printing, the steering wheel on which the transfer printing film is wound is placed on a pressing body (printing receiving mold) 16 made of a sponge containing water as shown in FIG. It is pressed as shown in FIG.

Since an extra water-soluble film adheres to the steering wheel thus transferred and printed,
To remove this, it is taken out of the printing receiver and sprayed with water 18 as shown in FIG.

[0023]

As described above, in the transfer printing method of the present invention, a pattern or the like which cannot be avoided by the conventional method of forming a printing film on the water surface of a water tank and transferring the printing material to the printing film against the same. Flow can be eliminated, the positioning of characters and the like can be performed accurately, and the necessary pressing force can be applied by the pressing body at the time of transfer, so that air bubbles can be removed. A desired pattern or the like can be transferred and printed on the entire outer peripheral surface without defects. Moreover, a large water tank and a large amount of water are not required, and the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view of a transfer printing method according to the present invention using a shift knob as a printing substrate.

FIG. 2 shows a mode in which the pressing body is pressed via a support body along the outer shape in the explanatory view of the above.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a steering wheel on which a part of a grip portion is transferred and printed by the method of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the transfer printing method of the present invention using the grip portion of FIG. 3 as a printing material, and shows a state in which a transfer printing film is arranged on a vacuum forming die.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of the same, showing a state in which the transfer printing film is vacuum-formed into a shape of a divided outer peripheral surface of a grip portion.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing the state in which the formed transfer printing film is wound around a grip portion.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of the same, showing a state in which a grip portion around which a transfer printing film is wound is placed on a printing receiving die (pressing body).

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of the same, showing a state in which the grip portion is pressed by a pressing body.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing the state in which an excess transfer printing film is washed with water.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A water-soluble film through a substrate to be printed
A transfer printing film on which characters and symbols are printed is arranged so as to face each other, and then the transfer printing film is pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the printing material with a pressing body containing water to dissolve the water-soluble film. A transfer printing method characterized by transferring characters and pictures to a printer. 2. The transfer printing method according to claim 1, wherein the transfer printing film is formed in advance so as to correspond to the divided shape of the outer peripheral surface of the printing medium. 3. The transfer printing method according to claim 1, wherein the pressing body containing water has a shape corresponding to the divided shape of the outer peripheral surface of the printing medium. 4. The transfer printing method according to claim 1, wherein the pressing body is supported by the support, and is pressed via the support.