JPS6255506B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for printing a curved surface using a swellable film.

In this type of curved surface printing method, a transfer pattern is formed by printing in advance on a swellable film such as a polyvinyl alcohol film, and the printing material is pressed onto the transfer pattern surface while floating this transfer film on the water surface. immerse it in water,
Since the transferred pattern is transferred onto the printing material using water pressure, there is an advantage that the transferred pattern can be tightly adhered to the surface irregularities of the printing material by swelling and expanding the film. The film begins to swell and expand,
For example, when a long object is brought into contact with the film from the longitudinal direction, the leading edge and the trailing edge of the printing material will come into contact with the film with a time difference, so the leading edge and the trailing end of the printing material will In this case, there is a possibility that printing misalignment may occur due to the difference in the degree of enlargement of the film.

The present invention aims to provide a transfer device in which a floating frame surface is formed in a liquid tank to restrict the expansion of a transfer film, thereby eliminating the above-mentioned disadvantages. The apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, reference numeral 1 denotes a liquid tank, in which normally water W is stored.

Inside the liquid tank 1, a pair of conveying means 2, 2 that move horizontally are provided so as to be submerged in the liquid.
Floats 3, 3, . . . are attached to each of the conveying means 2 at predetermined intervals.

The conveyance means 2 is for moving the float 3 from one end of the liquid tank 1 to the other end, and may be constructed of a conveyance belt that reciprocates, for example, but in the embodiment, endless conveyance belts 21, 21 are used. It is configured so that it circulates.

The conveying means 2, 2 are arranged parallel to each other and are moved in the same direction at a constant speed. For this purpose, the conveying means 2, 2 are provided with sprockets 22, 23, respectively, and these sprockets are configured to be driven by drive means 24, 24.

The floats 3, 3... are each connected to the conveyance belt 21 by a chain 31, for example,
Therefore, it floats on the liquid surface while moving freely within the range allowed by the chain 31.

The floats 3, 3... form a pair of rows,
The rows may be parallel to each other, or they may be arranged so as to expand slightly in the direction of travel, as shown in FIG.

A transfer film 4 is placed on the movement start point side of the float 3.
A supply section is provided, and this transfer film 4
is usually pre-printed, but in some cases it may be printed at the supply section.

Although it is preferable that the film 4 is wound into a roll and pulled out from one end as in the embodiment, in some cases, the film may be cut into predetermined dimensions and supplied one by one. good.

Furthermore, even if the floats 3, 3 are not arranged in an open limb shape in the traveling direction as in the embodiment, the floats 3, 3 are separated by the expansion phenomenon of the transfer film 4, and this Since the traveling direction is wider than that on the film supply side, the conveyor belts 21, 21 may be made parallel to lengthen the distance between the floats 3.

Above the liquid tank 1, there is an article 5 that is a substrate to be printed.
An article supplying means 6 is provided for supplying the long articles 5 to the liquid tank 1. It is configured so that it can be inserted inside.

The long article 5 is opposed to the film 4 so that its longitudinal direction coincides with the traveling direction of the film 4 as shown in FIG. ' is lowered from the end 5' opposite to '.

In the figure, 7 is a filter, 8 is a circulation pipe system, and 9 is a pump.

Since the apparatus of the present invention is as described above, in the first step, the film 4 is pulled out into the liquid tank 1 with the transfer pattern facing upward, and the pull-out end 4', which is the advancing side end, is drawn out as shown in the chain line in FIG. Like, float 3,3
and then as a second step this film 4
After the film is stretched while being drawn out by the floats 3, 3, the article 5 is lowered as described above and the film 4
and immerse it in the liquid in that state,
Subsequently, in the third step, the article 5 is pulled up and the film 4 is removed, thereby completing the transfer.

In the apparatus of the present invention, while the film 4 is advanced by the conveying means from the starting point _P1 on the supply side to the ending point _P2 on the other side, the film 4 gradually swells and expands as shown in FIG. 5A. At the end of the advance, Figure 5B
As shown in , the end point _P2 side expands into an expanded shape,
Finally, as shown by the chain line in FIG. 5B, the starting point _P1 side also swells and expands.

That is, in this device, the film 4 is transported on the liquid surface by the transport means 2 while being supported by the floats 3, 3 on both sides, and by this transport, the film 4 is moved to the drawing end 4' side. It will gradually swell and expand.

Therefore, the film 4 is forced to separate the floats 3, 3 on both sides, and is also inhibited from freely expanding and expanding by the floats 3, 3, so that the transfer pattern is prevented from collapsing due to free swelling and expansion. At the same time, since the article 5 comes into contact with the film 4 gradually from the end point P ₂ side toward the starting point P ₁ side, the article 5 can be The degree of swelling in each part of the film 4 that comes into contact can be made substantially the same, and therefore the transfer effect on the article 5 can be improved.
In the above steps, the transfer film 4 pushes out the floats 3, 3 in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction by swelling and expanding, so that the floats on the starting point _P1 side end up as shown in FIG. 5B. 3', 3' are also moved as indicated by the chain lines, and unless the contact of the article 5 is taken into account, the pair of rows formed by the floats 3, 3 should be approximately parallel. Therefore, if the weight and buoyancy of the floats 3, 3 and the length of the link connecting the floats to the conveying means are selected, the parallelism of the conveying means does not need to be much of a problem.

In addition, since the film 4 is swellable, the float 3
By simply coming into contact with it, it attaches to it, and in this attached state, it is advanced by the conveying means.

Since the apparatus of the present invention is as described above, it has the effect of preventing the transfer film 4 from freely swelling and expanding, and therefore has the advantage of being able to perform good transfer on the article 5.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic longitudinal sectional side view showing the configuration of the device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same device, FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic longitudinal sectional side view illustrating how to use the apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a plan view illustrating the swelling and expansion state of the transfer film in the apparatus. In the figure, 1 is a liquid tank, 2 is a conveyance means, 3 is a float, 4 is a transfer film, and 5 is a long article.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A transfer film supply section is provided at one end, and a liquid tank containing liquid inside, a pair of conveying means provided in this liquid tank, and a transfer film inside the liquid tank by this conveying means. The feeding section is configured to advance the swellable film printed with the transfer pattern into the liquid tank from one end with the transfer pattern facing upward, and the conveying means is configured to advance the swellable film printed with the transfer pattern into the liquid tank from one end. The floats are configured to move in the direction and are arranged to face each other, and the floats are connected to the conveying means via a joint and configured to be able to float on the liquid surface of the liquid tank, A transfer device characterized in that the film is advanced and developed on a liquid surface by supporting both side edges of the film on floats of a pair of conveying means.