KR19990072217A - Surface reconstruction method and image media generated by this - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention discloses a method of increasing the reflected luminous intensity on the surface of an image substrate without adding a pigment or pigment to the image. This method modifies the surface without affecting the image. This modification is made possible by applying heat, pressure or a combination thereof to the surface of the image substrate. Once the retrofit step is applied, the image substrate exhibits higher gloss and higher reflectance than the image substrate prior to the retrofit step. This reconstruction step may be used to apply terrain features to the image surface.

Description

Surface reconstruction method and image media generated by this

Creating graphical images on films, papers and other media can be practiced using a variety of conventional techniques, such as electrostatic imaging and inkjet imaging. However, such images generally exhibit a rough or low gloss finish. An example of an image medium with a generally low gloss finish is disclosed in US Pat. No. 5,114,520 (Wang et al.).

Inks or pigments used to produce image media and graphical images are generally composed of thermoplastics. Since the graphical image is easily damaged after it is formed, additional layers are often applied on the image to provide the desired surface properties. Transparent polymer films are often used as auxiliary layers to provide a decorative effect (eg high gloss finish), wear protection and / or sun protection.

Unfortunately, using additional layers increases the cost of the imaging medium. If additional layers are used primarily for decorative effects, the additional costs incurred in using the additional layers in relation to the image medium can be an uneconomical factor in a competitive business environment.

The present invention relates to a method of modifying the surface of an image substrate and an image medium produced by such a method.

1 shows an electron microscope view of the surface of a substrate prior to imaging and modification.

FIG. 2 is an electron microscope view of the surface of an image substrate prior to imaging and modification.

3 shows an electron microscope view of the surface of an image substrate after imaging and retrofitting.

The present invention provides a method for modifying the surface of an image medium without adversely affecting the image, in particular providing a substrate having an image provided with at least one thermoplastic on at least one surface, and having an image contact surface Providing a retrofit medium, such as a substantially planar structure, contacting the image surface of the substrate with the image contact surface of the retrofit medium under conditions of high temperature, high pressure, or high temperature and high pressure, and separating the image surface and the retrofit medium. A method of modifying the surface of an image substrate is provided.

As used herein, the term "restructuring" means a process involving embossing, texturing, molding, painting, engraving, or reshaping the surface of an image medium and generally does not exert pressure or heat or excessive pressure and heat. Do not use.

The first aspect of the present invention can make the image softer by modifying the surface by changing the reflectance of the image on the surface of the image substrate without adding a composite to the image. This method should be performed in a way that does not adversely affect the image.

A second aspect of the invention is a method of attaching a transparent film to a surface of a substrate, the image having a step of modifying the surface of the substrate without adversely affecting the image.

A first feature of the invention is that the method of adapting the surface of an image substrate provides a surface adapted according to the desired decorative effect.

It is a second feature of the present invention that the image medium can have increased or improved reflected light intensity depending on the desired decorative effect. This reflected brightness is preferably increased by modifying the surface of the image medium by smoothing the surface on which the image is present. This smoothing reduces surface aberrations that reduce the reflection of the image by the projection light.

A third feature of the invention is that the decorative effect can be controlled by the surface pattern of the retrofit media used in the retrofit method.

A fourth feature of the invention is that this decorative effect can also provide an improved surface that provides a high gloss finish to the image medium.

A fifth feature of the invention is that it is possible to control the surface optical properties of the image medium by improving the reflectance value. This result is possible by reducing surface variation that can exploit the balance of light reflected from the surface.

The first advantage of the present invention is that it is possible to provide additional surface properties to the image medium without providing an additional layer of material. This advantage can add to the final image product at no additional cost.

A second advantage of the present invention is that it can integrate the embossing process of the present invention with conventional electronic graphics systems disclosed in US Pat. No. 5,114,520 (Wang et al.).

Further features or advantages of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the following drawings.

The retrofit process of the present invention is applicable to any of a variety of commercially available graphic imaging systems, techniques and materials.

For example, one of the graphic imaging systems is an electronic graphics system under the trade name Scotchprint ^™ available from 3M, St. Paul, Minn.

Similarly, the retrofit method of the present invention is widely applicable to a method of printing a graphic image on a medium, and is not limited to such as electrostatic imaging, inkjet imaging, screen printing, and the like.

Non-limiting examples of media used to print graphics on the media include paper, polymeric films (eg, vinyl or polyester), and the like.

Non-limiting examples of inks used to print images on media include toners commercially available from a number of suppliers, including Scotchprint ^™ toners from 3M, and American inkjets available from American Inkjet Company of Billerica, Massachusetts. Contains printing liquid.

Retrofit equipment

One embodiment of retrofit equipment used in the method of the present invention includes pressure, heat or roll laminators or other devices capable of supplying pressure and heat. The retrofit equipment is also preferably a retrofit agent (eg, one side) in the form of a flat plate, sheet or three-dimensional master having a retrofit result which results in a desired decorative result on the image medium by retrofitting the surface of the image substrate. Is a soft effect, or texture, contour and the other side is a pattern).

One example of this remodeling agent is a polymer film sheet or a skin. If the retrofit surface is smooth, the film can be a soft, high tensile film. The film has silicon or other surface energy that reduces the medium to which the modifying agent can be immediately removed or regenerated from the modifying surface.

Other examples of roll laminators and retrofit agents can be combined to provide the desired decoration results by providing the retrofit agent's characteristics directly on one or more rolls of the roll laminator.

Non-limiting examples of commercially available roll laminators include the trade name Pro-Tech Orca III available from Protech Engineering of Madison, Wisconsin or the trade name 3M ^TM Model 9540 available from 3M.

Non-limiting examples of modification agents include polymer sheets, such as DuPont's tradename Mylar film or the US ICI company's tradename Melinex film.

Non-limiting examples of retrofit agents include fabrics or mold sheets for direct integration onto individual retrofit agents or laminator rolls if desired to double the effect.

Modification method

As mentioned above, the retrofit method utilizes a roll laminator and retrofit agent while preparing the image medium. After the image is provided on the medium according to the prior art, the retrofit method may be performed. This modification is possible before or after the end of the last image graphics generation.

The adaptation agent is selected to provide the desired smooth or embossed result on the image substrate by bringing it into contact with the surface of the image substrate in an environment that raises heat or pressure or raises both.

As an example an optional protective cover sheet is placed between the retrofit agent and the roll laminator to protect the laminator rolls.

In use, the combination of the image substrate, retrofit agent and optional cover sheet is carried out via a roll laminator. Once the cover sheet is removed through the roll laminator piece, the retrofit agent is removed. The retrofit surface of the image substrate can be further processed for packaging, storage and later use in some conventional manner (such as US Pat. No. 5,114,520).

The retrofit process may utilize a web speed of approximately 0.1 to 120 inches per second (0.25 to 300 cm / sec), depending on the retrofit agent's ability to retrofit the image substrate under the applicable processing conditions, and a uniform retrofit. Preferably about 0.5 to 3 inches per second (approximately 1.3 to 7.5 cm / sec), most preferably about 1 to 2 inches per second (approximately 2.5 to 5.1 cm / sec).

The retrofit process can use the nip pressure of the roll laminator in the range of approximately 30 lbs / in ² to 70 lbs / in ² (2.07x10 ⁵ to 4.82x10 ⁵ N / m ² ) to change the surface of the image substrate. have. In one embodiment, the nip pressure is preferably maintained at approximately 40 lbs / in ² to 50 lbs / in ² (2.76x10 ⁵ to 4.13x10 ⁵ N / m ² ) to enable uniform adaptation of the image substrate. Most preferably, approximately 60 lbs / in ² (4.13x10 ⁵ N / m ² ).

Retrofitting treatments can be used during heat retrofit or in combination with pressure. In particular, the retrofit agent or roll laminator drum needs to be heated before and after the connection and the surface needs to be retrofitted. The temperature of the retrofit agent may range from approximately 30 to 200 ° C. depending on the polymer composite of the image substrate, the composite of the toner or ink used to generate the image, and the composite of the retrofit agent. In one embodiment of the invention, the temperature of the retrofit agent is preferably maintained between approximately 50 ° C. and 175 ° C., softening the rough surface of the low gloss surface more effectively. It is more desirable to maintain the temperature between approximately 65 ° C and 150 ° C.

The properties of the retrofit agent may vary depending on the desired surface result on the final image substrate. Like the embossing results, the characteristics of the reconstruction results can be geometric, dimensional, symbolic, or decorative, depending on the pattern that appears in the embossing agent. Non-limiting examples of patterns include diamonds, hammers, spirals and other decorative results.

As a smooth result, the nature of the retrofit result can create a high gloss appearance due to the change in reflectance by smoothing the ruggedness of the surface on which the image exists. When creating a high gloss surface, a smooth polymer sheet can be used as a retrofit agent, which can be applied to the image surface under conditions of increasing pressure and temperature to smooth the image surface and increase the reflected brightness. As a result, the surface is largely independent of any raised pattern or other topographical characteristics.

The insert of the retrofit process in generating the image medium does not consume additional raw material or adds an additional layer to the final image medium. In addition, while reproducing the desired results on a vast amount of media, the retrofit agent repeatedly recycles to reduce waste and material consumption.

Practicality of the present invention

The retrofit method of the present invention can be used to provide graphical image media having gloss measurements in the range of approximately 1 to 200 in accordance with the inspection described by the gloss measurements below. 1-3 show a direct comparison of the same vinyl substrate before imaging (FIG. 1), after imaging (FIG. 2) and after using the retrofit method of the present invention (FIG. 3). The image substrate shown in FIG. 2 has a gloss measure of approximately 10-15. After using the retrofit method, the image substrate shown in FIG. 3 has a gloss measurement of approximately 92-120.

Using the retrofit method of the present invention, it is also possible to supply an image medium with improved reflectance luminous intensity. For example, through the examples shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the reflectance measurements for the black, yellow, cyan and magenta regions indicate that the intensity of the modified example is increased. In particular, the unmodified black example has a measured luminous intensity of 1.43 and a modified luminous intensity of 1.79. This represents an improvement of approximately 25%.

The unmodified yellow example has a measured luminous intensity of 0.94 and a modified luminous intensity of 1.05. This represents an improvement of approximately 12%.

An unmodified cyan example has a measured luminous intensity of 1.43 and a modified luminous intensity of 1.85. This represents an approximately 29% improvement.

The unmodified magenta example has a measured luminous intensity of 1.39 and a modified luminous intensity of 1.63. This represents an approximately 17% improvement.

At present, the modified method of the present invention does not know the exact method of providing improved gloss and reflectance measurements. Without being limited to a particular theory, surface aberrations are adapted to heat, pressure or surfaces that can more easily reflect incident light by applying heat and pressure, and everything except images is distorted during the retrofit process. While embodiments of the invention have been identified, the following examples further illustrate the features and advantages of the invention.

Yes

Materials and equipment

Transfer material

8601 Media--trade name Scotchprint ^TM delivery material sold by 3M Company in St. Paul, Minnesota.

8603 Medium-Scotchprint ^TM Transfer Material Commercialized by -3M Company

Board

8610 Media Scotchprint ^TM electronic imaging paper --3M company sold

8612 --3M media company marketed Scotchprint ^TM electronic imaging outside of poster paper that

8620 Media--3M Scotchprint ^TM Vinyl Receptor Film

Scotchprint 8640 ^TM plastic container that is commercially available film, Ltd. medium --3M

Scotchprint 8641 ^TM plastic container that is commercially available film, Ltd. medium --3M

Erase film (used in comparison example)

8910 medium --3M Scotchprint ^TM film marketed by the company

8930 medium --3M Scotchprint ^TM film marketed by the company

Remodeling agent

E.I. in polyester-Delaware Wilmington. Mylar ^TM film available from DuPont de Nemours & Company

Laminator

9540 Ramee coordinator --3M Scotchprint ^TM lamination that the company marketed ordinator

printer

Scotchprint 9512 Printer --3M ^TM electrostatic printers marketed by the Company

Measuring device

Glossmeter--Hunter Associate Photometer D48-7 available from Hunter Associates Research Institute

Densitometer--X-Rite 418 Densitometer, available from X-Rite, Inc., Grandville, Michigan

Detailed description of the experiment and test

Determination of concentration: In the table below, "K" means assay; "Y" means yellow; "C" means cyan; "M" means magenta. It is measured using the X-Rite 418 densitometer described above.

Photometry: Measure using a Hunterlab D48-7 photometer using Specular Glass Standard (D33G-4656) Instrument # 2.

Tape Inspection: Apply the 3M branded Scotch ^™ 610 tape to the sample. The 3M rubber roller is used to apply the tape in three strokes. The tape is peeled off slowly in a single motion at an angle of 180 °.

In each example described herein, a 9512 printer is used with 3M commercially available toner to generate an image on the transfer material. The image is then transferred to the substrate at a standard delivery of 205 ° F., 60 psi, 1.5 inches / sec (96 ° C., 4.13 × 10 ⁵ N / m ² , 3.81 cm / sec).

Next, a 2 × 9 inch (5.1 × 22.9 cm) sample of the graphical image substrate using the retrofit agent and the optional cover sheet is run through the laminator under a number of situations shown in the table below. Once through the laminator, the optional cover sheet and embossing agent are removed from the graphical image substrate. Gloss measurement and density measurement are performed as mentioned later. These test results are shown in Table 1 below, showing the structure of the transfer material, the substrate and the eraser film (if used), forming a number of examples and comparative examples. None of the data shown in Table 1 reflects a sample that is easy for the remodeling process of the present invention. Rather, the table facilitates establishing a baseline by comparing the gloss and brightness of the modified sample.

relay Board elimination Polish black yellow Turquoise claret - 8610 none 2-5 1.46 0.98 1.37 1.37 8601 8620 none 10-15 1.43 0.94 1.43 1.39 8601 8640 none 10-15 - 0.98 1.40 1.37 8603 8620 none 17-25 1.49 0.90 1.31 1.30 8603 8640 none 15-20 1.53 0.93 1.42 1.37 8603 8641 none 15-20 1.47 0.88 1.31 1.27 - 8610 8910 83-85 1.99 1.13 1.76 1.66 8601 8620 8910 87-88 1.76 1.03 1.65 1.56 8601 8640 8910 86-88 1.75 1.00 1.59 1.48 8603 8620 8910 84-86 1.65 0.95 1.39 1.38 8603 8640 8910 86-88 1.59 0.96 1.44 1.42 8603 8641 8910 80-82 1.70 0.94 1.51 1.43 - 8610 8930 118-120 1.88 1.15 1.73 1.64 8601 8620 8930 116-120 1.70 1.06 1.61 1.55 8601 8640 8930 118-120 1.58 1.00 4.60 1.48 8603 8620 8930 115-118 1.60 0.98 1.45 1.38 8603 8640 8930 115-118 1.63 0.97 1.47 1.40 8603 8641 8930 - 1.63 0.95 1.45 1.40 Samples marked with rows are shown in FIG.

As shown in Table 1, samples with 8910 or 8930 erased film layers generally exhibit higher gloss and higher brightness values than samples without such films.

In Table 2, various film structures are compared. In this embodiment, it has an 8910 film layer, an 8930 film layer, or a modified layer. Samples lacking or modifying additional film are included as control elements.

relay Board elimination Polish black yellow Turquoise claret 8603 8620 8930 111-121 1.65 1.02 1.56 1.50 8603 8620 8910 83-85 1.70 1.03 1.66 1.58 8603 8620 none 12-16 1.39 0.94 1.40 1.33 8603 8620 R 92-120 1.79 1.05 1.85 1.63 8603 8620 none 20-22 1.50 0.89 1.33 1.29 8603 8620 R 80-86 1.66 0.95 1.45 1.40 8603 8620 8930 117-118 1.62 0.97 1.45 1.38 8603 8620 8910 83-87 1.65 0.94 1.46 1.41 8603 8641 none 17-18 1.55 0.89 1.37 1.31 8603 8641 R 76-79 1.71 0.94 1.47 1.30 8603 8641 8930 115-118 1.70 0.93 1.51 1.40 8603 8641 8910 86-87 1.73 0.93 1.49 1.40 Samples marked with * rows are shown in FIG. 3.

In each case, the value "R" of the erase column indicates that the sample is susceptible to the modification process of the present invention. The substrate is performed using a 3M SCOTCHPRINT ^™ 9540 ^™ laminator using a cylinder having a diameter between 4 and 6 inches (10.2-15.2 cm). The laminator is run at a temperature of approximately 205 ° F., a speed of approximately 1.5 inches per second and a pressure of 60 psi.

The results in Table 2 show that using commercially available in-process remodeling agents to produce image graphics not only does not adversely affect the image, but also improves the gloss finish and the reflected brightness of the image without creating additional layers or coatings. Indicates. The resulting image on the modified surface appears more vivid using the same amount of toner in the image.

Qualitative tape testing is performed on samples that are largely modified and unmodified. In each case, removing the tape will cause significant surface remodeling and damage on the unmodified sample (i.e. pigment removal), and rarely present, but if present, adversely affect the detectable remodeling or remodeling sample. Crazy As such, tape inspection indicates that the surface durability of the printed board can be substantially improved with the retrofit method of the present invention.

The electron micrographs by the scans of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 show the imaging substrate surface before imaging and retrofit, respectively, after imaging and before retrofit, and after imaging and retrofit. Although some debris 10 (as a result of the incidence shown in the center of FIG. 3) may affect the density of the retrofit, the retrofit shown in FIG. 3 provides significant smoothness.

Those skilled in the art will clearly appreciate that various changes or modifications can be made to the present invention without departing from its scope and spirit. It will be appreciated that the invention is not limited only by the embodiments described in the detailed description, but only by the claims that follow.

Claims (5)

In the method of remodeling the surface of the image substrate, a) providing a substrate having an image provided with at least one thermoplastic material on at least one surface; b) providing a retrofit agent of generally flat structure having an image contact surface; c) contacting the surface of the substrate to the image contact surface of the modifying agent at elevated temperature, pressure, or a combination thereof, and modifying the surface of the substrate without adversely affecting the image on the surface; d) separating the retrofit agent from the retrofit surface. The method of claim 1, wherein the retrofit agent comprises a polymeric material of a film, sheet, roll or continuous web. 3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein prior to step c), the image contact surface of the retrofit agent is smoother than the image surface. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the image contact surface of the retrofit agent has a surface suitable for attaching fabric to the image surface. An image substrate having a retrofit surface produced by the method of any one of claims 1-4.