MX2007010877A - Transfer film, decoration film and method for producing the same, and decoration. - Google Patents

Abstract

There are provided a method for producing a decoration in which a decoration additionally printed with a pattern can be easily obtained, and a decoration. A second pattern layer (8) is printed additionally by an ink jet printer onto the surface of an adhesive layer (6) in a transfer film (1) having a transfer pattern layer (5) formed on a substrate sheet (2) through a strip layer (4) and coated with the adhesive layer (6). The transfer film (1) additionally printed with the second pattern layer (8) is then brought into contact with a print object surface by hot press, thus transferring the pattern and the additionally printed second pattern to the print object surface.

Description

TRANSFER FILM, DECORATION FILM AND METHOD TO PRODUCE THE SAME, AND DECORATION TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a transfer film, a decorative film for printing a design on a surface subject to printing, a method of manufacturing a decoration product and the decoration product obtained by the manufacturing method.

BACKGROUND OF THE ART Conventionally, a post-transfer method and an in-mold printing method have been known as well as a method for printing a design on a molded surface. The post-transfer method includes a top-down transfer method, a roller transfer method and an AP transfer method, and the top-down transfer method is explained as an example, the method is performed in such a way that a Transfer film is supplied intermittently from a winding roll and the transfer is punctured by a transfer device which is provided on the transfer path of the transfer film. The transfer device has a table on which is placed a material to be printed and a movable cavity heated by a heater placed opposite the table and the device keeps the transfer film between the table and the movable cavity and drives the design layer formed on the transfer film against the material to be printed, so the transfer of the design is made. A base film that has lost its design layer due to transfer is wound by the winding roll (see, for example, Figure 1, page 5 of JP-A 07-290686). On the other hand, the method of in-mold printing is performed in such a way that a transfer film on which a design layer has previously been printed is held in a mold when it is injection molded, so that a design is transferred to a surface molded simultaneously by injection molding. The transfer film held in the mold is supplied intermittently on a film roll and a base film which has lost the design layer is wound by the winding roll (see, for example, Figure 10, page 309 of JP- A 61-297149). With such transfer method, printing can be done without the use of a solvent so that the design can be easily printed without contaminating the ambient. In addition, if a thin aluminum deposit sheet is used as a design layer, the feel of the metallic coating shading material can simply be formed on the resin surface. In particular, the transfer method by in-mold printing has the advantage that a design can also be printed on the molded surface having a complex irregular surface such as a three-dimensional curved surface, whereby it is adapted for mass production. Although the aforementioned transfer technology has been used for large applications, since the applications are diverse, new needs are presented. For example, when a mobile telephone enclosure is manufactured, under the circumstances in which an enclosure on whose display panel only the logo of a manufacturer is printed, and an enclosure in the presentation panel of which is printed the logo of a company of Communication service in addition to the manufacturer's logo, can be manufactured separately, there are needs in which part of a design to be transferred is preferably changed according to a batch. However, a design layer printed on a transfer film is sealed between a layer of detachment to improve the release characteristics of a base film and an adhesive layer to allow a design to adhere to a molded surface, so that there has been the drawback that a conventional transfer method can not be adapted to the needs of printing , preferably and additional part of the design. In addition, the new production of a printing plate for additional printing generates problems to be solved, but the cost increases, which is not practical.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention is made in view of said problem in the conventional transfer method and it is an object of the invention to provide a method for manufacturing a transfer film and a decorative film to obtain a product easy to decorate on which a design has been additionally printed, and for the elaboration of a decoration product using these films and providing the decoration product. The present invention provides a transfer film in which a design layer is formed for transfer through a release layer onto the sheet of base material and furthermore, it is coated with an adhesive layer, characterized in that with respect to the Transfer film is additionally printed a second design layer on the surface of the adhesive layer by a digital printing device. The present invention provides a decorative film in which a design layer is formed on a sheet of base material and is further coated with an adhesive layer, characterized in that, with respect to the decorative film, a second design layer is additionally printed. on the surface of the adhesive layer by a digital printing device. The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a decoration product, characterized in that, with respect to a transfer film in which a design layer is formed for transfer through a release layer onto a sheet of base material and in addition is coated with an adhesive layer, a second design layer is additionally printed on the surface of the adhesive layer, and the transfer film, on which the second design layer is additionally printed is placed in contact with a surface subject to printing under heat and pressure, so that both the design and the second design in this way are printed additionally and transferred to the surface subject to printing. The present invention provides a method for making a decoration product, characterized in that, with respect to a decorative film in which a design layer is formed on a sheet of base material and, in addition, is coated with an adhesive layer, a second design layer is additionally printed On the surface of the adhesive layer and the decorative film, on which the second design layer is printed, it is brought into contact with a surface subject to printing under heat and pressure, so that the decorative film having both the design and the the second design printed additionally in this way, is integrated with the subject surface for printing. In a method for manufacturing a decorative product, a transfer film or a decorative film on which a second design layer can be additionally printed, it is distributed between a fixed mold and a mobile mold, a fastening operation is carried out and then it injects a fused resin from the second side design layer into the cavity, whereby the second design layer is sealed between the resin molded in a mold and the adhesive layer. In the method for manufacturing a decoration product, the second design layer can additionally be printed on the surface of the adhesive layer by the use of a digital printing device.

The inkjet printer can be used as the digital printing device. The present invention provides a decoration product in which a design is printed on a surface to be printed by using a transfer film or a decorative film whose design layer is covered with an adhesive layer, characterized in that the second layer of The printed design by using the digital printing device is formed between the surface subject to printing of the decorative product and the adhesive layer that adheres to the surface subject to printing. According to a method for making a transfer film, a decorative film and a decorative product of the present invention, there is the merit that even when the design is partially added, the design can be printed easily and additionally without a new printing plate being produced to make a film transfer or a decorative film again from the beginning. Furthermore, according to a method for manufacturing a decoration product in relation to the present invention wherein the second design layer is additionally printed on the surface of an adhesive layer, a decoration product of which only has transferred the design, or a decoration product to which both the design and the second design have been transferred, can be manufactured selectively. According to a decorative product of the present invention, the second printed design is additionally sealed between the adhesive layer and the molded surface subject to printing, whereby the stability of the second design is allowed to increase.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a sectional view showing a configuration of a transfer film used for the transfer method of the present invention. Figures 2 (a) to 2 (c) are explanatory views showing a method for in-mold printing using the transfer film in Figure 1. Figure 3 is an explanatory view showing a printed design on the transfer film. . Figure 4 is a plan view showing the molded product manufactured by the mold impression. Figure 5 is a sectional view showing a configuration of an additionally printed transfer film with a design.

Figure 6 is a configuration view of an ink jet printer for additional printing. Figure 7 is a view equivalent to that of Figure 4 showing an additionally printed molded product.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In the following, the present invention will be explained in detail based on the modalities shown in the drawings. Figure 1 shows a configuration of a transfer film used by a method for the manufacture of a decorative product in relation to the present invention. In this figure a transfer film 1 consists of a base film (base material sheet) 2, a release layer 3, a release layer 4, a design layer 5 and an adhesive layer 6. Further, in the following description, the release layer 4, the design layer 5 and the adhesive layer 6 can collectively be referred to as a decorative layer. The material of the base film 2 can preferably use PET (polyethylene terephthalate) of a high heat resistance, but is not limited to this, either a single layer resin that is selects from, or a laminated resin of two or more kinds of resin from a copolymer resin that is selected from polycarbonate resin, polyamide resin, polyimide resin, polyester resin, acrylic resin, olefin resin, urethane resin, resin of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, vinyl chloride resin and the like are those that can be used. The thickness of the base film 2 is preferably from 5 to 500 μm, preferably from 25 to 75 μm considering good handling capacity, and preferably from 38 to 50 μm, considering good molding stability. The release layer 4 has a surface located on the outermost part when the base film 2 is peeled off after the design is transferred, so that the release layer serves as a protective layer of the design. The material of the release layer 4 includes an acrylic type resin, a nitrocellulose type resin, a polyurethane type resin, a chlorinated rubber type resin, a polyvinyl chloride-acetate copolymer type resin, a polyamide-type resin, a polyester-type resin, an epoxy-type resin, a polycarbonate-type resin, an olefin-type resin, a resin of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene and the like. In addition, the film thickness of the release layer 4 is preferably 0.5 to 50 μm. The release layer 3 is coated on the base film 2 to make it smooth for detachment of the release layer 4 from the base film 2. Therefore, if detachment can be easily performed between the base film 2 and the release layer 4, the release layer 3 can be omitted. The material of the release layer 3 is made of the same material as that of the release layer 4 mentioned above. The design layer 5, which includes characters, symbols, patterns, coating patterns and the like are sealed between the release layer 4 and the adhesive layer 6, and the material of the design layer 5 may include an acrylic-type resin, a resin-type nitrocellulose, a polyurethane type resin, a chlorinated rubber type resin, a polyvinyl chloride-acetate copolymer type resin, a polyamide type resin, a polyester type resin, an epoxy resin and the like . In addition, the design layer 5 can be constituted not only of the resins mentioned above but, for example, of a layer of aluminum metal film, chromium, copper, nickel, indium, tin, silicon oxide and the like by evaporation under vacuum or deposition. In addition, the film thickness of the design layer 5 is preferably adjusted in a range of 0.5 μm to 50 μm to obtain a sufficient design function. When the design layer is constituted by a metallic film layer, the film thickness is preferably from 50A to 1200A. The adhesive layer 6 is attached to the design layer 5 with the surface of a molded product and the material thereof includes an acrylic type resin, a nitrocellulose type resin, a polyurethane type resin, a rubber type resin chlorinated, a polyvinyl chloride-acetate copolymer type resin, a polyamide type resin, a polyester type resin, an epoxy type resin, a polycarbonate type resin, an olefin type resin, a acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene resin and the like. The thickness of the adhesive layer 6 is preferably 0.5 to 50 μm. The above-described design layer 5 can be printed on the release layer 4 by a well-known engraved recess. The engraved hole performs printing by holding an ink within a tiny concave portion on a plate and transfers the ink to the release layer 4 under the pressure of a printing cylinder and the ink used is basically of the solvent type and therefore has an advantage that the ink exhibits excellent adhesion even for a plastic film with poor wetting properties, such as layer 4 of detachment In addition, the surface of the plastic film does not absorb ink and has a very smooth surface, so that the engraved hole is used using an affinity of ink with the release layer 4 and a precise design can be made. In addition, a method for forming the design layer 5 of the release layer 4 includes not only the engraved recess mentioned above but any printing method such as offset printing, screen printing, coating, immersion by said method, the design layer can be Adhere to the detachment layer 4. Figures 2 (a) to 2 (c) show an in-mold impression using the transfer film 1 having the configuration mentioned in the above. In addition, in the following description, a surface subjected to printing that acquires a display panel of mobile phones and a case where the decoration is applied to the presentation panel will be explained. In the present, the impression in mold consists mainly of a transfer film placement process shown in Figure 2 (a), an injection molding process shown in Figure 2 (b) and a molded product taking the procedure shown in the figure 2 C) . An in-mold printing device has a fixed mold 10 and a movable mold 11, so that the transfer film 1 is allowed to pass therethrough. The transfer film 1 passing through both molds allows the design layer 5 to be distributed towards the fixed mold 10. In the fixed mold 10, a projection forming portion 10a is formed to inject a transparent resin towards the transfer film 1 and the projection forming portion 10a is connected to a nozzle of an injection molding machine 12. When both the fixed mold 10 and the mobile mold 11 are closed, a cavity is formed between them as a space for injection of molten resin. As the cast resin mentioned above, general purpose resins such as a polystyrene type resin, a polyolefin type resin, an ABS resin, an AS resin and an AN resin are shown. Without being limited to these, general-purpose engineering resins such as an oxide resin may be used. polyphenylene-polystyrene, a polycarbonate-type resin, a polyacetal-type resin, acrylic resin, polycarbonate denatured polyphenylene ether resin and a polybutylene terephthalate resin as well as super engineering resins such as polysulfone resin, polyphenylene sulfide type resin, polyphenylene oxide resin, polyallylate resin, resin of polyether imide, polyimide resin, liquid crystal polyester resin and polyaryl type heat resistant resin. In addition, a composite resin to which a reinforcing material such as glass fiber and inorganic filler has been added is also included in the molten resin mentioned above. First, a conventional mold ession will be explained (when additional printing is not performed). In Figure 2 (a), the transfer film 1 is fed between a fixed mold 10 and the mold 11 movably so that the positioning is carried out. That is, the positioning is performed in such a way that a transparent resin injected into the cavity and molded, and a design formed in the transfer film 1 are distributed in the home. Figure 3 shows a 5 'design when the design layer 5 printed on the transfer film 1 is observed from the plane.

The transfer film 1 consists of a portion on which the design 5 'has been printed and a portion on which the design 5' has not been printed and a window portion 5 a in which the printing is not applied and adapted to be configured to a transparent presentation window by forming a transparent resin on the back of it. Shaped on the lower portion of a pattern 5b shaped window frame to which a black print has been applied is, for example, the manufacturer's logo 5c which has bleached characters in white "ABCD". Figures 2 (a) to 2 (c) will be explained again. In Figure 2 (b) when the transfer film 1 has been placed, the fixed mold 10 and the mold 11 movable are fastened and then a transparent resin is injected into a cavity formed between the mold 10 fixed and the movable mold 11 opposite each other. Then, as shown in Figure 2 (e), after the transparent resin injected in this way is cured, the fixed mold 10 and the movable mold 11 are opened and the base film 2 is peeled off because it is provided. a release layer 4 (see Figure 1), whereby a product 13 is left molded on the side of the fixed mold 10. Transferred to the formed surface by the resin of the molded product 13 is the design 5 'so that the design 5' is integrated with the molded product 13. Subsequently, the molded product 13 is released from the fixed mold 10. Figure 4 is a screen panel of mobile phones which have been molded by the aforementioned mold printing before and after they have been decorated. In the figure, the reference numeral 14 designates a molded panel made of a transparent resin and formed on the surface of the molded panel 14 is a black-coated solid pattern 5b shaped as a transfer window frame. Formed in the lower portion of the 5b pattern of solid coating is the manufacturer's logo 5c which has blanched white "ABCD" characters, as described above. In the following, a method for manufacturing a decorative product by additional printing which is a feature of the present invention will be explained. Figure 5 shows a configuration of a transfer film on which a design has been additionally printed. In addition, in the figure, the same components as in Figure 1 are designated with the same reference numbers so that the description of them will be omitted. In figure 5, additionally printed on the outer surface of the adhesive layer 6 in the transfer film 1 is a second design layer 8. In this mode, the second design layer 8 will be explained as a logo of a communication service company "EFGH". In order to additionally print the second design layer 8, a digital printing technology is preferably used. According to digital printing technology, digital data produced by DTP (Desktop Publishing) and the like can be printed directly without going through a plate-making, so that the technology is suitable for the additional printing of a design. In addition, although the digital printing technology includes the type of ink jet, the type of heat sensitive tape, the type of laser marker and the like, the type of ink jet will be explained as representative of this mode. Figure 6 shows a basic configuration of the inkjet printer for printing the logo mentioned before "EFGH". The inkjet printer 20 includes mainly an ink jet head (hereinafter abbreviated as head) 21 for emitting ink jets, an ink cartridge (not shown) for supplying an ink to the head 21, a carriage 22 for holding the head 21 for scanning, transport mechanisms 23 and 24 for feeding the transfer film 21 in the longitudinal direction thereof and an impeller 25 for controlling the movement of the carriage 22 mentioned above and the transport mechanisms 23, 24 mentioned above, respectively. The transport mechanism 23 mentioned above has a pair of feed rolls 23a, 23b distributed upstream from the head 21 (in the direction of travel) and a pair of feed rolls 24a, 24b distributed downstream from the head 21, respective rollers are adapted to be immobilized by means of a band. In addition, a feed roller 24a is a drive roller that is driven by a motor and controlled by the driver 25. The transport mechanisms 23 and 24 mentioned above cause the transfer film 1 to be released from a feed roller (on the which the transfer film 1 is cut into a predetermined width and rolled (26) and fed to the position of a platen 27.

In a similar manner to a serial scanning type inkjet printer, the carriage 22 is designed to cause the head 21 to perform scanning in a direction perpendicular to the direction of travel (X direction) of the transfer film 1. when viewed from a plane (hereinafter referred to as the film width direction) according to the control by the impeller 25 and to move two guide rails 28a, 28b deltably parallel to each other in the film width direction . In addition, the carriage 22 is connected via a synchronization band to the output shaft of a pulse control type motor (not shown) and controls the speed of revolution and the speed direction of the motor which allows the head 21 is transported on the carriage 22 so that it moves to any position in the direction of film width. The ink ejected from the head 21 adheres as droplets to the adhesive layer 6 of the transfer film 1 distributed away from the head 21 by a gap of approximately 1 mm, whereby the "EFGH" logo can be printed as the second layer 8 of design. A typical design jet allows the ink to adhere as the droplets on the paper penetrate inside the paper so as to fix the design, but when a subject subject to printing is the transfer film 1, the ink jet allows the ink to adhere as the droplets coat the adhesive layer 6 of the design layer 5. The adhesive layer 6 is constituted of the aforementioned raw material which has no penetrability so that the ink used for the ink jet of the present embodiment uses an affinity of thermosetting resin with the adhesive layer 6. Further, when the raw material of an ink is a thermosetting resin even if the adhesive layer 6 has no acceptability, the ink is cured on the surface thereof and can then be fixed on the adhesive layer 6 even when the ink does not penetrate inside the adhesive layer 6. Although an idea has been fixed where the design layer 5 is distributed between the release layer 4 and the adhesive layer 6 to be protected, in the present invention, the design layer 8 is formed by the jet printing of ink in a state in which the layer is exposed outside the adhesive layer 6, whereby the decorative layer 8 'is constituted by the release layer 4, the design layer 5, the adhesive layer 6 and the second layer 8. of design (see figure 5). In addition, reference number 29 designates a roll having the transfer film 1 printed with the second design by the ink jet. In addition, printing by the ink jet printer 20 can be performed in the final step of the process for making the transfer film 1 or to a different process from the process of making the transfer film 1. Further, the head 21 mentioned above can be of a continuous type in which the head continues to discharge an ink at certain time intervals and diverts the droplets of ink discharged in this manner to form an image, or of a type as needed, wherein the head allows the ink to be discharged in correspondence with the image data to be printed. In addition, the ink discharge system includes a thermal system, an electrostatic actuator system, a piezoelectric system and the like, but any of them can be used. Figure 7 shows a display panel (decorative product) of mobile telephones as an example of a panel on which additional printing is performed by the ink jet printer 20 mentioned above. In the figure, reference number 14 designates A molded panel made of a transparent resin and formed on the surface of the molded panel 14 is a black solid coating pattern 5 formed from a transfer window frame. The 5b pattern of solid coating and the 5c logo, "ABCD" from a manufacturer has been transferred to the conventional transfer film 1. Attached to the upper side of the solid coating pattern 5b is the "EFGH" logo of a communication service company as the second layer 8 of design. In this way, applying an impression to the surface of the adhesive layer 6 of the transfer film 1 by the inkjet printing allows a design to be printed additionally, as required. In addition, in the embodiment mentioned above, the characters have been explained as an example of additional printing, but are not limited thereto, additionally a symbol, a geometric design, a solid coating pattern can be printed as the second design layer 8. and similar. The inkjet printer 20 is suitable for printing these designs and additionally can accurately print them in a desired position. In addition, when making in-mold printing by using either film 1 of transfer printed with only "ABCD" as the 5c logo of a manufacturer or the transfer film 1 in which "EFGH" has been additionally printed as the logo of a communication service company on the transfer film 1, the The presentation shown in Figure 4 or the display panel shown in Figure 7 can be printed selectively. In the present invention, the second design layer 8 can be placed in a position that overlaps the design layer 5 or in a position in which it does not overlap with it. When the designs overlap each other, the design layer 5 and the adhesive layer 6 are required to be transparent. This also applies to both sides of the print. In the method for manufacturing a decorative product of the present invention, the aforementioned embodiment uses a transparency film to make the decoration, but is not limited thereto, and can use a decorative film. The decorative film means a film in which a design layer is formed directly on a base film without passing through a release layer and after decoration, the base film is integrated with a product of decor. Even when a decorative film is used, similarly to the transfer film, a second design can be printed additionally. The thickness of the base film 2 for the decorative film capable of being used is from 25 to 1000 μm, but preferably from 50 to 600 μm is considered a good handling capacity, and preferably from 100 to 500 μm is considered a good molding stability. In addition, the transfer method of the present invention can be applied not only to the in-mold printing shown in the aforementioned embodiment but also to the thermal transfer method in which an object to be printed and a transfer film are laminated and the resulting layer is allowed to pass through between a heat press roll and a support roll, whereby a pattern is transferred to the object to be printed. Furthermore, the method for manufacturing a decoration product of the present invention can be applied not only to the product molded with resin in the aforementioned embodiment but to a metal product, to a glass product, a garment product, a product of paper and similar.

Claims (8)

1. Transfer film in which a design layer is formed for transfer through a release layer onto a sheet of base material and furthermore, it is coated with an adhesive layer, characterized in that, with respect to the transfer film, it is printed additionally a second design layer on the surface of the adhesive layer by a digital printing device.

2. Decorative film in which a design layer is formed on a sheet of base material and, in addition, is coated with an adhesive layer, characterized in that, with respect to the decorative film, a second design layer is additionally printed on the surface of the adhesive layer by the digital printing device.

3. Method for manufacturing a decorative product, characterized in that, with respect to a transfer film in which a design layer is formed for transfer through a release layer onto a sheet of base material and, in addition, is coated with an adhesive layer, a second design layer is additionally printed on the surface of the adhesive layer, and the transfer film on which it is printed additionally the second design layer is brought into contact with a surface subjected to printing under heat and pressure, whereby both the design and the second design in this way are further printed and transferred to the surface of the object to be printed.

4. Method for manufacturing a decorative product, characterized in that, with respect to a decorative film in which a design layer is formed on a sheet of base material and in addition, is coated with an adhesive layer, a second layer is additionally printed design on the surface of the adhesive layer, and the decorative film, on which the second design layer is additionally printed, comes into contact with a surface subjected to printing under heat and pressure, so that the decorative film having both the design and the second design in this way additionally printed are integrated with the surface subject to printing.

5. Method for manufacturing a decorative product as described in any of claims 3 or 4, wherein the transfer film or decorative film, on which the second design layer is additionally printed, is distributed between a fixed mold and a moving mold, a pressing operation is performed and then a molten resin is injected from the second side of the design layer within the cavity, whereby the second design layer is sealed between the resin molded in a mold and the adhesive layer. Method for manufacturing a decorative product as described in any of claims 3 or 4, wherein the second design layer is further printed on the surface of the adhesive layer by the use of a digital printing device. A method for manufacturing a decorative product as described in claim 6, wherein the ink jet printer is used as the digital printing device. 8. Decorative product in which a design is printed on a surface subjected to printing by using a transfer film or a decorative film whose design layer is covered with an adhesive layer, characterized in that the second printed layer by use of the digital printing device is formed between the surface subject to printing of the decorative product and the adhesive layer that adheres to the surface subject to printing.