US2248213A

US2248213A - Decalcomania transfer and method

Info

Publication number: US2248213A
Application number: US223611A
Authority: US
Inventors: Roy C Beck
Original assignee: VITACHROME Inc
Current assignee: VITACHROME Inc
Priority date: 1938-08-08
Filing date: 1938-08-08
Publication date: 1941-07-08
Anticipated expiration: 1958-07-08

Description

July s, 1941. R. QBE K 2,248,213

I DECALCOMANIA TRANSFER AND METHOD Filed Aug. 8, 1938 6V HA RR/s, Km c/-/, Fos TER 6 HARRIS 29 nd M FOR THE Fl PM ATTORNEYS.

Patented .iuiy 8, 1941- S PATENT @FFICE DECALCOMANEA TRANSFER AND METHOD Roy 0. Beck, Pasadena,

chrome,lnc., Los Angeles, Calif.,

of California Calit, assignor to Vitaa corporation Application August 8, 1938, Serial No. 223,611

12 Claims.

My invention relates to the decalcomania art with particular reference to the construction of transfer sheets and involves not only the construction of such sheet, but also a new' and useful decalcomania method.

It has long been desirable to develop asimple, inexpensive decalcomania transfer that may be employed to apply any character of design in a simple and rapid transfer procedure. Such development has been retarded primarily by problems associated with the so-called separation coat on the mounting sheet of a transfer that carries the design coat. The general object of my invention is to solve these problems.

The separation coat of a transfer must have normally a relatively sturdy texture to serve as an adequate vehicle for the printed design,v

but must at the time of application be capable of releasing the design without damage or distortion. Usually a composition of glue-like character is employed because a dry glue coat may have a suitably hard gelatinous consistency to carry the design coat and, when properly moistened at the time of application, may become sumciently fluid to release the superimposed design. inevitably, however, there is a troublesome degree of adhesiveness in the moistened glue to hinder separation of the design coat In the usual practice, moreover, glue is carried away with the separated design coat and is also deposited on the surrounding surface of the article to which the design is applied. After the design is applied, such transferred glue must be completely removed from the design and the surrounding surface wherever exposed because, with prolonged exposure or hot weather, the glue may'crack, curl or become discolored, damaging the design coat and spoiling the appearance of he article carrying the design. A delicate design coat may survive the ordeal of being separated from the mounting sheet only to be ruined in spite of skill and care in the subsequent operat-ion of removing-traces of transferred glue. it a quick-drying varnish is employed to cause the ,design to adhere to a surface, inevitably some of the varnish will be deposited on areas of the article adjacent the design. Such exposed varnish tends to crack, especially if subjected to severe weather conditions and, therefore, like the glue, must be carefully removed in a final cleaning operation.

The principal problems involved, then, are the difiiculties encounterem in separating the coat from the mounting sheet and the subsequent difficulties in cleaning the applied design.

' nish mount transfer.

Various expedients have heretofore been employed either to meet or to avoid these difficulties. For example, in the simplex slide-off type of transfer, the design is a unitary coat of such 'sturdiness as to withstand considerable stress without damage, and since the coat slides bodily off the wet mounting sheet onto the article to be decorated, glue-side against the article, glue on the face of the applied design is entirely avoided. The glue that is carried over with the design lies under the design coat and is thereby protected to some extent from detrimental exposure. I'he employment of a design coat of such rugged character, however, entails certain material disadvantages. In the first place, the strength of the coat must be achieved either by coalescing several successive coats or by combining with the printed design a reinforcingfilm of lacquer or the like, the manufacturing process in either case exceeding in cost the production of a single-coat design. Another disadvantage is that a slideofi transfer is necessarily limited to a solid design represented by a coat of suficlent continuity to hold its shape under substantial stress. Some minor openings in the design may be permissible but only at the cost of weakening the resistance of the design coat against distortion in the transferring process. Neither a pronouncedly filamentary delineation nor a design characterized by isolated elements is applicable to a slide-oil":

transfer, because such designs may not be slid. from the mounting sheet without distortion and the necessity for subsequent correction.

In the employment of a reversed simplex transfer, the printed coat is applied directly to the surface of the article to be decorated and after suitable treatment the mounting sheet is peeled away from the applied design. Unless the design is of a solid or continuous character, it may be almost impossible to peel away the mounting sheet without also lifting the design itself, since the glue separation coat may produce-a greater amnity between the design and the paper than exists between the design and the surface to which the design is being applied. When the design coat is released, invariably glue is carried over with the design and is also transferred to the surrounding surfaceof the article, so that a final clean-up is necessary.

The prevailing practice for applying complieated open designs of high quality to expensive articles, such as musical instruments, is carried out by using a transfer known as the duplex var-- Such a transfer comprises a thin tissue of paper on a heavier paper backing, a separation coat on the tissue, and, finally, the printed design. The procedure of transferring the design to an article is expensive because the services of a skilled artisan are necessary and the complete application of a single design requires considerable time. A thin coat of quickdrying varnish is applied to the design side of the duplex varnish mount transfer and permitted to dry to the tacky stage, the time required depending upon the temperature and humidity of the atmosphere. Usually ten to twenty minutes is required. After moistening the surface of the article that is to receive the design, the artisan applies the design face downward and rolls the mounting sheet with considerable pressure for a substantial period of time. After a proper time interval, the heavy paper backing of the composite sheet is carefully peeled off, and then the remainder of the transfer is again subjected to considerable pressure by a roller to force air out from under the design coat.

In the next step, the tissue is liberally moistened to llquefy the separation coat and to permit the wet tissue to be peeled off, leaving the design on the article together with a film of transferred varnish and substantial portions of the glue. This glue must now be removed quickly as possible because it shrinks very rapidly upon drying, causing the design to curl away from the surfaces upon which it is being applied. If the weather is hot and dry and the design is of relatively great area, it may be impossible to remove all of the glue before its action in drying ruins the design. Finally, mineral spirits or other solvent is employed in carefully wiping off the.

transferred varnish. Both of these operations must be executed with care and skill if the design is complicated, carelessnessoften resulting in the necessity for removing the whole design and repeating the operation. A further difliculty is that the employment of a duplex varnish mount transfer is characterized by the formation of bubbles which remain underneath the design coat after the transferring operation. With considerable care in rolling, the number of bubbles may be reduced, and some of the remaining bubbles will disappear within twenty-four hours after the design is applied, but with the best of care a number of appreciable bubbles will always remain under the design, causing the film to break down at a later date.

While the duplex varnish mount transfer is applicable to designs that are too open and discontinuous for the simplex transfers, its success is only a matter of degree. For example, even a duplex varnish mount transfer is not practical for a design having innumerable minute discrete parts. Small dots of paint, for example, would be disturbed or entirely removed in the final step of wiping off the residual glue and varnish.

One of the general objects of my invention is to reduce the cost of applying a design by a decalcomania process. In achieving this object, I have the specific objects of avoiding the use of varnish or cements and solvents therefor, of eliminating the time necessary to prepare a transfer for application, of reducing the number of steps in the transfer procedure, and of simplifying the procedure to bring it within the ability of an ordinary operator.

Another general object of my invention'is to achieve high quality and permanence in the applied design by eliminatlng bubbles under the applied design coat and by avoiding any stresses sign coat. One of my specific objects is to avoid transference of glue or varnish to the design or to the article on which the design is to be applied. An important feature of my invention is that in achieving the above objects, I have produced a transfer medium that is as readily applicable to any conceivable complicated and discontinuous design as to a simple design of continuous character.

My invention is characterized by the conception that a separation coat of the properties necessary to carry a superimposed design'may, at the time of application, be absorbed into the mounting sheet and thus cease to be a disturbing factor in the transfer procedure. I have discovered that the separation coat may be absorbed to such an extent that all adhesiveness between the mounting sheet and the design-coat is eliminated with no appreciable traces of the separation coat remaining to be transferred either to the applied design or to the surrounding surfaces of the article to which the design is applied.

The above and other objects and features of my invention will be apparent from the ensuing or operations that might tendto distort the dedescription considered with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of an illustrative design that may be applied in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a schematic representation in perspective of a section through a flat article and my transfer as initially applied thereto, showing the various layers of the transfer;

Fig. 3 is a. similar view at a subsequent stage in the procedure after the separation coat has been absorbed into the mounting sheet;

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing my transfer with an additional adhesive coat for binding the design to the surface of the article; and

-Fig. 5 shows the transfer of Fig. 4 at a laterv stage when the separation coat has been absorbed into the mounting sheet.

At the heart of my invention is the conception that the mounting sheet of a transfer may be absorbent with respect to the separation coat to such an extent that the separation coat will move into the body of the mounting sheet at the time of design transfer when the separation coat has served its purpose. It is apparent that two factors'are involved: The degree to which the mounting sheet is absorbent, and the degree to which the separation coat may be made fluent and penetrating to encourage such absorption. While I find it convenient, in the preferred practice of my invention, to develop both of these factors toward the desired result, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that reliance may be placed primarily on either of the two factors. Thus, the greater the capacity for absorption on the part of the mounting sheet, the less the necessity for thinning the separation coat to facilitate absorption, and, on the other hand, the thinner the diluted separation coat, theless the degree of absorbent capacity required in the mounting sheet. In any case, the two factors must be matched to an operative extent to co operate in the manner sought.

Any suitably absorbent type of mounting sheet may be employed, including various grades of paper, but it is to be noted that sizing or otherwise loading a paper may so reduce the porosity of the paper as to make it inoperative for my purpose. In my preferred practice, I employ for my backing sheet what'is known to the trade as carbonate paper. i

ing sheet with the required facility and to the required degree. With carbonate paper, I have achieved acceptable results using a separation coat consisting solely of gum arabic. Better absorption may be had by adding sugar to the gum arable.

The coating when applied to the mounting sheet in the process of manufacture is sufliciently thinned with water to spread evenly, but is necessarily heldto sumciently high viscosity to prevent substantial penetration of the mounting sheet. After the separation coat dries,.the design is printed thereon in any suitable manner known to the art. The material of the design coat may contain some tacky ingredient to make the design adhesive at the time of application, but

such ingredient is not necessary, since a coat of ordinary paint material usually coheres with sufiiciont tenacity to any smooth non-porous surface to which it may be transferred.

Fig. 1 shows on the surface of an article ill a design that involves too many difliculties for application on a commercial scale by any of the prior art procedures of transfer mediums heretofore mentioned. In the absence ofa background coat, the outer ring element ii of the design and the larger circumscribed design elements I2, l3, and M are completely independent of each other. Likewise, the myriad minute dots of paint ar-, ranged in the circular series indicated at l5 are entirely disconnected from each other and are likewise independent of the larger design elements. It would be impossible to slide such a design from a mounting sheet onto the article ill without disturbing the spacial relationships in the design. If such a design were applied by one of the more direct prior art methods, it would be too costly in practice to remove traces of transferred glue or varnish from the vicinity of the dots l5 without destroying or removing a substantial number of dots.

The procedure for applying this design by my transfer is brief and free of complications. The transfer is first held immersed in water for a short period and then is applied direct tothe surface of the article ill as indicated in Fig. 2. It will a a separate coat.

to such an extent that the peeling action will not carry away or displace to the slightest extent even one of the small paint dots l5. The design is left in a clean state, free of any significant traces of the separation coat.

I have discovered that by providing a wetting agent to facilitate the absorption of the separation coat into the mounting sheet, excellent results may be obtained and the time required for the transfer procedure may be reduced to an extremely brief interval. The wetting agent may be provided as an ingredient in the water in which the transfer is immersed at the time of application, or may be-incorporatedin the transfer sheet, or again may be applied to the. transfer sheet In my preferred practice, however, I find it convenient and advantageous simply to include the wetting agent in the composition of the separation coat.

Those skilled in the. art will readily appreciate the fact that any number of the numerous wetting agents available may be found to be operative for my purpose. The penetrant I employ in the preferred practice of my invention is an ester of sulphodicarboxylic acid as set forth in the Jaeger Patent No. 2,028,091, issued Jan. 14, 1936, and sold under the trade-name Aerosol.

A further refinement in my preferred practice is the addition of butyl alcohol to the composition be noted in Fig. 2 that coat members I21: and Ida corresponding to the design elements l2 and I4 respectively lie against the surface of the article ID and are covered by the separation coat l6 which is in turn covered by the mounting sheet l1, progressive portions of the various layers being removed in the drawing to show the structure of the applied transfer sheet.

Water and air are then pressed out from under the transfer, preferably by employing a suitable implement such as a squeegee or roller, the transfer paper support being held firmly in position during this operation. In the meantime, the water provided by the initial immersion of the transfer dilutes the separation coat l6 and causes the separation coat to be substantially completely absorbed or abstracted by the mounting sheet II. A few moments after all surplus water has been removed and the paper has been completely squeegeed, the operator may remove the mounting paper by simply lifting it at one corner and jerkof the separation coat to hasten drying of the coat in the course of manufacturing the transfer, and the addition of ethyl lactate to give body to the separation coat, and to retard penetration of the mounting sheet when the separation coat is first applied. Both of these ingredients reduce bubbling during the application of the separation coat to the paper. I also prefer to add pine oilior other softening agent to the composition to give it a certain pliable character after the separation coat dries. This pine oil in combination with water also serves desirably to soften the design coat at the time the design is being transferred. My preferred composition for the separation coat comprises the following items in parts by weight:

of the water containing all of the sugar to a boil over a fire, remove the solution from the fire, and add the gum arabic, stirring well. I then add the remainder of the water together with the wetting agent, and let the m xture stand several hours withoccasional stirring until the gum is completely dissolved. Finally, with vigorous stirring, I'add the butyl alcohol, ethyllactate,

' and pine oil.

A transfer manufactured with a separation coat of this. composition need be dipped in water at the time of application for a period of approximately only three seconds, and the mounting paper may be peeled away from the design after an interval of only one minute or less fol lowing the squeegeeing operation.

In another form of my invention the transfer is constructed as before described but has print,- ed on the 'design a final coat of glueor other adhesive agent for causing the design to adhere being unchanged. When this transfer is applied in the manner previously described, the separation coat I6 disappears being absorbed in the paper, but the various portions of the adhesive layer l8 are protected from dilution by the superimposed portions of film coating that make up the design. Instead of employing glue for the coat l8 in the form of my invention illustrated by Figs. 4 and 5, I may provide a coat of varnish and use a varnish solvent to make the varnish tacky at the time of applying the design. The solvent for the varnish may be lightly applied direct to the varnish coat at the time of application or may .be mixed with the water or other liquid employed to wet the transfer at the time of application.

In the preferred form of -my invention described above, I employ a water-soluble separation coat. In other practices of the invention I may employ separation coats responsive to other solvents. For example, shellac employed for the separation coat will move into the body of the absorbent mounting sheet if the transfer is dipped into alcohol instead of water when the design is to be applied.

My disclosure herein for the purpose of illustrating the principles of my invention and of teaching those skilled in the art the essential steps in' my method will suggest various changes and modifications that do not depart from the spirit of my conception. I reserve the right to all such changes and modifications that properly come without the scope of my appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a decalcomaniatransfer, the combination of: a mounting sheet; a glutinous separation coat on said sheet; and a design coat on said separation coat, said separation coat being sufficiently soluble in water and said mounting sheet being sufliciently absorbent of thin liquids,

whereby added water will thin the separation coat and cause the separation coat to be dissolved into said sheet to release said design coat.

2.In a decalcomania transfer, the combination of: an absorbent mounting sheet; a water soluble separation coat on said sheet and containing a wetting agent; and a design coat on said separation coat, the absorptive capacity of said mounting sheet being suflicient to substantially accommodate the separation coat when made fluent whereby the application of water to the transfer will cause said separation coat to be absorbed into said mounting sheet, thereby releasing said design coat substantially free of the substance of said separation coat.

3. In a decalcomania transfer, the combination of an absorbent mounting sheet; a water soluble separation coat on said mounting sheet normally of too high viscosity for substantial penetration thereof; a wetting agent incorporated in the transfer to promote penetration of said sheet by said coat in the presence of added water; and a design coat on said separation coat, the absorptive capacity of said mounting sheet being sufficient to substantially accommodate the separation coat when made fluent.

4. In a decalcomania transfer, the combina tion of: an absorbent-mounting sheet; a watersoluble separation coat on said sheet containing soluble separation coat on said sheet containing gum arabic, sugar and wetting agent; and a de sign printed on said coat.

6. A method of applying a printed design to the surface of an article, said method including the steps of applying to an absorbent mounting sheet a separation coat too viscid for substantial penetration into said mounting sheet but capable of being thinned to sufllcient fluency relative to the absorptive capacity of the mounting sheet for substantially complete absorption into said sheet; printing said design on said separation coat; and thinning said separation coat to cause said coat to be substantially absorbed into said mounting sheet to release said design to the surface of said article.

7. A method of applying a printed design to the surface of an article, said method including the steps of: applying to an absorbent mounting sheet a separation coat containing a wetting agent, said separation coat being too low in water content for substantial penetration of said mounting sheet but capable of being thinned to sufficient fluency relative to the absorptive capacity of the mounting sheet for substantially complete absorption into said sheet; printing a design on said separation coat; and releasing said design from said mounting sheet to said article by applying water sufiicient to cause said separation coat to be substantially absorbed into said mounting sheet.

8. In a decalcomania transfer, the combination of a mounting sheet; a separation coat on said sheet; and a design coat on said separation coat, said mounting sheet being absorbent of relatively thin liquids, said separation coat being soluble relative to the absorptive capacity of the mounting sheet to sufficient fluency on the application of a thin liquid both to release said design coat from the sheet and to be absorbed into said mounting sheet rather than to adhere to any surface to which the design is released.

9. In a decalcomania transfer, the combination of: an absorbent mounting sheet; a glutinous separation coat on said sheet; and a transfer coat on said separation coat, said separation coat being sufficiently soluble relative to the absorptive capacity of the mounting sheet to enter the mounting sheet substantially bodily in response to solvent applied to the uncoated side of the mounting sheet.

10. In a decalcomania transfer, the combination of: an absorbent mounting sheet; a water soluble separation coat, said separation coat having a normal viscosity sufliciently high to prevent substantial penetration of the mounting sheet but being sufiiciently soluble relative to the absorptive capacity of the mounting sheet for substantially complete absorption by said sheet in response to water applied to the sheet; and a design coat on said separation coat.

11. In a decalcomania transfer, the combination of: an absorbent'mounting sheet; a separation coat on said sheet of suificiently. high normal viscosity to prevent absorption thereof by the mounting sheet, said coat being sufliciently soluble relative to the absorptive capacity of the.

ing sheet; a design coat on said separation coat;

. mg water to .the separation coat, the improveand an adhesive coat on said design coat to c9TiSement which comprises subjecting the Separation the design to adhere to an article to which the coat to the action of a wetting agent to facilitate decalcomania transfer is applied. absorption of the separation coat into the mount-- 12. In a methodot releasing a design from a, ing she Qiubthx application of water to the sepadecalcomania transfer having an absorbent 5 ratioi kkx t. mounting sheet and a separation coat by apply- ROY C. BECK.