Method of forming colored relief-and-indentation patterns and a

Details Method of forming colored relief-and-indentation patterns and a Method of forming colored relief-and-indentation patterns and a

1994-12-21

1998-05-12

Speer, Timothy

Stock material or miscellaneous articles

Structurally defined web or sheet

Discontinuous or differential coating, impregnation or bond

428200, 428202, 428204, 428207, 428208, 428209, 428210, 428220, 428325, 428344, 428347, 428354, 4284259, 428913, 428914, 156233, 156235, 156239, 156240, B32B 300

Patent

active

057502412

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
This invention concerns a method of forming colored relief-and-indentation patterns that provide colored relief-and-indentation patterns on timepiece face plates and other components, and a thermal transfer foil used in those patterns; in particular, it concerns a technique of producing extremely small relief-and-indentation patterns.
2. Related Background Art
As shown in FIG. 6A, in the field of thermal transfer printing a thermal transfer foil (50), made by stacking the following layers on a base film (53) 12 .mu.m to 25 .mu.m thick, is used: a protective coloring layer (52) consisting of a colorless transparent, colored transparent, or colored semi-transparent resin layer approximately 2 .mu.m thick or greater; and a reflection layer (51) consisting of a vapor-deposited aluminum thin-film layer 0.03 .mu.m to 0.05 .mu.m thick. On this thermal transfer foil (50), a thin, separable processing layer (54) is formed between the protective colored layer (52) and the base film (53). A bonding layer (55) is formed underneath the reflection layer (51). Also, as shown in FIG. 6B, in some cases a thermal transfer foil (50a) is used, which is called a pigment foil, made with a pigment (56), which is a combination of the protective colored layer and the reflection layer.
Of these thermal transfer foils, if a colored relief-and-indentation pattern is printed using the thermal transfer foil (50), first, a thermoplastic resin layer (61) is formed on the surface to be decorated on the substrate (60), as shown in FIG. 7A If the surface to be decorated of the substrate (60) itself consists of a thermoplastic resin, the provision of the thermoplastic resin layer (61) is not necessary. Next, as shown in FIG. 7B, the thermal transfer foil (50) is superimposed on the thermoplastic resin layer (61) of the substrate (60). Under these conditions the thermal transfer foil (50) is heat-pressed using the mold (62). This results in the transfer of the relief-and-indentation patterns (3D patterns) on the pressing surface of the mold (62) from the protective colored layer (52) to the thermoplastic resin layer (61). When the base film (53) is peeled off, the colored relief-and-indentation pattern is copied onto the surface of the substrate (60) as shown in FIG. 7C Because the method of forming colored relief-and-indentation patterns using the thermal transfer foil (50) can thus easily form colored relief-and-indentation patterns, if fine relief-and-indentation patterns (3D patterns), especially striped patterns at approximately 1 .mu.m to 2 .mu.m in size can be copied, the technique could be applied to the fabrication of components and products in a variety of fields, such as decorative components, nameplates, and timepiece parts.
However, if fine colored relief-and-indentation patterns must be formed, such as for the fabrication of timepiece face plates, as shown in FIG. 8A, a thermoplastic resin layer (61) could be formed on the surface of the face plate, and then, as shown in FIG. 8B, the thermal transfer foil (50) is superimposed. If heat-pressing is performed using a mold (72) having the pressing surface (73) on which fine relief-and-indentation patterns are formed, the fine relief-and-indentation patterns on the pressing surface (73) will be copied onto the surface of the base film (53). However, when the base film (53) is removed, the patterns are not copied to the reflection layer (51), the bonding layer (55), or the thermoplastic resin layer (61). Thus, a problem exists in that the minimum size of a transferable relief-and-indentation pattern is limited to a coarse 12 .mu.m that is the thickness of the base film (53).
The following is an explanation of the limits on the relief-and-indentation patterns that can be transferred using prior art by reference to FIGS. 9A and 9B. These figures show the condition in which relief-and-indentation patterns are transferred to the surface of the substrate (60) on the premise that, although the material composing the stacked layers expan

REFERENCES:
patent: 4629647 (1986-12-01), Sander
patent: 4631222 (1986-12-01), Sander
patent: 4837072 (1989-06-01), Kraetschmer
patent: 5053260 (1991-10-01), Brehm
patent: 5063658 (1991-11-01), Wild
patent: 5250346 (1993-10-01), Nagai
patent: 5296299 (1994-03-01), Makashima
patent: 5344705 (1994-09-01), Olsen
patent: 5393590 (1995-02-01), Caspari

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