Printing on a substrate

Details Printing on a substrate Printing on a substrate

1998-08-31

2001-11-06

Hilten, John S. (Department: 2854)

Incremental printing of symbolic information

Ink jet

Medium and processing means

C347S105000, C156S240000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06312122

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to printing on a substrate, and more particularly relates to a method including the steps of depositing an ink comprising a thermal transfer dye, a thermal transfer pigment and/or a protective polymer, and a carrier on a membrane, placing the membrane in juxtaposition to the surface of the substrate, and applying heat and pressure to produce a high quality color control image on the substrate.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
It is known to produce an image on an impermeable substrate such as aluminum by coating the aluminum with a plastic, depositing ink on a transfer sheet in a desired pattern, and thereafter placing the transfer sheet in juxtaposition to the colored substrate while applying heat and pressure. Some of the ink is transferred from the transfer sheet and bond with the plastic coating to give a printed image on the aluminum coated substrate. Such a process is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 751,416, filed Aug. 28, 1991, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 226,949, filed Apr. 13, 1994. Those processes were subject to the criticism that the images produced were not of consistent quality, did not, in certain cases, bond, did not have the desired resolution, brightness, and color fastness, could not be used on a substrate other than metal, and were limited to one type of polymeric coating.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
We provide a substrate upon which a pattern is to be printed. The substrate may be an impervious material such as aluminum, a thermosetting plastic material, various types of wood and the like. An absorptive and/or an adsorptive and/or bondable surface layer is preferably provided on the substrate. The layer may be an anodized surface on material such as aluminum or a thermo-plastic coating, or the substrate may have a surface which is adsorptive and bondable. An ink is prepared which preferably comprises thermal transfer dye and thermal transfer pigment particles which are preferably milled to be primarily smaller than about 11 microns. The ink may also comprise a protective polymer and a carrier. The ink is deposited on and/or within a membrane in the pattern to be printed. Thereafter, the impregnated membrane is placed in juxtaposition to the absorptive and/or adsorptive bondable layer of the substrate. Heat and pressure are then applied to the impregnated membrane. The thermal transfer dye, thermal transfer pigment and protective polymer, when subjected to heat and pressure, are transferable to the substrate in juxtaposition to the ink by a process which may comprise sublimation, adsorption, melting, entrainment and/or diffusion.


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