Printing – Processes – With heating or cooling
Patent
1996-05-08
1998-01-13
Burr, Edgar S.
Printing
Processes
With heating or cooling
15624411, 156277, B41F 2308
Patent
active
057067333
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a process for printing thermoplastic materials with thermodiffusion dyes by transfer printing as well as the advantageous use of the product manufactured in this manner.
DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART
It is known from DE-OS 2 731 121 that thermoplastic materials such as polyethylene can be printed by bringing the side of the polyethylene body which is to be printed under the influence of heat, and the melting effect caused thereby, into contact with a print carrier such as a paper substrate provided with thermodiffusion dyes. The printing of the decoration from the paper carrier onto the polyethylene body occurs at temperatures of 160.degree. to 220.degree. C., and the thermodiffusion dyes are first sublimated and then diffused into the thermoplastic material. With this process, however, the decorations printed on the thermoplastic material have blurred border zones, since the dyes migrate (bleed) in the polyethylene. This leads, especially under UV-ray influence, to a loss of color brightness or to the total loss of the decoration. Furthermore, great thermal tensions are liberated through the melting of the surface to be printed, and this does not permit the printing of relatively thin-walled objects, for example, strip-shaped objects such as ski linings, without a previous preparation for obtaining a balance of the inner tensions.
In this manner, an extreme tension decay occurs in the area of the border line between the molten side to be printed and the underside which is still in solid condition, and this leads to a warping of the printed lining during cooling. The melting in the case of previously treated ski-lining materials, that is, sharpened and gas-blazed ski-lining materials, causes a further deterioration of the mechanical properties already obtained, such as the pull force.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has, therefore, as its object to provide a process of the kind described above which allows bright contour-sharp, distortion-free prints without causing any rejection problems or deteriorated mechanical properties after the color transfer. The invention proposes a process for printing thermoplastic materials with thermodiffusion dyes by transfer pressure, wherein a print picture is produced by means of a paper substrate provided with thermodiffusion dyes which are sublimable at first and then diffusible into an intermittently moving carrier material containing fibers, and wherein this fiber-containing carrier material with the thermodiffusion dyes is continuously brought into contact with a thermoplastic melt through a calender roller gap in such a manner that the thermodiffusion dyes penetrate into the thermoplastic material and, at the same time, form a strip-shaped composite consisting of the fiber-containing carrier material and the thermoplastic material. With the process according to the invention, a bright contour-sharp print is generated on the thermoplastic material which is also color-stable with respect to UV rays, partially due to the penetration depth of the thermodiffusion dyes into the thermoplastic material. The printed thermoplastic material also has a high shape stability as well as especially good mechanical properties partially due to the fiber-containing carrier material.
Other advantages of the invention are caused by the fact that a fiber fabric, weave, or fleece is used as fiber-containing carrier material. The fibers in the carrier material are artificial and/or natural fibers, whereby the artificial fibers are made of polyester and/or polyamide and the natural fibers are cotton fibers. By taking these measures, no thermal shrinking occurs in the fiber-containing carrier material up to 200.degree. C.
The invention is further characterized in that the fiber-containing carrier material is provided with an adhesive means on one or both surface sides that can be a hot melt adhesive film.
A further advantage of the invention consists in that polyethylene or polyamide is used as thermoplastic material.
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patent: 4505975 (1985-03-01), Majima
patent: 5019202 (1991-05-01), Kawahata et al.
patent: 5522317 (1996-06-01), Hale et al.
patent: 5580410 (1996-12-01), Johnston
Burr Edgar S.
Colilla Daniel J.
Isosport Verbundbauteile Gesellschaft m.b.H.
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