Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Structurally defined web or sheet – Discontinuous or differential coating – impregnation or bond
Reexamination Certificate
1998-10-13
2003-02-18
Kelly, Cynthia H. (Department: 1774)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Structurally defined web or sheet
Discontinuous or differential coating, impregnation or bond
C428S423100, C428S480000, C428S500000, C156S277000, C156S278000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06521327
ABSTRACT:
The invention relates to a heat application transfer for decorating textiles with coloured patterns having a particularly high washing and cleaning fastness, wherein the design is produced by means of a digitally controlled colour printer.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The most common way of making transfers for the application on textiles is by means of silk screen printing where each individual colour is applied to a sheet of silicone paper. Some colours, such as vinyl and plastisol colours, are heat-activatable, but are then not very fast without further treatment. To improve the fastness, the colours are usually provided with a hot melt granulate layer in the form of a powder or a fine-grained granulate mixed in an extender base, which is applied to the colours and serves as a special glue layer between textile and colours, thereby considerably improving the fastness. At high temperatures, however, e.g. during tumbling processes which use temperatures up to 140° C. in certain cases, they will get loose from the textile or a possible glue layer. Solvent-based two-component colours will be more stable against the action of temperature, but, when having been subjected to industrial washing and tumbling for an extended period of time, they will dry out and peel off from the textile.
The international patent application WO 92/07990 discloses a possible use of a colour copier with a two-component colour toner system in the making of a transfer for textiles. Such a two-component colour toner system, however, is not known in the market for colour copiers today. The present laser colour copiers use colour toners of a one-component thermoplastic resin type where no polymerization takes place. Furthermore, the system described in the above-mentioned international application depends on a colourless two-component extender base layer which is applied on top of the coloured image and, immediately when wet, is coated with a thermoplastic granulate which serves as a glue layer. This embodiment, however, can only be applied to white textiles, and the transferred image will only be sharp on very smooth textiles.
It is prior art to use colour copiers for the transfer of images to a thermoplastics-coated transfer paper from which it can be transferred by heat and pressure to white cotton textiles. The known products, however, exhibit great washing and cleaning weaknesses and thus just stand washing at about 40° C. for a limited number of times. The reason is primarily that the colour toners are relatively unprotected against mechanical impacts, and that they remain heat-activatable already at temperatures from about 90° C. Further, printing is only possible on white textiles, and only on textiles where the predominant part consists of cotton. If it is desired to transfer colour images of this type to dark textiles, up to several additional operations are required for the lamination and adaptation of a white cover layer below the colour toners. This process is both expensive and time-consuming, and it is moreover not possible to make configurative patterns, but only complete cover faces.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
A number of data-controlled colour printers of various types are available which reproduce four-coloured raster images with a resolution of 400 dpi or more with an almost photographic appearance. It is not possible in a pure silk screen printing process to achieve a resolution of more than 100 dpi, and consequently fine details are lost in the reproduction. Accordingly, it would be a great advantage to be able to use such colour printers for the making of coloured and particularly multi-coloured configurative transfers for the textile industry. Of course, it would also be an advantage to be able to use data programs for the editing of images and designs together with scanners which transfer original images to data.
The object of the invention is to make a coloured configurative transfer for the textile industry which combines the great advantages achieved by the use of an electronic colour printer as the graphic unit with particularly great washing and cleaning fastness.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Since colour images generated from ordinary printers to a transfer substrate cannot readily be transferred to a textile in a configurative pattern, this is achieved according to the invention by using silk screen printing processes for making a protective layer and/or cover layer as well as a glue layer in accordance with the invention.
In its most simple embodiment the transfer of the invention is unique in that it comprises a carrier sheet having a non-binding surface which carries
(a) a one- or multi-coloured pattern printed on the carrier sheet using a digitally controlled colour printer;
(b) a transparent or white-pigmented elastomer layer of a polymer having a high plasticizing point printed configuratively on the pattern; and
(c) a heat-activatable thermoplastic polymeric glue layer printed configuratively on the transparent or white-pigmented elastomer layer, or a heat-activatable hot melt granulate sprinkled on the elastomer layer while this was still wet.
It has surprisingly been found according to the invention that the colour toners which are usually used in multi-colour copiers and which may e.g. be based on thermoplastic polyol resins, migrate into the surface of the applied transparent or white-pigmented elastomer layer and harden together with said layer under the action of the isocyanate hardener contained in the elastomer layer. The colour toners hereby lose their thermoplastic nature and remain adhered to the elastomer layer, so that the coloured pattern or the image, after the transfer has been applied to a textile, stands washing, also at elevated temperatures.
If it is desired to encapsulate the coloured pattern or image so that it will be additionally resistant to wear and to the action of washing and cleaning, it may be provided with an additional protective layer. In this embodiment the transfer of the invention is unique in that it comprises a carrier sheet having a non-binding surface which carries
(a) a first transparent elastomer layer of a polymer having a high plasticizing point printed configuratively on the carrier sheet;
(b) a one- or multi-coloured pattern printed on the first elastomer layer using a digitally controlled colour printer;
(c) a second transparent or white-pigmented elastomer layer of a polymer having a high plasticizing point printed configuratively on the pattern; and
(d) a heat-activatable thermoplastic polymeric glue layer printed configuratively on the transparent or white-pigmented elastomer layer, or a heat-activatable hot melt granulate sprinkled on the elastomer layer while this was still wet.
Further, if the transfer is intended to be applied to very coarse or uneven textiles, and if it is desired to maintain fine details in the coloured pattern or image, the transfer may be provided with both a white-pigmented and a transparent elastomer layer (c); in this case the very strongest encapsulation of the coloured pattern or image is achieved when first a transparent elastomer layer and then a white-pigmented elastomer layer are applied
In the latter embodiment the transfer of the invention is unique in that it comprises a carrier sheet having a non-binding surface which carries
(a) a first transparent elastomer layer of a polymer having a high plasticizing point printed configuratively on the carrier sheet;
(b) a one- or multi-coloured pattern printed on the elastomer layer using a digitally controlled colour printer;
(c) a second transparent elastomer layer of a polymer having a high plasticizing point printed configuratively on the pattern;
(d) a white-pigmented elastomer layer of a polymer having a high plasticizing point printed configuratively on the second transparent elastomer layer; and
(e) a heat-activatable thermoplastic polymeric glue layer printed configuratively on the white-pigmented elastomer layer, or a heat-activatable hot melt granulate sprinkled on the elastomer layer while this was still wet.
The carrier sheet having a no
Merchant & Gould P.C.
Reflex Holding A/S
Shewareged B.
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