Transfer device and transfer method

Abstract

To perform high-quality and efficient transfer even when a body to be transferred is paper or something like a booklet, and to prevent burrs from occurring at a rear end of the body to be transferred when peeling a peelable film.SOLUTION: A transfer device includes: a film supply / recovery part which supplies a transfer film in which a transfer membrane and a peelable film are laminated in such a manner that the transfer membrane faces a surface to be transferred of a body to be transferred, and which recovers the peelable film after the transfer membrane is transferred; a transfer part which transfers by pressing the transfer membrane of the transfer film to the surface to be transferred in a planar manner; and a peeling part which reverses the peelable film from one end side toward the other end side of the surface to be transferred with respect to the transfer film in a state where the transfer membrane is in contact with the surface to be transferred, and peels the peelable film from the transfer membrane. The peeling part includes an end part peeling member advance part which advances an end part peeling member to the other end side of the surface to be transferred, and which moves the peelable place of the peelable film from the other end side toward the one end side of the surface to be transferred by a predetermined distance.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a transfer device and a transfer method. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, as a transfer method for transferring a transfer film from a transfer film consisting of a release film and a transfer film to a transfer recipient, a method has been known in which the transfer film is attached to the transfer recipient using an attachment roller and the release film is peeled off using a peeling roller. According to this method, at least at the start of attachment of the transfer film, the transfer film is pressed against the transfer recipient using only the attachment roller, and in this pressed state, the attachment roller is moved to attach the transfer film to the transfer recipient, and the peeling roller is brought into contact with the transfer film at the start point of attachment by the attachment roller, and the peeling roller is moved to peel off the release film (see Patent Document 1 below). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-207618 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] According to the conventional technology described above, the transfer film is attached to the object by moving the attachment roller, so if the object is a rigid substrate, the transfer film can be attached without any problems. However, if the object is something like paper or a booklet, the movement of the attachment roller may cause the object to ripple or roll up, which may prevent good transfer.

[0005] Furthermore, when peeling off the release film, the release film is peeled off in one direction while moving the peeling roller, and at the end of the peeling, the release film is pulled up at the rear end of the transfer object. This makes it difficult to cut off the transfer film along the edge at the rear end of the transfer object, which creates the problem of burrs easily forming on the transfer film at the rear end of the transfer object.

[0006] The present invention has been proposed to address these problems. Specifically, the objectives of the present invention are to enable high-quality and efficient transfer even when the transfer object is something like paper or a booklet, and to prevent burrs from forming at the rear end of the transfer object when the release film is peeled off. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve such problems, the present invention has the following configuration. The apparatus is provided with a film supplying and recovering section including at least a transfer film feeding roller and a release film winding roller, which supplies a transfer film in which a transfer film and a release film are laminated so that the transfer film faces the transfer surface of a transferee, and recovers the release film after the transfer film has been transferred; a transfer section which performs transfer by pressing the transfer film of the transfer film into a planar state against the transfer surface; and a peeling section which, with the transfer film in contact with the transfer surface, inverts the release film from one end side to the other end side of the transfer surface and peels the release film from the transfer film, the peeling section having an end peeling member entering section which moves an end peeling member to the other end side of the transfer surface and moves the peeled portion of the release film a predetermined distance from the other end side to one end side of the transfer surface, and the film supplying and recovering section is provided with a film feed roller and a release film winding roller which feeds and recovers the transfer film before the peeling operation of the peeling section. Feed roller Rotate the transfer film clockwise to create slack. and A transfer device characterized in that the release film take-up roller is rotated in reverse to create slack in the release film. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1]FIG. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the primary transfer unit and the film supply and recovery unit. [Figure 3] FIG. [Figure 4] An explanatory diagram of the peeling process ((a) the state where the transfer film is in contact with the object to be transferred, (b) the state where the transfer film is loosened, (c) the state where the peeling operation has started, (d) the state where the peeling plate is being moved). DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same reference numerals in different drawings denote parts with the same functions, and duplicated descriptions in each drawing will be omitted as appropriate.

[0010] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the transfer device 1 includes a film supply / recovery unit 10, a transfer unit 20, and a peeling unit 30.

[0011] The film supply / recovery unit 10 supplies a transfer film F, which is a laminate of a transfer film f1 and a release film f2, so that the transfer film f1 faces the transfer surface of the transferee M placed on the mounting table 2, and recovers the release film f2 after the transfer film f1 has been transferred, and is equipped with an entrance roller 11 and a discharge roller 12 shown in Fig. 1, and further equipped with a ribbon supply roller 13, a transfer film supply roller 14, a ribbon take-up roller 15, and a release film take-up roller 16 as shown in Fig. 2. The transferee M here is a paper material or a booklet made of overlapping paper materials, etc.

[0012] The ribbon supply roller 13 has a ribbon r wound around it, and supplies the ribbon r to the print head 3. The ribbon r is used by the print head 3 to form an image on the transfer layer f1 of the transfer film F, and contains, for example, three colorants.

[0013] The transfer film supply roller 14 supplies the transfer film F onto the print head 3 and the surface to be transferred. The transfer film F has a transfer film f1 laminated on a release film f2 as a base, and a colored image is formed on the transfer film f1 by the print head 3 using a ribbon r. The ribbon take-up roller 15 takes up the ribbon r after the image has been formed on the transfer film f1.

[0014] The ribbon r supplied from the ribbon supply roller 13 is brought into contact with the transfer film F at the position of the auxiliary roller 17 while being heated by the print head 3, and an image is formed on the transfer film f1. The transfer film F with the image formed on the transfer film f1 moves in the forward direction by the rotation of the peeling film take-up roller 16, and is supplied onto the transfer surface. The forward direction here is the direction from the entrance roller 11 toward the discharge roller 12.

[0015] The release film take-up roller 16 rotates forward to move the transfer film F in the forward direction, and winds up and collects the release film after the transfer film f2 has been transferred. In addition, the release film take-up roller 16 rotates backward to create slack in the release film f2, which will be described later.

[0016] 2, the primary transfer unit 1A is formed by the film supply / recovery unit 10 and the print head 3. In the primary transfer unit 1A, as described above, the colored image layer of the ribbon r is transferred onto the transfer film f1 of the transfer film F by the print head 3.

[0017] 1 constitutes a secondary transfer unit 1B that secondarily transfers the transfer film f1, onto which an image has been transferred by the above-mentioned primary transfer unit 1A, onto the transfer surface of the transfer target M. The transfer unit 20 includes a pressing body 21 located on the mounting table 2, and an actuator 22 that moves the pressing body 21 up and down.

[0018] When transferring the transfer film f1 on which an image has been formed to the transfer surface, the transfer film F is fed onto the transfer object by rotating the release film take-up roller 16 so that the position on the transfer film f1 where the image has been formed faces the transfer surface, and the pressing body 21 is lowered toward the mounting table 2 to press the transfer film F onto the transfer surface into a flat shape with a predetermined pressure. At this time, the pressing body 21 may be heated. When the transfer film f1 of the transfer film F is pressed against the transfer surface, in this state, the transfer film f1 and the release film f2 are adhered to the transfer surface. The pressing body 21 then rises and retreats to a position away from the transfer film F adhered to the transfer object M.

[0019] After the pressing body 21 has retreated, the peeling unit 30 reverses the release film f2 from one end side (side A in the figure) of the transfer film F, with the transfer film f1 in contact with the transfer surface, toward the other end side (side B in the figure), and peels the release film F from the transfer film f1. As shown in Fig. 1, the peeling unit 30 includes a peeling plate moving unit 31 and an end peeling member entering unit 32.

[0020] The peeling plate moving unit 31 moves the peeling plate 31A along the transferred surface, moving the peeling portion of the release film f2 from one end side (side A in the figure) of the transferred surface to the other end side (side B in the figure). The peeling plate 31A is fixed to a moving body 31B, and moves back and forth along the transferred surface by a linear motion mechanism that moves the moving body 31B along a guide shaft 31D by rotating a screw shaft 31C.

[0021] The operation of the peeling plate moving unit 31 is shown in FIG. 3. When the transfer film F is pressed against the transfer surface by the pressing body 21, the peeling plate 31A is retracted to a position away from the transfer surface, as shown in FIG. 3(a). Then, when the pressing body 21 rises as shown in FIG. 3(b), the peeling plate 31A moves in the direction opposite to the direction of entry of the transfer film F, so as to invert the release film f2, as shown in FIG. 3(c), and moves the release portion of the release film f2 from one end of the transfer surface to the other end. In FIG. 3, the transfer object M on the mounting table 2 has its four corners fixed by the fixing members 23. The peeling plate 31A is inserted between the fixing members 23 and moves over the transfer surface to peel off the release film f2.

[0022] 1, the edge peeling member entry section 32 enters the edge peeling member 32A toward the other edge of the transferred surface, and moves the peeled portion of the release film f2 a predetermined distance from the other edge (side B in the figure) of the transferred surface toward one edge (side A in the figure). The edge peeling member entry section 32 is equipped with a rotation mechanism 32B that rotates the edge peeling member 32A to enter the transferred surface. The rotation mechanism 32B rotates the support shaft of the edge peeling member 32A forward and backward, thereby reciprocating the edge peeling member 32A between a position where it enters the transferred surface and a position where it retracts below the mounting table 2.

[0023] The peeling of the release film f2 by the end peeling member 32A is a partial peeling, and before the release film f2 is completely peeled off by the peeling plate 31A, the end peeling member 32A is inserted from the side opposite to the side from which the peeling plate 31A enters, and the release film f2 is partially peeled off.

[0024] The following describes a transfer method using the transfer device 1. First, the print head 3 forms an image on the transfer layer f1 of the transfer film F. At this time, the ribbon take-up roller 15 and the peeling film take-up roller 16 rotate forward, moving the portion of the transfer film F where the image is to be formed and the portion of the ribbon r where the color is to be transferred to the position of the auxiliary roller 17. The print head 3 then heats the ribbon r while bringing it into contact with the transfer layer f1, thereby forming an image on the transfer layer f1 of the transfer film F.

[0025] Next, the release film take-up roller 16 rotates forward, and the transfer film F on which the image has been formed is moved onto the surface to be transferred. Thereafter, the pressing body 21 of the transfer unit 20 descends, and the transfer film f1 of the transfer film F is pressed against the surface to be transferred. Thereafter, the pressing body 21 rises, and after the pressing body 21 retreats, the peeling step is performed by the peeling unit 30.

[0026] In the peeling process, as shown in Fig. 4(a), with the transfer film f1 of the transfer film F in contact with the surface to be transferred, the transfer film feed roller 17A on the upstream side is rotated forward (feeding) and the release film take-up roller 16 on the downstream side is rotated backward, thereby generating slack S in the transfer film F or the release film f2 as shown in Fig. 4(b). The generation of this slack S is a process for smoothly performing the initial peeling between the peeling plate 31A and the end peeling member entry portion 32, but this can be omitted if smooth initial peeling is possible without the slack S.

[0027] Next, as shown in FIG. 4(c), the peeling plate moving unit 31 is operated to move the peeling plate 31A onto the transfer surface. The edge peeling member entry unit 32 is also operated to enter the edge peeling member 32A onto the transfer surface. The timing at which the peeling plate 31A starts to move and the timing at which the edge peeling member 32A enters may be simultaneous or different. In particular, the timing at which the edge peeling member 32A enters may be any timing as long as it does not interfere with the movement of the peeling plate 31A and is before the peeling of the release film f2 by the peeling plate 31A is completed. The edge peeling member 32A may also enter before the peeling plate 31A moves.

[0028] The end peeling member 32A moves the peeled portion of the release film f2 a predetermined distance from the other end side (side B in the figure) of the transferred surface toward one end side (side A in the figure) of the transferred surface. After this partial peeling is completed, the end peeling member 32A retreats from above the transferred surface, as shown in Figure 4(d), and then the peeling plate 31A moves over the transferred surface to further peel the release film f2.

[0029] At this time, by creating the aforementioned slack S, when the peeling plate 31A moves, the release film f2 is turned approximately 180° at the peeling location and peeled off from the transfer film f1, as shown in Figure 4(d). This prevents the transfer film f1 from peeling off, enabling smooth peeling of the release film f2.

[0030] When the release film f2 is completely peeled off from the transfer film f1 that has been transferred onto the transfer surface, the release film take-up roller 16 rotates to take up and collect the release film f2.

[0031] According to the transfer device 1 and transfer method described above, the transfer unit 20 presses the transfer film F flat against the transfer surface, thereby transferring the transfer film f1 to the transfer surface. This reduces the time required for transfer compared to transfer using a pasting roller in conventional technology, and also enables high-quality transfer without damaging the transfer object M, even if the transfer object M is something like paper or a booklet.

[0032] Furthermore, with regard to the peeling of the release film f2 after transfer, by first inserting the edge peeling member 32A onto the transfer surface and partially peeling the edge, it is possible to prevent burrs from occurring at the edge when the entire release film f2 is peeled off by the peeling plate 31A. At this time, the edge peeling member 32A is inserted onto the transfer surface by a rotation mechanism, so the edge peeling member entry section 32 can be arranged with good space efficiency.

[0033] Furthermore, the peeling plate 31A peels the release film f2 from the transfer film f1 while inverting it by approximately 180° at the peeling point, thereby preventing the transfer film f1 from peeling off and enabling the release film f2 to be peeled off smoothly.Furthermore, even if the transfer object M is something like a paper material or a booklet, the release film f2 can be peeled off smoothly without damaging the transfer object M.

[0034] The embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, but the specific configurations are not limited to these embodiments, and the present invention also includes design changes and the like that do not deviate from the gist of the present invention.

[0035] In particular, for the primary transfer section 1A described above, various image forming means such as inkjet can be used instead of image formation using the ribbon r and print head 3. Also, although an example is shown in which the transfer target M is fixed onto the mounting table 2 by the fixing member 23, other fixing means can be used instead. [Explanation of symbols]

[0036] 1: Transfer device, 2: Placement table, 3: Print head, 10: Film supply and recovery section, 11: Incoming roller, 12: Outlet roller, 13: Ribbon supply roller, 14: Transfer film supply roller, 15: Ribbon take-up roller, 16: Peeling film take-up roller, 17: Auxiliary roller, 17A: Transfer film feed roller 20: Transfer unit, 21: Pressing body, 22: Actuator, 23: Fixing member, 30: peeling section, 31: peeling plate moving section, 31A: peeling plate, 31B: moving body, 31C: screw shaft, 31D: guide shaft, 32: End peeling member entry part, 32A: End peeling member, 32B: Rotation mechanism, F: Transfer film, f1: Transfer film, f2: Release film, r: Ribbon, M: Transferred object, S: Slack

Claims

1. a film supply and recovery unit that supplies a transfer film in which a transfer film and a release film are laminated so that the transfer film faces the transfer surface of the transfer object, and that includes at least a transfer film feed roller and a release film take-up roller that recovers the release film after the transfer film has been transferred; a transfer unit that presses a transfer film of a transfer film onto the transfer surface in a planar manner to transfer the film; a peeling unit that reverses the release film from one end side of the transfer surface to the other end side of the transfer film when the transfer film is in contact with the transfer surface, and peels the release film from the transfer film; The peeling portion is an end peeling member entry section that moves an end peeling member toward the other end side of the transfer surface and moves the peeled portion of the release film a predetermined distance from the other end side toward one end side of the transfer surface; The film supply and recovery unit is characterized in that, before the peeling operation of the peeling unit, the transfer film feed roller rotates forward to create slack in the transfer film and the peeling film take-up roller rotates reversely to create slack in the peeling film.

2. The peeling portion is 2. The transfer device according to claim 1, further comprising a release plate moving unit that moves a release plate along the transfer surface and moves the release portion of the release film from one end side to the other end side of the transfer surface.

3. 3. The transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the edge separating member entry section includes a rotation mechanism that rotates the edge separating member to enter onto the transferred surface.

4. a film supplying and recovering step using at least a transfer film feed roller and a release film take-up roller to supply a transfer film in which a transfer film and a release film are laminated so that the transfer film faces the transfer surface of the transfer object, and to recover the release film after the transfer film has been transferred; a transfer step of pressing a transfer film of a transfer film onto the transfer surface in a planar manner to transfer the film; a step of rotating the transfer film feed roller forward to create slack in the transfer film and rotating the release film take-up roller backward to create slack in the release film; a peeling step of inverting the release film from one end side of the transfer surface to the other end side of the transfer film in a state where the transfer film is in contact with the transfer surface, and peeling the release film from the transfer film; The peeling step includes: A transfer method characterized by inserting an end peeling member into the other end side of the transfer surface, and moving the peeled portion of the release film from the other end side toward one end side of the transfer surface by a predetermined distance.

Images