Method and compositions for applying a material onto articles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10682837-B2
Application number	US-201815988314-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 24, 2018
Priority date	Jun 9, 2017
Publication date	Jun 16, 2020
Grant date	Jun 16, 2020

Abstract

Apparatuses and methods for applying a transfer material from a transfer component onto the surface of an article are disclosed, including apparatuses and methods of transfer printing on and/or decorating three-dimensional articles, as well as the articles printed and/or decorated thereby. In some embodiments, the method may utilize a printer such as an inkjet printer. In some cases, the transfer material may be a UV curable ink and/or adhesive. When the transfer material is UV curable, the transfer component may be permeable to UV radiation to allow curing of the ink and/or adhesive therethrough. UV curable adhesives including thiol-acrylate and thiol-ene acrylate inkjet-able adhesives are disclosed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A process for applying a transfer material onto the surface of a three-dimensional article comprising:
providing at least one three-dimensional article which has a surface;
providing at least one deposition device comprising an inkjet print head;
providing a transfer component with initial dimensions, a surface, and an initial configuration;
depositing a material onto a portion of the surface of said transfer component with said deposition device to form a transfer material on said transfer component, wherein at least a portion of said transfer material comprises a UV curable inkjet-able composition comprising a thiol-acrylate composition, a thiol-ene-acrylate inkjet-able composition, or a combination thereof, wherein said transfer material has an outer surface, and said UV curable composition is on the outer surface of said transfer material;
moving at least one of the transfer component with the transfer material thereon and the article toward the other so that the transfer component with the transfer material and a portion of the article make contact such that the outer surface of the transfer material is adjacent to the surface of the article;
providing a source of UV radiation;
at least partially curing the UV curable composition with the source of UV radiation; and
transferring the transfer material from the transfer component onto the surface of said article,
wherein the curing takes place during the time period between when the article and the transfer material make contact up until the transfer material is transferred from the transfer component onto the surface of the article.

2. The process of claim 1 wherein the UV curable inkjet-able composition comprises an inkjet ink.

3. The process of claim 1 wherein the UV curable inkjet-able composition comprises an inkjet-able adhesive.

4. The process of claim 1 wherein:
the transfer component is at least partially permeable to UV radiation;
the source of UV radiation is positioned so that the transfer component is disposed between the source of UV radiation and the UV curable composition; and
the step of at least partially curing the UV curable composition with the source of UV radiation comprises passing the UV radiation through said transfer component to at least partially cure the UV curable composition.

5. The process of claim 4 wherein the step of providing at least one deposition device comprises providing a first deposition device and a second deposition device, wherein at least one of said deposition devices comprises an inkjet print head, and the step of depositing a material onto a portion of the surface of said transfer component with said deposition device comprises depositing ink onto a portion of the surface of the transfer component with said first deposition device, and then depositing an adhesive onto at least a portion of said ink with said second deposition device, wherein the UV curable inkjet-able composition comprises at least one of said ink and said adhesive, and the deposition device used to deposit said UV curable inkjet-able composition comprises an inkjet print head.

6. The process of claim 5 wherein the UV inkjet-able composition comprises at least said adhesive, and the step of at least partially curing the UV curable inkjet-able composition with the source of UV radiation comprises at least partially curing said adhesive by passing UV energy through said transfer component and said ink.

7. The process of claim 6 wherein said UV radiation comprises waves having a wavelength of greater than or equal to about 400 nm.

8. The process of claim 6 wherein said UV radiation comprises waves having a wavelength of greater than or equal to about 400 nm and less than or equal to about 700 nm.

9. The process of claim 1 wherein the inkjet print head has a plurality of nozzles having an opening with a diameter of from about 10 μm to about 200 μm, and said UV curable adhesive has an Ohnesorge number that is between about 0.1 and about 1 where the characteristic length used to calculate the Ohnesorge number corresponds to the nozzle diameter.

10. The process of claim 1 further comprising repositioning the transfer material on the surface of the article after the transfer component with the transfer material and a portion of the article make contact.

Assignees

• Procter & Gamble
• Procter & Gamble

Inventors

• Martinez De Leon Karen Aida
• Donner Christopher Gerald
• Allen Matthew Richard
• Cassoni Robert Paul
• Idacavage Michael
• Cramer Neil

Classifications

• B32B37/025 Primary

  Transfer laminating · CPC title

• B33Y70/00 Primary

  Materials specially adapted for additive manufacturing · CPC title

• B41M5/0356

  characterised by the inks used for printing the pattern on the temporary support or additives therefor, e.g. dyes, transferable compounds, binders or transfer promoting additives · CPC title

• B41J2002/012

  with intermediate transfer member · CPC title

• B41M7/0081

  using electromagnetic radiation or waves, e.g. ultraviolet radiation, electron beams · CPC title