Method and application device for applying a transfer layer of a film to a substrate

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10814667-B2
Application number	US-201615772166-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 2, 2016
Priority date	Nov 3, 2015
Publication date	Oct 27, 2020
Grant date	Oct 27, 2020

Abstract

A method for applying a transfer ply of a foil to a substrate, with the steps of:
a) regionally applying a radically curable adhesive to the transfer ply and/or the substrate by means of an inkjet printhead; b) precuring the adhesive by UV irradiation; c) applying the transfer ply to the substrate by means of a stamping apparatus; d) fully curing the adhesive by UV irradiation; e) peeling a carrier ply of the foil, to leave at least one first subregion of the transfer ply on an application region of the substrate, and at least one second subregion of the transfer ply on the carrier ply; f) winding up or recoiling the carrier ply with the remaining second subregion of the transfer ply; g) applying at least one further subregion of the transfer ply remaining on the carrier ply to the substrate by at least once repeating steps a) to f).

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for applying a transfer ply of a foil to a substrate, comprising:
a) transporting the foil to the substrate with a foil transport apparatus;
b) regionally applying a radically curable adhesive to the transfer ply of the foil and/or the substrate by means of an inkjet printhead;
c) precuring the adhesive by UV irradiation;
d) applying the transfer ply to the substrate by means of a stamping apparatus;
e) fully curing the adhesive by UV irradiation;
f) peeling a carrier ply of the foil, to leave at least one first subregion of the transfer ply on an application region of the substrate, and at least one second subregion of the transfer ply on the carrier ply;
g) winding up or recoiling the carrier ply with the remaining second subregion of the transfer ply; and
h) applying at least one further subregion of the transfer ply remaining on the carrier ply to the substrate by at least once repeating steps a) to g),
wherein the foil transport apparatus sets extension of the foil to a value of 1% to 6%, and
wherein, to set a defined relative position between the foil and the substrate or between the foil and the inkjet printhead, the foil transport apparatus varies the extension of the foil on the basis of at least one positional data value.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein, by means of at least one first sensor, a positioning feature on the foil or the foil transport apparatus is detected and at least one first positional datum relating to the foil is generated.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2 , further comprising transporting the substrate with a substrate transport apparatus, wherein, by means of at least one second sensor, a positioning feature on the substrate or the substrate transport apparatus is detected and at least one second positional datum relating to the substrate is generated.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3 , wherein, the positioning feature on the substrate or the positioning feature on the foil is or comprises a registration mark provided during production of the substrate or a registration mark applied by means of the inkjet printhead or a design feature of the substrate or the foil or a sheet edge of the substrate or the foil.

5. The method as claimed in claim 3 , wherein, by means of at least one third sensor, a positioning feature on the foil or the foil transport apparatus in the region of the inkjet printhead is detected and at least one third positional datum relating to the foil is generated.

6. The method as claimed in claim 3 , wherein, at least one of the positional data is generated or corrected or verified on the basis of control commands transmitted beforehand to the substrate transport apparatus or the foil transport apparatus or the inkjet printhead.

7. The method as claimed in claim 3 , wherein, the at least one subregion and/or the at least one further subregion are brought into a defined relative position to the inkjet printhead and/or to the application region of the substrate, as a function of at least one of the positional data.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the foil transport apparatus is controlled or regulated as a function of the at least one second positional datum.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the substrate transport apparatus or the inkjet printhead are controlled or regulated as a function of a control datum for the foil transport apparatus and of the first or third positional datum.

10. The method as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the substrate transport apparatus is controlled or regulated as a function of the at least one first positional datum.

11. The method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the foil transport apparatus or the inkjet printhead are controlled or regulated as a function of a control datum for the substrate transport apparatus and of the second or third positional datum.

12. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the adhesive is applied using an inkjet printhead having a resolution of 300 to 1200 applicator nozzles per inch (npi).

13. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the adhesive is applied using an inkjet printhead having a nozzle diameter of 15 μm to 25 μm and/or a nozzle spacing of 30 μm to 80 μm.

14. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the adhesive is applied with a coat weight of 1.6 g/m 2 to 7.8 g/m 2 and/or with a layer thickness of 1.6 μm to 7.8 μm to the at least one subregion.

15. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the inkjet printhead provides drops of adhesive having a frequency of 6 kHz to 110 kHz.

16. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the inkjet printhead provides drops of adhesive having a volume of 2 pl to 50 pl with a tolerance of not more than ±6%.

17. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the inkjet printhead provides drops of adhesive having a flight velocity of 5 m/s to 10 m/s with a tolerance of not more than ±15%.

18. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the adhesive is applied with an application temperature of 40° C. to 45° C. and/or with a viscosity of 5 mPas to 20 mPas.

19. The method as claimed in claim 1 , a spacing between inkjet printhead and substrate and/or foil during application of the adhesive does not exceed 1 mm.

20. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a relative velocity between inkjet printhead and substrate and/or transfer ply during application of the adhesive is 10 m/min to 100 m/min.

21. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein an adhesive with the following volume composition is used:

2-phenoxyethyl acrylate
10%-60%,

4-(1-oxo-2-propenyl)morpholine
 5%-40%,

exo-1,7,7-trimethylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-
10%-40%,

2-yl acrylate

2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyldiphenyl
 5%-35%,

phosphine oxide

dipropylene glycol diacrylate
 1%-20%,

urethane acrylate oligomer
 1%-20%,

carbon black pigment
0.01%-10%,  

22. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein an adhesive having a density of 1 g/ml to 1.5 g/ml, is used.

23. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the adhesive is precured 0.02 s to 0.25 s after the adhesive has been applied.

24. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the adhesive is precured with UV light, at least 90% of whose energy is irradiated in the wavelength range between 380 nm and 420 nm.

25. The method

Assignees

• Leonhard Kurz Stiftung & Co Kg

Inventors

• Triepel Michael
• Kosalla Konstantin
• Pforte Klaus

Classifications

• B44C1/1733

  Decalcomanias applied under pressure only, e.g. provided with a pressure sensitive adhesive · CPC title

• B44C1/1729 Primary

  Hot stamping techniques · CPC title

• B42D25/48 Primary

  Controlling the manufacturing process · CPC title

• B42D25/47

  using adhesives · CPC title

• B42D25/46

  using pressure · CPC title