Compositions and Methods for Applying a Material onto Articles

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 UV curable inkjet-able composition further comprises between about 1 wt % and about 50 wt % of a colorant, 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.