Heat transfer printing device and method for printing on toroidal-shaped bodies
AssigneeBridgestone Corporation
InventorsMitsunori Wada, Takayuki Kojio
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A tire, for example, is nipped by a pair of bead portion support members and filled with an internal pressure. Logo marks printed on a transfer film are positioned in front of the tire at a transfer position at which the logo marks are to be transferred or printed to the tire. The transfer film is pressed by thermal plates onto the side portions of the tire so that the logo marks are transferred onto the side portions thereof. In short, the present invention provides a printing device and a printing method capable of effectively printing clear indications on the side portions of a toroidal-shaped body such as a tire.
Claims19
A printing device, comprising:
- a support means for supporting a toroidal-shaped body;
- a plurality of transfer film supply means for supplying a transfer film, on a surface of which ink has been applied, to portions in the vicinities of the toroidal-shaped body, the ink exhibiting thermal transferability when heated;
- and
- a plurality of transfer means, disposed so as to correspond to said transfer film supply means, for heating said transfer film while pressing the ink applied surface of said transfer film onto a surface of said toroidal-shaped body,
- wherein said support means comprises a pressure imparting means for imparting an internal air pressure to a surface at an opposite side of said surface on which printing is to be carried out, of the toroidal-shaped body.
A printing device, comprising:
- a support means for supporting a toroidal-shaped body such that a printing region, in which printing is to be carried out, of a surface of the toroidal-shaped body is positioned at a predetermined position;
- a transfer film supply means for supplying a transfer film which contains a transfer region in which ink having thermal transferability is applied on the surface thereof, such that said transfer region of the transfer film corresponds to the printing region of the surface of the toroidal-shaped body;
- and
- a transfer means which is disposed so as to correspond to said transfer film supply means and which heats said transfer region of said transfer film and transfers thermally transferable ink onto said printing region of said surface of said toroidal-shaped body,
- wherein said support means comprises a pressure imparting means for imparting an internal air pressure to a surface at an opposite side of said surface on which printing is to be carried out, of the toroidal-shaped body.
A printing method, comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a support for a toroidal-shaped body, said support having pressure imparting structure;
- (b) imparting, with said pressure imparting structure, an internal air pressure to a surface at an opposite side of a surface on which printing is to be carried out, of said toroidal-shaped body;
- (c) pressing a transfer film being in a state of being heated and having ink that generates transferability due to heating on the surface thereof, to a printing surface on which printing is to be carried out, the surface at the opposite side of the printing surface being under said internal air pressure;
- and
- (d) thereby transferring the ink of the transfer film onto the printing surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.