Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
Thls invention relates to a method of producing
a sticker for use in atransferably flocked fi~er design
material.
There have been proposed and practically employed
a wide variety of transferably flocked fiber stickers and
most of the prior art transferably flocked fiber stickers
basically comprise (1) a fiber flocked base assembly including
a base sheet formed of paper, c~oth or the like, a release
adhesive layer applied to one surface of the base sheet and
capable of releasably flocking fibers to the base sheet and
a number of fibers releasably flocked at one end in closely
adjacent and erect relation-ship to the adhesive applied sur-
face of the base sheet by electrostatic blowing or the like,
and (2) a thermoplastic synthetic resin adhesive transfer layer
applied in a desired pattern or design to the opposi~e end
of selected ones of the flocked fibers and capable of per-
manently securing the fibers to a permanent support member
such as a shirt or the like.
~n the transfer of the fibers in the desired
design or pattern from the fiber flocked base assembly onto
the shirt, the sticker is placed onto the shirt to bring
the fiber transfer layer into contact with the shirt laid on
a suitable stationary pad or the like and pressing the sticker
against the shirt by the use o a heated iron, for example.
The heat-ironing fuses the thermoplastic
synthetic resin adhesive forming the fiber transfer layer
which in turn adheres to the shirt to thereby secure the end
of the fibers opposite from the end thereof releasably flocked
to the base sheet to the shirt. When the thermoplastic
synthetic resin adhesive cools down, the fibers are firmly
held on the shirt.
Next, when the fiber flocked base assembly is to be
178~8
..i..,
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7~
separated from the shirt, the releasably flocked fibers to
which the transfer layer is applied are separated from the
base sheet and permanently transferred onto and left on the
shirt with the rest of the fibers to which the transfer layer
is not applied remaining on the base sheet.
As a result, the pattern or design defined by the
transferred fibers is formed on the shirt in the mirror
image with respect to the applied thermoplastic synthetic
resin adhesive transfer layer.
The transferably flocked fiber stickers of the
above-mentioned type are disclosed in Japanese Patent
Application Publications Nos. 4768/1961 and 35619/1978,
Japanese Patent Application No. 86541/1973, Japanese Utility
Model Applications No. 90892/1973 and U.S. Patents Nos.
4,142,929 and 4,201,810, for example.
In the prior art transferably flocked fiber stickers
disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese patent and utility
model applications and U.S. patents, when the fibers releasably
flocked to the base sheet are to be colored, the fiber flocked
base assembly is imparted thereto coloring ability or the
fiber flocked base assembly is so prepared that the releasably
flocked fibers can be easily separated from the base sheet
when the fibers are desired to be transferred from the fiber
flocked base assembly onto a shirt. And as for the formation
of the fiber transfer layer of the thermoplastic synthetic
resin adhesive at the end of the fibers opposite from the
end thereof releasably flocked to the base sheet, the fiber
transfer layer is formed by merely applying thermoplastic
synthetic resin adhesive to the adjacent end of the releasably
flocked fibers or by applying thermoplastic synthetic resin
adhesive having powdery hot melt synthetic resin adhesive
distributed therein to the adjacent end of the releasably
* See page 12 for further particulars .
5:1~
flocked fibers. Alternatively, as traditionally
practiced in the paddi~g and lining cloth production,
a thermoplastic synthetic resin adhesive layer is first
applied to the adjacent end of the releasably flocked
fibers and hot melt synthetic resin adhesive is then
spread over the adhesive layer to be caused to adhere
to the layer.
The present invention is to provide a novel and
improved method for producing a transferably flocked
fiber sticker which is improved over the prior art
methods for producing transferably flocked fiber
stickers.
Accordingly, the present invention is herein
broadly claimed as a method for producing a trans-
ferably flocked fiber sticker comprising the steps ofproviding a base sheet, applying a release adhesive
layer to one surface of said base sheet, said release
adhesive being capable of releasably flocking fibers
to said base sheet, releasably flocking a number of
fibers at one end in closely adjacent and erect relation-
ship to the adhesive applied surface of said base sheet
by electrostatic blowing to thereby provide a fiber
flocked base assembly, applying a thermoplastic
synthetic resin adhesive in a desired design or pattern
to the end of said fibers opposite from the end of the
fibers releasably flocked to said base sheet to provide
a design layer, applying powdery hot melt synthetic resin
adhesive in the form of a paste in water or other
aqueous solution to said design layer, heat drying the
resulting product to evaporate the moisture content in
said paste adhesive and at the same time partially fuse
the hot melt synthetic resin adhesive so as to cause the
hot melt synthetic resin adhesive to said design layer to
thereby provide a penetrative layer and cooling the
resulting product to firmly unite said design layer and
f ~7~3518
penetrative layer together to provide a composite fiber
transfer adhesive layer.
~ The above and other objects and attendant
advantages of the present invention will be more readily
apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading of
the following detailed description in conjunction with
the accompanying drawings which show one preferred
embodiment of the invention for illustration purpose
only, but not for limiting the scope of the same in
any way.
Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of one
embodiment of the trasferably flocked fiber sticker
constructed in accordance with the present invention;
~ Fig. 2 is an explanative cross-sectional view
showing the manner in which the releasably flocked
fibers are transferred from the fiber flocked base
assembly of the sticker of Fig. 1 onto a permanent support
, , . . . , _ , _ . . , . _ _
member such
:~1'7~35~ ~3
as a shirt or the like;
Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the design
formed on the shirt by the fibers transferred thereon;
Figs. 5, 7 and 9 are cross-sectional views of
prior art transferably flocked fiber stickers showing the
disadvantages inherent in the prior art stickers; and
Figs. 6, 8 and 10 are cross-sectional views of
designs formed on the shirt by the fibers transferred from
the stickers as shown in Figs. 5, 7 and 9, respectively~
The present invention will be now described referring
to the accompanying drawings and more particularly, to Figs.
1 to 3 inclusive thereof in which the preferred embodiment
of the transferably flocked fiber sticker of the invention
is shown. In the production of the transferably flocked
fiber sticker, a base sheet 1 formed of paper, cloth or the
like is provided, a release adhesive layer 2 i.s applied to
one surface of the base sheet 1, a number of fibers 3 are
releasably flocked at one end in closely adjacent and erect
relationshi.p to the adhesi.ve applied surface of the base sheet
2G 1 by electrostaticbJ.owi.ng or the like to provide a fiber
flocked base assembly 4, a thermoplastic synthetic resin
adhesive design layer 5 with or without powdery hot melt
synthetic resin contained therein is applied in a desired
design or pattern to the opposite end of the flocked fibers 3,
powdery hot metal synthetic resin adhesive in a paste form
in water or other aqueous solution having resiliency imparting
agent or resiliency assistant contained therein is applied to
the side of the transfer layer 5 opposite from the fibers,
the resulting product is dried under heating whereby the
moisture content of the paste adhesive is evaporated and
the hot melt synthetic resin adhesive which is the principal
component in the paste is partially fused to cause the
3lt7853.~3
resiliency imparting agent or resiliency assistant contained
in the hot melt synthetic resin adhesive to adhere to the
design layer 5 to thereby form a penetrative adhesive layer
6, and the resulting product is cooled to solidify so that
the design or pattern layer 5 and penetrativelayer 6 unite
together to form a composite fiber transfer adhesive layer
7 resulting in a transferably flocked fiber sticker 8 (Fig.
1) .
In producing the transferably flocked fiber sticker
by the ahove-mentioned method, the design or pattern layer
5 of thermoplastic synthetic resin adhesive with powdery hot
melt synthetic resin adhesive contained therein to be applied
to the end of the fibers opposite from the end thereof releas-
ably flocked to the base sheet is formed by means of the silk
screen printing by the use of a silk screen having a desired
design or pattern printed thereon.
The powdery hot melt synthetic resin adhesive in
the paste form in water or other liquid chemical having
resiliency imparting agent or resiliency assistant con-
tained therein is applied to the design or pattern adhesivelayer by means of the silk screen printing with the use
of a silk screen having a design or pattern similar to that
printed on the silk screen used in the formation of the design
layer printed thereon.
The thermoplastic synthetic resin adhesive forming
the design or pattern layer at the end of the releasably
flocked fibers opposite from the end thereof flocked to the
base sheet is one having a fusing point higher than that
of the powdery hot melt synthetic resin adhesive to be contained
therein, but lower that that of the hot melt synthetic resin
adhesive constituting the paste adhesive to be applied to the
design or pattern layer and such design or pattern layer forming
J~
thermoplastic synthetic resin adhesives include acrylic
synthetic resins, vinyl acetate synthetic resins and vinyl
chloride synthetic resins.
The powdery hot melt synthetic resin which is
the principalcomponent forming the paste adhesive to be
applied to the design or pattern layer may be nylon synthetic
resin or polyester synthetic resin and the resiliency imparting
agent and resiliency assistant to be contained in the hot
melt synthetic resin adhesive include frother and latex resin
as resili.ency imparting agent and thickener, surfactant and
defoamer as resiliency assistant.
Next, the transfer of the releasably flocked
fibers from the fiber flocked base assembly onto a permanent
support member such as snirt will be described referring to
Fig. 2. The transferably flocked fiber sticker 8 is placed
onto a permanent support member such as a shirt 9 to bring
the fiber into contact with the shirt laid on a suitable
support pad 9 and the sticker 8 is pressed against the shirt
by means of a heated iron (not shown).
The ironing partially fuses the thermoplastic
synthetic resin forming the design or pattern layer 5 applied
to the end of the releasably flocked fibers 3 opposite from
the end thereof flocked to the base sheet 1 and enhances the
bridging action of the synthetic resin adhesive of the design
layer. Thereafter, the sticker 8 is cooled to solidify so
as to firmly hold the adjacent end of the fibers 3 therein.
The ironing also fuses the hot melt synthetic
resin adhesive containing the resiliency imparting agent and
resiliency assistant therein which forms the principal
component of the penetrative adhesive layer 6 applied to the
design or pattern layer 5 and the fused hot melt
adhesive adheres to both the shirt 9 and design layer 5.
Upon the cooling of the sticker 8, the desi~n or
-- 7
5~
pattern layer 5 formed of thermoplastic synthetic resin
adhesive forms a fiber end holding layer and the hot~melt
synthetic resin adhesive, resiliency imparting agent a;nd
resiliency assistant forming the penetrative adhesive~layer
6 firmly secure the design or pattern layer 5 to the shirt
9 (see Fig. 2).
When the thermoplastic synthetic resin adhesive
forming the design or pattern layer 5 contains the powdery
hot melt synthetic resin adhesive, as the transferably flocked
fiber sticker 8 is subjected to the heat from the iron the
hot melt resin adhesive oozes out of the design layer 5 to
cooperate with the components of the penetrative adhesive
layer 6 in firmly securing the fibers 3 to the shirt 9.
Therefore, after the transferably flocked fiber
sticker 8 has cooled down, when the fiber flocked base
assembly 4 of the sticker 8 is desired to be peeled off the
shirt 9, since the fibers 3 are releasably flocked to the
base sheet 1 by the release adhesive layer 2, the fibers to
which the composite flber transfer adhesive layer 7 is applied
are separated from the base sheet 1 and firmly held on the
shirt 9 and the rest of the fibers to which the penetrative
adhesive layer 6 is not applied remain on the base sheet 1.
As a result, a design or pattern which does full
justice to that of the composite fiber transfer layer 7 is
formed on the shirt 9 (see Fig. 3).
According to the conventional methods for producing
transferably flocked fiber stickers, the transferably flocked
fiber stickers are produced by the methods for producing
paddings and linings as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application
PublicationsNos. 2042/1963 and 20869/1971. That is, a
thermoplastic synthetic resin adhesive is applied in a design
or pattern to the end of selected ones of the fibers 3 opposite
s~
from the end thereof releasably flocked to the base sheet
1 to form a design or pattern layer 5 and powdery hot melt
synthetic resin adhesive is then spread over the design
layer 5 to form an adhesive layer 6 which adheres to the
design layer 5 (see Fig. 4).
However, in the methods disclosed in the Japanese
patent application publications referred hereinabove, it is
very difficult to uniformly spread the powdery hot metal
synthetic resin adhesive 6 over the thermoplastic synthetic
resin adhesive design layer 5. Thus, if the powdery hot melt
synthetic resin adhesive 6 is spread unevenly over the
thermoplastic synthetic resin adhesive design layer 5 and
allowed to adhere to the latter in the unevenly spread pattern
to thereby form an uneven fiber transfer adhesive layer 7
(see Fig. 5), the fibers 3 transferred on the permanent
support member 9 such as the shirt would havevarying heights
resulting in the formation of an unsightly design or pattern
(see Fig. 6).
In addition, it is also very difficult to spread
fine powdery hot melt synthetic resin adhesive 6 precisely
along the contour of the design or pattern defined by the
thermoplastic synthetic resin adhesive design layer 5. If
the fine powdery hot melt synthetic resin adhesive 6 is not
spread precisely along the contour of the design or pattern
defined by the thermoplastic synthetic resin adhesive design
layer 5 (see Fig. 7), the thus formed fiber transfer adhesive
layer 7 will form a design or pattern having an indefinitely
defined contour on the shirt 9 (see Fig. 8).
If the hot melt synthetic resin adhesive 6 is
also spread apart from the contour of design or pattern
defined by the thermoplastic synthetic resin adhesive layer
5 in addition to along the contour of the design and adheres
5~3
thereto (see Fig. 9), the transferred fibers 3 will not
form a design or pattern having a desired or necessary contour
on the shirt 9 (see Fig. 10) because fibers 3 other than
those which form the design or pattern are transferred onto
the shirt~
In order to eliminate the disadvantages inherent
in the conventional methods for producing transferably
flocked fiber stickers as described hereinahove, hitherto,
any excess of the powdery hot metal synthetic resin adhesive
6 spread over the fibers 3 which are not used for forming
the design or pattern was removed from such fibers. However,
the excess hot metal adhesive removal has to be performed in
such a manner that the portion of the powdery hot melt synthetic
resin adhesive 6 spread over the design or pattern defined
by the design layer 5 is left on the design layer 5 while
the portion of the hot metal adhesive 6 spread over the fibers
which do not contribute to the formation of the design or
pattern is removed from such fibers requiring skilled hand
an~ a rather long time period.
If the excess hot metal adhesive removal operation
is performed by unskilled hand, it may result in the removal
of the hot melt adhesive 6 from the design or pattern forming
fibers 3 to thereby form an unacceptable design or pattern.
During the excess hot metal adhesive removal
operation, the removed hot metal adhesive 5 and the fibers
which have fallen off the base sheet 1 tend to fly about
within the working space and thus, the removal operation is
detrimental to the health of workers.
Thus, the present invention is to eliminate the
difficulties inherent in the conventional methods for
producing transferably flocked fiber stickers by combining
the conventional methods in which the design or pattern
-- 10 --
~1'7~S~3
layer of thermoplastic synthetic resin adhesive adapted to
bind the end of the fibers opposite from the end thereof
releasably flocked to the base sheet is formed at the
first-mentioned end of the fibers and the invention as
disclosed in Japanese patent application No. 88526/1979.
This application was filed in the name of Tokyo Houlaisha
Co. Ltd. (inventor Shigehiko HIGASHIGUCHI) on July 12,
1979, laid open as Publication No. 13159/1981 on February
9, 1981 and is still pendingD According to the present
invention, by the above-mentioned combination, trans-
ferably flocked fiber stickers can be efficiently produced
by forming a uniform penetrative adhesive layer exactly in
conformity with the contour of the design or pattern layer
formed at the end of the fibers opposite from the end
thereof releasably flocked to the base sheet to thereby
form a composite fiber transfer layer.
According to the present invention, since the
fiber transfer adhesive layer is formed in a design or
pattern, when transferred onto a permanent support member
such as a shirt, the fibers can form a design or pattern
in exactly conforming with the design or pattern defined
by the fiber transfer adhesive layer on the shirt. In
addition, since the penetrative adhesive layer of the
composite fiber transfer adhesive layer contains resiliency
imparting agent or resiliency assistant, the design or
pattern can smoothly expand and contract in sympathy with
the expansion and contraction of the shirt to thereby
eliminate the disadvantages such as deformation and/or
tearing of the fiber design or pattern.
While only one embodiment of the inven-tion has
been shown and described in detail, it will be understood
that the same is for illustration purpose only and not to be
taken as a definition of the invention, reference being had
for this purpose to the appended claims.
.~.,
~ ,.
11~851~
Particulars of the references mentioned in page 2.
-
Japanese Patent Appln. Publication No. 4768/1961was filed May 16,-1958 under Application No. 13597/1958 in the
name of Shinzo Isobe,'published for opposition May 13, 1961
and registered September 18, 1961 under Patent No. 283336 in
the name of the applicant; Japanese Patent Appln. Publication
No. 35619/1978 was filed February 9, 1973 under Application
No. 16908/1973 in the name of Sanei Chemical Co. L-td.,
published for opposition September 28, 1978 and registered
March 18, 1980 under Patent No. 9g0039 in the name of the
applicant; Japanese Patent Application No. 86541/1973 filed
July 31,'1973 as an additional patent application in the names
of Katsuyuki Satake and Kazuo Otomine, changed to an independent
patent application with new Application No. 122800/1973 and
published for opposition March 17, 1982 under Publication
No. 35111/1982 and are still pending; Japanese Utility Model
Application No. 90892/1973'was filed JuIy 31, 1973 in the
names of Katsuyu~i Satake and Kazuo Otomine, refiled January
9, 1978, with new Application No. 99077, after the rejection of
the original application, published February 19, 1980 under
Publication No. 7413/1980 and registered October 30, 1980
under U.M. Reg. No. 1352369 in the names of the applicants.
U.S. patent No. 4,1~2,9Z9, granted on March 6, 1979
and U.S. patent No. 4,201,810, granted on May 6, 1980.
- 12 -
