Selective heat-transfer imaging system and method of using the same
US8350880B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 23, 2008 |
| Grant date | Jan 8, 2013 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 5, 2029 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB41M5/5263
- WIPO fieldTextile and paper machines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A heat-transfer imaging system and a method of using the same. The heat-transfer imaging system includes a heat-transfer sheet and an activating ink. The heat-transfer sheet and the activating ink are specially formulated so that only the areas of the heat-transfer sheet onto which the ink has been printed become adhesive under heat-transfer conditions. This effect may be achieved by designing the sheet to include an ink-receptive coating whose melting temperature is higher than that typically encountered during normal heat-transfer conditions and by formulating the activating ink to include a plasticizer that, when printed onto the ink-receptive coating, lowers the melting temperature of the ink-receptive coating sufficiently so that the modified melting temperature falls within the temperature range encountered during heat-transfer.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.