Polymeric article for transfer to a substrate

The invention relates to a method of applying polymeric materials to the surface of a substrate by providing a layer of polymeric material on a release sheet and then subsequently transferring the polymeric material from the release sheet by the application of heat and pressure sufficient to effect adhesion of the polymeric material to the substrate and thereafter peeling the release sheet from the polymeric material. The invention is particularly concerned with the application of polymeric materials being capable of a secondary reaction at the time of application to the substrate or subsequent thereto.

DESCRIPTION 
This invention relates to the application of polymeric materials to 
substrates. Numerous methods are available for the transfer of polymeric 
materials to the surface of sheet materials by a variety of methods either 
all over or locally in a pattern to produce decorative or physical 
effects. The wide scope of known application methods provides solutions 
for a wide range of problems, but they are not suitable, in general, for 
the application of patterns in register to cut parts of sheet materials. 
It is particularly difficult to apply patterns of polymeric material to 
precut parts locally in an accurately registered pattern with respect to 
various parameters on the cut parts themselves. 
Printing processes hitherto involving paste or solutions are unsuitable due 
to the fact that any continuous or semi-continuous printing process 
requires expensive control apparatus and expensive means for the 
positioning of the materials to be printed in register with the means for 
applying a pattern. 
In contra-distinction to the continuous printing of sheet material if a 
printing stencil is employed, it has to be changed if the size or shape of 
a pre-cut part changes, but still the difficulty of locating the cut part 
with great accuracy is necessary. 
Furthermore, if the thickness of the cut part is variable, then another 
variable parameter needs to be taken into account during the printing 
operation and this additionally increases the cost of the equivalent. 
Such conventional printing processes present additional problems in the 
drying step after the application of the paste or solution. Care has to be 
taken that the flow of air necessary to remove solvent vapours of water is 
kept low or is directed against the surface of the printed parts instead 
of parallel to their surface in order to prevent uncontrolled lifting or 
curling. 
Control of the penetration of a paste or solution into the structure of the 
precut material is another serious problem. 
According to the present invention there is provided a method of applying a 
polymeric material to the surface of a substrate which polymeric materials 
is pressure sensitive or which may be rendered pressure sensitive by the 
action of heat, which method comprises 
(i) applying at least locally a layer of said polymeric material to a sheet 
material capable of acting as a release sheet; 
(ii) contacting the said polymeric material with the surface of the 
substrate to which the said polymeric materials is to be applied; 
(iii) applying heat and pressure sufficient to effect adhesion of said 
polymeric material to said substrate; and 
(iv) peeling the release sheet from said polymeric material. 
The release sheet is selected such that the peel strength defined as the 
force required to separate a strip 5 cm wide from the release sheet is at 
least 10% preferably at least 25% lower than tensile strength of a 5 cm 
width of the same polymeric material 0.2 mm thick. 
For the purposes of the present invention, the term "pressure sensitive" 
means that a material when pressed against a substrate will adhere to the 
surface of this substrate. This pressure sensitivity may be inherent to 
the plymeric material itself, it may be induced by additives or--in the 
preferred mode of application--the polymeric material itself, or additives 
may be rendered pressure sensitive when heated to what is called the 
"tackifying temperature" hereafter (a definition of this term is given 
below). This does not mean that the polymeric material per se or under the 
influence of additives present in the preparation has to be truly 
thermoplastic, i.e. that it must have more or less sharp melting point, at 
which it becomes liquid, solidifying again upon cooling, and showing the 
same melting point again when reheated. While preparations containing or 
consisting of truly thermoplastic polymeric material are useful in many 
cases, in others it is advantageous to use polymeric material as one of 
the components of a preparation, which exhibits a thermoplastic behaviour 
only in the sense that heat will merely lower intermolecular cohesion of 
the polymer, thereby becoming plastified, i.e. capable of getting embedded 
in microscopic or macroscopic surface features of a substrate having a 
porous, craggy or otherwise structured surface, and thus becoming durably 
anchored to this substrate when cooled. Since the release sheet as 
outlined below has a smooth, unstructured and essentially non-porous 
surface, the adhesion of the polymeric material to the release sheet is 
much less effected by the plastifying effect of the heat, and release of 
the polymeric material to the substrate thus is effected when the release 
sheet is peeled off. 
The tackifying temperature of the polymeric material thus may be defined as 
being the temperature to which this material must be heated when together 
with the release sheet it is pressed against the substrate at a pressure 
of 1 kilo/square meter for 30 seconds to achieve after cooling an adhesion 
to the subtrate which is substantially higher than the adhesion to the 
release sheet, preferably at least twice as high. 
The said polymeric material may include a reactant capable of initiating a 
reaction to change the characteristics of said polymeric material during 
or after the application of said heat and pressure. The layer of polymeric 
material may comprise two or more layers capable of chemical or 
physico-chemical interaction subsequent to application to the substrate. 
The initiation of the reaction or interaction between said layers may 
occur at a temperature greater than that of which adhesion of the material 
to said substrate takes place. 
In a further embodiment of the present invention a reactant may be 
incorporated in the polymeric material layer in an encapsulated form for 
subsequent release. 
Polymers suitable alone or as components of a preparation are for instance 
polyacrylic esters, polyvinyl acetate or other esters of polyvinyl 
alcohol, polymerisates and copolymerisates of acrylic monomers such as 
styrene, butadiene or other unsaturated hydrocarbons, of halogenerated 
acrylic or vinylic monomers with or without functional groups other than 
carbon-carbon double bonds. 
Particularly suitable for many applications are polymers capable of 
undergoing reactions which increase intermolecular cohesion when heat is 
applied, examples being crosslinking reactions, the formation of a matrix 
within a polymer or transitions from a lower to a higher degree of 
polymerisation. A particularly suitable composition is one whose melt 
index (determined according to conventional methods) will drop by at least 
25 percent, preferably at least 50 percent, when the essentially dry 
preparation is heated to a temperature 10.degree. to 100.degree. C. higher 
than the tackifying temperature for not more than two minutes. 
The preparation may contain in addition to the polymeric material (which 
itself may consist of different components) known agents such as 
softeners, plastifiers, tackifiers, hydrophobing agents, flame retardants, 
blowing agents, thickeners, crosslinking catalysts, colouring material and 
antistatic agents. As mentioned above, polymers which are not truly 
thermoplastic in the sense that they can be reversibly liquified by 
heating to a certain temperature are quite suitable. In certain cases, 
particularly if either for the transfer or in the final product, fusible 
adhesive properties (a property inherent to truly thermoplastic material) 
are desirable, fusibles such as polythylene, polypropylene, polyamides (in 
particular in the form of low melting polymide mixtures such as 
terpolymers), polyesters or other thermoplastic polymers having a melting 
point in the range of 70.degree. to 180.degree. C. may be added, for 
instance in the form of fine powders. These powders may be incorporated 
into the preparation before it is applied to the release sheet, or they 
may be applied to either surface of the preparation when it is already on 
the transfer sheet. 
Adding blowing agents to the preparation has also been found very useful 
for many applications. In selecting such an agent, the blowing temperature 
(i.e. the temperature at which gas or vapours are given off) is a very 
important criterium. This temperature should be such that it is higher 
than any temperature occurring during the application to the transfer 
sheet unless blowing, i.e. a conversion into a sponge structure is 
desirable before the release process, and it should be such that blowing 
takes place when intermolecular cohesion of the polymeric material is 
lowered by heat during the release/transfer process, unless it is 
desirable to effect blowing only at a later stage. In this latter case the 
blowing temperature has to be considerably above the tackifying 
temperature, e.g. 50.degree. to 100.degree. C. higher. 
The preparation, i.e. components of the polymeric material and the 
additives, should be selected in such a way that when it is on the release 
sheet material ready for release/transfer, its cohesion at least at the 
tackifying temperature is at least 10 percent, preferably at least 25 
percent higher than its adhesion to the release sheet. This ratio may be 
simply determined for instance by applying the preparation in the form of 
a strip to the release sheet, and then peeling the material from the 
release sheet. If it can be peeled off without being torn, cohesion is at 
least as high as adhesion at the testing temperature. To get a more 
quantitative result, the force necessary to peel the strip from the 
release sheet and the tensile strength of the strip (after it has been 
peeled) may be determined. 
The release sheet is preferably selected in such a way that (1) at least 
the surface to which the preparation is applied is unstructured, 
sufficiently smooth and non-porous to minimize the influence of heating to 
the tackifying temperature on the peel strength. (2) It is virtually 
stable under the conditions under which the preparation is applied (as 
little swelling as possible if the preparation contains water or solvents) 
and under release transfer conditions (no appreciable effect of the heat 
applied). To avoid problems related to shrinkage in puckering creasing and 
curling. The release sheet thus should be stable at temperatures which are 
at least 30.degree., preferably 50.degree. C. higher than the highest 
temperature occurring until release has been effected. 
Paper, particularly paper coated with agents producing a smooth surface 
with low adhesion to other materials, has been found quite suitable, 
provided it provides adequate wetting properties toward the preparation 
and is dimensionally stable under application conditions. The same 
criteria apply to cellulose films. 
Films consisting of thermoplastic polymers are suitable if they are 
dimensionally stable at the temperatures applied during application and 
release/transfer procedures and if the preparations used lend themselves 
to the application to hydrophobic surfaces. 
Transparent, or translucent release sheets offer an advantage if they have 
to be cut into suitable shapes for the transfer to precut parts of 
substrates (e.g. to precut parts of garments etc.), because positioning is 
more simple. 
The application of the preparation containing the polymeric material to the 
release sheet may be effected locally by any known printing method 
including spraying, screen or roller printing, or all-over by known 
procedures such as continuous all-over printing or casting. A very useful 
form of application in either case is the conversion of aqueous 
preparations into foams, which are applied to the release sheet as 
described above. If a more three-dimensional effect is desired, the 
preparation may be formulated in such a way that the foam or sponge 
structure is retained, i.e. still exists at least partly during and after 
the release/transfer process. Another method for producing 
three-dimensional, cellular structures on the substrate is to have blowing 
agent present in the formulation. 
The amount of preparation applied to the release sheet is adjusted to the 
effects desired. If higher amounts per square centimeter are applied, i.e. 
if the local or all-over application has a higher thickness, a higher 
degree of stiffness will for instance result on the areas of the substrate 
to which transfer has taken place, and the same applies if the thickness 
of the transferred material is increased by imparting it to a cellular 
structure. If desired the thickness of the material may be varied over the 
area of the release sheet. 
The release sheet usually is coated or printed in a continuous process 
while it is in the form of a sheet hundreds or thousands of meters long. 
After the polymeric material has been applied to it, water or other 
solvents are removed by drying, so that at the release/transfer stage the 
polymeric material is in an essentially dry state. 
The release sheet carrying the polymeric material may be cut into pieces 
before the release/transfer process, or it may remain in sheet form 
throughout the entire process. 
Conditions during the release/transfer process will vary depending on the 
formulation used, the substrate to which transfer has to be made, the 
effects desired and the equipment used. Flat bed presses, hand irons (in 
the case of cut pieces), calender presses or other equipment capable of 
applying pressure of predeterminable magnitude in combination with heat at 
a predeterminable temperature may be used. Minimum pressures are usually 
around 100 to 300 grams per square centimeter, while the maximum may be 2 
kilos per square meter or even more. 
The pressing time will depend on the temperature gradient existing between 
the tackifying temperature and the surface temperature of the press, the 
thickness of the sheet materials interposed between the hot surface of the 
press and the material to be tackified, on the fastness properties 
desired, on the materials present etc. Minimum pressing times may be in 
the 5 to 15 second range, while maximum pressing times may be considerably 
higher, particularly if, for instance, crosslinking of the polymeric 
material or of components thereof is to be effected at the same time as 
transfer. Since pressing time usually will be kept low to achieve high 
manufacturing and equipment efficiency, heat treatments aiming at effects 
like crosslinking may be carried out subsequently, i.e. after the material 
has left the press. 
If desired, pressure may be applied locally only, or it may be different 
for different areas, and the same applies to temperatures. In this way 
and/or by using press head surfaces which are not flat, but have lands 
alternating with recessed areas, it is even possible to effect transfer 
only locally, or vary the thickness of the transferred layer. 
Transfer as mentioned above is effected by applying pressure to the 
temporary laminate when the polymeric material to be transferred has a 
temperature at least equal, preferably 25.degree. to 100.degree. C. higher 
than the tackifying temperature. In the case of reactive systems, i.e. of 
systems which under the influence of heat will change irreversibly their 
melt flow properties and/or their thermal behaviour generally, i.e. the 
tackifying temperature either by crosslinking (formation of a 
three-dimensional polymer or of a matrix inside the polymer, or by 
increasing the chainlength, by an increase of intermolecular forces acting 
between macromolecules or the evaporation or decomposition of agents 
lowering intermolecular cohesion) the heat treatment should be such that 
the melt Index (determined according to standard procedures) is reduced by 
at least 10 percent, preferably at least 50 percent. Another guide-line in 
the case of such reactive systems is to apply a heat treatment (during 
and/or after transfer) which--if applied to the reactive polymer system 
while it is still on the release sheet i.e. before contact with the 
substrate to which transfer has to be effected which will reduce the 
adhesion (peel strength) of the polymer system to the substrate by at 
least 50 percent compared to the adhesion the same polymer system has to 
the same substrate without such a previous heat treatment (the lowering of 
the peel strength is due to the lower degree of tackiness obtainable at 
the tackifying temperature if the material has been preheated to a 
temperature causing crosslinking or other irreversible changes). 
In a further embodiment of the present invention the reusable carrier sheet 
such as films may be advantageous for economical reasons. "Reusable" means 
that the same carrier sheet is printed, dried and used for transfer 
several or many times, or even that it is used in the form of a continuous 
belt, which is printed with the polymer preparation, heated to effect 
drying or at least gelling of the polymer ("gelling" meaning that the 
preparation is no longer a liquid or paste having little cohesion, but a 
nonflowing jelly-like substance formed by coalescene of the colloidal or 
dispersed state in which the polymer was present when printed), and 
brought into contact with the sheet material to be printed, preferably at 
temperatures at least as high as the tackifying temperature, under 
sufficient pressure to effect transfer. 
Such reusable carrier sheets may consist of films not affected by transfer 
temperatures and the compounds, in particular solvents present in the 
printing preparation, of coated fabrics, fibre-reinforced plastics or any 
other suitable material. 
In particular, the use of a transparent hydrophobic film of such properties 
with an aqueous preparation will produce very interesting glossy transfer 
effects, i.e. that the transferred pattern shows a very high degree of 
gloss, which is durable to care treatments if the preparations are 
formulated suitably. In many cases, the gloss is greatest if transfer is 
effected by heat, but peeling off of the transfer sheet takes place only 
after the temperature of the transferred polymer and the carrier sheet has 
been lowered to well below the tackifying temperature, preferably at least 
30.degree. C. below. Such glossy effects can, of course, be obtained both 
by transfer to sheet material and to pre-cut parts. 
Another effect obtainable is the stabilisation of intrinsically unstable 
sheet structures. "Unstable" may means that the sheet structure can be 
easily stretched beyond elastic recovery, that the sheet is unstable if 
subjected to swelling treatments (e.g. that it will shrink strongly when 
washed) that the cohesion of the structural components of the sheet 
material is weak (e.g. an unbonded web of fibres), or that components come 
off too easily (e.g. non-wovens showing excessive linting tendency). 
Knitted fabrics, which can easily be distorted or stretched beyond elastic 
recovery, or which excessively shrink in direction if stretched 
lengthwise, can be stabilised to a remarkable degree if polymers are 
applied in a suitable pattern. Thin lines printed in the direction to be 
stabilised have been found to be very effective. 
If desired, e.g. if stabilisation is required only during processing (e.g. 
embroidering, printing or other treatments requiring a high degree of 
accuracy and stability at positioning procedures), the thermoplastic 
material transferred may be of a soluble type, i.e. it may be a polymer 
whose intramolecular cohesion can be lowered by treatment with aqueous 
solutions (containing for example acidic or alkaline or other agents 
lowering intramolecular cohesion further, and/or dispersing agents 
facilitating removal from the stabilised sheet material) to a degree 
sufficient to remove the polymer for instance in washing or dry-cleaning 
treatments. 
Unstable sheet structures such as for instance knitted or non-woven fabrics 
may also be transfer-treated to increase dimensional stability in washing 
and dry-cleaning treatments without chemical modification of the substrate 
(cellulosic sheet material can be dimensionally stabilised by a treatment 
with crosslinking agents, which is known to lower strength properties and 
absorbency). Here again a line pattern has been found to be very 
effective. In such cases one will naturally use a polymer preparation 
formulated in such a way that the transferred pattern is durable against 
the treatments for which the fabric is to be rendered stable. 
To reduce or remove for instance, the linting, pilling, fuzz-forming or 
frosting tendency of a textile sheet material (e.g. the linting tendency 
of a non-woven, the pilling or frosting tendency of a woven or knitted 
fabric), any pattern in principle is applicable (even all-over transfer 
coating), but from the point of view of softness, handle, drape, air 
permeability and absorbancy thin line patterns or narrowly spaced dots or 
dashes are most suitable. 
Transferred polymers may also be used to modify the drape or hand of a 
sheet structure, in particular textile fabrics, in a predeterminable way. 
Line patterns will for instance change the drape of a fabric remarkably by 
imparting draping properties not inherent to the structure per se. This 
too applies both to the transfer to sheet material and to precut pieces of 
apparel. 
Transferring polymers for instance in a line pattern to sheet material (in 
particular to precut garment such for example as garment sleeves), the 
smoothness and gliding properties of a material may be improved to such a 
degree that no lining is necessary. 
In all these applications the intrinsic advantages of the patterned 
application of polymeric material by transfer over direct printing or 
other application methods involving pastes, and dispersions (i.e. liquid, 
not pre-gelled or predried preparations), are indispensible for successful 
commercial usage. The polymeric material does not penetrate into sheet 
structures and thus does not excessively stiffen the material, nor does it 
adversely affect absorbency or other important properties. 
Stabilising effects can be achieved even if only surface portions of the 
sheet material are affected, i.e. without substantial penetration, which 
would block access to the absorptive material and block yarn to yarn 
and/or fibre to fibre movement, resulting in a high increase of stiffness. 
It is well known that such blocking tends to lower resistance to abrasion 
and tear strength markedly. If on the other hand intrinsically stiff 
polymeric material is transferred, local stiffening may be achieved, again 
without substantial loss of absorbency and without substantial blocking of 
yarn and fibre to fibre movement except locally in very limited surface 
portions. 
If desired the polymeric material preparation may be formulated in such a 
way (selecting the polymeric material and/or additives), that after 
transfer differential dyeing effects may be achieved by piece dying 
techniques. 
In many embodiments of the invention, transfer is facilitated and fastness 
properties of the transferred printing effects are improved, if the 
preparation contains truly thermoplastic polymeric material in addition to 
polymers (such as, for instance, crosslinkable acrylates), which are not 
truly thermoplastic, i.e. which when heated to a certain temperature loss 
their thermoplasticity at least partly, i.e. which undergo a chemical or 
physicochemical modification which changes their response to heating. 
Transfer may be facilitated if the polymeric material to be transferred is 
in a slightly swollen state when transfer starts, i.e. if intermolecular 
cohesion is slightly reduced compared to the level it has in complete 
absence of swelling agents. In practice, the most economical and efficient 
way to transfer at a lower level of cohesion is to prevent complete drying 
of aqueous preparations containing polymeric material at least slightly 
swellable in water, or to stop the coalescing of dispersions before it is 
completed, i.e. before any further treatment conductive to coalescing 
would no longer increase the degree of gelling. 
If crosslinkable polymeric material is present in a formulation, it is in 
most cases desirable (or even necessary if the degree of crosslinking 
would be realitively high) to prevent crosslinking before transfer has 
taken place. In many cases crosslinking can be effected with the heat 
applied during transfer, but it may be desirable (or necessary if 
crosslinking requires temperatures higher than transfer temperature or 
curing times longer than transfer time) to subject the printed material to 
a thermal after treatment. 
It has also been found that the method according to the invention may be 
used for applying polymeric preparations capable serving as adhesives to 
surfaces, i.e. of agents which when activated by heat, pressure or by 
swelling agents will produce strong adhesion to two surfaces brought into 
contact and will produce a strong bond between these two surfaces after 
the action of the activation agent has ceased. If desired the preparation 
may be provided with two levels of tackifying temperatures, a lower for 
transfer and a higher for use as an adhesive. 
An important advantage of this method for applying adhesives in particular 
to porous surfaces is that undesirable penetration of the adhesive can 
easily be prevented, while this is almost impossible if the same adhesive 
would be applied in the form of a viscous liquid or a paste. Another 
advantage, which is particularly important for fast, highly automated 
operations involving adhesive preparations, lies in the fact that no 
drying is necessary. 
This advantage also applies to the high speed application by transfer of 
colouring material, stiffening or scaffolding agents applied locally. 
The method according to the invention is also very suitable if two or more 
layers containing agents capable of chemical or physicochemical 
interaction are to be applied to a surface, where no interaction is 
desirable during the application nor during storage, but only at a later 
stage, and where such interaction is for instance promoted by mechanical 
action causing mixing of the preparations at the interfaces of the layers 
caused to penetrate each other. 
Still another application of the process according to the invention is to 
incorporate agents into the preparation in encapsulated form, these agents 
being freed during transfer or subsequently for instance by the action of 
pressure and/or heat. Encapsulation may be through the formation of a 
physically discernible skin around the agents, or by forming an interface 
between ionomeric or ionic compounds of opposite charge, i.e. between an 
inner phase containing a strongly kationic or anionic agent, and an outer 
phase containing an agent of the opposite ionic nature. 
It also has been found that three dimensional structures may be 
transferred, stays such as those used in shirt collars being an example. 
Following is a description by way of example only of the methods of 
carrying the invention into effect.

EXAMPLE 1 
To a coated release paper, which showed less than 0.2 percent shrinkage 
when wetted on the coated side and dried at 100.degree. C., the following 
preparation printing paste was applied by screen printing (all parts by 
weight): 
24 parts SRD 1229 (acrylate containing a blowing agent) 
20 parts polyethylene powder (NA 5374) 
10 parts latecoll (polyacrylate thickener) 
2 parts ammonia (20% solution) 
28 parts water 
4 parts fatty amid softener (Belsoft 200) 
3 parts silicone antifoaming agent 
0.1 parts red pigment (Helizarin Brilliant Red BBT). 
After printing, the preparation was dried at 100.degree. C. 
The peel strength of a strip 5 cm wide and 0.02 cm thick was 110 grams, the 
tensile strength of the strip (determined after peeling) 170 grams. 
Transfer to a white cotton was effected by superimposing the printed side 
of the release paper on the cotton fabric (both the transfer paper and the 
fabric had been die-cut into the front section of a girl's dress, and the 
pressing on a flat bed press at a temperature of 200.degree. C. and a 
pressure of 1.5 kilos/m2 for 20 seconds. 
This heat treatment resulted in the polymer preparation becoming firmly 
anchored in the surface structure of the fabric (to which it firmly 
adhered when the release paper was peeled off), and in causing the polymer 
preparation to turn into a sponge-like structure due to the decomposition 
of the blowing agent. 
EXAMPLE 2 
The following preparation was applied by screen printing to release paper: 
100 parts crosslinkable polyacrylate (Primal LE 1126) 
20 parts SRD 1229 
5 parts melamine-formaldehyde precondensate (Kanrit M70) 
0.1 part blue pigment 
2 parts silicone antifoaming agent 
5 parts acrylic copolymer thickening agent (Primal ASE 60) 
20 parts methyl cellulose (4% solution) 
After printing the material was dried and transferred in a calender press 
in sheet form to wall paper, resulting in a coloured three-dimensional 
pattern as in Example 1. 
EXAMPLE 3 
On a knitted fabric (100% cotton, jersey, 110 g per square meter), which 
had been scoured, bleached and dyed, but not resin treated, and which when 
machine washed at 60.degree. C. showed a shrinkage of 12% in one, 5% in 
the other direction, fine lines (width 0.5 millimeters, distance between 
lines 1 millimeter) were printed by transfer from transfer paper. The 
direction of the lines was parallel to the direction showing more 
shrinkage. The preparation printed on the transfer paper consisted of 
50 parts primal LE 1126/crosslinkable polyacrylate (Rohm & Haas, 
Philadelphia) 
2 parts antifoaming agent (Antimousse H) 
25 parts polyethylene powder (Microthene FN 510) 
5 parts thickener (4% solids) (Methocel F4M) 
80 parts polyvinyl acetate dispersion 
The formation was dried at 100.degree. C. Transfer was effected at 
180.degree. C. Washing shrinkage of the knit was reduced from 12% to 4%. 
The stripes were hardly noticable when the material was made up into a 
dress, with the stripes on the inside. 
Resistance to bagging at the elbows and to distortion in general 
(stretching beyond elastic recovery) was found to be markedly improved 
too. 
EXAMPLE 4 
The same knitted fabric as in Example 3 was printed with a line pattern 
(width of lines 2 millimeters, distance between lines 2 centimeters). 
Transfer was from a polyester film, the formulation was the same as in 
Example 1, except that 0.1 parts of a red pigment (Helizarin Brilliant 
Red) were added. 
After transfer had been effect, the polyester film was peeled off only 
after it had cooled to 40.degree. C. (transfer temperature 180.degree. 
C.). 
The lines showed high gloss, the drape of the material was markedly 
changed, the lines controlling the drape in a way resembling a pleating 
effect. 
In an additional test, the printed knit was after treated with a cellulose 
crosslinking agent (dimethylol-ethylene urea) to improve the dimensional 
stability (lines spaced as described do usually not sufficiently stabilise 
a fabric structure). 
EXAMPLE 5 
A polyester/cotton voile (desized, boiled off, bleached and printed, but 
not heat set) was treated with the transfer film described in Example 4, 
the spacing of lines (width one millimeter, arranged in a wave pattern) 
being two millimeters. The transfer temperature, which was 200.degree. C., 
caused the polyester fibres to shrink, producing a puckering effect in 
addition to glossy lines running across the printing design. 
EXAMPLE 6 
On to a non-woven fabric containing no binder (entangled pulp/polyester 
fibre composite structure) a grid pattern (width of lines 1 millimeter, 
distance 2 millimeters, angel 90.degree. C. between the two line systems) 
was printed by transfer, the formulation being the same as in Example 3. 
The non-woven structure was unstable before the treatment in the sense that 
fibres could be removed very easily and even very little stretching 
produced irreversible distortion of the structure, the printed material 
was much more stable. Only few if any fibres cam off on the printed side, 
and the structure showed elastic recovery to a degree of stretching of 
more than 10%. Absorbency determined both by wicking tests and by 
determining the amount of water retained after wetting and spinning in a 
centrifuge was reduced by less than 5%. 
EXAMPLE 7 
The treatment described in Example 3 was repeated, transfer being effected 
from an endless belt made of an aramide fabric (serving as base fabric) 
laminated to a polyester film. This endless belt was printed with the 
preparation described in Example 1, which then was gelled and dried to a 
solids content of 90% before transfer took place at 190.degree. C. in a 
continuous process between rollers transmitting the heat to the printing 
pattern and the fabric to be printed.