Process and apparatus for transferring prints from a support on to a substrate

Described are a process and an apparatus for transferring prints (18, 20) from a support (16) on to a substrate (10), wherein the support (16) is transported together with the substrate (10) through a station in which the substrate (10) having print portions (12) in succession in the direction of transportation movement is provided with the prints (18, 20) in accurate register relationship. This procedure uses on the one hand a substrate (10) having at least two rows of print portions (112) side-by-side transversely to the direction of transportation movement and on the other hand a support (16) which in the direction of transportation movement has between the prints (18) for print portions (12) disposed in a row one after the other in the direction of transportation movement at least one respective additional print (20). According to the invention there are provided means, by means of which only certain prints (18, 20) can be respectively transferred selectively fron the support (16) on to the substrate (10) in the station. After leaving the station the support (16) is released frmm the substrate (10) and according to the number of additional prints (18) provided between two prints (18) for print portions (12) occurring in succession in the direction of transportation movement, fed at least one further time to the station, in which case the support (16) is displaced laterally by the transverse spacing between the adjacent rows of print portions and in the direction of transportation movement approximately by the spacing between directly successive prints (18, 20).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 1. Field of the Invention
 This invention relates to a process and apparatus for transferring prints
 from a support to a substrate, and more particularly to a process and
 apparatus for transferring prints from a support to a substrate having
 rows of print portions each including a defined surface portion.
 2. Description of the Prior Art
 A process for transferring a stamping foil print from a stamping foil on to
 a substrate and an apparatus for carrying out that process are known from
 DE 32 10 551 C2. That process and the apparatus are suitable for virtually
 endlessly impressing a substrate in the form of a flexible web of
 material, with a print, in the direction of forward feed movement of the
 substrate. The substrate may be for example a magnetic strip on a ticket
 or a decorative endless strip which covers a corresponding print portion,
 that is to say a ticket or the like, in the direction of transportation
 movement of the substrate from one edge of the corresponding print portion
 as far as the oppositely disposed edge therof.
 If that known process or the apparatus provided for carrying it into effect
 are to be used to impress individual prints on to a substrate having print
 portions in succession in accurate register relationship, the distance
 between adjacent prints in the direction of transportation of the hot
 stamping foil precisely corresponds to the spacing of the print portions
 in the direction of transportation movement of the substrate, which is
 parallel to the direction of transportation movement of the hot stamfping
 foil. Due to that spacing between the stamping foil prints, there is
 between them a not inconsiderable unused empty space, that is to say
 stamping foil waste, and that has an effect on the economy of that known
 process and the apparatus provided for carrying it into effect when
 stamping individual images.
 OBJECT OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
 The object of the present invention is to provide a process and an
 apparatus of the kind set forth in the opening part of this specification,
 in which respect it is economically possible to provide a substrate having
 print portions in succession with individual spaced-apart prints in
 accurate register relationship, with the wastage of support material being
 relatively slight.
 SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
 By virtue of the procedure according to the invention, it is possible, in a
 rotatable and thus continuous mode, to provide a virtually endless
 substrate with at least two rows of print portions in accurate register
 relationship with corresponding individual prints, that is to say which
 represent individual images, wherein the support provided with the prints
 is well utilised because provided on the support, between the prints for
 the print portions of one row thereof, are further prints for at least one
 further row of print portions. In accordance with the invention therefore
 the wastage is relatively slight. A further advantage over discontinuously
 or oscillatingly operating processes for applying individual image prints
 to the corresponding print portions of substrates lies in the
 comparatively high level of productivity. Known oscillating stamping
 processes for stamping substrates in the form of sheets with multiple
 print portions achieve for example outputs of about 4000 through 6000
 sheets per hour. In comparison thereto, in a rotary stamping process in
 accordance with above-mentioned DE 32 10 551 C2, it is possible to achieve
 feed speeds of the order of magnitude of 130 through 200 m/min, which when
 converted corresponds to about 12,000 through 18,000 sheets which can be
 stamped per hour. The process according to the invention makes use of the
 last-mentioned rotary process by means of a stamping foil or by means of a
 support which is provided in register relationship with an activatable
 adhesive. It is therefore possible for the support and the prints to be
 formed by a stamping foil. It is advantageous in relation to such a
 process if the support and the prints are formed by a hot stamping foil.
 In that case, the support can be transported a plurality of times through
 a station having a segmented heated stamping roller forming the means for
 the selective transfer of certain prints from the support on to the
 substrate, and at least one pressure roller which bears against the
 peripheral surface of the stamping roller. This process requires a
 segmented stamping roller in order actually to transfer only the
 respectively correct prints from the support on to the substrate while the
 prints disposed between same are transferred on to the corresponding
 substrate only after lateral displacement and the renewed feed of the
 support to the station.
 Highly exact transfer of prints from a support on to a substrate, that is
 to say transfer in accurate register relationship, is afforded if, when
 carrying out the process according to the invention, use is made of a hot
 stamping foil in which the spacing of the stamping foil prints in the
 direction of transportation movement is shorter than the spacing of the
 stamping punch segments at the peripheral surface of the stamping roller,
 and if the hot stamping foil is stretched upstream of the stamping station
 in such a way that the spacing of the stamping foil prints of the or each
 row thereof corresponds to the spacing of the stamping punch segments.
 More specifically, in that way it is possible to provide for an accurately
 defined and exact association of the stamping foil prints with the
 associated print portions of the substrate to be stamped, even when the
 stamping roller is operating at high angular speeds.
 It is helpful for the same purpose if, when using a segmented stamping
 roller, the rotary angular position of the stamping roller or the stamping
 punch segments thereof and a predetermined identification of the substrate
 or each print portion of the substrate can be adapted to each other by
 means of a regulating device. The last mentioned regulating device is
 desirably a so-called insetter regulating means. The identification on the
 substrate or each print portion of the substrate may involve suitable
 print marks which are detected by means of a print mark reading device and
 fed to the regulating device as regulating parameters. Possible side
 tolerances of the support with the prints or the hot stamping foil in
 relation to the substrate can be compensated by per se known measures such
 as guide rollers, in which respect support by air cushioning means or the
 like may also be desirable.
 It has been found desirable if, in carrying out the last-mentioned process,
 the forward feed position of the stamping foil or the prints thereon is
 determined and adapted by means of the above-mentioned regulating device
 to the rotary angular position of the stamping station or the stamping
 punch segments thereof. That can be done by the above-mentioned print mark
 reading device which is connected to the regulating device in order for
 example suitably to influence a control drive with a superimposition
 transmission, with which the stamping roller and/or the forward feed
 rollers for the substrate or the stamping foil are driven.
 If the process according to the invention uses a hot stamping foil, it is
 desirable for same to be cooled down after leaving the stamping station
 for the purposes of detachment from the corresponding stamped substrate
 and then to be fed at least one further time to the stamping
 station--displaced by the spacing of adjacent rows of print portions. The
 stamping speed can be suitably increased by such a cooling action, which
 has an advantageous effect on the productivity of the process according to
 the invention.
 It has been found desirable if after leaving the stamping station the
 stamping foil, pivoted out of the plane of the foil through 90.degree. of
 angle, is diverted around a pair of displacement rollers which are
 oriented perpendicularly to the stamping roller, in so doing being
 displaced transversely to the direction of transportation movement by the
 spacing of adjacent rows of print portions, and then, displaced
 transversely by a corresponding row of print portions, it is fed to the
 stamping station again so that at least two rows of print portions are
 simultaneously stamped with prints in the stamping station. In that
 arrangement the displacement rollers are desirably so provided that they
 are suitable for producing corresponding displacement movements adapted to
 the respective factors of substrates to be stamped and support with
 prints.
 In the process according to the invention however the substrate can also be
 provided in accordance with the prints in register relationship with an
 activatable adhesive which forms the means for the selective transfer of
 certain prints on to the substrate and which is then activated before the
 substrate is fed to the station. In that respect, the activatable adhesive
 used can be an energy-activatable primer or a multi-component adhesive,
 the complementary component of which is applied to the substrate in
 register relationship in a manner corresponding to the prints. Depending
 on its composition the above-mentioned primer can be activated for example
 by ultra-violet or electron radiation or the like. The multi-camponent
 adhesive which is possibly used may be a two-camponent adhesive. If the
 means used in the process according to the invention for the selective
 transfer of certain prints on to the substrate is formed by an activatable
 adhesive of the above-described kind, that affords the further advantage
 that no segmented roller is required for the transfer of prints from the
 support on to the substrate, but it is possible to use a roller of a
 comparatively simple design configuration, without roller segments,
 because in this case suitable activation is effected specifically for
 example by irradiation or by virtue of the adhesive component of the
 multi-component adhesive, which component co-operates with the
 complementary component.
 Desirably, for carrying out the process according to the invention, use is
 made of a support in which the prints are equidistantly spaced one behind
 the other in a row because in that case the regulation expenditure for
 carrying out the process is relatively slight.
 In accordance with the invention, as already mentioned above, it is
 possible to use in the station a stamping roller whose stamping punch
 segments are at a spacing from each other in the peripheral direction,
 which is adapted to the spacing, in the direction of transportation
 movement, of successively disposed print portions of each row thereof.
 The process according to the invention can use a substrate strip which is
 wound on a rol I; it is however also possible in accordance with the
 invention to use sheet-like substrates which are then successively fed to
 the stamping station. Consequently in the last mentioned case it is
 possible to omit the operation of cutting up the substrate web to form
 individual sheets after the stamping procedure, and that can possibly also
 have a positive effect on the level of productivity of the process.
 With the apparatus according to the invention it is possible to use a
 supply device which has a roll for a virtually endless substrate in strip
 form. It is also possible however for the supply device to have a
 container for a stack of sheet-like substrates and a device for continuous
 feed without gaps of the individual substrate sheets to the station.
 The said station may be a stamping station having a stamping roller which
 at its peripheral surface is provided with stamping punch segments which
 simultaneously stamp the print portions disposed in side-by-side
 relationship, the segments being spaced from each other in the peripheral
 direction of the stamping roller, wherein the spacing between adjacent
 stamping punch segments is adapted to the spacing, in the direction of
 transportation movement, of successively disposed print portions of each
 row thereof. Another possibility provides that a device for selectively
 applying an activatable adhesive to the substrate in register relationship
 is disposed between the station and the supply device. This applicator
 device may be a printing unit for applying the adhesive to the substrate.
 Printing units of that kind are known for example in the form of
 single-print units based on a flexographic printing unit. It is however
 also possible for the printing unit to be in the form of an intaglio,
 offset or screen printing unit. In the apparatus of the last-mentioned
 kind, the device for activation of the adhesive which is formed by a
 primer can have an irradiation device. By means of the irradiation device,
 depending on the primer used, it is possible to generate ultraviolet
 radiation, electron radiation or another suitable radiation in order
 appropriately to activate the primer.
 It is advantageous if, in an embodiment of the apparatus according to the
 invention with a stamping roller having stamping punch segments, the
 prints provided on the support in the or each row thereof are at a spacing
 from each other which is slightly less than the spacing of the stamping
 punch segments at the peripheral surface of the stamping roller, and if
 disposed upstream of the stamping station are at least two braked forward
 feed rollers at which the support which is formed by a stamping foil
 experiences a change in direction and is stretched in relation to the
 stamping station in such a way that the spacing of the prints of the or
 each row thereof precisely corresponds to the spacing of the stamping
 punch segments. An apparatus of that kind makes it possible to provide for
 transfer of the prints from the carrier on to the substrate in accurate
 register relationship with ccparatively high cycle numbers, that is to
 say, at a relatively high level of productivity. It is useful for the same
 purpose if, in such an apparatus of the last-mentioned kind, there is
 provided a regulating device for adaptation of the rotary angular position
 of the stamping roller or its stamping punch segments to a predetermined
 identification on the substrate or each print portion thereof. The
 regulating device is desirably connected on its input side to at least one
 reading device and on its output side to a control drive for the stamping
 roller and/or for the forward feed rollers for the substrate and/or the
 stamping foil. The at least one reading device may be a commercially
 available print mark reader and the control drive may be a known drive
 which is designed with a superimposition transmission arrangement.
 It is advantageous if provided between the forward feed rollers and the
 stamping station is at least one second reading device which is associated
 with the stamping foil and which is connected to said regulating device.
 The markings of the stamping foil can be detected by means of the second
 reading device and the signals corresponding to the detected markings can
 be fed to the regulating device in order to produce an accurate
 association between the support with the prints or the stamping foil and
 the stamping roller or the stamping punch segments thereof.
 It has been found desirable if the displacement device has at least one
 pair of displacement rollers which are displaced relative to each other in
 parallel relationship in the direction of transportation movement and
 transversely thereto with respect to each other, wherein the transverse
 displacement of the displacement rollers of the or each pair thereof
 corresponds to the transverse spacing of adjacent rows of print portions
 of the substrate. Such a configuration of the displacement means makes it
 possible for the support with the print portions or the stamping foil to
 be at least once diverted in a loop-like manner and virtually free from
 distortion and deformation in relation to the means for transfer of the
 corresponding prints fram the support on to the substrate or in relation
 to the stamping station, and to be fed to the station at least one second
 time in order for at least two rows of print portions of the substrate
 which is transported through the stamping station to be simultaneously
 provided with prints or stamped upon, in accurate register relationship.
 Good adaptation to the respective parameters of a substrate such as for
 example its dimensions is possible if at least one displacement roller of
 the or each pair thereof is adjustable in the direction of transportation
 movement and/or transversely relative to the direction of transportation
 movement. In particular the adjustability of the or each pair of
 displacement rollers transversely with respect to the direction of
 transportation movement of the substrate and consequently of the support
 provided with prints or the stamping foil makes it possible for the
 apparatus according to the invention to be accurately adapted to any
 substrates with more than one row of print portions.
 In the apparatus according to the invention each stamping punch segment of
 the stamping roller can be provided with a heating means. The heating
 means may involve for example an electrical resistance heating means. Such
 an apparatus is used in connection with a hot stamping foil.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
 FIG. 1 shows a portion of a flexible substrate 10 which has two rows of
 print portions 12 in side-by-side relationship. Each print portion 12
 which can be for example a sheet of business letter paper, a banknote or
 the like, is to be provided at an accurately defined surface portion 14
 with a print which is for example a stmping foil print. In accordance with
 the invention that is effected for example by means of a hot stanping foil
 16 (see FIG. 2) in an apparatus as is shown in a side view and in a view
 frao above in FIGS. 3 and 4.
 FIG. 2 shows a portion of the flexible substrate 10 with two rows of print
 portions 12 which are disposed in side-by-side relationship. The pitch of
 the print portions 12 in each row is identified by Nt in FIG. 2. The
 surface portion 14 of each print portion 12 of a row, which is to be
 stamped, is at a spacing A which precisely corresponds to the print
 portion pitch Nt, from the surface portion 14 which is adjacent in said
 row of print portions 12.
 The support with prints 18, of which a part is shown in FIG. 2 and which is
 for exmple a hot stamping foil 16, has prints 18 which in the direction of
 transportation movement of the stamping foil 16 are at a spacing frm each
 other which in the station 34 precisely corresponds to the spacing A of
 the surface portions 14 of adjacent print portions 12 of the corresponding
 row thereof and accordingly precisely corresponds in the station 34 to the
 print portion pitch Nt.
 If the flexible substrate 10 has two rows of print portions, the staping
 foil 16 is provided with a respective further stamping foil print 20
 between said stamping foil prints 18. If the substrate 10 has three or n
 rows of print portions, the stamping foil 16 is provided between the
 stamping foil prints 18 with two or (n-1) staping foil prints 20
 respectively. All stamping foil prints 18, 20 of the stamping foil 16 are
 at the same spacing from each other.
 After transfer of the prints 18 on to print portions 12 or their surface
 portions 14 of the first row of print portions, that is to say which is
 shown on the left-hand side in FIG. 2, the support or the starrping foil
 16 is laterally displaced by the width of the print portions, downstrean
 of the stamping station 34, as is indicated by the arrow 22 in FIG. 2. The
 stamping foil 16 which is displaced in that way is again fed to the
 station 34 in its direction of transportation movement as indicated by the
 arrow 24, being displaced by the spacing of the directly adjacent stamping
 foil prints 18, 20, so that now the directly juxtaposed rows of print
 portions are simultaneously provided with the corresponding prints 18 and
 20. The displacement of the prints 20 relative to the prints 18 is
 indicated by the arrow 26 in FIG. 2.
 FIG. 3 shows an apparatus 28 for applying stamping foil prints 18, 20 (see
 FIG. 2) of a hot stamping foil 16 to a flexible substrate 10. The flexible
 substrate 10 is provided on a supply device 30 which is a supply roll. The
 flexible substrate 10 is in per se known manner drawn off the supply
 device 30 which is desirably a braked supply roller over a web regulator
 32 and fed to a stamping station 34. The stamping station 34 has a
 stamping roller 36 and pressure rollers 38. The pressure rollers 38 are
 for example arranged in pairs on pivotal arms 40, the mode of operation of
 which has been described in above-mentioned DE 32 10 551 C2.
 The hot stamping foil 16 is provided at a supply roll 42 and is fed to the
 stamping station 34 by way of a forward feed roller 44. In the stamping
 station 34 the stamping foil prints 18 corresponding to the print portions
 12 of a row thereof of the flexible substrate 10 are stamped out on to the
 corresponding print portions 12 of said row of print portions. The
 stamping foil 16 is then diverted together with the flexible substrate 10
 around a cooling roller 46 and fed to a detachment device 48 in which the
 hot stamping foil 16 is separated fram the corresponding portion of the
 substrate 10. Downstrean of the detachment device 48 the hot stamping foil
 16 is fed by way of a displacement means 50 and a second forward feed
 roller 52 to the stamping station 34 again, in which case the stamping
 foil 16 is displaced in the displacement means 50 in its transverse
 direction by a row of print portions and in its forward feed direction by
 the spacing between directly adjacent stamping foil prints 18 and 20 so
 that now two adjacent rows of print portions of the flexible substrate 10
 can be simultaneously stamped in the stamping station 14 in accurate
 register relationship, with the corresponding stamping foil prints 18, 20.
 After all stamping foil prints 18, 20 have been stamped out the flexible
 substrate 10, downstream of the detachment device 48, is fed to a take-up
 means 54 which is for example a winding-on roll. At the same time the used
 stamping foil 16 is also wound on to a winding-on roll 56.
 The heated stamping roller 36 of the stamping station 34 is provided with a
 regulating device 58 which is diagrammatically indicated by a block in
 FIG. 3. The regulating device 58 is connected on the input side to a
 reading device 60 associated with the substrate 10 and to second reading
 devices 62 which are associated with the hot stamping foil 16, as is
 indicated in FIG. 3 by the arrows 64 and 66. Only one of those reading
 devices 62 can be seen in the drawing. A specific reading device 62 is
 provided for each passage of the foil through the apparatus. On the output
 side the regulating device 58 is connected to a control drive for the
 stamping roller 36 and/or for the forward feed rollers 44, 52 and 84
 respectively.
 The displacement means 50 which is arranged after the stamping station 34
 or in juxtaposed relationship with the stamping station 34 has at least
 one pair of displacement rollers 68 which are oriented parallel to each
 other and perpendicularly to the axis of the stamping roller 36. The
 displacement rollers 68 are displaced relative to each other in the
 direction of transportation movement of the hot stamping foil 16, as can
 be seen from FIGS. 3 and 4. It can also be seen from FIG. 4 that the
 displacement rollers 68 of the or each pair of displacement rollers are
 also displaced in the transverse direction, that is to say in the axial
 direction of the stamping roller 36, said transverse displacement of the
 displacement rollers 68 corresponding to the transverse spacing of
 adjacent rows of print portions of the substrate 10. At least one
 displacement roller 68 of the pair of rollers can be adjustable in the
 direction of transportation movement, as is indicated by the arrow 70 in
 FIG. 4. At least one displacement roller 68 is desirably adjustable
 transversely to the direction of transportation movement, as is indicated
 by the arrow 72 in FIG. 4. FIG. 4 also shows the supply roll 42 for the
 hot stamping foil 16 and the winding-on roll 56. Likewise FIG. 4 shows the
 supply device 30 and the take-up means 54 for the flexible substrate 10.
 The forward feed rollers 44 and 52 for the hot stamping foil 16 which is
 fed directly to the stamping station 34 and for that which is fed to the
 stamping station 34 by way of the displacement means 50 are in the form of
 braked feed rollers and are operatively connected to the regulating device
 58, as is indicated by the arrows 74 in FIG. 3. By means of the braked
 feed rollers 44 and 52, the hot stamping foil 16 is stretched in a defined
 manner in relation to the stamping station 34 so that the spacing of the
 stamping foil prints 18, 20 which is originally smaller than the print
 portion pitch Nt (see FIG. 2) is precisely equalised.
 As can be seen fran FIG. 5, the stamping roller 36 which is of a length
 corresponding to the width of the substrate is provided with stamping
 punch segments 76 which are equidistantly spaced frart each other in the
 peripheral direction of the stamping roller 36. The spacing between
 adjacent stamping punch segments 76 precisely corresponds to the print
 portion pitch Nt of the print portions 12, which are disposed in a row one
 behind the other, of the flexible substrate 10 (see FIG. 2). The
 individual stamping punch segments 76 are thermally insulated from each
 other. Each stamping punch segment 76 is desirably provided with a heating
 means 80 which may be for example per se known heating cartridge members.
 The stamping punch segments 76 with their heating means 80 and the cooling
 passages 78 are arranged on a central body 82 interchangeably and
 consequently in repair-friendly fashion.
 A stamping roller 36 of such a configuration involves a certain tructural
 expenditure. The stacion 36 is of a simpler design onfiguration if--as can
 be seen from FIG. 6--a roller 86 which is in the form of a simple roller
 without segments is used in the station 34. Part of the apparatus 28 is
 shown in cut-open form in FIG. 6 in order in particular to clearly
 illustrate the details with which this apparatus 28 differs from the
 apparatus 28 diagrammatically shown in FIG. 3. The apparatus 28 shown in
 FIG. 6 is a so-called sheet-fed machine, the substrates which in this case
 are for example paper which is cut into sheet form being fed by a feeder
 88 by means of a sheet accelerating device 90 to a printing cylinder 92
 which runs at machine speed. There, by means of a single-print mechanism,
 for example based on a flexographic print mechanism, an energy-activated
 primer or the complementary component of a multi-component adhesive is
 applied by printing to the substrates in sheet form, in correct register
 relationship. The substrates when prepared in that way are then
 transferred to a transfer drum 94 on which the primer which for example
 can be activated by radiation is activated by means of a radiation device
 96. The radiation device 96 is for example an ultra-violet radiation
 source. Downstream of the transfer drum 94 the sheet substrates are
 introduced into the station 34. Reference numeral 50 in this Figure also
 identifies the displacement means, reference being made to the
 construction shown in FIG. 3 in regard to the displacement means 50 and
 the other structural members of the apparatus 28.
 The invention can be used in the same manner if the prints on the support
 are individual prints or if regions of an individual print or print
 portions are to be transferred from a large-area coating on the support.