Direct-to-transfer printing system and process, and components and ASR system therefor

1. A direct-to-transfer printing system comprising:

a plurality of heat presses;

a corresponding plurality of heat press stations through which the heat presses are indexed, and at which garments are (1) dressed upon the heat presses; (2) the garments are pre-pressed; (3) thereafter components are sequentially placed on top of and fused with their corresponding garments by applying heat and pressure; and (4) the finished garments are unloaded from the heat presses;

a component placement robot to place the components on top of their corresponding garments;

a plurality of conveyors to deliver the components to the component placement robot, wherein one conveyor is a component delivery conveyor to deliver the components fed thereto automatically or manually; and

an automated storage and retrieval system, wherein the components are automatically fed to the component delivery conveyor by the automated storage and retrieval system.

2. A system according to claim 1 , wherein the heat press stations comprise one or more of the following stations: a garment loading station at which garments are loaded onto pallets of the heat presses; a pre-press engage station at which the pre-press process begins; one or more pre-press stations at which the garments are pre-pressed by the heat presses; a pre-press disengage station at which the pre-press process ends; a component placement station at which components are sequentially and correspondingly placed on top of their intended garments; a press engage station at which the heat press process begins; one or more press stations at which heat and pressure are applied to the components by the heat presses, thereby fusing the components to the garments; a press disengage station at which the heat press process ends; and a garment unloading station at which the garments are unloaded from the heat press pallets of the heat presses.

3. A system according to claim 1 , wherein another conveyor is a registration conveyor which receives components from the component delivery conveyor and orients them for delivery to the component placement robot.

4. A direct-to-transfer printing system comprising:

a plurality of heat presses;

a corresponding plurality of heat press stations through which the heat presses are indexed, and at which garments are (1) dressed upon the heat presses; (2) the garments are pre-pressed; (3) thereafter components are sequentially placed on top of and fused with their corresponding garments by applying heat and pressure; and (4) the finished garments are unloaded from the heat presses; and

a computer interface to scan in the garments.

5. A system according to claim 4 , wherein when a garment is scanned in, the corresponding component is retrieved from an automated storage and retrieval system.

6. A direct-to-transfer printing process comprising the steps of:

sequentially delivering garments to a plurality of heat presses configured in corresponding plurality of heat press stations, wherein the heat presses index from one station to another;

loading the garments onto the heat presses;

pre-pressing the garments with the heat presses;

delivering a sequence of components to the heat presses, wherein the components are automatically delivered from an automated storage and retrieval system;

placing the components on top of their corresponding garments;

fusing the components to their corresponding garments; and

unloading the finished garments from the heat presses.

7. A process according to claim 6 , wherein the components are manually delivered.

8. A process according to claim 6 , wherein the indexing is done by rotating the heat presses from station to station.

9. A manufacture for use in a direct-to-transfer printing system comprising:

a carrier sheet;

a component on the carrier sheet, including: a design or embellishment;

one or more identification symbols; and

one or more registration symbols.

10. A manufacture for use in a direct-to-transfer printing system comprising:

a carrier sheet;

a component on the carrier sheet, including: a design or embellishment; and

one or more identification symbols,

wherein the component further includes a sequence number for manual application to a batch of corresponding garments.

11. An automated storage and retrieval (ASR) system for use with a direct-to-transfer printing system, comprising:

one or more vertical storage modules, each vertical storage module comprising a plurality of storage locations for storing components; and

a control system for storing the storage and retrieval of the components to and from their respective storage locations.

12. An ASR system according to claim 11 , further comprising a registration conveyor for orienting the components and inputting the components into the ASR system for storage into the storage locations.

13. An ASR system according to claim 11 , further comprising an output conveyor for delivering the components retrieved from the storage locations to the direct-to-transfer printing system.

14. An ASR system according to claim 13 , wherein a component is retrieved from the ASR system for delivery to the direct-to-transfer printing system when a garment is scanned into the direct-to-transfer printing system.

15. An ASR system according to claim 12 , further comprising mechanically adjustable horizontal and/or vertical conveyors for delivering the components from the registration conveyor to their respective storage locations.