High loft material transfer and method of manufacture
View Patent ↗A method for manufacturing a thermal transfer from a high-loft substrate such as velvet. The method begins with a high-loft material sheet. The sheet is registered in a vacuum press, and a vacuum is applied to one side. A sublimation graphic is printed onto an opposing side of the high-loft material sheet. Next, an adhesive layer is laminated onto the opposing side of the printed sheet. The sheet is optionally laser-etched on the printed side, and is laser-cut into a desired shape. A protective release sheet is applied over the printed graphic. The method makes it possible to sublimation-print the transfer onto high-loft fabric such as velvet and yet still retain fine graphical registration and detail.
1. A method for manufacturing a thermal transfer, comprising:
obtaining a high-loft pile-fiber material sheet having a sheet thickness in excess of at least 1.5 mm and a bulk density less than 500 g/m 3 ;
registering the high-loft pile-fiber material sheet in a vacuum press;
sublimation printing a graphic onto a second side of said high-loft pile-fiber material sheet from a sublimation paper without compressing the pile of the high-loft pile-fiber material sheet with the sublimation paper;
applying a vacuum to a first side of said high-loft pile-fiber material sheet during said sublimation printing to thereby induct dye from said sublimation paper into the pile of said high-loft pile-fiber material sheet
laminating an adhesive layer onto the first side of the high-loft pile-fiber material sheet;
laser-cutting the high-loft pile-fiber material sheet into a selected shape;
applying a release sheet over the second side of said high-loft pile-fiber material sheet.
2. A method for manufacturing a thermal transfer according to claim 1 , wherein the high-loft pile-fiber material sheet is a velvet fabric.
3. A method for manufacturing a thermal transfer according to claim 1 , wherein the high-loft pile-fiber material sheet is a chenille stitched fabric.
4. A method for manufacturing a thermal transfer according to claim 1 , wherein the high-loft pile-fiber material sheet is a woven napped fabric.
5. A method for manufacturing a thermal transfer according to claim 1 , wherein the high-loft pile-fiber material sheet is a knit napped fabric.
6. A method for manufacturing a thermal transfer according to claim 1 , wherein the high-loft material sheet is a tufted fabric.
7. A method for manufacturing a thermal transfer according to claim 1 , wherein the high-loft pile-fiber material sheet is a felted non-woven substrate.
8. A method for manufacturing a thermal transfer, comprising:
obtaining a high-loft pile-fiber material sheet having a thickness in excess of 1.5 mm and a bulk density less than 500 g/m 3 ;
registering the high-loft pile-fiber material sheet in a vacuum press;
sublimation printing a graphic onto an opposing side of said high-loft pile-fiber material sheet from a sublimation paper without compressing the pile of the high-loft fiber-pile material sheet with the sublimation paper;
applying a vacuum to one side of said high-loft pile-fiber material sheet during said sublimation printing to induct dye from said sublimation paper into the pile of said high-loft pile-fiber material sheet;
laminating an adhesive layer onto the one side of the high-loft pile-fiber material sheet;
laser-etching the printed side of said high-loft pile-fiber material sheet into a selected shape;
laser-cutting the high-loft pile-fiber material sheet into a selected shape;
applying a release sheet over the printed side of said high-loft pile-fiber material sheet.
9. A method for manufacturing a thermal transfer according to claim 8 , wherein the high-loft pile-fiber material sheet is a velvet fabric.
10. A method for manufacturing a thermal transfer according to claim 9 , wherein the high-loft pile-fiber material sheet is a chenille stitched fabric.
11. A method for manufacturing a thermal transfer according to claim 8 , wherein the high-loft pile-fiber material sheet is a woven napped fabric.
12. A method for manufacturing a thermal transfer according to claim 8 , wherein the high-loft pile-fiber material sheet is a knit napped fabric.
13. A method for manufacturing a thermal transfer according to claim 8 , wherein the high-loft pile-fiber material sheet is a tufted fabric.
14. A method for manufacturing a thermal transfer according to claim 8 , wherein the high-loft pile-fiber material sheet is a felted non-woven substrate.