WIDE BAND OF PATTERNED TRANSFER MATERIAL
1518343 Forming wide transfer webs SUBLISTATIC HOLDING SA 29 July 1975 [31 July 1974(2)] 31773/75 Heading B6C [Also in Division B8] Transfer webs for printing wide substrates are formed by bringing together individual narrow patterned webs or web sections, adjusting for registration between the patterns on adjacent webs or web sections and securing them together in registered positions. In one embodiment, Fig. 1, webs 11 and 12 are fed from rolls 5, 6 by tensioning rollers 7, 8 and 9, 10 to a common pair of drive rollers 13, 14, so that the webs overlap at one edge. Electron optical detectors 15, 16 sense marks on the webs, e.g. registration marks printed at the same time as the patterns, and can laterally displace the tensioning rollers or alter their speed; control devices 17, 18 maintain the tension of the web within specified limits. The overlapping edges of the webs are removed by cutter 19, and the webs joined using adhesive band 23 before being passed to transfer printing unit 2 together with substrate 27. In an alternative embodiment, Fig. 12 (not shown), a single patterned web (202) is fed at right-angles to the intended direction of the product web (205) and cut into sections whose length equals the width of web (205), registration of a section being obtained with the preceding section which has already been secured to web (205); thus the wide web (205) is made up of transversely aligned sections of a single narrow web (202).