Background Art In general, polyurethane is used as a material for transferring and coating a fabric requested to have higher water-proofing and elasticity, such sportswear as swimming suit or swimming cap. The material is also often used for manufacturing synthetic leather. The conventional transfer-coating method using polyurethane resin is performed by coating a transfer paper with the polyurethane resin by means of a knife, adhering the same onto the top side of a fabric material, and then separating the transfer paper.

The conventional method with polyurethane, however,

poses disadvantages that a portion coated with polyurethane suffers a crack thereon since the elasticity of the coated polyurethane is rarely superior to that of the fabric when polyurethane is coated on the elastic fabric (spun), and the life span of the coated fabric deteriorates since polyurethane is separated from the fabric due to difference of the elasticity between the fabric and polyurethane.

Disclosure of the Invention It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for transfer-coating a fabric with silicone, which are capable of extending the life span of a product and promoting the effect of water-proofing by transfer- coating the top side of the fabric with silicone having higher elasticity than that of the fabric to prevent separation or damage on a coated portion, and of enhancing productivity by coating the surface of the fabric with silicone by means of roller, knife, nozzle, spray, or silk screen to easily adjust the range of the coated silicone and enable a mass production.

To achieve the above object, there is provided a method for transfer-coating a fabric with silicone, the method comprising the steps of: generating a liquid silicone by stirring a solid silicone with a solution made of toluene 70% and cyclohexanone 30% in a ratio of

1 : 1 ; coating the top side of a transfer paper with the liquid silicone after addina a hardener 0.01 to 0.05% to the liquid silicone and stirring the same; drying the liquid silicone by applying heat to the transfer paper 2 coated with the liquid silicone for 1 to 2 minutes at the temperature of 135 to 145 degree in a dryer; coating the top side of the silicone dried on the transfer paper with a silicone adhesive; and transfer-coating the fabric with silicone by laminating and thermally pressing a portion of the transfer paper coated with the adhesive to be adhered to the fabric.

An apparatus for transfer-coating the fabric with silicone comprises: a silicone coating section for supplying the transfer paper in a roll form by means of a supplying roller and coating the top side of the supplied transfer paper with the liquid silicone; a silicone drying section for drying the transfer paper coated with the liquid silicone while being moved by a conveyer; a silicone adhesive coating section formed in the rear of the silicone drying section for coating the top side of the dried liquid silicone with a silicone adhesive; an adhesive roller for transfer-coating the fabric with silicone by laminating the fabric on the top side of the coated silicone adhesive and thermally pressing silicone to the fabric to be adhered together; and a winding section including a fabric winding roller for winding the fabric transfer-coated with silicone by

means of the adhesive roller and a transfer paper winding roller for winding the transfer paper separated from silicone. the the apparatus for transfer-coating the fabric with silicone, the silicone coating section and silicone adhesive coating section have a storage tank formed in the bottom side thereof for storing the liquid silicone and adhesive, the coating roller with one portion thereof being submerged into the inside of the storage tank, and a guide roller formed in the top side of the coating roller, and a thickness adjusting roller formed in the top side of the guide roller for adjusting thickness of the liquid silicone and adhesive.

The silicone coating section and silicone adhesive coating section further have a silicone ejecting nozzle and silicone adhesive ejecting nozzle formed in the top side of the transfer paper for storing the liquid silicone and silicone adhesive and ejecting and coating them.

The silicone coating section and silicone adhesive coating section still have a knife formed in the rear of the silicone ejecting nozzle and silicone adhesive ejecting nozzle for adjusting the thickness of the liquid silicone and silicone adhesive.

The silicone coating section and silicone adhesive coating section, meanwhile, have a plurality of sprays for coating the liquid silicone and silicone adhesive.

Therefore, the present invention has advantages of achieving the mass production in various shapes and being used in body accessories not only for the purpose of water-proofing but also for other purposes since the transfer-coating is performed in various ways with higher elastic silicone, thereby enhancing efficiency.

Brief Description of the Drawings The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an embodiment of a method and apparatus for transfer- coating a fabric with silicone according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating another embodiment of the method and apparatus for transfer-coating the fabric with silicone according to the present invention; FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating further another embodiment of the method and apparatus for transfer-coating the fabric with silicone according to the present invention; FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating still another embodiment of the method and apparatus for

transfer-coating the fabric with silicone according to the present invention; and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a process of transferring in the method and apparatus for transfer-coating the fabric with silicone according to the present invention.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described herein below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail since they would obscure the invention in unnecessary detail.

A method for transfer-coating a fabric with silicone according to the present invention is performed by stirring a solid silicone with a solution of toluene 70% and cyclohexanone 30% in a ratio of 1: 1 to generate a liquid silicone 1; coating the top side of a transfer paper 2 with the liquid silicone 1 after adding a hardener 0.01 to 0.05% to the liquid silicone land stirring the same; and applying heat to the transfer paper 2 coated with the liquid silicone 1 in a dryer for 1 to 2 minutes at the temperature of 135-145 degree to dry the liquid silicone 1.

Next, the method for transfer-coating the fabric with silicone according to the present invention is

performed by coating the top side of the liquid silicone 1 dried in the transfer paper 2 with a silicone adhesive 3 by means of a silk screen frame; and transfer-coating the fabric with silicone by laminating and thermally pressing a portion of the transfer paper 2 coated with the silicone adhesive 3 to be contact with the fabric.

Here, the desirable heating temperature is about 150 degree since the adhesive melts at the temperature less than 140 degree and thus the adhesion between the fabric and silicone deteriorates, and the adhesive and silicone are transformed at the temperature higher than 170 degree. The desirable pressure is in the range of 100 to 150kg/cm2.

Even though, in general, silicone has difficulty in being adhered to materials having utterly different property from itself, the method for transfer-coating the fabric with silicone according to the present invention develops strong points of silicone and remedies defects of silicone since silicone is transfer- coated on the fabric at the proper temperature and pressure by means of the silicone adhesive.

An apparatus for transfer-coating the fabric with silicone includes a silicone coating section for coating the top side of the transfer paper 2, which is supplied in the form of roll by a supplying roller 11, with the silicone 1.

The transfer paper 2 coated with the liquid

silicone 1 passed through the silicone coating section 10 is moved by a conveyer 21 to be passed through a silicone drying section 20 for being dried.

In the meantime, the silicone adhesive 3 is formed in the top side of the liquid silicone 1 and coated while being passed through a silicone adhesive coating section 30. The fabric is laminated by an adhesive roller 40 on the top side of the coated silicone adhesive and thermally pressed against silicone dried on the top side of the transfer paper 2. The fabric 4 coated with silicone and the transfer paper separated from silicone are winded on a fabric winding roller 51 and a transfer paper winding roller 52 of a winding section 50.

As shown in FIG. 1, the silicone coating section 10 and silicone adhesive coating section 30 have storage tanks 12 and 31 formed in the bottom side thereof for storing the liquid silicone 1 and silicone adhesive 3; coating rollers 13 and 32 formed in the inside of the storage tanks 12 and 31 into which one portions of the coating rollers 13 and 32 are submerged; guide rollers 14 and 33 formed in the top side of the coating rollers 13 and 32; and thickness adjusting rollers 15 and 34 formed in the top side of the guide rollers 14 and 33 for adjusting thickness of the liquid silicone 1 and silicone adhesive 3 by controlling intervals between the guide rollers 14 and 33.

Intheapparatusforcoatingtheliquidsiiicone1 and silicone adhesive 3 by means of the rollers, it is desirable that a knife is formed in the rear of the coating rollers 13 and 32 for easily adjusting the coatina thickness.

As shown in FIG. 2, the silicone coating section 10 and silicone adhesive coating section 30 may have a silicone nozzle 16 and silicone adhesive nozzle 35 formed in the top side of the transfer paper for storing the liquid silicone 1 and silicone adhesive 3 and ejecting the same. The coating method using the nozzle is capable of adjusting the breadth of coated liquid silicone 1 and silicone adhesive 2 by additionally installing a metal mold in the inlet of the nozzle and coating the fabric in various band shapes.

In the meantime, the silicone coating section 10 and silicone adhesive coating section 30 of FIG. 2 have the knife 36 formed in the rear of the silicone nozzle 16 and silicone adhesive nozzle 35 as shown in FIG. 3 for adjusting the thickness of the coated liquid silicone 1 and silicone adhesive, whereby accurate adjustment of the thickness of the liquid silicone 1 and silicone adhesive 3 coated by means of the nozzle can be achieved by the knife 36.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, tne siiicone coating section 10 and silicone adhesive coating section 30 have a plurality of sprays 17 and 37 for coating the fabric

with the liquid silicone 1 or silicone adhesive 3 in the manner of spraying, wherein the number of the sprays is dependant on the thickness of the coated liquid silicone 1 or silicone adhesive 3.

In as shown in FIG. 5, the liquid silicone 1 is coated on the transfer paper 2 by the silk screen frame 5; the transfer paper 2 coated with the liquid silicone 1 is dried; the silicone adhesive 3 is coated by the silk screen frame 5 on the top side of the silicone dried in the transfer paper 2; one portion of the transfer paper 2 coated with the silicone adhesive 3 is laminated to be contact with the fabric 4 and is thermally pressed against the fabric 4 by a presser 6.

The operations and effects of the method and apparatus having the above construction will be described herein below.

The liquid silicone 1 generated in the above is mixed with a hardener, inserted into the storage tank 12, silicone nozzle 16 or spray 17 of the silicone coating section 10, and coated on the transfer paper 2 by one among roller, nozzle, knife, spray and silk screen depending on the kind of the product.

The transfer paper 2 coated with the liquid silicone 1 is moved in the silicone drying section 20 by the conveyor 21 for about 1-2 minutes to be dried, and the silicone adhesive 3 is inserted into the storage tank 31, silicone adhesive nozzle 35 or spray 37 on the

top side of the dried silicone to be coated.

The transfer paper 2 coated with the silicone adhesive 3 is laminated on the fabric 4 while being moved, and is passed through the adhesive roller 40 <BR> <BR> housing a heater ar. the temperature of 150. degree or so and au the pressure of 100 ~o 150kg/cm.

Industrial Applicability Tne method for transfer-coating the fabric with smcone has an effect of preventing the portion transfer-coated with silicone from being damaged and separated from the fabric since the elasticity of silicone is superior to that of the fabric when silicone is wholly coated on clothing needed to have higher elasticity, i. e., sportswear, particularly swimming suit requiring excellent wearing feeling of users.

The method for transfer-coating the fabric with silicone has still effect of preventing body accessries from slipping down and improving the wearing feeling by fusion-splicing silicone having higher elasticity, compressibility, resilience and durability onto the body accessories.

As described above, the present invention has advantages of producing the transfer-coated fabric in large quantity by wholly transfer-coating the fabric with silicone having higher elasticity than the fabric, and improving reliability on the product by promoting

performance and life span of the fabric and product since the portion coated with silicone is accordingly not been damaged by virtue of improved elasticity of the fabric.

While the invention has been shown and described with reference to certain preferred embodiments whereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made _herein witr ! ou-departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.