JP2000352834A - Electrophotographic image receiving material - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electrophotographic image receiving material excellent in gloss and capable of folding and curling without cracking the surface or impairing the gloss. SOLUTION: The electrophotographic image receiving material has a substrate and one or more layers formed on the substrate and including a toner image receiving layer and a polymer layer having a higher elongation percentage and a smaller thickness than the image receiving layer.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an image receiving material for forming a reflection image in electrophotography.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Electrophotographic methods are widely used as output machines for copiers and personal computers because they can be printed on general-purpose paper (plain paper or high-quality paper) at high printing speeds by dry processing. However, when image information such as a face or a landscape is output for photographic use, sufficient performance cannot be obtained especially on general-purpose paper or the like due to poor gloss. In order to obtain gloss, the surface of the image receiving material needs to be smooth. Further, after the transfer of the toner, the toner must be embedded in the image receiving layer at the time of fixing, and the surface must be smooth.

In order to smooth the surface of an image receiving material, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-212168 specifies the thermodynamic properties of a polymer used for an image receiving layer. It is described that the relative relationship with the viscoelastic behavior of the resin and the setting conditions such as the temperature, pressure, and hardness of the fixing roller are important. But,
When an image receiving layer is formed such that the toner is embedded in the image receiving layer at the fixing temperature and the surface becomes smooth, many polymers used therein have a low glass transition point, so that the adhesion of the image receiving material becomes a problem even at room temperature. Or a flaw may occur when the image receiving material is transported in the electrophotographic apparatus.

[0004] For this purpose, it is known to provide a layer harder than the image receiving layer on the image receiving layer. However, when the sheet-shaped image receiving material is folded in half like a greeting card or rolled up for a calendar, the image of the fold is peeled off, minute cracks are generated on the entire image receiving surface, and the gloss is thereby reduced. It turned out that there was a problem of the decrease.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve these problems of the prior art. That is, an object of the present invention is to provide an image receiving material which can be used for electrophotography, has excellent gloss, and does not crack or lose its gloss even when bent or curled. And

[0006]

As a result of intensive studies to solve these problems, the present inventors have found that, in addition to the image receiving layer, the elongation rate of the electrophotographic image receiving material is higher than that of the image receiving layer. The inventors have found that the problem can be solved by providing a large and thin polymer layer, and have completed the present invention.

That is, the present invention provides an electrophotographic image receiving material having a support and at least one layer including an image receiving layer for a toner image formed on the support, wherein the at least one layer includes a polymer layer. The present invention also provides an electrophotographic image receiving material, wherein the elongation percentage of the polymer layer is larger than the elongation percentage of the image receiving layer, and the thickness of the polymer layer is smaller than that of the image receiving layer.

In the electrophotographic image-receiving material of the present invention, the elongation at the time when cracks occur when the polymer layer is formed on the coated paper and pulled is determined by the crack rate when the image-receiving layer is formed on the coated paper and pulled. Is preferably 1.1 times or more the elongation at the time when the occurrence of occurs.

In the electrophotographic image receiving material of the present invention, the polymer layer may be formed on the image receiving layer,
The polymer layer may be formed between the support and the image receiving layer, or the polymer layer may be formed between two or more image receiving layers.

In the electrophotographic image-receiving material of the present invention, it is preferable that the image-receiving layer contains at least one kind of polyester resin, and the elastic modulus of the polyester resin is smaller than that of the toner.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the electrophotographic image receiving material of the present invention will be described in detail. The electrophotographic image receiving material of the present invention has a support, an image receiving layer for a toner image, and a polymer layer. As the support, any material can be used as long as it can withstand the fixing temperature and can satisfy the requirements in terms of smoothness, whiteness, slipperiness, friction, antistatic property, dent after fixing, etc. it can. In general, papers described on pages 223-240 of the Photographic Society of Japan, "Basics of Photographic Engineering-Silver halide photography-" (Corona Co., Ltd., 1979)
A photographic support such as a synthetic polymer film can be used. Specifically, it is made from synthetic resin pulp such as synthetic paper (polyolefin-based or polystyrene-based synthetic paper), fine paper, art paper, single-sided or double-sided coated paper, single-sided or double-sided coated paper, polyethylene and other synthetic resin pulp and natural pulp. Mixed paper, Yankee paper, baryta paper, wallpaper, backing paper, synthetic resin or emulsion impregnated paper, synthetic rubber latex impregnated paper, synthetic resin internal paper, paperboard, cellulose fiber paper, polyolefin coated paper (especially coated on both sides with polyethylene) Paper support such as torn paper), polyolefin, polyvinyl chloride,
Polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene methacrylate, polyethylene naphthalate, polycarbonate,
Plastic films or sheets of polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, polypropylene, polyimide, celluloses (eg, triacetyl cellulose), etc., and treatments for giving the plastic white reflectivity (eg, including a pigment such as titanium oxide in the film) Processed), a film or sheet, cloth, metal, glass, or the like is used.

These can be used as they are without any particular treatment, or can be used by laminating one or both sides with a synthetic polymer such as polyethylene. Also,
A laminate of any combination of these can also be used as a support. In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-253159
9-31, JP-A-1-61236, 14-17
Page, JP-A-63-316848, JP-A-2-22
No. 651, No. 3-56955, U.S. Pat.
The support described in 001033 and the like can also be used.

Various additives appropriately selected can be added to the above-mentioned support as needed within a range not to impair the object of the present invention. For example, a whitening agent, a conductive agent, a filler, and pigments and dyes such as titanium oxide, ultramarine blue, and carbon black are exemplified. The thickness of the support is usually about 25 μm to 360 μm, preferably 50 μm
About 300 μm, particularly preferably 75 μm to 250 μm
m. The shape of the support used in the electrophotographic image-receiving material of the present invention is not particularly limited, but a sheet-like material is preferable.

One or both surfaces of the support may be subjected to various surface treatments or undercoating for the purpose of improving the adhesion to the layer provided thereon. Examples of the surface treatment include, for example, processing for molding a glossy surface, a fine surface, a matte surface or a silk surface described in JP-A-55-26507, corona discharge treatment, flame treatment, glow discharge treatment, plasma treatment and the like. Activation treatment and the like can be mentioned. As the undercoat, for example, a method described in JP-A-61-846443 can be used. These may be used alone, or may be used in any combination, such as performing an activation treatment after performing a molding or the like, and further performing an undercoat after a surface treatment such as an activation treatment. Good.

Further, a semiconductive metal oxide comprising a hydrophilic binder and alumina sol, tin oxide, etc., may be provided on the front and / or back surface of the support, or when the support is a laminate, on any layer of the laminate. An antistatic agent such as carbon black may be applied. More specifically,
The support described in JP-A-220246 can be used.

The electrophotographic image-receiving material of the present invention is provided with an image-receiving layer for a toner image on one or both sides of the support. When the image receiving layer is provided on one side of the support, it can be used for only one side, for example, for posters, photographs, sticker prints (providing an adhesive layer on the back side) and the like. When the image receiving layer is provided on both sides of the support, printing can be performed on both sides of the image receiving material, so that it can be used for applications such as cards, postcards, pamphlets, and flyers. The thickness of the image receiving layer is about 0.1 to 500 μm, preferably 1 to 200 μm.
It is about μm, particularly preferably about 3 to 100 μm. If the thickness of the image receiving layer is less than 0.1 μm, after fixing, the toner cannot be held, and the image tends to have a defect. If the thickness of the image receiving layer exceeds 500 μm, the texture as a photograph tends to decrease.

The image receiving layer adheres toner for forming an image.
A layer containing a substance capable of receiving and fixing and holding the toner by heat or pressure (hereinafter, referred to as a receptive substance);
It may be a laminate of more than two layers. The image receiving layer is usually formed by dispersing a receptive substance alone or together with a binder substance thereof in a solvent, coating the resultant on a support, and drying. Alternatively, a separately formed image receiving layer may be bonded to a support. The proportion of the receptive substance in the image receiving layer is about 50 to 100% by weight, preferably about 60 to 100% by weight, particularly preferably about 70 to 100% by weight.

As the receptive substance used in the image receiving layer of the electrophotographic image receiving material of the present invention, a resin having an ester bond; a polyurethane resin; a polyamide resin, a urea resin and the like;
Polysulfone resin; polyvinyl chloride resin, polyvinylidene chloride resin, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer resin, vinyl chloride-vinyl propionate copolymer resin; polyol resin such as polyvinyl butyral, ethyl cellulose resin, cellulose acetate resin, etc. Polycaprolactone resin, styrene-maleic anhydride resin, polyacrylonitrile resin, polyether resin, epoxy resin, phenol resin, etc .; polyolefin resins such as polyethylene resin and polypropylene resin, and olefins such as ethylene and propylene And acrylic resins and the like, and mixtures or copolymers thereof.

Among these thermoplastic resins, a resin having an ester bond is preferable, for example, a polyacrylate resin such as polymethyl acrylate, polybutyl acrylate, polymethyl methacrylate, polybutyl methacrylate, or a polymethacrylate resin;
Polyester resin, polycarbonate resin, polyvinyl acetate resin, styrene acrylate resin, styrene-methacrylate copolymer resin, vinyl toluene acrylate resin, and the like can be used.

The above polyester resins include terephthalic acid, isophthalic acid, maleic acid, fumaric acid, phthalic acid,
Polycarboxylic acid components such as adipic acid, sebacic acid, azelaic acid, abietic acid, succinic acid, trimellitic acid, and pyromellitic acid (these polycarboxylic acid components may be substituted with sulfonic acid groups and the like) Ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, propylene glycol, bisphenol A, diether derivatives of bisphenol A (for example, bisphenol A ethylene oxide 2 adduct, bisphenol A propylene oxide 2 adduct, etc.), bisphenol S, 2-ethylcyclohexane dimethanol, It is obtained by condensation with polyalcohol components such as neopentyl glycol, cyclohexanedimethanol, glycerin and the like.

Specific examples of polyester resins include JP-A-59-101395, JP-A-63-7971, JP-A-63-7972, and JP-A-63-7972.
No. 73 and JP-A-60-294882. Also, commercially available products include Byron 290, Byron 200, and Byron 28 manufactured by Toyobo.
0, Byron 300, Byron 103, Byron GK-
140, Byron GK-130, Kafu-made Tuffton NE
-382, Tufton U-5, ATR-2009, ATR
-2010, Unitika ELIETEL UE3500, U
E3210, XA-8153, Nippon Synthetic Chemical's Polyester TP-220, R-188 and the like can be used.

The image receiving layer of the image receiving material for electrophotography of the present invention comprises:
As the receptive substance, those containing at least one polyester resin among the above resins are preferable, and those containing 20% by weight or more of the polyester resin are particularly preferable.

The binder substance forming the image receiving layer is preferably a water-soluble binder substance. When a water-soluble binder is used, it is possible to form an image-receiving layer having a configuration in which a receptive substance is dispersed and supported in the water-soluble binder. In this case, as the water-soluble binder, a water-soluble polymer having a group (eg, an ester group) capable of undergoing a cross-linking reaction with a hardener (eg, an epoxy resin) is preferable, and among them, polyvinyl alcohol and gelatins are preferably used. . Gelatin can be selected from lime-processed gelatin, acid-processed gelatin, and so-called demineralized gelatin having a reduced content of calcium and the like according to various purposes, and two or more types may be used in combination.

As the method for dispersing the receptive substance in the water-soluble binder, any of the known dispersion methods for dispersing a hydrophobic substance in a water-soluble polymer can be used. Typically, the acceptor is dissolved in an organic solvent immiscible with water,
A method in which the obtained solution is mixed with an aqueous solution of a water-soluble binder and emulsified and dispersed, a method in which a latex of an acceptor substance (polymer) is mixed with an aqueous solution of a water-soluble binder, and the like.

A coating film may be formed so that the receptive substance keeps a granular shape in the water-soluble binder. In this case, the water-soluble binder may be a coating film at a temperature at which the toner is thermally fixed. Can be selected from those that form
The temperature at which the water-soluble binder forms a coating film is preferably room temperature or higher for storage before printing, and is preferably 100 ° C. or lower for fixing toner particles.

The water-soluble binder used in this case includes a known water-soluble polymer, a water-dispersible resin,
Examples include polymer emulsions, copolymers thereof, mixtures thereof, and aqueous solutions of cation-modified products.

The water-soluble polymer does not specify its composition, bonding structure, molecular structure, molecular weight, molecular weight distribution, or form as long as it is a water-soluble polymer. Examples of water-solubilizing groups of the polymer include a hydroxyl group, a carboxylic acid group,
Examples include an amino group, an amide group, and an ether group. Examples of water-soluble polymers are described in Research Disclosure 17643, p. 26, and 18716, p.
1, pages 873-874 of 307105 and pages 71-75 of JP-A-64-13546.

Specifically, for example, vinylpyrrolidone-
A vinyl acetate copolymer, a styrene-vinylpyrrolidone copolymer, a styrene-maleic anhydride copolymer, a water-soluble polyester, a water-soluble polyurethane, a water-soluble nylon, and a water-soluble epoxy resin can be used. The above water-soluble polymer can be used as a binder for a layer other than the image receiving layer or as an adhesive for improving adhesion.

Examples of the water-dispersible resin include a water-dispersed acrylic resin, a water-dispersed polyester resin, a water-dispersed polystyrene resin, and a water-dispersed urethane resin. Commercially available water-dispersed polyesters include, for example, Vylonal MD-1250 and MD-1930 manufactured by Toyobo, Pluscoat Z-446, Z-465, RZ-96 manufactured by Goyo Kagaku, ES-611, ES- manufactured by Dainippon Ink. 670, Takamatsu Oil & Fats Pesresin A-160P, A-210, A-620 and the like. Acrylic resin emulsion, polyvinyl acetate emulsion, SBR
(Styrene / butadiene / rubber) emulsions and the like. The above water-soluble binder may be used alone or in combination of 2
A combination of more than two types may be used.

Further, the image receiving layer constituting the electrophotographic image receiving material of the present invention may contain various plasticizers in order to control the elongation percentage of the present invention described later. The thermophysical properties of the plasticizer used are appropriately selected according to the binder and other components in the image receiving layer to be added. For example, considering the melting point, those having a melting point of 300 ° C. or lower are preferable, those having a melting point of 250 ° C. or lower are particularly preferable.

The added amount of the plasticizer is 0.1% when the total weight of the binder, other components and the plasticizer contained in the image receiving layer (that is, the weight other than the receptive substance) is 100% by weight.
It is preferably from 001% by weight to 90% by weight, more preferably from 0.1% by weight to 60% by weight, and particularly preferably from 1% by weight to 60% by weight.
% To 40% by weight. Examples of plasticizers include "Chemical Handbook" (edited by The Chemical Society of Japan, Maruzen), "Plasticizers-Theory and Application-" (edited by Koichi Murai, Koshobo), "Research on Plasticizers
Top, "Research on Plasticizers / Bottom" (edited by the Society of Polymer Chemistry), "Handbook of Rubber / Plastic Compounds" (edited by Rubber Digest), etc.

Specific examples of the plasticizer include JP-A-59-83154, JP-A-59-178451, and JP-A-59-178451, in which the plasticizer is described as a high-boiling organic solvent or a hot solvent.
No. 178453, No. 59-178454, No. 59-
No. 178455, No. 59-178457, No. 62-1
No. 74754, No. 62-245253, No. 61-20
No. 9444, No. 61-200538, No. 62-814
No. 5, No. 62-9348, No. 62-30247, No. 62-136646, No. 62-174754, No. 6
2-245253, 61-209444, 61
-20058, 62-8145, 62-93
No. 48, No. 62-30247, No. 62-136646
And esters described in JP-A-2-235694 (for example, phthalates, phosphates, fatty acid esters, abietic esters, adipic esters, sebacic esters) , Azelaic acid esters, benzoic acid esters, butyric acid esters, epoxidized fatty acid esters, glycolic acid esters, propionate esters, trimellitate esters, citrate esters, sulfonic acid esters, carboxylic acid esters , Succinates,
Maleic esters, fumaric esters, phthalic esters, stearic esters, etc.), amides (eg, fatty acid amides, sulfoamides, etc.), ethers, alcohols, paraffins, lactones,
Examples include compounds such as polyethyleneoxys, silicone oils, and fluorine compounds.

Also, a low molecular weight polymer can be used as the plasticizer. For example, as commercial products, Asahi Denka Kogyo Adecizer PN-170, PN-1430
And C. P. HALL PARAPLEX-G-2
5, G-30, G-40, Rika Hercules product ester gum 8L-JA, ester R-95, pentaline 48
51, FK115, 4820, 830, Louisol 28
-JA, picolastic A75, picotex LC, crystallex 3085 and the like. The above plasticizer has slipperiness (improves transportability due to reduced frictional force)
It may be used for purposes such as adjustment of image quality, improvement of fixing section offset (peeling of toner or layer to the fixing section), adjustment of curl balance, and adjustment of charge (formation of electrostatic toner image).

The electrophotographic image-receiving material of the present invention comprises a support,
It is characterized by having a polymer layer in addition to the image receiving layer.
This polymer layer contains the same or different polymer as the polymer used as the receptive substance or the water-soluble binder in the image receiving layer, and may further contain additives and the like, if necessary. However, when the polymer layer contains a polymer of the same type as the polymer used in the image receiving layer, the relationship between the elongation percentage of the polymer layer and the image receiving layer in the tensile test described below is determined by using an additive or the like. It needs to be adjusted so that

The polymer layer is usually formed by dispersing the polymer alone or together with an additive in a solvent, coating and drying the desired layer. Alternatively, a separately formed polymer layer may be bonded to a desired layer. The polymer layer constituting the electrophotographic image receiving material of the present invention is provided on the image receiving layer, between the image receiving layer and the support, or between two or more image receiving layers.

When the polymer layer is provided on the image receiving layer,
It is preferable that the thickness of the polymer layer is smaller than the thickness of the image receiving layer. Specifically, the thickness of the polymer layer is 0.1-10μ
m, and preferably 1/500 to 2/3 of the thickness of the image receiving layer, and more preferably 0.2% of the thickness of the polymer layer.
７7 μm and 1/100 to 1 of the thickness of the image receiving layer
/ 2. In this specification, a range represented by using “to” is a range including numerical values described before and after “to”.

When the polymer layer is provided between the image receiving layer and the support, the thickness of the polymer layer is preferably 0.1 to 20 μm. More preferably, it is 0.5 to 10 μm. When the polymer layer is provided between two or more image receiving layers, the polymer layer may be provided between any two image receiving layers, and the specific layer arrangement is not particularly limited. However,
It is preferable that the thickness of the polymer layer is smaller than the total thickness of the image receiving layer. More preferably, the thickness of the polymer layer is:
It is 1/100 to 1/3 of the total thickness of the image receiving layer.

The electrophotographic image-receiving material of the present invention is excellent in the effect of preventing the occurrence of cracks on the surface of the image-receiving material when the brittleness of the image-receiving layer is easily deteriorated by having the above-mentioned polymer layer, especially at normal temperature to low temperature. ing. When the support of the image receiving material is a paper support such as general copy paper, coated paper, cast coated paper, etc., by providing a polymer layer between the image receiving layer and the support, image skipping at the fold portion and toner can be prevented. Peeling can be more effectively prevented. Further, even if the paper expands and contracts due to environmental changes such as temperature and humidity, cracks can be prevented by providing the polymer layer.

The electrophotographic image-receiving material of the present invention is characterized in that the elongation of the polymer layer is larger than that of the image-receiving layer. The method for measuring the elongation is not particularly limited, and a generally used method can be employed. As a preferable measuring method, for example, a method based on the following tensile test can be exemplified. (1) An image receiving layer of 10 g / m ² is formed by coating or laminating on a coated paper having a basis weight of 170 ± 5 g. (2) Similarly, a polymer layer is formed on a coated paper having a basis weight of 170 ± 5 g so as to have a weight of 10 g / m ² . (3) The coated paper on which the image receiving layer or the polymer layer obtained in the above (1) and (2) is formed is cut into 25 mm × 210 mm. (4) Using a tensile tester Tensilon TM-4-100 (manufactured by Toyo Baldwin), at a temperature of 25 ° C and a humidity of 50
%, The elongation at the time when cracks are visually generated in the formed layer on the coated paper is measured. (5) The length of elongation with respect to the length of the test paper in the tensile direction before being pulled is converted into a percentage to obtain the elongation.

In the above method (4), instead of visually measuring the elongation at the time when a crack occurs, the elongation when a certain tensile force is reached may be measured. Here, the constant pulling force is selected within a range smaller than the pulling force at which cracks occur. For example, the force can be reduced to 1/3 until the coated paper breaks. Alternatively, the elongation may be measured by a generally used means. In the electrophotographic image-receiving material of the present invention, it is necessary that the elongation of the polymer layer is larger than that of the image-receiving layer. The elongation of the polymer layer is preferably 1.1 times or more, more preferably 1.15 to 6 times, even more preferably 1.15 to 4 times the elongation of the image receiving layer. If the elongation percentage of the polymer layer is less than 1.1 times the elongation percentage of the image receiving layer, there is a tendency that a sufficient effect of preventing the occurrence of cracks does not appear when the image receiving material is bent or curled. On the other hand, when the ratio exceeds 6 times, the toner is not sufficiently embedded in the image receiving layer at the time of fixing the toner, and gloss tends not to be obtained.

The polymer layer constituting the electrophotographic image receiving material of the present invention is thinner than the thickness of the image receiving layer. The polymer layer satisfying the conditions of the elongation and the thickness may have a function as an image receiving layer. in this case,
Among a plurality of layers functioning as an image receiving layer, a layer having a large elongation and a small thickness is regarded as a polymer layer in the present specification.
Specific examples of the layer configuration of the electrophotographic image receiving material of the present invention include a support, a polymer layer, and an image receiving layer which are sequentially formed;
Support / image receiving layer / polymer layer in order, polyethylene layer / support / polyethylene layer / polymer layer / image receiving layer in order, polyethylene layer / support / polyethylene layer / image receiving layer / polymer layer in order The configuration can be exemplified.

In the electrophotographic image-receiving material of the present invention, the image-receiving layer contains at least one kind of polyester resin, and the elasticity of the polyester resin is smaller than that of the toner. Contains at least one type of polyester resin, and the viscosity of the polyester resin at the softening temperature of the toner is smaller than the viscosity of the toner. The elastic modulus can be measured, for example, at 100 ° C.

The electrophotographic image-receiving material of the present invention may contain at least one layer of a charge controlling agent for the purpose of controlling transfer and adhesion of toner. As the charge control agent, a conventionally known antistatic agent can be used. For example, cationic antistatic agents such as quaternary ammonium salts and polyamine derivatives; anionic antistatic agents such as cation-modified polymethyl methacrylate, cation-modified polystyrene, and alkyl phosphate; nonionic antistatic agents such as anionic polymers and fatty acid esters. Surfactants, cationic surfactants, anionic surfactants, amphoteric surfactants, surfactants such as nonionic surfactants, polymer electrolytes, conductive metal oxides, and the like. It is not limited.

As the conductive metal oxide, ZnO, TiO ₂ , S
nO ₂ , Al ₂ O ₃ In ₂ O ₃ , SiO ₂ , MgO, BaO and MoO ₃ can be mentioned. These may be used alone or a composite oxide of these may be used. Further, the metal oxide may further contain a different element, for example, ZnO is
Al, In, etc., TiO ₂ may contain (doping) Nb, Ta, etc., and SnO ₂ may contain Sb, Nb, halogen element, etc.

By using the charge control agent and the like, the image-receiving layer constituting the electrophotographic image-receiving material of the present invention is
It is preferable to have a surface electric resistance in a range of 1 × 10 ⁶ to 1 × 10 ¹⁵ (under conditions of 25 ° C. and 65% RH). 1
If it is less than × 10 ⁶ Ω, the amount of toner when the toner is transferred to the image receiving layer is not sufficient, and the density of the obtained toner image is low. On the other hand, if it exceeds 1 × 10 ¹⁵ Ω, it is necessary for transfer. The above charge is generated, the toner is not sufficiently transferred, and the density of the image tends to decrease. In addition, dust tends to adhere due to static electricity during the handling of the electrophotographic image receiving material,
During copying, misfeeds, double feeds, discharge marks, toner transfer defects, and the like tend to occur.

The electrophotographic image-receiving material of the present invention may further comprise a water-resistant layer, a base paper coating layer, a protective layer, an image-receiving layer, a cushion layer, an undercoat layer, a heat-insulating layer, in addition to the above-mentioned support, image-receiving layer and polymer layer. A porous layer, a heat-resistant layer, an adhesive layer, a curl adjusting layer, and the like can be provided. The heat-resistant layer may be provided on one or both of the front and back surfaces of the image receiving material. As a material for the heat-resistant layer,
Any material that can withstand the fixing temperature can be used. As the main component and the binder constituting the heat-resistant layer, the above-mentioned polymer for the image receiving layer and the water-soluble polymer, other organic solvent-soluble polymers and water-soluble polymers can be used. The heat-resistant layer preferably contains a water-soluble polymer, and more preferably contains 10% by weight or more of a water-soluble polymer. As the water-soluble polymer, a water-soluble polymer having a group capable of undergoing a cross-linking reaction with a hardener is preferable, among which polyvinyl alcohol and
Gelatins are preferably used.

The heat-resistant layer may be a laminate of two or more layers. The thickness of the heat-resistant layer is preferably in the range of 0.01 to 50 μm, particularly 0.05 to 20 μm. The charge of the heat-resistant layer may be adjusted, but the charge of the heat-resistant layer containing the water-soluble polymer is not necessarily adjusted. The layer constituting the electrophotographic image receiving material of the present invention may be cured by a hardener. In the case of curing an organic solvent-based polymer, a hardener described in JP-A-61-199997 and JP-A-58-215398 can be used. It is particularly preferable to use an isocyanate-based hardening agent for the polyester resin. In the case of a water-soluble polymer, 5.
Compounds in hardeners can be used.

In the image receiving material of the present invention, a photographic additive can be used in any of the layers. Examples of photographic additives include Research Disclosure Magazine (hereinafter abbreviated as RD) No. 17643 (December 1978
No.) and the same No. No. 18716 (November 1979) and No. 18716. 307105 (November 1989). The relevant points are summarized below.

[0049]

[Table 1]

Further, the electrophotographic image-receiving material of the present invention may contain an organic material for the purpose of preventing blocking, improving slipperiness, preventing static charge, improving releasability, white background and curling, and adjusting the water content of the entire image-receiving material. And / or inorganic fine particles (hereinafter referred to as a matting agent) can be added. The matting agent used has a particle diameter of 0.001 to 50 μm.
m, more preferably 0.05 to 30 μm.

As the matting agent, conventionally known matting agents can be used. For example, organic and / or inorganic fine particle matting agents described in JP-A-5-262055 can be used. Examples of organic matting agents are disclosed in
Benzoguanamine resin particles, polycarbonate resin particles and ABS resin particles described in JP-A-274944 and JP-A-63-274952; melamine resin particles; melamine-formaldehyde copolymer particles;
No. 256, page 29, polymethyl methacrylate particles, polyolefin resin particles such as polyethylene particles, styrene resin particles, cross-linked polymethyl methacrylate particles and cross-linked polystyrene particles having improved heat resistance and abrasion resistance by crosslinking. Is mentioned. Examples of inorganic matting agents include oxides (titanium dioxide, silicon dioxide, etc.), alkaline earth metal salts (sulfates, carbonates, etc., such as barium sulfate, calcium carbonate, etc.), and silver halides which do not form an image. Particles (such as silver chloride and silver bromide), and glass.

When the electrophotographic image-receiving material of the present invention has a heat-resistant layer, the average particle size of the matting agent depends on the thickness of the heat-resistant layer.
0 is preferable, 0.1 to 300 is more preferable, and 0.5 to 100 is particularly preferable. The matting agent may appear on the surface of the heat-resistant layer or may enter the inside. The coating amount of the matting agent is preferably 0.001 to 20 g / m ^2, more preferably 0.003~10g / m ²
And particularly preferably 0.005 to 5 g / m ² .

The electrophotographic image-receiving material of the present invention includes:
An organic fluoro compound may be contained for the purpose of coating aid, improving slipperiness, preventing static charge, improving peelability, and the like. Representative examples of the organic fluoro compound include JP-B-57-9053.
Nos. 8-17, JP-A-61-20944, 6
Examples include fluorine-based surfactants described in JP-A-2-135826, oily fluorine compounds such as fluorine oil, and hydrophobic fluorine compounds such as solid fluorine compound resins such as tetrafluoroethylene resin.

For the layer constituting the electrophotographic image-receiving material of the present invention, a coating solution is prepared by using the above-mentioned materials, further adding various auxiliaries as needed, and dissolving and dispersing in an appropriate solvent. It can be formed using conventionally known coating methods such as a blade coating method, an air knife coating method, a gravure coating method, a squeeze coating method, a roll coating method, a spray coating method, a dip coating method, and a bar coating method.

As the toner used in the electrophotographic method, known toners can be used, and it is preferable to form a color image with three or four colors of yellow, magenta, cyan, or black. Further, two or more toners having different color densities may be used. Also, a transparent or white toner may be used. Further, a toner having UV absorption or a toner containing various additives listed as additives for the image receiving layer may be used. For example, a toner containing an anti-fading agent can form a toner image having excellent image storability.

Further, two or more kinds of toners may react and exhibit functions. A toner having a higher softening point than other toners may be used in combination and used as a so-called matting agent. Further, the toner may have a different contact angle with the image receiving layer in a molten state, and the spread of each toner at the time of fixing may be controlled to change the effective density to form a part of the gradation. . The electrophotographic image receiving material of the present invention,
There are no particular restrictions on the electrophotographic methods that can be used. For example, the methods described in "Basics and Applications of Electrophotographic Technology" and "Basics and Applications of Electrophotographic Technology", edited by the Electrophotographic Society of Corona Publishing, Inc. Can be mentioned.
The type and method of the toner are not limited.

[0057]

The present invention will be described more specifically with reference to the following examples. The materials, usage amounts, ratios, operations, and the like shown in the following examples can be appropriately changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the specific examples described below. In the following Examples and Comparative Examples, “parts” means “parts by weight”.

Example 1 and Comparative Example 1 An image receiving layer and a polymer layer were coated on a support to form a sheet-shaped image receiving material. That is, using a commercially available mirror coat platinum (manufactured by Oji Paper Co., Ltd.) as a support, applying the following image-receiving layer composition with a wire coater and drying, and then coating the following polymer layer coating solution on the formed image-receiving layer And an image receiving material having an image receiving layer and a polymer layer having the thickness shown in Table 3 (Example sheets (a) to (h), Comparative example sheets (a) and (b))
It was created.

[0059] <receiving layer composition> Polyester resin (Tafton U-5: Kao) 100 g of titanium dioxide (Tipaque ^R A-220: Ishihara Sangyo) 15 g Methyl ethyl ketone 400 g <polymeric layer coating solution> Polyester resin (see Table 2) 100 g titanium dioxide (Tipaque ^R A-220: Ishihara Sangyo) 15 g Methyl ethyl ketone 200g toluene 200g

The produced electrophotographic image-receiving sheet was cut into A4 sheets, set on a Fuji Xerox color laser printer (Color Laser Window 3320PS), and printed out with a photographic image previously taken in by a scanner. Printed image receiving sheet at 25 ° C and 50% humidity
Under the environment, using a bending tester, curvature 3 mm, depth 0.5
mm, the image was bent so that the image receiving surface was on the inside, and then opened by hand so that the image receiving surface was on the outside, and the peeling and cracking of the toner image at the bent portion were observed. Further, the glossiness at 45 ° was measured using a glossmeter. Table 3 shows the results. Each of the used image-receiving layer composition and polymer layer coating solution had a basis weight of 174 g.
Was subjected to the tensile test described above to measure the elongation. Table 2 shows the results.

[0061]

[Table 2]

[0062]

[Table 3]

From the results in the above table, it can be seen that the occurrence of cracks can be suppressed even when the image receiving sheet is folded by adjusting the elongation of the polymer layer to the extent of the present invention with respect to the elongation of the image receiving layer. Understand. Further, it can be seen that by setting the thickness of the polymer layer to 1/100 to 1/2 of the thickness of the image receiving layer, good gloss can be obtained and cracks can be prevented.

Example 2 An image receiving sheet was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a polymer layer was first applied to a support, dried, and then a composition for an image receiving layer was applied thereon.
A bending test was performed in the same manner. As a result, according to the configuration of the present invention, it was found that the occurrence of cracks when bent or curled was suppressed, and good results were obtained as in Example 1.

Example 3 Using a support consisting of five layers shown in Table 4, the polyethylene layers on both sides were subjected to corona discharge treatment. The surface was coated with the following undercoat layer composition using a wire coater, dried to form a 0.1 μm thick undercoat layer, and subjected to corona discharge treatment. On the back surface, the following back layer composition was applied using a wire coater and dried to provide a back layer of 0.5 g / m ² .

[0066]

[Table 4]

<Composition for undercoat layer> Gelatin 5 g Water 95 g <Back layer composition> Polyester resin (Vylonal MD-1930: Toyobo) 90 g Matting agent (Eposter L15: Nippon Shokubai) 50 g Surfactant (Structural formula [ 1]) 3g Water 10,000g

[0068]

Embedded image

Next, the following composition for an image receiving layer was applied by a wire coater and dried, and then, on the formed image receiving layer,
The same polymer layer coating solution as in Example 1 was applied, and an image receiving sheet (Example sheets (i) to (l), Comparative sheet (c))
(F)) was prepared. <Composition for Image Receiving Layer> Polyester resin (see Table 5) 100 g Titanium dioxide (Taipec ^R A-220: Ishihara Sangyo) 15 g Methyl ethyl ketone 400 g The elastic modulus at 100 ° C. of the above polyester resin is shown in Table 5.
Shown in

The produced electrophotographic image-receiving sheet was cut into A4 sheets, and a photographic image was printed out in the same manner as in Example 1. The printed image receiving sheet was wound around a paper cylinder having an outer diameter of 30 mm with the image receiving surface facing outward, and left for 3 days in an environment at a temperature of 28 ° C. and a humidity of 85%. After that, temperature 25 ° C, humidity 5
Under an environment of 0%, the image receiving sheet was opened, wound with the image receiving surface inside, left for 1 minute, and opened to take a curl. The state of cracks on the surface was visually observed. Further, the glossiness at 45 ° was measured using a glossmeter. Table 5 shows the results.

[0071]

[Table 5]

As is clear from Table 5, when there is no polymer layer, peeling and cracking of the toner are observed. on the other hand,
It can be seen that by adjusting the elongation of the polymer layer to the range of the present invention with respect to the elongation of the image receiving layer, the occurrence of cracks can be suppressed even when the image receiving sheet is curled under high humidity. In addition, the polymer used in the image receiving layer has a temperature of 100 ° C.
It is understood that the modulus of elasticity is smaller than that of the toner from the viewpoint of glossiness, and that the presence of the polymer layer has a large effect of improving cracking.

Example 4 An image receiving sheet was prepared and evaluated in the same manner as in Example 3 except that a commercially available mirror coat platinum (manufactured by Oji Paper) was used as the support. As a result, according to the present invention, good results equivalent to those of Example 3 were obtained. Especially 100 ° C of the polymer used for the image receiving layer
It was found that when the modulus of elasticity was smaller than that of the toner, there was a better improvement effect.

(Example 5) In Example 3, an image receiving sheet (Example sheets (m) to (p)) was prepared by using polymers having different viscosities at the softening temperature of the toner of the polyester resin used for the image receiving layer. , Comparative Example Sheet (g)
(J)) was prepared and printed in the same manner. The printed image receiving sheet was wound around a paper cylinder having an outer diameter of 30 mm with the image receiving surface outside, and left for 3 days in an environment at a temperature of 10 ° C. and a humidity of 75%. Then, under the environment of temperature 25 ° C and humidity 50%,
Open the image receiving sheet, then wind it with the image receiving surface inside,
After leaving for 1 minute, it was opened and curled. The state of cracks on the surface was visually observed. Further, using a gloss meter, 45
° gloss was measured. Table 6 shows the results.

[0075]

[Table 6]

As is clear from Table 6, when there is no polymer layer, peeling and cracking of the toner are observed. Also,
When the viscosity of the polyester resin at the softening temperature of the toner is smaller than the viscosity of the toner, it can be seen that better results can be obtained by using the polymer layer. Also, when the polyester resin A used in Example 3 was used in this example, it was found that the effect of using the polymer layer was more remarkably exhibited by storing at a low temperature.

Example 6 An image-receiving layer composition and a coating solution for a polymer layer were prepared in the same manner as in Example 5, except that a commercially available mirror coat platinum (manufactured by Oji Paper) was used as the support. An image-receiving sheet was prepared and evaluated in the same manner as in Example 5, except that the polymer layer was dried so as to have a thickness of 5 μm, and then the image-receiving layer composition was applied at a thickness of 10 μm. As a result, according to the configuration of the present invention, it was found that good results were obtained.

Example 7 In Example 5, a commercially available color laser printer, specifically, a full color laser printer (A color 629) manufactured by Fuji Xerox, LP-8000C manufactured by Seiko Epson, Casio Electronics Co., Ltd. COLOR PAGEPRESTO N4-ST, manufactured by Canon
COLOR LASER SHOT LBP-2030, magicolor 2 made by QMS Japan, Color LaserBit KL-2 made by Konica
010, Sharp JX-8200, Hitachi BEAMSTAR-R
W, printed with Minolta Color Page Pro PS, gave the same results as in Table 6.

[0079]

The electrophotographic image-receiving material of the present invention has a specific polymer layer, is excellent in gloss, does not cause toner peeling or surface cracking even when bent or curled, and its gloss is impaired. Absent.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An electrophotographic image receiving material comprising a support and at least one layer including an image receiving layer of a toner image formed on the support, wherein the at least one layer comprises a polymer layer, An electrophotographic image-receiving material, wherein the elongation of the layer is greater than the elongation of the image-receiving layer and the thickness of the polymer layer is smaller than the thickness of the image-receiving layer. 2. The elongation at the time when a crack occurs when the polymer layer is formed on a coated paper and pulled, and the elongation at the time when a crack occurs when the image receiving layer is formed and pulled on the coated paper. 2. The electrophotographic image-receiving material according to claim 1, wherein the ratio is 1.1 times or more. 3. The electrophotographic image receiving material according to claim 1, wherein the polymer layer is formed on the image receiving layer. 4. The electrophotographic image receiving material according to claim 1, wherein the polymer layer is formed between the support and the image receiving layer. 5. The electrophotographic image receiving material according to claim 1, wherein the polymer layer is formed between two or more image receiving layers. 6. The electrophotography according to claim 1, wherein the image receiving layer contains at least one kind of polyester resin, and the elastic modulus of the polyester resin is smaller than the elastic modulus of the toner. For image receiving material.