JP2001260529A - Ink jet recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ink jet recording medium, the wrong side of which can be easily judged from its right side and in which the conveyability to an ink jet printer is improved. SOLUTION: This ink jet recording medium is produced by providing an ink absorbing layer on the side opposite to the embossed side of a support made of a paper covered with a white film or resin, one side of which is embossed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording medium used for a printer or a plotter using an ink jet recording system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, remarkable progress in ink jet printers and plotters has made it possible to easily obtain full-color and high-definition images. Along with this, development of ink jet recording media other than conventional high quality paper and coated paper for ink jet recording has been performed.

[0003] Ink-jet recording media for which high definition and high image quality are required often use resin-coated paper used for photographic printing paper or the like or a white film as a support in order to enhance the texture and give a sense of quality. .

On the other hand, an ink jet recording medium having high definition and high image quality is made of a porous material as an ink absorbing layer of the recording medium. For example, an ink jet recording medium using inorganic fine particles such as colloidal silica and colloidal alumina can be used. Ink jet recording media using alumina hydrate are disclosed in JP-B-3-24906, JP-A-2-276671, and JP-A-3-6768.
No. 4, No. 3-215082, No. 3-2514
Nos. 88, 4-67986, 4-2639
No. 83, No. 5-16517 and the like, an ink jet recording medium using aluminum oxide is disclosed in JP-A-9-48173 and No. 9-272257. JP-A-60-204390, JP-A-62-1580
No. 84, JP-A-1-108083, 3-2
No. 7976, No. 5-278324, No. 8-2
Nos. 69893 and 10-81064.

[0005] Such a recording medium is generally coated with a single-sided ink-absorbing layer on a support in view of cost and suitability for use. There is a large difference in the ink absorbency between the front and back of a recording medium coated on one side, and it is necessary to make a reliable determination of the front and back to prevent the front and back from being used by mistake.

In particular, as described above, when a resin-coated paper or a white film used for photographic printing paper or the like is used as a support in order to improve the texture of the recording medium, the ink-absorbing layer is formed of silica. When made of a porous material such as alumina or alumina, the front and back surfaces have similar physical properties such as color tone, gloss, whiteness, and tactile sensation, and it is often difficult to distinguish between the front and back surfaces.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 4-298379 and 9-158083 disclose a method for giving a difference in color between a recording surface and a non-recording surface in order to distinguish between front and back of an ink jet recording medium. I have. However, the color difference is small and the recording medium must be carefully observed before use. Further, from the viewpoint of the texture of the recording medium, a method of changing the color tone or decreasing the whiteness is not preferable. Furthermore,
There is no ink jet recording medium that enables a visually handicapped person to easily determine and enable printing output work.

Further, the high-definition and high-quality ink-jet recording medium has a smooth surface of the ink-jet recording medium, and at the time of ink-jet recording, the ink-jet printer runs idle at a paper feed portion and cannot be fed, or has good adhesion. In some cases, a problem has arisen.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording medium in which the front and back of a recording surface can be easily discriminated, and to improve the paper feeding to an ink jet printer.

[0010]

According to the present invention, there is provided an ink jet recording medium having a support having an embossed surface on one side and an ink absorbing layer provided on the surface opposite to the embossed surface.

A preferred embodiment is an ink jet recording medium which is a white film or resin-coated paper having one surface embossed and provided with an ink absorbing layer made of a porous material on the surface opposite to the embossed surface.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail.

According to the present invention, there is provided a recording medium in which the non-recording surface, which is the back surface of the ink jet recording medium, has an unevenness so that the front and back sides can be easily recognized by visual and tactile senses. In addition, the ink jet recording medium has a concavo-convex feeling, thereby reducing the adhesion between the recording media and improving the transportability to a printer.

The plan views of FIGS. 1 and 3 show an example of the embossed surface provided on the support. 2 and 4 show schematic cross-sectional views of the film support having the embossed surface of FIGS. 1 and 3, respectively, and FIG. 5 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the resin-coated paper support having the embossed surface of FIG.

The shape of the emboss is not particularly limited. Preferred are hexagonal irregularities, circular irregularities, square irregularities, hemispherical irregularities, pyramid-shaped irregularities, and the like, and particularly preferred are hexagonal irregularities and circular irregularities. The size is such that it can be discriminated visually or tactually, and although there is an individual difference, it is preferable that the pitch of one unevenness is generally 0.1 mm or more, preferably 0.4 mm or more. When the pitch is less than 0.1 mm, it is difficult to determine by visual or tactile sense, and when it exceeds 1 mm, the transportability tends to deteriorate. Although the degree of the unevenness of the embossed surface depends on the thickness of the support, the center line average roughness is preferably 7 μm or more, and more preferably 15 μm or more and 50 μm or less. 7μ
If it is less than m, it is difficult to make a visual or tactile judgment, and the transportability is poor, so that multiple feeding is easy. On the other hand, when the thickness exceeds 50 μm, the opacity decreases, and when the support itself is thin, the embossed shape may be seen through the surface, which impairs the commercial value. Here, the center line roughness is determined by a method described in Japanese Industrial Standard JISB-0601.

The ink jet recording medium of the present invention is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, a white film or resin-coated paper having an embossed surface on one side is used, and an ink absorbing layer is provided on the side opposite to the embossed surface.

Examples of the white film used in the present invention include a polyethylene film, a polypropylene film, a polyethylene terephthalate film, a nylon film, a polystyrene film, a polyvinyl chloride film, a polyurethane film and a polycarbonate film. Alternatively, it is a polyethylene terephthalate film.

Methods for whitening a film include a method of kneading a white pigment and a method of adding a foaming agent such as sodium bicarbonate to form a cavity inside. The white film used in the present invention is a film produced by a method of incorporating a white pigment. Examples of the white pigment for whitening include titanium oxide, lead titanate, zinc sulfide, zinc oxide, barium sulfate, talc, alumina, calcium carbonate, mica, and silica.

The resin-coated paper used in the present invention is a support in which paper is used as a base material and a coating layer of a thermoplastic resin is provided on the paper. Further, the resin coating layer is preferably a polyethylene resin or a polypropylene resin. Also,
A pigment may be contained in the thermoplastic resin coating layer.

The embossed surface of the support used in the present invention may be formed, for example, by pressing a white film or a resin-coated paper with a press plate or a press roll provided with a desired shape. Can be formed. Further, in the case of resin-coated paper, it can be produced by pressing and cooling and solidifying a molten resin with a desired cooling roll and press roll. further,
A sheet-like base material having an embossed surface can also be used by bonding.

The ink absorbing layer according to the present invention is preferably formed by applying a coating composition comprising an ink absorbing polymer or a porous material. Examples of the ink-absorbing polymer include gelatin, polyvinylpyrrolidone, starches, and celluloses such as carboxymethylcellulose and hydroxymethylcellulose.
Porous materials include, for example, styrene-based plastic pigment, acrylic-based plastic pigment, polyethylene, urea resin, organic particles such as melamine resin, light calcium carbonate, heavy calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate,
Kaolin, talc, calcium sulfate, barium sulfate, titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, zinc sulfide, zinc carbonate, sation white, aluminum silicate, diatomaceous earth, calcium silicate, magnesium silicate, synthetic amorphous silica, colloidal silica, alumina, colloidal Examples include inorganic particles such as alumina, alumina hydrate, aluminum hydroxide, lithopone, zeolite, hydrohaloysite, and magnesium hydroxide. Preferred are porous materials, and colloidal silica, alumina hydrate and synthetic amorphous silica are particularly preferred.

The coating composition comprising the porous material according to the present invention comprises, as a binder, for example, starches such as oxidized starch, etherified starch, esterified starch, dextrin, cellulose derivatives such as carboxymethylcellulose and hydroxyethylcellulose, and casein. , Gelatin, soy protein, polyvinyl alcohol and polyvinyl alcohol derivatives such as acetalization, maleic anhydride resin, styrene-butadiene copolymer, methyl methacrylate
It may include a conjugated-gen copolymer latex such as a butadiene copolymer, and an acrylic polymer such as a polymer or a copolymer of an acrylate ester and a methacrylate ester. Preferred binders are polyvinyl alcohol and acetalized polyvinyl alcohol. The amount of the binder to be added is preferably 5 to 30 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the porous material. Preferably, it is 8 to 20 parts by weight. If the amount of the binder exceeds the above range, for example, the pores formed by the porous material are closed, and the ink absorbency decreases. On the other hand, if the ratio is below the above range, it becomes difficult to exhibit the adhesive effect.

[0023]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to examples, but the contents of the present invention are not limited to the examples.
Parts and% shown in Examples are parts by weight and% by weight of solid content unless otherwise specified.

<Preparation of coating composition 1> 100 parts of commercially available alumina hydrate (Cataloid AS-3, manufactured by Catalyst Chemicals, Inc.)
Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA635, manufactured by Kuraray) 1
0 parts were mixed to prepare a coating composition 1. The solid content concentration of the coating composition 1 was 20%.

<Preparation of Coating Composition 2> Commercially available synthetic amorphous silica (Mizuka Seal P78D, manufactured by Mizusawa Chemical Co., Ltd.) 100
Parts, and 30 parts of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA117, manufactured by Kuraray Co., Ltd.) were mixed to obtain a coating composition 2. The solid content concentration of the coating composition 2 was 17%.

<Preparation of Coating Composition 3> 80 parts of gelatin (manufactured by Nitta Gelatin Co., Ltd.), 20 parts of carboxymethyl cellulose (manufactured by Sumitomo Seika Co., Ltd.), cationic dye fixing agent (Sumireze Resin 1001, manufactured by Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd.) ) 20 parts were mixed to give Coating Composition 3. Solid content concentration of coating composition 3 is 15%
Met.

The single-sided embossed white film shown in FIG. 2 was produced by passing the film through a pair of press rolls in which one of the rolls was engraved in a circular pattern, followed by molding. The circular diameter was about 1 mm, and the center line average roughness was about 20 μm. Using the prepared one-sided embossed white PET film, coating compositions 1, 2 and 3 were applied on the opposite side of the embossed surface, dried, and provided with an ink absorbing layer to obtain an ink jet recording medium of the present invention.

The single-sided embossed resin-coated paper shown in FIG. 5 was prepared by passing the resin-coated paper through a pair of press rolls each having a hexagonal pattern on one roll, followed by molding. The size of the hexagon was about 2 mm, and the center line average roughness was about 50 μm. Using the resin-coated paper with the embossed surface on one side,
Coating compositions 1, 2 and 3 were applied on the opposite side of the embossed surface, dried, and provided with an ink absorbing layer to obtain an ink jet recording medium of the present invention.

In the paper feeding test, PM750C (manufactured by Epson Corporation) was used, and five recording media were set and transported. As a result of observing whether or not only one recording medium was fed, good paper feedability was obtained.

[0030]

According to the present invention, an ink jet recording medium having a single-sided embossed white film or resin-coated paper as a support provides an ink jet recording medium in which the front and back sides can be easily discriminated visually or tactilely, and has a good paper feeding property for an ink jet printer. Can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a part of an embossed surface provided on a support.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an ink jet recording medium using a single-sided embossed white film support.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a part of an embossed surface provided on a support.

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an ink jet recording medium using a single-sided embossed white film support.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an ink jet recording medium using a single-sided embossed resin-coated paper support.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet recording medium comprising an ink absorbing layer provided on one side of a support, wherein the opposite side of the ink absorbing layer of the support is embossed on one side. 2. The ink jet recording medium according to claim 1, wherein said support is a white film or a resin-coated paper. 3. The ink jet recording medium according to claim 1, wherein said ink absorbing layer is made of a porous material.