JP2002283713A - Image forming method using ink jet, and transfer film - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming method using an ink jet, and a transfer film, which allow a clear image without the overflow and smearing of ink to be inexpensively formed in a medium to be recorded, unprocessed for ink jet recording, while having proper fixability. SOLUTION: The image forming method using the ink jet is characterized as follows: an adhesive layer and an ink receiving layer are transferred to the medium to be recorded by peeling a substrate after the adhesive layer of the transfer film, which is composed of at least the substrate, the ink receiving layer and the adhesive layer, is made to face the medium to be recorded, so as to be heated and pressurized; and after that, the image is formed in the ink receiving layer by an ink jet recording method.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording method for forming a clear image without ink overflow or bleeding on a recording medium which has not been processed for ink jet recording with good fixability and low cost. And a transfer film.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The ink jet recording system has features such as improvement of image quality, recording speed, enlargement of output size and low cost, and has been developed for various uses. However, since the inkjet recording method requires a special paper coated with an ink receiving layer to obtain high image quality,
It cannot be diverted to all recording media. For example,
This is a recording medium such as a proof that is required to be recorded on the printing paper, a plastic film that has not been processed, and the like.

In order to cope with various recording media, a method of temporarily forming an ink jet image on an intermediate transfer medium for ink jet, and then transferring an image receiving layer on which an image has been recorded to a printing paper serving as a final support can be considered.

As a method of recording an image on an intermediate transfer medium by an ink-jet method and then transferring the image to a final support, JP-A-11-42896 and JP-A-2000-2000
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 1044, an intermediate medium in which a release layer and a peelable image receiving layer are provided on a support has been proposed.

However, in these intermediate media, it is necessary for the receiving layer to have two functions, that is, a function as an ink receiving layer and a function of transferring to a recording medium, so that a clear image free from ink overflow and bleeding can be obtained. It was difficult to achieve both good transferability to a medium. Further, when an image is formed on an intermediate transfer medium, it is necessary to use a thick plastic film having supportive rigidity in order to secure transportability in a printer, and thus there is a disadvantage that the cost is high and waste material is increased. Was.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to form a clear image without ink overflow or bleeding with good fixability and low cost on a recording medium which has not been processed for ink jet recording. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming method using an inkjet and a transfer film.

[0007]

The above object of the present invention has been attained by the following constitutions.

[0008] 1. At least a support, an ink receiving layer,
After facing the adhesive layer of the transfer film composed of the adhesive layer and the recording medium, heating and pressing, the support is peeled off to transfer the adhesive layer and the ink receiving layer to the recording medium, and then ink receiving An image forming method using an ink jet, wherein an image is formed on a layer by an ink jet recording method.

[0009] 2. A transfer film comprising, on a support, at least an ink receiving layer that can be peeled off from the support and receives an inkjet ink, and an adhesive layer that has heat-sensitive adhesiveness to a recording medium.

[0010] 3. 3. The transfer film according to the above item 2, wherein a release layer is provided between the support and the ink receiving layer.

4. Vic between the support and the ink receiving layer
3. The transfer film according to the above item 2, wherein a cushion layer having an at softening point of 20 to 80 ° C. is provided.

5. The ink receiving layer contains porous inorganic fine particles and a binder, and has an ink absorption of 10 to 50 ml / m ^2.
5. The transfer film according to any one of the above items 2 to 4, wherein

6. 6. The transfer film according to any one of 2 to 5, wherein a surface of the adhesive layer is roughened.

7. 2-6, wherein the adhesive layer contains a thermoplastic binder having a Tg of 80 ° C or lower and 20 ° C or higher, or a Vicat softening point of 150 ° C or lower and 40 ° C or higher.
The transfer film according to any one of the above.

[8] The transfer film according to any one of the above items 2 to 7, wherein the thickness of the support is 10 to 50 µm.

9. 9. The transfer film according to claim 1, wherein the transfer film is the transfer film according to any one of the items 2 to 8.
An image forming method using the ink jet described above.

The present invention will be described in more detail. A first preferred embodiment of the present invention is to provide a release layer between the support and the ink receiving layer. By providing a release layer, the ink receiving layer can be easily released from the support, which is preferable. As the release layer, known materials such as a silicone compound, a fluorine compound, a polyoxyalkylene compound, and an olefin compound can be used. It is preferable that these are not affected by a solvent used for coating the ink receiving layer by post-processing such as selection of a compound or crosslinking.

A second preferred mode is to provide a cushion layer having a Vicat softening point of 20 to 80 ° C., preferably 20 to 65 ° C., between the support and the ink receiving layer.
By providing the cushion layer, the cushion layer is deformed at the time of laminating heating, and even for a roughened recording medium,
Good transferability can be obtained. Printing paper, which is a recording medium, usually has a roughness of several μm or more, and matte paper or high-quality paper has irregularities of tens of μm or more. In order for the ink receiving layer to follow these irregularities, Vicat
10μ of thermoplastic cushion layer with softening point of 80 ° C or less
m or more, preferably 15 μm or more.

In a third preferred embodiment, the ink receiving layer contains porous inorganic fine particles and a binder, and the ink absorption amount is 1%.
It is 0 to 50 ml / m ² , preferably 20 to 50 ml / m ² . By containing porous inorganic fine particles such as silica and alumina, the ink absorbency can be increased, bleeding during ink ejection can be prevented, and a clear image can be obtained. In the present invention, examples of the binder of the ink receiving layer include water-soluble polymers such as ethylene oxides, gelatins, and polyvinyl alcohols, polyacrylic acids, polyacrylates, celluloses, polyesters, and polyurethanes, and polymer latexes. Can be.

A fourth preferred mode is that the surface of the adhesive layer is roughened. By roughening, even when laminated on a recording medium having a high degree of smoothness, air escape occurs between the transfer layer surface and the recording medium surface, and good transfer can be performed. Beck smoothness of transfer layer surface is 5
It is at most 00 seconds, more preferably at most 100 seconds.

In a fifth preferred embodiment, the adhesive layer has a Tg of 8
0 ° C or less, 20 ° C or more, or Vicat softening point of 150 ° C
Below, it is to contain a thermoplastic binder of 40 ° C. or more. By using such a thermoplastic binder, thermal transferability with a recording medium can be secured, and image fixability after transfer can be obtained.

In a sixth preferred embodiment, the thickness of the support is 1
It is 0 to 50 μm, preferably 10 to 35 μm. In the image forming method of the present invention in which the ink receiving layer is first transferred to the recording medium, the support can be made thinner.

As another preferred embodiment, when producing a final image-formed product in which an image is viewed with diffused light or reflected light, the adhesive layer contains a white pigment and is concealable, or the adhesive layer and the ink receiving layer Transfer to a transparent recording medium using a transfer layer having a concealing layer containing a white pigment.

As the support used in the present invention, either a transparent support or an opaque support can be used according to the purpose of use.

As the transparent support, any of those conventionally known can be used, for example, polyester resin, polyolefin resin (for example, polypropylene resin, polyethylene resin, etc.), cellulose acetate resin, acrylic resin, and the like.
There are films such as polycarbonate resin, polyvinyl chloride resin, polyimide resin, cellophane, and celluloid. Among these, a polyester resin, particularly a polyethylene terephthalate film, is preferred from the viewpoint of the rigidity and transparency of the support.

Such a transparent support has a thickness of 10 to 10.
It is preferably about 50 μm, more preferably 10 to 10 μm.
It is about 40 μm.

As the opaque support, any of conventionally known ones such as resin-coated paper, pigment-containing opaque film, foamed film and the like can be used. From the viewpoint of gloss and smoothness, resin-coated paper or various films are preferable. Resin-coated paper, polyolefin resin-coated paper, and polyester-based films are more preferable from the viewpoint of feeling and high quality.

The cushion layer provided on the transfer film of the present invention preferably has a Vicat softening point of 20 to 80 ° C. Preferred characteristics of the cushion layer of the present invention can not always be defined by the type of material,
Materials having preferable properties of the material itself include ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, ethylene-ethyl acrylate copolymer, polybutadiene resin, styrene-butadiene copolymer (SBR), and styrene-ethylene-butene-styrene copolymer ( SEBS), acrylonitrile-butadiene copolymer (NBR), polyisoprene resin (IR),
Styrene-isoprene copolymer (SIS), acrylate copolymer, polyester resin, polyurethane resin, acrylic resin, butyl rubber, polynorbornene, and the like.

Of these, those having a relatively low molecular weight easily satisfy the requirements of the present invention, but are not necessarily limited in relation to the material.

Further, even with materials other than the above, favorable characteristics of the cushion layer can be obtained by adding various additives.

Examples of the additives include low-melting substances such as waxes, plasticizers, and the like. Specific examples include phthalic acid ester, adipic acid ester, glycol ester, fatty acid ester, phosphoric acid ester, chlorinated paraffin, and the like. Further, various additives described in, for example, "Practical Handbook of Additives for Plastics and Rubber" and Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. (issued in 1970) can be added.

The amount of these additives to be added may be selected in such a manner as to provide desirable physical properties in combination with the base cushion layer material, and is not particularly limited. Is preferably 10% by mass or less, more preferably 5% by mass or less.

The cushion layer may be formed by dissolving the above-mentioned material in a solvent or dispersing it in a latex form, applying a coating method using a blade coater, a roll coater, a bar coater, a curtain coater, a gravure coater or the like, or extrusion lamination by hot melt. The law can be applied.

The ink receiving layer of the present invention is described in
Similar to 1-4896, in order to improve the ink absorbency,
Preferably, it is porous. Further, in order to make the color developability and color reproducibility after transfer favorable,
The transmittance at 0 to 730 nm is preferably 70% or more. It is more preferably at least 80%. The transmittance of the ink receiving layer may be imparted to the recording medium by transferring the recording medium with heat and pressure.

The ink receiving layer preferably contains a cationic compound in order to increase the affinity for the dye. When a recording method in which the ink is transferred to the ink receiving layer and the image is retransferred by heating and pressurizing is adopted, there is an effect that color fluctuation after recording can be suppressed even when a dye ink is used.

The solvent absorbing layer according to the present invention will be described.
Inks usually have a high boiling point hydrophilic solvent, but when a dye is used as a coloring material, when these hydrophilic solvents are present at a high concentration at the dyeing site, the dye is diffused with time and the resolution due to bleeding is caused. Degradation, density or hue change. Therefore, it is preferable to provide a solvent absorbing layer separately from the ink receiving layer serving as the dyeing layer. As the solvent absorbing layer, a hydrophilic polymer or a porous polymer can be used.

In order to enhance the transferability of the ink receiving layer to the recording medium, it is preferable to provide a release layer between the ink receiving layer and the cushion layer. The adhesive strength between the ink receiving layer and the release layer is preferably 0.5 to 400 g / cm. 0.5g
At / cm or less, the ink receiving layer is weakly coated with a film, and the film is likely to peel off when the sheet is bent or the ink is injected. Conversely 400g / cm
Above, transferability to a recording medium cannot be obtained. The release layer is preferably made of a material having a higher softening point than the cushion layer so that the gloss of the ink receiving layer in the non-image area is close to that of the recording medium. By selecting the cushion layer described above and a release layer of such a material, the transferred ink receiving layer also has low gloss on paper with a rough surface and low gloss, and the transferred ink receiving layer on paper with low surface roughness and high gloss. The layers can also be of high gloss.

Specific examples of the binder for the release layer include polyester, polyvinyl acetal, polyvinyl formal, polyparabanic acid, polymethyl methacrylate, polycarbonate, ethyl cellulose, nitrocellulose, and the like.
Styrenes such as methylcellulose, carboxymethylcellulose, hydroxypropylcellulose, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, acrylonitrile styrene, and those obtained by crosslinking these resins; Tg such as polyamide, polyimide, polyetherimide, polysulfone, polyethersulfone, and aramid. Is 65 ° C
The above-mentioned thermosetting resins and cured products of these resins are included. As the curing agent, a general curing agent such as isocyanate and melamine can be used.

The adhesive layer of the present invention is a layer for obtaining the adhesion between the ink receiving layer and the recording medium, and is preferably made of a material having adhesiveness to both. Finally, specifically, a hot melt adhesive such as a polyester resin, an acrylic resin, a polyurethane resin, a polystyrene resin, a polyolefin resin, a petroleum resin, and a styrene butadiene resin can be used. In order to obtain thermal adhesion during lamination, Tg is 20 to 80 ° C or Vicat softening point is 40 to
It is preferred to use a 150 ° C. thermoplastic binder. In addition, when laminating a recording medium, the Beck smoothness is set to 500 seconds or less, more preferably 100 seconds or less, so that air escape is improved. The method of surface roughening is the addition of matting material, the application surface shape operation by mixing the non-phase compound,
It can be performed by emboss lamination. The thickness of the adhesive layer is 0.5-20 μm, preferably 0.5-5 μm
m.

In order to obtain good fixability as an image, a material is selected so that the adhesive force between the ink receiving layer and the non-recording medium is 100 g / cm or more.

[0041]

EXAMPLES Example 1 EVA resin (Mitsui DuPont Polychemical, P1207C: Vic) was used as a cushion layer on one side of a PET film (Mitsubishi Chemical Polyester, S100) having a thickness of 25 μm.
(at softening point 67 ° C.) by extrusion lamination so as to have a thickness of 25 μm. Next, an ethanol solution of ethyl cellulose (solid content: 10%) as a release layer was applied on the cushion layer with a wire bar to have a dry thickness of 2 μm. Subsequently, the following ink receiving layer coating solution was applied to obtain an ink receiving layer having a dry film thickness of 30 μm.

Ink receiving layer coating liquid Synthetic amorphous silica (Fanseal X37B, manufactured by Tokuyama) 75 parts PVA (PVA-117, manufactured by Kuraray) 20 parts Polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride-based cation resin (PAS-H-5L) Next, the following adhesive layer coating solution was applied on the ink receiving layer to form an adhesive layer having a dry film thickness of 4 μm, thereby producing a transfer film.

Coating solution for adhesive layer Thermoplastic binder (acrylic resin manufactured by Mitsubishi Rayon, Diamond BR102, Tg = 20 ° C.) 99 parts Mat material (manufactured by Soken Chemical Co., Ltd., MX-500) 1 part Toluene 200 parts Methyl ethyl ketone 800 parts obtained The Bekk smoothness of the surface of the transfer film was 100 seconds.

The transfer film and printing paper (high quality paper) as a recording medium were faced to each other, laminated at a temperature of 120 ° C., and the support was peeled off. The adhesive layer and the ink receiving layer were uniformly laminated on the printing paper without any transfer omission.

The recording medium to which the ink receiving layer was transferred had an ink absorption of 20 g / m ² .

Next, when an image was formed on the ink receiving layer using a commercially available aqueous ink jet printer, a clear image could be formed without ink overflow or bleeding. Further, the formed image has good adhesiveness to high quality paper as a recording medium and has excellent fixability.

Comparative Example 1 In Example 1, the same operation was carried out without providing an adhesive layer.
The ink receiving layer could not be transferred by lamination.

Example 2 In Example 1, the cushion layer was made of ethylene / ethylene acrylate resin (EV manufactured by DuPont-Mitsui Polychemicals).
AFLEX A707, Vicat softening point 57 ° C.), and the same procedure as in Example 1 was performed. As a result, the transferability to printing paper (fine paper) as a recording medium was improved, and the laminating temperature was lowered to 100 ° C. Also obtained an adhesive property with high quality paper. It is considered that the lowering of the softening point of the cushion layer improved the ability to follow the paper at low temperatures.

[0049]

According to the present invention, a clear image free from ink overflow or bleeding can be formed on a recording medium which has not been processed for ink jet recording with good fixability and low cost using an ink jet. A forming method and a transfer film could be provided.

Claims (9)

[Claims] At least an adhesive layer of a transfer film comprising a support, an ink receiving layer, and an adhesive layer faces a recording medium, and after heating and pressing, the support is peeled off to form a recording medium. An image forming method using an ink jet, comprising transferring an adhesive layer and an ink receiving layer, and then forming an image on the ink receiving layer by an ink jet recording method. 2. A transfer film comprising, on a support, at least an ink-receiving layer that can be peeled off from the support and receives ink-jet ink, and an adhesive layer that has heat-sensitive adhesiveness to a recording medium. 3. The transfer film according to claim 2, wherein a release layer is provided between the support and the ink receiving layer. 4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:
The transfer film according to claim 2, wherein a cushion layer having a t-softening point of 20 to 80C is provided. 5. The transfer film according to claim 2, wherein the ink receiving layer contains porous inorganic fine particles and a binder, and has an ink absorption of 10 to 50 ml / m ² . 6. The transfer film according to claim 2, wherein the surface of the adhesive layer is roughened. 7. The adhesive layer has a Tg of 80 ° C. or less and 20 ° C. or more,
7. The transfer film according to claim 2, further comprising a thermoplastic binder having a Vicat softening point of 150 ° C. or lower and 40 ° C. or higher. 8. 8. The transfer film according to claim 2, wherein the thickness of the support is 10 to 50 μm. 9. An image forming method using an inkjet according to claim 1, wherein the transfer film is the transfer film according to any one of claims 2 to 8.