JP2002304000A - Recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a recording medium repetitively usable any number of times by easily removing an image forming material without using chemicals, such as solvents. SOLUTION: A release layer 3, an adhesive layer 4 and a transfer layer 5 are laminated on a sheet-like base material 2. The transfer layer 5 consists of a fixing segment 5a which is unpeelably fixed and a temporal fixing segment 5b which is weak in tacky adhesive power and peels easily. When toners 6 are deposited and fixed to the front surface of the transfer layer 5 and this recording is unnecessary afterward, the temporal fixing segment 5b is peeled and is bent and deformed so as to gather wrinkles, by which the toners 6 solidified along the surface of the transfer layer 5 are stripped off from the surface of the transfer layer 5 by failing to follow up the bending deformation of the temporal fixing segment 5b. When the toners 6 are completely removed, the temporal fixing segment 5b is stretched flat and is put into the state that the temporal fixing segment is again laminated on the adhesive layer 4. The recording medium 1 attains the state equivalent to the state that the toners 6 are not deposited thereon and the recording medium can be reused.

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 in an image forming apparatus employing a recording system such as an electrophotographic system or a thermal transfer system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a recording medium which can easily remove an image forming material (toner or the like) formed by an image recording apparatus, and can easily reproduce and use the medium repeatedly.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, global environmental problems have surfaced, and the importance of protecting forest resources has been recognized. Recycling of paper materials such as wood has been demanded. In such a situation, in recent years, recycling of used paper is indispensable, and used paper separated in an office or the like is sent from a used paper dealer to a paper mill, where the used paper is recycled. However, the trouble and cost involved in recycling used paper, and the enormous energy required for recycling are major problems.

In order to solve such a problem, there has been proposed a method of chemically or physically erasing an image formed on a sheet used once and reusing the image. For example, as a method of erasing an image obtained by an electrophotographic method, a method described in the following publication has been proposed.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-301940 discloses that an image forming material mainly formed of a thermoplastic resin or a heat-soluble resin such as toner is removed by swelling and physically peeling an image removal accelerating liquid. A method for reproducing a recording medium is disclosed. As described in this publication, many methods for removing an image forming material using a solvent have been conventionally proposed.

[0005]

However, in this method, since a solvent such as an image removal accelerating liquid is applied to the recording medium, the solvent remains in the reproduced recording medium, and it is necessary to pass the solvent again. , There is a risk that other adverse effects will lift.
Such a method of using a solvent which is a chemical does not consider global environmental problems.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 8-220792 discloses a method in which a toner newly invented as an electrophotographic toner is used, and a printed matter recorded with the toner is irradiated with ultraviolet rays and then mechanically rubbed. Discloses a method of reproducing a recording medium by removing a printed portion. But,
This method requires the use of a special toner, and is not a versatile method corresponding to any recording apparatus.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 9-204061 discloses a technique in which a film having good toner releasability is formed on the surface of a sheet so that toner can be removed. In this method, a liquid composition containing a silicone compound and fine particles such as titanium oxide is applied or impregnated on a substrate mainly composed of pulp fibers and dried to form a film, and an image formed by a toner is formed on the film. Is formed, the toner is removed by passing the paper through a heat roller, and the formed image is erased. However, this method requires a separate device called a heat roller for regenerating the paper, complicates the configuration, requires a new step of passing the paper through the heat roller, and makes it easy to remove the image forming material. I can't say that.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a reproducible recording medium which can easily remove an image forming material without using a chemical such as a solvent and can be used repeatedly.

[0009]

The recording medium of the present invention has a sheet-like base material, and is laminated on the base material, a part of which is fixed to the base material, and the other part is free from the base material. And a peelable thin film transfer layer.

According to the present invention, the transfer layer in the form of a thin film to which the image forming material adheres can be formed by freely deforming the portion not fixed to the substrate away from the substrate, thereby removing the image forming material adhered to the surface. Can be removed. Then, since a part of the transfer layer is fixed to the base material, the transfer layer can be returned to the laminated state on the base material after the image forming material is removed. That is, since the transfer layer itself is not thrown away when the image forming material is removed, it can be used repeatedly.

Since the transfer layer to which the image forming material adheres is in the form of a thin film, it does not significantly affect the shape and dimensions of the recording medium itself. Further, since the base material of the recording medium is in the form of a sheet, it can be handled in the same manner as a conventional recording sheet or the like, and does not hinder conveyance in a normal recording apparatus.

In the method of removing an image forming material using this recording medium, it is not necessary to use an unfavorable environment such as a solvent, and there is no waste of the recording medium.

The fixing portion of the transfer layer to the substrate is preferably one edge of the transfer layer. And the transfer layer is
It is preferable that the image forming material can be held, and the image forming material can be removed by being flexibly deformed. According to this, the image forming material adhered to the surface of the transfer layer can be removed by exfoliating the part other than the fixed part of the transfer layer from the base material and bending, rubbing or rubbing. Moreover, since the transfer layer has a portion fixed to the base material, the transfer layer does not completely peel off and fall off, and can be easily returned to a state of being stacked on the base material again. Therefore, the recording medium can be easily reused.

The transfer layer is laminated on the base material via an adhesive layer, and a part of the adhesive layer (the fixing part of the transfer layer) may have a stronger adhesive force than other parts. . The adhesive layer is laminated on the substrate via the release layer, and may not be partially used.

It is preferable that the paper is passed from the fixed portion of the transfer layer.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electrophotographic recording medium (transferred image transfer material) 1 of the present invention. This recording medium 1
A release layer 3 having releasability, an adhesive layer 4 having tackiness, and a transfer layer 5 capable of holding an image forming material such as a normal toner on the surface of a sheet-like substrate 2 made of paper or the like. And
The layers are stacked in this order. The transfer layer 5 is adhered to the substrate 2 and the release layer 3 by the adhesive force of the adhesive layer 4,
The fixing portion 5a, which is firmly adhered and is fixed to the base material 2 or the release layer 3 so as not to be peelable, has a weak adhesive force and is usually held in a laminated state on the base material 2 or the release layer 3. A temporary fixing portion 5b that is easily peeled off when a slight force is applied. The fixed portion 5a exists at one edge of the transfer layer 5, and all other large-area portions are temporary fixed portions 5b.

Next, a method of using the recording medium 1 will be described with reference to FIG. First, as shown in FIG. 2A, a toner 6 which is an image forming material is adhered to the surface of the transfer layer 5 of the recording medium 1 by an electrophotographic recording device (not shown), as shown in FIG. Then, the toner 6 is fixed and fixed by the heat fixing device (not shown) in a state of being in close contact with the surface of the transfer layer 5. Thus, an image is formed. In this specification, an image is a general term including characters, figures, patterns, and the like, regardless of the meaning.

Thereafter, when the recording becomes unnecessary, the toner 6 adhered to the recording medium 1 is removed, the image is erased, and the recording medium 1 is reproduced so as to be reusable. That is, FIG.
As shown in (2), the temporary fixing portion 5b of the transfer layer 5 in the form of a thin film is peeled off from the base material 2 and the release layer 3 by hand. Then, as shown in FIG.
b is deformed so as to be wrinkled by rubbing. As a result, the toner 6 hardened along the surface of the transfer layer 5 cannot follow the bending deformation of the temporarily fixed portion 5b and peels off from the surface of the transfer layer 5 (shown by a two-dot chain line). When the toner 6 on the surface of the transfer layer 5 is completely removed and the image is erased, the temporary fixing portion 5b of the thin film-like transfer layer 5 is flattened out, and as shown in FIG. Due to the adhesive force, the state is again formed on the base material 2 and the release layer 3. Thus, the recording medium 1 is in the same state as when it is not used with no toner 6 attached, and image recording can be performed again.

Since the fixed portion 5a of the transfer layer 5 remains fixed on the adhesive layer 4 during the above-mentioned reproducing step, the temporarily fixed portion 5b can be easily returned to the same laminated state as before use. it can. Further, since the fixed portion 5a is located at a slight edge of the transfer layer 5, it is unlikely that the toner 6 adheres to the fixed portion 5a. It does not become.

Since this reproducing process can be repeated any number of times, the recording medium 1 can be reused many times by repeating image recording and reproducing.

Next, the material of each part of the recording medium 1 will be described.

The base material 2 is a medium or high-quality plain paper, or a paper in which one or both sides of these papers are coated with a surface coating for filling, so-called coated paper, art paper, etc. Is also good. Further, a plastic film may be used as the base material 2 and may be made of a conventionally known plastic. For example, an acetate film, a cellulose triacetate film, a nylon film, a polyester film, a polycarbonate film, a polystyrene film, a polyphenylene sulfide film, a polypropylene film, a polyimide film, cellophane and the like can be used. In consideration of these mechanical, electrical, physical, chemical properties, processability, and the like, a polyester film, particularly, a biaxially stretched polyethylene terephthalate film is preferable.

In the case of the substrate 2 made of paper, the basis weight is 30 g /
m ² or more, more preferably 45 g / m ² or more.
If the paper weight is less than 30 g / m ² , there is a possibility that conveyance in the recording apparatus becomes difficult even if the applied resin film is thickened. on the other hand,
The basis weight is preferably 200 g / m ² or less, more preferably 150 g / m ² or less. If it exceeds 200 g / m ² , the stiffness of the base paper is too high, so that the conveyance tends to be difficult again.

The release layer 3 may be formed using a commonly used known release agent, for example, a silicone release agent or a fluorine release agent. In particular, a silicone release agent is preferably used. The amount of the release agent applied is 0.1 to 3 g / m ² as a release agent solid content,
Preferably it is 0.5-1.5 g / m < ² >.

The adhesive layer 4 may be formed using a known adhesive, and can be formed from an acrylic adhesive, a rubber adhesive, a silicone adhesive, or the like. In particular, an acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesive with a small amount of protrusion of the pressure-sensitive adhesive is preferably used. There is no particular limitation on the method of applying the adhesive, and a solution of the adhesive is usually applied in a dip method, a spray coat method, a blade coat method, a gravure coat method, a kiss coat method, a curtain coat method, an air knife coat method, a reverse roll coat method, or the like. The coating can be performed by using a known coating method used. The coating amount of the adhesive, 0.1 to 20 g / m ² as weight of solids of the adhesive, more preferably from 0.5 to 5 g / m ^2. If the tackiness is too strong, the temporary fixing portion 5b may be broken at the time of peeling. If the tackiness is weak, the temporary fixing portion 5b is constantly peeled off even in a normal state where no force is applied to peel the temporary fixing portion 5b. Could be done.

However, in order to adhere firmly so as not to peel off the fixed portion 5a, the above-mentioned adhesive may be applied to this portion in an increased amount. Or fixed part 5
a may be bonded using a conventionally known strong adhesive. For example, an emulsion-based adhesive such as an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer or polyvinyl acetate, a water-soluble adhesive such as a carboxyl group-containing polyester, and an organic solvent-based adhesive such as a polyurethane-based or acrylic-based adhesive are used.

The transfer layer 5 is desirably one that receives a toner image by an electrophotographic recording apparatus and at least removes the toner when it is peeled off. In particular,
Special nylon such as modified nylon and copolymer nylon,
Water-soluble synthetic polymers such as polyvinyl alcohol, acrylamide, polyvinylpyrrolidone, aqueous vinyl urethane, aqueous acrylic polymer, alpha olefin / maleic acid polymer, polystyrene sulfonic acid, starch, polysaccharides, glue, casein, etc. Such as polymer polyester, polycarbonate, polystyrene, polyphenylene sulfide, polypropylene, etc.
Polyimide, cellophane, etc. can play a sufficient role.

The thickness of the transfer layer 5 is 5 μm to 50 μm, more preferably 10 μm to 40 μm. If the thickness is too small, the toner 6 cannot be fixed to the transfer layer 5, and if the thickness is too large, the toner 6 is firmly fixed, and even if the temporary fixing portion 5b is peeled, the toner 6 hardly peels from the surface.

Further, if necessary, a cationic or nonionic antistatic agent can be added to the transfer layer 5 to improve electrophotographic transferability. The amount of antistatic agent is 108 to 1013 Ω as a target surface specific resistance value.
/ □ should be adjusted. Further, an inorganic white pigment such as silica powder may be mixed to ensure paper transportability. In order to make the removal of the toner 6 easier,
Less than 7% by weight of a known release agent may be mixed. If the amount is too small, the fixability is not maintained, so that the amount is suitably less than 7% by weight.

Further, a backing layer (not shown) may be provided in order to make the paper passing more secure and suppress the curl. In this case, the backing layer is most preferably formed using the same resin as the transfer layer 5.

Next, the electrophotographic toner 6 which is an image forming material suitable for use in the present invention will be described. The toner 6 may be a general toner, and a binder resin mainly composed of a resin such as a styrene-acryl copolymer, a styrene-butadiene copolymer, an epoxy, or a polyester used for color recording, carbon black,
Electrophotographic toners containing dyes and pigments such as yellow, cyan, and magenta can also be used.

[0033]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, more specific embodiments of the present invention will be described. However, the present invention is not limited to these.

Example 1 A coated paper having a basis weight of 104.7 g / m ² was used as a base material 1, and 100 parts by weight of a silicone resin, SD4585 (trade name) manufactured by Toray Dow Corning Silicone, was 3% by weight. The toluene solution mixed only
After being applied to the substrate 1 by a bar coater so as to have a thickness of 1 μm in a dry state, this was dried in an oven at 120 ° C. for 2 minutes to form a release layer 3. However, it was not applied to the area within 5 mm from the end in the paper passing direction.

Next, an acrylic adhesive, Olivine (trade name) manufactured by Toyo Ink Manufacturing Co., Ltd. was applied and dried to form an adhesive layer 4 having a thickness of 1 μm.

Finally, Kuraray's polyvinyl alcohol, Kuraray Poval PVA110 (trade name) was added to water 5
, 2.5 parts of an antistatic agent and 4 parts of a silicone antifoaming agent, and the mixture was dried in an oven at 110 ° C. to form a transfer layer 5 having a thickness of 30 μm. As described above, the portion where the silicone resin is applied as the release layer 3 is the temporary fixing portion 5b, and the portion having a width of 5 mm at the end where the silicone resin is not applied is the fixing portion 5a.

When an image was recorded on the recording medium thus formed using a Canon electrophotographic apparatus CLC700 (trade name), a clear image was formed. Thereafter, when the temporary fixing portion 5b of the transfer layer 5 is peeled off, the toner 6 is easily removed,
When the temporarily fixed portion 5b was returned onto the substrate 1, the recording medium 1 on which no image was recorded could be reproduced.

Example 2 A recording medium 1 having a configuration different from that of Example 1 only in the release layer 3 and the adhesive layer 4 was prepared. The release layer 3 is a BY24-900 (trade name) manufactured by Toray Dow Corning Silicone, which is a silicone resin.
The adhesive layer 4 is made of a silicone adhesive, SD4560PSA manufactured by Toray Dow Corning Silicone.
(Trade name). Otherwise, the configuration was the same as that of the first embodiment. Then, when the same processing as in Example 1 was performed and evaluated, it was found that the toner 6 could be easily removed, and that the toner 6 could be reproduced and used many times.

Example 3 A recording medium 1 having a configuration different from that of Example 1 only in the transfer layer 5 was prepared. The transfer layer 5 was formed using Torelina (trade name) manufactured by Toray, which is a polypropylene film. Otherwise, the configuration was the same as that of the first embodiment.

An image is formed on the recording medium thus formed by a copier FC230 (trade name) manufactured by Canon Inc., and then the temporary fixing portion 5b of the transfer layer 5 is peeled off. When 5b was returned onto the substrate 1, the recording medium 1 on which no image was recorded could be reproduced.

Comparative Example 1 A recording medium 1 having a configuration in which the adhesive layer 4 was removed from the recording medium of Example 1 was produced. The toner 6 was attached to and removed from the recording medium 1 in the same manner as in Example 1. Although the toner 6 was removed, the transfer layer 5 was completely peeled off, so that the transfer layer was crumpled and had a very poor surface property to be used again.

Comparative Example 2 A recording medium 1 having a configuration different from the recording medium of Example 1 only in the thickness of the transfer layer 5 was prepared.
This recording medium 1 in which the thickness of the transfer layer 5 was 200 μm
Then, toner 6 was attached and removed in the same manner as in Example 1. The toner 6 did not peel off well, and the result remained in some places.

Comparative Example 3 A recording medium 1 having a configuration different from the recording medium of Example 1 only in the thickness of the transfer layer 5 was prepared.
The toner 6 was attached to and removed from the recording medium 1 with the transfer layer 5 having a thickness of 1 μm in the same manner as in Example 1. When the transfer layer was peeled off, the transfer layer was broken and could not be used again.

[0044]

As described above, the recording medium of the present invention can be reproduced without using any chemicals such as a solvent and by easily removing the toner. The recording medium has no wasteful members and can be used repeatedly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view and a sectional view of a recording medium of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a reproducing step of the recording medium of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Recording medium 2 Base material 3 Release layer 4 Adhesive layer 5 Transfer layer 5a Fixed part 5b Temporarily fixed part 6 Toner (image forming material)

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2H111 CA12 CA23 CA25 CA30 4F100 AK21 AK25 AK52 AR00B AR00C AR00D AT00A BA02 BA03 BA04 BA07 BA10A BA10B GB90 JD20B JL00 JL11C JL14B JL14D

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A sheet-like base material, and a thin film transfer laminated on the base material, a part of which is fixed to the base material, and the other part is freely peelable from the base material. Recording medium having a layer. 2. The recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the fixed portion of the transfer layer to the base material is one edge of the transfer layer. 3. The recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the transfer layer is capable of holding an image forming material, and is capable of removing the image forming material by being bent and deformed. 4. The transfer layer is laminated on the base material via an adhesive layer, and a part of the adhesive layer (a fixing part of the transfer layer) has a stronger adhesive force than other parts. The recording medium according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 5. The recording medium according to claim 4, wherein said adhesive layer is laminated on said base material via a release layer, and is not used partially. 6. The recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the paper is fed from a fixed portion of the transfer layer.