JP2003114493A - Method for cutting heat-developable photosensitive material - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for cutting a heat-developable photosensitive material, in which a film peeling does not take place at the edges of a section when a continuously running long heat-developable photosensitive material is cut every prescribed length by working a die set comprising upper and lower blades. SOLUTION: The method for cutting a heat-developable photosensitive material is a sheet cutting method in which a continuously running long photosensitive material is cut every prescribed length by working a die set comprising upper and lower blades to continuously produce sheetlike photosensitive materials, and it is characterized in that the sheetlike photosensitive materials are heat-developable photosensitive materials not strengthened by an undercoat layer and having an imaging layer prepared using an organic solvent and cutting is carried out under such a temperature condition that the surface temperature of at least one of the upper and lower blades and/or the imaging layer is between a temperature below the Tg (glass transition temperature) of the imaging layer and a temperature of (the Tg) -30 deg.C or below.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet cutting method for cutting a belt-shaped photothermographic material to produce a sheet photothermographic material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, sheet-shaped light-sensitive materials such as color films, light-sensitive materials for medical use, and light-sensitive materials for printing plate making are triacetate cellulose (TAC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene naphthalate (PE).
N) or the like, the photosensitive layer coating solution and the protective layer coating solution are applied on a wide and long support, dried and wound, and then cut into a specified width to be wound into a shaft and rolled into a roll. It is made by cutting it to the required length.

In recent years, it has been strongly desired to reduce the amount of processing waste liquid from the viewpoint of environmental protection and space saving. Especially, in the medical field,
The waste liquid associated with the wet processing of the medical light-sensitive material is a problem in terms of workability. As a countermeasure against these problems, a photothermographic material has been developed which forms a photographic image by using a photothermographic method which does not generate a processing waste liquid.

In such a photothermographic material, a reducible silver source (eg organic silver salt), a catalytically active amount of photocatalyst (eg silver halide), and a reducing agent are dispersed in a usual (organic) binder matrix. It is contained in the state. The photothermographic material is stable at room temperature, but when heated to a high temperature after exposure, it produces silver through a redox reaction between a reducible silver source (which functions as an oxidizing agent) and the reducing agent. This redox reaction is promoted by the catalytic action of the latent image generated by exposure. The silver produced by the reaction of the organic silver salt in the exposed areas provides a black image, which contrasts with the unexposed areas and forms an image.

The photothermographic material is an image forming layer (photosensitive layer) in which an organic silver salt, a silver halide and a reducing agent are dispersed in an organic binder matrix on a support made of a strip of plastic as described above. The coating liquid constituting the above is coated and dried, wound on a shaft, cut into a required width, and then cut into a required length to manufacture a sheet-shaped product.

Usually, in order to obtain a sheet-shaped photosensitive material by cutting these long roll-shaped photosensitive materials, an upper blade and a lower blade are made while the long rolled photosensitive material is moved intermittently or continuously while running. Are assembled into a die set, and the die set is operated like a punch die to perform cutting to a predetermined length.

When the photothermographic material having the image forming layer (photosensitive layer) coated on the support (plastic film) is cut by such a cutting method, the image forming layer (photosensitive layer) is peeled off at the cut surface. (Hereinafter referred to as "film peeling") occurs.

When the coating film peeled off from the end of the cut surface adheres to the surface of the photothermographic material as described above, the image is not formed due to exposure loss during exposure, and the coating device brought in by the processing device is not provided. Since the film adheres to the transfer system and causes an accident such as a transfer trouble, a cutting method that does not cause film peeling has been developed.

When the cutting method is the pushing method, film peeling during cutting is likely to occur at the end of the cut surface. Not only for photothermographic materials, but for cutting weakly adhered laminates, there is no clearance with rotary type slitters with upper and lower blades in contact, such as curved shear cuts, so deformation of materials can be suppressed. It is possible to prevent film peeling at the end of the cut surface, and when cutting with a certain clearance between the upper blade and the lower blade, make the blade angle of the upper blade and the lower blade acute to prevent film peeling. It is known to be suppressed.

For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-233863 discloses a method of making a cutting edge sharp as a cutting method for suppressing material deformation during cutting. In particular, when the blade angle of the upper blade is set to about 30 °, the deformation of the material is extremely small, and it is said that good cutting results can be obtained with very little peeling of the image forming layer (photosensitive layer). However, the sharpness lowers the strength of the cutting edge, and when high-speed mass production is attempted, high costs such as polishing and replacement of the blade and maintenance time are required.

When a sheet-shaped photothermographic material is obtained by cutting from a roll-shaped photothermographic material which is thick and has not been strengthened with a subbing layer, it is easy to control the cutting blade.
It is desired to develop a cutting method that does not cause peeling of the photosensitive layer at the cutting opening during cutting.

By the way, Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-90512 and the like are known as a cutting method for cutting a stretched crystal film or the like, and it is disclosed that the film is heated to a Tg temperature or higher during cutting.

Therefore, the present inventor tried to apply the heat cutting method to the photothermographic material, and first, the T of the image forming layer was used.
Cutting was performed by heating the cutting blade and / or the image forming layer to a temperature of g or higher. This attempt has succeeded in preventing film peeling in the case of a photothermographic material in which an image forming layer (photosensitive layer) is provided on a support made of a plastic film with an undercoat layer interposed.

However, although the formation of the undercoat layer contributes to the strengthening of the film, the heat-developable photosensitive material having the image forming layer on the support without interposing the undercoat layer has a lower manufacturing cost. Desired in.

Therefore, the inventor of the present invention heats the cutting blade and / or the image forming layer above the Tg temperature of the image forming layer in the photothermographic material provided with the image forming layer without interposing such an undercoat layer. Then, the cutting was attempted, but it was not sufficient to prevent film peeling. In particular, it has been found that film peeling cannot be prevented in the case of a photothermographic material having an image forming layer prepared by using an organic solvent.

[0016]

As described above, according to the method of heating the image forming layer at a temperature higher than the Tg temperature and cutting the film, the problem of film peeling is achieved by strengthening the film with the conventional undercoat layer. In the photothermographic material, film peeling, which would cause a failure, did not occur, but the film thickness is large (for example, an image forming layer of 3 to 40 μm), the undercoat layer is not reinforced, and an organic solvent is used. In a photothermographic material having an adjusted image forming layer, film peeling easily occurs from the edge of the cut surface, and the coating film of the image forming layer (photosensitive layer) at the edge often becomes slightly floating. did.

The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and cuts a continuously running long photothermographic material at a predetermined length by operating a die set of an upper blade and a lower blade. At the time of providing a method for cutting a photothermographic material in which film peeling does not occur at the end of the cut surface of the photothermographic material, an image forming layer adjusted using an organic solvent is provided, and an undercoat layer is formed. An object of the present invention is to provide a method for cutting a photothermographic material, which prevents film peeling of the photothermographic material provided with an image forming layer without intervening.

[0018]

The above objects of the present invention have been achieved by the following constitutions. 1. In a sheet cutting method for continuously producing a sheet-shaped photosensitive material by continuously operating a long photosensitive material to cut a predetermined length by operating a die set of an upper blade and a lower blade, the sheet-shaped photosensitive material The material is a photothermographic material which is not film-reinforced with an undercoat layer and has an image forming layer prepared by using an organic solvent, wherein at least one of the upper blade and the lower blade and / or A method for cutting a photothermographic material, wherein the surface temperature of the image forming layer is cut under a temperature condition within a range from a Tg temperature of the image forming layer to a Tg temperature of −30 ° C. or less.

2. 2. The method for cutting a photothermographic material as described in 1 above, wherein the photothermographic material is preheated to a temperature within a range from a Tg temperature of the image forming layer to a Tg temperature of −30 ° C. or less before cutting. .

3. The preheating is performed by (1) heat transfer by a conveying roller that conveys the photothermographic material, (2) convective heat by hot air to the photothermographic material, and (3) and / or radiant heat from a heating source for the photothermographic material. 3. The method for cutting a photothermographic material as described in 2 above, wherein

As a result of earnest studies to achieve the above object, the present inventor has found that when the upper blade and the lower blade die sets are actuated to simultaneously cut into a predetermined length, the photothermographic material is cut by the cutting blade. The material is subjected to compressive shearing force and tensile force to proceed with cutting, and at this time, the photothermographic material is deformed by the compressive shearing force of the cutting blade.
Therefore, it has been found that peeling occurs between the support having different deformation amounts and the image forming layer (photosensitive layer), and so-called film peeling occurs.

The present inventor is effective in preventing film peeling by bringing the amount of deformation of the support and the amount of deformation of the image forming layer (photosensitive layer) due to the compressive shearing force and the tensile force for the photothermographic material during cutting close to each other. This has led to the present invention. In particular, the present inventor has found that the cutting temperature has specificity when the image forming layer is prepared by using an organic solvent.

[0023]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing the structure of the sheet cutting apparatus of the present invention. The sheet cutting apparatus according to the present invention includes a feeding unit 1 for a roll-shaped photothermographic material 2, an adjusting unit 3 for adjusting tension and slack of the photothermographic material, a cutting unit 4, a stacking unit 5, a heating roller 6, and a heating unit. It has a blower 7. The roll-shaped photothermographic material feeding section 1 is slitted to a required width and provided with a feeding shaft 101 for mounting two roll-shaped photothermographic materials 2 wound around the shaft. And a drive roller 1 for pulling out the roll-shaped photothermographic material 2 set on the mounting shaft 102 of
03 and a joining portion 104 for joining the old and new roll-shaped photothermographic materials when switching between the roll-shaped photothermographic materials. Reference numeral 201 denotes a belt-shaped photothermographic material drawn by the driving roller 103.

The adjusting unit 3 has a dancer roller 301 composed of a plurality of rollers Ra, and the dancer roller 301 adjusts the tension and slack of the film. Further, the dancer roller 301 is a roll-shaped photothermographic material 2
It is also used as an absorption stock means for the film feed amount during the joining operation at the joining portion 104 for joining the leading end and the trailing end of the rolled photosensitive material at the time of switching. As described above, the dancer roller 301 is used as an accumulator, but the accumulator is not limited to the dancer roller but may be a simple accumulator box (not shown).

The cutting section 4 has a base 41 and a die set 42 mounted on the base 41. The belt-shaped photothermographic material 201 sent from the adjusting unit 3 is the die set 42.
Of the sheet-shaped photothermographic material 202 having a predetermined length by the operation of the upper blade and the lower blade every time a predetermined length is conveyed.
To be disconnected. The die set 42 will be described with reference to FIG.

The stacking unit 5 includes a switching transport belt 501 and a transport belt 503 which also serve as a switching belt, and a stacking device 504.
have. The sheet-shaped photothermographic material 202 cut by the cutting section 4 is collected by the conveying belt 503 in the accumulating device 504.
Will be collected. When the first stacking unit 504a becomes full, the switching conveyance belt 501 operates to stack the sheets on the second stacking unit 504b, and both stacking units are appropriately used in alternation.

The heating roller 6 is heated to a temperature within the range of less than the Tg temperature of the image forming layer to the Tg temperature of -30 ° C. or less, and is cut at the cutting portion 4 in the band-shaped photothermographic material 201.
It has the function of preheating (preheating by heat transfer). Depending on the type of the belt-shaped photothermographic material 201, it can be used as an ordinary carrying roller without heating.

The heating blower 7 has a function of blowing hot air having a temperature within the range of less than the Tg temperature of the image forming layer to the Tg temperature of -30 ° C. or less, and preheating the strip-shaped photothermographic material 201 if necessary. Has (preheating by convection heat). The heating roller 6 and the heating blower 7 are controlled by control means not shown in the figure. Preheating may be performed by radiant heat from a heating source such as a heater, or two or more of heat transfer, convective heat, and radiant heat may be combined.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged schematic view of the die set. 2A is an enlarged schematic sectional view of the die set 42 of FIG. 2B is a schematic plan view of the die set 42 shown in FIG. 2B shows the arrangement of the cutting blades, the upper block of the die set 42 is omitted.

The die set 42 is a die set 42a having a pair of upper and lower blades for cutting straight portions and corners at a time.
And two die sets 42b and 42c (not shown) having upper blades and lower blades that cut the corners roundly. By separately disposing two die sets each having an upper blade and a lower blade for cutting a corner portion into a round shape, it becomes easy to deal with a change in cutting length.

Reference numeral 421 denotes an upper blade attached to the die set 42a for cutting the straight line portion and the corner portion roundly at a time.
Reference numeral 2 denotes a lower blade paired with the upper blade 421. Reference numeral 423 denotes an upper blade that cuts a corner portion attached to the die set 42b into a round shape, and 424 denotes a lower blade paired with the upper blade 423. 42
Reference numeral 5 denotes an upper blade that cuts round corners attached to the die set 42c (not shown), and 426 denotes a lower blade paired with the upper blade 425.

Two sets of die sets 42b and 42c (not shown) having an upper blade and a lower blade for cutting the corners roundly are arranged at positions for cutting the corners of both corners.

Upper blade 4 for cutting straight and corner portions round at once
In the die set 42a having the lower blade 21 and the lower blade 422, the lower blade 422 is set on the lower block fixed lower block 42a2, and the upper blade 421 is set on the upper block 42a1 which is capable of reciprocating up and down. The lower block 42a2 is guided by the guide post 42a3 to move up and down so that the upper blade 421 and the lower blade 422 engage with each other and cut.

An upper blade 423 and a lower blade 42 for cutting a corner portion into a circle
The die set 42b having 4 is the lower block 4 with the lower blade fixed.
The lower blade 424 is set to 2b2, and the upper blade 423 is set to the upper block 42b1 that allows reciprocating motion on the upper and lower sides. Upper blade 423
The lower blade 424 and the lower blade 424 mesh with each other so that cutting is performed.

An upper blade 425 and a lower blade 42 for cutting a corner into round
A die set 42c (not shown) having 6 has an upper block 42c1 (not shown) in which a lower blade 426 is set on a lower block 42c2 fixed to the lower blade to enable reciprocating motion on the upper and lower sides.
The upper blade 425 is set to the upper block 42c1, and the upper block 42c1 and the lower block 42c2 are guided by the guide post 42c3 to move up and down to engage and cut the upper blade 425 and the lower blade 426.

This die set 42 includes lower blocks 42a.
Each upper block 42a1, 42b1, 42c1 in which 2, 42b2, 42c2 are fixed to the base part 41 and an upper blade is set
When the roll-shaped photothermographic material 2 having a predetermined length is cut by the vertical movement of the roll-shaped photothermographic material 2, the transport of the roll-shaped photothermographic material 2 is stopped and the feed of the roll-shaped photothermographic material 2 during that time is absorbed by the dancer roller 301. It is also possible to perform intermittent cutting in which the upper blocks 42a1 and 42a are cut.
b1, 42c1 and the respective lower blocks 42a2, 42b2,
By using not only the vertical movement of 42c2 but also the reciprocating movement of the roll-shaped photothermographic material 2 in the conveying direction, it is possible to cut the roll-shaped photothermographic material 2 while continuously conveying it at a constant speed. .

When cutting, the upper blades 421, 423, which come into contact with the image forming layer (photosensitive layer) side of the belt-shaped photothermographic material 201,
One of the lower blade 425 and the lower blade 422, 424, 426 is heated to a temperature lower than the Tg temperature of the image forming layer to a Tg temperature of −30 ° C. or lower.

A pressing plate 43 may be provided adjacent to the upper blade on the upper block to hold the film against the lower blade during cutting. Adjacent to the lower blade, the lower block may be provided with a holding table (not shown) for keeping the film horizontal during cutting.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a state in which the photothermographic material is cut by the upper and lower blades of the present invention. FIG. 3A shows a state in which the photothermographic material is cut by the upper blade and the lower blade that cuts the straight portion and the corner portion at a time into a circle, the upper blade and the lower blade that cut the corner portion into a circle, and the temperature of each lower blade. It is a schematic diagram showing control. FIG. 3B is a schematic front view of the upper blade 421 and the lower blade 422 that cut the straight portion and the corner portion into a circle at a time.

In the figure, Y indicates a portion where the corners of the upper blade 421 are rounded (hereinafter referred to as a corner round portion), and Z indicates a straight line portion continuous with the corner round portion Y. The lower blade 422 also has a corner portion and a straight portion corresponding to the upper blade 421. Actuating a die set 42a having an upper blade 421 and a lower blade 422 of the present invention, an upper blade 423, a die set 42b having a lower blade 424, an upper blade 425, and a die set 42c (not shown) having a lower blade 426. Let band-shaped photothermographic material 2
By cutting 01, it is possible to obtain the sheet-shaped photothermographic material 202 with rounded corners.

Reference numeral 8a denotes a rubber heater for heating the lower blade 422, 8b denotes a rubber heater for heating the lower blade 426, and 8c denotes a rubber heater for heating the lower blade 424.
Although the rubber heater is arranged on the lower blade in this figure, it may be arranged on the upper blade or both the upper and lower blades.

In this figure, a rubber heater is provided on each lower blade to heat each lower blade, but the kind of heater is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a cartridge heater. The means for disposing the heater on the upper blade and the lower blade is not particularly limited as long as it does not interfere with cutting, and in the case of a rubber heater, for example, it may be disposed in a groove provided on the surface of the blade, or a cartridge heater. In the case of, the hole may be opened in the length direction of the blade and the cartridge heater may be embedded.

The temperature of the upper blade and the lower blade heated by each rubber heater is lower than the Tg temperature of the image forming layer to Tg temperature-30.
When the temperature is within the range of ℃ or less and Tg temperature is less than −30 ° C., the heat of the cutting edge surface may not be transferred to the support depending on the layer structure of the photothermographic material, and film peeling may occur.
If the Tg temperature is exceeded, fogging may occur in the photothermographic material targeted by the present invention.

Reference numeral 9a indicates a temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the lower blade 422, and reference numeral 9b indicates a temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the lower blade 426.
The lower blade 424 also has a temperature detecting means 9c (not shown) which is not shown in the figure.

10 is based on the information from each temperature detecting means.
The control means which controls the amount of electric power supplied to each rubber heater is shown. The temperature of each lower blade is compared with a signal from a memory in which the temperature of the lower blade is stored in advance by inputting information from the temperature detecting means arranged in each lower blade to the CPU of the control means,
It is possible to control the amount of electric power supplied to each heater via the PU. With this method, it is possible to prevent film peeling from the end of the cut surface during cutting.

Θ₁, Θ_TwoIs the sheer angle attached to the bottom
Show. By setting the shear angle in this way,
Cutting resistance to the blade is reduced and cutting becomes easier. Sheer angle
θ₁, Θ _TwoIs preferably 0.2 to 5 °, more preferably
It is 0.4 to 4 °. If it is less than 0.2 °, it may be cut.
As a result, the resistance at the time of cutting may increase, resulting in defective cutting.
Yes, if it exceeds 5 °, the amount of biting into the lower blade increases,
The blade movement may increase and productivity may decrease, which is preferable.
Not good.

Although the method of controlling the temperature of the lower blade is shown in this figure, it is possible to control the temperature of the upper blade by the same method.

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged schematic sectional view taken along the line AA 'in FIG. Since the heater is arranged in common for the upper blade and the lower blade, the upper blade 4 which cuts the straight line portion and the corner portion roundly at one time
21 and the lower blade 422 will be described as representatives.

In the figure, 421a indicates a mining surface of the upper blade 421, and 421b indicates an anti-mining surface. 422a is a lower blade 422
And 422b is an anti-mine surface. θ ₃ indicates the blade angle of the upper blade, and θ ₄ indicates the blade angle of the lower blade. X
Indicates the distance between the blade edges of the upper blade and the lower blade (hereinafter referred to as clearance). The clearance X is preferably in the range of 0 to 1/5 with respect to the thickness of the band-shaped photothermographic material to be cut.

Reference numeral 201a denotes a support for the belt-shaped photothermographic material 201, and 201b denotes an image forming layer (photosensitive layer).
The blade edge angle θ _{3 of} the upper blade and the blade edge angle θ ₄ of the lower blade are 30 to 1
10 ° is desirable. The optimum angle can be selected depending on the type of the band-shaped photothermographic material. In the case of this figure,
Upper blade edge angle θ ₃ 90 °, Lower blade edge angle θ ₄ 110
The case of ° is shown.

The rubber heater 8a is arranged in a groove provided on the anti-mine surface 422b so as not to be exposed on the surface of the anti-mine surface 422b. The other rubber heaters 8b and 8c are also arranged on each lower blade in the same manner. The same applies when a rubber heater is provided on each upper blade.

The photothermographic material 201 is fed into the die set 42, and the photothermographic material 201 is heated by coming into contact with the heated lower blade 422, and the amount of deformation of the support during cutting is the image forming layer (photosensitive layer). By approaching the deformation amount of, it is possible to suppress film peeling from the end of the cut surface.

In order to heat the photothermographic material more efficiently, the heating roller 6 or the heating blower 7 before cutting is used together to further suppress the peeling of the image forming layer (photosensitive layer) from the support. Is possible. In this case, the temperature of the heating roller 6 or the heating blower 7 is also lower than the Tg temperature of the image forming layer to the same as the temperature of the lower blade and the upper blade to the Tg temperature of -30 ° C or less. If the Tg temperature is lower than −30 ° C., heat may not be transferred to the support and film peeling may occur depending on the layer structure of the photothermographic material. Fog may occur in the photosensitive material.

The upper blade and the lower blade of the present invention extend the life of the blade, and therefore, they are disclosed in JP-A-2000-117681 and JP-A-10-3.
No. 6966, No. 8-325707, No. 5-96065.
Nitriding treatment described in No. 5 and No. 337899,
It may be treated by ceramic coating or the like.

Details of the photothermographic material are described in, for example, US Pat. Nos. 3,152,904, 3,457,075, and D.I. "Dry Silver Photograph" by Morgan
Hic Material) ”and D.I. Morgan
gan) and B. "Thermal Systems Treated by Heat (Thermally Pr)
processed silver systems ”(Imaging Processes and Ma)
terials) Nablette 8th Edition, Sturge, V.I. Wallworth
th), A. Edited by Shepp, page 2, 1
969) and the like.

[Organic Silver Salt] The organic silver salt used in the image forming layer in the invention is a reducible silver source, and a silver salt of an organic acid or a heteroorganic acid containing a reducible silver ion source, particularly a long silver salt. Aliphatic carboxylic acids and nitrogen-containing heterocycles of the chain (10 to 30, preferably 15 to 25 carbon atoms) are preferred. Also useful are organic or inorganic silver salt complexes in which the ligand has a total stability constant for silver ions of 4.0 to 10.0. An example of a suitable silver salt is Research Discl.
No. 17029 and 29963, and include: salts of organic acids (eg gallic acid,
Oxalic acid, behenic acid, stearic acid, palmitic acid, lauric acid, and other salts); silver carboxyalkyl thiourea salts (for example, 1- (3-carboxypropyl) thiourea,
1- (3-carboxypropyl) -3,3-dimethylthiourea); a silver complex of a polymer reaction product of an aldehyde and a hydroxy-substituted aromatic carboxylic acid (for example, aldehydes (formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, butyraldehyde, etc.), Hydroxy-substituted acids (eg salicylic acid, benzoic acid, 3,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid, 5,
5-thiodisalicylic acid), silver salts or complexes of thioenes (for example, 3- (2-carboxyethyl) -4-hydroxymethyl-4- (thiazoline-2-thioene, and 3
-Carboxymethyl-4-thiazoline-2-thioene), imidazole, pyrazole, urazole, 1,
Complexes or salts of silver with a nitric acid selected from 2,4-thiazole and 1H-tetrazole, 3-amino-5-benzylthio-1,2,4-triazole and benzotriazole; saccharin, 5-chlorosalicylaldoxime Silver salts such as; and silver salts of mercaptides. The preferred silver source is silver behenate. The organic silver salt preferably has a silver amount of 3
It is contained at g / m ² or less. More preferably 2 g / m ²
It is the following.

The organic silver salt compound can be obtained by mixing a water-soluble silver compound and a compound that forms a complex with silver. The forward mixing method, the reverse mixing method, the simultaneous mixing method, and JP-A-9-12764.
The controlled double jet method described in No. 3 is preferably used.

[Silver Halide] The silver halide grains used in the image forming layer according to the invention are added so as to function as an optical sensor. In order to suppress the white turbidity after image formation to a low level and to obtain good image quality, it is preferable that the average particle size is small, and the average particle size is 0.1 μm.
Below, it is more preferably 0.01 μm to 0.1 μm, and particularly preferably 0.03 μm to 0.08 μm. The term "grain size" as used herein means the length of the edges of silver halide grains when the silver halide grains are cubic or octahedral so-called normal crystals. If the crystals are not normal crystals, for example, spherical,
In the case of rod-shaped or tabular grains, it means the diameter when considering a sphere equivalent to the volume of silver halide grains. Also,
The silver halide is preferably monodisperse. The monodispersion as used herein means that the monodispersity calculated by the following formula is 40% or less. It is more preferably 30% or less, and particularly preferably 0.1% or more and 20% or less. Monodispersity (%) = (standard deviation of particle size) / (average value of particle size) ×
100 In the present invention, it is more preferable that the silver halide grains have an average grain size of 0.1 μm or less and that they are monodisperse grains, and if they are in this range, the image graininess is also improved.

The shape of the silver halide grains is not particularly limited, but it is preferable that the ratio of Miller index [100] faces is high, and this ratio is 50% or more, and further 7%.
It is preferably 0% or more, and particularly preferably 80% or more. The ratio of Miller index [100] planes is measured by the T.M. Tani, J .; Imaging Sci. , 29,
165 (1985).

Another preferred form of silver halide is tabular grain. The tabular grain here means the square root of the projected area with a grain size of rμm and the vertical thickness of hμ.
Aspect ratio = r / h when m is 3 or more. Among them, the aspect ratio is preferably 3 or more and 50
It is the following. The particle size is preferably 0.1 μm or less, more preferably 0.01 μm to 0.08 μm. These are US Pat. Nos. 5,264,337, 5,
No. 314,798, No. 5,320,958, etc., and the target tabular grain can be easily obtained. When using these tabular grains in the present invention,
Further, the sharpness of the image is also improved.

The halogen composition is not particularly limited and may be any of silver chloride, silver chlorobromide, silver chloroiodobromide, silver bromide, silver iodobromide and silver iodide. The photographic emulsion used in the present invention is described in P. Chimie et by Glafkides
Physique Photographique (P
aul Montel, 1967), G.A. F. D
by Uffin Photographic Emuls
ion Chemistry (The Focal P
Press, 1966), V.I. L. Zelikman
Et al. Making and Coating
Photographic Emulsion (Th
e Focal Press, 1964) and the like. That is, any of the acidic method, the neutral method, the ammonia method, etc. may be used, and as the formation of reacting the soluble silver salt and the soluble halogen salt,
Any of a one-sided mixing method, a simultaneous mixing method, a combination thereof and the like may be used. The silver halide may be added to the imaging layer in any manner, with the silver halide being placed in close proximity to the reducible silver source. The silver halide may be prepared by converting a part or all of silver in the organic acid silver into silver halide by the reaction of the organic acid silver and a halogen ion, or the silver halide may be prepared in advance. It may be added to the solution for preparing the organic silver salt, or a combination of these methods is possible, but the latter is preferable. Generally, it is preferable to contain the silver halide in an amount of 0.75 to 30% by weight based on the organic silver salt.

The silver halide used in the present invention preferably contains an ion or a complex ion of a metal belonging to Groups 6 to 10 of the Periodic Table of the Elements. Examples of the above metals include W, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Ru, Rh, and P.
d, Re, Os, Ir, Pt and Au are preferable, and among them, Rh, Re and R are used when used as a photosensitive material for printing plate making.
It is preferably selected from u, Ir and Os.

These metals can be introduced into the silver halide in the form of a complex. In the present invention, the transition metal complex is preferably a hexacoordinated complex represented by the following general formula.

In the general formula [ML ₆ ] ^m , M is a transition metal selected from the elements of Groups 6 to 10 of the periodic table, L is a bridging ligand, and m is 0, -1, -2 or-.
Represents 3. Specific examples of the ligand represented by L include halides (fluorides, chlorides, bromides and iodides), cyanides, cyanates, thiocyanates, selenocyanates, tellurocyanates, azides and aco. Examples include ligands, nitrosyl, thionitrosyl, and the like, with preference given to ako, nitrosyl, thionitrosyl, and the like. When an aco ligand is present, it preferably occupies one or two of the ligands. L may be the same or different.

Particularly preferred specific examples of M are rhodium (Rh), ruthenium (Ru), rhenium (Re) and osmium (Os).

Specific examples of the transition metal coordination complex are shown below. 1: [RhCl ₆ ] ³ -2: [RuCl ₆ ] ³ -3: [ReCl ₆ ] ³ -4: [RuBr ₆ ] ³ -5: [OsCl ₆ ] ³ -6: [CrCl ₆ ] ⁴ -7: [Ru (NO) Cl _5] ^2- 8: [RuBr ₄ (H ₂ O)] ^2- 9: _{[Ru (NO) (H 2 O} ) Cl 4 ] ^- 10: [RhCl ₅ (H ₂ O)] ^2- 11: [Re (NO) Cl _5] ^2- 12: [Re (NO) CN _5] ^2- 13: [Re (NO) ClCN _4] ^2- 14: [Rh (NO) ₂ Cl _4] ^- 15: _{[Rh (NO) (H 2 O} ) Cl 4 ] ^- 16: [Ru (NO) CN _5] ^2- 17: [Fe (CN) _6] ^3- 18: [Rh (NS) Cl _5] ^{2 -} 19: [Os (NO) Cl _5] ^2- 20: [Cr (NO) Cl _5] ^2- 21: [Re (NO) Cl _5] ^- 22: _{[Os (NS) Cl 4 (TeCN} ) ] ^{2 -} 23: [Ru (NS) C _5] ^2- 24: _{[Re (NS) Cl 4 (SeCN} ) ] ^2- 25: [Os (NS) Cl (SCN) 4 ] ^2- 26: [Ir (NO) Cl _5] ^2-

One kind of these metal ions or complex ions may be used, or two or more kinds of the same kind of metal and different kinds of metal may be used in combination. The content of these metal ions or complex ions is generally 1 × 10 ⁻⁹ to 1 × 10 ⁻² mol, and preferably 1 × 10 ⁻⁸ to 1 per mol of silver halide. It is × 10 ^-4 mol. A compound providing an ion or a complex ion of these metals is preferably added at the time of silver halide grain formation and incorporated into the silver halide grain. Preparation of the silver halide grain, that is, nucleation, growth and physical ripening. , It may be added at any stage before and after the chemical sensitization, but it is particularly preferable to add it at the stage of nucleation, growth and physical ripening, more preferably at the stage of nucleation and growth. It is preferably added at the stage of nucleation. When the silver halide is added, it may be divided and added several times, or it may be uniformly contained in the silver halide grains.
No. 306236, No. 3-167545, No. 4-765
No. 34, No. 6-110146, No. 5-273683, etc., it is also possible to allow the particles to have a distribution. Preferably, it can have a distribution inside the particles. These metal compounds can be dissolved in water or a suitable organic solvent (eg, alcohols, ethers, glycols, ketones, esters, amides) and added. A method in which an aqueous solution or an aqueous solution in which a metal compound and NaCl, KCl are dissolved together is added to a water-soluble silver salt solution or a water-soluble halide solution during grain formation, or a silver salt solution and a halide solution are simultaneously mixed. At this time, the mixture is added as a third aqueous solution to prepare silver halide grains by simultaneous mixing of three liquids, a necessary amount of an aqueous solution of a metal compound is charged into a reaction vessel during grain formation, or silver halide preparation. There is a method in which another silver halide grain which is previously doped with a metal ion or a complex ion is added and dissolved. In particular, a method of adding an aqueous solution of a powder of a metal compound or an aqueous solution in which a metal compound and NaCl or KCl are dissolved together to a water-soluble halide solution is preferable. When added to the surface of the particles, a necessary amount of an aqueous solution of the metal compound may be added to the reaction vessel immediately after the particles are formed, during or during physical ripening, or at the end of chemical ripening.

[Reducing Agent] As the reducing agent contained in the coating liquid for the image forming layer in the invention, there may be mentioned generally known reducing agents such as phenols, polyphenols having two or more phenol groups and naphthol. , Bisnaphthols, polyhydroxybenzenes having two or more hydroxyl groups, polyhydroxynaphthalene having two or more hydroxyl groups, ascorbic acids, 3-pyrazolidones, pyrazolin-5-ones, pyrazolines, phenylenediamine , Hydroxylamines, hydroquinone monoethers, hydrooxamic acids, hydrazides, amidoximes, N-hydroxyureas, and the like. More specifically, for example, US Pat.
No. 3, No. 3,679,426, No. 3,672,904
No. 3,751,252, No. 3,782,949
No. 3,811,321, 3,794,488
No. 3,893,863, No. 3,887,376
Issue No. 3,770,448 Issue 3,819,382
No. 3,773,512, No. 3,839,048
No. 3, No. 3,887,378, No. 4,009,039
No. 4,021,240, British Patent 1,486,1
48 or each of Belgian Patents 786,086 and JP-A Nos. 50-36143 and 50-36110.
No. 50-116023, No. 50-99719,
50-140113, 51-51933, 5
There are reducing agents specifically exemplified in each of 1-23721, 52-84727 and JP-B-51-35851, and the present invention is used by appropriately selecting from such all kinds of reducing agents. You can do it.

Among the above reducing agents, when an aliphatic carboxylic acid silver salt is used as the organic silver salt, preferable reducing agents include polyphenols in which two or more phenol groups are linked by an alkylene group or sulfur, In particular, an alkyl group (eg, methyl group, ethyl group, propyl group, t-butyl group, cyclohexyl group, etc.) or acyl group (eg, acetyl group, propionyl group, etc.) at at least one position adjacent to the hydroxy-substituted position of the phenol group. Polyphenols in which two or more of the phenol groups substituted by are linked by an alkylene group or sulfur, for example, 1,1-bis (2
-Hydroxy-3,5-dimethylphenyl) -3,5,
5-trimethylhexane, 1,1-bis (2-hydroxy-3-t-butyl-5-methylphenyl) methane,
1,1-bis (2-hydroxy-3,5-di-t-butylphenyl) methane, 2-hydroxy-3-t-butyl-5-methylphenyl)-(2-hydroxy-5-methylphenyl) methane , 6,6'-Benzylidene-bis (2,4-di-t-butylphenol), 6,6'-benzylidene-bis (2-t-butyl-4-methylphenol), 6,6'-benzylidene-bis (2,4-dimethylphenol), 1,1-bis (2-hydroxy-)
3,5-dimethylphenyl) -2-methylpropane,
1,1,5,5-tetrakis (2-hydroxy-3,5
-Dimethylphenyl) -2,4-ethylpentane, 2,
2-bis (4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethylphenyl) propane, 2,2-bis (4-hydroxy-3,5)
-Di-t-butylphenyl) propane and the like, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,589,903 and 4,021,249 or British Patent 1,486,148, and JP-A-51-51933, No. 50-36110, No. 50-
No. 116023, No. 52-84727 or Japanese Patent Publication No. 51-35727), and bisnaphthols described in US Pat. No. 3,672,904, for example, 2,2′- Dihydroxy-1,1'-binaphthyl, 6,6'-dibromo-
2,2'-dihydroxy-1,1'-binaphthyl, 6,
6'-dinitro-2,2'-dihydroxy-1,1'-
Binaphthyl, bis (2-hydroxy-1-naphthyl) methane, 4,4′-dimethoxy-1,1′-dihydroxy-2,2′-binaphthyl, and the like, and US Pat.
Sulfonamide phenols or sulfonamide naphthols as described in 1,321, for example 4-benzenesulfonamidephenol, 2-benzenesulfonamidephenol, 2,6-dichloro-4.
-Benzenesulfonamidophenol, 4-benzenesulfonamidonaphthol, etc. can be mentioned.

The amount of the reducing agent contained in the coating solution of the present invention varies depending on the type of organic silver salt or reducing agent and other additives, but is generally 0.0 per 1 mol of the organic silver salt.
5 mol to 10 mol, preferably 0.1 mol to 3 mol. Further, within the range of this amount, two or more kinds of the above-mentioned reducing agents may be used in combination. In the present invention, it may be preferable that the reducing agent is added to and mixed with the photosensitive solution (coating solution for the photographic photosensitive layer) immediately before coating, because photographic performance fluctuation due to the stagnation time of the photosensitive solution is small.

[High contrast agent] The photothermographic material of the present invention preferably contains a hydrazine derivative as a high contrast agent. As the hydrazine derivative, a compound represented by the following general formula [H] is preferable.

[0073]

[Chemical 1] In the formula, A ₀ is an aliphatic group which may have a substituent,
An aromatic group, a heterocyclic group or a -G ₀ -D ₀ group, B ₀ represents a blocking group, both A ₁ and A ₂ are hydrogen atoms, or one is a hydrogen atom and the other is an acyl group, a sulfonyl group or oxalyl. Represents a group. Here, G ₀ is a —CO— group, —COCO
- group, -CS- _{group, -C (= NG 1 D 1} ) - group, -SO-
Group, a —SO ₂ — group or a —P (O) (G ₁ D ₁ ) — group, wherein G ₁ is a simple bond, —O— group, —S— group or —N.
(D ₁ )-group, D ₁ represents an aliphatic group, an aromatic group, a heterocyclic group or a hydrogen atom, and when a plurality of D _1's are present in the molecule, they may be the same or different. Good. D ₀ is a hydrogen atom, an aliphatic group, an aromatic group, a heterocyclic group, an amino group,
It represents an alkoxy group, an aryloxy group, an alkylthio group, or an arylthio group.

In the general formula [H], the aliphatic group represented by A ₀ is preferably one having 1 to 30 carbon atoms, and particularly preferably a linear, branched or cyclic alkyl group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms. , For example, methyl group, ethyl group, t-butyl group, octyl group, cyclohexyl group, benzyl group,
These may be further substituted with a suitable substituent (for example, an aryl group, an alkoxy group, an aryloxy group, an alkylthio group, an arylthio group, a sulfoxy group, a sulfonamide group, a sulfamoyl group, an acylamino group, a ureido group, etc.).

In the general formula [H], the aromatic group represented by A ₀ is preferably a monocyclic or condensed ring aryl group, for example, a benzene ring or a naphthalene ring, and a heterocyclic group represented by A _0. The group is preferably a monocycle or a condensed ring, nitrogen, sulfur, a heterocycle containing at least one heteroatom selected from oxygen atoms, for example, a pyrrolidine ring, an imidazole ring, a tetrahydrofuran ring, a morpholine ring, a pyridine ring, a pyrimidine ring, a quinoline ring, a thiazole ring, a benzothiazole ring, a thiophene ring, a furan ring, and, in -G ₀ -D ₀ group represented by A _0, G ₀ is -CO
-Group, -COCO- group, -CS- group, -C (= NG
₁ D ₁ ) -group, —SO— group, —SO ₂ — group or —P (O)
It represents a (G ₁ D ₁ )-group. G ₁ is a mere bond, -O-
Group, -S- group, or -N (D ₁₎ - represents a group, D ₁ represents an aliphatic group, an aromatic group, a heterocyclic group or a hydrogen atom, that when a plural number of D ₁ are present in the molecule, They may be the same or different. D ₀ is a hydrogen atom, an aliphatic group, an aromatic group,
It represents a heterocyclic group, an amino group, an alkoxy group, an aryloxy group, an alkylthio group or an arylthio group, and preferable D ₀ includes a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an alkoxy group, an amino group and the like. Aromatic groups A _0, heterocyclic group or -G ₀ -D ₀ group may have a substituent. Particularly preferred as A ₀ are an aryl group and a -G ₀ -D ₀ group.

Further, in the general formula [H], it is preferable that A ₀ contains at least one diffusion resistant group or silver halide adsorption group. The diffusion resistant group is preferably a ballast group commonly used in immobilizing photographic additives such as couplers, and the ballast group is a photographically inactive alkyl group, alkenyl group, alkynyl group, alkoxy group, phenyl group, Examples thereof include a phenoxy group and an alkylphenoxy group, and the total carbon number of the substituents is preferably 8 or more.

In the general formula [H], the silver halide adsorption promoting group is thiourea, thiourethane group, mercapto group, thioether group, thione group, heterocyclic group, thioamide heterocyclic group, mercapto heterocyclic group, or a special group. Kaisho 64-9
Examples thereof include the adsorption group described in No. 0439.

In the general formula [H], B ₀ represents a blocking group, preferably -G ₀ -D ₀ group, and G ₀ represents-.
CO- group, -COCO- group, -CS- group, -C (= NG
₁ D ₁ ) -group, —SO— group, —SO ₂ — group or —P (O)
It represents a (G ₁ D ₁ )-group. Preferred G ₀ is -CO-
Group, —COCO— group, G ₁ is a mere bond,
-O- group, -S- group, or -N (D ₁₎ - represents a group, D ₁ is an aliphatic group, an aromatic group, a heterocyclic group or a hydrogen atom, there are a plurality of D ₁ in the molecule If so, they may be the same or different. D ₀ represents a hydrogen atom, an aliphatic group, an aromatic group, a heterocyclic group, an amino group, an alkoxy group, an aryloxy group, an alkylthio group or an arylthio group, and preferable D ₀ is a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an alkoxy group, An amino group etc. are mentioned. A ₁ and A ₂ are both hydrogen atoms, or one is a hydrogen atom and the other is an acyl group (acetyl group, trifluoroacetyl group, benzoyl group, etc.), sulfonyl group (methanesulfonyl group, toluenesulfonyl group, etc.), or oxalyl group (Etoxalyl group etc.) is represented.

Next, specific examples of the compound represented by the general formula [H] are shown below, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0080]

[Chemical 2]

[0081]

[Chemical 3]

[0082]

[Chemical 4]

[0083]

[Chemical 5]

[0084]

[Chemical 6]

[0085]

[Chemical 7]

Other hydrazine derivatives which can be preferably used are compounds H-1 to H-29 described in US Pat. No. 5,545,505, column 11 to column 20,
US Pat. No. 5,464,738 column 9 to column 11
The compounds 1 to 12 described in. These hydrazine derivatives can be synthesized by a known method.

The addition layer of the hydrazine derivative is a photosensitive layer containing a silver halide emulsion and / or a layer adjacent to the photosensitive layer. The optimum addition amount is not uniform depending on the grain size of the silver halide grains, the halogen composition, the degree of chemical sensitization, the type of the inhibitor, etc., but it is from 10 ^-6 mol to 1 mol of silver halide.
A range of about 10 ^-1 mol, particularly 10 ^-5 mol to 10 ^-2 mol is preferable.

[Hardening Accelerator] In the photothermographic material of the invention, hydroxylamine compounds, alkanolamine compounds and ammonium phthalate compounds described in US Pat. No. 5,545,505 and US Pat. 545
507, hydroxamic acid compounds, US Pat. No. 5,558,983, N-acyl-hydrazine compounds, US Pat. No. 5,545,515, acrylonitrilo compounds, US Pat. No. 5,937, It is preferable to add a contrast enhancing agent such as benzhydrol described in No. 449, a hydrogen atom donor compound such as diphenylphosphine, dialkylpiperidine, and alkyl-s-ketoester. Among them, a quaternary onium compound represented by the following general formula (P) and an amino compound represented by the general formula [Na] are preferably used.

[0089]

[Chemical 8]

In the formula, Q represents a nitrogen atom or a phosphorus atom, and R
₁ , R ₂ , R ₃ and R ₄ each represent a hydrogen atom or a substituent, and X − represents an anion. In addition, R _{1 to} R ₄ may be connected to each other to form a ring.

[0091]

[Chemical 9] In the general formula [Na], R ₁₁ , R ₁₂ and R ₁₃ are each a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, a substituted alkyl group, an alkenyl group,
It represents a substituted alkenyl group, alkynyl group, aryl group, substituted aryl group, or saturated or unsaturated heterocycle.
R ₁₁ , R ₁₂ and R ₁₃ may form a ring. Particularly preferred are aliphatic tertiary amine compounds. These compounds preferably have a diffusion resistant group or a silver halide adsorption group in the molecule. To have resistance to diffusion, the molecular weight is 10
A compound of 0 or more is preferable, and a molecular weight of 3 is more preferable.
And the same as the non-diffusion group in A ₀ in the general formula [H]. Examples of preferable adsorption groups include heterocycle, mercapto group, thioether group, thione group and thiourea group.

As a more preferable nucleation promoter than the nucleation promoter represented by the general formula [Na], there can be mentioned a compound represented by the following general formula [Na2].

[0093]

[Chemical 10]

In the general formula [Na2], R₁, R₂, R
₃And R_FourAre hydrogen atom, alkyl group, and substituted alkyl, respectively.
Group, alkenyl group, substituted alkenyl group, alkynyl group,
Substituted alkynyl group, aryl group, substituted aryl group or saturated
Represents a sum or unsaturated heterocycle. These are linked to each other
They can be joined to form a ring. Also, R₁And R₂, R ₃
And R_FourAre not hydrogen atoms at the same time. X is S, S
represents an e or Te atom. L₁And L₂Are divalent linking groups
Represents Specifically, the following groups or combinations and
And suitable substituents for them (eg alkylene groups, alkenes
Nylene group, arylene group, acylamino group, sulfone group
Groups having a amide group).

[0095] _{-CH 2 -, - CH = CH} -, - C 2 H
₄ -, _{pyridinediyl, -N (Z 1) - (} Z 1 represents a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group or an aryl group), - O -, - S
-, - (CO) -, - (SO 2) -, - CH 2 N-. The linking group represented by L ₁ or L ₂ preferably contains at least one or more of the following structures in the linking group. - [CH ₂ CH ₂ O] -, - [C (CH ₃₎ HCH ₂ O]
-, - [OC (CH ₃₎ HCH ₂ O] -, - [OCH ₂ C
(OH) HCH ₂ ]-.

Specific examples of the nucleation accelerator represented by the general formula [Na] or [Na2] will be given below.

[0097]

[Chemical 11]

[0098]

[Chemical 12]

[0099]

[Chemical 13]

[0100]

[Chemical 14]

In the general formula (P), the substituent represented by R _{1 to} R ₄ is an alkyl group (methyl group, ethyl group,
Propyl group, butyl group, hexyl group, cyclohexyl group, etc., alkenyl group (allyl group, butenyl group, etc.), alkynyl group (propargyl group, butynyl group, etc.), aryl group (phenyl group, naphthyl group, etc.), heterocyclic group (Piperidinyl group, piperazinyl group, morpholinyl group, pyridyl group, furyl group, thienyl group, tetrahydrofuryl group, tetrahydrothienyl group, sulforanyl group, etc.), amino group and the like.

The ring which R _{1 to} R ₄ may be connected to each other to form, is a piperidine ring, a morpholine ring, a piperazine ring,
Examples thereof include a quinuclidine ring, a pyridine ring, a pyrrole ring, an imidazole ring, a triazole ring, and a tetrazole ring. The groups represented by R _{1 to} R ₄ are a hydroxyl group, an alkoxy group, an aryloxy group, a carboxyl group, a sulfo group,
It may have a substituent such as an alkyl group or an aryl group. R
_{As 1} , R ₂ , R ₃ and R ₄ , a hydrogen atom and an alkyl group are preferable. Examples of the anion represented by X-include inorganic and organic anions such as halogen ion, sulfate ion, nitrate ion, acetate ion, and p-toluenesulfonate ion.

More preferably, the following general formulas (Pa) and (P
b) or a compound represented by (Pc), and a compound represented by the following general formula [T].

[0104]

[Chemical 15]

In the formula, A ₁ , A ₂ , A ₃ , A ₄ and A ₅ represent a non-metal atom group for completing the nitrogen-containing heterocycle, and may contain an oxygen atom, a nitrogen atom or a sulfur atom. The benzene ring may be condensed. A ₁ , A ₂ , A ₃ , A ₄ and A ₅
The heterocycle composed of may have a substituent and may be the same or different. As the substituent, an alkyl group, an aryl group, an aralkyl group, an alkenyl group, an alkynyl group, a halogen atom, an acyl group, an alkoxycarbonyl group, an aryloxycarbonyl group, a sulfo group, a carboxy group, a hydroxyl group, an alkoxy group, an aryloxy group. , Amide group, sulfamoyl group, carbamoyl group, ureido group, amino group, sulfonamide group, sulfonyl group, cyano group, nitro group, mercapto group, alkylthio group and arylthio group. Preferred examples of A ₁ , A ₂ , A ₃ , A ₄ and A ₅ include a 5- or 6-membered ring (pyridine,
Imidazole, thiozole, oxazole, pyrazine,
Each ring such as pyrimidine) can be mentioned, and a more preferable example is a pyridine ring.

Bp represents a divalent linking group, and m is 0 or 1.
Represents Examples of the divalent linking group include an alkylene group, an arylene group, an alkenylene _{group, -SO 2 -, - SO -} , - O
-, - S -, - CO -, - N (R 6) - (R 6 is an alkyl group, an aryl group, a hydrogen atom) represents what is configured alone or in combination. Preferable examples of Bp include an alkylene group and an alkenylene group.

R₁, R₂And R_FiveEach has 1 to 20 carbon atoms
Represents an alkyl group. Also, R₁And R ₂Are the same but different
You may stay. An alkyl group is a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group.
It represents a kill group, and the substituent is A₁, A₂, A₃, A_FourOver
And A_FiveThe substituents are the same as the substituents mentioned above.

Preferred examples of R ₁ , R ₂ and R ₅ are:
Each is an alkyl group having 4 to 10 carbon atoms. More preferable examples include a substituted or unsubstituted aryl-substituted alkyl group.

Xp- represents a counter ion necessary for balancing the charges of the entire molecule, and represents, for example, chlorine ion, bromine ion, iodine ion, nitrate ion, sulfate ion, p-toluenesulfonate, oxalate and the like. n _p represents the number of counter ions required to balance the charge of the whole molecule, and n _p is 0 in the case of an intramolecular salt.

[0110]

[Chemical 16]

Substituents R5 and R on the phenyl group of the triphenyltetrazolium compound represented by the above general formula [T]
It is preferable that R6 and R7 each have a hydrogen atom or have a negative Hammett sigma value (σ _P ) showing an electron withdrawing degree.

The Hammett sigma value of the phenyl group has been reported in many literatures, for example, Journal of Medical Chemistry.
20), page 304, 1977 C.I. As a group having a particularly preferable negative sigma value, which can be found in reports such as C. Hansch, for example, a methyl group (s _P = −0.17 or less is s
_P value), ethyl group (-0.15), cyclopropyl group (-0.21), n-propyl group (-0.13), is
o-propyl group (-0.15), cyclobutyl group (-
0.15), n-butyl group (-0.16), iso-butyl group (-0.20), n-pentyl group (-0.1)
5), cyclohexyl group (-0.22), amino group (-
0.66), acetylamino group (-0.15), hydroxyl group (-0.37), methoxy group (-0.27),
Ethoxy group (-0.24), propoxy group (-0.2
5), butoxy group (-0.32), pentoxy group (-
0.34), etc., all of which are represented by the general formula [T]
And is useful as a substituent of the compound.

N represents 1 or 2, and examples of the anion represented by XTn- include halogen ions such as chloride ion, bromide ion and iodide ion, nitric acid, sulfuric acid,
Acid radicals of inorganic acids such as perchloric acid, acid radicals of organic acids such as sulfonic acid and carboxylic acid, anionic activators, specifically p-
Lower alkylbenzene sulfonate anion such as toluene sulfonate anion, higher alkylbenzene sulfonate anion such as p-dodecylbenzene sulfonate anion, higher alkyl sulfate ester anion such as lauryl sulfate anion, boric acid anion such as tetraphenylboron, di- A dialkyl sulfosuccinate anion such as 2-ethylhexyl sulfosuccinate anion,
Examples thereof include higher fatty acid anions such as cetyl polyethenoxysulfate anion and polymers having an acid radical such as polyacrylic acid anion.

Specific examples of the quaternary onium compound are shown below, but the invention is not limited thereto.

[0115]

[Chemical 17]

[0116]

[Chemical 18]

[0117]

[Chemical 19]

[0118]

[Chemical 20]

[0119]

[Chemical 21]

[0120]

[Chemical formula 22]

[0121]

[Chemical formula 23]

[0122]

[Chemical formula 24]

[0123]

[Chemical 25]

[0124]

[Chemical formula 26]

The above-mentioned quaternary onium compound can be easily synthesized according to a known method. For example, the above-mentioned tetrazolium compound can be synthesized by Chemical Reviews 55 p. Three
The method described in 35-483 can be referred to.

The addition amount of these quaternary onium compounds is about 1 × 10 ^-8 to 1 mol, preferably 1 × 10 ^-7 to 1 × 10 ^-1 mol per mol of silver halide. These can be added to the image forming layer of the light-sensitive material at any time from the formation of silver halide grains to the coating.

The quaternary onium compound and amino compound are
They may be used alone or in combination of two or more kinds as appropriate.
Further, it may be added to any layer among the constituent layers of the light-sensitive material, but it is preferably added to at least one of the constituent layers on the side having the light-sensitive layer, and further to the light-sensitive layer and / or its adjacent layer.

[Binder] The binder suitable for the photothermographic material of the invention is transparent or translucent and generally colorless, and includes natural polymer synthetic resins, polymers and copolymers,
Other film-forming media such as: gelatin, gum arabic, poly (vinyl alcohol), hydroxyethyl cellulose, cellulose acetate, cellulose acetate butyrate, poly (vinylpyrrolidone), casein, starch, poly (acrylic acid), poly (methyl) Methacrylic acid), poly (vinyl chloride), poly (methacrylic acid), copoly (styrene-maleic anhydride), copoly (styrene-acrylonitrile), copoly (styrene-
Butadiene), poly (vinyl acetal) s (for example,
Poly (vinyl formal) and poly (vinyl butyral)), poly (ester) s, poly (urethane) s, phenoxy resin, poly (vinylidene chloride), poly (epoxides), poly (carbonates), poly (vinyl acetate) ), Cellulose esters, and poly (amides). It may be hydrophilic or hydrophobic, but in the present invention, it is preferable to use a hydrophobic transparent binder in order to reduce fog after heat development. Preferable binders include polyvinyl butyral, cellulose acetate, cellulose acetate butyrate, polyester, polycarbonate, polyacrylic acid, polyurethane and the like. Among them, polyvinyl butyral,
Cellulose acetate and cellulose acetate butyrate are particularly preferably used. Further, a hydrophobic binder and a hydrophilic binder may be used in combination.

In the present invention, the binder amount in the photosensitive layer is preferably 1.5 to 10 g / m ² in order to accelerate the rate of heat development. More preferably 1.7-8 g /
m ² . If it is less than 1.5 g / m ² , the density of the unexposed area may increase significantly and it may not be usable.

[Mat Agent] In the present invention, it is preferable to include a mat agent on the photosensitive layer side, and in order to prevent the image from being scratched after heat development, a mat agent is provided on the surface of the photosensitive material. It is preferable that the matting agent is contained in an amount of 0.5 to 30% by weight based on all binders on the photosensitive layer side. Further, when a non-photosensitive layer is provided on the side opposite to the photosensitive layer with a support sandwiched therein, it is preferable to include a matting agent in at least one layer on the non-photosensitive layer side in order to prevent slippage of the photosensitive material and to prevent fingerprints from adhering. Also, it is preferable to dispose a matting agent on the surface of the light-sensitive material, and the matting agent is used in a weight ratio of 0.5 to 4 with respect to all binders in the layer on the side opposite to the light-sensitive layer side.
It is preferable to contain 0%. The shape of the matting agent may be either a fixed shape or an amorphous shape, but a fixed shape is preferable, and a spherical shape is preferably used.

[Protective Layer] A non-photosensitive layer may be provided outside the photosensitive layer for the purpose of protecting the surface of the photosensitive material and preventing scratches. The binder used in these non-photosensitive layers may be the same or different from the binder used in the photosensitive layers. Usually, a polymer having a softening point higher than that of the binder polymer constituting the photothermographic layer is used in order to prevent scratches and phase deformation, and cellulose acetate and cellulose acetate butyrate serve this purpose.

[Other Layers] The photothermographic material of the invention has at least one photosensitive layer on a support. Although only the photosensitive layer may be formed on the support, it is preferable to form at least one non-photosensitive layer on the photosensitive layer.
In order to control the amount of light passing through the photosensitive layer or the wavelength distribution, a filter dye layer may be formed on the same side as the photosensitive layer and / or an antihalation dye layer, a so-called backing layer may be formed on the opposite side. A dye or pigment may be included.

These non-photosensitive layers preferably contain the above-mentioned binder and matting agent, and may further contain a polysiloxane compound, a sliding agent such as wax and liquid paraffin.

In the photothermographic material of the present invention, various surfactants are used as coating aids. Among them, the fluorine-based surfactant is preferably used in order to improve the charging property and prevent the spot-like coating failure.

The photosensitive layer may be composed of a plurality of layers, and the sensitivity may be a high sensitivity layer / low sensitivity layer or a low sensitivity layer / high sensitivity layer for adjusting gradation.

[Toning Agent] Examples of suitable toning agents for use in the present invention are disclosed in RD17029.

[Inhibitor] In the photothermographic material of the invention, mercapto is used for suppressing or accelerating the development to control the development, for improving the spectral sensitization efficiency, and for improving the preservability before and after the development. Compound, disulfide compound,
A thione compound etc. can be contained.

[Antifoggant] An antifoggant may be contained in the photothermographic material of the present invention.

The above-mentioned various additives may be added to any of the light-sensitive layer, the non-light-sensitive layer, and other constituent layers. For the photothermographic material of the present invention, various surfactants, antioxidants, stabilizers, plasticizers, ultraviolet absorbers, coating aids and the like may be used. These additives and the above-mentioned other additives are RD17029 (June 1978, p. 9 to 15).
The compounds described in 1. can be preferably used.

The image forming layer in the photothermographic material of the present invention is composed of one or more photosensitive layers. The solvent used in the preparation of the image forming layer is an organic solvent and is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,555,470 and 4,5.
36,466, 4,536,467, 4,58
7,206, 4,555,476, 4,59
A high boiling point organic solvent such as those described in JP-B No. 9,296, JP-B No. 3-62256 and the like may be used, if necessary, at a boiling point of 50 ° C. to 160 ° C.
It can be used in combination with an organic solvent having a low boiling point of ° C.
Further, two or more kinds of these couplers, high boiling point organic solvents and the like can be used in combination. The amount of the high boiling point organic solvent is 10 g or less, preferably 5 g, per 1 g of the hydrophobic additive used.
The following is more preferably 1 g to 0.1 g. Also, 1 ml or less for 1 g of binder, further 0.5 ml
Below, 0.3 ml or less is particularly suitable.

Suitable supports usable in the present invention are preferably polyolefins such as polyethylene and polypropylene, polycarbonates, cellulose acetate, polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene naphthalate, synthetic plastic films such as polyvinyl chloride. Moreover, syndiotactic structure polystyrenes are also preferable. These can be obtained by polymerizing by the methods described in JP-A Nos. 62-117708, 1-46912 and 1-178505.

Further, the support that can be used in the light-sensitive material of the present invention is a paper support such as photographic base paper, printing paper, baryta paper, and resin-coated paper, and a support provided with a reflection layer on the above plastic film. The thing described as a support body in 62-253195 (pages 29-31) is mentioned. RD. No. 17643, page 28, ibid. 1
8716, page 647, right column to page 648, left column, and ibid.
Those described on page 879 of 307105 can also be preferably used. Further, syndioctatic structure polystyrenes are also preferable. These are disclosed in JP-A-62-117708,
It can be obtained by polymerization according to the method described in JP-A-1-46912 and JP-A-1-178505. These supports include US Pat. No. 4,141,735.
It is possible to use a material that is less prone to curling by performing heat treatment at Tg or less as shown in No. The surface of these supports may be surface-treated for the purpose of improving the adhesion between the support and the emulsion undercoat layer.

In the present invention, glow discharge treatment, ultraviolet irradiation treatment, corona treatment and flame treatment can be used as the surface treatment. Further, Known Technology No. 5 (March 2, 1991)
It is also possible to use the support described on pages 44 to 149 of Aztec Co., Ltd. 2nd day). A transparent support such as polyethylene dinaphthalene dicarboxylate or a support having a transparent magnetic material coated thereon can be used.

The support which can be used in the photothermographic material according to the present invention is, for example, RD-1764 described above.
3 page 28 and RD-308119 page 1009 and the Product Licensing Index, Vol. 92, 108.
Examples thereof include those described in the section “Supports” of page. Of these, it is necessary to use a support that can withstand the heat development processing temperature.

[0145]

EXAMPLES The effects of the present invention will be shown below by way of example, but of course this example is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

Example 1 << Preparation of Photothermographic Material Sample >> According to the method described below,
A photothermographic material was prepared. (Production of Support) Corona of 8 W / m ² · min on both surfaces of a polyethylene terephthalate film (PET) having a thickness of 175 μm and colored in blue at a concentration of 0.160 (measured value by a Konica Densitometer PDA-65). A discharge treatment was applied.

(Preparation of Photosensitive Emulsion) [Preparation of Photosensitive Silver Halide Emulsion] In 900 ml of water, 7.5 g of ossein gelatin having an average molecular weight of 100,000 and 10 mg of potassium bromide were dissolved at a temperature of 35 ° C. and pH. After adjusting to 3.0, 370 ml of an aqueous solution containing 74 g of silver nitrate,
(98/2) molar ratio of potassium bromide and potassium iodide to equimolar amount of the above silver nitrate and 370 ml of an aqueous solution containing 1 × 10 ⁻⁴ mol of iridium chloride per 1 mol of silver, pA
It was added over 10 minutes by the controlled double jet method while maintaining the g of 7.7. Then 4-hydroxy-
6-methyl-1,3,3a, 7-tetrazaindene 0.
Add 3 g, adjust pH to 5 with NaOH, average particle size 0.05 μm, coefficient of variation of particle size 12%,
Cubic silver iodobromide grains having a [100] plane ratio of 87% were obtained.
This emulsion was coagulated and precipitated using a gelatin coagulant, and after desalting, 0.1 g of phenoxyethanol was added to pH 5.
9, pAg 7.5 was adjusted to obtain a photosensitive silver halide emulsion.

[Preparation of powdered organic silver salt] In 4720 ml of pure water, 111.4 g of behenic acid and 83.8 of arachidic acid were added.
g, and 54.9 g of stearic acid were dissolved at 80 ° C. Next, while stirring at high speed, 540.2 ml of a 1.5 mol / L sodium hydroxide aqueous solution was added, and 6.9 ml of concentrated nitric acid was added.
Was added and then cooled to 55 ° C. to obtain an organic acid sodium salt solution. While the temperature of the organic acid sodium salt solution was maintained at 55 ° C., the above photosensitive silver halide emulsion corresponding to 0.038 mol of silver and 450 ml of pure water were added and stirred for 5 minutes. Next, 760.6 ml of a 1 mol / L silver nitrate solution was added over 2 minutes, the mixture was stirred for 20 minutes, and then water-soluble salts were removed by filtration. After that, the electric conductivity of the filtrate is 2 μS
Washing with deionized water and filtration were repeated until it became / cm, and after centrifugal dehydration, it was dried under a heated nitrogen stream until there was no decrease in mass, and a powdered organic silver salt was obtained.

[Preparation of Photosensitive Emulsion Dispersion] Polyvinyl butyral powder (Butvar B manufactured by Monsanto)
-79) 14.57 g of methyl ethyl ketone (hereinafter, M
EK (abbreviated as EK) was dissolved in 1457 g, and 500 g of powdered organic silver salt was gradually added with thorough stirring with a dissolver type homogenizer and mixed sufficiently. After that Z of 1mm diameter
A photosensitive emulsion dispersion was prepared by dispersing with a media type disperser (manufactured by gettzmann) filled with 80% r beads (manufactured by Toray) at a peripheral speed of 13 m and a residence time in the mill of 0.5 minutes.

(Preparation of Coating Solution) [Preparation of Coating Solution Em-1 for Upper Layer of Photosensitive Layer] Using 500 g of the above-prepared photosensitive emulsion dispersion, 100 g of MEK was added to this under stirring in a nitrogen stream and the temperature was raised to 24 ° C. After maintaining the temperature, sodium thiosulfate as a chemical sensitizer was added at 8 × 10 ⁻⁴ mol per mol of silver, and chemical ripening was performed for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, 2.50 ml of a 10% methanol solution of bis (dimethylacetamide) dibromobromate was added and stirred for 1 hour, and 10% of calcium bromide was added.
After adding 4 ml of a methanol solution, the mixture was stirred for 15 minutes.
Next, the dye stabilizer-1 and potassium acetate are in a mass ratio of 1:
1.8 ml of a mixed solution of 5 (20% by mass methanol solution of dye stabilizer-1) was added and stirred for 15 minutes. Next, 7 ml of a mixed solution of infrared sensitizing dye-1 and dye stabilizer-2 (mixing mass ratio 1: 250, 0.1% by mass of MEK solution as a sensitizing dye) was added and stirred for 1 hour. The temperature is 13 ℃
The temperature was lowered to and stirred for 30 minutes. While keeping this at 13 ° C., 48 g of polyvinyl butyral was added and sufficiently dissolved, and then the following additives were added to prepare coating solution Em-1 for photosensitive layer upper layer. The above operations were all performed under a nitrogen stream.

[0151]   Desmodu N3300 (made by Mobay, aliphatic isocyanate)                                                           1.10g   Antifoggant (2- (tribromomethylsulfonyl) -pyridine)                                                           1.55g   1,1-bis (2-hydroxy-3,5-dimethylphenyl) -2-     Methyl propane 15g   Tetrachlorophthalic acid 0.5g   4-methylphthalic acid 0.5g   Dye-1 The amount at which the absorption maximum at the photosensitive layer becomes 0.9.

[0152]

[Chemical 27]

[Preparation of Coating Solution Em-2 for Lower Layer of Photosensitive Layer] In preparation of the coating solution Em-1 for upper layer of the photosensitive layer, except that 0.44 g of the maximum concentration improver-1 was newly added, A photosensitive layer upper layer coating liquid Em-2 was prepared.

[Preparation of Coating Solution for Surface Protective Layer] MEK 86
Cellulose acetate butyrate (manufactured by Eastman Chemical Co., CAB17
1-15), polymethylmethacrylic acid (Rohm & Haas, Paraloid A-21) 4.5 g, vinyl sulfone compound HD-1 (* 1) 1.5 g, benzotriazole 1.0 g, 1.0 g of F type activator (Surflon KH40 manufactured by Asahi Glass Co., Ltd.) was added and dissolved. Next, 30 g of the following matting agent dispersion liquid was added and 15 g of phthalazine was added with stirring to prepare a surface protective layer coating liquid.

(* 1) HD-1: 1,3- {bis (vinylsulfonyl)}-2-hydroxypropane

<Preparation of Matting Agent Dispersion> Cellulose acetate butyrate (Eastman Chemical)
Manufactured by CAB171-15) 7.5 g of MEK42.5
g of calcium carbonate (Specia)
Light Minerals, Super-Pfl
ex200) (5 g) was added, and the mixture was dispersed with a dissolver type homogenizer at 8000 rpm for 30 minutes to prepare a matting agent dispersion liquid.

[Preparation of Back Surface Coating Liquid] MEK830 g
Cellulose acetate butyrate (E
ASTMAN CHEMICAL CO., CAB381-2
0) 84.2 g and 4.5 g of polyester resin (VitelPE2200B manufactured by Bostic) were added and dissolved. Dye-1 was added to the dissolved liquid so that the maximum absorption of the dye in the coating sample on the back surface was 0.35, and the fluorine-based activator (manufactured by Asahi Glass Co., Ltd.) dissolved in 43.2 g of methanol was added. Surflon KH40) 4.5
g and 2.3 g of a fluorine-based activator (Megafag F120K manufactured by Dainippon Ink and Chemicals, Inc.) were added, and the mixture was sufficiently stirred until it was dissolved. Finally, silica dispersed in MEK at a concentration of 1% by mass with a dissolver type homogenizer (W.
R. Grace, Syloid 64X6000) 75
It was prepared by adding g and stirring.

(Coating on Back Surface Side and Photosensitive Layer Surface Side of Sample) The back surface coating solution prepared as described above was applied to give a dry film thickness of 3.5.
It is applied to the prepared support by an extrusion coater so that the thickness becomes μm, and the drying temperature is 100 ° C. and the dew point temperature is 10 ° C.
It was dried for 5 minutes using the drying air of.

Thereafter, the photosensitive layer lower layer, the photosensitive layer upper layer and the surface protective layer were simultaneously extruded from the support side using the prepared photosensitive layer coating solutions and surface protective layer coating solutions, respectively, using an extrusion coater. A photothermographic material was prepared by coating. The coating was 0.5 g / m ^{2 in} the lower photosensitive layer, the coating silver amount was 0.6 g / m ^{2 in} the upper photosensitive layer, and the dry film thickness was 1.45 in the surface protective layer.
It went so that it might become a μm. Then, using a drying air having a drying temperature of 75 ° C. and a dew point temperature of 10 ° C., it was dried for 5 minutes to prepare a photothermographic material sample.

The Tg of the lower layer of the photosensitive layer constituting the image forming layer is 60 ° C., and the Tg of the upper layer of the photosensitive layer is 60 ° C. still,
The PET as a support has a Tg of 70 ° C, and the surface protective layer has a Tg of 160 ° C.

Samples 101 to 106 were produced by cutting the produced photothermographic material under the cutting conditions shown in Table 1 by operating the upper blade and lower blade die sets of the present invention shown in FIG. The amount of film peeling on the cut surface of each of the obtained samples 101 to 106 was measured, and the results are shown in Table 1. The measurement was performed by cutting 20 sheets each with the photosensitive layer surface as the lower blade side, and randomly extracting 5 sheets of each, and using a factory microscope (magnification 40
The film peeling amount of the photosensitive layer on the cut surface was measured and expressed as an average value.

At the time of cutting, the overlapping amount of the upper and lower blades (the center of the tool) was 0.5 mm, and the shear angles θ ₁ and θ ₂ of the upper blades were 1.
The descending speed of the upper blade was 6 ° and 60 m / min. The upper and lower blades used had a blade angle of 90 °.

[0163]

[Table 1]

Although the sample 106 did not show film peeling, it could not be used as a product because heat fogging occurred at a portion in contact with the cutting blade.

Example 2 Sample 201 was prepared by cutting the photothermographic material prepared in Example 1 under the cutting conditions shown in Table 2 by operating the upper and lower blade die sets of the present invention shown in FIG. ~ 212 were produced. The amount of film peeling on the cut surface of each of the obtained samples 201 to 212 was measured, and the results are shown in Table 2. The measurement was performed by the same method as in Example 1.

At the time of cutting, the amount of overlap between the upper blade and the lower blade (the center of the tool) was 0.5 mm, and the shear angles θ ₁ and θ ₂ of the upper blade were 1.
The descending speed of the upper blade was 6 ° and 60 m / min. The upper and lower blades used had a blade angle of 90 °.

The upper and lower blades used were subjected to a surface hardening treatment by an ion nitriding treatment, and then the die technique No. 16
Volume No. 1 (January 2001) P70 to 74, a hard coating was applied by the diamond-like coating (DLC), and used.

[0168]

[Table 2]

It was confirmed that the combined use of preheating by the conveying roller is effective in further suppressing the film peeling. It should be noted that in Samples 206 and 212, film peeling was not observed, but heat fogging occurred in both samples and they could not be used as products.

Example 3 Medical Film Dry Pro SD-P manufactured by Konica Corporation
Sample 301 was cut by operating the upper blade and lower blade die sets of the present invention shown in FIG. 2 under the cutting conditions shown in Table 3.
~ 311 were produced. The amount of film peeling on the cut surfaces of the obtained samples 301 to 311 was measured, and the results are shown in Table 3. The measurement was performed by the same method as in Example 1.

At the time of cutting, the amount of overlap between the upper blade and the lower blade (the center of the tool) was 0.5 mm, and the shear angles θ ₁ and θ ₂ of the upper blade were 1.
The descending speed of the upper blade was 6 ° and 60 m / min. The upper and lower blades used had a blade angle of 90 °.

[0172]

[Table 3]

It was confirmed that the combined use of preheating with a heating blower is effective in further suppressing film peeling. It should be noted that although samples 306 and 311 did not show film peeling, they could not be used as products due to thermal fogging.

[0174]

According to the present invention, a photothermographic material having an image forming layer which is not film-reinforced by an undercoat layer and which is adjusted with an organic solvent is used. Since the surface temperature of at least one blade and / or the image forming layer is cut under a temperature condition within a range from the Tg temperature of the image forming layer to the Tg temperature of −30 ° C. or less, a cut surface of the photothermographic material. It is possible to provide a cutting method in which film peeling does not occur at the edge of the, the quality of the cut surface is stable, and mass production is possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing the configuration of a photothermographic material cutting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged schematic view of a die set.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a state when the photothermographic material is cut by the upper blade and the lower blade of the present invention.

4 is a partially enlarged schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line AA ′ in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Feeding section 2 Roll-shaped photothermographic material 201 Belt-shaped photothermographic material 201a Support 201b Photosensitive layer 202 Sheet-shaped photothermographic material 4 Cutting section 41 Base sections 42, 42a, 42b, 42c Die sets 421, 423, 425 Upper blades 422, 424, 426 Lower blade 6 Heating roller 7 Heating blowers 8a, 8b, 8c Rubber heaters 9a, 9b, 9c Temperature detection means 10 Control means θ ₁ , θ ₂ Shear angle X Clearance

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ───

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] July 16, 2002 (2002.7.1)
6)

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be amended] Title of invention

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

Title: Method for cutting photothermographic material

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Takeshi Kaneko             Konica Stock, 1 Sakura-cho, Hino City, Tokyo             In the company F-term (reference) 2H123 AB00 AB03 AB23 AB25 BA00                       BA14 BB00 BB39 CB00 CB03

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A sheet cutting method for continuously producing a sheet-shaped photosensitive material by cutting a continuously running long photosensitive material at predetermined lengths by operating a die set of an upper blade and a lower blade. The sheet-shaped photosensitive material is a photothermographic material which is not film-reinforced with an undercoat layer and has an image forming layer prepared by using an organic solvent, and at least one of the upper blade and the lower blade. Cutting of the photothermographic material, characterized in that the blade and / or the surface temperature of the image forming layer is cut under a temperature condition within a range from a Tg temperature of the image forming layer to a Tg temperature of −30 ° C. or less. Method. 2. A heat-developable light-sensitive material according to claim 1, wherein the heat-developable light-sensitive material is preheated to a temperature within a range from a Tg temperature of the image forming layer to a Tg temperature of −30 ° C. or lower before cutting. Method of cutting photosensitive material. 3. Preheating includes: (1) heat transfer by a conveying roller that conveys the photothermographic material, (2) convection heat by hot air to the photothermographic material, (3) and / or heating to the photothermographic material. The method for cutting a photothermographic material according to claim 2, wherein the method is performed by radiant heat from a source.