JP2003182254A - Thermal transfer recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow information on a bar code pattern, etc., to be clearly recorded on a label sheet and a tag sheet, having various properties, with proper transferability without surface delamination in an arbitrary printing direction, and enhance fretting resistance of a transferred image, by using a thermal transfer recording medium having a hot melt ink layer. <P>SOLUTION: This thermal transfer recording medium is constituted by sequentially laminating a primer layer 2, the hot melt ink layer 3 and an overcoat layer 4 on a base 1; and a gloss value, based on JIS-Z8741, of a surface of the overcoat layer 4 is set at 60% or more. In addition, the primer layer 2 is composed of wax and a thermoplastic resin incompatible with the wax. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention can record information such as a bar code pattern on various label papers and tag papers in any printing direction with good transferability. The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording medium capable of forming a recorded image having no peeling and excellent scratch resistance.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Printers using a thermal transfer recording system are widely used in label printers, word processors, etc. in recent years because they have advantages such as compact size, easy maintenance and low noise. It is like this. In such a thermal transfer recording system, a thermal melting type thermal transfer recording medium in which a thermally fusible ink layer is provided on a substrate is widely used. When an image is recorded using such a thermal transfer recording medium, at the time of recording, the thermally fusible ink layer of this recording medium is superposed on a transfer target such as recording paper, and a thermal head or the like is transferred from the substrate side of the thermal transfer recording medium. The heating means selectively heats the heat-meltable ink layer according to the image information to melt the heat-meltable ink layer, and the melted portion is transferred to the transfer target.

By the way, in recent years, the printing speed of the printer has been remarkably improved. Therefore, such a heat-melting type thermal transfer recording medium can be applied to a high-speed printer and the quality of the obtained image can be improved. Further improvement is required. Specifically, with respect to a thermal transfer recording medium, it has excellent transferability to various transferred materials having different surface smoothness with relatively low recording energy according to the speeding up of the printer, that is, void (white spot). ) Is required, and moreover, it is possible to perform accurate recording in accordance with intended image information, and further, it is required that the recorded image has high scratch resistance.

Based on such requirements, a release layer (primer layer) containing a wax as a main component, which melts into a low-viscosity liquid when heated, and a low-viscosity liquid when heated. An ink layer (thermofusible ink layer) containing a thermoplastic resin exhibiting tackiness without being formed, and an adhesion layer containing a thermosoftening resin as a main component, which does not melt when heated and exhibits tackiness ( A thermal transfer recording medium in which overcoat layers are sequentially laminated has been proposed (JP-A-63-296984).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-27992). According to these publications, in the thermal transfer recording medium, the peeling layer melts at a relatively low printing energy and peels off at the interface with the substrate, so that the thermofusible ink layer at the time of thermal transfer is imparted with favorable cutting properties. In addition, the adhesion layer has a low smoothness to the transferred material and a high smoothness to the transferred material.
It is designed to obtain a recorded image with excellent transferability.

[0005]

By the way, when a bar code is recorded using a label printer using the above-mentioned thermal transfer recording medium, the speed of the printer is increased as described above for the thermal transfer recording medium. It enables to print on various label papers with different surface smoothness with relatively low printing energy with excellent transferability, and also to accurately record the black bar of the bar code within a predetermined width and length. In addition, it is required to enhance scratch resistance of the recorded barcode pattern.

However, the contact layer of the above-mentioned thermal transfer recording medium is softened but not melted by the amount of heat applied by the thermal head of an ordinary label printer. Therefore, when the transfer target has a smooth surface such as an OHP sheet made of polyester or synthetic paper made of polypropylene, the transfer can be performed with a certain degree of tackiness due to the softening of the adhesive layer. Is a commonly used glossy paper for bar code printing (coating amount 50 g / m ² ), coated paper (coating amount 10 to 25 g / m ² ).
m ² ), light-weight coated paper (coating amount 5 to 10 g / m ² ), etc., the surface was not smooth, but there was a problem that it was still difficult to sufficiently suppress the occurrence of voids.

Apart from this problem, in the thermal transfer recording medium in which the primer layer, the heat-meltable ink layer and the overcoat layer are provided on the substrate as described above, in addition to the original portion to be recorded, There is a problem of sheet-like peeling (so-called tailing) in which the portion is transferred in a foil shape by dropping from the thermal transfer ink layer. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, when a barcode is recorded on the coated paper 31, each bar 32 of the obtained barcode has a tailing portion 32b in addition to the original bar 32a.

Such surface peeling generally occurs as follows. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the overcoat layer 44 of the thermal transfer recording medium 45 in which the base material 41, the primer layer 42, the heat-fusible ink layer 43, and the overcoat layer 44 are sequentially laminated is coated with a coated paper or the like. The transfer body 40 is superposed so as to be in contact with the transfer body 40, and is heated by the thermal head 46 of the printer from the side of the substrate 41, and the thermal transfer recording medium 45 and the transferred body 40 are transferred.
While moving the and in the direction of the arrow with respect to the thermal head 46, a part 42a of the primer layer and the heat-meltable ink layer 4
When a part 43a of No. 3 and a part 44a of the overcoat layer 44 are transferred (FIG. 4A), considerable residual heat remains in the thermal head 46 even after the heat application signal to the thermal head 46 is cut off. Therefore, heat is also transmitted to the portions 42b, 43b and 44b of those layers which are located in the rear of the moving direction of the thermal transfer recording medium 45 and should not be transferred, and in particular, the excessively heated primer layer portion 42b is semi-melted. Alternatively, it becomes a molten state (FIG. 4 (b)). The primer layer portion 42b in the semi-molten or molten state is the base material 41.
The adhesive strength to is weak. Therefore, when the thermal transfer recording medium 45 is peeled from the transfer target 40, the primer layer portion 42a that should not be transferred and the primer layer portion 42b that should not be transferred are peeled from the base material 41, and the peeling is followed. And the heat-meltable ink layer portion 43
b is also peeled off and transferred to the transferred body 40. As a result, a notched surface peeling portion (tailing portion) 43b is formed in addition to the transferred image formed of the heat-meltable ink layer 43a to be transferred (FIG. 4C).

The present invention is intended to solve the problems of the prior art as described above, and a thermal transfer recording medium comprising a base material, a primer layer, a heat-meltable ink layer and an overcoat layer, which are sequentially laminated. Not only for transferring information such as a bar code pattern to an object to be transferred having good smoothness such as an OHP sheet, but also to an object to be transferred having low smoothness such as bar code label paper or tag paper. The first object is to enable recording with excellent transferability. Also,
The present invention further prevents the planar separation of the recorded image and imparts high scratch resistance to the recorded image so that the black bar of the bar code can be accurately recorded in a predetermined width and length. The purpose of.

[0010]

The present inventors have specified a gloss value of an overcoat layer in a thermal transfer recording medium in which a primer layer, a heat-meltable ink layer and an overcoat layer are sequentially laminated on a substrate. It was found that the first object can be achieved by setting the value to be equal to or more than, and further, the second object can also be achieved by configuring the primer layer from wax and a thermoplastic resin incompatible with the wax, The present invention has been completed.

That is, the present invention which achieves the first object is a thermal transfer recording medium comprising a primer layer, a heat-meltable ink layer and an overcoat layer, which are sequentially laminated on a substrate.
A thermal transfer recording medium, characterized in that the surface of the overcoat layer has a gloss value of 60% or more according to JIS-Z8741.

The present invention also provides a thermal transfer recording medium that achieves the second object by forming the primer layer in the above-mentioned thermal transfer recording medium from a wax and a thermoplastic resin incompatible with the wax. .

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The thermal transfer recording medium of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same reference numerals represent the same or equivalent elements.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a thermal transfer recording medium 10 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. This thermal transfer recording medium 10
The primer layer 2, the heat-meltable ink layer 3, and the overcoat layer 4 are sequentially laminated on the base material 1, and the heat resistant slipping layer 5 is provided on the surface of the base material 1 opposite to the primer layer 2. Has been.

In the present invention, the overcoat layer 4 has a gloss value according to JIS-Z8741 of 60% or more, preferably 75% or more. As a result, it is possible to improve the adhesion to glossy paper, coated paper, lightweight coated paper, etc. with insufficient smoothness, and it is possible to form an image with excellent transferability without the occurrence of voids. .

As a method for setting the gloss value of the overcoat layer 4 to 60% or more, known means can be adopted. For example, when the composition for forming an overcoat layer dissolved in a solvent such as isopropanol is applied onto the heat-meltable ink layer 3, it varies depending on the layer thickness and the concentration.
The gloss value can be controlled by controlling the temperature of the drying oven and the amount of drying air. When isopropanol is used as the solvent, it is generally 80-1
The desired gloss value can be achieved by drying at a temperature of about 00 ° C. (furnace length of 5 m). In this case, a higher drying temperature can realize a higher gloss value.

As a material for forming the overcoat layer 4, it is preferable to use a terpene-phenol resin having a softening point of 80 ° C. to 145 ° C. according to JIS-K2531 from the viewpoint of cohesive force. In this case, if the softening point is lower than 80 ° C., blocking is likely to occur, and if it exceeds 145 ° C., transferability is lowered and voids are likely to occur. Further, the terpene-phenol resin tends to deteriorate in scratch resistance when used in combination with other resins, and therefore it is preferably used alone.

The terpene-phenol resin having a softening point in this range is sufficiently melted by the recording energy of a general printer, and therefore the transferability of the overcoat layer 4 is also good.

Here, as the terpene-phenol resin, use should be made of one obtained by polymerizing unsaturated terpenes such as α- or β-pinene and turpentine oil with phenols using a Friedel-Crafts type catalyst. You can In this case, the content of the phenolic monomer unit in the resin is not particularly limited.

If desired, various additives may be added to the overcoat layer 4. For example, fillers such as carbon black, graphite, mica and silica can be added to improve the optical density and hiding power of the image.

In the present invention, the primer layer 2 is melted by a relatively low recording energy and separated from the substrate 1,
This is a layer for improving the cuttability of the heat-meltable ink layer 3 described later from the substrate 1. As a result, for example, the black bar of the barcode can be accurately recorded with a predetermined width and length. Further, the primer layer 2 will be located on the surface of the recorded image. Therefore, the scratch resistance of a recorded image such as a black bar of a barcode can be improved.

In this case, if the primer layer 2 is composed only of wax, the unnecessary portion of the thermal head at the time of recording tends to be peeled off from the base material 1 even if not necessary.
The heat-fusible ink layer 3 tends to be transferred excessively depending on the shape of the primer layer 2 that has been peeled off. Therefore, in the present invention, the primer layer 2 is preferably composed of wax and a thermoplastic resin incompatible with the wax. In this case, microscopically, the wax as the dispersion medium (matrix) is heated. A structure in which the dispersoids (domains) of the plastic resin are dispersed is preferable.

Here, as the wax constituting the primer layer 2, a wax which has been conventionally used can be used so that the wax is melted by heating during recording and the primer layer 2 is easily separated from the substrate 1. it can. For example, natural wax such as candelilla wax, carnauba wax, rice wax, wooden wax, beeswax, paraffin wax,
Petroleum waxes such as petrolatum and ceresin, montan wax, polyethylene wax, synthetic waxes such as fatty acid and acid amide can be used alone or in combination of two or more. In this case, when an excessively soft wax is used, the primer layer 2 and the heat-meltable ink layer 3 are heat-mixed at the time of recording to reduce the sharpness of the image, and further, the scratch resistance of the image is impaired. As the wax forming the layer 2, a hard wax having a penetration degree according to JIS-K2235 of preferably 10 or less, more preferably 2 or less, for example, carnauba wax, candelilla wax, polyethylene wax or the like is used. preferable.

Further, the thermoplastic resin constituting the primer layer 2 is added to prevent the primer layer 2 from being peeled off in a plane.
It is used to prevent the primer layer 2 from peeling from the base material 1 due to residual heat during recording, and to increase the adhesive force of the primer layer 2 to the base material 1. That is, as shown in FIG. 2A and its partially enlarged portion FIG. 2B, a portion 2b other than the portion to be originally transferred of the primer layer 2 (matrix: wax W, domain: thermoplastic resin D) at the time of recording. Even when heated by the thermal head 6, the domain of the thermoplastic resin which is incompatible with the wax secures the adhesive force to the substrate 1, so that the excessively heated portion 2b is prevented from peeling off. Therefore, it becomes possible to transfer the heat-meltable ink layer 3 to the recording medium without peeling the surface.

Therefore, it is necessary to use, as the thermoplastic resin constituting the primer layer 2 of the present invention, one having a good cohesive force so as to secure the adhesive force without being melted by the residual heat of the thermal head, that is, A thermoplastic resin that is incompatible with the wax, especially one that has a higher melt viscosity than the wax is used. As such a thermoplastic resin, one that is appropriately selected from those that are incompatible with wax can be used, and it is particularly preferable to use a polyester resin in terms of improving the adhesive force with the base material. Examples of such polyester resins include polycondensates of aliphatic dibasic acids such as adipic acid and sebacic acid, aromatic dibasic acids such as isophthalic acid and phthalic acid, and dialcohols such as ethylene glycol and neopentyl glycol. Can be illustrated. However, when the polyester resin contains an aromatic dibasic acid residue, the content thereof in the polyester resin is 40%.
It is preferable that the content be less than or equal to wt% from the viewpoint of solubility in a solvent such as toluene.

Further, the mixing ratio of the wax and the thermoplastic resin incompatible with the wax in the primer layer 2 is preferably 9 from the viewpoint of effectively preventing surface peeling.
It is set to 5: 5 to 80:20.

In the primer layer 2, the thermoplastic resin is present as a domain in the wax,
There is no particular limitation, and a conventional method can be used.

In the present invention, the heat-fusible ink layer 3 may have the same structure as that conventionally used in a thermal transfer recording medium, but in order to effectively suppress the occurrence of surface peeling, It is preferable that the microstructure is similar to that of the primer layer 2. That is, the heat-meltable ink layer 3
A wax, a heat-meltable resin incompatible with the wax,
It is preferable to have a structure in which a softening agent and a coloring agent are used, and a hot-melt resin is present as a domain in a wask.

As the wax in the hot-melt ink layer 3, the same wax as that described for the primer layer 2 can be used, but it is particularly preferable to use a wax having a melting point of 80 ° C. or less. The melting point of wax is 80
When the temperature is not higher than 0 ° C, the printing energy can be satisfactorily transferred by an ordinary printer having a printing energy of about 14 mJ / mm ² .

As described above, the heat-melting resin forming the heat-melting ink layer 3 together with the wax is preferably 1
A melt viscosity at 1000C of 1000 cps or more can be used. By using such a melt-viscosity material, heat mixing with the overcoat layer 4 can be suppressed and a clear recorded image can be formed. As such a heat-meltable resin having a melt viscosity of 1000 cps or more at 100 ° C., an α-alkylstyrene resin can be preferably exemplified.

As such an α-alkylstyrene-based resin, a homopolymer of α-lower alkylstyrene such as α-methylstyrene or a copolymer of α-lower alkylstyrene and another monomer should be used. Can be done, for example,
A copolymer of α-methylstyrene and vinyltoluene can be preferably used. In this case, the α-alkylstyrene resin may be used alone or in combination of two or more kinds.

The α-alkylstyrene resin has a softening point of 90 ° C. or higher, particularly 100 to 100, according to the ring and ball method (JIS-K2531), by appropriately selecting the degree of polymerization.
It is preferable to use one having a temperature of 140 ° C. The amount of the α-alkylstyrene resin used is preferably 5 to 45% by weight with respect to the entire heat-meltable ink layer 3. If the α-alkylstyrene-based resin is excessively contained in the heat-meltable ink layer, the transferability is lowered, while if it is too small, surface peeling occurs at the time of transfer and the scratch resistance of the transferred image is also lowered. Become.

There is no particular limitation on the method of allowing the heat-melting resin composed of the α-alkylstyrene resin to exist as a domain in the heat-melting ink layer 3 using wax as a medium, and a conventional method can be used.

As the softening agent contained in the heat-meltable ink layer 3, oily ones such as DOP, linseed oil and oleic acid, and rubbery ones such as EVA, EEA (ethylene-ethyl acrylate) and SBR are used. Although it can be used, it is particularly preferable to use EVA, EEA or the like which has good compatibility with wax.

As the colorant, those conventionally used as a colorant for the heat-meltable ink layer of the thermal transfer recording medium can be used, and various kinds of inorganic pigments such as carbon black, organic pigments and dyes can be used. Colorants can be used. If necessary, a filler such as silica or mica may be used in combination.

In the present invention, the base material 1 may be one commonly used as a base material for a thermal transfer recording medium, for example, a film sheet such as a polyester film, a polyimide film, a polycarbonate film or a condenser paper. Papers can be used.

In the present invention, the heat resistant slipping layer 5 is the substrate 1
Is provided as necessary in order to prevent sticking and improve the running property of the thermal transfer recording medium. The heat resistant slipping layer 5 is formed of a resin having excellent heat resistance such as a silicone resin, a fluororesin, an acrylic-silicone resin, a nitrocellulose resin, or a resin obtained by adding a lubricant such as silicone oil or fluorine powder. can do.

The thermal transfer recording medium 10 having each layer as described above can be manufactured by a conventional method. For example, the composition for a heat resistant slipping layer is applied to one surface of the base material 1 by using a wire bar or the like to be dried to form the heat resistant slipping layer 5, and the other surface of the base material 1 is applied using a wire bar or the like. The primer layer-forming composition is applied and dried to form the primer layer 2, and the heat-meltable ink layer-forming composition is further applied and dried using a gravure coater to form the heat-meltable ink layer 3. Then, the overcoat layer-forming composition is applied and dried to form the overcoat layer 4. As a result, the thermal transfer recording medium of the present invention is obtained.

In the thermal transfer recording medium of the present invention, the gloss value of the surface of the overcoat layer according to JIS-Z8741 is set to 60% or more. Therefore, it is possible to record an image on a label paper having poor flatness with good transferability. Further, since the primer layer is composed of wax and a thermoplastic resin incompatible with the wax, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of surface peeling.

[0040]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be specifically described below with reference to examples, but the invention is not limited to these examples.

Examples 1 to 15 and Comparative Examples 1 to 9 On the other side of the 5 μm thick polyester film (manufactured by Teijin Ltd.), which was silicon-based heat-resistant lubricated on one side, the composition shown in Table 3 (weight) was used. Part) wax (Carnauba No. 2, manufactured by Noda Wax Co., Ltd.) and a toluene solution of a primer layer-forming composition consisting of a polyester resin (solid content 15% by weight) are applied to a dry thickness of 1 μm and dried. To form a primer layer.

Next, on the primer layer, the following Table 1
Alternatively, the heat-meltable ink layer-forming composition A or B shown in Table 2
Of toluene solution (solid content 50% by weight) to a dry thickness of 1.5
It was coated so as to have a thickness of μm and dried to form a heat-meltable ink layer.

The melt viscosity (100 ° C.) of the heat-meltable ink layer-forming composition A is 1000 to 1500 cps.
(B type viscometer). Further, the melt viscosity (100 ° C.) of the heat-meltable ink layer-forming composition B is 1500 to 200.
It was 0 cps (B type viscometer).

[0044]

[Table 1]

[0045]

[Table 2]

Further, an overcoat layer comprising a terpene-phenol resin having the composition (parts by weight) shown in Table 3 and carbon black (MHI-217, manufactured by Mikuni-dye Co., Ltd.) is formed on the heat-meltable ink layer. Isopropanol solution (solid content 7% by weight) of the composition for application was applied so that the dry thickness was 0.3 μm, and the overcoat layer having a desired gloss value was formed by adjusting the drying temperature and the dry air flow rate to perform thermal transfer recording. The medium was obtained.

The gloss value (%) according to JIS-Z8741 of the overcoat layer of the obtained thermal transfer recording medium was incident using a digital variable angle gloss meter (UGV-5D, manufactured by Suga Test Instruments Co., Ltd.). Measured at an angle of 75 °. The results are shown in Table 3.

[0048]

[Table 3]

Note in Table 3 * 1 Polyester resin (UE-3220 manufactured by Unitika Ltd.) (Aromatic monomer unit content 35%) * 2 Polyester resin (UE-3230 manufactured by Unitika Ltd.) (Aromatic Monomer unit content 30%) * 3 Ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (HE-10, manufactured by Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd.) * 4 Terpene-phenol copolymer (softening point 80 ° C) (YS Polystar T80, Yasuhara Chemical Co., Ltd. )) * 5 Terpene-phenol copolymer (softening point 115
(° C) (YS Polystar T115, manufactured by Yasuhara Chemical Co., Ltd.) * 6 Terpene-phenol copolymer (softening point 145
(° C) (YS Polystar T145, manufactured by Yasuhara Chemical Co., Ltd.) * 7 Terpene-phenol copolymer (softening point 70 ° C) (YS Polystar T70, manufactured by Yasuhara Chemical Co., Ltd.).

Using the thermal transfer recording media obtained in the evaluation examples and comparative examples,
Printer with thermal head (B-30, TEC
(Manufactured by Co., Ltd.), and the dot density of 7.6 dots is applied to each of the two types of transfer materials (plastic paper and coated paper).
/ Mm and printing speed 50.4 mm / sec.
Cod, which is a type of barcode pattern, as shown in
3:39 dot pattern of e39 pattern (narrow
bar: wide bar = 3: 9) was printed in the serial direction. The printing energy is the energy that allows the width of the bar code to be printed according to the specified dimension when the 3: 9 dot pattern of Code 39 is printed in the parallel direction.

Regarding the obtained bar code pattern,
(I) Transferability, (ii) surface peeling, (iii) scratch resistance were evaluated as follows, and (iv) comprehensive evaluation was performed as follows, and these results are shown in Table 4.

(I) Transferability The transfer state of the bar code pattern was visually observed. The case where the transfer state is very good is indicated by ⊚, the case where it is good is indicated by ◯, the case where it is not preferable is indicated by Δ, and the case where it is extremely undesirable is indicated by x.

(Ii) Using the barcode verifier, the deviation of the black bar width and the space width (white bar width) from the standard widths of the Code 39 printed with the peeled surface printing was measured, and the obtained values were averaged. By doing so, the deviation from the standard value of the entire bar code pattern was determined. This numerical value shows the deviation from the specified dimension of the bar code pattern, and the larger the planar peeling, the larger the value.

Next, an adhesive tape (Cellotape, manufactured by Nichiban Co., Ltd.) was attached on the bar code pattern, and the adhesive tape was peeled off from the transfer paper so that only the area peeled off was peeled off. The deviation of the space width from each standard value was measured using a bar code verifier. Then, the surface peeling value was obtained from the obtained value according to the following equation.

[0055]

[Equation 1] (Sheet peeling value) = (Deviation value of bar width after printing from standard value)-(Deviation value of bar width after peeling adhesive tape from standard value)

The surface peeling value thus obtained is C
In the case of the 3: 9 dot pattern of ode39, the deviation value from the allowable standard value can be calculated as ± 136 μm by the following formula, and if the deviation value is larger than this, a barcode reading error occurs or reading is impossible. become.

[0057]

## EQU2 ## (Allowable error) = ± [{4 (N-2 / 3)} / 2
7] · X (where N = (wide bar) / (narrow)
bar), X represents the set narrow bar width)

The surface peeling values obtained for the examples and the comparative examples were evaluated in four levels according to the size according to the following evaluation criteria. The evaluation results are shown in Table 4.

[0058]

(Iii) Scratch resistance Using a friction tester for dyeing fastness (JIS-L0823), a load of 200 g is applied to bring the cotton cloth and the printed material into surface contact with each other, and the load portion is reciprocated 100 times to make the cotton cloth The degree of contamination was observed. Then, ⊚ indicates that the cotton cloth has a low degree of contamination and is very good, ◯ indicates that it is good, Δ indicates that it is not preferable, and x indicates that it is extremely undesirable.

(Iv) Comprehensive Evaluation There is no possibility of erroneous reading or unreadable reading of the bar code, and the case is clear, the transferability and the scratch resistance of the printed matter are good, and the case is not. Note that (i) to (i
If at least one of the evaluation items of ii) has x, the overall evaluation is x.

[0061]

[Table 4]

From the results shown in Table 4, the thermal transfer recording media of the present invention obtained in the examples are excellent in transfer to plastic paper having good smoothness and to coated paper having low smoothness. Showed sex. In addition, excellent results were also obtained for surface peeling and scratch resistance. On the other hand, the thermal transfer recording medium of the comparative example had a problem in transferability.

[0063]

According to the thermal transfer recording medium of the present invention, it is possible to perform image recording with good transferability on both the transferred material having good smoothness and the transferred material having low smoothness. it can. Further, it is possible to provide a recorded image which has no surface peeling and has high scratch resistance. Therefore, it is possible to record a bar code pattern which does not cause a reading error on various label materials having different smoothness.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing one embodiment of a thermal transfer recording medium of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of the action of the thermal transfer recording medium of the present invention during transfer.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a barcode pattern printed by a conventional thermal transfer recording medium.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an operation at the time of transfer of a conventional thermal transfer recording medium.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a barcode pattern and its printing direction.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 substrate, 2 primer layer, 3 heat-fusible ink layer,
4 overcoat layer, 5 heat resistant slipping layer, 10 thermal transfer recording medium

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Takeshi Sagara             Sony Chemi, 18 Satsuki-cho, Kanuma City, Tochigi Prefecture             Cal Company Kanuma Factory F-term (reference) 2H111 AA01 AA10 AA14 AA26 BA02                       BA03 BA07 BA53 BA54 BA55                       BA61 BA70 BA71 BA78

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A thermal transfer recording medium in which a primer layer, a heat-fusible ink layer and an overcoat layer are sequentially laminated on a substrate, and the surface of the overcoat layer according to JIS-
A thermal transfer recording medium having a gloss value according to Z8741 of 60% or more. 2. The overcoat layer is JIS-K253.
The thermal transfer recording medium according to claim 1, which contains a terpene-phenol resin having a softening point according to 1 of 80 ° C to 145 ° C. 3. The primer layer contains a wax and a thermoplastic resin incompatible with the wax.
The thermal transfer recording medium described. 4. The weight ratio of wax to thermoplastic resin is 9
The thermal transfer recording medium according to claim 3, which is from 5: 5 to 80:20. 5. The thermal transfer recording medium according to claim 3, wherein the thermoplastic resin is a polyester resin. 6. The thermal transfer recording medium according to claim 3, wherein the penetration of the wax according to JIS-K2235 is 10 or less. 7. The heat-meltable ink layer contains wax, a heat-meltable resin incompatible with the wax, a softening agent and a colorant, and the heat-meltable resin exists as a domain in the wax. The thermal transfer recording medium according to any one of claims 1 to 6. 8. The thermal transfer recording medium according to claim 7, wherein the melt viscosity of the heat-meltable resin at 100 ° C. is 1000 cps or more. 9. The thermal transfer recording medium according to claim 8, wherein the heat-melting resin is an α-alkylstyrene resin.