JP2003311832A - Laminating member and method for laminating - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a laminating member having excellent recyclability by eliminating the necessity of cleaning a laminator conveying system in order to form a transparent thermoplastic resin layer on the surface of an image sheet. <P>SOLUTION: The distal end 30a of a laminated sheet 30 is extended in parallel with one side 20a of a mounting sheet 30 in the laminating member, inserted into a superposed part 22 so as to be bumped against the inside part 20b of the sheet 20, and not adhered to the sheet 30. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a laminating member for forming a resin layer on various recorded images and a laminating method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, it has been widely practiced to form an image on a sheet-shaped recording medium such as paper or a plastic film by an ink jet method, an electrophotographic method, various printing methods and the like. On the other hand, an overcoat layer (protective layer) is formed for the purpose of imparting glossiness, light resistance, water resistance and chemical resistance to an image (hereinafter referred to as an image sheet) formed on a recording medium. Things have been done. As a method for forming the protective layer on the image surface, there are employed a) a method of melt-laminating a resin, b) a method of laminating a resin film, and c) a method of varnishing. It is difficult to form a thin film by the method a. Further, in the case of b, there are problems that the image quality is deteriorated, and discoloration or bleeding occurs due to the reaction between the adhesive component and the ink. Further, in c, since a solvent is used, there is an environmental problem, and even if a method such as emulsion or UV / EB curing is adopted, there is a problem in that the place where the device is used is restricted.

As a means for solving such a problem, there has been proposed a method in which a thermoplastic resin layer having a lower softening point than that is provided on a heat-resistant substrate and transfer-laminated on the surface of the image sheet. In the transfer type laminating method, a laminate sheet composed of a heat-resistant base material and a transparent thermoplastic resin layer releasably provided thereon is used, and the image surface of the image sheet and the transparent thermoplastic resin surface are brought into contact with each other and heated. By applying pressure, the transparent thermoplastic resin is transferred to the image sheet, and a resin layer is formed on the image surface.

Further, in the above-mentioned laminating method, an apparatus called a laminator is used in order to perform heating and pressing simultaneously. It has a heating roll and a backup roll, and between these two rolls (nip part)
Is a device in which heat and pressure are simultaneously applied while being conveyed by stacking and sandwiching the laminate sheet and the image sheet.

Usually, a laminate sheet having the same size as a rectangular image sheet is used, and therefore these sheets are precisely overlapped so that the four sides coincide with each other, and sandwiched between the two rolls in that state. However, if the image sheet and the laminate sheet are not accurately overlapped with each other, the resin layer is not formed on a part of the surface of the image sheet, and the resin adheres to the surface of the roll to stain the surface of the roll.

Even if the image sheet and the laminate sheet are accurately stacked, if they are sandwiched by two rolls and heated and pressed, the melted (or softened) thermoplastic resin may stick out and adhere to the roll surface. .

Further, when the image sheet and the laminate sheet are inserted into the nip portion of the two rolls, the ends of the two sheets which are superposed may be misaligned or the ends may be curled upward. Further, in some cases, the ear may be broken, and not only the resin layer cannot be accurately formed, but also a defect occurs. The resin adhering to the roll surface may stain the back surface of the conveyed image sheet or cause conveyance failure, so it is necessary to remove it immediately.However, a cleaning mechanism (such as a cleaning roll) inside the laminator is required. ) Attached not only makes the device larger, but also increases the cost. Therefore,
In order to solve the above problems, the inventors have devised a laminating member in which one side of a laminating sheet is adhered to a mount. However, this laminating member requires accurate lamination of the laminating sheet and the backing sheet, and is difficult to process, resulting in high manufacturing cost.
Moreover, since the laminate sheet is directly adhered to the mount, the mount is also discarded after use, which is uneconomical.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide a laminating member and a laminating method that suppress manufacturing costs and are excellent in recyclability.

[0009]

Means for Solving the Problems A laminating member of the present invention for achieving the above object is (1) by bending one side of a predetermined length and a portion inside the one side in parallel with the one side. , A rectangular mount having a stacking part formed by stacking one side to the inside part on another part,
(2) Of the transparent thermoplastic resin layer facing the mount and having both ends extending in parallel to the one side and sandwiched between the overlapping portions, and both sides of the transparent thermoplastic resin layer,
It is characterized in that it is provided with a laminate sheet in which a release layer covering one surface on the side opposite to the mount is sandwiched with the transparent thermoplastic resin layer interposed therebetween.

Here, (3) the mount may have a peripheral portion excluding the overlapping portion located outside the peripheral portion of the transparent thermoplastic resin layer.

Further, (4) the mount and the transparent thermoplastic resin layer have a width W1 and a length D1 of the mount, and a width W2 and a length D2 of the transparent thermoplastic resin layer,
It may satisfy W1> W2 and D1> D2.

The laminating method of the present invention for achieving the above object is the laminating method of forming a resin layer on the image side of an image sheet, which comprises (5) one side of a predetermined length,
And a rectangular mount having a lap portion formed by folding a portion inside the one side in parallel to the one side and overlapping the other side from the one side to the inside portion, (6)
A transparent thermoplastic resin layer facing the mount and having a tip portion extending in parallel to the one side and sandwiched between the overlapping portions, and sandwiching the transparent thermoplastic resin layer on both sides of the transparent thermoplastic resin layer. And using a laminating member having a laminate sheet having a release layer covering one surface opposite to the mount, (7) between the mount and the transparent thermoplastic resin layer of the laminate sheet, The image sheet is sandwiched so that the entire image surface is covered by the transparent thermoplastic resin layer, and (8) heat and pressure are simultaneously applied to the laminating member sandwiching the image sheet to melt the transparent thermoplastic resin layer. Thus, a resin layer is formed on the entire image surface. At this time, the heating temperature varies depending on the thickness and material of the image sheet, but the heating temperature is 50 ° C. to 200 ° C., and further 80
It is more preferable to carry out at a temperature of from 180 to 180 ° C.

(9) The width of the mount is W1 and the length is D1, the width of the transparent thermoplastic resin layer is W2 and the length is D2, and the width of the image sheet is W3 and the length is D3. When D3, W1>W2> W3 and D1>D2> D
A resin layer may be formed on the image side of the image sheet by using the mount satisfying the requirement No. 3, the transparent thermoplastic resin layer, and the image sheet.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

An embodiment of a laminating member will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 1A is a perspective view showing a laminating member, and FIG. 1B is a plan view of the laminating member. FIG. 2A is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.
(B) is a perspective view showing another example of a laminating member.

The laminating member 10 is a rectangular mount 2
0 and a laminated sheet 30 which is slightly smaller than the mount 20. The mount 20 has four sides formed therein, and a portion 20b inside one side (one side 20a) of the four sides is bent in parallel with the one side 20a. As a result, the one side 20a to the inner portion 20b are overlapped with the other portion 20c, and the overlap portion 22 is formed. In addition, the overlapping portion 2 of the mount 20
The peripheral part 24 except 2 is located outside the peripheral part of the laminate sheet 30.

The mount 20 constituting the laminating member of the present invention is not particularly limited to paper, cloth, plastic film or the like as long as it has better adhesiveness to the thermoplastic resin than the heating roll or backup roll of the laminator. , Usually use paper or paperboard without any special coating. These papers or paperboards preferably have a basis weight of 20 to 1000 g / m ² ,
Its thickness is about 0.025 to 1 mm.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the laminate sheet 30 is composed of at least three layers of a transparent thermoplastic resin layer 32, a release layer 34 and a base material layer 36. The transparent thermoplastic resin layer 32 and the base material layer 36 do not necessarily have to have the same area, and the area of the transparent thermoplastic resin layer 32 may be smaller than the area of the base material layer 36. In addition, the transparent thermoplastic resin layer 32 faces the mount 20, and the transparent thermoplastic resin layer 32 on both sides of the transparent thermoplastic resin layer 32 is opposite to the transparent thermoplastic resin layer 32.
The release layer 34 covers one surface on the opposite side of the mount 20 with the base layer 36 disposed on the upper surface of the release layer 34.

The base material layer 36 is a heat-resistant sheet,
For example, heat resistant resin sheets such as polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene, polyimide and polycarbonate can be used.

The release layer 34 formed on the heat resistant base sheet is, for example, a phosphate ester type surfactant, silicone oil, wax, fluororesin, silicone type resin,
It is made of a material or resin having good releasability such as acrylic resin, and its thickness is about 0.01 to 5.0 μm.

The transparent thermoplastic resin layer 32 is formed of a resin that exhibits adhesiveness by heating, that is, a resin having a heat-sealing property. As the resin having a heat-sealing property, for example, polyester resin, Examples thereof include polyethylene resin, acrylic resin, vinyl chloride resin, polyurethane resin, ethylene / vinyl acetate copolymer resin, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer resin and the like. The thermoplastic resin may contain a thermosetting resin such as an epoxy resin.

Although the thickness of the transparent thermoplastic resin layer 32 varies depending on the durability required for the image sheet, it is usually 1.
About 0 to 50 μm is preferable. Further, in the transparent thermoplastic resin layer, ultraviolet absorbers, antioxidants, light stabilizers, antistatic agents, optical brighteners, matting agents, etc., as long as heat sealability and layer strength are not significantly impaired. Any additive can be added.

Release layer 34 and transparent thermoplastic resin layer 32
Examples of the method for forming a layer include a method of coating and drying using a general coating device such as a gravure coater, a roll coater, a die coater, and a reverse coater.

The tip portion 30a of the laminate sheet 30 is
It extends in parallel with one side 20a of the mount 20, and the overlapping portion 22
Sandwiched between. Laminate sheet 30 tip portion 30a
Is only inserted into the overlapping portion 22 so as to abut against the inner portion 20b of the mount 20, and is not adhered to the mount 20.

Next, the sizes (width and length) of the mount 20 and the laminate sheet 30 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1B, the width of the mount is set to W
1, the length is D1, and the width of the laminate sheet 30 is W
2. When the length is D2, W1> W2 and D1
> D2 is satisfied. Therefore, as will be described later, when the transparent thermoplastic resin layer 32 melts (or softens), the thermoplastic resin does not adhere to the roll.

An opening 50a may be formed at the center of the mount 50. When the mount 50 having the openings 50a formed in this way is used, the heat from the rolls described later is efficiently transferred to the thermoplastic resin layer 32, so that the heating rolls can be laminated at a low temperature. .

An embodiment of the laminating method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a procedure of sandwiching the image sheet between the laminating members. FIG. 4A is a perspective view showing a laminating member on which an image sheet is placed on a mount, and FIG. 4B is a plan view showing the laminating member with the image sheet sandwiched therebetween. FIG. 5A is a schematic view showing a procedure for disassembling the laminating member, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view showing an image sheet on which a resin layer is formed. In these drawings, the same components as those shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are designated by the same reference numerals.

The above-mentioned laminating member 10 is used to form a resin layer on the surface of the image sheet 70 (which is an example of the recording medium of the present invention) to protect the image. As shown in FIG. 3, the laminating sheet 30 of the laminating member 10 is turned over, and the image sheet 70 is inserted between the mounting sheet 20 and the laminating sheet 30 from the opposite side of the stacking portion 22 of the mounting sheet 20. In this case, the image sheet 70 is inserted until it abuts the overlapping portion 22, as shown in FIG.
As a result, the image sheet 70 is sandwiched between the mount 20 and the transparent thermoplastic resin layer 32 of the laminate sheet 30 so that the entire image surface is covered with the transparent thermoplastic resin layer 32.

Here, the mount 20 and the laminated sheet 3
0, and the size and positional relationship of the image sheet 70 will be described.

When the width of the mount 20 is W1, the length is D1, the width of the laminate sheet 30 is W2, the length is D2, the width of the image sheet 70 is W3, and the length is D3.
As shown in (b), W1>W2> W3 and D1>
D2> D3 is satisfied. Therefore, the periphery of the mount 20 (4
The sides are outside the periphery (4 sides) of the laminate sheet 30, and the periphery of the laminate sheet 30 is the image sheet 7.
It is outside the peripheral edge (4 sides) of 0.

As described above, by applying heat and pressure to the laminating member 10 in which the image sheet 70 is sandwiched, a resin layer is formed on the entire surface of the image sheet 70 to protect the image. it can. In particular,
Using the laminator with the heating roll and backup roll mentioned above, between these two rolls (nip part)
Then, the laminating member 10 is sandwiched in order from the overlapping portion 22 and conveyed. At that time, since heat and pressure act on the laminating member 10 at the same time, the transparent thermoplastic resin layer 32 melted (or softened) by heat adheres to the surface of the image sheet 70 to form a resin layer.

Further, as described above, the peripheral edge (4
Since the sides are outside the periphery (4 sides) of the laminate sheet 30, the transparent thermoplastic resin outside the periphery (4 sides) of the image sheet 70 adheres to the mount 20 and does not adhere to the roll. Further, since the peripheral edge of the laminate sheet 30 is outside the peripheral edges (four sides) of the image sheet 70, the resin layer 74 is reliably formed on the entire surface 72 of the image sheet 70 as shown in FIG. 5B. To be done. Laminating member 10 is 2
After passing the two rolls, the base material layer 36 is peeled off from the laminating member 10. Since the peeling layer 34 is formed between the base material layer 36 and the thermoplastic resin layer 32, the base material layer 36 can be easily peeled off. afterwards,
The image sheet 70 is removed from the mount 20. Here, by preparing a new laminating sheet 30, the mount 2
0 can be reused and recycled.

[0036]

As described above, when the transparent resin layer is formed (laminated) on the image sheet by using the laminating member of the present invention, first, the mount and the transparent thermoplastic resin layer of the laminated sheet are formed. An image sheet is sandwiched therebetween, and heat and pressure are simultaneously applied to it. afterwards,
By removing the laminate sheet and the mount, an image sheet having a transparent resin layer formed on the surface thereof can be obtained. Here, when the peripheral edge portion excluding the overlapping portion is located outside the peripheral edge portion of the transparent thermoplastic static resin layer, the melted and softened transparent thermoplastic static resin adheres to a roll or the like. Can be prevented.

Here, the mount and the transparent thermoplastic resin layer are
When the width of the mount is W1, the length is D1, the width of the transparent thermoplastic resin layer is W2, and the length is D2, respectively, W1> W
2, and D1> D2 is satisfied, and the transparent thermoplastic resin layer can be placed so as not to stick out of the mount, so that the resin does not need to adhere to the roll inside the laminator or other conveyance sites. Therefore, it is not necessary to attach a cleaning mechanism inside the laminator, and the resin layer can be formed using an inexpensive laminator.

According to the laminating method of the present invention,
After forming the resin layer on the image sheet, the laminate sheet can be easily removed from the mount, so that the mount used once can be recycled.

Further, the width of the mount is W1, the length is D1, the width of the transparent thermoplastic resin layer is W2, and the length is D2.
When the width of the image sheet is W3 and the length is D3, W1>
A transparent thermoplastic resin is formed by forming a resin layer on the image side of the image sheet using the mount, the transparent thermoplastic resin layer, and the image sheet that satisfy W2> W3 and D1>D2> D3. Since the layer can be placed so as not to protrude from the mount and the surface of the image sheet can be surely covered with the thermoplastic resin layer, the resin layer can be surely formed on the entire image surface of the image sheet.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is a perspective view showing a laminating member, and FIG. 1B is a plan view of the laminating member.

2 (a) is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 1 (b),
(B) is a perspective view showing another example of a laminating member.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a procedure of sandwiching an image sheet between laminating members.

FIG. 4A is a perspective view showing a laminating member on which an image sheet is placed on a mount, and FIG. 4B is a plan view showing the laminating member with the image sheet sandwiched therebetween.

5A is a schematic view showing a procedure for disassembling a laminating member, and FIG. 5B is a partial cross-sectional view showing an image sheet on which a resin layer is formed.

[Explanation of symbols]

10,40 Laminating member 20,50 Mount 20a One side of mount 20b Inside of mount 20c Other parts of mount 22,52 Overlap 30,60 Laminated sheet 32 Transparent thermoplastic resin 34 Release layer

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Kenichi Kono             6-3-3 Shimorenjaku, Mitaka City, Tokyo             Within the corporation F-term (reference) 4F100 AH06 AJ11 AK01B AK04                       AK07 AK09 AK17 AK25 AK41                       AK42 AK45 AK49 AK51 AK52                       AR00C BA03 BA07 BA10C                       DB07B DG10A GB90 JB16B                       JL14C JN02B                 4F211 AD08 AG01 AG03 SA07 SC07                       SD01 SD12 SH06 SJ01 SJ22                       SJ29 SP04 SP05 SP36

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A side having a predetermined length and a portion inside the side are bent in parallel with the side to form a lap portion in which the side from the side to the inside is overlapped with another portion. Having a rectangular mount and a transparent thermoplastic resin layer facing the mount, the transparent thermoplastic resin layer having a tip end portion extending in parallel to the one side and sandwiched between the overlapping portions, and the transparent thermoplastic resin layer on both sides of the transparent thermoplastic resin layer. A laminating sheet, comprising: a laminate sheet having a release layer formed on the opposite side of the mount from which a thermoplastic resin layer is sandwiched. 2. The laminate according to claim 1, wherein a peripheral edge portion of the mount, excluding the overlapping portion, is located outside an outer peripheral edge portion of the transparent thermoplastic resin layer. Parts. 3. The mount and the transparent thermoplastic resin layer have a width W1 and a length D1 and a transparent thermoplastic resin layer having a width W2 and a length D2, where W1> W.
3. The laminating member according to claim 1 or 2, which satisfies D1> D2. 4. A laminating method for forming a resin layer on an image surface of an image sheet, wherein one side having a predetermined length and a portion inside the one side are bent in parallel to the one side and the inside portion is formed from the one side. A rectangular mount having a stacked part formed by stacking up to other parts, and a tip end part sandwiched by the stacked part and extending in parallel to the one side, the transparent thermoplastic resin layer facing the mount, And, using a laminating member having a laminating sheet having a release layer formed on one surface of the transparent thermoplastic resin layer on the opposite side of the transparent thermoplastic resin layer sandwiching the transparent thermoplastic resin layer,
The image sheet was sandwiched between the mount and the transparent thermoplastic resin layer of the laminate sheet so that the entire image surface of the image sheet was covered with the transparent thermoplastic resin layer, and the image sheet was sandwiched. A laminating method characterized in that heat and pressure are simultaneously applied to a laminating member to melt and soften the transparent thermoplastic resin layer to form a resin layer on all of the image surface. 5. The width of the mount is W1 and the length is D1,
The width of the transparent thermoplastic resin layer is W2, the length is D2,
When the width of the image sheet is W3 and the length is D3,
A resin layer is formed on the image side of the image sheet by using the mount, the transparent thermoplastic resin layer, and the image sheet that satisfy W1>W2> W3 and D1>D2> D3. The laminating method according to claim 4.