JP2008073899A - Manufacturing method of laminated printed material, thermal transfer ink ribbon used therein and thermal transfer preprint ink ribbon - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a manufacturing method of a printed material having a clear printed image of a laminated printed material and a high scratch resistance even under the condition that the surface of a printing adherend is rough and the material of the printing adherend is one unsuitable for thermal transfer printing at the acquisition of a printed material being printed with a thermal transfer printer by laminating the printing adherend through a laminated film. <P>SOLUTION: The manufacturing method of the printed material comprises the thermal transfer of a transparent heat softening ink layer is executed by applying the laminated film against a thermal transfer preprint ink ribbon before the printing of an image on the surface of the bonding layer of the laminated film with the thermal transfer printer through the thermal transfer ink ribbon. The major component of the binder of the transparent heat softening ink layer of the thermal transfer preprint ink ribbon is set to be the same one of the colored heat softening ink layer of the thermal transfer ink ribbon. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

In order to ensure the durability of the printed material, it is known to laminate a laminated film on the printed material. The present invention relates to the field of producing a laminated printed material by a thermal transfer technique.

In order to ensure the durability of the printed material, it is known that the printed material printed on the printing adherend is covered with a laminating film and heated and pressurized for lamination. In the conventional method, printing is performed on a printing adherend using a printing machine such as a thermal transfer printer, an ink jet printer, or a laser printer, and then the printed adherend is laminated to produce a printed matter. (Patent Documents 1 and 2) When laminating to a printed adherend by this method, the quality of the printed image greatly fluctuated due to the influence of irregularities on the surface of the printed adherend. Furthermore, this effect was significant when printing was performed with a thermal transfer printer. That is, the print adherend needs to be prepared in advance in order to obtain a fine image.

  In Patent Document 3, an image is printed by a thermal transfer printer on a single-layer intermediate transfer medium having a melting point of 40 to 200 ° C., and the intermediate transfer medium itself is heated and pressurized by superimposing the image surface and a print adherend, A method for producing a printed material by fusing is described. In this method, it is described that it is possible to obtain a printed matter on which an image can be recorded even on a print adherend having a rough surface. However, since the intermediate transfer medium needs a certain thickness and has a relatively low melting point of 40 to 200 ° C. made of wax and / or resin, the intermediate transfer medium is used when fusing with the printing adherend. There was a problem that the image fluctuated and the image was distorted. Further, since the melting point of the intermediate transfer medium is low, the intermediate transfer medium itself is easily scratched and the scratch resistance is not high.

In order to solve this problem, the inventors of the present invention provided a method for producing a printed material by printing an image on a laminate film using a thermal transfer printer and then laminating it on a printing adherend.
In this method, it was possible to obtain a print with a good image when printing was performed in a single color, but when a plurality of color thermal transfer ink ribbons such as full color images were stacked and thermally transferred, the color image was not printed clearly. There was a problem.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 08-39946 JP 2002-67504 A Japanese Patent No. 2552116 Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-252209

Even if the surface of the printed adherend is uneven when the printed product is obtained by laminating the printed adherend using a laminate film, the material of the printed adherend is thermal transfer printing. The present invention provides a method for producing a printed material having a clear color image and high scratch resistance even if the material is inappropriate. Furthermore, the present invention provides a thermal transfer ink ribbon and a thermal transfer preprint ink ribbon (hereinafter referred to as a preprint ribbon) used in this thermal transfer printer.

In the first invention, an image is printed on the adhesive layer surface of the laminate film using a thermal transfer printer and a thermal transfer ink ribbon, and then the printed material is laminated on the printed substrate by laminating the image surface of the produced laminate film. In the production method, before printing an image on a laminate film, a thermal transfer preprinted ink ribbon is applied to the laminate film to thermally transfer the transparent heat-softening ink layer.
The second invention is characterized in that the main component of the binder of the colored heat-softening ink layer of the thermal transfer ink ribbon is the same as the main component of the binder of the transparent heat-softening ink layer of the thermal transfer preprinted ink ribbon. Ribbon and thermal transfer preprinted ink ribbon.
A third invention is a thermal transfer ink ribbon and a thermal transfer preprint ink ribbon, wherein the main component of the binder of the second invention is an epoxy resin.

It is possible to obtain a printed material with a clear laminated image without being influenced by the quality of the printed adherend.

The laminate film used in the present invention has a structure in which an adhesive layer is provided by applying a hot melt agent on a substrate. As a base material, transparent films, such as OPP, PE, and PET, are common, and 10-100 micrometers is preferably used for base material thickness. Preferably, 10-30 micrometers is used. As the hot melt agent, EVA, EEA, PE, polyamide, urethane resin and modified products thereof are used, and the coating thickness is preferably about 5 to 30 μm. More preferably, it is set as the range of 10-20 micrometers. The softening point of the hot melt is 50 to 200 ° C., and preferably 120 ° C. or less from the viewpoint of curling prevention after lamination. When the temperature is lower than 50 ° C., a problem also occurs in blocking between the laminate films. As the laminate film, a commercially available hot laminate film may be used.

  Next, the thermal transfer ink ribbon will be described. As a configuration of the thermal transfer ink ribbon, a thermal transfer ink ribbon having a heat-resistant layer provided on the back side and a colored thermosoftening ink layer provided thereon is used. Various heat-resistant films can be used as the substrate, but a PET film is preferred from the balance of cost and strength. The base material having a thickness in the range of 2 to 12 μm can be used, and 2.5 to 6 μm is particularly preferable from the viewpoint of strength and thermal conductivity. The colored heat softening ink layer is composed of a binder and a colorant. As the binder, a thermoplastic resin such as an epoxy resin, a polyester resin, an acrylic resin, a urethane resin, a styrene resin, a phenol-derived resin, an ethylene copolymer resin, or a vinyl acetate resin is used as a main component. The softening point of the thermoplastic resin is preferably 60 to 160 ° C. A more preferable softening point is in the range of 60 to 100 ° C. In particular, when the printing adherend is paper, a particularly preferable thermoplastic resin is an epoxy resin. As a binder, a colored heat-softening ink mainly composed of an epoxy resin has good thermal transfer to a laminate film and at the same time good lamination to paper.

  Waxes may be added to the colored heat-softening ink layer to adjust the thermal transfer sensitivity. As waxes, natural waxes such as wax, beeswax, carnauba wax, candelilla wax, montan wax and ceresin wax; petroleum waxes such as paraffin wax and microcrystalline wax; oxidized wax, ester wax, polyethylene wax, oxidized Synthetic waxes such as polyethylene wax, Fischer-Tropsch wax, α-olefin-maleic anhydride copolymer wax; higher fatty acids, myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, behenic acid; higher alcohols, myristyl alcohol, cetyl alcohol, stearyl alcohol Eicosyl alcohol, seryl alcohol; higher fatty acid esters such as higher fatty acid monoglycerides, fatty acid esters of sucrose, fatty acid esters of sorbitan Ether; a higher ether, distearyl ether; as higher fatty acid amides, stearic acid amide, and the like oleyl. One or more of these waxes can be used.

  As the colorant, pigments and dyes that are usually used in the field of thermal transfer recording media can be used. The content of the colorant in the colored heat-softening ink layer is preferably in the range of 30 to 70% by weight. The thickness of the colored heat-softening ink layer can be 0.2 to 10 μm. 0.2 to 1.0 μm is particularly preferable. If it is less than the above range, it is difficult to obtain a printing density. When the range is exceeded, it is difficult to obtain a printing resolution. Further, a particle component and a lubricant component may be added to prevent blocking.

  In addition, an adhesive layer may be provided on the colored heat-softening ink layer from the viewpoint of printing sensitivity. Similarly, a release layer may be provided between the substrate and the colored thermosoftening ink layer from the viewpoint of printing sensitivity. For the adhesive layer and the release layer, the thermoplastic resin mentioned in the above colored thermosoftening ink can be used as a main component. It is particularly preferable to use an epoxy resin for the release layer because it becomes a surface during lamination. Moreover, you may mix | blend a lubricant etc. with a release layer as a peeling regulator. Examples of the lubricant include the waxes.

  Next, the preprint ribbon will be described. As a configuration of the preprinted ribbon, a transparent heat-softening ink layer provided on a base material subjected to heat treatment on the back side is used. Various heat-resistant films can be used as the substrate, but a PET film is preferred from the balance of cost and strength. The base material having a thickness in the range of 2 to 12 μm can be used, and 2.5 to 6 μm is particularly preferable from the viewpoint of strength and thermal conductivity. The transparent thermosoftening ink is mainly composed of a thermoplastic resin as a binder. As the thermoplastic resin, an epoxy resin, a polyester resin, an acrylic resin, a urethane resin, a styrene resin, a phenol-derived resin, an ethylene copolymer resin, a vinyl acetate resin, or the like can be used, and the softening point is 60 to 160 ° C. A more preferable softening point is in the range of 60 to 100 ° C. A particularly preferable thermoplastic resin when the printing adherend is paper is an epoxy resin. The colored heat-softening ink mainly composed of an epoxy resin has good thermal transfer property of the thermal transfer ink ribbon to the laminate film and at the same time, good lamination to paper.

  The transparent heat softening ink may be blended with waxes mentioned for the thermal transfer ink ribbon for adjusting thermal transfer sensitivity. When it is desired to color the printed matter as a whole in a sepia tone or the like, a small amount of the colorant mentioned above may be added to the transparent heat softening ink as long as the transparency is not impaired. The transparent heat-softening ink layer may be provided on a different substrate from the thermal transfer ink ribbon, or may be provided in the surface order with the colored heat-softening ink layer of the thermal transfer ink ribbon.

  In addition, an adhesive layer may be provided on the transparent heat-softening ink layer from the viewpoint of transfer sensitivity. Similarly, a release layer may be provided between the substrate and the transparent heat-softening ink layer from the viewpoint of transfer sensitivity. For the adhesive layer and the release layer, the thermoplastic resin mentioned in the above colored thermosoftening ink can be used as a main component. An epoxy resin is particularly preferably used for the release layer because it becomes a surface in a region where an image is not printed during lamination. Moreover, you may mix | blend a lubricant etc. with a release layer as a peeling regulator. Examples of the lubricant include the waxes.

  A method for producing a printed material according to the first invention will be described. First, using a thermal transfer printer and a preprint ribbon on the adhesive layer surface of the laminate film to which the hot melt agent is applied, a transparent heat-softening ink layer is printed as a base in an image printing region. Thereafter, an image is printed using a thermal transfer printer and a thermal transfer ink ribbon. The image may be a monochrome image using only a black ink ribbon or a full color image using three primary color ink ribbons. Since the surface of the transparent heat-softening ink layer is flat, the heat transfer image can always obtain a fine image. Next, a printed matter can be obtained by laminating the image surface of the laminate film on the print adherend and laminating. The heating temperature for laminating is preferably in the range of 80 to 200 ° C. Usually, it can be laminated by passing these objects between two hot rolls. In the printed matter thus produced, even if the surface of the printed adherend is rough, the fineness of the image that was first thermally transferred is not impaired.

  When a full-color printed matter is produced by the method for producing a printed matter described in Patent Document 4, the thermal transferability of the first color thermal transfer ink ribbon to the laminate film and the second color that is transferred onto the first color thermal softening ink layer are transferred. The thermal transfer property of the thermosoftening ink layer is different. For this reason, it becomes difficult to produce a fine superimposed image. This is because the heat-meltability of the adhesive layer of the laminate film when the first colored heat-softening ink layer is thermally transferred and the first color when the second-color colored heat-softening ink layer is thermally transferred. This is because the heat melting properties of the colored heat softening ink layers are different. Therefore, a transparent thermosoftening ink layer having the same heat melting property as that of the colored heat softening ink layer should be preprinted on the laminate film so that the heat melting property of the layer to be thermally transferred does not change. Thus, it is possible to prevent the thermal transferability of the colored heat-softening ink layer of the first color from changing the thermal transferability of the colored heat-softening ink layer of the second color. In order to make the colored heat-softening ink and the transparent heat-softening ink have the same heat melting property, it can be achieved by making the main component of the binder of each ink layer the same. (Second invention)

  When the printed adherend is paper, the main component of the same binder is particularly preferably an epoxy resin because fine printing and laminate fixing properties are improved. (Third invention)

  In addition, it is preferable that the heat melting properties of the colored heat-softening ink layers of the plurality of thermal transfer ink ribbons of four primary colors including three primary colors or black are made the same. This is because the same heat melting property is obtained by making the binders of the respective colored heat-softening ink layers the same, the heat transfer property is improved, and a fine image can be obtained. The plurality of thermal transfer ink ribbons may be thermal transfer ink ribbons divided for each color, or may be a thermal transfer ink ribbon in which a plurality of colored thermosoftening ink layers are provided in a surface sequence on one substrate.

  As the print adherend, paper such as PPC paper, high-quality paper, coated paper, postcards, plastic sheets, plastic cards, and the like can be used.

1. As a preparation substrate for the preprint ribbon, a 4.5 μm thick PET film with a heat-resistant layer on the back surface is prepared. The transparent thermosoftening inks 1 to 3 shown in Table 1 were applied and dried on the substrate opposite to the heat-resistant layer, and a transparent thermosoftening ink layer having a thickness of 0.8 μm was provided to prepare preprinted ribbons 1 to 3.

Table 1 Transparent heat-softening ink layer coating solution (wt%)

2. As a substrate for producing a thermal transfer ink ribbon, a 4.5 μm thick PET film with a heat resistant layer on the back surface is prepared. The colored heat-softening inks 1 to 3 shown in Table 1 are coated on the substrate opposite to the heat-resistant layer and dried to provide a colored heat-softening ink layer having a thickness of 0.8 μm. Ink ribbons were produced, and a total of 12 ink ribbons were produced.

Table 2 Colored heat-softening ink layer coating solution (wt%)

*: As the coloring pigment, four colors of cyan (phthalocyanine blue), magenta (quinacridone magenta), yellow (isoindolinone yellow), and black (carbon black) were used separately.

3. As a laminate film for producing a printed material, an OPP base material having a thickness of 15 μm coated with 15 μm of an EVA hot melt agent was used. Three types of print adherends were used: PPC paper, fine paper, and cast coated paper. The thermal transfer printer used was a test thermal transfer printer with 600 dpi resolution. As a laminator, TP600A2 manufactured by Taisei was used. The laminating temperature was 110 ° C. As an image, a full color image with four color ink ribbons of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black was superimposed and heat transfer printed.

  As a printed matter of Examples 1 to 3, a transparent heat-softening ink layer was thermally transferred to an area to be printed with a preprint ribbon using a thermal transfer printer on a laminate film. Next, a full-color image was printed using the thermal transfer ink ribbons 1 to 3 (using four color ink ribbons each). Table 3 shows the combinations of preprints and thermal transfer ink ribbons. Thereafter, the image surface of the laminate film and the print adherend were laminated and laminated.

  As a printed matter of Comparative Examples 1 to 3, the same full color image as in the example was overlaid and thermally transferred using thermal transfer ink ribbons 1 to 3 (using four color ink ribbons) without printing a preprint ribbon on a laminate film with a thermal transfer printer. Printed. Thereafter, the image surface of the laminate film and the print adherend were laminated and laminated.

4). Evaluation method It evaluated by the following evaluation method. The evaluation results were as shown in Table 3.
(1) Printability The fineness of the color image printed by thermal transfer printing was confirmed visually.
○: A good color image was obtained.
X: Sensitivity difference appears due to color overlap, and a good color image cannot be obtained.
(2) Laminate Fixability The fixability of the laminate film after lamination was visually confirmed.
○: Completely settled.
Δ: Fixed but peeled off immediately after peeling.
X: Not fixed.

Table 3 Evaluation results

Claims (3)

In the method of producing a printed matter by printing an image on the adhesive layer surface of the laminate film using a thermal transfer printer and a thermal transfer ink ribbon, and then laminating the image surface of the produced laminate film on the print adherend, A method for producing a printed matter, comprising: applying a thermal transfer preprinted ink ribbon to a laminate film and thermally transferring a transparent heat-softening ink layer before printing an image on the film. The thermal transfer ink ribbon and the thermal transfer preprint, wherein the main component of the binder of the colored thermal softening ink layer of the thermal transfer ink ribbon and the transparent thermal softening ink layer of the thermal transfer preprint ink ribbon and the main component of the binder are the same. ink ribbon. The thermal transfer ink ribbon and the thermal transfer preprinted ink ribbon, wherein the main component of the binder of claim 2 is an epoxy resin.