JP2013039791A - Transfer film and transfer method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a transfer film that can supply ink to an ink receiving layer by suppressing a decrease of an ink hit by an ink jetting method without preventing the ink from being received in the ink receiving layer, and to provide a transfer method.SOLUTION: The transfer film includes: an ink permeable layer 1 which has a gap having a hitting surface 5 to make the ink from the hitting surface 5 permeated thereon, and is charged in the same polarity as the ink so that the ink permeation is prompted in the gap; the ink receiving layer 2 which receives the ink passing through the ink permeable layer 1; and a support 4 and a protective layer 3 which are located opposed to the ink permeable layer 1 by sandwiching the ink receiving layer 2, support the ink permeable layer 1 and the ink receiving layer 2, and protect the ink receiving layer 2 and the ink permeable layer 1.

Description

  The present invention relates to a transfer film and a transfer method, and more particularly, to a transfer film and a transfer method for transferring a print image printed by an ink jet method to a printing object.

Inkjet systems are widely used because they can print at high speed with a simple mechanism, and printing has been attempted not only on paper but also on various printed materials such as cloth or fabric. In recent years, it has been demanded to print on an object to be printed such as the surface of a CD, DVD, or the surface of a resin molded product, which has no ink holding ability and is difficult to adhere, by an ink jet method.
In order to perform printing on such a substrate having low ink receptivity, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a film in which an ink receptive layer and an adhesive layer are laminated. By adhering this film to the printing material through an adhesive layer, an ink receiving layer is formed on the surface of the printing material, and ink is ejected onto the ink receiving layer on the printing material surface by an ink jet method. Thus, it is possible to form a printed image on a printing material having low ink receptivity. However, since printing is performed after the ink receiving layer is formed on the printing material, the ink ejection direction or the conveyance of the printing material is complicatedly handled when printing is performed depending on the shape of the printing material. There is a need.

Thus, for example, Patent Documents 2 and 3 disclose transfer films that transfer a printed image to a printing material by printing on the ink receiving layer and then adhering to the printing material.
The transfer film disclosed in Patent Document 2 is obtained by adding a thermoplastic resin to the ink receiving layer, and by thermally adhering the transfer film printed on the ink receiving layer by the inkjet method to the object to be printed with the thermoplastic resin, The printed image is transferred to the substrate.
In addition, in the transfer film disclosed in Patent Document 3, an ink penetrating layer made of a thermoplastic resin is provided on the ink receiving layer, and ink ejected by the ink jet method penetrates the ink penetrating layer and receives the ink. After being received by the layer, the transfer film is thermally bonded to the substrate by the thermoplastic resin of the ink permeation layer.

JP 2002-321442 A JP 2000-233567 A JP 2002-370347 A

In order to thermally transfer a transfer film formed by printing with an ink jet to a printing material and form a good image on the printing material, the layer structure after the transfer film is thermally transferred has a structure of the printing material and ink. It is composed of a penetrating layer (thermal adhesive layer and light scattering layer), an ink receiving layer, and a protective layer, and it is necessary that the color material in the ink is not captured by the ink penetrating layer but only captured by the ink receiving layer. .
However, in the transfer films of Patent Documents 2 and 3, there is no detailed description about the configuration of the ink receiving layer, and when the ink receiving layer is configured by a normal method, the coloring material reaches the ink receiving layer and remains in the layer. It is difficult. Further, the transfer film of Patent Document 3 has a problem in that an ink ejected by an ink jet method does not easily reach the ink receiving layer because a dense film is formed by a thermoplastic resin in the ink permeation layer.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a conventional problem, and efficiently supplies ink ejected by the ink jet method to the ink receiving layer without hindering ink reception in the ink receiving layer. It is an object of the present invention to provide a transfer film and a transfer method that can be used.

  In order to achieve the above object, the transfer film according to the present invention permeates the ink ejected onto the droplet ejection surface by the ink jet method to receive the printed image therein, and adheres the droplet ejection surface to the printing object. A transfer film that transfers a print image received inside by being bonded to a printing material by being bonded by a function, and has a void for allowing ink to permeate from the droplet ejection surface as well as the droplet ejection surface, An ink penetrating layer made of a material charged to the same polarity as the polarity of the ink so as to promote ink permeation in the gap, an ink receiving layer for receiving ink that has passed through the ink penetrating layer, and the ink receiving layer. A support / protective layer that is located on the opposite side of the ink permeable layer and supports the ink permeable layer and the ink receiving layer and protects the ink receiving layer and the ink permeable layer. The those having laminated.

Here, in order to eject ink containing an anionic coloring material such as a pigment charged with an aqueous acidic dye or an anionic surfactant that deviates to an anion in the ink, It is preferable that the ink permeation layer is composed of charged particles and an aqueous polymer having an anionic polar group and is anionic.
In addition, the ink receiving layer may be composed of particles charged with a polarity opposite to the polarity of the ink so as to increase the amount of ink received, an aqueous polymer containing a charge control agent, or having a functional group of opposite polarity. preferable. Further, the ink receiving layer containing a cationic fixing agent can be provided in order to eject ink containing an anionic coloring material onto the droplet ejection surface.

The void may be formed with a size of 0.1 μm or more. The ink permeation layer may have a thickness of 3 μm to 10 μm.
The support / protective layer includes a support for supporting the ink permeation layer and the ink receiving layer, and a protective layer for protecting the ink receiving layer and the ink permeation layer. It is configured to abut and is peeled after the support is bonded to the printed material, so that the protective layer protects the printed material with the ink receiving layer and the ink penetrating layer interposed therebetween. Also good.

The ink receiving layer may include a plurality of ink receiving particles for holding ink between the particles.
The ink permeation layer preferably includes a plurality of thermoplastic resin particles for thermally bonding to a printing material, and the gap is formed by a gap between the plurality of thermoplastic resin particles. Further, the plurality of thermoplastic particles may contain light scattering particles that scatter light. Further, the ink penetrating layer facing the print image received by the ink receiving layer by ejecting light scattering particles that scatter light to the same position on the ink ejection surface where the ink is ejected by an ink jet method. It is also possible to position the light scattering particles only on a part of the light scattering particles.
In addition, the ink is ejected from the ink permeation layer to the ink receiving layer by ejecting a penetrating liquid not containing a coloring material at the same position on the ink ejection surface where the ink has been ejected by an ink jet method. Is preferred.

  The transfer method according to the present invention is a transfer method for transferring any of the transfer films described above to a printing material, wherein the ink is applied to the droplet ejection surface of the transfer film moving in a certain direction by an ink jet method. Ink penetrates into the ink penetrating layer composed of a material charged with the same polarity as the polarity of the ejected ink, and the ink receiving layer sequentially receives the ink that has passed through the ink penetrating layer. Then, the droplet ejection surface of the transfer film in which the print image is received by the ink receiving layer is brought into contact with the printed material, and the transfer film is thermally bonded to transfer the printed image to the printed material.

  According to the present invention, the ink penetrating layer has a plurality of thermoplastic resins for forming a void for penetrating the ink and thermally adhering to the printing material, and is charged to the same polarity as the ink has. Therefore, the ink ejected by the ink jet method can be efficiently supplied to the ink receiving layer without hindering the ink receiving in the ink receiving layer.

It is sectional drawing which shows the transfer film which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the ink permeable layer of a transfer film. It is sectional drawing which shows the ink receiving layer of a transfer film. It is a figure which shows the structure of the printing transfer apparatus which transfers a printing image using the transfer film which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of the other print transfer apparatus used in Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a transfer film according to Embodiment 2. FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of the printing transfer apparatus which transfers a printing image using the transfer film which concerns on Embodiment 2. FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a printed material on which a print image has been transferred using a transfer film according to Embodiment 2. The printed material is shown on which the print image is transferred. (A) shows the transfer film according to the first embodiment, and (b) shows the print image transferred using the transfer film according to the second embodiment. It is a substrate. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a transfer film according to Embodiment 3. FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of the further another printing transfer apparatus which transfers a printing image using a transfer film.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

Embodiment 1
In FIG. 1, the structure of the transfer film which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention is shown. The transfer film includes an ink permeation layer 1 that permeates ink ejected by the ink jet method, an ink receptive layer 2 that accepts and passes the ink that has passed through the ink permeation layer 1, and a print image that is received by the ink receptive layer 2. The protective layer 3 that protects the film and the film-like support 4 that supports these layers are laminated in the thickness direction.
The ink permeation layer 1 has a droplet ejection surface 5 on which ink is ejected by an ink jet method, and has a gap for allowing the ink deposited on the droplet ejection surface 5 to penetrate. The ink permeation layer 1 includes a thermoplastic resin for thermally bonding to the printing material P. The ink receiving layer 2 is disposed in contact with the surface opposite to the droplet ejection surface 5 of the ink permeation layer 1.
The protective layer 3 is in contact with the ink receiving layer 2, and when the transfer film is thermally bonded to the printed material P via the ink permeable layer 1, the ink permeable layer 1 and the ink receiving material are received between the protective material 3 and the printed material P. Layer 2 is protected. For the protective layer 3, resins such as water-based polyester and water-based acrylic, or resins having releasability such as waxes, silicone wax, and silicone resin can be used.
The support 4 is made by processing a resin that is in contact with the protective layer 3 and has heat resistance with respect to the heating temperature when the transfer film is thermally bonded to the printing material P. Polyester resin such as PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and PEN (polyethylene naphthalate), polycarbonate resin, acrylic resin, polyimide resin and the like having heat resistance against the above can be used. The support 4 is peeled off between the protective layer 3 and the support 4 or from the middle of the protective layer 3 after the transfer film is thermally bonded to the substrate P.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the ink permeation layer 1. The voids of the ink permeation layer 1 are formed by gaps L between a plurality of thermoplastic resin particles 6 that are dispersed and present throughout the layer. Each gap L of the thermoplastic resin particles 6 is continuous in the thickness direction, so that a void penetrating the ink permeation layer 1 is formed, and ink ejected onto the droplet ejection surface 5 through this void is ink permeation layer 1. And is supplied to the ink receiving layer 2.
For this reason, the gap L (inter-particle distance) of the thermoplastic resin particles 6 is adjusted to 0.1 μm or more by selecting the particle size and particle distribution so as not to prevent the penetration of the ink. The particle size of the thermoplastic resin particles 6 is preferably 0.1 μm to 10 μm so as not to prevent the penetration of the ink and to prevent the ink from diffusing in the direction parallel to the film. The thermoplastic resin particles 6 have a softening temperature so as not to hinder ink permeability by softening or forming a film at an ambient temperature such as room temperature until the transfer film is thermally bonded to the printing material P. Those having a temperature of 100 ° C. to 150 ° C. are preferable, for example, styrene copolymer pair resins such as styrene, acrylic and butadiene, polyolefin resins, resins made of polymethacrylic acid and derivatives thereof, acrylic ester resins, and polyacrylamide resins. Polyester resins, polyamide resins, and the like can be used.

The ink permeation layer 1 is charged with the same polarity as the polarity of the ink so that the permeation of the ink in the gap is promoted. For example, the ink permeation layer 1 can be charged to the same polarity as the ink by dispersing the thermoplastic resin particles 6 forming the voids with a charge control agent having the same polarity as the color material in the ink.
As such a charge control agent, when the ink contains an anionic coloring material such as an acid dye, or an ink having a pigment dispersion charged with an anionic surfactant, the ink has an anionic polarity. A charge control agent is used. That is, as the anionic charge control agent, one that becomes an anion when dissociated in water is used, for example, one having a carboxylic acid, sulfonic acid, or phosphoric acid structure as a hydrophilic group. Specifically, fatty acid salts and cholates that are the main components of soap are used as carboxylic acid-based charge control agents, and linear alkylbenzene sodium sulfonate, sodium lauryl sulfate, and monoalkyl sulfate are used as sulfonic acid-based charge control agents. A monoalkyl phosphate or the like can be used as a charge control agent having a phosphate structure in which a salt or alkylpolyoxyethylene sulfate is used.
On the other hand, when the ink contains a cationic coloring material such as an alkaline dye, a cationic charge control agent is used. That is, as the cationic charge control agent, one that becomes a cation when dissociated in water is used, for example, one having tetraalkylammonium as a hydrophilic group. Specifically, alkyltrimethylammonium salt, dialkyldimethylammonium salt, alkylbenzyldimethylammonium salt, or the like can be used.

Further, the ink permeation layer 1 can contain light scattering particles 7 for scattering light. As the image of the transfer film after being transferred to the printing material P, an image depending on the optical reflectance of the printing material P is observed. For example, when the printing material P is transparent or black, light scattering does not occur on the surface of the printing material P, and the image formed on the transfer film cannot be observed with high contrast. Therefore, by providing a light scattering function by the light scattering particles 7 to the ink permeation layer 1, these problems are solved, and a printed image P having any characteristic has a white background and a contrast image is observed. I can do it.
The light scattering particles 7 are dispersed and contained in the thermoplastic resin particles 6 so that the coloring material in the ink adheres to the surface and does not hinder the penetration of the ink. The light scattering particles 7 preferably have a refractive index of 0.1 or more with the binder resin after being thermally bonded to the printing material P. For example, white inorganic pigments such as titanium oxide, zinc oxide, barium sulfate, and alumina. Alternatively, organic resin fine particles such as polycarbonate and acrylic can be used. These fine particles having a high refractive index can be dispersed in a thermoplastic resin having a low refractive index and formed into particles by a known method such as pulverization.
Furthermore, the ink permeation layer 1 contains tackifier particles 8 for improving the adhesion to the printing material P in a dispersed manner. As the tackifier particles 8, rosin, rosin ester, alicyclic resin, phenol resin, chlorinated polyolefin resin, or the like can be used. The tackifier may be contained in the thermoplastic resin particles 6 without being dispersed in the ink permeation layer 1 as particles. By incorporating the tackifier into the thermoplastic resin at the time of thermal transfer, it is possible to reinforce the adhesive force with the printing material.

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the ink receiving layer 2. The ink receiving layer 2 is formed by fixing a plurality of ink receiving particles 9 insoluble in ink with a binder, and ink is received in each gap of the ink receiving particles 9. Here, the ink receiving particles 9 can be selected from those that do not cause aggregation with the fixing agent for fixing the coloring material in the ink between the ink receiving particles 9, and for example, non-polar or low-polarity ones are selected.
As the ink receiving particles 9, polymer fine particles such as polyolefin, acrylic, polystyrene, and polyester, or inorganic fine particles such as calcium carbonate, kaolin, aluminum silicate, calcium silicate, colloidal silica, alumina, and aluminum hydroxide can be used. As the binder for fixing the ink receiving particles 9, water-soluble polymers such as gelatin, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, alginic acid, aqueous polyester, aqueous acrylic resin, and the like can be used.
If the ink receiving layer 2 itself that holds the color material in the ink has an optical scattering ability, the color intensity of the color material is lowered, resulting in an image having no contrast. The ink receiving layer 2 is preferably transparent without light scattering.
The ink receiving particles 9 are colorless and have a particle size smaller than the wavelength of visible light, or are colorless and fix the ink receiving particles 9 in order to make the ink receiving layer 2 transparent by suppressing light scattering and light absorption. It is preferable to use a material having a refractive index difference of 0.1 or less with respect to the binder. As a combination in which the difference in refractive index between the ink receiving particles 9 and the binder is 0.1 or less, for example, silica can be used for the ink receiving particles 9 and PVA can be used for the binder.

  It is desirable that the ink receiving layer 2 does not move by fixing the coloring material on the surface of the ink receiving particles 9. For this reason, it is desirable that the surface of the ink receiving particles 9 be treated so as to have a polarity opposite to that of the ink. For example, the ink receiving layer 2 can be charged with a polarity opposite to that of the ink by including the fixing agent having a polarity opposite to the polarity of the color material in the ink to form the ink receiving layer 2. As such a fixing agent, when the ink contains an anionic coloring material, it has a primary to quaternary ammonium group such as dicyandiamide, diethylenetriamine, dimethylamine, diallyldimethylammonium chloride having a cationic polarity. Things can be used. On the other hand, when the ink contains a cationic coloring material, an anionic fixing agent such as a water-soluble or water-dispersible polymer having a carboxylic acid, sulfonic acid, or phosphoric acid structure as a hydrophilic group Can be used. Specifically, animal and vegetable oils and fats, soda salts such as alkylbenzene sulfonic acids and alkylnaphthalene sulfonic acids, potassium salts and the like can be used.

Next, an example of the manufacturing method of the transfer film shown in FIG. 1 will be described.
A water-dispersed polyolefin is applied as a protective layer 3 on a support 4 made of a PET film having a thickness of 20 μm. The water-dispersed polyolefin is applied so that the thickness after drying is 0.3 μm to 5 μm. For example, a dispersion in which 0.5 μm-sized polyethylene particles are dispersed and a surfactant added can be applied. Moreover, the releasability of the support body 4 and the protective layer 3 can also be improved by adding wax particles, silicon wax or the like to the coating solution.

Next, a water-dispersed silica liquid is applied on the protective layer 3 as the ink receiving layer 2. The water-dispersed silica liquid is a fixing agent for fixing colloidal silica particles having a particle diameter of about 0.05 μm prepared by a gas phase forming method to 1% to 30% of binder resin and ink with respect to the volume of the silica particles. What is dispersed in a solution containing a cation polymer containing a quaternary ammonium group is usable.
Here, by setting the ratio of the binder resin to the silica particles from 1% to 30%, voids can be generated in 30% or more of the ink receiving layer 2, and the ink amount necessary for the printed image can be received. Is possible. Further, the ink receiving layer 2 preferably has a thickness after drying of about 5 μm or more in order to receive a desired amount of ink. For example, the ink receiving layer 2 is applied to a thickness of 10 μm to 20 μm by reverse roll coating or bar coating. Is done. In addition, the intensity | strength of a coating film can also be raised with little binder amount using the crosslinking reaction etc. of PVA and boric acid as a binder.

  Next, the ink permeation layer 1 is formed on the ink receiving layer 2. A polyolefin-based resin mainly composed of polyethylene can be used as the thermoplastic resin. By using resin particles having a softening point of 100 ° C. to 150 ° C., the particles remain as they are when stored at room temperature, and are softened during heat transfer to develop an adhesive force with the printed material P. In order to impart light scattering ability, the light scattering particles 7 are dispersed in the thermoplastic resin by suspension polymerization or wet granulation. For example, in the wet granulation method, the light scattering particles 7 are dispersed and kneaded into a thermoplastic resin melt to form a pellet. The pellets are granulated to a size of about 1 μm by vapor phase pulverization or wet granulation (such as a ball mill). The obtained thermoplastic resin particles 6 and the thermoplastic resin particles 6a including the light scattering particles 7 are dispersed in a solution containing a charge control agent having the same polarity as the colorant in the ink, and an aqueous binder is added to prepare a coating liquid. Is done. As the aqueous binder, a resin that does not aggregate with the above-described charge control agent can be used. Polyolefin resin-dispersed particles that form a film at room temperature, polyvinyl alcohol, and the like can be used. The thermoplastic resin particles 6, the thermoplastic resin particles 6 a in the coating liquid, and the thermoplastic resin particles 6 a in the coating liquid are secured so that a space can be secured between the thermoplastic resin particles 6 and the thermoplastic resin particles 6 a in the ink-penetrating layer 1 after the coating and drying. The concentration of the aqueous binder or the like is adjusted. Further, rosin ester is added as a tackifier to the coating solution in an amount of 2% to 30% with respect to the volume of the thermoplastic resin particles 6. The coating solution thus prepared is applied on the ink receiving layer so that the thickness after drying becomes 3 μm to 10 μm. Here, the ink penetrating layer 1 is preferably formed thin so as to capture the coloring material in the ink and not prevent the ink from penetrating. Is formed.

  Printing is performed by the ink jet method using the transfer film thus manufactured, and the printed image is transferred to the printing material P. When forming the ink permeation layer 1, the ink receiving layer 2, and the protective layer 3, respectively, when the upper layer coating liquid is applied after the lower layer is dried, the dried lower layer It is preferable to apply the coating liquid for the upper layer after improving the wettability by surfactant treatment, plasma treatment, corona treatment or the like. Moreover, when apply | coating the coating liquid of the upper layer from which a lower layer dries, it is preferable to apply | coat the coating liquid made high viscosity.

Next, a transfer method for transferring the print image to the printing material P will be described.
FIG. 4 shows a print transfer apparatus that prints a print image on a transfer film and transfers the print image to a printing material P. In this print transfer device, the transfer film is conveyed so that the droplet ejection surface 5 of the ink penetrating layer 1 faces the ink jet head, and after printing and drying, the droplet ejection surface 5 comes into contact with the printing material P. It is conveyed to.
The print transfer apparatus includes a droplet ejection amount calculation unit 21, and an inkjet head 23 is connected to the droplet ejection amount calculation unit 21 via a drive unit 22. Also, with respect to the transfer film transport direction. On the downstream side of the inkjet head 23, a heat drying device 24, a heating roller 25, and a peeling roller 26 are sequentially arranged.

  First, the droplet ejection amount calculation unit 21 calculates the amount of ink to be deposited on the transfer film, and the drive unit 22 applies a voltage corresponding to the ink amount calculated by the droplet ejection amount calculation unit 21 to the inkjet head 23. Apply to. The inkjet head 23 sequentially ejects ink amounts corresponding to the voltage applied by the driving unit 22 onto the transfer film conveyed so that the droplet ejection surface 5 faces the ink jet head 23.

The ink ejected from the ink jet head 23 onto the droplet ejection surface 5 of the transfer film penetrates the void formed in the ink permeation layer 1. Here, the voids through which the ink permeated were formed in a size of 0.1 μm or more without the thermoplastic resin filming, so that the ink was ejected onto the droplet ejection surface 5 without hindering the penetration of the ink. Ink can be infiltrated sequentially. Further, since the gap is formed by the thermoplastic resin particles 6 having a size of 0.1 μm to 10 μm, the ink can be permeated without diffusing in the direction parallel to the film. Furthermore, the material constituting the ink permeation layer 1 is charged to the same polarity as the polarity of the ink, and can promote ink permeation into the ink receiving layer without causing ink aggregation in the gap. Further, by containing the light scattering particles 7 in the thermoplastic resin particles 6, it is possible to suppress the ink coloring material from adsorbing to the light scattering particles 7.
Subsequently, the ink that has passed through the ink penetrating layer 1 is sequentially received by the ink receiving layer 2. In the ink receiving layer 2, ink is received by the gaps between the ink receiving particles 9. At this time, since the ink receiving layer 2 is charged with a polarity opposite to that of the ink, the ink fixing ability in the gaps of the ink receiving particles 9 can be improved.

  In this way, the ink received in the ink receiving layer 2 is dried by the heat drying device 24. As the heating / drying device 24, an apparatus for drying with an infrared lamp or hot air can be used. The transfer film after the ink is dried is conveyed so that the droplet ejection surface 5 of the ink permeation layer 1 and the printed material P are in contact with each other, and the droplet ejection surface 5 is brought into contact with the printed material P by the heating roller 25. And the thermoplastic resin particles 6 and the tackifier particles 8 of the ink permeation layer 1 are heated at a temperature at which they are softened. Thereby, the transfer film is thermally bonded to the printing material P via the ink permeation layer 1. Further, the light-scattering particles 7 contained in the thermoplastic resin particles 6 are dispersed in the ink permeation layer 1 by the softening of the thermoplastic resin particles 6. Subsequently, the transfer film is conveyed in a state of being adhered to the printing material P, and the support 4 of the transfer film is peeled off at the interface between the protective layer 3 and the support 4 or in the middle of the protective layer 3 by the peeling roller 26. As a result, the protective layer 3 of the transfer film protects the printed image with the printed material P sandwiched between them, and the transfer of the printed image onto the printed material P is completed.

  As described above, the transfer film according to the present embodiment has a penetrating ability that allows a plurality of thermoplastic resin particles 6 to permeate without disturbing the ink by forming voids in the ink penetrating layer 1 and the printing material P. It is possible to achieve both thermal bonding ability. Furthermore, the ink permeation layer 1 is charged to the same polarity as the polarity of the ink to promote the permeation of the ink in the gap, and is supplied to the ink receiving layer 2 without reducing the amount of ink color material ejected by the ink jet method. can do. Further, since the light scattering particles 7 are present between the ink receiving layer 2 that has received the print image and the substrate P, that is, the lower side of the print image as viewed from the protective layer 3 side, the light scattering is scattered in the same layer as the print image. Compared with the presence of the particles 7, the coloring of the color material of the printed image can be improved.

As shown in FIG. 5, the print transfer device includes an inkjet head 27 for ejecting the penetrating liquid onto the transfer film on the downstream side of the inkjet head 23 with respect to the conveyance direction of the printing material P. Also good. Here, the penetrating liquid is mainly composed of a solvent or a dispersion medium used for dissolving or dispersing the ink coloring material. For example, the main solvent of the ink has wettability to the ink penetrating layer 1. What added the surfactant for improving can be used. In addition, a high-boiling solvent such as ethylene glycol or glycerin can be added to the penetrant in order to control the drying property.
A penetrating liquid not containing a coloring material is ejected by the inkjet head 27 at the same position on the droplet ejection surface 5 of the transfer film on which the ink is ejected by the inkjet head 23. At this time, it is preferable that the penetrating liquid ejects an amount equivalent to the liquid retaining ability of the ink penetrating layer 1. The penetrating liquid deposited on the droplet ejection surface 5 penetrates the gaps in the ink penetrating layer 1 and pushes ink remaining in the ink penetrating layer 1 to the ink receiving layer 2. As a result, the ink ejected by the ink jet method is received by the ink receiving layer 2 without remaining in the ink permeation layer 1, so that when the transfer film is transferred to the printing material P, a desired printed image is displayed. Can be obtained.

  In addition, in the ink permeation layer 1, when the thermoplastic resin particles 6 can be adhered to the printed material P only, the tackifier particles 8 may not be used and the ink is transferred to the printed material P. If the surface of the object to be printed has a sufficient light scattering ability in the printed image, the light scattering particles 7 may not be used.

Embodiment 2
FIG. 6 shows the configuration of the transfer film F according to the second embodiment. This transfer film F is provided with an ink permeation layer 31 that does not contain the light scattering particles 7 instead of the ink permeation layer 1 in the transfer film F of Embodiment 1 shown in FIG.

With respect to such a transfer film F, the print image S is transferred onto the substrate P using the print transfer apparatus shown in FIG. This print transfer apparatus includes an inkjet head 33 that ejects a light scattering treatment liquid containing light scattering particles 32 onto a transfer film F on the downstream side of the inkjet head 23 with respect to the conveyance direction of the printing material P.
The light scattering treatment liquid is ejected by the inkjet head 33 at the same position on the droplet ejection surface 5 of the transfer film F on which the ink is ejected by the inkjet head 23. Here, the light scattering particles 32 have a particle size equal to or larger than the size of the voids of the ink penetrating layer 31 so as to stay in the ink penetrating layer 31 and not reach the ink receiving layer 2. Further, the inkjet head 33 performs droplet ejection with a droplet ejection size such that the light scattering particles 32 are evenly included in the light scattering treatment liquid. For example, when the particle size of the light scattering particles 32 is 0.1 μm, the light scattering treatment liquid can be ejected with a droplet ejection size of 10 μm or more. Thereby, the light scattering particles 32 can be positioned only in a part of the ink permeation layer 31 facing the print image S received by the ink receiving layer 2. For this reason, when the transfer film F is transferred to the substrate P, the light scattering particles 32 exist only on the lower side of the print image S as viewed from the protective layer 3 side, as shown in FIG. Printing without the light scattering particles 32 can be performed below the portion where S is not present.

  As shown in FIG. 9A, when the print image S printed on the transfer film F according to the first embodiment is transferred to the printing material P, the print image is printed at the portion where the transfer film F is adhered. Not only the lower side of S but also the portion where the print image S does not exist is reflected as white because the light scattering particles 7 exist. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 9B, when the print image S printed on the transfer film F according to the second embodiment is transferred to the substrate P, only the lower side of the print image S is displayed. In addition, the light scattering particles 32 can be present, and the color of the color material of the print image S can be improved, and the color of the printing material P can be reflected as it is in the portion where the print image S does not exist.

Embodiment 3
FIG. 10 shows the configuration of the transfer film according to the third embodiment. This transfer film F is the transfer film according to Embodiment 1 shown in FIG. 1, and includes a support / protective layer 41 instead of the protective layer 3 and the support 4. The support / protection layer 41 supports the ink permeation layer 1 and the ink receiving layer 2 and, when the transfer film is bonded to the printing material P, between the ink receiving layer 2 and the ink permeation layer. The layer 1 is protected by sandwiching it.
After the ink is deposited on the droplet ejection surface 5 of the transfer film by the inkjet head 23 of the print transfer device, the transfer film is thermally bonded to the print substrate P through the ink permeation layer 1, so that the print substrate P The transfer of the printed image to is completed. That is, after the transfer film is bonded to the printing material P, the support / protection layer 41 protects the printed image with the printing material P as it is without being peeled off by the peeling roller.
By adopting such a transfer film configuration, it is possible to reduce the labor required for manufacturing the transfer film or transferring the print image to the printing material P.
Note that the transfer film according to Embodiment 2 can be similarly provided with a support / protective layer 41 in place of the protective layer 3 and the support 4.

  In addition, when transferring the transfer film according to Embodiments 1 to 3 to the printed material P, the ink ejection amount is sequentially corrected by feeding back the result of transferring the printed image to the printed material P. You can also.

An example of a print transfer apparatus that performs such a transfer method is shown in FIG. In this print transfer device, a measuring device 51 is arranged on the downstream side of the peeling roller 26 with respect to the conveyance direction of the substrate P, and a print result measurement value input unit 52 is connected to the measurement device 51 and the print result measurement value is measured. The input unit 52 is connected to the droplet ejection amount calculation unit 21.
The measuring device 51 measures optical characteristics obtained from the optical sensor 53 arranged on the front side of the printing material P. When the printing material P is made of a transparent material, an optical sensor 54 is also arranged on the back side of the printing material P, and the measuring device 51 measures optical characteristics obtained from the front side and the back side, respectively. The measurement value obtained by the measurement device 51 is input to the print result measurement value input unit 52, and the result of transferring the print image to the substrate P is fed back. The droplet ejection amount calculation unit 21 obtains the ink ejection amount corrected for realizing the target color development for each region of the printing material P based on the measurement value input from the print result measurement value input unit 52. . The drive unit 22 drives the inkjet head 23 in accordance with the ink droplet ejection amount corrected in this manner, and printing on the transfer film is performed.

  As described above, since the result of transferring the print image to the printing material P is fed back and printed on the transfer film again based on the corrected ink droplet ejection amount, when the initial ink droplet ejection amount is poor, or Even when the physical properties of the ink and the transfer film are changed, variation in color development can be effectively suppressed.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,31 Ink penetration layer, 2 Ink receiving layer, 3 Protective layer, 4 Support body, 5 droplet ejection surface, 6, Thermoplastic resin particle, 6a Thermoplastic resin particle containing light scattering particle, 7 Light scattering particle, 8 Tackifier Particles, 9 Ink receiving particles, 21 Drop ejection amount calculation unit, 22 Drive unit, 23, 27, 33 Inkjet head, 24 Heat drying device, 25 Heating roller, 26 Peeling roller, 32 Light scattering particle, 41 Support / protection layer, 51 measurement device, 52 print result measurement value input unit, 53, 54 optical sensor, P substrate, F transfer film, S print image.

Claims (13)

The ink ejected onto the droplet ejection surface by the ink jet method is permeated to receive the print image inside, and the print image received inside is printed by being adhered to the printed material through the droplet ejection surface. A transfer film to be transferred to an object,
An ink permeation layer that has the droplet ejection surface and a gap for allowing ink to penetrate from the droplet ejection surface, and is charged to the same polarity as the polarity of the ink so as to promote the penetration of the ink in the void;
An ink receiving layer for receiving ink that has passed through the ink penetrating layer;
Laminated on the opposite side of the ink penetrating layer with the ink receiving layer interposed therebetween, and supporting and protecting the ink penetrating layer and the ink receiving layer and protecting the ink receiving layer and the ink penetrating layer. A transfer film characterized by being prepared as described above. In order to eject ink containing an anionic coloring material onto the droplet ejection surface,
The transfer film according to claim 1, further comprising the ink permeation layer containing an anionic charge control agent.   The transfer film according to claim 1, wherein the ink receiving layer is made of a material charged to a polarity opposite to that of a color material in the ink so as to increase the amount of ink received. In order to eject ink containing an anionic coloring material onto the droplet ejection surface,
The transfer film according to claim 3, further comprising the ink receiving layer containing a cationic fixing agent.   The transfer film according to claim 1, wherein the gap is formed to have a size of 0.1 μm or more.   The transfer film according to claim 1, wherein the ink permeation layer has a thickness of 3 μm to 10 μm. The support / protective layer includes a support that supports the ink-permeable layer and the ink-receiving layer, and a protective layer that protects the ink-receiving layer and the ink-permeable layer. Configured
The said support body peels after adhere | attaching on a to-be-printed object, The said protective layer protects on both sides of the said ink receiving layer and the said ink penetration layer between to-be-printed objects. The transfer film according to claim 1.   The transfer film according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the ink receiving layer includes a plurality of ink receiving particles for holding ink between the particles. The ink permeation layer includes a plurality of thermoplastic resin particles for thermally bonding to a printing object,
The transfer film according to claim 1, wherein the void is formed by a gap between the plurality of thermoplastic resin particles.   The transfer film according to claim 9, wherein the plurality of thermoplastic particles contain light scattering particles that scatter light.   A part of the ink permeation layer facing the printed image received by the ink receiving layer by ejecting light scattering particles that scatter light at the same position on the ink ejection surface where the ink has been ejected by an ink jet method. The transfer film according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the light-scattering particles are located only on the transfer film.   The penetrating liquid containing no coloring material was ejected by the ink jet method at the same position on the droplet ejection surface where the ink was ejected, so that the ink was pushed out from the ink penetrating layer to the ink receiving layer by the penetrating liquid. The transfer film as described in any one of Claims 1-11. A transfer method for transferring the transfer film according to any one of claims 1 to 12 to a printing material,
Suitable for sequentially depositing ink on the droplet ejection surface of the transfer film moving in a certain direction by an inkjet method,
Ink penetrates into the ink permeation layer charged to the same polarity as the polarity of the ejected ink,
The ink receiving layer sequentially receives ink that has passed through the ink penetrating layer,
The printed image is brought into contact with the printed material on the droplet ejection surface of the transfer film received by the ink receiving layer,
A transfer method, wherein the transfer film is thermally bonded to transfer a print image onto a substrate.

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