JP3135084B2 - Image receiving medium for sublimation thermal transfer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image receiving medium for sublimation thermal transfer which forms an image by heat, and more particularly to an image receiving medium for sublimation thermal transfer used in combination with a thermal transfer recording medium having a transfer layer containing a thermosublimable dye. About the body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A sublimation type thermal transfer recording system using a thermal transfer recording medium having a transfer layer containing a thermal sublimation dye and an image receiving medium receiving the dye sublimated by thermal printing from the back of the recording medium is an excellent intermediate. In recent years, attention has been paid to providing full-color hard copies that are close to color photographs and capable of tonal recording. Conventionally, as an image receiving medium used in this recording method, a medium in which a dyeing layer made of a thermoplastic polyester resin having a strong dyeing property to a sublimation dye is formed on a base material (synthetic paper or the like). Used. However, since this polyester resin has low heat resistance, it has a disadvantage that it fuses with a transfer recording medium (color sheet) during recording.

In order to solve this problem, for example, an image receiving medium having a dyeing layer composed of, for example, a heat-resistant binder or a composition obtained by mixing a radically polymerizable resin and a thermoplastic resin (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 212994, 58-215398, etc.) or an image receiving medium in which a heat-resistant layer of a curable resin is provided on a dyeing layer made of a thermoplastic resin (JP-A-61-127392). .

[0004]

However, although the use of such an image receiving medium has the effect of improving heat resistance and preventing fusion, it causes a problem that the storability of an image is reduced. An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problem and to provide an image receiving medium without heat fusion.

[0005]

The image-receiving medium for sublimation transfer of the present invention is an image-receiving body provided with a dye-receiving layer capable of dyeing a sublimable dye on a substrate, wherein the receiving layer contains a higher fatty acid cholesterol ester. It is characterized by the following.

[0006] Specific examples of the higher fatty acid cholesterol ester used in the present invention include the following. Examples include cholesterol palmitate, cholesterol stearate, cholesterol myristate, cholesterol caprate, cholesterol enanthate, cholesterol hydrogen phthalate, cholesterol hydrogen succinate, cholesterol acetate, cholesterol chloroacetate, cholesterol chloroformate and the like. Particularly preferred is cholesterol palmitate, which is particularly excellent in that it imparts the necessary lubricity during transcription to the thermal transfer receptor.

In the present invention, the higher fatty acid cholesterol ester in the dye receiving layer functions to impart lubricity to the receiving layer. However, if the amount of the compound in the receiving layer is too large, a problem occurs in image storability. If the amount is too small, lubricity is unlikely to occur, so that the content of the higher fatty acid cholesterol ester is preferably 30% or more and less than 100 with respect to the dye receiving layer resin.

In the image receiving medium of the present invention, the main dyeing material constituting the dyeing layer is not particularly limited as long as it is a resin having a dyeing property to a sublimation dye. Examples include vinyl resins, vinyl chloride / vinyl acetate copolymer resins, acrylic resins, and nylon resins. However, those having a glass transition temperature of 80 ° C. or less are preferred.

In the present invention, the dyeing layer contains a surfactant, various fine particles (for example, inorganic fine particles such as SiO ₂ , TiO ₂ , CaCO _{3 and the} like, and organic fine particles such as a fluorine-based resin), and an ultraviolet ray absorbing agent. Agents, antioxidants and the like can also be included as appropriate. In addition, the thickness of the dyeing layer is preferably about 1 to 20 μm, particularly preferably 1 to 10 μm.

As the base material in the image receiving medium of the present invention, synthetic paper, art paper, woodfree paper, coated paper, gravure paper, baryta paper, cellulose fiber paper, plastic film and the like may be used alone or in a laminate thereof. It is preferably used. In addition, the coating amount of the dyeing layer on the substrate is preferably 0.1 to 20 g / m in terms of solid content.

[0011]

Next, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to examples. In addition, all the parts shown below are based on weight. [Example 1] A mixed solution having the following composition was sufficiently mixed and dispersed to prepare a coating agent for a dyeing layer [Solution A]. [Solution A] Polyester resin (trade name; Byron 200, manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.) 20 parts Cholesterol stearate 2 parts Methyl ethyl ketone 40 parts Toluene 40 parts Next, [Solution A] is synthesized paper having a thickness of about 150 μm using a wire bar. (Trade name; YUPO FPG-150; manufactured by Oji Yuka Synthetic Paper Co., Ltd.) and dried at a drying temperature of 80 ° C. for 1 minute to a thickness of 4 μm.
To form an image receiving medium of the present invention. On the other hand, as a sublimation transfer recording medium, a 6 μm thick polyester (PET) film provided with a silicone cured resin (1 μm thickness) in the back layer was coated with an ink layer coating agent [B
) Was applied to a thickness of about 1 μm to obtain a transfer recording medium. [Solution B] Polyvinyl butyral resin (trade name; BX-1, manufactured by Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd.) 10 parts Sublimation disperse dye for cyan (trade name: Kayaset 714, manufactured by Nippon Kayaku Co., Ltd.) 6 parts Methyl ethyl ketone 45 parts Toluene 45 parts obtained The transfer recording medium and the image receiving medium are overlapped so that the ink layer (ie, dye transfer layer) of the transfer recording medium and the dyeing layer of the image receiving medium face each other. A recording was made. The recording density of the summer head was 6 dots / mm, and the recording output was 0.42 w / dot.

Example 2 An image receiving medium was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that cholesterol stearate in [Solution A] was changed to 30 parts.

Example 3 An image receiving medium was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1, except that cholesterol stearate in [Solution A] was changed to 15 parts.

Example 4 An image receiving medium was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the following [Solution C] was used instead of [Solution A]. [Liquid C] Polyester resin (trade name; Byron 200, manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.) 20 parts Cholesterol palmitate 10 parts Methyl ethyl ketone 40 parts Toluene 40 parts

[Comparative Example] A mixture having the following composition was thoroughly mixed and stirred to prepare a coating agent for dyeing layer [D solution]. [Solution D] Polyester resin (trade name: Byron 200, manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.) 20 parts Methyl ethyl ketone 40 parts Toluene 40 parts Next, [Solution D] was synthesized using a wire bar to a synthetic paper having a thickness of about 150 μm (trade name: YUPO). FPG-150) and drying temperature 8
After drying at 0 ° C. for 1 minute to form a dyeing layer having a thickness of 5 μm, an image receiving medium for comparison was prepared. Subsequently, image recording was performed in the same manner as in Example 1.

Table 1 shows the results of Examples 1 to 4 and Comparative Example.

[Table 1] Storage: Change in image after storage in a dark place at 60 ° C. for 100 hours is visually judged. ○: Good △: Slightly poor

[0017]

According to the present invention, in a sublimation transfer image receiving medium provided with a dye receiving layer capable of dyeing a sublimable dye on a substrate, thermal fusion during thermal transfer is prevented by using a higher fatty acid cholesterol ester in the receiving layer. And the higher fatty acid ester in the dye-receiving layer is 30 to 80
%, An image receiving medium having good storability of a recorded image can be obtained.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-60-212394 (JP, A) JP-A-62-23793 (JP, A) JP-A-4-320890 (JP, A) JP-A 63-203 205287 (JP, A) JP-A-64-11889 (JP, A) JP-A-1-271290 (JP, A) JP-A-2-117892 (JP, A) JP-A-3-295684 (JP, A) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41M 5/38-5/40

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A sublimation thermal transfer image receiving medium provided with a dye receiving layer capable of dyeing a sublimable dye on a substrate, wherein the receiving layer contains a higher fatty acid cholesterol ester. . 2. The image receiving medium for sublimation thermal transfer according to claim 1, wherein the higher fatty acid cholesterol ester is cholesteryl palmitate. 3. The image receiving medium for sublimation thermal transfer according to claim 1, wherein in the dyeable dye receiving layer, the content of the higher fatty acid cholesterol ester is 30% or more and less than 80% with respect to the resin in the receiving layer.