JP3218544B2 - Thermal transfer recording media for clothing labels - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording medium for clothing labels, and more particularly, to an image having excellent dry cleaning resistance and washing resistance and excellent resolution. The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording medium that can be effectively used for a customer-managed cleaning label or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in the cleaning industry, there has been an increasing movement to attach a cleaning tag containing a bar code to laundry and to perform distribution management. At present, they are used by printing on wash-resistant paper or laminating a film such as polyester on the image printed by a laser printer, but the former uses different information such as product number, store number, amount, etc. The disadvantage is that the cost is high because a small amount of paper is printed, and because it is not on-demand, it runs out of stock.The latter is on-demand but very expensive due to lamination on the image. was there.

[0003] Therefore, many thermal transfer sheets (ink sheets) for clothing labels have been proposed. In particular, when the ink layer of the thermal transfer sheet is formed on the object to be transferred in a pattern, studies to make the image formed on the object to exhibit good cleaning resistance have been made energetically. I have. The fact that such an effect is expressed depends on the fixing property of a binder resin, which is one of the components of the thermal transfer layer (ink layer).

[0004] For example, (1) a polyamide resin and an amorphous polyester resin and / or an epoxy resin are used as a binder resin (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-244593). An amorphous polyester resin having an average molecular weight of 10,000 or less, preferably having a glass transition temperature of 50 to 80 ° C and a number average molecular weight of 500
An aromatic polyester containing a bisphenol component of 0 or less is used (JP-A-62-13384), and (3) a polymerized fatty acid-based polyamide resin is used (JP-A-62-66).
No. 991), and (4) at least one of vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer resin, acryl-vinyl acetate copolymer resin, methacryl-vinyl acetate copolymer resin, and vinyl acetate resin is used (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. No. 56490),
(5) Using butyral resin (JP-A-63-8278)
No. 6), (6) a fatty acid amide or a fatty acid imide having a melting point of 120 ° C. or more and a polyamide resin or a vinyl resin having a melting point of 100 ° C. or more (JP-A-63-1797)
No. 91).

On the other hand, most of the resins used in the receiving layer of the transfer object overlap those of the ink sheet.

However, an image formed by combining these conventional ink sheets and a transfer medium dissolves or expands in a cleaning solvent (water, warm water, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, perchrene, naphtha, etc.). Further, the cleaning resistance has not been sufficiently satisfied because the adhesive force between the image and the transfer-receiving member cannot withstand washing.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides (1) a transfer image which has good ink transferability and can withstand dry cleaning and washing with water, and (2) improves print quality (particularly resolution and contrast). An object of the present invention is to provide a thermal transfer recording medium for clothing labels which is excellent in bar code decipherability and which can be attached to laundry with good workability and which cannot be washed.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided an ink sheet comprising a support and an ink layer comprising a coloring agent and a thermoplastic resin binder not soluble in a cleaning solvent as a main component, and another support. In a thermal transfer recording medium for clothing label, which is used in combination with a transfer receiving material having at least one surface of a receiving layer mainly composed of nylon ,
Support is foamed polyester, super calender
Non-woven fabric or washable with super calender
Paper having a Clark stiffness of 10 to 10
0 (preferably 20 to 80) and a reflectance of 50% or more. The present inventors have been conducting research and studies for solving the above-mentioned problems, but have found that it is effective to use an ink sheet in combination with a specific transfer object. . The present invention has been made based on this. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail.

First, the thermal transfer sheet (ink sheet) for clothing of the present invention is formed on a support directly or via a release layer.
An ink layer was formed.

The support is a plastic film having a thickness of about 3 to 10 μm, and examples thereof include a polyester film, a polycarbonate film, a polyimide film, a wholly aromatic polyamide film, a polyetheretherketone film, and a polysulfone film.

The adhesion amount of the ink layer is 0.1 to 3.0 g / m
^{2 It is} preferably about 0.5 to 2.0 g / m ² , and the ink layer is formed mainly of a coloring agent and a thermoplastic resin which does not dissolve in a cleaning solvent as a resin binder .

The colorant is preferably one which is not affected by the cleaning solvent, and carbon black, other inorganic pigments, organic dyes and the like are used. Among them, carbon black is particularly preferred.

As the thermoplastic resin which does not dissolve in the cleaning solvent, a desirable material may be appropriately selected from those described in the section of the prior art. In particular, nylon 12 and its copolymer, vinylidene fluoride, vinyl acetate containing An ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer resin having an amount of less than 20% is preferred because of its good solubility in a cleaning solvent and good thermal transferability. The melting point or softening point of these resins is desirably in the range of 80 to 200 ° C. However, those which become soluble in the cleaning solvent due to the molecular weight or denaturation are of course not preferable.

In addition to these thermoplastic resins, polyamide copolymers having a melting point of 80 to 150 ° C. (according to DSC method) and containing at least nylon 12 (polyamide copolymers copolymerized using at least a monomer of nylon 12) Polymers) are also useful. The melting point here is the main melting peak temperature when a differential calorimeter (DSC) is used.

As the polyamide (nylon) having a melting point of 80 to 200 ° C. or a copolymer thereof, there are, for example, the following: (3) Terpolymer (6/66/610 nylon) (mp 150 ° C) (6/66/12 nylon) (mp 119 ° C) (6/610/12 nylon) (m (p. 100 ° C)

The colorant / binder resin ratio is 20 / weight ratio.
80-90 / 10, preferably 30 / 70-70 / 30
It is. If the ratio of the coloring agent is higher than this, the ink layer tends to fall off from the support, or the formed image has insufficient rub resistance. Conversely, if the ratio of the coloring agent is smaller than this, the thermal transferability of the ink layer becomes insufficient.

In addition, other substances (eg, resin, wax, surfactant, etc.) may be added to the ink layer, if necessary, for the purpose of improving sensitivity, preventing the ink layer from falling off the support, and improving dispersibility. Although it can be added, the degree of its addition should be minimized so as not to reduce the cleaning resistance.

The ink layer material is used by dissolving or dispersing it in an appropriate solvent other than the cleaning solvent, or by dissolving and dispersing it.

A release layer may be provided between the support and the ink layer, if necessary. The release layer improves the releasability between the support and the ink layer (including the island-shaped ink) during printing. After being heated by the thermal head, it is melted by heat to form a low-viscosity liquid, and the heated part is not heated. What is necessary is just to be comprised so that a layer may be easily cut | disconnected near the interface of a part. Therefore, as a main component of the release layer, a wax-like substance that is hard at room temperature and melts when heated is preferably used.

Examples of such wax-like substances include natural waxes such as beeswax, carnauba wax, spermaceti, wood wax, candelilla wax, rice bran wax, montan wax, etc .: paraffin wax, microcrystalline wax, oxidized wax, Synthetic waxes such as ozokerite, ceresin, ester wax and polyethylene wax are preferably used, and higher fatty acids such as margaric acid, lauric acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, phloic acid and behenic acid: stearyl alcohol, behenyl alcohol and the like Higher alcohols: esters such as fatty acid esters of sorbitan; and amides such as stearinamide and oleinamide. In addition, isoprene rubber, butadiene rubber, ethylene propylene rubber, butyl rubber, and the like are used to impart elasticity to the release layer (to improve the adhesion between the ink sheet and the transfer target).
Rubbers such as nitrile rubber may be added, and / or an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer or ethylene-ethyl acrylate copolymer may be used to impart adhesiveness to the release layer (to prevent the release layer from falling off). Resins such as coalescence may be added.

The adhesion amount of the release layer is 0.1 to 5 g / m ^2, preferably 0.5 to 2.0 g / m ² .

On the other hand, in a thermal transfer recording medium comprising such a combination of a thermal transfer sheet (ink sheet) and a transfer object, the transfer object is a support (preferably a white support).
It has a receiving layer mainly composed of nylon and has a Clark stiffness of 10 to 100. If the Clark stiffness is low, wrinkles may occur during washing and the barcode may be difficult to read. Conversely, if it is too high, the barcode may be too hard and difficult to install, and the fabric may be easily damaged.

The thickness of the support of the transfer object is 30 to 20
A plastic film (including synthetic paper) of about 0 μm (preferably 50 to 150 μm), a foamed film, a cloth, a nonwoven fabric, a paper, and the like can be used.

Polyester, polypropylene, ethylene trifluoride, tetrachloroethylene, polycarbonate, nylon 6, nylon 1
2, a film having excellent heat resistance such as polyvinylidene chloride, cellulose triacetate, etc. can be exemplified.
A white pigment may be used by adding a white pigment or the like, or may be whitened by applying a matte effect on the surface or a paint containing a white pigment. The foamed film is obtained by adding a foaming agent to the above-described heat-resistant film and foaming by heating. The cloth is conventionally known, for example, rayon, acetate, nylon, polyester, acrylic, vinylon, polypropylene, artificial fibers such as Saran, or cotton,
Natural fibers such as silk, hemp, and wool can be used. The non-woven fabric is formed by laminating the above-mentioned artificial / natural fibers in a thin shape and bonding them with an adhesive to form a cloth. As for paper, paper-washing resistant paper having good washing properties is preferable. It is desirable to smooth it by using a paper-washing super calender or the like. The support itself does not dissolve in the cleaning solvent and must have heat resistance to withstand the temperature of the iron (heat of 150 ° C.).

The receiving layer of the transfer object is formed by coating a solution containing nylon as a main component or by laminating a nylon film. The receiving layer may be single-sided or double-sided.
Nylon that can be used here is nylon 6, nylon 6.
6,610 nylon, 8 nylon, 10 nylon, 11
Nylon, 12 nylon, 6/66/610 nylon,
There are 6/66/12 nylon, 6/610/12 nylon and the like, preferably those having a melting point of 110 to 250 ° C, more preferably those having a melting point of 150 to 250 ° C. If the melting point is too low, the iron resistance will be poor, and if it is too high, the thermal sensitivity of printing will be poor.

Other resins for improving the sensitivity, improving the adhesion to the support (improving the washing resistance), improving the whiteness, etc.
Waxes, white pigments, fluorescent dyes, dispersants and the like can also be added, but should be in a minimum amount that does not reduce the cleaning resistance.

The thickness of the receiving layer is 1 to 100 μm, preferably 5 to 50 μm. If it is too thin, the washing resistance is inferior. If it is too thick, the Clark stiffness is too large, and the workability of attaching the tag is deteriorated, and the clothing is easily damaged. The receiving layer has a surface smoothness of 300 seconds or more, preferably 500 seconds or more. If the time is less than 300 seconds, a clear transfer image may not be obtained.

The reflectance of the transfer object is desirably 50% or more in order to read a bar code, and is preferably white, but may be colored light yellow, red line, blue, or the like.

Next, examples and comparative examples will be described. Parts here are by weight.

Example 1 A nylon film having a thickness of about 10 μm (mp 215 ° C.) was laminated on one side of a foamed polyester film having a thickness of about 50 μm by a dry lamination method using a urethane adhesive to prepare a transfer object. The Clark stiffness of this transferred object is 22, the reflectance is 75%, and the surface smoothness is 30,000.
Seconds. On the other hand, a peeling solution prepared by dispersing a mixture consisting of 9 parts of carnauba wax, 1 part of ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer and 90 parts of toluene on one side of a polyester film having a thickness of about 4.5 μm for 12 hours using a ball mill has a dry adhesion amount. It is applied with a wire bar so as to be about 1 g / m ² , dried at 35 ° C. for 2 minutes to form a release layer, and further thereon 5 parts of nylon 6/66/12 nylon (mp 120 ° C.) 5 parts of carbon black A mixture of 45 parts of methanol and 45 parts of toluene was dispersed in a ball mill for 12 hours, and an ink liquid prepared was applied by a wire bar so as to have a dry adhesion amount of about 1 g / m ² , dried at 60 ° C. for 2 minutes, and dried. Was formed. Further, a mixture consisting of 10 parts of silicon-modified acrylic resin and 90 parts of methyl ethyl ketone on the ink layer and the reflection side was dried with a wire bar to a coating weight of about 0.5.
g / m ² and dried (at 60 ° C. for 1 minute) to prepare an ink sheet.

EXAMPLE 2 Nylon 6/66/12 nylon (mp12) was applied to one side of a paper-washed paper having a thickness of about 100 μm by a super calender.
(0 ° C.) 10% methanol solution was applied with a wire bar to a dry adhesion amount of about 10 μm, and dried at 60 ° C. for 2 minutes. The Clark stiffness of this transferred object is 36, and the reflectance is 7
2% and the surface smoothness was 500 seconds. The ink sheet was the same as that in Example 1.

Example 3 An adhesive polyethylene film was laminated on a super calendered polyester nonwoven fabric having a thickness of about 100 μm, and a nylon 12 film (mp 177 ° C.) having a thickness of about 10 μm was hot melt laminated thereon. . The Clarke stiffness of this transferred object was 70, the reflectance was 70%, and the surface smoothness was 5000 seconds. The ink sheet was the same as that in Example 1.

Example 4 A transfer member was prepared in exactly the same manner as in Example 1 except that 6 nylon having a thickness of about 4 μm was laminated. The Clarke stiffness of this transferred object was 18, the reflectance was 75%, and the surface smoothness was 2000 seconds. Note that the ink sheet is the same as that of the first embodiment.
Was the same as

Comparative Example 1 Nylon 6 was laminated on one side of a nylon taffeta having a thickness of about 100 μm in the same manner as in Example 1. The transferred object had a Clark stiffness of 6, a surface smoothness of 1000 seconds, and a reflectance of 78%. The ink sheet was the same as that in Example 1.

Comparative Example 2 Nylon 12 was laminated on a polyester nonwoven fabric having a thickness of about 210 μm in the same manner as in Example 3. The Clarke stiffness of this transferred paper is 110, the surface smoothness is 4000 seconds,
The reflectance was 70%. The ink sheet was the same as that in Example 1.

COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 3 In the same manner as in Example 2, Nylon 6/66 /
12 was applied and dried. The Clark stiffness of this transfer paper was 36, the surface smoothness was 500 seconds, and the reflectance was 30%. The ink sheet was the same as that in Example 1.

Comparative Example 4 A transfer medium was prepared in exactly the same manner as in Example 1 except that the composition of the receiving layer of the transfer medium was changed to the following composition. Polystyrene (mp 96 ° C.) 5 parts Toluene 95 parts The ink sheet was the same as in Example 1.

Using the ink sheet and the transfer object, printing was performed with a commercially available thermal transfer printer IP6300V (manufactured by Tohoku Ricoh Co., Ltd.) at an applied energy of 25 mj / mm ² , and the following test was performed on the thermal transfer image. The results are summarized in Table 1. Water washing test JIS L-0844A-3 Dry cleaning test JIS L-0860 (solvent is 1,1,1-trichloroethane, 25 ° C) Iron resistance test I 15 g / cm of the image portion with an iron set at 150 ° C Rubbing was performed 10 times with ² forces, and the wrinkles of the image were visually determined. Iron Resistance Test II A polyester cloth was placed on the image portion, and an iron at 150 ° C. was rubbed 10 times with a force of 15 g / m ² , and the image transfer to the polyester cloth was visually determined. Bar code reading rate The bar code reading rate was measured using Laser Check 2811 manufactured by Symbol Technology.

[0039]

[Table 1] Washability ・ ・ ・: The image does not change at all. Δ: The image becomes slightly faint. ×: The image is completely dropped. (Note 1: The barcode becomes illegible due to wrinkles) Ironing resistance ○ ・ ・ ・ Image does not change at all and does not transfer. Δ: The image does not change, but the tag still adheres to the cloth. ×: The image is rubbed and becomes invisible, and the image is transferred. Influence of the tag on the fabric ○ ・ ・ ・ Does not damage the fabric even if it is attached to the buttonhole. Δ: The fabric is slightly damaged even when attached to the buttonhole. ×: The cloth can be scratched even when attached to the buttonhole.

[0040]

As is clear from the description of the embodiments, the use of the specific thermal transfer recording medium of the present invention can provide a transferred image having excellent cleaning resistance and the like.

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-3-58888 (JP, A) JP-A-3-213393 (JP, A) JP-A-3-213395 (JP, A) JP-A-63- 231984 (JP, A) JP-A-2-276681 (JP, A) JP-A-3-251149 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41M 5 / 38-5 / 40

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An ink sheet comprising a support and an ink layer comprising a coloring agent and a thermoplastic resin binder insoluble in a cleaning solvent as a main component, and another support comprising nylon as a main component. A thermal transfer recording medium for clothing labels, which is used in combination with a transfer receiving body having a receiving layer on at least one surface, wherein the support of the transfer receiving body is a foamed polyester.
Super-calendered non-woven fabric or soot
A thermal transfer recording medium for clothing labels , which is a paper-washed paper that has been subjected to percalendering, and has a Clark stiffness of 10 to 100 and a reflectance of 50% or more of the transferred object. 2. The receiving layer of the object to be transferred has a thickness of 1 to 100 μm.
The thermal transfer recording medium for clothing labels according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the thermal transfer recording medium for a clothing label is formed by laminating a thick nylon film or coating a solution containing nylon as a main component to a thickness of 1 to 100 µm. 3. The surface smoothness of the receptor layer of the transfer object is 3
Claim 1 or 2 garment label thermal transfer recording medium wherein a is 00 seconds or more.