JP3290282B2 - Reversible thermosensitive recording material - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a reversible thermosensitive recording material capable of forming and erasing an image by heating.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A thermosensitive recording material generally comprises a support provided with a thermosensitive recording layer mainly comprising an electron-donating usually colorless or pale-color dye precursor and an electron-accepting developer. By heating with a thermal head, a hot pen, a laser beam or the like, the dye precursor and the color developer react instantaneously to obtain a recorded image. Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 43-4160 and 45-160
It is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 14039.

In general, it is impossible for such a heat-sensitive recording material to form an image once and erase that portion and return to the state before image formation. There was no choice but to add to the formation. For this reason, when the area of the heat-sensitive recording portion is limited, there has been a problem that the recordable information is limited and all necessary information cannot be recorded.

In recent years, reversible thermosensitive recording materials capable of repeatedly forming and erasing images have been devised to address such problems. For example, JP-A-54-119377 and JP-A-63-119377 disclose a reversible thermosensitive recording material. 39377, JP-A-63-4
Japanese Patent No. 1186 describes a heat-sensitive recording material composed of a resin base material and an organic low-molecular compound dispersed in the resin base material. However, in this method, the transparency of the heat-sensitive recording material is reversibly changed by heat energy, so that the contrast between the image forming portion and the non-image forming portion is insufficient.

In the methods described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 50-81157 and 50-105555, since the image to be formed changes according to the environmental temperature, the image forming state and the erasing state are changed. Are different from each other, and these two states cannot be maintained for an arbitrary period at room temperature.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 59-120492 discloses that an image forming state is controlled by keeping a recording material in a hysteresis temperature range by utilizing a hysteresis characteristic of a coloring component.
Although a method for maintaining the erased state is described, this method requires a heating source and a cooling source for image formation and erasure, and the temperature range in which the image formation state and the erased state can be maintained is limited to the hysteresis temperature range. However, it is still insufficient for use in the temperature environment of daily life.

On the other hand, JP-A-2-188293, JP-A-2-188294, and International Publication No.
No. 11898 describes a reversible thermosensitive recording medium comprising a leuco dye and a color-reducing agent which causes the leuco dye to develop and decolor the color by heating. The color-developing agent is an amphoteric compound having an acidic group for coloring the leuco dye and a basic group for decolorizing the colored leuco dye, and has a coloring effect by an acidic group or a decolorizing effect by a basic group by controlling thermal energy. One is preferentially generated to perform color development and decoloration. However, in this method, it is impossible to completely switch between the coloring reaction and the decoloring reaction only by controlling the heat energy, and since both reactions occur at a certain ratio at the same time, a sufficient coloring density cannot be obtained. Can't do it perfectly. Therefore, sufficient image contrast cannot be obtained. Also,
Since the decolorizing action of the basic group also acts on the colored portion at room temperature,
The phenomenon that the density of the color-developed portion decreases over time is inevitable.
JP-A-5-124360 describes a reversible thermosensitive recording medium that develops and decolorizes a leuco dye by heating, and as an electron accepting compound, an organic phosphoric acid compound, an α-hydroxy aliphatic carboxylic acid, Specific phenolic compounds such as fatty acid dicarboxylic acids and alkylthiophenols having an aliphatic group having 12 or more carbon atoms, alkyloxyphenols, alkylcarbamoylphenols, and alkyl gallates are exemplified. However, this recording medium still has a low color density, or
The two problems of incomplete erasure cannot be solved at the same time, and the stability of the image over time is not satisfactory in practical use.

As described above, according to the prior art, a practical reversible thermosensitive recording material having good image contrast, capable of forming and erasing an image, and capable of maintaining a stable image over time in an environment of daily life. Was not known.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a reversible thermosensitive recording material capable of forming and erasing an image with good contrast and capable of maintaining a stable image over time in an environment of daily life. To provide.

[0010]

The present inventors have conducted research to solve this problem, and as a result, they have found that a colorless or pale-colored electron-donating dye precursor can be reversibly changed in color tone by heating, that is, color development. The present inventors have found that an electron-accepting compound represented by the following general formula 2 that causes decoloration is present, and the present invention has been completed.

[0011]

Embedded image

In the formula 2, R ¹ and R ³ are each a divalent carbon
A hydrogen group or both simultaneously represent a direct bond, and R ² is
At least one sulfide, ether, or --NH-- group
Represents a divalent hydrocarbon group contained in the upper chain. R ¹ ,
The sum of the carbon numbers of R ² and R ³ is 16 or more. X, Y is it
It represents a divalent group containing at least one or more respective -CONH- bond.

In the formula 2, R ¹ and R ³ are each a divalent carbon
A hydride group, or both, simultaneously represent a direct bond. R ²
Is at least one sulfide, ether, -NH- group
Represents a divalent hydrocarbon group containing in a chain. R ¹ , R ² and
Specifically, the hydrocarbon group moiety in R ³ is mainly
Each represents an alkylene group, each having an aromatic ring in the group
May be included. The sum of carbon numbers of R ¹ , R ² and R ³ is 16 or more
Above, preferably 16-44. The sum of carbon numbers is
If it is less than 16, decoloring is incomplete. On the other hand, X and Y
Represents a divalent group having at least one or more, respectively -CONH- bond, and specific examples thereof include amides (-C
ONH-, -NHCO-), urea (-NHCONH)
-), Urethane (-NHCOO-, -OCONH-),
Diacylamine (-CONHCO-), diacylhydrazine (-CONHNHCO-), oxalic acid diamide (-
NHCONCON-), acylurea (-CONHCON)
H-, -NHCONHCO-), semicarbazide (-N
HCONHNH-, -NHNHCONH-), acyl semicarbazide (-CONHNHCONH-, -NHCO
NHNHCO-), diacylaminomethane (-CONH
CH ₂ NHCO—), 1-acylamino-1-ureidomethane (—CONHCH ₂ NHCONH—, —NHCO
NHCH ₂ NHCO-), malonamide (-NHCOC)
H ₂ CONH-) group and the like.

Specific examples of the electron-accepting compound used in the present invention, which causes a colorless or pale-colored electron-donating dye precursor to cause a reversible color change, include those shown in Table 1 below. The present invention is not limited to this. In addition, the numbers described as R ⁴ and R ⁵ in the table indicate the substitution positions of the hydroxyl groups on the benzene ring. P Ph described in R ² represents a 1,4-phenylene group.

[0015]

[Table 1]

The electron-accepting compound according to the present invention may be used alone or as a mixture of two or more kinds. Usually, the amount of the electron-accepting compound according to the present invention to be used for a colorless or pale color dye precursor is 5 to 5%. It is 5,000 to 5000% by weight, preferably 10 to 3,000% by weight.

The generally colorless or light-colored electron-donating dye precursor used in the present invention is typified by those generally used for pressure-sensitive recording paper and heat-sensitive recording paper, but is not particularly limited. Specific examples include, for example, the following, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

(1) Triarylmethane compounds 3,3-bis (p-dimethylaminophenyl) -6-dimethylaminophthalide (crystal violet lactone), 3,3-bis (p-dimethylaminophenyl) phthalide, 3- (p-dimethylaminophenyl) -3-
(1,2-dimethylindol-3-yl) phthalide,
3- (p-dimethylaminophenyl) -3- (2-methylindol-3-yl) phthalide, 3- (p-dimethylaminophenyl) -3- (2-phenylindole-
3-yl) phthalide, 3,3-bis (1,2-dimethylindol-3-yl) -5-dimethylaminophthalide, 3,3-bis (1,2-dimethylindole-3-
Yl) -6-dimethylaminophthalide, 3,3-bis (9-ethylcarbazol-3-yl) -5-dimethylaminophthalide, 3,3-bis (2-phenylindol-3-yl) -5 -Dimethylaminophthalide, 3-p
-Dimethylaminophenyl-3- (1-methylpyrrol-2-yl) -6-dimethylaminophthalide and the like,

(2) Diphenylmethane compounds 4,4'-bis (dimethylaminophenyl) benzhydryl benzyl ether, N-chlorophenylleuco auramine, N-2,4,5-trichlorophenyl leuco auramine, etc.

(3) Xanthene compounds rhodamine B anilinolactam, rhodamine Bp-chloroanilinolactam, 3-diethylamino-7-dibenzylaminofluoran, 3-diethylamino-7-octylaminofluoran, 3- Diethylamino-7-phenylfluoran, 3-diethylamino-7-chlorofluorane, 3-diethylamino-6-chloro-7-methylfluoran, 3-diethylamino-7- (3,4-dichloroanilino) fluoran, 3 -Diethylamino-7
-(2-chloroanilino) fluoran,

3-Diethylamino-6-methyl-7-anilinofluoran, 3- (N-ethyl) tolylamino-
6-methyl-7-anilinofluoran, 3-piperidino-6-methyl-7-anilinofluoran, 3- (N-ethyl) tolylamino-6-methyl-7-phenethylfluoran, 3-diethylamino-7 -(4-nitroanilino) fluoran, 3-dibutylamino-6-methyl-7
-Anilinofluoran, 3- (N-methyl) propylamino-6-methyl-7-anilinofluoran, 3- (N
-Ethyl) isoamylamino-6-methyl-7-anilinofluoran, 3- (N-methyl) cyclohexylamino-6-methyl-7-anilinofluoran, 3- (N-
Ethyl) tetrahydrofurylamino-6-methyl-7-
Anilino fluoran, etc.

(4) Thiazine compounds Benzoyl leucomethylene blue, p-nitrobenzoyl leucomethylene blue, etc.

(5) Spiro compounds 3-methylspirodinaphthopyran, 3-ethylspirodinaphthopyran, 3,3'-dichlorospirodinaphthopyran, 3-benzylspirodinaphthopyran, 3-methylnaphtho- (3 -Methoxybenzo) spiropyran, 3-propylspirobenzopyran and the like.

The above colorless or pale color dye precursors may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

Next, a specific method for producing the reversible thermosensitive recording material of the present invention will be described, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

As a specific example of the method for producing the reversible thermosensitive recording material of the present invention, a colorless or pale-color dye precursor and the electron-accepting compound according to the present invention are mainly used, and these are coated or printed on a support. To form a reversible thermosensitive recording layer.

The colorless or pale color dye precursor and the electron-accepting compound according to the present invention are usually contained in the reversible thermosensitive recording layer by dissolving each compound alone in a solvent or dispersing it in a dispersion medium. Examples include a method of mixing, a method of mixing and dissolving each compound in a solvent or dispersing in a dispersion medium, and a method of dissolving or dispersing in a solvent after dissolving or dispersing each compound in a solvent after heating and homogenizing each compound. But not specified.

It is also possible to add a binder to the reversible thermosensitive recording layer for the purpose of improving the strength of the reversible thermosensitive recording layer. Specific examples of the binder include starches, hydroxyethylcellulose, methylcellulose, carboxymethylcellulose, gelatin, casein, polyvinyl alcohol, modified polyvinyl alcohol, sodium polyacrylate, acrylamide / acrylate copolymer, acrylamide / acryl. Water-soluble polymers such as acid ester / methacrylic acid terpolymer, alkali salt of styrene / maleic anhydride copolymer, alkali salt of ethylene / maleic anhydride copolymer, polyvinyl acetate, polyurethane, polyacrylic acid Latexes such as esters, styrene / butadiene copolymers, acrylonitrile / butadiene copolymers, methyl acrylate / butadiene copolymers, ethylene / vinyl acetate copolymers, and the like, but are not limited thereto. No.

Further, a heat-fusible substance can be contained in the reversible thermosensitive recording layer as an additive for adjusting the color development sensitivity and the color erasing temperature of the reversible thermosensitive recording layer. 60 ° C
Those having a melting point of 200 ° C to 200 ° C
Those having a melting point of -180 ° C are preferred. A sensitizer used in general thermosensitive recording paper can also be used. For example, waxes such as N-hydroxymethyl stearamide, stearamide, palmitamide, naphthol derivatives such as 2-benzyloxynaphthalene, biphenyl derivatives such as p-benzylbiphenyl and 4-allyloxybiphenyl, 1,2 -Screw (3-
Polyether compounds such as methylphenoxy) ethane, 2,2'-bis (4-methoxyphenoxy) diethyl ether, bis (4-methoxyphenyl) ether, diphenyl carbonate, dibenzyl oxalate, bis (p-methylbenzyl) oxalate Carbonic acid or oxalic acid diester derivatives such as esters can be added in combination.

As the support used in the reversible thermosensitive recording material of the present invention, paper, various nonwoven fabrics, woven fabrics, synthetic resin films, synthetic resin laminated paper, synthetic paper, metal foil, glass, etc., or a combination thereof are used. The composite sheet can be used arbitrarily according to the purpose, and may be transparent, translucent or opaque. Further, the present invention is not limited to these.

The layer structure of the reversible thermosensitive recording material of the present invention is as follows.
Only the reversible thermosensitive recording layer may be used. If necessary,
A protective layer can be provided on the reversible thermosensitive recording layer, or an intermediate layer can be provided between the reversible thermosensitive recording layer and the support. In this case, the protective layer and / or the intermediate layer may be composed of two or three or more layers. Further, information can be recorded electrically, magnetically and optically in the reversible thermosensitive recording layer and / or on another layer and / or on the surface on which the reversible thermosensitive recording layer is provided and / or on the opposite surface. Materials may be included. Further, a back coat layer may be provided on the surface opposite to the surface on which the reversible thermosensitive recording layer is provided for the purpose of preventing curling and charging.

The reversible thermosensitive recording layer is obtained by mixing each dispersion obtained by pulverizing each coloring component, coating the mixture on a support,
It can be obtained by a method of printing and drying, a method of dissolving each coloring component in a solvent, mixing respective solutions obtained, applying the solution on a support, printing and drying. in this case,
For example, each color forming component may be contained one layer at a time to form a multilayer structure.

The reversible thermosensitive recording layer and / or the protective layer and / or the intermediate layer include diatomaceous earth, talc, kaolin, calcined kaolin, calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, titanium oxide, zinc oxide, silicon oxide, and hydroxide. Aluminum, pigments such as urea-formalin resin, in addition, zinc stearate, higher fatty acid metal salts such as calcium stearate, waxes such as paraffin, paraffin oxide, polyethylene, polyethylene oxide, stearic acid amide, caster wax, A dispersant such as sodium dioctyl sulfosuccinate, a surfactant, a fluorescent dye, and the like can also be contained.

[0034]

The electron-accepting compound according to the present invention has a specific decoloring effect, that is, a reversible effect, in spite of having the ability to form a leuco dye. This is completely unexpected, and the electron-accepting compounds used in ordinary thermosensitive recording materials, namely, 2,2-bis (4-hydroxyphenyl) propane, bis (4-hydroxyphenyl) sulfone, Such a reversible effect is not seen at all with benzyl hydroxybenzoate and the like.

Although the principle of image formation and erasing of the heat-sensitive recording material of the present invention is not clear yet, it can be considered as follows. Generally, when a colorless or pale color dye precursor is heated together with an electron accepting compound such as a phenolic compound, electron transfer from the dye precursor to the electron accepting compound takes place and color is formed.
At this time, it is considered that the electron accepting compound molecule exists very close to the dye molecule that has developed color. When the electron-accepting compound molecule is separated from the dye molecule which has developed color, the dye molecule which has developed color receives electrons again and becomes a state of a dye precursor before color development. It is considered that the present invention changes the distance between the electron-accepting compound molecule and the dye molecule by heating to perform coloring and decoloring.

More specifically, since the electron-accepting compound according to the present invention has a large fatty chain in its structure, it has low compatibility with the dye precursor molecule and the dye molecule which has developed a color, and in the solidified state, It is considered that they hardly mix with each other. Further, in a state where the dye precursor molecule and the electron accepting compound molecule according to the present invention can freely move, such as in a heated and melted state, the dye precursor molecule and the electron accepting compound molecule according to the present invention dissolve at a certain ratio with each other, and form color. State. Therefore, when the color-forming molten mixture is cooled slowly, the electron-accepting compound according to the present invention and the dye molecules become insoluble with each other and phase-separate and lose color as the temperature decreases. On the other hand, when cooling is performed rapidly, the solidified state is obtained before the phase separation, that is, in the state of the color development, so that the color development state is fixed and the color development state is stably maintained after the solidification.

As described above, the reversible thermosensitive recording material according to the present invention is capable of producing a compatible state and a phase-separated state between a dye molecule and an electron-accepting compound according to the present invention so as to develop a color-developing state and a decoloring state. Conceivable. In order to perform color development, rapid cooling may be performed following heating, and for example, heating by a thermal head, laser light, or the like is possible. Also, if you slowly cool after heating, the color will be erased, for example, hot roll, heat stamp, thermal head,
It can be performed by using radiant heat from a light source such as a hot air, an electric heater or a halogen lamp.

Next, typical examples of specific examples of the synthesis of the electron-accepting compound represented by Chemical Formula 2 are shown below.

Synthesis Example 1 Synthesis of Exemplified Compound-4. In a 50 ml flask equipped with a stirrer, 11-bromoundecanoic acid chloride 9.7 was added.
g and acetone (15 ml) were charged and dissolved. Under ice-cooling, a 10 ml aqueous solution of 3.3 g of sodium azide was added dropwise so that the internal temperature did not exceed 10 ° C.
Stirred for hours. After extracting the reaction solution with 60 ml of benzene, the obtained benzene layer was washed once each with distilled water and saturated saline. This benzene solution dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate was heated and refluxed on a water bath for 1 hour. The benzene was distilled off under reduced pressure, and the resulting crystals of the residue were re-extracted with 1,4-
Dissolved in 20 ml of dioxane. A separately prepared solution of 4.1 g of p-aminophenol in 80 ml of 1,4-dioxane was added thereto, followed by stirring at room temperature for 2 hours. The reaction solid was collected by filtration, washed well with a funnel, and then recrystallized from hydrated isopropanol to give 7.5 g of N- (10-bromoundecanyl) -N '-(p-hydroxyphenyl) urea as an intermediate. I got 1. In a 300 ml flask equipped with a stirrer, the entire amount of urea and sodium sulfide 9-hydrate
4 g, 100 ml of ethanol and 40 ml of distilled water were charged, and heated and refluxed on a water bath for 4 hours. After completion of the reaction, 100 g of ice was added to the reaction solution, and the mixture was cooled. The precipitated crystal was collected by filtration, washed well with a funnel, and recrystallized from a large amount of isopropanol to obtain 5.3 g of a purified product of Exemplified Compound-4. Was.
167.5 ° C.

Synthesis Example 2 Synthesis of Exemplified Compound-6. In a 50 ml flask equipped with a stirrer, p-hydroxybenzoic acid hydrazide 6.2
g, triethylamine 5.0 g, and dimethylacetamide 40 ml were charged and dissolved by heating. At room temperature, 11
Then, 11.3 g of -bromoundecanoic acid chloride was added dropwise, and after completion of the addition, the mixture was stirred at the same temperature for 1 hour. The reaction solution was poured into ice-cooled diluted hydrochloric acid, and the precipitated crystal was collected by filtration, washed well with a funnel, and then recrystallized from hydrated isopropanol to give N- (11-bromoundecano) -N ′-(p -Hydroxybenzoyl) hydrazine was obtained in an amount of 14.9 g. A 500-ml flask equipped with a stirrer was charged with the total amount of the diacylhydrazine, 4.9 g of sodium sulfide nonahydrate, 1.0 g of potassium iodide, 200 ml of ethanol, and 80 ml of distilled water, and heated and refluxed on a water bath for 4 hours. . After the completion of the reaction, 200 g of ice was added to the reaction solution, and the mixture was cooled. The precipitated crystal was collected by filtration, washed well with a funnel, and recrystallized from isopropanol to obtain 7.3 g of a purified product of Exemplified Compound-6.
I got 158 ° C.

Synthesis Example 3 Synthesis of Exemplified Compound-8. In a 50 ml flask equipped with a stirrer, 7.2 g of 3- (p-hydroxyphenyl) propionic acid hydrazide, 5.0 g of triethylamine and 40 ml of dimethylacetamide were charged and dissolved by heating.
This was mixed with 11-bromoundecanoic acid chloride 1 at room temperature.
1.3 g was added dropwise, and after completion of the addition, the mixture was stirred at the same temperature for 1 hour.
The reaction solution was poured into ice-cooled diluted hydrochloric acid, and the precipitated crystal was collected by filtration, washed well with a funnel, and then recrystallized from hydrated isopropanol to give N- (11-bromoundecano) -N ′-(p 12.4 g of -hydroxyphenyl) propionylhydrazine were obtained. 500m with stirrer
l of the above diacylhydrazine, 3.5 g of sodium sulfide nonahydrate, 0.7 g of potassium iodide
g, ethanol 150 ml, distilled water 60 ml,
The mixture was heated to reflux on a water bath for 4 hours. After the reaction was completed, 150 g of ice was added to the reaction solution, and after cooling, the precipitated crystal was collected by filtration, washed well with water from the funnel, and washed with isopropanol with heat,
7.1 g of a purified product of Exemplified Compound-8 was obtained. Melting point 205
° C.

[0042]

The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the following examples.

Example 1 (A) Preparation of a reversible heat-sensitive coating solution 40 parts of a dye precursor, 3-di-n-butylamino-6-methyl-7-anilinofluoran, was added to a 2.5% aqueous solution of polyvinyl alcohol. 90 parts together with a ball mill for 24 hours to obtain a dye precursor dispersion. Next, 100 parts of Exemplified Compound-1 of the present invention was pulverized with 400 parts of a 2.5% aqueous solution of polyvinyl alcohol in a ball mill for 24 hours to obtain a dispersion. After mixing the above two dispersions, 200 parts of a 10% aqueous solution of polyvinyl alcohol and 400 parts of water were added and mixed well to prepare a reversible thermosensitive coating liquid.

(B) Preparation of reversible thermosensitive recording material The reversible thermosensitive coating liquid prepared in (A) was coated on a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) sheet at a solids coating amount of 4 g / m ^2.
And dried and then treated with a super calender to obtain a reversible thermosensitive recording material.

Example 2 A reversible thermosensitive recording material was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1, except that Exemplified Compound-4 was used instead of Exemplified Compound-1 used in Example 1.

Example 3 A reversible thermosensitive recording material was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1, except that Exemplified Compound-6 was used in place of Exemplified Compound-1 used in Example 1.

Example 4 A reversible thermosensitive recording material was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1, except that Exemplified Compound-7 was used instead of Exemplified Compound-1 used in Example 1.

Example 5 A reversible thermosensitive recording material was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1, except that Exemplified Compound-8 was used in place of Exemplified Compound-1 used in Example 1.

Example 6 A reversible thermosensitive recording material was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1, except that Exemplified Compound-10 was used in place of Exemplified Compound-1 used in Example 1.

Example 7 A reversible thermosensitive recording material was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1, except that Exemplified Compound-13 was used in place of Exemplified Compound-1 used in Example 1.

Example 8 A reversible thermosensitive recording material was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1, except that Exemplified Compound-14 was used instead of Exemplified Compound-1 used in Example 1.

Example 9 A reversible thermosensitive recording material was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1, except that Exemplified Compound-16 was used in place of Exemplified Compound-1 used in Example 1.

Example 10 A reversible thermosensitive recording material was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1, except that Exemplified Compound-17 was used in place of Exemplified Compound-1 used in Example 1.

Example 11 A reversible thermosensitive recording material was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1, except that Exemplified Compound-19 was used instead of Exemplified Compound-1 used in Example 1.

Comparative Example 1 The procedure of Example 1 was repeated except that the salt of gallic acid and stearylamine was used instead of Exemplified Compound-1 used in Example 1.

Comparative Example 2 In place of Exemplified Compound-1 used in Example 1, 2,2-
Example 1 was repeated except that bis (p-hydroxyphenyl) propane was used.

Comparative Example 3 Instead of Exemplified Compound-1 used in Example 1, p- (n
Same as Example 1 except that -octadecylthio) phenol was used.

Test 1 (Color density = thermal response) The thermal recording materials obtained in Examples 1 to 11 and Comparative Examples 1 to 3 were applied to a thermal facsimile printing tester manufactured by Okura Electric with a print head KJT-256-8MGF1 manufactured by Kyocera. TH-PMD
Was printed under the conditions of an applied pulse of 1.1 millisecond and an applied voltage of 26 volts, and the density of the obtained color image was measured using a densitometer Macbeth RD918. The results are shown in Table 2.

Test 2 (Time-dependent change in color density = image stability) The thermal recording materials obtained in Examples 1 to 11 and Comparative Examples 1 to 3 were used with a thermal facsimile manufactured by Okura Electric Co., Ltd. with a print head KJT-256-8MGF1 manufactured by Kyocera. Printing tester TH-PMD
And printed under conditions of an applied pulse of 1.1 millisecond and an applied voltage of 26 volts, and stored for 14 hours in an atmosphere at a temperature of 50 ° C. and a relative humidity of 30%. The density was measured, and the image residual ratio was calculated by the following equation (1). The results are shown in Table 2.

[0060]

A = (C / B) × 100 A: Image residual ratio (%) B: Image density before test C: Image density after test

Test 3 (Erasability of Image) The thermal recording materials obtained in Examples 1 to 11 and Comparative Examples 1 to 3 were applied to a thermal facsimile printing tester TH-Okura Electric Co., Ltd. equipped with a Kyocera print head KJT-256-8MGF1. PMD
Was applied under the conditions of an applied pulse of 1.1 millisecond and an applied voltage of 26 volts, and the obtained color image portion was heated at 120 ° C. for 1 second using a heat stamp. It was measured. The results are shown in Table 2.

[0062]

[Table 2]

In Table 1, .largecircle. Indicates that the density of the erased portion is less than 30% of the density of the color-developed portion and the contrast between the color-developed portion and the erased portion is good
Δ indicates that the contrast is insufficient when the density of the erased portion is 30% or more and less than 80% of the density of the color-developed portion, and X indicates that no reversibility is observed when the density of the erased portion is 80% or more of the density of the color-developed portion.

[0064]

As shown in Table 1, it is usually represented by a colorless or light-colored electron-donating dye precursor and the above-mentioned general formula 2 which causes a reversible color change in the dye precursor upon heating. By using a reversible thermosensitive recording material containing an electron-accepting compound, a reversible thermosensitive recording material capable of forming and erasing images with good contrast and maintaining a stable image over time in an environment of daily life is provided. I got it.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41M 5/28-5/34 CAPLUS (STN) REGISTRY (STN)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A colorless or light-colored electron-donating dye precursor, and an electron-accepting compound represented by the following general formula 1 which causes a reversible color change in the dye precursor upon heating. Reversible thermosensitive recording material. Embedded image (In Formula 1, R ¹ and R ³ are each a divalent hydrocarbon group,
Or both simultaneously represent a direct bond, and R ² is at least
One or more sulfide, ether, or --NH-- groups are contained in the chain.
Represents a divalent hydrocarbon group. The charcoal of R ¹ , R ² , R ³
The sum of the prime numbers is 16 or more. X and Y are each -CON
Represents a divalent group containing at least one H-bond. )