JP5309548B2 - Information recording medium and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information recording medium capable of responding to on-demand production, having toner images having hues selected from not only gold and silver but also metallic colors other than the same, and further making the toner images have a sufficient metallic glossy feeling. <P>SOLUTION: The information recording medium includes an image support body 110, a photoluminescent pigment containing layer 120 containing photoluminescent pigments arranged on at least one face of the image support body, and the toner images 140, 142 arranged on the photoluminescent pigment containing layer and is characterized by that the reflecting density of the toner images is in the range from 0.2 to 1.2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information recording medium provided with a toner image formed using electrophotography and a method for manufacturing the same.

Sublimation-type thermal transfer is an image recording device used for making cards with images formed on plastic sheets such as cash cards, employee cards, student cards, individual membership cards, residence cards, various driver's licenses, and various qualification certificates. A device of the type is known (see Patent Document 1).
In this apparatus, the ink applied to the ink donor film is transferred to the intermediate transfer member by the first heating unit to form an ink image, and the ink image transferred to the intermediate transfer member is received by the second heating unit. An image is formed by retransfer to the body.
A thermal transfer continuous sheet that prints a metallic gloss color such as gold and silver by this method is known (see Patent Document 2).
In this continuous sheet, each layer containing yellow, magenta, and cyan dyes, which are the three primary colors, and a black dye layer are provided on the sheet, and further, a special color layer is provided.

Also, an image forming apparatus that forms a color image on a plastic sheet or the like by an electrophotographic method instead of a sublimation type thermal transfer method has been proposed (see Patent Document 3).
Image formation by this apparatus is carried out as follows. First, using an image forming material transfer sheet having an image holding layer provided on the surface of a substrate, an image is once formed on the transfer body by an existing electrophotographic image forming apparatus. Thereafter, the transfer body is laminated on an image support such as a plastic sheet, laminated with heat and pressure, and then the image forming material transfer sheet is peeled off to transfer the image onto the image support. Through such steps, an electrophotographic image is formed on the plastic sheet.

On the other hand, a method for forming an image using a gold toner or a silver toner has been proposed in order to produce a high-quality printed material including gold and silver using electrophotography (see Patent Document 4). .
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-0667019 JP-A-8-207452 JP 2005-227377 A JP 2002-229293 A

As described above, by using the above-described conventional technology, an information recording medium in which a toner image having a gold or silver metallic gloss color is formed on an image support such as a plastic sheet can be obtained.
However, with ink-based printing, it is difficult to handle so-called on-demand production, in which only the required number is produced, or a metallic luster other than gold or silver, which is commonly used. Since a toner image having a metallic luster color cannot be provided because it is substantially difficult to form an image having a color, there is a limitation in design particularly in terms of color expression. Further, in the method of forming a toner image using gold toner or silver toner, sufficient glossiness cannot be obtained.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, can be adapted to on-demand production, includes a toner image having a hue selected from not only gold and silver but also other metallic colors, and It is an object of the present invention to provide an information recording medium in which a toner image has a sufficient metallic gloss and a method for producing the information recording medium.

The above-mentioned subject is achieved by the following present invention. That is,
The invention according to claim 1
An image support, a glitter pigment-containing layer containing a plate-like glitter pigment provided on at least one surface of the image support, and a toner image provided on the glitter pigment-containing layer,
The information recording medium is characterized in that the toner image has a reflection density in the range of 0.2 to 1.2.
The invention according to claim 2
The information recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the plate-like glitter pigment is a pigment obtained by coating a core material with a metal or a translucent metal oxide.

The invention according to claim 3 is:
The region different from the region where a toner image is formed on the surface of the effect pigment-containing layer, to claim 1 or claim 2 reflection density, characterized in that it is provided greater than 1.2 toner image It is an information recording medium of description .

The invention according to claim 4 is:
A toner image forming step of forming a toner image by electrophotography on a surface of the transfer body including the substrate and an image holding layer formed on at least one side of the substrate, on the side where the image holding layer is provided;
A recording having a surface on the side of the image holding layer of the transfer body on which the toner image is formed, and a glittering pigment-containing layer including an image support and a plate-like glittering pigment provided on at least one surface of the image support. With the glitter pigment-containing layer side surface of the medium superimposed, the laminate including the transfer body and the recording medium is heated and pressed to transfer the toner image from the transfer body side to the recording medium side. A transfer process,
From the laminate that has undergone the transfer step, through a peeling step of peeling the member on the transfer body side,
A method of manufacturing an information recording medium, characterized in that to produce the information recording medium according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

As described above, according to the present invention, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a toner having a hue that can be applied to on-demand production and is selected from not only gold and silver but also other metallic colors. It is possible to provide an information recording medium having an image and the toner image having a sufficient metallic gloss.
According to the invention described in claim 2, in addition to the above-described metallic design image having a metallic luster and high designability, an information recording medium on which an image having excellent visibility is formed separately from the image is provided. can do.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to correspond to on-demand production, and the toner image having a hue selected from not only gold and silver but also other metallic colors is provided, and the toner image is sufficient. A method for producing an information recording medium having a metallic gloss can be provided.

(Information recording medium)
The information recording medium of the present invention includes an image support, a bright pigment-containing layer containing a bright pigment provided on at least one side of the image support, and a toner image provided on the bright pigment-containing layer. And the toner image has a reflection density in the range of 0.2 to 1.2.

In the information recording medium of the present invention, since a glittering pigment-containing layer containing a glittering pigment is provided on the image support, a metallic luster is expressed by the glittering pigment-containing layer. Further, a toner image having a reflection density in the range of 0.2 or more and 1.2 or less (hereinafter, a toner image having the reflection density range is referred to as a “first toner image” on the surface of the glitter pigment containing layer). Is provided).
Here, the toner used for forming the first toner image is a special toner (hereinafter, referred to as “a special toner containing a glittering pigment for the purpose of expressing a metallic gloss color, such as a gold toner or a silver toner” described in Patent Document 4. In some cases, the toner contains a normal color material such as cyan toner, magenta toner, yellow toner (so-called commonly used toner; hereinafter referred to as “non-metallic gloss toner”). May be used).

  For this reason, in the first toner image portion, a metallic gloss color having a specific color is expressed. The reason why such a metallic luster color is observed is as follows. That is, the first toner image portion itself does not have a metallic glossy color, but when light enters the area where the first toner image is formed, the component reflected due to the glittering pigment-containing layer This is because a spectrum in which the component reflected by the first toner image portion is combined is observed with the naked eye.

  For example, when the first toner image itself is a yellow image when the metallic luster resulting from the glitter pigment-containing layer is not accompanied by a specific strong color, the first pigment on the surface of the glitter pigment-containing layer is used. The area where the toner image is formed is observed as gold by the naked eye. In addition, when the first toner image itself is a gray image, the region where the first toner image is formed on the surface of the glittering pigment-containing layer is observed as a silver color with the naked eye. On the other hand, when the metallic luster resulting from the glittering pigment-containing layer is accompanied by a specific intense color, the metallic color in which the hue of the glittering pigment-containing layer is also reflected to some extent in the color of the first toner image. Will be expressed.

Further, when the first toner image itself is a red image or a green image, the color of the first toner image is reflected in the region where the first toner image is formed on the surface of the glittering pigment-containing layer. It is observed as a metallic color with metallic luster.
Note that even the methods using inks disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 and the like can express metallic colors other than gold and silver in principle by adjusting the ink. However, compared to the case where a toner image is formed using an electrophotographic system, when an image is formed using ink, it is necessary to use a large printing apparatus. For this reason, it cannot respond to on-demand production. In addition, in terms of cost, it is difficult to develop and provide to the market inks for metallic colors with special colors other than gold and silver, which are generally lacking in needs. Therefore, it is extremely difficult in practice to provide an information recording medium having a metallic color image other than gold or silver.
From such a point of view, the information recording medium of the present invention can cope with on-demand production because the first toner image is formed using electrophotography. In addition to this, the color of the non-metallic glossy toner used for forming the first toner image provided on the information recording medium is selected as appropriate. It can be expressed very easily like silver and silver.

  Further, in the information recording medium of the present invention, the metallic gloss is not expressed by the toner image itself. For this reason, the glossiness does not become insufficient as in the method of forming a toner image using gold toner or silver toner as disclosed in Patent Document 4.

  The reason for this is as follows. First, when a metallic glossy toner such as a gold toner or a silver toner is used, it is necessary to use a plate-like glitter pigment (for example, mica or titanium dioxide) as a pigment. Therefore, the glossiness caused by such toner is caused by light reflection caused by the flat portion of the plate-like pigment. On the other hand, the plate-like pigment is randomly oriented in the toner and after being formed as an image. This is because in the toner production process, it is substantially impossible to disperse the plate-like pigment in a state of being oriented in one direction in the toner binder resin, and also in the case of forming a toner image. This is because the orientation of individual toners cannot be controlled. For this reason, among the glittering pigments contained in the image, only a part of the component contributing to the reflection of light is obtained, and a sufficient glossiness cannot be obtained. In order to ensure glossiness, a method of adding a larger amount of glitter pigment to the toner is also conceivable. However, since the balance with other components constituting the toner is lost, this method is substantially Cannot be adopted.

On the other hand, a plate-like glitter pigment can also be used for the glitter pigment-containing layer constituting the information recording medium of the present invention. However, the glitter pigment-containing layer is formed using a coating liquid in which the glitter pigment is dispersed. For this reason, a plate that can move relatively easily in a highly fluid coating film immediately after the coating liquid is applied and before the coating film is solidified by drying, heating, etc. The shape-like glitter pigment tends to be spontaneously oriented such that its plane is substantially perpendicular to the thickness direction of the information recording medium. Further, in the present invention, since it is not necessary to use a plate-like glitter pigment having a size that can fit within the particle diameter of the toner, the glitter pigment having a maximum diameter in the planar direction of about 5 μm to 500 μm that exceeds the size that can be added to the toner. Can be used. In this case, the self-weight makes it easier for the plate-like glitter pigment to be stably oriented in one direction.
Further, as the glitter pigment, a particulate pigment can be used instead of a plate pigment. In this case, the reflection efficiency due to a single pigment tends to be lower than when a plate-like pigment is used. However, when the glitter pigment is added to the glitter pigment-containing layer, the degree of freedom of addition is higher than when the glitter pigment is added to the toner. For this reason, it is possible to add a sufficient amount of the luster pigment necessary to ensure glossiness to the luster pigment-containing layer.
From the above, the information recording medium of the present invention can ensure a sufficient gloss.

Further, in the information recording medium of the present invention, the metallic color resulting from the area where the first toner image is provided can change the metallic glossiness depending on from which direction the information recording medium is viewed.
The reason for this is that the metallic color resulting from the area where the first toner image is provided contributes to the reflection of light from the glittering pigment-containing layer located immediately below the first toner image layer as described above. It is because it is expressed by. That is, in other words, the reflectance due to the glittering pigment-containing layer varies depending on the angle at which the information recording medium is viewed, and the metallic luster changes accordingly. For this reason, the information recording medium of the present invention has higher design.
On the other hand, in the method of forming a golden or silver metallic image as disclosed in Patent Documents 2 and 4, the metallic image is a single layer such as an ink layer or a toner layer. It is formed by. For this reason, it is difficult to express the change of metallic luster according to the viewing direction as described above.

The reflection density of the first toner image needs to be in the range of 0.2 to 1.2, but is preferably in the range of 0.3 to 1.1. More preferably, it is in the range of 4 or more and 1.0 or less.
When the reflection density is higher than 1.2, a metallic color cannot be developed. Moreover, when the reflection density is less than 0.2, only the metallic luster resulting from the glittering pigment-containing layer can be confirmed, and a metallic color with a specific color such as gold or silver cannot be expressed.

  The reflection density is measured by measuring the amount of toner image on the information recording medium with a spectral hardness meter Model 938 manufactured by X-Rite, and reflecting the highest value among the spectral reflection densities of visual, cyan, magenta, and yellow. Concentration.

On the other hand, since the first toner image expresses a metallic color, it is very effective in improving the design of the information recording medium. The first toner image may have a function of transmitting information such as character information as well as improving design.
However, when it is desired to reliably transmit information such as character information to a person who visually recognizes the information recording medium, it can be said that it is more preferable that an image having better visibility than design is provided separately.
In order to deal with such a case, a toner image having a reflection density higher than 1.2 (hereinafter referred to as “second” in a region different from the region where the first toner image is provided on the surface of the glitter pigment-containing layer). It is preferable that a toner image “) is provided.
In this case, by providing the second toner image mainly with an information transmission function, more reliable information transmission to a person viewing the information recording medium is possible.

  The reflection density of the second toner image is preferably higher than 1.2, more preferably higher than 1.4, and most preferably higher than 1.5. When the reflection density is 1.2 or less, the visibility is lowered, and it may be difficult to transmit information more reliably to a person viewing the information recording medium. Since the second toner image is provided mainly for information transmission, it is preferably a character image having a color having a high contrast with the background color. However, the second toner image is not limited to this. Absent.

-Layer structure of information recording media-
The information recording medium of the present invention has a layer structure comprising at least an image support, a glitter pigment-containing layer provided on at least one side of the image support, and a toner image provided on the glitter pigment-containing layer. If it is necessary, various intermediate layers may be provided between the image support and the glitter pigment-containing layer, or the glitter pigment-containing layer and the entire surface of the toner image may be covered. A layer can be provided.
Furthermore, if necessary, a light reflection adjusting layer can be provided on the surface of the glittering pigment-containing layer for the purpose of controlling reflection of light caused by the glittering pigment-containing layer. In this case, the toner image is provided not on the surface of the glittering pigment-containing layer but on the surface of the light reflection adjusting layer.

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an example of the layer structure of the information recording medium of the present invention, in which 100 is an information recording medium, 110 is an image support, 120 is a glittering pigment-containing layer, and 140 is a first layer. A toner image is shown.
An information recording medium 100 shown in FIG. 1 is provided in an image support 110, a glitter pigment-containing layer 120 provided on one side of the image support 110, and a partial region of the surface of the glitter pigment-containing layer 120. And a first toner image 140.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing another example of the layer structure of the information recording medium of the present invention. In the figure, 102 is the information recording medium, 130 is the light reflection adjusting layer, 142 is the second toner image, and 150 is the second toner image. The members indicated by other reference numerals showing the protective layer are the same as those shown in FIG.
The information recording medium 102 shown in FIG. 2 includes an image support 110, a glitter pigment-containing layer 120 provided on one side of the image support 110, and a light reflection adjusting layer 130 provided on the surface of the glitter pigment-containing layer 120. The first toner image 140 provided in a part of the surface of the light reflection adjustment layer 130 and the first toner image 140 provided in a region other than the first toner image 140 provided on the surface of the light reflection adjustment layer 130. 2 toner images 142, a light reflection adjusting layer 130, a first toner image 140, and a protective layer 150 provided so as to cover the second toner image 142.
Details of each layer will be described below.

-Image support-
As the image support used in the present invention, a known member can be used as long as it is a plate-like member having a certain degree of rigidity. For example, a sheet made of paper, metal, or ceramics can be used. It is preferable to use a plastic film.
The thickness of the plastic film is preferably 50 μm or more, and preferably 100 μm or more from the viewpoint of ensuring the rigidity of the information recording medium. In addition, although the upper limit of thickness is not specifically limited, From practical viewpoints, such as manufacturability, it is preferable that it is 5000 micrometers or less, and it is more preferable that it is 1000 micrometers or less. The vertical and horizontal sizes can be appropriately selected depending on the application, but in general, the length of one side is preferably in the range of 5 mm to 500 mm, and most preferably in the range of 20 mm to 200 mm. Further, when the information recording medium of the present invention is used as a so-called standard size card such as a cash card, the vertical and horizontal sizes of the image support are 54 mm × 85.6 mm, and the thickness is other than that of the glitter pigment containing layer or the like It is preferable that the total thickness including this layer is in the range of 700 μm or more and 750 μm or less so that it can be easily adjusted to about 760 μm. The thickness and vertical and horizontal sizes are the same when the constituent material of the image support is made of metal or ceramics.

Moreover, as a resin material constituting the plastic film, a known resin material can be used, for example, PET (polyethylene terephthalate), vinyl chloride, acetate, cellulose triacetate, nylon, polyester, polycarbonate, polystyrene, polypropylene film, polyimide, cellophane. Among these, PET and polyester are preferably used. In particular, modified PET (PETG) or biaxially stretched polyethylene terephthalate in which about half of the ethylene glycol component of PET is replaced with 1,4-cyclohexanemethanol component is preferable.
The plastic film may be composed of a blend of two or more kinds of resins, or may be composed of two or more plastic films bonded together.

As a resin material constituting the plastic film, the Vicat softening temperature of the resin constituting the surface of the image support on which the glitter pigment-containing layer is provided is lower than the melting temperature of the toner constituting the toner image. Specifically, it is preferably in the range of 70 ° C. or higher and 130 ° C. or lower, and more preferably in the range of 80 ° C. or higher and 120 ° C. or lower.
As will be described in detail later, the information recording medium of the present invention is produced through a transfer process in which the toner image formed on the surface of the transfer body is transferred to the surface of the glittering pigment-containing layer while being heated and pressurized. For this reason, if the Vicat softening temperature is less than 70 ° C. as described above, the information recording medium may be deformed due to curling / waving / softening resin flow or image distortion due to the transfer process. . On the other hand, when the Vicat softening temperature exceeds 130 ° C., the transfer body and the image support cannot be sufficiently adhered and adhered in the transfer step, and toner image transfer failure may occur.

The Vicat softening temperature is measured from a method for evaluating the softening temperature of a thermoplastic resin. The measuring method is a method for testing the heat resistance of a molded plastic material. The method is defined in JIS K7206, ASTM D1525, and ISO306.
In the present invention, a test piece having a thickness of 2.5 mm is used, a needle-like indenter having a cross-sectional area of 1 mm ² is set on the surface, a load of 1 kg is placed on the indenter, and the temperature of the oil tank for heating the test piece is set. The oil temperature was gradually raised, and the oil temperature when the indenter entered 1 mm into the test piece was defined as the Vicat softening temperature.

  The image support may be transparent, but is preferably opaque. In particular, when the glittering pigment-containing layer is provided only on one side, it is preferably opaque. A typical example of such an opaque image support is a whitened plastic film.

  As a method for whitening a plastic film, a white pigment, for example, metal oxide fine particles such as silicon oxide, titanium oxide, and calcium oxide, an organic white pigment, and polymer particles are mixed in a resin material constituting the plastic film. A method is mentioned. Further, by subjecting the surface of the plastic film to sandblasting or embossing, the surface can be whitened by giving irregularities to the extent that light scattering is caused.

  In the present invention, information that can be read and written by using at least one means selected from electrical means, magnetic means, and optical means inside or on the surface of the image support. A chip may be arranged.

  The information chip is not particularly limited as long as it has information having some kind of identification function and can be read by using at least one means selected from electrical means, magnetic means, and optical means. This information chip may be dedicated to reading information, but may be one that can both read and write information (including “rewriting”) as necessary. A specific example of such an information chip is an IC chip (semiconductor circuit) when the information recording medium is used as an IC card, for example.

  It should be noted that whether or not the toner image formed when the information chip is used as the information source of the magnetic information recording medium has information having some kind of identification function is not particularly limited.

  On the other hand, information included in the information chip is not particularly limited as long as it is identifiable, but may include variable information as described above. The variable information may include personal information as described above.

  As a method for incorporating a semiconductor circuit in an image support, there is a method in which a sheet called an inlet to which the semiconductor circuit is fixed is sandwiched between sheet materials constituting the image support, and heat fusion is integrated by heat press. Generally, it is preferably used. Further, it is also possible to arrange a semiconductor circuit directly without the inlet sheet and to perform heat fusion and integration in the same manner.

In addition, it is possible to attach the sheets constituting the image support using an adhesive such as hot melt, and similarly incorporate a semiconductor circuit, regardless of the heat fusion. For example, any method for incorporating a semiconductor circuit in an IC card can be applied as a method for manufacturing the image support.
Furthermore, if there is no problem in use as a magnetic information recording medium, it is possible to arrange the semiconductor circuit in an exposed state on the surface rather than inside the image support.

  When the information recording medium of the present invention is used as an IC card or the like, an antenna, an external terminal, or the like is embedded in the image support as necessary. Further, a hologram or the like may be printed, or necessary character information may be embossed.

-Bright pigment containing layer-
The glitter pigment-containing layer contains at least a glitter pigment in order to impart a metallic luster, but in addition to this, it usually contains a thermoplastic resin. The material may be included.
The luster pigment is not particularly limited as long as it is a metallic glossy pigment. Specifically, A) a pigment obtained by coating a metal or a translucent metal oxide on a core material; B) Pigments made of metal flakes can be used. Hereinafter, these two types of glitter pigments will be described in more detail.

A) Bright pigments with a metal or translucent metal oxide coating on the core material. This type of bright pigment (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "A-type bright pigment") The material is not particularly limited as long as at least the metal layer and the translucent metal oxide layer can be stably held on the surface. However, when the metallic luster is brought out mainly by utilizing the optical characteristics of the layer coated on the surface of the core material, the core material is not colored and transparent, and the surface is smooth. Is preferred.
Such conditions are satisfied core, flakes or glass particulate such, such as ceramics or resin (e.g., flake (scale) like mica or titanium dioxide, silicate glass, borate glass) was It is preferable to use it.

In addition, when a metal is selected as the coating layer, the A-type glitter pigment can also be concealed. When a translucent metal oxide layer is selected, the A-type glitter pigment is used. A transparent color tone can also be provided.
In the present invention, from the viewpoint of easy control of the metallic color of the area where the first image of the information recording medium is formed, the metallic luster itself is due to the glittering pigment-containing layer, and the color is the first color. It is preferable that each toner image is controlled separately. In this respect, the coating layer is preferably a metal oxide layer.

  As a metal coating method, a known metal film forming method can be used, and a known vapor phase film forming method such as a sputtering method or a vapor deposition method, or a known liquid phase film forming method such as a plating method such as electroless plating. Can be used as needed. Examples of the metal coated on the surface of the core material include gold, silver, nickel, aluminum, bronze, copper, stainless steel, and the like, and known metal materials (including alloys) according to the desired color. You can choose.

  In addition, as a light-transmitting metal oxide coating method, a known metal oxide film forming method can be used, and a known gas phase film forming method such as a sputtering method or a known liquid phase forming method such as a sol-gel method can be used. A membrane method can be used as needed. As the metal oxide, a known metal oxide material having translucency such as titanium dioxide, silicon oxide, iron oxide, tin oxide, and zirconium oxide can be used.

B) Bright pigment made of metal flakes This type of bright pigment (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “B-type bright pigment”) flake-like metal is used as a pigment as it is. Known metal materials (including alloys) such as silver, nickel, aluminum, bronze, copper, and stainless steel can be selected.

The shape of the glitter pigment may be plate-like (flakes) or particulate, but is preferably plate-like from the viewpoint of obtaining a high reflectance with a small amount.
The size of the plate-like glitter pigment is not particularly limited, but those having an average thickness in the range of 0.1 μm to 1 μm and an average maximum length in the plane direction of 3 μm to 500 μm are usually used. . However, as described above, the orientation of the glitter pigment when the glitter pigment containing layer is formed using the coating liquid containing the glitter pigment is further increased, and the thickness of the glitter pigment containing layer is also increased. From the viewpoint that the control of the pigment can be easily performed, the average thickness of the glitter pigment is preferably in the range of 0.1 μm to 0.3 μm, and the average maximum length in the plane direction is in the range of 5 μm to 60 μm. It is preferable.
In addition, the average thickness and average maximum length in the planar direction of the glitter pigment are observed with an electron microscope for 10 glitter pigments dispersed in the glitter pigment-containing layer. The maximum length can be measured and determined as the average of these values.

  The content of the glitter pigment added to the glitter pigment-containing layer is preferably 1% by mass or more, and preferably 5% by mass or more in order to ensure a sufficient metallic luster. On the other hand, the content of the glitter pigment is not particularly limited, but is preferably 90% by mass or less from a practical viewpoint such as ensuring a balance with other components constituting the glitter pigment containing layer, 80 mass% or less is more preferable.

  If necessary, the glittering pigment-containing layer may include a colorant other than the glittering pigment, for example, white pigment such as titanium oxide, iron oxide, carbon black, cyanine pigment, quinacridone pigment, azo dye, anthraquinone. Dyes, indigoid dyes, stilbene dyes, and the like can also be used as appropriate. These color materials are preferably particulate.

As the thermoplastic resin that can be used in the glitter pigment-containing layer, known thermoplastic resins can be used. Among these, a heat-meltable polyester resin is more preferable, and a heat-meltable linear saturated polyester resin is particularly preferable. Further preferred.
The heat-meltable linear saturated polyester resin can be produced by a reaction between a polyvalent hydroxy compound and a polybasic carboxylic acid or a reactive acid derivative thereof.

Examples of the polyvalent hydroxy compound constituting the polyester include ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, 1,2-propylene glycol, 1,3-propylene glycol, 1,4-butanediol, neopentyl glycol, 1,4. -Diols, such as cyclohexane dimethanol, are mentioned.
Examples of the polybasic carboxylic acid include malonic acid, succinic acid, adipic acid, sebacic acid, alkyl succinic acid, maleic acid, fumaric acid, mesaconic acid, citraconic acid, itaconic acid, glutaconic acid, cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid, Examples thereof include isophthalic acid, terephthalic acid, and other divalent carboxylic acids.

The glitter pigment-containing layer may contain various additives as necessary. Examples of the additive that can be used include an ultraviolet absorber and an antioxidant from the viewpoint of improving the light resistance of the information recording medium.
Examples of organic ultraviolet absorbers include salicylic acid-based materials such as phenyl salicylate, p-tert-butylphenyl salicylate, and p-octylphenyl salicylate for organic materials; 2,4-dihydroxybenzophenone, 2-hydroxy-4- Benzophenones such as methoxybenzophenone, 2-hydroxy-4-octyloxybenzophenone, 2-hydroxy-4-dodecyloxybenzophenone; 2- (2′-hydroxy-5′-methylphenyl) 2H-benzotriazole, 2- (2 Benzotriazoles such as'-hydroxy-5'-tert-butylphenyl) benzotriazole, 2- (2'-hydroxy-3'-tert-butyl-5'-methylphenyl) -5-chlorobenzotriazole; Ethylhexyl-2-cyano-3 , 3′-diphenyl acrylate, cyanoacrylate-based materials such as ethyl-2-cyano-3,3′-diphenyl acrylate, and the like.
Examples of inorganic ultraviolet absorbers include oxide fine particles of zinc oxide and titanium oxide, and metal oxide fine particles such as iron oxide and cerium oxide. As the ultraviolet absorber, an organic material is particularly preferable.

  As content of the ultraviolet absorber added to a glitter pigment content layer, the range of 0.01 mass part or more and 40 mass parts or less is preferable with respect to 100 mass parts of thermoplastic resins, and 0.1 mass part or more and 25 mass parts is preferable. A range of parts or less is preferred. Moreover, it is preferable to use 2 or more types of ultraviolet absorbers added to a luster pigment content layer from a viewpoint of ensuring more excellent light resistance.

Moreover, antioxidant can also be utilized from a viewpoint of the light resistance improvement of a colored layer. Examples of the antioxidant include phosphoric acid-based, sulfur-based, phenol-based and hindered amine-based antioxidants.
Specific examples of the phosphoric acid antioxidant include trimethyl phosphite, toluethyl phosphite, tri-n-butyl phosphite, trioctyl phosphite, tridecyl phosphite, tristearyl phosphite, trioleyl phosphite, Tristridecyl phosphite, tricetyl phosphite, dilauryl hydrogen phosphite, diphenyl monodecyl phosphite, diphenyl mono (tridecyl) phosphite, tetraphenyl dipropylene glycol diphosphite, 4,4′-butylidene-bis [ 3-methyl-6-t- (butyl) phenyl-di-tridecyl] phosphite, distearyl pentaerythritol diphosphite, ditridecyl pentaerythritol diphosphite, bisnonylphenyl pentaerythris Ritol diphosphite, diphenyloctyl phosphite, tetra (tridecyl) -4,4′-isopropylidene diphenyl diphosphite, tris (2,4-di-t-butylphenyl) phosphite, di (2,4- And phosphite compounds such as di-t-butylphenyl) pentaerythritol diphosphite.

  As the trivalent organophosphorus compound of the phosphoric acid antioxidant, all known compounds can be used. For example, JP-B Nos. 51-40589, -25064, 50-35097, 49-20928, Those described in JP-A-48-22330 and JP-A-51-35193 can also be used.

  As a sulfur type antioxidant, the following compounds are mentioned, for example. 3,3′-thiodipropionic acid-di-n-dodecyl, 3,3′-thiodipropionic acid-di-myristyl, 3,3′-thiodipropionic acid-di-n-octadecyl, 2-mercaptobenzo Imidazole, pentaelsulfol-tetrakis- (β-lauryl, urylthiopropionate), ditridecyl-3,3′-thiodipropionate, dimethyl 3,3′-thiodipropionate, octadecyl thioglycolate, phenothiazine , Β, β′-thiodipropionic acid, thioglycolic acid-n-butyl, thioglycolic acid ethyl, thioglycolic acid-2-ethylhexyl, thioglycolic acid isooctyl, thioglycolic acid-n-octyl, di-t-dodecyl -Disulfide, n-butyl sulfide, di-n-amyl disulfide, n-dode Rusarufaido, n- octadecyl sulfide, and the like p- thiocresol.

  As a phenolic antioxidant, the following compounds are mentioned, for example. 2,6-di-t-butyl-p-cresol (BHT), 2,6-di-t-butylphenol, 2,4-di-methyl-6-t-butylphenol, butylhydroxyphenol, 2,2′- Methylene bis (4-methyl-6-tert-butylphenol), 4,4′-thiobis (3-methyl-6-tert-butylphenol), bisphenol A, DL-α-tocopherol, styrenated phenol, styrenated cresol, 3, 5-di-t-butylhydroxybenzaldehyde, 2,6-di-t-butyl-4-hydroxymethylphenol, 2,6-di-s-butylphenol, 2,4-di-t-butylphenol, 3,5- Di-t-butylphenol, ot-butoxyphenol, ot-butylphenol, mt-butylphenol, pt- Tylphenol, o-isobutoxyphenol, on-propoxyphenol, o-cresol, 4,6-di-t-butyl-3-methylphenol, 2,6-dimethylphenol, 2,3,5,6- Tetramethylphenol, 3- (3 ′, 5′-di-t-butyl-4′-hydroxyphenyl) propionic acid stearyl ester, 2,4,6-tri-t-butylphenol, 2,4,6-trimethylphenol 2,4,6-tris (3 ′, 5′-di-t-butyl-4′-hydroxybenzyl) mesitylene, 1,6-hexanediol-bis [3- (3,5-di-t-butyl) -4-hydroxyphenyl) propionate], 2,2-thio-diethylenebis [3- (3,5-di-t-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl) propionate], 2,2-thiobis (4-methyl-6-tert-butylphenol), 3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxy-benzyl phosphate, on-propoxyphenol, o-cresol, 4,6 -Di-t-butyl-3-methylphenol, 2,6-dimethylphenol, 2,3,5,6-tetramethylphenol, 3- (3 ', 5'-di-t-butyl-4'-hydroxy Phenyl) propionic acid stearyl ester, 2,4,6-tri-t-butylphenol, 2,4,6-trimethylphenol, 2,4,6-tris (3 ′, 5′-di-t-butyl-4 ′ -Hydroxybenzyl) mesitylene, 1,6-hexanediol-bis [3- (3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl) propionate], 2,2-thio-diethyle Bis [3- (3,5-di-t-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl) propionate], 2,2-thiobis (4-methyl-6-t-butylphenol), 3,5-di-t-butyl- 4-hydroxy-benzyl phosphate-diethyl ester, 1,3,5-trimethyl-2,4,6-tris (3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxylbenzylbenzene, n-octadecyl-3- ( 3 ′, 5-di-t-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl) propionate, 2-t-butyl-6 (3′-t-butyl-5′-methyl-2-hydroxybenzyl) -4-methylphenyl acrylate, 4,4′-butylidene-bis (3-methyl-6-tert-butylphenol), hydroquinone, 2,5-di-tert-butylhydroquinone, tetramethylhydroxyl Emissions, and the like.

Examples of the hindered amine antioxidant include the following compounds. Bis (2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidyl) sebacate, bis (1,2,2,6,6-pentamethyl-4-piperidyl) sebacate, 1- {2- [3- (3 5-Di-t-butyl-4-hydrophenyl) propionyloxy] ethyl} -4- (3,5-di-t-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl) propionyloxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl Pyridine, 8-benzyl-7,7,9,9-tetramethyl-3-octyl-1,3,8-triazaspiro [4,5] undecane-2,4-dione, benzoyloxy-2,2,6 6-tetramethylpiperidine, 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidinol, tetrakis (2,2,6,6-teto-tetramethyl-4-piperidyl / decyl) -1,2,3,4 -Butanteteto There is such as carboxylate.
These antioxidants may be used alone or in admixture of two or more.

  The film thickness of the glitter pigment-containing layer is not particularly limited, but is preferably 3 μm or more and more preferably 5 μm or more from the viewpoint of securing a sufficient metallic luster. In addition, although the upper limit of the film thickness of a luster pigment content layer is not specifically limited, It is preferable that it is 20 micrometers or less practically, and it is more preferable that it is 15 micrometers or less.

-Light reflection adjustment layer-
In the information recording medium of the present invention, a light reflection adjusting layer can be provided on the surface of the glittering pigment-containing layer as necessary.
The light reflection adjusting layer reflects light incident on the glitter pigment-containing layer from the glitter pigment contained in the glitter pigment-containing layer, the surface of the image support located further below the glitter pigment-containing layer, or the like. Provided to adjust the amount of reflected light emitted to the outside of the information recording medium. Specifically, a black or white light reflection adjusting layer can be provided.

  When the black light reflection adjustment layer is provided, the light reflected from the lower layer side of the light reflection adjustment layer can be absorbed, so that light scattering caused by the reflected light from the lower layer side of the light reflection adjustment layer is prevented. The saturation of the glittering pigment-containing layer can be increased.

-Toner image-
In the information recording medium of the present invention, the first toner image is provided on the surface on which the glittering pigment-containing layer is provided, and the second toner is added to the first toner image as necessary. An image is provided. These toner images are formed on the surface of the transfer body using a normal electrophotographic image forming apparatus, and then transferred from the surface of the transfer body to the surface of the information recording medium.

Note that the image information provided by the first toner image is not particularly limited, and character information consisting of a character image exclusively for information transmission, a design name such as a trade name, trademark, or logo mark is required. Non-character information such as decorative images and image images such as face photographs that are often used, or a combination of character information and non-character information may be used. This applies to the second toner image.
However, the image information provided by the first toner image is preferably mainly non-character information because it is easy to impart high design properties. In addition, since the visibility is excellent, it is preferable that the image information provided by the second toner image is mainly character information.

As the toner used for forming the toner image, a normal toner (non-metallic glossy toner) used for forming a general black-and-white image or a color image having no metallic luster is used. Representative examples include toners containing cyan, magenta, and yellow color materials, but toners containing other color materials (for example, green, red, and blue) can also be used.
The volume average particle diameter of the toner used for forming the toner image is not particularly limited and may be in a general range (a range of about 3 μm to 8 μm).
The toner includes at least a binder resin such as a polyester resin or a styrene acrylic resin and a coloring material such as a pigment or a dye, and further includes a release agent as necessary to cope with oilless fixing. Also good. Furthermore, various internal additives and external additives such as a charge control agent may be added. Any toner can be used without limitation as long as it is produced by a known production method such as a dry production method such as a kneading pulverization method or a wet production method such as an emulsion polymerization aggregation method.

-Protective layer-
If necessary, the information recording medium of the present invention may be provided with a protective layer so as to cover the entire surface on which the glittering pigment-containing layer and the toner image are provided. As long as the protective layer is transparent, its constituent material and formation method are not particularly limited. Usually, the protective layer is an image holding layer constituting the transfer body or a member including the image holding layer constituting the transfer body. It is preferable to use as. The details of the method for forming the protective layer using the image holding layer and the member containing the image holding layer and the details of the constituent materials will be described later.

(Method of manufacturing information recording medium)
Next, a method for manufacturing the information recording medium of the present invention will be described.
The information recording medium of the present invention forms a toner image by electrophotography on the surface of the transfer body including the substrate and the image holding layer formed on at least one side of the substrate, on the side where the image holding layer is provided. A toner image forming step, a surface on the image holding layer side of the transfer body on which the toner image is formed, a glitter pigment-containing layer comprising an image support and a glitter pigment provided on at least one surface of the image support In a state in which the surface of the recording medium having the glitter pigment containing layer side is superposed, the laminate including the transfer body and the recording medium is heated and pressed to transfer the toner image from the transfer body side to the recording medium side. And a peeling step of peeling the member on the transfer body side from the laminate subjected to the transfer step.
Details of each step will be described below.

-Toner image forming process-
In the toner image forming step, a toner image is formed on the surface of the transfer body (image holding layer surface) using electrophotography. A toner image that can be a first toner image on the information recording medium is formed on the surface of the transfer body. A toner image that can be a second toner image on the information recording medium may be formed simultaneously with the toner image. .
Here, in order to form a toner image that can be the first toner image on the information recording medium, the reflection density of the toner image formed on the surface of the transfer member is adjusted within a range of 0.2 to 1.2. It is preferable to adjust within the range of 0.3 or more and 1.1 or less. If it is out of this range, the first toner image may not be provided on the information recording medium.
In order to form a toner image that can be the second toner image on the information recording medium, it is preferable to adjust the reflection density of the toner image formed on the surface of the transfer member to a range larger than 1.2. It is more preferable to adjust to a range larger than 4. If it is out of this range, the second toner image may not be provided on the information recording medium.
The reflection density of the toner image formed on the surface of the transfer body, that is, the reflection density of the first toner image and the second toner image provided on the information recording medium is finally controlled by the image forming apparatus. When a toner image is formed on the surface, the image density is set according to the color of the toner image.

For example, the toner image can be formed by the following procedure. First, after the surface of the electrostatic latent image holding member (photosensitive member) is charged, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to document image information is formed on the electrostatic latent image holding member by an exposure means such as a laser. Subsequently, a developer containing toner is supplied to the surface of the electrostatic latent image holding member on which the electrostatic latent image is formed, and the electrostatic latent image is developed to form a toner image. Thereafter, the toner image formed on the surface of the electrostatic latent image holding member is transferred to the surface of the transfer member and fixed, thereby forming a toner image on the surface of the transfer member. The toner image is transferred using an intermediate transfer member such as an intermediate transfer belt, and the toner image is transferred in two stages from the electrostatic latent image holding member to the intermediate transfer member and from the intermediate transfer member to the transfer member. It may be a method to do. Further, the fixing process may be omitted, and an unfixed toner image may be formed on the surface of the transfer body. In this case, an unfixed toner image is fixed by performing heating and pressurizing processes in the transfer process.
When the toner image provided on the information recording medium has asymmetry, the toner image is formed as a mirror image on the surface of the transfer body.

-Transfer process-
After the toner image forming step is completed, the transfer member is superposed on the surface on which the toner image is formed and the surface on which the glitter pigment-containing layer of the recording medium is formed. Subsequently, the laminated body in which the transfer body and the recording medium are overlapped is heated and pressurized (however, as described later, only pressure may be used). Thereby, the toner image is transferred from the surface of the transfer body to the surface of the recording medium. At this time, the image holding layer of the transfer body may be transferred to the recording medium side together with the toner image. Whether only the toner image is transferred or whether the image holding layer is transferred simultaneously with the toner image depends on whether or not the surface of the image holding layer constituting the transfer body has a releasability, the degree thereof, and the image holding layer. It can be selected by controlling the presence / absence of adhesiveness with the layer provided in contact with the image holding layer and the degree thereof.
The transfer method is not particularly limited, and any conventionally known various laminating techniques can be suitably employed. For example, a laminated body in which a transfer body and a recording medium are overlapped is inserted into a contact portion formed by contacting a heating roll and a pressure roll, which are arranged so as to press each other so as to press each other. Thus, a normal laminating technique in which a toner image and a recording medium are melted to some extent and heat-sealed, or a heat press technique, or simply press-bonding may be used.

-Peeling process-
Subsequently, the information recording medium is obtained by peeling the member on the transfer body side (all or part of the members constituting the transfer body) from the laminate. Peeling may be performed manually, or a method such as inserting a peeling claw into the interface between a member to be peeled of the laminate and a member that can be an information recording medium may be used.

-Information recording medium manufacturing equipment-
Next, a specific example of a manufacturing apparatus used for manufacturing the information recording medium of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an information recording medium manufacturing apparatus.
The information recording medium manufacturing apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 3 includes a collating device 12 that is a superimposing means and a joining device 14 (joining part) that is a joining means. The collating device 12 and the joining device 14 are, for example, They are arranged adjacent to each other in the horizontal direction.

  The collating apparatus 12 includes a transfer body storage unit 32 that stores the transfer body 20 having a toner image, a recording medium storage unit 34 that is disposed below the transfer body storage unit 32 and stores the recording medium 22, and a recording medium storage unit. On the side where the joining device 14 of the section 34 is disposed, the collating means 36 (positioning portion) disposed adjacent to the recording medium housing portion 34 and on the side where the joining device 14 of the transfer body housing portion 32 is disposed. Provided on the side of the recording medium storage unit 34 on which the joining device 14 is disposed and the recording medium storage unit 34. A conveyance path 42 for supplying the recording medium 22 from the storage unit 34 to the collating means 36 is provided.

The conveyance paths 40 and 42 may have a configuration in which a plate-like member having a smooth surface, a transfer body 20 having a toner image on the surface, and a conveyance roll for conveying the recording medium 22 are provided. You may comprise the endless belt which can rotate.
When the information recording medium is formed, these conveying paths 40 and 42 are arranged such that the collating means 36 conveys a roll or belt at a predetermined timing so that the recording medium 22 and the transfer body 20 having the toner image are superimposed. Rotates, and the transfer body 20 and the recording medium 22 having toner images are conveyed from the transfer body storage section 32 and the recording medium storage section 34 to the collating means 36.

The recording medium storage unit 34 stores the recording medium 22, and is provided with a pickup roll and a paper supply roll that are provided in a normal paper supply device. One recording medium 22 is conveyed.
The transfer body storage unit 32 stores a transfer body 20 having a toner image formed by electrophotography, and also includes a pickup roll and a paper feed roll provided in a normal paper feeding device. A sheet feeding roll or the like rotates at a timing immediately after the recording medium 22 is discharged to the means 36, and the transfer body 20 having the toner image is conveyed to the collating means 36.

  The collating means 36 is provided vertically below the side of the transport path 40 that discharges the transfer body having the toner image, and at the same height as the portion of the transport path 42 that discharges the recording medium 22. . Further, positioning means for aligning and superimposing the positions of the transfer body having the toner image and the recording medium 22 so that the toner image on the surface of the transfer body 20 having the toner image faces a desired position on the surface of the recording medium 22 is provided. Is provided.

The configuration of the positioning means is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include the configurations shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.
4 and 5 are schematic views for explaining an example of positioning means used in the information recording medium manufacturing apparatus shown in FIG. 3, and FIG. 4 is a plan view when the collating means 36 is viewed from above. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the collating means 36 (cross-sectional view between X1 and X2 in FIG. 4), in which 61, 61a, 61b and 62 are reference walls, and 63 and 64 are regulating members. , 70 is received, and 71 is a connecting portion.

  The collating means 36 has four sides with respect to the conveying direction indicated by the arrows in the figure (in FIG. 3, the side on which the transfer body storage portion 32 and the recording medium storage portion 34 are arranged with respect to the collating means 36). Square receiver 70 whose two sides are orthogonal to each other, reference wall 61 arranged along the downstream side in the conveying direction, and reference arranged along one of the two sides orthogonal to the side. A wall 62, a regulating member 63 arranged so that the surface of the receiver 70 can be moved by a drive mechanism (not shown) in the direction of arrow A (a direction parallel to the conveying direction), and the surface of the receiver 70 in the direction of arrow B (perpendicular to the direction of arrow A) And a regulating member 64 that is movably arranged by a drive mechanism (not shown).

Here, the positioning is performed with respect to a laminated body P (a member indicated by a dotted line in the figure) laminated so that the transfer body 20 and the recording medium 22 are overlaid on the surface of the receiver 70 through the conveyance paths 40 and 42. This is performed by pressing the restricting members 63 and 64 against the reference walls 61 and 62. Specifically, the regulating member 63 is pressed against one of the two orthogonal sides of the laminate P (first side), and in this state, the regulating member 63 is positioned at the position of symbol C (downstream in the transport direction). The side facing the regulating member 63 of the laminate P is abutted against the reference wall 61 and the regulating member 64 is pressed against the side (second side) orthogonal to the first side. In this state, the regulating member 64 is moved in the direction of the reference wall 62, and the side opposite to the side in contact with the regulating member 64 of the stacked body P is abutted against the reference wall 62.
As described above, by using the two restricting members 63 and 64 and the two reference walls 61 and 62 in combination, even if the size of the laminate P is various such as A4 or A3 size, the collation that is accurately positioned can be obtained. Is possible.

Since the reference wall 61 shown in FIG. 4 is provided at a position orthogonal to the transport direction, after the collation is completed and the temporary fixing performed as necessary is completed, the transport of the stacked body P is completed. It is necessary to be movable so as not to disturb.
In order to give such a function to the reference wall 61, for example, it is preferable that the reference wall 61 is movable as shown in FIG.
For example, as shown in FIG. 5A, the reference wall 61 moves in the direction of arrow D (that is, up and down movement) and moves to the position indicated by 61a, so that the stacked body P is transported downstream in the conveyance direction. Can be transported to.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 5B, the reference wall 61 can move in the direction of arrow E (that is, in the circumferential direction around the connection portion 71) via the connection portion 71 at the end of the receiver 70. If the reference wall 61 is moved to a location indicated by 61b, the laminate P can be transported downstream in the transport direction.

  The collating means 36 may be provided with a temporary fixing device for temporarily fixing a laminated body in which the recording medium 22 and the transfer body 20 having a toner image are overlapped. As this temporary fixing device, for example, a device composed of a pair of protruding pieces made of metal so as to be heated by a heater or the like can be used. If this device is used, the laminate is sandwiched by a pair of heated protruding pieces. Thus, the transfer body 20 having the toner image and the recording medium 22 are welded by heat, and the laminated body is temporarily fixed.

Here, as the joining device 14, for example, a device having a configuration using a pair of endless belts can be used.
The joining device 14 shown in the figure is disposed on the collating device 12 side so as to stretch a pair of endless belts 46 arranged in contact with each other so that the outer peripheral surfaces are pressed against each other. A pair of heating / pressurizing rolls 48 and a pair of stretching rolls 50 arranged on the side opposite to the side where the collating device 12 of the heating / pressurizing rolls 48 is arranged, and a pair of stretching It has the joined body discharge | emission part 56 arrange | positioned on the opposite side to the side by which the heating / pressurizing roll 48 of the roll 50 is arrange | positioned.

  In addition, the structure of the joining apparatus 14 is not limited only to the structure shown in the figure, Any apparatus can be used as long as it has a structure capable of performing conventionally known various laminating techniques and hot pressing techniques.

Next, an information recording medium forming process by the information recording medium manufacturing apparatus shown in FIG. 3 will be described.
First, in the collating apparatus 12, the recording medium 22 is supplied from the recording medium storage unit 34 to the collating means 36 through the conveyance path 42, and is set at a predetermined position of the collating means 36.
Next, the transfer body 20 having a toner image is supplied from the transfer body storage portion 32 to the collating means 36 via the conveyance path 40. Here, the transfer body 20 having the toner image exiting the transport path 40 is supplied to the collating means 36 by its own weight so that the surface on which the toner image is provided faces downward, and the recording medium 22 and Superimposed.

  Next, the laminated body composed of the transfer body 20 having the toner image superimposed by the collating means 36 and the recording medium 22 is temporarily fixed by a temporary fixing apparatus and then joined by a conveying means (not shown). It is conveyed to the device 14.

Next, in the joining device 14, the laminated body composed of the transfer body 20 having the toner image and the recording medium 22 is passed through a contact portion where the outer peripheral surfaces of the pair of endless belts 46 are in contact with each other, and is heated and pressurized. As a result, a joined body composed of the transfer body 20 and the recording medium 22 is formed. The joined body that has passed through the contact portion is discharged to the joined body discharge portion 56.
Subsequently, the member on the transfer body side is peeled from the obtained joined body to obtain an information recording medium.

  In the information recording medium manufacturing apparatus 10 described above, it is preferable to provide a peeling device 400 shown in FIG. In this case, it is possible to obtain an information recording medium manufacturing apparatus capable of continuously and collectively performing formation and peeling of the joined body and neutralization of the information recording medium immediately after peeling.

  FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a peeling device, in which 300 is a joined body, 310 is an information recording medium (member), 320 is a peeling member (the information recording medium 310 of the joined body 300). 400 is a peeling device, 410 is a peeling means, 412 is a conveyance guide, 414 is a joined body detection sensor, 416 is a peeling claw, 420 is a static elimination means, 422 is a conveyance guide, and 424 is an information recording medium. An accommodating part, 430 represents a peeling member accommodating part, and 432 represents a conveyance guide.

  The peeling apparatus 400 shown in FIG. 6 is provided with a peeling means 410 and a static elimination means 420. The peeling means 410 is disposed above the conveyance guide 412 in the vertical direction of the conveyance guide 412 that guides conveyance of the joined body 300 composed of the member 310 that is an information recording medium and the separation member 320 in the direction of arrow A. The assembly detection sensor 414 and a peeling claw 416 that is provided on the side of the conveyance guide 412 on which the static elimination means 420 is disposed and that is movable in the vertical direction are configured.

On the opposite side of the peeling claw 416 from the side on which the conveyance guide 412 is provided, a static elimination means 420 and a peeling member accommodating portion 430 are arranged, and the static elimination means 420 is located vertically below the arrow A direction line. It is located and the peeling member accommodating part 430 is located in the vertical direction upper side. In addition, a conveyance guide 422 is provided between the peeling claw 416 and the charge removal means 420, and an information recording medium accommodation portion 424 is provided on the opposite side of the charge removal means 420 from the conveyance guide 422. A conveyance guide 432 is provided between the peeling member accommodating portions 430.
In the example illustrated in FIG. 6, the static elimination unit 420 is configured by a pair of static elimination rolls arranged to face each other so as to form a contact portion, but is not limited thereto. Instead of this, a discharging means, a static elimination brush, or the like can be used.

Next, formation of the information recording medium by the peeling device 400 and its charge removal process will be described. First, the joined body 300 is transported into the transport guide 412 by a transport means (not shown) so that the member 310 serving as an information recording medium is on the lower surface side.
Here, the joined body detection sensor 414 detects the joined body 300 that moves in the direction of the arrow A within the transport guide 412 by a transport means (not shown), and transmits a detection signal to the peel claw 416 moving means (not shown). . At this time, when the bonded body 300 reaches the exit of the conveyance guide 412, the peeling claw 416 is positioned at the tip of the claw at the interface between the member 310 serving as the information recording medium of the bonded body 300 and the peeling member 320. To move. In this state, the joined body 300 is further moved to the peeling claw 416 side, and is peeled to the information recording medium 310 and the peeling member 320.

  Thereafter, the peeling member 320 moves in the conveyance guide 432 and is conveyed to the peeling member accommodating portion 430, and the information recording medium 310 is conveyed to the charge removing unit 420. Here, the information recording medium 310 is neutralized by passing through a contact portion formed by a pair of neutralizing rolls constituting the neutralizing means 420 and discharged to the information recording medium accommodating unit 424 after neutralization.

-Recording medium and glitter pigment-containing layer transfer material used for production thereof-
The recording medium is a member in a state before the toner image is transferred to the information recording medium, and specifically includes an image support and a glittering pigment-containing layer provided on at least one side of the image support. . The recording medium has a configuration in which various intermediate layers are provided between the image support and the glitter pigment-containing layer, or a light reflection adjusting layer is provided on the surface of the glitter pigment-containing layer, if necessary. May be.

The recording medium is formed by directly coating on the image support a coating solution for forming a glittering pigment-containing layer in which a material constituting the glittering pigment-containing layer such as a glittering pigment is dissolved and dispersed in a solvent. Can do. Also, using the glitter pigment-containing layer transfer body in which the glitter pigment-containing layer is formed on the glitter pigment-containing layer support made of a PET resin sheet or the like, the glitter pigment-containing layer is transferred onto the image support. Thus, a recording medium can be manufactured. The transfer of the glitter pigment-containing layer to the image support using the glitter pigment-containing layer transfer body and the peeling performed after the transfer can be performed in the same manner as the transfer process and the peeling process described above.
In addition, when the recording medium also has a light reflection adjusting layer, the glitter pigment-containing layer transfer body includes a glitter pigment-containing layer support, a light reflection adjusting layer, and a glitter pigment-containing layer laminated in this order. Can be used. In this case, the glitter pigment-containing layer and the light reflection adjusting layer are transferred to the image support.

  When forming a glittering pigment-containing layer, the material constituting the glittering pigment-containing layer is uniformly dispersed in a solvent by an apparatus such as an ultrasonic wave, a wave blower, an attritor or a sand mill. Adjust the coating liquid. And using this coating liquid, it is applied on a substrate such as an image support or a glittering pigment-containing layer support, or by immersing the substrate in this coating liquid and then pulling it up. A coating film is formed by coating. Thereafter, the glittering pigment-containing layer is formed by drying or further heating the coating film.

  In addition, as a coating film formation method, blade coating method, wire bar coating method, spray coating method, dip coating method, bead coating method, air knife coating method, curtain coating method, roll coating method, kiss reverse coating method, reverse Commonly used methods such as roll coating, squeeze coating, die coating, comma coating, fountain reverse coating, and gravure coating can be used. These methods can be used in the same manner when a transfer body is produced.

  The solvent that can be used for preparing the coating liquid is not particularly limited as long as it can dissolve or disperse the material constituting the glittering pigment-containing layer, and can be appropriately selected as necessary. Examples include aliphatic hydrocarbons such as toluene and xylene, halogenated hydrocarbons such as methylene chloride and chlorobenzene, ketone-based organic solvents such as methyl ethyl ketone and cyclohexanone, and tetrahydrofuran and ethyl acetate. Two or more kinds of solvents can be mixed and used. In addition, in order to improve the dispersion stability of the material which comprises a luster pigment content layer, a well-known surfactant can also be utilized as needed.

  When using a glitter pigment-containing layer transfer body, dust adheres to the glitter pigment-containing layer transfer body, or the recording medium prepared by transferring the glitter pigment-containing layer is charged and dust adheres to the recording medium. In order to suppress electrostatic adsorption between recording media, the glitter pigment-containing layer transfer body is provided with a glitter pigment-containing layer of the glitter pigment-containing layer transfer body as necessary. A resistance adjustment layer may be provided on the surface opposite to the surface on the other side. A polymer conductive agent, a surfactant, conductive metal oxide particles, and the like are added to the resistance adjustment layer as a charge control agent.

By providing the resistance adjustment layer, the surface resistivity of the surface of the glitter pigment-containing layer transfer body can be controlled within an appropriate range. In this case, it is preferable to control the surface resistivity within a range of 1.0 × 10 ⁸ Ω to 1.0 × 10 ¹³ Ω. In addition to providing a resistance adjusting layer in controlling the surface resistivity, a surface active agent is coated on the surface of the glitter pigment-containing layer transfer body, a metal film is deposited, or a glitter pigment. A surfactant, a polymer conductive agent, and conductive particles can also be added to the containing layer support.
A matting agent may be added to the resistance adjusting layer in order to improve the transportability of the glitter pigment-containing layer transfer body.

Next, the charge control agent and matting agent used for the resistance adjustment layer will be described.
Examples of the surfactant include cationic surfactants such as polyamines, ammonium salts, sulfonium salts, phosphonium salts, and betaine amphoteric salts, anionic surfactants such as alkyl phosphates, and nonionic surfactants such as fatty acid esters. Agents.

  Of the cationic surfactants, quaternary ammonium salts are preferred. As the quaternary ammonium salts, compounds represented by the following general formula (I) are preferable.

In the formula, R ₁ represents an alkyl group, alkenyl group, or alkynyl group having 6 to 22 carbon atoms, and R ₂ represents an alkyl group, alkenyl group, or alkynyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms. R ₃ , R ₄ and R ₅ may be the same or different and each represents an aliphatic group, an aromatic group or a heterocyclic group. An aliphatic group means a linear, branched or cyclic alkyl group, alkenyl group, or alkynyl group. The aromatic group represents a benzene monocyclic or condensed polycyclic aryl group. These groups may have a substituent such as a hydroxyl group.
A represents an amide bond, an ether bond, an ester bond or a phenyl group, but this may not be present.
X ⁻ represents a halogen element, sulfate ion, or nitrate ion, and these ions may have a substituent.

Examples of the conductive metal oxide particles include ZnO, SnO ₂ , In ₂ O ₃ , MgO, BaO, and MoO ₃ . These may be used alone or in combination. The metal oxide preferably further contains a different element, such as Al and In for ZnO, Nb and Ta for TiO, and Sb, Nb and halogen for SnO ₂ . Those containing elements (doping) are preferred. Among these, SnO ₂ doped with Sb is particularly preferable because it has little change in conductivity over time and high stability.

  Examples of the resin having lubricity used in the matting agent include polyolefins such as polyethylene; fluororesins such as polyvinyl fluoride, polyvinylidene fluoride, and polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon (registered trademark)). Specific examples include low molecular weight polyolefin waxes (for example, polyethylene waxes, molecular weights of 1000 to 5000), high density polyethylene waxes, paraffinic or microcrystalline waxes. Examples of the fluororesin include polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) dispersion.

  The matting agent (spherical filler) is not limited, but when it is composed of organic resin particles, specifically, styrenes such as styrene, vinyl styrene, chlorostyrene; ethylene, propylene, butylene, isobutylene, etc. Mono-olefins; vinyl esters such as vinyl acetate, vinyl propionate, vinyl benzoate, vinyl butyrate; methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, butyl acrylate, dodecyl acrylate, octyl acrylate, phenyl acrylate, methacrylic acid Esters of α-unsaturated fatty acid monocarboxylic acids such as methyl, ethyl methacrylate, butyl methacrylate, dodecyl methacrylate; vinyl ethers such as vinyl methyl ether, vinyl ethyl ether, vinyl butyl ether; vinyl methyl ketone, vinyl hexyl Ton, vinyl ketones such as vinyl isopropenyl ketone; isoprene, 2-chlorobutadiene and the like by polymerizing one or more diene monomers can be exemplified homopolymers or copolymers obtained.

  Among these, styrenes, esters of α-unsaturated fatty acid monocarboxylic acid, etc. are preferable. When these hot-melt resins are used as fillers, the fillers can be obtained by coating with a solvent that does not dissolve these resins. However, preferably, a thermosetting resin having a cross-linked structure by adding a crosslinking agent or the like to these heat-meltable resins, the thermosetting resin described above, a photocurable resin, an electron Those obtained by micronizing a wire curable resin or the like are more preferably used.

When the spherical filler is composed of inorganic fine particles, specific examples include mica, talc, silica, calcium carbonate, zinc white, halocyto clay, kaolin, hydrochloric magnesium carbonate, quartz powder, titanium dioxide. , Barium sulfate, calcium sulfate, alumina and the like.
The shape of the filler is preferably a spherical particle, but may be a plate shape, a needle shape, or an indefinite shape as necessary. In addition, the volume average particle diameter of the filler is preferably 20 μm or less, but considering the film thickness of the resistance adjustment layer, it is particularly preferably in the range of 0.5 μm to 15 μm.

-Transcript-
The transfer body has a base and an image holding layer provided on at least one side of the base, and is configured by laminating one or more intermediate layers and an image holding layer in this order on the surface of the base as necessary. It may be. Examples of the transfer body include a type that transfers only a toner image, and a transfer body that transfers an image together with a part of members constituting the transfer body.

  That is, in a type transfer body that transfers only an image, the image holding layer contains at least a releasable material, and only a toner image is recorded from the transfer body in a transfer process and a peeling process using this transfer body. Transferred to the medium.

On the other hand, a transfer body of a type that transfers an image together with a part of a member constituting the transfer body has one or more layers adjacent to the image holding layer or the image holding layer side and 1 adjacent to the substrate or the substrate side. The interface with the above layers is peelable. In the transfer step and the peeling step using this transfer body, the image holding layer or one or more layers adjacent to the image holding layer side are peeled off from the transfer body and transferred to a recording medium together with the toner image.
Hereinafter, the transfer body will be described in more detail by dividing it into the above two types.

-Type of transfer body that only transfers images-
In this type of transfer body, the surface resistivity of the image holding layer is 1.0 × 10 ^{8 at} 23 ° C. and 55% RH in order to improve the transferability of an image formed by electrophotography. The range is preferably 3.2 × 10 ¹³ Ω or less, and more preferably 1.0 × 10 ⁹ or more and 1.0 × 10 ¹¹ Ω or less.

If the surface resistivity is less than 1.0 × 10 ⁸ Ω, the resistance value of the transfer member used as the image receiver at high temperature and high humidity becomes too low. For this reason, the toner image may be disturbed when an unfixed image (toner image) is transferred to the surface of the transfer member in the image forming apparatus. On the other hand, if the surface resistivity exceeds 3.2 × 10 ¹³ Ω, the resistance value of the transfer member used as the image receiver becomes too high, and the toner image cannot be transferred to the transfer member surface in the image forming apparatus. In some cases, image defects may occur due to transfer defects.

For the same reason, when the image holding layer is provided only on one side of the substrate, the surface resistivity at 23 ° C. and 55% RH of the substrate surface on the side where the image holding layer is not provided is 1.0. The range is preferably from 10 ⁸ Ω to 1.0 × 10 ¹³ Ω, and more preferably from 1.0 × 10 ⁹ Ω to 1.0 × 10 ¹¹ Ω.

  The surface resistivity difference between the front and back surfaces of the transfer body at 23 ° C. and 55% RH is preferably within 4 digits, more preferably within 3 digits. If the surface resistivity difference between the front and back surfaces exceeds 4 digits, toner transfer failure is likely to occur and image deterioration may occur. The difference in surface resistivity within 4 digits means that the difference in common logarithm is within 4 when each surface resistivity is expressed in common logarithm.

  The surface resistivity is measured by a method based on the double ring electrode method in JIS K 6911, and is obtained by following the calculation formula presented at the same time. More specifically, a digital ultra-high resistance / microammeter R8340 manufactured by Advantest Co., Ltd. connected to a circular electrode (for example, “HR probe” of Hiresta IP manufactured by Mitsubishi Yuka Co., Ltd.) It calculated | required from the calculation formula prescribed | regulated to JISK6911 based on the electric current value 60 second after by the applied voltage 1000V in the environment of (degreeC) and 55% RH.

In controlling the surface resistivity of the image holding layer within the range of 1.0 × 10 ⁸ Ω or more and 1.0 × 10 ¹³ Ω or less, a charge control agent is preferably contained in the image holding layer. As the charge control agent, for example, a polymer conductive agent, a surfactant, conductive metal oxide particles, or the like can be used.

Further, since the image holding layer contains a releasable material, the toner image can be satisfactorily transferred to the recording medium.
The releasable material is used for an image holding layer for once fixing and fixing the toner on the transfer body and releasing the toner when the transfer body and the recording medium are heat-pressed. Therefore, it is desirable that the releasable material has adhesion to the toner and releasability.

  The releasable material is not particularly limited, and a silicone-based hard coat material can be used. The silicone-based hard coat material may include a condensate resin containing a silane-based composition or a material composed of a mixture of a condensate resin containing the silane-based composition and a colloidal silica dispersion.

  The image holding layer may contain a resin in addition to the releasable material, and may contain, for example, a polyester resin or a styrene acrylic resin. Since polyester resins and styrene acrylic resins are used as binder resins for toners, the fixing ability of the toner to the surface of the transfer member is appropriately controlled by including the same type of resin in the image holding layer. be able to. In addition, as said polyester resin, you may use silicone modified polyester resin, urethane modified polyester resin, acrylic modified polyester, etc. other than general polyester resin, for example.

  Furthermore, in order to improve the adhesiveness to the substrate or improve the blocking property, a conventional known resin can be mixed as necessary and used as a resin material constituting the image holding layer. As this resin material, it is preferable to use polyvinyl acetal resin.

  In order to improve the conveyance of the transfer body in the image forming apparatus, the image holding layer may contain a filler. The volume average particle size of the filler is preferably 0.1 μm or more and 30 μm or less, but considering the image holding layer thickness, it is preferably 1.2 times or more the image holding layer thickness. If it is too large, the filler may be detached from the image holding layer, the surface of the transfer member is likely to be damaged by wear, and the haze (degree of haze) may increase.

  As the shape of the filler, spherical particles are generally used, but may be a plate shape, a needle shape, or an indefinite shape. Moreover, as a material which comprises a filler, a well-known resin material and an inorganic material can be utilized.

  Although it does not specifically limit as a base | substrate, A plastic film can be used typically. Among these, polyacetate film, cellulose triacetate film, nylon film, polyester film, polycarbonate film, polysulfone film, polystyrene film, polyphenylene sulfide film, polyphenylene ether film, cyclohexane film, which are light transmissive films that can be used as OHP films. An olefin film, a polypropylene film, a polyimide film, a cellophane, an ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) resin film, or the like can be preferably used. Paper (plain paper, coated paper, etc.), metal (aluminum, etc.), ceramics (alumina, etc.) can also be used.

  The surface of the substrate on which the image holding layer is provided is preferably 1 μm or less in surface roughness (centerline average roughness Ra), more preferably 0.1 μm or less. When the surface roughness (centerline average roughness Ra) exceeds 1 μm, high glossiness may not be obtained.

  Further, since the thickness of the image holding layer is about 0.1 μm or more and 20 μm or less, the thickness of the transfer body is determined by the thickness of the substrate. Therefore, the thickness of the substrate is preferably in the range of 50 μm to 200 μm, and more preferably in the range of 75 μm to 150 μm. If the thickness is less than 50 μm, a conveyance failure may be caused in the image forming apparatus. If the thickness exceeds 200 μm, it becomes difficult to transfer the toner image to the surface of the transfer body in the image forming apparatus. An image defect may occur.

-A transfer body of a type that transfers an image together with a part of members constituting the transfer body-
In this type of transfer body, at least one layer including an image holding layer is provided on the same surface of the substrate, and at least one of these layers is a layer containing a curable resin. Particularly preferred. In this case, the layer containing the curable resin is a layer that can be peeled from the substrate or a layer adjacent to the substrate.
When the layer containing the curable resin is peeled off from the substrate or the adjacent layer on the substrate side and an image formed by electrophotography is transferred onto the recording medium, the layer is transferred to the substrate or the substrate side. The layer containing the curable resin is peeled from the adjacent layer, covering the image transferred onto the recording medium and protecting this image.

  The peel force at the interface between the layer containing the curable resin and the layer in contact with the substrate or the layer containing the curable resin in the transfer body is 0.098 N / cm or more and 4.90 N / cm or less ( 10 gf / cm or more and 500 gf / cm or less), preferably 0.196 N / cm or more and 3.92 N / cm or less (20 gf / cm or more and 400 gf / cm or less), more preferably 0.490 N / cm or more. More preferably, it is 2.41 N / cm or less (50 gf / cm or more and 250 gf / cm or less).

When the peeling force is less than 0.098 N / cm (10 gf / cm), the release layer and the layer containing the curable resin are easily peeled off, and the curable resin is applied to the fixing device of the image forming apparatus at the time of image fixing. The contained layer is transferred, or slipping occurs at the interface between the layer containing the curable resin and the substrate or the adjacent layer on the substrate side when producing an information recording medium, and the image is finally formed. May be disorganized and transferred. On the other hand, if the peeling force exceeds 4.90 N / cm (500 gf / cm), a layer partially containing a curable resin may remain on the surface of the substrate or the adjacent layer on the substrate side. In some cases, defects on the surface of the information recording medium are caused.
Here, the peeling force is a measured value when measurement is performed according to the 180-degree peeling adhesive strength in the measurement of adhesive strength according to JIS standard Z0237.

  In addition, regarding the electrical characteristics such as the surface of the image holding layer in the transfer body that transfers only the image, the filler used in the substrate and the image holding layer, and various additives, the image is printed together with a part of the members constituting the transfer body. The present invention can also be applied to a transfer body of a transfer type.

-First transcript-
Next, each form of a transfer body of a type that transfers an image together with a part of members constituting the transfer body will be described.
In the first form of the transfer body (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “first transfer body”), the release layer and the curable resin layer are formed on the surface of the substrate on which the image holding layer is provided. And an image holding layer are sequentially provided.

  In the first transfer body, the curable resin layer is a layer containing the curable resin described above, and the curable resin layer is a layer that can be peeled from the release layer that is a layer adjacent to the substrate side. That is, when an image formed by electrophotography is transferred onto a recording medium, the curable resin layer is peeled off from the release layer, and the curable resin layer and the image holding layer are transferred onto the recording medium. To protect the image.

  In the first transfer body, since the image holding layer is provided on the curable resin layer, when an image is formed with toner on the image holding layer, the toner does not spread and the resolution is improved.

  On the other hand, the image holding layer in the first transfer member has a film thickness of 2 μm or more and 25 μm or less, and contains a thermoplastic resin and particles having a volume average particle diameter larger than the film thickness of the image holding layer. Preferably it is. In this case, the image holding layer contains particles larger than the thickness of the layer, and the release layer can transfer the toner image to the recording medium satisfactorily.

  The release layer includes a release material similar to that used for a transfer body that transfers only an image. Thereby, the peelability in the interface of a mold release layer and a curable resin layer is securable in a peeling process.

The curable resin layer in the first transfer body constitutes a layer on one side surface of the information recording medium obtained through the peeling step, and bears a function of protecting the image.
In order to exhibit this function, the curable resin layer needs to be resistant to scratches and drugs. Therefore, it is preferable to include a photocurable or thermosetting resin such as the silicone-based hard coat material described above. In addition to these, various materials can be added as necessary. Of the total resins constituting the curable resin layer, the silicone-based hard coat material is included in the range of 0.5% by mass to 98% by mass. Preferably, it is contained in the range of 1% by mass or more and 95% by mass or less. If the content of the silicone-based hard coat material is less than 0.5% by mass, peeling at the interface between the release layer and the curable resin layer may be difficult in the peeling step, and if it exceeds 98% by mass. In some cases, the image transfer or fixing state is deteriorated and the image quality is deteriorated.

The image holding layer contains a resin. As the resin, for example, at least one kind of polyester resin or styrene acrylic resin is used. In general, polyester resins and styrene acrylic resins are used as a binder resin for toners. By incorporating a resin of the same type into the image holding layer, the toner can be fixed on the surface of the transfer body. It can be controlled appropriately. As the polyester resin, in addition to a general polyester resin, for example, a silicone-modified polyester resin, a urethane-modified polyester resin, an acrylic-modified polyester, or the like may be used.
In addition, the image holding layer is formed of natural wax, synthetic wax, release resin, reactive silicone or the like in order to prevent the image forming apparatus from adhering to or wrapping around the fixing member when the image is fixed by the image forming apparatus. You may contain mold release agents, such as a compound and modified silicone oil.

  In the first transfer body, the thickness of the image holding layer is preferably 2 μm or more and 25 μm or less, more preferably 5 μm or more and 20 μm or less, and further preferably 7.5 μm or more and 15 μm or less. If the film thickness of the image holding layer is 2 μm or more and 25 μm or less, the image is hardly deteriorated by embedding the image in the film thickness direction of the image holding layer, and an effect of protecting the image is also obtained.

-Second transcript-
In the second form of the transfer body (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “second transfer body”), an image holding layer is provided on the surface of the substrate, and the image holding layer includes a curable silicone resin and a curing agent. And a resin other than the conductive silicone resin.
In the second transfer body, the image holding layer is a layer containing a curable resin, and the image holding layer is a layer that can be peeled from the substrate. Since the resin constituting the image holding layer is a mixed resin containing a curable silicone resin and a resin other than the curable silicone resin, it can be peeled off from the substrate, and an image formed by electrophotography is recorded. When transferred onto the medium, the image holding layer peels off from the substrate, covers the image transferred onto the recording medium, and protects this image. Further, since the curable silicone resin is tough, it is excellent in scratch resistance of the information recording medium.

  As the curable silicone resin, a known curable silicone resin can be used. However, in order to promote compatibility between the image holding layer and the image at the time of fixing, it is compatible with an acrylic resin or a polyester resin used as a toner binder resin. It preferably contains a curable silicone resin having excellent solubility. Moreover, as resin other than curable silicone resin, it is preferable to use an acrylic resin or a polyester resin for the same reason.

The curable silicone resin contained in the image holding layer will be described below.
In general, silicone resins are classified according to their molecular structure into silicone resins having a linear structure, which is a material such as silicone oil and silicone rubber, and silicone resins having a three-dimensionally crosslinked structure. In addition, various properties such as releasability, adhesiveness, heat resistance, insulation, and chemical stability are determined by molecules (organic molecules) bonded to silicon atoms, the degree of polymerization thereof, and the like.

The curable silicone resin is preferably a silicone resin having a three-dimensionally crosslinked structure. A silicone resin having a three-dimensionally crosslinked structure is usually polymerized from polyfunctional (trifunctional or tetrafunctional) units and has a crosslinked structure.
A silicone resin having a linear structure has a low molecular weight, and as a silicone oil, an insulating oil, a liquid coupling, a buffer oil, a lubricating oil, a heat medium, a water repellent, a surface treatment agent, a mold release agent, an erasing agent. Examples include those used for foaming agents, and silicone rubbers that are polymerized to a molecular weight (siloxane unit) of about 5,000 to 10,000 by heat curing after adding a vulcanizing agent.

  Curable silicone resins are classified according to their molecular weight units into silicone varnishes that are soluble in organic solvents and have a relatively low molecular weight, silicone resins with a high degree of polymerization, and the like. The curable silicone resin is classified into a condensation type, an addition type, a radiation type (ultraviolet ray curable type, an electron beam curable type), and the like, depending on a curing reaction in the generation stage. Further, depending on the application form, it is classified into a solvent type, a solventless type and the like.

  The reason why the image holding layer needs to contain a curable silicone resin is as follows. That is, first, since the curable silicone resin has a low surface energy due to Si—O bonds, it is essentially excellent in releasability and incompatibility. However, since it is possible to develop excellent adhesiveness by controlling the curing conditions and the like, it is possible to obtain an information recording medium having both image peelability and image fixability. It is.

There is no restriction | limiting in particular as curable silicone resin, Although it can select from well-known curable silicone resin, curable acrylic modified silicone resin (curable acrylic silicone resin) is especially preferable for the following reasons.
The curable acrylic silicone resin is a silicone resin that is used as a binder resin for toners, and that contains a styrene-acrylic resin or an acrylic chain having a high chemical affinity with the polyester resin in the molecule, thereby exhibiting releasability. Have both parts. Therefore, in one molecule, there are a part that easily adheres to the toner and a part that hardly adheres to the toner. Further, since these are homogeneously compatible, image peelability and image fixability are expressed on a molecular order.
In the case of the curable acrylic silicone resin, the ratio of the acrylic chain to the silicone chain, the curing conditions, the addition amount of the curable silicone compound and the modified silicone oil described later, and the like can be controlled to control the image fixability and image peelability. Can be controlled more freely.

As the curable silicone resin, a thermosetting silicone resin can also be particularly preferably used.
The thermosetting silicone resin has a lower surface hardness than the acrylic silicone resin known as a photo-curing type. For this reason, the toner tends to be encased in the image holding layer, and the image fixing property tends to be excellent.
In addition, the thermosetting silicone resin has a high mold releasability compared to an acrylic silicone resin and the like, and as a result, is excellent in image peelability.
Further, in the case of a thermosetting silicone resin in the case of a mixed system of a silicone component and a non-silicone component, the image fixing property can be controlled by controlling the ratio, the curing conditions, and the addition amount of the curable silicone compound and the modified silicone oil. And image peelability can be further freely controlled.

  A mixture of an acrylic silicone resin and a thermosetting silicone resin can be preferably used. When mixing the acryl silicone resin and the thermosetting silicone resin, the mixing ratio will show an intermediate performance between the two, the ratio, the curing conditions, the addition amount of the curable silicone compound and the modified silicone oil, etc. By controlling this, it is possible to further freely control the image fixing property and the image peeling property.

  Suitable examples of the curable silicone resin include the following when classified into a condensation type, an addition type, and an ultraviolet curable type.

As the condensation type curable silicone resin, for example, a polysiloxane such as polydimethylsiloxane having a silanol group at the terminal is used as a base polymer, and polymethylhydrogensiloxane or the like is blended as a crosslinking agent, and an organic acid such as an organic tin catalyst. A curable silicone resin synthesized by heat condensation in the presence of a metal salt or amine, or a curable silicone synthesized by reacting a polydiorganosiloxane having a reactive functional group such as a hydroxyl group or an alkoxy group at the terminal. Examples thereof include polysiloxane resins synthesized by condensing a silanol obtained by hydrolyzing a resin, a trifunctional or higher functional chlorosilane, or a mixture of these with a monofunctional chlorosilane.
The condensed type is classified into a solution type and an emulsion type in terms of form, and any of them can be used preferably.

As an addition type curable silicone resin, for example, a polysiloxane such as polydimethylsiloxane containing a vinyl group is used as a base polymer, and a polydimethylhydrogensiloxane is blended as a cross-linking agent to react in the presence of a platinum catalyst. Examples thereof include a curable silicone resin synthesized by curing.
The addition type is classified into a solvent type, an emulsion type, and a useless type in terms of form, and any of them can be used preferably.

  Examples of the ultraviolet curable curable silicone resin include a curable silicone resin synthesized using a photocationic catalyst and a curable silicone resin synthesized using a radical curing mechanism.

  A modified silicone resin obtained by reacting a low molecular weight polysiloxane having a hydroxyl group or an alkoxy group bonded to a silicon atom with an alkyd resin, a polyester resin, an epoxy resin, an acrylic resin, a phenol resin, a polyurethane, or a melamine resin. Etc. are also preferred. These curable silicone resins may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

  The molecular weight of the curable silicone resin used for the image holding layer is preferably 10,000 or more and 1,000,000 or less in terms of weight average molecular weight. Moreover, as a ratio of the phenyl group in all the organic groups in curable silicone resin, 0.1 mol% or more and 50 mol% or less are preferable, and as functionality, 1 or more and 4 or less are preferable.

  The content of the curable silicone resin in the image holding layer is preferably 30% by mass or more and 100% by mass or less, and more preferably 50% by mass or more and 100% by mass or less. When the content is less than 30% by mass, the release performance may not be exhibited.

As the resin other than the curable silicone resin, an acrylic resin or a polyester resin excellent in compatibility with the toner is preferably used, but other heat-meltable resins and curable resins can also be used.
The acrylic resin as a resin other than the curable silicone resin preferably has a glass transition point (Tg) in the range of 50 ° C. to 120 ° C., and more preferably in the range of 60 ° C. to 105 ° C.

  In addition to the acrylic resin and the polyester resin as the resin other than the curable silicone resin, the image holding layer may be used in combination with other resins as necessary.

  In order to prevent the image holding layer from adhering to and wrapping around the fixing member when fixing the image, natural wax or synthetic wax which is a low adhesion material to the fixing member, or a release resin, a reactive silicone compound It is preferable to contain modified silicone oil and the like.

-Third transcript-
In the third form of the transfer body (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “third transfer body”), the release layer and the image holding layer are sequentially formed from the substrate side on the surface of the substrate on which the image holding layer is provided. The image holding layer is provided and contains a curable silicone resin.
In the third transfer body, the image holding layer is a layer containing a curable resin, and the image holding layer is a layer that can be peeled from a release layer that is a layer adjacent to the substrate side.

  Since the third transfer body has a release layer, when an image formed by electrophotography is transferred onto a recording medium, the image holding layer peels off from the release layer, and the image holding layer is The image transferred onto the recording medium is covered and the image is protected. Further, since the curable silicone resin contained in the image holding layer is tough, covering the image is excellent in scratch resistance.

  In the third transfer body, in the image holding layer, only the curable silicone resin is used instead of the mixed resin containing the curable silicone resin and the resin other than the curable silicone resin, and the release agent is further applied to the substrate surface. The configuration is the same as that of the second transfer member except that the layer and the image holding layer are provided in this order, and the preferred embodiment is also the same.

  In the third transfer body, the curable silicone resin used for the image holding layer is the same as the curable silicone resin used for the image holding layer in the second transfer body, and the preferred embodiment is also the same. Furthermore, the release layer in the third transfer member is the same as the release layer in the first transfer member, and the preferred embodiment is also the same.

-Fourth transcript-
In the fourth form of the transfer body (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “fourth transfer body”), an image holding layer is provided on at least one surface of the substrate, and this image holding layer is photocured. Containing self-recovering resin. It is also possible to provide a structure in which a release layer is provided on the surface of the substrate as necessary, and an image holding layer is provided on the surface.
In the fourth transfer body, the image holding layer is a layer containing the curable resin, and the image holding layer is a layer that can be peeled off from the substrate or a layer adjacent to the substrate side (release layer).

  Here, the “image holding layer having self-healing properties” means an image holding layer having the following properties. Self-healing means that a 10 cm × 10 cm color OHP film (color OHP film HG) is fixed to a measuring table with a double-sided tape in an atmosphere of 23 ° C. and a relative humidity of 55%. The Suga test machine was used to determine whether or not there was any damage caused by repeating the act of moving the object to be measured horizontally by 10 cm horizontally by placing a 500 g weight on the image holding layer side inward and moving the object to be measured horizontally by 10 cm. This is a value measured by using a haze meter HGM-2 manufactured by Co., Ltd., and the difference in haze values before and after the above series of operations is within 10%.

  It is preferable that the difference in haze value is within 10% because surface light scattering caused by scratches is hardly noticeable. The difference in haze value is preferably within 5%, more preferably within 3%.

  In the fourth transfer body, when the toner image is transferred onto the recording medium, the image holding layer peels off from the substrate or the release layer (if it has a release layer), and the image transferred onto the recording medium is transferred. Cover and protect the image. Further, since the image holding layer has self-healing properties, it is excellent in scratch resistance by covering the image (scratches are not noticeable).

Since the image holding layer in the fourth transfer body contains the following photocurable resin, it has self-repairing properties.
This photocurable resin is a composition containing a photopolymerizable monomer and a photocuring initiator, and is cured by irradiating electromagnetic waves such as ultraviolet rays to become a cured product having self-healing properties. . The photocuring initiator is an excited state by absorbing light energy and generates radicals that initiate the polymerization reaction of the photopolymerizable monomer.

  Examples of the reactive group of the photopolymerizable monomer include an acryloyl group, a methacryloyl group, a vinyl group, an allyl group, a mercapto group, and an amino group, and an acryloyl group and a methacryloyl group are preferably used because of their particularly high reactivity. .

  Specific examples of the photopolymerizable monomer include, for example, unsaturated polyester, epoxy acrylate, urethane acrylate, urethane methacrylate, polyester acrylate, alkyd acrylate, silicone acrylate, polyene / polythiol spirane, aminoalkyd, hydroxyethyl acrylate, vinyl ether, and the like. It is done. Among these, urethane acrylate and urethane methacrylate are preferably used because of their low transparency and low shrinkage during photocuring. Moreover, these monomers can also use 2 or more types together.

  As urethane acrylate and urethane methacrylate, for example, a non-yellowing polyisocyanate compound is preferably used. Examples of the non-yellowing polyisocyanate compound include 4,4′-methylenebis (cyclohexyl isocyanate), isophorone diisocyanate, cyclohexane diisocyanate, tetramethylene diisocyanate, and hexamethylene diisocyanate.

  Examples of the photocuring initiator include benzoyl ether, 1-hydroxycyclohexyl phenyl ketone, 2-methyl-1- (4- (methylthio) phenyl) -2-morpholinopropan-1-one, 2,2-dimethoxy-1, Examples include 2-diphenylethane-1-one, benzophenone, thioxanthone, xanthone, 2-chlorothioxanthone, Michler's ketone, 2-isopropylthioxanthone, benzyl, 9,10-phenanthrenequinone, and 9,10-anthraquinone. Two or more of these photocuring initiators can be used in combination.

  The addition amount of the photocuring initiator is preferably 0.1% by mass or more and 10% by mass or less, and more preferably 0.2% by mass or more and 5% by mass or less with respect to the photopolymerizable monomer. Furthermore, you may add a light stabilizer, antioxidant, a ultraviolet absorber, an antibacterial agent, a flame retardant, and an antistatic agent with respect to photocurable resin.

  Light sources for curing photocurable resins include low-pressure mercury lamps, high-pressure mercury lamps, ultrahigh-pressure mercury lamps, metal halide lamps, ultraviolet lasers, electrodeless discharge lamps, electron beams, and X-rays. Anything that wakes you up.

  In the fourth transfer body, it is also preferable to use a resin other than the photocurable resin together with the above-described photocurable resin. Examples of the resin other than the photocurable resin include a curable silicone resin. This curable silicone resin is the same as the curable silicone resin used for the image holding layer in the second transfer body, and the preferred embodiment is also the same.

  Components other than the photocurable resin and the curable silicone resin in the fourth transfer body are the same as the components other than the curable silicone resin in the third transfer body. Further, the release layer in the third transfer body is the same as the release layer in the first transfer body, and the preferred embodiment is also the same.

  Note that the transfer member described above may be provided with a resistance adjusting layer on the surface of the transfer member on which the image holding member is not provided for the purpose of controlling the surface resistivity. As this resistance adjusting layer, the same layer as the resistance adjusting layer provided on the glitter pigment-containing layer transfer body can be used.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In the following Examples and Comparative Examples, “part” means “part by mass”.

Example 1
<Preparation of glitter pigment-containing layer transfer body>
-Preparation of coating liquid A-1-
100 parts of an acrylic polymer solution (manufactured by Soken Chemical Co., Ltd .: Elecondo QO-101, solid concentration 50% by mass) as a cationic antistatic agent, and cross-linked acrylic spherical fine particles (manufactured by Soken Chemical Co., Ltd .: MX-180) as a filler , Average particle diameter: 1.8 μm) 0.5 part and 200 parts of ethanol were mixed and sufficiently stirred to prepare a coating liquid A-1 for controlling the surface resistivity.

<Preparation of glittering pigment-containing layer forming coating solution B-1>
As a thermoplastic resin, 20 parts of a polyester resin (Toyobo Co., Ltd .: Byron 245), 2 parts of a surfactant (Nippon Yushi Co., Ltd .: Elegan 264WAX), and a green-based glitter pigment (Nippon Koken Kogyo Co., Ltd .: MG) -2100R (plate pigment having a length of 10 μm to 60 μm and an average thickness of 0.2 μm provided with a coating layer containing titanium dioxide and tin oxide on the mica surface), 24 parts, 50 parts of solvent (Methyl ethyl ketone) was added and sufficiently stirred to prepare a glittering pigment-containing layer forming coating solution B-1.

-Preparation of glitter pigment containing layer transfer body-
On one side of a biaxially stretched PET film (Toray Industries, PET50 T-60, thickness 50 μm), the coating liquid A-1 is applied using a wire bar, dried at 120 ° C. for 1 minute, and a film thickness of 0.5 μm. The resistance adjustment layer was formed.
Furthermore, the glitter pigment-containing layer coating solution B-1 is applied to the surface opposite to the surface on which the resistance adjusting layer of the biaxially stretched PET film is formed using a wire bar, and dried at 120 ° C. for 1 minute. Thus, a glittering pigment-containing layer transfer body having a film thickness of 10 μm and having a pearly greenish metallic luster was formed.

This glittering pigment-containing layer transfer body was cut into A4 size (210 mm × 297 mm). The surface resistivity of the glitter pigment-containing layer transfer body is 2.8 × 10 ⁸ Ω on the surface side where the resistance adjusting layer is provided, and 2.6 × 10 6 on the surface side where the glitter pigment-containing layer is provided. ¹⁰ Ω.

  In addition, when the cut surface of the bright pigment-containing layer transfer body (the bright pigment-containing layer portion) was observed with a scanning electron microscope, the plane of the bright pigment was substantially parallel to the plane of the bright pigment-containing layer transfer body. Thus, it was confirmed that the glitter pigment tends to be oriented.

<Preparation of recording medium>
The recording medium was produced by the following procedure. First, a laminate in which a surface on which a glittering pigment-containing layer of a glittering pigment-containing layer transfer body is formed and a white PETG film (Mitsubishi Resin Corporation: Diafix WHI, thickness: 760 μm, A4 size) are laminated. Was heated and pressed to transfer the glitter pigment-containing layer from the glitter pigment-containing layer transfer body to the white PETG film side. Subsequently, by separating the interface between the glitter pigment-containing layer and the biaxially stretched PET film of the glitter pigment-containing layer transfer portion constituting the laminate, the glitter pigment-containing layer is formed on one side of the white PETG film. A formed recording medium was obtained.
In producing the recording medium, transfer was performed using the apparatus shown in FIG. 3 under the conditions of a heating temperature of 140 ° C. and a feed rate of 6 mm / s. Moreover, peeling of the laminated body after the transfer treatment was performed manually.

<Preparation of transfer body>
-Adjustment of coating liquid C-1 for forming image holding layer-
20 parts of polyester resin (by Toyobo Co., Ltd .: Byron 885) as a thermoplastic resin, 3 parts of surfactant (manufactured by NOF Corporation: Elegan 264WAX), and spherical acrylic resin fine particles (manufactured by Soken Chemical Co., Ltd .: MX-1500H) as fillers 3 parts of an average volume particle diameter of 14.5 μm) was added to 50 parts of a solvent (methyl ethyl ketone) and sufficiently stirred to prepare a coating liquid C-1 for forming an image holding layer.

-Preparation of transfer material-
On one side of a biaxially stretched PET film (Panac PET100 SG-2 101 μm) whose one side is surface-treated with a release agent, the coating liquid A-1 is applied to the wire bar. After coating using, a resistance adjustment layer having a thickness of 0.5 μm was formed by drying at 120 ° C. for 1 minute.
Subsequently, the image holding layer forming coating liquid C-1 is used on the surface opposite to the surface on which the resistance adjusting layer of the biaxially stretched PET film is formed (surface treated with a release agent) using a wire bar. After coating, an image holding layer having a thickness of 10 μm was formed by drying at 120 ° C. for 1 minute, and a transfer body was produced.

-Toner image formation-
On the surface of the transfer body on which the image holding layer is provided, a black single color image (information recording medium and 2 cm × 2 cm in size) by an image forming apparatus (color copier manufactured by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd., DocuColor 1256GA). An image corresponding to the first toner image at that time) was formed.
The input image density when forming a monochrome image was set to 50% black. The reflection density of the monochromatic image formed on the surface of the transfer member was 0.6 (visual).

<Production of information recording medium>
By heating and pressing a laminate in which the surface of the recording medium on which the glittering pigment-containing layer is formed and the surface of the transfer body on which the toner image is formed are heated and pressed, the toner image is transferred from the transfer body side together with the image holding layer. Transcribed to the side. Subsequently, the interface between the image holding layer and the biaxially stretched PET film in the transfer body portion constituting the laminate was peeled off. As a result, an information recording medium was obtained in which the glitter pigment-containing layer and the toner image were laminated on one side of the PETG film, and the protective layer was provided so as to cover the glitter pigment-containing layer and the toner image.
In producing the information recording medium, transfer was performed using the apparatus shown in FIG. 3 under the conditions of a heating temperature of 140 ° C. and a feed rate of 6 mm / s. Moreover, peeling of the laminated body after the transfer treatment was performed manually.

(Example 2)
An information recording medium was prepared by the method described in Example 1 except that the following toner image was formed instead of the toner image formed on the transfer body of Example 1. -Toner image formation-
An image forming apparatus (Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd., color copier, DocuColor 1256GA) is used on the surface of the transfer body on which the image holding layer is provided, and the size is 2 cm × 2 cm and a cyan image (information recording medium and An image corresponding to the first toner image at that time) was formed.
The input image density when forming a cyan image was set to 25% cyan.
The reflection density of the blue image formed on the surface of the transfer member was 0.28 (cyan).

(Example 3)
An information recording medium was prepared by the method described in Example 1 except that the following toner image was formed instead of the toner image formed on the transfer body of Example 1.
-Toner image formation-
An image forming apparatus (Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd., color copier, DocuColor 1256GA) is used on the surface of the transfer body on which the image holding layer is provided, and the size is 2 cm × 2 cm and a cyan image (information recording medium and An image corresponding to the first toner image at that time) was formed.
Note that the input image density for forming a cyan image was set to 75% cyan.
The reflection density of the blue image formed on the surface of the transfer member was 1.1 (cyan).

Example 4
An information recording medium was prepared by the method described in Example 1 except that the following toner image was formed instead of the toner image formed on the transfer body of Example 1.
-Toner image formation-
On the side of the transfer body on which the image holding layer is provided, a magenta image (information recording medium and 2 cm × 2 cm in size) is formed on an image forming apparatus (color copier manufactured by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd., DocuColor 1256GA). An image corresponding to the first toner image), a black 8-point character image (an image corresponding to the second toner image when used as an information recording medium), and a black image having a size of 2 cm in length and width A 2 cm image (image for density measurement) was formed.
The input image density when forming a magenta color image was set to 70% magenta, and the input image density when forming a character image and a black image was set to 100% black.
Further, the reflection density of the magenta image formed on the surface of the transfer member was 1.0 (magenta), and the reflection density of the black image was 1.8 (visual).

(Example 5)
An information recording medium was prepared by the method described in Example 1 except that the following toner image was formed instead of the toner image formed on the transfer body of Example 1.
-Toner image formation-
On the side of the transfer body on which the image holding layer is provided, a magenta image (information recording medium and 2 cm × 2 cm in size) is formed on an image forming apparatus (color copier manufactured by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd., DocuColor 1256GA). An image corresponding to the first toner image), a black 8-point character image (an image corresponding to the second toner image when used as an information recording medium), and a black image having a size of 2 cm in length and width A 2 cm image (image for density measurement) was formed.
The input image density when forming a magenta color image was set to 70% magenta, and the input image density when forming a character image and a black image was set to 80% black.
Further, the reflection density of the magenta color image formed on the surface of the transfer member was 1.0 (magenta), and the reflection density of the black image was 1.3 (visual).

(Example 6)
An information recording medium was prepared by the method described in Example 1 except that the following toner image was formed instead of the toner image formed on the transfer body of Example 1.
-Toner image formation-
On the side of the transfer body on which the image holding layer is provided, a magenta image (information recording medium and 2 cm × 2 cm in size) is formed on an image forming apparatus (color copier manufactured by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd., DocuColor 1256GA). An image corresponding to the first toner image), a black 8-point character image (an image corresponding to the second toner image when used as an information recording medium), and a black image having a size of 2 cm in length and width A 2 cm image (image for density measurement) was formed.
The input image density when forming a magenta color image was set to 70% magenta, and the input image density when forming a character image and a black image was set to 75% black.
Further, the reflection density of the magenta color image formed on the surface of the transfer member was 1.0 (magenta), and the reflection density of the black image was 1.1 (visual).

(Example 7)
An information recording medium was prepared by the method described in Example 1 except that the following toner image was formed instead of the toner image formed on the transfer body of Example 1.
-Toner image formation-
An image forming apparatus (color copier manufactured by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd., DocuColor 1256GA) is used on the surface of the transfer body on which the image holding layer is provided. An image corresponding to the first toner image at that time) was formed.
The input image density when forming a light green image is 50% cyan. Set to 50% yellow.
The reflection density of the light green image formed on the surface of the transfer member was 0.5 for cyan and 0.5 for yellow.

(Example 8)
An information recording medium was prepared by the method described in Example 1 except that the following toner image was formed instead of the toner image formed on the transfer body of Example 1.
-Toner image formation-
On the side of the transfer body on which the image holding layer is provided, an orange image (information recording medium and 2 cm × 2 cm in size) is formed on an image forming apparatus (color copier manufactured by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd., DocuColor 1256GA). An image corresponding to the first toner image at that time) was formed.
The input image density when forming an orange image is 50% magenta. Set to 50% yellow.
The reflection density of the light green image formed on the surface of the transfer member was magenta 0.5 and yellow 0.7.

(Comparative Example 1)
An information recording medium was prepared by the method described in Example 1 except that the following toner image was formed instead of the toner image formed on the transfer body of Example 1.
-Toner image formation-
A black image (information recording medium) having a size of 2 cm × 2 cm in length and width was measured on an image forming apparatus (a color copier manufactured by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd., DocuColor 1256GA) on the surface of the transfer body provided with an image holding layer. Image corresponding to the first toner image at that time) was formed.
The input image density when forming a black image was set to 80% black.
The reflection density of the black image formed on the surface of the transfer member was 1.3 (visual).

(Comparative Example 2)
An information recording medium was prepared by the method described in Example 1 except that the following toner image was formed instead of the toner image formed on the transfer body of Example 1.
-Toner image formation-
On the side of the transfer body on which the image holding layer is provided, a yellow image (information recording medium) having a size of 2 cm × 2 cm in length and width by an image forming apparatus (color copier manufactured by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd., DocuColor 1256GA). Image corresponding to the first toner image at that time) was formed.
The input image density for forming a yellow image was set to 15% yellow.
The reflection density of the yellow image formed on the surface of the transfer member was 0.15 (yellow).

(Evaluation)
For the information recording media obtained in the examples and comparative examples, the reflection density, color, color density, and metallic luster of the portion on which the first toner image was formed were evaluated, and the second toner About the part in which the image was formed, reflection density, a color, and visibility were evaluated. The results are shown in Table 1.

In addition, the evaluation method and evaluation criteria of the color shown in Table 1, color intensity, metallic luster, and visibility are as follows.
-Color-
The area where the first toner image or the second toner image was formed was visually observed from directly above the information recording medium, and the color tone was evaluated. It should be noted that when the color tone of the area where the toner image is formed is almost the same as the color tone of the area where the toner image is not formed (background portion), the determination is impossible.

-Color depth-
The area where the first toner image is formed is visually observed from directly above the information recording medium, and the area where the first toner image is formed (image part) and the area where the toner image is not formed (background part) It was evaluated as the presence or absence or degree of color difference. The evaluation criteria are as follows.
A: The color difference between the image portion and the background portion is very clear.
○: The color difference between the image portion and the background portion is clear.
Δ: The level where the first toner image is formed can be discriminated for the time being although the difference in color tone between the image portion and the background portion is slightly unclear.
X: The difference in color tone between the image portion and the background portion is remarkably unclear, and it is extremely difficult to determine the region where the first toner image is formed. This is a practically problematic level.

-Metal gloss-
The area where the first toner image was formed was visually observed from directly above the information recording medium, and the presence or absence or degree of metallic gloss was visually evaluated. The evaluation criteria are as follows.
A: Strong metallic luster o: Metallic luster
Δ: There is a weak metallic luster.
X: There is no metallic luster. This is a practically problematic level.

-Visibility-
The area where the second toner image (character image) was formed was visually observed from a position approximately 30 cm directly above the information recording medium, and the readability of the characters was visually evaluated. The evaluation criteria are as follows.
(Double-circle): The contrast of a character and a background part is very clear, and a character can be recognized very clearly.
○: The contrast between the character and the background is clear and the character can be recognized.
Δ: The contrast between the character and the background is slightly unclear, but the character can be recognized for the time being.
X: The contrast between the character and the background is unclear, and the character cannot be recognized immediately at first glance. This is a practically problematic level.

It is a schematic cross section which shows an example of the layer structure of the information recording medium of this invention. It is a schematic cross section which shows the other example of the layer structure of the information recording medium of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of an information recording medium manufacturing apparatus. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating an example of the positioning means utilized for the information recording medium manufacturing apparatus shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating an example of the positioning means utilized for the information recording medium manufacturing apparatus shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of a peeling apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Information recording medium manufacturing apparatus 12 Collating apparatus 14 Joining apparatus 20 Transfer body 22 Recording medium 32 Transfer body accommodating part 34 Recording medium accommodating part 36 Collating means 40 Conveying path 42 Conveying path 46 Endless belt 48 Heating / pressurizing roll 50 Tension Mounting roll 56 Joined body discharge part 61, 61a, 61b, 62 Reference wall 63, 64 Restriction member 70 Receiving part 71 Connection part 100, 102 Information recording medium 110 Image support 120 Bright pigment containing layer 130 Light reflection adjusting layer 140 First Toner image 142 Second toner image 150 Protective layer 400 Peeling device 410 Peeling means 412 Conveying guide 414 Bonded body detection sensor 416 Peeling claw 420 Static eliminating means 422 Conveying guide 424 Information recording medium containing portion 430 Peeling member containing portion 432 Conveying guide

Claims (4)

An image support, a glitter pigment-containing layer containing a plate-like glitter pigment provided on at least one surface of the image support, and a toner image provided on the glitter pigment-containing layer,
An information recording medium, wherein a reflection density of the toner image is in a range of 0.2 to 1.2.   The information recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the plate-like glitter pigment is a pigment obtained by coating a core material with a metal or a translucent metal oxide. The region different from the region where a toner image is formed on the surface of the effect pigment-containing layer, to claim 1 or claim 2 reflection density, characterized in that it is provided greater than 1.2 toner image The information recording medium described . A toner image forming step of forming a toner image by electrophotography on a surface of the transfer body including the substrate and an image holding layer formed on at least one side of the substrate, on the side where the image holding layer is provided;
A recording having a surface on the side of the image holding layer of the transfer body on which the toner image is formed, and a glittering pigment-containing layer including an image support and a plate-like glittering pigment provided on at least one surface of the image support. With the glitter pigment-containing layer side surface of the medium superimposed, the laminate including the transfer body and the recording medium is heated and pressed to transfer the toner image from the transfer body side to the recording medium side. A transfer process,
From the laminate that has undergone the transfer step, through a peeling step of peeling the member on the transfer body side,
Method of manufacturing an information recording medium, characterized in that to produce the information recording medium according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

Images