JPH0419188A - Color thermal transfer recording method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance surface strength and to impart sufficient glossiness to any color image by transferring thermal transfer ink to a transfer material to form a transfer image and superposing a smooth film not coated with thermal transfer ink on the transfer image and heating the transfer image over the entire surface thereof from the back surface of the film by a thermal head. CONSTITUTION:A thermal transfer recording medium 1 having such a structure that thermal transfer ink coating surfaces 3 and smooth film surfaces 2 not coated with thermal transfer ink are alternately arranged is used and the transfer of the thermal transfer ink and the transfer of the smooth film surfaces are alternately repeated on a platen 5 by one therml head 6 to obtain a color image. By this method, even when the color image is printed by any transfer method carrying out the lap-transfer of the thermal transfer color ink, high surface strength, friction resistance and sufficient glossiness are obtained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a color thermal transfer recording method used in a color recording apparatus using a thermal transfer method.

[Prior Art] A color thermal transfer recording method used in a conventional color thermal transfer printer obtains a color image by superimposing and transferring a plurality of colors of heat-melting inks.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the color thermal transfer recording method of the prior art described above, the ink has poor abrasion resistance because the ink is superimposed in many layers, and if the transfer surface is not smooth, the color image cannot be printed. It had problems such as lack of gloss. Therefore, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a color thermal transfer that has strong surface strength and can provide sufficient gloss no matter what color image is printed when a color image is printed by overlapping thermal transfer inks of multiple colors. The purpose is to provide a recording method.

[Means for Solving the Problems 1] In the color thermal transfer recording method of the present invention, after a thermal transfer ink is transferred onto a transfer target, a smooth film surface to which no thermal transfer ink is applied is superimposed on the transferred image, and the It is characterized by heating the entire surface of the transferred image from the back side of the film using a thermal head, and furthermore, it transfers the thermal transfer ink to the transfer target and overlays the transferred image with a smooth film surface that is not coated with the thermal transfer ink. By alternately repeating the process of heating the entire surface of the transfer image from the back of the film, the thermal transfer inks of multiple colors are superimposed and transferred to obtain a color image, and the thermal transfer inks of multiple colors are superimposed on the transfer target. After transferring and obtaining a color image, the transferred image is finally superimposed on a smooth film, and the entire transferred image is heated from the back side of the smooth film.

[Function] According to the color thermal transfer recording method of the present invention having the above-mentioned characteristics, even if thermal transfer color inks are superimposed and transferred using any transfer method to print a color image, the surface strength is strong and the abrasion resistance is excellent. , it also has the effect of providing sufficient gloss.

[Example] The present invention will be specifically explained below using Examples and Comparative Examples.

Embodiment 1 of the color thermal transfer method of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 to 3.
~A conceptual diagram of Example 3 is shown.

Example 1 uses a thermal transfer recording medium having a structure in which a surface coated with thermal transfer ink and a smooth film surface not coated with thermal transfer ink are arranged alternately, and one thermal head performs ink transfer and smooth film surface transfer. This method obtains a color image by repeating the process alternately.

In Example 2, a plurality of color single-color thermal transfer recording media whose entire surface is coated with thermal transfer ink and a smooth film to which thermal transfer ink is not coated are arranged as a set with a thermal head, and the transfer target is This is a method of obtaining a color image through this series of steps.

In Example 3, a color thermal transfer recording medium coated with thermal transfer inks of a plurality of colors and a smooth film coated with no thermal transfer ink are arranged as a set with a thermal head, and the object to be transferred is arranged in a set with a thermal head. In this method, a color image is obtained by reducing the process by one step, or by performing transfer using a smooth film each time one print is made, and by overlapping inks of multiple colors.

Smooth films that can be used in the examples of the present invention include PET, polycarbonate, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, polyimide, aramid, polysilicon,
In addition to polymer films such as Teflon and polyester, there are also thin metal films.

FIG. 4 shows a conceptual diagram of a comparative example of the color thermal transfer method of the present invention.

A comparative example uses a thermal transfer recording medium that has a surface coated with thermal transfer ink of multiple colors and does not have a smooth film surface that is not coated with thermal transfer ink, and a method of obtaining a color image by repeating ink transfer using one thermal head. It is.

Next, printing experiments were actually conducted under the following transfer conditions using the color thermal transfer methods of the above examples and comparative examples.

Table 1 shows the transfer conditions for the printing experiment.

The first printed pattern was a full-color image created by overlapping three-color transfer with 64 gradations for each color.

Next, the transferred images obtained by the four methods of Examples 1 to 3 and Comparative Example were investigated for three items: glossiness, color clarity, and abrasion resistance.

The evaluation results are shown in Table 2.

The glossiness evaluation and color tone evaluation in Table 2 were performed visually, and the abrasion resistance was evaluated based on the level of density reduction caused by rubbing the surface of the transferred image with a constant pressure.

As per the results in the above table, the transferred images of Examples 1 to 3 had glossiness,
Good results were obtained in terms of color clarity and abrasion resistance. On the other hand, the transferred image of the comparative example lacked gloss, had a dull tone, and had poor abrasion resistance.

From the above results, if the color thermal transfer recording method of the present invention is used, when a color image is printed by overlapping thermal transfer inks of multiple colors, the surface strength will be strong and any color image will have sufficient gloss. Obtainable.

The thermal transfer ink that can be used in the color thermal transfer recording method of the present invention may be either a heat-melting type or a heat-softening type (or an ink film that can be printed multiple times can also be used).

Furthermore, although this embodiment describes a three-color superimposed image using a line-type thermal head, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention is not limited to this. It is also possible to apply this method to other methods.

Furthermore, this embodiment uses three colors: yellow, magenta, and cyan.
Although a color image composed of colors has been described, the present invention is not limited to this (four colors including black) are used.
It is also possible to apply the present invention to color printers, monochrome printers, and two-color printers.

[Effect of the Invention 1] As explained above, according to the thermal transfer method of the present invention, even if the thermal transfer color ink is overlaid and transferred using any transfer method to print a color image, the surface strength is strong and the abrasion resistance is excellent. It also has the effect of providing sufficient gloss and high image quality with a wide brown reproduction range.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the concept of a color thermal transfer recording method according to Example 1 of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the concept of a color thermal transfer recording method according to Example 2 of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the concept of a color thermal transfer recording method according to Example 3 of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the concept of a color thermal transfer recording method of a comparative example. 5...Platen 6...Thermal head or above Applicant Seiko Epson Co., Ltd. Agent Patent attorney Kizobe Suzuki (1 other person) 1...Thermal transfer recording medium 2...Thermal transfer ink uncoated surface 3. ...Thermal transfer ink coating surface 4...Transferred object Fig. 3 Fig. 4

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) After transferring the thermal transfer ink onto the transfer target, a smooth film surface to which no thermal transfer ink has been applied is placed on top of the transferred image, and the entire transferred image is heated from the back side of the film using a thermal head. A color thermal transfer recording method characterized by: (2) The steps of transferring the thermal transfer ink to the object to be transferred, and overlaying the transferred image with a smooth film surface to which no thermal transfer ink has been applied, and heating the entire transferred image surface from the back of the film are alternately carried out. 2. The color thermal transfer recording method according to claim 1, wherein thermal transfer inks of a plurality of colors are superimposed and transferred to obtain a color image by repeating the process. (3) After obtaining a color image by superimposing and transferring multiple colors of thermal transfer inks to the transfer target, the transferred image surface is finally layered with a smooth film and the entire transferred image is heated from the back side of the smooth film. Color thermal transfer recording method.