JPH0516492A - Surface finishing of printed picture - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a method and apparatus for embossing the surface of a printed picture according to a thermal transfer system into a specific roughened surface. CONSTITUTION:A heat-resisting medium 3 higher in surface roughness than the printed surface of an image-receiving paper 1 is placed upon said printed surface of the image-receiving paper and both heat resisting medium and image- receiving paper are heated and biased in this state. Thus, it is possible to solve various inconveniences caused by the fact that a printed picture has luster, and also to give visual effects to the printed picture.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a surface treatment method for printing an image on an image receiving paper by a thermal transfer recording method and then embossing the surface of the printed image to a specific property.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, video printers capable of printing input images from televisions, VTRs, personal computers and the like in full color have been commercialized one after another. Among the recording methods for obtaining a full-color print, the thermal transfer recording method using a sublimation dye can achieve both high gradation and high resolution and can obtain high image quality close to that of a photograph, and is the mainstream recording method for video printers. ing.

As is well known, a sublimation dye type thermal transfer printer heats an ink paper coated with a heat sublimation dye by a thermal head and transfers the dye to an image receiving paper having a receiving layer on the surface to record an image. To do. In order to obtain a smooth and beautiful print close to a photograph, the image receiving paper has a smooth surface, and the heating temperature of the thermal head is set to a temperature at which the image print surface does not become rough due to heating and is not matted. Further, as disclosed in JP-A-2-167767, a method of further increasing the gloss by pressing and heating the printed surface through a gloss-forming film having a smooth surface after printing has been put into practical use. There is.

[0004]

Giving the print surface a luster in this way has the advantage of providing the same visual aesthetics as a silver salt photograph printed on glossy photographic paper, but has the following advantages. There were also some problems. (1) The printed surface is too shining when illuminated, exhibiting
The printed image becomes difficult to see when posted. Also, it is difficult to take with a TV camera. (2) For example, in the case of performing color simulation using a computer in the field of clothing design and the like, if the printed surface is glossy, it looks different from the actual cloth and is inconvenient. (3) The print surface or the margin of the image receiving paper has no writability, and writing with a pen or pencil is difficult or impossible. (4) When the print image receiving papers are overlapped with each other, they are easily attached to each other. Therefore, contamination such as so-called set-off due to retransfer of the dye is likely to occur and handling becomes inconvenient.

On the other hand, photographic printing paper is semi-glossy (matte).
There is also a demand to add a visual added value by changing the feeling of the finish of the print surface even in a video printer as in the case of the photographic paper.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems associated with the smooth and glossy printed surface, and
It is an object of the present invention to provide a surface treatment method for a printed image, which can give a visually interesting and high-class feeling.

[0007]

The surface treatment method of the present invention comprises heating and pressing a heat-resistant medium having a specific surface texture having a roughness larger than that of the image printed surface in a state of being superposed on the image printed surface. , To transfer the surface properties of the medium to the print surface.

[0008]

According to this method, the surface of the printed image has various surface properties such as non-glossy (completely matte), semi-glossy (matte), texture (silk), linear or curved pattern. It is possible to process, and it is possible to solve the problem associated with the glossy printed surface, and it is possible to obtain a printed image having a large visual effect and added value.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the basic principle of the surface treatment method of the present invention. FIG. 1 (a) is a view showing a cross section of an image receiving paper to be surface-treated and a medium used for the processing, 1 is an image receiving paper having a receiving layer 2 on which an image is printed by a general sublimation dye thermal transfer system, and 3 is a surface It is a heat resistant medium for processing.

The image receiving paper 1 may be a conventional image receiving paper in which a receiving layer 2 made of polyester, polyamide or the like is provided on a substrate made of a film such as polyester, polyethylene or polypropylene, or a base made of natural paper.
At least the surface of the surface-treating medium 3 facing the image receiving paper 1 has a specific surface texture 4 whose surface roughness is larger than the surface of the printed image. The specific surface texture referred to here is a uniform or periodic rough surface, an uneven surface, a cloth (silk), a linear or curved pattern, or the like.

FIG. 1 (b) is a diagram showing an example of a surface treatment apparatus, in which the print surface of the image receiving paper 1 and the surface treatment medium 3 are overlapped and moved at a predetermined speed while the heat roller 5 and the feed roller are being moved. 6 and pinch and heat and press. By setting the heating temperature to a temperature higher than the softening point of the receiving layer 2 and lower than the heat resistant temperature of the surface treatment medium 3, the receiving layer 2
Can be thermally deformed to transfer the surface texture of the medium 3 to the surface of the image receiving paper 1. As a result, for example, 7 in FIG.
The unevenness as shown in can be formed on the surface of the printed image.

The surface texture of the heat-resistant medium used for the surface treatment is any one of the following various surface textures or a combination thereof, depending on the surface texture of the printed image to be obtained by the surface treatment. (1) A medium having a large surface roughness (unevenness of 1 micron to several hundreds of microns) as shown in FIG. The surface quality of the printed image after the surface treatment is non-glossy and completely matte. (2) A medium having a surface roughness larger than that of the image printed surface but a relatively small surface roughness as shown in FIG. 2 (b). The surface quality of the printed image after the surface treatment is semi-gloss matte (so-called satin finish). (3) A medium having periodic irregularities as shown in FIG. The surface quality of the printed image after the surface treatment is non-glossy or semi-glossy, and the periodicity of the printed image can give the printed image a visually interesting, high-class, and elegant appearance. For example, a cloth (silk) shape. (4) A medium having a linear or curved specific pattern of irregularities.

The following can be used as the heat resistant medium for surface treatment of the present invention. (1) An embossed smooth heat-resistant base material. ......
Examples of the base material include polyimide (PI), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS),
Polyether sulfone (PES), polycarbonate (PC), polystyrene (PS), triacetyl cellulose (TAC), etc. The surface roughness is increased or a specific pattern is formed by chemically or physically embossing these. As the embossing method, sandblast processing, laser processing, etching processing, sputtering processing or the like can be applied.

(2) The heat-resistant base material is coated with a powder together with a binder to increase the surface roughness. Alternatively, the powder is mixed in advance with the base material to form a film. The particle size of the powder may be 0.1 μm to several hundreds of μm depending on the surface properties of the print image to be obtained by the surface treatment.

(3) Cloth, non-woven fabric, glass cloth, natural paper, etc., which has unevenness larger than the surface of the printed image.

(4) A substrate obtained by coating or impregnating the above (3) as a base material with a heat resistant resin having stain resistance and peelability. Examples of the resin include polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), tetrafluoroethylene-hexafluoropropylene copolymer (FEP), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVdF), polychlorotrifluoroethylene (PCTFE), tetrafluoroethylene-perfluoro. Alkyl vinyl ether copolymer (P
FA), ethylene-chlorotrifluoroethylene copolymer (ECTFE), polyvinyl fluoride (PVF) and other fluorine-containing resins can be used.

(5) A substrate obtained by coating the substrate of (1) above with a heat-foaming filler such as microcapsules. Or it is made into a film by foaming it.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a medium used for the surface treatment of the surface treatment method of the present invention to obtain a textured (silk-like) surface texture. In FIG. 3, 8 is a glass cloth which is obtained by weaving glass fibers in a lattice shape, and 9 is a fluorine-containing resin which is impregnated in the glass cloth 8 and baked. Fluorine-containing resins have high heat resistance, stain resistance, and peeling resistance, and glass cloth has high mechanical strength. There are advantages that transfer is less likely to occur, the surface properties of the medium can be faithfully transferred to the image receiving paper, and the medium can be used repeatedly many times. By changing the roughness of the glass cloth, it is possible to change the size and density of the unevenness on the surface of the printed image after the surface treatment, and various visual effects can be changed.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the actually measured values of the surface roughness of the printed image surface-treated with the fluororesin-impregnated glass cloth shown in FIG. It can be seen that about 2.5 periodic irregularities are formed per 1 mm. By such a textured surface treatment, it is possible to impart a visual effect different from that of a glossy printed surface, for example, elegance and high quality.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a specific pattern among the surface properties of a print image obtained by the surface treatment of the present invention. 5A shows a horizontal line pattern as an example of a pattern formed by vertical lines, horizontal lines, or diagonal lines, and FIG. 5B shows a circular pattern as an example of a pattern formed by curves. The pattern is not limited to a straight line or a curved line, and may be a figure, a character, or the like, or a combination thereof. The medium for surface treatment for obtaining such a specific pattern can be obtained by, for example, chemically or physically embossing a smooth heat resistant substrate.

The surface of the surface-treating medium and the surface of the printed image after the surface treatment do not necessarily have to have the same surface texture, but may have a combination of different surface textures.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing an embodiment of a surface treatment apparatus using the surface treatment method of the present invention. In FIG. 6, reference numeral 10 denotes a surface treatment medium which is processed into an endless belt shape, and is circulated and conveyed in the arrow direction by two belt rollers 11 and 12. 13 is an image receiving paper for surface treatment, 14 is a heat roller having a heating element inside,
Reference numeral 15 denotes a feed roller, which heats and presses the surface-treating medium 10 and the image receiving paper 13 between the heat roller 14 and the feed roller 15 while moving the image receiving paper 13 at a predetermined speed. The heat roller 14 has, for example, a heating element 16 disposed inside, and a metal core 17 and an elastic body 18 disposed around the heating element 16. By setting the temperature higher than the softening point of the layer and lower than the heat resistant temperature of the surface treatment medium 10, the surface texture of the surface treatment medium 10 can be transferred to the surface of the image receiving paper 13.

According to this embodiment, the surface treatment medium can be repeatedly used many times, so that the running cost of the medium can be reduced and the labor of the treatment can be saved.

In order to facilitate the exchange of the surface treatment medium, the surface treatment medium is of a cassette type, and the heat roller 14 and the feed roller 15 are separated from each other except during the surface treatment so that the cassette can be exchanged. Good to do. If a plurality of cassettes loaded with the various surface treatment media described above are prepared, various surface treatments can be performed according to each cassette.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing another embodiment of the surface treatment apparatus using the surface treatment method of the present invention. 7, parts having the same configurations as those in FIG. 6 are designated by the same reference numerals. The embodiment shown in FIG. 7 uses an external heater 19 and a pressure roller 20 for heating instead of the heat roller 14 of FIG. The belt-shaped surface-treating medium 10 and the image-receiving paper 13 to be surface-treated are sandwiched between the pressure roller 20 and the feed roller 15 and pressed while being sufficiently heated by the external heater 19, and the same as above. The surface texture is transferred. The position of the external heater 19 is not limited to that shown in FIG. 7.

Instead of the belt-shaped surface treatment medium 10 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a surface treatment medium wound on a supply roll is used, and the medium is sent out from the supply roll and wound on the winding roll to perform the surface treatment. It may be configured to perform. However, in this case, since it is not endless, it is necessary to rewind and use the surface treatment medium for repeated use.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing another embodiment of the surface treatment apparatus using the surface treatment method of the present invention. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, instead of the heat roller 14 of FIG. 6, a heating element 21 of a thermal head used for image printing is heated,
It is used for pressurization, and the printer also serves as a surface treatment device. In FIG. 8, the image receiving paper 22 is wound around the platen 23. When performing surface treatment after image printing, a cassette having the surface treatment medium 24 mounted thereon is used instead of the ink paper cassette used for image printing. The ink paper is usually supplied from the supply roller 25, the thermal head 21, the guide roller 26, and the take-up roller 2.
Since it is used only once by moving to 7, the cassette having the surface treatment medium mounted thereon cannot be made endless as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, but can be rewound and repeatedly used if necessary. . Alternatively, assuming that an endless belt-shaped surface treatment medium is used, the thermal head is arranged and driven at the position of the heat roller 14 in FIG. 6, that is, between the twin conveyance paths of the belt-shaped surface treatment medium. The printer may be designed.

In this embodiment, when the surface treatment is performed, an energizing pulse is applied to the thermal head so that the temperature of the heating element 21 of the thermal head becomes a temperature suitable for the surface treatment. The platen 23 may be rotated once to perform the surface treatment of the image receiving paper 22 and then ejected.

FIG. 9 is a side view showing another embodiment of a surface treatment apparatus using the surface treatment method of the present invention, and FIG. 10 is a side view showing an example of a surface treatment medium with a mount applied to the embodiment shown in FIG. It is a figure. In FIG. 10, reference numeral 28 denotes a surface treatment medium having a mount 29, on which an image receiving paper 30 to be surface treated is inserted and superposed. In FIG. 9, reference numeral 31 is an image receiving paper sandwiched by a mount-equipped surface treatment medium, which is placed on a guide stand 32 and inserted in the arrow direction. 33 is a heat roller, and the heat roller 33 has, for example, a heating element 3 inside.
4 is disposed around the metal core 35 and the elastic body 3.
6 is provided. Reference numeral 37 is a feed roller that moves the inserted image receiving sheet against the heat roller 33 with an appropriate pressure to move the image receiving sheet at a predetermined speed, and discharges the image receiving sheet to the opposite side. These heating and pressing mechanisms may be the same as those of known devices for glossing surface treatment of printed images.

The surface treatment apparatus using the surface treatment method of the present invention is not limited to the constitutions of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 6 to 10, and those constitutions are appropriately combined or equivalent thereto. It may be configured.

The present invention is characterized by the use of the various surface treatment media described above, and has various visual effects and additional effects by appropriately selecting the surface treatment medium according to the purpose. It is intended for surface treatment. To that end, in any of the above-described embodiments, it is desirable to prepare a surface treatment medium having various surface properties and to use a surface treatment apparatus that can easily exchange them. Further, the surface treatment of the present invention,
The image receiving sheet is not limited to the image receiving sheet after the image printing, and a blank image receiving sheet before the image printing may be surface-treated. However, in this case, it is of course necessary to consider that the surface properties are changed by being reheated by the thermal head during image printing.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, the image print surface is heated and pressed in a state of being superposed on a medium having a specific surface texture having a higher roughness than the print surface.
The surface texture of the medium is transferred to the print surface. This allows
The surface of the printed image can be surface treated to various surface properties such as non-glossy, semi-glossy, textured, linear or curved pattern, and it is possible to solve problems caused by the glossy printed surface. Printed images having various visual effects can be obtained.

Further, by increasing the surface roughness of the image receiving paper, it is possible to impart writability to the printed surface or the margin.
It becomes easy to add letters and numbers with a pen or pencil. This makes it convenient to use a print image as a postcard, for example.

Further, when the print image receiving papers are overlapped with each other, it is difficult for them to stick to each other, so that contamination such as so-called set-off due to retransfer of dye is less likely to occur and handling inconvenience is also eliminated.

Further, as an additional effect of the present invention, it is possible to improve the storability of printed images, especially the light resistance. This is because the dye dyed on the surface of the receiving layer of the image receiving paper penetrates more into the inside due to the heating during the surface treatment, and the thigh color is unlikely to be formed even after long-term storage.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a basic principle of a surface treatment method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the surface roughness of a surface treatment medium used in the surface treatment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a medium used for surface treatment for obtaining a textured surface texture in the surface treatment method of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an actual measurement value of surface roughness of a print image surface-treated in a cloth shape.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a specific pattern obtained by the surface treatment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing an embodiment of the surface treatment apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing another embodiment of the surface treatment apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing another embodiment of the surface treatment apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a side view showing another embodiment of the surface treatment apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing an example of a surface treatment medium with a mount applied to the embodiment shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1,13,22,30 Receiving paper 3,10,24,28 Surface treatment medium 5,14,33 Heat roller 6,15,37 Feed roller 19 External heater 20 pressure roller 21 Heating element of thermal head.

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Shigeru Katayama             1-2 1-2 Shimohozumi, Ibaraki City, Osaka Prefecture Nitto             Electric Works Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kenichiro Ito             1-2 1-2 Shimohozumi, Ibaraki City, Osaka Prefecture Nitto             Electric Works Co., Ltd.

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. The surface texture of the medium is printed on the print surface by heating and pressing the entire surface or a part of the image print surface with a medium having a specific surface texture having a higher roughness than the image print surface in a state of being superimposed. A surface treatment method for a print image, which comprises transferring. 2. The surface treatment method for a print image according to claim 1, wherein the surface of the print image after the surface treatment is any one of non-gloss, semi-gloss, texture, and specific pattern, or a combination thereof. . 3. The surface treatment method for a printed image according to claim 1, wherein a medium used for the surface treatment is a smooth heat-resistant substrate chemically or physically embossed. 4. The print according to claim 1, wherein the medium used for the surface treatment is a heat-resistant substrate coated with powder having a particle size of 0.1 to several hundreds of microns together with a binder. Surface treatment method. 5. The medium used for the surface treatment is a heat-resistant substrate, which is prepared by previously mixing powder having a particle size of 0.1 to several hundreds of microns to form a film. A method for surface treatment of the described print image. 6. The medium used for the surface treatment is cloth, non-woven fabric, glass cloth, or natural paper having irregularities larger than the image printed surface, and is used.
A method for surface treatment of the described print image. 7. The medium used for the surface treatment is cloth,
The surface treatment method for a printed image according to claim 1, wherein a substrate made of a non-woven fabric, a glass cloth or a natural paper is coated or impregnated with a heat resistant resin having stain resistance and releasability. 8. The heat resistant resin is polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), tetrafluoroethylene-
Hexafluoropropylene copolymer (FEP), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVdF), polychlorotrifluoroethylene (PCTFE), tetrafluoroethylene-perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether copolymer (PF
The surface treatment method for a printed image according to claim 7, wherein a fluorine-containing resin such as A), an ethylene-chlorotrifluoroethylene copolymer (ECTFE), or polyvinyl fluoride (PVF) is used. 9. The print image according to claim 1, wherein a heat-resistant base material coated with a heat-foamable filler or a film obtained by foaming the heat-resistant base material is used as the medium used for the surface treatment. Surface treatment method. 10. The surface treatment method for a printed image according to claim 1, wherein the surface treatment medium is repeatedly usable. 11. The surface treatment method for a printed image according to claim 1, wherein the surface treatment medium is processed into an endless belt shape.