JPH05330251A - Receiving layer transfer sheet - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance transfer properties by forming a release layer containing a release agent on one surface of a base sheet and forming a transfer resin layer containing a dye receiving layer on the release layer. CONSTITUTION:A release layer 7 containing a release agent is formed on the single surface of a base sheet 1 such as glassine paper and a transfer resin layer A containing a dye receiving layer 2 is formed on the release layer 7. The release layer 7 is formed from a watersoluble resin and, when the release layer 7 is formed from a resin low in releasability, wax is added and a siloxane modified thermoplastic resin, for example, a siloxane modified polyvinyl acetal resin is added to a resin having good releasability such as a silicone resin to enhance film forming properties. The transfer resin layer A is constituted of the intermediate layer 4 composed of a polyamide resin on the dye receiving layer 2, the air bubblecontaining layer 3 composed of a polyurethane resin on the layer 4 and the adhesive layer 5 provided on the layer 4 and composed of a polyamide resin and showing good adhesiveness at the time of heating. White pigment, a fluorescent brightnener and a filler may be added to the transfer resin layer A and a transfer resin layer containing a protective layer may be provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a receiving layer transfer sheet, and more particularly to a receiving layer transfer sheet having excellent transferability.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various thermal transfer methods have been known. Among them, a sublimable dye is used as a recording agent, which is carried on a base material sheet such as paper or plastic film to form a thermal transfer sheet. There have been proposed methods for forming various full-color images on a transfer material such as a paper or a plastic film provided with a layer. In this case, the thermal head of the printer is used as the heating means, and a large number of three-color or four-color dots are transferred to the transfer material by heating for an extremely short time, and the full-color image of the original is formed by the multi-color dots. Is to be reproduced. The image formed in this way is extremely clear because the coloring material used is a dye and has excellent transparency, so the resulting image has excellent reproducibility of intermediate colors and gradation, and It is possible to form a high quality image which is similar to the image obtained by the offset printing or gravure printing and which is comparable to the full color photographic image.

[0003]

The material to be transferred capable of forming an image by the above method is limited to a dye-stainable plastic sheet or a paper on which a dye-receiving layer is provided in advance. However, there is a problem that an image cannot be directly formed. Of course, even ordinary plain paper can be image-formed by forming a receiving layer on its surface.
This is generally expensive, and is difficult to apply to general off-the-shelf transfer materials such as postcards, memos, notepapers, and report papers. As a method of solving such a problem, when an image is to be formed on a ready-to-be-transferred material such as plain paper, as a method of easily forming a dye receiving layer only on a necessary portion thereof, a receiving layer transfer sheet Is known (see, for example, JP-A-62-264994).

The receiving layer transfer sheet as described above comprises a release layer formed on a base material sheet such as polyester film, and a transferable resin layer containing at least a dye receiving layer formed on the surface thereof. When such a receiving layer transfer sheet is used to transfer the receiving layer only to a predetermined area of, for example, a postcard or a sheet of plain paper, it is usually heated by a thermal head to transfer a predetermined area. As a result of the heat from the head being quite high, the release layer and the transferable receiving layer are heat-sealed during thermal transfer, and when the receiving layer transfer sheet is peeled from the transfer material after transfer, a high peeling noise is generated. However, there are problems that the transfer layer is defective, transfer defects occur, and the peeling layer is cohesively destroyed and adheres to the surface of the transferred receiving layer, resulting in uneven transfer during image formation. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a receptor layer transfer sheet having excellent transferability when transferring with a thermal head.

[0005]

The above object can be achieved by the present invention described below. That is, the present invention is characterized in that a release layer and a transferable resin layer containing at least a dye receiving layer thereon are provided on one surface of a base material sheet, and the release layer contains a release agent. Receiving layer thermal transfer sheet.

[0006]

[Function] By including a release agent in the release layer,
It is possible to provide a receptor layer transfer sheet having excellent transferability when transferring with a thermal head. Therefore, when peeling the receiving layer transfer sheet, a high peeling noise is generated, a transfer failure occurs, and further, the peeling layer does not adhere to the surface of the transferred receiving layer due to cohesive failure, A high quality image can be formed.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the following preferred embodiments. One example of the receptor layer transfer sheet of the present invention is, as schematically shown in FIG. 1, a transferable resin layer including a release layer 7 on one surface of a base material sheet 1 and at least a dye receptor layer 2 thereon. A is provided, and the release layer 7 contains a release agent. Other,
If necessary, the bubble-containing layer 3, the intermediate layer 4, and the adhesive layer 5 may be provided, and the heat resistant slipping layer 6 may be further provided. These above-mentioned intermediate layers or adhesive layers can also contain air bubbles and / or foaming agents.

As the base sheet used in the receiving layer transfer sheet of the present invention, the same base sheet as that used in the conventional thermal transfer sheet can be used as it is, and
Others can be used and are not particularly limited. Specific examples of preferable substrate sheets include, for example, thin paper such as glassine paper, condenser paper, paraffin paper, polyester, polypropylene, cellophane, polycarbonate, cellulose acetate, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, nylon, polyimide, polyvinylidene chloride. , A plastic sheet such as an ionomer or a base material sheet obtained by combining these with the above paper, and a particularly preferable material is an easily-adhesive-treated polyester film such as an easily-adhesive polyethylene terephthalate film whose surface is treated to be adhesive. .. When a composite thermal transfer sheet including a dye layer is formed using the film as described below, the adhesiveness of the dye layer is good and abnormal transfer of the dye layer is unlikely to occur, while the dye receiving layer (and The transferable resin layer containing a protective layer) is particularly effective when the present invention is applied, because the transferability of the transferable resin layer to the substrate sheet is too strong and transferability becomes insufficient. The thickness of the base sheet can be appropriately changed depending on the material so that the strength, heat resistance and the like are appropriate, but the thickness is preferably 3 to 100 μm.

Prior to the formation of the receiving layer, the release layer 7 is formed on the surface of the base material sheet. The release layer 7 is a water-soluble resin,
It is formed from a release agent such as hydrophilic resin, wax, silicone wax, silicone resin, fluorine resin, acrylic resin. When the release layer is formed of a resin having a low releasability such as a cellulosic resin, it is preferable to add a relatively low melting point resin or various waxes that exhibit a releasability at the time of heating to the release layer. .. When the release layer is formed of a resin having a good releasability such as a silicone-based resin, it is preferable to use a resin having excellent releasability and at the same time excellent film formability, for example, various thermoplastic resins modified with siloxane. , These siloxane-modified thermoplastic resins, reactive silicone oil having a hydroxyl group, an amino group, an epoxy group, a vinyl group, an isocyanate group, a carboxyl group and the like, if necessary together with a crosslinking agent such as polyamine, polyol, polyisocyanate Then, it is obtained by binding to a thermoplastic resin having a functional group. Particularly suitable for the purposes of the present invention are siloxane-modified polyvinyl acetal resins, such as siloxane-modified polyvinyl butyral resins and siloxane-modified polyvinyl acetoacetal resins. The method of forming the release layer may be the same as the method of forming the receiving layer described later, and the thickness thereof is about 0.1 to 5 μm. Also, various particles can be included in the release layer if a matte receiving layer is desired after transfer.

The dye receiving layer 2 formed on the surface of the release layer 7 receives the sublimable dye transferred from the thermal transfer sheet after transferring the receiving layer to any transfer material, and maintains the formed image. It is for doing. Examples of the resin for forming the dye receiving layer include polyolefin resins such as polypropylene, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer, halogenated polymers such as polyvinyl chloride and polyvinylidene chloride, polyvinyl acetate, polyacrylic ester. Such as vinyl polymers, polyethylene terephthalate, polyester resins such as polybutylene terephthalate, polystyrene resins, polyamide resins, copolymer resins of olefins such as ethylene and propylene and other vinyl monomers,
Examples thereof include ionomers, cellulosic resins such as cellulose diacetate, polycarbonates, and the like, and particularly preferable are vinyl resins and polyester resins.

Preferred releasing agents to be mixed with the above resins include silicone oils, phosphate ester type surfactants and fluorine type surfactants, with silicone oils being preferable. As the silicone oil, a modified silicone oil such as epoxy modified, alkyl modified, amino modified, carboxyl modified, alcohol modified, fluorine modified, alkylaralkyl polyether modified, epoxy / polyether modified, polyether modified is desirable. As the release agent, one type or two or more types are used. or,
The amount of the releasing agent added is preferably 0.5 to 30 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of the resin for forming the dye receiving layer. If the addition amount range is not satisfied, problems such as fusion of the thermal transfer sheet and the dye receiving layer or deterioration of printing sensitivity may occur. By adding such a releasing agent to the dye receiving layer, the releasing agent bleeds out on the surface of the receiving layer after transfer to form a releasing layer.

The receptive layer may be prepared by dissolving the resin having the above-mentioned resin and necessary additives such as a releasing agent on the surface of the release layer, or dissolving it in an appropriate organic solvent or dispersing it in an organic solvent or water. The dispersion is applied and dried in a size larger than the release layer by a forming means such as a gravure printing method, a screen printing method, and a reverse roll coating method using a gravure plate. When forming the dye receiving layer, a filler such as kaolin clay, calcium carbonate, fine powder silica or the like may be added for the purpose of improving foil breakage of the receiving layer. The dye-receptive layer formed as described above may have any thickness, but generally 1 to 5
It has a thickness of 0 μm. Further, such a dye receiving layer is preferably a continuous coating, but it may be formed as a discontinuous coating by using a resin emulsion or resin dispersion.

Further, an intermediate layer 4 may be formed on the surface of the above-mentioned receiving layer. Such an intermediate layer is coated with a solution of a resin having a good coating property such as polyamide resin, acrylic resin, vinyl chloride resin, ethylene / vinyl acetate copolymer resin, vinyl chloride / vinyl acetate copolymer resin, polyester resin, etc. By drying, preferably 0.1
It is formed to a thickness of about 10 μm. By forming such an intermediate layer, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of irregularities or pinholes in the dye receiving layer due to foaming or expansion of the bubble-containing layer, which will be described later, and further, strength and adhesion of the receiving layer. Also improves. The bubble-containing layer which may be formed on the intermediate layer or the dye receiving layer is a coating liquid containing, as a binder, a thermoplastic resin such as polyurethane resin, acrylic resin, polyethylene resin, butadiene rubber or epoxy resin. It is formed by applying and drying a material containing bubbles and / or a foaming agent. The bubble-containing layer may be partially expanded or foamed with bubbles or a foaming agent after the layer is formed, or may not be foamed. As the foaming agent to be used, a decomposition type foaming agent such as dinitropentamethylenetetramine, diazoaminobenzene, azobisisobutyronitrile, azodicarbonamide, etc. that decomposes by heating to generate gases such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and the like. , Butane, polyvinylidene chloride low-boiling liquids such as pentane, can be used any known foaming agent such as microballoons microcapsulated with a resin such as polyacrylonitrile, further foamed by pre-expanding these microballoons or Microballoons coated with a white pigment can also be effectively used.

The amount of the foaming agent or foam used is preferably such that the transferable resin layer has a thickness of about 1.1 to 4 times when heated to 90 to 120 ° C. preferable. When the foaming rate (expansion rate) is less than 1.1, the cushioning property is insufficient. On the other hand, when the foaming rate (expansion rate) exceeds 4 times, the bubble-containing layer and the base sheet are separated. It is not preferable because the adhesiveness becomes insufficient. Particularly preferred foaming agents are the above microballoons that can be foamed or expanded at a relatively low temperature, microfoams coated with the foams and white pigments, and various grades are available from Matsumoto Yushi-Seiyaku Co., Ltd. Yes, any of which can be used in the present invention. The thickness of these bubble-containing layers is 2
It is preferably about 20 μm.

In the present invention, it is also preferable to provide an adhesive layer 5 in order to improve the transferability of the above transferable resin layer. These adhesive layers are formed, for example, by applying and drying a solution of a resin having good adhesiveness at the time of heat such as polyamide resin, acrylic resin, vinyl chloride resin, vinyl chloride / vinyl acetate copolymer resin, polyester resin, etc. The thickness is preferably about 0.5 to 10 μm. It is also possible to incorporate bubbles and / or a foaming agent into these adhesive layers so that they also serve as the bubble-containing layer. Further, in the present invention, by incorporating a filler, a white pigment, a fluorescent whitening agent, etc. in at least one of the above layers, a receiving layer having excellent whiteness can be transferred regardless of the background color of the transferred material. Can be given to wood.

Although the above example is a basic embodiment of the present invention, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, the transferable resin layer A as described above is provided on a long base sheet (preferably an easily adhesive polyester). A dye layer formed of a sublimable dye adjacent to the transferable resin layer, for example, yellow Y, magenta M and cyan C, and if necessary, black Bk (not shown) Layers are provided in a frame-sequential manner, and adjacent to these dye layers, a transferable protective layer (7: release layer, 8: protective layer, 9: adhesive layer) for protecting the surface of the formed image. It can also be provided. In the case of such a composite thermal transfer sheet, for example, the resin layer A containing the dye receiving layer is first transferred to a necessary region of a transfer material such as a postcard, and the dye is applied to the resin layer A containing the transferred receiving layer. A dye image is formed by the layers Y, M, C (and Bk), and then the protective layers (8, 9) are transferred onto the surface of the formed image, and the desired image can be transferred by one thermal transfer sheet and one thermal transfer printer. An image can be formed on any transfer material.

Using the receptor layer transfer sheet as described above,
The material to be transferred for transferring the resin layer including the receiving layer is not particularly limited, and may be any sheet such as plain paper, high-quality paper, tracing paper, and plastic film.
Further, in terms of shape, any of cards, postcards, passports, letter papers, report papers, notebooks, catalogs and the like may be used, and particularly, it is applicable to plain paper and rough paper having a rough surface. The transfer method of the resin layer A or the protective layer (8, 9) is a general printer equipped with a thermal head for thermal transfer, a hot stamper for transfer foil, a heat roll, etc., and the receiving layer or adhesive layer is activated. Any heating / pressurizing means capable of heating to a temperature may be used.

[0018]

EXAMPLES Next, the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to Examples and Comparative Examples. In the text, “part” or “%” is based on weight unless otherwise specified. Example 1 A 25 μm thick polyester film (trade name “Lumirror”, manufactured by Toray) was coated with a release layer coating solution having the following composition at a rate of 1.0 g / m ² when dried by a bar coater. After coating and temporary drying with a dryer, it is dried in an oven at 100 ° C for 30 minutes to form a release layer, and the following receiving layer coating liquid is further dried with a bar coater at 5.0 g / m 2.
Apply at a ratio of ² and temporarily dry with a dryer, then 100
Dry in an oven at ℃ for 30 minutes to form a dye-receptive layer, and then apply the following coating solution for bubble-containing layer / adhesive layer in the same manner at a dry rate of 5 g / m ² and dry to form bubbles. The containing layer / adhesive layer was formed to obtain the receiving layer transfer sheet of the present invention. Coating liquid composition for release layer: Cellulose resin (Hercules, ethyl hydroxyethyl cellulose) 100 parts Silicone oil (KF-55, Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) 2 parts Methyl ethyl ketone / toluene (weight ratio 1/1) 400 parts

Coating liquid composition for receiving layer; vinyl chloride / vinyl acetate copolymer (VYHD, manufactured by Union Carbide) 100 parts Epoxy-modified silicone (KF-393, Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) 8 parts Amino-modified silicone (KP- 343, Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) 8 parts Methyl ethyl ketone / toluene (weight ratio 1/1) 400 parts Adhesive layer coating liquid composition; polymethylmethacrylate resin (BR-106, Mitsubishi Rayon) 100 parts Foaming agent (F- 30, Matsumoto Yushi-Seiyaku Co., Ltd.) 15 parts Titanium oxide (TCA-888, manufactured by Tochem Products) 100 parts Methyl ethyl ketone / toluene (weight ratio 1/1) 300 parts

Example 2 A receptive layer transfer sheet of the present invention was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the release layer was formed from the following coating liquid. Coating solution composition for release layer: Cellulose resin (Hercules, ethyl hydroxyethyl cellulose) 100 parts Silicone oil (TSF433, Toshiba Silicone) 2 parts Methyl ethyl ketone / toluene (weight ratio 1/1) 400 parts Example 3 Example 1 In the above, a receiving layer transfer sheet of the present invention was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the release layer was formed from the following coating liquid. Composition of coating liquid for release layer; siloxane-modified polyvinyl acetal resin 100 parts Methyl ethyl ketone / toluene (weight ratio 1/1) 400 parts Comparative Example 1 Example 1 except that the release layer was formed from the following coating liquid A receptive layer transfer sheet of a comparative example was obtained in the same manner as in. Composition of coating liquid for release layer: Cellulose resin (Hercules, ethyl hydroxyethyl cellulose) 100 parts Methyl ethyl ketone / toluene (weight ratio 1/1) 400 parts Example 4 25 μm thick easily-adhesive-treated polyester film (trade name “Lumira , Manufactured by Toray Co., Ltd.), and the release layer coating solution of Example 1 was dried by a bar coater at 1.0 g / m ²
At a ratio of 30 cm and a distance of 90 cm, and coated to form a release layer in the same manner as in Example 1. It was formed over the entire width of the film. The receiving layer and the protective layer are formed by applying a coating solution having the following composition with a bar coater at a rate of 3.0 g / m ² when dried, temporarily drying with a dryer, and then drying in an oven at 100 ° C for 30 minutes. did. Next, an adhesive layer was formed on the surface of the receiving layer and the protective layer. The adhesive layer was formed by applying and drying the following adhesive solution in the same manner as the receiving layer and the protective layer at a dry ratio of 3.0 g / m ² , to obtain a composite thermal transfer sheet of the present invention.

Composition of Receptor Layer Coating Liquid : Vinyl chloride / vinyl acetate copolymer resin (VYHD, manufactured by UCC) 100 parts Epoxy-modified silicone (KF-393, manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) 8 parts Amino-modified silicone (KP-343, Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) 8 parts Methyl ethyl ketone / toluene (weight ratio 1/1) 400 parts Protective layer coating solution composition : Vinyl chloride / vinyl acetate copolymer resin (VYHD, UCC) 100 parts Methyl ethyl ketone / toluene (weight ratio 1) / 1) 400 parts Adhesive layer coating liquid composition : Acrylic resin (BR-106, made by Mitsubishi Rayon) 100 parts Methyl ethyl ketone / toluene (weight ratio 1/1) 300 parts Subsequently, a dye layer ink having the following composition was prepared. However, the width of the base sheet on the surface where the receiving layer and the protective layer are not formed is 30
The composite thermal transfer sheet of the present invention was obtained by coating and drying with a gravure coater so that the dry coating amount was 1.0 g / m ² per cm.

Ink composition for dye layer : Disperse dye (Kayaset Blue 714, manufactured by Nippon Kayaku) 4.0 parts Ethyl hydroxycellulose (manufactured by Hercules) 5.0 parts Methyl ethyl ketone / toluene (weight ratio 1/1) 80. 0 parts Dioxane 10.0 parts In the same manner, a yellow thermal transfer sheet was replaced with a yellow disperse dye (Macrolex Yellow 6G, manufactured by Bayer Co., CI Disperse Yellow 2).
01), and a magenta thermal transfer sheet was formed using a magenta disperse dye (CI Disperse Red 60).

Comparative Example 2 A composite thermal transfer sheet of Comparative Example was formed in the same manner as in Example 4 except that the release layer was provided in the same manner as in Comparative Example 1.

Use Example 1 The receiving layer transfer sheets of Examples 1 to 3 and Comparative Example 1 and plain paper were superposed and the receiving layer was transferred using a thermal head. Next, a cyan thermal transfer sheet was superposed on the surface of this receiving layer, and a thermal head was used to output 1 W / dot and pulse width 0.3 to 0.45 msec. Printing was performed on the entire surface of the receiving layer under the condition of a dot density of 3 dots / mm to form a betathan image. When the transferability (environmental temperature of 20 ° C. and 40 ° C.) and the image quality of the dye receiving layer during image formation were observed, the results shown in Table 1 below were obtained. Use Example 2 Using the composite thermal transfer sheets of Example 4 and Comparative Example 2, images were formed in the same manner as in Use Example 1 and evaluated in the same manner, and the results shown in Table 1 below were obtained.

[0025]

[Table 1]

[0026]

[Effect] According to the present invention as described above, by incorporating a release agent in the release layer, it is possible to provide a receptor layer transfer sheet having excellent transferability during transfer by a thermal head. Therefore, when peeling the receiving layer transfer sheet, a high peeling noise is generated, a transfer failure occurs, and further, the peeling layer does not adhere to the surface of the transferred receiving layer due to cohesive failure, A high quality image can be formed.

[0027]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a cross section of a receiving layer transfer sheet of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating a composite thermal transfer sheet according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Base material sheet 2: Receptive layer 3: Bubble-containing layer 4: Intermediate layer 5: Adhesive layer 6: Heat resistant slipping layer 7: Release layer 8: Protective layer 9: Adhesive layer Y: Yellow dye layer M: Magenta Dye layer Y: Cyan dye layer

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A release layer and a transferable resin layer containing at least a dye receiving layer thereon are provided on one surface of a substrate sheet, and the release layer contains a release agent. Receptor layer thermal transfer sheet. 2. The receptor layer transfer sheet according to claim 1, wherein the release layer is composed of a siloxane-modified resin. 3. The receptor layer transfer sheet according to claim 1, wherein the siloxane-modified resin is a siloxane-modified polyvinyl acetal resin. 4. The receptor layer transfer sheet according to claim 1, wherein the releasing agent is a thermal releasing agent. 5. The receptor layer transfer sheet according to claim 1, wherein the transferable resin layer includes an adhesive layer and / or an intermediate layer. 6. The receptor layer transfer sheet according to claim 5, wherein the adhesive layer contains air bubbles and / or a foaming agent. 7. The transferable resin layer comprises a white pigment, a fluorescent whitening agent,
The receptor layer transfer sheet according to claim 1, further comprising an additive such as a filler. 8. The receptor layer transfer sheet according to claim 1, wherein a dye layer of at least one color is provided on the transfer resin layer in a frame sequential manner. 9. The receptor layer transfer sheet according to claim 1, further comprising a transfer resin layer including at least a protective layer, which is provided in a surface sequential manner. 10. The receptive layer transfer sheet according to claim 8, wherein the base sheet is an easily-adhesive-treated polyester film.