JPH05338360A - Thermal transfer recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a thermal transfer recording medium suitable for multitime printing and n-time speed type printing adapted to high speed printing, satisfying both of printing quality an image density, generating no printing contamination and having stable transfer properties and printing running properties even at high temp. CONSTITUTION:A thermal transfer recording medium is obtained by providing a hotmelt ink layer containing at least a low m.p. crystalline material, a resin material and a colorant on a sheet like base material. In the hot-melt ink layer, when the intensity of the diffraction peak from the crystalline material due to the X-ray diffraction measurement is set to I and the halo intensity of an amorphous part is set to I0, the intensity ratio I/I0 is below 1.0. Further, the hot-melt ink layer is characterized by that the endothermic peak thereof due to DSC (differential scanning calorimeter) measurement is present in the temp. region of + or -30 deg.C centering around the m.p. thereof.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heat-sensitive transfer recording medium for recording by transferring a heat-meltable ink material onto a medium to be transferred using a heat-sensitive head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Transfer recording on a transfer medium using a heat-sensitive transfer recording medium is performed by bringing the heat-sensitive transfer recording medium and the transfer-receiving medium into close contact with each other on a heat-sensitive head under a constant pressure and applying from the heat-sensitive head. This is performed by melting the heat-fusible color material layer (ink layer) of the heat-sensitive transfer recording medium with thermal energy and transferring the melted color material layer onto the transfer medium. During this transfer, most of the heat-meltable ink layer on the thermal transfer recording medium is transferred onto the transfer target medium. Therefore, in order to perform recording using the thermal transfer recording medium, the same area as the recording area is required. The above thermal transfer recording medium is required. Therefore, the recording method using the thermal transfer recording medium has a higher recording cost than the electrophotographic method or the inkjet method.

In order to solve this high recording cost, a thermal transfer recording medium which can be used a plurality of times has been developed. As a thermal transfer recording medium intended to be used a plurality of times as described above, for example, JP-A-54-68253 discloses a thermal transfer recording medium in which a fine porous layer is formed of a resin, and pores thereof are impregnated with a thermal ink. Is proposed. In this heat-sensitive transfer recording medium, since the heat-sensitive ink is transferred from the pores of the holes to the medium to be transferred by the permeation phenomenon, it takes time for the heat-sensitive ink to be melted by heat and penetrate into the pores, and the printing speed is slow. There is a drawback. Further, since the permeation amount of the thermal ink is limited, it has a big drawback that it is difficult to obtain a high-density transferred image. A similar proposal is also disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 55-105579, but it has the same drawbacks as described above.

In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 56-89984, an organic pigment such as carbon black, a metal such as aluminum or aluminum oxide, a fine powder of metal oxide, or the like is contained in a solid ink layer of a recording medium. There is described a thermal transfer recording medium which can be used a plurality of times by adding the inorganic pigment as a filler. In this heat-sensitive transfer recording medium, the compounded filler forms a porous layer, and the voids of the porous layer are impregnated with a solid ink in which a coloring material such as a dye or pigment is dissolved or dispersed in a low melting point resin. The structure is a solid ink layer. Then, when heat is applied to this recording medium, the solid ink is melted and exudes from the porous layer, and is transferred onto the transfer medium. Such a recording medium is also unsuitable for high-speed transfer for the same reason as the fine porous layer made of resin, and it is difficult to obtain a high-density transfer image. Further, when a coloring material such as carbon black is used as the filler, some of these fillers are easily transferred, and in the case of color recording, color turbidity is likely to occur.

On the other hand, as a method of eliminating the high recording cost, instead of using the same thermal transfer recording medium a plurality of times, the thermal transfer medium and the transferred medium are fed at the same feed speed (1: 1).
Instead of this, a method of reducing the recording cost by making the feeding speed of the thermal transfer recording medium and the transfer target medium smaller (n times faster) than the thermal transfer recording medium has been attempted.
For example, JP-A-60-178088 discloses a heat-sensitive recording medium in which an overcoat layer containing a resin and a wax as a main component is provided on a heat-meltable ink layer. By providing such an overcoat layer, it is possible to prevent rubbing stains caused by a difference in pressing pressure and relative speed between the thermal transfer recording medium and the transferred medium. However, an excessive melting phenomenon of the thermal transfer recording medium due to heat storage of the thermal head caused by a slow relative speed of the thermal transfer recording medium peculiar to the n-fold speed printing to the thermal head, and a consequent melting of the ink layer after printing are caused. It has not been possible to solve practical problems such as tailing stains, and beard stains extending in a whisker-like shape due to the spinnability of the melted ink material. Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-204092 uses a thermal transfer ink in which a coloring material is dispersed in a hot-melt binder composed of an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer and wax, and has a breaking strength at room temperature (25 ° C). The heat-sensitive transfer material and the heat-sensitive transfer recording method for preventing the beard stain by defining the above are described. However, there is little physical relationship between the breaking strength, which indicates the mechanical strength of the material at room temperature, and the beard stain caused by the spinnability of the material in the molten state, and it is an effective solution to the beard stain. Can't be. As described above, the image density is high, the high speed printing is applicable, and the above problems are solved.
At present, a double-speed type thermal transfer recording medium has not been provided yet.

[0006]

With the recent widespread use and development of information equipment, printers, which are information output equipment, are becoming faster, smaller, and finer. However,
Conventional thermal transfer recording media that can be used a plurality of times have poor thermal responsiveness as described above, so that it is difficult to adapt to high-speed printing, and only printing quality and image density are poor.

Further, as a problem peculiar to the thermal transfer recording medium used a plurality of times, the surface of the thermal transfer recording medium used a plurality of times deteriorates, and the deteriorated surface causes the entire surface of the transferred medium pressed against for transfer. There is a problem of getting dirty. This stain tends to be more likely to become dirty when the thermal response of the thermal transfer recording medium is increased for speeding up. Further, the downsizing of the equipment causes the temperature inside the equipment to become higher than that of the conventional equipment when in use, and the problem of this contamination becomes more and more serious. In addition, when the temperature of the device becomes high as described above, as a peculiar problem, the reverse transfer phenomenon (even if the heat-meltable ink layer of the heat-sensitive transfer recording medium is melt-transferred onto the transfer medium,
The phenomenon of printing failure that returns to the thermal transfer recording medium without transfer) and the sticking phenomenon (the heat-meltable ink layer becomes an adhesive layer and the thermal transfer recording medium adheres to the transferred medium, and A phenomenon of poor running property, which is a poor conveyance of the thermal transfer recording medium, occurs.

On the other hand, the n-fold speed thermal transfer recording medium has problems such as rubbing stains and beard stains in a more severe high temperature condition.

The present invention has been made in order to cope with such a problem, and is particularly adapted to high-speed printing when printing a plurality of times (multi-time) or when performing n-fold speed printing. It is an object of the present invention to provide a thermal transfer recording medium which satisfies both quality and image density, does not stain the surface of the recording medium to be transferred, and has stable transferability and printing runnability even at high temperatures.

[0010]

The heat-sensitive transfer recording medium of the present invention is provided with a sheet-like base material, and is provided on the base material, selectively heated and melted, and transferred to the transfer medium. In a heat-sensitive transfer recording medium having a heat-meltable ink layer, the heat-meltable ink layer contains at least a low melting point crystalline material, a resin material and a colorant, and the X-ray diffraction of the heat-meltable ink layer. Let I be the diffraction peak intensity from the crystalline material measured and I be the halo intensity of the amorphous part.
₀ the time, the intensity ratio I / I ₀ is characterized by satisfying the I / I ₀ <1.0.

Further, the heat-sensitive transfer recording medium is characterized in that an endothermic peak measured by DSC (Differential Scanning Calorimeter) of the heat-meltable ink layer is within a temperature range of ± 30 ° C. around the melting point.

In the heat-meltable ink layer of the heat-sensitive transfer recording medium of the present invention, the intensity ratio I / I ₀ of the diffraction peak from the crystalline material to the halo intensity of the amorphous portion is less than 1.0 in the X-ray diffraction measurement. It is configured to be. The intensity ratio of the above diffraction peak is less than 1.0, which means that
It means that the low melting point crystalline material has extremely low crystallinity,
As a result, the material for forming the heat-meltable ink layer (hereinafter referred to as the heat-meltable ink material) is in a microcrystalline state or an amorphous state. Intensity ratio I / I _{0 of the} diffraction peak
Is more preferably 0.9 or less.

The heat-meltable ink material in the microcrystalline state or the non-crystallized state melts the crystal more than when the crystal grains of the low-melting-point crystalline material grow large in the heat-meltable ink layer. The required heat energy is reduced, and the sensitivity of the heat-meltable ink layer can be improved. In this way, by increasing the thermal responsiveness of the heat-meltable ink layer, the heat-meltable ink material melts quickly, and even when the heat-sensitive transfer recording medium is used a plurality of times or when it is used at n times speed, high speed is achieved. It is possible to adapt to printing and improve printing quality and image density.

In order to obtain a heat-meltable ink layer satisfying the diffraction peak intensity ratio by X-ray diffraction as described above,
It is important to reduce the crystallinity of the low melting point crystalline material, and for example, it can be obtained by mixing the low melting point crystalline material and the resin material well. Further, by mixing the low-melting-point crystalline material and the resin material well, the portion where the wax (low-melting-point crystalline material) that causes stains is isolated can be made extremely low. Therefore, it becomes possible to prevent the print stain at high temperature.

Further, in order to adapt to high-speed printing, the heat-meltable ink material must be rapidly melted as described above, which requires that the heat-meltable ink material has a low melting energy. is there. The thermal characteristics of a substance such as melting energy can be measured using a DSC (differential scanning calorimeter). DS for heat-meltable ink materials
When measured at C, an endothermic peak curve centered at the melting point is obtained. The endothermic peak curve is as sharp as possible, that is, the peak curve is obtained within the narrowest possible temperature range, in order to obtain a thermal transfer recording medium that is suitable for high-speed printing, has little printing stains at high temperature, and shows stable printing runnability. Is desirable.

When the endothermic peak curve is broad, that is, when the melting characteristic is broad, it takes time for the heat-meltable ink material transferred onto the transfer medium to completely solidify, so that it sufficiently adheres to the transfer medium. However, reverse transfer and sticking, which are problems peculiar to a thermal transfer recording medium that is used multiple times, are likely to occur. Further, at the time of transfer, it is necessary to supply heat energy to at least a temperature range where the melting of the heat-meltable ink material is completed, but when the melting characteristic is broad, this temperature range shifts to a higher temperature side. When the heat-meltable ink layer is thickened in order to increase the number of times of repeated use in a heat-sensitive transfer recording medium that is used multiple times, the heat energy from the heat-sensitive head is not sufficiently supplied, and the heat-meltability up to the above temperature range Since the transfer of the ink material onto the transfer medium is performed without the temperature rise of the ink material, defective printing is likely to occur. Further, when the melting property is broad, the softening of the heat-meltable ink material starts from a low temperature range, so that stains easily occur.

In the heat-sensitive transfer recording medium of the present invention, the heat-meltable ink layer is formed so that the heat-meltable ink material has a sharp endothermic peak curve by DSC measurement, that is, the heat-meltable ink material melts in a narrower temperature range. Since it is configured, the above-mentioned problems do not occur, it is suitable for high-speed printing, and there is no print stain at high temperature, and stable print running performance can be realized. Specifically, the endothermic peak of the heat-meltable ink material measured by DSC is ± 30 ° C centering on the melting point.
It is preferable to configure the heat-meltable ink layer so that the temperature is within the temperature range.

The heat-meltable ink layer in the heat-sensitive transfer recording medium of the present invention contains at least a low-melting-point crystalline material, a resin material and a colorant. With such a constituent material, the intensity ratio of diffraction peaks I / As described above, the heat-meltable ink layer having I ₀ of less than 1.0 is obtained by, for example, mixing the low-melting point crystalline material and the resin material well and decreasing the crystallinity of the low-melting point crystalline material. .. In order to satisfactorily mix the crystalline material and the resin material, it is important to select each material so that the affinity between them becomes extremely high. Further, by mixing the crystalline material and the resin material well, the D of the heat-meltable ink material can be improved.
The endothermic peak measured by SC can be made sharp, that is, within the temperature range of ± 30 ° C. around the melting point.

In the heat-meltable ink layer according to the present invention, the mixing ratio of the above-mentioned respective constituent materials is set to 20 to 80% by weight of the low melting point crystalline material.
%, Resin material 20 to 60% by weight, and colorant 10 to 60% by weight. In addition, it is preferable that the above-mentioned conditions are satisfied in order to prevent stains, reverse transfer, sticking, and the like, while making the heat-meltable ink material into a microcrystalline state or an amorphous state.

That is, the low-melting-point crystalline material mixes well with the resin material to form a microcrystalline or amorphous state in the heat-meltable ink layer, and further the isolated portion of the wax that causes stains is reduced. In order to achieve this, the weight ratio to the resin material is preferably in the range of 1: 1 to 3: 1 and the total amount is preferably in the range of 20 to 80% by weight, more preferably 30 In the range of up to 50% by weight. In addition, the resin material is 20 to 20 times in order to suppress the occurrence of reverse transfer, sticking, and stain, which are problems peculiar to a thermal transfer recording medium that is used multiple times.
It is preferably in the range of 60% by weight, more preferably
It is in the range of 20 to 30% by weight. If the amount of the colorant added is too large, it causes transfer failure, and if it is too small, the storage stability at high temperature is lost.Therefore, the amount added is preferably in the range of 10 to 60% by weight, more preferably 20 to 50% by weight. It is in the range of%. ..

As an example of the low melting point crystalline material and the resin material forming the heat melting ink layer in the heat-sensitive transfer recording medium of the present invention, an ethylene low melting point crystalline material and an ethylene resin material can be mentioned. .. In order to satisfactorily mix the ethylene-based low melting point crystalline material and the ethylene-based resin material, it is important to select the respective materials so that the affinity between them is extremely high.
Therefore, it is preferable to use, as the ethylene-based low melting point crystalline material, a material having some other functional group in addition to the ethylene structure.

Examples of such an ethylene-based low melting point crystalline material include organic substances having an ethylene-based crystal structure that melts at a predetermined temperature as shown below. That is,
Low molecular weight polyethylene wax, oxidized polyethylene wax, paraffin wax, oxidized paraffin wax,
Waxes based on carnauba wax, candelilla wax, rice wax, wood wax, beeswax, lanolin, coconut wax, oxidative wax ester, emulsion wax, urethane wax, alcohol wax, amide wax, montan wax (Bleached montan wax, unbleached montan wax, refined wax, acid wax, ester wax, partially saponified ester wax), PO wax, rosin, rosin methylolated amide, ester gum, higher fatty acid and the like are exemplified.

Further, the ethylene-based resin material must have a high affinity with the ethylene-based low melting point crystalline material. For this purpose, it is preferable that the ethylene-based resin material has a comonomer content of 25% by weight or more.
Further, the copolymer of ethylene and the comonomer is preferably a random copolymer, and it is desirable that the monomer reactivity ratio of the comonomer is close to that of the ethylene monomer. As such a monomer, the Q and e values used as a measure of the reactivity of the monomer are preferably those having a Q value of 1.0 or less, and more preferably a Q value of 0.2 or less.

As such an ethylene resin material, the monomer copolymerizable with ethylene can be used as a binary copolymer or a terpolymer with ethylene.
Such monomers include methyl methacrylate,
Ethyl methacrylate, n-propyl methacrylate, is
Monomers such as o-propyl methacrylate, methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, n-propyl acrylate, iso-propyl acrylate, acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, maleic anhydride, vinyl acetate, vinyl chloride and vinylidene chloride are suitable.

The intensity ratio I / I ₀ of the X-ray diffraction peak in the case of using the ethylene-based low melting point crystalline material and the ethylene-based resin material is from the ethylene-based crystal having a diffraction angle of 21.3 ° to 21.5 °. The diffraction peak intensity is I, and the halo intensity of the amorphous portion having a diffraction angle of 16 ° to 17 ° is I ₀ .

As the resin material used in the heat-sensitive transfer recording medium of the present invention, polyethylene resin, polyester resin, polyamide resin, polypropylene are used as the resin material having a high affinity with the low melting point crystalline material in addition to the ethylene resin material. Resin, polyvinyl butyral resin, ethylene-acrylic acid ester copolymer resin, styrene-acrylic acid ester copolymer resin, styrene-maleic acid-acrylic acid ester copolymer resin, etc. can be mentioned.

Examples of the colorant which is a constituent material of the heat-fusible ink layer of the present invention include carbon black (Printex 25,35,150T, manufactured by Degussa) and Vulcan First Yellow G (CI21095 (hereinafter CINO. )),
Benzidine Yellow G (21090), Pigment Yellow (1
1680), Permanent Pigment Red 5 (12490), Permanent Bordeaux FRR (12385), Benzidine Orange (21110), Resole Red (15630), Rake Red C
(15585), Rhodamine 6G Lake (45160), Rhodamine B (45170), Phthalocyanine Blue (74160), Indo Brilliant Green B (59285), Phthalocyanine Green (74260), Quinacridone Red Y (46500), Quinacridone Magenta (73915), etc. The above pigments and dyes can be used as necessary. In addition, since the addition of a large amount of expensive dyes or pigments as an ink material is contrary to the idea of providing a good product at a lower cost, silica, silica sand, titanium oxide, zinc oxide, talc, etc. It is also effective to add the additive up to about 80% by weight of the colorant component.

The heat-sensitive transfer recording medium of the present invention is a multi-time heat-sensitive transfer recording medium in which the heat-fusible ink layer is transferred stepwise in the depth direction of the ink layer from the side in contact with the medium to be transferred, or the heat-melting recording medium. The present invention is intended to improve an n-fold speed thermal transfer recording medium in which a photosensitive ink layer is transferred stepwise in the longitudinal direction, is suitable for high-speed printing, is excellent in print quality and image density, and is free from stains at high temperatures. The present invention provides a multi-time thermal transfer recording medium and an n-fold speed thermal transfer recording medium exhibiting stable printing runnability.

[0029]

EXAMPLES Examples and comparative examples of the present invention will be described below.

Examples 1 to 73 and Comparative Examples 1 to 27 First, as ethylene low melting point crystalline materials, four kinds of ethylene low melting point crystalline waxes whose physical properties are shown in Table 1 were prepared. As the ethylene resin material, three kinds of ethylene resins having the physical properties shown in Table 2 were prepared. As the coloring material, carbon black pigment: P-1 (Printex 25, trade name, manufactured by Degussa) was used.

[Table 1]

[Table 2] The materials for forming the heat-meltable ink layer described above are shown in Tables 3 and 4.
And the composition ratios shown in Table 5 were mixed, respectively, and these were coated on a polyester film having a back surface coated with a heat resistant slipping layer, to prepare thermal transfer recording media. The comparative examples in the table are provided as a comparison with the present invention, and were prepared in the same manner as the above-mentioned examples.

The heat-sensitive transfer recording media of Examples 1 to 73 and the heat-sensitive transfer recording media of Comparative Examples 1 to 27 thus produced were each cut into a 30 mm × 5 mm square, and then adhesive tape was placed on a slide glass. Both ends were fixed by using a probe to prepare a sample for X-ray diffraction measurement. Using each of these X-ray diffraction measurement samples, the diffraction intensity of the hot-melt ink layer was measured by an X-ray diffractometer (manufactured by JEOL Ltd.). The X-ray diffractometer used was equipped with a jig for thin film measurement to reduce the diffraction angle of monochromatic X-rays to the sample surface (0.1 °), and to reduce the scattered X-rays from the substrate to reduce It is possible to measure a diffraction peak which is buried in the ground and cannot be discriminated. With the above X-ray diffractometer, the diffraction peak intensity I (unit: cps: count / sec) from the ethylene crystal and the diffraction angle 2θ at that time, and the halo intensity I _{0 of the} amorphous portion (incident angle: 16 ° to 17 °) Was measured and the intensity ratio I / I ₀ was determined. The results are also shown in Tables 3, 4, and 5.

[0032]

[Table 3]

[Table 4]

[Table 5] Further, each of the thermal transfer recording media of Examples 1 to 73 and Comparative Examples 1 to 27 was cut into a 1 cm square piece to prepare a DSC measurement sample. Using these, DSC measurement was performed at a temperature rising rate of 5 ° C./min. A typical example of the obtained endothermic peak curve is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the obtained DS
With respect to the C curve, a straight line connecting the two inflection points (shown by a dotted line in FIG. 1) was drawn, and the temperatures at the two intersections of the straight line and the DSC curve were obtained. Of these, the temperature on the low temperature side is ta,
The temperature on the high temperature side is tb. The temperature of the endothermic peak of the DSC curve is tp. If there are two or more peaks that seem to be endothermic peaks, as in the DSC curve in (B) in Fig. 1, select the one with the largest peak size and select the temperature of that peak. Is tp. In this way, from the obtained DSC curve, ta, tp, tb
Was measured for each temperature. The results are shown in Tables 6, 7, and 8.

Further, Examples 1-73 and Comparative Examples 1-
The printing performance including multi-time printing of each of the 27 thermal transfer recording media was evaluated in the following manner. First, each thermal transfer recording medium was installed in a thermal transfer printer (Personal word processor JW-95HP manufactured by Toshiba, printing speed: 70 characters / second), and Kanji and solid black patterns were printed on the dedicated thermal transfer paper (Beck smoothness 400 seconds). The ribbon was rewound each time it was printed so that it was printed at the same location, and printing was repeated 5 times. The black solid pattern of the obtained transferred image was used to measure the image density of the first and third prints by a Macbeth reflection image densitometer. The image density of this solid pattern is
Practically 1.0 or more is enough. Then the temperature 35
Each of the thermal transfer recording media of Examples 1 to 73 and Comparative Examples 1 to 27 was repeatedly printed 10 times using the thermal transfer printer in an environment of ℃ and 80% humidity. By this print running test, first, the high temperature running property of the thermal transfer recording medium was checked during printing running, and the occurrence of running trouble such as sticking and bending of the thermal transfer recording medium was evaluated. Further, regarding the obtained transfer print, the presence or absence of tailing stain at the end of the print and fog stain on the entire print were visually evaluated. Further, regarding the obtained transfer printing, the presence or absence of occurrence of reverse transfer was visually evaluated.

The results of the image density, print stain, reverse transfer, and high-temperature running property of the first and third printings as described above are shown in Table 6.
It is also shown in Table 7 and Table 8. In addition, with respect to stains and the like, when even a slight amount was present, it was determined to be “present”.

[Table 6]

[Table 7]

[Table 8] From the results of the above tables, the thermal transfer recording medium of the present invention,
The intensity ratio I / I _{0 of the} diffraction peak is 0.9 or less, the crystallinity of the ethylene-based low melting point crystalline material is extremely low, and the sensitivity is high, and the melting is completed within a temperature range of ± 30 ° C. around the melting point, It can be seen that the sharp characteristics enable adaptation to high-speed printing. This means that the image density of 1.0 or more was obtained even in the third printing in the multiple printing, and the print stain, the reverse transfer, the running trouble, etc. did not occur even at a high temperature. It can be seen that the thermal transfer recording medium is well suited for high speed printing.

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is suitable for high-speed printing, both the print quality and the image density are satisfied, the surface of the medium to be transferred is not contaminated, and the transferability is stable even at high temperature. A thermal transfer recording medium having printing runnability,
In particular, it is possible to provide a heat-sensitive transfer recording medium suitable for multi-time printing and n-fold speed printing.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a typical example of an endothermic peak curve of a DSC measurement result for a thermal transfer recording medium of the present invention.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Nanao Nakamura 1 Komukai Toshiba-cho, Saiwai-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Stock company Toshiba Research Institute

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A heat-sensitive transfer recording medium comprising a sheet-shaped base material and a heat-meltable ink layer which is provided on the base material and is selectively heated and melted to be transferred to a transfer medium. The hot-melt ink layer contains at least a low-melting crystalline material, a resin material, and a colorant, and the diffraction peak intensity from the crystalline material by X-ray diffraction measurement of the hot-melt ink layer is I, when the halo intensity of the amorphous portion was I _0, thermal transfer recording medium in which the intensity ratio I / I ₀ is to satisfy the I / I ₀ <1.0. 2. The heat-sensitive transfer recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the endothermic peak of the heat-meltable ink layer measured by DSC is within a temperature range of ± 30 ° C. around the melting point. Medium. 3. The heat-sensitive transfer recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the heat-meltable ink layer contains the low-melting-point crystalline material in an amount of 20 to 20%.
80% by weight, the resin material 20 to 60% by weight, the coloring material
A heat-sensitive transfer recording medium, characterized in that it is contained in the range of 10 to 60% by weight.