JPH06143790A - Printing tape - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a printing tape wherein the printing tape and a letter printed on the printing tape are neither deteriorated nor deformed even in the case where they are exposed to UV rays. CONSTITUTION:A UV absorbing layer 2 is provided on a thermal agent layer 3 formed on one surface of a base sheet 4, on which an overcoat layer 1 is provided. With this constitution, both of printing part and non-printing part in a printing tape T are protected effectively from UV rays, fading in the printing part is prevented as much as possible and discoloration (yellowing) also can be prevented. Consequently, deterioration of a letter is not generated and the printing tape T usable stably extending for a long period is embodied.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing tape used in a tape printer having a thermal head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various tape printers have been proposed for printing characters and the like on a long printing tape.
In such a tape printer, in general, a tape cassette having a built-in printing tape is mounted on the main body of the apparatus, and the printing tape is pulled out from the tape cassette and a character is printed on the printing tape by a printing ribbon via a thermal head. A tape is created by printing the same, and the tape thus created is used by being attached to the back surface of a video cassette or the like.

This type of tape printer is roughly classified into the so-called non-laminating type and laminate type according to the printing method. Here, a non-laminating type tape printer is disclosed in, for example, European Patent Publication No. 272.
As disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 232, a character or the like is printed by a thermal head on a non-adhesive surface of a printing tape composed of a single-sided adhesive tape with release paper, via a printing ribbon.
A laminate type tape printer is a type that does not protect the printing surface, and is disclosed in, for example, the specification and the drawings attached to the application of Japanese Patent Application No. 62-199662 filed by the present applicant. As described above, a character such as a printing tape composed of a transparent film tape is printed on one surface of a printing tape by a thermal head through a printing ribbon, and a double-sided adhesive tape with release paper is attached to the printing surface. It is a thing. Of the two types, the non-laminated type, in particular, has the print surface of the printing tape not protected, so that characters and the like are easily peeled off and the abrasion resistance of the character and the like is low.

As described above, in any of the above types of tape printers, when a character or the like is printed on the printing tape, the printing is performed by using the printing ribbon.

[0005]

However, the printing tape used in the above-mentioned conventional tape printing apparatus generally does not consider deterioration or discoloration of the tape due to ultraviolet rays. Had a problem of deterioration and discoloration (yellowing) due to exposure to ultraviolet rays for a long period of time. In this case, in a conventional tape printer that prints characters and the like on the printing tape via the printing ribbon, the ink component of the printing ribbon is mainly composed of carbon-containing wax, and the ink is exposed to ultraviolet rays. On the other hand, although it does not easily deteriorate or discolor, the printing tape itself easily deteriorates and discolors when exposed to ultraviolet rays, especially when the tape printer is used in a bright and sunny place. There is a possibility that the tape for use may turn yellow or fade in a short period of time.

Further, in particular, in the conventional non-laminating type tape printer, since the characters printed on the printing tape are not protected at all, the abrasion resistance of the characters is inevitably low. Will end up.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. Even when exposed to ultraviolet rays, the printing tape and the characters printed on the printing tape are deteriorated and discolored. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing tape which does not have such a problem, and a printing tape which can print characters and the like having high abrasion resistance.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is to attach a release paper via an adhesive layer formed by coating on one surface of a base material sheet, and to form a substrate on which an adhesive layer is formed. A heat-sensitive agent layer capable of forming a color by a heating element of a thermal head is formed on the other surface of the material sheet, an ultraviolet absorber layer is provided on the heat-sensitive agent layer, and an overcoat layer is further provided on the ultraviolet absorber layer. The tape for printing is characterized by that. The ultraviolet absorber may be a benzotriazole derivative.

Here, the heat-sensitive agent layer is a leuco dye, a color developing agent which causes a color development reaction with the leuco dye at the time of heating to develop a color of the leuco dye, and a color development acceleration which promotes the color development reaction between these leuco dye and the color developing agent. Agent, a binder for binding a leuco dye and a color developer, other pigments, auxiliaries and the like.

For example, the following leuco dyes can be applied to the heat-sensitive agent layer of the present invention.

(A) Triphenylmethane dye 3,3-bis (P-dimethylaminophenyl) -phthalide, 3,3-bis (P-dimethylaminophenyl) -6
-Dimethylaminophthalide (also known as crystal violet lactone), 3,3-bis (P-dimethylaminophenyl) -6-chlorophthalide, 3,3-bis (P-dibutylaminophenyl) phthalide (also known as malachite green lactone).

(B) Fluoran dyes 3-dimethylamino-6-methoxyfluorane, 3-dimethylamino-6-methyl-7-chlorofluorane, 3
-Dimethylamino-5-methyl-7-dibenzylaminofluorane, 3-diethylamino-7-chlorofluorane, 3-diethylamino-7-methoxyfluorane, 3
-Diethylamino-7-methylaminofluorane, 3-
Diethylamino-7-dibenzylaminofluorane, 3
-Diethylamino-7- (N-methylanilino) fluorane, 3-diethylamino-7-orthochloroanilinofluorane, 3-diethylamino-7,8 benzofluorane, 3-diethylamino-6-methyl-7-chlorofluorane, 3-diethylamino-6-methyl-7-anilinofluorane, 3-diethylamino-6-methyl-7
-P-butylanilinofluorane, 3-diethylamino-5-methyl-7-dibenzylaminofluorane, 3-
Morpholino-5,6 benzofluorane, 3-ethyl-6
-Methyl-7-anilinofluorane, 2-anilino-6
-Diethylaminofluorane, 3- (N-methyl-N-
Cyclohexylamino) -6-methyl-7-anilinofluorane.

(C) Phenothiazine dyes benzoyl leuco methylene blue, 2,2 dimethyl leuco methylene blue, P-anisoyl leuco methylene blue, N-bivalyl leuco methylene blue, (d) Rhodamine lactam dyes N-phenyl rhodamine β-lactam, arhodamine β-Salton.

(E) Spiropyran dyes Benzo-β-naphthospiropyran, 1,3,3-trimethyl-6'-chloro-8'-methoxy-indolinobezospiropyran.

A phenolic compound is used as the developer, and the phenolic compound is liquefied or vaporized at room temperature or higher and reacts with the leuco dye to develop a color of the leuco dye. Examples of the phenolic compound include the following.

4,4'-isopropylidene diphenol (bisphenol A), 4,4'-isopropylidene bis (2-chlorophenol), 4,4'-isopropylidene bis (2-methylphenol), 4, 4'-isopropylidene bis (2-tert-butylphenol),
4,4'-sec-butylidenephenol, 4,4'-
Cyclohexylidenephenol, 4-tert-butylphenol, 4-tert-octylphenol, 4-
tert-octyl caracol, 4-phenylphenol (P-phenylphenol), 4-hydroxydiphenoxide, 2,2′-dihydroxydiphenol, α-naphthol, β-naphthol, methyl-4-hydroxybenzoate, benzyl-4-hydroxy Benzoate, ethyl-4-hydroxybenzoate, propyl-4-hydroxybenzoate, 4-hydroxy-acetophenol, novolac type phenol resin, halogenated novolac type phenol resin, and other phenolic polymers.

Further, as the color-promoting agent, stearic acid amide, stearic acid methylenebisamide, oleic acid amide, palmitic acid amide, mackerel oleic acid amide,
Palm fatty acid amide and the like are applicable.

Further, the following compounds can be applied as the binder.

For example, polyvinyl alcohol, starch or its modified products and derivatives, methyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, carboxymethyl cellulose, arabic gum, gelatin, casein, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, polyacrylamide, polyacrylic acid salt, styrene / maleic anhydride copolymer, Examples include isobutylene / maleic anhydride copolymer, styrene / butadiene copolymer, polyvinyl acetate, and polyacrylic acid ester.

Others In the heat-sensitive agent layer, white pigments such as talc, clay, silica, titanium oxide and urea formalin resin,
Further, various waxes, higher fatty acid metal salts, higher fatty acid amides, dispersants, lubricants, defoaming agents and the like may be added.

The following compounds can be applied as the benzotriazole derivative suitable for forming the ultraviolet absorbent layer. For example, 2- (5-methyl-2-hydroxyphenyl) benzotriazole, 2- [2-hydroxy
-3,5-bis (α, α-dimethylbenzyl) phenyl]-
2H-benzotriazole, 2- (3,5-di-t-butyl-
2-hydroxyphenyl) benzotriazole, 2- (3
-t-Butyl-5-methyl-2-hydroxyphenyl) -5-chlorobenzotriazole, 2- (3,5-di-t-butyl-
2-hydroxyphenyl) -5-chlorobenzotriazole, 2- (3,5-di-t-amyl-2-hydroxyphenyl) benzotriazole and the like can be mentioned.

Next, the overcoat layer protects the heat-sensitive agent layer, and examples of compounds forming the overcoat layer include polyvinyl alcohol, methyl cellulose, ethyl cellulose, carboxymethyl cellulose,
Polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyacrylamide, starch, gelatin, methoxycellulose and the like are applicable.

Further, the main purpose of the overcoat layer is to protect the heat-sensitive agent layer from moisture, and therefore, the overcoat layer contains a waterproofing agent. Here, as the waterproofing agent, formalin, glyoxal, chromium alum, melamine, melamine formalin, polyamide resin, polyamide-epichlorohydrin resin and the like can be applied.

As the substrate sheet, a plastic film such as a polyester film, a polyamide film, a polypropylene film, a vinyl chloride film or the like, a high quality paper, a Japanese paper or the like is used. Further, as the adhesive, solvent-based acrylic adhesive, rubber adhesive, water-soluble adhesive,
Adhesives such as hot melt adhesives and emulsion adhesives are used. As the release paper, glassine paper or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) coated on one side with silicon is preferably used.

[0025]

In the present invention having the above construction, characters or the like are printed on the printing tape via the thermal head. At this time, the heat-sensitive agent layer formed on the base material sheet is colored by the heating element of the thermal head, so that characters and the like are formed on the heat-sensitive agent layer. Here, since the heat-sensitive agent layer is protected by the overcoat layer, the characters and the like formed on the heat-sensitive agent layer are not easily peeled off. Further, since the ultraviolet absorber layer is provided under the overcoat layer, even when the printing tape is exposed to ultraviolet rays, not only the letters and the like formed on the heat-sensitive agent layer but also the letters and the like are printed. It can be surely prevented that the non-existing portion is deteriorated or discolored.

[0026]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A detailed description will be given below of an embodiment embodying the present invention with reference to the drawings. First, the structure of the printing tape T housed in the tape cassette according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the printing tape, which shows one surface of the base sheet 4 (see FIG.
The release paper 6 is attached to the inner and lower surfaces via the adhesive layer 5. Further, the heat sensitive agent layer 3 is formed by coating on the other surface (upper surface in FIG. 1) of the base material sheet 4, and the ultraviolet absorbent layer 2 and the overcoat layer 1 are formed on the heat sensitive agent layer 3. Are formed.

1. Creation of Printing Tape Next, a method of creating the printing tape T configured as described above will be described.

(1) Base Material Sheet As the base material sheet 4, a 38 μm-thick polyester film (Teijin Tetron S-38) was used.

(2) Preparation of Heat Sensitive Paint For preparation of heat sensitive paint, first, A having the following composition
Prepare solutions and solutions B.

(Solution A) 1. Leuco dye 3-diethylamino-6-methyl-7-anilinofluorane 5 g 2. Binder epoxy-modified polyvinyl alcohol 20% liquid 40 g 3. Water 100 g (solution B) 1. Developer bisphenol A 10 g 2. Coloring accelerator Amide stearate 7 g 3. Binder epoxy-modified polyvinyl alcohol 20% liquid 40 g 4. Water 100 g After preparing the liquids A and B having the above composition, the respective liquids A and B
Disperse the solutions separately in a ball mill, and use solution A 100
g, 50 g of a 20% solution of epoxy-modified polyvinyl alcohol and 50 g of water are added to 100 g of solution B and mixed and stirred to prepare a heat-sensitive agent coating material.

(3) Application of the heat-sensitive agent coating The heat-sensitive agent coating prepared as described above is applied to one surface of the base sheet 4 so that the coating amount is 10 g / m ^2, and then dried to obtain the heat-sensitive agent. Form layer 3.

(4) Coating of UV Absorber Layer First, a UV absorber having the following composition is prepared.

1. Epoxy-modified polyvinyl alcohol 20% liquid 40 g 2.2- (3-t-butyl-5-methyl-2-hydroxyphenyl) -5-chlorobenzotriazole 2 g 3. 100 g of water Next, gravure coating is performed on the upper surface of the heat sensitive agent layer 3 so that the coating amount is 1 g / m ^2, and drying is performed to form the ultraviolet absorbent layer 2.

(5) Formation of overcoat layer First, an overcoat agent liquid having the following composition is prepared.

1. Epoxy-modified polyvinyl alcohol 20% liquid 40 g 2. Ultraviolet absorber 2- (3-tert-butyl-5-methyl-2-hydroxyphenyl) -5-chlorobenzotriazole 2 g 3. 100 g of water Next, the overcoat layer 1 is gravure-coated so that the coating amount is 1 g / m ^{2 on} the upper surface of the ultraviolet absorber layer 2 formed as described above, and the overcoat layer 1 is dried.
To form.

(6) Preparation of Release Paper First, an adhesive having the following composition is prepared.

(Adhesive) 1. Oil and fat (oil and fat AS-2050 manufactured by one company) 100 g 2. 2 g of oil and fat (oil and fat B-45 manufactured by one company) 3. Ethyl acetate 30 g After stirring and mixing the above components to adjust the pressure-sensitive adhesive, the pressure-sensitive adhesive is adjusted to 20 g / m ² on the silicon-coated surface of the release paper 5 having a thickness of 60 μm and coated on one side with silicon. The pressure-sensitive adhesive layer 5 is formed by coating.

(7) Preparation of printing tape The pressure-sensitive adhesive layer 5 of the release paper 6 prepared as described above is used as the base sheet 4 on which the heat-sensitive agent layer 3, the ultraviolet absorber layer 2 and the overcoat layer 1 are formed. Attach to the other side of. This allows
The printing tape T is created.

2. Preparation of Print Sample Next, a method of preparing a print sample using the printing tape T prepared as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the lower cassette case excluding the upper cassette case of the tape cassette, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the tape printer.

First, the printing tape T is attached to the tape cassette C.
For mounting inside, the printing tape T produced as described above is cut into a width of 12 mm, and the release paper 5 is cut around the tape spool 10 (both the outer diameter and the height are formed to 12 mm). Wind it so that it is on the outside. The tape spool 10 is set in the lower cassette case 11 as shown in FIG. 2 (the tape spool 10 is rotatably held by the lower cassette case 11 and an upper cassette case (not shown)).

In the lower cassette case 11, the printing tape T is fed from the tape spool 10 to the tape guide portion 1.
The printing tape T is guided to the opening 13 via 2 and is fed by a tape feeding roller 14 which is fitted to a tape feeding shaft 21 of a tape printing device 20 described later to feed the printing tape T. To be

The thermal head 1 is provided in the opening 13.
5 (the cassette mounting portion 22 of the tape printer 20 described later)
And a plurality of heating elements are provided in the vertical direction), and the thermal head 1
The roller supporting member 16 (the tape printer 20
Is rotatably supported about the shaft 19). A platen roller 17 and a pressure contact roller 18 are rotatably supported on the roller supporting member 16, and the printing tape T is printed by the thermal head 15.
When printing characters or the like on the roller support member 16, the roller support member 16 is rotated around the shaft 19 in the counterclockwise direction. This allows
The platen roller 17 is pressed against the thermal head 15,
Characters and the like are surely printed by the thermal head 15, and the pressure contact roller 18 serves as the tape feed roller 14.
The printing tape T after printing is sent to the outside of the tape cassette C by being pressed into contact with the rollers 18 and 14 in cooperation with each other.

The tape cassette C is a printing device 20.
It is set in the tape mounting portion 22 provided on the rear side (see the right side in FIG. 3) (see FIG. 3). After this, the thermal head 1
By selectively energizing the heating element 5 to heat the heat-sensitive agent layer 2 from the overcoat layer 1 side of the printing tape T, a color-forming reaction occurs in the heat-sensitive agent layer 2 to generate a desired character or the like. Are formed in the heat sensitive agent layer 2.

The printing tape T on which the characters and the like are printed in this manner is discharged to the outside of the tape cassette C by the cooperation of the tape feed roller 14 and the pressure contact roller 18. The discharged printing tape T is cut by a cutter, and the tape T is used as a printing sample.

3. Preparation of Comparative Print Sample Next, a comparative print sample was prepared for comparison with the print sample prepared as described above. Here, the comparative print sample is basically prepared by the same method as the above-mentioned print sample, and differs from the print sample in that it does not have an ultraviolet absorber layer. However, the comparative print sample was coated with a barrier layer of 2 g / m ² .

4. Comparison between printed sample and printed sample. Comparison between printed sample and printed sample (character forming part) and non-printing part (printing other than character forming part) in each printed sample. Comparative examination was carried out by measuring the optical density in the tape T portion). The measurement result of such optical density is shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing the measurement results, where the horizontal axis is the ultraviolet irradiation time and the vertical axis is the optical density. The optical density of both print samples and the comparative print sample have a wavelength range of 30
In the ultraviolet region of 0 nm to 400 nm, irradiation is performed at a radiation intensity of 50 watts / square meter (W / m ² ) for 72 hours, and the optical density of the printed portion and non-printed portion of each printed sample and comparative printed sample is measured every 24 hours. I went by. The print density is measured by a colorimeter (C
M-2002) visible light range (400 to 700 nm)
It was calculated by measuring the reflectance of each part every 5 nm in the wavelength range of 1), obtaining the logarithm of the reciprocal of each measured reflectance, and calculating the average value of the obtained values. In FIG. 4, (Δ) is the optical density in the printed part of the printed sample, (+) is the optical density in the non-printed part of the printed sample, (⋄) is the optical density in the printed part of the printed sample,
(□) indicates the optical density in the non-printed part of the printed sample.

In FIG. 4, first, when comparing the optical densities of the print portion of the print sample and the comparative print sample, the optical densities of the print portions of the print sample were 1.20 to 1.03 during 72 hours of ultraviolet irradiation. The optical density in the print portion of the comparative print sample also changed from 1.20 to 0.84 and the density difference reached 0.36. You can see that It is considered that this is because the ultraviolet ray absorbing layer 2 does not exist in the printing tape T of the comparative print sample, and thus the color fading of the characters and the like formed on the heat sensitive agent layer 3 due to the ultraviolet ray irradiation has occurred. .
On the other hand, although a slight discoloration phenomenon occurs in the printed portion of the printed sample, the discolored phenomenon is so remarkable as compared with the comparative printed sample because the ultraviolet ray absorbing layer 2 exists in the printing tape T of the printed sample. It's not something.

Next, comparing the optical densities of the non-printed portion of the printed sample and the comparative printed sample, the optical density of the non-printed portion of the printed sample was 0.10 to 0.19 during 72 hours of irradiation with ultraviolet light. The density difference changes to 0.
It can be seen that the optical density in the print portion of the comparative print sample similarly changes from 0.10 to 0.37, and the density difference reaches 0.27, whereas it is only 09.
This is because, in the printing tape T of the comparative print sample, as in the above, since the ultraviolet absorbing layer 2 does not exist, the fading occurred in the color-developed portion of the characters and the like formed on the heat-sensitive agent layer 3 by the ultraviolet irradiation. It is supposed to do. On the other hand, although a slight fading phenomenon occurs in the non-printed portion of the printed sample, the printing tape T for the printed sample
Since the ultraviolet absorbing layer 2 is present in, the fading phenomenon is not so remarkable as in the case of the comparative print sample.

As described above, the ultraviolet absorbing layer 2 of the printing tape T in the printed sample is not only the printed portion (coloring portion formed on the heat-sensitive agent layer 3) but also the non-printed portion (no color is developed on the heat-sensitive agent layer 3). (Part) also has a function of effectively protecting it from ultraviolet rays.

As described above in detail, in the printing tape T according to the present embodiment, since the ultraviolet absorbing layer 2 is provided on the heat sensitive agent layer 3 formed on one surface of the base sheet 4, the printing tape T is used. It is possible to effectively protect both the printed portion and the non-printed portion of the sheet from ultraviolet rays. As a result, it is possible to prevent discoloration in the printing section as much as possible and also prevent discoloration (yellowing) in the non-printing section, and therefore, it is possible to use it stably for a long period of time without causing deterioration of characters and the like. The printing tape T can be realized.

Further, in the tape cassette C according to this embodiment, the heat sensitive agent layer 3, the ultraviolet absorbing layer 2 and the overcoat layer 1 are formed on one surface of the base material sheet 4 and the other side of the base material sheet 3 is adhered. Since the printing tape T formed by sticking the release paper 6 through the agent layer 5 is incorporated, the printing ribbon and the member for running the printing ribbon in the tape cassette C are not required at all. You can This simplifies the structure of the tape cassette C, so that the printing tape T can be stably and smoothly run without being obstructed, and the number of parts for forming the tape cassette C is reduced. Thus, a low-cost tape cassette can be realized. Furthermore, by forming the overcoat layer 1 on the upper surface of the ultraviolet absorbing layer 2, it is possible to significantly improve the abrasion resistance of characters and the like printed on the printing tape T, and thus for printing with high robustness. The tape T can be created.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and it goes without saying that various improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0054]

As described above, according to the present invention, the printing tape and the characters printed on the printing tape are not deteriorated or discolored even when exposed to ultraviolet rays, and the characters have high abrasion resistance. It becomes possible to provide a printing tape capable of printing such as.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a printing tape.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a lower cassette case excluding an upper cassette case of the tape cassette.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a tape printer.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing measurement results of optical densities of a printed portion and a non-printed portion in a printed sample and a comparative printed sample.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Overcoat Layer 2 Ultraviolet Absorber Layer 3 Heat Sensitive Agent Layer 4 Base Sheet 5 Adhesive Layer 6 Release Paper T Printing Tape

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A release paper can be attached via an adhesive layer formed by coating on one surface of a base sheet, and color can be developed by a heating element of a thermal head on the other surface of the base sheet on which the adhesive layer is formed. A printing tape comprising a heat-sensitive agent layer formed on the heat-sensitive agent layer, an ultraviolet absorbent layer provided on the heat-sensitive agent layer, and an overcoat layer formed on the ultraviolet absorbent layer. 2. The printing tape according to claim 1, wherein the ultraviolet absorber comprises a benzotriazole derivative.