JPH0767832B2 - Thermal transfer recording method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention relates to a heat-sensitive transfer recording capable of giving a transfer-recorded image of good print quality to a recording medium having poor surface smoothness at the time of heat-sensitive transfer recording. Regarding the method.

[Conventional technology]

In addition to the general features of the thermal transfer recording method that the device used is lightweight and compact, there is no noise, and it is excellent in operability and maintainability, the thermal transfer recording method does not require color-developed processed paper. It has the feature that it has excellent image durability, and has been widely used recently.

This heat-sensitive transfer recording method uses a heat-sensitive transfer material obtained by coating a heat-transferable ink layer obtained by dispersing a coloring material in a heat-meltable binder on a support which is generally in the form of a sheet. Is superposed on the recording medium so that the thermally transferable ink layer contacts the recording medium, and heat is supplied from the support side by the thermal head to transfer the melted ink layer to the recording medium, thereby providing a heat supply shape on the recording medium. The transfer recording image is formed according to the (pattern).

However, in the conventional thermal transfer recording method, the transfer recording performance, that is, the printing quality is greatly affected by the surface smoothness of the recording medium, and good printing is performed on the recording medium having high smoothness, but the recording medium having low smoothness is used. In this case, there is a problem that the print quality is remarkably deteriorated. For this reason, paper having a high surface smoothness is generally used as a recording medium, but paper having a high smoothness is rather special, and normal paper has various degrees of unevenness due to the entanglement of fibers. Therefore, in the case of paper with large surface irregularities, the heat-melted ink cannot be transferred to the entire recording area of the paper at the time of printing and permeates and adheres only to the convex areas on the surface or in the vicinity thereof, resulting in a sharp edge on the printed image. If there is no image or a part of the image is missing, the print quality is degraded.

Conventionally, in order to obtain a recorded image of good print quality on a recording medium having such a poor surface smoothness, for example, use of a heat-meltable binder having a low melt viscosity in at least the surface layer, or heat transferability There has been adopted a method based on the idea of increasing the thickness of the ink layer so that the molten ink is adhered or penetrated faithfully to the fine concavo-convex structure of the recording medium such as paper. However, when a binder having a low melt viscosity is used, the ink layer becomes sticky even at a relatively low temperature, the storage stability is deteriorated, stains occur in the non-printed portion of the recording medium, and the transfer image is bleed. Further, when the layer thickness of the transferable ink layer is increased, the bleeding increases and the amount of heat supplied from the thermal head also needs to be increased, resulting in a decrease in printing speed.

Further, as another problem regarding the heat-sensitive transfer material, in the conventional heat-sensitive transfer recording, a transfer-recorded image is formed by the ink layer containing the coloring material and being melted by heat application permeating and adhering to the recording medium as described above. Therefore, it is essentially difficult to correct the erroneous recording by peeling it off. Especially for recording media with low surface smoothness such as paper with large surface irregularities,
Of the transferred and recorded image, those adhered to the convex portions on the surface or in the vicinity thereof are easily peeled off, but the ink that has penetrated deep into the concave portions is likely to remain at the time of peeling and stains occur.

On the other hand, a heat-sensitive transfer material has been proposed in which the ink layer on the recording medium side is composed of a heat-meltable material that does not penetrate into the recording medium when heat is applied (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 57-22090). Adhesion of the transferred recorded image to the recording medium becomes insufficient, resulting in a recorded image having poor scratch resistance, which is not preferable.

Another point to be improved in the heat-sensitive transfer material is that it facilitates peeling of the ink layer from the support during transfer,
Moreover, it is possible to form a recording latent image having high cohesive force. However, there is a limit to the selection of materials for such improvement, and peeling from the support or aggregation of the ink may not be easily controlled, which is a cause of deteriorating the quality of the transferred and recorded image. .

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

The present invention solves the problems of the prior art and, while maintaining various thermal transfer performances, not only for recording media with good surface smoothness, but also for recording media with poor surface smoothness, It is an object of the present invention to provide a thermal transfer recording method capable of giving high-quality and sharp prints.

Further, the present invention has been made to provide a thermal transfer recording method in which a transfer recording image is sufficiently adhered to a recording medium, correction of erroneous recording by peeling is possible, and stains due to peeling are less likely to occur.

Furthermore, the present invention enables correction by peeling of erroneous recording even on a recording medium having particularly poor surface smoothness, and stains due to peeling do not occur. Furthermore, the present invention is a support of an ink layer during transfer. The present invention has been made to provide a thermal transfer recording method capable of facilitating peeling from a recording latent image having a high cohesive force.

[Means for solving problems]

That is, the thermal transfer recording method of the present invention has a first ink layer, a second ink layer and a third ink layer each containing a heat-fusible material on a support in order from the support side. , The heat-fusible material of the first ink layer constitutes a group of one kind of heat-fusible resin fine particles or forms two or more kinds of domains, and at least one of the second and first ink layers is A colorant is contained in the second ink layer, and the third ink layer is formed of a group of one kind of heat-meltable resin fine particles by the heat-meltable material, or two or more kinds of domains are formed and the colorant A layer containing no heat transfer material, and at least the heat-meltable material of the first ink layer forms a recorded image by using a heat-sensitive transfer material containing polyethylene oxide as a component, and peels off and corrects the recorded image as necessary. It is characterized by

[Specific Description and Examples of Invention]

In the heat-sensitive transfer material used in the heat-sensitive transfer recording method of the present invention, the heat-meltable material constitutes a group of one kind of heat-meltable resin fine particles or forms two or more kinds of domains in the third ink layer. Therefore, the cohesive force in the ink layer can be greatly reduced compared to a uniform system. Then, these fine particle groups or two or more types of domains are subjected to homogenization in the pattern heating portion to form a recording latent image with high cohesive force, and at the same time, serve as an adhesive force of the recording latent image to the recording medium. Can generate power. Like this
In the third ink layer, there is a large difference in cohesive force between the heat application part (pattern heating part) and the non-heating part.
This is a factor in obtaining a clear recorded image.

On the other hand, the heat-fusible material of the first ink layer constitutes a group of one kind of heat-fusible resin fine particles containing polyethylene oxide 1 as a component, or forms two or more kinds of domains. Therefore, it becomes possible to control the adhesive force to the support to be in a relaxed state regardless of the cohesive force of the oxidized polyethylene. Further, by controlling the adhesive force between the fine particles, it becomes possible to form an ink layer having an extremely weak cohesive force. Further, in the heat application part, like the third ink layer, the fusion and homogenization proceed, the cohesive force is likely to be different before and after heating, the peeling from the support is easy, and the cohesive force is high. A latent image is obtained. The number average molecular weight of the polyethylene oxide is preferably 1300 or more, more preferably 20000 to 10,000, and if it is less than 1300, the cohesive force of the recording latent image is weak and the transferred recorded image tends to be chipped, which is not preferable.

That is, the recording latent image in which the film strength is improved in a pattern by applying heat to both the first ink layer and the third ink layer is controlled by the first ink layer and the strong adhesive force to the recording medium. Since it has a weak adhesive force with the support, it has a very preferable force relationship for transfer of a recording latent image to a recording medium (formation of a recorded image). As a result, the heat-sensitive transfer material used in the heat-sensitive transfer recording method of the present invention can form a record-transferred image with good print quality even on a recording medium having poor surface smoothness.

Further, in the heat-sensitive transfer material used in the heat-sensitive transfer recording method of the present invention, since the second ink layer which is the colored layer contacts the recording medium through the third ink layer which is the non-colored layer, the recorded image is The third ink layer is obtained by partially penetrating and adhering to the recording medium. At that time, the colored layer is present on the third ink layer which has penetrated and coated on the recording medium. Therefore, the second ink layer, which is the colored layer, does not penetrate into the recording medium, so that it is possible to correct the erroneous recording by peeling off with an adhesive tape or the like.

That is, the heat-sensitive transfer material used in the heat-sensitive transfer recording method of the present invention can form a transfer-recorded image which can sufficiently secure the adhesive force to the recording medium and can be corrected by peeling of erroneous recording.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail. In the following description, “%” and “part” representing the quantitative ratio are based on weight unless otherwise specified.

1 to 3 are schematic cross-sectional views in the thickness direction showing an example of the heat-sensitive transfer material used in the heat-sensitive transfer recording method of the present invention.

Incidentally, the domain in the present invention, in a heterogeneous system,
An area that can be distinguished from others by its composition and physical properties.

When the same elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, the heat-sensitive transfer materials 1 shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 are the first inks each containing a heat-meltable material on a support 2 which is usually a sheet. It has a layer 3, a second ink layer 4 and a third ink layer 5.

The first ink layer 3 is composed of a layer in which the heat-meltable material constitutes a group of one kind of heat-meltable resin fine particles, or a layer in which two or more kinds of domains are formed. The amount of oxidized polyethylene in the heat-meltable material is preferably 50% by weight or more, more preferably 70% by weight or more.

The second ink layer 4 is, for example, a layer in which a uniform system is composed of a heat-meltable material, a layer in which the heat-meltable material constitutes a group of heat-meltable resin fine particles, and a third ink layer. As in the case of No. 5, the heat-meltable material is composed of layers or the like that form two or more types of domains.

The third ink layer 5 is composed of a layer in which the heat-meltable material constitutes a group of heat-meltable resin fine particles of one type, or a layer in which two or more types of domains are formed.

In the present invention, polyethylene oxide may be contained as the heat-fusible material of the second ink layer and / or the third ink layer.

In the first to third ink layers 3 to 5, two or more types of domains are formed by an appropriate combination of, for example, heat-meltable resin fine particles and a non-particulate phase. That is, for example, 2
In the case where at least one kind of domain among the kinds of domains or more is composed of heat-meltable resin fine particles and the other at least one kind of domain is composed of a non-particulate phase, each of the two or more kinds of domains There are cases where it is composed of different kinds of non-particulate phases, cases where two or more kinds of domains are respectively composed of different kinds of heat-meltable resin fine particles, and the like.

In the heat-sensitive transfer material 1 illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 5, in the first ink layer 3, the heat-meltable material constitutes a group of heat-meltable resin fine particles 6 of one type.

In this case, the heat-fusible resin fine particles are fused with each other by applying heat, and the disconnection between the recording latent image portion and the non-heat applying portion to be formed can be improved, and the film of the recording latent image portion is fused.
Since it shrinks during homogenization, the adhesive force with the support is considered to be reduced, and the releasability of the recorded image from the support is improved.

In the thermal transfer material 1 shown in FIG. 1 to FIG.
In the ink layer 4, the heat-meltable material constitutes a group of one kind of heat-meltable resin fine particles 6.

In this case, as in the first ink layer, the difference in cohesive force between the recording latent image portion and the non-heat application portion becomes clear, and a very sharp cut image is formed in combination with the behavior of the first ink layer. can get.

In the heat-sensitive transfer material 1 of FIG. 4, the second ink layer 4 is composed of a heat-melting material forming a uniform system, for example, a non-particulate heat-melting material.

In this case, the second ink layer is suitable as a colored layer for obtaining a recorded image with high uniformity. Further, it is easy to suppress melt-mixing with the third ink layer in the heat application section, and to suppress mixing and permeation of the colorant in the second ink layer accompanying the permeation of the third ink layer into the recording medium. Will be easier.

In the heat-sensitive transfer material 1 shown in FIG. 5, the second ink layer 4 includes, for example, two kinds of heat-meltable resins of type A (circled circle in the figure) and type B (black solid circle in the figure). The domains are formed by the A and B heat-meltable resin fine particles, which are fine particles as a constituent component and are aggregated in a single or higher order.

In the thermal transfer material 1 shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5,
The third ink layer 5 has, for example, two types of heat-meltable resin fine particles of type C (circled circles in the figure) and type D (black solid circles in the figure) as constituent components, and each has a single or higher order. The domains are formed by the heat-meltable resin fine particles of type A and type B that are collected in.

In the heat-sensitive transfer material 1 shown in FIG. 2, the third ink layer 5 includes the heat-meltable resin fine particles E and the non-particulate phase F,
One or more types of domains are formed in each. The heat-meltable resin fine particles E may form a single domain, or may form a domain by an aggregate of higher-order aggregates. Further, two or more kinds of domains may be formed by different heat-meltable resin fine particles E. Similarly, the non-particulate phase F may form two or more types of domains, for example, in a state of phase separation.

In the heat-sensitive transfer material 1 shown in FIG. 3, the third ink layer 5 has, for example, two types of non-particulate particles of type G (black portion in the figure) and type H (white portion in the figure). Each phase forms a domain.

In this case, a material having a high cohesive force that cannot be used in a homogeneous system can be used.

In addition, since it is a non-uniform system, the difference in cohesive force between the non-heat-applied portion and the non-heat-applied portion becomes clear by applying heat, and a sharp recorded image with good print cut can be obtained.

The term "heat-melting property" as used in the present invention means a property of being melted to become a liquid when heat is applied, or a property of being thermally softened to develop an adhesive force or an adhesive force.

In addition to these, examples of the constitution of the heat-sensitive transfer material of the present invention include, for example, each of the third ink layers of the examples shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 and the third ink layer shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. There is a thermal transfer material composed of a combination of two ink layers.

Of these, the most preferable layer constitution of the heat-sensitive transfer material of the present invention is that shown in FIGS. 1 to 3.
In particular, the layer structure shown in FIG. 1 is most preferable.

The oxidized polyethylene used in the first ink layer and, if desired, the second ink layer and / or the third ink layer is, for example, a high temperature high pressure polymerization method using a radical catalyst, a low pressure polymerization method using a Ziegler catalyst, or a polyethylene for general molding. It is obtained by further oxidizing a linear or branched low molecular weight polyethylene obtained by a decomposition method. The structure has introduced functional groups such as a carboxyl group and a hydroxyl group in addition to the CH ₂ —CH ₂ repeating unit. For example, ASTM as acid number
It is practical that it has a concentration of about 10 to 40 mg KOH / g measured according to D1386. The softening temperature is preferably in the range of 70 ° C to 160 ° C. As a commercially available product, Hoekist wax manufactured by Hoechst
PED-121, PED-153, PED-521, PED-522, A-C polyethylene 629, 680, 330, Allied Chemical Co.
392, 316 and Mitsui High Wax 4202E.

Further, in order to make the oxidized polyethylene into fine particles, for example, a method of mechanically dispersing the oxidized polyethylene obtained by the above-mentioned method using a dispersant or the like, a mechanical method such as pulverization or spray drying, and the like can be used as a dispersion. When an aqueous dispersion is used, it is possible to use an aqueous dispersion of these polyethylene oxides under heating (pressurization if necessary) using a dispersant such as a surfactant or an alkali.

Partially modified (copolymerized) polyethylene oxide may be used. It should be noted that other heat-meltable materials may be mixed and contained in the fine particles together with polyethylene oxide, but in this case, it is preferable that the composition of each particle is substantially constant.

Each of the first to third ink layers 3 to 5 has a plasticizer,
Various additives such as an oil agent may be contained.

As the support 2, a conventionally known film or paper can be used as it is, for example, a plastic film having relatively good heat resistance such as polyester, polycarbonate, triacetyl cellulose, polyphenylene sulfide, or polyimide, cellophane or sulfuric acid paper. , Condenser paper, etc. can be preferably used. The thickness of the support is 1 when a thermal head is considered as a heat source for thermal transfer.
It is desirable to be about 15 microns. When a thermal head is used, a heat-resistant protective layer made of silicone resin, fluorine resin, polyimide resin, epoxy resin, phenol resin, melamine resin, acrylic resin, nitrocellulose, etc. is formed on the surface of the support that contacts the thermal head. The heat resistance of the support can be improved by providing
Alternatively, it is also possible to use a support material which cannot be used conventionally.

The heat-meltable materials other than the oxidized polyethylene will be described below.

Examples of the heat-melting material capable of forming a homogeneous system in the second ink layer 4 include waxes such as carnauba wax, paraffin wax, sazol wax, microcrystalline wax, castor wax, stearic acid, palmitic acid, and laurin. Acid, aluminum stearate, lead stearate, barium stearate, zinc stearate, zinc palmitate, methyl hydroxystearate, glycerol monohydroxystearate,
Higher fatty acids such as or higher metal salts, derivatives thereof such as esters, polyamide resins, polyester resins, epoxy resins, polyurethane resins, acrylic resins (eg polymethyl methacrylate, polyacrylic amide),
Vinyl acetate resins, vinyl resins such as polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyvinyl chloride resins (for example, vinyl chloride-vinylidene chloride copolymers, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymers, etc.), cellulose resins (for example, methyl cellulose). , Ethyl cellulose, carboxy cellulose, etc.), polyvinyl alcohol resin (eg polyvinyl alcohol, partially saponified polyvinyl alcohol, etc.),
Petroleum resin, rosin derivative, coumarone-indene resin,
Terpene resin, novolac type phenol resin, polystyrene resin, polyolefin resin (for example, polyethylene, polypropylene, polybutene, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, etc.), polyvinyl ether resin, polyethylene glycol resin, and elastomers, natural Examples thereof include rubber, styrene butadiene rubber, isoprene rubber and the like.

The softening temperature of the heat-meltable material is 40 ° C to 150 ° C, preferably 6
It is in the range of 0 ° C to 140 ° C. The melt viscosity at 150 ° C. is preferably 2 to 200,000 centipoise (rotational viscometer).

Examples of the heat-melting material that constitutes the group of one kind of heat-melting resin fine particles in the first and second ink layers 3 and 4 include wax, polyolefin resin such as low molecular weight polyethylene, polyamide resin, and polyester resin. Elastomers such as resin, epoxy resin, polyurethane resin, acrylic resin, polyvinyl chloride resin, polyvinyl acetate resin, petroleum resin, phenol resin, polystyrene resin, styrene butadiene rubber, isoprene rubber, etc. Can be mentioned.

The heat-meltable resin fine particles can be obtained by a method such as a polymerization process such as emulsion polymerization or suspension polymerization, a method in which the heat-meltable resin is mechanically dispersed using a dispersant, or other mechanical pulverization, a spray drying method, a precipitation method, or the like. Among the obtained products, those having a softening temperature of fine particles of 50 ° C to 160 ° C, preferably 60 ° C to 150 ° C are used. The softening temperature used here was a Shimadzu Flow Tester Model CFT-500, with a load of 10 kg and a heating rate of 2 ° C.
The outflow starting temperature of the sample measured under the condition of / min.

The average particle diameter of the heat-meltable resin fine particles is 20 μm or less (up to 0.
It is preferably about 01 μm), more preferably 10 or less (about 0.1 μm). If it exceeds 20 μm, it is too large, and the particle size may be the same as the ink layer thickness. In this case, voids are apt to occur in the recording latent image when fused with the adjacent particles by heat application, and the transferability is deteriorated, which is not preferable. Further, for this reason, it is not preferable that the particle diameter and the ink layer layer thickness are the same.

When the heat-melting materials of the first and second ink layers 3 and 4 form two or more types of domains, they should be appropriately selected from the same heat-melting materials that can form the homogeneous system. You can Further, when the heat-meltable resin fine particles are constituted, it is preferable to appropriately select from among the same heat-meltable materials as those constituting the group of the one kind of heat-meltable resin fine particles.

The proportions of the different kinds of heat-meltable resin fine particles that can form the first and second ink layers can be arbitrarily selected depending on the functions and physical properties exhibited by each, and are not particularly limited.

The heat-fusible material of the third ink layer 5 is the heat exemplified when the first ink layer constitutes a group of one kind of heat-meltable resin fine particles or forms two or more kinds of domains. Meltable materials can be used.

When the second ink layer 4 is composed of a homogeneous system, a method of applying a solution dissolved in a solvent by appropriately selecting from heat-melting materials capable of constituting the homogeneous system, a dispersion medium It can be obtained by a method such as coating a dispersion liquid dispersed therein, heating and drying at a temperature above the softening temperature of the hot-melt material, or hot-melt coating.

The layer composed of a group of one kind of heat-meltable resin fine particles is formed, for example, by uniformly distributing the heat-meltable resin fine particles on the support, and then heating the fine particles on the support at a temperature condition not higher than the softening temperature of the fine particles. The layer can be fixed or fixed, but a method of applying the fine particle dispersion and then drying at a temperature lower than the softening temperature of the fine particles to remove the dispersion medium is particularly preferable.

In the heat-sensitive transfer material 1 shown in FIG. 5, the second ink layer 4 and the third ink layer 5 in the heat-sensitive transfer material shown in FIGS. Two or more types of fine particles are appropriately selected from the heat-meltable resin fine particles made of a material, and the fine particles are appropriately mixed and uniformly distributed on the support, and then heated to a temperature condition not higher than the softening temperature of the fine particles. , Which can be fixed on a support or formed into a layer, but after the fine particle dispersion liquid, for example, a resin emulsion is appropriately mixed and applied, the temperature is lower than the lowest softening temperature among the fine particles and the softening temperature. Especially preferred is a method of forming a layer by drying the dispersion medium to remove the dispersion medium. In this case, coloring agents, additives, etc., which are added as needed, can be contained in the dispersion or inside the fine particles.

In the heat-sensitive transfer material 1 shown in FIG. 2, the third ink layer 5 includes, for example, heat-meltable resin fine particles or a dispersion thereof, or a heat-meltable material or a solution or dispersion thereof, and if necessary, added. It is provided by applying a coating liquid containing a coloring material, an additive and the like to be obtained by a conventional method, and heat-treating as necessary. Since the heat-transferable ink layer causes the heat-meltable resin particles to remain in the ink layer in the form of particles, the heat treatment of the coating liquid during the formation of the ink layer is usually performed at the softening temperature of the heat-meltable resin particles or less. It

Among them, in particular, two or more kinds of fine particles are selected from the heat-meltable resin fine particles, and a dispersion liquid of these, for example, a resin emulsion is appropriately mixed and applied, and then a minimum softening temperature of the softening temperature of the fine particle group is set. A method of forming a layer by drying at a temperature between the maximum softening temperature and removing the dispersion medium is particularly preferable. In this case, a coloring material, an additive material, and the like, which are added if necessary, can be contained in the dispersion or the inside of the fine particles. By this method, the fine particles having a drying temperature above the softening temperature form a non-particulate phase, and the fine particles below the softening temperature remain in the particulate form.

In the thermal transfer material 1 shown in FIG. 3, for the third ink layer 5, for example, a finely pulverized product of a heat-meltable material that is insoluble in the solvent in the solution is dispersed in a solution of the heat-meltable material, By coating on a support, heating and drying, and melting, a combination of incompatible materials such as ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer resin and vinyl acetate resin, cellulose resin and acrylic resin, etc. It can be obtained by coating the composition on a support in the form of hot melt mixing, solution, etc., and if necessary, heat-treating it to cause phase separation.

As a method different from these methods, a dispersion liquid of two or more kinds of heat-fusible resin particles, for example, a resin emulsion is appropriately mixed and applied, and then the highest softening temperature among the softening temperatures of the particle group. A method of forming a layer by drying at a higher temperature to remove the dispersion medium is particularly preferable.
In this case, a coloring material, an additive material, and the like, which are added if necessary, can be contained in the dispersion or the inside of the fine particles.

As the colorant, carbon black, nigrosine dye,
Lamp Black, Sudan Black SM, First Yellow G, Benzidine Yellow, Pigment Yellow, India First Orange, Irgadine Red, Paranitroaniline Red, Toluidine Red, Carmine F
B, Permanent Bordeaux FRR, Pigment Orange R, Resor Red 2G, Lake Red C, Rhodamine FB, Rhodamine B Lake, Methyl Violet B Lake, Phthalocyanine Blue, Pigment Blue, Brilliant Green B, Phthalocyanine Green, Oil Yellow GG, Zapon First Yellow CGG, Kayaset Y963, Kayaset YG, Sumiplast Yellow GG, Zapon First Orange RR, Oil Scarlet,
Well-known dyes and pigments such as Sumiplast Orange G, Orazol Brown G, Zapon Fast Scarlet CG, Eisenspiron Red BEH, Oil Pink OP, Victoria Blue F4R, Fast Gen Blue 5007, Sudan Blue, Oil Peacock Blue One or two or more of the above can be used.

These colorants may be used in at least one of the first ink layer and the second ink layer, but the second ink layer does not contain the colorant, and only the first ink layer has the colorant. In the case that the second ink layer in contact with the recording medium does not contain the coloring material, the correction is easy to make in the case of erroneous printing after recording after transfer.

The thickness of each of the first to third ink layers is preferably 0.2 to 10 μm, particularly preferably 0.5 to 5 μm.

The total thickness of the first to third ink layers is preferably 1 to 20 μm, particularly preferably 2 to 20 μm.

The planar shape of the heat-sensitive transfer material of the present invention is not particularly limited, but it is generally used in the form of a typewriter ribbon or a wide tape used for line printers. It is also possible to use a heat-sensitive transfer material in which heat-melting inks of several kinds of colors for color recording are applied in stripes or blocks.

The heat-sensitive transfer recording method using the heat-sensitive transfer material is not particularly different from the normal heat-sensitive transfer recording method, and a heat source such as a thermal head or a laser beam can be used as a heat source for the thermal transfer recording.

In order to correct the peeling, for example, a heat adhesive tape 61 as shown in FIG. 6 can be used. That is, the support 62
A heat-adhesive tape 61 provided with a heat-adhesive layer 63 that produces an adhesive force when heated is erroneously recorded as shown in FIGS. 7 (A) to (D).
The heat-adhesive layer 63 is superposed on 71 so that the support side 62
Therefore, for example, the erroneously recorded image 71 can be peeled from the recording medium 73 by heating with the thermal head 72 used for recording and the generated adhesive force.

At this time, a part of the third ink layer that has penetrated into the recording medium remains as it is, but since it is a non-colored layer, there is no practical inconvenience.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to examples.

Example-1 0.3 g / m ² backside coating of addition type silicone resin for release paper,
A 4.5 μm polyethylene terephthalate film support (hereinafter referred to as PET) on which a heat-resistant protective layer was formed by heating and drying at 0 ° C. was used, and an aqueous polyethylene oxide dispersion (number average molecular weight: 5,
000, softening temperature 140 ° C, particle size 1μm), dried at 80 ° C, and made up of 2μm thick polyethylene oxide fine particles
Ink layer was provided.

<Ink 1> Ink 1 was prepared by thoroughly mixing the components of the above formulation.
Ink 1 is applied on the first ink layer provided earlier, and the temperature is 70 ° C.
To evaporate water to form a second ink layer made of heat-meltable resin fine particles having a thickness of 2 μm.

<Ink 2> Ink 2 was prepared by thoroughly mixing the components of the above formulation. Ink 2 was applied on the previously provided second ink layer, and water was evaporated at 70 ° C. to form a third ink layer composed of heat-meltable resin fine particles having a thickness of 2 μm. A thermal transfer material (I) having the constitution shown was obtained.

Example-2 <Ink 3> The same procedure as in Example-1 was performed until the second ink layer was provided, and the above ink 3 was coated on the second ink layer, and the temperature was 100 ° C.
To evaporate water to form a third ink layer having a thickness of 2 μm, and the thermal transfer material (II) having the structure shown in FIG.
Got

Example-3 <Ink 4> The same procedure as in Example 1 was performed until the first ink layer was provided, and the above ink 4 was applied onto the second ink layer, and the temperature was changed to 120 ° C.
To evaporate water to form a third ink layer having a thickness of 2 μm, and the thermal transfer material (II
I) got.

Comparative Example 1 <Ink 5> While heating each component of the above formula to 130 ° C,
Ink 5 was prepared by dispersing carbon black by mixing for 0 minutes.

Ink 5 was hot-melt coated on the backside treated 3.5 μm PET to form an ink layer with a thickness of 4 μm to obtain a thermal transfer material (IV).

The thermal transfer materials (I) to (IV) thus obtained were subjected to thermal transfer recording under the following conditions.

・ Thermal head thin film type 24 dot configuration ・ Applied energy 35mJ / mm ²・ Recording paper Beck smoothness 5 seconds In addition, the obtained print is superposed on the surface of the thermal adhesive layer of the thermal adhesive tape (the thermal adhesive tape is on a 6μm PET. A heat-adhesive layer having a thickness of 4 μm was provided) and the print was peeled off by heating from the PET surface side in a print pattern with a thermal head.

The printability, transferability and peelability were evaluated, and the results are shown in Table 1.

When the heat-sensitive transfer material of the present invention is used, even if the paper has a low smoothness as shown in the above table, the print quality is good and the transferability is good, high-quality print with high print density can be obtained, and correction by peeling is also possible. Become.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the heat-sensitive transfer recording method of the present invention, not only for a recording medium having a good surface smoothness, but also for a recording medium having a poor surface smoothness, high density and sharp cutting can be provided. be able to.

Further, according to the present invention, the transfer-recorded image is sufficiently adhered to the recording medium, erroneous recording can be corrected by peeling, and stains due to peeling are unlikely to occur. Furthermore, according to the present invention, erroneous recording can be corrected by peeling even on a recording medium having particularly poor surface smoothness.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, the ink layer can be easily separated from the support during transfer, and a recording latent image with high cohesive force can be formed.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 5 are schematic cross-sectional views in the thickness direction of a heat-sensitive transfer material used in the heat-sensitive transfer recording method of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view in the thickness direction of a heat-adhesive tape used for correction. 7 (A) to 7 (D) are operation explanatory views showing how the ink layer is peeled off when the peeling correction is performed. 1 ... Thermal transfer material, 2 ... Support, 3 ... First ink layer, 4 ... Second ink layer, 5 ... Third ink layer.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Tsuguhiro Fukuda 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (56) Reference JP-A-63-159078 (JP, A) JP-A Sho 62-189191 (JP, A)

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A first ink layer, a second ink layer, and a third ink layer each containing a heat-fusible material on a support in this order from the support side, and the first ink is provided. The heat-fusible material of the layer constitutes a group of one kind of heat-fusible resin fine particles or forms two or more kinds of domains, and at least the second ink layer of the second and first ink layers is colored. Material, and the third ink layer is a layer in which one kind of heat-meltable resin fine particles is composed of a heat-meltable material or two or more kinds of domains are formed and which does not contain a coloring material. And a heat-sensitive transfer material containing at least the heat-meltable material of the first ink layer containing polyethylene oxide as a component to form a recorded image, and the recording image is peeled off and corrected as necessary. Thermal transfer recording method. 2. The heat-sensitive transfer recording method according to claim 1, wherein two or more types of domains of the first ink layer are composed of different kinds of heat-meltable resin fine particles. 3. A first ink layer, wherein at least one kind of the two or more kinds of domains is composed of heat-meltable resin fine particles, and the other at least one kind of domain is composed of a non-particulate phase. The thermal transfer recording method according to claim (1). 4. The thermal transfer recording method according to claim 1, wherein the two or more types of domains of the first ink layer are composed of different kinds of non-particulate phases. 5. The heat-sensitive transfer recording method according to claim 1, wherein the heat-fusible material of the second ink layer constitutes a uniform system. 6. A method according to claim 1, wherein the heat-meltable material of the second ink layer constitutes a group of one kind of heat-meltable resin fine particles. The thermal transfer recording method described in. 7. The heat-sensitive transfer recording according to claim 1, wherein the heat-fusible material of the second ink layer constitutes two or more types of domains. Method. 8. The heat-sensitive transfer recording method according to claim 7, wherein the two or more types of domains are composed of different kinds of heat-meltable resin fine particles. 9. At least one of two or more types of domains
The heat-sensitive transfer recording method according to claim (7), wherein the kinds of domains are composed of heat-meltable resin fine particles and the other at least one kind of domains is composed of a non-particulate phase. 10. A method according to claim 7, wherein the two or more types of domains are each constituted by different kinds of non-granular phases.
The thermal transfer recording method according to the item. 11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the two or more types of domains of the third ink layer are composed of different kinds of heat-meltable resin fine particles. The thermal transfer recording method described. 12. A third ink layer, wherein at least one kind of domain is composed of thermofusible resin fine particles and at least one kind of domain is composed of a non-particulate phase among two or more kinds of domains. The thermal transfer recording method according to any one of claims (1) to (10). 13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the two or more types of domains of the third ink layer are composed of different non-particle phases, respectively. Thermal transfer recording method.