JPH08230342A - Production of label - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain a label excellent in environmental resistance such as scratch resistance, water resistance or the like by applying a colorant to a tape for a label writer wherein an ink receiving layer is provided 6n a tapelike base material by an ink jet system arid subsequently forming a transparent coating film thereon. CONSTITUTION: In a label used in a label writer being a label printer, a colorant is applied to a tape for the label writer wherein an ink receiving layer is provided on a tape base material and a transparent coating film is subsequently formed thereon to produce the label. As the material quality of the base material, a polyester resin such as polyethylene terephthalate or fluoroplastic such as ETFE is used. The ink receiving layer is pref. based on inorg. oxide or a hydrate thereof, especially pref., based on a silica gel or an alumina gel. The transparent coating film is pref. formed by applying paint becoming transparent finish.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a label, and more particularly to a method of manufacturing a label with an ink jet type label writer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A device called a label writer is known as a device for printing a label to be attached to a document or the like. A conventional label writer prints on a tape-shaped label base material by a thermal transfer method, and by combining a label base material of various colors and an ink ribbon, labels of various color arrangements can be produced. With this method, the label substrate and the ink ribbon must be replaced each time the color of the label is changed. further,
In the case of realizing full color, there is a problem that the consumption of the ink ribbon increases and the cost increases.

[0003]

On the other hand, the ink jet system is suitable as a recording system for a label writer because it can easily realize full color and is excellent in cost and image clarity. In case of inkjet method,
The label substrate requires high ink absorption. further,
As the label, scratch resistance, environment resistance such as water resistance is required, but since the image is formed by the solvent-soluble dye in the inkjet method, the water resistance and weather resistance of the recorded matter are not always sufficient. Absent. In general, labels often come into contact with hands, and may be exposed to rain when used outdoors, and may be exposed to water or detergent when used for tableware, etc. High environmental resistance is required.

According to the present invention, it is possible to easily produce a label which is capable of forming an image having a good resolution and a good coloring property by an ink jet system and which is excellent in environmental resistance such as scratch resistance and water resistance. To aim.

[0005]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a label for forming a transparent coating film on a tape for a label writer having an ink receiving layer on a tape-shaped substrate, after applying a coloring material by an inkjet method. The present invention provides a method for manufacturing the same.

The material of the substrate is not particularly limited, and various materials can be used. Specifically, various plastics such as polyester resins such as polyethylene terephthalate, polycarbonate resins, and fluorine resins such as ETFE can be preferably used. Furthermore, natural paper, synthetic paper, cloth or a composite material thereof can be used. These substrates may be subjected to treatments such as corona discharge treatment and undercoat for the purpose of improving the adhesive strength of the ink receiving layer.

When a transparent plastic film or the like is used as the substrate and a highly transparent ink receiving layer is used, a transparent label can be obtained. When an opaque plastic film containing a white or other color pigment or paper is used as the substrate, a white or colored label can be obtained. Even if the substrate is opaque, it is preferable that the transparency of the ink receiving layer is high because printing with high color density is possible.

The ink receiving layer formed on the substrate is preferably one mainly containing an inorganic oxide or a hydrate thereof, and particularly preferably silica gel or alumina gel.
In particular, a structure in which inorganic particles are bound with an organic binder is preferable. The inorganic particles are boehmite (Al ₂ O ₃ · nH ₂ O,
It is preferable that n = 1 to 1.5) because the ink-jet ink absorbency is good and the dye in the ink is excellent in fixability.

When the ink receiving layer is composed of hydrated alumina, the pore structure thereof is substantially composed of pores having a radius of 1 to 10 nm and the pore volume is 0.3 to 1.0 cc / g. However, it is preferable since it has sufficient absorbability and transparency. In addition to these physical properties, it is more preferable that the average pore radius of the porous alumina hydrate is 3 to 7 nm. The pore size distribution is measured by the nitrogen adsorption / desorption method.

As a method of forming the ink receiving layer, a method of applying a coating liquid in which a binder is preferably added to inorganic particles to a substrate is preferable. For example, in order to form a porous alumina hydrate layer having a pore structure as described above, alumina sol is preferably added with a binder to form a slurry, and a die coater, a roll coater, an air knife coater, a blade coater, a rod. It is preferable to adopt a method of coating on a substrate using a coater, bar coater, comma coater, etc. and drying.

As the binder, polyvinyl alcohol and its modified products, starch and its modified products, styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) latex, nitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR) latex, hydroxycellulose, polyvinylpyrrolidone and other organic substances can be used. If the amount of the binder used is too small, the strength of the ink receiving layer may be insufficient. On the other hand, if the amount is too large, the amount of ink absorbed or the amount of dye carried may be low. About wt% is preferable.

If the thickness of the ink receiving layer is too thin, the dye cannot be sufficiently carried and a label having a low color density may be obtained, which is not preferable. On the other hand, if the thickness is too large, the strength of the ink receiving layer may be reduced, or the transparency may be reduced to impair the texture, which is not preferable. The preferable thickness of the ink receiving layer is 1 to 50 μm.

A transparent coating film is formed on the ink receiving layer by applying a coloring material by an ink jet method.
Here, “transparent” means that the image formed on the ink receiving layer can be observed through the coating film. It is preferably colorless, but it may be colored to impart a design property. As the coloring material, a dye, especially a water-soluble dye is suitable.

Polymers are preferable as the material of the coating film, and specifically, it is preferable to form a coating material containing no pigment component, that is, a coating material having a transparent finish.
Various paints such as oil paints, fiber derivative paints, synthetic resin paints and fluorine resin paints can be used. In particular, in the case of using an aqueous ink for image formation, a paint using an oily solvent such as an oily paint is preferable because it does not cause the image to bleed.

The resin component in the paint is preferably 3 to 30% by weight. If the resin component in the paint is less than 3% by weight, the coating film formed becomes thin, and the environmental resistance such as water resistance, scratch resistance, and weather resistance may be insufficient, which is not preferable. . 30% by weight of resin component in paint
If it exceeds the range, the viscosity of the coating composition increases and it becomes difficult to apply the coating composition uniformly, resulting in deterioration of image quality, which is not preferable. Particularly in the case of the present invention, since the coating film is formed on the porous material, the solvent in the coating material is absorbed by the porous layer and the viscosity tends to increase at the time of application. Therefore, when the resin component exceeds 30% by weight. Difficult to apply.

The method of applying the coating material is not particularly limited, and brush coating, spray coating, roller coating and the like can be adopted. Drying may be natural drying, and may be heated if necessary.

The thickness of the coating film is preferably 0.5 to 30 μm. If the thickness is less than 0.5 μm, environmental resistance such as water resistance, scratch resistance, and weather resistance may not be sufficient, which is not preferable. If the thickness is more than 30 μm, the image on the ink receiving layer may be hidden so that the image quality may be deteriorated or the coating film may be easily peeled off. The more preferable thickness of the coating film is 2 to 10 μm.

In the label writer tape used in the present invention, it is preferable that an adhesive layer is formed on the back side of the recording surface, that is, the back side of the surface on which the ink receiving layer is formed, and a release paper is further laminated. . In this case, the tape can be stored in a cartridge in a wound form, and after the tape after printing is cut, the release paper can be peeled off and attached to a desired place. The thickness of the release paper is 10-20
0 μm is preferable. When the thickness of the release paper is less than 10 μm, it becomes difficult to remove the release paper, and conversely the thickness is 200 μm.
If it exceeds, the total thickness of the tape becomes large and the length of the tape that can be stored in the cartridge becomes short, which is not preferable.

The width of the tape can be appropriately selected according to the size of the desired label, but is generally 5 to 50 m.
m is suitable. In the manufacturing process, it is preferable to cut a sheet having a width larger than this into a tape. This tape is preferably wound into an appropriate diameter, placed in a cartridge made of resin or the like, and attached to a label writer.

[0020]

【Example】

Example 1 A coating solution was prepared by mixing 100 g of an alumina sol having a solid content of 18% by weight synthesized by the hydrolysis / peptization method of aluminum alkoxide and 32 g of a 6.2% by weight aqueous solution of polyvinyl alcohol. This coating liquid was applied onto a polyethylene terephthalate film (white film, thickness: 38 μm) using a die coater so that the coating amount after drying was 25 g / m ² . This was dried and then heat treated at 140 ° C. to form a porous boehmite layer.

Next, a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer was formed on the side where the boehmite layer was not formed, and a release paper having a thickness of 75 μm was laminated thereon. As a result, when the release paper is peeled off, a sheet that can be adhered to the adherend is obtained. This sheet was cut into a tape shape having a width of 15 mm and a length of 10 m and wound up to obtain a tape for a label writer.

This tape can be printed with an ink jet printer. After printing, a urethane-based synthetic resin paint diluted with a petroleum-based thinner to a resin content of 20% by weight is applied with a brush and dried naturally. Then, the recorded matter was obtained. The thickness of the coating film was about 5 μm. The recorded matter was clearly observed through the coating film, and the printed image was sufficiently protected.

Example 2 An image was formed on the tape for label writer of Example 1 by using an ink jet printer in the same manner, and then a 5% by weight solution of polyvinyl butyral resin in n-butanol was used as a paint, and the same procedure as in Example 1 was performed. A coated material was obtained by coating and drying. The thickness of the coating film was about 5 μm. The recorded matter was clearly observed through the coating film, and the printed image was sufficiently protected.

[0024]

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY In the present invention, high quality printing can be performed by the ink jet system, excellent quick drying property and coloring, and full-color printing can be realized. Furthermore, by forming a coating film after printing, scratch resistance, water resistance, weather resistance,
A label having excellent environmental resistance such as solvent resistance and stain resistance and high strength can be produced. In particular, the coating film has a high function of preventing the dye from coming into contact with water, reacting with oxygen, ozone, NO _x in the air, or preventing the dye from volatilizing. Therefore, the obtained label has storage stability that maintains high image quality for a long period of time. It is particularly suitable for recording using a water-based ink.

Furthermore, the transparent coating has the effect of increasing the gloss of the label. Even when the transparency of the ink receiving layer is low, the dense porous layer covers the ink receiving layer, so that printing with a higher color density becomes possible as compared with the case where there is no film.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for producing a label in which a transparent coating film is formed on a tape for a label writer having an ink receiving layer on a tape-shaped substrate, after applying a coloring material by an inkjet method.