JPH0834163A - Production of printing tape and thermal recording tape cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a printing tape enhanced in chemical resistance and mechanical strength and not generating the deterioration of a thermal recording layer caused by the transmission of oxygen by applying reversal printing to the thermal recording layer of a recording material directly or through a thin heat-resistant protective layer. CONSTITUTION:A thermal recording material 2 is obtained by providing a thermal color forming layer 5 on the single surface of a base material 4 and providing a heat- resistant protective layer 6 on the surface opposite to the base material of the thermal color forming layer 5. A support 3 is formed by providing pressure-sensitive adhesive layers 8a, 8b on both surfaces of a thin base material 7 and providing a release liner 9 on the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer 8b on the side not coming into contact with the thermal recording material 2. In producing a printing tape subjected to printing, thermal reversal printing is applied to the thermal color forming layer 5 on the side of the heat-resistant protective layer 6 by a thermal head 10 while the thermal recording material 2 is pressed to a roller 11 on the side of its base material 4 and the printed thermal recording material 2 and the support 3 are subsequently pressed by the rollers 12 arranged above and below them to be mutually bonded to produce the printing tape 1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for producing a printed label which is attached to or attached to an office / learning file, various instruments, etc., and a thermal recording tape cassette used therefor.

The cassette of the present invention is loaded into a printer having a printing portion such as a thermal head, and information / images are heat-sensitive recorded. Further, the printing tape obtained by the present invention has excellent fastness, chemical resistance and solvent resistance.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Recording methods using heat, such as a thermal head, which are controlled by electric signals, include thermal transfer recording in which the color material of an ink ribbon is transferred by heating and recording, and recording by coloring in heat. There is a thermal recording.

In thermal transfer recording, there are a melt type in which the ink of the ink ribbon is further melted and transferred to the recording paper by heating, and a sublimation type in which only the dye in the ink is sublimated and transferred to the recording paper.

Sublimation type thermal transfer recording has the advantage that the dyeing density changes depending on the amount of heat energy applied and gradation can be expressed, but since the recording speed is relatively slow and the recording cost is high, it is a pictorial color hard disk. It is used only for copying.

On the other hand, the melting type thermal transfer recording has a relatively high recording speed and a low recording cost. Also, since it is sufficient for recording graphic information such as character information and graphs in terms of image quality, it is most widely used for various word processors and printers.

In recent years, devices called lettering machines, tape writers, label printers, etc. have become widespread. These are for printing on adhesive tape-shaped image-receiving paper, and this printed tape is attached to office files, various products, and equipment. Has been adopted.
For such lettering or label applications, robustness,
Solvent resistance and chemical resistance are particularly required, but conventional wax-based inks used for heat-melt type thermal transfer recording cannot provide sufficient fastness and have low chemical resistance.

Further, a conventional wax-based ink is used to print mirror-inverted characters on a transparent base material, and a double-sided adhesive tape is attached to the printing surface side to prepare a label with the printing surface protected by the transparent base material. A device for doing so is also commercially available (JP-A-1-
No. 135564, No. 1-135671), it has excellent robustness, solvent resistance, and chemical resistance, but since the consumables consist of an ink ribbon, a transparent base material and a double-sided adhesive tape, the running cost is high and the device is complicated. It is difficult to downsize.

On the other hand, in the heat-sensitive recording method, a recording material generally called heat-sensitive recording paper is used in which a heat-sensitive color-developing layer that develops color by heating is provided on a support such as paper. Such thermal recording requires a simpler apparatus than other recording methods and does not require operations such as phenomenon and fixing. Further, consumables other than recording paper such as an ink ribbon are not required, the running cost is low, the apparatus can be easily downsized, and the color density is sufficient. Therefore, it is widely used for recording materials such as facsimiles, copiers, and measuring instruments.

However, as is apparent from the material of the thermosensitive recording paper, the coloring components easily react with the solvent or chemicals, or when the thermosensitive coloring layer is rubbed with an eraser or scratched with a nail or the like, the thermosensitive coloring layer is colored or damaged. However, the recorded image is damaged. In order to eliminate such drawbacks of the heat-sensitive recording paper, a recording paper in which a protective layer is provided on the heat-sensitive color developing layer has been proposed.
Although such a recording paper is provided with a protective layer by coating, it has not yet been obtained that has sufficient fastness, solvent resistance and chemical resistance. Further, since the thermosensitive coloring layer develops color at a high temperature, hot air drying cannot be performed when the protective layer is formed, and the productivity is low. Furthermore, the thermosensitive coloring layer has low solvent resistance, and the solvent for coating the protective layer is limited.

As a heat-sensitive recording paper and a method for producing the same, which solves the above-mentioned drawbacks, the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-318912 is also known. Since the surface of the thermal recording paper described here is covered with a protective film, it has extremely excellent fastness, chemical resistance and solvent resistance. Further, according to such a production method, high temperature drying can be performed except when the thermosensitive color developing layer is coated on the thermosensitive recording paper, and the productivity is high.

[0012]

However, in such a thermal recording paper, the thickness of the protective film is limited to about 16 μm from the viewpoint of printing clarity, and the mechanical properties are not sufficient because the protective film is thin. In addition, there is a problem that the print is erased due to damage due to impact or the like and high oxygen permeability.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method of producing a printing tape having high durability and a tape cassette used for the method.

[0014]

Accordingly, the present invention is
After performing reverse printing on the thermosensitive color developing layer of the thermosensitive recording medium including a transparent flexible base material and a thermosensitive color developing layer provided on one surface of the substrate, on the thermosensitive color developing layer side of the thermosensitive recording medium, The present invention provides a method for producing a printing tape having a support having a pressure-sensitive adhesive surface.

The present invention also provides (i) a roll-shaped thermosensitive recording medium comprising a transparent flexible substrate and a thermosensitive coloring layer provided on one surface of the substrate, and (ii) the thermosensitive recording medium. A mechanism for rewinding and unwinding through the printing unit, (iii) a roll-shaped support having a pressure-sensitive adhesive surface, and (i)
v) A heat-sensitive recording tape cassette having a mechanism in which a support is attached to the heat-sensitive color-developing layer after printing and is fed out.

The present invention further provides a heat-sensitive recording tape cassette in which the support contacting with the heat-sensitive color forming layer has a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer containing rubber as a main component.

The printing tape obtained by the present invention has high durability and can be attached to a file or the like, fixed by inserting it, or attached to an instrument using an adhesive or the like, depending on the support used. it can.

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a specific example of the method for producing the printing tape of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a printing tape 1 is obtained by pasting a thermosensitive recording medium 2 and a support 3 on each other. The thermosensitive recording medium 2 is provided with a thermosensitive coloring layer 5 on one surface of a substrate 4 and a heat-resistant protective layer 6 on the surface of the thermosensitive coloring layer opposite to the substrate.

On the other hand, the support 3 is provided with pressure sensitive adhesive layers 8a and 8b on both sides of the thin substrate 7, and a release liner 9 is provided on the pressure sensitive adhesive layer 8b which is not in contact with the thermal recording medium 2. It becomes.

In order to produce a printing tape on which printing and printing are performed, the heat-sensitive protective layer 6 side and the thermosensitive coloring layer 5 and the thermal head 10 are pressed from the heat-resistant protective layer 6 side while being pressed by the roller 11 from the base material 4 side of the thermosensitive recording medium 2. Thermal reverse printing. Then, the printed thermal recording medium 2 and the support 3 are pressed by the rollers 12 arranged above and below them to attach the thermal recording medium and the support, and the printing tape 1 is manufactured.

Further, FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a specific example of the thermal recording tape cassette of the present invention, which is suitable for producing the printing tape.

In FIG. 2, the thermal recording tape cassette 2 is shown.
Reference numeral 0 mainly comprises a spool 21 around which the thermosensitive recording medium 2 is wound and a spool 22 around which the support 3 is wound.

The spools have spool shafts 23a, 23
They are respectively installed in b and rotate in the directions of the arrows in the figure. The rotation of the spool shaft 23a of the thermosensitive recording medium causes the thermosensitive recording medium 2 to be drawn out and reaches the printing unit 25 via the guide 24. In the printing unit 25, the thermal recording material 2
Is subjected to heat-sensitive reversal printing from below in the drawing by the thermal head 29, and is further fed out of the heat-sensitive recording tape cassette 20.

On the other hand, the support 3 is also fed out by the rotation of the spool shaft 23b through the roller 26 and the guide 27, and comes into contact with the thermosensitive coloring layer of the thermosensitive recording body 2 after printing. At that time, the thermal recording medium 2 and the support 3 are pressed by the roller 30 and adhered to each other, and the printing tape 28 is manufactured.

The base material of the thermosensitive recording medium used in the present invention is a colorless or colored transparent flexible base material, and the printed image (recorded image) formed on the back surface through the base material is the front surface. It is not particularly limited as long as it is visible from the outside. For example, a colorless or transparent plastic film mixed with a colorant such as a dye in the system, or colored and transparent by a coating means such as coating on the surface is preferably used.
Examples thereof include polyethylene film, polyester film, polypropylene film, polyvinylidene chloride film, polyvinyl alcohol film, polyvinyl chloride film, polycarbonate film, nylon film, polystyrene film, ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer film and the like. Further, it may be a sheet-like material obtained by substantially thinning a thin nonwoven fabric, a thin paper, etc. by light scattering prevention treatment.

Although the thickness of the base material is not substantially limited,
From the viewpoint of mechanical strength, oxygen permeability, etc., the thickness is 20 μm or more, preferably 25 to 75 μm. If it is less than 20 μm, it is difficult to handle, and if it exceeds 75 μm, the flexibility may be poor and the printability may be deteriorated.

Furthermore, in order to suppress the printing durability after printing and the fog (coloring) phenomenon in the unprinted portion, one of the above-mentioned substrates has a high oxygen barrier property, such as polyvinylidene chloride or polyvinyl alcohol, (ethylene-vinyl acetate). It is preferable to coat it with a saponified copolymer.

As the heat-sensitive color forming layer provided in the heat-sensitive recording material of the present invention, any known composition capable of forming a color by heating can be used, and an electron-donating dye precursor which is a color forming agent and a reaction with the same can be used. In addition to a combination with an organic acid that develops a color, a combination of a diazo compound and a coupling compound that forms a color upon coupling with the diazo compound can be used.

As the electron-donating dye precursor used as the color former for the printing tape of the present invention, any conventionally known one may be used. Typical examples thereof include triarylmethane-based, diphenylmethane-based, xanthene-based, and spiropyran-based, and the xanthene-based electron-donating dye precursor is preferable because it has polychromaticity.

Examples of the organic acid that reacts with the electron-donating dye precursor to produce a color include aromatic carboxylic acid derivatives and phenol derivatives.

Examples of the aromatic carboxylic acid derivative include 2-phenylmethoxy-naphthalene-6-carboxylic acid phenylmethyl ester, 2-p-methylphenyl-m-naphthalene-6-carboxylic acid phenylmethyl ester and 2-p.
-Methylphenyl-m-naphthalene-6-carboxylic acid-
Examples thereof include p-methylphenylmethyl ester.

As the phenol derivative, 4-hydroxydiphenoxide, α-naphthol, methyl-4-hydroxybenzoate, 4-tert. -Octylcatechol, 4,4'-sec. -Butylidenediphenol,
4-tert. -Butylphenol, β-naphthol,
4-hydroxyacetophenol, 2,2'-dihydroxydiphenol, 2-tert. -Butylphenol, bisphenol A and the like.

The compounding ratio of the electron-donating dye precursor and the organic acid is 0.2-10 parts by weight, preferably 0.5-5 parts by weight, more preferably 1 part by weight with respect to 1 part by weight of the former.
~ 2 parts by weight.

As another color former, a combination of a diazo compound and a coupling compound which forms a color by coupling with the diazo compound may be used. 4 as the diazo compound
-Diazo-1-dimethylaminobenzene, 4-diazo-
1-diethylaminobenzene, 4-diazo-1-dipropylaminobenzene and the like can be mentioned. On the other hand, examples of these coupling compounds include β-naphthol, resorcin, phloroglucin, and 2,3-dihydroxynaphthalene. In addition, the coupling may be performed in an atmosphere of a basic substance to accelerate the reaction.

The compounding ratio of the diazo compound and the coupling compound is 0.2 to 10 parts by weight, preferably 0.5 to 5 parts by weight, and 1 to 2 parts by weight with respect to 1 part by weight of the former. It is practical.

The color forming material may be partially or entirely encapsulated from the viewpoint of storage stability and control of color developing sensitivity. As the encapsulation method and the material, known methods and materials can be used. Further, a color forming aid for accelerating the reaction during heating and an acid stabilizer for stabilization may be used in combination.

The above color-forming material is generally used in the form of a liquid for forming the recording layer, but it is preferable that the coating liquid is prepared in an ink state using a binder.

As the binder (binder), polystyrene, polybutyl methacrylate, polyvinyl alcohol, modified polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinylpyrrolidone, methyl cellulose, carboxymethyl cellulose,
Gum arabic, casein, styrene-butadiene latex, polyvinyl acetate, styrene resin, styrene-acrylic copolymer and the like are used.

The compounding ratio of the color forming material and the binder is 0.2 to 5 parts by weight, preferably 0.5 to 2 parts by weight, and 0.7 to 7 parts by weight with respect to 1 part by weight of the former. 1.
5 parts by weight is practical.

The thickness of the thermosensitive coloring layer is 0.5 to 20 μm,
Preferably 1-10 μm, more preferably 1-8 μm
(Both are solid contents).

When an aqueous dispersion is used as the coloring material,
A material containing a coloring aid, a binder and a dispersion aid such as a surfactant may be used, and conventionally known materials and preparation methods may be used.

A heat-resistant protective layer made of an organic substance or an inorganic substance may be provided on the surface of the heat-sensitive recording layer thus constructed, which is opposite to the substrate, for the purpose of improving sticking during recording by a thermal head. As such an organic substance, those having heat resistance and lubricity such as silicone resin, fluororesin and epoxy resin, and ultraviolet curable resins such as urethane acrylate resin and epoxy acrylate resin are preferable. In addition, examples of the inorganic substance include Al ₂ O ₃ , SiO ₂ , SiO, MgO, and ZnO, which are used as a heat-resistant protective layer by a sputtering method, a vacuum deposition method, or the like. The thickness of the protective layer is 0.05 to
The thickness is 10 μm, preferably 0.5 to 5 μm, and more preferably 0.5 to 3 μm. Thickness of protective layer is 0.05 μm
If it is less than 10, there is no sticking prevention effect, while on the other hand, 10
If it exceeds μm, the printability deteriorates.

The support used for the printing tape is, for example, plastic film, rubber, metal, paper,
Materials such as cloth and non-woven fabric can be used, and one having a color arrangement that improves the contrast of the printed portion is selected. The thickness of the support is preferably 10 to 200 μm. When the thickness of the support is less than 10 μm, the handling property is poor, while when it exceeds 200 μm, the flexibility is poor. A publicly known adhesive or pressure-sensitive adhesive can be used to overlay these supports on the thermosensitive recording medium.

Other supports having pressure-sensitive adhesiveness include:
For example, an adhesive resin such as an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer having a vinyl acetate content of 10% by weight or more may be used alone.

Further, a support having a pressure sensitive adhesive layer and a release liner may be used as the support. As such a release liner, for example, one having surface releasability such as polyethylene may be used, and the surface of a base material having no surface releasability such as paper or plastic other than polyethylene may be used as a silicone resin. Alternatively, those coated with a low adhesive resin such as a fluororesin may be used. As the release liner, a release liner having a thickness of 30 to 500 μm can be used from the viewpoints of release workability and handling.

On the other hand, the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer may be composed of only the pressure-sensitive adhesive, and may be pressure-sensitively adhered to both sides of a thin film substrate such as plastic film, rubber, metal, paper, cloth and non-woven fabric. It may be provided with an agent layer. Such a pressure-sensitive adhesive preferably does not adversely affect the heat-sensitive recording layer. For example, a vinyl monomer copolymerizable with an alkyl acrylate whose alkyl group has 2 to 12 carbon atoms and the ester. And the former 50 to 100% by weight, the latter 50
It is a copolymer obtained by polymerization in the range of from 0 to 0% by weight, and the degree of polymerization is preferably 95% by weight or more, and more preferably 97% by weight or more. Other preferable compositions include, for example, natural rubber, butyl rubber, polyisobutylene rubber, styrene-isobutylene-styrene block polymer, styrene-butadiene-styrene block polymer, and other rubbers alone, or a petroleum resin, rosin. And a tackifying resin such as xylene resin in an amount of 3 to 200 parts by weight, preferably 15 to 120 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of rubbers. If the compounding amount of the tackifying resin is less than 3 parts by weight, there is no effect of addition, while 20
If it exceeds 0 parts by weight, the desired adhesiveness cannot be obtained.

Among the above pressure-sensitive adhesives, as an adhesive which does not adversely affect the heat-sensitive recording layer for a long period of time, styrene-isobutylene-styrene block polymer, styrene- Most preferred are rubber-based pressure sensitive adhesives such as butadiene-styrene block polymers. The thickness of such a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer is preferably 5 to 200 μm. If the thickness is less than 5 μm, the adhesive strength cannot be sufficiently exhibited, while if it exceeds 200 μm, it is not economical.

[0049]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be shown below.

Example 1 A thermosensitive color developing agent having the following composition was used.
Disperse and adjust with a ball mill for 5 hours, and obtain the solution by using a transparent polyethylene terephthalate film (PET, 50
μm, corona-treated product) was coated with a wire bar so that the dry film had a thickness of 5 μm. [Composition] (Blending amount) 3-dibutylamino-6-methyl-7-phenylaminofluorane 7.7 parts by weight Bisphenol A 15.5 parts by weight Polystyrene 16.0 parts by weight Polybutyl methacrylate 1.4 parts by weight Cyclohexane 59 .4 parts by weight Next, a solution obtained by dissolving a polyolefin resin containing polydimethylsiloxane in cyclohexane was applied to the applied surface with a wire bar so that the dry film had a thickness of 2 μm to form a heat-resistant protective layer. The thermosensitive recording material thus obtained was slit into a certain width, and a spool wound into a roll was produced.

On the other hand, a styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) -based adhesive was formed on one surface of transparent 6-μm-thick transparent coryethylene terephthalate (PET) so as to have a thickness of 15 μm after drying. System adhesive 1
A release liner having a thickness of 5 μm and further subjected to a release treatment on both sides was attached to prepare a double-sided adhesive tape as a support. Further, this double-sided adhesive tape was slit in the same manner as the thermosensitive recording medium and wound into a roll to prepare a spool.

Mirror reversal printing was performed with a thermal head from the thermosensitive coloring layer side of the thermosensitive recording medium, and SB of a double-sided adhesive tape was used.
It was attached to the S-based adhesive surface. As a result, a printing tape was produced in which only a desired portion of the thermosensitive coloring layer sandwiched between the transparent PET and the double-sided adhesive tape was colored. This tape was able to be attached to a desired adherend by peeling off the release liner on the back side.

Since this printing tape was covered with transparent PET having a thickness of 50 μm, the colored characters were not erased by the chemicals from the surface and were excellent in abrasion resistance. Further, the oxidation deterioration of the leuco dye used as the color former is reduced by the oxygen blocking by the transparent PET, and good light resistance can be obtained.

Example 2 A thermosensitive color developing agent having the following composition was used.
The mixture was dispersed and adjusted with a ball mill for 0 hours, and the resulting solution was coated on a transparent polyvinyl alcohol film (75 μm) with a wire bar so that the dry film thickness was 5 μm. [Composition] (Blending amount) 3-dibutylamino-6-methyl-7-phenylaminofluorane 7.7 parts by weight Bisphenol A 15.5 parts by weight Modified polyvinyl alcohol aqueous solution (solid content 10%) 300 parts by weight Next, modified 2 μm dry coating of heat-resistant protective layer made by adding zinc stearate dispersion to polyvinyl alcohol aqueous solution
Was formed. The thermosensitive recording material thus obtained was slit into a certain width, and a spool wound into a roll was produced. This thermosensitive recording medium was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1.
After printing, a double-sided adhesive tape was adhered to produce a printing tape.

Peel off the release liner of this printing tape,
It was attached to a desired adherend. This printing tape had a color-developed character covered with a polyvinyl alcohol film of 75 μm, and thus was extremely excellent in chemical resistance and light resistance.

Example 3 The thermosensitive recording medium and the double-sided adhesive tape shown in Example 1 were slit into a width of 12 m / m to prepare a spool. This was inserted into an ink ribbon cassette (for Tepra) manufactured by King Jim Co., Ltd., the ink ribbon of the ink ribbon cassette was removed, and then reverse printing was performed. As a result, a printing tape with an adhesive tape, on which colored characters were printed, was produced. After adhering this tape to a desired adherend, the rubbing property was examined with various organic solvents. As a result, it was possible to obtain a very durable one without decoloring characters.

Comparative Example 1 Heat-resistant treated PET (thickness 6 μm) was used as a substrate, and a heat-sensitive color developing layer was applied to the heat-resistant untreated surface side with a wire bar so that the thickness after drying was about 7 μm. A printing tape was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that it was dried.

Characters which are not mirror-inverted are printed by a thermal head from the PET side which is the base material of the thermal recording tape,
The release paper was peeled off and adhered to the adherend, and the durability of the printing tape was checked.

The film covered was as thin as 6 μm, and the film was torn when the surface was rubbed with a sharp object. Further, when the printing energy was increased, the heat resistance of the thin PET was insufficient, the PET of the printed part was damaged, and the chemical resistance was lowered. In addition, the oxygen barrier property of 6 μm PET was insufficient and there was oxygen deterioration, so the printing durability was insufficient.

[Comparative Example 2] In Example 1, except that a double-sided adhesive tape having an acrylic adhesive on both sides was used.
A printing tape was produced in the same manner as in Example 1. In the obtained printing tape, the colored characters were decolored due to the components contained in the acrylic adhesive. In particular, the discoloration during storage at elevated temperature and humidification was remarkable.

[0061]

According to the present invention, since the reversal printing is carried out directly on the heat-sensitive recording layer of the recording medium or through the thin heat-resistant protective layer, a colorless or colored transparent flexible group constituting the recording medium is formed. The thickness of the material is not substantially limited, and a printing tape having excellent chemical resistance, mechanical strength, and deterioration of the heat-sensitive recording layer due to oxygen permeation can be obtained. Further, as compared with the type using an ink ribbon, a ribbon feeding mechanism is not required, so that the device can be simplified.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a specific example of a method for producing a printing tape of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a specific example of the thermal recording tape cassette of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printing tape 2 Thermosensitive recording medium 3 Support 4 Base material 5 Thermosensitive coloring layer 6 Heat-resistant protective layer 7 Thin leaf base material 8a Pressure-sensitive adhesive layer 8b Pressure-sensitive adhesive layer 9 Release liner 10 Thermal head 11 Roller 12 Roller 20 Thermal recording Tape cassette 21 Thermal recording medium spool 22 Support spool 23a Spool shaft 23b Spool shaft 24 Guide 25 Printing section 26 Roller 27 Guide 28 Printing tape 29 Thermal head 30 Roller

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Internal reference number FI Technical display location G09F 3/10 B B41M 5/18 H (72) Inventor Naofumi Mihara 1-chome Shimohozumi, Ibaraki-shi, Osaka 1-2 No. Nitto Denko Corporation (72) Inventor Hideo Sugawara 1-2 1-2 Shimohozumi, Ibaraki City, Osaka Prefecture Nitto Denko Corporation

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A thermosensitive coloring layer of a thermosensitive recording medium comprising a transparent flexible substrate and a thermosensitive coloring layer provided on one surface of the substrate, after reverse printing is performed on the thermosensitive coloring layer, the thermosensitive recording medium is heat-sensitive. A method for producing a printing tape in which a support having a pressure-sensitive adhesive surface is attached to the color forming layer side. 2. A roll-shaped thermosensitive recording medium comprising (i) a transparent flexible substrate and a thermosensitive coloring layer provided on one surface of the substrate, and (ii) rewinding the thermosensitive recording medium. A heat-sensitive recording tape having a mechanism for feeding through a printing section, (iii) a roll-shaped support having a pressure-sensitive adhesive surface, and (iv) a mechanism for sticking the support onto the thermosensitive coloring layer after printing and feeding it. cassette. 3. The thermosensitive recording tape cassette according to claim 2, wherein the support contacting with the thermosensitive coloring layer has a pressure sensitive adhesive layer containing rubber as a main component.