JPH09150587A - Multicolor heat transfer recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily carry out the multicolor printing and also carry out the printing of characters of integrated feeling by a simple operation within the printing time equivalent to the normal monochrome printing. SOLUTION: A melt heat transferable recording layer 3 with at least first colored sections 3a and second colored sections 3b of different colors arranged on the layer is formed on a base. A number of same or different parallelogram shapes 32a, any sides of which are shorter than the base, form at least one of either first or second colored sections 3a or 3b, and one sides of a number of parallelogram shapes 22a are disposed to be in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the base, and also disposed one another to be in contact with or overlapped partly or taking given intervals.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multicolor thermal transfer recording medium capable of performing multicolor printing by a simple operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years,
Especially, due to the widespread use of personal computers and word processors that are connected to or equipped with a serial-type melting thermal transfer recording device, it has become possible to print a small number of copies easily and inexpensively, as represented by cards and letters. There is growing interest in personalized print. In order to meet such a demand for diversification of printing, in particular, in order to enable multicolor printing, a monochromatic color recording medium, a metallic tone recording medium, etc. are provided.

However, conventionally, in order to perform multicolor printing, multicolor image data created by a personal computer or word processor capable of color processing is printed by a printer having a printing function of four primary colors or four colors including black. However, there is a problem in that multi-color printing cannot be easily and inexpensively performed because advanced technology and expensive equipment must be used. Further, in such multicolor printing, the printing operation needs to be repeated 3 to 4 times in order to print the primary colors in an overlapping manner, and there is a problem that a personal thermal transfer recording apparatus requires a very long printing time.

Further, a plurality of recording layers having different colors are formed,
There has also been proposed a thermal transfer recording medium which is continuously arranged in the longitudinal direction of the recording medium and is capable of multicolor printing by one printing similar to normal monochrome printing. However, such a recording medium has not yet achieved the multicolor printing which is still required, and since a high degree of phase matching is required in the production, a medium having a desired recording layer is formed. The problem is that it is difficult to obtain.

Further, in the serial type thermal transfer recording apparatus,
When the above-mentioned conventional thermal transfer recording medium is used, a ribbon-shaped recording medium having a predetermined width (for example, 12.7 mm or 6.35 mm) is used to perform printing by dividing one screen into a plurality of times. There is a problem in that the characters printed in multi-color using the recording medium of No. 1 are divided into different colors, which makes it difficult to say that they are a single character. Further, it is possible to avoid such a problem by performing the cueing operation of the recording medium, but in this case, the recording device (that is, the printer or the like) has to be provided with a cueing function, There is a problem that multi-color printing cannot be easily performed because it requires sophisticated equipment and technology.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to easily perform multicolor printing with a printing time equivalent to that of normal monochromatic printing and with a simple operation, and to print characters with a sense of unity. It is to provide a color heat transfer recording medium.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems As a result of intensive studies to solve the above problems, the inventors of the present invention have obtained a multicolor thermal transfer having colored portions of two different colors and at least one of which has a specific shape. It has been found that a recording medium can achieve the above object.

The present invention has been made on the basis of the above findings, and at least a first color having a different color is formed on a base material.
In a multicolor thermal transfer recording medium provided with a recording layer capable of melt thermal transfer, which is formed by arranging the colored portion and the second colored portion of at least one of the first and second colored portions. Is formed by a large number of parallelogram shapes that are the same or different in which the length of any side is shorter than the width of the base material, and a large number of the parallelogram shapes have one side in the longitudinal direction of the base material. A multicolor thermal transfer recording medium characterized in that they are formed so as to be parallel to each other, and are formed so as to be in contact with each other, partially overlapped with each other, or arranged at predetermined intervals. Is.

According to the present invention, the above parallelogram shape is
A plurality of repeating units are formed to provide the above-mentioned multicolor thermal transfer recording medium in which a plurality of repeating units are arranged at a predetermined interval. Also, the present invention
The parallelogram shape provides the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium continuously arranged in the diagonal direction. Further, in the present invention, the parallelogram shapes are arranged so that a part thereof is superposed, and the area of the superposed parts is 1/10 to 1 of the area of the parallelogram shape.
The present invention provides the above-mentioned multicolor thermal transfer recording medium which is / 2. In the present invention, the recording layer further has a third colored portion, and the third colored portion has a color different from those of the first and second colored portions. A plurality of parallelogram shapes, each of which has a length shorter than the width of the multicolor heat transfer recording medium, and one side of which is parallel to the longitudinal direction of the multicolor heat transfer recording medium. The above-mentioned multicolor thermal transfer recording medium is provided in which parts are superposed, adjacent to each other, or arranged at a predetermined interval.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The multicolor thermal transfer recording medium of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. Here, FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is the II of the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium shown in FIG.
-II is a sectional view.

In the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium 1 of the present embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, at least a first colored portion 3a and a second colored portion 3b having different colors are arranged on a substrate 2. The formed recording layer 3 capable of melt heat transfer is provided.

Thus, in the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium 1 of the present embodiment, the second colored portion 3b has a large number of parallelogram shapes each having a side length shorter than the width of the base material 2. Is formed by a square shape 32a, and a large number of the square shapes 32a are arranged such that one side thereof is parallel to the longitudinal direction of the base material 2 and are
Partly polymerized and arranged.

More specifically, the square shape 32a is
As shown in FIG. 1, the square shapes 32a are the same size, that is, are the same, and the square shapes 32a are continuously arranged in each diagonal direction (one diagonal direction). The parts are arranged so as to polymerize. In this way, the repeating unit 32 is formed by arranging the square shapes 32a, and the repeating unit 32 is formed.
Has a strip-like shape with both right and left sides formed in a zigzag shape, and is formed such that its longitudinal direction is inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction of the base material 2 (multicolor thermal transfer recording medium 1). A plurality of the repeating units 32 are arranged at a predetermined interval in the longitudinal direction of the medium 1, whereby the second colored portion 3b is formed.

Here, the above-mentioned "arranged continuously in the diagonal direction" means that the diagonal lines of the respective squares 32a are connected so as to form one straight line. . Further, the above-mentioned "partially superposed" does not mean that they actually overlap each other, but a plurality of square shapes (parallelogram shapes) whose diagonals are one straight line. And assuming that they are arranged so that there are regularly overlapping portions with each other,
This means that the portions shown by the dotted lines (rectangular portions formed by the dotted lines) are arranged so that they can be said to overlap. Therefore, also in this case, as shown in FIG. 2, the second colored portion is actually a layer formed of a single layer and having a constant layer thickness, and the second colored portion is actually a layered portion. There is no such thing.

The inclination angle θ of the straight line formed by connecting the diagonal lines of the square shape 32a with respect to the longitudinal direction of the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium 1 is preferably 15 to 75 °. The size of the square shape 32a is arbitrary depending on the width of the tape, but is preferably 1.5 to 8 mm. The number of repetitions of the square shape 32a is 1 to 3.
It is preferably 0. In the present embodiment, the above θ
Is 45 °, and the size of the square shape 32a is
It is 3.5 mm and the number of repetitions is 10.

As described above, by forming the parallelogram shape into the square shape 32a, the square shape 32a can be arranged isotropically in the longitudinal direction and the width direction of the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium 1. A multicolor thermal transfer recording medium capable of printing multicolor characters with a high sense of unity is obtained. In addition, the square shape 3
When the arrangement of 2a is continuously arranged in each diagonal direction, the effect of forming the above square becomes more remarkable, and the pattern is different on the front, back, left, and right of each square, so characters are printed. In this case, it is difficult to recognize rectangles in addition to the dividing lines, so-called mosaic-shaped multicolored characters are obtained, and the design effect of more multicolored printing is improved.

Further, the area of the overlapping portion of the square shape 32a (parallelogram shape) (the area that can be assumed to be overlapping, that is, the rectangular shape surrounded by the dotted line in FIG. 1) has an area of the square shape. It is preferably 1/10 to 1/2 of the area, and more preferably 1/10 to 1/3. By setting the area of the overlapping portion of the square shapes 32a within the above range, the square shapes 32 of the same size can be obtained.
Despite the repetition of a, the pattern has a plurality of figures of different sizes, and a mosaic-like multicolor character with a higher sense of unity can be obtained.

The ratio of the length L of each side of the square shape 32a (parallelogram shape) to the width W of the base material 2 is preferably 0.1 or more and less than 1, preferably 0.1. ~
More preferably, it is 0.8. By setting the above ratio within the above range, even if there are character divisions, there will be sides parallel and perpendicular to the feeding direction of the transfer material and having different lengths. With, it is possible to obtain a multicolored character in which the dividing line is difficult to be recognized and a sense of unity is substantially obtained.

Further, in the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium 1 of the present embodiment, the recording layer 3 further has a third colored portion 3c, and the third colored portion 3c has the above-mentioned first colored portion 3c. And the second
Has a color different from that of the colored portions 3a, 32b of the
The colored portion 3b has the same shape. That is, the third colored portion 3c has a large number of square shapes 33a having the same parallelogram shape, each side having a length shorter than the width of the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium 1, and one side thereof having the multicolor thermal transfer recording. The medium 1 is formed so as to be parallel to the longitudinal direction of the medium 1 and to be partially polymerized. As shown in FIG. 1, the square shapes 33a are the same and are continuously arranged in each diagonal direction (one diagonal direction), and the square shapes 33a adjacent to each other partially overlap each other. The repeating unit 33 is formed in a striped shape having zigzag-shaped left and right sides, and the longitudinal direction of the repeating unit 33 is the longitudinal direction of the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium 1. It is formed to be inclined with respect to the direction. The repeating unit 33 is arranged at a predetermined interval in the longitudinal direction of the medium 1 to form the third colored portion 3c.

Here, the second and third colored portions 3b,
The "predetermined interval" in which the repeating units 32 and 33 forming 3c are arranged is not particularly limited as long as the integrity of characters is not impaired when multicolor printing is performed.
It is preferable to use a distance that does not require a high degree of phase matching during manufacturing.

The second colored portion 3b and the third colored portion 3c are, as shown in FIG. 2, the first colored layer 31 provided on the entire surface of the base material 2, respectively. 'above,
The second colored layer 32 'and the third colored layer 33' are formed and provided in a shape corresponding to the shapes of the second and third colored portions 3b and 3c. That is, the first colored portion 3a
Is provided on a portion other than the portion where the second and third colored layers 32 ′ and 33 ′ are provided on the first colored layer 31 ′, that is, the second and third colored layers 32 ′ and 33 ′ are provided. Not
The portion where the first colored layer 31 ′ is exposed on the surface corresponds to this. In addition, the second and third colored portions 3b and 3c
Are formed in a portion where the first colored layer 31 ′ and the second colored layer 32 ′ overlap and a portion where the first colored layer 31 ′ and the third colored layer 33 ′ overlap, respectively. ing.

Next, materials for forming the base material, the recording layer and the like will be described. As the base material, a film or paper used in a general thermal transfer recording medium can be used without particular limitation. In addition, the above-mentioned base material may be subjected to a usual back surface treatment which is applied to a usual thermal transfer recording medium.

In addition, the above-mentioned first to first forming the recording layer
Each of the three colored layers is a layer containing a colorant and a heat-meltable binder, and is formed by applying a colored coating material containing the colorant and the heat-meltable binder onto the base material. Examples of the colorant include general dyes and pigments used in ordinary thermal transfer recording media. Examples of the heat-fusible binder include binders that are commonly used in ordinary thermal transfer recording media and are composed of ordinary resins, waxes, tackifiers, fillers and the like.

The mixing ratio of the colorant and the heat-meltable binder in the first to third coloring layers is 1 to
It is preferably 8: 9 to 2.

The colored coating material is obtained by dissolving the colorant and the heat-fusible binder in a solvent such as toluene or methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), and the amount of the solvent used is The amount is preferably 100 to 900 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of the colorant.

The first to third colored layers may contain the colorant and the heat-fusible binder, but may further contain a filler, a coating surface quality improver, an antiblocking agent, etc. Additives used in the medium can also be added. The color of the first colored layer, the second colored layer, and the third colored layer is preferably one color selected from the group consisting of yellow, magenta, and cyan. That is, for example, when the color of the first colored layer is yellow, the color of the second colored layer is magenta or cyan, and the color of the third colored layer when the color of the second colored layer is magenta. The color is preferably cyan.

If desired, an adhesive layer provided on a general thermal transfer recording medium can be provided on the recording layer. Examples of the adhesive layer include commonly known adhesive layers composed of ordinary resins, waxes, tackifiers, fillers and the like.

A peeling layer 4 is provided between the base material 2 and the recording layer 3.

The release layer is preferably composed of a component having a lower melt viscosity than the recording layer, and specific examples thereof include a layer containing a low melting point component and a film quality improving material. It is formed by applying a release layer coating material containing components, the film quality improving material and a solvent to the surface of the base material.
Examples of the low melting point component include general waxes. Examples of the film quality improving material include resins such as ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA).

The mixing ratio of the low melting point component and the film quality improving material is such that the low melting point component: the film quality improving material = 99-5.
It is preferably from 0: 1 to 50.

Examples of the solvent in the release layer coating material forming the release layer include toluene and methyl ethyl ketone, and the amount thereof is 100 to 900 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the solid content. Is preferred.

Further, in the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium of the present invention, the recording layer is coated with the above colored coating material by a method such as a gravure coating method or a screen coating method in the same manner as a general thermal transfer recording medium. It can be manufactured by forming it. Further, as in the method of manufacturing a recording medium for serial thermal transfer recording, a method of forming the recording layer or the like on a wide base material and then cutting it into a predetermined width can be used. At this time, it is possible to cut so that a part of the square shape is divided, but since there are more sides with different lengths in the feeding direction of the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium in the pattern, the characters can be visually observed. It is possible to print characters and figures that have a more integrated feeling because the or graphic dividing line is more difficult to recognize.

Further, the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium of the present invention can be used as it is, in a commercially available printer for a word processor or a personal computer, equipped with a serial head type melting thermal transfer recording apparatus. Further, the multicolor character obtained by the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium of the present invention is not particularly limited, and characters formed by monochrome character data generated by the font data or the external character creating function on a word processor or a personal computer. And so on.

Next, another embodiment of the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. here,
FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a second form of the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a third form of the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a fourth mode of the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium of the present invention.
Note that, in the following description, only the points different from the above-described first mode will be described, and for the points that are not particularly described, the description in the above-described first mode is appropriately applied.

In the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium 1 of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the recording layer 3 has the first and second colored portions 3a,
3b only, that is, the third colored portion 3c described above.
The third embodiment is the same as the above-mentioned first embodiment except that is not provided. That is, the parallelogram shapes are the same square shapes 32a, the square shapes 32a are continuously arranged in the respective diagonal directions, and the square shapes 32a adjacent to each other are partially overlapped and arranged. As a result, the repeating unit 32 is in the form of a strip having left and right sides formed in a zigzag shape, and its longitudinal direction is inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction of the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium 1. Has been formed.

In the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium 1 of the third embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the recording layer 3 has the first and second colored portions 3a,
3b, that is, the third colored portion 3c is not provided, and the parallelogram shapes are the same square shape 32a as shown in FIG. 4, and the square shape 32a is , Are in contact with each other and are continuously arranged in the respective diagonal directions. That is, the square shapes 32a adjacent to each other are arranged so that the vertices of both are in contact with each other. A straight line connecting the diagonal lines of each square shape 32a is formed so as to be inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction of the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium 1.

In the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium 1 of the fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the recording layer 3 has the first and second colored portions 3a,
3b only, that is, the third colored portion 3c is not provided, and the parallelogram shape is a rectangular shape 32a, and the rectangular shape 32a is arranged at a predetermined interval. ing. That is, the rectangular shapes 32a are arranged in two rows in the width direction of the base material 2 and at predetermined intervals in each row to form the second colored portion 3b. Here, it is preferable that the "predetermined interval" is 1.5 to 15 mm in the longitudinal direction of the base material 2 and 0.3 to 3 mm in the lateral direction.

The multicolor thermal transfer recording medium of the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned form, and various changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the parallelogram shapes described above may be different in color or different in shape or size. Further, it may be a shape other than a square or a rectangle, for example, a rhombus or the like. Moreover, in the above-mentioned form, although the 1st coloring part was illustrated and demonstrated as what was not made into a specific shape, it can also be made into the same shape as the said 2nd coloring part. The pattern of the recording layer can be formed by a combination of a colored rectangle on a colorless background, a colored rectangle after a colored background, or a colored rectangle on a colored background.

[0039]

EXAMPLES Next, the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium of the present invention will be described more specifically by way of Examples and Comparative Examples, but the present invention is not limited to these.

[Example 1] The back surface of a substrate made of a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film was back-treated with a silicon-based back-treatment agent, and the surface was made of polyethylene wax and an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer. The release layer coating material was applied to form a release layer. Then
An ink composed of a yellow pigment, an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, and a polyamide resin is uniformly applied on the entire surface of the release layer using a gravure coating machine equipped with a solid plate to form a first colored layer. After formation, an ink consisting of a cyan pigment, an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer and a polyamide resin,
Coating is performed using a gravure coater equipped with a rectangular engraved plate having a short side of 5 mm and a long side of 10 mm to form a second colored layer, and a first colored layer as shown in FIG. And a second colored portion were formed to form a recording layer. Then, the base material on which the recording layer was formed was cut into a width of 12.7 mm along the longitudinal direction of the formed parallelogram shape to obtain a multicolor thermal transfer recording medium shown in FIG.

Regarding the obtained multicolor thermal transfer recording medium, a commercially available word processor (trade name of "Darwin G900ST",
It is attached to Casio Co., Ltd., and character data is generated by the built-in font, and printing is performed to obtain multicolored characters of different character sizes (72 points, 36 points, 12 points). Visual evaluation was performed according to the evaluation criteria. The results are shown in [Table 1]. [Evaluation Criteria] The sense of unity is that the obtained multicolored characters visually determine whether or not they have a design effect without losing the appearance of the characters, and the design effect is achieved without losing the appearance of the characters. The case where it was playing was marked with ◯, and the case where it was not playing was marked with x. Regarding the feeling of mosaic, it was visually judged whether or not the obtained multicolored characters formed a mosaic-like design, and when formed, it was evaluated as ◯, and when not formed, as ×.

[Example 2] As a plate for forming the second colored layer, a rectangular engraving was made into a square having a side of 2 mm square, and the diagonal line of the square was one continuous straight line. A multicolor thermal transfer recording medium having a recording layer formed in the pattern shown in FIG. 4 was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the rectangular engraving was arranged so that the vertices of adjacent squares were in contact with each other. The obtained multicolor thermal transfer recording medium was evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1. At this time, the cutting of the base material is
It carried out along the advancing direction of a base material. The results are shown in [Table 1].

[Embodiment 3] As a plate for forming the second colored layer, squares of 4 mm square were repeatedly formed in a diagonal direction of each square so that 1/10 of the areas thereof overlap each other. A recording medium having the pattern shown in FIG. 3 was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a plate engraved with the pattern was used.
Evaluation was performed in the same manner as in Example 1. At this time, the cutting of the base material was performed along the traveling direction of the base material. The results are shown in [Table 1].

[Example 4] As a plate for forming the second colored layer, squares of 3.5 mm square were repeatedly formed in a diagonal direction of each square so that ¼ of their areas overlap each other. A substrate on which the first and second colored layers were formed was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the plate engraved with the obtained pattern was used. Then, an ink composed of a magenta pigment, an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, and a polyamide resin is placed so as to be positioned between the second colorings so that squares of 3 mm square are overlapped with each other by 1/4 of the area. Then, a third colored layer was formed using a plate engraved with a pattern repeatedly formed in the diagonal direction of each square, and cut in the same manner as in Example 1 (note that the cutting of the substrate was Then, a multicolor thermal transfer recording medium was obtained in which the first to third colored portions shown in FIG. 1 were formed. The obtained thermal transfer recording medium was evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1. The results are shown in [Table 1].

[Example 5] A multicolor thermal transfer recording medium was obtained in the same manner as in Example 4 except that the cutting width was set to 6.35 mm, and was evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1. The results are shown in [Table 1].

[Embodiment 6] The length of one side of a square is 1 mm.
A multicolor thermal transfer recording medium was obtained in the same manner as in Example 2 except for the above, and evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1. The results are shown in [Table 1].

[Comparative Example 1] The same procedure as in Example 1 was carried out except that a plate having a striped pattern with a width of 200 mm was formed in the vertical direction of the substrate as a plate for forming the second colored layer. Figure 6
As shown in, the first and second colored portions 31, 32 multicolor thermal transfer recording media were obtained, and the obtained multicolor thermal transfer recording media were evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1. [Table 1]
Shown in In the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium of this example, the length of one side of the second colored portion is longer than the width of the medium.

Comparative Example 2 Example 1 was repeated except that a plate having a striped pattern of 10 mm width formed at an angle of 45 ° with respect to the substrate was used as the plate for forming the second colored layer. In the same manner as in FIG. 7, as shown in FIG.
2 A multicolor thermal transfer recording medium was obtained, and the obtained multicolor thermal transfer recording medium was evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1. The results are shown in [Table 1]. In the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium of this example, the length of one side of the second colored portion is longer than the width of the medium.

[0049]

[Table 1]

As is clear from the results shown in [Table 1],
It can be seen that the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium of the present invention ensures a sense of unity of characters in a character size that is normally used. Further, depending on the character size, the mosaic effect is excellent and the design effect is high, and this effect is particularly remarkable in the case where each colored portion is formed in the shape shown in FIG.

[0051]

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The multicolor thermal transfer recording medium of the present invention can easily perform multicolor printing with a printing time equivalent to that of ordinary monochromatic printing and by a simple operation, and further provides a character with a sense of unity. It can be printed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a multicolor thermal transfer recording medium of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a II-I of the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium shown in FIG.
It is I sectional drawing.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a second mode of the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a third mode of the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a fourth mode of the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a multicolor thermal transfer recording medium of a comparative example.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a multicolor thermal transfer recording medium of a comparative example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Multicolor thermal transfer recording medium 2 Base material 3 Recording layer 3a 1st colored part 3b 2nd colored part 3c 3rd colored part 4 Release layer

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A multi-color thermal transfer recording in which a recording layer capable of melt thermal transfer, which is formed by arranging at least a first colored portion and a second colored portion having different colors, is provided on a substrate. In the medium, at least one of the first and second colored portions is formed by a large number of parallelogram shapes having the same or different lengths of which sides are shorter than the width of the base material. The parallelogram shapes are arranged such that one side thereof is parallel to the longitudinal direction of the base material, and are arranged so as to be in contact with each other, partially overlap with each other, or spaced at a predetermined interval. A multicolor thermal transfer recording medium characterized by the above. 2. The parallelogram shape forms a plurality of repeating units, and the repeating units are arranged in plural units at predetermined intervals.
The described multicolor thermal transfer recording medium. 3. The multicolor thermal transfer recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the parallelogram shapes are continuously arranged in a diagonal direction. 4. The parallelogram shapes are arranged so that a part thereof is superposed, and the area of the superposed parts is 1/10 to 1/2 of the area of the parallelogram shape. The multicolor thermal transfer recording medium according to claim 1, wherein 5. The recording layer further has a third colored portion, and the third colored portion has a color different from those of the first and second colored portions. , A plurality of parallel or parallelograms whose lengths are shorter than the width of the multicolor heat transfer recording medium, and one side of which is parallel to the longitudinal direction of the multicolor heat transfer recording medium 2. The multicolor thermal transfer recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the multicolor thermal transfer recording medium is formed by being polymerized, adjacent to each other, or arranged at predetermined intervals.