JPH09207428A - Three-dimensional image forming medium and three-dimensional image forming method using the medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a thermally expandable layer for maintaining sufficient optical density and excellent printing quality expanded sufficiently in an ink jet printer by providing an expandable layer to be expanded by heating and an ink image receiving layer on a support body so as to form a three- dimensional image forming medium. SOLUTION: A support body is coated with a coating having thermally expandable property. Further, it is coated with a coating which contains a resin having excellent ink receiving property, so that a three-dimensional image forming medium is formed. Next, after an image recording is performed by using the three-dimensional image forming medium and by means of ink jetting, it is irradiated with light and an expandable layer is expanded in accordance with the image recording, so that an excellent three-dimensional image can be obtained. For the expandable layer, thermally expandable resin particles such as polystyrene and polyamide resin can be used. The ink receiving layer is formed by coating the surface of the expandable layer with a resin having high ink image receiving property, for example, a polyvinyl alcohol and a polyacrylamide.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a novel stereoscopic image forming medium for forming a stereoscopic image by using an ink jet recording system in which ink is ejected as droplets for recording.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a medium capable of recording an image on the surface of a foamable sheet with an inkjet printer and further forming a stereoscopic image corresponding to the image recording by radiant heat.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a method for forming a three-dimensional image on a support, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 45-15528 describes a copy in which a heat-sensitive foaming agent is dispersed on a sheet and a foamed image is formed by a heat-sensitive copying machine. . Further, JP-A-52-41680 describes a method in which a colored pattern is printed on the surface of an expandable sheet, and then the foamed sheet is irradiated with radiant heat to be foamed and embossed. Further, in JP-A-54-89638, a base material is coated with heat-expandable microspheres obtained by microencapsulating a low boiling point vaporized substance with a thermoplastic resin, and a dark color portion is formed by electrophotography, and then a high-colored portion is formed. A method of illuminating a brightness lamp to form a stereoscopic image is described.

On the other hand, the ink jet recording system is one in which minute droplets of ink are ejected and adhered to a recording medium such as paper according to various operating principles to record images, characters, etc., and high speed, low noise, Features such as easy multi-coloring, high flexibility in recording patterns, and no need for development-fixing.
For recording devices such as various graphics including characters and color images,
In addition, it is rapidly spreading in various other applications. In addition, there is an increasing demand for using the inkjet recording method for forming the stereoscopic image.

However, in the method of Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 45-15528, the surface of the medium is a thermoplastic polymer, and the method disclosed in JP-A-52-52
In the method of No. 41680, the surface of the medium is a synthetic resin, and therefore, the ink-jet printing had a low density for sufficiently expanding the thermally expandable microspheres. Further, according to the method of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 54-89638, it is possible to form a dark color portion by electrophotography and foam it. However, in printing with an inkjet printer, the ink is bleeding on the surface of the medium or the optical density is high. Since it is low, the heat-expandable microspheres could not be sufficiently foamed.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the present situation, the present invention aims to sufficiently foam a heat-foamable layer in an ink jet printer in order to maintain sufficient optical density and good print quality. An object of the present invention is to provide a stereoscopic image forming medium that can be used.

[0006]

The inventors of the present invention have conducted various studies on a three-dimensional image forming medium, and as a result, by providing a thermally foamable layer and an ink image receiving layer on a support,
The present invention has been completed.

That is, a thermally foamable coating material is applied on a support, and a coating material containing a resin having a good ink image receptivity is applied to obtain a three-dimensional image forming medium of the present invention.

Further, after image recording is carried out by ink jet using the three-dimensional image forming medium of the present invention, light is irradiated to foam the foaming layer according to the image recording to obtain a good three-dimensional image.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The foam layer used in the present invention will be described. Thermally expandable resin particles can be used in the foam layer. The thermally expandable resin particles are, for example, polystyrene, styrene-acrylic acid ester copolymer, polyamide resin, polyacrylic acid ester, polyvinylidene chloride, polyacrylonitrile, hollow particles having a thermoplastic resin such as polymethylmethacrylate as a capsule wall. In addition, a volatile expansion agent such as isobutane or n-pentane is included and expands by heating. Specific examples thereof include Matsumoto Microsphere-F-20, F-30, F-4.
0, F-80 (manufactured by Matsumoto Yushi-Seiyaku Co., Ltd., trade name), EXPANCEL 551, 642 (manufactured by Kemanobel Co., Ltd., trade name).

As another method, a polymer material such as styrene resin, vinyl resin or synthetic rubber may be dissolved in a solvent such as xylene and a foaming agent may be added thereto. The polymer material used in this method may be any as long as it is solvent-soluble and has film-forming properties, but the above-mentioned thermoplastic resin is preferably used. As the foaming agent, there are inorganic type and organic type, for example, zinc peroxide, calcium peroxide, barium peroxide, sodium peroxide, sodium hydrogen carbonate, potassium hydrogen carbonate, calcium azide, diazoaminobenzene, Examples include azoisobutyrodinitrile, benzenesulfohydrazine, and dinitrosopentamethylenetetramene.

When the thermally expandable resin particles are used, it is preferable to use a binder in order to improve the adhesion to the support. As the binder, water-soluble polymers, polymers soluble in organic solvents, and the like can be widely used. For example,
Polyvinyl alcohol, modified polyvinyl alcohol, polyacrylic amide, vinyl acetate, oxidized starch, etherified starch, carboxymethyl cellulose, and cellulose derivatives such as hydroxyethyl cellulose, casein,
Gelatin, soybean protein, maleic anhydride resin, styrene-
Conjugated diene copolymer latex such as butadiene copolymer and methylmethacrylate-butadiene copolymer, acrylic polymer latex such as polymer or copolymer of acrylic acid ester and methacrylic acid ester, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer Vinyl-based polymer latex such as
Alternatively, functional group-modified polymer latexes with functional group-containing monomers such as carboxyl groups of these various polymers, aqueous binders such as thermosetting synthetic resins such as melamine resin and urea resin, polymethylmethacrylate, polyurethane resin, unsaturated Examples thereof include synthetic resin binders such as polyester resin, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer, polyvinyl butyral, and alkyd resin, and these are used in one kind or more.

The ratio of the thermally expandable resin particles and the binder is
A weight ratio of 20:80 to 90:10 is desirable.
If the amount of the heat-expandable resin particles is less than 20% by weight, the sufficient foaming effect cannot be obtained, and if it is more than 90% by weight, the effect is not significantly changed.

It is preferable to further add a pigment, an antioxidant, a dye, a surface active agent and the like to the foam layer within a range that does not impair the foamability.

The coating amount of the foam layer is 2 g / m on one side of the support.
^It is preferably ² or more and 100 g / m ² or less. If it is less than 2 g / m ² , sufficient foaming effect cannot be obtained, and 100 g / m
^Greater than ² does not significantly change the effect.

It is also possible to use a product in which the foamed layer is applied in advance. Specifically, there is a capsule paper (made by Matsumoto Yushi-Seiyaku Co., Ltd.).

Next, the ink image receiving layer will be described.

The ink image-receiving layer is provided by coating at least a resin having a high ink-receiving property on the surface of the foam layer. Specifically, for example, polyvinyl alcohol, modified polyvinyl alcohol, polyacrylic amide, polyvinyl acetate, oxidized starch, etherified starch, carboxymethyl cellulose,
Cellulose derivatives such as hydroxyethyl cellulose, casein, gelatin, soybean protein, maleic anhydride resin, styrene-butadiene copolymer, methyl methacrylate-
Conjugated diene copolymer latex such as butadiene copolymer, acrylic polymer latex such as polymer or copolymer of acrylic acid ester and methacrylic acid ester,
Vinyl-based polymer latex such as ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, or functional group-modified polymer latex with functional group-containing monomer such as carboxyl group of these various polymers, water-soluble binder such as melamine resin and urea resin , Aqueous emulsions, used as a mixture of one or two.

In the present invention, it is preferable to further add a pigment to the ink image-receiving layer for the purpose of enhancing color developability. As the pigment, a white pigment that is porous, has high ink absorbency, and enables clear color development is preferable. Specifically, amorphous fine powder silica, calcium carbonate, calcium silicate, pseudo-boehmite,
Magnesium carbonate, magnesium silicate, white carbon, organic pigments (plastic pigments) and the like can be mentioned.

Among them, amorphous fine powder silica having a high specific surface area and a high pore volume is preferable because of its good coloring property. In particular,
It is preferable that the BET specific surface area is 180 to 420 m ² / g and the BET pore volume is 0.5 to 1.8 ml / g. When the BET specific surface area and the BET pore volume are smaller than the above values, the solvent component and the dye component in the ink cannot be completely absorbed, and the ink may overflow on the medium surface or the dot diameter may increase. If it is larger than the above value,
The dot diameter becomes extremely small, and the density tends to decrease. The amount of the amorphous finely divided silica is preferably in the range of 30 to 90% by weight of the total coating solid content on at least one surface of the support. If it is less than 30% by weight, the absorption capacity of the ink is lowered and ink bleeding easily occurs. If the amount is more than 90% by weight, the image quality is good, but silica dust is seen.

Other white pigments may be used in combination depending on the purpose of use of the medium and the required performance of the printer. Examples of these white pigments include pigments generally used for paper coating, such as zeolite, diatomaceous earth, kaolin clay, calcined clay, talc, barium sulfate, titanium dioxide, zinc oxide and zinc carbonate. In addition, it is necessary to disperse these pigments uniformly in water in order to use them as paints.
For this purpose, it is preferable to add a usual dispersant such as sodium polyacrylate, phosphate, and a surfactant.

In addition to the above, additives such as a curing agent, a water-proofing agent, an antioxidant, an antiseptic, a coloring agent, a fluorescent whitening agent, an ultraviolet absorber, and a surfactant may be appropriately added to the ink image-receiving layer. I do not care.

The coating amount of the ink image-receiving layer is preferably 0.5 g / m ² or more and 10 g / m ² or less on the surface of the foam layer. 0.
If it is less than 5 g / m ^2, it is difficult to obtain a sufficient image density, and 1
Even if it is 0 g / m ² or more, there is no particular change in the effect.

The ink image-receiving layer of the present invention is formed by uniformly dispersing and dissolving the above-mentioned constituents in water by a usual method. As a dispersion method, a ball mill, an attritor,
It is preferable to use a dispersing machine such as a sand mill, a homomixer, a Microfluidizer (manufactured by Microfludex Co.), a nanomizer (manufactured by Nanomizer).

The viscosity of the coating liquid can be changed depending on the coating method, coating device, coating amount, and support, but generally the range of 80 cps to 5000 cps is preferable. 8
When it is lower than 0 cps, it is difficult to apply a predetermined amount of the coating liquid, and when it is higher than 5000 cps, the coated surface is not uniform, which is not preferable.

The support used in the present invention is a so-called synthetic paper obtained by converting ordinary natural pulp into paper, kenaf paper, plastic film sheet such as polypropylene, polyethylene, polyester, synthetic fiber, synthetic pulp and synthetic resin film into pseudo paper. Either paper or non-woven fabric may be used.

It is also possible to use a support in which an acrylic resin is applied to one surface of the support and foamed to form an adsorption layer. By applying this foaming process, even if the support is attached to an adherend such as a bulletin board or window glass, it can be easily peeled off from the adherend after use,
The support can be used repeatedly. The above-mentioned products are already provided. For example, it is commercially available under the trade names of Retaker (manufactured by Eiho Co., Ltd.) and PAPIRAL (manufactured by Dainippon Ink and Chemicals, Inc.), and these may be used as a support.

In the method for producing a three-dimensional image forming medium of the present invention, after the support is obtained, at least one layer of coating liquid for the foam layer is provided by using a coating device. As a coating method, a conventionally known air knife coater, die coater,
A blade coater, a gate roll coater, a bar coater, a rod coater, a roll coater, a gravure coater, a curtain coater or the like can be used. After coating, the coating liquid is dried by blowing hot air. The temperature, the air flow rate, and the time for drying vary depending on the support and the coating liquid used, but the temperature is preferably in the range of 60 ° C to 120 ° C.
If it is lower than 60 ° C, it takes a long time to dry, and if it is higher than 120 ° C, foaming of the heat-expandable resin particles is likely to occur.

After coating the foam layer, the ink image-receiving layer is similarly coated to obtain the three-dimensional image forming medium of the present invention. (Figure 1
-A) In the present invention, a back coat layer may be provided on the surface of the support opposite to the coated surface of the foam layer and the ink image-receiving layer. The composition of the back coat layer may be the same as or different from the composition of the foam layer and the ink image-receiving layer, and its coating amount, coating method and the like are not particularly limited.

The three-dimensional image forming method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The ink referred to in the present invention comprises the following colorant, liquid medium and other additives. Examples of the colorant include direct dyes, acid dyes, basic dyes, reactive dyes, and water-soluble dyes such as food dyes. The image portion to be foamed preferably forms an image in black, which has a wide absorption in the visible light region, and the foamability can be changed by providing a density difference. Even if an image is formed in a color other than black, it is possible to expand the foam by increasing the light irradiation time or adding an infrared absorbing dye.

As the liquid medium, water and various water-soluble organic solvents can be used.

The three-dimensional image forming medium of the present invention can be used not only by the ink jet recording method but also in any recording method using a liquid ink at the time of recording. As such a recording method, for example, a heat-fusible substance, a medium in which a heat-fusible ink mainly containing a dye or the like is applied on a thin base material such as a resin film, high-density paper, and synthetic paper, A thermal transfer recording method in which the ink is melted and transferred from the backside, a solid ink jet recording method in which the heat-fusible ink is heated and melted to form small droplets, and the ink is dissolved in a solvent. Examples include an ink jet recording method used, a recording method using a photosensitive pressure-sensitive donor sheet using microcapsules containing a photopolymerizable monomer and a colorless or colored dye or pigment, and the like. The common feature of these printing methods is that the ink is in a liquid state during printing. Liquid ink is hardened, solidified,
Alternatively, before fixing, the ink penetrates or diffuses in the depth direction or the horizontal direction of the ink receiving layer of the recording medium. Recording media for these various recording systems require absorptivity according to the respective systems, and there is no problem even if the stereoscopic image forming medium of the present invention is used as these recording media.

Further, the stereoscopic image forming medium of the present invention may be used as a recording medium for heating and fixing the toner of the electrophotographic recording system which is widely used in copying machines, printers and the like. (Fig. 1-B) When an image is formed on the ink image-receiving layer and then irradiated with light, the dark-colored part of the image, especially the black part absorbs more light and is heated. It expands to form a raised three-dimensional pattern. (FIG. 1-C) The light source used is preferably a strong light source such as a high brightness lamp. In normal use, it is preferable that the light is applied uniformly over the entire surface of the medium, so that the raised pattern can be raised over the entire surface of the medium at a height corresponding to the shading of the image.

[0034]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be specifically described below with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples as a matter of course. (Creation of Foam Layer) A expandable resin particles (Matsumoto Microsphere F30,
200 g of Matsumoto Yushi-Seiyaku Co., Ltd.) was added to 800 g of ethylene resin emulsion S401 (Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd.), and mixed by stirring. This was coated and dried on a fine paper of 85 g / m ² so that the dry weight was 40 g / m ² .

B xylene 200 g, n-butanol 200 g, barium sulfate 45 g, polyvinyl butyral 90 g, diazoaminobenzene 40 g The above composition was dissolved and dispersed and coated on a 180 μm PET surface in a dry thickness of 30 μm.

C expandable resin particles (Matsumoto Microsphere-F82,
20 g of Matsumoto Yushi-Seiyaku Co., Ltd., styrene polymer 4
0 g was added to 200 g of xylene, and the mixture was stirred and mixed. This was placed on a fine paper of 85 g / m ^{2 with} a dry weight of 3
The coating was dried so as to be 0 g / m ² .

D Preparation was carried out in the same manner as in Preparation Example C except that papillar (manufactured by Dainippon Ink and Chemicals, Inc.) was used instead of the fine paper of 85 g / m ² .

E capsule paper (Matsumoto Yushi-Seiyaku Co., Ltd.) was prepared. (Preparation of Ink Receiving Layer Coating Liquid) F Amorphous silica P-78A 25 g (P-78A BET specific surface area 350 m ² / g, BET pore volume 1.53 m ¹ / g) manufactured by Mizusawa Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. Binder ( Polyvinyl alcohol) 240 g of a 10% aqueous solution of PVA-117 manufactured by Kuraray Co., Ltd. The above silica was well dispersed in an aqueous binder solution.

G Polyacrylamide, manufactured by Hoshiko Kagaku Kogyo Co., Ltd., X-Coat P-170 1 g, Pensalkonium chloride Morin Kagaku Kogyo KK, cation 08B 9 g, ion-exchanged water 80 g The above composition was well stirred and mixed.

H Amorphous silica P-78A 380 g (P-78A BET specific surface area 350 m ² / g, BET pore volume 1.53 m1 / g) manufactured by Mizusawa Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. Water resistance agent (benzethonium chloride) Sankyo Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., high amine 162 280 g Water resistant agent (benzalkonium chloride) Morin Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., cation 08B 200 g Binder (polyvinyl alcohol) Kuraray Co., Ltd., 10% of PVA-117. Aqueous solution 2400 g Water (ion-exchanged water) 2600 g The aqueous dispersion of the above formulation was stirred with a stirrer for 30 minutes, and then dispersed by a harmonizer (manufactured by Nanomizer Co., Ltd.) at a pressure of 10 kg / cm ² .

I In the coating liquid H, 380 g of P-78F manufactured by Mizusawa Chemical Co., Ltd. was used instead of the silica P-78A. (P-78F BET specific surface area 390 m ² / g, B
ET pore volume 1.69 ml / g) The ink image-receiving layer coating liquids of FI are combined on the surface of the foamed layers of A to E in the combinations shown in Table 1 to form a three-dimensional image of the present invention. Created the medium.

An image was formed on the manufactured three-dimensional image forming medium by the following method.

Image recording is carried out by an inkjet printer (BJ Color Printer BJC-6 manufactured by Canon Inc.).
Using 00S, full-color images and characters were output by four colors of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black and various mixed colors.

The optical densities of solid printed portions of yellow, magenta, cyan and black were measured with a Macbeth densitometer RD-918.

3D image quality In a 5 cm square frame, black is used by the above ink jet printer and 9 lines (line thickness of about 0.5 mm) are printed at a 5 mm interval in a grid pattern by a printer to give a 3D image. After processing with a developing machine (manufactured by Minolta Co., Ltd.), the quality of the three-dimensional image was visually inspected to determine whether or not the grids could be faithfully recognized as three-dimensional, and the height of the raised portion was measured. The results are shown in Table 1.

[0046]

[0047]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a three-dimensional image forming medium capable of sufficiently foaming a heat-foamable layer while maintaining a sufficient optical density and a good printing quality in an ink jet printer.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing A, B, and C of a process of forming a stereoscopic image.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Office reference number FI technical display location B41M 7/00 B41M 5/26 S

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A three-dimensional image-forming medium, comprising a support and a foaming layer that fires when heated and an ink image-receiving layer. 2. The stereoscopic image forming medium according to claim 1, wherein the ink image receiving layer contains at least a pigment and a binder. 3. The stereoscopic image forming medium according to claim 2, wherein the pigment is amorphous fine powder silica. 4. The BET pore volume of the amorphous fine powder silica is 0.5 to 1.8 ml / g, and the BET specific surface area is 180 to.
The stereoscopic image forming medium according to claim 3, wherein the stereoscopic image forming medium is 420 m ² / g. 5. The three-dimensional image according to claim 1, wherein the support is a support on which an adsorption layer enabling repeated attachment / detachment is formed. Forming medium. 6. An image is recorded by an ink jet method using the stereoscopic image forming medium according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, and then light is irradiated to perform the image recording. A three-dimensional image forming method comprising foaming a foam layer.