JPH09295462A - Electrothermosensitive transfer medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To secure a definite printed pattern without any flow of print even though thermal laminating for protecting print is performed by enabling rough paper to be printed on by a method wherein a metallic film layer, a peeling layer, and an ink layer are laminated in this order, and the ink layer contains respective specific amounts of resin, pigment, and wax. SOLUTION: At first as a base material, for example, a polycarbonate film having conductivity is used, and aluminum is vapor deposited on its one side to form a metallic film layer. Then, coating liquid containing preferably a ketone resin and/or ethylene acrylic resin is applied onto the metallic film layer by a ratio of 0.5-2g/m<2> with a gravure coater or the like, which is dried to form the peeling layer. Then lastly coating liquid containing 35-70wt.% of resin, 15-30wt.% of pigment, and 20-45wt.% of wax is applied by 1.5-5g/m<2> onto the formed peeling layer with the gravure coater or the like, and dried to form an ink layer. Thereby, an electrothermosensitive transfer medium is manufactured.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric heat-sensitive transfer medium, and more specifically, it can perform excellent printing on rough paper and does not deteriorate print quality even when thermal lamination is performed on the print. The present invention relates to an electrically conductive heat-sensitive transfer medium capable of ensuring a clear print pattern.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, thermal transfer printers have become widespread because they are capable of high-speed printing with low noise. There are several types of thermal transfer ribbons used in thermal transfer printers, and in particular, thermal transfer ribbons that can print on low-smoothness papers including plain papers, so-called rough papers, are attracting attention. On the other hand, in recent years, in order to protect the print, a protective layer is often laminated on the print by heat.

Among the thermal transfer ribbons, the thermal transfer ribbon which is transferred by the thermal energy of a thermal printer or the like has conventionally employed a two-layer structure of a peeling layer mainly composed of wax and an ink layer mainly composed of resin. This peeling layer is transferred onto the material to be transferred together with the ink layer transferred at the time of transferring the print. However, in this type, when heat lamination is performed on the formed print, there is a problem that the wax in the release layer is melted in the ink by the heat and the print pattern flows.

There is also another type of thermal transfer ribbon,
The energized heat-sensitive transfer ribbon that uses heat generated by electric resistance also has the same structure as described above, and therefore, when thermal lamination is performed, the print pattern still flows.

On the other hand, an electrically conductive heat-sensitive transfer ribbon used for printing on a plastic film is one which does not contain wax in both its release layer and ink layer. For this reason, the melt viscosity of the ink is extremely high, and unlike the above-mentioned thermal transfer ribbon, the printed pattern does not flow even when thermal lamination is performed. However, when printing is performed on rough paper, voids and the like are generated in the printing, and there is a problem that good printing cannot be performed on rough paper.

[0006]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has good printability on rough paper, and printing is performed even when thermal lamination is performed to protect printing. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrically-conductive heat-sensitive transfer medium capable of ensuring a clear print pattern without the flow of ink.

[0007]

In the heat-sensitive transfer medium of the present invention, a metal thin film layer, a release layer and an ink layer are laminated in this order on a substrate, and the ink layer contains 35 to 70% by weight of a resin. , 15 to 30% by weight of pigment and 20 to wax.
It is characterized by containing 45% by weight.

As the base material of the electrically-conductive heat-sensitive transfer medium of the present invention, those conventionally used as the base material can be used without particular limitation. For example, carbon, a polycarbonate film in which a conductive substance such as metal powder is dispersed,
Examples thereof include a polyimide resin film, a polyimide amide resin film, and a silicone resin film. Particularly, a conductive polycarbonate film is preferable. Further, the surface electric resistance value of the substrate is preferably 450 to 700Ω in consideration of the electrical conductivity to the metal thin film layer.

As the metal thin film layer, those conventionally used as the metal thin film layer of the heat-sensitive transfer medium can be used without particular limitation. For example, a metal vapor deposition layer formed by vapor deposition of aluminum, copper, zinc or the like or a thin film formed using a high resistance material such as zinc dioxide or aluminum oxide and a conductive material such as titanium, aluminum, copper, gold or zinc. Is mentioned. In particular, the aluminum vapor deposition layer
It is preferable in terms of price, layer stability, etc. In that case, the thickness is 3
It is preferably 50 to 450. The surface electric resistance value is preferably 0.4 to 1.2Ω. When the surface electric resistance value is less than 0.4Ω, the amount of heat generation is too large to form a good transfer pattern, and it becomes difficult to form the metal thin film layer.
If it is larger, the amount of heat generation is too small to form a good transfer pattern.

The release layer preferably contains a resin.
As the resin contained in the release layer, a ketone resin, an ethylene acrylic resin, a polyamide resin, a polyacrylic resin,
Conventional heat-meltable resins such as polyvinyl acetate resin can be used without particular limitation. Particularly, a ketone resin and an ethylene acrylic resin are preferable. The coating amount of the release layer was 0.
It is preferably 5 to ² g / m ² . Further, if necessary, a filler such as an organic filler or alumina, or wax may be added.

As the resin contained in the ink layer, a conventional heat-melting resin such as a ketone resin, an ethylene acrylic resin, a polyamide resin, a polyacrylic resin or a polyvinyl acetate resin can be used without particular limitation. In particular, ethylene acrylic resin is preferable. As the pigment contained in the ink layer, conventional pigments such as carbon black and titanium oxide can be used without particular limitation. As the wax contained in the ink layer, conventional waxes such as carnauba wax and microcrystalline wax can be used without particular limitation.

The ink layer contains 35 to 70% by weight of resin, 15 to 30% by weight of pigment, and 20 to 45% by weight of wax. If the proportion of resin or pigment is higher than this proportion or the proportion of wax is smaller than this proportion, good printing cannot be performed due to the occurrence of voids and the like. Further, when the proportion of the resin is less than the above proportion, the heat resistance of the transferred print pattern is not sufficient, and the print pattern may flow during thermal lamination. Further, if the proportion of the pigment is smaller than the above proportion, sufficient printing density cannot be obtained. The coating amount of the ink layer is preferably 1.5 to 5 g / m ² .
Further, if necessary, a filler such as an organic filler or alumina may be added.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The electrically conductive heat-sensitive transfer medium according to the present invention can be manufactured as follows. First, as a base material, for example, a polycarbonate film having conductivity is used, and aluminum is vapor-deposited on one surface of the film to form a metal thin film layer. Then, a coating solution preferably containing a ketone resin and / or an ethylene acrylic resin is applied onto the metal thin film layer at a rate of 0.5 to ² g / m ² by a gravure coater or the like and dried to form a release layer. Form. Finally, a coating solution containing 35 to 70% by weight of resin, 15 to 30% by weight of pigment and 20 to 45% by weight of wax is applied to the formed release layer by a gravure coater or the like at 1.5 to 5 g / m 2. ² Apply and dry to form an ink layer. In this way, the electrically conductive thermal transfer medium of the present invention can be manufactured.

[0014]

【Example】

[Example 1] An aluminum vapor deposition layer was formed on one surface of a macro hole (conductive polycarbonate film, manufactured by Bayer) having a thickness of 15 µm. The surface electric resistance value of this aluminum vapor deposition layer was 0.4 to 1.2Ω. A coating solution having the following composition (1) was applied onto the aluminum vapor deposition layer using a gravure coater at a rate of 1.0 g / m ² , and dried to form a release layer. Composition (1) K-90 (ketone resin, manufactured by Arakawa Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) 15% by weight isopropyl alcohol 85% by weight On the above-mentioned release layer, 2.0 g / m of a coating solution having the following composition (2) was applied using a gravure coater. ^It was applied at a ratio of ² and dried to form an ink layer, thus obtaining an electrically-conductive heat-sensitive transfer medium. Composition (2) Aqueous dispersion of carbon black 25% by weight (solid content: 20% by weight) Aquatex AC-540 55% by weight (ethylene-acrylic copolymer emulsion, solid content: 2
0% by weight, manufactured by Chuo Rika Kogyo Co., Ltd.) WEI-252 20% by weight (carnauba wax emulsion, solid content: 40% by weight, manufactured by Konishi Co., Ltd.) Note that the ink layer of this example contains 21% carbon black.
% By weight, 46% by weight of ethylene acrylic copolymer and 33% by weight of carnauba wax.

Comparative Example 1 An electrically conductive thermal transfer medium was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the composition (2) in Example 1 was replaced with the following composition (3). Composition (3) Aqueous dispersion of carbon black 25% by weight (solid content: 20% by weight) AQUATEX AC-540 70% by weight (ethylene acrylic copolymer emulsion, solid content: 2
0% by weight, manufactured by Chuo Rika Kogyo Co., Ltd. WEI-252 5% by weight (carnauba wax emulsion, solid content: 40% by weight, manufactured by Konishi Co., Ltd.) In addition, the ink layer of this comparative example contains 24 carbon black.
% By weight, 66% by weight of ethylene-acrylic copolymer and 10% by weight of carnauba wax.

Comparative Example 2 An electrically conductive thermal transfer medium was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the composition (2) of Example 1 was replaced with the following composition (4). Composition (4) Carbon black aqueous dispersion 38 wt% (solid content: 20 wt%) Aquatex AC-540 34 wt% (ethylene acrylic copolymer emulsion, solid content: 2
0% by weight, manufactured by Chuo Rika Kogyo Co., Ltd. WEI-252 28% by weight (carnauba wax emulsion, solid content: 40% by weight, manufactured by Konishi Co., Ltd.) It should be noted that the ink layer of this comparative example contains 30% carbon black.
% By weight, 26% by weight of ethylene acrylic copolymer and 44% by weight of carnauba wax.

Comparative Example 3 An electrically conductive thermal transfer medium was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the composition (2) in Example 1 was replaced with the following composition (5). Composition (5) Carbon black aqueous dispersion 6% by weight (solid content: 20% by weight) Aquatex AC-540 69% by weight (ethylene acrylic copolymer emulsion, solid content: 2
0% by weight, manufactured by Chuo Rika Kogyo Co., Ltd. WEI-252 25% by weight (carnauba wax emulsion, solid content: 40% by weight, manufactured by Konishi Co., Ltd.) The ink layer of this comparative example contains 5% by weight of carbon black, It contained 55% by weight of ethylene-acrylic copolymer and 40% by weight of carnauba wax.

[Evaluation Test] Example 1 and Comparative Example 1,
Using the energized heat-sensitive transfer media obtained in 2 and 3, the energized heat-sensitive transfer printer WD-02HP (manufactured by Sharp Corp.) was used to print on rough paper 4024 (manufactured by Xerox), and the state of the resulting print pattern was visually observed. I confirmed it. As a result, the print patterns printed with the electrically-conductive heat-sensitive transfer media of Example 1 and Comparative Example 2 were free of voids and had good print quality.
However, the print pattern printed by the electrically conductive heat transfer medium of Comparative Example 1 had many voids and the print quality was poor. In addition, the print pattern printed with the electrically conductive heat transfer medium of Comparative Example 3 is
The print density was too low for practical use.

Then, a thickness of 15% of tomide 535 (hot melt polyamide resin, manufactured by Fuji Kasei Co., Ltd.) was previously prepared.
A 38 μm thick polyester film T500 (manufactured by Diafoil Hoechst) coated with μm was heat laminated on each print pattern. The temperature during thermal lamination was 140 ° C. The state of the printed pattern after heat lamination was visually confirmed. As a result, the states of the print patterns printed on the electrically-conductive heat-sensitive transfer media of Example 1 and Comparative Example 1 were the same as those before the thermal lamination. However, the print pattern printed on the electrically-conductive heat-sensitive transfer medium of Comparative Example 2 is
Flowing due to heat during thermal lamination, it was not possible to distinguish the print after thermal lamination.

[0020]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION According to the heat-sensitive transfer medium of the present invention, it is possible to print on rough paper satisfactorily, and even if thermal lamination is performed to protect the print, the print does not flow and a clear print pattern is formed. Can be secured.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A metal thin film layer, a release layer, and an ink layer are laminated in this order on a substrate, and the ink layer contains a resin of 35 to 35.
An electric heat-sensitive transfer medium comprising 70% by weight, 15 to 30% by weight of pigment and 20 to 45% by weight of wax. 2. The electric heat-sensitive transfer medium according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is a conductive polycarbonate film. 3. The metal thin film layer has a surface electric resistance value of 0.4 to
The electrothermal transfer medium according to claim 1, which is a 1.2 Ω aluminum vapor deposition layer. 4. The electric heat-sensitive transfer medium according to claim 1, wherein the ink layer contains an ethylene acrylic copolymer. 5. The heat-sensitive transfer medium according to claim 1, wherein the release layer contains a ketone resin and / or an ethylene acrylic copolymer.