JPH0985944A - Information sheet, manufacture and printing device thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the manufacturing method of an information sheet, the printed information of which is hard to be short of by rubbing, scratching or the like or which is excellent in abrasion resistance under the condition that clear information printing is realized by an ink jet system by employing printing sheet having rough surface or made of porous layer. SOLUTION: In order to manufacture this information sheet, after the predetermined information is printed with ink by an ink jet system on an ink accepting layer on a printing sheet 1 having the rough-surfaced or porous ink accepting layer 11, a coating layer made of light permeable ink is given on the ink accepting layer by means of a heat transfer system or the surface layer of the ink accepting layer is treated so as to be melted through a thermal head. Thus, since the light permeable protective film is efficiently attached onto the information printed part, the information sheet, the printed information of which is hard to be short of by rubbing, scratching or the like, is obtained by good production efficiency.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an information sheet suitable for forming an identification label or the like having a light-transmitting protective film on an information printing portion made of an ink formed by an ink jet method and having excellent scratch resistance, And a manufacturing method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known an information sheet by an ink jet printing method, which is a printing sheet having a rough surface or a porous layer, which is printed by ejecting ink from a tip of the printing sheet through a small nozzle. The reason for using a printing sheet having a rough surface or a porous layer is that the ink sprayed through the nozzles bleeds when the sheet has a smooth surface.

As described above, in printing by the ink jet method, it is preferable to use a printing sheet having a rough surface or a porous layer in order to perform clear printing, but because of this, the strength is poor, and rubbing or scratching occurs. As a result, there is a problem in that the print information is missing and scratch resistance is poor.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is intended to achieve a clear information printing by an ink jet method using a printing sheet having a rough surface or a porous layer, and at the same time, to prevent abrasion of the printed information due to rubbing or scratching. The problem is to develop a method for manufacturing an information sheet having excellent properties.

[0005]

According to the present invention, predetermined information comprising an ink is printed on an ink receiving layer of a printing sheet having a rough surface or a porous ink receiving layer by an ink jet method, and then thermal transfer is performed thereon. The present invention provides a method for manufacturing an information sheet, which comprises applying a coat layer made of a translucent ink by a method.

The present invention also relates to a printing sheet having a porous and heat-meltable ink receiving layer, after printing predetermined information of ink by an ink jet method on the ink receiving layer, the ink receiving layer of the ink receiving layer is printed. The present invention provides a method for manufacturing an information sheet, which comprises melting the surface layer through a thermal head.

【The invention's effect】

With the above structure, clear information printing can be achieved by the ink jet method through the printing sheet having the rough surface or the porous ink receiving layer, and the coat layer through the thermal head by the thermal transfer method. Can be efficiently attached to the information printing portion by applying the above or melting treatment of the porous surface layer, and an information sheet excellent in scratch resistance that does not easily lose print information due to rubbing or scratching can be efficiently produced. be able to.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The production method of the present invention comprises printing predetermined information of ink by an inkjet method on the ink receiving layer of a printing sheet having a rough surface or a porous ink receiving layer, An information sheet is obtained by applying a coat layer made of translucent ink on the top by a thermal transfer method.

Another method of the present invention is to print predetermined information of ink by an ink jet method on the ink receiving layer of a printing sheet having a porous and heat-meltable ink receiving layer, The surface layer of the ink receiving layer is melted through a thermal head to obtain an information sheet.

FIG. 1 illustrates the manufacturing process of the information sheet according to the present invention. According to this, the printing sheet 1 (a) is first printed in the printing mechanism section of the inkjet system through the nozzle 21 of the inkjet printer, and the predetermined information 3 including the ink 22 is formed on the ink receiving layer 11 of the printing sheet by the inkjet system. Is printed at (b).

Next, the printing sheet 1 on which the predetermined information 3 has been printed is printed by the thermal transfer type printing mechanism section (c), and the thermal head 4 and the ink sheet 5 are placed on the information printing section. The coat layer 6 made of the optical ink 52 is thermally transferred,
A light-transmitting protective film (6) composed of the coat layer is formed, and the intended information sheet 7 is obtained (d).

In the present invention, the ink jet printing process and the thermal transfer process via the thermal head can be performed as independent processes or as continuous processes. FIG. 2 exemplifies a continuous manufacturing method of information sheets by the above-mentioned method.

According to the above method, the label-forming printing sheet 1 is wound around the drum 8 via the liner 9.
Are sequentially fed out in a state where they are temporarily attached to the liner at a predetermined interval, and are introduced into a printing mechanism section of an inkjet system, and while passing therethrough, a predetermined amount of ink is formed on the printing sheet via the inkjet printer 2 through the inkjet printer 2. Information 3 is printed.

Then, the printing sheet on which the predetermined information 3 is printed is introduced into the subsequent thermal transfer type printing mechanism section, and the thermal head 4 and the thermal head 4 are provided on the information printing section of the printing sheet while passing therethrough. The coat layer 6 made of a translucent ink is thermally transferred through the ink sheet 5, and the translucent protective film (6) in a state where the translucent ink has penetrated into the rough surface or the surface layer of the porous ink receiving layer is formed. By being formed, the intended information sheet 7 is obtained.

Therefore, in the above-mentioned continuous system, the thermal transfer type printing mechanism via the thermal head is arranged by the printing apparatus arranged after the inkjet type printing mechanism in the production line of the information sheet, and the printing system is operated by the inkjet type. The printing step and the thermal transfer step via the thermal head are interlocked to proceed simultaneously, so that the information sheet can be obtained efficiently. As an ink jet type printing mechanism or a thermal transfer type printing mechanism via a thermal head that forms such a printing device, an appropriate one can be used according to the information sheet for the purpose of formation, and any known mechanism can be used. .

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 41 is a roller for pressing the ink sheet 5 against the thermal head 4, 53 is an ink sheet supply reel, and 54 is a used ink sheet take-up reel.

In the above-mentioned manufacturing method, when a printing sheet having a porous and heat-meltable ink receiving layer is used, the thermal head is used in the thermal transfer type printing mechanism section after the information printing by the ink jet method. Four
Even in the method in which the surface layer of the ink receiving layer 11 is subjected to the melting treatment through the transparent layer, the translucent protective film is formed on the information printing part (11) by the fusion of the surface layer due to the destruction of the porous structure as illustrated in FIG. 13 can be formed. Therefore, in this case, the light-transmitting protective film can be formed even by a method that does not use the ink sheet described above.

As described above, according to the present invention, the printing sheet 1 having the rough surface or porous ink receiving layer 11 has the information printing portion 3 made of the ink formed by the ink jet method on the ink receiving layer. In addition, an information sheet having a light-transmitting protective film made of the coating layer 6 made of a light-transmitting ink or the fusion-bonding layer 13 formed by melting the porous ink-receiving layer on the information printing portion is obtained.

The printing sheet used in the present invention may be a sheet having a rough surface or a porous ink receiving layer exposed on the surface. Therefore, either a rough surface or a porous sheet for conventional inkjet printing can be used. By the way, as a material for forming the ink receiving layer, for example, a porous material or a rough surface molding material made of a usual polymer such as a polyurethane polymer or a polyamide polymer, or a thermoplastic resin, and particularly a good heat-melting polyvinyl-based material And hot-melt type porous materials such as

The printing sheet may have any suitable form. By the way, examples thereof include a single-layer form composed of the ink receiving layer itself, a form composed of a laminated body of the ink receiving layer 11 and the reinforcing base material 12 as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, and a back surface as illustrated in FIG. That is, a form having the adhesive layer 14 on the surface opposite to the printing side can be mentioned. Reference numeral 15 is a separator, which is for temporarily attaching and protecting the adhesive sheet until the information sheet is adhered to the adherend via the adhesive layer 14.

The thickness of the ink receiving layer can be appropriately determined according to the form of the printing sheet and the purpose of use of the information sheet. Generally, it is 0.5 to 500 μm, especially 1 to 3 μm from the viewpoint of strength, penetrability of the ink forming the coat layer into the pores of the porous layer, and improvement of scratch resistance.
The thickness is 00 μm, especially 2 to 20 μm.

As described above, the ink receiving layer can be formed according to a conventional rough surface or porous sheet for ink jet printing. Generally, in the case of a porous material, the average pore diameter is 100 μm or less, especially 0.5 to 80 μm from the viewpoint of ink permeability by the inkjet method and clearness of formation information.
It should have pores of m, especially 5 to 50 μm. Further, the porosity, that is, the volume ratio of pores in the ink receiving layer is 3
% Or more, especially 5% or more.

The pores forming the porosity may exist as independent pores and / or continuous pores, but the porosity is 10 to 10 from the viewpoint of ink permeability due to the capillary phenomenon.
A continuous pore structure of 80%, especially 15 to 70% is preferable. Further, from the viewpoint of the sharpness of the formation information due to the suppression of bleeding, it is preferable to have holes having excellent perpendicularity to the plane of the ink receiving layer.

The above-mentioned ink receiving layer can be formed by an appropriate method. By the way, as an example, a stretch molding method of a film-like material, a method of removing the mixed fine particles from a film or coating layer containing fine particles for removal by elution treatment, a sintering method of fusing the powder under heating ( Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-66855) and the like.

On the other hand, when the ink receiving layer is composed of a rough surface, the degree of the rough surface can be based on the above-mentioned pore diameter and pore density of the porous material. The ink receiving layer having a rough surface can also be formed by an appropriate method. By the way, examples thereof include a method in which a film or a coating layer is perforated such as embossing, a method in which streak-shaped or grid-shaped line grooves are formed, and the like.

The ink receiving layer may contain various additives or agents. Examples thereof include colorants such as white pigments for the purpose of improving the contrast with the ink information to be applied, antioxidants for the purpose of improving the heat resistance, and the like. The ink receiving layer may be subjected to an appropriate surface treatment such as corona treatment, plasma treatment or chemical etching treatment for the purpose of improving ink permeability.

The reinforcing base material optionally attached to the ink receiving layer may be, for example, paper, non-woven fabric, cloth, metal foil or net, resin coating layer or film depending on the purpose of use of the information sheet. Appropriate ones such as By selecting the reinforcing base material, it is possible to appropriately adjust the physical properties such as flexibility such as curved surface adhesion and heat resistance. It should be noted that, if necessary, countermeasures such as improvement of the contrast with the ink information to be applied can be taken through the reinforcing base material.

Incidentally, examples of the above-mentioned paper include high-quality paper, art paper, natural paper such as coated paper, and polypropylene synthetic paper. Examples of the resin used for forming the film or the coating layer include cellulose-based resins such as ethyl cellulose and cellulose acetate, other types of polyethylene and polypropylene, olefin-based resins such as ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, polystyrene and polyvinyl chloride. Examples thereof include vinyl resins such as these, polyester resins such as polyethylene terephthalate and polyethylene naphthalate, polyurethane resins, polyamide resins, xylene resins, polyvinylidene chloride, polycarbonate, acrylic resins, polyarylate, and the like.

Further, for example, heat resistance of polyimide, polyether ether ketone, polyether sulfone, polyether imide, polysulfone, polyphenylene sulfide, polyamide imide, polyester imide, aromatic polyamide, polyparabanic acid, silicone resin, fluorine resin, epoxy resin, etc. UV curing of resin, epoxy acrylic resin, urethane acrylic resin, polyester acrylic resin, acrylic ester resin, alkyd acrylic resin, silicone acrylic resin, polyene / polythiol type spiran resin, aminoalkyd resin, etc. Examples include resin.

For forming an adhesive layer provided on the back surface of the printing sheet, if necessary, for example, rubber type, acrylic type, silicone type, vinyl alkyl ether type, polyvinyl alcohol type, polyvinyl pyrrolidone type, polyacrylamide type or cellulose. A suitable adhesive such as a system may be used.
The adhesive layer is intended to be attached to the adherend, and can be provided at an appropriate stage until it is attached to the adherend.
Therefore, it can be provided in advance on the printing sheet before the ink information is applied, or can be provided after forming the information sheet.

The adhesive layer may be provided by directly applying it to the printing sheet or the information sheet by an appropriate coating method such as a doctor blade method, or by forming an adhesive layer on the separator and applying the adhesive layer to the printing sheet or the information sheet. It can be performed by an appropriate method such as a method of transferring to. The thickness of the attached adhesive layer can be determined according to the purpose of use and is generally 1 to 500 μm.
m. The adhesive layer provided is preferably covered with a separator or the like to prevent contamination or the like until it is adhered to the adherend as described above.

The ink information can be applied to the ink receiving layer of the printing sheet by the ink jet method in the conventional manner. Therefore, as the ink, an appropriate ink for the ink jet system can be used. The information to be given is also arbitrary, and any information such as a print pattern, a picture pattern, a bar code pattern, or characters, figures, or symbols may be given. When forming an identification label, etc.,
It is preferable that a good contrast or a difference in color tone is formed between the printing sheet and the ink information.

After forming the above-mentioned ink information, in forming a coat layer to be applied on the information printing portion by the thermal transfer method, a transparent ink is formed on the supporting base material 51 as illustrated in FIG. 1C. An ink sheet provided with the layer 52 is used. As the translucent ink, an appropriate ink such as a wax-based ink for thermal transfer or a resin-based ink may be used. The translucent ink may contain a coloring agent such as a pigment, but it is necessary that the ink information of the lower part can be visually recognized when applied as a coat layer on the information printing section. It is preferable that the ink information has excellent light-transmitting property and ink information can be easily viewed.

The thickness of the translucent ink layer in the ink sheet, and therefore the thickness of the coat layer applied on the information printed portion, is improved by improving the scratch resistance by penetration into the holes of the ink receiving layer by thermal transfer. From the viewpoint of shear fracture during thermal transfer or good transferability, 0.2-20 μm, especially 1-1
5 μm, particularly 2 to 10 μm is preferable. The ink sheet can be formed, for example, by holding the translucent ink on a supporting base material such as a film or a cloth by a coating method, an impregnation method, or the like. As the supporting base material, for example, a usual material such as a resin film of polyester, polyimide, fluororesin or the like, a cloth made of fibers of polyamide, polyester or the like can be used.

The light-transmitting protective film composed of the coat layer is provided at least on the information printing portion, and is generally provided on the entire surface of the ink receiving layer on the printing side. Even when the surface layer of the ink receiving layer is melt-treated with a thermal head to form a translucent protective film composed of a fused layer without applying the coat layer composed of the translucent ink, The thickness and the attached state are the same as those of the light-transmitting protective film including the coat layer.

The information sheet of the present invention is provided with an identification mark such as a bar code on various articles such as ceramics, glass products, ceramic products, metal products, enamel products, resin products, and wood products, or the like. It can be preferably used for various purposes such as patterning. In particular, it can be preferably used for applications requiring abrasion resistance such as wiping with sand eraser, sweat, etc., and washing and wiping with solvent. The adherend may have any shape such as a flat plate shape or a container shape.

[0037]

【Example】

Example 1 A dimethylformamide solution containing 7.5% by weight of polyvinyl acetal resin was prepared, and it was applied on a white polyethylene terephthalate film having a thickness of 50 μm to a thickness of about 40 μm through an applicator, and the humidity was adjusted to 80%.
% Or more, and introduced into a steam tank maintained at a temperature of 2 to 6 ° C., about 1
After passing 0 minutes later, it was further washed with water at room temperature for about 10 minutes and dried to have an average pore diameter of 2 μm and a pore density of 20 million pieces / cm ² .
A printing sheet (ink receiving layer) made of a porous film having a thickness of 10 μm was obtained.

Next, a predetermined pattern is applied to one surface of the above printing sheet by a commercially available ink jet printer, and a commercially available resin-based translucent ink sheet is used on the upper surface of the printing sheet through a thermal head. The light-transmitting ink layer was thermally transferred and a light-transmitting protective film consisting of a coat layer having a thickness of 6 μm was attached to obtain an information sheet.

Example 2 After applying a predetermined pattern by an ink jet printer according to Example 1, an upper layer on the printing side of the printing sheet is melted through a thermal head to form a fusion layer having a thickness of 6 μm. A transparent protective film was formed to obtain an information sheet.

Comparative Example According to Example 1, an information sheet having an ink jet printer in which a predetermined pattern was applied was obtained. Therefore, this is of a type having no light-transmitting protective film on the surface.

Evaluation Test The readability of ink information (print appearance) and scratch resistance of the information sheets obtained in Examples and Comparative Examples were examined. For scratch resistance, an information sheet is adhesively fixed to a stainless steel plate via an adhesive layer, and the edge of the plastic plate is pressed against the information sheet to scratch it (load about 1 kg). In that case, whether the information sheet breaks or not I checked.

The above results are shown in the table below.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory sectional view of an example of a manufacturing process.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a continuous manufacturing method.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of an example of an information sheet.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an example of a printing sheet.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Printing sheet (11: Ink receiving layer 12: Reinforcing base material) 2: Inkjet printer 3: Ink information 4: Thermal head 5: Ink sheet (52: Translucent ink) 7: Information sheet (6: Coat layer 13: fusion layer; translucent protective film)

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A predetermined sheet of ink is printed by an ink jet method on the ink receiving layer of a printing sheet having a rough surface or a porous ink receiving layer, and then light-transmitted by a thermal transfer method. A method for producing an information sheet, which comprises applying a coat layer made of a functional ink. 2. A printing sheet having a porous and heat-meltable ink-receiving layer, after printing predetermined information of ink by an ink jet method on the ink-receiving layer, the surface of the ink-receiving layer is subjected to thermal treatment. A method for manufacturing an information sheet, characterized by performing a melting process through a head. 3. A printing sheet having a rough surface or a porous ink receiving layer has an information printing section made of ink formed by an ink jet method on the ink receiving layer, and a transparent sheet is provided on the information printing section. An information sheet having a light protective film. 4. The printing sheet according to claim 1, comprising a laminate of an ink receiving layer and a reinforcing base material. 5. The printing sheet according to claim 1, wherein the printing sheet has an adhesive layer on the back surface. 6. A printing apparatus comprising a thermal transfer type printing mechanism via a thermal head, which is subsequent to an inkjet type printing mechanism in an information sheet manufacturing line.