JPH10129128A - Thermal transfer image receiving body and thermal transfer recording method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a high quality, high density image at high sensitivity without lowering the density even in a thermal transfer recording image at a high density part by specifying the relationship between the grain size of hollow particle and the thickness of a resin layer. SOLUTION: The thermal transfer image receiving body comprises a resin layer containing hollow particles formed on a substrate, and resin layers including at least a coloring resin layer formed thereon. A relationship is specified between the grain size of hollow particle and the thickness of the resin layer such that; 0.5 × grain size of hollow particle<=thickness of the resin layer<=20μm. If the thickness of the resin layer is thinner than 0.5 × grain size of hollow particle, spreading of heat is blocked by the hollow particles when thermal transfer recording is performed at an intermediate or low density by applying an intermediate or low energy and a thermal transfer recording image has a sufficient density but the effect for blocking spread of heat can not be attained because the hollow particles are broken when thermal transfer is performed at a high density part by applying a high thermal energy. When the thickness of the resin layer exceeds 20μm, the effect for blocking spread of heat is deteriorated and the density is lowered at an intermediate or low density part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal transfer image receptor and a thermal transfer recording method, and more particularly to a thermal transfer image receptor and a thermal transfer recording method using a sublimation dye as a recording agent to obtain high-quality and high-density images with high sensitivity. Things.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-147364 discloses that a high-quality and high-density image can be formed with good thermal energy efficiency even on rough paper having an uneven surface by a thermal transfer recording method. As a possible thermal transfer image receiving sheet,
A thermal transfer image-receiving sheet is disclosed in which a resin layer including at least a dye receiving layer is provided on a base sheet, and the resin layer contains hollow capsules having a volume hollow ratio of 50% or more. According to this thermal transfer image-receiving sheet, since the dye-receiving layer has cushioning properties by including a hollow capsule in at least the resin layer containing the dye-receiving layer, the thermal transfer recording sheet carrying the sublimation dye on the surface of the support is subjected to thermal transfer image-receiving. When performing thermal transfer recording by bringing the thermal head into contact with the sheet and bringing the thermal head into contact with the back surface of the support, the adhesiveness between the thermal transfer recording sheet and the thermal transfer image receiving sheet is improved, and a high-quality image without white spots or the like is obtained. Further, when performing thermal transfer recording, diffusion of heat to the base sheet is prevented, so that thermal energy efficiency is improved, and a thermal transfer recorded image can be obtained with high sensitivity. However, since the thermal transfer image-receiving sheet containing the hollow capsule in at least the resin layer containing the dye receiving layer as described above, the hollow state of the hollow capsule may be destroyed by thermal energy when performing the thermal transfer recording of the high-density portion. However, there is a problem that the resin layer containing the hollow capsule is compressed, and the density of the thermal transfer recording image in the high density portion is reduced.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve such a problem and to provide a high-quality and high-density image without a decrease in density even in a thermal transfer recording image in a high-density portion. And to provide a thermal transfer recording method and a thermal transfer recording method.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to provide a thermal transfer image receiving member comprising a substrate, on which a layer containing hollow particles is provided, and a resin layer containing at least a dyeing resin layer provided on the layer. The thermal transfer image receiving member is characterized in that the particle size of the hollow particles and the thickness of the resin layer have the following relationship (1). Particle size of hollow particles × 0.5 ≦ thickness of resin layer ≦ 20 μm (1)

[0005]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Using a thermal transfer image receiving body, for example, a thermal transfer recording sheet carrying a sublimation dye on the surface of a support is brought into close contact with a dyeing resin layer of the thermal transfer image receiving body, and a thermal head is brought into contact with the back surface of the support. By applying thermal energy to the thermal transfer recording sheet and performing thermal transfer recording, a high-quality and high-density sublimation dye image is highly sensitive on the thermal transfer receiver without a decrease in density even in a high-density thermal transfer image. Can be formed.

When the thickness of the resin layer is “the particle diameter of hollow particles × 0.
If it is smaller than 5 ", when thermal transfer recording is performed in the middle and low density parts by applying medium and low heat energy, the heat transfer is prevented by the hollow particles, so that the density of the thermal transfer recorded image is good. When thermal transfer recording of a high density portion is performed by applying high thermal energy, the hollow state of the hollow particles is broken by the high thermal energy and the layer containing the hollow particles is compressed, so that the original effect of preventing thermal diffusion can be obtained. Without
The density of the thermal transfer recorded image decreases. Further, when the thickness of the resin layer exceeds 20 μm, the effect of preventing the diffusion of heat becomes inferior. A decrease in concentration occurs.

The particle size of the hollow particles is preferably 0.2 μm or more and 30 μm or less. If the particle size is less than 0.2 μm, sufficient cushioning and heat insulating properties cannot be obtained. Since a uniform hollow particle-containing layer cannot be obtained and uniform cushioning and heat insulation cannot be obtained, the image quality of a thermal transfer recorded image is reduced. In particular, when the particle diameter of the hollow particles is 1 μm or more and 15 μm or less, more sufficient cushioning properties and heat insulation properties can be obtained, and a flat hollow particle-containing layer can be formed.

[0008] The hollow particles preferably have a volume hollow ratio of 50% or more. If the volume hollow ratio is smaller than this, sufficient cushioning properties and heat insulating properties cannot be obtained. In particular, it is preferable to use hollow particles having a volume hollow ratio of 90% or more. In order to improve the difficulty of handling due to the low specific gravity of the hollow particles, for example, to disperse the hollow particles uniformly in the resin, the surface is coated with inorganic powder. It is preferable to use hollow particles having a large specific gravity.

As the hollow particles, for example, those obtained by microencapsulating a low boiling liquid such as butane or pentane with a resin or a copolymer such as polyvinylidene chloride, polyacrylonitrile, methyl methacrylate or the like can be used. When using hollow particles, there are cases where hollow particles that have been expanded in advance and cases where hollow particles in an unexpanded state are used are used. When recording, it is necessary to foam by heating. When unfoamed hollow particles are used and foamed by heating when preparing a thermal transfer receiver or performing thermal transfer recording, it is difficult to foam uniformly, and a flat hollow particle-containing layer cannot be obtained, so thermal transfer recording The image quality of the image may be deteriorated, and therefore, it is preferable to use hollow particles that have been foamed in advance. Examples of the inorganic powder that coats the hollow particles include calcium carbonate, talc, and titanium oxide.By attaching these to the surface of the hollow particles by heat fusion or the like, the hollow particles whose surfaces are coated with the inorganic powder can be used. Obtainable.

In order to provide a layer containing hollow particles on a substrate,
For example, the hollow particles as described above may be uniformly dispersed in a resin solution (a resin solution that does not dissolve the hollow particles), and the dispersion may be applied to a substrate and dried. Examples of the resin used for the layer containing hollow particles include polyester resin, polyvinyl alcohol resin, butyral resin, nylon resin, polycarbonate resin, urethane resin, acrylic resin, polystyrene resin, polysulfone resin, epoxy resin, melamine resin, and cellulose resin. These may be used alone or as a mixture of two or more, or may be used as a polymer thereof.

By using a resin soluble in an organic solvent used when forming a resin layer on the layer containing hollow particles as the resin of the layer containing hollow particles, the adhesive property between the layer containing hollow particles and the resin layer is improved. , And peeling of those layers can be prevented, and deterioration of image quality such as white spots can be prevented. In particular, by including an isocyanate compound in the layer containing the hollow particles, the adhesiveness can be further improved, and peeling between the layer containing the hollow particles and the resin layer can be better prevented. In order to contain the isocyanate compound in the layer containing the hollow particles, the resin solution for forming the layer containing the hollow particles contains the isocyanate compound,
The hollow particles may be uniformly dispersed in the resin solution, and the dispersion may be applied to a substrate and dried.

Further, as the resin of the layer containing the hollow particles,
For example, when coating the resin layer with an organic solvent, by using a resin that does not dissolve in the organic solvent, for example, a resin that dissolves in water, the hollow particles are formed when the resin layer is coated on the layer containing the hollow particles. The resin layer is clearly separated and laminated on the layer containing, so that the hollow particles can be prevented from coming out on the surface of the thermal transfer receiver, so that the occurrence of white spots and the like is prevented and the image quality is improved. Good sublimation dye images can be formed on thermal transfer receivers. In this case, in order to improve the adhesion between the layer containing the hollow particles and the resin layer, the resin in the resin layer is preferably a vinyl chloride resin or a cured resin of a polyester resin and an isocyanate compound, for example, vinyl chloride / acetic acid. It is preferable to use a cured resin of a vinyl vinyl alcohol copolymer and an isocyanate compound.

The resin layer including at least the dyeing resin layer provided on the layer containing the hollow particles may be a dyeing resin layer alone, or may be a barrier layer and a dyeing resin layer. A release layer or the like may be provided. In particular, by providing the barrier layer between the layer containing the hollow particles and the dyeing resin layer and separating the layer containing the hollow particles and the dyeing resin layer, the hollow particles appear on the surface of the thermal transfer receiver. Since the prevention is better, a sublimation dye image having good image quality without occurrence of white spots or the like can be formed on the thermal transfer image receptor.

The resin used for the dyeing resin layer is not particularly limited as long as it is a resin having a dyeing property to a sublimation dye. For example, polyester resin, polycarbonate resin, polysulfone resin, polystyrene resin, polyvinyl alcohol Resin, polyvinyl chloride resin, polyvinyl acetate resin, vinyl chloride / vinyl acetate copolymer, vinyl chloride / vinyl acetate vinyl alcohol copolymer, polyamide resin, polyurethane resin, styrene / acrylic copolymer, nylon resin, etc. Can be Among these, those mainly composed of a cured resin obtained by curing a vinyl chloride resin or a polyester resin with a curing agent such as an isocyanate compound as a main component are useful for dyeing a sublimation dye and dyeing a thermal transfer recording sheet carrying a sublimation dye. It has a good balance with the releasability from the resin coating layer and is very preferable.

In the dyeing resin layer, amino-modified silicone oil, alcohol-modified silicone oil, epoxy-modified silicone oil, alkyd-modified silicone oil,
A release agent such as unmodified silicone oil, a white pigment, a surfactant, an ultraviolet absorber, an antioxidant and the like can be contained.

The barrier layer can be formed of a resin, for example, a polyester resin,
Polyvinyl alcohol resin, butyral resin, nylon resin, polycarbonate resin, urethane resin, acrylic resin, polystyrene resin, polysulfone resin, epoxy resin, melamine resin, cellulose resin, and the like,
These may be used alone or as a mixture of two or more kinds, or may be used as a polymer thereof.

In order to form a dyeing resin layer, for example, the above resin is dissolved in an organic solvent together with a releasing agent and other materials as necessary, and the solution is applied to a layer containing hollow particles or a barrier layer. What is necessary is just to apply and dry. In order to form a barrier layer, for example, the resin may be dissolved in an organic solvent, and the solution may be applied on a layer containing hollow particles and dried. As the resin for the barrier layer, it is preferable to use a resin that can be used as a coating liquid that does not dissolve the lower layer when the barrier layer is formed on a layer containing hollow particles or the like. Further, the thickness of the barrier layer is preferably 1 μm or more and 20 μm or less. If the thickness is less than 1 μm, the layer containing the hollow particles cannot be uniformly coated, and if it exceeds 20 μm, the sensitivity in thermal transfer recording decreases.

As the substrate of the thermal transfer image receptor, polyolefin, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene terephthalate,
Examples include various resin films such as polystyrene, polymethacrylate, and polycarbonate, films obtained by subjecting these films to a process of giving white reflection, and pulp paper. When various resin films are used as the substrate of the thermal transfer image receiving body, the surface of the substrate is smooth, so that when a layer containing hollow particles and a resin layer are provided thereon, a flat resin layer is obtained. Although an image with good image quality without image unevenness can be formed on the resin layer, the touch as a thermal transfer image receiving body is not good. In addition, when pulp paper is used as the substrate of the thermal transfer image receptor, the touch as the thermal transfer image receptor is good, but since the surface of the substrate is not smooth, it is difficult to form a flat resin layer thereon. The image formed on the resin layer by the thermal transfer recording causes image unevenness, resulting in poor image quality.

In order to improve this point, as a substrate,
It is preferable to use a pulp paper coated on at least one side with a resin, and to provide a layer containing hollow particles and a resin layer on the surface coated with the resin, so that the thermal transfer image receiving member has a good feel and thermal transfer recording Accordingly, an image having good image quality without image unevenness can be formed on the resin layer. Examples of the pulp paper coated on at least one side with a resin include polyolefin-coated paper or pulp paper on which a film of polyolefin, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene, polymethacrylate, or polycarbonate is bonded.

Further, a back layer can be provided by using a conventionally known material on the surface of the substrate opposite to the surface provided with the layer containing the hollow particles and the resin layer, or both surfaces or one surface of the substrate can be matted, A heat and energy treatment for improving the adhesiveness can also be performed.

The thermal transfer image receptor of the present invention can be used in a conventionally known thermal transfer recording method using a sublimation dye as a recording agent. The relative speed of the thermal transfer recording sheet carrying the sublimation dye to the thermal transfer image receptor is 1 / n. (N> 1), that is, a thermal transfer recording sheet carrying a sublimation dye on the surface of a support is brought into close contact with a dyeing resin layer of a thermal transfer receiver, and a thermal head is brought into contact with the back surface of the support to perform thermal transfer. By applying thermal energy to the recording sheet and performing thermal transfer recording, the thermal transfer image receiving member is used in a thermal transfer recording method in which the speed of the thermal transfer image receiving member is faster than that of the thermal transfer recording sheet, so that a good image density can be obtained in both the medium-low density portion and the high density portion. A high quality sublimation dye image can be formed on a thermal transfer receiver with high sensitivity.

Further, by using the thermal transfer image receiving body of the present invention in the thermal transfer recording method, the running cost of thermal transfer recording can be reduced. Furthermore, by incorporating an isocyanate compound into the resin layer containing at least the dyed resin layer of the thermal transfer image receiving member used in the above thermal transfer recording method, fusion between the thermal transfer recording sheet and the resin layer of the thermal transfer image receiving member occurs in thermal transfer recording. A good recorded image can be formed on the thermal transfer image receiving member without performing.

[0023]

The present invention will be described below in more detail with reference to examples. In the examples, "parts" indicates parts by weight.

Example 1 Hollow particles having a particle size of 20 μm (trade name: Matsumoto Micros) were dissolved in a resin solution obtained by dissolving 10 parts of a polyester resin (trade name: Byron 200, manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.) in 25 parts of toluene and 65 parts of methyl ethyl ketone. Fair F-80GS
E, manufactured by Matsumoto Yushi Co .; specific gravity 0.024) 10 parts were dispersed to prepare a layer coating liquid containing hollow particles. Also, 25 parts of toluene and 65 parts of methyl ethyl ketone were added to vinyl chloride /
10 parts of a vinyl acetate copolymer (trade name: VYHH, manufactured by Union Carbide) and 0.1 part of amino-modified silicone (trade name: SF8417, manufactured by Toray Silicone Co., Ltd.) were dissolved to prepare a coating solution for a resin layer. Next, the layer coating liquid containing the hollow particles was applied to a thickness of 188 using a wire bar.
μm polyethylene terephthalate film (trade name:
Lumirror S10, manufactured by Toray Industries Co., Ltd.) and a drying temperature of 80
After drying at ℃ for 1 minute to form a layer containing hollow particles,
The coating liquid for a resin layer was applied on the layer containing the hollow particles using a wire bar, and dried at a drying temperature of 80 ° C. for 1 minute to form a 15 μm thick resin layer to prepare a thermal transfer image receptor.

Example 2 Hollow particles having a particle size of 10 μm (trade name: Matsumoto Microsphere F-80GS, manufactured by Matsumoto Yushi Co., Ltd.)
And a thermal transfer image receptor was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the thickness of the resin layer was changed to 9 μm.

Example 3 As hollow particles, hollow particles having a particle diameter of 20 μm (trade name: Matsumoto Microsphere MFL-100CSA, manufactured by Matsumoto Yushi Co., Ltd .; specific gravity: 0.24), wherein calcium carbonate is thermally fused to the surface of the hollow particles A thermal transfer image receptor was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that (1) was used. In this case, the specific gravity of the hollow particles was larger than in Example 1, and the uniform dispersion of the hollow particles in the resin solution and the application of the dispersion on the substrate were easier than in Example 1.

Example 4 Polyvinyl alcohol resin (trade name: K Polymer KM-
618, manufactured by Kuraray Co., Ltd.) 20 parts of hollow particles having a particle size of 4 μm (trade name: Matsumoto Microsphere R-24H, manufactured by Matsumoto Yushi Co., Ltd.) are dispersed in a resin solution in which 25 parts are dissolved in 50 parts of water. Was prepared. A thermal transfer image receptor was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the layer coating solution containing the hollow particles was used and the thickness of the resin layer was 3 μm.

Comparative Example 1 A thermal transfer image receptor was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the thickness of the resin layer was changed to 3 μm.

Comparative Example 2 A thermal transfer image receptor was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the thickness of the resin layer was changed to 30 μm.

Comparative Example 3 A thermal transfer image receptor was prepared in the same manner as in Example 2 except that the thickness of the resin layer was changed to 3 μm.

Comparative Example 4 A thermal transfer receiver was prepared in the same manner as in Example 2 except that the thickness of the resin layer was changed to 30 μm.

Comparative Example 5 A thermal transfer image receptor was prepared in the same manner as in Example 4 except that the thickness of the resin layer was changed to 1 μm.

Comparative Example 6 A thermal transfer image receptor was prepared in the same manner as in Example 4 except that the thickness of the resin layer was changed to 30 μm. on the other hand,
A thermal transfer recording sheet carrying a sublimation dye on a 6 μm thick polyethylene terephthalate film provided with a silicone cured resin film (1 μm thick) as a back layer, coated with the following ink layer coating liquid to a thickness of about 2 μm and dried to carry a sublimation dye. It was created. Coating solution for ink layer Polyvinyl butyral (trade name: BX-1, manufactured by Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd.) 2 parts Cyan dye (trade name: HSB-2207, manufactured by Mitsubishi Kasei Corporation) 2 parts Toluene 49 parts Methyl ethyl ketone 49 parts

Next, the thermal transfer image receiving body obtained in the above Examples and Comparative Examples is superimposed on the thermal transfer recording sheet, and a thermal head is brought into contact with the back layer surface of the thermal transfer recording sheet, and the heating energy of the thermal head is changed. Thermal transfer recording was performed, and the image density was measured for the high density part and the medium density part of the recorded image. Table 1 shows the results.

[0035]

[Table 1]

As is clear from Table 1, the thicknesses of the resin layers in the thermal transfer receivers of Comparative Examples 1, 3 and 5 are smaller than "particle diameter of hollow particles x 0.5", Is declining. Further, the thickness of the resin layer in the thermal transfer image receiving bodies of Comparative Examples 2, 4 and 6 exceeded 20 μm,
The image density of the middle density portion is low. On the other hand, the thickness of the resin layer in the thermal transfer image receiving bodies of Examples 1, 2, 3 and 4 is not less than “particle diameter of hollow particles × 0.5” and not more than 20 μm. Both show good image densities.

Example 5 In Example 1, after forming a layer containing hollow particles, 10 parts of polyvinyl alcohol resin (trade name: 205, manufactured by Kuraray Co., Ltd.) was dissolved in 90 parts of water on the layer containing hollow particles. A thermal transfer image receptor was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a resin solution was applied and dried to form a 3 μm-thick barrier layer, and a resin layer was formed on the barrier layer.

Example 6 In the same manner as in Example 1 except that 5 parts of an isocyanate compound (trade name: Coronate L, manufactured by Nippon Polyurethane Co., Ltd.) was added when preparing a coating liquid for a layer containing hollow particles. To produce a thermal transfer receiver.

Next, in Examples 1 and 4 and in Example 5 described above,
The thermal transfer image receiving body obtained in 6 and the thermal transfer recording sheet are superimposed, and a thermal head is brought into contact with a back layer surface of the thermal transfer recording sheet to perform thermal transfer recording, and occurrence of peeling of the resin layer from the layer containing the hollow particles. The presence or absence and the occurrence of white spots in the thermal transfer image were observed. Table 2 shows the results.

[0040]

[Table 2]

As is clear from Table 2, in the thermal transfer image receiving body of Example 1, the adhesiveness between the layer containing the hollow particles and the resin layer was good and the resin layer hardly peeled off. It is probable that white spots occurred due to the hollow particles having poor properties on the surface of the thermal transfer receiver. Further, in the thermal transfer image receiving body of Example 4, since the number of hollow particles entering the resin layer was reduced, the amount of hollow particles having poor dyeing / dyeing properties on the surface of the thermal transfer image receiving body was reduced, and white spots were considered to be reduced. Can be In the thermal transfer image receptor of Example 5, a sublimation dye image having good image quality without white spots can be formed on the thermal transfer image receptor, because a barrier layer is provided between the layer containing hollow particles and the resin layer. This is considered to be due to the fact that it was possible to prevent hollow particles having poor dyeing properties from coming out on the surface of the thermal transfer image receiving body by providing. In addition, in the thermal transfer image receiver of Example 6, by adding an isocyanate compound to the layer containing the hollow particles, the adhesiveness between the layer containing the hollow particles and the resin layer is improved, and no peeling of the resin layer occurs. Was.

Example 7 A thermal transfer image receptor was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that copy paper (trade name: Type 620, manufactured by Ricoh Company) was used as a substrate.

Example 8 Pulp paper coated with resin as a substrate (trade name: P
X3906, manufactured by Felix Schoelllerjr)
And a thermal transfer image receptor was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a resin layer was formed on the surface covered with the resin.

Next, the thermal transfer image-receiving members obtained in Example 1 and Examples 7 and 8 are superimposed on the thermal transfer recording sheet, and a thermal head is brought into contact with the back layer surface of the thermal transfer recording sheet to perform thermal transfer recording. Then, the occurrence of image unevenness in the thermal transfer image was observed. Further, the quality of the touch was examined for each of the thermal transfer receivers. Table 3 shows the results.
Shown in

[0045]

[Table 3]

As is clear from Table 3, in the thermal transfer image receiving body of Example 1, since a polyethylene terephthalate film was used as the base, a flat resin layer could be formed, and the thermal transfer recording provided a quality free from image unevenness. Although a good image can be formed on the resin layer, the feel is not good. In the thermal transfer image receiving body of Example 7, since the pulp paper was used as the substrate, the touch was good, but a flat resin layer could not be formed due to the unevenness of the pulp paper, and the recorded image formed by thermal transfer recording Image unevenness occurred. On the other hand, in the thermal transfer image receiving body of Example 8, since the pulp paper coated with the resin was used as the substrate, the thermal transfer image receiving body had a good touch, and the resin layer was formed on the surface coated with the resin. As a result, a flat resin layer could be formed, and an image of good quality without image unevenness could be formed on the resin layer by thermal transfer recording.

Example 9 6 μm having a 1 μm thick heat-resistant silicone resin layer on the back surface
The following coating liquid for forming an intermediate adhesive layer is applied to the surface of an aromatic polyamide film having a thickness of 1 m using a wire bar, dried at 100 ° C for 90 seconds, and then subjected to an aging treatment at 60 ° C for 12 hours to form a 1 µm thick intermediate adhesive. A layer was formed. next,
The following coating liquid for forming a dye supply layer, coating liquid for forming a transfer contributing layer, and coating liquid for forming a low dyeing layer are sequentially coated on the intermediate adhesive layer using a wire bar, dried at 100 ° C. for 90 seconds, and then dried at 60 ° C. Aging treatment at ℃ 12 hours, thickness 3μm
Dye supply layer, 1 μm thick transfer contributing layer and 1 μm thick
m, a thermal transfer recording sheet having a low dyeing layer laminated thereon was prepared. [Coating solution for forming intermediate adhesive layer] Polyvinyl butyral resin (trade name: BX-1, manufactured by Sekisui Plastics) 10 parts Isocyanate compound (trade name: Coronate L, manufactured by Nippon Polyurethane Co.) 5 parts Toluene 95 parts Methyl ethyl ketone 95 parts [ Dye Supply Layer Forming Coating Solution] Polyvinyl butyral resin (trade name: BX-1, manufactured by Sekisui Resin Co., Ltd.) 10 parts Isocyanate compound (trade name: Coronate L, manufactured by Nippon Polyurethane Co., Ltd.) 5 parts Sublimable dye (trade name: R -5, Nippon Kayaku Co., Ltd.) 5 parts Ethanol 180 parts Positive butanol 10 parts [Coating solution for forming a transfer contributing layer] Polyvinyl butyral resin (trade name: BX-1, manufactured by Sekisui Plastics) 10 parts Isocyanate compound (trade name) : Coronate L, manufactured by Nippon Polyurethane Co., Ltd. 5 parts Sublimable dye (trade name: R-3, manufactured by Nippon Kayaku Co., Ltd.) 5 parts Torue 95 parts Methyl ethyl ketone 95 parts [Coating liquid for forming low dyeing layer] Styrene-maleic acid copolymer (trade name: Suprapearl AP-30, manufactured by BASF) 10 parts Liquid A 12 parts Tetrahydrofuran 20 parts Methyl ethyl ketone 95 parts (A Preparation of liquid: 15 g of dimethylmethoxysilane and 9 g of methyltrimethoxysilane were dissolved in a mixed solution of 12 g of toluene and 12 g of methyl ethyl ketone, and 3 g of 3% sulfuric acid was added to carry out hydrolysis for 3 hours to obtain a liquid A. The thermal head is brought into contact with the back layer surface of the thermal transfer recording sheet by superimposing so that the low dyeing layer of the thermal transfer recording sheet obtained above and the resin layer of the thermal transfer image receiving body obtained in Example 4 are in contact with each other. Thermal transfer recording was performed under the following conditions. <Thermal transfer recording condition> Maximum applied energy to the thermal head 2.21 mJ / dot Travel speed of thermal transfer receiver 8.0 mm / sec Travel speed of thermal transfer recording sheet 0.8 mm / sec

Example 10 To 40 parts of toluene and 40 parts of methyl ethyl ketone, 15 parts of a vinyl chloride / vinyl acetate / vinyl alcohol copolymer (trade name: VAGH, manufactured by Union Carbide Co.) and xylene diisocyanate adduct (trade name: Takenate D)
5 parts of non-modified silicone oil (trade name: SH200, manufactured by Toray Silicone Co .; kinematic viscosity: 1000 cs) 0.5 part and alcohol-modified silicone oil (trade name: SF8427, manufactured by Toray Silicone Co., Ltd.)
0.5 part was dissolved to prepare a coating solution for a resin layer. A thermal transfer image receiver was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the above-mentioned resin layer coating liquid was used in place of the resin layer coating liquid in Example 1, and the thermal transfer image receiver was obtained in Example 4. Thermal transfer recording was performed in the same manner as in Example 9 except that the thermal transfer image receiving member was used instead.

As a result of the thermal transfer recording in Examples 9 and 10, in the thermal transfer recording of Example 9, the low-dye layer of the thermal transfer recording sheet was fused with the resin layer of the thermal transfer image receiving body obtained in Example 4. However, in the thermal transfer recording of Example 10, a good recorded image was obtained without fusion between the low-dyeing layer of the thermal transfer recording sheet and the resin layer of the thermal transfer image receiving body obtained in Example 10. Was done.

[0050]

According to the present invention, for example, a thermal transfer recording sheet carrying a sublimation dye on the surface of a support is brought into close contact with the dyeing resin layer of the thermal transfer image receptor of the present invention, and a thermal head is applied to the back of the support. The thermal transfer recording is performed by applying thermal energy to the thermal transfer recording sheet in contact with the thermal transfer recording sheet, so that the density does not decrease even in the thermal transfer image of the high density portion, and the image density in the middle and low density portions and the high density portion has good image density. A high quality sublimation dye image can be formed on a thermal transfer receiver with high sensitivity. By using the thermal transfer image receptor of the present invention in a thermal transfer recording method in which the relative speed of a thermal transfer recording sheet supporting a sublimation dye to the thermal transfer image receptor is 1 / n times (n> 1), a medium-low density portion and a high density portion can be obtained. A high-quality sublimation dye image having good image density in each part can be formed on the thermal transfer image receiving member.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Ning Sekiyama 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Ricoh Co., Ltd.

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. A thermal transfer image receiving apparatus comprising: a layer containing hollow particles provided on a substrate; and a resin layer containing at least a dyeing resin layer provided on the layer. A thermal transfer image receptor having the following relationship (1): Particle size of hollow particles × 0.5 ≦ thickness of resin layer ≦ 20 μm (1) 2. The thermal transfer image receiving body according to claim 1, wherein the particle diameter of the hollow particles is 1 μm or more and 15 μm or less. 3. The thermal transfer image receiving body according to claim 1, wherein the hollow particles are hollow particles whose surface is covered with an inorganic powder. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the layer containing the hollow particles is a layer in which the hollow particles are dispersed in a resin.
Or a thermal transfer receiver according to item 3. 5. The thermal transfer image receiver according to claim 4, wherein the resin of the layer containing the hollow particles is a resin soluble in an organic solvent used for forming the resin layer. 6. The thermal transfer image receiving body according to claim 4, wherein the resin of the layer containing the hollow particles is a resin that does not dissolve in an organic solvent used for forming the resin layer. 7. The resin layer containing at least the dyeing resin layer is a dyeing resin layer and a barrier layer.
7. The thermal transfer image receptor according to 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6. 8. The resin according to claim 4, wherein the resin of the layer containing the hollow particles is a resin containing an isocyanate compound.
The thermal transfer image receiver according to 5, 6, or 7. 9. The thermal transfer image receiver according to claim 1, wherein the resin layer containing at least the dyeing resin layer is a resin layer containing an isocyanate compound. . 10. The thermal transfer image receiving body according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is a resin film. 11. The thermal transfer image receiver according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is pulp paper. 12. A pulp paper coated on both sides or one side with a resin as a substrate.
The thermal transfer receiver according to the above. 13. A thermal transfer recording method in which the relative speed of a recording medium to a thermal transfer image receptor is 1 / n times (n> 1), wherein the thermal transfer image receptor is provided with a layer containing hollow particles on a substrate,
A thermal transfer image receiving body comprising at least a resin layer including a dyeing resin layer provided on the layer, wherein the particle size of the hollow particles and the thickness of the resin layer have the following relationship (1). Thermal transfer recording method. Particle size of hollow particles × 0.5 ≦ thickness of resin layer ≦ 20 μm (1) 14. The thermal transfer recording method according to claim 13, wherein the recording medium is a thermal transfer recording sheet carrying a sublimation dye. 15. The thermal transfer recording method according to claim 13, wherein at least the resin layer containing the dyeing resin layer is a resin layer containing an isocyanate compound.