JPS60109897A - Ink carrier for thermal transfer recording - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To thermally transfer an ink securely and enhance quality of recorded images, by a method wherein an ink-supporting layer is provided on one side of a base layer, and is provided with flexibility in the direction in which the ink is transferred. CONSTITUTION:An intermediate layer 23 having a thickness of 1-2mum is provided on one side of the base layer 21 consisting of polyethylene terephthalate and having a thickness of 3-5mum, and an ink layer is uniformly provided on the layer 23 in a thickness of 2-4mum to impregnate the layer 23 with the ink, thereby producing the ink carrier. The layer 23 is formed of a rubber latex, a synthetic rubber material or the like to have flexibility. Particularly, it is sufficient for the layer 23 to have flexibility in such a degree as to cope with local ruggedness of 2-5mum due to fibers in the paper. The ink carrier thus obtained makes close contact with a recording medium in accordance with the ruggedness in the surface of the medium, so that an ink is thermally transferred securely, and quality of recorded images is enhanced.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Technical field of invention] The present invention relates to an ink carrier for thermal transfer recording.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

In thermal transfer recording, as shown in the 11th corner, ink (11
) with the ink carrier (13) supporting the recording paper (15) stacked on top of each other, the ink carrier is placed over the thermal head (13).
7) is a method of selectively heating and transferring ink. Thermal transfer recording has a simple principle, but because of its simplicity, unless the ink effect transfer is strictly controlled, the quality of the recorded image will be seriously affected.

The present inventor considered factors that affect ink transfer and found that the contact state between the ink carrier (13) and the recording paper (15) is important.

For example, a conventional ink carrier (13) has a base layer (1) on one side of a base layer (1) made of polyethylene terephthalate (hereinafter abbreviated as PET) or capacitor paper with a thickness of 3 to 10 μm, as shown in FIG. A coloring material consisting of only dyes or a mixture of dyes and pigments in appropriate proportions.

The heating binder that determines the softening point and viscosity is 2 to 10 μm.
It is applied evenly to a thickness of .

On the other hand, the recording material that receives the ink on the ink sheet is usually one piece of paper, and the surface properties of this paper pose a problem. In other words, in the case of uncoated paper, the surface of the paper can be smoothed by applying a calendar roll.

The fibers of the pulp are hard (as shown in Figure 3, the surface is inevitably uneven due to the orientation of the fibers).

When such media are pressed together, the state of contact between the two depends on the surface condition of the recording paper, and when viewed microscopically, the two are often not in close contact.

For example, set the pixel pitch of the recorded image to 8 to 16 dots/mm.
Then, when recording is performed, ink transfer and dots are missing and the image quality is significantly deteriorated.To solve this problem, the surface characteristics of the recording paper (15) have been improved. is being considered. T rl wachi.

Use paper with a high level of smoothness and gloss, such as coated paper.

However, this type of coated paper is not only 10% more expensive, but also
Since it cannot be recorded on plain paper, it takes away one of the advantages of thermal transfer recording and lacks versatility.

[Purpose of the invention]

The object of the present invention is to provide an ink carrier for thermal transfer recording that eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks and is capable of transferring ink even to a recording medium whose surface is custom-made and deteriorated.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention is characterized in that the ink-holding layer of the ink carrier for thermal transfer recording has local flexibility.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to this invention, since the ink-holding member 1- is locally flexible, the two come into close contact with each other in accordance with the unevenness of the surface of the recording medium. Therefore, the thermal transfer of the ink is reliably performed, and the image quality of each recorded image is excellent.

[Embodiments of the invention]

The ink carrier in this example is in the form of a sheet.

A sectional view thereof is shown in FIG.

This ink carrier is applied on one side of a base layer (21) consisting of PET with a thickness of 3-5 μm and an intermediate I-(
23). Furthermore, this middle 1-(23) 4ko2
An ink layer with a thickness of ~4 μm is applied uniformly, and an intermediate layer (2
3) is impregnated with ink.

Here, the intermediate layer (23) is made of rubber-based latex, synthetic rubber-based material, etc., and is flexible. especially.

It is sufficient that a certain degree of flexibility can be obtained to cope with local irregularities of 2 to 5 μm that form paper fibers. In this example,
The intermediate layer (23) serves as an ink retention layer. For such ink carriers, we used uncoated paper with no surface treatment and a smoothness of about 100 to 300 seconds, and used a manufacturing configuration as shown in Figure 1. Ta. Finally, the platen roller (27) and the -Nermal head (1)
7), the ink carrier (13) and recording paper (15) were sandwiched and pressure was applied to both to achieve a close contact state.

When recording in this way, the transfer was uneven.

It was possible to form a uniform d-recorded image with no blurring.

[Other embodiments of the invention]

As another embodiment, the present invention is also applicable to ink carriers that can be used multiple times. That is, ink 1- is made of a porous material and holds ink.

A flexible intermediate layer may be provided between the ink layer and the base layer that holds the ink layer.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. That is, it may be an ink carrier or a structure that is flexible in the ink transfer direction (in realizing this, the ink retaining layer may be flexible or an intermediate layer provided separately from the ink retaining layer may be flexible).

Furthermore, although the property of flexibility can be expressed in various words, in this invention it is defined as the property of deforming in response to external pressure. The ability to restore is not necessarily required.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a diagram for explaining the principle of thermal transfer recording, Figure 2 is a diagram for explaining the principle of thermal transfer recording.
M is a diagram showing a conventional ink carrier, FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a recording paper, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an ink carrier in an embodiment. 21...Base layer, 23...Intermediate layer, 25...Ink 1-0

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A base layer, an ink-retaining layer and a carrier that is provided in contact with or indirectly on one surface of the base layer and retains ink.