JPS61144382A - Transfer medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain many sheets of printing matter by the use of one sheet of transfer medium and to obtain a distinct colored picture, by impregnation of sublimate dye into the porous layer the transfer layer of which contains carbon. CONSTITUTION:As for the sublimate ink 16 impregnated into the porous layer of transfer layer 12, the color material is not transferred at a time by sublima tion with one time of flash or heat wave irradiation and is gradually transferred by sublimation because of the porous structure, the transfer medium can be usd many time. Further, by binding the heating element, carbon 13 with heat resistant resin, the fusion transfer of carbon 13 onto picture receiving paper is prevented and a distict color printed matter can be obtained. For the binding agent 14, one kind or two or more kinds of heat resistant resin, for example, expoxy series resin, phenol series resin, polyester series resin, etc. are mixed to be used. The content of carbon should be preferably not less than 10wt% of the porous layer.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal transfer medium suitable for printing high-resolution characters or images.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In recent years, various terminals have been required for office automation. Among these, there is a great demand for recording devices that convert electrical signals into visible images, so-called PU-LINKS. In particular, various methods of obtaining color hard copies have been proposed and are attracting attention. There are inkjet, electrophotographic, and thermal transfer methods that have been put into practical use, but because they use liquid or powder such as toner, maintenance and operability of the equipment is complicated, and thermal heads are used. There were problems such as print failure, head lifespan, and slow printing speed.

Therefore, a discharge transfer method has been known as a method for obtaining high-resolution color images at high speed. For example,
Examples include the thermographic copying method disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 19819, and the transfer medium disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 57-22030.

The conventional transfer method will be explained below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the transfer medium, in which 1 is a support, 2 is a roughened layer, 3 is a metal vapor deposited layer, and 4 is a transfer layer.

FIGS. 3 to 6 are diagrams showing the printing process using the transfer medium, in which reference numeral 5 indicates an image receiving paper, 6 indicates a xenon lamp, and 7 indicates a flashing light. In the printing process, as shown in FIG. 3, the metal vapor deposited layer 3 is removed according to the information pattern by means of well-known discharge recording. Next, as shown in FIG. 4, when the surface coated with the transfer layer 4 and the image receiving paper 5 are brought into close contact with each other and a flash 7 containing infrared radiation is irradiated with a xenon lamp 6, etc., the flash irradiated on the portion where the metal vapor deposited layer remains is The flash of light that is reflected and irradiated onto the portion where the metal vapor deposited layer has been removed passes through the roughened layer 2 and the support 1, is absorbed by the transfer layer 4, and is converted into heat. The transfer layer is heated by this heat, and the image is transferred and fixed onto the image-receiving paper 5 that is in close contact with the image-receiving paper 5. Thereafter, by separating the image receiving paper from the transfer medium, the printed matter shown in FIG. 6 is obtained. 8 is the transferred ink. In the thermal transfer recording medium of JP-A No. 63-5637, a heat sublimable dye is used in the transfer layer and an infrared absorbing layer (which converts xenon flash into heat) is provided between the support and the sublimable dye layer, or Transfer media capable of color printing have been proposed by incorporating an infrared absorbing substance into at least one of the support or the sublimable dye layer.

In other words, a flash of light containing infrared rays was irradiated from the metal-deposited layer side of the transfer medium on which discharge recording was performed, and the infrared rays were converted into heat by the infrared absorbing layer.The heat sublimated the sublimable dye and fixed it on the receiving paper.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, with the above configuration, it is difficult to make multiple copies from one transfer medium, and carbon is melted and transferred due to heat generation, resulting in transfer of cloudy colors. Since the image receiving paper and the transfer layer are still in close contact, the image receiving paper may be smudged or
There was a problem that the expression of intermediate tones was not sufficient.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a means for solving the problem of vivid color printing. The transfer medium is provided with a transfer layer on the other side, and the transfer layer is a carbon-containing porous layer impregnated with a sublimable dye.

Function The present invention has the above-described structure, so that the sublimable ink impregnated into the porous layer in the transfer layer is not sublimated and transferred all at once by - times of flash irradiation, but is gradually sublimated and transferred due to the porous structure. This makes it possible to use the transfer medium multiple times. In addition, the carbon, which is the heating element, is fixed with a heat-resistant resin, which prevents the carbon from melting and transferring to the image-receiving paper, making it possible to obtain clear color prints.

Embodiment FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a transfer medium of the present invention, and 9 is a support, which is a film made of polyethylene terephthalate, polyimide, etc., which is heat resistant and has good light transmittance. 10
is a roughened layer that is provided to improve discharge characteristics during discharge recording, and is made of silica, alumina, etc. from 0.6μm to 1ot1.
m;jlri mechanical pigment and a binder that takes heat resistance and odor into consideration are used. 11 is a metal vapor deposition layer, 200 to 10
It is a metal vapor deposited film such as aluminum. 12 is a transfer layer, carbon 13. Porous pigment 15. Binder 14.
It is composed of sublimable dye 16. The binder 14 is
It is preferable to use heat-resistant resins, such as epoxy resins, phenol resins, and polyester resins, and one type or a mixture of two or more of these resins can be used. If a resin with poor heat resistance is used, such as a vinyl resin or a polyolefin resin, the porous layer will melt due to heat generation, resulting in poor transfer. As the porous pigment 13, 1 μm of talc, zinc oxide, clay, and shirasu balloon is used.
Pigments with a particle size of ~10 μm are preferred. Also porous.

carbon black, such as Ketjenblack EC (
(Lion Akzo), a porous layer could be formed without the addition of other porous pigments. sublimable dye 1
5 includes disperse dyes, basic sublimation dyes, oil-soluble dyes, etc., but anthraquinone-based disperse dyes are
The present invention will be explained using examples below.

A paint sufficiently dispersed using the following method was applied to one side of a 25 μm thick polyethylene terephthalate film using a wire bar and dried to obtain a transparent sheet with a 6 μm roughened layer. (The blending ratio is in parts by weight) Next, aluminum was deposited on the surface of this roughened layer to a thickness of 600 mm to obtain a sheet capable of recording discharge.

Furthermore, a paint sufficiently dispersed by the following method was applied to the back surface of the metal vapor deposited layer using a wire bar to form a porous layer of 6 μm.

Furthermore, a sublimable ink was mixed using the following method and applied to the porous layer to a thickness of 5 μm using a wire bar.

The prepared transfer medium was transferred to a discharge printer (10 dots/mm
, a printing speed of 1.6 m/sec) to destroy and remove the aluminum vapor deposited layer along the information pattern.

Next, the surface coated with the transfer layer and the image receiving paper (Peachco) SE-
80 Nisshinbo ■ synthetic paper) was placed in close contact with the xenon flash device (Riso Kagaku ■FX-1s).

When the image receiving paper was separated by irradiation with flash light using a mold), a clear magenta colored print was obtained. Further, when the transfer was performed repeatedly using the above transfer medium, a clear printed image with high density was obtained up to 10 times. By controlling the transfer energy level, it was possible to express subtle intermediate tones.

[Example 2] Using the same method as in Example I, a porous layer with a thickness of 6 μm using the following treatment was applied to the other side of a 26 μm polyethylene terephthalate film provided with a roughened layer and an aluminum vapor-deposited layer. Formed.

Furthermore, when a sublimable ink having the same composition as in Example 1 was applied to the porous layer and transferred using the same apparatus as in Example, good color prints were obtained up to 8 transfers.

Note that if the amount of carbon contained in the porous layer is small, the transfer density will decrease, so the carbon content should be
It is desirable that the content be 0% by weight or more, preferably 20% by weight or more. In the above embodiment, the flash used for transfer was a xenon flash, but the present invention is not limited to this, and any heat ray including infrared rays may be used.

Further, although discharge recording was used to remove the metal vapor deposited layer, any method that can remove the metal vapor deposited layer according to an information pattern can be applied.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention provides a transfer medium in which a roughened layer and a metal vapor deposited layer are sequentially formed on a support, and a transfer layer is provided on the other side, and the transfer layer is a carbon-containing porous layer. Because it is impregnated with sublimation ink, a single transfer medium can be used to produce multiple prints and clear color images.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the transfer medium of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a conventional transfer medium, FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the transfer medium after discharge recording, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the transfer process. , FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the sublimable dye transferred to the image receiving paper. 1.9...Support, 2,10...Roughened layer, 3゜11...Metal deposited layer, 4,12...
...Transfer layer, 6...Xenon lamp, completed...
... Flash, 8 ... Transferred and sublimable dye, 13 ... Carbon, 14 ... Binder, 16 ... Porous. Pigment, 16... sublimable dye. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person/2
．． Stem copy row figure 2

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) Sequentially providing a roughened layer and a metal vapor deposition layer on a support,
1. A transfer medium having a transfer layer provided on the other surface of the transfer medium, wherein the transfer layer is a porous layer containing carbon and impregnated with a sublimable dye. (2) The transfer medium according to claim 1, wherein the porous layer contains carbon in an amount of 10% by weight or more. (3) The transfer medium according to claim 1, wherein the binder of the porous layer is one or more heat-resistant resins.