JPS6154986A - Thermal transfer material - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide good-quality transfer recorded pictures even for recording mediums with surfaces of bad smoothness by using a thermal transfer material obtained by laminating a heat-meltable layer, a liquid ink layer and a thermoplastic resin layer in order on a supporter. CONSTITUTION:A thermal transfer material 1, formed by laminating a heat- meltable layer 4, a liquid ink layer 3 and a thermoplastic resin layer 5 in order on a supporter 2, is lapped on a recording medium (e.g., usual paper, etc.) so that the resin layer 5 of the material 1 is faced to the face to be recorded of the medium 6. A thermal head 7 is provided on a position facing a supporter for the platen 8, etc. provided to support the opposite side of the recording face of the medium 6, by which a heat corresponding to a recording pattern is given to them. Whereupon, in the material 1, heat is conducted through the supporter 2 and the layer 4 to the ink layer 3 and then to the resin layer 5. The resin layer 5 is then softened or melted and an opening corresponding to the heat pattern is formed in the layer 5. Liquid ink is then flowed out of the opening onto the medium 6 by pressing from the thermal head 7, and an ink picture 3a corresponding to recording pattern is formed on the recording medium 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (1) Technical Field The present invention relates to a thermal transfer material used in a thermal transfer recording method, and particularly to a thermal transfer material that can perform good recording even on recording media with poor surface smoothness.

(2) Prior Art In recent years, with the rapid development of the information industry, various information processing systems have been developed, and recording methods and devices suitable for each information processing system have also been developed and adopted. One such recording method is the thermal recording method, which has recently been widely used because the apparatus used in this method is lightweight, compact, and noiseless, and has excellent operability and maintainability.

In this thermal recording method, color-forming thermal recording paper containing a color former and a color developer is usually used as the recorder, but such recording paper is expensive because it is specially processed paper, and Records can be tampered with, recording paper easily develops color due to heat or organic solvents, and recorded images fade in a relatively short period of time, resulting in poor record storage stability.

A thermal transfer recording method has recently been attracting particular attention as a method that maintains the above-mentioned advantages of the thermal recording method and compensates for the drawbacks associated with the use of thermal recording paper.

This heat-sensitive transfer recording method generally uses a heat-sensitive transfer material formed by melt-coating a heat-transferable ink made of a heat-melting binder with a colorant dispersed on a sheet-like support. The thermally transferable ink layer is superimposed on the recording medium so as to be in contact with the recording medium, and heat is supplied from the support side of the thermal transfer material by a thermal head to transfer the melted ink layer onto the recording medium. A transfer ink image is formed according to the shape of heat supply. According to this method, it is possible to maintain the above-mentioned advantages of the heat-sensitive recording method and to use paper as a recording medium, and it is also possible to eliminate the above-described disadvantages associated with the use of heat-sensitive recording paper.

However, such thermal transfer recording methods are not without drawbacks. For example, the transfer recording performance of conventional thermal transfer recording methods, that is, the recording quality of transferred characters and images, etc. The surface smoothness of recording media such as It is. However, even when using paper, the most typical recording medium, paper with high smoothness is rather special.
Ordinary paper usually has various degrees of unevenness due to the entanglement of ta-males. Therefore, in the case of paper with large surface irregularities, the hot-melted ink cannot penetrate into the fibers of the paper during transfer and only adheres to the convexities on the surface and the vicinity thereof, resulting in sharp edges of the transferred image. There wasn't,
This may cause part of the image to be missing, resulting in a decrease in recording quality. On the other hand, in order to improve the recording quality, it may be possible to use a heat-melting binder with a low melting point. The phenomenon of ink cooling and solidifying when it comes into contact with paper fibers is unavoidable, and the transferability to recording media with poor surface smoothness cannot be said to be sufficient. When used, the thermal transfer ink layer becomes sticky even at relatively low temperatures, resulting in disadvantages such as a decrease in the storage stability of the thermal transfer material and staining of non-transfer areas of the recording medium.

(3) Disclosure of the Invention The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and the main purpose of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks of the conventional thermal transfer recording method described above and maintain various thermal transfer performances. Another object of the present invention is to provide a heat-sensitive transfer material that can provide a high-quality transferred recorded image not only to recording media with good surface smoothness but also to recording media with poor surface smoothness.

As a result of intensive research aimed at achieving the above object, the present inventors have discovered that instead of a single layer of conventional heat-melt ink, a heat-melt layer, a liquid ink layer, and a thermoplastic resin layer are sequentially formed on a support. It has been found that using a heat-sensitive transfer material having 8 layers is extremely effective in achieving the above object.

The present invention has been made based on such knowledge, and the present invention, which achieves the above-mentioned object, is a heat-sensitive transfer film comprising a heat-melting layer, a liquid ink layer, and a thermoplastic resin layer laminated in this order on a support. It is a material.

Formation of a recorded image using the thermal transfer material of the present invention can be carried out by, for example, overlapping the recording surface of the recording medium and the thermoplastic resin layer of the thermal transfer material so that they are in contact with each other, and By heating the laminate produced by the lamination in a pattern from the support side, holes corresponding to the heating pattern are created in the thermoplastic resin layer, liquid ink and a hot melt layer flow out from the chain type, and these are recorded. This is done by transferring it onto the medium.

In such a heat-sensitive transfer material of the present invention, since the heat-melting layer on the support is transferred so as to roughly cover the recorded image, blurring of the recorded image is prevented. Furthermore, the permeability of the liquid ink allows the liquid ink to permeate into the recesses on the surface of the recording medium, resulting in extremely good transferability. Furthermore, since the thermoplastic resin layer is in contact with the non-transferred portion of the recording medium during transfer, there is no fear of ink staining.

(4) Embodiments of the Invention The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the drawings as necessary.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a typical example of a conventional thermal transfer material, and is a schematic cross-sectional view in the thickness direction of the thermal transfer material.

As shown in FIG. 3, the conventional heat-sensitive transfer material 1' generally includes a heat-transferable ink layer 3' formed by dispersing a color rejuvenator in a heat-melting binder on a heat-resistant support 2. Become.

On the other hand, in the heat-sensitive transfer material 1 of the present invention, the most basic aspect of which is explained in FIG. 1, a heat-melting layer 4. Liquid ink layer 3. It is formed by laminating thermoplastic resin layers 5.

As the support 2, conventionally known films and papers can be used as they are.1 For example, films of relatively heat-resistant plastics such as polyester, polycarbonate, triacetyl cellulose, polyamide, polyimide, cellophane, parchment paper, etc. can be suitably used.

The thickness of the support is preferably about 2 to 15 microns when considering a thermal head as a heat source during thermal transfer. When using a heat source that can heat up to Phenolic resin.

The heat resistance of the support can be improved by providing a heat-resistant protective layer made of melamine resin, nitrocellulose, etc., or it is also possible to use a support material with low heat resistance that could not be used conventionally. Further, for reinforcement, the support body 2 can be multi-layered if necessary.

Examples of the thermofusible substance constituting the thermofusible layer 4 include whale wax,
Natural waxes such as beeswax, lanolin, caruna wax, candelilla wax, and montan wax; synthetic waxes such as paraffin wax, microcrystalline wax, oxidized wax, ester wax, and low molecular weight polyethylene; lauric acid, mystyric acid, and palmitic acid. acids, higher fatty acids such as stearic acid and behenic acid, higher alcohols such as stearyl alcohol and behenyl alcohol, esters such as sucrose fatty acid ester, sorbitan fatty acid ester, amides such as stearamide and oleamide, etc. They may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

Furthermore, these heat-melting substances include polyamide resins, polyester resins, epoxy resins, polyurethane resins, acrylic resins, vinyl chloride resins, vinegar-based vinyl resins, cellulose resins, polyvinyl alcohol resins,
Petroleum resins, phenolic resins, styrene resins, natural rubber, styrene butadiene rubber, elastomers such as isoprene rubber, chloroprene rubber, mineral oils, vegetable oils, and the like may be added as appropriate. Further, the heat-melting layer 4 may be colored using various dyes, pigments, etc. that are generally widely used in the recording field such as printing, including carbon black, and furthermore, if necessary, dispersants, fillers, etc. Additives may also be added.

Specifically, the method for forming such a heat-melting layer 4 includes, for example, melting and kneading the above-mentioned heat-melting substance using a dispersion device such as an attritor, or kneading it with an appropriate solvent. , obtain a hot-melt solution or dispersion ink, and apply this ink to a roll coater, a plate coater,
Examples of methods include laminating it on the support 2 using any coating method such as a bar coater, and drying it if necessary. The thickness of the heat melting layer 4 is 0.5 to 6 JLIl.
A range of is preferred.

As the liquid ink constituting the liquid ink layer 3, it is possible to use a wide variety of liquid inks that are generally well known in the field of recording such as printing, and specifically, for example, dyes whose particle size is adjusted as necessary. , a coloring agent such as a pigment is dissolved or dispersed in a liquid substance such as water, lh vegetable oil, mineral oil, ester compound, ether compound, aromatic or aliphatic solvent, etc. Suitably, writing ink, typewriter ribbon ink, printing ink, etc. are used, but these inks are liquid at the environmental temperature (generally room temperature) where the information equipment and other devices in which they are used are normally used. 'Preferably, an ink is used.

Such a liquid ink is laminated on the support 2 by any coating method such as a roll coater, plate coater, bar coater, etc. to form a liquid ink layer 3. The thickness of the liquid ink layer is usually 1'O'', 1 to 1
0 μs, preferably in the range of 0.5 to 5 μs.
' As the thermoplastic resin layer 5 laminated on the liquid ink layer 3, a thermoplastic film such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride, soft polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl alcohol, polystyrene, polyurethane, etc. is used. The thickness of the film is preferably as thin as possible, and a thickness in the range of 0.1 to 1Ou, preferably 0.5 to 2U+ is suitably used.

Further, the thermoplastic resin layer 5 may be colored with the above-mentioned dye, pigment, or the like.

An embodiment of the thermal transfer recording method using the thermal transfer material of the present invention will be shown below, and the present invention will be explained in more detail. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an overview of the above recording method, and is a schematic cross-sectional view in the thickness direction of the heat-sensitive transfer material during recording.

The thermal transfer recording method using the thermal transfer material of the present invention is not particularly different from ordinary thermal transfer recording methods. A thermal platen 7 is provided at a position facing a support member such as a platen 8, which is stacked so that the recording surfaces thereof face each other and supports the surface of the recording medium 6 opposite to the recording surface. This is done by supplying heat to the head 7 according to the desired recording pattern (see FIG. 2).
A), in the heat-sensitive transfer material 1 to which heat has been applied, the support 2
, heat is transferred to the liquid ink layer 3 via the heat melting layer 4, and further heat is transferred to the thermoplastic resin layer 5, whereby the thermoplastic resin layer 5 is softened or melted, and on the thermoplastic resin layer 5, A hole corresponding to the above-mentioned thermal pattern is opened, and at the same time, liquid ink flows out from the above-mentioned hole onto the recording medium 6 due to the suppression from the thermal heater 7, and an ink image 3a according to the above-mentioned recording pattern is formed on the recording medium 6. Then, the ink image is covered 3b with a thermally softened or thermally melted layer 4, and a transferred recorded image 9 corresponding to the recorded pattern is formed on the recording medium 6 (see FIG. 2). See B).

In this embodiment, a thermal head is used as a heat source for supplying heat according to the recording pattern to the thermal transfer material 1, but other than the thermal head, for example, the above-mentioned laser beam or the like can also be suitably used.

(5) Effects of the Invention The effects brought about by the heat-sensitive transfer material of the invention described above include the following.

■By using liquid ink and taking advantage of its permeability, it is possible to penetrate the ink into the concavities on the surface of the recording medium, even for recording media with poor planar smoothness, improving transfer recording performance. Now you can.

(2) Since the heat-melting layer on the support is transferred so as to cover the recorded image, it has become possible to prevent the recorded image from blurring, and it has become possible to improve the transfer recording performance.

(2) Since the thermoplastic resin layer comes into contact with the non-transferred portion of the recording medium during transfer, there is no need to worry about ink staining.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the most basic aspect of the thermal transfer material of the present invention, and is a schematic cross-sectional view in the thickness direction of the thermal transfer material. The figure is a diagram illustrating an outline of an embodiment of the thermal transfer recording method using the thermal transfer material of the present invention, and is a schematic cross-sectional view in the thickness direction of the thermal transfer material during recording, and FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a typical example of the material, and is a schematic cross-sectional view in the thickness direction of the heat-sensitive transfer material. 1.1'-m-thermal transfer material 2-m-support 3'---
Thermal transferable ink layer 3-m-liquid ink layer

Claims (1)

[Claims] A heat-sensitive transfer material comprising a heat-melting layer, a liquid ink layer, and a thermoplastic resin layer laminated in this order on a support.