JPS62149453A - Printing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a printing method by which high-quality characters and images can be printed by adopting a printing technique which does not allow ink and a medium to be transferred to contact each other at a non-recording part of the ink and giving a thermal bias to a transfer medium and/or a medium to be transferred before and after printing. CONSTITUTION:The titled printing method is a printing technique to enable the recording part of ink to be transferred to a medium to be transferred 14 by magnetic attraction force employing a means 11 to apply thermal energy to the recording part 13 of thermoplastic magnetic ink and a means 15 to generate magnetic attraction force in the ink. In a printing method by which the ink and the medium to be transferred do not contact with each other at the non-recording part 12 of the ink, a thermal bias means 16 is provided before and/or after thermal energy application. Ink transfer is performed by magnetic attraction force under a thermal activation state of ink, and the process to strip off an ink medium is no longer required, thus increasing the transfer rate significantly.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] For details, see Heat and ? The present invention relates to a printing method in which a thermoplastic magnetic ink is transferred to a transfer medium by the action of jBgIIl to obtain a character 9 image.

[Conventional technology]

Many proposals have been made to use magnetic ink as a small, low-cost, non-impact printing method. For example, a method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 52-96541 uses magnetic ink as the ink of the melt-thermal transfer method. A magnetic means provided separately from the supply means applies a magnetic attraction force to the ink corresponding to the thermal image to cause the ink to be transferred. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the thermal head 31 - ink medium 32 - transfer paper 55 - magnet 36 are installed in this order, and the thermoplastic magnetic ink 34 of the ink medium is heated when heat is applied from the surface of the base film 35 by the thermal head. (The ink medium is brought into contact with the transfer paper directly below the head to adhere the molten ink to the transfer paper, and then the ink medium is peeled off from the transfer paper and the ink is transferred.Furthermore, due to the magnetic attraction force, It has an effect that increases the probability of molten ink contacting the transfer paper, and an effect that increases the transfer rate to the paper when the ink medium is peeled off, allowing high-quality characters to be printed even on paper with poor surface smoothness. This allows one image to be printed.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional technology, when the ink medium is peeled off, the ink in the recording area to be transferred comes into contact with the base film and the ink in the non-recording area.
A force acts to peel off the ink in the recording area that has been fused and adhered to the transfer paper together with the base film, causing transfer defects. In Fig. 5, in general thermal transfer recording, is the accelerating force for transferring the recording ink to the transfer paper? (adhesive force between sheets to be transferred), FB (ink cohesive force), and the force that hinders transfer, 70
(adhesive force between ink and base film) and IFD (cohesive force between recorded part and non-recorded part ink), 7 m
If the relationship + 7 A >> F o + IF o always holds true, the transcription is complete.

In the figure, 41 is the base film, 42 is the recording part ink,
43 is non-recording ink, and 44 is transfer paper.

In the conventional method, the melted recording part ink is pulled toward the transfer paper by magnetic attraction, which has the effect of increasing the probability of contact with the transfer paper and increasing the FA in FIG. 5. In other words, although the ink transfer rate is higher than that of general thermal transfer methods, FO, FD
Because of the presence of FA ('F o +
There was a problem in that FD cases occurred, resulting in poor transfer.

Therefore, the present invention aims to solve these problems.
The purpose is to provide a printing method that can print a single image of a very high quality character even on transfer paper with very poor surface smoothness or on a film that does not have a very high affinity for ink Φ. It is in.

[Means for solving problems]

The printing method of the present invention includes a means 11 for applying thermal energy to a recording portion 13 of thermoplastic magnetic ink as shown in FIG.
and means 15 for generating a magnetic attraction force to the ink,
This is a printing method in which the recorded portion of the ink is transferred to the transfer medium 14 by magnetic attraction by controlling the application of thermal energy, and the ink and the transfer medium are transferred to the non-recorded portion 12 of the ink (IFM is a magnetic attraction). In a non-contact printing method, the thermal biasing means 16
is applied before and/or after the application.

[Effect]

According to the above configuration of the present invention, the thermoplastic magnetic ink and the transfer medium are not in contact with each other in the non-recording portion of the ink. Thus, ink transfer is effected by magnetic attraction in the thermally activated state of the ink, and the prior art process of peeling off the ink medium is unnecessary. That is, the second
In figures (α) and (b), FO and F that were preventing transcription
Since D becomes 0, the transfer rate becomes extremely high. As a further supplement, even during ink transfer according to the present invention, the TO and FD in the 31st Xi described above act as resistance forces for ink transfer, but since the ink is activated, when it is peeled off (in a state where the ink temperature has decreased) There is also a method in which the ink medium is peeled off immediately after the head without the temperature of the ink decreasing, but in this case, cohesive failure of the ink is likely to occur and transfer reproducibility may be impaired. There is a problem.

[Example 1] FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of an example of the present invention. Thermal energy kdf-
A thermal head 21 was used as the applying means, and a permanent magnet 26f was used as the magnetic attraction force generating means.

As shown in the figure, during non-recording, the ink medium 22 and the transfer paper 25 (the type was 5-Worth 405 paper with a smoothness of 3 seconds) did not come into contact with each other, and the distance was maintained at 100 μm directly below the head. The ink medium has a thickness of 6μ
A PIFT film 23 coated uniformly with a thermoplastic magnetic ink 24 having the composition shown below to a thickness of 6 μm was used.

1.7 Gnetite fine particles 40wt%Z Carnauba wax 20wt%5 Paraffin wax
30wt%4, EVA
5wt%5, dispersant 4wt%
& dye 1w
t % permanent magnet has maximum energy fil 25.3 K
Using a G Oe Sam magnet, the tip is IF e.
-Oo alloy barmengel was attached. When printing with a thermal head with a resolution of 200 DP, the heating element of the thermal head (125 μm x 140 μm)
) More than 70% of the ink surface area was transferred to the receiving paper. (Transfer efficiency of 70% or more) [Example 2] FIG. 2 (α) shows a schematic diagram of an example of the present invention.

A thermal head was used as a thermal energy applying means, a permanent magnet was used as a magnetic attraction generating means, and a dryer heater 28 was used as a preheating means. As shown in Figure 2 (α),
When not recording, the ink medium and transfer paper (types are 5
Outer Worth 40 S) were not brought into contact with each other, and a distance of 100 μm was maintained directly below the head. The ink medium used was a PFX'T film with a thickness of 6 μm coated uniformly with a thermoplastic magnetic ink having the following composition to a thickness of 6 μm.

〔composition〕

1. Magnetite fine particles 40wt% λ carnauba wax 20wt% Pentaparaffin wax 50wt% 4. KVA (ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer) 5wt% 5. Dispersant 1wt% & dye 4wt% Permanent magnet has a maximum energy product of 25 .5 Sam from MGOe
Vermengel, which is an IF e-00 alloy, was attached to the tip using a magnet. Dryer heater (600
W), after preheating the film until the ink film surface temperature reaches 40 °C (the film surface temperature is measured with a non-contact radiation thermometer), before cooling quickly, the resolution is 200 I) P
When the ink was applied using a factory thermal head, more than 80% of the ink surface area of the heating element (125 μm x 140 μm) of the thermal head was transferred to the receiving paper (transfer efficiency of more than 80%), resulting in high quality printing. .

(Hereinafter, transfer efficiency shall have the above meaning.) [Example 3] The same printing device fl as in Example 2 (method combining the same permanent magnet and the same 'thermal head), the same ink composition (or ,
2nd FMC as a preheating means.
A chlorogen lamp 29 (700W) was used as in b). Similarly, the surface temperature of the ink film is 40°C and then applied with a thermal head (1
5mJ/aot) The transfer efficiency was 90% or more and the transfer was performed on the paper, resulting in very high quality printing.

[Example 4. ].

Using the same printing device and the same ink composition as in Example 2, both the ink film and the transfer paper were irradiated with a halogen lamp 29 serving as a thermal bias to preheat them as shown in FIG. 2(C). The irradiation surface temperature was 40℃ for both the ink film and transfer paper.
And so. When applied with a thermal head after preheating (α5 m
J/dot) The transfer efficiency was 90% or more and the image was transferred to the receiving paper, and as in Example 3, very high quality printing was achieved.

[Example 5] Using the same printing device as in Example 2, using the same ink composition, and using a dryer heater 28) with thermal bias, both the ink film and the transfer paper were prepared as shown in FIG. 2(d). Preheating was performed until the irradiation surface temperature reached 40°C. After preheating, apply it with a thermal head ([15mJ/
dot) Transferred to the receiving paper with a transfer efficiency of 80% or more, resulting in high-quality printing.

[Example 6] Using the same printing device and the same ink composition as in Example 2, the second
As shown in Fig. (e), a dryer heater 28 is used as a thermal bias means to cause the ink dots on the transfer paper to have a surface temperature of 50° C. before they cool down after being transferred by thermal radiation.
The ink dots are completely fixed on the transfer paper by irradiation until the ink dots are completely fixed, and the area of the dots is melted and enlarged by heat. The transfer efficiency was 80% or more on the transfer paper, and high quality printing was possible.

[Example 7] Using the same printing device and the same ink composition as in Example 2, as shown in FIG. Before the ink dots cool down, irradiation is performed until the surface temperature reaches 50° C. to completely fix the ink dots on the transfer paper and enlarge their area. The transfer efficiency was 85% or more on the transfer paper, and high quality printing was possible.

The results of Examples 1 to 7t are summarized as above.

[Comparative Example 1] As shown in Fig. 4, when heat is applied from the base film surface by the thermoplastic magnetic infrathermal head of the ink medium, the ink medium is brought into contact with the transfer paper, and the molten ink is adhered to the transfer paper. After that, when the ink medium was peeled off from the transfer paper and the ink was transferred, the transfer efficiency was only 40%, resulting in very poor printing quality.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, the present invention includes a means for applying thermal energy to a recording portion of thermoplastic magnetic ink and a means for generating a magnetic attraction force to the ink, and by controlling the application of thermal energy, In a printing device that transfers a recorded portion of ink to a transfer medium using magnetic attraction, the ink and the transfer medium do not come into contact with each other in the non-recorded portion of the ink, and a thermal bias is applied before and/or after application of the ink. Therefore, it has become possible to significantly improve the low ink transfer efficiency of the conventional technology. This essentially solves the drawback of the conventional technology of poor printing quality on transfer paper with a very rough surface, that is, rough paper, and provides extremely high quality printing without being affected by the surface condition of the transfer paper. This has the effect of making printing possible. Further, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, but is effective for all printing methods in which a recorded portion of thermoplastic magnetic ink is transferred to a transfer medium by magnetic attraction by controlling thermal energy.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the principle of the printing method of the present invention. 28th CtX)Cb)CC)Cd)Ce)CI) is a diagram showing an embodiment according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing various forces acting on ink when peeling off an ink medium in the thermal transfer method of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the principle of a conventional printing method. 11...Thermal energy application means 12...
・Ink non-recorded portion 13...Ink recorded portion 14...Transfer medium 15...Magnetic attraction force generating means 16...Thermal bias means FM ......Magnetic g & pull vector 21, e...Thermal head 22...Ink medium 23...Pace fill */ 24...Thermoplastic magnetic ink 25. ... Transfer paper 26 ... Permanent magnet 27 ... Transfer magnetic ink 2B ... Dryer heater 291 ... Halogen lamp or above Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation'! R1 diagram (α) 2nd wJ (b) (C) Figure 2 (d) Ce) Figure 2 (f) IIZ diagram A FB Figure 3 Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] It has a means for applying thermal energy to a recorded portion of thermoplastic magnetic ink and a means for generating a magnetic attraction force to the ink, and by controlling the application of thermal energy, the recorded portion of the ink is transferred to a transfer medium by the magnetic attraction force. This is a printing method in which the ink and the transfer medium do not come into contact with each other in the non-recorded area of the ink, and a thermal bias is applied to the transfer medium and/or the transfer medium before printing. and/or a printing method characterized by applying after printing.