JPS62174195A - Image forming method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible not only to form a high grade transfer image to plain paper inferior to surface smoothness but also to perform high speed recording, by using a transfer recording medium having a transfer recording layer of which the physical properties dominating transfer characteristics are changed by imparting plural energies. CONSTITUTION:At first, the transfer recording medium 1 is irradiated with beam with a wavelength lambda(Y) from the side of the transfer recording layer 1a thereof and, for example, the heat generating resistors 20b, 20d, 20e, 20f of a thermal head 20 are allowed to generate heat. Whereupon, the part to which both of heat and beam with the wavelength lambda(Y) were applied of an image forming element 31 containing a yellow coloring material is cured. Similar ly, beams with wavelengths lambda(M), lambda(C), lambda(K) are allowed to irradiate and desired heat generating resistors are allowed to generate heat to cure the parts to which heat and beams are applied of the image forming element 31 and a trans fer image is formed to a transfer recording layer 1 by the parts not cured finally of the image forming element 31. This transfer image is transferred to a medium 10 to receive transfer as shown by Fig 2e in the next transfer process.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to an image forming method, a transfer recording medium, and an image forming apparatus that can be used in printers, copiers, facsimile machines, and the like.

<Background 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 transfer recording method, which uses equipment that is lightweight, compact, and noiseless.
It has excellent operability and maintainability, and has been used recently.

According to this method, plain paper can be used as the transfer medium.

However, conventional thermal transfer recording methods are not without drawbacks. The reason is that in the conventional thermal transfer recording method, the transfer recording performance, that is, the print quality, is affected by the surface smoothness, and while good printing is performed on highly smooth transfer media, However, even when using paper, which is the most typical transfer medium, paper with high smoothness is rather special, and ordinary paper is Therefore, according to the conventional thermal transfer recording method, the edges of the printed image may not be sharp or parts of the image may be missing, resulting in a decrease in print quality. I will let you do it.

In addition, in conventional thermal transfer recording methods, the ink layer is transferred to the transfer medium using only heat from the thermal head, but the thermal head must be cooled to a predetermined temperature within a limited short time. In addition, it is theoretically difficult to increase the amount of heat supplied from the thermal head because it is necessary to prevent thermal crosstalk between the heat generating segments that make up the thermal head surface. Yes. Therefore,
High-speed recording is difficult with conventional thermal transfer recording methods.

In addition, because thermal conduction has a slower response than electricity or light, it is generally difficult to control heat pulses to the extent that halftones can be reproduced when recording with conventional thermal heads. Since the heat-sensitive transfer ink layer does not have a gradation transfer function, it has not been possible to record halftones.

In addition, with conventional thermal transfer recording methods, only one color image can be obtained with one transfer, so to obtain a multicolor image, the colors must be overlapped by repeating the transfer multiple times. was necessary. However, it is very difficult to accurately superimpose images of different colors, and it is difficult to obtain images without color shift. In particular, when focusing on a single pixel, colors are rarely superimposed in a single pixel, and in the end, in conventional thermal transfer recording methods, multicolor images are created by aggregation of pixels with shifted colors. was forming. For this reason, clear multicolor images cannot be obtained using conventional thermal transfer recording methods.

In addition, when trying to obtain multicolor images using conventional thermal transfer recording methods, it is necessary to install multiple thermal heads or to make complicated movements such as reverse feeding and stopping of the transfer medium, which requires the entire device. It had drawbacks such as being thick (complicated) and slowing down the recording speed.

Using a recording medium containing capsules arranged on a base material,
The photosensitive composition in the capsule is cured by ultraviolet light converted in accordance with the recorded image to form a transferred image, and this transferred image is further superimposed on a recording medium having a color developing layer to be transferred onto the recording medium. It forms a visual image.

In this conventional recording method, a transferred image is formed on the recording medium by irradiating only light energy, so in order to obtain clear recorded images at high speed, it is necessary to use a recording medium that is highly sensitive to light. or irradiation with high-energy light.

However, high-sensitivity recording media have problems with storage stability and are inconvenient to handle. Furthermore, it is difficult to obtain high enough energy to cure a photosensitive composition at a high speed with a single energy, and the size of the apparatus tends to increase. In particular, in the case of light energy, it is difficult to obtain high energy, and the size of the device has increased.

<Object of the Invention> Therefore, the present invention provides an image forming method that solves the problems of the conventional thermal transfer recording method, that is, a high-quality transfer image on the most commonly used plain paper with low surface smoothness. It is also possible to perform high-speed recording and half-tone recording, and when obtaining a multicolor transfer image, there is no need to make complicated movements on the transfer medium, and a clear multicolor image can be obtained. The main object of the present invention is to provide an image forming method, a transfer recording medium, and an image forming apparatus used in the method.

<Means for Solving the Problems> The present invention provides a transfer recording medium having a transfer recording layer in which the physical properties governing the transfer characteristics change when a plurality of types of energy are applied thereto. The method is characterized by comprising the steps of: forming a transferred image by applying the plurality of types of energy under conditions in which the plurality of types of energy are applied in accordance with recorded information; and transferring the transferred image to a transfer medium. An image forming method, a transfer recording medium, and an image forming apparatus used in this method.

In the image forming method according to the present invention, the transferred image is formed by changing the physical properties that govern the transfer characteristics, but these physical properties are arbitrarily determined depending on the type of transfer recording medium used. In the case of a transfer recording medium in which the transferred image is transferred in a thermally molten state, this is the melting temperature, softening temperature, glass transition point, etc., and also the adhesive state of the transferred image or the permeability state to the medium to be transferred. In the case of a transfer recording medium that is transferred at the same temperature, it is the viscosity at the same temperature. Further, the plurality of types of energy used to form a transferred image are also arbitrarily determined depending on the type of transfer recording medium used, and for example, a photoelectron beam, heat, pressure, etc. are used in an appropriate combination.

In order to understand the image forming method according to the present invention, an example using a transfer recording medium on which a latent image is formed by light and thermal energy will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1a to 1d. The time axes (horizontal axes) of the graphs in FIGS. 1a to 1d correspond to each other. Further, the transfer recording layer contains a reaction initiator and a polymerization component, which will be described later, as sensitive components. 1st a
The figure shows the rise in surface temperature of the heating means and the subsequent temperature drop when the heating means such as a thermal head is subjected to development heat driving from time 0 to t3. The transfer recording medium that is in pressure contact with the heating means exhibits a temperature change as shown in FIG. 1b as the temperature of the heating means changes. That is,
The temperature rises with a time delay of t, and similarly reaches the maximum temperature at time t4, which is delayed from t3, and thereafter the temperature decreases.

This transfer recording layer has a glass transition point Tgo, and rapidly softens and decreases in viscosity in a temperature range above Tgo. This situation is shown by curve A in FIG. 1c. After reaching Tgo at time t2, the viscosity continues to decrease until time t4 when the temperature reaches the maximum, and as the temperature decreases, the viscosity increases again and shows a rapid increase until time t6 when it drops to Tgo. In this case, the physical properties of the transfer recording layer are basically unchanged from before heating, and if it is heated to a temperature higher than Tgo in the next transfer step, it exhibits the same viscosity phenomenon as described above. Therefore, if the transfer recording layer is brought into pressure contact with the transfer medium and heated to a temperature necessary for transfer, for example, above Tgo, the transfer recording layer will be transferred for the same reason as the transfer mechanism of conventional thermal transfer recording, but in the case of the present invention As shown in Fig. 1d, when light is irradiated at the same time as heating from time t2, for example, a reaction initiator contained in the transfer recording layer is activated and the temperature increases (sufficiently enough to increase the reaction rate). If the amount increases, the probability that the polymerizable monomer will polymerize increases dramatically, so that curing progresses rapidly.

When heating and light irradiation are performed simultaneously in this manner, the transfer recording layer exhibits a behavior as shown by curve B in FIG. 1c. As the reaction progresses, the glass transition point rises and changes from Tgo to Tg' at time t5 when the reaction ends. This situation is shown in Figure 1d. Therefore, when heated in the next transfer process, T
There is a difference in properties between the part where g' has changed and the part which has not changed. Along with this, the transfer start temperature Ta, which is the temperature at which the transfer recording layer starts transferring, also changes, causing a difference between the transfer start temperature and the lower part, and only the part where the viscosity has decreased is transferred to the transfer medium. . Although it depends on the temperature stability accuracy of the transfer process, Tg'-TgO is preferably about 20°C or more. In particular, the temperature is preferably 40°C or higher. This value is Tgo>
The same applies to Tg'. In this way, a transfer image can be formed by controlling heating or non-heating according to the image signal and simultaneously irradiating light.

In addition, the heating temperature in the transfer image forming step is preferably 70° C. or higher for the image forming element in order to speed up the reaction rate at which the physical properties that govern the transfer characteristics change and to ensure that the reaction is stable. Setting the temperature above 80°C gives good results.

In addition to the glass transition point explained above, other physical properties that govern the transfer characteristics of the transfer recording layer include melting temperature and softening temperature, but in any case, the melting temperature before and after the application of multiple types of energy , a transferred image is formed in the transfer recording layer using irreversible changes such as softening temperature. Furthermore, the softening temperature, melting temperature, and glass transition point vary in almost the same direction, so the above explanation using the glass transition point is also an explanation using the melting temperature and softening temperature.

Next, the present invention will be explained in detail using the softening temperature.

Let TS be the softening temperature of the transfer recording layer. The content of clay in the transfer recording layer decreases rapidly in the temperature range of Mini 3 or above.8 This situation is shown by curve A in FIG. 1C. After reaching TS at time t2, clay continues to fall until time t4 when the temperature reaches the maximum, and as the temperature decreases, clay increases again and shows a rapid increase until time t6 when it falls to Ts. In this case, the physical properties of the transfer recording layer are basically unchanged from those before heating, and when heated to a temperature higher than Ts in the next transfer step, the viscosity decreases as described above.

Therefore, if the transfer recording layer is brought into pressure contact with the transfer medium and heated to a temperature necessary for transfer, for example, above Ts, the transfer recording layer will be transferred for the same reason as the transfer mechanism of conventional thermal transfer recording. In this case, as shown in Fig. 1d, if light is irradiated at the same time as heating from time t2, the transfer recording layer will soften and, for example, a reaction initiator contained in the transfer recording layer will be activated, and the temperature will reduce the reaction rate. If the temperature is increased enough to increase the temperature, the probability that the polymerizable monomer will polymerize increases dramatically, so that curing progresses rapidly.

When heating and light irradiation are performed simultaneously in this manner, the transfer recording layer exhibits a behavior as shown by curve B in FIG. 10.

As the reaction progresses, the softening temperature rises and changes from Ts to T's at time t5 when crosslinking ends. This situation is shown in Figure 1d. However, Tg and Tg' shown in FIGS. 1b and 1d are replaced by Ts and Ts'.

Therefore, when heated in the next transfer step, there will be a difference in properties between the part that has changed to T's and the part that has not changed.

Along with this, the transfer start temperature Ta, which is the temperature at which the transfer recording layer starts transferring, also changes and becomes T'a. Therefore, by heating to Tr that satisfies Ta<Tr<T'a, for example, only the portion where the softening temperature does not rise will be transferred to the transfer medium. T'5-Ts at this time depends on the temperature stability accuracy of the transfer process.
is preferably about 20°C or higher. In particular, the temperature is preferably 40°C or higher. This value is also the same when Ts>T's. In this way, a transfer image can be formed by controlling heating or non-heating according to the image signal and simultaneously irradiating light.

Incidentally, the transfer start temperature in the present invention is measured as follows.

A 6 μ thick transfer recording layer coated on a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film and a surface smoothness (Beck smoothness) used as a transfer medium of 50 to 200 seconds and a thickness of 0.
, 2 mm high-quality paper and sandwiched the transfer recording medium and the high-quality paper between the following two rolls 2 and 5.
It is conveyed at a speed of mm/sec. The first roll of the two rolls is arranged on the transfer recording medium side,
It is an iron roll with a built-in 300W halogen heater and has a diameter of 40 mm. The second roll on the high-quality paper side is a 40 mm diameter iron roll whose surface is covered with 0.5 mm thick fluororubber, and the two rolls have a linear pressure of 4 k.
They face each other at a pressure of g/cm. The surface of the first roll is detected by a thermistor, and the halogen heater is controlled to maintain it at a predetermined temperature. Four seconds after passing between the two rolls, while keeping the high-quality paper flat, the transfer recording medium was pulled at an angle of approximately 90° at a speed equal to the transport speed of the rolls, and the high-quality paper was separated from the transfer recording medium. , Observe whether or not the transfer recording layer has been transferred to the high-quality paper. While gradually increasing the surface temperature of the heat roll (first roll) (heating rate: 10°C/MIN, below), the temperature at which the optical density of the transferred image is saturated is measured, and the transfer start temperature is determined. Know.

Further, the softening temperature is measured by thermal mechanical analysis (TMA). In principle, this method involves pressing a needle against a sample with a constant load, gradually increasing the temperature, and observing how the needle penetrates into the sample to determine its softening temperature. Here, it is assumed that TMA is measured under the following conditions. That is, l m m thick AI! A transfer recording layer is applied to a thickness of 20 μm on top of the base layer.

A needle is pressed here with a pressure of 70 g/Crrr (specifically, a needle with a flat tip is used, and the flat area of this tip is 0,
A 7 m rrl' needle is pressed against the sample with a load of 500 mg). Then, the penetration of the needle is measured at a temperature increase rate of lOoC/MIN. If the needle does not penetrate instantly, the temperature at which the penetration speed increases rapidly is determined as the softening temperature.

With reference to the above explanation, a multicolor image forming method will be described. Figures 2a to 2d are partial diagrams showing the relationship between the transfer recording medium of the present invention and the thermal head, in which the thermal energy modulated according to the recording signal is used to change the physical properties governing the transfer characteristics of the image forming element. It is applied along with light energy of a wavelength selected according to the color tone of the body. "Modulation" refers to changing the position where energy is applied according to the image signal, and "together" can mean applying light energy and thermal energy at the same time, or applying light energy and thermal energy separately. It is okay if you do.

The multicolor transfer recording medium 1 of the present invention is constructed by providing a transfer recording layer 1a on a base film lb.

The transfer recording layer 1a is a layer in which minute image forming elements 31 are distributed, and each image forming element 31 exhibits a different color tone. For example, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2a to 2d, each image forming element 31 is coated with cyan (C).

Magenta (M), Yellow (Y> and Black (K)
Contains one of the following coloring materials. However, the coloring material contained in each image forming element 31 is cyan.

It is not limited to magenta, yellow, or black; any color material may be used depending on the purpose.

In addition to the coloring material, each image forming element 31 contains a sensitive component whose physical properties governing transfer characteristics change rapidly when light and heat energy is applied. The image forming element 31 may be provided on the base material 1bl with a binder,
Further, it may be melted by heating.

The sensitive component of each image forming element 31 has wavelength dependence depending on the coloring material it contains. That is, when the image forming element 31 containing the yellow coloring material is exposed to heat and light having the wavelength λ(Y), crosslinking rapidly progresses and the image forming element 31 is cured. Similarly, the image forming element 31 containing the magenta coloring material is heated, the image forming element 31 containing the cyan coloring material is
When heat and light of wavelength λ(C) are applied to image forming element 31 containing a black coloring material, crosslinking progresses and hardening occurs when heat and light of wavelength λ(K) are respectively applied. Even when the cured image forming element 31 is heated in the next transfer step, the viscosity does not decrease and the image forming element 31 is not transferred to the transfer medium. Heat and light are applied depending on the recorded information.

Now, in the image forming method of the present invention, the transfer recording medium 1 is placed on the thermal head 20, and light is irradiated so as to cover the entire heat generating portion of the thermal head 20. The irradiated light has a wavelength that the image forming element body 31 reacts to, and is sequentially irradiated. For example, the image forming element 31 may be cyan, magenta, yellow,
If it is colored black, the wavelength λ(C
), λ(M).

Light of λ(Y) and λ(K) is sequentially irradiated.

That is, first, light of wavelength λ(Y) is irradiated from the transfer recording layer 1a side of the transfer recording medium 1, and, for example, the heating resistors 20b, 20d, 20e and 2 of the thermal head 20 are
Make Of generate heat. Then, of the image forming element 31 containing the yellow coloring material, the image forming element 31 to which both heat and light of wavelength λ(Y) are applied (the hatched part in FIG. 2a, below) , the cured image forming element is shown by hatching) is cured.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2b, the transfer recording layer 1a is coated with a wavelength λ(
M) and the heating resistor 20a.

When 20e and 2Of generate heat, of the image forming elements 31 containing the magenta coloring material, the image forming element 31 to which heat and light of wavelength λ(M) have been applied is cured. Furthermore, the second
As shown in Figures c and 2d, when a desired heating resistor is heated while being irradiated with light of wavelength λ(C) and light of wavelength λ(K), an image is formed by adding light and heat. The element body 31 is cured, and a transfer image is finally formed on the transfer recording layer 1 by the image forming element body 3N that has not been cured. This transferred image is transferred to the transfer medium 10 in the next transfer step as shown in FIG. 2e.

In the transfer process, the transfer recording medium on which the transferred image has been formed is brought into contact with the transfer medium, and the transferred image is selectively transferred to the transfer medium by heating from the transfer recording medium or the transfer medium side to form an image. do. Therefore, the heating temperature at this time is determined so that only the transferred image is selectively transferred in the transfer step. Further, in order to perform the transfer efficiently, it is also effective to apply pressure at the same time. Pressure is particularly effective when using a transfer medium with low surface smoothness. Furthermore, if the physical property that governs the transfer characteristics is the viscosity at room temperature, transfer is possible only by applying pressure.

Furthermore, heating during the transfer process is suitable for obtaining stable, durable, and durable multicolor images.

In the embodiments described in FIGS. 2a to 2d, the entire area of the thermal head 20 is irradiated with light, and the thermal head 20 is
Although we have shown a method of forming an image by selectively heating a heating resistor of 0, it is also possible to uniformly heat a certain part of the transfer recording medium (in terms of the thermal head 20 shown in Fig. 2a).
When all heating resistors generate heat), a multicolor image can be similarly formed by selectively irradiating light. That is, light energy of a wavelength that is modulated according to the recording signal and that is selected depending on the color tone of the image forming element whose physical properties governing the transfer characteristics are desired to be changed is applied together with thermal energy.

To explain with the example shown in FIG. 2a, the heating resistor 20b,
Instead of generating heat in 20d, 20e, and 2Of, the thermal head 20 uniformly generates heat as a whole, and the heating resistor 2
Light of wavelength λ(Y) is irradiated to positions corresponding to 0b, 20d, 20e, and 20f. When irradiating light with wavelength λ(M), the entire thermal head 20 is made to generate heat, and the light is irradiated to positions corresponding to the heating resistors 20a, 20e, and 2Of. The same applies when irradiating light with wavelength λ(C) and wavelength λ(K).

In the above description, a thermal head was used as a means for uniformly heating the entire body for convenience, but a uniform heating means such as a heat roll or a heating plate may be used.

In the image forming method of the present invention described above, halftone recording can be performed, for example, as follows.

That is, as described above, according to the present invention, basically a plurality of colors (for example, Y, M, C, R, G) are recorded for each recording pixel.

It is possible to express eight colors (B, BK, W).

Therefore, by combining these, so-called full-color expression is also possible. That is, as shown in FIG. 3 (a) to (Z), pseudo halftone expression can be achieved by arranging the number of recording pixels in the matrix 30 made up of a plurality of pixels 30a. By applying this to eight colors, vivid full-color expression is possible.

Many such methods have been proposed, and some of them have been put into practical use. Any halftone recording method that can be applied (e.g., thermosensitive recording method, thermosensitive recording method, etc.) is basically applicable.

Furthermore, as described above, it is possible to express multiple levels of intermediate tones with one recording pixel, and it is also possible to express multiple tones by distributing this pixel into a matrix, resulting in a high-resolution, high-quality image.

In the above explanation, each element body is scattered discretely on the transfer medium (recording paper, etc.) as shown in Fig. 2e, but this is only for convenience of explanation. In reality, the transferred element body spreads two-dimensionally on the surface of the transfer medium, and as a result, in the example of FIG. 2, each pixel is correctly formed corresponding to each heating element of the thermal head.

Further, in the method for forming a transferred image described above, an example is shown in which the image forming element has a different spectral sensitivity for each color, but this characteristic is not necessarily essential to the present invention. For example, by using materials that react to two types of light and heat that have different temperature characteristics, and also have different temperature characteristics, it is possible to differentiate them by the thermal energy they provide even though they have the same spectral characteristics. In other words, a temperature-dependent image forming element is used as the image forming element, and the image forming element is uniformly irradiated with light, and thermal energy is applied in a manner that changes depending on the recorded information and the color tone of the image forming element. I don't mind.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the image forming element B which is exposed to light and hardens at a temperature of T1 or higher and the temperature T2 (>'r + )
A transfer recording medium in which the image forming element R which is cured by exposure to light forms a distributed layer is used (FIG. 4a). The element B is blue and the element R is red. To explain according to FIG. 2, light λ(B, R
) to cure both elements B and R at the same time, the temperature should be 12 or more, so the heating resistor 20C is the fourth
t as shown in figure C. Heat is generated for a period of ~t2, and the elements B and R are heated to a temperature of t2 or higher.

On the other hand, in order to harden only B, it is necessary to heat to T1 or more and T2 or less, as shown in FIG. 4C. - period of t,
The heating resistors 20a and 20d generate heat and the corresponding element B
harden.

After initiating in this manner, the uncured element is transferred to the transfer medium 10 to obtain an image (FIG. 4b). In this example, a two-color image is obtained: a field (R) portion and a black (B and R) portion.

In the embodiments described above with reference to FIGS. 2a to 2e, an example was shown in which a multicolor image was obtained using the transfer recording medium of the present invention. It is also possible to obtain a monochrome image by using these colorants. In this case, there is no need to change the sensitive component to correspond to the coloring material.

In the explanation of FIGS. 2a to 2e, the transfer recording layer 1a is composed of a coating of particulate image forming elements, but it may be a continuous layer uniformly melt-coated. Further, the particulate image forming element may be formed into a capsule-shaped element 31 consisting of a core portion 31a and a wall material 31b as shown in FIG. When the image forming element is in the form of a capsule, the core portion contains a coloring material and a sensitive component. When obtaining a multicolor transfer image, it is preferable to use a particle-like or capsule-like image forming element for the transfer recording layer. still,
When the transfer recording layer is composed of a capsule-shaped image forming element, the wall material of the image forming element is destroyed in the transfer process, and the core portion is mainly transferred, and the transferred image is transferred onto the recording medium. is formed. Therefore, the heating temperature in the transfer step is determined so that the wall material of the image forming element is destroyed and only the transferred image is selectively transferred with respect to the physical properties that govern the transfer characteristics.

When the transfer recording layer is composed of particulate image forming elements,
The distribution density of the image forming element is preferably 25% to the densest state, considering the projected area of the element to the base material.

As the transfer recording medium used in the present invention, any transfer recording medium can be used as long as it can form a transferred image by changing physical properties using a plurality of types of energy. By applying multiple types of energy, melting temperature, softening point,
A transfer image can be formed by using a transfer recording layer whose physical properties such as glass transition point and viscosity change.

For example, there may be mentioned a transfer recording medium containing a coloring material in the transfer recording layer and a polymerized component as a sensitive component.

By polymerizing the polymerized component, the melting temperature, etc. of the transfer recording layer in that portion increases, and the portion that is not polymerized forms a transferred image. When the transfer recording layer is composed of a capsule-shaped image forming element, the melting temperature of the core portion of the portion to which a plurality of types of energy is applied becomes high, and a transferred image is formed. The image forming element forming the transfer recording layer contains a sensitive component and a coloring component, and the sensitive component reacts by changing its physical properties when it is irradiated with multiple energies such as light and heat energy. It is preferable to use a substance that initiates the reaction or a substance that rapidly changes the reaction rate of physical property change.

The polymerization component is a component that causes a polymerization reaction or a crosslinking reaction, and includes monomers, oligomers, and polymers. Examples of oligomers or polymers include polyvinyl cinnamate, P-methoxycinnamic acid-succinic acid half ester, polyvinylstyrylpyridinium, polymethyl vinyl ketone, polyethylene glycol acrylate,
Polyethylene glycol dimethacrylate, polypropylene glycol diacrylate, etc., or Epoquin resin, unsaturated polyester resin, polyurethane resin, polyvinyl alcohol resin, polyamide resin,
Examples include polyacrylic acid resins, polymaleic acid resins, silicone resins, etc. having reactive groups at the terminals or side chains. Further, specific examples include acrylic ester, acrylic amide, methacrylic ester, and methacrylic amide.

Polymerizable monomers include ethylene glycol diacrylate, propylene glycol diacrylate, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate 1.4-butanediol diacrylate-1., N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide, methyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate, cyclohexyl acrylate, Benzyl acrylate, acrylamide, methacrylamide, N-methylol acrylamide, N-diacetone acrylamide, styrene,
Acrylonitrile, vinyl acetate, ethylene glycol diacrylate, butylene glycol dimethacrylate, 1,4-butanediol diacrylate, 1.6
-Hexanethiol dimethacrylate, diethylene glycol diacrylate, triethylene glycol diacrylate, and the like.

If necessary to cause the reaction of the polymerization component,
A reaction initiator is added. As the reaction initiator, radical initiators such as azo compounds, organic sulfur compounds, carbonyl compounds, and halogen compounds are preferable. For example, benzophenone, benzyl, benzoin ethyl ether, 4-N
, carbonyl compounds such as N-dimethylamino-4'-methoxy-benzophenone, organic sulfur compounds such as dibutyl sulfide, benzyl disulfide, and decylphenyl sulfide, and peroxide tetrachloride such as di-tert-butyl peroxide and benzoyl peroxide. carbon, silver bromide,
Examples include halogen compounds such as 2-naphthalenesulfonyl chloride, nitrogen compounds such as azobisisobutyronitrile, and benzenediazonium chloride.

In particular, in the structure of the transfer recording layer in which a transferred image is formed by receiving both light and thermal energy, a reaction occurs between the reaction initiator that acts upon receiving light energy and the polymerization component. The types of reaction initiator and polymerization component may be selected so as to provide a combination in which the rate is highly dependent on temperature.

For example, a combination of a heat-melting urethane acrylate polymerizable monomer as a polymerization component and a reaction initiator of 2-chlorothioxanthone or ethyl-P-dimethylaminobenzoate may be used. One example is adding resin as a binder.

The coloring component is a component contained in order to form an optically recognizable image, and various pigments and dyes are used as appropriate. Examples of such pigments and dyes include carbon black, yellow lead, molybdenum red, inorganic pigments such as red red, Hansa Yellow, Benzidine Yellow, Brilliant Carmino 6B, Lake Red C1 Permanent Red F5R.
, phthalocyanine blue, Victoria Blue Lake, fast sky blue, and other organic pigments; and colorants such as leuco dyes and phthalocyanine dyes.

In addition, hydroquinone, P-methoxyphenol, P-tert-butyricatechol 2.2'
A stabilizer such as -methylene-bis(4-ethyl-6-tert-butylphenol) may also be included.

Furthermore, sensitization with P-nitroaniline, 1,2-benzoanthraquinone, P-P'-dimethylaminobenzoate, anthraquinone, 2,6-sinitroaniline Michler ketone, etc. to increase the activation of the reaction initiator with respect to energy. The agent may be included in the transfer recording layer.

The transfer recording medium of the present invention may contain resin, wax, or liquid crystal as a binder in addition to the coloring material and the sensitive component.

Resins used as binders include polyester, polyamide, polyurethane, polyurea,
Examples include polyvinyl-based, silicon-based, polyacetylene-based, and polyether-based polypolymers or copolymers, and these may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

In addition, wax binders include vegetable waxes such as candelilla wax, carnauba wax, and rice wax, animal waxes such as beeswax and spermaceti, mineral waxes such as ceresin and montan wax, and petroleum waxes such as paraffin wax. There are waxes, polyethylene waxes, Sasol waxes, montan wax derivatives, paraffin wax derivatives, hydrogenated castor oil, hydrogenated castor oil derivatives, and synthetic waxes made of fatty acids and fatty acid amide esters such as stearic acid.

In the present invention, one or two types of these waxes are used.
More than one type may be mixed and used.

Furthermore, the liquid crystals used as binders include cholesterol hexanoate, cholesterol decanoate,
Cholesterol m-aluminum carbonate, cholesterol methyl carbonate, 4'-methoxybenzylidene-
4-acetoxyaniline, 4'-methoxybenzylidene-4-methylaniline, 4'-ethoxybenzylidene-
4-cyanoaniline, N,N'-bisbenzylidene-3
, 3'-dimethoxybenzidine and the like.

When microcapsules are used in the image forming element constituting the transfer recording layer, the above-described material is contained in the core portion. Materials used for the wall materials of microcapsules include gelatin and gum arabic, cellulose-based urea-formalin such as ethyl cellulose and nitrocellulose, nylon, tetron, polyurethane, polycarbonate, male anhydride, phosphoric acid copolymers, vinyldene chloride, and polycarbonate. Examples include polymers such as vinyl chloride, polyethylene, polystyrene, and PET.

In the transfer recording medium of the present invention, the thickness of the transfer recording layer is 1 to 20
μ is preferred, and 3 to 10 μ is particularly preferred.

When the transfer recording layer is composed of image forming elements of microcapsules, the particle size of the microcapsules is 1 to 20.
A particle size of .mu. is preferred, particularly a particle size of 3 to 10 .mu.m. In addition, the particle size distribution of microcapsules is ±
It is preferably 50% or less, particularly preferably ±20% or less.

The thickness of the wall material of the microcapsule is 0.1 to 2.0 μ
is preferable, and particularly preferably 8m0.1-0.5μ.

The microcapsule image forming element is bound to the substrate using a coating binder such as polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) or epoxy adhesive. The thickness of the coating binder is preferably 0.1 to 1 μm.

In the multicolor transfer recording medium used in the multicolor image forming method of the present invention, in order to reproduce a color image, the image forming element constituting the transfer recording layer needs to have wavelength dependence depending on the type of coloring material. . As mentioned earlier, when the transfer recording layer is composed of image forming elements of n types of colors, light of different wavelengths for each colored color, that is, n types of different wavelengths are suddenly emitted. The distribution layer of the image forming element is composed of a combination of sensitive components whose reaction rates change. As a combination of such sensitizing ingredients, for example, as a sensitizer, about 4
00 to 500 nm, and C2■ (5
Two-color recording is possible by using a material that is sensitive to approximately 480 to 600 nm as in C2 (5). In this case, the photosensitive range of both overlaps in the wavelength range of 480 to 500 nm, but is a region with low sensitivity. However, by selecting an appropriate light source, the two can be almost completely separated.

In addition, by combining these with an azo compound that is sensitive to 34.0 to 400 nm and a rogen compound that is sensitive to 300 to 400 nm, it is possible to use a three-color image forming element, making it possible to record in full color. Expansion is possible.

Furthermore, as a reaction initiator combination, (1) 2-chlorothioxanthone/ethyl P-dimethylaminobenzoate;
(2) A combination of dichlorobenzophenone/ethyl P-dimethylaminobenzoate can also be used. The light source used for this combination is: ■The peak wavelength is 39
A fluorescent lamp with a wavelength of 0 nm and a fluorescent lamp with an O peak wavelength of 313 nm can be used. The irradiation energy required to obtain the same reaction amount (equal transfer concentration) is 1 for the combination of ■-■, 4 for the combination of ■-■, and 1.1 for the combination of ■-■. ■−■ is 5.

Therefore, by setting the irradiation energy of ``1'' to 1 and the irradiation energy of ``1'' to 1.1, the reactions ``■'' and ``2'' can be distinguished.

Further, even when the wavelength dependencies of the sensitive components contained in image forming elements exhibiting different color tones are approximately equal, it is possible to impart wavelength dependence through the filter effect of the colorant. For example, if the colorant is blue, this blue colorant reflects and transmits blue light in the wavelength range of 400 to 500 nm, and 50 nm to green to red.
Absorbs light with a wavelength of 0 to 700 nm. Therefore, an imaging element containing a blue colorant is sensitive to blue light. For the same reason, if it has a red colorant, it can be sensitive to red light. Therefore, even if it has a sensitive component that is sensitive to light from blue to red, it can be made wavelength dependent by using the colorant.

In the transfer recording medium used in the present invention, radical reactions in the transfer recording layer may be suppressed due to oxygen in the air.

In order to prevent this, it is preferable to apply, for example, an aqueous polyvinyl alcohol solution to which a small amount of a surfactant is added as an oxygen-preventing layer on the transfer recording layer. This oxygen prevention layer is removed by washing with water after the transfer image is formed. In addition, in the case of a microencapsulated element, the wall material can have a function as an oxygen prevention layer.

The transfer recording medium used in the present invention can be manufactured, for example, as follows.

The transfer recording medium of the present invention is prepared by melt-mixing components such as a sensitive component, a reaction initiator, a sensitizer, a stabilizer, a colorant, etc., and applying the mixture onto a substrate using an applicator or the like. In addition, when the transfer recording layer is constituted by an image forming element, the above-mentioned components are made into minute image forming elements by spray drying method etc. for each color, and then each color image forming element is formed with a binder such as a polyester resin. After sufficiently mixing the body in a solvent such as methyl ethyl ketone or ethylene glycol diacetate, solvent vent coating is performed on a film such as polyimide, and the desired recording medium is prepared by drying at 80°C for 3 minutes to remove the solvent. You can get it.

When the image-forming element is composed of microcapsules, the image-forming element in the form of a microcapsule is manufactured, for example, by a method detailed in the Examples below, and the image-forming element in the form of particles is manufactured. In the same manner as in the case of , it is applied onto the substrate by a solvent coating method.

The above example shows a case where the melting temperature of the part to which multiple types of energy is applied is high, but as a transfer recording medium, it is possible to soften or have a low melting temperature when receiving multiple types of energy. When used, the parts receiving multiple types of energy form a transferred image.Such sensitive components include polymethyl vinyl ketone, polyvinylphenyl ketone, methyl vinyl ketone, methyl isopropenyl ketone, and ethylene. , copolymers with styrene, etc., ・copolymers of ethylene and carbon monoxide, ・copolymers of vinyl chloride, acrylate, etc. with carbon monoxide, ・polyvinyl phenyl ketone, ・polyamide-imide, ・polyamide,・Polysulfone, etc.

The base material used in the recording medium of the present invention is not particularly limited, and conventionally known base materials can be used as they are. For example, examples of the support include polyester, polycarbonate, triacetylcellulose, nylon, polyimide, and the like.

In the present invention, the composition of the recording layer is, for example, 0.1% of the colorant.
~1O wt% The sensitive component is preferably 20 to 95 wt%. In addition, when the sensitive component contains a reaction initiator, the amount of the reaction initiator is 0% relative to the weight of the recording layer.
．． 001 to 20% by weight is preferred. Binder is 0~
90% by weight is preferred.

Some examples of embodiments of the image forming method of the present invention are as follows: (1) Both light and thermal energy are applied to the transfer recording medium under conditions in which at least one of light and thermal energy is applied in correspondence with recorded information. are applied to form transferred images having different transfer start temperatures, etc.

(2) A structure in which the reaction initiator and the polymerization component are mixed in the area under pressure (for example, the reaction initiator is encapsulated in a capsule, and the capsule size t is broken by the pressure, and the reaction initiator is mixed with the polymerization component). The transfer recording medium contains a reaction initiator that acts only with heat, while the transfer recording medium has a configuration in which the polymerized components are in a mixed state. Transfer images having different melting temperatures and the like are formed by applying both pressure and thermal energy under the same conditions.

(3) The structure is such that the reaction initiator and the polymerization component are mixed in the part that receives pressure, and the transfer recording medium containing the reaction initiator that acts only with light energy is protected against pressure or light energy. Transfer images having different melting temperatures and the like are formed by applying both pressure and light energy under conditions in which one is applied in accordance with recorded information.

(4) The structure is such that the reaction initiator and the polymerization component mix in the area that receives pressure, and the transfer recording medium containing the reaction initiator that acts upon receiving light and thermal energy is Alternatively, transfer images having different melting temperatures and the like are formed by applying pressure, heat, and light energy under conditions such that at least one of light energy is applied in accordance with recorded information.

In the embodiments of the image forming method listed above, the preferable pressure range is 5 to 100 kg/crtr, particularly 20 to 50 kg/crtr.
kg/c rrl' is preferred. In addition, the energy of the light is 250 to 600 nm, preferably 30 nm.
At wavelengths from 0 to 500 nm, 10 tt J/c rr?
~10mJ/c i is preferred, especially 20-200μ
Jlcrd is preferred. The thermal energy is preferably such that the transfer recording medium is heated to a temperature of 50 to 180°C, particularly 70 to 120°C.

Next, some process examples of the image forming method of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 6 to 11.

The examples of the apparatus shown in FIGS. 6 to 11 are all apparatuses that form an image by transferring a transfer image formed on a transfer recording layer of a transfer recording medium to a transfer medium, and include a heating means, It has a light irradiation means and a transfer means for transferring a transferred image formed on the transfer recording layer to the recording medium, and at least one of the heating means and the light irradiation means operates based on an image signal. .

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an apparatus for carrying out the image forming method of the present invention. That is, the apparatus shown in FIG. 6 selectively drives a single heating means equipped with a plurality of heating elements in accordance with an image signal, and also produces a small amount of recording (both at the position of the driven heating element). This is for carrying out a forming method for forming a multicolored transfer image by irradiating different light depending on the color tone of the image to be obtained. A transfer recording medium of the present invention in which a transfer recording layer 1a having an increased melting temperature or softening point is arranged on a film 1b, 2 is a supply roll around which the transfer recording medium 1 is wound, and 3 is a transfer recording medium 1 that is uniformly irradiated with light. low-pressure mercury lamps, high-pressure mercury lamps, metal haloids,
A light irradiation means such as a fluorescent lamp or a xenon lamp, and 4 a heating means such as a thermal head which causes a control circuit 5 to generate heat pulses based on an image signal. It is also possible to use an energization-heating transfer recording medium in which the transfer recording medium 1 is energized to generate heat; in this case, the heating means 4 is a current-carrying head that generates electric pulses for energization. This heating means 4
is equipped with a plurality of heating elements (for example, when the heating means is a thermal head, the heating element refers to a heating resistor shown in FIG. 2a; when the heating means is a current-carrying head, it refers to an electrode). The heating elements may be arranged in one example, in a matrix, or in multiple rows.

Further, the heating elements may be each separated, or may be a continuous rod-shaped current-generating heat generating material separated by a plurality of electrodes.

8.9 is a transfer means, 8 is a heat roll having a heater 7 inside, 9 is arranged opposite to the heat roll 8, and is used to transfer a transfer medium 10 such as plain paper or an OHP sheet and a transfer recording medium 1. A pinch roller 11 presses with a pinch, and a winding roll 11 winds up the transfer recording medium after transfer recording. The recorded image 12 is formed on the transfer medium 10 and separated from the transfer recording medium.

Now, the transfer recording medium l sent out from the supply roll 2 is given a heat pulse based on an image signal by the thermal head 4. At the same time that the thermal head 4 applies heat pulses to the transfer recording medium 1, light of different wavelengths is sequentially irradiated from the lamp 3 in synchronization with the heat pulses based on (color) image signals. The principle of the transfer image forming process is shown in Figures 2a to 2.
This is as explained in Figure d. The lamp 3 shown in the figure is shown schematically, and it is preferable to irradiate light with different wavelengths using a plurality of lamps. That is, if one lamp irradiates light of one wavelength, the same number of lamps as the types of color tones exhibited by the image forming element are required.

A transfer image is formed on the transfer recording layer 1a by the thermal head 4 and the lamp 3, and this transfer image is transferred to the transfer medium IO by the heat roll 8 and the pinch roller 9.

In this case, as described above, it is basically one selective heating means such as a thermal head that is controlled based on the image signal, and the control circuit can therefore be simple. As a result, it becomes easy to realize a compact and highly reliable apparatus and to form stable images.

It is also possible to control both heating and light irradiation depending on the image signal. For example, heat is applied in the same manner as in the example shown in FIGS. 2a to 2d, and light is irradiated to a position corresponding to the heating resistor that generates heat. In other words, in the examples shown in Figures 2a to 2d, the light is irradiated uniformly, but when controlling both heating and light irradiation, the irradiation position of the light matches the heat generation position of the thermal head. controlled. In this way, when a wavelength-dependent image-forming element is used, the wavelength of light is sequentially changed according to the color of the image-forming element, and when a temperature-dependent image-forming element is used, , the heating temperature is changed depending on the color of the image forming element.

When both heating and light irradiation are controlled as described above, it is advantageous to increase the contrast of changes in physical properties of a transferred image, and it becomes easy to obtain a sharp image. In addition, since the influence on the image when one side deteriorates is halved, it is easy to obtain a highly reliable device.

The formation of a multicolor image has been described above, but if the transfer recording layer 1a contains one type of coloring material, it is also possible to form a monochrome image with the apparatus shown in FIG. 6. The same applies to the devices shown below.

As an embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention, it is also possible to include a plurality of steps for forming a transferred image. In other words, as shown in FIG. 7, the heating means and the light irradiation means are used as one transfer image forming unit, and the transfer image forming section is formed by arranging a plurality of the transfer image forming units, and the transfer image forming section is formed by the transfer image forming section. The apparatus includes a transfer means for transferring a transfer image onto a recording medium, and each transfer image forming unit forms a transfer image of one color. In the example shown in FIG. 7, the step of forming a yellow transfer image is performed by the lamp 3Y as a light irradiation means and the thermal head 4Y as a heating means, the magenta step is performed by a lamp 3M and a thermal head 4M, and the cyan step is performed by a thermal head of a lamp 3C. Transfer images are sequentially formed by the head 4C, the black process is performed by the lamp 3, and the thermal head 4K, and after passing through the black process and a multicolor transfer image is formed, it is transferred to the transfer medium 10. Obtain a multicolor image.

An image forming method that includes a plurality of transfer image forming steps can be an advantageous means for increasing speed. Particularly when using a heating means such as a thermal head in response to an image signal, the heating means needs to repeat heating and cooling at high speed. Now, suppose the time required for heating and cooling the heating means is 4 m S e c
, and so on. For Y and M, there is only one transfer image forming process, and the heating and cooling process is performed four times.

If the process is performed separately for C and K, it will take at least 4 m5 ec to process 1 scanning line, or X4 = 16 mSec. On the other hand, if there are four transfer image forming processes and they share the role of forming Y, , M, C, and K transfer images in accordance with the above example, then one scanning line can be processed in 4 m5ec. This is possible because they are processed in parallel. In this way, high-speed processing is easy and a high-speed multicolor recording device can be obtained.

On the other hand, when the above-mentioned one-transfer image forming step is used, in principle, multi-color formation is performed at one location for each image, so it has the advantage that a clear multi-color image can be obtained without causing color misregistration.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus for carrying out another embodiment of the image forming method of the present invention. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, light irradiation is controlled based on image signals and heat is uniformly applied. That is, in the example shown in FIG. 2a, the heating resistors 20b and 20d.

2'Oe and 20f, the entire thermal head 20 is made to generate heat uniformly, and the heating resistor 20b,
The wavelength λ(Y
). When irradiating light with wavelength λ(M), the light is irradiated to positions corresponding to the heating resistors 20a, 20e, and 20f. The same applies when irradiating light with wavelength λ(C) and wavelength λ(K).

Therefore, 14 is a heater that uniformly heats the transfer recording medium 1;
For example, it may be a heat roller 8, or it may be a ceramic base material with a heater arranged thereon. Of course, a temperature sensor and a feedback heater control circuit may be provided for the purpose of highly accurate control of heating temperature. On the other hand, 15 is a lamp array that irradiates light by a control circuit based on an image signal, and is selected depending on the spectral sensitivity of the transfer recording layer 1a, and if it is sensitive to visible light, an LED array or a laser array is used. , liquid crystal shutter arrays, etc. Also, a laser scanning system may be used instead of the lamp array. If the device is sensitive to the ultraviolet region, an ultraviolet lamp array or a method of scanning ultraviolet light with an optical system is used.

In the apparatus shown in FIG. 8, since the light that is basically controlled based on the image signal has excellent responsiveness and can be made less diffused, it is easy to obtain high speed and high image quality.

As an apparatus to which the image forming method of the present invention is applied, a configuration in which a plurality of recording units each having a transfer image forming process and a transfer process are combined is also possible. In other words, the heating means, the light irradiation means, and the transfer means are treated as one recording unit, and a plurality of these recording units are provided, and each recording unit forms a transferred image,
It is also possible to form an image by repeating the transfer and superimposing the transferred images on the transfer medium. To explain this with the drawings, as shown in FIG. 9, the first recording unit I-I forms a two-color image in this case, and then the unit ■ of cylinder 2 further transfers two different color images. Obtain a multicolor image. Of course, a single color image may be formed by one recording unit, or for example, three color images of Y, M, and C may be formed by the first recording unit (2) and then the cylinder 2
It is conceivable to form a black image with the recording unit II).

As described above, an image forming method in which transfer image formation and transfer are repeated for each recording unit is advantageous in increasing speed and improving color separation. For example, Y.

It is equipped with a unit for recording M and C, and can transfer the transferred images of Y, M, and C to a transfer medium.The next unit independently forms a transfer image of solid black, and records the transferred images of Y, M, and C. Overlay the black transfer image on top and transfer.

In addition, in the process embodiments shown in FIGS. 6 to 9, it is also possible to perform heating and then irradiation with light, or conversely, to perform heating after irradiation with light. The heating and light irradiation surfaces may be in the same direction or may be in the opposite direction from that shown. Further, in addition to pigments and dyes, a coloring agent or a color developer for coloring the coloring agent may be used as a coloring agent so that the image forming element exhibits a color tone. The coloring reaction may be carried out during the transfer image forming step, during the transfer step, or after the transfer step. Furthermore, it is also possible to apply a color developer to the transfer recording medium and develop color by reaction with the transferred color former. Examples of such color formers include leuco dyes, diazo groups, and the like.

- When containing colorants such as pigments and dyes that do not use auspicious color reactions, they generally have excellent pre-recording medium storage stability and post-recording image storage stability, as well as high-quality color reproduction with high color tone reproduction accuracy. It is easy to obtain multicolor images.

FIG. 10 shows one embodiment of the process of forming a transferred image using light, heat, and pressure. 1, the capsule is cleaved by pressure, the photoreaction initiator is mixed with the polymerization component, and a transfer recording layer is formed on the film whose melting temperature, softening point, etc. can be increased by light and thermal energy as described above. This is a transfer recording medium. Reference numeral 13 denotes an ultraviolet-transparent pressure-bonding member for applying pressure almost uniformly to the transfer recording medium to cleave the capsule as described above, and is made of quartz glass or the like. The rest is the same as the embodiment shown in FIG. still,
If the transfer recording medium 1 is one on which a transfer image is formed by heat and pressure, the light source 3 is used in the apparatus shown in FIG.
You can use it without activating it.

Fig. 11 shows an embodiment of a process in which a third step is applied before the step of forming a transferred image. This is an example in which the state is changed to a reactive state, and the transfer recording medium 1 similar to the example shown in FIG. 10 can be used.

[Effects of the present invention]

As mentioned above, since the present invention uses a transfer recording medium whose properties change rapidly when multiple energies are applied simultaneously, only heat that is affected by the environmental temperature is used, unlike conventional methods. Compared to a method using a transfer recording medium whose characteristics change only depending on the method or light energy, this method has higher environmental stability and makes it possible to always obtain stable, high-definition images. Furthermore, for this reason, the storage stability of the transfer recording medium and the storage stability of recorded images have been improved.

For example, in a method that uses only heat, the recording speed is controlled by the thermal responsiveness of the system, and in the conventional method, it takes a long time to apply the energy necessary for image formation to the transfer recording medium using only one energy. On the other hand, the present invention is suitable for high-speed recording because it is controlled using a plurality of energies.

Furthermore, since a transferred image is formed using a plurality of types of energy, it is easy to adjust the process of physical property change in forming a transferred image in stages, thereby enabling halftone recording.

Furthermore, the image forming method of the present invention can form a multicolor transfer image by continuously irradiating light with different wavelengths in a short period of time, and the conventional multicolor thermal transfer recording method is capable of forming a transfer image on a transfer recording medium. Whereas multicolor images were formed by making complex movements, the multicolor image forming method of the present invention does not require complex movements of the transfer recording medium or the recording medium, and can form multicolor images at high speed. images can be obtained.

In addition, since the process of forming a transferred image and the process of transferring it are independent, the conditions suitable for transferring the transferred image to the transfer medium in a high-quality and stable manner can be determined independently of the conditions for forming the transferred image. It can be set to Therefore, the transfer medium is of course plain paper,
It is possible to obtain high-quality images even when using a high-quality transfer medium such as paper with low surface smoothness or a transverse range. At the same time, it is also possible to obtain excellent fixing properties.

In the image forming method according to the present invention, the transfer image formation step and the transfer step are separated, and the transfer image is already formed in the transfer recording layer in the transfer step, so the restriction on image-wise selective energy application is lifted. be done. Therefore, in the transfer process, the energy necessary to transfer and form a clear image can be applied to the transfer recording medium according to the surface properties of the transfer medium.

In addition, the transferred image formed in the transfer recording layer is not a mere property change image such as a thermally fused image, but an image formed by changing the physical properties that govern the transfer characteristics, so the difference in the physical properties before and after the change is transferred. By using it in the process, it is possible to achieve reliable transfer and also to faithfully transfer the transferred image. For example, when a heat-fused image is used as a transferred image as in the conventional thermal transfer recording method, it is necessary to maintain the heat-fused image completely from the transfer image formation process to the transfer process. It is unavoidable that the transferability deteriorates due to the cooling phenomenon in the process, and that the image becomes blurred due to heat conduction to the surroundings of the thermally fused image.

However, in the case of the present invention, the physical properties that govern the transfer characteristics, such as the melting point, softening point, viscosity at the same temperature, etc. of the transfer recording layer, are changed image-wise to form the transferred image, so this physical property change is caused by the transfer process. Furthermore, unless energy is applied to change the physical properties after the transfer image forming step, the transferability of the transfer image will not deteriorate or image blur will occur. For this reason, even if the surface smoothness of the transfer medium is low, it is possible to form an image with high image quality, and the transferred image can be transferred to the transfer medium without deteriorating its image quality.

Further, according to the image forming method of the present invention, a multicolor transfer image can be formed without making complicated movements of the transfer recording medium or the transfer medium.

The multicolor transfer recording medium used in the image forming method of the present invention is
It has a distribution layer of image-forming elements exhibiting different tones on the substrate, and by changing the conditions for applying multiple energies, it is possible to transfer the image-forming element of a desired color to the transfer medium. .

Therefore, by sequentially changing the conditions for applying multiple energies in a short period of time, the transfer medium can be moved at high speed while moving in one direction without making any complicated movements in the transfer recording medium or the transfer medium. It is possible to obtain multicolor transfer images.

In addition, in the image forming method of the present invention, the entire image becomes very clear, even if one pixel has only a few smudges of color.

Furthermore, in the image forming method according to the present invention, the application of signalized energy for forming a transferred image and the application of uniform energy for transfer are functionally separated, which is different from the conventional thermal transfer recording method. In this way, the conditions for applying energy are relaxed compared to the case where the signaled energy for forming a transfer must be used at the same time as energy for transfer. For example, in the present invention, the amount of energy for forming a transferred image only needs to cause a change in the physical properties of the transfer recording layer, and the energy for transfer may be uniform energy that is not converted into a signal. from,
The amount of energy for forming a transferred image and the amount of energy for transfer can be determined independently. Therefore, the conditions for applying energy are relaxed, and high-speed recording can be easily achieved.

In addition, the thermal response speed of the thermal heads used in conventional thermal transfer recording devices is 1 to 5 m even for the fastest one.
s e c, and if you try to drive it at a faster repetition cycle, the temperature will not rise or fall sufficiently within one cycle (this will result in insufficient heating or, conversely, the temperature will not fall completely and heat will accumulate). This is one of the biggest factors hindering speed-up, but if multiple types of energy are used as in the present invention, for example by combining thermal radiation and light irradiation, Even if the thermal head accumulates heat, the physical properties that govern the transfer characteristics can be changed only when it is irradiated with light, so even if the thermal head accumulates heat, it will not be affected by the heat accumulation, and a conventional thermal head can be used accordingly. Therefore, according to the present invention, high-speed recording is facilitated.

In addition, the image forming method according to the present invention forms a transferred image by applying multiple types of energy, and the physical properties of the transferred image are changed to a greater extent than in the conventional case of forming a transferred image using only heat. In addition, it is possible to use light, which has a quick response to one of multiple types of energy and can easily adjust the intensity in stages, so it is possible to adjust the intensity of images with intermediate tones. This makes it easier to form. For example, by setting the intensity or time of light irradiation in three stages and combining it with heating, it is possible to express gradation in four stages (three stages, ten and non-heating).

Furthermore, although it is desired that such control be performed at high speed, the ability to use energy with a quick response such as light in combination also enables high-speed halftone recording.

Because it uses a transfer recording medium, it has better environmental stability compared to conventional methods that use only heat, which is affected by the environmental temperature, or methods that use a transfer recording medium, whose characteristics change only with light energy. This has made it possible to consistently obtain high-definition images.

Furthermore, for this reason, the storage stability of the transfer recording medium and the storage stability of recorded images have been improved.

Furthermore, with conventional methods that use only heat, for example, the recording speed is controlled by the thermal responsiveness of the system, and it takes a lot of time to apply the energy necessary for image formation to the transfer recording medium. The invention is suitable for high speed recording due to the control with two or more energies.

In addition, since the transferred image is formed using multiple types of energy,
It becomes easy to adjust stepwise the degree of change in physical properties that forms a transferred image, and halftone recording is possible.

In addition, since the process of forming a transferred image and the process of transferring it are independent, the conditions suitable for transferring the transferred image to the transfer medium in a high-quality and stable manner can be determined independently of the conditions for forming the transferred image. It can be set to Therefore, the transfer medium is of course plain paper,
It is possible to obtain high-quality images even when using a wide range of transfer media such as paper with low surface smoothness or transparent range. At the same time, it is also possible to obtain excellent fixing properties. Furthermore, when a discontinuous image forming element is used as the transfer recording layer, the transfer recording layer is not cut (clear transfer images can be obtained).

Furthermore, the image forming method of the present invention can form a multicolor transfer image by, for example, continuously irradiating light with different wavelengths in a short period of time, and the conventional multicolor thermal transfer recording method is capable of forming a transfer image on a transfer recording medium. Whereas multicolor images were formed by making complex movements, the image forming method of the present invention does not require complex movements of the transfer recording medium or the recording medium, and can form multicolor images at high speed. can be obtained.

Further, according to the present invention, the energy to be applied is shared by a plurality of energies, and each energy itself does not require very high energy, so that the device can be made compact.

Below 1・Absence of illness iF'] T grade 1f and unpaid E rehabilitation・Junior 1
Example 1: The components shown in Table 1 were mixed with a chloroform solvent and coated on a 6 μm thick polyimide by a solvent coating method under light shielding to form a transfer recording medium of the present invention. Created. The thickness of the transfer recording layer was 5μ. This was wound into a roll and assembled into the apparatus shown in FIG.

The thermal head 4 is A-4 with 8 dots/mm.
A size line type with heat generating element rows arranged at the edge part is used, and the base material 1b side of the transfer recording medium 1 is placed in contact with the heat generating elements, and the tension of the transfer recording medium 1 is used to press the heat generating elements. I made it so that it would happen. A high-pressure mercury lamp 3 of approximately 2 KW was placed 2 cm away from the transfer recording medium 1 at an opposing location.

Next, the heat generation of the thermal head is controlled according to the image signal.

In this embodiment, since the transfer recording layer is treated with light and heat applied to raise the glass transition point and the transfer start temperature, negative recording is performed.

That is, the thermal head is controlled such that it does not conduct electricity when a mark signal (black) is present, but conducts current when it is not a mark signal (white) to generate heat. The energizing energy during this heat generation is 0.8w/dot
It was X2.0m5ec. In this way, the thermal head was controlled and driven according to the image signal in the manner described above while uniformly irradiating light with a high-pressure mercury lamp, and the thermal head was heated for 5 msec.
, /line, the transfer recording medium was synchronously conveyed by a stepping motor and a drive rubber roll.

After a transfer image was formed in the transfer recording layer la in this manner, plain paper having a surface smoothness in the range of 10 to 30 seconds was superimposed on the transfer recording layer, and the paper was sandwiched between a heat roll 8 and a pinch roll 9 and conveyed. The heat roll 8 had a 300 W heater inside, and the heater was controlled so as to maintain the surface at 90 to 100° C. using an aluminum roll whose surface was coated with 2 mm thick silicone rubber. The pinch roll 9 is a silicone rubber roll with a hardness of 50" according to the JIS rubber hardness tester, and the pressure is set to 1 to 1.5'g/crr.
+'. In this way, the image obtained on plain paper was clear, and a high-quality image with good fixability could be obtained.

Example 2 The components shown in Table 2 were melt mixed in the solvent dichloromethane at a temperature of about 10%. This solution was then applied to a 6μ thick aramid film using an applicator under light protection.
It was coated to form a transfer recording layer. After drying the transfer recording layer, in order to prevent the radical reaction of the transfer recording layer from being suppressed by oxygen, polyvinyl alcohol (PV
A) A transfer recording medium of the present invention was prepared by applying a solution prepared by adding a small amount (approximately 0.1%) of fatty acid alkylodamide as a surfactant to an aqueous solution as an oxygen prevention layer on the transfer recording layer.

The oxygen prevention layer was applied to a thickness of 5 μm using an applicator.

Table 2 The transfer recording medium of the present invention was wound into a roll and incorporated into the apparatus shown in FIG. 6 to form a transfer image. As the thermal head 4, an A-4 size line type with 8 dots/mm was used. Light source 3 has peak wavelength 3
A 70 nm fluorescent lamp was used. The thermal head has a cycle of 400m5ec and a pulse of 50m5e depending on the image signal.
A power of 06 W/dot was applied. Also,
The fluorescent lamp has an illuminance of 15 mW in synchronization with the thermal head.
/ cr rl', 50 m S e c during pulse
, uniformly irradiated.

After a transfer image was thus formed in the transfer recording layer in the transfer image forming step, the transfer recording medium was once taken out from the apparatus shown in FIG. 6, and washed with water to remove the oxygen prevention layer on the transfer recording layer. Thereafter, the transfer recording medium of the present invention on which the transferred image was formed was again assembled into the apparatus shown in FIG. 6, and conveyed to the transfer step.

In the transfer process, the pressure between the heat roll 8 and the pinch roll 9 was 25 kg/cm. Moreover, the surface temperature of the heat roll was 130±10°C. The structures of the heat roll 8 and the pinch roll 9 were the same as in Example 1. The surface smoothness of the transfer recording medium used was within the range of 10 to 30 seconds.

In this way, the transferred image formed on the transferred recording medium was clear and of high quality.

Example 3 A transfer recording medium of the present invention was produced in the same manner as in Example 2, except that the components shown in Table 3 were used instead of the components shown in Table 2.

Using this transfer recording medium of the present invention, a transfer image was formed on plain paper having a surface smoothness in the range of 10 to 30 seconds in the same manner as in Example 2. However, the thermal head 4 requires 100m5ec depending on the image signal.

The period of pulse is 35m5ec, 0.05w/
dot power was applied. Further, as the light source 3, a fluorescent lamp with a peak wavelength of 3L3 nm was used. The fluorescent lamp uniformly irradiated with a pulse of 150 msec in synchronization with the thermal head 4. The illuminance of the fluorescent lamp is 8 mW/cm
Met.

Example 4 A transfer recording medium of the present invention was prepared in the same manner as in Example 2 except that the components shown in Table 2 were replaced with the components shown in Table 4. However, in this example, a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film with a thickness of 5 μm was used as the base material. Further, the polymerizable monomers shown in Table 4 had a melting temperature of about 60°C.

Table 4 Using the transfer recording medium of the present invention, a transfer image was formed on plain paper having a surface smoothness in the range of 10 to 30 seconds in the same manner as in Example 2. However, in this embodiment, the thermal head operates at 5 mSec depending on the image signal.

During the pulse with a period of 2 mSec, , 0,
A power of 18 w/dot was applied. In addition, fluorescent lamps with a peak wavelength of 370 nm are used, and the illumination intensity is 5.
It was 0 mW/crrt. Fluorescent light is 2.4m5ec during pulse in synchronization with thermal head.

It was uniformly irradiated.

Example 5 The components shown in Table 1 were mixed in a chloroform solvent in a dark place, and an image forming element was formed by an electrospray drying method. The particle size of the image forming element was approximately in the range of 3 to 20 μm. This image-forming element was adhered to a PET film coated with an adhesive under light blocking conditions to produce a transfer recording medium of the present invention. The adhesive was made of polyester resin and was applied onto the substrate to a thickness of about 1 μm.

Using the thus prepared transfer recording medium of the present invention, the surface smoothness was in the range of 10 to 30 seconds in the same manner as in Example 1. A transferred image was formed on plain paper.

The image obtained on plain paper was clear and of high quality with good fixing properties.

Example 6 10% by weight of microcapsules having P-phenylenebis(α-cyanobutadienecarboxylic acid) as a reaction initiator in the core part and 85% by weight of an unsaturated polyester having a polymerized unit represented by the following structural formula. A transfer recording medium of the present invention was prepared by mixing 5% by weight of carbon black in a solvent and coating the mixture on a 6 μm thick PET film by a solvent coating method under light shielding. The thickness of the transfer recording layer is lO
It was μ.

Microcapsules having P-phenylenebis(α-cyanobutadienecarboxylic acid) in the core were prepared as follows. That is, P-phenylene bis(α-cyanobutadienecarboxylic acid) was mixed with paraffin oil.
g is a cation or a nonion with an HLB value of at least 1
0 or more surfactant and gelatin 1g 1 gum arabic 1g
Mixed with 200mf of water and further mixed with 8000mf of water using a homo mixer.
~10, NH4 after stirring at OOOrpm
A microcapsule slurry is obtained by adding oH (ammonia) to adjust the pH to 11 or above, followed by solid-liquid separation using a Nutsche filter, and drying at 35° C. in a vacuum dryer for 10 hours to obtain a powder. Size is 7-15μ average, 10μ
The initiator was mixed with paraffin oil as a powder to obtain microcapsules coated with gelatin and gum arabic.

The thus prepared transfer recording medium of the present invention was wound into a roll and incorporated into an apparatus to form a transfer image. The apparatus used in this example was the apparatus shown in FIG. 10, except that the thermal head 4 was replaced with a silicone rubber pressure roll. Is the pressure between the pressure roller and the glass molded product 13 approximately 4Kg/crr? Met.

As the light source 3, an Ar laser with a wavelength of 488 nm was used, and scanning was performed with a polygon mirror according to an image signal at an energy of about 5 mJ/crrr.

The pressure between the heat roll 8 and the pinch roll 9 used in the transfer process was IKg/crtr. Both the heat roll 8 and the pinch roll 9 are configured the same as those used in Example 1, and the surface temperature of the heat roll 8 is 100 to 120°C.
was kept within the range.

When a transferred image was thus formed on plain paper with a surface smoothness of 10 to 30 seconds, a clear image was obtained.

Example 7 P-phenylene bis (α
-Cyanobutadienecarboxylic acid) with an average particle size of 4
10% by weight of microcapsules of μ, 85% by weight of the same unsaturated polyester as in Example 6, and 5% by weight of carbon black.
% by weight in a solvent, and then molded into a granular image forming element by a spray drying method. The average particle size of the resulting image forming element was 10 μm. This image-forming element was adhered to a PET film coated with an adhesive under light blocking conditions to produce a transfer recording medium of the present invention. The adhesive was made of polyester resin and had an applied thickness of about 1 micron.

Using the thus prepared transfer recording medium of the present invention, a transfer image was formed on plain paper having a surface smoothness of 10 to 30 seconds in the same manner as in Example 6.

As a result, the images formed on plain paper were clear.

Example 8 10% by weight of microcapsules in which P-phenylenebis(α-cyanobutadienecarboxylic acid) of Example 6 was replaced with methyl ethyl ketone peroxide, 85% by weight of the same unsaturated polyester as in Example 6, A transfer recording medium of the present invention was prepared by mixing 5% by weight of carbon black in a solvent and coating the mixture on a 3.5 μm thick polyimide film by a solvent coating method under light shielding. The thickness of the transfer recording layer was lOμ. Example 6 is the preparation of microcapsules.
I did the same thing.

The thus produced transfer recording medium of the present invention was wound into a roll and incorporated into the apparatus shown in FIG. 10, and a transfer image was formed without using the light source 3. In this example, the odor between the glass molded product 13 and the thermal head 4 is about 4 Kg/
It was c-bo.

The thermal head used was an A-4 size line type with 8 dots/mm, a period of 20 m sec, and a pulse width of approximately 3 m sec, approximately 0.1 m sec, depending on the image signal.
A power of 5 W/dot was applied. Also, heat roll 8
has an internal heater and a 3mm thick aluminum core on the surface.
coated with silicone rubber and has a surface temperature of 80 to 1
The temperature was controlled to be 00°C. The hardness of the silicone rubber measured by the JIS rubber hardness meter was 45°. The pinch roll 9 is composed of a silicone rubber roll, and the pressure between the pinch roll 9 and the heat roll 8 is I Kg/crt? It was +.

When a transferred image was thus formed on plain paper with a surface smoothness of 10 to 30 seconds, a clear image was obtained.

Example 9 A transfer recording medium of the present invention was prepared in the same manner as in Example 7 except that P-phenylenebis(α-cyanobutadienecarboxylic acid) in Example 7 was replaced with methyl ethyl ketone peroxide, and the same procedure as in Example 8 was used. Similarly, the surface smoothness is 10~
A transferred image was formed on plain paper for 30 seconds.

As a result, a clear image was obtained on plain paper.

Example IO The components shown in Tables 5 and 6 were mixed in a chloroform solvent, and two types of image forming elements having different color tones were prepared by spray drying. The particle size of the image forming element is
It was in the range of 8-12μ.

The sensitizer in the image forming element shown in Table 5 is about 350 to 4
It absorbs light in the 40 nm band and starts a reaction.

In addition, since this sensitizer has a yellowish tinge, it mixes with brilliant carmine 6B mixed as a coloring agent, resulting in a red color during image formation.

The sensitizer in the image forming element shown in Table 6 is about 500
It absorbs light in the band of ~600 nm and starts a reaction. Since this sensitizer has a magenta tinge, it mixes with phthalocyanine green mixed as a coloring agent, resulting in a black color during image formation.

Table 5 @ Table 6 Put equal amounts of these two types of image forming elements into a binder,
Evenly dispersed. This was coated on a polyimide film with a thickness of 6 μm under light shielding to produce a transfer recording medium of the present invention. This transfer recording medium of the present invention was wound into a roll and incorporated into the apparatus shown in FIG.

The thermal head 4 used in this example has an output of 8 dots/m.
It was an A-4 size line type with heating element rows arranged at the edges. Further, as the light source 3, two 40W type fluorescent lamps 3a and 3b having spectral characteristics a and spectral characteristics shown in FIG. 13, respectively, were used at a distance of 2 cm from the transfer recording medium. The fluorescent lamp 3a having the spectral characteristics shown in graph a shown in FIG.
u2+ was used.

Other phosphors such as sr3 (PO4)2 and Sr2
P203: Although Eu2+ and the like can also be used, the above-mentioned phosphor was used as it is most suitable for the wavelength characteristics of the sensitizer. A high color rendering green fluorescent lamp is used as the fluorescent lamp 3b having the spectral characteristics shown in graph b shown in FIG. 13, and the phosphors are (], :a, Ce,
Tb) 203 ・0.28+02 ・0.9P20B
It was used. Other phosphors “CMgAj!H03g
: CeTb, Y25i05 : Although Ce, Tb, etc. can also be used, the above-mentioned phosphor was used in terms of practical efficiency and working characteristics.

The heating element of the thermal head 4 is controlled by a control circuit 5 according to the image signal. In this case, negative recording is performed because the transfer recording layer 1a is treated with light and heat, which raises the glass transition point and increases the transfer start temperature. Since this embodiment concerns two-color recording of black and red, the thermal head 4
The control is such that when there is a mark signal (black or red), no electricity is applied, and when there is no mark signal (white), electricity is applied to generate heat. When this heat is generated, the energy is 0.8w/dot x 2.0m
It was 5ec.

FIG. 12 shows a drive timing chart of this embodiment.

First, the heating resistor corresponding to the red color of the image signal is not energized, but the portion corresponding to the white color of the image signal is energized at 2 m5ec, and at the same time, the fluorescent lamp 3a for the diazo copying machine is uniformly irradiated.

The irradiation time is 4 ms from the start of energization to the heating resistor.
The period was set as ec. After 1m5ec has passed after the end of irradiation, that is, 5msec after the start of energization, the heating resistor corresponding to the black of the image signal is not energized, but the part corresponding to the white of the image signal is energized for 2m5ec. At the same time, a high color rendering green fluorescent lamp 3b was uniformly irradiated. The irradiation time was 4 m5ec as described above. In the manner described above, the thermal head 4 is controlled and driven according to the black, red, and white image signals, and the result is 10 m5ec/I! The transfer recording medium 1 was conveyed by a stepping motor and a heat roll 8 (not shown) in synchronization with a repeating cycle of .ine. After the transfer image was formed in this manner, a recording paper 10, which is a plain paper having a surface smoothness in the range of 10 to 30 seconds, was placed on the transfer image surface and conveyed while being sandwiched between a heat roll 8 and a pinch roll 9. Heat roll 8 is 3
An aluminum roll with a 00W heater 7 inside and the surface covered with 2mm thick silicone rubber was used to coat the surface with a 90~10W heater.
The heater was controlled to maintain the temperature at 0°C. Pinch roll 9 is JI
It was made of silicone rubber with a hardness of 50° as measured by an S rubber hardness meter, and the pressing force was 1 to 1.5 kg/crrr. In this way, the two-color image obtained on plain paper was a high-quality image with no color shift (and high chroma, clearness, and good fixability).

Example 11 A transfer recording medium of the present invention was prepared using the components shown in Tables 7 and 8 in the following manner. That is, first, 0.55 parts of finely powdered silica is added to and dispersed in 18 parts of 0, IN hydrochloric acid and 20 parts of water. 40 parts of this dispersion and 55 parts of a 25% solution obtained by dissolving each of the elementary components in Tables 7 and 8 in methylene chloride were stirred at room temperature at 4500 rpm with a homogenizer for 15 minutes. Granulation was performed for each element body.

This dispersion was heated to 60° C. and continued to be stirred for 2 hours.

At this point, the number average particle size of both the image forming elements in Tables 7 and 8 was 8.6 μm. The dispersion liquid obtained for each element is mixed in equal amounts and applied to PET using an applicator.
The image-forming elements were coated on the film in a substantially single layer while shielding from light, and after drying, they were heated to 100° C. to fuse each element onto the substrate to form a transfer recording layer.

Furthermore, about 50% of the same PVA layer as in Example 2 was added as an oxygen-preventing layer.
A transfer recording medium of the present invention was prepared by coating the transfer recording layer to a thickness of μ.

Table 7 Table 8 The transfer recording medium of the present invention was wound into a roll and incorporated into the apparatus shown in FIG. Formed. The driving sequence at this time is shown in FIG. The light source 3 includes a fluorescent lamp 3d with a peak wavelength of 370 nm and a fluorescent lamp with a peak wavelength of 313 nm.
A nm fluorescent lamp 3c was used. The image forming element consisting of the components shown in Table 7 is polymerized by a fluorescent lamp having a peak wavelength of 370 nm. Further, the image forming element consisting of the components shown in Table 8 is polymerized by a fluorescent lamp having a peak wavelength of 313 nm. The thermal head has a cycle of 70m5ec and a pulse width of 35m5ec according to the image signal, 0.05w/dot.
of power was applied.

Furthermore, the fluorescent lamps 3c and 3d uniformly irradiated with a pulse width of 50 msec in synchronization with the thermal head.

The illuminance of the fluorescent lamp is 15 mW/c for fluorescent lamp 3c.
rd, fluorescent lamp 3d was 10 mW/crd. Incidentally, the motor pulse shown in FIG. 14 is a pulse for driving a stepping motor used for conveying the transfer recording medium.

In this way, clear two-dimensional images with no color shift are produced on the transferred recording medium.
A color image was obtained.

Example] 2 The components shown in Tables 9 to 12 were mixed with a solvent,
Four types of image forming elements having different color tones were prepared in the same manner as in Example 10. The particle sizes of the resulting image forming elements were within the range of approximately 8 to 12 microns for all four types.

The sensitizers or photoinitiators in the image forming element shown in Tables 9 to 12 are about 280 to 340 nm in order from Table 9.

Approximately 340-380nm, approximately 380-450nm
m, absorbs light in the band of approximately 450-600 nm and initiates a reaction. Further, the colors used during image formation are black, cyan, yellow, and magenta in this order.

Table 9 Table 10 Table 11 Table 12 These four types of image forming elements were placed in equal amounts in a binder and uniformly dispersed. This was coated on a polyimide film with a thickness of 6 μm under light shielding to produce a transfer recording medium of the present invention. This transfer recording medium of the present invention was wound into a roll and incorporated into the apparatus shown in FIG. 15.

In this embodiment, the light source 3 is a high color rendering green fluorescent lamp 3b.

A fluorescent lamp 3a for a diazo copying machine, a black light 3e, and a health line lamp 3f are arranged. In particular, a sharp cut filter 18 is installed in front of the fluorescent lamp 3a for the diazo copying machine, and a sharp cut filter 18 is installed in front of the black light 3e.
The arrangement was made in order to obtain the desired spectral characteristics corresponding to the image forming elements of each of the 9 colors. As the film 18, Sharp Cut Filter Shi-38 was used.

Further, as the filter 19, sharp cut filter L
-IA was used.

FIG. 16 shows the spectral characteristics of the light source in this example, a
For the curves 1 and 2, the same fluorescent light as that used in Example 10 was used. A Toshiba fluorescent lamp was used as the fluorescent lamp exhibiting the characteristics of e and f. Thermal head is Example 1
The same one as 0 was used. In this embodiment as well, negative recording is performed because the transfer recording layer is treated with a transfer recording layer in which the glass transition temperature increases and the transfer start temperature increases when light and heat are applied.

In this way, first, the heating resistor corresponding to the yellow of the image signal is not energized, and the portion corresponding to the white of the image signal is energized for 2 m.
At the same time as energizing sec, the diazo copying machine fluorescent lamp 3a is uniformly irradiated. Irradiation time is 4 msec
c. After 1 msec elapsed after the end of the irradiation, the heating resistor corresponding to the magenta part of the image signal was not energized, but the part corresponding to the white part of the image signal was energized for 2 msec, and at the same time the high temperature was turned off. A color-rendering green fluorescent lamp 3b was uniformly irradiated. The irradiation time was 4 ms at the same time as for yellow.
It is e c. Similarly, the transfer image formation for all four colors is completed by irradiating the black light 3e for cyan and the health line lamp 3f for black. The fluorescent lamps are controlled by a lighting control circuit.

As described above, the thermal head is controlled and driven according to the yellow, magenta, cyan, and black image signals, and the distance is 20 m.
The transfer recording medium 1 was conveyed by a stepping motor (not shown) and a heat roll 8 in synchronization with a repeating cycle of 5 ec/11 ine. After the transfer image was formed in this way, a recording paper 10, which was a plain paper with a surface smoothness of 10 to 30 seconds, was placed on the transfer image surface and conveyed while being sandwiched between a heat roll 8 and a pinch roll 9. The heat roll 8 was an aluminum roll having a 300 W heater 7 inside and whose surface was coated with 2 mm thick silicone rubber, and the heater 7 was controlled so as to maintain the surface at 90 to 100°C. Pinch roll 9 has a hardness of 5 on the JIS rubber hardness meter.
Press with a 0° silicone rubber roll at 1 to 1.5 kg/
It was set as crd. In this way, the full color image obtained on plain paper
The image had no color shift (and was clear, with high saturation, and a high-quality image with good fixing properties).

Example 13 The same transfer recording medium of the present invention as in Example 10 was wound into a roll and incorporated into the apparatus shown in FIG. 17.

In this way, as shown in FIG. 17, the base material tb of the transfer recording medium 1 is
A heater 14 uniformly heats an A4 size sheet from the side, and a two-row A-4 size liquid crystal shutter array 21 of the form shown in FIG. Ta. The aperture size of the - shutters 21a is 0.4 x 0.4 mm, and the arrangement pitch is 0.5 mm vertically and horizontally.

Furthermore, among the two rows, a yellow filter 21b (Fuji Filter 5C50) that passes a lot of light with a wavelength of 500 nm or more is attached to row A on the near side in the direction of movement of the transfer recording medium 1, and to the other row B A blue filter 21b (Fuji Filter 5PI) that passes a lot of light with a wavelength of 500 nm or less was attached. A white light source 20 was provided above the shutter array 21 to uniformly illuminate the shutter array. A 2kW xenon lamp was used here. The light from the white light source is blocked by a light shield (not shown) so that it does not irradiate the transfer recording medium 1 except through the shutter array.

With the above structure, the shutter array 21 is controlled according to the image signal. Since this embodiment is based on two-color negative recording of black and red, first in the shutter array A row to which the yellow filter 21b is attached, the shutter 21a corresponding to the red signal is closed, and the other shutters 21a are closed at 28 msec. Open and then close for 12 msec. At the same time, in the B row of the shutter array to which the blue filter 21c is attached, 1
The shutter 21a corresponding to the black image signal in front of the line is closed, the other shutter 21a is opened for 28m5ec, and then 1
Close 2m5ec. In the manner described above, the shutter array 2I is controlled and driven according to the black and red image signals, and the 40m5
ec/I! The transfer recording medium was conveyed by a stepping motor and a heat roll 8 (not shown) in synchronization with the repeating period of .ine. After the transfer image was formed in this manner, a recording paper 10, which was a plain paper with a surface smoothness of 10 to 3.0 seconds, was superimposed on the transfer image surface and conveyed while being sandwiched between a heat roll 8 and a pinch roll 9. The heat roll 8 was an aluminum roll having a 300 W heater 7 therein, the surface of which was coated with 2 mm thick silicone rubber, and the heater 7 was controlled so as to maintain the surface at 90 to 100°C. Pinch roll 9 has a hardness of 5 on the JIS rubber hardness meter.
Pressure is 1~1.5Kg/c with 0° silicone rubber roll.
I made it rrr. The two-color image thus obtained on plain paper had no color shift, had high saturation, was clear, and had good fixability, making it possible to obtain a high-quality image.

Example 14 Using the components shown in Table 13 as the core part, a microcapsule-shaped image forming element was produced by the method shown below.

Table 13 That is, 10 g of a mixture of the ingredients shown in Table 13 is first mixed with paraffin oil, and this is mixed with a surfactant such as a cationic or nonionic surfactant having an HLB value of at least 10, 1 g of gelatin, 1 g of gum arabic, etc. Water 200 mj
2, and further mix with a homo mixer to 8000~10.00
Stirred at Orpm. Next, a microcapsule slurry is obtained by adding NH4OH (ammonia) to make the pH above 11, and then solid-liquid separation is performed using a Nutsche filter.
It was dried in a vacuum dryer at 35° C. for 10 hours to obtain a microcapsule-shaped image forming element. This image forming element is a microcapsule in which the ingredients listed in Table 1 mixed with paraffin oil are coated with gelatin and gum arabic, and the particle size is 7 to 15.
μ, the average particle size was 10 μ.

The obtained image forming element was placed on a PET (polyethylene terephthalate) film having a thickness of 6 .mu.m using an adhesive made of polyester resin under light shielding to form a transfer recording layer. The thickness of the adhesive was approximately 1 micron.

The thus prepared transfer recording medium 1 was wound into a roll and incorporated into the apparatus shown in FIG. 6 as a supply roll 2, and a transfer image was formed thereon. In forming the transferred image, all conditions such as the conditions for forming the transferred image and the conditions for transfer were set as in Example 1.
I did the same thing.

In this way, the image obtained on plain paper was clear, and a high-quality image with good fixability could be obtained.

Example 15 The components shown in Tables 14 to 17 were each used as a core part,
Four types of microcapsule-shaped image forming elements were obtained by the same method as in Example 14. These four types of image forming elements are dispersed in equal amounts in a binder 32, and placed on a base material 1b made of polyimide with a thickness of 6 μm under light shielding to form a transfer recording layer 1.
It was set as a. Image forming element 31 constituting the transfer recording layer 1a
The particle size of all four types was within the range of approximately 8 to 12μ. The thus-prepared transfer recording medium 1 was wound into a roll and incorporated into the apparatus shown in FIG. 15 as a supply roll.

The sensitizers or photoinitiators in the image forming element shown in Tables 2 to 5 are approximately 280 to 340 nm, approximately 340 to 380 nm, and approximately 380 to 450 nm in order from Table 2.
, absorbs light in the band of approximately 450 to 600 nm and initiates a reaction. In addition, the colors during image formation are black (BK),
They are cyan (C), yellow (Y), and magenta (M).

In forming the transferred image, all conditions such as the conditions for forming the transferred image and the conditions for transfer were the same as in Example 12.

In this way, the full-color image obtained on plain paper was free from color shift, had high saturation, was clear, and had good fixability, making it possible to obtain a high-quality image.

Table 14 Table 15 Table 16 Table 17

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIGS. 1a, 1b, 1c and 1d are diagrams illustrating the principle of transfer image formation in the case of forming a latent image using light and heat energy, and FIGS. 2a and 2b. 2c, 2d, and 4a are partial views showing the relationship between the transfer recording medium and the thermal head of the present invention, and 2e
4B and 4B are partial views showing the relationship between the transfer recording medium and the transfer medium of the present invention, FIG. 4
Fig. c, Fig. 12, and Fig. 14 respectively show drive timing charts, Fig. 5 is a partial view showing an example of the transfer recording medium of the present invention in which the transfer recording layer is composed of microcapsules, and Fig. 6 and Fig. 14 respectively. Figure 7, Figure 8, Figure 9, Figure 10, Figure 11
15 and 17 are schematic diagrams showing embodiments of the present invention, FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the spectral characteristics of a fluorescent lamp, and FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the spectral characteristics of a fluorescent lamp used in the example shown in FIG. FIG. 18, a diagram showing spectral characteristics, is a partial diagram of the crystal array used in the example shown in FIG. 17. l... Transfer recording medium 2... Supply roll 3... Lamp 4... Heating means 7... Heater 8... Heat roll 9... Pinch roll 10... Transfer medium 11... ... Winding roll 13 ... Pressing member 20 ... Heat generating resistor 31 ... Image forming element

Claims (11)

[Claims] (1) Applying at least one type of energy among the plurality of types of energy in correspondence with recorded information to a transfer recording medium having a transfer recording layer whose physical properties governing transfer characteristics change when multiple types of energy are applied. An image forming method comprising the steps of forming a transferred image by applying the plurality of types of energy under certain conditions, and transferring the transferred image to a transfer medium. (2) Transfer characterized by having, on a base material, a distribution layer of minute image-forming elements containing a sensitive component and a coloring material that change the physical properties governing the transfer characteristics by applying multiple types of energy. forming a transferred image by applying the plurality of types of energy to the recording medium under conditions in which at least one of the plurality of types of energy is applied to the recording medium in accordance with recorded information; and applying the transferred image to the transfer medium. An image forming method comprising a step of transferring. (3) A transfer recording medium having a distribution layer of image forming elements exhibiting different color tones and having different energy imparting conditions that change the physical properties governing the transfer characteristics depending on the color tones; An image forming method comprising the steps of forming a transferred image by applying light and thermal energy under correspondingly different conditions according to recorded information, and transferring the transferred image to a transfer medium. (4) An image forming element consisting of a core portion containing at least a coloring material and a sensitive component whose physical properties governing transfer characteristics change by applying multiple types of energy, and a wall material covering the core portion. A transfer recording medium having a distribution layer of
forming a transferred image by applying at least one type of energy among the plurality of types of energy in accordance with recorded information; and transferring the transferred image to a transfer medium. An image forming method comprising: (5) A transfer recording medium in which physical properties governing transfer characteristics change when multiple types of energy are applied. (6) Transfer characterized by having, on a base material, a distribution layer of minute image-forming elements containing a sensitive component and a coloring material that change the physical properties governing the transfer characteristics by applying multiple types of energy. recoding media. (7) Having a distribution layer of an image forming element exhibiting different color tones and having different energy application conditions that change physical properties governing transfer characteristics depending on the color tone when light and heat energy is applied. Characteristic transfer recording media. (8) Formation of minute images consisting of a core portion containing at least a coloring material and a sensitive component whose physical properties that govern transfer characteristics change by applying multiple types of energy, and a wall material covering the core portion A transfer recording medium characterized by having a distribution layer of elements on a base material. (9) A device that forms an image by transferring a transfer image formed on a transfer recording layer of a transfer recording medium to a transfer medium, which includes a heating means, a light irradiation means, and a transfer image formed on the transfer recording layer. An image forming apparatus comprising a transfer means for transferring an image onto the recording medium, and at least one of the heating means and the light irradiation means operates based on an image signal. (10) The image forming apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the heating means, the light irradiation means, and the transfer means are one recording unit, and a plurality of the recording units are provided. (11) The heating means and the light irradiation means are used as one transfer image forming unit, and the transfer image forming section formed by arranging a plurality of the transfer image forming units and the transfer image formed by the transfer image forming section are covered. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the recording medium is provided with a transfer means.