JPS6330292A - Image forming method and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a recording medium capable of easily imparting a high grade multicolor image and usable more than one times, by incorporating an evaporative dye changing in evaporation quantity by plural kinds of energies like light and heat in a recording layer. CONSTITUTION:A recording medium 1 is constituted by providing a recording layer 1a on a support 1b. The recording layer 1a is formed as a dispersing layer of minute image forming elements 31 and each image forming element 31 contains an evaporative dye showing one of different hues, for example, of either one of cyan C, magneta M and yellow Y by evaporation. In forming an image, the recording medium 1 is superposed to a thermal head 20 and light is allowed to irradiate said mediium 1 so as to cover the entire region of the heat generating part of the thermal head 20. In the irradiation of light, light having a wavelength generating the reaction of the evaporative dye contained in each image forming element 31 is successively irradiated. The evaporative dye in the image forming element 31 to which light and heat are applied is polymerized and a transfer image is formed on the recording layer 1a by the image forming elements 31 containing evaporative dyes not polymerized finally.

Description

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

[Conventional technology]

BACKGROUND ART In recent years, as the demand for recording methods compatible with information processing systems has increased, thermal transfer recording methods have been attracting attention, and research and development are being actively conducted.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, conventional thermal transfer recording methods are not without drawbacks. For example, (1) the recording medium used in the conventional recording method cannot be used multiple times, so the cost of consumables is high. Furthermore, in order to perform color recording, a thermal transfer recording medium with one side for each color is used, which makes the recording cost even more expensive.

(2) Midtones are difficult to handle.

(3) Since color recording is performed using the field sequential recording method, color registration is poor and the quality is low.

There were drawbacks such as.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned shortcomings of the prior art, and provides an image forming method that allows a high-quality multicolor image to be easily obtained and allows the recording medium to be used multiple times, and a recording medium used therefor. The purpose is to

[Means for solving problems]

The image forming method of the present invention includes a recording medium having a recording layer on a support and containing at least a volatile dye that causes a reaction when light and heat energy is applied to the recording layer. a transfer image forming step of forming a transfer image on the recording layer by applying the plurality of types of energy under conditions such that at least one type of energy among the energies corresponds to recorded information; The present invention is characterized by comprising a vaporization step of vaporizing and transferring the vaporizable dye in the transferred image to a recording medium.

Further, the recording medium used in the image forming method of the present invention has a recording layer on a support, and contains at least a volatile dye that causes a reaction when multiple types of energy are applied to the recording layer. It is something.

The present invention will be explained in detail below. In the following description,
"%" and "part" expressing quantitative ratios are based on weight unless otherwise specified.

The recording medium of the present invention has a recording layer on a support, and forms an image on the recording medium by vaporizing a volatile dye contained in the recording layer.

The recording layer contains a vaporizable dye that reacts and changes in vaporization amount when multiple types of energy such as light and heat are applied. The vaporizable dye in the present invention refers to a dye that vaporizes from a solid phase without passing through a liquid phase, such as a sublimable dye, or a dye that vaporizes from a solid phase via a liquid phase.

Examples of the vaporizable dye used in the present invention include: (1) A vaporizable dye that polymerizes and becomes a polymer when multiple types of energy such as light and heat are applied to reduce the amount of vaporization; (2) Light. An example of this is the tongue, where vaporizable dyes are chemically bonded with other components and the amount of vaporization is reduced by applying multiple types of energy such as heat.

The recording medium used in the present invention has a recording layer on a support, and contains a volatile dye in the recording layer. The recording layer contains a reaction initiator and a binder in addition to the volatile dye.

FIGS. 1a to 1c are partial views for explaining the image forming method of the present invention, and show the relationship between the recording medium and the thermal head of the present invention. The recording layer 1a is a layer in which minute image forming elements 31 are distributed. Each image forming element 3
1 contains a volatile dye having a reactive group, a reaction initiator, a binder, and other components, and when multiple energies are applied, the volatile dye reacts and the amount of vaporization is reduced. . In the following explanation, a case will be explained in which light and heat energy are provided as multiple types of energy.

Thermal energy modulated in accordance with the recording signal is applied to the recording layer 1a, together with light energy of a wavelength selected according to the color tone exhibited by the vaporizable dye, to the image forming element containing the vaporizable dye to be polymerized. . "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 recording medium 1 of the present invention is constructed by providing a recording layer la on a support lb. The recording layer 1a is a layer in which minute image forming elements 31 are distributed, and each image forming element 31 contains a vaporizable dye exhibiting a different color tone. for example,
In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1'a to 1c, each image forming element 31 has cyan (C) and magenta (M) that are vaporized.
, yellow (Y). However, the vaporizable dye contained in each image forming element 31 is not limited to those exhibiting cyan, magenta, and yellow tones (e.g., vaporizable dyes of any color may be used depending on the purpose). In addition, if only one type of vaporizable dye is used, a monocolor image can be obtained.Each image forming element 3] contains a reaction initiator, a binder, in addition to a vaporizable dye having a reactive group. is contained at least.

In the case where the vaporizable dye is chemically bonded with other components and the amount of vaporization is reduced by applying light and thermal energy, the binder is a binder having a reactive group (hereinafter referred to as a reactive dye). When light and heat energy is applied, the volatile dye and reactive binder chemically bond to reduce the amount of vaporization.

In the reaction of the vaporizable dye in the present invention, when both light and thermal energy are applied, the amount of reaction is significantly larger than when only light or only thermal energy is applied. This property is achieved by increasing the temperature dependence of the photoreaction.Specific measures include, for example, increasing the glass transition temperature of the binder used to maintain the recording layer in a solid phase.
It is effective to set the melting point between the temperature when not heated and the temperature when heated.

Below, by applying light and heat energy,
A case where the vaporizable dye polymerizes and the amount of vaporization decreases will be explained.

The vaporizable dye contained in each image forming element 31 has wavelength dependence depending on the color tone exhibited by vaporization.

That is, when the image forming element 31 containing a vaporizable dye that exhibits a yellow tone due to vaporization is exposed to heat and light of wavelength λ(Y), polymerization rapidly progresses and the amount of vaporization decreases. Similarly, the image forming element 31 containing a vaporizable dye exhibiting a magenta color tone is heated by heat and light having a wavelength λ(M).
When the image forming element 31 containing a vaporizable dye exhibiting a cyan color tone is applied with heat and light with wavelength λ(C), polymerization progresses and the amount of vaporization decreases. Therefore, even if the polymerized image forming element 31 is heated in the next vaporization step, it will not be vaporized and transferred to the transfer medium. Alternatively, even if vapor transfer is performed, the concentration will be extremely low. On the other hand, the vaporizable dye in the image forming element 31 that is not polymerized is heated and vaporized in the vaporization step, thereby forming a recorded image on the recording medium.

Light and heat energy is applied according to the recorded information. Furthermore, the amount of vaporized dye can be changed by changing the amount of light energy or thermal energy applied. Therefore, by adjusting the amount of light energy or the amount of thermal energy, the amount of vaporizable dye vaporized in the vaporization process can be changed, making it possible to obtain halftone images with different densities. For example, the amount of vaporized dye can be changed by controlling the amount of heat applied by the heating element by the applied power or pulse width.

Now, in the image forming method of the present invention, the recording medium 1 is stacked on the thermal head 20, and light is irradiated so as to cover the entire heat generating part of the thermal head 20. The irradiated light has a wavelength that reacts with the vaporizable dye contained in the image forming element body 31, and is sequentially irradiated. For example, cyan,
If either magenta or yellow vaporizable dye is contained, light of wavelengths λ(C), λ(M), and λ(Y) is sequentially irradiated.

That is, first, from the recording layer 1a side of the recording medium 1, the wavelength λ(Y
), for example, the thermal head 20.
The heating elements 20b, 20d, 20e, and 2Of are made to generate heat. Then, of the image forming element 31 containing the yellow vaporizable dye, the vaporizable dye in the image forming element 31 to which both heat and light of wavelength λ(Y) are applied polymerizes, as shown in FIG. 1a. The image forming element in which the vaporizable dye is polymerized is indicated by hatching. ) The amount of vaporization decreases.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1a, the wavelength λ(M) is applied to the recording layer 1a.
At the same time, the heating resistor 20a is irradiated with light.

When 20e and 2Of generate heat, heat and wavelength λ(M
) The vaporizable dye in the image forming element body 31 to which the light is applied polymerizes, and the amount of vaporization decreases. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1c, when a desired heating resistor is heated while being irradiated with light of wavelength λ(C), the vaporizable dye in the image forming element 31 to which the heat of the light has been applied is The recording layer 1 is formed by an image forming element 31 containing a vaporizable dye that is polymerized and is not finally polymerized.
A transferred image is formed. This transferred image is vaporized and transferred to the recording medium in the next vaporization step.

In the vaporization process, the recording medium on which the vaporized image has been formed is brought close to the transfer medium and heated from the recording medium or the recording medium side to selectively vaporize the vaporizable dye contained in the transferred image onto the recording medium. to form an image.

Therefore, the heating temperature at this time is determined so that only the vaporizable dye within the transferred image is selectively vaporized.

In the embodiment described above with reference to FIGS. 1a to 1c, the entire area of the thermal head 20 is irradiated with light, and the thermal head 20 is
We have shown a method of forming an image by selectively generating heat from the heat generating elements of the recording medium.
In the case of the thermal head 20 shown in Fig. a, when all the heating elements generate heat), a multicolor image can be similarly formed by selectively irradiating light. That is, optical energy of a wavelength selected by the recording signal is applied to the image forming element together with thermal energy.

To explain with the example shown in FIG. 1a, the heating resistor 20b.

Instead of generating heat at 20d, 20e, and 2Of, the thermal head 20 uniformly generates heat as a whole, and irradiates light of wavelength λ(Y) to positions corresponding to the heating resistors 20b, 20d, 20e, and 20''. Also 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 20''.When irradiating light with wavelength λ(C) Do the same.

In the above explanation, a thermal head was used as a means for heating the entire body in a knee-like manner for convenience, but a uniform heating means such as a heat roll or a heating plate may be used.

As the vaporizable dye of the present invention, for example, sublimable dyes having reactive groups such as allyl, methallyl, acrylic, methacryl, and still can be used.

Specific examples of such sublimable dyes include, for example:
1. 5-bis(allylamino)-4,8-naphthoquinone, l-allylamino-5-methylamino-4,8-naphthoquinone, 1-allylamino-5-ethylamino-4
, 8-naphthoquinone, 4-(2゜2-dicyanovinyl)
-N,N-diallylaniline, 4-(2,2-dicyanovinyl)-N-methacryl-N-methylaniline, 4-
(2,2-dicyanovinyl)-N-methallyl-N-methylaniline, 3-methyl-4-(2,2-dianovinyl)-N, N-diallylaniline, 4-tricyanovinyl-N, N-diallyl Examples include aniline, 4-tricyanovinyl-N-methyl-N-acrylaniline, and 3-vinyl-4-tricyanovinyl-NN-dimethylaniline.

As a reaction initiator, benzophenone, Michler's ketone,
Carbonyl compounds such as benzoin ethyl ether, 2-chlorothioxanthone, 4-N,N-dimethylamino-4-methoxybenzophenone, organic sulfur compounds such as dibutyl sulfide and benzyl disulfide, sheet
Peroxides such as rt-butyl peroxide and benzoyl peroxide, carbon tetrachloride, and the like can be used.

As the binder having a reactive group, polymerizable prepolymers, polymerizable oligomers, crosslinking agents, etc. can be used. Specifically, as the polymerizable prepolymers, epoxy resins, unsaturated polyesters, polyurethane resins, polyacrylic acid resins, etc. Examples of polymerizable oligomers include diethylene glycol diacrylate, triethylene glycol diacrylate, polyethylene glycol dimethacrylate, and the like, and crosslinking agents include ethylene glycol diacrylate, propylene glycol diacrylate, 4-butanediol diacrylate, and the like.

Examples of binders that do not have reactive groups include ethyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose,
Cellulose acetate propionate, alkyd resin,
Examples include polyamide resin, water-soluble acrylic resin, polyvinyl alcohol, and the like.

Further, when it is necessary to form the recording layer into a solid phase at room temperature, a binder without the above-mentioned reactive group can be added to the reactive binder as a modifier.

In addition, the recording layer may contain stabilizers such as hydroquinone, P-methoxydiphenol, and P-tert-butyricatechol 2゜2'-methylene-his (4-ethyl-6-tert-butylphenol). good.

Furthermore, sensitization of P-nitroaniline, ], ]2-benzoanthraquinone P-P'-dimethylaminobenzophenone, 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 recording layer.

In order to reproduce a color image, the recording medium used in the image forming method of the present invention requires that the image forming element constituting the recording layer have wavelength dependence depending on the type of vaporizable dye. As mentioned before, the recording layer is dyed with a vaporizable dye.
When the image forming element is composed of image forming elements of different colors, the reaction rate of the image forming element changes rapidly at different wavelengths for each type of vaporizable dye, that is, at n different wavelengths. The combination constitutes a recording layer. For this reason, for example,
Two-color recording is possible by using a sensitizer that is sensitive to 400 to 500 nm and another that is sensitive to approximately 480 to 600 nm. The wavelength range of 500 nm (although they overlap, it is also a region with low sensitivity, and by appropriately selecting a light source, it is possible to almost completely separate the two.

In addition, by combining these with compounds sensitive to 340 to 400 nm and halogen compounds sensitive to 300 to 400 nm, three-color image forming elements can be used, making it possible to develop full-color recording. Become.

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
Fluorescent lamps with a peak wavelength of 313 nm can be used with fluorescent lamps with a wavelength of 0 nm. The irradiation energy required to obtain the same reaction (equal concentration) is 1 for the combination of ■-@, 4 for ■-〇, 1,1 for the combination of ■-■, and 5 for the combination of ■-@.
It is. 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.

In the recording medium used in the present invention, radical reactions in the 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 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.

In the explanation of FIGS. 1a to 1c, the recording layer 1a is composed of a coating of particulate image forming elements, but it may be a continuous layer uniformly melt-coated. Also,
The particulate image forming element may be in the form of a capsule consisting of a core portion and a wall material.

When the image forming element is in the form of a capsule, the core portion contains a vaporizable dye. When obtaining a multicolor image, it is preferable to use a particle-like or capsule-like image forming element for the recording layer. In addition, when the recording layer is composed of a capsule-shaped image forming element, the wall material of the image forming element is destroyed in the vaporization process, and the vaporizable dye contained in the core part is vaporized, causing the recording material to An image is formed on the media. Therefore, the heating temperature in the vaporization step is determined so that the wall material of the image forming element is destroyed and only the vaporizable dye in the transferred image is selectively vaporized and transferred. Materials used for the walls of microcapsules include gelatin, gum arabic, cellulose-based materials such as ethyl cellulose and nitrocellulose, urea-formalin,
Examples include polymers such as nylon, tetron, polyurethane, polycarbonate, maleic anhydride copolymer, vinylidene chloride, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, polystyrene, and PET.

The support used in the recording medium of the present invention is not particularly limited (but conventionally known supports can be used as they are. For example, supports include polyester, polycarbonate, triacetyl cellulose, nylon, polyimide, etc. can be mentioned.

In the present invention, the composition of the recording layer is, for example, 0.1 to 10% of the volatile dye and 0% of the reaction initiator based on the weight of the recording layer.
．． 001-20% is suitable. Also, the binder is 0
~80% is preferred. When containing a reactive binder, the content of the reactive binder is preferably 20 to 95%. The recording layer can be formed by, for example, turben coating. In addition, when the recording layer is constituted by an image forming element, for example, the above-mentioned composition is made into a minute image forming element by a melt mixing method or a spray drying method, and then the recording layer is formed by applying a dispersion liquid. be able to. When using the image forming element as a microcapsule, conventionally known methods,
For example, microencapsulation can be performed by a coacervation method or the like.

The recording layer of the recording medium used in the present invention preferably has a thickness of 1 to 20 μm, more preferably 3 to 10 μm. Further, in the image forming method of the present invention, the recording medium may have a color developing layer made of resin or the like on the surface of the recording medium in order to promote dye adhesion and color development.

Other aspects of the energy imparted include (1) a configuration in which a vaporizable dye having a reactive group and a reaction initiator are mixed in the part that receives pressure (for example, the reaction initiator is encapsulated in a capsule, and , the capsule is broken and the reaction initiator and the volatile dye become mixed), and the recording medium containing the reaction initiator that acts only with heat is exposed to at least one pressure or thermal energy. A transferred image is formed on the recording layer by applying both pressure and thermal energy under conditions that allow one to be applied in accordance with recorded information.

(2) The structure is such that a vaporizable dye having a reactive group and a reaction initiator are mixed in the part that receives pressure, and the pressure or light energy A transferred image is formed on the recording layer by applying both pressure and light energy under conditions that apply at least one of them in accordance with recorded information.

(3) The structure is such that a vaporizable dye having a reactive group and a reaction initiator are mixed in the area under pressure, and the transfer recording medium contains a reaction initiator that acts upon receiving light and thermal energy. A transferred image is formed on the recording layer by applying pressure, heat, and light energy under conditions such that at least one of pressure, heat, and light energy is applied in accordance with recorded information.

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

The recording medium of the present invention is prepared by melt-mixing components such as a reaction initiator, sensitizer, stabilizer, and volatile dye, and applying the mixture onto a substrate using an applicator or the like. In addition, when the recording layer is composed of an image forming element, the above-mentioned components are made into minute image forming elements by a spray drying method or the like, and each color image forming element is made into methyl ethyl ketone together with a binder such as a polyester resin. After thorough mixing in a solvent such as ethylene glycol diacetate, solvent vent coating is carried out on a film such as polyimide, and the solvent is removed by further drying at 80°C for 30 minutes.Especially, the desired recording medium is obtained. Can be done.

When the image forming element is composed of microcapsules, the image forming element in the form of a microcapsule is manufactured by a coacervation method, for example, and the base material is added in the same manner as in the case of a particulate image forming element. It is applied onto the material using the solvent coating method.

The recording medium of the present invention is used, for example, by the apparatus shown in FIG.

1 is a recording medium of the present invention, which is wound into a roll and is removably incorporated into the apparatus main body M as a supply roll 2. That is, this supply roll 2 is removably loaded onto a rotatable shaft 2a provided in the main body M of the apparatus. The recording medium I is fed out in the direction of arrow a and is wound up one after another around the circumferential surface of the winding roll 6.

The recording medium 1 fed out from the supply roll 2 first reaches the recording section 3 . The recording section 3 is composed of heating means and light irradiation means.

The heating means consists of a line-type heating element array 3b arranged on the surface of the recording head 3a, which generates heat according to the image signal.
The support side of the recording medium 1 is configured to come into pressure contact with the heating element array 3b with a predetermined pressure due to back tension during conveyance. The image signal is generated from a control unit (not shown) of, for example, a facsimile, an image scanner, or an electronic whiteboard, depending on the purpose.

On the other hand, three fluorescent lamps 3c, 3d, and 3e serving as light irradiation means are arranged on the side of the recording layer facing the recording head 3a. The fluorescent lamps 3c, 3d, and 3e emit light of different wavelengths λY, λM, and λC, respectively.

Next, the transfer section 4 will be explained. The transfer section 4 is disposed on the downstream side of the recording section 3 in the conveyance direction of the recording medium l, and as shown in FIG.
a and a pressure roller 4b pressed against the transfer roller 4a. The transfer roller 4a is configured, for example, as an aluminum roller whose surface is coated with silicone rubber, and whose surface is maintained heated by a built-in heater 4C.

Further, the pressure roller 4b is made of, for example, an aluminum roller coated with silicone rubber, and is configured so that a pressing force is generated in the direction of the transfer roller 4a by a pressure means (not shown) such as a spring. The pressure roller 4b is effective when the image forming element is composed of microcapsules.

Furthermore, recording paper 8 as a recording medium loaded in the cassette 7
is a feeding roller 9 and a pair of Renstar rollers] Oa.

10b, the recording medium 1 is fed to the transfer unit 4 in synchronization so as to overlap with the area on which the transferred image is formed.

Now, when the recording medium l of the present invention is sequentially fed out from the supply roll 2, and light and heat are applied to the transfer recording layer 1b of the recording medium l in the recording section 3 according to the image signal, FIGS. 1a to 1c.
A transferred image is formed as explained in the figure. The transfer image formed in the recording section 3 is transferred to a transfer medium 8 in a transfer section 4. The image forming element body 8 is discharged onto a discharge tray 11 .

〔Effect of the invention〕

In the image forming method according to the present invention, energy application for transfer image formation and energy application for vaporization are functionally separated. For this reason, compared to conventional recording methods in which the energy converted into a signal for forming a transferred image must be used as energy for transfer at the same time,
The image forming method of the present invention eliminates the need to delicately control transfer energy, and the conditions for applying energy are relaxed. For example, the energy for vaporization may be non-signalized energy. Therefore, in the present invention, printing speed can be increased and high-speed recording can be easily realized. Furthermore, the thermal response speed of the thermal heads used in conventional thermal transfer recording devices is 1 to 5 m5ec even at the highest speed.

If you try to drive at a faster repetition rate, the temperature will not increase or decrease sufficiently within one cycle, resulting in insufficient heating or, conversely, the temperature will not drop completely and the image quality will be affected by heat accumulation. appears in This was one of the biggest factors that hindered speed-up, but when heat and light irradiation are combined for image formation as in the present invention, even if the thermal head accumulates heat, a reaction occurs only when it is irradiated with light. Therefore, even if the thermal head accumulates heat, it is not affected by the heat accumulation, and even if a conventional thermal head is used, it is possible to perform a recording operation in a shorter repetition cycle. Recording becomes easier.

Furthermore, since the present invention forms a transferred image by applying multiple types of energy, the degree of change in physical properties of the transferred image can be reduced compared to the conventional case of forming a transferred image using only heat. It can be adjusted in stages. In addition, the image forming method of the present invention has a fast response to one of multiple types of energy (i.e., easy stepwise adjustment of intensity),
For example, since light energy can be used in combination, it is easy to form images with halftones. 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 makes high-speed halftone recording possible.

According to the image forming method of the present invention, by sequentially changing the conditions for applying multiple types of energy in a short period of time, complex movements as in the conventional thermal transfer recording method can be created on the recording medium or recording medium. Multicolor images can be obtained without the need for color. Therefore, the device implementing the present invention has a simple structure, and can easily be made small, light, and low in price.

[Example 1] The components shown in Table 1 were mixed and applied to a polyethylene terephthalate film with a thickness of 6 μm by solvent coating to a thickness of 4 μm under light shielding to produce a recording medium of the present invention.

Table 1 The recording medium of the present invention thus prepared has a width of 210 mm.
It was cut into pieces and mounted in an apparatus similar to that shown in FIG. 2, and a recorded image was formed on a recording medium. Double-grain paper was used as the recording medium. Also, the thermal head is 8do
t/mm, and the light source has a peak wavelength of 370
A single 40W fluorescent lamp with a diameter of 1 mm was used. The surface temperature of the heat roll used in the vaporization step I was maintained between 100 and 120°C.

When a recorded image was formed using this device in the sequence shown in Figure 3, a clear halftone image (g) was formed.

In addition, when high-quality paper whose surface was coated with resin was used, the density increased by 2', resulting in a clearer image.

[Example 2] The components shown in Table 2 were mixed for base body Y, base body M, and base body C to form capsule core materials, and microcapsules were formed using the urea-formalin method.

The particle size of the three types of microcapsules was sorted using a classifier so that the particle size was 8 to 13μ.

Equal amounts of these elements Y, M, and C were placed in a binder and uniformly dispersed. This is heat-resistant treated to a thickness of 3.
One layer was coated on a 5μ PFT film under light shielding to form a recording layer, and the recording medium of the present invention was prepared.

Table 2 The recording medium thus created was cut to a width of 210 mm, mounted on a device similar to that shown in FIG. 2, and a recorded image was formed on the recording medium in the sequence shown in FIG. 4. A recorded image with clear gradation was obtained. High quality paper coated with polyester resin was used as the recording medium. Also, the thermal head is 8 dot/mm
As a light source, the peak wavelength is 313 mm.
(λY) 360mm (λM).

Three 420 mm (λC) 40W fluorescent lamps were used. The heat roll used in the vaporization process has a surface temperature of 120 to 13
It was kept between 0°C.

s, rl! 1a, 1b and 1c are partial views showing the relationship between the transfer recording medium and the thermal head used in the present invention,
FIG. 2 is a side view showing an example of a device used in the present invention, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are diagrams showing a driving sequence.

1...recording medium, 2...supply roll, 3...recording department, 4...Transfer section, 6... Winding roll, 8...Transfer medium, 20...Thermal head, 31... Image forming element.

10 days 1b day Eiji 1 c packet

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A recording medium having a recording layer on a support and containing at least a volatile dye that causes a reaction when a plurality of types of energy is applied to the recording layer, at least one of the plurality of types of energy. a transfer image forming step of forming a transfer image on the recording layer by applying the plurality of types of energy under conditions in which one type of energy is applied in accordance with recorded information; An image forming method comprising a vaporization step of vaporization transfer to a recording medium. (2) A recording medium having a recording layer on a support and containing at least a volatile dye that causes a reaction when a plurality of types of energy are applied to the recording layer.