JPS6349481A - Thermal transfer medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a record of transferred images or the like having extremely favorable metallic luster, by sequentially providing at least a protective resin coat layer, a vapor-deposited metallic layer and an adhesive layer on a base film, either directly or with a releasing agent layer provided therebetween. CONSTITUTION:At least a protective resin coat layer 3, a vapor-deposited metallic layer 4 and an adhesive layer 5 are sequentially provided on a base film 1, either directly or with a releasing agent layer 2 provided therebetween, to obtain a thermal transfer medium capable of recording a transferred image or the like having favorable metallic luster. The vapor-deposited metallic layer 4 itself is weak in mechanical strength, and is susceptible to damage by friction. To avoid this, the protective resin coat layer 3 is provided on the surface of the metallic layer 4, in a thickness of ordinarily 0.5-2mum. The vapor-deposited metallic layer 4 is provided by vapor-depositing a metal or an alloy thereof on the protective resin coat layer. As the metal or alloy, aluminum is most preferable from the viewpoints of luster and cost. The thickness of the adhesive layer 5 is ordinarily about 1-10mum, and is set to a relatively small value of about 1-2mum where the surface of an ordinary transfer recording paper is relatively smooth.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a thermal transfer medium used in thermal transfer devices such as printers and facsimiles, and more specifically, to a thermal transfer medium capable of recording metallic luster character images such as gold and silver. The present invention relates to thermal transfer media.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, thermal transfer media have been made by providing a heat-melting ink layer that melts at a predetermined temperature on a base film having a thickness of, for example, about 3 to 12 inches. To explain the recording operation of this thermal transfer medium, a thermal head is in contact with the base film, and when the thermal head is driven according to a recording signal and that part generates heat, the heat-melting ink is applied to the corresponding part of the base film. is melted and transferred to the receiving paper. A transfer image corresponding to the recording signal is formed on the transfer paper using this transfer ink, and recording can be performed on the transfer paper using plain paper.

However, since the heat-sensitive transfer medium described above uses a mixture of heat-fusible wax and pigments such as carbon black for the heat-fusible ink layer, the transferred image formed on the surface of the transfer paper is However, the color of the pigment used in the heat-melting ink layer was limited, and it was completely impossible to record a transferred image with total gloss.

[Object of the Invention] In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a heat-sensitive transfer medium capable of recording transferred images having extremely good metallic luster.

[Structure of the Invention] That is, the present invention provides at least a protective resin coating layer, a metal vapor deposited layer,
The present invention relates to a heat-sensitive transfer medium characterized by sequentially forming adhesive layers.

That is, in the thermal transfer medium of the present invention, by using a composite layer consisting of at least a protective resin coating layer, a metal vapor deposition layer, and an adhesive layer in place of the heat-melting ink layer of conventional thermal transfer media, extremely good properties can be achieved. We have just completed a heat-sensitive transfer medium that can record transferred images with metallic luster.

That is, the present invention provides at least a protective resin coating layer (
3) To provide a heat-sensitive transfer medium capable of recording a transferred image etc. with extremely good metallic luster by sequentially forming a composite layer from a metal vapor deposited layer (4) and an adhesive layer (5). This made it possible.

As the base film (1) in the thermal transfer medium of the present invention, any material can be used as long as it has sufficient self-retention properties, such as polyester, polyamide, polyamideimide, polyethylene, polypropylene, cellulose acetate, bocarbonate, polyester Resins such as vinyl chloride and fluororesins, film or sheet materials such as cellophane paper and glassine paper, release paper or release films, and the like are used as appropriate. In particular, as the base film (1), the film-like material of the above resins has a thickness of 2
．． It is preferable to use a material having a weight of about 5 to 12 gm, since it allows continuous mass production of thermal transfer media without wrinkles or cracks. In addition, inventions previously filed by the present applicant (
As described in Japanese Patent Application No. 60-260774),
A thin film of an inorganic substance, for example, 5iO1S+Oz, Ti0z, Z, is placed on the opposite side of the plastic film to the side on which the thermal transfer layer is provided.
Oxides such as nO, AIto:+, nitrides such as T i N, carbides such as TiC, carbon, A1. Ni, Cr,
It is also preferable to use a hot-stake resistant material provided with a thin film of metal such as Ti or Ni-Cr alloy having a thickness of about 6 to 1100 nm.

If the peelability between the base film (1) and the protective resin coating layer (3) is not good, apply paraffin wax, silicone, fluororesin, surfactant, etc. to form the release agent layer (2). In the thermal transfer medium of the present invention, the metal door adhesive layer itself has low mechanical strength and is easily damaged by scratches, so a protective resin coating may be formed on the surface of the metal vapor deposited layer. establish. The thickness of the protective resin coating is not particularly limited or is normally selected from a range of 0.5 to 21 mm.

As the resin for forming such a protective resin coating, any of thermoplastic resins, thermosetting resins, electron beam curable resins, and ultraviolet curable resins may be used, such as acrylic resins, vinyl chloride-acetic acid, etc. Vinyl copolymer, polyvinyl butyral, polycarbonate, nitrocellulose, cellulose acetate, urethane resin, urea resin, melamine resin, urea-melamine resin, epoxy resin, alkyd resin, aminoalkyd resin,
Ti alone or a mixture thereof such as rosin-modified maleic acid resin is preferably used.

The protective resin layer is formed by applying an organic solvent solution, aqueous solution, etc. of the resin to form the protective resin coating using a normal coating method such as a roll coating method, a clavia coating method, a reverse coating method, or a spray coating method. 1) Drying (curing in the case of thermosetting resins, electron beam curable resins, ultraviolet curable resins, etc.).

The protective resin layer may be colored with a coloring agent such as a dye or pigment as long as it is transparent or translucent.

The metal vapor deposited layer (4) of the thermal transfer medium of the present invention is
For example, aluminum, copper, silver,
It is formed by vapor-depositing metals such as gold or their alloys, or aluminum is most preferred in terms of gloss and cost.

The metal vapor deposition layer can be formed by using a conventional metal (including alloys, the same shall apply hereinafter) assisted formation method such as the well-known vacuum evaporation method, sputtering method, ion plate ink method, etc., for example, zinc, aluminum, gallium, indium, etc. Tin, nickel, silver, gold, copper, silicon, chromium, titanium, platinum, palladium, etc., which can be used alone or as a mixture or alloy, are deposited to a thickness of about 10 to 1100 nm. When the thickness is less than about 1On+i, there is almost no metallic luster and there is no value in providing a metal vapor deposited layer, and 110
Even if it is formed to a thickness of about 0n or more, there is no change in the metallic luster and it is not economical.In addition, the metal vapor deposited layer may not be a single layer, but may be made of multiple layers, and in that case, the type of metal may be changed for each layer.
In addition, the thickness of the metal vapor deposited layer located on the surface side is set to about 100 nm or less, and an interference thin film layer made of a transparent resin or a transparent inorganic metal compound is interposed between the metal vapor deposited layer located on the inside to develop interference iris color. You can do it like this.

Examples of the adhesive layer (5) of the thermal transfer medium of the present invention include natural waxes such as spermaceti wax, beeswax, lanolin, carbana wax, candesola wax, and montan wax, paraffin wax, microurean wax, oxidized wax, and ester wax. , synthetic waxes such as low molecular weight polyethylene, higher fatty acids such as lauric acid, myristic acid, balmitic acid, stearic acid, fromenic acid, and behenic acid, higher alcohols such as stearyl alcohol and behenyl alcohol, fatty acid esters of sucrose, and fatty acid esters of sorbitan. esters such as stearinamide, amides such as oleinamide, polyamide resins, boroester resins, epoxy resins, polyurethane resins, acrylic resins, vinyl chloride resins, cellulose resins, polyvinyl resins, Petroleum resins, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer resins, phenolic resins, styrene resins, natural rubber, elastomers such as styrene-butadiene rubber, imprene rubber, chloroprene rubber, rosin and its derivatives, terpene resins, hydrogenated petroleum Tackifiers such as resins, fillers, plasticizers, antioxidants, etc. may be used alone or in combination. The thickness of the adhesive layer (5) is selected and determined as appropriate depending on the surface condition of the transfer paper, but is usually selected from a range of about 1 to 10 μm.
If the surface of a normal paper to be transferred is relatively smooth, it is relatively thin and has a thickness of about 1 to 21.

Next, the present invention will be explained with reference to Examples.

[Example] Example 1 On a polyester film having a thickness of 3.5 mm, 20 parts of acrylic resin (parts by weight, the same applies hereinafter) and 10 parts of chlorinated rubber were mixed with 30 parts of toluene, 20 parts of methyl isobutyl ketone, and 20 parts of cyclohexanone. A coating solution made by dissolving in a mixed solvent of Add 10 parts of resin and 10 parts of carnauba wax to 70 parts of toluene.
A coating solution made by dissolving 10 parts of isopropyl alcohol in a mixed solvent is applied and dried to a thickness of
A 2 gm adhesive layer was formed to obtain a thermal transfer medium of the present invention.

Example 2 On a 94 m thick polyester film, 9 parts of paraffin wax and 1 part of ketone resin were mixed with 70 parts of toluene,
A coating solution made by dissolving in a mixed solvent consisting of 10 parts of turpentine oil and 10 parts of petroleum naphtha is applied and dried to form a thin layer of 11 parts thick, and then 25 parts of styrene maleic acid resin and A coating solution prepared by dissolving 5 parts of an oil dye in a mixed solvent consisting of 30 parts of toluene, 20 parts of methyl isobutyl ketone and 20 parts of cyclohexanone is applied and dried to form a protective resin layer with a thickness of 2 μm, and then Using vacuum evaporation method of aluminum 4
A coating solution prepared by dissolving 20 parts of paraffin wax and 10 parts of ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer resin in a mixed solvent consisting of 50 parts of toluene and 20 parts of turpentine oil was applied thereon. An adhesive layer having a thickness of 3 μm was then formed to obtain a thermal transfer medium of the present invention.

[Effects of the Invention] The thermal transfer media obtained in Examples 1 and 2 were used to print on plain paper using a thermal transfer printer Canon C-4253 (manufactured by Canon Inc.).

The resulting character image on the plain paper had an extremely beautiful metallic luster.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the basic structure of the thermal transfer medium of the present invention. (Symbols in drawings) (1): Base film (2): L-type agent layer (3): Protective resin layer (4) Bimetal vapor deposition layer (5): Adhesive layer

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A heat-sensitive transfer medium characterized in that at least a protective resin coating layer, a metal vapor deposition layer, and an adhesive layer are sequentially formed on a base film directly or via a release agent layer.