JP5699622B2 - Thermal transfer medium manufacturing method, thermal transfer medium, image forming method, and recorded matter - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for producing a thermal transfer medium, a thermal transfer medium, an image forming method, and a recorded matter.

  In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for recorded matter in which an image having glitter is formed on a recording surface. As a method for forming an image having glitter, conventionally, for example, a recording medium having a recording surface with high flatness is prepared, and a foil-pressing recording method in which a metal foil is pressed against the recording medium, and the recording surface is smooth. A method of vacuum-depositing metal or the like on a plastic film, a method of applying a glittering pigment ink to a recording medium, and further press working are known.

In addition, a method for forming an image by ejecting ink having a glitter pigment (hereinafter referred to as glitter ink) by an inkjet method is known (for example, see Patent Document 1).
By the way, the glitter ink usually contains a resin. Thus, when the glitter ink contains a resin, the adhesion of the formed image to the recording medium is improved, and an improvement in abrasion resistance is expected.

  However, unlike the coloring of color ink, the glitter of glitter ink is manifested by the smooth arrangement of glitter pigment, and many resins are added to make it more excellent in abrasion resistance. Then, there existed a problem that arrangement | sequence was inhibited and brilliant (glossiness) property fell. In addition, if the resin is decreased to obtain excellent glitter, there is a problem that the abrasion resistance is lowered, and it is difficult to achieve both the glitter and the abrasion resistance.

JP 2008-174712 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide a thermal transfer medium capable of forming an image excellent in glitter and rubbing resistance, a method for producing a thermal transfer medium capable of easily producing such a thermal transfer medium, glitter and anti-friction properties. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming method capable of forming an image excellent in rubbing property and a recorded matter on which an image excellent in glitter and rubbing resistance is recorded.

Such an object is achieved by the present invention described below.
In the method for producing a thermal transfer medium of the present invention, a glittering ink in which a glitter pigment is dispersed is applied to the release layer of a release film having a release layer by an ink jet method to form an image layer having glitter. An image layer forming step,
An adhesive layer forming step of providing a material containing an adhesive compound on the side of the release film on which the image layer is formed, and forming an adhesive layer;
The glitter ink contains a resin component in an amount of 0.5% by mass to 2.6% by mass, and
Wherein Ri 16 ° C. der below -8 ° C. higher than the glass transition temperature of the compound having an adhesive property,
Before the adhesive layer forming step, having a drying step of drying the image layer,
In the drying step, 40 mass% or more and 95 mass% or less of the liquid component contained in the image layer is evaporated .
Accordingly, it is possible to provide a method for producing a thermal transfer medium that can easily produce a thermal transfer medium capable of forming an image excellent in glitter and abrasion resistance.

The method for producing a thermal transfer medium of the present invention preferably includes a protective layer forming step of forming a protective layer for protecting the image layer with respect to the release layer before the image layer forming step.
Thereby, the abrasion resistance of the image layer to be formed can be made particularly excellent .

In the method for producing a thermal transfer medium of the present invention, the glitter ink preferably contains 50% by mass or more of water.
Thereby, the influence on a release film etc. can be made small and the image layer excellent in the glitter can be formed.
In the method for producing a thermal transfer medium of the present invention, it is preferable that in the adhesive layer forming step, the material containing the adhesive compound is applied using an inkjet method.
Thereby, the material containing the compound which has adhesiveness can be selectively provided on an image layer.

The thermal transfer medium of the present invention is manufactured by the thermal transfer medium manufacturing method of the present invention,
It is composed of a laminate having the release film, the image layer, and the adhesive layer.
Thereby, it is possible to provide a thermal transfer medium capable of easily producing a thermal transfer medium capable of forming an image excellent in glitter and abrasion resistance.

The image forming method of the present invention includes an adhesion step in which the adhesive layer and the recording medium of the thermal transfer medium of the present invention are arranged to face each other, and the image layer and the recording medium are adhered via the adhesive layer;
By peeling off the releasing fill arm from the laminate, and having a, a transfer step of transferring the image layer to the recording medium.
Thereby, it is possible to provide an image forming method capable of forming an image excellent in glitter and abrasion resistance.
The recorded matter of the present invention is formed by the image forming method of the present invention,
It has the recording medium, the adhesive layer, and the image layer.
Thereby, it is possible to provide a recorded matter on which an image excellent in glitter and abrasion resistance is recorded.

It is a perspective view which shows schematic structure of an inkjet apparatus. It is sectional drawing which shows an example of the thermal transfer medium of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the manufacturing method of the thermal transfer medium of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the image forming method of this invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail.
<Inkjet device>
First, prior to the description of the method for producing a thermal transfer medium of the present invention, a preferred embodiment of an ink jet apparatus (droplet discharge apparatus) will be described.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of an ink jet apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an ink jet printer 1 (hereinafter referred to as a printer 1) as a recording apparatus has a frame 2. A platen 3 is provided on the frame 2, and a medium P is fed onto the platen 3 by driving a medium feed motor 4. The frame 2 is provided with a rod-shaped guide member 5 in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the platen 3.

A carriage 6 is supported on the guide member 5 so as to be capable of reciprocating in the axial direction of the guide member 5. The carriage 6 is connected to a carriage motor 8 via a timing belt 7 provided in the frame 2. The carriage 6 is reciprocated along the guide member 5 by driving the carriage motor 8.
The carriage 6 is provided with a head 9 and an ink cartridge 10 for supplying ink as liquid to the head 9 is detachably disposed. The ink in the ink cartridge 10 is supplied from the ink cartridge 10 to the head 9 by driving a piezoelectric element (not shown) provided in the head 9, and from the plurality of nozzles formed on the nozzle forming surface of the head 9, the platen 3 The ink is discharged to the medium P fed upward. Thereby, an image (image layer) can be formed.
As a discharging method, a thermal jet (bubble jet (registered trademark)) method may be used. In addition, any conventionally known method can be used.

<Thermal transfer medium>
Next, the thermal transfer medium of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the thermal transfer medium of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 2, the thermal transfer medium 100 is configured by a laminate in which a release film 11, an image layer 12, and an adhesive layer 13 are laminated in order.

The release film 11 has a function of supporting the image layer 12 and the adhesive layer 13 and is removed at the time of image formation.
As shown in FIG. 2, the release film 11 includes a base material 111 and a release layer 112 provided on the image layer 112 side of the base material 111.
Although it does not specifically limit as a material of the base material 111, For example, various paper, cloth, a film, a sheet | seat etc. are mentioned.

The release layer 112 is made of a known release agent, and can be peeled from the image layer 12 in this embodiment. A protective layer for protecting the transferred image layer 12 may be provided between the image layer 12 and the release film 11. By having such a protective layer, it is possible to improve the abrasion resistance and water resistance of the image after transfer.
The protective layer is a layer having a function of protecting the image (image layer 12) when an image is formed using the thermal transfer medium 100. By providing such a layer, the image layer 12 to be formed can have particularly excellent abrasion resistance.

Examples of the material constituting the protective layer include acrylic resins, urethane resins, and melamine resins.
The image layer 12 is a layer formed on the release film 11 and is a layer formed by evaporating at least a part of a dispersion medium of a glitter ink in which a glitter pigment is dispersed as described later. The image layer 12 may be formed on the entire surface of the release film 11 or may be formed on a part of the release film 11. The image layer 12 becomes an image on the transfer destination recording medium when it is transferred from the thermal transfer medium 100 to the transfer destination recording medium.

The glitter ink will be described in detail later.
The adhesive layer 13 is formed on at least the image layer 12, and has a function of adhering the image layer 12 and the recording medium when the image layer 12 is transferred from the thermal transfer medium 100 to a recording medium as a transfer destination. Yes. Note that the adhesive layer 13 may be formed on a region other than on the image layer 12.
Although the thickness of the contact bonding layer 13 is not specifically limited, For example, it can be 0.2 micrometer or more and 10 micrometers or less. The thickness of the adhesive layer 13 can be appropriately set according to the property of the recording medium that is the transfer destination of the image layer 12. For example, when the unevenness of the surface of the recording medium at the transfer destination is large, the unevenness of the adhesive layer 40 is prevented so that the influence of the unevenness does not occur on the surface of the image layer 12 (the surface in contact with the release film 11 before the transfer). The thickness can be set as appropriate. Further, when the recording medium of the transfer destination has permeability, the thickness can be set in consideration of the permeability.

The adhesive layer 13 has adhesiveness. Here, adhesiveness refers to the property of adhering the image layer 12 and the transfer destination recording medium. In the present invention, the adhesiveness is manifested when a temperature (heat) stimulus is applied to the adhesive layer 13.
The degree of adhesiveness that the adhesive layer 13 has is higher than the adhesive force (adhesive force) between the release film 11 and the protective layer between the image layer 12 and the transfer destination recording medium via the adhesive layer 13. It is sufficient if the adhesive force (adhesion force) is larger. In the case where no protective layer is provided, the distance between the image layer 12 and the recording medium to which the image is transferred via the adhesive layer 13 rather than the adhesive force (adhesion force) between the release film 11 and the image layer 12. It is sufficient that the adhesive strength (adhesive strength) of is greater. Note that it is not necessary to transfer all of the bright pigment constituting the image layer 12 for the image, and an adhesive layer 13 having an adhesive force to be partially transferred may be formed.

The adhesive layer 13 is made of a material containing an adhesive compound.
Examples of such adhesive compounds include monomers, oligomers, polyester resins, polyacrylic ester resins, polyacrylic esters, acrylic resins, urethane-based, vinyl chloride-based, and vinyl acetate-based adhesives. Vinyl acetate resins, polyvinyl chloride resins such as polyvinyl chloride resins and polyvinyl alcohol resins, polyvinyl acetal resins such as polyvinyl acetoacetal and polyvinyl butyral, polyether resins, polyurethane resins, styrene acrylate resins, polyacrylamide resins And resins such as polyamide resins, polystyrene resins, polyethylene resins, polypropylene resins, and polyvinylpyrrolidone resins. In this case, additives such as a polymerization initiator, a reaction aid, and a filler may be contained as necessary. Examples of the compound having adhesive properties include thermoplastic resins such as polyolefins, polyamides, and modified products thereof. In this case, additives such as an antioxidant, an ultraviolet absorber and a filler may be contained as necessary. In addition, examples of the compound having adhesiveness include sticky substances such as rosin, gelatinized starch, glue, natural resins such as various sugars, and modified products thereof.

<< Method for producing thermal transfer medium >>
Next, the method for producing the thermal transfer medium of the present invention will be described in detail.
FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing an example of a method for producing a thermal transfer medium of the present invention.
The manufacturing method of the thermal transfer medium according to the present embodiment includes a release film preparing step of preparing a release film 11 having a base 111 and a release layer 112, and applying glitter ink to the release film 11 by an ink jet method. Then, an image layer forming step for forming the image layer 12 having glitter, a drying step for drying the formed image layer 12, and a material containing an adhesive compound are applied to the image layer 12, and the adhesive layer 13 is provided. Forming an adhesive layer.

By the way, the glitter ink usually contains a resin. Thus, when the glitter ink contains a resin, the adhesion of the formed image to the recording medium is improved, and an improvement in abrasion resistance is expected.
However, when a large amount of resin is added to make the abrasion resistance more excellent, there is a problem that the glitter (gloss) property is lowered. In addition, if the resin is decreased to obtain excellent glitter, there is a problem that the abrasion resistance is lowered, and it is difficult to achieve both the glitter and the abrasion resistance.

On the other hand, the amount of the resin component in the glitter ink is set to an amount necessary for forming the image layer, and an adhesive layer is formed separately from the image layer formed with the glitter ink, It has been found that by defining the glass transition temperature of the resin (adhesive compound) constituting the adhesive layer, it is possible to achieve both excellent luster and excellent abrasion resistance.
That is, in the method for producing a thermal transfer medium of the present invention, a glittering ink is applied to the release layer of the release film by an inkjet method to form an image layer, and an image layer of the release film is formed. An adhesive layer forming step for forming an adhesive layer by applying a material containing an adhesive compound to the surface on the surface, and further the glitter ink has a resin component of 0.5% by mass or more 2 .6% by mass or less and having a glass transition temperature of −5 ° C. or more and 15 ° C. or less of the compound having adhesiveness to form an image excellent in glitter and abrasion resistance. Therefore, it is possible to easily form a thermal transfer medium that can be used.

Hereinafter, each step will be described in detail.
<Release film preparation process>
First, as shown to Fig.3 (a), the release film 11 is prepared (release film preparation process). At this time, a protective layer may be formed on the release layer 112 of the release film 11 (protective layer forming step).
The method for forming the protective layer may be a method in which a material constituting the protective layer is applied by a dipping method, a bar coating method, or the like, or a film made of the material constituting the protective layer may be a release film 11. The method of affixing to may be sufficient.

<Image layer forming process>
Next, as shown in FIG. 3B, glitter ink is applied to the release film 11 using the ink jet apparatus as described above to form the image layer 12 (image layer forming step).
[Bright ink]
The glitter ink contains a glitter pigment and a resin component in an amount of 0.5% by mass to 2.6% by mass.

  The glitter ink applied to the present invention contains a resin component in an amount of 0.5% by mass to 2.6% by mass, but the resin component is in an amount of 0.6% by mass to 1.9% by mass. It is more preferable to contain it. This makes it possible to more effectively form an image (image layer) having excellent glitter while making the film formation of the glitter ink more appropriate. On the other hand, when the content of the resin component is less than the lower limit, the film formability is lowered and it is difficult to form the image layer 12. Further, the image layer 12 is blotted by the material constituting the adhesive layer 13, and the transferability is lowered. On the other hand, when the content of the resin component exceeds the upper limit, the glitter of the image layer 12 is lowered.

In the present invention, the glass transition temperature of the adhesive compound contained in the adhesive layer is −8 ° C. or higher and 16 ° C. or lower, preferably −4 ° C. or higher and 10 ° C. or lower, and preferably −3 ° C. or higher. It is more preferable that it is 7 degrees C or less. Thereby, the effect of the present invention becomes more remarkable.
As the glitter pigment contained in the glitter ink, any pigment can be used as long as the ink droplets can be ejected by the ink jet method. The glitter pigment has a function of imparting glitter when the glitter ink adheres to the recording medium, and can also impart glitter to the deposit. Examples of such bright pigments include pearl pigments and metal particles. Representative examples of pearl pigments include pigments having pearly luster and interference gloss such as titanium dioxide-coated mica, fish scale foil, and bismuth oxychloride. On the other hand, examples of the metal particles include particles of aluminum, silver, gold, platinum, nickel, chromium, tin, zinc, indium, titanium, copper, etc., and are selected from these simple substances or alloys thereof and mixtures thereof. At least one kind can be used.
The glitter pigment used in the present embodiment is preferably silver particles from the viewpoint of high glossiness (brightness). Hereinafter, a silver ink will be described as a specific example of the glitter ink.

(1) Silver particle As mentioned above, the silver ink which concerns on this embodiment contains a silver particle. As described above, when the silver ink contains silver particles (particularly, when it contains a wax that satisfies a predetermined condition), an image having excellent metallic luster can be formed. Moreover, since silver is a metal having high whiteness among various metals, various metal colors such as gold and copper can be expressed by overlapping with other color inks.

  The average particle diameter of the silver particles is preferably 1 nm or more and 100 nm or less, and more preferably 3 nm or more and 65 nm or less. Thereby, the glossiness (brightness) and abrasion resistance of the image formed using silver ink can be made more excellent. Further, ink ejection stability (landing position accuracy, ejection amount stability, etc.) by the ink jet method can be made particularly excellent, and an image with a desired image quality can be more reliably formed over a long period of time. . Further, when the average particle diameter is in the above range, the resin particles are obstructed by a smoother arrangement when applied to a recording medium, and a more strict selection of the addition amount of the resin particles is required. In the present specification, the “average particle size” means a volume-based average particle size unless otherwise specified. The average particle diameter can be measured by a particle size distribution measuring apparatus using a laser diffraction scattering method as a measurement principle. As the laser diffraction type particle size distribution measuring device, for example, a particle size distribution meter (for example, “Microtrack UPA” manufactured by Nikkiso Co., Ltd.) having a dynamic light scattering method as a measurement principle can be used.

The silver particle content in the silver ink is preferably 0.5% by mass or more and 30% by mass or less, and more preferably 5.0% by mass or more and 15% by mass or less. Thereby, the discharge stability by the ink jet system of ink and the storage stability of ink can be made particularly excellent. In addition, it achieves good image quality and abrasion resistance in a wide density range from low to high density of silver particles (content per unit area) on the recording medium when it is recorded. be able to.
The silver particles may be prepared by any method. For example, the silver particles can be suitably formed by preparing a solution containing silver ions and reducing the silver ions.

(2) Resin Component The glittering ink according to the present invention contains a resin component, and by containing this, fixability and abrasion resistance are improved. Resin components include polyacrylic acid, polymethacrylic acid, polymethacrylic acid ester, polyethylacrylic acid, styrene-butadiene copolymer, polybutadiene, acrylonitrile-butadiene copolymer, chloroprene copolymer, fluororesin, fluorine resin, Vinylidene chloride, polyolefin resin, cellulose, styrene-acrylic acid copolymer, styrene-methacrylic acid copolymer, polystyrene, styrene-acrylamide copolymer, polyisobutyl acrylate, polyacrylonitrile, polyvinyl acetate, polyvinyl acetal, polyamide, rosin Resin, polyethylene, polycarbonate, vinylidene chloride resin, cellulose resin such as cellulose acetate butyrate, vinyl acetate resin, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, vinyl acetate-acrylic Copolymers, vinyl chloride resin, polyurethane, and rosin esters, and the like is not limited thereto.
The glass transition temperature of the resin component contained in the silver ink (bright ink) is not particularly limited, but is preferably −20 ° C. or higher, more preferably 0 ° C. or higher, further preferably 20 ° C. or higher, and most preferably 40 ° C. or higher. is there. Thereby, the effect of the present invention becomes more remarkable.

(3) Water The glittering ink according to the present invention may be a water-based ink containing 50% by mass or more of water or a non-aqueous ink having a water content of less than 50% by mass. In particular, a water-based ink containing 50% by mass or more of water is preferable. Thereby, the influence on the release film 11 can be made small, and the image layer 12 excellent in glitter can be formed.
When water is contained in the ink, it functions as a dispersion medium for mainly dispersing silver particles and an adhesive compound. When the ink contains water, the dispersion stability of silver particles and the like can be improved, and unintentional drying (evaporation of the dispersion medium) of the ink in the vicinity of the nozzles of the ink jet device described above can be achieved. Therefore, drying on a recording medium to which ink is applied can be performed quickly, so that high-speed recording of a desired image can be suitably performed over a long period of time. Moreover, since it becomes water mainly of a structural component, there also exists an advantage that an environmental load is small. When water is contained in the ink, the content of the water is not particularly limited, but is preferably 20% by mass to 80% by mass, and more preferably 25% by mass to 70% by mass. preferable.

(4) Polyhydric alcohol The glittering ink according to the present invention may contain a polyhydric alcohol. When the ink according to the present embodiment is applied to an ink jet recording apparatus, the polyhydric alcohol can suppress drying of the ink and prevent clogging by the ink in the ink jet recording head portion.

Examples of the polyhydric alcohol include ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, polyethylene glycol, polypropylene glycol, propylene glycol, butylene glycol, 1,2,6-hexanetriol, thioglycol, hexylene glycol, glycerin, and trimethylolethane. , Trimethylolpropane, 1,2-butanediol, 1,2-pentanediol, 1,2-hexanediol, 1,2-heptanediol, 1,2-octanediol and the like. Especially, a C4-C8 alkanediol is preferable and a C6-C8 alkanediol is more preferable. Thereby, the permeability to the recording medium can be made particularly high. The content of polyhydric alcohol in the ink is not particularly limited, but is preferably 0.1% by mass or more and 20% by mass or less, and more preferably 0.5% by mass or more and 10% by mass or less.
Among the above polyhydric alcohols, the ink preferably contains 1,2-hexanediol and trimethylolpropane. As a result, the dispersion stability of the silver particles in the ink can be made particularly excellent, the storage stability of the ink can be made particularly excellent, and the ink ejection stability is particularly excellent It can be.

(5) Glycol ether The glitter ink according to the present invention may contain glycol ether. By containing the glycol ether, it is possible to enhance the wettability of the recording surface such as a recording medium and the ink permeability.
As glycol ethers, ethylene glycol monomethyl ether, ethylene glycol monoethyl ether, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, diethylene glycol monomethyl ether, diethylene glycol monoethyl ether, diethylene glycol monobutyl ether, dipropylene glycol monomethyl ether, dipropylene glycol monoethyl ether, triethylene glycol Mention may be made of lower alkyl ethers of polyhydric alcohols such as monomethyl ether, triethylene glycol monobutyl ether and tripropylene glycol monomethyl ether. Among these, when triethylene glycol monobutyl ether is used, good recording quality can be obtained. The content of glycol ether in the ink is not particularly limited, but is preferably 0.2% by mass or more and 20% by mass or less, and more preferably 0.3% by mass or more and 10% by mass or less.

(6) Surfactant The glitter ink according to the present invention preferably contains an acetylene glycol surfactant or a polysiloxane surfactant. Acetylene glycol surfactants or polysiloxane surfactants can increase the wettability of a recording surface such as a recording medium to increase the ink permeability.

  Examples of the acetylene glycol surfactant include 2,4,7,9-tetramethyl-5-decyne-4,7-diol, 3,6-dimethyl-4-octyne-3,6-diol, 3, 5-dimethyl-1-hexyn-3-ol, 2,4-dimethyl-5-hexyn-3-ol and the like can be mentioned. Moreover, a commercial item can also be utilized for acetylene glycol type-surfactant, for example, Olphine E1010, STG, Y (above, Nissin Chemical Co., Ltd. make), Surfinol 104, 82, 465, 485, TG (above , Air Products and Chemicals Inc.).

Commercially available products can be used as the polysiloxane surfactant, and examples thereof include BYK-347, BYK-348 (manufactured by BYK Japan).
Furthermore, the ink according to the present invention can also contain other surfactants such as an anionic surfactant, a nonionic surfactant, and an amphoteric surfactant.
The content of the surfactant in the glitter ink is not particularly limited, but is preferably 0.01% by mass or more and 5.0% by mass or less, and preferably 0.1% by mass or more and 0.5% by mass or less. More preferably.

(7) Other components The glittering ink according to the present invention may contain components other than those described above (other components). Examples of such components include pH regulators, penetrants, urea compounds, drying inhibitors such as alkanolamines (such as triethanolamine), and thiourea.
<Drying process>
Next, the formed image layer 12 is dried (drying process).

  In the drying step, it is preferable to evaporate 40% by mass or more and 95% by mass or less of the liquid component (component excluding the solid content such as the glitter pigment and the adhesive compound) contained in the image layer 12 immediately after the formation. 60 mass% or more and 95 mass% or less is more preferably evaporated, and more preferably 65 mass% or more and 95 mass% or less. Thereby, the abrasion resistance of the image layer 12 can be made higher, and the adhesive layer 13 can be easily formed. In particular, when the adhesive layer 13 is formed by an ink jet method, it is possible to prevent the flatness of the image layer 12 from being damaged by the droplets of the material forming the adhesive layer 13, thereby improving the glitter of the image layer 12. Can be higher. Further, when evaporating more than the upper limit value, it takes a long time to evaporate, which affects the formation speed of the recorded matter.

<Adhesive layer forming step>
Next, as shown in FIG.3 (c), the material containing the compound which has adhesiveness is provided on the image layer 12, and the contact bonding layer 13 is formed (adhesion layer formation process). Thereby, the thermal transfer medium 100 (the thermal transfer medium of the present invention) can be obtained.
The method for applying a material containing an adhesive compound is not particularly limited, and is an ink jet method, a dipping method (including application by a brush, a squeegee, etc.), a bar coating method, a stencil printing method (screen printing method), a relief printing plate. Examples thereof include a printing method and an intaglio printing method. Among these methods, the inkjet method does not require a step such as preparing a plate, and can be selectively applied onto the image layer 12, thereby suppressing waste of a material containing an adhesive compound. It is more preferable in that
In addition, after providing the material containing the compound which has adhesiveness, you may provide the drying process which dries the contact bonding layer 13 as needed.

<Image forming method>
Next, an image forming method using the thermal transfer medium 100 as described above will be described.
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the image forming method of the present invention.
First, as shown in FIG. 4A, a recording medium 15 is prepared, the recording medium 15 and the adhesive layer 13 of the thermal transfer medium 100 are arranged to face each other, and the image layer 12 and the recording medium 15 are arranged. Bonding is performed via the bonding layer 13 (bonding step).

  The recording medium 15 is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include various papers, cloths, films, and sheets. More specifically, papers described in Japanese Industrial Standard JIS-P0001, textiles described in JIS-L0206, nonwoven fabrics described in JIS-L0222, and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polycarbonate, polyethylene naphthalate, polyester, polyethylene, polypropylene, acrylic resin, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl acetate, polyvinyl alcohol, polyether ether ketone, polyamide, polyether sulfone, polydiacetate, triacetate And films and sheets of materials such as polyimide, wood, metal, ceramics, and glass. The recording medium 15 may be coated paper such as coated paper or art paper.

The image layer 12 and the recording medium 15 are bonded by heating. Thereby, the adhesiveness (adhesiveness) between the image layer 12 (adhesive layer 13) and the recording medium 15 can be made higher.
Next, as shown in FIG. 4B, the release film 11 and the image layer 12 are peeled off, and the image layer 12 is transferred to the recording medium 15 (transfer process). Thereby, a recorded matter 200 (recorded matter of the present invention) provided with the image layer 12, the adhesive layer 13, and the recording medium 15 can be obtained.

According to the image forming method as described above, it is possible to easily form a recorded matter having an image excellent in glitter and abrasion resistance.
As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated based on suitable embodiment, this invention is not limited to these.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the thermal transfer medium has been described as having a protective layer, but the protective layer may be omitted.
In the above-described embodiments, the image layer is described as being formed by applying the glitter ink, but other color inks may be applied together with the glitter ink.

Next, specific examples of the present invention will be described.
[1] Preparation of glittering ink 17 g of trisodium citrate dihydrate and 0.36 g of tannic acid were dissolved in 50 mL of water made alkaline by adding 3 mL of 10N-NaOH aqueous solution. To the obtained solution, 3 mL of 3.87 mol / L silver nitrate aqueous solution was added and stirred for 2 hours to obtain a silver colloid solution.

  The obtained silver colloid solution was desalted by dialysis until the electrical conductivity was 30 μS / cm or less. After dialysis, the coarse metal colloid particles were removed by centrifugation at 3000 rpm for 10 minutes. The average particle size was 20 nm. In this example, the average particle diameter of silver particles is “Microtrac UPA” (manufactured by Nikkiso Co., Ltd.), and the measurement conditions are a refractive index of 0.2-3.9i and a refractive index of solvent (water). Was 1.333 and the measured particle shape was spherical.

The components shown in Table 1 were added to the colloidal silver solution produced as described above, and seven types of glittering inks as shown in Table 1 were obtained.
In Table 1, Superflex 210 and Superflex 500M as resin components are urethane resins manufactured by Daiichi Kogyo Seiyaku. Further, as the surfactant, a polysiloxane surfactant (manufactured by Big Chemie Japan Co., Ltd., trade name “BYK-348”) was used.

[2] Preparation of material containing adhesive compound (adhesive layer forming ink) Each component shown in Table 2 is mixed in the blending amounts shown in Table 2, and nine types of adhesive layers are formed as shown in Table 2. Ink was obtained.
In Table 1, as compounds having adhesive properties, vinyl chloride emulsion (Tg = -2 ° C.), vinyl chloride emulsion (Tg = 42 ° C.) (above, manufactured by Nissin Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., vinyl chloride adhesive) ), Mobile 727 (Tg = 5 ° C.), mobile 718A (Tg = −6 ° C.), mobile 752 (Tg = 15 ° C.), mobile 7525 (Tg = −16 ° C.), mobile 745 (Tg = 21 ° C.) (above) , Nippon Synthetic Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., acrylic adhesive), Superflex 840 (Tg = 5 ° C.), Superflex 500M (Tg = −39 ° C.) (above, Daiichi Kogyo Seiyaku Co., Ltd., urethane system). . Further, as the surfactant, a polysiloxane surfactant (manufactured by Big Chemie Japan Co., Ltd., trade name “BYK-348”) was used.

[3] Production of thermal transfer medium (Example 1)
On a biaxially stretched PET film having a roll width of 600 mm and a thickness of 12 μm, a low density polymerized polyethylene wax (trade name: High Wax 110P, manufactured by Mitsui Chemicals) was applied to a thickness of 20 nm to form a release layer. . Furthermore, a thermosetting melamine resin layer produced from a melamine resin (trade name: Amirac 1000, manufactured by Kansai Paint Co., Ltd.) is applied to a thickness of 10 nm, and then cured by heating at 130 ° C. for 5 minutes to form a protective layer. On the release surface (surface on the release layer side) of the release film, the glittering inks shown in Table 3 were applied at 50% duty on PX-G930 (manufactured by Seiko Epson). Then, an image layer was formed.

Thereafter, the formed image layer was dried until the evaporation rate (drying rate) of the liquid component contained in the image layer reached the value shown in Table 3.
Next, the adhesive layer forming ink shown in Table 3 was applied at 50% duty on the image layer by PX-G930 (manufactured by Seiko Epson) and dried to form an adhesive layer.
(Examples 2 to 12)
A thermal transfer medium was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the glitter ink and the ink for forming the adhesive layer shown in Table 3 were used and the image layer was dried until the drying rate reached the value shown in Table 3.

Note that, using PX-G930 (manufactured by Seiko Epson Corporation), the glitter ink was applied at 50% duty, and the adhesive layer forming ink was applied at 50% duty.
In this specification, “duty” is a value calculated by the following equation.
duty (%) = number of actual printing dots / (vertical resolution × horizontal resolution) × 100
(In the formula, “number of actual printing dots” is the number of actual printing dots per unit area, and “vertical resolution” and “horizontal resolution” are resolutions per unit area, respectively.)

(Comparative Examples 1-7)
A thermal transfer medium was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the glitter ink and the adhesive layer forming ink shown in Table 4 were used and the image layer was dried until the drying rate reached the value shown in Table 4.
In addition, as methods for calculating the drying rate in Tables 3 and 4, there are various methods. First, a recorded matter is created by ejecting ink onto a recording medium, and a mass A of the recorded matter is obtained. The recorded matter is left for a predetermined time, and the mass B is measured again, and the difference from the mass A is calculated. Since the mass of the difference corresponds to the mass of the volatilized solvent, the drying rate at the predetermined time can be calculated by comparing with the mass of the volatile component added to the ink composition.
The above method is performed according to each time (humidity and temperature are the same), and from the obtained drying rate, it is possible to draw a drying curve with time on the horizontal axis and drying rate on the vertical axis. In the present invention, the drying rate was calculated from the obtained drying curve using the drying time after image layer formation in the drying step.

[4] Evaluation of image transferability A recording medium of paper media (super fine paper: manufactured by Seiko Epson Corporation) is prepared, and image transfer processing is performed on each recording medium using the thermal transfer media of the respective examples and comparative examples. The recorded matter was obtained, and the image transferability was evaluated according to the following criteria.
A: The transfer surface is smooth and no peeling unevenness is observed. ○: A peeling unevenness of 5% or less is observed.
Δ: Peeling unevenness of more than 5% and 20% or less is observed.
X: Peeling unevenness exceeding 20% is observed.

[5] Evaluation of 60 ° C. Glossiness Regarding the recorded matter according to each of the above Examples and Comparative Examples obtained in the above [4], the gloss at a turning angle of 60 ° was measured using a gloss meter (MINOLTA MULTI GLOSS 268). The degree was measured and evaluated according to the following criteria.
◎: 60 ° gloss value is 300 or more Metal gloss is strong ○: 60 ° gloss value is 100 or more and less than 299 Metal gloss is present ×: 60 ° gloss value is less than 99 Metal gloss (reflection of light) is absent

[6] Evaluation of Adhesiveness (Abrasion Resistance) At the time when 48 hours have elapsed from the production of the recorded matter according to each of the above Examples and Comparative Examples obtained in [4] above, using a Southerland Love Tester, JIS K5701 In accordance with the above, a rubbing resistance test is performed on each recorded matter, and the glossiness (turning angle 60 °) is measured on the recorded matter before and after the rubbing resistance test, and the reduction rate of the glossiness before and after the rubbing resistance test is obtained. The evaluation was made according to the following criteria.
A: Glossiness reduction rate is less than 10% B: Glossiness reduction rate is 10% or more and less than 20% X: Glossiness reduction rate is 20% or more

[7] Blocking evaluation According to the following criteria, sensory evaluation was performed to determine whether or not the surface of the image of the recorded matter according to each of the above Examples and Comparative Examples obtained in [4] had stickiness.
○: No stickiness on the surface ×: Stickiness on the surface

[8] Bleeding evaluation of image layer with ink for forming adhesive layer The sensory evaluation was performed to determine whether the image layer was dissolved and not blurred when the ink for forming the adhesive layer was applied after the image layer was formed.
◎: No blurring is observed in the image layer due to the application of the adhesive layer forming ink ○: Some blurring is observed in the image layer due to the application of the adhesive layer forming ink ×: Large in the image layer due to the application of the adhesive layer forming ink Bleeding

These results are shown in Tables 3 and 4 together.
As is apparent from Table 3, the recorded matter formed using the thermal transfer medium of each example had excellent brightness and other evaluation images. On the other hand, as can be seen from Table 4, the recorded material formed using the thermal transfer medium of each comparative example could not obtain the desired effect.
Moreover, when the same experiment as Examples 1-12 and Comparative Examples 1-7 was conducted using synthetic paper (PP: polypropylene) (the product name "YUPO80" by Lintec Corporation), in the case of an Example, it was brilliant. In addition to excellent properties, other evaluations also had excellent images.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Inkjet printer (printer) 2 ... Frame 3 ... Platen 4 ... Medium feed motor 5 ... Guide member 6 ... Carriage 7 ... Timing belt 8 ... Carriage motor 9 ... Head 10 ... Ink cartridge P ... Medium 11 ... Release film 111 ... Base material 112 ... Release layer 12 ... Image layer 13 ... Adhesive layer 14 ... Protective layer 15 ... Recording medium 100 ... Thermal transfer medium 200 ... Recorded matter

Claims (7)

An image layer forming step of forming an image layer having a glitter property by applying a glitter ink in which a glitter pigment is dispersed to the release layer of the release film having a release layer by an inkjet method;
An adhesive layer forming step of providing a material containing an adhesive compound on the side of the release film on which the image layer is formed, and forming an adhesive layer;
The glitter ink contains a resin component in an amount of 0.5% by mass to 2.6% by mass, and
Wherein Ri 16 ° C. der less -8 ° C. higher than the glass transition temperature of the compound having an adhesive property,
Before the adhesive layer forming step, having a drying step of drying the image layer,
In the drying step, 40% by mass or more and 95% by mass or less of the liquid component contained in the image layer is evaporated .   The method for producing a thermal transfer medium according to claim 1, further comprising a protective layer forming step of forming a protective layer for protecting the image layer with respect to the release layer before the image layer forming step. The glitter ink The manufacturing method of the thermal transfer medium according to claim 1 or 2 containing water at least 50 mass%. In the adhesive layer forming step, a material containing a compound having the adhesive, the manufacturing method of the thermal transfer medium according to any one of claims 1 to 3, applied using an ink jet method. It is manufactured by the method for manufacturing a thermal transfer medium according to any one of claims 1 to 4 .
A thermal transfer medium comprising a laminate having the release film, the image layer, and the adhesive layer. An adhesion step of disposing the adhesive layer of the thermal transfer medium according to claim 5 and the recording medium so as to face each other, and adhering the image layer and the recording medium through the adhesive layer;
Image forming method characterized by having a transfer step of peeling said release-fill beam from the laminate to transfer the image layer to the recording medium. It is formed by the image forming method according to claim 6 ,
A recorded matter comprising the recording medium, the adhesive layer, and the image layer.

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