JPH0455600B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording medium used in a thermal transfer recording method in which characters and images are recorded by a transfer method using a thermal head or a thermal pen.

(Prior art) In recent years, thermal transfer recording methods using thermal heads have been developed because the recording device is relatively inexpensive, there is little noise during printing, the recording device is easy to maintain, and color recording is easy. It is rapidly becoming popular due to its advantages such as:

The recording medium used in this recording method, that is, the heat-sensitive transfer recording material, is one in which a heat-sensitive transfer layer made of a heat-melting composition is provided on one side of the base material. The surface gloss of printed matter is higher than that of other methods, and there has been a demand for a recording material that can make the surface of printed matter matte.

Due to the structure of the thermal transfer recording material, methods for matting the surface of printed matter include, for example,
101084, a method for roughening the surface of a base material, JP-A-60-101083 and JP-A-Sho.
60-101085, a method of mixing pine wood into transfer ink, JP-A-60-
As disclosed in No. 101086, a method of providing a roughened layer on the surface of a base material has been proposed.

However, these methods, namely the method of roughening the surface of the base material and forming the rough surface on the surface of the transferred transfer layer, and the method of mixing a matting agent into the transfer layer itself and creating a rough surface on the surface. All of the methods that are expected to achieve a surface roughening effect have had difficulties in achieving a sufficient and stable surface roughening effect. The former method is generally a reuse of the technology that also transfers the surface shape at the same time, but when used during thermal transfer, this technique is used to ensure that the surface shape does not change after the transfer layer is peeled from the base material. It is extremely difficult to stably satisfy this condition in the case of high-temperature transfer and high-speed peeling, such as transfer using a thermal head. The latter method is a repurposing of the method generally used for matting paint;
For the same reason as above, in the case of transfer using a thermal head, the time interval during which the matting agent is distributed on the surface is short, and the matting agent surface is wetted by the hot melt component, so that the matting agent is used to increase the roughening effect. It is difficult to form a stable rough surface even though a large amount of is required.

(Objective of the Invention) The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a thermal transfer recording medium such as a thermal transfer ribbon or a thermal transfer sheet, which can make the surface of printed matter matte.

(Means for achieving the purpose) In order to achieve the above purpose, the inventors
Based on the observation of the thermal conditions during transfer using a thermal head, we conducted a thorough study on a method for roughening the printed surface. Based on a completely different principle from conventional methods, we developed a method that causes cohesive failure of the anchor layer during transfer peeling. Therefore, the inventors discovered that it is possible to make the surface of printed matter matte, and completed the present invention.

The thermal transfer recording material 5 of the present invention basically comprises a base material 1 such as a plastic film, an anchor layer 2, and a thermal transfer layer 3, as shown in FIG. The material of the anchor layer is set so that the anchor layer causes cohesive failure, and as a result, the surface of the heat-sensitive transfer layer transferred to the surface of the transfer object is roughened.

The base material 1 may be a heat-resistant plastic film such as a polyester film or a paper such as a condenser paper, and may also be treated with a back surface to prevent staking and a surface to strengthen adhesion with the anchor layer 2 described later. There may be some processing.

The heat-sensitive transfer layer 3 may be formed from a binder such as wax or thermoplastic resin mixed with a coloring agent, and the necessary additives added thereto.

First, the anchor layer 2 needs to have strong adhesion to the base material 1 and to have heat resistance as a whole to withstand thermal deformation during transfer.

In addition, this anchor layer 2 has a structure in which the cohesive force of the anchor layer 2 is equal to the bonding force between the base material 1 and the anchor layer 2 and the anchor layer 2 between the thermal transfer layer 3 having the above structure and the base material 1.
and the thermal transfer layer 3 and the bonding force between the thermal transfer layer 3 and the image receptor during thermal transfer. When the anchor layer 2 is formed in this way, cohesive failure occurs in the anchor layer 2 during thermal transfer, and the surface of the printed matter on the image receptor (transferred object) becomes rough, thereby obtaining a sufficient matting effect. It turns out.

The composition of the anchor layer 2 that satisfies this condition includes the following combinations of heat-resistant components and adhesive components.

Heat-resistant components include cellulose derivatives such as nitrocellulose, thermoplastic and thermosetting resins such as polyimide resins, polysulfone resins, polyethersulfone resins, silicone resins, epoxy resins, melamine resins, phenolic resins, and fluororesins, and adhesives. Polyamide resin, polyester resin, acrylic resin, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, cyclized rubber, chlorinated rubber, styrene-butadiene copolymer, styrene-butadiene-styrene copolymer, rosin derivative, ketone resin. , styrene resins, polyester polyols, acrylic polyols, natural waxes, synthetic waxes, and polyolefin waxes.

The combination method and ratio of the above components are determined in consideration of the substrate, the heat-sensitive transfer layer, and the printing conditions of the printer so as to satisfy the above-mentioned conditions, and typical configuration examples are shown in Examples.

(Effects of the invention) By using the thermal transfer recording material of the invention,
It is possible to eliminate the gloss on the printed surface of thermal transfer recording using a thermal head, but it also has the following effects.

(1) Compared to the conventional method using a matting agent, the surface shape is more finely roughened, so a natural and highly matte printed surface can be obtained.

(2) A matte effect can be obtained under a wide range of printing conditions and energies.

(3) Since no matting agent is used, the anchor layer can be easily applied and can be made into a thin film, so it does not impede printing performance at low energy.

(Example) Table 1 was applied to a polyester stretched film with a thickness of 5.7μ.
The anchor agent shown in Figure 1 was applied, and the solvent was evaporated to form an anchor layer with a thickness of 1.0 μm. Next, a thermal transfer ink shown in Table 2 was applied to a thickness of 3.5 μm on the anchor layer to provide a thermal transfer layer, and a transfer ribbon was prepared.

Separately, as a comparative example, a heat-sensitive transfer layer was provided by applying the thermal transferable ink shown in Table 2 to a thickness of 3.5 μm on a stretched polyester film having a thickness of 5.7 μm to prepare a transfer ribbon.

Using the above two types of thermal transfer ribbons, printing was carried out on transfer paper having a base smoothness of 50 seconds and a basis weight of 50 g/m ² using a printer equipped with a line-type thermal head.

[Table 1] Anchor agent composition Nitrocellulose resin 17 parts by weight Polyamide resin 6 Toluene 50 parts by weight Isopropyl alcohol 20 Ethyl acetate 7 [Table 2] Ink composition Carnauba wax 50 parts by weight Rice wax 30 Ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer 6 〃 Nonionic surfactant 2 〃 Carbon black 12 〃 The glossiness of the printed surface of this printed article was measured visually and with a 60° gloss meter.

Visual comparison shows that the printed matter using the thermal transfer ribbon of the example of the present invention has almost completely lost its luster, which is in contrast to the extremely glossy surface of the printed matter using the thermal transfer ribbon of the comparative example. It was hot.

A comparison of the glossiness showed that the printed surface of the printed matter using the thermal transfer ribbon of the present invention was 10% ± 3.2%, and that of the printed matter using the thermal transfer ribbon of the comparative example was 75% ± 5.6%. Ta.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural explanatory diagram of the present invention. 1...Base material, 2...Anchor layer, 3...Thermal transfer layer, 5...Thermal transfer recording material.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A thermal transfer recording material comprising an anchor layer and a transfer layer on one side of a base material, and which causes cohesive failure within the anchor layer during transfer, wherein the anchor layer is made of nitrocellulose. Heat-resistant components selected from derivatives, polyimide resins, polysulfone resins, polyethersulfone resins, silicone resins, epoxy resins, melamine resins, phenolic resins, and fluororesins, as well as polyamide resins, polyester resins, acrylic resins, and ethylene-vinyl acetate resins. Polymer, cyclized rubber, styrene-butadiene copolymer, styrene-
butadiene-styrene copolymer, rosin derivative,
A thermal transfer recording material comprising an adhesive component selected from ketone resin, styrene resin, polyester polyol, acrylic polyol, natural wax, synthetic wax, and polyolefin wax. 2. The thermal transfer recording material according to claim 1, wherein the anchor layer further contains a colorant. 3. The heat-sensitive transfer recording material according to claim 1, wherein the base material is made of a plastic film, and a protective layer for preventing sticking is provided on the surface on which the heat-sensitive transfer layer is not formed.