JPS62179987A - Thermal transfer ribbon - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a thermal transfer ribbon used in a printing device such as a thermal printer that performs thermal transfer printing.

[Prior art] Printing using a thermal transfer ribbon is performed by bringing the thermal transfer ribbon into close contact with printing paper using a thermal head, and generating heat in a desired heating element among the many heat generating inserts of the thermal head, so that the thermal transfer is performed on the heating element. This is done by melting the heat-melting ink portion that is in contact with the ribbon through the support and transferring it to the printing paper.

Conventionally, this type of thermal transfer ribbon has been prepared by coating a support with a heat-melting ink consisting of a colorant and a binder agent mainly composed of wax.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Applying heat-melting ink to 1.5 pieces of the above-mentioned body I'
When printing on paper using a thermal transfer ribbon that has only been applied, sufficient print quality cannot be obtained unless the smoothness of the paper is within Beck's smoothness. Ta.

On the other hand, when correcting typographical errors in thermal transfer printing, the ink penetrates into the fibers of the printing paper during transfer printing, so one way to correct this is to cover the characters with a white substance that has a hiding power (cover wrap). However, it was inevitable that the corrections would be unsightly.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention was made in order to solve the problems of the conventional thermal transfer ribbon as described above, and its purpose is to reduce the printing energy that can be sufficiently realized with the conventional thermal head. No fading or missing numbers even on non-smooth printing paper within the range! To provide a thermal transfer ribbon capable of printing clearly and also capable of peeling off and erasing characters on printing paper with the same ribbon (lift-off correction and obsolescence) even if the characters are printed by mistake.

[One step to solve the problem] 11 In order to achieve the objective [-1], the thermal transfer ribbon of the present invention has a film-like support and an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer resin or an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer resin. A component made of ethyl acrylate, a B component made of a high viscosity resin that is incompatible with this △ component and has a melt viscosity of 103P (poise) or more at 150°C, and an ink layer made of six coloring agents. Its formation is called the rJ sign.

[For 4] According to the above configuration, printing! The heat-melting ink melted by the heat from the thermal head at the contact point of the convex part of the printing paper is sufficiently fixed to F, 'i, and when the thermal transfer ribbon is peeled off, the adhesion between the support and the ink layer is increased. Since the film strength of the heat-melting ink itself is greater, the ink layer in non-contact areas corresponding to the recesses of the paper can also be peeled off and transferred together.

Moreover, this heat-melting ink has t! of the component A during transfer. Although this is achieved with high speed (thermal meltability, fluidity, etc.), the above-mentioned day component that is transferred along with this hardly exhibits fluidity. Therefore, the colorant contained in component B does not penetrate into the fibers of the printing paper. Furthermore, the adhesive force between the printing paper and the ink layer is not so great because it is only the adhesive force of the ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer resin or the ethylene-ethyl acrylate.

Therefore, if the unused portion of the ribbon is again pressed against the ink portion transferred onto the printing paper and the same amount of energy as during printing is applied, the ink on the printing paper and the ink on the ribbon will be fused. At this time, if the ribbon is peeled off after this portion has cooled and solidified, the ink transferred onto the printing paper can be peeled off to the ribbon side again.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

In FIG. 1, a heat transfer ribbon 10 has a release layer 12 formed on a film-like support 11, and an ink layer 13 formed thereon.

The film-like support 11 used in this example is a film made of polyester, polyimide, polycarbonate, polysulfone, polyethersulfone, polyphenylene sulfide, polyether-etherketone, etc. with a heat resistance of c+x15o0c or more, capacitor paper, glassine, etc. Examples include paper such as paper, and its thickness is approximately 3
It is desirable that the thickness be in the range of ~20μ. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, on the surface opposite to the coated surface of the ink layer 13, a sticking preventive layer d2) and fff14 made of a heat-resistant resin such as silicone resin is provided.

The ink reservoir 13 is composed of a coloring agent and a binder agent.

As the colorant, carbon black Kasa no Kao R1 is used. In addition, dyes are added as an adjunct if necessary to create colors that cannot be achieved with pigments alone or to adjust the C2 tone.

As a binder agent for the ink layer, as a result of intensive study from both aspects of transfer quality to non-smooth printing paper and lift-off correction performance, it was found that the following configuration is extremely effective. That is, -L-brene-vinyl acetate copolymer resin or ethylene-ethyl acrylate-1~resin (A component) is incompatible with this Δ component and has a melt viscosity of 103 P (poise) or more at 150°C. Which combination of high viscosity resin (component B)? The Δ component resin used here has an MI value (160°C) of 50 to 500. To softening point 80・
Those with a temperature range of about 1/10°C are used in combination as required. J: If only a coloring agent is mixed with this Δ component, both the transfer quality and the lift-off correction performance are completely insufficient.By mixing the B component with this and including the coloring agent in the 8 components, both of the above can be improved. Performance manifests itself.

Regarding the selection of the B component resin, it is assumed that it is not compatible with the A component, and its heat-resistant flow characteristics.

It is limited from the viewpoints of film-forming properties, pigment dispersibility, etc.

For example, when polybutyral resin is used, butyral resin alone has poor affinity with the colorant (mainly carbon black) and its dispersion state is also insufficient. Therefore, an ideal ink is created by using vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate-vinyl alcohol copolymer resin together with this.
It was done.

In addition, when polyethylene A oxide is used as the B component resin, a state similar to that of the butyral resin and <Z
In this case, the combined use of vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer resin was effective.

Incidentally, although the above example is a solvent-based one, a water-based one is also possible. In this case, if polyvinyl alcohol is used as the B component resin, six colorants are dispersed therein, and an emulsion of the Δ component resin is mixed therein, an ink having both of the above-mentioned properties can be prepared.

Next, modification of the A component resin will be described. In order to correspond to various printing conditions such as energy application line f1 to the thermal head and head pressing pressure, melting point 60°C ~ 1 which is compatible with the Δ component.
Addition of wax at a temperature of about 20°C is effective. The waxes are paraffin wax and microcrystalline wax.

Oxidized paraffin wax, candelilla wax.

Carnauba wax, Monkun wax, T-resin wax, polyethylene wax, oxidized polyethylene wax, castor wax, hardened tallow oil.

Lanolin, wood wax, sorbitan stearate, sorbitan palmitate, allyl alcohol.

Polyamide wax, oleylamide, stearylamide, hydroxystearic acid 9 synthetic Nisder wax,
One type or two or more types of ant-like substances such as synthetic metal-containing waxes may be mixed.

Moreover, the peeling layer 12 has a moderate melting point (80~12o0c>
However, it is made of polyethylene wax which has poor adhesion to the film-like support 11.

Incidentally, the release layer 12 may be made of polyethylene wax alone, but it may be used as a seed/? To meet the requirements of Pen 1 to Nai 1, ) JΔ phosphorus, talc, etc.
One agent may be added, thereby changing the releasability in a desired direction.

By the way, the ribbon of the present invention has the above-mentioned ink layer and release layer.
Lift-off: i] Positive performance is 39, but under special conditions both performances may not be satisfied. In this case, an effective measure is to further apply an overcoat layer on the ink layer. As this overcoat layer, a resin of the same type as component A, which does not contain a colorant, is suitable. By applying this, the transferability to rough paper and Riff 1 to Off 5J
Correct performance is further improved.

Next, based on this example, the manufacturing process of forming the release layer 12J and the ink layer 13 on the support body 11 on which the Stellar shrinkage prevention layer 14 is formed on the male side will be explained.

(1) Formation of release layer ■ Dilute the culm polyethylene wax emulsion with water to make a coating liquid. In addition, when adding fillers, use a Sansui roll mill,
T? It is dispersed in the coating liquid using a commonly used dispersing machine such as a tree mill, sand mill, or ball mill.

(2) Coating and drying process of release layer The coating solution is coated onto a film-like support 11, for example, a polyester film (thickness: 3.5 μm) using an appropriate coating device. Dry it at 80-1000C. In this example, the coating thickness was set to about 1 μm.

(3) Step of producing heat-melting ink After heating and dissolving the ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer resin or ethylene-ethyl acrylate in a solvent, this is cooled to obtain a coarse dispersion in which the resin is precipitated.

Separately, a high viscosity resin having a melt viscosity of 10 P or more at 1500 C, which is not compatible with the resin, is mixed into the melt.

Next, mix the two and write a book! A commonly used dispersing machine such as a three-roll mill, a sentry mill, a sand mill, or a ball mill shade is used to disperse the dispersion, and this dispersion is used as an ink coating solution.

(4) Coating and drying step of ink coating liquid ゛The ink coating liquid is coated on the film-like support 11 coated with the peeling layer 12 using the appropriate coating device. Then, it is dried at 80-100°C. In this example, the coating thickness of the ink was set to 4 to 6 microns.

The manufacturing process of the thermal transfer ribbon 10 is thus completed, and the thermal transfer ribbon 10 as shown in FIG. 1 is obtained.

Examples of the thermal transfer ribbon according to the present invention are shown below.

[Example] Δ, release layer a, release 11i11 layer component poly II blend wax emulsion [ME-10 from Chukyo Yushi Co., Ltd.] (solid content 1 Ifll melon 32%) B, heat-melting ink layer, Ink ingredients・・・・・・・・・1ff! Hanging part Ejiren-vinyl acetate copolymer resin 63wt% [Evaflex 310 from Niga DuPont Polychemical Co., Ltd. 18-vt%] [Three It
・Evaflex 360 15wt% from DuPont Polychemicals] Vinyl chloride-In vinyl-polyvinyl alcohol copolymer resin
5wt% [S-LEC A from Tsukumi Kagaku Kogyo Co., Ltd.] Borivinyl gucciral resin 15w
t% [S-LEC BMS from Tsukumi Kagaku Kogyo Co., Ltd.] Oxidized polyethylene wax 5wt% [Sunwax E-300 from Mitsubishi Chemical Industries, Ltd.] Carbon black 12wt% [MA-100 from Mitsubishi Chemical Industries, Ltd.] ]Total 100wt% C0 solvent・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・5 dry parts Methyl isobutylgtone 100wt% A coating liquid consisting of the above component a is coated on a support formed by a 3.5μ polyester film. The peeling layer 12 is coated on each support 11 to a coating thickness of about 1 μm. An ink coating liquid consisting of component B and component C is applied onto this release layer 12 and dried at 80 to 100°C. And the support body 11
Top peeling f! An ink layer 13 having a thickness of about 1 to 6 μm is formed on the l1FJ12.

When the thermal transfer ribbon 10 manufactured in this way was used to print on printing paper with Beck-K smoothness of 3 and 1 second, the ink was transferred to all four parts of the printing paper, and there was very little fading and the image was sharp. 15, a dark printed image was created.

Here, based on FIGS. 2 and 3, a description will be given of the process of transferring heat-fusible ink when printing is performed on printing paper with low slippage using the thermal transfer ribbon 10 according to the present invention.

Thermal head 15 presses thermal transfer ribbon 10 against printing paper 16 on a platen (not shown). Then, the thermal head 15 is energized, and the 1st and 1st full heads 15
When it generates heat, the heat prevents sticking II! i14 and the peeled l1ti layer 12 through the film-like support 11.
The heat-melting ink is conducted to the ink layer 13, the at N1 layer 12 and the ink layer 13 are melted, and the heat-melting ink that is in contact with the convex portion of the printing paper 16 is attached to the convex portion. At this time,
With conventional inks whose main ingredients are waxes, printing paper 1
However, in this embodiment, since a thermoplastic resin having a higher melt viscosity than waxes is used, it does not penetrate into the fibers of the printing paper 16.

Next, when the power supply to the thermal head 15 is stopped and the heat generation stops, the ink layer 13 and the peeling layer 12 begin to cool down. Then, in this state (both layers are completely solidified due to incomplete cooling), the thermal transfer ribbon is pulled from the printing paper 16, and the solidified ink is printed starting from the contact area between the ink and the printing paper 16. Transfer to M116.

At this time, the following relationship holds true.

F4, Fl >1-2> F3 F1: Adhesion force of the heat-fusible ink layer 13 to the printing paper 16 F2: Film strength of the heat-fusible ink layer 13 at the boundary between the heated portion and the non-heated portion 1:3: What is the adhesion or peeling force between the heat-melting ink layer 13 and the release layer 12? Adhesion force F4 between 12 and the support 11: Film strength of the heat-fusible ink layer 13 in the heated area In this way, this thermal transfer ribbon 10 utilizes the strength of the film of the heat-fusible ink in the heated area, and Utilizing the low adhesion of the polyethylene wax emulsion of the release layer 12 to the film-like support 11, it is possible to print with high quality without scratches on the printing paper 16 with low smoothness.

Next, erasing of erroneously printed characters using the thermal transfer ribbon 10 according to the present invention will be explained based on FIGS. 4 and 5.

The thermal head 15 presses the thermal transfer ribbon 10 against the ink 17 on the erroneously printed portion of the printing paper 16'' placed on a platen (not shown). When the thermal head 15 generates heat in this state, the heat passes through the stellar ring prevention layer 14 and the film-like support 11 to the peeling layer 12. The ink is transferred to the ink layer 13 and the ink 17 in the erroneously printed area, and these three components are melted. Then, the power supply to the thermal head 16 is stopped and the heat generation stops, and the three components are cooled down.

Then, after a predetermined period of time has elapsed, the ink 17 and ink layer 13 in the erroneously printed portion harden in close contact with each other. At this time, the adhesion between the printing paper 16 and the ink 17 of the erroneously printed character is determined between the film-like support 11 and the release layer 12, between the peeling layer 412 and the ink layer 13, and between the ink layer 13 and the ink 17 of the erroneously printed character.
Denseness: Smaller than 1 Ka. In this state, when the thermal transfer ribbon 10 is pulled in the direction away from the printing paper 16 as shown in FIG. and transferred to the thermal transfer ribbon 10 side.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, the thermal transfer ribbon according to the present invention comprises a film-like support and ethylene-M'M vinyl made from commercial resin or -E-brane-edyl acrylate=1-. It is formed of a Δ component, which is incompatible with the Δ component and has a melt viscosity of 1031 or higher at 150° C., and an ink layer consisting of a coloring agent. (When peeling off the thermal transfer ribbon,
Compared to the adhesion between the support and the hot-melt ink, the inner body of the hot-fusible ink is 11^aKf, 7 and 7.
) - The heat-melting ink in the non-contact areas corresponding to the four parts of the printing paper can also be peeled off and transferred, and the ink with low smoothness can be removed and transferred.
It is possible to print clearly even on thick printing paper without any scratches or omissions, and 6. Even when erasing erroneous prints, it is possible to sufficiently peel off the ink after erasing the erroneous prints to the thermal transfer ribbon side. It is.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a thermal transfer ribbon showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the state of transfer onto printing paper by the thermal transfer ribbon, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the printing paper and thermal transfer ribbon after printing. FIG. 4 is a west view showing how the thermal transfer ribbon erases erroneous printing and ink, and FIG. 5 shows the printing paper and thermal transfer ribbon after erasing the erroneous printing.
This is probably a li-side view. 10: Thermal transfer ribbon, 11: Support, 13: Ink layer

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A film support, a component A consisting of an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer resin or ethylene-ethyl acrylate, and a component A that is incompatible with the component A and has a melt viscosity of 10^ at 150°C. A thermal transfer ribbon characterized in that it is formed from a B component made of a highly viscous resin having a viscosity of 3P (poise) or more, and an ink layer made of a colorant. 2. As the B component, polyvinyl butyral, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate-
vinyl alcohol copolymer, polyethylene oxide,
The thermal transfer ribbon according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one resin such as polyvinyl alcohol, polycaprolactone, polyester, polyethylene, nitrocellulose, and cellulose acetate is used. 3. The thermal transfer ribbon according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that an overcoat layer containing the A component as a main component and not containing the colorant is provided on the ink layer. .