JP2000330355A - Color transparent image forming method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] When an opaque sensing mark that is peeled off when used is provided at the end of the surface opposite to the image transfer surface, care must be taken to peel off or peel off when transported Problem. In a color transparent image forming method for forming a color image on a transparent film by using an electrophotographic method, at least a part of the transparent film is heated and / or heated.
An opaque sensing mark which is made transparent by pressure is provided, and a transparent film provided with a protective layer on the surface of the sensing mark to prevent penetration of a fixing release agent is used.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a color for forming an image on a transparent film as a transparent recording medium to be projected by an overhead projector (OHP), which can be used in an electrophotographic apparatus, an electrostatic recording apparatus and the like. Regarding the transparent image forming method, more specifically, it becomes a marking for optically detecting the position of the transparent film in the image forming apparatus, or for optically detecting the transport state of the transparent film in the image forming apparatus. The present invention relates to a color transparent image forming method for forming an image on a transparent film having an opaque portion serving as a marking.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, it has been widely used to form an image on an OHP film by a recording apparatus such as an electrophotographic apparatus, an ink jet apparatus, and a thermal transfer recording apparatus, and it is considered that the importance thereof will be further increased in the future. Can be

[0003] As a film for OHP, generally, 10
A resin film of PET or the like having a thickness of about 0 to 150 μm is often used, and a desired recording image layer is provided thereon for the purpose of improving the fixing property, holding property or resolution of the image as necessary. Have been.

An opaque mark is previously provided on a transparent film for the purpose of being used together with opaque recording paper in an image forming apparatus, and the opaque mark is detected by an optical sensor of the image forming apparatus, and the opaque mark is detected. Detecting the position of a film is often performed.

However, since such an opaque mark for detecting the position of the transparent film remains after image formation, it remains as an image irrelevant to the recorded image.
When projected by OHP, it is extremely unsightly, and there is a problem that the image becomes invisible when it overlaps with the recorded image.

On the other hand, JP-A-57-76554 and JP-A-58-90647 disclose an easily peelable opaque body at an end of a surface opposite to an image transfer surface. The proposal has been made. According to the transparent film proposed here, optical detection is enabled by an easily peelable opaque body provided at the end of the surface opposite to the image transfer surface. If used after peeling off the body, the entire surface of the film can be used effectively.

[0007]

However, in such a method, when the transparent film is conveyed in the image forming apparatus, there is a risk that the opaque body may be peeled off on the way, which may cause a failure of the image forming apparatus. . In addition, the user needs to pay attention to stripping of the opaque body, which causes a problem that the film is broken, scratched, and the glue used for bonding remains.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 3-170944 proposes to make an opaque body provided on the surface transparent by heating. According to the transparent film proposed here, there is an advantage that the above-mentioned peeling in the image forming apparatus and the need to pay attention to the user are eliminated.

However, if this opaque body is simply made transparent, it is presumed that internal scattering occurs at the interface between the opaque part and the base material, and it is impossible to make the resin itself transparent. In addition, it was also found that it depends on the surface properties after heating and pressing.

When a fixing device for fixing an image is used in an image forming apparatus, a release agent is mainly used. When the amount of the release agent is increased, a problem arises that the opaque body is hardly transparent because it penetrates into the resin of the opaque body and becomes dark when projected as bubbles in the opaque body.

As a solution to such a drawback, the provision of a protective layer is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 8-262780. It is a resin, and there is a problem that the resin of the release agent permeates into the opaque body after heating and pressing.

An object of the present invention is to provide a color transparent image forming method capable of solving the above-mentioned problems. That is, in the present invention, even when an image is formed on a transparent film, the obtained transparent film has no unnecessary opaque portions other than the formed image, and a high-quality transparent recorded image can be obtained. An object of the present invention is to provide a color transparent image forming method.

More specifically, in an apparatus in which means such as a release agent is provided in an image forming apparatus, a color transparent image formation in which an opaque body on a transparent film becomes transparent after fixing without being affected by the release agent. The aim is to provide a method.

[0014]

The above object can be attained by the following constitutions of the present invention.

That is, the present invention relates to a color transparent image forming method for forming a color image on a transparent film using electrophotography, wherein at least a part of the transparent film is
An opaque sensing mark which is made transparent by heating and / or pressure is provided, and a transparent film provided with a protective layer on the surface of the sensing mark for preventing penetration of a fixing release agent is used.

The release agent can also be used in a fixing device for making opaque parts transparent. The coating amount of the release agent used in the fixing device used in the image forming apparatus is preferably 160 g to 1600 g / m ² .

The protective layer is desirably a resin that is not compatible with a release agent such as silicone oil. The thickness of the protective layer is preferably from 0.1 to 1.0 μm.

[0018]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing the layer structure of a general transparent film for color electrophotography to which the method for forming a color transparent image of the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 1, the transparent film 1 used in the present invention is a transparent film having a receiving layer 11 on a transparent base material 12, and is provided on any part of the transparent film, for example, on the back surface of the base material 12. And a protective layer 15 is provided thereon.

This protective layer may be provided only on the surface of the sensing mark 13 as shown in FIG.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, an anchor coat layer 14 may be interposed between the base material 12 and the sensing mark 13.

As the transparent substrate 12, conventionally known ones can be used, and specifically, polyester resin, diacetate resin, triacetate resin, polystyrene resin, polyethylene resin, polycarbonate resin, polymethacrylate resin, cellophane, celluloid, Examples include plastic films and sheets such as polyvinyl chloride resin and polyimide resin.

The thickness of the transparent film is not particularly limited, but is generally about 1 to 5000 μm, preferably about 70 μm.
~ 200 µm is preferred.

The base material 12 preferably has a haze (JIS K-6714) of 6% or less. If it exceeds 6%, the color becomes dark as a whole, and the color becomes poor as a color electrophotographic transparent film.

The receiving layer 11 is formed directly on such a transparent substrate 12 or via an intermediate layer (not shown). The receiving layer 11 is formed from various known receiving layer compositions for electrophotography and the like. Specifically, polyethylene, polyolefin resins such as polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride, polyvinyl acetate,
Polyacrylic ester, polyethylene terephthalate,
Examples include polybutylene terephthalate, polystyrene resins, polyamide resins, copolymer resins of olefins such as ethylene and propylene with other vinyl monomers, cellulose resins such as ionomers and cellulose diacetate, and polycarbonates.

The receiving layer 11 is prepared by applying a composition prepared by dissolving or dispersing an additive in accordance with the above-mentioned resin in an appropriate solvent onto a transparent substrate by a known method. Then, it can be formed by performing appropriate drying. The thickness of the receiving layer 11 is preferably 1 to 20 μm.

The sensing mark 13 is opaque before the fixing process. The sensing mark 13 is formed of a resin layer having a porous structure having a crack and / or a communication hole therein, and can be made transparent by heating and / or pressing.

The sensing mark 13 is prepared by dissolving or dispersing the above-mentioned resin, if necessary, with an additive in an appropriate solvent, and adjusting the composition on the substrate 12 by a known means. It is formed by coating and drying. The thickness of the receiving layer is preferably from 1 to 20 μm.

The mode of the sensing mark 13 which becomes an opaque body before the fixing process is constituted by a resin layer having a porous structure having cracks and / or communication holes therein, and is heated and / or heated. It can be made transparent by pressure. In order to obtain the above characteristics, the resin layer is mainly composed of resin particles and a binder.

Such a sensing mark 13 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, it can be formed by applying a thermoplastic resin powder (resin particles) and an emulsion in layers on a transparent substrate 12 of a transparent film,
It can be fused and homogenized by heating and / or pressing.

Examples of the resin powder include polyethylene, polymethacrylate, elastomer, ethylene-vinyl acetate polymer, styrene-acrylic copolymer, polyester, polyacryl, and polyvinyl ether. Can be used.

The resin particles used in the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned resin powder, but have a non-binding property to a recording material, a transparent film and a toner for forming an image on the transparent film. Other well-known materials can be used as long as they are transparent and can be made transparent.
The binder used has a function of binding the resin particles to each other and / or the sheet-like member, and it is preferable that the resin particles are similarly non-binding to the toner.

As the material preferable as the binder, any conventionally known materials can be used as long as they have the above-mentioned functions. For example, polyvinyl alcohol, acrylic resin,
Styrene-acryl copolymer, polyvinyl acetate, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, starch, polyvinyl butyral, gelatin, casein, ionomer, gum arabic, carboxymethyl cellulose, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, polyacrylamide, polyurethane, melamine resin, epoxy resin, Examples thereof include styrene-butadiene rubber, urea resin, phenol resin, α-olefin resin, chlorobrene, and nitrile rubber, and at least one of them can be used.

Further, various additives such as a surfactant, an optical brightener, a preservative, an antibacterial agent, a penetrating agent, and a cross-linking agent are added as needed to improve the function as the sensing mark 13. You may.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the protective layer 15
It is provided so as to cover the sensing mark 13. Although it is possible to provide a part of the sensing mark, it is not preferable because some steps are darkened.

The protective layer 15 is preferably mainly made of polyester resin, urethane resin, acrylic resin or the like. Considering the environment and the behavior of the transfer material after fixing, it is preferable that the transfer layer be the same as the receiving layer or have the same heat shrinkage. However, if the same resin is used, problems such as blocking occur, so that the same resin as the transfer layer is not preferable.

When the same resin is used, it is better to mix inorganic pigments such as silica and filler. This has the effect of preventing blocking and the effect of increasing the thermal conductivity of the resin. In this case, the inorganic pigment is mixed so as not to exceed the haze of 6.0%.

As a material having a high thermal conductivity, alumina, silicon, carbon, metals or the like may be mixed with a particle size of 5 μm or less. Although the thickness differs depending on the thickness of the sensing mark, the thickness of the sensing mark plus the range of 0.1 μm to 1 μm is preferable.

As a method of forming the sensing mark 13 as a surface layer on the sheet-like base material 12, a coating solution is prepared by dissolving or dispersing the above-described material in an appropriate solvent,
This coating liquid is applied on the sheet-like member 12. On this occasion,
As shown in FIG. 3, an adhesion adjusting layer, that is, an anchor coat layer 14 is formed on the sheet member 12 in advance to make the adhesion between the sheet member 12 and the sensing mark 13 appropriate. It is preferable to apply the composition in a layered form by a known method such as a rod bar coating method or a spray coating method, and then quickly dry it.

In the case where the dissolution parameters of the material of the sheet member 12 and the sensing mark 13 are distant from each other, the adhesion between the sheet member 12 and the sensing mark 13 is increased. When the solubility parameters of the materials of the sheet member 12 and the sensing mark 13 are the same or too close, this layer acts to reduce the adhesion between the sheet member 12 and the sensing mark 13.

Specific examples of the resin used for the anchor coat 14 include polyvinyl alcohol, acrylic resin, styrene-acryl copolymer, polyvinyl acetate, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, starch, polyvinyl butyral, gelatin, Casein, ionomer, gum arabic, carboxymethylcellulose, polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyacrylamide, polyurethane, melamine resin, epoxy resin, styrene-butadiene rubber, urea resin, phenolic resin, α-olefin resin, chlorobrene, nitrile rubber, and the like. It is preferable to use at least one or more of them to satisfy the above conditions.

Next, an example of a fixing device which may hinder the transparency effect in the present invention will be described. The fixing roller 431 of the fixing device 430 has a metal pipe whose surface is coated with silicone rubber and fluoro rubber, and the pressing roller 432 has a metal roller whose surface is coated with silicone rubber, and is attached to the surface thereof. Thermistor 436 and halogen heaters 432a and 432b are controlled as a temperature control circuit (not shown), and the surface temperature is controlled to a constant value suitable for fixing. The oil applicator 433 includes the oil reservoir 43
Roller 433b that pumps up the silicone oil in 3a
And 433c to the application roller 433d. The application roller 433d, which is in contact with, separated from, and rotatable with the fixing roller 431, fixes the fixing roller 4d.
This is for applying silicone oil onto the base 31 and is controlled by a control blade 433e.

The cleaning devices 434 and 435 are cleaning webs 434 which are belt-shaped cleaning members.
a and 435a and the cleaning webs 434a and 435a
Pressing rollers 434b and 435b for pressing against No. 32
And unwind rollers 434c and 435c for feeding out the cleaning webs 434a and 435a,
It includes winding rollers 434d and 435d for sequentially winding the used cleaning webs 434a and 435a whose cleaning ability has been reduced.

Since the toner is more likely to adhere to the fixing roller 431 than to the pressure roller 432, the toner is more likely to adhere to the fixing roller 431 than to the pressure roller 432. While the web 435a is made of felt using a nonwoven fabric of ordinary aromatic polyamideimide, the cleaning web 43 on the fixing roller 431 side is used.
Reference numeral 4a denotes a web having a large cleaning ability in which nickel is electroplated on the surface of the felt that comes into contact with the fixing roller 431.

When the recording material S carrying the toner image T is conveyed toward the fixing device 430 on the fixing roller 431 side, the application roller 433 of the oil application device 433 is used.
d comes into contact with the fixing roller 431 and
1 is coated with silicone oil. When the recording material S is conveyed while being sandwiched between the fixing roller 431 and the pressure roller 432, the toner image T on the recording material S is heated and pressurized and melted and fixed on the recording material S during that time. Is fixed.

Further, such a coating system is an example,
In addition, there is a method in which the release agent is dropped directly on the fixing roller, and a regulating blade is brought into contact with the fixing roller to regulate the amount of the release agent such as silicone oil.

The amount of application in this case was 160 mg /
all the way there is no need to put a protective layer and less than m ^2,
The disappearance of the sensing mark does not deteriorate due to the influence of the release agent. On the other hand, if it exceeds 1600 mg / m ² , the influence of the release agent becomes too large, and the transparent film becomes sticky and may be darkened as a whole.

[0047]

Examples of the present invention will be described below. All parts in the examples are parts by weight.

Example 1 100 μm as a transparent substrate
Using polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a film having an electrophotographic receiving layer (polyester resin) formed thereon was prepared. 1. Haze of the film at that time
8 (manufactured by Nippon Denshoku). Then, 100 parts of a styrene-acrylic copolymer resin (Pontcoat PP-1000, manufactured by Dainippon Ink and Chemicals, solid content 45%) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA-117) were provided at predetermined positions outside the image forming area on the surface of the base material. , Kuraray, 10% aqueous solution) 30 parts,
Surfactant (Peletex OT-P, manufactured by Kao, solid content 7
0%) After applying 0.3 part with a bar coater,
After drying for 0 minutes, a sensing mark was formed.

A polystyrene resin for the protective layer was applied thereon so that the thickness when dried was 0.3 μm.

The film thus formed is used to form an image in an image forming apparatus, and a hot roller type fixing device (fixing temperature 170 ° C., pressurization 2 kg / cm ² , fixing speed 30 mm / s, series con oil) 640mg /
When the sheet passed through m ² ), the sensing mark portion of the opaque body became transparent, and did not affect the projected image. At that time, the haze of the opaque sensing mark portion was 9.0%.

(Embodiment 2) An oil regulating blade is provided in a fixing device, and a transparent film is used in the same manner as in Embodiment 1 (fixing temperature 170 ° C., pressurization 2 kg / cm ² , fixing speed 3).
0mm / s, application amount of Silicon oil 320mg / m
When the paper was passed through ² ), the sensing mark portion of the opaque body became transparent and no longer affected the projected image. At that time, the haze of the sensing mark portion was 7.8%.

(Example 3) Acrylic resin 100 of protective layer
0.3 part of alumina was added to the protective layer,
And a transparent film was produced in the same manner as in Example 1. An image is formed on the transparent film by an image forming apparatus, and a heat roller type fixing device (fixing temperature 1) is used.
70 ° C., pressure 2 kg / cm ² , fixing speed 30 mm / s,
When the paper was passed through an application amount of Silcon oil of 640 mg / m ² ), the sensing mark portion of the opaque body became transparent and did not affect the projected image. At that time, the haze of the sensing mark portion was 10.0%.

(Comparative Example 1) The thickness of the protective layer was 0.05 μm
A transparent film was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the paper was passed through the same fixing device as in Example 1.
Silicon oil soaked into the opaque body and turned dark. The haze of the sensing mark at that time is 27%
Met.

Comparative Example 2 A transparent film was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the thickness of the protective layer was changed to 10 μm. Although the sheet was passed through the same fixing device as in Example 1, the sensing mark portion did not disappear. At that time, the haze of the sensing mark portion was 30%.

(Comparative Example 3) The amount of oil applied in Example 1 was 1
The same transparent film as in Example 1 was passed using the same fixing device as in Example 1 except that the amount was 0 mg / m ² . At that time, the transparent film was wound around the fixing device and could not be discharged.

Comparative Example 4 The same transparent film as in Example 1 was passed using the same fixing device as in Example 1 except that the amount of oil applied was 3200 mg / m ² .
At that time, the transparent film became sticky with silicone oil, and when projected with OHP, it became dark and unsightly as a color projected image. The haze of the sensing mark portion was 20%.

[0057]

As described above, according to the present invention, an opaque portion which can be detected by an optical sensor and which is made transparent by a predetermined process is formed on a transparent sheet member, and a protective layer is formed thereon. By providing the protective layer, the protective layer prevents the release agent mainly used in the color fixing device from entering, and the opaque body does not hinder the influence of heat and realizes good transparency.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an example of a transparent film used in the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing another example of the transparent film used in the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing still another example of the transparent film used in the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a heat roller type fixing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Transparent film 11 Reception layer 12 Substrate 13 Sensing mark 14 Anchor coat layer 15 Protective layer

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A color transparent image forming method for forming a color image on a transparent film using electrophotography, wherein an opaque sensing mark formed on at least a portion of the transparent film by heating and / or pressurizing. And using a transparent film provided on the surface of the sensing mark with a protective layer for preventing penetration of a fixing release agent. 2. The color transparent image forming method according to claim 1, wherein the sensing mark is formed of a resin layer having a porous structure having cracks and / or communication holes therein. 3. The color transparent image forming method according to claim 1, wherein a release agent is used in a fixing device for making the sensing mark transparent. 4. The amount of the release agent applied is from 160 mg to 1 mg.
3. The color transparent image forming method according to claim ² , wherein the amount is 600 mg / m ² . 5. The color transparent image forming method according to claim 1, wherein the protective layer is a resin incompatible with series oil. 6. The protective layer has a thickness of 0.1 to 1.0 μm.
The color transparent image forming method according to claim 1, wherein: