JP3143713B2 - Image forming mask material and method for producing the same - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming mask material and a method for producing the same, and more particularly, to an image forming method in which a light impermeable layer and a surface of a light transmissive support are laminated and reinforced. The present invention relates to a mask material and a method for producing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some photographic prints include, for example, printing an image from a negative film on photographic paper and simultaneously printing an illustration image or the like using a mask material for image formation. In such an image forming mask material, for example, a thermal transfer sheet having a light-impermeable thermal transfer layer and a light-transmissive receptor are overlapped, and characters, graphics, and the like are heated from the back of the thermal transfer sheet by a thermal head. Then, the light-impermeable thermal transfer layer is transferred to the receptor side, and then the thermal transfer sheet is peeled off to prepare the sheet. Further, a light-impermeable thermal transfer layer is thermally transferred from a light-transmissive support of the original image forming mask material onto a receiving sheet by a thermal head, and the receiving sheet is peeled off to prepare an image forming mask material. ing.

When a mask material for image formation is prepared using such a thermal transfer system, the thickness of the thermal transfer layer is as thin as 10 μm or less and the strength is insufficient due to the nature of thermal transfer. was difficult. There is also a problem that the thermal transfer layer is liable to be wrinkled or broken, for example, scratched or blurred. In particular, when the receptor or the like is formed of a plastic film, the surface thereof is smooth and hard, and the lack of strength is conspicuous because the heat transfer layer does not penetrate, or such an image forming mask material is hit against a hard material, or Rubbing easily scratched it.

Therefore, there has been proposed a method of forming a mask material which is subjected to a laminating process to protect the thermal transfer layer as a reinforcing means. A conventional method for producing an image forming mask material to be subjected to a laminating process will be described with reference to FIG. Conventionally, the light impermeable thermal transfer layer 10
1a is heated by a thermal head and thermally transferred, and thereafter, a laminating material 113 is coated so as to cover the entirety thereof.
Thereafter, it is cut into a required size and the image forming mask material 11 is cut.
8 had been created.

[0005]

However, in the conventional method of forming a mask material for image formation, the mask is cut into a predetermined size regardless of the presence or absence of the thermal transfer layer 101a.
When the thermal transfer layer 10 is cut at the position shown by the broken line in FIG.
1a often appeared. This thermal transfer layer 10
1a has low strength against cohesive failure, and the thermal transfer layer 1
Since the adhesiveness between the heat transfer layer 101a and the receptor 107 / laminate 113 is not very strong, even if the upper surface of the thermal transfer layer 101a is covered with the laminate 113, the laminate 113 is easily peeled off if the side is not covered. Had disadvantages.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional masking material for image formation and the method of making the same, and makes it difficult for the laminated material to be peeled off after laminating, and has good handleability and the method of making the same. It is intended to provide.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming mask material comprising: a light-transmitting support; and a light-transmitting support for forming an image on the surface of the light-transmitting support. In a mask material for image formation having a light-transmitting layer and a laminate member covering the surfaces of the light-transmitting layer and the light-transmitting support, the light-transmitting support having the light-transmitting layer The outer edge in the plane is a portion that directly covers the surface of the light-transmitting support with the laminate member.

Further, the image forming mask material according to the present invention is characterized in that the light-transmissive support, the light-impermeable layer for forming an image on the surface of the light-transmissive support, and the light-impermeable layer. An adhesive layer made of a hot-melt resin or a laminating adhesive that is an adhesive that can be bonded at room temperature on the surface of the transparent layer and the light-transmitting support, and a laminate support layer is formed on the laminating adhesive layer. Are formed in close contact with each other.

Further, in the mask material for image formation according to a third aspect, the laminating adhesive is a laminating adhesive containing an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer resin.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a mask material for image formation, wherein a thermal transfer sheet having at least a light-impermeable layer and a light-transmissive receptor are overlapped and heated from the back of the thermal transfer sheet. After printing, the thermal transfer sheet was peeled off and the light-impermeable layer was thermally transferred to the receptor side,
Further, in the method for producing an image forming mask material in which the heat-transferred layer and the receptor are laminated on the surface of the light-impermeable layer, the in-plane of the receptor on the side on which the light-impermeable layer is thermally transferred is provided. The image forming apparatus is characterized in that the receiving member is formed such that a portion where the laminating process is directly performed on a surface of the receiving member is an outer edge of the image forming mask material.

The method for preparing an image forming mask material according to claim 5, wherein the light impermeable layer of the original image forming mask material having at least the light impermeable layer on a light transmissive support. The side and the receiving sheet are overlapped, the heat imprinting is performed from the back side of the receiving sheet to thermally transfer the light-impermeable layer onto the receiving sheet, and then the receiving sheet is peeled from the image forming mask material master, Next, in the method for producing an image forming mask material in which a surface of the support and the light impermeable layer of the image forming mask material master is laminated, the support on the side on which the light impermeable layer is thermally transferred is provided. The surface of the support is formed in such a manner that a portion where the lamination is directly applied to the surface of the support becomes an outer edge of the mask material for image formation.

The present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of an apparatus for producing an image forming mask material for performing a laminating process after thermal transfer, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a cutting process of the image forming mask material, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a thermal transfer sheet, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an image forming mask material, and FIG.
Is another schematic side view of the laminating section, FIG. 6 is another schematic side view of the laminating section, FIG. 7 is a schematic side view of the laminating section using release paper, and FIG. FIG.

In FIG. 1, the apparatus for producing a mask material for image formation comprises a thermal transfer section A and a laminating section B. The thermal transfer section A includes an original roll magazine 2 on which an unused thermal transfer sheet 1 is wound, a guide roller 5 for transporting the thermal transfer sheet 1 while guiding the thermal transfer sheet 1 between a thermal head 3 and a platen 4 constituting thermal printing means, and A light-transmissive receiver 7 is transported so as to overlap the thermal transfer sheet 1 sandwiched between the thermal head 3 and the platen 4. The receiver 7 is wound around the original magazine 8, passes through the thermal transfer section A via the guide roller 9, and is subsequently carried out to the laminating section B provided.

In the thermal transfer section A, the thermal head 3 controls predetermined characters based on a print signal sent from the control means 10.
A code or the like is printed by heating from the back side of the thermal transfer sheet 1. With this printing, the light-impermeable thermal transfer layer of the thermal transfer sheet 1 is transferred onto the receptor 7.

In the present invention, the definition of light opacity means that the transmittance of the system using the mask material is low with respect to the light source light. The light transmission density also has a relationship with the light source light amount and is not limited to a specific value, but is usually 1.0, preferably 2.0 or more. Similarly, the light transmittance of the receiving sheet 7 means that the transmittance for the light from the light source is high. The light transmittance also has a relationship with the light source light amount, and is not limited to a specific value. However, a transmittance of usually 80%, preferably 90% or more is preferable.

The receiver 7 to which the thermal transfer layer has been transferred is carried out to the laminating section B. The laminating section B has a pair of heater roll and press roll 11 for holding and transporting the receiver 7. The heater roll and press roll 11 sandwiches the receiver 7 so as to sandwich the receiver 7. The laminating material 13 to be wound around is fed through a guide roller 14. Since the laminating material 13 is provided with a laminating adhesive layer containing a hot-melt resin, the laminating material 13 can be bonded to the transferred receiver 7 by heating and pressing force of the heater roll and the press roll 11. it can. The transferred receiver 7 having both sides coated with the laminate material 13 is the long image forming mask material 1.
6 and is taken up by the take-up roller 17 via the feed roller 15.

The long image forming mask material 16 is cut into a required size to form an image forming mask material. This production process will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a process of cutting the image forming mask material. Thermal transfer section A
The thermal transfer layer 1a of the thermal transfer sheet 1 is transferred to the receiver 7 (FIG. 2 (a)). After being removed, it is cut at the position indicated by the broken line in FIG. This cutting position is a portion where the laminate 13 is directly applied to the surface of the receiver 7 in the surface 7a of the receiver 7 on the side where the thermal transfer layer 1a is thermally transferred.
That is, the portion where the thermal transfer layer 1a has not been transferred onto the receptor 7. For this reason, the thermal transfer layer 1a is not exposed at the cut outer edge 18a of the image forming mask material 18.

The basis of the layer structure of the thermal transfer sheet 1 used in the thermal transfer section A is a support 1b and a thermal transfer layer 1a which is a light impermeable layer in FIG. 3, but in order to perform efficient thermal transfer by heating, A release layer 1c may be provided between the support 1b and the thermal transfer layer 1a. Further, an adhesive layer may be provided on the thermal transfer layer 1a. As an example of such a multilayer structure, the following layers may be sequentially laminated on the support 1b. However, it is not limited to this. Release Layer, Thermal Transfer Layer Release Layer, Thermal Transfer Layer, Adhesive Layer Thermal Transfer Layer, Adhesive Layer The support 1b of the thermal transfer sheet 1 preferably has good heat resistance and high dimensional stability. Examples of the material include papers such as plain paper, condenser paper, laminated paper and coated paper; resin films such as polyethylene, polypropylene and polyimide; composites of paper and resin films; and metal sheets such as aluminum foil. Can be mentioned. The thickness of the support 1b is usually 3
0 μm or less, preferably in the range of 2 to 30 μm.
When the thickness of the support 1b exceeds 30 μm, the thermal conductivity may be deteriorated and the print quality may be deteriorated.

The thermal transfer layer 1a, which is a light-impermeable layer,
Any material may be used as long as it is melted by heat and exhibits adhesiveness to the receptor 7, but is generally formed by appropriately combining a coloring material, waxes, a thermoplastic resin, and additives.

Examples of the coloring material include known dyes and pigments, for example, alkaline earth metal carbonate, titanium dioxide, magnesium oxide, zinc oxide, alumina, silica, carbon black, nigrosine dye, and Sudan black SM. , First Yellow G, Benzidine Yellow, Pigment Yellow, Oil Yellow GG,
Zapon First Yellow CGG, Sumiplast Yellow GG, India First Orange, Sumiplast Orange G, Pigment Orange R, Zapon Fast Orange GG, Irgadisin Red, Paranitroaniline Red, Toluidine Red, Risor Red 2G,
Rake Red O, Oil Scarlet, Zapon First Scarlet OG, Aizen Spiron Red BEH,
Methyl violet B lake, phthalocyanine blue,
Pigment Blue, Fast Gen Blue 5007, Victoria Blue F4R, Sudan Blue, Oil Peacock Blue, Brilliant Green B, and Phthalocyanine Green can all be used.

The waxes include carnauba wax, montan wax, beeswax, rice wax, candelilla wax, lanolin wax, paraffin wax, microlistin wax, polyethylene wax, sasol wax, oxidized wax, amide wax, and silicon. Wax or the like is used.

Examples of the thermoplastic resin include polyamide resin (eg, nylon), polyester resin, poly (meth) acrylate resin (eg, polymethyl methacrylate, polyethyl acrylate), polyurethane resin, polyvinyl chloride resin, and poly (vinyl chloride) resin. Vinylidene chloride resin, polystyrene resin, polyvinyl acetate resin, polyvinyl chloride-vinyl acetate resin, polystyrene-acrylic resin, polyethylene-vinyl acetate resin, polyethylene resin, polypropylene resin, polybutadiene resin, polyvinyl alcohol resin,
Phenol resin, cellulose resin (methyl cellulose, ethyl cellulose, carboxymethyl cellulose,
Nitrocellulose, acetylcellulose, etc.), polyvinyl ether resin, polyvinylpyrrolidone resin, polyvinylaniline resin, polysulfone resin, polycarbonate resin, ionomer resin, polysiloxane resin, acetal resin (polyvinyl butyral, polyvinyl acetal, polyvinyl formal, etc.), petroleum Resins, rosin resins, chroman-indene resins, terpene resins, styrene-butadiene rubber, isoprene rubber, nitrile rubber and the like are used.

Further, as additives, various surfactants, higher fatty acids (lauric acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, furomenic acid, behenic acid, etc.), long-chain alcohols (stearyl alcohol, behenyl alcohol, etc.), Metal salts of long-chain fatty acids (calcium stearate, zinc balmitate, etc.), antioxidants, various plasticizers,
Silicon oil or the like is used.

These coloring materials, waxes, thermoplastic resins,
The preferable composition ratio of each material such as an additive is completely different depending on the layer constitution of each layer laminated on the support 1b of the thermal transfer sheet 1.

The release layer 1c may be a layer formed by combining the waxes, thermoplastic resins, and additives used in the thermal transfer layer 1a, which melts or softens when heated and can coagulate and break itself. Or a resin having a relatively low adhesive strength in combination with another resin, for example, a silicone resin, a fluorine resin (Teflon, fluorine-containing acrylic resin, etc.), a polysiloxane resin, an acetal resin (polyvinyl butyral, polyvinyl acetal) , Polyvinyl formal, etc.). However, in the case of the latter layer configuration made of a resin that does not easily show an adhesive force, the above example is merely an example because the material of the release layer 1c greatly changes depending on the composition of the layer adjacent thereto.

Examples of the adhesive layer include natural waxes such as whale wax, beeswax, lanolin, arunaba wax, candelilla wax, montan wax, paraffin wax, microclean wax, oxidized wax, and the like.
Ester waxes, synthetic waxes such as low molecular weight polyethylene, higher fatty acids such as lauric acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, furomenic acid, and behenic acid, higher alcohols such as stearyl acryl, behenyl alcohol, and esters such as fatty acid esters of sorbitan , Amides such as stearinamide, oleinamide, polyamide resin, polyester resin, epoxy resin, polyurethane resin, acrylic resin, vinyl chloride resin, cellulose resin, polyvinyl resin, petroleum resin, Ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer resin,
Elastomers such as phenolic resin, styrene resin, natural rubber, styrene butadiene rubber, isoprene rubber, chloroprene rubber, rosin and its derivatives, terpene resin, tackifier filler such as hydrogenated petroleum resin,
A plasticizer, an antioxidant or the like may be used alone or as a mixture. As in the case of the conventional heat-sensitive transfer seal, since the heating means is a short-time heating by a thermal head, a material having a low melting point (usually about 70 to 100 ° C.) is required. The thickness of the adhesive layer is appropriately selected and determined according to the surface condition of the transfer object, and is usually selected from the range of about 1 to 10 μm.

The configuration of the back side of the support 1b is arbitrary, and for example, a back coat layer such as an AST layer may be provided.

The receiver 7 is made of a known material such as polyethylene, and is preferably a material having good heat resistance and high dimensional stability. Surface treatment, coating and the like for imparting conductivity and improving adhesiveness may be used.

Next, the structure of the laminate 13 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the image forming mask material. The laminating material 13 provided on both surfaces of the receiver 7 to which the thermal transfer layer 1a has been transferred has a laminating support 13a and a laminating adhesive layer 13b. As the laminate support 13a, a known material such as polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, polyester, or polyacryl may be used, but the thickness is preferably 2 to 100 μm because it has reinforcing performance. Laminating adhesive layer 13b
For example, a heat-meltable resin such as an ethylene-based resin, preferably a heat-meltable resin containing an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) -based resin is used. Since the laminating adhesive 13b containing the EVA resin has a strong adhesive force, the handleability of the image forming mask material 18 is improved, and the laminating material 13 does not peel off even when bent.

The structure of the laminating section B for laminating the laminated material 13 by heating the laminated material 13 includes a heater roll 111 and a press roll 112 as shown in FIG.
And a configuration in which another heater roll 212 for preheating is provided in addition to the heater roll and press roll 211 as shown in FIG.

Instead of using a hot-melt resin as the laminating adhesive layer 13b, an adhesive that can be bonded at room temperature may be used. In this case, since heating is not required, the heater rolls / press rolls 11, 211 and the heater rolls 111, 21 shown in FIGS.
No heating of 2 is required.

When a release paper is provided on the laminating adhesive layer 13b in order to facilitate handling when an adhesive material that can be bonded at room temperature is used, as shown in FIG. Release paper 20 along press roll 311
Is provided in advance.

Although the above-described laminating process is a double-sided laminating process, a single-sided laminating process provided only on the surface to which the thermal transfer layer 1a has been transferred as shown in FIG. However, in order to prevent the image forming mask material 18 from curling, it is preferable to apply it to both surfaces.

Next, another invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 9 shows a method of preparing an image forming mask material by thermally transferring an optically opaque layer from a light transmitting support of an original image forming mask material onto a receiving sheet by a thermal head and peeling off the receiving sheet. Schematic diagram explaining the
FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a cutting position of the image forming mask material.

As shown in FIGS. 9 (a) and 9 (b), a long image forming mask material master 21 is made of a light-transmitting support 22.
It has at least a light-impermeable layer 23 thereon. The light-opaque layer 2 of the original mask material 21 for image formation
The 3rd side and the receiving sheet 24 are overlapped by a thermal transfer unit similar to the image forming mask material producing apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and printing is performed by heating with the thermal head 3 from the back surface of the receiving sheet 24. When the receiving sheet 24 is peeled off after the heating printing, the light-impermeable layer 23 of the unheated portion 23a is transferred to the receiving sheet 24. It should be noted that the light-impermeable layer in the heated portion may be transferred to the receiving sheet. The receiving sheet 24 is discarded after the light impermeable layer 23 is transferred from the original mask material 21 for image formation by heating printing.

Support 22 of original mask material 21 for image formation
The receiving sheet 24 is preferably formed of the same material as the support 1b of the thermal transfer sheet 1 described above, has good heat resistance, and has high dimensional stability.

The light-impermeable layer 23 of the original mask material 21 for image formation can be formed by appropriately combining a coloring material, a heat-softening resin and a hot-melt substance. As the coloring material, the same material as the thermal transfer layer 1a of the thermal transfer sheet 1 described above can be used.

Examples of the heat-softening resin include ethylene copolymers, polyvinyl acetal resins, polyamide resins, polyester resins, polyurethane resins, polyolefin resins, acrylic resins, vinyl chloride resins,
Resins such as cellulose resin, rosin resin, ionomer resin and petroleum resin; elastomers such as natural rubber, styrene butadiene rubber, isoprene rubber, chloroprene rubber and diene copolymer; ester gum, rosin maleic resin, rosin phenol Resins and rosin derivatives such as hydrogenated rosin; and high molecular compounds having a softening point of 50 to 200 ° C. such as phenol resins, terpene resins, cyclopentadiene resins, and aromatic hydrocarbon resins. The measurement of the softening point is based on JIS k25
The method can be carried out by employing the ring and ball method as described in 31.

Specific examples of the heat-meltable substance include vegetable waxes such as carnauba wax, wood wax, ouriculi wax and Espal wax; animal waxes such as beeswax, insect wax, shellac wax and spermaceti; paraffin wax, microcrystal wax, and polyethylene. Petroleum waxes such as waxes, ester waxes and acid waxes;
And waxes such as mineral waxes such as ozokerite and ceresin. In addition to these waxes, higher fatty acids such as palmitic acid, stearic acid, margaric acid and hebenic acid; palmityl alcohol, stearyl alcohol, behenyl alcohol Higher alcohols such as marganyl alcohol, myricyl alcohol and eicosanol; higher fatty acid esters such as cetyl palmitate, myricyl palmitate, cetyl stearate and myricyl stearate; acetamido, propionamide, palmitamide, stearamide and Amides such as amide wax; and stearylamine;
And higher amides such as behenylamine and palmitylamine.

The transferred image forming mask material 21 is coated with a laminate material on both sides in a laminating portion in the same manner as the above-mentioned receptor 7, and becomes a long image forming mask material.
The mask material for forming a long image formed by this method is similarly cut into a required size to obtain a mask material for forming an image.
The cutting position is a portion where the laminate 13 is directly applied to the surface of the support 22 in the plane 22a of the support 22 on the side where the light-impermeable layer 23 is thermally transferred. That is, the portion where the light-impermeable layer 23 on the support 22 is transferred to the receiving sheet 24. Therefore, the light-impermeable layer is not exposed at the outer edge of the cut portion of the image forming mask material.

[0041]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a light-impermeable layer for forming an image on the surface of the light-transmitting support and the surface of the light-transmitting support are covered with a laminate member, and the surface of the light-transmitting support is coated. The image forming mask material is formed by cutting such that the portion where the laminating member is directly applied becomes the outer edge.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the laminating process of the mask material for image formation, a laminate adhesive layer made of a hot-melt resin or an adhesive material that can be bonded at room temperature is provided on the laminate support layer. Use a laminate material.

Further, in the invention according to claim 3, an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer resin is used as the heat-meltable resin in order to enhance the adhesive effect.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a thermal transfer sheet having at least a light-impermeable layer is superimposed on a receptor, and a pattern comprising arbitrary characters and figures is printed by heating from the back of the thermal transfer sheet, and then the thermal transfer sheet is printed. Is peeled off.
After that, the heat-transferred light-impermeable layer and the surface of the receptor are laminated, and then the mask material for image formation is formed so that the portion where the lamination is directly applied to the surface of the receptor becomes the outer edge. I do.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a light-impermeable layer side of an original image forming mask material having at least a light-impermeable layer on a light-permeable support is superimposed on a receiving sheet. Heat printing is performed from the back side of the receiving sheet to thermally transfer the light-impermeable layer onto the receiving sheet. Thereafter, the receiving sheet is peeled off from the original masking material for image formation. Laminating is performed on the surface of the permeable layer, and then an image forming mask material is formed so that the portion where the laminating is directly performed on the surface of the support becomes the outer edge.

[0046]

The present invention will be described below with reference to examples. Example 1 A commercially available PET base having a thickness of 100 μm (O
h′-PRO100) was used as a mask material master plate as the receptor 7. 3. The heat transfer sheet 1 was heat-treated on the back side.
A release layer 1c having the following composition was applied to a thickness of 0.3 μm using a 5 μm PET base as a support 1b. Formulation of release layer Carnauba wax (MEK 20% dispersion) 48.5 parts Ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (MIBIK 10% solution) 3.0 parts (Evaflex EV-40Y: manufactured by DuPont Mitsui Polychemicals) MIBK 48.5 parts The liquid having the composition was well stirred and mixed to obtain a coating liquid. Further, on this release layer 1c, a thermal transfer layer 1a having
m. Thermal transfer layer formulation Carbon black (IPA 22% dispersion) 35.3 parts Rosin modified resin (IPA 30% solution) 40.7 parts (Hariester DS-90: manufactured by Harima Kasei) Microcrystalline wax (IPA 20% dispersion) 17.6 Part IPA 6.4 parts The liquid having the above composition was thoroughly stirred and mixed to obtain a coating liquid.

The thermal transfer sheet 1 prepared as described above
Was superimposed on the original mask material serving as the receptor 7, and printing was performed by heating from the back surface of the heat-transfer sheet 1 subjected to the heat treatment. The printing conditions at this time are as follows. Printing Conditions Using a thermal printer equipped with a line thermal head having a width of 260 mm, a mask pattern created on a computer with a printing energy of 25 mj / mm ² and a head pressure of 7 kg / head was output onto a mask material master as a receptor. The mask material thus produced was laminated. The laminating condition was the laminating part B shown in FIG. Laminating conditions Using a laminator (DX350 manufactured by Tokyo Laminex),
The temperature of the heater roll 212 was adjusted to 140 ° C. and the temperature of the heater roll / press roll 211 was adjusted to 60 ° C.
m / min. As the laminate material 13, a laminate support 13a made of 12 μm PET and provided with a 15 μm thick laminate adhesive layer 13b made of an EVA resin was used. After the laminating process, the image forming mask material master 16 is cut so that the portion where the heat transfer layer 1a is not thermally transferred onto the receiver 7 becomes the cut outer edge portion 18a to obtain the image forming mask material 18 having a desired size. Was. Cutting outer edge 1
Reference numeral 8a denotes a position 5 mm away from a portion where the thermal transfer layer 1a is thermally transferred onto the receiver 7. Comparative Example 1 The same as Example 1 up to lamination. However, when the mask pattern is made larger than in the first embodiment, and the mask material master 16 for image formation is cut to a desired size, the thermal transfer layer 1
a was formed so as to be included in the cut outer edge portion 18a. Example 2 Example 1 was the same as Example 1 except that a commercially available thermal transfer facsimile thermal transfer sheet (for Fuji Xerox 7033 telecopier) was used as the thermal transfer sheet 1. Comparative Example 2 The same as Comparative Example 1 except that a commercially available thermal transfer sheet for thermal transfer facsimile (for Fuji Xerox 7033 telecopier) was used as thermal transfer sheet 1. Example 3 The same as Example 2 except that the laminating adhesive was an ethylene-acrylic acid-based resin. Comparative Example 3 The same as Example 2 except that lamination was not performed.
The image forming mask material 18 prepared as described above was evaluated by the following method. Handling The image forming mask material 18 was handled in the same manner as usual, and the degree of damage at that time was evaluated. As shown in FIG. 9, the image forming mask material 18 has a radius r = 1.
bend at 180 ° in millimeters
Bending test was repeated 10 times.
After the bending test, the peeling condition of the laminated material 13 at the end was evaluated. Adhesiveness of Laminate The laminate 13 was peeled off by hand to evaluate its adhesiveness. Table 1 shows the evaluation results.

[0048]

[Table 1] As shown in Table 1, in the laminating process in which the thermal transfer layer 1a is included in the cut outer edge portion 18a (Comparative Example 1, Comparative Example 2), peeling or poor adhesion occurs, and the laminating adhesive is made of ethylene-acrylic acid. In the case of using a resin (Example 3), the adhesiveness is slightly inferior to the case of using an EVA-based resin (Examples 1 and 2).

[0049]

As described above, in the image forming mask material according to the first aspect, since the light-transmitting support and the laminate member are in close contact with each other at the outer edge, the light-impermeable layer is not exposed to the outside. In addition, the laminate member is hardly peeled off, and is excellent in handleability.

The image forming mask material according to claim 2 is
By providing a hot-melt resin or a pressure-sensitive adhesive material that can be bonded at room temperature as the laminating adhesive layer, the laminating members can be easily bonded with a simple device.

Further, the mask material for image formation according to claim 3 is
By using an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer-based resin as the laminating adhesive, it is possible to provide an image forming mask material that has excellent adhesive strength and is less likely to peel off.

In the method for producing a mask material for image formation according to claim 4, since the light-impermeable layer thermally transferred to the outer edge of the laminated mask material for image formation is not exposed, the laminate material is not easily peeled off. In addition, it is possible to provide an image forming mask material having excellent handleability.

Similarly, in the method for producing an image forming mask material according to claim 5, since the light-impermeable layer on the support is not exposed, the laminate material is hardly peeled off and the handleability is excellent. Can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of an apparatus for producing a mask material for image formation.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view illustrating a cutting step of a mask material for image formation.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a thermal transfer sheet.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an image forming mask material.

FIG. 5 is another schematic side view of the laminating unit.

FIG. 6 is another schematic side view of the laminating unit.

FIG. 7 is a schematic side view of a laminating unit using release paper.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of an image forming mask material of single-sided lamination.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of preparing an image forming mask material by thermally transferring an optically opaque layer from a master image forming mask material to a receiving sheet.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a cutting position of an image forming mask material.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a bending test.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a conventional process of cutting an image forming mask material that is subjected to lamination.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A Thermal transfer section B Laminating section 1 Thermal transfer sheet 1a Thermal transfer layer 3 Thermal head 7 Receptor 13 Laminating material 13b Laminating adhesive layer 18 Image forming mask material 18a Cutting outer edge 21 Image forming mask material original 22 Support 23 Light Transmissive layer 24 Receiving sheet

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Sota Kawakami 1 Sakuracho, Hino-shi, Tokyo Inside Konica Corporation (56) References JP-A-4-101143 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated ( Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G03F 1/00-1/16

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A light-transmissive support, a light-impermeable layer for forming an image on the surface of the light-transmissive support, and a coating of the light-impermeable layer and the surface of the light-transmissive support. In the image forming mask material having a laminate member, an outer edge in a plane of the light-transmitting support having the light-impermeable layer is a portion that directly covers the surface of the light-transmitting support with the laminate member. An image forming mask material, characterized in that: 2. A laminating adhesive layer comprising a hot-melt resin or a laminating adhesive which can be bonded at room temperature is provided on the surface of the light-impermeable layer and the light-transmitting support. 2. The image forming mask material according to claim 1, wherein a laminate support layer is formed in close contact with the agent layer. 3. The image forming mask material according to claim 2, wherein the laminating adhesive is a laminating adhesive containing an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer resin. 4. A heat-transfer sheet having at least a light-impermeable layer and a light-transmissive receptor are superimposed and printed by heating from the back side of the heat-transfer sheet. Thermally transferring the layer to the receiver side,
Further, in the method for producing an image forming mask material for performing a laminating process on the surface of the heat-transferred light-impermeable layer and the surface of the receptor, the light-impermeable layer may be in the plane of the receptor on the side on which the heat-transferred layer is thermally transferred. The method of producing a mask material for image forming, wherein the surface of the receptor is formed so that a portion where the laminating process is directly performed is an outer edge of the mask material for image forming. 5. The light-impermeable layer side of an image forming mask material master having at least the light-impermeable layer on a light-transmitting support, and a receiving sheet are superimposed on the light-receiving layer. Heat printing is performed to thermally transfer the light-impermeable layer onto the receiving sheet. Thereafter, the receiving sheet is peeled off from the original mask material for image formation, and then the support of the original mask material for image formation and the light In the method for producing an image forming mask material for performing a laminating process on a surface of an impermeable layer, the laminating process is performed on a surface of the support within a surface of the support on which the light impermeable layer is thermally transferred. A method for producing an image forming mask material, wherein the forming is performed such that a directly applied portion is an outer edge of the image forming mask material.