JPH03216387A - Thermal recording medium and method - 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] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a thermal recording medium and a thermal recording method.

[Conventional technology]

Thermal recording is widely used as a means of recording information in various fields, but in recent years, with the spread of automatic ticket gates at ticket gates of trains, etc., commuter passes for automatic ticket gates have become more difficult to use, and have different validity periods. It is also used as a means to print information such as.

Conventionally, recording media used for thermal recording are those in which a porous image-receiving layer formed by containing powders such as silica and talc in a resin binder is formed on a base material. Then, the transfer layer of a heat-sensitive transfer foil, which has a transfer layer having a pattern-forming layer made by dispersing pigments etc. in Wanox, is placed on the surface of the image-receiving layer side of the heat-sensitive recording medium so as to be in contact with the transfer layer and heated. Accordingly, at least a portion of the transfer layer of the transfer foil is transferred in response to heating information and permeates into the image-receiving layer, thereby recording desired information.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in conventional thermal recording media, there is a problem in the fixability of the transfer information layer transferred from the transfer foil to the recording medium side to the image receiving layer. When used as an automatic ticket gate, the transferred information layer is likely to separate from the image receiving layer when rubbed by the magnetic head or feed roller of an automatic ticket gate, and the transferred information layer released from the image receiving layer may adhere to the vicinity of the gate of the automatic ticket gate. This caused problems such as contamination of the area around the gate.Also, because the transferred information layer is easily separated from the image-receiving layer, the print density of the transferred information layer decreases and the information pattern becomes disordered (recorded characters According to the experiments conducted by the present inventors, it was found that the time difference obtained by printing prescribed information on a conventional heat-sensitive recording medium using the conventional method was also problematic. For tickets, it has been found that blurring and blurring of the transferred information becomes noticeable when the number of times the ticket is passed through an automatic ticket gate exceeds about 1,000 times.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a thermal recording medium and a thermal recording method in which information transferred to an image-receiving layer is difficult to peel off due to friction or the like.

[Means to solve the problem]

That is, the present invention provides: (1) An image receiving layer for receiving a transfer information layer transferred from a thermal transfer foil in a predetermined pattern according to heating information on a base material, and a surface covering the surface of the image receiving layer. 1. A heat-sensitive recording medium comprising a protective layer, wherein the image-receiving layer is made of a thermoplastic resin.

(2) The thermoplastic resin constituting the image-receiving layer is polyester;
2. The heat-sensitive recording medium according to claim 1, comprising a vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer or an acrylic resin alone or in a mixture of two or more thereof.

(3) The thermal recording medium according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it has a magnetic layer on the whole or a part of at least one side.

(4) The heat-sensitive recording medium according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the surface protective layer is formed by coating an emulsion or dispersion of a lubricant.

(5) The thermal recording medium according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a tint layer between the image-receiving layer and the surface protection layer.

(6) a thermosensitive recording medium having an image receiving layer made of a thermoplastic resin on a base material and a surface protective layer covering the image receiving layer;
A heat-sensitive transfer foil provided with a colored transfer layer having at least one pattern-forming layer mainly composed of a thermoplastic resin is placed between the image-receiving layer side of a heat-sensitive recording medium and the heat-sensitive transfer foil. A thermal recording method characterized in that the transfer foils are overlapped and heated so that the transfer layers are in contact with each other, and at least a portion of the transfer layer of the transfer foil is fused and integrally transferred to the image receiving layer of the recording medium.

The main points are as follows.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a thermal recording medium 1 of the present invention, in which reference numeral 2 denotes a base material, and an image receiving layer 3 is provided on one side of the base material 2, and the image receiving layer 3 is further covered with a surface protective layer. 4 is provided.

Further, a magnetic layer 5 and a magnetic protective layer 14 covering the magnetic layer 5 are provided on the back side of the base material 2. Note that 6 is a background pattern such as a mark of a railway company.

Examples of the base material 2 include synthetic resin films and sheets such as polyethylene terephthalate, polyvinyl chloride, polycarbonate, polybutylene terephthalate, polymethyl methacrylate, and polystyrene; paper, synthetic paper, metal foil, etc., and laminates thereof. The material is not particularly limited and can be used as long as it is in the form of a film or a sheet. Further, the thickness of the base material 2 is not particularly limited, and it may be used by appropriately selecting a thickness depending on the purpose, but when used as a commuter pass etc., 0.1
5-0. Approximately 25 mm is preferable.

The image receiving layer 3 is made of thermoplastic resin. The thermoplastic resin constituting the image receiving layer 3 includes linear saturated polyester,
Acrylic resins made of vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymers, acrylic acid or methacrylic esters are preferred.

These can be used alone or in combination of two or more. Examples of methods for forming the image-receiving layer 3 include gravure coating, roll coating, three-line rehearsing coating, bar coating, and the like.

The thickness of the image receiving layer 3 is 0. 1 to 20μ is preferable, especially 0
．． 5 to 3μ1 is suitable.

The surface protective layer 4 covering the image-receiving layer 3 is formed by applying a lubricant added to a resin binder, or by applying an emulsion or dispersion of a lubricant. When formed by coating, it is preferable because it further improves the ability to prevent transferred information from separating from the image-receiving layer 3. Examples of the lubricant include fatty acid amide, paraffin wax, natural wax, fluororesin, etc., or a mixture of two or more thereof. More specifically, examples of the fatty acid amide include erucic acid amide and stearic acid amide. Microcrystalline wax as paraffin wax,
Examples of the natural wax include polyethylene wax, and examples of the natural wax include candeline wax, carnauba wax, rice wax, wood wax, and beeswax. Examples of the fluororesin include Teflon and fluorocarbon. When forming the surface protective layer 4 by coating a resin binder with these lubricants added, examples of the resin binder include polyester-based, salt-vinyl acetate-based, acrylic-based, polyamide-based, and urethane-based resins. A sufficient effect can be obtained without using No\Ingu. Further, when forming the surface protective layer 4 by applying an emulsion or dispersion of a lubricant, it is important to uniformly and thinly apply the lubricant emulsion or dispersion.

The thickness of the surface protective layer is preferably 0.01 to 3 μl, and a conventionally known method such as roll coating can be used as the coating method. The thickness of the surface protective layer 4 that covers the image-receiving layer 3 has two functions: protecting the image-receiving layer 3 and ensuring that the image-receiving layer 3 and the transfer layer transferred from the transfer foil during thermal transfer are fused together. From the viewpoint of expression, 0.01 to 3
．． 0 μl is preferred.

Examples of the magnetic material used for the magnetic layer 5 include magnetic metals such as iron, chloride, and oxides of these metals, and the magnetic layer 5 is made by applying the above-mentioned magnetic material to a resin binder. can be formed. The magnetic layer 5 may be provided not only on the back side, but also on the front side, or on both the front and back sides. Furthermore, the magnetic layer 5 is not limited to the case where it is provided on the entire surface, but may be provided on a part of the front and back surfaces, for example, in the form of a band or pattern.

The thickness of the magnetic layer 5 is preferably 10 to 2 On. It is preferable to provide a magnetic protective layer 14 on the surface of the magnetic layer 5 in order to protect the magnetic layer 5, as shown in FIG. The magnetic protective layer 14 can be formed of polyester, cellulose resin, or the like.

The thickness of the magnetic protective layer 14 is 0. 1-3. On is preferred.

The surface protective layer 4, magnetic layer 5, and magnetic protective layer l4 can be formed by gravure coating, three-layer rehearsing coating, or the like.

The ground pattern 6 can be formed by printing with printing ink using a normal printing method. Although the tint pattern 6 can be provided on the surface side of the surface protection layer 4, the tint pattern 6 can be provided on the surface side of the surface protection layer 4.
If a background pattern 6 is provided, the portion of the tint block 6 becomes convex, and dirt is likely to adhere to this portion, resulting in contamination. preferable.

To perform thermal recording on the thermal recording medium 1 of the present invention, a thermal transfer foil 7 as shown in FIG. 2 is used. This thermal transfer foil 7 has a structure in which a release layer 9 and a pattern forming layer 1O are provided on a base material 8. The base material 8 in the heat-sensitive transfer foil 7 may be any material that is used as a base material for ordinary transfer sheets. For example, it is preferable to use a resin film that does not easily change dimensions due to heat or stress, such as polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, polyphenylene sulfide, polycarbonate, polyimide, polyacrylate, polyether ether ketone, cellulose acetate, etc. In particular, polyethylene terephthalate is preferred because it has excellent heat resistance and solvent resistance, and is highly versatile. The thickness of the base material 8 is usually 1.5 to 100μ, preferably 4.5 to 38I
It's IM.

A mold release layer 9 is provided on the surface of the base material 8 on the side where the pattern formation layer 10 is formed for the purpose of improving the mold release properties of the pattern formation layer 10. The release layer 9 can be made of the same resins used in the release layer of ordinary transfer sheets, such as wax, fatty acid amide, silicones, thermosetting resins, and ionizing radiation-curable resins. can. In addition, when a mold release layer 9 is provided on the base material 8, the surface of the base material 8 is usually treated with corona discharge treatment or unsaturated polyester or urethane resin paint for the purpose of improving the adhesion of the mold release layer 90 to the base material 8. An easy-adhesive treatment such as a coating treatment is applied.

The pattern forming layer 10 is made of a thermoplastic resin that is fused and integrated with the resin constituting the image receiving layer 3 of the heat-sensitive recording medium 1 as a binder, and is colored appropriately by adding dyes, pigments, etc. to the resin. It is constructed by coating using printing or coating methods. Examples of the binder constituting the pattern forming layer 10 include polyester, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, and the like.

The thermal transfer foil 7 has the pattern forming layer 10 side facing the thermal recording medium 1.
The transfer foil 7 is overlapped so as to be in contact with the surface of the image receiving layer 3 side, and heated by the heat sensitive hand 12 from the base material 8 side of the transfer foil 7. As a result of this heating, the transfer information layer 13 is separated from the pattern forming layer 10 in a desired pattern according to the heating information as shown in FIG.
By peeling off the transfer information layer 13, the transfer information layer 13 is transferred to the recording medium 1, thereby forming a desired pattern of the transfer information layer 13 on the recording medium 1.

The present invention will be explained in more detail by giving specific examples below.

Examples 1 to 10 Using polyethylene terephthalate with a thickness of 188μ as a base material, the composition shown in Table 1 was coated on one side of the base material by a gravure coating method to form an image-receiving layer with a thickness of 1.0μ1. On the surface of this image-receiving layer, a tint pattern is printed using a urethane ink using a gravure printing method, and then the composition shown in Table 1 is applied thereon using a gravure coating method to form a surface protective layer with a thickness of 0.5μ1. was formed. Further, on the other side of the base material, iron oxide magnetic ink was applied to the entire surface by gravure rehearsing method to form a magnetic layer with a thickness of 13.0μ1, and the surface of this magnetic layer was further coated with a thickness of 2.0μl. It was coated with a magnetic protective layer to form a thermal recording medium.

On the other hand, using polyethylene terephthalate with a thickness of 12 nm as a base material, one side of the base material was coated with Carnano\Wanox to form a release layer, and then a polyester resin ink was applied on the release layer to make it black with carbon black and nigrosine. The thickness is 2.5mm using the gravure printing method. A pattern-forming layer was formed by applying the film to a heat-sensitive transfer foil.

Lay them together so that the image-forming layer of the heat-sensitive transfer foil is in contact with the side on which the image-receiving layer of the above-mentioned recording medium is provided, and use the stamping energy of 1.1 mJ per dot with a commuter pass issuing machine for a valid period. I got a commuter pass by printing out information such as the section. When the obtained commuter pass was tested to pass through an automatic ticket gate, even after passing through the automatic ticket gate 3,000 times, there was little blurring or blurring of the printed information. In addition, there was little dirt on the automatic ticket gates (there were no practical problems).

[Effects of the Invention] The present invention provides a thermal transfer foil having an image-receiving layer of a heat-sensitive recording medium made of a thermoplastic resin, and a transfer layer provided with a pattern-forming layer mainly made of a thermoplastic resin. By adopting a transfer method, the transfer information layer is transferred from the transfer layer of the transfer foil to the recording medium in a pattern according to the heating information, and is firmly fused and integrated with the image receiving layer of the recording medium. , there is no risk that the transferred information layer will be easily separated from the image-receiving layer. Therefore, when the recording medium of the present invention is used as a commuter pass for an automatic ticket gate, etc. by printing information such as the validity period, usage section, etc. by the method of the present invention, the transferred information has excellent fixability to the image-receiving layer. Disadvantages of conventional methods, such as there is no risk that the characters in the transcription information will blur or become blurred and difficult to see even if the automatic ticket gate is passed through the machine many times, and there is no risk of contaminating the gate of the automatic ticket gate. This is an excellent solution.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of one embodiment of the heat-sensitive recording medium of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a method for performing transfer recording of a heat-sensitive transfer foil piece on the heat-sensitive two recording medium. FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the state after the transfer information is recorded on the thermal recording medium. ■... Thermal recording medium 2... Base material 3... Image receiving layer 4... Surface protective layer 5... Magnetic layer 6... Tint pattern 7... Thermal transfer foil 8... Group Material 1o...Picture forming layer 13...Transfer information layer

Claims (6)

[Claims] (1) An image receiving layer for receiving the transfer information layer transferred from the thermal transfer foil in a predetermined pattern according to heating information and a surface protective layer covering the surface of the image receiving layer are provided on the base material. 1. A heat-sensitive recording medium characterized in that the image-receiving layer is made of a thermoplastic resin. (2) The thermoplastic resin constituting the image-receiving layer is polyester;
2. The heat-sensitive recording medium according to claim 1, comprising a vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer or an acrylic resin alone or in a mixture of two or more thereof. (3) The thermal recording medium according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it has a magnetic layer on the whole or a part of at least one side. (4) The heat-sensitive recording medium according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the surface protective layer is formed by coating an emulsion or dispersion of a lubricant. (5) The thermal recording medium according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a tint layer between the image-receiving layer and the surface protection layer. (6) a thermosensitive recording medium having an image receiving layer made of a thermoplastic resin on a base material and a surface protective layer covering the image receiving layer;
A heat-sensitive transfer foil having a colored transfer layer having at least one pattern-forming layer mainly composed of a thermoplastic resin on the releasable surface of the base material is transferred to the image-receiving layer side of a heat-sensitive recording medium and the heat-sensitive transfer foil. 1. A thermal recording method characterized by stacking the transfer foil so that the two layers are in contact with each other and heating the transfer foil so that at least a portion of the transfer layer of the transfer foil is fused and integrally transferred to the image receiving layer of the recording medium.