JPH0632073A - Thermal transfer sheet - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide an integrated thermal transfer sheet in which the thermal transfer sheet and the transfer target can be easily separated. [Structure] A heat-meltable ink layer is formed on one surface of a base sheet, and a transfer target is releasably adhered to the heat-meltable ink layer via an adhesive layer to form an integrated heat transfer sheet. At least a part of the peripheral portion of the thermal transfer sheet is formed with a portion where the adhesive layer is not interposed between the transfer target and the heat-fusible ink layer.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal transfer sheet, and more particularly to an integrated thermal transfer sheet in which a thermal transfer sheet having a heat-fusible ink layer and a transfer target are preliminarily adhered to each other.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when the output printing of a computer or a word processor is performed by a thermal transfer method, a thermal transfer sheet having a heat-fusible ink layer provided on one surface of a substrate sheet is used.

A conventional thermal transfer sheet uses, as a base sheet, paper such as capacitor paper or paraffin paper having a thickness of 10 to 20 μm, or a plastic film such as polyester or cellophane having a thickness of 3 to 20 μm, and is used as a wax. The heat-meltable ink layer is formed by mixing a coloring agent such as a pigment or a dye.

In the case of printing on a transfer material using such a conventional heat transfer sheet, the heat transfer sheet is supplied from a roll around which the heat transfer sheet is wound, while the continuous or single transfer material is melted by heat. Supply on the ink layer
Heat is applied from the base material sheet side of the thermal transfer sheet by a thermal head in a state where they are overlapped, and the heat-meltable ink layer is melt-transferred to form a desired image, character, or the like.

However, when such a thermal transfer sheet is diverted to a large plotter using a conventional thermosensitive coloring paper, there is a problem that the plotter cannot be used because it does not have a transfer mechanism for the transferred material.

In order to solve such a problem, by temporarily preliminarily adhering the thermal transfer sheet and the transferred body,
It has been attempted to adapt the printer to a plotter or the like, and to reduce the size and simplification of the printing apparatus by eliminating the need for a transfer member transporting mechanism.

[0007]

However, in the case of the integral type thermal transfer sheet in which the thermal transfer sheet and the transfer object are temporarily adhered in advance as described above, the thermal transfer sheet and the transfer object are entirely covered with the adhesive layer. There is a problem that it is not easy to peel off the thermal transfer sheet and the transfer target after printing and image formation because the temporary adhesion is performed over the entire area.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an integrated type thermal transfer sheet in which the thermal transfer sheet and the transfer target can be easily separated.

[0009]

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention provides a base sheet having a heat-meltable ink layer on one surface, and an adhesive layer on the heat-meltable ink layer. In a thermal transfer sheet having a transfer-receiving material that is releasably adhered via, a portion in which the adhesive layer is not interposed between the heat-meltable ink layer and the transfer-receiving material is present in at least a part of a peripheral portion. It has a certain structure.

[0010]

The transfer target is releasably adhered to the heat-meltable ink layer via the adhesive layer, but the transfer target and the heat-meltable ink layer are formed on at least a part of the peripheral portion of the heat transfer sheet. There is a portion between which the adhesive layer is not interposed. Accordingly, the transfer target can be easily peeled off from the heat-meltable ink layer after printing and image formation are triggered by the non-intermediate portion of the adhesive layer.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an integrated thermal transfer sheet of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of the thermal transfer sheet of FIG. 1 and 2,
The integrated thermal transfer sheet 1 includes a thermal transfer sheet 10 having a base material sheet 11 and a thermal fusible ink layer 12 formed on one surface of the basic material sheet 11, and the thermal fusible ink layer 12 of the thermal transfer sheet 10. And a transfer-receiving body 14 which is releasably adhered to the side via an adhesive layer 13. In the illustrated example, the thermal transfer sheet 1 is a sheet-type thermal transfer sheet. Then, the integrated thermal transfer sheet 1 of the present invention
Is a portion where the adhesive layer 13 is not interposed between the heat-fusible ink layer 12 and the transferred material 14 in at least a part of the peripheral portion thereof, in the illustrated example, a portion where the adhesive layer 13 is not interposed in one of the four corners. 15 is formed. By providing the adhesive layer non-intervening portion 15 as described above, it is possible to easily transfer the transfer target material from the hot-melt ink layer after printing and image formation are triggered by the adhesive layer non-intervening portion 15. Can be peeled off.

As the base sheet 11, the base sheet used in the conventional thermal transfer sheet can be used as it is and is not particularly limited. For example, polyester, polypropylene, cellophane, polycarbonate, cellulose acetate, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride,
Polystyrene, nylon, polyimide, polyvinylidene chloride, polyvinyl alcohol, fluororesin, chlorinated rubber,
Examples thereof include plastics such as ionomers, papers such as condenser papers and paraffin papers, non-woven fabrics, and the like, and may be a composite of these.

The thickness of the base material sheet 11 can be appropriately determined depending on the material so that the strength and thermal conductivity thereof are appropriate, and can be, for example, about 2 to 25 μm.

The heat-meltable ink layer 12 comprises a pigment and a granular binder, and may further contain various additives as required. The pigment is preferably carbon black for black single-color printing, and chromatic color pigments such as cyan, magenta, and yellow are used for multi-color printing. In general, the amount of these pigments used is preferably 5 to 70% by weight in the heat-meltable ink layer 12. Also, instead of the pigment, a fluorescent colorant composed of a fluorescent dye,
Alternatively, a metallic luster colorant such as gold or silver may be used.

As the binder, wax is used as a main component, and in addition, a mixture of wax and a derivative of drying oil, resin, mineral oil, cellulose, rubber or the like is used. Specific examples of waxes that can be used include microcrystalline wax, carnauba wax, paraffin wax, Fischer-Tropsch wax, various low-molecular-weight polyethylene, wood wax, beeswax, spermaceti wax, ivota wax, wool wax, shellac wax, candelilla wax, petrolactam. , Polyester wax, partially modified wax,
Examples thereof include fatty acid ester and fatty acid amide. Further, a thermoplastic resin having a relatively low melting point may be mixed in the above wax to improve the adhesiveness of the heat-meltable ink to the transferred material. Such a thermoplastic resin is a wax 10
It is preferably used in a proportion of 10 to 100 parts by weight per 0 parts by weight.

A heat-meltable ink layer 12 is formed on a base sheet 11.
As a method for forming the above, for example, an emulsion ink prepared by emulsifying or dispersing the above-mentioned wax-based binder in an aqueous medium (which may contain alcohol etc.), or an aqueous pigment dispersion is mixed. There is a method in which an emulsion ink is applied onto a base sheet and dried at a temperature at which the emulsion particles can retain their shape. When a thermoplastic resin is used in addition to the wax as described above, it is preferable that this thermoplastic resin is similarly dispersed in an aqueous medium and used as an emulsion. The thickness of the heat-meltable ink layer 12 thus formed is preferably about 0.5 to 20 μm.

The coating method includes gravure printing, hot melt coating, hot lacquer coating and the like, and is not particularly limited. In addition, a transparent layer made of wax is formed on the surface of the base material sheet 11 in advance, and the heat-meltable ink layer 12 is formed on the transparent layer, so that the transferred image can form a surface layer made of the transparent layer. You may have. Such a transparent layer is also preferably formed from the wax emulsion as described above, and similarly, the emulsion particles are preferably kept in a shape. The thickness of such a transparent layer is preferably about 0.2 to 5 μm.

The adhesive layer 13 is for temporarily adhering the heat-fusible ink layer 12 of the substrate sheet 11 and the transfer-receiving member 14, and may be formed by using any conventionally known adhesive. It is good, but an adhesive composed of an adhesive resin having a low glass transition temperature and wax is particularly preferable. Examples of the adhesive resin having a low glass transition temperature include rubber-based, acrylic-based, and silicone-based adhesive resins, which have a glass transition temperature of -9.
It is preferably in the range of 0 ° C to -50 ° C. The form of such an adhesive resin includes a solvent solution type, an aqueous solution type, a hot melt type, and an aqueous or oily emulsion type. Among these, an acrylic aqueous emulsion type is particularly preferable. As the wax used together with the above-mentioned adhesive resin having a low glass transition temperature, the wax used for forming the above-mentioned hot-melt ink layer 12 can be mentioned. Then, the weight ratio of the adhesive resin and the wax is preferably in the range of 1: 0.5 to 1: 4.

Further, in order to adjust the tackiness of the adhesive layer 13, a resin emulsion having a high glass transition temperature may be used. Examples of such resin emulsion include ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, ethylene-acrylic acid ester copolymer, polyethylene, polystyrene, polypropylene, polybutene, vinyl chloride resin, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer, acrylic resin and the like. Thermoplastic resins, especially acrylic emulsions, are suitable. Such a resin preferably has a glass transition temperature (for example, 60 ° C. or higher) higher than that of the above-mentioned adhesive resin, and may be a thermosetting resin.

Adhesive layer 13 comprising the above components
May be provided on the surface of the transferred material 14, but in this case, since the transferred material (printed matter) remains tacky, it is preferably provided on the surface of the heat-meltable ink layer 12 of the thermal transfer sheet 10. . In this case, since the adhesive resin is used as an aqueous emulsion, the adhesive layer 13 can be formed without damaging the heat-meltable ink layer 12. The coating method and drying method of the emulsion are not particularly limited.

The thickness of the adhesive layer 13 is 0.1
-10 μm (0.1-1.5 g / m as solid content coating amount)
The range of ² ) is preferable. The material to be transferred 14 is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a transparent resin film of polyester, polyamide, vinyl chloride, etc., high-quality paper, art paper, coated paper, tracing paper, synthetic paper, or the like.

Next, the heat-meltable ink layer 12 and the transferred material 1
A method for forming the adhesive layer non-intervening portion 15 between the adhesive layer 4 and the adhesive layer 4 will be described. For example, when a sheet-type integrated thermal transfer sheet is prepared by four-sided attachment, when the adhesive layer 13 is provided on the surface of the heat-meltable ink layer 12, the adhesive layer 13 is formed in advance as shown in FIG. An area 15 'is provided. Then, the transferred material 14 is superposed on the adhesive layer 13, and the imaginary line 2
By cutting as indicated by 0, the integrated thermal transfer sheet 1 including the adhesive layer non-intervening portion 15 as shown in FIG. 2 is obtained.

The shape of the region 15 'where the adhesive layer 13 is not formed is a quadrangle in the example of FIG. 3, but the shape is not limited to this and may be any shape such as a circle. Further, in FIG. 3, a cutting margin is not provided between the thermal transfer sheets 1, but the present invention is not limited to this.

Further, in the example shown in FIG. 2, the adhesive layer non-intervening portion 15 is provided at one of the four corners.
The adhesive layer non-intervening portions 15 may be provided at the above four corners.
Further, the adhesive layer non-intervening portion 15 may be formed over the entire area of one side of the single-wafer type integrated thermal transfer sheet as shown in FIG.

The integrated thermal transfer sheet of the present invention is
As shown in FIG. 5, a heat transfer sheet having a heat-meltable ink layer formed on one surface of a base sheet, and a heat-meltable ink layer side of this heat transfer sheet are releasably bonded via an adhesive layer. It may be the continuous body 2 of the co-wound including the transferred material 14. In this case, the adhesive layer non-intervening portion 15 is
It may be formed over the entire area along one side end of the co-wound continuous body 2 as in the illustrated example, or may be formed over the entire area along both ends of the co-wound continuous body 2. When the co-wound continuous body is slit and used, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, adhesive layer non-intervening portions 15 are provided at three places,
By slitting at three points S ₁ , S ₂ , and S ₃ ,
Four co-wound continuums (2 ₁ , 2,
2 ₂ , 2 ₃ , 2 ₄ ) can be created.

The substrate sheet forming the thermal transfer sheet 10 is used.
The surface 11 is opposite to the surface on which the heat-meltable ink layer 12 is formed.
A slip layer may be formed on the surface. Next, the experiment
The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to examples. (Experimental example) 450c in which a slip layer is provided on the back surface
m × 650 cm polyethylene terephthalate sheet
(Toray Co., Ltd. Lumirror, thickness 6 μm)
Apply the coating liquid for hot-melt ink layer with the composition
Applied (application amount = 3 g / m ²(When dry)), at 80 ℃
Dry in an oven for 1 minute to form a hot-melt ink layer
It was

(Composition of coating liquid for hot-melt ink layer) -Carbon black water-based dispersion (solid content 20%) (SP black 8557, manufactured by Fuji Dye Co., Ltd.) ... 20 parts by weight-Carnauba wax water-based dispersion (Solid content 40%) (WE-95, manufactured by Konishi Co., Ltd.) 15 parts by weight-Ethylene / vinyl acetate copolymer water-based dispersion (solid content 30%) (Sumitate KC-10, manufactured by Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd.) ) 20 parts by weight Polyethylene wax aqueous dispersion (solid content 40%) (Hiwax 210MP, manufactured by Mitsui Petrochemical Co., Ltd.) 55 parts by weight Next, the following composition was formed on the heat-meltable ink layer. The adhesive layer coating liquid was applied by a bar coater (application amount = 0.
5 g / m ² (dry). At this time, a region (5 cm × 5 cm) in which no adhesive layer was formed as shown in FIG. 3 was provided in the center of the polyethylene terephthalate sheet.

(Composition of coating liquid for adhesive layer) -Acrylic adhesive particle water-based dispersion (solid content 40%) (SK Dyne N-51L, manufactured by Soken Chemical Co., Ltd.) ... 10 parts by weight-Acrylic resin Particle-based dispersion (solid content 20%) (SK Dyne ME-1000, manufactured by Soken Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) 15 parts by weight-Carnauba wax aqueous dispersion (solid content 40%) (WE-95, manufactured by Konishi Co., Ltd.) ) 15 parts by weight Water 10 parts by weight Isopropanol 30 parts by weight Next, a high-quality paper as a material to be transferred was stuck on the adhesive layer at a nip temperature of 40 ° C. and a nip pressure of 3 kg / cm ² . And
As shown in FIG. 3, a sheet-type integrated thermal transfer sheet of the present invention (216 cm × 297 c) is cut by cutting on four sides.
m) was formed. This integrated thermal transfer sheet has a portion where no adhesive layer is provided at one of the four corners.

Next, a plotter was used to draw an image on the above-mentioned integrated thermal transfer sheet to form an image, and after that, the high-quality paper which was the transfer target was peeled off. It could be peeled off easily.

[0030]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, at least a part of the peripheral portion of the integral type thermal transfer sheet, the portion where the adhesive layer is not interposed between the transfer target and the heat-fusible ink layer. Therefore, after the printing and the image formation are performed, the transfer-receiving material can be easily peeled off from the heat-meltable ink layer, triggered by the non-adhesive portion of the adhesive layer.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a thermal transfer sheet of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the thermal transfer sheet of FIG. 1 viewed from the transfer target side.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a method of forming an adhesive layer non-intervening portion between a heat-meltable ink layer and a transfer target.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing another example of the thermal transfer sheet of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing another example of the thermal transfer sheet of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing another example of the thermal transfer sheet of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Thermal transfer sheet 11 ... Substrate sheet 12 ... Hot-melt ink layer 13 ... Adhesive layer 14 ... Transferred material 15 ... Adhesive layer non-intercalated portion

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A thermal transfer sheet having a base sheet having a heat-meltable ink layer on one surface and a transfer-receiving member which is releasably adhered to the heat-meltable ink layer via an adhesive layer. In the thermal transfer sheet, there is a portion where the adhesive layer does not intervene between the heat fusible ink layer and the transfer target in at least a part of the peripheral portion.