JPH0655860A - Visual recording method on card - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Structure] A smooth layer of synthetic resin is formed on at least a part of the surface of the card, and the smooth layer is strained by frosting at a temperature T ₁ which is not lower than the glass transition temperature and not higher than the melting point of the resin. In forming a frosted surface having the frosted surface and partially heating the frosted surface at a temperature T ₂ higher than the temperature T ₁ of the frosting treatment, the frosting treatment and the image formation are performed by a thermal head. . According to the method of the present invention, it is possible to repeatedly form and erase a visible record on a card with a single device, and to make the device compact.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

The present invention relates to a commuter pass, an entrance permit,
The present invention relates to a method of repeatedly forming and erasing a clearly visible recorded image on a card that is repeatedly used such as various prepaid cards.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A commuter pass for a transportation facility, an entrance permit for an event venue or a building, etc. is used repeatedly every day, but there is no means for checking illegal boarding or unauthorized entrance for management purposes. recent years,
The magnetic card check method is being adopted in some parts, but since the presence or absence of the check cannot be visually checked, there is a risk of omission of the check due to trouble on the device, and both the administrator and the user felt inconvenient.

Magnetic cards and IC cards are also used in various prepaid cards, but since the recorded contents cannot be directly visually inspected, the payment amount and balance cannot be easily checked, and there is a problem in terms of guaranteeing the contents to the user. was there.

Conventionally, there has been a method of printing a usage statement on a card each time the card is used, and a method of displaying an approximate value of a remaining balance by punching. However, these methods have a limited recording amount because the recording cannot be erased. , It is not suitable for cards that are frequently used or cards that require accurate balance display.

Therefore, the present applicant has previously proposed a method capable of repeatedly forming and erasing a visible record on a commuter pass or various prepaid cards.

One of the methods is to use a card having a smooth layer made of synthetic resin on the surface thereof and form a frost surface that can be erased by heat on the smooth layer. Then, the frosted surface is partially heated by a thermal head to return it to a smooth surface, and a visible image is displayed due to the contrast between the frosted surface and the smooth surface, that is, the difference in light reflectance. When erasing the image, the entire surface is frosted again.

[0007]

However, the above method requires two devices such as a heating frost plate for frost processing and image erasing and a thermal head for forming an image.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is capable of forming and erasing a visible record on a card such as a commuter pass, an admission ticket and various prepaid cards with a single device.

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a card used in the method of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing another example of the card, and FIGS. 3 to 4 are sectional views for explaining the method of the present invention.

A card used in the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1. The card 1 includes a smooth layer 11 made of synthetic resin,
A support layer 12 such as a polyethylene terephthalate sheet or paper having high strength is laminated, a part of the smooth layer 11 is used as a recording portion 13, and a printing 14 is applied to the other surface to display a necessary explanation or a decorative pattern. I am doing it. In addition, the card 1 usually has a function for storing information and calculating by providing a magnetic layer.

The card 1 shown in FIG. 2 is formed by dividing the recording portion 13 into two parts, and recording is performed alternately in each recording portion.

In the method of the present invention, first, as shown in FIG. 3, the card 1 is sandwiched between the thermal head 3 and the platen roll 4, and the smooth surface 11 of the card 1 is frosted by the line contact pressure to frost the surface 21. To form.

By performing this frosting treatment at a temperature T ₁ in the range of the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the resin of the smoothing layer 11 and the melting point (Tm) or less, the frosted surface is restored to the original smooth surface by heating. Possess the strain to try.

If the temperature is lower than Tg, no distortion is caused by the frost treatment, or the generated distortion is rapidly released without heating. Further, at a temperature higher than Tm, the resulting frost has no distortion and cannot be erased even by reheating, so that the object of the present invention cannot be achieved.

It should be noted that amorphous resins often do not show a clear Tm, but in that case, the flow starting temperature is set to Tm.
Also, in the case of a crosslinked resin which generally does not show Tm, the frost treatment may be performed at a flow starting temperature (or decomposition temperature) or lower. In addition, two or more Tg of mixed resin or copolymer resin
In the case of, the higher Tg may be used as a reference.
As the frosted state, the surface roughness of the frosted surface 21 is 1 to 10 in terms of average roughness Rz of JIS-B-0601.
The range of 10 μm is preferable.

If Rz is less than 1 μm, it is difficult to determine the presence or absence of an image even if an image is formed on the frosted surface during recording. If it exceeds 10 μm, it takes time to smooth the image during recording. It is necessary to raise the heating temperature, which is disadvantageous in terms of equipment.

The thermal head 3 is a matrix-shaped head in which minute heating elements are gathered, and only a necessary point is heated by a signal from the outside, but by contacting the smoothing layer 11 with a certain pressure. , Forming irregularities corresponding to the thermal dots.

To perform recording on this card, as shown in FIG. 4, the frosted surface 21 of the card is heated by the thermal head 3 at a temperature T ₂ higher than the frosting temperature T ₁ , and
Partial heating is performed at a pressure P ₂ lower than the pressure P ₁ at the time of frost treatment. Then, only the heated portion returns to the smooth surface 22, and images such as characters, figures, and symbols appear due to the difference in reflectance from the frosted surface.

When erasing an image, the entire recording surface 13 is frosted by the thermal head 3 to erase the image. Similar to the first frosting process, this frosting process is performed at Tg or more and Tm or less of the synthetic resin so that distortion is retained inside. As a result, the card 1 returns to the state of FIG. 3 before the image formation and can be repeatedly used thereafter.
The pressure P ₁ is generally higher than 150 g / cm, and P ₂ is preferably in the range of 0 to 150 g / cm.

When the card shown in FIG. 2 is used, the thermal head 3 is scanned at one of the display portions on which the image is recorded at the temperature T ₁ and the pressure P ₁ to erase the image, and the frosted surface 2
An image is formed on the other display unit which has become 1 at temperature T ₂ and pressure ₂ . Since this can be performed by one scan of the thermal head 3, recording and erasing can be performed in one step. The pressure of the thermal head 3 can be changed midway by instantaneously changing the distance between the thermal head 3 and the platen roll 4.

In the present invention, the resin constituting the smooth layer 11 includes polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, polymethyl (meth) acrylate, polyethylene terephthalate,
Various resins such as polyamide, ABS resin, or copolymer resin thereof can be used alone or in combination. Among them, amorphous resins such as polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene and polymethyl (meth) acrylate are preferable because they are easy to handle.

Further, a cross-linkable acrylic resin, a cross-linkable urethane resin, or a resin obtained by cross-linking the above various resins with a cross-linking agent, electron beam, γ-ray or the like to the extent that heat fluidity is not lost can be used. As these resins, those having Tg in the range of 50 to 140 ° C. are preferable. Smooth layer 1
The thickness of 1 is usually in the range of 5 μm to 3 mm, and the total thickness of the card 1 is not particularly limited, but is 0.1 to 3 mm.
It is a degree. The smooth layer 11 may be a film or sheet formed by extrusion molding or the like, or may be formed by coating.

According to the method of the present invention, it is possible to visually display, as an image, the main information recorded in the magnetic layer, etc., and record it at the time of entry and delete the record at the time of exit. You can check entrance and exit to and from transportation facilities and facilities, and you can also display records such as the amount spent and balance on prepaid cards used at restaurants, shops, vending machines, etc.

[0024]

According to the method of the present invention, visible recording can be repeatedly formed and erased on a card by a single device, and the device can be made compact.

[0025]

EXAMPLES A polyethylene terephthalate sheet (thickness 188 μm) was used as the support layer 12, and a smooth layer 11 (colorless and transparent polyvinyl chloride resin having a thickness of 15 μm) was provided on one surface thereof.
(Tg70 ° C, Tm202 ° C) is laminated, 10 × 20mm
The card (commuter pass) shown in FIG. 1 was created by printing 14 while leaving the recording section 13 of FIG.

Then, the following processing was performed on the card.

(A) First, a head contact pressure of 500 g / cm and a heating temperature of 1 were set on the entire surface of the recording portion by a thermal head.
Frost treatment was performed under the conditions of 10 ° C. and heating time of 1 second.
The height of the formed irregularities was about 4 μm.

(B) Next, a thermal head was used to print characters under the conditions of a head contact pressure of 50 g / cm, a heating temperature of 130 ° C., and a heating time of 1 second. The letters were clear and easily visible.

(C) In the same manner as in (a) above, the recording portion was frosted to erase characters.

As a result, the printed characters were erased.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a card used in the method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing another example of a card used in the method of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a frost treatment step of the method of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing an image forming step of the method of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Card 11 Smoothing layer 21 Frost surface 3 Thermal head

Claims (1)

[Claims] _{1. A} frost having a strain formed by forming a smooth layer of synthetic resin on at least a part of the surface of a card, and subjecting the smooth layer to a frost treatment at a temperature T ₁ which is not lower than the glass transition temperature and not higher than the melting point of the resin. Surface, and its frosted surface,
A visible recording method on a card, characterized in that, when an image is formed by partially heating at a temperature T ₂ higher than the temperature T ₁ of the frost treatment, the frost treatment and the image formation are performed by a thermal head.