JP2001121831A - Adhesive layer transfer medium, heat-sensitive transfer recording medium and imaging method using these media - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To ensure good adhesive properties between an imaging receiving layer and its image face and the face of a body to which an image is transferred (preferably various kinds of plastic cards) without the necessity to apply a pretreatment to the face of the body as a retransfer destination, under a retransfer system using an intermediate transfer medium with a peelable image receiving layer. SOLUTION: The adhesive layer transfer medium comprises an adhesive layer for heat-sensitive transfer which is peelable by heating, formed on a base material. This adhesive layer is composed mainly of an epoxy resin and a polyester resin. Further, the heat-sensitive recording medium is structured of at least three different color heat-sensitive transfer ink layers such as CMY using colored pigments and the adhesive layer repetitively arranged in order on the plane in the longitudinal direction of a long-sized base material. An image in recorded in an image receiving layer by a heat-sensitive transfer based on image data and the adhesive layer is transferred to the face of the image receiving layer and further, the image receiving layer is thermally transferred to a body to which an image is transferred, using the described media properly.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an adhesive layer transfer medium in which an adhesive layer capable of thermal transfer is provided on a substrate and which acts as an adhesive layer by heat at a transferred location. A thermal transfer recording medium in which the adhesive layer and the thermal transfer ink layer are provided so as to be capable of thermal transfer, respectively, and an image forming method using the same. Specifically, the image forming method includes a transferable image receiving layer. After recording an image on the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer medium having thermal transfer by thermal transfer, the adhesive layer is thermally transferred onto the surface of the image receiving layer containing the image, and then the entire image receiving layer is transferred onto the target transfer object. The present invention relates to a technique capable of forming an image having good image quality and excellent durability on various information recording carriers, particularly a plastic card or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a thermal transfer recording method using a thermal transfer recording medium having a thermal transfer ink layer on a base material, an image receiving layer of an intermediate medium is not directly transferred from the thermal transfer recording medium to an object to be transferred. A method is known in which an image formed of a heat-sensitive transfer ink layer is transferred to an image receiving layer, and then the image (heat-sensitive transfer ink layer) is re-transferred to an object to be transferred together with an image receiving layer. Hereinafter, this is referred to as a retransfer method.

[0003] Using this method, images can be transferred to various transfer media such as plastic cards such as cash cards, credit cards, various ID cards, and prepaid cards, papers such as postcards and passports, and cloths such as T-shirts and handkerchiefs. Can be transferred.

In this method, a high-resolution image can be obtained irrespective of the material and surface condition of the object to be transferred, as compared with a method of directly printing on the target object to be transferred. There are advantages such as the possibility of printing. However, depending on the transfer object, when the intermediate transfer medium on which the image is finally transferred is transferred to the target transfer object, the adhesion to the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer medium and the printed thermal transfer ink layer is improved. It is necessary to apply a primer layer ink on the surface of the transfer object in advance to provide a primer layer. In many cases, such pre-processing for the transfer target is extremely troublesome, and the pre-processing may not be performed depending on the transfer target.

Conventionally, most of cash cards, credit cards, various ID cards, and the like are PVC cards.
Cards made of various resin materials such as ETABS resin have been used. There has been no intermediate medium having an image receiving layer capable of coping with these various cards and capable of excellent printing.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the circumstances of the prior art described above, the present invention is a re-transfer destination for forming an image in a re-transfer method using a thermal transfer recording method using an intermediate transfer medium. The surface of the image formed by the image receiving layer on the intermediate transfer medium and the heat-sensitive transfer ink layer transferred to the image receiving layer without performing the so-called pre-treatment on the transfer object, and the transfer surface of the transfer object The purpose of the present invention is to obtain good adhesiveness between the two. In particular, various plastic cards are typical examples of the transfer object,
It is suitable for these, and makes it possible to obtain good adhesion.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an adhesive having a heat-sensitive transfer adhesive layer provided on one surface of a substrate, the adhesive layer being capable of being separated from the substrate by heating. A layer transfer medium, wherein the adhesive layer contains an epoxy resin and a polyester resin as main components.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the adhesive layer, the epoxy resin has a softening point of 80 to 150 ° C., and the polyester resin has a glass transition point of -10 to 20 ° C. An adhesive layer transfer medium according to claim 1.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the mixing ratio of the epoxy resin and the polyester resin in the adhesive layer is in a range of 10: 1 to 10: 8 by mass. 3. The adhesive layer transfer medium according to any one of 2.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a thermal transfer ink layer of at least three colors of cyan, magenta and yellow using a color pigment, and a thermal transfer ink layer according to any one of the first to third aspects. The heat-sensitive transfer recording medium is characterized in that the adhesive layer is repeatedly arranged in a face-sequential manner along the longitudinal direction of the long base material.

[0011] According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a heat-sensitive transfer recording medium having a heat-sensitive transfer ink layer in the image-receiving layer of an intermediate transfer medium in which an image-receiving layer detachable from the support is provided on a long support. An image based on the image data is recorded by thermal transfer using an adhesive layer, and then the adhesive layer is transferred onto the surface of the image receiving layer using the adhesive layer transfer medium according to claim 1. An image forming method is characterized in that the image receiving layer provided with the image and the adhesive layer is thermally transferred onto a transfer body later.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the heat-sensitive transfer recording medium according to the fourth aspect, wherein the image-receiving layer of the intermediate transfer medium is provided with an image-receiving layer peelable from the long support. An image based on the image data is recorded by thermal transfer using a thermosensitive transfer recording medium, and then the adhesive layer provided on the thermal transfer recording medium is transferred onto the surface of the image receiving layer. Thereafter, the image and the adhesive layer An image forming method, wherein the provided image receiving layer is thermally transferred onto a transfer target.

In the adhesive layer transfer medium of the present invention, by using an epoxy resin and a polyester resin as main components for the adhesive layer, various media such as vinyl chloride, amorphous PET, easily adhesively treated PET, and ABS resin can be used. Good adhesion to plastic card substrate.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail. The basic configuration of the present invention is shown roughly in FIG. FIG. 2 shows the basic configuration of the thermal transfer recording medium used in the present invention, and FIG. 3 shows the basic configuration of the intermediate transfer medium. FIGS. 4 and 5 show the basic configuration of the thermal transfer recording medium according to the fourth aspect. FIG. 6 shows a thermal transfer recording method (corresponding to claim 5 or 6) according to the present invention. These are all explanatory diagrams.

Next, the thermal transfer recording medium will be described. Typical examples of the thermal transfer ink layer include three colors of yellow, magenta, and cyan, or four colors obtained by adding black to the three colors. However, a multicolor thermal transfer ink layer provided with other colors is also used. I don't care. The thermal transfer ink layer may be a single color such as black depending on the case.

As the pigment which is a component of the thermal transfer ink layer, various known pigments can be used. Pigments. These can be used in combination of two or more kinds, and a known dye may be added for hue adjustment.

Examples of the binder resin for the thermal transfer ink layer include butyral resin, polyamide resin, polyethyleneimine resin, sulfonamide resin, polyester polyol resin, petroleum resin, styrene, α-methylstyrene, 2-methylstyrene, chlorostyrene, and vinylbenzoic acid. Styrene and its derivatives such as sodium benzene sulfonate and aminostyrene, homopolymers and copolymers of substituted methacrylates such as methyl methacrylate, ethyl methacrylate and hydroxyethyl methacrylate, and methacrylic acid and methyl acrylate;
Acrylic esters such as ethyl acrylate, butyl acrylate, α-ethylhexyl acrylate and dienes such as acrylic acid, butadiene, isodiene, isoprene, acrylonitrile, vinyl ethers, maleic acid and maleic esters, maleic anhydride, cinnamic acid, A vinyl monomer such as vinyl chloride and vinyl acetate alone or a copolymer of another monomer can be used. These resins can be used as a mixture of two or more kinds.

Further, in addition to the pigment and the binder resin, additives such as a releasing agent, a softening agent, and a surfactant can be appropriately added to the thermal transfer ink layer. Examples of the releasing agent and the softening agent include higher fatty acids such as palmitic acid and stearic acid, metal salts of fatty acids such as zinc stearate, fatty acid esters or partially saponified products thereof, fatty acid derivatives such as fatty acid amides, higher alcohols, and more. Derivatives such as ethers of polyhydric alcohols, paraffin wax, carnauba wax, montan wax, beeswax, wood wax, candelilla wax, etc., having a viscosity average molecular weight of about 1,
Low molecular weight polyethylene of about 000 to 10,000,
Polyolefins such as polypropylene and polybutylene,
Or low-molecular weight copolymers of olefins, α-olefins with organic acids such as maleic anhydride, acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, vinyl acetate, etc., low molecular weight oxidized polyolefins, halogenated polyolefins, lauryl methacrylate, stearyl methacrylate, etc. Methacrylic esters having alkyl side chains, copolymers of methacrylic esters alone or with vinyl monomers such as styrene, low molecular weight silicone resins such as polydimethylsiloxane and polydiphenylsiloxane, and silicone-modified organic substances And one or more kinds can be selected and used.

The surfactant is not particularly limited as long as it is compatible with the composition in the ink layer.
Fatty acid salts, higher alcohol sulfate salts, aliphatic amine or aliphatic amide sulfate salts, aliphatic alcohol phosphate ester salts, dibasic fatty acid ester sulfonates, aliphatic amide sulfonates, alkyl allyl sulfonates, Anionic surfactants such as naphthalene sulfonates of formalin condensation, cationic surfactants such as aliphatic amine salts, quaternary ammonium salts, alkylpyridinium salts, polyoxyethylene alkyl ethers, polyoxyethylene alkyl phenol ethers , Nonionic surfactants such as polyoxyethylene alkyl esters, sorbitan alkyl esters, polyoxyethylene sorbitan alkyl esters, amphoteric surfactants such as carboxylic acid derivatives and imidazoline derivatives; Le Oro alkyl carboxylic acids, copolymers of fluoroaliphatic group-containing acrylate or fluoroaliphatic group-containing methacrylate and polyoxyalkylene acrylate or polyoxyalkylene methacrylate, perfluoroalkyl sulfonamides, and the like.

Examples of the substrate include paper such as condenser paper, polyester film, polystyrene film, polypropylene film, cellophane, etc., from the viewpoint of ease of formation and handling of the ink layer and mechanical strength. Polyester films (specifically, PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and PEN are particularly preferable because of their high heat resistance).
[Polyethylene naphthalate], etc.). The thickness of the substrate is preferably 2 to 50 μm from the viewpoint of mechanical strength, ease of handling or availability, but in order to expect a higher effect of the present invention (thermal conductivity, heat transfer coefficient, heat storage performance). 2 to 16 μm are more preferred.

Next, the adhesive layer transfer medium will be described. As the resin used for the adhesive layer, basically, a resin which has good adhesion to the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer medium and the ink layer of the thermal transfer recording medium and the transfer receiving body and can be thermally transferred from the base material can be used. As a result of various studies, it was found that the use of an epoxy resin and a polyester resin resulted in good transfer without a transfer failure on the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer medium on which the thermal transfer recording medium was transferred, and that the adhesive layer was transferred. The image receiving layer can be transferred to various plastic card base materials such as PVC, amorphous PET, easy-adhesion PET, and ABS, and can have strong adhesion.

Epoxy resins are relatively low in molecular weight, have a low softening point, and are easily cut, so that they have excellent heat transfer properties and adhesiveness to various plastic cards. However, the epoxy resin alone has a weak adhesive property, so that it is necessary to add a polyester resin in order to further improve the adhesive property with various plastic cards.

The epoxy resin used in the present invention includes:
A common bisphenol A type or F type epoxy resin which is a solid type at room temperature can be used, and an epoxy resin having a softening point of 80 ° C to 150 ° C can be used from the viewpoint of storage stability and thermal transferability.

Further, the polyester resin has a glass transition point of -10 to 20 ° C. in order to strengthen the adhesiveness after thermal transfer with various cards such as PVC, easily treated PET, amorphous PET, and ABS resin. A relatively low glass transition temperature thermoplastic saturated polyester resin can be used.

The epoxy resin and the polyester resin can be mixed in a ratio of epoxy resin: polyester resin = 10: 1 to 10: 8. If the amount of polyester resin is less than this, the adhesive strength with the plastic card is reduced, and the adhesive strength between the adhesive layer transfer medium or the base material of the thermal transfer recording medium and the adhesive layer is also reduced. It causes burrs. On the other hand, if the amount of the polyester resin is larger than the above range, blocking during storage and adhesion to the substrate are too strong, and transfer becomes impossible.

Examples of the base material include paper such as condenser paper, a polyester film, a polystyrene film, a polypropylene film, and cellophane, as in the case of the thermal transfer recording medium. In particular, polyester is preferable because of its high heat resistance. Films (specific examples are PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and PEN (polyethylene naphthalate)). The thickness of the substrate is also preferably 2 to 50 μm from the viewpoint of mechanical strength, ease of handling or availability, but in order to expect a higher effect of the present invention (thermal conductivity, heat transfer coefficient, heat storage performance,
2 to 16 μm are more preferred.

In order to improve the heat resistance and the slipperiness of the base material of both the thermal transfer recording medium and the adhesive layer transfer medium,
It can also be said that it is preferable to provide a back coat layer on the surface of the substrate on which the ink layer is not provided.

When requirements for thermal transfer become severe (for example, high-speed thermal transfer), a back coat made of an appropriate material compatible with the base sheet material with respect to the basic structure of the thermal transfer sheet. By combining the layers, it is easy to respond to more stringent requirements.

The adhesive layer of the present invention can be provided on the same substrate as the thermal transfer ink layer of the thermal transfer recording medium.
That is, the thermal transfer ink layer using the color pigment and the adhesive layer in three colors of cyan, magenta and yellow, or four colors of black, cyan, magenta and yellow are used as a base, for example, as shown in FIGS. It can be provided repeatedly in the longitudinal direction on the material. When these are used, the thermal transfer printer uses the cyan, magenta, and cyan thermal transfer ink layers on one thermal transfer recording medium on the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer medium.
After sequentially transferring the three colors of yellow, the adhesive layer on the same heat-sensitive transfer recording medium can be easily transferred.
If one thermal transfer recording medium is provided with a thermal transfer ink layer of four colors of black, cyan, magenta, and yellow and an adhesive layer, the basic difference is that black is increased by one color. Only in the same manner as described above, it becomes possible to easily and continuously transfer each color of the thermal transfer ink layer and the adhesive layer. According to this, it is preferable because not only the structure of the thermal transfer printer or the image forming apparatus is simplified, but also the processing efficiency relating to the entire image formation is improved.

Next, the intermediate transfer medium will be described. FIG. 3 shows an intermediate transfer medium used in the present invention. Although the thickness of the substrate is not particularly limited, it is generally 9 to 300 μm in consideration of the transportability of the printer and the like, and is further based on the image receiving layer after the image (thermal transfer ink layer) transfer and the adhesive layer transfer. In consideration of heating and transferring from the back surface of the material, the thickness is preferably 16 to 100 μm.

The image receiving layer is a thermoplastic resin having good adhesiveness to the thermal transfer ink layer and the adhesive layer. The image receiving layer is made of a cellulose derivative such as nitrocellulose, ethyl cellulose, cellulose acetate propionate, or a styrene-based material such as polystyrene or poly α-methylstyrene. Resins, acrylic resins such as polymethyl methacrylate and polyethyl acrylate, vinyl resins such as polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl acetate, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer, polyvinyl butyral, and polyvinyl acetal; polyester resins; polyamide resins , Epoxy resin, polyurethane resin, petroleum resin, ionomer, ethylene acrylic acid copolymer, synthetic resin such as ethylene-acrylate copolymer, rosin, rosin-modified maleic resin, ester gum, polyisobutylene rubber, butyl rubber, Chi Ren butadiene rubber, using butadiene acrylonitrile rubber, polyamide resins, one or more thermoplastic resins of natural resins and synthetic rubber derivatives of poly chlorinated olefins such as the main component.

In particular, considering the transferability of the thermal transfer ink layer and the adhesive layer, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl acetate,
Vinyl chloride resins such as vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer, polyvinyl butyral, and polyvinyl acetal, polyester resins, polyamide resins, epoxy resins, polyurethane resins, petroleum resins, polyamide resins, and polychlorinated olefin resins can be preferably used. Also, the normal thickness is
1 to 10 μm is common. There is no problem at all even if various fillers such as silicone oil, silicone powder and silica are appropriately added to the image receiving layer.

Further, there is no problem even if there is an anchor layer or an image printing layer between the substrate and the image receiving layer to assist the adhesion of the image receiving layer to the substrate. The intermediate transfer medium of the present invention can be produced, for example, by a conventional method, for example, gravure, a Meyer bar, a composition for forming an image receiving layer on one of the substrates,
It can be manufactured by coating and drying by a coating method such as roll coating to form an image receiving layer.

[0034]

EXAMPLES <Thermal transfer recording medium> As a base material of the thermal transfer recording medium, the following ink layers (yellow, magenta, cyan) were coated on a polyester film 5.5 μm by a gravure printing machine at a drying temperature of 90 ° C. Thus, a sample was prepared. The dry thickness of each color ink layer is 1 μm. In the following, units described as "parts" are descriptions indicating relative amounts based on mass unless otherwise specified.

(Yellow ink layer ink) Disazo yellow pigment 7.0 parts Butyral resin 10.0 parts Acrylic resin 5.0 parts Ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer resin 3.0 parts Carnauba wax 5.0 parts・ Toluene 60.0 parts ・ Isopropyl alcohol 10.0 parts

(Magenta ink layer ink) Monoazo red pigment 8.0 parts Butyral resin 10.0 parts Acrylic resin 5.0 parts Ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer resin 3.0 parts Carnauba wax 5.0 parts・ Toluene 60.0 parts ・ Isopropyl alcohol 10.0 parts

(Cyan ink layer ink)-Phthalocyanine blue pigment 8.0 parts-Butyral resin 10.0 parts-Acrylic resin 5.0 parts-Ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer resin 3.0 parts-Carnauba wax 5.0 parts・ Toluene 60.0 parts ・ Isopropyl alcohol 10.0 parts

<Intermediate Transfer Medium> A 16 μm thick substrate
m on a surface of a polyethylene terephthalate film having the following composition, coated with a Mayer bar coater and dried, and an image receiving layer having a dry thickness of 4 μm is laminated on a substrate to produce an intermediate transfer medium. did.

(Image receiving layer ink)-Vinyl chloride vinyl acetate-vinyl alcohol copolymer resin 8.0 parts-Epoxy resin 7.0 parts-Polyester resin 2.0 parts-Butyral resin 1.0 part-Silicone powder 0.3 Parts ・ MEK 45.0 parts ・ Toluene 36.7 parts

<Adhesive layer transfer medium> As a base material, a polyester film was 5.5 µm, and the resin was variously changed with the following adhesive layer ink as shown in the following table.
A sample was prepared by coating at a drying temperature of 100 ° C.
The dry thickness of the adhesive layer is 1 μm.

<Adhesive layer transfer medium ink> Resin 20.0 parts Methyl ethyl ketone 40.0 parts Toluene 40.0 parts The constitution of the resin forming the adhesive layer is shown in Table 1.

[0042]

[Table 1]

The heat-sensitive transfer recording medium and the intermediate transfer medium obtained as described above are used by using a commercially available heat transfer printer,
An image was transferred onto the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer medium, and the adhesive layer transfer medium was solid-printed on the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer medium using a commercially available thermal transfer printer to transfer the adhesive layer.
Then, the thermal transfer ink image and the intermediate transfer medium to which the adhesive layer has been transferred are combined into three types of cards, a PVC card, an easily-adhesive treated PET card, and an amorphous PET card. I tried to make a transcript. Table 2 shows the transfer performance of each adhesive layer.

[0044]

[Table 2]

As described above, the adhesive layers of Examples 1 and 2 enable good transfer to the image-receiving layer to which the image has been transferred, and also good transfer to the subsequent three types of cards, which are to be transferred. The storage medium of the adhesive layer transfer medium exhibited good storage properties without blocking of the adhesive layer and the back surface.

However, in the comparative example, transfer defects such as blocking of the transfer medium for the adhesive layer during storage and breakage of the untransferred portion or the base material without peeling off the adhesive layer from the base material during transfer to the image receiving layer were observed. Occurred. Also, even if these are good comparative examples, the transferability of the transferred body to the three types of cards was weak, and the transfer was poor, and the transferred body was easily peeled off using cellophane tape or the like.

[0047]

According to the present invention, in a retransfer method using a thermal transfer recording method using an intermediate transfer medium, an intermediate image can be formed without performing a so-called pre-treatment on the object to be retransferred to form an image. A good adhesion is obtained between the surface of the image formed by the image receiving layer on the transfer medium and the thermal transfer ink layer transferred to the image receiving layer, and the transfer surface of the transfer object. In particular, various types of plastic cards are typically used as the transfer object, and a technique capable of obtaining good adhesion to the plastic card can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a basic configuration of an adhesive layer transfer medium according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram (three colors of cyan C, magenta M, and yellow Y) showing a basic configuration of an example of a thermal transfer recording medium used in the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a basic configuration of an example of an intermediate transfer medium used in the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the basic structure of one embodiment of the thermal transfer recording medium according to claim 4 of the present invention (cyan C, magenta M, yellow Y and an adhesive layer for thermal transfer).

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing the basic structure of another embodiment of the thermal transfer recording medium according to claim 4 of the present invention (four colors of black K, cyan C, magenta M, yellow Y and thermal transfer recording medium). Adhesive layer).

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view (in the order of steps) showing an outline of an image forming method according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1,2,3 ... substrate 4,5 ... back coat layer 10,10 '... adhesive layer (for thermal transfer) 11,11' ... thermal transfer ink layer (single color or multiple colors) ) 11K: Thermal transfer ink layer (black) 11C: Thermal transfer ink layer (cyan) 11M: Thermal transfer ink layer (magenta) 11Y: Thermal transfer ink layer (yellow) 12, 12 ' ..Image receiving layer 20... Adhesive layer transfer medium 30... Thermal transfer recording medium 40.

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yoshiaki Shiina 1-5-1, Taito, Taito-ku, Tokyo Letterpress Printing Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 2C065 AB09 AC04 AF02 2C068 AA03 AA06 AA22 BB33 BD17 BD23 2H111 AA08 AA26 AB05 BA02 BA03 BA14 BA33 BA38 BA53 BA62 BA71 BA78

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An adhesive layer transfer medium provided with an adhesive layer for thermal transfer that can be peeled off from the substrate by heating on one side of the substrate, wherein the adhesive layer is made of an epoxy resin and a polyester resin. An adhesive layer transfer medium characterized by being a main component. 2. The adhesive layer according to claim 1, wherein the epoxy resin has a softening point of 80 to 150 ° C., and the polyester resin has a glass transition point of -10 to 20 ° C. Adhesive layer transfer medium. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the mixing ratio of the epoxy resin and the polyester resin in the adhesive layer is in the range of 10: 1 to 10: 8 by mass. Adhesive layer transfer medium. 4. The thermal transfer ink layer of at least three colors of cyan, magenta and yellow using a color pigment, and the adhesive layer for thermal transfer according to claim 1 are long. A heat-sensitive transfer recording medium characterized by being repeatedly arranged side by side in the longitudinal direction of a scale base material. 5. An intermediate transfer medium in which an image receiving layer releasable from the support is provided on a long support by thermal transfer using a thermal transfer recording medium having a thermal transfer ink layer to the image receiving layer. An image based on the image data is recorded, and then the adhesive layer is transferred onto the surface of the image receiving layer using the adhesive layer transfer medium according to any one of claims 1 to 3, and then the image is adhered to the image. An image forming method, comprising thermally transferring an image receiving layer provided with a layer onto a transfer target. 6. An intermediate transfer medium in which an image receiving layer releasable from said support is provided on a long support, by means of thermal transfer using said thermal transfer recording medium according to claim 4. An image based on the image data is recorded, and then the adhesive layer provided on the thermal transfer recording medium is transferred onto the surface of the image receiving layer. Thereafter, the image receiving layer provided with the image and the adhesive layer is removed. An image forming method, wherein thermal transfer is performed on a transfer target.