JP2003211830A - Inkjet image recording material and method for recording image - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inkjet image recording material on which an image can be continuously and efficiently recorded by an inkjet system based on image information and especially, an image with a high quality being comparable to a print obtained by a silver salt color sensitized material can be recorded, and a method for recording the image using it. <P>SOLUTION: In the inkjet image recording material having at least one ink image receiving layer on a substrate, the inkjet image recording material is characterized by comprising a wetting agent in the uppermost layer of the inkjet image recording material and the inkjet image recording material using it is provided. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an inkjet image recording material, and more particularly, to a recording droplet ejected from an ejection port of a recording head based on image information, for example, image information from a color photographic film. The present invention relates to an inkjet image recording material used in an inkjet image recording method for recording an image (hereinafter, may be simply referred to as “image recording material”) and an inkjet image recording method using the inkjet image recording material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art High-quality, general-purpose, low-cost color images in the production of color images using silver salt color sensitive materials and digitization of image production have enabled electrostatic transfer systems, sublimation heat transfer systems, inkjet systems, etc. Full-color image creation methods are rapidly becoming popular. The method using a silver salt color sensitive material is excellent in image quality such as color reproducibility, image sharpness, image density, glossiness, and image durability, and is one of the goals of developing an inkjet method. There is.

The ink jet system is relatively easy to realize full color by inputting digital information of a color original image, selection of ink species, etc., and is advantageous in that printing noise is relatively low as compared with other systems. However, the ink used contains a relatively large amount of water or solvent, and its droplets are absorbed and removed, beading of continuous ejection of droplets of fine units, prevention of sharpness deterioration due to bleeding, and silver salt color feeling. Unlike image formation in a material film, image formation is performed by ejecting an ink containing a dissolved or dispersed dye, and it is particularly required to protect the image and improve durability.

Conventionally, a general paper and a sheet further provided with a waterproof resin layer have been used as a substrate of the recording support. Examples of such a substrate include, for example, JP-A-59-226.
Examples thereof include a printed sheet described in No. 83. Further, a resin film, for example, a polyester described in JP-A-59-222381, a transparent film of cellulose acetate, a film filled with a white pigment, a synthetic paper, or the like is used. A transparent or opaque substrate described in JP-A No. 11-5362, which is integrated with a layer provided on the surface of an ink-absorbent paper, a porous resin film, or the like to improve the ink absorbency and heat. Depending on the treatment, it is used as an oxygen barrier support.

JP-A-59-222381, JP-A-59
-22683, JP-A-8-2090, JP-A-9-1
04163, JP-A-11-5362, and JP-A-2000.
-43368, JP-A-2000-43369, etc.
It is described that an image protective layer is further provided on the ink image receiving layer. For the ink image receiving layer, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-2
37348, JP-A-9-104163, JP-A-9-
156206, JP-A-11-5362, US Pat.
As described in 474,843, EP-1060901A-2, etc., a hydrophilic binder that easily permeates ink and a porous adsorbent or mordant that easily permeates and fixes the ink are used. The image protective layer is disclosed in JP-A-59-2
Laminate coating as described in JP-A-15885 and JP-A-59-103782, for example JP-A-62.
No. 59076, JP-A-62-56184, etc., and in particular, laminate coating, polymer solution coating or extrusion method described in JP-A-1-291990. Also, JP-A-7-237348 and JP-A-8-20
90, 2000-43368, 2000-43
There is also known a method in which a porous polymer layer described in No. 368 is used, and after the image is attached, heat treatment is performed to provide an image protective layer.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-225695 describes a method in which droplets for protecting the formed image are ejected by an ink jet and attached. As described above, the method of providing the image protective layer after the image formation is not preferable in terms of the number of manufacturing steps. With either method, to obtain high image quality,
There are merits and demerits, and it is not possible to obtain what is comparable to the print with silver salt color sensitive material.

[0006]

In the method of using a mordant of an ink dye in the ink image receiving layer, it is necessary to fix the ink dye and at the same time to perform absorption treatment at the same speed as the fixing speed. As one of the methods, there is a method of using an absorption layer containing an inorganic pigment, but it is insufficient, and blurring and stains of an image are likely to occur, and there is a problem in hue and storability of a dye. There is also a method using an adsorbing inorganic pigment of an ink dye. This method can form images of higher image quality than the polymer using the mordant, but is inferior in glossiness of the image surface, image strength, and storability. As a method for solving these problems, there is a method of using a thermoplastic resin or a latex thereof in the ink image receiving layer, particularly a method of providing an image protective layer on the ink image receiving layer. This method impairs the ink permeability, and the image quality, surface glossiness, and the physical strength of the coating surface as a recording material are insufficient.

The object of the present invention is to remedy these deficiencies,
An ink jet image recording material capable of continuously and efficiently recording images by an ink jet method based on image information, and particularly capable of recording a high quality image comparable to a print obtained by a silver salt color sensitive material, and the same It is to provide an image recording method using.

[0008]

The above-mentioned objects of the present invention are achieved by the following inventions. (1) An inkjet image recording material having an ink image receiving layer containing at least an ink receiving inorganic pigment on a support, wherein an uppermost layer of the inkjet image recording material contains a wetting agent. Image recording material. (2) The wetting agent is selected from glycol, glycerin, and derivatives thereof.
The inkjet image recording material described in 1. (3) The inkjet image recording material according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the uppermost layer contains gelatin and / or modified gelatin and a cross-linking curing agent for these. (4) The inkjet image recording material according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the uppermost layer contains a hydrophilic polymer. (5) The inkjet image recording material according to claim 4, wherein the hydrophilic polymer is selected from cellulose derivatives. (6) Input image information representing an image to be recorded on the image recording material, eject recording droplets from the ejection port of the recording head based on the input image information, and attach the recording droplets to the image recording material. An inkjet image recording method for recording an image on an image recording material, wherein the image recording material is the inkjet image recording material according to any one of claims 1 to 5. (7) The inkjet image recording method according to claim 6, wherein the recording liquid is ejected from the ejection port of the recording head to record an image on the image recording material, and then the image recording material is dried by heating. . (8) The image recording material is preliminarily loaded in a roll shape, conveyed, continuously recorded images, and while a plurality of images are continuously recorded on the recording material, an event that hinders image recording may occur. The process according to claim 6 or 7, wherein whether or not it has occurred is monitored, and when it is determined that the event has occurred, processing for removing and correcting the failure or the event is performed. Inkjet recording method.

According to the ink jet image recording material of (1), the wetting agent contained in the uppermost layer enhances the ink permeability and improves the glossiness of the surface and the image quality. According to the inkjet image recording material of (2), by using a moistening agent selected from glycol, glycerin, and derivatives thereof, it is possible to more effectively enhance the ink permeability and improve the surface glossiness. Improve image quality. According to the inkjet image recording material of (3), by combining gelatin and / or modified gelatin with a cross-linking hardening agent thereof together with a wetting agent, not only the permeability of ink is effectively enhanced but also the adhesiveness is improved. And also the physical strength of the image,
Improves weather resistance of images and film storability. According to the inkjet image recording material of (4), the hydrophilic polymer is used together with the wetting agent to effectively enhance the ink permeability and further improve the image fixing speed (ink drying property). Improve image quality. According to the inkjet image recording material of (5), by using a hydrophilic polymer selected from cellulose derivatives, the permeability of the ink is more effectively increased, and the image fixing speed (ink drying property) is further improved. To improve the image quality.
According to the inkjet image recording method of (6), an image can be continuously and efficiently recorded by an inkjet method based on image information, and an image having a high image quality comparable to a print obtained by a silver salt color sensitive material can be obtained. Can be recorded as According to the inkjet image recording method of (7), the ink is quickly dried and the film is cured by heating and drying after recording the image by recording liquid droplets ejected from the recording head. According to the inkjet image recording method of (8), the above (1) to (5)
By using the inkjet image recording material of No. 1, it is possible to compactly load the inkjet recording material in a roll shape without causing adhesion and scratching the image surface, and transporting a plurality of images to the image recording material continuously. Even if an event that interferes with the image recording occurs during recording, this is detected, and the obstacle of the image recording is removed, or the event that is the obstacle itself is removed. It is possible to prevent a long time of image recording by recording a large number of images with improper image quality after the occurrence of an elephant or by the occurrence of the above-mentioned phenomenon. It is possible to achieve high performance and improvement in the ratio of proper images. In addition, as an event that interferes with image recording,
For example, an image recording disorder (specifically, a clogging of the ejection port of the recording head, a decrease in the ejection amount of recording droplets from the ejection port of the recording head, or other event), a vacancy in a storage unit for storing image information. There is a decrease in capacity. Further, it should be recorded on the image recording material by performing an image processing on the original image information representing the original image to be recorded on the image recording material and the original image information acquired by the acquiring means. In a configuration further provided with image processing means for generating image information representing an image and outputting the generated image information to the recording means, as an event that obstructs the image recording, for example, the malfunction of the acquisition means, the acquisition means This includes acquisition of defective original image information and malfunction of image processing by the image processing means.
In the present invention, at least one of the above events
Monitor whether two events have occurred. Then, when it is determined that the event has occurred, processing for removing the failure or the event is performed.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. The inkjet image recording material of the present invention is an inkjet image recording material having an ink image receiving layer containing at least one layer of an ink receiving inorganic pigment, wherein the uppermost layer of the inkjet image recording material contains a wetting agent. And

The ink jet image recording material of the present invention comprises
On the ink image receiving layer, (1) a mode having only an image protective layer, (2) a mode having an image protective layer and an overcoat layer, (3) a mode having only an overcoat layer, (4) having these layers The layer configuration is such that it does not exist, but it is desirable that the ink image receiving layer has an image protective layer and an overcoat layer. Moreover, it is desirable that the overcoat layer is formed of two or more layers.

The wetting agent is contained in the uppermost layer in the layer constitution of these forms. Therefore, when the outermost side of the inkjet image recording material is the ink image receiving layer, the ink image receiving layer contains a wetting agent, and when the outermost side is the image protective layer, the image protecting layer contains a wetting agent and the outermost side is In the case of the overcoat layer, the overcoat layer contains a wetting agent. When an overcoat layer is provided on the ink image receiving layer, it is desirable that at least two overcoat layers are formed and a wetting agent is contained in the outermost overcoat layer.

The humectant refers to a component having a property of making ink easily wet. In the present invention, polyhydric alcohol or a derivative thereof, glycerol or a derivative thereof, glycerol or a derivative thereof, glycerin or a derivative thereof, diethylene glycol, or triethylene glycol is used. Ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, monobutyl ether,
Examples thereof include derivatives such as triethysan glycol and monobutyl ether. In the layer containing these wetting agents, the permeability of the ink is promoted and the drying rate of the ink is increased,
To improve the transportability of the image recording material.

In the present invention, an appropriate amount of the wetting agent contained in the uppermost layer may be added in a small amount, and the wetting agent may be added to the binder in an amount of 20.
When the content is less than or equal to% by mass, even if the material is stored in a roll form, adhesion of the material is not caused and scratches are not given to the image surface, the permeability of the ink is promoted, and the drying speed of the ink is increased, so that the image recording material It is preferable from the viewpoint that the transportability of can be improved. It is more preferably 2 to 18% by mass, and even more preferably 5 to 15% by mass based on the binder. If the wetting agent is added to the uppermost layer in an amount of more than 20% by weight, adhesion may occur and the image surface may be easily scratched while the material is stored in a roll form. In addition,
In the case of an overcoat layer composed of two layers, it is preferable to add 5 to 30% by weight of the layer weight to the overcoat layer as the lower layer.

In the present invention, the uppermost layer containing a wetting agent may further contain gelatin and / or modified gelatin and a cross-linking hardening agent thereof, only to effectively enhance the ink permeability. It is also preferable from the viewpoints of enhancing the adhesiveness, and further, the physical strength and storability of the image. At least a part of these crosslinking curing agents is contained in the uppermost layer as a crosslinking reaction product. More preferably, when a hydrophilic polymer is mixed, the permeability of the ink can be effectively increased, and further, the image fixing speed (ink drying property) can be improved, and thus the image quality can be improved.

As the gelatin, photographic gelatin can be used, and there are acid-treated gelatin having a relatively large amount of cationic components, lime-treated gelatin having a relatively large amount of anionic components, and the like, and it is preferably selected according to the ink characteristics. Examples of modified gelatin include acylated gelatin, for example, modified gelatin with trimellitic anhydride, and esterified gelatin having a COO group to change the chargeability of gelatin. By mixing this modified gelatin with gelatin, the ink receptivity and the swelling property can be adjusted. Physical strength or plasticity can be adjusted by mixing gelatin such as a copolymer of methyl methacrylate and gelatin. Mixing weight ratio with gelatin is 2% to 20
% Is preferred. The crosslinking curing agent is a sulfonate ester type curing agent used for photography, such as bis (methanesulfonate), bis (vinylsulfonyl) methane, S, etc.
-Triazine hardeners such as 2,4-dichloro-6-
Hydroxytriazine, T, H, Jones edition
The Theory of the photogr
Inorganic or organic hardeners described in Chapter 3 of the fourth chapter of the apic process are used. The cross-linking hardening agent is 0.01 to 0.
It is advisable to add an amount of 1% by weight. The hydrophilic polymer is preferably a cellulose derivative. Examples include anionic cellulose ethers, anionic cellulose ethers, cationic cellulose ethers, and particularly polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinylpyrrolidone and sulfonated polyesters.

1 (a) and 1 (b) are cross-sectional views of essential parts showing a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1
In (a) and (b), 2 is a support, 4 is an undercoat layer,
6 is an ink image receiving layer, 8 is an image protective layer, and 10 is an overcoat layer.

-Image recording material- [Support] As the support in the image recording material of the present invention, both a transparent support made of a transparent material such as plastic and an opaque support made of an opaque material such as paper are used. it can. In order to make the most of the transparency of the colorant receiving layer, it is preferable to use a transparent support or a highly glossy opaque support.

As a material that can be used for the transparent support, a material that is transparent and has the property of withstanding radiant heat when used in an OHP or backlight display is preferable. Examples of the material include polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET); polysulfone,
Examples thereof include polyphenylene oxide, polyimide, polycarbonate and polyamide. Among them, polyesters are preferable, and polyethylene terephthalate is particularly preferable. The thickness of the transparent support is not particularly limited, but is preferably 50 to 200 μm in terms of handleability.

As the highly glossy opaque support, it is preferable that the surface on the side where the ink image receiving layer is provided has a glossiness of 40% or more. The glossiness is JIS P-
8142 (value of 75 ° specular gloss test method for paper and paperboard). In particular,
The following supports may be mentioned.

For example, high gloss paper supports such as art paper, coated paper, cast coated paper, and baryta paper used for silver salt photographic supports; polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET); nitrocellulose. Cellulose esters such as cellulose acetate and cellulose acetate butyrate, and plastic films such as polysulfone, polyphenylene oxide, polyimide, polycarbonate and polyamide are made opaque by containing a white pigment and the like (may be subjected to surface calendering treatment). High-gloss film; or a high-gloss film containing the various paper supports, the transparent support, or the white pigment is provided with a coating layer of polyolefin containing or not containing a white pigment. Support. Further, a white pigment-containing expanded polyester film (for example, expanded PET in which polyolefin fine particles are contained and voids are formed by stretching) can also be preferably mentioned.

The support may be corona discharge treated,
Those subjected to glow discharge treatment, flame treatment, ultraviolet irradiation treatment and the like may be used.

The polyethylene covering the front and back surfaces of the base paper is mainly low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and / or
Alternatively, high density polyethylene (HDPE) may be used, but other LLDPE, polypropylene or the like may be partially used.

In particular, the polyethylene layer on the side where the ink image receiving layer is formed has opacity and whiteness by adding rutile or anatase type titanium oxide to polyethylene, as is widely used in photographic printing paper. Those improved are preferable. Here, the content of titanium oxide is preferably about 3 to 20% by weight with respect to polyethylene, and 4-1.
3% by weight is more preferred.

The polyethylene-coated paper can be used as a glossy paper, or when a polyethylene is melt-extruded on the surface of a base paper for coating, a so-called embossing treatment is performed to obtain a matt surface or a matte surface which can be obtained by ordinary photographic printing paper. It is also possible to use those having a silk surface.

In the present invention, in order to obtain the quality of the image recording material equivalent to that of the silver salt color sensitive material, the whiteness and smoothness of the current baryta paper or WP (support in which both sides of the base paper are coated with thermoplastic resin) are required. High substrates should be used. Further, it is preferable to use a substrate in which the support itself has an oxygen barrier property after image formation.

[Undercoat layer] In the undercoat layer, a hydrophilic resin such as polyvinyl alcohol or a modified product thereof, gelatin or a modified product thereof, which has good adhesion between the surface of the support and the ink image-receiving layer, is used. Alternatively, a thermoplastic resin latex or the like may be mixed. By providing such an undercoat layer, it is possible to improve the adhesion between the support and the ink image receiving layer and the water absorbency. Further, a white pigment such as barium sulfate, a fluorescent whitening agent, an antioxidant and a light stabilizer can be mixed in the undercoat layer.

[Ink image-receiving layer] A layer having a function of absorbing an ink applied by an ink jet with a small amount of bleeding, adsorbing and fixing or insolubilizing a dye to hold an image.
A layer (ink absorption layer) for enhancing solvent absorption of the ink, fixing the image forming dye in a specific layer, and absorbing the solvent closer to the support to obtain an image with less bleeding and beading. It is preferable to provide a multi-layered structure for strengthening the fixation of the dye. It is preferable to use an inorganic pigment that mainly adsorbs a dye (ink-receptive inorganic pigment), a mordant that fixes a dye, etc., and a surfactant that is a binder that has good ink permeability and does not inhibit dye adsorption or fixation. is there. Further, it is preferable to use a thermoplastic resin latex that protects an image. Further, it may have a porous structure in order to maintain ink permeability.

As a mordant for fixing a dye, US Pat.
The cationic polymers described in No. 474,943 can be used. Further, it is preferable to have a multilayer structure as described in US Pat. No. 5,789,070. Preferred mordants are water-soluble cationic polymers having a solubility of at least 30 g / l, such as diethylammonium chloride hydroxyethyl cellulose (c
elquant L-200 and celquant L-
100 National Starch aChem
ical company). Preferred are a cationic modified cellulose ether, an epoxy-substituted trimethylammonium chloride or a reaction product of dodecyldimethylammonium chloride and hydroxyethyl cellulose, and the like. Further, as the binder, a hydrophilic biopolymer that does not impair the ink receptivity, for example, those described in JP-A-61-110483, or a cationic polyvinyl alcohol or a copolymer thereof can be used.

As the inorganic pigment that adsorbs the dye, silica,
Known materials such as calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, diatomaceous earth, calcium silicate, colloidal silica, alumina, pseudo-boehmite, colloidal alumina, and alumina hydrate are used. Alumina hydrate, silica, colloidal silica and the like are particularly preferable. These inorganic pigments are formed in a void shape in the ink image receiving layer to adsorb the dye and prevent ink bleeding.

The alumina hydrate can be produced by a known method such as hydrolysis of aluminum alkoxide and hydrolysis of sodium aluminate. The shape thereof is not particularly limited, such as cilia, needle, plate, or spindle, and may or may not have orientation. As the alumina hydrate, those commercially available or those processed from their raw materials can be used, and the characteristics of these alumina hydrates are transparency, gloss, and dye fixing property. It is even better if it is expensive and does not cause cracks during film formation and has good coatability. Examples of commercially available products include, for example, "AS-2" and "AS" manufactured by Catalyst Kasei Co., Ltd.
-3 ”,“ 520 ”manufactured by Nissan Chemical Co., Ltd., and the like. These alumina hydrates usually have a fine particle size of 1 μm or less and have excellent dispersibility, and therefore can impart very good smoothness and gloss to the image recording material. .

The binder for binding the inorganic pigment can be freely selected from water-soluble polymers. For example, polyvinyl alcohol or a modified product thereof,
Starch or a modified product thereof, gelatin or a modified product thereof, casein or a modified product thereof, gum arabic, cellulose derivatives such as carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose, SBR latex, NBR latex, methyl methacrylate-butadiene copolymer, etc. Conjugated diene-based copolymer latex, functional group-modified polymer latex, vinyl-based copolymer latex such as ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, polyvinylpyrrolidone, and acrylate copolymer are preferable. These binders may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

The mixing ratio of the inorganic pigment (especially alumina hydrate) and the binder is a weight ratio, preferably 1: 1 to 35:
1, more preferably from 5: 1 to 30: 1. When the amount of the binder is less than the above range, the mechanical strength of the ink image receiving layer may be insufficient, and cracking or powder falling tends to occur. But,
This tendency can be reduced by providing an image protective layer or an overcoat layer described below on the ink image receiving layer. Further, when the mixing ratio of the inorganic pigment, particularly alumina hydrate and the binder is higher than the above range, the pore volume becomes small and the ink absorbability may be lowered.

The coating liquid for forming the ink image receiving layer contains, in addition to the alumina hydrate and the binder, a dispersant, a thickener, a pH adjusting agent, a lubricant, a fluidity modifier, if necessary. It is also possible to add a surface active agent, a defoaming agent, a water resistance agent, a release agent, an optical brightening agent, an ultraviolet absorber, an antioxidant and the like.

The coating amount of the inorganic pigment (especially alumina hydrate) on the substrate is 10 in order to have dye fixing property.
g / m ² or more, when the substrate has no ink absorbency, and more preferably in the range of 30 to 50 g / m ² as coated amount, if the substrate has an ink absorbency, as coating weight Is more preferably in the range of 20 to 40 g / m ² . The coating / drying method is not particularly limited, but the alumina hydrate and the binder may be subjected to a baking treatment, if necessary. By performing such a baking treatment, the binder cross-linking strength is increased, and the mechanical strength of the ink receiving layer is improved,
Also, the surface gloss of the alumina hydrate layer is improved.

As the inorganic pigment, silica or colloidal silica may be used in the same porous structure as the alumina hydrate. In this case, as a binder,
For example, cation-modified polyvinyl alcohol or a copolymer thereof can be used in addition to the binder as described in JP-A-61-110483.

The ink image receiving layer may contain thermoplastic resin particles. After the ink penetrates the porous ink image-receiving layer containing thermoplastic resin particles, it is made non-porous to fix the ink, and the weather resistance such as water resistance and light resistance becomes good, and the image becomes glossy. It can be added and the printed matter can be stored for a long time.

Heat treatment is preferable as a method for making the ink image-receiving layer non-porous, and the heat-treatment temperature is preferably at least the flow temperature of the thermoplastic resin particles contained in the ink image-receiving layer, and is the lowest. Film formation temperature (MFT)
It is more preferable to heat above, and these temperatures are
It is arbitrarily selected depending on the type of thermoplastic resin. The minimum film forming temperature (MFT) is a temperature at which the image protective layer is formed into a transparent film by heat treatment, and depends on the processing time.

[Image Protecting Layer] The image protecting layer preferably forms a porous resin layer using a thermoplastic resin latex, and the latex preferably has a specific particle distribution. By providing this image protective layer, the physical strength of the ink image receiving layer, the durability of the image, and the weather resistance can be particularly improved.

The particle distribution of the thermoplastic resin latex is important for forming the porous resin layer of the thermoplastic resin latex as the image protective layer. Therefore, the average particle diameter of the thermoplastic resin latex is preferably 0.1 to 10 μm, more preferably 0.3 to 5 μm.
m, more preferably 0.3 to 3 μm. The distribution is preferably a monodisperse distribution, and a latex having uniform particles such that 90% or more of the particles are in the range of ± 2/3, preferably ± 1/3 of the average particle size is preferable. In particular, it is preferable that fine particles of the thermoplastic resin latex do not enter. The thermoplastic resin latex has a particle solid content of about 1
It is preferably about 0 to 60% by weight, and it is desirable that the transparent resin film is formed by heating without impairing ink permeability.

The thermoplastic resin latex has a Tg of resin when an overcoat layer to be described later is provided on the image protective layer.
Regardless of the above, it is compatible with the processing temperature when forming the image protective layer, and preferably 10 ° C. higher than the processing temperature when forming the image protective layer
A high minimum film forming temperature (MFT) is preferable, for example, 50 ° C. or higher, preferably 60 ° C. or higher.
At these processing temperatures, the image protective layer is formed while maintaining the state of the porous layer containing the thermoplastic particles, and the ink penetrating from the overcoat layer can be adsorbed and fixed to the ink image receiving layer.

The thermoplastic resin latex is preferably a resin having a property of being non-porous by heat treatment during image recording, forming a film, and protecting an image, particularly a resin containing a component having high ultraviolet absorption. For example, vinyl chloride type, vinylidene chloride type, styrene type, acrylic type, urethane type, polyester type, ethylene type material or vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate type, vinyl chloride-acrylic type, vinyl chloride-vinylidene chloride type, Vinylidene chloride-acrylic, S
Examples include BR-based and NBR-based latexes, and latexes of copolymers of two or more of these, such as SBR-based / NBR-based mixtures and vinyl chloride-acrylic-based / vinyl acetate-based latexes. The content of the component containing the conjugated double bond component is preferably 50% or less.

For the image protective layer, silica gel or the like is preferably mixed in the image protective layer in an amount of 10 to 30% by weight. The inclusion of silica gel or the like in the image protective layer has the effects of enhancing the adhesion between the image protective layer and the ink image receiving layer, preventing beading, and improving the sharpness of the image.

The image protective layer contains a hydrophilic binder used in the ink image receiving layer for the purpose of optimizing the adhesion with the ink image receiving layer or improving the sharpness of the image. It is desirable to add it also to the protective layer. In particular, this binder is preferably selected from hydrophilic polymers having good adhesion and absorption with ink. For example, polyvinyl alcohol, a modified polyvinylpyrrolidone thereof, gelatin or a modified product thereof, casein or a modified product thereof, polyethylene oxide, polyacrylic acid, polyacrylamide, carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, a derivative thereof such as hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose, etc., alone or in combination. The seeds can be mixed and used. It is also possible to mix 10 to 30% by weight of colloidal silica with the binder in order to enhance the ink adhesion and absorbability and improve the image quality.

In the image protective layer, a cross-linking curing agent for the binder, for example, dimethylhydantoin, glutaraldehyde for gelatin, other curing agents described above, and for polyvinyl alcohol, borate or formaldehyde-urea resin, etc. Can be used. A wetting agent can also be added and used.

[Overcoat Layer] At least one overcoat layer is provided on the ink image receiving layer or the image protective layer. By providing the overcoat layer on the ink image-receiving layer and the image-protecting layer, the surface glossiness and the ink adhesion, which become defects of the layers below (ink-image-receiving layer and image-protecting layer), the weather resistance of the image, and the preservation resistance The sex can be improved. Further, by providing the overbar coat layer, even a thin film has good adhesion and absorption with respect to the ink and transparency, and improves the sharpness of the image. Further, the transportability can be improved in combination with the setting of the back coat layer. In particular, by forming a hardened gelatin layer containing a cross-linking hardener as the overcoat layer, it protects the image while being hydrophilic and has a surprisingly improved effect on weather resistance and storage stability. Further, when used in combination with another layer, the effect can be synergistically exerted on the weather resistance of the image and the improvement of the image quality.

The overcoat layer contains a hydrophilic polymer as a binder, especially a polymer having ink receptivity, preferably a cross-linking curing agent and a lubricant thereof, and if necessary, a thickener, a pH adjuster and a flow agent. A sex changing agent, a surfactant, an antifoaming agent, a release agent, a fluorescent whitening agent, an ultraviolet absorber, an antioxidant and the like can be added.

At least one of the overcoat layers comprises
It is preferable that the ink solvent-permeable gelatin and / or modified gelatin and its cross-linking curing agent are contained. Each material is the same as that described above.

When the overcoat layer has an image protective layer, it is 0.01 or more and 1.0 or less in thickness as compared with the image protective layer.
The following is desirable. When the thickness of the overcoat layer is less than 0.01 of the protective layer, the function of protecting the image protective layer is low, and when it is greater than 1, the function of permeating the ink into the image protective layer is likely to deteriorate. The thickness of the overcoat layer is more preferably 1/20 to 2/5 of the image protective layer, further preferably 0.1 to 1 μm, particularly preferably 0.2 to 0.5 μm. When the overcoat layer is formed on the ink image receiving layer surface, the thickness of the overcoat layer is preferably 0.1 to 5 μm, more preferably 0.1 to 3 μm.

[Back Layer] In the ink jet image recording material of the present invention, a back layer may be provided on the back surface of the surface having the ink image receiving layer, if necessary. It is desirable to coat the back layer with a waterproof resin latex, a matting agent of inorganic fine particles, a fluororesin, a lubricant, a surfactant and the like. In particular, it is preferable to provide the back layer described in Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-277003. By providing the back coat layer, the transportability of the image recording material can be improved.

-Inkjet image recording method-The inkjet image recording method of the present invention uses the above-mentioned inkjet type image recording material. Image information representing an image to be recorded on the image recording material is inputted and inputted. Based on the image information, a recording droplet is ejected from the ejection port of the recording head, the recording droplet is attached to the image recording material, and an image is recorded on the image recording material.

In particular, it is preferable that the image recording material is heated and dried after recording the image on the image recording material by discharging the recording liquid droplets from the discharge port of the recording head. This heat treatment is preferably carried out under the temperature condition and treatment time necessary for making the ink image-receiving layer composed of a porous layer containing thermoplastic resin particles non-porous. The ink has good weather resistance such as water resistance and light resistance, can give gloss to the image and is printed, and the ink that has permeated the ink image-receiving layer of the porous layer is made non-porous to form an ink image-receiving layer. By adsorbing and fixing it inside, the printed matter can be stored for a long time.

The heat treatment temperature at this time is preferably not less than the flow temperature of the thermoplastic resin particles, more preferably not less than the minimum film forming temperature (MFT). The membrane temperature (MFT) is
It is the temperature at which the image protection layer, which is mainly used, becomes transparent by heat treatment, and also depends on the processing time.

The heat treatment temperature is preferably such that the image protective layer is made non-porous and transparent at the same time. In this case, the T of the resin of the thermoplastic resin particles constituting the image protective layer is made transparent.
film forming temperature (MFT) of g and thermoplastic resin latex
It is desirable to use a resin latex having a difference of 10 ° C. or less.

As means for applying such an image recording method, it is desirable to have at least means for printing the ink on the image recording material of the present invention and then heat-treating the printed image recording material at a predetermined temperature. .

The ink jet type image recording material according to the present invention is preferably used for recording a high quality color image. In this case, the image recording device is a device having the above-mentioned heat treatment means, and the image obtained by the development processing system of the silver halide photographic light-sensitive material, the image information obtained from the high quality color digital camera, etc. In particular, it is preferably used for an image recording system which records continuously by an inkjet method. For example, Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-361518
It is preferably used as a recording material of the image recording apparatus described in 1.

As means for applying such an image recording method, it is desirable to have at least means for printing the ink on the image recording material of the present invention and then heat-treating the printed image recording material at a predetermined temperature. The image recording material may be in a sheet form or a roll form, but the inkjet recording image recording material in a roll form is wound and the inkjet recording image recording material in a roll form is continuously or intermittently formed. While sending it to
A printable image recording system is desirable.

Further, the ink jet type image recording material according to the present invention is preferably used for recording a high quality color image. In this case, the image recording apparatus has the above-mentioned heat treatment means, and can be loaded with a roll-shaped inkjet recording image recording material, and printing can be performed while the roll-shaped inkjet recording image recording material is sent out. An image recording apparatus, particularly an image recording method for continuously recording by an inkjet method based on an image obtained by a development processing system of a silver halide photographic material and image information obtained by a high quality color digital camera or the like. It is preferably used in a system. Further, in an image recording system for continuously recording, it is monitored whether or not an event that hinders image recording has occurred, particularly while continuously recording a plurality of images on a recording material, and It is preferable that a system be provided that performs processing for removing and correcting the fault or the event when it is determined that the fault has occurred. For example, it can be used as a recording material of the image recording apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-361518.

This image recording apparatus, as shown in FIG.
As an input device for inputting image data, a film scanner 12, a media driver 14, and an image data receiving device 16 are respectively provided, and an image processing device 18 for processing the image data input from the input device is provided. As an output device that outputs image data (or an image) that has been processed by the device 18, an inkjet printer 20 that records an image by an inkjet recording method is provided.

The media driver 14 is a magnetic disk such as a floppy (R) disk (FD) or a CD-R.
Of various information storage media such as optical disks such as optical disks, magneto-optical disks (MO), PC cards and smart media that can be loaded in digital still cameras (DSC), IC cards (hereinafter, these are collectively referred to as "digital camera cards"). Either one is set, and the image data stored in the set information storage medium is read and output. The image data receiving device 16 is connected to a computer network such as the Internet, receives R, G, B image data from an information processing device (for example, a personal computer (PC)) via the computer network, and receives the image data. Output the image data.

The film scanner 12 uses the photographic film 3
8 (For example, a negative image or a positive image visualized by developing after photographing a subject, which is recorded on a photographic light-sensitive material (hereinafter simply referred to as photographic film) such as a negative film or a reversal film) Is read out and the image data obtained by the reading is output, and the light emitted from the LED light source 30 and having the light amount unevenness reduced by the light diffusion box 34 is reflected on the photographic film 38 set on the film carrier 36. The light irradiated and transmitted through the photographic film 38 is configured to form an image on the light receiving surface of the area CCD sensor 42 (may be a line CCD sensor) via the lens 40.

The film carrier 36 intermittently conveys the photographic film 38 so that the film image is sequentially positioned on the optical axis (reading position) of the light emitted from the LED light source 30. The LED light source 30 includes a large number of LEDs that emit R light,
A large number of LEDs that emit G light, a large number of LEDs that emit B light, and a large number of LEDs that emit IR light are arranged on the entire surface of a substrate (not shown) at a constant and high density. It is driven by a driver (not shown) so as to sequentially emit R, G, and B lights while one image is located at the reading position.

As a result, the film images recorded on the photographic film 38 are sequentially read by the CCD sensor 42, and the CCD sensor 42 outputs R, G, B, and IR signals corresponding to the film image. The signal output from the CCD sensor 42 is converted into digital image data by the A / D converter 44 and input to the image processing device 18. The film scanner 12 is provided with a scanner control unit 28, and the operation of each unit of the film scanner 12 is controlled by the scanner control unit 28.
Further, each film image may be read a plurality of times (for example, a prescan for reading a film image at a relatively low resolution and a fine scan for reading a film image at a relatively high resolution).

Further, as the input device according to the present embodiment,
The above-described film scanner 12 is a reflection-type scanner that reads a reflection original (for example, color paper on which an image is recorded) and outputs the image data obtained by the reading.
It may be provided separately. As this reflection type scanner, a scanner provided with an automatic supply mechanism that automatically and sequentially supplies a plurality of reflection originals to a reading unit of the scanner so that a plurality of reflection originals can be automatically and continuously read It is preferable to use.

The film scanner 12, the media driver 14, and the image data receiving device 16 are connected to the image processing device 18.
Image data output from these image data input devices are input to the pre-processing unit 44. The preprocessing unit 44 performs different predetermined preprocessing on the input image data depending on the image data input source. Examples of preprocessing for the image data input from the film scanner 12 include dark correction, density conversion, shading correction, defective pixel correction, and the like. Also,
Examples of preprocessing for the image data input from the media driver 14 include decompression of image data compressed and recorded in an information storage medium and image processing such as sharpness improvement. Further, as the preprocessing for the image data input from the image data receiving device 16, for example, decompression of the compressed image data (for example, JPEG format image data) received by the image data receiving device 16 can be cited.

The pre-processing unit 44 is connected to the image processing unit 48 via the image memory 46, and the image data subjected to the pre-processing by the pre-processing unit 44 is temporarily stored in the image memory 46 and then the image processing unit 48. The data is read by 48 and input to the image processing unit 48. Based on the image data read from the image memory 46, the image processing unit 48 automatically determines the processing conditions of various image processing for the image data by calculation (setup calculation).

The image processing executed by the image processing unit 48 includes, for example, gray balance adjustment of the image, density adjustment, gradation control, hypertone processing for compressing the gradation of the ultra-low frequency luminance component of the image, and granularity. Hyper sharpness processing that enhances sharpness while suppressing IR, IR
The image processing for improving the image quality of the output image, such as the defect portion correction processing for correcting the defect portion of the image data due to the scratches on the photographic film or the adhesion of foreign matter on the basis of the data of 1. In addition, image processing that intentionally changes the image tone (for example, image processing that finishes the output image to portrait tone) and image processing that processes the image (for example, make a person present in the original image slender on the output image). Image processing such as image processing for finishing) may be executable.

The image processing unit 48 also performs various image processing on the image data read from the image memory 46 according to the processing conditions determined by the setup calculation.
The image processing unit 48 is connected to the image data storage unit 54 of the inkjet printer 20, and the image data for which various image processes have been completed is transferred to the image data storage unit 54 as recording image data and temporarily stored.

The image processing device 18 includes a CPU, RO
The M, the RAM, and the input / output port are connected to each other via a bus, and the input / output port includes a PC having a storage device such as a hard disk device (HDD). CRT5 is used for the input / output port of the PC.
0 and an input device 52 including a keyboard and a mouse are connected. The preprocessing unit 44 and the image processing unit 4 described above
8 can be realized, for example, by causing a PC to execute a predetermined program, but may be configured to include dedicated hardware that executes various image processes.

Further, by performing image processing on the image data based on the processing conditions of the image processing obtained by the setup calculation, and outputting the image data after the image processing to the CRT 50, a simulation in which the finish of the output image is estimated. By displaying the image on the CRT 50, the operator verifies the processing condition obtained by the setup calculation, and when the correction of the processing condition is instructed through the input device 52, the processing condition is corrected according to the instruction. You may

On the other hand, the image data storage unit 54 of the ink jet printer 20 is connected to a printer control unit 56 including a microcomputer. The printer control unit 56 is the scanner control unit 2 of the film scanner 12.
8. Connected to the image processing unit 48 of the image processing device 18. A recording head 60 is connected to the printer control unit 56 via a driver 58, and a recording material conveying unit 62, a heating processing unit 64, and an image reading unit 66 are also connected.

As shown in FIG. 3, the ink jet printer 20 has a housing 20A having a substantially box shape.
At one end of A, a long image recording material 70 is provided on the reel 7
The magazine 72 to be stored while being wound around 2A is set. In a state where the magazine 72 is set in the housing 20A, the reel 72A is connected to the pullout / conveyance motor via a speed reduction mechanism (all are not shown), and is rotated by driving the pullout / conveyance motor. As a result, the image recording material 70 is pulled out from the magazine 72.

The image recording material 70 drawn out from the magazine 72 is directed to the other end side of the housing 20A by a pair of conveying rollers 74, 76, 78, 80, 82 arranged on the downstream side in the drawing direction of the image recording material 70. Be transported. The conveying roller pair 74 is rotationally driven by the driving force of the pull-out conveying motor, and the conveying roller pairs 76, 78, 80, 82 are rotationally driven by the driving force of the synchronous conveying motor (not shown).

A loop forming mechanism (not shown) is provided between the conveying roller pairs 74 and 76, and a loop of the image recording material 70 is formed between the conveying roller pairs 74 and 76 by this loop forming mechanism. . In the vicinity of the loop forming position, loop sensors 84 composed of a pair of a light emitting element and a light receiving element facing each other across the loop forming position are provided at two different height positions.

Pull-out transport motor, synchronous transport motor, loop forming mechanism, and transport roller pairs 74, 76, 78, 8
Reference numerals 0 and 82 constitute the recording material conveying section 62, and the printer control section 56 records the loop sensor 84 located on the upper side after the loop of the image recording material 70 is once formed by the loop forming mechanism. When the loop of the material 70 is not detected (the light emitted from the light emitting element is received by the light receiving element without being shielded by the recording material), the pulling / conveying motor is driven to drive the reel 72A and the conveying roller pair. By rotating 74, the drawing of the image recording material 70 from the magazine 72 is started, and when the loop sensor 84 located on the lower side detects the loop of the image recording material 70 (the light emitted from the light emitting element is When the light receiving element does not receive light because it is shielded by the lowermost part of the loop of the recording material 70), the drive of the drawer transport motor is stopped and the magazine is stopped. It repeated stopping the withdrawal of the image recording material 70 from 2.

By forming the above loop, the image recording material 70 can be conveyed asynchronously with the drawing of the image recording material 70 from the magazine 72 on the downstream side of the loop. For this reason, the printer control unit (not shown) is configured so that the image recording material 7 by the recording head 60 is provided on the downstream side of the loop.
In order to convey the image recording material 70 in synchronism with the image recording on 0, the synchronous conveying motor is driven to convey the conveying roller pair 7.
6, 78, 80, 82 are driven to rotate.

A recording head 60 is arranged above the pair of conveying rollers 76 and 78. The recording head 60 is arranged near the conveyance path of the image recording material 70. A cutter 100 for cutting the long image recording material 70 in units of individual information is provided on the downstream side of the conveying roller 82. The image recording material 70 cut for each image by the cutter 100 is the tray 10 provided in the housing 20A.
It is discharged to 2. In addition, 86 is an image surface pressure roll, 8
8 and 90 are platens.

Inks (for example, C, M, Y, and BK) of different colors are stored in a plurality of main tanks (not shown), and are supplied to each nozzle row through the ink chambers. As a result, the inks of different colors are ejected from the nozzles of each recording head 60 for each nozzle row.

A 3-line CCD sensor (an area sensor may be used) 98 for reading a color image (output image) recorded on the image recording material 70 is arranged between the conveying rollers 80 and 82. There is. The CCD sensor 98 constitutes a part of the image reading unit, and the image signal output from the CCD sensor 98 is supplied to an amplifier included in the image reading unit.
An output image data representing an output image is input to the printer control unit through an A / D converter and a correction unit that performs correction such as dark correction.

On the other hand, as the ejection method for ejecting the ink from the nozzle, any of various known ejection methods can be adopted. For example, as a typical method, a piezoelectric element attached to an ink chamber is used. A pulse voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element to deform the piezoelectric element to change the ink fluid pressure in the ink chamber, and the change in ink fluid pressure is used to eject ink droplets from the nozzle. It is possible to employ a thermal method or the like in which the ink is heated by the heating element and the ink droplets are ejected from the nozzles by the bubbles generated in the ink chamber by the heating. The recording head 60 is also provided with a pump 112 that sucks ink in all the ink chambers inside the recording head 60 by generating a negative pressure in order to eliminate clogging of the nozzle ejection port.

When the image recording material of the present invention is applied to the image recording apparatus shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, after the image recording material is prepared, the long image recording material 70 is taken out from the magazine 72 and image recording is performed. When being conveyed through the apparatus, the image recording material 70 contains a wetting agent in at least one of the ink image receiving layer, the image protective layer and the overcoat layer except for the outermost layer, so that the ink permeability is promoted. , Surface gloss and image quality are improved. Further, after the ink is printed on the image recording material 70 from the recording head 60, the heat treatment unit 6
As a result of making the porosity non-porous by heating at 4, the surface quality and transparency of the surface of the image recording material 70 are improved, and the printed ink is adsorbed and fixed in the ink image receiving layer. Thus, the durability and weather resistance of the image recording material can be improved and the image can be sharpened.

[0082]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be shown. However, it is not limited to this. (Example 1) 1. Preparation of Inkjet Image Recording Material 1-1 Preparation of Support and Undercoat Layer A polyethylene double-sided laminated paper support (thickness 100 μm) having a structure generally used for producing color photographic paper was used. After subjecting this back surface to corona discharge treatment, an undercoat layer having a thickness of 0.2 μm was prepared by using a solution prepared by adding 0.3 wt% of an epoxy curing agent to a 5 wt% gelatin aqueous solution containing sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate. Was set up.

1-2 Preparation of Ink Image Receiving Layer An ink image receiving layer (porous inorganic pigment layer) was formed as follows. 100 parts by weight of boehmite sol having a crystal thickness in the (020) plane direction of 80 μm and a secondary agglomerated particle diameter of 1.5 to 4 μm synthesized by a hydrolysis method of aluminum isoproxide, and 11 parts by weight of polyvinyl alcohol Solid content) and water were added, and the coating liquid was applied onto the undercoat support to form a coating film (ink image receiving layer) having a dry film thickness of 30 μm. The coating film thus prepared was a transparent porous film having a pore size of the alumina hydrate porous layer of 50 mm.

1-3 Preparation of Image Protective Layer (1) -Acrylonitrile / vinylidene chloride / acrylic acid (mass ratio 15/79/6): Synthesis of (P-1) -230 g of (1) in a 400 ml eggplant-shaped flask. Distilled water, (2) 0.8 g Triton-770, (3) 1
2.34 g of acrylonitrile, (4) 4.93 g of acrylic acid, (5) 64.96 g of vinylidene chloride,
(6) 0.204 g of potassium metabisulfite and (7) 0.102 g of potassium persulfate were sequentially added.
The flask was sealed and shaken at 30 ° C. for 18 hours. The polymerization mixture was freed from volatile residual monomers for 15 minutes at room temperature under reduced pressure. (Tg: 46 ° C.) Sample (P-1) had an average particle size of 0.8 μm and had a particle size of 0.5 to 1.
It had a monodisperse distribution in which 90% or more of the particles were in the 1 μm diameter region. Microtrac UPA (manufactured by Nikkiso Co., Ltd.) was used to measure the particle size and distribution of the latex obtained by changing the amount of the emulsifier Triton-770 and the speed of shaking.
I chose the one that suits my purpose.

(2) Formation of Image Protective Layer (Comparative Sample a) Thermoplastic Resin Latex (Sample (P-
The coating liquid containing 1)) is adjusted to a thickness of about 5 μm by about 52 μm.
The ink image-receiving layer was coated and dried at 0 ° C. to form a porous latex resin layer as an image protective layer. This was used as a comparative image recording material sample a.

(Image recording material No. 1, 1) An overcoat layer was formed as follows. To a 5% by weight aqueous gelatin solution of alkali-processed gelatin as a binder, 0.03% by mass (to the binder) of bis (vinylsulfonyl) methane was added as a cross-linking hardening agent, and about 15% by mass (to the binder) of glycerol as a wetting agent. Was added and mixed, and this coating liquid was used to form a coating film on the surface of a comparative image recording material sample a, to obtain image recording materials No. 1 and 1 having an overcoat layer having a thickness of 0.6 μm.

(Image recording material No. 2, 2) An overcoat layer was formed as follows. Boron and borax were added to a 5% by weight gelatin aqueous solution of polyvinyl alcohol as a binder in a 1: 1 weight ratio aqueous solution so as to be 0.2% by weight with respect to the binder, and about 10% by weight as a wetting agent. Glycerol (to the binder) was added and mixed, and this coating liquid was used to form a coating film on the surface of the comparative image recording material sample a, and image recording material No. 2 having an overcoat layer having a thickness of about 1 μm. Got

(Image recording material No. 3) Image recording material N
Image recording was carried out in the same manner as in Image recording material No. 1 except that 20% by weight (to the binder) of a 1: 1 mixture of hydroxyethyl cellulose and carboxymethyl cellulose was added to the formation of the overcoat layer in No. Material N
o, 3 was obtained.

(Comparative image recording material sample b) Comparative image recording material No. 2 was prepared in the same manner as image recording material No. 2 except that the wetting agent was not used for forming the overcoat layer in the image recording materials No. 2 and 2. Sample b was obtained.

1-4 Evaluation In the image recording system shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, using these samples, a film having a color negative image using a color negative film suparia 400 manufactured by Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. was used. Image recording was performed using the sample in the image recording system shown in FIG. In addition,
In the heat treatment section, each sample was heat treated at 100 to 140 degrees. Each sample was evaluated according to the following criteria, and the results are shown in Table 1.

Image quality: The obtained image was visually compared and observed for hue, sharpness, damage to the image and the like. Image weather resistance: Image recorded matter outdoors (including in direct sunlight)
It was left to stand for 10 days and the change in the image was visually observed. Ink absorbency: Ink bleeding, uniformity, and beading were visually observed. Abrasion resistance: A weight of 1 kg is placed on the image recording material and the image, and the degree of scratches is visually evaluated by comparison. Storability: After pressing the surface in a roll shape and storing it at room temperature and normal pressure for 10 days, the roll is rewound and the damage state of the ink image receiving layer surface is observed. Common evaluation method; ◎ Particularly excellent ○ Better than △ △ Slightly inferior in practical use × Inferior

[0092]

[Table 1]

(Example 2) 2. Preparation of Image Recording Material Using Silica as Adsorbent in Ink Image Receiving Layer 2-1 The support with undercoat layer used in Example 1 was used.

2-2 Preparation of Ink Image Receiving Layer After providing an undercoat layer, a coating solution having the following composition was used to prepare about 30
A μm ink image receiving layer was provided. (1) Preparation of silica dispersion Silica obtained by a gas phase method (average particle size of primary particles is about 0.
(01 μm) 450% of an 18% aqueous solution, 16% by weight of the following cationic polymer A, 5% by weight of n-propanol
And a mixed solution of an aqueous solution containing 2% by weight of ethanol,
42 liters of a mixed aqueous solution of boric acid and borax with a weight ratio of 1: 1 was added and vigorously stirred to obtain a silica dispersion.

[0095]

[Chemical 1]

(2) Preparation of Optical Brightening Agent Dispersion A solution containing 4 kg of saponin and 2 kg of cationic polymer A in an aqueous solution of 3% acid-treated gelatin was added to an oil-soluble optical brightening agent (uVITE X manufactured by Ciba-Geigy Co., Ltd.). -OB) 6
00 g and 12 kg of diisodecyl phthalate are dissolved in 25 liters of ethyl acetate by heating, dissolved, emulsified and dispersed to add water 140
Let it be liters. (3) Preparation of coating liquid for ink image receiving layer 610 ml of the above silica dispersion, 5 ml of a 10% aqueous solution of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA203 manufactured by Kuraray Co., Ltd.),
Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA235 made by Kuraray Co., Ltd.)
250 ml of 5% aqueous solution, 25 m of the above optical brightener dispersion
1 and 6 ml of ethanol are mixed and stirred, and water is added to make 1 liter. (4) The ink image-receiving layer coating liquid was applied to the support to form an ink image-receiving layer having a dry film thickness of about 30 μm. This is designated as a comparative image recording material sample c.

2-3 Preparation of Overcoat Layer (Image Recording Material No. 4) On the surface of the comparative image recording material sample c (on the ink image receiving layer), image recording material sample N
Image recording materials No. 4 were obtained by providing an overcoat layer having the same composition as o.

(Image recording material Nos. 5) An image recording material was prepared by providing an overcoat layer having the same composition as the image recording material samples No. 3 on the surface (on the ink image receiving layer) of the comparative image recording material sample c. No. 5 was obtained.

(Comparative image recording material sample d) A comparative image is prepared by providing an overcoat layer having the same composition as the comparative image recording material sample b on the surface (on the ink image receiving layer) of the comparative image recording material sample c. Recording material sample d was obtained.

2-4 Evaluation An image was recorded according to Example 1 and the performance of the image recording material was evaluated. The results are shown in Table 2.

[0101]

[Table 2]

As described above, the following can be understood from Examples 1 and 2. (1) When an appropriate amount of a wetting agent, especially a polyhydric alcohol-based and further a glycerol-based wetting agent is used in the uppermost layer of the image recording material,
Ink absorption, abrasion resistance and transportability can be improved. (2) When gelatin and a cross-linking hardening agent are used in combination with the uppermost layer of the image recording material, weather resistance and image quality, particularly weather resistance due to image protection, generation of peeling and scratches, and abrasion resistance can be improved. (3) When a hydrophilic polymer, particularly a cellulose derivative, is used in combination with the uppermost layer of the image recording material, the ink absorbency is improved and the image quality is improved. Further, the ink drying speed is also improved, which is synergistic with the heating and drying means of the recording apparatus of the present invention, which is advantageous for speeding up recording. Therefore, in the uppermost layer of the image recording material used in the inkjet image recording method of the present invention,
By using a wetting agent, preferably gelatin or modified gelatin, and a cross-linking hardener, more preferably a hydrophilic polymer, it is possible to improve the adhesion and permeability of the ink and also improve the abrasion resistance and the transportability, and especially the hardened gelatin. By forming the layer, the weather resistance and the physical strength, which are one of the defects of the inkjet image, are improved. It also improves the drying speed of the ink. Further, a means for heating and drying the image recording material according to the present invention,
Further, it can be used for a recording device provided with a monitoring means, an abnormal event processing means, and by extension, a curl correction roller, etc., and in particular, it is possible to continuously and efficiently record high quality images comparable to those of a print production system using a silver salt color sensitive material. .

[0103]

As described above, according to the ink jet image recording material of claim 1, since the uppermost layer contains a wetting agent having ink affinity and hydrophilicity, the ink permeability and the adhesiveness are improved, and the surface is improved. The gloss and image quality of can be improved. According to the inkjet image recording material of claim 2, by using a moistening agent selected from glycol, glycerin, and derivatives thereof, the permeability of the ink is more effectively increased and the gloss of the surface is improved. Improves sex and image quality. According to the inkjet image recording material of claim 3, since the uppermost layer contains gelatin, modified gelatin and a cross-linking hardening agent thereof, in addition to the above effects, the physical strength of the film is further improved, and The weather resistance and the storage stability of the film can be improved. According to the inkjet image recording material of claim 4, since the hydrophilic polymer is used together in the uppermost layer, in addition to the above effects, the ink permeability is effectively increased, and the image fixing speed ( Ink drying property is improved, and thus a high quality image is obtained. According to the inkjet image recording material of claim 4, since a hydrophilic polymer selected from cellulose derivatives is used, the permeability of the ink is enhanced more effectively, and the image fixing speed (ink drying property) is increased. ) Is improved, and a high quality image is obtained. According to the image recording method of the sixth aspect, an image excellent in the above characteristics can be obtained quickly and efficiently. According to the image recording method of the seventh aspect, the ink can be quickly dried and the film can be cured by heating and drying after recording the image by recording liquid droplets ejected from the recording head. . According to the image recording method of claim 8, the image recording material can be compactly loaded in a roll shape without the occurrence of adhesion and scratches on the image surface. It is possible to achieve high performance and improvement in the ratio of proper images.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an essential part showing a preferred embodiment of an inkjet image recording material of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an image recording apparatus to which the inkjet image recording material of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a main part of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 support 4 Undercoat layer 6 Ink image receiving layer 8 Image protection layer 10 Overcoat layer 20 inkjet printer 60 recording head 64 Heat treatment section 70 Image recording materials

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An inkjet image recording material having at least one ink image receiving layer on a support, wherein an uppermost layer of the inkjet image recording material contains a wetting agent. . 2. The inkjet image recording material according to claim 1, wherein the wetting agent is selected from glycol, glycerin, and derivatives thereof. 3. The inkjet image recording material according to claim 1, wherein the uppermost layer contains gelatin and / or modified gelatin and a cross-linking curing agent for these. 4. The inkjet image recording material according to claim 1, wherein the uppermost layer contains a hydrophilic polymer. 5. The inkjet image recording material according to claim 4, wherein the hydrophilic polymer is selected from cellulose derivatives. 6. Image information representing an image to be recorded on an image recording material is input, and a recording liquid droplet is ejected from an ejection port of a recording head based on the input image information to attach the recording liquid droplet to the image recording material. An inkjet image recording method for recording an image on an image recording material, wherein the image recording material is the inkjet image recording material according to any one of claims 1 to 5. Method. 7. The ink jet image according to claim 6, wherein after the recording liquid droplets are discharged from the discharge port of the recording head to record an image on the image recording material, the image recording material is dried by heating. Recording method. 8. An image recording material is preliminarily loaded in a roll shape, is conveyed, and images are continuously recorded, which is an obstacle to image recording while a plurality of images are continuously recorded on the recording material. The process for monitoring whether or not an event has occurred, and when it is determined that the event has occurred, a process for removing and correcting the failure or the event is performed. The inkjet image recording method described in 1.