JP2908801B2 - Sublimation type thermal transfer image receiving medium - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a sublimation type thermal transfer image receiving medium used in combination with a thermal transfer recording medium having a transfer layer containing a thermal sublimation dye.

[Related Art] A sublimation type thermal transfer recording system using a thermal transfer recording medium having a thermal transfer layer containing a thermal sublimable dye and an image receiving medium receiving the dye sublimated by thermal printing from the back of the recording medium is excellent. In recent years, it has attracted attention as a medium capable of recording halftones and providing a full-color hard copy close to a color photograph.

As the dye receiving layer of the image receiving medium used in this recording method, a thermoplastic polyester resin showing a strong dyeing property to a heat sublimable dye is mainly used alone. However, since this resin has low heat resistance, it has a disadvantage that it fuses with a transfer recording medium (color sheet) during recording and that it fades after storage.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide an image receiving medium which is free from heat fusion, has a high recorded image density, and has high light resistance and storage stability. And

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention relates to a medium having a dye receiving layer capable of dyeing a sublimable dye on a substrate, wherein the receiving layer contains more than 30% of a vinyl propionate monomer. (Hereinafter referred to as vinyl propionate resin).

With the above-described configuration, heat fusion does not occur without lowering the density of a recorded image, and light resistance and storage stability are high.

Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The specific configuration and operation of the present invention are as follows.

In FIG. 1, the image receiving medium of the present invention comprises an image receiving medium A and a dye receiving device B. That is, the image receiving medium of the present invention has a configuration in which a dye receiving layer B mainly composed of vinyl propionate resin is applied on an image receiving substrate A. Reference numeral 1 denotes a thermal head, and the sublimation transfer recording medium includes a heat-resistant layer 2, a transfer substrate 3, and a dye transfer layer 4.

By the heating from the thermal head 1, the heat sublimable dye sublimates and diffuses from the dye transfer layer 4 of the sublimation transfer recording medium,
The sublimed dye is transferred to the dye receiving layer B of the image receiving medium. The sublimation dye transferred to the image receiving medium is diffused and dyed in the dye-dyeable resin forming the dye-receiving layer B.

Vinyl propionate resin is It is a homopolymer or a copolymer with other monomers.

As other monomers, vinyl chloride, vinyl acetate, styrene, vinylbenzene, methyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate, ethylene acrylate, ethyl methacrylate, propyl acrylate, propyl methacrylate, butyl acrylate, butyl methacrylate, and the like are used. The amount is up to 70 mol%, preferably up to 50 mol%.

 The polymerization degree of the resin is suitably about 200 to 600.

Commercial products include Lulon QS-430, QS-530, QA-
431, QA-433, QJ-1, QC-7, QC-640, QC-720, QC
-730K and QU-628 (hereinafter Tosoh Corporation).

These can be used alone or as a mixture with a resin (polyester, vinyl chloride, vinyl acetate, polyurethane, polycarbonate, polystyrene, etc.) conventionally used for the receptor layer. The mixing amount is suitably 50% by weight or less.

When the vinyl pyropionate resin is contained in the dye receiving layer, the dyeing property and the thermal stability are high, and the density, light resistance and storage stability of the recorded image are improved.

In the present invention, a release agent such as an amino-modified silicone, an epoxy-modified silicone or an alkyd-modified silicone can be contained in the dye receiving layer. By using these silicones, the effect of preventing thermal fusion with the transfer medium is further improved. However, if the silicone content increases, the storage stability after recording deteriorates. Therefore, the content is desirably 10% by weight or less based on the resin amount of the dye receiving layer.

Note that a filler can be contained in the dye receiving layer. Examples of the filler include white pigments such as silica, titanium oxide, and calcium carbonate. The amount of the filler is preferably 5 to 60% by weight based on the amount of the resin in the receiving layer. In addition, the dye receiving layer may appropriately contain a surfactant, an ultraviolet absorber, an antioxidant, and the like.

Further, as the substrate A in the image receiving medium of the present invention, synthetic paper, art paper, woodfree paper, coated paper, cellulose fiber paper, plastic film and the like are preferably used alone or in a laminate thereof.

The coating amount of the dye-receiving layer on the substrate is preferably 0.1 to 20 g / m ^{2 in} solid amount.

[Examples] Next, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to Examples. The percentages and parts shown below are based on weight.

Example 1 A mixture having the following composition was sufficiently mixed and dispersed to prepare a coating liquid for a receiving layer [Solution A].

[Solution A] Vinyl propionate resin (trade name: Lulon QS-430; manufactured by Tosoh) 10 parts Silicone oil (trade name: KF393; manufactured by Shin-Etsu Science Co., Ltd.) 1 part Toluene 40 parts Methyl ethyl ketone 40 parts Using a thickness of about 150μ
m on synthetic paper (trade name: Yupo FPG-150; manufactured by Oji Yuka Synthetic Paper Co., Ltd.) and dried at a drying temperature of 75 ° C. for 1 minute to form a dye receiving layer having a thickness of about 5 μm. An image receiving medium of the invention was prepared.

On the other hand, as a sublimation transfer medium, a 6 μm thick PE provided with a silicone cured resin film (about 1 μm thick) as a back layer.
On the T film, a coating liquid for ink layer of the following formulation [Solution B]
Was applied to a thickness of about 2 μm to obtain a transfer medium.

[Solution B] Polyvinyl butyral resin (trade name BX-1; manufactured by Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd.) 10 parts Sublimation disperse dye for cyan (trade name Kayaset 714; manufactured by Nippon Kayaku Co., Ltd.) 6 parts Methyl ethyl ketone 45 parts Toluene 45 parts obtained The transfer medium and the image receiving medium were overlapped so that the ink layer of the transfer medium and the dye receiving layer of the image receiving medium faced each other, and the image was recorded by changing the heating energy from the back surface of the transfer medium with a thermal head. The recording density of the thermal head was 6 dots / mm and the recording output was 0.42 W / mm.
It was a dot. Further, the samples after recording were subjected to light resistance and storage stability tests. Table 1 shows the results.

Example 2 In Example 1, the following [Solution C] was used instead of [Solution A].
A dye-receiving layer was formed in the same manner as in Example 1 except for using, to prepare an image-receiving medium of the present invention.

[Liquid C] Vinyl propionate resin (trade name Lulon QA-431; manufactured by Tosoh) 17 parts Polyester resin (trade name Byron 290; manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.) 3 parts Silicone oil (trade name KF393; manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) 1 part Methyl ethyl ketone 40 parts Toluene 40 parts Subsequently, an image was recorded in the same manner as in Example 1, and the sample after the recording was tested for light resistance and the like. Table 1 shows the results.

Example 3 In Example 1, instead of [Solution A], the following [Solution D] was used.
A dye-receiving layer was formed in the same manner as in Example 1 except for using, to prepare an image-receiving medium of the present invention.

[D liquid] Vinyl propionate resin (trade name: Ryuron QJ-1; manufactured by Tosoh) 13 parts Polyester resin (trade name: Elitel 3600; manufactured by Unitika) 7 parts Silicone oil (trade name: KF858; manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) 1 part Methyl ethyl ketone 40 parts Toluene 40 parts Subsequently, image recording was performed in the same manner as in Example 1, and a test for light resistance and the like was performed on the sample after recording. Table 1 shows the results.

Comparative Example 1 An image receiving medium was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the following [E] was used instead of [Liquid A].

[E liquid] Polyester resin (trade name: Byron 290; manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.) 15 parts Silicone oil (trade name: KF393; manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) 1 part Methyl ethyl ketone 40 parts Toluene 40 parts Subsequently, image recording was performed in the same manner as in Example 1. And evaluated similarly.

Comparative Example 2 A dye receiving layer was formed in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the following [Solution F] was used instead of the [Solution A].

[Liquid F] Polyester resin (trade name: Byron 200; manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.) 15 parts Silicone oil (trade name: KF393; manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) 1 part Methyl ethyl ketone 40 parts Toluene 40 parts Subsequently, image recording was performed in the same manner as in Example 1. And evaluated similarly.

From Table 1, it can be seen that, according to the image transfer medium for sublimation type thermal transfer of the present invention, a saturated recording image density of 1.6 or more is obtained, heat fusing does not occur, and the image has excellent light resistance and preservability. I understand.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the image-receiving medium for sublimation type thermal transfer of the present invention has a structure in which a dye receiving layer made of a predetermined vinyl propionate resin is provided on a substrate, so that thermal fusion during recording can be performed. It is possible to obtain a recorded image free from adhesion, having a high image density, and having high light resistance and preservability.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing an image receiving mechanism of a sublimation type thermal transfer image receiving medium according to the present invention, and also includes a schematic sectional view of a sublimation transfer recording medium. A: image receiving substrate, B: dye receiving layer, 1: thermal head,
2 ... heat-resistant layer of transfer recording medium, 3 ... transfer substrate of transfer recording medium, 4 ... dye transfer layer of transfer recording medium.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Hidehiro Mochizuki 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Ricoh Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-63-42892 (JP, A) JP-A Sho 63-51181 (JP, A) JP-A-62-294595 (JP, A) JP-A-2-95890 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B41M 5/38 -5/40

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An image receiving medium having a dye receiving layer capable of dyeing a sublimable dye on a substrate, wherein the receiving layer contains a polymer containing more than 30% of a vinyl propionate monomer. Sublimation type image transfer medium for thermal transfer.