JPH0789244A - Image receiving sheet for thermal transfer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an image receiving sheet for thermal transfer which is free from the heat bleeding of an image and a curling phenomenon after printing and has superb sensitivity and high image quality, and satisfactory shelf life and curling properties. CONSTITUTION:This image receiving sheet consists of an intermediate layer provided between an image receiving layer and a support. In addition, the sheet contains an ethylenevinyl alcohol copolymer resin with a composition mole ratio ranging from 25/75 to 50/50 as a distinctive point.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal transfer image-receiving sheet, and more particularly to a thermal transfer image-receiving sheet having good storage stability and curl.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, as a means for color hard copy, an apparatus using a thermal transfer recording system has been widely spread because of its advantages such as light weight, compactness, no noise, excellent operability and maintainability. There is. This thermal transfer recording system is roughly classified into a heat melting type, a sublimation type and a heat diffusion type.
There are different types of methods. In particular, the latter is excellent in the reproducibility of multi-color gradation images and is printed using a sublimation type thermal transfer printer. The principle of such a sublimation type thermal transfer type printer is that an image is converted into an electric signal, and this electric signal is further converted into a heat signal by a thermal head, and a thermal transfer medium coated with a heat transfer dye (hereinafter, referred to as an ink). Information is recorded by transferring the dye from the ink donor sheet to the image-receiving layer of the image-receiving sheet for thermal transfer by heating a (donor sheet) and sublimation or thermal diffusion.

As a support for the thermal transfer image-receiving sheet, high-quality paper, coated paper, film, synthetic paper, polyolefin resin-coated paper, film-laminated paper, etc. are generally used. JP-A-63-290790 , Id 63-23
When synthetic paper or synthetic film-laminated paper is used as a support as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 1984, sensitivity and image quality are improved because of high smoothness and heat insulation. Further, as described in JP-A-60-236794 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,059,580, when a polyolefin resin-coated paper is used as a support, an image for thermal transfer having an appearance and touch similar to that of a photographic printing paper is obtained. A sheet is obtained.

However, when the surface smoothness of the support is low, good adhesion with the ink donor sheet cannot be obtained, and thus sensitivity and image quality are deteriorated. For this reason,
No. 236794, No. 61-144394,
As described in JP-A-61-258793 and JP-A-61-295085, an intermediate layer made of a thermoplastic resin, or JP-A-61-295085, JP-A-5-208562, As described in JP-A-5-208563, a method for improving sensitivity and image quality by providing an intermediate layer made of a water-soluble resin between an image receiving layer and a support has been proposed.

However, when an intermediate layer made of a thermoplastic resin is provided between the image receiving layer and the support, so-called thermal bleeding, which causes bleeding of an image when the image receiving sheet after printing is stored at a relatively high temperature, is likely to occur. Further, when an intermediate layer made of a water-soluble resin is provided, water contained in the water-soluble resin during printing evaporates and the intermediate layer shrinks, which causes a problem that the positive curl after printing becomes large.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has excellent sensitivity and image quality which could not be realized by such conventional techniques, and thermal transfer with good storability and curl which does not cause thermal bleeding of an image and curl after printing. It is intended to provide an image receiving sheet for use.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems As a result of intensive studies to achieve the above object, the present inventors have found that an ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer resin having a composition molar ratio of ethylene and vinyl alcohol in a specific range is selected. It has been found that by providing the intermediate layer containing the layer between the image receiving layer and the support, it is possible to suppress thermal bleeding of the image and curl after printing while maintaining good sensitivity and image quality, and completed the present invention. That is, the present invention is a thermal transfer image-receiving sheet in which at least one of the supports is provided with an image-receiving layer that receives a dye that migrates from the thermal transfer medium during heating, and ethylene is added between the image-receiving layer of the image-receiving sheet and the support. An image receiving sheet for thermal transfer, comprising an intermediate layer containing an ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer resin having a composition molar ratio of vinyl alcohol in the range of 25/75 to 50/50.

In the present invention, the ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer resin which is an essential component constituting the intermediate layer is prepared by mixing ethylene and vinyl acetate in a specific composition molar ratio and adding a known radical polymerization initiator to the solution weight. It can be obtained by polymerizing by a conventional method, a bulk polymerization method, an emulsion polymerization method or the like, and then saponifying with sodium hydroxide or the like. Above all, it is preferable to polymerize by a solution polymerization method because it is easy to control the average molecular weight, the molecular weight distribution, the composition distribution and the like.

The composition molar ratio of ethylene and vinyl alcohol constituting the ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer resin is preferably in the range of 25/75 to 50/50. Here, when the composition molar ratio of ethylene and vinyl alcohol is less than 25/75, the hydrophilicity becomes too high, and the water contained in the resin during printing evaporates and the intermediate layer shrinks. The positive curl becomes larger.
The composition molar ratio of ethylene and vinyl alcohol is 50.
If it exceeds / 50, thermal bleeding of the image tends to occur when the image-receiving sheet after printing is stored in a relatively high temperature state.

In order to improve the whiteness and opacity of the intermediate layer, inorganic pigments such as silica, alumina, titanium oxide, kaolin, clay, talc, zinc oxide and barium sulfate, starch granules, cellulose powder and melamine are used. -Based resin particles, guanamine-based resin particles, urethane-based resin particles, epoxy-based resin particles, silicone-based resin particles,
Organic pigments such as vinyl resin fine particles, hollow pigments such as vinyl resin hollow fine particles and urethane resin hollow fine particles can be added.

Further, if necessary, the intermediate layer may include an adhesive agent for improving the adhesiveness to the support, a dye, a pigment, a fluorescent agent for controlling the color tone, and an ultraviolet absorber for improving the storage stability.
Antioxidants, antiseptics, dispersants for improving liquidity, surfactants, defoamers, thickeners, crosslinking agents for improving film strength, conductive agents for improving conductivity, etc. be able to.

The intermediate layer is dissolved or dispersed in water or an organic solvent and applied by using a gravure coater, a roll coater, a rod coater, a die coater, a curtain coater, a blade coater or the like, or it is melted by heating and then an extrusion die. The film produced by using an extrusion die after being applied or heated and melted by a dry laminator,
It can be provided by laminating using a wet laminator, polylaminator, hot melt laminator or the like. The thickness of the intermediate layer is 0.5 to 1
It is preferably in the range of 5 μm.

In the present invention, as the support, plain paper, coated paper, synthetic paper, synthetic resin film, resin-coated paper,
Metal foils and composites of these can be used. For example, as plain paper, NBKP, LBKP, NBSP,
LBSP, GP, TMP, CGP, DIP and other wood pulp and vinylon, polyester, polyethylene and other synthetic pulp, filler, dye, sizing agent, dry paper strength enhancer, wet paper strength enhancer, fixing agent, retention improver Add chemicals such as
Papers made by a Fourdrinier paper machine, a twin wire paper machine, a hybrid paper machine, a round net paper machine, etc. can be used.

As coated paper, inorganic pigments such as silica, alumina, titanium oxide, kaolin, clay, talc, zinc oxide and barium sulfate, starch granules, cellulose powder, melamine resin fine particles, guanamine are coated on the surface of these plain papers. Organic pigments such as resin fine particles, urethane resin fine particles, epoxy resin fine particles, silicone resin fine particles, vinyl resin fine particles and the like, hollow pigments such as vinyl resin hollow fine particles and melamine resin hollow fine particles, starch, casein, gelatin, Water-soluble resins such as polyvinyl alcohol, carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, etc., resin emulsions such as styrene-butadiene type, acrylic type, vinyl acetate type, etc., dispersants, crosslinking agents, dyes, fluorescent agents, ultraviolet absorbers, antioxidants, preservatives. , Surfactants, defoamers, thickeners, conductive agents, etc. Pigment coating layer a gravure coater,
Those coated with a roll coater, a rod coater, a die coater, a curtain coater, a blade coater or the like can be used.

Examples of synthetic paper include pigments such as titanium dioxide, silica, alumina, kaolin, clay, calcium carbonate, barium sulfate, and ultramarine, and stabilizers, antioxidants, and dispersions in olefin-based or ester-based synthetic resins. Additives such as agents and lubricants, melt and knead, film is formed with an extrusion die, and then stretched. Film-made synthetic paper produced by an internal paper-making method, melted synthetic resin is spun by jetting from a nozzle and then heat-melted. Fiber synthetic paper produced by the spunbonding method, wet-laid synthetic paper produced by a wet papermaking method in which an adhesive is added from synthetic pulp as a raw material, and a sheet is formed by an ordinary paper machine can be used.

As the synthetic resin film, an ester type film,
Pigments such as titanium dioxide, silica, alumina, kaolin, clay, calcium carbonate, barium sulfate, ultramarine blue, and synthetic resins such as amides, olefins, and celluloses,
Additives such as a stabilizer, an antioxidant, a dispersant, and a lubricant may be added, melt-kneaded, formed into a film with an extrusion die, and then stretched.

As the resin-coated paper, synthetic resin such as olefin-based, ester-based, urethane-based, vinyl-based, cellulose-based, etc. on the surface of paper or coated paper, titanium dioxide, silica, alumina, kaolin, clay, calcium carbonate can be used. , Barium sulfate, ultramarine pigments, stabilizers, antioxidants, dispersants,
Additives such as lubricants which are melt-kneaded and applied by a melt extrusion method, or those obtained by adding pigments and additives to an organic solvent solution or emulsion of these synthetic resins and applied can be used.

As the metal foil, aluminum, gold, silver,
A metal such as copper, tin, iron, etc. rolled by a calendering device and made into a foil or a thin plate can be used.

On the surface of plain paper, coated paper, synthetic resin film, etc., synthetic paper, synthetic resin film, metal foil, etc. are pasted by dry laminating method, wet laminating method, poly laminating method, hot melt laminating method or the like. Combined laminated paper or laminated film can also be used.

Further, vapor-deposited paper or vapor-deposited film in which a thin film of metal, metal oxide, organic compound or the like is provided on the surface of plain paper, coated paper, synthetic resin film or the like by vapor deposition can be used.

Among these supports, a laminated paper obtained by laminating a low-density synthetic paper or a synthetic resin film on the surface of plain paper, coated paper or the like has good heat insulation and cushioning properties,
It is particularly preferable because high sensitivity and high image quality can be obtained.

In the present invention, between the support and the intermediate layer, or between the intermediate layer and the image receiving layer, adhesion, barrier property, smoothness,
In order to improve the hiding property, coating suitability, etc., the anchor layer can be provided using known materials and methods.

In the present invention, the composition of the image-receiving layer provided directly on the intermediate layer or via the anchor layer is not particularly limited, but in general, it does not interact with the dye transferred from the ink donor sheet by sublimation or thermal diffusion. A resin having a strong action and having a good dyeing property is used. Such dye-dyeable resins include polyester resins, polyacrylic acid ester resins, polycarbonate resins, polyvinyl acetate resins, styrene acrylate resins, polyurethane resins, polyamide resins, urea resins, polycaprolactone resins, polystyrene resins, polychlorinated resins. Vinyl resin, polyacrylonitrile resin, etc. can be used. In addition, one or more of the structural units of these resins are the main components,
Copolymers such as vinyl chloride / vinyl acetate copolymers and styrene / butadiene copolymers can also be used. Furthermore, these resins may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

Further, a releasing agent may be added to the image receiving layer in order to prevent blocking with the ink donor sheet. Examples of such a releasing agent include higher fatty acids or esters thereof, amides or metal salts thereof, waxes such as shellac wax, montan wax, carnauba wax, polyethylene wax, Teflon powder, fluorine-based or phosphate-based surfactants. , Silicone oil, amino modified silicone, epoxy modified silicone,
Modified silicone oils such as alkyd modified silicone and polyester modified silicone can be used.

In the image-receiving layer, if necessary, inorganic pigments such as silica, alumina, titanium oxide, kaolin, clay, talc, zinc oxide, barium sulfate, starch particles, cellulose powder, melamine-based resin particles, and guanamine-based particles. Organic pigments such as resin particles, urethane resin particles, epoxy resin particles, silicone resin particles, vinyl resin particles, hollow pigments such as vinyl resin hollow particles and urethane resin hollow particles, dyes, fluorescent agents, dye fixing Agents, antioxidants, ultraviolet absorbers, stabilizers, conductive agents, surfactants, defoamers, dispersants and the like can be added.

The image-receiving layer may be dissolved or dispersed in water or an organic solvent and applied using a gravure coater, roll coater, rod coater, die coater, curtain coater, blade coater, air knife coater, slide hopper, or the like. You can The solid coating amount of the image receiving layer is preferably in the range of 0.5 to 15 g / m ² .

In the present invention, silica, alumina, titanium oxide, kaolin is provided on the side opposite to the image receiving layer of the support for the purpose of improving the transportability of the image receiving sheet for thermal transfer during printing and imparting writability and conductivity to the back surface. , Inorganic pigments such as clay, talc, zinc oxide, barium sulfate, starch particles, cellulose powder, melamine resin particles, guanamine resin particles, urethane resin particles, epoxy resin particles, silicone resin particles, vinyl resin particles Etc., organic pigments such as vinyl resin hollow particles, hollow pigments such as urethane resin hollow particles, water-soluble resins such as starch, casein, gelatin, polyvinyl alcohol, carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, styrene butadiene, acrylic, vinyl acetate System resin emulsion, antioxidant, ultraviolet ray Adsorbents, electroconductive agents, surface active agents,
A backing layer containing an antifoaming agent, a dispersant, etc. can be provided.

The backing layer is dissolved or dispersed in water or an organic solvent and applied using a gravure coater, roll coater, rod coater, die coater, curtain coater, blade coater, air knife coater, slide hopper, etc. be able to. The solid coating amount of the backing layer is preferably in the range of 0.5 to 10 g / m ² .

[0029]

According to the present invention, ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymerization in which the composition molar ratio of ethylene and vinyl alcohol having a low dye-dyeing property and a low water absorption is in the range of 25/75 to 50/50 between the image-receiving layer and the support. By providing an intermediate layer containing a resin, it is possible to prevent the dye from diffusing into the support even when stored under relatively high temperature conditions, and the evaporation of water contained in the intermediate layer during printing reduces the heat of the image. An image-receiving sheet for thermal transfer having good storage stability and curl which does not cause bleeding or curl after printing can be obtained.

[0030]

The present invention will be described in more detail by way of examples, but the contents of the present invention are not limited to these.

Example 1 An adhesive made of urethane resin was used on both sides of a high-quality paper having a basis weight of 120 g / m ² and a density of 1.0 g / m ² by a dry lamination method to have a thickness of 50 μm and a density of 0.62 g. / Cm
^The laminated polypropylene support was prepared by laminating the foamed polypropylene film of ³ .

Next, an intermediate layer coating solution having the following composition was applied to one surface of the support by using a gravure coater so that the thickness after drying was 3 μm.
It was applied so as to have a thickness of m and then dried to form an intermediate layer. (Intermediate layer coating composition 1) ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer resin (molar ratio: ethylene / vinyl alcohol = 32/68) 100 parts by weight isopropanol 100 parts by weight water 100 parts by weight

Then, a backing layer coating solution having the following composition was applied to the side of the support opposite to the intermediate layer using a gravure coater so that the dry coating amount was 5 g / m ^2, and the backing layer was coated. Was set up. (Composition of coating liquid for backing layer) Silica 100 parts by weight Polyvinyl alcohol 50 parts by weight Glyoxal 3 parts by weight Sodium polystyrene sulfonate 5 parts by weight Sodium octyl sulfosuccinate 2 parts by weight Water 840 parts by weight

Further, an image-receiving layer coating solution having the following composition was applied onto the intermediate layer using a roll coater so that the dry coating amount was 5 g / m ² , and dried to prepare an image-receiving sheet for thermal transfer. (Composition of coating liquid for image-receiving layer) Polyvinyl chloride resin 100 parts by weight Amino-modified silicone 1 part by weight Epoxy-modified silicone 1 part by weight Toluene 200 parts by weight Methyl ethyl ketone 200 parts by weight

Example 2 For thermal transfer in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the composition molar ratio of ethylene and vinyl alcohol in the ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer resin in the composition for coating the intermediate layer of Example 1 was changed to 27/73. An image receiving sheet was produced.

Example 3 For thermal transfer in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the composition molar ratio of ethylene and vinyl alcohol in the ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer resin in the coating liquid for the intermediate layer of Example 1 was changed to 37/63. An image receiving sheet was produced.

Example 4 For thermal transfer in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the composition molar ratio of ethylene and vinyl alcohol in the ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer resin in the composition for coating the intermediate layer of Example 1 was changed to 42/58. An image receiving sheet was produced.

Example 5 For thermal transfer in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the composition molar ratio of ethylene and vinyl alcohol in the ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer resin in the coating liquid for the intermediate layer of Example 1 was changed to 47/53. An image receiving sheet was produced.

Example 6 An image receiving sheet for thermal transfer was produced in exactly the same manner as in Example 1 except that the thickness of the intermediate layer after drying in Example 1 was changed to 0.5 μm.

Example 7 On one side of the laminated paper support of Example 1, an intermediate layer coating solution having the following composition was applied by a melt extrusion method using an extrusion die to a thickness of 10 μm to form an intermediate layer. Provided. (Intermediate layer coating liquid formulation 2) Titanium oxide 100 parts by weight Ethylene vinyl alcohol Copolymer resin (molar ratio: ethylene / vinyl alcohol = 32/68) 400 parts by weight Zinc stearate 10 parts by weight

Then, a backing layer and an image receiving layer were provided on the side of the support opposite to the intermediate layer and on the intermediate layer, respectively, in the same manner as in Example 1 to prepare an image receiving sheet for thermal transfer.

Example 8 A composition molar ratio of ethylene and vinyl alcohol was 32/68 by a dry laminating method using an adhesive made of a urethane resin on one surface of the laminated paper support of Example 1.
Made of ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer resin 1
A 5 μm film was laminated.

Then, a backing layer and an image receiving layer were provided on the side of the support opposite to the intermediate layer and on the intermediate layer in the same manner as in Example 1 to prepare an image receiving sheet for thermal transfer.

Example 9 A thermal transfer image-receiving sheet was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the laminated paper support of Example 1 was replaced with a white polyethylene terephthalate film support having a thickness of 200 μm and a density of 1.0 g / m ^2. Was produced.

Example 10 After performing corona discharge treatment on one side of a high-quality paper having a basis weight of 120 g / m ² and a density of 1.0 g / m ² , low-density polyethylene containing 10% by weight of titanium oxide was used in an extrusion die. It was applied by the melt extrusion method so as to have a thickness of 20 μm.

Next, after corona discharge treatment was applied to the other surface of the high-quality paper, low density polyethylene was applied by a melt extrusion method using an extrusion die to a thickness of 20 μm,
A resin coated paper support was prepared.

Then, the coating solution for the intermediate layer of Example 1 was applied onto the low-density polyethylene layer containing titanium oxide of the support by using a gravure coater so that the thickness after drying was 3 μm, and dried. An intermediate layer was provided.

On the low-density polyethylene layer containing no titanium oxide of the support, the back coating layer coating solution of Example 1 was applied using a gravure coater so that the dry coating amount was 5 g / m ² . It was dried and provided with a backing layer.

Further, the coating solution for the image receiving layer of Example 1 was applied onto the intermediate layer using a roll coater so that the dry coating amount was 5 g / m ² , and dried to prepare an image receiving sheet for thermal transfer.

Example 11 A pigment coating layer coating solution having the following composition was applied to both sides of a high-quality paper having a basis weight of 120 g / m ² and a density of 1.0 g / m ² using a blade coater to give a dry coating amount of 10 g / m ^2. Was coated and dried to prepare a coated paper support. (Pigment coating layer coating liquid blend) Polystyrene resin hollow fine particles 100 parts by weight Polyvinyl alcohol 20 parts by weight Glyoxal 1 part by weight Water 150 parts by weight

Then, the coating solution for the intermediate layer of Example 1 was applied to one side of the support using a gravure coater to give a thickness of 3 after drying.
It was applied so as to have a thickness of μm and dried to form an intermediate layer.

On the side opposite to the intermediate layer of the support, the back coating layer coating solution of Example 1 was applied using a gravure coater so that the dry coating amount was 5 g / m ² , and the back surface was dried. A coating layer was provided.

Further, the coating solution for the image-receiving layer of Example 1 was applied onto the intermediate layer using a roll coater so that the dry coating amount was 5 g / m ² , and dried to prepare an image-receiving sheet for thermal transfer.

Comparative Example 1 An image receiving sheet for thermal transfer was produced in exactly the same manner as in Example 1 except that the intermediate layer was not provided.

Comparative Example 2 An image-receiving sheet for thermal transfer was produced in exactly the same manner as in Example 1 except that the formulation of the intermediate layer coating solution in Example 1 was changed to the following formulation. (Intermediate layer coating composition 3) 100 parts by weight of completely saponified polyvinyl alcohol Water 900 parts by weight

Comparative Example 3 For thermal transfer in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the composition molar ratio of ethylene and vinyl alcohol in the ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer resin in the composition for coating the intermediate layer of Example 1 was changed to 22/78. An image receiving sheet was produced.

Comparative Example 4 Thermal transfer was carried out in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the composition molar ratio of ethylene and vinyl alcohol of the ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer resin in the coating liquid for the intermediate layer of Example 1 was changed to 52/48. An image receiving sheet was produced.

Comparative Example 5 On one side of the laminated paper support of Example 1, an intermediate layer coating solution having the following composition was applied by a melt extrusion method using an extrusion die to a thickness of 10 μm to form an intermediate layer. Provided. (Intermediate layer coating composition 4) Titanium oxide 100 parts by weight Low density polyethylene 400 parts by weight Zinc stearate 10 parts by weight

Then, a backing layer and an image-receiving layer were respectively provided on the side of the support opposite to the intermediate layer and on the intermediate layer in the same manner as in Example 1 to prepare an image-receiving sheet for thermal transfer.

Comparative Example 6 An image receiving sheet for thermal transfer was produced in exactly the same manner as in Example 1 except that the formulation of the intermediate layer coating solution in Example 1 was changed to the following formulation. (Intermediate Layer Coating Composition 5) Partially saponified polyvinyl alcohol (molar ratio: vinyl acetate / vinyl alcohol = 32/68) 100 parts by weight Water 900 parts by weight

The thermal transfer image-receiving sheet thus produced was coated with a sublimation dye coating solution having the following composition on a polyethylene terephthalate film having a thickness of 5 μm using a gravure coater so that the dry coating amount was 3 g / m ^2. The ink donor sheets prepared by coating and drying were overlaid and printed with a sublimation thermal transfer printer (S3600-30 manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric). (Sublimation dye coating liquid blend) Anthraquinone-based disperse dye 100 parts by weight Ethyl cellulose 100 parts by weight Silica 100 parts by weight Isopropanol 300 parts by weight

The thermal transfer image-receiving sheet was evaluated by the following methods. (Sensitivity) The image density of the highest density portion of the printed step wedge was measured with a reflection densitometer (RD-914 manufactured by Macbeth). (Image Quality) The presence or absence of white spots in the image was visually evaluated. When there were no white spots, the mark was ○, when slight white spots were observed, Δ, and when many white spots were found, x. (Preservability) After printing the sample after printing for 1 week at 60 ° C., comparing with the image before heating, ○ indicates that there is no heat bleeding in the image, Δ indicates that there is some heat bleeding in the image, Δ The one with severe heat bleeding of the image was marked with x. (Curl property) After printing an A4 size image-receiving sheet for thermal transfer, the image-receiving layer was placed on a flat surface with the image-receiving layer facing upward and evaluated by the average value of the lifting heights at the four corners. The evaluation results are summarized in Table 1.

[0063]

[Table 1]

As is clear from Table 1, the thermal transfer image-receiving sheets of Examples 1 to 8 had good sensitivity and image quality, and did not cause thermal bleeding of images even when stored under relatively high temperature conditions. No curl occurred after that. Examples 9-11
In the image-receiving sheet for thermal transfer of No. 3, since the laminated paper excellent in heat insulating property and cushioning property as in Examples 1 to 8 was not used as the support, the sensitivity and the image quality were slightly inferior. In the image-receiving sheet for thermal transfer of Comparative Example 1, since the intermediate layer was not provided between the image-receiving layer and the support, thermal bleeding of the image was remarkable. In the image-receiving sheet for thermal transfer of Comparative Example 2, since the completely saponified polyvinyl alcohol containing no ethylene component was added to the intermediate layer, the curl after printing was large. In the thermal transfer image-receiving sheet of Comparative Example 3, the curl after printing was large because the composition molar ratio of vinyl alcohol of the ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer resin contained in the intermediate layer was too large. In the thermal transfer image-receiving sheet of Comparative Example 4, thermal bleeding of an image occurred because the compositional molar ratio of ethylene of the ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer resin contained in the intermediate layer was too large. In the thermal transfer image-receiving sheet of Comparative Example 5, polyethylene containing no vinyl alcohol component was added to the intermediate layer, so thermal bleeding of the image occurred. In the image-receiving sheet for thermal transfer of Comparative Example 6, since the partially saponified polyvinyl alcohol in which the ethylene portion of the ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer resin was replaced by vinyl acetate was added, thermal bleeding of the image occurred and the curl after printing also became large. It was

[0065]

According to the present invention, an intermediate layer containing an ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer resin having a composition molar ratio of ethylene and vinyl alcohol in the range of 25/75 to 50/50 is provided between the image receiving layer and the support. By providing the image-receiving sheet, a thermal transfer image-receiving sheet having good sensitivity and image quality, and having good storability and curl which does not cause thermal bleeding of an image and curl after printing can be obtained.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An image-receiving sheet for thermal transfer comprising an image-receiving layer for receiving a dye transferred from a thermal transfer medium upon heating provided on at least one of the supports, wherein ethylene and vinyl are provided between the image-receiving layer of the image-receiving sheet and the support. An image-receiving sheet for thermal transfer, comprising an intermediate layer containing an ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer resin having an alcohol composition molar ratio in the range of 25/75 to 50/50.