JPS5936596B2 - transfer medium - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a transfer medium carrying magnetic transfer ink that can exhibit thermoplasticity.

Nowadays, a wide variety of recording methods are widely used in practical use, and the fact that plain paper copiers using the Carlson process are experiencing rapid growth in the market shows that consumables are becoming increasingly popular. It is desirable to use a recording method that transfers records onto plain paper instead of using special paper as the main recording paper, because of the viewpoints of paper cost, operability, recording feel, pollution and hygiene, etc. It can be said that this is the trend. Among such recording methods, for example, devices using electrophotographic methods or electrostatic printing methods have the disadvantage that they require complicated mechanisms and inevitably become larger and more expensive. For example, there are limits to its application as a simple printer that can be incorporated into a desktop calculator. On the other hand, as a relatively simple device, a so-called impact-type recording device is widely used, which prints on paper by applying an impact with a type platen, hammer, wire dot, etc. from above the ink ribbon. However, the common drawbacks of these are that they make a lot of noise when recording, they have many mechanical moving parts, so printing speed cannot be increased, and there are many failures due to wear and tear of parts. Frequent maintenance, etc. The wire dot impact method, which is said to have relatively few drawbacks, has many large electromagnets built in, making it difficult to make the head compact, and it requires a large amount of power to operate the electromagnets. The problem is that it consumes a lot of energy. In any case, if the printing frequency is high, there is a hassle of frequently replacing the ink ribbon, and if a thick tape that can be used repeatedly is used,
There is a disadvantage that the print quality deteriorates significantly. In view of the above circumstances, the present invention aims to provide a transfer medium for use in a new recording method that eliminates the various drawbacks mentioned above and has many additional advantages. It is. The main mechanism of the present invention is transfer using a combination of thermal action and magnetic action, so that no noise is emitted during (transfer) recording, and the number of mechanically moving parts is reduced, resulting in a compact structure. To provide a transfer medium used in a recording method that can be used and can perform recording of good quality.
More specifically, the present invention provides a transfer medium comprising a base material and a magnetic ink capable of exhibiting thermoplasticity held by the base material. Incidentally, prior to the present invention, an example of a technique related to a transfer recording method similar to this was introduced in Japanese Patent Publication No. 49-26245. Roughly speaking, this technical concept is a printing machine that prints on recording paper with thermal ink for printing, which is in a solid phase at room temperature and becomes reversibly liquid or fluid when heated. The printing element configured to generate a predetermined character or figure has a mechanism for locally heating the thermal ink in the shape of the predetermined character or figure to give it fluidity and printing on the recording paper. It is understood that this is a printing machine that prints with a characteristic thermal ink, and it is certainly worth noting that it provided a simple thermal transfer printing machine that does not use special paper, but the above publication also mentions As stated above, since the principle is to perform transfer recording only by contact between thermally softened or melted thermal ink and recording paper, basically only low-quality recording can be achieved. be. Therefore, in order to produce clear, dark, high-quality records with this printing machine, it is necessary to select materials that have a high affinity between the ink and the recording paper, and to apply the ink to the ink carrier. The thickness of the ink carrier must be extremely thin, and the ink carrier itself must be a very thin film.
It is subject to fairly severe constraints, which is a disadvantage. In contrast, the recording method according to the present invention has been further improved in order to improve the accuracy of transfer by applying a magnetic attraction force to the thermally softened or melted ink to be transferred.

Here, a number of excellent features of the recording method according to the present invention are enumerated as follows.

First, since development and transfer recording are simultaneously performed in accordance with the thermal image given by the heat applying means, a simple configuration can be achieved with fewer steps for recording.

Second, the recording quality is extremely good.

Thirdly, it is possible to control the amount of ink to be transferred,
It is also fully compatible with continuous recording operations.

Fourth, no noise is emitted during recording. Fifth, there are few mechanically moving parts involved in recording, and recording control is easy, and breakdowns are less likely to occur.

Sixth, high-speed recording is possible.

Seventh, it is economically advantageous because it can be recorded on plain paper.

Eighth, it is possible to use a thermal head that can be controlled by signals using IC, LSI, etc. and operates with a small voltage.
Can be configured compactly. Hereinafter, in order to make the present invention more clear, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing an example of the structure of a transfer medium of the present invention, in which a magnetic ink 1 capable of exhibiting thermoplasticity is applied to an arbitrary base material 2. In FIG.

As shown schematically in FIG. 2, the transfer medium may of course be constructed by impregnating a fibrous base material 2 such as cloth or paper with the magnetic ink 1 and integrating the two. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3, it is preferable to form the transfer medium in the form of an endless belt, as this is well suited for continuous recording.

The substrate used in the present invention may be paper, cloth, resin film, metal plate, etc., but preferably has appropriate heat resistance and is smooth at least on the surface where magnetic ink is not retained. This is desirable. Here, to explain the details of the magnetic ink that can exhibit thermoplasticity, it consists of magnetic particles such as black iron oxide powder, carbonyl iron powder, and nickel powder.
(If necessary, add appropriate coloring agents such as dyes and pigments)
It is composed of a wax-like substance alone or a thermoplastic resin. As the wax-like substance, oils and fats such as mineral oil or vegetable oil can be used, but waxes such as microcrystalline wax and hydrogenated castor oil wax, higher fatty acids such as myristic acid, stearic acid, palmitic acid, and behenic acid may More specific examples of metal salts thereof include monoglycerol stearate, paraffin, polyethylene glycol, urea, benzamide, acetanilide benztriazole, phenacetin, dimedone bisphenol A, and the like. As the thermoplastic resin, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride, polyvinyl formal, polyvinyl butyral, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl acetal, polycarbonate, polystyrene, a copolymer of coumaron-based vinyl chloride and acrylic ester, etc. can be used. The above components are kneaded while hot and applied or impregnated onto the base material.

Such magnetic ink is not transferred even if it comes into contact with a transfer medium at room temperature. In addition, the magnetic ink is approximately 40 mm thick so that it can respond to heating when using a thermal head.
It is preferable to consider the composition ratio in advance so that it exhibits thermoplasticity in the temperature range of .degree. C. to 200.degree. C., particularly preferably about 40.degree. C. to 160.degree. Here, for reference, an example of a method for manufacturing a transfer medium is shown.

In addition, in the following, unless otherwise specified, the number of parts indicates the number of parts by weight. Manufacturing method example 1 5 parts of microcrystalline wax, 10 parts of black iron oxide powder
part, 4 of the copolymer of vinylidene chloride and methyl acrylate
6% toluene solution 4 parts of melon Place 10 parts of toluene and 10 parts of methyl ethyl ketone in a ball mill, pulverize and mix for about 3 days. Apply the mixture on a 7 μm thick polyester film to a coating thickness of 7 μm and dry. , a transfer medium of the present invention was obtained.

Manufacturing method example 2 10 parts of ferric stearate, 10 parts of nickel powder, 2 parts of indanthrene black BBN, 2 parts of polyvinyl acetal
10 parts of toluene, and 20 parts of methyl ethyl ketone were pulverized and mixed in the same manner as in Production Example 1, and then coated on a 12 μm thick polyimide film to a thickness of 10 μm to prepare a transfer medium.

One example of application of the transfer medium of the present invention detailed above will be explained with reference to FIG.

As shown in the figure, the transfer medium 3 and the transfer medium 4, for example, ordinary paper, are in close contact at least at the thermal image forming position 5, and furthermore, at the thermal image forming position 5, a heat applying means, e.g.
A head is arranged with its working surface in contact with the base material 2.

Here, when the islands 5', 5'', 5'' containing heating elements are heated, the heat is transmitted to the magnetic ink 1 through the base material 2, and the islands 1', 1', 5'' corresponding to the islands 5', 5'', 5''' are The 1″, 1″ portion softens and melts.

At this time, the magnetic means 6 provided to face the heat application means
An attractive force is applied by, for example, a permanent magnet or a magnetic head in the direction of the i mark shown in the figure, and a magnetic ink image is transferred to the transfer medium 4 at, for example, positions 4', 4'', and 4'' as shown in the figure. Although not shown, it is advantageous for the transfer medium 3 to have an endless belt shape, as it is suitable for continuous recording.

Alternatively, a ribbon-like material carrying magnetic ink uniformly may be used and replaced depending on the frequency of use, and as shown in the figure, a magnetic ink replenishing means T may be provided.
Before use, magnetic ink may be sequentially replenished so that it can be used continuously and semi-permanently. In the replenishment means T, it is preferable to use a heater 8 for heating the magnetic ink 1 so that it has at least fluidity.

Further, the magnetic means 6 may apply an attractive force to the magnetic ink 1 almost permanently, or may apply an attractive force intermittently in synchronization with the thermal softening or melting of the magnetic ink, and the attractive force may be controlled. It may also be configured to be activated as desired.

In such a case, the amount of ink transferred can be adjusted. As the heat application means, a Samal head is particularly preferred from the viewpoint of simplicity. This includes semiconductor methods, thick film methods, thin film methods, and other heat generating methods. Any type of shape may be used, such as a 5x7 matrix, 1x7 matrix, segment, line multi, etc. Depending on the type of head, various modifications can be made to the head driving method, mounting method, etc. In the conventional method using special paper, printing is performed by sliding the surface coated with thermal material on the thermal paper, so problems such as printing gas adhesion and abrasion of the head surface have been pointed out. In this example, since the surface of the thermal head mainly slides on a smooth surface such as plastic, there is no problem of print gas adhesion or wear, and its lifespan is long.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. 3 are schematic diagrams for explaining a configuration example of the transfer medium of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an example of application of the transfer medium of the present invention. 1...Magnetic ink that can exhibit thermoplasticity, 2...
... Base material, 3 ... Transfer medium.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A transfer medium for ink transfer using a thermal image and magnetic attraction, comprising a base material and a thermoplastic magnetic ink held on the base material. 2. A transfer medium for ink transfer using a thermal image and magnetic attraction according to claim 1, wherein the base material is in the shape of an endless band. 3. A transfer medium for ink transfer using a thermal image and magnetic attraction according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the base material is a heat-resistant resin thin plate. 4. Transfer for ink transfer using a thermal image and magnetic attraction according to claim 1, wherein the magnetic ink is composed of a composition containing magnetic particles and one or both of a wax-like substance and a thermoplastic resin. Medium. 5. A transfer medium for ink transfer using a thermal image and magnetic attraction according to claim 1, wherein the magnetic ink is composed so as to exhibit thermoplasticity in a temperature range of 40°C to 200°C.