JPH0578438B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording method and a transfer body used in a thermal transfer recording device that enable analog gradation recording using a thermal recording head, a laser beam, or the like. be.

Configuration of conventional example and its problems A state in which a recording medium and a transfer body having a layer of recording material to be transferred to the medium on one side of a heat-resistant substrate are used, and this recording material layer and the recording medium are pressed against each other. A thermal transfer recording method and a thermal transfer recording apparatus are provided in which the recording material is selectively heated and written from the other side, that is, the back side, of the substrate using a thermal recording head, and the recording material is selectively transferred and recorded onto the recording medium. It is publicly known.

In this type of conventional thermal transfer recording method, the recording materials are about 80 parts by weight of a hot-melt solid material whose melting point is about 65 to 85 degrees Celsius, which is much higher than room temperature (for example, 25 degrees Celsius), and about 20 parts by weight of various pigment color materials. A sheet-like transfer material is used, in which this is coated and layered on a thin heat-resistant substrate such as capacitor paper or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film, and heat generation is electrically controlled on the back side of this transfer sheet. A thermal recording head having a resistive heating element is pressed into contact with the recording material, and the heat generated by the heating element selectively heats and writes the recording material through the base sheet, melting the hot melt solid material, and melting the hot melt solid material. Selectively transfer and record a recording material onto a recording medium.

This type of so-called thermal melt transfer recording method is characterized in that temperature-raising writing on the recording material is controlled at a temperature lower than the melting point of the hot-melt solid material, that is, at room temperature. Since the temperature and writing are controlled from the back side of the recording material via the base, the hot melt solid material constituting the recording material starts melting from the recording medium side. The melting progresses in the thickness direction of the recording material in response to the supplied thermal energy, and most of the recording material melts in the thickness direction only when the surface portion of the recording material layer on the recording medium side is melted. The feature is that everything is transferred and recorded onto the recording medium at the same time.

Therefore, the recording material is transferred and recorded discontinuously with a threshold value by supplying heating energy for writing at a temperature higher than a certain value based on the melting energy, so it is suitable for binary density recording. This involves the essential problem that it is impossible to perform transfer recording with halftones at a continuous transfer recording density corresponding to the heating energy for writing.

Therefore, in order to cope with the current expanding multi-gradation recording applications such as video image recording, conventional thermal melt transfer recording devices are capable of recording multiple gradations using binary density storage, such as the density pattern method or dither method. Digital gradation recording processing methods for performing density recording are being considered.

However, this type of gradation processing method requires a complex image signal processing circuit, and in addition, its recording resolution and recording speed decrease in inverse proportion to the number of binary density recording dots included in the dither processing matrix. do.

In addition, since the density is displayed using the number of dots with binary dot density as a unit, although there are multiple gradations, the density gradations are discontinuous digital, making it impossible to transfer and record continuous analog gradation temperature. be.

Purpose of the Invention The present invention solves the essential drawbacks of the recording method and recording apparatus based on the principle of thermal melt transfer recording as described above, and the density of the transfer recording dots themselves corresponds to the thermal energy written on the recording material. The following steps are necessary to realize an analog gradation thermal transfer recording method and thermal transfer recording device, also called thermoviscous transfer recording, which can be controlled continuously and can transfer and record monochrome images with halftones and full-color images. The purpose is to provide a transcript.

Structure of the Invention The transfer body of the present invention includes at least a non-adhesive solid resin material and a coloring material on one side of a smooth substrate, and the viscosity decreases as the temperature rises to impart adhesive transfer properties. It is characterized in that a recording material made of an adhesive material that is fluid at room temperature is disposed, and the composition ratio of the non-adhesive solid resin material to the adhesive material is 1:1 to 1:20.

In general, when the adhesive material constituting the recording material is used to transfer and record characters, images, etc., the adhesive material itself contains a dye material that is fluid at room temperature, or the adhesive material contains dyes or pigments. It is made by dissolving or mixing at least one of the coloring materials, and in other special transfer recordings, the recording material is made of an adhesive material itself that does not contain the coloring materials mentioned above. It may also be transferred and recorded on a medium.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Aspects of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to Examples below.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional structure showing an embodiment of a thermal transfer recording method and a thermal transfer recording apparatus using a transfer body according to the present invention, and illustrates the principle thereof.

In the figure, reference numeral 100 denotes a sheet-like transfer body, and a heat-resistant thin film-like transparent substrate 110 such as polyethylene terephthalate PET with a thickness of about 4 to 15 μm is coated on the surface 110a side, and the viscosity decreases as the temperature rises. Fluid adhesive material 12 with increased tackiness
The recording material 120 containing No. 1 is layered to a thickness of, for example, about 2 to 10 μm.

200 is a heating roller made of metal or heat-resistant rubber material and has a built-in heating mechanism 210;
10b, the adhesive material 121 is heated to a constant temperature above its melting point or pouring point via the base 110 as necessary to impart fluidity to the adhesive material 121 and stabilize the transfer recording operation. . 300
is a recording medium such as cellulose paper, synthetic paper, or plastic film, and the recording paper surface 300a and the recording material surface 120a are pressed together via a recording platen 500 made of metal, rubber, or the like.

400 is a thermal recording head device, a semiconductor device, a laser device such as a carbon dioxide laser, etc., which generates temperature raising energy 410 for selectively controlling temperature raising writing of the recording material 120 via the substrate 110 using thermal energy, radiant energy, or the like. This is a heating energy generation control device.

When the device 400 is a laser device, the back surface 11 of the base
Laser light is irradiated from 0b without contact, and the device 40
When 0 uses a thermal recording head, the recording head is pressed against the back surface 110b of the substrate.

FIG. 2 is a diagram qualitatively showing the relationship between the viscosity η of the adhesive material 121 and the temperature T in order to explain the operating principle of the thermal transfer recording method and thermal transfer recording apparatus using the transfer body according to the present invention. It is an explanatory diagram.

The vertical axis represents the viscosity η logarithmically, and the horizontal axis represents the temperature T linearly.

In general, when thermal energy is applied to thermoplastic materials such as organic resins in the solid state, the specific heat (generally 0.5 to 0.5
0.8 cal/g・℃), the temperature rises to the melting point (or pour point T _np ) without significant change in hardness (corresponding to viscosity η in the figure). Thermal energy of fusion at a constant temperature of T=T _np (usually about 30 to 60 cal/g)
When absorbed and melted, the viscosity η decreases discontinuously and exhibits fluidity. When further thermal energy is added, the thermal conductivity (usually
The temperature T increases at a response speed corresponding to about 10 ^-4 to ^{10 -5} cal/cm·sec·°C), and the viscosity η continuously decreases. With this decrease, adhesive transferability to other substances with which it comes into contact is imparted.

Therefore, in FIG. 1, the recording material 120 is heated by the heating roller 200, and the temperature T of the adhesive material 121 in the temperature-raising recording section 130 is maintained in a fluid state of T=T ₀ >T _np as illustrated in FIG. When temperature increase writing is controlled using temperature increase energy 410,
Corresponding to the amount of heating energy 410, the adhesive material 121 is heated within the writing heating control temperature range.
As the temperature T increases, the viscosity η decreases as illustrated by the thick line in FIG.

The amount of adhesive transfer of the adhesive material 121 to the surface of the recording medium is as follows:
The lower the viscosity η, the lower the recording medium surface 300a.
The higher the pressure welding strength is, the more it increases. Thus, the pressure contact strength is set appropriately high (the pressure contact means is not shown), and the recording platen 500 and heating roller 200 are rotated as shown by arrows 501 and 201, respectively, and the recording medium 300 and transfer body 100 are rotated as shown in the figure. The paper is fed as shown by the arrows 301, 101, and the temperature is increased and written is controlled to transfer the paper from the recording medium surface 300a to the transfer body 100 while the adhesive material 121 maintains its fluidity.
When peeled off, the temperature increase energy 41 written in
An increasing amount of the adhesive material 121 corresponding to the zero amount is adhesively transferred as shown at 140a, 140b, and 140c in the figure, resulting in a recording 140.

Therefore, if the heating energy 410 is controlled by pulse width or amplitude modulation, the adhesive transfer recording 14 can be achieved in an analog manner with continuity corresponding to the pulse width or amplitude.
The amount of 0 can be modulated and controlled. Therefore, the viscosity η of the adhesive material 121 and the structure of the recording material layer 120 are appropriately selected so that the adhesive transfer recording 140 does not occur at the temperature-elevated writing operation temperature T ₀ . When color materials consisting of are melted or mixed, heating energy of 41
Analog gradation transfer recording can be performed on the recording medium 300 at a recording density corresponding to 0.

In addition, in FIG. 2, the temperature of the recording material layer 120 that is pressed against the recording medium surface 300a is cooled by the temperature of the recording medium surface 300a in the temperature rising recording section 130.
In order to prevent the adhesive transfer recording operation from becoming unstable, a heating mechanism similar to the heating mechanism 210 of the roller 200 is built into the recording platen 500, and the temperature T of the adhesive material 121 is adjusted to the aforementioned operating temperature of T= _T0 . The adhesive transfer recording operation can be performed by providing an auxiliary means for setting the temperature to 0 to stabilize the operation, or by variably adjusting the operating temperature T ₀ in the range of T ₀ > T _np in conjunction with the heating mechanism 210. Characteristics can be adjusted and changed.

Providing such a variable means is extremely useful for gamma value control in halftone image or full color image recording, and for adjusting the average density in adhesive transfer recording.

In the present invention, the melting point or pour point T _np of the adhesive material 121 is selected to be lower than room temperature (that is, environmental temperature) and exhibits room temperature fluidity.
Even if the heating mechanism of the recording platen 500 or the recording platen 500 is omitted, adhesive transfer recording can be performed at room temperature.

Thus, in FIG. 1, as an apparatus 400, a known thermal recording head for line-sequential thermal recording in which a large number of resistance heating elements are arranged in a line is brought into pressure contact with the back surface 110b of the substrate, and the paper is fed. 30
1,101 and control the temperature increase of the recording material by pulse width modulation in accordance with the image signal, or use a carbon dioxide laser or semiconductor laser device as the device 400, and direct these focused beams to a polygon mirror or electric light. Substrate 110 without contact via an optical element
The recording material layer 120 is irradiated through the recording material layer 120, and the pulse width and amplitude modulated light beam is scanned in a direction perpendicular to the paper feeds 301, 101 according to the image signal, and the recording material is heated and written, thereby increasing the adhesive transfer recording density. A multi-gradation image is obtained by analog gradation modulation.

Further, by using the transfer body 100 containing coloring materials such as cyan, magenta, yellow, etc. as the adhesive material 121, and performing adhesive transfer recording of these in a superimposed manner in accordance with color image signals, it is possible to adhesive transfer record a full color image.

FIG. 3 is a sectional structural view showing another embodiment of a thermal transfer recording method and a thermal transfer recording apparatus using the transfer body according to the present invention.

In this embodiment, the heating energy generation control device 40
0, this is an example in which a thermal recording device is used.

A recording medium 300 and a transfer body 100 are placed between a recording portion 401a of a known thermal recording head 401 for line sequential recording in which a large number of resistance heating elements are regularly arranged for cleaning, and a recording platen 500 made of metal, heat-resistant rubber, or the like. Press the arrow 50 on the platen 500.
1, the paper is fed as shown by arrows 301 and 101. 521 is a recording medium roll, 522 is a winding roll, 523 is a transfer body roll, and 524 is a winding roll. 402 supplies a heat generation control electric signal 404 that is pulse width modulated in accordance with the input image signal 403 to a resistance heating element of the recording head.
With a modulated power supply device that converts and supplies line-sequentially in synchronization with the paper feeds 301 and 101, the adhesive material 122 of the recording unit 130 is temperature-increased writing controlled line-sequentially by pulse width modulation. The adhesive material 122 of the recording section 130 is
Through the cooperation of the heating roller 200 and the heating mechanism built into the recording platen 500, the temperature is set as T=T ₀ >T _np as described above, and the above-mentioned temperature increase writing control is performed with this temperature setting. .

The transfer body 100 includes a heat-resistant base 110,
Due to the conflict between thermal conductivity and mechanical strength, for example, PET film with a thickness of 4 to 15 μm or a thickness of 10 μm
A recording material 12 containing an adhesive material 122 in which at least one of dyes and pigments is dissolved or mixed on capacitor paper or glassine paper with a density of ~20 μm.
It is constructed by layering 0 and can perform normal colored transfer recording. The thickness of the recording material layer 120 is, for example, 2 to 2.
Select a range of about 20 μm. If it is thinner than 2 μm, the recording density of the adhesive transfer recording 141 cannot be obtained due to insufficient amount of coloring material, and if it is 20 μm or more, the recording material layer 1
Thermal conduction in the thickness direction of 20 is reduced, making high-speed recording difficult, and exhibiting high gamma recording characteristics, making halftone recording control difficult.

In this way, in the temperature increase recording section 130, the adhesive material 12
2, the temperature is controlled to increase the temperature from the storage head 401 line-by-line in response to the image signal, and the viscosity decreases in response to the writing temperature, and the adhesive material 122 containing the coloring material is adhesively transferred and recorded on the recording medium surface 300a. 1
41 is done. The amount of the adhesive material 122 and therefore the amount of coloring material, that is, the recording density of the recording 141 changes in accordance with the pulse width of the heat generation control electric signal 404, and the recording density is analog gradation controlled. In this way, a halftone image is thermally transferred and recorded on the recording medium 300 line-by-line in analog gradation.

When a black color material is used, a black image is created.
Furthermore, if cyan, magenta, yellow, and even black are added as coloring materials and these are layered one after the other and adhesive transfer recorded, a full color image can be thermally transferred recorded.

Below, the transfer body 20 with the configuration shown in FIG.
0, an example of the configuration of the recording medium 300 and an example of its operation will be shown.

The recording head 401 used was a known thermal recording head for line sequential recording in which 512 resistance heating elements were arranged in a straight line at a density of 4 elements/mm.
This heat generation recording part 401a and surface rubber hardness 65°, diameter
24.5mm heat-resistant rubber coated metal recording platen 500
A recording medium 300 and a sheet-like transfer body 2 are placed between
00 are inserted and pressure welded at a pressure of 1.43Kg/cm ² .

Temperature increase writing control is performed line-sequentially, the main scanning recording speed is 33.3 ms per line, and the paper is intermittently fed 101, 301 by the rotation 501 of the recording platen 500 in synchronization with this at a sub-scanning line density of 4 lines/mm. Do the following. In the temperature increasing write control, a recording electric signal whose pulse width P _W is modulated is applied to each resistance heating element at a voltage of 13.35 V and a current of 52.4 mA (power of 0.7 W).

The recording medium 300 has a smoothness of 500 seconds and a thickness of
70μm uncoated plain paper (hereinafter referred to as recording paper A)
YUPO FP#150 (hereinafter referred to as synthetic paper A) manufactured by Oji Yuka Synthetic Paper Co., Ltd. is a 150μ thick polyolefin synthetic paper.
) is used.

All adhesive transfer recording operations are performed at room temperature T _R =25°C. The pour point or melting point T _np of the adhesive material in the following configuration example is 25° or less, and it exhibits a fluid state with the relationship T _R > T _np at room temperature, and the above-mentioned T ₀ > T _np
In order to satisfy T _R , no particular temperature control of the transfer body 100 by the heating mechanisms 210, 510, etc. is performed.

Adhesive transfer recording density D to recording paper A and synthetic paper A
was measured using a reflective optical densitometer (Macbeth RD914) for each number of recorded colors.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional structural diagram showing an embodiment of the transfer body according to the present invention. A porous layer 122b made of a non-adhesive solid resin material is formed on the surface of the adhesive material 122a containing at least one of dyes and pigments, and a non-temperature-raising area during temperature-raising writing control is formed. This prevents the adhesive material 122a from being adhesively transferred to the recording medium and improves the quality of the adhesively transferred recorded image due to so-called fog transfer.

In a normal thermal transfer recording method, the temperature threshold for transferring a recording material to a recording medium is selected to be approximately 65 to 90 degrees.

If the porous layer 122b is made of a hot-melt material having a melting point or pouring point within this temperature range, melting and transfer will occur discontinuously under temperature-rising writing control, making it impossible to achieve good analog gradation in the low recording density region. Therefore, a solid resin material is selected that has a melting point or pour point that is at least higher than the above-mentioned temperature threshold and does not have adhesive transfer properties at the above-mentioned temperature threshold. Usually its melting point or pour point is 100℃ or higher, more preferably
A solid resin material with a temperature above 150℃ is selected. Examples of solid resin materials with a melting point or pour point of 150°C or higher include ethyl cellulose (softening point 156°C), polyester (softening point 170°C), polysulfone (softening point 170°C),
188°C), polycarbonate (melting point 240°C), etc. are suitable materials.

An organic solvent solution or emulsion of these resin materials is applied onto the adhesive material layer 122a by a spray method or the like, and the pressure is immediately reduced rapidly to about 10 ^-2 mmHg, so that the solvent and water evaporate, and the layer is coated in the thickness direction. Numerous holes and gaps 122b' are formed through the layer 1.
22b is formed porous. The thickness thereof is, for example, approximately 1 to 4 μm in consideration of mechanical strength. If this thickness is too thin, the adhesive transfer prevention effect of the adhesive material 122a in the non-temperature-rising portion will be insufficient, and if it is too thick, the adhesive transfer sensitivity will decrease.

In order to prevent the solvent from dissolving the adhesive material layer 122a or the dye contained therein during formation of the layer 122b, it is preferable to appropriately select the solvent for the resin material or use an aqueous emulsion. .

Layer 122b thus prevents fogging transfer of material 122a. The amount of permeation of the adhesive material 122a through the porous pores 122b' is inversely proportional to its viscosity and proportional to the pressing pressure. Therefore, when the recording material surface 120a is pressed against the recording medium surface 300a via the head recording section 401a, when temperature raising writing is controlled, the adhesive material 122a containing the coloring material and the adhesive material 122a containing the coloring material are It passes through the porous holes 122b' and produces an adhesive transfer record 141 on the medium surface 300a, allowing analog gradation recording.

The adhesive material 122a can be composed of a liquid or base fluid dye.

As a liquid dye, CI.
solvent Blue 98, CI. Solvent Yellow 107, CI.
Solvent Red 164 and 165 are known, for example
Moston Chemical's trade name: Automate Liquid
Dye etc. fall under this category and dissolve in petroleum solvents. These are viscous liquids at room temperature (for example, 25°C), and their viscosity decreases as the temperature rises.

In addition, as a fluid dye in the form of a paste at room temperature,
For example, JP-A-50-9631, JP-A-51-124119,
Dyes described in JP-A-52-47824 and the like are known, for example, by modifying metal-containing dyes such as Cu-phthalocyanine to be soluble in hydrocarbon solvents.

Operation example 1 13 μm thick capacitor paper as base 110
Moston Chemical's liquid dye Automate
Blue Black (dye: 50% by weight) is applied using a bar coater, and the solvent is evaporated to form an adhesive material layer 122a with a thickness of 2 μm. Further, an aqueous emulsion of polyester resin (Vylonal HD-1200, manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.) was applied to the surface of the layer 122a by a spray method, and then immediately dried under a rapid vacuum of 10 ^-2 mmHg.
A non-adhesive porous layer 122b having a layer thickness of 2 μm was formed to constitute the recording material layer 122.

When this transfer body 100 is combined with the recording paper A, the modulation pulse width P _W of the recording signal 404 increases to its maximum value 6.
Adhesive transfer recording 1 in response to P _W within ms
The recording density D of 41 changes continuously, allowing analog gradation recording.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional structural diagram showing an embodiment other than the transfer body according to the present invention, and for convenience of explanation, the cross-sectional diagram is shown as a model.

In order to prevent fog transfer in non-heated areas of the adhesive material 122d mixed with at least one of dyes or pigments, a non-adhesive solid resin material of the same type as the above-mentioned 120a which is not completely compatible with the adhesive material 122d is used. 122c is mixed and laminated to constitute the recording material layer 122.

The resin material 122c is assumed to be dispersed and mixed in the form of particles, scales, threads, etc., and has the role of forming a kind of matrix to prevent fog transfer. The amount of adhesive material 122d located in the holes or gaps 122c' between the resin materials 122c is adhesively transferred 141 to the recording medium surface 300 through the gaps 122c' under constant pressure, that is, the recording density D is determined by It increases continuously as the viscosity decreases and therefore the writing temperature rise (in other words, the pulse width P _W ) increases.

Therefore, analog gradation recording can be performed in accordance with the modulation pulse width _PW .

The weight ratio of the non-adhesive solid resin material 122c and the adhesive material 122d containing a coloring material is preferably in the range of 1:1 to 1:20, with the material 122c being 1:1 (i.e. 1:1 to 1:20).
If it is larger than 1:20 (ie, 50% of the mixed weight of 122c), it becomes difficult to perform adhesive transfer recording 141, and if it is smaller than 1:20 (that is, 4.8% of the mixed weight of 122c), it becomes difficult to prevent fog transfer.

Operation example 2 Base 110 made of PET film with a thickness of 9 μm
On the surface, ethyl cellulose (manufactured by Tokyo Kasei Kogyo Co., Ltd., product number E0265) and polycarbonate (Panlite L-manufactured by Teijin Kasei Co., Ltd.) were used as solid resin materials 122c.
1250W) in a 1:1 weight ratio, and 2 parts by weight of this and a Cu-phthalocyanine paste dye modified with a hydrocarbon solvent (HC-Blue-1, manufactured by Hodogaya Chemical Co., Ltd.) 3 parts by weight,
A recording material layer 122 was formed by layering a mixed material dissolved in a mixed solvent of methylene chloride and toluene using a bar coater to a layer thickness of 4 μm, and the transfer member 100 was constructed.

This transfer body 100 and a recording medium 300 of synthetic paper A
FIG. 6 shows the experimental characteristics of the recording signal pulse width P _W and the recording density D using the following.

The recording density D rises continuously from the paper surface density D ₀ of the synthetic paper A, indicating that analog gradation recording can be performed.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the transfer body of the thermal transfer recording method and recording apparatus according to the present invention, and is shown in relation to FIG. 5.

In this example, the adhesive material 122d in FIG. 5 is made of a composite material in which the adhesive material 122d' is dissolved or mixed with a coloring material 122'' containing at least either a dye or a pigment. It is something.

Good adhesive transfer recording operation using a thermal recording head preferably requires consideration of the thermal properties of the adhesive material 122d'.

In a normal thermal recording head, many drive ICs and the like are mounted on the head substrate, and due to the need to protect them, the base (substrate) temperature (therefore, the temperature of the recording section 40a does not rise) due to the recording of heat generated by the heating resistor element. Thermal recording operation is performed when the temperature does not exceed 60°C, and to ensure this, the ambient temperature in use is also limited to a maximum of 50°C, taking heat dissipation effects into consideration.

Further, the viscosity η of the adhesive material 122d' is appropriately selected so that fog transfer does not occur at the maximum paste temperature of 60°C. According to experiments, depending on the composition of the recording material 122, clay η can be used in the range of 4×10 ² to 2×10 ⁵ centipoise (cp), particularly in the range of 1×10 ³ to 2×
A range of 10 ⁴ cp is preferred. Too small viscosity η (η<4×
10 ² cp) tends to cause fog transfer, and an excessive η (η>2×10 ⁴ cp) makes high-speed recording difficult.

Adhesive material 122d' in adhesive material 122d:
The weight ratio of the coloring materials 122d'' is preferably in the range of 1:0.25 to 5; if the coloring materials 122d'' is too small, high recording density cannot be obtained, and if it is too large, it is difficult to record with adhesive transfer. Become.

Examples of the adhesive material 122d' include polybutene, polyisobutylene, polybutadiene, silicone oil, etc., which are fluid at room temperature, and epoxy resin,
A base polymer of room temperature or thermosetting resin such as silicone resin mixed with a polymerization or crosslinking inhibitor is used. Further, if necessary, the thermal properties can be adjusted by dissolving hot melt materials or the like in these materials.

The adhesive material 122d' is a non-adhesive resin material 122.
Select the material appropriately so that c is not completely compatible.

Operation example 3 In the configuration of the recording material 122 of operation example 2, polybutene (Nisseki polybutene), whose thermoviscous characteristics (curve A) is shown in FIG. 8, is used as the adhesive material 122d'.
HV-300 manufactured by Nippon Petrochemical Co., Ltd., pour point 2.5℃)
In addition to the weight part, HC- which also serves as adhesive material 122''
The adhesive material 122d is composed of 1 part by weight of the color material 122'', which is a paste dye consisting of Blue-1, and 3 parts by weight of polybutene.

This constituent material has fluidity at room temperature of 25°C. Thus, using a mixed solvent of methylene chloride and toluene, the recording material layer 12 was formed to a thickness of 4 μm in the same manner as in Operation Example 2.
The experimental characteristics of a combination of the transfer body 110 layered with Synthetic Paper A and Synthetic Paper A are also shown in FIG. Due to the temperature T dependence of the effective viscosity η of polybutene, the operation starts from a lower P _W than in operation example 2, and the recording density D is significantly improved.

Operation example 4 In the configuration of the transfer body of operation example 3, the melting point is 50~
Solid paraffin at 52° C. is added to the polybutene to replace 18% by weight of the polybutene with paraffin. Paraffin is compatible with polybutene, and HC−Blue−
1. The adhesive material 122d made of a mixture of polybutene and paraffin exhibits fluidity at room temperature of 25°C.

Similarly, 4μ with methylene chloride and toluene mixed solvent.
A recording material layer 122 having a layer thickness of m is formed.

Experimental characteristics of the combination of this transfer body 100 and synthetic paper A are shown in FIG.

As is clear from the figure, the temperature T dependence of the viscosity η of the adhesive material 122 as a whole becomes large due to the mixture of paraffin, which is a hot melt material, and the clay η decreases greatly from the middle range to the high range of the heating writing temperature. Therefore, the same pulse width in this region
This shows that the recording density D with respect to _PW is greatly improved.

Note that other hot melt materials such as low molecular weight polyethylene can also be used as long as they are compatible with polybutene. For example, if you use Nippon Seirosha's Weisen T-40 (softening point 110℃),
The recording density D can be further improved from the reduction of the pulse width _PW to the middle range, and a glossy recorded image can be obtained.

Operation example 5 Base 110 made of PET film with a thickness of 9 μm
On the surface, 2 parts by weight of the mixed material of 1:1 weight ratio of ethyl cellulose and polycarbonate used in Operation Example 2 was applied as a non-adhesive solid resin material 122c, and as an adhesive material 122d', its thermoviscous properties are shown in FIG. (Curve B) Polybutene (Nisseki Polybutene HV-100, manufactured by Nippon Petrochemical Co., Ltd., pour point -7.5
℃) 1 part by weight, liquid dye of operation example 1 (Automate Blue Black, dye content 50% by weight) 1
Part by weight was dissolved in a mixed solvent of methylene chloride and toluene, and the mixed material was coated with a bar coater to a layer thickness of 4 μm.
a transfer body 100 in which a recording material layer 122 is layered;
The experimental characteristics using recording paper A are shown in FIG.

This shows that extremely high-density analog gradation recording can be achieved by using the temperature T dependence of the effective viscosity η of polybutene and by using a liquid dye.

Operation example 6 shows that solid dyes can also be used as the color materials 122d''.

On the surface of the base 110 of PET film with a thickness of 9 μm,
As the non-adhesive solid resin material 122c, 0.3 parts by weight of ethyl cellulose in Operation Example 2; as the adhesive material 122d', 1 part by weight of polybutene HV-100;
As color material 122d'', 1 part by weight of Mihara New Blue (Mihara Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., CI.Sovent Blue25) was dissolved in a toluene and ethanol mixture to form a layer with a layer thickness of 4μ.
Transfer body 100 layered with m recording material layers 122
Fig. 10 shows the experimental characteristics of a combination of 1 and synthetic paper A. It is clear that analog gradation recording can be performed well even with solid dyes.

Operation example 7 This shows that pigments can be used as the color materials 122d''.

On the surface of the base 110 of PET film with a thickness of 9 μm,
Operation example 2 as non-adhesive solid resin material 122c
0.3 parts by weight of ethyl cellulose, 2 parts by weight of polybutene HV-100 as the adhesive material 122d', and Blue514 from Arimoto Kagaku Kogyo Co., Ltd. as the coloring material 122d''.
(CI.Pigment Blue15) 1 part by weight, toluene,
Experimental characteristics of a combination of a transfer material 100 mixed in an ethanol mixed solvent and coated with a recording material layer 122 to a thickness of 5 μm using a bar coater and synthetic paper A are shown in the 10th example.
Also shown in the figure.

As is clear from the figure, even pigment coloring materials exhibit good analog gradation recording characteristics, can record cyan gradation, and do not have discontinuities unlike conventional thermal melt transfer recording methods. Good halftone images with excellent light resistance can be recorded.

Incidentally, for black recording, furnace black may be used as the color material 122d'', for yellow color recording, for example, CI.Pigment Yellow17, and for magenta color recording, for example, CI.Pigment Red57, and these cyan, magenta, A full-color image can be recorded by adhesive transfer by layering yellow or black recording material layers 122 on the surface of the substrate 110 in a regular manner and sequentially overlapping them.

In the structure of the transfer body 100 of the above operation examples 2 to 6, a porous layer (122b in FIG. 4) made of a solid resin material is formed on the surface of the recording material layer 120a based on the principle detailed in FIG. can be installed. This has the advantage that fogged adhesive transfer recording can be more easily prevented.

The transfer body according to the present invention is based on adhesive transfer related to the viscosity of the adhesive material. Therefore, for good adhesive transfer recording, it is desirable that the surface of the recording medium has good adhesive receptivity.

This request is based on the fact that, as shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG.
10 can be laminated, coated, or impregnated.

In the case where polybutene is included as the adhesive material in the transfer body configuration of the operation example described above, a preferable solid material 310 is exemplified. Polypropylene provides good adhesive transferability. Therefore, a thin film (for example, 10 to 15 μm) is applied to the surface 300a' of a recording medium such as paper.
This can be achieved by laminating a polypropylene film (of a certain thickness).

In addition, as a compatible material for polybutene,
C5 _- based aliphatic hydrocarbon resins (for example, C-110X manufactured by Mitsui Petrochemical Industries, Ltd., softening point 110°C) are suitable, and a solution of xylene or the like thereof is applied to the surface of a recording medium such as paper in an amount of, for example, 1 to 5 g. This can be achieved by coating or impregnating with a coating amount of /m ² .

FIG. 12 is a plan view of an embodiment of a transfer body according to the present invention when full-color image recording is performed.

As shown in the figure, the coloring materials of the recording material layer 122 are changed to cyan 122-122 in accordance with the screen size of the stored image.
C, magenta 122-M, and yellow 122-Y, which are arranged periodically along the paper feeding direction in a random pattern, and if necessary, black can be added to the above three colors to make up four colors. I can do it.

In addition, in the above-mentioned various configurations of the transfer body, an auxiliary agent such as a surfactant can be mixed as necessary.

In addition, although the operation example mainly focused on the case where a thermal recording head is used, it is clear that each transfer body can be used as a transfer body for analog gradation recording by laser beam writing because each transfer body absorbs light energy. be.

Note that the transfer body can be configured and implemented not only in the configuration of the operation example described above but also by appropriately combining the principles described above. Constituting the adhesive material itself, preferably colorless, transparent or significantly colored,
The colorant material contained in the non-opaque adhesive material to provide color can also be composed of a plurality of materials.

When the coloring material is a dye, it can be composed of at least one of a compatible material or a mixed material of a so-called fluid dye in the form of a liquid or paste and a solid dye. If the composite material that is mixed into the adhesive material and colors the adhesive material is a pigment, if the mixing and dispersion of the recording material layer is uneven, the recorded image may become uneven in the low transfer density region. .
This difficulty can be improved by using mixed coloring material systems that include dyes that dissolve in adhesive materials, such as pigments and solid dyes, pigments and fluid dyes, pigments, solid dyes, and fluid dyes, etc. There is an advantage that
Furthermore, the pigment and solid dye, which are solid coloring materials, can be configured to be thermally sublimable, and the fluid dye can be configured to be thermally evaporable.

Selection of a coloring material containing at least one of these is particularly effective in uniform transfer in a low transfer recording density region. In particular, when forming a coloring material from a mixed material of pigment and dye, selecting the material so that it contains at least a heat-sublimable or heat-evaporable dye has the advantage that recorded images with excellent uniformity can be obtained. be.

In these cases, the thermal sublimation temperature or thermal evaporation temperature (i.e., boiling point) of the pigment and dye is selected to be higher than the above-mentioned heating writing control operating temperature T _O in order to prevent so-called fog transfer. Particularly when temperature-elevated writing is performed using a thermal head, it is desirable that the above-mentioned thermal sublimation temperature or boiling point be selected to be at least the upper limit of the base (substrate) temperature, for example, 60°C.

The colors of the plural types of coloring materials can be selected to be the same color or different colors.

If the colors are different, it is useful for recording color tones,
Furthermore, by changing the transfer recording characteristics depending on the color, there is an advantage that multicolor transfer recording in which the recording color changes depending on the writing control temperature can be achieved with a single transfer member.

The adhesive material itself included in the recording material layer and to be colored with a coloring material can also be composed of multiple types of materials. In this case, the plural types of adhesive materials may be completely compatible, partially compatible, or incompatible.

In the above, at the operating temperature T _O or higher, the solid hot melt material can be contained in the flowable adhesive material in a form that is independently mixed and dispersed in an incompatible state. This type of adhesive material composition can be easily achieved by mixing a plurality of partially compatible or incompatible adhesive materials having different melting points or pour points.

In the above constituent materials, at a low writing temperature, a colored fluid adhesive material is adhesively transferred, and at a high writing temperature, a solid hot melt material is contained in the fluid adhesive material and the solid hot melt material, respectively, to be colored. The content ratio and color of the colorant materials can be selected equally or differently.

When using a dye as a coloring material, if it is difficult to record high concentrations due to low solubility in a fluid adhesive material, a solid hot melt material with high dye solubility can be used to achieve a wide dynamic range. It is suitable for transfer recording of recording density. Furthermore, if the fluid adhesive material is colored in a different color, for example, cyan, and the solid hot melt adhesive material is colored in a different color, for example, magenta, it is possible to reduce the writing temperature by using cyan, cyan, etc.
The color changes from blue in the midrange to magenta in the high range, and has the advantage that multicolor transfer recording can be performed on the same transfer sheet.

Even in the case where the adhesive material is fluid and is a mixture of multiple types of fluid materials that are partially compatible or incompatible, it is possible to use the difference in the solubility of the dye coloring material and the adhesive transfer recording sensitivity. , it is possible to expand the dynamic range and perform multi-color transfer recording as described above.

When using a thermal head, the melting point or pouring point of the solid hot melt adhesive material should be set at the upper limit of the base (substrate) temperature, for example, 60° C. or higher, so that the above-described transfer recording can be performed effectively.

In the present invention, temperature-elevated writing control using a thermal head and a laser beam is performed with the recording material and recording medium in pressure contact, and the transfer member is immediately removed from the medium after the writing control is completed and before the viscosity change disappears. Peeling is recommended.

However, it is also possible to control the recording material layer to raise the temperature prior to pressure contacting the recording material layer and the recording medium, and to perform pressure contact and subsequent peeling before the viscosity change disappears.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention is a transfer body used in a thermal transfer recording method called a thermoviscous transfer method and a thermal transfer recording device, and is capable of achieving analog transfer, which was not possible with the conventional thermal melt transfer method. Tonal transfer recording can be realized, and not only monochrome halftone images but also full color images can be transferred and recorded using pigment coloring materials, and the industrial effects thereof are extremely large.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional structural diagram showing an embodiment of a thermal transfer recording method and a thermal transfer recording device using a transfer body according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows the operating principle of the recording method and recording device shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between the clay η of the adhesive material and the temperature T, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the transfer body according to the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional structural diagram showing another embodiment of the transfer body according to the present invention, FIG. 6 is a characteristic diagram showing experimental characteristics of an operational example of the transfer body according to the present invention, and FIG. A sectional structural diagram showing another example of the transfer body of the transfer body according to the present invention, FIG. 8 is a thermoviscous characteristic diagram of the adhesive material used, and FIG. FIG. 10 is a characteristic diagram showing the experimental characteristics according to another operation example of the transfer body according to the present invention, and FIG. 11 is a characteristic diagram showing the experimental characteristics according to another operation example of the transfer body according to the present invention. FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional structural diagram of still another embodiment of the transfer body according to the present invention. 100... Transfer body, 110... Substrate, 120,
122... Recording material layer, 140, 140a, 14
0b, 140c...adhesive transfer recording, 200...heating roller, 300...recording medium, 400...heating energy generation control device, 401...thermal recording head, 402...modulation power supply device, 500...
...recording platen.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Coloring material, granules,
A recording material containing a non-adhesive solid resin material having either a scaly or thread-like shape and a room temperature fluid adhesive material whose viscosity decreases as the temperature rises and imparts adhesive transferability is arranged. , the composition ratio of the non-adhesive solid resin material and the adhesive material is 1:1 to 1:
A transcription body characterized by being 20. 2. The transfer body according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the coloring material is a dye that is liquid or paste at room temperature. 3. On one side of the smooth substrate, there is an adhesive material layer containing a coloring material and a room temperature fluid adhesive material whose viscosity decreases as the temperature rises to impart adhesive transferability, and the adhesive material layer A porous adhesive transfer control layer made of a non-adhesive solid resin material is laminated on the surface of the adhesive, and the composition ratio of the non-adhesive solid resin material to the adhesive material is 1:1 to 1:20. A transcription body characterized by. 3. The transfer material according to claim 3, wherein at least a part of the coloring material is a dye that is liquid or paste at room temperature.