JPH0737165B2 - Ink supply method to ink carrier for print recording - Google Patents

Description

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for supplying a heat-meltable ink powder to an ink carrier for print recording, and more particularly, a heat-meltable ink powder supply for reproducing a heat-meltable ink layer. Regarding the method.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an energization thermal transfer recording method, a heat-meltable ink layer is formed on an ink carrier for printing and recording, which is formed by sequentially laminating an anisotropic conductive layer, a heating resistor that generates heat when an electric signal is input, and a conductive layer. A method of performing print recording using the provided ink recording medium is known. In this method, the ink recording medium should be used repeatedly by supplying powdered ink to the trace of the transferred ink in the heat-meltable ink layer after printing and recording to regenerate the heat-meltable ink layer. Is being done.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic configuration in that case, in which the print recording ink carrier 1 is conveyed in the direction of the arrow by the conveying rolls 6, 6 and the back surface of the print portion in response to an electric signal from the print recording head in the printing portion. The heat-meltable ink is transferred to the transfer material 3 on the pressure contact roll 4, and print recording is performed. Next, the print recording ink carrier reaches the powder ink supply unit 7, where the powder ink is supplied, and the heat-melting ink layer is surface-adjusted in the ink surface-adjusting unit 8 to reproduce the heat-sensitive ink layer. It is completed and is ready for the next print / record operation.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the above-described conventional print recording method, when reproducing the ink recording medium, the powder ink is only a trace of ink transfer in the heat-meltable ink layer of the ink recording medium, that is, an ink transfer trace. However, there is a drawback in that the powder ink adheres to the untransferred portion where the powder ink remains, and the thickness variation of the heat-meltable ink layer increases, resulting in the problem that it cannot be repeatedly used for a long period of time. was there.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made mainly for the purpose of solving the above-mentioned problems in reproducing a conventional heat-meltable ink layer on a print recording ink carrier.

That is, an object of the present invention is to provide a heat-meltable ink powder supply method capable of stably supplying heat-meltable ink powder to a print recording ink carrier. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of supplying a heat-meltable ink powder for regeneration of a heat-meltable ink layer.

Means and Actions for Solving the Problem The hot-melt ink powder supply method of the present invention is an anisotropic conductive layer,
A heating resistor layer that generates heat when an electric signal is input, a conductive layer, and an ink release layer are sequentially laminated, and the ink release layer has a volume specific resistance of 10 ⁸ Ωcm or more and a film thickness of 0.08 to 3.0.
An ink carrier for printing and recording having a thickness of μm and an ink supply carrier having an insulating heat-melting ink powder as a carrier on the surface are in proximity to or in contact with the ink release layer of the ink carrier for printing and recording. As described above, a voltage is applied between the conductive layer of the print recording ink carrier and the ink supply carrier to transfer the heat-meltable ink powder onto the ink release layer.

Next, the ink carrier for print recording used in the present invention will be described.

The anisotropic conductive layer serves to reduce the power loss due to the current resistance in the thickness direction, and also to reduce the heat loss and heat damage due to the contact resistance between the needle electrode and the surface of the ink recording medium. It may be a conductive independent pattern layer composed of electrodes, or a layer in which a conductive path made of a conductive substance such as metal powder or conductive ceramic particles is formed in an insulating material such as ceramic or synthetic resin. It may be.

In the thermal transfer recording medium of the present invention, when the anisotropic conductive layer is a layer having a conductive isolated pattern, it suffices that the heating resistor layer have a function as a support, and the anisotropic conductive pattern is not a conductive isolated pattern. In the case of the conductive layer, the anisotropic conductive layer itself may have a function as a support, and the thin film heating resistor layer may be formed on one surface thereof.

The heating resistor layer is a layer for converting an electric current from the anisotropic conductive layer into Joule heat to generate heat to melt the ink and transfer the ink to a transfer material. For example, a conductive material such as carbon or metal powder is used. Conductive layer made of heat-resistant resin (polyimide resin, polyimideamide resin, silicone resin, fluorine resin, epoxy resin, etc.) in which is dispersed, ZrO ₂ , Al ₂ O ₃ , SiO ₂
A thin film formed using a high resistance material such as and a conductive material such as Ti, Al, Ta, Cu, Au, and Zr is used. The volume resistivity of the heating resistor layer is preferably set in the range of 10 ⁻² to 10 ² Ω · cm, and the film thickness thereof is preferably set in the range of 1000 Å to 500 μm. Those within this range have excellent properties such as film deposition stability and film adhesion.

The conductive layer serves as an electrode for diffusing and flowing back the current flowing into the heating resistor layer, preferably 50 Ω / □
It is prepared by depositing a metal such as Al or a conductive ceramic by vapor deposition, sputtering or another thin film forming method so as to have the following surface resistance. The film thickness is 500Å ~ 5
It is preferable to set in the range of μm, especially 1000 Å ~ 2000
The range of Å is preferable in terms of heat leakage and required conductive properties.

The ink release layer is a layer adjusted to have a critical surface tension such that the ink transfer is performed well even at low printing energy, and is a thin film having a function of low surface energy,
Basically, it has a critical surface tension lower than the surface energy of the transfer material, and preferably has a critical surface tension of 38 dynes / cm or less. Further, it is desirable that the ink release layer has heat resistance, that is, a decomposition point or a melting point of 180 ° C. or higher.

In the present invention, the ink release layer has a volume resistivity of 10
It must be ⁸ Ω · cm or more and the membrane pressure must be in the range of 0.08 μm to 3.0 μm. If the film thickness and the volume resistivity are out of the above ranges, the heat-meltable ink powder may not be uniformly transferred or the transfer may be insufficient.

As a material forming the ink release layer, for example, a thermosetting silicone resin, a fluorine-containing resin or the like can be used.

When the ink carrier for print recording according to the present invention is used for print recording, a heat-meltable ink layer may be formed on the ink release layer. The heat-meltable ink layer is 3-10 μm
May be formed in advance by using a heat-meltable ink, or may be formed by supplying powder of the heat-meltable ink by the ink supply method of the present invention. As the heat-meltable ink for forming the heat-meltable ink layer, a powder in which a known dye or pigment such as carbon black is dispersed in a thermoplastic resin having a melting point of 140 ° C. or less can be used.

Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an example of a print recording apparatus for carrying out the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory view illustrating a state in which heat-sensitive ink powder is attached to a print recording medium, and FIG. 3 is print recording. FIG. 7 is an explanatory view illustrating a state in which the heat-sensitive ink powder is attached to the traces of ink transfer of the heat-sensitive ink layer in the ink carrier for use.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is an ink carrier for printing and recording, which is an anisotropic conductive layer 11, a heating resistor layer 12, a conductive layer 13, an ink peeling layer 14 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Thus, the heat-meltable ink 15 is formed on the ink release layer during print recording.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a print recording head, which is configured to slide on the anisotropic conductive surface of the print recording ink carrier. A transfer material 3 is pressed against the heat-meltable ink layer on the print recording ink carrier by the back pressure contact roll 4. Reference numeral 5 denotes a return contact roll, which is arranged so as to contact the conductive layer exposed at the side end of the print recording ink carrier and to supply a bias voltage from the conductive 51. Reference numerals 6 and 6 denote print recording ink. A carrier roll for carrying the carrier, 7 is a powder ink supply unit, and has a power source 72 for supplying a bias voltage to the ink carrier roll 71 facing the ink carrier for printing and recording. Further, 8 is an ink layer surface adjusting unit.

In the print recording apparatus having the above structure, the print recording ink carrier 1 is conveyed to the print recording section by the conveying rolls 6 and, in response to the signal current from the print recording head 2, the print recording ink carrier 1 is transferred onto the print recording ink carrier. The heat-meltable ink layer is transferred to the transfer material 3, and printing is recorded. The ink carrier for printing and recording after printing and recording is sent to the powder ink supply unit 7 for regenerating the heat-meltable ink layer. The powder ink supply unit is composed of, for example, a powder ink transport roll 71 having a conductive sleeve, and a bias voltage is applied to the sleeve from a power source 72. on the other hand,
A bias voltage having the opposite polarity to the voltage applied to the sleeve by the power supply 51 is applied to the conductive layer of the print recording ink carrier. Therefore, since the insulating heat-meltable ink powder 9 transported by the powder transport roll is charged, it is electrostatically transferred to the portion where the ink release layer, which is a trace of ink transfer, appears. (See FIG. 3) Then, the ink carrier for print recording is heated and pressurized in the ink layer surface adjusting unit, and the regeneration of the heat-meltable ink layer formed thereon is completed.

In the present invention, a bias voltage is applied to the conductive layer of the ink carrier for print recording as described above, and since the insulating ink peeling layer is present thereon, the bias applied to the ink supply carrier. Insulating heat-meltable ink powder particles that have been electrified by the voltage do not cause a charge leak phenomenon, and the ink transfer is performed stably. Also, if there is an ink transfer mark,
Selectively move to the ink movement trace. Further, since the bias voltage to the conductive layer can be arbitrarily adjusted, it becomes possible to easily adjust the adhesion amount of the heat-meltable ink powder.

EXAMPLES Next, the present invention will be described by examples.

Example 1 Cr was deposited on one surface of a conductive polyimide film having a surface resistance of 430 Ω / □ and a thickness of 35 μm by a high frequency sputter deposition method to form a Cr layer having a thickness of 8000 Å. Next, a photoresist was formed on the formed Cr layer, and a prebaking process was performed at 90 ° C. for 7 minutes to form a resist film having a thickness of 1.0 μm. This resist film was optically exposed in a 15 μm rectangular pattern with a pitch of 20 μm on the resist film, developed, washed with water, and then heated in an oven at 120 ° C. for 15 minutes in an N ₂ atmosphere to cure the resist film. . Next, etching was performed using hydrochloric acid to remove the Cr layer in the portion without the photoresist film. Then, rinse thoroughly with water, put it in an acetone bath, wash thoroughly with ultrasonic waves, remove the resist film, and provide a chrome pattern of 15 μm square with a pitch of 20 μm on one side of the conductive polyimide film. Completed layer creation.

Next, on the other surface of the conductive polyimide film, an Al film was formed by a high frequency sputter film forming method, and a film thickness of 800 Å
Conductive layer (surface resistance 0.6 Ω / □) was formed. A thermosetting silicone hard coat resin is applied on the formed Al layer and heat-cured at 150 ° C. for 2 hours to give a volume resistivity of 10 ¹⁵
Ω · cm, critical surface tension 34 dynes / cm, film thickness 0.3 μm, and heat resistance 290 ° C. An ink release layer was formed. In this case, in order to provide a return contact, the strip-shaped portions on both ends of the film were coated so that the ink release layer was not formed.

The obtained film-like sheet was adhered so that the anisotropic conductive layer was on the inner side to prepare an endless belt.

Then, using a low molecular weight polyester resin (melting point 97 ° C, glass transition point 61 ° C) as a base material on the ink release layer,
A heat-meltable ink layer having a film thickness of 7 μm in which the pigment was dispersed by weight was formed.

Using the ink carrier for print recording provided with the colored heat-fusible ink layer, it was mounted in the print recording apparatus shown in FIG. 1 and the following experiment was conducted.

The print recording head is 8 lines / mm (125μm pitch, 75μm
φ) Circular convex conductive parts with a height of 10 μm and a width of 210 mm are used, and they are pressed under a pressure of 600 g / cm.
The recording / recording ink medium was conveyed at a linear velocity of 120 mm / sec, and pulse recording with a pulse duty of 100% was performed at a pulse cycle of 650 μs / dot to perform recording / recording.

As the heat-meltable ink powder, a low molecular weight polyester resin (melting point 97 ° C, glass transition point 61 ° C) was used as a base material,
The pigment was dispersed in a weight percentage, pulverized by a jet mill, classified, and used as a powder having an average particle diameter of 9.3 μm.

This heat-meltable ink powder was used as an insulating material-coated carrier made of iron powder having an average particle size of 130 μm, and heat-meltable ink powder 3.
It was mixed sufficiently so that 5% by weight was contained, and it was supplied onto a powder ink transport roll having a conductive sleeve (30 μmφ) and having 6 poles of rod-shaped magnetite inside.

The sleeve of the powder ink transport roll was rotated at a linear velocity of 420 mm / sec in the opposite direction to the ink carrier for print recording. A bias voltage of -400 V was applied to the sleeve while the distance between the sleeve surface and the ink carrier for print recording was 1.8 mm, while a bias voltage of +200 V was applied to the conductive layer of the ink carrier for print recording. Thereby, the hot-melt ink powder was supplied to the ink transfer mark.

Next, heat-meltable ink powder is heated to 120 ° C in the ink leveling process.
While being heated to 1.0 kg / cm, the heat-meltable ink layer was flattened and reclaimed.

Repeat the above-mentioned printing and recording and ink layer reproduction operations 100
When the operation was repeated, good quality images were continuously obtained.

Comparative Example 1 An ink carrier for print recording was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the ink release layer was not provided, and the same evaluation was performed. As a result, the fine line portion of the transferred image was cut off from the first time, resulting in an unclear image. Further, the transfer state of the heat-meltable ink powder in the second and subsequent ink layer regeneration steps was non-uniform, and the regenerated heat-meltable ink layer was non-uniform, and the image quality and the reproduction state level were low. Also,
Due to the contact with the surface of the ink carrier for recording and recording of the magnetic brush containing the heat-meltable ink powder, the abrasion of the Al layer which is the conductive layer is severe, and the Al layer is worn out after 500 times of repeated use,
The silver-white color was at a level that could not be visually confirmed.

Comparative Example 2 Example 1 except that the ink release layer was formed to a thickness of 8 μm.
An ink carrier for printing and recording was prepared by the same method as described in 1, and evaluated in the same manner. As a result, the heat-meltable ink powder did not selectively adhere to the traces of ink transfer, but adhered in a thin film over the entire surface, and the heat-meltable ink layer could not be regenerated.

Comparative Example 3 An ink carrier for printing and recording was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the ink release layer was formed to a thickness of 0.05 μm. As a result, many pinholes were generated in the ink release layer. When evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1, uneven transfer occurred in the heat-meltable ink powder, and only a low level image quality recording was obtained.

Example 2 The same ink carrier for print recording as in Example 1 was used, except that the heat-meltable ink layer was not provided on the ink peeling layer, and the heat-sensitive ink powder was added to the ink peeling layer in the same manner as in Example. On top of. As a result, the average thickness of the heat-meltable ink layer was 6 μm and the variation Ra was 1.6 μm, and there was no problem in the image quality caused by printing and recording.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION In the present invention, as described above, a voltage is applied between the conductive layer of the ink carrier for print recording and the ink supply carrier to separate the charged conductive ink powder on the ink supply carrier from the ink. Since the heat-meltable ink layer is formed or regenerated by transferring onto the layer, the heat-meltable ink is stably and uniformly deposited. In addition, even if the part where the heat-meltable ink layer is present and the part where the heat-meltable ink layer is not present are mixed on the ink release layer, the conductive ink powder is not mixed in the part where the heat-meltable ink layer is not present. Selectively attach. Further, by changing the bias voltage to the conductive layer, it is possible to easily adjust the amount of the hot-melt ink powder deposited.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an example of a printing / recording apparatus for carrying out the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory view for explaining a state in which heat-sensitive ink powder is attached on an ink carrier for printing / recording, and FIG. 3 is heat-sensitive. FIG. 4 is an explanatory view for explaining a state in which the heat-sensitive ink powder adheres to the ink transfer trace of the ink layer, and FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a print recording apparatus used in a conventional print recording method. 1 ... Ink carrier for print recording, 2 ... Print recording head,
3 ... Transfer material, 4 ... Back pressure contact roll, 5 ... Return contact roll, 6 ... Conveying roll, 7 ... Powder ink supply unit, 8 ... Ink layer leveling unit, 9 ... Thermal melting property Ink powder, 11 ... Anisotropic conductive layer, 12 ... Heating resistor layer, 13
...... Conductive layer, 14 …… Ink release layer, 15 …… Heat-melting ink layer, 51 …… Power supply, 71 …… Ink transport roll, 72 …… Power supply.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An anisotropic conductive layer, a heating resistor layer that generates heat when an electric signal is input, a conductive layer, and an ink peeling layer are sequentially laminated, and the ink peeling layer has a volume resistivity resistance of 10 ⁸ Ω.
Ink of the ink carrier for printing and recording, which has an ink carrier for printing and recording having a thickness of 0.08 to 3.0 μm and a thickness of 0.08 to 3.0 μm, and an ink supply carrier carrying an insulating heat-meltable ink powder on the surface. The peeling layer faces the ink supply carrier so as to be close to or in contact with the ink supply carrier, and a voltage is applied between the conductive layer of the ink carrier for printing and recording and the ink supply carrier to separate the heat-meltable ink powder from the ink. A method of supplying a heat-meltable ink powder, which comprises migrating onto a layer. 2. The heat-meltable ink powder according to claim 1, wherein the ink release layer has a heat resistance of 180 ° C. or higher and a critical surface tension of 38 dyne / cm or lower. Supply method.