JPH0755598B2 - Decoration method - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a decoration method, and more specifically, an image formed by a heat transferable dye (sublimation dye) is transferred as a positive image to any transfer target article. The present invention provides a decoration method that can be used.

(Conventional Technology) Conventionally, thermal transfer of fabric by heat transferable dye (sublimation thermal transfer)
The method has been used for a long time, and this method forms a reversal pattern layer of a dye carrying a heat transferable dye on a heat transfer sheet substrate, superimposes this on a cloth, and heats the dye to transfer it to the cloth. It is a method of forming a positive image on the cloth. Utilizing this technology, coupled with the recent development of precision thermal printers and other image technologies, there is a method of forming a precise image on a plastic film from a thermal transfer sheet having a heat transferable dye that is as good as a photograph. Various proposals have been made.

According to this recent method, for example, a camera, an image, a television image or a graphic image of a personal computer can be easily made into a hard copy on the surface of a transfer material such as paper having a polyester layer. It has reached a level where it can fully compete with technology and precision printing technology.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) Although the thermal transfer technique as described above has an advantage that an arbitrary image can be easily formed, the transferred article is made into a material that can be dyed with a heat transferable dye such as polyester. On the other hand, the transferred article is limited in shape to a sheet-like material such as a film or a sheet, and for example, an image is formed on wood, metal, glass, ceramics or the like. In addition, even in the case of plastics such as polyester, the image forming surface thereof has a curved surface or has an uneven shape, and even if it is flat, it is a three-dimensional object other than a sheet-like object. Has a problem that it is difficult to form an image.

In particular, as the fields of use of various cards such as cash cards have expanded in recent years, it is necessary to give images and symbols to these cards and give them various functions and decorations. It is difficult to apply an image to these cards by the above-mentioned thermal transfer method because they are flat but lack flexibility or have irregularities such as characters and symbols.

As a method of solving such a drawback, there is a method of sticking a picture sticker having a desired image to a desired place of a desired article, but since the sealing material is relatively thick in this method, the sticking portion is projected, There is no sense of unity between the seal and the item to be decorated,
There is also a drawback that it is easy to peel off.

Further, as a method which does not cause such a defect, there is a method of using a thermal transfer method such as a hot stamp method, but this method has a defect that a heating means is always required at the time of transferring an image, and complicated unevenness The shape surface has a problem that thermal transfer is difficult as in the above case.

Therefore, it is desired to develop a technique that can easily provide a desired image on the surface of an article made of an arbitrary material and having an arbitrary shape and an arbitrary surface shape, and integrating the image with the transferred article. Has been done.

(Means for Solving Problems) That is, according to the present invention, an image receiving layer of an intermediate transfer medium comprising an image receiving layer releasably provided on one surface of a sheet-shaped base material is applied from an image receiving layer side by a thermal transfer method. The decorative method is characterized by forming a reversal image when viewed, then retransferring the transferred image-receiving layer to an arbitrary transferred article, and then forming a protective layer on the transferred image surface.

The present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, which schematically show embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a basic aspect of an intermediate transfer medium 10 used in the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a preferred embodiment of the intermediate transfer medium 10 used in the present invention. ,
3 to 5 are diagrams schematically showing the decoration method of the present invention.

The basic structure of the intermediate transfer medium 10 used in the present invention is, as shown in FIG. It is characterized in that a reverse image 3 is provided when viewed from the layer side.

By configuring the above-mentioned intermediate transfer medium 10 with such a basic configuration, a positive image can be easily transferred to any transfer target article by the retransfer method from the intermediate transfer medium 10, and the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art. Is basically solved.

That is, although the image receiving layer 2 in the above is limited to a material which can be dyed with a heat transferable dye, the reverse image 3 is once formed with these dyes, and the image 3 is re-transferred to the transferred article together with the image receiving layer 2. By transferring, it is possible to freely transfer a positive image to a transferred article of any material such as glass, metal, wood, or a plastic material which is difficult to be dyed with a heat transfer dye.

Further, since the image receiving layer 2 having the image 3 and transferred from the sheet-shaped substrate 1 is very thin and has sufficient flexibility, even if the surface shape of the transferred article is a curved surface or an uneven surface, Since the surface shape can be sufficiently followed, the transfer is not limited by the surface shape of the transferred article.

Further, similarly, since the image receiving layer 2 having the image 3 is very thin, it can be easily integrated with the transferred article unlike a conventional sticker, and the transfer portion does not rise, so that a sticker like a sticker is attached. It does not give a feeling of wearing.

In the above-mentioned intermediate transfer medium 10, since the image receiving layer 2 is thin and these layers are thin, various handling is difficult, and the sheet-shaped substrate 1 is required to be present.

Further, since the image receiving layer 2 provided on the sheet-shaped substrate 1 is required to be easily peeled from the sheet-shaped substrate 1 at the time of transfer, the image-receiving layer 2 and the sheet-shaped substrate 1 are strongly adhered to each other. However, it is preferable to provide the weak adhesive layer 4 so that it can be easily peeled off (FIG. 2).

Therefore, "weakly sticky" in the present invention means that the image receiving layer 2 or the sheet-shaped substrate 1 having the image 3 can be easily peeled off from the other side without being destroyed by fingers or other means. There is. However, in the material relationship between the image receiving layer 2 and the sheet-shaped substrate 1, if the peeling is easy as described above, the weak adhesive layer is not always necessary.

Although not shown, a release layer may be provided on the surface of the image receiving layer 2 of the intermediate transfer medium 10 used in the present invention.
The release layer is used to transfer the heat transferable dye from the heat transfer sheet 20 using the heat transferable dye as shown in FIG. 3 to form the image 3 on the image receiving layer 2 so that the heat transfer sheet 20 and the image receiving layer 2 are heated. This is for the purpose of preventing the sticking due to the above, and is unnecessary when such sticking does not occur or when such a release layer 22 is provided on the surface of the thermal transfer sheet 20.

The intermediate transfer medium 10 used in the present invention as shown in the above-described first and second drawings will be described in detail later, but basically, it has the same configuration as that shown in the first and second drawings except that an image is formed. It can be obtained by a method of directly thermally transferring a reverse image by using a normal thermal transfer sheet 20 having a heat transferable dye layer on the intermediate transfer medium 10.

Next, the decoration method of the present invention will be described. The decoration method of the present invention is mainly characterized in that the above-mentioned intermediate transfer medium 10 is used.

As a basic mode, a method illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 5 will be described.

In the examples shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, first, as shown in FIG. 3, first, the thermal transfer sheet 20 having the heat transferable dye layer 21 is first transferred to the intermediate transfer medium 10.
The dye layer 21 (release layer 22) is superposed on (in this state, the image 3 has not been formed yet and corresponds to the transferred sheet) so as to face the image receiving layer 2 of the intermediate transfer medium 10. By applying thermal energy (arrow) according to the image signal from the thermal head from the thermal transfer sheet 20 side,
A desired reverse image 3 is formed on the image receiving layer 2. In this case, the intermediate transfer medium 10 is preferably provided with the weak adhesive layer 4 between the image receiving layer 2 and the sheet-shaped substrate 1.

FIG. 4 shows an article to be transferred using the intermediate transfer medium 10 described above.
30 shows a step of retransferring the image receiving layer 2 having the positive image 3 to 30.

The intermediate transfer medium 10 is overlaid with the image receiving layer 2 having the image 3 facing the transferred article 30, the two are pressure-bonded, and then the sheet-shaped substrate 1 is peeled off together with the weak adhesive layer 4 to transfer the article. The image receiving layer 2 having the positive image 3 is transferred onto 30. Before this transfer, the surface of the image receiving layer 2 and / or
Alternatively, the adhesive layer 5 may be formed on the surface of the transferred article 30.

Further, since the image receiving layer 2 is generally formed of a thermoplastic resin which can be dyed with a heat transferable dye, a plastic molded product, a cloth, or a
It is also possible to heat-bond to the transferred article 30 such as metal.

Further, in the intermediate transfer medium 10 used in the present invention, it is necessary to peel off the image receiving layer 3 and the sheet-shaped substrate 1. Therefore, in order to facilitate the peeling property, the edge of the intermediate transfer medium 10 is separated. It is preferable to make a cut (not shown) in a part of the sheet-shaped substrate 1. By providing such a cut, the image receiving layer 3 or the base material sheet 1 can be easily peeled off by bending that portion.

In the present invention, a fifth image is formed on the surface of the image 3 transferred as described above.
A protective layer 6 is provided as shown. These protective layers 6 can be formed by a method of laminating a plastic film having excellent wear resistance, stain resistance, transparency, etc., or by a transparent paint that gives a coating having the above-mentioned properties.

Although the decorative method of the present invention has been described above with reference to a basic example, the same applies to the case of carrying out the decorative method of the present invention using an intermediate transfer medium of another embodiment of the present invention not shown.

Next, the present invention will be described in more detail in terms of the main materials used in the decoration method of the present invention as described above and the construction method.

The sheet-shaped substrate 1 of the intermediate transfer medium 10 includes (1) synthetic paper (polyolefin-based, polystyrene-based, etc.), (2) high-quality paper, art paper, coated paper, cast-coated paper, wallpaper, backing paper, synthetic resin Or emulsion-impregnated paper, synthetic rubber latex-impregnated paper, synthetic resin internal paper,
Paperboard, cellulosic fiber paper, (3) films or sheets of various plastics such as polyolefin, polyvinyl chloride, polyester, polystyrene, polymethacrylate, polycarbonate, etc., all of which have been used for conventional transfer sheets can be used and shaped. Is not limited at all, and the thickness is generally in the range of several μm to several tens of μm. Further, a laminated body formed by any combination of the above (1) to (3) can also be used.

The material forming the image receiving layer 2 receives a heat transferable dye transferred from the thermal transfer sheet 20 having the heat transferable dye layer 21, for example, a sublimable (heat transferable) dye, and an image 3 formed by the reception. For holding. For example, the following synthetic resins can be used alone or as a mixture of two or more kinds.

Polyester resin, polyacrylic ester resin, polycarbonate resin, polyvinyl acetate resin, vinyl chloride-
Vinyl acetate copolymer resin, styrene-acrylate copolymer resin, vinyltoluene-acrylate copolymer resin, polyurethane resin, polyamide resin, urea resin, polycaprolactone resin, polystyrene resin, polyvinyl chloride resin, polyacrylonitrile resin and the like.

Among the above synthetic resins, polyester resins are particularly preferable.

In any of the above cases, a white pigment is added to the image receiving layer 2 for the purpose of improving the whiteness of the image receiving layer 2 to further improve the sharpness of the transferred image and preventing blurring of the transferred image. You can

Further, in order to further enhance the light resistance of the transferred image, an ultraviolet absorber and / or a light stabilizer can be added to the image receiving layer 2.

The image receiving layer 2 made of the above materials can be formed by any conventionally known method such as a coating method and a transfer method, and the thickness thereof is generally in the range of about 1 to 50 μm.

The intermediate transfer medium 10 used in the present invention has a release layer formed on the surface of the image receiving layer 2 thereof in order to improve the release property from the thermal transfer sheet 20 at the time of image formation, or in place of this, an image receiving layer is formed. A release agent can be included in the layer 2. As a release agent, polyethylene wax, amide wax,
Solid waxes such as Teflon powder; fluorine-based and phosphoric acid ester-based surfactants; silicone oil and the like can be mentioned, with silicone oil being preferred.

As the pressure-sensitive adhesive forming the weak pressure-sensitive adhesive layer 4, any conventionally known pressure-sensitive adhesives used in pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes and seals can be used. For example, polyisoprene rubber, polyisobutyl rubber, styrene butadiene rubber, butadiene acrylonitrile. Rubber resins such as rubber, (meth) acrylic acid ester resins, polyvinyl ether resins, polyvinyl acetate resins, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer resins, polystyrene resins, polyester resins, polyamide resins, poly Chlorinated olefin-based resin, polyvinyl butyral-based resin, or any other adhesive, suitable tackifier, for example, rosin, dammar, polymerized rosin, partially hydrogenated rosin, ester rosin, polyterpene-based resin, terpene modified product, petroleum oil Resin, cyclopentadiene resin, phenol resin, styrene System resin, xylene resin, coumarone - is obtained by adding an appropriate amount of indene-based resins may further optionally, softeners, fillers, also anti-aging agent is added. All such adhesives are commercially available and can be easily used.

If necessary, an organic solvent may be added to such an adhesive to adjust the viscosity, and the sheet-shaped substrate 1 may be prepared by a conventional coating method such as roll coating, die coating, knife coating or gravure coating.
The weak pressure-sensitive adhesive layer 4 is formed by coating and drying the surface. The thus formed weak pressure-sensitive adhesive layer 4 may have any thickness, but it is generally preferable to form it to a thickness of about 1 to 50 μm.

The intermediate transfer medium 10 used in the present invention is formed of the above-mentioned materials. For example, in the case of the first and second drawings, the image receiving layer is formed on the sheet-shaped substrate 1 or the weak adhesive layer 4 formed thereon. The composition for forming an image receiving layer obtained by dissolving or dispersing the material forming 2 is applied and dried by a known coating or printing method to form the image receiving layer 2, and further, if necessary, a release layer is provided. Obtained by forming an inverted image,
Alternatively, the image receiving layer 2 is once formed on a temporary carrier different from the sheet-shaped substrate 1 and transferred onto the sheet-shaped substrate 1 which may be provided with the weak adhesive layer 4 again. You may perform by the method of forming an image. In this case, if the weak adhesive layer 4 is previously formed on the image receiving layer 2, the weak adhesive layer 4 may not be formed on the sheet-shaped substrate 1.

The above method is one example, and any of the other methods can obtain the intermediate transfer medium 10 used in the present invention.

Further, the intermediate transfer medium 10 as described above may be provided with other peeling layer, intermediate layer and other layers as required.

The above is the configuration of the transfer sheet 10 used in the present invention,
A preferred method of forming the desired reversal image 3 is to use a thermal transfer sheet 20 in which a heat transferable dye (sublimation dye) layer 21 is provided on a sheet-shaped substrate. Both the thermal transfer sheet 20 itself and the thermal transfer method itself used in this method are known, and both of these known thermal transfer sheets 20 and thermal transfer methods are useful in the present invention. Further, by such a thermal transfer method, both a mono-color image and a full-color image can be easily formed.

For example, the conventionally known thermal transfer sheet 20 is used as the intermediate transfer medium 10 (corresponding to a transfer target sheet before image formation).
Any of the conventionally known thermal transfer devices, for example, by applying a thermal energy of 5 to 100 mJ / mm ² by a device such as a thermal printer (for example, a thermal printer TN-5400 manufactured by Toshiba), a desired image is obtained. 3 can be formed in the image receiving layer 2.

The re-transfer of the image receiving layer 2 on which the image 3 as described above is formed is preferably performed between the image receiving layer 2 and the sheet-shaped substrate 1, preferably the weak adhesive layer 4.
Since it is formed, it is very easy and desired image 3
Can be retransferred to any transfer target article 30 in the form of a thin film having

The protective layer 6 improves abrasion resistance, light resistance, chemical resistance, etc. of the image receiving layer 2 having the image 3 retransferred to the transferred article. For example, as a material for forming the protective layer 6,
Plastic films such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride, polyester, polyamide, polycarbonate, polyacrylate, etc. can be used, and particularly preferred are polyester films excellent in various physical properties such as transparency and abrasion resistance. Further, in place of the film-like protective layer 6, a solution or emulsion of the above-mentioned resins, an epoxy resin, an alkyd resin, a phenol-modified alkyd resin, an aminoalkyd resin, a phenol resin, a urea resin, a melamine resin, Silicone resin, thermosetting acrylic resin, thermosetting polyurethane resin, or other thermosetting resin or room temperature curable resin, as well as UV curable resin, electron beam curable resin, or other active energy ray curable resin may be used. Dissolved in solvent Koeki or ink prepared, may be formed by a coating method using these. The thickness of the protective layer 6 is generally about 0.5 to 20 μm.

As described above, the decoration method of the present invention is a specific intermediate transfer medium.
The image forming method and the transfer method for the transferred article may be any conventionally known method except that 10 is used and the protective layer 6 is formed after retransfer to the transferred article 30. The material to be transferred, which is the object of the decoration method of the invention, the shape thereof is not particularly limited, and for example, a carton,
Packages such as containers, bags, cassette cases, cassette halves, floppy cases, wrapping paper; stock certificates, checks, bills, securities, certificates, passbooks, boarding tickets, wagon tickets, stamps, stamps, appreciation tickets, etc. Cards such as cash cards, credit cards, members' cards, greeting cards, postcards, business cards, IC cards, etc .; other forms, envelopes, tags, Shiori, calendars, posters, pamphlets, passports, POP supplies, coasters, displays, names Plates, keyboards, cosmetics, accessories (clocks, lighters), stationery, building materials, radios, televisions, speakers, calculators, car instrument panels, emblems, keys, clothing, footwear, devices, office equipment, etc. Any material or shape It may be one.

(Operation / Effect) According to the decorative method of the present invention as described above, conventionally, it is impossible or difficult to form and impart an image, a three-dimensional molded article, an article having a surface such as a curved surface or a complicated uneven shape, Further, regardless of the material of these articles, an image formed by the heat transferable dye can be provided freely.

Moreover, according to the present invention, unlike the conventional so-called picture sticker, since the image receiving layer 2 having the image 3 in the present invention is very thin, even if it is transferred to the transferred article 30, they are not enough. It has excellent aesthetics, function, and durability without giving a feeling of sticking.

Next, the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to examples.
In the text, “part” or “%” is based on weight unless otherwise specified.

Example 1 Polyester film (thickness 50
μm) on the surface of which the following pressure-sensitive adhesive composition is dried and then applied and dried at a rate of 10 g / m ² to form a weak pressure-sensitive adhesive layer 4, and an amino-modified silicone (manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.,
KF-393) was applied at a rate of 1 g / m ² and subjected to a mold release treatment.

Next, an image-receiving layer-forming ink having the following composition was applied onto the release-treated surface so that the weight after drying was 7 g / m ^2, and the image-receiving layer 2 was formed by drying and the intermediate transfer used in the present invention. Medium 10
Got

Adhesive composition Polyacrylic ester resin (Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd., Esdyne A-206) 100 parts Water 100 parts Image receiving layer forming ink composition Polyester resin (Toyobo, Vylon 200) 100 parts Amino-modified silicone (Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd., KF-393) 5
Part Epoxy modified silicone (X-22-34 manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.
3) 5 parts Solvent (methyl ethyl ketone / toluene / cyclohexanone 4/2/2) 900 parts On the obtained image receiving layer 2, a thermal transfer sheet 20 carrying a cyan heat transferable dye with a binder resin is overlaid, and a photograph of the face is taken. Thermal energy was applied by a thermal head connected to the electric signal of the cyan component obtained by color separation of C to obtain a cyan image. Next, thermal transfer was performed in the same manner using a thermal transfer sheet using a magenta dye and a thermal transfer sheet 20 using a yellow dye to form a reverse image consisting of a full-color facial photograph and other characters and figures.

Next, the thickness of the intermediate transfer medium 10 on the image receiving layer 2 side is 100 μm.
m on a card substrate 30 made of a white opaque hard vinyl chloride resin sheet and pressure-bonded with a heat roller at 200 ° C. After pressure-bonding, the sheet-shaped substrate 1 is peeled off together with the weak adhesive layer 4.
A card to which the image receiving layer 2 having the display image 3 was transferred was obtained.

Next, an ultraviolet-curable acrylic transparent paint was applied to the image surface of the card obtained above in a thickness of 10 μm when dried, and cured according to a conventional method to form a protective layer 6.

The surface of this card was smooth as a whole, and there was no rise in the image portion. Further, the image of this card did not show any image distortion or delamination even in the accelerated test of keeping it in an atmosphere of 40 ° C. for 3 months. In addition, when a JIS light resistance test using a carbon arc lamp was performed, the results were JIS 4 ~
It was grade 5, and showed good performance. It also showed good resistance to scratches on the surface.

Example 2 When the method of the present invention was carried out in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the weak pressure-sensitive adhesive layer 4 was not formed in Example 1, the same results as in Example 1 were obtained.

Example 3 In Example 1, a transfer-receiving sheet was formed by omitting the release treatment of the sheet-like base material, and a full-color facial photograph was thermally transferred as a reverse image on the transfer-receiving sheet to obtain an intermediate transfer medium 10 as shown in FIG. . A polyester adhesive 5 was applied to the surface of the image receiving layer 2 of the intermediate transfer medium 10 and pressure-bonded to the curved surface 30 of the telephone, and then the sheet-shaped substrate 1 was peeled off together with the weak adhesive layer 4.
Then, a melamine alkyd transparent paint was applied to the surface to a thickness of about 5 μm when dried and dried to form a protective layer 6. The transferred image sufficiently followed the curved surface of the telephone, was integrated with the curved surface, did not give a sticking feeling like a sticker, and gave a feeling as if the image was directly printed. The scratch resistance and stain resistance of the surface were sufficient.

Example 4 In the same manner as in Example 1, an intermediate transfer medium 10 having a reverse image as shown in the second illustration was prepared, which was thermocompression-bonded to a polymethacrylate plate 30, and then the sheet-shaped substrate 1 was weakly adhesive. It was peeled off together with the layer 4. Then heat sensitive adhesive 5 on one side
Polyethylene terephthalate film (thickness: 25 μm) coated with was laminated to form a protective layer 6.
The obtained image gave almost no sticking feeling and was an image excellent in various durability as if it were printed directly.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a basic mode of an intermediate transfer medium 10 used in the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an intermediate transfer medium 10.
Fig. 3 is a view showing a preferred embodiment of Fig. 3, and Figs. 3 to 5 are views schematically showing the decoration method of the present invention. 1; sheet-shaped substrate, 2; image-receiving layer 3; image, 4; weak adhesive layer 5; adhesive layer, 6; protective layer 10; intermediate transfer medium, 20; thermal transfer sheet 30; transferred article

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A reverse image as viewed from the image receiving layer side is formed on an image receiving layer of an intermediate transfer medium comprising an image receiving layer releasably provided on one surface of a sheet-shaped substrate, and then transferred. The image-receiving layer is re-transferred to an article to be transferred, and then a protective layer is formed on the transferred image surface. 2. The decorative method according to claim 1, wherein a weak adhesive layer is formed between the image receiving layer and the sheet-shaped substrate. 3. The decorative method according to claim 2, wherein the weak adhesive layer and the image receiving layer are peelable from each other. 4. The decoration method according to claim 1, wherein the image receiving layer is formed of a material dyeable with a heat transferable dye, and the image is formed of the heat transferable dye. 5. The decoration method according to claim 1, wherein the image receiving layer is formed of polyester. 6. The decoration method according to claim 1, wherein the transferred article is a card or the like on which a facial photograph or the like is provided.