JP2000108596A - Image forming method, intermediate image receiving body and printed matter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a medium used in a method for improving water resistance, light resistance, and abrasion resistance without impairing the feel of a printing medium in ink jet printing. SOLUTION: A printing step of printing by ink jet printing on an image receiving layer 3 made of a heat sensitive delay type adhesive having ink receptivity formed on a substrate 2, and heating the image receiving layer 3 to reduce the adhesiveness. An image forming method comprising: a heating step of developing the image-receiving layer 3; and a transfer step of pressing the image-receiving layer 3 against the printing medium 5 to transfer the image-receiving layer 3 from the base material 2 onto the printing medium 5. An intermediate image receiving body 1 in which an image receiving layer 3 is laminated on the base material 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a method and a medium for creating an image using an ink jet printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Ink jet printers are used in various fields such as computer output, proof, signboards, posters and other signs. Usually, a paper or film coated with a layer for receiving ink (ink receiving layer) is used as a printing medium (image receiving paper). However, the image printed on the ink receiving layer has a problem that water resistance, light resistance, abrasion resistance and the like are weak. When used in the field of signatures, a film is laminated on the printed surface to improve water resistance, light resistance, and abrasion resistance. Often loses.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and a printing method which does not impair the feel of a printing medium and at the same time improves water resistance, light resistance and abrasion resistance. This is to provide a medium to be used.

[0004]

An image forming method according to the present invention comprises a printing step of printing by ink jet printing on an image receiving layer formed on a substrate and comprising an ink-receptive heat-sensitive delay type pressure-sensitive adhesive; A heating step of heating the image receiving layer to develop adhesiveness, and a transfer step of transferring the image receiving layer from the base material to the printing medium by pressing the image receiving layer against a printing medium. . The intermediate image receiving body of the present invention is an intermediate image receiving body having a substrate and an image receiving layer, wherein the image receiving layer printed by ink jet printing is transferred onto a printing medium, wherein the image receiving layer has an ink receiving property. It is characterized by being made of a certain heat-sensitive delay type adhesive. The intermediate image receiving body may be composed of a base material and an image receiving layer, and the image receiving layer may contain at least one of an ultraviolet absorber, a slip agent, and a matting agent. A configuration in which a release layer is interposed between the base material of the intermediate image receiving member and the image receiving layer may be employed. An ultraviolet absorber may be contained in either or both of the release layer and the image receiving layer. The release layer may contain a slip agent. A matting agent may be contained in either or both of the release layer and the image receiving layer. A configuration in which a release layer that can be peeled off from the release layer may be provided between the base material and the release layer of the intermediate image receiver. A matting agent may be contained in at least one of the image receiving layer, the release layer and the release layer. The surface of the substrate may be subjected to a mat treatment.
The printed matter of the present invention is characterized in that an image made of ink and an image receiving layer made of a heat-sensitive delay-sensitive adhesive having an ink receptivity for protecting the image are formed on a printing medium.

[0005]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention relates to an ink jet printer, in which at least an image such as a character or a figure is mirror-imaged on an intermediate image receiving body comprising a substrate and an image receiving layer peelable from the substrate. Printing is performed on the image receiving layer (printing step), and the image receiving layer after the image printing is heated to develop adhesiveness in the image receiving layer (heating step), and only the image receiving layer is transferred to the printing medium by pressure. (Transfer step) by which an image is transferred (transfer step), thereby enabling printing while keeping the texture of the printing medium, and an intermediate image receiving body used for the method. The heating step of heating the image receiving layer may be performed simultaneously with the transfer step, by superimposing the print medium and the intermediate image receiver and heating the intermediate image receiver from the opposite side of the image receiving layer with a hot roll or the like. Prior to this, the method may be carried out by directly heating the image receiving layer surface with a heater or the like. Since the image receiving layer of the intermediate image receiving body of the present invention contains a heat-sensitive delayed-type adhesive component, the adhesiveness is maintained even if the heat source is removed after heating. Further, since the image forming method of the present invention utilizes the adhesiveness of the image receiving layer itself of the intermediate image receiving body, the type of the printing medium is not limited and the versatility is high.

The structure of the intermediate image receiving body of the present invention is selected from, for example, the following. Base material / image receiving layer Base material / release layer / image receiving layer Base material / release layer / release layer / image receiving layer

First, an image forming method using the intermediate image receiving member having the above-described structure will be described with reference to FIG. The intermediate image receiving body 1 is composed of a base material 2 and an image receiving layer 3 formed on the base material 2 and formed of an ink-receptive heat-sensitive delay type adhesive. As the material of the base material 2, polyethylene, polypropylene, acrylic, polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene naphthalate, vinyl chloride, polystyrene, polycarbonate, polyimide, cellophane, celluloid,
Films such as triacetyl cellulose, synthetic paper, paper, and paper obtained by subjecting olefin or the like to rudder processing or pasting can be used.

The image receiving layer 3 is made of a heat-sensitive delay-type pressure-sensitive adhesive having ink receptivity. A composition containing an ink-receiving component and a heat-sensitive delay-type pressure-sensitive adhesive as essential components is coated on the substrate 2. Formed. As the ink receiving component, unmodified and modified polyvinyl alcohol, polyester, acrylic, urethane, vinyl acetate, albumin, gelatin, casein, starch, SBR latex, NBR latex, cellulose resin, polyamide, melamine,
One or two or more of acrylamide, polyvinylpyrrolidone, those obtained by cationic modification thereof, and those obtained by adding a hydrophilic group are used.

The heat-sensitive delay adhesive component does not exhibit tackiness at room temperature, but exhibits tackiness when heated to 60 ° C. or higher, preferably 70 ° C. or higher. It refers to an adhesive component that lasts for a while after cooling, preferably for more than 30 minutes,
It is composed of three components, a tackifier and a solid plasticizer. The polymer material is a component that gives adhesive strength, and is a polyvinyl acetate, copolyethylene-vinyl acetate, polyacrylate-based, polyvinyl chloride-based, natural rubber, synthetic rubber, copolyvinyl acetate-acrylate, polyester-based. ,
Polymer compounds such as polyurethane-based compounds are used.

[0010] The tackifier is a component for enhancing tackiness when activated by heating, and includes a rosin derivative,
Resins such as terpene resin, petroleum resin, phenol resin, and xylene resin are used. A solid plasticizer is a component that is solid at room temperature, is dissolved when heated to a temperature equal to or higher than its melting point, and is hardly recrystallized once dissolved. Since such components are added, the solid plasticizer dissolves by heating, swelling and dissolving the polymer material and tackifier to develop viscous and adhesive properties, and the solid plasticizer is recrystallized. Since the time until the heat treatment is long, there is an effect of extending the adhesive holding time after heat activation. As the solid plasticizer, diphenyl phthalate, dihexyl phthalate, dicyclohexyl phthalate, dihydroabiethyl phthalate, dimethyl isophthalate, sucrose benzoate,
Examples include ethylene glycol dibenzoate, trimethylolethane tribenzoate, glyceride tribenzoate, pentaerythate tetrabenzoate, sucrose octaacetate, tricyclohexyl citrate, and N-cyclohexyl-P-toluenesulfonamide.

The thickness of the image receiving layer 3 is usually 1 to 20 microns. If the thickness is less than 1 micron, the abrasion resistance and light resistance will be insufficient, and if it exceeds 20 microns, it will be difficult to print utilizing the texture of the printing medium. The image receiving layer 3 comprises 20 to 70 parts by weight of an ink receiving component, and 0.1 to 50 parts of a polymer material.
Parts by weight, 5 to 30 parts by weight of tackifier, 5 to 3 solid plasticizers
0 parts by weight of a composition, gravure, Meyer bar,
It can be formed by coating and drying on the substrate 2 by a well-known coating method such as roll coating. When a urethane resin is used as the ink receiving component, the addition of a polymer material can be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 1B, as an image forming method using the intermediate image receiving member having the above-described structure, first, ink particles 4 are placed on the image receiving layer 3 by a usual ink jet method to obtain a desired image. Print a mirror image of the image. Next, the image receiving layer 3 side of the intermediate image receiving body 1 on which the image is formed is heated by a heater or the like, and when the temperature of the image receiving layer 3 reaches about 70 ° C., as shown in FIG. Then, the printing surface of the printing medium 5 is overlaid on the image receiving layer 3 and pressed. Alternatively, in a state where the printing medium 5 is superimposed on the intermediate image receiving body 1 on which the image is formed,
Heat and pressure may be applied from both sides of the intermediate image receiving body 1 and the printing medium 5 using a thermal transfer device or a heat roller provided with a thermal head, so that the adhesiveness of the image receiving layer is developed. Then, when the printing medium 5 and the intermediate image receiving body 1 are put on each other and the pressurized state is released, the image receiving layer 3 adheres to the surface of the printing medium 5 by the adhesive force, and the base material 2 peels off. As shown in FIG. 1D, a desired image is transferred to the printing medium 5.

FIG. 2 shows an image forming method using the intermediate image receiving body 11 having the above configuration. The image forming method shown in FIG. 2 is also performed in the same manner as the method shown in FIG.
The intermediate image receiving body 11 having the structure described in the above is different from the intermediate image receiving body 1 in that a release layer 12 is formed between the base material 2 and the image receiving layer 3. In this case, the peeling layer 12 is finally transferred to the printing medium side by the transferring step, becomes the outermost layer of the printing surface, and functions as a protective film, so that the abrasion resistance of the printed matter is further improved. As the release layer 12, a cellulose derivative, a styrene resin, a styrene copolymer resin, an acrylic resin, a methacryl resin, a rosin ester resin, a polyvinyl acetate resin, polyvinyl chloride, a polyvinyl chloride / vinyl acetate copolymer, and an ethylene / vinyl acetate copolymer 1 of coalescing, polyester resin, polyurethane resin, butyral resin, polyamide resin, petroleum resin, chlorinated rubber, chlorinated polyolefin resin, epoxy resin
Species or two or more can be used. When a isocyanate is added to the above resin and reacted, a tough film can be obtained. Further, those obtained by curing a monomer or oligomer with an electron beam, ultraviolet light, or heat can also be used.
The thickness of the release layer 12 is usually 0.5 to 10 μm, and is formed on the substrate 2 by a known coating method. In the configuration described above, the materials and the forming method of the base material 2 and the image receiving layer 3 are the same as those described above. However, a urethane resin is preferably used as an ink receiving component of the image receiving layer 3, but is preferably used in a configuration having the release layer 12 because of low abrasion resistance. Further, the urethane resin can function as a polymer material of the heat-sensitive delay-type adhesive component simultaneously with the ink receiving component.

FIG. 3 shows a printing method using the intermediate image receiving body 21 having the above configuration. The method shown in FIG. 3 is also carried out in the same manner as the method shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2, except that the intermediate image receiving member 21 has the following structure.
The configuration is such that a release layer 22 is interposed between the release layer 12 and the release layer 12. In this case, the release layer 22 is finally
And remains on the substrate 2 side. With the release layer 22 interposed, the peeling of the peeling layer 12 after the transfer step becomes smooth. For the release layer 22, a silicone resin, an acrylic resin, a melamine resin, an epoxy resin, a fluororesin, or the like is used. The thickness of the release layer 22 is usually 0.1 to 5
Microns and is formed on the substrate 2 by a known coating method. The material and the forming method of the substrate 2, the image receiving layer 3, and the release layer 12 in the intermediate image receiving member 21 having the above configuration are the same as those of the intermediate image receiving member 11 having the above configuration.

Further, in order to improve the light fastness of the printed matter, in the intermediate image receiving body 1 having the following structure, the image receiving layer 3 includes:
In the intermediate image receiving members 11 and 21 having the structure of (1), an ultraviolet absorber is added to both or any one of the release layer 12 and the image receiving layer 3.
About 1 to 20% by weight can be added. As the ultraviolet absorber, those usually used in the plastic manufacturing field can be used, and examples thereof include benzotriazole-based, benzophenone-based, substituted acrylonitrile-based, and salicylic acid ester-based. Specifically, Ciba Geigy's Tinuvin 326 and 327 can be used.

In order to improve the abrasion resistance, a slip agent is added to the image receiving layer 3 in the intermediate image receiving member 1 having the structure described above, and to the release layer 12 in the intermediate image receiving members 11 and 21 having the structure described above. It can be added in an amount of about% by weight. Examples of the slip agent include wax, especially polyethylene wax, silicone oil, silicone powder, fluorine powder and the like.

In the image forming method of the present invention, the surface of the printed matter after printing can be provided with fine irregularities (mat treatment), and light can be irregularly reflected on the surface to make the image matte. That is, in the case of the method shown in FIG. 1, the surface of the substrate 2 on which the image receiving layer 3 is coated is subjected to a mat treatment before coating, and in the case of the method shown in FIG.
The surface of the base material 2 on which the release layer 12 is coated is subjected to a mat treatment before coating, so that the shape thereof is changed to the image receiving layer 3 or the release layer 12.
And the matte surface of the printed surface of the final printed matter can be treated. In the case of the method shown in FIG. 3, the surface of the release layer 22 on which the release layer is coated is
There is also a method of performing a mat treatment before coating and transferring the surface shape to the surface of the release layer 12. Examples of the matting method include a method of sandblasting and a method of adding a matting agent to a material at the time of forming the base material 2 to form a mat base material. Further, in the intermediate image receiving member having the above-mentioned configuration, both or one of the image receiving layer 3 and the release layer 12 has a particle size of 0.1
By adding a matting agent of about 10 to 10 microns by about 1 to 20% by weight, it is possible to make the image matte. In the intermediate image receiving member having the above configurations, even when the matting agent is added only to the image receiving layer 3, the surface of the release layer which is the outermost layer on the printing surface is also matted. As the matting agent, silica, clay, talc, diatomaceous earth, zeolite, calcium carbonate, alumina, zinc oxide, titanium white and the like are used.

Further, in the intermediate image receiving body having the above structure, an image printing layer (not shown) in which an image is printed in advance between the base material 2 and the image receiving layer 3 prior to the ink jet.
May be provided so as to overlap the entire image receiving layer or a part thereof. In particular, in printing various securities, certificates, and the like, it is preferable to print a fixed portion to be a proof on the image printing layer. The image printing layer is formed by printing a desired image on a transparent or film-like base material by a known printing method. Since this image print layer needs to be transferred to the printing medium 5 together with the image receiving layer 3 in the transfer step,
The base material of the image printing layer is made of a material that has good adhesion to the image receiving layer 3 of the intermediate image receiving member and that can be peeled off from the substrate 2 of the intermediate image receiving member in the transfer step.
Styrene resin, styrene copolymer resin, acrylic resin, methacrylic resin, rosin ester resin, polyvinyl acetate resin, polyvinyl chloride, vinyl chloride / vinyl acetate copolymer, ethylene
Vinyl acetate copolymer, polyester resin, polyurethane resin,
One or more of butyral resin, polyamide resin, petroleum resin, chlorinated rubber, chlorinated polyolefin resin, and epoxy resin can be used. When a isocyanate is added to the above resin and reacted, a tough film can be obtained. Further, those obtained by curing a monomer or oligomer with an electron beam, ultraviolet light, or heat can also be used. As the printing medium 5 to which the image receiving layer 3 of the intermediate image receiving body is transferred, various materials such as plastic, non-woven fabric, cloth, paper, and synthetic paper can be used. it can.

[0019]

EXAMPLES The effects of the present invention will be described below with reference to examples. An intermediate image receiver having the configuration of [Example 1-4] was produced. A 50 μm-thick polyethylene terephthalate film was used as a base material of the intermediate image receiving member, and a composition having a composition shown in Table 1 was applied to a thickness of 10 μm to form an image receiving layer.
After printing the desired image as a mirror image on the intermediate image receiving body thus obtained using a Canon ink jet printer BJC-700, heat is applied to the surface of the image receiving layer with a heater to activate the image receiving layer and improve the adhesiveness. After the development, the image receiving layer was transferred onto the cast coated paper by applying pressure with a transfer roll. As a result, good images could be obtained in any of the examples. Above all, in Examples 1, 2, and 3, an image having good high gloss was obtained, and in Example 4, in which a matting agent was added, a good image having a matte feeling was obtained. In Table 1, the acrylic resin is cationically modified and has a hydrophilic group.

[0020]

[Table 1]

An intermediate image receiving member having the structure of Example 5-8 was produced. As a base material of the intermediate image receiving member, a 50 μm-thick polyethylene terephthalate film was used, and as shown in Table 2, a release layer was coated by a thickness of 2 μm, and an image receiving layer was sequentially coated by a thickness of 10 μm. First, after printing a desired image as a mirror image on the intermediate image receiver using a Canon ink jet printer BJC-700, heat is applied to the surface of the image receiving layer with a heater to activate the image receiving layer and develop adhesiveness. Then, the image receiving layer was transferred onto the cast coated paper by pressing with a transfer roll. As a result, in Example 5-7, a good image with high gloss could be obtained, and in Example 8, in which a matting agent was added, a good image with a matte feeling could be obtained. In Table 2, the urethane-based resin is a cation-modified resin having a hydrophilic group, and is added to the image receiving layer in an amount of 60% by weight as both an ink receiving component and a polymer material.

[0022]

[Table 2]

An intermediate image receiving member having the structure of [Examples 9-13] was produced. As a base material of the intermediate image receiver, a 50 μm-thick polyethylene terephthalate film was used.
As shown in the composition shown in FIG. 1, a release layer of 1 μm, a release layer of 2 μm in thickness, and an image receiving layer of 10 μm are sequentially coated, and a Canon ink jet printer BJC-
First, after printing a desired image as a mirror image on the intermediate image receiving body using 700, heat is applied to the surface of the image receiving layer with a heater to activate the image receiving layer and develop adhesiveness. Transfer was performed by applying pressure with a transfer roll. As a result, in Example 9-11, a good image with high gloss could be obtained, and in Examples 12 and 13 in which a matting agent was added, a good image with a matte feeling could be obtained. Table 3
Medium, the urethane-based resin is cationically modified and provided with a hydrophilic group, and is added to the image receiving layer at 60% by weight as both an ink receiving component and a polymer material.

[0024]

[Table 3]

Example 14 As a base material of an intermediate image receiving body,
Using a 50 μm-thick sandblasted matte polyethylene terephthalate film, and applying the composition shown in Table 1 to a film thickness of 10 μm using a Canon ink jet printer BJC-700,
First, after printing a desired image as a mirror image on the intermediate image receiving body, heat is applied to the surface of the image receiving layer with a heater to activate the image receiving layer and develop adhesiveness, and then apply pressure to the cast coated paper with a transfer roll. And transferred. As a result, a good image having a matte feeling could be obtained.

Comparative Example 1 An acrylic resin (cation-modified, hydrophilic group-imparted) was directly applied to a cast-coated paper at a film thickness of 1%.
A good image could be obtained after printing a desired image on a substrate coated with 0 micron using an ink jet printer BJC-700 made by Canon. Here, Comparative Example 1
And Examples 1 to 13 were compared for water resistance, light resistance, and abrasion resistance. The water resistance is the bleeding of an image 24 hours after a water drop is dropped, the light resistance is the degree of discoloration after irradiation for 24 hours at 0.25 W / cm ^{2 with} a fade meter, and the abrasion resistance is Gakushin rub resistance. The change in the image after rubbing 100 times with a load of 200 g was evaluated in a sex test. Table 4 shows the results of these evaluations. The criteria for the evaluation were visually evaluated in the following five stages. 1: Original image disappeared 2: Severe change 3: Change 4: Slight change 5: No change

[0027]

[Table 4]

As shown in Table 4, in Examples 1 to 4, the light resistance and abrasion resistance of the image were improved, and in Examples 5 to 13, the water resistance, light resistance and abrasion resistance of the image were improved.

[0029]

According to the present invention, an intermediate image receiving member whose image receiving layer is made of a heat-sensitive delay type adhesive having ink receptivity is used, and the printing surface of this image receiving layer is superimposed on the printing surface of the printing object.
Since the image receiving layer is transferred by heating and pressing, the image receiving layer is coated on the image of the printed matter. For this reason, abrasion resistance, water resistance,
Light resistance can be improved. Further, since the image is transferred to the printing medium by utilizing the adhesiveness of the image receiving layer itself, it is not necessary to perform special processing on the printing medium. Further, since the image receiving layer covering the printing medium, or the image receiving layer and the release layer are thin and flexible, even if the printing medium is a flexible material such as cloth,
The texture is expressed on the surface and the texture of the material is not lost. In addition, the form of the printing medium is not limited, and a good image can be transferred even when the printing medium has a thickness or a non-smooth surface. In particular,
By providing the release layer on the intermediate image receiving body, the abrasion resistance of the printed matter is further improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a first example of an image forming method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a second example of the image forming method of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a third example of the image forming method of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Intermediate image receiver, 2 ... Base material, 3 ... Image receiving layer, 4 ... Ink particles, 5 ... Printed object, 11 ... Intermediate image receiver, 12 ... Release layer,
21: intermediate image receiving member, 22: release layer

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A printing step of printing by ink jet printing on an image receiving layer formed of an ink-accepting heat-sensitive delay type pressure-sensitive adhesive formed on a substrate, and heating the image receiving layer to develop adhesiveness. An image forming method, comprising: a heating step; and a transfer step of pressing the image receiving layer to a printing medium to transfer the image receiving layer from a substrate to the printing medium. 2. An intermediate image receiving body having a substrate and an image receiving layer, wherein the image receiving layer printed by ink jet printing is transferred onto a printing medium, wherein the image receiving layer is an ink-receiving heat-sensitive delay. An intermediate image receiving body comprising a mold adhesive. 3. The intermediate image receiving body comprises two layers, a base material and an image receiving layer, wherein an ultraviolet absorber, a slip agent,
3. The intermediate image receiving body according to claim 2, wherein at least one kind of matting agent is contained. 4. The intermediate image receiving body according to claim 2, wherein a release layer is interposed between the base material of the intermediate image receiving body and the image receiving layer. 5. The intermediate image receiving body according to claim 4, wherein an ultraviolet absorber is contained in at least one of the release layer and the image receiving layer. 6. The intermediate image receiving body according to claim 4, wherein the release layer contains a slip agent. 7. The intermediate image receiving body according to claim 4, wherein a matting agent is contained in at least one of the release layer and the image receiving layer. 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the intermediate image receiving body has a substrate and a release layer.
7. The intermediate image receiving body according to claim 4, further comprising a release layer and a release layer that can be released. 9. At least one of an image receiving layer, a release layer, and a release layer
9. The intermediate image receiving body according to claim 8, wherein a matting agent is contained in at least the layer. 10. The intermediate image receiving body according to claim 2, wherein a matting treatment is performed on a surface of the base material. 11. A printed material comprising an image formed of ink and an image-receiving layer formed of an ink-receptive heat-sensitive delay-type adhesive which protects the image formed on a printing medium.