JP2001074565A - Temperature control components - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide a temperature control member that is simple and low-cost. SOLUTION: Management information such as predetermined characters, symbols, codes, etc. is provided by a temperature indicating member which changes color in response to temperature.
Is formed on the support 3 in advance, and by selectively applying different heat energy to at least the area of the management information recorded in advance of the temperature indicating member, the temperature indicating member occupying the area has different temperature characteristics. It is characterized by having done.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a label used for temperature control of fruits and vegetables, perishables, and the like, and more particularly to a temperature control member using a temperature indicating member that changes with temperature. Temperature control member.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Thermochromic organic dyes such as spiropyrans, ethylene derivatives substituted with a condensed aromatic ring such as bianthrone and dixanthylene, and the like, are examples of conventional temperature indicating members which change color in response to temperature. Temperature management using a metal complex salt crystal composed of CoCl ₂・ 2 (CH ₂ ) ₆ N ₄・ 10H ₂ O or a temperature indicating material composed of a combination of an electron-donating coloring compound, an electron-accepting compound and a polar organic compound It is visually determined that the color of a label or the like changes depending on the temperature.

[0003] The temperature indicating material is roughly classified into a reversible type and an irreversible type. The reversible type is a type in which the color changes as many times as the temperature rises and falls, and the irreversible type changes when the color changes at a certain temperature. It is a type that does not return to.

It is used for reversible pedestals, signs for drinking drinks, etc., and for visually calling attention.

[0005] The irreversible type is used for temperature control of fruits and vegetables, fresh foods, etc., such as Japanese Patent Publication No. 58-1O709, in which the temperature of a penetrating material changes in viscosity depending on the temperature (for example, oleyl alcohol). The ink in which the dye is dissolved) penetrates, and the length of the permeation allows the user to check how long it has been exposed to a temperature equal to or higher than the set temperature. Further, the label is composed of a plurality of layers (ink layer, separate layer, porous layer, display section). The separate layer is removed when starting the temperature control,
The porous layer is a layer that controls the penetration time. In either case, in order to realize low temperature irreversibility, a storage method when temperature control is not started (when the set temperature is lower than room temperature) is required, and it has an expensive and complicated structure.

Although the prior art has been described, it is particularly desirable to provide a temperature control member which is simple and inexpensive. However, means for realizing such a request is not yet known at present.

[0007]

In order to realize this, there is a demand for a method of forming a temperature indicating member whose color density changes with temperature and whose change is irreversible on a predetermined support member or the like. There is a problem that the manufacturing process is complicated and expensive.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a temperature control member, which is a temperature indicating member which changes its color in response to a temperature, in which management information such as predetermined characters, symbols and codes is previously formed on a support. Then, by applying different thermal energy selectively to at least the area of the management information recorded in advance of the temperature indicating member, the temperature indicating member occupying the area has different temperature characteristics.

The temperature control member according to the second aspect is the first aspect.
The described temperature indicating member has a property of being visualized at a predetermined temperature or higher, and the pipe filling information is warning information or caution information indicating that the quality retention has expired, warning information or caution information indicating that the temperature is not controlled, or heated. This is one of the pieces of confirmation information indicating the fact.

[0010] The temperature control member according to the third aspect is the first aspect.
Alternatively, management information such as predetermined characters, symbols, and codes is formed on the support in advance by a predetermined method using a temperature indicating member that changes color in response to temperature according to claim 2, and then added to a thermal printer. When recording, the thermal printer selectively applies different thermal energy to at least the area of the pre-recorded management information of the temperature indicating member so that the temperature indicating member occupying the area has different temperature characteristics. It is characterized by doing so.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a temperature control member in which a temperature indicating member which changes its color in response to temperature is formed on a support on which management information such as predetermined characters, symbols and codes are recorded in advance by a predetermined method. Then, by applying different thermal energy selectively to at least the area of the management information recorded in advance of the temperature indicating member, the temperature indicating member occupying the area has a different temperature member.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a temperature control member.
The temperature indicating member described above has a characteristic of becoming colorless by initialization and being visualized at a predetermined temperature or more, quality holding information indicating that the management information is within a quality holding period, quality holding information indicating that temperature management is being performed. , Or quality control information indicating that it is not heated.

[0013] The temperature control member according to the sixth aspect is the fourth aspect.
Forming a temperature indicating member that changes color in response to temperature on a support in which management information such as predetermined characters, symbols, codes, etc. described in claim 5 or 5 is recorded by a predetermined method,
After that, when recording additional information with the thermal printer,
The thermal printer selectively applies different thermal energy to at least the pre-recorded area of the management information of the temperature indicating member so that the temperature indicating member occupying the area has different temperature characteristics. And

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the temperature management member, first management information such as predetermined characters, symbols, and codes is previously stored on a support by a first temperature indicating member whose color changes in response to temperature. Forming and recording second management information such as predetermined characters, symbols, and codes on the support, and changing the color in response to temperature on the support on which the second management information is recorded. A second temperature indicating member is formed, and at least an area of the first management information recorded in the first temperature indicating member is selectively applied with different thermal energy, thereby occupying the first area. The second temperature indicating member has a different temperature characteristic, and selectively applies different thermal energy to at least the previously recorded area of the second management information of the second temperature indicating member, thereby occupying the second area. Temperature characteristics of the two temperature indicating members are different Characterized in that it has to have.

[0015] The temperature control member according to the eighth aspect is the first aspect.
7 is characterized in that the pre-recorded information described in any one of 7 to 7 is formed of a temperature indicating member and a general member.

[0016]

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

First, in the present invention, a member made of an electron-donating color-forming compound and an electron-accepting compound, a reversible material and a binder resin is used as the temperature-indicating member.

Generally, the electron-donating color-forming compound refers to a precursor compound that forms a color, and the electron-accepting compound refers to a color developer. The electron-donating color-forming compound and the electron-accepting compound The color develops when the interaction increases, and the color disappears when the interaction decreases. The reversible material used in the present invention indirectly enhances or weakens the interaction with the electron-donating color-forming compound or the electron-accepting compound to form the electron-donating color-forming compound and the electron-accepting compound. A material capable of reversibly changing the interaction of a compound.

FIG. 1 briefly shows the principle. The case where crystal violet lactone (CVL) is used as the electron-donating color-forming compound (including the leuco compound), propyl gallate (PG) is used as the electron acceptor, and cholesterol (CL) is used as the reversible material. .

In the decoloring mode, the interaction between CVL and PG is small, and PG strengthens the interaction with CL. In the coloring mode, the interaction between CVL and PG is large, and PG and CL
Interaction is small.

Next, the thermodynamic reversibility of this system will be described with reference to FIG. In the color development state, the interaction between PG and CVL is strong, and CL exists alone in a crystalline state.
When heated from this state to a temperature higher than the melting point of the temperature indicating member, the member enters a fluidized state, the interaction between PG and CVL is weakened, and the interaction between PG and CL is increased. When quenched from that state, CL solidifies while taking in PG (amorphous state)
Then, the decolored state is maintained. When heated to a temperature equal to or higher than the glass transition point (Tg) from that state, the PG molecules start to diffuse rapidly, and the color development proceeds. The diffusion rate of PG changes dramatically before and after the temperature of Tg. Further, when the temperature is heated to Tc or more and less than Tm, the diffusion speed is further increased and the color is instantaneously formed.

The temperature control member of the present invention will be specifically described. In the principle diagram of FIG. 2, a specific embodiment will be described below focusing on the temperature indicating characteristics of the temperature indicating member in the area 1 in the present invention.

Although the area (a) is an area where the glass transition temperature Tg has not been reached, the developer is diffused. Its rate is much lower than above the glass transition temperature. In the case of a temperature management member for the distribution of fruits and vegetables utilizing the temperature around the glass transition temperature, the set temperature (glass transition temperature) is about 100C. When Tg is 10 ° C, it is assumed that the temperature may be around 40 ° C when taking in and out the baggage (several minutes). In summer, color development starts immediately, and temperature and exposure time management is very difficult. Not something you can do. Therefore, when Tg is set to about 30 ° C. to 40 ° C., color development is slightly started when loading / unloading the baggage, but is not so affected.

When the temperature is lower than Tg, it reacts sensitively to temperature,
The color development density changes depending on the exposure temperature, and the density change may be able to control the average exposure temperature and the like that cannot be easily controlled by a normal temperature control member. (In the case of a temperature control member using around Tg, there is a difference in color density, especially before and after this, but there is not so much a difference in density above Tg.) Considering the above, it is necessary to use Tg for distribution of fruits and vegetables. Set Tg higher than the means using the front and rear,
It can be said that a means utilizing a concentration change due to a temperature lower than Tg is more suitable.

The temperature indicating member used in the present embodiment will be specifically described.

<Temperature indicating member 1> Leuco dye: GN-2 (leuco dye manufactured by Yamamoto Kasei) 1 part by weight Developer: PG (propyl gallate) 1 part by weight Reversible material: PRN (pregnenolone) 10 parts by weight Part Resin: Z45O (Amorphous polyolefin manufactured by Zeon Corporation) 4 parts by weight Solvent: Toluene 84 parts by weight.

The production method is as follows.
Stir while heating 0 at 50 ° C. to dissolve completely. A leuco dye, a color developer, and a reversible material are added to the resin solution thus obtained in a ratio of 1, 1, 10 parts by weight. further,
Glass beads having a diameter of about 3 mm are put to almost the same level as the liquid surface, and dispersed with a paint shaker for 2 hours to obtain a coating liquid. Further, the coating liquid is applied to PE using a # 40 percoater.
T (38 μm) is applied to obtain the temperature indicating member 4. The temperature indicating member 4 had a glass transition temperature of 30.1 ° C.

A sectional view of the temperature control member 1 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, a temperature control member 1 is made of a white PET base material 2 and a Mytac paper (Nichiban) 12
Is formed by sticking or the like. The mitanic paper 12 is for preventing heat from the thermal head from diffusing into the base material 2.

Then, the PET 3 coated with the above-mentioned temperature indicating member 4 is pasted on the mitanic paper 12. Further, a protective layer 5 is formed on the temperature indicating member 4. This protective layer 5 is made of P
An EN film (2.5 μm, polyethylene naphthalate) was used, and a 0.2 μm heat-resistant layer 6 was coated on the back surface with a silicone-based coating material (TS-200 manufactured by Kubo Takashisha).

A plan view of the temperature control member 1 will be described with reference to FIG. As described above, the temperature management member 1 is configured on the base material 2.

The temperature management member 1 comprises product information 7 and temperature management information 8 for performing temperature management. Temperature control member 1
Can be erased by heating and rapid cooling by a thermal head. Thermal head is KBE-56 made by Kyocera.
Performed using -8 MGK1.

Applied power: O. 3W Printing cycle: 5 ms / line Number of repetitions: 2 (number of times applied to the same line) The printing energy was changed by changing the pulse width.
FIG. 5 shows a graph of the color reflectance after storage at 0 ° C. for 2 hours. (The reflectance is a value of 640 nm.) The measurement of the reflectance was performed by a colorimeter CM-503C manufactured by Minolta.

Before the energy is applied to the temperature control member 1, the reflectance is about 5% and the color is developed. When heated and quenched with a thermal head, the reflectance is about 0.6mJ / d
The maximum value is about 70% at ot. (It is in a completely erased state. The reflectance on the MyTac paper of the stand without the temperature indicating member was about 72%.) After applying energy with the thermal head, the reflectance after 60 hours at 60 ° C. Is higher when the energy at the time of erasing is smaller, that is, the color density is higher (that is, the reflectance is smaller).
The color density after 2 hours at O ° C decreases. -0.6 mJ / d
It is considered that when an energy of ot or more is applied, the PET of the substrate 2 is heated to a temperature equal to or higher than the glass transition temperature, and the developer is taken into the substrate 2. The developer taken into the base material 2 does not easily come out again into the temperature indicating member 4 at a temperature of 60 ° C. or less (the glass transition temperature of PET is 70 ° C.) of the temperature control member 1. Under an environment used for fruits and vegetables, the decolored state is maintained. 60 ° C is glass transition temperature 3
This is a temperature sufficiently higher than 0.1 ° C., and a temperature at which a saturated color density is almost reached in a few minutes. The reason for exposing for 2 hours in an environment of 60 ° C. is to completely develop color.

A method of setting initialization of the temperature management member 1 at the start of temperature management using the above-described characteristics will be specifically described. As shown in FIG. 4, in the temperature management member 1, two regions, that is, the region A, form a portion displaying the temperature management information 8, and the region B forms a portion displaying the product information 7. In the area A, for example, a temperature management code 10 for displaying the temperature management information 8 is formed. In addition, area B
For example, date information 11 for displaying the product information 7 and a product management code 9 are formed.

Hereinafter, a method for forming the regions A and B will be described. In the area A, decoloring is performed at an applied energy of 0.5 to 0.6 mJ / dot in order to maintain a characteristic that the temperature indicating member 4 is sensitive to a change in temperature. That is, as can be seen from the solid line data showing the reflectance at the time of decoloring when the decoloring energy is increased in FIG. 5, no energy is added that is equal to or higher than the decoloring energy at which the reflectance of decoloring is maximized. That is. When energy equal to or higher than such decoloring energy is applied, 60 ° C. for 2 hours indicated by a broken line
The reflectance after r sharply increases. That is, if the energy at which the reflectance is maximized is applied at the time of decoloring, it is difficult to generate color due to the temperature after decoloring. If the energy is further increased and 0.8 mJ / dot or more is applied, there is no difference between the reflectance at the time of decoloring and the reflectance after 60 hours at 60 ° C., and the reflectance at the time of decoloring is maintained.

Using this characteristic, a method for issuing the temperature management member 1 will be specifically described. In FIG. 4, the temperature management member 1 has a region A that responds to temperature and a region B that is insensitive to temperature as described above. For example, the area A that is sensitive to temperature prints a barcode such as the temperature management code 10. In the printing method of the area A, the decoloring energy is not applied at all when the thermal head prints on a portion which is colored from the beginning corresponding to the bar of the temperature management code 10. Further, when printing is performed by the thermal head, energy of 0.55 mJ / dot is applied to a space portion or a blank portion of the temperature management code 10 in which the initial state of the area A has been erased.
The portion where the energy is applied has a reflectance of up to about 0.6 and is fixed in a decolored state. When the part fixed in this state is stored for 2 hours in an environment of 60 ° C., the reflectivity changes to about 0.07.

The temperature control member 1 has temperature characteristics as shown in FIGS. As shown in FIG.
The reflectivity after 24 hours stored at each environment of 40 ° C. and 40 ° C. was 0.48, 0.46, 0.2, and 0.1, respectively, and changed to reflectivity according to the temperature. The reflectance ratio, which indicates the degree of color development from the reflectance, is 0.79, 0.76, 0.3
3, 0.17 changes similarly. Here, reflection ratio = reflectance for each time / reflectance at the time of decoloring.

FIG. 8 shows the relationship between the temperature and the reflectance at each temperature. As can be seen from this figure, 0.55 m
It can be seen that the portion decolored by J / dot reacts depending on the temperature. Accordingly, the contrast ratio between the decolored portion (space portion of the temperature management code 10) and the non-decolored portion (bar portion of the temperature management code 10) in the region A is reduced by the exposure temperature and the exposure time, and the contrast ratio of the space portion is reduced. When the reflectance is 0.3 or less, if there is a reading device that cannot recognize the temperature management code 10, a warning can be issued in about 7 hours at 25 ° C. and about 30 minutes at 40 ° C. Further, if the device can read the reflectance, the exposure temperature can be more accurately recognized.

Next, a method of printing the area B will be described. The area B includes the product information 7 and the date information 11. It is composed of the product management code 9 and is a part that does not need to react to temperature or a part that does not want to react. No energy is applied to the characters and bars in the area B during printing. The white portion where no bar or character is printed is printed by the thermal head with the energy 0.84 mJ / dot or more higher than the space portion of the area A as described above. The white portion of the region B thus printed is extremely insensitive to temperature. At the time of color erasure, it is about 0.6 which is the same as the white part of the area A, and even if stored for 2 hours in a 60 ° C. environment, color development does not proceed very much, and it is 0.56, indicating that the color is insensitive to temperature. . Higher applied energy 1
When printed at mJ / dot, the reflectance at the time of decoloring is maintained. In the temperature control member 1 obtained in this manner, in the area A, the color-deleted portion shows a temperature-depending characteristic that varies in color development time depending on the temperature, and in the region B, the color-decolored portion Does not respond to the temperature, and the printed information can be visually recognized without depending on the temperature. That is, by changing the energy applied by one temperature indicating member, a region A that responds to temperature and a region B that does not respond to temperature can be obtained. In other words, it is possible to achieve both a portion that responds to temperature and a portion that does not want to respond to temperature, such as product information. This is considered that the developer of the temperature indicating member 4 diffused into the inside of the PET 3 on which the temperature indicating member 4 was coated, as described above.

In this embodiment, PET3 is used as the base. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It is sufficient that a part or all of the material of the temperature indicating member 4 is diffused at an environmental temperature or higher. Also,
The developer and the leuco dye are not limited to these. Other steroids can also be used in the reversible material depending on the set temperature. Further, the binder resin is not limited to this, and a polystyrene resin, a styrene methacrylic acid copolymer, an ethylene vinyl acetate resin, or the like may be used. However, the value to which energy is applied changes depending on the type of reversible material or color developer used. For example, when cholesterol is used as the reversible material, the energy E for decoloring the temperature management information area is used.
1 was about 0.3 mJ / dot, and the same effect was obtained when the decoloring energy of the area where the product code was printed was 0.65 mJ / dot. In addition, temperature characteristics etc. change slightly,
The sensitive area was around 5-10 ° C. When the resin of Z450 is A-91 (styrene methacrylic acid copolymer, manufactured by Dainippon Ink and Chemicals), and PRN is used as the reversible material, the temperature range in which the reaction is sensitive is 25 ° C to 45 ° C,
Temperature characteristics change. The decoloring energy E1 in the temperature control area and the energy E2 in the product code area need to be changed depending on the ink material and the material of the diffusion layer.

Examples of the electron-donating color-forming compound include leuco auramines, diaryl phthalides, polyaryl carbanols, acyl auramines, aryl auramines, mouth-damine B lactams, indolines, and spiroviranes. And fluorans, cyanine dyes, and electron donating organic substances such as crystal violet.

More specifically, a field base using a red light source as the light source, or a leuco dye which emits blue, black, or blue-green can be used.

As the <black type>, the following leuco dyes and the like can be used. (Not limited to this) PSD-15
O, PSD-184, PSD-300, PSD-80
2, PSD-290 (Nippon Soda) CP-101, BLACK-15, ODB (Yamamoto Kasei), ETAC. ATP, BLACK-100, S-205,
BLACK-305, BLACK-5OO (manufactured by Yamada Chemical Co., Ltd.) TH-107 (manufactured by Hodogaya Chemical Co., Ltd.) As <blue>, the following leuco dyes can be used.
(Not limited to this) CVL. BLMB (manufactured by Nippon Soda Co., Ltd.), BLUE-63,
BLUE-502 (manufactured by Yamamoto Kasei) BLUE-220 (manufactured by Yamada Chemical), BLUE-3 (manufactured by Hodogaya Chemical) <Blue-green> GN-169, GN-2, Green-40
(Yamamoto Kasei Co., Ltd.) Green-300 (Yamada Chemical Co., Ltd.) These materials can be used. Red or yellow dyes may be used simply by changing the wavelength of the light source of the reader.

In addition, it is possible to mix not only one kind of material but also a mixture.

The electron-accepting compound is described in the developer of this embodiment as PG. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and phenols, phenol metal salts, carboxylic acid metal salts, sulfonic acid, Oxides such as sulfonates, phosphoric acids, metal phosphates, acid phosphates, acid phosphate metal salts, phosphorous acid, metal phosphites and the like can be used.

For example, 2,4-dihydroxyacetophenone (2,4-HAP), 2,5-HAP, 2,6-H
AP, 3,5-HAP, 2,3,4-HAP 2,4-dihydroxybenzophenone (2,4-HB
P), 4,4'-HBP, 2,3,4-HBP, 2,
4,4'-HBP, 2,2 ', 4,4'-HBP, 2,
3-Dihydrobenzoic acid, methyl 3,5-dihydrobenzoate, 4,4'-biphenol, 2,3,4,4'-tetrahydroxybenzophenone and the like can be used.

The electron-accepting compound greatly affects the color development speed (the time from the separation of the electron-accepting substrate from the reversible material to the association with the electron-donating compound to develop color varies greatly depending on the material). By selecting the material, various temperature characteristics can be changed.

By changing the reversible material, the decoloring energies E1 and E2 change, and the temperature characteristics also change in combination with the resin. Materials that can be used as reversible materials include Stanolone, β-Sitosterol, Methylandrost
enediol, Estradiol, Benzoate, Pregnenolone Acetat
e, Androsterone, 11Hydroxyprogesterone Acetate, Es
milagenin and so on.

Here, as the binder resin, polyethylenes, chlorinated polyethylenes,
Ethylene copolymers such as ethylene / vinyl acetate copolymers, ethylene / acrylic acid / maleic anhydride copolymers, polyesters such as polybutadienes, polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, and polyethylene naphthalate, polypropylenes, polyisobutylenes , Polyvinyl chlorides, polyvinylidene chlorides, polyvinyl acetates, polyvinyl alcohols, polyvinyl acetals, polyvinyl butyrals, fluororesins,
Acrylic resins, methacrylic resins, acrylonitrile copolymers, polystyrene, halogenated polystyrene,
Styrene copolymers such as styrene methacrylic acid copolymer, acetal resins, povoramides such as nylon 66, polycarbonates, cellulose resins, phenol resins, urea resins, epoxy resins, polyurethane resins And diaryl phthalate resins, silicone resins, polyimide amides, polyether sulfones, polymethyl pentenes, polyether imides, polyvinyl carbazoles, amorphous polyolefins and the like. These resins are used by mixing one or more resins.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention using a temperature indicating member / material will be described.

In the first embodiment described above, the PET base material 2 is used. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the layer coated on the base material may be made of a part or all of the material of the temperature indicating member. Any material that can be used at a temperature higher than the temperature at which it can be compatible may be used. Further, as the temperature indicating member, a leuco dye, a color developer, and a rewritable material of a reversible material are used, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, a combination of a leuco dye and a color developer may be used. In the first embodiment, a label-shaped one is used. However, a thermal transfer ink ribbon may be used, and a temperature indicating member and a temperature indicating member diffusion layer may be provided on a thermal paper. When forming a so-called plate printing ink and forming it on a label, by printing information and forming a part of characters and code and printing it partially, a part of the temperature indicating material is a character code and one part. A label whose portion can be additionally written with a thermal head can be formed. Of course, solid printing may be performed on the label using the thermal transfer ink ribbon. Of course, if additional information is unnecessary, printing only the character code forms a temperature management label.

An example in which such a temperature management label is used for machine reading management of a product whose quality is degraded due to a rise in temperature has been described above. In this case, refer to FIG. 9 for information to be printed in advance with the temperature indicating ink. I will explain. In general, the product information to be printed in advance includes a country of manufacture, a manufacturer, and a JAN code including a product number. The temperature is controlled by, for example, the above-mentioned machine reading being disabled, but is visually checked. What can be done can be printed out in an easy-to-understand manner, and can be displayed so that management of physical distribution and storage can be performed without a machine or can be understood by ordinary people.

For example, as shown in FIG. 9 (A), the label 20 indicates "Expiration of quality retention. Warning information 21
Is printed with temperature indicating ink, and the product management code 22 and the shop name information 23 are printed with normal ink.

Then, by restarting (heating) as an initialization process, "the quality retention period has expired. Is turned colorless.

Then, the label 20 thus processed is
Is attached to products whose quality is maintained by temperature control. Then, if there is a rise in temperature during distribution or storage,
"Quality retention expired. Appears as warning information 21.

As described above, if the temperature rises during distribution or storage, the message "The quality maintenance period has expired." Warning information 21 appears, so that the general public can also understand that there is a quality control problem, and it is possible to prevent food hygiene accidents and the like.

In addition, it is a proof that the merchandise is managed by a distributor or a distributor, so that trust and trust can be maintained. In the case of foods, it is also a quality retention index when a consumer takes a long time to put it in the refrigerator at home or when putting it out several times instead of using it all at once. Products that require temperature control, such as drugs, raw materials, and toner, as well as food, and that require control by the general public, should be negatively labeled to clearly show the impact of deterioration in the quality of each product. The color should be one that can clearly indicate warning and caution. The warning information 21
"The expiration date has expired. May be displayed. Further, as the warning information 21, "The temperature is not controlled. ] May be displayed, and "It is heated. ] May be confirmation information. This confirmation information is displayed on foods that need to be heated during use if they are heated. May be displayed.

Since the area heated by the thermal head can be reduced by printing in advance, the life of the thermal head can be extended. Alternatively, it is possible to perform only solid heating, and use (restart) with a low-cost heating device such as a normal heater is also possible.

Further, a third embodiment of the present invention using the above-described temperature indicating member / material will be described. In the first embodiment, the PET base material 2 is used. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The layer coated on the base material may be compatible with a part or all of the material of the temperature indicating member. Any material that can be used at a certain temperature or higher is acceptable. Further, as the temperature indicating member, a rewritable leuco dye, a color developer, and a reversible agent were used, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a combination of a leuco dye and a color developer may be used. Further, in the first embodiment, a label-shaped member is used. However, it is only necessary to provide a temperature indicating member and a temperature indicating member diffusion layer in the form of a thermal transfer ink ribbon or in the form of thermal paper.

An example in which such a temperature control label is used for machine reading control of a product whose quality is degraded due to a rise in temperature has been described above. Here, the third embodiment of the information to be printed in advance is described. This will be described with reference to FIG.

Generally, the product information includes a country of manufacture, a manufacturer, and a JAN code including a product number. The JAN code is formed by a temperature indicating member, and the density contrast of the code itself changes and the machine cannot be read. As described above, the temperature is controlled by, for example, the third embodiment.
Such merchandise information, characters and codes are printed with normal ink, a temperature indicating member is printed in a solid manner so as to cover the relevant portion, and a portion to be displayed from the beginning is heated by a thermal head to be colorless. Thereafter, if the temperature management state is not good, the displayed code or character information cannot be read, and the temperature management state can be confirmed.

As this information, information that can be confirmed by silent observation can be printed in an easy-to-understand manner, and can be displayed so that management in physical distribution and storage can be performed without a machine or can be generally understood.

For example, as shown in FIG.
"It is within the shelf life. Is preprinted on the label 30 with normal ink. The product management code 32 and the shop name information 33 are printed on the label 30 with normal ink.

Further, as shown in FIG. 10 (B), the temperature indicating member 41 is printed solid so as to cover the quality holding information 31. Further, the merchandise management code 32 is printed on the merchandise management code 32 with the temperature indicating ink.

Then, as an initialization process, the temperature indicating member 41 covering the quality holding information 31 is made colorless by restarting (heating), and then the process shown in FIG.
The label 30 is attached to a product whose quality is maintained by temperature management in the state shown in FIG.

If there is a temperature rise in the physical distribution or storage, as shown in FIG.
Is colored, so it's within the shelf life. ], Such as the display indicating that quality is being maintained.

Further, since the product management code 42 is colored, the product management code 32 and the product management code 42 overlap, and this code cannot be read by a machine.

As described above, the code cannot be read by the machine, or the message “It is within the quality retention period. ] Can not be seen, so that the general public knows that there was a quality control problem, and it is possible to prevent accidents in food hygiene. It also proves that the merchandise has been managed by a distributor or distributor, and can maintain trust and trust.

As the quality holding information 31, "Temperature is controlled. Information such as "It is not heated. ] May be the confirmation information.

In the case of food, it takes a long time for the consumer to put it in the refrigerator at home, or it becomes a quality retention index when the consumer goes out and in several times without using up all at once. Not only food but also products that require temperature control such as medicines, raw materials, toners, etc. that need to be managed by the general public should be clearly labeled with the quality maintenance status of each product, and colors can be used .

By performing printing in advance, the heating area by the thermal head can be reduced, and the life of the thermal head is prolonged. Alternatively, it is possible to perform only solid heating, and it is also possible to use a low-cost heating device such as a normal heater.

Further, the warning information 21 is printed on the label 20 with the temperature indicating ink, and the quality holding information 31 as shown in FIG. 10 is printed with the normal ink, and the temperature indicating member 41 is covered so as to cover the quality holding information. You may make it print solid so that it may cover.

The life of a heat source such as a laser is prolonged, not limited to the thermal head.

The thermal printer is not limited to a solid state head, but may be any recording head such as a laser thermal printer.

[0075]

According to the first to eighth aspects of the present invention, the temperature can be managed as if it were a label by the temperature management member. Further, in the case of thermal paper, the temperature can be controlled as if a conventional label is issued, so that the temperature can be controlled without a special device. With one temperature indicating member, it is possible to record product information and temperature management information, and it is possible to supply an inexpensive temperature management member. further,
It is possible to display a warning or a quality keeping state at the time of distribution, distribution, and storage to a general person.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a basic principle diagram of a rewriter tuple used in a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing the principle of application of a rewriter / tuple system used in the first embodiment to a temperature indicating member.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the temperature management member according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a temperature management member according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the decoloring characteristics of the temperature indicating member according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a view showing temperature characteristics (reflectance) of the first embodiment.

FIG. 7: Temperature characteristics (reflectance ratio) of the first embodiment
FIG.

FIG. 8 is a view showing temperature characteristics (time and temperature characteristics) of the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration of a temperature indicating member according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a configuration of a temperature management member according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 ... Temperature management member 3 ... PET 4 ... Temperature indicating member 5 ... Protective layer 6 ... Heat resistant layer 7 ... Product information 8 ... Temperature management information 9 ... Product management code 10 ... Temperature management code 11 ... Date information.

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A management member, such as predetermined characters, symbols, and codes, is formed on a support in advance by a temperature indicating member whose color changes in response to temperature, and at least the management information of the management information recorded in advance of the temperature indicating member is provided. A temperature management member, characterized in that by selectively applying different thermal energy to a region, the temperature indicating members occupying the region have different temperature characteristics. 2. The temperature indicating member has a characteristic of being visualized at a predetermined temperature or higher, and the piped information is warning information or caution information indicating that a quality maintenance expiration date has expired, warning information or caution information indicating that temperature control is not performed, 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information is any one of confirmation information indicating that heating has been performed.
The temperature control member as described. 3. When a management information such as predetermined characters, symbols, and codes is formed on a support in advance by a temperature indicating member whose color changes in response to temperature, when additional information is recorded by a thermal printer. By selectively applying different thermal energy to at least the pre-recorded area of the management information of the temperature indicating member in the thermal printer, so that the temperature indicating member occupying the area has different temperature characteristics. The temperature management member according to claim 1 or 2, wherein 4. A temperature-indicating member whose color changes in response to temperature is formed on a support in which management information such as predetermined characters, symbols, and codes are recorded in advance, and at least the management information of the temperature-indicating member is recorded in advance. A temperature management member, wherein different heat energy is selectively applied to an information area so that temperature indicating members occupying the area have different temperature characteristics. 5. The temperature indicating member has a characteristic of becoming colorless by initialization and being visualized at a predetermined temperature or higher, and the management information is quality holding information indicating that it is within a quality holding period, indicating that temperature management is performed. 5. The temperature management member according to claim 4, wherein the temperature management member is any one of quality holding information and quality control information indicating that heating has not been performed. 6. A temperature indicating member which changes its color in response to temperature is formed by a predetermined method on a support on which management information such as predetermined characters, symbols, codes and the like are recorded in advance, and then added by a thermal printer. When recording information, the thermal printer selectively applies different heat energy to at least the pre-recorded area of the management information of the temperature indicating member so that the temperature indicating member occupying the area has different temperature characteristics. The temperature management member according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the temperature management member is provided. 7. First management information such as predetermined characters, symbols, and codes is formed on a support in advance by a first temperature indicating member whose color changes in response to temperature, and is formed on the support. A second temperature indicating member that changes color in response to temperature is formed on a support on which the second management information is recorded, while recording second management information such as predetermined characters, symbols, and codes. In addition, by selectively applying different thermal energy to at least the area of the first management information of the first temperature indicating member recorded in advance, the first temperature indicating member occupying the area has different temperature characteristics. By selectively applying different thermal energy to at least the previously recorded area of the second management information of the second temperature indicating member, the second temperature indicating member occupying the area has different temperature characteristics. It is characterized by having Temperature control member. 8. The temperature management member according to claim 1, wherein the information recorded in advance is formed by a temperature indicating member and a general member.