JP2013121709A - Foil image forming method and foil image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A technique for forming a foil image excellent in adhesive strength, fine line reproducibility, and fixing uniformity is provided.
The same toner image as the foil image to be formed is formed on the substrate P with clear toner by electrophotography, and the substrate P is formed by combining the clear toner image of the substrate P and the adhesive layer of the foil sheet 80. And the foil sheet 80 are superposed, heated and pressed in this state, then cooled, and the foil sheet 80 is peeled off from the substrate P to form a foil image having the same image as the clear toner image on the substrate P. Based on the softening point of the clear toner, the surface temperature of the heating roller 73a at the time of heating and pressing and the temperature of the foil sheet 80 at the time of peeling are controlled within specific ranges, respectively.
[Selection] Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for forming a foil image. In particular, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for forming a foil image using electrophotographic technology.

  Metal foil-like foil images are widely used in the field of packaging and decoration. As a general method for forming such a foil image, a hot stamping method is known. In the hot stamping method, first, a metal mold engraved so that an image to be formed floats on a convex portion is heated. On the other hand, a transfer foil (hereinafter also referred to as “foil sheet”) composed of a base film, a foil layer, an adhesive layer, and the like is superimposed on a base material on which a foil image is to be formed so that the adhesive layer is in close contact with the base material. And the convex part of the heated metal mold is pressed against a base material through a foil sheet. Thereby, the adhesive layer of the foil sheet is melted to adhere the foil sheet to the substrate. Then, it is cooled, and after cooling, the foil sheet is peeled off. Thereby, the foil layer according to the shape of the said convex part is formed in a base material.

  However, this hot stamping method takes time and cost to produce a metal mold, and is not suitable for forming a foil image of a large variety of small lots. For this reason, various proposals have been made to perform foil transfer without using a mold.

  One foil transfer method that does not use a mold is a method that uses a toner image formed by electrophotography. In this method, first, a toner image is formed on a substrate using toner containing a binder resin component. Next, the base material and the foil sheet are stacked and thermocompression bonded so that the adhesive layer is in close contact with the toner image surface of the base material. Subsequently, it cools, After cooling, a foil sheet is peeled off and a foil image is obtained (for example, refer patent document 1). This method uses an adhesive force due to a synergistic effect of an adhesive force due to softening and melting of the toner by heating and an adhesive force due to thermal melting of the adhesive layer in the foil sheet. For this reason, it is possible to form a foil image without using a mold.

  However, in this foil image forming method, it is difficult to form a foil image faithful to the toner image when the image forming speed is increased. Specifically, so-called burrs may be generated in which a piece of foil remains at the edge portion of the image. In addition, the fixing of the foil to a fine image may be disturbed, and problems such as deterioration in reproducibility of reproducing a toner image with the foil may occur. These are caused by instability when the foil sheet is peeled after the thermocompression bonding.

JP 2000-127691 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide a technique for forming a foil image having excellent adhesive strength, fine line reproducibility, and fixing uniformity.

The present invention provides the following foil image forming method as means for solving the above-mentioned problems.
[1] preparing a toner image fixed on a substrate;
A step of stacking the base material and the foil sheet with the adhesive layer of the foil sheet having a foil layer and an adhesive layer on the base film facing the toner image forming surface of the base material;
A heating and pressurizing step of pressing the heated base material and the foil sheet against a heating member and heating;
A foil image forming method for fixing the foil to the base material in the shape of a toner image, including a foil sheet peeling step of peeling the foil sheet from the base material,
The surface temperature of the heating member in the heating and pressurizing step is 25 to 55 ° C. higher than the softening point of the toner forming the toner image;
In the foil sheet peeling step, when the surface temperature of the foil sheet is 20 to 75 ° C. lower than the softening point of the toner, the foil sheet is peeled off from the substrate. .
[2] In the foil sheet peeling step, when the difference between the surface temperature of the foil sheet and the surface temperature of the heating member is 60 to 105 ° C., the foil sheet is peeled off from the substrate. The foil image forming method according to [1].
[3] The foil image forming method according to [1] or [2], further comprising a step of cooling the release sheet by a cooling device between the heating and pressing step and the foil sheet peeling step. .
[4] The foil image forming method according to any one of [1] to [3], wherein a clear toner is used as the toner.
[5] Any one of [1] to [4], wherein the step of preparing the toner image is a toner image forming step of forming the toner image on the substrate by an electrophotographic method. The foil image forming method as described in 2. above.

The present invention also provides the following foil image forming apparatus as means for solving the above-mentioned problems.
[6] A toner image forming apparatus for forming a toner image on a substrate by an electrophotographic method;
A foil sheet conveying apparatus for conveying the foil sheet so that the base material and the foil sheet overlap with the adhesive layer of the foil sheet having a base film, a foil and an adhesive layer facing the toner image forming surface of the base material When,
A heating member that heats the stacked base material and the foil sheet;
A pressure device for pressing the base member and the foil sheet against the heating member;
A temperature adjusting device for adjusting the surface temperature of the heated foil sheet;
A foil sheet peeling device for peeling the foil sheet, the temperature of which is adjusted, from the base material,
The heating member has a surface temperature that is 25 to 55 ° C. higher than the softening point of the toner that forms the toner image;
The foil sheet peeling apparatus peels off the foil sheet from the substrate when the surface temperature of the foil sheet overlapping the substrate is 20 to 75 ° C. lower than the softening point of the toner.
[7] The foil image forming apparatus according to [6], wherein the temperature adjusting device is a fan.

  In the present invention, in the formation of a foil image by heating and pressing a substrate having a toner image and a foil sheet, the surface temperature of the heating member at the time of heating and pressing, and the foil sheet when the foil sheet is peeled off from the substrate The surface temperature is controlled to a specific temperature based on the softening point of the toner. For this reason, it is possible to form a foil image having excellent adhesive strength, fine line reproducibility, and fixing uniformity.

It is a figure which shows roughly the structure of an example of the foil image forming apparatus of this invention. It is a figure which shows roughly the structure of the 1st example of the foil fixing apparatus used for this invention. It is a figure which shows roughly the structure of an example of the foil sheet used for this invention. It is a figure explaining a foil fixing process. It is a figure which shows schematically the structure of the 2nd example of the foil fixing apparatus used for this invention.

  The foil image forming method of the present invention comprises a step of preparing a toner image fixed on a base material, and the base material and the foil sheet are overlapped with the adhesive layer of the foil sheet facing the toner image forming surface of the base material. A step, a heating and pressing step of pressing the heated base material and the foil sheet against a heating member and heating, and a foil sheet peeling step of peeling the foil sheet from the base material.

  The toner image can be prepared by fixing a toner layer formed on the substrate. The toner image is usually prepared by a step of forming the toner image on the substrate (toner image forming step) by an electrophotographic method.

  The toner image forming step can be performed by a known method for forming a toner image fixed on a substrate by an electrophotographic method. The toner image forming step usually includes a step of charging a photoconductor, a step of forming a latent image on the charged photoconductor by exposure, a step of developing the formed latent image with toner, and a toner image on the photoconductor. It can be performed by a method including a step of transferring directly from a body to a substrate or via a transfer body, and a step of fixing the toner image transferred to the substrate by heating and pressing. The toner constituting the toner image is not particularly limited, but when a foil sheet having a light-transmitting foil layer such as a transparent resin layer is used, it is necessary to make the base material visible through the foil layer. It may be. For this reason, it is more preferable that it is the clear toner mentioned later which does not contain a coloring component substantially.

  The heating and pressing step is usually the same as the normal fixing step of heating and pressing the substrate in contact with the substrate having an unfixed toner image except that the laminate of the substrate and the foil sheet is heated and pressurized. It can be carried out. In the heating and pressing step, the base material and the foil sheet may be heated from the base material side, or may be heated from the foil sheet side. Usually, it heats with respect to a base material and a foil sheet from both the foil sheet side and a base material side. From the viewpoint of heating efficiency, the base material and the foil sheet are usually heated mainly from the foil sheet side and supplementarily from the base material side.

  The said foil sheet peeling process can be performed by guiding the foil sheet piled up on the base material in the direction peeled from a base material. For example, when the foil sheet is in the form of a roll, the foil sheet peeling step can be performed by placing one of two or more rollers that stretch the foil sheet at the peeling position (FIG. 2). In this case, the curvature of the roller at the peeling position is set to a sufficiently small value that does not involve the base material according to the rigidity of the base material.

In the present invention, the surface temperature of the heating member in the heating and pressing step (hereinafter also referred to as “foil sheet heating temperature”) is the softening point of the toner that forms the toner image (hereinafter also referred to as “T _S ”). The temperature is 25 to 55 ° C. higher than that. The foil sheet heating temperature here refers to the temperature of the surface of the heating member immediately before the entrance to the nip portion of the heating and pressurizing device. Specifically, the temperature is the temperature when the surface of the heating member at a position of 5 to 50 mm before the nip entrance in the moving direction of the surface of the heating member is measured using a non-contact thermometer. It can be said that the foil sheet heating temperature is not less than T _S + 25 ° C. from the viewpoint of obtaining sufficient adhesive strength of the foil image to the substrate. Moreover, said foil sheet heating temperature is less than T _{S +} 55 ° C. can be said to be satisfactory from the viewpoint of preventing blisters caused by excessive heating at the time of the foil image fixing. Here, “blister” refers to a defect in the foil image due to expansion of moisture or air in the heated part.

  The heating and pressing time in the heating and pressing step can be selected from a range of time during which the resin composition constituting the toner image on the substrate and the adhesive layer component of the foil sheet are melted and no blister is generated. . The heating and pressing time is preferably 0.03 to 0.40 seconds, and more preferably 0.05 to 0.35 seconds. The said pressurization heating time can be adjusted with the conveyance speed of the base material and foil sheet in the said heating-pressing process, for example.

  The pressure applied to the base material and the foil sheet in the heating and pressurizing step is such that when the foil sheet and the base material are brought into close contact, the adhesive layer component of the foil sheet and the binder resin component of the toner image are compatible. And from the viewpoint of preventing image deterioration due to the collapse of the toner image. The pressure in the heating and pressurizing step is preferably a nip surface pressure of 100 to 800 kPa, and more preferably 200 to 600 kPa. The pressure in the heating and pressing step can be adjusted by, for example, the magnitude of the biasing force of the pressing roller relative to the heating roller. In the case where at least one of the heating roller and the pressure roller has an elastic layer on the surface, the pressure in the heating and pressing step can be adjusted by the distance between the axes of the heating roller and the pressure roller.

In the present invention, in the foil sheet peeling step, the surface temperature of the foil sheets (hereinafter, also referred to as "peel temperature") when found in the 20 to 75 ° C. lower temperature than the softening point T _S of the toner, the foil The sheet is peeled from the substrate. The peeling temperature here refers to the temperature immediately before the peeling of the surface of the foil sheet opposite to the surface in contact with the substrate on which the toner is fixed. Specifically, the temperature when the surface of the foil sheet at a position of 5 to 50 mm before the position where the sheet is peeled from the substrate in the moving direction of the release sheet is measured with a non-contact thermometer. It can be said that the peeling temperature of T _S −75 ° C. or higher is favorable from the viewpoint of suppressing distortion due to shrinkage of the foil sheet or substrate and obtaining sufficient reproducibility of the foil image with respect to the toner image. That the peeling temperature is T _s −20 ° C. or less means that the foil sheet is peeled in a state where the resin layer constituting the toner image on the substrate is stable, and the reproducibility of the foil image with respect to the toner image is deteriorated. It can be said that it is favorable from the viewpoint of prevention.

  In the foil sheet peeling step, when the difference between the surface temperature of the foil sheet and the surface temperature of the heating member is 60 to 105 ° C., peeling the foil sheet from the base material is a foil sheet or a base material. It can be said that it is favorable from the viewpoint of suppressing the shrinkage of the film.

  The peeling temperature is the adjustment of the distance from the nip portion to the peeling position in the heating and pressing step, the control of the transport time of the foil sheet and the substrate from the nip portion to the peeling position, and the foil after the heating and pressing step. It can be adjusted by cooling one or both of the sheet and the substrate. From the viewpoint of forming a foil image at a faster speed, in the foil sheet peeling step, it is preferable to cool one or both of the foil sheet and the base material after the heating and pressing step with a cooling device, and from the viewpoint of cooling efficiency. It is more preferable to cool from the foil sheet side.

  The time for cooling the foil sheet to the peeling temperature is preferably short from the viewpoint of the productivity of the foil image and the quality of the formed foil image.

  The foil sheet usually has a release layer for facilitating peeling of the foil from the base film, in addition to the base film, the foil, and the adhesive layer. In the heating and pressing step, the adhesive layer component melts with the binder resin component of the toner image, but the release layer also becomes unstable due to heating. When the unstable state of the release layer continues until the foil sheet peeling step, the separation between the base film and the foil becomes unstable when the foil sheet is peeled from the substrate. For this reason, it becomes difficult to separate the bonded portion from the non-bonded portion, and burrs are easily generated in the foil image. When the cooling time is short, the unstable state of the release layer can be made shorter, and a foil image having excellent reproducibility can be formed.

  The toner used in the foil image forming method of the present invention defines the site where the adhesive layer component of the foil sheet adheres. That is, the adhesive layer component adheres only at the portion of the substrate surface where the toner image is formed, and the foil sheet is fixed. As the toner, a toner that can be used for forming a toner image by an electrophotographic method and that exhibits higher adhesiveness with the adhesive layer component than the base material can be used. As the toner, a normal toner containing a colorant can be used, but a clear toner containing no coloring component is preferably used. The clear toner will be described in detail later.

  The foil image forming method of the present invention may include further steps as long as the effects of the present invention are obtained. As such a further step, for example, a step of forming a toner image by an electrophotographic method on the substrate on which the foil is fixed (hereinafter, also referred to as “reprinting step”) can be mentioned. By including the reprinting step, a toner image can be further formed on the foil image, and a color foil image including a foil image and a color toner image can be formed on one substrate. The reprinting step can be performed by retransmitting the base material on which the foil image is formed to an apparatus that performs the toner image forming step, and forming a further color toner image there.

  The foil image forming method of the present invention can be performed using the foil image forming apparatus of the present invention described below.

  The foil image forming apparatus of the present invention is a toner image forming apparatus that forms a toner image fixed on a substrate by an electrophotographic method, and the adhesive layer of the foil sheet faces the toner image forming surface of the substrate. A foil sheet transporting device that transports the foil sheet so that the base material and the foil sheet overlap, a heating member that heats the stacked base material and the foil sheet, and the base material and the heating member A pressure device for pressing the foil sheet, a temperature adjusting device for adjusting the surface temperature of the heated foil sheet, and a foil sheet peeling device for peeling the temperature-adjusted foil sheet from the substrate. Have.

  The toner image forming apparatus is constituted by a normal electrophotographic apparatus. The toner image forming apparatus is a color toner image forming apparatus having a toner image forming unit for a plurality of types of toner including clear toner from the viewpoint of forming a color foil image in which a color toner image is further formed on the foil image. It is preferable.

  The toner image forming unit forms a toner image using a single toner or a plurality of toners. The toner image forming unit is usually a photoconductor; a charging device for charging the photoconductor; an exposure device for irradiating light for forming an electrostatic latent image on the charged photoconductor; and an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor with toner. A developing device for developing; a transfer device for transferring a toner image on a photoconductor directly or via an intermediate transfer member to a substrate; and a fixing for fixing the toner image transferred to the substrate to the substrate by heating and pressing Device. The toner image forming unit may further include another device such as a cleaning device for removing the toner on the photoreceptor after the transfer. Each of the plurality of toner image forming units may include all of the above-described apparatuses, or the plurality of toner image forming units may share a part of the above-described apparatuses (for example, a transfer device and a fixing device). Also good.

  An apparatus according to the form of the foil sheet is used for the foil sheet conveying apparatus. For example, when the foil sheet is formed in a planar shape of the same size as the base material, it is configured by a transport device that superimposes the one foil sheet on one base material and transports it to a heating and pressurizing device. Can do. This conveying device can be configured in the same manner as the substrate conveying device in the toner image forming apparatus. Alternatively, the substrate transport device may be used as a foil sheet transport device. When the foil sheet is in the form of a roll, it can be constituted by two or more rollers that stretch the foil sheet through a heating and pressing part of a heating and pressing device.

  As the heating member, a heating member in a normal fixing device that contacts the substrate and fixes the toner image on the substrate can be used. An example of such a heating member is a heating roller that is usually used in the fixing device and whose surface temperature can be controlled.

  As the pressure device, the pressure device in the normal fixing device can be used. An example of such a pressure device is a pressure roller that is normally used in the fixing device. The pressing device may be a device that constantly presses against the heating member, or a device that selectively presses the heating member when the base member and the foil sheet are heated against the heating member. May be. The latter is preferable from the viewpoint of preventing disturbance of the foil image and deterioration of the image quality when a toner image is further formed on the substrate on which the foil image is formed. Further, the pressure device may be a pressure device whose surface temperature can be controlled.

  As the heating roller and the pressure roller, an aluminum roll is generally used as a substrate. The heating roller and the pressure roller may be such a substrate itself, but more preferably has a surface that does not damage the foil sheet when the foil sheet is fed out. Examples of such a heating roller and a pressure roller include a roller having the cylindrical base body and a coating layer covering the outer peripheral surface thereof. Examples of the material of the coating layer for the heating roller include a fluorine-based resin and silicone rubber. Examples of the material for the coating layer for the pressure roller include silicone rubber, PFA (tetrafluoroethylene / perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether copolymer), and fluorine-based resin.

  As the temperature adjusting device, a cooling device for cooling the heated and pressurized base material and the foil sheet is usually used. The temperature adjusting device may be a mechanism that arranges the foil sheet peeling device at a position where a desired temperature is reached, or suppresses a decrease in the temperature of the base material and the foil sheet, or increases the temperature of the foil sheet. A warming device may be included. The cooling device may be a device that cools in contact with the foil sheet, but the cooling non-uniformity due to non-uniform contact with the foil sheet does not occur and the cooling efficiency is good, so the air-cooled non-contact type A cooling mechanism is preferred. More specifically, the cooling device is preferably a fan.

  The foil sheet peeling apparatus may be an apparatus that separates the base material from the foil sheet, but the foil sheet is separated from the base material from the viewpoint of preventing deterioration of the quality of the foil image due to bending of the base material. It is preferable that it is an apparatus to be made. The foil sheet peeling apparatus includes, for example, a branch plate that guides one or both of the base material and the foil sheet in the same or different directions, a peeling roller that guides the base film in a direction away from the base material, and a combination thereof. Can be configured.

  The foil sheet peeling apparatus peels a foil sheet having a surface temperature of 20 to 75 ° C. lower than the softening point of the toner from the substrate. The surface temperature of a foil sheet is the temperature of the surface (for example, base film) opposite to the base material of the foil sheet overlapping the base material. The foil sheet peeling apparatus preferably further peels the base material from the foil sheet whose foil sheet surface temperature is 60 to 105 ° C. lower than the surface temperature of the heating member. The surface temperature of the foil sheet can be measured by, for example, a non-contact thermometer.

  The foil image forming apparatus of the present invention may have a further configuration as long as the effects of the present invention are obtained. As such a further configuration, for example, a base material feeding device that feeds the base material from which the foil sheet has been peeled off to a toner image forming position in the toner image forming device, and a plurality of toner image forming portions are exemplified. A foil image forming apparatus having these apparatuses can further form a toner image on a base material on which a foil image is formed. Therefore, a color toner image including a foil image can be formed.

  In the formation of a toner image, the base material used in the present invention is capable of forming a toner fixed image by an electrophotographic method, and under the heating and pressing conditions by the heating member and the pressing device. It is a member having substantially no adhesiveness to the adhesive layer component of the foil sheet. As the substrate, paper can be usually used. Examples of the base material include plain paper from thin paper to thick paper, high-quality paper, coated printing paper such as art paper and coated paper, and commercially available printing paper such as Japanese paper and postcard paper, Is mentioned.

  The foil sheet used in the present invention has a base film, a foil layer formed on the base film, and an adhesive layer formed on the foil layer. The foil sheet may further have a release layer between the base film and the foil layer. As a form of these foil sheets, an independent single sheet or a long strip-shaped sheet wound up on a roll may be used.

  In the present invention, the term “foil” is used to impart a metallic or glossy character or pattern that is difficult to express by general printing, or a transparent character or pattern that has a transparent feeling on a substrate. used. Various types of foil such as gold and silver foil for obtaining a golden or silver image, a color pigment foil for obtaining a color image with metallic luster, a hologram foil for obtaining a hologram image, etc., depending on the application There is. In the present invention, the type of foil used is not particularly limited.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the foil sheet includes a base film 80a, a release layer 80b formed on the base film 80a, a foil layer 80d formed on the release layer 80b, and a foil layer. The foil sheet 80 which has the contact bonding layer 80e formed on 80d is mentioned. The foil layer 80d and the adhesive layer 80e become the foil 80c that is fixed to the base material P later.

  The base film 80a is made of, for example, a film or sheet made of resin or the like, or a paper sheet. Examples of the resin material for the base film 80a include known resin materials such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin, polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) resin, polypropylene (PP) resin, polyethersulfone resin, and polyimide resin. The base film 80a may have a single layer structure or a multilayer structure.

  The release layer 80b is a layer for ensuring good peelability from the base film 80a of the foil 80c formed of the foil layer 80d and the adhesive layer 80e. As a material constituting the release layer 80b, a material having releasability with respect to the foil layer 80d is used. For example, a known wax such as a fluorine-based or silicon-based monomer or polymer is added to a thermosetting resin using melamine or isocyanate as a curing agent, an ultraviolet ray or an electron beam curable resin containing an acrylate or an epoxy resin. Examples thereof include compositions.

  The foil layer 80d can be composed of various components such as a colorant such as a pigment, a metal material, a transparent resin, and a material that causes optical interference. 80 d of foil layers express the external appearance by the component which comprises a foil layer, after transcribe | transferring on the base material P. FIG. Specifically, the foil layer 80d is a colored layer, a metal layer, a transparent resin layer, a hologram layer, a layer obtained by laminating a metal layer on a colored layer, a layer obtained by laminating a metal layer on a transparent resin layer, or a hologram layer. It is comprised from the layer etc. which laminated | stacked the metal layer.

  As the colored layer, a coating composition obtained by adding a known dye or pigment, if necessary, to a known resin having desired performance is applied onto the release layer 80b on the base film 80a. By drying, the formed layer can be mentioned. Examples of the desired performance of the known resin include good releasability from the release layer 80b and durability after formation of a foil image. Examples of the coating method of the coating composition include a gravure coater, a micro gravure coder, and a roll coater.

  Examples of the resin for forming the foil layer 80d include an acrylic resin, a styrene resin, and a melamine resin.

  The metal layer is a layer having a metallic luster, and can be formed using a metal by a known method such as a vapor deposition method, a sputtering method, or an ion plating method. As a metal material for forming the metal layer, for example, an alloy such as nickel-chromium-iron alloy, bronze, aluminum bronze, etc. can be used in addition to simple substances such as aluminum, tin, silver, chromium, nickel, and gold. it can.

  The metal layer can be about 10-100 nm thick. Moreover, as a metal layer, the metal layer which performed the patterning process which provides a regular pattern using well-known processing methods, such as a washing | cleaning sea light process, an etching process, and laser processing, can also be used, for example.

  The adhesive layer 80e is, for example, a layer made of a heat-sensitive adhesive called a so-called hot melt type that does not have adhesiveness to the base material P regardless of the presence or absence of heating and develops binding properties to the toner component by heating. It is. Examples of the heat-sensitive adhesive include various known hot-melt adhesives such as acrylic resins, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymers, epoxy resins, and ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymers. A thermoplastic resin is mentioned.

  The adhesive layer 80e can be formed by applying a thermoplastic resin that forms a heat-sensitive adhesive on the foil layer 80d using, for example, a gravure coater, a micro gravure coater, a roll coater, or the like.

  Examples of such a foil sheet 80 include “BL2.8 2 alloy” manufactured by Murata Gold Leaf Co., Ltd. These can be obtained as commercial products.

  The toner used in the present invention is usually composed of toner particles and an external additive. The toner may be used as a two-component developer further containing a carrier, or may be used as a one-component developer not using a carrier. The toner particles contain at least a binder resin including a thermoplastic resin. The toner may be a color toner containing a colorant or a transparent clear toner. However, from the viewpoint of the aesthetics of the foil image when using a transparent foil, the toner is a clear toner. Is preferred.

  In the present invention, the clear toner refers to a toner whose color is not recognized by the action of light absorption or light scattering. The clear toner may be substantially colorless and transparent when the toner image is formed. Components that are not visible in the visible region may be included in the clear toner. Clear toners include, for example, toners that do not contain colorants such as color pigments, color dyes, black carbon particles, and black magnetic powder, toners that contain colorants such as pigments and dyes, and the like that cannot be color-recognized, and binder resins. And a toner whose transparency is slightly lowered depending on the kind and amount of the external additive.

  The softening point of the toner is preferably 90 to 140 ° C. The softening point of 90 ° C. or higher is preferable from the viewpoint of preventing defective fixing of a foil image due to a decrease in blister resistance. The softening point is preferably 140 ° C. or lower from the viewpoint of the adhesiveness of the foil image. From the above viewpoint, the softening point of the toner is preferably 105 to 140 ° C, and more preferably 112 to 137 ° C. The softening point of the toner can be usually determined by measuring the toner or toner particles with a flow tester. The softening point of the toner can be adjusted by adjusting the kind of binder resin, the kind of raw material and the ratio thereof, the molecular weight, and the like.

A method for measuring the softening point of the toner of the present invention will be described.
In an environment of 20 ° C. ± 1 ° C. and 50 ± 5% RH, 1.1 g of toner is placed in a petri dish, flattened and allowed to stand for 12 hours or more, and then 3,000 kg with a molding machine SSP-10A (manufactured by Shimadzu Corporation). Pressurize with a force of / cm ² for 30 seconds to produce a cylindrical molded sample with a diameter of 1 cm. Using a flow tester CFT-500D (manufactured by Shimadzu Corporation) in a 24 ° C. ± 5 ° C., 50 ± 20% RH environment, the above molded sample is inserted into a cylindrical die hole (1 mm diameter × 1 mm) with a 1 cm diameter piston. Use to extrude from the end of preheating. The conditions for this extrusion are a load of 196 N (20 kgf), a starting temperature of 60 ° C., a preheating time of 300 seconds, and a heating rate of 6 ° C./min. The offset method temperature T _offset measured with the offset value of 5 mm in the offset method of the melting temperature measurement method (temperature rise method) is set as the softening point of the toner.

[Toner particle size]
The toner particles preferably have a volume-based median diameter of 3 to 10 μm, and more preferably 5 to 8 μm.

  The volume-based median diameter of the toner particles is connected to a computer system (Beckman Coulter) equipped with data processing software "Software V3.51" to "Coulter Counter Multisizer 3" (Beckman Coulter 3). It can be measured and calculated using the apparatus.

  As a measuring procedure of the median diameter, 0.02 g of a measurement sample (toner) was diluted with 20 mL of a surfactant solution (for example, a neutral detergent containing a surfactant component was diluted 10 times with pure water for the purpose of dispersing the measurement sample. The surfactant solution). Thereafter, ultrasonic dispersion is performed for 1 minute to prepare a toner dispersion. This toner dispersion is injected into a beaker containing ISOTON II (manufactured by Beckman Coulter) in a sample stand with a pipette until the display density of the measuring instrument becomes 5% to 10%. By setting this concentration range, a reproducible measurement value can be obtained. In the measuring machine, the measurement particle count is 25,000, the aperture diameter is 100 μm, and the frequency value is calculated by dividing the measurement range of 2.0 to 60 μm into 256 parts. A particle diameter of 50% from the larger volume integrated fraction is defined as a volume-based median diameter (volume D50% diameter).

[Thermoplastic resin]
Examples of the thermoplastic resin contained in the binder resin include styrene resins, (meth) acrylic resins, styrene- (meth) acrylic copolymer resins, vinyl resins such as olefin resins, polyester resins, Examples include various known thermoplastic resins such as polyamide resins, polycarbonate resins, polyethers, polyvinyl acetate resins, polysulfone resins, polyurethane resins. These can be used alone or in combination of two or more. Among these, a styrene- (meth) acrylic copolymer resin is preferable from the viewpoint of molecular weight control for adjusting the softening point of the binder resin.

  From the viewpoint of adjusting the softening point of the binder resin, the content of the thermoplastic resin in the binder resin is preferably 50 to 100% by mass, and more preferably 80 to 100% by mass.

  The binder resin preferably has a weight average molecular weight (Mw) peak value of about 10,000 to 30,000.

[wax]
The toner particles may further contain a wax. The wax is not particularly limited, and for example, polyolefin wax such as polyethylene wax and polypropylene wax, branched hydrocarbon wax such as microcrystalline wax; long chain hydrocarbon such as paraffin wax and sazol wax. Waxes: dialkyl ketone waxes such as distearyl ketone, carnauba wax, montan wax, behenate behenate, trimethylolpropane tribehenate, pentaerythritol tetrabehenate, pentaerythritol diacetate dibehenate, glycerol tribehe Ester wax such as 1,18-octadecanediol distearate, tristearyl trimellitic acid, distearyl maleate; ethylenediamine behenylamino , Amide waxes such as trimellitic acid tristearyl amide; and the like.

  As a method of incorporating the wax into the toner particles, a method of incorporating the wax into the binder resin fine particles as the material of the toner particles, or a method in which the wax fine particles are dispersed in the aqueous medium in the association step of forming the toner particles. Examples thereof include a method of adding a dispersion and salting out, agglomerating, and fusing the binder resin fine particles and wax fine particles. These methods may be combined.

  The content ratio of the wax in the toner particles is 100 parts by mass of the binder resin from the viewpoint of obtaining a sufficient offset prevention effect and obtaining the desired optical characteristics of the toner such as the translucency and color reproducibility of the toner. It is 0.5-15 mass parts normally with respect to, Preferably it is 5-10 mass parts.

[Colorant]
The toner particles may further contain a colorant. As the colorant, various organic or inorganic pigments as exemplified below can be used.

  That is, examples of the colorant for black toner include carbon black, a magnetic material, and iron / titanium composite oxide black. Examples of carbon black include channel black, furnace black, acetylene black, thermal black, and lamp black. Among the colorants for black toner, examples of the magnetic material include ferrite and magnetite.

  Examples of the colorant for the yellow toner include the following dyes and pigments. Examples of the dye include C.I. I. Solvent Yellow 19, 44, 77, 79, 81, 82, 93, 98, 103, 104, 112, 162 and the like. Examples of the pigment include C.I. I. Pigment yellow 14, 17, 74, 93, 94, 138, 155, 180, 185 and the like. Mixtures of these can also be used.

  Examples of colorants for magenta toners include the following dyes and pigments. Examples of the dye include C.I. I. Solvent Red 1, 49, 52, 58, 63, 111, 122 and the like. Examples of the pigment include C.I. I. Pigment Red 5, 48: 1, 53: 1, 57: 1, 122, 139, 144, 149, 166, 177, 178, 222, and the like. Mixtures of these can also be used.

  Examples of the colorant for the cyan toner include the following dyes and pigments. Examples of the dye include C.I. I. Solvent Blue 25, 36, 60, 70, 93, 95 and the like. Examples of the pigment include C.I. I. Pigment Blue 1, 7, 7, 15, 60, 62, 66, 76, etc. Mixtures of these can also be used.

  The content of the colorant is preferably 0% by mass for clear toner. In the case of a color toner, the content is preferably 0.5 to 20% by mass in the toner particles, and more preferably 2 to 10% by mass.

[Toner Particle Preparation Method]
The method for producing the toner particles is not particularly limited. Examples of the toner production method include a kneading and pulverizing method, a suspension polymerization method, an emulsion aggregation method, a dissolution suspension method, a polyester elongation method, and a dispersion polymerization method. Among these, emulsion aggregation and aggregation are carried out from the viewpoint of aligning the particle diameter of the toner particles to a particle diameter advantageous for high image quality and high stability, from the viewpoint of controlling the shape of the toner particles, and from the viewpoint of ease of forming the core-shell structure. The method is preferred.

  In the emulsion aggregation method, a dispersion of resin fine particles dispersed with a surfactant or a dispersion stabilizer is mixed with a dispersion of toner particle constituents such as colorant fine particles as necessary. Then, an aggregating agent is added to the dispersion to agglomerate until a desired toner particle size is obtained. Thereafter or simultaneously with the agglomeration, the resin fine particles are fused together to control the shape. In this way, toner particles are manufactured.

  Here, the resin fine particles may optionally contain an internal additive such as a release agent and a charge control agent. Further, the resin fine particles may be composite particles formed of a plurality of layers having a structure of two or more layers made of resins having different compositions.

  In addition, it is also preferable from the viewpoint of the toner structure design to add different types of resin fine particles during aggregation to form toner particles having a core-shell structure.

  The resin fine particles can be produced, for example, by an emulsion polymerization method, a miniemulsion polymerization method, a phase inversion emulsification method, or the like, or can be produced by combining several production methods. When an internal additive is contained in the resin fine particles, it is preferable to use a miniemulsion polymerization method.

[External additive]
The above toner particles can constitute the toner according to the present invention as they are, but in order to improve fluidity, chargeability, cleaning properties, etc., the toner particles are provided with a fluidizing agent which is a so-called post-treatment agent. The toner according to the present invention may be configured by adding an external additive such as a cleaning aid.

  Examples of the external additive include inorganic oxide fine particles composed of silica fine particles, alumina fine particles, titanium oxide fine particles, etc., inorganic stearate compound fine particles such as aluminum stearate fine particles, zinc stearate fine particles, or strontium titanate, titanium. Examples thereof include inorganic titanic acid compound fine particles such as zinc oxide. These can be used alone or in combination of two or more.

  These inorganic fine particles are preferably subjected to a surface treatment with a silane coupling agent, a titanium coupling agent, a higher fatty acid, silicone oil or the like in order to improve heat-resistant storage stability and environmental stability.

  As the external additive, spherical organic fine particles having a number average primary particle size of about 10 to 2,000 nm can also be used. As such organic fine particles, specifically, fine particles composed of homopolymers such as styrene and methyl methacrylate or copolymers thereof can be used.

  The total amount of these various external additives added is 0.05 to 5 parts by mass, preferably 0.1 to 3 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the toner. In addition, various external additives may be used in combination.

[Career]
The toner can be used as a magnetic or non-magnetic one-component developer, but may be mixed with a carrier and used as a two-component developer. When the toner is used as a two-component developer, the carrier is a magnetic particle made of a conventionally known material such as a metal such as iron, ferrite, or magnetite, or an alloy of the metal with a metal such as aluminum or lead. In particular, ferrite particles are preferable. Further, as the carrier, a coat carrier in which the surface of the magnetic particles is coated with a coating agent such as a resin, a binder type carrier in which a magnetic fine powder is dispersed in a binder resin, or the like may be used.

  The coating resin constituting the coat carrier is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include olefin resins, styrene resins, styrene-acrylic resins, silicone resins, ester resins, and fluorine resins. Moreover, it does not specifically limit as resin which comprises a resin dispersion type carrier, A well-known thing can be used, For example, a styrene-acrylic-type resin, a polyester resin, a fluororesin, a phenol resin etc. can be used.

  The volume-based median diameter of the carrier is preferably 20 to 100 μm, and more preferably 20 to 60 μm. The volume-based median diameter of the carrier can be typically measured by a laser diffraction particle size distribution measuring apparatus “HELOS” (manufactured by SYMPATEC) equipped with a wet disperser.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be further described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing an example of the configuration of the foil image forming apparatus of the present invention.
In general, the foil image forming apparatus is a tandem color image forming apparatus, a toner image forming unit 20H for foil adhesion, a foil fixing apparatus 70, and the foil fixing apparatus 70 to the transfer position of the color image forming apparatus. It has the structure which further has the base material forwarding apparatus which forwards a base material.

  The foil image forming apparatus includes a foil adhesion toner image forming unit 20H that forms the same image as the foil image with a clear toner, and colored toner image forming units 20Y and 20M that respectively form yellow, magenta, cyan, and black toner images. , 20C, 20Bk, and the toner images formed in the foil adhesion toner image forming unit 20H or the colored toner image forming units 20Y, 20M, 20C, 20Bk to the intermediate transfer body 16, and One or two or more of them are transferred onto the base material P, a fixing device 50 for fixing the toner image by heating and pressurizing the base material P, and a foil 80c on the base material P. And a foil fixing device 70 for supplying (see FIG. 4).

  The foil adhesion toner image forming portion 20H, yellow image forming toner forming portion 20Y, magenta image forming toner forming portion 20M, cyan image forming toner forming portion 20C, and black image forming toner forming portion 20Bk are respectively intermediate. The photoconductor is disposed along the endless track of the transfer belt so that the photoconductor faces the transfer belt as the transfer body 16.

  The foil adhesion toner image forming unit 20H includes a photoreceptor 11H that is an electrostatic latent image carrier, a charging device 23H that applies a uniform potential to the surface of the photoreceptor 11H, and a uniformly charged photoreceptor 11H. An exposure device 22H that forms an electrostatic latent image of a desired shape thereon, a developing device 21H that conveys clear toner onto the photoreceptor 11H to visualize the electrostatic latent image, and a visible image of the electrostatic latent image And a cleaning device 25H that collects residual toner remaining on the photoconductor 11H after primary transfer of the clear toner image to the intermediate transfer body 16 is performed.

  Similarly, yellow, magenta, cyan, and black colored toner image forming units 20Y, 20M, 20C, and 20Bk are photosensitive members 11Y, 11M, 11C, and 11Bk that are electrostatic latent image carriers; Charging devices 23Y, 23M, 23C, and 23Bk that apply a uniform potential to the surfaces of 11M, 11C, and 11Bk; electrostatic latent images of a desired shape on the uniformly charged photoreceptors 11Y, 11M, 11C, and 11Bk And developing devices 21Y, 21M, 21C, and 21Bk that convey color toners onto the photoreceptors 11Y, 11M, 11C, and 11Bk to visualize electrostatic latent images, respectively. A residual toner remaining on the photoreceptors 11Y, 11M, 11C, and 11Bk after primary transfer of the color toner image obtained by developing the electrostatic latent image to the intermediate transfer member 16; Having; cleaning device 25Y for recovering, 25M, 25C, and 25Bk. The toner image forming apparatus according to the present invention is configured by the above-described apparatus excluding the foil fixing apparatus 70, for example.

  The intermediate transfer unit 10 includes an intermediate transfer member 16, a primary transfer roller 13H for transferring the clear toner image formed by the foil adhesion toner image forming unit 20H to the intermediate transfer member 16, and a colored toner image forming unit 20Y, Clear toner transferred onto the intermediate transfer body 16 by the primary transfer rollers 13Y, 13M, 13C, and 13Bk for transferring the color toner images formed by 20M, 20C, and 20Bk to the intermediate transfer body 16, and the primary transfer roller 13H A secondary transfer roller 13A for transferring the image or a color toner image transferred onto the intermediate transfer body 16 by the primary transfer rollers 13Y, 13M, 13C, and 13Bk onto the substrate P on which the foil image is formed; And a cleaning device 12 that collects residual toner remaining on the body 16.

  The intermediate transfer body 16 has an endless belt shape that is stretched by a plurality of support rollers 16a to 16d and is rotatably supported.

  The fixing device 50 includes a heating roller 51 and a pressure roller 52 that are pressed against each other. A nip portion N is formed at the pressure contact portion between both rollers.

As shown in FIG. 2, the foil fixing device 70 is heated by an appropriate driving means and rotated in the clockwise direction, and is pressed against the heating roller 73a, and the foil fixing is performed at the pressure contact portion with the heating roller 73a. to form a nip portion N _f, a pressure roller 73b which rotates following the heating roller 73a, and a long sheet-like foil sheet 80 is wound around with a foil 80c to be supplied to the substrate P a supply roller 71A which are, the foil sheet supply roller 71A, and the guide roller 74a for guiding the foil fixing nip portion N _f along the transport path of the substrate P, and the foil sheet 80 having passed through the foil fixing nip portion N _f A peeling roller 74b that guides in the direction of peeling from the surface of the substrate P, a take-up roller 72A that winds up the foil sheet 80 guided by the peeling roller 74b, a heating roller 73a, and a peeling roller 74 Having a fan 75 for cooling the foil sheet 80 is guided between.

  The heating roller 73a corresponds to the heating member in the present invention. The pressure roller 73b corresponds to the pressure device in the present invention. The supply roller 71A, the guide roller 74a, the peeling roller 74b, and the take-up roller 72A correspond to the foil sheet conveying device in the present invention. The peeling roller 74b corresponds to the foil sheet peeling apparatus in the present invention. The fan 75 corresponds to the temperature adjustment device in the present invention.

  The foil fixing device 70 further includes a separation mechanism (not shown) that changes the heating roller 73a and the pressure roller 73b to a state in which they are separated from each other. The separation mechanism includes a heating roller 73a and a pressure roller when the base material P on which both the foil image S and the visible image discharged from the fixing device 50 through the follow-up printing process pass through the foil fixing device 70. 73b are separated from each other.

  The heating roller 73a and the pressure roller 73b are each formed of, for example, an aluminum sleeve (cylindrical body) and an elastic layer such as silicone rubber covering the outer peripheral surface thereof. The heating roller 73a and the pressure roller 73b are each provided with a heating source (not shown) such as a halogen lamp.

The winding roller 72A is rotated counterclockwise (arrow direction in FIG. 2) by the drive source so that the conveying direction of the foil sheet 80 is the same as the moving direction of the surface of the supply roller 71A. Rotational speed of the take-up roller 72A is the conveying speed of the foil sheet 80 in foil fixing nip portion N _f is the conveying speed and the same become speed of the substrate P in the foil fixing nip portion N _f.

  Both the guide roller 74 a and the peeling roller 74 b are rollers that rotate following the movement of the foil sheet 80. The roll diameter of the guide roller 74a is, for example, 10 mm, and the roll diameter of the peeling roller 74b is, for example, 10 mm.

  The fan 75 is a blower that sends air toward the foil sheet 80 from the heating roller 73a side. The fan 75 adjusts the amount of air blown according to, for example, a temperature measurement value of the surface of the foil sheet 80 on the heating roller 73a side by an infrared non-contact thermometer (not shown).

  The foil image forming apparatus of FIG. 1 further includes a plurality of paper feed cassettes 41 for accommodating the base material P; a paper feed transport device 42 for taking out the base materials P one by one from the paper feed cassette 41; A plurality of paper feed rollers 44a, 44b, 44c, 44d and a resist roller 46 for conveying the base material P from the secondary transfer roller 13A to the secondary transfer roller 13A; the base material P discharged from the foil fixing device 70 toward the discharge path A branch plate 49 for guiding; a discharge roller 47 for guiding the substrate P toward the discharge tray 60 or the forwarding path 48a; a discharge tray 60 for storing the discharged substrate P; And routing paths 48a and 48b for transporting the substrate P to the secondary transfer roller 13A through the branch plate 49. A plurality of forwarding rollers for guiding the base material P of the forwarding paths 48a and 48b are arranged in the forwarding paths 48a and 48b. The plurality of forwarding rollers that guide the base material P to the branch plate 49, the paper discharge roller 47, and the forwarding paths 48a and 48b correspond to the base material feeding device.

[Foil image forming process]
In the foil image forming apparatus of FIG. 1, first, in the toner image forming part 20H for foil adhesion, the photoreceptor 11H is charged by the charging device 23H. The charged photoreceptor 11H is exposed by the exposure device 22H, whereby an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoreceptor 11H. The electrostatic latent image is developed with clear toner by the developing device 21H, whereby a clear toner image as a foil adhesion toner image is formed on the photoreceptor 11H. The formed clear toner image is transferred onto the intermediate transfer member 16 by the primary transfer roller 13H.

  On the other hand, the base material P accommodated in the paper feed cassette 41 is taken out from the paper feed cassette 41 by the paper feed conveyance device 42. The taken out base material P is conveyed by a plurality of paper feed rollers 44 a, 44 b, 44 c, 44 d and a registration roller 46. A clear toner image is transferred from the intermediate transfer body 16 to the base material P by the secondary transfer roller 13A. Thereafter, the clear toner image transferred onto the substrate P is fixed by pressing and heating in the fixing device 50. In this way, a clear toner image portion H is formed on the substrate P (FIG. 4A).

The fixing condition of the fixing device 50 in the foil image forming process varies depending on the type of clear toner to be used and the type of color toner to be used in the next follow-up printing process.
・ Heating temperature: 170-230 ° C
・ Nip time: 50-500msec

The nip time is calculated from heating, the length in the conveyance direction (mm) of the nip portion N of the pressure rollers 51 and 52 / linear velocity (mm / sec) × 1,000.
The heating temperature in the fixing device 50 refers to the surface temperature of the heating roller 51.

When the base material P on which the clear toner image portion H is formed arrives at the foil fixing device 70, the winding roller 72A is rotationally driven. This rotation drive, the foil sheet 80 that is wound through the foil fixing nip portion N _f, is conveyed toward the take-up roller 72A to the feed roller 71A. The foil sheet 80 is conveyed from the supply roller 71 </ b> A so that the adhesive layer 80 e faces the substrate P. With the foil sheet 80 being conveyed, the base sheet P is in contact with the foil sheet 80 so that the surface of the base sheet P on the clear toner image portion H side and the surface of the foil sheet 80 on the adhesive layer 80e side are in close contact with each other. Overlapping (FIG. 4B). Then, it sent to the foil fixing nip portion N _f.

At the foil fixing nip portion _Nf , the substrate P and the foil sheet 80 are heated and heated by the heating roller 73a and pressed by the pressure roller 73b (FIG. 4C). By this heat and pressure, the resin component of the clear toner of the clear toner image portion H and the adhesive of the adhesive layer 80e of the foil sheet 80 are melted and adhered.

The foil fixing conditions in the foil fixing device 70 vary depending on the softening point of the clear toner to be used, the cooling capacity of the fan, and the nip time, but can be as follows, for example.
・ Heating temperature: 110-200 ° C
・ Nip time: 50-500msec

Note that the nip time, is calculated from the length in the conveyance direction of the foil fixing nip portion _{N f} (mm) / linear velocity (mm / sec) × 1,000. The nip time in the foil fixing device 70 is set considering the viewpoint of securing the adhesive strength of the foil and the fact that the deterioration of the foil image due to blistering does not occur.

  Further, the heating temperature in foil fixing refers to the surface temperature of the heating roller 73a. The heating temperature is set to a temperature 25 to 55 ° C. higher than the softening point of the clear toner.

  Further, the blowing amount of the fan 75 is set to a blowing amount that lowers the surface temperature of the foil sheet 80 when passing through the peeling roller 74b by the nip time to a temperature 20 to 75 ° C. lower than the softening point of the clear toner. . When the outside air temperature is sufficiently low, or when another cooling mechanism (for example, a cooling device or a cooling liquid pipe included in the foil image forming apparatus) can be used for cooling the heated foil sheet 80 in the vicinity of the foil fixing device 70. The operation of the fan 75 can be stopped.

  The base material P and the foil sheet 80 in which the adhesive layer 80 e is in close contact with the clear toner image portion H in this way are cooled by the fan 75. This cooling stabilizes the release layer 80b of the foil sheet 80 and fixes the adhesive layer 80e of the foil sheet 80 and the clear toner component of the clear toner image portion H in a mixed state, so that the clear toner image of the foil 80c is fixed. Adhesiveness to the part H becomes strong.

  The base material P and the foil sheet 80 adhered to each other reach the peeling roller 74b. The surface temperature on the base film 80a side of the foil sheet 80 when it reaches the peeling roller 74b varies depending on the softening point of the clear toner due to cooling by the fan 75, but is in the range of, for example, 15 to 120 ° C. The peeling roller 74 b guides the foil sheet 80 in the direction in which the foil sheet 80 is peeled off from the substrate P. By guiding the foil sheet 80 by the peeling roller 74b, the foil 80c adhered to the clear toner image portion H is fixed to the substrate P, and the portion of the foil sheet 80 that is not in contact with the clear toner image portion H is peeled off as it is. (FIG. 4D). Therefore, a foil image S having a shape that matches the shape of the clear toner image portion H is formed (FIG. 4E).

  In the peeled foil sheet 80, the base film 80a and the release layer 80b remain in the portion in contact with the clear toner image portion H, and in the portion not in contact with the clear toner image portion H, the base film 80a to the adhesive layer 80e. Everything remains. The peeled foil sheet 80 is taken up by the take-up roller 72A.

  The foil image forming method may further include a follow-up printing step. Therefore, it is possible to form a full color foil image further having a color image with color toner. However, in the present invention, only the formation of a foil image may be used.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described concretely, embodiment of this invention is not limited to said example, A various change can be added.

  In the foil image forming method of the present invention, the foil image forming step and the reprinting step may be performed by separate foil image forming apparatuses.

  For example, although the case where the foil image S and the visible image are formed on the surface of the substrate P has been described above, the foil image and the visible image can also be formed on both surfaces of the substrate P, respectively. In this case, after forming the foil image (S1) and the visible image (T1) on the surface of the substrate P, the foil image (S2) and the visible image (T2) may be formed on the back surface of the substrate P. . However, first, a foil image (S1) is formed on the surface of the substrate P, then a foil image (S2) is formed on the back surface of the substrate P, and then a visible image (T1) is formed on the surface of the substrate P. It is more preferable to form and finally form a visible image (T2) on the back surface of the substrate P.

  Further, for example, the intermediate transfer unit 10 is not limited to a configuration commonly used in the foil image forming process and the follow-up printing process, and an intermediate transfer unit may be provided for each. In such a configuration, the same transfer device is not used for forming the toner image portion for foil adhesion and the visible image, and a separate transfer device may be provided for each.

  In the present embodiment, the foil fixing device 70 is configured such that the foil sheet 80 and the base material P after heating and pressing are cooled by the fan 75 and the peeling temperature is controlled. Other configurations capable of controlling the temperature within the intended temperature range can be employed.

  As another structure in the foil fixing device, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, a structure capable of adjusting the peeling position of the foil sheet 80 is exemplified.

The foil fixing device shown in FIG. 5 replaces the fan 75 and measures the surface temperature on the base film 80a side of the foil sheet 80 in a non-contact manner upstream of the peeling roller 74b in the conveyance direction of the foil sheet 80. a thermometer 76, the take-up roller 72A, the peeling roller 74b, and a non-contact thermometer 76, the foil fixing nip portion N mobile device 77 freely toward and away from the _f while maintaining their relative positional relationship It has the same structure as the above-mentioned foil fixing device 70 except having. The non-contact thermometer 76 and the moving device 77 correspond to the temperature adjusting device in the present invention.

In the foil fixing device, according to the surface temperature of the base film 80a of the foil sheet 80 of heat after pressurization, it is possible to adjust the distance from the foil fixing nip portion N _f to the peeling roller 74b. Therefore, it is more effective from the viewpoint of adjusting the peeling temperature and examining the optimization of the peeling temperature.

  The formation of the foil image by the roll-shaped foil sheet 80 has been described above. In the present invention, foil sheets of various forms are used for forming a foil image by forming a structure that is peeled off from the substrate after heating and pressing at the time of fixing the foil, for example, by appropriately arranging rollers and branch plates. Can do.

  A method for producing the clear toner used in this example will be described below.

[Production Example of Toner A]
(First stage polymerization)
A 5 L reaction vessel equipped with a stirrer, temperature sensor, cooling pipe, and nitrogen introducing device was charged with 4 g of polyoxyethylene (2) sodium dodecyl ether sulfate and 3,000 g of ion-exchanged water at a stirring speed of 230 rpm under a nitrogen stream. The internal temperature was raised to 80 ° C. while stirring. After the temperature rise, an aqueous solution in which 5 g of potassium persulfate was dissolved in 200 g of ion-exchanged water was added, the liquid temperature was 75 ° C., and the following monomer mixture 1 was added dropwise over 1 hour. Then, it superposed | polymerized by heating and stirring at 75 degreeC for 2 hours, and prepared the resin particle. This is referred to as “resin particles (A1)”.
(Monomer mixture 1)
Styrene 567g
165 g of n-butyl acrylate
Methacrylic acid 68g

(Second stage polymerization)
A solution prepared by dissolving 2 g of polyoxyethylene (2) sodium dodecyl ether sulfate in 1,270 g of ion-exchanged water was charged into a 5 L reaction vessel equipped with a stirrer, a temperature sensor, a cooling pipe, and a nitrogen introducing device. After heating to 80 ° C., 40 g of the resin particles (A1) in terms of solid content and 82 g of paraffin wax “HNP-57” (manufactured by Nippon Seiwa Co., Ltd.) as a release agent are added to the monomer mixture 2 below at 80 ° C. And the solution dissolved in (1) were further added. A dispersion liquid containing emulsified particles (oil droplets) was prepared by mixing and dispersing for 1 hour using a mechanical disperser CLEARMIX (manufactured by M Technique Co., Ltd.) having a circulation path.
(Monomer mixture 2)
Styrene 123g
n-Butyl acrylate 45g
Methacrylic acid 20g
n-Octyl mercaptan 0.5g

  Next, an initiator solution in which 5 g of potassium persulfate was dissolved in 100 g of ion-exchanged water was added to this dispersion. The system was polymerized by heating and stirring at 80 ° C. for 1 hour to obtain resin particles. This is designated as “resin particles (A2)”.

(Third stage polymerization)
A solution prepared by dissolving 10 g of potassium persulfate in 200 g of ion-exchanged water was further added to the dispersion containing the resin particles (A2). Under the temperature condition of 80 ° C., the following monomer mixture 3 was dropped into the dispersion over 1 hour. After completion of the dropping, polymerization was carried out by heating and stirring for 2 hours, and then cooled to 28 ° C. to obtain resin particles. This is designated as “resin particles (A3)”.
(Monomer mixture 3)
Styrene 390g
143 g of n-butyl acrylate
Methacrylic acid 37g
n-Octyl mercaptan 13g

(Aggregation / fusion process)
In a 5 L reaction vessel equipped with a stirrer, a temperature sensor, a cooling pipe, and a nitrogen introducing device, 450 g of the resin particles (A3) in terms of solid content and 2 g of polyoxyethylene (2) sodium dodecyl ether sulfate were ion-exchanged water. Added to 1,100 g. After adjusting the liquid temperature to 30 ° C., the pH was adjusted to 10 by adding a 5N aqueous sodium hydroxide solution. Next, an aqueous solution in which 60 g of magnesium chloride was dissolved in 60 g of ion-exchanged water was added over 10 minutes at 30 ° C. with stirring. After holding for 3 minutes, the temperature was started to rise, and the system was heated to 85 ° C. over 60 minutes, and the particle growth reaction was continued while maintaining 85 ° C. In this state, the particle size of the associated particles was measured with “Coulter Counter Multisizer 3”. When the median diameter on the volume basis reached 6.7 μm, an aqueous solution in which 200 g of sodium chloride was dissolved in 860 g of ion-exchanged water was added to stop particle growth. Further, as a ripening step, fusion between the particles was advanced by heating and stirring at a liquid temperature of 95 ° C. for 8 hours, and when the desired circularity was reached, the mixture was cooled to 30 ° C. Thus, particles having a desired circularity were obtained.

(Washing / drying process)
The produced particles were subjected to solid-liquid separation with a basket type centrifuge “MARK III model number 60 × 40” (manufactured by Matsumoto Kikai Co., Ltd.) to form a wet cake of toner base particles. The wet cake was washed with ion-exchanged water at 40 ° C. until the electric conductivity of the filtrate reached 5 μS / cm using the basket type centrifuge. Thereafter, the toner was transferred to a “flash jet dryer” (manufactured by Seishin Enterprise Co., Ltd.) and dried until the water content became 0.5% by mass to prepare toner base particles.

(Production of toner)
1% by mass of hydrophobic silica (number average primary particle size: 12 nm) and 0.3% by mass of hydrophobic titania (number average primary particle size: 20 nm) are added to the toner base particles obtained above, and a Henschel mixer is added. To prepare a toner. The obtained toner is referred to as “toner A”.

[Production Example of Toner B]
The monomer mixture 2 in the second-stage polymerization and the monomer mixture 3 in the third-stage polymerization were changed to the following mixtures, respectively, and the amount of HNP-57 used in the second-stage polymerization was changed to 77 g. Except for the above, a toner was prepared in the same manner as in the toner A production example. The obtained toner is referred to as “toner B”.
(Monomer mixture 2)
Styrene 140g
n-Butyl acrylate 40g
n-Octyl mercaptan 0.5g
HNP-57 77g
(Monomer mixture 3)
420 g of styrene
131g of n-butyl acrylate
Methacrylic acid 14g
n-Octyl mercaptan 13g

[Production Example of Toner C]
(Preparation of polyester resin particle dispersion A1)
In a reaction vessel equipped with a stirrer, a temperature sensor, a cooling pipe, and a nitrogen introduction device, 316 parts by mass of bisphenol A propylene oxide 2 mol adduct, 138 parts by mass of terephthalic acid, and 2 parts by mass of titanium tetraisopropoxide as a polycondensation catalyst. It was divided into 10 times and charged. The reaction was carried out for 10 hours while distilling off the water produced at 200 ° C. under a nitrogen stream. Next, the reaction was carried out under reduced pressure of 13.3 kPa (100 mmHg). When the weight average molecular weight reached 15,000, the reaction was stopped to produce an amorphous polyester resin.

  200 parts by mass of the obtained amorphous polyester resin was dissolved in 400 parts by mass of ethyl acetate (manufactured by Kanto Chemical Co., Inc.). Furthermore, it is mixed with 638 parts by mass of a 0.26% by mass sodium lauryl sulfate aqueous solution prepared in advance, and ultrasonically dispersed with an ultrasonic homogenizer “UT-150T” (manufactured by Nippon Seiki Seisakusho) at 300 μA for 30 minutes while stirring. Did. Then, using a diaphragm vacuum pump V-700 (manufactured by BUCHI) in a state heated to 40 ° C., ethyl acetate was completely removed while stirring for 3 hours under reduced pressure. Thus, an “amorphous polyester resin particle dispersion A1” containing resin particles having an average particle diameter (volume median diameter (D50)) of 180 nm was obtained.

(Preparation of release agent dispersion F-1)
100 parts by mass of microcrystalline wax (HNP-0190: manufactured by Nippon Seiki Co., Ltd.), 21 parts by mass of an anionic surfactant (Neogen RK: manufactured by Daiichi Kogyo Seiyaku Co., Ltd.) and 860 parts by mass of ion-exchanged water were mixed to 110 ° C. It heated and disperse | distributed using the homogenizer (Ultra Turrax T50: made by IKA). Then, it was dispersed with a Menton Gorin high-pressure homogenizer (Gorin) to obtain a release agent fine particle dispersion F-1. The average particle size of the release agent fine particles in the obtained dispersion was 250 nm.

(Preparation of toner particles C)
In a 5 L reaction vessel equipped with a stirrer, a temperature sensor, a cooling pipe, and a nitrogen introducing device, 450 parts by mass (in terms of solid content) of the amorphous polyester resin particle dispersion A1 and the above-mentioned “release agent dispersion F”. -1 "was charged in 41 parts by mass (in terms of solid content), 2 parts by mass of sodium polyoxyethylene-2-dodecyl ether sulfate, and 900 parts by mass of ion-exchanged water. After adjusting the liquid temperature to 25 ° C., a 25% by mass aqueous sodium hydroxide solution was added to adjust the pH of the mixed liquid in the reaction vessel to 10.

  Subsequently, as a polyvalent metal ion compound, an aqueous solution in which 70 parts by mass of magnesium chloride was dissolved in 105 mL of ion-exchanged water was added to the mixed solution over 30 minutes at 30 ° C. with stirring. After holding for 3 minutes, the temperature was raised, and the system was heated to 80 ° C. over 60 minutes, and the particle growth reaction was continued while maintaining 80 ° C.

  In this state, the particle size of the aggregated particles was measured with “Coulter Counter Multisizer 3”. When the desired particle size was reached, an aqueous solution in which 75 parts by mass of sodium chloride was dissolved in 290 mL of ion-exchanged water was added to stop particle growth.

  Further, by heating and stirring at a liquid temperature of 88 ° C. as a ripening step, toner particles are formed while fusing the particles until the average circularity becomes 0.960 as measured by “FPIA-2100”. It was. Thereafter, the solution was cooled to 30 ° C., hydrochloric acid was added to adjust the pH to 2.0, and stirring was stopped.

  The toner particles produced in the above steps were subjected to solid-liquid separation with a basket-type centrifuge “MARK III model number 60 × 40” (manufactured by Matsumoto Kikai Co., Ltd.) to form a wet cake of toner particles. This wet cake was washed with ion exchange water at 45 ° C. until the electrical conductivity of the filtrate reached 5 μS / cm by the basket type centrifuge. Thereafter, the toner was transferred to a “flash jet dryer” (manufactured by Seishin Enterprise Co., Ltd.) and dried until the water content became 1.0 mass% to obtain toner particles C.

  As in the case of toner A, 1% by mass of hydrophobic silica (number average primary particle size: 12 nm) and 0.3% by mass of hydrophobic titania (number average primary particle size: 20 nm) are added to toner particle C, and Henschel is added. The toner was prepared by mixing with a mixer. The obtained toner is referred to as “toner C”.

[Production Example of Toner D]
100 parts by weight of a styrene / n-butyl acrylate copolymer (Mw = 111,000, Mn = 4,000, Mw / Mn = 28) and 5 parts by weight of a low molecular weight polypropylene “Biscol 660P” (manufactured by Sanyo Chemical Co., Ltd.) Were mixed with a Henschel mixer and then melt-kneaded using a twin-screw kneading extruder set at 110 ° C.

  The obtained kneaded product is cooled, coarsely pulverized by a hammer mill, finely pulverized using an airflow type pulverizer equipped with a rotor, and classified by an air classifier, whereby particles having a volume average particle diameter of 9.5 μm Got.

  A toner is obtained by mixing 100 parts by weight of the obtained particles and 0.6 part by weight of hydrophobic silica fine particles using a Henschel mixer for 20 minutes at a rotation speed at which the peripheral speed of the stirring blade is 30 m / second. It was. The obtained toner is referred to as “toner D”.

The weight average molecular weight (Mw) and number average molecular weight (Mn) of the binder resin are measured by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) soluble in tetrahydrofuran (THF) by the following method.
First, an apparatus “HLC-8220” (manufactured by Tosoh Corporation) and a column “TSKguardcolumn + TSKgelSuperHZM-M3 series” (manufactured by Tosoh Corporation) are used. While maintaining the column temperature at 40 ° C., tetrahydrofuran (THF) is allowed to flow as a carrier solvent at a flow rate of 0.2 mL / min. A measurement sample (toner) is dissolved in tetrahydrofuran so as to have a concentration of 1 mg / mL under dissolution conditions in which treatment is performed for 5 minutes using an ultrasonic disperser at room temperature. Subsequently, it is processed with a membrane filter having a pore size of 0.2 μm to obtain a sample solution. 10 μL of this sample solution is injected into the apparatus together with the above carrier solvent and detected using a refractive index detector (RI detector). The molecular weight distribution of the measurement sample is calculated using a calibration curve measured using monodisperse polystyrene standard particles. As a standard polystyrene sample for calibration curve measurement, the molecular weights manufactured by Pressure Chemical are 6 × 10 ² , 2.1 × 10 ³ , 4 × 10 ³ , 1.75 × 10 ⁴ , 5.1 × 10 ⁴ , 1 1 × 10 ⁵ , 3.9 × 10 ⁵ , 8.6 × 10 ⁵ , 2 × 10 ⁶ , 4.48 × 10 ⁶ are used. At least about 10 standard polystyrene samples are measured to create a calibration curve.

  The softening points of the obtained toners A to D were measured by the following method. The softening points of the obtained toners A to D are shown in Table 1.

[Measurement Method of Toner Softening Point (T _S )]
The softening point of the toner was measured by a flow tester shown below.
First, in an environment of 20 ° C. and 50% RH, 1.1 g of toner was placed in a petri dish and leveled. After standing for 12 hours or more, the molded product “SSP-10A” (manufactured by Shimadzu Corporation) was pressed with a force of 3,820 kg / cm ² (375 MPa) for 30 seconds to prepare a cylindrical molded sample having a diameter of 1 cm. Next, this molded sample was heated by a flow tester “CFT-500D” (manufactured by Shimadzu Corp.) under an environment of 24 ° C. and 50% RH for a load of 196 N (20 kgf), a starting temperature of 60 ° C., and a preheating time of 300 seconds. Extrusion was performed from the hole (1 mm diameter × 1 mm) of the cylindrical die using a piston with a diameter of 1 cm from the end of preheating at a temperature rate of 6 ° C./min. Then, the offset method temperature T _offset measured with the setting of the offset value of 5 mm by the melting temperature measuring method of the temperature rising method was obtained as the softening point (T _S ) of the toner.

[Formation of foil image]
The foil image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 was used as an image forming apparatus, and toners A to D were used as toners, and foil images were formed under the following conditions.

A solid patch image and a fine line image were formed as a toner image serving as a base image of the foil image. The toner development amount was 4 g / m ² . In addition to the base material using the OK top coated paper 128g / ^{m 2} paper.
“BL2.8 No. 2 Gold” manufactured by Murata Gold Leaf Co., Ltd. was used for the foil sheet.
A roll in which a silicone rubber layer having a thickness of 1.5 mm was arranged on an aluminum substrate having a length of 357 mm, an outer diameter of 62 mm, and a thickness of 5 mm was used as a heating roller in the foil fixing device.
A roll in which a silicone rubber layer having a thickness of 1.5 mm is arranged on an aluminum substrate having a length of 357 mm, an outer diameter of 52 mm, and a thickness of 5 mm was used as a pressure roller in the foil fixing device.
The nip width between the heating roller and the pressure roller was 7 mm. The surface pressure at the nip is 290 kPa.
The surface temperature of the heating roller was set so that the surface temperature of the heating roller at a position 10 mm before the nip entrance in the rotation direction of the heating roller became a predetermined temperature shown in Table 2 below. The surface temperature of the pressure roller was set to a temperature 60 ° C. lower than the surface temperature of the heating roller.
The sheet passing speed in the foil fixing device was 100 mm / sec.
For the cooling device before peeling, a fan for cooling the substrate on which the foil film was stacked from the foil film side was used. The air volume was adjusted according to the current value of the fan.
A peeling roller having a roll diameter of 10 mm was used as the peeling device.
From the peeling point by the peeling roller, the temperature of the foil sheet 30 mm before the moving direction of the foil sheet was measured as the peeling temperature. For measurement of the peeling temperature, an infrared radiation thermometer “IR0510” (manufactured by Minolta) was used.

[Evaluation]
Using toners A to D, foil images formed under the temperature conditions shown in Table 2 were evaluated in the following items.

(Adhesive strength)
After affixing a tape to a foil image (solid patch image) formed in a size of 5 cm × 10 cm, the tape is peeled off by hand. The state of the foil image when the tape was peeled off was observed with the naked eye and a magnifying glass having a magnification of 10 times, and evaluated according to the following criteria. The tape used was “Scotch Mending Tape MP-18 (manufactured by Sumitomo 3M Limited)”.
○: There was no fine peeling that could be confirmed by observation with a magnifying glass.
Δ: Although there was a fine peeling that could be confirmed by magnifying glass observation, it was judged that there was no problem with the naked eye.
X: Some of them could be confirmed with the naked eye.

(Reproducibility of thin lines (evaluation of presence or absence of burrs))
A foil image in which line drawings with a width of 2 mm are arranged vertically (vertically) and horizontally (parallel) with respect to the paper passing direction at intervals of 1.0 mm, and line images with a width of 1 mm are vertically and horizontally at intervals of 0.5 mm. Three types of fine line images were created: foil images arranged in Visual observation was performed with the naked eye and a magnifying glass with a magnification of 10 times, and the following criteria were used to evaluate the absence of excess foil between the thin lines and the absence of foil on the thin lines. ○ and Δ were accepted and x was rejected.
◯: It was confirmed by magnifying glass observation that there was no excess foil between the two thin line images, and there was no foil chipping on the thin line.
Δ: Although a minute chip was seen on a thin line image having a width of 0.5 mm, it was at a level causing no problem in visual observation. In addition, there was no excess foil between the two thin line images.
X: It was recognized by visual observation that an excessive foil remained between the fine wires.

(Fixing uniformity (Evaluation of presence or absence of foil defects on the foil image surface))
The surface of the foil image (solid patch image) formed in a size of 5 cm × 10 cm was visually observed with the naked eye and a magnifying glass with a magnification of 10 times, and the presence or absence of the lack of foil on the surface of the foil image was evaluated according to the following criteria. ○ and Δ were accepted and x was rejected.
◯: No foil loss was observed in all foil images even by loupe observation.
Δ: Although there was a foil image having a minute omission by loupe observation, it was a level with no problem in visual observation.
X: There was a foil image in which missing of the foil was observed by visual observation.

From comparison of 1-5 Evaluation results in Table 2, when the surface temperature T _A of the heating roller is in the 25 to 55 ° C. range higher than the softening point T _S of the toner, the adhesion strength, fine line reproducibility, and fixing uniform It can be seen that a foil image that is acceptable in terms of properties is obtained. Further from comparison of the evaluation results of 6-8 in Table 2, when the peel temperature T _B is in the 20 to 75 ° C. range lower than the softening point T _S of the toner, the adhesion strength, fine line reproducibility, and the fixing uniformity It turns out that the foil image considered as a pass is obtained.

Even more comparison of evaluation results of Table 2 of 6, 7, 10 and 11, the difference between the surface temperature _{T A} of the heating roller and the separation temperature _{T B} that is in the range of 60 to 105 ° C., a good fine line reproducibility It is also preferable from the viewpoint of obtaining good fixing uniformity.

  Furthermore, from the comparison of the evaluation results of 12 to 14 in Table 2, it can be seen that the above-mentioned good foil image can be obtained regardless of the type of toner as long as it is within the above temperature condition range.

  Foil images are widely used in the field of decoration and packaging. According to the present invention, a foil image having excellent fixability can be formed on a substrate at high speed using electrophotography. Furthermore, the present invention can be applied to the formation of a full color foil image in which a color toner image is combined with a foil image. Therefore, further promotion of utilization of the foil image is expected by the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Intermediate transfer part 11H, 11Y, 11M, 11C, 11Bk Photoconductor 12 Cleaning device 13H, 13Y, 13M, 13C, 13Bk Primary transfer roller 13A Secondary transfer roller 16 Intermediate transfer body 16a-16d Support roller 20H Foil adhesion toner image Formation unit 20Y, 20M, 20C, 20Bk Colored toner image forming unit 21H, 21Y, 21M, 21C, 21Bk Developing device 22H, 22Y, 22M, 22C, 22Bk Exposure device 23H, 23Y, 23M, 23C, 23Bk Charging device 25H, 25Y , 25M, 25C, 25Bk Cleaning device 41 Paper feed cassette 42 Paper feed transport device 44a, 44b, 44c, 44d Paper feed roller 46 Registration roller 47 Paper discharge roller 48a, 48b, 48c Transport path 49 Branch plate 50 Fixing device 51, 73a Heating roller 52, 73b Pressure roller 60 Discharge tray 70 Foil fixing device 71A Feed roller 72A Take-up rollers 74a, 74c, 74d Guide roller 74b Peeling roller 75 Fan 76 Non-contact thermometer 77 Moving device 80 Foil sheet 80a Base film 80b Release layer 80c Foil 80d Foil layer 80e Adhesive layer H Clear toner image part N Nip part N _f Foil fixing nip part P Base material S Foil image

Claims (7)

Preparing a toner image fixed on a substrate;
A step of stacking the base material and the foil sheet with the adhesive layer of the foil sheet having a foil layer and an adhesive layer on the base film facing the toner image forming surface of the base material;
A heating and pressurizing step of pressing the heated base material and the foil sheet against a heating member and heating;
A foil image forming method for fixing the foil to the base material in the shape of a toner image, including a foil sheet peeling step of peeling the foil sheet from the base material,
The surface temperature of the heating member in the heating and pressurizing step is 25 to 55 ° C. higher than the softening point of the toner forming the toner image;
In the foil sheet peeling step, when the surface temperature of the foil sheet is 20 to 75 ° C. lower than the softening point of the toner, the foil sheet is peeled off from the substrate. .   The said foil sheet is peeled from the said base material in the said foil sheet peeling process, when the difference of the surface temperature of the said foil sheet and the surface temperature of the said heating member is 60-105 degreeC. The foil image forming method as described in 2. above.   The foil image forming method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of cooling the release sheet by a cooling device between the heating and pressing step and the foil sheet peeling step.   The foil image forming method according to claim 1, wherein a clear toner is used as the toner.   The foil image according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the step of preparing the toner image is a toner image forming step of forming the toner image on the substrate by an electrophotographic method. Forming method. A toner image forming apparatus for forming a toner image on a substrate by an electrophotographic method;
A foil sheet conveying apparatus for conveying the foil sheet so that the base material and the foil sheet overlap with the adhesive layer of the foil sheet having a base film, a foil and an adhesive layer facing the toner image forming surface of the base material When,
A heating member that heats the stacked base material and the foil sheet;
A pressure device for pressing the base member and the foil sheet against the heating member;
A temperature adjusting device for adjusting the surface temperature of the heated foil sheet;
A foil sheet peeling device for peeling the foil sheet, the temperature of which is adjusted, from the base material,
The heating member has a surface temperature that is 25 to 55 ° C. higher than the softening point of the toner that forms the toner image;
The foil sheet peeling apparatus peels off the foil sheet from the substrate when the surface temperature of the foil sheet overlapping the substrate is 20 to 75 ° C. lower than the softening point of the toner.   The foil image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the temperature adjusting device is a fan.

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