JP4476861B2 - Thermal transfer sheet and image forming method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention is capable of forming an ink image with a thermal transfer ink ribbon using a thermal transfer type image forming apparatus, and further transferring the ink image onto a transfer material such as a transfer fabric by thermocompression bonding. It is related with the thermal transfer sheet which can do. The present invention also relates to a method for forming an image on a transfer medium using the thermal transfer sheet.

  2. Description of the Related Art Image forming apparatuses such as thermal transfer printers, typewriters, and word processors are widely used for forming images of characters, designs, patterns, and the like. In order to form an image by the thermal transfer method, the thermal transfer ink ribbon is brought into close contact with the surface of the transfer material such as printing paper by the thermal transfer type image forming apparatus, and the thermal head is brought into contact with the back surface of the thermal transfer ink ribbon. A desired image is formed on a transfer material such as printing paper. The thermal head has a large number of heat generating elements, and is configured to heat a predetermined heat generating element based on image information (pattern signal) input to the image forming apparatus.

  The thermal transfer ink ribbon generally has a configuration in which a thermal transfer ink layer is formed on a support. When a thermal head is brought into contact with the front surface (back surface) on the support side to generate heat, a thermal transfer ink layer is formed. The predetermined ink element is melted and thermally transferred onto the transfer material. Since the melted ink element is immediately cooled and solidified, the ink image is fixed on the transfer material.

  The thermal transfer sheet generally has a layer structure in which a thermal transfer layer made of a thermoplastic resin is provided on a base sheet, and the thermal transfer layer serves as an image receiving layer for thermal transfer ink. The thermal transfer sheet is a kind of transfer material used in the thermal transfer type image forming method, and has a function of thermally transferring a thermal transfer image formed on the image receiving layer onto another transfer target. It is what you have. Therefore, the thermal transfer layer is sometimes called a retransfer layer.

  Using a thermal transfer type image forming apparatus, an ink image is formed on the thermal transfer layer of the thermal transfer sheet, and then the thermal transfer sheet is brought into contact with the transfer target on the surface of the thermal transfer layer, and thermocompression bonding is performed from the substrate sheet side. Then, the thermal transfer layer on which the ink image is formed is thermally transferred onto the transfer target. There are various materials to be transferred, but cloths to be transferred such as cloth are representative. For thermocompression bonding, thermocompression bonding means such as an iron or a hot press can be employed. If the substrate sheet is peeled after the thermocompression bonding, the ink image and the thermoplastic resin constituting the thermal transfer layer remain on the transfer target. This transfer object is sometimes called the final transfer object because the ink image that has been thermally transferred to the thermal transfer sheet is further thermally transferred.

  Conventionally, as a thermal transfer sheet, a retransfer layer (thermal transfer layer) is formed on a base sheet using a thermoplastic resin having a melting temperature of 60 to 250 ° C. or a resin composition of the thermoplastic resin and an adhesion improver. Has been proposed (Patent Document 1). In the example of Patent Document 1, an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) is used as a thermoplastic resin for forming a retransfer layer.

However, although the thermal transfer layer formed from the ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer is excellent in heat-fusibility to the fabric to be transferred such as cloth, it has been found that the printability is remarkably lowered depending on the kind of the thermal transfer ink ribbon. . In particular, when a thermal transfer ink ribbon provided with a thermal transfer ink layer containing a polyester resin as a binder is used, satisfactory printing cannot be performed on the surface of the thermal transfer layer formed from an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer. The dullness becomes worse.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-249692

  An object of the present invention is to form a clear ink image with a thermal transfer ink ribbon using an image forming apparatus of a thermal transfer system, and further, an ink image on a transfer medium such as a transfer cloth by thermocompression bonding. An object of the present invention is to provide a thermal transfer sheet that can be transferred and melt-adhered.

  Another object of the present invention is to form a clear image using a thermal transfer ink ribbon in which a thermal transfer ink layer containing a polyester resin as a binder is provided on a support. Another object of the present invention is to provide an image forming method capable of transferring an ink image.

  As a result of diligent research to solve the above problems, the inventors of the present invention can melt (adhere and melt) the base material sheet by heating such as ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer. A heat transfer layer was formed, and a heat transfer sheet having another layer structure in which a coating layer of a resin composition containing a polyester resin and an acid-modified polyolefin resin was provided as an ink image-receiving layer on the heat transfer layer was conceived.

  The thermal transfer sheet of the present invention can form a clear image even when a thermal transfer ink ribbon in which a thermal transfer ink layer containing a polyester resin as a binder is provided on a support is used. The ink image can be transferred to a final transfer medium such as, and melt-adhered. The present invention has been completed based on these findings.

According to the present invention, the thermal transfer layer (B) containing a thermoplastic resin that melts by heating and adheres to the transfer target is provided on the base sheet (A), and further on the thermal transfer layer (B). A coating amount of 1.0 to 3 comprising a resin composition containing a polyester resin and an acid-modified polyolefin resin modified with an unsaturated acid monomer by a graft method in a weight ratio of 5:95 to 95: 5 A thermal transfer sheet having a multilayer structure provided with an image receiving layer (C) composed of a coating layer of 0.0 g / m ² is provided.

Moreover, according to the present invention, the following steps 1 to 4:
(1) using the image forming apparatus of the thermal transfer system, a thermal transfer ink ribbon thermal transfer ink layer containing a polyester resin is provided on the support as a binder, the surface of the thermal transfer ink layer side of the thermal transfer sheet receiving A step 1 in which a thermal head is brought into contact with the surface of the thermal transfer ink ribbon and the surface of the thermal transfer ink ribbon is brought into contact with the surface of the thermal transfer ink ribbon to form an ink image on the surface of the image receiving layer by a thermal transfer method
(2) A step 2 in which the thermal transfer sheet is brought into contact with the transfer target on the surface of the image receiving layer on which the ink image is formed,
(3) A step of heat-transferring the image-receiving layer (C) on which the ink image is formed and the heat-transfer layer (B) onto the transfer target member by heat-pressing from the base sheet (A) of the heat-transfer sheet by a heating means. 3 and (4) Step 4 of peeling the substrate sheet from the thermal transfer sheet
An image forming method is provided.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to form a clear ink image with a thermal transfer ink ribbon using an image forming apparatus of a thermal transfer system, and further, an ink image is formed on a transfer medium such as a transfer cloth by thermocompression bonding. A thermal transfer sheet that can be transferred and melt-adhered is provided. In addition, according to the present invention, a clear image can be formed using a thermal transfer ink ribbon in which a thermal transfer ink layer containing a polyester resin as a binder is provided on a support, and a final transferred object such as cloth There is provided an image forming method capable of transferring an ink image to the ink.

  Examples of the base sheet constituting the thermal transfer sheet of the present invention include polyester resin, polyamide resin, acrylic resin, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride resin, polyvinylidene fluoride resin, polycarbonate resin, polysulfone resin, polyether resin, and polyimide. Synthetic resin film or sheet such as resin; Cellulose fiber paper such as fine paper, art paper, coated paper, glassine paper, imitation paper, water-soluble paper; synthetic paper, laminated paper; If necessary, the base sheet can contain a filler such as silica, alumina, clay, calcium carbonate, barium sulfate, titanium oxide and the like.

  As the base sheet, generally, a sheet having heat resistance sufficient not to melt or decompose at the time of thermocompression bonding with an iron, a hot press or the like is used. In the case where the base sheet is a synthetic resin film or sheet, those excellent in heat resistance having a melting temperature higher by 20 ° C. or more than the melting temperature of the thermoplastic resin constituting the thermal transfer layer are preferable.

  The substrate sheet can be subjected to surface treatment such as corona discharge treatment or mat treatment as necessary. The thickness of the substrate sheet is not particularly limited, but is usually 10 to 300 μm, preferably 20 to 250 μm, more preferably 50 to 50 μm from the viewpoint of mechanical strength, heat resistance, and transportability in the image forming apparatus (printer). 200 μm.

  As the thermoplastic resin constituting the thermal transfer layer in the thermal transfer sheet of the present invention, any thermoplastic resin may be used as long as it has film formability and adheres to a transfer medium such as cloth by heating, for example, ethylene-vinyl acetate. Copolymer, polyamide resin, polyester resin, methacrylate ester resin, acrylate ester resin, polyvinyl ether resin, polyvinyl acetate resin, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer, polystyrene resin, polyvinyl butyral resin, polychlorinated olefin Resins, polybutyral resins, ionomer resins, and polyurethanes may be mentioned. Further, as the thermoplastic resin, rubber resins such as polyisoprene rubber, polyisobutyl rubber, styrene butadiene rubber, butadiene acrylonitrile rubber may be used.

  The melting temperature (melting point, Tm) of the thermoplastic resin constituting the thermal transfer layer is usually 50 to 250 ° C, preferably 55 to 200 ° C, more preferably 60 to 130 ° C. If the melting temperature of the thermoplastic resin is too low, when printing is performed using a thermal transfer type image forming apparatus, it is melted by the heat of the thermal head, and the image on the image receiving layer provided thereon is disturbed. If the melting temperature of the thermoplastic resin is too high, it becomes difficult to melt and adhere to the transfer target during thermocompression bonding.

  As a thermoplastic resin which forms a thermal transfer layer, an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, a polyamide resin, and a polyester resin are preferable, and an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer is more preferable. The ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer preferably has a vinyl acetate content of 7 to 40% by weight and a melt flow rate of 2 to 20 g / 10 minutes.

  For the thermoplastic resin forming the thermal transfer layer, if necessary, tackifying resin such as petroleum resin, rosin, hydrogenated rosin, rosin ester, ketone resin, phenol resin; plant wax, animal wax, mineral wax , Petroleum waxes, synthetic waxes, waxes such as resin waxes; plasticizers such as phosphate esters and phthalate esters; fillers such as kaolin, talc, and titanium oxide; antioxidants, fats and oils, surfactants, etc. added May be.

  The thermal transfer layer is preferably formed on one side of the base sheet by a melt extrusion method or a coating method, and is preferably formed by a melt extrusion method from a T die. The thickness of the thermal transfer layer is usually 3 to 200 μm, preferably 5 to 150 μm, more preferably 10 to 100 μm. If the thickness of the thermal transfer layer is too thin, thermal transfer becomes difficult. When the thickness of the thermal transfer layer is too thick, the sharpness of the ink image is lowered, the thermal conductivity at the time of thermocompression bonding is lowered, and further, when the material to be transferred is a cloth, the texture of the thermal transfer image is lowered.

  The image receiving layer of the thermal transfer sheet of the present invention is a coating layer of a resin composition containing a polyester resin and an acid-modified polyolefin resin in a weight ratio of 5:95 to 95: 5. The polyester resin is desirably a thermoplastic polyester resin having a melting point of usually 60 to 260 ° C, preferably 70 to 200 ° C.

  Examples of the polyester resin include aromatic polyester resins, aliphatic polyester resins, alicyclic polyester resins, and copolyester resins, and saturated polyester resins are preferable. The polyester resin is synthesized by polycondensation of a dicarboxylic acid component and a diol component.

  Examples of the dicarboxylic acid component include aromatic dicarboxylic acids such as terephthalic acid and isophthalic acid, and lower alkyl esters thereof; aliphatic dicarboxylic acids such as succinic acid, adipic acid, sebacic acid, and dodecadic acid, and lower Alkyl esters; alicyclic dicarboxylic acids such as cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid, cyclopentanedicarboxylic acid, and cyclopropanedicarboxylic acid; and lower alkyl esters thereof. The lower alkyl ester is preferably a lower alkyl ester having 1 to 5 carbon atoms such as dimethyl ester and diethyl ester.

  Examples of the diol component include aliphatic diols such as ethylene glycol, 1,3-propanediol, 1,4-butanediol, and 1,6-hexanediol; divalent glycols such as polyoxyalkylene glycol; cyclohexanedimethanol, And alicyclic diols such as hydrogenated bisphenol A and hydrogenated bisphenol S.

  Commercially available polyester resins include, for example, aliphatic polyester resins such as trade names “Byron 200” and “Byron 500” manufactured by Toyobo; saturated copolymer polyester resins such as “Elitel UE3380” manufactured by Unitika Plastics, and the like. Can be mentioned.

The acid-modified polyolefin resin is obtained by introducing a carboxyl group by modifying a polyolefin resin such as polyethylene or polypropylene with an unsaturated acid monomer such as acrylic acid, methacrylic acid or maleic anhydride. The modification method according to the unsaturated acid monomer, there is a grafting method. The acid-modified polyolefin resin is preferably soluble in an organic solvent. Examples of commercially available acid-modified polyolefin resins include trade names “Surflen P-1000”, “Admer OF551”, “Admer NF550” manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation; and “Modic S525” manufactured by Mitsubishi Plastics. .

The weight ratio of the polyester resin and the acid-modified polyolefin resin constituting the image receiving layer is 5:95 to 95: 5, preferably 20:80 to 80:20, more preferably 25:75 to 75:25. By using a coating layer of the resin composition containing the polyester resin and the acid-modified polyolefin resin in the above weight ratio as an image receiving layer, an image having excellent adhesion of the thermal transfer ink can be formed. In particular, when an ink image is formed on an image receiving layer by a thermal transfer method using a thermal transfer ink ribbon provided with an ink layer containing a polyester resin as a binder, an acid-modified polyolefin is used even if the ratio of the polyester resin is too small. Even if the ratio of the resin is too small, the adhesion of the ink image is lowered. When the adhesion of the ink image formed on the image receiving layer is poor, the image tends to be deteriorated or dropped due to contact with surrounding articles.

  A resin composition containing a polyester resin and an acid-modified polyolefin resin is prepared by using an ester solvent such as ethyl acetate; a ketone solvent such as methyl ethyl ketone; an aromatic hydrocarbon solvent such as toluene; and an organic solvent such as a mixed solvent thereof. Dissolve to make a coating solution. The solid concentration of the coating liquid is usually 1 to 30% by weight, preferably 2 to 15% by weight.

The image receiving layer is formed by coating the surface of the thermal transfer layer with a coating liquid and drying it. The coating amount, on a solids basis, 1.0 to 3.0 g ^{/ m} 2, preferably from 1.2 to 2.5 g / ^{m 2.} If the coating amount is too small, the printability is lowered, or the image receiving layer of the thermal transfer sheet and the thermal transfer ink ribbon are partially thermally fused at the time of image formation. If the coating amount is too large, when the ink image formed thereon is thermally transferred to the transfer fabric (cloth), the thermal transfer image is easily peeled off during washing, and the washing resistance is lowered.

  As shown in a sectional view in FIG. 1, the thermal transfer sheet 1 of the present invention has a multilayer structure in which a thermal transfer layer 12 is formed on a base sheet 11 and an image receiving layer 13 is further formed on the thermal transfer layer 12. ing. In order to thermally transfer an ink image to a fabric to be transferred such as cloth (cloth fabric, clothing, etc.) using the thermal transfer sheet of the present invention, first, a thermal transfer ink ribbon is used by using a thermal transfer type image forming apparatus. The thermal transfer ink layer is brought into close contact with the surface of the image-receiving layer of the thermal transfer sheet, and a thermal head is brought into contact with the support-side surface of the thermal transfer ink ribbon to form an ink image on the surface of the image-receiving layer by a thermal transfer method.

  Next, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the thermal transfer sheet 2 on which the ink image 14 is formed on the image receiving layer 13 is brought into contact with the transfer cloth 3 on the surface on the image receiving layer 13 side on which the ink image 14 is formed. The image receiving layer 13 on which the ink image 14 is formed and the thermal transfer layer 12 are thermally transferred onto the transfer medium by applying heat and pressure from the base sheet 11 of the thermal transfer sheet 2 by a heating means 4 such as an iron or a hot press. Finally, the base material sheet 11 is peeled from the thermal transfer sheet 2. The thermal transfer layer 12 is heated and melted and thermally fused to the surface portion of the transfer fabric 3 to fix the ink image 14 formed on the image receiving layer 13 to the transfer fabric. Since the image receiving layer is formed from a resin composition of a polyester resin and an acid-modified polyolefin resin, the image receiving layer is similarly thermally fused to the surface portion of the transfer fabric. Images are thermally transferred.

  As the thermal transfer ink ribbon, one provided with an ink layer containing a polyester resin as a binder is preferably used. It is preferable to combine such a thermal transfer ink ribbon and the thermal transfer sheet of the present invention into a cartridge.

  As the material to be transferred, cloth, glass, metal, paper, various articles and the like can be used, and it is preferable to use a material to be transferred such as cloth. The fabric to be transferred is arbitrary, such as fabric or clothing. In the case of thermal transfer to an opaque transfer material such as a transfer fabric, a mirror image is formed on the image receiving layer of the thermal transfer sheet using a thermal transfer ink ribbon. Can be formed.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to examples and comparative examples. The evaluation methods for various characteristics are as follows.

(1) Printability Using a commercially available thermal transfer type image forming apparatus (trade name “Depla SR-920”; printer) manufactured by King Jim Co., Ltd.) and a thermal transfer ink ribbon, printing is performed on a thermal transfer sheet by changing the print density. It was. The thermal transfer ink ribbon is formed with a 7 μm thick ink layer containing a polyester resin (softening point 61 ° C.) as a binder and carbon black as a colorant. The print density was changed in three stages, “−3” (light print density), “normal” (print density is standard), and “+3” (high print density). The printability was evaluated according to the following four levels.
A: A clear and excellent print is formed.
B: Good printing is formed,
C: A faint print is formed,
D: Print is faint and continuous printing is not possible.

(2) Adhesion test against CT Place an adhesive tape (registered trademark “Cellotape LP-18”; abbreviated as “CT”) on the printed surface of the thermal transfer sheet, press it with a roll, and then peel it off quickly by hand. The degree of removal of the printed ink was evaluated according to the following four levels.
A: The printed ink can hardly be removed.
B: The surface portion of the printed ink may be slightly removed.
C: A considerable part of the printed ink can be removed.
D: Most of the printed ink can be taken.

(3) Washing resistance In the same manner as described above, a thermal transfer sheet printed with a printing density of “normal” was brought into contact with the surface of the transfer fabric on the surface of the image receiving layer, and an iron adjusted to an intermediate temperature (about 155 ° C.). The image receiving layer on which an ink image was formed and the thermal transfer layer were thermally transferred to the transfer fabric, and the substrate sheet was peeled from the thermal transfer sheet. The fabric to be transferred includes (i) 100% cotton thin fabric, (ii) 100% cotton jersey, (iii) 65/35 blend of cotton and polyester, and (iv) 35 cotton and polyester. 5 types of / 65 blended fabric and (v) hemp and cotton blended fabric were used. After these transferred fabrics were washed three times with a washing machine, the state of the transfer layer (the image receiving layer on which the ink image was formed and the thermal transfer layer) was visually observed and evaluated in the following four stages.
A: The transfer layer is not removed.
B: The transfer layer is partially removed,
C: A considerable part of the transfer layer is removed,
D: Most part of the transfer layer is removed.

[Example 1]
An ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (vinyl acetate content 14 wt%, melt flow rate 24 g / 10 min, melting temperature 65 ° C.) on one side of a 75 μm thick polyethylene terephthalate film (polyethylene terephthalate film # 75, manufactured by Toray Industries, Inc.) Melt extrusion lamination was performed at a thickness of 20 μm from a T die.

  On the other hand, 75 parts by weight of a polyester resin (trade name “Elitel UE3380”, saturated copolymer polyester resin, manufactured by Unitika Plastics) and 25 parts by weight of an acid-modified polyolefin resin (trade name “Surflen P-1000”, manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation) Was dissolved in a solvent [mixed solvent of ethyl acetate / methyl ethyl ketone / toluene = 2/2/1 (weight ratio)] to prepare a coating solution having a solid content concentration of 3.5% by weight.

This coating solution was coated on the ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer layer of the laminate film and dried. In this way, a coating layer (image receiving layer) having a coating amount of 2.01 g / m ² on a solid basis was formed. Various characteristics were evaluated using the thermal transfer sheet thus prepared. The evaluation results are shown in Table 1.

[Examples 2-3 and Comparative Examples 1-2]
A thermal transfer sheet was prepared and evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the blending ratio of each resin component forming the image receiving layer was changed as shown in Table 1.

[Comparative Example 3]
A laminate film in which an image receiving layer composed of a coating layer was not formed was used as a thermal transfer sheet. In this case, an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer layer was used as the image receiving layer. The evaluation results are shown in Table 1.

(footnote)
(* 1) Polyester resin (product name “Elitel UE3380”, manufactured by Unitika Plastics)
(* 2) Acid-modified polyolefin resin (trade name “Surflen P-1000” manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation)

<Discussion>
As is clear from the results shown in Table 1, when the resin component constituting the image receiving layer is a polyester resin alone (Comparative Example 1) and when the acid-modified polyolefin resin is alone (Comparative Example 2), both are attached to CT. The test results are poor, the ink printed on the surface of the image receiving layer of the thermal transfer sheet can be easily removed, and care must be taken in handling after printing. In addition, when the resin component constituting the image receiving layer is an acid-modified polyolefin resin alone (Comparative Example 2), the washing resistance decreases depending on the type of the transfer cloth.

  On the other hand, when the resin component constituting the image receiving layer is a composition of a polyester resin and an acid-modified polyolefin resin (Examples 1 to 3), the ink printed on the surface of the image receiving layer of the thermal transfer sheet can be removed. It is difficult and the wash resistance of the transfer layer is good.

[Examples 4 to 7]
A thermal transfer sheet was prepared in the same manner as in Example 2 except that the solid content concentration and the coating amount of the coating liquid were changed as shown in Table 2, and were similarly evaluated. The results are shown in Table 2.

(footnote)
(* 1) Polyester resin (product name “Elitel UE3380”, manufactured by Unitika Plastics)
(* 2) Acid-modified polyolefin resin (trade name “Surflen P-1000” manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation)
(* 3) The image receiving layer of the thermal transfer sheet and the thermal transfer ink ribbon may be partially fused.

<Discussion>
As is apparent from the results shown in Table 2, when the coating amount of the coating layer (image receiving layer) decreases, the image receiving layer of the thermal transfer sheet and the thermal transfer ink ribbon tend to be partially fused. When the amount of the ink increases, the washing resistance tends to decrease depending on the type of fabric to be transferred. Therefore, the amount of coating is preferably in the range of 1.0 to 3.0 g / ^{m 2,} it can be seen the range of 1.2 to 2.5 g / ^{m 2} is more preferable.

[Example 8]
The polyester resin used to prepare the coating solution was changed from the product name “Elitel UE3380” manufactured by Unitika Plastics to the product name “Byron 200” (aliphatic polyester resin, melting point 163 ° C.) manufactured by Toyobo. Except for this, a thermal transfer sheet was prepared in the same manner as in Example 2 and evaluated in the same manner. The results are shown in Table 3.

[Example 9]
The polyester resin used to prepare the coating solution was changed from the product name “Elitel UE3380” manufactured by Unitika Plastics to the product name “Byron 500” (aliphatic polyester resin, melting point 114 ° C.) manufactured by Toyobo. Except for this, a thermal transfer sheet was prepared in the same manner as in Example 2 and evaluated in the same manner. The results are shown in Table 3.

(footnote)
(* 4) Polyester resin (trade name “Byron 200” manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.)
(* 5) Polyester resin (trade name “Byron 500” manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.)
(* 6) Acid-modified polyolefin resin (trade name “Surflen P-1000” manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation)

<Discussion>
As is apparent from the results shown in Table 3, it can be seen that even if the type of the polyester resin is changed, a thermal transfer sheet exhibiting good printability, a test result against CT sticking, and washing resistance can be obtained.

  The thermal transfer sheet of the present invention can be suitably used to form images such as characters, patterns, patterns, photographs, and combinations thereof on a transfer medium such as cloth (cloth fabric, clothing, etc.). When the thermal transfer sheet of the present invention is used, a desired ink image is formed using an image forming apparatus such as a thermal transfer type word processor in homes, shops, small-scale offices, etc. By means, an ink image can be formed on a cloth or the like by thermal transfer.

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the layer structure of the thermal transfer sheet of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a method of forming an image on a transfer material using the thermal transfer sheet of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

1: Thermal transfer sheet 2: Thermal transfer sheet on which an image is formed with a thermal transfer ink ribbon 3: Transfer cloth 4: Iron 11: Base sheet 12: Thermal transfer layer 13: Image receiving layer 14: Ink image

Claims (3)

On the base sheet (A), there is provided a thermal transfer layer (B) containing a thermoplastic resin that melts by heating and adheres to the transfer target. Furthermore, a polyester resin and a graft are provided on the thermal transfer layer (B). A coating amount of 1.0 to 3.0 g / m ² comprising a resin composition containing an acid-modified polyolefin resin modified with an unsaturated acid monomer by a method in a weight ratio of 5:95 to 95: 5 A thermal transfer sheet having a multilayer structure provided with an image receiving layer (C) comprising a coating layer. Following steps 1-4:
(1) Using the thermal transfer type image forming apparatus, the thermal transfer ink ribbon in which a thermal transfer ink layer containing a polyester resin as a binder is provided on a support is disposed on the thermal transfer ink layer side surface according to claim 1. A step 1 for forming an ink image on the surface of the image receiving layer by a thermal transfer method by bringing the thermal head into contact with the surface of the thermal transfer ink ribbon on the support side, and closely contacting the surface of the image receiving layer of the sheet;
(2) A step 2 in which the thermal transfer sheet is brought into contact with the transfer target on the surface of the image receiving layer on which the ink image is formed,
(3) A step of heat-transferring the image-receiving layer (C) on which the ink image is formed and the heat-transfer layer (B) onto the transfer target member by heat-pressing from the base sheet (A) of the heat-transfer sheet by a heating means. 3 and (4) Step 4 of peeling the substrate sheet from the thermal transfer sheet
An image forming method comprising: The image forming method according to claim 2 , wherein the transfer target is a cloth.

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