Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Tetsuji Kunitake

Youji Ide

Yoshihiko Hiyoshi

Yasumitsu Kuga

Tadafumi Tatewaki

Shigeru Miyajima

Masanaka Nagamoto

Mihoko Matsumoto

Junko Yamaguchi

Yoji Ide

Kumi Surizaki

Nobuyuki Maeda

Mitsuru Maeda

Kazuyoshi Inamura

Yoshiaki Yamada

Naoshi Yamamoto

Yuichi Taka

Moriyasu Nagai

Hirokazu Watari

A thermal image transfer recording method includes the steps of holding a thermal image transfer recording medium including a support material and a thermal image transfer layer provided on the support material, and an image recording material between a line edge thermal head and a platen roller, with a contact pressure being applied therebetween; transferring the thermal image transfer recording layer imagewise from the thermal image transfer recording medium to the image recording material with imagewise application of heat by use of the line edge thermal head; and taking up the thermal image transfer recording medium after the image transfer, with the take-up tension applied to the thermal image transfer recording medium being set larger than both the shearing strength and peeling strength at 70.degree. C. of the thermal image transfer layer. A thermal image transfer recording medium including a thermal image transfer layer with a shearing strength of 200 g/cm or more at 25.degree. C. provided on a support material is provided for use in this thermal image transfer recording method.

Thermal image transfer recording method and thermal image transfer

A thermal image transfer recording sodium includes a support and a thermal image transfer ink layer formed on the support. The thermal image transfer ink layer contains a coloring agent, a resin with a melting point of 120.degree. C. or more and an SP value of 10.5 to 12.5, and a melt viscosity lowering material for lowering the melt viscosity of the resin, with the compatibility of the resin and the malt viscosity lowering material, measured by a transparency measurement method, being 0.20 or less, or with the melt viscosity at 150.degree. C. of the thermal image transfer ink layer being in the range of 1.times.10.sup.2 to 5.times.10.sup.6 poise.

Thermal image transfer recording medium

A thermal image transfer recording method includes the steps of holding a thermal image transfer recording medium including a support material and a thermal image transfer layer provided on the support material, and an image recording material between a line edge thermal head and a platen roller, with a contact pressure being applied therebetween; transferring the thermal image transfer recording layer imagewise from the thermal image transfer recording medium to the image recording material with imagewise application of heat by use of the line edge thermal head; and taking up the-thermal image transfer recording medium after the image transfer, with the take-up tension applied to the thermal image transfer recording medium being set larger than both the shearing strength and peeling strength at 70.degree. C. of the thermal image transfer layer. A thermal image transfer recording medium including a thermal image transfer layer with a shearing strength of 200 g/cm or more at 25.degree. C. provided on a support material is provided for use in this thermal image transfer recording method.

Thermal image transfer recording method

A thermal image transfer recording medium includes a support and a thermal image transfer ink layer formed on the support. The thermal image transfer ink layer contains a coloring agent, a resin with a melting point of 120.degree. C. or more and an SP value of 10.5 to 12.5, and a melt viscosity lowering material for lowering the melt viscosity of the resin, with the compatibility of the resin and the melt viscosity lowering material, measured by a transparency measurement method, being 0.20 or less, or with the melt viscosity at 150.degree. C. of the thermal image transfer ink layer being in the range of 1.times.10.sup.2 to 5.times.10.sup.6 poise.

Thermal image transfer recording medium and recording method using the

A thermal image transfer recording medium is composed of a support, and a thermofusible ink layer formed on the support, the thermofusible ink layer containing a thermofusible material with a loaded needle penetration of 2 or less at 25.degree. C., and a coloring agent, and having a shearing strength of 8 to 20 gf/cm at 20.degree. C., and an adhesion strength of 1.0 to 2.0 gf/cm with respect to the support. The thermofusible ink layer can be composed of a first ink layer formed thereon, comprising finely-divided particles of a thermofusible material with a loaded needle penetration of 2 or less at 25.degree. C. and an average particle diameter in the range of 0.5 to 3.0 .mu.m, with a voidage of 5 to 30 vol. %, and a second ink layer formed on the first ink layer, composed of a thermofusible material with a loaded needle penetration of 2 or less at 25.degree. C., which may be in the form of finely-divided particles, and a coloring agent.

A thermal image transfer recording medium is disclosed, which comprises a substrate and an ink layer formed thereon comprising as the main components (i) a coloring agent and (ii) a copolymer consisting of at least a monomer selected from Group A consisting of acrylonitrile and methacrylonitrile and at least a monomer selected from Group B consisting of monomers represented by the following formula (I); ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 represents hydrogen or a methyl group; and R.sup.2 represents hydrogen, a straight-chain or branched alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, a glycidyl group, or a hydroxyalkyl group having 2 to 4 carbon atoms.

A thermal image transfer recording medium is composed of a support and a thermofusible ink layer formed on the support, with the water-content ratio of the recording medium excluding the support being in the range of 0.3 to 4.0 wt. % of the total weight of the recording medium excluding the support.

A thermal image transfer recording medium is composed of a support and a thermofusible ink layer formed thereon, and the thermofusible ink layer contains as the main components a coloring agent, a wax component and a rubber elastomer component which is discontinuously dispersed in the form of layers in the thermofusible ink layer, or is composed of a first ink layer containing a wax component and a rubber elastomer and a second ink layer containing a coloring agent, a wax component and a binder resin, which is overlaid on the first ink layer.

A thermosensitive image transfer recording medium is disclosed, which comprises a support and a thermofusible ink layer formed thereon, comprising a thermofusible material, a coloring agent, and a filler, with the difference between the refractive index of the filler and the refractive index of the thermofusible material being 0.15 or less.

Thermosensitive image transfer recording medium

A thermosensitive image transfer recording medium is disclosed, which comprises (a) a support, (b) a peel-off layer formed on the support, which comprises as the main component a thermofusible material, and has a melt viscosity A, and (c) a transparent thermofusible ink layer comprising a plurality of different color thermofusible ink sections, formed side by side in the form of a repeating unit on the peel-off layer, each thermofusible ink section comprising as the main components a thermofusible resin and a coloring agent and having a melt viscosity B which is larger than the melt viscosity A of the peel-off layer, with the melt viscosity A of the peel-off layer being in the range of 10 cps to 10,000 cps at 110.degree. C., and the melt viscosity B of the thermofusible ink layer being in the range of 100 cps to 500,000 cps at 110.degree. C.

A thermosensitive image transfer recording material is disclosed, which comprises a ribbon-shaped substrate; a plurality of thermosensitive image transfer layer sections formed on the substrate, each thermosensitive image transfer layer section having a different color, which are sequentially disposed adjacent to each other in the longitudinal direction of the substrate; and a plurality of marker layer sections for optically detecting the color of any of the thermosensitive image transfer layer sections adjacent to the marker layer section, each of which marker layer sections is disposed in the regions between the thermosensitive image transfer layer sections in such a configuration that at least part of the surface of each marker section is covered by at least one of the two thermosensitive image transfer layer sections adjacent to the marker layer section, with the entire surface of the substrate being completely covered by the image transfer layer sections and the marker layer sections.

Thermosensitive image transfer recording material

An image transfer type thermosensitive recording medium comprising a substrate and a double-layered thermal transfer ink layer formed thereon, which comprisees (i) a first layer formed on the substrate, comprising a thermofusible material and an oil component, which first layer melts to become a liquid having a low viscosity when heated to a predetermined temperature, the oil component comprising as the main components hydrocarbon of methane series and cycloparaffin, and having a viscosity of 100 cst or less at 40.degree. C. and a viscosity of 20 cst or less at 100.degree. C., and (ii) a second layer formed on the first layer, comprising a thermosoftening resin and a coloring agent, which second layer becomes soft, without being melted at the predetermined temperature or higher.

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Numazu, Japan

Tetsuji Kunitake