Transfer sheet for adhesive layer and use thereof

Details Transfer sheet for adhesive layer and use thereof Transfer sheet for adhesive layer and use thereof

1999-02-18

2002-02-26

Hess, Bruce H. (Department: 1774)

Stock material or miscellaneous articles

Structurally defined web or sheet

Including components having same physical characteristic in...

C428S195100, C428S343000, C428S346000, C428S352000, C428S354000, C428S913000, C428S914000, C503S227000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06350508

ABSTRACT:

TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a transfer sheet for an adhesive layer, particularly a transfer sheet, for an adhesive layer, which has a combination of excellent adhesion to a transfer material and excellent adhesion to an image-forming object or releasability of an adhesive layer from the transfer sheet for an adhesive layer, and an image-forming method and an object, with an image formed thereon, using the transfer sheet for an adhesive layer.
BACKGROUND ART
Further, the present invention relates to a transfer sheet for an adhesive layer, particularly a transfer sheet, for an adhesive layer, which can conduct temporary bonding and separation a plurality of times in bonding a transfer material to a different material through an adhesive layer transferred onto the transfer material, an image-forming method using the transfer sheet for an adhesive layer, and an object, with an image formed thereon, and, an intermediate thereof, that is, an intermediate image-forming object, formed using the transfer sheet for an adhesive layer.
A melt type thermal transfer system and a sublimation type thermal transfer system have hitherto been used extensively as a thermal transfer system. In the sublimation type thermal transfer system, a thermal transfer sheet comprising a substrate sheet, such as a plastic film, bearing a dye layer formed of a binder resin with a sublimable dye as a colorant melted or dispersed therein is used with an image-forming object comprising a support, such as paper or a plastic sheet, bearing an image-receptive layer, and energy corresponding to image information is applied by means of a heating device, such as a thermal head, to transfer a sublimable dye contained in a dye layer of the thermal transfer sheet onto an image-receptive layer of the image-forming object, thereby recording an image. According to the sublimation type thermal transfer system, the amount of the dye transferred can be regulated on a dot basis by regulating the amount of energy applied to the thermal transfer sheet, enabling tone reproduction by taking advantage of density gradation. Further, since the colorant used is a dye, the recorded image has good transparency and, at the same time, the reproduction of an intermediate color created by superposition of colors using a plurality of dye layers is excellent. Therefore, a high-quality, full-color image can be recorded by using a thermal transfer sheet(s) for three colors of yellow, magenta, and cyan or four colors of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black to superpose these three or four colors on top of one another on an object.
In the formation of an image by the sublimation type thermal transfer system, an image can be formed on image-forming materials having various shapes by once forming an image on an intermediate transfer medium having an image-receptive layer and transferring the image-receptive layer, with an image formed thereon, onto an image-forming object. The formation of an image using the intermediate transfer medium by the sublimation type thermal transfer system, however, often suffers from a drawback that the adhesion between the image-receptive layer and the image-forming object in its image-forming surface is unsatisfactory. In this case, it is preferred to transfer the image-receptive layer onto the image-forming object through an adhesive layer.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
According to the present invention, a transfer sheet for an adhesive layer is used in the formation of an adhesive layer used in the above transfer of an image-receptive layer onto an image-forming object. Specifically, the transfer sheet, for an adhesive layer, according to the present invention basically comprises a substrate sheet and an adhesive layer provided on the substrate sheet. It is put on top of an image-receptive layer in an intermediate transfer medium so as for the adhesive layer to face the image-receptive layer, and, in this state, heat and pressure are applied through the substrate sheet to transfer the adhesive layer onto the image-receptive layer in the intermediate transfer medium.
The transferred adhesive layer is in direct contact with the image-receptive layer in the intermediate transfer medium. Therefore, the adhesive layer should be formed of a resin that has good adhesion to the resin constituting the image-receptive layer and into which the dye constituting the image is not bled. This greatly limits the material usable for the adhesive layer. Further, an adhesive layer, that is easily adhered to the image-receptive layer, is in many cases difficult to be adhered to an image-forming object, such as paper. In this respect as well, there is a limitation on the selection of the material. Furthermore, when the image-forming object is one having a fiber texture, such as paper, the transfer of an image-receptive layer onto an image-forming object through an adhesive layer causes the adhesive layer to be penetrated into the image-forming object, posing a problem that the fiber texture of the image-forming object appears on the surface of the formed image.
Good releasability of the adhesive layer from the substrate sheet is required of the thermal transfer sheet for an adhesive layer. If the transferred adhesive layer has a smaller thickness than a desired one or poor surface smoothness, the adhesion of the transferred image-receptive layer to an image-forming object is poor, or irregularities are created on the image-receptive layer, resulting in deteriorated image quality.
Further, when the image-receptive layer with an adhesive layer formed thereon by transfer is transferred onto an image-forming object through the adhesive layer, or when an image-receptive layer is transferred onto an image-forming object, with an adhesive layer formed thereon by transfer, through the adhesive layer, registration is necessary between the image-receptive layer and the image-forming object. In the case of an adhesive layer formed by transfer using the transfer sheet for an adhesive layer, when the image-receptive layer or the image-forming object once comes into contact with and adhered to the adhesive layer of the transfer sheet for an adhesive layer, there is a possibility that the adhesive layer cannot be separated from the sheet, making it impossible to release and again adhere the adhesive layer for more accurate registration. For this reason, registration while repeating contact and separation between the image-receptive layer and the image-forming object a plurality of times becomes impossible, imposing restriction on registration work at the time of transfer of the image-receptive layer onto the image-forming object.
In view of the above situation, the present invention has been made, and an object of the present invention is to provide a transfer sheet, for an adhesive layer, which can transfer an adhesive layer and has excellent adhesion to a transfer material (an intermediate transfer medium), is free from bleeding of dyes, has excellent adhesion to an image-forming object, and is free from penetration into the image-forming object, and an image-forming method and an object, with an image formed thereon, using said transfer sheet for an adhesive layer.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a transfer sheet, for an adhesive layer, which can transfer and form an adhesive layer, with desired thickness, possessing very good releasability and having uniform thickness and high surface smoothness.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a transfer sheet, for an adhesive layer, which is excellent in transferability and adhesion of an adhesive layer onto a transfer material and enables temporary bonding and separation to be repeated a plurality of times to achieve satisfactory positioning for bonding of a transfer material to a different object, an image-forming method, which can form a high-quality image using said transfer sheet for an adhesive layer, and an object, with an image formed thereon, and an intermediate thereof, that is, an intermediate image-forming object, formed using the transfer sheet

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