Medium including heat-sensitive medium provided with base material having uneven shape, and adhesive medium bonded to heat-sensitive medium

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11999173-B2
Application number	US-202117561573-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 23, 2021
Priority date	Dec 28, 2020
Publication date	Jun 4, 2024
Grant date	Jun 4, 2024

Abstract

A medium includes: a heat-sensitive medium subjected to thermal printing; and an adhesive medium to be superimposed on the heat-sensitive medium in a thickness direction and bonded to the heat-sensitive medium. The heat-sensitive medium includes: a surface contacting the adhesive medium; a heat-sensitive medium base material having a transparency; and a first color producing layer having a transparency. The heat-sensitive medium base material has an uneven shape having roughness greater than that of the surface of the heat-sensitive medium. The first color producing layer is configured to produce a first color when heated to a temperature higher than or equal to a first temperature. The adhesive medium includes: an adhesive medium base material; and an adhesive layer provided on the adhesive medium base material. The adhesive layer makes contact with the surface of the heat-sensitive medium so that the adhesive medium is bonded to the heat-sensitive medium.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A medium comprising:
a heat-sensitive medium subjected to printing by a thermal printer; and
an adhesive medium to be superimposed on the heat-sensitive medium in a thickness direction of the heat-sensitive medium and the adhesive medium and bonded to the heat-sensitive medium,
the heat-sensitive medium comprising:
a surface that makes contact with the adhesive medium;
a heat-sensitive medium base material having a transparency, the heat-sensitive medium base material having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface in the thickness direction, the first surface being positioned closer to the surface of the heat-sensitive medium than the second surface is to the surface of the heat-sensitive medium, the heat-sensitive medium base material having an uneven shape having roughness greater than that of the surface of the heat-sensitive medium; and
a first color producing layer provided closer to the first surface than to the second surface of the heat-sensitive medium base material, the first color producing layer having a transparency, the first color producing layer being configured to become less transparent and to produce a first color when heated to a temperature higher than or equal to a first temperature,

the adhesive medium comprising:
an adhesive medium base material; and
an adhesive layer provided on the adhesive medium base material, the adhesive layer making contact with the surface of the heat-sensitive medium so that the adhesive medium is bonded to the heat-sensitive medium.

2. The medium according to claim 1 ,
wherein the heat-sensitive medium further comprises a second color producing layer having a transparency, the second color producing layer being configured to become less parent and to produce a second color different from the first color when heated to a second temperature different from the first temperature, and
wherein the heat-sensitive medium base material, the first color producing layer, and the second color producing layer are arranged in this order in the thickness direction.

3. The medium according to claim 1 ,
wherein the uneven shape is provided on at least one of the first surface and the second surface of the heat-sensitive medium base material.

4. The medium according to claim 3 ,
wherein, of the first surface and the second surface of the heat-sensitive medium base material, the uneven shape is provided only on the first surface.

5. The medium according to claim 3 ,
wherein, of the first surface and the second surface of the heat-sensitive medium base material, the uneven shape is provided only on the second surface.

6. The medium according to claim 1 ,
wherein the uneven shape is formed through one of embossing and polishing.

7. The medium according to claim 1 ,
wherein the uneven shape is formed by adding fine particles to the heat-sensitive medium base material.

8. A cartridge accommodating therein the medium according to claim 1 ,
the cartridge comprising:
a case;
a first holding portion provided inside the case and holding the heat-sensitive medium; and
a second holding portion provided inside the case and holding the adhesive medium.

9. A thermal printer comprising:
an attachment portion to which the cartridge according to claim 6 is attachable;
a thermal head configured to perform a printing operation by heating the heat-sensitive medium of the medium accommodated in the cartridge attached to the attachment portion at a position opposite to the heat-sensitive medium base material with respect to the first color producing layer;
a detecting unit configured to detect a type of the cartridge attached to the attachment portion; and
a controller configured to perform prescribed heat control for the thermal printer to control the thermal head to perform the printing operation to the heat-sensitive medium, the controller being configured to:
on a basis of a detection result of the detecting unit, determine whether or not the heat-sensitive medium base material of the heat-sensitive medium accommodated in the cartridge attached to the attachment portion has the uneven shape; and
when determining that the heat-sensitive medium base material of the heat-sensitive medium accommodated in the cartridge attached to the attachment portion has the uneven shape, perform for the thermal head a first heat control different from a second heat control performed when determining that the heat-sensitive medium base material of the heat-sensitive medium accommodated in the cartridge attached to the attachment portion does not have the uneven shape.

10. A medium comprising:
a heat-sensitive medium subjected to printing by a thermal printer; and
an adhesive medium to be superimposed on the heat-sensitive medium in a thickness direction of the heat-sensitive medium and the adhesive medium and bonded to the heat-sensitive medium,
the heat-sensitive medium comprising:
a surface that makes contact with the adhesive medium;
a heat-sensitive medium base material having a transparency, the heat-sensitive medium base material having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface in the thickness direction, the first surface being positioned closer to the surface of the heat-sensitive medium than the second surface is to the surface of the heat-sensitive medium, the first surface having an uneven shape having roughness greater than that of the second surface; and
a first color producing layer provided closer to the first surface than to the second surface of the heat-sensitive medium base material, the first color producing layer having a transparency, the first color producing layer being configured to become less transparent and to produce a first color when heated to a temperature higher than or equal to a first temperature,

the adhesive medium comprising:
an adhesive medium base material; and
an adhesive layer provided on the adhesive medium base material, the adhesive layer making contact with the surface of the heat-sensitive medium so that the adhesive medium is bonded to the heat-sensitive medium.

11. A medium comprising:
a heat-sensitive medium subjected to printing by a thermal printer; and
an adhesive medium to be superimposed on the heat-sensitive medium in a thickness direction of the heat-sensitive medium and the adhesive medium and bonded to the heat-sensitive medium,
the heat-sensitive medium comprising:
a surface that makes contact with the adhesive medium;
a heat-sensitive medium base material having a transparency, the heat-sensitive medium base material having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface in the thickness direction, the first surface being positioned closer to the surface of the heat-sensitive medium than the second surface is to the surface of the heat-sensitive medium, the second surface having an uneven shape having roughness greater than that of the first surface; and
a first color producing layer provided closer to the first surface than to the second surface of the heat-sensitive medium base material, the first color producing layer having a transparency, the first color producing layer being configured to become less transparent and to produce a first color when heated to a temperature higher than or equal to a first temperature,

the adhesive medium comprising:
an adhesive medium base material; and
an adhesive layer provided on the adhesive medium base material, the adhesive layer making contact with the surface of the heat-sensitive medium so that the adhesive medium is bonded to the heat-sensitive medium.

Assignees

• Brother Ind Ltd

Inventors

• Naruse Yuki
• Nishihara Keisuke
• Minami Akira

Classifications

• B41J2/32 Primary

  using thermal heads · CPC title

• B41J3/4075

  Tape printers; Label printers · CPC title

• B41J11/002

  Curing or drying the ink on the copy materials, e.g. by heating or irradiating · CPC title

• B65C9/1803

  the labels being cut from a strip · CPC title

• B65C9/1865

  the labels adhering on a backing strip · CPC title