A thermal transfer apparatus includes a fixture, a foil securing film, a film retainer, a foil transfer tool, and a carriage conveyor. The fixture retains a transfer object. The foil securing film is disposed above the fixture. The foil securing film allows light to pass therethrough. The foil securing film presses, from above, a thermal transfer foil on the transfer object so as to secure the thermal transfer foil onto the transfer object. The film retainer retains the foil securing film. The film retainer moves the foil securing film in an up-down direction relative to the fixture. The foil transfer tool presses the foil securing film and the thermal transfer foil on the transfer object. The foil transfer tool emits light to the foil securing film. The carriage conveyor moves the foil transfer tool relative to the fixture.

A thermal transfer recording medium which includes a dye layer having storage stability and sufficient color development properties, and enables improvement in image quality of the printed matter. The thermal transfer recording medium according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a substrate, a heat-resistant lubricating layer provided on a first surface of the substrate, and a dye layer provided on a second surface of the substrate, wherein the dye layer includes a dye, a binder A, and a binder B which contains at least one of polyvinyl butyral and polyvinyl acetal, a solubility parameter of the binder A is within a range of 9.5 (cal/cm.sup.3).sup.1/2 or more and 12.0 (cal/cm.sup.3).sup.1/2 or less, and a melting viscosity of the binder A at 200 C. is 400 Pa sec or less.

Provided is a thermal transfer sheet that can suppress thermal fusion of the thermal transfer sheet and a transfer-receiving article and can improve the durability of a printed article obtained by transferring a transfer layer onto the transfer-receiving article, even if energy applied to the thermal transfer sheet was increased upon transferring the transfer layer onto the transfer-receiving article. This thermal transfer sheet 100 comprises a thermal transfer layer 10 on one surface of a substrate 1. The transfer layer 10 comprises one or more layers, and among the layers constituting the transfer layer 10, the layer closest to the substrate 1 contains a copolymer of isobutyl (meth)acrylate and a monomer having a carboxyl group, and the acid value of the copolymer is not less than 40 mg KOH/g.

A receipt and label roll comprises a core and a web having a longitudinally-extending axis and wound on the core along the axis. The web includes (i) a substrate having a front side and a back side opposite the front side, (ii) a thermally-sensitive coating disposed on the front side of the substrate, (iii) adhesive disposed on a portion of the back side of the substrate along the web axis, and (iv) a release coating disposed on the front side of the substrate along the web axis to prevent the adhesive from sticking to the front side of the substrate when the web is wound on the core. The web further includes (v) a longitudinal weakened structure extending along a direction parallel to the web axis and dividing the web into a first web portion on which the adhesive is disposed and a second web portion which is substantially devoid of adhesive.

To provide a coating liquid for release layer with which a release layer having a small variation in the performance difference can be stably formed, to provide a method for producing a thermal transfer sheet using this coating liquid for release layer, and to provide a thermal transfer sheet having stable releasability.

A thermal transfer sheet having a substrate 1, a release layer 2 provided on the substrate 1, and a transfer layer 10 provided on the release layer 2, wherein the transfer layer 10 is provided peelably from the release layer 2, and the release layer 2 contains a silsesquioxane.

A thermal transfer recording medium that satisfies the requirements for higher printing speed of thermal transfer, and high density and high quality of thermal transfer images, that better prevents the occurrence of abnormal transfer under high-temperature and high-humidity conditions, and that improves transfer sensitivity in printing. The thermal transfer recording medium includes a primer layer, an undercoat layer, and a dye layer in this order on one surface of a substrate, and a heat-resistant lubricating layer on the other surface of the substrate; wherein the primer layer contains polycarbonate and a polyurethane-urea resin having a polycaprolactam skeleton; the undercoat layer contains a copolymer of polyester and acrylic, and polyvinyl pyrrolidone; and the copolymer is a copolymer of polyester having a sulfonic acid group, and acrylic having at least one of a glycidyl group and a carboxyl group.

To provide a thermal transfer sheet capable of inhibiting residues derived from a back face layer from adhering to a thermal head, also capable of inhibiting occurrence of a kick, and having a shorter time period until the back face layer is stabilized.

A thermal transfer sheet comprising; a colorant layer located on one surface of a substrate and a back face layer located on the other surface of the substrate, wherein the back face layer comprises a binder resin and inorganic particles, and the binder resin comprises a product obtained by reacting a polyisocyanate having an isocyanurate structure with a resin having hydroxyl groups at an equivalent ratio of isocyanate groups in the polyisocyanate having an isocyanurate structure to hydroxyl groups in the resin having hydroxyl groups (NCO/OH) of 0.05 or more and 0.15 or less.

An imageable material can be used to form a mask element that in turn is useful for providing relief images such as in flexographic printing plates. The imageable material has, in order: (a) a transparent polymeric carrier sheet; (b) a non-ablatable light-to-heat converting having an average dry thickness of 1-5 m and comprising: (i) an infrared radiation absorbing material at 0.1-5 weight %; (ii) a thermally crosslinked organic polymeric binder material; and (iii) non-thermally ablatable particles having an average particle size of 0.1-20 m in an amount of 0.2-10 weight %; and (c) a non-silver halide thermally-ablatable imaging layer (IL) disposed on the LTHC layer, the IL comprising a second infrared radiation absorbing material and a UV-light absorbing material dispersed within one or more thermally-ablatable polymeric binder materials.

A thermal transfer sheet including a dye layer and a transfer layer on a substrate. The transfer layer has a protective layer and an adhesive layer containing two or more resin components. One of the resin components is a copolymer of a reactive ultraviolet absorbing agent and an acrylic monomer. In the copolymer, the copolymerization ratio of the reactive ultraviolet absorbing agent is in the range of 10% or more and 50% or less on a molar ratio basis and the copolymerization ratio of the acrylic monomers is in the range of 50% or more and 90% or less on a molar ratio basis. The content of the copolymer of the reactive ultraviolet absorbing agent and the acrylic monomer is specified in the range of 50% by mass or more and 90% by mass or less on the basis of the total mass of the adhesive layer.

There is provided a thermal transfer sheet having satisfactory transferability when a transfer layer is transferred on a transfer receiving article over a wide energy range. A thermal transfer sheet 100 for obtaining a thermal transfer image-receiving sheet includes a substrate 1 and a transfer layer 10 provided on the substrate, wherein the transfer layer 10 has a layered structure in which two or more layers are layered, the transfer layer 10 includes at least a receiving layer 2, the layer located nearest to the substrate 1 of the layers constituting the transfer layer 10 is the receiving layer 2, and the receiving layer 2 contains a cellulosic resin.