High-precision electrostatic printing method

Abstract

To provide a high-definition electrostatic printing method in which a second electrode for forming an electrostatic pattern on an image receiving layer is unnecessary in its application form, and may give an adverse effect, and the image receiving layer and the second electrode are integrated with each other in an electrostatic pattern formation step, a precise electrostatic pattern can be obtained, and the second electrode can be separated in its application form.SOLUTION: An original plate is composed of a first electrode having uniform conductivity on the whole surface, and a plate layer that is brought into close contact and integrated with the first electrode and is composed of a material having an appropriate uniform thickness, and a letterpress, an intaglio printing or a gravure print-shaped pattern is formed in the plate layer. An image receiving sheet is composed of a second electrode, and an image receiving layer which is laminated on the second electrode and can be peeled from the second electrode. The plate layer of the original plate and the image receiving layer of the image receiving sheet are brought into close contact with each other, and an appropriate voltage enough to discharge a gap between the first electrode of the original plate and the second electrode of the image receiving sheet is applied, thereby forming an electrostatic pattern corresponding to the pattern on the image receiving layer of the image receiving sheet.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1(B)

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a method of electrostatic printing on an electrically insulating substrate using a master plate having a shape of a relief plate, an intaglio plate, or a gravure plate. The principle is related to discharge technology, and the use of electrostatic printing is related to the electrostatic printer technology represented by electrophotography.

Background Art

[0002] The first person to invent a practical technology for creating an image using static electricity in the world was Chester Carlson of the United States. The technology related to this invention was commonly called the Carlson method or the Xerography method. However, as an image forming technology, academic research has advanced, and it is called Electrophotography as an academic name, and is named the electrophotography method in Japan. Copiers and printers made using that technology have become essential for office work.

[0003] As the technology was named "photography," an optical image is formed as an electrostatic latent image by static electricity and a photoreceptor (photo semiconductor), and developed with charged fine particles called toner. As a copier that immediately prints and outputs an image that changes for each page onto paper, it has developed as an ideal technology. Among its developments, the most evolved are the toner as a developer and the developing technology. Powder toners have been made into fine particles of about 6 μm, and at the same time, uniform particle size and uniform charging have been realized to improve resolution and transfer stability. Furthermore, the further micronized liquid toner is in the submicron size, and the stability of the developer can also be ensured, and it has even become superior to printing ink in terms of resolution. Furthermore, not only as a color toner, but also toners containing metals, methods of developing with metals themselves, toners capable of plating as in Patent Document 2, etc., functional toners and developing methods have been continuously developed regardless of whether they are powder or liquid.

[0004] However, there are limitations to fully exploiting the features of these functional toners in electrophotography. This is due to the basic element of creating an electrostatic pattern on the photoreceptor. That is, the electrostatic pattern on the photoreceptor must be developed and the developed toner must be transferred to the target material. Of course, it is precisely by this method that plate-less, high-definition, and high-speed printing is achieved. However, whenever transfer occurs, the resolution will inevitably decrease, and conductive toner cannot be transferred except by adhesion. Furthermore, current photoreceptors have analog characteristics, and it is difficult to accurately print dots and lines of 10 μm and dots and lines of 100 μm or more simultaneously at high speed.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Non-Patent Documents

[0006]

Non-Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0007] In the past, various attempts have been made to directly develop the electrostatic pattern. One that reached commercialization is an electrostatic transfer system that transfers the electrostatic pattern itself from the photoreceptor and directly develops it, as shown in Non-Patent Document 1. However, due to the special transfer paper and the principle that an electrostatic pattern is created by the peeling discharge action, the resolution is lower than the pattern on the photoreceptor, and it is not currently being manufactured. As devices for directly drawing electrostatic patterns, a multi-stylus and a method of deflecting an ion beam have been commercialized, but they have been replaced by the inkjet method due to the limitations in the processing accuracy of the electrodes and the low resolution due to the spread of discharge ions. Also, although it is an electrostatic pattern forming method for an electrostatic actuator, Patent Document 1 proposes providing a partition wall around the electrode and limiting the discharge range to obtain the faithfulness of the electrostatic pattern to the electrode. However, with the method of Patent Document 1, it is not possible to create an image pattern such as printing or electrophotography. Combining a high-definition electrostatic pattern with a continuously evolving toner may enable printing with unprecedented effects and performance, and a method for directly creating a high-definition electrostatic pattern on an insulator other than the photoreceptor is desired.

[0008] Therefore, the present inventors have proposed a practical high-definition electrostatic printing method that uses static electricity to create an image comparable to and even surpassing conventional printing without using a photoreceptor (see the specification of Japanese Patent Application No. 2018-188998). According to the first aspect of the above invention, it is composed of a first electrode having uniform conductivity over the entire surface, and a plate layer made of a material that is in close contact and integral with the first electrode and has an appropriate uniform thickness. A conductive layer whose back surface is the second electrode is closely attached to an original plate in which a relief plate, intaglio plate, or gravure plate-like pattern is formed on the plate layer. By applying an appropriate voltage sufficient to discharge the gap of the relief plate, intaglio plate, or gravure plate-like pattern between the first electrode of the original plate and the second electrode of the image receiving sheet, a high-definition electrostatic printing method is provided, which is characterized by forming an electrostatic pattern corresponding to the relief plate, intaglio plate, or gravure plate-like pattern on the image receiving sheet. According to the second aspect of the above invention, it is composed of a first electrode having uniform conductivity over the entire surface, and a plate layer made of a material that is in close contact and integral with the first electrode and has an appropriate uniform thickness. An image receiving sheet is pressure-bonded to an original plate in which a relief plate, intaglio plate, or gravure plate-like pattern is formed on the plate layer with a second electrode having conductivity from the back surface. By applying an appropriate voltage sufficient to discharge the gap of the relief plate, intaglio plate, or gravure plate-like pattern between the first electrode of the original plate and the second electrode, a high-definition electrostatic printing method is provided, which is characterized by forming an electrostatic pattern corresponding to the relief plate, intaglio plate, or gravure plate-like pattern on the image receiving sheet.

[0009] The electrostatic pattern on the image receiving sheet becomes a visible pattern by being developed with charged particles. When the charged particles are electroplatable particles, a high-definition electrode circuit pattern is formed on the image receiving sheet by performing an electroplating process after development with the charged particles. An example of the use of the image receiving sheet on which the high-definition electrode circuit pattern is formed is a capacitive touch panel. However, when applying it to a capacitive touch panel, there were the following problems. In the case of the first aspect, since the image receiving sheet has the image receiving layer and the second electrode integrated, when the capacitive touch panel is operated, there is a problem that the sensitivity of the touch panel decreases due to the influence of the second electrode. Furthermore, since the image receiving sheet has the image receiving layer and the second electrode integrated, it is difficult to thin the capacitive touch panel. Also, according to the second aspect, when applying to a capacitive touch panel, since the image receiving sheet (image receiving layer) is separated from the second electrode, there is no problem of a decrease in the sensitivity of the capacitive touch panel. However, from the viewpoint of handling in the electrostatic pattern forming process, it is difficult to make the image receiving sheet (image receiving layer) thin. Therefore, it was difficult to thin the capacitive touch panel. The present invention proposes a high-definition electrostatic printing method that solves the above problems.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0010] According to one aspect of the present invention, the master plate is composed of a first electrode having uniform conductivity over the entire surface, and a plate layer that is integrally adhered on the first electrode and made of a material having an appropriate uniform thickness, and a relief or intaglio or gravure plate-like pattern is formed in the plate layer. The image receiving sheet is composed of a second electrode and an image receiving layer laminated on the second electrode and separable from the second electrode. By bringing the image receiving layer of the image receiving sheet into close contact with the plate layer of the master plate and applying an appropriate voltage sufficient to discharge the voids of the relief or intaglio or gravure plate-like pattern between the first electrode of the master plate and the second electrode of the image receiving sheet, a high-definition electrostatic printing method is provided, which is characterized in that an electrostatic pattern corresponding to the relief or intaglio or gravure plate-like pattern is formed on the image receiving layer of the image receiving sheet. The electrostatic pattern on the image receiving layer becomes a visible pattern by being developed with charged particles. When the charged particles are electroplatable particles, after development with the charged particles, an electroplating process is performed to form a high-definition electrode circuit pattern on the image receiving layer. The image receiving layer on which the high-definition electrode circuit pattern is formed is peeled off from the second electrode and used for a capacitive touch panel, so there is no problem of a decrease in the sensitivity of the capacitive touch panel, and the thinning of the capacitive touch panel can be achieved.

[0011] For easy understanding of the above-described configuration and the process of forming the electrostatic pattern, it will be described with reference to the basic concept diagram of FIG. 1. FIG. 1(A) shows the configurations of the original plate 10 and the image receiving sheet 20. The original plate 10 is composed of an electrode 11 and a plate layer 12 in the form of a relief plate, an intaglio plate, or a gravure plate. The image receiving sheet 20 on which the electrostatic pattern is formed is composed of an electrode 21 and an image receiving layer 22 that can be peeled off from the electrode 21. FIG. 1(B) shows a configuration in which the plate layer 12 of the original plate 10 and the image receiving layer 22 of the image receiving sheet 20 are opposed and brought into close contact with each other. A DC voltage is applied between the electrode 11 of the original plate 10 and the electrode 21 of the image receiving sheet 20 to discharge the gas in the gaps 12a and 12b of the concave portions of the plate layer 12, and shows the step of attaching ionized ions onto the image receiving layer 22 of the image receiving sheet 20. FIG. 1(C) shows that the image receiving sheet 20 is peeled off from the original plate 10, and an electrostatic pattern corresponding to the gaps 12a and 12b of the concave portions of the plate layer 12 is formed on the image receiving layer 22.

Advantages of the Invention

[0012] The basis of the present invention is an electrostatic pattern created only by discharge ions in patterned, sealed, and limited voids without using peel-off discharge, enabling high-definition printing without the spread of charged ions on the image receiving layer. Also, by changing only the depth of the engraving, electrostatic patterns with different charge amounts can be obtained while maintaining the high definition of the pattern on the image receiving layer. The electrostatic pattern on the image receiving layer becomes a visible pattern by developing with charged particles. When the charged particles are electroplatable particles, after development with the charged particles, an electroplating process is performed to form a high-definition electrode circuit pattern on the image receiving layer. The image receiving layer on which the high-definition electrode circuit pattern is formed is peeled off from the second electrode and used for a capacitive touch panel, so there is no problem of a decrease in the sensitivity of the capacitive touch panel, and the thinning of the capacitive touch panel can be realized.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0013]

Figure 1(A)

Figure 1(B)

Figure 1(C)

Figure 2(A)

Figure 2(B)

Figure 3

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0014] The basic configuration and the basic process of forming an electrostatic pattern in the present invention are as shown in FIG. 1. The image receiving sheet 20 is composed of an electrode 21 and an image receiving layer 22 laminated on the electrode 21 and peelable from the electrode 21. In order to make the image receiving layer 22 peelable from the electrode 21, an adhesion treatment is applied to the surface of the image receiving layer 22 in contact with the electrode 21 or the surface of the electrode 21 in contact with the image receiving layer 22. As a method of the adhesion treatment, a method of providing an adhesive layer 23 between the image receiving layer 22 and the electrode 21 by a lamination method, a coating method, etc. can be mentioned. Examples of the material constituting the adhesive layer 23 include urethane adhesives, acrylic adhesives, and silicone adhesives. The adhesive force when peeling the image receiving layer 22 from the electrode 21 is preferably 0.01 to 0.3 N / 25 mm. When the adhesive force is less than 0.01 N / 25 mm, a gap may occur between the image receiving layer 22 and the electrode 21 in the process of applying the contact voltage between the original plate and the image receiving sheet, and there is a risk that the target electrostatic pattern may not be formed. Also, when the adhesive force exceeds 0.3 N / 25 mm, it becomes difficult to peel the image receiving layer 22 from the electrode 21, and there is a risk of breakage or wrinkles occurring in the image receiving layer 22 during peeling.

[0015] Since the image receiving layer 22 needs to hold static electricity, it needs to have high electrical insulation. Films such as polyimide, polycarbonate, PET (polyethylene terephthalate), cycloolefin polymer, cycloolefin copolymer, and fluororesin can be used as the image receiving layer 22. The thickness of the image receiving layer 22 is preferably 5 to 125 μm. When the thickness is less than 5 μm, handling after peeling from the electrode 22 is difficult. Also, when the thickness exceeds 125 μm, it is disadvantageous in terms of thinning the capacitive touch panel. Also, it is necessary to consider the relative dielectric constant of the image receiving layer 22 and the applied voltage during the formation of the electrostatic pattern depending on the purpose of use.

[0016] The electrode 21 needs to be conductive in order to play a role in supplying an electric field. Examples of conductive materials include metals, conductive oxides, carbon, graphite, conductive polymers, etc. However, it is necessary to make the imaging layer 22 separable from the electrode 21. A configuration in which the imaging layer 22 is laminated on a conductive layer such as a metal foil and the conductive layer is used as the electrode 21 can be considered. Alternatively, a configuration in which the imaging layer 22 is laminated on the conductive layer of a conductive layer-attached sheet in which a conductive layer such as a metal film, a conductive oxide film, or a conductive polymer film is provided in advance on a sheet of an electrically insulating material, and the conductive layer is used as the electrode 21 may also be acceptable.

[0017] The original plate 10 is composed of an electrode 11 and a plate layer 12. The electrode 11 only needs to have the conductivity necessary for the discharge of the voids in the plate layer 12. Depending on the process speed of the system, there is no problem if the resistivity is 10 to the 6th power Ωcm or less, and it is even better if it is 10 to the 4th power Ωcm or less. The electrode 11 may be composed of any conductive material such as metals, conductive oxides, carbon, graphite, conductive polymers, etc. Alternatively, it may be a sputtered metal film or conductive oxide film on the surface of glass or plastic, or a coated conductive polymer film. Also, there is no functional problem in providing a treatment layer on the surface of the electrode 11 for the purpose of improving the adhesion to the plate layer 12 or preventing the change of the electrode 11 itself over time.

[0018] The material of the plate layer 12 may be any of a conductor, a semiconductor, and an insulator. There may be cases where the electrode 11 and the plate layer 12 are integrated, such as in the case of laser processing of metallic copper in a gravure plate or in electroforming manufacturing methods, but there is no problem. When the plate layer 12 is an insulator, generally, a photoresist is coated on the surface of the base material (here, the electrode 11), or a dry film photoresist is pasted, exposed to ultraviolet light through a pattern mask and then developed, and the remaining photoresist material can be used as the plate layer 12. Alternatively, a conductor or semiconductor base material may be engraved with an etching solution and that part may be used as the plate layer 12.

[0019] Regarding the width and depth of the engraving of the printing plate layer 12, there are limitations depending on the material of the printing plate layer and its processing method. Regarding the minimum depth, it is limited by the amount of discharge ions generated in the voids. Currently, about 3 μm seems to be the limit considering the developing ability of the toner. However, this may not be the case in the future if a toner that can be developed sufficiently even with a small amount of charge is developed.

[0020] To increase the service life of the original plate 10, it is effective to provide a coating 13 on the surface of the electrode 11 as shown in Fig. 2(A) or to provide a coating 14 on the entire original plate as shown in Fig. 2(B), and there are no problems in terms of electrostatic characteristics.

[0021] Since the electrostatic pattern is formed by the discharge charges in the gap between the original plate 10 and the image receiving sheet 20, it is basically configured with the concave part of the plate as the target pattern. However, since the electrostatic pattern becomes apparent by developing with charged particles called toner, so-called negative-positive development of electrophotography technology can be performed, and toner can be attached to the part corresponding to the convex part of the plate. Therefore, it is also possible to handle the convex part as the target pattern. Also, the discharge amount in the gap is determined by the depth of the gap for the same applied voltage. The shallower the gap, the smaller the discharge amount, and as a result, the toner adhesion amount is also limited. Therefore, printing with the same effect as conventional gravure printing is possible.

[0022] The situation where the gap discharges can be roughly calculated from Paschen's law. Fig. 3 shows a diagram with the horizontal axis representing the gap distance and the vertical axis representing the gap discharge start voltage, depicting the Paschen curve of air at atmospheric pressure. The minimum value of the curve is around a gap distance of about 5 μm, and it is said that the gap discharge start voltage for a gap distance of 8 μm or more can be represented by a straight line curve, approximated by the following formula with the gap distance: d (μm) and the gap discharge start voltage: Vb (V). Vb = 312 + 6.2d (1) If the gap distance is set to 20 μm, the breakdown voltage of the gap discharge is 436 V. That is, when an external voltage of 436 V or higher is applied to the gap, discharge occurs and ions are generated. The generated ions move according to the electric field. The positive ions move towards the negative electrode, and the negative ions move towards the positive electrode. The imaging layer 22 is charged by the ions, and the ions act in a direction to weaken the electric field in the gap. And when the voltage applied to the gap reaches the breakdown voltage of the gap discharge, which is 436 V, the discharge ends.

[0023] An example of an intaglio plate will be described. In Fig. 1(B), the imaging layer 22 is made of PET with a thickness of 25 μm, and the adhesive layer 23 is made of an acrylic adhesive with a thickness of 20 μm. The original plate 10 is an intaglio plate, and the thickness of the plate layer 12 and the depth of the gap 12a in the recess are both 20 μm. Assume a case where the electrode 11 of the original plate 10 is at the ground potential and a voltage of +1250 V is applied to the electrode 21 of the imaging sheet 20. When converting to the equivalent air thickness with the relative permittivity of PET being about 3.3 and the relative permittivity of the acrylic adhesive being about 3.3, they correspond to about 7.6 μm and about 6.1 μm respectively. Therefore, the voltage applied to the 20-μm gap is 1250×20÷(20 + 7.6 + 6.1) V = 742 V. Since it is larger than the breakdown voltage of the 20-μm gap, which is 436 V, obtained from Equation (1), discharge ions are generated in the gap. The negative ions move towards the electrode 21 and charge the imaging layer 22, and the positive ions flow to the electrode 11. When the imaging layer 22 is charged to -(742 - 436) = -306 V, the electric field applied to the gap reaches the breakdown voltage of 436 V, so the discharge stops. After that, when the applied power supply is turned off, the electrode 21 of the imaging sheet 20 is set to 0 V, and then the imaging sheet 20 is peeled off from the original plate 10, an electrostatic pattern charged to -306 V corresponding to the gap of the intaglio plate is formed on the imaging layer 22. The reason for setting the electrode 21 to 0 V before peeling is to provide a condition where no peeling discharge occurs in any part of the entire surface. The electrostatic pattern on the imaging layer 22 becomes a visible pattern by developing with charged particles. When the charged particles are electroplatable particles, after developing with the charged particles, an electroplating process is performed, and a high-precision electrode circuit pattern is formed on the imaging layer 22. The imaging layer 22 on which the high-precision electrode circuit pattern is formed is peeled off from the electrode 21 and used for a capacitive touch panel.

[0024] The original plate was actually produced as follows. The electrode 11 was formed by sputtering an ITO film on a float glass plate with a thickness of 2 mm. Next, a dry film resist was pasted on the electrode 11, and after overlaying a mask for the electrode circuit pattern for the touch panel (wiring electrode part L / S = 100 / 100, mesh electrode part line width 5 μm) and performing ultraviolet exposure and then development, the original plate was produced by forming a plate layer (intaglio plate) 12 made of photoresist. The image receiving sheet was produced as follows. The electrode 21 was formed by sputtering an ITO film on a PET film with a thickness of 125 μm. Next, an adhesive layer 23 with a thickness of 20 μm was coated on the electrode 21. Subsequently, a PET film with a thickness of 25 μm was laminated as the image receiving layer 22 on the adhesive layer 23 to produce an image receiving sheet in which the image receiving layer 22 can be peeled off from the electrode 21. With both electrodes of the original plate and the image receiving sheet in a state of 0 V, the plate layer of the original plate and the image receiving layer of the image receiving sheet were aligned and adhered with a suction adhesion device, 1250 V same as described above was applied between the electrode 11 of the original plate and the electrode 21 of the image receiving sheet, and then it was returned to 0 V and peeled off. Then, after developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the image receiving layer 22 with developable charged particles, electroless copper plating was performed. An accurate image reproduction of the copper electrode circuit pattern for the touch panel (wiring electrode part L / S = 100 / 100, mesh electrode part line width 5 μm) was obtained on the image receiving layer 22. Also, when the same image output experiment as described above was conducted using an all-nickel original plate made by electroforming, the image of the recesses was accurately developed, and no trace of fogging, that is, no pattern in the parts other than the recess images, was seen, and it was confirmed that there was no charging in the part where the metal was adhered to the image receiving sheet.

[0025] An example of a relief plate will be described. When the same conditions as in the example of the intaglio plate described above are given and the same process is passed through, an electrostatic pattern in which the part corresponding to the voids of the relief plate is charged to -306 V will be formed. When developed with positive toner used in electrophotography technology in the next process, a negative visible image will be obtained.

[0026] An example of a gravure plate will be described. Similar to the example of the intaglio plate described above, the thickness of the entire plate and the depth of the gap 12a are both 20 μm. In terms of the image, when the depth of the shallow engraved part corresponding to the halftone, i.e., the gap 12b, is 10 μm, if the material of the plate layer is a conductor or a semiconductor, the gap is calculated as 10 μm using the same calculation method as in the case of the intaglio plate described above. The discharge start voltage is 374 V, the voltage applied to the gap is 527 V, and an electrostatic pattern of -153 V can be formed on the image receiving layer 22. Thus, by creating differences in the engraving depth on the same plate, it becomes possible to express intermediate tones.

[0027] When the material of the plate layer is an insulator, the bottom surface of the engraved recess is charged, so the amount of charge on the image receiving layer 22 is different. Since the depth of the gap 12b is the same, the discharge start voltage is also 374 V. However, since the voltage applied to the gap 12b includes the 10 μm of the lower part of the gap in the plate layer, when the relative permittivity of the plate layer is also 3.3, it becomes 1250×10 / (10 + 7.6 + 6.1 + 3) = 468 V. When a voltage corresponding to -(468 - 374) = -94 V is applied to the gap 12b, the discharge stops. The amount of positive and negative ions generated by the discharge is the same. The negative ions are charged on the image receiving layer 22, and the positive ions are charged on the bottom surface of the engraved recess of the plate layer. Therefore, the generated voltage is the ratio of the capacitances of the respective insulators (i.e., the ratio of the thicknesses in terms of air), and the image receiving layer 22 is charged to -77 V, and the plate layer 12 below the gap 12b is charged to +17 V. The charge on the plate layer 12 can be removed by an AC corona discharger or the like before the next printing. Since the amount of toner adhesion changes depending on the charge amount of the image receiving layer, even with the same engraving depth due to the difference in the material of the plate layer of the gravure plate as described above, the charging values are different, but the same gravure printing effect as in conventional printing can be obtained.

[0028] Before the image receiving sheet is brought into close contact with the original plate, pre-charging can be performed on the image receiving sheet, and two effects can be obtained. The first is that uniform adhesion can be obtained, and it may be possible to eliminate the mechanical pressing force from the back. However, the charging value must be a value at which no discharge occurs in the gap until the image receiving sheet is brought close to and in contact with the original plate. For example, in the case where the thickness of the plate layer 12 of the original plate is 20 μm, the thickness of the image receiving layer 22 is 25 μm, and the thickness of the adhesive layer 23 is 20 μm, the charging value only needs to be smaller than the discharge starting voltage of 436 V of the air layer 20 μm. And this value is sufficient to adsorb the image receiving sheet. The second is that the electric field at the developing stage becomes larger, and the developing efficiency is improved. Since the adsorption effect of pre-charging is the same regardless of the polarity, it is important to perform pre-charging with the same polarity as the polarity applied to the electrode 21 of the image receiving sheet when forming the electrostatic pattern. Assuming the case of the gravure example mentioned above, +1250 V is applied to the electrode 21 of the image receiving sheet, so the pre-charging of the image receiving sheet is charged to about +350 V with a margin that does not cause discharge. And the formed electrostatic pattern has the same charge of -306 V regardless of the pre-charging, so as a result, a signal of 656 V is developed, and a developing effect more than doubled can be obtained. Since this effect is large, it is worthwhile to perform it even when the pre-charging value is low and the adsorption effect is small in relation to the discharge starting voltage.

[0029] When the image receiving layer 22 is used for a capacitive touch panel after being peeled off from the electrode 21, the image receiving layer 22 needs to be transparent, but the electrode 21 and the adhesive layer 23 do not necessarily have to be transparent. When the image receiving layer 22 is thin, by laminating the image receiving layer 22 on the conductive layer of the conductive layer-attached sheet and using the conductive layer as the electrode 21, rigidity can be given to the entire image receiving sheet, and the handling property can be improved.

[0030] For the formation of the electrostatic pattern, the original plate 10 and the image receiving sheet 20 need to be in close contact. When the original 10 is flat, a method of forming a static electricity pattern may be used in which the original 10 and the image-receiving sheet 20 are pressed together, a voltage is applied between the electrodes 11 and 21, and the original 10 and the image-receiving sheet 20 are separated. In this case, the image-receiving sheet 20 in the form of a sheet may be transported in sequence to a position facing the original 10, or the image-receiving sheet 20 that has been unwound from a roll and developed into a strip shape may be transported in sequence to a position facing the original 10 at a location where a static electricity pattern is to be formed, and the above-mentioned operations may be performed. When the master 10 is in the form of a drum and the image-receiving sheet is in the form of a roll, the above-mentioned operations may be carried out while the image-receiving sheet 20 is continuously conveyed onto the master 10 in a roll-to-roll manner. [Explanation of symbols]

[0031] 10 Original version 11 Master electrode 12 plate layers 12a void 12b void 13 Coating of electrode 11 14 Coating of the entire master 10 20 Receiving sheet 21 Electrode of the image receiving sheet 22 Receiving layer 23 Adhesive layer

Claims

1. The original plate is composed of a first electrode having uniform conductivity over the entire surface, and a plate layer made of an electrically insulating, conductive, or semiconductive material that adheres integrally to the first electrode and has an appropriate uniform thickness, and a relief plate, intaglio plate, or gravure plate-like pattern is formed on the plate layer. The image receiving sheet is composed of a second electrode and an image receiving layer laminated on the second electrode via an adhesive layer having a peel strength of 0.01 to 0.3 N / 25 mm and peelable from the second electrode. A high-definition electrostatic printing method, characterized in that the plate layer of the original plate and the image receiving layer of the image receiving sheet are brought into close contact, and an appropriate voltage sufficient to discharge the voids of the relief plate, intaglio plate, or gravure plate-like pattern is applied between the first electrode of the original plate and the second electrode of the image receiving sheet, thereby forming an electrostatic pattern corresponding to the relief plate, intaglio plate, or gravure plate-like pattern on the image receiving layer of the image receiving sheet.

2. A high-definition electrostatic printing method, characterized in that, in the high-definition electrostatic printing method according to Claim 1, the image receiving sheet is pre-charged before the image receiving sheet is brought into close contact with the original plate.

3. A high-definition electrostatic printing method, characterized in that, in the high-definition electrostatic printing method according to any one of Claims 1 to 2, the electrostatic pattern formed on the image receiving sheet is developed with charged particles using a dry development method or a wet development method in electrophotography.

4. A high-definition electrostatic printing method, characterized in that the charged particles according to Claim 3 are electroplatable particles.

5. The high-definition electrostatic printing method according to any one of Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the electrostatic pattern is for manufacturing an electrode circuit pattern of a touch panel.

6. The high-definition electrostatic printing method according to any one of Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the image receiving layer is peeled off from the image receiving sheet, and a touch panel is manufactured using the image receiving layer.

Images