EP0028334A2 - Verfahren und Vorrichtung, um Aufzeichnungsmaterial thermographisch zu bebildern - Google Patents

Verfahren und Vorrichtung, um Aufzeichnungsmaterial thermographisch zu bebildern Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0028334A2
EP0028334A2 EP80106260A EP80106260A EP0028334A2 EP 0028334 A2 EP0028334 A2 EP 0028334A2 EP 80106260 A EP80106260 A EP 80106260A EP 80106260 A EP80106260 A EP 80106260A EP 0028334 A2 EP0028334 A2 EP 0028334A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
layer
print head
record medium
medium
resistive layer
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP80106260A
Other languages
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0028334A3 (de
Inventor
Clayton Vance Wilbur
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
International Business Machines Corp
Original Assignee
International Business Machines Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by International Business Machines Corp filed Critical International Business Machines Corp
Publication of EP0028334A2 publication Critical patent/EP0028334A2/de
Publication of EP0028334A3 publication Critical patent/EP0028334A3/de
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/315—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective application of heat to a heat sensitive printing or impression-transfer material
    • B41J2/32—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective application of heat to a heat sensitive printing or impression-transfer material using thermal heads
    • B41J2/325—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective application of heat to a heat sensitive printing or impression-transfer material using thermal heads by selective transfer of ink from ink carrier, e.g. from ink ribbon or sheet

Definitions

  • the invention relates to non-impact printing apparatus and methods and is more particularly concerned with methods and apparatus for thermally marking a record medium.
  • U.S. patent No. 3744611 discloses an electro-thermic printing device in which a transfer medium is interposed between a print head and the record medium.
  • the print head comprises a plurality of L-shaped electrodes the shorter legs of which pass through a slot in a plate, with clearance, and contact the transfer medium. By applying a voltage between selected electrodes and the plate, heating currents can be established in the transfer medium to cause selective marking of the record medium.
  • Montanari discloses a transfer medium comprising three layers.
  • the intermediate layer comprises a flexible insulating substrate coated with a resistive layer on the side facing the print head and with a thermotransferable ink layer on the side facing the record medium e.g. paper.
  • the intermediate layer comprises a flexible highly conductive substrate.
  • the conductive substrate is necessary to form areas of high current concentration in order better to define the recording marks.
  • U .S. Patents 3,989,131 and 3,967,092 disclose a print head having buttons of resistive material deposited at discrete aligned points. The buttons are selectively heated by applying current to selected orthogonally arranged flat conductors supported on an insulated surface of the print head.
  • a somewhat analogous arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Patent 3,855,448 wherein a print head has a series of resistive buttons that are selectively heated to apply heat through a heat-resistant layer to a thermally transferable layer for imaging a record.
  • repeated heating of the relatively small buttons on the print heads results in greatly shortened head life because the resistive heating elements or buttons deteriorate quickly as a result of heating and abrasion.
  • U . S . Patents, 3,719,261 and 3,857,470 and 3,995,729 are illustrative of thermal eletric printing apparatus and methods employing conductive printing ink.
  • U.S. Patent 3,719,261 discloses a printing arrangement employing an endless tape coated with a highly conductive particulate material, such as copper, dispersed in a liquid ink. A plurality of conductor elements are embedded in the tape and arranged in a dot matrix pattern.
  • a plurality of widely spaced electrodes are also provided in a print head and selectively energizable to cause current to flow between selected pairs of electrodes via corresponding selected conductor elements and thereby heat and melt the conductive ink to effect localized transfer of ink to a record medium.
  • thermal printers and the methods of thermal printing known heretofore have had disadvantages and wide-spread every day usage has not occured for one reason or another.
  • none of the prior art arrangements discussed herein has been used commerically to the Applicants knowledge. Accordingly it is an object of the Applicants invention to provide a commercially acceptable method of thermal printing and apparatus for performing that method.
  • the Applicant's invention provides a method of thermally marking a record medium comprising interposing a transfer medium between a print head and the record medium and selectively establishing heating currents in the transfer medium to cause selective transferance of thermally transferable material from the transfer medium to the record medium, said method being characterised by the use in combination of a transfer medium consisting only of a resistive layer in contiguous surface contact with a layer comprising the thermally transferable material, with a print head comprising a group of selectively and individually energisable electrodes and a common return conductor/elec- trically contacting the resistive layer for heating current flow therebetween solely by way of and through the resistive layer.
  • the Applicant's invention also provides apparatus for thermally marking a record medium using a transfer medium consisting only of a resistive layer in contiguous surface contact with a layer comprising a thermally transferable material, said apparatus comprising means for supporting a record medium to be marked, a thermal print head disposed at a record marking station, means for supporting the transfer medium with a portion thereof interposed between the print head and a supported record medium and said apparatus being characterised in that the print head comprises a group of electrodes embedded in a layer of insulating material secured to a block of conducting material forming a common return current path for heating currents established, in use, in the resistive layer of the transfer medium between selected electrodes and the common return conductor, and means for selectively establishing heating current flow between individual electrodes and the common conductor.
  • the printing apparatus embodying the invention is shown illustratively associated with a typewriter-like printing apparatus 10 comprising a conventional keyboard 11.
  • the keyboard controls, by means of a coding device (not shown) of known type, a print head 12.
  • Print head 12 is mounted in a carriage 13 that is movable transversely of apparatus 10 but parallel to the feed path of a ribbon 14.
  • Print head 12 presses ribbon 14 against a record medium 15 that is backed up by a platen 16.
  • ribbon 14 is unwound from a supply reel 17 and wound onto a take-up reel 18, and record medium 15 is fed upwardly in a direction at right angles to the directions of movement of ribbon 14 and print head 12.
  • print head 12 comprises a relatively thin insulating layer 19 that is interposed between and bonded to facing flat surfaces of two rectangular plate-like elements 20, 21.
  • a plurality of printing electrodes 22 are embedded within insulating layer 19 such that the tip ends 22a (FIG. 3) of the electrodes are vertically spaced equal distances apart and exposed through the active end 12a of the print head; i.e., the end which contacts the resistive ribbon 14.
  • ribbon 14 consists solely of a resistive layer 23 and a layer 24 of thermally transferable marking material, such as heat fusible ink or the like.
  • the active end 12a of print head 12 presses against resistive layer 23 with a force sufficient to maintain layer 24 in effective contact with the record medium 15 while it is backstopped in contact with platen 16.
  • the printing electrodes 22 are connected to, and selectively energizable by, any suitable means.
  • this energizing means is depicted as a plurality of selectively closable switches 25 (one for each electrode 22) connected to a common voltage source 26.
  • a desired pattern, such as 27, can be imprinted on the record medium.
  • the configuration of print head 12, as above described permits high resolution imprinting on a record medium by use of a ribbon that consists solely of a resistive layer that contacts the print head and a thermally transferable layer that contacts the record medium.
  • the printing electrodes 22 are so disposed and embedded in the insulating layer 19 as to be separated from the adjacent flat surface of element 20 by a distance X.
  • This distance X should not exceed the distance between adjacent printing electrodes 22 in order to insure high resolution printing by minimizing the degree of overlap of the respective spot images 15a.
  • This distance X is preferably of the order of about 0.5 mil.
  • the resistivity of the resistive layer 23 of ribbon 14 is preferably of the order of about 0.5 to 1.0 ohm-centimeter.
  • elements 20, 21 preferably are bevelled, chamfered or rounded such that they are of minimum width adjacent their respective active ends to minimize abrasion of the ribbon 14.
  • print head 12 may, if preferred, be used with equal effectiveness with a ribbon consisting solely of a resistive layer (like 23) if the record medium is of the thermally sensitive type.
  • the printing apparatus comprises a print head that provides a return path in close proximity to the printing electrodes so that the current path is short and insures localized heating of the resistive layer. This provides good printing resolution without the necessity of a conductive layer in the ribbon.

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  • Electronic Switches (AREA)
EP80106260A 1979-11-01 1980-10-15 Verfahren und Vorrichtung, um Aufzeichnungsmaterial thermographisch zu bebildern Withdrawn EP0028334A3 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US9083179A 1979-11-01 1979-11-01
US90831 1993-07-12

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0028334A2 true EP0028334A2 (de) 1981-05-13
EP0028334A3 EP0028334A3 (de) 1982-12-29

Family

ID=22224529

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP80106260A Withdrawn EP0028334A3 (de) 1979-11-01 1980-10-15 Verfahren und Vorrichtung, um Aufzeichnungsmaterial thermographisch zu bebildern

Country Status (1)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0028334A3 (de)

Cited By (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4345845A (en) * 1981-06-19 1982-08-24 International Business Machines Corporation Drive circuit for thermal printer
DE3222847A1 (de) * 1981-06-19 1983-01-13 Ricoh Co., Ltd., Tokyo Aufzeichnungsvorrichtung
DE3237975A1 (de) * 1981-10-13 1983-04-28 Ricoh Co., Ltd., Tokyo Elektrothermischer mehrstift-aufzeichnungskopf
DE3338722A1 (de) * 1982-10-26 1984-05-03 Victor Company Of Japan, Ltd., Yokohama, Kanagawa Tintenuebertragungs-thermodrucker mit hohem aufloesungsvermoegen
EP0067953A3 (en) * 1981-06-22 1985-04-17 International Business Machines Corporation Electrothermal printing apparatus
EP0313778A3 (en) * 1987-10-30 1990-06-06 International Business Machines Corporation Production of printing master plate or printed circuit board
US5079566A (en) * 1989-10-11 1992-01-07 Ricoh Company, Ltd. Printing apparatus with a printhead having stratified recording electrodes, return electrode and preheating electrode for use with resistive thermal transfer ribbon

Family Cites Families (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE2100611C3 (de) * 1970-01-09 1978-05-03 Ing. C. Olivetti & C., S.P.A., Ivrea, Turin (Italien) Elektrothermische Druckvorrichtung
CA1035410A (en) * 1974-02-18 1978-07-25 Ing. C. Olivetti And C., S.P.A. Electrothermal printing unit

Cited By (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4345845A (en) * 1981-06-19 1982-08-24 International Business Machines Corporation Drive circuit for thermal printer
DE3222847A1 (de) * 1981-06-19 1983-01-13 Ricoh Co., Ltd., Tokyo Aufzeichnungsvorrichtung
EP0067953A3 (en) * 1981-06-22 1985-04-17 International Business Machines Corporation Electrothermal printing apparatus
DE3237975A1 (de) * 1981-10-13 1983-04-28 Ricoh Co., Ltd., Tokyo Elektrothermischer mehrstift-aufzeichnungskopf
DE3338722A1 (de) * 1982-10-26 1984-05-03 Victor Company Of Japan, Ltd., Yokohama, Kanagawa Tintenuebertragungs-thermodrucker mit hohem aufloesungsvermoegen
US4558328A (en) * 1982-10-26 1985-12-10 Victor Company Of Japan, Ltd. High resolution thermal ink transfer printer
EP0313778A3 (en) * 1987-10-30 1990-06-06 International Business Machines Corporation Production of printing master plate or printed circuit board
US5079566A (en) * 1989-10-11 1992-01-07 Ricoh Company, Ltd. Printing apparatus with a printhead having stratified recording electrodes, return electrode and preheating electrode for use with resistive thermal transfer ribbon

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP0028334A3 (de) 1982-12-29

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Inventor name: WILBUR, CLAYTON VANCE