JPH02153751A - Printing method and printing apparatus employed therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a clear printing image by heating a thermal transfer recording medium extended in a direction to which it is fed into a thermal head by said thermal head and peeling a to-be-transferred medium from said recording medium. CONSTITUTION:A thermal transfer recording medium 4 is transferred between a thermal head 3 and a platen 6 while the tension thereof is adjusted in the section of two expanding means 1. A medium 5 to be transferred is, while it is being guided by a transfer paper guide part 8, transferred between the thermal head 3 and platen 6 in a confronting manner to the side of an ink layer of the thermal medium 4 by the platen 6 so that it is tightly adhered to the ink layer of the medium 4. Then, the thermal head 3 partially heats the ink layer of the medium 4 with application of thermal pulses from the side of a support body of the medium 4. Accordingly, the ink layer is quickly softened and adhered and transferred onto the to-be-transferred medium 5. Simultaneously when the ink layer is adhered to the medium 5, a peeling means 2 transfers the medium 5. Therefore, an interfacial separation of the ink layer of the thermal transfer recording medium and support body is never brought about, whereby a clear delustered image easy to recognize can be formed.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Application in the TF Industry 1 This invention relates to a printing method and a printing device used therein, and more specifically, to a printing method that can be widely used in, for example, office peripheral equipment, terminals of information transmission equipment, etc. Regarding printers that can be used.

[Prior Art and Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Printing methods in which a thermal transfer recording medium is heated by a thermal head and an ink layer of the thermal transfer recording medium is transferred to a transfer medium have been developed in recent years, such as word processors and personal computers. It is widely used as a peripheral device for devices such as computers, large computer terminals, and information transmission equipment terminals such as facsimiles.

The printing method adopted for these is usually to bring a thermal transfer recording medium into close contact with a medium to be transferred, and then to heat the ink layer of the thermal transfer recording medium with a thermal head from the side of the thermal transfer recording medium. Welded to the transfer medium,
The thermal transfer recording medium is peeled off from the transfer medium and a desired print image is transferred onto the transfer medium.

However, in the conventional printing method, in order to transfer the ink layer to the transfer medium, the thermal transfer recording medium is peeled off from the transfer medium, so stress generated at the time of peeling and the structure for peeling are required. Due to this method, the thermal transfer recording medium may be bent and rubbed considerably, resulting in wrinkles, distortions, etc. on the thermal transfer recording medium.

Note that the wrinkles may cause jamming in the thermal transfer recording medium, and the distortions may promote peeling at the interface between the support of the thermal transfer recording medium and the ink layer. Since this inhibits the cohesive failure and peeling of the film, it has the disadvantage of forming a glossy image that is difficult to read.

Furthermore, when using a thermal transfer recording medium that has a multi-layered ink layer structure and is capable of printing multiple times, each ink layer does not peel off sequentially, but peels off at the interface with the support, resulting in multiple This has the disadvantage that printing is obstructed.

This invention has been made based on the above circumstances.

An object of the present invention is to be able to obtain clear printed images without causing wrinkles or distortions on the thermal transfer recording medium when printing using the thermal transfer recording medium, and to be able to print multiple times. The object of the present invention is to provide a printing method that does not cause interfacial peeling between an ink layer and a support even when a transfer recording medium with a possible multilayer structure is used, and a printing device used in the method.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The invention according to claim 1 for solving the problems described above provides a printing method in which a thermal transfer recording medium is heated by a thermal head to form a printed image on a transfer medium. A printing method characterized in that the thermal transfer recording medium stretched in an extension direction of the direction in which it is fed into the thermal head is heated by the thermal head, and the transfer medium is peeled from the thermal transfer recording medium. be.

The invention according to claim 2 provides a printing device that heats a thermal transfer recording medium in a thermal head and forms a printed image on a transfer medium, in which the thermal transfer recording medium is heated in an extending direction of the direction in which the thermal transfer recording medium is fed into the thermal head. 2. A printing apparatus for use in the printing method according to claim 1, further comprising a tensioning means for tensioning the recording medium, and a peeling means for peeling off the transfer medium from the thermal transfer recording medium heated by the thermal head. be.

[Function] In the printing method of the present invention, a transfer medium is brought into close contact with a thermal transfer recording medium supported with tension, and the thermal head is pressed while pressing the transfer medium from the back surface with a platen as necessary. A heat pulse is applied from the thermal transfer recording medium side to locally heat the ink layer of the thermal transfer recording medium corresponding to desired printing.

The temperature of the heated portion of the ink layer increases, and the ink layer quickly softens and adheres to the transfer medium.

-) Then, at the same time as the adhesion, the print is transferred to the transfer medium by peeling the transfer medium from the thermal transfer recording medium.

According to the printing method of the present invention, since there is no operation of peeling the thermal transfer recording medium from the transfer medium after the adhesion, the thermal transfer recording medium is not bent during the peeling, and as a result, the thermal transfer recording medium is not bent during the peeling. Prevents the generation of wrinkles and distortions in the recording medium, and further prevents interfacial peeling between the support and the ink layer of the thermal transfer recording medium, or between the ink layers when the ink layer has a multilayer structure. .

Further, the printing device of the present invention smoothly implements the printing method.

[Example] Next, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to one drawing, showing an example of a printing method of the present invention and a printing device used therein.

The printing device of the present invention includes a stretching means 1 for stretching a thermal transfer recording medium 4 in an extending direction in the direction in which it is fed into a thermal head 3, and a stretching means 1 for stretching a thermal transfer recording medium 4 heated by the thermal head 3 to a transfer medium 5. and a peeling means 2 for peeling off.

As shown in FIG. 1, the tensioning means 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention uses two rollers to adjust the tension of the thermal transfer recording medium 4 between the rollers.

Further, the peeling means 2 uses a set of rollers to peel off the transfer medium 5.
The transfer medium 5 is separated from the thermal transfer recording medium 4 by holding the transfer medium 5 between them and conveying the transfer medium 5 in the direction of the arrow by rotating the roller.

The thermal transfer recording medium 4 in the printing device of this embodiment
The conveyance path between the transfer medium 5 and the transfer medium 5 will be explained.

The thermal transfer recording medium 4 is carried in from the direction of arrow A and carried out in the direction of arrow B, as shown in FIG.

That is, the thermal transfer recording medium 4 is conveyed out through the space between the thermal head 3 and the platen 6 while the tension is adjusted by the tensioning means 1 to provide tension in the section between the two tensioning means 1.

The thermal transfer recording medium 4 is in contact with the stretching means 1 on the support side of the thermal transfer recording medium 4.

On the other hand, the transfer medium 5 sent out from the transfer medium roll 7 is carried in from the direction of arrow C and carried out in the direction of arrow C.

That is, the transfer medium 5 is conveyed between the thermal head 3 and the platen 6 while facing the ink layer side of the thermal transfer recording medium 4 while being guided by the transfer paper guide section 8, and is then peeled off. The means 2 transports the # marked thermal transfer recording medium 4 in a direction away from it.

Next, the printing process will be explained.

The transfer medium 5 is pressed in the direction of the thermal head 3 by a platen 6 to bring the transfer medium 5 and the ink layer of the thermal transfer recording medium 5 into close contact.

Next, the thermal head 3 applies a heat pulse from the support side of the thermal transfer recording medium 4 to locally heat the ink layer of the thermal transfer recording medium 4 corresponding to desired printing.

The temperature of the heated portion of the ink layer increases, and the ink layer is quickly softened and adhesively transferred onto the transfer medium 5.

Then, at the same time as the adhesion, the peeling means 2 transports the transfer medium 5 in the direction of the arrow in order to peel the transfer medium 5 from the thermal transfer recording medium 4 supported with the tension. do.

The conveyance also has the function of setting a printing space on the transfer medium 5 in preparation for the next printing.

Note that, during the peeling, the platen 6 stops the pressing to smooth the peeling.

On the other hand, the thermal transfer recording medium 4 on which the transfer has been completed is
In preparation for the next printing, the transfer medium 5
and the ink layer of the thermal transfer recording medium 4 are conveyed so as to face each other.

Note that the stretching means that can be employed in the present invention is limited to the roller as long as it is a means that can stretch the thermal transfer recording medium in the extending direction of the direction in which it is fed into the thermal head. isn't it.

The peeling means is not limited to the set of rollers as long as it can peel the transfer medium from the thermal transfer recording medium.

The thermal head is not particularly limited, and thermal heads used in conventional serial printers, line printers, etc. can be suitably used.

The heat-sensitive transfer recording medium is not particularly limited, and a heat-sensitive transfer recording medium in which an ink layer containing a heat-melting substance and a coloring material is provided on a support is usually suitably used.

The support is not particularly limited as long as it has good heat resistance and high dimensional stability, such as paper such as plain paper and capacitor paper, resin films such as polyethylene and polyethylene terephthalate, and aluminum. Examples include metal sheets such as foil.

Note that the structure on the back side of the support is arbitrary, and a backing layer such as a sticking layer may be provided.

Examples of the heat-melting substance include waxes such as vegetable wax, animal wax, petroleum wax, and mineral wax, higher fatty acids, higher alcohols, and higher fatty acid esters.

Examples of the coloring material include inorganic pigments such as carbon black and titanium dioxide, and organic pigments such as azo and thioindigo pigments.

Note that the ink layer may have a single-layer structure or may have a multi-layer structure that allows printing many times.

The shape of the thermal transfer recording medium is not particularly limited as long as it has a shape that can be loaded into the printing device of the present invention, and for example, ribbon-like or sheet-like media can be suitably used.

The transfer medium is not particularly limited as long as a printed image can be formed using the heat-sensitive transfer recording medium, and examples thereof include paper, resin films, metal foils, and the like.

The shape of the transfer medium may be a sheet or a roll in which a transfer medium of the same width is wound around a core.

In any case, there is no particular restriction as long as it has a shape that can be loaded into the printing device of the present invention.

Note that if this printing method is used for facsimile, it is preferable to use a roll of transfer paper.

[Effect of the invention] According to this invention, when forming a printed image.

Since there is no action to peel off the thermal transfer recording medium, and no wrinkles or distortions occur on the thermal transfer recording medium, (1) there is no interfacial peeling between the ink layer of the thermal transfer recording medium and the support; , it is possible to form a matte and clear print image that is easy to read.

(2) Even when using a thermal transfer recording medium with a multi-layer structure that can be printed multiple times, no delamination occurs between the layers, so even if multiple printing is performed, a clear printed image can be obtained each time. It is possible to provide a printing method and a printing device used therewith, which have advantages such as the ability to perform the following steps.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing an embodiment of a printing device of the present invention. Figure 1: Tensioning means, 2: Peeling means. Fist thermal head, ・Thermal transfer recording medium/transfer medium, 6. Fist/platen.・Transfer medium roll ・Transfer medium guide section

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In a printing method in which a thermal transfer recording medium is heated by a thermal head to form a printed image on the transfer medium,
A printing method characterized by heating the thermal transfer recording medium stretched in an extension direction of the direction in which it is fed into the thermal head with the thermal head, and peeling the transfer medium from the thermal transfer recording medium. (2) In a printing device that heats a thermal transfer recording medium using a thermal head and forms a printed image on the transfer medium,
A stretching means for stretching the thermal transfer recording medium in an extending direction of the direction in which it is fed into the thermal head, and a peeling means for peeling the transfer medium from the thermal transfer recording medium heated by the thermal head. A printing device used in the printing method according to claim 1.