JPH0222084A - Thermal transfer recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To keep high-grade recording even when an ink film is thermally deformed into an uneven shape by a thermal head by providing a release member having recessed and protruding parts formed to the surface thereof on the downstream side in the moving direction of the ink film from the thermal head. CONSTITUTION:Even when ink films 6-8 are heated by thermal heads 3 -5 to be deformed into an uneven state, friction forces are generated between the uneven surfaces of release rollers 18-20 provided on the downstream side of the thermal heads 3-5 and the ink films 6-8. The shift of the ink films 6-8 in the lateral direction thereof with respect to the release rollers 18-20 is prevented by said friction forces. Further, the slackening of the recessed and protruding parts of the ink films is received in the recessed and protruding parts of the release rollers 18-20. As a result, the generation of wrinkles by the superposition of the recessed and protruding parts of the ink films can be prevented and the state bringing about recording inferiority by wrinkles is prevented and high-grade recording can be kept even when the ink films are thermally deformed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording device that performs recording by melting or sublimating the ink on an ink film with a thermal head, and in particular, the present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording device that performs recording by melting or sublimating ink on an ink film with a thermal head. This eliminates any negative effects on the parts.

As shown in FIG. 11, a conventional thermal transfer recording device transfers ink from an ink film 35 sent from a supply roll 33 to a take-up roll 34 to a recording paper 32 that is transported as a platen roller 31 rotates. The structure is such that recording is performed by transferring the image using a thermal head 36. An ink film 3 before recording is placed on the upstream and downstream sides of the recording section composed of the platen roller 31 and the thermal head 36.
5 along the recording paper 32, and the ink film 35 after recording
A cylindrical guide roller 37 that separates the paper from the recording paper 32
．． 38 are provided respectively.

However, thermal transfer recording devices generally perform recording by melting or sublimating ink in an ink film and transferring it onto recording paper. Among these, the sublimation type allows recording while controlling the amount of dye transferred to the surface of the recording paper, and has the feature of improving the recording quality of halftone images.

However, in the case of the sublimation type thermal transfer recording device, the energy applied to the thermal head must be increased in order to sublimate the ink, but in order to perform recording with the same energy, the base film made of synthetic resin must be melted. It must be thinner than the molded one. For this reason, when a thin base film is heated by a thermal head during recording, it undergoes many thermal deformations in the form of waves, and as shown in FIG. 2, many irregularities are formed on the ink film after recording.

However, in the conventional thermal transfer recording device described above, since the uneven portion is further pressed by the cylindrical guide roller 38 with a flat surface, the sagging uneven portion is folded over, as shown in FIG. This results in large wrinkles. As shown in FIG. 13, this wrinkle causes a problem in that the trailing edge of the wrinkle extends to the recording area, adversely affecting the adhesion between the ink film 35, the thermal head 36, and the recording paper 32, and reducing the recording quality. There was a point.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a thermal transfer recording device that can avoid recording defects caused by thermal deformation of an ink film, even in a sublimation type thermal transfer recording device. do.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a thermal transfer recording device that transfers ink from a conveyed ink film with a thermal head to record on a recording paper. The present invention is characterized in that a peeling member is provided with unevenness formed thereon.

According to the above configuration, even if unevenness occurs on the ink film after recording, the friction between the unevenness of the peeling member and the ink film not only prevents the ink film from shifting in the width direction of the ink film with respect to the peeling member. Since the slack of the uneven portion of the ink film is accommodated in the uneven portion of the peeling member, it is possible to avoid the occurrence of wrinkles due to the uneven portion of the ink film being folded over, and it is possible to prevent a situation where recording defects due to the influence of wrinkles are prevented.

EXAMPLE 1 Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the main parts of a thermal transfer recording apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure,
1 is a platen roller on which the recording paper 2 is mounted; 3 to 5 are equipped with heating elements (not shown) that generate heat in response to predetermined applied pulses at the tips of each; Thermal head provided with
6 to 8 are the thermal heads 3 to 5 and the platen roller l.
In order to perform multicolor recording using the ink films interposed between the ink film and the ink film, the ink film is composed of a yellow ink film 6, a magenta ink film 7, and a cyan ink film 8 in this order. These ink films 6 to 8 are supplied to a supply roll 9 corresponding to each ink film before recording.
- 11, and is configured to be wound from each supply roll 9-11 to take-up rolls 12-14 via a print recording section composed of a platen roller 1 and thermal heads 3-5.

15 to 17 are guide plates provided between the ink films 6 to 8 and the thermal heads 3 to 5, which are arcuate in side view and guide the feeding of the ink film before recording and adhere to the recording paper 2; , a peeling roller that separates the ink films 6 to 8 after recording from the recording paper 2 on the platen roller 1, and maintains a non-contact state with the platen roller 1 so that the thermal head and the take-up roll are in contact with the back surface of the ink film. In other words, it is rotatably provided while maintaining a slight gap from the circumferential surface of the platen roller 1. This gear is provided to prevent the ink film from coming into contact with the platen roller from the peeling roller excessively.
The thickness may be approximately equal to or greater than the sum of the thickness of the ink film and the thickness of the recording paper. Reference numeral 21 denotes a supply tray 22 for the recording paper 2, which is an ejection tray that stores the recorded recording paper 2.

As shown in FIG. 3, each of the peeling rollers 18 to 20 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and a grid-like groove 23 is formed in a direction oblique to the axial direction of the peeling roller. For example, if the recording paper 2 is A4 size, the peeling rollers 18 to 20 have a length of about 2,501 m and a diameter of 101 m, and are provided with lattice-shaped grooves 23 formed at a pitch of about 1 yen. It is being

Each of the peeling rollers 18 to 20 is rotatable and rotates as the ink film is wound and conveyed. If the peeling roller is fixed, it will interfere with the winding of the ink film, and if it is rotated, it will be very difficult to adjust the roller speed, and if the roller speed is high, it will pull the ink film and cause paper damage. This will adversely affect conveyance, and conversely, if the roller speed is slow, the ink film will become slack. Therefore, it is important to provide the peeling roller in a rotatable manner.

The ink films 6 to 8 are formed of a synthetic resin base film and a sublimable ink layer coated on the surface of the base film, and the ink films 6 to 8 are wound around supply rolls 9 to 11 before recording. ~17, Thermal head 3~5.
It passes through 1180-ra 18-20 and is wound up onto take-up rolls 12-14. The ink films 6 to 8 are taken out from the supply rolls 9 to 11 and wound onto the take-up rolls 12 to 14 from the side closer to the thermal heads 3 to 5. It is now possible to take a large relative angle with 6-8.

In the thermal transfer recording apparatus configured as described above, when a recording operation start button (not shown) is pressed, the platen roller rotates at the same time as the recording paper 2 on the supply tray 21 is taken into the apparatus, and the recording paper 2 is transferred to the yellow ink film 6. The yellow part is recorded by the first thermal head 3. The ink of the ink film 6 is instantaneously sublimated by the heat of the thermal head 3, and a predetermined pattern is recorded on the surface of the recording paper 2. The base film of the ink film 6 is made of synthetic resin and is heated to a temperature at which the ink is sublimated, so that it is thermally deformed into wavy and uneven shapes as shown in FIG.

However, in this embodiment, since the grid-like grooves 23 are formed on the circumferential surface of the peeling roller 18, the recessed portions of the above-mentioned unevenness of the ink film 6 are formed into a grid-like groove as shown in FIG. This prevents the ink film from shifting toward the center of the axis of the peeling roller 18, and prevents wrinkles caused by folding of slack portions.

In this case, the peeling roller 18 rotates following the movement of the ink film and absorbs the slack of the ink film.

Therefore, it is possible to eliminate recording defects in the printed portion caused by wrinkles in the ink film 6 after recording. Note that FIG. 5 shows the ink film 6, thermal head 3, and peeling roller 18.
This figure schematically shows a state in which wrinkles are prevented by arranging them in a straight line.

The recording paper 2 on which yellow has been recorded is conveyed by the platen roller 1, and recording is similarly performed using the magenta ink film 7 and the cyan ink film 8, resulting in color recording. Even in these ink films 7.8, after recording by the thermal heads 4, 5, wrinkles are prevented by the peeling rollers 19, 20, so that clear recording can be performed without recording defects.

Note that the generation of wrinkles in the ink films 6 to 8 before recording is caused by changing the shape of the guide plates 15 to 17 provided on the upstream side of the thermal heads 3 to 5 to the outside along the movement of the ink films 6 to 8, for example. This can be effectively prevented by forming the arc shape as shown in the figure.

FIG. 6 is a front view of peeling rollers 18 to 20 as a second embodiment, in which grid-shaped grooves 23' are formed in the axial direction of the peeling roller and in the conveyance direction on the surface thereof.

FIG. 7 is a front view of a peeling roller installed in a thermal transfer recording apparatus as a third embodiment.

The peeling roller is formed in a cylindrical shape, and a plurality of recesses 40 continuous in the circumferential direction are formed at equal intervals in the axial direction. For example, if the recording paper 2 is A4 size, the peeling rollers 18 to 20 have a length of about 250n and a diameter of 10mm, and a recess is formed in this with a groove width of 2fi and a depth of 0.5m. 23 are provided at intervals of 10 cranes.

Furthermore, FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a peeling roller installed in a thermal transfer recording apparatus as a fourth embodiment of the present invention. The peeling rollers 18 to 20 are characterized by the intervals at which the plurality of recesses 41 are provided. That is, the recessed portions 41 have a structure in which the distance between the recessed portions 41 becomes narrower toward the ends in the width direction of the ink films 6 to 8. Other configurations are
This is similar to the third embodiment described above. The thermal transfer recording apparatus of this third embodiment has an ink film 6 after recording.
In particular, the unevenness caused in ink films 6 to 8
By accommodating the ink films 6 to 8 in a large number of recesses 41 near the ends of the ink films 6 to 8, the slack of the ink films 6 to 8 can be efficiently taken up.

FIG. 9 is a front view of a peeling roller installed in a thermal transfer recording apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. Further, FIG. 10 is a sectional view thereof.

The peeling rollers 18 to 20 are rollers made of iron (aluminum, etc.), and granular sand S, which is a suitable particle, is uniformly dispersed on the surface layer of the roller and is fixed with an adhesive. Therefore, particles adhering to the roller surface sink into the ink film, so that even if the film has a smooth surface, the ink film is prevented from shifting in the axial direction due to friction with the roller. Furthermore, the slack in the uneven portions of the ink film is accommodated between the many particles of the granular sand roller, so that no large wrinkles occur in the ink film.

In the above-mentioned embodiments, a sublimation type thermal transfer recording device is shown as an example, but the same effect can be obtained by implementing the present invention even when the ink film is uneven in a melting type thermal transfer recording device.

As described above, since the present invention is provided with a peeling member having unevenness on the downstream side of the thermal head, even if the ink film is heated by the thermal head and is thermally deformed into an uneven shape, the uneven portion does not peel off. The ink film is accommodated in the unevenness of the member, and the ink film is prevented from shifting in the width direction of the ink film relative to the peeling member, and the ink film does not form large wrinkles when folded, so the wrinkles do not have a negative effect on the recording section and the ink film is prevented from deforming due to heat. It can also support high-quality recording.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a drawing showing an outline of a thermal transfer recording device which is an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a drawing showing the state of wrinkles in an ink film after recording, and Fig. 3 is a drawing showing a peeling roller which is a first embodiment. Figure 4 is a diagram showing a state in which the slack portion of the ink film is accommodated in the grid-like grooves of the peeling roller shown in Figure 3, and the ink film is prevented from shifting in the axial direction of the peeling roller. A drawing schematically showing a state in which an ink film, a thermal head, and a peeling roller are arranged in a straight line to prevent the generation of wrinkles. FIG. 6 is a drawing of a peeling roller that is an example of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2. FIG. FIG. 9 is a drawing of a peeling roller that is a third embodiment, FIG. 9 is a drawing of a peeling roller that is a fifth embodiment, FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a peeling roller that is a fifth embodiment, and FIG. 11 is a conventional Figure 12 is a drawing showing a schematic configuration of an example thermal transfer recording device, FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an ink film with wrinkles on a peeling roller of a conventional example, and FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an ink film, a thermal head, and a peeling roller of a conventional thermal transfer recording device. 2 is a drawing schematically showing how wrinkles are formed by arranging them in a straight line. 1...Platen roller, 2...Recording paper, 3-5...
・Thermal head, 6~8... Ink film, 9~
11... Supply roll, 12-14... Winding roll,
15-17... Guide plate, 18-20... Peeling roller, 23-23'... Grid-shaped groove, 40.41...
Concave portion, S... granular sand. Applicant: Minolta Camera Co., Ltd. Procedure Principal Author (Method) 1. Indication of the case Patent Application No. 171556, filed in 1988 2, Name of the invention Thermal transfer recording device 3, Person making the amendment Relationship to the case Name of the patent applicant Minolta Camera Co., Ltd. September 27, 1988 6, Details subject to the amendment In column 7 of "Brief explanation of the drawings" of the book, after "Drawing of the peeling roller," on page 14, line 14 of the statement of contents of the amendment, "Figure 8 is a fourth embodiment of the present invention. Insert J, a perspective view of the peeling roller attached to the thermal transfer recording device.

Claims (7)

[Claims] (1) In a thermal transfer recording device that transfers ink from a transported ink film with a thermal head to record on recording paper, a peeling member with unevenness formed on the surface is provided downstream from the thermal head in the direction of movement of the ink film. Features of thermal transfer recording device. (2) The thermal transfer recording device according to claim 1, wherein the recessed portion of the peeling member is formed along the moving direction of the ink film. (3) The thermal transfer recording device according to claim 2, wherein the peeling member has a roller shape, and a plurality of recesses are provided on the circumferential surface of the roller at intervals in the axial direction of the roller. (4) The thermal transfer recording device according to claim 1, wherein the unevenness of the peeling member is a lattice-shaped groove. (5) The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the peeling member has a roller shape, and the lattice-shaped grooves are formed along the axial direction and conveyance direction of the roller. (6) The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the peeling member has a roller shape, and the lattice-shaped grooves are formed along a direction oblique to the axial direction of the roller. (7) The thermal transfer recording device according to claim 1, wherein the surface of the peeling member is formed of granular sand.