JPH02273254A - Thermally sensitive recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow data to be recorded on appropriate peel-off conditions by interpreting a storage body of a thermally transferable medium, then detecting whether data should be recorded using a single time ribbon or a multitime ribbon, and driving any automatically selected one of thermal resistor rows for an appropriate ribbon. CONSTITUTION:An interpretation device 10 for interpreting the shape of a sensor 101 detects whether an ink ribbon 105 for thermal transfer used for printing should be a single time ribbon cassette or a multitime ribbon cassette. When data is recorded using the single time ribbon, ink thermally fuses, if a thermal resistor 3 is heated. In this case, the ink ribbon 105 does not become cooled due to a short distance over which the ink ribbon 105 is peeled off a recording paper 21. Therefore, the ribbon 105 remains highly viscous when peeled apart, so that the ink 70 is completely transferred to the surface of the recording paper 21 for recording. In addition, when the multitime ribbon is used for recording, the ink 71 thermally fuses, if the thermal resistor 4 is heated. Then the ink ribbon 105 is peeled off the recording paper 21 following the movement of a thermal head 104 in an arrow direction. However, the ink ribbon 105 becomes cooled due to a long distance over which the ribbon 105 is peeled off. Consequently, part of the ink 1 is transferred to the surface of the paper 21 for printing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a thermal recording apparatus that performs recording on a recording sheet (recording medium) using an ink sheet (thermal transfer medium) for thermal transfer.

[Prior Art] The thermal recording device of the present invention includes a thermal transfer recording device that presses a recording head (thermal head) onto a recording sheet via an ink ribbon to adhere molten ink, and a thermal sheet (a sheet that develops color when heated). ), there is a thermal recording method in which the thermal head is pressed against the head and directly heated to record.

Among these, the present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording device. Note that an ink ribbon is one form of an ink sheet and has an elongated shape, and although an ink ribbon will be described below as an example, the present invention is not limited to ink ribbons.

As ink ribbons, in contrast to conventional so-called 1-time ribbons that can be used for recording only once, so-called multi-time ribbons that can be used for multiple recordings have recently been known.

However, although the multi-ribbon can record many times, its printing quality is poorer than that of the one-time ribbon, and generally both types are used depending on the purpose. Currently, various types of multi-time ribbons have been proposed, such as a peel-off type in which the ink is peeled off little by little, and a bleed-out type in which the ink seeps out little by little from a porous layer.
In either method, all of the ink is transferred to the time ribbon at one time for recording, but the principle is the same in that the ink applied to the base film is transferred little by little to the recording medium for recording.

However, in a conventional device, that is, a heat-sensitive recording device having only one row of heating elements for recording, it is necessary to set an appropriate peeling temperature for each row of ribbons, which have different characteristics for both the l-time ribbon and the multi-time ribbon. It is impossible to control with a heating element, and special operations such as changing the peeling position mechanically by the ink ribbon, or changing the feed speed by the ink ribbon, or multiple times of multi-time ribbons are required. There was no choice but to sacrifice the recording characteristics of .

[Object of the Invention] An object of the present invention is to provide a thermal recording device that fully exhibits the characteristics of both one-time ribbon and multi-time ribbon thermal transfer media.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a thermal recording device that performs thermal transfer recording on a recording medium using a thermal transfer medium, in which at least two recording devices are arranged substantially parallel to each other at a predetermined interval.
a thermal head having two heat generating resistor rows; a detecting means for determining whether or not a storage body for storing each of the thermal transfer media is attached; and driving means for selectively driving the heating element array.

[Example] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

The embodiment described below is a printer equipped with a thermal head having two rows of heating resistors, and has means for detecting the l-time ribbon and the multi-time ribbon. This thermal recording device is characterized in that, in the case of a multi-time ribbon, recording is performed using a resistor row on the front row side (recording progressing side), each having an appropriate peeling time.

That is, when the multi-time ribbon is attached, recording is performed using the heating element array on the front side in the recording direction, and when the 1-time ribbon is attached, recording is performed using the heating element array on the rear side. That is, when the ink is melted, the l-time ribbon peels off the ribbon and the ink is completely adhered to the recording medium, and the multi-time ribbon delays the peeling time, and once the ink is melted, it cools and becomes a little stuck. By peeling it off, the ink can be applied little by little and the characteristics can be satisfied many times.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a thermal transfer recording device equipped with a thermal head according to an embodiment of the present invention. This recording device is applied to the output section of various devices such as word processors, electronic typewriters, and facsimile machines. .

In FIG. 1, 100 is a control unit that controls the entire printer. The control unit 100 is composed of an MPUIQOA in the form of, for example, a microprocessor, a ROM 100B for storing control programs and data for the MPU 100A, and a RAM 100C as a work area. Reference numeral 101 is a discriminating means such as a sensor, which detects whether the thermal transfer ink ribbon 105 used for printing is a one-time ribbon cassette or a multi-ribbon cassette.

A carriage 103 carries a thermal head 104, an ink ribbon +05, a ribbon cassette f1 separate means 101, etc., and scans the recording paper.

A motor drive unit 106 drives a carriage motor f07, which is a scanning motor for the carriage 10J. A motor drive section 106 controls the rotation of a carriage motor 107 in accordance with a control signal sent from the control section 100. 108 is a motor drive section, and a paper foot motor 109 that feeds recording paper is sent from the control section 100. drive according to the control signal provided.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part of a printing section of a thermal transfer printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. Components common to those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals.

In the printing section, the ink ribbon 105 is heated by the thermal head 104 in accordance with the image information, and the ink ribbon 105 is heated.
The ink is transferred onto the recording sheet 21 backed up on the platen 20.

The carriage +03 is mounted so as to be movable along a guide shaft 22 installed substantially parallel to the platen 20. A carriage motor 107 composed of a stepping motor or the like is provided. Drive pulley 23. Driven pulley 24
and wound around these pulleys, and the carriage 10
A drive system consisting of a belt 25 coupled to a belt 3 scans in the direction of arrow R and performs reciprocating motion. When the carriage 103 scans one line and prints for 1212 minutes, the paper foot motor 109 (see FIG. 1) rotates the platen 2 (+) so that the recording sheet 21 is
Move in the direction of the character arrow P.

The thermal head 104 has a plurality of electricity/heat exchangers such as 40 heating resistors arranged in two vertical rows, and is driven to swing between a down position where it is in pressure contact with the recording sheet 21 and an up position where it is separated from the recording sheet 21. It is installed so that it can be used. These drive controls are performed by the control section 100.

A ribbon cassette 26 for supplying an ink ribbon 105 to the entire surface of the thermal head 104 is detachably set on the carriage 103. ribbon cassette 2
During recording, the ink ribbon 105 wound around the supply shaft 27 in the carriage 103 moves in a predetermined direction in synchronization with the movement of the thermal head 104 and is sequentially wound up by a ribbon drive shaft (not shown) provided on the carriage 103. For example, in the case of a multi-ribbon, an unused ink ribbon is used to record the first ink ribbon, and once the entire length of the ribbon has been wound around the winding shaft 28, the top and bottom of the ribbon cassette 26 are turned over. Then, put it on and record your next visit.

A microswitch 30 is mounted on the carriage 103 and serves as a detection means for determining whether the ink ribbon cassette 26 containing the ink ribbon 105 is a one-time ribbon or a multi-time ribbon.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the detection means and its operating state.

FIG. 3(A) shows the 1-time ribbon cassette 26A in which the 1-time ink ribbon 105^ is stored in the carriage 103.
In this case, the contact piece 30A of the microswitch 30 is pressed down on the bottom surface of the ribbon cassette 26A, and the microswitch 30 is in an on state. That is, it is detected that the l time ribbon is in the recording state.

FIG. 3(B) shows a multi-time ribbon cassette 26 on the carriage 103 for recording multi-time ribbon 105B.
B shows the attached state. In this case, the notch 29 of the ribbon cassette 26 is formed at a position corresponding to the contact piece 3OA of the microswitch 30, and the contact piece 30A of the microswitch 30 is in a free state. is maintained. Therefore, the microswitch 30 is in an off state.

In the apparatus configured as described above, either the l-time ink ribbon cassette 26A or the multi-time ribbon cassette 2
6B is determined by turning the microswitch 30 on and off. This mode is determined by the control unit 100, and an appropriate heating resistor array for heating the ink ribbon for printing is determined.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of the recording surface of the thermal head 104 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the fourth factor, the thermal head 104 has heating resistor arrays 3.4 each having a plurality of heating resistors lined up for image recording on the surface of the ceramic substrate 2.
It is constituted by a dot forming means equipped with. Each heating resistor row 3, 4 has heating resistors 31 to 3N, 4, respectively.
It is composed of N-bond heat generating resistors of 1 to 4N, and each heat generating resistor is connected to the common electrode 5. Power supply control of each heating resistor is performed by a common electrode 5 and individual electrodes (not shown) connected to each heating resistor. In addition, heating resistor row 3
．． 4 are each formed on a glassy glaze 6.7. Here, the glass glaze 6.7 has almost the same width and height, but there is no problem even if they are different.

8 is a shift register having a bit amount of at least 2N bits, into which serial image data to be recorded from the outside is input together with a synchronization clock. shift register 8
The output of is the corresponding NPN)-transistor 91~9N,
It is input to the base of 111 to IIN. During a recording operation, when the output of the shift register 8 becomes the recording timing and a predetermined voltage is applied to the common electrode 5, the NPN corresponding to the output of the shift register 8 which is at a high level)
- The transistor is turned on, and current flows from the common electrode 5 to the transistor side of the corresponding heat generating resistor, so that the heat generating resistor is energized and heated, heating the ink ribbon, and recording is performed.

Figure 5 shows rad 1 from line IV-ff in Figure 4 to thermal.
04, the thermal head 104 performs printing by moving in the six directions of arrows.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing how the thermal head 104 is used.

In FIG. 6, a thermal head 104 is provided facing a recording sheet 50 backed up by a platen. During recording, the ink ribbon 105 is supplied in the direction of arrow B in synchronization with the movement of the thermal head 104 as shown, and after passing through the heating resistor rows 3 and 4, is peeled off from the trailing edge at a peeling angle β. Note that when recording is performed using only one heating resistor array of the thermal head 104, recording is performed with all output data of the resistor array on the side not involved in recording being set to "0".

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining how the thermal head 104 is used. Components common to those in FIGS. 4 and 5 are designated by the same reference numerals.

FIG. 7(^) shows that during recording on the 1-time ribbon, that is, when the heating resistor 3 is heated, the ink 70 is heated and melted. At this time, since the distance (time) until the ink ribbon 105 is peeled off from the recording paper 2I is short, the ink ribbon 105 is not cooled and is peeled off while still having a high viscosity. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7(A), all of the ink 70 is transferred to the surface of the recording paper 21 and recording is performed.

When recording with the multi-time ribbon, the heating resistor 4 is heated. This heating heats and melts the ink 71 on the multi-time ribbon.

As shown in FIG. 7(B), as the thermal head 104 moves in the six directions of the arrows, the ink ribbon 105 is peeled off from the recording paper 21, but due to the distance (time), the ink ribbon 105 is cooled. The lfi of the ink 71 is transferred to the surface of the recording paper 21 to perform recording.

FIG. MS8 is a flowchart showing the procedure of print processing according to an embodiment of the present invention. A control program for the zero procedure is stored in ROIIlooB constituting the control section 100.

When the detection of the ink ribbon 105 is input from the ribbon cassette detection unit 101 in step Sl, the process proceeds to step S2. Whether it is used or not is stored in the RAM 100C of the control unit 100.

In step S3, the heating resistor row to be used by the thermal head 104 is determined depending on whether the ink ribbon 105 is a one-time ribbon or a multi-time ribbon, and the thermal head 105 is is moved in the recording direction or the opposite direction so that the printing start position does not shift depending on the heating resistor array used.

Next, the process moves to step S4, where print data is output to the heating resistor array used for recording, and print data "OH" is output to the other heating resistor arrays.

Then, in step S5, the thermal head 104
After recording, in step S6, the carriage motor 107 is rotated by a predetermined amount at a speed corresponding to the type of ink ribbon 15 to move the carriage 103. After the movement, it is determined in step S7 whether printing for one line has been completed. If it is determined in step S7 that printing for one line has not been completed, the process returns to step S3.

When it is determined in step S7 that printing for one line has been completed, the process proceeds to step S8, where carriage return, paper feeding, etc. are performed, and the process proceeds to step S9.The above operations are repeated until printing of all data is completed.

In this embodiment, the case of a so-called serial printer in which a thermal head moves along a print line has been described.

However, the invention is not limited to this, and can also be applied to thermal printers, such as those used in facsimile machines, which record one line at a time with a thermal line head and feed recording paper in a direction perpendicular to the thermal head. It is clear that if two columns of recording heating elements are provided in one row direction, it is possible to appropriately use recording sheets with different peeling temperatures, that is, one-time ribbons and multi-time ribbons, as in the fifth embodiment. .

Furthermore, although the present embodiment has been described using a microswitch as the detection means, the present invention is not limited to this, and a photo sensor may also be used as the detection means.

In addition, in the detailed explanation of the present invention, the means for detecting the l-time ribbon cassette and the multi-ribbon cassette was explained as a sensor on the carrier, but there is also a switch dedicated to switching.
You can also switch between 1 time and multi by manual operation.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, by determining the housing of the thermal transfer medium, it is possible to detect whether recording is to be performed with a one-time ribbon or with a multi-ribbon, and Since one of the heating resistor arrays is automatically selected and driven in accordance with the above, there is an effect that recording can be performed under appropriate peeling conditions for each of the one-time ribbon and the multi-time ribbon.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a thermal transfer printer according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a perspective view of the main parts of the thermal transfer printer, and Figure 3 is the configuration of a detection means for detecting the type of ink ribbon cassette. Figures illustrating examples and operating conditions. FIG. 84 is a diagram showing the configuration of a recording surface of a thermal head according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a top view of the thermal head shown in FIG. 4 when viewed from the line ff-ff, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state in which the thermal head according to an embodiment of the present invention is used. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the usage state of the thermal head according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the procedure of printing processing. 100--Control unit 100A-MPl 00A--ROM 100C-fiAM 101-1 Time ribbon, multi-time ribbon detection means 102...Input unit 103--Carriage 104--Thermal head 105... Ink ribbon 105A-1 Time ribbon 105B--Multi-time ribbon 106, 108--Motor control section 107--Carriage motor 109--Paper foot motor 20--Platen 21--Recording sheet 22-- - Guide shaft 23... Drive pulley 24... Driven pulley 25... Belt 26... Ribbon cassette 26^ -1 time ribbon cassette 26B... Multi-time ribbon cassette 27... Supply shaft 28... ... Winding shaft 29 ... Notch section 30 ... Micro switch 30A - ... Contact piece 2 ... Ceramic substrate 3.4, 81.82, 83.84 - ... Heating resistor row 3
1~3N, 41~4N - Heat generating resistor) body 5...
Common electrode 1 Kasumi 41g; % *-M bu o-, qi 6.7-...Glaze 8...Shift register 91-9N, 111-llN-...NPN) Ranjistaff 0...1 Time ink 7I ...Multi-time ink γ20 Kui O-Ki Prinha Prinbi-Kada also ψ6A! To the 7th judgment Zama 1V.../μl 7Is squad 10A'Ff-Mar △t Chiang Kai direction vb diagram

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A thermal recording device that performs thermal transfer recording on a recording medium using a thermal transfer medium, which includes a thermal head equipped with two rows of heating resistors located substantially parallel to each other with a predetermined interval, and a detection device that detects the type of the thermal transfer medium. and driving means for selecting a predetermined heating element row from the heating element rows in response to the detection result of the detection means and driving the heat generating resistors belonging to the selected heating element row. A thermal recording device characterized by: (2) Of the two heating resistor rows, the front heating resistor row in the recording direction records the recording thermal transfer medium multiple times, and the rear heating resistor row records the recording thermal transfer medium once. The thermal recording device according to claim (1), characterized in that: