JPH0361559A - Thermal transfer recording device and facsimile machine using the device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently transfer a high quality value by providing control means for driving recording means after predetermined time is elapsed from when the phases of first, second motors are switched. CONSTITUTION:When a thermal transfer printer is applied to a facsimile, control program is stored in a ROM 114 of a controller 101. When data transfer of next line is finished without predetermined period (a) after recording is finished, preheating is not conducted. When time until a motor starts moving is elapsed after motor phases are switched to convey a recording sheet and an ink sheet, recording of next line is started. After recording is finished, it is preheated with data of phiAAH and data of phi55H alternately as preheating data after the phases of the motors are switched if data transfer of next line is finished within predetermined time (b) upon lapse of predetermined time (a). Time until the motor is started to move after the finishing is waited, and it is shifted to recording of next line. If data transfer is finished upon lapse of predetermined time (b) after the recording is finished, it is preheated with all blacks as preheating data. As a result, an image of high quality can be recorded.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording device that records an image on a recording medium by transferring ink contained in an ink sheet to a recording medium, and a facsimile machine using the device. It is something.

[Conventional technology]

In general, thermal transfer printers use an ink sheet with heat-melting (or heat-sublimating, etc.) ink applied to a base film, and a thermal head selectively heats the ink sheet in response to image signals to melt (or Images are recorded by transferring ink (sublimation, etc.) onto recording paper. Generally, this ink sheet is one in which the ink is completely transferred to the recording paper by one image recording (so-called one-time sheet), so after recording one character or one line, the recorded length is It was necessary to transport the ink sheet by the amount corresponding to the amount of the ink sheet, and to bring the unused portion of the ink sheet to the next recording position without fail. For this reason, the amount of ink sheets used increases, and the running cost of thermal transfer printers tends to be higher than that of ordinary thermal printers that record on thermal paper.

In order to solve these problems, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57834
No. 71, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 58-201686, and Special Publication No. 6
As seen in Japanese Patent No. 2-58917, a thermal transfer printer has been proposed in which a recording paper and an ink sheet are conveyed at different speeds.

The present invention is a further development of the invention described in the above publication.

[Problem that the invention is trying to solve]

As mentioned above, ink sheets (so-called multi-print sheets) capable of recording images a plurality of times (n) are known.
If this ink sheet is used, when recording a recording length L continuously, the conveyance length of the ink sheet conveyed after each image recording or during image recording can be made smaller than the length L ((L/ n: n>1) L/ can be recorded.

As a result, the usage efficiency of the ink sheet is n times higher than that of the conventional method, and it is expected that the running cost of the thermal transfer printer will be reduced. Hereinafter, this recording method will be referred to as multi-print.

In the case of multi-printing using such an ink sheet, the ink in the ink layer of the ink sheet is heated n times. At each heating, the ink layer melts (
Transfer to recording paper is performed by generating a shearing force between the ink that has been (sublimated, etc.) and the ink that has not been melted (or sublimated, etc.). For this reason, for example, even if the main recording is performed with the recording paper and the ink sheet stationary, the recording will be performed in a stationary state, and there is a problem that the ink on the ink sheet may not be sufficiently transferred to the recording paper.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional example, and is a state in which the ink sheet and the recording medium actually start to move after switching each motor phase for conveying the ink sheet and conveying the recording medium. The main recording will be made at this time.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the thermal transfer recording apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, the thermal transfer recording device records an image on the recording medium by transferring ink contained in an ink sheet to the recording medium, and includes a first motor for conveying the ink sheet, and a first motor for conveying the recording medium. a second motor for recording an image on the recording medium by acting on the ink sheet;
a timer for timing a predetermined time after the phase of the second motor is switched; and a control means for controlling the recording means to be driven after a predetermined time has elapsed since the phase of the first and second motors has been switched. have

Furthermore, in order to achieve the above object, a facsimile apparatus of the present invention includes the thermal transfer recording device.

[Effect]

The thermal transfer recording apparatus configured as described above operates to generate heat in the recording means after a predetermined period of time has elapsed after switching the power of each motor for conveying the recording medium and the ink sheet.

Therefore, according to the recording method of the present invention, transfer is performed by rubbing the melted or sublimated ink against the recording medium, making it possible to perform efficient transfer.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[Description of facsimile machine (Figs. 1 to 4)] Figs. 1 to 4 are diagrams showing an example in which a thermal transfer printer using an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a facsimile machine. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the facsimile device, FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the facsimile device, and FIG. 4 is a recording device. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a conveyance mechanism for paper and ink sheets.

First, the schematic structure of the facsimile machine will be explained based on FIG.

In the figure, reference numeral 100 denotes a reading unit that photoelectrically reads an original and outputs it as a digital image signal to a control unit 101, and is equipped with an original conveyance motor, a COD image sensor, and the like. Next, the configuration of this control section 101 will be explained. A line memory 110 stores image data for each line of image data, and when transmitting or copying a document, one line of image data from the reading section 100 is stored.
When image data is received, one line of decoded received image data is stored. Image formation is then performed by outputting the stored data to the recording unit 102. Reference numeral 111 denotes an encoding/decoding unit that encodes image information to be transmitted by MH encoding or the like, and decodes received encoded image data to convert it into image data. Further, 112 is a buffer memory that stores encoded image data that is transmitted or received. Each part of the control unit 101 is controlled by a CPU 113 such as a microprocessor. In addition to this CPU 113, the control unit 101 includes a ROM 114. which stores control programs for the CPU 113 and various data. CPU
It is equipped with a RAM 115 for temporarily storing various data as a work area of 113.

A recording unit 102 includes a thermal line head and records an image on recording paper using a thermal transfer recording method.

This configuration will be described in detail later with reference to FIG. 103 is a key for instructing various functions such as starting transmission, and a key for inputting a telephone number.
103a is the ink sheet 1 to be used.
4. When the switch 103a is on, it indicates that a multi-print ink sheet is installed, and when it is off, it indicates that a normal ink sheet is installed. A display section 104 is usually provided adjacent to the operation section 103 and displays various functions, the status of the device, and the like. 105 is a power supply unit for supplying power to the entire device. Further, 106 is a modem (modulator/demodulator), 107 is a network control unit (NCU), and 108 is a telephone set.

Next, the configuration of the recording section 102 will be explained in detail with reference to FIG. Note that parts common to FIG. 2 are indicated by the same figure numbers.

In the figure, 10 indicates recording paper ll, which is plain paper, and core lo
A is a roll of paper wound into a roll. The roll paper 10 is rotatably housed in the apparatus so that the recording paper 11 can be supplied to the thermal head section 13 by rotation of the platen roller 12 in the direction of the arrow. Note that 10b is a roll paper loading section, in which roll paper IO is removably loaded. Furthermore, a platen roller 12 conveys the recording paper 11 in the direction indicated by the arrow and presses the ink sheet 14 and the recording paper 11 between it and the heating element 132 of the thermal head I3. Thermal head 13
The recording paper 11, on which the image has been recorded due to the heat generated by the
(16a, 16b) direction, and when the image recording for one page is completed, the cutter 15 (15a, 15b)
The page is cut into pages by the meshing of the pages.

17 is an ink sheet supply roll that winds the ink sheet 14, and 18 is an ink sheet take-up roll, which is driven by an ink sheet conveyance motor to be described later and winds up the ink sheet 14 in the direction of arrow a. . In addition,
The ink sheet supply roll 17 and the ink sheet take-up reroll 18 are connected to an ink sheet loading section 70 in the apparatus main body.
It is removably loaded. Furthermore, 19 is a sensor for detecting the remaining amount of the ink sheet 14 and the conveying speed of the ink sheet 14. Also, 20 is Inksey)
Ink sheet sensor for detecting the presence or absence of 14, 2I
is a spring that presses the thermal head 13 against the platen roller 12 via the recording paper 11 and the ink sheet 14. Further, 22 is a recording paper sensor for detecting the presence or absence of recording paper.

Next, the configuration of the reading section 100 will be explained.

In the figure, 30 is a light source that illuminates the original 32;
The light reflected by CCD sensor 2 is input to CCD sensor 31 through an optical system (mirror 50, 51, lens 52) and converted into an electrical signal. The document 32 is conveyed by conveyance rollers 53, 54, 55, 56 driven by a document conveyance motor (not shown).
Accordingly, the document 32 is transported in accordance with the reading speed of the document 32.

Note that 57 is a document loading table, and the plurality of documents 32 stacked on this loading table 57 are separated into sheets one by one by the cooperation of the conveying roller 54 and the pressing separation piece 58, and then transferred to the reading section 100. transported to.

A control board 41 constitutes the main part of the control section 101, and various control signals are output from this control board 41 to each part of the apparatus. Further, 106 is a modem board unit, 107 is N
This is a CU board unit.

Furthermore, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing details of the conveyance mechanism for the ink sheet 14 and the recording paper 11.

In the figure, 24 rotationally drives the platen roller 12;
This is a recording paper transport motor for transporting the recording paper 11 in the direction indicated by the arrow, which is opposite to the direction indicated by the arrow a. Further, 25 is an ink sheet conveyance motor for conveying the ink sheet 14 in the direction of arrow a by means of a capstan roller 71 and a pinch roller 72. Further, 26 and 27 are transmission gears that transmit the rotation of the recording paper conveyance motor 24 to the platen roller 12, and 73 and 74 are transmission gears that transmit the rotation of the ink sheet conveyance motor 25 to the capstan roller 71. Further, 75 is a slip clutch unit.

Here, the ratio of the gears 74 and 75 is set so that the length of the ink sheet 14 wound on the take-up roll 18 by the rotation of the gear 75a is longer than the length of the ink sheet conveyed by the capstan roller 71. By keeping
Inksee 1 conveyed by capstan roller 71
-14 is reliably wound onto the winding roll 18. Then, an amount corresponding to the difference between the amount of the ink sheet 14 taken up by the take-up roll 18 and the amount of the ink sheet 14 fed by the capstan roller 71 is absorbed by the slip clutch unit 75. As a result, the conveying speed (amount) of the ink sheet 14 due to fluctuations in the winding diameter of the winding roll 18
fluctuations can be suppressed.

FIG. 1 shows a control unit 10 in a facsimile machine according to an embodiment.
1 and the recording unit 102, and parts common to other drawings are indicated by the same figure numbers.

The thermal head 13 is a line head. The thermal head 13 includes a shift register 130 for inputting one line of serial recording data and a shift clock 43 from the control unit 101, a shift register 133 for inputting preheat data, and a main latch signal 44.
The latch circuit 131 latches the data in the shift register 130 by the pre-latch signal 44a, and the data in the shift register 134 for preheat data by the pre-latch signal 44a. Here, the heating resistor 132 is 132-1~
It is divided into m blocks indicated by 132-m and driven. Further, 133 is a temperature sensor attached to the thermal head 13 for detecting the temperature of the thermal head 13. The output signal 42 of this temperature sensor 133 is A/D converted in the control unit 101 and then sent to the CPU.
113. As a result, the CPU 113 detects the temperature of the thermal head 13 and changes the pulse width of the strobe signal 47 in accordance with the temperature, or changes the driving voltage of the thermal head 13 in accordance with the characteristics of the ink sheet 14. The energy applied to the thermal head 13 is changed accordingly. Reference numeral 116 denotes a programmable timer, which is set with a clock time by the CPU 113 and starts clocking when instructed to start clocking. Then, it operates to output an interrupt signal, a timeout signal, etc. to the CPU 113 at each instructed time.

Incidentally, the type (characteristic) of the INCSY)-14 is the switch 103a of the operation section 103 mentioned above, and the INCSY) 14.
The discrimination may be made by detecting a mark or the like printed on the image. Alternatively, the determination may be performed by identifying marks, notches, protrusions, etc. attached to the cartridge of the ink sheet.

46 is a drive circuit that inputs a drive signal for the thermal head 13 from the control unit 101 and outputs a strobe signal 347 for driving the thermal head 13 in units of blocks. Note that this drive circuit 46 changes the voltage output to the power supply line 45 that supplies current to the heating element 132 of the thermal head 13 in accordance with instructions from the control unit 101 to control the thermal head 13.
The applied energy of can be changed. Reference numeral 36 denotes a drive circuit that engages and drives the cutter 15, and includes a cutter drive motor and the like. 39 is a paper ejection motor that rotationally drives the paper ejection roller 16. Reference numerals 35, 48, and 49 are driver circuits for rotationally driving the corresponding paper ejection motor 39, recording paper conveyance motor 24, and ink sheet conveyance motor 25, respectively. Note that these paper ejection motors 39
Although the recording paper transport motor 24 and the ink sheet transport motor 25 are stepping motors in this embodiment, they are not limited to this, and may be, for example, DC motors.

[Description of Recording Operation (FIGS. 1 to 6)] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the recording process for one page in the facsimile machine of this embodiment. The control program for executing this process is stored in the ROM 114 of the control 101. remembered.

This process starts when the image data for one line to be printed is stored in the line memory 110 and the printing operation can be started.
It is assumed that the control unit 101 determines through the switch 103a or the like that the device is attached.

Here, an outline of control using this embodiment will be explained.

In this embodiment, if data transfer for the next line is completed within a predetermined time a after the end of main recording, preheating is not performed.
After switching the motor phases for conveying the recording paper and ink sheet, recording of the next line is started after a period of time has elapsed until the motor starts moving. Also, after the end of this recording,
If the data transfer for the next line is completed within the predetermined time after the predetermined time a has elapsed, after switching the phase of each motor for conveying the recording paper and ink sheet, the data of φAAH and data of φ55H are alternately transferred. Then, create the Breheat data and perform Breheat. After this preheating is completed, a time period is waited until the motor starts moving (in this embodiment, the wait time is set to zero), and then the recording of the next line is started. In addition, when the data transfer for the next line is completed after a predetermined period of time has passed after the end of main recording, after switching the phase of each motor for conveying the recording paper and ink sheet, all RLJ (all black) is transferred to the preheat data. Perform preheating as follows. Then, after this preheating is finished, a time period is waited until the motor starts moving (in this embodiment, the wait time is set to zero), and then the recording of the next line is started.

In this embodiment, the preheat data is changed depending on the time from the end of main recording to the end of data transfer of the next line.

That is, when the time until the end of data transfer of the next line is long, the black rate of the preheat data is increased. And the width of the brake heat is fixed.

In this embodiment, preheating is not performed when the time until the end of data transfer of the next line is less than a predetermined time, when it is greater than or equal to a, preheating data with a black rate of 50% is used, and when it is 6 or more, preheating data is used. uses preheat data with a black rate of 100%. Here, when the black ratio is 50%, the energy applied to each dot due to bleed heat is made the same by repeatedly using the φAAH and φ55H data. That is, the preheat data is rotated cyclically, and the energy applied to each dot of the head by preheating is controlled to be the same.

In the above example, the black percentage is 0%, 50%, 100
%, but it may be controlled more precisely.

FIG. 6 illustrates motor phase switching and each strobe waveform. First, at timing (3), the motor phase of the recording paper and ink sheet is switched. And allrlJ
Perform a preheat. After that, perform the actual recording in ■. When the main recording ends (timing ■), the data transfer of the next line has finished (the time from the end of the main recording until the end of the data transfer of the next line is less than the predetermined time a), so there is no need to perform preheating. This record will be made on the following day. Since the data transfer of the next line is completed (timing ■) within a predetermined time a or less after the main recording is completed (timing ■), the main recording is performed by preheating the data of 55H.

Then, after the main recording ends (timing ■), data transfer for the next line ends (timing ■) for a predetermined period of time.
), so here, preheating is performed using the (all black) data of allrlJ, and the main recording of the next line is performed. Then, after the main recording ends (timing ■), data transfer for the next line ends (timing ■) within a predetermined time a or less.
), so here we perform preheating using AAH data.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the preheat data is changed depending on the time from the end of main recording to the end of data transfer of the next line, but all may be set to "1", that is, all black. Here, if the previous line is recorded as preheat data, sticking will be improved. An example of this control is illustrated in FIG. 10 (compared to FIG.
315. S16.517-1 has been deleted). However, in order to reproduce isolated points, it is necessary to increase the energy at the isolated points. This is because the information on the line before the isolated point is white, so even if the previous line is recorded as preheat data, it is not effective. From these two viewpoints, it may be preferable in some cases to preheat by applying electricity to all black information immediately before main recording. The purpose of energizing the all-black information is to keep it warm, and the energy is not recorded. In addition, during the heating period, the recording paper and the ink sheet are in a stationary state, and the ink is difficult to transfer to the recording paper.

According to this embodiment, after switching the phases of the motor for conveying the recording paper and the motor for conveying the ink sheet, the main recording is performed at the timing when the motor actually starts moving. Therefore, according to the present recording method, the melted ink (or sublimated ink depending on the type of ink) is transferred by rubbing against the recording paper, that is, by performing moving writing (recording), the ink can be transferred more efficiently. Can be transcribed. If the recording interval is longer than a predetermined value after switching the motor phase (for example, 10
m5 or more), the thermal head 13 is made to generate heat to perform preheating (preheating), and during that time, the inner part is heated and warmed. Then, main recording is performed from the timing when the recording paper and ink sheet start moving, and efficient transfer is performed. The above is an overview. Figure 9 shows the phase switching of each motor, the recording paper,
The conveyance of the ink sheet and the timing of main recording are illustrated. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 9, preheating is performed for 1.5 ms by the thermal head 13 after the phase switching of the motors 24, 25, and then main recording is performed for 2.5 ms.

First, in step Sφ, when the time from the end of main recording to the end of transfer of the next line is less than the predetermined time a, the data 134 used for breathing is transferred to PPI-DAT.
Store in A. In this embodiment, for example, the predetermined time a is 5 m5Sb = 10 m s.

Next, in step Sl, 1947 minutes of recording data is serially output to the shift register 130. Then, when the transfer of the record data of Eline is completed, allrlJ is transferred to the shift register for preheat data in step S2. In step 53-1, the pre-latch signal 44a is output, and one line of pre-heat data 134 is stored in the latch circuit 131. Next, in step 53-2, the ink sheet conveying motor 25 is driven to transport the ink sheet 14.
is transported for 1/n947 minutes. And step 53-
3, the recording paper 11 is conveyed by one line. Furthermore, this 1
In the facsimile machine of this embodiment, the line length is approximately (
1/15.4) mm, and the recording paper is 11
The conveyance amount of the ink sheet 14 and the conveyance amount of the ink sheet 14 can be set by changing the number of excitation pulses of the recording paper conveyance motor 24 and the ink sheet conveyance motor 25, respectively. Next, in step 53-4, the block of heating resistor 132 is energized.

The energization time of each block is, for example, 0.2 ms.

When the energization of the 4 blocks is completed, the process proceeds to step S4.
The main latch signal 44 is output, and one line of recording data is stored in the latch circuit 131.

Next, in step S5, one block of the heat generating resistor 132 is energized to record an image, and in step S6 it is checked whether all blocks of the thermal head 13 have been energized. In step S6, if all blocks of the thermal head 13 have not been energized yet, the process advances to step S7 to check whether the next line of recording data is ready. If the preparation is complete, the process advances to step S8, and the recording data of the next line is sequentially transferred to the shift register 130 of the thermal head 13. During this data transfer to the thermal head 13, it is checked in step S9 whether one block of energization time has elapsed. If the energization time (approximately 600 μs) has not elapsed, the process returns to step S7, but if the energization time has elapsed, the process returns to step S5 to execute the energization process for the next block. In this embodiment, the thermal head 13 is energized and driven in four blocks, and the time required to record one line is approximately 2.5 m5 (600 μs x 4 blocks).

In step S6, if energization to all blocks has ended and recording of one line has been completed, the process advances to step SIO, and the timer 116 starts counting. Next, proceed to step Sll,
Check whether one page of image recording has been completed.

If the image recording of one page has not been completed, the process advances to step S12, and all the image data of the next line is recorded in the thermal head 1.
Check whether the data has been transferred to the shift register 130 of No. 3. If the next line of data is ready, the thermal head 13 moves to step S13 if the data has not been transferred.
Execute data transfer processing to transfer to.

In this way, in step S12, 194 to be recorded next.
After 7 minutes of image data has been transferred to the thermal head 13, the process proceeds to step S14, where the timer 16 checks whether the predetermined time a has elapsed. If the predetermined time a has not elapsed, the process advances to step 517-2, where the ink sheet conveying motor 25 is driven to transport the ink sheet 14 by 1/n94.
Transport for 7 minutes. Then, in step 517-3, the recording paper 1 is
1 for one line. In step 517-4, each motor 24, 25 waits until it starts moving, and in step 5
At 17-5, the main latch signal 44 is output, and one line of recording data is stored in the latch circuit 131.

However, when the predetermined time a has elapsed, the process advances to step S15, and it is determined whether the predetermined time has elapsed. If the predetermined time has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S2; if the predetermined time has not elapsed, PRI-DATA is output as a 1-bit load date (step 816), and a pattern of 1947 minutes of PRI-DATA is output as preheat data 134 (step 816). 5
17-1).

Next, when image recording for one page is completed in step Sll, the process advances to step S18, and a predetermined amount of the recording paper 11 is transferred to the paper ejection roller 1.
6a and 16b. And step S
At 19, the cutters 15a and 15b are driven and engaged,
The recording paper 11 is cut into pages. Next, in step S20, the recording paper conveying motor 24 is reversely driven to execute a cutting process for the recording paper 11, in which the recording paper 11 is returned by a distance corresponding to the distance between the thermal head 13 and the cutter 15.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the thermal head 3 generates heat after a predetermined time has elapsed after switching the phases of the ink sheet conveyance motor 25 and the recording paper conveyance motor 24, so that the ink recording paper The transfer efficiency to 11 is further improved.

[Explanation of Recording Principle (FIG. 7)] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an image recording state when an image is recorded with the conveyance directions of the recording paper 11 and the ink sheet 14 reversed in this embodiment.

As shown in the figure, a recording paper 11 and an ink sheet 14 are held between a platen roller 12 and a thermal head 13, and the thermal head 13 is pressed against the platen roller 12 with a predetermined pressure by a spring 21. Here, the recording paper 11 is conveyed in the direction of the arrow at a speed vP by the rotation of the platen roller 12.

On the other hand, the ink sheet 14 is moved by the ink sheet conveyance motor 2.
5, it is transported in the direction of arrow a at speed V1.

Now, power supply 1 is connected to heating resistor 132 of thermal head 13.
When the ink sheet 14 is energized and heated, the shaded portion 91 of the ink sheet 14 is heated. Here, 14a represents the base film of the ink sheet 14, and 14b represents the ink layer of the ink sheet 14. The ink in the ink layer 91 heated by energizing the heating resistor 132 is melted, and a portion of the ink layer 92 is transferred onto the recording paper 11 . This transferred ink layer portion 92 corresponds to approximately 1/n of the ink layer indicated by 91.

At the time of this transfer, at the boundary line 93 of the ink layer 14b,
It is necessary to generate a shearing force on the ink and transfer only the portion indicated by 92 onto the recording paper 11. However, this shearing force varies depending on the temperature of the ink layer, and the higher the temperature of the ink layer, the smaller the shearing force tends to be. Therefore,
If the heating time of the ink sheet 14 is shortened, the shearing force within the ink layer increases, so if the relative speed between the ink sheet 14 and the recording paper 11 is increased, the ink layer to be transferred can be reliably peeled off from the ink sheet 14. can be done.

According to this embodiment, since the heating time of the thermal head 13 in a facsimile machine is as short as about 0.6 ms, the conveyance direction of the ink sheet 14 and the recording paper 11 is made to be opposite to each other, so that the ink sheet 14 and the recording paper 11 are I'm trying to increase relative speed.

[Description of Ink Sheet (FIG. 8)] FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the ink sheet used for multi-printing in this embodiment, which is composed of four layers.

First, the second layer is a base film that serves as a support for the ink sheet 14. In the case of multi-printing, thermal energy is applied to the same location many times, so aromatic polyamide films and capacitor paper with high heat resistance are advantageous, but conventional polyester films can also be used. Considering the role of a medium, it is advantageous for the thickness of these materials to be as thin as possible in terms of printing quality, but from the viewpoint of strength, it is desirable that the thickness be 3 to 8 μm.

The third layer is an ink layer containing an amount of ink that can be transferred n times onto a recording paper (recording sheet). This component mainly consists of resin such as EVA as an adhesive, carbon black and nigrosine dye for coloring, carnauba wax and paraffin wax as binding materials, and is designed to withstand n times of use in the same place. It is blended. The coating amount is preferably 4 to 8 g/rrr, but the sensitivity and density vary depending on the coating amount, and can be arbitrarily selected.

The fourth layer is a top coating layer for preventing pressure transfer of the third layer ink onto the recording paper in areas where printing is not performed, and is made of transparent wax or the like. As a result, only the transparent fourth layer is pressure-transferred, and it is possible to prevent background smudges on the recording paper.

The first layer is a heat-resistant coating layer that protects the base film of the second layer from the heat of the thermal head 13. This is suitable for multi-printing where thermal energy for n lines may be applied to the same location (when black information is continuous), but whether or not to use it can be selected as appropriate. It is also effective for base films with relatively low heat resistance, such as polyester films.

Note that the structure of the ink sheet 14 is not limited to this embodiment, and may be composed of, for example, a base layer and a porous ink-retaining layer containing ink provided on one side of the base layer. A heat-resistant ink layer having a microporous network structure may be provided thereon, and the ink may be contained within the ink layer. In addition, examples of the base film material include polyamide, polyethylene,
It may also be a film or paper made of polyester, polyvinyl chloride, triacetylcellulose, nylon, or the like. Furthermore, although a heat-resistant coating layer is not necessarily required,
The material may be, for example, silicone resin, epoxy resin, fluorine resin, nitrocellulose, or the like.

In addition, an example of an ink sheet containing heat-sublimable ink includes spacer particles and dyes formed of guanamine-based resin and furan-based resin on a base material formed of polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene naphthalate, aromatic polyamide film, etc. An example is an ink sheet provided with a coloring material layer containing.

Note that the heating method in the thermal transfer printer is not limited to the thermal head method using the above-mentioned thermal head, and for example, an energization method or a laser transfer method may be used.

In addition, although this embodiment has been explained using an example of using a thermal line head, the present invention is not limited to this.
It may also be a so-called serial type thermal transfer printer. Furthermore, although the present embodiment has been described in the case of multi-printing, the present invention is not limited to this, and it goes without saying that the present invention can also be applied to the case of normal thermal transfer recording using a one-time ink sheet.

Further, in the above-described embodiments, the thermal transfer printer is applied to a facsimile machine, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the thermal transfer recording device of the present invention can be applied to a word processor, a typewriter, a copying machine, etc. .

Further, the recording medium is not limited to recording paper, and may include cloth, plastic sheets, etc. as long as it is made of a material that allows ink transfer. In addition, the ink sheet is not limited to the roll configuration shown in the embodiment, and for example, the so-called ink sheet is a so-called ink sheet in which the ink sheet is built in a casing that is removable to the main body of the recording apparatus, and the casing is removable from the main body of the recording apparatus. It may be of a cassette type or the like.

As explained above, according to this embodiment, in a thermal transfer printer, there is a delay from when the motor phase of the recording paper and ink sheet is switched until each motor starts operating.
During this time, the ink is heated and the main recording is performed from the timing when the recording paper and ink sheet start moving, making it possible to perform efficient transfer.

As explained above, according to this embodiment, in a thermal transfer printer, there is a delay between when the motor phase of the recording paper ink sheet is switched and when each motor starts moving, so the ink is heated during that time and the recording paper is heated. The main recording starts from the timing when the ink sheet starts moving, making it possible to perform efficient transfer.

Further, this embodiment is effective in a recording apparatus such as a facsimile machine in which the time intervals of image data of one line may be uneven and long.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a thermal transfer recording device capable of recording high-quality images and a facsimile device using the thermal transfer recording device.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the electrical connection between the control section and the recording section of the embodiment, Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of the facsimile machine of the embodiment, and Fig. 3 is a mechanical section of the facsimile machine of the embodiment. 4 is a diagram showing the structure of the ink sheet and recording paper conveyance system. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the recording process of the embodiment.
The figure shows the timing of energizing the thermal head in the recording process of this embodiment, Figure 7 shows the state of the recording paper and ink sheet during recording in this embodiment, and Figure 8 shows this embodiment. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the multi-ink sheet used in FIG. 9. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the phase switching of the motor and the conveyance timing of the recording paper and ink sheet. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the recording process of another embodiment. In the figure, 10...rolled recording paper, 11...recording paper,
12...Platen roller, 13...Thermal head, 14...Ink sheet, 15...Cutter, 16...
...Discharge roller, 17...Ink sheet supply roll,
18... Ink sheet winding roll, 19... Ink sheet sensor, 20... Ink sheet presence/absence sensor, 2
1... Spring, 22... Recording paper presence/absence sensor, 2
4... Recording paper conveyance motor, 25... Ink sheet conveyance motor, 35. 48. 49... Driver circuit, 36... Drive circuit, 39... Paper ejection motor, 1
00...Reading unit, 101...Control unit, 102...
Recording section, 103... Operation section, 104... Display section, 1
05...Power supply, 106...Modem, 107...N
CU, 110... Line memory, 111... Encoding/decoding unit, 112... Buffer memory, 113...
...CPU. 114...ROM, 115...RAM, 116...
-Timer, 132...Heating resistor (heating element). Remove the ink from the flame using a full heat trowel. Second time〉7゛te- Nesotsu 4th time.

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) A thermal transfer recording device that records an image on the recording medium by transferring ink contained in an ink sheet to a recording medium, the device comprising: a first motor for conveying the ink sheet; and a first motor for conveying the ink sheet; a second motor for conveying; a recording device that acts on the ink sheet to record an image on the recording medium; and a clock device that clocks a predetermined time after phase switching of the first and second motors. A thermal transfer recording apparatus comprising: a control means for controlling the recording means to be driven after a predetermined period of time has elapsed after switching the phases of the first and second motors. (2) A facsimile machine using a thermal transfer recording device that transfers ink contained in an ink sheet to a recording medium to record an image on the recording medium, comprising an image input means for reading and inputting a document image; a transmitting/receiving means for transmitting and receiving signals; an ink sheet conveying means for conveying the ink sheet; a recording medium conveying means for conveying the recording medium; recording means for recording an image on the recording medium based on information; a clock means for measuring a predetermined time after the phase switching of the first and second motors; A facsimile apparatus comprising: control means for controlling the recording means to generate heat after a predetermined period of time has elapsed since switching. (3) The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when a recording interval of a predetermined length or more has elapsed, the recording means is preheated by generating heat. (4) The facsimile apparatus according to claim (2), wherein when a recording interval of a predetermined length or more has elapsed, the recording means is preheated by generating heat.