JPH0482774A - Recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To correct creases generated in a transfer material and eliminate an offset image, image irregularities and image blank which may occur when the material passes through a shaft by using a guide shaft with a center diameter which is larger than the diameter of both lateral ends of a shaft on a guide arranged in the transport direction downstream of the transfer material on a thermal transfer recording device. CONSTITUTION:In a guide shaft 5b, the shaft diameters is, 7.5 to 7.8mm of diemeter phiA in both lateral ends, 8mm of diameter phiB in the center part, and becomes thickner continuously from the both lateral ends to the center part with the center part being thickest. When heating and pressure are applied by a thermal head 4, a function to generate a tensile strength conveyed from the center part of the shaft to the lateral end direction (outer side) is given to a thermal transfer ribbon 3 during its passage with creases generated through the guide shaft 5b.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Objective of the Invention] (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention relates to the improvement of a recording device, and more specifically, to the improvement of a recording device, and more specifically to the improvement of a thermal transfer ribbon from an image recording material after image transfer. The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording device provided with a guide shaft that can be peeled off.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, a recording apparatus having the configuration shown in FIG. 5 has been used. That is, the transfer paper 2 and the thermal transfer ribbon are fed so as to overlap between the platen roller 1 and the thermal head 4 disposed on one side (the lower side in FIG. 5) of the platen roller 1, and the thermal transfer ribbon is The ink applied to the thermal transfer ribbon 3 is transferred to the transfer paper 2 by heating with a thermal head 4 from the ribbon 3 side. and,
After the ink is transferred, the transfer paper 2 of the overlapped transfer paper 2 and thermal transfer ribbon 3 is conveyed along the surface of the roller 1, and the other thermal transfer ribbon 3 is conveyed along the platen roller 1.
A guide shaft 5 disposed downstream in the conveyance direction away from
b, and was peeled off from the transfer paper 2 by being wound around the core.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, as shown in FIG. 5(b), the thermal transfer ribbon 3 usually has a structure in which a heat-melting (or heat-sublimating) ink layer 3b is applied to a base material 3a. Therefore, there is an adhesive force in the surface pressure direction between the base material 3a and the ink layer 3b (indicated by the arrow "↓" in FIG. 5(b)), and a cohesive force in the in-plane direction between the ink layer 3b. (Indicated by arrow “O” in Figure 5(b))
is working. Therefore, when the thermal transfer ribbon 3 is conveyed through the guide shaft 5b, it is pulled by a force that resists the above-mentioned adhesive force and cohesive force.

For this reason, there is a problem that a peeling sound is generated at the moment of peeling, which causes discomfort to surrounding people and deteriorates the working environment.

In addition, at the moment of peeling, a force that pulls the transfer paper acts, making the support of the transfer paper unstable, resulting in problems such as "misalignment" or "image omission" in the ink image being transferred or printed characters.

Furthermore, since the thermal head selectively heats the ribbon by applying electricity to the heating element, "wrinkles" are likely to occur in the thermal transfer ribbon due to local temperature gradients. However, conventional recording devices cannot correct such "wrinkles," resulting in problems such as print misalignment, print unevenness, and image omission, which result in deterioration of image quality.

Therefore, the present invention was made to solve the above-mentioned problems in the conventional recording apparatus, and in particular,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording device that does not cause "print shift,""printunevenness," or "image omission" caused by "wrinkles" caused by local temperature gradients of a thermal transfer ribbon during transfer.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention forms an image by transferring a transfer material onto an image recording material by a recording means, and also performs transfer by this recording means. In a recording device that separates a subsequent transfer material from an image recording material via a guide shaft disposed downstream in the transport direction of the transfer material, the guide shaft has a diameter larger at the center than at both ends of the shaft. It is characterized by its shape.

(Function) As described above, since the thermal transfer recording device of the present invention uses a guide having a diameter larger at the center than at both ends of the shaft, the heat between the platen roll and the thermal head is When the transfer material transferred from the pressure section toward the core passes through the guide shaft, a tensile force acts from the center of the guide shaft only toward the side edges of the shaft, correcting wrinkles that occur in the transfer material. be done. Therefore, "printing misalignment", "printing unevenness", "image omission", etc. that occur when using the conventional guide shaft are eliminated.

(Example) Hereinafter, a recording apparatus according to an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a main part showing a schematic configuration of a recording device fiflOa of this embodiment. That is, a thermal head 4 is disposed on the lower surface side of the platen roller 1, and is controlled by an external device (not shown) by a scanner or a control device (not shown).
A heating element (not shown) responds to the image signal sent from the
The thermal head 4 is configured to be selectively energized and to press the thermal head 4 toward the platen roller.

On the other hand, between the platen roller 1 and the thermal head 4, a thermal transfer ribbon 3 unwound from cores 9a and 9b is fed via guide shafts 5a and 5b, and transfer paper is conveyed from a paper feeding device (not shown). 2 and the thermal transfer ribbon 3 is placed on the thermal head 4 side.
So that the transfer paper 2 is in contact with the platen roll 1 side. ) It is configured to be transferred between the platen roll 1 and the thermal head 4. After the thermal transfer ribbon 3 is transferred by the thermal head 4, the stacked transfer paper 2 is conveyed along the circumferential surface of the platen roller 1 through the guide shaft 5b, and the thermal transfer ribbon 3 is radially moved along the guide shaft 5b. Then, it is wound around the core 9b and peeled off from the transfer paper 2.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the thermal head 4 described above is mounted in a head unit 6 having a U-shaped cross section so as to be elastically pressed in the direction of the platen roller 1 by a spring 7. Thus, a reverse cedar leaf spring 8 is attached to the bottom of the head unit 6, and the described guide, ya, and to 5b are provided at the top of the reverse cedar leaf spring 8, and the overlapping transfer paper 2 and thermal transfer Place ribbon 3 on platen roller 1
It acts by pressing against the surface. The thermal transfer ribbon after the ink transfer described above is passed through the guide shaft 5b to the winding core 9.
The thermal transfer ribbon 3 is elastically supported by the platen roller 1 surface during the winding process, and is peeled off from the transfer paper 2 during the transfer process. At this time, the thermal transfer ribbon 3 is pressed against the surface of the platen roller by the guide shaft 5b and held stably, so that the peeling sound when it is peeled off from the transfer paper 2 is reduced. Furthermore, the retention of the transfer paper is also stabilized.

This is because the guide shaft 5b is pressed against the platen roller 1 surface by the leaf spring 8, and unlike the method of supporting the guide shaft 5b with a rigid body, the head unit 6 is pushed down and the thermal head 4 is There is no possibility that the head pressure will be reduced and the ink transfer performance to the transfer paper 2 will be degraded.

In the recording device 10a of this embodiment, the guide shaft 5b has a diameter φA of 7.5 to 7.8 mm at both ends and a diameter φB at the center as shown in FIG.
By using a ribbon with a diameter of 8 mm and a shape that becomes thicker in the center continuously from both sides toward the center, the "wrinkles" that occur on the thermal transfer ribbon 3 when heated and pressed by the thermal head 4 can be avoided. 3 has a function of generating a tensile force from the center of the shaft toward the side ends (outside) when passing through the guide shaft 5b. For this reason, together with the highly effective elastic support of the guide shaft so that it presses against the platen roller, this reduces the peeling noise when peeling the thermal transfer ribbon from the transfer paper, and also stably holds the thermal transfer ribbon. It is also possible to correct "wrinkles" that occur on the thermal transfer ribbon, so it is possible to form images without "print misalignment,""printunevenness," or "image omission."

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above description, the image forming apparatus of the present invention can correct the "wrinkles" that occur on the umbrella transfer material during transfer. It is possible to significantly reduce image quality deterioration such as "print deviation", "print unevenness", and "print omission" during transfer.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a schematic structure of a recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view showing a main part structure of the recording apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an external perspective view showing the arrangement of a platen roller, a thermal head, and a guide shaft of the recording apparatus shown in the figure; FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the configuration of the guide shaft of the recording apparatus shown in FIG. 1; FIGS. 5(a) and 5(b) are a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a main part and a partially enlarged view showing the configuration of a conventional recording apparatus, respectively. 4... Thermal heads 5a, 5b... Guide shaft 8... Leaf springs 9a, 9b... Core 10 of thermal transfer ribbon... Conventional recording device 10a... Recording device of the present invention

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A recording device transfers a transfer material onto an image recording material to form an image, and the transfer material after being transferred by the recording device is transferred through a guide shaft disposed downstream in the transfer direction of the transfer material. A recording device that peels off from an image recording material, wherein the guide shaft has a shape in which a diameter at a central portion is larger than a diameter at both ends of the shaft.