JPH053837B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Summary] The present invention provides a thermal transfer recording device that uses an ink ribbon in which a large number of through holes are provided in a thin metal plate and the through holes are filled with thermoplastic ink. In order to solve head abrasion and ink staining caused by contact between the ink ribbon and the thermal printing head, an organic thin plate is interposed between the ink ribbon and the head, and the through-holes of the ink ribbon are refilled with ink and the organic thin plate is The lining cost is reduced by cleaning the adhered ink and using the ink ribbon repeatedly.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording device, and in particular, heat resistance,
It is equipped with a mechanism that prevents wear of the thermal print head and ink leakage by printing through a wear-resistant organic thin plate, and is also equipped with a device that supplies ink to this ink ribbon, allowing the ink ribbon to be repeatedly used for transfer. The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording device which is used to reduce the lining cost of the device.

An ink ribbon is formed by applying heat-melting ink onto a support such as polyester resin to form an ink layer. Recording paper is placed over this ink layer and selectively heated from the support side according to the printed information. A thermal transfer recording device that presses a thermal print head that melts the ink in the ink layer and transfers the ink to the recording paper does not generate noise during printing, making it suitable for offices and other locations that require a quiet environment. It is used as a small printer.

However, such an ink ribbon has poor transfer efficiency because the heat of the thermal printing head is transferred to the ink layer through the support. Therefore, if an attempt is made to reduce the thickness of the support, the mechanical strength of the ribbon will be weakened, and it is technically difficult to form a thin ink layer.

Furthermore, when ink is transferred to such an ink ribbon using a thermal printing head, the ink is discarded after one transfer, rather than being transferred multiple times, which poses the problem of increasing printer running costs. be.

Therefore, attempts have been made to recoat ink on the ink ribbon after transfer, but it requires a complicated mechanism to uniformly recoat the thickness of the ink layer, which affects the quality of the transferred print. .

[Conventional technology]

As an ink ribbon that eliminates such drawbacks of conventional ink ribbons, the ink ribbon shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, which is a cross-sectional view taken along the line '', a carrier 1 is formed by providing a through hole 2 in a thin metal plate such as stainless steel. Then, the inside of the through hole 2 of this carrier 1 is filled with an ink 3 that is thermoplastic and solid at room temperature, and this ink 3 is directly irradiated with a laser beam or the like to melt the ink 3 and transfer it to recording paper. Japanese Patent Publication No. 59-36879 discloses an ink ribbon 4 which has improved efficiency and durability by using a thin metal plate as a carrier.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, as shown in FIG. 8, a recording paper 6 placed on a platen 5 is stacked on such an ink ribbon 4, and a thermal printing head 7 is pressed against the ink ribbon 4, so that the melted ink is applied to the recording paper 6. When attempting to perform transfer recording, a portion of the molten ink adheres to the heating element 8 of the thermal print head 7, staining the head 7, thereby reducing the thermal efficiency of the head 7 and reducing the transfer efficiency. .

Furthermore, when the ink ribbon carrier is formed of a thin metal plate 1 having through holes, the thermal printing head 7
As a result of experiments, it was confirmed that the head 7 could be damaged due to friction with the head 7.

[Means for solving problems]

1 and 2 are a sectional view of a transfer section and a plan view of an ink ribbon in the apparatus of the present invention. In both figures, numeral 4 is an ink ribbon with a large number of through holes 2 filled with ink 3, 6 is recording paper, 7 is a thermal print head, and 11 is a heat-resistant organic resin thin plate with low frictional force.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the apparatus of the present invention, in which reference numeral 10 indicates a transfer section, 20 indicates an ink supply section, and 30 indicates a cleaning section for cleaning the organic resin thin plate.

[Effect]

As shown in FIG. 1, in the transfer section 10, the recording paper 6, the ink ribbon 4, the organic resin thin plate 11, and the thermal print head 7 are placed in contact with each other in this order, and the heat of the thermal print head transfers the prints through the organic thin plate. to transfer the ink from the ink ribbon to the recording paper.

Therefore, since the ink ribbon 4 and the thermal printing head 7 do not come into direct contact during printing, there is no wear on the head 7 and no ink adheres to the head.

Further, the organic resin thin plate 11 stained with ink is cleaned by the cleaning section 30.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a thermal transfer recording apparatus of the present invention, in which an endless ink ribbon 4 and an organic resin thin plate 11 are connected to conveying mechanisms 40, 5.
0, the ink ribbon is conveyed in the direction of the arrow, the ink ribbon and the organic thin plate are overlapped, and the ink ribbon is transferred to the recording paper. It is comprised of an ink supply section 20 that fills the holes with ink, and a cleaning section 30 that removes ink adhering to the organic thin plate 11 during printing.

As shown in the plan view of FIG. 6 and the cross-sectional view of FIG. A carrier 1 is used in which through holes 2 having a diameter of 10 to 100 μm are arranged in a staggered manner. The inside of this through hole 2 is filled with a thermofusible ink 3 made of a dye and a thermofusible wax.

The organic thin plate 11 used in the apparatus of the present invention is made of a fluororesin and has a width equal to or larger than the ink carrier 1 and a thickness of 1 to 100 μm.

A case will be described in which ink is transferred onto recording paper in the transfer section 10 using such an ink ribbon 4 and organic thin plate 11.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the ink ribbon 4 in the transfer section 10, and FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the cross-sectional structure and transfer state of the ink ribbon 4 and the organic thin plate 11. 1st
As shown in the drawings and FIG. 2, in the transfer section 10, the heating element 8 of the thermal printing head 7 is brought into contact with the heat-resistant thin organic resin plate 11, which has a weak frictional force. Then, the opening side A of the through hole filled with the ink 3 of the ink ribbon 4 is brought into contact with the recording paper 6 placed on a pressing member such as a platen 5, and the ink ribbon 4 is moved to the thermal printing head 7. to press the recording paper 6.

The ink melted by the heating element 8 is in the area surrounded by the dotted line 12 in FIG.

The ink 3 in the through-hole of the ink ribbon 4 is melted onto the recording paper 6 using the heating element 8 selectively heated by the print information of the thermal print head 7, and the ink is permeated and transferred onto the recording paper.

In this way, the heat-resistant thin fluororesin plate 11, which has a low coefficient of friction with respect to the thermal printing head, is sandwiched between the ink ribbon 4 on the side that contacts the thermal printing head 7. Accidents that may damage the heating element 8 are eliminated.

Also, the molten ink 3 on the thermal printing head side
This prevents the thermal printing head from penetrating into the thermal printing head and eliminates accidents that could contaminate the thermal printing head and reduce the thermal efficiency of the head.

After the ink has been transferred in this way, the ink ribbon 4 is separated from the organic resin thin plate 11, moves further, reaches the ink supply section 20, and is transferred to the heater in the ink coating section 20 shown in FIG. The thermofusible ink 3, which is solid at room temperature and has been melted by the ink tank 25, is inserted into an ink tank 26 containing the heat-fusible ink 3 which is solid at room temperature.
Here, the ink 3 is again filled into the through hole 2 of the ink ribbon 4 to which the ink has been transferred in the transfer section 10, and the ribbon is 4
The ink adhering to the surface of the ink ribbon is scraped off, and the ink ribbon is recoated and used for the next transfer process.

Further, the organic resin thin plate 11 separated from the ink ribbon 4 is connected to a cleaning section 3 consisting of a heater 31 and a porous body 32 like a sponge as shown in FIG.
By moving the organic resin thin plate while heating the heater at zero, the ink 33 that adhered during printing is melted, absorbed into the porous body, and cleaned.

By doing so, the ink ribbon 11 can be used repeatedly, thereby reducing the running cost of the apparatus.

In the above embodiment, the heat-resistant organic resin thin plate 11
Although a fluororesin film is used as the material, a heat-resistant organic film such as polyimide resin, which has a weak frictional force against the thermal printing head, may also be used.

In addition to dyes, the heat-melting ink may also use a coloring agent such as a pigment, and in addition to the heat-melting wax, a thermoplastic resin such as ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymer may be used. Further, a mixture of heat-fusible wax and thermoplastic resin may be used.

Further, in this embodiment, the ink ribbon and organic resin thin plate are endless, but instead of being endless, a single long piece may be used and used repeatedly for transfer recording.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the thermal transfer recording apparatus of the present invention, the thermal printing head does not directly contact the ink ribbon but prints via the organic resin thin plate, thereby eliminating wear of the thermal printing head. In addition, since this organic resin thin plate is constantly cleaned and kept clean by the cleaning section, it is possible to prevent accidents such as molten ink penetrating into the thermal printing head side, staining the head, and reducing the thermal efficiency of the head. .

Furthermore, the ink ribbon can be refilled with ink after transfer, and the ink ribbon can be used repeatedly for transfer recording, which has the effect of reducing the running cost of the apparatus.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the transfer section in the thermal transfer recording device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the ink ribbon, FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the inventive apparatus, and FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the ink supply section. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a cleaning section for a thin organic resin plate, FIGS. 6 and 7 are a plan view and a sectional view of an ink ribbon used in the apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an inconvenient state in a conventional apparatus. be. 1 to 3, 3 is thermoplastic ink, 4 is an ink ribbon, 5 is a platen, 6 is a recording paper, 7 is a thermal print head, 8 is a heating element, 1
0 is a transfer section, 11 is an organic resin thin plate, 20 is an ink supply section, 30 is a cleaning section, and 40 and 50 are transport mechanisms, respectively.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An ink ribbon 4 filled with thermoplastic ink 3 in a large number of through holes 2 is placed on a recording paper 6, and a thermal printing head 7 is pressed against this ink ribbon to print the ink 3. In the structure in which the ink is melted and transferred to recording paper, an ink supply section 20 is provided for filling the ink 3 into the through hole 2 of the ink ribbon 4, and an ink supply section 20 is provided that moves between the ink ribbon 4 and the thermal printing head 7. 1. A thermal transfer recording apparatus characterized in that a thin organic resin plate 11 which is heat resistant and has a weak frictional force is interposed therebetween, and a cleaning section 30 is provided for cleaning the thin organic resin plate.