JPH06143631A - Thermal transfer recorder and recording method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To print various recording media, including a rough paper, clearly with a thermally fusible ink. CONSTITUTION:An ink sheet 1 having an ink layer 1a is heated selectively to transfer an ink image of specific pattern thermally onto an intermediate transfer body 4 and then the ink image is transferred thermally onto a recording medium 11. In such thermal transfer recorder, heaters 9, 10 for heating a rotary thermal transfer body individually are disposed, respectively, in the vicinity of a position for transferring ink heat to the intermediate transfer body and in the vicinity of a position for transferring ink heat to the recording medium.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording method for thermal transfer by an intermediate transfer member arranged between an ink sheet and a recording medium, and an improvement of the apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An ink layer on an ink sheet is once transferred to an intermediate transfer member by an intermediate transfer member arranged between an ink sheet and a recording medium, and then transferred again to a recording medium such as a sheet of paper to be printed. Such a so-called intermediate transfer device is known. FIG. 3 shows a conventional example. In this apparatus, a heater 33 is built inside a layer of the intermediate transfer body 32 provided on the surface of the rotating body 31, and the intermediate transfer body 32 is kept at a constant temperature by this heater. By this heat retention, the heat transfer of the writing print is performed from the ink sheet 34 to the intermediate transfer body 32 by the plurality of heating elements 36 in at least one row, and then this print is transferred to the recording medium 37.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Such a conventional device is
Since the heating of the intermediate transfer body is controlled by one heater, even if the performance of the heat generating body and the performance of the ink sheet are high, the thermal transfer of the writing printing to the intermediate transfer body or the recording medium from the intermediate transfer body is performed. There was no choice but to set the temperature by giving priority to either the reheat transfer to the printer, and it was difficult to obtain clear print quality. The present invention eliminates this drawback, and aims to obtain clearer printing by making optimum transfer states at the time of transfer writing to an intermediate transfer member and at the time of transfer to a recording medium.

[0004]

According to the present invention, an ink sheet having an ink layer is selectively heated to write an ink image of a predetermined pattern on an intermediate transfer member by thermal transfer, and then the ink image is written on the intermediate transfer member. In a thermal transfer recording method for thermally transferring an ink image to a recording medium, thermal transfer recording in which the intermediate transfer member is individually heated according to both thermal transfer temperature conditions in the vicinity of the ink writing position on the intermediate transfer member and near the ink thermal transfer position on the recording medium. Is the way. Further, the present invention selectively heats an ink sheet having an ink layer to write an ink image of a predetermined pattern on an intermediate transfer member by thermal transfer,
Next, in a thermal transfer recording apparatus that thermally transfers the ink image written on the intermediate transfer body to the recording medium, the intermediate transfer body is individually heated near the ink thermal transfer position on the intermediate transfer body and near the ink thermal transfer position on the recording medium. The thermal transfer recording apparatus is provided with a means for doing so. Further, according to the present invention, the intermediate transfer member is composed of a strip-shaped member wound around the first and second rotating members, and the heating means transfers the ink to the intermediate transfer member from the first rotating drum on the side in contact with the ink layer. The first heater that heats in the vicinity of the thermal transfer position, the second heater that heats the second rotating body that is in contact with the recording medium in the vicinity of the thermal transfer position of the ink to the recording medium, and the temperature of both heaters are in between. A thermal transfer recording apparatus having a temperature control unit that controls individually according to both thermal transfer temperature conditions of a transfer body. The intermediate transfer body may be an endless belt-shaped body or a belt-shaped body stretched around the unwinding member and the winding member.

[0005]

In the method and apparatus of the present invention, when the ink image is thermally transferred and written on the intermediate transfer member and when the ink image written on the intermediate transfer member is thermally transferred to the recording medium, the ink and the recording medium are aligned with each other. The respective intermediate transfer members are appropriately heated and controlled. As a result, clear thermal transfer recording can be performed.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a recording apparatus in a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an ink sheet, which is stretched between a pair of ink sheet supply rolls 2 and an ink sheet take-up reroll 3 to form a sheet-shaped substrate 1b.
The ink layer 1a is formed on. Reference numeral 4 denotes an endless intermediate transfer member, which is wound around rotating members 5 and 6. A pressing head 7 has a heating element 8. Reference numeral 9 is a heater that heats the rotating body 5 to a temperature suitable for writing the ink image from the ink sheet 1 onto the intermediate transfer body 4 (for example, a temperature slightly lower than the thermal transfer temperature), and 10 is ink written on the intermediate transfer body. A heater that heats the image A to a temperature necessary for thermally transferring the image A to the recording medium 11, and a temperature controller 12 that is connected to the heaters 9 and 10 and controls the heating of these to a desired temperature. Heater 9,
A halogen lamp or the like can be used as 10. The temperature control unit 12 includes a temperature setting control unit 13 that sets the temperatures of the heaters 9 and 10 to desired temperatures, a color selection unit 14, a paper selection unit 15, and a print density selection unit 16.
The color selection unit 14 sets each temperature of the heaters 9 and 10 with a plurality of buttons (not shown) in accordance with black for normal recording and at least each color material of cyan, magenta, and yellow for color recording. it can. Paper selection unit 15
Has a plurality of buttons (not shown) for selecting papers having different surface roughness, and the density selecting section 16 has a plurality of buttons (not shown) for adjusting the print density. The pressing head 7 is configured to bring the ink sheet 1 into contact with the intermediate transfer body 4 in a biased state and cause the heating element 8 to melt the ink material at a desired position in the ink layer 1a. Reference numeral 17 denotes a pressing roller made of rubber or metal that brings the recording medium 11 into contact with the intermediate transfer member 4 to transfer the ink image A to the recording medium. It suffices for the intermediate transfer member 4 to be able to temporarily hold the ink image A. Therefore, a rubber sheet such as silicon,
It can be made of a plastic sheet, a metal sheet, or a combination thereof. Metal rotor 5,6
Is a hollow structure containing the heaters 9 and 10, respectively. Further, in order to widen the transfer adjustment range, an elastic material such as rubber may be applied to the outer peripheral portions of the rotating bodies 5 and 6 to form a two-layer structure. Although not shown, temperature sensors may be provided near the heaters 9 and 10, and the temperature of the heaters 9 and 10 may be feedback-controlled by detecting the temperature of these temperature sensors.

The operation of the recording apparatus of the first embodiment constructed as above will be described below. First, the temperature selection according to the desired color is set by the color selection unit 14, the desired paper is set by the paper selection unit 15, and the desired ink shade is set by the density selection unit 16. The selected data is automatically transmitted to the temperature setting control unit 13. The temperature setting control unit 13
Is based on these data, the heaters 9 in the rotating bodies 5 and 6,
By controlling energization of 10, the rotating bodies 5 and 6 and the intermediate transfer body 4 are heated and kept at a desired temperature. In this state, the pressing head 7 is moved to the rotary member 5 side, the ink layer 1a is pressed against the intermediate transfer member 4, and the ink image is written on the transfer member surface by thermal transfer. Then, this ink image is conveyed in the direction of arrow B by the movement of the intermediate transfer body 4, and then the ink image A written on the rotary transfer body 4 by the cooperation of the intermediate transfer body 4 and the pressing roller 17 is thermally transferred onto the recording medium 11. To be done. Here, for example, when a wax-based ink ribbon is used, the temperature in the vicinity of the ink writing position on the intermediate transfer body 4 is preferably around 60 ° C., while the heating temperature in the vicinity of the ink thermal transfer position on the recording medium is 30. It is preferably in the temperature range of -60 ° C.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 2, the same members as those shown in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.
In this embodiment, the intermediate transfer member 24 is composed of a belt-shaped member stretched between the unwinding member 25 and the winding member 26, and the belt-shaped member is further wound around the rotating members 5 and 6 to form a guide roller. The intermediate transfer member 24 is brought into close contact with the rotating members 5 and 6 by 27 and 28. This allows the ink sheet 1
The intermediate transfer member 24 can be heated at a desired temperature in the vicinity of the ink writing position on the intermediate transfer member 24 and in the vicinity of the ink thermal transfer position on the recording medium 11. In the apparatus having such a configuration, the intermediate transfer member 24 is sequentially supplied from the unwinding member 25 to the winding member 26, and the rotating member 5
Side is heated at a desired temperature to form an ink image A on the intermediate transfer member.
Is written, and the written ink image A is thermally transferred again to the recording medium 11 on the rotating body 6 side. With this configuration, since the intermediate transfer member is newly fed in sequence, thermal transfer can be performed without problems such as ink remaining.

[0009]

According to the method and apparatus of the present invention, when the ink image is thermally transferred and written on the intermediate transfer member and when the ink image written on the intermediate transfer member is thermally transferred to the recording medium, the ink and Since the intermediate transfer member can be appropriately heated and controlled according to the recording medium, clearer thermal transfer recording can be performed as compared with the conventional case. Also, the intermediate transfer member is the first
It consists of a strip wound around the second rotating body,
The heating means heats the first rotating body on the side in contact with the ink layer in the vicinity of the ink thermal transfer position on the intermediate transfer body, and the second rotating body on the side in contact with the recording medium to the recording medium. In the case of having a second heater for heating near the ink thermal transfer position, and a temperature control section for individually controlling the temperature of the both heaters in accordance with both thermal transfer temperature conditions of the intermediate transfer member, Since the arrangement position can be adjusted, both heating positions of the intermediate transfer member can be easily adjusted and heating can be performed easily.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a thermal transfer recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an intermediate transfer type thermal transfer recording apparatus showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Ink Sheet 1a Ink Layer 1b Sheet Substrate 2 Ink Sheet Supply Roll 3 Ink Sheet Take-up Roll 4 Intermediate Transfer Body 5, 6 Rotating Body 7 Pressing Head 8 Heating Element 9, 10 Heater 11 Recording Medium 12 Temperature Control Section 13 Temperature Setting Control unit 14 Color selection unit 15 Paper selection unit 16 Density selection unit 17 Pressing roller 24 Intermediate transfer body 25 Unwinding member 26 Winding member 27, 28 Guide roller 31 Rotating body 32 Intermediate transfer body 33 Heater 34 Ink sheet 34a Ink layer 34b Sheet-like substrate 35 Pressing head 36 Heating element 37 Recording medium

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] November 9, 1993

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be corrected] Brief description of the drawing

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a thermal transfer recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a thermal transfer recording apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention .
It is a schematic diagram.

FIG. 3 shows an intermediate transfer type thermal transfer recording apparatus showing a conventional example .
It is a schematic diagram.

[Explanation of reference numerals] 1 ink sheet 1a ink layer 1b sheet-like substrate 2 ink sheet supply roll 3 ink sheet take-up roll 4 intermediate transfer body 5, 6 rotating body 7 pressing head 8 heating element 9, 10 heater 11 recording medium 12 temperature Control unit 13 Temperature setting control unit 14 Color selection unit 15 Paper selection unit 16 Density selection unit 17 Press roller 24 Intermediate transfer body 25 Unwinding member 26 Winding member 27, 28 Guide roller 31 Rotating body 32 Intermediate transfer body 33 Heater 34 Ink Sheet 34a Ink layer 34b Sheet-like substrate 35 Pressing head 36 Heating element 37 Recording medium

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An ink sheet having an ink layer is selectively heated to write an ink image of a predetermined pattern on an intermediate transfer body by thermal transfer, and then the ink image written on the intermediate transfer body is thermally transferred to a recording medium. In the thermal transfer recording method described above, the intermediate transfer member is individually heated in the vicinity of the ink writing position on the intermediate transfer member and in the vicinity of the ink thermal transfer position on the recording medium according to both thermal transfer temperature conditions. 2. An ink sheet having an ink layer is selectively heated to write an ink image of a predetermined pattern on an intermediate transfer body by thermal transfer, and then the ink image written on the intermediate transfer body is thermally transferred to a recording medium. The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for individually heating the intermediate transfer body near the ink thermal transfer position on the intermediate transfer body and near the ink thermal transfer position on the recording medium. 3. The intermediate transfer member is composed of a strip-shaped member which is wound around a first rotating member and a second rotating member, and the heating means transfers the first rotating member on the side in contact with the ink layer to the intermediate transfer member. A first heater that heats in the vicinity of the ink thermal transfer position on the body;
A second heater that heats the second rotating body that is in contact with the recording medium in the vicinity of the ink thermal transfer position on the recording medium, and the temperatures of both heaters are individually controlled according to both thermal transfer temperature conditions of the intermediate transfer body. 3. The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a temperature control unit that operates.