JPH06218967A - Image recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an image recording apparatus capable of being miniaturized without lowering image quality. CONSTITUTION:A roller 38 and a roller 36 having unevenness 40 provided to the outer peripheral surface thereof are arranged in an image recording apparatus 10 at a predetermined interval and an endless belt 42 having uneveness 44 provided to the inner peripheral surface thereof is trained over the rollers 36, 38. The clamp 58 revolvable around a shaft 46 and holding a thermal recording material 12 along with the endless belt 42 is attached to the endless belt 42 through brackets 52, 54. The thermal recording material 12 engaged with the endless belt 42 is moved along with the endless belt 42 by the clamp 58 and images are recorded on respective dye layers of Y, M and C by a thermal head 66.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, there is a heat-sensitive recording method as a method for recording an image on a recording material using a heating element. In this heat-sensitive recording method, a heat-sensitive recording material obtained by applying a color former and a color developer to a support such as paper or synthetic paper is used, and the heat-sensitive recording material is heated by a thermal head to record an image.
Such a heat-sensitive recording method does not require development, when the support is paper, the quality of the paper is similar to general paper, it is easy to handle, the color density is high, the recording device is simple and inexpensive, It is advantageous in that it produces less noise when compared to dot printers and the like, and has rapidly become popular in the fields of monochrome facsimiles and printers in recent years.

Further, in such a recording field, along with the rapid development of the information industry, there is an increasing demand for easily obtaining a color hard copy from a terminal of an information device such as a computer or a facsimile.

Here, the applicant of the present invention provides a heat-sensitive color-forming layer, which is substantially transparent and develops different hues, on a transparent support, whereby a heat-sensitive color-developed image which is better than ever can be obtained. Proposed a recording material (Japanese Patent Application No. 2-893)
No. 84, Japanese Patent Application No. 2-134303, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-141
279). An image is recorded on the heat-sensitive recording material by a heat-sensitive recording method in which a thermal head having heating elements arranged in the main scanning direction is scanned in the sub-scanning direction.

According to this, it is possible to obtain a multicolor image which has not been obtained in the past, and which has an excellent hue, an excellent color separation property and an excellent image storability. Further, the obtained image may be a transmission image or a reflection image. In such a thermosensitive recording material, when a thermosensitive coloring layer is multiply provided on one side, the uppermost layer (the layer closest to the surface) is heated and colored with a heat quantity such that the other layers are not heated, This heat-sensitive color developing layer is fixed and heat treatment of another heat-sensitive color developing layer is performed.

For example, a thermosensitive coloring layer that develops cyan (C), a thermosensitive coloring layer that develops magenta (M), and a thermosensitive coloring layer that develops yellow (Y) are multiply provided on one surface of the thermosensitive recording material. If the color image signal is C,
The thermal recording material is converted into image signals for each of M and Y, and the thermal recording material is wound around the outer periphery of a cylindrical drum and locked on the drum, and the drum is rotated to move the thermal head and the thermal recording material in the sub-scanning direction. The uppermost layer, for example, the thermosensitive coloring layer that develops Y in the first scanning, is heated and developed in accordance with the image signal corresponding to Y to record and fix the image. In the second scanning, the second layer, for example, the thermosensitive coloring layer that develops color on M, is heated and developed in accordance with the image signal corresponding to M to record and fix the image. In the third scanning, the third layer, for example, the thermosensitive coloring layer that develops C is heated and developed in accordance with the image signal corresponding to C to record an image. As a result, a color image is formed.

[0007]

However, when the heat-sensitive recording material is wound and supported on the outer circumference of the drum as described above, the area of the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical drum is made larger than the area of the heat-sensitive recording material. It is necessary to expose the entire surface of the thermosensitive recording material wound on a drum without overlapping. For this reason, it is necessary to set the diameter and axial dimension of the drum to a predetermined value or more, and accordingly, the volume (occupied space) of the drum also becomes a certain value or more, so that the image recording apparatus cannot be downsized. It was In order to solve this, when the drum for supporting the heat-sensitive recording material is omitted and the heat-sensitive recording material is sandwiched and conveyed by rollers or the like, and the thermal head disposing portion is reciprocated, the heat-sensitive recording material is Since it is not locked to the roller as the holding member, the deviation of the image position (so-called registration) recorded on each color forming layer by the above-described multiple scans is likely to be large and the image quality is deteriorated. .

The present invention has been made in view of the above facts, and an object thereof is to obtain an image recording apparatus which can be downsized without deteriorating the image quality.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, an image recording apparatus according to the present invention comprises an endless belt having flexibility and wound around a plurality of rollers, and a recording medium on the belt. Locking means for locking, driving means for driving the belt, and recording means for recording an image on a recording medium locked to the belt by the locking means while the belt is driven by the driving means. And have.

Further, the recording medium is formed with a plurality of heat-sensitive layers that develop different colors, and the recording means scans the recording medium a plurality of times to record an image on each of the plurality of heat-sensitive layers. be able to.

[0011]

In the present invention, the recording medium is locked to the endless belt, and the image is recorded on the recording medium locked to the belt while the belt is driven. Therefore, the image is recorded by being conveyed while the recording medium is locked and held by the belt, so that the image is recorded on the recording medium a plurality of times as compared with the case where the recording medium is nipped and conveyed by the rollers or the like. The deviation of the image position when recorded is small, and the image quality does not deteriorate. Further, since the flexible belt is used, the loop formed by the belt can be formed in an arbitrary shape depending on the diameter, number, arrangement, etc. of the plurality of rollers supporting the belt. Generally, the area of a figure having a constant perimeter becomes the maximum when the figure is a perfect circle. Therefore, even if the total length of the belt (perimeter of the loop) matches the circumference of the cylindrical drum, and the width of the belt matches the size of the drum in the axial direction, the loop shape will be a perfect circle. Other than the above, for example, by making the shape of an ellipse, the volume of the space surrounded by the belt, that is, the space occupied by the belt becomes smaller than the space occupied by the cylindrical drum, so that the image recording apparatus can be downsized. You can

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the numerical values described in this embodiment.

FIG. 1 shows an image recording apparatus 10 according to the present invention. The image recording device 10 is provided with a slit-shaped loading / unloading port 22. In addition, the image recording device 1
At 0, a tray 24 is provided corresponding to the loading / unloading port 22. The thermal recording material 12 is a tray 2 as a recording medium.
4 and is planarly inserted into the image recording apparatus 10 via the loading / unloading port 22. The heat-sensitive recording material 12 that has been processed inside the image recording apparatus 10 and recorded with an image is discharged from the image recording apparatus 10 through the carry-in / out port 22, and is placed on the tray.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the thermal recording material 12, one side of the coated paper 14 which is a paper support is a cyan dye layer (hereinafter referred to as C dye layer) 20, a magenta dye layer (hereinafter referred to as M dye) in order from the bottom layer. 18 and a yellow dye layer (hereinafter referred to as Y dye layer) 16 are provided, and each dye layer is transparent. The Y dye layer 16 and the M dye layer 18 are of a light fixing type and have a wavelength of 420 nm and a wavelength of 365 nm.
It is a layer that has the property of not changing even after being heated by being irradiated with the above light. Further, an intermediate layer may be provided between the layers and a protective layer may be provided on the uppermost layer.

The loading / unloading port 2 in the image recording apparatus 10
An insertion detection sensor 26 is provided in the vicinity of 2. The insertion detection sensor 26 detects the presence / absence of the thermal recording material 12 inserted through the loading / unloading port 22. As shown in FIG. 5, the insertion detection sensor 26 is connected to the control circuit 28 and outputs a detection signal to the control circuit 28. A conveyance roller 30 is arranged near the position where the insertion detection sensor 26 is arranged. The transport roller 30 is rotated by a motor 32 (see FIG. 5) connected to the control circuit 28. When the insertion detection sensor 26 detects the insertion of the thermosensitive recording material 12, the control circuit 28 drives the motor 32 to drive the conveyance roller 3.
0 is rotated in the direction of arrow A in FIG. This will bring in
The thermosensitive recording material 12 inserted through the discharge port 22 is sandwiched by the conveying rollers 30 and a conveying force is applied thereto, and is guided and conveyed by the pair of guide plates 34 provided adjacent to the conveying rollers 30.

On the other hand, inside the image recording apparatus 10, a roller 36 and a roller 38 are arranged at a predetermined interval. As shown in FIG. 3, arcuate irregularities 40 are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the roller 36 at a constant pitch. Laura 3
The outer peripheral surface of No. 8 is a smooth surface without unevenness. The diameters of the rollers 36 and 38 are about 20 mm. An endless belt 42 made of rubber and having flexibility is stretched between the roller 36 and the roller 38, and an elliptic loop is formed. Endless belt 42
Similarly to the outer peripheral surface of the roller 36, arc-shaped irregularities 44 are formed on the inner peripheral surface of the roller 36 at a constant pitch.
It corresponds to the unevenness 40 on the outer peripheral surface. As shown in FIG. 3, in this embodiment, the maximum value d of the wall pressure dimension of the endless belt 42 is 3 mm, and the pitch t of the unevenness 44 is
2 mm, and the amplitude a of the unevenness 44 is 0.5 mm.

The roller 38 is rotatably supported by the image recording apparatus 10 via a shaft 46. A drive shaft 48 is attached to the center of rotation of the roller 36, and the drive shaft 48 is connected to a drive shaft of a motor 50 (see FIG. 5) (not shown) via a gear box (not shown). The motor 50 is connected to the control circuit 28,
The drive is controlled by 8. When the motor 50 is driven, the driving force of the motor 50 is transmitted to the roller 36 via the gear box and the drive shaft 48, and the roller 36 is rotated. Accordingly, the unevenness 44 causes the unevenness 4 on the outer circumference of the roller 36.
The endless belt 42 corresponding to 0 is also rotated. At this time, since the outer peripheral surface of the roller 38 is in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the endless belt 42, the roller 38 is driven to rotate.

As shown in FIG. 4, brackets 52 and 54 are attached to predetermined positions of the endless belt 42 at both ends in the width direction. A shaft 56 is provided between the brackets 52 and 54.
And the shaft 56 supports the clamp 58. The clamp 58 is rotatable about the shaft 56, and is in a direction in which the actuator 60 (see FIG. 5) contacts the endless belt 42 (direction of arrow E in FIG. 4) or a direction away from the endless belt 42 (see FIG. 4). 4 is rotated in the direction of arrow F).

The actuator 60 is connected to the control circuit 28, and its operation is controlled by the control circuit 28.
When the clamp 58 is moved in the direction of contacting the endless belt 42, the clamp 58 holds the end portion of the heat-sensitive recording material 12 between the clamp 58 and the endless belt 42, and the heat-sensitive recording material 12 can be locked to the endless belt 42. ing. A plurality of guide rollers 62 and a guide plate 64 that come into contact with the endless belt 42 are arranged on the outer circumference of the endless belt 42, and the heat-sensitive recording material 12 locked to the endless belt 42 by a clamp 58 is closely attached to the endless belt 42. I am letting you.

A thermal head 66 is arranged on the outer circumference of the endless belt 42 corresponding to the portion where the rollers 36 are arranged. The thermal head 66 is urged by a compression coil spring 68 in a direction of contacting the endless belt 42, that is, in a direction of contacting the thermal recording material 12 locked on the endless belt 42. The thermal head 66 is configured by arranging a large number of heating elements along the axial direction of the roller 36. The thermal head 66 is connected to the control circuit 28 via a driver 70 (see FIG. 5), and heats each of the plurality of heating elements according to the Y, M, and C image signals input from the driver 70. Then, an image is recorded on each dye layer.

Since the amplitude of the unevenness 44 of the endless belt 42 is made as small as 0.5 mm as described above, the pressing force of the thermal head 66 against the heat-sensitive recording material 12 due to the variation of the wall pressure dimension of the endless belt 42. The fluctuation is small, and uneven density does not occur in the image recorded on the heat-sensitive recording material 12.

Light sources 72 and 74 are arranged on the outer circumference of the endless belt 42 corresponding to the area between the rollers 36 and 38. The light source 72 irradiates the heat-sensitive recording material 12 with light having a wavelength of 420 nm, and the light source 74 irradiates the heat-sensitive recording material 12 with light having a wavelength of 365 nm. Light sources 72, 74
Is connected to the control circuit 28, and the control circuit 28 controls ON / OFF.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. When the recording of an image on the thermosensitive recording material 12 is instructed and the thermosensitive recording material 12 is inserted into the image recording apparatus 10 through the loading / unloading port 22, the inserted thermosensitive recording material 12 is detected by the insertion detection sensor 26. To be done. As a result, the control circuit 28
1 drives the motor 32 to rotate the carry roller 30 in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1, and also drives the motor 50 to move the endless belt 42, and the portion of the endless belt 42 to which the clamp 58 is attached is loaded / unloaded. It corresponds to 22.

The thermal recording material 12 inserted in the image recording apparatus 10 is conveyed toward the endless belt 42 by the conveying roller 30. When the tip of the thermosensitive recording material 12 reaches the clamp 58 attached to the endless belt 42, the control circuit 28 rotates the clamp 58 in the direction of arrow E in FIG. Lock it. Next, the motor 50 is driven to move the endless belt 42 in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 1 to convey the thermal recording material 12,
An image is recorded on the Y dye layer 16 of the thermal recording material 12 in the first round.

That is, the light source 72, which is the light source for fixing the Y dye layer 16, is turned on, and the image data is supplied from the driver 70 to the thermal head 66 with the power for recording the image on the Y dye layer 16. As a result, each heating element of the thermal head 66 generates heat at the temperature for recording an image on the Y dye layer 16, and an image is recorded on the Y dye layer 16. The heat-sensitive recording material 12 having an image recorded on the Y dye layer 16 has an endless belt 42.
And the wavelength of 420n.
The fixing process of the Y dye layer 16 is performed by irradiating m light.

Subsequently, in the second round, an image is recorded on the M dye layer 18. That is, the light source 74, which is the light source for fixing the M pigment layer 18, is turned on, and the image data is supplied from the driver 70 to the thermal head 66 with the power for recording the image on the M pigment layer 18. As a result, the thermal head 66
Each of the heating elements of (3) generates heat at the temperature for recording an image on the M dye layer 18, and an image is recorded on the M dye layer 18. M dye layer 18
The heat-sensitive recording material 12 on which the image is recorded is the endless belt 4
2 is transported together with the light source 74 and passes through the area where the light source 74 is disposed,
The M dye layer 18 is fixed by irradiating it with light of 5 nm.

Further, in the third turn, an image is recorded on the C dye layer 20. That is, the image data is supplied from the driver 70 to the thermal head 66 with the power for recording the image on the C dye layer 20. As a result, the thermal head 66
Each of the heating elements of (1) generates heat at the temperature for recording an image on the C dye layer 20, and an image is recorded on the C dye layer 20. As a result, a color image is formed on the thermosensitive recording material 12. Since the image is recorded on the thermosensitive recording material 12 while being locked to the endless belt 42, the positional deviation of the image recorded on each dye layer is suppressed to a small level, and the image quality is not deteriorated.

When the trailing edge of the thermal recording material 12 passes through the portion where the thermal head 66 is disposed, the control circuit 28 causes the motor 50 to move.
Also, the drive of the motor 32 is reversed to move the endless belt 42 in the direction of arrow D in FIG. 1 and rotate the transport roller 30 in the direction of arrow B in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, a guide roller or the like for bringing the heat-sensitive recording material 12 into close contact with the endless belt 42 is not provided near the portion where the endless belt 42 is curved by the roller 38 and in the vicinity of the portion where the guide plate 34 is provided. Therefore, the trailing edge of the thermal recording material 12 has the guide plate 34
When reaching the vicinity of the installation site, the rear end of the thermal recording material 12 is separated from the endless belt 42 as shown by an imaginary line in FIG.

The rear end of the heat-sensitive recording material 12 separated from the endless belt 42 is guided by the guide plate 34 and is conveyed to the conveying roller 30.
It reaches the installation site and is sandwiched by the transport rollers 30. When the transport roller 30 nip the thermal recording material 12, the control circuit 28 rotates the clamp 58 in the direction of arrow F in FIG. 4 to release the locking of the thermal recording material 12. As a result, the thermosensitive recording material 12 is conveyed by the conveying roller 30 and is carried in and
It is discharged to the outside of the image recording apparatus 10 through the discharge port 22.

Next, in the case of recording an image on each dye layer using the A4 size heat-sensitive recording material 12 in the belt system corresponding to the present invention used in the image recording apparatus 10 of this embodiment and each conventional system. Table 1 shows the results of comparing the deviation of the roller (or drum) diameter and the image position.

[0031]

[Table 1]

In the drum system, the diameter of the drum is determined so that the circumference of the roller (drum) is slightly larger than the longitudinal dimension of the A4 size thermosensitive recording material.
Therefore, when the dimension along the axial direction of the drum corresponding to the widthwise dimension of A4 size is L, the drum volume V ₂
Is V ₂ = (95 ÷ 2) ² × π × L≈7085L [mm ² ]. On the other hand, in the belt system corresponding to the present invention, if the total length C of the endless belt (peripheral length of the loop) is matched with the circumference of the drum, the heat-sensitive recording material of A4 can be recorded, so that C = 95 × π = 298. [Mm] Therefore, in the belt method, the diameter of the endless belt is 20 mm.
The volume V ₁ of the space surrounded by the endless belt when supported by the pair of rollers is V ₁ = {(20 ÷ 2) ² × π + (298-20 × π) ÷ 2 × 20} × L ≈ 2664L [ mm ² ] Thus, the volume of the space surrounded by the endless belt in the belt system corresponding to the present invention, that is, the space occupied by the endless belt is obviously smaller than the space occupied by the drum in the drum system, The recording device can be downsized.

In this embodiment, the endless belt 42 is wound around the rollers 36 and 38 to form an oval loop, but the diameter, number, arrangement and loop shape of the wound rollers are not limited to this. It is not something that will be done.

In the present embodiment, the image recording apparatus for thermally recording an image by scanning the thermal recording material provided with a plurality of dye layers a plurality of times has been described as an example, but the thermal recording material is scanned once. It can be applied to an image recording apparatus for recording a black-and-white image or a binary image composed of characters and the like, and the image recording apparatus can be downsized.

In this embodiment, an image recording apparatus for recording an image on a heat-sensitive recording material is described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a transfer type or an ink jet type is used. It can also be applied to an image recording device for recording an image, a rotary press, or the like.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention, a recording medium is locked to a flexible endless belt, and an image is recorded on the recording medium locked to the belt while the belt is driven. As a result, the excellent effect that the image recording apparatus can be downsized without degrading the image quality is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image recording apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a heat-sensitive recording material used in this example.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a corresponding state of unevenness of an endless belt and unevenness of a roller.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view near a clamp attachment portion.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram around a control circuit of the image recording apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 image recording device 12 thermal recording material 28 control circuit 32 motor 36 roller 42 endless belt 58 clamp 66 thermal head

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An endless belt having flexibility and wound around a plurality of rollers, a locking means for locking a recording medium to the belt, a driving means for driving the belt, and the driving means. An image recording device for recording an image on a recording medium locked to the belt by the locking device while the belt is driven by the recording device. 2. The recording medium is formed with a plurality of heat-sensitive layers that develop different colors, and the recording means scans the recording medium a plurality of times to record an image on each of the plurality of heat-sensitive layers. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein