JPH0789104A - Recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] To provide a more efficient thermal recording device by solving the drawbacks of the conventional thermal recording device. A master film 4 having an image pattern 6 composed of a transmissive portion that transmits light from the flash 1 and a transmissive portion that does not transmit light, and an ink ribbon 7 are arranged facing the flash 1 and a master film 4 and The ink ribbon 7 and the recording paper 10 are pressed against each other so that the ink agent application surface of the ink ribbon 7 contacts the recording paper 10, and the light from the flash 1 is applied to the master film 4 to heat the ink ribbon 7 for recording. A recording apparatus, which forms an image by transferring or transitioning a colorant onto the paper 10.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording device.

[0002]

[Prior art]

(1) The thermal recording device has features such as a simple configuration and easy maintenance, colorization can be easily realized, and beautiful characters with high resolution can be recorded. It is often used in terminal devices.

For example, a thermal transfer recording apparatus uses a thermal head in which a large number of heating resistors are arranged, and an ink ribbon in which ink that is softened and melted by heating is applied on a base film. The ink on the ink ribbon is softened and melted by pressing the thermal head against the base film side of the ink ribbon and the recording paper against the ink side to selectively heat the individual heating resistors on the thermal head. The image is formed by being transferred onto the recording paper.

In addition to the above-mentioned thermal transfer recording apparatus, the thermal recording apparatus includes thermal recording in which a material that develops color by heating is applied on recording paper, and heat for forming an image on recording paper by dye sublimation or diffusion by heating. There is also a sublimation recording method,
In each case, the heat generated by the thermal head is used to form an image on the recording paper.

(2) Recently, the problem of global environmental resources has been widely taken up in the field of recording devices. Examples include power saving of recording devices, development of recording paper recycling systems and corresponding recording devices, recycling of recording device parts, and development of electrophotographic printers that generate less ozone.

As one of these, a so-called rewritable recording medium capable of recording / erasing a large number of times has been actively developed. The rewritable recording medium is
A so-called rewritable material capable of reversibly recording / erasing an image by a chemical change or a physical change by energy such as heat or light is used for the recording layer. An example of the rewritable material is a low molecular weight / polymer matrix rewritable material. The rewritable material of this system utilizes the transparency change due to the organic low molecular weight substance dispersed in the resin base material, and when high temperature heat is applied, a cloudy image can be recorded due to diffuse reflection of light, and when heated at low temperature it becomes transparent. It can be erased. In addition to this, research and development of photochromic materials, leuco dyes, and rewritable materials using polymer liquid crystals have been conducted.

By using such a rewritable recording medium, the consumption of recording paper can be reduced. (3) A recording method has been developed in which recording and erasing can be performed reversibly for resource protection and the recording medium can be used multiple times. As a reversible recording and erasing recording method, a method using a liquid crystal having a memory property has been conventionally considered. FIG. 25 is a diagram for explaining an example of such a conventional recording method. The recording medium 160 includes a smectic liquid crystal layer 161 and a transparent film 162 and a base material 16.
It is composed of 3 parts. In the liquid crystal layer 161, spherical transparent particles 164 are appropriately dispersed as spacers in order to keep the film thickness constant. The recording head 165 is a thermal head, and a protective layer 167 and a conductive layer 168 serving as a potential reference are provided on a heating resistor 166. Conductive layer 1
68 is set to the ground potential.

Prior to recording, the recording medium 160 is uniformly erased in advance. To erase the recording medium 160, as shown in the erasing operation in FIG. 26, the recording medium 160 is heated to a certain temperature or higher and then cooled while applying an alternating electric field. The switch 169 of FIG.
, And an electric field is applied to the liquid crystal layer 161 by applying an AC voltage to the electrode 171. The liquid crystal of the recording medium 160 is brought into an isotropic liquid state by heating, and in this state, the liquid crystal is cooled while being applied with an electric field, so that the liquid crystal molecules are fixed in the state of being aligned in the direction of the electric field. In this state, the liquid crystal layer is in a transparent state, and when the recording medium 160 is viewed from the transparent film 162 side, the color of the base material 163 is visible.

Recording on the recording medium 160 is performed by heating the recording medium 160 without applying an electric field and then cooling it, as shown in the recording operation in FIG.
At this time, the switch 169 in FIG. 25 is connected to the ground potential side so that no electric field is applied to the liquid crystal layer 161.
The liquid crystal becomes an isotropic liquid state by being heated and then cooled without applying an electric field, so that the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules is fixed in a random state. Therefore, when the recording medium 160 is viewed from the transparent film 162 side, light is scattered at the recorded portion, so that the recorded portion appears white and appears white.

As a heating means for recording, a thermal head may be used as shown in FIG. 25, or a laser beam may be used. FIG. 25 shows a heating means for erasing.
As described above, there is a case where it also serves as a heating means for recording, or a case where a heating means without a pixel structure dedicated to erasing is used.

As described above, liquid crystal having a memory property for the orientation of molecules is used to erase (transparent) by heating and cooling while applying an electric field, and record by heating and cooling in the absence of an electric field. (Whitening) can be performed reversibly.

(4) Mass consumption of paper is regarded as a problem from the viewpoints of environmental problems and resource saving, but as a means for solving this, use of recycled paper or a recording medium capable of repeated recording / erasing is mentioned. . The latter has been actively developed in the recording field, and one of them is a technique of using a material which repeats transparency / cloudiness by heat as a recording medium (for example, JP-A-57-89993 and 57-117140). Such). The material used in this system generally exhibits thermal characteristics as shown in FIG. First, assuming that the recording medium is transparent in the initial state (A), when heated until the temperature becomes T2 or higher and then cooled, the temperature reaches B through C in the figure, reaches D, and becomes a cloudy state. Next, when it is heated again to T1 and then cooled, it returns from D to B, then to A, and becomes transparent again.

A positive image is obtained when the transparent state is the erased state and the cloudy state is the written state, and a negative image is obtained when the transparent state is the written state and the cloudy state is the written state. Since it is easier, the former method is generally used, and it is assumed here that a positive image is obtained. In this method, there is a temperature T2 for writing and a temperature T1 for erasing, but it can be said that it is a mild condition because the recording medium may be heated so as to be heated to T2 or higher for writing.
On the other hand, when erasing, it is necessary to set the temperature to T1 and then cool it.
However, it can be said that the conditions are severe. for that reason,
If the temperature distribution of the recording medium during heating is wide, the erased state becomes uneven. Further, there is a possibility that the characteristics themselves of FIG. 27 may shift due to changes in the environment, etc., and it was difficult to perform good erasing.

[0014]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

(1) The thermal head that has been conventionally used in a thermal recording apparatus is formed by forming a heating resistor with a thin film or a thick film on a ceramic substrate and further mounting a drive circuit. The generated heat is not only applied to the ink ribbon, but a part of the heat is accumulated on the substrate or is released from the substrate. The amount of heat other than that consumed for the original recording is considerably large, and in general, more than half of the energy supplied to the thermal head is consumed for other than recording.

A first object of the present invention is to solve the drawbacks of the conventional thermal recording apparatus and to provide a more efficient thermal recording apparatus. (2) Among rewritable materials used for conventional rewritable recording media, the most noticeable type is a type that changes cloudiness and transparency with temperature change. Another characteristic of this type of rewritable material is that characters and images can be easily recorded / erased using a thermal head.

As one of the main uses of such a rewritable recording medium, it is considered to use this material in a card state and use it as a rewritable card by using a dedicated reader / writer. Specifically, it is considered to be used for commuter tickets such as railways and prepaid cards such as gift certificates. Another major field of application of the rewritable recording medium is to use it for a projection type display device such as an OHP.

As described above, the method of making the rewritable recording medium cloudy or transparent by heat is simple, and the recording can be easily performed by using the thermal transfer printer used in the conventional personal word processor or the like. It is widely used because it can be done. Further, since it is sufficient to warm the entire medium for erasing, it is possible to easily perform erasing without using a dedicated erasing device, for example, by using a dryer, hot water, or a thermal transfer printer with a reduced calorific value. Rewritable recording media using heat have come into wide use because they can be easily recorded and erased.

However, in many cases, the image to be recorded on the rewritable recording medium is not necessarily recorded by the thermal copying printer. Since thermal transfer printers for word processors and the like are generally serial printers, there is a problem in that the recording speed is slow. Recently, there have been an increasing number of cases where inkjet printers are used as word processor printers. On the other hand, most printers as output devices for personal computers are electrophotographic printers and inkjet printers.
Wire dot printers are also used, but thermal transfer printers are rarely used. In particular, since the outline font function has recently been installed in personal computers and neat printing has become possible, users with a personal computer also need to have a word processor with a new thermal transfer printer. It is fading. Therefore,
In a place where there are only electrophotographic printers and inkjet printers, where output is expected to increase in the future, it will not be possible to record on rewritable cards that utilize heat. In addition, it is impossible to present an already printed printed matter or a copy by copying it on an OHP using a rewritable recording medium.

A second aspect of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus capable of easily recording an original recorded on a printer other than the thermal recording printer or an original already printed on a rewritable recording medium. And

(3) In a conventional recording apparatus that reversibly records and erases information using a liquid crystal having a memory property, an AC power supply having a relatively high voltage is required, which prevents miniaturization of the recording apparatus. . When using the thermal head as the heating means,
The heating surface of the thermal head is on the transparent film side, and the electrode for voltage application is on the substrate side, but the thickness of the liquid crystal layer is 5 to 10 μm.
The thickness of the substrate is 100 to 200 μm for m, and the voltage applied to the liquid crystal layer is 1 to apply an electric field required for the liquid crystal layer.
A voltage value of 0 times or more is required. In the case of a liquid crystal display, since the electrodes are in contact with both sides of the liquid crystal layer, a driving voltage of several V is sufficient, but in the recording device described above, several tens of V or more is required. When heating and voltage application from both sides of the recording medium in this way, it is necessary to apply a voltage to the liquid crystal layer and the substrate,
The voltage value becomes large, which makes it difficult to miniaturize the recording apparatus and make it portable.

Further, in this method, it is difficult to apply a voltage to each pixel, and therefore only the erasing operation can be performed collectively on the entire surface. It is possible to erase each pixel by providing an individual electrode for each pixel and having a drive circuit for applying a voltage to each individual electrode, but it is difficult to make a drive circuit that handles an AC voltage of about 100 V into an IC. However, if this is provided for each pixel, the driving circuit becomes very large. For this reason, it is practically difficult to perform recording / erasing for each pixel. Therefore, it is necessary to perform an erasing operation on the entire surface before recording, which requires two steps of erasing / recording. If the recording device has two means, that is, the erasing means and the recording means, the recording speed becomes faster, but the recording device becomes larger. On the other hand, if erasing / recording is performed by one heating means and potential generating means, the recording apparatus becomes smaller, but there is a problem that the recording speed becomes slower because the recording medium needs to be passed through the recording apparatus twice.

A third aspect of the present invention provides a recording apparatus which can reversibly perform recording and erasing using a recording layer having a liquid crystal having a memory property and which can be erased without using an AC voltage. With the goal.

(4) In a conventional recording apparatus that uses a recording medium that repeats transparency / white turbidity due to heat, the temperature range for erasing is narrow in the process of erasing a written image, and the entire temperature range changes in environment. Therefore, it is difficult to realize good erasing due to the possibility of shifting due to the above.

A fourth aspect of the present invention enables better erasing without being affected by the unstable temperature for erasing in a recording medium using a recording medium that is transparent / cloudy by heat. It is an object to provide a recording device.

[0025]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

(1) The first aspect of the invention is based on the fact that recording is performed by directly heating the ink itself to soften / melt it, rather than indirectly melting the ink by a heating resistor.

That is, the recording apparatus according to the first invention is
A light source, an original plate having an image pattern consisting of a transmissive portion that transmits the light from the light source and a transmissive portion that does not transmit the light, and a film coated with a colorant. By bringing the colorant-coated surface of the film into pressure contact with the recording medium, irradiating the film with light from a light source to heat the colorant, and transferring or transitioning the colorant onto the recording medium. It is characterized by forming an image. As the light source, a flash having a reflective shade is suitable.

(2) In the second invention, a recording medium having a rewritable recording layer whose reflectance of light reversibly changes due to heat, and a rewritable layer side of this recording medium and an image forming surface side of an original are provided. A heating means for heating the image forming material on the original in a contact state, and changing the reflectance of the rewritable recording layer by heat generation of the original forming material on the original, It is characterized in that copying is performed on the rewritable recording layer. As the light source, a flash having a reflective shade is suitable.

(3) A third aspect of the present invention is a recording medium having a liquid crystal layer having a memory property in the orientation state of molecules, a heating means for selectively heating the liquid crystal layer according to image data, and a liquid crystal layer. In a recording apparatus having a potential generating means for applying an electric field to the recording medium, the potential generating means is made of a pyroelectric material and is arranged so as to be heated by the heating means.

In this case, the heating means and the potential generating means are integrated and the recording by the heating means and the potential generating means is controlled for each recording pixel, so that the recording medium is passed through the recording device only once for each pixel. It is also possible to perform the recording / erasing operation.

(4) A fourth invention is a recording means for recording information on a recording medium capable of reversibly recording / erasing,
An erasing means for erasing the information recorded on the recording medium; a density detecting means for detecting the optical density of the recording medium; and a control means for feeding back the optical density detected by the density detecting means to the erasing means. Characterize. In this case, a reference pattern for density detection may be provided on the recording medium.

[0031]

[Action]

(1) In the ink ribbon used for ordinary thermal transfer recording, the absorption rate of the ink is about 60% to 70% even for the light of the wavelength having the largest absorption. That is, when the ink ribbon is irradiated with light, a large amount of light is transmitted without being absorbed by the ink. However, the light that has passed through the ink is reflected by the white recording paper that is the recording medium and is again absorbed by the ink. Here, the light that has passed through the ink again is reflected by the light reflection shade of the flash, and is further reflected on the ink. Is irradiated. Thus, the light generated once is efficiently absorbed into the ink while being multiple-reflected between the recording paper and the reflection shade.

That is, in the first aspect of the present invention, since the ink directly generates heat, the energy for heating the portion other than the ink is not consumed and the generated light energy can be efficiently absorbed by the ink. Therefore, it is possible to realize an efficient thermal recording device as compared with a thermal recording device using a thermal head.

(2) According to the second invention, light emitted from a light source such as a flash is absorbed by the ink layer of the original.
Most of the light emitted to the blank portion of the document is not absorbed but diffusely reflected. The reflected light is reflected by the reflector of the flash and illuminates the original again. At this time, the light that irradiates the ink surface of the document is absorbed by the ink, but most of the light that irradiates the blank paper portion is reflected again.

By repeating such multiple reflections,
The light emitted from the light source is efficiently absorbed by the ink portion of the document. At this time, since the temperature of the ink portion of the document rises to a temperature sufficient to cloud the rewritable recording layer, the rewritable recording layer pressed against the ink surface of the document becomes cloudy as the document.

In this way, without using a thermal transfer printer, it is possible to copy a document output by various printers, a printed matter already printed, or the like onto a recording medium having a rewritable recording layer. .

(3) In the third aspect of the invention, by using the potential generating means made of a pyroelectric material, the generation of the potential can be controlled by the heating means. As the pyroelectric material, polyvinylidene fluoride, a copolymer of vinylidene fluoride and ethylene trifluoride,
Pyroelectric resin material such as a copolymer of vinylidene fluoride and ethylene tetrafluoride, a copolymer of vinylidene cyanide and another monomer, or PZT (Pb ₂ ZrO ₃ , PbT)
iO ₃ ) ceramics, PLZT (Pb ₂ ZrO ₃ , Pb
TiO _3, La ₂ O ₃₎ pyroelectric properties Serasemikusu and the like _{ceramics, BaTiO 3, LiTaO 3, LiNbO} 3,
Inorganic pyroelectric crystal materials such as quartz and organic pyroelectric crystal materials such as Rochelle salt and triglycine sulfate were powdered and dispersed in a resin selected from the group consisting of thermoplastic resins or thermosetting resins. Materials can be used.

The electric potential generating means made of these pyroelectric materials is used by electrifying the pyroelectric layer by a polarization operation such as poling, or by uniformly aligning the directions of spontaneous polarization. These pyroelectric materials have the property of generating charges on the surface due to changes in temperature, and have typical sensitivities of 1300 to 1800 V / W. Considering a thermal head used in thermal transfer recording or the like as the heating means, the output of the thermal head is 0.3 W per pixel at the maximum, so when the thermal head heats the pyroelectric material, the maximum output is about 400 V. The voltage will be obtained. Actually, the liquid crystal layer and electrodes of the recording medium are placed on the pyroelectric material, and the capacitance increases by that amount, so the output voltage decreases, but the voltage value sufficient to orient the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer. Can be output.

By thus integrating the potential generating means made of a pyroelectric material with the heating means, specifically by stacking them, a power source is specially used as the potential generating means for applying an electric field to the liquid crystal layer. There is no need to provide it. Further, since the voltage applied to each pixel can be controlled without forming an individual electrode for each pixel, the recording / erasing operation can be performed for each pixel.

(4) In the fourth aspect of the invention, before erasing the image recorded on the recording medium, for example, by reading the reference pattern on the recording medium by the density detecting means, the optimum heating condition for erasing is obtained. Can be detected. Then, by feeding this condition back to the erasing means and applying it to the erasing, even if the temperature range for erasing is narrow or the temperature range changes due to changes in the environment, optimum erasing can be performed regardless of this.

[0040]

【Example】

(1) First, an embodiment according to the first invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a basic embodiment of the thermal recording apparatus according to the first invention. The flash 1 includes a flash lamp 2 and a reflector (reflection shade) 3. The flash lamp 2 can be anything that can emit a strong light, such as a bulb-type flash for photography or a xenon flash lamp. An original plate 4 (hereinafter referred to as a master film) and an ink ribbon 7 (film) coated with an ink as a colorant are superposed under the flash 1 and are pressed and arranged on the recording paper 10.

The master film 4 is composed of a transparent non-image portion (transmissive portion) which transmits the light from the flash lamp 2 on one surface of the film 5 and an image portion (non-transmissive portion) which absorbs the light. The image pattern 6 is formed. The image used for the image pattern 6 may be, for example, a photographic film, a thermal transfer recording image formed on a transparent medium, a thermal sublimation recording image, or the like, and is generally a dye formed on the transparent base film 5. Any image will do.

The ink ribbon 7 is formed by forming an ink layer 9 on a base film 8. As the ink of the ink layer 9, heat-meltable ink, heat-sublimable ink, or the like can be used.

With the master film 4 and the ink ribbon 7 set as shown in FIG. 1A, the flash lamp 2 is caused to emit light. At this time, the light emitted from the flash lamp 2 illuminates the master film 4 and is absorbed by the master film 4 in the image portion of the image pattern 6.
In the non-image portion, the ink layer 9 of the ink ribbon 7 is irradiated through the master film 4. As a result, the ink layer 9
The light of the flash lamp 2 is absorbed by and is converted into heat.
Due to this heat, the ink 9 is melted and transferred to the recording paper 10, and an image is formed on the recording paper 10. That is, FIG.
As shown in (b), the ink of the ink layer 9 is transferred onto the recording paper 10 to form an image 9 '.

The image pattern 6 and the ink ribbon 9
Has a maximum light absorption of several tens of percent, and the remaining portion is transmitted or reflected. The transmitted light eventually reaches the recording paper 10, but since the recording paper generally has a high reflectance, most of the light is reflected. These reflected lights are again reflected by the reflector 3 and illuminate the master film 4. Thus, the light which is not absorbed by the ink 9 or the master film 4 is finally mainly absorbed by these layers while being multiply reflected. That is, since the light generated by the flash lamp 2 is efficiently absorbed by the ink layer 9 and the image pattern 6 on the master film 4, the ink can be efficiently melted to form an image.

Next, some specific examples of the master film 4 will be described with reference to FIG. 2 (a) shows OH
An image pattern 6 made of a thermal transfer image formed by using a thermal transfer printer or the like is formed on a transparent base film 5 such as a P sheet. As long as the ink image is formed on the transparent base film 5 as described above, any film can be used as the master film 4. For example, a material obtained by forming an image on a transparent film with a thermal sublimation printer, an inkjet printer, or an electrophotographic printer can be used as the master film 4.

In the thermal sublimation printer, the thermal sublimation ink 6 is not completely placed on the transparent base film 5 as shown in FIG. 2A, but is formed on a part of the transparent film. Most of the image is diffused in the image receiving layer, but there is no problem even if it is like this. Also, an image formed on a transparent film by a silver salt photographic method such as a photographic film can be used as the same master film 4. Further, a color-developing material such as an OHP film which is colored by heat can be used.

As the master film 4 in this embodiment, light generated from a flash or the like does not penetrate to an ink film below where an image is formed,
That is, basically any material can be used as long as it has a property of absorbing emitted light. In short, the color of the image formed in the image pattern on the master film 4 may be any color as long as it absorbs the light from the light emitting source (the flash lamp 2 in this case). Absent. Also, for convenience of explanation, the base film 5 is a transparent film, but even if it is colored, it can be used if the ratio of transmitting the light from the flash lamp 2 is larger than the ratio of absorbing it. Is. Further, in the method of this embodiment, the portion on which the image is recorded is not recorded on the recording paper 10, but the negative pattern is recorded. Therefore, there is also a method of forming a negative pattern in advance as an image pattern on the master film 4.

In the example shown in FIG. 2 (a), since the ink-attached portion (image portion) of the image pattern 6 on the master film 4 absorbs light, the light energy for coloring the lower ink ribbon 7 is It is the light that has passed through the part without ink. That is, the negative pattern of the image pattern formed on the master film 4 is recorded.

On the other hand, in the method shown in FIG. 2B, the master film 4 is designed such that the light passes through the portion where the image is formed and the light is reflected at the portion where there is no image.
Is an example of. Therefore, the light that has passed through the portion where the image is formed can reach the lower ink ribbon, and this light is absorbed by the ink layer to form the image. That is, a positive pattern of the image formed on the master film is formed.

The specific structure of the master film 4 shown in FIG. 2 (b) is as follows:
For example, a thin layer of tin or aluminum is deposited on the reflective layer 1
It is formed as 1. The image portion can be made transparent by heating the master film 4 with a thermal head or the like, or by skipping the reflective layer 11 only at the portion where an image is formed by discharge recording or the like.

Next, the method shown in FIG. 2 (c) is an example of the master film 4 in which light is reflected at a portion where an image is formed and light passes through a portion where there is no image. Therefore, the light that has passed through the portion where the image is not formed can reach the lower ink ribbon 7, and this light is absorbed by the ink layer to form the image. That is, a negative pattern of the image formed on the master film 4 is formed. Although a negative can be recorded as in the method shown in FIG. 2A, this method is different in that a certain portion of the image reflects light.

As a concrete constitution of the master film 4 shown in FIG. 2 (c), a transparent base film 5
For example, a master film 4 formed of a material which has been announced as a material for a rewritable card or the like and which becomes cloudy when heat is applied is used. By heating the master film 4 with a thermal head or the like, only the portion where an image is formed is made cloudy. The clouded portion can reflect light.
By using the material of the rewritable card for the master film, the master film can be used many times.

It should be noted that the method in which light is not absorbed by the master film 4 as shown in FIGS.
Needless to say, the energy efficiency is better than the method of absorbing light by the master film 4 shown in (a).

As a method of using the original plate many times, there is also a method of forming the original plate by a transmissive liquid crystal instead of the master film as described above. For example, normally, the liquid crystal is oriented so as to reflect or scatter light, and the liquid crystal is oriented so that light is transmitted in the portion where an image is formed. By constructing such an original plate, it becomes possible to rewrite an image to be recorded many times at high speed. Even in this case, since the light reflected by the liquid crystal layer and the light transmitted therethrough are used, the energy utilization efficiency can be increased.

Next, a description will be given of an embodiment of a concrete recording apparatus of the present invention based on the above principle. (Embodiment 1-1) FIG. 3 shows a recording apparatus according to this embodiment. FIG. 2C shows the master film 4 as the original plate.
The rewritable layer 6 capable of controlling between cloudiness and transparency by heat is formed on the transparent film 5 described above. The rewritable layer 6 is transparent when cooled to a temperature of about 100 ° C., but has a property of becoming cloudy when heated to a temperature higher than that, for example, about 150 ° C. and then cooled. First, the master film 4 is uniformly heated by using the erasing device 20 to erase the already formed image. When the image is erased, the entire master film 4 is made cloudy. The erasing device 20 is composed of a heating device such as a heater or a thermal head,
The entire rewritable layer 6 can be heated to 150 ° C. or higher to turn it into a cloud.

Next, the writing device 21 forms an image on the master film 4. Writing device 2
A rewritable layer 6 of the master film 4 is composed of a thermal head etc. according to an image to be recorded.
Is selectively heated. Here, for example, since the temperature is heated to about 100 ° C., the heated portion becomes transparent and an image is formed on the master film 4.

The master film 4 on which the image is formed is
Next, it is pressed against the ink ribbon 22 coated with ink. The ink ribbon 22 is similar to the ink ribbon used in a thermal transfer device, for example, and has a structure in which ink is applied to a base film. The ink ribbon 22 is unwound from the unwind reel 23, and the take-up reel 24
Get caught in. The master film 4 and the ink ribbon 22 are pressed against the recording paper 25 by a pressure roller 27 near the flash 26.

When the flash 26 emits light in this state, the light passes through the transparent portion of the master film 4 and reaches the ink ribbon 22. Most of the light transmitted to the ink ribbon 22 is absorbed by the ink and raises the temperature of the ink. Then, when the ink is melted, the ink is transferred from the ink ribbon 22 to the recording paper 25 to form an image. Part of the light emitted to the cloudy portion is absorbed, but most of it is diffusely reflected. The diffusely reflected light is multiple-reflected between the reflection shade of the flash 26 and the master film 4 and attenuates, and at the same time, passes through the transparent portion to contribute to the heat generation of the ink. In this way, an image is formed on the recording paper 25.

Finally, the master film 4 is heated again by the erasing device 20, and the entire surface is clouded to erase the master image pattern. When the same image pattern is recorded many times, the same image can be continuously recorded by not operating the erasing device 20 while the designated number of sheets are recorded. Since the time for forming an image on the master film 4 is much longer than the light emission time of a normal flash, it is advantageous to make a master once and then to record many flashes at a high speed. .

The flash of this embodiment is composed of an elongated halogen lamp or the like, and may be a system of blinking at a cycle of several Hz according to the movement of the paper. Of course, it is also possible to use a method in which an image is formed on the entire recording paper once by flashing the flash once. The ink of the ink ribbon may be basically any color that absorbs flash light. Further, even if the ink has a color that does not absorb the light of the flash, if the base film of the ink ribbon absorbs the ink, the efficiency will be lower than that when the ink directly generates heat, but an image can be formed. It is possible.

Further, in this example, the rewritable layer 6 of the master film 4 is installed so as not to contact the ink ribbon 22. When the ink absorbs light and generates heat,
This is because this heat is conducted to the master film 4 and the transparent portion may be clouded. However, if the master film 4 is installed in such a direction, there is a drawback that the resolution is deteriorated. It is desirable that the front and back surfaces of the master film be determined according to the amount of heat generated, the material of the base film, the sensitivity of the ink to heat, and the like. That is, in some cases, it does not matter if the rewritable layer of the master film is placed in contact with the ink ribbon.

(Embodiment 1-2) FIG. 4 shows a recording apparatus according to this embodiment. The embodiment of FIG. 3 uses a film that has already been coated with ink, such as an ink ribbon for thermal transfer recording. Therefore, as a matter of course, the unused ink ribbons are wastefully discarded. This problem can be solved to some extent by using an ink ribbon that can be used many times, but it is impossible to use many times while maintaining a beautiful image quality. The present embodiment solves such a point and saves resources.

In FIG. 4, as in the case of FIG. 3, consider an example in which a rewritable type film is used as the master film 4. First, in the master film 4, the writing / erasing device 30 simultaneously renders the non-image portion cloudy and the image portion transparent. Compared with the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the operation is the same except that image erasing and writing are performed at the same time. The writing / erasing apparatus 30 is composed of a thermal head or the like, and controls the temperature of each heating element to perform erasing and writing simultaneously. In other words, writing is performed by controlling the voltage and pulse width of the pulse applied to each heating element so that the heating element has a high temperature of 150 ° or higher in the non-image part and the temperature of approximately 100 ° in the image part. And erase is realized.

The master film 4 on which the image is thus formed is brought into contact with the toner transport film 32. The toner carrying film 32 is made of an insulating resin or the like. The surface of the toner transport film 32 is first uniformly charged to, for example, about 500 V by a charger 33 such as a corona charger. Next, the toner layer coating device 34 forms a toner layer on the toner transport film 32. The toner layer coating device 34 has exactly the same structure and function as a developing device of an electrophotographic printer or a copying machine, and therefore detailed description thereof will be omitted. The toner is usually negatively charged, and an appropriate bias voltage is applied to the toner layer coating device 34. Since the toner transport film 32 is positively charged, the toner is applied to the toner layer applying device 3 according to the electric field formed between the toner conveying film 32 and the toner applying device.
4 to the toner transport film 32, and a toner layer is formed on the toner transport film 32.

When the toner transport film 32 having the toner layer thus formed and the master film 4 are moved to the position of the flash 26 while being pressed by the pressure roller 27, the flash 26 is irradiated in this state. The light passing through the transparent portion of the master film 4 illuminates the toner layer on the toner transport film 32. The toner layer absorbs this light and generates heat, whereby the toner is softened / melted and transferred / fixed onto the recording paper 25. In this way, the toner image is formed on the recording paper 25.

The toner remaining on the toner carrying film 32 is collected by the collecting device 35 and returned to the toner applying device 34 again for use. Therefore, the unused toner can be effectively used without being wasted. In this method, there is no problem even if the recovery device 35 is not used. That is, when the unused toner remains on the toner transport film 32 and reaches the position of the toner application device 34, the toner application device 34 uses the toner for recording while keeping the thickness of the toner layer constant. Toner is applied to the part where the mark disappears.

As described above, the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 has a feature that the toner can be effectively used for recording. (Embodiment 1-3) This embodiment is an example in which the present invention is applied to color recording. In this embodiment, the one-shot color recording method will be described as the color recording method, but the recording may be performed many times.

As shown in FIG. 5, as the flash 40, a reflective shade 41 and flash lamps 41, 42 and 43 which emit light of three different wavelengths λ1, λ2 and λ3, respectively, are used. Under the flash 40, for example, the color toner 46 formed as a single layer on the toner transport film 45 is transported. FIG. 6 shows the relationship between the light transmittance of the color toner 46 used at this time and the emission wavelengths λ1, λ2, λ3 of the three-color flash lamps 42, 43, 44. The light transmittance of the color toner 46 is
Although it is slightly different from the transmittance of the yellow, magenta, and cyan color toners that are commonly used at present, the basic characteristics are the same. The difference is that the transmittance in the short wavelength region of magenta or cyan is increased, and the absorption in the long wavelength region of yellow is increased. To do this, change the amount and type of dye,
Alternatively, it can be realized by mixing an infrared light absorber.

When such a color toner 46 is used and a flash 40 having a wavelength as shown in FIG. 6 is irradiated, one-shot color recording can be realized. For example, when the color toner is irradiated with the light of λ1, the yellow color toner absorbs the light, but the magenta and cyan toners almost transmit the light. Therefore, the yellow toner is softened / melted and transferred / fixed onto the recording paper 47 to form a yellow image. Similarly, the light of λ2 transfers the cyan toner, and the light of λ3 transfers and fixes the magenta toner on the recording paper, respectively, to form an image. Therefore, the flash 40 and the color toner layer 4
By placing the master film 48 on which a color image is formed at intervals of 6, the light of λ1, λ2, λ3 is selected and transmitted according to the color image pattern on the master film 48, A color image is formed on the recording paper 47. Therefore, basically, the image formed on the master film 48 may be a complementary image of the color image to be recorded.

As described above, according to this embodiment, one-shot color recording can be realized. In this case, the specific device configuration is, for example, a system as shown in FIG. 4, and the toner application device 34 contains a mixture of three color toners, and is a part of the master film. Can be realized by using, for example, a liquid crystal color display.

In this method, the master film 48
Is a filter close to the ideal light of λ1, λ2, and λ3 shown in FIG. 6, even if a three-color lamp is not used as the flash lamp, for example, a white flash lamp is used. I do not care. Further, although the example using the color toner has been described here, a color ink arranged in a mosaic shape, a microcapsule containing the color ink arranged on one surface, or the like can also be used.

(2) Next, an embodiment according to the second invention will be described. (Embodiment 2-1) FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a recording apparatus using a rewritable recording medium according to the second invention. The recording apparatus of this embodiment uses the flash 51. The flash 51 includes a flash lamp 52 and a reflector (reflecting shade) 52. As the flash lamp 51, any bulb type flash for photography or a xenon flash lamp can be used as long as it can emit strong light. Under the flash 51, an OHP type rewritable recording medium 54 is prepared.

The rewritable recording medium 54 is made of transparent PE.
It is composed of a base film 56 made of a T film and the like, and a rewritable recording layer 55 formed on the base film 56 and having a thickness of about 10 μm. The rewritable recording layer 55 is a layer that can be recorded / erased by heat. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the rewritable recording layer 55 becomes transparent when heated at a low temperature of T2 or lower and cooled, and becomes transparent at a high temperature of T2 or higher. It has the property of becoming cloudy. Before recording, the rewritable layer 5 is in a transparent state. On the rewritable recording medium 54, the ink image 5 is formed on the recording paper 59.
The original 57 on which 8 is formed is overlapped. At this time, the rewritable recording layer 54 side of the rewritable recording medium 54, the document 5
The rewritable recording medium 54 and the original 57 are pressed against each other so as to be in contact with each other on the surface side of the ink image 58 on which the ink image 58 is formed.

The flash lamp 52 is turned on in the state as shown in FIG. The light emitted from the flash lamp 52 passes through the transparent rewritable recording medium 54 with almost no absorption and reaches the original 57. An ink image 58 is formed on the original 57, and some of the light emitted to the ink image 58 is reflected, but in the case of a black image, for example, most of the light is absorbed by the ink image 58. Most of the light emitted to the white paper portion on the original 57 on which the ink image 58 is not formed is not absorbed but diffusely reflected. The irregularly reflected light or the light slightly reflected by the ink image 58 is reflected by the reflector 52 that constitutes the flash 1 and irradiates the original 57 again. Also at this time, the ink image 5 on the original 57 is
The light irradiated with 8 is absorbed by the ink, but most of the light irradiated with the white paper portion is reflected again.

By repeating such multiple reflection, the light emitted from the flash 51 is efficiently emitted from the ink image 58 on the original 57.
Is absorbed in the part of. Due to the energy of the absorbed light, the temperature of the ink image 58 portion of the document 57 rises to a temperature sufficient to cause the rewritable recording layer 5 to become cloudy, so that the rewritable recording layer pressed against the ink surface side of the document 57. 55 is made cloudy according to the original 57. That is, the portion of the rewritable layer 55 that was in contact with the surface on which the ink image 58 was formed was, as shown in FIG.
It becomes a cloudy portion 55 '. OHP formed in this way
When the sheet is placed on the projector, the cloudy portion is displayed in black because it diffusely reflects light, and the transparent portion allows light to pass therethrough to display an image.

By the method as described above, it is possible to copy an original output by various printers, a printed matter already printed, etc. onto a rewritable recording medium without using a thermal transfer printer.

(Embodiment 2-2) FIG. 9 shows a recording apparatus according to the second embodiment. In this embodiment, the recording paper 59 on which the ink image 58 is recorded on the original 57 is adapted to transmit light. Examples of such an image include an image already recorded on an OHP or the like, an image recorded on a photographic film, a slide, or the like. Also in this case, as shown in the embodiment of FIG.
The rewritable recording medium 54 and the manuscript 57 may be installed in this order from the side closer to. However, since the original 57 is transparent, even if the flash 51, the original 57, and the rewritable recording medium 54 are arranged in this order as shown in FIG. 9, the image of the original 57 can be recorded on the rewritable recording medium 54. It is possible.

In the case of this embodiment, a reflective layer 60 for reflecting light is provided on the back side of the rewritable recording medium 54.
Need to be provided. Even if the light reflection layer 60 is not provided, the light emitted from the flash 51 is directly absorbed by the ink image 58, so that the rewritable recording medium 54 can be colored. However, in this case, the efficiency becomes very poor. That is, in the case of normal character recording, the character portion is within about 10% of the entire recording paper, and 90% or more of the light is transmitted without being absorbed by the ink. Therefore, by providing the light reflection layer 60, the transmitted light can be multiple-reflected and efficiently absorbed in the ink image 58. Light reflecting layer 60
As long as it reflects or diffuses light,
It is possible to use any material. As the simplest material, white recording paper can also be used. It is also possible to use a transparent plastic film in which a metal such as aluminum is vapor-deposited thinly.

(Embodiment 2-3) In this embodiment, a method of erasing an image recorded on the rewritable recording medium 54 will be described. A general method of erasing is realized by passing a rewritable recording medium on which an image is recorded between heat rollers whose temperatures are controlled. However, this method requires a separate erasing device.

Therefore, in this embodiment, there will be described a method of erasing by the same method as that of recording without providing an erasing device separately. As shown in FIG. 10, the rewritable recording medium 5
The erasing sheet 61 is pressed against the sheet 4 and the flash 51 is turned on. The erasing sheet 61 is a sheet having a uniform image 63 recorded on a base film 62. The base film 62 needs to be transparent to the light emitted from the flash 51. The light emitted from the flash 51 passes through the base film 62 of the erasing sheet 61 and illuminates the uniform image 63 formed on the base film 62. The uniform image 63 appropriately absorbs the light of the flash 51. By absorbing this light, the temperature of the uniform image 13 rises to a temperature at which the erasing characteristic in the temperature characteristic shown in FIG. 8 is exhibited. That is, it is necessary to raise the temperature of the rewritable recording material 54 to such a degree that the rewritable recording material 54 becomes transparent, without reaching such a high temperature that it becomes cloudy. By doing so, the temperature of the entire rewritable layer 5 of the rewritable recording medium 54 on which the image has been recorded becomes the erasing temperature, and the image recorded on the rewritable recording medium 54 is erased.

As described above, the uniform image 63 formed on the erasing sheet 61 has a certain amount of temperature in order to keep the erasing temperature of the erasing sheet 61 at the erasing temperature without raising it to the cloudy temperature of the rewritable recording medium 54. It is necessary to devise.
In other words, there is also a method of forming a thin image with an optical density of, for example, about 0.5 so that the light from the flash 51 is not completely absorbed and the optical density is not saturated. Similarly, a method of using a halftone dot pattern so that the average optical density becomes about 0.5 can be considered. Further, there is also a method in which a substance such as fine metal powder is put in the ink on which the uniform image 63 is formed so that the light of the flash is reflected to some extent.

Further, as shown in FIG. 11, the uniform image 63
Is recorded with normal high density ink, and between the uniform image 63 and the rewritable recording medium 54 to be erased,
Even if the temperature buffer layer 64 transparent to the light of the flash 51 is provided, the temperature of the contact surface with the rewritable recording medium 54 can be maintained at the erasing temperature. When the temperature buffer layer 64 is not provided, the rewritable recording medium 54 may be turned upside down. That is, the side of the erasing sheet 61 on which the uniform image is recorded and the base layer 6 of the rewritable recording medium 64.
Make sure that side 6 contacts. By doing so, the base layer 56 functions as a temperature buffer layer, so that the temperature of the rewritable layer 55 does not rise to a high temperature that makes it cloudy.

By the above method, the image recorded on the rewritable recording medium can be easily erased.
As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, in the case of this erasing method, the flash 51, the erasing sheet 61, and the rewritable recording medium 54 must be arranged in this order. When the rewritable recording medium 54 is inserted between the flash 51 and the erasing sheet 61, the rewritable recording medium 54
This is because light is reflected by the white turbid portion formed on the surface, and it becomes impossible to erase the light.

The uniform image 63 formed on the erasing sheet 61 is not necessarily limited to having a uniform density. For example, in the case where the flash has a distribution in which the light is strong in the middle, the rewritable recording medium 64 can be uniformly erased by setting the density of the strong light portion to be low.

(Embodiment 2-4) In the embodiments described so far,
A method has been shown in which light is used to generate heat only in the image portion that has already been recorded, so that the rewritable recording medium is colored. In all of these methods, recording is performed by absorbing light into printing ink and finally converting the light into heat. Printing inks usually absorb well in the infrared. Therefore, in the fourth embodiment, a method of forming an image on a rewritable recording medium by using an object that generates infrared rays, that is, infrared rays generated by a heating element will be described.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the configuration of this embodiment.
First, the original 57 on which an image is formed is passed between the heat roller 70 and the pressure roller 71. At this time, if the document 57 is passed between the rollers 70 and 71 at a slow speed, the entire document 57 is heated. However, when the original 57 is passed at a high speed, infrared rays are intensively absorbed in the recording ink of the original 57,
Only the printing ink becomes hot. When this temperature reaches or exceeds the cloudiness temperature of the rewritable recording medium 54, the original 57 is brought into contact with the rewritable recording medium 54.
Will be copied to the rewritable recording medium 54. Therefore, the original 5 after being heated by the heat roller 70
The rewritable recording medium 54 is pressed against the pressure roller 7 by the pressure rollers 72 and 73, and an image is copied.

The heating speed of the original 57 and the copying speed of the image on the rewritable recording medium 54 are generally different, and the former is faster. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 12, it is desirable that the heating of the original document 57 and the copying of the image on the rewritable recording medium 54 are performed separately in different stages. On the other hand, since the rewritable recording medium 54 has a property of allowing infrared rays to pass therethrough, the heat roller 70 is used as the original document 5.
7 and the rewritable recording medium 54 may be passed over each other. Before the entire rewritable recording medium 54 is sufficiently heated, the temperature of the image on the original 57 rises due to the infrared rays that have been transmitted, so that copying onto the rewritable recording medium 54 can be realized.

In the case of the embodiment described here, there is an advantage that the image on the rewritable recording medium 54 can be erased by detecting and controlling the temperature of the heat roller 70. Just by controlling the temperature with the same recording device like this,
It is efficient because images can be written and erased. As a matter of course, the heat roller 70 is the original 5
7 must be installed on the side on which the upper image is formed. The heat roller 70 is a member for emitting infrared rays to the document 57, and is not limited to this. For example, a heat roller may be a contact type or a non-contact type. In addition to the heat roller, a hot plate, an oven, an infrared lamp or the like can be used. Further, in the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. 12, since heat is directly supplied to the image surface,
There is an advantage that an original image can be copied even on an opaque rewritable recording material.

(Embodiment 2-5) When the number of uses of the rewritable recording medium for OHPs increases in the future, it is also possible to use the dedicated copying apparatus for the rewritable recording medium as described above. As a method, it is conceivable to modify many copiers that are currently used to enable recording / erasing on / from a rewritable recording medium. In this way, the recording / erasing device for the rewritable recording medium can be used as a normal copying machine, which is more efficient.

Looking at the current copying machine, it is equipped with a portion for irradiating an original with light and a heat roller. Therefore, it is considered that the image of the original is copied on the rewritable recording medium by overlapping the original and the rewritable recording medium and irradiating light to heat only the image portion. Further, a method of erasing an image by heating the entire rewritable recording medium on which an image is formed with a fixing heat roller will be examined.
Conventionally, a fluorescent lamp or a flash lamp has been used as a document irradiating section of a copying machine, but it is not possible to generate sufficient heat for making the rewritable recording medium cloudy in the image section of the document. Therefore, when used as a device for copying on a rewritable recording medium, it is necessary to increase the amount of light from the fluorescent lamp or flash as compared with the case of copying a normal document. Also, when the heat roller is used for erasing, the temperature is too high and the entire surface becomes cloudy. Therefore, in order to use it for erasing, it is necessary to set the temperature of the heat roller to a temperature lower than that used for fixing.

For example, as shown in the flow chart of FIG. 13, when the copy start switch of the copying machine is pressed,
Whether or not normal copying (copying to rewritable recording medium) is judged from the state of the switch for switching between normal copying and copy mode to transparent rewritable recording medium (S
1) In the case of normal copying, the operation in the normal recording mode is performed (S2). In the case of copying to a rewritable recording medium, compared with the case of normal copying, the amount of light is increased to irradiate a document and copying to the rewritable recording medium is performed (S
3). By doing so, the image recorded on the document heats up, and the rewritable recording medium pressed against the document can be made cloudy according to the document.

When copying to a rewritable recording medium, it is not necessary to perform the same operation as in normal copying, and only the optical scanning of the document need be performed. For example, in an electrophotographic recording type copying machine, a photosensitive drum is rotated to perform charging and development, but operations other than optical scanning are not required.
Even in copying machines of other systems, only the optical scanning portion may be operated similarly.

When the erase start switch of the rewritable recording medium is pressed, the temperature of the fixing roller is first set to the erase temperature, and when the roller reaches the erase temperature, it is placed in the paper cassette or the manual paper feeding device. The rewritable recording medium is taken into the apparatus and erased by the fixing roller.

With the configuration as described above, the copying apparatus which has been used conventionally can be used also as a recording / erasing apparatus for a rewritable recording medium by only partially modifying it. Note that this embodiment is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. Regardless of the method described in this embodiment, any method in which an ordinary copying machine is also used as a recording / erasing apparatus for a rewritable recording medium is included in the scope of the present invention. Further, although not copying, an electrophotographic printer such as a laser printer or an LED printer is configured to record on a rewritable recording medium with a larger amount of energy than during normal recording,
A rewritable recording medium can also be recorded.

(3) Next, an embodiment of the third invention will be described. (Embodiment 3-1) FIG. 14 shows a recording apparatus having a recording head 80 in which a heating resistor as a heating means and a pyroelectric substance as a potential generating means are integrated, and a recording medium 81 having a liquid crystal layer. Shows.

The heating means of the recording head 80 is the same as a thermal head used in a normal thermal transfer printer or the like, and the heating resistor 82 is made by a thin film technique or a thick film technique. On the heating resistor 82, a protective layer 83 and a conductive layer 84 serving as a potential reference are sequentially stacked. The conductive layer 84 is set to the ground potential. A pyroelectric layer 85 made of a pyroelectric material is provided on the conductive layer 84.
Although the heating resistor 82 is provided for each pixel, the conductive layer 8
4 and the pyroelectric layer 85 do not need to have a pixel structure, and are continuously provided in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing.

The recording medium 81 is a smectic liquid crystal 86.
Is sandwiched between the transparent film 87 and the base material 88. A conductive layer 89 is provided on the liquid crystal layer side of the base material 88.
In order to increase the contrast of the recording density, it is desirable to use an aluminum thin film having a high reflectance as the conductive layer 89. The conductive layer 89 is set to the ground potential. In the liquid crystal layer 86, spherical spacers 20 are dispersed in order to adjust the layer thickness. The thickness of the liquid crystal layer 86 is, eg, 5 μm.

The recording medium 81 and the recording head 80 are in close contact with each other by being pushed by the rubber platen roller 21. Next, recording and erasing operations in the recording apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. It is assumed that the entire surface of the recording medium 81 is erased and initialized before recording. Here, the erased state is a state in which the liquid crystal layer 86 is in a cloudy state, and in this state, the recording medium 81 looks white when viewed from the transparent film 87 side.

In the recording operation, the heating resistor 82 corresponding to the pixel for recording is first heated. As a result, the pyroelectric layer 85 on the upper surface of the heating resistor 82 generates a potential as the temperature of the heating resistor 82 rises. Pyroelectric materials generate an electric potential proportional to the amount of change in temperature. Therefore, in the recording pixel, as shown in FIG. 15, the temperature of the heating resistor 82 and the potential of the pyroelectric body 85 change. The liquid crystal changes to an isotropic liquid state at about 40 to 50 ° C., and in view of the performance of the heating resistor used for thermal transfer recording, the liquid crystal instantly becomes the isotropic liquid state. When the liquid crystal becomes an isotropic liquid state, the heat generation in the heating resistor 82 is stopped at the time of A in FIG.
Then, the temperature of the heating resistor 82 drops sharply, the electric potential on the surface of the pyroelectric body becomes opposite in polarity to the previous one, and the AC electric field is applied to the liquid crystal layer 86 for one cycle.

At this time, the electric field applied to the liquid crystal layer 86 is as shown in FIG.
As shown in 5, the liquid crystal gradually cools down,
The phase transitions from the isotropic liquid state to the original liquid crystal state. Since liquid crystal molecules are fixed with their long axes oriented in the direction of the electric field, the liquid crystal layer 8 corresponding to a recording pixel is formed at the end of one recording cycle.
6 is in a transparent state.

In the erase operation, the amount of current to the heating resistor 82 is reduced so that the temperature does not rise rapidly as shown in FIG. In this case as well, a voltage is generated on the surface of the pyroelectric layer 85, but since the temperature change is small, the generated voltage is also low, and an electric field equal to or higher than the electric field Ec necessary for aligning the liquid crystal molecules in the electric field direction is generated. It does not affect As a result, the liquid crystal molecules are oriented in random directions and fixed by cooling.

In the above description, the heating current of the heating resistor 82 is reduced so that no potential appears on the surface of the pyroelectric layer 85. However, the heating temperature is controlled by controlling the pulse width of the current. It is obvious that the surface potential of the pyroelectric layer 85 can be reduced similarly.

Further, in the all-at-once erasing operation, it suffices to keep the current flowing through the heat generating resistor 82 and scan the recording head 80 on the recording medium 81 at a constant temperature. Since the pyroelectric layer 85 on the heating resistor 82 does not generate a potential when the heating resistor 82 reaches a constant temperature, the liquid crystal layer 86.
Will be heated in the absence of an electric field. A liquid crystal that is in an isotropic liquid state in the absence of an electric field is cooled with the liquid crystal molecules oriented randomly. As a result, the liquid crystal layer 86
Light is scattered and becomes cloudy.

The recording method described above is a positive mode in which black characters / images can be recorded on a white background, but it is also possible to use a negative mode in which white characters / images are recorded on a black background. In that case, in the erasing operation, as in the recording in the positive mode of FIG. 15, the heating resistor 82 is energized to fluctuate the surface potential of the pyroelectric layer 85 in an alternating manner and an electric field is applied to the liquid crystal layer 86. To do. When erased, the liquid crystal layer 86 becomes transparent. In the recording operation, as in the case of erasing in the positive mode shown in FIG. 15, the current supplied to the heating resistor 82 or its pulse width is reduced to suppress the generated potential and the orientation of liquid crystal molecules is randomized. As a result, the recorded area will scatter light and appear white.

Further, in the above description, when the liquid crystal layer 86 is made transparent, the surface potential of the pyroelectric layer 85 changes by one cycle during one recording cycle. One cycle of the AC electric field may not be enough to align the liquid crystal molecules in the electric field direction. If not enough, the heating resistor 82 is energized a plurality of times during one recording cycle so that a plurality of AC electric fields are generated during one recording cycle. (Example 3-2) When the liquid crystal layer 86 is heated through the pyroelectric layer 85, the heat conduction to the liquid crystal layer 86 is slow, so that the liquid crystal layer 86 is not sufficiently heated and isotropic from the liquid crystal. May not change phase to liquid state. In such a case, if the heating resistor 82 can directly heat the recording medium 81 without interposing the pyroelectric layer 85 as shown in FIG.
Is heated sufficiently. At this time, the pyroelectric layer 85 is formed as shown in FIG.
As shown therein, it is necessary to provide it on the side of the recording medium 81 in the traveling direction.

(Embodiment 3-3) When two kinds of heating resistors are provided in the thermal head which is a heating means and one kind is used for heating the liquid crystal layer and the other kind is used for heating the pyroelectric layer, Whitening of the liquid crystal layer becomes easier. This will be briefly described with reference to FIG. The recording head 80 has a heating resistor 82 for heating the liquid crystal layer 86 and a heating resistor 94 for heating the pyroelectric layer 85.
Is provided. To make the liquid crystal layer 86 transparent, both the heating resistors 82 and 94 are heated so that an electric field is applied to the liquid crystal layer 86. When the liquid crystal layer 86 is clouded, only the heating resistor 82 is heated, and the liquid crystal layer 86 is heated and cooled under no electric field to cloud the liquid crystal layer 86.

(Embodiment 3-4) In the above embodiments, the recording medium 81 has a structure in which the liquid crystal layer 86 is sandwiched between two plates, but the present invention can be applied to recording media having various structures.

FIG. 18 shows a recording medium using a liquid crystal layer of the type in which liquid crystal is dispersed between polymer resins. The recording medium 100 includes a surface protective film 101 and a polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer 10.
2. The substrate 103 is formed, and the conductive layer 104 is provided on the liquid crystal layer side of the substrate 103. The polymer-dispersed liquid crystal layer 102 used here is composed of a smectic liquid crystal and a polymer material, forms a solution in which a monomer of a polymer material and a liquid crystal material are mixed, and the liquid crystal is phase-separated when the monomer is polymerized and cured. By doing so, liquid crystal droplets are formed.

The polymer-dispersed liquid crystal was originally produced as shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), the liquid crystal molecules are arranged along the wall surface of the liquid crystal droplets, and since the liquid crystal molecules are arranged in random directions as a whole, light is scattered and the liquid crystal is in a cloudy state. When heating / cooling is performed with an electric field applied, after being heated to a liquid state, the liquid crystal molecules are aligned and fixed in the direction of the electric field, so that a transparent state is obtained as shown in FIG. When heated and cooled in the absence of an electric field, the liquid crystal molecules are oriented and fixed in a rerandom direction, and the polymer liquid crystal layer becomes clouded.

Since the operation of recording / erasing the recording medium 100 by the recording head 80 of FIG. 14 is the same as that of the previous embodiment, it will not be described again here. Both positive mode and negative mode are possible, and partial erasure and full area erasure are also possible. Further, in the structure of the recording medium 81 shown in the previous embodiment, there is a limit in flexibility because the spacer 90 is inserted to regulate the thickness of the liquid crystal layer. However, in the case of the recording medium 100 using the polymer-dispersed liquid crystal as in this embodiment, the spacer 90 is not necessary, and the polymer-dispersed liquid crystal can be formed on a flexible base material such as PET. Its simplicity makes it very suitable for making soft recording media such as paper.

(Embodiment 3-5) In Embodiments 3-1 to 3-4, the example in which the thermo-optical characteristic of the liquid crystal is used is shown, but the present invention is also applied to the case where the other characteristic of the liquid crystal is utilized. it can. Figure 1
Reference numeral 9 is a recording medium using a ferroelectric liquid crystal. This recording medium 110 is composed of a transparent film 111 which is also a surface protective layer, a polarizing plate 112, a ferroelectric liquid crystal layer 113, a polarizing plate 114, a transparent electrode 115 and a transparent substrate 116. The transparent electrode 116 is set to the ground potential. The polarization directions of the two polarizing plates 112 and 114 are orthogonal to each other. The tilt angle of the ferroelectric liquid crystal layer 113 was 22.5 °, the product of the birefringence and the layer thickness was about 0.25 μm, and it was set so that a large contrast could be obtained.

As a property of the ferroelectric liquid crystal, when an electric field of Ec or more is applied in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 19, light is transmitted through that portion, and when an electric field of Ec or more is applied in the opposite direction, light is blocked. Further, the ferroelectric liquid crystal has a memory property and has a property of maintaining a state of transmitting and blocking light even when the electric field is removed.

Next, the recording operation of this embodiment in which the ferroelectric liquid crystal having such a property is applied to the recording medium will be described.
First, the recording medium 110 is set in a state of blocking light.
Next, the heating resistor 82 is energized, a voltage is generated on the surface of the pyroelectric layer 85, and an electric field above a threshold value is generated in the arrow A direction. Next, when the power supply to the heating resistor 82 is stopped, the electric field is in the opposite direction as shown in the graph of FIG. 20, but since the electric field is equal to or lower than the threshold value Ec, the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules does not change.

On the other hand, at the time of erasing, an electric field having a threshold value Ec or more may be applied in the direction opposite to the arrow A direction in FIG. There are several methods for applying an electric field in the direction opposite to the arrow A direction, and one of them is to pass the recording medium 110 upside down and pass it through the recording apparatus. As another method, a recording head having a pyroelectric layer 85 attached in the opposite direction to the previous example is newly prepared, and an electric field in the direction opposite to the arrow A direction is generated by this head to perform erasing. May be. In this case, when the combination of the heating resistor for recording and the pyroelectric layer and the combination of the heating resistor for erasing and the pyroelectric layer are arranged side by side in the recording medium moving direction in one recording head, The size of the device can be reduced.

Further, in this recording method, since the temperature on the surface of the recording medium may be low, the surface of the recording medium is not deteriorated by heat, and the number of times the recording medium can be used is greatly increased.

(Example 3-6) In Examples 3-1 to 3-5, the heating resistor as the heating means and the pyroelectric layer as the potential generating means were integrated, but as shown in FIG. The liquid crystal layer and the pyroelectric layer may be integrated. FIG. 21 shows the configuration of the recording head and the recording medium in this embodiment.

In FIG. 21, the recording head 80 may be the thermal head itself used for ordinary thermal transfer recording.
The recording medium 120 is composed of an electrode layer 121, a pyroelectric layer 122, a liquid crystal layer 123, a transparent electrode layer 124 and a transparent substrate 125. Since the recording / erasing operation is the same as that of the above-described first embodiment, it will not be described again here. In this embodiment, both the positive mode and the negative mode are possible, and partial erasing and whole area erasing are also possible. In the recording medium 120 configured as shown in FIG. 8, in order to see from the transparent electrode layer 124 side,
It is necessary to reverse the left and right pixel signals to be recorded. However, if a transparent electrode layer or a transparent pyroelectric layer is used instead of the electrode layer 121 or the pyroelectric layer 122, the transparent electrode layer 12
1. Since the recorded image can be seen from the transparent pyroelectric layer side 122, it is not necessary to reverse the pixel signals to be recorded.

Further, even when the ferroelectric liquid crystal as described in the previous embodiment is used, the liquid crystal layer and the pyroelectric layer may be integrated. This example will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 22
In, the recording medium 130 includes a polarizing plate 131, a transparent electrode layer 132, a transparent pyroelectric layer 133, a liquid crystal layer 134, a transparent electrode layer 135, and a polarizing plate 136. also,
Since the recording / erasing operation is the same as that of the above-mentioned third embodiment,
No further explanation will be given here.

As described above, by integrating the pyroelectric layer with the liquid crystal layer to form a recording medium, only a normal thermal head can be used as the heating means. It will be usable.

(Example 3-7) In Examples 3-1 to 3-6, the thermal head using the heating resistor was used as the heating means, but laser light can also be used as the heating means. In this case, the recording medium is an integrated liquid crystal layer and pyroelectric layer.

FIG. 23 shows the structure of the recording medium of this embodiment. The recording medium 140 includes an electrode layer 141, a light absorbing layer 142,
It is composed of a pyroelectric layer 143, a liquid crystal layer 144, a transparent electrode layer 145, and a transparent base material 146. The laser light absorbs the light absorption layer 14
At 2, the light is converted into heat, and the pyroelectric layer 143 generates a voltage due to the heat of the light absorbing layer. Here, the light absorption layer 142
As a property of the above, a material that is easy to heat and easy to cool is desirable.

(Example 3-8) Polarizing plate 15 as shown in FIG.
The recording medium 150 including the transparent electrode layer 152, the light absorbing layer 153, the transparent pyroelectric layer 154, the ferroelectric liquid crystal layer 155, the transparent electrode layer 156, and the polarizing plate 157 can also be recorded / erased by laser light. It is possible. In the recording medium 150 using such a ferroelectric liquid crystal, heat is not required to change the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules, and the pyroelectric layer 154 only needs to give heat for generating an electric potential. A laser beam with a lower output than that of the recording medium 140 of FIG.

Since the recording medium can be heated in a non-contact manner by using the laser beam as the heating means in this way, the surface of the recording medium is not deteriorated by heat and the number of times of use of the recording medium is extremely high. It has the advantage of increasing.

Next, an embodiment of the fourth invention will be described. (Embodiment 4-1) FIG. 28 shows a recording apparatus 2 according to this embodiment.
The structure of 01 is shown. The recording device 201 includes a recording medium 20.
Transport roller 203 for transporting 2 and support roller 2
04, generation / erasure of a reference pattern on the recording medium 202,
A heating unit 205 for writing / erasing an image, a density detection unit 206 that reads a reference pattern on the recording medium 202 to obtain a density, and a signal from the density detection unit 206 are received to control the heating unit 205. It comprises a control circuit 207.

As shown in FIG. 29, the recording medium 202 has a reference pattern 208 and an image portion 209, and is a material that repeats transparency / cloudiness upon heating (hereinafter referred to as a reversible recording material).
Consists of. As the reversible recording material, for example, a matrix material such as PVC and a heat sensitive material composed of organic low molecules are effective (JP-A-55-154198 and JP-A-57-8208).
7).

FIG. 30 is a longitudinal sectional view of the recording medium 202 of FIG. In FIG. 30A, the reversible recording material 210 and the non-translucent support 211 are laminated. As shown in FIG. 30B, the reference pattern 208 and the image portion 209.
Only the reversible recording material 210 may be included. Further, the density detection unit 206 has a light emitting unit that emits the light 212 and a light receiving unit that receives the reflected light 213. In the figure, thick arrows indicate the transport direction of the recording medium 202.

Next, the operation of the recording apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 31 and 32. First, when the recording medium 202 (FIG. 31A) in which the image portion 209 and the reference pattern 208 are both in the erased state (transparent state) is inserted into the recording device 201 during image writing, the portion of the reference pattern 208 is heated by the heating portion 205. The entire surface is written, and then the image is written in the image portion 209 (FIG. 31 (b)).

Next, at the time of erasing the image, the heating unit 205 first forms the reference pattern 208 for selecting the heating pulse width in order to obtain the optimum erasing state. That is, signals with different pulse widths are input to each heating element of the heating unit 205 (FIG. 32). At this time, each dot shows a different erased state according to the pulse width (FIG. 31 (c)).

Next, the density detecting section 206 detects the density of each dot. At this time, as shown in FIG.
Since 04 has the non-translucent support body 211, the reflected light intensity of the support body 211 is stored in the memory in advance, and the reflected light intensity of the support body 211 among the reflected light intensity obtained at each dot is stored. The pulse width showing the value closest to the intensity is selected as the optimum pulse width. After that, the optimum pulse width is given to all the dots of the heating unit 205 to erase the image recorded in the image unit 209 (FIG. 31 (d)). The above operation is sequentially repeated.

As described above, when a method of erasing with a plurality of pulse widths immediately before erasing an image and using an optimum pulse width among them for image erasing is adopted, the environment changes and the erasing temperature of the reversible recording material is changed. Since the optimum erasing condition can always be obtained even when changes occur, stable erasing becomes possible. Further, since the process is an open loop, high speed processing can be realized.

(Embodiment 4-2) FIG. 33 shows the structure of a recording apparatus of this embodiment. In this embodiment, the light emitting section 214 and the light receiving section 215 which constitute the density detecting section are separated. In this case, the reference pattern 20 of the recording medium 202
The transmitted light 212B is used to detect the density of No. 8. When the transmitted light 212B is used, it is not necessary to check the reflected light intensity of the support body 211 in advance, so that it is possible to detect the density without depending on the characteristics of the support body 211. When the reflected light is used, light emission and light reception must be performed on the same plane parallel to the recording medium 202, so that a certain area is required.

On the other hand, as in the present embodiment, the transmitted light 21
When 2B is used, light in the direction perpendicular to the recording medium 202 is used, and thus there is an advantage that the area of the light emitting / receiving element can be made smaller than that of using reflected light. However, the support 211 of the recording medium 202 shown in FIG. 30 needs to be made of a translucent material.

(Embodiment 4-3) FIG. 34 shows the structure of a recording apparatus according to this embodiment. This recording device includes a recording medium 2
The cooling unit 216 is provided at the rear of the heating unit 205 in the traveling direction of 02. Reference pattern 20 generated by heating unit 205
It is preferable that the recording medium 202 is in the steady state (A or D) with the characteristics of FIG. However, if the temperature drop after heating is insufficient, the optical transparency of the recording medium 202 is in a transient state, and it becomes difficult to detect the true erased state.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 34, if a cooling process is introduced after heating so that the light transmittance of the recording medium 202 is brought to a steady state before the concentration detection process is started, an accurate erased state is obtained. be able to. Although the provision of the new cooling unit 216 as in the present embodiment itself is disadvantageous in downsizing of the apparatus, the distance between the heating unit 205 and the concentration detection unit 206 can be shortened, and therefore the size is reduced. It can be said that it can contribute to realization.

(Embodiment 4-4) In FIG. 35, the reference pattern 208 has a matrix structure. A pattern corresponding to the number of heating elements of the heating unit 205 is developed in the main scanning direction, and a pattern corresponding to the number of types of different pulse widths is developed in the sub scanning direction. That is, erasing with different pulse widths is executed for all the heating elements (FIG. 36), and the optimum pulse width is selected for each. Therefore, the pulse width of each element is not always the same for erasing in the image unit 209. In this way, even if there are variations between heating elements by selecting the optimum pulse width for each element,
It is possible to always obtain the optimum erased state.

(Embodiment 4-5) FIG. 37 shows the structure of a recording apparatus of this embodiment. This recording device includes a heating unit 205.
And the first concentration detection unit 2 located in front of the heating unit 205.
A second density detecting unit 218 located behind the heating unit 205 and the heating unit 205 is provided above and below the conveyance path of the recording medium 202.

FIG. 38 shows the structure of a recording medium 219 useful for this recording apparatus. The reference pattern 208 is provided above and below the image portion 209, and the back surface has the same structure. A longitudinal sectional view of the recording medium 219 is shown in FIG.
(A) and (b), where (a) comprises a reversible recording material 210 and a non-translucent heat insulating material 220. Also, FIG. 39 (b)
Is a reversible recording material 210, a support 211 and a heat insulating material 22.
0, and only the reference pattern 208 and the image portion 209 are the reversible recording material 210. Note that FIG. 39 (b)
The support 211 may be the heat insulating material 220.

Next, the operation of the recording apparatus of this embodiment will be described. The operation at the time of writing the image is the same as that in the embodiment 4-1. However, at the end of the writing, one of the surfaces of the recording medium 219 is set so that the entire upper and lower reference patterns 208 are clouded as shown in FIG. Keep it. At this time, the reference pattern 208 on the other surface is in a transparent state because it is not processed. Next, when erasing the image, the recording medium 21
37 is inserted into the recording apparatus of FIG. 37, first, the upper and lower first density detecting units 217 read the densities of the reference patterns 208 at the heads of both sides of the recording medium 219. At this time,
The surface of the recording medium 219 that has been determined to be in the cloudy state is determined to be the erasing target surface.

In the subsequent processing, only the heating section 205 and the second concentration detecting section 218 which are in contact with the surface to be erased work. For example, when it is determined that the upper surface of the recording medium 219 is the erasing target surface, only the components on the upper surface are activated, and the heating unit 205 and the second density detecting unit 218 located below the recording medium 219 are in the stopped state. Becomes The subsequent processing method is the same as that of the first embodiment, but the other reference pattern 8 on the surface to be erased remains in the cloudy state, and therefore it is necessary to erase it at this time for the reason described later ( Figure 1
4 (b)).

As described above, by having the reference patterns 208 in the same state vertically on the same surface of the recording medium 219, the same processing can be performed regardless of the insertion direction. Furthermore, by holding the same structure on both sides of the recording medium 219,
By changing the state of the reference pattern 208 between the upper and lower surfaces, it is possible to determine which surface is to be erased, and the recording apparatus has the same structure vertically through the conveyance path of the recording medium 219. The same processing is performed regardless of which side of the recording medium 219 is inserted. Because of this processing step, the other reference pattern 208 on the same surface that has not been used as a reference pattern is erased. This is because there is a possibility that it will be selected as the surface to be erased even if it does not exist.

In this embodiment, since the insertion surface and the insertion direction of the recording medium 219 are not selected and the processing is open loop as described in Embodiment 4-1, it is high speed. In particular, it can be expected as a card that can be used for automatic ticket gates.

(Embodiment 4-6) FIG. 41 shows the structure of a recording apparatus of this embodiment. The recording apparatus of this embodiment has first and second heating units 205A and 205B in front of and behind the density detection unit 206 in the transport direction of the recording medium 202.

The operation of this recording apparatus will be described. Example 4
Similarly to -1, generation of the reference pattern 28 on the recording medium 202 (FIG. 42A), selection of the optimum pulse width by detection of the reference pattern 208, and erasing according to the optimum pulse width (first erasing). If the temperature characteristics of the recording medium are not uniform, an incomplete erased state may be obtained as shown in FIG. 42 (b). This state indicates that the temperature rise due to the selected pulse width has not reached the point B or has exceeded the point B due to the characteristics of FIG. In the former case, the heating is insufficient, and in the latter case, the heating is caused by overheating. Therefore, proper adjustment of the heating pulse width enables more complete erasing.

Therefore, when the image erased by the first heating unit 205A is conveyed directly below the density detection unit 206, the density detection unit 206 reads the position where the deletion is insufficient and stores the coordinates in the memory. Keep it. Next, a pulse width shorter than the pulse width given at the time of the first erasing is given to the second heating unit 205B to perform erasing only at the position where the erasing is insufficient (second erasing; FIG. 42 ( c)). The part to be erased at this stage is the part which became opaque due to overheating in the first erasing.

Next, when the entire image portion 209 of the recording medium 202 has passed the second heating portion 205B, the conveying roller 203 and the supporting roller 204 are rotated in the reverse direction, and the recording medium 2
02 is conveyed backward in the insertion direction of the recording medium 202. The position where the image portion 209 of the conveyed recording medium 202 is not sufficiently erased is read again by the density detecting unit 206, and the coordinates are stored.

Subsequently, a pulse width longer than the pulse width given at the time of the first erase is given to the first heating unit 205A,
Only the inadequately erased position is erased (third erase; FIG. 4).
2 (d)). After that, the recording medium 202 is ejected from the insertion port.

As described above, if the temperature characteristics in the recording medium 202 are not uniform, it is difficult to obtain a good erased state by erasing once, but in consideration of the factor of incomplete erasing. It is possible to obtain a better erased state by appropriately adjusting the pulse width and performing a plurality of erases. In order to realize this function, the recording apparatus of this embodiment has two heating units 205A and 205B, but the recording apparatus having only one heating unit (for example, FIG. 28) can also be used. Since the above function adds the reading of the erased state and the erase by the heating means twice, in this case, the recording medium 202 makes 1.5 reciprocations. The erasing time will increase by that amount, but it is not necessary to increase the heating section,
The device does not increase in size.

[0148]

【The invention's effect】

(1) According to the first aspect of the invention, since the ink is directly heated, the energy other than the ink is not consumed as heating energy, and the generated light energy can be efficiently absorbed by the ink. In comparison with a thermal recording device that uses a thermal head, it is possible to realize an efficient thermal recording device.

(2) In the second invention, it is possible to copy a document output by various printers, a printed matter already printed, or the like onto a rewritable recording medium without using a thermal transfer printer.

(3) According to the third invention, by using the pyroelectric potential generating means, the generation of the potential can be controlled by the heating means, and further, the potential is generated by the pyroelectric substance. Since a power supply for the recording is unnecessary, the recording device can be downsized. Moreover, since recording / erasing can be selected for each pixel, the recording apparatus can be downsized without sacrificing the recording speed.

(4) According to the fourth aspect of the invention, a plurality of types of pulse widths are given to the heating element to erase the specific area in advance (generation of the reference pattern), and the pulse width with the best erased state is used for image erasing. Since the method used is adopted, it is possible to deal with the case where the temperature characteristic of the recording medium changes due to the change of environment. Further, by providing the cooling means between the heating means and the density detecting means, the density can be detected in a thermally stable state of the recording medium, and the accurate pulse width can be selected.
Furthermore, by forming a matrix reference pattern in which an optimum pulse width can be selected for each heating element, variations between heating elements can be suppressed and better image erasing can be expected. In addition, by providing reference patterns on the upper and lower ends of both sides of the recording medium and by providing the same constituent elements above and below the recording medium conveying path of the recording device, recording can be performed regardless of the insertion surface and insertion direction of the recording medium. System can be realized,
It is also effective for card systems such as automatic ticket gates. further,
By performing the erasing a plurality of times while adjusting the heating pulse width, better image erasing can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a thermal recording apparatus according to a first invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a specific example of a master film used in the recording apparatus of the first invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of the thermal recording apparatus according to the first invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a second embodiment of the thermal recording apparatus according to the first invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a third embodiment in which the first invention is applied to a one-shot color recording apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the relationship between the light transmittance of toner and the emission wavelength of each flash lamp in the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of a recording apparatus according to the second invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an erasing method of an already recorded rewritable recording medium in the recording apparatus according to the second invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a second embodiment of the recording apparatus according to the second invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a third embodiment of the recording apparatus according to the second invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a method for modifying a rewritable recording medium writing / erasing apparatus using a conventional copying apparatus.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a fourth embodiment of the recording apparatus according to the second invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the embodiment according to the second invention.

FIG. 14 is a sectional view showing a first embodiment of a recording apparatus according to the third invention.

FIG. 15 is a timing chart showing the recording / erasing operation of the same embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment of the recording apparatus according to the third invention.

FIG. 17 is a sectional view showing a third embodiment of the recording apparatus according to the third invention.

FIG. 18 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the liquid crystal used in the third invention.

FIG. 19 is a sectional view showing a fourth embodiment of the recording apparatus according to the third invention.

FIG. 20 is a timing chart showing the recording / erasing operation of the same embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a sectional view showing a fifth embodiment of the recording apparatus according to the third invention.

FIG. 22 is a sectional view showing a sixth embodiment of the recording apparatus according to the third invention.

FIG. 23 is a sectional view showing a seventh embodiment of the recording apparatus according to the third invention.

FIG. 24 is a sectional view showing an eighth embodiment of the recording apparatus according to the third invention.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional recording device.

FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating a recording operation of a conventional recording device.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing temperature characteristics of the reversible recording material used in the fourth invention.

FIG. 28 is a schematic sectional view showing the first embodiment of the recording apparatus according to the fourth invention.

FIG. 29 is a plan view of the recording medium in the example.

FIG. 30 is a sectional view of the recording medium in the example.

FIG. 31 is a plan view of a recording medium for explaining the operation of the example.

FIG. 32 is a timing diagram of input pulses to the heating element in the example.

FIG. 33 is a schematic sectional view showing a second embodiment of the recording apparatus according to the fourth invention.

FIG. 34 is a schematic sectional view showing a third embodiment of the recording apparatus according to the fourth invention.

FIG. 35 is a plan view of the recording medium in the fourth embodiment of the recording apparatus according to the fourth invention.

FIG. 36 is a timing diagram of input pulses to the heating element in the example.

FIG. 37 is a schematic sectional view showing a fifth embodiment of the recording apparatus according to the fourth invention.

FIG. 38 is a plan view of the recording medium in the example.

FIG. 39 is a sectional view of the recording medium in the example.

FIG. 40 is a plan view of the recording medium for explaining the operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 41 is a schematic sectional view showing a sixth embodiment of the recording apparatus according to the fourth invention.

FIG. 42 is a plan view of the recording medium for explaining the operation of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Flash 2 ... Flash lamp 3 ... Reflector 4 ... Master film 7 ... Ink ribbon 9 ... Ink layer 10 ... Recording paper 51 ... Flash 52 ... Flash lamp 53 ... Reflector 54 ... Rewritable recording medium 55 ... Rewritable layer 56 ... Base layer 57 Original document 58 Ink image 61 Erase sheet 80 Recording head 81 Recording medium 82 Heat generating resistor 83 Heat generating resistor protective layer 84 Conductive layer 85 Pyroelectric layer 86 Liquid crystal layer 87 Transparent film 88 ... Base material 89 ... Conductive layer 90 ... Spacer 91 ... Platen roller 92 ... Individual electrode 93 ... Common electrode 94 ... Heating resistor 95 ... Individual electrode 100 ... Recording medium 101 ... Transparent film 102 ... Liquid crystal layer 103 ... Base material 104 ... Conductive layer 110 ... Recording medium 111 ... Transparent film 112 ... Polarizing plate 113 ... Liquid crystal layer 114 ... Optical plate 115 ... Conductive layer 116 ... Substrate 120 ... Recording medium 121 ... Transparent film 122 ... Pyroelectric layer 123 ... Liquid crystal layer 124 ... Conductive layer 125 ... Substrate 130 ... Recording medium 131 ... Polarizing plate 132 ... Transparent film 133 ... Focus. Electric layer 134 ... Liquid crystal layer 135 ... Conductive layer 136 ... Substrate 140 ... Recording medium 141 ... Electrode layer 142 ... Light absorption layer 143 ... Pyroelectric layer 144 ... Liquid crystal layer 145 ... Conductive layer 145 ... Transparent electrode layer 146 ... Transparent Base material 151 ... Polarizing plate 152 ... Transparent electrode layer 153 ... Light absorbing layer 154 ... Transparent pyroelectric layer 155 ... Ferroelectric liquid crystal layer 156 ... Transparent electrode layer 157 ... Polarizing plate 202 ... Recording medium 205 ... Heating part 205A, 205B ... heating section 206 ... optical density detection section 207 ... control circuit 208 ... reference pattern 209 ... image section 210 ... reversible recording material 211 ... support 214 ... light emitting section 15 ... the light-receiving section 216 ... the cooling unit

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location G02F 1/13 505 1/1333 // B41M 5/26 9121-2H B41M 5/26 102 6956-2H 5/18 101 A (72) Inventor Hideyuki Nakao 1 Komukai Toshiba-cho, Sachi-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Within the Corporate Research and Development Center, Toshiba Corporation (72) Inventor Shuzo 1 Komukai-shiba-cho, Kawasaki, Kanagawa Banchi Co., Ltd. Toshiba Research & Development Center

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An original plate having an image pattern composed of a light source, a transmissive part that transmits light from the light source, and a transmissive part that does not transmit the light, and a film coated with a colorant. The colorant is heated by pressing the film and the recording medium so that the colorant-coated surface of the film is in contact with the recording medium, and irradiating the film with light from the light source to heat the colorant. A recording apparatus, which forms an image by transferring or transitioning a colorant onto the recording apparatus. 2. A recording medium having a rewritable recording layer whose reflectance of light reversibly changes due to heat, and a rewritable layer side of the recording medium and an image forming surface side of the original are in contact with each other on the original. A heating unit for heating the image forming material, the reflectance of the rewritable recording layer is changed by heat generation of the document forming material on the original, and the image on the original is copied to the rewritable recording layer. A recording device characterized by the above. 3. A recording medium having a liquid crystal layer having a memory property in a molecular orientation state, heating means for selectively heating the liquid crystal layer according to image data, and applying an electric field to the liquid crystal layer. And a potential generating unit for storing the potential, the potential generating unit being made of a pyroelectric material and being arranged so as to be heated by the heating unit. 4. A recording means for recording information on a recording medium capable of reversible recording / erasing, an erasing means for erasing information recorded on the recording medium, and an optical density of the recording medium. And a control unit for feeding back the optical density detected by the density detecting unit to the erasing unit.