JPH10119331A - Thermal transfer printer and thermal transfer recording method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an excellent recording result, whether a hot-melt ink ribbon is used for recording or a hot-subliming ink ribbon is used therefor. SOLUTION: A control means 25 which makes a control so that a hot-melt ink ribbon and a hot-subliming ink ribbon can be used as an ink ribbon 17, that color-lapping recording of yellow Y be conducted after recording of cyan C and magenta M is conducted with either the cyan C or the magenta M first in the case when color recording is conducted by using the hot-melt ink ribbon and that the color-lapping recording of the magenta M and the cyan C be conducted with either the magenta M or the cyan C first after the yellow Y is recorded first in the case when the color recording is conducted by using the hot-subliming ink ribbon, is provided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal transfer printer and a thermal transfer recording method, and more particularly to a thermal transfer printer and a thermal transfer recording method capable of performing both color recording using a heat-meltable ink ribbon and color recording using a thermal sublimation ink ribbon. And a thermal transfer recording method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art One line of recording is performed while moving a carriage on which a thermal head is mounted along a platen.
After performing the recording for one line, the serial thermal transfer printer that conveys the recording paper for one line and repeats the recording for the next line to perform a predetermined recording has a high quality recording, low noise, low noise, and low noise. Due to reasons such as cost and ease of maintenance, they are often used as output devices such as computers and word processors.

[0003] Such a serial type thermal transfer printer,
A carriage is movably formed along a platen, a thermal head having a plurality of heating elements formed thereon is mounted on the carriage, and a ribbon cassette containing an ink ribbon of a desired color is detachably mounted. . And, between the platen and the thermal head, the ink ribbon and the paper sent from the ribbon cassette are sandwiched,
While moving the thermal head along with the platen along the platen and winding up the ink ribbon, the heating elements of the thermal head are selectively energized and driven based on image information to generate heat, and the ink of the ink ribbon is partially printed on paper. And the desired recording is performed.

In such a thermal transfer printer, recording is usually performed using a heat-meltable ink ribbon in which a heat-meltable ink is applied to the surface of a substrate made of a plastic film or the like as an ink ribbon. Recently, there has been proposed an apparatus that performs recording using a thermosublimable ink ribbon in which a thermosublimable ink is applied to the surface of a substrate.

[0005] Of these, the recording using the hot-melt ink ribbon can be recorded on a wide variety of papers such as plain paper, postcards and OHP paper, and is excellent in usability.

On the other hand, in the recording using the thermal sublimation ink ribbon, the amount of energy applied to the thermal head is controlled to control the amount of the dye to be transferred onto the paper, thereby to increase the density gradation of each dot. It is possible to obtain a high-quality full-color recorded image comparable to a silver halide photograph by using a special surface-treated paper as the paper.

[0007] In recent years, a thermal transfer printer capable of performing recording using both an ink ribbon of a heat-fusible ink ribbon and a heat-sublimable ink ribbon has been proposed.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In a thermal transfer printer capable of recording using both the above-mentioned heat fusible ink ribbon and heat sublimable ink ribbon,
The overlapping order of the colors is the same regardless of the recording method. This is because the control of the image signals (order of recording) becomes the same by making the color overlapping order the same, and the control is simplified. However, in a thermal transfer printer,
There is a difference in the overlapping property of each ink between the case where printing is performed using the heat-meltable ink ribbon and the case where printing is performed using the heat-sublimable ink ribbon, and printing is performed in the same color overlapping order in both printing methods. In such a case, the same good recording cannot be performed.

[0009] The difference in the overlapping property of the ink is that in the recording using the hot melt ink, the full color expression is performed because the ink to be overlapped is laminated without intermingling with the underlying ink. It has been found that the recording using the thermal sublimation ink is caused by a difference that a full-color recording is performed by interlacing the ink to be overlaid and the ink of the base.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and provides a thermal transfer printer capable of obtaining good recording results irrespective of recording using a hot-melt ink ribbon or recording using a thermal sublimation ink ribbon. It is intended to provide.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention enables a heat-meltable ink ribbon and a heat-sublimable ink ribbon to be used as ink ribbons. When color recording is performed using the cyan and magenta recordings, the cyan or magenta recording is performed first, and then the yellow color overlay recording is performed, and when the color recording is performed using the thermal sublimation ink ribbon, the first is performed. 3. A thermal transfer recording method according to claim 2, further comprising control means for controlling color superimposition recording of magenta and cyan so that any one of magenta and cyan is performed first after recording yellow. When color recording is performed using a fusible ink ribbon, recording of cyan and magenta is first performed for either cyan or magenta. Performs a yellow color overlaid recorded after,
When color recording is performed using the thermal sublimation ink ribbon, color recording of magenta and cyan is performed first after yellow is recorded, and then one of the magenta and cyan is performed first.

The thermal transfer printer and thermal transfer recording method of the present invention employ the above-described configuration, so that good recording results can be obtained in both recording using a hot-melt ink ribbon and recording using a thermal sublimation ink ribbon. Obtainable.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIGS. 1 to 4 show an embodiment of a thermal transfer printer to which the thermal transfer recording method according to the present invention is applied. The thermal transfer printer 1 of this embodiment is located at a predetermined position on a frame of a printer (not shown). The platen 2 has a plate-like platen 2 disposed so that the recording surface is substantially vertical. A guide shaft 3 is disposed below and in front of the platen 2 in parallel with the platen 2. A vertically divided carriage 4 is attached to the guide shaft 3. The lower side of the carriage 4 is a lower carriage 4a attached to the guide shaft 3, and the upper side of the carriage 4 is described later. Ribbon cassette 5
And an upper carriage 4b which is vertically movable with respect to the lower carriage 4a. The carriage 4 is fixed to a part of a driving belt 6 wound around a pair of pulleys (not shown). The driving belt 6 is driven by driving means (not shown) such as a stepping motor. Thereby, the carriage 4 is reciprocated along the guide shaft 3.

The carriage 4 is provided with a thermal head 7 which is opposed to the platen 2 and can be freely moved toward and away from the platen 2 and which records on a sheet (not shown) on the platen 2 in a pressed state. The thermal head 7 includes a plurality of heating elements that selectively generate heat based on desired recording information input by an appropriate input device (not shown) such as a host computer, an image reader, or a keyboard. (Not shown) are arranged.

As shown in FIG. 3, a pair of parallel crank mechanisms 8 are provided on both left and right sides of the carriage 4, and are attached to the guide shaft 3 by the parallel crank mechanisms 8. The upper carriage 4b is configured to be movable in parallel to and away from the lower carriage 4a. Each of the parallel crank mechanisms 8 has a pair of links 9a, 9b crossing each other in an X shape. The crossing position of each of the links 9a, 9b is pivotally connected by a pin 10a, and each of the links 9a, 9b. The ends of 9b are slid by pins 10b, 10c, 10d, and 10e into slots (not shown) formed on the upper surface of the left and right sides of the lower carriage 4a and the lower surfaces of the left and right sides of the upper carriage 4b. It is movably locked.

A rotary crank mechanism 11 is provided on the lower carriage 4a. The rotary crank mechanism 11 has a rotary plate 12 supported by the lower carriage 4a so as to be rotatable. I have. One end of a connecting link 14 is pivotally connected to the eccentric position of the rotary plate 12 by a pin 13a, and the other end of the connecting link 14 is pivotally connected to the upper carriage 4b by a pin 13b. The rotating plate 12 is driven to rotate by driving means (not shown) such as a motor, and the rotation of the rotating plate 12 causes the upper carriage 4b to operate in parallel via the connection link 14. It has become.

A pair of plate-like arms 15 gently curved inward from each other are provided on the upper surface of the left and right sides of the upper carriage 4b at an interval substantially equal to the width of the ribbon cassette 5. At the tip of this arm,
An engagement portion 15a having projections formed at upper and lower ends is formed. In the center of the upper carriage 4b, a take-up bobbin 16a for winding the ink ribbon 17 and a delivery bobbin 16b for delivering the ink ribbon 17 are rotatably arranged at a predetermined interval from each other. By rotating the take-up bobbin 16a, the ink ribbon 17 travels in a predetermined direction.

Further, an optical sensor 18 for detecting the type of the ink ribbon stored in the ribbon cassette 5 is provided on the upper surface of the edge of the carriage 4 farther from the platen 2. 18 is a thermal transfer printer 1
Is connected to a control unit 25 which is disposed at a desired position and controls the recording operation and the like of the thermal transfer printer 1. The control unit 25 controls the ribbon cassette 5 based on at least an output signal from the optical sensor 18 accompanying the movement of the carriage 4.
And the type of the ink ribbon 17 stored in the ribbon cassette 5 and the carriage 4 with respect to the home position.
, The open / closed state of a canopy 19 described later, the distance between a pair of adjacent or separated ribbon cassettes 5, and the like can be determined or detected.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, above the carriage 4, a substantially plate-shaped canopy 1 supported on the frame so as to be openable and closable as shown by a double-headed arrow A in FIG.
Reference numeral 9 is provided at a predetermined distance from the carriage 4. The canopy 19 functions as a paper presser on the exit side of a paper feed mechanism (not shown) in the closed state, and has a length substantially equal to the moving area of the carriage 4 so as to face the carriage 4. Have been.

A plurality of cassette holders (not shown) for holding the ribbon cassette 5 are provided at predetermined positions on the lower surface of the canopy 19 facing the carriage 4, and a color image is recorded by each cassette holder. The ribbon cassettes 5a, 5b, 5c, and 5d containing yellow Y, magenta M, cyan C, and black ink ribbons 17a, 17b, 17c, and 17d, respectively, are arranged in a row along the moving direction of the carriage 4. It is supposed to be.

Each of the ribbon cassettes 5a, 5b, 5
c and 5d are the canopy 1 as shown by the double-headed arrow B in FIG.
9 and the upper carriage 4b are selectively transferred.

Each of the ribbon cassettes 5a, 5b, 5c,
Regardless of the type of the ink ribbon 17, all of the 5d case body 20 is formed in the same shape and the same size.
The take-up reel 21a which winds the portion of the ink ribbon 17 wound and used for recording and the delivery reel 21b which sends out the ink ribbon 17 are rotatably accommodated. A thermal head 7 is provided on the surface of the ribbon cassette 5 facing the platen 2 while being mounted on the carriage 4.
Is formed, and an intermediate portion of the ink ribbon 17 is led out to the outside inside the concave portion 22. Further, a pair of rotatably supported ribbon feed rollers (not shown) and a plurality of guide rollers (not shown) are provided inside the case main body 20 and in the middle of the travel path of the ink ribbon 17. It is arranged.

An identification mark 23 for discriminating the type of the ink ribbon 17 stored in each ribbon cassette 5 is provided on the rear surface of the ribbon cassette 5 extending parallel to the surface on which the concave portion 22 is formed. The identification mark 23 is formed by a reflective seal 24 having a different number of striped non-reflective portions 24 a depending on the type of the ink ribbon 17. In the present embodiment, the ribbon cassette 5a shown at the left end in FIG.
A reflective seal 24A having a label 4a is affixed as an identification mark 23.
A reflective seal 24B having four non-reflective portions 24a is attached as the identification mark 23, and the ribbon cassette 5c
Has a reflection seal 24C having two non-reflection portions 24a.
Is attached as an identification mark 23, and a reflective seal 24D having one non-reflective portion 24a is attached as an identification mark 23 to the ribbon cassette 5d. The left end of the rear surface of the ribbon cassette 5 has the identification mark 23.
The distance L to the right end position of the non-reflecting portion 24a located at the right end of the identification mark 23 in FIG. A desired non-reflecting portion 24a for identifying the type of the ink ribbon 17 is formed.

Then, the identification mark 23 is detected by the optical sensor 18 provided on the carriage 4 and a detection signal is output to the control unit 25 of the printer. The type of the ink ribbon 17 stored in the ribbon cassette 5 is determined by counting the number of the non-reflection portions 24a. Further, the identification mark 23 corresponding to the type of the ink ribbon 17 to be used is set on the optical sensor 18.
When the carriage 4 is stopped, the ribbon cassette 5 provided in the cassette holder of the canopy 19 is transferred to the upper carriage 4b. .

As shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 25
AM26 and ROM27, of which RAM
Reference numeral 26 denotes an ink ribbon 17 which is used to separate image information for printing into three colors of yellow Y, magenta M, and cyan C and store the data as print data for each color. The recording data of the color corresponding to the color
6 to a control unit 25, and the control unit 25 selectively drives any one of the plurality of heating elements of the thermal head 7 according to the recording data. Further, in the present embodiment, the control unit 25 performs printing in the order of cyan C, magenta M, and yellow Y when using the heat-meltable ink ribbon, and yellow when using the heat sublimable ink ribbon. Control is performed so that recording is performed in the order of Y, C, and M.

Next, a recording method using the thermal transfer printer having the above-described configuration will be described.

In this embodiment, first, image information input to the control unit 25 of the thermal transfer printer 1 from a host computer or an image reader (not shown) is converted into three colors of yellow Y, magenta M and cyan C to be used. The color is separated and stored in the RAM 26 as recording data for each color. When performing recording using a heat-meltable ink ribbon (hereinafter, referred to as heat-melting recording), the control unit 25 performs recording by superimposing ink colors in the order of cyan C, magenta M, and yellow Y, When performing recording using a thermal sublimation ink ribbon (hereinafter, referred to as thermal sublimation recording), control is performed such that recording is performed by superimposing ink colors in the order of yellow Y, cyan C, and magenta M. In the thermal melting recording, the dither method is used, and in the thermal sublimation recording, the color halftone recording is performed by a combination of the dither method and the density gradation.

First, the case of performing the thermal melting recording will be described.

When performing the thermal melting recording, first, cyan C
In order to perform recording using the ink ribbon of the color C, the detection of the ribbon cassette 5c containing the ink ribbon 17c of cyan C is performed by moving the carriage 4 located at the home position to the right in FIG. It is moved by detecting the identification mark 23 of the ribbon cassette 5 with the optical sensor 18 disposed on the carriage 4. In other words, the optical sensor 18 sends a unique detection signal of each identification mark 23 based on the arrangement of the non-reflective portions 24 of the identification mark 18 formed on the ribbon cassette 5 and the configuration such as the pitch.
5, the control unit 25 determines whether the corresponding mark is the identification mark 23 of the corresponding ribbon cassette 5c, and in the case of the corresponding identification mark 23 of the ribbon cassette 5c, the movement of the carriage 4 is stopped. If not, the movement of the carriage 4 is continued until the identification mark 23 of the corresponding ribbon cassette 5c is detected.

Thereafter, the carriage 4 is stopped at a position facing the corresponding ribbon cassette, and the respective parallel crank mechanisms 8 are stopped.
Then, the upper carriage 4b is raised by driving the rotary crank mechanism 11, and the ribbon cassette 5c held in the cassette holder of the canopy 19 is received on the upper carriage 4b. Then, the parallel crank mechanism 8 and the rotary crank mechanism 11 are driven again to move the upper carriage 4b to the lower carriage 4.
Lower so as to contact a.

In this state, a predetermined sheet is conveyed between the thermal head 7 and the platen 2, and the thermal head 7
The carriage 4 is moved along the platen 2 while the carriage 4 is pressed against the platen 2 via the cyan C ink ribbon 17c and the paper, and the ink ribbon 1
The control unit 25 selectively energizes the heat generating elements of the thermal head 7 according to the recording signal while winding the ink 7 to generate heat, thereby partially melting and transferring the ink of the ink ribbon 17 to form a sheet. The recording of cyan C is performed thereon. When recording for one line is completed, the thermal head 7 is separated from the platen 2 and the paper is conveyed for one line while the carriage 4 is moved toward the home position. When the transport of one line of the paper is completed, the thermal head 7 is pressed against the platen 2 again, and the recording of the next line is performed in the same manner as described above. By repeating this operation, recording of one page by the cyan C ink ribbon 17c is performed.

When the recording using the above-described cyan C ink ribbon 17c is completed, the paper is conveyed backward to an initial position at the start of recording by a paper feed mechanism (not shown), and the ribbon containing the used cyan C ink ribbon 17c is stored. The carriage 4 is moved to and stopped at the position of the cassette holder in which the cassette 5c is held in advance, and the upper carriage 4b is raised in the same manner as the operation described above.
The ribbon cassette 5c mounted on the cartridge b is transferred to the cassette holder.

Next, the carriage 4 is moved and the ribbon cassette 5 containing the magenta M ink ribbon 17b to be used for the next recording is detected by the optical sensor 18 in the same manner as described above.
b of the ribbon cassette 5b.
Is mounted on the carriage 4, and an image related to the magenta M recording signal is recorded in the same manner as the recording using the cyan C ink ribbon 17c. Then, the magenta M ink is stacked on the cyan C ink when the cyan C ink is on the paper.

When the recording using the magenta M ink ribbon 17b is completed, the recording is similarly performed using the yellow Y ink ribbon 17a. Then, when the yellow C ink or the cyan C or magenta M ink is exposed on the paper, the yellow Y ink is laminated on the cyan C or magenta M ink.

After the recording of the three colors is completed, in the embodiment, the same recording as described above is performed using the black ink ribbon 17a. Note that recording with the black ink ribbon 17a is not necessarily required because it can be expressed by superimposing the above three colors of ink, but by superimposing black ink at the end, a higher quality, tight black image can be obtained. Obtainable.

The moving speed of the carriage during the thermal melting recording is controlled to be 50 to 200 cps, and the energy applied to the thermal head is controlled to be 10 to ²⁰ mJ / mm ² .

As described above, by printing cyan C, magenta M, and yellow Y inks in this order, for example, there are dots where the yellow Y ink is not transferred (does not overlap the underlying ink layer). Even in this case, since the yellow Y ink is inconspicuous, the difference from the transferred portion is less conspicuous than, for example, a dot in which another color ink is not transferred on yellow Y. Therefore, a better full-color image can be obtained as compared with the case where printing is performed in the order of yellow Y, magenta M, and cyan C.

Next, a case where thermal sublimation recording is performed will be described. When performing the thermal sublimation recording, the order of the colors to be recorded is changed in the order of the recording to be performed in the order of yellow Y, magenta M, and cyan C in the case of performing the thermal melting recording described above. The paper is a special paper that has been subjected to a surface treatment so that the thermal sublimation ink is stably fixed.

First, a description will be given of a case where the printing of yellow Y ink is performed first. The detection of the ribbon cassette 5a containing the yellow sublimable ink ribbon 17a is performed by moving the carriage 4 located at the home position to the right in FIG. Is performed by detecting the identification mark 23 of the ribbon cassette 5. And the optical sensor 18
Sends a unique detection signal of each identification mark 23 based on the arrangement and pitch of the non-reflection portions 24a to the control unit 25, and the control unit 25 determines whether the identification mark 23 of the ribbon cassette 5a corresponds to the instruction. However, in the case of the identification mark 23 of the ribbon cassette 5a corresponding to the command, the movement of the carriage 4 is stopped, and in the case of not the identification mark 23 of the ribbon cassette 5a corresponding to the command, the identification of the ribbon cassette 5a corresponding to the command. The movement of the carriage 4 is continued until the identification mark 23 is detected.

Thereafter, the carriage 4 is stopped at a position opposed to the corresponding ribbon cassette 5a, and the parallel crank mechanism 8 and the rotary crank mechanism 11 are driven to drive the upper carriage 4
b, and the ribbon cassette 5a, which is held by the cassette holder of the canopy 19 and contains the yellow sublimable ink ribbon 17a, is transferred to the upper carriage 4. Then, the parallel crank mechanism 8 and the rotary crank mechanism 11 are driven again to lower the upper carriage 4b so as to contact the lower carriage 4a.

In this state, a predetermined sheet is conveyed between the thermal head 7 and the platen 2, and the thermal head 7
The carriage 4 is moved along the platen 2 in a state where the carriage 4 is pressed against the paper via the yellow Y ink ribbon 17a, and while the ink ribbon 17a is being wound up, the control unit 25 controls the carriage 4 in accordance with the density of the recorded image. By selectively energizing the heating elements of the thermal head to generate heat, the yellow Y ink on the ink ribbon is partially transferred to the sheet to record the yellow Y on the sheet.

When the recording of the yellow Y is completed, the carriage 4 is stopped at a position facing the cassette holder in which the used yellow Y ribbon cassette 5a is held in advance, and the upper carriage 4b is operated in the same manner as the operation described above. To transfer the yellow Y ribbon cassette 5a mounted on the upper carriage 4b to the cassette holder.

Next, the optical sensor 18 detects the identification mark 23 of the ribbon cassette 5b containing the magenta M ink ribbon 17b to be used for the next recording, and mounts the ribbon cassette 5b on the carriage 4, and As in the case of Y recording, the magenta M ink ribbon 1
Recording using 7b is performed. Then, if the magenta M ink is present on the paper, the magenta M ink will be mixed with the yellow Y ink.

When the recording using the magenta M ink ribbon 17b is completed, the recording is similarly performed using the cyan C ink ribbon 17c. Then, if the yellow C or magenta M ink is exposed on the paper, this cyan C ink can be said to be Y or magenta M
Will mix with other inks.

After the recording of these three colors is completed, in the present embodiment, the recording data of the solid pattern using the heat-fusible transparent ink is output from the RAM 26 of the control unit 25, and the yellow Y, magenta M The transparent ink is overprinted on the surface of the image recorded with the yellow Y, magenta M, and cyan C with a solid pattern in a range satisfying the maximum value in the vertical and horizontal directions of the image recorded with cyan C.

The normal color image is formed by superimposing two or less colors of the heat sublimable ink. However, when a black image and a high-density gray image are obtained, three images of yellow Y, magenta M, and cyan C are used. The color thermal sublimation inks are superimposed, and the hot melt transparent ink is overprinted thereon. In this case, in the present embodiment, for example, by disposing a peeling lever (not shown) or the like on the carriage 4, the peeling operation of the ink ribbon is delayed, and the peeling force is reduced to perform the cold peeling. Control.

In the case of thermal sublimation recording, control is performed so that the moving speed of the carriage is 10 to 50 cps and the energy applied to the thermal head is 30 to 80 mJ / mm ² .

As described above, in the thermal sublimation recording in which the transferred dye penetrates the paper, when the ink is overlaid,
Since a part of the already recorded color material has the property of back-diffusing and returning to the ink ribbon, it is better to superimpose another color ink on the less noticeable color ink in order. Is obtained. Therefore, as in the present embodiment,
By recording in the order of yellow Y, magenta M, and cyan C, a high-quality full-color image can be obtained.

It should be noted that whether to perform thermal fusion recording or thermal sublimation recording can be selected by a computer or the like connected to the thermal transfer printer, or by providing a selection switch on the thermal transfer printer itself. Is possible.
If the selected recording method is different from the type of the ribbon cassette provided in the thermal transfer printer, it is possible to control to issue a warning signal together with an error signal and stop recording.

Incidentally, in the above-described embodiment,
A description has been given of the thermal transfer with a so-called cassette change mechanism in which a ribbon cassette that stores ink ribbons of different colors is held in a cassette holder and the ribbon cassette is replaced for each color to be used. It is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to a thermal transfer printer using an ink ribbon repeatedly formed by dividing into two.

When performing thermal fusion recording with such a thermal transfer printer, as shown in FIG. 5, the thermal fusible ink of each color of cyan C, magenta M, and yellow Y is applied to the surface of the base material on which the ink ribbon 28 is formed. A marker 2 that is repeatedly formed with a recording width of one line in the longitudinal direction and represents each color at the head of each color
The ink ribbon 28 having the structure 9 is used.

Then, first, the marker 29c representing the cyan C ink is detected by the photo sensor on the carriage, and one line of recording is performed by the cyan C ink. After that, the ink ribbon 28 is conveyed without sending the sheet, the marker 29b representing the magenta M ink is detected by the photo sensor, and the overprinting is performed with the magenta M ink. Further, similarly, the marker 29a representing the yellow Y ink is detected, and the overprinting is performed with the yellow Y ink, thereby completing the printing of one line. When the printing of one line is completed, the sheet is conveyed by one line, and the printing is performed in the order of cyan C, magenta M, and yellow Y, and the printing of the next line is completed. Hereinafter, by repeating the same recording operation, 1
Complete the recording for the page.

When thermal sublimation recording is performed, the ink ribbon to be used is yellow Y, cyan C, magenta M on the surface of the base material on which the ink ribbon 30 is formed as shown in FIG.
An ink ribbon having a structure in which the thermal sublimation ink of each color is repeatedly applied in the longitudinal direction with a print width of one line, and a marker 31 representing each color is formed at the head of each color.

Then, first, a marker 31a representing yellow Y ink is detected by a photo sensor on the carriage, and one line of recording is performed by yellow Y ink. Thereafter, without feeding the paper, the ink ribbon 30 alone is conveyed, the marker 31c representing the cyan C ink is detected by the photosensor, and the overprinting is performed with the cyan C ink. Further, similarly, the marker 31b representing the magenta M ink is detected, and the overprinting is performed with the magenta M ink, thereby completing the printing of one line. When printing of one line is completed, the sheet is conveyed by one line, and yellow Y,
Overprinting is performed in the order of cyan C and magenta M, and the printing of the next line is completed. Hereinafter, by repeating the same recording operation, 1
Complete the recording for the page.

As described above, the order of superimposing colors during color recording is cyan C, magenta M, and yellow Y in the case of performing thermal fusion recording. The difference in appearance between the uppermost yellow Y transferred portion and the non-transferred portion can be made less noticeable.

This is because the yellow Y ink is inconspicuous, so that even if there is a portion that is not transferred on magenta M, the portion where magenta M is not transferred on yellow Y and the portion where magenta M is transferred, or the portion of magenta M This is because the difference between the portion where cyan C is not transferred and the portion where cyan C is transferred is less noticeable.

In the case of thermal sublimation recording, there is a property that a part of the recorded color material is reversely diffused and returned to the ink ribbon when the ink is overlaid. For this reason, better printing results can be obtained by successively superimposing the inks on the ink, which is a dye of an inconspicuous color.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be changed as needed. For example, regarding the order of ink stacking in the case of hot melt recording,
It suffices that the order of superimposition of the yellow ink is the last. Contrary to the above-described embodiment, printing is performed in the order of magenta and cyan, and good printing results can be obtained even when the yellow ink is superimposed last. Also, in the case of thermal sublimation recording, regarding the order of ink superposition, it is sufficient to perform recording using yellow ink first. Therefore, contrary to the above-described embodiment, after yellow recording, cyan, magenta May be superimposed and recorded.

[0060]

As described above, in the thermal transfer printer according to the present invention, since the ink of a color which is not conspicuous is superimposed on the thermal fusion recording, the color recording in the thermal fusion recording which is difficult to be surely transferred is performed. The dot portion where the upper ink was not transferred is less conspicuous, and as a result, a good recorded image is selected.
Since the ink penetrates the paper and is reliably transferred, an excellent effect is obtained in that a high-quality color recorded image can be obtained by overlaying ink of a conspicuous color on top.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a main part showing an embodiment of a thermal transfer printer to which a thermal transfer recording method according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a main part of the thermal transfer printer of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of a carriage of the thermal transfer printer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a control unit of the thermal transfer printer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing the structure of a heat-fusible ink ribbon used in a thermal transfer printer according to another embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a structure of a heat sublimation ink ribbon used in a thermal transfer printer of another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Thermal transfer printer 4 Carriage 4a Lower carriage 4b Upper carriage 5 Ribbon cassette 7 Thermal head 17, 28, 30 Ink ribbon 18 Optical sensor 19 Canopy 23 Identification mark 24 Reflective seal 24a Non-reflective part 25 Control part 26 RAM 27 ROM 29, 31 Marker

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A thermal transfer printer comprising a platen, a carriage reciprocally movable along the platen, and a thermal head mounted on the carriage and pressed against the platen via an ink ribbon and a recording medium. A heat-fusible ink ribbon and a heat-sublimable ink ribbon can be used as the ink ribbon, and when performing color recording using the heat-fusible ink ribbon, the cyan and magenta recordings can be performed using one of the cyan and magenta. When the color recording is performed first, the yellow color recording is performed, and when the color recording is performed using the thermal sublimation ink ribbon, the color recording of magenta and cyan is first performed after the yellow recording, and any one of the magenta and cyan is performed. A thermal transfer printer comprising control means for performing control as described above. 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the thermal head mounted on the carriage is pressed against a platen via an ink ribbon and a recording medium, and the recording head is driven by driving the thermal head while moving the carriage along the platen in this state. This is a thermal transfer recording method for recording on a medium, and when performing color recording using a heat-fusible ink ribbon, cyan and magenta recording is performed first for either cyan or magenta, and then yellow color superimposed recording. In the case of performing color recording using a thermal sublimation ink ribbon, thermal transfer recording is performed by first performing yellow color recording and then performing magenta and cyan color overlay recording first of the magenta and cyan colors. Method.