JPS59209156A - Heat sensitive transfer printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make printing well and to miniaturize the titled apparatus, by mounting a printing means for heating a disc shaped ink sheet to transfer molten ink onto recording paper and an ink supply means provided to a part of the rotary surface of an ink sheet. CONSTITUTION:The solid ink in a porous body 15 is melted in the vicinity of the contact part with an ink sheet 10 by a heating means while the molten ink is successively applied to the ink sheet 10 rotated around a support shaft 16. The ink sheet having the ink layer formed thereto is heated by a thermal head 11 while passes the contact part with the thermal head and the molten ink is selectively transferred onto recording paper 12 to obtain a transfer image 14. The part of the ink sheet 10 where transfer is completed passes the contact part with the porous body 15 while successively rotated to regenerate an ink layer.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal transfer printing device used as an output device of a computer, and more particularly to a thermal transfer printing device that facilitates the recycling of ink sheets.

2. Description of the Related Art Structures of Conventional Examples and Their Problems In recent years, with the rapid advancement of computer technology, there has been a remarkable trend toward computerization in the fields of industry, business, and art. Thermal transfer printing devices have attracted attention as output devices for these computers because they produce no printing noise, have long-lasting records, and can use plain paper. However, thermal transfer printing devices consume the same ink sheet as recording paper,
There was a problem that running costs increased. In response, several methods have been proposed for regenerating the ink sheet within the apparatus (such as Japanese Patent No. 797407).

An example of a conventional thermal transfer printing device will be described below. FIG. 1 shows a basic configuration diagram of a conventional thermal transfer printing device, in which 1 is an endless ink sheet;
2 is a thermal head having a plurality of heating elements arranged in a straight line; 3 is a recording paper; 4 is a platen roller; and 6 is a transfer image transferred from the ink sheet 1 to the recording paper 3 by the thermal head 2. Reference numeral 6 denotes heat-melting ink (hereinafter simply referred to as ink); 7 denotes an ink tank; 8 and 9 denote heat rollers that are heated to a temperature higher than the melting point of the ink by a heating means (not shown); a portion of roller 8 is in the ink tank; It's stuck in 7.

The operation of the conventional thermal transfer printing device configured as described above will be described below. The ink drawn up from the ink tank 7 by the heat roller 8 adheres to the ink sheet 1 in a liquid state at the pressure contact portion between the heat rollers 8 and 9. The ink sheet 1 with the ink layer formed in this way is heated by the thermal head 2,
The melted ink is selectively transferred onto the recording paper 3 to obtain a transferred image 5. After the transfer, the ink notebook 1 passes again through the pressure contact portion of the heat rollers 8 and 9, and the ink layer is regenerated.

However, the above configuration requires a plurality of rollers to convey the ink sheet, which inevitably results in a large-sized apparatus. Although seams are unavoidable when creating an endless belt of ink notebooks, these seams are known to cause printing defects and stains on the recording paper.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and uses a disc-shaped ink sheet to improve printing quality, downsize the device, and facilitate the replenishment of ink used for ink sheet recycling. It is an object of the present invention to provide a thermal transfer printing device #g which also facilitates the replacement of ink sheets.

Structure of the Invention The present invention comprises a rotatable disk-shaped ink sheet, a printing means for heating the ink sheet to melt the ink and transferring it to a recording paper, and a printing device disposed on a part of the rotating surface of the ink sheet. This is a thermal transfer printing device equipped with an ink supply means, and by forming an ink sheet from sorted materials into a seamless disc shape, it is possible to eliminate printing defects and recording paper stains, and the ink sheet is By making the device large enough to cover at least a part of the printing means and rotating it at a clamping position, and by providing an ink sheet recycling mechanism on a part of the rotating surface, the device can be made smaller and the ink sheet can be easily recycled. can.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS FIG. 2 shows a basic configuration diagram of a thermal transfer printing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In Figure 2 D, 1
o is a disc-shaped ink sheet, 11 is a thermal head with at least one heating element arranged, 12 is a recording paper,
A platen roller 13 is arranged to press the recording paper 12 against the ink sheet 10 together with the thermal head 11 .

14 is four transfer attachments. 151d It is a porous body containing a solid heat-melting ink and has a cylindrical shape, and is arranged so that a part of the side surface is in contact with the rotating surface of the ink sheet 1-10 so that it can rotate. 16 is a support shaft; 17 is a support ring for holding the outer periphery of the ink sheet 10; 18 and 19;
is a means for holding the ink sheet 10 near the center and rotatably attaching it to one of the fixed support shafts 16, and the ink sheet 10 is replaced with a new one together with the porous body 15 as necessary. It is also possible. 20 is a head unit that houses the above mechanism in a case and operates serially.

The operation of the thermal transfer printing apparatus of this embodiment configured as described above will be described below. A heating means (not shown) melts the solid ink within the porous body 15 near the contact portion with the ink sheet 10 and sequentially applies it onto the ink sheet 10 rotating around the support shaft 16. Here, if necessary, place a doctor knife or a doctor roll (1 1 not shown) on the rotating surface of the ink sheet 1o, near the surface of the porous body 15 to adjust the ink application number and uniformity. You may. The ink sheet 10 on which the ink layer has been formed as described above is heated by the thermal head 11 in the process of passing through the contact portion with the thermal head 11, and the molten ink is selectively printed onto the recording paper 12 Jr. As a result, a transferred image 14 is obtained. The portion of the ink sheet 1o where the transfer has been completed passes through the contact portion with the porous body 15 that continues to rotate, and the ink layer is regenerated. Also. When one body of ink in the porous body 16 is consumed and there is a shortage of ink, the porous body 15 is removed and replaced with another porous body containing sufficient solid ink.

Next, the operation of the ink sheet in this embodiment will be explained using FIG. The disk-shaped ink sheet 10 is opened and stopped while the thermal head 11 transfers the image. When the transfer is completed, the disk-shaped ink sheet 10 is placed in contact with the thermal head 11.
arrow a until it provides an area with an untransferred ink layer of
At the same time, the head unit 20 also moves in the width direction of the recording paper 12, that is, in the direction of arrow C, until the position of the thermal head 11 matches the next printing position on the recording paper 12. When one line of printing on the recording paper 12 is completed in the above manner, the recording paper 12 is transported in the direction of the arrow e, and the head unit 20 is moved in the opposite direction to the feeding direction C.
That is, it moves in the direction of arrow d, returns to the initial position, and starts printing the next line.

As described above, according to this embodiment, by making the ink sheet disc-shaped, printing defects and recording paper stains caused by the joints of the recycled ink sheet can be removed, and the ink sheet can be easily replaced. An ink sheet transport mechanism, an ink sheet regeneration mechanism, and a printing means, which were arranged separately in conventional thermal transfer printing devices due to their bulk, can be integrated into one serial head unit. In fact, by providing a replaceable porous body containing solid ink on the fn+1 inverted surface of the ink sheet, ink can be easily replenished.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4 is a basic configuration diagram of a thermal transfer printing device showing a second embodiment of the present invention. The structure differs from that shown in FIG. 2 in that the porous body 15 is placed near the center of the ink sheet 10, and a heater 21 is newly provided near the porous body 15.

The operation of the thermal transfer printing apparatus of the second embodiment configured as described above differs from the operation of the thermal transfer printing apparatus of the first embodiment in that the ink sheet is used in the process. The operation will be explained only in this regard. The heater 21 locally heats and melts the solid ink within the porous body 15,
Coat on the ink sheet 10. Here, if necessary, a doctor knife or a doctor roll (not shown) may be placed on the rotating surface of the ink cartridge 10 to adjust the amount and uniformity of the ink applied. As described above, according to this embodiment, by arranging the porous body 15 containing the same ink near the center of the disc-shaped ink sheet 10, the porous body 15 is placed near the center of the ink sheet 10. It also serves as a clamp, which simplifies the configuration.

In addition, as shown in FIG.
The same effect can be obtained by stopping the ink sheet 1o, the print drive mechanism, and the ink sheet regeneration mechanism in the width direction of the recording paper 12.

In addition, in the second embodiment, the support shaft 16 is a fixed shaft, but the support shaft 16 is a fixed shaft.
, 19, it may be arranged so that it can rotate in conjunction with the support ring 17. Further, in all the embodiments, the rotation direction of the ink sheet 1o is the C direction, and the moving direction of the head unit 20 during printing is the C direction, but these may be the b direction and the C direction, respectively. Further, the moving direction of the head unit 20 during printing is always limited to the C direction or the C direction, but the head unit 2o moves in the C direction and the C direction line by line.
It is also possible to perform a so-called carriage return operation, in which the θ is moved alternately and repeatedly.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the thermal transfer printing device of the present invention includes a rotatable disc-shaped ink sheet, a printing means for heating the ink sheet to melt the ink and transferring it onto a recording paper, and the ink sheet. By providing a recycling mechanism, it eliminates printing defects and recording paper stains caused by the seams of recycled ink sheets, downsizes the large-scale ink sheet transport mechanism and ink sheet recycling mechanism, and facilitates ink replenishment and ink sheet replacement. It can be done.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 shows the basic configuration 1 of a conventional thermal transfer printing device.
FIG. 2 is a partially sectional side view of a thermal transfer printing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the same device, and FIG. 5 is a partially cross-sectional side view of the thermal transfer printing device in Example 2;
The figure is a perspective view of the same device. FO... Ink sheet, /f... Printing means, /2... Recording paper, 15... Porous body containing solid ink, 2o...・・・・・・・・・Heater. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person No. 1
Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 3 Mackerel

Claims (1)

[Claims] A rotatable disc-shaped ink sheet with heat-melting ink coated on the surface facing the recording paper, and heating this ink sheet from the back to melt the heat-melt ink and selectively transfer it onto the recording paper. A thermal transfer printing device comprising: a printing device; and an ink supply device disposed on a part of the opposing surface of the ink sheet to supply heat-melting ink.