JPS6071273A - Thermal transfer recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Technical Field) The present invention applies heat to a transfer sheet carrying a heat-fusible transfer material (heat-fusible ink) according to image information to transfer and record onto a recording foot. The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording device.

(Prior Art) First, FIG. 1 shows an example of a color recording device among general thermal transfer recording devices.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a recording sheet, which is fed out from a supply roll 3, and rows 2 and 2. ~24. '1
+G+'11 is a thermal transfer sheet coated with a thermal transfer ink layer, sheet 41 is cyan, 4, hamazenta, 43
has a yellow thermal transfer ink layer. Each thermal transfer sheet is supplied with supply rolls 51-5. It is dried and wound up on a winding roll of 6 mm to 6 seconds. 71+7t*'l is a heat generating head (thermal head), and platen roller 8
1 * 8t e8, the symbol sheet and the thermal transfer sheet are sandwiched between them.

When performing color recording using the three colors, the head 71 is first driven to thermally transfer and record the cyan color on the recording sheet 1, and then the sheet area where the cyan color has been recorded is transferred to the head 7,
Here, the magenta color is superimposed on the cyan color ink to form a thermal transfer symbol, and then the sheet area on which these two colors are recorded is sent to the head 73 where the yellow color is superimposed on the cyan color ink, and then the yellow color is transferred to the cyan color ink.
It is then thermally transferred and printed over magenta ink. The sheet area on which recording has been completed is cut into a predetermined length by a cutter 9. In the above manner, while one head is being driven, the other two heads are at rest.

Using the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, each thermal transfer sheet 4. 4sld, and the winding rollers 61 to 6s are driven to wind up the four rolls, but when the rolls 61 to 6s are strongly driven, the conveyance of the thermal transfer sheets 41 to 4 is stopped. ~4m is very thin, and its width is 85. It becomes unstable especially if it is wide enough to cover A4 size paper or the like. So each 7-)4. ~4. is constructed so that it is moved by the frictional force between the recording head 7 and the recording head 1 rather than by the tensile force of the rolls 6, .about.63 at the contact portions with the respective heads 7, .about.78.

The device shown in FIG. 1 has the following problems.

First, synchronized and close conveyance of the thermal transfer sheet and the symbol sheet mainly relies on the frictional force between the two sheets at the contact portion with the heads 7 to 7□. The force changes and slippage is likely to occur between the two sheets. In addition, elongation or shrinkage stress caused by the heat applied by the heads 71 to 73 tends to cause wrinkles in a thin thermal transfer sheet, and this may occur if the thermal transfer sheet has a width that covers a large recording sheet such as B5 size or A4 size. The wider the area, the more noticeable it becomes. All of these degrade the quality of recorded images.

In addition, heads 71 to 7. Since the thermal transfer material on the thermal transfer sheet is heated and melted and the two sheets are separated immediately, there is not enough time +F+1 for the thermal transfer material to fit into the recording sheet, resulting in a transfer defect.

For these reasons, it is not suitable for high-speed recording.

On the other hand, unlike this type of system, for example,
As shown in No. 7-2016B6, a claw is provided on the platen drum, and the leading end of the cut recording sheet is held in the claw, and the recorded RV sheet is wound around the platen drum, and the recorded Q sheet is wound in this manner. On the other hand, there is a method that presses a heating head through a thermal transfer sheet to print a thermal transfer symbol.

However, in order to automate the gripping of books such as these, the overall mechanism must become more complex, larger, and larger.
This led to an increase in costs.

Furthermore, in the conventional method, when performing superimposed recording in multiple colors on a recording sheet, it was extremely difficult to accurately perform color superimposed recording without deviation.

(Purpose) The object of the present invention is to provide a new thermal transfer recording device that eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 2 shows a thermal transfer recording apparatus which is a first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes a cylindrical platen drum having a rigid drum 11 and an elastic material Wj (preferably a heat-resistant rubber material) 12 several inches thick on the circumferential surface. The length of the drum 10 is set to be slightly longer than the length of the cut sheet (hereinafter referred to as cut sheet) 13 to be recorded. Reference numeral 14 denotes a guide roller as a paper insertion guide member arranged at a certain distance from the outer circumferential surface of the platen drum 10 and parallel to the center of rotation of the platen drum 100. Although this does not need to rotate, in this embodiment the drum It is a roller with the same rotation center axis parallel to. A wide thermal transfer sheet having a color area with a length approximately equal to the outer circumference of the platen drum 10 is wound around the supply shaft 15 in a roll shape at one end, and is pulled out at the other end and placed on the guide row 214. The cut sheet 15 is then wound around almost the entire outer peripheral surface of the platen drum 10, and then passed through a small-diameter guide row 216 as a guide member for continuously rotating and conveying the cut sheet 15, and finally onto the winding 9 shaft 17. It is wound up.

The first winding shaft 17 is set in the direction in which the thermal transfer sheet is wound by a motor (not shown) via a friction clutch (not shown).
On the other hand, the supply shaft 15 can also be rotated in the D' direction by a motor (not shown) via a friction clutch 9 (not shown). In the evening, it is not driven and the platen drum 1° is B.
' direction to wind up the thermal transfer foot 8 onto the supply roll.

In this way, the guide rollers 14 and 16 move the thermal transfer sheet 8, which is being wound up from the supply roll to the take-up roll or from the take-up roll to the supply roll, to #1 of the platen drum 10 after waiting for an appropriate tension force. #Y acts to wrap around the entire outer circumferential surface, and rotates the platen drum in direction B or B'
The thermal transfer foot 8 is also conveyed integrally with the platen drum 10 without slipping due to this rotation. Thermal transfer sheet (is an ink layer on the S, elastic material layer 12 of the platen drum 10
(pointed in the direction of contact with the surface).

When the cut sheet 13 is conveyed in the incoming direction by the paper feed rolls 1B and IFI', the cut sheet 15 is prevented from slipping by the outer surface of the platen drum 10 rotating in the B direction and the ink surface of the thermal transfer sheet. It is held with such strength that it will not cause any damage, and is rotated and conveyed in the B direction together with the platen drum 10 by rotation of the platen drum 10. Platent.

When the ram 10 rotates a little less than one rotation in the direction B, the cut sheet 13
The leading edge of the cut sheet 13 is peeled off from the surface of the platen drum 10 as shown at 15' due to its own roasting, but the guide roller 16 is moved to the guide roller 2 so that the peeled cut sheet 13 is again sandwiched between the thermal transfer sheet S and the platen drum 10.
The guide roller 14 is provided close to the inside of the guide roller 14 so that the tip of the cut sheet 13 that is eventually peeled off comes into contact with the inner surface of the thermal transfer sheet S between the guide roller 14 and the contact part 1 at an acute angle. and 16 positions have been determined.

Further, a roller pair 216' is pressed against the guide roller 16 to form a pair of rollers, and the thermal transfer sheet S is lightly sandwiched between the rollers 1-8 of the thermal transfer roller 1-8.
1'l! It provides m drive and has #1 anti-slip measures.

Figure 3 shows the platen drum 10 and guide rulers 14 and 16.
This diagram schematically shows the power transmission system to the paper feeder 4-218, and each roller is reversibly driven to rotate by a reversibly rotatable pulse motor 19 serving as a power source. Gear 20ii fixed to the output shaft of pulse motor 19
, the rotation shaft 22 of the platen drum 10 via the gear train 21
It meshes with gear 2-5 fixed to . As a result, the platen drum 10 rotates in the forward direction (direction B in FIG. 2) and in the reverse direction (direction B') in conjunction with the forward and reverse rotations of the pulse motor 19. Gears 24 and 25 are coaxially fixed to the rotating shaft 22 of the platen drum 100, and a clutch 26 is capable of transmitting torque in both directions, and can arbitrarily interrupt power transmission using a solenoid (not shown) or the like. gear 2 through
7 is attached to this rotating shaft 22. gear 24
The rotating shaft 29 of the guide roller 14 is connected to the rotating shaft 29 of the guide roller 14 via the gear train 2B.
A gear 30 fixed to is in mesh with L, guide 4, and
14 is in the opposite direction to the platen trim 10 in FIG.
It rotates with exactly the same peripheral speed as the platen drum 10. The gear 25 also meshes with a gear 33 fixed to the rotating shaft 32 of the guide roller 16 via a gear train 31.
, the guide roller 16 is connected to the platen drum 1 in FIG.
It rotates in the opposite direction to zero and at the same circumferential speed as the platen drum. Furthermore, it meshes with a gear 36 fixed to the rotating shaft 35 of the paper feed row 218 via a gear train 54 with 27 gears. After all, this paper feed row 218 also rotates in the opposite direction to the platen drum 10 in FIG. 2, and at the same peripheral speed as the platen drum.

Note that when the pulse motor 19 is rotated from the forward direction to the reverse direction, the platen drum 10 and each roller 14, 16, .
18 rotate at the same circumferential speed in the opposite direction, but it is clear that the rotation direction of the platen drum 10 will not change.

As described above, with respect to the platen drum 10 and each roller 14, 16, 18 having the same circumferential speed, the rotational relationship of the winding shaft 17 and the supply shaft 15 originally changes depending on the winding amount of the thermal transfer sheet S. To go.

This is because the respective motors rotating the shafts 17 and 15 are either always rotating at a constant speed or are previously stopped. More specifically, when the pulse motor 19 is rotating in the forward direction and the platen drum 1o is rotating in the B direction, the motor on the winding shaft side is
The winding shaft 17 rotates so that its peripheral speed is slightly faster than the peripheral speed of the platen drum 1o.
Although the circumferential speed of the winding roll containing the thermal transfer sheet 8 wound around is much higher than the circumferential speed of the 12-tend drum, the winding shaft 17 slips due to the friction clutch and absorbs this speed difference, and the thermal transfer sheet S gives appropriate tension to. Also, at this time, the motor on the supply shaft 15 side is stopped.

Back tension is applied to the thermal transfer sheet via a friction clutch. On the other hand, the pulse motor 19 rotates in the opposite direction, and the platen trim 1c! is rotating in the B' direction, the motor on the supply shaft 15 side is rotating in the D' direction so that the circumferential speed of the supply shaft 15 itself is slightly faster than the circumferential speed of the platen drum 10, As mentioned above, the friction clutch absorbs this speed difference. Further, at this time, the motor on the winding shaft 17 side is stopped and back tension is applied to the thermal transfer sheet S. With this configuration, even when the pulse generator 19 rotates in any direction, an appropriate tension is always applied to the thermal transfer sheet S, and the sheet S is smoothly wound without sagging.

Incidentally, since the supply shaft 15 rotates in the D' direction and winds up the thermal transfer sheet at a small number of times, the supply shaft 15 is equipped with a slip plate equipped with a spring charge function capable of generating rotational force in the B' direction. A mechanism may be provided to apply back tension to the thermal transfer sheet S when the platen drum 10 is rotating in the B direction, and to wind the thermal transfer sheet in the D' direction using the spring force stored at this time.

On the other hand, thermal transfer sheet s is a film made of polyester, etc.
Or carnauba wax, ester wax, etc. based on condenser paper.

It is formed by coating a solid ink layer that melts under heat at about 70° to 90° with a composition of 4 parts pigment, etc. to a thickness of about 1 to 5 μm), and heat-sublimable dyes can also be used.

The form of the thermal transfer sheet S wound around the supply shaft 15 is as follows.
As shown in the figure, yellow BY, magenta S in the transport direction.
The three color areas SY, SM, and 80 are regularly coated in the three color areas M and 8C, and each color area SY, SM, and 80 is divided into lengths in the longitudinal direction that are equal in length to the outer circumferential dimension of the platen drum 10. In addition, the width of the stripe 8s, which has become transparent after the ink has drained, serves as a color area discrimination section so that a discrimination signal can be obtained for each of the three color areas! It is formed of. Further, the width W of the thermal transfer sheet S is almost equal to the width of the platen drum 10, and the widths of the guide rollers 14 and 16 are also larger than W, so that the thermal transfer sheet S can be conveyed in a stable state.

In this embodiment, the thermal transfer sheet S is of three colors: yellow, cyan, and magenta, but this can be changed to 9 seconds or any other color by adding black, white, etc. In addition, instead of the transparent stripe in the color area discriminator, a black stripe or a reflective stripe such as # foil may be used.

Returning to FIG. 2 again, a thermal head 37 serving as a heat application means is arranged between the guide rollers 14 and 16 and near the outside of the platen drum 10 around which the thermal transfer sheet is wound. This thermal head 37 has a fine heating resistor at its tip in a direction parallel to the rotation axis 22 of the platen drum.
The thermal head 37 is arranged in a straight line over a width that is approximately equal to or slightly narrower than the width of the thermal head 37, and constitutes a so-called full multi-purpose head. This holder 38 is rotatably held by a shaft 59 fixed parallel to the rotating shaft 22 of the platen drum, and is further biased by a spring 40 to be pressed against the platen drum 10 via the thermal transfer sheet. On the other hand, the thermal head 37 is mounted on the holder 38 and the platen drum 1
A plunger 41 that rotates in a direction away from zero is fixed, and by driving and controlling this plunger 41, the thermal head 37 is brought into selective contact with and separated from the thermal transfer sheet 13 on the platen drum.

Next, 42 is a detector consisting of a light emitting lamp and a light receiving element, which detects the stripe S8 of the thermal transfer sheet and determines the position of the 80 color areas on the thermal transfer sheet.

The position of this detector 42 is such that the distance from this position to the contact point E where the platen drum 10 and the thermal transfer sheet S contact is equal to the distance from the paper feed rows 21B, 1B' to the point E. set in position. Therefore, the platen drum 10 is rotated in the B direction, and the winding shaft 17 is also rotated in the winding direction (0 direction) to transfer the thermal transfer sheet to the winding shaft 1.
While the cut sheet 13 is being conveyed in the 7 directions, the detector 42 detects the stripe SS of the thermal transfer sheet 8, turns on the clutch 26, rotates the paper picture feed rows 218 and 18' at 17, and moves the cut sheet 13 in the A direction. If the cut sheet is transported to
3 and the thermal transfer sheet 8 (7) stripe SS coincide with each other, and while maintaining this relative relationship, the cut sheet 13 is wound around the platen drum 10 by the thermal transfer sheet S, and is rotationally conveyed in the direction B. As shown in FIG. 5, these 42 detectors are installed at the right end of the thermal transfer sheet (S). The right end position of this thermal transfer sheet) S is a surplus band outside the recording range, and as will be described later, the platen drum 1
0 is rotated in the opposite direction (n1 direction) and the cut sheet 13 is discharged, the used part of the thermal transfer sheet S, that is, the ink removal part, never appears in front of the detector 42. As a result, the detectors of 42 manufacturers do not detect the ink drain part where ink is accidentally removed due to recording when discharging the cut sheet as stripe SS, and always detect stripe SS, and the pulse motor 19 is activated by detecting stripe SS. Furthermore, the rotation of the supply shaft 15 and the take-up shaft 17 can be stopped, and all recording operations can be completed.

43 is a thermal transfer sheet, and therefore the platen drum 10
The sheet tip detector detects the tip of the cut sheet wound and held by the sheet, and consists of a combination of a light emitting element and a light receiving element. The thermal head 37 can accurately record at a predetermined position on the cut sheet based on the detection by the detector 46. As shown in FIG.
It is fixed at a position slightly shifted in the direction. This is done by detecting the edge of the cut sheet 15 that slightly protrudes to the right from the right end of the grapuntrum 10.
This is to detect the tip of the Cut sheet 1 like this
In order to convey the cut sheet 15 in the direction of the platen drum 10 so that the edge part 5 protrudes slightly from the right end of the platen drum 10, a regulating part 44A is formed at the right end of the paper guide 44, as shown in FIG. . Therefore, by feeding the cut sheet 13 to the paper image feeding rollers 1B, 1B' with the right end in contact with the regulating portion 44A, the cut sheet is always wound around the platen drum 10 at an appropriate position. As shown in FIG. 2, the sheet leading edge detector 45 is provided closer to the guide roller 14 by an angle θ relative to the recording position of the thermal head 37. This allows the thermal head 37 to perform recording from approximately the leading end of the cut sheet.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment having the above configuration will be explained while supplementing the configuration of the embodiment.

First, when a recording command is issued from a control circuit (not shown) of this recording apparatus, the pulse motor 19 starts rotating in the forward direction, thereby causing the platen drum 10 to rotate in the direction B, and each guide roller 14 . 16 also rotates at the same circumferential speed as the Grapuntram. However, at this point, the whine clutch 26 is 0F1i.
The paper feed rollers 21B and 18' remain stopped, and the right end of the cut sheet 13 is moved to the regulating portion 44A.
and the tip of the paper feeding row 21B, 1B'
I'm waiting for it with it in my mouth. Further, the motor on the winding shaft 17 side starts rotating in synchronization with the rotation in the direction of the platen drum 100B, and winds up while applying tension to the thermal transfer sheet El. At this time, the motor on the supply shaft 15 side remains stopped, and back tension is applied to the thermal transfer sheet S. As described above, the unused thermal transfer sheets S are sequentially unwound from the supply roll, rotated and conveyed integrally with the graphun tram 10, and further wound up on the take-up roll. Also, at this time, the thermal head 3
7 is pressed against the platen drum 10 via the thermal transfer sheet 8 by the force of a spring 40.

By conveying the thermal transfer sheet as described above, the transparent stripe SS, which is the sheet 80 color area indicating section, is transferred to the first detector 42.
When reaching the front surface of the detector 42, the detector 42 outputs a detection signal. When this detection signal is generated, the clutch 2
6 is turned on, the paper feed rollers 1B and iB' start rotating, and the cut sheet 13 is conveyed in the A direction. The feeding speed of this cut sheet 16 and the feeding speed of the thermal transfer sheet S are equal, the transparent stripe S8 and the leading edge of the cut sheet 13 coincide at point E, and in this state, the cut sheet 13 is applied with appropriate tension by the thermal transfer sheet S. It is wound and clamped around the platen drum.

As described above, in this embodiment, the timing for feeding the cut sheet 13 is determined by detecting the color area discrimination section of the thermal transfer sheet, so that the leading edge of the cut sheet 13 and the thermal transfer sheet S The color area discriminator of matches. On the other hand, in the past, for example, a thermal transfer sheet having multiple color areas is conveyed to a cut sheet on a platen drum, and each color area is successively faced to the cut sheet.
Color superimposition recording was performed by repeating this process, but as this recording continued, the dimensional errors accumulated, and the 10 color areas of the cut sheet and the thermal transfer sheet became misaligned, making recording impossible. Then, the thermal transfer sheet was shifted relative to the cut sheet, and the color areas of the thermal transfer sheet were corrected to face the cut sheet correctly. However, this method required an extremely difficult and expensive mechanism. As described above, according to this embodiment, the drawbacks of the conventional technology can be solved with an extremely simple configuration.

Now, as described above, the thermal transfer sheet 13, the cut sheet 13, and the platen drum 10 are rotated and fed integrally in the B direction without slipping. When the platen drum 10 rotates approximately 90 degrees from point E, the edge of the cut sheet 13 protruding from the right end of the platen drum 10
It reaches the front surface of the second detector 43, which causes the detector 45 to generate a leading edge detection signal of the cut sheet 15.

After the rotation of the nokuru smoke 19 (platen drum 10) for N pulse 1 minute (angle 0 minute) after this tip detection signal, the thermal head 57 continues to rotate according to the control circuit, and prints the first color (yellow). The records of the eyes are continuously recorded. Similarly, when the cut sheet 13 is wound onto the platen drum 10, the clutch 26 is turned OFF' and the 5 paper feed row 218
, 1 B' stops.

When the platen drum 10 rotates approximately 300 degrees from point E in the direction B, the leading edge of the cut sheet 15 peels off from the platen drum 10, as shown in FIG. This means that the cut sheet 15 is transferred to the platen drum 1 by the thermal transfer sheet S.
This is because the platen drum 10 is not pressed to 0.
0 Due to further rotation in the direction B, the leading end of the cut sheet 13 comes into contact with the thermal transfer sheet 8 between the guide roller 14 and point E at an acute angle α. Thereafter, the leading edge of the cut sheet 13 gradually changes its traveling direction to the horizontal direction by the conveyance of the thermal transfer sheet 8, and the leading edge of the cut sheet 13 is moved to the platen drum again.
0 and the thermal transfer sheet 8. same.

When the tip of the cut sheet 1'5 leaves the surface of the platen drum 10 and reaches the contact point E again, the entire surface of the cut sheet smoothly comes into contact with the surface of the platen drum 100 due to its own waist force. The initial position of the platen drum and the leading edge of the cut sheet is maintained and there is no misalignment.

With thick paper, this contact is stable. However, if the cut sheet is relatively thin, the entire surface of the cut sheet may not be in complete contact with the surface of the drum and may be slightly separated from the surface of the drum.
When the platen drum 10 and the thermal transfer sheet S reach the contact point E, the front edge of the thermal transfer sheet S is maintained in a parallel relation to the rotation center helix of the platen drum 10,
No problems such as bending occur.

In this embodiment, since the cut sheet 15 is wound around the platen drum 10 again by its own waist, there is no unnecessary guide four on the circumferential surface of the platen drum 100.
2, there is no need to provide a guide plate, and the whole structure is simple and convenient. / / / Now, from the point when the tip of the cut sheet 13 reaches the contact point E, the front end of the cut sheet 13 is Then, the border of the second color of the thermal transfer sheet 8, which is color-coded with a length equal to the circumference of the platen drum, matches the tip of the cut sheet 13, and the cut sheet 13
advances to the detector 4S while moving forward, and the detector 43 generates a second cut sheet leading edge detection signal. What is important here is that, as mentioned in the explanation of the above-mentioned thin letter, if the cut sheet 15 is slightly lifted off the drum 10, the position of the cut sheet on the drum surface is determined by the dimension of the arc space. However, the position of the platen drum 10 is detected and the position of the platen drum 10 is detected.
Rather than giving the image information signal of the color to the thermal head 37, in this embodiment, the image information signal is given after the leading edge of the cut sheet 15 is detected and rotated by N pulses, so that the image information of the second color is not given to the thermal head 37. perfectly matches. Similarly, rotation and transfer for each color are repeated to perform three-color superimposed recording, and the color transfer recording is completed.

In this way, in this embodiment, before recording each color, the leading edge of the cut sheet 13 is always detected, and each color is recorded based on the detection signal, so that the cut sheet is placed against the platen drum. It is possible to perform recording at an accurate position on the cut sheet even when the image is shifted, and when performing color superimposition recording, it is possible to perform good recording without color shift.

Now, the platen drum 10 rotates for the third time,
After the detector 45 detects the leading edge of the cut sheet 15 three times, color superimposition recording is performed on the cut sheet 15 with the fifth color, and the platen drum further rotates, and the fourth cut sheet leading edge detection signal is sent to the detector 43. , the completion of control circuit line recording is detected and the pulse motor 19 is rotated in the opposite direction. At the same time, the plunger 41 is rotated 011 to rotate the thermal head 37.

Pull it away from the platen drum 10. At the same time, the motor of the winding shaft 179111 is stopped, and the motor of the supply shaft 151Q starts rotating in the Jy length direction to wind up the thermal transfer sheet 8. In synchronization with this, the clutch 26 is turned on, and the paper feed loaf 18, 18' starts rotating in the direction in which the recorded cut sheet 13 can be discharged in the A' direction. By the reverse rotation of each part, the recorded cut sheet 13 is rotated and conveyed in the B' force direction while being wound around the platen drum 10, and its vkyI4fl
It is peeled off from the thermal transfer sheet 8 at one point of contact from II, and is then ejected from the same place where it was inserted in the opposite direction. The discharged cut sheet 13 is sent to the kite 4
5 and reaches the paper feeding row 218.18', and is further conveyed in the direction A' by the rows 21B and 1B'.

As described above, according to this embodiment, by rotating the platen drum or the like in the reverse direction, the recorded cut sheet is peeled off from the thermal transfer sheet and ejected from the place where it was inserted. There is no need for a claw, a lunoid for operating this separation claw, or any other special mechanism for ejection, which greatly simplifies the construction of cII.

Now, the recorded cut sheet 13 is discharged by reverse rotation of each part including the platen drum 10, but as the cut sheet 13 is discharged, the transparent stripes 88 of the thermal transfer sheet S are The front surface of the detector 42 is reached. This stripe 5sFi corresponds to the color area discriminator next to the stripe S8 detected when recording was started earlier, and the winding shaft 1711
Thermal transfer sheets 8 of No. 11 are used for the current recording. In addition to this stripe 88, the thermal transfer sheets 8 on the supply shaft 15 side are unused. Now, when the transparent stripe SS crab is detected by the detector 42, the control circuit further rotates the Nox motor 19 by an irises step, and then stops the Nox motor and also stops the motor of the supply shaft 15g@. , the entire recording operation is completed.Here, the detector 42
After detecting the stripe 88, the cut sheet 16 is further moved to the paper feed rows 21B and 1B.
'This is to completely separate from '. When recording is to be performed again next time, the above recording operation may be repeated.

As described above, according to this embodiment, when discharging the cut sheet, the thermal transfer sheet) S is conveyed in the reverse direction, and the transparent stripe 8
Since it detects the day and stops everything, when it is stopped, the front side of the detector 42 is equipped with #υ′γ, which saves the trouble of carrying back the transparent strip that is the next color area indicator, and it is very easy to use. Power: Simplify.

Further, in this embodiment, all position and timing control is performed by two detectors 42 and 43, and the configuration is extremely simple from the viewpoint of efficiency.

(Second Embodiment) Figure 7 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a reflective type 7 sensor 4.6 is used as a detector for detecting the leading edge of the cut sheet 13. There is. This photosensor 46, like the detector 43, is provided on the recording band at the edge of the thermal transfer sheet. Note that the parts not shown are the same as those in the first embodiment, and their explanation will be omitted. In this embodiment, the width of the cut sheet 13 is equal to or slightly narrower than the width of the platen drum 10. Further, in this embodiment, the above-described fixed position of the detector 42 is the first position.
Compared to the embodiment, the position is set closer to the guide 4-214 by 3 At. Therefore, when the cut sheet 13 is wound around the platen drum 10, the leading edge of the cut sheet 15 will be located at the center of the transparent stripe SS (width t) of the thermal transfer sheet 8. This allows the detector 46
The leading end of the cut sheet 13 can be detected through the transparent stripe, and there is no need to make the end of the cut sheet protrude like an ear from the platen drum 10. In this embodiment, the cut sheet 13 is white or a light-colored sheet close to white, and the platen drum is black. Therefore, the detector 46 is at 0.0001 for the color areas BY, 8M, flc of the thermal transfer sheet and the platen drum surface below the transparent stripe SS, but for the cut sheet 13 below the transparent stripe 88. l
At the '1'' level, the leading edge of the cut sheet 13 can be detected reliably.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in addition to detecting the leading edge of the cut sheet, the detectors 45 and 46 may detect the end of color superimposition recording of five colors and generate a timing signal to reversely rotate the platen drum, etc. The trailing end of the cut sheet may be detected after recording is completed and the cut sheet may be rotated in the reverse direction, and the 5th color image information recording end signal given from the control circuit may be used to reverse the fo.]
9, any other method may be used. In addition to the thermal head, the heat application means may be one that melts the ink on the thermal transfer sheet by irradiating it with a laser beam to perform recording.

(Effect) 4.: As described above, the present invention uses a platen drum that rotates due to power from a drive source, and a platen drum that is placed close to the platen drum 1 and applies heat in a number of turns corresponding to recorded image information. a transfer sheet in which a plurality of thermal transfer material layers of different colors are arranged in a conveying direction and border indicating portions are provided at predetermined intervals; a guide member that is wound so that the recording sheet can be held between the platen drum and the platen drum; a detection means that detects a boundary indicating portion of the transfer sheet; The apparatus has a feeding means for feeding the recording sheet, and when the recording sheet is held between the platen drum and the transfer sheet, a predetermined position of the recording sheet is always in contact with the boundary indicating part of the transfer sheet. However, the transfer sheet and recording sheet are never misaligned, and the structure can be extremely simple.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a general explanatory diagram of a conventional color thermal transfer recording device; FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a power transmission mechanism; The figure is a perspective view of the thermal transfer sheet. Figure 5 is an O perspective view of the first embodiment when viewed diagonally from above. Figure 6 shows the process of the peeled cut sheet being wound around the platen drum again. Explanatory drawing, FIG. 7 line, and a partial perspective view of the second embodiment of the present invention. 10...Platen drum 16...Cut sheet 14.16...Guide roller 15...Supply shaft 17...Take-up shaft 18.18'...Paper feed roller 19...Pulse Motor 26...Clutch 37...Thermal head 41...Plunger 42...Detector 45.46...Detector 44.45...Guide S...Thermal transfer sheet SS...Transparent stripe

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] (1) A platen drum that is rotated by power from a drive source; a heat application means that is arranged close to the platen drum and applies heat in turns corresponding to recorded image information; A transfer sheet in which a plurality of thermal transfer material layers of different colors are arranged in a conveyance direction and boundary indicating portions are provided at predetermined intervals; a guide member that is wound around the recording sheet so as to be able to grip the recording sheet; a detection means that detects a boundary indicating portion of the transfer sheet; feeding means for feeding between the sheets, so that when the recording sheet is sandwiched between the platen drum and the transfer sheet, a predetermined position of the recording sheet is always in contact with the boundary indicating portion of the transfer sheet. A thermal transfer recording device characterized in that: (2) Each thermal transfer material layer of the transfer sheet has a circumference approximately equal to the circumference of the platen drum, and the heat is applied based on the image information every multiple rotations of the platen drum. The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that color superimposition recording is performed on the recording sheet by driving means. 3. The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising detecting means for detecting a boundary portion of the transfer sheet and stopping the platen drum when the platen drum is rotated in reverse.