JPS6160783B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a thermal recording device that uses a solid ink that is solid at room temperature and whose fluidity increases when heated, and records characters, etc. by thermally transferring the solid ink onto plain paper using a thermal head.

Thermal recording devices that use thermal recording paper are well known, but this thermal recording paper is more expensive than plain paper, and tampering is a problem because it always develops color when reheated. Recently, a thermal recording device that performs recording by thermally transferring ink to plain paper has been proposed. These thermal recording devices use a thermal ink ribbon in which an ink layer containing a heat-melting material is coated on a relatively thin band-shaped heat-resistant film, and record by heating the ribbon from the back side with a thermal head. An endless heat-resistant film is used as a master material, a thermal head is attached to the back side of the film, hot-melted ink is applied to the master material, the ink layer is solidified by cooling, and the ink is heated by the thermal head for recording. There are also layer regeneration types. However, with the former, the amount of ink actually used during printing is only a small portion of the entire ribbon that corresponds to the recorded character pattern, and even after the thermal ink ribbon is used, most of the ink remains unused. However, the disadvantage is that the ink usage efficiency is poor. In addition, the latter requires ink in a thermally molten state to be prepared at all times, so the power consumption of the thermal head is incomparably greater, and the configuration and heat control are complicated. .

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a power-saving thermal recording device that uses ink efficiently.

In order to achieve this object, the present invention brings a recording paper and solid ink, which is solid at room temperature and increases in fluidity when heated, into contact with the outside of a transfer master material made of a belt-shaped heat-resistant film, and the transfer of the transfer material at each contact portion is performed. First and second thermal heads are closely arranged inside the master material, and the second thermal head selectively heat-melts the solid ink and transfers it to the transfer master material, and further transfers the transferred ink. It is characterized in that the first thermal head transfers the image onto the recording paper.

The present invention will be explained below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the main part of FIG. 1.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, 1 is a recording sheet that is plain paper, 2 is a platen, 3 is a carriage that moves parallel to the platen 2, 4a and 4b are guide shafts that guide the movement of the carriage 3, and 5 is a A rack is provided parallel to the guide shafts 4a and 4b and meshes with a drive gear (not shown) at the bottom of the carriage 3; 6 is a transfer master material made of a relatively thin band-shaped heat-resistant film seamlessly formed; 7 is a A flanged disk 8 for holding the lower end of the transfer master material 6 in the groove of the flange 7a and rotating the transfer master material 6 in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure.
9 is a solid ink roller that contacts the outside of the transfer master material 6 and has a layer of solid ink that is solid at room temperature and increases fluidity when heated on its outer periphery; 9 is a shaping that smooths the outer periphery of the solid ink roller 8; Laura, 10
11 is a first thermal head provided in close contact with the inside of the transfer master material 6 at a position where the recording paper 1 and the transfer master material 6 come into contact; A second thermal head 12 is provided between the first thermal head 10 and the second thermal head 11 and is provided in close contact with the inside of the master material 6. 13 is a cleaning roller that comes into contact with the outside of the transfer master material 6 to clean the surface thereof; 14 is a cleaning roller that cleans the surface of the transfer master material 6;
This is a pressing roller for pressing the cleaning roller 12 against the cleaning roller 12.

In the above configuration, when the carriage 3 is moved, the flanged disk 7 is rotated by the meshing of the rack 5 with a drive gear (not shown), and the transfer master material 6 is rotated in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure. Carriage 3
is continuously moved at a constant speed, the transfer master material 6
The rotation of is also constant speed. First and second thermal heads 10, 1 arranged inside the master material 6
1, the cooling section 12, and the pressing roller 14 are supported on the cover (not shown) side of the carriage, which is separate and independent from the flanged disk 7. The solid ink roller 8 is biased by a spring means (not shown) so that its outer circumferential surface is always in contact with the master material 6, and the shaping roller 9 is similarly biased so as to be in contact with the outer circumference of the solid ink roller 8. . The first and second thermal heads 10, 1
1 is provided with a plurality of heating elements in one vertical column, and these heating elements are selectively driven according to the character pattern to be recorded.

Next, the recording operation of the above configuration will be explained. While the carriage 3 moves across the recording paper 1, the master material 6 and the solid ink roller 8 rotate at a constant speed in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure while maintaining contact with each other. However, unless the second thermal head 11 is driven, the ink from the solid ink roller 8 is not transferred to the transfer master material 6. Before the first thermal head 10 starts recording on the recording paper 1, first, the plurality of heating elements are selectively activated on the second thermal head 11 according to the character pattern to be recorded. A drive signal that generates heat is supplied. The second thermal head 11 thereby heats the solid ink roller contact portion of the transfer master material 6 from the inside, thermally melts the solid ink on the heated portion of the solid ink roller 8, and transfers it to the transfer master material 6. The ink image thus formed on the transfer master material 6 is cooled while passing through the cooling section 11.
It is once fixed so that it does not flow until it comes into contact with the recording paper 1. In synchronization with the timing at which the ink image reaches the contact position with the recording paper 1, a drive signal is supplied to the first thermal head 10 to cause the same heating element as the second thermal head 11 or all heating elements to generate heat. . As a result, the first thermal head 10 heats the portion of the transfer master material 6 in contact with the recording paper 1 from the inside, heat-melting the ink image again and transferring it to the recording paper 1.

In this way, the thermal recording device selectively drives the second thermal head 11 according to the character pattern to be recorded, and drives the first thermal head 10 every time the ink image comes into contact with the recording paper 1. By driving in this manner, the recording operation can be performed while only the ink actually used for recording is supplied from the ink supply means such as the solid ink roller 8. Therefore, according to this thermal recording device, the ink usage efficiency is significantly improved, and the power consumption is only slightly increased compared to the conventional method due to selectively driving the second thermal head 11. .

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the present invention, in which a magnet roller 15 is interposed between the transfer master material 6 and the solid ink roller 8.
In this configuration, if the solid ink of the solid ink roller 8 contains a magnetic component, the solid ink roller 8
Ink powder adheres due to contact with the ink, and the adhered ink powder is captured on the outer periphery by magnetic force to form an ink layer. This layer of ink comes into contact with the transfer master material 6 and is transferred to the transfer master material 6 by selective heating by the second thermal head 11.
Since the ink is already in powder form, its fluidity is easily increased by heating, and the power consumption in the second thermal head 11 is further reduced to perform thermal recording similar to that in the first embodiment. I can do it.

Further, in order to obtain the same effect as this embodiment, a ring-shaped rotating intermediate transfer member may be placed in place of the magnet roller 15, and a permanent magnet may be placed inside the contact portion with the solid ink roller 8. good. Further, the same effect can be obtained not only in the above case but also in the case of transferring the solid ink to the transfer master material 6 and the case of transferring the solid ink from the transfer master material 6 to the recording paper 1. If a permanent magnet or an electromagnet is placed at each or at least one location in the same manner as described above, the solid ink will be transferred more efficiently by the action of the magnetic field.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the present invention, in which an idle roller 16 for ink transfer is interposed between the transfer master material 6 and the solid ink roller 8,
The rotation speed of the solid ink roller 8 is made different from the rotation speed of the idle roller 16. In this configuration, the ink is peeled off from the solid ink roller 8 and adheres to the idle roller 16 due to the speed difference between the idle roller 16 and the solid ink roller 8 at the contact portion thereof, and the solid ink becomes fluid due to frictional heat. Because of the increase in ink transfer at that time, it is in a state that is so easy. Furthermore, since the temperature of the outer circumferential portion of the idle roller 16 has increased due to frictional heat due to the speed difference, the ink still has some fluidity at the contact portion with the transfer master material 6, and the ink is transferred to the transfer master material 6. A second thermal head 1 is used to transfer the
It becomes possible to further reduce the electric power supplied to 1. In this embodiment, the same effect can be obtained even if the solid ink roller 8 is rotated in the direction opposite to the arrow shown in the figure, and the idle roller 16 may be a magnetic roller as in the case of FIG. 3 above.

Next, FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of a multicolor recording apparatus of the present invention, in which a plurality of solid ink rollers 8a to 8d of different colors are arranged in contact with each other along the transfer master material 6, and these solid ink rollers 8a to 8d are arranged in contact with each other along the transfer master material 6. - 8d, inside each contact portion with the transfer master material 6.
The thermal heads 11a to 11d are provided in close contact with each other, and cooling units 12a to 12d are placed between them. When performing multicolor recording, the second thermal head 11
a to 11d are driven, and the ink of the selected color is transferred from the solid ink rollers 8a to 8d to the transfer master material 6.
The ink images of these respective colors are further transferred onto the recording paper 1 by the first thermal head 10.
Of course, each of the second thermal heads 11a to 11d is provided with a timing mark on the transfer master material 6 to prevent ink of a plurality of different colors from being transferred to the same position on the transfer master material 6 in an overlapping manner. A timing disk is provided which rotates in synchronization with the color ink 6 to detect the position to which the ink of each color is to be transferred, and the drive timing thereof is adjusted. Further, the drive timing of the first thermal head 10 is also adjusted accordingly.

According to the multicolor recording apparatus having such a configuration, the ink color selection means is simpler and cheaper than, for example, when a multicolor thermal ink ribbon is used, and the selection speed is much faster. Moreover, since only the amount of ink of a desired color that is actually used for recording is supplied, there is no waste of ink, and running costs are low.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the present invention, in which a rod-shaped solid ink stake 17 is used, and the first and second thermal heads 10 and 11 have heating elements of m length x n (m width). , n is an integer) arranged in a matrix. Since the heating elements of the thermal head are arranged in a planar manner as described above, the transfer master material 6 is not in the shape of a ring as in the above embodiment, but is in the shape of an endless tape, and the transfer master material 6 is shaped like an endless tape. The rotation causes it to be transferred in the direction of the arrow. The second thermal head 11 transfers ink to the transfer master material 6 one character at a time, and the first thermal head 10 transfers the ink image to the recording paper 1 one character at a time.

As explained above based on the embodiments, in the present invention, the amount of ink actually required for recording is supplied only when it is needed, so the efficiency of ink usage is significantly improved compared to the conventional method. Since the heating transition of is also selectively carried out by the thermal head,
This has the effect of becoming a power-saving thermal recording device with low power consumption, and further has the effect of allowing multicolor recording to be performed easily, inexpensively, and quickly.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in the above embodiments, an endless transfer master material 6 is used, but it goes without saying that similar effects can be obtained even if the transfer master material 6 is not endless. Further, instead of obtaining the power for feeding the transfer master material 6 from the lateral movement of the carriage 3, a motor may be attached to the carriage 3 so that the power can be obtained directly from the motor. The present invention can be applied not only to serial printers such as the above-mentioned embodiments, but also to thermal recording devices that simultaneously record a large number of dots on the same line using a thermal head in which heating elements are arranged in a horizontal row, such as in a facsimile device. It is possible.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2 is a plan view of the main parts of Figure 1, Figures 3 to 6
The figure is a plan view showing the main parts of another embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Recording paper, 3... Carriage, 6... Transfer master material, 8... Solid ink roller, 10... First thermal head, 11... Second thermal head, 12
...Cooling section, 15...Magnetic roller, 16...Idle roller.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A recording paper and solid ink that is solid at room temperature and increases in fluidity when heated are brought into contact with the outside of a transfer master material made of a belt-shaped heat-resistant film, and the transfer master material at each contact portion is First and second thermal heads each having a plurality of heat generating elements are disposed in close contact with each other inside the material, and the solid ink is selectively melted by the heat generating elements of the second thermal head. and transferring the ink image on the transfer master material to a recording sheet by a heating element of the first thermal head corresponding to a heating element of the second thermal head that generates heat. A thermal recording device featuring: 2. A recording paper and an ink transfer roller are brought into contact with the outside of a transfer master material made of a belt-shaped heat-resistant film, and a plurality of heating elements are provided in correspondence with each other on the inside of the transfer master material at each contact portion. The first and second thermal heads were placed in close contact with each other, and solid ink, which is solid at room temperature and increases in fluidity when heated, was brought into contact with the ink transfer roller, and the solid ink was transferred to the ink transfer roller. rear,
The transferred solid ink is selectively thermally melted by the heating element of the second thermal head and retransferred to the transfer master material, and the first heating element corresponding to the heating element of the second thermal head generates heat.
A thermal recording apparatus characterized in that the ink image on the transfer master material is transferred onto recording paper by a heating element of a thermal head. 3. The thermal recording device according to claim 2, wherein the ink transfer roller is a magnetic roller. 4. In the thermal recording device according to claim 2, the solid ink is formed into a roller shape, and the solid ink and the ink transfer roller are rotated at different speeds or so that the rotating directions are opposite to each other at the contact portion. A thermal recording device characterized by rotating. 5. Contact the recording paper with a plurality of solid inks of different colors that are solid at room temperature and increase in fluidity when heated, on the outside of a transfer master material made of a belt-shaped heat-resistant film,
A first thermal head provided with a plurality of heating elements is provided inside the transfer master material in the contact portion with the recording paper, and a first thermal head provided with a plurality of heating elements is provided inside the transfer master material in the plurality of contact portions with the solid ink. Second thermal heads each having a heating element corresponding to the heating element are arranged in close contact with each other, and a cooling section is further provided between the thermal heads, and the heating element of the second thermal head selectively cools the plurality of thermal heads. After solid inks of different colors are thermally melted and transferred to the transfer master material, the heat generating elements of the first thermal head corresponding to the heat generating elements of the second thermal head generate heat on the transfer master material. A thermal recording device characterized by transferring an ink image of 1 to a recording sheet.