JPS6311366A - Image recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To record a high quality image even on a medium receiving transfer recording low in surface smoothness, by applying light energy to the support of a transfer recording medium having a light pervious support while applying heat energy to the transfer recording layer thereof and transferring and fixing the formed image to the medium receiving transfer recording. CONSTITUTION:A fluorescent lamp 3 is arranged to the region on the support 1b of a transfer recording medium 1 wherein a transfer recording layer 1a is provided on a light pervious base film 1b in opposed attitude relation to a thermal head 2 so as to hold the recording medium 1 between the thermal head 2 and said lamp 3. The heat from the thermal head 2 is directly applied to the recording layer 1a and the light from the fluorescent lamp 3 transmits through the light pervious support to be applied to the recording layer 1a. A transfer image corresponding to an image signal at every line is successively formed to the fed transfer recording medium 1. The transfer image formed on the recording medium 1 is carried to the pressure contact part T of a transfer roller 10 and a pressure roller 9 but recording paper 11 is also carried to the pressure contact part T simultaneously along with the transfer image by a register roller 15 rotating in synchronous relationship and the transfer image is transferred to the recording paper 11 by the pressure contact force between the rollers 9, 10. The recording paper after the finish of transfer is discharged to a delivery tray 13.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field of the Invention> The present invention relates to an image recording device applicable to printers, copying machines, electronic typewriters, facsimile machines, and the like.

<Prior Art> In recent years, with the rapid development of the information industry, various information processing systems have been developed, and recording methods and devices suitable for each information processing system have also been developed and adopted. One such recording method is the thermal transfer recording method, which uses a lightweight, compact, and noiseless device.
It has excellent operability and maintainability, and has been widely used recently.

This thermal transfer recording method generally uses a thermal transfer medium formed by coating a sheet-like support with a thermal transfer ink made of a heat-melting binder and a coloring agent dispersed therein. The ink layer is superimposed on the transfer medium so that it is in contact with the transfer medium, and heat is supplied from the support side of the thermal transfer medium by a thermal head to transfer the melted ink layer to the transfer medium. A transfer ink image is formed thereon in accordance with the shape of heat supply.

According to this method, plain paper can be used as the transfer medium.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> However, the conventional thermal transfer recording method is not without its problems. The reason is that in the conventional thermal transfer recording method, the transfer recording performance, that is, the print quality, is affected by the surface smoothness of the transfer medium. In the case of a transfer medium with a low viscosity, there is a risk that the image recording quality will deteriorate.

In addition, when attempting to obtain multicolor images using conventional thermal transfer recording methods, it is necessary to install multiple thermal heads, or perform complicated functions such as reversing and stopping the transfer medium. There are problems such as the entire structure becoming large and complicated and the recording speed decreasing.

<Objective of the Invention> An object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the conventional apparatus and record a high-quality image even on a transfer medium with a low surface smoothness. Another object of the present invention is to provide a recording device that can obtain multicolor images without requiring a transfer medium to perform complicated functions.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention solves the above problems by providing a transfer recording layer whose physical properties governing the transfer characteristics change when applied with light energy and thermal energy, A light source for applying light energy to the transfer medium, provided on the support side, and a light source provided on the transfer recording layer side, along a transportable path of the transfer recording medium having a supporting light-transmitting support. Further, it has a heat source for applying thermal energy to the transfer recording medium, and a transfer means for transferring and fixing the image formed on the transfer recording medium to the transfer recording medium. It is.

<Example> First, an image forming method applied to an image recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1a to 1d. 1st
The time axes (horizontal axes) of the graphs in Figures a to 1d correspond to each other. In addition, as a sensitive component in the transfer recording layer,
It contains a reaction initiator, a polymerization component, etc., which will be described later.

In Figure 1a, heating means such as a thermal head is heated from 0 to t3.
This figure shows the rise in the surface temperature of the heating element and the subsequent temperature drop when the heating element is thermally driven.

The transfer recording medium that is in pressure contact with this heating means shows a temperature change as shown in FIG. 11) as the temperature of the heating means changes. Immediately, the temperature rises with a time delay of tl, and similarly reaches the maximum temperature at time t4, delayed from t3, after which the temperature decreases. This transfer recording layer has a softening temperature Ts, and T
It softens rapidly and its viscosity decreases in the temperature range of 2. This situation is shown by the curve in FIG. 1c. After reaching Ts at time t2, the viscosity continues to decrease until time t4 when the maximum temperature is reached, and as the temperature decreases, the viscosity increases again and shows a rapid increase until time t6 when it decreases to i's. In this case, the physical properties of the transfer recording layer are basically unchanged from before heating, and if heated to a temperature Ts or higher in the next transfer step, the same viscosity phenomenon as described above will occur. Therefore, if the transfer recording layer is brought into pressure contact with the transfer medium and heated to the temperature necessary for transfer, for example, above Ts, the transfer recording layer will be transferred for the same reason as the transfer mechanism of conventional thermal transfer recording. As shown in Fig. 1d, when heating and light irradiation are performed at the same time from time t2,
When the transfer recording layer becomes soft and the reaction initiator contained in the transfer recording layer is activated and the temperature rises enough to increase the reaction rate, the probability that the polymerizable monomer will polymerize increases dramatically. hardening progresses rapidly. When heating and light irradiation are performed simultaneously in this manner, the transfer recording layer exhibits a behavior as shown by curve B in FIG. 1c. As the reaction progresses, the softening temperature rises and the reaction ends at time t5.
Then, Ts changes to Ts'.

Along with this, the transfer start temperature, which is the temperature at which the transfer recording layer starts transferring, also changes. This situation is shown in Figure 1d.

Therefore, when heated in the next transfer step, there will be a difference in properties between the part that changes to Ts' and the part that does not change. Therefore,
For example, if a Tr that satisfies i' s < Tr < T s ' is heated, there will be a difference between a portion where the viscosity has decreased and a portion where the viscosity has not decreased, and only the portion where the viscosity has decreased will be transferred to the transfer medium. It depends on the temperature stability accuracy of the transfer process,
At this time, Ts' - Ts is preferably about 20°C or more.

In this way, a transfer image can be formed by controlling heating or non-heating according to the image signal and simultaneously irradiating light.

In addition to the softening temperature explained above, the physical properties that govern the transfer characteristics of the transfer recording layer include the melting temperature and the glass transition point, but in any case, the melting temperature before and after the application of multiple types of energy , a latent image is formed in the transfer recording layer by utilizing irreversible changes such as the glass transition point. Further, the softening point, melting temperature, and glass transition point vary in almost the same manner, so the above explanation using the softening point is also an explanation using the melting temperature and the glass transition point. (The case of the glass transition point is shown in parentheses in Figures 1b and 1d.) This image forming method can of course be applied to monochrome image formation, but first, with reference to the above explanation, it is possible to form multicolor images. The formation method will be explained. FIGS. 2a to 2d are partial views showing the relationship between the multicolor transfer recording medium and the thermal head. Thermal energy modulated according to the image recording signal,
It is applied together with light energy of a wavelength selected depending on the color tone of the image forming element whose physical properties governing the transfer characteristics are to be changed. Note that "modulation" here refers to changing the position where energy is applied according to the image signal, and "
"Both" may mean applying light energy and thermal energy at the same time, or may apply light energy and thermal energy separately.

Further, in this example, in order to prevent heat diffusion within the support, thermal energy is applied from the transfer recording layer side of the transfer recording medium.

In the figure, a multicolor transfer recording medium 1 is constructed by providing a transfer recording layer 1a on a transparent base film lb.

The transfer recording layer 1a is a layer in which minute image forming elements 31 are distributed, and each image forming element 31 exhibits a different color tone. For example, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2a-2c, each image forming material 31 is cyan (C).

Contains either magenta (M) or yellow (Y) coloring material. However, the coloring materials contained in each image forming material 31 are cyan and magenta. The color material is not limited to yellow, and any color material may be used depending on the purpose. In addition to the coloring material, each image forming element 31 contains a sensitive component whose physical properties governing transfer characteristics change rapidly when light and heat energy is applied.

The sensitive component of each image forming element 31 has wavelength dependence depending on the coloring material it contains. When heat and light of wavelength λ(Y) are applied to the image forming element 31 containing the yellow coloring material, crosslinking rapidly progresses and the image forming element 31 is cured. Similarly, the image forming element 31 containing the magenta coloring material is heated, the image forming element 31 containing the cyan coloring material is
1 is when heat and light of wavelength λ(C) are respectively added,
The reaction progresses and hardens. Even when the cured image forming element 31 is heated in the next transfer step, the viscosity does not decrease and the image forming element 31 is not transferred to the transfer medium. Heat and light are applied depending on the recorded information.

Now, in this multicolor image forming method, the transfer recording medium 1 is placed on the thermal head 2, and light is irradiated so as to cover the heat generating area of the thermal head 2. The irradiated light has a wavelength that the image forming element body 31 reacts to, and is sequentially irradiated. for example,
The image forming element 31 is cyan.

If it is colored mazetan or yellow,
Light of wavelengths λ(C), λ(M), and λ(Y) is sequentially irradiated.

That is, first, the wavelength λ is applied to the transfer recording layer 1a of the transfer recording medium 1.
(Y) light is irradiated and, for example, the heat generating resistors 2b, 2d, 2e, and 2f of the thermal head 2 are caused to generate heat. Then, of the image forming element 31 containing the yellow coloring material, the image forming element 31 to which both heat and light of wavelength λ(Y) are applied (the hatched part in FIG. 2a, below) , the cured image forming element is shown by hatching) is cured.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2b, the transfer recording layer 1a is coated with a wavelength λ(
M) while irradiating the heat generating resistor 2a.

When 2e and 2f generate heat, among the image forming elements 31 containing magenta coloring material, the image forming element 31 to which heat and light of wavelength λ(M) have been applied is cured. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2C, while irradiating light with wavelength λ(C),
When a desired heating resistor is heated, the image forming element 31 to which light and heat are applied is cured, and finally a transferred image is formed on the transfer recording layer 1 by the image forming element 31 that has not been cured. . This transferred image is transferred to the recording paper 11 in the next transfer step as shown in FIG. 2d.

In the transfer process, the transfer recording medium on which the transferred image has been formed is brought into contact with the transfer medium, and the transferred image is selectively transferred to the transfer medium by heating from the transfer recording medium or the transfer medium side to form an image. do. Therefore, the heating temperature at this time is determined so that only the transferred image is selectively transferred with respect to the physical properties that govern the transfer characteristics. Further, in order to perform the transfer efficiently, it is also effective to apply pressure at the same time. This is particularly effective when applying pressure to a transfer medium with low surface smoothness. Furthermore, if the physical property that governs the transfer characteristics is the viscosity at room temperature, transfer is possible only by applying pressure.

Next, an example of a monochrome image forming apparatus to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIG. The transfer recording medium 1 used in the apparatus of this embodiment is made by dispersing an image forming element 31 composed of the components shown in Table 1 below in a binder, and then dispersing the image forming element 31 into a base made of a transparent polyester film with a thickness of 6 μm. 1b. The sensitizer in this image forming element absorbs light in a band of 500 to 600 nm and initiates a reaction. In addition, as the material of the base material lb, in addition to a transparent polyester film, transparent Voimide, transparent aramid, etc. can be considered.

Table 1 Also, since this sensitizer has a magenta tinge, it mixes with phthalocyanine green mixed as a coloring agent and becomes black when forming an image. The long transfer recording medium 1 thus produced was wound into a roll and incorporated into the apparatus as a supply roll 7. That is, this supply roll 7 is loaded onto a rotatable shaft 7a. Therefore, the leading edge of the transfer recording medium 1 is connected to the supply roll 7.
is supplied from the guide bar 5a and the thermal head 2.
The direction is changed by the guide bar 50 from between the transfer roller 10 and the pressure roller 9 via the guide bar 5b, and the winding roll 8 is reached, and the tip of the roll 8 is locked by the roll 8. Due to the rotation, the recording medium 1 becomes the roll 8
It is wound around the circumference one after another. Here, the winding roll 8 is driven and rotated by known means.

Here, the transfer recording medium 1 is moved by the guide bar 5.
It is conveyed by the transfer roller 10 so that the winding angle with respect to the thermal head 2 is constant.

This thermal head 2 is provided on the transfer recording layer la side of the recording medium 1, and has a plurality of heating elements 2a disposed at its tip, and the heating elements 2a are controlled to generate heat according to image information. Furthermore, this supply roller is provided with a hysteresis brake (not shown) whose value is 1.8 to 2.
A constant back tension of 0 Kgf is applied, and this tension brings the transfer recording layer 1a of the transfer recording medium 1 into contact with the heating element of the thermal head 2 with a constant pressure.

On the other hand, in an area on the support lb side of the recording medium 1 facing the thermal head 2 with the transfer recording medium 1 in between, a fluorescent lamp 3 was placed 2 cm apart from the translucent support 1b of the transfer recording medium 1. This fluorescent lamp is a high color rendering green fluorescent lamp with the spectral characteristics shown in the graph shown in Figure 4, and the fluorescent material is T.
b3+activated (La, Ce, Tb)203・0.2Si
O2.0.9P205 was used. T as another phosphor
b” ten-active (Ce, TI) MgAl+oO+c+.

Although Y2SiO5:Ce and Tb lamps can also be used, the above-mentioned phosphor was used in terms of practical efficiency and working characteristics.

Further, the transfer/fixing section T includes a transfer roller lO and a pressure roller 9, which are provided facing each other with the transfer recording medium l in between.
It is made up of. The transfer roller 10 is an aluminum roller having a diameter of 40 mm and coated with Teflon to a thickness of 25 μm.

The pressure roller 9 is an aluminum roller having a diameter of 30 mm, coated with silicone rubber to a thickness of 5 mm, and further coated with Teflon coat 1-1 to a thickness of 30 μm. A hardness of 40° (JISA hardness) was used. Further, the transfer roller 10 and the pressure roller 9 are compressed by a pressure means (not shown) of approximately 35 g/mr+? It was set so that it would be pressure-welded.

Further, the transfer roller lO is connected to a built-in heater lO in order to transfer and fix the transfer image formed on the transfer recording medium 1 by the thermal head 2 onto the recording paper 11 by heating and pressure.
The surface temperature is controlled to be approximately 110'C by oa. In addition, the transfer medium has a surface smoothness of about 1
Recording paper 11 of 0 seconds was used. Note that this recording paper 11 is sent out from the cassette 12 by rotation of the feeding roller 6. The fed paper 11 is temporarily blocked in its progress by a register roller 15, and is then sent between rollers 9 and 10 in synchronization with the transfer layer on the recording medium 1 by the register roller 15. Note that 16 is a guide. Further, the casing 14 houses a power source and a control circuit for this image forming apparatus.

Now, FIG. 5 shows a schematic block diagram of the control circuit.

In the figure, circuit 60 is a sequence control circuit. This circuit 60 includes a drive circuit 61. which turns on the fluorescent lamp 3. A drive circuit 63 that activates the step motor 62 for operating the feed roller 6, a drive circuit 65 that activates the step motor 64 for operating the transfer roller 10 that conveys the transfer recording medium 1, and a transfer recording medium. A drive circuit 67 that immediately applies a hysteresis brake 66 that applies hack tension to the transfer roller 10, a drive circuit 72 that energizes the heater 100 to a predetermined temperature based on a signal from the temperature sensor 73 of the transfer roller 10, and a drive circuit 72 that receives an image signal 69 from the outside. An image signal processing circuit 68, which controls the processing of image signal data to be applied to the thermal head 2 and a drive circuit for energizing the heating element of the thermal head 2, and an indicator on the operation panel are sequentially controlled.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the above-mentioned apparatus will be explained.

First, recording is started by turning on a switch (not shown) on the operation panel 70 of the apparatus. The sequence control circuit 60 receives a drive signal from the operation panel 70, activates the drive circuit 63, and drives the step motor 62. As a result, the roller 6 starts rotating, and the cassette 1
One sheet of recording paper 11 is fed out from 2 and continues to be fed until the leading edge of the recording paper reaches an alignment sensor 71 (not shown) (located near the pressure contact portion of register roller 15). When the alignment sensor 71 detects the recording paper 11, a hysteresis brake 66 (not shown) is activated at a predetermined timing.
The transfer roller 1O is operated to convey the transfer recording medium 1, and each heating element 2a of the thermal head 2 is energized in accordance with the image signal. Further, while the thermal head 2 is energized, at least the fluorescent lamp 3 is lit.

That is, with the above-described configuration, heat from the thermal head 2 is applied directly to the recording layer 1a, and light from the fluorescent lamp 3 is applied to the recording layer 1a after passing through the transparent support. A transfer image corresponding to the image signal is sequentially formed line by line on the transfer recording medium 1 transported thereby. The transferred image formed on the recording medium 1 in this way is carried to the pressure contact portion T of the transfer roller 10 and the pressure roller 9, but as described above, the transferred image on the recording paper 11 is also transferred by the register roller 15 that rotates in synchronization. At the same time, the transferred image is transferred to the pressure contact portion T, and the transferred image is transferred onto the recording paper 11 by the pressure contact force between the rollers 9 and 10.

The recording paper on which the transfer has been completed is discharged to the paper discharge tray 13.

In addition, the mark signal (black) is used to energize the thermal head l.
In this case, it does not turn on, but when it is not a mark signal (white), it turns on and generates heat. That is, the energizing energy for negative recording was 0.8 W/dot×2.0 m5ec.

Further, FIG. 6 shows a drive timing chart of this embodiment.

First, the heating resistor corresponding to the black of the image signal is not energized, but the portion corresponding to the white of the image signal is energized at 2 msec, and at the same time, the high color rendering green fluorescent lamp 3 is uniformly irradiated. . This irradiation time is 4 hours from the start of energization to the heating resistor.
The period was msec. 1 ms after the end of irradiation
5 m s after c has elapsed, that is, from the start of energization
After e c, the next line is recorded in the same way. By sequentially repeating this operation, a transferred image is formed.

With the image forming apparatus described above, the image obtained on the recording paper is very clear, and a high-quality image with good fixability can be obtained.

Next, an example will be described in which the image forming method used in the present invention is applied to a multicolor image forming apparatus.

As already explained using FIGS. 2a to 2d, each is sensitive to only three different wavelengths and has different color tones.
That is, multicolor recording is possible by using the transfer recording medium 1 in which the image forming elements 31 exhibiting yellow, magenta, and cyan are provided on the support lb. Such a transfer recording medium 1 includes an image forming element 31 shown in Tables 2 to 4 dispersed in a binder and provided on a base material 1b made of a transparent polyester film with a thickness of 6 μm. was used. The photoinitiators in the image forming elements shown in Tables 2 to 4 are
Approximately 340-380 nm, approximately 380-4
50 nm, absorbs light in a band of approximately 450-600 nm and initiates a reaction.

The colors used during image formation are cyan, yellow, and magenta in this order.

Table 2 Table 3 Table 4 Table 7 shows an apparatus for obtaining a multicolor image using this transfer recording medium l.
As shown in the figure.

The difference from the monochrome image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 3 is that three light sources 3a, 3b, and 3c having different wavelengths are arranged.

These fluorescent lamps include a high color rendering green fluorescent lamp 3a, a diazo copying machine fluorescent lamp 3b, and a black light 3C. In particular, a sharp cut filter L-3818 was placed in front of the fluorescent lamp 3b for the diazo copying machine in order to obtain desired spectral characteristics corresponding to the image forming element.

FIG. 8 shows the spectral characteristics of the fluorescent lamp in this example.

Next, a process until a color image is obtained in accordance with the image signals corresponding to yellow, magenta, and cyan will be described in accordance with the recording timing chart of the multicolor image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment shown in FIG.

First, the heating resistor corresponding to the yellow of the image signal is not energized, but the portion corresponding to the white of the image signal is energized at 2 msec, and at the same time, the fluorescent lamp 3b for the diazo copying machine is uniformly irradiated. . The irradiation time was 4 m5 ec. After 1 m5 ec has passed after the end of the irradiation, the heating resistor corresponding to the magenta of the image signal is not energized, and the part corresponding to the white of the image signal is energized at 2 m s e C, and at the same time, the high color rendering green fluorescent lamp is turned on. 3a was uniformly irradiated. The irradiation time is 4 msec as in the case of yellow. Similarly, in the case of cyan, by irradiating with black light 3C,
Finish forming latent images for all three colors. Therefore, it takes 15 msec to form a line image.

By repeating the above process line by line, a full color image can be obtained on the recording paper.

The setting conditions for the parts other than the light source are the same as in the monocolor embodiment, and the conveyance of the recording paper 11 and transfer recording medium 1 is the same as in the monocolor embodiment.

In this way, the full-color image obtained on the recording paper is a high-quality image with no color shift, high chroma, clarity, and good fixability.

As memorized above, in this example, at least one type of energy from light and heat is applied to a transfer recording medium having a transfer recording layer whose physical properties governing transfer characteristics change when light and heat energy is applied. An image forming apparatus that has the steps of forming a transferred image by applying the light and heat energy under conditions corresponding to recorded information, and transferring the transferred image to a transfer medium, can achieve the desired purpose. can be achieved.

That is, in the image forming apparatus according to this embodiment, the formation of a transferred image and the transfer process are separated, and in the transfer process, since the transferred image has already been formed, the restriction on image-wise selective energy application is lifted. Therefore, the energy necessary to transfer and form a clear image can be applied to the transfer recording medium according to the surface properties of the transfer medium. In addition, the transferred image formed as a pre-processed culm is not a mere property change image such as a thermally fused image (it is an image formed by changing the physical properties that govern the transfer characteristics, so the difference in the physical properties before and after the change is By using it in the transfer process, it is possible to achieve reliable transfer and also to faithfully transfer the transferred image.For example, when a heat-fused image is used as the transfer image, there is a process from the transfer image formation process to the transfer process. Although it is desirable to maintain the thermally fused image completely throughout the process, it is unavoidable that the transferability deteriorates due to the cooling phenomenon between the two steps and that the image blurs due to heat conduction to the surroundings of the thermally fused image.However, in this example, In some cases, the physical properties that govern the transfer characteristics, such as the melting point, softening point, and viscosity at the same temperature of the transfer recording layer, are changed image-wise to create the transferred image, so these changes in physical properties are not memorized until the transfer process. Moreover, unless energy is applied to change the physical properties after the transfer image forming process, there will be no deterioration in the transferability of the transfer image or image blurring.For this reason, the surface smoothness of the transfer medium is low. Even in such a case, it is possible to form an image with high image quality, and it is also possible to transfer the transferred image to the transfer medium without deteriorating the image quality.

Furthermore, in the image forming apparatus according to this embodiment, the application of signalized energy for forming a transferred image and the application of uniform energy for transfer are functionally separated. Compared to the case where the signaled energy must be used as energy for transfer at the same time, the conditions for applying energy are relaxed, for example,
The amount of energy for forming a transferred image is sufficient to cause only a change in the physical properties of the transfer recording layer. It can be increased according to the speed, and high-speed recording can be easily realized.

In addition, the thermal response speed of the thermal heads used in conventional thermal transfer recording devices is 1 to 5 m even for the fastest one.
It is about sec. If an attempt is made to drive at a faster repetition rate, the temperature will not rise or fall sufficiently within one cycle, resulting in insufficient heating or, conversely, the temperature not being able to drop completely, resulting in the effects of heat accumulation appearing on the image quality. This is one of the biggest factors hindering speed-up, but if multiple types of energy are used as in this example, for example by combining a thermal head and light irradiation, the heating state will be effective even if heat is accumulated. This is only during light irradiation, so by irradiating light only during a limited time period near the peak temperature, it is not affected by the rate of temperature drop after the peak temperature as in the past (
Even if a conventional thermal head is used, it becomes possible to perform a recording operation with a shorter repetition period, thereby facilitating high-speed recording.

In addition, since the image forming apparatus according to this embodiment forms a transferred image by applying multiple types of energy, compared to the conventional case where a transferred image is formed using only heat, only one type of energy is required to form the transferred image. There are a plurality of transfer images, and the degree of physical property change that forms the transferred image can be adjusted in stages accordingly. In addition, even if heat is used for multiple types of energy, other energies such as light that have a quick response and whose intensity can be easily adjusted in stages are also used, so images with intermediate tones can be created. This makes it easier to form. For example, by setting the intensity or time of light irradiation in three stages and combining it with heating, it is possible to express gradation in four stages (three stages, ten and non-heating).

Furthermore, although it is desired that such control be performed at high speed, the ability to use energy with a quick response such as light in combination also enables high-speed halftone recording.

In this embodiment, an apparatus that obtains a full-color image using three colors of yellow, magenta, and cyan has been described, but it is of course possible to configure an apparatus that uses four colors in addition to black. Further, the support for supporting the transfer recording layer shown in each of the above-mentioned Examples is not limited to a transparent material as shown in the Examples, but may be any light-transmitting material that can transmit the light from the light source. . Furthermore, in the image forming method according to this embodiment,
The transferred image is formed by changing the physical properties that govern the transfer characteristics, but these physical properties are arbitrarily determined depending on the type of transfer recording medium used. For example, the transferred image is heated to a melted state. In the case of a transfer recording medium that is transferred at a temperature such as melting temperature, softening temperature, or glass transition point, it is also a transfer recording that transfers a transferred image in an adhesive state or in a permeable state to the medium to be transferred. In the case of the medium, the temperature is the same.In the image recording apparatus of the present invention, in addition to the development and formation process described above, the present applicant has As clarified, by appropriately selecting the types of colorant and photoinitiator that form the image forming element, and selecting a light source with a wavelength that causes the photoinitiator to react, It is also possible to obtain single-color, two-color, multi-color or dull-color recorded images by using the atrophic process.

<Effects of the Invention> As described above, the present invention provides a recording apparatus that can record high-quality images even on transfer media with low surface smoothness.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1a to 1d are explanatory diagrams for explaining the principle of forming a transferred image using light and thermal energy, and Figures 2a to 2d are illustrations of a multicolor transfer recording medium and a thermal head. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a monocolor image forming apparatus, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the spectral characteristics of a light source used in the monocolor image forming apparatus, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the spectral characteristics of a light source used in the monocolor image forming apparatus. Control circuit block diagram, Figure 6 is a timing chart for applying photothermal energy for a monochrome image forming apparatus, Figure 7 is a configuration diagram of a multicolor image forming apparatus, and Figure 8 is a spectrum diagram of a fluorescent lamp used in a multicolor image forming apparatus. FIG. 9 is a timing chart showing the application of light and thermal energy in the multicolor image forming apparatus. In the figure, 1 ----------+-1 Transfer recording medium 2 -------
---------- Thermal head 3 (3a 3b
3c) --------1 Fluorescent lamp 4 --1-
-----------1--Pressure roller 5 ----------
-------m-Guide bar 6 ----------1----
- Feed roll - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ---------- Pressure roller 10 ---------------1 Transfer roller 1
1 ---------------1 Recording paper 31 -
−−−−−−−−−−1 Image forming element 12 −1−−
----m-Recording paper cassette 13 -------
-1111 Paper ejection tray 14--A housing containing a power supply and control circuit-Kanaga (nm)

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A transportable path for a transfer recording medium that has a transfer recording layer whose physical properties governing transfer characteristics change when applied with light energy and thermal energy, and a light-transparent support that supports the transfer recording layer. When the transfer recording medium is sent along the transportable path,
a light source provided on the side of the transfer recording medium where the support is located for imparting optical energy to the transfer recording medium; when the transfer recording medium is sent along the transportable path;
a heat source provided on the side of the transfer recording medium where the transfer recording layer is located for applying thermal energy to the transfer recording medium; and for transferring and fixing the image formed on the transfer recording medium to a transfer target medium. An image recording device comprising: a transfer means; (2) Thermal energy from the heat source is applied to the transfer recording medium according to image information.
The image recording device described in .