JPH07314901A - Method for recording - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize gradation in a dot with high density and to improve resolution by controlling the diameter of a liq. droplet of a transferring recording material to at most a specified 1mum when the recording material is transferred to a recording body to be recorded. CONSTITUTION:To a vaporization part 17, each laser light obtd. by emitting the corresponding laser 18 from a microlens array 30 wherein 12-24 pieces of multi-layer arrays 30 are arranged into an array-shape, is respectively focused by means of a microlens array 31 wherein a number of condensers 19 are arranged. A photographic paper 50 is moved in the paper transferring direction while it is pinched between a driving roller for transferring the paper and a following roller. In a recording wherein a printer head 10 and a laser beam printer are used, the dye concn. of a liquified dye 22 is adjusted to at least 50wt.% so as to control the diameter of a liq. droplet of the vaporized dye 32 obtd. by vaporizing the liquified dye 22 before transferring to at most 1mum.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording method (for example, a thermal transfer recording method using a laser beam printer).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in image recording of video cameras, televisions, computer graphics and the like, there is an increasing need for colorization of hard copy as well as recording of mono color. In response to this, various types of printers have been developed and deployed in various fields.

Among these recording methods, an ink sheet coated with an ink layer in which a high-concentration transfer dye is dispersed in a suitable binder resin, and a dyeing resin that receives the transferred dye are coated. The heat-sensitive recording head located on the ink sheet applies heat according to the image information, and the heat-sensitive recording head located on the ink sheet applies heat according to the image information. There is a method of thermal transfer.

The so-called thermal transfer system, in which a full-color image is obtained by repeating the above-mentioned operation for each of the image signals decomposed into three primary colors of subtractive color, yellow, magenta, and cyan, can be downsized and easily maintained. Therefore, it is attracting attention as an excellent technology that has an immediacy and obtains a high-quality image comparable to a silver salt color photograph.

FIG. 13 is a schematic front view of the main part of such a thermal transfer type printer. According to this printer, a thermal recording head (hereinafter referred to as a thermal head) 1 and a platen roller 3 face each other, and an ink sheet 12 having an ink layer 12a provided on a base film 12b between them,
The recording paper (transferred material) 20 having the dyeing resin layer (dye receiving layer) 20a provided on the paper 20b is sandwiched and pressed against the thermal head 1 by the platen roller 3.

The ink (transfer dye) in the ink layer 12a selectively heated by the thermal head 1 is
The transfer is carried out in a dot shape on the dyeing resin layer 20a of the transfer target 20, and thermal transfer recording is performed. In such thermal transfer recording, generally, a line system in which a longitudinal thermal head is fixedly arranged so as to be orthogonal to the recording paper traveling direction, or a serial head in which the thermal head reciprocates in a direction orthogonal to the recording paper traveling direction is used. The method is adopted.

However, in the ink sheet (or ink ribbon) used for such thermal transfer recording, a dye is mixed with an appropriate binder resin in a weight ratio of about 1: 1 and a thickness of 1 μm is formed on a substrate such as a polyester film. Since it is applied in a moderate degree, which is usually a disposable item, a large amount of waste is generated, which is a problem from the viewpoint of environmental protection.

Therefore, attempts have been made to improve the utilization efficiency of the thermal transfer recording medium. Examples of such attempts include a method of reusing the dye layer of the thermal transfer recording medium so that it can be repeatedly used, such as a dye layer regenerating method or a multi-time dye layer forming method, and a head also in the paper feeding direction or vice versa. A method of effectively utilizing the thermal transfer recording medium, such as a relative velocity method of moving in a direction, may be mentioned.

The present applicant reduces waste and transfer energy while taking advantage of the above-mentioned thermal transfer recording system,
In order to reduce the size and weight of the printer, a non-contact type dye vaporization type laser beam printer (LB) as shown in FIG.
P) has already been proposed.

According to this recording method, a heat-fusible dye layer
Recording head (printer head) 10 having 22 in the vaporization unit 17
And a receiving layer for receiving a vaporized (or sublimated) dye
A minute gap 11 is provided between the recording medium (printing paper) 50 having 50a.

Then, by irradiating the laser beam L, the liquefied dye stored in the dye storing portion 37 of the vaporizing portion 17 of the recording head 10
22 is selectively heated to be vaporized from the opening 13, the vaporized dye 32 is caused to fly in the gap 11, transferred from the vaporization hole 23 onto the photographic printing paper 50 as a recording medium, and continuous gradation Get an image with. By repeating this operation for each of the image signals decomposed into the three primary colors of the subtractive color mixture, yellow, magenta, and cyan, full color can be achieved. The printing paper 50 is fed in the X direction for each line of recording by the head 10.

In this recording method, the photographic printing paper 50 is opposed to the recording head 10 on the upper side, for example, and the laser light emitted from the laser 18 and condensed by the lens 19 is emitted near the upper surface of the vaporizing section 17. It is advisable to irradiate L to cause the vaporized dye 32 to fly or move upward.

Further, a head base having a laser beam transmitting property.
A dye reservoir 15 is provided in 14, and the liquefied dye 22 is accommodated between the dye reservoir 22 and a spacer 28 fixed on the head base 14, and the liquefied dye 22 is supplied from here to a vaporization unit 17 through a dye passage 27 as a dye supply unit. . In this case, in order to improve the supply efficiency and the vaporization efficiency of the dye to the vaporization unit 17, the vaporization unit 17 is provided with minute irregularities composed of small cylinders 21 that supply and hold the dye by utilizing the capillary phenomenon. .

A protective plate 29 is fixed on the spacer 28 in order to hold the gap 11 and guide the photographic printing paper 50 moving in the X direction. A heater 16 for holding the liquefied state of the dye is embedded in the protective plate 29. Such a heater may be arranged in the dye containing portion (the passage 27 and the dye reservoir 15). it can.

The entire printer including this printer head is provided with, for example, yellow, magenta, and cyan dye reservoirs 15Y, 15M, and 15C on a common base 14 from which full-color dyes 12 to 24 are provided. Vaporizing parts 17Y, 17M, 17C in rows that form a large number of dots
Supply to.

For each vaporizing part, a large number of condenser lenses 19 are provided for each laser beam emitted from a multi-laser array 30 in which 12 to 24 corresponding lasers (particularly semiconductor laser chips) 18 are arranged in an array. The light is collected by the microlens array 31 in which

As described above, according to the dye vaporization type laser beam printer, the apparatus can be downsized, the maintenance is easy, the immediacy is provided, and the gradation of the recorded image is obtained according to the thermal energy of the laser. Is obtained.

The dye consumed for recording can be continuously supplied to the vaporizing part by flowing only the lost amount from the dye reservoir to the vaporizing part in a molten state. This is possible because the dye contains little binder resin. Therefore, since the vaporizing section involved in recording can be repeatedly used many times, the ink sheet is disposable only once in the above-mentioned thermal transfer method, which is advantageous in terms of resource saving and environmental protection.

Further, since it is a vaporization type, recording can be carried out without contact between the dye layer and the recording medium (printing paper).
During the second and subsequent printings, reverse transfer of dyes and color mixing, which are seen in the above-mentioned thermal transfer system, do not occur. At the same time, the printer can be made smaller and lighter because a small volume dye reservoir is used for supplying the dye instead of the above-described ink sheet.

Further, since this recording system uses vaporization or sublimation of the dye, it is not necessary to heat the dye receiving layer of the recording medium as in the above-mentioned thermal transfer system, and the ink sheet and the recording medium are not recorded. It is not necessary to press the body against the body with high pressure, and this is also advantageous in reducing the size and weight of the printer. Since the dye layer in the vaporized portion and the recording medium do not come into contact with each other, heat fusion cannot occur between them, and recording is possible even if the compatibility between the dye and the receiving layer resin is small. Therefore, the range of design and selection of the dye and the resin for the receiving layer is significantly expanded.

On the other hand, also in the so-called ink jet recording system, the ink sheet is not used and therefore the amount of waste is reduced. However, in this method, the color density of the transferred image is low because the dye is usually dissolved in a solvent at a concentration of 10% by weight or less (surface tension is 35 mN / m or more) as a recording liquid. . In addition, since the dye density cannot be changed within the dot, it is not possible to realize gradation within the dot, and therefore,
Since it is necessary to use the area gradation, there is a problem that the resolution of the image is lowered. Further, in this case, the average diameter of the droplets used for recording is usually 10 μm or more, and there is a problem in image resolution.

According to the so-called microdot system, in which small droplets are ejected in a satellite shape together with large-diameter droplets (which are deflected and removed) and the small droplets of satellites are used for recording. The diameter of the small droplet can be 10 μm or less. However, in this case, the apparatus is inevitably large-scaled because it is limited to the continuous jetting method and therefore the recording liquid has to be collected.

[0023]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to realize the in-dot gradation with high density, improve the resolution, and realize at a low cost, while taking advantage of the features of the vaporization type laser beam printer described above. To provide a simple recording method.

[0024]

The inventor of the present invention provides a gap between the recording liquid layer and the recording medium, supplies the recording liquid (ink) to the transfer portion, and vaporizes it by an appropriate heating means. As a result of studying the above-mentioned vaporization-type thermal transfer recording method in which the particles are moved in the voids and transferred onto the recording medium, the resolution is vaporized by setting the diameter of the recording liquid before transfer to 1 μm or less. As good as mold heat transfer, and
The present invention has been accomplished by finding a thermal transfer recording method that enables gradation within dots without requiring an ink sheet (or ribbon).

That is, the present invention relates to a recording method in which, when the recording material is vaporized and transferred to the recording medium, the droplet diameter of the recording material to be transferred is controlled to 1 μm or less.

In the recording method of the present invention, the recording liquid to be used contains a dye as a main component (50% by weight or more), and as an additive, a surfactant, a low-viscosity solvent or a wax as a surface tension or viscosity adjusting agent. , Vinyl alcohol oligomer and the like may be added. The surface tension of the recording liquid is 35 mN in the state immediately before transfer (the melting temperature when dye is melted).
/ m or less is preferable.

In order to make the droplet diameter of the recording liquid 1 μm or less, it is necessary that the weight fraction of the recording material such as dye is 50% or more, and it is actually 90 to 95% or more. This also
It is also necessary to increase the color density of the transferred image.

The concentration of the above-mentioned recording liquid is determined by the compounding amounts of the dye and the additive, but when diluted with a solvent, it can be controlled by the amount of the solvent.

Immediately after vaporization, this recording liquid has an order of molecular size (for example, 200 Å or more, and when it is in a two-molecule association state, 5
It exhibits a size of 00 to 600 Å), but after that, it forms droplets in the void, and before being transferred to the recording medium and transferred, the droplet diameter of 1 μm or less (that is, the maximum droplet diameter according to the present invention). Of 1 μm).

In practice, the recording method of the present invention is performed so that a gap (gap) is provided between the recording material layer and the recording medium, and the vaporized recording material is transferred to the recording medium through the gap. Then, the advantages of the non-contact type vaporization type laser beam printer described above can be utilized.

Irradiation of a heating beam such as a laser beam is preferably applied to vaporize the recording material in this recording head.

Since the recording liquid is vaporized, the recording liquid to be vaporized can be formed as needed (on demand). Therefore, since the recording material may be made liquid by heating or the like at the time of recording, the recording liquid can be selectively formed, its maintenance becomes easy, and the cost can be reduced.

[0033]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below.

1 to 9 show a non-contact type dye vaporization type laser beam printer (for example, a video printer) according to the present invention.
1 shows a first embodiment applied to.

The recording head (printer head) 10 according to the present embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 has the same structure as that described above, and therefore its description is omitted. However, in the printer head 10, the dye containing portion 37, the laser 18, the lens 19 and the like are actually unitized so that they can be moved (scanned) together.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the printer head 10 may be one in which, for example, four columnar bodies 21 are formed in a rectangular prism shape in the vaporizing section 17.

In any case, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a multi-laser array 30 in which 12 to 24 corresponding lasers (particularly semiconductor laser chips) 18 are arranged in an array for each vaporizing section is provided. Each laser beam emitted from the laser beam is condensed by a microlens array 31 in which a large number of condenser lenses 19 are arranged (36 is a mirror for guiding the laser beam L in a perpendicular direction). The multi-laser array 30 is driven and controlled by the control IC 34 provided on the substrate 33, and can be sufficiently radiated by the heat sink 35.

As shown in FIG. 9, the printer head 10 includes a head feed shaft 42 and a head support shaft, each of which comprises a feed screw mechanism.
43 allows reciprocating movement in a head feeding direction Y orthogonal to the paper feeding direction X of the printing paper 50. Further, a head receiving roller 44, which supports the photographic printing paper 50 so as to sandwich it, is rotatably provided on the upper side of the head 10. And photographic paper 50
Are nipped between the paper feed drive roller 45 and the driven roller 46 and move in the paper feed direction X.

The head 10 is a flexible harness.
The head drive circuit board (not shown) and the like are respectively connected via 87. When the feeding direction of the head 10 is one line, it is possible to add one more head 10 and divide one line into two by these pair of heads for color printing.

The printer head 10, the laser beam printer 81 using this printer head, and the recording method using these printers are heated and vaporized by the laser light L from the laser 18 to fly the dye 22 onto the printing paper 50. Since the image is transferred and transferred, the same effect as that described for the non-contact type dye vaporization type laser beam printer can be obtained.

In recording using the printer head 10 and the laser beam printer 81 according to the present embodiment, the droplet diameter of the vaporized dye 32 obtained by vaporizing the liquefied dye 22 before transfer is controlled to 1 μm or less based on the present invention. So that the liquefied dye
Adjust the dye concentration of 22 to 50% by weight or more.

FIG. 3 shows a method of observing or measuring the droplet diameter of the vaporizing dye 32. According to this, the laser light 40 is irradiated in a state where the printing paper is not arranged in the vaporization portion on the liquefied dye 22, and it is checked whether or not the scattered light is generated. When there is no scattered light, it means that the droplet diameter is 1 μm or less, which is ultrafine.

Further, it is possible to measure the droplet diameter by taking a picture of the vaporizing portion with a high speed camera from the direction indicated by the arrow 41 and visually observing the obtained image.

Regarding the droplet diameter, as shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 4, the liquefied dye 22 has a molecular size of 32 immediately after vaporization.
It has a size of the order of a (for example, 200 Å or more, 500 to 600 Å in the case of a two-molecule association state), but after that a void 1
Before being formed into droplets in 1 and transferred to the recording medium to be transferred, the droplets 32 have a diameter of 1 μm or less (that is, the maximum droplet diameter is 1 μm) according to the present invention.

Next, a concrete example in which this embodiment is concretely carried out will be explained together with a comparative example.

Specific Example 1 In the head (transfer tester) shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, as a recording liquid, 2 weight parts of a disperse dye HSR2031 manufactured by Mitsubishi Kasei Co., Ltd. % Addition was introduced at 160 ° C. The recording liquid is in a molten state at this temperature, the dye concentration at that time is 98% by weight,
The surface tension was 33 mN / m. In this head, the thickness of the liquefied dye 22 in the vaporizing part is 10 μm, the diameter of the opening 11 is 80 μm, and the facing distance between the pair of columns 21 is 40 μm between the center lines.
And

At the transfer portion of this head, the emission wavelength is 780 nm
When irradiated with a semiconductor laser beam with an output of 20 mW, a dye corresponding to OD2.2 at a maximum density of OD2.2 can be transferred to photographic paper with a Macbeth densitometer in an area of 80 × 80 μm per 1 ms. 256 by changing the width
The density gradation of gradation was obtained.

In the gap between the transfer section and the printing paper,
A semiconductor laser beam with a wavelength of 800 nm was introduced without the printing paper, but no scattered light was observed. In addition, the dye in the vaporization process was used for high-speed cameras (Kodak Ektapro EM-1
012), but no droplet having a diameter of 1 μm or more was observed. In reality, due to the resolution limit of the microscope used for observation, those having a thickness of 0.1 μm or less were not observable (invisible in observation).

Example 2 A transfer test was conducted in exactly the same manner as in Example 1 except that the disperse dye ESC655 manufactured by Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. was used as the dye. The dye concentration of the recording liquid was 98% by weight, and the surface tension was 32 mN / m.

On the photographic paper, a dye corresponding to OD2.0 at the maximum density can be transferred with a Macbeth densitometer to an area of 80 × 80 μm per 1 ms, and the density of 256 gradations can be obtained by changing the pulse width. The gradation was obtained.

In the gap between the transfer section and the printing paper,
A semiconductor laser beam with a wavelength of 800 nm was introduced without the printing paper, but no scattered light was observed. Also, the dye in the vaporization process was observed with a high-speed camera (same as above).
No droplet of more than μm was seen.

Comparative Example 1 As a recording liquid, an ethylene glycol + water (3: 7) solution containing 5% by weight of FoodBlack-2 was used. The surface tension of this recording liquid was 50 mN / m.

An ink jet printer (H
P DeskJet 505J) printer head and energized and heated at 20mW, 80 × 80 per 1ms
The concentration of the dye that could be transferred to the area of μm was OD1.4 at the maximum concentration as measured by a Macbeth densitometer. Also, no gradation could be added at all. Observation with a high-speed camera revealed that the vaporized droplets had an average particle diameter of 25 μm.

Comparative Example 2 Crystal violet was used as a dye, this was dissolved in tetraethylene glycol, and NK12 was used as a light absorber.
5 (manufactured by Nippon Senshoku Co., Ltd.) was added to prepare a recording liquid. The mixing ratio is 15% by weight of dye, tetraethylene glycol
The content was 83% by weight and the light absorber was 2% by weight.

This ink liquid was introduced into the same printer head as in Example 1, and a transfer test was conducted under the same conditions.
Recording droplets were ejected and transferred to the photographic paper. When observed with a high-speed camera, the size of the recording droplet was 4 μm.
It was in the range of up to 25 μm. Therefore, the resolution was insufficient.

Comparative Example 3 The dye was made assid blue, this was dissolved in a mixed solvent of water and ethylene glycol (water 3: ethylene glycol 7), and NK125 (manufactured by Japan Photosensitive Dye Company) was added as a light absorber for recording. It was a liquid. The mixing ratio is 40
% By weight, ethylene glycol 58% by weight, and light absorber 2% by weight.

This ink liquid was introduced into the same printer head as in Example 1, and a transfer test was conducted under the same conditions.
Recording droplets were ejected and transferred to the photographic paper. When observed with a high-speed camera, the size of the recording droplet was 4 μm.
It was in the range of up to 15 μm. Therefore, the resolution was insufficient.

10 to 12 show a second specific example in which the present invention is applied to a non-contact type dye vaporization type laser beam printer.

According to the printer head 10 of this example, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, especially for full color, the dye containing parts as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are connected for each color as 37Y for yellow, 37M for magenta, and 37C for cyan, and for each of these, Laser light L from the lasers 18Y, 18M, and 18C is selectively made incident to vaporize the dye of each color.

The printer head 10 of this example is constructed as schematically shown in FIG. 11, and the dye storage portions (or dye supply head portions) 37Y, 37M, and 37C of the respective colors are arranged in the respective laser arrays 30.
(They are composed of lasers 18Y, 18M and 18C for the respective colors.)

The entire printer head can be constructed as shown in FIG. 10. For example, for full color, the yellow, magenta, and cyan dye reservoirs 15Y, 15 are provided.
M and 15C are provided on a common base 14, respectively, and the dyes of the respective colors are supplied to the vaporizing sections 17Y, 17M, and 17C in rows forming a large number of 12 to 24 dots.

A large number of laser beams emitted from a multi-laser array 30 in which 12 to 24 corresponding lasers (especially semiconductor laser chips) 18Y, 18M, and 18C are arranged in an array are provided for each vaporization section. Each is condensed by the microlens array 31 having the condenser lens 19 (36 is the laser beam L
A mirror to guide in the right direction).

As the condensing lens, the illustrated lens system may be used, but a single large-diameter condensing lens 38 indicated by an imaginary line may be used. The lens 38 is formed such that the refraction path changes so that the light emission position corresponds to the vaporization portions 17Y, 17M, and 17C described above according to the light incident position.
The multi-laser array 30 is driven and controlled by the control IC 34 provided on the substrate 33, and the heat sink 35 is also provided.
Is designed to allow sufficient heat dissipation.

As shown in FIG. 12, the overall configuration of the printer 81 is such that the printer head 10 having the head portions 37Y, 37M, and 37C for each color is scanned in the Y direction, and full-color transfer is performed line by line. The printing paper 50 is fed in the X direction by a predetermined pitch. Other configurations are similar to those described in FIG.

In this embodiment, for full-color use, the dye concentration of the liquefied dye in the dye vaporization section of each color is set to 50% by weight or more, and the diameter of vaporized droplets is controlled to 1 μm or less based on the present invention. As described above, sufficient density and resolution can be realized, and therefore the image quality of a full-color image can be improved.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the above-described embodiments can be further modified based on the technical idea of the present invention.

For example, the concentration of the above-mentioned dye and the diameter of the vaporized droplet can be variously controlled.

Further, the structure and shape of the head and the printer, and the drive mechanism thereof may have an appropriate structure and shape other than those described above, and other appropriate materials may be used for the material of each part constituting the head. . With respect to the recording dye, full-color recording can be performed with three colors of magenta, yellow, and cyan, and one color of mono-color or monochrome can be recorded. Further, unlike the above-described example, the printer may be a type in which the head is arranged above the paper and printing is performed from above.

Further, as in the above-described example, the solid dye is once made into a liquid and vaporized to perform recording, or the solid dye is heated by laser light to be directly vaporized, that is, sublimated to perform recording. It is also possible to store a liquefied dye (liquid at room temperature) in the dye reservoir. Further, the recording material can be transferred to the printing paper by a phenomenon other than the above-mentioned flight (for example, vaporization).

[0070]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the recording material is vaporized and transferred to the recording medium, the droplet diameter of the recording material to be transferred is controlled to 1 μm or less, so that the resolution is excellent. In addition, the in-dot gradation is possible without the need for ink seek.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view (cross-sectional view taken along line I-I of FIG. 2) of a printer head used in a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of a main part of the printer head.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view in a state in which the diameter of vaporized droplets is observed in the printer head.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a main part of the printer head.

FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view of another usable printer head (a sectional view taken along line VV in FIG. 6).

FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view of a main part of the printer head.

FIG. 7 is a schematic exploded perspective view of the printer head.

FIG. 8 is a schematic rear view of the printer head.

FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view of the printer seen from below.

FIG. 10 is a schematic exploded perspective view of a printer head used in a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a schematic rear view of the printer head.

FIG. 12 is a schematic perspective view of the printer seen from below.

FIG. 13 is a front view of a main part of a printer using a conventional thermal recording head.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 ... Printer head 11 ... Void 13 ... Opening 14 ... Base 15 ... Dye reservoir 16 ... Heater 17 ... Vaporizer 18,40 ... Semiconductor laser 19 ...・ Condensing lens (focusing lens) 20, 50 ・ ・ ・ Printing paper (recording paper) 22 ・ ・ ・ Liquefied dye 27 ・ ・ ・ Dye passage (dye supply part) 30 ・ ・ ・ Laser array 31 ・ ・ ・ Micro lens Array 32 ... Vaporized dye 37 ... Dye storage unit 42 ... Head feed shaft 43 ... Head support shaft L ... Laser light X ... Paper feed direction Y ... Head scan direction

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A recording method in which, when the recording material is vaporized and transferred to a recording medium, the droplet diameter of the recording material to be transferred is controlled to 1 μm or less. 2. The recording material concentration of the recording liquid before vaporization is 50.
The recording method according to claim 1, wherein the content is at least wt%. 3. The surface tension of the recording liquid before vaporization is 35 m.
The recording method according to claim 1, wherein the recording rate is N / m or less. 4. The recording medium according to claim 1, wherein a gap is provided between the recording material layer and the recording medium, and the vaporized recording material is transferred to the recording medium through the gap. How to record. 5. The recording method according to claim 1, wherein the recording material is vaporized by irradiation with a heating beam. 6. The recording method according to claim 1, wherein a recording liquid to be vaporized is formed as needed.