JP2000108388A - Rotary printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a small rotary printer capable of performing high quality image printing on a disc-shaped printing medium. SOLUTION: There is disclosed a rotary printer 10 wherein a disc-shaped printing medium having a thermally sensitive coloring layer is rotated around a shaft and thermally sensitive printing is performed on the disc-shaped printing medium by a thermal head. As a result, it is possible to perform high quality printing and to reduce the printer in size. In the rotary printer 10, a fixing light is emitted to the rotating disc-shaped printing medium from each of cathode ray tubes 13, 14. Light blocking plates 43, 45 are provided to portions between the cathode ray tubes 13, 14 and disc-shaped printing medium, respectively. A fan-shaped opening section 42, 44 for limiting a light emission region is formed on each light blocking plate 43, 45. As a result, it is possible to compensate a quantity of a light exposure at an external circumference section having a great linear speed in the disc-shaped printing medium and to prevent occurrence of variation in the fixing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a CD-R (Compac
The present invention relates to a rotary printing apparatus for printing on a disk printing medium such as a disk-recordable (t-recordable).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art CD-Rs are read-only CDs and CDs.
Unlike a D-ROM (Read Only Memory), it is a write-once optical disc on which data can be recorded only once. A CD-R on which data has been recorded can be reproduced by the reproducing apparatus just like a CD and a CD-ROM. Due to its low cost, easy handling, and large storage capacity, it is often used to publish about 100 small-scale software.

One side of a CD and a CD-ROM is used as a recording side for recording and reading data, and the other side is generally used as a printing side for printing a title or the like. In the case of CDs and CD-ROMs, printing is generally performed by a large printing device in order to publish a large volume of the same design, whereas in the case of CD-Rs, it is used for small volume publishing and personal use. There has been a demand for a small and inexpensive printer that can easily create and change print contents for each sheet.

[0004]

Such a printer is disclosed in JP-A-5-238005 and JP-A-6-31906.
Some are described in. These information recording devices record information on a recording surface of an optical disk from a pickup, and perform ink-jet printing on a printing surface. Printing on the optical disc is performed while moving the inkjet nozzle in the radial direction of the optical disc and rotating the optical disc.

[0005] Such an information recording apparatus is provided with an ink cartridge, a mechanism for guiding ink to an ink jet head, and a pickup for information recording for ink jet printing, and the apparatus is large and complicated. . Further, since the ink jet head and the pickup are provided in the same device, ink scattered from the ink jet head may adhere to the pickup and prevent recording of information. Further, maintenance work such as replacement of the ink cartridge and cleaning around the ink jet head is troublesome. Further, since printing is performed by rotating the optical disk, a difference in linear velocity occurs between the inner circumference and the outer circumference, and complicated control is required to perform high-quality printing.

An object of the present invention is to provide a rotary printing apparatus which is capable of printing a high-quality image on a disk printing medium with a simple structure which is different from the above-mentioned printing method. .

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a thermal head for performing thermal printing in a main scanning direction along a radial direction of a disk printing medium having a thermosensitive coloring layer, and a method for moving a disk printing medium along its circumferential direction. A rotation driving means for rotating in the sub-scanning direction, a light source for irradiating the disc printing medium with fixing light, and an exposure correction for correcting variations in exposure due to a linear velocity distribution on the disc printing medium. And a rotary printing apparatus.

According to the present invention, since thermal printing is performed, it is possible to realize a high-quality image printing apparatus in which maintenance work is easy and no bleeding occurs.

Further, in the present invention, by providing the exposure amount correcting means, it is possible to correct the variation of the exposure amount due to the linear velocity distribution on the disk print medium. The exposure amount correcting means fulfills a function of compensating for the exposure amount of the outer peripheral portion having a smaller exposure amount than the inner peripheral portion, for example. Therefore,
It is possible to suppress the occurrence of unevenness in fixing of the print area, and to realize high-quality image printing.

Further, the invention is characterized in that the exposure amount correcting means is a light-shielding plate having an opening for defining an irradiation area of fixing light, and the opening is opposed to an opening of at least one sub-scanning line. The length of the arc portion is different from the length of the arc portion facing the opening of another sub-scanning line.

According to the present invention, the exposure amount correcting means is constituted by a light-shielding plate, and the width of the outer peripheral portion where the linear velocity of the disk printing medium is large among the openings is increased. By selecting the shape of the opening such that the length of the opposite arc portion is not constant, it is possible to reliably correct the variation in the exposure amount due to the speed distribution on the disk print medium.
Therefore, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of unevenness in the fixing of the printing area, and to realize high-quality image printing.

[0012]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing a rotary printing apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The rotary printing apparatus 10 includes a thermal head 11, a backup roller 12, and cathode tubes 13, 14, and performs printing on a disk print medium M. The disc printing medium M is a disc-shaped printing medium having a thermosensitive coloring layer that develops a color when heat is applied. The thermal head 11 is a line type thermal head extending in the radial direction of the disk print medium M. The stepping motor 15 drives the disk print medium M to rotate around its axis. The backup roller 12 is a roller whose surface is covered with rubber and which supports the disk printing medium M from the back side in response to pressure from the surface by the thermal head 11, and rotates with the rotation of the disk printing medium M. Cathode tube 13,1
Numeral 4 emits ultraviolet rays having a wavelength for fixing the coloring layer of the disk printing medium M.

Such a rotary printing apparatus 10 uses the radial direction of the disk print medium M as the main scanning direction, the circumferential direction of the disk print medium M as the sub-scan direction, and the radial direction and the circumferential direction of the disk print medium M. The printing is performed by selectively supplying heat to the pixel regions arranged in a color and causing the color to develop.

Incidentally, the thermal head 11 of FIG. 1 may be constituted by a serial head which can scan in the radial direction of the disk print medium M. Further, the backup roller 12 in FIG. 1 can be replaced with a turntable 31 in FIG. 3 described later. Hereinafter, the description will be continued assuming that the turntable 31 is used.

FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a thermal printing sheet 21 used as the disk printing medium M in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the structure of a medium 19 in which the present invention has been performed.

The thermal printing sheet 21 shown in FIG. 2A has a cross-sectional structure similar to that of the multicolor thermal recording sheet described in JP-A-3-43293 and JP-A-5-69566. A printing method in which heat is applied to the multicolor heat-sensitive recording sheet to form a color and print is called a TA (Thermo-Auto Chrome) method. The rotary printing apparatus 10 of the present embodiment is also a TA printing apparatus.

The thermal printing sheet 21 is made of a substrate 22 such as paper.
Is formed with a thermosensitive coloring layer 23 on the surface thereof, and its planar shape is a disk shape. The thermosensitive coloring layer 23 includes a yellow coloring layer 23a, a magenta coloring layer 23b, and a cyan coloring layer 23c.

The yellow coloring layer 23a contains a yellow dye material and a coupler encapsulated in microcapsules,
When a heat energy of 20 mJ / mm ² or more is applied, the two pass through the microcapsules and react to form a color. The yellow coloring layer 23a has a wavelength of 420
Irradiation with ultraviolet light of nm causes the unreacted yellow dye material to be decomposed and no longer develops color.

The magenta coloring layer 23b contains a magenta coloring material and a coupler encapsulated in microcapsules,
When a thermal energy of 40 mJ / mm ² or more is applied, the two pass through the microcapsules and react to form a color. The magenta coloring layer 23b has a wavelength of 365.
Irradiation with ultraviolet light of nm causes the unreacted magenta dye material to be decomposed and no longer develops color.

The cyan coloring layer 23c contains a dye encapsulated in microcapsules and develops a color when heat energy of about 80 mJ / mm ² or more is applied.

The thermal head 11 shown in FIG.
mJ / mm ² ~40mJ / mm ² of the heat energy, 40m
J / mm ² -80 mJ / mm ² of heat energy and 80
It can be supplied either thermal energy of the thermal energy of ^{mJ / mm 2 ~120mJ / mm 2} . The cathode tube 13
In order to fix the yellow coloring layer 23a, a wavelength of 420 n
m ultraviolet rays. The cathode tube 14 includes the magenta coloring layer 2.
In order to fix 3b, an ultraviolet ray having a wavelength of 365 nm is emitted.

The medium 19 shown in FIG. 2B is a medium in which a heat-sensitive printing sheet 21 is adhered to a printing surface 20a of an optical disk 20 such as a CD-R via an adhesive layer 24.

The optical disk 20 is formed by laminating an organic dye layer 25, a reflective layer 26 made of metal, and a protective layer 27 on a polycarbonate substrate 30 in this order. In the optical disk 20, data is recorded by irradiating a laser beam from the recording surface 20b to change the phase of the organic dye layer 25. The optical disc 20 that can be used in the rotary printing apparatus 10 includes:
Not limited to such a configuration, for example, CD, CD
-ROM, CD-RW (ReWritable), etc. DVD (Digital Video Disk) -ROM, DVD-R
AM (Random Access Memory), DVD-R, DVD-
RW or the like may be used.

As the disk printing medium M, the thermal printing sheet 21 shown in FIG.
The medium 19 of (b) may be used. Thermal printing sheet 2
When using No. 1, the thermal printing sheet 21 can be stuck on the optical disc 20 after printing. Further, the thermosensitive coloring layer 23 may be formed directly on the optical disc 20 by vapor deposition or the like.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing in detail the mechanical configuration of the rotary printing apparatus 10 of FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals. The rotary printing apparatus 10 in FIG. 3 has a so-called clamshell structure. The rotary printing apparatus 10 includes a housing 32 for storing the turntable 31 and the like, and a housing 33 for storing the thermal head 11, the cathode tubes 13 and 14, and the like. As shown in FIG. 3, the housing 32 and the housing 33 are opened. Since the thermal head 11 and the turntable 31 are largely separated from each other, the disk print medium M can be easily mounted thereon.
An end of the housing 33 is supported by an end of the housing 32 and can be opened and closed with respect to the housing 32.
A torsion coil spring 40 is provided so as to abut both the end of the housing 32 and the end of the housing 33, and the housing 33 is urged in the opening direction with respect to the housing 32.

A lever 37 is provided at an end of the housing 33 opposite to the axially supported end, and a stopper 3 is provided at an end of the housing 32 opposite to the axially supported end.
8 are provided. When the tip of the lever 37 has a claw shape and the housing 33 is tilted in the closing direction, the lever 3
7 comes into contact with the stopper 38. When the housing 33 is further lowered, the lever 37 is pushed up by the stopper 38 so that the distal end of the lever 37 is
Into the through hole provided in the. As a result, the housing 33 is locked to the housing 32. Also lever 3
7 is provided with a grip portion 39 which is interlocked with this,
By pulling the grip portion 39 upward, the tip of the lever 37 can be pulled out of the through hole of the stopper 38, and the housing 33 can be opened again.

A convex auxiliary member 34 is fixed to the bottom of the housing 32 by screws. Housing 32
Are separated from each other by a predetermined distance from each other, and the protrusion of the auxiliary member 34 supports the shaft member 35 rotatably.
The shaft member 35 is driven to rotate by the stepping motor 15. The turntable 31 is fixed to the shaft member 35, rotates together with the shaft member 35, and mounts the disk print medium M for printing. At the center of the turntable 31,
A circular protrusion 36 protruding upward is formed. The protrusion 36 is fitted in a through hole provided at the center of the optical disk 30 to realize centering of the optical disk 30.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the rotary printing apparatus 10 with the housing 33 of FIG. 3 closed, and FIG. 5 is a side view thereof. The housing 33 houses the thermal head 11, the cathode tubes 13, 14, and the like.
Are closed so that they face the disk print medium M on the turntable 31. The thermal head 11 and the cathode tubes 13 and 14 have a shape extending linearly. Each of the housings 32 and 33 has a rectangular planar shape, and the thermal head 11 and the cathode tubes 13 and 14 are arranged in parallel with the long side of the housing 33. Further, the cathode tubes 13 and 14 are arranged with the thermal head 11 interposed therebetween.

Generally, the amount of light at the end of the cathode tube is lower than that at the center. The end where the light quantity decreases is about 5 cm from both ends. For this reason, it is desirable to use the cathode tubes 13 and 14 that are sufficiently long compared to the radius or diameter of the disk print medium M, and to arrange the cathode tubes 13 and 14 so that the central portions thereof face the disk print medium M. Thus, the light from the cathode tubes 13 and 14 can be efficiently radiated to the disk print medium M, and the thermosensitive coloring layer 23 can be efficiently fixed.

It is desirable that the cathode tubes 13 and 14 be ideally arranged along the radial direction of the disk printing medium M. Such arrangement cannot be made due to the arrangement of the elements. Therefore, as described above, the cathode tube 1
By arranging the thermal head 11 and the thermal head 11 therebetween, the cathode tubes 13 and 14 do not hinder the thermal printing of the thermal head 11. Further, the cathode tubes 13, 14
Is as close to the thermal head 11 as possible, so that the light from the cathode tubes 13 and 14 can be efficiently radiated to the disk print medium M.

A light shielding plate 41a is provided between the cathode tubes 13 and 14. A light-shielding plate 41b is provided between the thermal head 11 and the cathode tube 13, and prevents a pixel region to be colored by the thermal head 11 from being fixed by the cathode tube 13. Further, between the thermal head 11 and the cathode tube 14, a light shielding plate 41 is provided.
c is provided to prevent the pixel area to be colored by the thermal head 11 from being fixed by the cathode tube 14.

Between the cathode tube 13 and the disk print medium M,
A light-shielding plate 43 having an opening 42 is provided.
A light shielding plate 45 having an opening 44 is provided between the disk print medium M and the disk print medium M. The disk printing medium M has an opening 42.
The light from the cathode tube 13 that has passed through the
The light from the cathode tube 14 that has passed through is irradiated.

The light shielding plates 43 and 45 are slightly separated from the disk print medium M even when the housing 33 is closed.
The light from the openings 42 and 44 irradiates the disk print medium M slightly wider than the opening area. Therefore, the opening 4
The shapes and arrangements of the rollers 2 and 44 must be selected so that not only the amount of light required for fixing but also the light therefrom is not irradiated to the print area of the thermal head 11.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the rotary printing apparatus 10 of FIG. Switch panel 51
Is a switch for switching the connection of the I / F 64 and a panel for displaying the connection state. DIP switch 52
Switches the initial settings such as the transfer speed of the Centro connector 65 and the print density by the thermal head 11.
The fan motor 54 is provided in the housing 32 or the housing 33 and drives a fan that ventilates inside and outside.

The ultraviolet sensor 55 is a photodiode for detecting ultraviolet rays from the cathode tubes 13 and 14. The HP sensor 56 detects a home position of the turntable 15. The medium sensor 57 detects the disk print medium M mounted on the turntable 15. The cover sensor 58 detects the closed housing 32 with respect to the housing 33. The temperature sensor 59 is the thermal head 1
1 is detected. I / O (Input / Output) circuit 6
0 performs an input from the switches and sensors to the CPU 61 and an output from the CPU 61 to the switches and motors.

CPU (Central Processing Unit) 61
Are the I / O circuit 60, the thermal head 11, the I / F 64
And the inverter 66. The memory 62 has a CP
Data is temporarily stored for U61 calculations or data transmission. The I / F 64 transmits data bidirectionally between the Centro connector 65 and an external personal computer or the like. The inverter 66 supplies power to the cathode tubes 13 and 14 and adjusts the power.

FIG. 7 is a timing chart showing the operation of the rotary printing apparatus 10, and FIGS. 8 (a) to 8 (f) are diagrams showing the printing state of the disk printing medium M in a stepwise manner. When printing is started, data of a print image created by a personal computer in advance is transmitted to the thermal head 11 via the I / F 64 and the CPU 61 and the like. At the same time, energization of the stepping motor 15 is started, and the stepping motor 15 rotates the turntable 31 at a constant rotation speed.

Following the start of the rotation of the stepping motor 15, the energization of the thermal head 11 is started in FIG. 8A, and the thermal energy of the minimum thermosensitive coloring level is applied to the disk print medium M. As a result, the yellow coloring layer 23a develops a color.

Next, as shown in FIG. 8 (b), the first line 7 of the colored area 75 where the yellow coloring layer 23a is colored.
When 3 reaches the last part 71 b of the light irradiation area 71, the power supply to the cathode tube 13 is started. As a result, the light from the cathode tube 13 is applied to the disk print medium M. The light irradiation area 71 is an area where light from the cathode tube 13 is irradiated. Next, the head line 73 is changed to the thermal head 1 again.
When the number reaches 1, the energization of the thermal head 11 is terminated, and the coloring of the yellow coloring layer 23a is terminated.

Next, as shown in FIG. 8C, when the head line 74 of the fixed area 77 in which the yellow coloring layer 23a has been fixed reaches the thermal head 11 again,
The energization of the thermal head 11 is started, and the thermal energy of the second lowest thermosensitive coloring level is applied to the disk print medium M. As a result, coloring of the magenta coloring layer 23b starts from the first line 74. Next, when the leading line 73 reaches the last portion 71b again, the current supply to the cathode tube 13 is terminated, and the fixing of the yellow coloring layer 23a is terminated.

Next, as shown in FIG. 8D, the first line 7 of the colored area 79 in which the magenta coloring layer 23b is colored.
When 4 reaches the rear end 72 b of the light irradiation area 72, energization of the cathode tube 14 is started. As a result, the light from the cathode tube 14 is irradiated on the disk print medium M, and the magenta coloring layer 23b is fixed. The light irradiation area 72 is an area where light from the cathode tube 14 is irradiated. Next, when the head line 74 reaches the thermal head 11, the energization of the thermal head 11 is terminated, and the magenta coloring layer 23 is turned off.
The coloring of b ends.

Next, as shown in FIG. 8E, when the leading line 78 of the fixed area 81 where the magenta coloring layer 23b has been fixed reaches the thermal head 11, the thermal head 11 is energized. Starting, the thermal energy of the maximum thermosensitive coloring level is applied to the disk print medium M. As a result, coloring of the cyan coloring layer 23c is started from the first line 78. Next, when the leading line 78 reaches the rear end 72b of the light irradiation area 72 again, the power supply to the cathode tube 14 is terminated, and the fixing of the magenta coloring layer 23b is terminated.

Next, as shown in FIG. 8F, when the leading line 78 reaches the thermal head 11, the energization of the thermal head 11 is terminated, and the coloring of the cyan coloring layer 23c is terminated. At this time, the disk printing medium M is entirely covered with the colored area 82 in which the cyan coloring layer 23c has developed color, and printing is completed.

As described above, the coloring and fixing of the yellow coloring layer 23a, the coloring and fixing of the magenta coloring layer 23b,
In addition, by sequentially coloring the cyan coloring layer 23c,
Full color printing can be performed.

As shown in FIG. 8A, the heat application area of the disk printing medium M facing the thermal head 11 is:
Light irradiation area 71 of disk printing medium M facing cathode tube 13
Without being included. Even if the colored area 75 reaches the light irradiation area 71 even before the colored area 75 makes one rotation and reaches the thermal head 11 again, the yellow fixing step is started. be able to. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, the yellow fixing step can be started during the yellow coloring step, and the magenta coloring step can be started during the yellow fixing step.

Similarly, the heat application area by the thermal head 11 is not included in the light irradiation area 72 by the cathode tube 14, but is arranged separately, so that the magenta fixing step can be started in the middle of the magenta coloring step. The cyan coloring step can be started during the magenta fixing step. As described above, since the color forming step and the fixing step can be performed at the same time, the printing time can be greatly reduced.

After the cyan coloring step, another coloring step is not performed, and the fixing of the cyan coloring layer 23c is unnecessary. For this reason, as described with reference to FIG. 2, the cyan coloring layer 23c is formed of a dye encapsulated in microcapsules,
A configuration that does not require fixing by light can be provided. Further, as shown in FIG. 1 and the like, the rotary printing apparatus 10 includes:
Cathode tube 13 for fixing yellow coloring layer 23a and cathode tube 14 for fixing magenta coloring layer 23b
Only need.

Next, the shapes of the openings 42 and 44 shown in FIGS. 3 and 8A will be described. First, the sub-scanning lines of the disk print medium M facing the opening 42 extend in the circumferential direction and are arranged in a plurality in the radial direction. Since the disk printing medium M is driven to rotate, the sub-scanning line farther from the center of rotation has a higher linear velocity and a smaller exposure amount. The linear velocity is obtained by integrating the distance from the center of rotation and the rotational angular velocity of the disk print medium M. On the other hand, the opening 42 has a fan shape, and is arranged such that the center of the fan shape coincides with the rotation center of the disk print medium M. Because of the fan shape, the length of the arc portion of the sub-scanning line facing the opening 42 is longer as the arc portion is farther from the center of rotation of the disk print medium M, so that the light exposure at the outer peripheral portion can be compensated for. And the occurrence of uneven fixing can be suppressed. The opening 44 is the same as the opening 42, and the shape of the opening 44 can compensate for the exposure amount in the outer peripheral portion.

In this embodiment, the cathode tube is arranged in parallel with the disk print medium M, and the openings 42 and 44 are formed in a sector shape so that the exposure amount of each scanning line is constant. By performing the adjustment, uniform fixing over the entire printing area of the disk printing medium M was realized.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 9 is a perspective view schematically showing a rotary printing apparatus 100 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Since the rotary printing apparatus 100 has substantially the same configuration as the rotary printing apparatus 10 of the first embodiment, description of the same portions will be omitted, and only different portions will be described.
The opening 102 formed in the light blocking plate 101 of the rotary printing apparatus 100 is rectangular and is arranged in parallel in the radial direction.
The cathode tube 103 is a linear cold cathode tube, and is supported so as to be inclined such that the distance from the inner peripheral portion of the disk print medium M is greater than the distance from the outer peripheral portion.

By arranging the cathode tube 103 in this way, the intensity of the light radiated to the outer periphery becomes larger than the intensity of the light radiated to the inner periphery, thereby compensating for the exposure amount in the outer periphery. be able to. Therefore, it is possible to suppress uneven fixing due to the speed distribution of the disk print medium.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 10 shows a third embodiment of the present invention.
1 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a rotary printing apparatus 200 according to an embodiment. The rotary printing apparatus 200 also has substantially the same configuration as the rotary printing apparatus 10 of the first embodiment, and a description of the same parts will be omitted, and only different parts will be described. Opening 2 formed in light blocking plate 201 of rotary printing apparatus 200
02 is a rectangle and is arranged in parallel in the radial direction. The cathode tube 203 is a linear cold cathode tube, and is supported along the radial direction of the disk print medium M. A reflection plate 204 is provided on the back surface of a portion of the cathode tube 203 facing the outer peripheral portion of the disk print medium M. The reflection plate 204 is curved so as to surround the cathode tube 203, condenses light from the cathode tube 203, and irradiates the disk print medium M.

By providing the reflecting plate 204 in this manner, the intensity of the light radiated to the outer peripheral portion becomes larger than the intensity of the light radiated to the inner peripheral portion of the disk print medium M,
The exposure amount in the outer peripheral portion can be compensated. Therefore, it is possible to suppress uneven fixing due to the speed distribution of the disk print medium M.

[0054]

As described above, according to the present invention, high-quality image printing can be realized by a scanning method suitable for thermal printing and disk printing media. Further, by providing the exposure amount correcting means, it is possible to correct the variation in the exposure amount due to the linear velocity distribution on the disk print medium, to suppress the occurrence of the fixing unevenness in the printing area, and to realize the high quality image printing. be able to.

According to the present invention, the exposure amount correcting means is constituted by a light-shielding plate, and the shape of the opening is selected such that the length of the arc portion facing the opening for each sub-scanning line is not constant. Variations in the exposure amount due to the linear velocity distribution on the disk printing medium can be corrected, and the occurrence of fixing unevenness can be suppressed, and high-quality image printing can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing a rotary printing apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view showing a structure of a thermal printing sheet 21 used as a disc printing medium M in FIG. 1, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a structure of a medium 19 attached to the medium 0.

FIG. 3 is a side view specifically showing a mechanical configuration of the rotary printing apparatus 10 of FIG. 1, showing a state where a housing 33 is opened.

4 is a plan view of the rotary printing apparatus 10 in a state where a housing 33 of FIG. 3 is closed.

5 is a side view of the rotary printing apparatus 10 in a state where a housing 33 of FIG. 3 is closed.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the rotary printing apparatus 10 of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a timing chart showing an operation of the rotary printing apparatus 10.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the printing state of the disk print medium M in a stepwise manner.

FIG. 9 is a rotary printing apparatus 10 according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG.

FIG. 10 is a rotary printing apparatus 2 according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
00 is a perspective view schematically showing 00. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 100, 200 Rotary printing device 11 Thermal head 12 Backup roller 13, 14 Cathode tube 15 Stepping motor 20 Optical disk 21 Thermal printing sheet 31 Turntable M Disk print medium

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Norihiro Sawamoto 20-10 Nakayoshida, Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture Inside Star Precision Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shigeki Ikoma 20-10 Nakayoshida, Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture Star Precision Co., Ltd. F term (for reference) 2C065 AB01 AC01 AD07 AF01 CJ02 CJ05 CJ09

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A thermal head for performing thermal printing in a main scanning direction along a radial direction of a disk printing medium having a thermal coloring layer, and a disk printing medium is rotationally driven in a sub-scanning direction along the circumferential direction. Rotation driving means, a light source for irradiating fixing light to the disk print medium, and an exposure amount correction means for correcting variations in exposure amount due to linear velocity distribution on the disk print medium, Rotary printing device. 2. The exposure amount correcting means is a light-shielding plate having an opening for defining an irradiation area of fixing light, wherein the opening is an arc-shaped portion facing at least one sub-scanning line opening. 2. The rotary printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a length of the rotary printing device is different from a length of an arc portion facing an opening of another sub-scanning line.