JP2000177191A - Image-recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce an overlap shift of colors by winding a transfer medium on a platen and holding a winding end part by a roller. SOLUTION: A let-off pinch roller 33 and a take-up pinch roller 34 are nipped to a platen roller 26 in a state to hold and wind a transfer film by a certain amount on a platen. An upper guide roller 35 and a lower guide roller 36 are arranged to prevent a pressure of the pinch rollers 33 and 34 from being reduced by a tension when the film is crosslinked. An image-receiving medium is supplied from an image-receiving medium hopper 32 and a heating roller 27 waits at a position corresponding to an end part of the image-receiving medium. Then, the transfer film with a completed transfer image formed is moved to an appropriate position for the end part of the image-receiving medium. The image- receiving medium and the transfer film 22 are held by the heating roller 27 and a backup roller 28 and moved while being pressured and heated, whereby the image is retransferred to the image-receiving medium.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus for forming an ink image on a transfer film once and thereafter retransferring the ink image to a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of a conventional retransfer type image recording apparatus. This apparatus includes, as main components, a thermal transfer ribbon 1a, a thermal transfer ribbon take-up core 1b, a transfer film 2a, a transfer film take-up core 2b, an image receiving medium 3,
Thermal head 4, platen roller 5, heating roller 6,
Backup roller 7, film guide 8, recording medium 9
(Not shown), an image receiving medium hopper 10, a reversing mechanism 11, and an image receiving medium discharge tray 12. In FIG. 1, the thermal transfer ribbon in use has the ink-coated surface facing the platen roller 5 and the thermal head 4 and the platen roller 5.
And is crosslinked between the unwinding-side thermal transfer ribbon 1a and the thermal transfer ribbon winding core 1b.

The thermal transfer ribbon is color-coded periodically for each color. For example, yellow, magenta, cyan, and black are grouped together. The transfer film passes between the thermal head 4 and the platen roller 5, and is bridged between the transfer film 2a on the winding side and the transfer film winding core 2b via the film guide 8. An image receiving medium hopper 1 in which an image receiving medium 3 is stored is shown at the right end in the figure.
There is 0.

[0004] A series of image recording operations will be described. First, a thermal transfer ribbon is caught, yellow is emitted, and then a transfer film is caught. Next, the head is pressed against the platen to generate heat for each dot corresponding to the input image data, whereby an image is formed on the transfer film 2a from the thermal transfer ribbon. The operation is performed in the order of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black, for example, and a completed image is formed on the transfer film 2a. Next, the image receiving medium is supplied from the image receiving medium hopper 10, and the apparatus stands by at a position where the heating roller 6 hits the end of the image receiving medium. Next, the transfer film on which the completed transfer image is formed is moved to an appropriate position with respect to the end of the image receiving medium, and the heating roller 6 is moved toward the backup roller 7 so that the image receiving medium 3 and the transfer film are heated. And the backup roller 7, and move while applying pressure and heat to retransfer the image to the image receiving medium 3. At this time, the film portion of the transfer image on the transfer film is retransferred to the image receiving medium 3 as a completed image, and the transfer film from which the image has been cut out is peeled off from the image receiving medium 3 with the help of the film guide 8. At this time, the retransfer process and the peeling process are performed simultaneously at the same speed. When the transfer to the image receiving medium 3 is completed, the heating roller 6 is retracted. With the help of the film guide 8, the movement of the image receiving medium 3 is continued until the transfer film and the image receiving medium 3 are completely separated. When the peeling is completed, an image is formed on the image receiving medium 3, and the image recording is completed. Next, the image receiving medium is discharged to the paper discharge tray 12 through the reversing mechanism 11. Also, when forming an image on the back side, the image receiving medium is reversed at the reversing section,
The operation is returned to just before the image receiving medium hopper 10 and the same operation is repeated again to complete the image recording on both sides of the image receiving medium.

[0005]

However, the operation shown in FIG. 1 has several problems. One of the problems is that the superimposition of each color at the time of image formation on the transfer film is not performed sufficiently accurately. That is, at the time of image formation on the transfer film, the head is pressed against the platen, each dot generates heat according to the input image data, and the transfer film also moves in the sub-scanning direction at the same time as the platen rotates, so that thermal transfer is performed. Transfer film from ribbon 2a
The image of the heated portion is formed. At this time, since the contact between the platen and the transfer film is restricted only by pressing the head, the transfer film may slip with respect to the platen, and a predetermined feed amount may not be accurately fed. is there.

The second problem relates to the finish of the edge of the cut sheet when forming an image on the cut sheet-shaped image receiving medium. The heating roller 6 is moved toward the backup roller 7, the image receiving medium 3 and the transfer film 2 a are sandwiched between the heating roller 6 and the backup roller 7, and the image receiving medium 3 is moved by applying the pressure and heat of the heating roller 6. The image receiving medium 3 and the transfer film 2 which have been superimposed on each other are separated when they pass through the film guide 8. At this time, the retransfer process and the peeling process are performed simultaneously in one direction at the same speed,
In such peeling by the film guide 8 in the position shown in FIG. 1, the front end of the image receiving medium 3 is peeled off first, and the rear end is peeled off last. At the front end, the portion where the transfer film is not in contact with anything is peeled off, so that the transfer film is easily peeled off in a state where the film-shaped image forming portion is clearly re-transferred to the image receiving medium. However, when the trailing edge is finally peeled off, the transfer film is pulled up from the direction of the portion where the film-shaped image forming portion is stuck on the image receiving medium. It does not cut accurately and remains extra after the trailing edge. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the film was left in a film shape so as to leave a trailing portion other than the image receiving medium 3, so that the edge was not finished finely.

The third problem is that when the front end is peeled as described above, the front end has no contact with the film.
Since the adhered portion is peeled off, the transfer film can be easily peeled off in a state where the film-like image-formed portion is clearly transferred, but this can have an adverse effect on the image receiving medium of the laminated film. That is, at this time, the image receiving medium 3 is also heated. However, since many image receiving media 3 have a laminated structure such as a plastic card in many cases, the heated card is simultaneously removed with the transfer film at the front end. In many cases, the card itself is peeled off at the laminated portion due to the softening of the laminated portion adhesive layer.

A fourth problem is that the image receiving medium 3 onto which an image has been transferred by applying heat and pressure tends to curl due to the stress of the transferred film. In particular, the image receiving medium 3 which is greatly curled has a problem in use.

The fifth problem is wrinkling. By moving the heating roller 6, the image receiving medium 3 and the transfer film 2 a are sandwiched between the heating roller 6 and the backup roller 7 and moved while applying pressure and heat to transfer the image to the image receiving medium 3 by the film guide 8. , Transfer film 2a
And the image receiving medium 3 is peeled off. At this time, if the tension of the transfer film on the pay-out side of the film guide 8 is not stronger than that at the time of forming an image on the transfer film 2a from at least the thermal transfer ribbon, the transfer film The wrinkles were generated, and the wrinkles were transferred to the image receiving medium 3 as they were, and the image quality was remarkably deteriorated. Further, by moving the heating roller 6, the image receiving medium 3 and the transfer film 2a are sandwiched between the heating roller 6 and the backup roller 7, and moved while applying pressure and heat to transfer the image to the image receiving medium 3.
The thermal energy for transfer differs depending on the material of the image receiving medium 3. Normally, transfer is performed with fixed thermal energy at a compromise between various materials, but in this case, it is not possible to cope with various materials, and the image receiving medium is limited.

An object of the present invention is to solve all the above problems.

[0011]

In order to solve the above problems, in one embodiment of the present invention, the transfer medium is wound around a platen, and the winding end is sandwiched between rollers.

In another embodiment, when the transferred film is peeled off from the final image receiving medium, the transfer film guide is sandwiched with a heat roller so that the film can always be pulled up from the side without the image receiving medium at both the leading and trailing ends. And the image receiving medium is returned in the transfer direction and in the direction opposite to the transfer.

In still another embodiment, the transferred film is peeled off from the final image receiving medium during the transfer and peeling process described above, but the leading end is sufficiently cooled before the leading end reaches the peeling portion. For this reason, the heat and pressure are once released, and after a certain period of time, heat and pressure are applied again so that image transfer can be continued.

In still another embodiment, the transfer medium is superimposed on the final image receiving medium, the image is transferred by applying heat and pressure, and the transferred film is peeled off from the final image receiving medium. Is moved to the upper portion of the backup roller 7, and the image receiving medium is paired with the heat roller. By moving the backup roller 7 up and down, the image receiving medium is forcibly warped in the convex direction toward the heat roll side. To correct the curl.

In still another aspect, when the image-transferred medium is superimposed on the final image-receiving medium and the image is transferred by applying heat and pressure, the tension of the film-shaped transfer medium is applied to the film-shaped transfer medium. The tension can be changed arbitrarily so that it can be stronger than when recording an image.

In still another mode, the heating roller 6 is moved to transfer the image receiving medium 3 and the transfer film 2a to the heating roller 6,
When the image is transferred to the image receiving medium 3 while being sandwiched by the backup roller 7 and moved while applying pressure and heat, the thermal energy for transferring the image is set according to the material of the image receiving medium 3 under the conditions set in advance. In order to apply to various materials by giving the optimal thermal energy, a variable thermal energy method was adopted.

In still another aspect, which is related to the first problem described above, when a plurality of transfers are required in the case of color printing, a predetermined position of the transfer medium is detected as a marker for cueing. The transfer of the black color was performed first so that it could be performed or during the transfer of the first color, so that a marker for heading could be recorded on the transfer medium.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An image recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an image recording apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows a sectional view of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a configuration including the above-described first and second features of the present invention of a retransfer type image recording apparatus for once forming a transfer ink image on a transfer film and thereafter retransferring the ink image to a recording medium. Shown in This device includes a feeding-side pinch roller 33 and a winding-side pinch roller 3 as main components.
4. Upper guide roller 35, lower guide roller 36, thermal transfer ribbon 20, thermal transfer ribbon take-up core 21, transfer film 22, transfer film take-up core 23, image receiving medium 3.
1. Thermal head 25, platen roller 26, heating roller 27, backup roller 28, film guide front 29, film guide rear 30, image receiving medium 31,
Image receiving medium hopper 32, reversing mechanism 33, image receiving medium discharge tray 34, transport roller 35, pre-cleaning roller 3
6, the transport pinch roller 38 and the end cleaning roller 37.

In FIG. 2, the thermal transfer ribbon 20 has its ink-coated surface facing the platen roller 26. The unwinding of the transfer film and the transfer film unwound from the transfer film 22 are bridged so as to contact a part of the surface of the platen roller 26 and reach the transfer film take-up core 23 through the film guide front 29 and the film guide rear 30. Have been. The feeding-side pinch roller 33 and the winding-side pinch roller 34 are nipped with respect to the platen roller 26 in such a manner that the transfer film is held in a state in which the transfer film is wound around the platen to some extent. Further, the upper guide roller 35 and the lower guide roller 36 are provided so that the pressure of the pinch roller is not reduced by the tension when the film is crosslinked.
Is arranged.

In order to form an image on the transfer film, the thermal transfer ribbon is color-coded periodically for each color.
For example, yellow, magenta, cyan, and black form one group. First, the thermal transfer ribbon is caught and yellowed, and then the transfer film is caught.

Here, the beginning of the transfer film can be detected by detecting a predetermined position of the transfer film.

Next, an image is formed on the transfer film 22 from the thermal transfer ribbon by pressing the head against the platen to generate heat for each dot corresponding to the input image data. The operation is, for example, yellow, magenta, cyan,
The transfer is performed in the order of black, and a completed transfer (mirror image) image is formed on the transfer film 22.

The images are superimposed in the same area of the transfer film for each color. In order to prevent misalignment of each color, a predetermined position of the transfer film is detected and the cueing is accurately performed. it can. In addition, a cueing marker is recorded on the transfer film at the time of forming an image of the first color, and the position of the marker is detected at the time of forming an image of a subsequent color, thereby performing cueing. In that case, instead of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black, black image formation is performed first, and at the same time, a head marker is recorded on the transfer film, and then image formation of another color is performed. It is convenient. As a means for detecting a predetermined position of the transfer medium as a positioning marker, a means known per se to those skilled in the art can be used. As a means for performing cueing of the transfer medium in recording an image on the transfer medium based on the detected predetermined position, a means per se known to those skilled in the art can be used.

Next, the image receiving medium is supplied from the image receiving medium hopper 32, and waits at a position where the heating roller 27 is at the end of the image receiving medium. Next, the transfer film 22 on which the completed transfer image is formed is moved to an appropriate position with respect to the end of the image receiving medium, the heating roller 27 is moved in the direction of the backup roller 28, and the image receiving medium 31 and the transfer film 22 are heated by the heating roller. The image is re-transferred to the image receiving medium by being sandwiched between the recording medium 27 and the backup roller 28 and moved while applying pressure and heat.

At this time, transfer is performed by changing thermal energy depending on the material of the image receiving medium. Specifically, the time to apply heat,
That is, the amount of thermal energy is changed by changing the transfer movement speed. Further, by changing the temperature of the heat roller, more appropriate transfer energy is given. Simultaneously with the retransfer, at the film guide front 29 of the transfer film, the film portion that was the transfer image on the transfer film is transferred to the image receiving medium 31, and the base transfer film with the image cut out is removed from the image receiving medium by the film guide front. Peeled off with the help of the action of In this process, the tension of the transfer film is set to be higher than that when the image is formed by switching the rotation torque of the transfer film winding core 23. The mechanism for changing the rotational torque may be of any type.

After the heating roller 27 advances to the rear end of the image receiving medium 31 and applies heat and pressure to transfer the transfer image of the transfer film to the image receiving medium, the heating roller retracts while the image receiving medium 31 is sent as it is. The transfer film is separated from the image receiving medium 31 by the film guide front 29. At this time, in order to lower the temperature of the front end of the image receiving medium 31 before the front end of the image receiving medium 31 is peeled off by the film guide front 29, the heating roller is temporarily evacuated to stop the movement, and the time until the peeling can be adjusted. I did it. This is because it is preferable to be able to change depending on the type of the image receiving medium. In this case, after some downtime,
The heating roller again applies pressure and heat, so that it is returned to its original position, nips the transfer film and the image receiving medium, and transfers the film portion of the transferred image on the transfer film to the image receiving medium 31 in the same manner as before the retraction. Transcribe.

When not evacuated, the image receiving medium 31 is moved without stopping and peeling is performed.

Before the rear end of the image receiving medium 31 approaches the film guide front 29, the image receiving medium 31 moves in the direction opposite to the above-described direction, and the rear end of the image receiving medium 31 is peeled off by the film guide rear 30. When the transfer film is completely removed from the image receiving medium 31, the retransferred image receiving medium 31 further moves in the sheet discharging direction opposite to the above-described opposite direction.
When the retransfer to the image receiving medium 31 is completed, the heating roller 27
Evacuate.

If the image receiving medium is curled during the heat transfer process, the retransferred image receiving medium is returned to a position where the center of the lengthwise direction of the retransferred image medium becomes the center of the backup roller again with the heating roller retracted. By moving the backup roller upward and curling it in the opposite direction as shown in FIG. 3, the curl can be corrected. After a curl is corrected by this method, the curl-free one passes through the image receiving medium reversing unit 33 and is discharged onto the image receiving medium discharge tray 34 as it is. When an image is to be formed on the back side, the image receiving medium is inverted at the reversing section and returned to just before the image receiving medium hopper 32.
The same operation is repeated again to record an image on both sides of the image receiving medium.

[0031]

As described above, in the image recording apparatus of the present invention, the transfer medium is wound around the platen, and the winding end is sandwiched between the rollers, so that the transfer force between the platen and the platen determines the moving amount of the transfer ribbon. By improving the anti-slipping property and the slip resistance, it was possible to extremely reduce the misregistration of each color, and to form a clear image with less color misregistration. This also makes it possible to suppress the occurrence of wrinkles due to the heat of the heating element at the time of image formation by the thermal head, and to form a good-quality image without wrinkles on the transfer film.

Further, when the transfer medium is superimposed on the image on the final image receiving medium and the image is transferred by applying heat and pressure, when the transferred film is peeled off from the final image receiving medium, both the leading end and the rear end have no image receiving medium. By pulling up the film from the side, the conventional method peels off the transfer film from the part where the film-shaped image forming part is stuck, so that the film remains at the rear end, and finally the rear end film removal work Although it was necessary, since the tip and the trailing end are peeled in the same way,
No film was left, the image could be transferred beautifully, and no post-processing was required to reduce cost and improve productivity.

Further, when the transferred film is peeled off from the final image receiving medium, the leading end is sufficiently cooled before the leading end reaches the peeling portion, so that the image receiving layer has a layer structure like a sandwich. Peeling from the layer structure of the medium itself disappeared. Conventionally, since the peeling was performed without cooling, the adhesive of the layer structure was weaker due to the heat given by the transfer process than the peeling adhesive force of the transfer film, and it was easy to peel off. It stuck to the transfer film in the state. Thus, an image can be formed on an object such as an IC card.

Further, in the case of not transferring the transfer film on the winding side of the transfer film at the time of transfer, wrinkles are generated on the transfer film by the heat of the heating roller when the transferred image is re-transferred to the image receiving medium, and the wrinkles are directly received. Although the image quality was re-transferred to the medium, the image quality was lowered. However, by increasing the winding side tension of the transfer film at the time of re-transfer, wrinkles were prevented from being generated, and the image quality could be improved. Further, as compared with the case where an image is formed on a transfer film from a thermal transfer ribbon, the tension required to eliminate the wrinkles required, for example, 2 to 4 times the ideal tension at the time of image formation. Because, when forming an image on the transfer film, heat is applied to the thermal head to form the image on the transfer film, and then the image is re-transferred by the heating roller. This is because the film that has been subjected to the corresponding thermal stress has poor flatness before the last image formation starts at the time of retransfer. Since the retransfer is performed in such a state that the flatness of the film is the worst, it is necessary to apply stronger tension than at the time of image formation in order to correct the flatness and eliminate wrinkles. Therefore, even when the thermal transfer ribbon and the transfer film are held on the platen with a pinch roller, when the same tension is used and the high tension is used, the platen and the film cause slippage in color shift. Since the tension can be set, a clear, wrinkle-free, high-quality image with little color shift can be formed.

Further, by providing a mechanism for correcting the warpage of the image receiving medium irrelevant to the image forming process, it is possible to correct the optimum warpage according to the material without affecting the image quality.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of a conventional image recording apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of an image recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram outlining one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state before and after peeling of a rear end portion of a transfer film for showing a problem when printing is performed by a conventional method.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a state before and after peeling of a front end portion of a transfer film for showing a problem when printing is performed by a conventional method.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) B65H 29/70 B41J 3/20 117C F-term (Reference) 2C065 AA01 AB03 AC01 DC07 DC22 DC29 DC32 2C068 AA02 AA06 AA15 AA22 FF12 HH01 HH04 HH05 HH09 HH12 HH19 KK12 3F053 HA03 HB01 LA01

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A thermal head sequentially heats a transfer position portion of a thermal transfer ribbon on a platen so that the portion of the thermal transfer ribbon and the transfer position portion are brought into contact with each other in the same band of a film-like transfer medium as required. In an image recording apparatus for recording an image and forming a target image on a final image receiving medium by using the transfer medium on which the image is recorded, the transfer is performed by securely bringing the transfer medium and the thermal transfer ribbon into close contact with the platen surface. Image recording, wherein each roller is provided for pressing the front and rear ends of a portion of the transfer medium and the thermal transfer ribbon wrapped around the platen surface against the platen surface in order to prevent the transfer medium from being displaced. apparatus. 2. An image is recorded on a film-like transfer medium in which the transfer position of the thermal transfer ribbon on the platen is sequentially heated by a thermal head so that the transfer transfer portion and the thermal transfer ribbon come into contact with each other. So that the retransfer position portion of the transfer medium on which the image is recorded sequentially contacts the final image receiving medium in the form of a cut sheet, and after applying heat and pressure to these contacting media, the contact portion of the transfer medium is separated. In the image recording apparatus for re-transferring the image and forming the target image on the final image receiving medium, heat and pressure are applied to transfer the image film of the transfer medium film to the final image receiving medium. When the part is separated from the cut sheet-shaped final image receiving medium, at the front end and the rear end of the cut sheet-shaped final image receiving medium, from the side where the final image receiving medium does not exist. Image recording apparatus is characterized by providing a means for pulling the film. 3. A heating roller for applying heat and pressure from above a retransfer position portion of the transfer medium located on the final image receiving medium, and a heating roller located in front of and behind the heating roller. A film guide for positioning the transfer medium near the heating roller toward the final image receiving medium; and a means for horizontally moving the cut sheet-shaped final image receiving medium. The means for pulling up the film includes reversing the moving direction of the means for horizontally moving before the film guide on the moving direction side reaches the trailing end of the cut sheet-shaped final image receiving medium in the horizontal moving direction. 3. The device according to claim 2, wherein the device is a device. 4. An image is recorded on a film-like transfer medium in which the transfer position portion of the thermal transfer ribbon on the platen is sequentially heated by a thermal head so that the transfer position portion of the thermal transfer ribbon contacts the transfer position portion. The re-transfer position portion of the transfer medium on which the image is recorded is brought into contact with the cut sheet-shaped final image receiving medium that moves sequentially horizontally, and after applying heat and pressure to these contacted media, the transfer medium comes into contact with the cut sheet-shaped final image receiving medium. In an image recording apparatus for retransferring an image by separating a portion to form a target image on the final image receiving medium, heat and pressure are applied to transfer an image film of the transfer medium film to the final image receiving medium. When the front end of the cut sheet-shaped final image receiving medium in the horizontal movement direction is separated from the finished portion, heat and pressure are once removed before the separation is started. The end portion is cooled, while applying again heat and pressure after a predetermined time, pull the partial from the final image receiving medium,
An image recording apparatus comprising a front end cooling means for continuing a process of applying heat and pressure to transfer an image film of the transfer medium film to the final image receiving medium. 5. A retractable heating roller for applying heat and pressure from above a retransfer position portion of the transfer medium located on the final image receiving medium, and at least the moving direction of the heating roller. A film guide for positioning the transfer medium near the heating roller toward the final image receiving medium and a means for horizontally moving the cut sheet-shaped final image receiving medium; Means for generating a signal when the front end of the horizontally moving final image receiving medium approaches the film guide; and the heating roller in response to the signal of the front end detection means. 5. The image apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a heating roller retracting unit for retracting the final image receiving medium and stopping horizontal movement of the final image receiving medium. 6. An image is recorded on a film-like transfer medium in which the transfer position of the thermal transfer ribbon on the platen is sequentially heated by a thermal head so that the transfer transfer portion and the transfer transfer portion contact each other. The re-transfer position portion of the transfer medium on which the image is recorded is brought into contact with the cut sheet-shaped final image receiving medium that moves sequentially horizontally, and after applying heat and pressure to these contacted media, the transfer medium comes into contact with the cut sheet-shaped final image receiving medium. In an image recording apparatus for forming a target image on the final image receiving medium by retransferring an image by separating a part, the heating roller is opposed to the heating roller with the transfer medium and the final image receiving medium interposed therebetween. Including a backup roller that can move up and down,
An image recording apparatus, comprising: means for correcting a curl of a final image receiving medium after retransfer. 7. An image is recorded on a film-like transfer medium in which the transfer position of the thermal transfer ribbon on the platen is sequentially heated by a thermal head so that the transfer transfer portion and the thermal transfer ribbon come into contact with each other. The re-transfer position portion of the transfer medium on which the image is recorded is brought into contact with the cut sheet-shaped final image receiving medium that moves sequentially horizontally, and after applying heat and pressure to these contacted media, the transfer medium comes into contact with the cut sheet-shaped final image receiving medium. In an image recording apparatus for retransferring an image by separating a part to form a target image on the final image receiving medium, the tension of the film-like transfer medium is used to record an image on a film-like transfer medium. An image recording apparatus characterized in that the image recorded on the transfer medium is stronger when the image is retransferred to the final image receiving medium by applying heat and pressure. 8. Apparatus according to claim 7, comprising a respective roller according to claim 1. 9. An image is recorded on a film-like transfer medium in which the transfer position of the thermal transfer ribbon on the platen is sequentially heated by a thermal head so that the transfer transfer portion and the thermal transfer ribbon come into contact with each other. The re-transfer position portion of the transfer medium on which the image is recorded is brought into contact with the cut sheet-shaped final image receiving medium that moves sequentially horizontally, and after applying heat and pressure to these contacted media, the transfer medium comes into contact with the cut sheet-shaped final image receiving medium. In an image recording apparatus for retransferring an image by separating a part to form a target image on the final image receiving medium, applying heat and pressure to retransfer an image from the transfer medium to the final image receiving medium An image recording apparatus, further comprising means for changing a retransfer speed and / or a retransfer temperature according to thermal energy required for transfer of the material of the final image receiving medium. 10. A thermal head sequentially heats a transfer position portion of a thermal transfer ribbon on a platen so that the portion of the thermal transfer ribbon comes into contact with the transfer position portion in the same band of a film-like transfer medium only when necessary. In an image recording apparatus for recording an image and forming a target image on a final image receiving medium using the transfer medium on which the image is recorded, means for detecting a predetermined position of the transfer medium as a positioning marker, and An image recording apparatus including means for performing cueing of the transfer medium in recording an image on the transfer medium based on the information. 11. A thermal head sequentially heats a transfer position portion of a thermal transfer ribbon on a platen so that the portion of the thermal transfer ribbon comes into contact with the transfer position portion in the same band of a film-like transfer medium as required. In a color image recording apparatus for recording an image and forming a target image on a final image receiving medium by using the transfer medium on which the image has been recorded, a means for recording a positioning marker at a predetermined position on the transfer medium, Each time a color image is recorded,
Means for performing cueing of the transfer medium in recording an image on the transfer medium based on the detected position of the marker, and wherein the apparatus records the positioning marker and performs the transfer. An image recording apparatus characterized in that black is printed first for forming an image on a medium, and then the remaining colors are printed for forming an image.