JP2000301749A - Method for glossy finish - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain high-quality printing by setting a preparatory overheating time to be a constant time irrespective of an environment temperature and setting a desired preparatory overheating temperature after the preparatory overheating time has passed. SOLUTION: A temperature of a rear face of a thermal head of a printer is detected by a thermistor set to the rear face of the thermal head. Preparatory overheating once or by a plurality of the number of times and/or cooling once or by a plurality of the number of times are carried out so that the temperature of the rear face of the thermal head is adjusted to be in a preliminarily set preparatory overheating temperature range within a constant time. After the constant time for the preparatory overheating has passed (step ST5), the thermal head is brought into contact with a printing surface of a recording paper via a film ribbon. At the same time, while main overheating of supplying electricity to all heating units of the thermal head is carried out, a carriage is scanned by one printing line, thereby melting an adhering ink of the printing surface again to finish the paper glossily (step ST6). At this time, the supply of electricity for the main overheating is regulated so that the temperature of the rear face of the thermal head becomes in a range of 40-60 deg.C.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gloss finishing method, and more particularly, to a gloss finishing method for performing gloss finishing by remelting ink on a printing surface in thermal transfer printing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Hitherto, a method relating to a gloss finish for finishing an image such as a color print in a printer into an image closer to a photograph has been developed.

[0003] For example, in the case of thermal transfer printing using a resin-based ink, the glossy finish is such that after performing desired printing, the surface of the printed area is heated by a thermal head of a printer to form the resin constituting the image. This is performed by re-melting the system ink and smoothing the surface of the printing area during re-solidification. By applying this gloss finish, it is possible to prevent irregular reflection of light caused by unevenness of the attached ink formed on the print area surface before applying the gloss finish, and to obtain a print with a good gloss feeling. Can be.

[0004] In this conventional gloss finishing method, the heating temperature by the thermal head is an important point for determining the quality of the finish.

[0005]

That is, if the heating temperature is lower than the temperature for melting the surface of the adhered ink, the surface of the adhered ink cannot be sufficiently melted. The gloss finish is poor.

On the other hand, if the heating temperature is higher than the temperature for melting the surface of the adhered ink, the temperature among the heat generating elements constituting the thermal head varies, resulting in unevenness. In addition, there are problems such as that heat is trapped in portions protruding from the cereal to cause streak-like unevenness.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has as its object to provide a glossy finishing method which can provide high-quality printing without unevenness in glossiness and has good usability. It is.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a gloss finishing method according to the first aspect of the present invention. The temperature is detected by a thermistor, and when the temperature of the thermal head is lower than the lower limit of a desired preheating temperature range, the temperature of the thermal head is set to a desired heating temperature by energizing a heating portion of the thermal head. When the temperature of the back surface of the thermal head is higher than the desired upper limit of the preheating temperature range, preheating is performed to adjust the temperature to radiate the heat storage of the thermal head. By energizing the body, the carriage of the printer is moved while performing the main heating to set the temperature of the thermal head to a desired main heating temperature. A series of steps for bringing the thermal head into contact with a print surface of print information via a film ribbon wound and housed in a ribbon case mounted on the carriage to re-melt ink on the print surface are described. A glossy finishing method in which printing is performed line by line and a glossy finish is applied to printing, wherein the preheating is performed by applying a power supply pulse length based on a difference between a printer environmental temperature detected by a thermistor disposed in the printer and a previously input environmental reference temperature. The preheating time for performing one or more times of heating and / or one or more times of heat radiation is performed at a constant time regardless of the environmental temperature, and the desired preheating temperature is set after the elapse of the preheating time. It is characterized by having obtained.

For example, when the ambient temperature detected by a thermistor disposed in a printer is lower than usual, the preheating time is conventionally longer than when the environmental temperature is higher, so that the user has a feeling of use. However, according to the present invention, since the preheating time is constant regardless of the environmental temperature, the preheating time does not feel longer or shorter than usual, and the usability is improved. In addition, the time required for preheating can be shortened by adjusting the pulse length of energization according to the difference between the environmental temperature and the environmental reference temperature.

A gloss finishing method according to a second aspect of the present invention is the gloss finishing method according to the first aspect, wherein a gloss is applied to a printing surface on which all desired print information has been printed, one by one printing line. The gloss finishing method according to claim 3 is characterized in that the finishing is performed. The gloss finishing method according to claim 1 is a method according to claim 1, wherein: It is characterized in that a gloss finish is applied to the surface one printing line at a time.

According to these inventions, the glossy finish for each print line can always be performed at an appropriate temperature.

Further, a gloss finishing method according to a fourth aspect is the gloss finishing method according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the preheating temperature range is 40 ° C to 40 ° C.
The heating temperature is set to a desired temperature range of 60 ° C., and the main heating temperature is set to a temperature at which the temperature of the thermal head is a desired temperature of 40 ° C. to 60 ° C. and is equal to or higher than the upper limit temperature of the preheating temperature range. Features.

According to the present invention, since the preheating within the appropriate temperature and the main heating at the appropriate temperature can be performed, the gloss finish can be made uniform.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

The printer 1 according to the present embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is a thermal transfer printer, which can be driven and controlled for gloss finishing.

At a desired position on a frame (not shown) of the printer 1, a flat platen 2 is disposed so that its recording surface 2a is substantially vertical.

In this embodiment, the thermal head 7 is located outside the printing range of the thermal head 7 described later.
A heat radiating member 3 made of a material having a high thermal conductivity is disposed on the upstream side of the platen 2 in the printing girder direction, which is a portion facing the platen 2. The surface of the heat radiating member 3 is a surface of the platen 2. Is formed at a substantially uniform height.

A guide shaft 4 is disposed below and in front of the platen 2 in parallel with the platen 2.
At an appropriate position of the guide shaft 4, a carriage 5 is mounted, and the carriage 5 moves an appropriate drive belt 6 wound around a pair of pulleys (not shown) to a stepping mechanism (not shown). It is driven by a carriage motor such as a motor so as to be reciprocally movable along the guide shaft 4.

The carriage 5 can be brought into and out of contact with the platen 2 by a well-known head moving mechanism (both not shown) which faces the platen 2 and can be operated by the driving force of a drive motor. A thermal head 7 is provided which can be pressed against the printer via a sheet or the like (not shown). The thermal head 7 includes a plurality of heating elements (not shown) that are selectively arranged to generate heat based on desired print information or the like input by an appropriate input device (not shown) such as a keyboard. ).
Further, the thermal head 7 is provided with a thermistor 8 for detecting the temperature of the back surface of the thermal head 7. The thermistor 8 is arranged at a desired position of the printer 1 and is connected to a control unit 9 that controls the driving of each unit of the printer 1.

Further, at the center of the upper surface of the carriage 5,
A pair of rotatable bobbins 10 are provided so as to protrude upward at a predetermined interval from each other, and the bobbin 10 allows the ink ribbon to run in a predetermined direction. One of the pair of bobbins 10 is a winding bobbin 10a for winding the ink ribbon, and the other is a sending bobbin 10b for sending the ink ribbon.

The carriage 5 has a stepping motor for bringing the thermal head 7 into and out of contact with the platen 2 and a stepping motor for controlling the winding of the ink ribbon (hereinafter referred to as a ribbon winding motor). ) Is arranged to transmit power to the thermal head 7 and the winding bobbin 10a via a transmission gear (not shown).

The control unit 9 includes a memory 11, a CPU 12, and the like (not shown). The control unit 9 controls a normal printing operation of the printer 1. In the present embodiment, the pre-heating data is controlled based on the environmental temperature and the like. , And drive control for gloss finish such as preheating based on the preheating data is performed.

In the present embodiment, the memory 11 stores and inputs an environmental reference temperature, a preheating temperature range, a main heating temperature range, and the like for excellent gloss finish. In the present embodiment, the environmental reference temperature is 20
° C, the preheating temperature range is 45 to 46 ° C within the desired temperature range of 40 ° C to 60 ° C, and the main heating temperature range is the desired temperature of the back surface temperature of the thermal head of 40 ° C to 60 ° C. 46 ° C. to 50 ° C., which is higher than the upper limit temperature of the preheating temperature range. By setting in this manner, the thermal head 7 is preliminarily heated in the preliminary heating, so that it is easy to obtain the set temperature of the main heating.
The main heating can be performed at an appropriate temperature that is neither too low nor too high.

Further, the memory 11 has an ON / OFF state of the energizing pulse for performing preheating at a constant preheating time irrespective of the ambient temperature for gloss finishing.
Printer 1 whose time is detected by a thermistor not shown
The preheating data detected based on the difference between the ambient temperature and the preheating temperature is stored in advance.

The printing operation of the printer 1 is conventionally known, and the description is omitted. The gloss finishing method of the present embodiment will be described below.

First, based on the stored data, desired printing is performed on a printing medium such as recording paper (hereinafter, recording paper or the like) to complete printing, and thereafter, the gloss finish of the present embodiment is performed.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing one embodiment of the gloss finishing method.

First, the backside temperature of the thermal head 7 is detected by a thermistor disposed on the backside of the thermal head 7 of the printer 1, and the backside temperature of the thermal head 7 is lower than the lower limit of the preset preheating temperature range. It is determined whether or not the temperature is high (step ST1). That is, in the present embodiment, it is determined whether the temperature is higher than 45 ° C.

If the temperature of the back surface of the thermal head 7 is lower than 45 ° C., preheating is performed (step ST2).

The preheating is performed by energizing the heating element of the thermal head 7 with an energizing pulse length determined based on a temperature detected by a thermistor provided in the printer and detecting a working environment temperature. That is, as shown in the flowchart of the subroutine shown in FIG.
The environmental temperature is detected by a thermistor provided in the printer and detecting the working environment temperature (step ST11). Subsequently, the difference between the environmental temperature and the environmental reference temperature is determined, and the energizing pulse length is determined from the preheating data input to the memory (step ST12).
Is pre-heated by energizing the heating elements (step ST).
13).

For example, when the environmental temperature detected by the thermistor is 15 ° C. and 10 ° C., the energizing pulse length is 10 ° C. longer. When the environmental temperature detected by the thermistor is higher than the set environmental reference temperature, the control is performed with a very short energizing pulse or no energization at all.

Then, the backside temperature of the thermal head 7 is detected by a thermistor disposed on the backside of the thermal head 7 of the printer 1, and the backside temperature of the thermal head 7 is lower than the lower limit of the preset preheating temperature range. It is determined whether or not the temperature is high (step ST1).

At this time, if the temperature of the back surface of the thermal head 7 has not reached 45 ° C., the process shown in the subroutine of preheating is repeated.

When the back surface temperature of the thermal head 7 has reached 45 ° C., it is determined whether or not the back surface temperature of the thermal head 7 is higher than an upper limit value of a preset preheating temperature range (step). ST3). That is, in the present embodiment, it is determined whether the temperature is higher than 46 ° C.

When the back surface temperature of the thermal head 7 is higher than 46 ° C., cooling is performed (step ST4).

This cooling is performed by releasing the thermal head 7 from the heat radiating member 3 so as to release the heat stored in the thermal head 7.
By controlling the driving of the carriage 4 and the thermal head 7 so as to make contact.

Specifically, under the control of the control unit 9,
The carriage 5 is moved to move the thermal head 7 to the heat dissipating member 3 disposed at one longitudinal end of the platen 2. Subsequently, the thermal head 7 is moved down to bring the thermal head 7 into contact with the heat radiating member 9. At this time, it goes without saying that the heating elements of the thermal head 7 are not energized. By doing so, the heat stored in the thermal head 7 is radiated. In this embodiment, the platen 2
Although the heat radiating member 3 is provided, the thermal head 7 can also radiate heat even when the heat radiating member 3 is not provided by bringing the thermal head 7 into contact with a recording paper or the like set in the printer 1.

Then, the temperature of the back surface of the thermal head 7 is detected by a thermistor disposed on the back surface of the thermal head 7 of the printer 1, and the temperature is fixed by one or more times of preliminary heating and / or one or more times of cooling. Within the time, the back surface temperature of the thermal head 7 is adjusted so as to be within a preset preheating temperature range.

As described above, in the preheating according to the present embodiment, the preheating can always be performed for a fixed time regardless of the environmental temperature and the back surface temperature of the thermal head 7.

After a lapse of a predetermined time for preheating (step ST5), the thermal head 7 is applied to the printing surface of the recording paper via a ribbon wound around a ribbon cassette mounted on the carriage 5. The carriage is scanned for one printing line while performing main heating for energizing all the heat generating elements of the thermal head 7 while performing the contacting, and a gloss finish is performed to re-melt the ink adhered to the printing surface (step ST6). . At this time, the energization for the forehead heating is performed when the back surface temperature of the thermal head 7 is 40 ° C. to 6 ° C.
The current is adjusted to be in the range of 0 ° C., preferably in the range of 46 ° C. to 50 ° C.

As described above, in the gloss finishing method according to the present embodiment, by controlling the temperature of the thermal head 7, erroneous heating or heat storage of the thermal head 7 may cause an error in an area other than the remelted area. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of uneven gloss and print stains due to glossy finish.

Subsequently, it is determined from the stored data whether or not the immediately preceding gloss-finished print line is the last line (step ST7). If it is the last line, the gloss finish is terminated.

If it is not the last line, the process returns to step ST1 to apply the gloss finish through the preheating for the next gloss finish in the same manner as described above, and determine whether or not it is the last print line. I do. This series of steps is repeated by the number of printing lines to complete the gloss finish.

As described above, according to the gloss finishing method of the present embodiment, preheating is performed in the steps ST1 to ST5, and the main heating is performed in step ST6 after the back surface temperature of the thermal head 4 is set to an appropriate temperature. It is possible to obtain a high-quality glossy image without unevenness in gloss, and to make the preheating time constant regardless of the environmental temperature. Can be made longer or shorter than usual, and the usability can be improved. In addition, by adjusting the pulse length of energization according to the difference between the environmental temperature and the environmental reference temperature, the time required for preheating can be shortened.

In the above gloss finishing method,
PE prepared separately from ribbon coated with color ink
Using a roll of only a film ribbon for glossy finishing made of T or the like, and using cyan, magenta, yellow, and, if necessary, black ink, if necessary, complete the desired printing to the last line, Although the case where the finishing is applied later (see the flowchart from the start of printing to the completion of gloss finishing shown in FIG. 4) has been described, the gloss finishing method of the present invention uses cyan, magenta, yellow, and, if necessary, black ink. Printing and glossy finishing are performed on each line by using the glossy finishing ribbon formed next to the ink layered on the top of the ribbon, in which the applied portions are repeatedly formed in order. (See the flowchart from the start of printing to the gloss finish shown in FIG. 5). The gloss finish in that case is determined in step ST of the flowchart shown in FIG.
In 6, it is determined whether or not the line is the last line. If the line is not the last line, the flow returns to the first step of the flowchart shown in FIG. 5, immediately before the line printing using cyan ink.

Further, it is also possible to apply a gloss finish to the printing of a single black color, and in that case, it is possible to apply a gloss finish after printing all the printing lines. As described above, it is also possible to apply a gloss finish after printing for each line.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be variously modified as needed.

[0048]

As described above, the glossy finishing method according to the present invention can provide high-quality printing without unevenness in glossiness and can enhance the user's feeling of use. To play.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a printer used for a gloss finishing method according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a gloss finishing method of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a subroutine relating to preheating in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a relationship between a printing step and a step of performing the gloss finishing method of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is another flowchart showing the relationship between the printing step and the step of performing the gloss finishing method of the present invention.

Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C065 AA02 AC01 AC04 CJ02 CJ03 DA01 DA08 DA10 DA16 DA33 DA38 2C066 AA03 AC05 AD01 CA05 CA07 CA10 CA13 CA19 CA24 DA04 DA07 DA08 DA13 DA14 DA18 DA21 2H113 BA17 BA23 FA48 FA51

Claims (4)

[Claims] After performing printing based on print information by a printer, a temperature of a thermal head of the printer is detected by a thermistor, and a temperature of a back surface of the thermal head is lower than a lower limit of a desired preheating temperature range. In
When the temperature of the back surface of the thermal head is set to a desired heating temperature by energizing a heating portion of the thermal head, the thermal head is heated when the temperature of the thermal head is higher than an upper limit of a desired preheating temperature range. After performing pre-heating to adjust the temperature to release the heat stored in the head,
By energizing all the heating elements of the thermal head, the carriage of the printer is run while performing main heating to set the temperature of the thermal head to a desired main heating temperature, and the thermal head is placed in a ribbon case mounted on the carriage. A series of steps of re-melting the ink on the printing surface by making contact with the printing surface of the printing information via the film ribbon wound and stored in the printing ribbon is performed one printing line at a time, and a gloss finishing method for applying a gloss finish to printing is performed. The preliminary heating adjusts the energizing pulse length based on the difference between the environmental temperature of the printer detected by a thermistor disposed in the printer and a previously input environmental reference temperature, and performs one or more heatings and / or ones. The preheating time for performing the heat radiation a plurality of times is performed at a fixed time irrespective of the environmental temperature, and after the elapse of the preheating time, A glossy finishing method characterized by obtaining a desired preheating temperature. 2. The gloss finishing method according to claim 1, wherein the printing surface on which all the printing of the desired printing information has been completed is subjected to gloss finishing for each printing line. 3. The gloss finishing method according to claim 1, wherein the gloss finishing method performs gloss finishing on one surface of the print line for each print line based on desired print information. Finishing method. 4. The preheating temperature range is from 40 ° C. to 60 ° C.
Wherein the main heating temperature is a desired temperature of the thermal head of 40 ° C. to 60 ° C., and is set to be equal to or higher than the upper limit temperature of the preheating temperature range. The glossy finishing method according to any one of claims 1 to 3.