JP2001121768A - Thermal transfer recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a thermal transfer recording apparatus capable of stably forming a high grade image without exerting effect on the feed quantity of an ink sheet even if the temp. in the apparatus changes. SOLUTION: In a thermal transfer recording apparatus forming an image on a plastic card being an object, which receives recording by selectively heating an ink sheet 1 as a transfer sheet having a colorant layer at a transfer position while feeding the same, by transferring the colorant layer to the plastic card, a control means 24 for controlling the feed quantity in the feed means of the ink sheet 1 on the basis of the temp. in the apparatus detected by a thermistor 5 is provided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording apparatus such as a thermal transfer printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 3, a conventional thermal transfer type recording apparatus has an ink in which a color material forming layer for transferring a color material, a color material layer of a plurality of colors, and a protective layer are applied in a plane-sequential manner. Sheet 1
An ink supply roll 2 on which an unused ink sheet 1 is wound, an ink winding roll 3 on which the used ink sheet 1 is wound, and a thermal head 4 on which a temperature detecting thermistor 5 is mounted. A transparent plastic card 6, a stage 7 capable of reciprocating in the directions of arrows A and B and mounting the plastic card 6, and a card cartridge 8 for storing an unrecorded plastic card 6 on the surface of which an image is to be formed. And a transport roller pair 9 for transporting the plastic card 6 to be subjected to image formation to the stage 7 and a discharge roller pair 12 for discharging the plastic card 6 on which the image has been formed. The ink sheet 1, the ink supply roll 2, and the ink take-up roll 3 are integrally accommodated in an ink cartridge (not shown).

[0003] The recording operation of the thermal transfer type recording apparatus having the above-described configuration will be described. When the main body of the thermal transfer recording apparatus receives a print command from a personal computer or the like (not shown), one plastic card 6 is pulled out from the card cartridge 8 and guided onto the stage 7 by the pair of conveying rollers 9, and It is fixed by the card fixing means 10 at a predetermined position above. The temperature inside the apparatus at this time is detected by the thermistor 5. The output of the thermistor 5 is input to the printer control circuit 22, as shown in FIG. The printer control circuit 22 indicates the amount of heat generated by a heating element (not shown) of the thermal head 4 according to an image signal from a personal computer or the like and the output of the thermistor 5. The calorific value control means 23 includes the printer control circuit 2
Based on the instruction 2, the amount of heat generated by the heating element of the thermal head 4 is controlled.

Next, after the stage 7 moves to the printing start position, the thermal head 4 descends and presses the plastic card 6 to the platen 11 via the ink sheet 1.
Next, while the stage 7 moves at a predetermined speed in the direction of arrow A, a heating element (not shown) provided on the thermal head 4 generates heat, thereby forming a color material on the ink sheet 1. The layer is transferred to the plastic card 6.

After the transfer of the color material forming layer to the plastic card 6 is completed, the thermal head 4 is raised to the standby position, and the first color material portion of the ink sheet 1 is located, and at the same time, the stage 7 is moved to the printing start position. Return to Then, the plastic card 6 is pressed again by the thermal head 4 via the ink sheet 1, and the ink sheet 1 and the plastic card 6 are pressed.
The heating element of the thermal head 4 is selectively heated while transporting the ink sheet 1 in close contact, and the first color material of the ink sheet 1 is transferred to the plastic card 6.

After the transfer of the first color material to the plastic card 6 is completed, the thermal head 4 is raised to the standby position and the second color material portion of the ink sheet 1 is located, and at the same time, the stage 7 starts printing. Returning to the position, the same operation as that of the first color material is performed, and the transfer of the second color material to the plastic card 6 is performed. After the transfer of the second color material to the plastic card 6 is completed, the transfer of all the color materials is performed by the same operation as described above, and a desired image is formed on the plastic card 7.

After the transfer of all the color materials to the plastic card 6 is completed, the thermal head 4 is raised to the standby position, and the cueing of the white protective layer portion of the ink sheet 1 is performed. At the same time, the stage 7 returns to the printing start position. . Next, the plastic card 6 is pressure-bonded by the thermal head 4 via the ink sheet 1, causing the heating element of the thermal head 4 to generate heat, and the white protective layer is transferred to the plastic card 7.

When all the transfer material of the ink sheet 1 is transferred to the plastic card 6, the stage 7 moves to the discharge position, and the card fixing means 10 is released.
Then, the plastic card 6 on which the image has been formed is discharged from the thermal transfer recording apparatus main body by the discharge roller pair 12. Here, the ink sheet transport mechanism of the thermal transfer recording apparatus will be specifically described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 5, the ink sheet transport mechanism includes a frame 13, a transport motor 14 such as a DC motor which is a driving source having a worm gear (not shown) press-fitted on a rotating shaft, and a worm gear. A worm wheel 15, an idler gear 16, and two gears that normally rotate as one body, but a two-stage gear configured to generate a difference in rotation speed between the two gears when a load exceeding a certain level is applied. A clutch 17 having a construction, intermediate gears 18 and 19 for transmitting rotation from the clutch 17, and a winding gear 2 installed on a winding shaft on the frame 13 and engaged with the intermediate gear 18.
0.

[0010] The ink sheet transport mechanism configured as described above is used for the ink take-up roll 3 of the ink cartridge.
Are configured so that the take-up gear 20 and the ink supply roll 2 engage with the supply gear 21, respectively. When transferring the transfer material to the plastic card 6, the transfer motor 14
Is transmitted to the take-up gear 20, and the used ink sheet 1 is taken up. At this time, even if the rotation amount of the winding gear 20 is constant, the winding amount of the ink sheet 1 increases as the diameter of the winding roll 3 gradually increases. On the other hand, since the moving speed of the stage 7 during recording is always constant, a difference occurs between the required transport speed of the ink sheet 1 and the actual transport speed. Therefore, by causing a difference in the number of rotations between the two gears of the clutch 20 during recording, the amount of conveyance of the ink sheet 1 can be made desired.

[0011]

However, in the configuration of the conventional thermal transfer type recording apparatus, the amount of transport of the ink sheet 1 changes with a change in the temperature in the apparatus, so that smooth recording may not be performed. Specifically, when the temperature in the apparatus is a low temperature such as 0 ° C., the transport amount of the ink sheet 1 increases, and excessive sheet tension occurs at the time of transfer of the color material, resulting in poor transfer of the image and poor transfer. Influences such as jitter appear.
Conversely, if the temperature inside the device is high, such as 40 ° C,
The transport amount of the ink sheet 1 is reduced, and the winding of the sheet cannot be completed in transferring the color material, and the sheet is loosened.
In this case, the ink sheet 1 and the plastic card 6 immediately after the transfer of the coloring material are not peeled off, but remain in a fused state. The loosened ink sheet 1 is placed on the thermal head 4
When the plastic card 6 rises to the standby position, the plastic card 6 is slightly lifted up in conjunction with this, and then the fusion is released and returns to the stage 7. At this time,
The fixed position of the card may deviate from the regular position,
For this reason, there is a problem that the quality of the recorded image is deteriorated such as color shift.

This is due to the temperature characteristic of the drive driver of the transport motor 14 which is the driving source of the ink sheet transport means. As shown in FIG. 6, the rotational speed of the transport motor 14 increases in a low temperature environment. The transport amount of the ink sheet 1 increases, and conversely, in a high-temperature environment, the number of rotations of the transport motor 14 decreases, so that the transport amount of the ink sheet 1 decreases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a thermal transfer recording apparatus capable of stably forming a high-quality image without affecting the ink sheet conveyance amount even when the temperature inside the apparatus changes.

[0014]

According to the present invention, there is provided a thermal transfer recording apparatus which selectively heats a transfer material sheet having a color material layer at a transfer position while transporting the transfer material sheet, and applies the color material layer to an object to be recorded. In the thermal transfer type recording apparatus for forming an image by transferring images, control means for controlling the amount of conveyance by the conveying means for conveying the transfer material sheet based on the temperature in the apparatus is provided.

According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a thermal transfer type recording apparatus capable of stably forming a high-quality image without affecting the ink sheet conveyance amount even when the temperature inside the apparatus changes.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
In a thermal transfer recording apparatus for forming an image by transferring the color material layer to an object to be subjected to recording by selectively heating at a transfer position while conveying a transfer material sheet having a color material layer,
A thermal transfer type recording apparatus provided with control means for controlling the amount of conveyance by the conveying means for conveying the transfer material sheet based on the temperature in the apparatus. A thermal transfer type recording apparatus capable of stably forming a high-quality image on a target object because a change in the transfer amount of the transfer material sheet can be reduced and the transfer material sheet can be smoothly transferred. Can be.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a thermal transfer type thermal transfer type apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the control means controls the duty of a transport motor which is a driving source of the transport means based on the temperature in the apparatus. It is a recording device, which can prevent the rotation speed of the transport motor from greatly changing due to the temperature change in this device, and keep the rotation speed of the transport motor almost constant regardless of the temperature change in this device. Thus, it is possible to obtain a specific configuration capable of controlling the image forming apparatus and stably forming a high-quality image even when there is a temperature change in the apparatus.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the temperature in the apparatus is detected by a thermistor for controlling the amount of heat generated by a heating element of a thermal head for selectively heating a transfer material sheet at a transfer position. A thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein there is no need to provide a new temperature detecting component for detecting the temperature inside the present apparatus, thereby suppressing an increase in the number of components and the cost of the apparatus. It is possible,
The thermistor can be used more effectively.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a transfer material sheet includes a transfer material in which a color material layer, a color material forming layer for transferring the color material layer, and a protective layer are separately formed. 4. The thermal transfer type recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transfer material sheet is a plastic card as an object to be processed, and even when an image is formed on a plastic card, high quality is achieved. Can be stably formed on the plastic card.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a transfer material comprising a color material of a single color or a plurality of colors, a color material forming layer for transferring the color material, and a white protective layer is continuously formed. A formed transfer material sheet, a conveying means of the transfer material sheet,
A thermal head having a plurality of selectively operable heating elements and a thermistor for detecting temperature, wherein the transfer material sheet is heated by the thermal head to form an image on a plastic card; A thermal transfer type recording apparatus provided with a control means for controlling a drive source of the transport means in response to a temperature change in the apparatus detected by the thermistor. Even if there is a change in the temperature inside, it can be controlled so that the ink sheet conveyance amount is not affected, and a high-quality image can be stably formed on a plastic card.
It is not necessary to provide a new temperature detecting part for detecting the temperature in the apparatus, and it is possible to suppress an increase in the number of parts and the cost of the apparatus, and to obtain a thermal transfer recording apparatus that can further effectively use a thermistor. Can be.

Hereinafter, the thermal transfer type recording apparatus of the present invention will be described based on specific embodiments. (Embodiment) The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 is similar to the conventional example shown in FIG.
While transferring the ink sheet 1 as a transfer material sheet having a color material layer, the color material layer is transferred to a plastic card 6 as an object to be recorded by being selectively heated at a transfer position while being conveyed to form an image. A thermal transfer recording device,
The present embodiment is different from the above-described conventional example in that a control unit 24 for controlling the amount of conveyance by the conveying unit for conveying the ink sheet 1 based on the temperature in the apparatus is provided.

The thermal transfer type recording apparatus of this embodiment has the same configuration as that of the above-mentioned conventional example except for the control means 24. Therefore, a detailed description of the apparatus other than the control means 24 is omitted here. And In this ink sheet 1,
In order to transfer the color material layer to the plastic card 6, a transfer material is formed in which a color material forming layer used as a base for the plastic card 6, a plurality of color material layers, and a white protective layer are individually formed. Have been.

As shown in FIG. 3, the temperature in the apparatus is detected by a thermistor 5 provided on a thermal head 4 for selectively heating the ink sheet 1 at a transfer position. The thermistor 5 is conventionally used to detect the temperature inside the apparatus in order to control the amount of heat generated by a heating element (not shown) of the thermal head 4. The temperature inside the apparatus rises due to heat generation of the heating element of the thermal head 4 and the like. Since the thermal head 4 is located near the ink sheet transport mechanism, the ambient temperature of the ink sheet transport mechanism is: In particular, the heating element of the thermal head 4 easily rises due to heat generation. The temperature inside the device and the ambient temperature of the drive driver 14a have a correlation, and by detecting the temperature inside the device, the ambient temperature of the drive driver 14a can be grasped.

As shown in FIG. 1, the control means 24 controls a transport motor 14 such as a DC motor, which is a drive source of the transport means for transporting the ink sheet 1, based on the temperature in the apparatus detected by the thermistor 5. To control the duty
It comprises a printer control circuit 22a and duty control means 25. Here, the recording operation of the thermal transfer recording apparatus of this embodiment will be described.

When the thermal transfer recording apparatus main body receives a print command from a personal computer or the like (not shown),
As shown in FIG. 3, one plastic card 6 is pulled out from the card cartridge 8, guided on the stage 7 by the pair of conveying rollers 9, and fixed at a predetermined position on the stage 7 by the card fixing means 10. You. The temperature inside the apparatus at this time is detected by the thermistor 5. As shown in FIG. 1, the output of the thermistor 5 is
2a.

The printer control circuit 22a instructs the amount of heat generated by a heating element (not shown) of the thermal head 4 according to the image signal from a personal computer or the like and the output of the thermistor 5. The on-duty of the transport motor 14, which is the driving source of the ink sheet transport, is instructed. The duty control unit 25 instructs the drive driver 14a to control the on-duty of the transport motor 14 when transferring each color material layer based on the instruction from the printer control circuit 22a.

The heating value control means 23 controls the heating value of the heating element of the thermal head 4 based on an instruction from the printer control circuit 22a. Next, after the stage 7 moves to the printing start position, the thermal head 4 descends and presses the plastic card 6 to the platen 11 via the ink sheet 1. When the heating element (not shown) provided on the thermal head 4 generates heat while the stage 7 moves at a predetermined speed in the direction of arrow A, the ink sheet 1 is heated.
Is transferred to the plastic card 6.

After the transfer of the color material forming layer to the plastic card 6 is completed, the thermal head 4 moves up to the standby position to locate the first color material portion of the ink sheet 1, and at the same time, the stage 7 moves to the printing start position. Return to Then, the plastic card 6 is pressed again by the thermal head 4 via the ink sheet 1, and the ink sheet 1 and the plastic card 6 are pressed.
The heating element of the thermal head 4 is selectively heated while transporting the ink sheet 1 in close contact, and the first color material of the ink sheet 1 is transferred to the plastic card 6. At this time, the duty control means instructs the drive driver 14a to perform on-duty control of the transport motor 14.

After the transfer of the first color material to the plastic card 6 is completed, the thermal head 4 is raised to the standby position, and the second color material portion of the ink sheet 1 is located, and at the same time, the stage 7 starts printing. Returning to the position, the same operation as that of the first color material is performed, and the transfer of the second color material to the plastic card 6 is performed. At this time, the driving of the transport motor 14 is also controlled on-duty under the same conditions as those for the transfer of the first color material layer.

After the transfer of the second color material to the plastic card 6 is completed, the entire color material is transferred by the same operation as described above, and a desired image is formed on the plastic card 7. The driving of the transport motor 14 at this time is also performed by the first
On-duty control is performed under the same conditions as when the color material layer is transferred. After the transfer of all the color materials to the plastic card 6 is completed, the thermal head 4 is raised to the standby position, the white protective layer portion of the ink sheet 1 is located, and at the same time, the stage 7 returns to the printing start position. Next, the plastic card 6 is pressure-bonded by the thermal head 4 via the ink sheet 1, causing the heating element of the thermal head 4 to generate heat, and the white protective layer is transferred to the plastic card 7.

When all the transfer material of the ink sheet 1 is transferred to the plastic card 6, the stage 7 moves to the discharge position, and the card fixing means 10 is released.
Then, the plastic card 6 on which the image has been formed is discharged from the main body of the thermal transfer recording apparatus by the discharge roller pair 12. Insert the plastic card 6 on which the image has been formed
When viewed from the surface opposite to the surface on which the image is formed, the formed image can be visually recognized through the transparent plastic card 6, and from the surface on which the image has been formed, the white color formed lastly can be seen. Since the protective layer is on the near side, the formed image cannot be visually recognized.

Here, the above-described on-duty control of the transport motor 14 will be described more specifically. The driving of the transport motor 14 is normally performed in a state in which a voltage is constantly applied.
4 can be changed. Increasing the on-duty increases the rotation speed, and decreasing the on-duty decreases the rotation speed. By controlling the on-duty, it is possible to correct a motor rotation speed that changes due to a temperature change in the present apparatus. FIG. 2 shows the on-duty set value and the number of rotations of the DC motor at each temperature in the present apparatus in this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the transport motor 14 is turned on so that the rotation speed of the transport motor 14, which is the driving source of the ink sheet, becomes substantially constant in the temperature range of 0 ° C. to 55 ° C. in the apparatus. It can be seen that duty control is performed. Specifically, conventionally, the rotation speed of the transport motor 14 is 1059.3 rpm in a temperature range of 10 ° C. to 40 ° C. in the apparatus as shown in FIG.
1420.5 rpm and the variation width is about 3
In this embodiment, the rotation speed of the transport motor 14 is 1024.6 rpm in the temperature range of 10 ° C. to 40 ° C. in the apparatus, as shown in FIG.
1065.3 rpm and the variation width is about 4
It is 1 rpm, and it can be seen that it is greatly improved.

With this configuration, when the temperature in the apparatus changes, the rotation speed of the transfer motor 14 tends to change due to the temperature characteristics of the drive driver 14a of the transfer motor 14. The on-duty control of the transport motor 14 is performed in accordance with the temperature in the device, that is, the drive driver 14a is controlled based on its temperature characteristics. Can be controlled to be substantially constant, and the transport amount of the ink sheet 1 can always be smoothly performed. Therefore, it is possible to stably form a high-quality image free of jitter and color shift on the plastic card 6. it can.

Further, since the temperature inside the apparatus is detected by using the thermistor 5 mounted on the thermal head 4 and used conventionally, a temperature detecting element for detecting the temperature inside the apparatus is newly provided. There is no need to increase the number of parts and the cost of the apparatus, and the thermistor 5 can be more effectively used. In this embodiment, when each color material layer of the ink sheet 1 is transferred to the plastic card 6, the transport motor 1 which is a driving source of the ink sheet transport is used.
4 is controlled so as to be substantially constant irrespective of the temperature change. However, if necessary, the transfer motor is also used when the color material forming layer and the protective layer of the ink sheet 1 are transferred to the plastic card 6. The rotation speed of the motor 14 may be controlled so as to be substantially constant regardless of the temperature change.

In this embodiment, the temperature inside the apparatus is detected by the thermistor 5 for controlling the amount of heat generated by the heating element of the thermal head 4. However, in the case where a temperature detecting element other than the thermistor is used. Also has the same effect as described above, and when a temperature detecting element for detecting the ambient temperature of the drive driver 14a is provided separately from the thermistor 5, the number of parts increases correspondingly, but the same effect as described above is obtained.

In this embodiment, the object to be recorded is the plastic card 6, but the object is the recording paper and the transfer material sheet is the ink sheet 1 having the color material layer.
The same effects as described above can be obtained even when

[0037]

As described above, according to the thermal transfer recording apparatus of the present invention, the transfer material sheet having the color material layer is selectively heated at the transfer position while being conveyed, and the object to be recorded is subjected to the color transfer. In a thermal transfer recording apparatus for forming an image by transferring a material layer, a control means for controlling a transport amount of a transport means for transporting the transfer material sheet based on a temperature in the apparatus is provided. It is possible to reduce the change in the transfer amount of the transfer material sheet by the transfer means due to the temperature change in the inside,
Since the transfer material sheet can be smoothly transported, a thermal transfer recording apparatus capable of stably forming a high-quality image on an object can be obtained.

In the case where the control means is configured to perform duty control of the transfer motor, which is the drive source of the transfer means, based on the temperature in the apparatus, the rotation of the transfer motor is controlled by a change in temperature in the apparatus. The number of rotations of the transfer motor can be controlled to be substantially constant regardless of the temperature change inside the apparatus, and the transfer means can be controlled even if there is a temperature change inside the apparatus. It is possible to obtain a specific configuration in which the transfer amount of the transfer material sheet can be made substantially constant and a high-quality image can be stably formed.

When the temperature inside the apparatus is detected by a thermistor for controlling the amount of heat generated by the heating element of the thermal head for selectively heating the transfer material sheet at the transfer position,
There is no need to provide a new temperature detecting component for detecting the temperature inside the present apparatus, and it is possible to suppress an increase in the number of components and the cost of the apparatus, and to further effectively use the thermistor.

Further, the transfer material sheet is a transfer material sheet having a transfer material in which a color material layer, a color material forming layer for transferring the color material layer, and a protective layer are individually formed, When the object is a plastic card, a high-quality image can be stably formed on the plastic card even when an image is formed on the plastic card.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of an ink sheet conveyance drive source according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a characteristic diagram showing the internal temperature of the apparatus and the number of rotations of a transport motor according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view showing a configuration of a conventional thermal transfer recording apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of a conventional ink sheet conveyance drive source.

FIG. 5 is an external perspective view showing the configuration of a conventional ink sheet transport mechanism.

FIG. 6 is a characteristic diagram showing a change in the number of revolutions of a transport motor due to a temperature change in a conventional apparatus

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ink sheet 4 Thermal head 5 Thermistor 6 Plastic card 14 Transport motor 22a Printer control circuit 24 Control means 25 Duty control means

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Takayoshi Oga 1-8, Koshinmachi, Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture Matsushita Hisashi Denshi Kogyo Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 2C065 AA01 AC01 AD01 AD07 DA11 DA12 2C068 AA02 AA06 AA15 AA22 BD04 BD15 BD23 BD31 GG01 GK01 GK18 GL01 KK12 KK26

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A thermal transfer recording apparatus for forming an image by transferring a color material layer to an object to be recorded by selectively heating at a transfer position while transferring a transfer material sheet having a color material layer. A thermal transfer recording apparatus provided with control means for controlling the amount of conveyance by the conveyance means for conveying the transfer material sheet based on the temperature in the apparatus. 2. A thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control means controls the duty of a conveyance motor, which is a driving source of said conveyance means, based on a temperature in said apparatus. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the temperature in the apparatus is detected by a thermistor for controlling the amount of heat generated by a heating element of a thermal head for selectively heating a transfer material sheet at a transfer position. Thermal transfer recording device. 4. A transfer material sheet having a transfer material in which a color material layer, a color material forming layer for transferring the color material layer, and a protective layer are individually formed, and the object to be transferred is provided. 4. The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording apparatus is a plastic card. 5. A transfer material sheet on which a transfer material comprising a single or multiple color material, a color material forming layer for transferring the color material, and a white protective layer is continuously formed. Transfer means for transferring a transfer material sheet, a drive source for the transfer means, a thermal head having a plurality of selectively operable heating elements and a thermistor for temperature detection, wherein the transfer material sheet is A thermal transfer recording apparatus for forming an image on a plastic card by heating, wherein a thermal transfer recording apparatus is provided with control means for controlling a driving source of the transport means in response to a temperature change in the apparatus detected by the thermistor. .