JP2002187299A - Thermal transfer printer, thermal transfer recording method, and thermal transfer image-receiving sheet roll - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a thermal transfer image-receiving sheet roll, a thermal transfer recording method and a thermal transfer printer using the sheet roll that can be prepared at a lower cost without requiring much time and effort without using any feed core when loading the rolled image-receiving sheet into the printer, and to obtain thermal transfer print-outs with excellent print quality. SOLUTION: The thermal transfer printer 1 of the invention uses a thermal transfer image-receiving sheet roll 2 in which the leading edge portion of the roll is fixed to its contact portion to roll up the sheet without using any take-up core. The printer 1 includes a sheet roll storing section, a rotatably driving part 4 to come into contact with and press against the sheet roll 2, and a thermal transfer recording section for recording images by the thermal transfer method with united rotation of the driving part 4 and the sheet roll 2 interlocking with each other.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heat transfer image receiving sheet which is used in a roll form and is mounted on a heat transfer printer without using a supply core, at low cost and without any trouble. The present invention relates to a thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll capable of obtaining a thermal transfer print having excellent image quality, a thermal transfer recording method and a thermal transfer printer using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various thermal transfer methods are known. In this method, a thermal transfer sheet having a colored transfer layer formed on a base material is used. Is heated in the form of an image for each color such as yellow, magenta, and cyan, and the colored transfer layer is thermally transferred to the surface of the material to be transferred.
This thermal transfer method is roughly classified into two types, a sublimation transfer type and a hot-melt transfer type, depending on the configuration of the colored transfer layer. The sublimation transfer type uses a thermal transfer sheet in which a dye that sublimates or migrates by heat with a suitable binder, and is supported as a colored transfer layer on a base material, and is heated from the back by heating.
The dye in the colored transfer layer is transferred to the surface of the transfer material by heat. However, the receiving material surface is provided with a receiving layer on which dye is easily dyed. On the other hand, the heat-melt transfer type uses a heat-transfer sheet that has a colored transfer layer that can be easily softened and melted and transferred by heating on a substrate, and the surface of the material to be transferred is colored by heating from the back. This is for transferring the transfer layer. Both types are capable of forming mono-color and multi-color images, and in the case of multi-color images, for example, yellow, magenta, cyan and, if necessary, a three- or four-color thermal transfer sheet of black. A color image can be formed by preparing and thermally transferring each color (various types) to the surface of the same material to be transferred.

In such a thermal transfer method, a large number of thermal transfer image receiving sheets, which are transfer materials, are stacked and supplied to a printer, or a continuous continuous image receiving sheet is wound up. It is supplied to the printer in the form of a roll. In particular, recently, there are many uses for performing thermal transfer recording in a large amount, and a roll-type thermal transfer image-receiving sheet is used. The roll-shaped thermal transfer image-receiving sheet is generally wound on a supply core (bobbin), and the end of the wound image-receiving sheet is adhered to a winding core (bobbin) to be rolled up or thermally transferred. After recording, it is cut into sheets and discharged.

[0004]

The roll-shaped thermal transfer image-receiving sheet as described above requires a supply core. After the image-receiving sheet is used up, the core is discarded or the core is reused. Or However, in order to uniformly wind the thermal transfer image-receiving sheet without wrinkles, a core having high dimensional accuracy is required, and the cost of the core is accordingly high. In order to reduce the cost of the above-mentioned core, if the material is made of paper pulp instead of plastic, so-called "paper tube", when rotating the image receiving sheet roll in the printer, the paper tube and the printer side To the drive unit. However, due to friction between the paper tube and the drive unit during rotation of the image receiving sheet roll, paper dust is generated from the paper tube and scatters in the printer, which also leads to deterioration of image quality such as pinholes in thermal transfer prints. . In addition to purchasing the supply core, when storing the core and winding up the image receiving sheet, it takes time to attach the core to the winding machine, store the core member, and take up the work of winding up. It is a problem.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and when a thermal transfer image-receiving sheet in the form of a roll is mounted on a thermal transfer printer and used, a supply core is not used and the cost is reduced. In addition, a thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll that can prepare a thermal transfer image receiving sheet without taking time and obtains a thermal transfer print having excellent image quality,
An object of the present invention is to provide a thermal transfer recording method and a thermal transfer printer using the same.

[0006]

According to the thermal transfer printer of the present invention, the winding start portion of the winding is fixed at the portion in contact with the winding start without using the core, and the rolled thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll is wound. And a rotary drive unit that contacts and presses against the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll, and a thermal transfer recording unit that performs thermal transfer recording by rotating integrally with the rotary drive unit and the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll. It is a configuration provided. The rotation drive section is a portion which presses the end face of the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll and has a tapered shape, and it is preferable that the start of winding of the thermal transfer image receiving sheet be in contact with the taper. In addition, it is preferable to use a spring for pressing the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll in the rotary drive unit.

It is preferable that the length of the center axis of the rotary drive unit inserted into the hollow portion of the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll is variable according to the width of the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll, thereby changing the width of the image receiving sheet roll. Accordingly, contact and pressurization of the rotation drive unit and the image receiving sheet roll are possible. Further, the thermal transfer recording method of the present invention, without using a core, fixing the winding start portion of the winding at the portion that comes into contact with the winding start, the rolled thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll, the thermal transfer printer side The thermal transfer image-receiving sheet roll and the rotary drive unit are integrally rotated by rotating and contacting the rotary drive unit to perform thermal transfer recording. The thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll of the present invention, without using a core,
The winding start portion of the winding is fixed at a portion that comes into contact with the winding start, and the roll is wound, and the thermal transfer image-receiving sheet roll is brought into contact with a rotary drive unit on the thermal transfer printer side, and pressurized. It is characterized in that it rotates integrally with it and is thermally transferred and recorded.

In the thermal transfer printer of the present invention, the winding start portion of the winding is fixed at a portion in contact with the winding start without using a core, and the rolled thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll is used. Thermal transfer for thermal transfer recording in which a receiving portion of an image receiving sheet roll, a rotary drive for contacting and pressurizing the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll, and the rotary drive and the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll rotate integrally and rotate to perform thermal transfer recording This configuration has a recording section, and a thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll can be prepared at low cost without using a supply core as a member, without any trouble, and a thermal transfer print having excellent image quality can be obtained.

[0009]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing one embodiment of a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention. The thermal transfer printer 1 includes a rotary drive unit 4 for rotating a thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll 2, and the rotary drive unit 4 contacts and applies heat. An image receiving sheet roll storage unit 3 in which the image receiving sheet roll 2 is placed after being pressed, a thermal transfer recording unit 5, and a thermal transfer image receiving sheet cutting unit 10 are configured. The thermal transfer image-receiving sheet starts with the image-receiving sheet roll storage section 3 as a starting point, and the image-receiving sheet is moved by a roll 16 (referred to as a transport roll, an upper roll is referred to as a pinch roll, and a lower roll is referred to as a grip roll). The printing is performed while the image receiving sheet roll 2 is rewound (in the direction opposite to the arrow) by the reverse rotation of the roll 16 by pulling in the direction shown in FIG. The thermal transfer image receiving sheet is a rotary drive unit 4
The tension is applied between the roll 16 and the roll 16, but the forward and reverse rotation of the roll 16 mainly controls the conveyance of the thermal transfer image-receiving sheet, and the rotation drive unit 4 interlocks with the rotation of the roll 16, By rotating the image receiving sheet roll 2,
The transfer of the thermal transfer image receiving sheet is assisted. Therefore,
The fixing of the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll 2 and the rotation drive unit 4
It is preferable not to slip, but there is no problem if the slip does not affect the image receiving sheet such as breakage or wrinkles. The printing is performed such that the back side of the thermal transfer sheet 15 is in contact with the thermal head 13 and the transfer layer side of the thermal transfer sheet (the side opposite to the back side) and the image receiving surface of the image receiving sheet are overlapped. A platen roll 14 is provided at a position in contact with the back side of the sheet (the side opposite to the image receiving surface).
During thermal transfer recording, the thermal head 13 descends in the direction of the arrow, and the color material is transferred from the thermal transfer sheet 15 to the image receiving sheet in an image-like manner.

Although not shown, a guide member is attached between the image receiving sheet roll storage section 3 and the thermal transfer recording section 5 along both sides of the image receiving sheet width to prevent the image receiving sheet from meandering in the width direction. Is preferred. Further, it is desirable that the guide member can change the distance between the two guide members according to the width of the thermal transfer image receiving sheet. For example, in the part where each guide member on the printer side is attached,
A pin and a die that mesh with each other are attached, a plurality of dies are attached to one member in advance, and the member provided with the pin and the member provided with the die can slide freely in the image receiving sheet width direction. A pin may be fitted into a die at a position corresponding to the dimensions of the die. Thus, the end of the image receiving sheet being conveyed comes into contact with the guide member, and the guide member regulates the movement of the image receiving sheet in the width direction, thereby preventing the image receiving sheet from meandering. Note that the illustrated thermal transfer printer is one in which the sheet is cut at the cutting unit 10, but supplies a roll of thermal transfer image-receiving sheet for winding.
After the thermal transfer recording, it is also possible to take up the film by winding it into a roll.

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view showing one embodiment of the thermal transfer printer according to the present invention, in which the contact between the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll 2 and the rotation drive unit 4 in the storage section 3 of the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll 2 is shown. The pressurized state is shown.
The inner surface of the flange 18 on both sides of the rotary drive unit 4 has a tapered shape, and the vicinity of the winding start 17 at the end face of the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll 2, in other words, the vicinity of the inner diameter of the image receiving sheet roll 2, and the rotation drive unit At the periphery indicated by 19 from the center of the inner surface of the flange 18 of FIG. 4, they are contacted and pressed with each other, and the rotation drive unit 4 is rotated in the forward and reverse directions according to the thermal transfer recording from the control of the thermal transfer printer 1. It rotates according to the print size in the flow direction of the image receiving sheet. The thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll 2 is rotated in the same manner as the rotation of the rotation drive unit 4. Further, in order to increase the contact strength between the end surface 22 of the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll 2 and the inner surface of the flange 18 of the rotary drive unit 4 and the strength of the pressure, a spring 8 as shown is provided between the outer surface side of the flange 18 and the flange 20. It is preferable to attach and use. Regarding the taper of the portion of the rotation drive unit 4 that presses the end face of the image receiving sheet roll, the taper angle is preferably about 5 ° to 20 °. Although the portion of the rotary drive unit 4 that presses the end face of the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll 2 has a tapered shape, it is not limited to this shape, and may be a uniform plane parallel to the roll end face. Also, an example is shown in which the spring 8 is used to increase the contact strength and pressure strength between the end surface of the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll 2 and the inner surface of the flange 18 of the rotary drive unit 4, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the rotary drive unit is not limited thereto. 4 are screwed (male screw and female screw) at the position where the end of the center shaft 21 and the tip of the center shaft are inserted and the hollow portions of the flanges 18 to 20 are to be fixed.
It is also possible to rotate and push in with the screw so as to increase the contact and pressure between them.

FIG. 4 is a dynamic cross-sectional view showing one embodiment of a rotary drive unit for contacting and pressing the end face of the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4A, the hollow portion 9 on the end face 222 side of the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll 2 is provided.
Then, the leading end of the center shaft 21 with the flanges 182 and 202 is inserted and moved in the direction of the arrow, so that the leading end comes out of the hollow portion 9 on the other end surface 221 side of the image receiving sheet roll 2, and The hollow portion 23 of the flanges 181 and 201 is positioned on the extension of the front end of the center shaft 21, and the front end of the center shaft 21 is inserted into the hollow portion 231 of the flanges 181 and 201. 4B, the end faces 22 on both sides of the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll 2 at a position as shown in FIG.
1, 222 and the flanges 181 and 182 of the rotation drive unit 4 are brought into contact with and pressurized. As described above, the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll 2 and the rotation drive unit 4 integrally rotate by the friction and pressure of each other, and the thermal transfer recording is performed. The heat transfer image receiving sheet roll 2 and the rotation drive unit 4
It is preferable that no slip occurs between the two. However, there is no problem as long as a slight slip does not affect the print.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the thermal transfer image-receiving sheet roll of the present invention. In the thermal transfer image-receiving sheet roll 2, a winding start portion 6 is in contact with the winding start 6, and is covered with an adhesive tape and adhered. By using a double-sided tape, or by using a liquid or solid adhesive, the two are fixed to each other without displacement. Thereby,
The central portion of the image receiving sheet roll has a hollow portion 9, and winding without a core is obtained. Such a thermal transfer image-receiving sheet roll 2 is sandwiched between flanges 18 provided on both sides of the rotary drive unit 4 as shown in FIG.
And the rotary drive unit 4 on the side of the thermal transfer printer are brought into contact with and pressurized, and the rotary drive unit 4 and the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll 2 rotate integrally to perform thermal transfer recording.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show the thermal transfer image-receiving sheet roll 2 hollow portion 9 according to the width of the thermal transfer image-receiving sheet roll 2.
1 shows an example in which the length of the center shaft 21 of the rotation drive unit 4 inserted into the rotary drive unit 4 can be changed. The sheet size after cutting the thermal transfer image receiving sheet is A3, B3, A4, B4, A
In many cases, the width of the image receiving sheet roll is set to the length of the width of the corresponding finished size and the length of the image receiving sheet roll is limited to the length in the flow direction of the image receiving sheet so that the width of the image receiving sheet roll is 5, B5, or the like. Therefore, for example, in the case of A4 size finishing, the length of the finishing width is the width of the image receiving sheet roll, and only the flow direction is cut by the cutting section to finish.

In order to change the length of the central shaft 21 of the rotary drive unit 4, first, the protrusion t of the groove 112 provided on the central shaft 21 is changed.
The pin 122 provided at a position along the peripheral surface of the hollow portion 232 of the flange 182 is fitted into the position 2. (FIG. 4
(B), FIG. 5 (a)) Thereby, the position of the flange 182 is fixed with respect to the center shaft 21. Next, the central shaft 21
The pin 121 provided at a position along the peripheral surface of the hollow portion 231 of the flange 201 is fitted into the position of the protrusion s1 of the groove 111 near the tip of the groove. (FIG. 4B, FIG. 5
(A)) Thereby, the position of the flange 201 is shifted to the center axis 2
1, the flange 201 presses the flange 181 via the spring 8 against the end face of the image receiving sheet roll. With the above positional relationship, the wider thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll is pressed against the rotation drive unit.

In order to press the narrower thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll against the rotary drive unit, first, as shown in FIG. 5B, first, a projection t1 of a groove 112 provided on the center shaft 21 is provided.
The pin 122 provided at a position along the peripheral surface of the hollow portion 232 of the flange 182 is fitted into the position of. Thereby, the position of the flange 182 is fixed with respect to the center shaft 21. Next, the pin 121 provided at a position along the peripheral surface of the hollow portion 231 of the flange 201 is fitted into the position of the protrusion s2 of the groove 111 near the front end of the central shaft 21, thereby forming the flange 201. The position is fixed with respect to the center shaft 21, and accordingly, the flange 201 presses the flange 181 via the spring 8 against the end face of the image receiving sheet roll. As described above, when adjusting the length of the central axis of the rotation drive unit, the sheet size (A4, A5, etc.) obtained by fitting a pin in the vicinity of each protrusion of the groove and by fitting a pin into the protrusion.
Is preferably displayed to improve the operability of the operator.

2, 4, and 5 are examples in which the end face of the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll and the flange portion of the rotary drive unit are contacted and pressed, but other examples include the thermal transfer image receiving sheet. It is also possible to fix the image receiving sheet roll to the rotary drive unit by contact between the inner peripheral surface along the hollow portion of the roll and the outer peripheral surface of the central axis of the rotary drive unit. In this case, in consideration of the ease of insertion of the center axis of the rotation drive unit into the hollow portion of the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll and the ease of removal, the center axis of the center axis on the flange 182 side is not the tip of the center axis. It is preferable that the outer diameter is made larger than the outer diameter of the other central axis (by making it tapered, etc.) to increase the strength of the pressure at which the central axis contacts the image receiving sheet roll.

In the present invention, it is important that the thermal transfer image-receiving sheet in the form of a roll and the rotary drive unit do not slip on each other or even if they slightly slip on each other, they do not affect the print. The material of the contact portion will be described. The thermal transfer image-receiving sheet used in the present invention is preferably provided with a receptor layer conventionally used for receiving and fixing a color material from a transfer layer of the thermal transfer sheet on a substrate. As the base material used for the thermal transfer image receiving sheet, various papers, synthetic papers, plastic sheets and the like may be used, and the receiving layer may be formed directly or via a primer layer. In order to obtain high image quality without white spots, it is preferable to provide a layer having fine voids. As the layer having fine voids, a plastic sheet or synthetic paper having fine voids inside can be used. Further, a layer having fine voids can be formed on various supports by various coating methods. As a plastic sheet or synthetic paper having fine voids, a polyolefin, particularly polypropylene, is mainly used, and a polymer incompatible with an inorganic facial and / or polypropylene is blended, and these are used as a void formation initiator, and a mixture thereof is used. Is preferably a plastic sheet or a synthetic paper formed by stretching.

The above-mentioned plastic sheet or synthetic paper may itself be a single layer containing fine voids, or may have a plurality of layers. In the case of a multi-layer configuration, all of the constituent layers may contain fine voids, or a layer having no fine voids may exist. Then, a white pigment may be mixed into this plastic sheet or synthetic paper as a concealing agent, if necessary. In order to increase whiteness, an additive such as a fluorescent whitening agent may be provided. As the layer having fine voids, it is also possible to form a layer having fine voids on a support by a coating method. As plastic resin to be used, polyester, urethane resin, polycarbonate,
Known resins such as acrylic resin, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl acetate and the like can be used alone or in combination of two or more. The support may be a conventionally known one, and is a high quality paper,
Various types of paper, such as coated paper, art paper, cast-coated paper, and glassine paper, synthetic paper, nonwoven fabric, and plastic sheets such as polyethylene terephthalate, acrylic, polyethylene, and polypropylene can be used.

As the substrate, various papers, synthetic papers, plastic sheets and the like may be used, but it is preferable to provide a fine void layer on the support as described above. In this case, when the fine void layer is a plastic sheet or synthetic paper, it can be bonded to a support with an adhesive layer. As a bonding method, for example, a known laminating method such as dry lamination, non-solvent (hot melt) lamination, and EC lamination method can be used.

Next, the rotary drive unit constituting the thermal transfer printer of the present invention may be made of a durable metal such as aluminum, iron, stainless steel or the like, or may be made of polystyrene, vinyl chloride, polycarbonate, polyester or the like. It can be made of an injection molded resin. And
It is preferable to emboss the surface of the rotary drive unit that contacts and presses the image receiving sheet roll with an arbitrary pattern such as a diamond-cut shape or a satin-finished shape, and that has an uneven surface. The depth of the embossing (the difference between the height of the concave portion and the height of the convex portion) increases the frictional resistance between the rotating drive portion and the image receiving sheet roll that come into contact with each other, so that the contact portion does not slip easily.
Adjustment is preferred. For example, an embossing depth of about 5 μm to 500 μm is sufficient.

In the thermal transfer recording method of the present invention, the winding start portion of the winding is fixed at the portion in contact with the winding start without using the winding core, and the rolled thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll is installed. From the image receiving sheet roll storage unit, in contact with the rotation of the rotational driving force on the thermal transfer printer side, by contact with the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll, by rotating the rotational drive unit in a pressurized state, the rotation drive unit and The thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll rotates integrally and cooperatively to perform thermal transfer recording. That is, by the rotational motion of the transport roll 16,
The conveyance control of the thermal transfer image receiving sheet is mainly performed, and the rotation drive unit 4 rotates the image receiving sheet roll 2 in conjunction with the rotation of the roll 16 to assist the conveyance of the thermal transfer image receiving sheet. Therefore, it is preferable that the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll 2 and the rotation drive unit 4 be fixed without slipping. However, even if the image receiving sheet has a play that does not affect the image receiving sheet even if it is slightly slipped, there is a problem. Absent. At the time of thermal transfer recording, for example, when forming a full-color image using three colors of yellow, magenta, and cyan, the color material is transferred from the yellow transfer layer of the thermal transfer sheet to the image receiving sheet by heating the thermal head from the end of the printing area to the other end. It is transferred according to the image. At that time, the thermal transfer sheet and the image receiving sheet are integrated and advance by the length of the print size in the flow direction. (The return direction may be used.) Then, the thermal transfer sheet is fed so that the next magenta transfer layer to be transferred is located at a position corresponding to the thermal head. Also,
For the image receiving sheet, the printing start point of the yellow printed portion is located at a position corresponding to the thermal head.
It proceeds in the direction opposite to the printing direction.

Next, the color material is transferred from the magenta transfer layer of the thermal transfer sheet to the image receiving sheet according to the image by heating the thermal head from the end of the printing area to the other end. And
Through the same steps as above, the color material is transferred from the cyan transfer layer of the thermal transfer sheet to the image receiving sheet according to the image by heating the thermal head from the end of the print area to the other end, and a print of a full-color image is obtained. It is discharged in the discharge direction, and when finishing with single wafer, it is cut and discharged.

As described above, in the thermal transfer recording method of the present invention, the thermal transfer image receiving sheet is placed under the thermal head.
A reciprocating motion is performed, in other words, when viewed from the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll, thermal transfer recording is performed by a motion in a forward rotation direction and a reverse rotation direction. In a case where a multicolor image such as a full-color image is transferred in a superimposed manner, if a transfer position of each color is shifted, a so-called printing register shift occurs, and the image quality is deteriorated. Therefore, by using the recording method and the recording apparatus of the present invention and further using the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll, the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll and the rotation driving unit are hardly displaced, and the rotation control of the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll can be surely performed. is there.

[0025]

As described above, according to the thermal transfer printer of the present invention, the winding start portion of the winding is fixed at the portion in contact with the winding start without using the winding core, and the wound thermal transfer image receiving device is used. Using a sheet roll, a storage section for the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll, a rotary drive section for contacting and pressing against the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll, and the rotary drive section and the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll integrally rotate. And it is a configuration provided with a thermal transfer recording unit for performing thermal transfer recording, and without using a supply core as a member, it is possible to prepare a thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll at low cost and without trouble, and to have excellent image quality. A thermal transfer print is obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing one embodiment of a thermal transfer printer of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view showing one embodiment of the thermal transfer printer of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a dynamic cross-sectional view showing one embodiment of a rotary drive unit that contacts and presses an end surface of a thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an example in which the length of the central axis of a rotation drive unit inserted into the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll hollow portion can be changed according to the width of the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Thermal transfer printer 2 Thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll 3 Storage part 4 Rotation drive part 5 Thermal transfer recording part 6 Winding start part 7 Contact part 8 Spring 9 Thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll hollow part 10 Cutting part 11 Groove 12 Pin 13 Thermal head 14 Platen roll 15 Heat transfer sheet 16 Roll 17 Near winding start (near roll inner diameter) 18, 181, 182 Flange 19 Position from center of flange inner surface 20, 201, 202 Flange 21 Center axis 22, 221, 222 End surface 23, 231, 232 Hollow portion ( Flange)

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C060 AA06 AA08 2C065 AB02 AF02 DA23 DA26 DA28 3F052 AA03 AB05 BA15 BA18 BA19 DA08

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A winding start portion of a winding is fixed at a portion in contact with the winding start without using a winding core, and a storage portion of the rolled thermal transfer image receiving sheet and a roll of the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll are provided. A thermal transfer printer, comprising: a rotary drive unit for contacting and applying pressure thereto; and a thermal transfer recording unit for performing thermal transfer recording by integrally rotating the rotary drive unit and a thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the rotation drive section is a portion which presses the end face of the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll and has a tapered shape, and the taper is in contact with the winding start portion of the thermal transfer image receiving sheet. The thermal transfer printer according to claim 1. 3. The thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, wherein a spring for pressurizing the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll is used in the rotation drive unit. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the length of the center axis of the rotation drive unit inserted into the hollow portion of the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll is variable according to the width of the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll. The thermal transfer printer according to any one of the above. 5. A thermal transfer image-receiving sheet roll that is wound without using a winding core, and a winding start portion of the winding is fixed at a portion that comes into contact with the winding start, and a rotation drive unit on the thermal transfer printer side. A thermal transfer recording method, wherein the thermal transfer image receiving sheet roll and the rotation driving unit are integrally and interlocked and rotated to perform thermal transfer recording. 6. A heat transfer image receiving sheet roll and a heat transfer printer, wherein a winding start portion of winding is fixed at a portion in contact with the start of winding without using a winding core. Contact with the side rotation drive,
A thermal transfer image-receiving sheet roll, which is pressurized, rotated integrally with the rotation drive unit, and is subjected to thermal transfer recording.