JP2003237049A - Imaging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an imaging apparatus in which the temperature even of a recording medium having a high thermal capacity can be raised in a short time in order to transfer an image. <P>SOLUTION: A heating means D comprises a preliminary heating section D1 disposed at an upstream position of an ink jet print section C in the carrying direction of a recording medium M, and a main heating section D2 disposed at a downstream position of the ink jet print section C. The recording medium M is heated at 80°C at the preliminary heating section D1 and heated at 180°C for 2 min at the main heating section D2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus comprising a base material and a permeation layer on which recording information to be transferred is printed on a fixing layer on the surface of the base material. The present invention relates to a technique of transferring recording information to a fixing layer by heating the recording information printed on the permeation layer of the recording medium using a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a technique similar to the image forming apparatus configured as described above, there is one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-297197.

In this conventional technique, a colored base layer which also functions as a rust preventive layer is formed on a metal base material, and a transparent resin made of an acrylic resin, a polyester resin or a urethane resin is used as a light transmitting resin layer on the colored base layer. Inkjet printing using a sublimation type coloring material on the inkjet receiving layer of the metal decorative body by forming a layer and forming an inkjet receiving layer using porous alumina or the like on the layer To form a colored pattern. Thereafter, the sublimation-type coloring material of the inkjet receiving layer enters the transparent resin layer by heating the metal decorative body in a heating furnace or hot press, and the colored pattern formed on the inkjet receiving layer is formed on the transparent receiving layer. It Next, after softening the ink jet receiving layer with warm water, the entire ink jet receiving layer is removed by wiping with a cloth or the like, whereby a metal decorative body having a colored pattern is completed.

[0004]

To consider an apparatus for transferring using a recording medium having a property of transferring by heating, for example, when the recording medium is thick, or the temperature of the environment in which it is used, When is low, it may take some time to raise the temperature to transfer by heating. In other words, if the recording medium is relatively thick, the amount of heat required to raise the recording medium to a predetermined temperature is large, and therefore an extra heating time is required as compared with a relatively thin recording medium. In addition, when the transfer is performed, even if the temperature of the environment is low even in the room,
There is room for improvement because it takes extra time to raise the temperature of the recording medium to a predetermined temperature as compared with the case where the environment temperature is high.

In order to solve this problem, for example, it is possible to heat the recording medium in such a manner that a heating roller heated by a large-capacity electric heater is brought into contact with the recording medium. That is,
By contacting with a heating roller having a larger heat capacity than air, it is possible to shorten the time required for heating and thereby improve the throughput of the recording medium in the image forming apparatus, that is, the throughput. However, in the case of using this heating roller, even if the surface temperature of the heating roller is uniform, the entire surface of the recording medium may not come into close contact with the surface of the recording medium such that the recording medium partially floats. Many, in this situation,
This leads to uneven heating of the recording medium, and especially when heated for a short time, uniform heating due to heat conduction of the recording medium cannot be expected, and uneven heating becomes noticeable. When uneven heating (non-uniform temperature distribution) occurs on the recording medium in this manner, transfer proceeds at high-temperature portions and transfer is suppressed at low-temperature portions, so density unevenness of the transferred image and This leads to color unevenness, and the base material of the recording medium is PET.
In the case of a thermoplastic resin film as described above, softening progresses at high temperature parts of the base material due to uneven heating, and distortion or deformation of the base material occurs because softening does not proceed so much at low temperature parts. The smoothness of the recording medium was impaired.

This inconvenience is caused by uneven heating of the recording medium due to the relative distance between the infrared heater and the recording medium and the irradiation angle of the infrared ray when heating is performed by irradiating infrared rays from a large-capacity infrared heater. In the case of causing the same, the same phenomenon occurs, and in such a case, the smoothness of the recording medium is impaired.

From a different point of view, in order to uniformly heat the recording medium without causing uneven heating, it is necessary to use a large-diameter heating roller to heat the recording medium over time, or to heat the recording medium. A configuration in which the recording medium is heated by contacting it with the heated air in the space over time is also conceivable. However, in such a configuration in which the recording medium is heated over time, the transport path of the recording medium becomes long and the entire apparatus is heated. Will lead to larger size.

An object of the present invention is to realize any one of the good aspects that the recorded information is satisfactorily transferred and high-quality output is performed without impairing the smoothness, the throughput is improved, and the size can be reduced. The point is to reasonably configure an image forming apparatus that can be used.

[0009]

The features, actions and effects of the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention are as follows. [Characteristics] A transport mechanism for feeding a recording medium having a permeation layer on which recording information to be transferred to a fixing layer on a substrate surface is printed, and a sublimation ink for the permeation layer of the recording medium sent by the transport mechanism. And a heating unit for heating the recording medium to transfer the recording information printed on the permeation layer to the fixing layer, and the heating unit is a recording medium. A pre-heating unit arranged at a position higher than the printing unit in the transport direction of
It is composed of a main heating unit which is arranged at a position lower than the printing unit in the recording medium conveyance direction.

[Operation / Effect] According to the above characteristics, the recording medium is preheated by the preheating unit before the recording information is printed on the permeation layer of the recording medium by the printing unit. After printing the record information in, the recording medium in a preheated state can be heated in the main heating part, so for example, when comparing with the one with a single heating part in the position lower than the printing part in the conveyance. The heating time in the main heating unit can be shortened without increasing the amount of heat to be heated in the main heating unit. Further, since it is possible to heat the recording medium in a state in which the heat is averaged by heat conduction after being heated in the preheating unit in the main heating unit in a mode of gradually increasing the temperature, uneven heating is unlikely to occur. It is also possible to reduce the amount of heat applied to the recording medium in the main heating unit. As a result, even when using a recording medium with a large heat capacity or in a low temperature environment,
Transfer can be performed by raising the temperature of the recording medium to the temperature required for transfer in a short time, and it is possible to improve the throughput, and to prevent uneven density or color unevenness of the transferred recorded information or distortion of the substrate. The image forming apparatus capable of producing high-quality output that has been resolved and capable of being downsized has been rationally constructed.

The features, actions and effects of the image forming apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention are as follows. [Characteristics] In the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, in the main heating unit, the sublimable ink in the permeation layer is sublimated,
Control means for performing control for maintaining a proper temperature range in which the recorded information printed on the permeation layer is transferred to the fixing layer, and control for maintaining a temperature range lower than the proper temperature range in the preheating section. Is equipped with.

[Operation / Effect] According to the above characteristics, the temperature of the recording medium is maintained in the temperature range lower than the proper temperature range for sublimation of the sublimable ink in the preheating section, and the sublimation ink is maintained in the main heating section. Since the temperature of the recording medium is maintained in an appropriate temperature range in which the sublimate is transferred to the fixing layer, it is possible to sublimate the sublimable ink mainly in the main heating section and surely fix it to the fixing layer. Become. as a result,
Useless heating is suppressed and the temperature is raised in the main heating section in a short time to achieve good transfer without compromising any of the good aspects of high-quality output, improved throughput, and miniaturization. became.

The features, actions and effects of the image forming apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention are as follows. [Characteristics] In the image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The preheating unit is configured to include a heating member that heats the recording medium by contacting the recording medium.

[Operation / Effect] According to the above characteristics, in the preheating unit, the recording medium is brought into contact with a heating member having a larger heat capacity than air, so that, for example, a heating roller or a heated metal is used. Using a plate or the like, it is possible to reliably and quickly raise the temperature. As a result, as a result, preheating can be performed while maintaining the overall size of the apparatus small.

The features, functions and effects of the image forming apparatus according to the fourth aspect of the present invention are as follows. [Characteristics] In the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the main heating unit brings heated air into contact with the recording medium for feeding the recording medium, or applies infrared rays. The point is that it is provided with a heating space for heating the recording medium.

[Operation / Effect] According to the above characteristics, in the main heating section, the recording medium is conveyed into the heating space so that the recording medium is brought into contact with heated air or radiant heat from the infrared heater. Since the recording medium is heated, compared to heating the recording medium by contact with a heating object,
Uneven heating is difficult to perform, and uneven external force is hardly applied. As a result, not only is it possible to perform uniform heating, but it is also possible to realize heating in a state where distortion is unlikely to occur.

The features, functions and effects of the image forming apparatus according to the fifth aspect of the present invention are as follows. [Characteristics] In the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, the permeation layer of the recording medium is configured to be peelable in a film shape.

[Operation / Effect] According to the above characteristics, after the recorded information is transferred from the permeation layer to the fixing layer, the permeation layer can be peeled off in a film form. Therefore, the permeation layer was softened with warm water as in the prior art. There is no need to perform a work such as wiping with a cloth afterwards, and easy peeling is possible with a simple operation.By this peeling, it is possible to expose the fixing layer and directly see the recorded information transferred and fixed to the fixing layer. Become. as a result,
By using a recording medium in which the permeation layer is peelable, clear recording information is exposed.

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a storage section A for setting a recording medium M in a roll shape, a transport mechanism B for transporting the recording medium M stored in the storage section A, and a transport mechanism B for transporting the recording medium M are stored. An ink jet type printing section C for printing recording information on a recording medium M to be recorded, heating means D for heating the recording medium M, a cutter unit E for cutting the recording medium M after heating, a transport mechanism B, An image forming apparatus is configured by housing a print unit C and a controller F as a controller for controlling the heating unit D in a case 20. The image forming apparatus is configured to realize a process of transferring recording information, which is character information or image information transferred from the image processing system G, to the recording medium M.

The image processing system G has a general-purpose computer 1, a monitor 2, a keyboard 3 and a mouse 4, a film scanner 6 for photoelectrically converting image information of a developed film 5, and a digital signal stored in a medium. And a media drive 7 incorporated in the computer 1 so as to retrieve the recorded information. By transferring the recorded information from the image processing system to the control device F, the transferred recorded information is recorded on the recording medium M. It is configured to be printed by transferring by transferring. The media drive 7 is a general term for drives that take out information from not only disc-shaped media such as CDs, CD-Rs, and MOs, but also semiconductor media such as compact flash (registered trademark) and smart media. In the figure, a media drive for reading the information of the CD and the CD-R is shown.

The recording medium M is, as shown in FIG.
The fixing layer 12 is formed on the surface of the film-shaped substrate 11 made of ET (polyethylene terephthalate) by using a polyvinyl alcohol-based resin or a polyvinyl acetal-based resin as a resin having an affinity for the sublimable ink. A thin sheet-like permeation layer 13 made of fluorine resin or silicon resin, which has a non-affinity for the sublimable ink, is releasably overlapped on the surface of the fixing layer 12 to form a flexible sheet as a whole. In this recording medium M, after printing an image on the permeation layer 13 with sublimable ink,
By performing the heat treatment, the ink in the permeation layer 13 sublimes to move to the fixing layer 12 and has a function of fixing and forming recording information on the surface of the base material 11. After transferring and fixing the recording information, Peels and removes the permeation layer 13 in the form of a film to expose a clear image formed on the fixing layer 12 on the surface of the base material 11. Further, in the recording medium M, if the material of the base material 11 has a property of having affinity to the sublimable ink, the surface of the base material 11 is used as it is as the fixing layer 12. Is also good.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the storage portion A has a space for accommodating the roll-shaped recording medium M and is inserted into both ends of a cylindrical core of the recording medium M. In this state, the recording medium M is provided with a support body 21 for supporting the recording medium M, and the transport mechanism B transports the recording medium M stored in the storage portion A by driving rotation.
And a stepping motor type transport motor 23 for driving them.

In the printing section C, a pair of guide rods 24 arranged in a posture orthogonal to the transport direction of the recording medium M.
A print head 25 supported so as to be reciprocally movable along the guide rod 24;
And a scanning motor 26 of a stepping motor type that reciprocally drives the recording head M through a timing belt. The print head 25 is a piezo so that the ink of a replaceable ink cartridge 27 is sprayed onto the recording medium M. A discharge mechanism 28 for elements and the like is provided. still,
As the ink cartridge 27, at least four color inks of cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K), and two color inks of intermediate colors are used.
The sublimable ink that is configured to use colors and starts sublimation at about 80 ° C. in the recording medium M having the film-shaped PET base material 11 as described above. The optimum transfer state is obtained by heating at 180 ° C. for about 2 minutes. The sublimable ink is 170
The ink can be sublimated reasonably at about 200 to 200 ° C., heating at 200 ° C. for about 1 minute, and at 170 ° C. at 5 ° C.
The required transfer becomes possible by heating for about a minute.

The heating means D includes a preliminary heating section D1 arranged at a position upstream of the print section C in the conveying direction of the recording medium M, and a recording medium M based on the print section C.
And the main heating unit D2 arranged at the lower position of the conveyance. The preheating section D1 is provided with a preheating roller 30 as a heating member so as to sandwich the recording medium M from both front and back surfaces. The preheating roller 30 is provided with a halogen for heating inside a metal cylinder 32 coated with silicon rubber 31. Lamp 3
3 and a temperature sensor S1 for measuring the surface temperature of the preheating roller 30 from the radiant heat.
1, the heating temperature of the recording medium M is set to 80 as described later.
Control is performed to maintain the temperature at about ℃. Further, the heating temperature in the preheating section D1 does not necessarily need to be set to be equal to or lower than the sublimation temperature of the sublimable ink. For example, the sublimation ink is sublimated at 80 ° C. or higher at which sublimation of the sublimation ink is started. Set a temperature that is hard to break, or 170 ℃ -200 ℃
It is also possible to set the temperature within the range where the sublimation ink is sublimated. The halogen lamp 33 has a shape elongated in the direction along the axis of the preheating roller 30, and the temperature sensor S1 may be arranged outside the preheating roller 30.

The main heating section D2 comprises a large-diameter main heating roller 35 and a small-diameter guide roller 36. The heating roller 35 includes a plurality of halogen lamps 33 for heating inside a metal cylinder 32 coated with silicon rubber 31.
And a temperature sensor S2 for measuring the surface temperature from the radiant heat. The main heating roller 35 is heated in such a manner that the main heating roller 35 is brought into contact with the surface of the recording medium M on the base material 11 side, and recording is performed as described later. Control is performed to maintain the heating temperature of the medium at about 180 ° C. The guide roller 36 may have either a heating structure or a non-heating structure, and each of the plurality of halogen lamps 33 has a shape long in the direction along the axis of the main heating roller 30. As the temperature sensor S2, the one arranged outside the main heating roller 35 may be used.

A stepping motor type heating unit motor 3 for rotationally driving one of the preliminary heating rollers 30 (the other preliminary heating roller 30 is driven to rotate) and the main heating roller 35.
7, the heating unit motor 37 is driven in synchronization with the transport motor 23 by a signal from the control device F, and controls to match the peripheral speeds of the preheating roller 30 and the main heating roller 35. Is done.

The cutter unit E includes a fixed blade 39,
The movable blade 40 and the cutter motor 41 for driving the movable blade 40 through a crank type actuating mechanism (not shown) are provided in the lower part of the device, and the cut recording target is provided. The tray 42 for receiving the medium M is provided.

As shown in FIG. 5, the control unit F comprises a microprocessor (not shown) and has an input system for inputting the record information transferred from the computer 1 to the control unit F. Along with the formation, a signal system to which feedback signals from the temperature sensor S1 for preheating and the temperature sensor S2 for main heating are input is formed.
Further, the conveyance motor 23, the ejection mechanism 28, the scanning motor 26, the halogen lamp 33 for preheating, the halogen lamp 33 for main heating, the heating unit motor 37, and the cutter motor 41 are controlled. It has a signal system that outputs signals.

Then, it is possible to show an outline of the flow of processing when the recording information (image information) is transferred in this image forming apparatus as shown in the flowchart of FIG. That is,
By transferring the record information to be printed from the image processing system G to the image forming apparatus and executing the processing, the control device F of the image forming apparatus causes the preheating unit D1 and the main heating unit D to operate.
The warm-up for starting the heating of No. 2 is executed (#a step), and the warm-up causes the preheating unit D1 to reach about 80 ° C.
After confirming that the temperature has reached about 80 ° C., the transport mechanism B is controlled to pass the recording medium M through the preliminary heating section D1 and
A process of heating to about 0 ° C. is performed (#b step), and the recording medium M in the preheated state is conveyed to the printing section C, and the sublimable ink in the ink cartridge 27 is recorded by the print head 25. A print process of printing the record information on the permeation layer 13 by spraying on the recording medium M is performed (#c step). A heating process is performed (#d step), and then a cutting process is performed to cut between the recording information by the cutter unit E, and the recording medium M fixed in this way is cut by the cutter unit E. It is cut to the print size (#e step) and collected in the lower tray 42. After the trailing edge of the recording medium M on which the last recording information of the continuous recording information has been transferred is cut, the transport mechanism B, the main heating rotor 35, and the preliminary heating roller 30 are reversed. A process of returning the end portion of the recording medium M to a position better than the preheating portion D1 is performed.

In this series of processing, in the preheating section D1, the control target temperature is set so that the surface temperature of the preheating roller 30 is 80 ° C., and the temperature control for feeding back the signal from the temperature sensor S1 is executed. Similarly, in the main heating section D2, the control target temperature is set so that the surface temperature of the main heating roller 35 becomes 180 ° C., and the temperature control for feeding back the signal from the sensor S2 is executed. And
When the print information is printed by the print unit C, the conveyance of the recording medium M is stopped when the print head 25 scans, and the print head 25 reaches the end in the scanning direction.
The process of transporting the recording medium M by the set amount is repeatedly performed at the timing when the scanning operation is completed. However, in the image forming apparatus, for example, when a blank space is formed on the recording medium M. In addition, even when the image is not printed by the print head 25, the recording medium M is conveyed in such a manner that the recording medium M is conveyed at a preset speed so as not to cause temperature unevenness.

As described above, according to the present invention, when the print information is printed on the recording medium M by the print section C using the ink jet type print head 25, the recording section M of the recording medium M is referred to based on the print section C. In the preheating section D1 located on the upstream side in the transport direction, the temperature of the recording medium M is raised to 80 ° C., which is a temperature at which sublimation of the sublimable ink is hardly performed, so that the printing in the printing section C is performed. After that, the main heating unit D2 enables a process of raising the temperature of the recording medium M to 180 ° C. within a short time, thereby realizing the transfer at the optimum temperature. Further, since the recording medium M which has been heated in advance is heated in the main heating portion D2, the main heating roller 3
5 has solved the inconvenience that the diameter becomes excessively large, and since the preheating unit D1 is composed of the pair of pressure-bonding preheating rollers 30, the preheating unit D1 does not have to be made large, and the entire apparatus can be made compact. Has been realized. In particular, when the temperature is rapidly increased by using only one heating roller heated by a large capacity electric heater, the adhesion of the recording medium M to the heating roller leads to non-uniform heating and transfer. The density unevenness and color unevenness of the recorded information are generated, and distortion and deformation appear on the base material 11 of the recording medium M. However, in the present invention, the preliminary heating portion D1 and the main heating portion are gentle. Since the temperature can be raised, density unevenness, color unevenness, and the base material 11
It does not cause distortion. Then, the recording information transferred to the fixing layer 12 of the recording medium M is removed by removing the permeation layer 13 of the recording medium M to which the recording information is transferred by the heating artificially or by using an apparatus. When exposed, clear text information and image information can be obtained.

In this image forming apparatus, the preliminary heating roller 30 and the main heating roller 35 are configured to be driven by the power from the transport motor 23, and the preliminary heating roller 30 and the main heating roller 35 are transported by the transport mechanism. It is also possible to carry out in a form that is also used for B.

[Other Embodiments] The present invention can be implemented, for example, in the following manner in addition to the above-described embodiment (in this another embodiment, the same function as that of the above-mentioned embodiment is obtained). Those having the same numbers and reference numerals as those in the embodiment are attached.

(A) As shown in FIG. 7, the preheating section D1
Adopts the same structure as that of the above-described embodiment, and as the main heating portion D2, a path for sending the recording medium M in a horizontal posture is formed inside the heating space 45 formed in a box shape. An electric heater 46 that raises the temperature and a fan 47 that sends heated air are provided, and a temperature sensor S2 that measures the air temperature is arranged inside. With this configuration, the recording medium M heated by the preheating unit D1 and printed by the printing unit C is 180
A uniform heat treatment is realized in a state where the members constituting the transfer system are not brought into contact with each other by the atmosphere of ° C.

(B) As shown in FIG. 8, the preheating section D1
Adopts the same structure as that of the above-mentioned embodiment, and as the main heating section D2, a plurality of pressure bonding type main heating rollers 48 are arranged in the main heating path in the same manner as the preheating roller 30. With this configuration, the recording medium M heated by the preheating unit D1 and printed by the printing unit C is brought into contact with the plurality of main heating rollers 48 heated to 180 ° C. in the main heating unit D2. In this state, positive heat treatment is realized without leading to insufficient heating.

(C) The recording medium sent from the main heating unit is heated at a temperature lower than the heating temperature of the main heating unit, so that the recording medium is radiated while heating the temperature. It is also possible to add a heat-dissipating section. When the heat dissipation part capable of temperature control is added in this way, it is possible to eliminate the inconvenience of causing distortion of the substrate due to rapid heat dissipation.

(D) As a preliminary heating section, it is possible to provide a heating plate for contacting and heating the recording medium, or a heating type belt for sandwiching and conveying the recording medium. It is also possible to provide an infrared heater (including a far infrared heater) as a heating unit and configure it in a non-contact type.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of an image forming apparatus and an image processing system.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional side view of a main part of the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part of the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a recording medium.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a control system of the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing.

FIG. 7 is a vertical cross-sectional side view of the main part of the image forming apparatus of (a) in another embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a vertical cross-sectional side view of the main part of the image forming apparatus of (b) according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 Base material 12 Fixing layer 13 Penetration layer 30 heating member 45 heating space A storage section B transport mechanism C print department D heating means D1 Preheating section D2 main heating part F control means M Recording medium

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Masazumi Ishikawa             No. 1 at 579 Umehara, Wakayama City, Wakayama Prefecture             Inside Ritsu Koki Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 2C056 EA04 EA23 EB14 EB30 EC13                       EC14 EC29 FC06 FD03 HA46

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A transport mechanism for feeding a recording medium having a permeation layer on which recording information to be transferred to a fixing layer on the surface of a base material is printed, and sublimation to the permeation layer of the recording medium sent by the transport mechanism. A printing unit for applying recording ink to print the recording information, and a heating unit for heating the recording medium to transfer the recording information printed on the permeation layer to the fixing layer. An image forming apparatus including a pre-heating unit arranged at a position higher than the printing unit in the recording medium conveyance direction, and a main heating unit arranged at a position lower than the printing unit in the recording medium conveyance direction. . 2. In the main heating section, the sublimation ink in the permeation layer is sublimated, and control is performed to maintain the recording information printed on the permeation layer in an appropriate temperature range for transferring to the fixing layer; The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a control unit that controls the heating unit to maintain a temperature range lower than the appropriate temperature range. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the preheating unit includes a heating member that heats the recording medium by contacting the recording medium. 4. The main heating unit is provided with a heating space for heating the recording medium by bringing heated air into contact with the recording medium feeding path or by applying infrared rays. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the permeation layer of the recording medium is configured to be peelable like a film.