JP2005225168A - Printer and method of printing - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To maintain a cleaning performance for a long time even when a cleaning roller having a low adhesion is brought into contact with an intermediate transfer body. <P>SOLUTION: This printer comprises a printing section 16 for printing an image on an image receptive layer 29 of an intermediate transfer ribbon 21, a transfer section 17 for transferring the image printed on the image receptive layer 29 by the printing section 16 to a passbook T, and a cleaning means 76 for cleaning the image receptive layer 29 of the intermediate transfer ribbon 21 before the image is printed thereon. The cleaning means 76 has a first cleaning roller 83 which is brought into contact with the image receptive layer 29 to remove a foreign matter on the image receptive layer 29 by the adhesion and a second cleaning roller 84 which is brought into contact with the first cleaning roller 83 to remove the foreign matter on the first cleaning roller 83 by the adhesion higher than that of the first cleaning roller 83. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus and a printing method for printing an image by a thermal transfer method.

  In this type of printing apparatus, an ink ribbon is heated by a thermal head of a printing unit to print an image on an image receiving layer of an intermediate transfer ribbon, and the image is transferred onto a transfer target body together with the image receiving layer by a heat roller of a transfer unit. There is something.

  By the way, if dust or the like accumulates on the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer ribbon, printing is performed with the dust sandwiched between them, and printing failure occurs.

Therefore, a cleaning roller is brought into contact with the image receiving layer surface of the intermediate transfer ribbon, and dust on the image receiving layer surface is removed by the cleaning roller (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2002-120446 A

  However, due to the property that the intermediate transfer ribbon is made on the premise of retransfer, the image receiving layer on the surface thereof is easy to peel off. For this reason, when the cleaning roller having a strong adhesive force is pressed against the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer ribbon, the image receiving layer is peeled off, and an image cannot be formed in the corresponding portion, resulting in poor printing.

  When a cleaning roller having a weak adhesive force is used, the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer ribbon is not peeled off. However, if the adhesive force of the cleaning roller is simply reduced, the dust removal capability will rapidly decline and the dust cannot be removed when a large amount of dust is attached to the surface of the intermediate transfer ribbon. There is an inconvenience.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to the above circumstances, and the object of the present invention is to maintain a good cleaning ability for a long period of time even when a cleaning roller having a weak adhesive force is brought into contact with the intermediate transfer member. Another object is to provide a printing apparatus and a printing method.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention described in claim 1 includes a printing unit that prints an image on an image receiving layer of an intermediate transfer member, and an image printed on the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer member by the printing unit. And a transfer means for cleaning the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer body prior to printing an image on the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer body, the cleaning means comprising the intermediate transfer A first cleaning roller that is in contact with the image receiving layer of the body and removes foreign matter on the image receiving layer by an adhesive force; and an adhesive that is in contact with the first cleaning roller and is stronger than the adhesive force of the first cleaning roller. And a second cleaning roller for removing foreign matter on the first cleaning roller by force.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing step of printing an image on the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer member, a transfer step of transferring an image printed on the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer member to the transfer target member by this printing step, A cleaning process for cleaning the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer body prior to printing an image on the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer body. In the cleaning process, the image receiving layer is contacted with the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer body. The foreign matter on the image receiving layer is removed by the adhesive force of the first cleaning roller, and the foreign matter on the first cleaning roller is brought into contact with the first cleaning roller, and the adhesive force of the first cleaning roller It is removed by a second cleaning roller having a stronger adhesive force.

  According to the present invention, even when the first cleaning roller having a weak adhesive force is brought into contact with the image receiving layer surface of the intermediate transfer member, good cleaning performance can be maintained over a long period of time.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing a passbook printing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  This passbook printing apparatus 1 includes a passbook take-in unit 4, in which a plurality of passbooks T to be transferred are stacked and set in a closed state, and are taken one by one. It is supposed to be. The taken passbooks T are transported along the transport path 3 by a plurality of transport roller pairs 2 as transport means. In the conveyance path 3, the first OCR reading unit 5, the page turning unit 6, the direct printing unit 7, the intermediate transfer printing device 8 as a printing device, and the second as reading means are arranged along the conveyance direction of the bankbook T. An OCR reading unit 9, a folding unit 14, and a wireless IC R / W unit 10 are provided.

  Further, a discharge gate 11 for switching the discharge direction of the passbooks T between the first direction and the second direction is provided on the discharge end side of the transport path 3, and normal passbooks T are accumulated in the first direction. A normal bankbook stacking unit 12 and a defective bankbook stacking unit 13 for stacking defective bankbooks in the second direction are arranged.

  FIG. 2 shows the intermediate transfer printing apparatus 8 described above.

  The intermediate transfer printing apparatus 8 is functionally configured to include an information printing unit (hereinafter referred to as a printing unit) 16 as a printing unit and an overcoat transfer unit (hereinafter referred to as a transfer unit) 17 as a transfer unit. Yes.

  As the printing unit 16, a thermal melt transfer printing method is adopted. That is, a molten ink ribbon 22 and an intermediate transfer ribbon 21 as an intermediate transfer material are arranged so as to be sandwiched between a thermal head 19 as a print head and a platen roller 20. When the thermal head 19 is pressed against the platen roller 20 via the molten ink ribbon 22 and the intermediate transfer ribbon 21, information or the like is printed on the surface of the intermediate transfer ribbon 21.

  Features of this hot melt transfer method include high image durability and relatively easy application of functional materials to ink materials (eg fluorescent pigments, aluminum vapor-deposited thin films). Suitable for printed materials.

  The base film thickness and the ink layer thickness of the molten ink ribbon 22 are extremely important parameters for print dot reproducibility, and the total thickness of the ink ribbon is 3 to 25 μm, and preferably 4 to 10 μm.

  On the other hand, the thickness of the base film (to be described later) of the intermediate transfer ribbon 21 and the thickness of the image receiving / adhesive layer are parameters that affect the adhesiveness and film breakage characteristics. The layer thickness of the intermediate transfer ribbon 21 is 10 to 100 μm. It is preferably 25 to 50 μm.

  The platen roller 20 is a roller using a hard rubber material on the surface, and the reproducibility of minute dots improves as the rubber hardness increases. On the other hand, the optimum positional relationship between the platen roller 20 and the thermal head 19 can be obtained. It becomes difficult. For this reason, hardness is 75 degrees or more, desirably 85 to 97 degrees. In addition, the surface roughness of the polished rubber surface also improves the reproducibility of minute dots as the surface smoothness increases. For this reason, the surface roughness is required to be about 1 μm or less, preferably about 0.5 μm, as the center line average roughness Ra.

  In general, the driving force for conveying the intermediate transfer ribbon 21 is often provided with a drive mechanism on the platen roller 20, but the friction coefficient between the intermediate transfer ribbon 21 and the platen roller 20 does not increase due to the hardness and smoothness described above. Not stable.

  For this reason, a ribbon drive roller 23 is separately provided immediately downstream (on the heat roller side) of the platen roller 20. The ribbon driving roller 23 is a roller having a hardness of 30 to 60 degrees, and the intermediate transfer ribbon 21 should have a winding angle as large as possible with respect to the ribbon driving roller 23. In the embodiment, the tensioner 24 is arranged so as to obtain a winding angle of 90 ° to 130 °.

  The tensioner 24 is provided with a spring mechanism (not shown), and tension is applied to the intermediate transfer ribbon 21 within a limited movable range so that the ribbon driving roller 23 and the intermediate transfer ribbon 21 are always in proper contact with each other.

  The ribbon drive roller 23 is driven accurately by a combination of a five-phase stepping motor, a timing belt, and a speed reduction mechanism using a pulley. The thermal head 19 is preferably a near-edge or corner-edge type head, and it is desirable to perform printing by peeling when heated.

  The transfer unit 17 includes a heat roller 35 and a backup roller 36 that are disposed to face each other via the bankbook transport path 3. The heat roller 35 can be accurately driven at a constant speed by a DC servo motor or a stepping motor, and a pressure generated by a coil spring 37 is applied between the heat roller 35 and a rotatable backup roller 36. .

  3A to 3C are cross-sectional views showing the configuration of the intermediate transfer ribbon 21. FIG.

  The intermediate transfer ribbon 21 shown in FIG. 3A is formed on the surface of a PET (polyethylene terephthalate) ribbon 26 as a base material. A polyester resin 29 as a layer is laminated.

  Also, the intermediate transfer ribbon 21 shown in FIG. 3B has a transparent hologram formed on the surface of a PET film 26 as a substrate, a phenoxy resin 27 as a release layer, a hologram forming layer made of a transparent resin, and a vapor deposition layer of a metal compound. A layer 28 and a polyester resin 29 as an image receiving layer / adhesive layer are laminated.

  Further, the intermediate transfer ribbon 21 shown in FIG. 3C is formed by depositing a phenoxy resin 27 as a release layer, a protective layer 30, a hologram forming layer with a transparent resin, and a metal compound on the surface of a PET film 26 as a substrate. A transparent hologram layer 28 by layers and a polyester resin 29 as an image receiving layer / adhesive layer are laminated.

  FIG. 4 shows the passbook T set in the passbook take-in section 4 as opened.

  A passbook unique number 42 as passbook unique information is recorded on the inner surface of the opened cover Ta of the passbook T, and a wireless IC 43 is incorporated therein.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a drive control system of the passbook printing apparatus 1 described above.

  In the figure, reference numeral 51 denotes a data input control unit, to which the printing apparatus 1 is connected. The data input control unit 51 is provided with a main control unit 52, and a memory 53, an interface unit 54, an operation panel 55, and an image input unit 56 are connected to the main control unit 52 through a control circuit.

  The printing apparatus 1 is provided with a device control unit 58 that includes a generation unit 58a as a generation unit and a determination unit 58b as a determination unit. The device control unit 58 directly prints an image via a control circuit. A processing unit 67, an intermediate transfer image processing unit 68, a heater temperature control unit 60, a passbook conveyance control unit 61, an image formation control unit 62, an optical character recognition unit 69, and a wireless reading / writing unit 73 are provided. .

  A head control unit 63 for controlling the printing operation of the thermal head 7a is connected to the direct print image processing unit 67 described above. A head controller 64 that controls the printing operation of the thermal head 19 is connected to the intermediate transfer image processor 66.

  The heater 65 of the heat roller 35 is connected to the heater temperature control unit 60 through a control circuit. A bankbook transport mechanism 2a, a bankbook take-in mechanism 4a, a page detector 4b, a page turning mechanism 6a, and a discharge gate controller 11a are connected to the bankbook transport controller 61 through a control circuit.

  A transfer ribbon transport mechanism 32a, a head moving mechanism 19a for moving the thermal head 19 and a rotating mechanism 35a for rotating the heat roller 35 are connected to the image forming control unit 62 through a control circuit.

  First and second reading optical systems 5 and 9 are connected to the optical character recognition unit 69. The wireless IC read / write unit 73 is connected to the wireless IC R / W unit 10.

  Next, the operation of the passbook printing apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described.

  First, only one passbook T is taken out from the passbook taking-in section 4 shown in FIG. 1 and conveyed to the page turning section 6 (conveying process). Here, the cover of the passbook T is rolled up to a predetermined page. Will be open. Thereafter, the unique information 42 assigned to each passbook T is read by the first OCR reading unit 5 (reading step), and recognition processing is performed as described later. The recognized unique information 42 is added to the security information and becomes black print data transferred to the thermal head 19.

  On the other hand, at this time, as shown in FIG. 2, the intermediate transfer ribbon 21 is fed out from the delivery-side reel 32, and a mark indicating the hologram position is detected by the sensor 33. Using the mark detection result, the intermediate transfer ribbon 21 is controlled to the print start position.

  Next, specific print information (hereinafter referred to as security information) or the like is printed at a predetermined position of the intermediate transfer ribbon 21 by the thermal head 19. The information to be printed is color printing by superimposing four colors of black ink in addition to the three primary colors of Y (yellow), M (magenta), and C (cyan), as will be described later. These multiple color overlay printing is performed by the intermediate transfer ribbon 21 reciprocating the thermal head 19 as many times as the number of colors. In addition, the information to be printed is a reverse image.

  The intermediate transfer ribbon 21 on which the security information is printed in this way is wound in the forward direction (the direction of the heat roller 35), and the intermediate transfer ribbon is detected by the transfer portion mark detection sensor 39 in the middle of the path as shown in FIG. The position of 21 is grasped. Based on this grasping result, the intermediate transfer ribbon 21 is sent to the transfer start position.

  At this time, the passbook T is taken in as shown in FIG. 6B in a state where the page to be transferred is opened, and is conveyed to a predetermined position with respect to the heat roller 35. The page to be transferred may be a cover-back page or another medium page.

  The corresponding pages of the intermediate transfer ribbon 21 and the passbook T thus positioned are overlapped with the rotation of the metal heat roller 35 having a shape in which a part of the circumference is cut as shown in FIG. And is heated under pressure along with the conveyance. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 7, the transfer ribbon base 26 is pulled up at an angle of 60 ° to 110 ° with respect to the bankbook T, and the transfer of the security information 46, the image receiving / adhesive layer 29, and the hologram layer 28 is completed. As shown in FIG. 8, the unique information 42, the security information 46 including the unique information 42, and the face image 44 of the owner are transferred and printed (printing process). The passbook T for which the transfer printing is completed is conveyed to the next second OCR reading unit 9 with the page being opened as shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, the unique information 42 (characters in this case) of the passbook T read by the first OCR reading unit 5 is recognized by the optical character recognition unit 69 and the recognition result is transmitted to the printing apparatus control unit 58. Is done. In the printing apparatus control unit 58, the passbook-specific information is included in the face image data of the holder acquired by the image input unit 56 sent from the data input control unit 50, the security character information of the holder input by the operation panel 55, and the like. Processing is performed by adding print data based on the character information, and print data is generated by the generation unit 58a (generation process) and transmitted to the intermediate transfer image processing unit 68. As a result, the security information 46 to which the passbook-specific information 42 a is added is printed on the surface of the intermediate transfer ribbon 21. The passbook type specific information 42a and the security information 46 are transferred to the passbook type T and conveyed to the second OCR reading unit 9 and read as described above. The read unique information 42 a and security information 46 are recognized by the optical character recognition unit 69, and the recognition result is transmitted to the printing apparatus control unit 58. In the printing apparatus control unit 58, data discrimination processing is performed by the discrimination unit 58 b (discrimination process), and the judgment result is transmitted to the booklet transport control unit 61.

  If it is determined that the data collation result in the determination unit 58b is defective, the printing apparatus control unit 58 notifies the data input control unit 50 that the created passbook is defective. The data input control unit 50 transmits the same print processing command to the printing apparatus control unit 58 again based on receiving the notification that the created passbooks are defective, and automatically recreates the passbooks. Let it be done.

  The passbook transfer / control unit 61 controls the transfer to the normal passbook stacking unit 12 if it is a normal passbook, and to the defective passbook stacking unit 13 if it is a defective passbook. In the wireless IC R / W unit 10, data indicating that the bankbook is defective is recorded in the wireless IC 43 of the bankbook T when the wireless IC R / W unit 10 determines that it is defective.

  If the data collation result in the determination unit 58b is correct, the passbook-specific information 42 read by the first OCR reading unit 5 is used as described in the printing operation of the intermediate transfer printing apparatus 8 described above. The optical character recognition unit 69 recognizes and transmits the recognition result to the printing apparatus control unit 58. Therefore, in the printing apparatus control unit 58, the face image data of the owner acquired by the image input unit 56 and the security character information of the owner input by the operation panel 55 sent from the data input control unit 50 are used. Processing is performed by adding record data based on character information unique to the passbook, and record data to the wireless IC is generated and transmitted to the wireless IC R / W control unit 73. As a result, the security information to which the passbook type specific information is added is recorded (written) in the wireless IC 43 of the passbook type T by the wireless ICR / W unit 10.

  Incidentally, the printing unit 16 and the transfer unit 17 of the above-described intermediate transfer printing apparatus 8 are provided with cleaning means 75 and 76 as shown in FIG.

  The cleaning means 75 provided in the printing unit 16 cleans the molten ink ribbon 22 and has rotatable cleaning rollers 81 and 82.

  The cleaning roller 81 on the upstream side in the feeding direction of the molten ink ribbon 22 is in pressure contact with the surface of the molten ink ribbon 22 on the thermal head side, and the downstream cleaning roller 82 is in pressure contact with the ink application surface side. The cleaning rollers 81 and 82 are not particularly pressed against the molten ink ribbon 22 by a pressure contact mechanism, but are arranged to be pressed against the molten ink ribbon 22 by a component of tension generated in the molten ink ribbon 22 during a printing operation. . As the cleaning rollers 81 and 82, a synthetic rubber such as low hardness urethane rubber or butyl rubber, to which adhesiveness is added, is used, and the adhesive force is controlled by controlling the rubber composition and surface roughness.

  The molten ink ribbon 22 is obtained by applying and drying an ink layer on a PET film serving as a base, and is not particularly easy to peel off. For this reason, the adhesive force of the cleaning rollers 81 and 82 has such a size that the molten ink ribbon 22 does not stick or wrap even when the molten ink ribbon 22 is fed during operation of the apparatus.

  When the molten ink ribbon 22 is sent, the cleaning rollers 81 and 82 rotate while being in pressure contact with the molten ink ribbon 22, and dust, dust, and the like on the front and back surfaces of the molten ink ribbon 22 are removed.

  On the other hand, the cleaning unit 76 provided in the transfer unit 17 includes first to third cleaning rollers 83 to 85 that are rotatable.

  The first cleaning roller 83 is pressed against the image receiving layer side of the intermediate transfer ribbon 21, and the second cleaning roller 84 is pressed against the first cleaning roller 83. The third cleaning roller 85 is in pressure contact with the base layer side opposite to the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer ribbon 21.

  The image printed on the intermediate transfer ribbon 21 needs to be transferred to the passbook T by the thermocompression of the heat roller 35 in the transfer unit 17, and the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer ribbon 21 is relatively easy to peel off.

  Accordingly, when the first cleaning roller 83 has the same adhesive force as the cleaning rollers 81 and 82 used for the ink ribbon 22, the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer ribbon 21 is peeled off by the adhesive force of the first cleaning roller 83. There is a risk.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, the adhesive force of the first cleaning roller 83 is managed by adjusting the rubber composition and the surface roughness to remove foreign matters such as dust and dust, but the image of the intermediate transfer ribbon 21 is received. The adhesive strength is reduced so as not to peel off the layer.

  However, in the case where a large amount of dust adheres to the surface of the intermediate transfer ribbon 21, if the adhesive force of the first cleaning roller 83 is simply reduced, as shown in FIG. Although it has an ability to remove dust at the start, as shown in FIG. 10B, the ability to remove dust gradually decreases as the dust gradually covers the surface of the first cleaning roller 83. Furthermore, if the first cleaning roller 83 is continuously used, as shown in FIG. 10C, the dust cannot be removed at last, and the dust is missed, so that the intermediate transfer ribbon 21 can be removed. Garbage will flow downstream in the feed direction.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, the second cleaning roller 84 having a strong adhesive force is brought into contact with the first cleaning roller 83 having a low adhesive force.

  Thus, the dust 87 removed from the intermediate transfer ribbon 21 by the first cleaning roller 83 is removed by the second cleaning roller 84 as it rotates.

  With such a configuration, the surface of the first cleaning roller 83 can always be kept clean with no dust 87 until the second cleaning roller 84 loses the ability to remove dust 87, and the intermediate transfer ribbon 21 can be kept clean. Can be removed more stably.

  Further, since the second cleaning roller 84 does not directly touch the intermediate transfer ribbon 21, it is sufficient if the adhesive force is stronger than that of the first cleaning roller 83, and the adhesive force can be set freely to some extent.

  Furthermore, since the outer dimension of the second cleaning roller 84 is larger than the outer dimension of the first cleaning roller 83, the surface area of the second cleaning roller 84 can be increased, and the dust removal capability can be increased. Become.

  Since the third cleaning roller 85 is disposed on the base layer side opposite to the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer ribbon 21, the image receiving layer does not peel off. Accordingly, the third cleaning roller 85 has an adhesive force enough to prevent the intermediate transfer ribbon 21 from sticking or wrapping when the intermediate transfer ribbon 21 is conveyed.

  In the above-described configuration, when the intermediate transfer ribbon 22 is conveyed, the front and back surfaces thereof are cleaned by the first and third cleaning rollers 83 and 85 to remove dust, dust and the like.

  12 and 13 show another embodiment of the present invention.

  FIG. 12 shows the ink ribbon cassette 101.

  The ink ribbon cassette 101 is a passbook issuing machine that prints image information on an intermediate transfer ribbon 103 shown in FIG. The ink ribbon cassette 101 supplies the ink ribbon 106 to the lower side of the thermal head 102 from the ink ribbon core 105 (delivery side), and when the ink transfer to the intermediate transfer ribbon 103 by the thermal head 102 is finished, the ink ribbon 106 is removed from the ink ribbon 106. The structure is such that it is wound around the core 107 (winding side).

  The thermal head 102 is driven up and down by a thermal head drive mechanism (not shown), and has a structure capable of being pressed against and retracted from the platen roller 109 via the ink ribbon 106 and the intermediate transfer ribbon 103 during printing.

  A cleaning unit 111 for cleaning the ink ribbon 106 is provided in the ink ribbon cassette 101. The cleaning means 111 has rotatable cleaning rollers 112 and 113. The cleaning roller 112 is pressed against the thermal head side of the ink ribbon 106, and the cleaning roller 113 is pressed against the ink application surface side, so that dust, dust, and the like on the front and back surfaces of the ink ribbon 106 are removed.

  The characteristics such as the adhesive force of the cleaning rollers 112 and 113 are the same as the characteristics of the cleaning rollers 81 and 82 in the above-described embodiment.

  FIG. 13 shows the intermediate transfer ribbon cassette 117.

  The intermediate transfer ribbon cassette 117 accommodates only the intermediate transfer ribbon core 118 (delivery side) and the first to third cleaning rollers 119, 120, and 121. The intermediate transfer ribbon core 123 (winding side) is not housed in the intermediate transfer ribbon cassette 117, and has a structure in which one end side of the intermediate transfer ribbon 103 is wound.

  The first cleaning roller 119 is in contact with the image receiving layer side of the intermediate transfer ribbon 103, and the second cleaning roller 120 is in contact with the first cleaning roller 119. The third cleaning roller 121 is in contact with the base layer side opposite to the image receiving layer, and has a structure capable of removing dust, dust and the like on both the front and back surfaces of the intermediate transfer ribbon 103.

  The characteristics of the first to third cleaning rollers 119, 120, 121 and the like are the same as the characteristics of the first to third cleaning rollers 83, 84, 85 in the above-described embodiment. Yes.

  Also in this embodiment, the same operational effects as the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

  Of course, the present invention can be variously modified within the scope of the gist thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The block diagram which shows schematically the bankbook printing apparatus which is one embodiment of this invention. The block diagram which shows the transfer printing part with which the bankbook printing apparatus is equipped. The transfer ribbon used in the same transfer printing part is shown, (a) is the 1st example, (b) is the 2nd example, (c) is a block diagram which shows the 3rd example. The top view shown in the state which opened the passbooks used with the same passbook printing apparatus. The control block diagram which shows the control part of the bankbook printing apparatus. The figure which shows the transfer operation | movement of the transfer printing part. The figure which expands and shows a part of transfer operation | movement of the transfer printing part. The top view which shows the passbooks printed with the same passbook printing apparatus. The figure which shows the cleaning apparatus of the transfer printing part. The figure which shows the cleaning operation | movement by the 1st cleaning roller of the cleaning apparatus. The figure which shows the cleaning operation | movement by the 1st and 2nd cleaning roller of the cleaning apparatus. The figure which shows the ink ribbon cassette which is other embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the intermediate transfer ribbon cassette which is other embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

21 ... Intermediate transfer ribbon (intermediate transfer member), 29 ... Image receiving layer, 16 ... Printing section (printing means),
T: Passbook (transfer object), 17: Transfer portion (transfer means), 76: Cleaning means, 83, 119 ... First cleaning roller, 84, 120 ... Second cleaning roller, 85, 121 ... Third cleaning roller, 117... Intermediate transfer ribbon cassette.

Claims (6)

Printing means for printing an image on the image-receiving layer of the intermediate transfer member;
Transfer means for transferring an image printed on the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer body to the transfer target by the printing means;
Cleaning means for cleaning the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer body prior to printing an image on the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer body,
The cleaning means includes
A first cleaning roller that is in contact with the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer member and removes foreign matter on the image receiving layer by adhesive force;
And a second cleaning roller that is in contact with the first cleaning roller and removes foreign matter on the first cleaning roller with an adhesive force stronger than the adhesive force of the first cleaning roller. Printing device to do. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the adhesive force of the first cleaning roller is strong enough not to peel the image receiving layer from the intermediate transfer member. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an outer dimension of the second cleaning roller is larger than an outer dimension of the first cleaning roller. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning unit includes a third cleaning roller that contacts the side of the intermediate transfer member opposite to the image receiving layer. 5. The printing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the transfer means is formed as a cassette, and the first to third cleaning rollers are disposed in the cassette. A printing process for printing an image on the image-receiving layer of the intermediate transfer member;
A transfer step of transferring an image printed on the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer member to the transfer target by this printing step;
A cleaning step for cleaning the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer body prior to printing an image on the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer body,
In the cleaning step,
Removing foreign matter on the image receiving layer by the adhesive force of the first cleaning roller in contact with the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer member;
The foreign matter on the first cleaning roller is removed by a second cleaning roller that is in contact with the first cleaning roller and has an adhesive strength stronger than that of the first cleaning roller. Printing method.

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