JP2006116827A - Thermal head and optical disk device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a thermal head capable of improving a degree of adhesion with respect to a thermally sensitive recording medium, and an optical disk device. <P>SOLUTION: A heating section for heating a thermally sensitive recording medium (12) is held by a holding member coupled to a head support member (62) such that the heating section is rotatably held around at least one of a first axis parallel to a moving direction of the thermally sensitive recording medium in a face parallel to the thermally sensitive recording medium and a second axis perpendicular thereto. As a result, even when the surface of the thermally sensitive recording medium has an inclination by being affected by warpage or distortion of the thermally sensitive recording medium, a contact face of the heating section is rotated along with the inclination so that the degree of contact of the thermally sensitive recording medium with the heating section can be improved. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a thermal head and an optical disc apparatus, and more particularly to a thermal head that prints visible information by heating a thermal recording medium, and an optical disc apparatus including the thermal head.

  In recent years, with the advancement of digital technology and the improvement of data compression technology, information recording media for recording information such as music, movies and photographs (hereinafter also referred to as “content”) are CD (compact-disc), DVD ( Optical discs such as digital versatile discs have attracted attention, and along with the reduction in price, optical disc devices have become popular as information recording devices for recording content on optical discs.

  Currently available recordable optical discs (hereinafter also referred to as “recordable optical discs”) include CD-R (CD-recordable), DVD + R, DVD-R, and other so-called recordable optical discs, CD-R, and the like. There are rewritable optical disks such as RW (CD-rewritable), DVD + RW, and DVD-RW.

  By the way, when an optical disc such as a read-only CD or DVD is manufactured, information about recorded data, for example, information such as a title, a manufacturer name, and a manufacturing date is printed on the CD-ROM. In general, a label is attached, and a label on which a music title, a pattern, or the like is printed is attached to a music CD.

  On the other hand, since data with different contents is recorded for each user on a recordable optical disc, a label on which information related to pre-recorded data is printed cannot be attached to the optical disc, and the user cannot attach the label to the optical disc case. It is common to write information about the recorded data or to attach a label on which information about the data is printed.

  Therefore, a thermal head capable of printing information relating to data recorded on the optical disk is mounted on an optical disk in which a heat-sensitive sheet (see, for example, Patent Document 1) is pasted on a so-called label surface of a recordable optical disk in advance. An optical disc device has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 2). However, in the optical disk device described in Patent Document 2, when warping or distortion occurs due to secular change or the like on the optical disk, the adhesion between the heating part of the thermal head and the heat-sensitive sheet decreases, and the visible information Printing may be faint or unclear.

JP 2004-1427 A JP 2000-173238 A

  The present invention has been made under such circumstances, and a first object of the invention is to provide a thermal head capable of improving adhesion to a thermal recording medium.

  A second object of the present invention is to provide an optical disc apparatus capable of printing high-quality visible information on a heat-sensitive sheet attached to an optical disc.

  The invention according to claim 1 is a thermal head for recording visible information by heating a moving thermal recording medium, a holding member connected to a head support member; and heating the thermal recording medium And at least one of a first axis parallel to the moving direction of the thermal recording medium in a plane parallel to the thermal recording medium and a second axis perpendicular to the first axis. And a connecting part for holding the heating part so as to be rotatable about an axis.

  According to this, the heating unit for heating the thermosensitive recording medium has a first axis parallel to the moving direction of the thermosensitive recording medium in a plane parallel to the thermosensitive recording medium and the holding member connected to the head support member. Is held so as to be rotatable around at least one of the second axes perpendicular to the axis. Therefore, even if the surface of the thermal recording medium is inclined due to warpage or distortion of the thermal recording medium, the contact surface of the heating unit rotates in accordance with the inclination, and the adhesion between the thermal recording medium and the heating unit is increased. Can be improved.

  In this case, like the thermal head according to the second aspect, the connection portion may include a ball joint.

  3. The thermal head according to claim 1, wherein, as in the thermal head according to claim 3, the heating unit has the thermal recording when the contact surface with the thermal recording medium is viewed along the moving direction. It may be formed in a curved surface that is convex with respect to the medium.

  2. The thermal head according to claim 1, wherein the connection portion is connected to the holding member so as to be rotatable about the second axis about the one end thereof as in the thermal head according to claim 4. And an arm having the heating unit attached to the other end, and the heating unit has a contact surface with the thermal recording medium formed in a curved surface that is convex with respect to the thermal recording medium when viewed along the moving direction. Can be that.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a thermal head for recording visible information by heating a thermal recording medium, wherein an abutting surface in contact with the thermal recording medium is a spherical surface, and the thermal contact is made through the corresponding contacting surface. It is a thermal head provided with the heating part for heating the said thermal recording medium.

  According to this, since the contact surface of the heating unit is a spherical surface, it is possible to improve the adhesion between the thermal recording medium and the heating unit.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a thermal head for recording visible information by heating a thermal recording medium, comprising: a protective body that contacts the thermal recording medium; and a housing that rotatably stores the protective body. And a heating element that heats the protective body via the brush.

  According to this, since the protective body that transmits heat from the heating element rotates to the thermal recording medium, friction generated between the protective body and the thermal recording medium can be reduced, and as a result, the adhesion between the thermal recording medium and the heating unit can be reduced. Can be improved.

  In this case, as in the thermal head according to claim 7, the protective body can be spherical or cylindrical.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the thermal head for recording visible information on the thermal recording medium by contacting a heating portion formed on the substrate with the thermal recording medium, the substrate has elasticity. It is a thermal head.

  According to this, the heating portion that contacts the heat-sensitive recording medium is formed on the elastic substrate. Therefore, when the heating unit comes into contact with the thermal recording medium, the heating unit bends according to warpage or distortion generated in the thermal recording medium, so that the adhesion between the thermal recording medium and the heating unit can be improved. Become.

  The invention according to claim 9 is an optical disc apparatus that records at least data on an optical disc, and records visible information on a heat-sensitive sheet attached to the optical disc. An optical disc apparatus comprising: the thermal head according to claim 1; a drive device that drives the thermal head to record visible information on a thermal sheet attached to the optical disc; and a processing device that records data on the optical disc. is there.

  According to this, since the visible information is printed on the heat-sensitive sheet attached to the optical disk by driving the thermal head according to claim 1 by the driving device, the heat-sensitive adhesive attached to the optical disk. It is possible to print high quality visible information on the sheet.

  In this case, as in the optical disk device according to the tenth aspect, it is possible to further include a biasing mechanism that biases the heat generating portion of the thermal head against the heat sensitive sheet.

  In each of the optical disk devices according to claims 9 and 10, a low-speed rotation mechanism that rotates the optical disk at a low speed when recording visible information on the thermosensitive recording medium as in the optical disk device according to claim 11. Further, it can be provided.

  In each of the optical disk apparatuses according to the ninth to eleventh aspects, as in the optical disk apparatus according to the twelfth aspect, a plurality of thermal heads may be arranged in the radial direction of the optical disk.

  In each of the optical disk apparatuses according to the ninth to eleventh aspects, as in the optical disk apparatus according to the thirteenth aspect, a plurality of the thermal heads are arranged so that the recording ranges overlap each other. it can.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an optical disc apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  An optical disc apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1 includes a casing 91 in which a rectangular (rectangular) opening 91a is formed, an optical disc apparatus main body 90 for recording and reproducing information with respect to the optical disc 10, and the opening 91a. And a tray 80 mounted on the casing 91 so as to be able to reciprocate in the directions of arrows A and A ′ (± X directions), and the opening 91a is closed when the tray 80 is stored in the casing 91. And a door 82. Here, as an example, an information recording medium conforming to a CD standard such as CD-R or CD-RW is used as the optical disc 10.

  The tray 80 is a plastic part molded by, for example, injection molding or the like, and is driven in the directions of arrows A and A ′ by a driving mechanism (not shown). On the upper surface (+ Z side surface) of the tray 80, a stepped substantially circular recess 80b is formed. Among these, an optical disk of 12 cm CD, for example, is set in the first recess, and an optical disk of 8 cm CD, for example, is set in the second recess.

  The door 82 is attached to the end of the tray 80 on the + X side, and is fixed to the tray 80. And when the tray 80 is accommodated in the housing | casing 91, it sets so that the opening part 91a of the housing | casing 91 may be fitted.

  In the housing 91, as shown in FIG. 2, the turntable 32, which constitutes the optical disk apparatus main body 90 and rotatably supports the optical disk 10, and the tray 80 are driven in the A and A ′ directions. The tray driving device shown in the figure, the printer unit 50 for printing visible information on the thermal sheet 12 attached to the upper surface of the optical disk 10 in the + Z direction, and the optical disk 10 is rotated at a lower speed than the writing speed of user data and the like. The rotating roller 55a and the processing device 20 (not shown in FIG. 2, refer to FIG. 7) are accommodated.

  The turntable 32 is disposed on the −Z side of the tray 80, and a boss 32a is provided at the center of rotation. The turntable 32 is fixed to a rotation shaft of a spindle motor 22 (to be described later) constituting the processing device 20 and is driven to rotate by the spindle motor 22. In this embodiment, when the tray 80 reaches the storage position (the position indicated by the broken line in FIG. 2), the turntable 32 is lifted by a vertical movement mechanism (not shown), and the turntable is placed in the center hole of the optical disc 10. 32 bosses 32a are fitted. Then, the optical disk 10 is pressed against the turntable 32 by a clamper (not shown). That is, the optical disk 10 is held between the turntable 32 and the clamper, and this position becomes the rotational position of the optical disk 10.

  On the −X side of the turntable 32, an optical pickup device 23 having an objective lens LS for condensing laser light on the recording surface of the optical disc 10 is disposed.

  The tray 80 has an opening 80a penetrating in the Z-axis direction so as not to mechanically interfere with the turntable 32, the optical pickup device 23, and the like when stored in the housing 91. Has been.

  The printer unit 50 is disposed on the + X side of the optical disk 10 on the + X side of the turntable 32. The printer unit 50 includes a thermal head 51 shown in FIG. 3, a support mechanism 60, and a head drive device 54 (not shown in FIG. 3, see FIG. 7) that drives the thermal head 51 via the support mechanism 60. It is comprised including.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the support mechanism 60 includes an arm 61, a bracket 62, and the like. The arm 61 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and extends from the housing 91 with the longitudinal direction as the Y-axis direction (not shown). The support portion is connected to be rotatable about an axis 64 parallel to the X axis.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the bracket 62 has a substantially U-shaped cross section, and extends in the + Z direction from both ends of the fixing portion 62a to which the support plate 52 of the thermal head 51 is fixed, and both ends of the fixing portion 62a in the Y-axis direction. The connecting portions 62 b and 62 c are provided, and the connecting portions 62 b and 62 c are inserted into a through window 61 a provided in the arm 61 and penetrating in the Z-axis direction. The arm 61 is rotated around the shaft 62d through a shaft 62d supported by the shaft holes 61b and 61c provided in the wall surfaces in the + Y direction and -Y direction of the through window. It is supported movably. The arm 61 is rotationally driven by the head driving device 54.

  The connecting portion 62b is set to be slightly longer than the connecting portion 62c, and the fixed portion 62a is set to be inclined about 9 degrees with respect to the longitudinal surface of the arm 61. As a result, when printing on the thermal sheet 12 attached to the optical disc 10, the shaft 62d is parallel to the optical disc 10, the head 52a of the thermal head 51 abuts the thermal sheet 12 at an angle of about 9 degrees, and the bracket. 62 is configured to rotate well about the shaft 62d.

  The thermal head 51 is a substantially rectangular plate-like body that is fixed to the −Z side of the fixing portion 62a of the bracket 62 with the longitudinal direction as the X-axis direction, and as shown in FIG. A plurality of heads 52 a arranged along the radius of the optical disk 10 are provided at the −Y side end of the plate 52.

  As shown in the sectional view of FIG. 6, the head 52a has a spherical head at one end on the −Z side and a support member 66 connected to the support plate 52 at the other end, and a surface on the + Z side. Is formed with a housing portion 65a that rotatably accommodates the spherical head portion, and a glass plate or a glaze layer 64 made of glass fiber as a heat storage layer is formed on the surface on the -Z side. Alternatively, an alumina substrate 65 is provided, and an electrode layer 63a, a heating element layer 63, and a protective layer 95 are formed on the surface of the glaze layer 64.

More specifically, the electrode layer 63a is electrically connected to the head control circuit 52b shown in FIG. 7 provided on the support plate 52 by a gold wire (not shown) for supplying electric energy. Yes. For example, 3 to 16 heating elements are formed per 1 mm ^{2 on the} heating element layer 63, and each heating element is electrically connected to the electrode layer 63a. The head control circuit 52b controls the temperature of the heating element layer 63 to a desired temperature by selectively supplying electric energy to each heating element. The protective layer 95 is made of a material having excellent thermal conductivity and wear resistance, such as carbon.

  In this embodiment, an optical disk having a diameter of 12 centimeters is printed at a resolution of 300 dpi, and approximately 450 heads each having the above layers formed on a substrate having a side length of 0.08 mm are arranged in the radial direction. An arranged thermal head shall be used.

  The rotating roller 55a is urged by a spring (not shown) in the direction of arrow B shown in FIG. And it is being fixed to the rotating shaft of the stepping motor not shown which comprises the rotating roller drive device 55 mentioned later.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the processing device 20 drives the spindle motor 22, the optical pickup device 23, and the optical pickup device 23 in the sledge direction for rotationally driving the turntable 32 on which the optical disk 10 is supported. The seek motor 21, the laser control circuit 24, the encoder 25, the drive control circuit 26, the reproduction signal processing circuit 28, and the rotating roller 55a are rotated at a low speed, and the directions of arrows B and B 'shown in FIG. A rotating roller driving device 55 for driving in the radial direction of the optical disk, a buffer RAM 34, a buffer manager 37, an interface 38, a flash memory 39, a CPU 40, a RAM 41, and the like are provided. Note that the arrows in FIG. 7 indicate the flow of typical signals and information, and do not represent the entire connection relationship of each block.

  The optical pickup device 23 includes a semiconductor laser, an objective lens, etc., and guides the light beam emitted from the semiconductor laser to the recording layer of the optical disc 10 and guides the return light beam reflected by the recording layer to a predetermined light receiving position. A system, a light receiver disposed at the light receiving position and receiving the return light beam, a driving system (focusing actuator and tracking actuator) (both not shown), and the like. The light receiver has a plurality of light receiving elements (or light receiving regions), and a signal corresponding to the amount of light received by each is output to the reproduction signal processing circuit 28.

  The reproduction signal processing circuit 28 acquires a servo signal (such as a focus error signal and a track error signal), address information, a synchronization signal, and an RF signal based on the output signal of the light receiver. The servo signal obtained here is output to the drive control circuit 26, the address information is output to the CPU 40, and the synchronization signal is output to the encoder 25, the drive control circuit 26, and the like. Further, the reproduction signal processing circuit 28 performs decoding processing, error detection processing, and the like on the RF signal. When an error is detected, the reproduction signal processing circuit 28 performs error correction processing, and then plays back the buffer via the buffer manager 37 as reproduction data. Store in the RAM 34.

  The drive control circuit 26 generates a drive signal for the tracking actuator for correcting the positional deviation of the objective lens in the tracking direction based on the track error signal from the reproduction signal processing circuit 28, and based on the focus error signal. Thus, a driving signal for the focusing actuator for correcting the focus shift of the objective lens is generated. Each drive signal generated here is output to the optical pickup device 23. Thereby, tracking control and focus control are performed. The drive control circuit 26 generates a drive signal for driving the seek motor 21 and a drive signal for driving the spindle motor 22 based on an instruction from the CPU 40. Each drive signal is output to the seek motor 21 and the spindle motor 22, respectively.

  The buffer RAM 34 temporarily stores data to be recorded on the optical disc 10 (recording data), data reproduced from the optical disc 10 (reproduction data), and the like. Data input / output to / from the buffer RAM 34 is managed by the buffer manager 37.

  The encoder 25 takes out the recording data stored in the buffer RAM 34 through the buffer manager 37 based on an instruction from the CPU 40, modulates the data, adds an error correction code, and the like, and writes a signal to the optical disc 10. Is generated. The write signal generated here is output to the laser control circuit 24.

  The laser control circuit 24 controls the light emission power of a semiconductor laser constituting the optical pickup device 23. For example, during recording, a laser control circuit 24 generates a drive signal for the semiconductor laser based on the write signal, the recording conditions, the light emission characteristics of the semiconductor laser, and the like.

  The rotating roller driving device 55 rotates the rotating roller 55a urged in a direction to contact the optical disk 10 by a spring (not shown) when printing the thermal sheet 12 based on an instruction from the CPU 40, and at the end of printing. The rotating roller 55a is driven in the direction of the arrow B ′ shown in FIG.

  The interface 38 is a two-way communication interface with the host device 110 (for example, a personal computer), for example, standard such as ATAPI (AT Attachment Packet Interface), SCSI (Small Computer System Interface), and USB (Universal Serial Bus). Conform to the interface.

  The flash memory 39 stores various programs written in codes readable by the CPU 40, recording conditions including recording power and recording strategy information, and light emission characteristics of the semiconductor laser.

  The CPU 40 controls the operation of each unit in accordance with the program stored in the flash memory 39 and stores data necessary for control in the RAM 41 and the buffer RAM 34.

  Next, the thermal sheet 12 attached to the surface of the optical disk 10 used in the present embodiment will be described. This thermal sheet 12 is a reversible thermosensitive recording medium that can be erased and developed with a thermal head, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-1427, and has a heating temperature and a cooling rate after heating. A relatively colored state can be formed due to the difference.

  The graph of FIG. 1 shows the relationship between the color density of the heat sensitive sheet 12 and the temperature. When the temperature of the thermosensitive recording medium in the first decoloring state A is raised, color development begins to occur in the vicinity of the temperature T1, as indicated by the solid line in the graph, and when the temperature reaches the temperature T1, the thermosensitive recording medium enters the color developing state B. . When the color development state B is suddenly issued, the color development state C is maintained even at room temperature as indicated by the solid line in the graph. Further, when the color is gradually cooled from the coloring state B, the color disappears in the process of slow cooling as indicated by the broken line in the graph and returns to the color erasing state A. On the other hand, when the temperature rises again from the color development state C, the color disappears at a temperature T2 lower than T1 as shown by the alternate long and short dash line in the graph, and becomes the color erasure state E. Therefore, it is possible to print desired information on the thermal sheet 12 by heating the thermal sheet 12 attached to the optical disc 10 with a thermal head.

  Next, a method for printing information on the thermal sheet 12 attached to the optical disc 10 when a print request command from the host apparatus 110 is received will be described. As a premise for printing, the optical disk 10 with the thermal sheet 12 attached is placed on the turntable 32, the arm 61 waits at a standby position where the head 52a does not interfere with the optical disk 10, and the rotating roller 55a is driven by the rotating roller. It is assumed that the device 55 is driven in the direction of arrow B ′ in FIG. At this time, the optical pickup device 23 may be retracted to a predetermined position.

  First, the CPU 40 drives the rotating roller 55a in the direction of the arrow B in FIG. 2 via the rotating roller driving device 55 so as to come into pressure contact with the side surface of the optical disk 10, and rotationally drives the rotating roller 55a. At the same time, the head control circuit 52b is notified that the print request command has been received from the host apparatus 110.

  Next, when the optical disk 10 reaches a predetermined rotation speed (or speed), the arm 61 is rotationally driven about the shaft 64 in the forward direction (clockwise direction with respect to the X axis) via the head driving device 54. Then, the head 52a of the thermal head 51 is brought into pressure contact with the heat-sensitive sheet 12 attached to the optical disc 10 as shown in FIGS. In this case, since the substrate 65 connected to the support plate 52 via the support member 66 is rotatable with respect to the support plate 52, as an example, as shown in FIG. 9, the optical disk 10 is warped or distorted. Even if it occurs, the heat-sensitive sheet 12 can be satisfactorily adhered.

  Next, the CPU 40 selectively supplies electric energy to each element of the heating element layer 63 of the head 52a via the head control circuit 52b based on the print data transmitted from the host device 110, whereby the thermal sheet 12 is supplied. Is heated to a desired temperature to print visible information. When printing is completed, the rotary roller 55a is stopped, and the arm 61 is driven to rotate in a negative direction (a counterclockwise direction with respect to the X axis) about the shaft 64 to the standby position. As a result, the head 52a is pulled up in the + Z direction, and printing ends.

  As is clear from the above description, in this embodiment, a head support member is realized by the bracket 62 and a holding member is realized by the support plate 52, and the substrate 65, the glaze layer 64, the electrode layer 63a, the heating element layer 63, Further, the heating portion is realized by the protective layer 95, and a ball joint as a connection portion is realized by the spherical portion of the housing 65a and the support member 66.

  In the present embodiment, the processing device is realized by a program executed by the optical pickup device 23, the drive control circuit 26, the reproduction signal processing circuit 28, and the CPU 40. However, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the above-described embodiment is merely an example, and at least a part of the processing according to the program by the CPU 40 may be configured by hardware, or all may be configured by hardware.

  As described above, according to the thermal head 51 according to the present embodiment, the substrate 65 of the head 52 a is rotatably connected to the support plate 52. Therefore, when the head 52 a is pressed against the heat-sensitive sheet 12 attached to the optical disk 10, it is possible to obtain good adhesion even if the optical disk 10 is warped or distorted.

  Further, according to the optical disc apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, the head 52a of the thermal head 51 can be satisfactorily adhered to the thermal sheet 12 attached to the optical disc 10, so that high-quality visible information is applied to the thermal sheet 12. Can be printed.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the substrate 65 is connected to the support plate 52 via a ball joint has been described. However, as shown in FIG. 10, the support member 66 has a ZX plane centered on the shaft 67a. You may connect the board | substrate 65 via the bracket 67 as a connection part connected so that rotation is possible in a parallel surface (in the surface perpendicular | vertical to the moving direction of a thermal sheet). Also in this case, when the head 52a is pressed against the heat-sensitive sheet 12 attached to the optical disc 10, good adhesion can be obtained even if the optical disc 10 is warped or distorted.

  Also, as shown in FIG. 11, the contact surface is formed by forming the protective layer 95 of the head 52a so that the cross section perpendicular to the moving direction of the thermal sheet 12 includes a curved shape that is convex with respect to the thermal sheet. The pressure per unit area is improved, and when the head 52a is pressed against the heat-sensitive sheet 12 adhered to the optical disk 10, good adhesion can be obtained even if the optical disk 10 is warped or distorted. It becomes possible.

  Further, the plurality of heads 52a of the present embodiment are integrally configured, and as shown in FIG. 12, the cross section perpendicular to the moving direction of the thermal sheet 12 includes a curved shape in which the head 52a is convex with respect to the thermal sheet. Even with such a shape, the pressure per unit area of the contact surface can be improved, and even when the optical disk 10 is warped or distorted, good adhesion can be obtained.

  Further, as shown in the perspective view of FIG. 13A and the cross-sectional view in the ZY plane of FIG. 13B, on the substrate 65 so that the shape of the head 52a of the present embodiment is hemispherical, If the glaze layer 64, the electrode layer 63a, the heating element layer 63, and the protective layer 95 are formed, the pressure per unit area of the contact surface of the head 52a can be improved, and the optical disk 10 is warped or distorted. Even when it is, good adhesion can be obtained.

  Further, as shown in the perspective view of FIG. 14A and the cross-sectional view in the ZY plane of FIG. 14B, the spherical protective body 95 is rotatably held on the −Z side of the heating element layer 63. By forming the protective body 95 via the brush 70 in which the casing portion 70a is formed, the pressure per unit area of the contact surface can be improved, and even when the optical disc 10 is warped or distorted. It is possible to obtain good adhesion.

  Further, the spherical protector 95 may be formed in a cylindrical shape that can rotate in the moving direction of the thermal sheet, and is shown in a perspective view of FIG. 15A and a cross-sectional view in the ZX plane of FIG. As described above, the shaft 72a supported by the support 72 extending from the support plate 52 may be held rotatably in the moving direction of the heat sensitive sheet.

  Further, in the present embodiment, a case has been described in which a plurality (about 450) of the heads 52a are arranged on the support plate 52 in the radial direction, but the present invention is not limited to this, and FIG. It is also possible to arrange so that the heating ranges of each head overlap as shown in FIG. As a result, it is possible to heat the heat-sensitive sheet attached to the optical disk without any gap, and as a result, it is possible to print high-quality visible information.

  In this embodiment, the substrate on which each of the above layers is formed is a substrate made of aluminum or alumina, but the present invention is not limited to this, and silicon rubber or the like that is more flexible than aluminum or alumina is used. Is also possible. In this case, since the optical disk can be deformed against warping or distortion, it is possible to obtain good adhesion.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the respective layers are formed on a substantially square substrate has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the layers may be formed on a circular substrate. Good.

  In addition, when the heat-sensitive sheet 12 attached to the optical disk 10 in the present embodiment has cushioning properties, the present invention can be applied more favorably.

  In the above-described embodiment, the CD-R, CD-RW, and other optical disks capable of recording information have been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is a read-only optical disk such as a CD. Also good. In short, any optical disk having a thermal recording medium such as a thermal sheet attached thereto may be used.

  As described above, the thermal head of the present invention is suitable for printing visible information with high accuracy on a thermal recording medium. Further, the optical disk apparatus of the present invention is suitable for printing visible information with high accuracy on a heat-sensitive sheet attached to an optical disk.

1 is a schematic perspective view showing an optical disc apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a part of the inside of the optical disc apparatus main body by cutting a part of the housing. FIG. 3 is a perspective view for explaining a configuration of a printer unit in FIG. 2. It is sectional drawing for demonstrating the thermal head and arm in FIG. FIG. 5 is a plan view for explaining the arrangement of heads in FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view for configuring the head in FIG. 5. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control circuit of the optical disc apparatus in FIG. 1. It is a figure for demonstrating the color development characteristic of the thermosensitive sheet affixed on the optical disk. It is a figure which shows the state by which the head was press-contacted to the heat sensitive sheet. It is a figure for demonstrating the modification 1 of the head in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the modification 2 of the head in FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a third modification of the head in FIG. 6. FIGS. 13A and 13B are views for explaining a fourth modification of the head in FIG. 14 (A) and 14 (B) are diagrams for explaining a modified example 5 of the head in FIG. FIGS. 15A and 15B are views for explaining a modified example 6 of the head in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating arrangement | positioning of the head in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Optical disk, 12 ... Thermal sheet (thermal recording medium), 20 ... Processing apparatus, 23 ... Optical pick-up apparatus (a part of processing apparatus), 40 ... CPU (a part of processing apparatus, drive device), 50 ... Printer unit , 51... Thermal head, 52... Support plate (head support member), 52 a... Head, 52 b... Head control circuit (part of drive device), 55. Rotating roller (part of low-speed rotating mechanism), 60 ... support mechanism, 61 ... arm (part of support mechanism), 62 ... bracket (part of support mechanism), 63 ... heating element layer (heating element), 63a ... Electrode layer, 64 ... glaze layer, 65 ... substrate, 66 ... support member, 95 ... protective layer (protector).

Claims (13)

A thermal head for recording visible information by heating a moving thermal recording medium,
A holding member connected to the head support member;
A heating section for the thermal recording medium;
The heating unit is connected to the holding member, and at least one of a first axis parallel to the moving direction of the thermal recording medium in a plane parallel to the thermal recording medium and a second axis orthogonal to the first axis. And a connecting portion that holds the heating portion in a rotatable manner.   The thermal head according to claim 1, wherein the connection portion includes a ball joint.   The said heating part is formed in the curved surface convex with respect to the said thermosensitive recording medium as the contact surface with respect to the said thermosensitive recording medium sees along the said moving direction. Thermal head. The connection portion includes an arm that is connected to the holding member so as to be rotatable around the second axis around the one end thereof, and the heating portion is attached to the other end.
2. The thermal unit according to claim 1, wherein a contact surface of the heating unit with respect to the thermal recording medium is formed in a curved surface that is convex with respect to the thermal recording medium when viewed along the moving direction. head. A thermal head for recording visible information by heating a thermal recording medium,
A thermal head provided with a heating part for heating the heat-sensitive recording medium through the contact surface, the contact surface being in contact with the heat-sensitive recording medium is a spherical surface. A thermal head for recording visible information by heating a thermal recording medium,
A protector in contact with the thermal recording medium;
A brush formed with a housing for rotatably housing the protector;
And a heating element that heats the protection body via the brush.   The thermal head according to claim 6, wherein the protective body is spherical or cylindrical.   A thermal head for recording visible information on a thermal recording medium by bringing a heating portion formed on the substrate into contact with the thermal recording medium, wherein the substrate has elasticity. An optical disc apparatus that records at least data on an optical disc,
The thermal head according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein visible information is recorded on a thermal sheet attached to the optical disc;
A drive device for driving the thermal head to record visible information on a thermal sheet attached to the optical disc;
And a processing device for recording data on the optical disc.   The optical disk apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising an urging mechanism that urges a heating unit of the thermal head against the heat-sensitive sheet.   The optical disk apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising a low-speed rotation mechanism that rotates the optical disk at a low speed when visual information is recorded on the heat-sensitive sheet.   The optical disk device according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein the thermal head includes a plurality of heating units arranged in a radial direction of the optical disk. The optical disk apparatus according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein the thermal head includes a plurality of heating units so that recording ranges overlap each other.

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