JP2007237744A - Thermal transfer recording method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To inhibit consistency unevenness to arise in an ink image transferred to a recording medium. <P>SOLUTION: Ink on an ink film 1 wound around a feeding reel 5 actuated by a DC motor 21 is transferred to an intermediate recording medium 7 wound around a feeding reel 8 actuated by a step motor 8 in a heating section 500. At the time of transfer in a heating section 500, ink is transferred while an ink film 1 and an intermediate recording medium 7 are rolled by a feeding reel 5 and a feeding reel 8. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording apparatus that transfers fusible or sublimable ink to a recording medium, and more particularly to a thermal transfer recording method for forming an ink image on a recording medium stretched between a supply reel and a take-up reel.

  There is known a re-transfer type card recording apparatus in which an ink image is once formed on an intermediate recording medium with meltable or sublimable ink, and then the ink image formed on the intermediate recording medium is transferred to the recording medium. Proposals have been made. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the configuration of such a card recording apparatus.

  The card recording apparatus shown here has an ink film 253 stretched between a supply reel 251 and a take-up reel 252 and a supply reel 254 wound around a belt-like base film coated with a meltable ink or sublimation ink. The intermediate recording medium 256 stretched between the take-up reel 255, the heating unit 257 for transferring the ink of the ink film 253 to the intermediate recording medium 256, and the thermal head 258 constituting the heating unit 257 together with the ink film 253 and the intermediate recording medium. A platen roller 259 that sandwiches the intermediate recording medium 256, a heat roller 261 that transfers the ink image transferred to the intermediate recording medium 256 to the recording medium 260, and a heating unit 263 including a pressing roller 262.

  Then, the ink film 253 and the intermediate recording medium 256 are conveyed in a state where the ink film 253 and the intermediate recording medium 256 are in close contact, and the ink of the ink film 53 is heated by the heating unit 257 to form an ink image on the intermediate recording medium 256, The intermediate recording medium 256 after the ink image is formed is conveyed to the heating unit 263, and the ink image formed on the intermediate recording medium 256 is transferred to the recording medium 260.

  Here, the supply reel 251 and the take-up reel 252 for transporting the ink film 253 and the take-up reel 255 for transporting the intermediate recording medium 256 are both driven by a DC motor to transport the intermediate recording medium 256. The supply reel 254 for driving is driven by a step motor.

The step motor is a motor whose rotation is controlled by the number of input pulses, and is used to drive the supply reel 254 of the intermediate recording medium 256, thereby accurately controlling the conveyance amount of the intermediate recording medium 256. It becomes possible.
JP-A-8-175034

  However, when the take-up reel 255 for transporting the intermediate recording medium 256 is driven by a DC motor, the rotational speed becomes unstable at the start of the rotation of the DC motor, so the density of the ink image transferred to the intermediate recording medium 256 is increased. There was a problem that unevenness was likely to occur. That is, even if the drive control of the supply reel 254 is accurately performed, the rotation of the DC motor is unstable, so that there is a problem that density unevenness tends to occur in the ink image at the start of rotation.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the rotation speed at the start of rotation of the DC motor. As shown in the figure, the rotation speed is not stable for a while after the motor starts rotating. More precisely, a speed delay occurs at the start of rotation, and the rotational speed once rises above the specified speed for transferring to make up for this, and then approaches the specified speed.

  When the take-up reel 255 of the intermediate recording medium 256 is driven with such characteristics and an ink image is formed on the intermediate recording medium 256, the platen roller 259 is pressed against the thermal head 258 side. A load is generated, and the take-up roller 255 cannot take up the intermediate recording medium 256 as much as the supply reel 254 sends out. In addition, since the heat roller 261 is separated from the pressing roller 262 at the time of ink transfer in the heating unit 257, no load is generated in the heating unit 263.

  Accordingly, sagging occurs in the intermediate recording medium 256 on the upstream side of the heating unit 257, causing density unevenness in the ink image. Here, if the rotational force of the DC motor that drives the take-up reel 255 is increased to increase the tension applied to the intermediate recording medium 256, the intermediate recording medium 256 can be prevented from sagging. However, since the base sheet of the intermediate recording medium 256 is generally very thin as 25 μm or less, when the tension is increased in this way, the intermediate recording medium 256 can be stably conveyed by the influence of the extension of the base sheet. There was a problem of disappearing.

In order to solve the above-described problems, a thermal transfer recording method according to the present invention comprises a base film and a meltable or sublimable ink applied to the base film, between an ink film supply reel and an ink film take-up reel. Tape-like intermediate recording, in which unused portions are wound around a stretched ink film and an intermediate recording medium supply reel driven by a step motor, and used portions are wound around an intermediate recording medium take-up reel driven by a DC motor In the thermal transfer recording method in which the medium is heated in close contact with a transfer portion provided with a thermal head, and the ink of the ink film is transferred to the intermediate recording medium.
The intermediate recording medium is conveyed only by driving the intermediate recording medium supply reel and the intermediate recording medium take-up reel,
A first alignment step of aligning the intermediate recording medium with a first transfer start position;
After the first alignment step, the ink film and the intermediate recording medium are pressed against each other in the transfer section, and the intermediate recording medium is wound around the intermediate recording medium supply reel only by driving the intermediate recording medium supply reel. A transfer step of transferring the ink to the intermediate recording medium while taking,
After the transfer step, the intermediate recording medium is wound around the intermediate recording medium take-up reel and aligned with a second transfer start position on the intermediate recording medium supply reel side from the first transfer start position. Two alignment steps;
It is characterized by having.

  According to the thermal transfer recording method of the present invention, when transferring ink of an ink film to a recording medium, transfer is performed while winding the recording medium with a supply reel driven by a step motor, so that the recording medium is stably conveyed. Thus, there is an effect that density unevenness hardly occurs in the ink image formed on the recording medium.

  First, the configuration of a thermal transfer recording apparatus that performs transfer recording by the thermal transfer recording method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 1, the ink film 1 is stretched between a supply reel 5 and a take-up reel 6 with the ink application surface facing the platen roller 4 side. The ink film 1 has three colors of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C) or yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black K) four colors of ink are periodically applied.

  DC motors 21 and 22 that are power sources for transporting the ink film 1 are connected to the supply reel 5 and the take-up reel 6 via a reduction mechanism (not shown). The DC motors 21 and 22 have built-in encoders that can detect the rotation angle and the number of rotations. The DC motor 21 connected to the supply reel 5 can be driven in a direction opposite to the rotation direction of the supply reel 5 so that the ink film 1 can be rewound and an appropriate back tension can be applied.

  Further, the voltage applied to the DC motor 21 is changed in accordance with the remaining amount of the ink film 1 on the supply reel 5, and a constant back tension is always applied. The detection of the remaining amount (= winding diameter) can be calculated by detecting the rotation angle of the DC motor 21 with respect to one frame of the ink film 1 passing through the sensor 25 described later.

  Similarly, the DC motor 22 connected to the take-up reel 6 takes up the ink film 1 and applies a suitable tensile tension by applying a voltage according to the winding diameter during recording. Further, the conveyance amount of the ink film 1 is detected by an encoder built in the DC motor 21 or 22 to control the conveyance amount.

  The thermal head 3 as the first heating unit 500 is fixedly arranged on the outer side (base film side) of the ink film 1, and the platen roller 4 is pressed against the thermal head 3 on the opposite side (ink application surface side).・ It is arranged so as to be separated. An ink cueing sensor 25 is provided on the cross-linking path of the ink film 1 to cue the ink film 1 (Y ink), and cueing (M, C, K ink) for the second and subsequent colors is performed by the DC motor 21 or , 22 by an encoder built in. The sensor 25 includes a detection mark provided on the ink film 1 and a sensor for detecting a color boundary. Further, the ink film 1 is guided by the guide members 26 a to 26 c and is taken up by the take-up reel 6.

  The intermediate recording medium 7 is as described in JP-A-8-175034 (Patent Document 1), and is composed of a belt-like substrate sheet and a transparent image receiving layer provided on one surface thereof. The transparent image-receiving layer can be peeled from the base sheet, and a detection mark is printed on the intermediate recording medium 7 for each frame for recording an image. The intermediate recording medium 7 is stretched between the supply reel 8 and the take-up reel 9 with the transparent image receiving layer facing the ink film 1 side.

  A pulse motor (step motor) 31 serving as a power source for conveying the intermediate recording medium 7 is connected to the supply reel 8, and a DC motor 32 is connected to the take-up reel 9 via a speed reduction mechanism. Further, the DC motor 32 connected to the take-up reel 9 has a built-in encoder and can detect the rotation angle and the number of rotations.

  The intermediate recording medium 7 is pressed from the supply reel 8 through the guide member 30 a, the platen roller 4, and the sensor 33 for cueing the frame of the intermediate recording medium 7 to the guide member 30 b and the heat roller 14 as the second heating unit 300. It is guided to the guide member 30 c through the space between the rollers 15 and is taken up by the take-up reel 9. Therefore, the ink of the ink film 1 and the transparent image receiving layer of the intermediate recording medium 7 face each other between the thermal head 3 and the platen roller 4. The heat roller 14 can be pressed against and separated from the pressing roller 15.

  Further, the mode switching between the heat roller 14 and the platen roller 4 will be described with reference to FIG. The heat roller 14 is pressed against and separated from the pressing roller 15 by the rotation of the cam 66, whereas the platen roller 4 is pressed against and separated from the thermal head 3.

  The driving mechanism of the platen roller 4 includes a first arm 71 provided at both ends of the platen roller 4, a rotating shaft 70 that rotates integrally with the shaft of the first arm 71, and the rotating shaft 70. A second arm 74 for rotating the cam, a link 75 for transmitting rotational torque to the second arm 74, and a cam 66 for converting rotational torque into propulsive force and transmitting it to the link 75. There is a step motor through a speed reduction mechanism to rotate 66. In this way, the cam 66 presses and separates the heat roller 14 and the platen roller 4 by changing the phase of the cam 66, and corresponds to the three modes A / B / C in FIG.

  That is, in the A mode, the heat roller 14 is separated from the pressing roller 15 and the platen roller 4 is separated from the thermal head 3. In the B mode, the heating roller 14 is separated from the pressing roller 15, while the platen roller In the C mode, the heat roller 14 is pressed against the pressing roller 15 while the platen roller 4 is separated from the thermal head 3 in the C mode.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 2 showing the AA cross section of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 which is a perspective view of the AA cross section of FIG. Will be described. In FIG. 1, the hopper unit 100 is arranged so that a plurality of recording media 2 (hereinafter referred to as cards) are arranged side by side so that the longitudinal direction is horizontal (the thickness on the short side of the card is visible in the figure). A case 101 provided with a gate, a pickup roller 102 for feeding out the card 2, a spring 103 for urging the card 2 to press-contact the pickup roller 102, and a push plate 104, and the hopper unit 100 loads the card 2. It is structured so that it can be pulled out to the front.

Further, the card 2 rotates by rotating together with a pair of cleaning rollers 105 for removing dust adhering to the surface of the card 2 fed out from the hopper unit 100, a sensor 106 for detecting the card 2 fed out, and a pair of card transport rollers 107. A card reversing unit 150 for changing the orientation of the card reversing unit is provided, and the card reversing unit 150 has the following rotational phase.
1) Take over the card 2 drawn out from the hopper unit 100.
2) Transfer the card 2 to the downstream transport roller.
3) Turn the card 2 upside down.
4) The encoding error card in the information recording unit (described later) is discharged in the direction of arrow “D”.
The above four modes are possible.

  Since the card reversing unit 150 is arranged near the outermost surface of the card recording apparatus, the card can be discharged without requiring extra parts by tilting the encoding error card discharge port as shown by the arrow “D”. it can.

  Next, the subsequent card transport path will be described with reference to FIG. 2 showing the AA cross section of FIG. The card conveyance roller 108 shown in FIG. 2 has an inclination angle “α” set to 10 to 40 degrees with respect to the rotation axis center line of the card conveyance rollers 110a, 110b, and 110c, and the contact length with the card 2 (= Roller width) “B” is 15 mm or less, and the card 2 is arranged so as to be in contact with the card 2 on the card guide 109 side from the longitudinal center line XX of the card 2.

  By arranging in this way, smooth transport can be performed even if the short direction of the card 2 is the transport direction. That is, even when the angle “C” of the card 2 conveyed obliquely is in a correct posture while abutting the card guide 109, the smaller the angle “β” shown in the figure and the smaller the roller width, The card 2 is smoothly rotated around the corner “C” of the card 2, and buckling is less likely to occur even in a thin card. More specifically, when the contact length “B” with the card 2 is large, the card conveying force “Y” increases, but the force that prevents the card 2 from rotating to correct the posture of the card 2 also increases, resulting in a corner “ Side effects such as damaging C ″ occur.

  The card 2 thus positioned and corrected in posture is taken over to the next transport roller 110a. When the card detection sensor 111 detects the rear end of the card 2, the number of steps of the step motor, which is a card transport motor, is counted. Stop at the count.

  The number of counts is determined by the position of the information recording unit 200 having the magnetic head 120 and the like, the terminal position in the case of an IC card with a magnetic stripe of the card 2 and an external terminal, and a predetermined arrangement direction on the hopper. In this way, the stop position of the card 2 is the position held by the transport rollers 110a or 110b.

  Since the conveying rollers 110a and 110b are elastic bodies having a large friction coefficient such as rubber having a nip over the entire longitudinal direction of the card, the card holding force required for information recording described later and the card 2 for magnetic information recording are described below. Since vibration can be reduced, highly reliable information recording can be performed.

  The information recording unit 200 includes a magnetic head corresponding to “I type” and “II type” defined in JIS X6302 (magnetic information recording format of credit card with magnetic stripe) and JIS X6303 (IC with external terminal). Two of the three types of contacts corresponding to the physical characteristics of the card) may be combined and arranged above and below the card conveyance path, or only one type may be arranged.

  The contact corresponding to JIS X6303 (physical characteristics of IC card with external terminal) stops the card 2 at a predetermined position, and then contacts the external terminal of the card 2 to record and reproduce information. In other cases, the vehicle is retracted above the card transport path. The magnetic information recording / reproducing means in the magnetic head scans the magnetic head 120 along the magnetic stripe of the card 2 after stopping the card 2 at a predetermined position.

  The card that could not be normally recorded / reproduced by the information recording unit 200 is returned to the card reversing unit 150 and discharged from the error card discharge port. The card on which the recording / reproducing of information has been completed is transferred to the second heating unit 300 described above, and the image surface of the card 2 and the intermediate recording medium 7 are aligned between the heat roller 14 and the pressing roller 15 for heating and heating. The image is transferred under pressure.

  Here, the distance from the nip position between the heat roller 14 and the pressure roller 15 to the guide member 30c of the intermediate recording medium 7 is set to be larger than the length of the card 2 in the short direction. This is because experience has shown that it is better to peel the card 2 after transfer and the base sheet of the intermediate recording medium 7 at a temperature as low as possible. This is because sufficient cooling can be performed by stopping for a predetermined time after the rear end of the card 2 has passed through the nip position, and as a result, good transfer can be achieved.

  The card 2 to which the image has been transferred is conveyed while being attached to the intermediate recording medium 7, peeled off at the position of the guide member 30c, and transferred to the card warp correction unit 400 in the next process. The card warpage correction unit 400 is provided with a heat roller 130 having the same form as the heat roller 14 used in the second heating unit 300 on the surface opposite to the image transfer surface of the card 2 so as to be able to press and separate from the pressing roller 131. The heat shrinkage distortion of the card 2 generated during transfer in the second heating unit 300 is also heated from the opposite surface to remove the distortion. The card 2 that has passed through the card warpage correction unit 400 is discharged out of the apparatus through the card discharge roller 110c.

  As described above, the card transport unit arranges the hopper unit 100 that feeds the card 2 by separating the cards 2 one by one in the substantially vertical direction with the short direction of the card 2 as the transport direction, and is fed out. The card reversing unit 150 that holds the received card 2 and changes the orientation of the card 2 and the card 2 sent out from the card reversing unit 150 are stopped at predetermined positions, and information is recorded on and reproduced from the information recording unit of the card 2 An information recording / reproducing unit 200 and a second heating unit 300 for transferring an image to the card 2 are sequentially arranged on the hopper unit 100.

  Next, the process from the formation of the ink image on the intermediate recording medium 7 to the transfer of the ink image to the card 2 will be described in more detail. First, the step motor 31 and the DC motor 32 that transport the intermediate recording medium 7 are driven, and the detection mark added to the intermediate recording medium 7 is detected by the mark sensor 33. Based on the detection result, the step motor 31 and the DC motor are detected. The voltage applied to 32 is set. Similarly, detection marks and color boundaries provided on the ink film 1 are detected by the sensor 25, and voltages to be applied to the DC motors 21 and 22 are set based on the detection results.

  The frame of the intermediate recording medium 7 and the position of the first color (first color) of the ink film are aligned, and the ink film 1 and the intermediate recording medium 7 are supplied to the supply reel 8 and supplied while the platen roller 4 is pressed against the thermal head 3. Take up with reel 5. That is, the ink film 1 and the intermediate recording medium 7 are once transported from the heating unit 500 to the mark sensor 33 side, and then transferred to the sensor 25 side, and the ink image is transferred to the intermediate recording medium 7. At that time, by applying a predetermined current to the thermal head 3, the ink of the ink film 1 is melted or sublimated and transferred to the image receiving layer of the intermediate recording medium 7.

  At this time, the take-up reel 9 sends out the intermediate recording medium 7, but sends out the intermediate recording medium 7 so that a large back tension is not applied, that is, the tension on the intermediate recording medium 7 is not excessively increased. A slight voltage may be applied in the direction. In addition, when a clutch is disposed in a part of the transmission mechanism from the DC motor 32 to the take-up reel 9 and the intermediate recording medium 7 is transported to the supply reel 8 side, the load on the DC motor 9 is completely reduced. You may make it interrupt. Note that the platen roller 4 does not have a driving force and rotates by a frictional force with the intermediate recording medium 7.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an ink film transfer direction by the recording apparatus of the present invention, and a hatched area shown in FIG. 5 indicates a portion on the ink film 1 where the ink has already been transferred to the intermediate recording medium 7. This figure shows an example in which three colors of ink of yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C) are periodically applied to the ink film 1.

  Here, the order in which the ink is transferred from the ink film 1 to the intermediate recording medium 7 will be described in more detail. In the transport method of the ink film 1 shown here, ink is transferred for each color in the order of yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C). At this time, the transfer is performed in order from the portion close to the supply reel 5. Be started.

  Therefore, the magenta (M) transfer shown in FIG. 5 is performed from the cyan (C) side portion where the ink is not transferred to the yellow (Y) side where the ink transfer is completed. When the magenta (M) transfer is completed, the ink film 1 is wound up to the yellow (Y) side portion of cyan (C) by the take-up reel 6, and then the transfer of cyan (C) is started.

  At that time, the intermediate recording medium 7 is conveyed in the same direction as the ink film 1. In other words, during the transfer of magenta (M), the intermediate recording medium 7 is wound up by the supply reel 8, and when the transfer of magenta (M) is completed, the amount wound up during the transfer of magenta (M) is wound up. The intermediate recording medium 7 is taken up by the reel 9. Then, cyan (C) is transferred onto the ink image onto which magenta (M) has been transferred.

  As described above, during the transfer of the ink, the intermediate recording medium 7 is wound up by the supply reel 8 driven by the step motor 31, so that the intermediate recording medium 7 can be stably conveyed and the transferred ink image. No density unevenness occurs.

  Further, instead of reciprocating the ink film 1 as described above, it may be conveyed only in one direction. That is, both reels may be replaced to transfer ink so that the supply reel 5 is driven by the DC motor 22 and the take-up reel 6 is driven by the DC motor 21.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the direction of ink film transfer when the ink ribbon 1 is conveyed in this manner. As shown in FIG. 6, the transfer of magenta (M) is completed with the transfer of ink (Y). The ink is transferred from the side portion to the cyan (C) side portion where the ink is not transferred, and when the magenta (M) transfer is completed, the cyan (C) transfer is completed. The ink is transferred from the (M) side portion to the yellow (Y) side portion where the ink is not transferred.

  As described above, when the supply reel 5 is driven by the DC motor 22 and the take-up reel 6 is driven by the DC motor 21, the transport direction of the ink film 1 becomes one direction, so that the DC motors 21 and 22 are driven. Although the control can be simplified, when the ink film 1 is conveyed in this way, wrinkles may occur as shown in the drawing when the ink transfer of each color is completed.

  In other words, when yellow (Y) transfer is completed, wrinkles occur on the magenta (M) side where ink is not transferred, and cyan (C) side where ink is not transferred when magenta (M) transfer is completed. Since wrinkles occur in the ink, the ink image may be disturbed by the influence of the wrinkles at the start of ink transfer for each color. On the other hand, in the method of transporting the ink film 1 shown in FIG. 5, wrinkles are always generated on the side where the ink has been transferred, so that a better ink image can be formed.

  When the ink image is formed, the conveyance of the intermediate recording medium 7 and the ink film 1 is stopped (at this time, a winding voltage is applied to the DC motor 32 while the step motor 31 is in the hold state to apply an appropriate tension to the intermediate recording medium 7. The platen roller 4 (applied) is separated from the thermal head 3.

  Next, the step motor 31 is driven and stopped when a predetermined number of pulses of the step motor 31 are counted while the intermediate recording medium 7 is wound around the take-up reel 9. The number of pulses can be calculated from the driving frequency obtained before ink image formation and the distance from the first heating unit 500 to the second heating unit 300.

  Here, the card 2 is conveyed up to the nip between the heat roller 14 and the pressure roller 15, and when the heat roller 14 is pressed, the pressure roller 14 is rotated and the intermediate recording medium 7 is conveyed almost simultaneously to transfer the ink image to the card 2. When the transfer is completed, the heat roller 14 is separated from the pressing roller 15.

  When the ink images are transferred to both surfaces of the card 2, the card 2 and the intermediate recording medium 7 are peeled off at the guide member 30b while the intermediate recording medium 7 is rewound with the card 2 and the intermediate recording medium 7 attached. The conveyance of the card 2 is stopped in the card reversing unit 150 via the conveying rollers 110b and 110a rotating toward the card reversing unit 150, and the card reversing unit 150 is rotated 180 degrees to change the front and back of the card 2. The ink image is transferred through the same process.

  When the ink image is transferred on both sides, the heat shrinkage distortion described above does not occur because the ink images are heated from both sides. Therefore, the heat roller 130 of the warp correction unit 400 does not have to be heated. Thereafter, the card 2 is discharged through the steps described above.

  In addition, the abrasion resistance of the image transferred to the card | curd 2 can be improved by transferring the transparent image receiving layer in which the ink image is not formed several times. That is, after the ink image transferred to the intermediate recording medium 7 is retransferred to the recording medium, the ink image forming step in the first heating unit 500 of the intermediate recording medium 7 is omitted or the thermal head 3 is By transferring the transparent image-receiving layer that does not form an ink image without passing an electric current again by the second heating unit 300, the abrasion resistance of the image can be improved.

  In this case, similarly to the above-described process of transferring the ink image to both sides, the transport roller 110b is rotated toward the card reversing unit 150 to transport the card 2 to a predetermined location, and the second heating unit 300 is transported. Needless to say, it may be conveyed again to the side.

1 is a front view showing a thermal transfer recording apparatus to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. It is sectional drawing which shows the thermal transfer recording apparatus to which the Example of this invention is applied. 1 is a partial perspective view showing a thermal transfer recording apparatus to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. It is a figure which shows the mode switching of the 1st and 2nd heating part of the thermal transfer recording apparatus to which the Example of this invention is applied. It is a figure which shows the transfer direction of the ink film by the thermal transfer recording apparatus to which this invention is applied. It is a figure which shows the other example of an ink film transfer direction. It is a figure which shows the conventional card recording apparatus. It is a figure for demonstrating the rotational speed at the time of the rotation start of a DC motor.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,256 ... Ink film 5, 8, 251, 254 ... Supply reel 6, 9, 252, 255 ... Take-up reel 7, 256 ... Intermediate recording medium 200 ... Information recording part 300 ... Second heating part 400 ... Warpage correction part 500 ... 1st heating part 257 ... Heating part

Claims (1)

An ink film comprising a base film and a meltable or sublimable ink applied to the base film and stretched between the ink film supply reel and the ink film take-up reel, and an intermediate recording medium supply reel driven by a step motor An intermediate recording medium wound with an unused portion and wound on an intermediate recording medium take-up reel driven by a DC motor is heated in close contact with a transfer unit equipped with a thermal head. In the thermal transfer recording method of transferring the ink of the ink film to the intermediate recording medium,
The intermediate recording medium is conveyed only by driving the intermediate recording medium supply reel and the intermediate recording medium take-up reel,
A first alignment step of aligning the intermediate recording medium with a first transfer start position;
After the first alignment step, the ink film and the intermediate recording medium are pressed against each other in the transfer section, and the intermediate recording medium is wound around the intermediate recording medium supply reel only by driving the intermediate recording medium supply reel. A transfer step of transferring the ink to the intermediate recording medium while taking,
After the transfer step, the intermediate recording medium is wound around the intermediate recording medium take-up reel and aligned with a second transfer start position on the intermediate recording medium supply reel side from the first transfer start position. Two alignment steps;
A thermal transfer recording method comprising:

Images