JP2015066782A - Thermal transfer system, thermal transfer method, take-up device, and take-up method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a thermal transfer system capable of preventing ID information printed on an ink omission part of an ink ribbon from being identified.SOLUTION: A thermal transfer system 10 comprises: a delivery part 16 which delivers an ink ribbon 13; a first transfer device 17 which is arranged on a downstream side of the delivery part 16; a take-up part 21 which is arranged on a downstream side of the first transfer device 17, and takes up the ink-transferred ink ribbon 13; and a second heating body 22 which is provided in the vicinity of the take-up part 21, and heats the ink-transferred ink ribbon 13 taken up by the take-up part 21 from a side of a support layer 11. The second heating body 22 heats an outside ink ribbon 13A so that ink 12a of an ink layer 12 of the outside ink ribbon 13A is transferred to the support layer 11 of an inside ink ribbon 13B with a second pattern different from a first pattern. The second heating body 22 changes heating energy for the ink ribbon 13.

Description

  The present invention relates to a thermal transfer system and a thermal transfer method for transferring ink to a transfer target using an ink ribbon having a support layer and an ink layer. The present invention also relates to a winding device and a winding method for winding an ink ribbon that has been subjected to ink transfer.

  2. Description of the Related Art A transfer system that uses an ink ribbon to print an image such as a character on a transfer object such as a card is widely used. The ink ribbon includes a ribbon (support layer) extending in a strip shape, and an ink layer formed on the ribbon and containing a dye or the like.

  In printing using an ink ribbon, ink is transferred to a transfer medium in a pattern corresponding to a desired image to be printed. In this case, a portion of the ink ribbon that has been subjected to ink transfer has ink that has been removed due to transfer to the transfer target in a pattern corresponding to the printed image. For this reason, it is possible to specify the printed image from the ink ribbon after ink transfer. Therefore, when information to be concealed such as ID information is printed on a transfer target using an ink ribbon, care must be taken in handling the ink ribbon that has been ink-transferred.

  In order to cope with such a problem, for example, Patent Document 1 proposes a thermal transfer system in which an outermost ink ribbon wound around a winding unit is bonded to an ink ribbon positioned inside the outermost ink ribbon. ing.

  According to the thermal transfer system described in Patent Document 1, it is possible to integrate the ink transferred ink ribbon wound on the winding unit, and thereby, the printed image is transferred from the ink transferred ink ribbon. It can be prevented from being identified.

  Conventionally, as described in Patent Document 2, a pattern different from a pattern corresponding to a desired image to be printed is transferred to the inner side of the ink ribbon by a transfer device having a heating body provided in the vicinity of the winding unit. There is a thermal transfer system for transferring to the support layer of the ink ribbon located at the position.

  Conventionally, as disclosed in Patent Document 3, there is a thermal transfer system in which a heating body provided in the vicinity of a winding unit is inclined to improve the adhesion of a head of a heating pair.

JP 2007-260912 A JP 2011-255564 A JP 2013-111866 A

  In the thermal transfer system described in Patent Document 1 described above, it is considered that the winding unit is integrated with the ink ribbon that has been transferred to the ink and is wound around the winding unit. For this reason, when discarding the ink-transferred ink ribbon wound up by the winding unit, the winding unit is also discarded. That is, the winding unit cannot be used repeatedly, and the cost for processing the ink ribbon after ink transfer is increased.

  In addition, in the thermal transfer system described in Patent Document 1, since the ink ribbon that has been transferred onto the winding unit is bonded to the ink ribbon that is positioned on the inner side, the ink ribbon is once wound on the winding unit. It is difficult to feed the ink ribbon in the reverse direction. That is, the winding unit can only be driven in the direction of winding up the ink ribbon, and cannot be driven in the reverse direction (driving in the direction of feeding out the ink ribbon once wound up). It is thought that there is.

  For this reason, when the ink ribbon before being taken up by the take-up unit is caught by any obstacle, it is considered that the conveyance state of the ink ribbon cannot be improved by reversing the drive direction of the take-up unit. .

  Thus, in the thermal transfer system described in Patent Document 1, it is considered that the degree of freedom regarding the driving direction of the winding unit is low.

  Furthermore, in the thermal transfer system described in Patent Document 2 described above, an injection molded resin core or the like is normally used as the winding side core, and the heating body is affected by the depression of the core surface due to sink marks after molding. Since the adhesion of the ribbon is inferior, there is a problem that the second pattern is difficult to be printed when the winding diameter is small.

  Further, in the thermal transfer system described in Patent Document 3, the adhesion between the heating body and the ribbon winding portion is improved by providing the second heating body with an inclination, but locally on the core of the winding portion. Adhesion is not sufficient when there are minute recesses. In order to increase the adhesion, there is a method of increasing the energy applied by the thermal head.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a thermal transfer system and a thermal transfer method, and a winding device and a winding method that can effectively solve the above-described problems.

Embodiments according to one embodiment of the present invention include:
In a thermal transfer system that transfers ink to a transfer object using an ink ribbon having a support layer and an ink layer,
A delivery section for delivering the ink ribbon;
A first heating element is provided on the downstream side of the delivery unit and provided on the support layer side of the ink ribbon, and the ink in the ink layer of the ink ribbon is transferred to the transfer target in a first pattern. A first transfer device,
A winding unit that is disposed on the downstream side of the first transfer device and winds up the ink ribbon after ink transfer;
A second heating body that is provided in the vicinity of the winding unit and heats the ink ribbon from the support layer side by coming into contact with the ink ribbon that has been transferred onto the winding unit from the support layer side;
With
The second heating body heats the ink ribbon so that the ink in the ink layer of the ink ribbon is transferred to the support layer of the ink ribbon located inside the ink ribbon in a second pattern different from the first pattern. And
The second heating body is a thermal transfer system that changes heating energy for the ink ribbon.

  The second heating body of the thermal transfer system according to an embodiment of the present invention changes the heating energy for the ink ribbon according to the winding diameter of the ink ribbon that has been ink-transferred in the winding unit. You may do it.

The second heating body of the thermal transfer system of the embodiment according to one aspect of the present invention is
When the winding diameter of the ink ribbon to which the ink has been transferred in the winding unit is less than a first threshold, the heating energy for the ink ribbon is set to a first set value,
When the winding diameter of the ink ribbon to which the ink has been transferred in the winding unit is equal to or larger than the first threshold value, the heating energy for the ink ribbon is set to a second set value that is smaller than the first set value. You may do it.

The second heating body of the thermal transfer system of the embodiment according to one aspect of the present invention is
When the winding diameter of the ink ribbon that has been ink-transferred in the winding unit is not less than the first threshold value and less than the second threshold value, the heating energy for the ink ribbon is set to the second set value,
When the winding diameter of the ink ribbon to which ink has been transferred in the winding unit is greater than or equal to the second threshold value, the heating energy for the ink ribbon is set to a third set value that is smaller than the second set value. You may make it do.

A thermal transfer system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes:
You may make it further provide the detection part which detects the winding diameter of the said ink ribbon in which the ink transfer in the said winding part was carried out.

  In the thermal transfer system according to the embodiment of the aspect of the present invention, the detection unit may include the amount of rotation of the winding unit, the number of the transfer target to which the first pattern is transferred, or the ink in the delivery unit. You may make it detect the winding diameter of the said ink ribbon in which the ink transfer in the said winding part was based on the sending amount of a ribbon.

  In the thermal transfer system according to the embodiment of the aspect of the present invention, the second heating body includes the rotation amount of the winding unit, the number of the transfer target bodies to which the first pattern is transferred, or the sending unit. The heating energy for the ink ribbon may be changed according to the delivery amount of the ink ribbon.

  In the thermal transfer system according to the embodiment of the aspect of the present invention, the second heating body continuously reduces the heating energy for the ink ribbon in a tapered shape or digitally decreases in a plurality of steps. May be.

A winding device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes:
In an ink ribbon having a support layer and an ink layer, the take-up device winds up an ink ribbon that has been transferred with the ink of the ink layer transferred in a first pattern onto the transfer target,
A winding unit for winding up the ink ribbon that has been subjected to ink transfer;
A winding-side heating body that is provided in the vicinity of the winding unit and heats the ink ribbon by contacting the ink ribbon that has been transferred to the winding unit with the ink-transferred ink ribbon from the support layer side;
The winding-side heating element heats the ink ribbon so that the ink in the ink layer of the ink ribbon is transferred to a support layer of the ink ribbon positioned inside the ink ribbon in a second pattern different from the first pattern. And
The second heating body is a winding device that changes heating energy for the ink ribbon.

A thermal transfer method according to an embodiment of the present invention includes:
In a thermal transfer method for transferring ink to a transfer medium using an ink ribbon having a support layer and an ink layer,
Sending out the ink ribbon;
A first transfer step of transferring the ink of the ink layer of the ink ribbon to the transfer object in a first pattern;
A step of winding the ink ribbon after ink transfer by a winding unit;
A second heating body is brought into contact with the ink ribbon that has been transferred to the winding unit from the support layer side, and the ink ribbon is heated from the support layer side by the winding side heating body. A transfer process,
In the second transfer step, the winding side heating body transfers the ink of the ink layer of the ink ribbon to the support layer of the ink ribbon positioned inside the ink ribbon in a second pattern different from the first pattern. The ink ribbon is heated so that the winding side heating body changes the heating energy for the ink ribbon.
This is a thermal transfer method.

The winding method of the embodiment according to one aspect of the present invention includes:
In an ink ribbon having a support layer and an ink layer, the winding method for winding the ink transferred ink ribbon in which the ink of the ink layer is transferred in a first pattern onto the transfer target,
A step of winding the ink ribbon after ink transfer by a winding unit;
A step of bringing a winding-side heating body into contact with the ink ribbon that has been transferred onto the winding portion from the support layer side and heating the ink ribbon from the support layer side with the winding-side heating body; With
In the heating step, the winding-side heating body causes the ink in the ink layer of the ink ribbon to be transferred to the support layer of the ink ribbon positioned inside the ink ribbon in a second pattern different from the first pattern. The winding method is characterized in that the ink ribbon is heated, and the winding side heating body changes the heating energy for the ink ribbon.

  According to the present invention, a second heating body is provided in the vicinity of the take-up portion to contact the ink ribbon that has been transferred onto the take-up portion from the support layer side and heat the ink ribbon from the support layer side. It has been. The second heating body heats the ink ribbon so that the ink in the ink layer of the ink ribbon is transferred to the support layer of the ink ribbon positioned inside the ink ribbon in a second pattern different from the first pattern.

  Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the first pattern in the first transfer device from being specified from the ink ribbon that has been transferred.

  In addition, when the winding diameter of the winding unit increases, that is, when the number of windings of the ink ribbon after ink transfer increases, the adhesion between the second heater and the ink ribbon after ink winding wound around the winding unit increases. Become. Therefore, the second pattern can be transferred to the ink ribbon having the ink transferred even with a small amount of heat energy. Therefore, according to the present invention, the second heating body reduces the heating energy for the ink ribbon in accordance with the winding diameter of the ink ribbon after ink transfer in the winding unit.

  Thereby, deterioration of the head of a 2nd heating body can be suppressed, and energy consumption can be reduced.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a thermal transfer system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2A is a view showing an ink ribbon that has been ink-transferred in the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2B is a diagram in which the ink of the ink ribbon is transferred in a first pattern in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view along the line III-III of the ink ribbon after ink transfer shown in FIG. 4 is an enlarged view showing a winding device of the thermal transfer system of FIG. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a second heating body of the winding device shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a view showing a case where the second heating body of the winding device shown in FIG. 4 is viewed from the direction indicated by arrow VI. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX of the second heating body and the ink ribbon shown in FIG. FIGS. 8A and 8B are views showing a state in which ink in the ink layer of the outer ink ribbon is transferred to the support layer of the inner ink ribbon in a second pattern in the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9A is a diagram showing the ink layer of the outer ink ribbon after the transfer is performed, and FIG. 9B is a diagram showing the support layer of the inner ink ribbon after the transfer is performed.

First Embodiment Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the overall structure of the thermal transfer system 10 will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in the thermal transfer system Figure 1, a thermal transfer system 10 for transferring the ink 12a in a desired pattern on the transfer member 14 with the ink ribbon 13 and a support layer 11 and the ink layer 12, in the direction indicated by the arrow R ₁ a sending unit 16 for feeding the ink ribbon 13, a first transfer device 17 disposed on the downstream side of the delivery unit 16, it is arranged downstream of the first transfer device 17, the already ink transfer in the direction indicated by the arrow R ₂ A winding unit 21 that winds up the ink ribbon 13 and a second heating body (winding side heating body) 22 provided in the vicinity of the winding unit 21 are provided. As shown in FIG. 1, the ink ribbon 13 is conveyed along a plurality of guide rolls 15. Here, the winding unit 21 and the second heating body 22 shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the first transfer device 17 includes a platen roll 19 that supports the transfer target 14 and a first heating provided so as to face the platen roll 19 with the ink ribbon 13 and the transfer target 14 interposed therebetween. It has a body 18, for example a print head. As shown in FIG. 1, the first heating body 18 is provided on the support layer 11 side of the ink ribbon 13. The first heating body 18 heats the ink 12a of the ink layer 12 of the ink ribbon 13 in a predetermined pattern (first pattern) corresponding to the ID information, whereby the ink 12a of the ink layer 12 of the ink ribbon 13 is heated. The image is transferred to the transfer target 14 in the first pattern.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the thermal transfer system 10 includes a detection unit 100 that detects the winding diameter of the ink ribbon 13 that has been subjected to ink transfer in the winding unit 21. In the example of FIG. 1, the detection unit 100 directly detects the winding diameter of the ink ribbon 13 that has been ink-transferred in the winding unit 21. However, the detection unit 100 detects the winding unit 21 based on the amount of rotation of the winding unit 21, the number of transfer target bodies 14 to which the first pattern is transferred, the amount of ink ribbon 13 sent out by the sending unit 16, or the like. Alternatively, the winding diameter of the ink ribbon 13 to which the ink has been transferred may be detected.

  FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating a case where the ink ribbon 13 after the ink 12a is transferred to the transfer target 14 in the first pattern is viewed from the ink layer 12 side. FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating the transfer target 14 onto which the ink 12a of the ink ribbon 13 is transferred in the first pattern. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III of the ink ribbon 13 to which ink has been transferred shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 3, in the ink ribbon 13 to which ink has been transferred, the ink layer 12 is printed on the transferred material 14 and the ink 12 a remaining without being transferred to the transferred material 14. And the ink missing portion 12b corresponding to the ID information.

  In this case, as shown in FIG. 2A, the pattern of the ink missing portion 12b in the ink ribbon 13 to which ink has been transferred corresponds to the first pattern in the first heating body 18 described above. For this reason, it is possible to specify the ID information printed on the transfer medium 14 based on the pattern of the ink missing portion 12b.

Winding Device Next, the winding device 20 of the thermal transfer system 10 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  The winding device 20 includes a roll-shaped winding unit 21 that winds up the ink ribbon 13 to which ink has been transferred, and an ink ribbon that has been transferred to the ink and is wound around the winding unit 21. 13, a second heating body 22 (winding side heating body) 22 that abuts from the support layer 11 side and heats the ink ribbon 13 from the support layer 11 side.

(Winding part)
As shown in FIG. 4, in the winding unit 21 of the present embodiment, the ink ribbon 13 is wound so that the support layer 11 of the ink ribbon 13 is positioned outside the ink layer 12.

  As shown in FIG. 4, in the present embodiment, the ink ribbon 13 positioned on the outermost periphery among the ink ribbons 13 wound around the winding unit 21 is referred to as an outer ink ribbon 13A, and is referred to as an outer ink ribbon. The ink ribbon 13 wound around the winding portion 21 inside 13A and adjacent to the outer ink ribbon 13A is referred to as an inner ink ribbon 13B.

(Second heating body)
As shown in FIG. 4, the second heating body 22 includes a substrate 23 and a heating element 24 provided on the end surface 23 a of the substrate 23. In addition, as shown in FIG. 4, a drive unit 25 may be further provided for causing a current to flow through the heating element 24 to cause the heating element 24 to generate heat.

  Here, the second heating body 22 changes the heating energy for the ink ribbon 13.

  For example, the second heating body 22 changes the heating energy for the ink ribbon 13 according to the winding diameter of the ink ribbon 13 to which the ink has been transferred in the winding unit 21.

  More specifically, for example, when the winding diameter of the ink ribbon 13 to which the ink has been transferred in the winding unit 21 is less than the first threshold value, the second heating body 22 Set value. Furthermore, when the winding diameter of the ink ribbon 13 to which ink has been transferred in the winding unit 21 is equal to or greater than the first threshold value, the second heating body 22 has a heating energy for the ink ribbon 13 that is smaller than the first set value. Set to the second set value. In this case, when the winding diameter of the ink ribbon 13 to which ink has been transferred in the winding unit 21 is equal to or larger than the first threshold value and smaller than the second threshold value, the second heating body 22 The second set value may be used. Then, when the winding diameter of the ink ribbon 13 to which the ink has been transferred in the winding unit 21 is equal to or larger than the second threshold value, the second heating body 22 changes the heating energy for the ink ribbon 13 from the second set value. Is also set to a small third set value.

  As described above, the second heating body 22 reduces the heating energy for the ink ribbon 13 according to the winding diameter of the ink ribbon 13 to which the ink has been transferred in the winding unit 21.

  In addition, the 2nd heating body 22 may reduce the heating energy with respect to the ink ribbon 13 continuously in a taper shape besides reducing it digitally in a plurality of steps.

  In addition to the winding diameter of the ink ribbon 13, the second heating body 22 includes the rotation amount of the winding unit 21, the number of transfer target bodies 14 to which the first pattern is transferred, or the ink ribbon 13 in the sending unit 16. The heating energy for the ink ribbon 13 may be changed according to the delivery amount of the ink.

  As described above, when the winding diameter of the winding portion 21 increases, that is, when the number of turns of the ink ribbon 13 to which ink has been transferred increases, the influence of the surface unevenness of the winding shaft is reduced due to the flexibility of the ink ribbon 13. Further, the adhesion between the second heating body and the ink ribbon 13 that has been transferred to the ink wound around the winding portion is increased. Therefore, the second pattern can be transferred to the ink ribbon 13 that has already been transferred with less heat energy.

  Therefore, as described above, the second heating body 22 reduces the heating energy for the ink ribbon 13 according to, for example, the winding diameter of the ink ribbon 13 to which the ink has been transferred in the winding unit 21.

  Thereby, deterioration of the head of the 2nd heating body 22 can be suppressed, and energy consumption can be reduced.

  Hereinafter, the structure and arrangement of the second heating body 22 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

  FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the second heating body 22, and FIG. 6 is a view showing a case where the second heating body 22 in FIG. 4 is viewed from the direction indicated by the arrow V. 5 and 6, the driving unit 25 of the second heating body 22 is omitted for convenience of explanation.

  First, the structure of the second heating body 22 will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 5, the second heating body 22 is provided on the substrate 23 extending in parallel to the longitudinal direction P ₁ of the second heating body 22 and the end surface 23 a of the substrate 23, and is wound around the winding unit 21. And a heating element 24 for heating the ink ribbon 13 to which ink has been transferred.

Although not shown, the heating element 24 includes a plurality of heating sections arranged in parallel with the longitudinal direction P ₁ of the second heating element 22. Each heat generating section is configured such that it can be independently driven by the drive unit 25 described above.

  Here, the dimensions of the heat generating sections and the intervals between the heat generating sections are appropriately set according to the resolution required for the second pattern described later. Thus, the 2nd heating body 22 is comprised from the thermal head generally called an end surface head. Preferably, the heating element 24 extends over substantially the entire region of the substrate 23 in the longitudinal direction.

  Preferably, as shown in FIG. 5, the corner 23 b of the end surface 23 a of the substrate 23 of the second heating body 22 is configured to be rounded.

  When the second heater 22 is brought into contact with the ink ribbon 13 by rounding the corner 23 b of the end surface 23 a of the substrate 23, the ink ribbon 13 taken up by the take-up portion 21 is brought into contact with the second heater 22. It is possible to prevent the second heating body 22 from being damaged by the ink ribbon 13 and being caught by the ink ribbon 13.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 6, arrangement | positioning of the 2nd heating body 22 with respect to the winding part 21 is demonstrated.

As shown in FIG. 6, the second heating member 22 has its longitudinal direction P ₁ is arranged to be inclined relative to the longitudinal direction P ₂ of the winding section 21 _(the direction of the axis 21a of the winding portion 21) .

Here, the "inclination" is the angle formed between the longitudinal direction P ₂ in the longitudinal direction P ₁ and the winding portion 21 of the second heating member 22 theta is greater than 0 degrees and smaller than 90 degrees It means that The angle θ when the second heating body 22 is disposed with respect to the winding unit 21 is a specific form of the winding unit 21 (for example, the winding diameter at the start and end of winding, the ink ribbon) The optimum value varies depending on the relationship with the width of 13). As an example, when the winding diameter at the end of winding is 54 mm and the width of the ink ribbon 13 is 56 mm, the angle θ is suitably about 3 degrees.

Note that the second heating element 22, the longitudinal direction P ₁ may be arranged so as not to tilt with respect to the longitudinal direction P ₂ of the winding section 21 _(the direction of the axis 21a of the take-up unit 21).

  Next, with reference to FIG. 7, a state when the second heating body 22 comes into contact with the ink ribbon 13 that has been transferred onto the winding unit 21 and has been transferred will be described.

  FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX of the second heating body 23 and the ink ribbon 13 shown in FIG. In addition, when the ink ribbon 13 is wound around the winding unit 21, the wound ink ribbon 13 is actually curved along the roll surface of the winding unit 21, but in FIG. The ink ribbon 13 is drawn ignoring the state. In FIG. 7, the outer ink ribbon 13A is pressed by the second heater 22 and a part of the ink 12a of the ink layer 12 of the outer ink ribbon 13A is pressed against the support layer 11 of the inner ink ribbon 13B. Therefore, for the sake of convenience, a slight gap is drawn between the outer ink ribbon 13A and the inner ink ribbon 13B. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the outer ink ribbon 13A and the inner ink ribbon 13B may be in contact with each other without any gap.

  As shown in FIG. 7, when the outer ink ribbon 13A is pressed and heated from the outer side (the support layer 11 side) by the end face 23a of the substrate 23 of the second heating body 22 and the heat generating section 24a of the heat generating body 24, the outer ink ribbon Part of the ink 12a remaining on the 13A ink layer 12 is transferred onto the support layer 11 of the inner ink ribbon 13B in the second pattern. The temperature of the heating element 24 is such that the phenomenon that the ink 12a of the ink layer 12 of the outer ink ribbon 13A is melted over the entire region and the outer ink ribbon 13A and the inner ink ribbon 13B are bonded to each other does not occur. It is set low.

  Here, the second pattern in the second heating body 22 is set to be different from the first pattern in the first heating body 18. Specifically, the pattern of the heat generating section 24 a to be heated among the heat generating sections 24 a of the heat generating body 24 of the second heating body 22 is selected to be different from the heating pattern in the first heating body 18.

  Therefore, by transferring a part of the ink 12a remaining in the ink layer 12 of the outer ink ribbon 13A onto the support layer 11 of the inner ink ribbon 13B, the ID information in the ink layer 12 of the outer ink ribbon 13A is transferred to the ID information. It is possible to destroy the pattern of the ink missing portion 12b including the corresponding first pattern.

  As a result, as will be described in detail later, it is possible to prevent the ID information printed on the transfer medium 14 from being specified based on the pattern of the ink missing portion 12b. The pattern of the heat generating section 24 a to be heated is determined in consideration of the degree of inclination of the second heating body 22 with respect to the winding unit 21.

  In the winding unit 21, the outer diameter of the roll body constituted by the ink ribbon 13 wound by the winding unit 21 increases as the winding proceeds. In order to cope with such an increase in the outer diameter of the roll body, the second heating body 22 can adjust the distance between the second heating body 22 and the winding unit 21 (not shown). May be supported so as to be movable.

  Further, by supporting the second heating body 22 by such a support mechanism, the winding of the second heating body 22 can be performed when the winding drive is stopped or when heating by the second heating body 22 is unnecessary. The contact with the ink ribbon 13 taken up by the take-up unit 21 can be arbitrarily stopped away from the take-up unit 21.

  Next, the operation of the present embodiment having such a configuration will be described. Here, the ID information is printed on the transfer target 14 by the first transfer device 17 of the thermal transfer system 10, and then the ink 12 a of the ink layer 12 of the outer ink ribbon 13 A to which the ink has been transferred is transferred by the second heating body 22. The action transferred onto the support layer 11 of the inner ink ribbon 13B in two patterns will be described.

  First, the transfer target 14 is prepared, and then the transfer target 14 is conveyed toward the first transfer device 17. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, the ink ribbon 13 is sent out from the sending unit 16 toward the first transfer device 17.

  When the transfer body 14 reaches between the first heating body 18 and the platen roll 19 of the first transfer device 17, the first heating body 18 heats the ink ribbon 13 in the first pattern corresponding to the ID information. Press against the transfer body 14. As a result, the ink 12a of the ink layer 12 of the ink ribbon 13 is transferred onto the transfer target 14 in a first pattern (first transfer step). As a result, ID information is printed on the transfer medium 14, and an ink missing portion 12 b corresponding to the ID information is formed in the ink layer 12 of the ink ribbon 13.

  The ink ribbon 13 to which ink has been transferred after passing through the first transfer device 17 is taken up by the take-up unit 21 of the take-up device 20. Then, the outer ink ribbon 13A is heated in the second pattern by the second heating body 22 in a state where the ink ribbon 13 to which the ink has been transferred is wound by the winding unit 21 (second transfer step). In the second transfer step, as described above, the second heating body 22 changes the heating energy for the ink ribbon 13. For example, the second heating body 22 changes the heating energy for the ink ribbon 13 according to the winding diameter of the ink ribbon 13 to which the ink has been transferred in the winding unit 21. That is, the second heating body 22 reduces the heating energy for the ink ribbon 13 according to the winding diameter of the ink ribbon 13 to which the ink has been transferred in the winding unit 21.

  Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 8A and 8B and FIGS. 9A and 9B, the operation of heating the outer ink ribbon 13A in the second pattern by the second heater 22 will be described in detail.

  First, as shown in FIG. 8A, the second heating body 22 is brought into contact with the outer ink ribbon 13A from the outside (the support layer 11 side). At this time, the outer ink ribbon 13 </ b> A is heated from the outside by the heat generating section 24 a of the second heating body 22. For this reason, a portion of the ink 12a remaining on the ink layer 12 of the outer ink ribbon 13A is pressed against the support layer 11 of the inner ink ribbon 13B while being heated. As a result, as indicated by reference numeral 12c in FIG. 8B, a part of the ink 12a remaining in the ink layer 12 of the outer ink ribbon 13A is transferred onto the support layer 11 of the inner ink ribbon 13B.

  FIG. 9A is a diagram showing a case where the outer ink ribbon 13A after the transfer by the second heating body 22 is viewed from the ink layer 12 side, and FIG. 9B is a diagram showing the second heating body. 22 is a diagram illustrating a case where the inner ink ribbon 13B after the transfer by 22 is viewed from the support layer 11 side. As shown in FIG. 9A, the ink layer 12 of the outer ink ribbon 13A has an ink missing portion 12b (1) having a first pattern based on the ID information print pattern in the first transfer device 17, and a second pattern. An ink removal portion 12b (2) having a second pattern 26 based on the heating pattern of each heat generating section 24a of the heating body 22 is formed. As shown in FIG. 9A, the first layer and the second pattern 26 are mixed in the ink layer 12 of the outer ink ribbon 13A. Therefore, the ink composed of the first pattern corresponding to the ID information. The pattern of the missing portion 12b (1) is destroyed to the extent that it cannot be recognized. As a result, it is possible to prevent the identification information printed on the transfer medium 14 from being specified based on the pattern of the ink missing portion 12b.

  As shown in FIG. 9A, the second pattern 26 may be set so as to destroy only particularly important ID information such as a name, an address, or an ID number in the ink missing portion 12b. That is, the degree and arrangement of the inclination of the second heating body 22 with respect to the winding unit 21 is determined so that the ink missing portion 12b corresponding to at least particularly important ID information in each region of the ink ribbon 13 wound around the winding unit 21. The second heating body 22 may be set so as to come into contact with the region where the is formed.

  As shown in FIG. 9B, the ink 12c is transferred from the outer ink ribbon 13A to the second pattern 26 on the support layer 11 of the inner ink ribbon 13B by the second heater 22. As shown in FIG. 9B, the ink 12c is partially formed with an ink missing portion 12d having a pattern based on the ink missing portion 12b formed of the first pattern of the ink layer 12 of the outer ink ribbon 13A. Has been. However, as shown in FIG. 9B, the ink missing portion 12d is only visually recognized in a region overlapping with the second pattern 26. Therefore, based on the pattern of the ink missing portion 12d, the transferred object The ID information printed on 14 is not specified.

  As described above, the ink ribbon 13 to which ink has been transferred, which has been taken up by the take-up unit 21 of the take-up device 20, is heated by the second heating body 22 from the outside in the second pattern. A series of ink-transferred ink ribbons 13 are taken up by the take-up unit 21 and heated from the outside by the second pattern 26 by the second heating body 22, and then the ink ribbon 13 is removed from the take-up unit 21. Discard. At this time, no adhesion treatment is performed between the ink ribbons 13 wound on the winding unit 21, for example, between the outer ink ribbon 13 </ b> A and the inner ink ribbon 13 </ b> B. It can be easily removed from the winding unit 21. Therefore, the winding unit 21 can be used repeatedly.

  Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the cost for processing the ink ribbon 13 that has been ink-transferred, compared to the case where the winding unit 21 is discarded together with the ink ribbon 13 that has been ink-transferred.

  Further, as described above, when the winding diameter of the winding unit 21 is increased, that is, when the number of windings of the ink ribbon 13 to which ink has been transferred increases, the ink transferred to the second heating body and the winding unit has been transferred. Adhesion with the ink ribbon 13 is enhanced. Therefore, the second pattern can be transferred to the ink ribbon 13 that has already been transferred with less heat energy.

  Therefore, as described above, the second heating body 22 reduces the heating energy for the ink ribbon 13 according to, for example, the winding diameter of the ink ribbon 13 to which the ink has been transferred in the winding unit 21.

  Thereby, deterioration of the head of the 2nd heating body 22 can be suppressed, and energy consumption can be reduced.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the thermal transfer system 10 is disposed on the downstream side of the delivery unit 16 that sends out the ink ribbon 13 and on the support layer 11 side of the ink ribbon 13. A first transfer device 17 that has one heating body 18 and transfers the ink 12a of the ink layer 12 of the ink ribbon 13 to the transfer target body 14 in a first pattern; and is disposed downstream of the first transfer device 17. A winding portion 21 for winding the ink ribbon 13 to which ink has been transferred; and an ink ribbon 13 that has been transferred to the winding portion 21 and that has been wound on the winding portion 21 from the support layer 11 side. A second heating body 22 that contacts and heats the ink ribbon 13 from the support layer 11 side, and a detection unit 100 that detects the winding diameter of the ink ribbon 13 to which the ink has been transferred in the taking unit 21 are provided.

  For this reason, the second heating body 22 has an inner side located on the inner side of the outer ink ribbon 13A in which the ink 12a of the ink layer 12 of the outer ink ribbon 13A is a second pattern 26 different from the first pattern in the first transfer device 17. The outer ink ribbon 13A can be heated so as to be transferred to the support layer 11 of the ink ribbon 13B.

  As a result, it is possible to prevent identification of the first pattern in the first transfer device 17, i.e., the ID information printed on the transfer medium 14, from the ink ribbon 13 that has been ink-transferred.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, as described above, the second heating body 22 generates the heating energy for the ink ribbon 13 according to the winding diameter of the ink ribbon 13 to which the ink has been transferred in the winding unit 21, for example. , Reduce.

  Thereby, deterioration of the head of the 2nd heating body 22 can be suppressed, and energy consumption can be reduced.

  In the present embodiment, the example in which the outline of the laminated body of the ink ribbons 13 wound around the winding unit 21 is concave is shown.

  However, the present invention is not limited to this, and even if the outline of the laminated body of the ink ribbons 13 wound up by the winding unit 21 is convex, the thermal transfer system 10 and the winding according to the present embodiment. A take-off device 20 can be applied.

  The embodiments are illustrative, and the scope of the invention is not limited to them.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Thermal transfer system 11 Support layer 12 Ink layer 12a Ink 12b Ink omission part 12c Ink transferred on support layer by 2nd heating body 13 Ink ribbon 13A Outer ink ribbon 13B Inner ink ribbon 14 Transfer object 15 Guide roll 16 Sending part 17 First transfer device 18 First heating body 19 Platen roll 20 Winding device 21 Winding portion 21a Axis 22 Second heating body 23 Substrate
23a End face 23b Corner 24 Heating element 25 Drive unit 26 Second pattern 100 Detection unit

Claims (11)

In a thermal transfer system that transfers ink to a transfer object using an ink ribbon having a support layer and an ink layer,
A delivery section for delivering the ink ribbon;
A first heating element is provided on the downstream side of the delivery unit and provided on the support layer side of the ink ribbon, and the ink in the ink layer of the ink ribbon is transferred to the transfer target in a first pattern. A first transfer device,
A winding unit that is disposed on the downstream side of the first transfer device and winds up the ink ribbon after ink transfer;
A second heating body that is provided in the vicinity of the winding unit and heats the ink ribbon from the support layer side by coming into contact with the ink ribbon that has been transferred onto the winding unit from the support layer side;
With
The second heating body heats the ink ribbon so that the ink in the ink layer of the ink ribbon is transferred to the support layer of the ink ribbon located inside the ink ribbon in a second pattern different from the first pattern. And
The thermal transfer system, wherein the second heating body changes heating energy for the ink ribbon. 2. The thermal transfer system according to claim 1, wherein the second heating body changes heating energy for the ink ribbon in accordance with a winding diameter of the ink ribbon to which ink has been transferred in the winding unit. The second heating body is
When the winding diameter of the ink ribbon to which the ink has been transferred in the winding unit is less than a first threshold, the heating energy for the ink ribbon is set to a first set value,
When the winding diameter of the ink ribbon to which the ink has been transferred in the winding unit is equal to or larger than the first threshold value, the heating energy for the ink ribbon is set to a second set value that is smaller than the first set value. The thermal transfer system according to claim 2. The second heating body is
When the winding diameter of the ink ribbon that has been ink-transferred in the winding unit is not less than the first threshold value and less than the second threshold value, the heating energy for the ink ribbon is set to the second set value,
When the winding diameter of the ink ribbon to which ink has been transferred in the winding unit is greater than or equal to the second threshold value, the heating energy for the ink ribbon is set to a third set value that is smaller than the second set value. The thermal transfer system according to claim 3.   The thermal transfer system according to claim 2, further comprising a detection unit that detects a winding diameter of the ink ribbon that has undergone ink transfer in the winding unit. The detection unit is configured to detect ink in the winding unit based on the amount of rotation of the winding unit, the number of the transfer target onto which the first pattern is transferred, or the feeding amount of the ink ribbon in the feeding unit. The thermal transfer system according to claim 5, wherein the winding diameter of the transferred ink ribbon is detected. The second heating body is applied to the ink ribbon in accordance with the amount of rotation of the winding unit, the number of the transfer target bodies to which the first pattern is transferred, or the amount of the ink ribbon sent out by the sending unit. The thermal transfer system according to claim 2, wherein the heating energy is changed. 2. The thermal transfer system according to claim 1, wherein the second heating body continuously reduces the heating energy for the ink ribbon in a tapered shape or digitally decreases in a plurality of steps. In an ink ribbon having a support layer and an ink layer, the take-up device winds up an ink ribbon that has been transferred with the ink of the ink layer transferred in a first pattern onto the transfer target,
A winding unit for winding up the ink ribbon that has been subjected to ink transfer;
A winding-side heating body that is provided in the vicinity of the winding unit and heats the ink ribbon by contacting the ink ribbon that has been transferred to the winding unit with the ink-transferred ink ribbon from the support layer side;
The winding-side heating element heats the ink ribbon so that the ink in the ink layer of the ink ribbon is transferred to a support layer of the ink ribbon positioned inside the ink ribbon in a second pattern different from the first pattern. And
The winding device, wherein the second heating body changes heating energy for the ink ribbon. In a thermal transfer method for transferring ink to a transfer medium using an ink ribbon having a support layer and an ink layer,
Sending out the ink ribbon;
A first transfer step of transferring the ink of the ink layer of the ink ribbon to the transfer object in a first pattern;
A step of winding the ink ribbon after ink transfer by a winding unit;
A second heating body is brought into contact with the ink ribbon that has been transferred to the winding unit from the support layer side, and the ink ribbon is heated from the support layer side by the winding side heating body. A transfer process,
In the second transfer step, the winding side heating body transfers the ink of the ink layer of the ink ribbon to the support layer of the ink ribbon positioned inside the ink ribbon in a second pattern different from the first pattern. The ink ribbon is heated so that the winding side heating body changes the heating energy for the ink ribbon.
A thermal transfer method characterized by that. In an ink ribbon having a support layer and an ink layer, the winding method for winding the ink transferred ink ribbon in which the ink of the ink layer is transferred in a first pattern onto the transfer target,
A step of winding the ink ribbon after ink transfer by a winding unit;
A step of bringing a winding-side heating body into contact with the ink ribbon that has been transferred onto the winding portion from the support layer side and heating the ink ribbon from the support layer side with the winding-side heating body; With
In the heating step, the winding-side heating body causes the ink in the ink layer of the ink ribbon to be transferred to the support layer of the ink ribbon positioned inside the ink ribbon in a second pattern different from the first pattern. The winding method is for heating the ink ribbon, and the winding side heating body changes heating energy for the ink ribbon.

Images