JP2016163960A - Image transfer method, and image transfer apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image transfer method and an image transfer apparatus capable of surely reducing generation of wrinkle in a transfer medium.SOLUTION: An ink ribbon 11a is conveyed while applying a tension in the longitudinal direction by winding the ink ribbon 11a from a supply roll 11 of the ink ribbon 11a. A transfer medium 13 is conveyed in the same direction as the conveyance direction of the ink ribbon 11a so as to overlapping the conveyed ink ribbon 11a. A subliming dye on the ink ribbon 11a is transferred to the transfer medium 13 by applying a heat and a pressure with a transfer head 12 to the ink ribbon 11a and the transfer medium 13 overlapping each other. The ink ribbon 11a, by which transfer has been performed, is pressed by each of 6 tension adjusting arms 18a arranged in the same direction as the width direction of the transfer medium 13, and the tension ununiformity, in each direction in a face of the ink ribbon 11a due to a slack of the ink ribbon 11a generated with the heat pressure, is adjusted to keep the tension in each direction in the face of the ink ribbon 11a constant.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an image transfer method and an image transfer apparatus.

  As the image forming technique, for example, there is a transfer type image forming technique. In this transfer-type image forming technology, a transfer medium and a transfer medium are overlapped, and a heat transfer is applied to the overlapped transfer medium and the transfer medium by a transfer head so that a transfer body on the transfer medium is transferred to the transfer medium. To form an image on the transfer medium. Examples of the transfer medium include a sublimation dye on the transfer medium, a sublimation medium for transferring the dye to the transfer medium by applying heat pressure, and a pigment ink on the transfer medium, and applying heat pressure to the transfer medium. There is a transferable medium for transferring pigment ink to a transfer medium.

  An example of the configuration of the ink ribbon is shown in FIG. The ink ribbon 11a includes a PET substrate 21, a back coat layer 22 formed on one surface of the PET substrate 21, and ink layers 23, 24, and 25 formed on the other surface. Since the back coat layer 22 is a portion that is in direct contact with the transfer head 12, heat resistance and slipperiness are required. The ink layers 23, 24, and 25 contain a sublimable dye (transfer body). When energy is applied to the ink layers 23, 24, and 25, the sublimable dye is transferred to the transfer medium 13. . In FIG. 5, the ink layer 23 contains a yellow dye, the ink layer 24 contains a magenta dye, and the ink layer 25 contains a cyan dye.

Next, a procedure for forming an image using the ink ribbon 11a and the image transfer apparatus 10 will be described with reference to FIG.
First, when an image (original image) to be printed is input to the control device 17, the control device 17 faithfully reproduces the original image in consideration of the printing sensitivity and the printing environment of the ink ribbon 11a and the transfer medium 13. The image data for reproduction is created, and the created image data is transmitted to the image transfer apparatus 10. The control device 17 is composed of, for example, a personal computer (PC).

  Subsequently, in the image transfer apparatus 10, the ink ribbon 11 a is conveyed while applying tension in the longitudinal direction by winding the ink ribbon 11 a from the supply roll 11 of the ink ribbon 11 a by the winding mechanism 16. Subsequently, the transfer medium 13 is transported by the transport mechanism 20 in the same direction as the transport direction of the ink ribbon 11a so as to overlap the transported ink ribbon 11a. At that time, the ink layers 23, 24, 25 of the ink ribbon 11a and the transfer medium 13 are opposed to each other.

  Then, the superimposed ink ribbon 11 a and the transfer medium 13 are supplied to a transfer unit 19 including a transfer head 12, a platen roller 14, and a peeling plate 15. In the transfer unit 19, the ink ribbon 11 a is disposed on the transfer head 12 side, and the transfer medium 13 is disposed on the platen roller 14 side. Thereby, the transfer head 12 is arrange | positioned at the backcoat layer 22 side of the ink ribbon 11a. A platen roller 14 is disposed on the surface of the transfer medium 13 opposite to the surface facing the ink layers 23, 24, 25. The superimposed ink ribbon 11a and the transfer medium 13 are both sandwiched between the transfer head 12 and the platen roller 14 at a predetermined pressure.

The transfer head 12 includes a large number of minute heating elements. These many minute heating elements are arranged in a line in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the ink ribbon 11a, that is, in the width direction of the ink ribbon 11a. The size of the minute heating element is approximately several μm to several hundred μm.
Each of these minute heating elements has a structure capable of individually flowing current, and can be heated individually by flowing current individually. Usually, there are many usages in which heating is performed only for a short time by flowing a pulse-like current for a very short time.

In a state where the ink ribbon 11a and the transfer medium 13 are sandwiched between the transfer head 12 and the platen roller 14, a current is passed through the minute heating element of the transfer head 12 to raise the minute heating element to a high temperature. As a result, the overlapping ink ribbon 11 a and the transfer medium 13 are subjected to heat pressure by the transfer head 12 to transfer the sublimable dye on the ink ribbon 11 a to the transfer medium 13.
Then, according to the image data created by the control device 17, the minute heating elements are individually heated, the sublimation dye on the ink ribbon 11a is transferred to the transfer medium 13, and an image (original image) to be printed is formed. . The ink ribbon 11 a and the transfer medium 13 that have passed through the transfer head 12 are separated by the peeling plate 15, and the ink ribbon 11 a is taken up by the take-up mechanism 16.

When forming a color image, as shown in FIG. 7, an ink ribbon 11a having three panels 32, 33, and 34 for transferring yellow, magenta, and cyan is used. As an example of color image formation, first, according to the image data for yellow, the yellow dye in the yellow panel 32 is transferred to the transfer medium 13 to form a yellow image, and between the transfer head 12 and the platen roller 14. After the distance is set to the set value, the transfer medium 13 is returned to the transfer start position, and the magenta panel 33 is set to the transfer start position. Thereafter, the ink ribbon 11a and the transfer medium 13 are sandwiched again by the transfer head 12 and the platen roller 14, and the magenta dye in the magenta panel 33 is transferred to the transfer medium 13 to form a magenta image. As for cyan, a color image is formed by transferring in the same manner.
The supply roll 11 and the take-up mechanism 16 are provided with a drive device with a control function in which a torque value is set, and the tension and take-up strength of the ink ribbon 11a during transfer are constant. It is supposed to be. Depending on the transfer device, a drive device capable of variable torque control may be used.

As described above, heat is used for the transfer, but the extension amount of the ink ribbon 11a varies depending on the heat used. That is, when the image is transferred, there are a portion where the amount of ink transferred is large and a portion where the amount of ink is small, so that a portion where the expansion is large and a portion where the expansion is small are generated two-dimensionally. Where the extension is large, slack is generated, and the tension is weaker than that where the extension is small. Therefore, the in-plane tension of the ink ribbon 11a is not uniform. The partial slack due to the stretching causes a twist caused by this, and may further develop into a wrinkle of the ink ribbon 11a. Also, the slack causes the ink ribbon 11a to be caught in the transfer head 12 during color printing. When the entrainment occurs, the panels 32, 33, and 34 entrained are not printed.
In addition, if the in-plane tension of the ink ribbon 11a is not constant, the peeling force when the transfer medium 13 and the ink ribbon 11a are separated by the peeling plate 15 is not uniform, which may cause uneven printing.

Several proposals have been made as methods for preventing looseness of the ink ribbon 11a due to heat pressure during printing, which can be a major factor that impairs printing stability.
For example, Patent Document 1 proposes to apply a heat pressure at which ink is not transferred even when printing is not performed so that the heat pressure is as uniform as possible in the surface of the ink ribbon 11a. Thereby, the difference in the thermal history in the surface of the ink ribbon 11a is reduced, so that only a part of the ink ribbon 11a is not slackened.
However, since the difference between the heat pressure (energy) required for ink transfer and the energy that does not transfer the ink is relatively large, the energy required for ink transfer even if the energy is transferred so that the ink is not transferred. There is a difference in the degree of slack between the place where the ink is applied and the place where the energy is applied so that the ink is not transferred, which is not a fundamental countermeasure.

  In Patent Document 2, a preliminary investigation is performed on the transfer energy and the slackness, a threshold value of the transfer energy is determined, and the feeding condition of the ink ribbon 11a is changed with the threshold value as a boundary, whereby the ink ribbon 11a. A method for preventing wrinkles and the like has been proposed. However, the method described in Patent Literature 2 cannot take into account the tension non-uniformity generated in the surface of the ink ribbon 11a, and thus is not a fundamental measure.

JP 2011-212998 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-321054

  As described above, the difference in the thermal pressure in the surface of the ink ribbon 11a may cause a problem of uneven feeding in addition to the wrinkles of the ink ribbon 11a. The back coat layer 22 in FIG. 5 that is in direct contact with the transfer head 12 serving as a heat source differs greatly in the slip property between the place where heat is applied and the place where it is not. Therefore, a tension difference due to friction with the transfer head 12 occurs in the surface of the ink ribbon 11a. It is well known that this difference in tension causes feed unevenness, that is, shading unevenness. Patent Document 1 proposes a method that can solve this problem.

However, for example, the physical phenomenon that occurs between the place where the heat pressure is large and the place where the heat pressure is small, such as partial melting of the backcoat layer 22 occurs where the heat pressure is large. It is very difficult to cope with friction caused by a two-dimensional heat pressure distribution.
As described above, the two-dimensional distribution of the in-plane tension of the ink ribbon 11a (transfer medium) caused by the difference in heat pressure during transfer can cause various problems.
The present invention focuses on the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image transfer method and an image transfer apparatus that can more reliably reduce the occurrence of wrinkles on a transfer medium.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, an image transfer method according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a transfer medium that is conveyed by winding the transfer medium from a supply roll of the transfer medium while applying tension in the longitudinal direction. The transfer medium is conveyed in the same direction as the transfer medium conveyance direction so as to overlap with the medium, and the transfer material on the transfer medium is applied to the transfer medium by applying heat pressure to the overlapping transfer medium and the transfer medium with a transfer head. The transfer medium that has been transferred and transferred is pushed by each of the six tension adjustment arms arranged in the same direction as the width direction of the transfer medium, and the tension in each direction in the surface of the transfer medium due to the looseness of the transfer medium caused by thermal pressure Is characterized in that the tension in each direction in the surface of the transfer medium is made constant.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, in order to adjust the non-uniformity of the tension in each direction in the surface of the transfer medium due to the slack generated by the heat pressure, and to keep the tension in each direction in the surface of the transfer medium constant, Can reduce the slack of the transfer medium, and the wrinkle of the transfer medium due to the slack can be reduced.

It is a schematic block diagram which shows an example of an image transfer apparatus. It is a figure showing the image for slack amount verification by a printing pattern. It is a figure showing the relationship between a printing pattern and the amount of slack. It is a figure showing the arrangement | positioning of a tension | tensile_strength control arm, and the reproduction waveform example by a tension | tensile_strength adjustment arm. It is a schematic block diagram which shows an example of the conventional image transfer apparatus. It is a schematic block diagram which shows an example of an ink ribbon. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the example of panel arrangement | positioning of an ink ribbon.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without such specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are schematically shown in order to simplify the drawing.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an example of an image transfer apparatus 10. In FIG. 1, the same components as those in the image transfer apparatus 10 in FIG. 6 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the details thereof are omitted. In FIG. 1, the transfer head 12 side is the upper side, and the platen roller 14 side is the lower side.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image transfer apparatus 10 of the present embodiment is further provided with a tension adjusting mechanism 18 in addition to the image transfer apparatus 10 of FIG. 6. That is, a tension adjusting mechanism 18 that adjusts the in-plane tension of the ink ribbon 11 a is provided between the transfer unit 19 and the winding mechanism 16. As a result, the tension adjusting mechanism 18 two-dimensionally adjusts the tension in each direction within the surface of the ink ribbon 11a that has been transferred (the transport direction, the width direction, etc. of the ink ribbon 11a).

In FIG. 1, as the tension adjusting mechanism 18, a plurality of tension adjusting arms 18a that change the tension in each direction in the surface of the ink ribbon 11a by pushing up the ink ribbon 11a are used. Each of the plurality of tension adjusting arms 18a is arranged in the same direction as the width direction of the ink ribbon 11a. The total number of tension adjusting arms 18a is six for reasons described later. Then, by changing the tension in each direction in the surface of the ink ribbon 11a, the uneven tension in each direction in the surface of the ink ribbon 11a due to the slack of the ink ribbon 11a generated by the thermal pressure of the transfer head 12 is adjusted. Then, the tension in each direction in the surface of the ink ribbon 11a is made constant.
It is desirable that the tip of the tension adjusting arm 18a, that is, the portion that comes into contact with the ink ribbon 11a is made to have a minimum friction with the ink ribbon 11a.
The width of the ink ribbon 11a is desirably 80 mm or more and 170 mm or less. Furthermore, it is desirable that the winding mechanism 16 transports the ink ribbon 11a while applying a tension of 80 g or more and 220 g or less in the longitudinal direction of the ink ribbon 11a by winding the ink ribbon 11a.

  In this embodiment, when the transfer head 12 applies hot pressure to the ink ribbon 11a, it measures how much the ink ribbon 11a is loosened, and from the measurement result, how much tension difference in the surface of the ink ribbon 11a depends on the amount of heat applied. It is investigated in advance whether this occurs. Based on the results of this investigation, basic data relating to tension adjustment that optimizes the conditions necessary for adjusting the tension difference generated with respect to the amount of heat applied, for example, the amount of tension added by pushing up the ink ribbon 11a, is prepared. For example, a plurality of tension adjustment arms for making the tension in each direction in the plane of the ink ribbon 11a constant due to the calorie distribution data representing the calorie distribution given to the ink ribbon 11a and the calorie distribution represented by the calorie mapping data. There is data representing the push-up amount of 18a.

  Further, by analyzing the image data to be printed, it is possible to determine the extent of heat applied to which location of the ink ribbon 11a, so that the calorie mapping data is generated from the image data created by the control device 17. Create Subsequently, the push-up amount of each of the plurality of tension adjusting arms 18a is calculated based on the created heat amount mapping data and basic data. Then, based on the calculation result, by controlling the push-up amount of each of the plurality of tension adjusting arms 18a, the tension in each direction within the surface of the ink ribbon 11a is changed, and the ink ribbon generated by the thermal pressure of the transfer head 12 is changed. The tension in each direction in the surface of the ink ribbon 11a due to the slack of 11a is adjusted to make the tension in each direction in the surface of the ink ribbon 11a constant.

  In the present embodiment, the extent to which the ink ribbon 11a is slackened when hot pressure is applied to the ink ribbon 11a was verified using an image of the six waveforms shown in FIG. As 6 waveforms, the basic waveform in the case of developing an arbitrary waveform as a rectangular wave was used. In FIG. 2, the upper three basic waveform printing patterns Odd1, Odd2, and Odd3 are odd functions, and the lower three basic waveform printing patterns Even1, Even2, and Even3 are even functions, all of which have higher frequencies as they go down. That is, the waveform contributes to fine depiction. Therefore, the print width becomes narrow.

  The images obtained by imaging these basic waveforms have different print screen areas depending on their print patterns Odd1, Odd2, Odd3, Even1, Even2, and Even3. Therefore, these print patterns Odd1, Odd2, Odd3, Even1, Even2, and Even3 The amount of slack in the subsequent ink ribbon 11a was measured, and the relationship between the screen area and the amount of slack was examined. FIG. 3 shows the relationship between the print pattern Odd1, Odd2, Odd3, Even1, Even2, and Even3 and the amount of slack. The slack amount of the ink ribbon 11a is expressed as a relative amount when the undulation amount of the ink ribbon 11a before printing, that is, before the thermal pressure is applied by the transfer head 12, is “1”.

  As shown in FIG. 3, in the printing patterns Odd3 and Even3, the amount of slack of the ink ribbon 11a is substantially the same as the amount of waviness of the ink ribbon 11a before printing (before applying heat pressure). From this, it can be expected that the slack amount of the ink ribbon 11a due to the frequency components of the print patterns Odd3 and Even3 and higher is the same as the waviness amount of the ink ribbon 11a before printing. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust the slackness due to the thermal pressure by the transfer head 12, that is, the tension adjustment requires four patterns of print patterns Even1, Even2, Odd1, and Odd2.

In order to reproduce these four patterns, it is necessary to divide the ink ribbon 11a into at least eight parts in the width direction, but this requires eight tension adjusting arms 18a. However, when analyzed in detail, it is more finely divided into 24, but only the positions of 25%, 50%, and 83% from the center are opposed to the distance from the center to the end in the width direction of the ink ribbon 11a. Even if the tension adjusting arm 18a is disposed and the positions of 25%, 50%, and 83% are pushed up from the center, the basic waveforms (print patterns Even1, Even2, It was found that Odd1, Odd2) can be reproduced.
From the request of 24 divisions, the length in the width direction of the tension adjusting arm 18a in contact with the ink ribbon 11a (the length in the same direction as the width direction of the ink ribbon 11a) is set to the width of the ink ribbon 11a. It is necessary to make it 4% or less.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, for example, by controlling the winding force of the ink ribbon 11a by the winding mechanism 16, the ink ribbon 11a is compared with the method of adjusting only the tension in the longitudinal direction of the ink ribbon 11a. The large slack affecting the in-plane tension can be canceled more appropriately, and the in-plane tension of the ink ribbon 11a can be adjusted with higher accuracy.
If the tension is not adjusted, the ink ribbon 11a partially loosens. Normally, the peeling plate 15 is in contact with the ink ribbon 11a on a substantially linear surface, so if there is slack, the contact with the ink ribbon 11a becomes non-uniform, and the peeling condition may vary in the width direction of the ink ribbon 11a. There is also the possibility of unevenness due to differences in the peeling conditions. When the tension adjustment by the tension adjustment mechanism 18 is performed, the tension of the ink ribbon 11a becomes uniform, and the slack of the ink ribbon 11a is reduced. Therefore, since the contact between the peeling plate 15 and the ink ribbon 11a is stabilized, the contact state can be made uniform and improved at the same time.

Further, according to the present embodiment, even if the tension variation occurs two-dimensionally in the surface of the ink ribbon 11a, the tension can be adjusted two-dimensionally so as to suppress the variation. Thus, since the tension can be adjusted two-dimensionally in the plane of the ink ribbon 11a, the generation of wrinkles can be suppressed. As a result, image formation by transfer can be performed stably.
In the present embodiment, the ink ribbon 11a of FIG. 1 constitutes a transfer medium. Further, the sublimation dye constitutes a transfer body.

  Although the present invention has been described above with reference to specific embodiments, the present invention is not limited to these descriptions. After reviewing these descriptions, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that other embodiments of the invention may be practiced with various variations of the disclosed embodiments. Therefore, it is to be understood that the claims encompass these modifications and embodiments that fall within the scope and spirit of the present invention.

(Effect of this embodiment)
The invention according to this embodiment has the following effects.
(1) In the image transfer method according to the present embodiment, the ink ribbon 11a is conveyed while applying tension in the longitudinal direction by winding the ink ribbon 11a from the supply roll 11 of the ink ribbon 11a. Subsequently, the transfer medium 13 is transported in the same direction as the transport direction of the ink ribbon 11a so as to overlap the transported ink ribbon 11a. Subsequently, heat pressure is applied to the overlapping ink ribbon 11 a and the transfer medium 13 by the transfer head 12 to transfer the sublimation dye on the ink ribbon 11 a to the transfer medium 13. Subsequently, the ink ribbon 11a having been transferred is pushed by each of the six tension adjusting arms 18a arranged in the same direction as the width of the ink ribbon 11a. The tension in each direction is adjusted to be uniform, and the tension in each direction in the surface of the ink ribbon 11a is made constant.
According to such a configuration, in order to adjust the non-uniform tension in each direction in the surface of the ink ribbon 11a due to the slack generated by the heat pressure and to keep the tension in each direction in the surface of the ink ribbon 11a constant, The slack of the transfer medium generated by the pressure can be reduced, and the generation of wrinkles of the ink ribbon 11a due to the slack can be reduced.

(2) In the image transfer method according to the present embodiment, the tension adjusting arm 18a is positioned at 25%, 50% from the center with respect to the distance from the center to the end in the width direction of the ink ribbon 11a. It is arranged to face each of the 83% positions.
According to such a configuration, the basic waveforms (print patterns Even1, Even2, Odd1, Odd2) can be reproduced to the extent that there is no practical problem.
(3) In the image transfer method according to the present embodiment, the length in the width direction of the portion of the tension adjustment arm 18a that contacts the ink ribbon 11a is 4% or less of the width of the ink ribbon 11a.
According to such a configuration, the tension adjustment arm 18a can be formed more appropriately.

(4) The image transfer apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment includes a winding mechanism 16 that transports the ink ribbon 11a while applying tension in the longitudinal direction by winding the ink ribbon 11a from the supply roll 11 of the ink ribbon 11a, and a winding The transport mechanism 20 that transports the transfer medium 13 in the same direction as the transport direction of the ink ribbon 11 a so as to overlap with the ink ribbon 11 a transported by the take-off mechanism 16, and heat pressure between the overlapping ink ribbon 11 a and the transfer medium 13. The transfer head 12 for transferring the sublimable dye on the ink ribbon 11a to the transfer medium 13 and the tension adjusting mechanism 18 for making the tension in each direction in the surface of the ink ribbon 11a after the transfer constant are provided. .
According to such a configuration, by making the tension in each direction in the surface of the ink ribbon 11a constant, it is possible to reduce the slack of the transfer medium caused by the heat pressure, and to reduce the generation of wrinkles of the ink ribbon 11a due to the slack. .

  The effect of preventing the generation of wrinkles by the image transfer method of the above embodiment was verified. For the verification, a sublimation ribbon having a width of 160 mm was used as the ink ribbon 11a, and a sublimation printer was used as the image transfer apparatus 10. The sublimation printer was set to conditions where wrinkles are likely to occur by adjusting the position of the transfer head 12 and the like. As shown in FIG. 5, the sublimation ribbon was formed with the back coat layer 22 on one side of the PET substrate 21 and the ink layers 23, 24, and 25 on the other side.

  Below, the material structure and composition ratio of the backcoat layer 22 and the ink layers 23, 24, and 25 of the sublimation ribbon (ink ribbon 11a) used in this verification are shown. The ink layers 23, 24, and 25 are composed of three types of yellow, magenta, and cyan. Here, only a material configuration example of the cyan layer is shown. In addition, when described as “parts” in the following description, unless otherwise specified, the weight standard is indicated. The present invention is not limited to the following examples.

(Back coat layer)
Acrylic polyol resin 50 parts Polyoxyalkylene alkyl ether / phosphate ester 10 parts Talc 24 parts 2,6-tolylene diisocyanate prepolymer 16 parts (cyan ink layer)
C. I. Solvent Blue 63 60 parts Polyvinyl acetal resin 40 parts

First, the transfer body of the sublimation ribbon was transferred (printed) to the transfer medium 13 without performing tension control by the tension adjusting mechanism 18. In this case, wrinkles were confirmed on the sublimation ribbon.
Subsequently, the tension adjusting mechanism 18 was controlled to push up both ends in the width direction of the sublimation ribbon, thereby adjusting the in-plane tension of the sublimation ribbon to perform printing. At this time, it was confirmed that the wrinkles of the sublimation ribbon disappeared when tension was applied by controlling the tension adjusting mechanism 18 under appropriate conditions.
Subsequently, the same verification was performed using a sublimation ribbon having a width of 100 mm. Thereby, it was confirmed that the wrinkles of the sublimation ribbon disappeared by controlling the tension adjusting mechanism 18.

In this verification, verification using a tension adjusting arm with a desirable configuration that reduces friction as much as possible was not possible, but a certain effect could still be confirmed. Therefore, it was verified that the image forming method of the present embodiment is an effective image forming method for reducing the generation of wrinkles on the sublimation ribbon.
In this verification, the effect was verified using a method of pushing up the ink ribbon 11a as an example of tension adjustment, but the adjustment method is not limited. Moreover, although the effect was verified using a sublimation ribbon as the ink ribbon 11a, the transfer medium is not limited.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image transfer apparatus 11 Supply roll 11a Ink ribbon 12 Transfer head 13 Transfer target medium 14 Platen roller 15 Stripping board 16 Winding mechanism 17 Control apparatus 18 Tension adjustment mechanism 18a Tension adjustment arm 19 Transfer unit 20 Conveyance mechanism

Claims (4)

  The transfer medium is transported while being applied with tension in the longitudinal direction by winding the transfer medium from the transfer medium supply roll, and is transferred in the same direction as the transport direction of the transfer medium so as to overlap the transported transfer medium. The transfer medium and the transfer target medium are transported by applying a heat pressure to the transfer medium and the transfer target medium by a transfer head to transfer the transfer body on the transfer medium to the transfer target medium, and the transfer medium after transfer is transferred to the transfer medium. Each of the six tension adjusting arms arranged in the same direction as the width direction of the transfer medium is pressed to adjust the non-uniform tension in each direction in the surface of the transfer medium due to the looseness of the transfer medium caused by the thermal pressure. An image transfer method, wherein tension in each direction in the surface of the transfer medium is made constant.   The tension adjusting arm is arranged to face the 25% position, 50% position, and 83% position from the center with respect to the distance from the center to the end in the width direction of the transfer medium. The image transfer method according to claim 1, wherein:   3. The image transfer method according to claim 1, wherein a length in a width direction of a portion of the tension adjusting arm that contacts the transfer medium is 4% or less of a width of the transfer medium. A winding mechanism for transporting the transfer medium while applying tension in the longitudinal direction by winding the transfer medium from a transfer roll of the transfer medium;
A transport mechanism for transporting the transfer medium in the same direction as the transport direction of the transfer medium so as to overlap the transfer medium transported by the winding mechanism;
A transfer head that applies heat pressure to the overlapping transfer medium and the transfer medium, and transfers a transfer body on the transfer medium to the transfer medium;
A tension adjusting mechanism for making constant the tension in each direction in the surface of the transfer medium after the transfer,
An image transfer apparatus comprising:

Images