JP2017024279A - Image forming apparatus and processing method of ink ribbon information - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus of an intermediate transfer system using an ink ribbon and a processing method of ink ribbon information which enable personal information remaining on an ink ribbon after outputting information to be easily deleted without being touched by a hand.SOLUTION: An image forming apparatus of an intermediate transfer system is provided with a thermal head for applying a superposition pattern on the ink surface of a used ink ribbon and makes personal information illegible by randomly superposing and printing characters of the same character type as in a print pattern.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention uses an ink ribbon and an intermediate transfer foil to form an image on the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer foil by a thermal transfer method, and then transfers the image formed on the image receiving layer to the transfer material together with the release layer. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that performs image formation by transferring, and a processing method that protects personal information and the like by making negative information formed by residual ink on an ink ribbon unreadable.

  The image forming method using the intermediate transfer foil performs printing on the intermediate transfer foil at the time of image formation even when the substrate of the transfer target on which the image is finally provided is different, such as paper or plastic. Therefore, since the object to be printed is constant and stable image formation is possible, it has been studied as one of image forming means using an ink ribbon.

  For example, a method of forming an image by thermal head printing using an ink ribbon is already a well-known technique, and is used for various purposes such as printing on a card, printing of a photographic image, printing on a seal, and the like. . However, many of these printing methods have a problem in that a specific image receiving layer needs to be provided on the surface of the medium, and combinations thereof are limited.

Therefore, by using an ink ribbon, an image is formed on an intermediate transfer foil having a specific image receiving layer, and then re-transferred to a transfer target, so that a multicolor image can be obtained regardless of the substrate of the final printing medium. An intermediate transfer method has been proposed as a method that can be formed. (For example, see Patent Document 1)
The intermediate transfer method has been used mainly as a means for forming a multicolor image on different substrates such as a passport and an ID (Identification) card. However, passports and ID cards are often required to be used for a relatively long period of 5 to 10 years, and high durability is required. For this reason, a method using a hot-melt ink ribbon using a pigment has been proposed instead of using a sublimable dye as the ink ribbon. (For example, Patent Document 2)
As an image reproduction method for a passport or the like, in addition to the above, a recording method using an ink jet printer (for example, Patent Document 3), a laser printing recording method using a CO2 or YAG laser and a thermosensitive coloring material (for example, Patent Document 4), Further, there is a laser engraving printing recording method (for example, Patent Document 5) in which carbon (C) present in the substrate is used for printing and recording in the depth direction of the substrate.

  However, printers using the inkjet method and sublimation type thermal transfer method are generally distributed, and it is difficult to determine whether the image is due to forgery or tampering simply by checking the image forming unit. ing.

For this reason, personal authentication media such as passports and ID cards are also required to have high resistance against fraudulent acts such as forgery and tampering.
Therefore, even in an image forming method using an intermediate transfer method, a method of imparting high anti-counterfeit / tampering properties by providing an OVD (Optical Variable Device) layer such as a hologram in the intermediate transfer foil is used.

However, in the case of the thermal transfer method using an ink ribbon, since negative information remains on the ink ribbon side after image formation, there is a risk of personal information leaking if discarded as it is. For this reason, with regard to ink ribbons, waste must be handled as confidential information including personal information. Unlike ordinary waste, special processing such as securing storage locations, shredding and incineration during disposal is required. Was demanded.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-72046 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-58728 JP 2002-226740 A JP 49-131142 A JP 2006-123174 A

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems in the prior art, and in personal authentication medium image forming apparatus using an intermediate transfer method, personal information remaining on an ink ribbon after information output Is easily deleted without touching the hand.

The present invention has been made to solve these problems.
That is, the invention described in claim 1 is an ink ribbon in which a plurality of color ink layer regions are arranged in a predetermined order on a substrate, and an intermediate transfer foil having a release layer and an image receiving layer on the substrate. Are arranged opposite to each other and heated using a first heating unit comprising a thermal head, whereby each ink layer is transferred to a predetermined position of the image receiving layer to form an image, and then an image is formed. In the image forming apparatus for transferring an image onto the transfer body by superimposing the intermediate transfer foil and the transfer body and heating by a second heating unit,
After forming an image on the transfer layer of the intermediate transfer foil, a superimposed pattern data generation unit for generating a superimposed pattern that makes an image pattern made of the ink layer remaining on the ink ribbon unreadable, and An image forming apparatus comprising a third heating unit including a thermal head for applying a pattern based on superimposed pattern data.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming method according to the first aspect, the thermal head as the third heating unit is disposed opposite to a side of the ink ribbon having the ink layer. Device.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the superimposed pattern, the image pattern formed of the ink layer remaining on the ink ribbon is an image pattern including characters, and is formed by a thermal head that is the first heating unit. 3. The ink ribbon information processing method using an image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein characters having the same shape as the characters provided in the image portion and having different notations are used at random. is there.

  In an image forming unit using an ink ribbon by a conventional intermediate transfer method or the like, personal information leaks due to negative pattern information formed by an ink layer remaining on the ink ribbon after the image is formed on the transfer target. Since there is a possibility, the ink ribbon to be discarded must be managed as a medium containing confidential information such as personal information.

  On the other hand, according to the present invention, ink ribbon information processing can be performed as parallel processing in the apparatus without taking out the ink ribbon used for image formation from the apparatus.

Accordingly, in the storage method and processing method after the ink ribbon after printing is taken out from the apparatus, the handling as a secret information medium, which has been conventionally performed, becomes unnecessary, and the disposal process can be easily performed.

FIG. 3 is a plan view conceptually showing an example when printing is performed by a normal intermediate transfer method. (A) It is a top view which shows an example of the ink ribbon before printing. (B) It is a top view which shows an example of the ink ribbon after thermal head printing. FIG. 4C is a plan view showing an example of a transfer object printed by an intermediate transfer method. It is sectional drawing which shows the structural example of intermediate transfer foil. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an aspect of an image forming apparatus of the present invention. It is a top view which shows an example of the ink ribbon information processing method of this invention. (A) It is an example of the printing pattern in a 1st heating part thermal head. (B) It is an example of the superposition pattern in the 3rd heating part thermal head. (C) It is a top view which shows an example of the ink ribbon after printing in the 1st heating part. (D) It is a top view which shows an example of the ink ribbon after the printing in the 1st and 3rd heating part. It is a top view which shows the example which provided the cleaner layer in the ink ribbon.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows the situation of the ink ribbon 100 and the transfer target 300 during normal image formation using the ink ribbon. For example, the transfer target 300 is formed using an ink ribbon (A) made of CMYK. By forming (C) an image on the top, negative information as shown in (B) is left on the ink ribbon.

  The method for erasing the negative information formed on the ink ribbon will be described in detail later. First, for the ink ribbon used in the present invention, a sublimation transfer type ink ribbon using a sublimation dye and a heat using a pigment are used. A melt-type ink ribbon can be considered.

  In personal authentication media such as passports and ID cards, it may be assumed to be used for a long period of 5 to 10 years. Considering the durability of the printed image formed, a hot-melt ink ribbon using a pigment is used. Is more desirable.

  When a hot-melt ink ribbon is used, various known pigments can be used as the pigment used in each ink layer, such as carbon black, azo, phthalocyanine, quinacridone, thioindigo, and anthraquinone. And isoindolinone pigments. These may be used in combination of two or more, and a known dye may be added for hue adjustment.

Examples of the binder resin for each ink layer having these coloring materials include butyral resin, polyamide resin, polyethyleneimine resin, sulfonamide resin, polyester polyol resin, petroleum resin, epoxy resin, styrene resin, styrene and its derivatives, methyl Methacrylic acid esters such as methacrylate, ethyl methacrylate, hydroxy methacrylate, hydroxyethyl methacrylate, etc. and acrylic acid esters such as methacrylic acid, methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, butyl acrylate, vinyl monomers such as vinyl chloride and vinyl acetate alone or A copolymer or the like can be used. These resins can be used in combination of two or more.

  In addition to the pigment and the binder resin, additives such as a release agent, a softening agent, and a surfactant can be appropriately added to each color ink layer.

  Examples of the base material of the ink ribbon 100 formed in this way include paper such as capacitor paper, or polyester film, polystyrene, polycarbonate, acrylic, polypropylene film, cellophane, etc., and particularly heat resistance and easy handling. Considering the properties, a polyester film is preferable, and specifically, PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PEN (polyethylene naphthalate), and the like are preferable. The thickness of the substrate is preferably 2 to 50 μm, more preferably 2 to 16 μm, from the viewpoint of mechanical strength, ease of handling, and availability.

  Further, the substrate can be provided with a backcoat layer on the opposite side to the respective color ink layers as needed, and the backcoat layer is a layer that is in close contact with the heat source of the thermal head 400, Although heat resistance and slipperiness are required, an acrylic resin, a urethane resin, an acrylic silicone resin, a urethane silicone resin, or a known material obtained by adding silicone oil, wax, fats and oils, or the like to these can be appropriately selected.

  The basic image forming means based on the intermediate transfer method forms an image on the image receiving layer of the intermediate transfer foil 200 using the ink ribbon 100, and then transfers the image onto a transfer target using a heat roll 500. A print is obtained.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the intermediate transfer foil 200 has a transfer layer having a multilayer structure of two or more layers including a release layer and an image receiving layer.

  The base material of the intermediate transfer foil 200 is preferably PET or PEN like the base material of the ink ribbon 100, and the thickness thereof is not particularly limited, but is generally 9 to 300 μm in consideration of the transportability of the printer. In consideration of formation of a multicolor image by a thermal head and heating by a hot roll at the time of transfer to a transfer target, 12 to 100 μm is more preferable.

  The release layer is light transmissive and typically desirably transparent. Therefore, as a material of the release layer, for example, polycarbonate resin, acrylic resin, fluorine acrylic resin, acrylic silicone resin, epoxy acrylate resin, polystyrene resin, cycloolefin polymer, methylstyrene resin, fluorene resin, cellulose resin, polyacetal Various resins such as resins or UV curable resins can be used, and these resins include silicon and fluorine powders and additives, polyester resins and various natural waxes, synthetic hydrocarbon waxes, aliphatic alcohols and acids. Examples thereof include, but are not limited to, waxes, fatty acid esters and glycerite waxes, amine and amide waxes, and higher fatty acid metal salts.

The image receiving layer is a thermoplastic resin such as polystyrene, poly-α-methylstyrene, styrene resin, polymethyl methacrylate, polyethyl acrylate and other acrylic resins, polyvinyl chloride, polyethyl acetate, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate. Synthetic resins such as copolymers, polyvinyl resins such as polyvinyl petital and polyvinyl acetal, polyester resins, polyamide resins, epoxy resins, polyurethane resins, petroleum resins, ethylene acrylic copolymers, ethylene acrylate copolymers, One or more thermoplastic resins such as rosin, styrene butadiene rubber, butyl rubber, butadiene acrylonitrile rubber, polychlorinated olefin, and cellulose derivative can be used as a main component.

  There is no problem even if an anchor layer, a printing layer, an OVD layer, or the like is provided between the release layer 202 and the image receiving layer 203 of the intermediate transfer foil 200.

  FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of the image forming apparatus of the present invention. In the step of forming an image on the transfer target 300 using the ink ribbon 100 and the intermediate transfer foil 200, the thermal of the first heating unit is shown. In the ink ribbon 100 immediately after the image is formed on the intermediate transfer foil 200 by the head 400, negative information as shown in FIG. 1B is formed by the remaining ink layer.

  Therefore, if the ink ribbon 100 is discarded as it is, personal information may be read by a malicious third party and used for malicious acts such as making a copy.

  Therefore, in the present invention, after the image formation is performed on the intermediate transfer foil by the first heating unit thermal head 400 based on the print pattern generated by the print pattern data generation unit 701, the ink ribbon 100 remains. By applying heat on the negative image formed by the ink with the third heating unit thermal head 600 based on the superimposed pattern data generated by the superimposed pattern data generating unit 702, the ink of the ink ribbon 100 is printed. Partial removal of the layer renders the information left on the ink ribbon 100 unreadable.

  Here, examples of the relationship between the print pattern and the superimposed pattern are shown in FIGS. 4A shows a character information portion in the print pattern created by the print pattern data generation unit 701, and FIG. 4B shows character information in the print pattern created by the superimposed pattern data generation unit 702. Part. 4C is a negative image immediately after image formation on the intermediate transfer foil by the first heating unit thermal head 400 based on the print pattern generated by the print pattern data generation unit 701. FIG. 4D is a negative image after heating is applied by the third heating unit thermal head 600 based on the superimposed pattern data generated by the superimposed pattern data generation unit 702. In the superimposition pattern data generation unit 702, based on the data created by the print pattern data generation unit 701, the font and size used for the character information part, particularly the character information part in the print pattern, and the character What is the character type that is exactly the same shape as the character printed at a specific position with respect to the type of the character, that is, the character type information such as alphabet, kanji or katakana, hiragana and the printing position information Different characters are randomly generated. For example, as shown by comparing FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B, “A” is printed as the print pattern in FIG. Characters such as “ki” are generated in the portion printed with “G” and “spring” is generated in the portion printed with “east”, thereby forming the superimposed pattern of (B).

  Based on the superposed pattern data obtained in this way, the third heating unit thermal head 600 applies heat to the ink layer surface of the ink ribbon 100 to thereby provide negative information on the remaining ink of the ink ribbon 100. In FIG. 4D, the original information becomes unreadable by superimposing the character information.

  At this time, the energy applied to the third heating unit thermal head 600 may be lower than the energy applied to the first heating unit thermal head 400. That is, the first heating unit thermal head 400 needs to transmit thermal energy to the ink layer via the ink ribbon substrate, whereas the third heating unit thermal head 600 directly heats the ink layer. This is because there is little energy loss.

  Further, regarding the resolution of the third heating unit thermal head 600, the print quality is not questioned, so that the resolution may be lower than that of the first heating unit thermal head 400.

  According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the image formation by the first heating unit thermal head 400 and the overlapping pattern formation on the ink ribbon 100 by the third heating unit thermal head 600 are performed simultaneously in parallel. There is no need for an indirect time of rewinding 100, and there is no need to extremely reduce the output time of the final printed material on which an image has been formed on the transfer target.

  However, since the third heating unit thermal head 600 directly contacts the ink layer of the ink ribbon 100, the ink component melted by the applied energy of the thermal head 600 may adhere to the surface of the thermal head 600. Separately, a thermal head surface cleaning function may be provided.

  That is, after printing for a certain screen, the thermal head surface may be wiped off with absorbent cotton containing alcohol or the like, or a head cleaning mechanism may be provided in the image forming apparatus.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5, a cleaner layer 105 may be provided on the ink ribbon 100 at a constant period, and the thermal head after applying the superimposed pattern may be cleaned with the cleaner layer.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Ink ribbon 101 ... Cyan (C) ink layer 102 ... Magenta (M) ink layer 103 ... Yellow (Y) ink layer 104 ... Black (K) ink layer 105 ... Cleaner layer 110 ... Ink ribbon unwinding part 120 ... Ink Ribbon removing section 200 ... Intermediate transfer foil 201 ... Base material 202 ... Release layer 203 ... Image receiving layer 210 ... Intermediate transfer foil unwinding section 220 ... Intermediate transfer foil winding section 300 ... Transfer object 400 ... First heating section thermal head 500 ... 2nd heating part heat roll 600 ... 3rd heating part thermal head 700 ... Thermal head application pattern data control part 701 ... Print pattern data generation part 702 ... Superimposition pattern data generation part 800 ... Platen roller

Claims (3)

An ink ribbon formed by arranging a plurality of color ink layer regions in a predetermined order on a base material and an intermediate transfer foil having a release layer and an image receiving layer on the base material are arranged opposite to each other, and a first head composed of a thermal head. After heating each of the ink layers to a predetermined position on the image receiving layer by heating using the heating unit 1, the intermediate transfer foil on which the image is formed and the transfer target are overlapped. In addition, in the image forming apparatus that transfers the image onto the transfer target by heating by the second heating unit,
After forming an image on the transfer layer of the intermediate transfer foil, a superimposed pattern data generation unit for generating a superimposed pattern that makes an image pattern made of the ink layer remaining on the ink ribbon unreadable, and An image forming apparatus comprising a third heating unit including a thermal head for applying a pattern based on superimposition pattern data.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a thermal head serving as the third heating unit is disposed opposite to a side of the ink ribbon having the ink layer.   In the superimposed pattern, the image pattern formed of the ink layer remaining on the ink ribbon is an image pattern including characters, and the characters provided on the image portion formed by the thermal head that is the first heating portion; 3. The ink ribbon information processing method using the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein characters having the same shape and different notation are used at random.

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