JP2017061110A - Thermal transfer system and thermal transfer method, and winding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a thermal transfer system that is able to securely prevent printed ID information from being specified from an ink-removed portion of an ink ribbon.SOLUTION: In a thermal transfer system, a second heating body 22 heats an ink ribbon such that ink of an ink layer 12 of an ink ribbon 13 is transferred to the support layer 11 of the ink ribbon, located inside the ink ribbon, in a second character pattern at least part of which is different from a first character pattern. A control section controls the second heating body such that, in the area of the support layer of the ink ribbon subjected to ink transfer, at least part of a first area where the first character pattern has been ink-transferred and at least part of a second area where the second character pattern is transferred overlap.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

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 that winds up an ink ribbon after 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, a thermal transfer system described in Patent Literature includes a sending unit that sends out an ink ribbon, and a first heating body that is arranged on the downstream side of the sending unit, and the ink layer of the ink ribbon A first transfer device that transfers ink in a first pattern (a character pattern including ID information) to a transfer target, a winding unit that winds up an ink ribbon that has been ink-transferred, and a winding unit that is provided in the vicinity of the winding unit; A second heating body that abuts from the support layer side to the ink ribbon that has been transferred to the ink by the winding unit and heats the ink ribbon from the support layer side.

  The second heating element of the thermal transfer system may transfer the ink in 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. Heat.

  With the thermal transfer system described in Patent Document 1, it is possible to make it difficult to specify the first pattern in the first transfer device from the ink ribbon that has been transferred with ink.

JP 2013-111866 A

  In the thermal transfer system described in Patent Document 1 described above, an ink missing portion having a second pattern based on the heating pattern of each heating section of the second heating body is formed. The second pattern has, for example, a plurality of line-like geometric shapes. Even if such a geometric pattern overlaps the first pattern (character pattern including ID information) of the ink ribbon after ink transfer, the characters constituting the first pattern are specified by human vision. It may be possible.

  Therefore, for example, in the case of a card issued by each local government, there is a problem that ID information such as an address and name can be specified to some extent if even one character near the address field can be specified.

  It is an object of the present invention to provide a thermal transfer system and a thermal transfer method, a winding device and a winding method that can effectively solve such problems.

A thermal transfer system according to an aspect of the present invention is as follows.
A thermal transfer system for transferring ink to a transfer medium using an ink ribbon having a support layer and an ink layer,
A delivery section for delivering the ink ribbon;
The first heating element is disposed on the downstream side of the delivery unit and provided on the support layer side of the ink ribbon, and the ink of the ink layer of the ink ribbon is configured in a character pattern with respect to the transfer target. A first transfer device for transferring with the first character pattern formed;
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;
A control unit for controlling at least the second heating body,
The second heating body is an ink ribbon positioned on the inside of the ink ribbon in a second character pattern in which the ink in the ink layer of the ink ribbon is composed of a character pattern that is at least partially different from the first character pattern. The ink ribbon is heated so as to be transferred to the support layer.
The control unit is configured to transfer at least a part of the first area on which the first character pattern has been transferred with the second character pattern in the area of the support layer of the ink ribbon to which the ink has been transferred. The second heating body is controlled so that at least a part of the second region overlaps.

In the thermal transfer system,
The controller is
Based on information related to the length of the ink ribbon wound up by the winding unit, the positional relationship between the first region and the second region is predicted, and at least the first region is The second heating body is controlled so that a part thereof overlaps at least a part of the second region.

In the thermal transfer system,
The controller is
Based on information related to the number of steps of winding the ink ribbon by the winding unit, the positional relationship between the first region and the second region is predicted, and at least one of the first regions is predicted. The second heating body is controlled such that the portion overlaps at least a part of the second region.

In the thermal transfer system,
The first character pattern is a character string pattern in which a plurality of character patterns are arranged,
The second character pattern is a character string pattern in which the same number of character patterns as the number of character patterns constituting the first character pattern are arranged.

In the thermal transfer system,
The controller is
Generating second character data at least partially matching a portion of the first character data corresponding to the first character pattern;
The second heating body is controlled so that the second character pattern corresponding to the generated second character data is transferred.

In the thermal transfer system,
The controller is
Storing second character data associated with the first character data corresponding to the first character pattern;
The second heating body is controlled so that the second character pattern corresponding to the stored second character data is transferred.

In the thermal transfer system,
The controller controls the second heating body so that the first area to which the first character string is transferred and the second area to which the second character string is transferred coincide with each other. It is characterized by control.

In the thermal transfer system,
The first character data is any one of address, name, date, ID number, or telephone number data.

A winding device according to one aspect of the present invention is provided.
An ink ribbon having a support layer and an ink layer, wherein the ink ribbon on which the ink in the ink layer has been transferred with a first character pattern composed of a character pattern with respect to a transfer target is wound up A winding device,
A winding unit that winds up the ink ribbon to which the first character pattern has been transferred;
A winding-side heating body that is provided in the vicinity of the winding unit and that abuts on the ink ribbon that has been transferred to the ink and has been transferred to the winding unit from the support layer side to heat the ink ribbon from the support layer side; With
The winding-side heating body is a second character pattern in which the ink in the ink layer of the ink ribbon is composed of a character pattern that is at least partially different from the first character pattern, and is located inside the ink ribbon. Heating the ink ribbon so that it is transferred to the support layer of the ribbon;
In the region of the support layer of the ink ribbon to which ink has been transferred, at least a part of the first region to which the first character pattern has been transferred and at least of the second region to which the second character pattern has been transferred The winding-side heating body is controlled so as to partially overlap.

A thermal transfer method according to an aspect of the present invention includes:
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 with a first character pattern composed of a character pattern to the transfer target;
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 is a second character pattern in which the ink in the ink layer of the ink ribbon is composed of a character pattern that is at least partially different from the first character pattern, and is located inside the ink ribbon. Heating the ink ribbon so that it is transferred to the support layer of the ribbon;
In the region of the support layer of the ink ribbon to which ink has been transferred, at least a part of the first region to which the first character pattern has been transferred and at least of the second region to which the second character pattern has been transferred The winding-side heating body is controlled so as to partially overlap.

  According to the present invention, in the region of the support layer of the ink ribbon to which the ink has been transferred, the second character pattern is transferred to at least a part of the first region to which the first character pattern has been transferred. Control is performed so that at least a part of the region overlaps.

  As a result, a plurality of character patterns having contents similar to ID information such as addresses and names exist on the ink ribbon after ink transfer.

  This can more reliably prevent the printed ID information from being specified from the ink missing portion of the ink ribbon.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a thermal transfer system according to the 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. It is a figure which shows the to-be-transferred body made. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III of the ink-transferred ink ribbon shown in FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the 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. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the second heating body 23 and the ink ribbon 13 shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a case where the ink ribbon after the ink is transferred to the transfer target body with the first character pattern is viewed from the ink layer side. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating how the ink in the ink layer of the outer ink ribbon is transferred in the second pattern to the support layer of the inner ink ribbon in the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is an image diagram showing an example of the arrangement of the second character pattern 26. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating 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.

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, a second heating body 22 provided near the winding unit 21, a feeding unit 16, a first transfer device 17, and a control unit that controls the second heating body 22. CON.

  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 platen roll 19 that is opposed to the platen roll 19 with the ink ribbon 13 and the transfer target 14 interposed therebetween. 1 heating 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 with a predetermined character pattern (first character pattern) corresponding to the ID information, whereby the ink layer 12 of the ink ribbon 13 is heated. The ink 12a is transferred to the transfer target body 14 with a first character pattern constituted by a character pattern.

  Note that the first character pattern is a character string pattern of a character string in which a plurality of character patterns are arranged. The first character data corresponding to the first character pattern is, for example, ID information of data such as an address, name, date of issue or expiration date, ID number, or telephone number. .

  Here, FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating a case where the ink ribbon 13 after the ink 12a is transferred to the transfer target body 14 with the first character pattern is viewed from the ink layer 12 side. FIG. 6B is a diagram illustrating the transfer target 14 onto which the ink 12a of the ink ribbon 13 is transferred with the first character 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 character pattern of the ink missing portion 12b in the ink ribbon 13 to which ink has been transferred corresponds to the first character pattern in the first heating body 18 described above.

For this reason, it is possible to specify the above-described ID information printed on the transfer medium 14 based on the character 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 the ink ribbon 13 to which ink has been transferred, and an ink-transferred ink ribbon that is provided in the vicinity of the winding unit 20 and wound on the winding unit 21. 13 and a second heating body (winding side heating body) 22 that abuts on 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 the outer ink ribbon 13A. The ink ribbon 13 wound around the winding portion 21 on the inner side 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. Further, 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. Hereinafter, the structure of the second heating body 22 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the second heating body 22. In FIG. 5, the driving unit 25 of the second heating body 22 is omitted for convenience of explanation.

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 character 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.

  The second heating body 22 is, for example, a print head, and the ink ribbon has a second character pattern in which the ink in the ink layer of the ink ribbon 13 is composed of a character pattern that is at least partially different from the first character pattern. The ink ribbon 13 is heated so as to be transferred to the support layer of the ink ribbon 13 positioned inside the ink ribbon 13.

  Here, the second character pattern is a character string pattern of a character string in which a plurality of character patterns are arranged. The second character data corresponding to the second character pattern is, for example, data that does not actually exist, such as an address, name, date of issue or expiration date, ID number, or telephone number.

  The second character pattern is, for example, a character string pattern in which the same number of character patterns as the number of character patterns constituting the first character pattern are arranged. Note that the number of character patterns constituting the first character pattern may be different from the number of character patterns constituting the second character pattern.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 6, a state when the second heating body 22 comes into contact with the ink ribbon 13 to which the ink has been transferred wound on the winding portion 21 will be described.

  6 is a cross-sectional view 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. 6, 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. 6, the outer ink ribbon 13 </ b> A is pressed and heated from the outside (the support layer 11 side) by the end surface 23 a of the substrate 23 of the second heating body 22 and the heating section (not shown) of the heating body 24. Then, 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 in the above-described second character 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, as described above, the second character pattern in the second heating body 22 is set to be at least partially different from the first character pattern in the first heating body 18. Specifically, the character pattern of the heat generating section to be heated among the heat generating sections of the heat generating body 24 of the second heating body 22 is selected to be different from the heating pattern (character pattern) in the first heating body 18. .

  Therefore, a part of the ink 12a remaining in the ink layer 12 of the outer ink ribbon 13A is formed on the support layer 11 of the inner ink ribbon 13B with a character pattern that is at least partially different from the first character pattern. By transferring with the second character pattern, another character pattern (second character is added to the character pattern of the ink missing portion 12b made of the first character pattern corresponding to the ID information in the ink layer 12 of the outer ink ribbon 13A. Pattern) will overlap. Therefore, it becomes difficult to specify which character pattern corresponds to the ID information printed on the transfer medium 14 in the ink layer 12 of the outer ink ribbon 13A.

  As a result, it is possible to more reliably prevent identification of ID information printed on the transfer medium 14 based on the character pattern of the ink missing portion 12b.

  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.

As described above, the control unit CON controls the sending unit 16, the first transfer device 17, and the second heating body 22.

  In the region of the support layer of the ink ribbon 13 to which ink has been transferred, the control unit CON transfers at least a part of the first region to which the first character pattern has been transferred and the second character pattern to which the second character pattern has been transferred. The second heating body 22 is controlled so that at least a part of the region overlaps.

  For example, the control unit CON predicts the positional relationship between the first region and the second region based on the information related to the length of the ink ribbon 13 wound by the winding unit 21, and first The second heating body 22 is controlled so that at least a part of the region overlaps at least a part of the second region.

  Here, the information related to the length of the ink ribbon 13 taken up by the take-up unit 21 is, for example, the first character pattern of the ink ribbon 13 from the time when the first character pattern is transferred. This is the winding length of the ink ribbon 13 that is wound up until the second heating body 22 is in a transferable state so that a part of the second character pattern overlaps at least a part of one region. .

  In this case, when the ink ribbon 13 is wound up by the winding length from when the first character pattern is transferred, the first region of the first character pattern of the ink ribbon 13 is at least partially in the first region. The two heating elements 22 are positioned in a transferable state so that a part of the second character pattern overlaps.

  The control unit CON is based on information related to the number of steps (the number of times of transfer of the first character pattern, the number of rotations of the winding unit, the angle, etc.) of the winding unit 21 to wind the ink ribbon 13. Then, the positional relationship between the first region and the second region is predicted, and the second heating body 22 is set so that at least a part of the first region overlaps at least a part of the second region. You may make it control.

  In this case, when the ink ribbon 13 is wound up by the number of steps from the time when the first character pattern is transferred, the first region of the first character pattern of the ink ribbon 13 is at least partially included in the first region. The two heating elements 22 are positioned in a transferable state so that a part of the second character pattern overlaps.

  Note that the control unit CON, for example, the second heating body 22 so that the first region to which the first character string is transferred and the second region to which the second character string is transferred coincide with each other. May be controlled.

  In addition, the control unit CON generates, for example, second character data that at least partially matches a part of the first character data corresponding to the first character pattern, and the generated second character data You may make it control the 2nd heating body 22 so that the 2nd character pattern corresponding to 2 character data may be transcribe | transferred.

  Here, a part of the first character data is, for example, a radical of a Chinese character. For example, when one of the characters of the first character data is “buoy”, the matching portion is “Sansui”, and the character of the second character data to be selected is, for example, “river”, “sea” Etc.

  Further, when the first character data is the name character string “Ichiro Suzuki”, a part of the first character data matching a part of the second character data is, for example, two of the character strings. The characters “bell” and “ro” may be used. In this case, the character of the second character data is, for example, “Jiro Suzumoto”.

  The control unit CON stores, for example, second character data associated with the first character data corresponding to the first character pattern in advance, and stores the second character data corresponding to the stored second character data. The second heater 22 may be controlled such that the character pattern is transferred.

  Next, the operation of the present embodiment configured as described above 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 operation of transferring the character pattern 2 onto the support layer 11 of the inner ink ribbon 13B 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 medium 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 with the first character pattern corresponding to the ID information. While being pressed 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 character 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.

  Here, FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a case where the ink ribbon 13 after the ink 12a is transferred to the transfer target body 14 with the first character pattern is viewed from the ink layer 12 side.

  As shown in FIG. 7, in the ink ribbon 13 after ink transfer, the ink layer 12 corresponds to the ink 12 a remaining without being transferred to the transfer target 14 and the ID information printed on the transfer target 14. And an ink missing portion 12b. In this case, as shown in FIG. 7, the character pattern of the ink missing portion (first region) 12b in the ink transferred ink ribbon 13 corresponds to the first character pattern in the first heating body 18 described above. Yes.

Therefore, at the stage where the first transfer process is completed, it is possible to specify the above-described ID information printed on the transfer medium 14 based on the character pattern of the ink missing portion (first region) 12b. It has become.
Then, after the first transfer step, the ink ribbon 13 after ink transfer after passing through the first transfer device 17 is wound up by the winding portion 21 of the winding device 20. Then, in a state where the ink ribbon 13 to which ink has been transferred is wound up by the winding unit 21, the outer ink ribbon 13A is heated with the second character pattern by the second heating body 22 (second transfer step). .

  Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 8A, 8B, 9 and 10, the action of heating the outer ink ribbon 13A in the second character pattern by the second heater 22 will be described in detail.

  First, FIGS. 8A and 8B show how the ink in the ink layer of the outer ink ribbon is transferred in the second pattern to the support layer of the inner ink ribbon in the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 8A, the second heating body 22 is brought into contact with the outer ink ribbon 13A from the outer side (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 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 (the portion corresponding to the second character pattern) is transferred to the inner ink ribbon. It is transferred onto the support layer 11 of 13B.

  FIG. 9 is an image diagram showing an example of the arrangement of the second character pattern 26.

  As described above, the second character pattern 26 is a character string pattern of a character string in which a plurality of character patterns are arranged. The second character data corresponding to the second character pattern is, for example, data that does not actually exist, such as an address, name, date of issue or expiration date, ID number, or telephone number.

  The second character pattern 26 is a character string pattern in which, for example, the same number of character patterns as the number of character patterns constituting the first character pattern are arranged. Note that the number of character patterns constituting the first character pattern may be different from the number of character patterns constituting the second character pattern.

  Here, as described above, the second heating body 22 is a second character pattern in which the ink of the ink layer 12 of the ink ribbon 13A is composed of a character pattern that is at least partially different from the first character pattern. The ink ribbon 13A is heated so as to be transferred to the support layer 11 of the ink ribbon 13B located inside the ink ribbon.

  Then, in the region of the support layer 11 of the ink ribbon 13A to which ink has been transferred, at least part of the first region to which the first character pattern has been transferred and the second region to which the second character pattern has been transferred. The second heating body 22 is controlled so that at least a part of the second heating body 22 overlaps.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating 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.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the ink layer 12 of the outer ink ribbon 13A has an ink missing portion (first region) 12b to which the first character pattern based on the ID information print pattern in the first transfer device 17 has been transferred. (1) and an ink removal portion (second region) 12b (2) to which the second character pattern 26 based on the heating pattern of each heat generating section of the second heating body 22 is transferred are formed.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the first character pattern and the second character pattern 26 are mixed in the ink layer 12 of the outer ink ribbon 13 </ b> A. That is, in the ink layer 12 of the outer ink ribbon 13A, another character pattern (second character pattern) overlaps with the character pattern of the ink missing portion 12b made of the first character pattern corresponding to the ID information.

  Therefore, it becomes difficult to specify which character pattern corresponds to the ID information printed on the transfer medium 14 in the ink layer 12 of the outer ink ribbon 13A.

  As a result, it is possible to more reliably prevent identification of ID information printed on the transfer medium 14 based on the character pattern of the ink missing portion 12b.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the thermal transfer system includes the delivery unit that sends out the ink ribbon, and the first heating body that is disposed on the downstream side of the delivery unit and provided on the support layer side of the ink ribbon. A first transfer device for transferring the ink of the ink layer of the ink ribbon to the transfer object with a first character pattern constituted by a character pattern; and disposed on the downstream side of the first transfer device, the ink transferred The ink ribbon is wound from the support layer side by being in contact with the ink ribbon that has been wound around the wind-up portion and is transferred to the ink-transferred ink ribbon that has been wound on the wind-up portion. And a control unit that controls at least the second heating body.

  Further, the second heating body is an ink ribbon positioned inside the ink ribbon in a second character pattern in which the ink in the ink layer of the ink ribbon is formed of a character pattern that is at least partially different from the first character pattern. The ink ribbon is heated so as to be transferred to the support layer.

  Further, the control unit transfers at least a part of the first region to which the first character pattern has been ink transferred and the second character pattern to be transferred in the region of the support layer of the ink ribbon to which the ink has been transferred. The second heating body is controlled so that at least a part of the region overlaps.

  Therefore, in the region of the support layer of the ink ribbon to which ink has been transferred, at least a part of the first region to which the first character pattern has been transferred and at least of the second region to which the second character pattern has been transferred. It is controlled so that it partially overlaps.

  As a result, a plurality of character patterns having contents similar to ID information such as addresses and names exist on the ink ribbon after ink transfer.

  This can more reliably prevent the printed ID information from being specified from the ink missing portion of the ink ribbon.

  Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are also included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

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 Unit 22 Second Heating Body 23 Substrate 24 Heating Element 25 Drive Unit 26 Second Character Pattern CON Control Unit

Claims (10)

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;
The first heating element is disposed on the downstream side of the delivery unit and provided on the support layer side of the ink ribbon, and the ink of the ink layer of the ink ribbon is configured in a character pattern with respect to the transfer target. A first transfer device for transferring with the first character pattern formed;
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;
A control unit for controlling at least the second heating body,
The second heating body is an ink ribbon positioned on the inside of the ink ribbon in a second character pattern in which the ink in the ink layer of the ink ribbon is composed of a character pattern that is at least partially different from the first character pattern. The ink ribbon is heated so as to be transferred to the support layer.
The control unit is configured to transfer at least a part of the first area on which the first character pattern has been transferred with the second character pattern in the area of the support layer of the ink ribbon to which the ink has been transferred. 2. The thermal transfer system, wherein the second heating body is controlled so that at least a part of the region of 2 overlaps. The controller is
Based on information related to the length of the ink ribbon wound up by the winding unit, the positional relationship between the first region and the second region is predicted, and at least the first region is 2. The thermal transfer system according to claim 1, wherein the second heating body is controlled such that a part thereof overlaps at least a part of the second region. The controller is
Based on information related to the number of steps of winding the ink ribbon by the winding unit, the positional relationship between the first region and the second region is predicted, and at least one of the first regions is predicted. 2. The thermal transfer system according to claim 1, wherein the second heating body is controlled so that a portion overlaps at least a part of the second region. The first character pattern is a character string pattern in which a plurality of character patterns are arranged,
The thermal transfer system according to claim 1, wherein the second character pattern is a character string pattern in which the same number of character patterns as the number of character patterns constituting the first character pattern are arranged. The controller is
Generating second character data at least partially matching a portion of the first character data corresponding to the first character pattern;
The thermal transfer system according to claim 1, wherein the second heating body is controlled such that the second character pattern corresponding to the generated second character data is transferred. The controller is
Storing second character data associated with the first character data corresponding to the first character pattern;
The thermal transfer system according to claim 1, wherein the second heating body is controlled so that the second character pattern corresponding to the stored second character data is transferred. The controller controls the second heating body so that the first area to which the first character string is transferred and the second area to which the second character string is transferred coincide with each other. The thermal transfer system according to claim 2, wherein the thermal transfer system is controlled.   The thermal transfer system according to claim 6, wherein the first character data is any one of address, name, date, ID number, or telephone number data. An ink ribbon having a support layer and an ink layer, wherein the ink ribbon on which the ink in the ink layer has been transferred with a first character pattern composed of a character pattern with respect to a transfer target is wound up In the winding device,
A winding unit that winds up the ink ribbon to which the first character pattern has been transferred;
A winding-side heating body that is provided in the vicinity of the winding unit and that abuts on the ink ribbon that has been transferred to the ink and has been transferred to the winding unit from the support layer side to heat the ink ribbon from the support layer side; With
The winding-side heating body is a second character pattern in which the ink in the ink layer of the ink ribbon is composed of a character pattern that is at least partially different from the first character pattern, and is located inside the ink ribbon. Heating the ink ribbon so that it is transferred to the support layer of the ribbon;
In the region of the support layer of the ink ribbon to which ink has been transferred, at least a part of the first region to which the first character pattern has been transferred and at least of the second region to which the second character pattern has been transferred The winding device is characterized in that the winding side heating body is controlled so as to partially overlap. 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 with a first character pattern composed of a character pattern to the transfer target;
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 is a second character pattern in which the ink in the ink layer of the ink ribbon is composed of a character pattern that is at least partially different from the first character pattern, and is located inside the ink ribbon. Heating the ink ribbon so that it is transferred to the support layer of the ribbon;
In the region of the support layer of the ink ribbon to which ink has been transferred, at least a part of the first region to which the first character pattern has been transferred and at least of the second region to which the second character pattern has been transferred The thermal transfer method, wherein the winding-side heating body is controlled so as to partially overlap.

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