JP2675082B2 - Thermal transfer recording device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording apparatus, and more particularly to a thermal transfer recording apparatus for performing superposed recording of a plurality of colors.

[Conventional technology]

There are terminal output devices that record characters and graphics in accordance with information output from communication equipment and electronic computers, etc. It is desired to carry out. As one of the systems for performing color recording, a thermal transfer recording system is regarded as promising because it is maintenance-free and the configuration of the apparatus is simple.

Conventionally, when recording is carried out by a thermal transfer recording apparatus method, a thermal head composed of a plurality of minute heating elements which can be controlled from the outside is arranged in a row, and a thermal melting solid ink or a thermally sublimable solid is formed on a sheet-shaped base surface. An ink donor sheet formed by applying ink is pressed and heated to record on a desired recording paper.

Further, color printing using the above-mentioned ink donor sheet is realized by performing printing a plurality of times using inks having different hues on the surface of the printing paper and performing overlay printing. Therefore, an ink donor sheet is used in which a plurality of inks of different hues are applied in a pattern that is sequentially repeated in the longitudinal direction by a certain length. After performing the one-color surface recording, the next color can be continuously recorded by using the next hue portion of the ink donor sheet.

In order to apply such an ink donor sheet to a thermal transfer recording apparatus, it is necessary to supply the sheet and a means for collecting the used portion.

Further, as a kind of a coloring material applied to the ink donor sheet, there is a commonly used material for thermal transfer recording such as a heat-fusible pigment, in addition to a heat sublimable dye. The sensitivity of the sheet (relationship between the density of color development with respect to the heat applied from the thermal head) varies depending on the type and coating thickness of these inks, the thickness of the donor sheet substrate, and the like. In addition to a wide variety of these sensitivities, the sensitivity characteristics of sublimable dyes have no linear relationship with the depth of color developed by the heat applied from the thermal head, and thermal transfer recording devices using this have It is necessary to control the amount of heat so as to obtain the desired density by changing to the amount of heat in a straight line. Information on this non-linear sensitivity characteristic (for example, 20 bytes for one color, 60 bytes for three colors, etc.) can be obtained by some means. You need to enter in. Further, when the ink donor sheet is improved by newly developing the dye, it cannot be dealt with by a means such as pre-storing it in the apparatus side.

Furthermore, regarding the ink application pattern, 1 color, 2 colors, 3 colors
Information on the number of colors to be applied, such as the number of colors and four colors, and the length of application, must be entered into the thermal transfer recording device by some method or the thermal transfer recording device cannot handle it. Conventionally, with respect to this kind of ink donor sheet, for convenience of handling in general, it is possible to form an ink sheet on a single cartridge (cassette) as disclosed in JP-A-56-67278. It is known that both the supply reel and the take-up reel are accommodated and can be attached to and detached from the thermal transfer recording apparatus.
That is, in this conventional example, a take-out roller (supply reel) on which an unused thermal transfer ink ribbon (ink sheet) is wound, and a take-up roller (take-up reel) for taking up the used ink ribbon (ink sheet). ), And a cartridge which is rotatably supported at a certain interval while the ink sheet is passed between the two is mounted on the thermal transfer recording apparatus for recording.

In this cassette, the information about the ink sheet cannot be transmitted to the thermal transfer recording device by merely supporting the two reels, and the following inconveniences are not sufficiently taken into consideration. It was

The difference between the number of colors in the ink sheet, that is, single color, two colors, three colors, four colors, etc., is automatically transmitted to the thermal transfer recording device, and the recording operation sequence cannot be changed.

The sensitivity and type of ink (sublimation dye ink or heat-fusible solid pigment ink), etc. can not be automatically transmitted to the same device, and the ink is improved while the switching is complicated. When the characteristics such as sensitivity were changed, it was not fully recognized that the equipment side could not cope.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In summary of the above, the ink donor sheet cassette for the thermal transfer recording apparatus is provided with a means for transmitting information about the ink sheet contained therein to the recording apparatus. It is necessary to provide it. (1) Relatively complicated information can be recorded, (2) It is recorded at a position where it can be easily read by the device side when loaded in the device, (3) Plastic mold It is necessary to satisfy the requirements that the recorded information content can be easily and inexpensively changed without making a large-scale change such as (4) there is no fear that the recorded information will be destroyed due to a trouble in handling the cassette.

Further, in the mechanical scanning at the time of reading the information recorded on the cassette, if the scanning speed requires high accuracy, it is necessary to add a high-precision mechanism section for reading, which causes a cost increase. There is a problem that there is not.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems and to provide a thermal transfer recording apparatus capable of performing precise recording with a simple structure.

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, information about the ink donor sheet is recorded in a cassette,
In the method of reading with a thermal transfer recording device, a sticker-shaped mark in which information such as the number of colors and sensitivity of the ink paper is printed in the form of a bar code is attached around the roll of the ink paper that cannot be touched, and the printer prints. A reading unit that scans a bar code-like mark by using the operation of the mechanical unit associated with the operation is provided on the printer. Here, the barcode described in the mark is divided into two rows, the one of which is a linear pattern of alternating black and white with constant or irregular intervals, and the other is the information signal pattern described in synchronization with the linear pattern. And The above problem is solved by the above means.

In addition, as a reading means, a visible light or infrared light LED
And the sensor are combined so that the opening of either the LED or the sensor is narrower than the space between the patterns, and the other LED is
Alternatively, reading can be performed by widening the opening of the sensor.

[Action]

Marks attached around the roll of ink paper that is not touchable or inside the frame of the cassette that is difficult to touch are less likely to be dirty or corroded due to the location of the attachment. Always display accurately. The two rows of patterns on the mark are simultaneously read by two or one reading means, and every time a linear pattern of alternating black and white is read for one period, an information pattern on the ink paper described in synchronization with the linear pattern is read. The output of the reading means is sampled and converted into a digital electric signal. By the above operation, even if the speed of the reading scan is insufficient, that is, even if the control of the operating speed of the mechanism unit that operates for the reading scan is low or not performed, it becomes possible to read the record,
There is no need for the printer mechanism to have accuracy specifications such as constant speed for reading and scanning and constant speed history.

By making the opening of either the LED or the sensor narrower than the pattern, crosstalk between the patterns can be prevented, and reading without malfunction can be performed. Also, by widening the opening of the other LED or sensor, it prevents the gap from the narrowed opening,
Enables reliable reading.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a thermal transfer recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an example showing a mechanical portion of a thermal transfer recording apparatus according to the present invention. The mechanical portion 3 includes a drum 5 and a thermal head 4.
It consists of. The ink sheet cassette 1 is inserted into the mechanism section 3 from left to right in the figure. The ink paper cassette 1 is composed of a supply shaft storage section 8, a winding storage section 9 and a connecting section that connects the supply shaft storage section 8 and the winding storage section 9. The supply shaft 6 around which new ink paper 2 is wound and the used ink paper 2 are provided in each storage section. The winding shaft 7 for winding is built in. The ink paper 2 is pulled out from the supply shaft 6 and taken up by the take-up shaft 7 by the printing procedure described later. Along with this, the respective shafts rotate, and at this time, the bar code 10 attached or printed on the tip of the supply shaft 6 also rotates together. Mechanical part 3 chassis
A sensor 14, an LED 11, and a lens 12 shown in the drawing are provided in the sensor holder 15 in the drawing 16, and the sensor holder 15 is attached to the chassis 16 by a mounting screw 17. Scan the barcode 10 with this sensor block, and
The printing operation is performed by using the information about the ink paper described in 10.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the overall structure of the thermal transfer recording apparatus according to the present invention. The supply shaft 6 and the take-up shaft 7 shown in FIG. 1 are mounted in the ink paper cassette 1, and both shafts are mounted in the thermal transfer recording device by inserting the ink paper cassette 1 into the thermal transfer recording device at once. Done.

FIG. 3 is an embodiment showing the structure and operation of the thermal transfer recording apparatus according to the present invention. Printing paper inserted from paper feed path 20
19 is wound around the drum 5 and is conveyed with the rotation of the drum 5 in the direction of arrow A, and is sent to the lower part of the thermal head 4. An ink paper 2 is stretched between a supply shaft 6 and a take-up shaft 7 in an ink paper cassette 1 mounted on an upper part of a drum 5, and the printing paper 19 and the ink paper 2 are connected to a thermal head 4
It is pressure-bonded between the drum 5 and the drum 5. At the bottom of the thermal head 4, 512 heating elements (not shown) are arranged in parallel with the axis of the drum 5, and each heating element generates an independent amount of heat. Ink corresponding to the amount of heat of each heating element is transferred from the ink paper 2 to the printing paper 19, and recording with light and shade is performed on the printing paper. After that, the drum 5 rotates in the direction of arrow A for one line, and the above-mentioned heating element generates heat. By performing this operation 640 times, an image of 512 × 640 pixels with light and shade is recorded on the photographic printing paper 19. Further, this operation is performed by superimposing the three colors of Ye, Mg, and Cy on the ink paper, whereby a color image is recorded. After the recording of one color or three colors is performed, the paper feed / discharge switching frame 22 moves to the position of the dotted line, the photographic paper 19 is conveyed in the direction of the paper discharge path 21, and is discharged to the outside of the thermal transfer recording device. To be paper.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the description of the bar code shown in FIG.

In the present embodiment shown in FIG. 3A, the bar code is composed of a black and white line, which is composed of two parts, a clock 24 and a bar code 25. The clocks 24 are arranged at equal intervals, and the bar code 25 is synchronized with the clocks 24 to record necessary signals in binary numbers. The clock is shown in FIG.
24 shows the output signal of the optical sensor for reading 24 and the barcode 25. The clock data 26 is the read result of the clock 24 and the bar code data 27 is the read result of the bar code 25. The white part of the black and white pattern is H and the black part is L.
As you are reading. By reading this output signal in synchronization with the L part of the clock data 26, the bar code data 27 is decoded, and as shown in FIG.
Numerical values such as L, L, H, L, L can be read.

FIG. 5 shows the ink application pattern of the ink paper. The ink paper for performing color printing with one set of three colors is first processed by the header 30 or the head color of the ink paper (Ye in this embodiment). The head is positioned by detecting the. Next, printing of each color is performed as shown in the description of FIG. In this case, the widths 34 and 35 of the head color Ye and the second color Mg have a length substantially equal to the printing length of the printing paper. However, the width 36 of Cy of the third color is longer than the widths 34 and 35, and 3
When the color printing is completed, it is necessary to further feed the ink paper in order to position the ink paper in preparation for the next print. By positioning the ink paper immediately before printing, the ink paper is conveyed and the ink shaft is rotated before printing, so that the bar code written on the shaft can be read during this time.

FIG. 6 is an embodiment showing the shapes of the LED and the sensor opening for reading the black and white pattern. FIG. 7A shows an example in which the LED opening 39 is squeezed into a circular shape, the size of the LED opening 39 is made equal to or smaller than the interval of the black-and-white pattern 37, and the sensor opening 38 is set to a relatively large area. 37 and sensor opening 38
May be a reverse combination. In this figure, LED
By narrowing the opening 39 small, crosstalk in reading the black-and-white pattern 37 can be prevented, and by widening the sensor opening 38, the LED opening 39 can be set even if the sensor mounting accuracy is set relatively low. Makes it possible to definitely read the illuminated part. The same figure (b) is an example in which the LED opening 39 is narrowed down as shown in the figure, and like the figure (a), the LED opening 37 and the sensor opening 38 may be a reverse combination. . Although the narrowing-down method of the present embodiment will be described later, by performing narrowing-down narrowing, it becomes easy to read the bar code and the clock shown in FIG. 4 with one sensor, as described later.

FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of an optical system for narrowing down the LEDs. As described above, these optical systems can also be used for narrowing down the opening of the sensor when the combination of the LED and the sensor is reversed.

FIG. 4A shows an example in which the lens 41 is configured as a part of the package 43 of the LED, and the light source 40 is narrowed down to the focal point 42 by the lens 41.

FIG. 3B shows the case where the lens 41 is provided outside the LED package 43, and it is not necessary to prepare the LED package exclusively for the thermal transfer recording apparatus, and generalization can be performed.

FIG. 7C shows an example in which a lens-equipped LED and a lens 44 are combined. In the case of a reduction optical system described later, the space between the LED package 43 and the lens 44 can be made small, so that the device can be downsized. You can do it.

FIG. 8 shows an embodiment of an optical system for narrowing down the LED or the sensor shown in FIG. 6 (b), and FIG. 8 (a) shows an optical system using a one-dimensional lens 44. The horizontal one character is narrowed down, and the one-dimensional lens 41 of the LED package 43 prevents extreme diffusion of light in the left-right direction. FIG.
Is a combination of two lenses in the combination of FIG. 7 (c) while reducing the outer shape of the optical system and
By using a one-dimensional lens for 44, one character is narrowed down. The shape of the LED package 43 includes various kinds of LEDs that are currently generally used, and it is possible to make a relatively free choice.

FIG. 9 shows a concrete calculation example of the optical system of FIG. 7 (c). The focal length f'of the lens 41 is f '=-r' / (1-n) where r ': the lens 41. Radius of curvature n: Refractive index of lens component dH ′ = t ′ / n where t ′: distance between lens tip and light source 40, distance b ′ between lens and virtual image 45 is 1 / dH′−1 / b It is expressed by the formula ′ = 1 / f ′. The same applies to the lens 44, where 1 / a + 1 / b = 1 / f, where f is the focal length of the lens 44, and when designing a reduction optical system to be described later, it is necessary to make b larger than a.

The optical position of this embodiment is obtained by the above calculation, but by using the optical system of this embodiment, the position of the virtual image 45 can be set farther than the position of the LED. The length of can be apparently taken large,
The size of the entire optical system can be reduced when designing a reduction optical system to be described later.

FIG. 10 shows an example of designing a reduction optical system in consideration of the size of the LED or sensor aperture 46, and the LED or sensor aperture 46 has a diameter of d2. In order to make it smaller than the black-and-white pattern of the opening of the LED or the sensor described above, that is, to reduce the focal position image diameter 47 to the diameter d1, as shown in the equation of a: b = d1: d2, b is It is necessary to take a large value with respect to a. That is, a and b are set so that the focal position image diameter 47 is d1 or less.
You can set the value of.

FIG. 11 shows an example in which the reduction ratio is set in consideration of the relative inclination between the opening and the black and white pattern when the aforementioned elongated opening is used. It is tilted by an angle of 50. Assuming that the opening diameter 49 is the width of the opening and the width of the pattern and the opening is 51, the reduction ratio of the optical diameter is (d1 + d1 / Arctan (angle 50)) / d2 (d1 = opening diameter 49). By setting this reduction ratio, the size of the opening can be made smaller than the pitch of the black and white pattern, and the signal without crosstalk can be read.

FIG. 12 is an example showing characteristics of various LEDs and sensors for explaining a combination of LEDs and sensors,
The horizontal axis is a wavelength of light, and the vertical axis is a spectrum diagram showing relative sensitivity.

The same figure (a) is the optical spectrum characteristic of the red LED. About 6
It has an extremely narrow spectral band centered on 60 nm compared to the characteristics of the sensor described later.

The optical spectrum characteristics of the infrared LED shown in FIG.
It has the same characteristics as in FIG. 9A except that the center wavelength is about 950 nm. (C) shows the characteristics of the infrared sensor, which agree well with the peak wavelength of the LED shown in (b) of FIG. FIG. 3D shows an example of the characteristics of the visible light sensor, which has a wide range of spectral characteristics from visible light to infrared light. From among these, or other types, LEDs of light, sensors, considering their sensitivity and cost, LE can be freely combined.
Select D and sensor. In the case of the present embodiment, a combination of a high-sensitivity visible light sensor of a red LED having high brightness is taken as an example, but the red LED and the peak wavelength are slightly different, but may be combined with an infrared sensor. And each sensor may be combined. In the case of the present embodiment, by using a red LED which is a visible light, the positioning can be easily performed visually by the mounting stage described later.

FIG. 13 shows an example of the format of the on-axis barcode shown in FIG. Since the barcode written on the axis is written in the endless format, the same data may be read in a different order depending on the reading method. In this example, the first few bits of the bar code are
By using 52 and the rest as the mark area 53, the reading order is fixed. For example, if the bar code consists of 8 bits, 3 bits will
When the remaining 5 bits are assigned to the mark area 53, the 5 bit mark area 53 can display 5 bits (32 types) − “pattern including header pattern” = 21 types of data.

FIG. 14 shows an embodiment of a bar code pattern provided on the shaft. As described in the explanation of FIG. 5, when the bar code is read by the rotation of the shaft 54 while the ink paper is being cued, if one set of the bar code is written around the shaft, the ink paper is read when the bar code is read. It is necessary to feed the feed amount by φ28 (outer diameter when the ink paper is maximally wound) × π = 88 mm, which is a disadvantage that the ink paper is wasted and the operation time of the thermal transfer recording device is increased. As shown in the figure, for example, the circumference of the shaft is divided into three,
When the three identical bar codes of pattern A to pattern C are described, the feed length of the ink paper required to read the bar code is 88 mm / 3 = 29.3 mm, and the above problem is solved. In the present embodiment, the number of divisions around the shaft is set to three, but this may be designed by setting the feed length of the ink paper and reducing the bar code pitch accordingly.

FIG. 15 shows another embodiment showing the shape of the LED for reading the barcode and the opening of the sensor. Sensor openings 38 and 55
The bar code can be read by aligning each with the clock and the bar code position and illuminating a large area with the LED opening 39. Also, when the combination of LED and sensor is changed, that is, when two LEDs and one sensor are used, the two LEDs are made to emit light in a time-sharing manner and the L on the clock side is
When the ED lights up, the clock status is changed to LE on the barcode side.
By reading the bar code status when D lights up,
Data can be read.

Fig. 16 shows the reading method shown in Fig. 15 with 2L
When ED and 1 sensor are used and 2 LEDs are turned on at the same time, or as shown in FIG.
A method of decoding the sensor output when illuminated at the D opening is shown. The sensor output is L when the LED position is both black and the bar code is black, and the sensor output is H when both the bar code and the black are white. When the barcode is white and the black is black, the sensor output is M = (H +
L) / 2, and it is necessary to separate the three signals of H, M, and L. In the circuit shown in the figure, the threshold voltage
By setting 59 between H and M and threshold voltage 60 between M and L, the output of amplifier 57 outputs a bar code signal and the output of amplifier 58 outputs a clock signal. Also, by using an IC in which two amplifiers are included in one package, a circuit configuration without waste can be achieved. The output signals of the two amplifiers are input to the microcomputer 62, and the bar code is read according to the timing of the clock, but this reading may be configured by a hard logic that uses the clock signal as a trigger.

FIG. 17 shows an example of a positioning method when mounting an LED or a sensor and a lens. FIG. 11A shows the state of misalignment in the direction parallel to the bar code, that is, in the direction of arrow 63. In this case, if the mounting position goes wrong,
There is a high possibility that the signal may fluctuate beyond the setting of the threshold voltage described in the figure, and it is necessary to perform positioning with caution. FIG. 11B shows the state of misalignment in the direction perpendicular to the bar code, that is, in the direction of arrow 64. in this case,
If the white portion of the barcode 10 is not a mirror surface but is composed of diffused reflection of ordinary white paper or the like, a slight deviation does not have a great influence. In the present invention, an embodiment for easily realizing the adjusting function in the direction of the arrow 63 is shown, but the following embodiments may be used for the adjustment in the direction of the arrow 64 in a similar manner.

FIG. 18 shows an embodiment of mounting means for the sensor and the LED. The same figure (a) is a block diagram of the holder.
The holder 64 is mounted on the island-shaped member of the chassis supported by the two fulcrums 63. Inside the holder 64, an LED, a lens and a sensor are set toward the barcode 10. The holder 64 is attached to the chassis 67 with a mounting screw 65. FIG. 11B is a side view of the attachment state of the holder 64, and the holder 64 is attached to the island-shaped member of the chassis using the hook claw 68. Then insert the mounting screws 65
Rotates clockwise around the fulcrum 63 and is fastened to the chassis. At this time, the angle of the holder 64 can be changed by rotating the mounting screw 65, and the angle of the holder can be easily adjusted to the optimum position by using the visible light LED or monitoring the sensor signal. Can be adjusted.

FIG. 19 shows an embodiment in which a holder is attached to the chassis 67 without islands. 18 (a) has the same configuration as that of FIG. 18 (a), a description thereof will be omitted here.
The difference is that there is no island. FIG. 2B shows an example in which a fulcrum 68 utilizing the elasticity of the material is provided between the hooking claw 68 of the holder 64 and the main body of the holder 64. Since the function and the adjusting method are the same as those in FIG. 18, description thereof will be omitted here. FIG. 7C shows an example in which a small hole is made in the chassis and the claw 70 is used to attach it. The fulcrum 63 uses the elasticity of the material as in the case of FIG.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the present invention described above, it is possible to read information about ink paper with a simple optical diameter, a simple adjusting means, and a simple decoding means, and it is possible to easily adapt to the diversification of ink paper and to improve the performance of ink paper. It is possible to make a thermal transfer recording device that makes full use of and makes high-quality printing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a structural example of a mechanical portion of a thermal transfer recording apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a thermal transfer recording apparatus, and FIG. 3 is a side view illustrating the operation of the thermal transfer recording apparatus.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the shape of the barcode, FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the coating pattern of the ink paper, FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the barcode, the LED and the opening of the sensor, FIG.
8 and 9 are explanatory diagrams showing an example of the configuration of the optical system, FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of calculation of the optical diameter, FIGS. 10 and 11 are explanatory diagrams showing specifications of the reduced optical diameter, and FIG. Is a graph showing the characteristics of the LED and the sensor, FIGS. 13 to 14 are explanatory views showing an example of a specific barcode format, and FIG. 15 is an example of the opening of the LED and the sensor for reading the barcode. Explanatory drawing, 16th
The figure shows an example of a circuit that decodes the sensor output.
The figure is an explanatory view showing the adjustment direction for mounting the optical diameter, 18th
FIG. 19 and FIG. 19 are explanatory views showing an embodiment of an optical diameter mounting means. 1 ... Cassette, 2 ... Ink paper, 10 ... Bar code,
11 …… LED, 12 …… Lens, 14 …… Sensor, 15 …… Sensor holder, 17 …… Mounting screw, 24 …… Clock, 25…
… Bar code, 37 …… Black and white pattern, 38 …… Sensor opening, 39 …… LED opening

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Kentaro Hantaro, 292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Inside Home Appliances Research Laboratory, Hitachi, Ltd. (56) Reference JP-A-60-18360 (JP, A)

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A cassette case is provided side by side with a pair of an ink shaft wound with an ink paper obtained by applying ink to a thin strip film or paper, and an ink shaft wound up with the ink paper supplied from the ink shaft. In the thermal transfer recording apparatus for recording by transferring the ink onto the printing paper by superposing the ink paper on the printing paper using a different ink paper cassette and heating with a thermal head, the ink paper cassette is Disposed on the ink shaft in the ink paper cassette and recorded by encoding information such as the type of ink paper, rotatable and arranged so that its rotation axis is orthogonal to the transport direction of the ink paper, In addition, the thermal transfer recording apparatus has an information display section configured by a pattern in which two or more colors are separately applied in the rotation direction of the rotary shaft, and the thermal transfer recording apparatus reads the information display section. An illuminating means for focusing the light emitted from the light source at an interval narrower than the interval of the pattern, and a reading means for the sensor to detect the pattern illuminated by the light source in a larger area than the illumination range of the light source. And a thermal transfer recording device provided with. 2. A pair of an ink shaft wound with an ink paper obtained by applying ink to a thin strip-shaped film or paper and an ink shaft for winding the ink paper supplied from the ink shaft, which are provided side by side in a cassette case. In the thermal transfer recording apparatus for recording by transferring the ink onto the printing paper by superposing the ink paper on the printing paper using a different ink paper cassette and heating with a thermal head, the ink paper cassette is Disposed on the ink shaft in the ink paper cassette and recorded by encoding information such as the type of ink paper, rotatable and arranged so that its rotation axis is orthogonal to the transport direction of the ink paper, In addition, the thermal transfer recording apparatus has an information display section configured by a pattern in which two or more colors are separately applied in the rotation direction of the rotary shaft, and the thermal transfer recording apparatus reads the information display section. 2. The sensor opening for reading has a reading means having a reading range narrower than the interval of the pattern, and an illuminating means for illuminating the pattern in a wider range than the reading range of the sensor. Thermal transfer recording device. 3. The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the illuminating means focuses the illuminating range into a single character shape. 4. The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the opening of the sensor of said reading means is a circular reading range having a diameter narrower than the interval of said pattern. 5. The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said illuminating means comprises an optical system that connects the light from the light source on the pattern with a lens having a semicircular cross section. 6. The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said illuminating means comprises an optical system that connects the light from the light source to the pattern in the shape of the package of the light source itself.