JP2755656B2 - 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 multicolor recording.

(B) Conventional technology As shown in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 62-85443, etc., an ink on an ink sheet is heated by a thermal head, melted or sublimated, and transferred to a recording paper by a multi-color ink. In the case of multi-color expression by superimposition, excellent recording image quality can be expressed by reliably fixing the ink to be transferred to recording paper. By the way, conventionally, in order to reduce the printing speed, in the case where the ink sheet and the recording paper are intermittently fed, an area where no printing is performed is conveyed at a high speed.

(C) Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, when high-speed conveyance is performed, there is a problem that the ink fixing rate of the recording paper in the printing portion immediately before the blank portion is deteriorated, and the recording image quality is deteriorated. This is presumably because the transport speed rapidly increases in the blank portion, and if the peeling speed increases rapidly, the ink on the ink sheet is not sufficiently fixed on the recording paper.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a thermal transfer recording apparatus that improves the fixing rate of ink on recording paper and prevents deterioration of recording image quality.

(D) Means for Solving the Problems According to the present invention, a recording sheet and an ink sheet which are conveyed are inserted in a superposed manner between a thermal head and a platen, and the thermal head is driven to generate heat according to recording information. A transfer unit that transfers the ink on the ink sheet onto the recording paper; a separation unit that is located downstream of the transfer unit and separates the recording paper from the ink sheet; When the driving area is shorter than the double feeding area from the transfer section to the peeling section, the recording paper and the ink sheet are transported at a first speed faster than when the thermal head is driven to generate heat, and the non-heating driving area is Intermittent feeding in which the recording paper and the ink sheet are conveyed at the first speed only in an area corresponding to the multi-feeding area, and then conveyed at a second speed higher than the first speed, It becomes a means, a.

(E) Function In the present invention, the conditions from the transfer portion to the peeling can be appropriately selected according to the amount of the non-heating driving area, the peeling conditions can be stabilized, and the color reproducibility can be improved.

(F) Example An example of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, a thermal transfer recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a sectional side view. Ink sheet (2) drawn from ink sheet roll (1)
Has a plurality of color inks in its longitudinal direction, and is a pair of a thermal head (5) and a rotatable platen (6) via a guide shaft (3) and a first head guide shaft (4). A peeling shaft (7) passing through the gap and forming a peeling portion between the ink sheet (2) and the recording paper (13);
It reaches the take-up roll (11) through the space between the convey roller (8) and the pressure contact roller (9) and the guide shaft (10).

On the other hand, the recording paper (13) pulled out from the recording paper roll (12) mounted between the pair of holding reel plates (90) passes through the guide roller (14) and the first transport roller (16) and the platen roller (6). ), Passes through the contact between the thermal head (5) and the platen roller (6), and further between the contact between the second transport roller (18) and the second pressing roller (19). Through the outlet of the discharge channel.

The thermal head (5) is a pair of plate brackets (60)
And can be freely moved toward and away from the platen roller (6).

The plate-shaped bracket (60) has a substantially V-shape including a first branch (61) and a second branch (62), and a connecting portion of each branch is rotatably pivoted by a shaft (63). Supported. A thermal head (5), a first head guide shaft (4), and a second head guide shaft (7) are disposed in parallel on the first branch (61), and a cam is provided on the second branch (62). A cam press shaft (65) having a press roller (64) is disposed. The plate-shaped bracket (60) is urged clockwise about the shaft (63) by a spring (67) stretched between the tip of the second branch portion (62) and the shaft (66). Have been.

A cam support shaft (7) having a fan-shaped eccentric cam (68)
No. 0) is disposed above and in parallel with the cam pressure contact shaft (65), and the cam pressure contact roller (64) and the eccentric cam (68) face each other.

When the cam support shaft (70) is appropriately rotated by a drive motor (not shown), the thermal head (5) is moved toward and away from the platen roller (6). That is, when the eccentric cam (68) is positioned above the cam support shaft (70), the plate-like bracket (60) is urged to rotate clockwise about the shaft (63) by the spring (67), The thermal head (5) is pressed against the platen (6). On the other hand, when the eccentric cam (68) is positioned below the cam support shaft (70), the eccentric cam (68) pushes down the cam pressing shaft (65), and thus the plate-shaped bracket (60) has the spring (67). Rotates counterclockwise about the shaft (63) against the urging force of the thermal head (5).
Separated from the platen roller (6).

The lamp (110) and the color sensor (111), which are opposed to each other with the ink sheet (2) interposed therebetween, detect the color of the ink sheet (2). Is used, the color detection signal is used.

Each of the above-mentioned components is composed of a pair of fixed side plates (80) and a pair of movable side plates (8) slightly parallel to these fixed side plates and arranged rotatably about a shaft (81).
2) is attached.

Between the pair of fixed side plates (80), an ink sheet roll (1), a guide shaft (3), a thermal head (5), a peeling shaft (7) and its peripheral portion, a transport roller (8), a guide shaft (10). ) And take-up roll (11)
Is attached.

A recording paper roll (12), between a pair of movable side plates (82),
A guide roller (14), a first pressure roller (17), a platen roller (6), a second transport roller (18), a second pressure roller (19), and the like are attached.

In the above-described apparatus, the platen roller (6), the second transport roller (18), the transport roller (8), and the winding roll (11) are driven to rotate by intermittent feeding means including a stepping motor (not shown). , The ink sheet (2) and the recording paper (13) are conveyed. The thermal head (5) that generates heat in accordance with the recording information and the platen roller (6) perform transfer at the transfer portion (A) where they are pressed against each other, and record the molten ink on the peeling portion (B) of the peeling shaft (7). Fixing to paper (13).

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a main part of the transfer unit. The recording sheet (B) and the ink sheet (2) are double fed from the transfer section (A), and the recording sheet (B) and the ink sheet (2) are separated at the position of the peeling shaft (7).

When the information to be transferred exists within the double feeding distance (1), the present inventor cannot carry out stable peeling if the information is transferred at a high speed, but transfers the information at a predetermined speed determined by the transfer conditions of the thermal head. Thus, it was confirmed that stable peeling could be performed. In this embodiment, the thermal head (5) used is 12 DPM, and the double feed distance (1) is 16 mm.
The number of double feed lines is 192 lines (12 × 16).

Furthermore, it has been found that, even after the transfer, even in a place where there is a blank portion, it is necessary to convey at a predetermined speed without performing high-speed conveyance in the double feeding distance portion.

The present invention has been made based on the above facts, and the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the device of the present invention.
A control circuit (100) composed of a microprocessor or the like controls each circuit according to an input from a ROM (101) in which a program for a thermal control sequence of the thermal head and a transfer sequence according to the flowchart of FIG. 2 are incorporated. A signal from the CRT (102) is screen-dumped via the video interface (103) as an image input, and is input as image data via the interface (104).
The control circuit (100) drives the thermal head according to the input image data.
It controls a transport roller drive circuit (106) for driving the transport rollers, a drive motor (107) for driving a platen roller and the like.

Next, the operation of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When printing is started, in step S1, the thermal head (5) is pressed against the platen roller (6).
Proceed to S2. In step S2, based on the input image data, the thermal head (5) is driven, the ink sheet (2) and the recording paper (13) are conveyed, and the recording paper (1
3) Transfer the ink on top. At this time, the transfer speed is 10m
It is performed at a low speed of sec / line.

Subsequently, in step S3, it is determined whether there is a line of a non-printing pulse. When it is determined that there is a line of a non-applied pulse, the process proceeds to step S4, and the printing speed (10 msec / lin) until the blank line is up to 192 lines, that is, up to the double feed distance
e) Convey the ink sheet (2) and the recording paper (13) at a faster first speed, that is, a medium speed (7 msec / line), and
Proceed to S5.

Next, in step S5, it is determined whether or not the number of blank lines is 192 or more. If there are 192 blank lines or more, the process proceeds to step S6, where the ink sheet (2) and the recording paper (13) are transported at a higher second speed (3 msec / line) at step S6. Proceed to step S7.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S5 that there are no more than 192 blank lines, the process proceeds to step S7.

When the blank line ends in step S7, step S2
Return to step S2 to resume printing. Also step
In S3, when it is determined that there is no line of the non-applied pulse, it is determined whether or not the designated color printing is completed in Step S8, and if the designated color printing is not completed, the process returns to Step S2 to continue the printing. Are repeated.

When printing of the designated color is completed, steps S8 to S9 are performed.
To 192 lines at medium speed (7 msec / line), that is, the ink sheet (2) and recording paper (13) for the double feed distance.
Is transported. Then, in step S10, the thermal head (5) is separated from the platen roller (6).
In S11, it is determined whether or not to print the next color.

If the next color is to be printed, the process proceeds from step S11 to step S12, where the recording paper (13) is rewound to the top position of the printing, and then in step S13, the ink sheet (2) is moved to the top position of the next color. Then, the process returns to step S1, and printing of the next color is started.

If it is determined in step S11 that the next color is not to be printed, the printing is terminated.

FIG. 3 shows printing data, thermal head drive voltage data, and media (ink sheet (2)) in the above-described operation.
FIG. 10 is a timing chart showing the conveyance speed of the recording paper (13).

Thus, by driving as described above, in the case of intermittent feeding, stable ink transfer conditions can be realized without lowering the printing speed, and deterioration of recording image quality can be prevented.

Note that the above-described double feed distance of 192 lines between the recording paper (13) and the ink sheet (2) is the distance from the transfer portion to the peeling portion, and thus varies depending on the structure of the mechanism and the recording density of the thermal head. The transport speed varies depending on the transfer conditions of the thermal head.

(G) Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, the ink sheet and the recording paper can be peeled off under a stable peeling condition without lowering the printing speed. Image quality can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the structure of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a timing chart thereof, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a main part of the present invention. . FIG. 5 is a sectional side view showing a thermal transfer recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied. (5) ... thermal head, (6) ... platen roller, (7) ... peeling shaft, (A) ... transfer unit, (B) ... peeling unit, (100) ... control circuit, (101) ) ……
ROM, (104) interface, (105) thermal head drive circuit, (106) transport roller drive circuit, (107) drive motor.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] The recording paper and ink sheet conveyed are inserted between the thermal head and a platen in a superimposed manner, and the thermal head is driven to generate heat in accordance with the recording information to record ink on the ink sheet. A transfer unit for transferring onto paper, a separation unit positioned downstream of the transfer unit, for separating the recording paper and the ink sheet, and a non-heating drive unit where the thermal head is a non-heating drive unit, and a non-heating drive area separated from the transfer unit. If the recording paper and the ink sheet are conveyed at a first speed faster than when the thermal head is driven to generate heat, and the non-heating driving area is equal to or larger than the multi-feed area, Intermittent feeding means for transporting the recording paper and the ink sheet at an area corresponding to the multi-feed area at the first speed, and then transporting the recording sheet and the ink sheet at a second speed higher than the first speed. Recording apparatus.