JP2900689B2 - Thermal transfer recording device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording apparatus for recording on paper by a recording means such as a thermal head using an ink material containing at least a coloring material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a thermal transfer recording apparatus in which a coloring material is composed of a sublimable dye and the sublimable dye is transferred and recorded by sublimation or thermal diffusion is, for example, heat-resistant such as a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film or a capacitor paper. Using an ink sheet having a sublimable dye and an ink material layer having a thickness of about 3 μm including a binder material on the surface of a substrate, a sublimable dye as a coloring material is directly dyed by a recording head. There is known a thermal transfer recording apparatus which obtains a recorded material by transferring the image to a recording medium having a property.

An example of the above-described conventional thermal transfer recording apparatus will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing the configuration of a thermal transfer recording apparatus according to a conventional example. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 4 denotes an ink sheet. 6
Denotes a thermal head, 10 denotes an image receiving body, and 60 denotes a recording signal source.

The operation of the thus configured thermal transfer recording apparatus will be described below. An ink sheet 4 configured by disposing a color material layer 2 made of a color material and a binder material on a heat-resistant substrate 3 and an image receiving body 10 such as a recording paper are
The thermal head 6 is pressed into contact with the platen 50 to generate heat according to a signal from the recording signal source 7 to selectively raise the temperature of the coloring material. The image receiving body 10 is moved in the direction of arrow 52 by the conveying roller 51, and the ink sheet 4 is moved in the direction of arrow 53 by the ink sheet winding roller 9.
When each is conveyed and the ink sheet 4 is peeled off from the image receiving body 10, a part of the color material of the color material layer 2 is transferred onto the image receiving body 10,
A recorded image 54 is obtained.

[0005]

In the thermal transfer recording apparatus constructed as described above, thermal transfer recording is performed on an image receiving body by increasing the temperature of the color material layer. The sublimation transfer is performed by sublimation or thermal diffusion of a coloring material composed of a sublimable dye. Therefore, transfer recording can be performed only when the surface material of the image receiving material is a material having dyeing properties. Therefore, the transfer recording sensitivity greatly differs depending on the surface material of the image receiving material. For example, when ordinary paper is used for the image receiving body, a recording image by transfer of the dye is hardly obtained because the surface has little dyeability. The recording characteristics also change depending on the state of contact between the ink sheet and the image receiving member. For example, in the case of an image receiving body having an uneven surface, the color material layer and the image receiving body have poor contact, and a uniform recorded image cannot be obtained.

In view of the above problems, the present invention can provide a recorded image having good image quality and high fixability in sublimation transfer recording irrespective of the type of image receiver (surface material, surface condition). A thermal transfer recording apparatus is provided.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a thermal transfer recording apparatus, comprising: an ink sheet having at least a color material layer provided on a substrate; an intermediate transfer body; A dyeing layer supply means for supplying a dyeing layer to the surface,
A recording unit for performing thermal transfer recording from the color material layer to the dyeing layer; and a transfer unit for transferring the dyeing layer to the image receiving body. The intermediate transfer is performed so that the intermediate transfer body alternately presses the recording unit and the transfer unit. This is a thermal transfer recording device that swings the body.

In the thermal transfer recording apparatus according to the present invention, particularly good characteristics can be obtained by providing a heating means for heating the image receiving member before the image receiving member comes into contact with the intermediate transfer member.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a thermal transfer recording apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein pressure and heat are directly applied to the dyeing layer on the image receiving body to cause the dyeing layer to permeate the image receiving body. By providing the fixing means for fixing the toner, particularly good characteristics can be obtained.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a thermal transfer recording apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein the surface of the intermediate transfer member is:
Particularly favorable characteristics can be obtained by using the elastic layer containing silicone rubber.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink sheet wherein the dyeing layer supply means of the thermal transfer recording device according to the first or second aspect has a dyeing layer and a coloring material layer provided on a substrate in a plane sequence. By using the dyeing layer supply means for transferring the dyeing layer by means of the recording means, particularly good characteristics can be obtained.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a thermal transfer recording apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein the dyeing layer is formed by using at least polyvinyl acetal.
Particularly good characteristics can be obtained.

[0013]

According to the present invention, a primary recorded image is first formed on the dyed layer of the intermediate transfer member by the above-described structure. Next, the dyeing layer and the primary recording image are transferred to the surface of the image receiving body by pressing and heating the surface of the image receiving body to form a transfer image.

[0014] Therefore, the dyeing layer may cause transferability.
The recorded image can be transferred to all image receivers. In the case of sublimation transfer, an image is formed on a dyeing layer having dyeing properties, and the dyeing layer is further transferred onto an image receiving body such as plain paper. It does not require special paper having dyeing properties, and can record on any recording paper, including plain paper, in principle.

Regarding the recording image quality, the ink sheet and the intermediate transfer member are made of a smooth material, so that the thermal head, the ink sheet and the intermediate transfer member can be in uniform contact with each other, and the dyeing on the intermediate transfer member can be achieved. High quality recording can be performed by sublimation transfer to the deposited layer. By transferring the recorded image to an image receiving body having a rough surface, high-quality recording can be performed even on an image receiving body in which uniform recording could not be conventionally performed due to a rough surface.

Since a part of the dyed layer of the intermediate transfer member is almost uniformly transferred to the surface of the transfer image on the image receiving member, friction against the surface of the image receiving member (for example, rubbing by a finger) is prevented. However, the coloring material is not directly rubbed, and a recorded image having good fixability can be obtained.

When the dyeing layer is transferred and fixed to the image receiving member by pressure, heat, or pressure and heat simultaneously with the transfer, the dyeing layer is filled in the concave portion when the image receiving member surface is uneven due to fibers or the like. Is done. Since the gloss and writability of the surface of the image receptor are due to the roughness of the surface, the gloss of the surface of the dyeing layer,
Writability is close to the original surface of the receiver. Therefore, there is no sense of incongruity in the portion where only the colorless dyeing layer on which the image is not recorded is present on the image receptor, and characters can be written on the dyeing layer with a pencil or the like. Further, since the dyeing layer is firmly fixed to the image receiving body, the fixing property of the recorded image is further improved.

When heated at a temperature higher than the flow softening point of the thermoplastic resin contained in the dyeing layer, the dyeing layer is further softened and has fluidity, so that the dyeing layer permeates into the recesses on the surface of the image receiving body. For this reason, the surface state of the image receiving body reproduces the rough unevenness of the image receiving body.

In the recording operation, for example, when the intermediate transfer member is in a drum shape, a thermal head and an ink sheet are pressed against the fixed intermediate transfer member for recording, and then a heating roller is applied to the intermediate transfer member. And transferring the image by pressing the image receiving body. However, it is not always necessary to press the thermal head and the heating roller at the same time. Therefore, the thermal head and the heating roller are fixed, and the intermediate transfer member positioned therebetween is swung to both sides, so that the intermediate transfer member is alternately pressed against the thermal head and the heating roller.
This simplifies the configuration because only the intermediate transfer member moves. In particular, since cables for inputting image signals are connected to the thermal head, fixing the thermal head dramatically improves the reliability of the apparatus.

The dyeing layer on the intermediate transfer member is heated and transferred to and fixed on the image receiving member in a softened state. However, since the intermediate transfer member is configured to contact the ink sheet and the thermal head, it cannot be maintained at a very high temperature. Therefore,
Heating is performed from the back of the image receiving body with a high-temperature heating roller, but transfer and fixing may be insufficient. Therefore, by heating the image receiving surface by a heating means immediately before contacting the dyeing layer, when the surface comes into contact with the dyeing layer, the dyeing layer starts to soften due to the heat of the image receiving surface, and from the back surface. Transferred and fixed to the image receiving body with the help of heat. As a result, transfer and fixing can be stably realized even on thick paper.

In the case where the fixing is not sufficient in a state where the dyed layer is transferred, a fixing means for fixing by directly applying pressure and heat to the dyed layer on the image receiving body to penetrate the dyeing layer into the image receiving body is provided. Provided after the transfer means. As the configuration, the image receiving body after the transfer is sandwiched between a heating roller as a transfer unit and a new heating roller. By doing so, the surface state of the image receiving member sufficiently reproduces the rough unevenness of the image receiving member, and the fixing property can be dramatically improved without complicating the configuration.

The surface of the intermediate transfer member is covered with an elastic layer containing silicone rubber so as to have releasability and elasticity, so that the dyeing layer is filled in the recesses on the surface of the image receiving member, and natural luster and writability are obtained. , And a strong fixing property is realized.

As described above, the type of image receiver (surface material,
Regardless of the surface condition), it is possible to obtain a good recorded image using a dye as a coloring material, such as image quality, writability, and fixability, with a simple apparatus configuration.

[0024]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a recording apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described.
This will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1A is a schematic configuration diagram of a recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is an enlarged conceptual diagram of a recording unit. FIG. 1 shows a configuration during recording of the first color. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 4 denotes an ink sheet, 5 denotes a drum-shaped intermediate transfer member provided with a silicone rubber flexible layer 21 on the surface, and 10 denotes an image receiving member. An ink sheet 4 is formed by providing a dyeing layer 1 and a coloring material layer 2 on a substrate 3 which is a sheet-like heat-resistant substrate in a plane-sequential manner. A thermal head 6 is provided as recording means, and a heating roller 7 is provided as transfer means.

The operation of the recording apparatus configured as described above will be described below with reference to FIG. In FIG. 1, in a state where the ink sheet 4 is pressed between the thermal head 6 and the intermediate transfer member 5, the thermal head 6 selectively generates heat by a signal from the recording signal source 60, and The dyeing layer 1 is transferred to the surface of the substrate. Next, a part of the color material of the color material layer 2 is transferred to the transferred dyeing layer 1 to form a primary recording image 11 corresponding to a recording signal. (B) shows this state. As the intermediate transfer member 5 rotates in the direction of arrow 19, the ink sheet 4
It is wound up.

Next, with respect to the transfer to the image receiving member, when the intermediate transfer member 5 and the image receiving member 10 are overlapped and sandwiched by the heating roller 7 and the back surface of the image receiving member 10 is heated by the heating roller 7, 1 softens and adheres to the surface of the image receiving body 10. Therefore, when the intermediate transfer member 5 and the image receiving member 10 are separated, the dyeing layer 1 is transferred to the image receiving member 10 side, and the primary recording image 11 is transferred to the surface of the image receiving member 10 to form a transfer image.

Since the transferred image is an inverted image of the primary recorded image 11, the recording signal source 60 normally generates a signal for recording an inverted image of the transferred image by the thermal head 6.

For color recording, for example, an ink sheet 4 in which color material layers 2 of three primary colors of cyan, magenta, and yellow, and four primary colors including black are arranged on a substrate 3 in a face-to-face order. The recording image can be made color by superimposing and transferring these onto the dyeing layer 1 in a sequential manner.

FIG. 2 is the same as the device of FIG.
2 shows a device configuration at the time of transfer to an image receiving body. 1 (A) and 2
Next, the operation of the apparatus will be described. In FIG. 1A, the intermediate transfer member 5 is supported by a rotation bar 12, is rotatable around a rotation shaft 13, and is urged by a spring 14 to press against the thermal head 6. The pressing bar 15 is also supported by the rotating shaft 12, and is pressed against the rotating bar 12 by a spring 16 and a pin 17. The tension of the spring 16 is much greater than the spring 14. Here, when the cam 18 is rotated by about 90 ° in the direction of the arrow 20, the pressing bar 15 is pushed by the cam 18 and rotates in the direction of the arrow to lift the intermediate transfer member 5. When the cam 18 is further rotated about 90 °,
The arrangement is as shown in FIG. That is, the intermediate transfer member 5 comes into contact with the heating roller 7, and the pressing bar 15 is separated from the pin 17.
Is pressed by the heating roller 7. In this state, the intermediate transfer member 5
Is rotated in the direction of the arrow 22 in the direction opposite to the recording direction, and the dyed layer 1 on the surface of the intermediate transfer body 5 is transferred to the image receiving body 10.

As described above, the intermediate transfer member 5 can be alternately pressed against the thermal head 6 and the heating roller 7 by the rotation of the cam 18, and recording on the image receiving member can be realized with a very simple apparatus configuration. Note that the rotation directions of the intermediate transfer body are opposite to each other at the time of recording from the color material layer and at the time of transfer to the image receiving body, such as 19 and 22, because the movement of the intermediate transfer body about the rotation shaft 13 is a bite. It is considered not to be in the direction,
Other configurations are not limited to this.

Generally, the gloss and writability of the surface of the image receiving body are due to the rough irregularities on the surface. When the surface of the image receiving body 10 is as rough as that of plain paper, the image receiving body 10 has no gloss and has excellent writability. However, if the surface is relatively smooth, the surface becomes glossy and poor in writability. The part of the colorless dyeing layer surface where the transfer image is not recorded is required to have the same properties as the surface of the image receiving body, so if the entire surface is glossy and poor in writability, image quality, writability Inferior in terms of. here,
By reproducing the same rough asperities as the original surface of the image receiving body, the gloss and writability of the surface of the dyed layer become the same as the original surface of the image receiving body. Therefore, the sense of incongruity is eliminated, and letters can be written on the dyed layer with a pencil or the like. Moreover,
When the dyeing layer is firmly fixed to the image receiving body, the fixing property of the recorded image is further improved.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of a recording apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 3, 23
Denotes a transfer image on the image receiving body, 24 denotes a heating roller as heating means for the image receiving body, and 25 denotes a fixing roller as fixing means for the dyed layer. The surface of the fixing roller 25 is provided with silicone rubber or the like having excellent releasability and elasticity, similarly to the surface of the intermediate transfer body 5. A primary recording image 11 is formed on the dyed layer 1 on the intermediate transfer member 5. The surface of the image receiving body 10 is heated by the heating roller 24 immediately before being sandwiched between the heating roller 7 and the intermediate transfer body 5. The heating rollers 7, 24 and the fixing roller 25 are kept at about 140 ° C. The image receiving body 10 whose surface has been heated is brought into contact with the dyeing layer 1 and softened as it is,
Transcribe. Since the intermediate transfer member and the dyeing layer 1 thereon are at room temperature and are not softened, when the image receiving member 10 is thick, for example, when a postcard made by government is used, the transfer is unstable only by the heating roller 7. However, by providing the heating roller 24, stable transfer can be performed. Further, when the toner does not sufficiently penetrate into the image receiving member, the toner is sufficiently fixed by pressing the fixing roller 25. The heating roller and the fixing unit use the configuration of the heating roller 7, but other configurations may be used. Although not shown in FIG. 3, if necessary, a paper guide is provided along the transport path of the image receiving body 10, so that the image receiving body 10 is transported along each roller.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the dyeing layer can be formed by providing the ink sheet having at least the dyeing layer and the colorant layer on the substrate in a face-sequential manner and the intermediate transfer member. A recorded image can be recorded on all the image receiving members that cause transferability. Regarding the recording image quality, high-quality recording can be performed even on an image receiving body in which uniform recording could not be performed conventionally because of a rough surface. A recorded image having good fixability can be obtained even with respect to friction on the surface of the image receiving body. Since the surface condition reproduces the rough unevenness of the image receptor, only the colorless dyeing layer where the image is not recorded does not feel uncomfortable in the part present on the image receptor, and also use a pencil etc. from above the dyeing layer You can also write letters. Further, since the dyeing layer is firmly fixed to the image receiving body, the fixing property of the recorded image is further improved.

As a method of supplying the dyeing layer onto the intermediate transfer body, for example, a dyeing layer sheet provided with a dyeing layer on a substrate, a dyeing layer, a heating roller for transferring the dyeing layer to an image receiving body, The image may be transferred onto the intermediate transfer member by a heating roller for supplying a dyeing layer.

In the present embodiment, the intermediate transfer member is a drum-shaped member made of a metal, a plastic material, or the like. However, the intermediate transfer member may have a belt-like configuration in which a substrate is wrapped around endlessly. By using a rigid body, there is no expansion and contraction and no bending, and no color shift at the time of overprinting occurs, so that high-quality printing can be performed.

The recording means is not particularly limited as a means for performing thermal transfer recording.
In addition to the round head 6, a current-carrying head, an optical head, or the like may be used. Further, although the heating roller 7 is used as the transfer means, any other means that provides heat, pressure, or both may be used, or any other transfer principle may be used. The heating roller 7 is a roller having a heat-generating portion inside or on an outer peripheral portion. The heat roller 7 can control the amount of electricity supplied to the heat-generating portion, and can control the amount of heat transmitted to the intermediate transfer member 5 by heat conduction from the surface. As a heating part,
A light source such as a halogen lamp having large radiant heat can also be used. As the material of the heating roller 7, for example, a rubber (rubber-coated) roll, a plastic roll, a metal roll, or the like is useful. The same applies to the intermediate transfer member 5, and a configuration may be adopted in which heating is performed as necessary.

When pressure is applied, it is particularly desirable to provide a soft flexible layer 21 on the surface of the intermediate transfer member 5 which can be fixed in accordance with the unevenness of the surface of the image receiving member 10.
It is desirable that the flexible layer 21 has high elasticity and does not change significantly even when pressure and heat are applied. By using a rubber material having a rubber hardness of 10 ° to 70 °, good fixability can be obtained. In particular, a rubber material of 10 ° to 25 ° is excellent even when the surface of the image receiving body 10 has large irregularities. A good fixing property is obtained.

Since the thickness of the flexible layer 21 needs to be sufficiently deformed according to the unevenness of the surface of the image receiving body 10, it is desirable that the thickness is as thick as possible. In the case of plain paper having a relatively rough surface, since the depth of the concave portion is about 25 μm, fixing is possible if the thickness of the flexible layer 21 is about 25 μm or more.

The rubber material is desirably a rubber material having a high releasability in order to prevent the rubber material from adhering to the dyeing layer 1. Silicone rubber is made of, for example, raw rubber, filler, various additives, silicone oil, and the like, and has excellent releasability among rubber materials. Silicone rubber with a flexible layer 21 optimized for film thickness, hardness, strength, surface smoothness, release property, etc.
In this case, the fixing can be performed in accordance with the unevenness of the surface of the image receiving body 10, and the dyeing layer 1 does not adhere to the surface of the intermediate transfer body 5 and remains. Silicone rubber has extremely excellent heat resistance and is suitable as a material for the flexible layer 21.

Applying pressure while heating is more effective. That is, the dyeing layer is softened by heating and easily penetrates into the finer interior of the material fibers in the concave portions of the image receiving body. In particular, when the heating temperature is equal to or higher than the lowest flow softening point of the thermoplastic resin of the dyeing layer, the softening layer takes on fluidity due to progress of softening and penetrates into recesses on the surface of the image receiving body. 21 does not require much flexibility, has high hardness,
Alternatively, a very thin rubber material or a release material may be used. Although not shown in FIG. 1, the ink sheet 3
Can be configured as a cassette wound around a supply roller and a take-up roller.

The substrate 3, which is a sheet-like heat-resistant substrate, is various polymer films or various polymer films which have been surface-treated by coating or the like. Examples of various polymer films include polyolefin-based, polyamide-based, polyester-based, polyimide-based, polyether-based, cellulose-based, polyparabanic acid-based, polyoxadiazol-based, polystyrene-based, and fluorine-based films. . In particular, films such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene naphthalate, aramid, triacetyl cellulose, polypropylene, and cellophane are useful. The useful thickness of the polymer film is usually about 3 μm to 100 μm, and particularly preferably 3 μm to 30 μm.

When the base of the ink sheet has a lubricating layer or a lubricating heat-resistant layer on at least one surface, the running stability with the recording head is good. Further, an adhesive layer (anchor coat layer) is provided on the surface in contact with the color material layer, and a coat layer for improving the releasability from the dyeing layer is provided on the surface in contact with the dyeing layer, or a polymer film. A heat-resistant layer made of a thermosetting resin or the like for reinforcing heat resistance such as thermal deformation, an antistatic layer, or, if necessary, various coating layers may be provided.

The color material layer 2 is composed of at least a color material and a binder material. The coloring material is not particularly limited. Disperse dyes, basic dyes, color formers and the like are useful as coloring materials for sublimation transfer. The binder material is not particularly limited, and various polymer materials, various waxes, and the like can be used. The color material layer may have a multilayer structure. Further, a lubricating layer and various coating layers may be provided on the color material layer.
Further, various additives such as various silicon-based materials and various fluorine-based materials may be added to the color material layer.

The dyeing layer 1 is formed at least from a polymer material. Since a dyeing property is required, a polymer material which easily dyes a disperse dye or the like is suitable.For example, polyacetal resin, polyester resin, acrylic resin, urethane resin, nylon resin, vinyl acetate Based resins and vinyl butyral resins are useful. Polyvinyl acetal resins, especially vinyl butyral resins, are excellent as those which satisfy the dyeing properties of dyes, adhesiveness to paper, and releasability from PET films.

The dyeing layer 1 is required to have an adhesive property with the image receiving member when transferred onto the image receiving member, so that the polymer material has a softening point of 50 so that it is softened by heating from the heating roller 9.
It is desirable that the temperature be in the range of from 200C to 200C. The softening point is a value measured by a flow tester. In addition, as a material constituting the dyeing layer 1, in addition to the above-described polymer material,
For example, hot melt materials such as waxes and resins,
If necessary, a single compound or a mixture of plural compounds can be used.

The dyeing layer 1 contains various silicone-based, fluorine-based, fatty acid-based compounds, various surfactants, and various particles in order to prevent thermal fusion with the colorant layer. It may be included as an additive. In the recording method of the present invention, since the dyed layer is transferred onto the image receiving body to form an image, the dyed layer needs to have a light transmitting property and is preferably a colorless and transparent polymer material.

The image receiving body is made of uncoated paper such as high-quality paper, plain paper (for copying, etc.) or bond paper, coated paper, polyethylene, polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and films such as aluminum foil. , PP, PE
Synthetic paper containing T, polyvinyl chloride, or the like as a main component, a continuous image receptor, a cut image receptor, or the like, can be used without particular limitation on its material, paper quality, form, and the like.

In these examples, thermal transfer recording is performed in which transfer is performed by sublimation or thermal diffusion of a coloring material composed of a sublimable dye, and a dyeing layer having dyeability is required. In the case of melt thermal transfer using an ink sheet having a color material layer composed of a pigment color material and a pigment color material, a dyeing layer is not necessary, but the recording characteristics also change depending on the contact state between the ink sheet and the image receiving member. For example, in the case of an image receiving body having an uneven surface, contact between the ink material layer and the image receiving body becomes poor, and a uniform recorded image cannot be obtained. Therefore, regardless of the type of image receiver (surface material, surface state),
In order to obtain a recorded image with good image quality and high fixability, it is conceivable to use an intermediate transfer member having a structure without a dyeing layer. In that case, it is considered that the effects of the present invention can be similarly obtained. Can be

As described above, in the thermal transfer recording method of the present invention, any form of recording paper such as plain paper, transparent film for OHP, bond paper having a large surface roughness, coated paper, and coated film is used as the image receiving body. However, a uniform image can be obtained. In particular,
Conventionally, high-quality recording, which is a feature of sublimation recording, is almost impossible on plain paper, but is realized by the method of the present invention.

[0051]

As described above, the present invention provides an ink sheet in which at least a dyeing layer and a color material layer are provided on a substrate in a plane-sequential manner, an intermediate transfer body, a recording means, and a transfer means. It is possible to record characters and images of high image quality, good glossiness and the like, good writing and fixing properties, on all image receiving bodies where the dyeing layer causes transferability. Further, the device configuration could be simplified.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a thermal transfer recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a thermal transfer recording apparatus for explaining operation in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a thermal transfer recording apparatus according to another embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a thermal transfer recording apparatus according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Dyeing layer 4 Ink sheet 5 Intermediate transfer member 6 Thermal head 9 Heating roller 10 Image receiving member

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Akihiro Imai 1006 Kadoma Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (58) Investigated field (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B41J 2/32-2/325 B41M 5/26

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. An ink sheet having at least a color material layer provided on a substrate, an intermediate transfer member, a dye layer supply means for supplying a dye layer to the surface of the intermediate transfer member, and Recording means for performing thermal transfer recording on the dyed layer, and transfer means for transferring the dyed layer to an image receiving member, wherein the intermediate transfer member alternately presses the recording means and the transfer means, A thermal transfer recording device characterized by swinging a transfer member. 2. An ink sheet having at least a color material layer provided on a substrate, an intermediate transfer member, a dye layer supply means for supplying a dye layer to the surface of the intermediate transfer member, and Recording means for performing thermal transfer recording on the dyeing layer; transfer means for transferring the dyeing layer to an image receiving body; and heating means for heating the image receiving body before the image receiving body comes into contact with the intermediate transfer body. A thermal transfer recording device, characterized in that: 3. The fixing device according to claim 1, further comprising fixing means for applying pressure and heat directly to the dyeing layer on the image receiving body to cause the dyeing layer to permeate the image receiving body to fix the dyeing layer. Or the thermal transfer recording apparatus according to 2. 4. The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the surface of the intermediate transfer member is an elastic layer containing silicone rubber. 5. A dyeing layer supply means for transferring said dyeing layer by said recording means from an ink sheet having a dyeing layer and a coloring material layer provided on a substrate in a plane-sequential manner. Item 3. The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to Item 1 or 2. 6. The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the dyeing layer is formed using at least polyvinyl acetal.