JP3129807B2 - 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 recording apparatus using a recording medium having a surface whose receding contact angle decreases when it is brought into contact with a liquid in a heated state.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The applicant has previously used a recording medium having a surface in which the receding contact angle is reduced when the recording medium is brought into contact with a liquid in a heated state. The recording material is selectively heated in a state of contact with a contact material selected from liquids or liquids or solids that generate vapor below the temperature at which the receding contact angle starts decreasing, or the surface of the recording material is selected. By bringing the recording material into contact with the contact material in a state of being heated, a region having a receding contact angle corresponding to the heating temperature (a desired pattern region, referred to as a latent image or a latent image region) is formed. A recording method characterized by the fact that, in a heated state and when the surface of a recording medium whose receding contact angle is reduced when it comes into contact with a liquid, the recording material containing a color developing material is selectively contacted. Heating, or
A recording method for forming a visible image in accordance with a heating temperature on the surface of the recording medium by contacting the recording medium with the recording medium while the surface of the recording medium is selectively heated has been proposed (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. HEI 3 (1993) -313873).
-178478).

That is, the invention described in the above-mentioned publication uses a member having a surface having a receding contact angle which is low (increases liquid adhesion) when heated and brought into contact with a liquid, as the recording medium. The present invention provides a recording method in which a desired pattern area (latent image area) can be selectively or selectively and reversibly formed on the surface of the recording medium by an easy means. By supplying a recording agent (for example, liquid ink), a good visible image can be obtained from the beginning, and this visible image can be fixed to the surface of the recording medium as it is, or the visible image can be transferred to plain paper without fixing. It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording method in which a clear image with gradation is obtained by fixing the image. Further, according to the above invention, in all the steps of forming / erasing, visualizing, transferring and the like of a desired pattern area, the recording medium excellent in storability and stability can be used reversibly a plurality of times. Is provided.

[0004] As described in detail in the above-mentioned publication, the receding contact angle of the recording medium is reduced when the recording medium is brought into contact with a contact material such as liquid or vapor in a heated state (the liquid adhesion is high). However, if the recording medium surface is heated in the absence of the contact material, no interaction with the contact material occurs, and the recording medium returns to the original receding contact angle and the latent image is erased. (Image removal). Therefore, by providing a means for heating in contact with the contact material and a means for heating in the absence of the contact material, it is possible to form a recording apparatus capable of easily performing recording and erasing.

FIG. 4 (a) shows an example of a recording apparatus using the recording method described in the above-mentioned publication.
Reference numeral 2 denotes a recording medium having a recording layer having the above-mentioned properties formed on the surface of a drum-shaped support, 23 denotes a thermal head having a holding portion for a recording material 28, and 24 denotes an image removing heating means including an infrared heater or the like. , 25 is a recording paper, 26 is a transfer roller, 2
Reference numeral 7 denotes a cleaning cleaner. In this recording apparatus, a recording agent (liquid ink or the like) containing a color developing material is brought into contact with the surface of a recording medium 22 and selectively heated by a thermal head 23 to form a latent image and develop at the same time. A visible image corresponding to the temperature is formed on the surface of the recording body 22, and this visible image is transferred to the recording paper 25 and recorded. After the transfer, the surface of the recording medium 21 is cleaned by a cleaner 27, and then heated by a heating means 24 such as an infrared heater to erase (delete) the latent image.

[0006]

By the way, FIG. 4 (a)
In order to sharpen the edge of a transfer dot in a printing apparatus as shown in (1), a transfer method using ink that becomes highly viscous at the time of transfer has been proposed. However, in the transfer method using the highly viscous ink, as shown in FIG. 4B, a part of the transfer dot (ink) 28 may be separated from the paper 25 during transfer, and However, there was a problem in printing quality. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to solve the above-described problems and to provide a recording apparatus capable of realizing stable transferability and high-quality recording.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is directed to a recording apparatus having a surface having a reduced receding contact angle and increased liquid adhesion when heated and in contact with a liquid. The recording medium is selectively heated in a state where a contact member made of liquid or vapor or a solid that becomes liquid or vapor by heating is brought into contact with the surface of the recording medium, and the receding contact angle is reduced according to the heating temperature. A latent image is formed on the heating section by a method of causing the latent image to come into contact with a recording agent (hereinafter, referred to as ink) containing a color developing material to develop the latent image, thereby forming a visible image. In a recording apparatus having means for transferring an image to recording paper, the visible image on the recording medium is transferred to a transparent sheet, and then the transparent sheet is attached to recording paper.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the receding contact angle is reduced and the liquid adhesion is high when the heating state is brought into contact with the liquid.
A recording member having a surface of the recording medium, and selectively heating the surface of the recording member with a contact member made of a liquid or vapor or a solid that becomes a liquid or vapor by heating , according to the heating temperature. Means for forming a latent image on the heating section by a method of reducing the receding contact angle, forming a visible image by contacting the latent image with ink and developing the latent image, and transferring the visible image to recording paper. In the recording apparatus having the above-described structure, after the development, a member that is made tacky by heating (hereinafter, referred to as a coating agent) is coated, and the visible image together with the coating agent is transferred to an intermediate transfer body, and then transferred to recording paper. And

[0009] In the invention of claim 3, the first aspect or
The recording apparatus other 2, characterized by the use of what the Takaneba稠during transfer as ink. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the recording apparatus of the first, second, or third aspect, the latent image is formed with ink, and the latent image is formed and developed simultaneously.

[0010]

In the recording apparatus according to the first aspect, the ink on the recording medium is transferred to a transparent sheet and then the transparent sheet is attached to recording paper. In this state, the ink is sandwiched, and the peeling of the ink is prevented. In the recording apparatus according to the second aspect, since the ink is coated with a coating agent after development, and the ink is transferred to an intermediate transfer body together with the coating agent and then transferred to a recording paper, the transferred ink is a recording paper and a coating agent. In this state, the ink is prevented from peeling off.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1A is a schematic configuration diagram of a recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a receding contact angle that is reduced when the recording apparatus is in a heated state and is in contact with a liquid (including vapor). The recording medium 1 has a recording layer coated on a film-like substrate and formed in a belt shape, and is driven by a driving device (not shown) such as a motor. The supporting and driving rollers 2 and 3 rotated in the direction of the arrow support and rotate. Reference numeral 4 in the figure denotes a thermal recording thermal head for selectively heating according to an image signal, and a heating element portion of the thermal head 2 has a contact member for forming a latent image (hereinafter referred to as a latent image forming liquid). Write)
5 is provided so that the latent image forming liquid 5 can be heated while being in contact with the surface of the recording medium 1. In the drawing, reference numeral 6 denotes a developing device, which forms a visible image by bringing a latent image on the recording medium 1 into contact with a recording material (ink) 8 containing a color developing material by a developing roller 7 and developing the latent image. . Reference numeral 9 denotes a transfer roller for transferring the visible image (ink) 8 on the recording medium 1 to the transparent sheet 10;
11 and 13 are the transparent sheet 10 after the ink transfer and the recording paper 1.
2 is a roller for adhering the transparent sheet to the recording paper 12 by pressing, 14 is a cleaner for removing the ink remaining on the recording medium 1, and 15 is a heating apparatus for cleaning the recording medium 1 after cleaning to erase a latent image. This is an image-removal heating means for performing (image-removal), and an infrared lamp, a ceramic heater, or the like is used.

In the recording apparatus having the structure shown in FIG.
At the time of recording, the recording medium 1 is rotated by the supporting and driving rollers 2 and 3, and is selectively heated by the thermal head 2 in a state where the latent image forming liquid 5 is in contact with the surface of the recording medium 1.
A latent image is formed on the heating unit by a method of reducing the receding contact angle according to the height of the heating unit. Then, the developing roller 7 of the developing device 6
And the latent image is developed to form a visible image. When ink is used for the latent image forming liquid, the developing device can be omitted, and the latent image formation and development can be performed simultaneously. In addition, ink that becomes highly viscous during transfer is used. Visible image (ink) 8 formed on recording medium 1
Is transferred to a transparent sheet 10 which is brought into contact with and conveyed to the recording medium 1 by a transfer roller 9. In addition, this transparent sheet 1
No. 0 is coated with an adhesive so that the ink on the recording medium is completely transferred. Next, the transparent sheet 10 to which the ink has been transferred is pressed against the recording paper 12 by the pasting rollers 11 and 13 and is adhered to the recording paper 12. Also,
After transfer, the surface of the recording medium is cleaned by a cleaner 14, and then heated by an image-removal heating means 15 such as an infrared heater to remove the latent image and return to the initial state.

As described above, in the recording apparatus having the configuration shown in FIG. 1A, after the ink 8 on the recording medium 1 is transferred to the transparent sheet 10, the transparent sheet 10 is attached to the recording paper 12. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1B, the ink 8 is sandwiched between the recording paper 12 and the transparent sheet 10, so that the transferred image is fixed on the recording paper 12 without separating from the recording paper. You. In addition, since the paper surface is coated with the transparent sheet 10, it is resistant to wetting by water and mechanical destruction. In addition, as a material of the transparent sheet, a polymer film such as polyethylene and polypropylene can be used.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a main part of a recording apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The configuration of this recording apparatus other than the transfer section is the same as that of FIG. In FIG. 2, the transfer portion of the recording apparatus is provided with a coating agent 19 which becomes tacky by heating.
Sprayer 18 for coating the recording medium 1 on the recording medium 1, an intermediate transfer body 16 on which the visible image 8 is transferred together with the coating agent, and a transfer roller 17 for transferring the ink image on the intermediate transfer body 16 together with the coating agent onto the recording paper 12. And a configuration having: In this recording apparatus, after a latent image on the recording medium 1 is developed with ink that becomes highly viscous at the time of transfer, a high-viscosity coating agent 19 is applied onto the recording medium 1 by a sprayer 18 as shown in the figure. At this time, since the coating agent 19 has a high viscosity, it adheres to the entire surface of the recording medium 1. In addition, a material that becomes tacky by heating is used as the coating agent. Next, the visible image 8 on the recording medium is transferred to the intermediate transfer body 16 together with the coating agent 19. At this time, if a transfer unit is provided with a heating means (not shown) such as an infrared heater to perform heat transfer, the coating agent becomes tacky and transferability is improved. Next, the ink image together with the coating agent is transferred from the intermediate transfer body 16 to the recording paper 12 by heating.

As described above, in the recording apparatus shown in FIG. 2, the ink 8 is coated with the coating agent 19 after development, and the ink together with the coating agent is transferred to the intermediate transfer body 16 and then transferred to the recording paper 12. The ink is recording paper 12 and coating agent 1
9, the transfer image is fixed on the recording paper 12 without separating from the recording paper. Examples of the coating agent include a vinyl acetate emulsion and an emulsion solution of a polymer resin such as polyvinyl alcohol and polyethylene glycol. As a coating agent application mechanism, a method other than the spraying method shown in FIG. 2 may be used. As shown in FIG. As shown in (b), the coating agent 19 is applied to the recording medium 1 by the roller 20 or the coating agent 19 is applied to the recording medium 1 by the porous body 21 impregnated with the coating agent as shown in (c). For example, a porous body method may be used.

The recording apparatuses shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 have been described above. In each of these recording apparatuses, the ink which becomes highly viscous at the time of transfer is a dye-based or pigment-based ink which is ethylene / acetic acid. It is preferable to disperse or dissolve a polymer resin such as vinyl, vinyl acetate, polyethylene glycol and polyvinyl butyral, and particularly preferable to use an ink to which an ethylene / vinyl acetate emulsion is added.

Next, a specific embodiment of the recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described. [Example 1] Recording medium: fluorinated acrylate material TG-702
A film was prepared by diluting (manufactured by Daikin Industries, Ltd.) three times with Freon TF (manufactured by Mitsui Fluorochemicals) as a recording layer material, coated on a polyimide film, and dried at 130 ° C. for 30 minutes. Ink used: water-based ink + ethylene / vinyl acetate emulsion. Apparatus configuration: The configuration of FIG. Transparent sheet: a polyethylene film (a polyethylene film in which an adhesive layer is formed in advance on the surface to which ink is to be transferred). Execution result: good transfer without peeling of the transferred image was performed.

[Embodiment 2] Recording medium: Same as in Embodiment 1. Ink used: water-based ink + vinyl acetate emulsion. Apparatus configuration: The configuration of FIG. Coating agent: vinyl acetate emulsion. Coating method: spray coating (spray method). Result of execution: Good transfer was performed in the same manner as in Example 1.

[Embodiment 2] Recording medium: Same as in Embodiment 1. Ink used: Same as in Example 1. Apparatus configuration: Configuration of FIG. Coating agent: An aqueous solution in which a polyvinyl butyral resin is dissolved in water. Coating method: spray coating (spray method). Result of execution: Good transfer was performed in the same manner as in Example 1.

[0020]

As described above, in the recording apparatus according to the first aspect, since the ink on the recording medium is transferred to the transparent sheet and the transparent sheet is attached to the recording paper,
The transferred ink is sandwiched between the recording paper and the transparent sheet, thereby preventing the ink from peeling off. Therefore, high-quality recording without peeling of ink after transfer can be realized. In the recording apparatus according to the second aspect, since the ink is coated with a coating agent after development, and the ink is transferred to an intermediate transfer body together with the coating agent and then transferred to a recording paper, the transferred ink is a recording paper and a coating agent. In this state, the ink is prevented from peeling off. Therefore, high-quality recording without peeling of ink after transfer can be realized. Also, as in claim 3,
By using an ink that becomes highly viscous at the time of transfer as the ink, transferability is improved. Further, if the latent image is formed with ink and the latent image is formed and developed at the same time, the apparatus configuration is simplified and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing one embodiment of claim 1, wherein (a)
FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a recording apparatus, and FIG. 2B is an enlarged view of a portion A in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a view showing another embodiment of claim 2, and is an explanatory view showing an example of a coating agent application mechanism.

4A and 4B are explanatory diagrams of a conventional technique, in which FIG. 4A is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an example of a conventional recording apparatus, and FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Recording body 2, 3 ... Supporting / driving roller 4 ... Thermal head 5 ... Contact member (latent image forming liquid) 6 ... Developing device 7 ... Developing roller 8 ...・ Recording agent (ink) 9 ・ ・ ・ Transfer roller 10 ・ ・ ・ Transparent sheet 11,13 ・ ・ ・ Adhering roller 12 ・ ・ ・ Recording paper 14 ・ ・ ・ Cleaner 15 ・ ・ ・ Image removal heating means 16 ・ ・・ Intermediate transfer member 17 ・ ・ ・ Transfer roller 18 ・ ・ ・ Sprayer 19 ・ ・ ・ Coating agent 20 ・ ・ ・ Coating roller 21 ・ ・ ・ Porous body

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41L 19/00-19/16 B41C 1/00-1/16 B41M 1/00-5/26

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A recording medium having a surface in which the receding contact angle is reduced and the liquid adhesion is increased when the recording medium is brought into contact with a liquid in a heated state. Alternatively, it is selectively heated in a state where the contact member made of a solid that becomes vapor is in contact with
Accordingly , a latent image is formed on the heating section by a method of reducing the receding contact angle, and a visible image is formed by contacting the latent image with a recording material containing a color developing material and developing the latent image. A recording apparatus having means for transferring an image to recording paper, wherein the visible image on the recording medium is transferred to a transparent sheet, and then the transparent sheet is attached to the recording sheet. 2. A recording medium having a surface in which the receding contact angle is reduced and the liquid adhesion is increased when the recording medium is heated and brought into contact with a liquid. Alternatively, it is selectively heated in a state where the contact member made of a solid that becomes vapor is in contact with
Accordingly , a latent image is formed on the heating section by a method of reducing the receding contact angle, and a visible image is formed by contacting the latent image with a recording material containing a color developing material and developing the latent image. In a recording apparatus having a unit for transferring an image to recording paper, a member which becomes sticky by heating after the development (hereinafter, referred to as a member).
A coating device), and a visible image together with the coating agent is transferred to an intermediate transfer member, and then transferred to a recording sheet. 3. A recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the recording apparatus characterized by the use of what the Takaneba稠during transfer as a recording agent. 4. A recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein performs latent image formed by the recording agent, a recording apparatus characterized by performing a developing the latent image formed at the same time.