JP3174144B2 - Thermal transfer recording apparatus and facsimile apparatus using the apparatus - 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 transferring an ink on an ink sheet to a recording medium and recording an image on the recording medium, and a facsimile apparatus using the apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a thermal transfer printer uses an ink sheet obtained by applying a heat-fusible (thermal sublimation) ink to a base film, and selectively heats the ink sheet by a thermal head in accordance with an image signal. Image recording is performed by transferring the melted ink to recording paper. Generally, this ink sheet is a sheet in which ink is completely transferred to recording paper by one-time image recording (so-called one-time sheet). Therefore, it is necessary to transport the ink sheet by an amount corresponding to the above, and to surely bring the unused portion of the ink sheet to the next recording position. For this reason, the use amount of the ink sheet increases, and the running cost of the thermal transfer printer tends to be higher than that of a normal thermal printer that records on thermal paper.

In order to solve such a problem, as described in JP-A-57-83471, JP-A-58-201686 and JP-B-62-58917, a recording paper and an ink sheet are used. There has been proposed a thermal transfer printer which transports a sheet at a speed difference.

[0004]

An ink sheet (so-called multi-print sheet) capable of recording a plurality of (n) times of images
When the ink sheet is used, when the recording length L is continuously recorded, the conveyance length of the ink sheet conveyed after the end of each image recording or during the image recording is set to the length L. Smaller (L / n: n> 1). As a result, the use efficiency of the ink sheet becomes n times as large as the conventional one, and a reduction in running cost of the thermal transfer printer can be expected. Hereinafter, this recording method is referred to as multi-printing.

In the case of multi-printing using such an ink sheet, the ink in the ink layer of the ink sheet is heated n times. Then, each time the heating is performed, a shearing force is generated between the ink that has been melted in the ink layer and the ink that has not been melted to transfer the ink to the recording paper. For this reason, there is a drawback that unless preheating is performed prior to the start of recording of one line, appropriate heat control cannot be performed, and image quality deteriorates. Even in the case of thermal transfer recording using a one-time sheet, it is desirable to perform preheating from the viewpoint of improving the image quality. Furthermore, the types of images are roughly classified into two types: binary images and halftone images, and suitable preheat data differs depending on the type of image.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to obtain high-quality image quality by performing preheating suitable for the type of an image to be recorded before printing a predetermined amount. It is an object of the present invention to provide a thermal transfer recording apparatus and a facsimile apparatus using the apparatus.

[0007]

To achieve the above object, a thermal transfer recording apparatus according to the present invention has the following arrangement. That is, a thermal transfer recording apparatus that records ink on a recording medium by transferring ink included in an ink sheet to a recording medium, wherein the detection unit detects a type of an image to be recorded and the detection unit detects the type of an image to be recorded. Generating means for generating preheat data according to the type of the image, and preheating means for executing preheating based on the preheat data generated by the generating means.

In order to achieve the above object, a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention has the following arrangement. That is, in a facsimile apparatus that transfers an ink having an ink sheet to a recording medium and outputs an image by a thermal transfer recording device that records an image on the recording medium, a detection unit that detects a type of an image to be recorded, A generating unit configured to generate preheat data corresponding to a type of an image detected by the detecting unit; and a preheating unit configured to perform preheating based on the preheat data generated by the generating unit.

[0009]

With the above arrangement, the method of generating preheat data is switched according to the type of image (for example, a halftone image and a binary image), and the preheat is executed using the preheat data corresponding to the type of image.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<Embodiment 1> [Description of facsimile apparatus (FIGS. 1 to 5)] FIGS. 1 to 5
FIG. 1 is a view showing an example in which a thermal transfer printer using one embodiment of the present invention is applied to a facsimile apparatus. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the facsimile apparatus. FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the facsimile apparatus. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a conveyance mechanism of a recording paper and an ink sheet, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an electrical connection between a control unit 101 and a recording unit 102 of the facsimile apparatus. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an electrical connection of a data processing unit. FIG.

First, a schematic configuration of a facsimile apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 1, a reading unit 100 photoelectrically reads a document and outputs it as a digital image signal to a control unit 101. The reading unit 100 includes a document transport motor and a CCD image sensor. Next, the configuration of the control unit 101 will be described. A line memory 110 stores the image data of each line of the image data. The line memory 110 stores one line of image data from the reading unit 100 when transmitting or copying a document, and decodes the image data when receiving image data. One line data of the received image data is stored. Then, the stored data is output to the recording unit 102 to perform image formation. 111 is the image information to be transmitted
An encoding / decoding unit that encodes by H encoding or the like, decodes received encoded image data, and converts the image data into image data. Reference numeral 112 denotes a buffer memory for storing transmitted or received encoded image data. Each unit of the control unit 101 is controlled by a CPU 113 such as a microprocessor. The control unit 101 includes, in addition to the CPU 113, a CPU 113
ROM1 that stores control programs and various data for
A RAM 115 for temporarily storing various data as a work area for the CPU 113;

A recording unit 102 includes a thermal line head and records an image on recording paper by a thermal transfer recording method. This configuration will be described later in detail with reference to FIG. 103
An operation unit including various function instruction keys for setting a binary mode or a halftone mode, starting transmission, and a key for inputting a telephone number, and 103a is a switch for instructing the type of the ink sheet 14 to be used. Indicates that the multi-print ink sheet is mounted, and when off, the normal ink sheet is mounted. A display unit 104 is normally provided adjacent to the operation unit 103, and displays various functions and the status of the apparatus. Reference numeral 105 denotes a power supply unit for supplying power to the entire apparatus. Reference numeral 106 denotes a modem (modulator / demodulator), 107 denotes a network control unit (NCU), and 108 denotes a telephone.

Next, the configuration of the recording section 102 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The same parts as those in FIG. 1 are indicated by the same reference numerals.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a recording paper 1 which is plain paper.
1 is a roll paper in which a core 10a is wound in a roll shape.
The roll paper 10 is rotatably stored in the apparatus so that the recording paper 11 can be supplied to the thermal head unit 13 by rotating the platen roller 12 in the direction of the arrow. Note that reference numeral 10b denotes a roll paper loading unit in which the roll paper 10 is removably loaded. Further, reference numeral 12 denotes a platen roller which conveys the recording paper 11 in the direction of the arrow b and presses the ink sheet 14 and the recording paper 11 between itself and the heating element 132 of the thermal head 13. The recording paper 11 on which image recording has been performed by the heat generated by the thermal head 13 is conveyed in the direction of the discharge rollers 16 (16a, 16b) by further rotation of the platen roller 12, and when image recording for one page is completed, the cutter 15 (15a) is completed. , 15
The sheet is cut into pages by the engagement of b).

Reference numeral 17 denotes an ink sheet supply roll for winding the ink sheet 14, and reference numeral 18 denotes an ink sheet take-up roll, which is driven by an ink sheet transport motor to be described later and winds the ink sheet 14 in the direction of arrow a. Things. The ink sheet take-up roll 17 and the ink sheet take-up roll 18 are removably mounted on an ink sheet loading section 70 in the apparatus main body. further,
Reference numeral 19 denotes the detection of the remaining amount of the ink sheet 14 or the ink sheet 14.
This is a sensor for detecting the transport speed of the camera. Also, 20
Denotes an ink sheet sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the ink sheet 14, and 21 denotes a spring which presses the thermal head 13 against the platen roller 12 via the recording paper 11 or the ink sheet 14. Reference numeral 22 denotes a recording sheet sensor for detecting the presence or absence of a recording sheet.

Next, the configuration of the reading unit 100 will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 30 denotes a light source for irradiating an original 32, and light reflected by the original 32 is reflected by an optical system (mirrors 50, 50).
51, a lens 52) and is input to the CCD sensor 31 and converted into an electric signal. The original 32 is transported by rollers 53 and 5 driven by an original transport motor (not shown).
The document 32 is conveyed according to the reading speed of the document 32. Reference numeral 57 denotes a document loading table. The plurality of documents 32 loaded on the loading table 57 are separated one by one by the cooperation of the transport roller 54 and the pressing separation piece 58, and the reading unit 100 Transported to

Reference numeral 41 denotes a control board which constitutes a main part of the control unit 101, and various control signals are output from the control board 41 to various parts of the apparatus. Reference numeral 106 denotes a modem board unit, and 107 denotes an NCU board unit.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing details of a mechanism for transporting the ink sheet 14 and the recording paper 11.

In the drawing, reference numeral 24 denotes a rotary drive of the platen roller 12, and the recording paper 11 is moved in the direction of arrow b
This is a recording paper transport motor for transporting in the direction. Reference numeral 25 designates the ink sheet 14 as the capstan roller 7.
1, an ink sheet transport motor for transporting in the direction of arrow a by the pinch roller 72; In addition, 26,
Reference numeral 27 denotes a transmission gear for transmitting the rotation of the recording paper conveyance motor 24 to the platen roller 12, and reference numerals 73 and 74 denote transmission gears for transmitting the rotation of the ink sheet conveyance motor 25 to the capstan roller 71. Reference numeral 75 denotes a slip clutch unit.

Here, the ratio of the gears 74 and 75 is set so that the length of the ink sheet 14 wound around the winding roll 18 by the rotation of the gear 75a is longer than the length of the ink sheet conveyed by the capstan roller 71. Is set, the ink sheet 14 conveyed by the capstan roller 71 is reliably taken up by the take-up roll 18. Then, the ink sheet 14 is wound by the winding roll 18.
Is taken up by the slip clutch unit 75, and the amount corresponding to the difference amount of the ink sheet 14 sent by the capstan roller 71 is absorbed. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress a change in the transport speed (amount) of the ink sheet 14 due to a change in the winding diameter of the winding roll 18.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the connection of the electric system between the control unit 101 and the recording unit 102 in the facsimile apparatus of the embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the connection of the electric system of the data processing unit 80. The same parts as those shown in FIG.

The data stored in the line memory 110 is transferred to the shift register 130 of the thermal head 13 via the data processing section 80, and the recording operation is sequentially performed.

Here, the operation of the data processing unit 80 when the smoothing circuit does not operate in the copy mode will be described. First, reference numeral 133 denotes a preheat data creation circuit which receives the line data output to the signal line 110a and outputs a black signal to the signal line 133a when the signal of the signal level "0" is output to the signal line 101a. Is output, and when the signal of the signal level “1” is output to the signal line 101a, the signal line 133a
To output preheat data of the inverted data of the previous line. Here, all white information other than the effective recording width is used.

Reference numeral 134 denotes a binary / halftone detection circuit which has a buffer of several lines and focuses on each dot of the line data currently output to the signal line 110a, and determines whether it is a binary image signal or a halftone. Detect whether the signal is an image signal. Then, as a result of the detection, a signal having a signal level “0” is output to the signal line 134 a when the signal is a binary image signal, and a signal having a signal level “1” is output when the signal is a halftone image signal.

Reference numeral 135 denotes a selection circuit, which is a signal line 101d.
When the signal of the signal level “0” is output to the line memory 110 (the signal line 110 a
Is output to the signal line 135a. Also, signal line 1
When the signal of the signal level “1” is output to 01d, the selection circuit 135 outputs the preheat data creation circuit 133
(Signal of the signal line 133a) is output to the signal line 135a.

Reference numerals 136 and 137 denote switch circuits. The signal of the signal line 101c is input, and this signal level is "0".
If so, the switch circuit 136 connects the signal line 135a to the signal line 136c, and connects the signal line 135b to the signal line 136d.
Connect to At this time, the switch circuit 137 connects the signal line 136c to the signal line 43a, and connects the signal line 136d to the signal line 43b. These switch circuits 13
6 and 137, the signal passes the smoothing circuit 138, and no smoothing control is performed. In addition, the signal line 101
If the signal level of c is “1”, the switch circuit 136
Is the signal line 135a to the signal line 136a, and the signal line 135b
Is connected to the signal line 136b, and the switch circuit 137 connects the signal line 138a to the signal line 43a and the signal 138b to the signal line 43b. By these operations, the smoothing circuit 138 is connected to perform smoothing control.

138 is a smoothing circuit. By specifying the current mode (standard / fine / super fine) and the mode in which recording is performed by the signal on the signal line 101b, reference data and creation line data are output to the signal line 138a. For example, when recording standard mode data in super fine mode,
If the current mode is the standard mode and the recording mode is the super fine mode, three lines of creation data are generated following one line of reference data. 139 is an addition circuit, which is a signal line 4
4 and the latch signal input from the signal line 138c are OR-combined, and the combined latch signal is output to the signal line 139a.

At the time of image recording, pre-heating of inverted data of the previous line is used in the case of halftone and preheating of all black data is used in the binary mode. Make settings for. In order to inhibit smoothing, the signal line 101c
To output a signal of signal level "0". Then, while performing control of the signal line 101d, transfer of preheat data and main print data and application of heat are performed to perform a recording operation.

On the other hand, a case where the smoothing function is operated in the reception mode will be described below. Here, consider reception in the standard mode and smoothing to the super fine mode. First, the smoothing circuit 138 is set to be received in the standard mode via the signal line 101b and to be recorded in the super fine mode. At this time, first, the binary / halftone detection circuit 134
Focusing on each bit of the line information, it detects whether it is halftone image information or binary image information. The preheat data creation circuit 138 is controlled based on the detection result. Then, the preheat data creation circuit 138 creates preheat data of the line to be recorded from now on using the information of the previous line, and outputs it to the signal line 133a.

At the time of preheat data transfer, the signal line 101
A signal having a signal level “1” is output to d, and a signal having a signal level “0” is output to the signal line 101c. The signal passes through the smoothing circuit 138 and turns off the smoothing circuit 138. This is because the smoothing process must not be performed on the preheat data. After the transfer of the preheat data, a signal of signal level “0” is output to the signal line 101 d and a signal of signal level “1” is output to the signal line 101 c so that the recording data passes through the smoothing circuit 138. That is, a smoothing process is performed. Then, a latch signal is output to the signal line 44 and the latch circuit 131 holds the preheat data.

After the transfer of the preheat data is completed, the data of this line is input to the smoothing circuit 138 via the signal lines 135a and 136a. Then, when the transfer of the line data is completed, the preheating is performed using the preheating data held in the latch circuit 131. After the execution of the preheat data is completed, the smoothing circuit 138 outputs a latch signal to the signal line 138c, holds the reference data in the latch circuit 131, and executes the recording of the reference line data. During this time, the smoothing circuit 138 outputs creation data of the first line according to a command input via the signal line 101b, and transfers the created data to the thermal head. After the recording of the reference line data is completed, a latch signal is output to the signal line 138c, the creation data of the first line is held in the latch circuit 131, and the creation data of the first line is recorded. During this time, the smoothing circuit 138 outputs creation data of the second line according to a command input via the signal line 101b. Thereafter, the second and third lines of the created data are printed in the same manner.

The thermal head 13 is a line head. The thermal head 13 has a shift register 130 for inputting serial recording data 43a for one line and a shift clock 43b, and a latch signal 139.
A latch circuit 131 for latching the data of the shift register 130 by a is provided with a heating element 132 composed of a low-heat-generating antibody for one line. Here, the low fever antibody 132 is driven by being divided into m blocks denoted by 132-1 to 132-m. 140 is the thermal head 1
3 is a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the thermal head 13. This temperature sensor 133
The output signal 42 is subjected to A / D conversion in the control unit 101 and input to the CPU 113. Thereby, the CPU 1
13 detects the temperature of the thermal head 13 and changes the pulse width of the strobe signal 47 in accordance with the detected temperature;
Alternatively, the driving voltage of the thermal head 13 is changed, and the thermal head 1 is changed according to the characteristics of the ink sheet 14.
3 is changed. Reference numeral 116 denotes a programmable timer, which is set by the CPU 113 and starts counting when an instruction to start counting is given. Then, it operates so as to output an interrupt signal, a timeout signal, and the like to the CPU 113 at every designated time.

The type (characteristics) of the ink sheet 14
May be determined by detecting the switch 103a of the operation unit 103, the mark printed on the ink sheet 14, or the like, and the mark, notch, projection, or the like attached to the cartridge of the ink sheet. The determination may be performed.

Reference numeral 46 denotes the thermal head 1 from the control unit 101.
And a strobe signal 47 for driving the thermal head 13 in each block unit. In addition, the drive circuit 46 can change the voltage output to the power supply line 45 that supplies current to the heating element 132 of the thermal head 13 to change the energy applied to the thermal head 13 according to an instruction from the control unit 101. A drive circuit 36 drives the cutter 15 by meshing with it, and includes a cutter driving motor and the like. Reference numeral 39 denotes a paper discharge motor that rotationally drives the paper discharge roller 16. 3
Reference numerals 5, 48, and 49 designate corresponding paper ejection motors 39,
This is a driver circuit that rotationally drives the recording paper transport motor 24 and the ink sheet transport motor 25. In this embodiment, the paper ejection motor 39, the recording paper conveyance motor 24, and the ink sheet conveyance motor 25 are stepping motors, but are not limited thereto, and may be, for example, DC motors. Is also good.

The recording operation of the facsimile apparatus according to the present embodiment having the above configuration will be described below. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of recording control when recording is performed with the smoothing function. Here, the image data in the standard mode is
A case in which the recording is performed as a super fine using the smoothing function will be described.

In step S2, a setting is made in the smoothing circuit 138 so that "image data is in the standard mode" and "recording is performed in superfine using smoothing".

This control consists of a main CPU and a slave CPU.
(UPI), but in step S4, "image data is in the standard mode" and "record by super fine using smoothing" in UPI.
Notify that. This UPI control is described in FIG.
8 will be described later.

In step S6, a signal of signal level "1" is output to the signal line 101d and a signal of signal level "0" is output to the signal line 101c, and the smoothing circuit is turned off.

In steps S8 to S14, transfer of preheat data is executed. In the case of the halftone or AA (Automatic adjust) mode, a signal of signal level "1" is output to the signal line 101a, and the preheat data creation circuit 133 generates inverted data of the previous line as preheat data. Transfer to (Step S14). If it is neither halftone nor AA mode, that is, if it is a binary mode, a signal of signal level "0" is output to the signal line 101a, and the preheat data creation circuit 133 generates all black data as preheat data. Thermal head 13
(Step S12).

In step S16, a latch signal is output to the signal line 44, and the preheat data is
31. In step S18, the signal line 10
1d, a signal of signal level “0” is output, and the signal line 101
The signal of the signal level “1” is output to c, and the smoothing circuit 138 is turned on. Then, in step S20, the image information is transferred from the line memory 110.

In step S22, a print command is output. When this print command is received by the UPI, the UPI executes control in accordance with the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, and performs preheating and recording for one line.

In step S24, after confirming that the transfer busy from the UPI becomes 0, the process proceeds to step S26, and the smoothing circuit is turned off as in step 6.

In steps S28 to S34, as in steps S8 to S12, in the case of the halftone or AA mode, the inverted data of the previous line is transferred as preheat data, and in the case of the binary mode, all black data is transferred. Is transferred as a preheat.

In step S36, after confirming that the recording busy from the UPI becomes 0, the process proceeds to step S38, and it is determined whether the recording of one page is completed. If the recording of one page has been completed in step S38, the present process ends. If the processing has not been completed, the process returns to step S16, and the processing after step S16 is repeated.

Next, UPI processing when a print command output from the CPU in step S22 is received will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8
9 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of a recording operation by UPI.

In step S44, the motor phase is switched between the ink sheet and the recording sheet, thereby carrying one super fine one line. At the same time, the main CP
The transfer busy and the recording busy are set to "1" for U (steps S46 and S48).

After a wait of 1 ms, pre-heating is performed by applying a 2-scan current to the pre-heating data held in the latch circuit 131. (Steps S50, S5
2).

Next, in step S54, the signal line 101
Instruct the smoothing circuit 138 to output the creation data of the first line via b. From the smoothing circuit 138, first, a latch signal is output to the signal line 138 c and reference data is held in the latch circuit 131, and then the creation data of the first line (that is, the data of the ラ イ ン line) is transferred to the thermal head 13. Is done. Then, in step S56, the motor phase of the ink sheet and the recording paper is switched to carry one super fine line, and in step S58, the recording of the reference data (the data of the 1/4 line) is performed by the main heat. This is performed by performing 4 scans.

Next, in step S60, the signal line 101
Instruct the smoothing circuit 138 to create the 3/4 line via b. The smoothing circuit 138 outputs a latch signal, and outputs the data of the 2/4 line to the latch circuit 131.
After that, the data of the 3/4 line is created and transferred. Next, in step S62, the motor phase of the ink sheet and the recording paper is switched to carry one super fine line. In the meantime, in step S64, the recording of the 3/4 line is performed by performing the main heat for 4 scans.

Next, in step S66, the signal line 101
Instruct the smoothing circuit 138 to create the 4/4 line via b. The smoothing circuit 138 outputs a latch signal, and outputs the data of the ラ イ ン line to the latch circuit 131.
Then, the data of the 4/4 line is created and transferred. Then, in step S68, the motor phase of the ink sheet and the recording paper is switched to carry one super fine line. The recording of the 3/4 line in the standard mode is performed by performing the main heat for 4 scans.

Next, in step S72, the signal line 1
01b, it instructs the smoothing circuit 138 to complete the data transfer of the 4/4 line. The smoothing circuit 138 receives this signal and outputs a latch signal.
The data of the fourth line is held in the latch circuit 131. In step S76, the transfer busy signal is set to "0".

In step S76, the recording of the 4/4 line in the standard mode is executed by performing the main heat for 4 scans. In step S78, "0" is set for the recording busy, and the process ends.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the operation timing of the recording system under the control of the CPU and the UPI. The description of each timing in FIG. 9 is clear from the flowcharts in FIGS. 6 to 8 described above, and thus the description is omitted here. However,
The timing of the phase switching of the motor takes into consideration the actual driving time of the motor after the phase switching is performed. For this reason, the phase of the motor is switched earlier than the recording process of each line. Note that the actual driving of the motor is shown by a broken line in FIG.

[Explanation of Recording Principle (FIG. 7)] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an image recording state when an image is recorded by reversing the transport direction of the recording paper 11 and the ink sheet 14 in this embodiment. .

As shown, a recording paper 11 and an ink sheet 14 are sandwiched between a platen roller 12 and a thermal head 13, and the thermal head 13 is pressed against the platen roller 12 by a spring 12 at a predetermined pressure. I have. Here, the recording paper 11 is conveyed at a speed VP in the direction of arrow b by the rotation of the platen roller 12. On the other hand, the ink sheet 14 is conveyed at a speed VI in the direction of arrow a by the rotation of the ink sheet conveying motor 25.

Now, the low heat generation antibody 1 of the thermal head 13
When power is supplied from the power supply 105 to the heater 32, the portion of the ink sheet 14 indicated by the hatched portion 91 is heated. Here, 14a is the base film of the ink sheet 14, 1
Reference numeral 4b denotes an ink layer of the ink sheet 14. The ink in the ink layer 91 heated by energizing the heat-generating low antibody 132 is melted, and a portion indicated by 92 is transferred to the recording paper 11. This transferred ink layer portion 92
Corresponds to approximately 1 / n of the ink layer indicated by 91.

At the time of this transfer, it is necessary to transfer only the portion indicated by 92 to the recording paper 11 by generating a shearing force on the ink at the boundary line 93 of the ink layer 14b. If the relative speed between the ink sheet 14 and the recording paper 11 is increased,
The ink layer to be transferred can be reliably separated from the ink sheet 14.

[Explanation of Ink Sheet (FIG. 8)] FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of an ink sheet used for multi-printing of the present embodiment, which is composed of four layers.

First, the second layer is a base film serving as a support for the ink sheet. In the case of multi-printing, since heat energy is applied to the same location many times, an aromatic polyamide film or a capacitor paper having high heat resistance is advantageous, but a conventional polyester film can be used. As for these thicknesses, as thin as possible from the role of the medium, it is advantageous in terms of print quality, but from the point of strength,
8 μm is desirable.

The third layer is an ink layer containing an amount of ink that can be transferred to recording paper (recording sheet) n times. This component is composed of a resin such as EVA as an adhesive, carbon black or nigrosine dye for coloring, carnauba wax or paraffin wax as a binding material, and is blended so as to withstand n uses in the same place. ing. The coating amount is desirably 4 to 8 g / m @ 2, but sensitivity and density vary depending on the coating amount, and can be arbitrarily selected.

The fourth layer is a portion where printing is not performed and the third layer is formed on the recording paper.
This is a top coating layer for preventing pressure transfer of the ink in the layer, and is made of a transparent wax or the like. As a result, only the transparent fourth layer is pressure-transferred, thereby preventing the recording paper from being stained. The first layer is a heat-resistant coat layer that protects the base film of the second layer from the heat of the thermal head 13. This is suitable for multi-printing where thermal energy for n lines may be applied to the same location (when black information is continuous), but whether or not to use it can be selected as appropriate. It is also effective for base films having relatively low heat resistance such as polyester films.

The structure of the ink sheet 14 is not limited to this embodiment. For example, the ink sheet 14 may be composed of a base layer and a porous ink holding layer containing ink provided on one side of the base layer. Alternatively, a heat-resistant ink layer having a fine porous network structure may be provided on a base film, and the ink may be contained in the ink layer. Also,
As the material of the base film, for example, a film or paper made of polyamide, polyethylene, polyester, polyvinyl chloride, triacetyl cellulose, nylon, or the like may be used. Further, although the heat-resistant coat layer is not necessarily required, the material thereof may be, for example, a silicone resin, an epoxy resin, a fluorine resin, an etocellulose, or the like.

As described above, according to the facsimile apparatus using the thermal transfer apparatus according to the first embodiment, by performing preheat printing in multiprint,
High quality images can be obtained. At the time of binary image recording, preheating of all black data has an effect of preheating, and has an effect of improving the reproducibility of information on isolated points. When a halftone image is printed, preheating of the inverted data of the previous line has an effect of preventing the image from being collapsed due to the function of the heat history. Further, since the preheat data is white information except for the effective recording width, the thermal head in a portion where there is no recording paper or ink sheet is heated to prevent breakage. Also, even when using the smoothing function, the preheating can be performed even when recording using the smoothing function by turning off the smoothing function when transferring the preheat data and not processing the reference line. Things.

<Embodiment 2> Preheat data creation circuit 1
33, without using the selection circuit 135, the same preheating as in the first embodiment can be achieved by software processing. In a second embodiment, a facsimile apparatus that performs preheating by software will be described. The functional configuration of the facsimile apparatus of the second embodiment is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment, and is a configuration in which the preheat generating circuit 133 and the selecting circuit 135 are removed from the data processing circuit shown in FIG. Therefore, the signal line 101a is unnecessary, and the signal line 101
d is directly connected to the signal line 135a.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure at the time of recording by the facsimile apparatus according to the second embodiment. If it is determined in step S80 that recording is not possible, the process ends. If recording is possible, the read data is stored in the DMABUF that stores the read data for each line.
In step S84, the control waits for the transfer busy signal from the UPI to be turned off, and after confirming that the transfer busy signal is turned off, proceeds to step S86 to turn off the smoothing circuit.

In step S88, as a result of the detection by the binary / halftone detecting circuit, if the image data is a halftone image, the process proceeds to step S90. If the image data is a binary image, the process proceeds to step S92. In step S90, the image data of the previous line is inverted and transferred to the thermal head 13 as preheat data (however, only the effective recording range). In step S92, all the black data of one line is transferred to the thermal head 13 as preheat data (however, only the effective recording range).

In step S94, the process waits for the recording system busy signal from the UPI to be turned off. After confirming that the busy signal is turned off, the flow advances to step S96. In step S96, the smoothing circuit is turned on, and in the following step S98, a latch pulse is output to the signal line 44, and the latch circuit 13
1 holds preheat data. And step S
At 100, the image data for one line is transferred to the smoothing circuit 138. Then, in step S102,
A print command is output to the UPI to execute preheating and recording of an image for one line in the standard mode (for four lines in the super fine mode).

Next, in step S104, it is checked whether or not there is still read information. If there is read information, the flow returns to step S80 to repeat the above processing. If there is no read information, the process ends.

The data transfer process in the above-described process # 1 line image data transfer (step S100),
The transfer of the inverted data of the previous line (step S90) and the transfer of all the black data of one line (step S92) will be described.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a control procedure for transferring one line of image data to the thermal head. In step S110, three of the head size, the recording paper size, and the recording size (the size of the image data)
The copy data (Bx) is set according to the two conditions. In step S111, the number of left-most white bits is obtained from the copy data Bx, and the run-length white data is output to the head. By this processing, the data on the left side of the effective recording range is set to “white”. Next, in step S112, image data is output in word units for the number of words in the effective recording range obtained from Bx. Then, in step S113, the white data is output to the head using the number of rightmost white bits obtained from Bx as the run length. By this processing, the data on the right side of the effective recording range is set to “white”.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a control procedure for transferring the inverted data of the previous line to the thermal head. Steps S120, 121 and 123 are shown in FIG.
Steps S110 and S111 in the flowchart of FIG.
And 113. In step S122, DM
The image data of the previous line stored in the ABUF is inverted for the effective recording range obtained by the copy data Bx and transferred to the thermal head.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a control procedure for transferring all black data to the thermal head.
Steps S130, 131 and 133 correspond to steps S110, 111 and 113 in the flowchart of FIG.
Is the same as In step S132, black data for the effective recording range determined by the copy data Bx is transferred to the thermal head.

Each process in the flowcharts of FIGS. 13 to 15 will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the procedure for setting the copy data Bx, and shows the details of the processing in steps S110, S120 and S130 described above. In step S140, the head size information (for example, 0 for B4 and 1 for A4) is set in Bx bit [2]. Next, in step S141, the recording paper size information is set to Bx
Is set to bit [1]. Then, step S14
In 2, the recording size information is set to bit [0] of Bx. Here, the head size and the recording paper size are physically determined sizes, and the recording size is the size of the image data.

FIG. 17 is a copy showing the value of Bx set according to the flowchart of FIG. 16 described above, the number of leftmost white bytes, the number of bytes in the effective recording range, and the number of rightmost white bytes corresponding to each Bx. It is a data table.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart for outputting the white data for the leftmost white nail to the thermal head, and shows the details of the processing in steps S111, S121 and S131. In step S150, the process waits for completion of serial conversion for data transfer to the head, and proceeds to step S151. In step S151, the “leftmost white-byte number” corresponding to Bx is read from the copy table shown in FIG. 17 and is substituted for Ax. If Ax = 0 in step S152, the output of white data is not executed, and the process is terminated. A
If x = 1, the process proceeds to step S153, where Ax is multiplied by 8 to convert from the number of bytes to the number of bits. Then, in step S154, white data is output to the head using the value of Ax as the run length.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing a control procedure for transferring image data in the effective recording range to the thermal head, and shows the details of the processing in step S112 in FIG. In step S160, the process waits for completion of serial conversion for data transfer to the head, and proceeds to step S161. In step S161, “the number of bytes in the effective recording range” corresponding to Bx is read from the copy data table shown in FIG. 17, and is substituted for Cx. Next, in step S162, Cx is multiplied by 1/2, and this is converted into the number of words. Then, data of Cx words is transferred from the DMABUF storing the data to be transferred to the thermal head.

The details of the process in step S163 will be further described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

In step S170, the head address of the area of the line buffer DMABUF in which the data to be transferred is stored is assigned to SI as the read start address. In step S171, one word of image data from the SI address is transferred to the thermal head. In step S172, Cx is decremented by one, and in the next step S173, it is checked whether Cx = 0. When the transfer of Cx words is completed, Cx = 0, so if Cx = 0, the process ends. Also, Cx ≠ 0
In the case of, the process proceeds to step S174, where the next read address is set in SI, and the process returns to S171.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart for outputting the white data for the rightmost white nail to the thermal head, and shows the details of the processing in steps S113, S123, and S133. In step S180, the process waits for the completion of serial conversion for data transfer to the head, and proceeds to step S181. In step S181, the "rightmost white-byte number" corresponding to Bx is read from the copy table shown in FIG. 17, and is substituted for Ax. If Ax = 0 in step S182, the output of white data is not executed, and the process ends. A
If x = 1, the process proceeds to step S183, where Ax is multiplied by 8 to convert from the number of bytes to the number of bits. Then, in step S184, the white data is output to the head using the value of Ax as the run length.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing a control procedure for outputting the inverted data of the previous line of the effective recording range to the thermal head 13, and is shown in step S122 (FIG. 1).
This shows the details of the process 4). In this embodiment, it is assumed that there are 16 line buffers (DMABUF) for storing image data for each line. In step S190, the address of the DMABUF in which the latest line data is currently stored is substituted for SI. If this is the DMABUF _n. Next, in step S191, it is checked whether or not SI is equal to the start address (DMABUF ₀ ) of DMABUF. If they are equal, the process proceeds to step S192, and DMABUF ₁₅ is substituted into SI as the address of the line buffer of the previous line. If the result of the comparison in step S191 is not equal, the flow advances to step S193 to substitute DMABUF _n-1 into SI as the address of the line buffer of the previous line.

In step S194, the process waits for the completion of serial conversion for data transfer to the head.
Go to 195. In step S195, “the number of bytes in the effective recording range” corresponding to Bx is read from the copy data table shown in FIG. 17, and is substituted for Cx. Next, in step S196, Cx is multiplied by １ ／ and converted into the number of words. Then, in step S197, S
After inverting the data for Cx words from address I, the data is output to the thermal head.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart for explaining the data transfer process in step S197 described above in further detail. In step S200, S of the line buffer
The data of one word from address I is substituted for Ax. In step S201, the data of Ax is inverted, and in step S202, this Ax value is output to the thermal head 13. In step S203, Cx is decremented by one, and it is checked in next step S204 whether Cx = 0. When the transfer of Cx words is completed, Cx = 0, so if Cx = 0, the process ends. Also, C
If x ≠ 0, the process proceeds to step S205, where the next read address is set in SI, and the process returns to S200.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing a control procedure for outputting the effective recording range to the thermal head 13 as all-black data, and shows the details of the processing in step S132 (FIG. 15). In step S210, the process waits for completion of serial conversion for data transfer to the head, and then proceeds to step S211. In step S211,
The “number of bytes in the effective recording range” corresponding to Bx is read from the copy table shown in FIG. 17, and is substituted for Ax. Then, the process proceeds to step S212, where Ax is multiplied by 8 to convert from the number of bytes to the number of bits. Then, in step S213, black data is output to the head using the value of Ax as the run length.

As described above, according to the facsimile apparatus of the second embodiment, preheat data is generated by software.

<Embodiment 3> In Embodiment 3, a case will be described in which the method of creating preheat data is switched in dot units. In the configuration shown in FIG. 5, the binary / halftone detection circuit 134 receives one signal from the signal line 110a.
The detection result is output to the signal line 134a in dot units from the image data for the line. This data is output to the signal line 101a at the preheat data generation timing of the next line, and the preheat data generation circuit 133 is controlled.
The preheat data generation circuit generates preheat data corresponding to the detection result of the binary / halftone detection circuit 134 for each dot. Therefore, in the third embodiment, the method of generating the preheat data of the next line is switched depending on whether the image data of the previous line is binary or halftone.

FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing a control procedure at the time of recording of the facsimile apparatus according to the third embodiment. In this figure, steps for executing the same processing as in FIG. 6 of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals as in FIG. 6, and the description thereof is omitted here.

Steps S220 and S221 are processes for transferring the preheat data created by the preheat data creation circuit 133. FIG. 26 shows details of the procedure for creating preheat data in the preheat data creation circuit 133. In step S230, the binary / halftone determination result of the corresponding dot on the previous line is input to the preheat data creation circuit 133. In the preheat data creation circuit, it is determined in step S231 whether or not the image is a half tone.
Then, the corresponding dot data of the previous line is inverted and set as preheat data. If it is not halftone, the process proceeds to step S233, where the corresponding dot is set as black data, and this is set as preheat data. Then, in step S234, it is checked whether the processing has been completed for all the dots for one line, and if not, the process returns to step S230 to repeat the above processing.
If the processing has been completed for all the dots, this processing is completed.

In the third embodiment, the type of image is detected in dot units, but the present invention is not limited to this. 1
At least one of the lines determined to be halftone data by halftone data uses inverted data of the previous line as preheat data, and the line for which all dots of one line are determined to be binary data is preheated. Data of all black lines may be used as data.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the inverted data is used as the preheat data in the halftone and AA modes, and the inverted data of all black is used as the preheat data in the binary mode. However, the present invention is not limited to this. As the preheat data, other data may be used depending on the mode.

The heating method in the thermal transfer printer is not limited to the thermal head method using the thermal head described in [Explanation of Recording Principle] of the first embodiment. For example, a heating method or a laser transfer method is used. Is also good.

In this embodiment, an example in which a thermal line head is used has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a so-called serial type thermal transfer printer may be used. Further, in each of the embodiments described above, the case of multi-printing has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to normal thermal transfer recording using a one-time ink sheet.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the case where the thermal transfer printer is applied to a facsimile apparatus has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the thermal transfer recording apparatus of the present invention may be a word processor, a typewriter or a copying apparatus. It can also be applied to

The recording medium is not limited to recording paper, but may be, for example, a cloth or a plastic sheet as long as it can transfer ink. Further, the ink sheet is not limited to the roll configuration shown in the embodiment. For example, a so-called ink sheet cassette type in which an ink sheet is built in a housing detachable from the recording apparatus main body and the entire housing is detachably attached to the recording apparatus main body. And so on.

The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of one device. Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to a case where the present invention is achieved by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus.

[0099]

As described above, according to the thermal transfer recording apparatus of the present invention and the facsimile apparatus using the apparatus, prior to recording of a predetermined amount, preheating suitable for the type of image to be recorded is performed. High quality image quality can be obtained.

[0100]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic functional configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing a mechanism of the facsimile apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a transport system for an ink sheet and a recording sheet.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an electrical connection between a control unit and a recording unit of the facsimile apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an electrical connection of a data processing unit of the facsimile apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a control procedure of a CPU during recording processing according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a UPI control procedure during a recording process according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a UPI control procedure during a recording process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the timing of energizing the thermal head and the timing of transporting the ink sheet and the recording paper in the recording processing of the present embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a state of a recording sheet and an ink sheet during recording according to the present exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of a multi-ink sheet used in this example.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a control procedure of a CPU during a recording process according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a control procedure for transferring one line of image data during recording processing according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a control procedure for transferring inverted data of a previous line as preheat data.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a control procedure for transferring black data as preheat data.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for setting copy data.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a copy data table.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating a control procedure for filling the left end outside the effective recording range of one line of data with white data.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a control procedure for transferring image data in an effective recording range of one line of data.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating a transfer procedure of valid image data in word units.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating a control procedure for filling the right end outside the effective recording range of one line of data with white data.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart illustrating a control procedure for inverting and transferring image data in an effective recording range of one line of data.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for transferring inverted data of valid image data in word units.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for transferring an effective recording range of one line of data as all black data.

FIG. 25 is a flowchart illustrating a control procedure of a CPU during a recording process according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart illustrating an operation procedure of a preheat data creation circuit according to the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 13 ... Thermal head 14 ... Ink sheet 80 Data processing part 100 ... Reading part 101 ... Control part 102 ... Recording part 110 ... Line memory 111 ... Encoding / decoding part 112 ... Buffer memory 113 ... CPU 114 ... ROM 115 ... RAM 132 ... heat-generating low antibody (heat-generating element) 133 ... preheat data creation circuit 134 ... binary / halftone detection circuit 135 ... selection circuit 137,137 ... switch circuit 138 ... smoothing circuit 139 ... addition circuit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-59-133081 (JP, A) JP-A-58-155975 (JP, A) JP-A-59-162066 (JP, A) JP-A-63-163 4970 (JP, A) JP-A-61-20471 (JP, A) JP-A-61-176272 (JP, A) JP-A-59-161968 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 1/23-1/31

Claims (12)

(57) [Claims] 1. A thermal transfer recording apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium by transferring ink of an ink sheet to a recording medium, comprising: a detecting unit for detecting a type of an image to be recorded; A thermal transfer recording apparatus, comprising: a generating unit that generates preheat data according to the type of an image detected by the method; and a preheating unit that performs preheating based on the preheat data generated by the generating unit. 2. A thermal transfer recording apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium by transferring ink of an ink sheet to a recording medium, wherein the image area to be recorded is a binary image or a halftone image. Detecting means for detecting whether the image area is a binary image; first preheat data generating means for generating preheat data using the image area as black data; and wherein the image area is a halftone image. In some cases, a second preheat data generating means for generating inverted data of the recording data immediately before the image area as preheat data, and the recording based on the preheat data generated by the first or second preheat data generating means. A preheating means for executing preheating prior to recording of an image area to be formed. 3. The detecting means detects the type of image to be recorded on a line-by-line basis, and the generating means generates one line of preheat data according to the type of image detected by the detecting means. The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the detecting unit detects a type of an image to be recorded in a unit of a dot, and the generating unit performs a method of generating preheat data in a unit of a dot in accordance with the type of the image detected by the detecting unit. The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the preheat data is generated while changing the preheat data. 5. The preheat data generating means according to claim 1, wherein the preheat data generating means generates preheat data based on the image data in the effective recording area, and uses the white information as the preheat data in areas other than the effective recording area. Thermal transfer recording device. 6. A smoothing means for executing smoothing processing on image data, and a smoothing inhibiting means for inhibiting execution of smoothing processing by said smoothing means, wherein said smoothing inhibition means is used for preheat data. 2. The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a smoothing process is performed on the recorded image data without performing the process. 7. A facsimile apparatus for transferring an ink included in an ink sheet to a recording medium and outputting an image by a thermal transfer recording apparatus for recording an image on the recording medium. Means, generating means for generating preheat data according to the type of image detected by the detecting means, and preheating means for executing preheating based on the preheat data generated by the generating means. Facsimile machine. 8. A facsimile apparatus for transferring an ink included in an ink sheet to a recording medium and outputting an image by a thermal transfer recording apparatus for recording an image on the recording medium, wherein an image area to be recorded is a binary image. Detecting means for detecting whether the image area is a halftone image; first preheat data generating means for generating preheat data using the image area as black data when the image area is a binary image; When the area is a halftone image, the second preheat data generating means generates reverse data of the recording data immediately before the image area as preheat data, and the first or second preheat data generating means generates the preheat data. Preheating means for performing preheating prior to recording of the image area to be recorded by preheating data. Facsimile apparatus characterized by obtaining. 9. The detecting means detects a type of an image to be recorded on a line-by-line basis, and the generating means generates one line of preheat data in accordance with the type of the image detected by the detecting means. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 7, wherein: 10. The detecting means detects a type of an image to be recorded in dot units, and the generating means performs a method of generating preheat data in dot units according to the type of image detected by the detecting means. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the preheat data is generated while changing the preheat data. 11. The preheat data generating means according to claim 7, wherein said preheat data generating means generates preheat data based on image data in an effective recording area, and uses the white information as preheat data in areas other than the effective recording area. Facsimile machine. 12. A smoothing means for performing a smoothing process on image data; and a smoothing prohibiting means for prohibiting the smoothing process from being performed by the smoothing device. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 7, wherein a smoothing process is performed on the recording image data without performing the process.