JPH01209164A - Current supply transfer type printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an inexpensive current supply transfer type printing apparatus having long life and excellent in mass productivity, by constituting the substrate of a recording head of a metal plate and patterning recording needles composed of a metal foil on the single surface of the substrate in a predetermined shape through an electric insulating adhesive layer. CONSTITUTION:The constitutional material of a current supply transfer recording head is composed of a three-layer structure consisting of a metal plate 11, an electric insulating adhesive layer 10 and a metal foil 9. As the metal plate 11, for example, an aluminum plate, an iron plate or a silicon steel plate is used. As the insulating adhesive layer 10, for example, an epoxy resin adhesive layer is used and, as the metal foil 9, for example, a copper foil is used. This head constitutional material is used to perform the patterning of a large number of recording needles 1 and circuits 13 having a predetermined shape by a photolithographic process. Since the metal foil 9 is bonded to the metal plate 11 by the adhesive layer 10, and the current supply transfer recording head 12 wherein the recording needles 1 are not released in an etching process and patterned into a predetermined fine shape is obtained. A plating layer 14 having a predetermined thickness is formed on each of the recording needles 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a current transfer type printing device used in, for example, a portable image forming apparatus, a printer, a facsimile machine, etc., and particularly relates to a multi-needle electrode head of a current flow transfer recording system. It is.

[Prior art]

Conventionally, a glass plate or an epoxy plate is used as the head U plate, and a conductive material is deposited on the entire surface of one side by means such as vapor deposition or sputtering to form a return electrode. The other side is plated with recording needle material,
A large number of recording needles were formed by etching to form an electrical transfer recording head.

However, in the current transfer recording head configured in this manner, the adhesion between the head substrate and the recording needle is not good, and the recording needle may peel off from the substrate during use.

〔the purpose〕

It is an object of the present invention to overcome these drawbacks of the prior art and to provide a low-cost electrical transfer type printing device that has a long life and is excellent in mass productivity.

〔composition〕

In order to achieve this object, the present invention includes a resistive layer and a molten ink layer that are laminated, the molten ink layer is melted by Joule heat generated by passing a current through the resistive layer, and the molten ink is applied to recording paper. An ink ribbon to be transferred and an energized transfer recording head having a plurality of energized recording needles provided on one side of a substrate are provided, and the recording stylus side of the energized transfer recording head is brought into contact with the resistance layer of the ink ribbon to perform recording. The present invention is directed to an electrical transfer type printing device that prints by applying electricity to the resistance layer by applying a voltage between the needles.

The base of the recording head is made of a metal plate such as an aluminum plate, and a recording needle made of a metal foil such as copper foil is attached to one side of the base through an electrically insulating adhesive layer such as an epoxy resin. is characterized by being patterned into a predetermined shape.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main parts of the material constituting the current transfer recording head according to the embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are partial plan views and cross-sectional views of the recording head, and FIG. 4 is the recording head. FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the head, FIG. 5 is a plan view of the entire recording head, FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a portable image forming apparatus using the current transfer recording head, and FIGS. 7 and 8 are diagrams of the recording head. FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing another example of the recording head, and FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the operating principle of current transfer recording.

First, the operating principle of energized transfer recording will be explained using FIG. 10. As shown in the figure, resistance layer (base layer) 3a
The ink ribbon 3, which has a 25-structure structure including the ink layer 3b and the ink layer 3b, is superimposed on the recording paper 4. and ribbon 3 (resistance layer 3
An energized transfer recording head having a plurality of recording needles l and a return electrode 2 is brought into contact with the surface of a).
By applying a pulsed voltage between them, a corresponding current flows. Then, Joule heat is generated in the resistance layer 3a, and this heat melts the ink layer 3b, which is transferred to and permeates the recording paper 4 to perform printing.

This current transfer recording method has features such as better thermal efficiency, faster recording speed, and better resolution than the thermal transfer recording method, and is suitable for printing on recording paper with a fairly rough surface. It also has the advantage of providing good printing quality.

The constituent materials of the electrically conductive transfer recording head used for such recording have a three-layer structure consisting of a metal plate 11, an electrically insulating adhesive layer 10, and a metal foil 9, as shown in FIG.

For example, an aluminum plate, an iron plate, or a silicon steel plate is used as the city record metal plate 11, and the thickness is 0.5 to 2 m.
A value of about m is appropriate. For example, an epoxy resin adhesive is used as the insulating adhesive layer 10, and the thickness is 50 mm.
Approximately 300 μm or so is appropriate. Further, as the metal foil 9, for example, a copper foil is used, and its thickness is suitably about 18 to 35 μm.

Such a three-layer structure can be obtained by bonding the metal foil 9 to the metal plate 11 with an adhesive (insulating adhesive layer 10). ” can be used. In particular, the insulating adhesive layer 10 filled with a highly thermally conductive inorganic insulating material has a thermal conductivity approximately 10 times higher than that of a glass epoxy copper clad board, and is prized for its excellent heat dissipation properties.

Using this head constituent material, a large number of recording needles 1 and circuits 13 having predetermined shapes are patterned by a photolithography process, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. As described above, since the metal foil 9 is bonded to the metal plate 11 with the adhesive layer 10, the recording needle 1 does not peel off during the etching process, and the current transfer recording head 12 is patterned into a predetermined fine shape. is obtained. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 4, a plating layer 14 of a predetermined thickness is formed on the recording needle 1.

If the recording stylus 1 is made only of copper, there will be a problem in printing durability, and the stylus 1 will wear out significantly due to repeated friction with the ink ribbon. Therefore, as described above, a plating layer 14 of a hard metal such as nickel, nickel-cobalt, nickel-tungsten, chromium, or rhodium is formed on the recording needle 1.

The number, line width, pitch, etc. of the recording needles 1 are determined depending on the desired recording density. In this example, after plating, the line width is 70 to 80 μm and the pitch is 125 μm.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the entire recording head, in which necessary electronic components such as a driving IC chip 15, a device body connection plug 16, and a resistor 17 are connected to a patterned circuit 13.

If this recording head is used repeatedly, the resistor 17
A large amount of thermal energy is dissipated from the

Therefore, conventional epoxy substrates and glass substrates have poor heat dissipation properties and have problems in terms of reliability. In this embodiment, since a metal base plate is used, heat dissipation properties are good.

Furthermore, since the substrate is a metal substrate, the external shape can be processed using a processing method that is excellent in mass production, such as pressing.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an example in which the recording head according to this embodiment is used in a portable image forming apparatus. This image forming apparatus 5 includes a document reading scanner 6, a recording head 7
It is also equipped with an ink ribbon power tool 8, etc.

The reading scanner 6 is brought into contact with the surface of the document to optically read a desired location. Then, as shown in the figure, the image forming apparatus 5 is turned upside down and the recording head 7 is manually scanned over the recording paper, thereby making it possible to print the above-mentioned read document image. In particular, since portable image forming apparatuses such as this one manually read and print, the overall size, shape, etc. are important factors in terms of operability.

FIG. 7 shows an example in which the metal plate 11 is used as the return electrode of the recording head 12. Since the metal plate 12 has good electrical conductivity, it can be used as a return electrode as it is, and space-saving, light weight, and low cost are required, for example, in pen-shaped image forming devices. suitable for the device.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another example of the return electrode also being used. In this example, the tip of the metal plate 11 is bent into a substantially L-shape along the ribbon running direction, and the bent portion serves as a guide portion for the ribbon peeling position.

FIG. 9 shows yet another example of the recording head 12. Since the metal plate 11 is used as the head base, machining such as pressing can be easily performed.
A portion 19 is integrally formed.

If the metal plate serving as the base of the recording head is used as the return electrode as in the embodiment described above, it is possible to provide a recording head that is ultra-compact, space-saving, and has little energy loss.

Furthermore, since the base is a metal plate as in the above embodiment,
A head attachment portion can be integrally formed therewith. Therefore, it is possible to provide a low-cost, space-saving recording head.

〔effect〕

The present invention has the above-mentioned configuration, and uses a metal plate as the base, so it has excellent heat dissipation compared to conventional glass substrates or synthetic resin substrates such as epoxy resin. As shown in 110-, electronic components such as resistors and IC chips can be mounted on the head conductor circuit, making it possible to create an ultra-small recording head.

Furthermore, since the base has good heat dissipation properties, the recording needle does not peel off from the base, making it possible to provide a recording head with a long service life.

Furthermore, since the base is a metal plate, it has various advantages such as easy machining such as pressing, excellent mass productivity, and the ability to provide a low-cost recording head.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged sectional view of constituent materials of an electrical transfer recording head according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are partial plan views and sectional views of the recording head, and FIG. 4 is a diagram of the recording head. 5 is a plan view of the entire recording head, FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a portable image forming apparatus using the recording head, and FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate usage examples of the recording head. FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing another example of the recording head, and FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the operating principle of current transfer type recording. 1...Recording needle, 2...Return electrode, 3.
... Ink ribbon, 3a... Resistance layer, 3b.
... Ink layer, 4 ... Recording paper, 9 ...
...Metal foil, 1o... Electrical insulating adhesive layer, 11...
...Metal plate, 12... Recording head, 14...
・・・Plating layer, 18・Group・Mounting hole, 19・・Head mounting part. Agent Patent Attorney 2 Sequential Department = 11- Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3! Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 8 Figure 9

Claims (6)

[Claims] (1) An ink ribbon in which a resistive layer and a molten ink layer are laminated, the molten ink layer is melted by Joule heat generated by passing a current through the resistive layer, and the molten ink is transferred to recording paper; A current-carrying transfer recording head having a plurality of current-carrying recording needles provided on one side is provided, and the recording needle side of the current-carrying transfer recording head is brought into contact with the resistance layer of the ink ribbon to apply a voltage between the recording needles. In the current transfer type printing device that prints by energizing the resistive layer, the base of the recording head is composed of a metal plate, and a recording needle made of metal foil is fixed on one side of the base via an electrically insulating adhesive layer. An electrical transfer printing device characterized by being patterned in the shape of. (2) An electric transfer type printing device according to claim (1), wherein the base of the recording head also serves as a return electrode. (3) The electrical transfer according to claim (1) or (2), characterized in that a portion of the base of the recording head is bent to serve as a running guide for the ink ribbon. type printing device. (4) An electric transfer type printing device according to claim (1), characterized in that a head mounting portion is integrally formed in a part of the base of the recording head. (5) An electrical transfer type printing device according to claim (1), characterized in that a hard metal plating layer is provided on the surface of the recording needle. (6) An electrical transfer type printing device according to claim (1), characterized in that a highly thermally conductive inorganic insulating material is present in the electrically insulating adhesive layer of the recording head.