JPH01272478A - Thermal head cleaning sheet - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable the removal of applied substances, such as a melting mate rial, a sublimating material, stain, and dust, by providing irregularities on an accepting layer of a sublimating dye accepting sheet. CONSTITUTION:A coating material for an accepting layer prepared by dissolving or dispersing component materials for a dye accepting layer 2 in a suitable solvent is applied on a substrate 1 in a uniform insular form by an offset or gravure coating method, whereby the accepting layer 2 is formed with uniform irregularities 3. The depth of the irregularities is determined to be at least the thickness of an ink layer of an ink sheet in use. If the error use of an ink sheet which generates blocking in storage and causes a whole ink layer to transfer to the back surface of the ink sheet through an ink sheet substrate results in a contaminated head, the contaminant can be sufficiently contained in the gaps of the irregularities of the obtained cleaning sheet.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial Application Field of the Invention] The present invention is a method for recording an image on a recording medium by receiving a dye transferred from an ink sheet to a recording medium by heating a thermal head. The present invention relates to a thermal head cleaning sheet that can be applied to a thermal recording method.

[Prior art and problems to be solved by the invention] Conventionally,
An ink sheet in which a heat-melting material is provided on a heat-resistant support layer is placed on a recording medium, a thermal head is placed on the side of the support layer, and the head is heated by an image signal to cause the meltable material to melt. 2. Description of the Related Art A thermal printer is known that performs recording by sublimating a sublimable dye or the like contained in a melted or meltable material and transferring it onto a recording medium.

Therefore, since the ink sheet is generally stored in a roll, depending on the storage conditions, blocking may occur between the ink layer of the ink sheet and the support layer, especially at high temperatures, and the ink layer may be transferred to the back side of the support. It is possible that it gets dirty easily.

If an ink sheet that has been blocked during storage is mistakenly used, the thermal head that comes into contact with the back surface of the dirty ink sheet may be contaminated by the meltable material or sublimable dye of the ink sheet.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the problems, the present invention provides a thermal head cleaning method for removing contamination caused by molten materials, sublimable dyes, dirt, dust, etc. as a thermal head cleaning means. It provides sheets.

[Function] According to the present invention, the thermal head cleaning sheet can remove molten material, sublimated material, dirt, dust, etc. attached to the thermal head.

[Example] In the example described below, as a means of cleaning the thermal head when it becomes contaminated as described above, sublimable dye image receiving paper with a moderately uneven surface is brought into direct contact with the head. By feeding, a thermal head cleaning sheet is provided for removing dirt adhering to the head as described above.

The present invention will be explained below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a cleaning sheet S to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied while being fed.

This cleaning sheet S has a dye-receiving layer 2 which receives a sublimable dye and is provided on a base material 1 with uniform unevenness 3. As the base material 1, condenser paper, glassine paper, plastic film, synthetic paper, or the like is used. The dye-receiving layer 2 is mainly made of resins with highly polar bonds such as saturated polyester, polyurethane, and polyamide, or mixtures or copolymers thereof, and optionally contains inorganic pigments such as silica, alumina, and calcium carbonate. , by adding a mold release agent such as silicone oil. A paint for the receptor layer, in which the constituent materials of the dye-receiving layer 2 as described above are dissolved or dispersed in a suitable solvent, is applied onto the base material 1 in an even island shape by an offset or gravure coating method. The receiving layer 2 having the unevenness 3 can be formed. Incidentally, similar irregularities can be formed by appropriately making incisions on the surface of the receiving layer 2 of the cleaning sheet S.

The form of this cleaning sheet S may be a roll paper type that is exactly the same as a conventional ink sheet cassette, or it may be a cut paper type cut into the same size and shape as the image-receiving paper. As for the form,
The law is determined as appropriate depending on the drive method of the printer.

In addition, since this cleaning sheet S has the ability to adsorb sublimable dyes, if the dye in the ink layer sublimates during storage of the ink sheet and sets off to the ink sheet support side, the head may be damaged if used without knowing this. Cleaning is possible even if contaminated with dye.

Furthermore, the unevenness 3 of this cleaning sheet S has sufficient depth and fineness (
In this example, the depth of the unevenness was at least equal to or greater than the thickness of the ink layer of the ink sheet used. By doing this, if the head is contaminated by accidentally using the ink layer transferred from the ink sheet support to the back side of the ink sheet due to blocking that occurred during storage of the ink sheet, the contaminant can be removed from the cleaning sheet. It can be accommodated sufficiently within the gaps between the unevenness. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the gap between the concave and convex portions 3 is not larger than the gap between the heat generating elements of the head 4, that is, the gap between the convex portions of the receiving layer 2 is equal to or less than the gap between the heat generating elements arranged on the thermal head 4. Carbonized dirt that is concentrated and carbonized on the element can be sufficiently removed. Furthermore, the depth and density of the unevenness 3 on the cleaning sheet S can be adjusted by appropriately adjusting the shape and dimensions of the mesh of the clay of the paint for the receptive layer applied onto the base material L or the printing plate used for coating, or by adjusting the shape and dimensions of the mesh of the printing plate used for coating, or by smoothing the coating. Optimization can be achieved by making appropriate cuts in the engineered receptor layer.

Note that 6 in the figure is a platen roller.

As described above, in this embodiment, the sheet S, in which the receiving layer 2 of a sublimable dye receiving sheet has irregularities 3, is loaded into a thermal printer and fed, and the thermal head 4 is printed without using an ink sheet. When driven, it became possible to clean the head 4 by directly touching the receiving layer 2 with the thermal head 4. Also, as mentioned above, the thermal head 4
Possible causes of contamination include dirt and dust in the air, dirt and dust attached to the back of the ink sheet that is carbonized due to head heating, and environmental changes during storage or transportation of the ink sheet. The blocking that occurs may be due to the meltable material in the ink layer or set-off of the sublimable dye to the ink sheet, but this sublimable dye receiving sheet with irregularities formed at an appropriate depth and density is considered to be the cause of the blocking. By feeding the head and driving the head (generating heat), various contaminants attached to the head can be removed and normal printing can be performed.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a thermal head cleaning sheet that can reliably remove molten material, sublimated material, dirt, dust, etc. attached to a thermal head.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a state in which a thermal head is being cleaned by a thermal head cleaning sheet to which the present invention is applied. In the figure, l...Base material 2...Sublimable dye receiving layer 3...Irregularities 4...Thermal head

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) Applicable to a thermal recording method in which an image is recorded by receiving dye transferred from an ink sheet by heating of a thermal head, and the layer that receives the dye from the ink sheet has uniform irregularities on the base material. A thermal head cleaning sheet comprising: (2) The thermal head cleaning sheet according to claim (1), wherein the depth of the unevenness of the dye-receiving layer is greater than or equal to the thickness of the coloring material layer of the ink sheet. (3) The thermal head cleaning sheet according to claim (2), wherein the distance between the convex portions of the dye-receiving layer is equal to or less than the distance between the heating elements arranged in the thermal head.