JPH02128856A - Thermal transfer recorder and facsimile terminal device using the same recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve a recording image quality and to easily separate an ink sheet from a recording medium after image recording by a method wherein the same data is again recorded with the recording medium stopped after the completion of recording, and a recording means is heated before a next recording action when a recording action is in a halt for more than a predetermined time. CONSTITUTION:After the completion of one-line recording succeeding to the completion of an electric conduction to all blocks, a predetermined time is set to a timer 116, and the timer 116 starts counting. If an image recording for one page has not been finished, a data transfer processing for transferring all image data for a next line to a thermal head 13 is executed. Next, if an auxiliary recording is not the second one, the thermal head 13 is electrically conducted again with the same data, and the auxiliary recording is executed by every block of the thermal head 13. Image data for one line to be recorded next is transferred to the thermal head 13. At this time, if a predetermined elapse time has not been counted by the timer 116, the recording data for the next line is latched in a latch circuit 131, and an image recording processing is conducted. If the predetermined time has elapsed, the thermal head 13 is electrically conducted per block to improve a recording quality.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording device that records an image on a recording medium by transferring ink contained in an ink sheet to a recording medium, and a facsimile machine using the device. It is something.

[Prior Art] Generally, a thermal transfer printer uses an ink sheet in which a base film is coated with heat-melting (thermally sublimable) ink, and a thermal head selectively heats the ink sheet in accordance with an image signal. Images are recorded by transferring melted (sublimated) ink onto recording paper. Generally, this ink sheet is one in which the ink is completely transferred to the recording paper by one image recording (so-called one-time sheet), so after recording one character or one line, the recorded length is It was necessary to transport the ink sheet by the amount corresponding to the amount of the ink sheet, and to bring the unused portion of the ink sheet to the next recording position without fail. For this reason, the amount of ink sheets used increases, and the running cost of thermal transfer printers tends to be higher than that of ordinary thermal printers that record on thermal paper.

In order to solve these problems, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 57-83
471, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-201686, and Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-58917, thermal transfer printers have been proposed in which a recording paper and an ink sheet are conveyed at different speeds.

The present invention is a further development of the invention described in the above publication.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] An ink sheet (so-called multi-print sheet) capable of recording an image a plurality of times (n) is known, and if this ink sheet is used, the recording length can be continuously recorded. When recording images, the transport length of the ink sheet transported after each image recording or during image recording is set to be smaller than that length (L/n
:n>1) L/ can be recorded. This results in
The ink sheet usage efficiency is n times higher than that of the conventional method, and it is expected that the running costs of thermal transfer printers will be reduced. below,
This recording method is called multiprint.

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. At each heating, the ink layer melts (
Shearing force is generated between the ink that has been sublimated (sublimated) and the ink that has not been melted (sublimated) to perform transfer onto the recording paper. For this reason, for example, if the time between recording one line and recording the next line becomes long and the temperature of the ink decreases, it will melt (
There is a problem in that the shear force between the ink that has been sublimated and the ink that has not been melted (sublimated) becomes large, making it difficult to separate the ink sheet from the recording paper.

This is especially noticeable when there is a lot of black information in one line of recorded data, and also when there is a lot of black information in one line of recorded data.
This becomes a problem in devices where the time interval between the current line and the next line is not constant and the time interval is relatively long.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional example, and after recording is completed, the same data is recorded again while the recording medium is stopped, and if no recording operation is performed for a predetermined period of time, the next recording operation is continued. To provide a thermal transfer recording device that improves the quality of a recorded image and facilitates separation of an ink sheet and a recording medium after image recording by generating heat in a recording means during the recording process, and a facsimile device using the device. The purpose is to

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the thermal transfer recording device of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, it is a thermal transfer recording device that transfers ink contained in an ink sheet to a recording medium to record an image on the recording medium, and includes an ink sheet conveying means that conveys the ink sheet, and a recording device that conveys the recording medium. a medium conveying means, a recording means for recording an image on the recording medium by acting on the ink sheet, a clock means for measuring the time from when the recording means records an image until the next image recording, and the recording means After recording the image, the same data is recorded on the recording medium again without transporting the recording medium, and when the predetermined time is counted by the clocking means, the recording means is heated again with the same data. and control means for controlling.

Furthermore, in order to achieve the above object, a facsimile apparatus of the present invention includes the thermal transfer recording device.

[Operation] The thermal transfer recording apparatus having the above configuration measures the time until the next image is recorded after the recording means acts on the ink sheet to record an image on the recording medium. In this way, after recording an image by the recording means, the same data is recorded on the recording medium again without transporting the recording medium, and when a predetermined period of time has elapsed after the previous image recording,
The same data is used again to generate heat in the recording means.

Further, the thermal transfer recording apparatus of the present invention measures the time until the next image recording after recording an image on the recording medium by acting on the ink sheet. In this way, after an image is recorded by the recording means, the same data is recorded on the recording medium again without transporting the recording medium, and when a predetermined period of time has elapsed after the previous image recording, immediately before the next recording operation. , the recording means operates to generate heat.

Furthermore, the facsimile device of the present invention acts on an ink sheet and measures the time from when an image is recorded on a recording medium to when the next image is recorded based on image information from an image input means or a transmitting/receiving means. do. After the image is recorded by the recording means, the same data is recorded on the recording medium again without transporting the recording medium, and when a predetermined time has elapsed after the previous image recording, the recording means is operated to generate heat again with the same data. do.

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[Description of facsimile machine (Figs. 1 to 4)] Figs. 1 to 4 are diagrams showing an example in which a thermal transfer printer using an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a facsimile machine. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the facsimile device, FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the facsimile device, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a conveyance mechanism for recording paper and an ink sheet.

First, the schematic structure of the facsimile machine will be explained based on FIG.

In the figure, 100 is a reading unit that photoelectrically reads a document and outputs it as a digital image signal to the control unit 101.The configuration of the control unit 101 is as follows: explain. A line memory 110 stores image data for each line of image data, and when transmitting or copying a document, one line of image data from the reading unit 100 is stored.
When image data is received, one line of decoded received image data is stored. Image formation is then performed by outputting the stored data to the recording unit 102. Reference numeral 111 denotes an encoding/decoding unit that encodes image information to be transmitted by MH encoding or the like, and decodes received encoded image data to convert it into image data. Further, 112 is a buffer memory that stores encoded image data that is transmitted or received. Each part of the control unit 101 is controlled by a CPU 113 such as a microprocessor. Control unit 101
&: In addition to this CPU 113, ROM 114 and C
It is equipped with a RAM 115 for temporarily storing various data as a work area for the PU 113.

A recording unit 102 includes a thermal line head and records an image on recording paper using a thermal transfer recording method. This configuration will be described in detail later with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 103 denotes an operation unit including various function instruction keys such as starting transmission, keys for inputting telephone numbers, etc., and 103a a switch for instructing the type of ink sheet 14 to be used.When the switch 103a is on, a multi-print ink sheet is used. However, when it is off, it indicates that a normal ink sheet is installed. 10
4 is a display section that is usually provided adjacent to the operation section 103 and displays various functions, the status of the device, and the like. 10
5 is a power supply unit for supplying power to the entire device. Further, 106 is a modem (modulator/demodulator), and 107 is a network control unit (
NC1J), 108 is a telephone set.

Next, the configuration of the recording section 102 will be explained in detail with reference to FIG. Note that parts common to FIG. 2 are indicated by the same figure numbers.

In the figure, 1o indicates a recording paper 11, which is plain paper, and a core 10.
A is a roll of paper wound into a roll. The roll paper lO is rotatably housed in the apparatus so that the recording paper 11 can be supplied to the thermal head section 13 by rotation of the platen roller 12 in the direction of the arrow. Note that 10b is a roll paper loading section, in which the roll paper 10 is removably loaded. Furthermore, 12 is a platen roller which conveys the recording paper 11 in the direction indicated by the arrow and presses the ink sheet 14 and the recording paper 11 between it and the heating element 132 of the thermal head 13. Thermal head 13
As the platen roller 12 further rotates, the recording paper 11 on which the image has been recorded due to the heat generated by the
(16a, 16b), and when the image recording for one page is completed, the cutters 15 (15a, 15b) are engaged to cut the paper into pages.

17 is an ink sheet supply roll that winds the ink sheet 14, and 18 is an ink sheet take-up roll, which is driven by an ink sheet conveyance motor to be described later and winds up the ink sheet 14 in the direction of arrow a. . In addition,
The ink sheet supply roll 17 and the ink sheet take-up roll 18 are connected to an ink sheet loading section 70 in the apparatus main body.
It is removably loaded. Furthermore, 19 is a sensor for detecting the remaining amount of the ink sheet 14 and the conveying speed of the ink sheet 14. Further, 20 is an ink sheet sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the ink sheet 14;
is a spring that presses the thermal head 13 against the platen roller 12 via the recording paper 11 and the ink sheet 14. Further, 22 is a recording paper sensor for detecting the presence or absence of recording paper.

Next, the configuration of the reading section 100 will be explained.

In the figure, 30 is a light source that illuminates the original 32;
The light reflected by CCD sensor 2 is input to CCD sensor 31 through an optical system (mirror 5o, s't, lens 52), and is converted into an electrical signal. The document 32 is conveyed by conveyance rollers 53, 54, 55.5 driven by a document conveyance motor (not shown).
6, the document 32 is transported in accordance with the reading speed. Note that 57 is a document loading table, and the plurality of documents 32 stacked on this loading table 57 are separated into sheets one by one by the cooperation of the conveying roller 54 and the pressing separation piece 58, and then transferred to the reading section 100. transported to.

A control board 41 constitutes the main part of the control section 101, and various control signals are output from this control board 41 to each part of the apparatus. Further, 106 is a modem board unit, 107 is N
This is a CU board unit.

Furthermore, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing details of the conveyance mechanism for the ink sheet 14 and the recording paper 11.

In the figure, 24 rotationally drives the platen roller 12;
This is a recording paper transport motor for transporting the recording paper 11 in the direction indicated by the arrow, which is opposite to the direction indicated by the arrow a. 25 also carries the ink sheet 14 to a capstan roller 71. This is a motor for conveying an ink sheet by means of a pinch roller 72 for conveying the ink sheet in the direction of arrow a. Further, 26 and 27 are transmission gears that transmit the rotation of the recording paper conveyance motor 24 to the platen roller 12, and 73 and 74 are transmission gears that transmit the rotation of the ink sheet conveyance motor 25 to the capstan roller 71. Further, 75 is 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 on the take-up roll 18 by the rotation of the gear 75a is longer than the length of the ink sheet conveyed by the capstan roller 71. By keeping
The ink sheet 14 conveyed by the capstan roller 71 is reliably wound onto the take-up roll 18. and,
An amount corresponding to the difference between the amount of the ink sheet 14 taken up by the take-up roll 18 and the amount of the ink sheet 14 fed by the capstan roller 71 is transferred to the slip clutch unit 7.
Absorbed in 5. This makes it possible to suppress fluctuations in the transport speed (amount) of the ink sheet 14 due to fluctuations in the winding diameter of the winding roll 18.

FIG. 1 shows a control unit 10 in a facsimile machine according to an embodiment.
1 and the recording unit 102, and parts common to other drawings are indicated by the same figure numbers.

The thermal head 13 is a line head. The thermal head 13 includes a shift register 130 for inputting one line of serial recording data from the control unit 101 and a shift clock 43, and a latch circuit 131.1 for latching data in the shift register 130 using a latch signal 44. Heating element 13 consisting of a line of heating resistors
2. Here, the heating resistor 132 is 132-
It is divided into m blocks indicated by 1 to 132-m and driven. Further, 133 is a temperature sensor attached to the thermal head 13 for detecting the temperature of the thermal head 13. The output signal 42 of this temperature sensor 133 is A/D converted in the control unit 101 and
It is input to PU113. As a result, the CPU 113 detects the temperature of the thermal head 13 and changes the pulse width of the strobe signal 47 in accordance with the temperature, or changes the driving voltage of the thermal head 13 in accordance with the characteristics of the ink sheet 14. The energy applied to the thermal head 13 is changed accordingly. 116 is programmable
The timer sets a time to be counted by the CPU 113, and starts counting when instructed to start counting. Then, it operates to output an interrupt signal, a timeout signal, etc. to the CPtJ 113 at each instructed time.

The type (characteristics) of the ink sheet 14 may be determined by detecting the switch 103a of the operation unit 103 described above or a mark printed on the ink sheet 14, or by detecting a mark printed on the ink sheet cartridge. The process may be performed by identifying marked marks, notches, protrusions, etc.

Reference numeral 46 denotes a drive circuit that inputs a drive signal for the thermal head 13 from the control unit 101 and outputs a strobe signal 47 for driving the thermal head 13 in units of blocks. Note that this drive circuit 46 changes the voltage output to the power supply line 45 that supplies current to the heating element 132 of the thermal head 13 in accordance with instructions from the control unit 101 to control the thermal head 13.
The applied energy of can be changed. Reference numeral 36 denotes a drive circuit that engages and drives the cutter 15, and includes a cutter drive motor and the like. 39 is a paper ejection motor that rotationally drives the paper ejection roller 16.

35, 31, and 32 are the corresponding paper ejection motors 39
, a driver circuit that rotationally drives the recording paper conveyance motor 24 and the ink sheet conveyance motor 25. Note that these paper ejection motor 39, recording paper conveyance motor 24, and ink sheet conveyance motor 25 are stepping motors in this embodiment, but are not limited to this, and may be, for example, DC motors. Also good.

[Explanation of Recording Operation (Figures 1 to 6)] Figure 5 is a flowchart showing the recording process for one page in the facsimile machine of this embodiment, and the control program that executes this process is the control unit], It is stored in ROM114.

This process starts when the image data for one line to be printed is stored in the line memory 110 and the printing operation can be started.
It is assumed that the control unit 101 determines through the switch 103a or the like that the device is attached.

First, in step S1, one line of recording data is serially output to the shift register 130. When the transfer of one line of recording data is completed, the latch signal 44 is output in step S2, and one line of recording data is stored in the latch circuit 131. Next, in step S3, the ink sheet conveying motor 25 is driven to convey the ink sheet 14 by 1/n lines. Then, in step S4, the recording paper 11 is conveyed by one line. Note that the length of one line is approximately (1/15.
4) mm, and the conveyance amount of the recording paper 11 and the ink sheet 14 can be set by changing the number of excitation pulses of the recording paper conveyance motor 24 and the ink sheet conveyance motor 25, respectively.

Next, in step S5, each block of the heating resistor 132 is energized to record an image, and in step S6 it is checked whether energization of all blocks of the thermal head 13 has been completed. In step S6, if all blocks of the thermal head 13 have not been energized yet, the process advances to step S7 to check whether the next line of recording data is ready.

If the preparation is complete, the process advances to step S8, and the recording data of the next line is sequentially transferred to the shift register 130 of the thermal head 13. During data transfer to the thermal head 13, it is checked in step S9 whether one block of energization time has elapsed. If the 0 energization time (approximately 600 μs) has not elapsed, the process returns to step S7, but if the energization time has elapsed, step S5 Return to , and execute the energization process for the next block. In this embodiment, the thermal head 13 is energized and driven in four blocks, and the time required to record one line is approximately 2.5 m5 (600 μs x 4 blocks).
block).

If energization to all blocks has ended and recording of one line has ended in step S6, the process advances to step S10, where a predetermined time (20 m5 in this case) is set in the timer 116.
0th step Sl for starting time measurement by timer 116
Proceed to step 1 and check whether one page of image recording has been completed. If image recording of one page has not been completed, the process advances to step S12;
It is checked whether all the image data of the next line has been transferred to the shift register 130 of the thermal head 13. Then, if the data has not been transferred, step S13 is executed, and if the data of the next line is ready, a data transfer process is executed to transfer the data to the thermal head 13.

Next, in step S14, it is checked whether or not the number of times of auxiliary recording is the second time. If it is not the second time, the process advances to step S15, where auxiliary recording is executed in block units of the thermal head 13, and the process returns to step S12. This again leaves the same data (
(The content of the latch circuit 131 remains the already recorded image data) The thermal head 13 is energized, and the energization time at this time is about 1/4 of the actual energization time in step S5. As a result, it is possible to increase the density of the recorded image of the current line and to prevent white smudges and the like from occurring between the recorded data of the next line. On the other hand, if auxiliary recording has been performed twice in step S14, step S
Return to step 12 and check whether all the recording data of the next line has been transferred.

In this way, in step S12, when one line of image data to be recorded next is transferred to the thermal head 13, the process proceeds to step S16, and the timer 116 times out.
That is, check whether 20 m5 has passed. 20m
If 5 has not yet elapsed, the process returns to step S2, the recording data of the next line is latched in the latch circuit 131, and the above-described image recording process is executed.

However, when 20 m5 has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S17, and the thermal head 13 is energized block by block. At this time, since the data in the latch circuit 131 of the thermal head 13 is equal to the 1942 minutes of image data recorded immediately before, the same image data will be recorded again. Note that the process of energizing the thermal head 13 in step S17 is executed after the recording data of the next line is transferred to the shift register 130 of the thermal head 13, so it is executed immediately before the recording process of the next line. Therefore, it also acts as preheating for the thermal head 13. Note that this immediately before corresponds to the delay due to the processing time from step S17 to step S5. Further, the energization time to the thermal head 13 in step S17 may be the same as the energization time in step S5, or may be shorter than that.

Next, when image recording for one page is completed in step Sll, the process advances to step S18, and a predetermined amount of the recording paper 11 is transferred to the paper ejection roller 1.
Convey in the direction of 6a, ↓6b. Then, step S19
The cutters 15a and 15b are driven to mesh with each other to cut the recording paper 1.
1 into pages. Next, in step S20, the recording paper conveying motor 24 is reversely driven to execute a cutting process for the recording paper 11, in which the recording paper 11 is returned by a distance corresponding to the distance between the thermal head 13 and the cutter 15.

As described above, according to this embodiment, when the auxiliary recording is executed to record the same data again after the recording of each line is finished, and the time interval until recording of the next line becomes a predetermined time or more, step SL7 is performed. By reheating the thermal head 13, the recording quality of the image is improved, and the shearing force between the inks in the ink layer is reduced, so that the ink sheet 14 and the recording paper 11 are transported in steps S3 and S4. Separation between the sheet 14 and the recording paper 11 is improved.

Note that when driving the thermal head 13 in steps S15 and S17, the energy applied to the heating element 132 may be lower than that during actual recording.
When driving the thermal head in step S17, the same recording data as the previous line may be used, and electricity may be applied to the heating resistors 132 corresponding to some of the black dots to prevent the ink from solidifying.

Further, in this embodiment, the number of times of auxiliary recording is set to two at most, but it goes without saying that the number of times is not limited to this.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the timing of energizing the thermal head 13 in the image recording process of this embodiment.Here, the heating resistor 132 of the thermal head 13 is divided into four blocks and energized.

Note that each of the strobe signals 1 to 4 corresponds to an energization signal for each block of the heating resistor 132 of the thermal head 13.

In the figure, reference numeral 60 indicates energization of the thermal head 13, which is carried out in step S17 immediately before the actual recording process 61. Timing T1 indicates the timing when all of the recording data for the next line has been transferred to the thermal head 13 and recording of the next line becomes possible. Thus 6
After one line is recorded at step 1, auxiliary recording is performed twice at step 515 (step 515). At timing T2, the next line's recording data is transferred to the thermal head 13, and the next line's recording data is transferred to the thermal head 13. Indicates when recording became possible. At this time, if the time ΔT after the end of the recording process indicated by 61 is, for example, 20 m5 or more, preheating is performed as indicated by 63.

Reference numeral 64 indicates actual recording processing of the next line, and reference numeral 65 indicates auxiliary heating after completion of recording. In this case, at timing T4, all the recording data of the next line is transferred to the thermal head 1.
3, and the next line can be recorded, so the auxiliary heating process is completed in one go. At this time, naturally, the process of energizing the thermal head 13 in step S17 is not performed. Then, at 66, recording processing for the next line is performed. Note that the timing Tl,
At T3 and T4, the excitation phase of the recording paper conveyance motor 24 is switched, and the recording paper 11 is conveyed by one line (step S4).

In addition, the energization time to each block of the thermal head 13 in these 60, 62, 63, and 65 is 61.6
Approximately 1/1/2 of the current-on time during actual recording shown in 4 and 66.
It is set at around 4.

[Explanation of Recording Principle (FIG. 7)] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an image recording state when an image is recorded with the conveyance directions of the recording paper 11 and the ink sheet 14 reversed in this embodiment.

As shown in the figure, a recording paper 11 and an ink sheet 14 are held between a platen roller 12 and a thermal head 13, and the thermal head 13 is pressed against the platen roller 12 with a predetermined pressure by a spring 21. Here, the recording paper 11 is conveyed by the rotation of the platen roller 12 in the direction indicated by the arrow at a speed . On the other hand, the ink sheet 14
is transported in the direction of arrow a at a speed v1 by the rotation of the ink sheet transport motor 25.

Now, power supply 1 is connected to heating resistor 132 of thermal head 13.
When the ink sheet 14 is energized and heated, the shaded portion 91 of the ink sheet 14 is heated. Here, 14a indicates the base film of the ink sheet 14, and 14b indicates the ink layer of the ink sheet 14.0 The ink of the ink layer 91 heated by supplying electricity to the heating resistor 132 melts, and the ink shown by 92 melts. The portion is transferred onto recording paper 11. The transferred ink layer portion 92 corresponds to approximately 1/n of the ink layer indicated by 91.

At the time of this transfer, at the boundary line 93 of the ink layer 14b,
It is necessary to generate a shearing force on the ink and transfer only the portion indicated by 92 onto the recording paper 11. However, this shearing force varies depending on the temperature of the ink layer, and the higher the temperature of the ink layer, the smaller the shearing force tends to be. Therefore,
If the heating time of the ink sheet 14 is shortened, the shearing force within the ink layer will increase, so 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 transferred from the ink sheet 14. It can be peeled off.

According to this embodiment, since the heating time of the thermal head 13 in a facsimile machine is as short as about 0.6 ms, the conveyance direction of the ink sheet 14 and the recording paper 11 is made to be opposite to each other, so that the ink sheet 14 and the recording paper 11 are I'm trying to increase relative speed.

[Description of Ink Sheet (Fig. 8)] Fig. 8 is a sectional view of an ink sheet used for multi-printing in this embodiment, and here it is composed of 4N.

First, the second layer is a base film that serves as a support for the ink sheet 14. In the case of multi-printing, thermal energy is applied to the same location many times, so aromatic polyamide films and capacitor paper with high heat resistance are advantageous, but conventional polyester films can also be used. Considering the role of a medium, it is advantageous for the thickness of these materials to be as thin as possible in terms of printing quality, but from the viewpoint of strength, it is desirable that the thickness be 3 to 8 μm.

The third layer is an ink layer containing an amount of ink that can be transferred n times onto a recording paper (recording sheet).

This component mainly consists of resin such as EVA as an adhesive, carbon black and nigrosine dye for coloring, carnauba wax and paraffin wax as binding materials, and is designed to withstand n times of use in the same place. It is blended. This application amount is 4-8 g/m
” is desirable, but sensitivity and density vary depending on the amount of application.
Can be selected arbitrarily.

The fourth layer is a top coating layer for preventing pressure transfer of the third layer ink onto the recording paper in areas where printing is not performed, and is made of transparent wax or the like. As a result, only the transparent fourth layer is pressure-transferred, and it is possible to prevent background smudges on the recording paper. The first layer is the thermal head 13
This is a heat-resistant coating layer that protects the second layer base film from heat. 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 with relatively low heat resistance, such as polyester films.

Note that the structure of the ink sheet 14 is not limited to this embodiment, and may be composed of, for example, a base layer and a porous ink-retaining layer containing ink provided on one side of the base layer. A heat-resistant ink layer having a microporous network structure may be provided thereon, and the ink M may contain the ink. In addition, examples of the base film material include polyamide, polyethylene,
It may also be a film or paper made of polyester, polyvinyl chloride, triacetylcellulose, nylon, or the like. Furthermore, although a heat-resistant coating layer is not necessarily required,
The material may be, for example, silicone resin, epoxy resin, fluorine resin, nitrocellulose, or the like.

An example of an ink sheet containing a heat sublimable ink is a base material made of polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene naphthalate, aromatic polyamide film, etc., and spacer particles made of guanamine-based resin and fluorine-based resin. An example is an ink sheet provided with a coloring material layer containing a dye.

Note that the heating method in the thermal transfer printer is not limited to the thermal head method using the above-mentioned thermal head, and for example, an energization method or a laser transfer method may be used.

In addition, although this embodiment has been explained using an example of using a thermal line head, the present invention is not limited to this.
It may also be a so-called serial type thermal transfer printer. Furthermore, although the present embodiment has been described in the case of multi-printing, the present invention is not limited to this, and it goes without saying that the present invention can also be applied to the case of normal thermal transfer recording using a one-time ink sheet.

Further, in the above-described embodiments, the thermal transfer printer is applied to a facsimile machine, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the thermal transfer recording device of the present invention can be applied to a word processor, a typewriter, a copying machine, etc. .

Further, the recording medium is not limited to recording paper, and may include cloth, plastic sheets, etc. as long as it is made of a material that allows ink transfer. In addition, the ink sheet is not limited to the roll configuration shown in the embodiment, and for example, the so-called ink sheet is a so-called ink sheet in which the ink sheet is built in a casing that is removable to the main body of the recording apparatus, and the casing is removable from the main body of the recording apparatus. It may be of a cassette type or the like.

As explained above, according to this embodiment, in a thermal transfer printer, when the same data is recorded again after the end of recording, and the recording time interval until the start of the next recording exceeds a predetermined time, the image of that line is re-recorded. By recording, sufficient image density can be obtained, improving the recording quality of the image, and the ink sheet and recording paper can be easily separated.

Furthermore, according to this embodiment, when the same data is recorded again after recording ends, and the recording time interval until the start of the next recording becomes a predetermined time or more, the image of that line is recorded again immediately before the next recording process. By doing so, sufficient image density can be obtained and the recording quality of the image can be improved, and the ink sheet and recording paper can be easily separated.

Further, this embodiment is effective in a recording apparatus such as a facsimile machine in which the time interval between one line of image data may be uneven and long.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, after recording ends, the same data is recorded again while the recording medium is stopped, and if no recording operation is performed for a predetermined period of time, the next recording is started. By generating heat in the recording means before operation, the quality of the recorded image is improved and the ink sheet and recording medium can be easily separated after the image is recorded.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the electrical connection between the control section and the recording section of the embodiment, Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of the facsimile machine of the embodiment, and Fig. 3 is a mechanical section of the facsimile machine of the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the structure of the ink sheet and recording paper conveyance system. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the recording process of this embodiment. FIG. 6 is a thermal head in the recording process of this embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the state of the recording paper and ink sheet during recording in this embodiment.
FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the multi-ink sheet used in this example. In the figure, 10...rolled recording paper, 11...recording paper,
12...Platen roller, 13...Thermal head, 14...Ink sheet, 15...Cutter, 16...
...Discharge roller, 17...Ink sheet supply roll,
18... Ink sheet winding roll, 19... Ink sheet sensor, 20... Ink sheet presence/absence sensor, 2
1... Spring, 22... Recording paper presence/absence sensor, 2
4... Recording paper conveyance motor, 25... Ink sheet conveyance motor, 35.48.49... Driver circuit,
36... Drive circuit, 39... Paper ejection motor, 100
...Reading section, 101... Control section, 102... Recording section, 103... Operation section, 104... Display section, 105
...Power supply, 106...Modem, 107...NCU
, 110... Line memory, 11.1... Encoding/
Decoding unit, 112...Buffer memory, 113.-C
PU, 114...ROM, 115...RAM, 11
6...Timer, 132...Heating resistor (heating element)
It is.

Claims (6)

[Claims] (1) A thermal transfer recording device that records an image on the recording medium by transferring ink contained in an ink sheet to a recording medium, comprising: an ink sheet conveying means that conveys the ink sheet; and an ink sheet conveying means that conveys the recording medium. a recording medium conveying means; a recording means for recording an image on the recording medium by acting on the ink sheet; a clocking means for measuring the time from when the recording means records an image until the next image recording; After the image is recorded by the means, the same data is recorded on the recording medium again without transporting the recording medium, and when the predetermined time is clocked by the clocking means, the recording means is started immediately before the next recording operation. 1. A thermal transfer recording device comprising: a control means for controlling heat generation. (2) The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control means generates heat again using the same data. (3) The control means predicts the transfer completion time until the next recording data is transferred to the recording means, and the time value of the time measurement means exceeds a predetermined value a predetermined time before the transfer completion time. 2. The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the thermal transfer recording apparatus generates heat again using the same data when the data is transferred. (4) The control means records on the recording medium or heats the ink sheet with lower heat generation energy than during normal recording by the recording means. The thermal transfer recording device described above. (5) A facsimile machine using a thermal transfer recording device that transfers ink contained in an ink sheet to a recording medium to record an image on the recording medium, comprising an image input means for reading and inputting a document image; a transmitting/receiving means for transmitting and receiving signals; an ink sheet conveying means for conveying the ink sheet; a recording medium conveying means for conveying the recording medium; a recording means for recording an image on the recording medium based on information; and after recording the image by the recording means;
a timer for measuring time until the next image recording; after recording an image by the recording means, the same data is recorded on the recording medium again without transporting the recording medium; and the timer measures a predetermined time. When it is done,
and control means for controlling the recording means to generate heat again with the same data. (6) A facsimile machine using a thermal transfer recording device that transfers ink contained in an ink sheet to a recording medium to record an image on the recording medium, comprising an image input means for reading and inputting a document image; a transmitting/receiving means for transmitting and receiving signals; an ink sheet conveying means for conveying the ink sheet; a recording medium conveying means for conveying the recording medium; a recording means for recording an image on the recording medium based on information; and after recording the image by the recording means;
a timer for measuring time until the next image recording; after recording an image by the recording means, the same data is recorded on the recording medium again without transporting the recording medium; and the timer measures a predetermined time. When it is done,
A facsimile apparatus comprising: control means for controlling the recording means to generate heat immediately before the next recording operation.