JPH02145351A - Image recorder using thermal transfer ink - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the waste of a thermal transfer ink sheet by controlling ink sheet feeding means on the feeding distance of the sheet measured by ink sheet feeding distance measuring means by control means, and setting the position of next region of the sheet. CONSTITUTION:Cueing of a yellow region Y of an ink sheet 30 is conducted by reading a mark by a sensor, an cueing of a magenta region M and a cyan region C is conducted by measuring the rotating amount of a supply reel 60 by an encoder 52 and determining idle feeding distance of the sheet 30, i.e., the rotating amount of a winding reel 62 on the basis of it. Thus, since the sheet 30 can be accurately idly fed, it is not necessary to form marginal lengths of the regions M and C of the sheet 30 in the case that the idle feeding distance is not accurate, and the waste of the sheet 30 can be eliminated.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] Dermatology! The present invention relates to an image recording device using a thermal transfer ink sheet, and particularly to an image recording device that can save the length of the thermal transfer ink sheet.

An image recording apparatus has been proposed that receives a video signal representing a color image and records the color image on recording paper using ink sheets of three colors. This device receives a video signal representing, for example, a still image, separates the video signal into 3M color envelopes, and applies each color-separated video signal to a thermal head.

On the other hand, an ink sheet for printing is prepared by applying sublimation ink of three colors to three different areas. Video signals of each color component are sequentially applied to the thermal head, and the ink portions of the ink sheet corresponding to these signals are heated, thereby sublimation-transferring the ink on the ink sheet onto the recording paper. A color image is formed by sequentially applying three component video signals and sequentially transferring the three colors of ink on the ink sheet onto the same area of the recording paper in a superimposed manner.

In such an apparatus, three areas of Y (yellow), M (magenta), and C (cyan) are sequentially formed on the ink sheet. Therefore, each time recording is performed using each MMC ink, it is necessary to perform so-called cueing so that the ink area of the ink sheet is located at a position corresponding to the thermal head.

Conventionally, as a method for performing such cueing, there is a method in which a cueing mark is attached to each of the YMC areas and the mark is detected each time by a sensor. In this method, marking must be done for each area of the MMC, so marking is complicated. Also, M
Since marks in each YMC area are detected and cued using sensors that detect each MC color, there is a drawback that there are many types of sensors.

On the other hand, add a cue mark only to the Y area,
There is a method in which this mark is detected by a sensor when printing Y, and by moving the ink sheet a certain amount when printing M and C. In this method, since the M and C areas of the ink sheet are set by moving a certain amount, the cueing of the M and C areas is not necessarily performed accurately. Therefore, the MC+7 of the ink sheet ) There is a problem in that the length of the ink sheet is wasted because it is necessary to provide a margin for the area.

OBJECTS It is an object of the present invention to provide an image recording apparatus using a thermal transfer ink sheet that eliminates the drawbacks of the prior art, eliminates waste of ink sheets, and does not increase the number of sensors.

According to the present invention, an image recording apparatus that receives a video signal representing a color image and records the color image represented by the video signal on a recording medium using a thermal transfer ink sheet converts the input video signal into a color image. A color component signal selection means for reading out each component, a heating means for heating the thermal transfer ink sheet for each color component region according to the color component signal selected by the color component signal selection means, and an ink for feeding the thermal transfer ink sheet. a sheet feeding means; an ink sheet feeding amount measuring means for measuring the feeding amount of the thermal transfer ink sheet by the ink sheet feeding means when one region of the thermal transfer ink sheet is heated by the heating means; and a color component signal. The control means controls the ink sheet feeding based on the feeding amount of the thermal transfer ink sheet measured by the ink sheet feeding amount measuring device. The apparatus controls the means and sets the position of the next area of the thermal transfer ink sheet.

Next, an embodiment of an image recording apparatus using a thermal transfer ink sheet according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an image recording device according to the present invention.
It has an input terminal IO and an RGB input terminal 12 to which RGB signals are input. The input from the NTSC input terminal IO is connected to the decoder 14. Decoder 14 is NTS
Create ROB signal from C signal. The output of the decoder 14 and the input from the RGB input terminal 12 are connected to the An converter 18.
It is connected to the. The AD converter 18 converts the input color-separated video signal into a digital signal. The output of the ^D converter 16 is connected to a frame memory 18.

The frame memory 18 is composed of a RAM, etc., and stores input color-separated video signals and reads out these signals according to control signals from the control unit 40.The output of the frame memory 18 is connected to the line memory 22. There is.

The line memory 22 stores the input video signal for one line and outputs it. The output of the line memory 22 is connected to the gradation control section 24.

The gradation control section 24 includes a gradation control lookup table 2
6 and read out from the gradation control lookup table 26,
The 0 gradation control unit 24 that converts any of the input RGB signals into YMC signals for printing also controls the control unit 40 in response to a gradation correction instruction input by the operator from the input operation unit 3B. The output of the 0 gradation control unit 24, which reads lookup table data from the gradation control lookup table 28 and corrects the gradation of the video signal according to the control signal sent from the thermal head 28, is connected to the thermal head 28. There is.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the printing mechanism unit brings the ink sheet 30 for transferring ink to the recording paper 32 on which an image is recorded and the recording paper 32 into contact with each other on the platen drum 50, and the ink sheet 30 A thermal head 2B is arranged on the side. The ink sheet 30 is supplied from a supply reel eO and wound onto a take-up roll 62 driven by a reel motor 5B. The recording paper 32 is moved by a platen drum 50 driven by a drum motor 54. The recording paper 32 and the ink sheet 30 are driven by the take-up roll 62 and the platen drum 50 so as to be moved in the directions of the arrows, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 3, the ink sheet 30 is made by adhering sublimable ink 30b to a base 30a such as a polyester film, and when selected signal electrodes of the thermal head 2 are energized and heated, , the ink 30b attached to the base 30a is transferred onto the recording paper 32. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the ink sheet 30 has three primary colors for printing: yellow (Y), magenta (M),
Areas Y and M where three types of cyan (C) ink are attached
, C are formed in sequence. The ink sheet 30 can be easily handled if it is stored in a cassette 64 as shown in FIG. 5, for example.

Returning to FIG. 1, the drum motor 54 and the reel motor 5B are driven by a drive signal sent from a motor driver 58, and the motor driver 58 is controlled by a control signal sent from the control section 40. Further, a sensor 70 for detecting the yellow area Y of the ink sheet 30 is connected to the control unit 40 . The sensor sends a detection signal to the control unit 40 when the ink sheet 30 is set in the yellow area Y.

The output of frame memory 18 is also connected to a DA converter 42. The DA converter 42 is connected to the frame memory 1
Converts the RGB video signal output from B into an analog signal. The output of the DA converter 42 is connected to an encoder 44. The encoder 44 converts the input RGB signal into an NTSC signal and outputs it to the CRT 4B.

An image printed by this device is displayed on the CRT 46.

The control unit 40 is a control unit that controls each functional unit of the present device, and is advantageously configured by a microprocessor. An input operation section 36 is connected to the control section 40, and various instructions from the operator are inputted from the input operation section 36.

Next, the operation when printing with this apparatus will be explained.

The operator loads the cassette 64 of the ink sheet 30 into the printer, sets the recording paper 32, and inputs a print instruction from the input operation section 36.

The control unit 40 controls the cueing of the yellow area Y for printing in the yellow area Y of the ink sheet 3(l).A flowchart of the cueing operation of each area of the ink sheet 30 is shown in FIG. .

In finding the beginning of the yellow area Y, since printing has not yet been performed in step 102, the process proceeds to step 110, where the control section 40 outputs a control signal to the motor driver 58. As a result, a drive signal is sent from the motor driver 58 to the reel motor 56, and the take-up roll 62
is rotated.

The sensor 70 detects the leading part of the area Y of the ink sheet 30 (112). When the sensor 70 detects the leading part of the area Y, it sends a detection signal to the control unit 40. When the cap 10 receives the detection signal from the sensor 70, it outputs a control signal to the motor driver 58, whereby the rotation of the take-up roll 82 is stopped (step 114), and the ink sheet 30 has a predetermined position at the beginning of the yellow area Y. is set to the position. That is, the cue for area Y is performed.

N representing the image to be printed from the NTSC input terminal 10
When the video signal of the TSC signal is input, the video signal is input to the decoder 14, and the decoder 14 creates an RGB signal. The RGB signals are sent from the decoder 14 to the AD converter IB, where they are AD converted. Note that when an RGB signal is input from the RGB input terminal 12, the input ROB signal is sent as is to the AD converter 16, and the AD
converted.

The AD-converted RGB signals are sent to the frame memory 18, and the RGB signals for one frame are stored. Control unit 4
A signal for creating a square Y signal is read out from the frame memory 18 in response to a control signal sent from 0, and after being temporarily stored in the line memory 24, it is sent to the gradation control section 24.

The signal data input to the gradation control section 24 is converted into Y signal data for printing using the lookup table read out from the gradation control lookup table 28, and is also used for gradation correction for printing. The Y signal that has been subjected to 0 gradation correction is sent to the thermal head 28.

On the other hand, in response to a control signal sent from the control unit 40, drive signals are sent from the drum motor 54 and reel motor 58 to the platen drum 50 and take-up roll 62, respectively, and the recording paper 32 and ink sheet 30 are driven in the direction of the arrow. Printing is performed in the Y area of the ink sheet 30 by the Y signal applied to the thermal head 28 .

That is, in accordance with the yellow signal input to the electrode of the thermal head 28, the yellow area Y of the ink sheet 30 is transferred onto the recording paper 32.

Next, the control unit 40 outputs a control signal to the motor driver 58 for printing using the M area of the ink sheet 30. This causes the motor driver 5B to drive the drum motor 5.
4, the platen drum 50 is rotated, and the recording paper 32 is set so that the ink is transferred again to overlap the area where the yellow image has been formed.

On the other hand, the beginning of the magenta region M of InkCy) 30 is performed. This cueing has already been performed in the Y area in step 102 of the flowchart in FIG. encoder 5
2 counts the amount of rotation of the supply reel 60 during printing in the Y area of the ink sheet 30, and outputs the data to the control section 40.

Based on the amount of rotation of the supply reel 60, the control unit 40 determines the amount of rotation of the reel for empty feeding for cueing the M area of the ink sheet 30 (step 10B). Since the length by which the ink sheet 30 is moved during area printing is constant, if the amount of rotation of the supply reel 60 at this time is known, the amount of movement of the ink sheet 30 per rotation can be determined.

Since the length between the top of the Y area and the top of the M area of the ink sheet 30 is fixed, the length that requires empty feeding is determined from the length between the Y area and the M area for printing in the Y area. This is the length obtained by subtracting the length moved by .

By dividing this subtracted length by the amount of movement of the ink sheet 30 per rotation, the amount of rotation of the take-up reel 62 required for idle feeding can be determined. Since the amount of rotation of the take-up reel 62 required for idle feeding changes depending on the amount of ink sheet 30 wound around the take-up reel 62, it is necessary to determine the amount of rotation each time in this way.

The control unit 40 controls the take-up reel 82 obtained in this manner.
The motor driver 58 sends a signal to control the amount of rotation of the idle feed.
Output to. As a result, the drive signal output from the motor driver 58 to the reel motor 62 causes the take-up reel 8 to
2 is rotated by the necessary amount, and the beginning of the M area of the ink sheet 30 is performed (step 108).

A video signal corresponding to the magenta (M) component is read out from the frame memory in response to a control signal from the control unit 40,
Similarly to the above, it is sent to the gradation control section 24 and subjected to gradation correction,
It is sent to the thermal head 28. Since the ink (-) 30 is moved as described above so that the magenta area M is in contact with the recording paper 32, the magenta image is recorded by being superimposed on the yellow ink image by the magenta ink. Formed on paper 32.

Further, in the same manner, the platen drum 50 is rotated by the drum motor 54, and the recording paper 32 is set so that the ink is transferred again so as to overlap the area where the image has been formed with yellow and magenta ink. Further, as described above, a signal for controlling the amount of rotation of the take-up reel 62 during idle feeding is output from the control unit 40 to the motor driver 58, and a drive signal output from the motor driver 58 to the reel motor 62 causes the take-up reel to be rotated. 62 is rotated by a necessary amount, and the cyan area C of the ink sheet 30 is located.

Then, a cyan image signal is input to the electrodes of the thermal head 28, and an image based on the cyan signal is formed by being superimposed with cyan ink.

In this way, each video signal of yellow, magenta, and cyan is inputted to the electrode of the thermal head 28, and the same portion of the recording paper 32 is painted with each color ink of yellow Y, magenta M, and cyan C of the ink sheet 30. The inks are superimposed to form a color image.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the beginning of the yellow area Y of the ink sheet 30 is performed by reading the mark with a sensor, but the beginning of the magenta area M and cyan area C is determined by the encoder 52 from the supply reel. 80
This is done by measuring the amount of rotation of the winding reel 62, and determining the amount of idle feeding of the ink sheet 30, that is, the amount of rotation of the take-up reel 62, based on this. Therefore, ink sheet 3
Since the blank feed of 0 can be performed accurately, there is no need to form an extra length in the magenta area M and the cyan area C of the ink sheet 30 in case the blank feed amount is not accurate. 30 waste can be eliminated.

In this way, the magenta area M and cyan area C of the ink sheet 30 can be shortened, so many images can be printed using the ink sheet 30 of a predetermined length, or the ink sheet 30 can be shortened. can do.

Furthermore, since only the beginning of the yellow region Y is detected and performed by the sensor, many sensors are not required, unlike the case where the beginning of all the YMC regions is performed by sensors.

In the above embodiment, the recording paper 32 and the ink sheet 30 are moved by rotating the platen drum 50 and the take-up reel during printing, but the recording paper 32 and the ink sheet 30 are moved by rotating only the platen drum 50. The sheet 30 may be moved and the take-up reel 62 may be rotated during idle feeding.

According to the present invention, when heating the color component area of the thermal transfer ink sheet, the feeding distance of the thermal transfer ink sheet is measured, and the idle feeding amount of the thermal transfer ink sheet is determined based on this measured amount. Adjust.

Therefore, since it is possible to accurately adjust the amount of idle feeding of the thermal transfer ink sheet, there is no need to provide a margin for the length of each color component area of the thermal transfer ink sheet, and waste of the thermal transfer ink sheet can be eliminated. . Therefore, many images can be printed using a thermal transfer ink sheet of a given length, or the thermal transfer ink sheet can be shortened.

Moreover, since the position of the next area is set by measuring the amount of fed thermal transfer ink sheet, no complicated means such as a sensor is required.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an image recording apparatus using a thermal transfer ink sheet according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the printing mechanism of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a side view of the printing mechanism of FIG. 4, and FIG. 4 is a diagram of an ink sheet used in the apparatus of FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an ink cassette used in the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing part of the operation when printing is performed by the apparatus shown in FIG. Part 1 18, Frame memory 2B, Thermal head 30, Ink sheet 32°50°52°54°56°80°62°, Recording paper, Platen drum, Encoder drum Motor, reel motor, supply reel, take-up reel

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An image recording device that receives a video signal representing a color image and records the color image represented by the video signal on a recording medium using a thermal transfer ink sheet, the device comprising: color component signal selection means for reading out signals for each color component; heating means for heating the thermal transfer ink sheet for each color component area according to the color component signal selected by the color component signal selection means; and the thermal transfer ink. an ink sheet feeding means for feeding a sheet; and an ink for measuring the feeding amount of the thermal transfer ink sheet by the ink sheet feeding means when one of the regions of the thermal transfer ink sheet is heated by the heating means. and a control means for controlling the color component signal selection means, the heating means, and the ink sheet feeding means; An image recording apparatus using a thermal transfer ink sheet, characterized in that the ink sheet feeding means is controlled based on the feeding amount of the thermal transfer ink sheet, and the position of the next area of the thermal transfer ink sheet is set. . 2. In the apparatus according to claim 1, the area of the thermal transfer ink sheet consists of yellow, magenta, and cyan areas, and the ink sheet feeding amount measuring means measures the heating of the yellow and magenta areas by the heating means. An image recording apparatus using a thermal transfer ink sheet, characterized in that a feeding amount of the thermal transfer ink sheet is measured when the thermal transfer ink sheet is fed.