JPH02164556A - Electrothermal transfer recording head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce droppage of print density by forming a hard film between the electrode substrate and the recording head of an electrothermal transfer recording head. CONSTITUTION:A hard film 3 is formed entirely on an electrode substrate 1 having base composed of mica series ceramic, glass or resin such as polyimide or at the tip thereof where an ink film contacts therewith through thin film method such as sputtering or thick film method such as printing. Preferably, inorganic material such as tantalum pentaoxide or silicon nitride harder than the electrode substrate 1, having heat resistance and insulating property and causes no friction against contacting motion of the ink film is employed as the material of the hard film 3. When such electrothermal transfer recording head is employed, the electrode substrate 1 is not cut between the recording electrodes 2 and the ink fused through power supply is transferred efficiently to a recording paper. By such arrangement, droppage of print density can be reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field 1] The present invention relates to a recording head used in an electrically conductive thermal transfer recording device.

(Prior art 1) As shown in FIG.
Mounted as shown in the figure, the ink film 5 and recording paper 7 are pressed together so as to be slightly deformed, and a voltage is applied between adjacent recording electrodes to melt the ink layer of the ink film 5 and transfer it to the recording paper 7. A desired pixel was formed.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The head structure described above has the following problems.

As shown in FIG. 4, when recording electrodes are formed directly on the electrode substrate, the recording head presses the ink film and recording paper with a platen to print, and the ink film and printing paper are Since the ink film moves between the head and the platen and is pulled with a certain tension, the ink film bites into the gap 4 between the recording electrodes and scrapes off the electrode substrate between the recording electrodes.

In addition, this deteriorates the adhesion between the edges of the electrode substrate and the ink film, which deteriorates the transferability of the pixels 9 formed between the recording electrodes to the recording paper as shown in FIG. The problem was that the concentration decreased.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the current-carrying type thermal transfer recording head of the present invention has a hard film formed between the electrode substrate and the recording electrode.

[Function] According to the above configuration of the present invention, it is possible to reduce mechanical wear of the electrode substrate between the electrode parts, thereby suppressing a decrease in print density that occurs over time.

[Example 1] Hereinafter, an example according to the present invention will be described based on the drawings, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

In Figure 1, an electrode substrate 1 made of resin such as mica-based ceramic, glass, or polyimide is coated on the entire surface of the electrode substrate or as shown in Figure 2, using a thin film method such as sputtering or a thick film method such as printing. Next, a hard film 3 is formed at the tip of the electrode substrate where the electrode substrate contacts the ink film.

Next, the recording electrode 2 is formed by a thin film method such as sputtering, a plating method, or a thick film method such as printing.

Here, the material of the hard film 3 is harder than the electrode substrate 1,
Suitable are inorganic materials such as tantalum pentoxide and cape nitride, which have heat resistance, insulating properties, and do not cause wear due to contact movement of the ink film.

A printing mechanism using the current-carrying type thermal transfer recording head 4 constructed as described above is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 3, this printing mechanism is shown in FIG.
-a and the ink film 5 in contact with the leading end surface 2-a of the recording type FIi2 related to energization is energized and an image is printed. The platen 6 is pressed against the recording head 4 via the ink film 5 and the recording paper 7, and the suppressing portion 6-a is deformed by a sufficient amount so that the entire tip surface 2-a of the recording electrode 2 comes into contact with the resistance layer 8. doing. Here, for the recording electrode 2 having a thickness of approximately several μm to 20 μm, the amount of deformation of the platen suppressing portion 6-a is 10 μm.
The appropriate thickness of the hard film is from 0 μm to 200 μm, and from several μm to several tens of μm.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, by using the current-carrying thermal transfer recording head according to the present invention, the electrode substrate between the recording electrodes 2 is
Since the ink 9 is not scraped off as shown in the figure, the ink 9 melted by energization can be efficiently transferred to the recording paper as shown in FIG.

Therefore, it has the effect of reducing a decrease in durable print density.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the structure of the current-carrying type thermal transfer head of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a printing mechanism equipped with the current-carrying type thermal transfer recording head of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining problems in the prior art. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which an image is printed using the current-carrying type thermal transfer head of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state in which an image is printed using a conventional energized thermal transfer recording roller. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a conventional current-carrying type thermal transfer recording disk structure. 1... Electrode substrate 2... Recording electrode 3... Hard film 4... Current type thermal transfer recording head 5... Ink film 6... Platen 7... Recording paper 8... Resistive layer 9 ...The structure of using pixels and molten ink Applicant Seiko Epson Co., Ltd. Agent Patent attorney Kizobe Suzuki and one other person Figure 3 Figure 1 Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) An ink film having at least a resistance layer and a heat-melting ink layer, and a recording paper are disposed between a recording head having a plurality of recording electrodes arranged in parallel on the side edges of an electrode substrate and an elastic member. The elastic member is compressed so as to be slightly deformed, and a voltage is applied between adjacent recording electrodes to energize the resistance layer and generate heat to melt the hot melt ink layer and transfer it to the recording paper, forming a desired pixel. 1. A current-carrying thermal transfer recording head, characterized in that a hard film is formed between the electrode substrate and the recording electrode. 2) The current-carrying thermal transfer recording head according to claim 1, wherein the hard film is made of an insulating material. 3) The current-carrying type thermal transfer recording head according to claim 1, wherein the hardness of the hard film is higher than that of the electrode substrate.