JPH02171272A - Image forming medium for thermal transfer image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform a favorable image forming even on plain paper having a rough surface by previously transferring a primer for smoothing the surface in a melt state to an area to be recorded of a recording medium to which colorants are transferred in a melt state. CONSTITUTION:By using an ink ribbon 24 as an image forming medium, a coating ink 42 as a primer is transferred in a melt state to an area to be recorded of paper P previous to a printing with inks 41a - 41d serving as colorants. In this manner, the rough surface of plain paper is smoothened.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Objective of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a thermal printer that forms an image by melting and transferring a colorant on an image forming medium to a recording medium via a thermal recording head. , relates to an image forming medium used in a thermal transfer type image forming apparatus such as a thermal copying machine.

(Prior Art) In recent years, a color copying machine has been developed and put into practical use as a thermal transfer type image forming apparatus.

In the case of full-color copying, such devices overlay four colors of colorants (inks) of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black, which are image forming media (ink 1 sheet), on the recording medium (paper). (transfer force) or color uniformity 1 of the three colors yellow, magenta, and cyan are transferred in an overlapping manner. Furthermore, in the case of a single color such as a black or a black color, transfer is performed in one operation, but conventional apparatuses are not equipped with any means for smoothing the surface of the recording area of the recording medium in advance.
It was a 1 tl thing.

For this reason, when plain paper with a rough surface is used as a recording medium, it is not possible to produce a good image. For this reason, high-quality paper with a surface sliding force of 1 (aFr) is specified and used.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, in the past, there was a problem in that expensive high-quality paper was specified and used as the recording medium (secondarily, it was extremely uneconomical).

This invention was made based on the above circumstances, and part 1
The purpose of the present invention is to provide an image forming medium that enables the realization of an extremely economical thermal transfer image forming apparatus that can use inexpensive plain paper.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides an image forming medium for a thermal transfer type image forming apparatus that melts and transfers colorants on an image forming medium to a recording medium via a thermal recording head. The recorded area of the recording medium to which the colorant is melt-transferred has a base agent area in which a base agent is previously melt-transferred to make the surface smooth.

(Function) By using the image forming medium of the present invention, it is possible to melt-transfer a base agent to smooth the surface of the recording area of the recording medium to which the colorant is melt-transferred in advance, so that the surface becomes smooth. Good image formation is possible even on rough plain paper.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows a color copying machine capable of making multicolor copies as an example of a thermal transfer type image forming apparatus using the image forming medium of the present invention. That is, 1 is a main body of a copying machine, and an operation panel (not shown) is provided at the front of the upper surface of the main body 1. A document scanning section 3 for scanning and reading a document set on a document table (transparent glass) 2 is provided at the top of the main body 1, and an image forming section 4 is provided at the bottom. Note that 5 is a document cover provided on the document table 2 so as to be openable and closable.

The document scanning unit 3 includes an exposure lamp 7 whose back is surrounded by a reflector 6, a first mirror 8, a second mirror 9, a third mirror 10, a lens 11, a fourth mirror 12, and a fifth mirror 13. , and a photoelectric converter 14.

Further, the exposure lamp 7 and the first mirror 8 are mounted on a first carriage 15 that is movable along the lower surface of the document table 2, and the second mirror 9 and the third mirror 1
0 is mounted on the second carriage 16. The first carriage 15 and the second carriage 16 are configured to move in conjunction with each other by a drive mechanism (not shown), and move in the same direction at 1/2 the speed of the first carriage 15. , the optical path length to the lens 11 is kept constant.

When scanning a document, the first carriage 15 moves from left to right with the exposure lamp 7 turned on, and the second carriage 16 also moves in the same direction at 1/2 the speed. Then, the reflected light from the original is guided to the lens 11 via the first mirror 8, the second mirror 9, and the third mirror 10 in order. and a fifth mirror 13 in order to be guided to a photoelectric converter 14.

The photoelectric converter 14 photoelectrically converts the reflected light from the document tray to convert the image on the document tray into cyan.

Green, yellow (or red, green.

It separates and outputs a color signal of (blue) light, and is mainly composed of, for example, a CCDCD billline image sensor. In this case, one pixel of the document corresponds to three consecutive elements (C, G, Y) of the CCD sensor. The output of the photoelectric converter 14 is output to an A/D converter (not shown).

Further, the image forming section 4 has the following configuration. That is, the platen drum 20 is disposed approximately at the center of the image forming section 4 .

The platen drum 20 is made of an elastic material such as rubber around the platen drum 20, and has a function as a platen roller of a thermal recording head (hereinafter referred to as a thermal head) 21. The platen drum 20 carries paper P as a recording medium.
The gripper 22 has a gripper 22 that holds the tip of the gripper 22, and rotates clockwise to wrap the paper P around itself to prevent the paper P from shifting during overlapping printing.

Also, pressure rollers 23 are provided around the platen drum 20 at predetermined intervals to prevent the paper P from floating up from the platen drum 20. The circumference of the platen drum 20 is slightly longer than the length of the maximum paper size in the longitudinal direction.

The thermal head 21 is disposed diagonally below the left side of the platen drum 20 . This thermal head 21 is attached to a heat radiator integrally formed on the rear end surface of the holder. An ink ribbon 24 serving as an image forming medium of the present invention is interposed between the platen drum 20 and the thermal head 21.

The cores 25 and 26 of the ink ribbon 24 are connected to a drive shaft of a motor (not shown) via a driving force transmission mechanism (not shown), and are driven to rotate as required.

A paper feed roller 30 is provided at the lower part of the copying machine main body 1, and paper P stored in a paper feed cassette 31 is provided.
are taken out one by one. The paper P taken out by the paper feed roller 30 is sent to a pair of registration rollers 33 disposed diagonally above and to the left by a single sheet conveyance means 32 consisting of a feed roller and a separation roller, and its leading edge is aligned. .

Then, as the pair of registration rollers 33 rotate, the sheet is further fed and transferred toward the platen drum 20 via the pair of guide plates 34, and its tip is held by the gripper 22. Next, as the platen drum 20 rotates clockwise, the platen drum 20 is wound around the platen drum 20, and the press is held in a state without lifting by the rollers 23, and is accurately fed.

Further, the ink film 24 as an image forming medium has a double-headed area including a colorant area and a base agent area. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, yellow, magenta, cyan, and black inks 41a, 41b, 41c, and 41d as colorants are applied on the film body 40,
Each area of the coating ink 42 as a base material is sequentially formed in the length direction. In addition, the inks 41a to 41d as colorants include wax, resin,
The coating ink 42, which serves as a base agent, is made of a mixture of a pigment and an additive, and the coating ink 42 is made of a mixture of a wax, a resin, and an additive.

Then, as described above, the paper P is wound around the platen drum 20, and after the leading edge passes through the printing area, the thermal head 21 presses the platen drum 20. At this time, the base material area of the ink ribbon 24, that is, the coating ink 42 is arranged to face each other. and,
The coating ink 42 is melted and transferred to the recording area of the paper P, making the surface smooth.

In this way, when the base printing is completed in advance, the platen drum 20 is in a state where it has rotated approximately one revolution.

Here, the pressurizing operation of the thermal head 21 is once released, the ink ribbon 24 is wound up, and the beginning of the first color is performed. Then, the platen drum 20 starts rotating clockwise again, and printing by the thermal head 21 is performed.

When printing of this negative color is completed, the platen drum 20 has also rotated about one revolution. here,
Once the thermal head 21 is released, the ink ribbon 24
is wound up by a predetermined amount and the next color is cued up. Then, the platen drum 20 starts rotating clockwise again, printing is performed by the thermal head 21, and the next color is overprinted (printed).

In this way, when full-color copying is performed on paper P with a rough surface such as plain paper, the coating ink 42 as a base material is transferred, and yellow, magenta, cyan, etc.
A total of five transfers of each black ink 41a to 41d;
Or transfer of the iron ink 42 which is a base agent, and each of yellow, magenta, and cyan inks 41a to 41c.
Image formation is performed by a total of four transfer operations.

In the case of a single color such as black, a total of two transfer operations including the transfer of coating ink 42 as a base material are performed.

Further, the paper P on which image formation has been completed in this way is peeled off from the platen drum 20 and is formed by a pair of paper ejection guide plates 45, a pair of transport rollers 46, a pair of paper ejection guide plates 47, a pair of transport rollers 48, etc. The paper is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 5o via four paper discharge paths.

That is, at the time of paper ejection, the trailing edge of the paper P is in the paper discharge path 4.
Rotate the platen drum 20 clockwise until it faces the starting end of the platen drum 9.
counterclockwise, and use the separation claw (not shown) to separate the paper P.
The rear end is separated from the platen drum 20 and guided to a pair of paper discharge guide plates 45.

Finally, the leading edge of the paper P is released from the gripper 22, is transported through the paper transport path 49, and is ejected onto the paper ejection tray 50.

FIGS. 3(a) to 3(c) show the image forming process on paper P, where <a> indicates a state where the surface has not been treated. (b) shows a state in which the coating ink 42, which is a base material, has been melted and transferred to make the surface smooth. In addition, (C) has a surface treated with a coating ink 42 to make it smooth, and inks 41a to 41a as colorants.
41d shows the image formed.

As described above, by using the ink ribbon 24 as an image forming medium of the present invention, the ink 41 which is a colorant can be
Before printing in steps a to 41d, the coating ink 42 as a base material can be fused and transferred to the recording area of the page P paper P, making it possible to form a good image even on plain paper with a rough surface.

Note that if the paper P is high-quality paper with no surface roughness, a changeover switch (not shown) is switched to a mode in which the coating ink 42 as a base material is not melted and transferred to the paper P to avoid unnecessary use. Become.

In the above embodiment, the ink ribbon 24 is configured to include the black ink 41d, but the present invention is not limited to this, but the ink ribbon 24 may include at least the inks 41a to 41c as yellow, magenta, and cyan colorants and the coating ink 42 as a base material. Of course, if it has this, it is possible to form a color image.

It goes without saying that this invention can be modified in various ways without departing from the gist thereof.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming medium that enables the realization of an extremely economical thermal transfer image forming apparatus that uses inexpensive plain paper. be effective.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings are for explaining one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of an image forming medium of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus using this image forming medium. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the image forming process. P... Paper (recording object), 21... Thermal head (thermal recording head), 24... Ink ribbon (image forming medium), 41a to 41d... Ink (colorant), 4
2...Coating ink (base agent). Figure 3 Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue

Claims (1)

[Claims] An image forming medium of a thermal transfer type image forming apparatus that melts and transfers a colorant on an image forming medium to a recording medium via a thermal recording head, wherein the colorant is melt-transferred to a recording area of the recording medium. An image forming medium for a thermal transfer image forming apparatus, characterized in that the medium has a base agent area for melting and transferring a base agent to smooth the surface thereof.