JPH02202456A - Print recording of image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a high-density printing image without applying a high load to a printing head by providing a repetitive printing mode which enables repeated printing a plurality of times of a specified unit of image record. CONSTITUTION:When a mode key for repetitive transfer in N times 25b is turned ON and a print start key 25a is turned ON, the transfer from an ink sheet 1 is repeated in a plurality of times so that sequential surface printing is performed. That is, each transfer area such as yellow Y, magenta M and cyan C is sent sequentially in a sheet feed direction and a single round of transfer of the specified unit of image record is completed. Then an ink sheet 1 is temporarily returned to a home position with a material to be transferred to held as it is at its position. After this, the same image record is transferred in such a manner that it is placed together over a print image transferred previously using the same printing area. After the repetitive transfer action of one image record being effected in a plurality of times, a next printing area is taken out, and the same repetitive transfer of new image information is performed in a plurality of times.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a printing and recording method for an image forming apparatus that forms an image by printing predetermined image information on a printing member.

[Prior Art] What about various image forming devices such as multifunction machines, printers, and facsimile machines? Image formation is performed by printing predetermined image information on a member to be printed, such as paper or film, by 8 fusing, sublimation, printing, or the like.

For example, in a thermal transfer printer, an ink sheet coated with heat sublimation or heat melt ink is overlaid on image receiving paper or film as a printing member, and a thermal pattern is generated in accordance with the image recording information. Recording is performed by selectively transferring the ink of the ink sheet to the printing member using the head.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, if there are irregularities on the surface of the image receiving member such as the image receiving paper or film, the ink sheet 1 may be brought into good contact with the ink sheets 1 to 1 due to the dislocation effect of the ink accompanied by thermal diffusion. Although printing is performed well on the convex portions, so-called white spots, roughness, or a decrease in image density often occur on the four portions. In order to solve this problem, it is possible to bring the thermal head into contact with the surface of the material to be printed under high pressure, or to increase the input energy to the heater. This shortens the life of the entire device, causing problems with the reliability of the device.

Furthermore, when printing images on fill sheets (hereinafter referred to as HP sheets) for overhead projectors, the absolute J density of the ink dye that forms the printed image is insufficient, and the projection light The problem of thinning has been occurring for a long time. For this reason, JP-A No. 6
0-52861, JP 61-36756, JP 61-36762, and JP 61-2
Although attempts have been made to improve the concentration of ink dyes, such as in Japanese Patent No. 55890, fading due to ultraviolet rays or temperature fluctuations is unavoidable, making it difficult to achieve this. Such problems occur in other image forming apparatuses as well.

Therefore, the present invention makes it possible to obtain a predetermined printed image without applying a high load to the printing head, improve the reliability of the device, and achieve high density printing on any recording paper or film. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing/recording method for an image forming apparatus that enables printing of images.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a printing and recording method for an image forming apparatus that forms an image by printing predetermined image recording information on a member to be printed. , has a configuration including a repeat printing mode in which a fixed unit of image recording information is repeatedly printed a plurality of times.

[Function] When the repeat printing mode is selected in a means having such a configuration, the same image recording information is repeatedly printed on the member to be printed multiple times, and as a result, the The density of the image formed on the photographic member is increased.

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows a transfer drive section of a thermal transfer printer as an example of an image forming apparatus for carrying out the present invention. In the second time, the ink sheet] is pulled out from the sheet delivery roll 2 and is sandwiched in the transfer section 'r between the thermal head 3 and the platen drum 4. Further, the intersheet 1 is pulled out from this transfer portion T, passed through a discharge roller 5, and wound onto a sheet winding roll 6. A transfer member such as an image receiving paper or an OI (P sheet) is wrapped around the outer peripheral surface of the platen drum 4 and its front edge is held by a clamp 7, and the platen drum 4 is held by a presser roller 8 in an area before transfer. When the transfer operation is performed, the thermal spool 1 is lowered so that the ink sheet 1 and the transferred member are deposited on the transfer portion T between the platen drum 4. The thermal head 3 has a function of generating a thermal pattern according to the image recording information, and the thermal head 3 selectively transfers the ink on the ink sheet 1 to perform the printing operation. is now being carried out.

The above-mentioned ink sheet 1 is a color ink sheet of a field-sequential printing method as shown in FIG. They are arranged in order from the side. In the areas immediately before each of the yellow Y, magenta M, and cyan C printing areas, instruction markers IY, LM, and IC, which are formed by filling the sheet surface with opaque color, are provided in different states. Kokura's instruction markers LY, LM.

The IC is designed to be detected by a color surface detection sensor indicated by the symbol S in FIG.

Returning to FIG. 2, the platen drum 4 is rotated in the direction of the arrow by the rotational output from the rotary sleeper motor 9 being transmitted via the timing bells 1 to 10. The platen drum 4 and the ink sheet 1 are rotated in general synchronization with the cycle of one line of image data sent to the thermal head 3 to perform a transfer operation. When the transfer is performed, the thermal head 3 is raised and the transferred member is ejected.

Further, the platen drum 4 is provided with a paper feed mechanism 11 that supplies the untransferred material to the platen drum 4 in the area of transfer 1, and the paper feed mechanism 11 that supplies the transferred material to the platen drum 4 in the area after transfer. A paper ejecting mechanism 12 for ejecting the members is attached.

The paper feeding mechanism 11 includes a pair of paper feeding rollers 13 and 13 that grip the transferred member pulled out from a paper feeding force center (not shown) and feed the transferred member toward the side of the platen drum 4. A paper feed path 14 is formed between the paper feed roller 13 and the platen drum 4. On the other hand, the paper discharging mechanism 12 includes a pair of paper discharging rollers 15 that grip the transferred material peeled off from the platen drum 4 and send the transferred material toward a paper discharging tray (not shown). .15, and a paper discharge path 16 is formed between the paper discharge roller 15 and the platen drum 4. Note that the paper feed roller 13 and the paper discharge roller 15 are rotated in a predetermined direction by transmitting rotational output from a common rotation drive motor 17 via a common timing belt 18. It has become. Further, a glossiness detection device 21 is installed in the middle of the paper feed path 14 to determine whether the transferred member is front or back.

This glossiness detection device 21 is arranged so as to face the side of the transfer target member on which the transfer is performed, that is, the bottom side of the transfer target member in the paper feed path 14 in FIG. 2.

Furthermore, an image forming mode control device as shown in FIG. 1 is attached to the transfer agitating section of such a thermal transfer printer. An operation signal from an operation display panel 25 for specifying a print mode is applied to the system controller 22 of this image forming mode control device. Various display signals such as signals representing modes are output.

Further, to the system controller 22, an electric current G23 is connected, and outputs (Q) from various position sensors are applied. A rotation command signal is sent to each of the paper discharge roller 15, the rotary drive motor 9 for the platen drum, the rotary drive motor for winding up the ink sheet, and the rotary drive motor for rewinding the ink sheet, and Rotation operations based on the photo mode are instructed to them.

Furthermore, the operation display panel 25 is provided with a normal print start key 25a and an N-times transfer repetition mode key 25b. The normal printer 1 to start keys 25a are used to start the printing process while specifying a normal printing mode in which a fixed unit (page unit or predetermined block unit) of image recording information is transferred only once. The N-times transfer repetition mode key 25b is used to designate a printing mode in which a fixed unit (page unit or predetermined block unit) of image recording information is repeatedly transferred N times.

An embodiment of a printing method using such a drive device will be described next.

When the normal print star 1-key 25a is turned on, the ink sheets 1-1 are printed in a plane-sequential manner, and one transfer is performed while the ink sheets 1-1 are used in the JIFF sequence. In other words, each printing area of yellow Y, magenta M, and cyan C is fed step by step in the sheet feeding direction shown by the arrow in FIG. Only one transfer is performed for each transfer.

On the other hand, if the print start key 25a is turned on after the N-times transfer repetition mode key 25b is turned on, the ink sheet 1-1 is printed in a plane-sequential manner, and a plurality of transfers are repeatedly performed. jThe fountain will be used. That is, each printing area of yellow Y, magenta M, and cyan C is sequentially fed in the sheet feeding direction shown by the arrow in FIG. 3, and a fixed unit (page unit or predetermined block unit) of image recording information is transferred once. Then, the ink sheet 1 is returned to the hole 11 position while the transfer member is held at that position. Then, using the same printing area again, the same image recording information is transferred so as to be superimposed on the printed image obtained by the previous transfer. In the same way, after the transfer operation of the same image (lt recorded information) using the same printing area is repeated multiple times (N times), the next printing area is extracted, and the same image information is transferred to the next image information. Repeated transfer is performed multiple times.

When the above-mentioned repeat printing mode is selected, the same image recording information is repeatedly transferred to the transfer target material multiple times in a superimposed manner, and as a result, the same image recording information is transferred onto the transfer target material multiple times. The absolute amount of ink used is increased, and therefore the reflection density or transmission degree of the formed image is increased.

The following table shows the first transfer image and the second transfer image (Y.

The results are shown in which the black area (by superposition of M and C) was measured using a reflection densitometer (Bretag D142-3).

Furthermore, the following table shows the 1st transfer image, 2nd transfer image, and 3rd transfer image obtained by sublimation transfer onto the OII P sheet.
The result of measuring the rotationally transferred image (black area due to overlapping of Y, M, and C) with a transmission densitometer (Macbeth rD504) is shown.

As is clear from these tables, the depth of the image is improved by printing multiple times.

Such multiple printing can be applied not only to full-color images but also to single-color images such as black. In addition, the operation display panel 25
The N-time transfer repetition mode key 25b is set to “○HP J
, ``♀l・通'', etc. can be displayed using a symbol representing the member to be printed. In this case, for example, ○II
A program that performs two operations and transfers in response to the P key is preset.

In the above embodiment, a line type head is used to perform multiple overlapping transfers in a surface sequential manner, but the same applies to serial transfer/printing using a short head.
Similar actions and effects can be obtained by repeatedly transferring and printing the same data.

Note that the present invention can be applied not only to a transfer process using melting, sublimation, energization, etc., but also to a droplet adhesion process using the Infusiera 1 method.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the present invention provides a repeat printing mode in which a fixed unit of image recording information is repeatedly printed a plurality of times so that the density of the image formed on the printing member is increased. Because of this, it is possible to print high-density images without applying a heavy load to the printing head, that is, while improving the reliability of the machine HH. Furthermore, a high-density image can be transferred to any recording paper or film without selecting or replacing ink according to the member to be printed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 shows an example of a printing image forming mode instruction means for carrying out the present invention (outlined plot diagram, second
The figure is an explanatory side view showing the schematic structure of a thermal transfer printer as an example of an image forming apparatus for carrying out the present invention, and FIG. 3 is an ink sheet used in the thermal transfer printer shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory plan view showing the configuration. 1... Ink sheet, 3... Thermal head, 4...
...Platen drum, 25...Operation display panel, 25
a...Print start key, 25b...N rotation 4
Repeat mode key agent mountain?

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A printing method for an image forming apparatus that forms an image by printing predetermined image recording information on a member to be printed, wherein a certain unit of image recording information is repeatedly printed a plurality of times. A printing recording method for an image forming apparatus, characterized in that it is provided with a repeat printing mode for printing.