JPH024585A - Thermal transfer method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance convenience in use by a method wherein an ink image is formed on one side of a transparent or translucent sheet by printing to obtain an original form, the ink image on the original form is made to face a light-reflective layer provided on one side of a thermal transfer sheet, a recording paper is brought into close contact with a thermal recording ink layer provided on the other side of the transfer sheet, and the assembly is irradiated with rays from the original form side. CONSTITUTION:An ink image 19b is formed by printing on the lower side of a transparent or translucent original form sheet 19a to prepare an original form 19. With the original form 19 irradiated with rays, the parts other than the ink image 19b do not generate heat because the rays are transmitted therethrough, whereas the part of the ink image 19b generates heat by absorbing the rays. The rays transmitted through the original form 19 are reflected by a light-reflective layer 18b of thermal transfer ink sheet 18, so that the sheet 18 in these areas does not generate heat, whereas the sheet 18 in the area corresponding to the image 19b generates heat. The heat thus generated in the sheet 18 is transmitted through the reflective layer 18b and a base film 18a to melt only a thermal recording ink layer 18c, and the melted part 18d of the ink layer 18c is transferred onto a recording paper 22 therebeneath. It is unnecessary for the user to make the original form 19, so that the convenience in use of a device is enhanced.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to a thermal transfer method.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, a printed matter or a copy is used as an original, an original sheet is brought into close contact with the ink image forming surface of the original, and thermal energy such as light is applied from above the original sheet to create an original for transfer. A known method is to create a transfer plate and use this transfer master plate to transfer it to recording paper such as a postcard.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In such a transfer method, the original such as a printed matter or a copy cannot be transferred to recording paper unless it is first transferred to a transfer master plate, so the transfer work is complicated and troublesome. There is a problem. Moreover, in order to use this transfer method to create a transfer master plate that is transferred onto recording paper of a predetermined size, such as a postcard, it is necessary to use printed materials with appropriate font size, font, or image. However, it is very troublesome to find such printed materials when needed, and it is often difficult to find them, which is often inconvenient.

An object of the present invention is to provide a thermal transfer method that makes it easier for manufacturers to supply original plates on which appropriate characters, images, etc. are formed, and that makes it easier to use a thermal transfer device.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The thermal transfer method of the present invention includes preparing an original plate on which an ink image is formed by printing on one side of a transparent or translucent sheet;
The original plate and the thermal transfer ink sheet are placed so that the ink image on the original plate faces the light reflection layer formed on one side of the thermal transfer ink sheet, and the recording paper is placed on the other side of the thermal transfer ink sheet. adheres to the thermal ink layer,
By irradiating a light beam from the original plate side in this state,
In this method, a portion of the thermal ink layer of the thermal transfer sheet corresponding to the ink image on the original plate is melted and transferred onto the recording paper.

[Function] According to the thermal transfer method of the present invention, by preparing an original plate with an ink image formed by printing on one side of a transparent or translucent sheet, the user does not need to create an original plate, and the thermal transfer device can It becomes even easier to use. That is, the prepared original plate is mounted on, for example, a thermal transfer device, the light reflective layer on one side of the thermal transfer ink sheet is brought into close contact with the ink image on the original plate, and the recording paper is brought into close contact with the heat-sensitive ink layer on the other side of this thermal transfer ink sheet. In this state, it is only necessary to irradiate the original plate with a light beam, so that the transfer operation can be easily performed.

In particular, the original plate is extremely easy to manufacture because it simply involves printing an ink image on one side of a transparent or translucent sheet. In addition, transparent or translucent sheets such as transparent m1121g films such as polyester,
Since translucent thin paper such as tracing vapor can be used, it can be manufactured at low cost and can be easily supplied by manufacturers.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7.

1 to 5 show a thermal transfer device for carrying out the thermal transfer method of the present invention. In this thermal transfer device, a holder 3 is detachably attached to the lower part of the device main body 2 as shown in FIG. The structure is as follows. The main body 2 of the device is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
As shown in the figure, the upper case 4 has a three-stage box shape, and has two upper stages (lower side in Figure 2) and a lower stage (upper side in Figure 2). The lower case 5 to be formed is fastened together with screws (not shown), and the holder 3 is mounted so as to cover the lower case 5.

The upper case 4 has a thin hollow box shape, and as shown in FIG. 1, operating levers 6.6 are provided on both sides of the middle step, and an AC adapter connection portion 7 is provided on the front side. ing. The upper part of the upper case 4 has a box shape that is slightly smaller on both sides than the middle part, and as shown in FIG. A battery storage chamber 9 is provided inside this, and a charging switch Sa, a discharging switch Sb, and a light emitting diode 10 are provided on the top surface. The lower case 5 has a box shape that is smaller in circumference than the intermediate stage part, and as shown in FIG. is formed, and a discharge lamp (light source lamp) 1 is installed in this light source chamber 12.
3 and a reflecting plate 14 are provided, and a holding member 1 is provided on both sides.
5.15 is provided so as to be slidable in the vertical direction.

Each member will be explained in order below.

The battery storage chamber 9 stores the battery 16, and a battery lid 9a is provided on the upper left side of the upper case 4.
An electrode plate 9b is provided on 9a, and an electrode spring 9C is provided on the back side (right side). The charging switch Sa is a slide switch, and performs charging to cause the discharge lamp 13 to flash. The discharge switch Sb is a push button switch or the like, and when operated after charging is completed, it causes the discharge lamp 13 to flash.1 The light emitting diode 10 lights up when charging is completed to warn that the discharge lamp 13 is in a flashable state. It is something.

The light source chamber 12 is a space formed within the lower case 5,
Its lower part is open, and a transparent glass (transparent member) 13 is provided in this open part. The discharge lamp 13 is made of a xenon lamp or the like used as a camera strobe, and the zero reflector 14, which flashes when the above-mentioned discharge switch SII is operated, is placed above the discharge lamp 13 and reduces the light from the discharge lamp 13. It is reflected toward the transparent glass 13 side.

The operating lever 6.6 is provided from both sides of the intermediate stage section to the lower surface, and is used to move a holding member 15.15, which will be described later, up and down. is rotatably attached to the upper case 4. That is, the operation button 6a is connected to the upper case 4.
It is arranged in the button insertion hole 4a formed on both sides of the upper case 4, and its lower part is rotatably attached by a pin 6C, and rotates around this pin 6C to move in and out of the upper case 4. Normally, the zero rotation arm 6b, a part of which protrudes to the outside, is a plate-shaped object bent into an "L" shape, and is located in the lower partition plate 11 in the upper case 4 in correspondence with the button insertion hole 4a. It is disposed within the formed notch 11a, and its tip is bifurcated and extends to and abuts on the lower surface of the lower partition plate 11. Therefore, when the operating button 6a of the operating lever 6 is pressed from the outside, the rotating arm 6b rotates about the pin 6c in the direction of the arrow X, as shown in FIG. 4, and its tip moves downward.

The holding member 15.15 moves up and down in conjunction with the operation of the operating lever 6.6, and when pushed down by the operating lever 6.6, the ink sheet 18, which will be described later, becomes transparent as shown in FIG. It is pushed down and separated from the glass 17 to enable setting of the original plate 19, which will be described later.
When it is lifted up, the transparent glass 1 is removed as shown in Figure 5.
The original plate 19 is held on the lower surface of the plate 7.

That is, each of the holding members 15 has a flat plate shape,
The locking portions 15a are located at the lower ends of the locking portions rLJ in the direction facing each other.
The guide portions 15b, 15b are provided at both ends as shown in FIG. 2, and the contact portions 15c, 15c are provided at the upper end (lower end in FIG. 2). is constantly pulled upward (downward in FIG. 2) by the coil spring 20. In this case, the lower end locking part 1
As shown in FIG. 5, 5a presses the original 19 against the lower surface of the transparent glass 17 by sandwiching the edge of the original 19 within the four parts 17a formed at the edge of the transparent glass 17. The concave portions 17a of the transparent glass 17 are guide portions on both sides of the transparent glass 17, which are formed deeply so that the locking portions 15a do not protrude downward from the center of the original 19 when the locking portions 15a sandwich the original 19. 15b, 15b are provided in respective guide grooves 5a, 5a formed on both sides of the lower case 5 so as to be movable up and down. The contact portions 15c, 15c at the upper end are each bent slightly outward and inclined, and each upper end thereof is always in contact with the rotating arm 6b of the upper operating lever 6. The lower end of the coil spring 20 is connected to the contact portions 15c, 15c.
The upper end is attached to the attachment hole ttb of the lower partition plate 11 above the two-pronged tip of the rotating arm 6b of the operating lever 6, and the upper end is attached to the attachment hole ttb of the lower partition plate 11 above the two-pronged end of the rotating arm 6b of the operating lever 6. 15 is constantly being pulled upwards.

The holder 3 is used to attach the ink sheet 18 to the apparatus main body 2, and is attached to the attachment/detachment section at the bottom of the apparatus main body 2, covering the lower case 5. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the holder 3 has a substantially rectangular box shape with an open top, and an opening 3a is provided at the bottom of the holder 3 in correspondence with the transparent glass 17 of the light source chamber 12. Reel storage portions 3b, 3b are provided on both sides, and hooks fi3c, 3C are provided at the upper portions of the front and rear walls to protrude upward. Therefore, in the holder 3, the hook portion 3C13c removably engages with the locking recesses 11c and llc (one not shown) provided on the lower surface of the main body 2, that is, the lower partition plate 11 in the middle stage. As a result, it is attached to the lower part of the device main body 2. In this case, the bottom opening 3a is formed larger than the transparent glass 17 of the light source chamber 12, and when the holder 3 is attached to the device main body 2, the bottom surface of the opening 3a becomes transparent as shown in FIG. The reel storage on both sides is flush with the lower surface of the glass 17, and when the holding member 15 and the workpiece 5 are pushed down as shown in FIG. Part 3b, 3b beam-
This is a part that rotatably stores the holder 21 and 21, and is separated from the inside of the holder 3 by a partition wall 3d, and the outer wall is inclined to become narrower toward the bottom. An opening 3e is formed to expose a part of the reel 21 to the outside, and shaft supports 3f, 3f for pivotally supporting each shaft portion 21a, 21a of the reel 21 are provided at the front and rear parts of the inside. In this case, the partition wall 3d is configured so as not to hinder the vertical movement of the holding member 15 and the operating lever 6 when the holder 3 is attached to the lower part of the apparatus main body 2. Moreover, the shaft parts 21a, 3f have a certain degree of frictional resistance so that the reel 21 does not rotate by itself.
1a, and when the holder 3 is attached to the lower part of the device main body 2, the shaft portion 21a,
Press down 21a so that it does not wobble in the vertical direction. The ink sheets 18 are wound around the reels 21 and 21 through the lower side of the opening 3a from the respective reel storage parts 3b and 3b, and the reel parts 21b exposed from the reel storage parts 3b and 3b are touched with fingers or the like. By rotating the ink sheet 18 against frictional resistance, the ink sheet 18 is wound up on either side. In addition, since the reels 21.21 are each supported by the shaft supports 3f and 3f with frictional resistance, each reel 21.21
The ink sheet 18 wound around the ink sheet 18 does not sag on the way and is stretched over the lower surface of the transparent glass 17 of the light source chamber 12.

By the way, the ink 7 wound around the reel 21.21
-) 18 is for transferring an image corresponding to an ink image 19b of an original plate 19, which will be described later, onto a recording paper 22 such as plain paper, and has a total thickness of about 3 to 50 g as shown in FIG. At the front and rear, nickel (Ni), aluminum (Al), copper (Cu) is applied to the upper surface of the base film 18a made of polyester or the like.
A light reflecting layer 18b made of a metal vapor-deposited layer such as the like is formed, and a heat-sensitive ink layer 18c made of heat-melting color ink or the like is formed on the lower surface of the base film 18a.

Next, an image corresponding to the ink image 19b on the original plate 19 is transferred onto the recording paper by the thermal transfer device "af" configured as described above.
The case of transferring to 2 will be explained.

In this case, first, the original plate 19 is prepared. This original version 1
9, as shown in FIG. 6, an ink image 19b is formed by printing on one side (lower side) of an original plate sheet 19a. In this case, as the original sheet 19a, a transparent resin film such as polyester or a semi-transparent thin paper such as tracing paper is used. The printing method may be screen printing or offset printing, and preferably, the back side of the original sheet 19a is printed. That is, a mirror image is printed on the back side of the original sheet 19a so that the image is correct when viewed from the front side of the y-dosing sheet 19a. Such original plates 19 can be produced in large quantities by a manufacturer and supplied to the market.

Such an original plate 19 is set in the lower part of the light source chamber 12 of the thermal transfer device 1. In this case, the device main body 2 has an ink sea) 1
It is assumed that the holder 3 holding the holder 8 is attached. When the operating button 6a of the operating lever 6 of the device main body 2 is pushed from the outside, the rotating arm 6 rotates around the bin 6C as shown in FIG.
b rotates in the direction of arrow
Push down against 0. Then, the guide portions 15b, 15b at both ends of the holding member 15 are guided by the guide grooves 5a, 5a of the lower case 5, and move downward, and the locking portion 15a at the lower end is placed in the lower part of the light source chamber 12. It is pushed out downward from the provided transparent glass 17. The ink sheet 18 is lifted by the protrusion of the locking portion 15a. In this state, the locking part 15a of the holding member 15 and the transparent glass 17
The original plate 19 is inserted between. Then, when the pressure on the operating lever 6 is released, the coil spring 2 is released as shown in FIG.
0, each holding member 15 is pulled up, and the locking part 15a at the lower end clips the edge of the original 19 into the recess 17a provided at the edge of the transparent glass 17. As a result, the original 19 is placed on the lower surface of the transparent glass 17. It is attached closely.

After the original plate 19 is attached in this way, the reel 21° 21 around which the ink sheet 18 is wound is moved to the holder 3.
This holder 3 is stored in each reel storage section 3b, 3b.
is attached to the lower part of the device main body 2. That is, each end of the ink sheet 18 is wound around a reel 21.21, and as shown in FIG. Reel storage parts 3b, 3b through the side of the holder 3
Insert from above, each shaft part 21a of reel 21.
... is rotatably supported on the shaft support 3f.... In this state, the holder 3 is made to correspond to the lower part of the apparatus main body 2, and each hook part 3c provided at the front and rear of the holder 3 is engaged with the locking recess 11c on the apparatus main body 2 side. Thereby, the holder 3 is attached to the lower part of the device main body 2. When the holder 3 is attached in this way, the light source chamber 1
Only the original plate 19 held on the lower surface of the transparent glass 17 of No. 2 protrudes downward from the opening 3a of the holder 3, and the ink sheet 18 is stretched over the lower surface thereof. The apparatus main body 2 on which the ink sheet 18 is stretched in this way is placed on the recording paper 22, and the ink sheet 18 is brought into close contact with the recording paper 22.

This makes it possible to transfer the image onto the recording paper 22.

When transferring to the recording paper 22 in such a state, first, the charging switch Sa provided on the top surface of the apparatus main body 2 is set to the on state. Then, charging starts, and when charging is completed, one light emitting diode 10 lights up. In this state, if you operate the discharge switch Sb,
The discharge lamp 13 emits a strong flash of light. When the discharge lamp 13 emits a flash of light in this way, the light rays are irradiated onto the original 19 through the transparent glass 17 provided at the lower part of the light source chamber 12 and the original 19 below it, as shown in FIG. When the original plate 19 is irradiated with the light beam in this way, the original plate 19
Since the light rays pass through the parts other than the ink image 19b, they do not generate heat, but the parts of the ink image 19b absorb the light rays and have heat. That is, since the ink image 19b contains carbon in the ink, it sufficiently absorbs the light beam.

Since the light beam transmitted through the original plate 19 is reflected by the light reflection layer 18b of the ink sheet 18, this part of the ink sheet 18 does not have heat, but the ink image 19b part of the original plate 19 is irradiated. Since it absorbs light and has heat, this heat is transmitted to the heat-sensitive ink layer 18c via the light-reflecting layer 18b and base film 18a of the ink sheet 18, melting only this portion of the heat-sensitive ink layer 18c, and this melting @18d is the lower recording paper 2 as shown in FIG.
2 is thermally transferred. As a result, an image corresponding to the ink image 19b of the original plate 1.9 is reliably and clearly transferred to the recording paper 22.

In addition, when transferring again to another recording paper 22, rotate either one of the reels 21 and 21 exposed from the holder 3 with your finger or the like to transfer the ink sheet 18 necessary for one transfer.
All you have to do is pull it out and set it under the original plate 19 and flash the discharge lamp 13 in the same way as described above. By resetting this, you can transfer as many sheets as you like, and it is also possible to transfer notes etc. It can also be easily transferred to recording paper. In this case, when the ink image 19b transferred to the original plate 19 is transferred to the recording paper 22 via a normal ink sheet, the ink image 19b is transferred little by little to the ink sheet, so the ink image 19b is transferred to the recording paper 22 of several sheets. However, in the present invention, an ink sheet 18 having a light reflecting layer 18b made of a metal vapor deposited layer formed on the upper surface of the base film 18a is used, and the original plate 19 Since the ink image 19b is in contact with the light-reflecting layer 18b, it is not transferred to the light-reflecting layer 18b at all, and can be transferred to an extremely large number of recording sheets 22.

In addition, when replacing the original plate 19, simply press the operation button 6a.
When the holding member 15 is operated, the holding member 15 is moved, and the ink sheet 18 is also lifted with this movement, so that the attached original can be taken out and a new original can be inserted. In this way, in the apparatus of the present invention, the ink sheet 1
Another advantage is that the original plate can be replaced without removing 8 or the holder 3 from the main body 2 of the apparatus.

The light reflecting layer on one side of the thermal transfer ink sheet is brought into close contact with the thermal ink layer on the other side of the thermal transfer ink sheet, and the recording paper is brought into close contact with the heat sensitive ink layer on the other side of the thermal transfer ink sheet.
In this state, all you need to do is irradiate the light beam from the original side, so
Transfer work can be performed easily. In particular, the original plate is extremely easy to manufacture because an ink image is simply formed on one side of a transparent or translucent sheet by printing. Furthermore, as the transparent or translucent sheet, transparent resin films such as polyester or translucent thin paper such as tracing paper can be used, so it can be manufactured at low cost.
Easy to supply by manufacturers.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above in detail, according to the thermal transfer method of the present invention, by preparing an original plate having an ink image formed by printing on one side of a transparent or translucent sheet, the user can transfer the original plate. This eliminates the need to create a thermal transfer device, making the thermal transfer device even easier to use. That is, the prepared original plate is mounted on a thermal transfer device, and thermal transfer ink is applied to the ink image on the original plate.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 to 7 show an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 is an external perspective view of the thermal transfer device, Figure 2 is a perspective view of the holder removed from the device body, and Figure 3 is the thermal transfer device. Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the state in which the operating lever is operated, Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of the operating lever.
The figure is a cross-sectional view of the original plate set, and Figure 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main part of the state where the original plate is used to thermally transfer onto recording paper.
FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view of the main part of the transferred recording paper. 18...Ink sheet (thermal transfer ink sheet)
, 18a...Base film, 18b...
...Light reflective layer, 18c...Thermal ink layer, 19
...Original version, 19a... Sheet for original version,
19b... Ink image, 22... Recording paper.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A step of preparing an original plate having an ink image formed by printing on one side of a transparent or translucent sheet, and a step of preparing the original plate, a light reflecting layer on one side and a heat-sensitive ink layer on the other side. arranging a thermal transfer ink sheet so that the ink image of the master plate and the light reflective layer of the thermal transfer ink sheet face each other, and bringing a recording paper into close contact with the thermal ink layer of the thermal transfer sheet; A thermal transfer method comprising the steps of: irradiating a light beam from the transparent sheet side to melt a portion of the thermal ink layer of the thermal transfer sheet corresponding to the ink image on the transparent sheet and transfer it to the recording paper.