JPH0378263B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a color image recording method for recording a color image on a recording medium using a dye contained in a transfer sheet.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, so-called impact-type recording devices have been widely used in which printing is performed on paper by impacting an ink ribbon with a type platen, a hammer, a wire dot, or the like. However, this method
It has many drawbacks, such as making a lot of noise during printing and recording, making it difficult to increase the printing speed due to the large number of mechanically moving parts, and being prone to failures due to wear and the like.

A recording apparatus using a so-called non-impact thermal transfer recording method that eliminates such drawbacks is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 47-4831.
Here, printing is performed by transferring printing ink, which is in a solid phase at room temperature, reversibly becomes a liquid phase upon heating, and has fluidity or sublimation properties onto recording paper. That is, heat-sensitive ink is locally heated in the shape of a predetermined character or figure by a printing recording mechanism configured to generate a predetermined character or figure, giving fluidity or sublimation to this ink, and printing it on recording paper. Transfer and print.

However, this type of conventional equipment is generally large and
It will be expensive. The first cause is
The second reason is that when colorizing an image, separate recording, transfer, and fixing sections are provided for each color information, and at least three spaces and light sources are required. The third reason is that the CO ₂ laser, modulator, etc. occupy a large space, and the third reason is that the paper is limited to roll paper because each color information is recorded spatially separately.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a color image recording method that eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks and contributes to miniaturization of the apparatus.

In order to achieve such an objective, the present invention
A color image recording method in which dyes contained in a transfer sheet are transferred to a recording medium by scanning a laser beam to record a color image, the dyes exhibiting different colors being divided into color regions for each color, and the transfer sheet A plurality of laser beams from a plurality of semiconductor laser elements arranged on the same wafer and driven independently are simultaneously passed through a set of collimating lenses, a scanning deflector, and an imaging lens to perform the transfer process. Each image is formed on the sheet, and the direction of movement of the transfer sheet is set at a certain angle with respect to the scanning direction of the laser beam so that the direction of movement of the transfer sheet does not coincide with the scanning direction of the laser beam. Further, one of the laser beams scans each of the color regions.

According to the present invention, the size of the apparatus can be reduced by using a transfer sheet in which dye is applied in divided color areas for each color. Furthermore, in the present invention, multiple laser beams are simultaneously focused on each color area of the transfer paper using a set of collimating lenses, scanning deflectors, and imaging lenses, thereby further downsizing the device and achieving high-speed recording. be able to. Furthermore, in the present invention, since the traveling direction of the transfer sheet has a certain angle with respect to the scanning direction of the laser beam,
The laser beam can be scanned efficiently,
Moreover, the transfer sheet can be used without wasting it.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a configuration according to the present invention, in which a beam emitted from a semiconductor laser light source 1 is made into parallel light by a collimating lens 2, this parallel light beam is reflected and deflected by a rotating polygon mirror 3, and then further focused. An imaging spot is formed on the transfer ribbon 5 through the imaging lens 4. The image forming spot tied on the transfer ribbon 5 heats the part of the ribbon 5 that is hit by the light, causing the dye attached to the transfer ribbon 5 to flow or sublimate, and furthermore, a small amount of air is released immediately after the transfer ribbon. Fluid or sublimated dye is applied to recording sheets 6 arranged at intervals and fixed as an image. A second state is defined in which the dye adhering to the transfer ribbon 5 is caused to flow or sublimate and adhere to the recording paper 6.
It is shown enlarged in the figure.

FIG. 3 shows a specific example of the semiconductor laser light source 1,
The semiconductor laser light source 1 has a plurality of semiconductor laser elements that can be driven independently arranged on the same wafer with respective light emitting points 7g, 7b and 7r arranged in an array. By passing current independently between the electrodes 8g, 8b and 8r and the base, beams 9g and 9g are emitted from the respective light emitting points 7g, 7b and 7r.
Take out 9b and 9r individually. In the present invention, in order to record a color image, signals corresponding to each color (for example, G, B, R signals or Y, M,
C signal, etc.), each semiconductor laser element is modulated to emit light.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the transfer ribbon 5, in which green (G) dye 5g, blue (B) dye 5b, and red (R) dye 5r are striped in the width direction of the ribbon. It is composed by applying it in a shape. The imaging spot of the beam emitted from the semiconductor laser 1 is formed on a ribbon portion corresponding to each color. Therefore, by scanning the transfer ribbon 5 with a light beam corresponding to the image signal, a color image can be transferred onto the recording paper 6 as shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 shows the positional relationship between the transfer ribbon 5 and the recording paper 6. The transfer ribbon 5 and the recording paper 6 are arranged in a substantially perpendicular direction, and are run in a substantially perpendicular direction as shown by each arrow. The scanning beams corresponding to the scanning positions 10g, 10b, and 10r are scanned along the scanning positions 10g, 10b, and 10r. However, to be precise, the transfer ribbon 5 and the recording paper 6 are deviated from the orthogonal direction by a small angle θ, and this angle θ is determined from the spot diameter, the running speed of the recording paper, etc., as will be described later. By tilting the transfer ribbon 5 by the angle θ in this way, the transfer ribbon 5
The upper light beam irradiation position is as shown in Figure 6.
For example, if we take only 10g of beam, 10g → 10
Move like g'→10g''.

FIG. 7 shows the optical system of the color image recording device of the present invention.
That is, the collimating lens 2, the rotating polygon mirror reflecting surface 3a, and the imaging lens 4 are shown, where the array spacing of the lasers arranged in an array is a, the focal length of the collimating lens 2 is f _c , and the focal length of the imaging lens 4 is
Assuming fθ, the interval b between each imaging spot on the ribbon surface is given by b=a×fθ/f _c (1). Assuming that the array direction of the array laser 1 is arranged in a direction perpendicular to the scanning plane (that is, in the direction of the rotation axis of the rotating polygon mirror 3), the width of each color of the transfer ribbon 5 is given by at least equation (1). Only the value b is required. Next, if the maximum width of the recording paper 6 is l, then if the inclination angle θ of the transfer ribbon 5 is set to be given by θ = b/l (radian) (2), other colors will not be mixed. . Furthermore, the feed amount x of the transfer ribbon 5
Letting the diameter of the imaging spot be i, if it is set to be given by x = i/θ (3) per scan, it can be used with maximum efficiency without duplication on the transfer ribbon 5. can. The travel distance X (per one scan) of the recording paper 6 is:
It is determined by the pitch width _Ps of the image to be recorded in the sub-scanning direction. In _other words: = b/P _s (5). Therefore, when each color signal is input simultaneously without giving a time difference, it is necessary to temporally delay such spatial displacement so that the images overlap at the recorded positions.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a circuit configuration that gives spatial displacement by giving a time difference to each color signal, where the G signal directly excites the laser driver 11g, and the B signal has a delay of H times in equation (5). After the signal is given by the shift register 12, the laser driver 11b is excited. The R signal applies a delay of 2H to the two shift registers 13 and 14, and then excites the laser driver 11r. As this delay means, it is possible to use a delay cable or the like in addition to the shift register shown in FIG. 8, and it can be selected as appropriate depending on the speed of the scanning system, the amount of information, etc. When using a CCD type shift register, if the number of pixels for one scanning line is A, then the number of bits B of the CCD type shift register is given by B=AH (6). Next, specific examples of the present invention will be described.

Example 1 When the array interval a of the array laser 1 = 100 μm, the focal length of the collimating lens 2 f _c = 10 mm, and the focal length of the imaging lens 4 fθ = 100 mm, the interval b of the imaging spots is calculated from equation (1) as b = a x fθ/f _c = 1 mm If the maximum width l of the recording paper 6 is 100 mm, the inclination angle θ of the transfer ribbon 5 is calculated from equation (2) as follows: θ = b/a (radian) = 0.01 radian = 0.57° Spot If the diameter i≒100μmφ, then the feed amount x of the transfer ribbon 5 from equation (3) is: The travel distance X per scan of the paper 6 is: X = P _s = 0.2 mm From formula (5), if H is the number of scanning lines corresponding to spatially distant positions, H = b/P _s = 1 /0.2 = 5 If the number of pixels for one scanning line A = 400, then from equation (6), the number of bits B of the CCD type shift register is B = AH = 400 x 5 = 2000 bits, which is 2048 bits commercially available. It is possible to use a CCD type shift register. Since a delay of 4000 bits is required for the R signal, two CCD type shift registers similar to those described above may be used.

Example 2 When the array interval a of the array laser 1 is set to a = 200 μm, the focal length of the collimating lens 2 is f _c = 10 mm, and the focal length of the imaging lens 4 is fθ = 200 mm, the interval b of the imaging spots is calculated from equation (1) as follows: b = a×fθ/f _c = 4 mm If the maximum width l of the recording paper 6 is 200 mm (equivalent to the short side of an A4 original), the inclination angle θ of the transfer ribbon 5 is calculated from equation (2) as θ = b/l (radians). ) = 0.02 radian = 1.14° If the spot diameter i≒100μmφ, the feed amount x of the transfer ribbon 5 from equation (3) is: x = i / θ = 0.1 / 0.02 = 5mm Pit in the sub-scanning direction Ps = 0.1mm Then, from equation (4), the travel distance X per one scan of the recording paper ₆ is: Then, H = b / P _s = 4 / 0.1 = 40 lines If the number of pixels for one scanning line A = 2000, then from equation (6), the number of bits B of the CCD type shift register is: B = AH = 2000 ×40 = 80K bits In this case, it is desirable to use 10K bytes of RAM memory. Therefore, it requires a memory with a considerably large storage capacity to delay.
This is undesirable for devices intended for high-speed recording and low cost.

In order to reduce the storage capacity, for example, the array direction of the imaging spots 15g, 15b and 15r of the semiconductor laser 1 may be tilted by an angle σ with respect to the scanning direction 16, as shown in FIG. In this case, b'=b sin σ=a×fθ/f _c sinσ (1)′ may be used in place of b in equation (1). However, in this case, it is necessary to further provide a delay amount corresponding to the spatial distance c=b cos σ in the main scanning direction. In order to provide this amount of delay, from the relationship of pixel pitch P _M = l/A on the main scanning side, we need to further provide a time lag of the number of bits of I = c/P _M = Ab cosσ/l (7). good.

In order to shorten the delay amount of the delay device in the second embodiment based on the means explained with reference to FIG.
A specific example of tilting at 0.1 radian = 5.74° will be described.

Example 3 From formula (1), b = 4 mm From formula (1)', the width b' of each color stripe is: b' = 0.4 mm From formula (2), the inclination angle θ of the transfer ribbon 5 is: θ = b '/l = 0.02 radian = 0.114° From equation (3), the feed amount x of the transfer ribbon 5 is given by: If the spot diameter i = 100 μmφ, then x = i/θ = 0.1/0.02 = 50 mm From equation (4), the feeding amount x of the recording paper 6 The scanning amount X per one scan is: X = P _s = 0.1 mm From equation (5), the number H of scanning lines corresponding to spatially distant positions of each color information is: H = b'/P _s = 0.4 /0.1 = 4 lines Since the number of pixels for one scanning line A = 2000, from equation (6), the number of bits B of the CCD type shift register is: B = AH = 8000 bits From equation (7), this number of bits B The number of bits added to is I = Ab cosσ/l ≒ 40 bits. Therefore, when signal processing is performed using the system shown in Figure 8 using the G signal as a reference, the B signal is 8000 + 40 =
A delay of 8040 bits is given, and the R signal is thereby given a further delay of 8040 bits. This requires a much smaller amount of delay than the calculation result described in Example 2, and is advantageous in terms of cost.

There are many types of dyes that are compatible with the transfer ribbon 5 used in the present invention.
They may be selected and used as appropriate depending on the purpose. for example,
Orient Solinible Blue is a blue dye.
OBC (manufactured by Orient Chemical), Suminol Revering Blue 4GL (manufactured by Sumitomo Chemical), Kayanol Blue
N2G (manufactured by Nippon Kayaku), Mitsui Alizarin Saphyrol B (manufactured by Mitsui Toatsu Chemical), Xylene First Blue BL200% (manufactured by Mitsubishi Kasei), Alizarin First Blue R (manufactured by Ciba Geigy), Carboran Brilliant Blue 2R (manufactured by Ciba Geigy) (Manufactured by ICI), Palatin First Blue GGN (Manufactured by Vadateshiyu), Eisen Opal Blue New conc (Manufactured by Hodogaya Chemical),
Fastogen Blue SBL (Dainippon Ink Chemical)
and so on.

Red dyes include Suminol Fastret B conc (manufactured by Sumitomo Chemical), Eisen Brilliant Scarlet 3RH (manufactured by Hodogaya Chemical), Azorbinol 3GS 250% (manufactured by Mitsubishi Kasei), and Kayakuashi Rhodamine FB (manufactured by Nippon Kayaku). , Acid Anthracene Red 3B (manufactured by Chugai Kasei), Benzyl Fire Stretch B (manufactured by Ciba Geigy), Paratin Fire Stretch RN (manufactured by Vadice), Nyromine Red 2BS (manufactured by ICI), Ranaf Astranet
These include 2GL (manufactured by Mitsui Toatsu Chemical) and Rose Bengal (Kenji Kasei).

Kayakaran Blue Black is a green dye.
3BL (manufactured by Nippon Kagaku), Sumilan Green BL (manufactured by Sumitomo Chemical), Eisenfroslan Olive Green
GLH (manufactured by Hodogaya Chemical), Diacid Cyanine Green GWA (manufactured by Mitsubishi Kasei), Chibaran Green
GL (manufactured by Ciba Geigy), Carboran Brilliant Green 5G (manufactured by ICI), Palatin Fast Green BLN (manufactured by Vadateshiyu), Acid Green GBH (manufactured by Takaoka Chemical), Acid Brilliant Milling Green B (manufactured by Mitsui Toatsu Chemical) )and so on.

In the above explanation, we only talked about the three colors green, blue, and red, but you can also add black dye,
It is also possible to change the color tone by adding other colors. Alternatively, it is also possible to print in only two colors, such as black and red, and the color distribution of the device can be selected as necessary. In addition, the black dyes include Suminol Fast Black BR Conc (manufactured by Sumitomo Chemical), Diaceritone Fast Black T (manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical), Miketasol Black 3GF (manufactured by Mitsui Toatsu Chemical), and Kayalon Diazo Black 2GF. (manufactured by Nippon Kayaku) and Eisen Opal Black WGH (manufactured by Hodogaya Chemical).

As described above, according to the present invention, the present invention can realize miniaturization of the apparatus by applying the dye in divided color areas for each color and using a transfer sheet. Further, in the present invention, since a plurality of laser beams are imaged by a set of collimating lens, scanning deflector, and imaging lens, the apparatus can be further miniaturized. Furthermore, in the present invention, since the traveling direction of the transfer sheet has a certain angle with respect to the scanning direction of the laser beam, the laser beam can be scanned efficiently and the transfer sheet can be used without wasting it. can.

As a result, the non-impact method allows transfer onto roll paper as well as compact and inexpensive transfer paper such as cut paper.Moreover, it eliminates noise during recording, increases recording speed, and prevents problems such as wear and tear on equipment. This makes it possible to achieve smaller size and lower cost.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an example of the color image recording apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the transfer process in which the dye attached to the transfer ribbon is made to flow or sublimate and adhere to the recording paper, and FIG. The figure is a configuration diagram showing an example of a semiconductor laser light source, Figure 4 is a line diagram showing an example of a transfer ribbon, and Figure 5 shows the arrangement of the transfer ribbon and recording paper, and the relationship between each traveling direction and the scanning position of the scanning beam. 6 is a diagram showing the irradiation position on the transfer ribbon for a specific light beam, FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram showing an example of the optical system of the color image recording apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the irradiation position of each color signal. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing another example of the relationship between the semiconductor laser array and the optical scanning direction in the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Semiconductor laser light source, 2... Collimating lens, 3... Rotating polygon mirror, 3a... Reflecting surface, 4...
...Imaging lens, 5...Transfer ribbon, 5g, 5b,
5r...Dye sections deposited in stripes on the transfer ribbon 5, 6...Recording paper, 7g, 7b, 7r
...Emission points of semiconductor laser element 1, 8g, 8b,
8r...electrode of semiconductor laser element 1, 9g, 9
b, 9r... Output beam, 10g, 10b, 10
r...Scanning position of the scanning beam on the transfer ribbon 5,
11g, 11b, 11r...Laser driver, 1
2, 13, 14...shift register, 15g, 1
5b, 15r...imaging spot of the semiconductor laser 1; 16...scanning direction of the imaging spot of the semiconductor laser 1;

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A color image recording method for recording a color image by transferring dyes contained in a transfer sheet to a recording medium by scanning a laser beam, the method comprising: transferring dyes exhibiting different colors to color regions for each color; A plurality of laser beams from a plurality of semiconductor laser elements disposed on the same wafer and driven independently are simultaneously applied to the transfer sheet by a set of collimating lenses, a scanning deflector, and a laser beam. Each image is formed on the transfer sheet through an image lens, and the transfer sheet is moved relative to the scanning direction of the laser beam so that the direction of movement of the transfer sheet does not coincide with the scanning direction of the laser beam. A color image recording method characterized in that the laser beam has a certain angle in the direction and further scans each of the color regions with one laser beam.