JPH04103366A - Thermal transfer recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To supply a proper printing energy to a thermal element so as to improve the image quality by controlling a printing energy to be supplied to the thermal element of a thermal head by looking up fluctuation of tension of an ink sheet at a winding side and comparing it with a tension data stored previously. CONSTITUTION:A counter 43 counts a used time of a thermal recorder. Tensions of an ink sheet at a supplying side and a winding side are decided in accordance with the used time of the thermal recorder. Printing energy to be supplied to a thermal head 3 is controlled in accordance with the tension of the ink sheet. A controller 42 reads a value of the counter 43 and looks up a tension data memory 45 in accordance with the counted value so as to check the tension of the ink sheet with respect to the used time of the thermal recorder 1. Next, the controller 42 looks up an energy data memory 44 based on the tension data so as to read a printing energy necessary for the tension of the ink sheet. The controller 42 controls a thermal head driving circuit 41 in accordance with the read printing energy, so that a printing energy corresponding to a printing pressure of the thermal head 3 will be supplied.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present inventions relate to a thermal transfer recording device, and more particularly, to a thermal transfer recording device that transfers ink from an ink sheet to a recording paper using heat from a thermal head for recording. .

[Prior Art] In a thermal transfer recording device, recording is performed by heating an ink sheet using heat from a thermal head and transferring ink from the ink sheet to recording paper.

That is, in conventional thermal transfer recording devices, a thermal head is generally pressed to a predetermined printing pressure by a spring on a rotationally driven platen roller, and an ink sheet and a roll of recording paper are placed between the platen roller and the thermal head. Supplied in stacks. The ink sheet is supplied from a supply roll and wound onto a take-up roll. These supply side rolls and take-up side rolls are arranged separately on both sides of the platen roller and the thermal head, and the rolled recording paper and ink sheet are fed between the platen roller and the thermal head via the turn roller. Ru.

Printing energy is supplied to this thermal head, and the printing energy transfers ink from the ink sheet onto a roll of recording paper for recording. The ink sheet subjected to recording by the thermal head is peeled off from the roll of recording paper and the thermal head by a peeling roller and wound onto a winding-side roll.

On the other hand, wrinkles that occur on an ink sheet are affected by the tension distribution in the width direction applied to the ink sheet, its size, the approach angle to the thermal head, and the peeling angle.Wrinkles occur on the ink sheet when the tension of the ink sheet is weak. image quality.

Therefore, in conventional thermal transfer recording apparatuses, a turn roller and a peeling roller are generally integrally attached to a thermal head to ensure parallelism with the thermal head. Further, in order to generate tension in the ink sheet, a disk and felt are disposed on the supply side roll and take-up side roll of the ink sheet, and tension is generated in the ink sheet by friction between the disk and the felt.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in such conventional thermal transfer recording devices, the turn roller and peeling roller are integrally attached to the thermal head, so when the tension acting on the ink sheet is weak, wrinkles occur on the ink sheet and the ink When the tension acting on the sheet is too strong, this tension acts in a direction that moves the thermal head away from the platen roller, weakens the printing pressure of the thermal head, and prevents the heat of the thermal head from acting properly on the ink sheet, resulting in poor image quality. The problem was that it worsened the situation.

[Purpose of the invention]

Therefore, the invention according to claim 1 is capable of printing a thermal head by checking the tension fluctuation of the supply side ink sheet and controlling the printing energy supplied to the thermal element of the thermal head based on the tension fluctuation of the supply side ink sheet. The purpose of the present invention is to supply printing energy suitable for the printing pressure to the platen roller of the printer to improve the image quality, and the invention according to claim 2 is characterized by: By controlling the printing energy supplied to the thermal element of the thermal head based on the tension fluctuation of the ink sheet on the winding side, printing energy suitable for the printing pressure to the platen roller of the thermal head is supplied to the thermal element, and the image quality is improved. The aim is to improve.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 includes: a rotationally driven platen roller; and a printing pressure that is brought into contact with the platen roller with a predetermined printing pressure and is supplied based on image data. A thermal head whose thermal elements selectively generate heat due to printing energy, a recording paper supplied between the thermal head and a platen roller, and a take-up side supplied from a supply roll between the thermal head and the recording paper. In a thermal transfer recording device that includes an ink sheet that is wound up on a roll, a thermal element generates heat due to supplied printing energy, and the ink on the ink sheet is transferred to recording paper to perform recording. The present invention is characterized in that tension fluctuations in a supply ink sheet supplied between the recording paper and the recording paper are checked, and printing energy supplied to the thermal element of the thermal head is controlled based on tension fluctuations in the supply ink sheet. The invention according to claim 2 provides: a rotationally driven platen roller; a thermal head that contacts the platen roller with a predetermined printing pressure and whose thermal element selectively generates heat by printing energy supplied based on image data; Recording paper is supplied between the thermal head and the platen roller, and an ink sheet is supplied between the thermal head and the recording paper from the supply side roll and wound up on the take-up side roll. In a thermal transfer recording device in which a thermal element generates heat due to energy and performs recording by transferring ink from an ink sheet to recording paper, the take-up ink sheet is wound onto a take-up roll from between the thermal head and the recording paper. The present invention is characterized in that tension fluctuations are checked and printing energy supplied to the thermal element of the thermal head is controlled based on the tension fluctuations of the ink sheet on the winding side.

Hereinafter, a detailed description will be given based on examples.

1 to 6 are diagrams showing an embodiment of a thermal transfer recording device according to each invention of the present application.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the main parts of the thermal transfer recording apparatus 1. The thermal transfer recording apparatus 1 includes a platen roller 2, a thermal head 3, a turn roller 4, a peeling till roller 5, a supply side roll 6, and a take-up side roll 7. etc. are provided.

The platen roller 2 is rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow in the figure by a motor (not shown) through its shaft 2a.
The thermal head 3 is in contact with the. The thermal head 3 is urged toward the platen roller 2 by a spring 8, and the thermal head 3 is in contact with the platen roller 2 with a predetermined printing pressure. The thermal head 3 has a shaft 2 of the platen roller 2 at a position where it contacts the platen roller 2.
A plurality of thermal elements 3a are arranged in a line in the direction a, and each thermal element 3a is heated by a printing pulse supplied based on image information.

A roll of recording paper 9 is fed between the platen roller 2 and the thermal head 3 via a turn roller 4, and the roll of recording paper 9 recorded by the thermal head 3 is passed through a peeling roller 5 (not shown) cutter. The rolled recording paper 9 sent to the cutter is cut into a predetermined length by the cutter and then discharged outside the thermal transfer recording apparatus 1 . The turn roller 4 and the peeling roller 5 are integrally attached to the thermal head 3 and are rotatably attached.

Further, between the platen roller 2 and the thermal head 3, a roll-shaped ink sheet 10 is supplied from a supply side roll 6 via a turn roller 4.
O is located closer to the thermal head 3 than the rolled recording paper 9 is. Ink sheet 1 supplied between platen roller 2 and thermal head 3 via turn roller 4
0 is used for recording and then wound onto a winding roll 7 via a peeling roller 5.

As shown in FIG. 2, this supply roll 6 is supported so as to rotate integrally with a disk shaft 21, and a date-shaped disk 22 is formed on the disk shaft 21. A disk 23 is disposed at a position facing the disk 22, and the disk 23 is rotatably supported by the disk shaft 21 and has a stopper 23a formed therein. Therefore, although the disk 23 can rotate by a predetermined amount with respect to the disk shaft 21, its rotation is restricted by the striker 21a. Further, a felt 24 is fixed to the surface of the disk 22 example of the disk 23, and a predetermined frictional force is generated at the contact surface between the felt 24 and the disk 22. Furthermore, at the tip of the disk shaft 21,
A spring receiver 25 is attached, and this spring receiver 25
A spring 26 is compressed between the disk 23 and the disk 23.

Therefore, when the ink sea day O is wound up on the winding side roll 7, the disk 22 rotates together with the disk shaft 21, and when the disk 22 rotates, there is a gap between the felt 24 fixed to the disk 23 which is restricted to 5 rotations. Frictional force is generated. Due to this frictional force, a predetermined tension is generated in the ink sheet 1o supplied from the take-up side roll 6 between the thermal head 3 and the platen roller 2.

As shown in FIG. 3, the winding side roll 7 is
1, and is supported so as to rotate integrally with the disk shaft 3.
1 has a disc-shaped disc 32 formed thereon. A disk 33 is disposed at a position facing the disk 32, and the disk 33 is rotatably supported by a disk shaft 31. A felt 34 is fixed to the surface of the disk 33 on the disk 32 side, and a predetermined frictional force is generated at the contact surface between the felt 34 and the disk 32. Further, a spring receiver 35 is attached to the tip of the disk shaft 31, and a spring 36 is compressed between the spring receiver 35 and the disk 33. Furthermore, disk 33
A drive gear 36 meshes with the drive gear 36.
is rotationally driven by a drive motor 37. Therefore, the disk 33 is connected to the drive motor 37 via the drive gear 36.
When the disc 32 is rotationally driven, a frictional force is generated between the felt 34 fixed to the disc 33 and the disc 32, and this frictional force causes the disc 32 and the disc shaft 31 to rotate. As a result, the ink sheet 10 is wound up on the take-up roll 7, the disk 32 rotates together with the disk shaft 31, and the ink sheet is taken up on the take-up roll 7 from between the thermal gutter 3 and the platen roll 2. 1
A predetermined tension is generated at 0.

The thermal head 3 is connected to a thermal head drive circuit 41, as shown in FIG. 4, and the thermal head drive circuit 41 drives the thermal head 3 under the control of a control section . A counter 43 , an energy data storage section 44 , a tension data storage section 45 , etc. are connected to the control section 42 , and the counter 43 counts the usage time of the thermal recording device 1 and sends the count result to the control section 42 . Output. The counter 43 counts the usage time of the thermal recording device 1 based on the output of, for example, a timer (not shown) or a sensor that detects the actual operating state of the thermal recording device 1.

The tension data storage unit 45 stores data on changes in the tension of the ink sheet 10 with respect to the usage time of the thermal recording device 1, and stores data on changes in tension of the ink sheet 10 with respect to usage time of the thermal recording device 1.
In the tension generating mechanism using the above, the usage time of the thermal recording device 1 and the tension of the Inksy NO have a relationship as shown in FIG. That is, in the initial stage of the thermal recording device l, the tension of the ink sheet IO is large (it decreases as the usage time elapses and becomes a stable value. The stable value of the tension gradually increases, and when the tension of the ink sheet 1o becomes stable through use, if the ink sheet 1o is not used for a while, the tension of the ink sheet 1o increases when it is used again.

Therefore, the tension data storage section 45 stores in advance data regarding the usage time and tension of the thermosensitive recording device 1. In addition, the operating time and tension changes of this thermal recording device 1 vary from the take-up side roll 6 to the platen roller 2.
The ink sheet 1o supplied between the and the thermal head 3
When the tension of the ink sheet 1o that is wound up between the platen roller 2 and the thermal head 3 and the tension of the ink sheet 1o that is wound onto the winding side roll 7 is different, both of these data are stored in the tension data storage section 45.

The energy data storage unit 44 stores data on the printing energy required by the thermal head 3 for the tension of 1° of the ink sheet, and as shown in FIG. In the thermal recording device 1, in which the printing pressure of the thermal head 3 changes depending on the tension of the ink sheet, the thermal element 3a of the thermal head 3 is required to adjust the tension of the ink sheet 10 and perform appropriate printing. What is the energy supplied to
For example, there is a relationship as shown in FIG. That is, when the tension applied to the ink sheet O exceeds a certain value, the thermal head 3 becomes lifted relative to the platen roller 2, and the thermal head 3 rises depending on the amount of lifting.
The amount of printing energy that needs to be supplied increases. Therefore, data on the printing energy that needs to be supplied to the thermal head 3 with respect to the tension of the ink sheet 10 is stored in advance in the energy data storage section 44. The amount of printing energy that needs to be supplied to the ink sheet 10 for the tension of the ink sheet 10 is the ink sheet that is supplied from the take-up roll 6 between the platen roller 2 and the thermal end 3. 10 tension and
When the tension of the ink sheet 10 wound up between the platen roller 2 and the thermal head 3 on the take-up side roll 7 is different, the printing energy data for each tension is stored in the energy data storage section 44. Ru. Therefore, the control section 42 reads the value of the counter 43, searches the counter force/tension data storage section 45, and checks the tension of the ink sheet 10 with respect to the usage time of the thermal recording apparatus 1.

Next, the effect will be explained.

A thermal transfer recording device 1 stacks an ink sheet 10 and a roll of recording paper 9 and transfers them to a platen roller 2 and a thermal printer 3.
The ink of the ink sheet 10 is transferred to the roll-shaped recording paper 9 by the heat of the thermal/rad 3, thereby performing recording on the roll-shaped recording paper 9. The rolled recording paper 9 on which recording has been performed is sent to a cutter (not shown), and after being cut into a predetermined length by the cutter, it is transferred to the thermal transfer recording device 1.
It is discharged outside.

The ink sheet 10 used for this recording is supplied between the platen roller 2 and the thermal head 3 from the supply side roll 6 via the turn roller 4, and the ink sheet 10 used for recording is fed via the peeling roller 5. The film is then wound onto the winding side roll 7. During this recording, the ink sheet 10 is conveyed by the rotational force of the take-up roller 1, as described above, and this rotational force is combined with the rotation of the platen roller 2 and the ink sheet 10 and the rolled recording paper 9. A number of factors come into play, such as frictional force. At this time, tension is generated in the ink sheet 10 of the six supply rolls due to the frictional force between the felt 24 and the disk 22 shown in FIG. 2, and the ink sheet O of the seven take-up rolls is , tension is generated by the frictional force between the felt 34 and the disk 32 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the tension of these ink sheets 10 changes depending on the usage time of the thermal recording device 1, and when the tension of the ink sheets 10 exceeds a certain value, a phenomenon occurs in which the ink sheets 10 lift up from the platen roller 2. If sufficient printing energy is not supplied to the thermal head 3, recording quality will deteriorate.

Therefore, in each invention of the present application, the counter 43 counts the usage time of the thermal recording device The printing energy supplied to the thermal head 3 is controlled based on the tension.

That is, the control unit 42 reads the value of the counter 43, searches the tension data storage unit 45 from the count value of the counter 43, and checks the tension of the ink sheet 10 for the usage time of the thermal recording device 1. At this time, if the tension of the ink sheets 9 of the six supply rolls and the tension of the seven supply rolls differ depending on the usage time of the thermal recording device 1, the tension of the ink sheets 9 of the ink sheets 10 of both the supply side and the winding side may differ depending on the usage time of the thermal recording device 1. Each tension is read from the tension data storage section 45. When the control unit 42 reads the tension data, it searches the energy data storage unit 44 based on this tension data, and reads the printing energy required for the tension of the ink sheet 10 . The control unit 42 controls the thermal head drive circuit 41 based on the read printing energy, and drives the thermal head 3 with the printing energy. Therefore, the thermal head 3 is affected by the tension of the ink sheet 10, that is, the printing pressure of the thermal head 3 (the rising shape j!1 of the thermal head 3).
) is supplied, and appropriate printing is performed.

As a result, printing quality can be improved.

Also, at this time, if the tensions of the ink sheets 10 on both the supply side and the take-up side are different, the printing energy for each tension is read and the printing energy to be adopted preferentially among these printing energies is determined in advance. Alternatively, the printing energy can be recorded using a preset calculation formula based on both printing energies (for example, a calculation formula that calculates the average value of both printing energies), and the calculation result can be recorded using the printing energy. It may be recorded using the printing energy of .

〔effect〕

According to the invention described in claim 1, it is possible to check the tension fluctuation of the supply side ink sheet and control the printing energy supplied to the thermal element of the thermal head based on the tension fluctuation of the supply side ink sheet. Printing energy suitable for the printing pressure applied to the platen roller of the thermal head can be supplied to the thermal element, and image quality can be improved.

According to the invention described in claim 2, it is possible to check the tension fluctuation of the take-up side ink sheet and control the printing energy supplied to the thermal element of the thermal head based on the tension fluctuation of the take-up side ink sheet. Therefore, printing energy suitable for the printing pressure applied to the platen roller of the thermal head can be supplied to the thermal element, and image quality can be improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 6 are diagrams showing an embodiment of a thermal transfer recording device according to each invention of the present application. Figure 3 is an enlarged detailed view of the supporting part of the ink sheet on the winding side, Figure 4 is a block diagram of the thermal feed/gutter control circuit, and Figure 5 is the usage time of the thermal recording device and the ink sheet. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the relationship between the tension of the ink sheet and the printing energy required for the thermal head. 1... Thermal transfer recording device, 2... Platen roller, 3... Thermal head, 3a... Thermal element, 4... Turn roller , 5... Peeling roller, 6... Supply side roll, 7... Take-up side roll, 8... Spring, 9...... Rolled recording paper, 10... Ink sheet, 21.31... Disc shaft, 22.23.32.33... Disk, 24.
34...Felt. Figure 2 Figure 3

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A platen roller that is rotationally driven; a thermal head that contacts the platen roller with a predetermined printing pressure and whose thermal element selectively generates heat using printing energy supplied based on image data; and the thermal head and the platen roller. and an ink sheet that is supplied between the thermal head and the recording paper from the supply roll and wound up on the take-up roll, and the thermal element is activated by the supplied printing energy. In a thermal transfer recording device that generates heat and performs recording by transferring ink from an ink sheet to recording paper, the system checks the tension fluctuation of the supply side ink sheet that is supplied from the supply roll between the thermal head and the recording paper, and A thermal transfer recording apparatus characterized in that printing energy supplied to a thermal element of the thermal head is controlled based on tension fluctuations of a supply side ink sheet. (2) A rotationally driven platen roller, a thermal head that contacts the platen roller with a predetermined printing pressure and whose thermal element selectively generates heat using printing energy supplied based on image data, and the thermal head and the platen roller. and an ink sheet that is supplied between the thermal head and the recording paper from the supply roll and wound up on the take-up roll, and the thermal element is activated by the supplied printing energy. In a thermal transfer recording device that generates heat and transfers the ink from the ink sheet to the recording paper to perform recording, we check the tension fluctuation of the take-up ink sheet that is wound onto the take-up roll from between the thermal head and the recording paper. ,
A thermal transfer recording apparatus characterized in that printing energy supplied to a thermal element of the thermal head is controlled based on tension fluctuations of the take-up ink sheet.