JPH04241982A - Heat sensitive type multicolor ink ribbon - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To aim at the stabilization of printing quality regarding the structure of a multicolor ink ribbon used by a heat sensitive type printer. CONSTITUTION:In a heat sensitive type multicolor ink ribbon, in which a base film is coated repeatedly with ink having different hues in specified length in predetermined order and an ink layer is formed, the upper section of the base film is coated with the base material of ink containing no dyestuff and a base layer is formed, and the upper section of the base layer is coated with ink acquired by mixing a dyestuff into the same base material as said base material, thus constituting the ink layer.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the structure of multicolor ink ribbons for use in thermal printers. In recent years, thermal transfer printers have been widely used because of their simple structure and good print quality.

[0002] For this reason, thermal printers are required to have high printing speed and stable printing quality.

0003

[Prior Art] A thermal transfer printer to which the present invention is applied is
As shown in the plan view of FIG. 2, the platen 2 is rotatably supported by the side frames 1 on both sides, and the platen 2 rotates in the direction of arrow A in the figure as the motor (not shown) rotates. The sheet 3 to be fed is slidably engaged with a guide shaft 7 provided parallel to the platen 2, and the platen 2
A carrier 6 is screwed into a feed screw 8 provided in parallel with the carrier 6, and is moved back and forth in the direction of arrow B-C in the figure by the forward and reverse rotation of a motor 10 via a belt 9, etc.; The thermal head 12 is equipped with a heating element that forms printing in the form of dots.

Furthermore, an ink ribbon cassette 11 is mounted on the carrier 6 so as to surround the thermal head 12, and a part of the stored thermal transfer ink ribbon (hereinafter referred to as ink ribbon) 13 is placed in front of the thermal head 12. exposed to.

In the diagram of the ink ribbon cassette 11, the take-up spool 16 is on the left, and the supply spool 1 is on the right.
The shaft 16a of the take-up spool 16 is connected to an external drive source (not shown), and the take-up spool 16 rotates in conjunction with the printing operation of the printer to take the ink ribbon 13. It is designed to be rolled up.

That is, when the carrier 6 moves in the direction of arrow C, the take-up spool 16 rotates in the direction of arrow D and winds up the ink ribbon 13 by the same amount as the amount of movement. For printing, the thermal head 12 is operated, and the ink on the ink ribbon 13 is melted and transferred to the paper 3 on the platen 2 via the ink ribbon 13 by the heat of the thermal head.

The thermal head 12 performs the above printing while moving as the carrier 6 moves in the direction of the arrow C. At this time, the ink ribbon 13 is attached to the take-up spool 1 as described above.
6, it is wound up in the direction of arrow D.

When printing for one line is completed, the thermal head 12 retreats in the direction of arrow E and returns in the direction of arrow B, but at this time the ink ribbon 13 is not wound up. When the thermal head 12 returns to the predetermined position, in the case of multi-color printing, printing on the same line is repeated as many times as the number of hues that the ink ribbon 13 has, and when the print is finished, the platen 2 rotates to start a line feed, and the paper 3 is transferred by a predetermined feed amount in the direction of arrow A in preparation for printing the next line.

As shown in the explanatory diagram of FIG. 3, the ink ribbon 13 includes a base film 14 using a polyester film and an ink layer 15 coated on the base film 14.
When the ink ribbon 13 is pressed and heated against the paper 3 by the thermal head 12, the ink on the pressed portion melts and peels off and transfers to the paper 3, forming a print based on dots.

0010

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As explained above, an ink ribbon has an ink layer formed by repeatedly coating a base film with inks of different hues in a predetermined order for a predetermined length. Since the coating operations are performed separately, there inevitably arises areas of only the base film without ink between each ink layer.

[0011] Then, the frictional force between the ink ribbon and the paper differs in that part from that in the ink layer. Stability when the ink ribbon is wound requires that the frictional force between the ink ribbon and paper be constant; if it is uneven, the winding becomes unstable and slips occur.

[0012] As a result, there is a problem in that the print quality deteriorates, such as missing prints. The present invention aims at stabilizing print quality.

[0013]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In the present invention, an ink base material 15 containing no pigment is provided on a base film 14.
A is coated to form a base layer 14a, and an ink layer 15 is formed thereon by coating an ink obtained by mixing a dye into the same base material as the base material 15a.

[0014]

[Operation] Since the base materials are the same, the friction coefficients of the base layer and the ink layer are the same, and the frictional force with the paper is the same over the entire length of the ink ribbon.

[0015] For this reason, winding can be performed stably, and stable printing quality can be obtained.

[0016]

[Example] In the present invention, as shown in the side view of FIG. 1, a base film 14 using a polyester film is used.
A base layer 14a is formed by coating a base material 15a of ink that does not contain a pigment thereon, and a base layer 14a is formed on the base layer 14a.
The ink layer 15 is formed by coating the same base material 15a as in a with an ink containing a pigment.

Materials for the ink base material 15a include, for example, wax, polyamide, polyurethane, etc., and the base film 14 is coated with the base material used as the material for the ink base material 15a. This forms the base layer 14a.

Then, as in the prior art, inks of different hues are repeatedly coated over a predetermined length in a predetermined order on this base layer 14a to form an ink layer 15, thereby obtaining an ink ribbon 18.

When printing is performed using this ink ribbon 18, since the base layer 14a having the same friction coefficient as the ink layer 15 is exposed even in the area where there is no ink between the ink layers, the ink ribbon 18 has a full length. have the same coefficient of friction.

Therefore, the ink ribbon 18 can be wound stably, and stable printing quality without defects such as missing printing can be obtained.

[0021]

Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, winding of a thermal multicolor ink ribbon can be carried out stably, and there are great industrial effects such as stable printing without missing prints etc.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a heat-sensitive multicolor ink ribbon of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a thermal transfer printer to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional heat-sensitive multicolor ink ribbon.

[Explanation of symbols]

13 and 18 are ink ribbons, 14 is the base film, 14a is a base layer; 15 is an ink layer; 15a is a base material;

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A heat-sensitive multicolor ink ribbon in which an ink layer (15) is formed by repeatedly coating a base film (14) with inks of different hues in a predetermined order over a predetermined length, the base film (14) A base layer (14a) is formed by coating a pigment-free ink base (15a) on top of the base layer (15a).
A thermal multicolor ink ribbon characterized in that an ink layer (15) is formed by coating the same base material as in a) with an ink containing a pigment.