JPH045557B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a ribbon used in a color printer.

Below, the disperse dye to be transferred in printing is yellow,
A case where color printing is performed using three colors in the order of magenta and cyan will be explained.

A conventional ribbon will be explained with reference to FIG.

In this figure, 1 is a ribbon, color frame 2 is coated with ink containing yellow disperse dye, color frame 3 is coated with ink containing magenta disperse dye, and ink is coated with cyan disperse dye. The ribbon 1 has a large number of sets of colored frames 4 coated with the same color in the longitudinal direction of the ribbon 1. 2B, 3B, 4B
is a mark indicating the end of the color frames 2, 3, and 4.

When printing in color, the platen 7 is placed between the platen 7 and the thermal head 9 as shown in FIG.
Printing paper 10 partially held by the paper holding mechanism 8 of
While the platen 7 makes one rotation in the direction of arrow B, the ribbon 1 also travels in the direction of arrow A, and first, the disperse dye of the color frame 2 of the ribbon 1 is supplied to the thermal head 9. In accordance with the drive signal to be printed, the disperse dye of color frame 3 is similarly applied to the printing paper 10 in the next rotation, and the disperse dye of color frame 4 is similarly applied to the printing paper in the next rotation. One sheet of paper is printed by sublimation onto paper 10. Note that the control for printing three colors on the printing paper 10 is performed using marks 2B, 3B,
This is done by counting 4B using a counter or the like.

However, since the three colors of disperse dyes have the same sublimation temperature and sublimation amount, the ribbon 1 runs in the direction of arrow A as shown in FIG. 1, and the color frame 2 is first printed on the printing paper 10. There is no problem when printing, but when the second color frame 3 is printed, the yellow disperse dye printed first on the part of the printing paper 10 that is the composite color of color frame 2 and color frame 3 becomes colored. Since it is retransferred to the frame 3, the yellow disperse dye adheres to the magenta, and a portion 5 of a mixed color of magenta and yellow is formed within the color frame 3. Similarly, when the third color frame 4 is printed, the disperse dye that was printed first from the printing paper 10 is retransferred to the color frame 4 in the same way as described above, and the composite color portion 6Y of cyan and yellow, A portion 6M of a composite color of cyan and magenta and a portion 6B of a composite color of cyan, yellow, and magenta are formed within the color frame 4. Therefore, when the ribbon 1 is reused for the next printing, the portion 5 is attached to the color frame 3, and the portions 6Y, 6M, and 6B are attached to the color frame 4, so that the above-mentioned portions are attached to the printing paper 10. The mixed color part is printed and the desired color cannot be obtained. Therefore, a new ribbon 1 must be used each time printing is completed, which has the disadvantage that the ribbon 1 is uneconomical.

This invention was made in view of the above points, and the sublimation temperature at which a certain amount of the disperse dye used in the ribbon sublimates is gradually lowered in the running direction of the ribbon, thereby retransferring the disperse dye from the printing paper to the ribbon. To provide a ribbon that prevents
The present invention will be explained below based on the drawings.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 4a, b, and c are diagrams showing sublimation concentration, where the vertical axis represents the amount of sublimation and the horizontal axis represents temperature.

In Fig. 3, reference numeral 11 denotes a ribbon, which has a color frame 12 coated with ink containing a yellow disperse dye as a component, a color frame 13 coated with an ink containing a magenta disperse dye as a component, and a color frame 13 coated with an ink containing a cyan disperse dye as a component. One set is a color frame 14 coated with ink, and there are many sets. 12B, 13B, 14B are each color frame 1
Mark indicating the end of 2, 13, 14, 14T
is a mark indicating the end of a set of color frames 12, 13, 14. In this invention, the color frame 12,
For example, the sublimation temperature at which the amount of disperse dye sublimed from No. 13 and No. 14 is approximately equal is set to 200°C and 190°C, respectively.
℃, 180℃.

Next, color printing will be explained.

As in the past, the platen 7 is
A printing paper 10 and a ribbon 1 are placed between the
1 in close contact with each other, and color frames 12, 13, and 14 of the ribbon 11 are sequentially applied to the printing paper 10 at respective sublimation temperatures of 200°C, 190°C, and 180°C in accordance with the drive signal supplied to the thermal head 9. Print by sublimating disperse dye.

In this case, as shown in Figure 4a, the amount of sublimation of the disperse dye in the yellow color frame 12 is 100 at 200°C, and the amount of sublimation of the disperse dye in the magenta color frame 13 is 190 as shown in Figure 4b.
The amount of sublimation is 100 at 180° C., and the cyan color frame 14 is selected so that the amount of sublimation is 100 at 180° C., as shown in FIG. 4c. Then, the heat generation temperature of the heat sensitive head 9 is set to the color frame 1.
If the amount of sublimation is controlled to be reduced sequentially each time 2, 13, and 14 are printed, the same amount of sublimation can be obtained no matter which color frame is being printed, and the amount of sublimation that adheres to the printing paper 10 due to sublimation can be obtained. Since the previous disperse dye is not heated to the sublimation temperature again when printing other colors, re-transfer to the ribbon 11 can be prevented. Therefore, even if the ribbon 11 is reused for the next printing, the desired coloring can be obtained when printing on the printing paper 10. In addition,
Since the sublimation temperature of each color is different, Mark 1
2B, 13B, 14B, and 14T are used to control the heating temperature of the thermal head 9 to complete one printing operation.

As an example of the embodiment of the ribbon 11 as described above, color frame 12: Color Index Disperse Yellow 7 (for example, Halanil Yellow 5RX (product name) of BASF) Color frame 13: Color Index Disperse Red 60 (for example,
Sumitomo Chemical's Imicalon RED-FBL (product name)) Color frame 14: Color Index Solvent Blue 108 (for example, Nippon Kayaku's Kayalon Paliestar Safiya Blue GL-E (product name)) , using ethyl cellulose and toluene as vehicle and disperse dye in weight ratio
Make an ink of 10%, vehicle 20%, and solvent 70%,
A ribbon 11 was prepared by forming an ink layer of 2 to 5 μm on a 20 μm thick capacitor paper. Also, ribbon 11
is not limited to three colors, but may be two or more colors. Furthermore, the color scheme may be changed as appropriate.
Further, the sublimation temperature of the disperse dye can be set as appropriate.

As explained above, in the ribbon of the present invention, different color frames are provided in a predetermined order in the running direction of the ribbon, and the sublimation temperature of each ink applied within this color frame is set to become lower in sequence. At the same time, a mark is added to identify each color frame as one set, so that the sublimation dye once printed on photographic paper is less likely to be retransferred, and the same set of color frames is There is an advantage that the printer can be easily controlled even when the printer is reused and printed multiple times.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a plan view showing a conventional ribbon, Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the principle of the printer, Fig. 3 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and Figs. 4 a, b, and c are diagrams showing sublimation density. It is. In the figure, 11 is a ribbon, 12, 13, and 14 are color frames, and 12B, 13B, 14B, and 14T are marks.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Inks containing disperse dyes of different colors are applied in different color frames, and the different color frames are arranged in a predetermined order as a set in the longitudinal direction of the ribbon. In a ribbon for a color printer that can obtain a color image by transferring ink within the set of color frames onto photographic paper and overlapping it while running the ribbon, at least an end of each set of color frames is provided. and within the set of color frames delimited by the marks, the temperature at which a certain amount of the disperse dye of each color sublimates becomes lower in sequence in the running direction of the ribbon. Featured ribbon.