JPH05147350A - Recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a recording apparatus capable of always applying required recording to a recording medium having a display part composed of a low molecular/high molecular composite film recording material repeatedly showing both opaque and transparent states by temp. history. CONSTITUTION:A recording apparatus is equipped with at least a feed system feeding a recording medium 7 having a display part capable of repeatedly displaying and erasing a visible image by the control of heat energy, a recording layer opacifying means 3 heating the recording layer of the fed recording medium 7 to opacify the same and a thermal recording means 2 forming a visible image on the opacified recording layer of the recording medium 7.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording device, and more particularly, to a recording device having a recording layer (display section) capable of repeatedly displaying and erasing a visible image by heat, for performing required recording and erasing. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional hard copy recording or recording apparatus forms a required image by selectively attaching (adhering) ink or toner from the outside onto a recording medium such as paper, or A recording medium such as a thermal recording paper having a recording layer provided on the surface of a base material such as paper is used, and a permanent image is recorded by forming a visible image on the recording layer of the recording medium. However, the consumption of these recording media is rapidly increasing with the construction of various network networks, the spread of facsimiles and copying machines, and the increase in the consumption of these recording media is caused by the problem of natural destruction such as deforestation, It causes social problems such as garbage disposal. In order to deal with these problems, there is a strong demand for reduction of recording medium consumption such as reproduction of recording paper (recording medium), and recording media that can be repeatedly recorded and erased have attracted attention for many problems, and many There is interest. For example, as disclosed in JP-A-1-304996, a recording layer capable of reversibly causing a color change and a light transmittance change due to heat is provided on one main surface of a plastic substrate. Cards or recording media are known.

The card has a printed layer on the upper surface of a base material made of plastic or the like, a magnetic recording layer on the lower surface (back surface side),
And a reversible recording layer (variable display layer) composed of a heat sensitive body are integrally laminated. That is, the essence is that the reversible recording layer is composed of a recording material capable of reversibly converting both the transparent state and the cloudy state depending on the temperature applied to the card. As an example of the characteristics of this recording material,
When the temperature is raised from T ₁ to T ₃ in the transparent state, the transparent state becomes a cloudy state, and the cloudy state is maintained as it is even when the temperature returns to T ₁ . Then, when the temperature of the recording material is increased from T ₁ to T ₂ (T ₂ <T ₃ ) and then returned to T ₁ , the cloudy state is changed to the transparent state, the transparent state is maintained, and this change can be repeatedly reproduced. Is.

From this point of view, a display changing device has been proposed in which recording (displaying) and erasing are repeatedly performed on a display body containing the thermoreversible recording material (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 2-19568). This display changing device is provided with an erasing means for thermally erasing the display on the display body and a printing means for thermally printing. Specifically, the thermoreversible display of the floppy disk cartridge is displayed on the heater head (erasing). Erased by
A configuration is shown in which display writing is performed by using a moving thermal head (printing means). Furthermore, an apparatus for erasing / recording a display using a heat roller (erasing means) and a thermal head (printing means) on an information recording card having the thermoreversible recording layer has also been developed (Actual Kaihei 2-3876). Publication).

[0005]

The recording apparatus using the recording material capable of repeating recording / erasing as described above can be said to solve the problems of the conventional recording apparatus. In particular, a recording medium having a display portion (recording layer) of, for example, a low molecular weight / polymer composite film recording material that repeatedly shows both cloudy and transparent states depending on the temperature history is a thermal head that is widely used in conventional thermal recording devices. Since recording / erasing is possible and the recording medium can be used repeatedly, it can be said that it has many advantages in terms of practicality in terms of resource saving and the like.

However, according to the experiments conducted by the present inventors, for example, when an image recorded on a low molecular weight / polymer composite film recording material is erased, in other words, when the recorded image is erased and a new recording is performed, the recording is performed. It has been found that the recorded image becomes difficult to erase with the time interval of erasing. That is, it was confirmed that there is a tendency for re-transparency to be less likely to occur depending on the elapsed time after clouding. Therefore, in a normal use state of the recording apparatus in which the time interval between recording and erasing cannot be specified, an image to be erased remains unerased, which causes a problem of a newly recorded image. In addition, there is a problem that the degree of remaining unerased differs depending on the time interval between recording and erasing, and it cannot be said to be sufficiently satisfactory in practice. In other words, it can be said that there is still a problem in practical use in terms of accuracy or reliability of recording / erasing on the card.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and is always required for a recording medium having a display portion (recording layer) made of a recording material that repeatedly shows both cloudy and transparent states depending on temperature history. An object of the present invention is to provide a recording device capable of surely recording.

[0008]

A recording apparatus according to the present invention is a conveyance system for conveying a recording medium having a recording layer (display section) which repeats recording and erasing of a visible image by repeating clouding and transparency depending on a temperature history. And a recording layer clouding means for clouding the recording layer (display section) of the transported recording medium, and a recording layer (display section) of the recording medium transported through the recording layer clouding means. And a thermal head thermal recording means for forming a visible image of the above.

That is, in the recording apparatus according to the present invention, a recording medium having a recording layer which repeatedly exhibits both cloudy and transparent states depending on the temperature history, for example, a recording medium composed of a low molecular weight / polymer composite film recording material, is repeatedly used. A recording device for performing recording / erasing, wherein a recording layer clouding means for clouding the recording layer is provided on the upstream side of the thermal head thermal recording means in the recording medium conveyance direction, and the thermal recording is performed after the recording area is clouded. The head thermal recording means is used to record an image, and the visible image to be erased is erased surely and stably without being left unerased, thereby solving the above problem.

[0010]

In the recording apparatus according to the present invention, the temperature history characteristic of the recording material forming the recording layer (display portion) of the recording medium is used to perform at least the required recording by repeating recording and erasing. After the recording area of is activated to the cloudy state, the required visible image is recorded. That is, prior to the recording of a new visible image, the recorded information recorded in the recording area is easily erased without leaving any unerased portion, so that the desired recorded information can be reliably recorded. In other words, the unerased image of the cloudy image and the obstacle to the new recorded image due to the extent of the unerased image are completely eliminated.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic structure of a main part of a recording apparatus according to the present invention. Reference numeral 2a is a recording material (display section) in which both a cloudy state and a transparent state are repeated depending on a temperature history of a recording medium. 2b is a thermal head driving circuit for controlling the thermal head 2 and 2b is a thermal head for applying heat energy for making transparent (recording) to the recording material.
The thermal recording means 2 for the thermal head is constituted by the both 2a and 2b.
Are configured. The thermal head 2a is a so-called line recording head having a configuration in which a large number of heating resistor elements are arranged in a line in a direction orthogonal to the recording medium conveyance direction and are isolated from each other. 3a is a clouding thermal head for applying heat energy of clouding to the recording material provided as a recording layer in the recording medium, 3b is a clouding thermal head drive circuit for controlling the clouding thermal head 3a, both 3a , 3b constitute a thermal head heating means 3 which is a recording layer clouding means. Further, 4 is a position detection sensor for detecting the position of the recording medium, 5 is a platen roller, and 6 is a pair of conveyance rollers. The platen roller 5 and the transport roller 6 are configured to interlock with each other by a drive system (not shown),
The recording medium (recording sheet or card) is conveyed at a constant speed.

In the structure of the recording apparatus, as a means for forming the recording layer clouding means 3, a radiation source of infrared rays or the like may be used in addition to the thermal head. It exhibits a function of applying heat energy capable of turning cloudy to a recording material which is irradiated with infrared rays from a radiant light source and repeats both a cloudy state and a transparent state due to a temperature history forming a recording layer of a moving recording medium.

On the other hand, the recording medium (recording sheet) 7 is
As shown in FIG. 2 which is a cross-sectional view of the main part of the structure, a supporting substrate 7a
A structure in which a colored layer 7b, a recording layer 7c made of a recording material having the above-described characteristics and reversibly showing two states of cloudiness and a surface protective layer 7d are sequentially laminated on one main surface of Is taking. In addition, in this embodiment, the cloudy state is a visible image with the recording layer 7c being transparent and the colored layer 7b being the base color. The visible image is erased by making the recorded cloudy image transparent. The recording layer 7c of the recording medium 7 used in this example has a temperature of about 70 ° C to about 100 ° C.
It becomes transparent at ℃, and cloudiness becomes saturated at about 110 ℃ or more. Here, the upper limit of the heating temperature is the surface protective layer 7d or the recording layer 7c.
The heat resistance of the recording medium 7 is about 180 ° C. in the case of the recording material forming the recording layer 7c of the recording medium 7.

Next, the rewriting operation of recording on the recording medium 7 by the recording apparatus will be described. 3 (a) and 3 (b) show the recording device having the above-described structure, in which the character "N" recorded on the recording medium (recording sheet) 7 as the background color and the cloudy state as the recorded image state 6 schematically shows the recording operation when rewriting to "T". First, FIG.
(a) shows an operation state in which the recording layer (display part) 7c of the recording medium 7 is clouded by the clouding thermal head 3a. The recording medium 7 in which the letter "N" is recorded is a position detection sensor. To the cloudy thermal head 3a via
Transported at a speed of mm / sec. At this time, for example, in the cloudy thermal head 3a, which is configured to control and heat the recording medium to 150 ° C., the recording layer is recorded on the recording medium 7 at the timing based on the output signal of the position detection sensor 4.
The recording layer 7c becomes opaque over the entire surface regardless of the presence or absence of a recorded image (visible image) by giving heat energy capable of making the 7c opaque.

Further, FIG. 3B shows a recording medium 7 in which the recording layer 7c is entirely clouded by the clouding thermal head 3a.
FIG. 7 shows an operation state in which recording is performed by the recording thermal head 2a. The recording layer 7c of the recording medium 7 which has the entire surface opaque.
The recording thermal head 2a selectively raises the portion (area) corresponding to the space dot that does not form the image "T" to the clearing temperature, and the cloudy state is changed to the transparent state. That is, in the recording layer portion that is not heated by the recording thermal head 2a, the clouded state is maintained as it is, so that the cloudy image "T" is recorded, and so-called rewritable recording is performed.

The recording apparatus according to the present invention having the above-described structure is characterized in that the entire recording area is made cloudy before rewriting recording on the recording medium 7. Here, the rewrite recording operation of the recording medium 7 will be further described.

In this type of recording medium 7, the recording layer 7c
It is desirable that the recording of the image on the recording layer and the erasing of the image can be repeated under the same recording condition and the same erasing condition regardless of the use history of the recording layer 7c. However, the present inventors have found that, for example, in a recording material having a low molecular weight / polymeric composite film, the following phenomenon often occurs. That is, when an opaque image is made transparent (erasing operation) under the same erasing condition after a predetermined time, as shown by a circle mark in FIG. It has been found that the phenomenon in which the density decreases and only changes to a semitransparent state occurs. In FIG. 4, the reflection density of the transparent image is high, and the reflection density of the cloudy image is low. It has been found that this change is due to the fact that the energy required for clearing (erasing) shifts to the high-energy side and the maximum value of the clearing temperature also decreases as the standing time of the cloudy image becomes longer. In such a state, if transparent recording for erasing is performed under the same conditions, the image to be erased cannot be completely erased, and there is a disadvantage that a ghost image is left with the newly recorded image. ..

However, the inventors of the present invention have studied the conditions under which transparent recording can be performed under the same conditions, regardless of the standing time after the cloudy image is recorded. As a result, the recording layer 7c is clouded before re-clearing. After that, if the transparent recording is performed, it is possible to make the cloudy image transparent (erased) regardless of the length of the standing time after the formation of the cloudy image under the same transparency conditions as indicated by the symbol Δ in FIG. The present invention has been found out and led to the present invention. Also, it is not clear why the time dependence of the erasing condition is eliminated by making the cloudy state before rewriting, but it is a weak force that contributes to stabilizing the cloudy / transparent state with time. However, it is considered that the state is initialized by being weakened by the clouding energy.

In the above embodiment, the recorded image state is set when the recording layer 7c of the recording medium 7 is in the cloudy state, but it can be rewritten and recorded by the thermal head thermal recording means 2 as the recorded image state when it is transparent. .. For example, the recording operation when the character "N" recorded with the cloudy state as the background color and the transparent state as the recording image state is replaced with the character "T" is as follows. That is, when the rewritable area of the recording layer 7c in which the letter “N” is recorded passes at a transport speed of 40 mm / sec., The rewritable area of the rewritable area whose surface temperature is controlled to 150 ° C. has a clouding temperature. The temperature is raised to 0 and the entire surface becomes cloudy regardless of the presence or absence of an image. The area of the recording layer 7c, which has been made cloudy over the entire surface, is subjected to an image "T" by the thermal recording thermal head 2a which is an essential part of the thermal head thermal recording means 2.
The portion of the recording layer 7c forming the layer is selectively heated to the clearing temperature to change from the cloudy state to the transparent state. That is, since the portion of the recording layer 7c heated by the thermal recording thermal head 2a of the thermal head thermal recording means 2 is selectively made transparent,
A transparent image "T" is newly recorded. Even in this recording operation, by making the recording layer 7c of the recording medium 7 entirely in the cloudy state before the character recording, it is possible to erase the characters previously recorded regardless of the elapsed time after the character recording. Is.

In the above embodiment, an example of rewriting (erasing / recording) of the entire visible image of the recording layer (display portion) 7c of the recording medium 7 is shown. It is also possible to rewrite a part of the recorded information (visible image). Further, it is also possible to rewrite the recording information based on the information stored in the recording medium 7, for example, a RAM (read-only memory) built in the memory card in advance. Of course, in this case, it is necessary to equip the recording device with a memory information reading means and, if necessary, a means for judging the correctness of the visible image to be recorded based on the memory information.

Further, in the above description, an example of application to a recording paper provided with a recording layer that reversibly exhibits two states of transparent and cloudy depending on the temperature history as a recording medium has been described. Type magnetic card, IC card, optical card
Of course, it can be applied to recording and erasing of visible images (rewriting of visible images) on ID cards, ID cards such as employee ID cards, securities cards, etc.

[0023]

According to the recording apparatus of the present invention, recording on a recording medium (recording sheet, etc.) having a recording layer (display section) that repeats white turbidity / transparency and recording / erasing of a visible image repeatedly according to temperature history When rewriting, regardless of the usage history of the recording medium, the image to be erased can be surely erased without being left unerased, and the visible image can be rewritten easily and clearly. That is, it can be said that the recording apparatus can always record a clear image in the repetition of recording and erasing of the visible image, and has many practical advantages in combination with the resource saving of the recording medium.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a main part of a recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a configuration example of a main part of a recording medium used in the recording apparatus according to the present invention.

3A and 3B are schematic views for explaining different recording operation examples of the recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a curve diagram for explaining the characteristics of the recording operation of the recording apparatus according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 ... Thermal head thermal recording means 2a ... Recording thermal head 2b ... Recording thermal head drive circuit 3 ... Recording layer clouding means 3a ... Cloudy thermal head 3b ... Cloudy thermal head drive circuit 4 ... Position detection sensor 5 ... Platen 6 ... Conveying roller 7 ... Recording medium 7a ... Supporting substrate 7b ... Coloring layer 7c ... Recording layer (display section) 7d ... Surface protective layer

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A conveying means for conveying a recording medium having a recording layer capable of repeating recording / erasing of a visible image by repeating clouding / transparency according to temperature history, and a recording layer of the recording medium conveyed by the conveying means. It comprises a recording layer clouding means for clouding, and a thermal recording means for forming a required visible image on the clouded recording layer of the recording medium conveyed through the recording layer clouding means. A recording device characterized by. 2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording layer whitening means is a light source. 3. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording layer clouding means is a thermal head heating means. 4. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording layer whitening means makes the entire recording area of the recording layer whiten.