JPH05305718A - Method for recording by thermal transfer printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To smooth an uneven surface of the ink transferred on recording paper so as to obtain a satisfactory printing quality. CONSTITUTION:An ink 12 is remelted in spaces between the printing lines of the ink 12 transferred on a recording paper 11 by using the coating parts Co formed on an ink ribbon 15 and by driving a thermal head 6 while moving a carriage 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording method of a thermal transfer printer, and more particularly to a recording method of a serial type thermal transfer printer for performing printing so that a gap (stitching) between print lines does not occur.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 shows a conventional general thermal transfer printer, in which a platen 2 on a flat plate is arranged at a substantially central portion of a frame 1 of the printer so that its printing surface is substantially vertical. A carriage shaft 3 is arranged below the front side of the frame 1 and the platen 2 in parallel with the platen 2. A flange-shaped guide portion 4 is formed on the front end edge of the frame 1, and the carriage shaft 3 and the guide portion 4 have
A carriage 5 is reciprocally attached along the carriage shaft 3 and the guide portion 4. A thermal head 6 is attached to the tip of the carriage 5 so as to face the platen 2, and an ink ribbon housed in an ink ribbon cassette (not shown) is thermally mounted on the upper surface of the carriage 5. A take-up bobbin 7 is provided between the head 6 and the platen 2 so as to guide the take-up bobbin 7.

Further, behind the platen 2, a sheet insertion port 8 for feeding recording paper (not shown) to the front of the platen 2.
Is formed, and a paper feed roller 9 that conveys the recording paper at a predetermined speed is disposed in the paper insertion opening 8 portion. A pressure contact roller 10 that is pressed against the paper feed roller 9 is rotatably disposed below the paper feed roller 9, and the paper insertion port 8 is provided between the paper feed roller 9 and the pressure contact roller 10. The recording paper inserted from the inside is held and conveyed.

In the above-mentioned conventional thermal transfer printer, a recording paper is inserted from the paper insertion port 8, the recording paper is sandwiched between the paper feed roller 9 and the pressure contact roller 10, and the paper feed roller 9 is rotationally driven. By doing so, the recording paper is conveyed at a predetermined speed in the direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the carriage 5. On the other hand, the carriage 5 is driven, and while the ink ribbon is being wound by the winding hobbin 7, the thermal head 6 is driven based on a desired recording signal to perform desired recording on the recording paper. ..

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional thermal transfer printer, as shown in FIG.
After recording one line on the recording paper 11 such as OHP paper,
When recording the next line, the rotation of the paper feed roller 9 is controlled so as to adjust the carry amount of the recording paper 11 so that no gap is formed between the inks 12 of each print line.
In the boundary portion 12a of the ink 12 of each print line,
There is a problem that the ink of the next print line overlaps the ink of the previous print line, and unevenness is formed on the surface of the ink 12 in the overlapping portion of the ink 12.
As a result, when light hits the boundary portion 12a,
The unevenness of the ink 12 causes irregular reflection and refraction of light, and the boundary portion 12a looks like a black line, which causes a remarkable deterioration in printing quality.

The present invention has been made in view of these points, and provides a recording method for a thermal transfer printer capable of obtaining good print quality by eliminating the occurrence of irregularities at the ink boundary portion of each print line. The purpose is that.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention has an ink ribbon having an ink layer provided on the surface of a supporting substrate, and the ink layer of the ink ribbon is melted to form a recording paper on a recording paper. A thermal head that transfers and records ink, a carriage that mounts the thermal head and the ink ribbon and that reciprocates in a print digit direction, a carriage transfer unit that transfers the carriage, and a recording paper moving direction of the carriage. In a recording method of a thermal transfer printer having a paper feeding mechanism that reciprocates in a direction orthogonal to the above, a coating section without an ink layer is provided on the ink ribbon, and the thermal head transfers the recording section onto the recording sheet using the coating section. -Characterized by re-melting the boundary between the printed lines of the recorded ink.

[0008]

The above-mentioned means operates as follows.

The boundary between print lines on the recording paper after recording is remelted by a thermal head by using an ink ribbon-free coating portion of the ink ribbon. As a result, the ink can be made smooth without unevenness.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a thermal printer according to the present invention. A platen 2 having a flat plate shape is arranged on a frame 1 of the printer so that its printing surface is substantially vertical. A carriage shaft 3 is arranged below the platen 2 of the frame 1 in parallel with the platen 2. The drive belt 1 is attached to the carriage shaft 3.
A carriage 5 which is reciprocally moved by 4 is attached, and a thermal head 6 is attached to the tip of the carriage 5 so as to face the platen 2. Also,
On the upper surface of the carriage 5, the ink ribbon 1 having the structure shown in FIG. 2 is guided between the thermal head 6 and the platen 2.
A ribbon cassette (not shown) for storing 5 is attached. The recording paper conveyed between the platen 2 and the thermal head 6 is conveyed by a predetermined amount by a paper feeding mechanism similar to the conventional example, though not shown.

FIG. 2 shows an example of an ink ribbon used in the present invention. The ink layers of three colors of yellow (Y), cyan (C), and magenta (M) and a coating portion (where the ink layer is not formed) Co) is periodically formed in the longitudinal direction, and markers 16a to 16d for detecting each color and the coating portion are formed at the boundary of each color.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

First, after a predetermined sheet such as OHP sheet is conveyed between the platen 2 and the thermal head 6, the carriage 5 is driven and the thermal head 6 is desired while winding the ink ribbon of the ribbon cassette 13. The desired recording is performed on the recording paper by driving based on the recording signal of. When one line of desired recording is completed on this recording paper, the paper feeding mechanism is controlled to reversely feed this recording paper by half a line. After this, send the ink ribbon,
The marker 16d is detected, the head of the coating portion Co is positioned at the print start position, and the thermal head 6 is moved to the platen 2.
The head is pressed against the thermal head 6 while moving the carriage.
To remelt the ink on the recording paper. As a result, the ink 12 on the recording paper is softened, and the fluidity of the softened ink 12 removes the irregularities on the surface of the ink 12 and smoothes it.

The re-melting of the ink 12 may be performed by driving the thermal head 6 while moving the carriage 5 in the direction opposite to that during printing.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The boundary between print lines after recording is re-melted by the thermal head using the coating portion of the ink ribbon that does not have an ink layer, so that the unevenness of the boundary between print lines is removed and uniformized. As a result, it is possible to obtain a smooth ink having no unevenness, reliably prevent irregular reflection and refraction of light, and significantly improve print quality.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a thermal transfer printer showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an example of an ink ribbon used in the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a conventional general thermal transfer printer.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of a boundary portion of ink transferred onto a conventional recording paper.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 frame 2 platen 5 carriage 6 thermal head 15 ink ribbon

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An ink ribbon having an ink layer provided on the surface of a supporting substrate, a thermal head for melting the ink layer of the ink ribbon to transfer and record the ink on a recording paper, the thermal head and the ink. Thermal transfer provided with a carriage carrying a ribbon and reciprocating in the print digit direction, a carriage transferring means for transferring the carriage, and a paper feeding mechanism for reciprocating the recording paper in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the carriage. In a printer recording method, a coating portion having no ink layer is provided on the ink ribbon, and the thermal head is used to remelt the boundary portion between the print lines of the ink transferred / recorded on the recording paper. A recording method for a thermal transfer printer, which is characterized in that