JPH0554438B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an ink film suitable for use in a thermal transfer type hard copy device.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, a thermal transfer method was used, in which an ink film coated with ink was placed on the image-receiving paper to be printed on, and a thermal head was brought into contact with the film to generate heat, thereby thermally transferring the ink from the ink film onto the image-receiving paper to print. Hard copy devices are known.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of essential parts of an example of such a hard copy device, in which 1 is an ink film, 2 is a supply reel shaft, 3 is a take-up reel shaft, 4 is a reflective sensor, and 5 is a reflective plate. , 6 is a platen, 7 is a heat sensitive head, and 7a is a minute heating resistor.

In the figure, an ink film 1 is wound around a supply reel shaft 2 and a take-up reel shaft 3. During printing, the image receiving paper 9 is attached to the platen 6, and the image receiving paper 9 and the ink film 1 are placed between the platen 6 and the thermal head 7 so that the ink coated surface of the ink film 1 is in contact with the printing surface of the image receiving paper 9. Sandwich it. Then, the minute heat generating resistor 7a of the heat sensitive head 7 is selectively made to generate heat, and at the same time, the platen 6 and the like are rotated to transport the ink film 1 and the image receiving paper 9 in the direction of the arrow. The ink film 1 is pulled out from the supply reel shaft 2 and wound onto the take-up reel shaft 3.

Therefore, the ink film 1 is printed on the printing surface of the image receiving paper 9 by the heat of the selected minute heating resistor 7a.
The ink applied to the image receiving paper 9 is sequentially transferred and printing is performed on the image receiving paper 9.

By the way, when performing color printing, for example, an ink film coated with ink of three colors, cyan, magenta, and yellow, is used. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, these colored inks are sequentially applied over a predetermined length, and by printing once on each of the cyan, magenta, and yellow colored ink areas, one Color printing is performed twice.

In this way, in order to be able to perform color printing by sequential thermal transfer of three colors of ink,
At the start of color printing, the beginning of the ink application range (hereinafter referred to as 1 printing range), which is made up of three color ink application areas and necessary for one color character (hereinafter referred to as 1 printing range), is minute (in Fig. 4, the beginning of the cyan ink application area). It must be set at the position of the heating resistor 7a. This setting is called cueing, and in order to make this cueing possible, a marker 1a is placed at the beginning of each printing range, as shown in FIG.

Therefore, the hard copy apparatus shown in FIG. 3 is provided with a sensor, which detects the marker 1a (FIG. 4) on the ink film 1 and performs cueing. When this cueing is completed and printing is started, the ink film 1 is moved by the rotation of the platen 6.
and image-receiving paper 9 are transported in the direction of the arrow at the same speed, and cyan printing is performed. Next, the platen 6 is reversed by the amount rotated by this printing, and the image receiving paper 9 is returned to its original position, and then the ink film 1 and the image receiving paper 9 are transported again at the same speed in the direction of the arrow, and the magenta color is Printing is performed. This printing is performed so as to overlap the previous cyan printing area. Printing for yellow is performed in the same manner, and color printing is completed.

Note that the ink film cue may be performed immediately before color printing is performed, or may be performed immediately after.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

By the way, in such an ink film,
Generally, each printing range can be used for only one printing. Therefore, it is desirable to be able to know how many times the ink film used can print (ie, the remaining amount). If the number of prints that can be made on the ink film is constant, this can be done, for example, by counting the previous cue marker, but in reality, the number of prints (i.e., the capacity) Ink films with different ink values are on the market, and even if you can count the number of prints by counting the cue markers, you cannot know the remaining amount.

In order to know the remaining amount of ink film you are using, for each printing range, for example,
It is conceivable to attach a mark representing the number of remaining one print range immediately before and after the cue marker.
However, conventionally, ink films for color printing use a marker for cueing and one plate each for cyan, magenta, and yellow, and each ink is applied to this plate and the ink is sequentially and repeatedly transferred to the film. Manufactured by. If you try to transfer a mark indicating the remaining amount for each printing range, you will need many plates with different marks because the remaining amount will differ for each printing range, and you will also need to transfer one printing range to the film. Each time the ink film is formed, the plate of the mark representing the remaining amount must be replaced, making the production of the ink film very time-consuming.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an ink film that solves these problems, allows the remaining amount to be detected, and can be produced using almost conventional processes.

[Means for solving problems]

For this reason, the present invention provides the following features: only immediately before the cue marker provided at the beginning of the first printing range;
A mark is provided to indicate the capacity (printable number of times).

[Effect]

If you know the capacity from the mark above, you can easily determine the remaining amount from the number of times it has been printed, and if you transfer the mark to the film first during production,
All that is left is to transfer one printing range.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of an ink film according to the present invention, in which 1b is a bar code;
1c, 1d, and 1e are markers, and parts corresponding to those in FIG. 4 are given the same reference numerals.

FIG. 1 shows the starting part of this embodiment,
The one print range shown in the figure is the first print range, which is made up of cyan, magenta, and yellow color ink application areas. At the beginning of this one printing range, as before,
A marker 1a for cueing is provided, and furthermore, markers 1c, 1d, etc. are provided immediately before this marker 1a.
A barcode 1b consisting of 1e is provided.
This barcode 1b represents the capacity of the ink film 1, and for example, markers 1c, 1d
The capacity varies depending on the ratio of the interval between the markers 1d and 1e to the interval between the markers 1d and 1e. Here, the ink film 1 shown in FIG. 1B has a larger capacity than the ink film 1 shown in FIG.
b is different.

Such a barcode 1b is detected by a sensor of the hard copy device. Thereby, when using the ink film, its capacity can be known, and by counting the number of times it has been printed, it is possible to determine its remaining amount.

Also, the barcode 1b is 1 on the ink film 1.
Therefore, when manufacturing the barcode 1b plate, it is only necessary to use the barcode 1b plate once, and then the marker 1a and the 1 printing range plate can be used repeatedly as in the conventional method. It only requires a small amount and does not take much time to manufacture.

Furthermore, each marker 1c, 1 of the barcode 1b
The same ink material as marker 1a is used for d and 1e,
The sensor 4 for detecting the marker 1a shown in FIG. 3 is made to be able to also detect the barcode 1b. Therefore, there is no need to provide a dedicated sensor for each different type of marker.

Note that as the sensor 4, for example, a reflective infrared sensor can be used, and in this case,
For the markers 1a to 1e, an ink material having a higher infrared absorbing power than parts other than these markers is used. The reflector plate 5 is provided with the sensor 4 with the ink film 1 interposed therebetween, and is used to reflect infrared rays from the sensor 4 to the sensor 4.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing another embodiment of the ink film according to the present invention, and parts corresponding to those in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals.

This embodiment is for monochrome printing, and there is no distinction between one printing range; a marker 1a for cueing is provided first, and then black ink is uniformly applied. For this purpose as well, as shown in the figure, a barcode 1b representing the capacity is provided immediately before the marker 1a. This allows you to know the remaining amount at the time of use.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. For example, the mark indicating the remaining amount may be a mark other than the above-mentioned barcode 1b, or Furthermore, other marks indicating the type, such as color or monochrome, may be provided.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, since a mark indicating the capacity is provided, the remaining capacity at the time of use can be easily determined, and it can be manufactured using almost conventional processes. Further, the sensor for the cue marker conventionally provided in the hard copy device can be used for detecting the mark, and an increase in the number of parts of the hard copy device can be prevented. Excellent effects can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing one embodiment of the ink film according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing another embodiment of the ink film according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a main part showing an example of a hard copy device. The perspective view and FIG. 4 are explanatory diagrams showing an example of a conventional ink film. 1... Ink film, 1a... Marker for cueing, 1b... Barcode indicating capacity, 1c, 1
d, 1e... Marker.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a hard copy ink film coated with ink for transfer printing and provided with a cue marker for detecting the start end of the ink application area, the corresponding first mark located at the beginning of the entire ink film An ink film characterized in that a mark representing at least a capacity and detectable by the same sensor as the cueing marker is provided immediately before the cueing marker.