JPH0566375A - Output device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize a soft copying device having the convenience for a hard copy. CONSTITUTION:An erasing roller 11 which erases an image recorded on a fixed- form and deformable recording medium has the effective erasing width E equal to above the width of the recording medium 5 and is provided at the upperstream side of a recording head 12. Besides, the effective erasing width E of the roller 11 is wider than the guide width D of front part width guides 17-a, 17-b, 18-a and 18-b which guide and carry the fixed-form recording medium.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for visualizing electrically supplied image information so that an operator can visually recognize it.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various display devices (hereinafter referred to as soft copy devices) such as a CRT display device and a liquid crystal display device have been put into practical use, and image information electrically given by these devices has been visualized. ing.

On the other hand, an output device (hereinafter referred to as a hard copy device) for permanently recording image information on recording paper is also used. Outputting image information on recording paper has the following advantages.

(1) The paper material is highly flexible, and physical processing such as bending and cutting and pasting is easy.

(2) It is lightweight, cordless, and easy to move and store.

(3) Visualization information is two-dimensionally arranged, so that visibility and listing are high.

(4) It has a high listing property, and a plurality of devices can be placed horizontally and simultaneously displayed for browsing or referencing. Partial overlap development is possible.

On the other hand, the disadvantages are: (1) After recording once, additional writing and overwriting are possible, but erasing and rewriting are difficult.

(2) Once used, it must be discarded.

[0010]

[0011]

As described above, the conventional hard copy apparatus has various advantages that the soft copy apparatus cannot substitute. However, the recording paper had to be disposed of after one use, resulting in social costs, wasting resources, and was a cause of natural destruction. In particular, a large amount of paper consumption has become a social problem with the progress of the information society.

An object of the present invention is to solve this problem and to realize a soft copy apparatus having the convenience of hard copy.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an output device capable of surely erasing previously recorded image information at the time of re-recording of a recording medium, in an apparatus for recording an image on a fixed-size paper-like recording medium capable of repeatedly recording and erasing. It is to be realized.

[0014]

An output device according to the present invention comprises a recording medium which is deformable and capable of reversibly displaying and erasing images, control means for outputting a recording signal to the recording means based on image information, Recording means for recording image information on a recording medium,
The recording medium has an erasing means for erasing a display image on the recording medium and a conveying means for conveying the recording medium in one direction along a conveying path. The conveying means conveys the recording medium, and the erasing means records the recording medium. After erasing the displayed image above,
In an output device for recording an image on the recording medium by the recording means in response to a recording signal output by the control means, the erasing means has an effective erasing width equal to or larger than the width of the recording medium, and is more conveyed than the recording means. The erasing means is provided on the upstream side of the route.

[0015]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described with reference to examples.

FIG. 1 shows a cross section of an output device according to one embodiment of the present invention. This device records image (including characters) information on a standard recording medium.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of this output device. From outside the device, host system 30 (computer,
The record information sent from the word processor main body or the like) is given to the data control unit 31. The data control unit 31 converts the information into the form of image data corresponding to the display dots and stores it in the page memory 36. The image data is sent to the display controller 32. The display controller 32 controls the mechanism 3 to convey the recording medium 5, drive the erasing roller 19, and control the recording head 12 in accordance with the image data to record an image on the recording medium 5.

In FIG. 1, a case 1 is provided with a media cassette 2 for accommodating and storing recording media 5, and a mechanism 3 described later. Further, the power source, control unit, etc. arranged inside the case 1 are not shown.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the structure of the mechanism 3 arranged inside the case 1. The recording medium 5 travels in the direction of arrow A on the plastic guide plate 10. This is performed by pressing the recording medium between the pressing roller 16 and the conveying roller 15 in the direction of arrow C by a driving unit (not shown). The width of the recording medium 5 is restricted in the front width guides 17-a, 17b and the rear width guide 1.
8-a, b.

The erasing roller 11 has a metal core 19 covered with a conductive rubber 20. Erase roller Opposing roller 13
Is a structure in which the metal core 19 is covered with a conductive rubber 20, and the outermost layer is covered with an insulating layer. Both have the same outer diameter dimensions. A voltage is applied between the two by a power source 21. The erasing roller 11 is indicated by an arrow B by a driving means not shown
Rotate in the direction of. Further, a recording head 12 which is a recording unit composed of a thermal latent image writing thermal head, and a platen roller 14 facing the recording head 12 are provided. The recording head 42 is formed by arranging a plurality of heat generating portions in a line shape, selectively heats these heat generating portions, and selectively heats a predetermined portion of the recording medium 5 that is in contact with the heat generating portions. Platen roller 1
A rubber roller 4 is rotatably supported, and is a recording medium 5.
Is pressed and supported so as to be sandwiched between the recording head 12 and the recording head 12.

The operation of the heat-writable liquid crystal constituting the recording medium 5 will be described with reference to FIG. The recording medium 5 is a black medium in which liquid crystal microcapsules formed by coating a smectic A-nematic-phase transition type isotropic liquid having a positive dielectric anisotropy with a transparent polymer substance are dispersed in a binder. The liquid crystal layer 62 is formed by coating the base material 61.

First, as shown in (a), a high voltage is applied to the entire surface of the liquid crystal layer 62 by the smectic A layer to obtain a vertical alignment with the base material 61 to erase the entire image. At this time, the recording medium 5 is entirely black because the medium base material 61 is black.

Next, as shown in (b), the recording head 12
Are brought into contact with each other to selectively generate heat in the heat generating portions 64 and 65 to locally heat the liquid crystal layer 62 and raise the temperature to an isotropic state.

After that, when cooled to room temperature, as shown in (c), a disordered orientation is formed in the smectic A layer, and light diffusion portions 66 and 67 are formed. Light diffuser 66, 67
Has a white color. Therefore, an image corresponding to the image signal can be obtained by writing the thermal latent image so that the portion corresponding to the white portion corresponds to the light diffusion portion and the portion corresponding to the black portion corresponds to the isotropic portion.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to FIG. The recording medium 5 is sent from the media cassette 2 by the gate roller 22, passes through the front width guide 17, and reaches the erasing roller 11. An erasing voltage is applied to the erasing roller 11 and the erasing roller facing roller 13, and the entire surface of the recording medium 5 is erased when passing through the erasing voltage. Controlled by the display control unit 32 based on the image data, the predetermined portions of the plurality of heat generating portions of the recording head 12 generate heat as the recording medium 5 moves. As a result, a predetermined portion of the recording medium 5 whose entire image has been erased is heated. As shown above, the portion corresponding to the temperature rising portion is white and the other portions are black, and an image is formed on the recording medium 5. By the above, the image formation on the recording medium 5 is performed, and the recording medium 5
Is sent out of the case 1 by the conveying roller 15 via the rear width guide 18. After that, the recording medium 5 can be handled in the same manner as the output of the hard copy device using the recording paper. Therefore, it can be saved.

The recording medium 5 is reused when it becomes unnecessary to save the record. That is, the recording medium after recording is returned to the media cassette 2 again and is repeatedly used by the same operation as described above.

Erasing roller 1 in the output device of this embodiment
The effective erase width at which the erase voltage of 1 acts is substantially equal to the width of the erase roller 11 (indicated by E in FIG. 2). This width is defined by front width guides 17-a, b, which guide the width direction of the recording medium 5.
It is larger than the guide width (shown by D in FIG. 2) of the rear width guides 18-a and 18b. Therefore, the erasing voltage is uniformly applied to the recording medium 5 over the entire width when the recording medium 5 passes through the erasing roller, and no residual image after erasing occurs.

The erasing roller 11 and the erasing roller facing roller 13 are rollers having substantially the same outer diameter. The lines of electric force generated when a voltage is applied between the two are formed in a direction (thickness direction) that penetrates the surface of the recording medium 5 passing between them. Thereby, the liquid crystal can be aligned in the direction along the lines of electric force.

FIG. 5 shows an output device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Since the structure of the entire apparatus is the same as that of the first embodiment, only the mechanism 50 is shown in FIG. The apparatus of this embodiment is different from the previous embodiment in that the recording medium 51 is a heat-writable, heat-erasable type heat-sensitive recording medium. That is, in the recording medium 51, a predetermined portion of the transparent film substrate is made cloudy by selective heating.

This recording medium 51 is composed of a matrix material made of a thermoplastic resin and an organic low molecular weight substance dispersed in this matrix material, and when kept at a specific temperature t0 or higher,
It has the property of changing its state depending on its temperature. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the state transition temperatures t1 and t2 satisfy t0 <t1 <t2. When heated to t2 or more and then cooled to t0 or less, it becomes cloudy and is in a light shielding state. On the other hand, after holding the recording medium 51 in the cloudy state at a temperature of t1 or more and less than t2, t0
It becomes transparent when cooled below. Such a recording medium 51
For example, a heat-sensitive recording medium as disclosed in JP-A-57-89993 can be used. Since this recording medium 51 has a cloudy part and a transparent part, a transparent part is displayed in black and a cloudy part is displayed in white on a black background. It can also be used for projection by an overhead projector. In the mechanism 50, an erasing head 53 composed of a thermal head for uniformly heating the recording medium 51 is used as erasing means. The recording medium 51 passes the erasing head 53 before passing the recording head 12 in the recording operation. The other recording operation is the same as that of the previous embodiment, and the explanation is omitted.

In the output device of the present invention, the erasing head 5
The effective erasing width (indicated by G in the figure) on which the erasing heat of 3 acts is the front width guide 17-a for guiding the width direction of the recording medium 5.
b, larger than the guide width of the rear width guides 18-a, b (shown by F in FIG. 2). Therefore, the recording medium 5 is uniformly erased over the entire width when passing through the erasing roller, and no residual image after erasing occurs.

In both the first and second embodiments, the output device of the present invention can whiten any place by selective temperature rise, so that it is possible to additionally write with a hot pen after displaying an image. Recording medium 5,
Since 51 can be repeatedly erased and image-formed, it can be repeatedly used. Since the recording is a reflection type and not a light emitting type, a clear display can be performed outdoors even under external light. Since the recording mediums 5 and 51 do not require wiring or the like and have a paper-like form that is highly flexible, it is possible to simultaneously refer to a plurality of them or display them in a superimposed manner. Can be placed horizontally for reference. It can also be cut to an appropriate size or saved as a file. Although a large amount of paper is used for work such as studying the layout when computer output is printed on paper, this device uses discarded recording media by repeatedly using recording media for such temporary recording. Does not occur.

Further, the output device of the present invention is used for applications requiring temporary hard copy output for confirmation for a certain period of time, for example, for temporarily recording character information of character multiplex television broadcasting or a fax output device. It is possible to erase the record on the recording medium and reuse it after applying it to a recording medium for a necessary period of time and reduce the amount of recording medium used.

[0034]

In the output device of the present invention, the effective erasing width of the erasing means for erasing the display image on the recording medium is not less than the width of the recording medium, and the erasing means is provided on the upstream side of the recording means. There is. Therefore, the recording medium is
Before passing through the recording means, the image always passes through the erasing means, and the entire image is erased so that an afterimage does not occur. With such a device, the recording medium can be repeatedly recorded and erased, and the recorded image is stored until it passes through the erasing means. Therefore, a soft copy device having the convenience of hard copy can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of an output device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a mechanism forming the output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the liquid crystal recording medium used in the output device according to the first embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an output device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a mechanism constituting an output device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the thermal recording medium used in the output device of the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3, 50: Mechanism 5, 51: Recording medium 10: Guide plate 11: Erasing roller (erasing means) 12: Recording head (recording means) 13: Erasing roller facing roller 15: Conveying roller 17-a, b: Front width Guides 18-a, b: rear width guide 53: erasing head (erasing means)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A deformable and reversible image display / erasable recording medium, recording means for recording image information on the recording medium, and control for outputting a recording signal to the recording means based on the image information. Means, an erasing means for erasing the display image on the recording medium, and a conveying means for conveying the recording medium in one direction along a conveying path, the conveying means conveys the recording medium, and the erasing is performed. In an output device for recording an image on the recording medium by the recording means by the recording signal after erasing the display image on the recording medium by the means, the erasing means has an effective erasing width equal to or larger than the width of the recording medium. The erasing means is provided on the upstream side of the conveying path with respect to the recording means.