JPH0569638A - Output device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize a soft copy device having convenience of hard copy by a device using reversible record medium wherein recording and deleting of images are possible repeatedly. CONSTITUTION:A record medium housing unit 2 is provided for housing a plurality of deformable record media 5 with a fixed form having recording face on one side, superposing with their recording faces downward. The housing unit 2 comprises a record medium-take out means 42 at an upper part.

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 is possible to view and refer to a plurality of images placed horizontally by simultaneously displaying them, and it is possible to develop a partial overlap.

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 reduce the deterioration of the recording medium due to the conveyance of the recording medium when the recording medium is repeatedly used in an apparatus for recording on a fixed-size paper-like recording medium that can be repeatedly recorded and erased. Then, it is to realize an output device that can be repeatedly used many times.

[0014]

An output device of the present invention comprises a recording medium which is deformable and reversibly image-displayable and erasable, and control means which outputs a recording signal to the recording means based on image information. A recording medium for recording image information on the recording medium; and a recording medium ejecting means, a recording medium housing section for housing the recording medium, and a transportation means for transporting the recording medium along a transportation path. An output device that conveys the recording medium by means and records an image on the recording medium by the recording means by a recording signal output by the control means, wherein the recording medium has one side as a recording surface,
In the recording medium storage unit, the recording medium take-out means is provided above, and the recording medium storage unit is configured to store the recording surface in the gravity direction.

[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. 2 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 11, 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 recording medium accommodating portion 2 for accommodating and accommodating a recording medium 5, and a mechanism 3 described later. Further, the power source, control unit, etc. arranged inside the case 1 are not shown.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the structure of the mechanism 3 arranged inside the case 1 together with the recording medium housing portion 2. 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 first and second conveying rollers 22, 23, 15, 16 in the direction of arrow C by a driving means (not shown). . The width direction of the recording medium 5 is regulated by the front width guides 17-a and b and the rear width guides 18-a and b. The erasing roller 11 has a metal core 19 covered with a conductive rubber 20. The erasing roller facing roller 13 has a structure in which a metal core is covered with a conductive rubber and an 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 rotated in the direction of arrow B by a driving unit (not shown). 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. The platen roller 14 is a rubber roller rotatably supported and presses the recording medium 5 to support it so as to be sandwiched between the platen roller 14 and the recording head 12. The structure and operation of the heat-writable liquid crystal forming the recording medium 5 will be described with reference to FIG. The recording medium 5 has one side of a deformable medium substrate 61 (paper, plastic film, etc.) as the recording surface. A liquid crystal layer 62 is provided on the recording surface. The liquid crystal layer 62 is a black medium base material 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 in a binder are dispersed. It is configured by coating 61. As for the operation, 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 an alignment perpendicular to the base material 61, and the entire surface image is erased. 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 is brought into contact with the heat generating portions 64 and 65 to selectively generate heat 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), the disordered orientation is formed in the smectic A layer, and the light diffusion portions 66 and 67 are formed. The light diffusion portions 66 and 67 have 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.

As shown in FIG. 4, the recording medium accommodating portion 2 accommodates a plurality of recording media 5 in the cassette case 41 with the recording surface facing downward, and the pickup is a recording medium ejecting means by the roller driving means 43. Roller 42 with arrow F
The recording medium 5 is taken out one by one by rotating in the direction of. The recording medium 5 is further conveyed by the first conveying rollers 22 and 23.

Next, the operation will be described. The recording medium 5 is delivered from the recording medium storage unit 2, 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. An image is formed on the recording medium 5 as described above, and the recording medium 5 is sent out of the case 1 by the second conveying rollers 15 and 16 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 reused by returning to the recording medium storage unit 2 again by the same operation as described above.

In the output device of this embodiment, the recording medium 5
Is picked up from the recording medium accommodating portion 2 by the friction force of the pickup roller 42. However, since the recording surface is oriented in the direction of gravity (downward), the recording surface of the recording medium 5 shows the friction force of the pickup roller. I do not receive it. Therefore, the recording surface does not deteriorate due to repeated frictional forces. A rubber material is used for the pickup roller 42 in order to apply a frictional force. Since the recording surface does not contact the pickup roller 42, no indentation of the rubber material remains. Therefore, it can withstand a large number of repeated uses.

FIG. 6 shows an output device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The apparatus of this embodiment is different from the previous embodiment in that the recording medium storage unit 2 is provided at the top. The recording medium 5 is stored in the recording medium storage portion 2 with the recording surface facing downward.
Therefore, when the recording medium 5 is taken out, the recording surface does not come into contact with the pickup roller 42, so that deterioration can be prevented during repeated use.

FIG. 7 shows a third embodiment. Only the mechanism 50 and the recording medium storage unit 2 are shown in the drawing. 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. The recording medium 51 is composed of a matrix material made of a thermoplastic resin and an organic low molecular weight substance dispersed in the matrix material, and has a property of changing its state according to the temperature when kept at a specific temperature t0 or higher. ing. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, t0 <t1 <t
It has two state transition temperatures t1 and 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, when the recording medium 51 in the cloudy state is maintained at a temperature of t1 or more and less than t2 and then cooled to t0 or less, it becomes transparent.
An example of such a recording medium 51 is Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 57-899.
A thermal recording medium as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 93 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 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. A large amount of paper is used for work such as studying the layout when printing word processor output on paper,
According to this apparatus, it is possible to eliminate the generation of waste paper by repeatedly using the recording medium for such temporary recording.

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-multiplexed television broadcasting or a fax output device. After being used for a required period of time, the record on the recording medium can be erased and reused, and the usage amount of the recording medium can be reduced.

[0028]

The output device of the present invention has a structure in which the recording surface of the recording medium faces downward and is stacked and stored in the recording medium storage portion. Therefore, when the recording medium is taken out from the recording medium housing portion, the recording surface does not come into direct contact with the pickup roller that is the recording medium taking-out means provided above,
There is no friction. Even if the pickup roller is constantly pressed, it does not come into direct contact with the recording surface. Therefore, no indentation remains. Therefore, it is possible to endure many times of repeated use without deterioration, and the recording medium can be used many times.

As a result, it is possible to realize a recording device that can repeatedly use a medium, and it is possible to realize a soft copy device that is convenient for hard copying.

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

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a mechanism and a recording medium accommodating portion that constitute the output device according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a recording medium storage unit used in the output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an operation of the liquid crystal recording medium used in the output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of an output device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a mechanism and a recording medium accommodating portion that constitute an output device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 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]

2: recording medium storage unit 3, 50: mechanism 5, 51: recording medium 10: guide plate 12: recording head (recording means) 15, 16: second conveying roller 17-a, b: front width guide 18- a, b: rear width guides 22, 23: first transport roller 41: cassette case 42: pickup roller (recording medium take-out means)

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical indication H04N 1/23 Z 9186-5C

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A deformable and reversibly image-displayable and erasable recording medium, control means for outputting a recording signal to the recording means based on image information, and recording means for recording image information on the recording medium. A recording medium storage unit that stores the recording medium, and a transport unit that transports the recording medium along a transport path. The transport unit transports the recording medium, In an output device for recording an image on the recording medium by the recording means in response to a recording signal output from the means, the recording medium has one side as a recording surface, and the recording medium take-out means is provided above the recording medium housing section. The output device, wherein the recording medium storage unit is configured to store the recording surface in a direction of gravity.