JPH06143629A - Thermal color printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent erroneous fixing of lamp by forming the bases of first and second fixing lamps differently and disposing sockets corresponding to these bases at positions where the fixing lamps are fixed respectively. CONSTITUTION:A magenta fixing lamp 22 has a bipin type base where two pins 31 are projecting from the opposite end faces and a corresponding socket 32 is provided with pin insertion openings 33. A yellow fixing lamp 23 has a side touch type base 35 where two contact protrusions 36 are projecting from the peripheral face at the opposite end parts and corresponding socket 37 is provided with contact pieces 38 coming into contact with the contact protrusions 36. Since the lamps 22, 23 have different bases 30, 35 and fit in different sockets 33, 37, erroneous fitting of lamps 22, 23 can be prevented when the fixing lamp 22 or 23 is replaced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a color thermal printer for thermally recording a video image or the like on a color thermal recording material,
In particular, it relates to a color thermal printer in which the fixing lamp can be replaced reliably.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A color thermal printer is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-213169.
A color thermosensitive recording material is used in which a magenta thermosensitive coloring layer, a cyan thermosensitive coloring layer, and a yellow thermosensitive coloring layer are sequentially formed on a support so that a full-color image can be directly heat-recorded. Then, thermal recording is performed by a thermal head in order from the thermosensitive coloring layer on the surface, and when the thermosensitive recording is performed on the next thermosensitive coloring layer, in order to prevent the thermosensitive coloring layer on which heat recording has been performed from being recorded again again, After thermal recording, each fixing lamp irradiates an electromagnetic ray in a wavelength range peculiar to each thermosensitive coloring layer to perform optical fixing.

[0003]

In the color thermal printer having the above-mentioned structure, each fixing lamp is mounted at a predetermined position in a predetermined direction at the time of assembling, so that the fixing can be surely performed. There is. These fixing lamps have burned out lamps and lamp life decreases due to life.
The lamp will need to be replaced. However, the yellow fixing lamp and the magenta fixing lamp are exactly the same in appearance, and there is a possibility that they are erroneously attached at the opposite mounting positions. Also, the fixing lamp has
In addition to the type that emits light from the entire circumference, there is also the aperture type that forms a reflection film inside to improve the illuminance and emits light from the opening of this reflection film. In this aperture type, the predetermined fixing performance cannot be obtained unless the opening is at the regular position facing the thermal recording material. Therefore, in such a fixing lamp, it is necessary to mount the fixing lamp in a regular direction in addition to the regular position.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a color thermal printer in which each fixing lamp can be securely attached at a proper position and a proper orientation.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention described in claim 1 forms the base of the first fixing lamp and the base of the second fixing lamp with different types, and adapts them. Sockets corresponding to these caps are provided at the positions where the fixing lamps are attached.

Further, the invention according to claim 2 corresponds to the caps of the first and second fixing lamps and the sockets in a state where these lamps are attached to the regular positions when these are attached to the regular positions. The alignment mark is formed at the position.

[0007]

EXAMPLE In FIG. 2, a platen drum 10 holds a color thermosensitive recording material 11 on its outer periphery and is rotated by a pulse motor 9 during thermal recording and optical fixing. The color heat-sensitive recording material 11 is fixed by pressing the tip portion 11a of the color heat-sensitive recording material 11 against the peripheral surface of the platen drum 10 by the clamp member 13.

Mounting arms 15 are provided at both ends of the clamp member 13. The mounting arm 15 has a long hole 15
a is formed, and the attachment arm 15 is attached to the shaft 16 of the platen drum 10 through the elongated hole 15a. Further, the mounting arm 15 is provided with a spring 17 and a solenoid 18. The spring 17
The clamp member 13 is urged in a direction of pressing it against the peripheral surface of the platen drum 10. Further, the solenoid 18 is driven when the color thermosensitive recording material 11 is clamped and released, whereby the clamp member 13 is moved in a direction away from the peripheral surface of the platen drum 10.

On the outer periphery of the platen drum 10, the thermal head 2 is provided at the thermal recording position of the color thermal recording material 11.
1, a magenta fixing lamp 22 is arranged downstream thereof, and a yellow fixing lamp 23 is arranged further downstream thereof. The thermal head 21 is configured by arranging a large number of heat generating elements in a line in the main scanning direction, and each heat generating element generates heat energy according to the density of a pixel.

The magenta fixing lamp 22 is composed of an ultraviolet lamp 24 having an emission peak of about 365 nm,
As shown in FIG. 3, the fluorescent layer 2 is formed on the inner surface of the glass tube 24a.
4b and the reflection layer 24c are applied in layers. The reflective layer 24c is not formed on a part of the peripheral surface of the glass tube 24a, and the aperture 24d is formed in a band shape in the cylinder direction of the glass tube. Ultraviolet light having an emission peak of about 365 nm is emitted from the aperture 24d. In addition,
Although not shown, the reflective layer may be provided outside the glass tube instead of the ultraviolet lamp having the reflective layer 24c. In this case, in addition to forming the reflective layer in a layer shape on the outer peripheral surface of the glass tube, a reflective tube having a part of the peripheral surface cut out may be fitted to the glass tube. Furthermore,
The reflective layer 24c and the fluorescent layer 24b may be arranged at different positions, and in this case also, the reflective layer 24c is provided with an aperture 24d.

As shown in FIG. 1 (A), the base 30 of the magenta fixing lamp 22 is of a bi-pin type in which two pins 31 are projected on both end surfaces, and a socket 32 corresponding to this. Also, a socket having a pin insertion opening 33 and having a spring-plate-like contact piece (not shown) for press-contacting the pin is used therein. The socket 32 is attached to the machine frame by an L-shaped bracket 34.

The yellow fixing lamp 23 is composed of a rod-shaped ultraviolet lamp having a light emission peak of about 420 nm. The magenta fixing lamp 2 has a different fluorescent layer.
The basic configuration is the same as that of 2. As shown in FIG. 1 (B), the base 35 of the yellow fixing lamp 23 is of a side touch type in which two contact protrusions 36 are projected on the peripheral surfaces of both ends. Socket 37
Also, a socket having a contact piece 38 that contacts the contact protrusion 36 is used.

As shown in FIG.
A pair of conveying rollers 41 is arranged, through which the color thermosensitive recording material 11 is conveyed. Also, the paper feed / discharge path 4
On the platen drum 10 side of No. 0, a separation claw 42 for guiding the rear end of the color thermosensitive recording material 11 to the paper feeding / discharging passage 40 at the time of discharging is formed. In this embodiment, one passage is used as both the paper feed passage and the paper discharge passage, but they may be provided separately.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a color thermosensitive recording material. The cyan thermosensitive coloring layer 4 is provided on the support 45.
6, magenta thermosensitive coloring layer 47, yellow thermosensitive coloring layer 4
8 and a protective layer 49 are sequentially layered. These thermosensitive coloring layers 46 to 48 are layered from the surface in the order of thermal recording. For example, in the case of thermal recording in the order of magenta, yellow, and cyan, the yellow thermosensitive coloring layer and the magenta thermosensitive coloring layer. The positions of the layers are exchanged. These thermosensitive coloring layers 46 to 48 have higher coloring thermal energy as they are deeper, so that the three coloring thermosensitive coloring layers 46 to 48 can be selectively recorded by changing the coloring thermal energy.

The magenta thermosensitive coloring layer 47 loses its coloring ability when the diazonium salt compound is photolyzed when it is irradiated with ultraviolet rays in the vicinity of 365 nm after being thermally recorded by the thermal head 21. When the yellow thermosensitive coloring layer 48 is irradiated with near-ultraviolet rays in the vicinity of 420 nm, the yellow thermosensitive coloring layer 48 is optically fixed and loses its coloring ability.

FIG. 5 shows the characteristics of the thermosensitive coloring layers 46 to 48. The thermal energy on the horizontal axis represents the thermal energy generated by the heating element of the thermal head 21, and the thermal energy of the yellow thermosensitive coloring layer 48 is the lowest and the thermal energy of the cyan thermosensitive coloring layer 46 is the highest.
The main cause of this difference in thermal energy is that the cyan thermosensitive coloring layer 46 must be heated via the yellow thermosensitive coloring layer 48 and the magenta thermosensitive coloring layer 47.
As described above, the cyan thermosensitive coloring layer 46 has a thermal energy of about 80 mJ / mm ² or more required for thermosensitive coloring, and therefore does not develop color under normal storage conditions.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. At the time of sheet feeding, the platen drum 10 is clamped by the clamp member 13 shown in FIG.
The paper feed position is almost vertical, and the paper is stopped. Further, the solenoid 18 is energized so that the clamp member 13 is separated from the peripheral surface of the platen drum 10. The conveyance roller pair 41 nips and conveys the color thermosensitive recording material 11 supplied from a cassette (not shown) toward the platen drum 10. When the color thermosensitive recording material 11 has entered between the platen drum 10 and the clamp member 13, the conveying roller pair 41 is temporarily stopped.

The color thermosensitive recording material 11 is the clamp member 1.
After being set to the position 3, the energization of the solenoid 18 is stopped. As a result, the clamp member 13 is pulled back by the spring 17, and the color thermosensitive recording material 11 is drawn.
Clamp. After this clamp, platen drum 1
0 and the conveying roller pair 41 rotate, so that the color thermosensitive recording material 11 is wound around the outer periphery of the platen drum 10.

As the platen drum 10 rotates, the leading end of the recording area of the color thermosensitive recording material 11 reaches the thermal head 2.
When the number reaches 1, the yellow image is thermally recorded on the yellow thermosensitive coloring layer 48 line by line by the thermal head 21. In the thermal recording of the yellow image, each heating element of the thermal head 21 is heated to a temperature in consideration of the color development characteristics shown in FIG. The portion on which the yellow image is thermally recorded reaches the yellow fixing lamp 23, where optical fixing is performed. As a result, the diazonium salt compound contained in the yellow thermosensitive coloring layer 48 is decomposed on the entire surface of the color thermosensitive recording material 11 to lose the coloring ability.

When the recording area reaches the position of the thermal head 21 again by rotating the platen drum 10 once, a magenta image is thermally recorded on the magenta thermosensitive coloring layer 47 line by line. During thermal recording of a magenta image, the magenta fixing lamp 22 is turned on to irradiate the portion of the color thermosensitive recording material 11 on which the magenta image is recorded. This makes 3
Magenta thermosensitive coloring layer 47 by ultraviolet rays around 65 nm
Is light-fixed.

When the platen drum 10 rotates once more,
Since the color thermal recording material 11 faces the thermal head 21, the thermal head 21 thermally records a cyan image on the cyan thermal recording layer 46 line by line. The cyan thermosensitive coloring layer 46 has a thermal energy of about 80 mJ / mm ² or more required for thermosensitive coloring, and therefore does not develop color under normal storage conditions. Therefore, optical fixing is omitted for the cyan thermosensitive coloring layer 46.

After the thermal recording of the yellow image, the magenta image, and the cyan image is completed, the platen drum 10 and the conveying roller pair 41 are reversed. By the reverse rotation of the platen drum 10, the rear end of the color thermosensitive recording material 11 is separated by the separation claw 42.
Is guided to the paper feeding / discharging path 40 by the conveying roller pair 41.
Be nipped in. Thereafter, the solenoid 18 is energized and the platen drum 10 is stopped. This solenoid 18 causes the clamp member 13 to move to the spring 17
Therefore, the clamp of the tip portion 11a of the color thermosensitive recording material 11 is released.

After releasing the clamp, the discharge of the color thermosensitive recording material 11 is restarted by the rotation of the conveying roller pair 41. As a result, the thermally recorded color thermosensitive recording material 11 is discharged to the tray (not shown) via the paper supply / discharge path 40.

When replacing the fixing lamps 22 and 23, the lamps 22 and 23 to be replaced are removed from the sockets 33 and 37, and new lamps are attached thereto. In this case, as shown in FIG. 1, the lamps 22 and 23 have different bases 30 and 35, and different lamps 33 and 3 are provided.
Because it is attached to 7, the lamps 22 and 23 are mistakenly
Even if I try to install it in a different socket, it cannot be installed because the socket is different. This prevents accidental installation of different types of lamps.

Further, in the above embodiment, different types of caps and corresponding sockets are provided to eliminate erroneous mounting, but in addition to this, although not shown, magenta and yellow The length of each fixing lamp may be changed within a range that does not impair the fixing performance, thereby eliminating the attachment of different types.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the alignment mark 5
0a, 50b, 51a, 51b, each lamp 5
You may identify the attachment position of 2,53. In this case, the same base may be used for magenta and yellow. For example, when using a lamp having a bi-pin type base shown in FIG. 1A, the bases 54a, 54a
When the b and the sockets 55a, 55b are attached at the regular position, the lamp alignment marks 50a, 50b, 51a, 51b are formed at the positions where they are aligned. The alignment marks 50a and 50b of the magenta fixing lamp 52 are formed by applying a magenta circular mark or by sticking a sticker printed with a magenta circular mark. Further, the alignment marks 51a and 51b of the yellow fixing lamp 53 are composed of yellow circular marks. The marks 50a, 50b, 51a, 51b made of colors for identifying the fixing lamps
Instead of these, these may be identified by the shape of the mark. For example, you may identify using a circular mark, a square mark, a triangular mark, and a star mark. Furthermore, characters such as “yellow” and “magenta” and a line indicating the alignment position may be written and used as alignment marks.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the platen drum is rotated in the forward and reverse directions to feed and discharge the sheet, but in addition to this, the clamp may be opened to perform the sheet discharging in the forward direction.
Further, the present invention can be applied to a thermal head in which a thermal head is provided for each color and full-color thermal recording is performed in one pass. In addition, instead of winding around the platen drum for recording, a linear conveying path is formed by a pair of conveying rollers, and the color thermosensitive recording material is reciprocated in the conveying path to perform thermal recording. be able to.

Although the above embodiment is a line printer for recording by moving the thermal head or the recording paper relatively in the sub-scanning direction, the present invention is also applicable to a serial printer for two-dimensionally moving and recording. Can be applied. In this serial printer, heat generating elements are arranged in the main scanning direction, a thermal head is used that moves in the sub scanning direction during thermal recording, and the recording paper moves in the main scanning direction.

[0029]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention.
According to the color thermal printer described above, the cap of the first fixing lamp and the cap of the second fixing lamp are formed in different types, and correspondingly, sockets corresponding to these caps are provided at the positions where the fixing lamps are attached. Therefore, even if the lamp is mistakenly attached to the socket at a position different from the regular position, the lamp cannot be attached, and the incorrect attachment can be prevented.

Also, the bases of the first and second fixing lamps,
Since the alignment marks are formed on the socket where these lamps are attached to the regular position at the positions that match when they are attached to the regular position, it is possible to prevent different lamps from being attached. It is also possible to prevent the regular lamp from being installed in the wrong irradiation direction. As a result, even after replacing the lamp,
Stable fixing performance can be obtained by increasing the accuracy of the lamp aperture mounting direction.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a base and a socket of each fixing lamp of a color thermal printer embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the same color thermal printer.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an aperture type ultraviolet lamp.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a layer structure of a color thermosensitive recording material.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing color forming characteristics of a color thermosensitive recording material.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing alignment marks of another optical fixing lamp.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Platen Drum 11 Color Thermal Recording Material 13 Clamping Part 21 Thermal Head 22,52 Magenta Light Fixing Lamp 23,53 Yellow Light Fixing Lamp 24 Ultraviolet Lamp 30,35,54a, 54b Base 32,37,55a, 55b Socket 50a , 50b, 51a, 51b Alignment mark

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A color thermal recording material having a plurality of thermosensitive coloring layers laminated, a thermal head for thermal recording on the color thermal recording material, and a color thermal recording material for thermally fixing the thermal recording material thermally recorded on the thermal head. In a color thermal printer having a first fixing lamp and a second fixing lamp, the cap of the first fixing lamp and the cap of the second fixing lamp are formed in different types, and in accordance with this, at the positions where the fixing lamps are attached. A color thermal printer having a socket corresponding to these caps. 2. A color thermal recording material comprising a plurality of thermosensitive coloring layers laminated, a thermal head for thermal recording on the color thermal recording material, and a color head for thermally fixing the thermal recording material thermally recorded on the thermal head. In a color thermal printer having first and second fixing lamps, the bases of the first and second fixing lamps and the sockets in a state where these lamps are mounted at the regular positions are mounted at the regular positions. The color thermal printer is characterized in that alignment marks are formed at the same position when the color thermal printer is used.