JPH0751359B2 - Image recording method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To treat coloring layers formed on both surfaces of a transparent supporter thermally at high speed by conducting a picture image recording means in order of Y dye color0ing reversing treatment C dye coloring$ zreversing& treatment M dye coloring. CONSTITUTION:A thermal recording material 10 is wound on a body of revolution 30, and a second dye layer 106 on one surface is thermally-treated by a recording head 32 under the state. The layer 106 is thermally treated in the quantity of heat having no effect on a lower layer 104 at that time. Rays for fixing the coloring of the second dye layer are applied. The surface and rear of the thermal recording material are turned over, a third dye layer 108 on the other surface of the thermal recording material is thermally treated, the thermal recording material is turned over again, and a first dye layer as the lower layer of the second dye layer is thermally treated. An interval between the heat treatment of the first dye layer and the heat treatment of the second dye layer can be lengthened by thermally treating each dye layer by such procedure, irradiation with rays having a specified wavelength to the second dye layer can be continued for the interval, and the second dye layer is not discolored when the first dye layer is thermally treated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention provides a transparent support with a first dye layer on one surface and a second dye layer on the first dye layer. The present invention relates to an image recording method for recording an image on a heat-sensitive recording material having a third dye layer on the other surface by a single recording head.

[Prior art]

At present, there is a heat-sensitive recording method as a method of recording an image on a recording sheet using a heating element. In this heat-sensitive recording method, a heat-sensitive recording material in which a color former and a developer are applied to a support such as paper or synthetic paper is used, and the heat-sensitive recording material is heat-treated by a thermal head for recording. Such a heat-sensitive recording method does not require development, when the support is paper, the quality of the paper is similar to general paper, it is easy to handle, the color density is high, the recording device is simple and inexpensive, It is advantageous in that it produces less noise when compared to a dot printer, etc., and has rapidly become widespread in the fields of monochrome facsimiles and printers in recent years.

Further, in such a recording field, along with the rapid development of the information industry, there is an increasing demand for easily obtaining a color hard copy from a terminal of an information device such as a computer or a facsimile machine. However, in order to make the thermosensitive recording material multi-colored, it is necessary to incorporate a coloring mechanism corresponding to the number of coloring colors on the same support and to control and act each coloring mechanism. Although it has been done, there was not enough in terms of hue of color development and color separation.

By the way, an opaque support such as paper or synthetic paper is usually applied as a support for the thermal recording material. This is because the color image is simply read as a reflection image from one side.

Further, as an example of applying a transparent material as a support of a thermal recording material, Japanese Patent Publication No. 40-20151, Japanese Patent Application No. 60-68875,
Japanese Patent Application No. 60-184483 (the purpose of which is to obtain a high-contrast image or a high-quality image excellent in gloss by viewing the heat-recorded recorded image from the transparent support side). Further, an invention has also been proposed in which a heat-sensitive recording layer having a different hue is formed on both surfaces of a transparent support to obtain a color image of two colors or a plurality of colors (JP-A-49-114431 and JP-A-50-41431). -3640, refer to JP-A-60-4092).

However, since the thermosensitive coloring layer simply disperses the coloring component and the developing component in the solid state, the coloring layer itself becomes substantially opaque due to light confusion. It is not possible to obtain a clear multicolored image. Further, in the invention described in JP-A-60-4092, there is a description that each component is dissolved and applied to the same layer in order to improve the transparency of the thermosensitive coloring layer, but in this case, Coloring of each component easily occurs before printing, so-called fog occurs. Therefore, the number of possible color fractions was small, and it was essentially insufficient as a multicolor recording material.

Here, the applicant of the present invention can provide a heat-sensitive color-developing image which is better than ever before by providing a color-forming layer which is substantially transparent and develops different hues on both sides of the transparent support. A recording material was proposed (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-80787, Japanese Patent Application No. 62-88196, Japanese Patent Application No. 692-75409).

According to this, it is possible to obtain a multicolor image having excellent hue, excellent color separation property, and good image storability which could not be obtained by the conventional thermal recording method. Further, the obtained image may be a transmission image or a reflection image.

Since such a thermosensitive recording paper is provided with a color-developing layer on both sides thereof, it is necessary to heat both sides thereof with thermal heads. Also, when multiple color forming layers are provided on one surface, the uppermost layer (the layer closest to the surface) is heated and colored with a heat quantity that does not heat the other layers, and this color forming layer is fixed to the other layer. It is necessary to heat the color-developing layer. The basic image recording procedure will be described below with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 4 (A), the thermosensitive recording material 10 has a magenta dye layer (hereinafter referred to as M dye layer) 104 provided on one side of polyethylene terephthalanol (hereinafter referred to as PET) 102 which is a support thereof. A yellow dye layer (hereinafter referred to as Y dye layer) 106 is provided on the dye layer 104. Further, a cyan dye layer (hereinafter referred to as C dye layer) 108 is provided on the other side of the support, and all are transparent. Note that Y
The dye layer 106 is an optical fixing type, and the wavelength of 400 nm is generated by the light source 109.
It is a layer that has the property of not changing even after being heated by being irradiated with the above light. A recording head 110 is arranged above the thermosensitive recording material 10.

First, in FIG. 4A, the Y dye layer 106 is heat-treated by the thermal head 110. In this case, the Y dye layer 106
The amount of heat applied to the lower M dye layer 104 is such that no color is developed due to the heat. As a result, only the Y dye layer 106 is colored.

Next, in FIG. 4 (B), the Y dye layer side 106 is irradiated with light having a wavelength of about 400 nm. As a result, the Y dye layer 106 is fixed, and there is no change in color during subsequent heating.

In FIG. 4C, the M dye layer 104 is heat-treated with a larger amount of heat than when the Y dye layer 106 is heated. As a result, the M dye layer 104 develops color.

Next, in FIG. 4 (D), the front and back of the thermal recording paper 10 are reversed, and in FIG. 4 (E), the C dye layer 108 is heat-treated. Also, another recording head 11 is provided below the thermal recording material 10.
When No. 2 (see the phantom line in FIG. 4A) is provided, heat treatment is performed as it is. In this case, the C dye layer 108 is colored by being heated with an amount of heat that does not affect the M dye layer 104 provided with the PET 102 interposed therebetween.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

However, in order to sufficiently fix the Y dye layer, it is necessary to extend the irradiation time of light rays. Therefore, in order to heat-treat the lower M dye layer immediately after the heat treatment of the Y dye layer, a light source with a large amount of heat is required, and the light source itself must be large. Further, in the heat-sensitive recording material in which the white base is applied on the Y dye layer, it is necessary to further increase the interval until the heat treatment of the M dye layer, and the workability is not good. This white base is applied in order to prevent the back side of the background portion of the heat-sensitive recording material from showing through and the image from becoming dull. The white base may be added to the heat-sensitive layer instead of being separated from the heat-sensitive layer.

In view of the above facts, the present invention aims to obtain an image recording method capable of automatically heat-treating each of the color-developing layers provided on both sides of the transparent support and having practicality such as high-speed treatment. Is.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In the image recording method according to the present invention, a first dye layer is provided on one surface of a transparent support, and a second dye layer is provided on the first dye layer. An image recording method for recording an image on a heat-sensitive recording material having a third dye layer on the other surface by a single recording head, wherein the second dye is made to correspond to the one surface and the recording head. After the heat treatment of the layer, the thermosensitive recording material is irradiated with a light beam having a predetermined wavelength for fixing the color development of the second dye layer, and while the irradiation of the light beam is continued, the front and back surfaces of the thermosensitive recording material are inverted and the other The third dye layer is heat-treated with the surface corresponding to the recording head, and after the heat treatment of the third dye layer is finished, the heat-sensitive recording material is turned upside down again to correspond the one head to the recording head. Then, the first dye layer is heat-treated.

[Action]

According to the present invention, the heat-sensitive recording material is wound around the rotating body, and in this state, the heat treatment of the second dye layer on one surface is performed with the recording head. In this case, since one surface has two layers, the heat treatment is performed with a heat amount that does not affect the lower layer. Next, a light source for fixing the color development of the second dye layer is irradiated. Next, after inverting the front and back of the heat-sensitive recording material by the reversing means, the third dye layer on the other surface of the heat-sensitive recording material is subjected to heat treatment, and then the heat-sensitive recording material is reversed again, and the second recording layer The first dye layer, which is the lower layer of the dye layer, is heat-treated.

By performing the heat treatment of each dye layer in such a procedure, it is possible to lengthen the time (interval) between the heat treatment of the first dye layer and the heat treatment of the second dye layer. Irradiation of light rays of a predetermined wavelength to the second dye layer can be continued throughout the period. As a result, the second dye layer is not discolored during the heat treatment of the first dye layer, and the image recording process can be performed reliably and at high speed.

Further, when a white base as shown in the section of the prior art is used, it is particularly effective because it requires a long fixing time. Preferred white-based pigments include talc, calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, magnesium carbonate, magnesium hydroxide, alumina, synthetic silica, titanium oxide, barium sulfate, kaolin, calcium silicate,
Examples include urea resins.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 shows the schematic structure of the image recording apparatus according to this embodiment.

One of the thermosensitive recording materials 10 is housed in a magazine 12 and wound in layers on a take-up reel 14 in the magazine 12.
An intermediate portion of the heat-sensitive recording material 10 is drawn out from an outlet 16 provided in the magazine 12 and is nipped by a pair of conveying rollers 18. The transport roller 18 is rotated by the driving force of the driver 20,
The thermal recording material 10 is conveyed in the direction of arrow A in FIG.

The heat-sensitive recording material 10 has an M dye layer 104 which is a first dye layer, a second dye layer 104 and a second dye layer on one surface of the support as described in the section of the prior art.
The Y dye layer 106, which is the dye layer, and the C dye layer 108, which is the third dye layer, are provided on the other surface (see FIG. 4). In this example, PET102 is applied as the support, and it is transparent as a whole.

A cutter 22 is installed downstream of the conveying roller 18 and
The thermal recording material 10 is cut into a desired length by a driving force of 24. The cut thermal recording material 10 is sandwiched by a pair of transport rollers 26 driven by a driving force of a driver 25, further transported, and guided to a heat treatment section 28.

The heat treatment unit 28 includes a support drum 30 that is a rotating body, and a line-type thermal head 32 that is a recording head, and the thermal recording material 10 is wound by the thermal head 32 while being wound around the support drum 30. , Is supposed to be heated. The support drum 30 is formed of a metallic cylindrical body 34, and an elastic body 36 is wound around the outer circumference thereof. The support drum 30 is rotated at a constant speed in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 1 by the driving force of the driver 38, and the thermal recording material 10 wound around the support drum 30 is sequentially subjected to the thermal head 32.
It has a role to correspond to.

One of the thermal heads 32 is axially supported by a device frame (not shown) via a shaft 40, and is rotated about the shaft 40 by a driving force of a driver 41 in the direction of arrow C in FIG. The heating element 42 arranged on the other side is configured to come into contact with and be separated from the heat-sensitive recording material 10 wound around the support drum 30. An image signal is output from the control device 45 to the heating element 42 when the heat-sensitive recording material 10 comes into contact with the heat-sensitive recording material 10.
An image is formed by heat generation according to the image signal 100.

The heat-sensitive recording material 10 transported to the heat treatment section 28 by the transport roller 26 is guided in the transport direction by the guide plates 44, 68, 70, and constitutes a part of the holding section 46 provided on the outer periphery of the support drum 30. It is designed to reach the recess 48 that runs. The recessed portion 48 has a latch claw that forms a holding portion together with the recessed portion 48 via a shaft 50 arranged parallel to the rotation axis of the support drum 30.
52 is pivotally supported. The latch claw 52 is moved by the driving force of the driver 49 via the shaft 50 by the driving force of the driver 49 when one end of the thermosensitive recording material 10 guided by the guide plate 44 is accommodated in the recess 48.
By rotating in the direction of arrow D in the figure, it has a role of holding one end of the thermal recording material. The thermal recording material 10 is
When held by the latch claws 52, the support drum 30 is sequentially wound around the outer periphery of the support drum 30 as the support drum 30 rotates.

The timing when the latch claw 52 holds the thermal recording material 10 is
This is done by a limit switch 54 provided on the way of the thermal recording material 10 conveyance path. That is, when the thermal recording material 10 reaches the position of the limit switch 54, the actuator 56 of the limit switch 54 interferes with the thermal recording material 10 to switch the contact (in the present embodiment, the limit switch 54 is normally open). The mold is applied and is turned on when it comes into contact with the thermal recording material 10). ON from the limit switch 54 (high level)
The off (low level) signal is supplied to the control device 45, and in the control device 45, a predetermined time period (at least the tip of the thermosensitive recording material 10 is deep in the recessed portion 48 depending on the transport speed of the thermosensitive recording material 10). The ratchet claw 52 is actuated (rotated in the direction of arrow D in FIG. 1) after being hit. As a result, the relative position between the heat-sensitive recording material 10 and the support drum 30 is always constant in the holding state by the latch claw 52, and the positioning is accurately performed.

Idle rollers 58, 60, 62 are provided at a plurality of locations (three locations in this embodiment) on the outer circumference of the support drum 30, and the thermal recording material 10 is provided by the support drum 30 and the idle rollers 58, 60, 62. Is wound around the outer periphery of the support drum 30 in close contact with each other. Further, a light source 64 connected to a control device 45 via a driver 63 is disposed on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the support drum 30 at the heating position of the thermal recording material 10 by the thermal head 32 (the idle roller 60 and the idle roller 62). Between) and the heat-sensitive recording material 10 is irradiated with light. The wavelength of this light is 400 nm, and the thermal recording material 1
It is used for fixing the Y dye layer 106 of 0 (see FIG. 4).
That is, in this embodiment, the thermal head 32 heats the Y dye layer 106, and after this processing, the light source 64 is turned on, and this lighting state is continued. During the heat treatment of the Y dye layer 106 (see FIG. 4), the heat quantity of the heating element 42 is “weak”.

Further, during the heat treatment of the lower M dye layer 104 (see FIG. 4), the heat quantity of the heating element 42 is controlled by the control device 45 to be “strong”.

By the way, the heat-sensitive recording material 10 after the heat treatment of the Y dye layer 106 is released from the holding state by the holding portion 46, and after the idle roller 62, the tangential line of the supporting drum 30 is generated by the elastic force of the heat-sensitive recording material 10 itself. And is guided in a direction between the guide plate 66 and the guide plate 68. In this case, the support drum 30 is stopped at the initial position (when the holding portion 46 is positioned downward as shown in FIG. 1).

The thermal recording material 10 guided between the guide plate 66 and the guide plate 68 has its direction changed along the guide plate 70 and is sandwiched by the pair of conveying rollers 72. Conveyor roller 72
Then, after the heat-sensitive recording material 10 is conveyed by the driving force of the driver 74 in the direction of arrow E in FIG.
The support drum 30 direction (counter arrow E direction) with the rear end of 10 at the beginning
Is being transported to. As a result, the heat-sensitive recording material 10 is turned upside down and held by the holding portion 46 again. In this state, the thermosensitive recording material 10 is rotated together with the support drum 30, and the thermal head 32 heats the C dye layer 108 (see FIG. 4).

After the heat treatment of the C dye layer 108 is completed, the reversal treatment of the thermal recording material 10 is performed again, and the heat treatment of the M dye layer 104 is performed. That is, to explain the processing procedure, Y
The heat treatment of the dye layer 106 → reversal treatment → heat treatment of the C dye layer 108 → reversal treatment → heat treatment of the M dye layer 104. Here, in this embodiment, the Y dye layer 106 and the M dye layer 1 below it are provided.
The heat treatment of 04 is long, and the light source 64 for fixing the Y dye layer 106 is continuously turned on during this interval, and the M dye layer 104 is subjected to the heat treatment of the Y dye layer 106.
I try to eliminate the influence on.

After the heat treatment of all the dye layers is completed, the holding section 46 releases the holding of the heat-sensitive recording material 10 at the time when the heat-sensitive recording material 10 passes through the guide plate 66, so that the heat-sensitive recording material 10 is guided by the guide plate 76 and the guide plate 78. And a pair of conveying rollers 80 to reach the takeout tray 81.

The control device 45 includes a CPU 82, a RAM 84, a ROM 86, an input port 88,
It is provided with a micro-computer 94 including an output port 90 and a bus 92 such as a data bus or a control bus connecting these. A start switch 96 is connected to the input port 88, and the operation of the start switch 96 starts the operation of drawing the thermosensitive recording material 10 from the magazine 12 to perform a series of heat treatments. The signal line 98 from the limit switch 54 is connected to the input port 88.

The output port 90 has a cutter 22, a support drum 30, a thermal head 32, a latch claw 52, a light source 64, and conveyance rollers 18, 26, 72.
Are connected via drivers 24, 38, 41, 49, 63, 20, 25, 74, respectively, and their respective drives are controlled. The output port 90 also has a thermal head 32
A signal line 100 for supplying the image signal is also connected to.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below with reference to the heat treatment explanatory diagram of FIG. 2 and the control flow chart of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2 (A), the thermal recording material 10 (see the solid line position in FIG. 2 (A)) is conveyed by the transport roller 18 (see FIG. 1).
2 is guided by the guide plate 44 by a driving force of .about., And is conveyed by a predetermined amount by the step 150, and when the thermal recording material 10 reaches the position of the imaginary line in FIG. 2A, it contacts the actuator 56 of the limit switch 54. . Here, in step 152,
It is determined whether the limit switch 54 is turned on,
When the limit switch 54 is turned on, a high level signal is input to the input port 88. At the next step 154, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the high level signal was input, and if an affirmative determination is made, the latch claw 52 moves the arrow D as shown in FIG. 2 (B). The heat-sensitive recording material 10 is accommodated in the recess 48 of the support drum 30 and the tip of the heat-sensitive recording material 10 is abutted against the engaging portion 49 during this predetermined time. The end portion is held by the latch claw 52.

As shown in FIG. 2C, when the tip of the thermal recording material 10 is held by the latch claw 52, the supporting drum 30 starts rotating in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 2C at step 158 ( 1st rotation). In the next step 159, the following first heat treatment control (Y dye coloring treatment) is performed. That is, when the holding portion 46 passes through the heat sensitive body 42 of the thermal head 32, a drive signal is output from the output port 90 via the driver 41, and the thermal head 32 is centered around the shaft 40 and is in the direction of arrow C in FIG. And the heating element 42 is rotated to
Contact 10. As a result, the support drum 30 is rotated with the heating element 42 in contact with the thermosensitive recording material 10, and an image signal is output to the heating element 42 in response to this rotation.

The heat generating element 42 is set to a "weak" amount of heat, and the heat-sensitive recording material 10 is heated according to this image signal, and only the Y dye layer 106 is colored. When the heat treatment by the heating element 42 is completed, the thermal head 32 is centered on the shaft 40, as shown in FIG.
The heating element 42 is rotated in the direction of the counter arrow C and separated from the heat-sensitive recording material 10.

When the holding unit 46 passes the idle roller 60, the light source 64 starts to irradiate the image surface of the thermal recording material 10 with light having a wavelength of 400 nm (step 160), and the lighting state is at least the heat treatment of the M dye layer 104. It continues until just before.

As shown in FIG. 2D, when the heat treatment of the Y dye layer 106 is completed and the holding portion 46 passes the idle roller 62,
In step 161 the following reversal processing control is performed. That is, the holding of the heat-sensitive recording material 10 by the latch claws 52 is released, and the heat-sensitive recording material 10 is depressed by its own elastic force.
It comes out of and moves in the tangential direction of the support drum 30.
The thermal recording material 10 moved in the tangential direction is guided by the guide plate 66 and the guide plate 68, and is moved along the guide plate 70 in the direction of the transport roller 72.

As shown in FIG. 2 (E), the thermosensitive recording material 10 nipped by the conveying rollers 72 is once placed on the guide plate 70 by the driving force of the conveying rollers 72. In this state, the thermal recording material 10 is completely separated from the support drum 30. Also,
At this time, the support drum 30 rotates to the original position (the position shown in FIG. 2A) and is stopped.

As shown in FIG. 2 (F), once the thermal recording material 10 is stopped, the transport roller 72 rotates in the reverse direction, and the end of the rear end in the transport direction up to the end of the support drum 30 is the leading end. Recess 48
Move in the direction. Here, when the actuator 56 of the limit switch 54 comes into contact with the heat-sensitive recording material 10 in the same manner as described above, the latch claw 52 rotates about the shaft 50 in the direction of arrow D in FIG. The heat-sensitive recording material 10 contained is sandwiched. As a result, the thermal recording material 10
Shows a state in which the front and back are reversed with respect to FIG. 2 (B).

As shown in FIG. 2 (G), the heat-sensitive recording material 10 with its front and back reversed is shown in step 162 in the following second
The heat treatment control (C dye coloring treatment) is performed. First,
The heat-sensitive photosensitive material 10 is conveyed along the supporting drum 30 while being wound around the supporting drum 30, and when the holding portion 46 passes the heating element 42, the thermal head 32 is rotated in the direction of arrow C in FIG. The heating element 42 comes into contact with the heat-sensitive recording material 10 and is heat-treated based on the image signal output from the output port 90. At this time, the image signal is output from the side temporally opposite to the heat treatment of the Y dye layer 106. That is, during the heat treatment of the C dye layer 108, the front and back sides of the heat-sensitive recording material 10 are reversed and the transport direction is also opposite to that of the heat treatment of the Y dye layer 106. Therefore, in order to match the images, It is necessary to reverse the image signal in time. As a result, the C dye layer 108 is heat-treated, and the C dye layer 108 develops color. The above is the control performed by the step 162, and the process moves to the next step 164 at the same time as the rotation of the thermal head 32 in the direction of the opposite arrow C after the heating process by the heating element 42 is completed.

When the heating process of the C dye layer 108 is completed and the holding unit 46 passes the idle roller 62, the reversal process control is performed again in step 164 (see FIGS. 2D to 2F). Since this reversal processing control is the same as that shown in step 161, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

When the reversing process of the thermal recording material 10 is completed, step 166
In, the third heat treatment control (M dye coloring treatment) is performed. That is, the amount of heat for the heating process by the heating element 42 is switched to "strong", the same process as the heating of the Y dye layer 106 is performed, the thermal recording material 10 is heated according to the image signal, and M Only the dye layer 104 is colored. In this case, since the Y dye in the upper layer is fixed, it does not change. Further, since the relative position of the thermosensitive recording material 10 with respect to the supporting drum 30 does not change, it is possible to accurately color the images of the Y dye and the M dye without causing color misregistration.

As shown in FIG. 2H, when a predetermined time has elapsed after the heat treatment for all three colors is completed and the heating element 42 of the thermal head 32 is separated from the thermal recording material 10 (step 16).
8), the holding portion 46 passes through the guide plate 66, and at step 170, the holding of the thermal recording material 10 by the holding portion 46 is released,
It is conveyed between the guide plate 76 and the guide plate 78 according to the rotation of the support drum 30. The thermal recording material 10 between the guide plate 76 and the guide plate 78 is nipped by the conveying roller 80, and the step 17
By carrying a predetermined amount by this carrying roller 80 at 2, the paper is sent out to the take-out tray 81, the heat treatment of one thermal recording material is completed, and a color hard copy can be obtained.

In this way, the image recording procedure is as follows: Y dye coloring → reversal processing →
Since the C dye coloring → reversal process → M dye coloring is carried out in this order, the fixing time of the Y dye layer 106 (interval until the heat treatment of the M dye layer 104) can be lengthened, and the lower M dye layer. The Y dye layer 106 is not discolored during the heat treatment of 104. Further, even if a white base is laminated on the Y dye layer 106 of the thermal recording material 10, the fixing time is long, so that the fixing can be surely performed.

In the present embodiment, the driving of the first, second, and third heat treatment controls and the drive of the reversal treatment control were performed by rotating the support drum 30 at a constant speed, so that the treatments were sequentially performed according to a predetermined time. However, it is also possible to attach a sensor to each part and to make a step according to the output of this sensor. Further, an optical sensor is arranged between the heating element 42 and the idle roller 58, the elastic body 36 is made white, and the Y coloring pigment is recorded by the heating element 42 on the film surface after the recording of the Y coloring material, and the C coloring material is recorded. By detecting the marker with an optical sensor before recording, the color shift between the Y dye and the C dye can be eliminated. Similarly, by recording a marker for coloring C dye with the heating element 42 on the film surface after recording C dye and detecting the marker with an optical sensor before recording M dye, the colors of C dye and M dye are recorded. You can eliminate the gap.

Further, in the image recording apparatus applied to this embodiment, the roll-shaped heat-sensitive recording material 10 is cut into a predetermined length by a cutter and supplied to the apparatus main body, but so-called manual feeding may be performed. In addition, in the present embodiment, the carry-in port and the discharge port of the thermal recording material 10 are provided separately, but an apparatus as shown in FIG. 5 may be used. In this image recording apparatus, a loading / unloading port 112 that shares a loading port and a loading port is provided on the left side wall in FIG. 5, the thermal recording material 10 is placed on a tray 114, and is inserted inside the device. Thermal recording material inserted 10
Is detected by the limit switch 118, the conveying roller 72A is driven, by the driving force of the conveying roller 72A is conveyed to the heating processing unit 28, after performing a predetermined heating treatment, the guide plate 66A. , 68A,
The configuration is such that the sheet is again delivered onto the tray 114. As a result, the number of parts can be reduced and the operability is improved. In FIG. 5, the same parts as those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description of the structure is omitted.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, the image recording method according to the present invention has an excellent effect that the color forming layers provided on both sides of the transparent support can be heat-treated at a high speed, and can be combined with practicality such as continuous treatment. Have.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image recording apparatus according to the present embodiment, FIGS. 2A to 2H are explanatory views showing a heating treatment procedure, FIG. 3 is a control flow chart, and FIG. 4A. 5A to 5E are explanatory views showing a color forming step of the multicolor thermosensitive recording material applied to the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing an internal structure of an image recording apparatus having a common carry-in port and a discharge port. 10 ... Thermal recording material, 28 ... Heat treatment part, 30 ... Support drum, 32 ... Thermal head, 42 ... Heating element, 45 ... Control device, 46 ... Holding part, 48 ... Recessed part, 52 …… Latch nail, 54 …… Limit switch, 64 …… Light source, 94 …… Microcomputer.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A first dye layer is provided on one surface of a transparent support, and a second dye layer is provided on the first dye layer.
What is claimed is: 1. An image recording method for recording an image on a heat-sensitive recording material having a third dye layer on the other surface by a single recording head, wherein the one dye layer and the recording head correspond to each other. After the heat treatment, the heat-sensitive recording material is irradiated with a light beam having a predetermined wavelength for fixing the color development of the second dye layer, and while the irradiation of the light beam is continued, the front and back surfaces of the heat-sensitive recording material are reversed to the other surface. Is heat-treated on the third dye layer in correspondence with the recording head, and after the heat treatment of the third dye layer is completed, the front and back surfaces of the heat-sensitive recording material are turned over again so that the one surface corresponds to the recording head. An image recording method comprising the step of heat-treating the first dye layer.