JPH08258427A - Method and apparatus for multicolor thermosensible-thermal transfer recording - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To make clean coloring preventing the mixing of coloring by thermosensible recording and thermal transfer recording and to improve the rate of utilization of an ink ribbon in multicolor thermosensible.thermal transfer recording method in which multicolor recording is carried out on a thermosensible recording sheet in which a thermosensible recording layer is formed on a support by combining thermosensible recording and thermal transfer recording. CONSTITUTION: A desensitizing substance for controlling the coloring reaction of the thermosensible recording layer of a thermosensible recording sheet is incorporated into the thermal transfer layer of a thermal transfer donor sheet for thermal transfer recording, and thermal transfer recording is carried out in duplication using an exothermic head 150 in an area 36 in which thermosensible recording was done in advance using the head 150.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multicolor thermal / thermal transfer recording method for performing multicolor recording by using both thermal recording and thermal transfer recording, and an apparatus directly used for carrying out this method. It is a thing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A thermal recording head is used for thermal recording on a thermal recording sheet, and a thermal transfer donor sheet (hereinafter referred to as an ink ribbon) is superposed on the thermal recording sheet for thermal transfer recording. A recording device having an increased number of colors has been proposed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 57-21 / 1987).
0872).

The previously proposed one is a red ink ribbon,
The three primary colors of blue and yellow and colorless areas are provided at regular intervals (referred to as full-color method). Then, an area of any color of the ink ribbon is guided between the heat generating head and the heat-sensitive recording sheet for printing. That is,
The red, blue, and yellow areas of the ink ribbon are selectively overlapped on the heat-sensitive recording sheet and heated by the heat generating head, whereby the ink of the ink ribbon is thermally transferred to the heat-sensitive recording sheet. In addition, the colorless area of the ink ribbon is superposed on the heat-sensitive recording sheet and heated by the heat-generating head to develop the color of the heat-sensitive sheet.

[0004]

However, in this method, the heat generated when the ink ribbon is thermally transferred causes the heat-sensitive recording layer of the heat-sensitive recording sheet to develop color at the same time. For this reason, the color development due to thermal transfer and the color development due to heat are overlapped and mixed, which causes a problem that a beautiful color cannot be obtained.

Further, there is a problem that the utilization rate of the ink ribbon is poor because an ink ribbon having different color or colorless areas is required. That is, with this ink ribbon, even if the area of a certain color is not used, the ink ribbon must be fed by a fixed amount after recording for a fixed distance.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to achieve a clear color development without mixing the color development due to thermal recording and the color development due to thermal transfer recording, and the utilization rate of the ink ribbon. An object of the present invention is to provide a multicolor heat-sensitive / thermal transfer recording method that can be improved. It is another object to provide a device which is used directly to carry out this method.

[0007]

According to the present invention, the object of the present invention is to provide a multi-color heat-sensitive / heat-transfer recording method for carrying out multi-color recording by using heat-sensitive recording and heat-transfer recording together on a heat-sensitive recording sheet having a heat-sensitive recording layer formed on a support. In the above, the thermal transfer layer of the thermal transfer donor sheet used for thermal transfer recording contains a desensitizing substance that suppresses the color development reaction of the thermal recording layer of the thermal recording sheet, while the same area is preliminarily recorded in the same area by the heating head. This is achieved by a multicolor heat-sensitive / thermal transfer recording method, which is characterized in that thermal transfer recording is performed by using a heat-generating head.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a multicolor thermosensitive / thermal transfer recording apparatus capable of multicolor recording by using thermosensitive recording and thermal transfer recording together on a thermosensitive recording sheet having a thermosensitive recording layer formed on a support. One heat-generating head that faces the heat-sensitive recording layer of the heat-sensitive recording sheet and that reciprocates within a fixed distance in a direction orthogonal to the feeding direction of the heat-sensitive recording sheet,
A thermal transfer donor sheet that is provided between the thermal recording sheet and the heating head so as to be able to move back and forth, and that contains a desensitizing substance that suppresses a color reaction of the thermal recording layer in a thermal transfer layer that is thermally transferred by the heating head; The present invention is achieved by a multicolor thermal / thermal transfer recording apparatus characterized by comprising print control means for performing thermal transfer recording by superposing the same heating head on a completed recording area.

[0009]

1 is a perspective view of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing its internal structure, FIG. 3 is a side perspective view, and FIG. 4 is a front perspective view. FIG. 5 is a view showing a print operation panel provided on the upper surface of the pressing cover of the scanner, FIG.
7 is a diagram showing a coloring operation panel, FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a control system, FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a typical coloring process, and FIG.
Is a layout diagram of the print head, FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the operation of the print head, FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of the printing principle, and FIG. 12 is a flow chart of the operation of the printer.

[0010]

[Outline of Apparatus] First, the arrangement structure of each unit of the image processing apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 is a horizontally long casing, the upper surface of which is a lid 12 that can be opened and closed upward.
Has become.

A printer 14 is housed inside the housing 10 as shown in FIGS. The printer 14 has a paper roll 16 and a platen 18 which are arranged side by side in parallel. The platen 18 is located on the front side of the paper roll 16, and the paper 20 pulled out from the lower edge of the paper roll 16 is wound around the platen 18 and guided downward from the front edge of the platen 18. A pinch roller 19 presses the paper 20 against the platen 18.

The paper 20 can be ejected from below the front surface of the housing 10 by guide rollers 22 and 24. The platen 18 is belt-driven by the feed motor 26, and feeds the paper 20 in the feeding direction or the rewinding direction to position it.

The printer 14 has three print heads 28 (28) running laterally along the front surface of the platen 18.
a, 28b, 28c). The print head 28 is guided by the guide rod 30, and the carriage motor 32
It is sent to the left and right by the belt 34 wrapped around the. The print head 28 is of a multi-color heat-sensitive / thermal-transfer recording method, which will be described later, and has a total print width 3D (FIG. 4) of paper 20 of 3
It moves at intervals D so as to be equally divided, and the right end of each moving range is set to the return position (home position, HP).

The paper 20 used in the printer 14 is a thermosensitive recording sheet, and for example, a paper that thermally develops black on a white background is used. An ink ribbon of one or a plurality of colors different from the heat-sensitive coloring of the paper 20 and one heating head are attached to each print head 28. Its structure will be described later. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 36 denotes a print area by the print head 28.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 40 is a cutter, which is a platen 18.
And cuts the print paper 20 below. That is, the fixed blade and the movable blade face each other across the paper 20,
When the movable blade is moved by the motor, it moves to the fixed blade side to cut the paper 20.

A scanner 42 is located near the center of the upper surface of the lid 12. As shown in FIG. 4, the scanner 42 has a holding lid 44 placed on the lid 12 from above, and a document 46 is sandwiched between the holding lid 44 and the lid 12 of the housing 10 to feed from the right to the left. Mechanism and C housed in housing 10
A CD line sensor 48 and an optical system for guiding an image on a main scanning line orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the document 46 to the line sensor 48 are provided.

As shown in FIG. 4, the transport mechanism comprises four feed rollers 50 that feed the document 46 from above and below and feeds it from right to left. The two rollers 50 on the housing 10 side are motors (not shown). It is driven to rotate by. The optical system is composed of an appropriate number of mirrors 52 and lenses 54. Reference numeral 56 is a light source.

Reference numeral 58 is a digitizer, and this scanner 4
The lid 12 is adjacent to the input side of the second document 46, that is, the right side.
Is provided on the upper surface of. The digitizer 58 includes a coordinate detecting tablet 60 and a stylus pen 62 as shown in FIG. The tablet 60 has a resistor that spreads over the entire surface.
The coordinates are detected from the change in the resistance value when 0 is pressed. In the tablet 60, for example, the upper right corner is determined as the reference position, and the upper right corner of the document 46 is aligned and fixed to the reference position.

Reference numeral 64 is a print operation panel for instructing print data, and 66 is a coloring operation panel, which are attached to the upper surface of the holding lid 44 of the scanner 42.
That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the coloring operation panel 66 is arranged on the back side of the upper surface of the pressing plate 44, and the print operation panel 64 is arranged on the front side thereof. These operation panels 64,
The operation of 66 will be described later.

The printer 14, the scanner 42, the digitizer 58, the operation panels 64 and 66, etc. are connected to a bus 70 via interfaces 68a to 68d (FIG. 7).

The bus 70 also has a CPU 72 and a ROM 7.
4, RAM 76, etc. are connected. ROM74 has CP
The operation program of U72 and various constants are stored in memory. The CPU 72 serves as a control device 78 (FIGS. 2 and 4) that performs various controls according to this operation program.
It also serves as a control device for the printer 14. The control device 78 performs control according to the operation flow chart of FIG. 8 when operating the image processing device, and controls each print head 28 according to FIG. 12 at the time of printing.

[0022]

[Coloring Editing Operation] Next, the operation of the coloring editing process according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. First, when the past coloring data remains, the coloring data display LED 102 (FIG. 6) of the operation panel 66 is lit, and if this LED 102 is lit, the all clear key 100 of the operation panel 66 is pressed. Press to erase this past coloring data. When no color is added, that is, when printing is performed in a single color (single color mode) (step 200), the document 46 is set on the scanner 42 as it is (step 21
2) Print it.

The printer 14 according to the present invention uses both thermal recording using a thermal recording sheet and thermal transfer recording using an ink ribbon. Therefore, the color designation key group 104 includes the key groups (1, 2, 3) for thermal transfer recording,
It has a key group (4) for thermal paper density separately. Therefore, if coloring of the heat-sensitive recording is performed, select the appropriate density (A to D) in the key group (4), and if performing coloring by thermal transfer, select the appropriate density (A to E) of the key group (1 to 3). do it. The key groups (1, 2, 3) are, for example, red,
The color is green, blue, or the like, and corresponds to the color of the ink ribbon set on the print head 28 described later.

If multicolor coloring is to be performed (step 200), the original 46 is set on the digitizer 58 (step 202). That is, the document 46 is placed face up on the tablet 60, and its upper right corner is aligned with the reference position (upper right corner) of the tablet 60. Next, the mode of the coloring method is selected to either color conversion or background color (step 204). This mode selection is performed by the switch key 106. That is, each time the switch key 106 is pressed, the LED 108a indicating the color conversion mode and the L indicating the background color mode are displayed.
The ED 108b and the ED 108b are alternately turned on, and the selected mode can be known. The color conversion mode is for converting the color of the image (black portion of the document) whose coordinates are input as described later. The background color mode is for inputting the color of the background (white portion of the document) of the area for which coordinates have been input.

Next, the coordinates of the area to be colored are input by the digitizer 58 (step 206). For example, when coloring an image (color conversion mode), an area including the image to be colored is designated. If this area is a square, the area is designated by designating two points at the diagonal positions. This area may specify a polygonal area by connecting a number of points. In the case of background painting, the area is designated in the same way.

After inputting the coordinates as described above, the color of the area is designated by using the key group 104 (step 208). By repeating the above steps 204 to 208 until all coloring is completed, coloring editing is performed on all images and regions (step 21).
0), and the result is stored in the RAM 76 or the like. That is, data regarding coordinates and colors is stored. When the coloring and editing is completed (step 210), the printing operation is started.

First, the document 46 is set on the scanner 42 (step 212), and the printing conditions are set on the operation panel 64 (step 214). That is, the output mode of standard output, photo output or reverse output is selected with the key 110,
The key density is set with the key 112, and the print size is set with the key 114. When it is desired to confirm the print result obtained by these settings before the actual print, the confirmation print key 116 is pressed (step 216).

Then, the scanner 42 starts to operate and the original 4
The image No. 6 is read, and an image smaller than the actual print (for example, A7 size) is printed out (step 21).
8). In this printing operation, the image being read is colored in parallel with the coloring data already input. That is, the operation is performed so that the printer 14 prints while interlocking with the scanner 42.

By looking at the result of the confirmation print output in such a small size, if there is further correction, color editing is performed again on the corrected portion. In order to perform the actual printing, the document 46 is set again on the scanner 42 (step 220),
Press the start / stop key 118. Then the manuscript 46
While being read by the scanner 42, coloring processing is simultaneously performed in parallel and printed out (step 22).
2). In this way, since the original document 46 is read by the scanner 42 and output in parallel to the printer 14, the capacity of the image memory can be reduced.

[0030]

[Printer] Next, the printer 14 for performing multicolor heat / thermal transfer recording will be described. The printer 14 uses heat-sensitive paper as the print paper 20, and also performs thermal transfer with a thermal transfer ink ribbon in an overlapping manner. Each of the three print heads 28 has one heating head 15
0 and three ribbon cases 152 (152a, 152a
b, 152c). These ribbon cases 15
Ink ribbon accommodated in 2 (thermal transfer recording donor sheet)
154 is a color designation key group 1 of the coloring operation panel 66
04 keys 1, 2 and 3 are provided separately for each color,
In this embodiment, there are three lines of red, green and blue.

The ribbon case 152 is shown in FIG.
It is movable with respect to the heating head 150 as shown in FIG. (A) of the figure shows a state in which all the ribbons 154 have retracted from the gap between the heating head 150 and the paper 20. (B) of the figure shows the ribbon 15 of the ribbon case 152a.
4 shows a state of being inserted between the heat generating head 150 and the paper 20. Similarly, the ribbons 154 of the ribbon cases 152b and 152c can also selectively enter between the heating head 150 and the paper 20.

The paper 20 made of thermal paper has a support 20A and a thermal recording layer 20B as shown in FIG. 11 (A). The thermal recording layer 20B contains a leuco dye and a color developer. Further, the ink ribbon 154 is a support 154.
A and a thermal transfer layer 154B. This thermal transfer layer 154
B includes a desensitizing substance that suppresses the color development reaction between the leuco dye of the thermosensitive recording layer 20B and the color developer, and one or both of a colored dye and a colored pigment.

The leuco dye, developer, desensitizing substance, and colored dye (pigment) used here are described in detail in Japanese Patent Application No. 5-264997 filed by the same applicant. Do not repeat the explanation.

If the heating head 150 is brought into contact with the surface of the paper 20 on the side of the thermosensitive recording layer 20B, the thermosensitive recording layer 20B is formed.
The color is developed (thermosensitive color) by the reaction between the leuco dye and the color developer. In the case of this embodiment, it develops black. In FIG. 11 (A), reference numeral 156 indicates this colored portion. If the heating head 150 is caused to generate heat at predetermined coordinate positions, only predetermined coordinate positions can be colored black.

When the ink ribbon 154 is placed on the paper 20 which has been subjected to the heat-sensitive color development and is heated by the heat generating head 150, coloring by thermal transfer is performed as shown in FIG. 11B. That is, the thermal transfer layer 154 of the ink ribbon 154
While the desensitizing substance of B suppresses color development of the thermal recording layer 20B, the colored dye (or pigment) contained in the thermal transfer layer 154B is transferred to the surface of the paper 20.

Since the color development of the thermosensitive recording layer 20B is suppressed by the desensitizing substance, the color development of the colored dye (pigment) is suppressed in the thermosensitive recording layer 2.
It does not mix with the color of 0B, and it becomes vivid and beautiful. FIG.
156A of 1 (B) is a heat-sensitive recording layer 20 due to a desensitizing substance.
The part in which the color development of B is suppressed is shown. Reference numeral 158 denotes a portion of the transferred ink ribbon 154 which is a colored dye (pigment).

[0037]

[Printer Operation] In the present invention, one heating head 15 is used.
0 is used for thermal color development and thermal transfer. That is, the three print heads 28 are connected to their home positions HP.
11 and the heating head 150 is brought into contact with the paper 20 as shown in FIG. 11A to perform thermal recording (FIG. 12,
Step 300). FIG. 9A shows that the operating range of each print head 28 at this time is D. By one recording operation of the heating head 28, thermal recording of the width of the heating head 28 (width in the feeding direction of the paper 20, about 22 mm) is performed.

The heating head 28 is in the original home position H.
Returning to P (step 302), the same print area 36 (see FIG. 4) of the paper 20 is next subjected to thermal transfer recording. That is, first, the ribbon 154 of the first ribbon case 152a is inserted between the heat generating head 150 and the paper 20 (step 304), and the heat generating head 150 is moved to generate heat at a predetermined coordinate position for thermal transfer (step 306). Then, the heating head 150 is returned to the original home position HP (step 308), the ink ribbons 154 of different colors are changed, and the same operation is repeated for the other two colors (steps 310 and 312). A, C, H, and J in FIG.
Indicates a character by thermal transfer recording.

The above operation is repeated for the continuous print area 36 while feeding the paper 20 intermittently (steps 314 and 316). When printing of all areas 36 is completed, the paper 20 is fed by a predetermined amount and cut by the cutter 40.

When thermal transfer is performed, the colored dyes (pigments) and waxes contained in the thermal transfer layer 154B are transferred to the paper 20. Therefore, after the thermal transfer recording, the heating head 15
When 0 is brought into direct contact with the paper 20 for heat-sensitive coloring,
Colored dyes (pigments) and waxes on the paper 20 adhere to the heating head 150. Therefore, beautiful prints cannot be made. Therefore, in the present invention, thermal recording is performed first, and then thermal transfer recording is performed. By doing so, it is possible to perform multicolor printing by one heating head 150.

In the above embodiment, three independent ink ribbons 154 of three colors are used as the thermal transfer donor sheet. However, one ink ribbon is provided with portions of colors such as yellow, magenta, cyan and black in order. May be provided with a fixed length each (full color system). The number of the ink ribbons 154 used is not limited to three, and three colors may be used, and three or more ink ribbons may be used and three or more colors may be used, or two or less colors, for example, one color may be used.

If the support 20A of the paper 20 is colored in advance so that the heat-sensitive color development and the color development by heat transfer are different, the number of colors usable for printing can be further increased. Further, the ribbon case 152 may be replaced at the home position of the print head (stocker system) instead of the one in which a plurality of ribbon cases are integrated with the printer head.

[0043]

As described above, according to the invention of claim 1, the thermal transfer donor sheet is made to contain a desensitizing substance which suppresses the coloring reaction between the leuco dye and the color developer and a colored dye or a colored pigment, and the thermal recording is carried out. Since thermal transfer recording is performed by using a common heating head after thermal recording by a sheet, vivid and clean multicolor printing can be performed without any color mixture between the thermal sensitive coloring portion and the thermal transfer coloring portion.

Since the heat-sensitive coloring is preceded by this, the colored dye (pigment), wax or the like attached to the paper due to the thermal transfer recording does not adhere to the heat generating head, and a clean print can always be performed. For this reason, the structure can be simplified because it can be composed of one heating head. Further, according to the invention of claim 2, a multicolor heat-sensitive / thermal transfer recording apparatus directly used for carrying out this method can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an image processing apparatus that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing its internal structure.

FIG. 3 is a side perspective view.

[Figure 4] Front perspective view

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a print operation panel provided on an upper surface of a holding cover of the scanner.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a coloring operation panel similarly.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a control system.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a typical coloring process.

FIG. 9 is a layout diagram of a print head

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the operation of the print head.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of the printing principle.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of printer operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Housing 14 Printer 18 Platen 20 Print Paper 28 Print Head 42 Scanner 58 Digitizer 78 Print Control Means 150 Heating Head 152 Ribbon Case 154 Ink Ribbon

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical display location B41M 5/30 B41M 5/18 109 7416-2H 5/26 A 7416-2H J (72) Inventor Shuzo Hanaoka 1163 Shimoiceai, Inari-cho, Nagano-shi, Nagano Nagano Japan Radio Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masaaki Hashizume 1163 Shimoice-kei, Inari-cho, Nagano-shi, Nagano Nagano Japan Radio Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A thermal transfer donor sheet used for thermal transfer recording in a multicolor thermal / thermal transfer recording method in which thermal recording and thermal transfer recording are used in combination to perform multicolor recording on a thermal recording sheet having a thermal recording layer formed on a support. While the heat transfer layer contains a desensitizing substance that suppresses the color development reaction of the heat sensitive recording layer of the heat sensitive recording sheet, the heat transfer recording is overlaid on the area where the heat sensitive recording is performed in advance by the same heat generating head. A multicolor thermosensitive / thermal transfer recording method characterized by being performed by 2. A thermosensitive recording sheet having a thermosensitive recording layer formed on a support, wherein the thermosensitive recording sheet is a multicolor thermosensitive / thermal transfer recording apparatus capable of multicolor recording by using thermosensitive recording and thermal transfer recording together. A heat-generating head that faces the heat-sensitive recording layer and reciprocates within a fixed distance in a direction orthogonal to the feeding direction of the heat-sensitive recording sheet, and can move back and forth between the heat-sensitive recording sheet and the heat-generating head. And a thermal transfer donor sheet containing a desensitizing substance that suppresses the color development reaction of the thermal recording layer in the thermal transfer layer that is thermally transferred by the thermal head and the thermal recording layer on which the thermal recording has been completed by using the same thermal head to perform thermal transfer. A multicolor thermosensitive / thermal transfer recording apparatus comprising a print control means for recording. 3. The heat-sensitive recording layer of the heat-sensitive recording sheet contains a leuco dye and a developer, and the heat-transfer layer of the thermal transfer donor sheet contains a desensitizing substance that suppresses a color-forming reaction between the leuco dye and the developer. The multicolor heat-sensitive / thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a colored dye or a colored pigment.