JPH08267809A - Thermal printing recording head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain a thermal head preventing the missing of printing dots or the shape irregularity thereof and contact pressure irregularity and enhancing the image quality of printing recording by enhancing the contact stability of a thermal printing recording head and a thermal recording medium while rapidly diffusing the residual heat caused by the generation of heat of heating element at a time of printing. CONSTITUTION: In a thermal printing recording head performing recording by the contact of a printing recording part 15 having individual electrodes 2 (signal input electrodes), heating elements 4 and a protective layer 5 successively laminated thereto with a thermal recording medium, the printing recording part 15 is formed on a flexible insulating film 1 and the flexible insulating film 1 is provided on a elastic member 20 forming a protruding shape in the vicinity just under the printing recording part to enhance the contact stability of the printing recording head part 15 and the thermal recording medium.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal print recording head used in a thermal recording system applicable to printers, copying machines and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, thermal printing recording heads (thermal heads) are mounted on a rigid support made of, for example, ceramics.
Image recording device formed by sequentially stacking a signal input electrode, a heating element, and a protective layer through a coating layer, a drive circuit for driving the print recording unit, and image information from the image forming apparatus main body to the drive circuit. And a connector electrode for connecting and inputting a signal or the like.

In the heat generating layer of the print recording unit, a plurality of heat generating units are arranged in parallel in the main scanning direction, and a common electrode commonly connected to each heat generating unit and an individual electrode connected to each heat generating unit are provided. Is connected to the signal input electrode. In addition, the individual electrodes, the drive circuit, and the connector electrodes are electrically connected to each other, and an electric signal corresponding to image information is applied from the drive circuit to each heat generating portion via the individual electrode to selectively select each heat generating portion. Can generate heat.

In the conventional thermal recording system using the thermal head, for example, the print recording portion is brought into contact with the ink ribbon conveyed by the roller at a constant pressure to selectively generate heat as described above. Recording is performed by melting the heat-melted ink layer of the ink ribbon which is in contact with and transferring it to the thermal recording medium.

[0005]

However, according to the structure of the conventional thermal head, since the print recording portion is provided on the rigid support such as ceramic, the thermal head itself is not flexible. If there is unevenness on the contact surface of the thermal recording medium, the heat generation part of the thermal head and the non-uniform contact part on the ink ribbon will occur, the heat conduction of the image will become unstable, and the image will be missing due to print dots or shape variations. There was a problem that caused defects. In particular, in plain paper, which is frequently used in general, this image defect frequently occurs, so that it has been a problem to obtain the contact stability of the head. Further, there is a problem in that as the head becomes longer, that is, as the width of the heating element in the main scanning direction becomes longer, contact variation in the main scanning direction and uneven pressure contact pressure occur.

On the other hand, with respect to the heat remaining in the head after the heat generation of the heating element due to the printing and recording, no special measures are taken, and unnecessary heating is performed, so that the image becomes unclear, and further printing is performed. There is a problem that as the speed is increased, the residual heat before the previous printing influences each printing, making it difficult to perform accurate printing.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances. By improving the contact stability between the thermal print recording head and the thermal recording medium, it is possible to prevent print dot dropout, shape variation, and pressure contact unevenness. In addition, the quality of printed records is improved, and the residual heat from the heat generated by the heating element is quickly diffused during each printing to prevent the effects of heat generation from the next time on printing, thus further improving the quality of printed records. It is an object of the present invention to realize a thermal head capable of improving the printing speed.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to claim 1 is such that a print recording portion formed by sequentially laminating a signal input electrode, a heating element and a protective layer is brought into contact with a thermal recording medium. In a thermal print recording head for recording, the print recording portion is formed on a flexible insulating film, and the flexible insulating film is provided on an elastic member having a convex shape immediately below the print recording portion. It is characterized by that.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a thermal print recording head in which recording is performed by contacting a thermal recording medium with a print recording portion formed by sequentially laminating a signal input electrode, a heating element and a protective layer. The print recording portion is formed on a flexible insulating film, and the flexible insulating film is further provided on an elastic member having an L-shape whose sub-scanning cross-sectional shape bends near directly below the print recording portion. It has a feature.

The invention according to claim 3 is the thermal print recording head according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a heat diffusion layer is provided between the flexible insulating film and the elastic member. .

[0011]

According to the invention of claim 1, since the print recording portion is formed on the flexible insulating film, and the flexible insulating film is provided on the elastic member, the space between the print recording portion and the thermal recording medium is reduced. Since the contact failure due to the unevenness and the bending of each member can be absorbed by the flexibility and elastic deformation of the head itself, uniform contact stability can be obtained. Furthermore, since the area immediately below the print recording portion of the elastic member has a convex shape, the surface of the print recording portion can be provided with a convex shape, and more efficient contact stability between the print recording portion and the thermal recording medium can be obtained. it can.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the print recording portion is formed on the flexible insulating film, and the flexible insulating film has an L-shape whose sub-scan sectional shape is bent in the vicinity of directly below the print recording portion. By providing the elastic member forming the mold, the print recording portion and the thermal recording medium can be linearly and uniformly contacted over the entire area in the main scanning direction.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, by providing the heat diffusion layer between the flexible insulating film and the elastic member, the residual heat after the heat generation of the heat generating element due to print recording is quickly diffused. You can

[0014]

EXAMPLE An example of the thermal print recording head according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1A is a plan view of the thermal print recording head.
(B) is the section explanatory drawing. As shown in FIG. 1B, an elastic member 20 is formed on the rigid support 21 made of aluminum so as to cover the entire surface. This elastic member 20
A strip-shaped protrusion 20a is formed at the end on the side of the print recording unit 15 described later. On the elastic member 20,
The flexible insulating film 1 is formed so as to cover the entire surface,
The common electrode 3 is provided on one end side of the flexible insulating film 1.
Further, a print recording section 15 is formed by sequentially laminating a signal input electrode composed of the individual electrodes 2, a heating element 4, an insulating layer 8 covering the signal input electrode, and a protective layer 5 covering the heating element 4.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1A, the signal input electrode is a common electrode 3 formed in a strip shape along the end of the flexible insulating film 1 and a common electrode for the heating element 4. 3 and a plurality of individual electrodes 2 discretely formed in a strip shape on the opposite side. The heating element 4 is the common electrode 3
And the individual electrode 2 are connected to
Between the common electrode 3 and each individual electrode 2, a plurality of discrete heat generating portions are arranged in a line.

Further, on the flexible insulating film 1, a driving IC 6 for driving the print recording section 15 is provided.
6, a connector electrode 7 for inputting image information and the like from the main body of the image forming apparatus is formed, and the drive IC 6 and the individual electrode 2 and the drive IC 6 and the connector electrode 7 are connected to each other via a bonding wire 10. Has been done. An insulating layer 9 is also formed on the connector electrode 7, and a potting material 11 is provided on the drive IC 6, the bonding wire 10, and the connection between each electrode and the bonding wire 10 to cover them.

Accordingly, an electric signal corresponding to the image information is applied from the driving IC 6 to the heat generating portion of the heat generating element 4 via the individual electrode 2, and the heat generating portion is selectively caused to generate heat to print-record on the thermal recording medium. I do.

According to the thermal print recording head having the above structure, when recording, as shown in FIG. 2, the ink ribbon 60 and the thermal recording medium are provided between the print recording section 15 of the thermal print recording head and the platen roller 50. 70 is arranged, and the print recording portion 15 is pressed against the thermal recording medium 70 by the pressing force of the platen roller 50, so that the protective layer 5 (high temperature protrusion portion) of the print recording portion 15 slides on the thermal recording medium 70. Contact.
The platen roll (back surface pressure contact material) 50 installed on the back surface of the thermal recording medium 70 is formed of an elastic body or a rigid body having excellent surface smoothness.

The image information signal input from the connector electrode 7 is distributed and applied as an electric signal to the predetermined individual electrode 2 by the driving IC 6, and the heat generation of the heating element 4 corresponding to the individual electrode 2 to which the signal is applied. The part heats up, the heat-melted ink layer of the ink ribbon 60 corresponding to the surface melts and is transferred to the thermal recording medium 70, or an image is recorded by thermal coloring by the thermal recording medium itself.

At this time, according to the thermal print recording head,
Since the print recording portion 15 is formed above the flexible insulating film 1 and further the flexible insulating film 1 is provided above the elastic member 20, the flexible insulating film 1 is provided with flexibility when pressed by the platen roll 50. The deformation of the film 1 and the elastic member 20 absorbs the unevenness of the thermal recording medium 70, the unevenness of the platen roll 50 and the like and the deflection of each member, so that the heat generating portion (protective layer 5) of the heat generating element 4 covers the entire area of the ink ribbon. 60 and the thermal recording medium 70 can always be contacted uniformly and stably. As a result, the stability of the printed image and the thermal recording medium 7
The degree of freedom in selecting 0 can be increased, and the degree of freedom in printing conditions can be increased.

Furthermore, since the protrusion 20a is formed on the elastic member 20, the heating element 4 and the protective layer 5 are attached to the ink ribbon 6.
It is possible to efficiently and surely bring the heat generating portion into contact with zero or the heat recording medium 70. This protrusion 2
As for the shape of 0a, the height of the top surface from the surface of the flexible insulating film 1 is 20 μm to 5 mm, preferably 50 μm.
It is desirable that the convex shape is such that it is about 2 mm. If the height of the top surface of the protrusion 20a is less than 20 μm, the above function of the protrusion is not exerted, and if it exceeds 5 mm, the film rigidity of the flexible insulating film 1 causes the protrusion 20a.
This is because it is difficult to obtain a uniform pressure contact pressure over the entire surface of the above, and there is a problem that the manufacturing is difficult in terms of manufacturing such as adhesion and position setting. Further, in the above embodiment, the protrusion is formed on the elastic member 20, but it may be formed on the rigid support 21.

Next, a method of manufacturing the thermal print recording head will be described with reference to FIG. First, after providing the metal thin film 12 on the flexible insulating film 1 (see FIG.
(A)), metal thin film 12 formed by photolithography
Is etched to form a wiring pattern including the common electrode 3, the individual electrode 2 and the connector electrode 7 (FIG. 3B).

Next, insulative coating layers 8 and 9 are formed only on predetermined portions of the wiring pattern, and pad portions 2a and 7 for connecting to the driving IC 6 are formed at the ends of the individual electrodes 2 and the connector electrodes 7.
a is formed ((FIG. 3C)).

Next, the pad portion 2 is formed by a plating method or the like.
After thickening a and 7a, the die bonding member 13 is arranged between the individual electrode 2 and the connector electrode 7, and the driving IC 6 is die-bonded on the die bonding member 13. Furthermore, by high frequency sputtering method,
A heating layer is deposited on the concave portion between the common electrode 3 and the individual electrode 2 on the flexible insulating film 1 to form the heating element 4. Then, the protective layer 5 is provided on the heating element 4 by a screen printing method or the like (FIG. 3D).

Next, the pad portion 2a of the individual electrode 2 and the driving IC 6 and the driving IC 6 and the pad portion 7a of the connector electrode 7 are connected by a bonding wire 10 to cover the driving IC 6 and its peripheral portion. In this way, the potting material 11 is formed (FIG. 3E).

Next, the elastic member 20 having the protrusion 20a at the end is arranged on the entire surface of the rigid support 21, and the flexible insulating film 1 is adhered to the upper surface thereof (FIG. 3).
(F)). This adhesion is performed by an adhesion method using an adhesive such as a silicone adhesive or an epoxy adhesive. In addition to the above-mentioned bonding method, a method of laminating them and mechanically pressure-bonding them from both sides can be used.

Next, the material of each member will be described in detail. The material, thickness, etc. of the rigid support 21 are not particularly limited as long as they have rigidity that allows the recording head to be pressed against each other at a desired pressure, and can be appropriately selected. Specifically, a glass epoxy material, a metal member such as aluminum, or the like is used.

As the elastic member 20, silicone rubber,
Rubbers such as urethane rubber, porous substances, foaming substances and the like are used. The elastic member 20 has, for example, a rubber hardness (JIS-K-6253 durometer method A) of 20 to
It is in the range of 60, preferably 25-45. If the rubber hardness is less than 20, the pressure contact pressure of the recording head cannot be sufficiently applied, and it becomes difficult to perform elastic pressure contact with the thermal recording medium. On the other hand, if it exceeds 60, the effect of vibration accumulation and elastic action is exerted. It is difficult to obtain, and there is a possibility that defective contact may easily occur on the surface of the heating portion of the head. The elastic member 20 preferably has a thickness of 1 to 50 mm, preferably 3 to 10 mm. If this thickness is less than 1 mm, it is difficult to exhibit sufficient elasticity as an elastic material. On the contrary, if it exceeds 50 mm, the size of the entire head becomes large, and the precision of the pressure contact position value of the head tip portion tends to become unstable. This is because there is a problem with.

The material of the flexible insulating film 1 has a thermal conductivity of 1 × 10 ^-2 cal / (cm · sec · deg) or less,
A film having a heat resistance (melting point or decomposition point) of 200 ° C. or higher in a thickness range of 10 to 150 μm, preferably 15 to 40 μm is preferable. This flexible insulating film 1
If the thickness is less than 10 μm, the handling at the time of manufacturing the thermal print recording head and the mounting work of the driving IC chip, etc. become difficult. This is because it becomes an obstacle in obtaining stable contact stability of the head.

Further, the flexible insulating film 1 is required to withstand the heat generation during printing and the high temperature environment during the processing during manufacturing so as not to be deteriorated. Therefore, the temperature is 200 ° C. or higher, preferably 250 ° C. The above heat resistance is desirable. When the thermal conductivity is larger than 1 × 10 ^-2 cal / (cm · sec · deg), the heat generated by the heating element leaks through the flexible insulating film 1 as a heat flow, so that the printing energy is reduced. The efficiency is greatly reduced, and defects in print image quality are likely to occur. Therefore, the thermal conductivity is more preferably 1 × 10 ^-3 cal / (cm
・ A more stable and good heat generation state can be obtained below (sec ・ deg).

Specific examples of the material of the flexible insulating film 1 include polyimide resin, polyaramid resin, polyester resin, polyimideamide resin, polysulfone resin, polyphenylene oxide resin, poly-P-xylylene resin, etc. or their derivatives. Materials, etc.

The wiring pattern composed of the common electrode 3, the individual electrode 2 and the connector electrode 7 is processed by a photolithography process or the like so as to have a predetermined width and pitch, and is formed into, for example, a stripe pattern. To be done. The print width of the print recording head is set by the number of the individual electrodes 2. A specific material example of the wiring pattern has a volume resistance value of 10 ⁻³ Ω · c.
Materials of m or less, for example, metals and alloys such as gold, silver, copper, nickel, tantalum, molybdenum, tungsten, rhodium, titanium, ruthenium, chromium and aluminum.

The method of connecting the driving IC 6 integrally formed on the flexible insulating film 1 and the wiring pattern is not limited to the wire bonding method described above, but may be a flip chip mounting connection method or an anisotropic method. A conductive film connection method or the like may be adopted. However, the wire bonding method is optimal in terms of current resistance and connection reliability, and when the wire bonding method is used, if the metal material of the bonding mound that is the connector electrode is a hard metal material such as nickel, the electrode thickness is less than 50 μm. However, wire-bonding is possible and mounting connection reliability is easy to obtain. Further, the hard plate 14 may be arranged under the bonding mound of the flexible insulating film 1 in order to further improve the mounting connection reliability.

The heat generating element 4 is a layer made of a material which causes an electrothermal phenomenon in which Joule heat is generated by energization in the layer, and has heat resistance of 150 ° C. or higher, more preferably 300 ° C. or higher. , Volume resistivity of 10 ^-3 to 1
A value in the range of 0 ² Ω · cm is good. The setting of the favorable range of the volume specific resistance value is deeply related to the setting of the heating resistance value of the heating element, and depends on the reliability of the driving IC 6 and the specifications of the general-purpose power supply. Further, it is preferable that the layer has a thickness in the range of 0.01 μm to 10 μm.
If the thickness is 0.01 μm or less, it is difficult to obtain uniform layer thickness and stability, and it is difficult to form a reliable resistance layer. If the thickness is 10 μm or more, the adhesiveness to the base material is likely to be low and the energy efficiency of heat generation is reduced. Because.

As the material of the heating element 4, a single layer of various ceramic materials, a mixed / composite layer or a mixed / composite layer of various ceramic materials and metal materials is used. Specific materials include TaN, Ta-N, Ta2N, Ta-
There are Si, Ta-SiO2, Ni-Cr, etc., and there is also a material system in which a conductive filler and a conductive material are combined with an insulating ceramic material. Specific examples of the insulating ceramic material include AlN, SiN ₄ , Al ₂ O ₃ , MgO, VO ₂ ,
SiO ₂ , ZrO ₄ , MO ₂ , Bi ₂ O ₃ , TiO ₂ , MoO
Specific examples of the conductive filler and the conductive material such as ₂ , WO ₂ , NbO ₂ and ReO ₃ include C, Ni, Au and A.
g, Fe, Al, Ti, Pd, Ta, Cu, Co, C
Inorganic material systems such as r, Pt, Mo, Ru, W, In, and VO ₂ , RuO ₂ , TaN, SiC, ZrO ₂ , I
nO, Ta ₂ N, ZrN, NbN, VN, TiB ₂ , Z
_{rB 2, HfB 2, TaB 2} , MoB 2, CrB 2, B
₂ C, MoB, ZrC, VC, TiC and the like and their compounds and mixtures are used.

The protective layer 5 preferably has a heat resistance of 170 ° C. or higher and a layer thickness of 1 μm to 30 μm, more preferably 3 μm to 15 μm. Specific materials include silicon oxide and its compounds, silicon nitride, silicon carbide and its compounds, titanium oxide, titanium nitride, titanium carbide and their compounds, tantalum oxide, tantalum nitride, tantalum carbide and their compounds, and other hard ceramics. Also, a compound thereof, a polyimide resin, an epoxy resin, a silicon resin, a fluorine-containing resin, or a modified resin of these resins may be used, and a mixture of a plurality of the above materials is more effective. In addition, especially hard ceramic powder is made of heat resistant resin (for example, polyimide resin, polyaramid resin, polyester resin, polyimide amide resin, polysulfone resin, polyphenylene oxide resin, poly-P-
Materials containing xylylene resin etc. or their derivatives)
The dispersed particles have the effect of not impairing the elasticity due to the structure of the recording head, and the abrasion resistance is further improved in the dispersed layer structure in which the lubricant powder is also dispersed in the protective layer itself. Examples of lubricant powders include carbon black materials, graphite materials, molybdenum disulfide materials, lead oxide materials, fluorine-containing resin materials, boron nitride materials, silicon carbide materials, silicone oil, boron oxide materials, calcium fluoride, etc. And may be a mixture of more than one of these.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the present invention.
The same reference numerals are given to parts having the same configurations as those in FIG. In this embodiment, the plate-shaped elastic member 22 is used, so that the rigid support 21 in FIG. 1 is omitted. The plate-shaped elastic member 22 used in this embodiment is a plate-shaped member made of a metal member, a plate-shaped member made of a ceramic member, a plate-shaped member made of a hard plastics member, or a mixture or composite layer thereof. It is composed of In this case, the plate-shaped elastic member has better elastic characteristics if it is not arranged on the rigid support 21, and the thickness is 40.
Within the range of μm to 1 mm, more preferably 100 μm to 400 μm. This is because if it is less than 40 μm, the supporting ability is insufficient, and if it is 1 mm or more, the rigidity characteristics are excellent and it is difficult to obtain sufficient elasticity. Especially the thermal conductivity is 6 × 10
^If the material is in the range of ^-2 cal / (cm ・ sec ・ deg) or more, it also serves as the heat diffusion layer, and the printing condition is better.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the present invention.
Parts having the same configurations as those in FIGS. 1 and 4 are designated by the same reference numerals. In this embodiment, an L-shaped elastic member 25 is formed by laminating an elastic member 26 having rubber elasticity on an L-shaped support body 27 which is bent just below the print recording portion.
The flexible insulating film 1 is laminated. Elastic member 26
Is the same in material and rubber hardness as the elastic member 20 of FIG. 1, and preferably has a thickness in the range of 0.5 to 25 mm.
The range of 12 mm is preferable. The L-shaped support member 27 is a rigid member formed to bend in an L shape in the vicinity of a portion directly below the heating element 4 in the sub-scan sectional shape. As a result, a linear and uniform pressure contact pressure can be obtained over the entire area of each heat generating portion of the heat generating element 4 in the main scanning direction, printing defects and dot variations can be prevented, and high-quality print recording can be performed. it can. The L-shaped bending amount is not particularly limited,
It is preferably 0.5 to 10 mm and can be appropriately selected depending on the member thickness. The thickness of the L-shaped support 27 is 50 μm to 5 mm, preferably 0.1 to 0.5 mm.
Those in the range of are good. If the thickness is less than 0.1 mm, the supporting ability will be insufficient, and if the thickness exceeds 5 mm, the rigidity will be too high, and it will be difficult to obtain a stable pressed state, resulting in deterioration of printing performance.

As a concrete material of the L-shaped support 27,
Rigid members such as metal members such as stainless steel materials, aluminum materials, phosphor bronze materials, and copper materials are preferable, but elastic members having a certain degree of rigidity may be used instead of these rigid members.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the present invention.
The same reference numerals are given to the parts having the same configurations as those in FIG. In this embodiment, by using the L-shaped plate-like elastic member 28, the elastic member 26 and the L-shaped support 27 of FIG. L-shaped plate-like elastic member 2
8 is similar to the L-shaped support 27 in the L-shaped elastic member 25,
It is formed so as to be bent in an L shape in the vicinity of a portion directly below the heating element 4. The bending amount of the L-shape is not particularly limited, but the thickness of the L-shaped plate-like elastic member 28 is preferably in the range of 50 μm to 5 mm, preferably 0.1 to 0.5 mm. This is because if the thickness is less than 50 μm, the supporting ability is insufficient, and if it is 5 mm or more, the rigidity is excellent and it is difficult to obtain sufficient elasticity, and the printing performance is deteriorated. Especially the thermal conductivity is 6 × 10 ^-2 cal / (cm
-If the material is in the range of sec / deg) or more, it also serves as a heat diffusion layer, and thus a better printing state is obtained. The specific material is the same as that of the material of the plate-shaped elastic member 22 of FIG.

FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, a thermal diffusion layer 30 is provided on the back side of the flexible insulating film 1 so as to cover the entire surface, and the same reference numerals are given to the parts having the same configuration as in FIG. As the heat diffusion layer 30, it is effective to quickly diffuse the residual heat generated by the heating elements 4 after printing through the flexible insulating film 1, and heat that is higher than that of the flexible insulating film 1. It is composed of members with high conductivity. By providing this heat diffusion layer 30, it is possible to prevent the influence of unnecessary heating during each printing and perform clear print recording.

The specific thermal conductivity of the thermal diffusion layer 30 is preferably 6 × 10 ^-2 cal / (cm · sec · deg) or more, and the material includes a metal material such as Ni.

FIG. 8, FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 show another embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 4, FIG. 5 and FIG. The diffusion layer 30 is provided, and the portions having the same configurations as those in FIGS. 4, 5, and 6 are denoted by the same reference numerals. Thermal diffusion layer 3
For 0, the same one as in FIG. 7 is used.

Next, a more specific method of manufacturing the thermal print recording head and the result of the print test using the thermal print recording head will be described. (Specific Example 1) First, a metal thin film 1 was formed on a 25 μm thick polyimide film prepared as the flexible insulating film 1.
As No. 2, a copper foil having a thickness of 12 μm was adhered and laminated with a silicone adhesive. Then, after applying a resist on the copper foil, pattern exposure and development are performed to form a resist pattern.
Then, the copper foil was etched to form a wiring pattern composed of the common electrode 3, the individual electrode 2 and the connector electrode 7 on the polyimide film.

Next, after nickel plating is applied to the entire surface of the wiring pattern so as to have a thickness of 1.5 μm to form a corrosion resistant film, a photosensitive amic acid is applied and the individual electrode 2 and the connector are formed by photolithography. The coating film at the position to be the pad portion on the tip side of the electrode 7 was removed, and thereafter, heat treatment was performed to heat and cure the coating film at other portions to form insulating coating films 8 and 9 having a thickness of 5 μm.

Between the tip of the individual electrode 2 on the opposite side of the pad portion 2a and the common electrode 3, a metal mask is used for high frequency sputtering, and a Ta--SiO ₂ material target is used for the substrate. At a temperature of 340 ° C., a heating layer made of a Ta—SiO ₂ material having a width of 3 mm and a thickness of 0.3 μm was deposited to form a strip-shaped heating element 4 on the polyimide film. Then, a volume ratio of 30 vol% was mixed with the heating element 4 and its surroundings by a screen printing method to mix SiC particles having a polyimide resin as a main component with an average particle size of 0.3 μm and carbon graphite powder. A dispersed protective layer 5 having a thickness of 5 μm was provided.

Then, a 25 μm thick phosphorus-nickel material was plated on the pads 2a and 7a by a nickel plating method, and then a 8 μm thick gold plating was applied. Then, the driving IC 6 (driver IC for thermal head) was die-bonded on the polyimide film.

Next, the bonding pad on the driving IC 6 and the pad portions 2a, 7a of the individual electrode 2 and the connector electrode 7 are connected using a gold wire of 25 .mu.m.phi. A potting material 11 was formed by coating with a resin, and finally the polyimide film that had been subjected to these various processing steps was cut into a predetermined size corresponding to one unit of the head, and used as the main part of the head. The main part of the head has a rubber hardness of 40 and a thickness of 4 m.
m on the elastic member 20 made of silicone rubber,
Next, the back surface side of the rubber member was adhered to a rigid support 21 made of an aluminum base material having a thickness of 30 mm to manufacture a thermal print recording head.

The thermal print recording head of this example is different from the thermal print recording head which is manufactured by forming the main portion of the head on a rigid member which is larger than the main portion of the head as in the prior art. Since the flexible insulating film 1 forming the main part is cut into units of the head and then bonded to the elastic member 20 and the rigid member 21 which have been cut into the same size in advance, the size can be reduced.

This thermal print recording head has a print width of 50 m.
m, resolution is 12 dots / mm, and the heat generation size is 6
Since the elastic member 20 had a size of 0 μm × 45 μm and had a convex shape with a height of 400 μm, the surface of the heat generating part of the print recording part was 40 mm from the polyimide film surface.
It had a convex shape with a height of 0 μm or more.

Using the obtained thermal print recording head, an ink ribbon was pressed against the ink ribbon at a linear pressure of 300 m / cm, and an applied voltage of 2 was applied.
Printing and recording were performed under image (dot) signal conditions of 4 V and a pulse width of 700 μsec, and the size and shape of the printed dots were measured and observed. Dot printing rate for the image input signal at this time (dot diameter is 70% to 130% of the target diameter)
The dot in the range is the print dot, and the print dot ratio) is 100%, and there are few print omissions and dot variations in the head width direction, and the head width direction dot diameter variation σn (n = 150) is 7.7 μm. The visual evaluation was uniform and the noise could not be judged.

Further, as the durability printing evaluation, the dot printing ratio with respect to the image input signal is 100% in the evaluation result after running printing of 3 Km, and there is little print omission and dot variation in the head width direction, and dot diameter variation σn in the head width direction. (N = 150) was 8.1 μm, and the visual evaluation was uniform.

A thermal print recording head was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that an alumina substrate having a thickness of 2.0 mm was used instead of the polyimide film, and the same print recording as described above was performed. . As a result, the dot printing rate is 5
At 8%, there were large variations in the size and shape of the print dots in the head width direction, and many print defects occurred.

A thermal print recording head was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the elastic member 20 was not provided, and the same print recording as described above was performed. As a result, the dot printing rate was 65%, which was a level at which variations in dot size and shape could be confirmed. The print was unstable by visual evaluation, but it was legible.

The construction is the same as in Example 1 except that the elastic member 20 has a planar shape and the surface in the vicinity of the heat generating portion of the print recording portion has a planar shape with no height difference from the polyimide film surface. A thermal print recording head was produced, and the same print recording as above was performed. As a result, the dot printing rate was 83%, which was a level at which variations in dot size and shape could be confirmed. In the visual evaluation, the printing was a little unstable image, but the readability was 98% as characters.

Using this thermal print recording head, the same print recording as in Example 1 was performed on rough paper with Beck's smoothness of 8 seconds, but the printing condition was poor and the dot printing rate was as low as 61%. The readability was also 83%, indicating that the printed state was not good.

(Specific Example 2) 20 μ as the metal thin film 12
m copper foil is coated with a polyimide precursor in a thickness of 20 μm and dried, and then a photoresist is coated on the copper foil and dried by heating, followed by pattern exposure and development to form a resist pattern. Then, the copper foil was etched to form a wiring pattern composed of the common electrode 3, the individual electrode 2, and the connector electrode 7.

Next, other than the region sandwiched by the portion 0.6 mm inside the tip of the common electrode 3 and the portion 0.6 mm inside the tip of the comb-shaped wiring pattern, and other than the drive IC mounting portion. Then, a polyimide precursor layer was applied to the above and dried by heating with a solvent. Next, a heat-resistant metal film is applied by nickel plating and gold plating, and then heat treatment at 300 ° C. for 30 minutes is performed to imidize the polyimide precursor to form a polyimide film having a thickness of 12 μm as the flexible insulating film 1. The insulating coating films 8 and 9 were simultaneously formed.

Next, a mask is applied to the pads 2a and 7a, and then the common electrode 3 and the individual electrode 2 are formed using a metal mask.
In between, tantalum pentoxide was deposited to a thickness of 0.2 μm by the RF sputtering film deposition method, and the heating element 4 was provided. The imidization of the polyimide film may be performed after the heating element film is deposited.

Next, a thick film of nickel is formed in a pad portion for mounting the driving IC in a nickel plating process, and after the driving IC 6 is die-bonded, a gold wire of 20 μmφ is formed.
By wire bonding between the driving IC 6 and the pad portions 2a and 7a, and then the peripheral region on the driving IC 6 was covered with silicone resin to form the potting material 11.

Next, iron oxide powder containing polyimide resin as a main component and having an average particle diameter of 1 μm and silicone oil-containing carbon were formed on the surface of the heating element 4 and its peripheral portion by a screen printing method. A coating film of a liquid in which a mixture of graphite powder was mixed and dispersed at a volume ratio of 60% by weight was applied, dried and heat-cured to provide a protective layer 5 having a thickness of 4 μm to complete a head main part.

Next, the main part of the head is attached to the plate-like elastic member 22.
120 μm thick SUS304 (Ni, Fe, Cr
The above-mentioned alloy was adhered to a plate material of an elastic member having relatively rigidity) with a silicone adhesive to complete a thermal print recording head. At this time, the plate material of SUS304 was subjected to a molding treatment so that the surface of the heat generating portion of the print recording portion had a convex shape with a height of 2 mm from the surface of the polyimide film.

Using the produced thermal print recording head, the ink ribbon was brought into pressure contact at a linear pressure of 450 g / cm, and an applied voltage of 1 was applied.
Print recording was performed under image signal conditions of 6 V and a pulse width of 1 msec, and the size and shape of print dots were measured and observed. The initial image at this time has a dot printing rate of 99.5% with respect to the image input signal, and there is little print omission and dot variation in the head width direction, and head width direction dot variation σn (n = 50) is 6.7 μm. The visual evaluation was uniform and the noise could not be judged. Further, as the durability printing evaluation, the dot printing rate for the image input signal is 100% in the evaluation result after running printing of 2 km.
There was little print omission and dot variation in the head width direction, and the dot width variation σn (n = 50) in the head width direction was 6.1 μm, and the visual evaluation was uniform.

(Specific Example 3) A heating element 4 having a width of 6 mm and a thickness of 0.
4 μm, insulating coating films 8 and 9 have a thickness of 10 μm, protective layer 5
Is a mixture of SiC granules containing polyimide resin as a main component and having an average particle diameter of 0.2 μm and carbon graphite powder mixed and dispersed in a volume ratio of 40 vol%, and has a thickness of 4 μm, wire-bonding pad portion and connector electrode portion. A main part of the head having the same structure as that of the specific example 1 is manufactured except that a phosphorus-nickel material having a thickness of 17 μm is plated thereon by a nickel plating method, and then a gold plating having a thickness of 2 μm is applied.

The main part of the head is 3 m in thickness with a thickness of 2 mm using silicone rubber having a rubber hardness of 40 and a thickness of 150 μm using SUS304.
A thermal print recording head having a print width of 50 mm and a resolution of 12 dots / mm was produced by adhering an L-shaped support member 27 having a bending amount of m to an L-shaped elastic member 25. The heat generation size in this thermal print recording head is 60 μm × 4
Since the elastic member 26 had a convex shape with a height of 5 μm and a height of 400 μm, the surface of the heat generating portion of the print recording portion had a convex shape with a height of 400 μm or more from the surface of the polyimide film.

Using the obtained thermal printing recording head, the ink ribbon was brought into pressure contact with the linear pressure of 260 g / cm, and the applied voltage 2 was applied.
Printing and recording were performed under image signal conditions of 4 V and a pulse width of 700 μsec, and the size and shape of the printed dots were measured and observed. At this time, the dot printing rate with respect to the image input signal is 100%, and there is little print omission and dot variation in the head width direction, and dot width variation σn in the head width direction.
(N = 150) was 6.7 μm, and the visual evaluation was uniform and the noise could not be judged.

Further, as a durable print evaluation, the dot print ratio with respect to the image input signal is 100% in the evaluation result after running printing of 2 Km, and there is little print omission and dot variation in the head width direction, and dot diameter variation σn in the head width direction. (N = 150) was 8.2 μm, and the visual evaluation was uniform.

In contrast to the third embodiment, the L-shaped elastic member 2
A thermal print recording head was prepared in the same manner except that an alumina substrate having a thickness of 4.0 mm was used in place of No. 5, and the same print recording as described above was performed. As a result, the dot printing rate is 2
At 2%, there were large variations in the size and shape of the print dots in the head width direction, and many print defects occurred.

A thermal print recording head was prepared in the same manner as in Example 3 except that the elastic member 26 was not provided, and the same print recording as described above was performed. As a result, the dot printing rate was 76%, which was a level at which variations in dot size and shape could be confirmed. The print was unstable by visual evaluation, but it was legible.

In the same manner as in Example 3, except that the elastic member 26 has a flat shape and the surface of the heat generating portion of the print recording portion has a flat shape with no height difference from the surface of the polyimide film, the structure is the same. A print recording head was produced and the same print recording as described above was performed. As a result, the dot printing rate is 7
At 6%, the level was such that the variation in dot size and shape could be confirmed. In the visual evaluation, the printing was a little unstable image, but the readability was 98% as characters.

Using this thermal print recording head, the same print recording as in Example 3 was carried out on rough paper having a Beck smoothness of 8 seconds, but the printing condition was poor and the dot printing rate was as low as 61%. The readability was also 83%, indicating that the printed state was not good.

(Specific Example 4) By the same manufacturing method as the main part of the head of Specific Example 2, the thickness of the heating element 4 is 0.15 μm.
Except that the material of the protective layer 5 is a mixture of an iron oxide powder containing polyimide resin as a main component and having an average particle diameter of 1 μm and a silicone oil-containing carbon graphite powder in a volume ratio of 50% by weight. Produces a head main part having the same structure as the head main part of the specific example 2.

Next, a phosphor bronze plate material having a thickness of 150 is used.
In the L-shaped plate-like elastic member 28 having a width of 4 mm and a bending amount of μm,
The head main part is adhered with a silicone adhesive,
A thermal print recording head was completed. At this time, the phosphor bronze plate material is
Molding treatment was performed so that the surface of the heat generating portion of the print recording portion had a convex shape with a height of 2 mm from the surface of the polyimide film.

Using the produced thermal print recording head, the ink ribbon was pressed against the ink ribbon at a linear pressure of 350 g / cm, and an applied voltage of 1 was applied.
Printing and recording were performed under image (dot) signal conditions of 6 V and a pulse width of 1 msec, and the size and shape of the printed dots were measured and observed. The initial image at this time has a dot printing rate of 99.5% with respect to the image input signal, and there is little print omission and dot variation in the head width direction, and head width direction dot variation σn (n = 50) is 6.6 μm. The visual evaluation was uniform and the noise could not be judged.

As the durability printing evaluation, the dot printing ratio to the image input signal is 100% in the evaluation result after running printing of 1.5 Km, and there are few print omissions and dot variations in the head width direction and the dot diameter in the head width direction. The variation σn (n = 50) was 5.6 μm, and the visual evaluation was uniform.

(Specific Example 5) A thermal diffusion layer 30 having a thickness of 5 μm was formed on the back surface of the polyimide film of the main part of the specific example 2 by Ni electroless plating. Next, on the back side of the heat diffusion layer 30, the elastic member 20 having a rubber hardness of 15,
It is adhered on a silicone rubber material having a thickness of 5 mm with five kinds of 30, 45, 60 and 70, and then the back side of the elastic member 20 is used as a rigid support 21 on an aluminum base material having a thickness of 30 mm. It has a print width of 50 mm and a resolution of 1
Five types of 2 dot / mm thermal recording print heads were manufactured.
The heat generation size in the heat generation recording part of this thermal recording print head is 90 μm × 85 μm, the elastic member 20 has a convex shape with a height of 1.2 mm, and the heat generation part surface of the print recording part is 1 mm from the polyimide film surface. It was a convex shape having a height of 0.2 mm or more.

Using the obtained thermal print recording head, an ink ribbon was pressed against the ink ribbon at a linear pressure of 250 g / cm, and an applied voltage of 1 was applied.
Printing and recording were performed under image signal conditions of 6 V and a pulse width of 1 msec, and the size and shape of the printed dots were measured and observed. At this time, the initial image has a dot printing rate of 71,10 for each rubber hardness of the elastic member 20 for the image input signal.
It was 0, 100, 98, 58%. Further, as the durability printing evaluation, the dot printing rate for the image input signal is 66, 99, 100, 9 in the evaluation result after running printing of 2 km.
It was 4, 45%. From this result, it can be said that the elastic member 20 having the rubber hardness of 45 was optimal in the structure of the thermal print recording head.

SPECIFIC EXAMPLE 6 A thermal diffusion layer 30 having a thickness of 5 μm was formed on the back surface of the polyimide film of the main part of the specific example 2 by Ni electroless plating. Then, the main part of the head was bonded to a plate material of SUS304 having a thickness of 120 μm as the plate-shaped elastic member 22 with a silicone adhesive to complete a thermal print recording head. Then SUS30
The plate material of No. 4 was subjected to a molding treatment so that the surface of the heat generating part of the print recording part was convex with a height of 1.5 mm from the surface of the polyimide film.

Using the obtained thermal print recording head, an ink ribbon was pressed against the ink ribbon at a linear pressure of 450 g / cm, and an applied voltage of 1 was applied.
Print recording was performed under image signal conditions of 6 V and a pulse width of 1 msec, and the size and shape of print dots were measured and observed. At this time, the initial image has a dot printing rate of 100% with respect to the image input signal, and there are few print omissions and dot variations in the head width direction, and the dot width variation σn (n = 100) in the head width direction is 5.3 μm. The evaluation was uniform and not at a level where noise could be judged.

As the durability printing evaluation, the dot printing ratio to the image input signal is 100% in the evaluation result after running printing of 2 Km, and there is little print omission and dot variation in the head width direction and dot diameter variation σn in the head width direction. (N = 100) was 5.7 μm, and the visual evaluation was uniform.

In contrast to the sixth embodiment, the plate-like elastic member 22
A thermal print recording head was prepared in the same manner except that an aluminum block was used instead of the above, and the same print recording was performed as described above. As a result, the dot printing rate is 54%
However, there were large variations in the size and shape of the print dots in the head width direction, and many print defects occurred.

(Specific Example 7) A thermal diffusion layer 30 having a thickness of 5 μm was formed by Ni electroless plating on the back surface of the polyimide film of the main part of the head manufactured in Specific Example 4. Next, the back side of the heat diffusion layer 30 is used as the elastic member 26 and has a rubber hardness of 1
5, 30, 45, 60, 70 are adhered onto a silicone rubber material having a thickness of 2 mm, and the back side of the elastic member 26 is 120 μm thick using a SUS304 plate material.
It is adhered to an L-shaped support 27 having a bending amount of 1.5 mm at m.
Five types of thermal print recording heads having a print width of 50 mm and a resolution of 12 dots / mm were manufactured.

The heat generating size in the heat generating portion of this thermal print recording head is 90 μm × 85 μm, and the elastic member 26 is 1.
It had a convex shape with a height of 2 mm, and the surface of the heat generating portion of the print recording portion had a convex shape with a height of 1.2 mm or more from the surface of the polyimide film.

Using the obtained thermal print recording head, an ink ribbon was pressed against the ink ribbon at a linear pressure of 250 g / cm, and an applied voltage of 1 was applied.
Printing and recording were performed under image signal conditions of 8 V and a pulse width of 0.7 msec, and the size and shape of the printed dots were measured and observed. The initial image at this time has a dot printing rate of 61, 1 for each rubber hardness of the elastic member 26 with respect to the image input signal.
It was 00, 100, 97, 45%. Further, as the durability printing evaluation, the dot printing rate for the image input signal is 61, 99, 100, 9 in the evaluation result after running printing of 2 Km.
It was 1, 37%. From this result, it can be said that the elastic member 26 having the rubber hardness of 45 was optimal in the structure of the thermal print recording head.

(Specific Example 8) A thermal diffusion layer 30 having a thickness of 5 μm was formed on the back surface of the polyimide film of the main part of the head manufactured in Specific Example 4 by Ni electroless plating. And
The thermal diffusion layer 30 was bonded to a L-shaped plate-like elastic member 28 having a thickness of 120 μm and a bending amount of 1.5 mm using a plate material of SUS304 with a silicone adhesive to complete a thermal print recording head. At that time, in the plate material of SUS304, the surface of the heat generating part of the print recording part is 1.
The molding process was performed so as to have a convex shape with a height of 5 mm.

Using the obtained thermal print recording head, an ink ribbon was pressed against the ink ribbon at a linear pressure of 320 g / cm, and an applied voltage of 1 was applied.
Printing and recording were performed under image signal conditions of 8 V and a pulse width of 1 msec, and the size and shape of the printed dots were measured and observed. At this time, the initial image has a dot printing rate of 100% with respect to the image input signal, and there are few print omissions and dot variations in the head width direction, and the head width direction dot diameter variation σn (n = 100) is 6.3 μm. The evaluation was uniform and not at a level where noise could be judged.

As the durability printing evaluation, the dot printing ratio with respect to the image input signal is 100% in the evaluation result after running printing of 2 Km, there is little print omission and dot variation in the head width direction, and dot diameter variation σn in the head width direction. (N = 100) was 7.7 μm, and the visual evaluation was uniform.

A thermal print recording head was produced in the same manner as in Example 8 except that an aluminum block was used in place of the L-shaped plate-like elastic member 28, and the thermal print recording head was produced in the same manner as described above. Print recording was performed. As a result, the dot printing rate was 41%, and the size and shape of the printing dots in the head width direction were large, and many print defects occurred.

(Specific Example 9) On a polyimide film having a thickness of 30 μm prepared as the flexible insulating film 1, a copper foil having a thickness of 15 μm was bonded as a metal thin film 12 by a silicone adhesive and laminated. Then, after applying a resist on the copper foil, pattern exposure and development are performed to form a resist pattern, and the copper foil is etched to include a common electrode 3, individual electrodes 2, and connector electrodes 7. A wiring pattern was formed on the polyimide film.

Next, after nickel plating is applied to the entire surface of the wiring pattern so as to have a thickness of 2 μm to form a corrosion resistant film, a photosensitive amic acid is applied and the individual electrode 2 and the connector electrode 7 are formed by photolithography. The coating film at the position to be the pad portion on the tip side was removed, and thereafter, heat treatment was performed to heat and cure the coating film at the other portions to form 5 μm thick insulating protective films 8 and 9.

Between the tip of the individual electrode 2 on the opposite side of the pad 2a and the common electrode 3, a heating layer of a Ta--Si mixed material having a width of 2.0 mm and a thickness of 0.2 μm was formed by DC sputtering. After film formation, the strip-shaped heating element 4 was formed on the polyimide film. Then, the surface portion and its periphery of the heating element 4 were plated by a dispersed nickel composite plating method using a SiC fine particle / Teflon powder dispersed nickel material to form a protective layer 5 having a thickness of 12 μm.

Thereafter, the driving IC 6 is die-bonded between the individual electrode 2 on the polyimide film and the connector electrode 7, and then 100 μm thick SUS is formed on the back surface of the polyimide film immediately below the wire-bonding pad.
The plate was partially lined to form a hard plate 14. Next, using a 25 μmφ gold wire, a driving IC
The bonding pads on 6 and the pad portions 2a and 7a of the individual electrode 2 and the connector electrode 7 were connected. At this time, the SU partially formed on the back side of the polyimide film
Due to the rigidity of the S plate, wire bonding can be easily performed.

Next, the peripheral area on the driving IC 6 was covered with a silicone resin to form the potting material 11, and finally, the polyimide film which had been subjected to these various processing steps was processed according to one head unit. It was cut into a predetermined size and used as the main part of the head. The main part of the head is used as an elastic member 20 having a rubber hardness of 30 and a thickness of 4 mm.
Adhesive on the rubber member, then the back side of the rubber member,
The rigid support 21 was adhered onto an aluminum base material having a thickness of 10 mm to prepare a thermal recording print head having a print width of 80 mm and a resolution of 12 dots / mm. The elastic member 20 in this thermal print recording head was subjected to a molding treatment so that the surface of the heat generating portion of the print recording portion had a convex shape with a height of 1 mm from the surface of the polyimide film.

Using the obtained thermal recording print head, the ink ribbon was brought into pressure contact at a linear pressure of 500 g / cm, and an applied voltage of 8 was applied.
Printing and recording were performed under an image signal condition of V and a pulse width of 1.0 msec, and the size and shape of the printed dots were measured and observed. The dot printing rate for the image input signal at this time is 1
It was 00%, and no print omission occurred in the head width direction. Also, after carrying out a durability test equivalent to 4 km,
The same printing and recording as in Example 1 was carried out, but the printing state was good, and the dot printing rate was as high as 98%, indicating good printing.

(Specific Example 10) The main part of the head manufactured in Specific Example 9 was adhered as an elastic member 26 onto a silicone rubber member having a rubber hardness of 30 and a thickness of 4 mm, and then the back surface of the rubber member. The side has an L-shaped support with a thickness of 16
A thermal recording print head having a print width of 80 mm and a resolution of 12 dots / mm was prepared by adhering it onto an L-shaped aluminum substrate having a bending amount of 0 μm and a bending amount of 2.5 mm. The elastic member 26 in this thermal print recording head was subjected to a molding treatment so that the surface of the heat generating portion of the print recording portion had a convex shape with a height of 1 mm from the surface of the polyimide film.

Using the obtained thermal recording print head, the ink ribbon was brought into pressure contact with the ink ribbon at a linear pressure of 500 g / cm, and an applied voltage of 8 was applied.
Printing and recording were performed under an image signal condition of V and a pulse width of 1.0 msec, and the size and shape of the printed dots were measured and observed. The dot printing rate for the image input signal at this time is 1
It was 00%, and no print omission occurred in the head width direction.

After carrying out a durability test equivalent to 4 km,
The same printing and recording as in Example 1 was carried out, but the printing state was good, and the dot printing rate was as high as 98%, indicating good printing.

[0098]

According to the thermal print recording head of the present invention, the main part of the head is formed on the flexible insulating film, and the flexible insulating film is provided on the elastic member, so that the head itself is formed. Since elasticity can be imparted, the elasticity of the head can be reduced when unevenness is present on the thermal recording medium and the contact surface with the print recording portion becomes uneven, or when deflection of each member occurs. Can be absorbed to obtain stable contact property, and at the same time, there is an effect that disconnection or short circuit due to vibration or the like hardly occurs. Further, since the elastic member or the rigid member provided on the lower surface of the flexible insulating film has a convex shape immediately below the print recording portion, the surface of the print recording portion is convex to the surface of the flexible insulating film. Since it has a shape, more stable and efficient contact can be obtained. As described above, the contact reliability is excellent over a wide range of surface roughness of the thermal recording medium, the printing dot shape is stable, and the high-quality printing condition range can be expanded.

Further, by providing the flexible insulating film on the L-shaped elastic member in which the vicinity of the lower part of the print recording portion is bent, the heating element is uniformly distributed in the width direction, that is, in the main scanning direction. Stable contact can be obtained. Therefore, even when the head is elongated and the width of the heating element is long, the contact reliability is excellent, so that it is possible to suppress machine setting accuracy and obtain high image quality. In addition, by providing a heat diffusion layer between the flexible insulating film and the elastic member, the residual heat in the head after printing can be quickly diffused to prevent the influence on other printing and stabilize the heat transfer. ,
Higher printing quality can be achieved and printing speed can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A and 1B show an embodiment of a thermal print recording head of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a plan explanatory view, and FIG. 1B is a sectional view taken along line bb of FIG.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of printing using the thermal print recording head of the present invention.

3 (a) to 3 (f) are explanatory views of an example of a manufacturing process for manufacturing the thermal print recording head of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional explanatory view showing another embodiment of the thermal print recording head of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional explanatory view showing another embodiment of the thermal print recording head of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional explanatory view showing another embodiment of the thermal print recording head of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional explanatory view showing another embodiment of the thermal print recording head of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a sectional explanatory view showing another embodiment of the thermal print recording head of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a sectional explanatory view showing another embodiment of the thermal print recording head of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a sectional explanatory view showing another embodiment of the thermal print recording head of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Flexible insulating film, 2 ... Individual electrode, 3 ... Common electrode, 4 ... Heating element, 5 ... Protective layer, 6 ... Driving IC, 7 ... Connector electrode, 8, 9 ... Insulation coating layer,
10 ... Bonding wire, 11 ... Potting material, 12 ... Metal thin film, 13 ... Bond mound (pad), 14 ... Hard plate, 15 ... Print recording part, 20 ...
Elastic member, 21 ... Rigid support, 22 ... Plate elastic member, 25 ... L-shaped elastic member, 26 ... Elastic member, 2
7 ... L-shaped support, 28 ... L-shaped plate-like elastic member, 3
0 ... Thermal diffusion layer, 40 ... Substrate, 50 ... Platen roll
LA, 60 ... Ink ribbon, 70 ... Thermal recording medium

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A thermal print recording head for performing recording by contacting a thermal recording medium with a thermal recording medium, which comprises a signal input electrode, a heating element, and a protective layer, which are laminated in this order. A thermal print recording head, characterized in that it is formed on a flexible film, and the flexible insulating film is further provided on an elastic member having a convex shape in the vicinity of the print recording portion. 2. A thermal print recording head for performing recording by contacting a thermal recording medium with a print recording unit formed by sequentially laminating a signal input electrode, a heating element, and a protective layer. A thermal print recording head, characterized in that it is formed on a flexible film, and the flexible insulating film is further provided on an elastic member having an L-shape whose sub-scan sectional shape is bent in the vicinity of immediately below the print recording portion. 3. The thermal print recording head according to claim 1, further comprising a heat diffusion layer provided between the flexible insulating film and the elastic member.