JPH085194B2 - Thermal transfer printing method and thermal transfer printing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a thermal transfer printing method and a thermal transfer printing apparatus.

[Prior Art and Problems] Conventionally, various copying methods for copying an original by utilizing heat have been developed.

 Examples of this type of method include the following.

(A) Printing method using a heat-sensitive stencil sheet As for this (a), for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication 59-192355
The heat sensitive stencil sheet and the heat sensitive stencil sheet are superposed in close contact with each other, and the light source is irradiated to heat the image part drawn on the document, and this heat pierces the heat sensitive stencil sheet to produce the original plate. To do.

Thereafter, ink is applied to the heat-sensitive stencil sheet, and stencil printing is performed on the recording paper placed on the base.

That is, according to the printing method of (a), since the wet ink is used for copying the original, there is a problem that it is difficult to handle.

(B) A heat-sensitive copying method using a heat-sensitive recording paper in which a color-forming layer is provided on a base layer made of a transparent or translucent synthetic resin sheet.

This (b) was made in order to improve the printing method of the above (a) and was previously proposed by the applicant of the present invention (for example, Japanese Patent Application No. Copying method and apparatus ").

That is, in (B), the original and the thermosensitive recording paper set on the base are irradiated with light in a pressure-bonded state to perform thermosensitive copying, and the original is copied as a mirror image on the thermosensitive recording paper. Therefore, this image can be visually recognized as a normal image by seeing it through a synthetic resin sheet which is a transparent or semitransparent base layer.

According to the thermal copying method of (b), all the problems of the printing method of (a) are alleviated.

However, the printed sheet is a special sheet in which a light emitting layer is provided on a base layer of a synthetic resin sheet, and there is a problem that it cannot be recorded on so-called plain paper.

After all, there is a strong demand for copying or transferring originals on recording paper such as sheets and notebooks of any material, and moreover than the PPC (Carlson) copying machine (copy machine) that has been used in offices etc. It is expected that a copying machine that is small in size, has good operability, and requires no maintenance will be developed.

The present inventors have studied various methods for easily copying an image portion on a document onto plain paper in order to meet this type of request.

On the other hand, with the spread of word processors and the like, it is now possible for anyone to easily create typed manuscripts. Moreover, image charts or CCDs (charge coupled devices) are used to convert charts and drawings into digital signals. It can be recorded in memory. Therefore, it has become possible to print out such diagrams and pictures as a manuscript together with characters.

However, not only is it time-consuming to print out such characters and figures with a word processor, but it is also time-consuming and troublesome to produce a plurality of identical document contents. Therefore, it is desired to prepare one original including characters and figures by using a word processor or the like, and then sequentially and easily copy the original on plain paper.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made based on the above-mentioned circumstances and research results. The image portion on a single manuscript prepared can be easily and speedily printed on a plurality of sheets of plain paper. An object of the present invention is to provide a heat-sensitive transfer printing method and a heat-sensitive transfer printing apparatus capable of performing heat-sensitive transfer.

[Summary of the Invention] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention irradiates a light ray on a light-reflective thin film layer on which an image portion such as a character is formed so that the image portion and a corresponding light-reflective thin film layer portion are irradiated. Only the heat-evaporating effect is used to remove only the above, and a printing original plate on which the same translucent image area as the image area is formed is created.Then, the printing original plate is placed on a thermal transfer ink sheet, and this thermal transfer ink is placed. A recording material is placed under the sheet, and the printing original plate, the heat-sensitive transfer sheet, and the recording material are in a state of being pressed and overlapped with each other. The main point is that the ink layer portion is heat-transferred to the recording medium to perform heat-sensitive transfer printing.

[Basic Principle of the Invention] That is, according to the present invention, when a light ray is irradiated on a light-reflective thin film layer on which an image portion such as a character is formed, only the image portion instantly generates heat due to thermal energy accompanying the light ray irradiation,
Due to the heat evaporation effect due to the heat generation, the corresponding light reflecting thin film layer portion is removed together with the image portion, and as a result, a phenomenon in which the same transparent image portion as the image portion is formed in the trace is effectively made effective. To use.

Further, in the present invention, when the printing original plate obtained by the above-mentioned method is irradiated with light rays again, the light rays pass only through the light-transmissive image portion, and the light-reflective thin film portion other than the light-transmissive image portion. Reflects the light rays thereof, the heat-sensitive ink layer portion corresponding to the light-transmitting image portion is locally heated by the heat energy accompanying the light ray passing through the light-transmitting image portion, and the ink layer portion is heated. Is intended for thermal transfer printing on a recording medium.

Further, the principle of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 1 (1), reference numeral A-1 is a printing sheet which is a material of the printing original plate, and is a light-transmitting support A _{1 having} good light-transmitting property.
And a metal vapor deposition layer A ₂ formed by vapor-depositing a metal material (for example, nickel or aluminum) capable of substantially blocking irradiation light and capable of locally transmitting heat.
An image portion a such as characters and figures is formed on the metal vapor deposition layer A ₂ by handwriting or a word processor.

A light ray (preferably infrared ray) is flash-irradiated onto the printing sheet A-1 as shown in FIG. 1 (2). Then, only the image portion a rapidly heats up due to the heat energy accompanying the light irradiation, and the image portion a and the portion of the metal vapor deposition layer A ₁ corresponding thereto are removed cleanly by the thermal evaporation action. As a result, as shown in FIG. 1 (3), a translucent image portion A _{4 which} is exactly the same as the image portion a is formed in that portion. The printing original plate A is created through such steps. The above is the first step of the present invention.

In the first step, a part of the thermal energy associated with the light irradiation is absorbed by the image portion a, but the other thermal energy is absorbed by the metal vapor deposition layer corresponding to the image portion a.
All will be reflected by the metal vapor deposition layer A ₁ other than the portion of A ₁ .

Next, between the printing original plate A on which the translucent image portion A ₄ is formed in the above first step and the recording material D such as plain paper, an ink support is provided.
A thermal transfer ink sheet C is arranged so that C ₁ faces the printing original plate A side and the ink layer C ₂ faces the recording medium D (FIG. 1 (4)).

The above is the second step of the thermal transfer printing method. Then, after the printing original plate A, the heat-sensitive transfer ink sheet C, and the recording medium D are pressed against each other, an infrared ray source emits a flash of light (the arrow in FIG. 1 (4) indicates infrared rays). .). As a result, as shown in FIG. 1 (4), only through the place of the translucent image area A _4, heat accompanying the light irradiation is transferred to the thermal transfer ink sheet C, the translucent image area A ₄ Ink layer C _{2 of} the thermal transfer ink sheet C corresponding to
Is heated, and as a result, the ink layer C ₂ is transferred to the recording medium D. This heat flow is indicated by a dashed arrow X in FIG. 1 (4). And the transparent image part
Heat accompanying light irradiation irradiated at the A ₄ are absorbed in the ink layer C _2, most of the heat, the first view associated with light irradiation irradiated to the other elsewhere (4 ) Will be reflected as indicated by the solid arrow Y. This is the end of the third step of the thermal transfer printing method.

As a result, printing is completed as shown in FIG. That is, FIG. 1 (5) shows that the printing original plate A, the heat-sensitive transfer ink sheet C, and the recording material D were irradiated with infrared rays as described above.
Is shown in a separated state, and a recording portion d of a normal image corresponding to the image portion a is formed on the recording medium D. That is, the ink is transferred from the ink layer C ₂ of the thermal transfer ink sheet C to form the recording portion d. In addition, C ₃ in the figure is an ink deficient portion formed by the ink being exhausted.

In this way, if the printing original plate A, the heat-sensitive transfer ink sheet C, and the recording medium D are superposed and irradiated with light rays such as infrared rays as flash light, clear transfer printing is completed in an instant, and extremely. Easy and speedy,
Moreover, since a fluid ink is not used, it is preferable because it does not stain the hands or clothes.

As the heat-sensitive transfer ink sheet C, in addition to those having a black ink layer, those having various ink layers such as red and blue have been put into practical use, and therefore the printing original plate A is used as a heat-sensitive transfer ink sheet of each color. If used in combination with C, multicolor printing can be done very easily and printing can be done clearly.
Good printed matter can be obtained.

[Embodiment] Next, an embodiment of the present invention in which printing is actually performed using the above-described basic principle of the present invention will be specifically described.

First, for convenience of description, the internal structure of the light source device 1 is changed to the second structure.
This will be described with reference to the drawings.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the portable device body 5 of the light source device 1 has a housing-like outer casing 6 having an opening at one end, and is vertically movable accommodated in the outer casing 6. The inner housing 7 and a light source housing case 8 are integrally attached to the opening of the inner housing 7. In this light source housing case 8, a lamp 9 (for example, a xenon lamp) that emits a flash for a predetermined time is disposed via a lamp mounting plate 8a. Protrusions 10 (see FIG. 4) for facilitating gripping are formed on both side surfaces of the light source accommodating case 8, and light from the lamp 9 to the printing sheet A-1 is formed on the inner wall thereof. A reflector 11 made of aluminum foil or the like is stretched to increase the irradiation efficiency. On the lower surface of the light source housing case 8, a transparent glass plate 12 forming a light transmitting portion is stretched. The glass plate 12 transmits the light from the lamp 9 and also functions as a holding plate for bringing the printing original plates A and the like into close contact with each other.

On the other hand, a power supply unit 14 used for driving the lamp 9 to be turned on is accommodated in the apparatus main body 5.
The power supply unit 1 is composed of a battery or a charger that can be charged by a commercial power supply. Also, the device body 5
At a predetermined position, specifically, the upper position of the inner casing 7,
A pressure sensitive switch mechanism 15 is provided which, when gripping the device body 5 and pressing the device body 5 with a pressing force of a predetermined force or more, turns on and drives the lamp 9 to light up by the power supply current from the power supply unit 14. Has been. This pressure sensitive switch mechanism 15
It is attached to the inner wall of the inner housing 7 and one spring piece 15a of a pair of spring pieces 15a and 15b formed by forming a substantially U-shaped cut portion 7a in the upper wall portion of the inner housing 7. A pressure sensitive switch 15c and a pair of contact springs 15d and 15e constituting the pressure sensitive switch 15c, and a pressing portion 15f provided on the inner wall of the outer casing 6 for performing an on / off operation. There is. The pressing portion 15f is vertically movably inserted into a guide hole 7b formed in the center of the upper wall portion of the inner casing 7, and at its tip, the outer casing 6 is prevented from coming off from the inner casing 7. A stopper 7c for fitting is fitted.

Next, using the light source device 1 having the above-described configuration, the printing sheet A
-Postcard D that is a recording body for the characters drawn on -1
The copying process in the case of the above will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 9.

First, in the first step, as shown in FIG. 2, the print sheet A-1 is set on the base so that the image portion a faces the front, and then the apparatus main body 5 is gripped and the glass thereof is held. Board
12 is a position slightly spaced from the printing original plate A, and the outer casing 6
The inner casing 7 and the inner casing 7 are pressed in a direction of compressing each other. When pressed with a predetermined force or more, the outer casing 6 moves downward while being guided by the side wall surface of the inner wall 7 against the elastic force of the pair of spring pieces 15a and 15b formed on the upper wall portion of the inner casing 7. . Then, along with the lower path of the outer casing 6, the pressing portion formed on the upper wall portion of the outer casing 6
At 15f, as shown in FIG. 3, a pair of contact springs 15d, 15
Of the e, the tip end of the contact spring 15e at the upper position is moved downward, so that the contact spring 15e and the contact 15d at the lower position come into electrical contact with each other. As a result, the pressure sensitive switch mechanism 15 is turned on and a trigger signal is applied to the lighting circuit, thereby applying a drive voltage suitable for flash lighting to the lamp 9. As a result, the lamp 9 automatically flashes, and the light passes through the glass plate 12 and is applied to the print sheet A-1. By this irradiation, only the image area a heats up to a temperature sufficiently higher than the other areas, and this thermal energy causes the image area a of the printing sheet A-1 and the metal vapor deposition layer A ₁ corresponding to the image area a according to the above-mentioned operation principle. The part and the part are cleanly removed by thermal evaporation. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, a through-hole image portion A ₄ having the same shape as the image portion a is formed in that portion. The printing original plate 4 is created through such steps. The above is the first step of the present invention.

In the first step, part of the thermal energy associated with the irradiation of the holes is absorbed by the image part a, but the other thermal energy is absorbed by the metal deposition layer corresponding to the image part a.
All will be reflected by the metal vapor deposition layer A ₁ other than the portion of A ₁ .

By the way, in the present embodiment, the outer shape of the apparatus main body 5 is made as small as possible in order to be small and lightweight and convenient for portability. Therefore, the area that can be irradiated with light at one time is small,
For example, as shown in FIG. 4, while moving the device body 5 from the P ₁ position indicated by the chain line to the P ₂ position indicated by the alternate long and two short dashes line, the lighting drive of the lamp 9 is repeated a plurality of times,
It is possible to perform light irradiation of a sufficiently large area than the area where light can be irradiated once by the thermal copying apparatus 1 of this embodiment.

Next, the ink support C ₁ faces the printing original plate A side between the printing original plate A on which the through-hole image portion A ₄ is formed according to the first official approval and the postcard D as a recording medium. Ink layer C ₂
The heat-sensitive transfer ink sheet C is arranged so as to face the postcard D (see FIG. 7). Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the light source device 1 is placed on the printing original plate A.

The above is the second step of the thermal transfer printing method. Then, after the printing original plate A, the heat-sensitive transfer ink sheet C, and the postcard D are pressed against each other, the infrared ray source is irradiated again as a flash light. As a result, as shown in FIG. The heat associated with the light irradiation is transmitted to the heat-sensitive transfer ink sheet C only through the image area A ₄ , and the light-transmitting image area A ₄ and the corresponding portion of the ink layer C ₂ of the heat-sensitive transfer ink sheet C are transferred. Be heated. As a result, the ink layer C ₂
Is transferred to the postcard D.

 This is the end of the third step of the thermal transfer printing method.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 9, all the steps of transfer printing are completed, and the recording portion d such as an address is clearly and thermally transferred to a predetermined portion of the postcard D.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the printing original plate A, the heat-sensitive transfer ink sheet C, and the postcard D, which is a recording medium, are irradiated with light rays such as infrared rays as flash light under the state of being superimposed on each other. It is extremely preferable that the clear transfer printing can be completed in an instant, the transfer printing work can be performed very easily and speedily, and the hands and clothes are not messed up.

Further, according to this embodiment, at the lower position of the printing original plate A,
Since the light irradiation can be performed in a state where the thermal transfer ink sheet C is arranged with the ink layer C ₂ facing downward (see FIG. 7), the ink layer C ₂ is transferred to the glass plate 12 by heat generation. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the glass surface from being soiled.

The heat-sensitive transfer ink sheet C may be formed into a roll and a new sheet surface may be taken out automatically or by manual operation of drawing. By doing so, it becomes suitable for continuous printing.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, when a light ray is irradiated onto a light-reflective thin film layer on which an image portion such as a character is formed, only the image portion has thermal energy associated with the light ray irradiation. Heat is generated instantly by the heat generation, and the heat evaporation effect accompanying the heat generation removes the corresponding light reflecting thin film layer portion together with the image portion, and as a result, a translucent image portion exactly the same as the image portion is formed in the trace. Since the image to be used is effectively used, it is possible to easily and speedily perform a thermal transfer of a clear image portion onto a plurality of plain papers or recording materials such as books from one printing original plate created, It is extremely convenient for transfer printing work.

Further, according to the present invention, the printing sheet, which is the material of the printing original plate, has a very simple structure of the two-layer structure of the through-hole support and the light-reflecting thin film layer. It is extremely convenient for storage management.

[Brief description of drawings]

The drawings show the present invention. FIGS. 1 (1) to (5) are views showing the basic principle of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 to 9 are specific examples of thermal transfer printing using a light source device. FIG. 1 ...... light source device 9 ...... lamp, 15 ...... pressure sensitive switch mechanism, A ...... printing plate, A-1 ...... printing sheet, A ₁ ...... metal deposition layer, A ₂ ...... translucent support, A ₄ ...... Transparent image area, C ...
… Thermal transfer ink sheet, C ₁ …… Ink support, C ₂ ……
Ink layer, D ... Postcard, a ... Image area, d ... Recording area.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (A) An image portion such as a character or a figure is formed on a light reflecting thin film layer formed on a light-transmitting support, and the light reflecting thin film layer having the image portion is formed, By irradiating a light beam and locally generating heat only in the image part by heat energy generated by the irradiation of the light beam, only the part of the light reflection thin film layer in which the image part is formed is heated. The first step of forming a printing original plate by forming the same through-hole image portion as the above-mentioned image portion on the recording medium such as plain paper by removing it by evaporation, and , The heat-sensitive ink layer formed on one surface of the heat-sensitive transfer ink sheet is disposed so as to face, and the light-transmissive support faces the printing original plate on the ink support formed on the other surface of the heat-sensitive transfer ink sheet. The second step of arranging so that In the state where the heat-sensitive thermal transfer ink sheet and the recording body are in close contact with each other, the printing original plate is irradiated with light rays again, and thermal energy generated with the light rays that have passed only the light-transmitting surface image portion. In the third step, the heat-sensitive ink layer portion corresponding to the translucent image portion is locally heated to heat-transfer print the heat-sensitive ink layer portion on the recording medium. Method. 2. The thermal transfer printing method according to claim 1, wherein the light reflection thin film layer is a metal vapor deposition layer formed by vapor depositing a metal material that thermally evaporates when heat energy of a predetermined level or more is applied. 3. A thermal energy irradiating means for irradiating thermal energy, a light reflecting thin film layer having an image portion on the surface for reflecting the heat energy radiated from said thermal energy irradiating means, and this light reflecting thin film layer are supported. The heat-sensitive transfer ink sheet having an ink layer and an ink support and a printing sheet having a light-transmissive support is provided. The image portion and the light-reflecting thin film layer portion corresponding to the image portion are removed to form the same light-transmitting image portion as the image portion at that position, and further, the light-transmitting portion on which the light-transmitting image portion is formed. The thermal transfer ink sheet is placed under the support and the recording material is placed under the thermal transfer ink sheet in close contact with each other. Heat energy is applied to the light-transmitting support from the above, and the ink layer portion corresponding to the light-transmitting image portion is heated and melted by the heat energy to thermally transfer the ink layer portion onto the recording medium. A thermal transfer printing apparatus characterized in that