JPH09123615A - Manufacturing equipment of thermal transfer recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To manufacture a thermal transfer recording medium quickly by a method wherein a thermal transfer recording material being heated is applied in a uniform film thickness on a base material and then cured by casting light thereon. SOLUTION: A thermal transfer recording medium 1 is constructed by forming an ink layer 1b in lamination on a base material 1a and a thermal transfer recording material contains an ultraviolet-curing resin as the main component. On the occasion of manufacturing this thermal transfer medium, the thermal transfer recording material in a heating type recording material tank 25 is drawn up by driving a recording material supply roller 12, with the material made to stick on the outer peripheral surface of the roller, and it is applied on the whole surface of the base material 1a carried out from a base material supply reel 4. After the film thickness of the thermal transfer recording material is controlled to be a prescribed one by a film thickness control device 1, the thermal transfer recording material is cured by ultraviolet irradiation by an ultraviolet irradiation unit 8 so that the ink layer 1b be formed, while the material not being cured is removed by a cleaning roller 9, and the thermal transfer recording medium 1 thus finished is taken up by a ribbon reel 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording medium manufacturing apparatus which is a recording medium in a thermal transfer recording apparatus used as an output terminal of an information processing apparatus such as a word processor and a facsimile. The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording medium manufacturing apparatus which can be used a plurality of times by reproducing a used thermal transfer recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, various printers are used as output terminal devices of information processing apparatuses such as word processors, facsimile machines, computers, etc., and recording methods thereof include a thermal transfer method, an electrophotographic method, an ink jet method, and a wire dot method. Various methods have been proposed.

Among these, its quietness, low cost,
From the standpoints of miniaturization adaptability, easy operability, and high reliability, a thermal transfer method using a heating resistance element array called a thermal head has been widely used, and in recent years, its application has changed from commercial to home. It is expanding to youth and even hobby.

The thermal transfer system uses a thermal transfer paper for melting the ink of the thermal transfer recording medium by the heat of a thermal head and transferring it to recording paper made of plain paper. This thermal paper can be broadly classified into two types, a sublimation thermal transfer system that develops color by the heat of a thermal head. However, at present, the fusion thermal transfer recording system is mainly used in terms of cost.

FIG. 6 shows the basic principle of the above-mentioned fusion type thermal transfer system and the basic construction of a thermal transfer recording medium used in this fusion type thermal transfer system. As shown in FIG. The thermal transfer recording medium 1, which is also called an ink sheet, has a structure in which an ink layer is laminated on the base material 1a.

In the thermal transfer recording medium of the thermal transfer system up to that point, in principle, once the transfer recording is performed, the ink at the portion corresponding to the transferred image comes off and becomes defective, so that the thermal transfer recording medium used once for the transfer recording. The recording medium must be discarded after one-time use, and there is a problem that the cost becomes significantly high considering the running cost required for printing.

Therefore, a thermal transfer recording medium which can be used a plurality of times by a simple structure can be used for a thermal transfer recording medium which has been disposable after one use, and the running cost in printing can be greatly reduced. In order to provide a conventional thermal transfer recording medium, a manufacturing apparatus for this thermal transfer recording medium has been researched and developed in recent years.

A thermal transfer recording material containing a photopolymerizable monomer or photopolymerizable polymer, a colorant, and a low melting point resin or wax is coated on a substrate or on the ink defect portion of the thermal transfer recording medium used for recording operation. By irradiating light, especially ultraviolet rays, a polymerization reaction is caused to cure the thermal transfer recording material to form or reproduce a solid ink layer.

[0009]

Generally, UV curing with an opaque coloring pigment is carried out when no pigment is added, though it varies depending on the type, shape and surface condition of the pigment as a colorant contained in the thermal transfer recording material. Compared with this, there is a problem that the curing speed becomes slow because the behavior of ultraviolet rays changes.

In general, ultraviolet curable ink is a composition having a high viscosity, so that radicals are hard to move, and the addition of a thermoplastic material such as wax to form a thermal transfer ink exacerbates this problem and results in As a result, the curing speed becomes slow.

Therefore, there is a method of increasing the intensity of ultraviolet rays as a means of completely curing in a short time. However, this requires a high power lamp. Along with that, there arises a problem of heat dissipation due to the increase in cost and the increase in size of the lamp.

As another means for completely curing in a short time,
There is a method of radical polymerization in an inert gas such as nitrogen. However, the use of an inert atmosphere increases the cost, so that its practical use is limited.

Further, since the surface curing rate is slow, the photopolymerizable monomer remains in the surface layer in an uncured state, which causes a problem of volatilization of the photopolymerizable monomer when annealed and a problem of stain when thermally transferred.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and when manufacturing a thermal transfer recording medium or reproducing a used thermal transfer recording medium, an ink layer is formed by ultraviolet curing with a simple structure. It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for manufacturing a thermal transfer recording medium which has a higher speed by increasing the speed.

[0015]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the apparatus for producing a thermal transfer recording medium according to claim 1 of the present invention comprises a means for heating a thermal transfer recording material and a base for the thermal transfer recording material. A means for applying a uniform film thickness to the material,
Means for irradiating light to cure the thermal transfer recording material.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a thermal transfer recording medium manufacturing apparatus, wherein the thermal transfer recording material is heated, the thermal transfer recording material is applied to a substrate so as to have a uniform film thickness, and the applied thermal transfer is applied. It is characterized in that it has means for bringing the surface of the recording material into an anaerobic atmosphere and means for irradiating light in the anaerobic atmosphere to cure the thermal transfer recording material.

[0017]

[Operation] By heating the thermal transfer recording material,
Generally, the viscosity of UV-curable ink (thermal transfer recording material), which has a high viscosity, decreases, so that the radicals, which are UV-curing reaction factors, become easy to move, that is, the chain reaction proceeds one after another. It will be faster than without heating.

Further, in an anaerobic atmosphere, the oxygen inhibition, which hinders the radical reaction, disappears, so that the curing speed becomes faster than in an aerobic atmosphere. The thermal transfer recording material is heated,
UV curing under an anaerobic atmosphere synergistically exhibits each effect, and the curing speed is further increased.

[0019]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
This will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, an embodiment of a thermal transfer recording material and a thermal transfer recording medium using the same will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1D, the thermal transfer recording medium 1
Is an ink layer 1 made of a thermal transfer recording material on a substrate 1a.
Ink layer 1
The thermal transfer recording material constituting b contains, as a main component, an ultraviolet curable resin that is cured by irradiating ultraviolet rays as light, and may contain an ultraviolet absorber, a colorant, and other trace additives in an amount of about 0 to 10%. It is considered to be a blended composition.

The UV-curable resin is mainly composed of three components of a photopolymerizable prepolymer, a photopolymerizable monomer and a photoinitiator, and the photopolymerizable prepolymer in this is usually 0 to 99 weight. It is an important component that is added in the range of parts and forms the skeleton of the resin.

The photopolymerizable polymer is a polymer which is further polymerized by a photochemical action, and is sometimes called a photopolymerizable unsaturated polymer or a photopolymerizable oligomer.

The photopolymerizable monomer plays a role of a diluent for the above-mentioned photopolymerizable prepolymer, and is usually added in an amount of 0 to 99 parts by weight to ensure practical workability of the ink and to irradiate with ultraviolet rays. Sometimes, by the action of the terminal functional group, it participates in the polymerization reaction itself. This polymerization reactive monomer is a monofunctional monomer depending on the number of functional groups,
It can be classified as a polyfunctional monomer. In particular, the polyfunctional monomer plays a role of a cross-linking agent that forms a bridge between the polymers.

The photoinitiator absorbs ultraviolet rays and triggers the polymerization reaction.

In the recording material for thermal transfer forming the ink layer 1b in this embodiment, in addition to the above-mentioned three components,
Further, additives such as a sensitizer, a pigment, a filler, a leveling agent, a viscoelasticity modifier and the like are blended as necessary.

Next, an embodiment of the apparatus for manufacturing the thermal transfer recording medium shown in FIG. 2 will be described.

A substrate supply reel 4 for supplying the substrate 1a of the thermal transfer recording medium and a ribbon reel 5 for holding the finished thermal transfer recording medium 1 having an ink layer formed thereon are arranged at both ends in the manufacturing apparatus. There is. The thermal transfer recording medium 1 is configured to be transported at a constant speed by a driving mechanism (not shown). As the material of the base film of the thermal transfer recording medium, it is desirable to use polyimide or polyamide having high heat resistance and mechanical abrasion resistance so as to withstand long-term use.

A heating type recording material tank 25 is provided in the manufacturing apparatus.
The heating type recording material tank 25 is filled with the liquid thermal transfer recording material described above. Further, the heating type recording material tank 25 is provided with a recording material supply roller 12 which is rotationally driven by a driving means (not shown), and the surface of the substrate 1a is brought into pressure contact with the recording material supply roller 12. There is.

In the vicinity of the recording material supply roller 12, there is provided a film thickness control device 7 comprising a blade for making the film thickness of the thermal transfer recording material applied to the substrate 1a by the recording material supply roller 12 uniform. There is.

An ultraviolet irradiator 8 for curing the thermal transfer recording material applied to the thermal transfer recording medium 1 is arranged in the vicinity of the film thickness control device 7 so as to face the substrate 1a of the thermal transfer recording medium 1. It is arranged.

Next, the operation of the manufacturing apparatus of the above embodiment will be described.

When the recording material supply roller 12 is rotationally driven, the thermal transfer recording material in the heating type recording material tank 25 is attached to the outer peripheral surface and pumped up. The heated thermal transfer recording material in the heating type recording material tank 25, which has been pumped up by the recording material supply roller 12, is applied to the entire surface of the base material 1a carried out from the base material supply reel 4. After the film thickness of the thermal transfer recording material applied at a position facing the film thickness control device 7 is controlled to be constant, ultraviolet rays are radiated from the base material side of the thermal transfer recording medium by the ultraviolet irradiator 8 to apply the thermal transfer recording material. The ink layer is formed by curing the recording material. Excessive material not cured by ultraviolet irradiation is removed by the cleaning roller 9, and the finished thermal transfer recording medium 1 is conveyed to the ribbon reel 5 and wound up.

Next, the steps of the apparatus for manufacturing the thermal transfer recording medium described above will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 1A, the coating ink 2 which is a recording material for thermal transfer is heated in a heating type recording material tank 25, and the heated coating ink 2 is coated on the entire surface of the substrate 1a by a roller or the like. Work. After that, the coating ink 2 is moved by moving the film thickness control device 7 such as a knife or a blade.
The film thickness is made uniform (FIG. 1 (B)).

In the step shown in FIG. 1C, the ultraviolet irradiator 8 is applied from the side of the substrate 1a of the thermal transfer recording medium 1 on which the coating ink 2 having a predetermined temperature or higher is applied, that is, from the back side.
To irradiate the entire surface with ultraviolet rays. As a light source of the ultraviolet irradiator 8, a low-pressure or high-pressure mercury lamp, mercury xenon, a metal halide lamp or the like that radiates ultraviolet rays is used. Application ink 2 applied by this ultraviolet irradiation
Is irradiated with ultraviolet rays that have passed through the light-transmissive base material 1a, a polymerization reaction occurs and is cured, and the ink layer 1b is formed.

In the cleaning process of FIG. 1D,
Excess coating ink that has not reacted and cured in the ultraviolet irradiation step shown in FIG. 1C is wiped off and removed by the cleaning roller 9, and the manufacturing process ends.

In the heating method of the thermal transfer recording material described so far, the recording material tank is of a heating type and is heated before the thermal transfer recording material is applied to the substrate. In the sense that the thermal transfer recording material is in a heated state at the time of ultraviolet irradiation, it is not limited to the method of heating the thermal transfer recording material by the heating type recording material tank 25 described above. For example, the thermal transfer recording material is applied to the base material. After that, there is a method using a heating device such as applying hot air from the ink surface or passing it over a planar heating element.

Further, as described with reference to FIG. 1C, the entire surface of the substrate 1a of the thermal transfer recording medium 1 coated with the coating ink 2 is irradiated with ultraviolet rays by the ultraviolet ray irradiator 8 to form the ink layer 1b. In addition to the method, there is also a method of irradiating the ultraviolet rays from the ink layer 1b side of the thermal transfer recording medium 1. According to this method, all of the applied thermal transfer recording material can be cured. Therefore, the cleaning process for removing the excess thermal transfer recording material is unnecessary.

According to the comparative measurement of the curing rate of the above-mentioned thermal transfer recording material by heating, it is as follows.

A colorant is added to an ultraviolet curable ink containing neopentyl glycol diacrylate (65 parts by weight) and hydroxypropyl methacrylate (30 parts by weight) as an ultraviolet curable resin and an acetophenone compound (5 parts by weight) as a photoreaction initiator. As carbon black (20 parts by weight) and as a thermoplastic agent paraffin wax (30
(Part by weight) was added to prepare an ink as a thermal transfer recording material.

The prepared ink was placed in a heatable ink reservoir and heated on the surface of a Teijin Co., Ltd. 3.5 μm thick polyethylene terephthalate film that had been back-treated with a Toagosei Kagaku Co., Ltd. Cymac US350 / methyl ethyl ketone solution. After the ink was gravure coated, the entire surface was irradiated with ultraviolet rays having a central wavelength of 365 nm and 4 mW / cm @ 2 from the back surface of PET to cure the ink.

The difference in the curing speed is that when the thermal transfer recording material is cured at room temperature (25 ° C.) in 5 minutes, the thermal transfer recording material is 50 ° C. for 3 minutes and the thermal transfer recording material is 1.5 ° C. for 1.5 minutes.
Min, the thermal transfer recording material was 100 ° C. for 30 seconds.

Next, as another embodiment of the manufacturing apparatus, there is one that uses both the apparatus for heating the thermal transfer recording material and the anaerobic apparatus described above.

The process of the apparatus for manufacturing the thermal transfer recording medium, which is equipped with the apparatus for heating the thermal transfer recording material and the anaerobic apparatus, will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 3A, the coating ink 2 which is a recording material for thermal transfer is coated on the entire surface of the base material 1a from the recording material tank 18 by a roller or the like. After that, the film thickness of the coating ink 2 is made uniform by moving the film thickness control device 7 such as a knife or a blade (FIG. 3 (B)).

In FIG. 3C, the applied transfer ink 2 is heated by the thermal transfer recording medium 1 passing over the heating device 26 which is a sheet heating element, for example.

In the step shown in FIG. 3D, the ink layer 1b of the thermal transfer recording medium 1 on which the coating ink 2 is applied over the entire surface.
From the side, that is, the front side, the entire surface is irradiated with ultraviolet rays by the ultraviolet ray irradiator 8. At the time of this ultraviolet irradiation, the thermal transfer recording medium 1
The surface side of is isolated from the air atmosphere by the anaerobic device 27. By the irradiation of ultraviolet rays, the applied ink 2 is irradiated with ultraviolet rays that have passed through the ultraviolet-transmissive anaerobic device 27, so that a polymerization reaction occurs and the ink is cured to form the ink layer 1b.

The above-mentioned thermal transfer recording material is heated,
Further, according to the comparative measurement of the curing rate using the anaerobic device, the following is obtained.

A colorant is added to an ultraviolet curable ink containing neopentyl glycol diacrylate (65 parts by weight) and hydroxypropyl methacrylate (30 parts by weight) as an ultraviolet curable resin and an acetophenone compound (5 parts by weight) as a photoreaction initiator. As carbon black (20 parts by weight) and as a thermoplastic agent paraffin wax (30
(Part by weight) was added to prepare an ink as a thermal transfer recording material.

The prepared ink was put into a liquid-flowing pan and back-treated with Cymac US350 / methyl ethyl ketone solution manufactured by Toagosei Co., Ltd.
μm Polyethylene terephthalate film Ink is gravure coated on the film surface, then the coated film is fixed on a sheet heating element heated to a high temperature, and a 10 mm thick plate-shaped polyester resin is attached to the coated surface. Wavelength 3
The ink was cured by irradiating the entire surface with ultraviolet rays of 65 nm and 4 mW / cm @ 2.

The difference in the curing rate is that the thermal transfer recording material is cured at room temperature (25 ° C.) in 5 minutes, the thermal transfer recording material is in an anaerobic atmosphere at 50 ° C. for 40 seconds, and the thermal transfer recording material is in an anaerobic atmosphere. Was 75 ° C. for 25 seconds, and the thermal transfer recording material under anaerobic atmosphere was 100 ° C. for 10 seconds.

As described above, the curing of the thermal transfer recording material is quick only by heating, but the curing speed can be further increased by irradiating the ultraviolet rays in the anaerobic atmosphere.

The above-described manufacturing method and manufacturing apparatus for a thermal transfer recording medium can be applied to a reproducing apparatus for a used thermal transfer recording medium.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram showing an embodiment of a reproducing apparatus for a thermal transfer recording medium.

Usually, in the ribbon cassette 11 accommodating the thermal transfer recording medium 1 such as an ink ribbon, the thermal transfer recording medium 1 is guided by a plurality of guide rollers so that the thermal transfer recording medium 1 can be stably run in the ribbon cassette 11. The traveling is controlled, and a recessed portion for positioning a thermal head (not shown) at the time of recording operation is provided at a portion indicated by A in the drawing of the ribbon cassette 11.

The reproducing device 24 of this embodiment is provided with a mounting portion 22 for mounting the ribbon cassette 11 containing the thermal transfer recording medium which has been used once and needs to be reproduced. When the ribbon cassette 11 is placed on the placing portion 22, the tension head 13 is installed in a portion facing the recess A of the placed ribbon cassette 11,
The tension head 13 is moved up and down in FIG. 5 by a driving means (not shown).
On the other hand, in FIG. 5, a heating type recording material tank 25 is arranged immediately below the recess A of the ribbon cassette 11 placed on the placing section 22, and this heating type recording material tank 25 is provided.
A liquid thermal transfer recording material is filled therein and heated. Further, in the heating type recording material tank 25, a recording material supply roller 12 rotatably driven by a driving means (not shown) is arranged, and the recording material supply roller is rotatably driven to heat the recording material tank. The thermal transfer recording material in 25 is attached to the outer peripheral surface and pumped up.

Then, the ribbon cassette 11 is placed on the mounting portion 22.
When the tension transfer head is attached to the tension head 13 and a reproduction signal is input, the tension head 13 is moved to a position B apart from the recess A of the ribbon cassette 11 by several millimeters to several centimeters, so that the thermal transfer recording medium 1 is caught by the tension head 13. In this state, the ribbon cassette 11 is pulled out from below, and the surface thereof is brought into pressure contact with the recording material supply roller 12. At this time, the base material of the thermal transfer recording medium 1 contacts the tension head 13, and the ink layer formed by curing the recording material formed on the thermal transfer recording medium 1 contacts the recording material supply roller 12. Further, in the vicinity of the recording material supply roller, a film thickness control device 7 including a blade for uniformly controlling the film thickness of the thermal transfer recording material applied to the thermal transfer recording medium 1 by the recording material supply roller 12 is provided. ing.

Further, the tension head 1 is provided on both sides of the intermediate portion of the moving path of the tension head 13.
A guide roller 17 and a cleaning roller 9 are arranged at right and left intervals so as not to interfere with the thermal transfer recording medium 1 pulled out from the ribbon cassette 11 in a state of being caught by the sheet 3. Furthermore, these two rollers 1
At a portion where a virtual line segment connecting 7 and 9 intersects with the movement path of the tension head 13, a traveling unit 14 which can be moved forward and backward by moving in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface by a driving unit (not shown). It is arranged. When the traveling unit 14 is located at the advance position on the same vertical plane as the rollers 17 and 9, both rollers 1
A pair of tension rollers 19 and 19 elastically pressed against one of 7 and 9 are provided so as to be movable back and forth.

The thermal transfer recording medium 1 is designed to run in the direction of the arrow in the figure. Therefore, the thermal transfer recording medium 1 contacts the recording material supply roller 12 and then the cleaning roller 9. Has become.

Further, the ultraviolet irradiator 8 for curing the thermal transfer recording material applied to the thermal transfer recording medium 1 is arranged so as to face the substrate to the thermal transfer recording medium 1 between the recording material supply roller 12 and the cleaning roller 9. An anaerobic device 27 is arranged inside the thermal transfer recording medium 1 and on the opposite side with the base material sandwiched therebetween. On the downstream side of the cleaning roller 9 in the running direction of the thermal transfer recording medium 1, a heating device 10 for annealing the thermal transfer recording material on the thermal transfer recording medium 1 faces the thermal transfer recording material on the thermal transfer recording medium 1. It is arranged to.

Next, the operation of the reproducing apparatus described above will be described.

The ribbon cassette 11 is mounted on the mounting portion 22, the tension head 13 is moved from A to B in the figure, the thermal transfer recording medium 1 is hooked on the tension head 13 and pulled out from the ribbon cassette 11, and the base material The surface on the opposite side is pressed against the recording material supply roller 12. Next, the traveling unit 14 at the retracted position is moved in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface and stopped at the advanced position, and then the pair of tension rollers 19 and 19 supported by the traveling unit 14 are connected to the guide roller 17 and the cleaning roller. 9, the thermal transfer recording medium is sandwiched between the tension roller 19 and the guide roller 17 and between the tension roller 19 and the cleaning roller 9, and the preparation of the running system of the thermal transfer recording medium 1 is completed.

In this state, the take-up bobbin 15 of the ribbon cassette 11 is rotationally driven by a driving means (not shown) provided in the reproducing device 24, whereby the thermal transfer recording medium 1
Runs in the direction indicated by arrow C in the figure. As the thermal transfer recording medium 1 travels, the recording material supply roller 12
Thus, the heated thermal transfer recording material is applied over the entire surface of the thermal transfer recording medium 1, and the film thickness control device 7 uniformly controls the film thickness of the thermal transfer recording material applied on the thermal transfer recording medium 1. In the anaerobic atmosphere by the anaerobic device 27, by irradiating ultraviolet rays from the back side of the thermal transfer recording medium 1 by the ultraviolet irradiator 8, only the thermal transfer recording material applied to the ink defective portion is cured to become the ink defective portion. Regenerate the ink layer on the exposed part.

After that, of the thermal transfer recording material applied to the surface of the thermal transfer recording medium 1, an extra material which is applied to a portion other than the ink deficient portion, that is, a place where the ink layer remains and is not cured by the above-mentioned ultraviolet irradiation. Are removed by the cleaning roller 9. After that, a series of reproducing steps of the thermal transfer recording medium 1 is performed by eliminating the boundary portion between the ink layer on the thermal transfer recording medium reproduced by the annealing process by the heating device 10 and the ink layer remaining on the thermal transfer recording medium 1. Is completed.

Next, the steps of the reproducing apparatus described above will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 5 (A), a thermal transfer recording medium 1 such as a used ink ribbon or ink sheet has an ink layer 1b left on the substrate 1a and not subjected to printing. Substrate 1 between the ink layers 1b, 1b
An ink defect portion 1c is formed on the surface a because the ink layer is transferred and recorded on the recording paper.

In order to recycle a used ink ribbon as shown in FIG. 5 (A) to a state in which it can be reused, the coating ink 2 which is the recording material for thermal transfer having the above-mentioned constitution is heated in the heating type recording material tank 25. After being heated, the heated recording material for thermal transfer is coated on the entire surface of the thermal transfer recording medium 1 including the ink defect portion 1c by a roller or the like.

Then, the film thickness control device 7 such as a knife or a blade is moved to make the film thickness of the coating ink 2 uniform (FIG. 5B). Here, the coating ink 2 to be coated
Is ideal if the film thickness is the same as the film thickness of the ink deficient portion 1c, but even if the coating amount is excessive as in the present embodiment, the untransferred ink layer 1b remaining on the substrate 1a. Even if the ink comes to adhere to the surface of the above, there is no particular problem because of the cleaning step.

In the step shown in FIG. 5C, the substrate 1a side of the thermal transfer recording medium 1 on which the coating ink 2 has been applied,
That is, the entire surface is irradiated with ultraviolet rays by the ultraviolet ray irradiator 8 from the back side. At the time of this ultraviolet ray irradiation, the surface side of the thermal transfer recording medium 1 is isolated from the air atmosphere by the anaerobic device 27.

Even with this irradiation of ultraviolet rays, the untransferred residual ink layer 1b has already been cured and therefore does not change at all, and the coating ink 2 applied onto the untransferred ink layer 1b is irradiated. Ink layer 1 where ultraviolet rays have not been transferred
Since it is blocked by b and does not penetrate to the surface, it does not cause a polymerization reaction by ultraviolet rays and maintains a liquid state.
On the other hand, the applied ink 2 applied to the ink deficient portion 1c is irradiated with the ultraviolet rays that have passed through the light-transmissive base material 1a, so that a polymerization reaction occurs and the ink is cured to be reproduced as the ink layer 2a. In this way, it is possible to only cure the coating ink 2 existing in the ink defect portion 1c.

In the cleaning process of FIG. 5D,
Excessive uncured ink 2b that has not reacted and cured in the ultraviolet irradiation step shown in FIG. 5C is wiped off and removed by the cleaning roller 9, whereby the regeneration step for one cycle is completed.

Especially when reproducing the thermal transfer recording medium 1 for high-definition printing, an annealing step (see FIG.
(E)) can be further added. The boundary portion 3 between the remaining ink layer 1b and the newly regenerated ink layer 2a is further repaired, and heating annealing treatment is performed from the surface side of the ink layer 1b using a heating device 10 such as a halogen lamp. By further adding an annealing step, the ink layer in the boundary portion 3 is made compatible with each other so that the boundary portion 3 disappears. As means for performing this heat annealing treatment, in addition to the non-contact heating method using the halogen lamp light source described above, a contact heating method using a thermal head or the like can be used.

This annealing step is effective as a means to be used together when extremely high-definition printing of a photographic image or the like is required, and can be omitted in the case of normal character printing or the like.

In the above embodiment, the thermal transfer recording medium having a single ink layer has been described as an example, but the thermal transfer recording of a laminated structure such as a multi-time ink ribbon can be performed by adjusting the irradiation conditions of ultraviolet rays. It goes without saying that it is also applicable to the reproduction of the medium.

[0076]

EFFECT OF THE INVENTION Device for heating a thermal transfer recording material, when the thermal transfer recording material is cured by irradiation of ultraviolet rays,
By including the device for setting the anaerobic atmosphere, it is possible to provide the device for manufacturing the thermal transfer recording medium at high speed. Further, according to the present invention, a manufacturing apparatus can be manufactured by a simple method and at low cost. Further, it can be applied to a reproducing apparatus for a thermal transfer recording medium.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an example of a manufacturing method for achieving a thermal transfer recording medium manufacturing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an apparatus for manufacturing a thermal transfer recording medium of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view showing an embodiment of a manufacturing method for achieving the thermal transfer recording medium manufacturing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a reproducing apparatus to which the thermal transfer recording medium manufacturing apparatus of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of a reproducing method for achieving a reproducing device to which the thermal transfer recording medium manufacturing apparatus of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining the configuration and recording principle of a conventional heat-melting type ink ribbon.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Thermal Transfer Recording Medium 1a Base Material 1b Ink Layer 1c Ink Defect Area 1e Lubricant Layer 2 Coating Ink 2a Cured Ink Area 2b Uncured Ink Area 3 Boundary Area 4 Base Material Supply Reel 5 Ribbon Reel 7 Film Thickness Control Device 8 Ultraviolet Irradiator 9 Cleaning Roller 10 Heating Device 11 Ribbon Cassette 12 Recording Material Supply Roller 13 Tension Head 14 Traveling Unit 15 Winding Bobbin 17 Guide Roller 18 Recording Material Tank 19 Tension Roller 22 Placement Part 24 Reproducing Device 25 Heating Type Recording Material Tank 26 Heating Device 27 Anaerobic device

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A thermal transfer comprising: a means for heating the thermal transfer recording material; a means for applying the thermal transfer recording material to a substrate so as to have a uniform film thickness; and a means for irradiating light to cure the thermal transfer recording material. Recording medium manufacturing device. 2. A means for heating the thermal transfer recording material, a means for applying the thermal transfer recording material to a base material so as to have a uniform film thickness, and a means for bringing the surface of the applied thermal transfer recording material into an anaerobic atmosphere. And a device for irradiating light in an anaerobic atmosphere to cure the thermal transfer recording material, and an apparatus for manufacturing a thermal transfer recording medium.