JPH1086420A - Surface smoothing method and device for body to be thermal-transferred by thermal transfer recording method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To quicken a start-up time and make preheating unnecessary by a method wherein smoothing is effected employing a glass-made member having a heat generating body as a heating and pressurizing member for applying heat and pressure on the surface of a body to be thermal-transferred. SOLUTION: A cylindrical glass roller 1, having a circular section and accommodating a heat generating body, is provided annularly with electrodes 11a, 11b so as to rim the inside of both end openings of the cylindrical glass tube while a linear heat generating body 12, connecting the electrodes 11a, 11b at both ends of the glass tube, is provided while being brought into contact with the inner wall of the glass tube so as to describe a spiral shape. When a voltage is applied to the electrodes 11a, 11b at both ends of the glass tube, the heat generating body 12 generates heat and the glass tube is heated. In this case, the heat generating body 12 is fixed or semi-fixed to the inner wall of the roller whereby the heat generating body 12 is rotated integrally with the roller. The cylindrical glass roller 1, accommodating the heat generating body provided on the inner wall of the hollow glass tube, is employed whereby the heat capacity of the heat generating body can be reduced remarkably owing to effect of volume reduction by the hollow cylindrical glass tube.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for smoothing a surface of an image-formed surface after forming an image on a heat-receiving member by a thermal transfer recording method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a thermal transfer recording system, a thermal transfer sheet in which a color material layer is provided on one side of a base sheet, and a heat transfer object in which a receiving layer is provided as necessary, are combined with a heating device such as a thermal head. This is a method in which an image is recorded by applying pressure between platen rollers to selectively generate heat in a heat generating portion of a heating device according to image information, and transferring a color material of a color material layer of a thermal transfer sheet to a heat transfer target. . Among them, at present, the heat-sensitive melting transfer method and the heat-sensitive sublimation transfer method are practically and widely used. FIG. 4 shows a conceptual diagram of a thermal transfer recording apparatus that performs a general thermal transfer recording method. A printing unit including a thermal head 71 and a platen roller 72, and a thermal transfer sheet 73
Then, the color material is transferred to the heat transfer target 2 to form an image. The thermal transfer sheet 73 is supplied and conveyed from a supply roll 74, passes through a printing unit, and is wound up by a take-up roll 75. The heat transfer member 2 such as an image receiving paper is also conveyed by a conveying unit (not shown), guided between the thermal head 71 and the platen roller 72, and discharged.

[0003] In either method, a thermal transfer sheet of three colors of yellow, magenta, and cyan or four colors obtained by adding black thereto is used, and the three or four colors are superimposed and recorded on a heat-receiving member. It is also possible to form a multi-color or color image. By the way, sufficient gloss cannot be obtained on the printing surface after printing by the thermal head.
This is because the heating resistor of the thermal head repeatedly pressurizes the heated transfer body while increasing and decreasing the temperature in response to the image signal, and squeezes the heated transfer body. Is formed, and light is irregularly reflected. Therefore, as one of means for improving the appearance of an image formed on the heat transfer target, there is a method of giving a gloss by smoothing a printing surface. In order to make the surface glossy, a surface having a smooth surface may be pressed to apply pressure and heat to smooth out the unevenness of the surface and flatten the surface. As the heating and pressing member, a heat roller, a thermal head, a line heater, or the like is used. The smoothing process is performed by passing a heat-transferred member on which an image is formed, after printing, between a thermal head or a line heater and a platen roller or between heat rollers while heating and pressing.
The heat roller is a cylindrical or columnar heating and pressing member made of metal or a rubber or the like wound on the surface as necessary. When using a heat roller, a heated roller (heat roller) and a flat support plate, a heated roller (heat roller) and an unheated roller, two heated rollers (heat roller), Is generally used. Also, for heating the heat roller, a method of raising the temperature of the roller surface with an infrared lamp or the like,
As a cylindrical roller, there is a method of heating the inner surface with a halogen lamp or the like.

[0004]

However, the conventional surface smoothing method has the following problems. First,
FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram of a surface smoothing method using a heat roller. In the apparatus according to the method shown in the figure, the heat transfer target 2 (upper side of each drawing is a printing surface) is composed of a heat roller 76 and a pressing roller 7.
7 or the heat roller 76a while being conveyed while being heated and pressed, and subjected to a smoothing process. When using a heat roller, it takes time to reach a predetermined temperature, so it is necessary to preheat, and it takes time to start up the apparatus, and it is necessary to maintain the temperature even when not in use, which increases power consumption and There were also safety issues. When using a rubber-coated roller for the heat roller, the roller surface is not smooth,
It was necessary to insert a sheet having a smooth surface between the heat roller and the printing surface.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram of a surface smoothing method using a line heater. In the apparatus according to the method shown in the drawing, the heat transfer member 2 is nipped and conveyed by a line heater 78 and a pressing roller 77, and the line heater is heated to apply heat and pressure to smooth the surface of the heat transfer member. is there.
At this time, if the transfer of the heat transfer target is microscopically intermittent,
Fine irregularities are generated on the surface of the transfer object. In this case, it is necessary to cover the image forming surface of the heat transfer target body with a sheet having a smooth surface, pass through a line heater, and then peel off. Next, FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram of a surface smoothing method using a line heater and an endless belt having a smooth surface. In the apparatus according to the method shown in the figure, the transfer medium 2 is sandwiched and conveyed between a line heater 78 and a pressing roller 77 via an endless belt 79, and the line heater generates heat to apply heat and pressure to apply heat and pressure to the surface of the transfer medium. Is smoothed. In this method, a line heater is used. However, in order to prevent the occurrence of fine irregularities on the surface of the heat transfer target which occurs when the transfer of the heat transfer target is microscopically intermittent, the method shown in FIG. There is no need to peel off after passing through the line heater while covering the surface of the heat transfer target with the heat treatment. The endless belt 6 having a smooth surface on the side in contact with the heat transfer member serves as a reusable smooth sheet. However, the structure of the device becomes complicated.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a surface smoothing method and apparatus for imparting gloss to the surface of a heat transfer member on which an image has been formed by a thermal transfer recording method such as a thermal sublimation transfer method or a thermal melt transfer method. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus which can shorten the start-up time, and thus can eliminate the need for preheating, consume less power, and can perform the smoothing process safely.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, in the method and apparatus for smoothing a surface of the present invention, a method for smoothing a surface to give a gloss by applying heat and pressure to the surface of a heat transfer member on which an image is formed by a thermal transfer recording method. , A smoothing process is performed using a glass member having a heating element as a heating and pressing member for applying heat and pressure. As a result, the heat capacity was reduced and the startup time was shortened. As a glass member with a heating element, a hollow cylindrical roller with a heating element in the cavity is used to reduce the volume, reduce the heat capacity, shorten the startup time, and preheat by rapid heating response. Was unnecessary.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The surface smoothing method and apparatus of the present invention will be described below in detail. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a glass member having a heating element as a heating / pressing member provided in a smoothing unit, which heats a heat transfer target and presses a printing surface on which an image of the heat transfer target is formed. is there. The member made of gasula having a heating element in FIG. 1 is an example of a cylindrical glass roller with a built-in heating element as a hollow cylindrical glass roller having a heating element in a cavity. FIG. 2 is a schematic device configuration diagram of one embodiment of the surface smoothing device of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of another embodiment of the surface smoothing apparatus of the present invention.

First, a glass member having a heating element used in the present invention will be described. The glass member is a heating and pressurizing member for smoothing unevenness on the surface of the heat transfer member on which an image is formed by heating the heat transfer member and pressing the surface of the heat transfer member. In the present invention, by using glass as the heating and pressing member, compared to the conventionally used metal,
It has the following advantages. First, compared to metal, the density and specific heat of glass can be reduced, and the heat capacity can be reduced even for glass of the same volume. For example, when the quartz glass is compared with the metal aluminum, the heat capacity is about 65%.
%. As a result, the heating and pressurizing member is rapidly heated. Further, since the thermal conductivity of glass is smaller than that of metal, heat loss due to radiation can be reduced. In addition, since heat radiation is small, unevenness of the surface of the heating element provided by the heating and pressing member (due to the pattern) is less likely to occur, the temperature of the heating surface can be made uniform, and the gloss can be prevented from being partially uneven. There is also. For example, the above quartz glass has a thermal conductivity of 1/200 with respect to aluminum. In addition, since surface unevenness is unlikely to occur, when a heating element is provided in a pattern on the back surface side of the heating surface of the heating and pressing member, the distance between the heating surface and the heating element installation surface can be reduced. That is, the thickness can be reduced. Further, if the thickness can be reduced, the heat capacity can be further reduced by reducing the volume of the heating and pressing member. Glasses that can be used include heat-resistant glass, quartz glass, and other various glasses.

The shape of the heating and pressurizing member made of a glass member having a heating element is a member made of glass having a heating element and capable of heating the heat transfer member and pressing the surface of the heat transfer member. Although not particularly limited, a particularly preferable embodiment is a hollow cylindrical roller having a heating element in a cavity. One example is a cylindrical glass roller 1 with a built-in heating element having a circular cross section shown in FIG. In the cylindrical glass roller 1 with a built-in heating element shown in the figure, electrodes 11a and 11b are provided in a loop so as to border the insides of the openings at both ends of a cylindrical glass tube. This is a configuration in which a linear heating element 12 connecting to the glass tube 11b is spirally provided in contact with the inner wall of the glass tube. When voltage is supplied to the electrodes 11a and 11b at both ends, the heating element 12
Generates heat and heats the glass tube. Further, the heating element 12 is fixed or semi-fixed to the inner wall of the roller, and rotates integrally with the roller.

The gas glass member having a heating element is a cylindrical glass roller 1 with a heating element provided with a heating element on the inner wall of an internally hollow glass tube. can do. For example,
For a cylinder with a diameter of 30 mm, an outer diameter of 30 mm and a thickness of 1 m
The volume of the tube of m is reduced to 13%, and the heat capacity can be reduced to 13% for the same material, and to about 8% if a glass tube is used for an aluminum cylinder. As a result, rapid heating can be performed until the temperature reaches the predetermined temperature, the start-up time is shortened, and the preheating itself can be eliminated. In addition, by rotating the roller to be a cylindrical roller, the surface to be heat-transferred can be continuously and smoothly subjected to the surface smoothing process while being transported and moved. The thickness of the glass tube is about 0.5 to 5 mm, preferably 1 to 3 m.
m.

The heating element may be provided on the inner wall of the glass tube by, for example, spirally winding a nichrome wire so as to be in contact with the inner wall, or forming the heating element on the inner wall surface in a pattern or the entire surface by metal deposition or metal plating. May be provided directly, or a molded metal heating element may be inserted into the tube and provided so as to be in contact with the inner wall surface. The heating element can be heated even if it is provided inside the glass tube without contacting the inner wall, but it is preferable that the heating element be in contact with the glass material in terms of heat conduction.

The shape of the glass member having a heating element used in the present invention may be a glass having a function of smoothing the surface of an image-formed heat transfer member by heating the heat transfer member and pressing the surface thereof. If it is a heating and pressing member made of
For example, it may be flat. That is, it is a hot stamper. For example, a heating and pressing member having a heating element on the back side of a heating surface of a thin glass plate material is used. As other shapes, for example, a U shape, an arc shape, a semicircle shape, an elliptic cylinder shape, and the like may be used as the shape according to the heating and pressing method at the time of transfer of the receiving layer. The heat pressing operation of transfer by the shape of the heating / pressing member is a continuous rotation operation in a cylindrical shape such as a roller, an intermittent operation by up / down in a flat plate shape, a U shape, an arc shape, a semicircle shape, and an elliptic cylinder. In the shape, the image can be transferred in a pendulum-like reciprocating intermittent operation.

The heat-pressing surface of the glass member having the heating element is coated with a heat-resistant resin or an inorganic compound having releasability, if necessary, to provide a slipperiness.
The surface smoothness and the like may be appropriately adjusted.

Next, a method and an apparatus for smoothing a surface of the present invention, in which a glass member having a heating element as described above is provided as a heating and pressurizing member of a smoothing means, are shown in conceptual views shown in FIGS. It will be described with reference to FIG. The apparatus according to the method shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is an example in which a glass cylindrical roller 1 with a built-in heating element as illustrated in FIG. 1 is used as a glass member having a heating element.

The apparatus according to the method shown in the conceptual diagram of FIG. 2 includes at least a cylindrical glass roller 1 with a built-in heating element and a pressing roller 3 as smoothing means of a smoothing processing section. This is a configuration in which the heat roller 76 is replaced with the cylindrical glass roller 1 with a built-in heating element in the conventional configuration shown in FIG. The transfer member 2 on which an image is formed is a cylindrical glass roller 1 with a built-in heating element.
Is smoothed while being conveyed while being sandwiched between the pressure roller 3 and the pressure roller 3. The transfer object 2 is conveyed between the cylindrical glass roller 1 with a built-in heating element and the pressing roller 3 by a conveying unit (not shown). When the heat transfer medium is a cut sheet, the conveying unit (not shown) supplies the sheet one by one from a sheet feeding cassette by a sheet feeding roller or the like, conveys the sheet to a smoothing unit, and discharges the sheet to the sheet discharging unit after the smoothing process. Heating element built-in cylindrical glass roller 1 and pressing roller 3
Either or both of them are connected to a rotary drive source, are driven and rotated, and convey while pressing the transfer target. Further, one or both of the cylindrical glass roller 1 and the pressing roller 3 with the built-in heating element are pressed to press the transfer target. The pressing roller 3 as a pressing member of the smoothing means
Is a metal roller such as a rubber-coated iron. By such a mechanism, the cylindrical glass roller 1 with the built-in heating element and the pressing roller 3
With this, the printing surface of the heat transfer target 2 on which the image is formed is pressed,
Further, by heating the printing surface of the heat-receiving member with the cylindrical glass roller 1 with the built-in heating element, the surface of the heat-receiving member on which the image is formed can be made smooth and glossy.

By using the cylindrical glass roller 1 with a built-in heating element as a heating / pressing member, preheating is unnecessary and quick heating response enables smoothing processing from a power-on state or a standby state (when the cylindrical glass roller with a built-in heating element is turned off). The start-up time until the start is short, and the smoothing process with a short waiting time can be performed.

Next, the apparatus according to the method shown in FIG. 3 includes at least a cylindrical glass roller 1 with a built-in heating element, a pressing roller 3, an endless belt 4 having a smooth outer surface, and a peeling roller 5 as smoothing means of the smoothing processing section. . The surface on which the image of the transfer target 2 is formed is heated and pressed via an endless belt 4 instead of being heated and pressed directly in contact with the cylindrical glass roller 1 with a built-in heating element. Further, the endless belt 4 is brought into close contact with the surface of the heat transfer member 2 after being heated and pressurized by the cylindrical glass roller 1 with the built-in heating element by the peeling roller 5 provided downstream of the cylindrical glass roller 1 with the built-in heating element. Then, after passing through the peeling roller 5, it moves away from the surface of the heat transfer target 2. The endless belt 4 is a resin sheet or a metal sheet. The outer surface of the endless belt 4 is coated with a heat-resistant resin or an inorganic compound having releasability, if necessary, so that the releasability and surface smoothness are obtained. The properties and the like are appropriately adjusted. In this case, since the endless belt 4 is in contact with the heat transfer target 2,
The surface of the cylindrical glass roller 1 with the built-in heating element does not need to be smooth in order to give gloss. Don't slip with the endless belt. On the inner surface of the endless belt 4 and the outer surface of the cylindrical glass roller 1 with a built-in heating element, to prevent slippage,
If necessary, a heat-resistant resin or an inorganic compound can be coated, and the friction coefficient, surface smoothness, and the like can be appropriately adjusted.

Incidentally, the heat transfer target 2 is, as in the case of FIG.
The sheet is conveyed between the endless belt 4 and the pressing roller 3 by a conveying means (not shown). When the heat transfer medium is a cut sheet, the conveying unit (not shown) supplies the sheet one by one from a sheet feeding cassette by a sheet feeding roller or the like, conveys the sheet to a smoothing unit, and discharges the sheet to the sheet discharging unit after the smoothing process. Further, one or both of the cylindrical glass roller 1 and the peeling roller 5 with the built-in heating element are connected to a rotary drive source and driven to rotate.
Is rotationally transferred. The pressing roller can be driven or rotated freely. Further, one or both of the cylindrical glass roller 1 and the pressing roller 3 with the built-in heating element are pressed to press the transfer target. Press roller 3 as press member
Is a metal roller such as a rubber-coated iron.

By such a mechanism, the cylindrical glass roller 1 with a built-in heating element and the heat transfer target 2 on which an image is formed are provided.
After sandwiching the endless belt 4 having a smooth surface and applying heat and pressure between the cylindrical glass roller 1 with a built-in heating element and the pressing roller 3 to smooth the surface of the heat transfer target 2, the endless belt 4 and the heat transfer target for a while Then, the endless belt 4 is peeled off from the surface of the heat transfer member 2 by the peeling roller 5 after being transported while being kept in close contact with the surface. Although the method using the endless belt is also the conventional method shown in FIG. 7 described above, the endless belt 79 in FIG.
Therefore, the endless belt 79 may be peeled off from the transfer medium 2 immediately after being heated and pressed by the line heater 78. However, with the method and apparatus of the present invention shown in FIG.
The endless belt 4 is used together with the peeling roller 5, and the timing at which the endless belt 4 is peeled off from the heat transfer target body 2 is determined at the position of the peeling roller 5 after a lapse of a certain period of time after being heated and pressed by the cylindrical glass roller 1 with a built-in heating element. This is done after being transported to close contact. During this time, the surface temperature of the heated transfer object 2 decreases, so that the surface portion of the heat transfer object may adhere to the endless belt side when peeling in an extremely heated state. It is possible to prevent a phenomenon that the surface becomes rough and gloss cannot be obtained.

In the method and the apparatus shown in FIG. 3, as in the case shown in FIG.
This eliminates the need for preheating and allows quick heating response, so that the startup time from the power-on or standby state (with the heating element built-in cylindrical glass roller heating off) to the start of smoothing processing is short, and smoothing processing with a short waiting time is possible. Become. Further, since the endless belt provided with the peeling roller is provided, a cooling time can be provided, and a smoothing process can be performed even on a heat-transferring body requiring a higher temperature than the case shown in FIG.

In FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, a pressing roller is used as a pressing member for pressing the transfer medium between the heating and pressing member and the pressing member. However, the shape of the pressing member is not particularly limited.
In addition to the cylindrical shape, the shape may be a cylindrical shape, a flat plate shape, a U-shape, an arc shape, or an elliptical shape. The combination of the heating and pressing member and the pressing member is not particularly limited. For example, the heating and pressing member has a cylindrical shape such as a cylindrical glass roller with a built-in heating element, the pressing member has a flat plate shape, and both the heating and pressing member and the pressing member have a flat plate shape. Shape and the like. When the endless belt is used, the flat pressing member moves in parallel with the movement of the endless belt.

The heat-receiving member which can be treated by the surface smoothing method and apparatus of the present invention is a conventionally known heat-receiving member on which an image is formed by a heat-sensitive sublimation transfer method or a heat-sensitive fusion transfer method. It is not something to be done. It is arbitrary, such as cut sheet paper, a continuous sheet, or a plate material.

[0024]

The present invention will be specifically described below with reference to examples and comparative examples.

(Embodiment) Using a thermal transfer recording apparatus as shown in FIG. 4, an image of a sublimation transfer recording system was provided on a thermal transfer medium. The width of the heat transfer target is 152 mm, and the width is 1795
An image of pixels × length 1172 pixels is converted to an A4 width (2
10 mm) thin film type thermal head (average resistance value about 33
00Ω), applied voltage 16.0 V, applied cycle 6 m
Printing was performed at a resolution of 300 dpi under s / line conditions.
As the thermal transfer sheet, a sheet in which conventionally known yellow, magenta, and cyan color material layers were provided in a plane-sequential manner was used. Also,
The heat transfer target is a conventional image receiving paper ( Mitsubishi Electric Co., Ltd., CP
-2000) was used. Then, the heat transfer member on which the image was formed was subjected to a smoothing process by a surface smoothing device shown in FIG. The glass member having a heating element as the heating / pressing member used is a cylindrical glass roller incorporating a heating element as shown in FIG. The glass tube has a glass thickness of 1 mm and an outer diameter of 30
mm, the length is 300 mm, and the outer surface of the roller is a smooth surface. The surface temperature of the cylindrical glass roller with a built-in heating element was set to 130 ° C, and the transfer speed of the transferred body was 10 m.
m / sec. Assuming that the power supplied to the heating element was 1500 W, the time required for the cylindrical glass roller with the built-in heating element to reach the set temperature was about 10 seconds. After the smoothing process, the surface of the heat-transferred member became smooth, and a glossy image could be obtained. Gloss at 45 ° before treatment (JIS Z-874
1) was improved to about 61.2, and after the treatment was improved to about 78.5.

(Comparative Example) The same heat transfer member as that used in Example 1 was subjected to a surface smoothing process in the same manner except that a heat roller having a configuration as shown in FIG. 6 was used. The heat roller used was a heat roller in which the surface of an iron core was covered with rubber, the outer diameter was 30 mm, the rubber thickness was 3 mm, and the length was 30.
0 mm. Heating of the heat roller is a method of radiantly heating the roller surface by an infrared lamp. In addition, since the surface of the heat roller was not sufficiently smooth, the surface of the heat transfer target was covered with a 25 μm-thick polyethylene terephthalate film, passed through the heat roller and the pressing roller, and then the polyethylene terephthalate film was peeled off. A smooth surface was obtained on the heat transfer target. After the treatment, the surface of the heat transfer member became smooth, and a glossy image was obtained. The gloss at 45 ° after the treatment was about 78.5.
However, when the surface temperature was set to 150 ° C., it took about 10 minutes to reach the set temperature.

[0027]

According to the surface smoothing method and apparatus of the present invention, when the surface of the heat-transferred member on which an image is formed is subjected to surface smoothing treatment for giving gloss by applying heat and pressure, the surface of the heat-transferable member is treated. Since a member having a small heat capacity is used for the heating / pressing member for heating and pressing the member, the startup time at the time of heating the member is short. As a result, preheating is unnecessary, the power consumption of the apparatus is small, the heating section of the apparatus does not become abnormally high, and the surface smoothing process can be performed safely.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing one embodiment of a glass member having a heating element (a cylindrical glass roller incorporating a heating element) used in the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram of one embodiment of a surface smoothing method and apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of another embodiment of the surface smoothing method and apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram of a general thermal transfer recording apparatus.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a conventional surface smoothing method using a heat roller.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional surface smoothing method using a line heater.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional surface smoothing method using a line heater and an endless belt.

[Explanation of symbols]

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Glass member having heating element (cylindrical glass roller with built-in heating element) 11 a, 11 b Electrode 12 Heating element 2 Heat transfer target 3 Press roller 4 Endless belt 5 Release roller 71 Thermal head 72 Platen roller 73 Thermal transfer sheet 74 Supply roll 75 rolls Take-up rolls 76, 76a Heat roller 77 Press roller 78 Line heater 79 Endless belt 100 Surface smoothing device

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A surface smoothing method for applying a heat and a pressure to a surface of an object to be transferred on which an image has been formed by a thermal transfer recording method to provide a glossy surface. A surface smoothing method for performing a smoothing process using a glass member having a body. 2. The surface smoothing method according to claim 1, wherein the glass member having a heating element is a hollow cylindrical roller having a heating element in a cavity. 3. A transfer means for transferring a heat transfer member on which an image is formed by a thermal transfer recording method, and a smoothing process for applying heat and pressure to apply gloss to the surface of the heat transfer member on which the image is formed. A smoothing means, wherein the smoothing means includes a glass member having a heating element as a heating / pressing member for heating and pressing the transfer target. 4. The surface smoothing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the glass member having the heating element is a hollow cylindrical roller having a heating element in a cavity.