JPH11115228A - Ink transfer printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ink transfer printer capable of dispensing with holes on a film. SOLUTION: In an ink transfer printer, a thermal head 3 and a film 2 are disposed to be opposed to each other with a spacer 8 therebetween so that a space for holding ink can be provided therebetween. One end of the film 3 is pressed against the spacer 8, a portion between the one end of the film 2 and spacer 8 is closed and a recording paper P is brought into intimate contact with a surface of the one end of the film 2 at the opposite side of the thermal head 3, thereby holding the ink. The ink held in the space is heated by a heating element 35. The heated ink bleeds from a gap between the one end of the film 2 and the spacer 8 to be transferred to the recording paper P.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink transfer printer for transferring liquid ink to recording paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a printer for transferring ink onto recording paper such as plain paper, there has been known an ink jet printer which sprays ink as fine particles from nozzles onto recording paper. However, such an ink jet printer requires a certain gap between the nozzle and the recording paper, and thus has a drawback that the ink ejected from the nozzle scatters over a wide range, which is a problem in improving the resolution. It is an obstacle. In addition, if the inner diameter of the nozzle is too large, the resolution is reduced, and if it is too small, clogging is likely to occur. . Furthermore, since it is difficult to form a line head by arranging a plurality of nozzles in one direction, there is a problem that the printing speed is low.

Accordingly, the present applicant has arranged a film having a predetermined through hole and a thermal head so as to face each other to hold ink between the two, and to adhere recording paper to the opposite side of the thermal head with the film interposed therebetween. A so-called ink transfer printer has been proposed in which the ink heated by the thermal head is transmitted through a film and transferred to a recording sheet (Japanese Patent Application No. 9-96548).

[0004]

However, in such an ink transfer printer, there is a problem in that the film manufacturing process is complicated because a through hole must be formed in the film.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide an ink transfer printer that does not require punching through a film.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an ink transfer printer according to the present invention comprises a thermal head having a heating element and an elastic film, and a space for holding ink between the two. By opposing the spacer with a spacer and pressing one edge of the film against the spacer, the one edge and the spacer are brought into close contact with each other, and the recording paper is brought into close contact with the surface of the one edge opposite to the thermal head. The ink heated by the heating element leaks out from a gap between one end edge of the film and the spacer, and is transferred to recording paper.

As described above, if the ink heated by the heating element leaks out from the gap between one end edge of the film and the spacer and is transferred to the recording paper, it is not necessary to form a through hole in the film. That is, the manufacture of the ink transfer printer is simplified accordingly.

In the ink transfer printer according to the present invention, a thermal head having a heating element and a film are disposed so as to face each other so that a space for holding ink is formed between the two, and one edge of the film is supported by the thermal head. By pressing against the surface of the substrate, the one end edge and the contact surface are brought into close contact with each other, and the recording paper is brought into close contact with the one end edge on the surface opposite to the thermal head, so that the ink heated by the heating element is used as the film. May be soaked out from the gap between the one end edge of the support substrate and the support substrate and transferred to recording paper.

The above-described thermal head can be configured as a thermal line head in which heating elements are arranged in one direction. By forming the one end edge in parallel with the arrangement direction of the heating elements and sequentially transporting the recording paper in a direction orthogonal to the arrangement direction of the heating elements, a two-dimensional ink image is formed on the recording paper. Can be.

[0010]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a basic structure of an ink transfer printer according to an embodiment. The ink transfer printer includes a thermal head 3 in which a plurality of heating elements 35 are arranged in a direction orthogonal to the paper surface, and a film 2 bonded to the thermal head 3 via a spacer 8. A gap of about 0.1 mm is provided between the thermal head 3 and the film 2.

The spacer 8 and the support substrate 33 of the thermal head 3 are made of a material that does not allow ink to pass through, and the area surrounded by the spacer 8, the support substrate 33 and the film 2 becomes the ink space 1 for holding the ink. . On the left side of the ink space 1 in the figure, an ink container 10 for replenishing the ink space 1 with ink is provided. The ink in the ink container 10 is drawn into the ink space 1 by a capillary phenomenon through a communication hole 85 formed in the spacer 8. Note that the film 2 and the heating element 35 of the thermal head 3 are slightly separated or in contact with each other.

Above the film 2, there is provided a platen roller 4 for bringing the recording paper P into close contact with the upper surface of the film 2. The platen roller 4 is a so-called rubber roller, and is arranged so that its axial direction matches the arrangement direction of the heating elements 35 of the thermal head 3. When the platen roller 4 rotates, traction acts between the platen roller 4 and the recording paper P, and the recording paper P is transported in the direction of the arrow in the figure.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a portion excluding the platen roller 4 of the ink transfer printer. Spacer 8
Is a thin plate that surrounds the heating elements 35 arranged in a line from all sides, and the ink space 1 includes all the heating elements 35.
Is housed. The film 2 is stuck on the spacer 8 at three edges except for the right front edge 22 (hereinafter referred to as the front edge 22) in the drawing. The three edges except the front edge 22 of the spacer 8 can be formed of an adhesive instead of a plate.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are schematic diagrams showing the image forming principle of the ink transfer printer. In the normal state of FIG. 3A, the front edge 22 of the film 2 is
By pressing from above, the spacer 8
In close contact with the upper surface of the In this state, the ink does not seep out of the ink space 1. When the heating element 35a corresponding to the image to be printed generates heat, the ink is locally heated and vaporized / expanded (FIG. 3B), and a local pressure is generated in the ink by the bubble pressure.

As described above, the film 2 is locally elastically deformed by the bubble pressure generated in the ink. This causes the ink to elastically deform the front edge 22 of the film 2,
The gap between the front edge 22 and the upper surface of the spacer 8 is expanded. That is, as shown in FIG.
Only the front edge 22a of the film near "a" is deformed, and the ink passes through the gap between the front edge 22a and the spacer 8. The ink transmitted through the gap between the film 2 and the front edge 22a is
The recording paper P (FIG. 3) which is in close contact with the upper surface of the film 2
(B)). After the transfer, the ink is cooled with the stop of the heat generation of the heating element 35, and the leading edge 22 of the film 2 is cooled.
Returns to the original state (FIG. 3A).

Thus, the heating of the heating element 35 of the thermal head 3 is controlled based on the desired print information, and the rotation of the platen roller 4 is controlled so that the recording paper P is sequentially conveyed. Can be formed.

As described above, according to the ink transfer printer of the first embodiment, the ink heated by the heating element 35 pushes open between the front edge 22 of the film 2 and the spacer 8 to penetrate and record. Since it is transferred to the paper P, it is not necessary to form a through hole in the film 2. That is, the manufacture of the printer becomes simpler.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 5 shows a modification of the ink transfer printer according to the second embodiment. In the second embodiment, the front edge 22 of the film 2 pressed by the platen roller 4 is in direct contact with the upper surface of the support substrate 33 of the thermal head 3 (instead of the spacer 8). That is, when the heating element 35 generates heat, the ink in the ink space 1 oozes out of the gap between the front edge 22 of the film 2 and the upper surface of the support substrate 33 and is transferred to the recording paper P. As described above, the ink transfer printer of the second embodiment can also form an ink image similar to that of the first embodiment.

[0019]

As described above, according to the ink transfer printer of the present invention, the ink heated by the heating element oozes out of the gap between the edge of the film and the spacer and is transferred to the recording paper. There is no need to drill a through hole at the same time. That is, the manufacture of the ink transfer printer is simplified accordingly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a basic configuration of an ink transfer printer according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a main part of the ink transfer printer of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating image formation by the ink transfer printer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating image formation by the ink transfer printer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view illustrating a basic configuration of an ink transfer printer according to a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Film 3 Thermal Head 4 Platen Roller 8 Spacer 10 Ink Container 22 Front Edge (One Edge) 33 Supporting Board 35 Heating Element

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A thermal head having a heating element and an elastic film are opposed to each other via a spacer so as to form a space for holding ink between them, and one edge of the film is pressed against the spacer. The one end edge is brought into close contact with the spacer, and the recording paper is brought into close contact with the surface of the one end edge opposite to the thermal head, whereby the ink held in the space is locally heated by the heating element. An ink transfer printer configured to transfer the heated ink to a recording sheet through a gap between the one end edge of the film and the spacer. 2. A thermal head having a heating element and an elastic film are disposed so as to face each other so that a space for holding ink is formed between the two. By pressing, the one edge and the contact surface are brought into close contact with each other, and the recording paper is brought into close contact with the surface of the one edge opposite to the thermal head, so that the ink held in the space is heated by the heating element. An ink transfer printer configured to locally heat and transfer the heated ink to recording paper through a gap between the one end edge of the film and the support substrate. 3. The thermal head is a line head in which heating elements are arranged in one direction, and the one edge is an edge parallel to the arrangement direction of the heating elements. 3. The ink transfer printer according to 2. 4. The recording medium according to claim 3, wherein a two-dimensional ink image is formed on the recording paper by sequentially transporting the recording paper in a direction orthogonal to the arrangement direction of the heating elements. Ink transfer printer. 5. A printing apparatus, further comprising: a platen roller disposed in parallel with an arrangement direction of the heating elements, wherein the platen roller causes recording paper to come into close contact with the film and presses and biases the one edge of the film. The ink transfer printer according to claim 3, wherein: 6. The ink transfer printer according to claim 5, wherein the recording paper is conveyed by rotating the platen roller.