JPS59167282A - Close adhesion of transfer master and object to be transferred - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain to enhance the transfer image quality in a recording system such as a laser thermal transfer process, by holding a master and an object to be transferred to the inner wall surface of a recording part support comprising a transparent hollow cylinder in a superposed state while pressing both of them from the inner side of the object to be transferred to form a desired close adhesive degree. CONSTITUTION:Modulated laser beam 2 is reflected from the mirror 5 attached to a movable stand and focused to the peripheral surface of a cylindrical rotor 7 by a condensing lens 6 to scan the entire region of a recording body in a thermal mode due to laser. On the other hand, a master 11 and an object 12 to be transferred are successively superposed along the inner side surface of the transparent peripheral wall 10 of the hollow cylinder 7 and held in an inserted state. In the next step, a bag like swelling body 13 is inserted into the cylinder and positive pressure is added from a valve 14 to swell the outer diameter of the swelling body 13 and the master 11 and the object 12 to be transferred are uniformly pressed between the peripheral wall thereof and the transparent peripheral wall 10 to closely adhere the surfaces of both of them.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Technical Field The present invention relates to a method of bringing a transfer master and a transfer target into close contact in a technique of transferring an image from a transfer master to a transfer target using heat rays.

Conventional thermal transfer recording currently uses a thermal head to print, but in the future, laser recording methods are being considered in order to reproduce high-resolution images using lines.

In recent years, research on information recording using thermal modes such as lasers has been actively conducted because lasers (1) can narrow the heat rays, thereby concentrating high x energy locally; can be done.

(2) Turn the laser on and off according to the electrical signal
It should be easy to modulate the intensity and intensity.

It has the following characteristics, and it is possible to write images according to signals directly from a computer or facsimile onto recording paper, and it is possible to make high-definition images into hard copies at high speed without using expensive intermediate films. This is because there is an advantage.

The basic aspects of the above laser recording device are (a)
A laser oscillation section, (0) a modulation section for modulating the racer in accordance with an electrical signal (2), (c) a recording section for receiving and visualizing the thermal mode of the laser, and (c) a laser on the entire surface of the recording section. It consists of a scanning section for scanning energy.

In addition, the thermal transfer recording referred to here refers to the transfer master, which is a material that is solid in Tokomasa, but can be softened, melted, or vaporized by heating and transferred to the transfer target, and is applied to the base material together with a coloring material. (hereinafter referred to as a master), superimpose it on the object to be transferred, heat it by extinguishing the energy modulated by the information from the back of the master, and apply the above material to the object to be transferred according to the quality and quantity of energy. Refers to something that is transferred and then peeled off to form a recording medium. Also, the above material f! 1- includes one in which the colorant itself does not transfer, but the coloring material softens, melts, or vaporizes and transfers.

In this case, it has been found that the degree of adhesion between the master and the transferred object is a major factor in determining the quality of the recorded image. That is, in the thermal transfer recording method, it is known that the better the degree of adhesion between the master and the object to be transferred, the better the image quality can be obtained.

In particular, when a high-definition MB image is transferred at high speed using a laser as described above, the quality of the image quality is greatly influenced by the degree of adhesion between the two.

Purpose The present invention aims to improve the quality of transferred images in a recording method in which a recording section is installed in a transparent thin-walled rotating cylinder, main scanning is performed in the circumferential direction, and a thermal transfer method using a laser is used. More specifically, the purpose is to provide an effective and simple method to improve the degree of adhesion between the master and the transferred object in the thermal transfer method based on the above method, and by this, it is possible to obtain high-definition images. This is to eliminate one of the obstacles.

For the above-mentioned purpose (-1), the inventor of the present invention has studied a method for effectively and sufficiently bringing the master and the object to be transferred into close contact with each other, and as a result, has arrived at the adoption of the method described below.

The method of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Configuration FIG. 1 schematically shows a thermal transfer recording system using a laser to which the method of the present invention is applied.
2 is a laser oscillator, 2 is a laser beam excited by the oscillator, and 3 is a driver which accepts an image reading signal (not shown) and drives an acousto-optic element 4 to modulate the laser beam 2. The modulated laser beam 2 is reflected by a mirror 5 (-) attached to a movable base, passes through a condenser lens 6, and focuses on the circumferential surface of a recording unit support (cylindrical rotating body) 7. The rotating body 7 rotates around a central axis of rotation 9 in synchronization with the main scanning cycle of the image signal by a motor 8 (2). By moving in the direction of the arrow in synchronization with the sub-scanning cycle, the heat mode by the racer covers the entire area of the recording medium.The transfer master 11 is located inside the cylindrical rotating body. It is.

Next, the method of the present invention will be explained using schematic diagrams.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the cylindrical rotating body (recording unit support) 7 of the thermal transfer recording system shown in FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along a plane including the upper axis 9 during rotation.

In both figures, reference numeral 10 denotes a hollow cylindrical wall made of a transparent thin wall, made of glass such as Pyrex glass, quartz glass, hard glass, or plastics such as Accle or polycarbonate, which allows heat rays to pass through sufficiently without loss. is preferred.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a transfer master (hereinafter referred to as master), which is formed into a notebook shape and is arranged curved along the inner surface of the circumferential wall of the hollow cylindrical wall 10.A schematic cross section of the master 11 is as shown in the fourth figure. 15 is a base material selected from materials that are smooth, have high density, and have good heat resistance, such as polyester, polypropylene, polycarbonate, and polyimide.

Plastic film such as styrene or glassine paper,
Examples include paper such as capacitor paper, metal foil, etc., and a composite film of each of the above materials. 16
The film 15 is a transfer film made of a material that is solid at room temperature and softens or melts when heated, using wax or other low-melting point substances as a binder, and mixing pigments, dyes, etc. with the film 15. As the transfer layer 16, 6
It is preferable that the laser beam is transferred to the transfer target 12 at a temperature between 0° C. and 250° C. Therefore, the laser light source should also be capable of supplying the above level of energy to the vicinity of the transfer layer through the cylindrical wall and the base material. Can be used with carbon dioxide laser, YAG laser, argon laser, helium/neon laser,
Examples include semiconductor lasers and the like.

Returning to FIGS. 2 and 3, reference numeral 12 is an object to be transferred, which has a sheet-like shape, and is curved and arranged inside the master 11 in contact with the transfer layer 16. Although there are no particular restrictions on the material of the transfer object 12, it is preferably a notebook with a smooth surface and made of a flexible material, and paper is usually used.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a bag-shaped inflatable body which is provided so as to be freely inserted into and removed from one end surface of the hollow cylindrical body 7 in the longitudinal direction. After the expansion body 13 is inflated with positive pressure using compressed air and inflated, means such as a valve 14 for isolating the internal pressure of the expansion body 13 from atmospheric pressure can be operated. The expansion body 13 must be capable of cooperating with the cylindrical body 10, with means such as a valve 14, independently of piping from a compressor or the like.

The material for forming the expanding body 13 is natural comb.

A rubber elastic film such as synthetic rubber or a flexible and elastic plastic film is used, and it expands due to internal pressure and its outer diameter increases (2), and by releasing the internal pressure, it returns to its original state. The internal pressure of the expanding body 13 is a pressure that can bring the master 11 and the transferred object 12 into sufficient contact, for example, from ``Csmmng to 760'' with respect to atmospheric pressure.
A pressure of imHg is preferred.

In other words, if the internal pressure is too low, the adhesion between the two will not be sufficient.
Moreover, if it is too large, there is a risk of damaging the transparent hollow cylinder wall 10. Therefore, for damage prevention and safety measures, consideration should be given to the thickness of the peripheral wall 10 of the hollow body 7 or the rounding of corners where stress is concentrated.

Further, the shape of the bag-like inflatable body 13 in its actual state is thinner than the inner diameter of the hollow cylindrical body 7 and slightly shorter than its length in the direction of the rotation center axis 9. 8, as mentioned above (
The hollow cylindrical body 7 is synchronized with the main scanning cycle of the two-side image signal.
It is a motor that rotates.

In the above apparatus, along the inner surface of the rinsing peripheral wall 10 of the hollow cylindrical body 7, the master 11 and the transferred body 12 are
In addition, after the transfer layer 16 of the master 11 is stacked facing the transferred object 12 side, inserted and held, the bag-like expansion body 13 is inserted in the internal longitudinal axis direction of the cylinder body 7, and then the bag-shaped expansion body 13 is inserted through the valve 14. to apply positive pressure inside the inflatable body 13 as shown in the figure, and
Outer diameter? The master 11 and the object to be transferred 12 are uniformly pressed between the inflated peripheral wall and the transparent peripheral wall 10 to bring their surfaces into close contact. As mentioned above, it is preferable that the air pressure of the tank is between 5 mmHg and 760 + nmHg relative to atmospheric pressure.

After the transfer is completed, the internal pressure of the expansion body 13 is released by opening the valve 14 to reduce its diameter, release the close contact between the master and the transferred body, and release the expansion body together with the expansion body (two liquids).
Removing the transfer body from the cylindrical body 7 1-0 Among the above, mounting of the master 11 and the transferred body 12 to the cylindrical body 7 is done by removing the expansion body 1.
Even if the transferred object 12 and the master 11 are stacked and held in this order on the circumferential surface of the third circumferential surface, and then inserted into the hollow cylindrical body 7 and positive pressure is applied to the inside of the expanding body 13, the inside of the cylindrical body 7 will not expand. body 13
This can also be done by setting and placing the master 11 and the transfer target 12 in a stacked state in the gap between the peripheral wall 10 and the outer periphery of the expander 13, and then sending positive pressure inside the expander. .

Effects With this type of thermal transfer recording means, the degree of adhesion between the master and the transferred object is a major factor in determining the quality of the image, so precision is essential for practical, high-resolution image reproduction. It is necessary to develop a means for reading high-quality information and to implement a simple and effective method for bringing the master and the object to be transferred into close contact with each other in a transfer device.

In the method of the present invention, as described above, the master and the object to be transferred are stacked and held on the inner wall surface of the recording section support made of a transparent hollow cylinder, and then pressure is applied uniformly to the entire surface from the inside of the object to be transferred. , it is simple and easy to form the desired degree of adhesion between the two (two).

Therefore, even when thermally transferring a high-resolution image using a laser, there is no risk of image deterioration due to poor setting of the recording unit assembly.

Furthermore, by performing the above method in reverse, the master and the object to be transferred with the image transferred thereon can be easily removed from the support in the thermal transfer recording apparatus.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overview of a laser-based thermal transfer recording system that implements the method of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the recording unit support of the thermal transfer recording system shown in FIG. In the top view, FIG. 4 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the transfer master. 1... Laser oscillator 2... Laser 3... Driver 4... Acousto-optic element (modulator) 5...
... Mirror 6 ... Condensing lens 7 ... Recording unit support (hollow cylindrical rotating body) 8 ... Synchronous motor
10...Transparent thin cylindrical wall 11...Transfer master 1
2... Transferred object 13... Bag-shaped expansion body 14...
・Valve 15...Base material 16...Transfer layer agent Patent attorney Makoto Kon

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A means for transferring an image from a transfer master to an object to be transferred using a thermal mode (2) A member that supports the transfer master and the object to be transferred is formed from a transparent thin cylinder, and the inner wall of the cylinder Insert the transfer master on the outside and the object to be transferred on the inside (in a double-folded state). After holding the transfer master, apply pressure evenly against the inner wall of the cylinder by applying positive pressure than atmospheric pressure from the side of the object to be transferred. A method for bringing a transfer master and a transfer target into close contact with each other, the method comprising: maintaining a predetermined degree of adhesion between the transfer master and the transfer target at least before the start of the transfer and during the transfer. (2) The means for applying pressure evenly to the inner wall of the cylinder is to insert a bag-shaped inflatable body formed of a sheet of elastic material, which is thinner than the inner diameter of the transparent thin cylinder in its normal state and approximately the same length, inside the cylinder. A patent characterized in that after the object is inserted, a positive pressure higher than atmospheric pressure is sent into the expansion body to increase the diameter of the expansion body, and the object to be transferred and the transfer master are pressed and brought into close contact with each other through a bag-like sheet. A method for bringing a transfer master and a transferred object into close contact according to claim 1. (3) After the thermal transfer is completed, the expansion body is contracted by releasing the positive pressure inside the bag-like expansion body, and the transfer master and the transferred body are released from close contact and removed. The method for bringing the transfer master and the transferred object into close contact according to item 1.