JPS60190369A - Transfer type color printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a high-speed printing while simplifying the construction eliminating the need for returning a recording paper by providing a recording paper circulating route to make the same section thereof face a heat transfer head several times. CONSTITUTION:When a transfer sheet 7 divided in a plurality of colors along the length to print, a recording paper 1 after printed with a part of the first color of the transfer sheet 7 moves around through a recording paper circulating route comprising a route switching guide 16, an internal paper guide 5 and an external paper guide 6 and then, is fed in front of the heat transfer head 2 again. Then, printing is performed by making the second and third colors move around in the same way. When the printing is continued, a route switching guide 16 is turned to the paper discharge position to discharge the paper.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Technical Summary The present invention relates to conveyance of recording paper in a color thermal transfer recording apparatus.

<Prior art> In the color thermal transfer recording method, in which each color is sequentially transferred onto a thermal transfer medium having multiple colors using a heat generating means and a desired color is formed by a combination of the colors, the transfer is performed several times at the same point on the recording paper by some means. Conventionally, this same point repeat transfer method involves (1) winding the recording paper 1 around a drum 19 having an outer circumference equal to or longer than the length of the recording paper 1, as shown in FIG. 2o clamping and rotating the drum 19 in the same direction a number of times according to the number of colors on the thermal transfer medium 7, or (2) as shown in FIG. A method has been devised in which the next color is printed by reversing the feed roller 4, and then the reversal is performed (vs -1) times, assuming the number of colors is omitted, to obtain a color record. However, in method 1), drum 1
9 is expensive, the device is large, the length of the recording paper 1 is limited by the outer periphery of the drum 19, and a clamping mechanism 20 for the recording paper 1 is required. Since the recording paper 1 is reversed, there is a large loss in terms of time and mechanism.
Because of the forward and reverse rotation, there is a drawback that the upper and lower ends of the recording paper 1 become unprintable areas for at least a length of 21.22 in FIG. 5.

OBJECTIVES> An object of the present invention is to eliminate these drawbacks and provide a method for conveying recording paper in a color thermal transfer recording device that has a simple structure and is versatile.

Composition> Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a recording paper, 2 is a heating pad that is pressed against a cylindrical platen 4 by a pressing spring 3, 5 is an inner paper guide, and 6 is an outer paper sheet. A guide, 7 is a thermal transfer sheet wound around a supply roll 8 and taken up on a take-up roll 9), 10111 is a presser p-ra, 12, 13. Feed roller, 16 is path switching guide, 17.18
are a paper detector and a sheet color detector, respectively.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the structure of the thermal transfer sheet 7, in which yellow Y, magenta M, and cyan C of heat-melting ink are sequentially arranged at equal intervals on a base material with a length corresponding to the recording paper.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the operation.

Next, the operation will be explained. First, when the recording paper 1 is fed one by one to the apparatus by a feeding means (not shown) as shown by arrow A, the drive belt 15 is driven in the direction of the arrow by a driving means (also not shown), and the paper feeding rollers 12, 13, . 14 and platen 4 start rotating at the same peripheral speed. At this time, as shown in FIG.
is separated from the platen 4 by means not shown. The leading edge of the recording paper 1 sent by the paper feed rollers 12 and 13 is detected by the paper detector 17, and then the recording paper 1 is sent to the heating head 2.
After being fed a little further, the heating head 2 and the presser roller 10,
11 is pressed to the state shown in FIG. 1 to start printing. At this time, the thermal transfer sheet 7 is selected by the sheet color detector 18 so that the starting edge of yellow Y comes into contact with the heat generating head 2. As printing progresses, the thermal transfer sheet 7 is taken up by the take-up roll 9, and the recording paper 1 is also sent by the paper feed roller 14. Before reaching the UCC fiber paper 1 route switching guide 16, the route switching guide 16 is directed in the direction of arrow 2 by a means not shown, and the recording paper 1 is rotated by an inner paper guide 5 and an outer paper guide 6. The paper advances in the direction of the arrow along the path and is again fed by the paper feed roller 12. The thus formed closed path for conveying the recording paper 1 is slightly longer than the recording paper 1. When the transfer of yellow Y is completed, the heat generating head 2 and the presser rollers 10, 11 are again separated from the platen 4 as shown in FIG. Shortly after the end of the recording paper 1 passes through the heating head 2, the starting edge of the recording paper 1, which has circulated through the closed path, is detected by the paper detector 17, and then comes to the printable position again, and the sheet color is detected. The starting edge of magenta M is selected in the printer 18, and is subsequently printed in exactly the same manner as yellow Y, and then cyan C is further printed. However, when printing cyan 0, the path switching guide 16 moves in the direction of the arrow) as the arrow advances and is eventually ejected, completing one sheet of color recording.

In the above embodiments, a structure was described in which a transfer sheet having heat-melting ink was used on the base material and the heat-generating head was brought into contact with the ink to melt the ink. Needless to say, the present invention can also be applied to a structure in which the head is formed with a current-carrying electrode.

<Effects> As explained above, according to the present invention, the advantage is that the low-cost configuration of forming a circular path is fast enough that there is no need to return the recording paper, and the area on the recording paper that cannot be printed can be reduced. There is. In addition, the outer paper guide prevents foreign matter, dirt, etc. from entering. Furthermore, for paper having a length longer than the closed path, the path switching guide is set in the state shown by the arrow ho in FIG. It is also possible to do the same.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the structure of a thermal transfer sheet, Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the present invention, and Figs. 4 and 5 are conventional paper conveyance diagrams. It is an explanatory diagram of a method. 1 is a recording paper, 2 is a heat generating head, 5 is an inner paper guide, 6 is an outer paper guide, and 7 is a thermal transfer sheet. Applicant Kinsha Shoho Seikosha Co., Ltd. Agent Patent Attorney Tsutomu Mogami (Te) Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] It has a transfer sheet divided into a plurality of colors in the longitudinal direction, and a print head for selectively melting the ink on the transfer sheet and transferring the desired ink to the opposing recording paper by sandwiching the transfer sheet. In a transfer type color printer that performs color recording by overlapping a plurality of colors by making the same transfer position of a recording paper face the print head multiple times, A transfer color printer characterized by having a circular path.