JPS6031986A - Thermal transfer type recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable to record in multiple colors, by a method wherein an inked sheet is provided in a sheet form the shape of which is maintained at peripheral parts by a harder material, while a predetermined transferring position of the sheet with respect to a thermal head is detected by a sensor, and a transferring action is effected. CONSTITUTION:The inked sheet 2 is produced in a sheet form, with harder members 4 provided at peripheral parts thereof and a position detection marker (a) provided at a corner part thereof. The sheet form inked sheet 2 contained in a cassette is let out, and when it comes to the predetermined transferring position with respect to the thermal head 8, the marker (a) is detected by the sensor 5, a roller 13 is moved upward to the head 8 side, the inked sheet 2 and a recording paper 7 are synchronously fed by rotating shafts 11, 12, and printing in monocolor is conducted. Then, the pressing by the roller 13 is released, the shafts 11, 12 are reversely rotated to return the recording paper 7 to its initial transferring position, the inked paper 2 is replaced by another inked paper supplied from another cassette, and transferring is repeated, whereby recording in multiple colors can be performed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording apparatus in which a thermal head selectively heats an ink paper according to an image signal and transfers ink from the ink paper to a recording paper.゛In the above-mentioned thermal transfer recording device, conventionally, a tape-shaped paper wound into a roll has been used as the ink paper. Therefore, in order to record any color with a monochrome recording device, The tape-like ink paper had to be replaced each time, which was troublesome.

On the other hand, with a multicolor recording device, by setting tape-shaped ink paper in three colors of yellow, magenta, and cyan, it is possible to record any color without changing the ink paper, or even improve black reproducibility. In some cases, a black tape-like ink paper is set in order to place importance on the image quality, but in order to perform such multicolor recording, it is necessary to equip three or four thermal heads, which increases the size of the entire device and increases the total amount of heat generated. However, since the dog was a dog, special heat dissipation measures had to be taken.

-Alternatively, an apparatus has been proposed in which a single thermal head is used by sequentially and repeatedly applying different surrounding colors, including the above three colors and black in addition, to a tape-like ink paper. However, in this case, there is a disadvantage that many unused color portions of the monochromatic recording are completely wasted. The present invention aims to provide a recording device which is useful in terms of use and can overcome all of the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks through simple technical improvements.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.
The figure shows a principle diagram of a multicolor thermal transfer recording device, and FIG. 2 shows a thermal transfer section. In the figure, l, . . . are cassette cases containing ink papers 2 of different colors, and the lowest ink paper 2 can be taken out at will by a roller 3.

The ink paper 2 is, as shown in FIG.
It is equipped with a hard member 4 made of paper, synthetic resin, etc., which is harder than that, around its periphery. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4 (a),
It is joined to one side of the frame-shaped hard member 4, or as shown in FIG. It has a sheet-like shape. Markers a for position detection by a sensor 5, which will be described later, are attached to the corners of the hard member 4.

Now, markers b and c of different colors are attached to the front end surface of each of the cassette cases l in order for the sensor 17 to detect the color of the ink paper 2 housed therein.

The markers b and c are made of, for example, a combination of white and black.
The color of the sheet-shaped ink paper 2 is detected. When using black ink paper 2, a combination in which one side is black and the other side C is white may be used.

Next, reference numeral 6 denotes a conveying device consisting of a plurality of pairs of rollers for conveying the sheet-like ink paper 2, and in the middle of the conveyance path, the sheet-like ink paper 2 is selectively heated according to the image signal. One thermal head 8 that transfers the ink from the ink paper 2 onto the recording paper 7 and the sensor 5 are provided.

The sensor 5 has a function of detecting a predetermined transfer position of the sheet-like ink paper 2 relative to the thermal head 8 based on the marker a, and operating the thermal head 8 for transfer based on the detection result. be.

The recording paper 7 is in the form of a roll wound around a knotted sleeve 9, and the sleeve 9 and a winding roller 10
, 10, and
The sleeve 9 and the rollers 210 and 10 are both attached to shafts 11 and 12 which can be switched between forward and reverse directions.O 13 is a roller for winding the recording paper 7, and is connected to the thermal head 8 by sandwiching the ink paper conveyance path. is provided on the opposite side, and changes its position to the thermal head 8 side only when transferring the ink of the sheet-like ink paper 2 to the recording paper 7, and the row 213 and the thermal head 8 transfer the ink sheet-like paper 2 and the recording paper 7. The paper 7 is pressed. That is, it is provided so as to move to the position shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 1 except during the transfer.

14 is a case where the sheet-like ink paper 2 is collected after use.

Next, to explain the operation, when the sheet-like ink paper 2 in the upper cassette case l is fed out and conveyed by the transfer switch operation, the fed out ink paper 2
is detected by the sensor 17, and when the ink paper 2 reaches a predetermined transfer position relative to the thermal head 8, the sensor 5 detects this and simultaneously moves the roller 13 toward the thermal head 8. This presses the ink paper 2 and the recording paper 7 together, and the shafts 11 and 12 rotate forward to transport the ink paper 2 and the recording paper 7 synchronously. The ink paper 2 is selectively heated in accordance with the detected color and image signal by the ink paper 17, and the ink on the ink paper 2 is transferred to the recording paper 7.

This completes the monochromatic recording, therefore,
By simply setting a cassette case l containing sheet-like ink paper 2 of any color, any monochrome recording can be easily performed.

Then, the clamping pressure by the row 213 is released, and the shaft 11
, 12 are reversely rotated 1 to rewind the recording paper 7 to its original transfer position, and by repeating the transfer using the paper 2 in the middle and lower cassette cases 1, a multicolor composite of three colors is produced. Color recording can be performed.

Of course, it is also possible to record in any two colors.
Alternatively, multicolor recording with excellent black reproducibility can be performed by replacing the cassette case 1 with a black ink paper 2 or by adding a setting mechanism dedicated to that case.

In Figure 1g1, the setting mechanism for the cassette case L is shown as 3.
Although the setting mechanism is shown in the figure, it may be possible to use only one setting mechanism, or instead, provide a manual feeding section for the sheet-like ink paper 2, and perform multicolor recording by switching the supply of the ink paper 2. Furthermore, as shown in phantom lines in FIG. 1, a manual feeding section 15 for the sheet-like ink paper 2 may be provided.

Furthermore, it may be possible to use the recording paper 7 stored in the cassette case.

Next, another embodiment of the sheet-like ink paper 2 is shown in FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b). The one shown in the same figure (A) has a rack-shaped part 4a on one side of the frame-like hard member 4, and the one shown in the same figure (B) has a rack-like part 4a on one side edge of the hard member 4. It is equipped with rack-shaped portions 4b, and is characterized in that the sheet-shaped ink paper 2 can be fed reliably by providing a drive pinion 16 that engages with these rack-shaped portions 4aj4b in the middle of the ink paper conveyance path. There is.

As explained above, the thermal transfer recording device according to the present invention has
The ink paper is formed into a sheet whose shape is maintained at the periphery by a relatively hard member, and one thermal head is installed in the conveyance path of the sheet of ink paper, and a thermal head for the sheet of ink paper is provided. The present invention is characterized by further comprising a sensor that detects a predetermined transfer position with respect to the thermal head and activates the transfer operation of the thermal head.

According to the above-mentioned characteristic configuration, not only can arbitrary single-color recording be easily performed with the recording color easily changed, but also no ink paper is wasted by sequentially supplying multiple ink papers of the necessary colors. It was possible to record in multiple colors using a single thermal head without having to use paper, and by simply making the ink paper into a sheet-like sheet with a shape-retaining edge, it was possible to eliminate all of the conventional drawbacks. Ta.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show embodiments of the present invention, and Fig. 1 is a principle diagram of a multicolor thermal transfer recording device, Fig. #82 is a perspective view of the thermal transfer section, and Fig. 3
The figures are perspective views of sheet-like ink paper of various colors, Figures 4 (a) and (b) are partial cross-sectional views of sheet-like ink paper, and Figure 5
The figure is a partial perspective view of the cassette case, and FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b) are perspective views showing other embodiments of the sheet-like ink paper. 2...Sheet-like ink paper, 4...Hard member, 5...
・Sensor, 7... Recording paper, Death... Thermal head g
(91

Claims (1)

[Claims] A thermal transfer recording device that uses a thermal head to selectively heat an ink paper according to an image signal and transfer ink from the ink paper to a recording paper. A thermal head is installed in the conveyance path of the sheet-like ink paper, and a predetermined transfer position of the sheet-like ink paper with respect to the thermal head is detected. A thermal transfer type recording device characterized in that it is provided with a sensor for operating the transfer.