JPS6049994A - Thermal transfer recording system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable to perform thermal transfer recording extremely easily and at low cost, by a method wherein a tip part of a rod form solid ink is melted by heating the ink, and the melted ink is transferred onto a recording paper. CONSTITUTION:A net form heater 4 surrounding the tip part of the solid ink 1 generates heat when being supplied with an electric current, the heat is transmitted as indicated by arrows to heat the tip part of the ink 1. By this heating, the tip part 1a of the ink 1 is melted, and is transferred onto the recording paper 3, thereby forming a dot on the paper 3. Accordingly, by appropriately combining such dots, it is made possible to record a pattern of a desired character or symbol and to record an image. In addition, arrangement of a plurality of solid inks can also be realized easily.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording method in which solid ink is melted and transferred onto recording paper.

[Prior art]

As a conventional thermal transfer recording system, a system that combines a thermal transfer IJ, yin and a thermal head has been put into practical use. Thermal transfer ribbons are formed from a plastic film and a thermally soluble ink applied thereon. Further, the thermal spatula P usually has a plurality of dot-shaped heating elements, and each of these heating elements generates heat by being given a predetermined electric current. Therefore, by moving the thermal head in contact with the recording paper via the thermal transfer ribbon,
By applying a predetermined electric pulse to all the heating elements in accordance with the movement, a pattern such as a desired character can be transferred onto the recording paper. However, this is the conventional method.
In this method, the ink on the thermal transfer ribbon is melted by the heat of the heating element and transferred onto the recording paper, so a lot of ink is not used during thermal transfer. However, once the part is used, it cannot be used again. Therefore, there is a drawback that the cost per turn or turn of the thermal transfer ribbon becomes extremely high.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention eliminates the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks and aims to provide a simple and inexpensive thermal transfer recording system. The method is characterized by heating the tip of a rod-shaped solid ink to melt it and transfer it onto recording paper.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.Q Figures 1 and 2 show a first embodiment of the thermal transfer recording system according to the present invention, and Figures 3 to 5 are examples of this embodiment. FIG.

In FIG. 1, solid ink 1 is held by a print head 2, and a printing spatula P2 brings the solid ink 1 into contact with the recording paper 3 by a method not shown. When a current flows through the solid ink 1, it generates heat and melts the tip of the solid ink 1. Fig. 2 is a side view of the configuration shown in Fig. 1.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained using FIGS. 3 to 5. When a current is passed through the mesh heater 4 surrounding the tip of the solid ink 1, it generates heat, which propagates as shown by the arrow in FIG. 3, heating the entire tip of the solid ink 1. By being heated, the tip 1& of the solid ink 1 melts as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5(a), the melted leading edge 1a of the solid ink is transferred onto the recording paper 3. As shown in FIG. Then, as shown in FIG. 5), P2 is formed on the recording paper 3. Therefore, by appropriately combining these dots, it becomes possible to record the four turns of a desired character or symbol, or even to record an image.

Further, although this embodiment shows the case where one solid ink is used, a case where a plurality of solid inks are used can also be easily realized. That is, as a second embodiment, a mesh heater 4' having a plurality of holes is provided as shown in FIG.
All you need to do is enclose each tip of the

Furthermore, the heater that melts the tip of the solid ink 1 is
The present invention is not limited to the mesh heater shown in this embodiment. 7 and 8 show a third embodiment of the thermal transfer recording method according to the present invention. In the third embodiment, a ring-shaped heater 5 is used instead of a mesh-shaped heater to surround the leading end of the solid ink 1, and in the same manner as described above, a flow is caused to flow to melt the ink and transfer it onto the recording paper 3.

Furthermore, as a fourth embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the leading edge of the solid ink 1 may be brought into contact with the heater 6 with the recording paper 3 interposed therebetween. That is, the back side of the recording paper 3 is heated to melt the leading edge of the solid ink 1, and the ink is transferred onto the front surface of the recording sheet Mf,3. It is clear that in the third and fourth embodiments as well, transfer can be performed in the same manner by arranging a plurality of solid inks 1.

In the first to fourth embodiments, a circular bar-shaped solid ink is used as the solid ink 1, but the solid ink is not necessarily limited to a circular shape, and may be a rectangular bar-shaped solid ink.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained in detail above, the thermal transfer recording method according to the present invention uses low-cost solid ink and transfers by melting the leading edge of the ink, making it possible to perform thermal transfer recording very simply and at low cost. It has a great effect.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a printing section showing a first embodiment of the thermal transfer recording method according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of the printing section shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a front view of the ink tip and its surroundings; FIG. 4 is a side view of the solid ink tip and its surroundings divided into FIG. 1; FIG. 5(a)
&'iSchematic side view of transferred recording paper, FIG. 5(b)
6 is a plan view showing a part of the transferred recording paper, FIG. 6 is a front view of the solid ink leading edge of the printing unit and its surrounding area showing the second embodiment, and FIG. 7 is a front view showing the third embodiment. Fig. 8 is a side view of the printing part shown in Fig. 7, Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the printing part showing the fourth embodiment, and Fig. 10 is a side view of the printing part in Fig. 9. It is a diagram. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Solid ink, 2... Print head, 3... Recording paper, 4.4'... Mesh-shaped heater, 5... Ring-shaped heater, 6... Heater. Figure 4 Figure 3 Figure 6

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A thermal transfer recording method characterized by applying heat to a rod-shaped solid ink to melt the rod-shaped solid ink and transfer it onto recording paper. (2) The thermal transfer recording method according to claim 1, wherein only the tip of the rod-shaped solid ink is heated and melted.