JPS61112667A - Color printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten the period of recording as well as to reduce the frequency of exchanging ink-donor films by a method in which a base color is printed in a raster unit by a line-type thermal head, and other colors different from the base color are printed by a serial head. CONSTITUTION:When a picture information is received, a line-type thermal head 13 is driven according to the information to thermally transfer an ink- donor film 12 of base color to a recording paper 11. The recording paper 11 is moved stepwise synchronously with the transfer. A serial head 9 is then driven according to a picture information for other colors different from the base color, among the same picture information. The thermal transfer is made on a given place of the paper 11 in such a way as to make a color-adding recording to form a dichroic picture. Multi-color recording is also made possible by increasing the number of serial heads. For color-adding heads, not only the thermal transfer type serial head but also ink-jet, felt-pen, or ball-point pen type recorder may be used. By effectively using the ink donor films, the exchanging frequency of the films can be reduced and the recording speed can be increased.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention aims to increase the recording speed by arranging the color adding means for colors other than the basic colors as a separate head from the line type thermal head. The present invention relates to a color printer that reduces wastage of consumables caused by head drive.

[Conventional technology]

An example of a conventional color printer is the one shown in Fig. 2, which consists of an ink donor film (hereinafter referred to as IDF) 1 in which each color ink is repeatedly coated on one side of a film base in the order of yellow, magenta, and cyan, and a predetermined length of IDFI. A take-up rule 3 for winding up used IDPI is provided in the middle of the conveyance path of the IDF roll 2 and contacts the non-ink surface of the IDF roll 2, and the take-up rule 3 winds up the used IDPI. The thermal head 4 has a heating resistor driven accordingly, and the recording paper 5 on which printing is performed by reciprocating the surface of the head 4 overlapping the IDF on the ink surface.
It is composed of a platen 6 that is pressed against the platen 6.

In the above configuration, the leading end surface of the recording paper 5 is aligned with the ink joint part of the IDFI, the IDFI and the recording paper 5 are overlapped, and the heating resistor of the thermal head 4 is conveyed stepwise in the direction of the arrow. is driven to heat the IDPI ink and cause it to adhere (transfer) to the recording paper 5. For example, when performing a color printer using a subtractive mixture of yellow, magenta, and cyan inks, after overlapping the recording paper 5 on the yellow ink surface and recording on one recording paper, Then, only the recording paper 5 is transported in the B direction and returned, and the leading end surface of the recording paper 5 is transported with the yellow and magenta ink surfaces superimposed on the recording paper 5, and recording with magenta ink is performed. After the recording of the magenta ink is completed, only the recording paper 5 is returned to the B direction and aligned with the cyan ink surface, and the third color is recorded, thereby obtaining a color printer using subtractive color mixing.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, according to conventional color printers, it is not only possible to print in full color as explained in Fig. 2, but also when printing in multiple colors by adding printing in another color different from the basic color to the basic color printing. Because the same head was used to print an ink donor film with several color areas, the frequency of use of each color area on the ink donor film was uneven depending on the printing content. Even if a color area remains, the ink donor film must be replaced, resulting in an inconvenience that the ink donor film must be replaced more frequently. Furthermore,
Since the ink donor film is moved back and forth multiple times, there are disadvantages such as color misregistration with respect to the head and a long recording time.

[Means and effects for solving the problems] The present invention has the following features:
This was done in view of the above, and in order to make effective use of the ink donor film, reduce the frequency of ink donor film replacement, and increase the recording speed, a line-type thermal head is used to basically print raster units. To provide a color printer that prints colors and prints other colors different from the basic colors using a serial head.

[★Example]

Hereinafter, a color printer according to the present invention will be explained in detail.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, which includes a line type thermal head 13 that thermally transfers image information in raster units to a recording paper 11 via an ink donor film 12 of a basic color (for example, black), and the line type thermal head 13, a platen roll 14 that presses the recording paper 11 and the ink donor film 12, and a platen roll 14 that is disposed in front of the recording paper 11 conveyed by the rotation of the platen roll 14, and a platen roll 14 that presses the recording paper 11 and the ink donor film 12; A serial head 16 (in this case, a cassette-type serial head with a ribbon donor tape built into the head may be used) records dots dot by dot in a direction perpendicular to the paper feeding direction via a ribbon-shaped ink donor film 15, and a recording paper 11. a platen roll 17 that rotates in a direction according to the direction of movement of the ribbon-shaped ink donor film 15 and presses the ribbon-shaped ink donor film 15 and the recording paper 11 against the serial head 16;
It is composed of reels 18 and 19 for replenishing and reeling.

In the above configuration, when image information is received, the line type thermal head 13 is driven according to this information,
The basic color ink donor film 12 is thermally transferred onto the recording paper 11, and in synchronization with this transfer, the recording paper 11 is transferred stepwise.
moves. Furthermore, the serial head 9 is driven according to the image information of the basic color and the different color among the same image information, and the image is thermally transferred to a predetermined position on the recording paper 11 so as to perform additive recording, thereby forming a two-color image. .

In this embodiment, a two-color image recording means is shown, but multi-color recording is also possible by further increasing the number of serial heads.

Further, the coloring head is not limited to a thermal transfer type serial head, and recording means such as an inkjet type, a felt pen, a ballpoint pen, etc. may be used. Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to multicolor printing such as two-color printing described in the embodiments, but can also be applied to full-color printing.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the color printer of the present invention,
The line-type thermal head prints the basic color in raster units, and the serial head prints other colors that are different from the basic color, making effective use of the ink donor film and reducing the need for ink donor film replacement. In addition, it is possible to increase the recording speed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a conventional embodiment. Explanation of symbols 1... Ink donor film (IDF) 2... ID
F roll 3... Winding roll 4... Thermal head 5... Recording paper 6... Platen 11.
... Recording paper 12 ... Ink donor film 13 ... Line type thermal head 14 ... Platen roll 15 ... Ribbon-shaped ink donor film 16 ... Serial head 17 ... Platen roll

Claims (1)

[Claims] A printer that prints in raster units using a line type thermal head driven in accordance with an image signal, comprising a serial head that prints in a color different from the recorded color printed by the line printer thermal head. A color printer characterized by: