JPS6112361A - Thermal transfer printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize a thermal transfer printer capable of obtaning good recording even if ordinary paper is used, by using a thermal transfer film wherein a heat-meltable conductor layer is provided between a base film and a heat-meltable ink layer while applying high voltage between an electrode and the conductor layer of the thermal transfer film. CONSTITUTION:A thermal transfer film 2 is formed by applying a conductor layer 23 and a heat-meltable layer 22 onto a base film 21 in a superposed state. A thermal head 1 performs recording while performing scanning from the left to the right in such a state that the thermal transfer film 2 is pressed to recording paper 3. Further, an electrode 5 is arranged inside a cylindrical platen 4 so as to be opposed to the thermal transfer film 2 through the recording paper 3. A power source apparatus 6 is contacted with the conductor layer of the thermal transfer film 2 through a brush and high voltage is applied between the thermal transfer film 2 and the electrode 5. Therefore, attraction force acts between the conductor layer 23 and the electrode 5 and the heat-meltable ink layer 22 melted by the heat of the thermal head 1 is separated from the surface of the thermal transfer film 2 along with the conductor layer 23 and can be transferred to the side of the recording paper 3.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a thermal transfer printer that records characters, graphs, etc. using a thermal transfer film or a thermal transfer ribbon (hereinafter referred to as a thermal transfer film), and which is connected to a personal computer or the like. , and relates to a thermal transfer printer suitable for printing out its output. More specifically, the present invention relates to a thermal transfer printer that can use ordinary plain paper as recording paper without using special paper. [Prior art] In a thermal transfer printer, a recording paper and a transfer film are overlapped, and the ink applied to the thermal transfer film is melted by heating it with a heat generating head and transferred to the recording paper side. ing. For this reason,
The flatness of the surface of recording paper, 711 degrees, greatly affects recording quality, and thermal transfer printers use specialized paper with high smoothness. That is, if the recording paper has a rough surface, the adhesion between the paper and the thermal transfer film is poor, and uniform transfer cannot be performed, resulting in a significant drop in recording quality. The smoothness of paper is expressed in seconds (JIS
P 8119), thermal transfer printers have a smoothness of 1
00 seconds or longer paper is being used. On the other hand, paper commonly called plain paper has a smoothness of 20 to 40.
It is about seconds. Here, in order to popularize thermal transfer printers as output terminals for personal computers, it is disadvantageous to use special recording paper, and it is necessary to make clear recordings even when using plain paper. desired. Conventionally, as a solution to this problem, a thermal transfer printer has been proposed in which each line to be recorded is scanned twice. This method compensates for unevenness in the printing by writing one line twice, making it possible to obtain good records even on plain paper. [Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in such a thermal transfer printer, each line must be scanned twice, which doubles the recording time and also doubles the length of the thermal transfer film used. It will double. Another method is to increase the recording pressure and press the heat-generating head strongly against the recording paper, but this method increases the load when the heat-generating head is moved and causes significant wear on the heat-generating head, making it unsuitable for practical use. The purpose of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks of conventional devices and to realize a thermal transfer V printer with a simple configuration that can produce clear records in the same amount of time as conventional printers even when using plain paper. That is.

[Means for solving problems]

The thermal transfer printer of the present invention uses, as a thermal transfer film, a thermal transfer film in which a thermally meltable conductive layer is provided between a base film and a thermally meltable ink layer. Electrodes are arranged in this manner, and a high voltage is applied between the electrodes and the conductive layer of the thermal transfer film. [Function] By configuring the thermal transfer printer in this way, the suction force acting on the conductive layer is used to help transfer the ink from the thermal transfer film to the recording paper, resulting in good performance even when using plain paper. It is possible to realize a thermal transfer printer that can obtain accurate records. [Example] Hereinafter, a thermal transfer printer of the present invention will be explained using the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of a thermal transfer printer of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a heating head, 2 is a ribbon-shaped thermal transfer film, 3 is a recording paper, 4 is a cylindrical platen that supports the recording paper 3, 5 is an electrode arranged inside the platen 4, and 6 is an electrode 5 This is a power supply device that applies a high voltage between the conductive layer of the thermal transfer film 2 and the conductive layer of the thermal transfer film 2. The heat generating head 1 is pressed against the recording paper 3 via the thermal transfer film 2, and performs recording while scanning from left to right. Further, as the heat generating head 1 scans, after the heat generating head 1 moves to the right end, as it returns, the heat transfer V film 2 is wound up to the left, and at the same time, the recording paper 3 is fed by one line.
Operation proceeds to record the next line. Further, the electrode 5 has a length approximately equal to the recording width by the heat generating head 1, and is arranged inside the cylindrical platen 4 so as to face the thermal transfer film 2 with the recording paper 3 in between. The power supply device 6 contacts the conductive layer of the heat transfer film 2 via a brush or the like, and applies a high voltage between the heat transfer film 2 and the electrode 5. Here, the thermal transfer film 2 has a structure as shown in FIG. In the figure, 21 is a base film;
22 is a heat-melting ink layer in which ink pigment is mixed in a heat-melting binder material, and 23 is a heat-melting ink layer in which, like the heat-melting ink layer 22, a metal piece or the like is mixed in a heat-melting binder material to provide electrical conductivity. It is a conductive layer with a thin layer. That is, the thermal transfer film 2 has a conductive layer 2 on the base film 21.
3 and a heat-melting ink layer 22 are coated in layers. Further, a portion of the conductor layer 23 is exposed from the heat-melting ink layer 22, and is in contact with the brush of the power supply device 6, etc. at that portion. In the thermal transfer printer of the present invention configured as described above, its recording operation is as follows. Generally, recording paper 3
If the smoothness of the thermal transfer film 2 and the surface of the recording paper 3 are in good contact with each other, the ink melted by the heat generated by the heating head will be cooled on the surface of the recording paper 3 that is in contact with it, and the surface of the recording paper 3 will be cooled. It solidifies and becomes recording paper 3. (It is transferred evenly to the lit. However, the smoothness of the recording paper 3 is low,
If there is a part of the thermal transfer film 2 that does not come into contact with the recording paper 3, the ink in this part cannot be transferred to the recording paper 3 side even if it is melted by the heat generating head 1, which may cause uneven transfer or blurring. turn into. Therefore, as mentioned above, as the thermal transfer film 2, the second
In addition to using a thermal transfer film as shown in the figure, the recording paper 3
An electrode 5 is placed so as to face the thermal transfer film 2 through the
This electrode 5 and the conductor layer 2 of the thermal transfer film 2
When a high voltage is applied between the conductive layer 23 and the electrode 5
The heat-melting ink layer 22, which has a weak suction force between the heat generating head 1 and the heat-melting ink layer 22, which is melted by the heat generated by the heat-generating head 1, is replaced by the conductor layer 2, which is similarly melted.
3 and can be separated from the surface of the thermal transfer film 2 and transferred to the recording paper 3 side. Therefore, even when the smoothness of the recording paper 3 is low and the thermal transfer film 2 and the recording paper 3 are not in uniform contact, the attraction between the electrode 5 and the conductive layer 23 causes the thermal transfer film 2 to transfer to the recording paper 3. It is possible to promote the transfer of ink and obtain clear records. Furthermore, the heating head 1 scans only once, so the recording time does not become long. Note that if the high voltage is applied only during the printing operation, no extra force is applied when winding up the thermal transfer film 2, and the feeding operation of the thermal transfer film 2 can be performed smoothly. FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing another embodiment of the thermal transfer printer of the present invention. The apparatus shown in the figure uses a flat platen 41 instead of the cylindrical platen 4 shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the electrode 5 is arranged to face the thermal transfer film 2 with the recording paper 3 and the platen 41 in between. In the above explanation, the electrode 5 is connected to the platen 4.4.
Although the configuration of the electrode 5 and the platens 4 and 41 is not limited to this,
For example, the same operation can be performed even if the platen 4.41 is made of a metal material so that the platen 4.41 also serves as the electrode 5. Further, although the electrode 5 is fixed to one side of the platen 4, 41, it may be configured so that it moves together with the rad l when generating heat. In this case, since the electrode 5 only needs to cover the heat generating range of the heat generating head 1, it is possible to reduce the size to the same extent as the heat generating head 1. Further, in the above description, a thermal transfer printer that uses a ribbon-shaped thermal transfer film 2 and performs recording while scanning the heat generating head 1 was exemplified, but the configuration of a thermal transfer printer is not limited to this, and the recording paper A thermal transfer printer that combines a thermal transfer film having the same width as 3 and a multi-stylus head may also be used. In this case, the shape and arrangement method of the electrodes 5 are selected according to the shape of the multi-stylus head. [Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the thermal transfer printer of the present invention uses a thermal transfer film in which a heat-melting conductive layer is provided between a base film and a heat-melting ink layer, and An electrode is arranged to face this thermal transfer film through the recording paper, and a high voltage is applied between this electrode and the conductive layer of the thermal transfer film, so that the ink melted by the heat generated by the heating head is removed. A thermal transfer printer that can similarly separate the molten conductor layer from the surface of the thermal transfer film and transfer it to the recording paper side, making it possible to obtain clear records in the same amount of time as before, even when using plain paper. can be realized with a simple configuration.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 and 3 are block diagrams showing one embodiment of a thermal transfer printer of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a thermal transfer film used in the thermal transfer printer of the present invention. 1... Heat generating head, 2... Thermal transfer film, 3...
・Pa recording paper, 4, 41... platen, 5... electrode,
6... Power supply device, 21... Base film, 22...
...Hot melt ink layer, 23...Conductor layer. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) In a thermal transfer printer that brings a thermal transfer film and recording paper into close contact with each other and transfers the ink melted by the heat generated by a heating head to the recording paper, a thermofusible conductive layer is provided between the base film and the thermofusible ink layer. A thermal transfer film is provided, and an electrode is arranged to face the thermal transfer film with the recording paper interposed therebetween, and a high voltage is applied between the conductor layer of the thermal transfer film and the electrode. A thermal transfer printer. (2) The thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, wherein the electrode is arranged inside a cylindrical platen that supports the recording paper. (3) The thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, wherein the electrode is arranged to face the thermal transfer film via the recording paper and a flat platen that supports the recording paper. (4) The thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, wherein the electrode constitutes a cylindrical platen that supports the recording paper. (5) The thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, wherein the electrode constitutes a flat platen that supports the recording paper.