JPS61173597A - Color recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce a color shift by setting the speed reduction ratio among respective constituent elements of a speed reducing drive transmission mechanism to an integral submultiple and making the relative position relation among the respective components unchanged at the optional point of time during one turn of a platen roller. CONSTITUTION:A driving gear 12 and an intermediate gear 13, and an intermediate gear 14 and a drum gear 10 constitute the same modules respectively. The driving gear 12 has 30 teeth and the intermediate gear 13 has 90 teeth; and the intermediate gear 14 has 36 teeth and the drum gear 10 has 72 teeth. Then, gear ratios are 1:3 and 1:2 and the final speed reduction ratio is 1:6. The intermediate gears 14 and 13 make two turns while the drum gear 10 makes one turn and the driving gear 12 makes three turns while the intermediate gear 13 makes one turn. Rotational characteristics of a drum 3 based upon irregularity in tooth pitch that each gear has and eccentricity of a pitch circle appear periodically on every turn of each gear, so engagement states of the respective gears in recording of one color is reproduced even in the recording of other two colors and pitches of recorded images of respective colors are equalized to reduce the color shift.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION FIELD OF INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION The present invention relates to a color recording device capable of easily obtaining high-quality images, useful for hard copies of full-color images such as television images and captain systems.

2. Description of the Prior Art In recent years, there has been a remarkable trend toward colorization of display devices such as CRTs, and with this trend, there has been a demand for hard copy devices capable of color recording. Current color recording methods include wire dot method, thermal transfer method, and inkjet method.

Although electrophotographic methods are being considered, thermal transfer methods are one step ahead of the others in terms of quietness, ease of maintenance, and cost.

When performing color recording using these methods, the conventional method is to wind the image-receiving paper around a platen roller, press a recording means onto it or place it close to it, and record one color in a superimposed manner onto the image-receiving paper each rotation while rotating the platen roller. (For example, Japanese Patent Application No. 68-20626)
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Problems to be Solved by the Invention In general, in order to obtain high-quality color recording, it is necessary to superimpose three to four colors with high precision. If this superimposition is misaligned, so-called color misregistration occurs, resulting in unnatural color outlines and a decrease in image resolution. However, if the reduction ratio between each component in the reduction drive transmission mechanism that transmits the rotational force of the platen roller of such an apparatus from the drive means is set arbitrarily, the The relative positional relationship between the components at any given time may be different. In this case, the influence of the rotational unevenness characteristics of each component on the rotational unevenness of the platen roller differs for each color, resulting in color misregistration.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention reduces the reduction ratio between each component in the reduction drive transmission mechanism to an integer fraction, thereby reducing the speed at any point during one rotation of the platen roller. This is to make the relative positional relationship of each component the same, thereby reducing color misregistration.

Function The present invention has the above configuration, that is, the reduction ratio between each component in the reduction drive transmission mechanism is reduced to 1/integer, and 1
The relative positional relationship between each component at any point in time during color recording is determined between each color, and the characteristics of platen roller rotational unevenness caused by rotational unevenness specific to each component can be evaluated using the same characteristics for each color. As a result, it is possible to reduce color misregistration during color overlapping recording, and it is also possible to obtain high-quality color recording.

Embodiment Hereinafter, the configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention will be explained based on the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram showing a recording start state of a color recording apparatus in a first embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a receiving paper;
2 is a paper holder; 3 is a drum-shaped platen roller (hereinafter referred to as drum) which has an outer circumference slightly longer than the length of the image-receiving paper 1 and winds the image-receiving paper 1 whose tip is fixed by the paper holder 2; .) 4 is an ink sheet in which heat-melting ink is sequentially painted yellow, magenta, and cyan on the surface facing the image receiving paper 1 on the substrate, and 5 is an ink sheet on which the ink sheet 4 is wound. A sheet winding reel is applied with rotational force so as to wind up the traveling ink sheet 4, and 7 is a line-type thermal head that arranges heating elements T& in the width direction of the image receiving paper 1; .9 is a guide roller that guides the sheet, and is supported by the same support body (not shown) as the thermal head 7. 1o is a drum gear fixed to a drum shaft 3a so as to rotate integrally with the drum 3, and has a notch 10a for detecting the position of the drum 3 at the start of recording; 11 is a motor that rotates the drum 3; 12 is a drive gear fixed to the motor shaft 11a, 13 is an intermediate gear that meshes with the drive gear 12, and 14 is a drum gear 10 that rotates integrally with the intermediate gear 13.
It is an intermediate gear that meshes with the These driving gears 12. A deceleration drive transmission mechanism is composed of four gears: intermediate gears 13 and 14 and drum gear 1o.
3. The intermediate gear 14 and the drum gear 1o are each the same module, and the number of teeth is, for example, 30 for the drive gear 12, 90 for the intermediate gear 13, 36 for the intermediate gear 14, and 72 for the drum gear 1o. The final reduction ratio is % in % and K respectively.
And so. A sensor 15 detects the rotational position of the drum 30. FIG. 2 is a side view of the vicinity of the sensor 16 in FIG. 1, showing the light emitting diode 15a and the light receiving sensor 1.
6b is fixed to a housing (not shown), and each time the notch 10a of the drum gear 10 passes the sensor 15, the light receiving sensor 15b detects the light from the light emitting diode 15a and issues a signal.

Next, the operation of the apparatus of this embodiment will be explained in Figs. 1, 2, and 3.
This will be explained using FIG. First, during the image-receiving paper loading operation, the thermal head 7, guide roller 8,
9 is placed away from the drum 3, and the image receiving paper 1 is placed in the paper holder 2.
When the paper is at a position directly above the drum 3, it is conveyed in the direction of arrow a, and the paper holder 2 descends as shown by 2a, and the leading end is clamped. The motor 11 then drives the drive gear 12 and the intermediate gear 13.
The drum gear 1o is rotated through the angle 14, and the drum 3 is rotated in the direction of the arrow until the sensor 16 detects the notch 10a. At this time, the recording start portion of the first color yellow ink has come to the position facing the heating element 7a of the ink sheet 4, and the thermal head 7 and guide rollers 8, 9
moves in the direction of arrow C and heats the heating element 7 of the thermal head 7.
The portion a is pressed against the drum 3 via the ink sheet 4 and the image receiving paper 1. This state is shown in FIG. 1 as the recording start state. Next, when the motor 11 is driven to rotate the drum 3 in the direction of the arrow d, the image receiving paper 1 and the ink sheet 4 are also conveyed in the direction of the arrow d while remaining in close contact with each other due to friction, and at the same time a yellow image signal is sent to the thermal head 7. The ink is transmitted in synchronization with the transport speed of the image-receiving paper 1, and the heating elements 7a are sequentially and selectively heated to transfer the ink onto the image-receiving paper 1 to obtain a desired yellow image. At this time, the sheet supply reel 6
is rotated in the direction of arrow f while applying an appropriate pack tensile strength, and the sheet take-up reel 6 is rotated in the direction of arrow q to wind up the ink sheet 4. As soon as the image signal for one screen of yellow has been transmitted through the above operations, the drum 3
The thermal head 7 and guide rollers 8 and 9
is separated from drum 3. This state is shown in FIG. 4 as a recording end state. Thereafter, the drum 3 is rotated in the direction of the arrow, and when the sensor 15 detects the notch 10a again, the rotation of the drum 3 is stopped. At this time, the ink sheet 4 is conveyed for a certain period of time in the direction of arrow i by the sheet take-up reel 6, and a second
The area where magenta ink begins to be recorded comes. After the above operations in FIG. It is pressed into contact with the drum 3 via the drum 3. In this way, the drum 3 is rotated, and one screen of magenta is recorded superimposed on the previously recorded yellow image.

Thereafter, a cyan image is recorded overlappingly in the same manner to complete color recording.

Here, if at least one of the driving gear 12, the intermediate gear 13, 14, and the drum gear 10 has uneven tooth pitch or eccentricity of the pitch circle, the motor 1
Even if the rotational accuracy of the drum 1 is good, rotational unevenness occurs in the drum 3, resulting in unevenness in the pitch of the image recorded on the image receiving paper 1. However, in the gear configuration of this embodiment, the intermediate gears 14 and 13 rotate twice while the drum gear 1o rotates once.
The drive gear 12 rotates three times while the intermediate gear 13 rotates once. The rotational characteristics of the drum 3 due to the tooth pitch unevenness of each gear and the eccentricity of the pitch circle appear periodically every rotation of each gear, so the meshing state of the teeth of each gear while recording one color is , is also reproduced during recording of the other two colors, thereby making the pitch unevenness of the recorded image uniform between each color and reducing color shift.

A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 6 is a basic configuration diagram of a color recording apparatus showing a second embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is an image receiving paper, 2 is a paper holder, 3 is a drum, 4 is an ink sheet, 6 is a sheet supply reel, 6 is a sheet winding reel, 7 is a thermal head,
8 r 9 is a guide roller, 11 is a motor, and 16 is a sensor, which is the same as the configuration shown in FIG. 1. 1st
The difference from the configuration shown in the figure is that a timing belt is used for the deceleration drive transmission mechanism; 16.17 is a timing belt, 1
A drum pulley 8 has a drum shaft 3a fixed thereto so as to rotate integrally with the drum 3, and has a notch 18a for detecting the position of the drum 3 at the start of recording.
2o is a drive pulley fixed to the motor shaft 11a, 2o is an intermediate pulley connected to the drive pulley 19 by a timing belt 16, and 21 is an intermediate pulley that rotates integrally with the intermediate pulley 20 and is connected to a drum pulley 18 by a timing belt 17. It's a pulley. These timing belts 16, 17, drive pulley 19, intermediate pulleys 20, 21, and drum pulley 18 constitute a deceleration drive transmission mechanism 5, and the pulley pitch diameter is, for example, 30 mm for the drive pulley 19 and 30 mm for the intermediate pulley 2o.
is 90 mm, the intermediate pulley 21 is 36 mm, and the drum pulley 18 is 72 mm, and the reduction ratios are % and %, respectively, and the final reduction ratio is %. The configuration of the drum position detection sensor is the same as that shown in FIG. 2, except that the drum gear 1o and notch 10a are replaced by a drum pulley 18 and a notch 18a.

The second embodiment configured as described above performs the same operation as the first embodiment to complete color recording, so the explanation will be omitted. Here, if the drive pulley 19 and the intermediate pulley 2
If tooth pitch unevenness or pitch circle eccentricity exists in at least one of the drum pulleys 18 and 18, rotational unevenness will occur in the drum 3, which will appear as pitch unevenness in the image. However, in the gear configuration of this embodiment, while the drum pulley 18 rotates once, the intermediate pulley 20.
21 rotates twice, and while the intermediate pulley 2o rotates once, the drive pulley 19 rotates three times. The rotational characteristics of the drum 3 due to uneven tooth pitch of each pulley or eccentricity of the pitch circle are as follows:
Since each pulley rotates periodically, the relative positional relationship of each pulley while recording one color is different from that of the other two.
This is also reproduced during color recording, thereby making the pitch unevenness of each recorded image the same and reducing color shift.

In addition, in the first embodiment, the number of teeth of the drive gear 12 is 30.
The number of teeth of the intermediate gears 13 and 14 is 9o and 36, respectively, and the number of teeth of the drum gear 10 is 72. However, any value may be used as long as the reduction ratio between the meshing gears is 1/an integer. Similarly, in the second embodiment, as long as the reduction ratio between the pulleys connected by the timing belt is an integer of 17, it goes without saying that the pitch diameter of each pulley may be any value.

Further, in both embodiments, a line-type thermal head 7 was used, but a serial-type thermal head 7 may also be used.Although the ink transfer method used is melting, sublimation transfer may also be used. Furthermore, although the order of printing colors is yellow, magenta, and cyan, the same effect can be obtained even if the colors are printed in a different order.

In addition, the same effect can be obtained by marking a part of the ink sheet 4 and controlling it with a sensor so that the recording start portion of each color or the first color stops at a position facing the heating element 7a. However, the same effect can be obtained even if the deceleration drive transmission mechanism of the present invention is adopted in a color recording apparatus that uses a method of increasing the density by performing single-color recording a plurality of times.

Furthermore, the same effect can be obtained even if a method other than thermal transfer recording is used as the recording means.

Effects of the Invention The present invention provides a color recording device in which the speed reduction ratio between each component in the speed reduction drive transmission mechanism is set to 1/integer. The relative positional relationship between each component is set between each color, and the characteristics of the rotational unevenness of the platen roller caused by the rotational unevenness peculiar to each component are made the same for each color. It is possible to reduce color shift and obtain high-quality color recording.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram showing a recording start state in a color recording device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view showing the vicinity of the senna in FIG. 1 viewed from the side, and FIG. The figure is a basic configuration diagram showing the state in which the image receiving paper is attached in Figure 1, Figure 4 is a basic configuration diagram showing the state in which recording has been completed in Figure 1, and Figure 5 is a basic configuration diagram showing the state in which recording is completed in Figure 1.
The figure is a basic configuration diagram showing a recording start state of a color recording apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 1...Receiving paper, 2...Paper holder, 3.
...Drum (platen roller), 4...
Ink sheet, 7...Thermal head, 1o.
...Drum gear, 11...Motor, 12
... Drive gear, 13, 14 ... Intermediate gear, 16, 17 ... Timing belt, 18.
...Drum pulley, 19...Drive tape, 2o. 21...Middle pulley. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person No. 1
Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] The image-receiving paper is wound substantially single-layered around the outer circumferential surface of a platen roller, and the platen roller is rotated a plurality of times while superimposed recording is performed one color at a time on the image-receiving paper to obtain multicolor recording. A color recording apparatus comprising a deceleration drive transmission mechanism for reducing the rotation of the means and transmitting the reduced rotation to the platen roller, the reduction ratio of each component in the deceleration drive transmission mechanism being set to 1/integer.