JPS61199978A - Thermal transfer recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To lengthen the service life of a base film by lessening the effects of heat on the base film by providing a mobile means to allow the base film and a counter roller to contact with each other or separate from each other. CONSTITUTION:A counter roller 34 is turned to the direction of arrow H by rotation of an ink supply roller 33 to the direction of G, and a fixed amount of ink 18 from an ink trap P is coated on the surface of the roller 34. A back-up plate 43 is lowered at a given timing by a movable means to push the back side of a base film 13, and the surface of the base film 13 is pressed on the roller 34. A fixed amount of ink layer 18a is orderly coated on the surface of the film 13. Since the film 13 does not receive heat directly from the roller 33 and the ink trap P, the service life of the base film 13 can be lengthened.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording device that records on recording paper using an ink film having an ink layer formed of heat-melting ink and a thermal head. In particular, the present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording device that can reproduce the ink layer and repeatedly use the ink film and perform color recording.

[Conventional technology]

A device that locally selectively heats the ink layer of an ink film using a thermal head and thereby transfers the melted ink onto recording paper is known as a thermal transfer recording device, but in general, this type of thermal transfer recording device Ink film is a consumable item and consumes the same amount of ink film as recording paper, so it has the disadvantage of increasing the cost of ink film.In addition, especially when performing color recording, since ink films of multiple colors are used, the amount of ink film used for recording paper increases. This method has the disadvantage that several times as much ink film is consumed and the cost of the ink film becomes even higher.

In order to deal with such drawbacks, for example,
As shown in Japanese Patent No. 10662, an endless Alges film is formed using an ink film base material, an ink layer is formed on the surface of this base film, and the ink is sequentially reproduced on the surface of the ink base film after recording. A reproducing type thermal transfer recording device that can be used repeatedly has been proposed.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing this reproducing type thermal transfer recording device. In the figure, 1 is a heat-resistant base film formed in an endless shape. 2, 3,
4 and 51C, and an ink layer 6a having a uniform thickness is formed on the surface thereof by an ink supply roller, which will be described later.

7 is placed between feed roller 2 and roller 5 *?
- Mulhead, the base film 1 and the ink layer 6
Thermal head T through the ink film consisting of a.
The platen roller 9, which is arranged to face the ink film, passes between the ink film and the platen roller 8,
This is recording paper set to be conveyed in the direction.

Reference numeral 10 denotes an ink supply roller arranged so as to come into contact with the base film 1 at the position of the roller 3, and a part of this ink supply roller 1o is immersed in the heat-melting ink 6 contained in the ink tank 11. ing. Reference numeral 12 denotes an ink reservoir formed at the contact portion between the ink supply roller 1o and the base film 1.

In this configuration, the ink layer 6a formed on the surface of the base film 1 is connected to the thermal head 7 and the platen roller 8.
The recording paper 9 is overlapped with the recording paper 9 between the recording paper 9 and the recording paper 9 and selectively heated locally by the thermal head 7 .

The heated portions of the ink layer 6a are melted and transferred to the recording paper 9 as ink dots 6b, thereby recording images such as characters and figures on the recording paper 9 by the ink dots 6b.

On the other hand, when the transfer of the ink drum (6b) is performed as described above, the ink layer 6alC has a portion where the ink is drained and a residual ink layer 6C is formed. Then, the base film 1 travels in the direction of arrow C and is sent to the position of the ink supply roller 10, and the ink supply roller 10 again forms an ink layer 6a with a uniform thickness.

To explain in more detail the formation of the ink layer 6a, the surface of the ink supply roller 10 is provided with a large number of fine grooves (not shown here) closely spaced.
Although not shown, a heat source such as a heater is built inside.

Therefore, when this heat source is made to generate heat to melt the ink 6 contained in the ink tank 11 and the ink supply roller 10 is rotated in the direction of the arrow d, the ink tank 11 melts as described above as a result of this rotation. Ink inside 6
is drawn up by the ink supply roller 10, and an ink reservoir 12 is formed between the ink supply roller 10 and the base film 1.
is formed. Then, when the residual ink layer 6C is sent to the ink reservoir 12 by the running of the base film 1 together with the ink removal portion after the ink transfer, this residual ink layer 6c is removed when passing through the ink reservoir 12. It is melted by heat and becomes one with the ink 6 in the ink reservoir 12. Thereafter, when the base film 1 comes into contact with the rotating ink supply roller 10, a fixed amount of ink 6 from the ink reservoir 12 is sequentially supplied and coated onto the surface of the base film 1 through the grooves on the surface of the ink supply roller 10. As a result, an ink layer 6a having a uniform thickness is regenerated on the surface of the pace film 1.
Ru.

The ink supply roller 10 is rotated by frictional force with the base film 1 that is rotated by the rotation of the feed roller 2, or is connected to the roller 3 that is rotated by the base film 1 through a gear or the like. This is done by means such as

As explained above, in the thermal transfer recording device shown in FIG. 2, the ink layer can be repeatedly reproduced on the surface of the base film 6, so that only the ink is consumed. Therefore, the cost of ink film can be significantly reduced.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in the above-mentioned thermal transfer recording device, the ink supply roller 1° and the ink reservoir 1 are equipped with a built-in heat source such as a roller.
Since the ink supply roller 2 is always in contact with the thin base film 1, even if the base film 1 is heat resistant, the ink supply roller 1
0 and the ink reservoir 12 are unavoidable, resulting in a problem of shortened lifespan.

Further, although the above-described thermal transfer recording device performs monochrome recording, when performing multicolor recording using this device, there are the following problems.

That is, in this type of thermal transfer recording, the residual ink layer 6 remaining on the surface of the base film 1 after ink transfer is
Regardless of the amount of c, if the thickness of the recycled ink layer 6a is not constant, density changes, blurring, etc. will occur during the next ink transfer, leading to a decrease in recording quality.

Therefore, in the thermal transfer recording device configured as described above, in order to completely dissolve the residual ink layer 6c and reproduce the ink layer 6a of a certain thickness on the surface of the base film 1, the base film 1 and the ink supply roller 10 are It is essential to form an ink reservoir 12 at the contact area.

However, when the ink reservoir 12 is formed in the contact area between the base film 1 and the ink supply roller 10 in this way, the ink supply roller 10 is intermittently separated from the base film 1 and the surface of the base film 1 is It becomes very difficult to accurately reproduce the ink layer 6a with a uniform thickness in a predetermined area.

The reason is that the ink supply roller 1
This is because when the ink 6 in the ink reservoir 12 is separated from the base film 1, the ink 6 in the ink reservoir 12 will adhere to the base film 1 more thickly than necessary and will be coated onto the pace film 1 with a trail. This is extremely inconvenient when recording.

This is because if the ink 6 adheres to the surface of the base film 1 more thickly than necessary, the thickness of the ink layer 6a will become uneven, which is a matter of course. They may fall and contaminate the inside of the device, or they may get onto the back side of the base film 1, resulting in a decline in recording quality or even an inability to record.

If the ink 6 is applied with a trail on the surface of the base film 1, the area is wide and the ink reservoir 12
Since the amount of ink 6 changes depending on the amount of ink 6, the ink application area becomes uncontrollable.

These things mean that it is not possible to separately form ink layers of a plurality of different colors of ink on the surface of one base film 1.

Therefore, when realizing multicolor recording using the above-mentioned thermal transfer recording device, the base film 1. Rollers 2-5. A thermal head 7, a platen roller 8, etc. are required, which causes problems in that the apparatus becomes larger and more expensive.

The present invention was made in order to solve these problems, and in addition to disposing an ink supply roller in a non-contact manner with respect to the base film, a counter roller is disposed on the ink supply roller, and the counter roller and the base film are arranged in a non-contact manner. The purpose is to reduce the influence of heat on the base film and improve the life of the base film by bringing the ink supply roller into contact with the base film during ink layer regeneration to apply ink from the ink supply roller to the base film.

Further, the present invention includes an ink tank, an ink supply roller,
A thermal transfer recording device that is compact, inexpensive, and capable of producing high-quality multicolor recording by dividing and forming multiple color ink layers on a single base film using multiple ink application mechanisms consisting of counter rollers. The purpose is to realize the following.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention includes an ink tank containing heat-melting ink, an ink supply roller disposed partially immersed in the ink in the ink tank, and an ink supply roller disposed on the ink supply roller. An ink application mechanism consisting of a counter roller brought into contact with a plurality of rollers including a feed roller is arranged on the surface side of the Lareta base film, and a movable mechanism is provided to arbitrarily bring the base film into contact with or separate from the counter roller. This means that a means has been established.

In addition, in order to perform multicolor recording, a plurality of ink application mechanisms are used, ink of a different color is stored in the ink tank of each ink application mechanism, and the movable means is provided corresponding to each ink application mechanism. , and a sensor that outputs a signal for controlling reproduction of the ink layer on the surface of the base film by each ink application mechanism and recording by the ink layer is arranged on the travel path of the base film.

[Effect]

According to the above-described means, when the ink layer is regenerated, the movable means brings the υ base film into contact with the counter roller, and the ink pumped up from the ink tank by the ink supply θ-ra is applied to the surface of the counter roller. Furthermore, this counter roller applies ink to the base film to form an ink layer. Further, when it is not necessary to form an ink layer, the pace film and the counter roller are kept separated by the movable means.

Accordingly, the base film is not directly exposed to heat from the ink supply roller or the ink reservoir, and the influence of heat is reduced, so that the life of the base film can be extended.

In addition, when performing multicolor recording, the base film and the counter roller of each ink application mechanism are sequentially brought into contact with each other by their respective movable means, and multiple colors of ink are applied to the surface of the base film. Multiple color ink layers of uniform thickness are formed on the surface of the film, each ink layer is detected by a sensor, and each color is transferred onto recording paper using a thermal head. Perform color recording.

Therefore, the base film, thermal head, platen roller, etc. can be shared by each ink color, and a small and inexpensive thermal transfer recording device for multicolor recording can be realized.

〔Example〕

Examples will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Here, as an example, a thermal transfer recording apparatus that performs multicolor recording will be described.

FIG. 1 is a side cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of a thermal transfer recording device according to the present invention. is the feed roller 14 and this feed roller 14
A plurality of rollers is, is, t arranged in a predetermined relationship with
It is wrapped around r with appropriate tension.

Further, on the surface of this base film 13, ink layers made of heat-melting inks of a plurality of colors, for example, a yellow ink layer 18a, a magenta ink layer 19a, and a cyan ink layer 20a are formed by an ink coating mechanism described later. A gap 21 in which no ink layer is formed is set between each ink layer to prevent color mixture.

A thermal head 22 is disposed between the feed roller 14 and the roller 17, and is moved up and down by a drive mechanism (not shown) so that it can come into contact with and separate from the back surface of the base film 13.

23 is a platen roller arranged to face the thermal head via the base film 13; 24 is a recording paper; this recording paper 24 is configured to pass between the surface of the base film 13 and the platen roller 23; The pinch rollers 25 and 26 for pressing the recording paper 24 against the platen roller 23 are set on the platen roller 23.
They are placed before and after 3.

2T indicates the position of the base film 13, and furthermore, each ink layer 18a, 19 formed on the surface of the base film 13.
This sensor 2T detects the position of the base film 20a and outputs a signal for controlling multicolor recording and ink layer regeneration operations, which will be described later, and is composed of a light emitting element and a light receiving element. The roller 13 is disposed at a predetermined position on the traveling route of the roller 13, for example, at a position between the rollers 16 and 17.

Reference numerals 28, 29, and 30 denote ink application mechanisms, which are supported within the frame 31 and arranged along the surface of the base film 13.

Here, the ink application mechanism 28 includes an ink tank 32 containing heat-fusible yellow ink 18, a metal ink supply roller 33 disposed with a part immersed in the ink 18, and a metal ink supply roller 33 disposed with a part immersed in the ink 18. The ink supply roller 33 is composed of a counter roller 34 which is placed in contact with the roller 33 and not in contact with the base film 13, and the ink supply roller 33 has a built-in heat source 35 such as a heater as shown in FIG. The surface has a structure in which fine grooves 36 having a V-shaped cross-section or the like are spirally carved at equal pitches, and the counter roller 34 is made of heat-resistant rubber such as silicone rubber. has been done.

On the other hand, the ink application mechanism 29 includes an ink tank 3T containing heat-melting magenta ink 19, an ink supply roller 38, and a counter roller 39. It is composed of an ink tank 40 containing ink 20, an ink supply roller 41, and a counter roller 42, and the ink supply rollers 38 and 41 have the same structure as the ink supply roller 33 explained in FIG. 9, and the counter rollers 39 and 42 are also made of silicone rubber or the like like the counter roller 34, and these ink supply rollers 3
B, 41, and counter rollers 39 and 42 are arranged in the same manner as the ink supply roller 33 and the counter roller 34.

Reference numerals 43, 44, and 45 indicate backup plates disposed to face the ink application mechanisms 28, 29, and 30, respectively, with the base film 13 in between. The pace fill ÷ is individually moved up and down by a movable means.
13 can be pressed against counter rollers 34, 39, and 42.

Next, the operation of the above-mentioned configuration will be explained. First, when recording, the thermal head 22 shown in FIG. By rotating the base film 13, the base film 13 is moved in the direction of arrow B, and the tip of the yellow ink layer 18a formed on the surface of the base film 13 is moved to the platen roller 2.
Position it directly below 3.

Control at this time is performed based on a detection signal from the sensor 27.

Thereafter, the thermal head 22 is raised and pressed against the back surface of the base film 13, whereby the base film 13 and the recording paper 24 are sandwiched between the thermal head 22 and the platen roller 23, and the tip of the ink layer 181L is It is brought into contact with the recording paper 24.

In this state, when the thermal head 22 is made to generate heat and the ink layer 18IL is locally selectively heated, the heated portion of the ink layer 18a is melted and transferred to the recording paper 24 as an ink drum 18b.

When one transfer of the ink dots 18b is completed, the feed roller 14 is rotated a certain amount in the direction of the arrow B by a motor (not shown), and the base film 13 is moved a certain amount in the direction of the arrow B, and in synchronization with this, the platen roller 23 is rotated by a certain amount in the direction of arrow C by a motor (not shown), etc.
Feed the milk in the direction of the arrow for the pitch.

Thereafter, the ink layer 18a is heated and the ink drum 18b is transferred onto the recording paper 24 in the same manner as described above, and these operations are repeated as many times as necessary.

On the other hand, when the ink dots 18b are transferred in this way, there are parts of the ink layer 18a where the ink is removed, and the parts where the transfer is not performed remain on the surface of the base film 13 as a residual ink layer 18C. are sequentially sent toward a position between the ink application mechanism 2B and the backup plate 43 as the base film 130 travels as the ink is transferred.

Now, when all the yellow color transfer is completed as mentioned above,
The platen roller 23 is rotated in the direction opposite to the direction of arrow C.
As a result, the recording paper 24 is reversely fed by a predetermined amount in the direction of the arrow F, which is opposite to the direction indicated by the arrow.
The transferred portion is positioned directly below the platen roller 23.

At this time, the thermal head 22 is lowered once to facilitate the reverse feeding of the recording paper 24 and prevent the base film 13 from running in the direction opposite to the direction of arrow B due to the frictional force with the recording paper 24. Do it like this.

Thereafter, the tip of the magenta ink layer 19a is positioned directly below the platen roller 23, the thermal head 22 is raised again, and the magenta color is transferred in the same manner as described above, and then the cyan color is transferred in the same manner. ink layer 20a of
By performing the transfer, 91 times of multicolor recording was completed.

In this way, by overlapping the transfer of each color,
Multicolor images such as characters and figures can be recorded on recording paper using ink dots.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the printing results according to the above-described procedure, and shows ink dots 18b and 19b of each color.

20b are arbitrarily recorded overlapping each other.

Furthermore, Fig. 6 shows the color reproduction characteristics by superimposing the three primary colors of yellow, magenta, and cyan.Furthermore, it is possible to basically record seven colors on the recording paper 24 by the above-mentioned recording. can.

Next, the ink layer regeneration operation for each color will be described.

When recording is performed as described above, there are areas on the base film 13 where the ink is drained, and the ink layer that was not used for recording remains as a residual ink layer. At that point, the ink layer is regenerated with a uniform thickness. As an example, the yellow ink layer 18a will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 4.

First, the ink supply roller 33 of the ink application mechanism 28 is heated by an internal heater 35 (see FIG. 3).
The heat melts the yellow ink 18 in the ink tank 32, and a motor (not shown) rotates in the direction of the arrow G to draw up the melted ink 18 and place the ink reservoir P in contact with the counter roller 34. Form. At this time,
The counter roller 34 rotates in the direction of arrow M due to the rotation of the ink supply roller 33, and at this time, a certain amount of ink is removed from the ink reservoir P by a groove 36 (see FIG. 3) carved on the surface of the ink supply roller 33. 18 is the counter roller 34
applied to the surface of

Therefore, as the base film 13 travels in the direction of arrow B, the tip of the region where the yellow ink layer 18a is to be formed is sent between the counter roller 34 and the backup plate 43, and the sensor 27 The back-up plate 43 is lowered at a predetermined timing by a movable means (not shown) based on an output signal from the back-up plate 43, and presses the back side of the base film 13 and the front side of the base film 13 against the counter roller 34.

As a result, a certain amount of the ink layer 18a is sequentially applied to the surface of the pace film 13 by the counter roller 34, and at this time, the ink 18 is applied to the residual ink layer 18c on the surface of the base film 13 by the ink supply roller 33. When the residual ink layer 18c is melted by the heat transferred to the counter roller 34, the remaining ink layer 18c is scraped off by the counter roller 34, which rotates so that the contact surface moves in the opposite direction to the running direction of the base film 13. It is carried to the ink reservoir P and collected.

Then, the pace film 13 is moved by the counter roller 34.
When the ink 1B is applied to the end of the area on the surface,
Backup plate 43 rises
3, the regeneration of the ink layer 113a ends.

In this way, the ink layer 18a having a uniform thickness over a predetermined length on the surface of the base film 13 can be regenerated. Note that the ink coating 1fi structure 29, 30 and the ink layers 19a, 20a are also Backup plate 44
It can be reproduced in the same manner by operations such as .degree.45.

When thermal transfer recording was performed continuously using the above-mentioned apparatus while regenerating the ink layers of each color at a speed of 25 wI/sec, good multicolor recording could be obtained, and the recording quality was excellent in both recordings. No decrease was observed.

By raising the backup plate 211II11 from the state where the base film was pressed against the counter roller, the base film was sufficiently separated from the counter roller, and it was possible to complete the partial recoating of the ink layer.

Furthermore, the thickness of the ink layer at the end of ink layer regeneration is 5
μm or less, and the range is 4 or less, so it was confirmed that if the gap between each ink layer is about 10W, it is possible to repeatedly reproduce an ink layer with a uniform thickness without mixing the inks of each ink layer. It was.

By the way, in the thermal transfer recording apparatus shown in FIG. 1 described above, the heat from the ink supply roller 3B is transmitted to the counter roller to heat the residual ink layer on the surface of the base film, and the counter roller also removes the residual ink layer. However, when the recording speed is increased, for example, the traveling speed of the base film 13 also increases, making it impossible to heat the residual ink layer sufficiently, and as a result, the residual ink layer is scraped off. There is a risk that the scraping process may be incomplete, resulting in uneven thickness of the recycled ink layer.

Therefore, in such a case, if you attach a heater etc. to the backup plate and preheat and melt the residual ink layer before the counter roller, the residual ink layer can be reliably scraped off and a uniform thickness can be achieved. The ink layer can be regenerated.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, a backup plate was used to press the base film against the counter roller, but instead of this backup plate, a backup roller 46 may be used as a means for hacking up the back-up roller 46 as shown in FIG. By using the backup roller 46 in this way, it is possible to reduce the frictional resistance when traveling on the base film 13 during ink layer regeneration.

In addition, even if the backup plate and the backup roller are not moved up and down by a movable means (not shown), and a movable means is provided on the ink application mechanism side to press the counter roller against the base film, uniform ink can be obtained as described above. It is possible to regenerate the layers.

Furthermore, although the above-described embodiment describes multicolor recording using three primary colors, it is also possible to add an ink application mechanism that forms black ink color, and it is also possible to add an ink application mechanism that forms black ink color. It is clear that recording can be performed using two color ink layers, and furthermore, if one ink application mechanism tl- is used, monochrome recording can be performed.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention includes an ink tank containing heat-melting ink, an ink supply roller disposed with a portion immersed in the ink in the ink tank, and an ink supply roller disposed in contact with the ink supply roller. An ink application mechanism consisting of a counter roller is arranged on the front side of the base film, and a backup means is arranged on the back side of the base film so as to face the counter roller. By providing a movable means to arbitrarily bring the base film and the counter roller into contact with or separate from each other by moving one side of the base film, the counter roller is brought into contact with the base film only when the ink layer is regenerated, and the ink pumped up by the ink supply roller is removed. The structure is such that the ink layer is regenerated by applying it to the surface of the base film with a counter roller, so the base film is less affected by heat from the ink supply roller and ink reservoir than in the past. The effect is that the lifespan of the product can be improved.

Further, in the ink application mechanism, the ink reservoir is formed at the contact portion between the ink supply roller and the counter roller, so that
When performing multicolor recording, a plurality of ink application mechanisms are arranged along the base film, corresponding backup means and movable means are provided, and a sensor is arranged along the travel path of the base film. It becomes possible to separately form ink layers of a plurality of colors each having a uniform thickness on the surface of the same base film based on the output signal.

Therefore, the base film, thermal head, platen roller, etc. can be shared for multiple ink colors, and it is possible to realize a thermal transfer recording device that is compact, inexpensive, and can produce high-quality multicolor recording. It can be used in a wide range of fields.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing an embodiment of a thermal transfer recording device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing a conventional thermal transfer recording device, and FIG. 3 is an ink supply roller used in the embodiment of FIG. 1. and an enlarged sectional view showing the structure of the counter roller, FIG. 4 is a side sectional view when the ink layer is regenerated by the ink application mechanism used in the embodiment of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 6 is an enlarged side view showing one example, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing color reproduction characteristics using ink of three primary colors, and FIG. 7 is a side sectional view showing another example of the backup means. 13: Base film 14: Feet roller 18.1
9, 20: Ink 18a, 19a. 20a: Ink layer 22: Thermal head 23 Nibraten roller 24: Recording paper 27: Sensor 28, 29,
30: Ink application mechanism 32. 37. 40: Ink tank 34, 39° 42: Counter roller 43, 44, 4
5: Backup plate 46 Nibatsukuatsu Pro 1 La Patent Applicant Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. Agent Patent Attorney Takashi Kanakura Nimen 2 l Taka 31 Noodle 4 Ko 2 δ Procedural Amendment (Voluntary) July 1, 1985

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An endless base film is wound around a plurality of rollers including a feed roller, and a heat-melting ink is applied to the surface of the endless film to form an ink layer. In a thermal transfer recording device that performs recording by selectively heating locally with a thermal head and transferring the ink melted by the heating onto recording paper, and regenerating the ink layer after recording, an ink containing a thermofusible ink is used. An ink application mechanism comprising a tank, an ink supply roller partially immersed in the ink tank, and a counter roller that applies the ink drawn up by the ink supply roller to the surface of the base film. A backup means is provided on the front side of the film and on the back side of the base film so as to face the counter roller of the ink application mechanism, and one of the ink application mechanism and the backup means is moved to separate the base film and the counter. A thermal transfer recording device characterized by comprising a movable means for arbitrarily bringing the roller into contact with or separating from the roller. 2. Wrap an endless base film around multiple rollers including a feed roller, apply heat-melting ink to the surface of the endless film to form an ink layer, and locally apply this ink layer using a thermal head. A thermal transfer recording device that selectively heats, transfers the ink melted by the heating onto a recording paper, and regenerates the ink layer after recording. A plurality of ink application mechanisms are arranged along the surface of the base film, each of which includes an ink supply roller that is immersed in the ink and a counter roller that applies the ink drawn up by the ink supply roller to the surface of the base film. At the same time, the ink in each ink tank is of a different color, and backup means are provided on the back side of the base film so as to face the counter rollers of each ink application mechanism, and along the travel path of the base film. A plurality of movable means are provided in which a sensor is disposed, and one of the ink application mechanism and the backup means is moved based on a signal from the sensor to bring the base film and the counter roller into contact with and away from each other at a predetermined timing. A thermal transfer recording device. 3. The rotation direction of the counter roller is determined so that the contact surface of the counter roller moves in a direction opposite to the running direction of the base film when the base film and the counter roller come into contact with each other. Thermal transfer recording device according to scope 1 or 2. 4. Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a plate or roller is used as the backup means.
The thermal transfer recording device described in Section 1. 5. The backup means has a built-in heat source such as a heater, and the residual ink layer remaining on the surface of the base film after recording is heated from the back side. thermal transfer recording device.