JPS61274978A - Thermal transfer recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the titled recording apparatus capable of obtaining desired printing, by forming a discrimination part based on adhesion or coating displaying a transfer sheet measure to a transfer sheet cassette. CONSTITUTION:When a power source is turned ON in such a state that a transfer sheet cassette 5 is received in the apparatus, the presence of marks 6a-6c made of material having good reflectivity of the discrimination part formed by adhesion or coating of the transfer sheet cassette 5 is at first detected by a detection means 7 consisting of photo-interruptors 7a-7c and a detection signal is allowed to correspond to ON and OFF with respect to the presence of the marks to make it possible to discriminate a transfer sheet measure. For example, in the case of ink characteristics, if ON, pigment is shown and, if OFF, a dye is shown and, in the case of the number of ink colors, if ON, a single color is shown and, if OFF, plural colors are shown and, in the case of the order of ink colors, if ON, Y, M and C are shown and, if OFF, C, M and Y are shown.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention is directed to hard copy I related to OA/Nicomedia.
The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording device used as a device.

Conventional technology Conventional thermal transfer recording devices of this type have problems in handling, moisture resistance,
It has been considered to form the transfer sheet into a cassette from the viewpoint of protection against m, for example, a structure as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 56-67278.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, transfer sheets have ink materials with different ink properties such as pigment types and dye types, and also have different numbers of ink colors such as single color or multiple colors, and in the case of multiple colors, for example, yellow. (Y), magenta (M), cyan (
The order of ink colors may be different on the transfer sheet made of C). There is a problem in that the specifications of the ink characteristics, the number of ink colors, and the order of ink colors cannot be determined when the transfer sheet is stored in the apparatus, and cannot be determined even when the transfer sheet is stored in the transfer sheet cassette. Therefore, if you start printing as is, for example, the print quality will deteriorate dramatically due to the difference in recording energy due to the difference in ink characteristics, or if the number of ink colors is different, the print will become a monochrome print. Since the desired print could not be obtained, it was necessary to check the specifications of the transfer sheet before use.

The present invention solves these problems, and aims to provide a thermal transfer recording device in which the specifications of the transfer sheet can be easily determined while the transfer sheet cassette is stored in the device, and the desired print can be obtained. The purpose is

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the present invention forms a part of the transfer sheet cassette with a section for determining the ink characteristics, number of ink colors, and ink color order, which are the specifications of the transfer sheet. A detection means for detecting the discrimination section is provided, and a heat generation characteristic υ control circuit, a recording color order control circuit, and a recording color number control circuit are controlled by a signal from the detection means.

Effect of the Invention With the above configuration, the present invention allows the specifications of the transfer sheet to be easily determined with the transfer sheet cassette housed in the apparatus, and as a result, desired printing can be performed appropriately.

EXAMPLE An example of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings. In FIG. 1, 1 is a transfer sheet, which has a resin film base.
Lk: An ink layer of pigment or dye is formed, and the ink layer may be of a single color or multiple colors (in this example, yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C)).
It is painted in three different colors. The order of application of the ink layer is Y.

The color order is set from the viewpoint of color reproducibility, such as M, C or C, M, Y. Reference numeral 2 designates a feeding section for the transfer sheet 1, 3 a winding section for the transfer sheet, and 4 a guide for the transfer sheet 1. Reference numeral 5 denotes a transfer sheet cassette that houses a transfer sheet supply section 2, winding section 3, guide 4, and the like.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a discrimination section that displays the specifications of the transfer sheet formed on a part of the transfer sheet cassette 5. In this embodiment, a mark member made of a highly reflective material different from the material of the transfer sheet cassette 5 is pasted or coated. , showing the state of 6
a is a mark for identifying ink characteristics caused by the ink material;
6b is a mark for determining the number of ink colors, single color or multiple colors (Y, M, C, 3 colors), 60 is a mark for application order in case of multiple colors, Y,
M.

This is a mark for determining the ink color order: C, C, Y, M.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a detection means for detecting the discrimination mark, and in this embodiment, optical detection means such as a photointerlabeler is used.
7c is provided.

It is also possible to provide a discrimination section 6 in which the material to be pasted or applied is a magnetic material, and to use a magnetic sensor as the detection means 7. Detection means 7 capable of detecting
If so, the shape, material, and type of detector do not matter.

Next, its effect will be explained. When the power is turned on with the transfer sheet cassette 5 housed in the device, first the marks 5a made of a highly reflective material on the discrimination part 6 formed by pasting or coating the transfer sheet cassette 5, (
The presence or absence of 3b and 5c is determined by photointerrupters 78 and 7b.
, 70, and by making the detection signal correspond to ON or OFF depending on the presence or absence of the mark, it becomes possible to determine the ink characteristics, the number of ink colors, and the transfer sheet specifications in the order of the ink colors. . For example, in the case of ink characteristics, ON indicates pigment, OFF indicates dye, and in the case of ink color number, ON indicates singular, OF
If it is F, it indicates that it is a number of colors (three colors), and in the case of ink color order, ON indicates that it is Y, M, and 01OFF indicates that it is C, M, Y.

Further, the number of discrimination sections changes depending on the combination of ink characteristics, number of ink colors, ink color order, etc., and the number of detection means changes accordingly.

Next, the configuration of another embodiment will be explained. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the configuration of an embodiment that can perform appropriate printing using the results of determining ink specifications consisting of ink characteristics, number of ink colors, and ink color order. Regarding this, the configuration is similar to that of the previous embodiment.

8.9.10 are the aforementioned ink color number detection means, ink color order detection means, and ink characteristic detection means. 11 is the thermal transfer recording S! of this example. A device control circuit 12 that controls the operation of the device is a device drive circuit that drives the device according to an output command from the device control circuit 11. 13 is an ink color number detection device 8.
, the outputs (a), (b), and (c) of the ink color order detection means 9 and the ink characteristic detection means 1G, and the color selection signal @d of the device control circuit 11 select an appropriate heat generation characteristic correction, and apply the correction to the recorded data. This is a signal processing circuit that performs correction. The recording data appropriately corrected by the signal processing circuit 13 is subjected to drive voltage control or pulse width control by the thermal head control circuit 14 to drive the thermal head 15, and these constitute a heat generation characteristic control circuit.

FIG. 3 shows a specific configuration example of the signal processing circuit 13 shown in FIG. 16 is a recording color number control circuit 17 which switches between Y, M, and C color printing and, for example, black (BLK) monochrome printing based on the output (a) of the ink color number detection means 8; The color selection output (d) output by the control circuit 11 selects Y and M.

A recording color control circuit 18 selects gradation characteristic correction suitable for recording color C, and a recording color control circuit 18 determines the color order for printing, for example, Y, M, based on the output (b) of the ink color order detection means 9.

Recording color order control circuit for switching from C to C, Y, M, 19
is a recording level that switches between two sets of correction ROMs 20 to 27 for correcting the gradation characteristics of transfer sheets with different characteristics, such as a dye type transfer sheet and a pigment type transfer sheet, based on the output (C) of the ink characteristic detection means 1G. This is a key characteristic control circuit. Reference numerals 20, 22, 24, and 26 are correction ROMs 21, 23 for correcting Y, M, C, and BLK gradation characteristics of a dye-type transfer sheet, for example.

25.27 are, for example, Y and M of a pigment type transfer sheet.

This is a correction ROM that corrects the 1iti tone characteristics of C and BLK. The correction ROMs 20 to 27 can store a plurality of correction data in one ROM, and do not necessarily require a large number of correction ROMs.

Next, the operation of the configuration of this embodiment will be explained.

For example, if the ink color number detection means 8 selects color printing,
The ink color order detection means 9 is Y, M.

When the color order C is selected and the ink characteristic detection means 10 selects a dye type transfer sheet, the recording color number control circuit 16
The recording color order control circuit 18 and the tone characteristic control circuit 19 select the signal flows shown in FIG. 3, respectively. Therefore, when the recording color control circuit 17 selects the first color, the ROM (Y
l) 20 is selected, 1lill characteristic correction is performed on the recorded data, and the correction data is sent to the thermal head control circuit 1.
Send to 4. Similarly, 2nd and 3rd color ROM (Ml)
22, ROM (C1) 24 is selected, and signal processing can be performed according to the ink specifications of the transfer sheet 1 of the attached transfer sheet cassette 5.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, even when transfer sheet cassettes with different specifications are installed, it is possible to automatically distinguish between color recording and monochrome recording, determine the recording color order of the transfer sheet, It is possible to judge differences in the characteristics of transfer sheets and perform appropriate recording.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a thermal transfer recording device, not showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are block diagrams and specific configurations of the thermal transfer recording device, respectively, showing other embodiments of the present invention. This is an example diagram.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A thermal transfer recording device comprising a thermal head, a thermal transfer sheet formed by coating ink on a substrate, and recording paper,
Forming on the removable transfer sheet cassette containing the transfer sheet, a discrimination section by pasting or coating that displays at least one transfer sheet specification of the ink characteristics of the transfer sheet, the number of ink colors, and the order of the ink colors; ,
A thermal transfer recording device comprising a detection means for detecting the shape discrimination section. 2. The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the heat generating characteristic of the thermal head is switched via a heat generating characteristic control circuit in response to a detection signal from the ink characteristic detecting means. 3. The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the heat generation characteristic control circuit includes a recording gradation characteristic correction circuit that switches the recording gradation characteristic correction value or correction data. 4. The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the heat generation characteristic control circuit further includes a power supply voltage control circuit for switching the driving voltage of the thermal head. 5. The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the heat generation characteristic control circuit further includes a pulse width control circuit for switching the driving pulse width of the thermal head. 6. The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the color order to be printed is switched via a recording color order control circuit in response to a detection signal from the ink color order detection means. . 7. The thermal transfer recording device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the number of colors to be recorded is switched via a recording color number control circuit based on a detection signal from the ink color number detection means. .