JPS62119064A - Multicolor recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate a recording paper rewinding process to enable a through multicolor image recording, by a construction wherein an endless transfer belt is equipped and a multicolor image formed therteon is transferred on a recording paper. CONSTITUTION:When a light source 24 disposed opposedly to a transfer drum 17 for yellow is emitted according to a recording command, a receive portion of a photoelectric sheet 15 is turned from an insulating condition to a conducting condition, thus being energized to be heated. On the other hand, correspondingly to the heated portion, a melted yellow ink is transferred on a counter electrode 14 side surface of a transfer belt 13 which travels in contact with an ink layer 23 formed on the surface of the transfer drum 17. After that, inks of the other color are transferred on the transfer belt 13 in the same way as the above, thus a multicolor image is formed thereon. After all kinds of the coloring agent are completely transferred, a pair of paper feed rollers 28, 29 are rotated to start travel of a recording paper 27 synchronously with that of the transfer belt 13, then the multicolor image is transferred on the recording paper 27 under heat and pressure.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a multicolor recording device, and more specifically, the present invention relates to a multicolor recording device, and more specifically, a multicolor recording device that prints a plurality of colorants (heat melt ink, heat sublimation ink, etc.) according to image information. The present invention relates to a multicolor recording device that selectively heats to form a recording transfer image and transfers it to a recording paper side.

[Prior Art] Various multicolor recording devices have been proposed in the past, and one of them uses an ink donor film.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic structure of a conventional multicolor recording device using this ink donor film.

In Fig. 4, the symbol 1 is a thermal head.
A platen roller 2 is arranged opposite to this.

An ink donor film 3 and a recording paper 4 are guided between the thermal head 1 and the platen roller 2 in an overlapping manner.

As shown in FIG. 5, the ink donor film 3 has yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C) heat-melting inks applied adjacently in this order according to the maximum length of the recording size. The heat-melting ink of each color is selectively heated and melted by the thermal head 1 according to a recording command, and transferred onto the recording paper 4.

The ink donor film 3 is wound as a supply roller 5, and the ink donor film 3 led out from it is guided by a guide shaft 7.8, passes between the thermal head 1 and the platen roller 2, and then passes onto the take-up roll 6. It is wound up as.

On the other hand, the recording paper 4 each has a driving ability and is wound around a roll 9.10 which also serves as a driven roll, and is configured to be able to be sent in any direction by a conveyance roller 11.12.

During recording, first the ink donor film 3
and recording paper 4 are overlapped and run to the left in FIG.

When all the yellow transfer is completed, the ink donor film 3 is stopped and the thermal head 1 is moved to the platen roller 2.
The recording paper 4 is rewound and aligned, and then the ink donor film 3 and the recording paper 4 are overlapped and run again in the same way as in the case of yellow, and this time the magenta colorant is melted and the magenta color is produced. record.

The same holds true for recording with cyan colorant.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] If the above-described structure is adopted, the recording paper must be run at least three times and returned twice, which inevitably increases the recording time.

Also, even when recording in single color or with small recording size,
Since the ink donor film needs to be wound up into Y, M, and C layers, there is a problem that it is wasted.

Then, because of three transfers and one rewind, misalignment inevitably occurs, resulting in color misregistration, making it impossible to perform high-quality multicolor recording.

Furthermore, when the ink donor film 3 is transported, there is a problem that transport wrinkles occur, making it impossible to perform accurate transfer.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it provides a sheet made of a photoconductive member that becomes conductive only in the portion irradiated with light. An endless transfer belt is provided with a transparent electrode formed over the entire surface on one side and a counter electrode formed over the entire surface on the other side, and coloring agents of specific multiple colors are applied in the running direction of this transfer belt. We adopted a structure in which transfer rollers are arranged as many times as there are colors.

[Function] Based on the structure described above, when the transfer belt is run with a voltage applied between the transparent electrode and the counter electrode, and light is irradiated from the transparent electrode side according to the recording command, the light on the photoconductive member is Only the irradiated part becomes conductive, and current flows through that part, generating heat. Accordingly, the colorant melts from the transfer roller and is transferred to the transfer belt.

This transfer is performed for the number of colors to be used, and a multicolor recorded image is formed on the transfer belt.

If this multicolor recorded image is transferred onto recording paper, there is no need to rewind the recording paper, and multicolor recording is completed in one bus.

[Example] The present invention will be described in detail below based on an example shown in one drawing.

FIGS. 1 and 2 explain one embodiment of the present invention. In the figures, the reference numeral 13 is a transfer belt, and the second
The structure is as shown in the figure.

That is, the transfer belt 13 has a photoconductive sheet 15 that becomes conductive when light is irradiated to the center thereof, and a transparent electrode 16 is provided over the entire surface on one side of the photoconductive sheet 15. On the other side, opposing 1rL poles 14 are similarly provided over the entire surface.

An L bias voltage V is constantly applied between the two electrodes 14 and 16, and the electrodes are formed endlessly as a whole.

The bias voltage may be supplied via a brush-like electrode (not shown).

On the other hand, on the side of the counter electrode 14, a plurality of transfer drums are arranged in contact with the counter electrode 14 at predetermined intervals in the running direction of the transfer belt 13.

For example, in FIG. 1, the transfer drums are yellow transfer drum 17. Magenta transfer drum 18. A cyan transfer drum 19 and a black transfer drum 20 are arranged.

Then, a coating roller 21 is placed in contact with each transfer drum 17 to 20.
is provided.

Each transfer drum 1 is placed on the surface of the application roller 21.
Heat-melt inks corresponding to colors 7 to 20 are applied, and each coating roller 21 is equipped with a heater 22, which heats the heat-melt ink on the coating roller 21. By melting the ink, a thin ink layer 23 is formed on the surface of the transfer drum 17.

On the other hand, a light source 24 is arranged facing each of the transfer drums 17 to 20 and on the transparent electrode 16 side of the transfer bell 13.

The light source 24 is composed of, for example, an LED array, and the LED elements selectively emit light in response to a recording command.

On the other hand, the transfer belt 13 is guided by a guide roller or the like (not shown), is sandwiched between a heat roller 25 and a pinch roller 26, and is fed at a predetermined speed.

Also, what is indicated by the reference numeral 27 is a recording paper, and this recording paper 27
is fed by the paper feed roller pair 28 and 29, and the transfer belt 1 is fed between the heat roller 25 and the pinch roller 26.
Can be stacked with 3.

On the other hand, although not shown, marks are formed on the transfer belt 17 to notify the irradiation start position and the transfer start position according to the size of the surface to be recorded, and an irradiation timing sensor 30 is used to detect this. Transfer timing sensor 3
1 is provided.

A synchronous timing sensor 3 is also provided on the traveling path of the recording paper 27.
2 are provided.

Next, the operation of this embodiment configured as above will be explained.

Before the start of the operation, the leading edge of the recording paper 27 is detected by the synchronous timing sensor 32 and the recording paper 27 is stopped. When the operation is started in this state, the transfer belt 13 runs clockwise in the figure, and the irradiation begins. When the timing sensor 30 detects the irradiation start position, image formation begins.

Formation of this image is performed as follows.

First, the light source 24 facing the yellow transfer drum 17 emits light in accordance with the recording command, and the light-receiving portion of the photoconductive sheet 15 changes from an insulating state to a conductive state, and a current flows through that portion. When current flows through it, that part generates heat.

On the other hand, since the ink layer 23 is formed on the surface of the transfer drum 17, yellow ink is applied to the surface of the counter electrode 14 side of the transfer belt 23 that runs in contact with this layer, corresponding to the heat generating portion described above. It is melted and transferred.

Thereafter, ink such as magenta, cyan, and black is transferred onto the transfer belt 13 in the same manner, and a multicolor image is formed on the transfer belt 13.

When all the colorants have been transferred, the transfer timing sensor 31 detects the transfer start position, and the paper feed roller pair 28°29, which has been in a stopped state, is rotated, and the recording paper 2 is rotated.
7 starts running in synchronization with the transfer belt 13.

Then, the multicolor image is transferred onto a recording paper 27 that is supplied in synchronization with the transfer belt 13 while being heated and pressed through a heat roller 25 .

The recording paper on which the transfer has been completed is separated from the transfer belt 13 and discharged.

On the other hand, the irradiated portion of the photoconductive sheet irradiated by the light source 24 gradually recovers its insulation properties and is sent in a standby state for the next image formation.

Thereafter, similar operations are repeated to sequentially perform multicolor recording.

The length of the transfer belt 13 is selected to be at least the length of one recording paper depending on the size of the apparatus.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the light source 24 was arranged so as to correspond to the transfer drums 17 to 20 of each color, but as shown in FIG. 13, it is possible to use only one light source and reduce the number of parts.

[Effects] As is clear from the above explanation, the present invention employs a structure in which an endless transfer belt is provided, and after a multicolor image is formed on the transfer belt, it is transferred to recording paper. This eliminates the need for the process of rewinding the recording paper.
Multicolor image recording can be performed in passes.

Further, since printing is performed in one pass, color shift and the like do not occur as in the conventional method.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 to 3 illustrate one embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram explaining the entire device, Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the main part, Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing different configurations of the light source, and Figs. 4 and 5 explain the conventional structure. 4th thing
The figure is a schematic diagram of the entire apparatus, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the ink donor film. 13... Transfer belt 14... Counter electrode 15...
・Photoconductive sheet

Claims (1)

[Claims] A transparent electrode is formed on one side of an endless photoconductive sheet, and a counter electrode is formed on the other side of the endless transfer belt. A light source that selectively emits light according to a command, a transfer drum that is placed in contact with the opposite electrode side of the transfer belt and whose surface is coated with heat-melting ink, and a multicolor ink formed on the transfer belt. A multicolor recording device characterized by comprising a heat roller that transfers an image to a recording paper side.