JPS62132660A - Thermotransfer recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable thermal treatment to be performed effectively by providing a thermomelting head for thermal treatment of ink ribbons in the upper part (or lower part) of a thermal head set through a wide thermomelting ink ribbon. CONSTITUTION:When transfer-recording with a thermal head 4 using the lower half width area (or the upper half width area) of a wide thermomelting ink ribbon 21, the back side of the upper half width area (or the lower half width area) 21b in which a rough surface pattern has generated on an ink layer surface which is already used of the ink ribbon 21 is brought to contact with a corresponding thermomelting head 22 for thermal treatment of ink ribbon, then is heated. This results in the melting and smoothing of an uneven ink surface, enabling a rough pattern to be removed efficiently. Next, the lower half width are (or the upper half width area) 21a of the thermomelting ink ribbon 21 for said width is entirely used for transfer-recording, then the upper and lower half width areas of said ink ribbon 21 are reversed and reset to the recorder. Thus transfer-recording is performed using the above-mentioned upper half width area 21b which is now reversed to the lower side after being smoothed.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] The present invention applies a heat-melting ink ribbon that is used as an output device for data processing terminals and has a width at least twice the printing area and can be used repeatedly. In the thermal transfer recording device, in order to prevent the rough surface pattern that occurs as ink dropout on the ink layer surface of the heat-melting ink ribbon after transfer from being transferred to the recording paper as dirt, the upper or lower part of the thermal head is an ink ribbon heat treatment section is provided on the upper width surface of the wide heat-fusible ink ribbon;
Alternatively, the ink layer on the lower width surface or the upper width surface of the ribbon can be efficiently smoothed by the corresponding ink ribbon heat treatment section at the same time as transfer recording is performed on the lower width surface.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording device used as a print output device such as a data processing terminal or a word processor sensor, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording device used as a print output device such as a data processing terminal or a word processing sensor, and in particular, the surface of an ink layer after transfer of a heat-fusible ink ribbon applied to the device to enable repeated use. occurs in
The present invention relates to an apparatus configuration for efficiently melting and smoothing a rough surface pattern that causes the transfer of stains onto recording paper without complicating or increasing the size of the apparatus configuration.

As a type of non-impact printer, a thermal head is pressed against recording paper guided on a platen via a heat-melting ink ribbon that can be used repeatedly, and multiple heat generating parts of the thermal head are used to print information. A thermal transfer recording device that selectively generates heat to transfer heat-fusible ink onto recording paper to record prints is well-known, has almost no printing noise, and has a mechanical structure compared to similar non-impact type inkjet printers. Because they are simple, easy to maintain, small, lightweight, and inexpensive, they are widely used as printers for various data processing terminals.

In such thermal transfer recording devices, the heat-melting ink ribbon that is repeatedly used is smoothed to smooth out the rough surface patterns that may be transferred as stains to the recording paper after transfer, to ensure consistently good print quality. There is a need for a configuration that can efficiently perform heat treatment to obtain the desired results without complicating or increasing the size of the equipment.

[Conventional technology]

A conventional thermal transfer recording device using a heat-melt ink ribbon that can be used repeatedly has a platen 1 that guides a recording paper 2 as shown in FIG. 2, and a heat-melt ink ribbon 3 that can be used repeatedly. Thermal head 4 through
The head holder 5 supporting the platen is configured to reciprocate at a constant speed along the length of the platen.

During printing, the thermal head 4 is pressed onto the recording paper 2 on the platen 1 with a constant pressure by the operation of the head holder 5 via the hot-melt ink ribbon 3. The thermal head 4 in this state is transferred to the platen 1 based on the print information.
Print recording is performed by moving the thermal head 4 in the length direction, that is, in the direction of arrow A, and selectively generating heat from the plurality of heat generating parts of the thermal head 4 to transfer hot-melt ink onto the recording paper 2. ing.

Further, the rough surface pattern of the transfer marks generated on the surface of the ink layer of the heat-melting ink ribbon 3 subjected to transfer is transferred as a stain onto the recording paper simply by the pressing head 4 sliding on the upper surface thereof. Therefore, the rough surface pattern is melted and smoothed by a hot melting head 6 for heat treatment, etc. installed separately in the area where the hot meltable ink ribbon 3 is placed, which is spaced apart from the platen 1 side, so that stain transfer can be achieved. This eliminates the occurrence of this problem and prepares for subsequent transcription recording.

The hot-melt ink ribbon 3 is made of a porous impregnated material made of a carbon blank or the like on a base material such as a polyester film through an adhesive layer such as a polyester tree MM, and a dye, a wax material, etc. It has a structure in which a heat-melt ink layer containing a heat-melt ink is provided, and by heating the ink ribbon 3, the heat-melt ink melts and forms an exudation layer on the surface of the ink layer, and the process is repeated. This makes transcription recording possible.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

Incidentally, in such a thermal transfer recording apparatus, a heat-melting head 6 for heat treatment for smoothing a rough surface pattern generated on the ink layer surface of the heat-fusible ink ribbon 3 after transfer is located in the arrangement portion of the thermal head 4. These configurations require a tension mechanism to efficiently slide the back surface of the heat-melting ink ribbon 3 into contact with the surface of the heat-generating part such as the heat-melting head 6. However, when it becomes complicated, there are problems of larger size and higher cost.

In view of these conventional drawbacks, the present invention provides a heat treatment means for smoothing the rough surface pattern of the ink layer that is produced when transfer recording is performed using a heat-melting ink ribbon that can be used repeatedly. It is an object of the present invention to provide a new thermal transfer recording device that is provided with a simple configuration without increasing its size and that can perform heat treatment efficiently.

Means for Solving Problem C] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a platen 1 that faces the platen 1 that guides the recording paper 2 and has a width at least twice as wide as the printing area, as shown in FIG. , and an ink ribbon heat treatment section, that is, a heat melting head 22 for ink ribbon heat treatment is provided at the top (or bottom) of the thermal head 4 installed via a wide heat melt ink ribbon 21 that can be used repeatedly. The structure is as follows.

[For production]

In the configuration of the present invention, the thermal head 4
When performing transfer recording using the lower half-width surface (or upper half-width surface) 21a of the wide-width hot-melt ink ribbon 21, a pattern that has already been subjected to transfer recording and has been roughened is generated on the ribbon 21. Upper half-width surface (or lower half-width surface) 2
Heat melting hand 2 for ink ribbon heat treatment corresponding to 1b
2, the rough surface pattern can be efficiently melted and smoothed.

Therefore, for example, after the entire lower half-width surface (or upper half-width surface) 21a side of the wide heat-melting ink ribbon 21 is used for transfer recording, the width surface of the ribbon 21 is turned upside down to become the lower side. By performing transfer recording using the upper half-width surface 21a on which the rough surface pattern of the ink ribbon 21 has been smoothed, the rough surface pattern that has been transferred to the lower half-width surface 2Ib side is melted and smoothed. This is done at the same time, and by repeating this, a clear print record can always be obtained.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view of essential parts showing an embodiment of a thermal transfer recording device according to the present invention.

In the figure, 1 is a platen that guides the recording paper 2;
is a wide heat-melt ink ribbon that has twice the width of the printing area and can be used repeatedly. 4 is a thermal head having a plurality of heat generating parts supported by a head holder 5 so as to press the recording paper 2 with a constant pressure via a wide heat-melting ink ribbon 21;
An ink ribbon heat treatment section, that is, a heat melting head 22 for ink ribbon heat treatment is provided at the upper (or lower) part of the thermal head 4.

By providing the thermal melting head 22 at the top (or bottom) of the thermal head 4 in this way, the thermal head 4 allows the lower half-width surface of the wide heat-melting ink ribbon 21 to be drawn as shown in the figure. (or upper half-width surface) 21a when performing transfer recording, the ribbon 21
The upper half-width surface (or lower half-width surface) 21b which has already been subjected to transfer recording and has a rough surface pattern on the surface of the ink layer.
The back surface of the ink ribbon is heated in contact with the heat-melting head 22 for heat treatment of the corresponding ink ribbon, and the uneven ink surface is melted and smoothed, making it possible to efficiently remove the rough surface pattern.

Next, the lower half width surface (
(or upper half width surface) After using the entire 21a side for transfer recording,
The ink ribbon 21 is reinstalled into the apparatus with its width surface upside down, and transfer recording is performed using the smoothed lower half width surface 21b of the ink ribbon 21. In this way, the rough surface pattern appearing on the lower half-width surface 21a side is melted and smoothed at the same time by the corresponding heat-melting blade 22 for ink ribbon heat treatment in the same manner as described above, and the ink ribbon is regenerated into a reusable state.

Hereinafter, the transfer recording and the smoothing process of the rough surface pattern of the ink ribbon 21 are performed simultaneously in this way, and the ink ribbon 21 is
By repeating operations such as turning the width surface upside down, clear print records can always be obtained.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above description, according to the thermal transfer recording device according to the present invention, when transfer recording is performed, stains are transferred to the recording paper after being transferred to the heat-fusible ink ribbon that can be used repeatedly. By configuring the thermal melting head for heat treatment to melt and smooth the rough surface pattern that causes the problem, the thermal melting ink ribbon is placed on the surface of the heat generating part of the thermal melting head. To efficiently improve the rough surface pattern generated in the ink layer of a heat-melting ink ribbon by using a small and simple device configuration without the need to specially provide a tension mechanism for efficiently contacting and sliding the back side of the ink ribbon. It has the excellent advantage of making it possible to

Therefore, when applied to various thermal transfer recording devices using a wide heat-melting ink ribbon that can be used repeatedly, extremely remarkable effects can be produced in practice.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of essential parts showing an embodiment of a thermal transfer recording device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of essential parts for explaining a conventional thermal transfer recording device. In Figure 1, ① is a platen, 2 is a recording paper, 4 is a thermal head, 21
2 is a wide heat-melting ink ribbon that can be used repeatedly.
1. a shows the lower half-width surface of the ribbon, 21b shows the upper half-width surface of the ribbon, and 22 shows the thermal melting head. tree (mogu)

Claims (1)

[Claims] A thermal head (4) having a plurality of heat generating parts is placed on the recording paper (2) on the platen (1) with a reusable heat-melting ink ribbon (21) having a width at least twice the printing area interposed therebetween. ) and press the thermal head (4).
In an apparatus configuration that transfers and records heat-melting ink onto recording paper (2) by selectively generating heat in a plurality of heat generating parts based on print information, an ink ribbon is provided above or below the thermal head (4). A heat treatment section (22) is provided, and a lower half width surface (21a) of the wide heat-melting ink ribbon (21) is provided.
), or the upper half-width surface (21b), and at the same time, the upper half-width surface (21b) or the lower half-width surface (21a) of the ribbon (21) is heat-treated by the corresponding ink ribbon heat treatment section (22). A thermal transfer recording device characterized by: