JPS62134274A - Recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to lower running cost, to improve heat efficiency and to further perform accurate transfer recording, by a method wherein a rotating transfer medium is heated by a recording head and the heating position of the transfer medium by the recording head is allowed to move with the change in the outer diameter of the transfer medium. CONSTITUTION:When a motor is driven, a pressure contact roller 3 rotates to the direction shown by an arrow (a) and an ink roller 1 rotates to the direction shown by an arrow (b). At the same time, a recording head 5 generates heat correspondingly to image information to melt the ink on the surface of the roller 1 under heating according to an image pattern and reaches a pressure contact part (c). A supply roller 10 and timing rollers 11 separate recording sheets 8 one by one to feed the same to the pressure contact part (c). The molten ink having the image pattern is transferred to the recording sheet 8 in the pressure contact part (c). Because the recording head 5 is energized by an eccentric cam 17, a guide projection 15b slides along a curved slot 16a with the reduction in the diameter of the ink roller. Therefore, the peripheral length from the contact part (d) of the roller 1 and the recording head 5 to the pressure contact part (c) is always kept constant.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a recording apparatus that performs recording by heating a rotating transfer medium.

<Prior Art> The thermal recording method has been widely used in recent years because of its general features such as a small and lightweight device and no noise, as well as the ability to record on plain paper.

Conventionally, commonly used thermal recording devices construct a transfer medium by coating a heat-resistant base film with a thin layer of hot-melt ink, and superimpose the ink layer of the transfer medium on the recording medium, and The ink on the transfer medium is melted according to the image pattern by heating from the base film side using a recording head that generates heat according to the information, and is transferred and recorded on the recording medium (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-220795).
.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> However, in the conventional heat-sensitive recording device described above, the heat-melting ink must be coated on a relatively expensive heat-resistant base film through a complicated process, and furthermore, this Since the transfer medium is disposable once transferred, the running cost is high, and since the heat-melting ink must be heated through the base film, there are problems such as poor thermal efficiency.

In addition, in order to improve thermal efficiency, there is a method in which the heat-resistant base film is made of a conductive film, and the recording head is made up of electrodes that are energized according to the image information, and the ink is directly heated by Joule heat. Kaisho 58-12
No. 790), this configuration makes the base film even more expensive.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems and provides a recording device that has low running costs, good thermal efficiency, and is capable of more accurate transfer recording.

<Means for Solving the Problems> Means of the present invention for solving the above conventional problems includes a rotatable transfer medium, a recording head that heats the transfer medium according to image information, and a surface of the transfer medium. A pressure contact member that presses the recording medium against the surface of the recording medium, and a recording head that slides in response to changes in the outer diameter of the transfer medium so as to maintain a constant circumference from the position where the transfer medium is heated by the bidirectional recording head to the pressure contact position of the pressure contact member. The device is characterized in that it is provided with a sliding means.

Effect> According to the above means, the transfer medium rotates in accordance with recording and is heated in an image pattern by the recording head, and the heated transfer medium is transferred onto the conveyed recording medium.

Furthermore, even if the outer diameter of the transfer medium decreases due to recording, the recording head slides according to the change in outer diameter, and the heating position of the recording head relative to the transfer medium is always maintained constant. Accurate transfer and recording is performed on the recording medium regardless of the transfer.

<Embodiment> Next, an embodiment of a recording apparatus to which the above means is applied will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a partially cut away perspective view of the recording device.
FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view.

First, to explain the overall outline, 1 is an ink roller which is a transfer medium, and the core 1a is formed by solidifying ink having supercooling characteristics into a roll shape, and the core 1a is rotatably attached to the side plate 2 of the device. , and is attached so as to slide downward as the roller diameter decreases.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a pressure contact roller which is a pressure contact member that comes into pressure contact with the ink roller 1, and is moved by the stepping motor 4 as shown by the arrow a.
The ink roller 1 is rotated stepwise or continuously in the direction indicated by the arrow.

Further, a recording head 5 that generates heat according to image information is attached to the upstream side in the rotational direction of the ink roller 1 with respect to the pressure contact portion (hereinafter simply referred to as the r pressure contact portion J) C between the ink roller L and the pressure roller 3. ing. This recording head 5 is in line contact with the axial surface of the ink roller 1, and as the diameter of the ink roller 1 decreases, the contact area (hereinafter simply referred to as "contact area j") d between the ink roller 1 and the recording head 5 increases.
moves upward so that the circumferential length from the contact portion d to the pressure contact portion C is always constant.

Further, a smooth blade 6 is attached to the downstream side of the ink roller I in the rotational direction with respect to the pressure contact portion C. This smoothing blade 6 is used to smooth the surface by scraping off minute irregularities remaining on the roller surface after the ink of the ink roller 1 is transferred to the recording medium, or by smoothing the surface with heating pressure, etc. is attached to the side plate 2 so as to contact the surface of the ink roller 1 and slide as the diameter of the roller 1 decreases.

7 is a conveying means for conveying recording sheets 8, which are recording media, in the direction of arrow e in accordance with the recording operation, and the recording sheets 8 stored in the cassette 9 are pulled out one by one by a feeding roller lO, and a timing roller The recording sheet 8 conveyed by the conveying means 7 is subjected to a predetermined recording when passing between the ink roller 1 and the pressure roller 3, and is then discharged to the sheet receiver 12. It is configured as follows.

Next, the configuration of each part of the recording apparatus will be described in detail.

First, the ink roller 1 will be explained. As mentioned above, the ink of the ink roller 1 is composed of ink that has a supercooling property. Ink that has a supercooling property is an ink that is heated to melt or soften, and then cooled. case,
This is an ink that maintains a melted or softened state or adhesive state for a certain period of time that can be transferred to the recording sheet 8 even at a temperature below the ink's original melting point or softening point, and includes a carbon blank in a thermofusible binder having supercooling properties. It is made by dispersing colorants such as dyes and pigments used in printing or other recording methods, either singly or in a mixture of two or more.

Here, as an example of the thermofusible binder having supercooling properties, N-cyclohexyl-p-
) Plasticizers such as luenesulfonamide, N-ethyl-p-toluenesulfonamide, dicyclohexyl phthalate, etc., or benzotriazole, acetalinide, etc., or derivatives thereof, alone or in combination of two or more, are used for conventional thermal transfer. Conventional heat-melting binders made of thermoplastic resins such as polyamide resins, polyacrylic resins, polyvinyl acetate resins, or copolymers of these, various natural or synthetic waxes, etc. used in sex inks. The ink roller l can be obtained by solidifying this into a roll shape using a mold, etc. To obtain the supercooled thermofusible binder used in this example, for example, the above supercooled Cooling substance 2
0 parts to 90 parts of the conventional heat-melting binder 10 to 9
0 parts, or by adding an oil agent or the like to the supercooled thermofusible binder to adjust its supercooling characteristics.
Melt viscosity, adhesive strength, etc. may be adjusted by adding elastomers and the like.

The ink having supercooling characteristics has a melting point or softening point of preferably about 40 to 200°C, more preferably about 50 to 180°C, and is melted or softened by being heated above the melting point or softening point. After that, the time until solidification starts when left at room temperature is preferably 0.
．． It is set to about 1 to 100 seconds, more desirably about 0.1 to 10 seconds.

The ink roller 1 having the above-mentioned characteristics has cores 1a at both ends inserted into vertically elongated holes 2a drilled in the left and right side plates 2, and inserted into horizontally elongated holes 13a bored in the rotary plate 13 attached to the side plate 2. has been done.

One end of the rotating plate 13 is attached to be rotatable about a shaft 13b, and the other end is pulled downward by a spring 14. Therefore, the ink roller 1 is always urged downward and is configured to come into pressure contact with the pressure roller 3 disposed below the ink roller 1.

The pressure roller 3 has a shaft 3a protruding from both ends thereof, which is attached to the side plate 2.
As shown in FIG. 3, it is connected to a stepping motor 4 via a belt 4a, and is configured to be driven and rotated by the driving of the motor 4. Further, knurls 3b are provided at both ends of the pressure roller 3 in the longitudinal direction.
is provided, and when the pressure roller 3 is driven to rotate as described above, the knurling 3b bites into the ink roller 1, causing the ink roller 1 to rotate in a driven manner.

Next, the recording head 5 will be described. The head 5 is equipped with a plurality of heating elements (not shown) that generate heat according to image information, and has a length approximately equal to the length of the ink roller 1 in the longitudinal direction.
4(A) and (B), this is slidably attached by sliding means A as shown in FIGS. 4(A) and 4(B).

That is, the recording head 5 is attached to the support 1 by the screw 15a.
Guide protrusions 15b are provided protruding from the upper portions of both sides of the support body 15, and a U-shaped notch 15C is bored at the lower end. Protrusion 1 of the support 15
5b and the notch 15c are engaged with the curved elongated hole 16a and the support protrusion 16b provided in the support side plate 16.
When the support body 15 is urged in the direction of the arrow r by the eccentric cam 17 attached to the cam 17 and rotated by a motor (not shown), the guide protrusion 15b slides along the curved elongated hole 16a using the support protrusion 16b as a fulcrum. It is configured as follows. 18 is the guide protrusion 15b.
This is a spring stretched between the support side plate 16 and the support side plate 16, and pulls the guide protrusion 15b in the -r direction (hereinafter, the minus sign indicates the opposite direction).

Here, as shown in FIG. 4(C), the curved elongated hole 16a is formed at the contact portion d when the guide protrusion 15b slides using the support protrusion 16b as a fulcrum as the diameter of the ink roller decreases.
to the circumferential length of the ink roller 1 from to the pressure contact part C, the normal line at the contact part d, and recording.

The guide protrusion 15 is arranged so that the angle with the door 5 is always constant.
It is configured in a curved shape that guides the slide of b.

Further, a nut member 16C is non-rotatably attached to the outside of both supporting side plates 16, and the nut member 16c is threadedly engaged with a lead screw member 19. As shown in FIG. 1, this lead screw member 19 is a U-shaped holding member 19 that is attached to a predetermined position of the side plate 2 with screws 19a.
A pulley 19c is fixed to the end of each lead screw member 19, and a belt 19d is suspended between each pulley 19c. Furthermore, a gear 19e is attached to the end of one lead screw member 19, and the lead screw member 1 is driven by a motor 19f connected to the gear 19e.
9 rotates, the nut member 16C slides along the lead screw member 19, and the recording pad 5 slides in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the ink roller 1.

Next, the smooth blade 6 is formed to have approximately the same length as the axial length of the ink roller 1, and as shown in FIG. It has a knife-like structure that can be cut with. Two slide protrusions 6a are protruded from both ends of the smooth blade 6, and the slide protrusions 6a are slidably inserted into guide holes 2b formed in the side plate 2.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a connecting plate 6b is attached to the end of the slide projection 6a, and one end of a link member 20 is pivotally attached to the connecting plate 6b. The link member 20 is
<Constructed of a member bent in a J-shape, rotatably attached to the side plate 2 by a link shaft 20a at the bent part,
The other end 20b is configured to abut against the lower end of the rotating plate 13. Therefore, when the diameter of the ink roller 1 decreases and the rotary plate 13 rotates in the direction of the arrow g, the link member 20 rotates in the direction of the arrow G to slide the smooth blade 6 along the guide hole 2b.

Further, an eccentric cam 21 is attached to the lower part of the link member 20 so as to be in contact therewith. This eccentric cam 21 is a rotary plate I
The rotating shaft 21a of the eccentric cam 21 is rotatably attached to the side plate 2 at a position below the link member 20 that contacts the link member 3.
and motor 21b are connected via one-way clutch 21C, and only when motor 21b rotates in the direction of arrow i, one-way clutch 21C is locked and rotates eccentric cam 21, thereby causing link member 2
0 in the direction of arrow -h.

Next, in the structure of the sheet conveying means 7, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the feeding roller 10 and the timing roller 11 have a length above the axis of the recording sheet 8, and the respective rollers 10.1
Shafts 10a and lla are protruded from both ends of 1, and the shaft toa
, lla are pivoted to the side plate 2 and rotatably mounted by a motor 4 that rotates the pressure roller 3. Here, the feeding roller 10 is attached to a position where it comes into pressure contact with the top layer of recording sheets 8 stored in the cassette 9 when the cassette 9 is loaded into the apparatus, and rotates in the direction of arrow j according to the recording operation. The recording sheet 8 is separated and fed one by one.

Further, the timing roller 11 rotates in the direction of the arrow in synchronization with the rotation of the pressure roller 3 that operates according to recording, and conveys the recording sheet 8 between the ink roller 1 and the pressure roller 3, and is made of stainless steel or It is composed of a pair of metal rollers such as iron arranged above and below, and a tension spring 22 is attached between the mutual shafts 11a.
The pair of rollers is configured to come into pressure contact with each other. The pressing force of the pair of rollers by the tension spring 22 is set to 16 kg/C.2 or more, which is a general fixing pressure when an image transferred in a copying machine or the like is fixed under pressure.

Further, a sheet guide 23 is provided between the feeding roller 10 and the timing roller 11 and between the timing roller 11 and the pressure roller 3 for guiding the recording sheet 8 being conveyed.

Next, the operation of the device configured as described above will be explained.

When the motor 4 is driven, the pressure roller 3 rotates in the direction of the arrow a, and the ink roller l rotates in the direction of the arrow. Simultaneously with this rotation, the recording head 5 generates heat in accordance with the image information, heats and melts the ink on the surface of the ink roller 1 in an image pattern, and the ink remains molten as the ink roller 1 rotates. It reaches the pressure contact part C. At the same time, the supply roller 10 and the timing roller 11 rotate in the directions of the arrows j to transfer the recording sheet 8 to the cassette 9.
The sheets are separated one by one from the inside and conveyed to the pressure contact section C in synchronization with the recording operation. Therefore, the molten ink in the form of an image pattern is transferred to the recording sheet 8 at the pressure contact portion C.
A recording sheet 8 on which a predetermined image has been recorded is discharged to a sheet receiver 12 by rotation of an ink roller 1 and a pressure roller 3.

Further, after the ink has been transferred, minute irregularities remain on the surface of the ink roller, but when the ink roller 1 rotates and comes to the position of the smoothing blade 6, the surface of the roller 1 is heated to be cut or smoothed by the blade 6. , the unevenness is eliminated and a smooth surface is obtained.

Therefore, continuous transfer recording is performed.

Now, the diameter of the ink roller decreases as recording progresses due to ink transfer and cutting by the smooth blade 6, but the core la of the ink roller l slides along the vertical hole 2a as the roller diameter decreases. The ink roller 1 and the pressure roller 3 are in pressure contact with each other with a constant pressure regardless of changes in the roller diameter. Further, the sliding of the core 1a rotates the rotary plate 13 in the direction of the arrow g, and accordingly, the link member 20, in which the lower end and one end 20b of the rotary plate 13 are in contact, rotates in the direction of the arrow. Then, the slide protrusion 6a of the smooth blade 6 slides in the direction of the ink roller 1 along the guide hole 2b, so that the smooth blade 6 is always in contact with the surface of the ink roller l.

Further, since the recording head 5 is urged in the direction of the arrow f by the eccentric cam 17, as the diameter of the ink roller decreases, the guide protrusion 15b of the support body 15 of the recording head 5 moves against the support protrusion 16b of the support side plate 16. Curved long hole 16 as a fulcrum
Slide along a. Therefore, the angle between the ink roller 1 and the recording head 5 relative to the normal line of contact and the circumferential length from the contact portion d to the pressure contact portion C are always kept constant.

Next, when the recording sheet 8 is conveyed, the recording sheet 8 fed from the feeding roller IO passes between the timing rollers 11 and is subjected to pressure on the sheet surface by the pair of rollers. Therefore, if the recording sheet 8 is made of paper or the like due to the above pressure, even if minute fibers are stretched on its surface or paper dust, etc. is attached, the fibers, paper dust, etc. will get into the paper. It is something. Therefore, even if the surface of the recording sheet 8 is fluffy or has low surface smoothness,
As the sheet passes between the timing rollers 11, the smoothness of the sheet surface is increased and transfer omission is prevented.

-i, when pressure equivalent to pressure fixing by a copying machine is applied to the sheet surface, the smoothness of the sheet surface is increased.

Note that it is more effective for the timing roller 11 to be made of a metal roller in order to smooth the surface of the recording sheet 8 by the pressure contact, but at least the side where the recording sheet 8 contacts the ink roller l, that is, the recording If the timing roller 11 on the side that contacts the transfer surface of the sheet 8 is made of metal, the same effect can be obtained even if the timing roller 11 on the other side is made of hard rubber or hard plastic. Further, when the timing roller 11 made of hard rubber or hard plastic is used on one side as described above, it is preferable to install a vacuum cleaner below the roller 11 to collect minute dust such as paper dust.

Next, in order to maintain the roundness of the roller 1, it is desirable not to apply pressure to the surface of the ink roller 1 during non-recording. For this purpose, first, the motor 21b is driven to rotate in the direction of arrow i. At this time, the one-way clutch 21C is locked, the eccentric cam 21 is rotated in the i direction, and the link member 20 is rotated in the -h direction. As a result, the rotating plate 13
rotates in the -g direction and pushes the ink roller l upward, so that the pressure contact between the ink roller 1 and the pressure roller 3 is released. move away from At the same time, when the motor 19r is driven and the lead screw member 19 is rotated in a predetermined direction, the nut member 16C that is threaded with the lead screw member 19 slides in the direction of arrow l, thereby causing the recording head 5 to rotate. is separated from the ink roller L. Therefore, according to the apparatus of this embodiment, it is possible to prevent other members from coming into pressure contact with the surface of the ink roller 1 outside the plate during recording.

In the above-described embodiments, the transfer medium is an ink roller, but this is not limited to the shape of a roller. It may be configured.

Further, the pressure roller 3, the feeding roller 10, and the timing roller 11 are not limited to roller-shaped members, and the same effect can be obtained even if they are other members such as rotating belts.

Furthermore, if the heating part of the recording head 5 is coated with silicone resin, the ink that melts when heated will be absorbed by the recording head 5.
It is possible to prevent the ink from adhering to the ink roller, and also to improve the slippage between the ink roller and the ink roller.

Furthermore, although the knife-shaped smoothing member 6 was used in the above-described embodiment, the surface of the ink roller 1 may be smoothed by bringing a heating roller into contact with it.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the recording sheets 8 were stored in the cassette 9, but the recording sheets 8 may be stacked on a deck, manual tray, or the like.

<Effects of the Invention> As described above, the present invention is configured so that the rotating transfer medium is heated by the recording head, so there is no need for an expensive heat film like in the past, and the thermal efficiency of the transfer medium is also high. running costs can be reduced. In addition, the heating position of the transfer medium by the recording head moves according to changes in the outer diameter of the transfer medium, and the circumference from the heating position to the transfer position is always maintained constant, so the recording medium is transported according to a constant recording operation. By doing so, it is possible to always perform transfer recording at an accurate position, and there is no need for a complicated control mechanism.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially broken perspective explanatory view of a recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view thereof, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the relationship between an ink roller and a pressure roller, and The figures are explanatory views of the recording head, in which (A) is an exploded explanatory view, and (B)
) is an explanatory view of the assembled state, and (C) is an explanatory view of the recording head sliding as the ink roller diameter decreases. 1 is an ink roller, 1a is a core, 2 is a side plate, 2a is a vertical hole, 2b is a guide hole, 3 is a pressure roller, 3a is a shaft, 3b
is a knurl, 4 is a motor, 4a is a belt, 5 is a recording head, 6 is a smooth blade, 6a is a slide protrusion, 6b
1 is a connecting plate, 6c is a nichrome wire, 7 is a conveying means, 8 is a recording sheet, 9 is a cassette, 1O is a feeding roller, 11 is a timing roller, 12 is a sheet receiver, 13 is a rotating plate, 13
a is a horizontally elongated hole, 13b is a shaft, 14 is a spring, 15 is a support body, 15a is a screw, 15b is a guide protrusion, 15c is a U
character-shaped notch, 16 is a support side plate, 16a is a curved long hole, 16
b is a support projection, 16c is a nut member, 17 is an eccentric cam,
18 is a spring, 19 is a lead screw member, 19
a is a screw, 19b is a U-shaped holding member, 19c is a pulley,
19d is a belt, 19e is a gear, 19f is a motor, 2
0 is a link member, 20a is a link shaft, 21 is an eccentric cam,
21a is a rotating shaft, 21b is a motor, 21C is a one-way clutch, 22 is a tension spring, and 23 is a seat guide.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A rotatable transfer medium, a recording head that heats the transfer medium according to image information, a pressure contact member that presses the recording medium against the surface of the transfer medium, and a pressure contact member that starts from the position where the transfer medium is heated by the recording head. A recording apparatus comprising: a sliding means for sliding a recording head according to a change in the outer diameter of a transfer medium so as to maintain a constant peripheral length up to a pressure contact position. (2) Claim 1, wherein the contact angle of the recording head with respect to the transfer medium is maintained constant with respect to the contact normal line.
Recording device as described in section.