JPS62201268A - Multicolor thermal recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a multicolor thermal recording apparatus capable of excluding the heat effect of adjacent dots and reproducing a color dot faithfully, by making the heat generating resistor element of a head corresponding to a color forming layer requiring high heat energy smaller than the heat generating resistor element of a head corresponding to a layer forming a color by low heat energy. CONSTITUTION:By changing the sizes of the heat generating resistor element 17Y of an yellow thermal head 12, the heat generating resistor element 17M of a magenta thermal head 13 and the heat generating resistor element 17C of a cyan thermal head 14, the diameter of a dot is corrected. The size of the heat generating resistor element corresponding to a layer requiring higher energy is made smaller and, by this method, widths ly', lM', lc' exceeding energy levels (Ey, EM, Ec) necessary for the formation of a color are made almost same and a proper color dot is obtained. The diameter of the color dot formed by each layer is made almost the same to make it possible to obtain a sharp color image.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a multicolor thermal recording device, and more particularly to a color recording device using multicolor thermal paper.

Traditionally, thermal recording has been mainstream in monochrome, but color paper is gradually being used, and two-color and even multi-color thermal paper is being developed.

FIG. 10 shows the structure of a thermal paper having three types of coloring layers. In the figure, 1 is a support, 2 is a first coloring layer, 3 is a first decoloring agent layer, and 4 is a third coloring layer. 2 is a coloring layer, 5 is a second decoloring agent layer, and 6 is a third coloring layer.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram when recording is performed using the above-mentioned multicolor thermal paper. In the figure, 7 is a thermal head, and (a) the figure shows when coloring is done in the third coloring layer 6, (b) The figure shows the case where the second coloring layer 4 develops the color, and the figure (c) shows the case where the first coloring layer 2 develops the color. Now, if the amount of heat required to color the third coloring layer 6 is A, the amount of heat required to color the second coloring layer 4 is B, and the amount of heat required to color the first coloring layer 2 is C. A<R<C, and when the dot shape is 100 x i 70 μm, A is usually 0.4
．． -0.8 mJ/dot, B is 0.9-1.3 mJ/dot, C is 1.5-3.5 m, I/F cut, only the third coloring layer 6 develops color with heat amount A, and heat amount At B, the third coloring layer 6 is compatible with the second decoloring layer 5 and decolored, only the second coloring layer 4 develops color, and at heat amount C, the third coloring layer 6 is compatible with the second decoloring layer 5. The second color forming layer 4 dissolves and disappears, and the second color developing layer 4 dissolves and disappears with the first color erasing layer 3.
Only the first coloring layer 2 develops color.

Figures 12 and 13 are diagrams showing other multicolor thermal paper, respectively. The thermal paper shown in Figure 12 has a coloring layer to improve the clarity of the color tone and the storage stability of the image. An intermediate layer 8 is provided between the thermal paper and the decoloring layer, and the thermal paper shown in FIG. 13 has a protective layer 9 provided on the uppermost layer in order to improve matching properties. If the above three coloring layers are Y (yellow), 2M (magenta), and C (cyan), M will not only have these three colors, but their combination (juxtaposed color mixture) will create fashionable colors, and even more. This opens up the possibility of Victorian colors.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram illustrating an example of obtaining a color image using three-color thermal recording paper such as a double series.
Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, the two-most layer will be referred to as Y (yellow), the middle layer will be referred to as M (magenta), and the bottom layer will be referred to as C (cyan). In Fig. 4, 11 is three-color thermal paper, 2 is a Y coloring heat-sensitive thermal head, 13 is an M coloring thermal head, 14
is C coloring thermal spatula 1, 15 is CP tJ, ]6
is a timing controller. Now, assuming that the energy required for color development is E'/r EM + Ec, Ey<EM<EC.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a head drive circuit of the thermal head, in which 21 is a shift register, 22 is a latch circuit, 23 is a drive circuit, and 24 is a heating resistor element. The drive is divided into four parts using the signals ENEI to ENE4.

FIG. 6 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of the thermal recording device shown in FIG.

When the C data is transferred to the shift register 15, the L AT CII multiplied signal is applied to each thermal head L 2 , i 3 , 1.4 at the same timing. This LATCII signal is also applied to the timing controller 16, and the timing controller 16 is used as a trigger to generate pulses with pulse widths ty, tM, and tC. Here, the signal S is L A T CI + double signal ENE34
A signal that is inverted at the falling edge of the signal, indicating the end of printing one line.

The next L A T CI (used as a gate signal for the signal).

T, is one line writing time. Of course, energy control is possible not only by pulse width but also by voltage, resistance value, etc.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the ideal relationship between the heating resistor element and thermal energy, and the thermal energy of the heating resistor element 17 is:
Ideally, the heat should be transmitted to the paper as shown in FIG. 7, but in reality, the heat spreads in the lateral direction (to adjacent dots) as shown in FIG. In FIG. 8, 17Y is a heating resistor element for yellow, 1.7M is a heating resistor element for magenta, and 17C is a heating resistor element for cyan. This tendency is stronger as the energy increases, and as a result, the dot diameters Qy, QM, and Qc are n y < Q M <
In this case, it is impossible to express multiple colors by mixing colors.

The present invention has been made in view of the actual situation such as "Double Series", and in particular, in a multicolor thermal recording device using multicolor thermal paper, it is possible to eliminate the thermal influence of adjacent dots and faithfully print color dots. This was done for the purpose of providing a multi-color thermosensitive recording device that can reproduce color images.

Structure In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a multicolor thermal recording device that performs color recording using multicolor thermal paper, which comprises a multicolor thermal recording device having a number of thermal layers corresponding to the number of coloring layers that the multicolor thermal paper has. In a multicolor thermal recording device that has a head and individually applies the thermal energy necessary for coloring each layer,
The present invention is characterized in that the heating resistor element of the head of the coloring layer, which requires large thermal energy, is made smaller than the heating resistor element of the head of the layer, which generates color with small thermal energy. Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained based on examples.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining one embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1.7Y is the heating resistor element of the Y (yellow) thermal spatula 1, and 17M is the heating resistor of the M (magenta) thermal head. In other words, 17Y is the heating element of the head 12, 1.7M is the heating element of the head 13, 17C is the heating element of the head 14, and 17c is the heating element of the C (cyan) thermal head. The dot diameter is corrected by changing the size of the heating resistor element of each head. In the example shown, the layer that requires a large amount of energy has a smaller heating resistor element. , this increases the energy level (Ey) required for color development.
Width Q'j'+<IM' exceeding l EM + Ec)
, <IC' are set to be approximately the same, and appropriate colored dots are obtained.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the pitch of each heating resistor element in each head [2, 13, 1.4]-7Y, 17M, 17C, and as shown, the pitch P between each heating resistor element. When configured to be the same, the thermal energy that would normally be applied as shown in Figure 9 (of course not at the same time on the same line) will be corrected as shown in Figure 3. Become. In addition, in FIG. 2, 18 is a thermosensitive recording paper.

According to the present invention, as is clear from the explanation of work result-1-,
The diameters of color dots produced by each layer are made approximately the same, making it possible to obtain clear color images.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
The figure shows the pitch between heating resistor elements in the head,
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between adjacent heating resistor elements and heat generation energy in the present invention, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a multicolor heat-sensitive device to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the head FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a drive circuit, and FIG. 7 is a time chart for explaining the operation of the thermal recording device shown in FIG. 4.
The figure shows the ideal relationship between the heat generating resistor element and thermal energy, Figure 8 shows the relationship between the heat generating resistor element and the printing dot diameter in the conventional device, and Figure 9 shows the relationship between the heating resistor element and the printing dot diameter in the conventional device. 1-0 is a diagram showing an example of multicolor thermal paper, and FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating the coloring method of the thermal paper shown in FIG. 10. 12 and 13 are diagrams showing examples of other thermal paper, respectively. 11...Three-color thermal paper, 12...Y coloring heat-sensitive thermal head, 13...M coloring thermal head, 14.
・・Thermal head for C coloring, 15...CP tJ,
16...timing controller, 17. i, 7Y,
17M. 17c...Heating resistor element, 18...Thermosensitive recording paper. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Cause 4 Figure 7 Figure 6 Figure Sl-11111
1 Figure 8 Figure 9 +7y I7c

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A multicolor thermal recording device that performs color recording using multicolor thermal paper, which has a number of thermal heads corresponding to the number of coloring layers that the multicolor thermal paper has, and which colors each layer. In a multicolor thermosensitive recording device that individually applies the necessary thermal energy to each color, the heating resistor element in the head of the coloring layer that requires a large amount of thermal energy is replaced with the heating resistor element in the head of the layer that generates color with a small amount of thermal energy. A multicolor thermal recording device characterized by being smaller. (2) A multicolor thermal recording device according to claim (1), wherein the pitch between heating resistor elements of different sizes is the same among a plurality of heads.