JPS62249784A - Ink film cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent deterioration in the picture quality of print by abrading a recording head until an endface of a recording electrode which has retreated because of the mechanical abrasion caused through sliding against a resistive layer and the discharge caused through a potential difference is recovered thereafter wiping off the powder adhered around the recording electrode by means of a cleaning pad. CONSTITUTION:An ink film cassette 104 comprises and ink film 103 consiting of a resistive layer and a thermally activated ink, a core 106 for feeding said film 106, a core 105 for winding said film 105, an abrasive film 101, a cleaning pad 102 and a cassette 104 for containing them. When it is inserted into a power conduction heat transfer printer, the abrasive film 101 is read out automatically by means of a sensor so as to abrade a recording head at first. Then a winding core 105 winds the abrasive film 101 so as to finish the abrasion while simultaneously the recording head contacts the cleaning pad 102 so as to remove the abrasive powder. Thereafter, an image receiving paper is inserted into the printer and a recording signal is provided to the recording head so as to perform the printing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to the structure of an ink film cassette used in an electrical thermal transfer type printer.

[Prior Art] An electric thermal transfer method in which thermally activated ink is transferred to image-receiving paper for printing will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. A recording head 202 is disposed at a position where an ink film 205 is stacked on an image receiving paper (generally referred to as an ink transfer material that receives molten ink and leaves a printed image as a record) and is supported by a platen 207. By controlling the rotation of the ink film winding core 208 and the supply core 209, and the rotation of the receiving paper support rollers 210 and 211,
The ink film and the image receiving paper move between the print head and the platen in synchronization with the print signal sent to the print head. An example of the structure of the ink film is shown in FIG.

Reference numeral 301 denotes a resistance layer, which is generally a layer in which metal powder or carbon particles are dispersed in resin. 302 is a support layer, which is generally a polyester film (generally PE) with a thickness of 5 to 6 μm.
The ink layer 303 is a layer in which pigment or dye is dispersed in wax or resin, and has the property of being activated at 60 to 80°C, and has a thickness of approximately 3 μm. be.

The recording electrode 201 of the recording head is attached to the resistance layer of the ink film.
By bringing the recording electrodes into contact and applying a potential difference between the recording electrodes, a current flows through the resistance layer, generating Joule heat, which activates the ink and transfers it to the image-receiving paper, resulting in printing or printing. In order to achieve a good electrical connection between the recording electrode and the resistive layer and to improve ink transferability, the recording head is usually pressed against the resistive layer and further against the platen by a spring 204 via a rotating shaft 203.

When the recording electrode is repeatedly printed, the sixth
As shown in the figure, only the end face of the recording electrode 401 recedes from the end face of the head support substrate 402, resulting in poor electrical connection with the resistance layer, uneven pressure on the platen, and incomplete ink transfer. The quality of the printed image will deteriorate significantly.

Therefore, in the past, an abrasive film such as abrasive paper or a wrapping film was attached to a part of the ink film of the ink film cassette (consisting of at least the ink film 205, the take-up core 208, and the supply core 209), and when the ink film cassette was used, it was necessary to record the receding The recording head was either scraped until the end surface of the electrode recovered, or the recording head was scraped after a certain amount of printing was performed using a special cassette.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the above-mentioned conventional technology, powder from the scraped recording head adheres around the recording electrode, reducing the contact between the recording electrode and the resistive layer, resulting in a significant drop in the quality of the printed image. There was a problem with the decline. The present invention is intended to solve these problems, and its purpose is to prevent the quality of printed images from deteriorating even immediately after the recording head is ground with an abrasive film.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The ink film cassette of the present invention includes an ink film comprising a resistance layer and an ink activated by heat, a supply core that supplies the ink film, and a winding core that winds up the ink film. , comprising a polishing film, a cleaning pad, and a cassette containing the ink film, a supply core, a winding core, the polishing film, and the cleaning pad, and the cleaning pad is located between the polishing film and the supply core. The cleaning pad is located in contact with the polishing film.

[Function] According to the above configuration of the present invention, after the recording head is scraped until the end face of the recording electrode, which has retreated due to mechanical abrasion due to sliding with the resistance layer and discharge due to a potential difference with the resistance layer, recovers, Since powder adhering around the recording electrode is wiped off with a cleaning pad, the contact between the recording electrode and the resistance layer is not deteriorated.
The quality of printed images is good even immediately after the recording head is polished with a polishing film.

[Example] Example 1 Figure 1 shows an example of the present invention, in which 101 is a polishing film (1000 No. 1000 water-resistant abrasive paper), 102 is a cleaning pad (3 mm thick sponge), and 103 is a cleaning pad (3 mm thick sponge). Ink film, 104 is a cassette, 105 is a winding core, 106
represents the supply core. When this ink film cassette is inserted into an electrical thermal transfer printer, a sensor automatically reads the polishing film and first polishes the recording head.

When the winding core winds up the polishing film and polishing is completed, the recording head contacts a cleaning pad to remove polishing powder generated during polishing. After that, the image receiving paper is inserted into the printer and printing is performed by applying a recording signal to the recording head.

For example, in the printer of the electric thermal transfer method,
0-78772, the amount of ink to be transferred changes by changing the time during which the recording electrodes are energized, thereby making it possible to perform gradation recording. FIG. 2 is a graph showing the amount of transferred ink expressed as an OD value (optical reflection density, see Nikkei Electronics, October 26, 1981, p. 142) and the relationship with the current application time.

501 is the case where the ink film cassette of this embodiment is used, and 502 is the case where the ink film cassette of this embodiment from which the cleaning pad 102 is removed is used. If a cleaning pad is not attached, polishing powder generated by polishing the recording head with a polishing film will adhere around the recording electrode, resulting in poor contact between the recording electrode and the resistance layer of the ink film during printing. If the current application time is short and the amount of transfer ink is small, the transfer will not be completed completely. Therefore, as in 502, the OD value is low until the energization time becomes long, and when an image is printed under such conditions, the quality of the printed image becomes very poor. On the other hand, by cleaning the polishing powder with a cleaning pad after polishing the recording electrode, the transfer is completed even when the current application time is short (501), so that the quality of the printed image is good.

Example 2 FIG. 3 shows another example of the present invention, in which 601 is a polishing film (alumina wrapping film with a grain size of 12 μm),
602 is a cleaning pad (1 mm thick fer l-
), 603 is an ink film, 604 is a cassette, 60
5 represents a winding core, and 606 represents a supply core. When this ink film cassette is inserted into an electrical thermal transfer type printer, an image receiving paper is set, and a recording signal is applied to the recording head, printing I is performed. When all the ink film is used up and the sensor automatically reads the polishing film, the recording head is polished. When the winding core winds up the polishing film and polishing is completed, the recording head contacts a cleaning pad to remove polishing powder generated during polishing. This completes the use of this ink film cassette.

In this embodiment as well, as shown in FIG. 2 501, the transfer is completed even when the current application time is short, and the quality of the printed image is good.

The polishing film may be of any material as long as it can polish the recording head, and the cleaning pad may be of any material or thickness as long as it can remove polishing powder.

Further, the cleaning pad may be installed anywhere as long as it is after polishing the recording head and before printing.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, recording is continued until the end face of the recording electrode, which has retreated due to mechanical abrasion due to sliding of the recording electrode with the resistance layer and discharge due to a potential difference with the resistance layer, recovers. By wiping off powder adhering around the recording electrode with a cleaning pad after scraping the head, the contact between the recording electrode and the resistive layer will not deteriorate, and the quality of the printed image will be maintained even immediately after the recording head is scraped with an abrasive film. It has the effect of being good.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 shows the strength of the ink film of the present invention!・Main sectional view and top view showing one embodiment. (a) is a cross-sectional view, (b) is a top view 101... Polishing film 102... Cleaning pad 103...
... Ink film 104 ... Cassette 105 ... Winding core 106 ... Supply core Figure 2 shows the energization time and markings when printing with an energized thermal transfer printer. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between photographic OD values. Figure 3 shows the strength of the ink film of the present invention!・Main sectional view and top view showing another example. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a printer using an electric thermal transfer method. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the structure of an ink film using an electric heat transfer method. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a recording head using an electric thermal transfer method that has been used for a long time. (a) is a cross-sectional view (b) is a top view

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) an ink film consisting of a resistive layer and an ink activated by heat, a supply core that winds and supplies the ink film, a winding core that winds up the ink film, a polishing film, a cleaning pad, the ink film; An ink film cassette comprising a cassette containing a supply core, a take-up core, a polishing film, and a cleaning pad. (2) The ink film cassette according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning pad is located between the polishing film and the supply core. (3) The ink film cassette according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning pad is located in contact with the polishing film.