JPS62261463A - Recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To feed a transfer recording medium at a constant rate and obtain stable images, by providing a means for supplying thermal energy and light energy along a feeding passage to the transfer recording medium and a means for tensioning the medium between a recording part and a transferring part. CONSTITUTION:In a recording part 3, light and heat are applied to a transfer recording layer of a transfer recording medium 1 according to an image signal, thereby forming an image, which is pressed against a recording paper 8 under heating in a transferring part 4, whereby the image is transferred to the recording paper 8. The medium 1 is fed while being pressed by a pressing means 13 between the recording part 3 and the transferring part 4. Therefore, the medium 1 is prevented from sagging even when, for example, the feeding velocity thereof at the transferring part 1 is slightly lowered due to a load exerted on a transfer roller 4a and a pressure roller 4b at the moment when the paper 8 is clamped between the rollers 4a, 4b. Accordingly, the medium 1 is fed through the recording part 3 at a constant rate, and images can be stably recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Field of Industrial Application> The present invention relates to a record 'lz'll that can be used in printers, copying machines, facsimile machines, etc.

<Background Art> In recent years, with the rapid development of the information industry, various information processing systems have been developed, and recording devices suitable for each information processing system have also been developed.

One of the above-mentioned recording devices is a thermal transfer recording device. In this method, recording is performed on a recording paper using an ink ribbon made by coating a ribbon-shaped support with a heat-melt ink made by dispersing a colorant in a heat-melt binder.

That is, the ink ribbons are stacked so that their thermally transferable ink layers are in contact with the recording paper, the ink ribbon and the recording paper are conveyed between a thermal head and a platen, and the ink ribbon is transferred from the support side of the ink ribbon by the thermal head. The ink image corresponding to the application of heat is recorded on the recording paper by applying pulsed heat corresponding to the image signal and pressing the two to transfer the melted ink onto the recording paper.

The above-mentioned recording device is small and lightweight, has no noise, and can record i and ★ on plain paper.
It has been widely used in recent years.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> However, conventional thermal transfer recording devices are not without problems.

The reason is that in conventional thermal transfer recording devices, the transfer recording performance, that is, the image quality, is greatly affected by the surface smoothness of the recording paper. In the case of recording paper, the image recording quality may deteriorate.

Furthermore, when attempting to obtain a multicolor image with a conventional thermal transfer recording device, it is necessary to repeat transfer to overlap the colors. For this purpose, it is necessary to provide multiple thermal heads or to make complicated movements such as stopping and reversing the recording paper, which not only makes color misalignment unavoidable, but also makes the entire device large and complicated. There is a problem with this.

Measures to Solve the Problems> Therefore, the present applicant uses a photothermally sensitive polymer material, and when thermal energy and light energy are applied, the reaction of the polymer rapidly proceeds and controls the transfer. Physical properties change,
We have proposed a recording device that uses a transfer recording medium that forms an image based on the difference in physical properties according to an image signal and transfers the transfer recording medium to a recording medium (Japanese Patent Application No. 150597/1982).
.

According to this recording device, it is possible to record high-quality images even on recording media with low surface smoothness, and when applied to multicolor recording, it is possible to make complex movements on the recording medium. This allows you to obtain multicolor images without any problems.

The present invention further develops the recording device, and includes:
It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording device that can always convey a transfer recording medium at a constant speed and obtain stable images.

The means for this purpose is an apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium using a transfer recording medium having a transfer recording layer whose physical properties governing transfer characteristics change when light energy and thermal energy are applied thereto. , a recording comprising a heating means for applying thermal energy to the transfer recording medium provided along the conveyance path of the transfer recording medium being conveyed, and a light irradiation means for applying light energy to the transfer recording medium. a transfer section that transfers the image formed on the transfer recording medium in the recording section onto the recording medium; and a transfer section that is located between the recording section and the transfer section and applies tension to the entire width of the transfer recording medium. and a pressing means.

<Operation> According to the above means, when the transfer recording medium and the recording medium are set in the apparatus and recording is performed, the transfer recording medium is conveyed by the conveyance rotating body, and a predetermined thermal energy is applied to the transfer recording medium in the recording section. Light energy is applied to form an image,
The image is transferred to the recording medium in the transfer section. Further, since the transfer recording medium is pressed by the pressing means between the recording section and the transfer section and has tension, no sagging occurs between the recording section and the transfer section. Therefore, even if the conveyance speed of the transfer recording medium changes in the transfer section, it is always conveyed at a constant speed in the recording section.

<Example> Next, an embodiment of the present invention to which the above means is applied will be described.

FIG. 1(A) is a schematic cross-sectional explanatory diagram of the recording device, and the first
Figure (B) is a perspective explanatory view.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a transfer recording medium in the form of a long sheet, which is wound into a roll and used as a supply roll 2 in the apparatus main body M.
It is removably incorporated into the.

That is, this supply roll 2 is removably loaded onto a rotatable shaft 2a provided in the main body M of the apparatus.

Therefore, first, the leading edge of this transfer recording medium 1 is transferred to the supply roll 2.
Guide roller 12a, recording head 3a, guide roller 1
2b and the tensile roller 13a, the peeling roller 5 and the guide roller 12C change the direction from between the transfer roller 4a and the pressure roller 4b, and reach the winding roll 6.
The leading end thereof is secured to the take-up roll 6 by means such as a gripper (not shown). Thereafter, the transfer roller 4 and the take-up roll 6 are driven and rotated by a known driving means, so that the transfer recording medium 1 is fed out in the direction of the arrow a, and is sequentially wound around the circumferential surface of the take-up roll 6.

Note that during the winding, a certain back tension is applied to the supply roll 2 by, for example, a hysteresis brake (not shown), and this tension and the guide rollers 12a, 12b cause the transfer recording medium 1 to reach the recording head 3a. It is configured so that it is conveyed while being pressed against it at a constant pressure and at a constant angle.

Next, the configuration of each of the above-mentioned parts will be individually explained.

First, as shown in FIG. 2, the transfer recording medium 1 has a transfer recording layer 1 having the property of forming an image when both thermal energy and light energy are applied on a sheet-like support la.
b, and this transfer record 711b
A microcapsule-shaped image forming element is formed by using the components shown in Tables 1 and 2 as the cores lc and ld, and by the method shown below.

That is, first, 10 g of the ingredients shown in Tables 1 and 2 were mixed with 20 parts by weight of methylene chloride, and then mixed with 200 g of water in which 1 g of gelatin and a surfactant such as a cationic or nonionic surfactant having an HLB value of at least 10 were dissolved. Mix and heat to 8.000 to 10.00 with a homomixer while heating at 60°C. OOOr
Emulsify by stirring at pm to obtain oil droplets with an average particle size of 26 pI11.

Stirring was continued at 60° C. for 30 minutes, and methylene chloride was distilled off to give an average particle size of 10 μm. Add 20 - of water in which 1 g of gum arabic was dissolved, cool slowly, and then add N) 14011 (ammonia) water.
A microcapsule slurry is obtained by increasing the temperature to H11 or higher, and a 20% aqueous solution of grugulaldehyde (1.0%) is slowly added to harden the capsule walls.

After that, solid-liquid separation was carried out using a Nsoche filter, and then a vacuum dryer was used for 35 minutes.
C. for 10 hours to obtain a microcapsule-shaped image forming element.

This image forming element has cores lc and l shown in Tables 1 and 2.
d is a microcapsule covered with a shell 1e, which is formed to have a particle size of 7 to f5s and an average particle size of 10μ.

The image forming element formed as described above was coated with 5% PVA.
An adhesive 1f made by dropping a few drops of a surfactant per 100 cc in an aqueous solution is used to adhere to a support la made of a polyethylene terephthalate film with a thickness of 6 nm to form a transfer record Jilb, thereby forming a transfer medium 1. .

Table 1 Table 2 The photoinitiator in the image forming element shown in Table 1 absorbs light in the band of graph A in the third light absorption characteristic, starts a reaction, and forms an image. Sometimes the color becomes magenta, and the photoinitiator in the image-forming element shown in Table 2 absorbs light in the band shown in graph B in FIG. 3 and starts a reaction, resulting in a blue color during image formation.

Next, the recording section 3 will be explained. The recording section 3 is composed of heating means and light irradiation means.

The heating means has a width QJ+u that generates heat on the surface of the recording head 3a according to the image signal, and has an A-4 size of 8 dots/Tsuru.
Line-type heating element rows 3b are arranged, and as described above, the support la side of the transfer recording medium 1 is pressed against the heating element rows 3b with a predetermined pressure due to back tension during conveyance. The image signal is generated from a control unit (not shown) of, for example, a facsimile, an image scanner, or an electronic whiteboard, depending on the purpose.

On the other hand, on the transfer recording layer 1b side facing the recording head 3a, two fluorescent lamps 3c and 3d, which are 2OW type light irradiation means having spectral characteristics as shown in FIG. They are placed far apart.

Furthermore, a fluorescent lamp 3c is provided only in the area directly above the heating element row of the transfer recording medium 1 that is in pressure contact with the recording head 3a.

The slit plate 3e is irradiated with the direct light of 3d.

3r is provided at a distance of about 0.5 mm from the transfer recording medium 1 so that the opening width is 1.2 fins.

In this example, one of the fluorescent lamps 3C having the spectral characteristics shown in graph A in FIG.
A W health line fluorescent lamp PL205E is used, and the other fluorescent lamp 3d having the spectral characteristics shown in graph B is a 20W copying fluorescent lamp FL208A manufactured by Matsushita Electric Industrial Al.
-37 is used.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a pressing means for applying tension to the transfer recording medium 1 over the entire width of the transfer recording medium 1 in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction thereof, and is a pressure means for applying tension to the transfer recording medium 1 over the entire width of the transfer recording medium 1. A tension roller 13b is rotatably attached below the arm 13a, and the arm 13a is rotatably attached around a fixed shaft 13c, and a coil spring is attached between the arm 13a and the inside of the device. 13
d is suspended so that the tension roll 13b can freely bias the transfer recording medium 1 and press it with a force of 2 kg.

Next, the transfer section 4 will be explained. The transfer section 4 is disposed on the downstream side of the recording section 3 in the conveyance direction of the transfer recording medium l, and includes a transfer roller 4a that is driven and rotated in the direction of the arrow by a stamping motor (not shown) and a pressurizer that is in pressure contact with the transfer roller 4a. and a pressure roller 4b. The transfer roller 4a is composed of an aluminum roller whose surface is coated with silicone rubber having a thickness of 111 degrees and a hardness of 70 degrees, and the surface is maintained at a temperature of 90 to 100 degrees Celsius by a built-in 800W halogen heater 4C. It is composed of

The pressure roller 4b is made of an aluminum roller coated with silicone rubber having a hardness of 70 degrees, and has a pressing force of 6 to 7 kgf/ca+ with the transfer roller 4a by a pressing means (not shown) such as a spring. It is set.

Further, the winding roll 6 is configured to be driven and rotated by a motor (not shown).

Also, recording paper 8 which is a recording medium loaded in the cassette 7
is the feed roller 9. The register roller pair 10a, lQb is configured to feed the transfer recording medium 1 to the transfer unit 4 in synchronization so as to overlap the image area of the transfer recording medium 1.

Next, the operation when recording is performed by the recording apparatus configured as described above will be explained.

The transfer recording medium 1 is sequentially fed out from the supply roll 2 by driving the motor to rotate the transfer roller 4a and the take-up roll 6. The transfer recording medium 1 fed out from the supply roll 2 enters the recording section 3, where light and heat are applied to the transfer recording layer lb according to an image signal to form an image.

In the embodiment described below, an example will be shown in which heat is applied in accordance with an image signal and light is applied uniformly.

Unfortunately, when the transfer recording layer 1b is exposed to light and heat of a predetermined wavelength, its softening point temperature rises, and the transfer recording layer 1b has a property of not being transferred to the recording paper 8, as shown in the timing chart of FIG. Thus, when recording magenta color, the heating element corresponding to the magenta image signal in the heating element row 3b is not energized.
A portion of the image signal corresponding to white (the recording medium 8 is assumed to be white) is energized for 25 m5, and the fluorescent lamp 3C is uniformly irradiated with a delay of 5 mm. The irradiation time at this time was 4Sf.
Let it be fIs.

Next, when recording blue color, after 50 m5 have passed after the end of the irradiation, that is, 100 ms after the energization time, the image signal is started without energizing the heating element corresponding to the blue color of the image signal in the heating element array 3b. 25111 in the part corresponding to white
8, and after 5 mm, the fluorescent lamp 3d is uniformly irradiated. The irradiation time at this time was also 45 m5 as described above.

In the manner described above, the recording head 3a is controlled according to the blue, magenta, and white image signals to form a negative image on the transfer recording layer lb, and the image is synchronously transferred at a repeating cycle of 200m5/1ine. The recording medium 1 is conveyed. Furthermore, in the ear turning part 4,
By pressing the transfer recording layer lb on which the image has been formed onto the recording paper 8 and heating it, a two-color transfer image of blue and magenta can be transferred onto the recording paper 8. Thereafter, the transfer recording medium 1 is turned in direction by the peeling roller 5 to separate it from the recording paper 8, and the recording paper 8 on which the image of the desired color has been recorded is discharged onto the discharge tray 11.

As described above, two-color recording is performed in one shot.

In the above process, the transfer recording medium 1 is moved between the recording section 3 and the transfer section 4 by the pressing means 13 from the support 1a side to the sixth
It is conveyed while being pressed in the direction of arrow C in the figure. Therefore, even if, for example, the moment the recording paper 8 is sandwiched between the transfer roller 4a and the pressure roller 4b, a load is applied to both rollers 4a and 4b, and the conveyance speed of the transfer recording medium 1 at the transfer unit 4 is slightly slowed down. Since the transfer recording medium 1 is given tension by the pressure, the transfer recording medium 1 does not slacken between the recording section 3 and the transfer section 4. Therefore, the transfer recording medium 1
is always conveyed at a constant speed in the recording section 3, so that image recording can be performed stably.

In the above embodiment, in the recording section 3, light of a predetermined wavelength corresponding to a desired color is uniformly irradiated from the transfer recording layer 1b side of the transfer recording medium 1, and an image signal is emitted from the support 1a side. Although the configuration is such that heat is applied according to the image signal, as another example, a configuration may be adopted in which heat is applied uniformly and predetermined light is irradiated according to the image signal.

Furthermore, if the support 1a is made of a translucent material, the support 1a can be made of a transparent material.
A configuration may be adopted in which light is irradiated from the a side and heat is applied from the transfer recording layer 1b side.

Furthermore, light irradiation and heat application were performed with the support 1a in between, but
Alternatively, image formation is also possible by performing both light irradiation and heat application from one side of the support 1a.

In addition to the above-mentioned polyethylene terephthalate, for example, polyamide, polyimide, capacitor paper, cellophane paper, etc. can also be used as the material for the support 1a.

Further, as the light irradiation means, the above-mentioned fluorescent lamp 3c is used.

In addition to the method using 3D, for example, a method using an LED array, a method using a xenon lamp and a filter matching the light absorption characteristics of the material, etc. can be used.

As the heating means, in addition to the above-mentioned method using the recording head 3a, a selective heating method using a YAG laser and a polygon mirror may be used.

Furthermore, the recording medium is not limited to the above-mentioned recording paper, but can be used, for example, with an overhead projector (OH
Of course, plastic sheets for P) can also be used.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, light energy and thermal energy were applied to the transfer recording layer 1b at the same time. However, even if the optical energy and thermal energy are applied separately, the result is that both energies are applied separately. Any configuration that is provided may be used.

Furthermore, as explained in the example of two-color recording, monochromatic or Full-color recorded images can also be obtained.

Furthermore, an example was shown in which an image is transferred and recorded onto a recording medium by changing the softening point temperature of the transfer recording layer 1b made of a polymeric material containing a colorant using light energy and thermal energy. Alternatively, the image may be transferred and recorded based on differences in sublimation characteristics, or the transfer recording medium may be provided with a layer that changes the coloring characteristics of the recording medium by imparting color development to the recording medium. It may also be configured such that an image is recorded by transferring an image formed on a transfer recording medium to a recording medium.

Furthermore, the transfer section 4 is not limited to roller-shaped rollers like the transfer roller 4a and the pressure roller 4b, but may be of any configuration that can obtain the desired pressure, such as a rotating heald. good.

<Effects of the Invention> As described above, the present invention sequentially performs the formation of an image on a transfer recording medium and the transfer of this image to a recording medium, so that an image can be formed even on a recording medium with a relatively low surface smoothness. can be recorded well. Furthermore, when the present invention is applied to multicolor recording, a multicolor image can be obtained without making any complicated movements on the recording medium.

Furthermore, by pressing the transfer recording medium between the recording section and the transfer section, the transfer recording medium can be conveyed at a constant speed, resulting in the ability to obtain stable images. be.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 (A) and (B) are overall schematic explanatory diagrams of an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of a transfer recording medium, and Figure 3 is an illustration of the light absorption characteristics of the photoinitiator in the transfer recording medium. An explanatory diagram showing
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the spectral characteristics of the light irradiation means, FIG. 5 is a timing chart for applying heat and light, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the pressing means. 1 is a transfer recording medium, la is a support, ■b is a transfer recording layer,
lc and ld are the core, 1e is the shell, if is the adhesive, 2 is the supply roll, 2a is the supply roll axis, 3 is the recording section, 3a is the recording head, 3b is the heating element row, 3c and 3d are the fluorescent lamps, 3e and 3f are slit plates, 4 is a transfer unit, 4a is a transfer roller, 4b is a pressure roller, 4C is a heater, 5 is a peeling roller, 6 is a winding roll, 7 is a cassette, 8 is a recording paper, 9
is a feeding roller, 10a and 10b are register rollers, 11
12a, 12b, 12c are guide rollers, 13 is a pressing means, 13a is an arm, 13b is a tension roller, 13c is a rotation shaft, and 13d is a coil spring.

Claims (1)

[Claims] An apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium using a transfer recording medium having a transfer recording layer whose physical properties governing transfer characteristics change when light energy and thermal energy are applied, the transfer recording medium being conveyed. a recording section having a heating means for applying thermal energy to a transfer recording medium provided along a conveyance path of the recording medium and a light irradiation means for applying optical energy to the transfer recording medium, and the recording section a transfer section that transfers the image formed on the transfer recording medium to the recording medium; and a pressing means that is located between the recording section and the transfer section and applies a constant tension over the entire width of the transfer recording medium. A recording device.