JPS62294566A - Image recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a high quality multi-color image by arranging a light source on the transfer recording layer side and a heat source on a supporting member side along a transportable path of a transfer recording medium, while providing a means for transferring an image of the transfer recording medium onto a medium and a means for fixing it. CONSTITUTION:A multi-color transfer recording medium 1 is composed of a base film 1b provided with a transfer recording layer 1a. When a transfer roller 10 functions, the recording medium 1 is carried while respective heating elements 2a are energized according to picture signals thereby a fluorescent light 3 is lighted to impart the light directly onto the recording layer 1a, and the heat is transmitted from a thermal head 2 to a supporting member 1b then imparted to the recording layer 1a. Consequently, a transfer image is formed sequentially line by line onto the recording medium 1 according to a picture signal and carried to a pressure contacting section T. A recording paper 11 is carried simultaneously to the pressure contacting section T by a register roller 15 which rotates synchronously, thus transferring the image onto the paper 11. Thereafter, the paper 11 is carried to the pressure contacting section and subjected to an auxiliary fixing operation so as to fix the image completely.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention 3. Detailed Description of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application of the Invention) The present invention relates to an image recording device that can be applied to printers, copying machines, electronic typewriters, facsimile machines, and the like.

<Prior Art> In recent years, with the rapid development of the information industry, various information processing systems have been developed, and recording methods and devices suitable for each information processing system have also been developed and adopted. One such recording method is the thermal transfer recording method, which uses a lightweight, compact, and noiseless device.
It has excellent operability and maintainability, and has been widely used recently.

This thermal transfer recording method generally uses a thermal transfer medium formed by coating a sheet-like support with a thermal transfer ink made of a heat-melting binder and a coloring agent dispersed therein. The ink layer is superimposed on the transfer medium so that it is in contact with the transfer medium, and heat is supplied from the support side of the thermal transfer medium by a thermal head to transfer the melted ink layer to the transfer medium. A transfer ink image is formed thereon in accordance with the shape of heat supply.

According to this method, plain paper can be used as the transfer medium.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> However, the conventional thermal transfer recording method is not without its problems. This is because in the conventional thermal transfer recording method, the transfer recording performance, that is, the print quality, is greatly affected by the surface smoothness of the transfer medium. In the case of a transfer medium, the image recording quality may deteriorate.

In addition, when trying to obtain multicolor images using conventional thermal transfer recording methods, it is necessary to install multiple thermal heads, or to perform complicated functions such as reverse feeding and stopping of the transfer medium, which requires the entire device. There are problems such as the data becomes large and complicated, and the recording speed decreases.

<Objective of the Invention> An object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the conventional apparatus and record a high-quality image even on a transfer medium with a low surface smoothness. Another object of the present invention is to provide a recording device that can obtain multicolor images without requiring a transfer medium to perform complicated functions.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention solves the above problems by providing a transfer recording layer whose physical properties governing the transfer characteristics change when applied with light energy and thermal energy, Along a transportable path of a transfer recording medium having a supporting support,
a light source provided on the transfer recording layer side for applying optical energy to the transfer recording medium, a heat source for applying quantum thermal energy to the transfer recording medium on the support side, and the transfer recording medium and a fixing means for fixing the transferred image transferred to the transfer medium by the transfer means onto the transfer medium. This is a characteristic feature.

<Example> First, an image forming method applied to an image recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1a to 1d. 1st
The time axes (horizontal axes) of the graphs in Figures a to 1d correspond to each other. In addition, as a sensitive component in the transfer recording layer,
It contains polymerization components including a reaction initiator and a crosslinking agent, which will be described later. Figure ila shows the rise in surface temperature of the heating element and the subsequent temperature drop when the heating means such as a thermal head is subjected to development heat driving from time 0 to t3.

The transfer recording medium that is in pressure contact with the heating element exhibits a temperature change as shown in FIG. 1b as the temperature of the heating element changes. That is, the temperature rises with a time delay of tl, reaches the maximum temperature at time t4, which is also delayed from t3, and then decreases. This transfer recording layer has a glass transition point Tgo, and is rapidly softened and its viscosity decreases in a temperature range above Tgo. This situation is shown in song L'lA in FIG. 1C. Time t
After reaching Tgo at 2, the viscosity continues to decrease until the maximum temperature is reached at time t4, and as the temperature decreases, the viscosity increases again until Tgo.
The viscosity shows a rapid increase until time t6 when the viscosity drops to . In this case, the physical properties of the transfer recording layer are basically unchanged from before heating, and if heated to a temperature Tgo or higher in the next transfer step, the same viscosity phenomenon as described above will occur. Therefore, if the transfer recording layer is brought into pressure contact with the transfer medium and heated to a temperature necessary for transfer, for example, above Tgo, the transfer recording layer will be transferred for the same reason as the transfer mechanism of conventional thermal transfer recording. As shown in Figure 1d, when light is irradiated at the same time as heating from time t2, the reaction initiator contained in the transfer recording layer is activated and the temperature rises enough to increase the reaction rate. If the reaction initiator acts on the crosslinking agent, an activated crosslinking agent is generated, and the probability of crosslinking to the crosslinkable prepolymer increases dramatically, so that curing progresses. When heating and light irradiation are performed simultaneously in this way, the transfer recording layer is
The behavior is as shown by curve B in the figure. As the crosslinking reaction progresses, the glass transition point rises and crosslinking ends at time t5.
Then, Tgo changes to Tg'. This situation is the first
Shown in Figure d.

Therefore, when heated in the next transfer process, there will be a difference in properties between the part that has changed to Tg' and the part that has not changed.

Therefore, for example, if the Tr that eliminates Tgo<Tr<Tg' is heated, a difference will be created between a portion where the viscosity has decreased and a portion where the viscosity has not decreased, and only the portion where the viscosity has decreased will be transferred to the transfer medium. Although it depends on the temperature stability accuracy of the transfer process, at this time Tg' - Tgo is preferably about 20°C or more. In this way, a transfer image can be formed by controlling heating or non-heating according to the image signal and simultaneously irradiating light. Furthermore, if the glass transition point changes, the softening temperature and melting temperature also change in a similar manner, so the softening temperature and melting temperature can be controlled using the fluctuation range of the glass transition point as a guide. In addition, the heating temperature in the transfer image forming step is preferably 70°C or higher for the image forming element in order to speed up the reaction rate at which the physical properties that govern the transfer characteristics change and to ensure that the reaction is stable. 8
Setting the temperature above 0°C gives good results.

The principle of this image forming method can of course be applied to monochrome image formation, but first a multicolor image forming method to which the above-described principle of the image forming method is applied will be described. FIGS. 2a to 2d are partial views showing the relationship between the multicolor transfer recording medium and the thermal head. Thermal energy modulated according to the image recording signal is applied together with light energy of a wavelength selected according to the color tone of the image forming element whose physical properties governing the transfer characteristics are desired to be changed. Note that "modulation" here refers to changing the position where energy is applied according to the image signal, and "together" may mean applying light energy and thermal energy at the same time, or may be provided separately.

Further, in this example, in order to improve the light irradiation efficiency, light energy is applied from the transfer recording layer side of the transfer recording medium.

In the figure, a multicolor transfer recording medium l is a base film l.
A transfer recording layer 1a is provided on top of the transfer recording layer 1a. The transfer recording layer 1a is a layer in which minute image forming elements 31 are distributed, and each image forming element 31 exhibits a different color tone. For example, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2a-2c, each image forming material 31 is cyan (C).

Contains either magenta (M) or yellow (Y) coloring material. However, the coloring material contained in each image forming material 31 is not limited to cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, and any coloring material may be used depending on the purpose. In addition to the coloring material, each image forming element 31 contains a sensitive component whose physical properties governing transfer characteristics change rapidly when light and heat energy is applied.

The sensitive component of each image forming element 31 has wavelength dependence depending on the coloring material it contains. That is, when the image forming element 31 containing the yellow coloring material is exposed to heat and light having the wavelength λ(Y), crosslinking rapidly progresses and the image forming element 31 is cured. Similarly, the image forming element 31 containing magenta coloring material receives heat and light of wavelength λ(N1), and the image forming element 31 containing cyan coloring material contains heat and light of wavelength λ(C). The image forming element 31 containing the black coloring material undergoes crosslinking and hardening when heat and light of wavelength λ(K) are respectively applied. Even when the cured image forming element 31 is heated in the next transfer step, the viscosity does not decrease and the image forming element 31 is not transferred to the transfer medium. Heat and light are applied depending on the recorded information.

Now, in this multicolor image forming method, the transfer recording medium 1 is placed on the thermal head 2, and light is irradiated so as to cover the entire heat generating part of the thermal head 2. The irradiated light has a wavelength that the image forming element body 31 reacts to, and is sequentially irradiated. for example,
The image forming element 31 is cyan.

If colored mazetan, yellow, or black, the wavelengths λ(C), λ(M), λ(Y), λ(
The light of K) is sequentially irradiated.

That is, first, the transfer recording layer 1a of the multicolor transfer recording medium 1 is irradiated with light of wavelength λ(Y), and the heating resistors 2b, 2d, 2e, and 2f of the thermal head 2, for example, are caused to generate heat. Then, of the image forming element 31 containing the yellow coloring material, the image forming element 31 to which both heat and light of wavelength λ(Y) are applied (the hatched part in FIG. 2a, below) , the cured image forming element is shown by hatching) is cured.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2b, the transfer recording layer 1a is coated with a wavelength λ(
When the light of M) is irradiated and the heating resistors 2a, 2e and 2f are made to generate heat, heat and light of wavelength λ(M) are added to the image forming element 31 containing the magenta coloring material. The image forming element 31 is cured. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2d, when a desired heating resistor is heated by irradiating light with a wavelength λ(C) with light of a wavelength λ(K), the image forming element to which light and heat are applied is heated. 31 is cured, and finally a transfer image is formed on the transfer recording layer 1 by the image forming element 31 that has not been cured. This transferred image is transferred to the recording paper 11 in the next transfer step as shown in FIG. 2d.

In the transfer process, the transfer recording medium on which the transferred image has been formed is brought into contact with the transfer medium, and the transferred image is selectively transferred to the transfer medium by heating from the transfer recording medium or the transfer medium side to form an image. do. Therefore, the heating temperature at this time is determined so that only the transferred image is selectively transferred with respect to the physical properties that govern the transfer characteristics. Further, in order to perform the transfer efficiently, it is also effective to apply pressure at the same time. This is particularly effective when applying pressure to a transfer medium with low surface smoothness.

Furthermore, if the physical property that governs the transfer characteristics is the viscosity at room temperature, transfer is possible only by applying pressure.

Furthermore, it is possible to improve the heat and fixability of the transferred image onto the recording medium 1.

Next, an example of a monochrome image forming apparatus to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIG. The transfer recording medium 1 used in the apparatus of this embodiment has an image forming element 31 composed of the components shown in Table 1 below dispersed in a binder, and placed on a base material 1b made of a polyester film with a thickness of 6 μm. It was established in

The sensitizer in this image forming element absorbs light in a band of 500 to 600 nm and initiates a reaction. In addition, as the material for the base material 1b, other than polyester film, polyimide, aramid, etc. can be considered.

Table 1 Also, since this sensitizer has a magenta tinge, it mixes with phthalocyanine green mixed as a coloring agent and becomes black when forming an image. The long transfer recording medium 1 thus produced was wound into a roll and incorporated into the apparatus as a supply roll 7. That is, this supply roll 7 is loaded onto a rotatable shaft 7a. Therefore, the leading edge of the transfer recording medium l is placed on the supply roll 7.
is supplied from the guide bar 5a and the thermal head 2.
The direction is changed by guide bars 50 and 5d from between the transfer roller 10 and the pressure roller 9 via the guide bar 5b, and reaches the take-up roll 8, and the tip of the roll is locked by the roll 8. The recording medium 1 is sequentially wound around the circumferential surface of the roll 8 by the rotation of the roll 8. Here, the winding roll 8 is driven and rotated by known means.

Here, the transfer recording medium l is moved by the guide bar 5.
The thermal head 2 is provided at a constant winding angle with respect to the thermal head 2, and a plurality of heating elements 2a are disposed at the tip thereof, and the heating elements 2a are controlled to generate heat according to image information. Furthermore, this supply roller has a hysteresis brake (not shown) whose value is 1.8 to 2.0 KgF.
It is brought into contact with the heating element of the head 2 with a constant pressure such that

On the other hand, a thermal head of 22 cm is mounted across the transfer recording medium l.
placed apart. This fluorescent lamp is a high color rendering green fluorescent lamp having the spectral characteristics shown in the graph shown in Fig. 4, and the phosphor is Tb3+ activated (La, Ce).

Tb)203・0,2Si02・0.9P205 was used. Other phosphors include Tb” (Ce, Tb
) MgA1+oO+9°Y2SiO5: Although Ce and Tb lamps can also be used, the above-mentioned phosphor was used in terms of practical efficiency and working characteristics.

Further, the transfer/fixing section T includes a transfer roller 10 and a pressure roller 9 that are provided facing each other with a transfer recording medium l in between.
It is made up of. The transfer roller 10 is an aluminum roller having a diameter of 40 mm and coated with Teflon to a thickness of 25 μm.

The pressure roller 9 is an aluminum roller with a diameter of 30 mm, coated with silicone rubber to a thickness of 5 mm, and further coated with Teflon to a thickness of 30 μm, and has a hardness of 40 mm.
' (JISA hardness) was used. Further, the transfer roller 10 and the pressure roller 9 were set to be in pressure contact with each other at about 35 g/mrrr by a pressure means (not shown).

The transfer roller 10 also uses a built-in heater 1 to transfer and fix the transferred image on the transfer recording medium l formed by the thermal head 2 onto the recording paper 11 by heating and pressing.
The surface temperature is controlled to be approximately 110° C. by 0a. Further, the recording paper 11 having a surface smoothness of about 10 seconds was used as the transfer medium. The fixing roller 26a is a φ25 roller made of aluminum alloy and coated with 25 μm thick Teflon, and is equipped with a 500W halogen heater 27.
The surface temperature is controlled to be 150°C ± 3°C, and the pressure is 20 g/m m' by a pressure roller coated with 30 μm Teflon on 26b 5 μm thick hardness 35° (JIS hardness) silicone rubber. As shown, it is urged by a pressure means (not shown). Note that this recording paper 11 is sent out from the cassette 12 by rotation of the feeding roller 6. The sent paper 11 is
Once the progress is blocked by the register roller 15,
Thereafter, the recording medium 1 is sent between the rollers 9 and 10 in synchronization with the transfer layer on the recording medium 1 by the register roller 15. Note that 16 is a guide. Further, the casing 14 houses a power source and a control circuit for this image forming apparatus.

Now, FIG. 5 shows a schematic block diagram of the control circuit.

In the figure, circuit 60 is a sequence control circuit. This circuit 60 includes a drive circuit 61 that turns on the fluorescent lamp 3, a drive circuit 63 that energizes a step motor 62 that operates the feed roller 6, and a drive circuit 63 that operates the upper transfer roller 0 that conveys the transfer recording medium 1. A drive circuit 65 that energizes the step motor 64, a drive circuit 67 that energizes the hysteresis brake 66 that applies back tension to the transfer recording medium 1, and a signal from the temperature sensor 73 of the transfer roller 10 that energizes the heater 100 to a predetermined temperature. A drive circuit 72, an image signal processing circuit 68 that receives six external image signals, processes image signal data to be provided to the thermal head 2, and controls a drive circuit that energizes the heating element of the thermal head 2.
, and the indicators on the operation panel are controlled in sequence.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the above-mentioned apparatus will be explained.

First, recording is started by turning on a switch (not shown) on the operation panel 70 of the apparatus. The sequence control circuit 60 receives a drive signal from the operation panel 70 and energizes the drive circuit 63 to drive the step motor 62.

As a result, the roller 6 starts rotating and feeds out one sheet of recording paper 11 from the cassette 12 until the leading edge of the recording paper reaches an alignment sensor 71 (not shown) (installed near the pressure contact part of the register roller 15). continue.

When the alignment sensor 71 detects the recording paper 11, the hysteresis brake 66 and the transfer roller 10 (not shown) are activated at a predetermined timing to convey the transfer recording medium 1 and to activate each heating element 2a of the thermal head 2 according to the image signal. is energized. There are also two thermal heads. Transfer images corresponding to the image signals are sequentially formed on the transfer recording medium 1 conveyed by this for every l line. The transferred image formed on the recording medium l in this way is carried to the transfer roller lO and the pressure contact portion T of the pressure roller 9, but as described above, the transferred image is also transferred to the recording paper 11 by the register roller 15 rotating in synchronization. At the same time, the transferred image is transferred to the pressure contact portion T, and the transferred image is transferred onto the recording paper 11 by the pressure contact force between the rollers 9 and 10.

Here, the transferred image receives -
Although the fixing action is applied by heat and pressure, even if the fixing force is weak depending on the material of the transfer recording layer or the type of recording medium, for example, the fixing force is carried to the pressure contact part F between the fixing roller 26a and the pressure roller 26b, The image is completely fixed by being subjected to an auxiliary fixing action using heat and pressure again. After that, the recording paper on which the transfer has been completed is placed in the paper output tray 13.
is discharged.

Note that the thermal head 1 is energized using the mark signal (black).
In this case, it does not turn on, but when it is not a mark signal (white), it turns on and generates heat. That is, the energizing energy for negative recording was set to 0.8 W/dot×2,0 m5ec.

Further, FIG. 6 shows a drive timing chart of this embodiment.

First, the heating resistor corresponding to the black of the image signal is not energized, but the portion corresponding to the white of the image signal is energized at 2 msec, and at the same time, the high color rendering green fluorescent lamp 3 is uniformly irradiated. . This irradiation time is 4 hours from the start of energization to the heating resistor.
The period was msec. After 1 m5 ec has passed after the end of irradiation, that is, 5 msec after the start of energization, the next line is recorded in the same way. By sequentially repeating this operation, a transferred image is formed.

With the image forming apparatus described above, the image obtained on the recording paper is very clear, and a high-quality image with good fixability can be obtained.

Next, an example will be described in which the image forming method used in the present invention is applied to a multicolor image forming apparatus.

As already explained using FIGS. 2a to 2d, each is sensitive to four different wavelengths and has different color tones.
That is, a transfer recording medium 1 in which an image forming element 31 exhibiting yellow, magenta, cyan, and black is provided on a support lb.
By using , multicolor recording is possible. As such a transfer recording medium 1, an image forming element 31 shown in Tables 2 to 4 is dispersed in a binder, and this is disposed on a base material 1b made of a polyester film having a thickness of 6 μm. Using. The photoinitiators in the image forming element shown in Tables 2 to 5 are about 340 to 380 nm, about 38 nm, in order from Table 2.
0-450 nm.

It absorbs light in the band of about 450 to 600 nm and starts a reaction. Furthermore, the colors used during image formation are cyan, yellow, and magenta in that order.

A device for obtaining a multicolor image using this transfer recording medium 1 is installed in the seventh device.
As shown in the figure.

Table 2 Table 3 Table 4 Table 5 Table 5 The difference from the monochrome image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 3 is that four light sources 3a, 3b, 3c, and 3d with different wavelengths are arranged.

These fluorescent lamps include a high color rendering green fluorescent lamp 3a, a diazo copying machine fluorescent lamp 3b, and a black light 3C. In particular, a sharp cut filter L-3818 was placed in front of the fluorescent lamp 3b for the diazo copying machine in order to obtain desired spectral characteristics corresponding to the image forming element.

FIG. 8 shows the spectral characteristics of the fluorescent lamp in this example.

Next, the process until a color image is obtained according to the image signals corresponding to yellow, magenta, cyan, and black will be explained according to the recording timing chart of the multicolor image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment shown in FIG. .

First, the heating resistor corresponding to the yellow color of the image signal is not energized, but the portion corresponding to the white color of the image signal is energized for 2 msec, and at the same time, the fluorescent lamp 3b for the diazo copying machine is uniformly irradiated. . The irradiation time was 4 msec. After 1 msec elapsed after the end of the irradiation, the heating resistor corresponding to the magenta part of the image signal was not energized, but the part corresponding to the white part of the image signal was energized for 2 msec, and at the same time the high temperature was turned on. A color-rendering green fluorescent lamp 3a was uniformly irradiated. The irradiation time is 4 msec as in the case of yellow. Similarly, the formation of latent images in all four colors is completed by irradiating the black light 3C for cyan and the health line lamp 3'd for black. Therefore, it takes 15m5ec to form an image of 1 line.

By repeating the above process line by line, a full color image can be obtained on the recording paper.

The setting conditions for the parts other than the light source are the same as in the monocolor embodiment, and the conveyance of the recording paper 11 and transfer recording medium 1 is the same as in the monocolor embodiment.

In this way, the full-color image obtained on the recording paper is a high-quality image with no color shift, high chroma, clarity, and good fixability.

In each of the above-mentioned embodiments, an example was shown in which heat and pressure are used as energy for performing the auxiliary fixing action, but depending on the material of the seven transfer recording layers, for example, it may be possible to use only light (or some heat and pressure may be used). Either one or a combination of these may be used.

As explained above, in this embodiment, at least one type of energy from light and heat is applied to a transfer recording medium having a transfer recording layer whose physical properties governing transfer characteristics change when light and heat energy is applied. The image forming apparatus has the steps of forming a transferred image by applying the light and heat energy under conditions that correspond to recorded information, and transferring the transferred image to a transfer medium. It is possible to achieve the purpose.

That is, in the image forming apparatus according to this embodiment, the formation of a transferred image and the transfer process are separated, and in the transfer process, since the transferred image has already been formed, the restriction on image-wise selective energy application is lifted. Therefore, the energy necessary to transfer and form a clear image can be applied to the transfer recording medium according to the surface properties of the transfer medium. In addition, the transferred image formed as a pre-process is not a mere property-change image such as a heat-fused image, but an image formed by changing the physical properties that govern the transfer characteristics, so the difference in the physical properties before and after the change is reflected in the transfer process. By using this method, transfer can be achieved reliably, and the transferred image can also be faithfully transferred. For example, when a heat-fused image is used as a transferred image, it is desirable to maintain the heat-fused image perfectly from the transfer image formation process to the transfer process, but the transferability may deteriorate due to the cooling phenomenon between the two processes, and the heat-fused image may Blurring of the image due to heat conduction to the surroundings of the image is unavoidable. However, in the case of this embodiment, the physical properties that govern the transfer characteristics, such as the melting point, softening point, and viscosity at the same temperature of the transfer recording layer, are changed image-wise to form the transferred image. As long as the transfer process is memorized and energy that changes the physical properties is not applied after the transfer image forming process, no deterioration in the transferability of the transferred image or image blurring will occur. For this reason, even if the surface smoothness of the transfer medium is low, it is possible to form an image with high image quality, and the quality of the transferred image does not deteriorate (it is possible to transfer the image to the transfer medium). .

Furthermore, in the image forming apparatus according to this embodiment, the application of signalized energy for forming a transferred image and the application of uniform energy for transfer are functionally separated. Compared to the case where the signaled energy must be used as energy for transfer at the same time, the conditions for applying energy are relaxed, for example,
The amount of energy for forming a transferred image only needs to cause a change in the physical properties of the transfer recording layer, and the energy for transfer can be uniform energy without being converted into a signal, so the desired transfer speed can be adjusted. It is possible to increase the number according to the amount of time, and high-speed recording can be easily achieved.

In addition, the thermal response speed of the thermal heads used in conventional thermal transfer recording devices is 1 to 5 m even for the fastest one.
It is about sec. If an attempt is made to drive at a faster repetition rate, the temperature will not rise or fall sufficiently within one cycle, resulting in insufficient heating or, conversely, the temperature not being able to drop completely, resulting in the effects of heat accumulation appearing on the image quality. This is one of the biggest factors hindering speed-up, but if multiple types of energy are used as in this example, for example by combining a thermal head and light irradiation, the heating state will be effective even if heat is accumulated. This is only during light irradiation, so by irradiating light only during a limited time period near the peak temperature, it becomes possible to make it less susceptible to the temperature drop rate after the peak temperature, which was the case in the past. Even if a thermal head is used, the recording operation can be performed at a shorter repetition cycle, making high-speed recording easier.

In addition, since the image forming apparatus according to this embodiment forms a transferred image by applying multiple types of energy, compared to the conventional case where a transferred image is formed using only heat, only one type of energy is required to form the transferred image. There are a plurality of transfer images, and the degree of physical property change that forms the transferred image can be adjusted in stages accordingly. In addition, even if heat is used for multiple types of energy, other energies such as light that have a quick response and whose intensity can be easily adjusted in stages are also used, so images with intermediate tones can be created. This makes it easier to form. For example, by setting the intensity or time of light irradiation in three stages and combining it with heating, it is possible to express gradations in four stages (three stages + non-heating).

Furthermore, although it is desired that such control be performed at high speed, the ability to use energy with a quick response such as light in combination also enables high-speed halftone recording.

In this embodiment, an apparatus for obtaining a full-color image using three colors of yellow, magenta, and cyan has been described, but it is of course possible to configure a system using four colors in addition to black.

Furthermore, in the image forming method according to this embodiment, the transferred image is formed by changing the physical properties that govern the transfer characteristics, but these physical properties are arbitrarily determined depending on the type of transfer recording medium used. For example, in the case of a transfer recording medium in which the transferred image is transferred in a thermally molten state, it is the melting temperature, softening temperature, glass transition point, etc.
In the case of a transfer recording medium in which the transferred image is transferred in an adhesive state or in a permeable state to the transfer medium, the viscosity is the same at the same temperature.

<Effects of the Invention> As described above, the present invention provides a recording device that can record a high-quality image with good fixability even on a transfer medium with low surface smoothness.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1a to 1d are explanatory diagrams for explaining the principle of forming a transferred image using light and thermal energy, and Figures 2a to 2d are illustrations of a multicolor transfer recording medium and a thermal head. Figure 2e shows the relationship between the multicolor recording medium and the transfer medium. Figure 3 is a block diagram of the monocolor image forming apparatus, Figure 4 is a diagram showing the spectral characteristics of the light source used in the monocolor image forming apparatus, and Figure 5 is a control circuit block of the monocolor image forming apparatus. Figure 6 shows a timing chart of photothermal energy application for a monochrome image forming apparatus, Figure 7 shows a configuration diagram of a multicolor image forming apparatus, and Figure 8 shows the spectral characteristics of a fluorescent lamp used in a multicolor image forming apparatus. FIG. 9 is a timing chart for applying light and thermal energy to the multicolor image forming apparatus. In the figure,

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Along a transportable path of a transfer recording medium that has a transfer recording layer whose physical properties governing transfer characteristics change when applied with light energy and thermal energy, and a support that supports the transfer recording layer. , a light source provided on the transfer recording layer side for applying light energy to the transfer recording medium; a heat source provided on the support side for applying thermal energy to the transfer recording medium; A transfer device for transferring an image formed on a recording medium to a transfer medium; and a fixing device for fixing the transferred image transferred to the transfer medium by the transfer device on the transfer medium. An image recording device characterized by: (2) Thermal energy from the heat source is applied to the transfer recording medium according to image information.
The image recording device described in .