JPS6264554A - Recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable fast satisfactory recording by supplying recording ink to numerous small holes on a recording medium to be transferred and recovering residual ink scraped off by the sliding friction of a thermal head composed of numerous heating elements and a recording medium. CONSTITUTION:If film 2 is transmitted in an arrow direction, ink 4 is filled in small holes 2a... in the film 2 which passed an ink 4 reserved ink tank. Next, when an ink 4-filled small hole 5 has reached a thermal head 1 with a heating element 3, a voltage is selectively applied to the heating element 3 which, in turn, is rapidly heated. Then ink bubbles 6... are injected by the pressure of bubbles generated following the heating of the heating element 3, thus performing printing. Consequently, residual ink adhering to a recording medium is removed and recovered to allow satisfactory recording to be performed without the adverse effect of residual ink.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Purpose of publication] (Usage for childcare purposes) The present invention is a novel inkjet recording system that can be applied to, for example, printing, printing, etc. Regarding.

(Prior Art) Various non-in/contrast recording methods have been proposed, including the electrostatic method, the thermal paper heating method, the thermal transfer method, the electrophotographic method, the inkjet method, and the print method.

The inkjet method is easy to make low noise, low / #2, small size, multi-color, and
Various types of recording systems are being developed that are considered to be excellent recording systems that have various advantages such as low cost components.

There are 6 types of bottle and ink cartridge systems, including the pressure element method, the static pressure acceleration method, and the /4 and 2-t methods.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, all conventional inkjet systems eject ink from the tip of the nozzle, and the problem of nozzle clogging cannot be completely solved, so they are not widely used. is the current situation. However, it also has the disadvantage that the recording speed is slow because many nozzles cannot be arranged closely together, making it difficult to record many dots at the same time.

The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a completely new inkjet method using a fixed nozzle, which is free from clogging and capable of high-speed recording. It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording device that can remove and recover surplus ink adhering to the surface of the printer and perform good recording without any adverse effects caused by the surplus ink.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention solves the above problems by providing a recording medium transporting means for transporting a recording medium having a large number of small holes, and a method for transporting the recording medium. An ink supply means for supplying recording ink to the small holes of the recording medium transported by the medium transport means, and a plurality of heating elements arranged opposite to the surface of the recording medium to which the ink is supplied by the ink supply means. The recording medium is configured to include a thermal head arranged and in contact with the recording medium, and an ink recovery means for recovering excess ink scraped off by rubbing between the thermal head and the recording medium. .

(Function) In other words, the present invention has the above-mentioned configuration, and since no fixed nozzles are used, there is no clogging (t#), high-speed recording is possible, and excess ink attached to the recording medium can be recovered. Good recording can be performed without any adverse effects caused by excess ink.

(Example> The invention will now be described with reference to an illustrated embodiment.

Figure 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the recording principle. In the figure, l is a thermal head, and 2 is a small hole (orifice) with a diameter of 10 to 200 μm.
A film as a recording medium made of metal, organic material, etc., on which a large number of Jm... are formed, 3 is a heating element arranged in the head part of the thermal head 1, 4 is a recording ink (hereinafter referred to as
(simply referred to as ink), 5 is a small hole filled with ink, 6
indicates an ejected ink droplet, and 7 indicates a small hole from which the ink droplet was ejected.

When the film 2 is transferred in the direction of the arrow, the small holes 2a...K of the film 2 pass through the ink reservoir where the ink 4 is stored.
Ink 4 is filled. Next, when the small holes 5 filled with the ink 4 reach the thermal head 1 where the heating elements 3 are disposed, voltage is selectively applied to the heating elements 3 for rapid heating. let

Then, air bubbles (
Recording is performed by ejecting ink droplets 6 due to the pressure of bubbles.

FIG. 2 is a schematic vertical side view showing the recording apparatus of the present invention. In the figure, 8 indicates recording paper as a recording material. This recording paper 8 is a paper feed installed in the main body casing 134 of the apparatus. A large number of sheets are stored in a cassette 49 at once, and the lower surface of these sheets on the take-out side is pushed upward by a push-up spring 33...button.
The uppermost recording paper 8 is in a state where it can be in contact with the first feed roller 9 at all times. When the paper feed cassette 49 is attached to the apparatus main body casing 134, the rubber magnet 47 attached to its tip is magnetically attracted to the plate 48 provided on the apparatus main body casing 134, and Housing 134
It is fixed at

The shaft 139 to which the first feed roller 9 is attached is
tJc3 As shown in the figure, O is set by the paper feed solenoid 51.
It is configured to be interlocked with the paper conveyance motor 54 via a paper feed spring clutch 63 that is turned off (N-OFF) and gears 56 and 55. Then, the paper feed solenoid 5 is connected to an image/data processing device 133 (
(see FIG. 15), the paper feed spring clutch 63 is turned ON, and the movement of the paper transport motor 54 is controlled via the gears 55, 56 and the paper feed spring clutch 63. The recording paper 8 of the highest quality is transmitted to the shaft 139 and comes into contact with the first feed roller 9.

Also, the paper feed cassette storage 49 is connected via the first feed P roller 9.
The recording paper 8 taken out from the recording paper 8 rises along the first paper feed guide 44, and is further transferred to the first and second paper feeds via a pair of feed rollers 10°10 disposed in the transport direction and rolling into contact with each other. It is fed between the guides 44 and 45 until its tip hits the contact area between the suction conveyance belt 15 of the recording material conveyance mechanism 43 and the stopped registration roller 11 that is in rolling contact with the suction conveyance belt 15, and waits in this state. do.

Note that this device is capable of feeding paper from the manual paper feed tray 17 in addition to paper feeding from the paper feed cassette 49. The sheets 8 are sequentially taken out one by one starting from the bottom end by the action of the second feed roller 19 and the separation roller J8, and are transferred to the suction conveyance belt 15 in the same way as in the case of feeding from the paper feed cassette 49. It is fed until the tip touches the contact portion with the stopped registration roller 11 that rolls into contact with this, and waits in this state.

The registration rollers 11 are interlocked with the paper conveyance motor 54 (see FIG. 3) via a clutch section (not shown), and are rotated when the clutch section is turned on. The timing for starting and stopping the rotation of the registration roller 1 is such that the leading edge of the recording paper 8 is K I L
After a certain period of time has elapsed since the first photosensor 22 was turned off by blocking the light of ED x J, the leading edge of the recording paper 8 hits the rolling contact portion of the registration roller 11 to create an appropriate slack. It is stipulated in

By doing this, the leading edge inclination (skew) of the recording paper 8 is corrected, and the leading edge of the recording paper 8 is reliably pushed into the rolling contact portion of the registration rollers IJ, and the recording paper is moved by the registration rollers 11 and the suction conveyance belt 15. 8 biting is ensured.

Note that a paper waste removal brush 5θ for removing paper waste adhering to the peripheral surface of the registration roller 11 is in sliding contact with the registration roller 11 to prevent the recording surface of the recording paper 8 from becoming dirty.

The recording material conveying mechanism 43 includes the first and second rollers 12, 14, these rollers 12, 14 inside the housing section 140.
The suction conveyance mechanism section 43& as a first floating section is assembled into a unit by incorporating the suction conveyance belt 15 and the air suction duct 30, and the suction conveyance mechanism section 43h as a first floating section is incorporated into the suction conveyance mechanism section 43h as a first floating section. It has a belt guide plate 27 as a second floating part, and by displacing this belt guide plate 27, the suction conveyance belt 15 is pushed toward the recording unit guide 31 side and is retracted. Means 43
It is composed of b.

The belt pressing/retracting means 43b has the following configuration. That is, the belt guide plate 2 as the second floating part
7 is rotatably supported at one end in the air suction duct 30 and housed in a state where the other end is constantly urged downward by the belt guide plate pressing spring 26, and the suction conveyor belt 15 is moved to the recording section. It is designed to be pressed against guide 3.

Further, an adsorption member 141 is attached to the back surface of the pressing plate 27 in a state facing the electromagnetic coil 28, and when the electromagnetic coil 28 is excited, the pressing plate 27
is adapted to be displaced against the urging force of the pressing spring 26.

In addition, the suction conveyance mechanism section 43° as the first floating section is elastically operated by the roller pressing spring 25 applied to the 10th to 212th sections, and the belt guide plate 27 as the second floating section is elastically operated by the pressing spring 26. When thick recording paper 8 is supplied, it can be displaced by that amount.

In addition, the impact of the belt guide plate 27 as the second floating part is
K so that it is buffered by a high viscosity fluid buffer 29.

The recording material conveyance mechanism 43, which is composed of the suction conveyance mechanism section 43& and the belt pressing/evacuating means 4Jb and is provided floatingly with respect to the heating element 3..., It is configured to be rotatable around the center, and can be rotated in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 2 to open the recording paper conveyance path.

As the registration roller 11 starts to rotate, the leading edge of the recording paper 8 is caught between the registration roller J1 and the suction conveyance belt 15 (suction conveyance mechanism section 43*T), and the recording paper 8 is held by the roller pressing spring. It is held with appropriate pressure by the urging force of 25. The clamping and conveying force of the l/distro roller 11 and the 10th roller 12 and the suction conveying belt 15
It is conveyed by the suction conveyance force.

At this time, the recording paper 8 is pressed against the recording section guide 31 by the action of the belt pressing/retracting means 43b, and is conveyed while rubbing against the recording section guide 31.

The recording section guide 3J is fixed with respect to the thermal head 1, and the rubbing surface of the recording section guide 31 is maintained at a constant distance from the heating elements 3. The recording surface (lower surface) of the recording paper 8 always maintains a minute gap, for example 0.2-, from the surface of the film 2, which moves while being in close contact with the heating element 3 disposed in the head section of the thermal head J. It has a structure that allows it to be moved while being maintained. In fact, according to the performance tests in the examples, film 2
It was confirmed that the gap between the surface of the recording surface and the recording surface must be between KO11 and 0.3 wg in order to maintain a resolution of 8 lines/.

However, if the gap is set to 0.1■ or less, the ink 4
It has been confirmed that when the ink soaks into the recording paper 8, this portion expands and the recording surface comes into contact with the surface of the film 2, creating a risk that the recording surface will be smeared with the ink 4. Therefore, in this embodiment, the arm portion of the recording section guide 31 is pressed against the recording section guide fixing reference protrusion 135 (see FIG. 6) of the thermal head 1, and the gap is set strictly to 0.2±0.05 m. Managed.

When the leading edge of the recording paper 8 moves further forward, it is held and transported by the 20th roller 14 of the suction transport mechanism section 43h and the paper discharge roller 13. At this time, the recording surface of the recording paper 8 is supported in a dotted manner by the needle-shaped roller portion 104 of the paper ejection roller J3, and reference roller portions 105 and 106 are attached at both ends to the suction and conveyance belt J5. Since they are in contact with each other, they are conveyed without being subjected to excessive pressure, so that undried recorded images are not disturbed. (See FIG. 7) Furthermore, the recording paper 8 moves forward, and its rear end passes through the rolling contact portion of the registration roller 11 and the tenth roller 12. At this time, the rear end portion of the recording sheet 8 receives the full load of the recording material conveyance mechanism 43 and is conveyed while being rubbed against the recording section guide 31. The basic conveyance force of the pick and the recording paper 8 is the suction conveyance force of the suction belt 15, and since the paper is conveyed while being subjected to a large frictional force, the conveyance is accompanied by uncertainty.

However, in this embodiment, the force that presses the recording paper 8 against the recording section guide 31 is transmitted through the belt pressing/retracting means 43b, and the belt guide plate 27 as the second floating section is used to press the recording sheet 8 against the recording section guide 31. Due to the reaction force from the guide 31, the high viscosity fluid buffer 29 is passed through the belt guide plate pressing member 26 while resisting the belt guide plate pressing member 26, and the fluid is moved upward relative to the housing portion of the suction conveyance mechanism section 43a as the first floating section. be pushed up.

In this way, after the trailing edge of the recording paper 8 has passed, the registration rollers 11 and the suction conveyance belt 15, which have been temporarily separated, come into contact with each other again, so that the pressure applied to the recording paper 8 is reduced and the belt guide plate Smooth conveyance of the recording paper 8 is realized with only the total load of the belt guide plate 27 and the biasing force of the belt guide plate pressing spring 26.

Further, the recording paper 8 moves forward, and the rear end of the recording paper 8 passes through the edge portion of the recording unit guide 38 on the thermal head 1 side, so that the belt guide plate 27 receives no reaction force from anywhere.
Total load on belt guide plate 27 and belt guide plate pressing spring 26
It is pushed down by the force of K.

Therefore, as soon as the trailing edge of the recording paper 8 passes the edge portion of the recording section guide 31, the surface of the film 2 and the recording surface of the recording paper 8 come into contact, and the trailing edge of the recording paper 8 is covered with the ink 4. It has the problem of getting dirty.

However, in this embodiment, this problem is solved by the measures described below. First, the belt guide plate 27 as the second floating part is connected to the high viscosity fluid buffer 29 as described above.
Even if the trailing edge of the recording paper 8 passes through the edge portion of the recording unit guide 31, its downward movement is slow due to the buffering effect of the high viscosity fluid buffer 29. It will go down. Therefore, the rear end of the recording paper 8 can pass through the heat element 3 while the recording surface of the recording paper 8 approaches the surface of the film 20.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the leading edge or trailing edge of the recording paper 8 is folded or bent to prevent the recording paper 8 from coming into contact with the surface of the film 2. Holding the heating element 3..., the electromagnetic coil 28 is excited so as to move away from the surface of the film 2 by ±6 m at each end, and the entire belt guide plate 27 as a second floating part is attracted upward. That's what I do.

In this way, the recording paper 8 does not come into contact with the film 2 and get dirty, and it passes through the arrangement of the rollers 13 with an extremely small gap maintained, and is ejected with clean recordings. The paper will be ejected onto the tray 16.

When the recording paper 8 is discharged, the trailing edge of the recording paper 8 is the second L.
The tip of the ED 23 is blocked and the rising signal of the second photosensor 24 is detected to detect that the recording paper 8 has been reliably ejected.

Next, referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the ink container 64
The supply of ink to the film cartridge 40 as a recording medium cartridge and the supply of ink from the ink supply section of the film cartridge 40 to the film 2 will be described.

The film cartridge 40 and the ink container 64 are separable. The ink 4 is stored in an ink container 64, and this ink container 64 is attached to the film cartridge 40.
The ink container attachment is screwed into the part 65 and fixed. At this time, the transparent ink supply tube 71 of the ink container 64
pushes up the pulp 68 of the film cartridge 40 that is in close contact with the ink container attachment seal 73 against the biasing force of the cartridge pulp spring 69.

On the other hand, the pulp 68 of the film cartridge 4o pushes up the ink container opening/closing rod 70, thus pushing up the pulp 67 of the ink container 64 against the pulp spring 66, causing the ink 4 in the ink container 64 to flow out. let The ink 4 that has flowed out from the ink container 64 flows out until the obliquely cut tip of the transparent ink supply tube 71 is filled, and the ink 4 flows out until the obliquely cut tip of the transparent ink supply tube 71 is filled, and the ink 4 flows through the small hole opened around the pulp 68 of the film cartridge 40 and the ink supply conduit. The ink flows into the ink supply path v2, 9s (see FIG. 6) formed at the bottom of the container portion 77 of the film cartridge 40 via the ink 94.

The ink 4 further soaks into an ink supply member 37, 39 made of felt, and is passed through the ink supply member 37, 39 to the film 2.
The ink 4 is applied to the pores 2 of the film 2.
A is filled with ink 4, and bubbles K are formed in the ink 4 by the movement of the film 2 and rapid heating of the heating elements 3, and the ink is used as recording ink droplets 6.

In this way, when the ink 4 is consumed and the level of the ink 4 drops from the diagonally cut portion at the tip of the transparent ink supply tube 71, air is sucked in from the air suction passage 74 provided in the ink supply section of the film cartridge 4Q. ,
This air flows into the ink container 64 through the diagonally cut portion of the transparent ink supply tube 71, causing new ink 4 to flow out.

By the way, the air suction passage 74 is provided with a reed at the upper part of the ink supply section, and the air volume within the ink supply section is made as small as possible as can be seen from FIGS. 2 and 3. a first surplus ink scraping member 41.90 made of elastic rubber; and a second surplus ink scraping member 4.
2. Air is introduced into and out of the ink supply section by the small holes 2 of the film 2 through the first.lj9. Since this is possible only when passing through the second surplus ink scraping member 41, 90, 42, 139, replenishment of ink 4 from the ink container 64 to the ink supply section is possible only when the film 2 is moved. , is not performed when the film cartridge 40 is not in operation, such as when replacing or moving the film cartridge 40.

Therefore, the film cartridge 40T/C-in 4
This makes it possible to prevent the problem of leakage and scattering from the film cartridge 4Q due to excessive supply of the film.

Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the ink 4 is supplied to the film 2 through ink supply members 37 and 39 as ink supply means made of felt, etc. Since the ink 4 can be prevented from forming a free surface as a liquid and the ink 4 is captured between the fibers by the force of surface tension, it is easy to prevent the ink 4 from leaking out of the film cartridge 40. becomes.

Next, the operation for removing the ink container 64 from the ink container mounting section 65 of the film cartridge 40 will be described.

When the ink 4 in the ink container 64 is consumed by the above-mentioned replenishment of the ink 4, the level of the ink 4 further decreases and reaches the transparent ink supply element 71. At this time, light from the ink detection LDE 75 begins to pass through and the ink detection photosensor 76 begins to be turned on.

The rise of this signal is detected to detect the absence of ink in the ink container 64.

The device also displays the ink-out detection signal on the display section of the device or on the display section of the image/data processing device 133 connected to the device, as described later. If there is ink 4, a message indicating that there is no ink in the ink container 64 and that the ink container 64 should be replaced is displayed.

In this way, the ink container 64 is replaced, but in the case of this embodiment, the removal procedure and the valve 6 of the ink container 6a are
! , the operation of the pallet f6B of the 74 lumen cartridge 40 is completely opposite to that in the case of installation.

That is, the valve 68 of the film cartridge 40 is raised, and the ink container mounting portion is brought into close contact with the lower surface of the seal 73 by the force of the cartridge pulp spring 69, and the ink 4 in the film cartridge 40 is released from the ink container mounting portion 65 to the outside. It is designed to prevent leakage and scattering.

By the way, the ink container 64 has a capacity of 100c in this embodiment.
If the ink supply circuit 71 mentioned above in c is excluded, the ink 4
The container is opaque in consideration of its weather resistance, and the normal recording density is 2,000 to 50 on A4 sheet recording paper.
On the other hand, the film cartridge 40 could record approximately 100,000 sheets/A4 over a period of approximately 3 years due to problems such as paper dust, mold, and clogging due to dry ink in the small holes 2 and... of the film 2. Replacement is required. Therefore, the film cartridge 40 and the ink container 64 can be separated, and the structure is such that leakage and evaporation of the ink 4 in each container can be easily prevented.

The attachment of the film cartridge 40 to the recording apparatus will now be described.

In this apparatus, the thermal head 1 is fixed to the main body casing 134, and the film cartridge 40 is shown in FIG.
) and a container located at the film exposed portion 86 of the cartridge 40 shown in FIG. .

Finally, in FIG. 3, when the film cartridge first support part 60 is inserted into the main body housing 134 and the film cartridge second support part 61 provided at the other end is pushed down, the cartridge fixing spring 62 is released. moves to the right, and the head of the fixing spring 62 falls into the recess of the film cartridge second support portion 61, so that the film cartridge 4Q is fixed.

As described above, since the container portion of the film cartridge 40 has a window shape, the film cartridge 40 has a structure that provides sufficient strength.

Furthermore, since the mounting is as described above, the film cartridge 40 can be easily attached and detached, and the ink container 64 can be easily attached and detached.
It can be easily attached and detached even if it is still attached. You can easily change the 40 colors of tabs and ink. Furthermore, when the film cartridge 40 is attached or removed, the recording member 43 rotates as shown by the arrow AK in FIG. It can be opened to easily remove paper jams in the recording section, remove paper waste from the film 20, and replace the IJ jig 40 (film car).

When the film cartridge 40 is removed, in order to prevent the ink 4 remaining in the film cartridge 40 from leaking or evaporating, the film cartridge 40 is equipped with a cartridge as shown in FIG. A lid 85 is attached and rotates as shown by the arrow to cover the exposed film portion 86, and the protrusion of the lid 85 serves as a first surplus ink collecting means for the film cartridge 40. The film cartridge 40 is hermetically sealed by coming into close contact with the cover member 41.90 and the second surplus ink scraping member 42.89.

Further, numerals 34 and 35 shown in FIG. 2 are ink absorbing members as ink absorbing means made of felt, sponge, felt-like fibers, or the like. As mentioned above, when the film cartridge 40 is attached or detached, there is a problem in that the excess ink accumulated on the upper part of the thermal head 1 flows down through the wall surface of the thermal head 1 and scatters into the apparatus. Ink absorbing members 34 and 35 that are in contact with the thermal head 1 are attached to the lower part of the thermal head 1, and absorb the ink 4 that is about to run down and scatter, thereby preventing the above-mentioned problem.

Now, the operation of the next trap film 2 when it is driven will be described.

FIG. 4(a) shows a side view of the drive section of the film moving mechanism as a recording medium moving mechanism, and FIG. 4(b) shows a plan view of the same portion. The film 2 is a recording medium driver of a film drive motor 52 as a recording medium drive motor.
When viewed from the side of the film drive motor gear 58 as a gear, the film moves upward and downward as shown in FIG. 4 (,) by clockwise rotation and counterclockwise rotation, respectively.

When the film drive motor gear 58 rotates clockwise, the film drive gear 78 rotates clockwise as viewed from the side of FIG. 4(a).

Drive shaft 8 for moving the film as a drive shaft for moving the recording medium
Since one end of the left-handed spring 84 fitted to the drive shaft 87 is engaged with the recess of the gear 78, the clockwise rotation of the gear 7B is a direction in which the left-handed spring 84 is further wound around the drive shaft 87 for moving the film. The power of the gear 78 is transmitted to the film moving drive shaft 87.

At this time, the film drive gear 59 as a recording medium drive gear also rotates clockwise, but the right-handed spring 83 fitted on the film movement drive shaft 88 as a recording medium movement drive shaft is relatively driven. It acts in the direction of loosening from the shaft 88. However, in the case of the embodiment, the drive shaft 8
8 and the right-handed spring 83, the drive shaft 88 and the right-handed spring 83 are substantially rotated.
A slip occurs.

By the way, when attaching and detaching the film cartridge 40, the film drive gear 59, 78 is connected to the motor gear 5.
8 and 8 separately, the interlocking film 2 remained loose, and the tension was too strong! There is a certain danger. However, regarding the latter, in the configuration of this embodiment, the drive shaft 88 and the right-handed spring 83 slip, and such excessively strong tension can be alleviated.

Furthermore, as shown in the perspective view of the moving mechanism of the embodiment in FIG. 111 J 4 ;t
Because the film 2 is provided with a
There is a button that allows you to move while rubbing the ... part. A pin 101 and a silldar boiler 100 are fixed to one end of the film moving drive shaft 87.
A left-handed torsion spring 95 with one end engaged with a torsion spring fixing portion 96 is fitted into one end, and the other end of the torsion spring 95 is engaged with a recess 98 of a rudder wheel 97.
The ladder wheel 97 is connected to the ladder wheel 100 via a ladder chain 99.

By the way, when the entire ladder chain 99 is hung on the ladder wheels 97, 100, the recording medium is wound in the counterclockwise direction via the torsion spring 95, and the film is wound in the counterclockwise direction. For winding, the shaft 38 is attached by suitably twisting the torsion spring 95 in advance so as to bias it clockwise. Therefore, an appropriate tension can be applied to the film 2 according to the torsional force and pinch torque of the torsion spring 95.

In this way, when the film cartridge 40 is installed in the device, the problem of the film 2 coming loose is eliminated, and the film 2 always slides in close contact with the tip of the thermal head 1 with appropriate pressure. There is.

Next, referring to FIG. 4(-), drive gear 58 is set to gear 5.
The installation of item 8 will be explained assuming that it rotates counterclockwise when viewed from the side.

At this time, the drive gear 59 rotates counterclockwise, and the right-handed spring 83 acts to become entangled with the film drive shaft 88. Thus, in this case, the film 2 is directed downwardly, and thus the clockwise direction of the film drive motor 52,
The film 2 can be moved back and forth according to the counterclockwise rotation, and the right-hand spring 83 and the left-hand spring 8
4 and the film tension mechanism 142 prevent the film 2 from loosening when the film cartridge 40 is attached or removed, and also prevent excessive tension run from occurring and damaging the film 2 or the thermal head 1. Enter.

In any case, the film 2 is reciprocated by the operation of the film drive motor 52 described above, and the multi-hole portion 92 of the film 2 is filled with the ink 4 in the heating element 3 of the thermal head 1 to perform recording. is now possible.

Further, the film 2 is guided by guide means consisting of side guides for the film 2 located at both ends of the thermal head 10 and shown at 102° and 103 in FIGS. It has become.

By the way, it is necessary to know the starting and ending positions of the multi-hole portion 92 of the film 2, and to make sure that the starting position of the multi-hole portion 92 in the moving direction of the film 2 is at the heating element 30 when starting recording. When it arrives, you need to be able to start recording. In this example, ri Fig. 4(a)
As shown in (b), a film position indexing board 80 is attached as a drive shaft trap recording medium position indexing board for the film drive motor 52, and the starting position of the multi-hole portion 92 of the film 2 is determined on this indexing board 8Q. Film first position detection slit 8 as a recording medium first position detection slit shown in FIG.
1 and a film second position detecting slit 82 as a recording medium second position detecting slit, the position of the film 2 is detected by a film position detector 79.

When the film drive motor 52 rotates, the film position detector 79 senses the short and long light pulses generated by the short and long slits of the slit 81, and in response, the film position detector 79 detects the short and long light pulses generated by the short and long slits of the slit 81. By comparing with the clock pulse of slit 8, it is determined that the slit 81 is the slit for detecting the first position of the film at the clockwise rear end of the long slit 8, and the single light pulse of the slit 82 is detected. The film position detector 79 detects this and determines that this is the slit for detecting the second film position. In this way, the film drive motor 52 detects the film first position detection slit 81 and stops.

At this time, the non-perforated portion 91 of the film 2 (see FIG. 12)
Covering the exposed film portion 86 of the film cartridge 40, the multi-hole portion 92 covers the first .
The second surplus ink scraping member 89,90 is housed in the ink supply section below. Therefore, the film cartridge 40 is in a state where the non-perforated portion 91 of the film 2 comes to be clamped and is sealed from the outside air.

Therefore, the ink 4 in the film cartridge 40 evaporates, the viscosity of the ink 4 increases, and the speed at which the ink 4 is ejected from the small holes 2a of the film 2 is reduced. This makes it possible to prevent problems that may occur.

Now, when recording, images and
Upon receiving a recording command from the processing device 133 (see FIG. 15) for processing character data, etc., the film 2 is held for a certain period of time, that is, before driving the first feed roller 9 to feed the recording sheet 8 to the recording section. The film drive motor 52 is moved by rotating the film drive motor 52 counterclockwise as shown by the arrow in FIG. After waiting for the paper 8 to arrive, the film 2 is moved in synchronization with the leading edge of the recording paper 8. At this time, the moving speed of the film 2 is 20 m/sec, which is 1/2 of the moving speed of the recording paper 8, 40 cm/sec.

In fact, even when the speed of the recording paper 8 is varied between 10 and 100 m+/sec, when the recording density of the recording paper 8 is 75 cm, the relative movement direction of the film 2 and the recording paper 8 is the same. Regardless of the reverse direction, it has been found that if the moving speed of the film 2 is V/4 or more, the width Dl is 0 (black peta, coverage rate 75 inches) or more.

The pattern of this experiment is shown in FIG. Therefore, the moving width of the film 2 can be shortened both in the recording length of the recording paper 8 (in the recording direction), and as a result, the multi-hole portion 92 of the film 2 can be shortened.
The area of the film 2 could be reduced, and the production of the film 2 could be made easier. That is, if the area of the multi-hole portion 92 is large, it is difficult to make the diameter of the small hole 2a (25 to 30 μm) uniform over the entire area, and therefore the diameter of the small hole 2IL becomes smaller near the periphery, for example. As a result, the recording density becomes uneven. In this embodiment, since the area can be reduced, such problems can be prevented.

Now, in this way, the film 2 is moved to the first position of the multi-hole section 92. The rear end of the second excess ink scraping member 89, 90 side reaches the heating element 30 portion. At this time, the film position detector 79 detects the second film position detection slit 82. Of course, the position of each part of the film 2 and the first . When the relative positions of the second position detection slits 81 and 112 have the above-mentioned relationship, the film 2 is in the first position when the film cartridge 40 is initially set. Second surplus ink scraping member 8
9. It is necessary that 908 VC is wound. 6D. The film drive motor 52 detects the position of the short slit of the long slit and short slit pair of the film first position detection slit 81 by the film position detector 79. It is necessary that it is stopped.

This embodiment is based on this assumption.

Now, when the recording sheets 8 are continuously fed and even-numbered recording sheets 8 are recorded, the first .
After the second surplus ink scraping member 89° is wound up until the end on the 90 side reaches the film winding shaft 38 and the ink 4 is supplied, the film 2 is moved in the opposite direction to the moving direction of the film 2 described above. After waiting for a certain period of time for the terminal end to reach the heating element 3 . . . , recording is performed in synchronization with the leading edge of the recording paper 8 .

In continuous recording, when recording on odd-numbered recording sheets 8, the first. Second surplus ink scraping member 41
．． The end of the multi-hole portion 92 on the 42 side is connected to the film winding shaft 36.
After the ink 4 is supplied to the heating element 3.
... and film 2 in synchronization with the leading edge of recording paper 8.
It is supposed to move.

Since recording is continued by such reciprocating movement of the film 2, continuous recording is possible even if the film is not endless.

Now then, number one! No. 2 surplus ink scraping member 41
．． 90 and 42.89 are arranged so that the contact positions with the film 2 are staggered as shown in FIG.
The surplus ink scraping member 42.89 is positioned above the first surplus ink scraping member 41.90. The necessity of this arrangement is explained first. Second surplus ink scraping member 4.

This will be explained in Section 42.

First, when winding the film, the film 2 must be placed so that the axes 36 and 38 are below the top of the thermal and radar 1, so that the recorded portion is not exposed. It is impossible to convey the recording paper 8 close to the heating element 3 while maintaining a tight gap. For this reason, if the first surplus ink scraping member 41.90 is located on the thermal head 1 side with respect to the film 2, it is located below.
The distance between the second surplus ink scraping members 42 and 139 can be reduced, and the area of the film exposed portion 86 of the film cartridge 40 of the film 2 can be reduced.

As a precaution, the film cartridge 40 can be formed into a conductor. The effect of scraping off excess ink when the film 2 is moved is as follows.

First, the case where the film 2 moves in the direction of arrow G in FIG. 6 will be described. The film 2 supplied with ink by the ink supply member 39 moves upward, and the first surplus ink scraping member 41 scrapes off the surplus ink from the film 2. However, during recording, since the multi-hole portion 92 passes through the excess ink scraping member 41, the excess ink 4 moves by a certain amount to the side opposite to the thermal head 1 through the multi-hole portion 92.

Further, the ink 4 that has moved to the opposite side is scraped off by the second surplus ink scraping member 42, and moves to the thermal head 1 side again. In this way, the film 2 moves in the G direction, and the multi-hole portion 92 of the film 2 is exposed to the first. When passing through the second surplus ink scraping members 41 and 42, the film 2 has small holes 2a...
A sufficient amount of ink 4 is applied and replenished over the entire surface.

Therefore, as mentioned above, this makes it possible to reduce the film speed to 1/4 of the speed trap of the recording paper 8.

Now, conversely, let us consider the case where the multi-hole portion 92 moves downward through the first and second surplus ink scraping members 41 and 42.

In this case, the recording side surface of the film 2 is first scraped off by the second surplus ink scraping member 42.

Therefore, the excess ink 4 adhering to the surface of the film 20 is scraped off, and the dust and paper powder adhering to the film 2 are also scraped off. In this way, the ink 4 accumulated at the tip of the surplus ink scraping member 42 moves toward the thermal head l side through the small holes 21 of the multi-hole portion 92 of the film 2.
Next, it is scraped off again by the first surplus ink scraping member 41 and accumulates at the tip of the first surplus ink scraping member 41 .

This scraped and accumulated surplus ink 4ri moves again through the small holes 21 of the multi-hole section 5+92 on the opposite side of the thermal head 1. In this way, surplus ink 4 during recording is collected into the ink 4 supply section of the film cartridge 40.

On the other hand, the non-perforated portion 91 of the film 2 is in the F direction, towards the tab 9, and downward in the first direction. Second surplus ink scraping member 4
The state when passing 1.42 will be described. At this time, the surface of the film 2 opposite to the thermal head 1 has already been cleaned by the second surplus ink scraping member 89, so the second
There is no need to scrape off ink using the surplus ink scraping member 42.

However, paper powder and dirt accumulate on the tip of the second surplus ink scraping means 42.

On the other hand, since the film surface on the thermal head 1 side has also been cleaned in advance by the first surplus ink scraping member 90,
There is also almost no need for ink scraping by the first surplus ink scraping member 41.

In this way, the non-perforated portion 91 of the film 2 becomes the film exposed portion 8 as the recording medium exposed portion of the film cartridge 40.
By covering the film cartridge 6, the exposed portion of the film 2 is cleaned thoroughly, and there is no danger of getting hands dirty when installing or removing the film cartridge 40.

Furthermore, the lengths M and N of the non-hole portion 91 in the moving direction (12th
(see figure) is longer than the film exposure @E of the film cartridge 40 etc. (see figure 6). It is possible to prevent air from entering and exiting through the gap between the parts. Therefore, evaporation of the ink 4 can also be prevented.
Since the viscosity of the ink 4 can be prevented from changing, the quality of recording and printing can be kept constant.

Next, the operation for removing paper waste adhering to the film 2 will be described.

As described above, when the film 2 is moved in the G direction, the paper waste and debris accumulated on the tip of the second surplus ink scraping member 42 are moved together with the film 2 while remaining attached to the film 2, and are removed from the thermal head. It comes to the heating element 3 part at the top of 1. At this time, transfer film 2 to thermal head 1.
Hold the heating element 3 and move it back and forth several times, and at the same time start the suction fan 53 shown in FIG.
The paper scraps and dirt on the film 2 described above are sucked into the air suction guide 57 through the suction port 107 .

In this way, it is possible to remove paper powder and dirt that adhere to the film 2, so that the multi-hole portion 92 of the film 2
It is possible to prevent the small holes 2 & . . from becoming clogged with paper powder and demi.

In this embodiment, the paper waste removal step is carried out after a certain period of time after a series of continuous recording is completed, thereby avoiding the problem of slowing down the recording speed.

In addition, as described above, since the paper waste removal process is carried out in the non-porous portion 91 of the film 2, the ink 4 on the film surface is cleaned, so that the ink 4, etc. is sucked into the air suction guide ysy. It is also possible to prevent problems such as the ink 4 adhering to the adsorption belt 15 when the ink is absorbed.

Here, the operation of the film 2 when a series of recording operations is completed will be described.

After a series of recording operations is completed, the film 2 is moved for a certain period of time at a speed slower than the moving speed during recording.

This is done in order to prevent the ink 4 from being depleted from the heating elements 3 of the thermal head 1 until the series of recording operations is completed. after that,
The paper waste removal step described above is continued for a certain period of time, and then the exposed film portion 86 of the film cartridge 40 is covered with the non-perforated portion 91 of the film 2.

By the way, the first surplus ink scraping member 9 41 , 90 is made of an elastic member, and its edge toward the thermal spatula r 1 is located on the lower surface of the film 2 and comes into close contact with the thermal head 1 . The small holes 2 in the multi-hole portion 92 of the film 2
a... so that it can be collected into the ink supply section of the film cartridge 40. Said 1st. Second
The surplus ink scraping members 41, 90 and a2e89 are made of non-breathable material to prevent air and ink 4 from entering and exiting the film cartridge 40.

Next, the relationship between the diameter of the small holes 2a of the film 2 and the small holes 21 will be explained with reference to FIG.

In the figure, an arrow 1 indicates the direction of movement of the film 2, and a line connecting the centers of the small holes 2a is an equilateral triangle with one side perpendicular to the arrow 1. In the figure, H and V are the dimensions of the heating element 3, which are 100μ to 125μ, respectively.

The diameter of the small hole 2 & in the figure is 25 μm in the example.
The distance P between the centers of the holes is 45μ, and the minimum distance between the small hole 2a and the small hole 2& is 20μ. According to experiments, using the above-mentioned symbols and assuming that the maximum distance between adjacent small holes 21 is P, the relational expressions H≧2P and V≧2P+D are satisfied;
In the case of a retrieval force of 8 lines/■ as in the example, good printing quality is achieved by making sure that the diameter of the two small holes is within the range of D = 15 to 35 μm and P is within the range of P = 40 to 50 μm. was necessary to obtain.

Special considerations are required to achieve good print quality and improve thermal efficiency during recording, regardless of the shape of the heating element 3.

FIG. 14 shows the cross-sectional shape of the heating element.

Here, the heating element 3 and the electrical conductors 108, 121 are
It is covered with a thin wear-resistant insulating film 136 such as A101. Now, a voltage is applied to the heating element 3 and it is rapidly heated.
Bubbles are generated, and due to this pressure, the ink 4 in the small hole 21 filled with ink 4 is rapidly ejected and recorded. The recording ink is ejected by applying it with a pulse width of 110 μsec to perform recording. At this time, the energy consumed is approximately 2100 erg/element.

This energy is approximately constant when the thickness T of the gap 124 between the heating element and the film 2 is 3μ or more, but when T is 1
If it exceeds 0μ, the ejection force will be poor and the printing quality will deteriorate. It has also been found that when T is 3μ or less, the energy consumption of ink for three heating elements increases to 2100 or more, and the smaller T is, the more energy is required.

Therefore, in this embodiment, T=3 μm. In the figure, 12
2 indicates a glass gelase layer.

Next, the following improvements have been made in terms of the durability of the heating element 3.

That is, as proposed in Japanese Patent Application No. 59-11851, the heating element (heating resistor) is made of ruthenium oxide as a main component, M (M is Ca, 5rBa, P
At least one selected from b, B e T)
A metal oxide thin film containing an oxide of 0.6 to 2 in terms of M/Ru (i-element ratio) is used.

By using a metal-enriched thin film in this way, there is no need to consider changes in resistance due to oxidation, which is the case with conventional methods.
, the power that makes it possible to apply large amounts of power and reach high temperatures;
It also increases stability during long-term use. Further, since this metal oxide thin film has a relatively high sheet resistance value, a relatively small current is required to obtain a high heat generation density. Therefore, less current flows through the conductive layer connected to the heating resistor as in the conventional case, and heat generation from this portion can be reduced.

Therefore, so-called print blurring that occurs during printing can be reduced. Furthermore, since such a thin film has a positive resistance temperature coefficient, it can improve the drawbacks of SnO2-based materials, and has the advantage of being able to apply a large amount of power from the initial stage, and being suitable for increasing speed.

Next, the structure of the thermal head will be described based on FIG. 11.

The structure of the heating element 3 was described in FIG. 14, but in this embodiment, the heating element 3 and the electric conductor 108° 121 are formed on a polyimide film 123 of about 15 μm, which is made of a metal made of aluminum neem. support body 132
It has a structure that is fixed with adhesive. It is estimated from the calculation of the consumed energy distribution that most of the energy (704 or more) consumed by the pulsed heating of the heating element 3 is not used for ejecting the ink 4, but is used for ejecting the polyimide film 123 and This means that films etc. will be stored. In addition, 119 is a driver for the thermal spatula p1, 12
0 is a protective cover.

In this way, if the A4 vertical feed line printer has a deconcentration power of 8 lines/■ and a recording speed of 40 m + 11/sec as in the example, the thermal The maximum value of the total energy consumption of the head 1 is about 120 W, of which about 107 W is accumulated in the polyimide film 123 and the film.

Such heat accumulation raises the temperature of the film 2 and the ink 4 to near the boiling point of the ink 4, and therefore, the situation in which the ink 4 is ejected changes depending on whether there is heat accumulation or not. In other words, the thermal history of recording causes a problem in that the density of the recorded image becomes uneven.

In this embodiment, the heating element 3 is placed on the polyimide film 123 having a thickness of approximately 15 μm, and the heating element 3 is placed on the electrical conductors 108, 12.
1 is bonded to a metal support 137 made of aluminum neem, so that the heat energy generated and accumulated in the heating element 3 is quickly transferred to the metal support 137.
Spread.

Since the support body is made of metal, the heat energy diffused into the metal support body 137 conducts heat very quickly and acts to cool the heating element 3 portion. In this way, the heating cycle of the heating element 3 can be shortened and the recording speed can be increased.

Next, Figures 9 and 10 (a) (according to bl)
Ink presence/absence detection element 109°112 of thermal head 1
The structure of is described below. In this embodiment, the thermal head 1
There are exposed conductor parts 110 and 111 of the ink presence/absence detection element with electrical conductors abutted against each other at both ends, and this exposed conductor part 1
Nos. 10 and 111 do not have a wear-resistant/insulating film 136 and come into direct contact with the ink 4.

By the way, the conductivity of the ink is 10""S/cng
If a voltage is applied, a small amount of current can flow. This state is shown in FIG. 10(1)K, where the exposed conductor portion 1
10, 111 by switch SW 0N-OFF L
,, When voltage pulses are sent, if the ink 4 is at the top of the thermal head 1 as shown in FIG. Since a current flows between 111 and 111, it temporarily decreases. This signal is amplified to detect the presence of ink. As shown in FIG. 10(b), when there is no ink 4, no current flows even if the switch SW operates as described above, so the voltage drop as described above does not occur.

As a result, it is possible to detect the absence of ink 4 and prohibit the recording operation.As described above, in this embodiment, the presence of ink at both ends of the row of heating elements 3... Since the detection elements 109 and 112 are attached, it is possible to further eliminate the problem of heating the heating element 3 when there is no ink 4 and damaging the heating element 3 due to dry heating. It is.

In other words, even if there is ink 4 at one end of the heating element row 3 and no ink 4 at the other end, the presence or absence of ink is detected by ANDing the signals of the ink presence detection elements 1oy and 112. Therefore, it is possible to detect when there is no ink.

In this embodiment, as described above, the thermal head 1 is provided with the ink presence/absence detection elements 109 and 112, and the ink container 64 is also provided with replenishment ink presence/absence detection means consisting of an ink detection LED 75 and an ink detection photosensor 76. That's what happened. As described above, these ink presence/absence detection means each have their own roles, and at the same time, as described below, they can cause the recording apparatus of this embodiment to perform various operations depending on the combination of their respective states. .

First, in this embodiment, if a voltage is constantly applied to the ink presence/absence detection means 109 and 112 of the thermal head 1 described above,
There is a problem that the ink 4 is electrolyzed and gases such as hydrogen and oxygen are generated, which corrodes the exposed conductor parts 110 and 111. Therefore, the exposed conductor parts 110. A voltage is applied to 111 to detect the presence or absence of ink.

Furthermore, by doing this, the recording operation is stopped during recording after the start of the recording operation, for example, after the recording paper 8 has been fed, and after a while, the ink 4 reaches the thin thermal head 1. After that, when the recording operation is restarted, the problem of the accurate position of the recording paper being shifted due to the inertia of the feed roller etc. can be prevented in advance.

Further, in this embodiment, when the absence of ink is detected by the ink presence detection operation of the thermal head 1, the film drive motor 52 is driven to move the film 2 for a certain period of time as shown by arrows G and F in FIG. After the reciprocating operation, the ink presence/absence detection operation of the thermal head 1 described above is performed again to detect the presence or absence of ink.

Therefore, even if the ink 4 evaporates and disappears from the heating element array 3 of the thermal head 1 due to a temporary stop, the inside of the film cartridge 40 can be detected by re-operating the ink presence/absence detecting operation. It can also detect whether there is no ink 4 or not, and if there is a new film cartridge 4.
By setting the value to 0, it is also possible to check whether ink 4 has reached the ink supply members 37, 391 in the film cartridge 40 from the ink container 64.

5. When it is detected that there is no ink in the thermal head 1, a status display regarding the ink shortage is displayed on the display section of the image, character, data, etc. processing device (133) to which the recording device is connected. The system instructs the operator to take corrective action.

Incidentally, the ink presence/absence detection operation of the thermal head 1, the ink presence/absence detection signal, the replenishment ink presence/absence detection signal of the ink container 64, and the operation of the recording apparatus are closely related. In fact, in this embodiment, the recording material, that is, the recording paper 8, is fed toward the heating element 3 only when the detection signal of the presence of ink in the thermal head 1 and the detection signal of the presence of ink in the ink container 64 are generated at the same time. I try to do that. As a result, the risk of running out of ink 4 during recording and having to interrupt the recording operation can be prevented in advance.

Further, as described above, when the detection signal indicating that there is no ink in the thermal head 1 and the detection signal that there is replenishment ink in the ink container 64 are generated at the same time, the film drive motor 52, the film movement drive shaft 87, 88, etc. By operating the film moving mechanism, it is possible to maintain the ink 4 reaching the heating element 3 of the thermal head 1.

At this time, the film movement speed is 20w during normal recording.
Although it is moved at a slower speed than that, in the embodiment, it is moved at a speed of 5 seconds/second.

As a result, when there is no ink 4, the electric conductor JOB, 12 is
This prevents the wear-resistant insulating film No. 1 from being damaged.

In this way, the film moving mechanism is operated to move the film 2 back and forth until the ink-absent detection signal of the thermal head 1 changes to an ink-present signal, and the film 2 is counterfeited.

Then, the image or character or data processing device 13 described above
A "waiting" state is displayed in the display area 3 to inform that the ink 4 is being supplied to the thermal head 1.

By the way, when a detection signal indicating that there is ink in the thermal head 1 and a detection signal indicating that there is no replenishment ink in the ink container 64 are generated at the same time, an ink replenishment signal is sent to the display section of the recording device or the image, character, or data processing device 133. An instruction is displayed to prompt the operator to replace the ink container 64 and replenish new ink 4. In this way, a new ink container 64
is installed, and the detection signal indicating that there is no refill ink in the ink container 64 changes to the detection signal indicating that there is ink, the recording operation is stopped for a certain period of time, and the recording paper 8 is moved toward the heating element 3. It also prohibits the transfer of This is the ink supply member 37 in the film cartridge 40.
．． This is done so that enough ink 4 permeates into the film 39 and the ink 4 is always supplied to the film 2 in the same state.

In addition, in this embodiment, the film cartridge 4o is set in the recording apparatus by means of detecting that the above-described ink empty detection signal of the thermal head 1 and the ink empty detection signal of the ink container 64 are generated at the same time. It is detected that this is not the case. This pattern is shown in FIG.

In fact, in the above-mentioned state, when the film cartridge 40 is not set, and even when the film cartridge 4o is set, neither the thermal head 1 nor the ink container 6
4 also shows that there is no ink 4, but,
In either case, the operator is instructed to replenish ink in a major sense.

As a result, even if there is no means for detecting whether or not the film cartridge 40 is set in the recording apparatus, it is possible to detect whether there is no ink in the thermal head 1 or not in the container 6.
No.4 refill ink occurs. In most cases, this means that the film cartridge 40 is not actually set. In this way, in this embodiment, it is detected that the detection signals of no ink in the thermal head 1 and no replenishment ink in the ink container 64 are generated at the same time, and it is detected that the film cart surge 400 is attached or detached.
,ing.

Next, the overall structure of the thermal head 1 will be described according to FIG.

In the figure, 137 is a metal support made of aluminum, and the thermal spatula r1 has metal cooling members 114 and 115 on both sides of the metal support 137, and temperature detection on the surface of the metal cooling member zla, 1x5. The heating element of the thermal spatula P1 is located at 113° and 116 in FIG.

In this embodiment, the heating elements 113 and 116 of the thermal head 1 are turned ON or OFF by the output signals of the temperature detection elements 117 and 1111 according to changes in the environment and the thermal history of the heating element 3.
The apex portion of the thermal head 1 is controlled to have a constant temperature.

First, the metal cooling members 114 and 115 are in direct contact with the film 2, and can effectively cool down the temperature rise of the thermal head 1 due to the rise in outside temperature or thermal history, suppress the evaporation of the ink 4, and The thermal history of the apex portion of the head 1 is quickly conducted to the temperature detection element, and the temperature in the vicinity of the heating element 3 of the thermal head 1 can be controlled to be always constant.

Further, the metal cooling members 117 are provided on both sides of the heating element 30.
118 and the heating elements 113 and 116 of the thermal head 1 are arranged so that the ink 4 and the ink-filled small holes 2a are conveyed to the surface of the heating element 30 even when the film 2 moves back and forth.
The area is preheated prior to recording to reduce the energy supplied by the voltage and power pulse applied to the heating element 3.

In addition, in FIG. 15, 119 is an r-liper of the thermal spatula p, and 126 to 132 are drive circuit sections.

As explained above, according to the above embodiment, the ink 4 adhering to the film 2 due to the friction between the thermal head 1 and the film 2 is scraped up and accumulated as surplus ink. The ink supply section 37.
Since there is a member 41.90 for collecting the surplus ink at 39, the surplus ink is prevented from scattering into the apparatus, and is surely collected to the ink supply section 37.39. Ink 4 can also be saved. In addition, since the ink scraping members 41 and 90 are located on the lower surface side of the film 2, the excess ink that is transmitted through the thermal head 1 located on the lower surface side and is scattered into the device is ensured. can be recovered.

Further, an ink absorbing means 3 is provided near the thermal head 1.
4.35 is provided, so that the ink 4 that is scattered when the film cartridge 40 is attached and detached, and the thermal spatula r
It has the advantage of being able to absorb excess ink 4 flowing down through the device 1, and preventing the ink 4 from scattering or leaking into the device.

In the above embodiment, the film as a recording medium has small holes. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the same purpose can be achieved even with recesses. Of course.

Other 1 It goes without saying that the present invention can be implemented in various modifications without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention provides a recording medium transporting means for transporting a recording medium having a large number of small holes, and a recording medium transporting means for transporting a recording medium having a large number of small holes. An ink supply means for supplying recording ink to a small hole, a thermal head having a plurality of heating elements arranged opposite to and in contact with the surface of a recording medium to which ink is supplied by the ink supply means, and this thermal head. and an ink recovery means for recovering excess ink scraped off by rubbing with the recording medium. Therefore, since a fixed nozzle is not used, there is no clogging iυ, and high-speed recording is possible. Moreover, surplus ink attached to the recording medium can be removed and recovered, and the recording device can perform good recording without any negative effects caused by surplus ink. This has the effect of being able to provide the following.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the recording principle, FIG. 2 is a schematic vertical side view, FIG. 3 is a schematic vertical front view, and FIG. 4(b) is a plan view of the driving portion of the film moving mechanism, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the film cartridge, and FIG.
The figure is a perspective view of the film moving mechanism and the ink supply section.
8 is a diagram showing the relationship between the diameter and pitch of the small holes and the shape of the heating element. FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the ink presence/absence detection means of the thermal head. a
) is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the ink presence/absence detection means when there is ink, FIG. 10(b) is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the ink presence/absence detection means when there is no ink, FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the thermal head, and FIG. Fig. 13 is a diagram showing the relationship between film speed and recording density, Fig. 14 is a diagram showing the structure near the heating element, and Fig. 15 is a diagram showing the structure of the electronic control circuit. It is a schematic diagram. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Thermal head, 2...Recording medium (film), 2&...Small hole, 3...Heating element, 4...Recording ink, 5...Small hole filled with ink , 6...
Ejected ink droplet, 7... Small hole from which the ink droplet was ejected, 8... Recording material (recording paper), 37.39...
Ink supply means (ink supply member), 40... Recording medium cartridge (film cartridge), 41.90
...Ink recovery means (excess ink scraping member). Patent attorney Suzue Takehiko 2a 2a Figure 1 (a) (b) Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 8 Figure 9 (a) (b) Figure 10 Figure 11 Figure 12

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) a recording medium transporting means for transporting a recording medium having a large number of small holes; an ink supply means for supplying recording ink to the small holes of the recording medium transported by the recording medium transporting means; A thermal head comprising a plurality of heating elements arranged opposite to and in contact with the recording medium surface to which ink is supplied by the ink supply means, and a surplus scraped off by rubbing between the thermal head and the recording medium. 1. A recording device comprising: an ink collecting means for collecting ink. (2) The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ink recovery means stores surplus ink in the ink supply means. (3) The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ink recovery means is made of an elastic member that is in close contact with the thermal head.