JPS6295267A - Printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a printing apparatus enhanced in a transfer property, imparting good image quality and reduced in recording energy, in such a case that the pressing direction of a recording substrate is specifically arranged to press a recording head to a platen, by providing a mechanism applying the force of the component in a vertical direction and the force of the component in the direction the same as the moving direction of receiving paper and an ink film to the platen. CONSTITUTION:A recording substrate 6 and a platen 11 are arranged so that the angle 21(theta2) formed by the recording substrate 6 and the platen 11 is smaller than the angle 20(theta1) formed by the recording substrate 6 and the end surface 7 thereof and a recording head is pressed to the platen 11 by pressing force 16(F3) having the component of the force 13(F1) to the platen in a vertical direction and the component of the force 15(F2) in the direction the same as the moving direction 14 of receiving paper and an ink film. Because the deformation state of the ink film is different left and right and not only the force F1 but also the force F2 are applied to the ink film, the deformation quantity at the side of the end surface 7 becomes large and the end surface 7 is certainly contacted with the ink film at a part 9 and this part 9 serves as a transfer pat. The electrical connection of a current supply 8 is secured.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a printing device, and more particularly to a printing device using an electrically conductive thermal transfer recording method.

[Prior Art] As a technology for realizing a full-color printing device that uses a conventional current-carrying thermal transfer recording method and is high speed, high image quality, high reliability, and low cost, there is a "printing device" (Japanese Patent Application No. 186496/1983).
No.) was there. The outline will be explained below.

FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of the structure of an ink film 10 for electrically conductive thermal transfer recording. Melting ink layer 1 is a layer in which pigment or pigment and dye are dispersed in wax at 60 to 80°C.
The support layer 2, which has the property of melting at a certain temperature, is a resin film made of PET or the like or a capacitor paper. The resistance layer 3 is a layer in which fine carbon powder is dispersed in a resin and is electrically conductive. FIG. 5 shows the recording section of the recording head of the current type thermal transfer recording method. The recording section of the recording head 4 is composed of a plurality of recording needles 5 and a recording substrate 6 provided with the recording needles. The angle 20 formed between the end surface 7 of the recording substrate and the recording substrate 6 is θ as shown in the figure.
Set to 1. Figure 6 shows a conventional recording head 4 and platen 11.
The arrangement and direction of the pressing force are shown. Platen 11
A transfer paper 12 and an ink film 10 are placed thereon, and the recording head is pressed against the platen 11 with a force 13 (Fl) perpendicular to the platen 11 as shown in the figure. To perform recording, the transfer paper 12 and the ink film 10 are moved at a constant speed in the direction of an arrow 14. The angle 21 formed between the platen and the recording substrate is θ2 as shown in the figure, and θ2 is the same as θ1.
By making the angle smaller, good electrical connection is achieved between the recording needle and the resistive layer. In this way, the tip of the recording needle is pressed against the resistance layer and a voltage is applied between adjacent recording needles to energize the resistance layer and generate heat, melting the rMA-decomposed ink layer and transferring it to the transfer paper. to form pixels. Conventional printing apparatuses have been constructed using the above recording method.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the above-mentioned conventional techniques have problems in that the transferability is reduced, resulting in a reduction in image quality due to transfer unevenness and an increase in recording energy. The reason for this is that by using the contact method shown in Figure 4 above, a good electrical connection is established between the recording needle and the resistance layer, and electricity is supplied, heat is generated, and the melted ink layer is melted. In a recording method in which electricity is applied between adjacent recording needles, this melting occurs between the adjacent recording needles, and the force that presses the recording head against the platen is concentrated directly below the recording needles, causing the adjacent recording needles to melt. This is because almost no pressure for transfer is applied between the recording substrate and the platen. This problem will be supplemented using FIG. FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the state of contact between the tip end portion of the recording head shown in FIG. 6 and the ink film. Deformation of ink film due to recording needles 51, Deformation of ink film between recording needles 5
2 and 7 examples of ink film deformation on the end surface of the recording substrate 50
This is a depiction of the situation. Although the electrical connectivity of the energizing section 8 is good, the transfer section 9 is only barely secured, as can be seen from the deformation 52 of the ink film between the recording needles. The present invention is intended to solve these problems, and its purpose is to provide a printing device that improves transferability, provides good image quality, and uses less recording energy.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The printing device of the present invention uses an ink film having a resistive layer and a melting ink layer, and has a recording head consisting of a plurality of recording needles and a recording substrate having the recording needles on one surface. by bringing the recording needle into contact with the resistance layer and applying a voltage between the adjacent recording needles to energize the resistance layer and generate heat;
In a printing device that performs recording by melting the molten ink layer and transferring it to transfer paper to form pixels, the angle between the recording substrate and the platen is determined from the angle between the recording substrate and the end surface of the recording substrate. The mechanism that presses the recording head against the platen by making it smaller is a mechanism that applies a force to the platen in a vertical direction and a force in the same direction as the moving direction of the transfer paper and the ink film. Features.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the arrangement of a recording head 4 and a platen 11 and the direction of pressing force in an embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the conventional example shown in FIG. 4 is the direction in which the recording head 4 is pressed. In this embodiment, the recording head 4 is placed on the platen 11 by arranging the angle 21 (θ2) between the recording substrate 6 and the platen 11 smaller than the angle 20 (θ1) between the recording substrate 6 and the end surface 7 of the recording substrate. Unlike the conventional example shown in FIG. 9, the pressing force has components of a force 13 (Fl) perpendicular to the platen and a force 15 (F2) in the same direction as the moving direction 14 of the transfer paper and ink film. The pressing is pressing the recording head 4 against the platen 11 with a force of 16 (F3). FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of the fused state of the ink film and the extreme tip of the recording head of FIG. 1, which is the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 7 of the conventional example. Deformation of ink film due to recording needle 51
, depicts the state of deformation 52 of the ink film between the recording needles and deformation 50 of the ink film on the end surface 7 side of the recording substrate. The deformation state of the ink film is different on the left and right sides, and it is not only due to the force of Fl (because the force of F2 is applied, the edge surface 7 of the recording substrate
The amount of deformation on the side is large. As a result of this phenomenon, the end face 7 of the recording substrate and the ink film were brought into reliable contact at the portion 9, and pressure for transfer was applied. This portion indicated by 9 becomes the transfer portion. On the other hand, the electrical connectivity of the current-carrying part 8 is maintained as before. In this embodiment, although the current-carrying part 8 and the transfer part 9 are not located at the same location,
The structure is such that the ink melted in the current-carrying section 8 is reliably transferred from the ink film to the transfer paper.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the present invention constructed using a rotating platen. The recording head 4 is pressed against the rotating platen 63 with a force of F3. The transfer paper and the ink film move in the direction of arrow 14, and at the same time the rotating platen 6
3 is also rotating in the same direction. By applying the force F3, a force Fl is applied from the contact point between the recording head 4 and the rotating platen 63 in the direction of the rotating shaft 60, and from the contact point, the force is applied in the tangential direction of the rotating platen, and in the same direction as the rotating direction of the rotating platen. The power of F2 is added. Even in this configuration @
A transfer state similar to that shown in Figure 2 could be obtained.

The present invention recognizes that both electrical conductivity and transferability are important in the recording mechanism of the electrically conductive thermal transfer recording method. This was achieved by focusing on transferability. The conventional example shown in Fig. 6 is a pressing method that focuses on electrical contact, so the transfer part exists incidentally around the current-carrying part, and the pressure on the transfer part is uneven. Degradation of image quality occurs due to uneven transfer, and the pressure is low.
Because there were some areas where the ink film and paper were in contact without any pressure, the transfer efficiency was low and a correspondingly high amount of recording energy was required.

On the other hand, when recording is performed with a printing device constructed using the pressing method of the recording head according to the embodiment of the present invention, the image quality is significantly improved, and the deterioration of the image due to non-uniformity of transfer is greatly improved. The recording energy is 10
It was possible to reduce it by about %.

[Effects] The present invention provides a printing device that fully utilizes both the energization and transfer functions in the recording mechanism of the energized thermal transfer recording system, improves transfer performance, provides good image quality, and uses less recording energy. Moreover, by simply changing the direction of pressing the recording substrate, an innovative printing device that does not cause a price increase can be realized.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the arrangement of a recording head and a platen and the direction of pressing force in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the state of contact between the extreme light end portion of the recording head and the ink film in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the arrangement of the recording head and rotating platen and the direction of the pressing force in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the structure of an ink film for electrically conductive thermal transfer recording. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a recording section of a recording head of an energized thermal transfer recording method. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the arrangement of a conventional recording head and platen and the direction of pressing force. FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the contact state between the extreme light end portion of a conventional recording head and an ink film. Melting ink layer 00.1, resistance layer 00.3, transfer paper , 12, ink film , 10, recording substrate 00.6, recording needle 00.5, recording head 69.4, end surface of recording substrate 66 .7. Platen , 11. Angle between recording substrate and end surface of recording substrate, 20 or more Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] Using an ink film having a resistive layer and a melting ink layer,
Using a recording head consisting of a plurality of recording needles and a recording substrate with the recording needles on one surface, the recording needles are brought into contact with the resistance layer, and a voltage is applied between the adjacent recording needles to increase the resistance. In a printing device that performs recording by energizing the layer to generate heat, melting the molten ink layer and transferring it to transfer paper to form pixels, the angle between the recording substrate and the end surface of the recording substrate determines the A mechanism that presses the recording head against the platen by arranging the recording substrate and the platen at a small angle generates a force that is perpendicular to the platen and a force that is in the same direction as the moving direction of the transfer paper and the ink film. A printing device characterized by a mechanism that adds