JPS629991A - Ink ribbon for thermal transfer recording and recording apparatus using said ink ribbon - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible not only to keep a softened or molten state for a definite time even after recording and heating but also to hold adhesive force until ink is transferred, by providing an intermediate layer showing supercooling property between a support and an ink layer. CONSTITUTION:An intermediate layer 11 showing supercooling property keeping a softened or molten state for a certain time even after selective heating corresponding to a recording signal by a thermal means to lower the adhesive force between a heat-softenable or heat-meltable ink layer 10 and a support 12 and facilitating the transfer of ink due to the adhesive force between the ink layer 10 and a recording medium is provided between the support 12 and the heat- softenable or heat-meltable ink layer 10 provided on the support. In order to enhance the sensitivity of an ink ribbon, it is desirable that the m.p. of the intermediate layer 11 is equal to or more than that of th heat-meltable ink layer 10. By this method, even if inexpensive recording paper such as PPC paper is used as a recording medium, high quality printing is enabled.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an ink ribbon for thermal transfer recording and a recording device thereof, and particularly relates to an ink ribbon for thermal transfer recording and a recording device thereof, and particularly to a recording medium with poor smoothness or an ink transfer property when overlapping ink. This invention relates to a recording device using an improved ink ribbon for thermal transfer recording.

[Technical background and problems of the invention]

An ink ribbon coated with ink that is solid at room temperature and recording paper are placed on top of each other via the ink surface, and a thermal head selectively heats the ink from the back of the ink ribbon according to the recording signal to soften or melt the ink and record. The thermal transfer recording method, which adheres to and transfers information onto paper, is being put to practical use in OA-related terminal equipment such as CRT terminal printers, personal computer printers, and word processor printers. There is an increasing demand for printers in this field to be capable of high-quality printing even on inexpensive plain paper such as PPC paper, which is commonly used in offices, or to be able to print in color.

However, [7] In the hot-melt thermal transfer recording method, the ink surface of the ink ribbon and the surface of the recording paper are in pressure contact and the ink is attached, so the unevenness of the recording paper surface has a large effect on the ink adhesion transfer characteristics, that is, the print quality. It's related. General JkoP
The surface of PC paper has uneven undulations ranging from several microns to several tens of microns.
The ability to clearly print complicated kanji is amazing. In addition, in color printing, in order to obtain the required color by overlapping basic color inks such as yellow and magenta cyan, the ink deposited later is created by the ink that was transferred first and the surface of the recording paper. must be attached,
It is necessary to ensure more reliable adhesion and transferability than monochrome printing. In particular, when color printing is performed using PPC paper, etc., the unevenness of the surface of the recording paper is also added, which may cause problems such as line breakage at the edge interface with the ink or color unevenness. Oops.

□ [Purpose of the Invention] This invention was made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and it provides a thermal transfer recording device that allows high-quality printing even when using inexpensive recording paper, such as PPC paper, as a recording medium. The purpose of this invention is to provide an ink ribbon for use in printing.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a thermal transfer recording device d that can perform good recording without any loss of transfer ink on a recording medium with poor smoothness without providing any special additional means.

[Summary of the invention]

This invention provides a method for maintaining a softened or molten state for a certain period of time after being selectively heated in accordance with a recording signal by thermal means between a heat-softening or heat-melting ink layer provided on a support and a support. An intermediate 7 exhibiting supercooling properties that maintains the adhesion between the ink layer and the support, thereby facilitating ink transfer due to the adhesion between the ink and the recording medium.
The feature is that m is provided.

Further, the present invention overlaps an ink ribbon and a recording medium via ink, and selectively heats the ink ribbon and a recording medium in accordance with a recording signal using a thermal means such as a thermal head to partially adhere the ink to the recording medium. An ink ribbon for thermal transfer recording devices that transfers and records ink onto a recording medium by peeling off the recording medium.An ink that has an intermediate layer exhibiting supercooling properties and a heat-softening or heat-melting ink layer sequentially provided on a support. After selectively heating the ribbon using thermal means such as a thermal head, the ink ribbon and the recording medium are separated while the intermediate layer of the ink ribbon is softened or melted due to supercooling to improve transferability. This realizes an improved thermal transfer recording device.

Furthermore, after an ink ribbon having an intermediate layer exhibiting supercooling property is selectively heated, the peeling means is configured to immediately separate the ink ribbon from the recording medium. This ensures that peeling is carried out.

1. Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, the intermediate layer between the support and the ink layer can maintain a softened or molten state for a certain period of time even after recording heating due to its supercooling property. The significantly weakened adhesion between the ink layer and the ink layer can be maintained until the time of ink transfer.

In addition, by separating the ink ribbon from the recording medium while the adhesion between the support and the ink layer is significantly weakened, it can be used even when the adhesion between the ink and the recording paper is relatively weak. , ink transfer can be performed reliably.

[Embodiments of the invention] Hereinafter, this invention will be explained in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the main parts of a thermal transfer recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The summer ink ribbon is an 8m wide black ink ribbon. 2 is a thermal head in which 24 heating elements (not shown) are arranged at a density of 7 dots/square, and the heating elements are arranged in a row perpendicular to the scanning direction of the thermal head 2. I'm here. Reference numeral 3 denotes recording paper, which is one aspect of the recording medium, and can be made of high-quality or medium-quality plain paper, OHP base paper, or the like. Here, Beck smoothness is 5
0 second PPC paper is used. 4 is a platen roller that cooperates with the thermal head 2 to print the thermal head 2,
The ink ribbon 1 and the recording paper 3 are held in pressure contact. When not printing, a paper conveying motor (not shown) connected to the platen roller 4 works to convey the recording paper 3 held on the platen roller 4 by a certain amount by a paper presser roller (not shown). 5 is an ink ribbon guide bin, 6
is an ink ribbon peeling guide, 7 is an ink ribbon supply reel, and 8 is an ink ribbon take-up reel.
, are installed on the carriage 9 together with the thermal head 2. The carriage 9 can be moved in a direction perpendicular to the paper feeding direction of the recording paper 3 by a carriage driving means (not shown).

FIG. 1 shows the structure of an ink ribbon according to the present invention used in the apparatus shown in FIG.

10 is a heat-melting ink that softens or bath-melts with heat;
11 is an intermediate layer exhibiting supercooling properties, and 12 is a base material. The ink 10 may be any material commonly used today, and is comprised of a colorant and a binder. As the coloring material, any coloring material commonly used in the fields of printing and copying, such as pigments such as carbon black or various dyes, can be used. As a binding material, waxes such as paraffin, carmeba wax, beeswax, candelilla wax, etc. having various 8 points,
Low molecular weight petroleum resins, polystyrene, styrene-phtadiene copolymers, cellulose esters such as ethyl cellulose and ethyl cellulose acetate butyrate, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers, polycarbonate resins such as polyethyl acrylate, and polymers such as polyamides. coalescence is used. These waxes and polymers may be used alone or in combination. Binders that maintain relatively strong cohesive strength upon softening or melting are particularly suitable for use in this invention. Examples of such binders include polycarbonate ester resins and polyamides alone or in mixtures with wax.

The intermediate layer 11 has a supercooling property that maintains a softened or molten state for a predetermined period of time even after softening by heating or heating after bath melting is completed. Substances that exhibit such supercooling properties include dicyclohexyl phthalate, bencito lyazole, acetanilide, and the like. Supercooling substances can be used alone or depending on the fluidity duration setting.
It can also be used by mixing supercooling substances. Further, a supercooling substance may be used together with a binder. In this case, it goes without saying that these mixtures are blended to have supercooling properties. In order to improve the sensitivity of the ink ribbon, it is desirable that the melting point of the intermediate layer 11 be equal to or higher than the melting point of the heat-melting ink 10. The thermal conductivity of a substance decreases significantly when it changes from solid to liquid. In thermal transfer recording, the intermediate layer 11 is heated from the base material 23 side, so the intermediate layer 11 is made of heat-melting ink]0
exposed to higher temperatures. Therefore, in order to efficiently transfer the heat applied to the base material 12 to the ink, it is desirable that the intermediate layer 11 not soften or melt before the heat-melting ink 10. The base material 12 can be made of a plastic film such as polyethylene terrectate, polyimide, cellophane, or polycarbonate, or a thin paper such as capacitor paper. The thickness of the base material 23 is determined by taking into consideration the sensitivity and mechanical strength of the ink ribbon.
A material with a diameter of 20μ or less is suitable. An example of such an ink ribbon is a heat-resistant layer made of nitrocellulose with a thickness of 0.7μ and a heat-resistant layer of polyethylene terephthalate film with a thickness of 3 or 6μ, and microcrystalline 20 on the opposite side.
Low molecular weight ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer 40. A supercooling paint having a blending ratio of 40% dicyclohexyl phthalate was applied by a solvent coating method to form an intermediate layer of 2μ, and an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer 80%. Microcrystalline 10. An example is an ink ribbon in which an ink layer having a thickness of 4 μm is provided by applying an ink paint having a blending ratio of 10 to 10 carbon black. The melting point of the ink layer of this ink ribbon was about 70°C, and the melting point of Intermediate I- was about 90°C. Furthermore, the intermediate layer maintained its fluidity even when the temperature was lowered by 20°C below the melting point.

Next, the recording operation of the thermal transfer recording apparatus shown in FIG. 2 will be explained. When the power of the apparatus is turned on, the carriage 9 is placed in the home position. At this time, ink ribbon 1. The thermal head 2 is separated from the recording paper 3 by a thermal head pressure control means (not shown) J. The carriage 8 moves to the printing start point in response to the print signal, and the thermal head 2 is urged in the direction of the platen roller 4 by a thermal head pressure control means (not shown).
Ink ribbon 1. The recording paper 3 is brought into close contact with the recording paper 3, and the heat generating elements of the thermal head 2 are selectively heated by a thermal head drive circuit (not shown), so that the ink on the ink ribbon 1 is softened or melted and adhered to the recording paper 3.
- After heating, move the carriage 9 a predetermined amount in the direction of the arrow. The ink ribbon 1 is supplied from the ink ribbon supply reel 7, and as the carriage 9 moves, the ink ribbon peeling guide 6 moves the recording paper 3 to the recording paper 3.
The ink is then peeled off and the ink is transferred. The used ink ribbon is wound onto an ink ribbon take-up reel 8. The ink ribbon take-up reel 8 is connected to an ink ribbon take-up means (not shown) and rotates to apply tension to the ink ribbon 1.

By repeating this operation, once one share has been printed,
Ink ribbon 1. The thermal head 2 is separated from the recording paper 3 by thermal head pressure control means (not shown), and the carriage 9 returns to its home position. During this time, the recording paper 3 is moved by one line by rotating the platen I roller 4 in the direction of arrow B. By repeating these operations, a predetermined amount of printing is performed.

Next, details of the ink transfer operation in the thermal transfer recording apparatus of this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG.

FIG. 3(a) shows an ink transfer operation in a conventional thermal transfer recording device. The heating element 14 of the thermal head 13 is energized to generate heat, and the ink ribbon 15 comes into contact with it.
In response to L1 heating, the ink 16 of the ink head 15 softens or melts and adheres to the recording paper 17. However, if the recording paper 17 is paper with poor smoothness, the ink will only adhere to the recording paper 17 in areas where the recording paper 17 and the ink 16 are in reliable contact, as shown in the figure. As shown in the figure, this ink adhering area is narrower and more partial than the heating area 18 of the ink 16. Even after the thermal head 13 is energized, the ink ribbon 15 and the recording paper 17 are not immediately separated, but are transported to the position of the pinch roller 19, which is the ink ribbon e-recording paper peeling means. During this transfer, the softened or melted portions of the ink solidify again. Therefore, since the ink ribbon 15 and the recording paper 17 are separated from each other while the ink is solidified, the ink is transferred to the recording paper 17 only on the convex portions of the surface of the recording paper 17. That is, recording paper 1
Correct pixel points corresponding to the heating areas 18 of the in-line 16 cannot be obtained on the recording paper 17, resulting in pixel points 20 where ink is missing in the recesses on the surface of the recording paper 17.

On the other hand, in the thermal transfer recording apparatus of the present invention shown in FIG. 3(b), due to the supercooling effect of the intermediate layer 21,
Since the intermediate layer 21 retains its softening or melting properties even after heating is completed, the adhesion between the ink ribbon base film 23 and the ink 24 only in the heated area is significant when the recording paper 17 is peeled off. Good ink transfer is achieved even on paper with a weak and rough surface. The ink in the heating area 18 is softened or melted by the heat generated by the heating element 14 of the thermal head 13 and adheres to the recording paper 17 . However, the adhesion area corresponding to the heating area 18 cannot be obtained as in conventional ink ribbons and thermal transfer recording devices.

At this time, the intermediate layer is softened or melted together with the ink in the heating area 18. After the heating by the thermal head 13 is completed, the ink ribbon 22 and the recording paper 17 are transported to the position of the pinch roller 19, which is an ink ribbon and recording paper peeling means, while being overlapped. During this transfer, the portion of the ink that has softened or melted becomes solidified again. However, - eave formation or melting [
The middle layer portion 25 maintains a softened or molten state due to its supercooling property. That is, in the thermal transfer recording device of the present invention, the supercooling property (supercooling duration) of the ink ribbon intermediate layer is adjusted so that the ink ribbon and the recording paper can be separated while the intermediate layer in the heating area is softened or melted. Such)
The positional relationship between the heating means, the ink ribbon, and the recording paper peeling means or the transfer time between the two must be set by matching them.

Therefore, considering the force acting on the ink in the heating area 18 during peeling, the recording paper 17 does not have a sufficient adhesion area compared to the heating area 18 due to the effect of the unsolidified intermediate layer.
Since the adhesion force between the ink base film 23 and the ink 24 is extremely small compared to the adhesion force between the ink base film 23 and the ink 24, even if the adhesion between the recording paper 17 and the ink 24 is discontinuous in the heating area, , ink corresponding to the heated area is transferred. As described above, in the thermal transfer recording device of the present invention, even if the recording paper is a recording paper with a large surface unevenness such as pound paper, it is possible to print an image without ink loss according to the heating area equivalent to that on a recording paper with a small unevenness. Point 26 can be obtained.

FIG. 4 schematically shows the main parts of a thermal transfer recording apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. 27 is a thermal head (hereinafter referred to as a real edge thermal head) in which a heating element 28 is provided close to the extreme edge of the main plane of the support; 29 is an ink ribbon having an intermediate nozzle having supercooling properties according to the present invention; 30 is a recording head; 31 is a platen roller. M for printing operation
Since it is the same as Figure 3, it will be omitted. The feature of this thermal transfer recording device is that by using a real edge thermal head, the ink ribbon 2 is immediately transferred after heating printing by the thermal head.
The structure is such that the recording paper 30 can be peeled off. This structure reduces the fluidity duration of the intermediate layer after softening or melting, or ensures the fluidity of the intermediate layer during peeling. With the configuration of this device, the fluidity duration can be short, so that a material exhibiting a wider range of supercooling properties can be used as the intermediate layer constituent material. The ink transfer mechanism in this device is also basically the same as the explanation in FIG. 3, so a description thereof will be omitted. In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, an edge-type thermal head 32 having a heating element 2B provided on a surface perpendicular to the main plane of the support is used to immediately peel off the ink ribbon after heating the ink ribbon for printing with the thermal head. You can do it too. This thermal transfer recording device can apply greater printing pressure to the ink ribbon and recording paper than the thermal heads shown in Figures 3 and 4, so ink transfer to recording paper with poor smoothness is improved. It becomes certain. In FIG. 5, the same numbers as in FIG. 4 indicate the same components as in FIG. 4. In a thermal transfer recording device having a structure in which the ink ribbon and recording paper are separated immediately after printing is heated by a thermal head as shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. By using an ink that has a stronger cohesive force than wax thread ink when softened or melted, it is possible to perform better printing on paper with even poorer smoothness. The ink transfer operation in this thermal transfer recording apparatus will be explained using FIG. 6. The printing heat of the thermal head 27 causes the ink 34 and intermediate layer 35 of the ink ribbon 33 to soften or form melted portions 36 and 37, respectively. Since the ink film 33 and the recording paper are immediately separated, the ink portion 36 and the intermediate layer portion 37 are both in a softened or molten state, that is, in a state where neither is solidified.

At the starting point (A) of ink transfer, the unheated part of the ink layer 34 of the ink ribbon 33 is in a solid state, and the heated part is in a non-solid state, so the boundary condition is clear, and the stress caused by peeling #IH is concentrated at this boundary. The cracks allow accurate ink transfer to occur along this boundary. Furthermore, due to the cohesive force of the ink due to the effect of the intermediate layer 37 in a non-solidified state, the ink portion 36
Since the adhesion force between the ink ribbon base film 38 and the ink ribbon base film 38 becomes weak, the ink portion 36 in the heating area will be recorded with poor smoothness if there is an adhesion force between the recording paper 30 and the ink portion 36 that is stronger than the cohesive force of the ink. This enables more reliable ink transfer to paper.

A color thermal transfer recording apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 39 is a thermal head in which 1728 heating elements are arranged in a row at a density of 8 elements/■, 40 is a support plate for the thermal head 39, 41 is an ink ribbon peeling roller attached to the support plate 40, and these are the recording heads. An assembly 42 is formed. 45 is hardness (JIS
A platen roller made of silicone rubber with a hardness of 40° is disposed opposite to the recording head assembly 42 and is rotated at a paper feeding speed determined by a step motor (not shown). Reference numeral 44 denotes a recording head assembly pressure control means that presses the recording head assembly 42 against or separates it from the platen roller 43 by the action of a spring and an electromagnetic lever. 45 is +1] This is a four-color ink ribbon with a length of 210 strips, in which heat-melting inks of four colors yellow, macenta, cyan, and black appear repeatedly at 300 pitches in the longitudinal direction, and a supercooling intermediate layer. . The color ink ribbon 45 is guided by the ink ribbon supply I'-role 46 and guide rollers 47 and 48, and then the color ink ribbon 45 is guided to the recording head assembly 42.
and the platen roller 43, the peeling roller 41. The ink ribbon is wound up via a guide roller 49 onto an ink ribbon take-up roll 50 driven by a motor (not shown).

51 is recording paper, which is PPC paper. The self-recording paper 51 is fed out from the recording paper supply roll 52 and passed between the recording paper pressure roller 53 and the platen 1 roller 43 from the platen opening to the platen opening.
It is supplied in close contact with the circumferential surface of the pipe 43. 54 is an ink ribbon sensor, and an ink color determination circuit (
(not shown) to identify the ink color. Next, the recording operation of the apparatus will be explained. When the start signal is input, the ink ribbon sensor 54 detects yellow ink,
It is set so that its tip is located at the position 1u of the heating element of the thermal head 39.

At this time, the recording head assembly 42 is connected to the platen roller 43.
Only the ink ribbon 45 is conveyed by the ink ribbon take-up roll 5oo)#jA movement. Thereafter, by the action of the recording head assembly pressure control means 44, the recording-\rad assembly 42 is lowered, and the thermal head 39. Ink ribbon 45. Recording paper 51. The platen roller 43 is brought into pressure contact and ready for recording.

A heating element of the thermal head 39 is selectively caused to generate heat by a thermal head drive circuit (not shown) in response to a recording signal corresponding to yellow recording from a recording information source (not shown).

After printing one line, the platen roller 43 rotates from J.
The ink ribbon 45 and the recording paper 51 are conveyed by one line without being displaced. Printing 2 Printing is performed by repeating paper conveyance. The partially adhered ink ribbon 45 and recording paper 51 are separated by a peeling roller 41, and the ink is transferred to the recording paper. In this way, one screen is first recorded using yellow ink. During this time, the ink ribbon 45 and the recording paper 51 are transported at a constant speed.

After the yellow recording is completed, the recording head assembly 42 is separated from the platen roller 43. The recording paper 51 is set at the initial position by driving a step motor connected to the platen roller 43 in reverse at twice the forward speed and the same number of forward steps.

During this time, magenta ink is set on the ink ribbon 45 by driving the ink ribbon take-up roll 50. Inkliphone 45. After setting the recording paper 51,
RAD assembly 42 goes down again to record thermal head 3
9. Ink ribbon 45, recording paper 51. The platen roller 43 is brought into pressure contact state and becomes ready for magenta recording.

For yellow recording, the thermal head 39 is driven in the same manner as the recording/l''lv@ source (not shown) with a recording signal corresponding to limagenta recording, and magenta ink recording is superimposed on yellow recording.Similarly, cyan recording is performed. , performs black recording.With this color thermal transfer recording device, a color image with good gradation, no color unevenness, and excellent color reproducibility can be obtained.Recording that reveals the characteristics of the color thermal transfer recording device of this invention Improving adhesion in overlapping paper and ink will be explained in detail.

FIG. 5 schematically shows the state of the ink when heating the ink and the state of the ink transferred to the recording paper when magenta ink is superimposed on yellow ink for recording.
) shows the case of the thermal transfer recording device according to the present invention as shown in FIG.
b) shows the case of a conventional thermal transfer recording device. 55 is a thermal head, 56 is a recording paper, 57 is a previously printed yellow ink, 58 is a thermofusible magenta ink 59, an intermediate layer 60 having supercooling properties, and a base material 61.
62 is a conventional color ink ribbon consisting of heat-melting magenta ink 59 and profit 61; 63 and 64 are respectively transferred magenta ink; 6
5 is a portion of the intermediate layer 60 that has been heated and softened or melted.

When a color image is obtained by overlapping inks, even if the recording paper has good smoothness, the ink that has been transferred to the light always causes unevenness on the receiving surface of the ink that is later transferred. That is, when performing color recording, it is unnecessary to record on a surface with unevenness. In the color thermal transfer recording device according to the present invention, even if the magenta ink 59 cannot contact the recording paper due to the step caused by the previously transferred yellow ink, it is not solidified even when the ink ribbon and the recording paper are peeled off. Due to the effect of the middle layer in
Similar to the ink transfer operation explained using the figures, FIG.
Magenta ink 63 according to the heating area as shown in a)
or transcribed. However, in the conventional color thermal transfer recording apparatus, as shown in FIG. The ink is transferred only onto the yellow ink at the leading edge or onto the convex portions of the recording paper (magenta ink is missing in the dashed line area relative to the heating area), resulting in significant deterioration of image quality such as broken lines and two-color unevenness. Not only when the recording paper has poor smoothness as shown in Figure 7, but also when the recording paper has good smoothness, the ink that was transferred first can be used when overlapping the inks to obtain a color image as described above. Therefore, the color thermal transfer recording device of the present invention is a bath-fusion transfer method that performs color recording by overlapping thick ink, regardless of the unevenness of the ink-receiving surface of the recording paper. This solves the problems of conventional color thermal transfer recording devices.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the structure of an ink ribbon according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the main parts of a thermal transfer recording device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the characteristics of the ink transfer operation in the ink ribbon and the thermal transfer recording device according to the present invention. 4 and 5 are diagrams schematically showing the main parts of a thermal transfer recording device according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is an ink transfer operation of the thermal transfer recording device shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically showing a color thermal transfer recording device according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the ink of the color thermal transfer recording device shown in FIG. 7 when ink is overlapped. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the characteristics of the transfer operation. 1.22, 29, 33.45... Ink ribbon having a supercooling intermediate layer, 2.13, 27, 32, 39.55... Thermal helad, 3.17, 30, 51.56...・Record paper, 4.
31.43...Platen, 5.19.41...Ink ribbon, recording paper peeling means, 10...Thermofusible ink, 11...Supercooling intermediate layer, 12...Support. Agent Patent Attorney Noriyuki Ken Yudo Takehana Kikuo No. 1 Figure 6 Figure Cb) /3; To Pumaru J Tono 4: Hatsukyuu 1 body, 22: In7 Subon 2/: Souben Kaiso 16 .2η: In 7 /7: 1 Self 3 go〈 3rd prisoner 8th figure

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) In an ink ribbon for thermal transfer recording in which a heat-softening or heat-melting ink layer is provided on a support, an intermediate layer exhibiting cooling property between the support and the heat-softening or heat-melting ink layer. An ink ribbon for thermal transfer recording characterized by being provided with. (2) Overlap an ink ribbon with a heat-softening or heat-melting ink layer on a support and a recording medium, and selectively apply ink from the ink ribbon to the recording medium by thermal means according to a recording signal. A thermal transfer recording device for obtaining a recorded image by transfer, wherein the ink ribbon has an intermediate layer exhibiting supercooling property between the support and the heat-softening or heat-melting ink layer. Recording device. (3) The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the ink ribbon and the recording medium are separated from each other while the intermediate layer is in a molten state, and the ink is transferred to the recording medium. (4) The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the ink ribbon is peeled off immediately after being heated by thermal means.