JPS63168387A - Thermal transfer printing method and printing sheet - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable clear transfer printing to be simply quickly carried out instantly, by a method wherein a printing original plate, a thermal transfer ink sheet, a recording material are laminated and irradiated by utilizing beam of infrared rays or the like as flash. CONSTITUTION:Rays of light (infrared rays are preferable) irradiate as flash a printing sheet A-1 composed of a metal deposit layer A1 on which an image part (a) of a character on a graphic, etc., is formed and a light transmission base material A2. Only the image part (a) is suddenly heated and a metal deposited layer A1 part corresponding thereto together with the image part are distinctly removed by thermal vaporization action. Thereby, the entirely the same light transmission image part A4 as the image part (a) is formed and a printing original plate A is prepared. Then, a thermal transfer ink sheet C is arranged making an ink base material C1 face the printing original plate A side and an ink layer C2 face a recording material D between the printing original plate A on which the light transmission image part A4 is formed and the recording material D. Then, an infrared rays source is irradiated as flash and the ink layer C2 part of a thermal transfer ink sheet C corresponding to the light transmission image part A4 is heated. Consequently, said ink layer C2 is transferred onto the recording material D.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a thermal transfer printing method and a printing sheet.

[Prior Art and Problems] Various copying methods for copying originals using heat have been developed.

Examples of this type of method include the following.

(a) Printing method using a heat-sensitive stencil sheet The method related to (a) is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 59-192355, in which the original and the heat-sensitive stencil sheet are closely overlapped and a light source is irradiated. Generates heat in the image drawn on the manuscript,
This heat is used to make holes in a heat-sensitive stencil sheet, and an original plate is first produced.

Thereafter, ink is applied to this heat-sensitive stencil sheet, and stencil printing is performed on the recording paper placed on the base.

In other words, according to the printing method (a), wet ink is used to copy the original, which poses a problem in that it is difficult to handle.

(o) A thermal copying method using thermal recording paper having a coloring layer provided on a base layer made of a transparent or translucent synthetic resin sheet.

This (a) was made to improve the printing method in (4) above, and was previously proposed by the applicant (for example, Patent Application No. 241736 of 1985, the invention title "Thermal Sensitive"). Copying Method and Apparatus”).

That is, in (a), thermal copying is performed by irradiating light onto an original set on a base and thermal recording paper while they are pressed together, and the original is copied onto the thermal recording paper as a mirror image. Therefore, this image can be seen as a normal image by looking through the transparent or translucent resin sheet as a base layer.

According to this thermal copying method (++), all the problems caused by the printing method (A) are improved.

However, the sheet to be printed is a special sheet made of a synthetic resin sheet with a light-emitting layer provided on the base layer, and there is a problem in that it cannot be printed on so-called perspiration paper.

After all, there is a strong demand for copying or transferring manuscripts onto sheets of any material, recording paper such as notebooks, and moreover,
It is expected that a copying machine will be developed that is smaller, easier to operate, and requires no maintenance than the PPC (Carlson) copying machine that has been used in offices, etc. .

In order to meet this type of demand, the inventors of the present invention have developed
We have been researching various ways to easily copy image areas on manuscripts.

On the other hand, with the spread of word processors, it is now possible for any number of people to easily create printed manuscripts, and it is now possible to convert diagrams and pictures into digital signals using image readers, such as CCDs (charge-coupled devices). It can be recorded in memory. Therefore, it has become possible to print out such diagrams and pictures along with text as manuscripts.

However, not only does it take an hour to print out such a single figure using a word processor, but it also takes time and effort to create multiple copies of the same manuscript. Therefore, it is desired to create a single document containing five characters and figures using a word processor or the like, and then easily and quickly copy the document one by one onto plain paper.

[Purpose of the Invention] This invention was made based on the above circumstances and research results, and it is possible to easily and quickly print both fIt parts on one sheet of manuscript onto multiple sheets of plain paper. hand,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a thermal transfer printing method capable of thermal transfer and a printing sheet useful for use in this printing method.

[Summary of the Invention] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention irradiates a light beam onto a light-reflecting Fji film layer on which an image part such as a character is formed, thereby removing the image part and the corresponding light-reflecting Q film. Only the layer portion is removed by thermal evaporation to create a printing original plate in which a transparent image area identical to the image area is formed. Next, the printing original plate is placed on a thermal transfer ink sheet, and this printing original plate is placed on a heat-sensitive transfer ink sheet. A recording medium is placed on f of the thermal transfer ink sheet, and the printing original plate, thermal transfer sheet, and recording medium are pressed against each other and overlapped, and the light beam is irradiated again to transfer the thermal transfer corresponding to the image area. The main point is that the thermal ink layer portion of the ink sheet is thermally transferred to the recording medium to perform thermal transfer printing.

[Basic Principle of the Invention] That is, in this invention, when a light beam is irradiated onto a light-reflecting thin film layer on which an image area such as a character is formed, only the image area instantly generates heat due to the thermal energy accompanying the irradiation with the light beam. Due to the thermal evaporation effect accompanying the heat generation, along with the image area,
This method effectively utilizes the phenomenon that a corresponding light-reflecting thin film layer portion is removed and, as a result, a transparent image area that is exactly the same as the image area is formed in its wake.

In addition, the present invention provides that when the printing original plate obtained by the above-described method is irradiated with light again, the light rays emit light.

Since the light beam passes only through the transparent image area and is reflected by the light-reflecting thin film part other than the transparent image area, the heat energy accompanying the light beam that passes only through the transparent image area causes the The method involves locally heating a portion of the heat-sensitive ink layer corresponding to a transparent image area, and thermal transfer printing of the ink layer portion onto a recording medium.

Further, the principle of the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 1 (1), the symbol A-1 is a printing sheet that is the material of the original printing plate, and a light-transmitting support A1 with good light-transmitting properties.
and a metal vapor deposition layer A2 formed by vapor depositing a metal material (for example, nickel or aluminum) that can substantially block irradiation light and transmit local heat; On the layer A2, an image portion a such as characters and figures is formed by handwriting, a word processor, or the like.

A flash of light (preferably infrared rays) is irradiated onto such printing sheet A-1 as shown in FIG. 1(2). Then, only the image area a rapidly generates heat due to the thermal energy accompanying this light irradiation, and the image area a and the corresponding portion of the metal vapor deposited layer A1 are heated.

8 Cleanly removed by evaporation. the result,
As shown in FIG. 1(3), a translucent image area A4, which is exactly the same as the image area a, is formed in that portion. The first step of the present invention is 0 or more in which printing original plate A is created through such steps.

In this first step, a part of the thermal energy accompanying the light irradiation is absorbed by the image area a, but the other thermal energy is transferred to the metal vapor deposited layer corresponding to the image area a! All of the light will be reflected by the metal vapor deposited layer AI except for the portion .

Next, the ink support C! The thermal transfer ink sheet C is arranged so that the ink layer C2 faces the printing original plate A side and the ink layer C2 faces the recording body (FIG. 1 (4)).

The above is the second step of the five-line thermal transfer printing method. Then, after that, the printing original plate A, the thermal transfer ink sheet C1
With the recording bodies pressed against each other, an infrared light source is irradiated as a flash (the arrow in Fig. 1 (4) indicates infrared light), and the result is shown in Fig. 1 (4). like,
The heat accompanying light irradiation is transmitted to the thermal transfer ink sheet C through only the transparent image area A4, and the ink JF of the thermal transfer ink sheet C corresponding to the transparent image area A4 is transmitted.
t C2 is heated, so that its ink layer C
2 is transferred to the recording medium. Note that this heat flow is the first
In FIG. 4, this is indicated by a broken arrow X. The heat associated with light irradiation applied to the transparent image area A4 is absorbed by this ink layer C2, but most of the heat associated with light irradiation applied to other areas is absorbed by the ink layer C2. 0 that will be reflected as shown by the solid arrow Y in Figure 1 (4)
This completes the third step of the one-line thermal transfer printing method.

As a result, printing is completed as shown in FIG. 1 (5). That is, FIG. 1 (5) shows a state in which the printing original plate A and the thermal transfer ink sheet C1 are separated after being irradiated with infrared rays as described above. A recording section d of a normal image corresponding to the image section a is formed. That is, ink is transferred from ink J5 C2 of thermal transfer ink sheet C to form a recording area d. Note that 03 in Figure 1 is an ink-deficient portion created when ink runs out.

In this way, printing original plate A, thermal transfer ink sheet C
By stacking the recording bodies and irradiating them with a flash of infrared rays, clear transfer printing can be completed in an instant. Since no ink is used, it does not stain hands or clothes, which is preferable.

In addition, as the thermal transfer ink sheet C, in addition to the one with a black ink layer t, those with various ink layers such as red and blue are in practical use. When used in combination with C, multi-color printing can be performed extremely easily, printing can be performed clearly, and good printed matter can be obtained.

[Example] Next, using the basic principle of the invention described above, 1. hand.

An embodiment of the present invention that actually performs printing will be specifically described.

First, for convenience of explanation, the internal structure of the light source device Nl will be explained with reference to FIG.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the portable main body 5 of the light source device 1 includes an outer casing 6 having an opening at one end.
and an inner case 7 which is housed inside the outer case 6 and is movable up and down, and an opening of the inner case 7 has a
A light source housing case 8 is integrally attached. A lamp 9 (for example, a xenon lamp) that emits flash light for a predetermined period of time is arranged in the light source housing case 8 via a lamp mounting plate 8a. Protrusions 10 (see FIG. 4) are formed on both sides of the light source housing case 8 to facilitate gripping, and the inner wall is provided with projections 10 to allow light from the lamp 9 to the printing sheet A-1. In order to increase irradiation efficiency, a reflector plate 11 made of aluminum foil or the like is attached. Light source housing case 8
A transparent glass plate 12 forming a light-transmitting portion is attached to the lower surface of the housing. This glass plate 12 allows the light from the lamp 9 to pass therethrough, and also functions as a holding plate that brings the original printing plates A and the like into close contact with each other.

On the other hand, a power supply section 14 used for lighting and driving the lamp 9 is housed within the device main body 5.

This power supply unit 14 is composed of a dry battery or a charger that can be charged using a commercial power source. Further, a predetermined position of the device main body 5, specifically, the upper position of the inner part 7, is turned on when the device main body 5 is gripped and pressed with a pressing force of a predetermined force or more. A pressure-sensitive switch mechanism 15 is provided which drives the lamp 9 to turn on using the power supply current from the power supply section 14. This Ji! The pressure switch mechanism 15 has a substantially U-shaped notch 7 in the earthen wall portion of the inner ef7.
A pair of spring pieces 15a formed by forming a,
15b, one of the spring pieces 15a, a pressure-sensitive switch 15c attached to the inner wall of the inner wall 7, and a pair of contact springs 15d, 15 constituting this pressure-sensitive switch 15c.
e, and a suppressing portion 15f provided on the inner wall of the outer casing 6 for on/off operation. The pressing portion 15f is inserted into a guide hole 7b formed in the center of the upper wall of the inner wall 7 so as to be vertically movable.

A stopper 70 for preventing the outer casing 6 from detaching from the inner casing 7 is fitted at its tip.

Next, using the light source device l having the above-described configuration, print sheet A
-1 A postcard D that records the characters etc. drawn on it.
The copying process in the case of copying will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 to 9.

First, in the first step, as shown in FIG. Board 1
2 is at a position a little apart from the mark W original plate A, and the outer surface 6
and inner country 7 are pressed in a direction in which they are compressed together. When pressed with more than a predetermined force, the outer casing 6 is guided by the side wall surface of the inner wall 7 against the elastic force of a pair of spring pieces 15a and 15b formed on the upper wall of the inner wall 7. Then, outer casing 6
Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 3, the upper contact spring 15e of the pair of contact springs 15d and 15e is Since the tip is moved downward, the contact spring 15e and the contact 15d at the lower position come into electrical contact.

As a result, the pressure-sensitive switch mechanism 15 is turned on and a trigger signal is applied to the lighting circuit, thereby applying a driving voltage suitable for flash lighting to the lamp 9. This results in
The lamp 9 flashes automatically, and the light passes through the glass plate 12 and is irradiated onto the printing sheet A-1. Due to this irradiation, only the image area a generates heat to a sufficiently higher temperature than the other areas, and this thermal energy causes the image area a of the printing sheet A-1 and the corresponding metal vapor deposited layer A, are removed cleanly by thermal evaporation. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, a through-hole image area A4 having exactly the same shape as the image area a is formed in that portion. Through these steps, printing original plate A is created.
That's all for this 5? ! This is the first step of IJJ.

In this first step, a part of the thermal energy accompanying the light irradiation is absorbed by the image area a, but the other thermal energy is absorbed by the portion of the gold E7A layer AI corresponding to the image area a. All of the light is reflected by the metal vapor deposited layer A1 other than the above.

By the way, in this embodiment, the external shape of the device main body 5 is made as small as possible to make it compact, lightweight, and convenient for portability. Therefore, although the area that can be irradiated with light at one time is small, the device main body 5 can be As shown in Fig. 4, if the lamp 9 is repeatedly lit several times while being moved from the P1 position indicated by the one-dot chain line to the P2 position indicated by the two-dot chain line,
A sufficiently larger area can be irradiated with light than the area that can be irradiated with light once by the thermal copying apparatus 1 of this embodiment.

Next, between the printing original plate A on which the through-hole image area A4 was formed in the first step described above and the postcard D as a recording medium, an ink support C, faces the printing original plate A side, and the ink A heat-sensitive transfer ink sheet c is placed so that the layer C2 faces the postcard D (see FIG. 7). Then, as shown in FIG.
Cut t1.

The above is the second step of the one-line thermal transfer printing method. Then, after that, the printing original plate A, the thermal transfer ink sheet C1
With the postcards D pressed against each other, the infrared light source is again irradiated with flash light. As a result, as shown in FIG. is transmitted to the thermal transfer ink sheet C, and a portion of the ink 16C2 of the thermal transfer ink sheet C corresponding to the transparent image area A4 is heated. As a result, the ink layer C2 is transferred to the postal paper 8'D.

This completes the third step of the one-line thermal transfer printing method.

As a result, the entire process of transfer printing is completed as shown in Figure 9.
A recording section d such as the addressee is clearly thermally transferred to a predetermined portion of the postcard D.

In this way, according to this embodiment, by irradiating a flash of light such as infrared rays with the printing original plate A, the thermal transfer ink sheet C1 and the postcard D, which is a recording material, stacked on top of each other, - Clear transfer printing can be completed in an instant, it is extremely simple, - It is possible to perform transfer printing work quickly, and it does not stain hands or clothing, which is extremely desirable.

Furthermore, according to this embodiment, light irradiation can be performed with the thermal transfer ink sheet C placed at the bottom of the original printing plate A with the ink layer C2 facing downward (see FIG. 7). , the ink layer C2 is heated and the glass plate 1 is heated.
2. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the glass surface from becoming dirty.

Note that the heat-sensitive transfer ink sheet C may be made into a roll and a new sheet surface may be taken out automatically or by manually pulling out the sheet. If this is done, it becomes suitable for continuous printing.

[Effects of the invention 1 As is clear from the following description, this invention has the following features.

On the light reflective thin film layer on which image areas such as characters are formed.

When the light beam is irradiated, only the image area instantaneously generates heat due to the thermal energy accompanying the light irradiation, and due to the thermal evaporation effect accompanying the heat generation, the corresponding light reflective thin film layer portion is removed along with the image f11 area, and as a result. Since we effectively utilize the phenomenon in which a transparent image area that is exactly the same as the image area is formed in the trace, you can easily and quickly print multiple pieces of plain paper, chest of drawers, etc. from a single original printing plate created. Clear image areas can be successively thermally transferred onto a recording medium, which is extremely convenient for transfer printing work.

Further, according to the present invention, the printing sheet, which is the material of the printing original plate, has a two-layer structure of the perforated support and the light-reflecting thin film layer.
Since the structure is extremely simple, it is not only inexpensive but also extremely convenient in terms of handling and storage management.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings illustrate the present invention. Figures 1 (1) to (5) are diagrams showing the basic principle of the present invention, and Figures 2 to 9 are specific examples of thermal transfer printing using a light source device. FIG. 1... Light source device, 9... Lamp, 15
......Pressure-sensitive switch mechanism, A...Printing original plate, A-1...Printing sheet, AI...
Metal vapor deposited layer, A2...Transparent support, A4...
...Transparent image area, C...Thermal transfer ink sheet, C1...Ink support, C2...
Ink layer, D... Mail, postcard, a...
- Image section, d... Recording section. Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 8

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. (a) An image area such as characters or figures is formed on a light-reflecting thin film layer formed on a light-transmitting support, and the light-reflecting thin film layer on which the image area is formed A portion of the light-reflecting thin film layer where the image area is formed by irradiating a light beam on top of the layer and locally generating heat only in the image area using the thermal energy generated by the irradiation of the light beam. (2) A first step in which a printing original plate is created by removing the material by thermal evaporation and forming a through-hole image area identical to the image area in the corresponding area; (b) thermal transfer onto a recording medium such as plain paper; An ink sheet is arranged so that the heat-sensitive ink layer formed on one side thereof faces each other, and the printing original plate is placed on the ink support formed on the other side of the heat-sensitive transfer ink sheet, and the printing original plate is placed on the transparent support. (c) irradiating the printing original plate with a light beam again while the printing original plate, the thermal transfer ink sheet, and the recording body are in close contact with each other; The heat-sensitive ink layer portion corresponding to the light-transmitting image portion is locally heated by the heat energy generated by the light beam that has passed only through the light-transmitting image portion, and the heat-sensitive ink layer portion is heated as described above. A thermal transfer printing method comprising: a third step of thermal transfer printing on a recording medium; 2. The thermal transfer printing method according to claim 1, wherein the light-reflecting thin film layer is a metal vapor-deposited layer formed by vapor-depositing a metal material that thermally evaporates when a predetermined amount of thermal energy is applied. 3. A printing sheet formed by forming a light-reflecting thin film layer that reflects light rays on a light-transmitting support having high light-transmitting properties. 4. The printing sheet according to claim 3, wherein the light-reflecting thin film layer is a metal vapor-deposited layer formed by vapor-depositing a metal material that thermally evaporates when heat energy of a predetermined amount or more is applied.