JPS63188062A - Electric-conduction recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To contrive enhancement of printing quality, by a method wherein, when either of adjacent recording electrodes does not conduct the printing of a pixel, a pulse width to be applied to the recording electrode printing one pixel is set less than the case when both of the adjacent recording electrodes conduct a printing of pixel. CONSTITUTION:When a voltage is applied to a recording electrode 5 from a drive circuit 8, a recording current flows from the recording electrode 5 to a common electrode 6 through an electric-conduction layer 2 of an electric-conduction recording sheet 1. At this time, the current generates heat in the vicinity of the recording electrode 5, thus melting an ink in an ink layer 3 of the electric-conduction recording sheet 1 to transfer it to a recording paper. Data white, black, black, black, black, and white are applied to recording electrodes (a)-(f) in order and, thereby, the recording electrodes (b)-(e) conduct a printing of black pixel. At this time, a voltage with a pulse width T is applied to the recording electrodes (c), (d) to make both of recording electrodes adjacent thereto perform a printing of pixel. A pulse having a width T2 less than T is applied to the recording electrodes (b), (e) with a shift to time T1 from the T-width pulse to make either of recording electrodes adjacent thereto conduct printing. In this manner, an applied energy can be corrected, and pixels to be printed can be uniformized.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a current-carrying recording device used in facsimiles, printers, and the like.

2. Description of the Related Art An example of a conventional energization recording device will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 1 denotes a current-carrying recording sheet, which is composed of a current-carrying layer 2 made of a resistor and an ink layer 3 made of heat-melting ink. Reference numeral 4 denotes a recording head, the tip of which is in contact with the current-carrying layer 2 of the current-carrying recording sheet 1 . At the tip of the recording head 4, a plurality of recording electrodes 5 are arranged in a line, and a common electrode 6 is provided at a position separated from the recording electrodes 5 by a predetermined distance. Further, the recording head 4 is configured to be movable in the direction of the arrow in the figure by a moving means (not shown). A voltage is selectively applied between the recording electrode 5 and the common electrode 6 by a drive circuit (not shown) according to an image signal. In the current recording device configured as described above, the recording electrode 5
When a voltage is applied to , a recording current flows from the recording electrode 5 through the current-carrying layer 2 of the current-carrying recording sheet 1 to the common electrode 6 . At this time, since the current is concentrated near the recording electrode 5, heat is generated in this vicinity, and this heat melts the ink in the ink layer 3 of the current-carrying recording sheet 1 and transfers it to a recording paper (not shown).

Thereafter, a desired image is obtained by repeating the above operations while the recording head 4 moves relative to the energized recording sheet 1. (For example, JP-A-58-14027
4) Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, according to the above-described current-carrying recording device, since the recording electrodes 5 are arranged close to each other, if all the recording electrodes 5 are driven at the same time, they will not touch each other. - Interference occurs between adjacent recording electrodes 5, resulting in deterioration of print quality. In other words, when one recording electrode is energized and current is also energized in a recording electrode adjacent to that recording electrode, the current paths are mutually restricted in the energized recording sheet 10 and the energized layer 2. Therefore, the value of the current flowing through the recording electrodes is reduced and the way the current flows in the current-carrying layer 2 is also different compared to the case where no current is applied to the adjacent recording electrodes. Therefore, if only one of the recording electrodes adjacent to one recording electrode is energized, the recording electrodes on both sides of the recording electrode to which one energization is applied are both energized. The shape, size, or density of the printed pixels differs from the case where printing is performed. FIG. 6 shows the shape of the image 7 printed by the recording electrode 5 as seen from the recording head 4 side, as well as the positional relationship with the recording electrode 5 and the common electrode 6. From this, when electricity is applied to only one of the recording electrodes 5 adjacent to a certain recording electrode 5, a larger pixel is printed than when electricity is applied to both adjacent recording electrodes 5, and the pixel The shape of the pixel is distorted, and the pixel bulges in the opposite direction to the common electrode 6 in the vicinity of the recording electrode 5. Therefore, at the ends of consecutive black pixels in the vertical direction, the pixels become large and bulging, and a distorted image with protruding whisker-like shapes is printed.

This deteriorates print quality. This phenomenon is caused by the fact that when adjacent recording electrodes are energized at the same time, each recording electrode has the same potential, so not much current flows in the current-carrying layer between these recording electrodes. Regarding the recording electrode that prints the pixels at the end of the recording electrode, the current flow is not inhibited on the side where the adjacent recording electrode does not print, so the current spreads and flows, and the value of the current flowing through this recording electrode becomes large. As a result, the value of the current flowing through the recording electrodes changes depending on whether or not the adjacent recording electrodes are energized at the same time, and the way the current flows also changes, and the size and shape of the pixel also change.

In addition, in order to eliminate the influence of interference between adjacent recording electrodes, a method has been proposed in which time-division driving is performed so that every few recording electrodes are energized at the same time. Since the timings of the images are different, the linearity of the vertical lines of the printed image deteriorates and the printing speed becomes slow.

The present invention solves the above problems and provides an energization recording device with good print quality and high print speed.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the energization recording device of the present invention includes:
When one of the recording electrodes adjacent to a recording electrode that prints a pixel does not print a pixel,
The applied pulse width is made shorter than when both adjacent recording electrodes print pixels.

Effect of the present invention With the above-described configuration, when one of the recording electrodes adjacent to a recording electrode that prints a pixel does not print a pixel, when both adjacent recording electrodes print a pixel, Since the value of current flowing through the recording electrode becomes larger than the current value, by shortening the applied pulse width, the energy applied to the energized recording sheet is averaged, and the pixels printed are averaged, resulting in high quality printing. It is something.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, an energization recording apparatus according to an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the main parts of an energization recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, ▪ indicates an energized recording sheet, and the energized recording sheet 1 is composed of an energized N2 which is made of a resistor and generates heat when energized, and an ink layer 3 made of heat-melting ink. Reference numeral 4 denotes a recording head, the tip of which is in contact with the current-carrying layer 2 of the current-carrying sheet 1 . A plurality of recording electrodes 5 arranged in a line are provided at the tip of the recording head 4, and a common electrode 6 is provided at a position separated from the recording electrodes 5 by a predetermined distance. Further, the recording head 4 is configured to be movable in the direction of the arrow in the figure by a moving means (not shown). That is, the recording head 4 has a common electrode 6
recording is performed by moving ahead of the recording electrode 5. A voltage is selectively applied between the recording electrode 5 and the common electrode 6 by a drive circuit 8 according to an image signal. In the current-carrying recording device configured as described above, when a voltage is applied to the recording electrode 5 by the drive circuit 8, a recording current is transferred from the recording electrode 5 to the current-carrying recording sheet 1.
flows through the current-carrying layer 2 to the common electrode 6. At this time, since the current is concentrated near the recording electrode 5, heat is generated in this vicinity, and this heat melts the ink in the ink layer 3 of the current-carrying recording sheet 1 and transfers it to a recording paper (not shown). Thereafter, a desired image is obtained by repeating the above operations while the recording head 4 moves in the direction of the arrow in the figure with respect to the energized recording sheet 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a drive circuit used in the current recording apparatus of this embodiment. The drive circuit 8 includes a transistor 9 connected to each of the recording electrodes 5 for switching the voltage applied to the recording electrode 5, and a drive signal application circuit 10 that supplies a signal to each transistor 9 according to image data. . When an on signal is applied to the transistor 9 from the drive signal application circuit 10, the transistor 9 is turned on, voltage is applied to the recording electrode 5, and pixel printing is performed.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the timing of the energization operation of the recording electrode 5. As shown in FIG. In FIG. 1, (a) to (f) are symbols given to the recording electrodes 5 shown in FIG. 2 in order from the top of the figure. In addition, each recording electrode (
Print data for a) to <n are shown, where black indicates that the corresponding recording electrode 5 prints a black pixel, and white indicates that the corresponding recording electrode 5 does not print a pixel. Furthermore, on the right side of the figure, each recording electrode 5
In the figure, T is the printing cycle for printing one pixel, and the recording electrodes 5 on both sides of the recording electrode 5 that prints one pixel.
Both of these are voltage application pulse widths when printing pixels. Further, in the figure, Tt is the voltage application pulse width when only one of the recording electrodes 5 on both sides of the recording electrode 5 that prints one pixel prints a pixel, and is shorter than T. Further, at this time, the application of the pulse having a width of T2 is delayed by a time T from when applying a pulse having a width of T. Further, the application of the T pulse and the T2 pulse is made to end at the same time. That is, in the example of FIG. 1, the recording electrodes (a) to (f) are sequentially white, black, black, black, black, White data is applied to print black pixels on the recording electrodes (b), (C1, (d), (8)), but at this time, the recording electrodes (C), (d) are In order to print pixels also to the recording electrode, a voltage with a pulse width of T is applied to the recording electrode (b).

In (8), in order to print only on one of the recording electrodes on both sides, a pulse with a width of T2, which is shorter than T, is applied with a time delay of T than a pulse with a width of T. I have to. Also, at this time, recording electrodes (bl,
In (e), pixels at the ends of black pixels that are continuous in the vertical direction are printed, and in such a case, a short pulse is applied with a time delay.

Due to the above operation, conventionally, when pixel printing is performed on only one of the recording electrodes adjacent to the recording electrode 5 that prints one pixel, pixel printing is performed on both adjacent recording electrodes. In contrast, according to the present invention, the current flowing through the recording electrode 5 is larger than when the pixel is printed, and the applied energy is larger, resulting in larger pixels being printed. When pixels are printed on only one of the recording electrodes, the current can be increased by making the voltage pulse width shorter than when printing pixels on both adjacent recording electrodes. It is possible to correct the increase in applied energy and average the printed pixels.

Furthermore, when pixel printing is performed on only one of the recording electrodes adjacent to the recording electrode 5 that performs one pixel printing, compared to when pixel printing is performed on both adjacent recording electrodes. The pixels to be printed are pixels that bulge in the opposite direction to the common electrode, and therefore, at the end of the black pixels that are printed continuously in the vertical direction, there is a large bulge backward with respect to the direction of movement of the recording head 4. However, according to the present invention, when pixel printing is performed on only one of the recording electrodes adjacent to the recording electrode 5 that prints one pixel, the adjacent recording electrode In both cases, the pulse application is delayed in time from when pixel printing is performed, and as a result, the recording head 4 moves during the time when the pulse application is delayed, so that the moved position Since the pulse is applied from the beginning, the printed pixels are printed at positions that advance in the direction of travel, and the shape of the pixels can be corrected without protruding significantly backwards in the direction of travel, as in the past. It is.

In addition, in the above embodiment, since the common electrode 6 is moved in advance of the recording electrode 5, only one of the recording electrodes adjacent to the recording electrode 5 that performs pixel printing When pixel printing is performed, pulse application is started at a later time than when pixel printing is performed on both adjacent recording electrodes, but the recording electrode 5 is placed in advance of the common electrode 6. When the pixel is printed on only one of the adjacent recording electrodes, the pulse application ends earlier than when the pixel is printed on both adjacent recording electrodes. A similar effect can be obtained by doing this.

Furthermore, when pixels are not printed on both of the adjacent recording electrodes for a certain recording electrode 5 that performs pixel printing, the applied pulse width is lower than when pixel printing is performed on both adjacent recording electrodes. By doing so, it is possible to average the pixel size and density even for independent pixels that are not continuous in the vertical direction.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the applied pulse width was always shortened and the pulse application was delayed and started at the ends of vertically continuous black pixels, but when performing black and white binary recording etc., the difference in pixel size and shape is noticeable at the boundary with white pixels, but not in areas where black pixels are continuous. The applied pulse width may be shortened only when the left end of a black pixel is reached, and the application of the pulse may be delayed and started. For example, Fig. 4 is a diagram showing a printing pattern, and the arrow in the figure indicates the direction of movement of the recording head, but only when printing the pixel indicated by 1) in the figure, the applied pulse width is shortened and the pulse It is also possible to start the application with a delay. In this case as well, the same effect can be obtained.

Further, in the above embodiment, an electric current recording apparatus of a type in which an ink layer is transferred to a recording paper is shown, but the electric current recording apparatus of the present invention can also be applied to an electric current color recording type recording apparatus in which the recording sheet itself develops color. It is something.

Effects of the Invention As described above, in the current recording device of the present invention, when pixel printing is performed on only one of the recording electrodes adjacent to a recording electrode that performs pixel printing, both of the adjacent recording electrodes In this case, the applied pulse width is made shorter than when printing pixels, so that the applied energy can be corrected and the printed pixels can be averaged. Further, since there is no need for time-division driving, high-speed printing is possible, and there is no positional deviation of printed pixels due to differences in energization times, and printing with good pixel alignment is possible. in this way,
According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an energization recording device that has good print quality and is capable of high-speed printing.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a timing diagram showing the energizing operation of the recording electrodes of a current-carrying recording device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the main parts of the device, FIG. 3 is a drive circuit diagram of the device, and FIG. The figure is a print pattern diagram of an energized recording device according to another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a main part of a conventional current-carrying recording device, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of pixels printed by the device. ■... Current-carrying recording sheet, 2... Current-carrying layer, 3... Ink layer, 4... Recording head, 5... Recording electrode , 6... common electrode,
8... Drive circuit. Name of agent Patent attorney Toshio Nakao One idiot -
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Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) A plurality of recording electrodes arranged in a row in contact with the current-carrying recording material, a common electrode contacting the current-carrying recording material and arranged at a constant distance from the row of recording electrodes, and a plurality of recording electrodes arranged in a row in contact with the current-carrying recording material; A driving circuit is provided for selectively applying a voltage between the recording electrode and the common electrode according to the recording electrode, and one of the recording electrodes adjacent to a recording electrode that performs pixel printing does not perform pixel printing. An energization recording device characterized in that, in some cases, the voltage application pulse width is made shorter than when both adjacent recording electrodes print pixels. (2) While moving the common electrode and the recording electrode with respect to the energized recording material with the common electrode ahead of the recording electrode, which one of the recording electrodes adjacent to the recording electrode for printing one pixel is moved. It is characterized in that when one of the adjacent recording electrodes does not print pixels, the application of the pulse starts later within one pixel printing cycle than when both adjacent recording electrodes print pixels. An energization recording device according to claim (1). (3) While moving the common electrode and the recording electrode with respect to the energized recording material with the recording electrode ahead of the common electrode, which one of the recording electrodes adjacent to the recording electrode for printing one pixel is moved. When one of the recording electrodes does not print pixels, the application of pulses ends earlier within one pixel printing cycle than when both adjacent recording electrodes print pixels. An energization recording device according to claim (1). (4) When both recording electrodes adjacent to a recording electrode that prints one pixel do not print pixels, the voltage application pulse width is lower than when both adjacent recording electrodes print pixels. The energization recording device according to claim (1), characterized in that the length is shortened.