JPS63214471A - Power conductive printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To economically and properly perform printing by applying and replenishing the ink containing a sublimable dye in an ink tank to an ink ribbon and mounting an ink composition detection means in the tank. CONSTITUTION:Printing is performed in a printing part 30 while ink is applied and replenished to an ink ribbon 20 in an ink coating part 40. Then, by measuring the volume inherent resistivity of the ink in a liquid ink tank 100 by a measuring electrode 180, it is always monitored whether the composition of the ink is proper. As a result, since the ink is applied and replenished to the ink ribbon 20 to be again used, printing can be performed without using a large amount of ink ribbons. When the composition of the ink becomes improper, since the replenishment of the ink to the ink tank 100 is designated by a lamp 190, proper printing can be always performed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an energized printing device that prints while applying and replenishing ink to an ink ribbon.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, this type of current printing device prints an ink ribbon coated with ink containing a sublimable dye, a thermoplastic material, a solvent, etc.
The ink ribbon is run while in contact with a current-carrying head, and the sublimable dye in the ink is sublimated by the heat generated at a predetermined position of the ink ribbon by the current supplied by the current-carrying head, and the ink adheres to the opposing paper, thereby printing. .

As a result of this printing operation, the ink ribbon runs out of ink at the position used for printing. Therefore, in the above type of printing apparatus, the ink ribbon cannot be used multiple times, and there is a problem in that a large amount of ink ribbon is consumed during printing. Therefore, an energized printing device has also been proposed that prints while applying and replenishing ink to the ink ribbon.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, if ink is simply applied to the ink ribbon that has been printed, the thickness of the ink on the ink ribbon will be different and clear printing will not be possible.

In addition, if the ink is once collected from the area where printing has been completed and then reapplied, the ink that remains on the ink ribbon used for printing will have almost no sublimable dye or solvent remaining. However, some thermoplastic material remains, so as we repeatedly collect the ink,
The proportion of sublimable dye and solvent in the ink in the liquid ink gradually increases.

It continues to decline. When this happens, the ink spreads poorly because there is not enough solvent, and the ink ribbon G.

If the ink cannot be applied properly to the surface,

As the proportion of sublimable dye decreases, it becomes impossible to form a clear E-shape.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention aims to solve the above problems, and employs the following configuration.

That is, the gist of the present invention is to run an ink ribbon coated with ink containing sublimable feed while contacting an i-electric head, and to utilize heat generated by the current supplied to the i-electric head σ to ink the ink. The ink containing the sublimable dye in the ink tank is applied to the ink ribbon after printing is performed by transferring the sublimable dye of citrus to the paper 1 facing the ink ribbon. The current printing apparatus is characterized by comprising an ink cartridge composition detection means for detecting the composition of the ink in the ink tank.

[Function] r In the present invention, after the ink ribbon is used for printing, the ink in the ink tank is applied to the ink ribbon: 5. Since it is re-applied and used again, it is possible to print without using a large amount of ink. In addition, since the ink composition detection means detects the content of sublimable dyes, solvents, etc. contained in the ink in the ink tank, the ink composition of the ink applied and replenished to the ribbon, for example, the content of sublimable dye It can be easily checked whether the content of solvent, etc. is in the most consistent condition.

l [Example code] ) An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the energized printing device of this embodiment.

1 This energized printing device can be roughly divided into 10 sheets of paper.
a printing unit 30 that performs printing using the ink ribbon 20; and an ink application unit 4 that applies and replenishes ink to the ink ribbon 20.
It consists of 0.

First, the printing section 30 will be explained. The printing unit 30 includes an endless belt-shaped ink ribbon 20 supported and driven by guide rollers 50, 52, 54, a guide roller 66.5, a line-type energizing head 60,
It includes a resistor ribbon 80 supported and driven by the return electrode roller 70 and a platen 90 that supports and drives the paper 10.

This printing section 30 will be further explained using the partially enlarged configuration diagram of FIG. 2.

The ink ribbon 20 has an ink 20b containing a sublimable dye applied on a base material 2Oa made of a heat-resistant film such as polyester or polycarbonate in an ink coating 8T540 described later.

The resistor ribbon 80 includes a resistor layer 80a that is in contact with the ink ribbon 20 and generates heat by the current supplied from the current-carrying head 60;
A conductive layer 8 that guides the supplied current to the return electrode roller 70
It consists of 0b.

The ink ribbon 20 and the resistor ribbon 80 are overlapped by guide rollers 54a and 56a, and are pressed against a platen 90 by a line-type energizing head 60 via the paper 10 in an overlapping state.

Then, when the current supply head 60 is energized from the power source P, the supplied current flows through the resistor ribbon 80 as indicated by the arrow in the figure.
The A position of the resistive layer 80a is made to generate heat, and then the conductive layer F18
It is collected by the return electrode roller 70 via 0b. The heat generated at the A position of the resistor ribbon 80 heats the ink ribbon 20 overlapped with the resistor ribbon 80, and the sublimable dye in the ink 2Ob sublimates and adheres to the paper 10, thereby printing is performed. .

Next, the ink application section 40 will be explained.

As shown in FIG. 1, the ink applying section 40 includes a liquid ink tank 100 in which a sublimable dye is held, an ink tank roller 110 that pumps up the ink by rotating within the liquid ink tank 100, and an ink tank roller 110 that pumps up the ink by rotating within the liquid ink tank 100. A coater brush roller 120 coats the ink ribbon 20, a doctor blade 130 smooths the ink coated on the ink ribbon 20 to a thickness of 8 to 5 μm, and smooths the ink remaining on the used ink ribbon 20 to a thickness of 80 to 100 μm. A melting heater 140 that heats and melts the ink on the melted ink ribbon 20 to a temperature of 50°C, a wiper blade 150 that scrapes off the melted ink on the ink ribbon 20 into the liquid ink tank 100, and a heater that maintains and heats the ink in the liquid ink tank 100 at 50 to 70°C. An ink tank heater 160 that softens the ink, and a cooling roller 1 that cools and solidifies the ink on the ink ribbon 20 smoothed by the doctor blade 130.
70, a pair of measurement electrodes 180 provided in the liquid ink tank 100 and measuring the resistance of the ink. Note that, as described above, the ink is applied to the ink ribbon 20 in a heated state. This applied ink is transferred to the cooling roller 170
By cooling the ink, the ink is sufficiently cooled and solidified on the ink ribbon 20, and this ink is prevented from adhering to the roller 54 and the paper 10 and staining them. Further, the surface of the cooling roller 1700 is treated with Teflon or the like to prevent ink from adhering to it, so that it will not become stained with ink. Furthermore, if necessary, the cooling roller 170 may be cooled with cooling water or the like. Further, the output of the measurement electrode 180 is connected to an ink replenishment instruction lamp 190, and the ink replenishment instruction lamp 190 is configured to light up when the resistance value of the ink exceeds a predetermined value. There is. Note that other processing may be performed using the output of the measurement electrode 180.

The ink used in this example is composed of a sublimable dye, a thermoplastic material, and a solvent. Sublimable dyes are dyes that sublimate with a small amount of heat, and commonly known substances called crystal violet, Sudan blue, and Alcian blue are used. The thermoplastic material holds the sublimable dye on the ink ribbon 20 or the paper 10, and carbana wax, paraffin wax, etc., which have high adhesive strength and a relatively low melting point, are used.

The solvent is used to impart appropriate softness to the ink, and ethylene glycol or the like is used. Although the content of the sublimable dye contained in this ink is not particularly specified, the clearest printing can be achieved when the ink contains about 20 to 50% by weight of the sublimable dye when coated on the ink ribbon 20.

By the way, in this embodiment, the ink ribbon 20 is locally heated by the resistor ribbon 80, and the sublimable dye in the ink in the heated portion sublimates and adheres to the paper 10 together with some thermoplastic material. Perform printing. Therefore, as stated in the [Problems to be Solved by the Invention] section, the composition of the ink remaining on the ink ribbon 20 used for printing is not the same as when it was applied, and the composition of the ink used for printing is not the same as when it was applied. There is almost no sublimable dye or solvent left in the area, but some thermoplastic material remains, so as the ink application section 40 repeats ink application and collection, the liquid ink is removed. The proportion of sublimable dye and solvent in the ink in tank 100 gradually decreases. In this case, the spread of the ink deteriorates due to too little solvent, making it difficult to apply the ink to the ink ribbon well in the ink application section 40, and the proportion of sublimable dye decreases, resulting in a decrease in the printing area. 30, clear printing becomes impossible.

In this embodiment, such deterioration of the ink composition is detected by measuring the specific volume resistivity of the ink using the measurement electrode 180. For example, the composition of the ink initially replenished into the liquid ink tank 100 is: solvent: 40 to 60% by weight, thermoplastic resin: 20 to 30% by weight, heat sublimable dye: 20 to 3% by weight.
0% by weight, ink viscosity 20-300 Pa*s,
Its volume resistivity is 108 to 101 eΩ·m.

On the other hand, when the printing becomes unclear and the ink in the liquid ink tank 100 needs to be replaced, the composition of the ink is 20% solvent.
~40% by weight, thermoplastic resin: 30~60% by weight, heat sublimable dye 20 l10, viscosity 500~2000 Pa-s, and volume resistivity 1011~1014 Ω·m.

Therefore, the measurement electrode 180 determines that the volume resistivity of the ink in the ink tank 100 is a predetermined value, for example, 10 12 Ω·m.
When it is detected that the ink composition exceeds this value, it can be detected that the ink composition is in an unfavorable state due to a decrease in the solvent and sublimable dye. The reason why the ink composition can be detected from the specific volume resistivity of the ink is that the specific volume resistivity of the solvent in the ink is small, so when the solvent content decreases, the specific volume resistivity of the entire ink increases, and vice versa. This is because thermoplastic materials have a large specific volume resistivity, so as the content of the thermoplastic material increases, the specific volume resistivity of the entire ink increases.

As described above, in the energized printing device of this embodiment, the printing unit 30 performs printing while the ink coating unit 40 applies and replenishes ink to the ink ribbon 20.

By measuring the specific volume resistivity of the ink in the liquid ink tank 100 with the measurement electrode 180, it is constantly monitored whether the composition of the ink is appropriate.

As a result, in this embodiment, since the ink ribbon 20 is re-applied with ink and used again, printing can be performed without using a large amount of ink ribbon.

Also, based on the specific volume resistivity of the ink in the liquid ink tank 100, it is constantly monitored to see if the ink composition is appropriate, such as the sublimable dye content and solvent content, and if the ink composition is inappropriate. Then, the lamp 190 instructs to replenish ink to the ink tank 100, so that proper printing can be performed at all times. or,
Constant monitoring of ink composition eliminates the waste of early ink replenishment and ink ribbon replacement to ensure sharp prints, as is done with conventional printers.

In this embodiment, the ink composition in the ink tank 100 is detected from the specific volume resistivity of the ink, but in another embodiment, the ink may be passed through a gap between a light-emitting element and a light-receiving element that face each other. The ink composition, such as the sublimable dye content, may be detected from the light absorption rate at predetermined intervals. Alternatively, the ink composition may be detected from the viscosity of the ink.

Furthermore, if an ink ribbon in which a resistor layer is integrally provided on the ink ribbon is used instead of the ink ribbon 20 and the resistor ribbon 80, the melting heater 140 can be eliminated.
The used ink may be dissolved by electrodes on the ink ribbon.

Note that the present invention is not limited to this, and includes various embodiments without departing from the gist thereof.

[Effects of the Invention] In the present invention, since printing is performed while applying and replenishing ink to an ink ribbon, there is no need to use a large amount of ink ribbon during printing, and it is only necessary to replenish ink at appropriate times. Therefore, printing can be performed more economically.

In addition, since the ink composition detection means detects whether the ink composition in the ink tank is appropriate, the ink composition, that is, the amount of sublimable dye and solvent in the ink, can be optimized to ensure proper printing at all times. can be done.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged block diagram thereof.

Claims (1)

[Claims] An ink ribbon coated with ink containing a sublimable dye,
The ink ribbon is run while in contact with the current-carrying head, and the sublimable dye in the ink is transferred to the paper facing the ink ribbon using the heat generated by the current supplied by the current-carrying head to print. An energization printing device configured to apply and replenish the ink ribbon with ink containing a sublimable dye, the energization printing device comprising an ink composition detection means for detecting the composition of the ink in the ink tank. Device.