JPS63236656A - Recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a solid ink to be used and to enable a high-speed and stable recording without the occurrence of ink-clogging, by a method wherein a liquefied ink prepared by heating and melting an ink which is solid at a room temperature is held in a recording belt having a plurality of recessed parts or through holes. CONSTITUTION:In recording, an ink 5 is previously supplied with heat from a heater 8 to be liquefied. A recording belt 2 moves in a direction of arrows in a figure between rollers 3, 4 while being in contact with a recording head 1 as a motor provided on the roller 3 rotates. On the other hand, the roller 4 is dipped in an ink pan 6 so that the liquefied ink can be supplied to recessed parts or through holes of the recording belt 2. At this time, the liquefied ink is normally held in the recessed parts or through holes of the recording belt 2 in recessed form due to its surface tension and, thus, there is little possibility that the ink is applied to the surface of the belt and stains it. However, the surface of the belt may be cleaned in such a manner as that a roller 7 etc. is so disposed as to abut on the recording belt 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a recording device, and more particularly, to a recording device that holds liquefied ink obtained by liquefying solid ink on a recording belt having a plurality of recesses or through holes, and The present invention relates to a recording device that performs recording by ejecting heat from the recess or through hole using thermal energy.

[Conventional technology]

2. Description of the Related Art Various recording devices that utilize thermal energy have been known. One of them is an inkjet recording device that performs recording by ejecting ink. Conventionally, in this type of device, ink held in a nozzle having an opening is heated and foamed by a heating element built into the nozzle, and the energy from this foaming is used to eject the ink from the nozzle opening, causing it to fly. Generally, the flying ink is attached to a recording material such as paper to perform recording.

However, in this type of device, due to its configuration, the nozzle is prone to become clogged with dirt, dust, air bubbles, etc. in the air, and therefore a recovery means is required to recover from such nozzle blockage, making the device configuration complicated. There was a drawback that it became a thing. Furthermore, the adhesion of such dust may make the ink ejection direction unstable, leading to deterioration in printing quality such as deterioration in image quality. Furthermore, since ink is ejected, liquid ink is generally used, and solid ink is not known.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and solves the problems of conventional recording devices associated with ink ejection from nozzles as described above, and facilitates high-speed recording without causing clogging. Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide a recording device with a simple configuration that can perform stable recording over a long period of time and also allows the use of solid ink.

[Means for solving problems]

The above objects of the present invention are achieved by the present invention as follows.

An ink supply member that holds ink that is solid at room temperature and has heating means for liquefying the solid ink, a recording belt that has a plurality of recesses or through holes for holding the liquefied ink, and the belt. 1. A printing apparatus comprising at least a printing head having a heating element that generates thermal energy for ejecting the liquefied ink held in the liquefied ink.

[Effect]

The recording device of the present invention basically holds liquefied ink obtained by heating and melting solid ink at room temperature on a recording belt having a plurality of recesses or through holes, and the liquefied ink held on this recording belt. Recording is performed by supplying heat to eject the liquefied ink from the recesses or through holes and making the ejected ink adhere to the recording material. It is possible to perform high-speed and stable recording over a long period of time without clogging.

In the present invention, recording can be performed using an ink that is solid at room temperature, for example, a solid ink constituting a thermal transfer layer of a thermal transfer material used in a conventionally known thermal transfer recording device.

Examples of solid inks that are solid at room temperature and liquefy when heated include those made by dispersing colorants such as various dyes or pigments in a heat-melting binder such as a waxy substance or a thermoplastic resin. It is listed as a typical example. Specific examples of the waxy substances constituting such solid ink include beeswax, mineral oil, vegetable oil, galvanic wax, hydrogenated castor oil wax, higher fats or their metal salts, and thermoplastic resins. Examples include polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl formal, polyvinyl alcohol, and the like. The solid ink is preferably one that liquefies when heated to a temperature of about 50 to 90°C.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be described in detail below based on the drawings.

First, FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration diagram of an example of the apparatus of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, the reference numeral 6 indicates an ink reservoir serving as an ink supply member that holds the solid ink as described above, and 8 indicates a heating means for liquefying the solid ink held in the ink reservoir 6. It is a heater. ink 5
is not particularly liquefied during non-recording, and may be held in a solid state, but during recording, it is necessary to supply heat with the heater 8 to liquefy it. 2 is a recording belt having a plurality of recesses or through holes for holding the liquefied ink, and 1 is a recording head having a heating element that supplies heat to eject the liquefied ink held in the recesses or through holes. It is. The recording head 1 is preferably provided in contact with the recording belt 2 as shown.

Here, the recording belt 2 is stretched between rollers 3 and 4 made of various metals or hard rubber, which serve as belt conveyance means for moving the belt 2. As it rotates, it moves between rollers 3 and 4 in the direction of the arrow in the figure while contacting the recording head 1. On the other hand, the roller 4 is immersed in an ink reservoir 6 as an ink supply member, and when the recording belt 2 passed over the roller 4 passes through the ink reservoir 6, the liquefied ink is filled into the recesses or through holes of the recording belt 2. is being supplied. At this time, the liquefied ink is normally held in a concave shape in the recess or through hole of the recording belt 2 due to its surface tension, and it hardly adheres to the belt surface and stains it. The surface of the belt may be cleaned by placing the belt in contact with the belt. In addition, unused liquefied ink that has not been ejected is retained on the recording belt 2 even after passing through the front surface of the recording drum 1, and this liquefied ink may solidify before reaching the ink reservoir 6. This solidified ink is liquefied when the recording belt 2 passes through the ink reservoir 6, and does not interfere with ink replenishment and recording.

In this way, the recording belt 2 that has completed ink replenishment is always conveyed to the front of the recording pad 1. In other words, the recording belt 2 whose recesses or through holes are filled with liquefied ink is always present in the front of the recording pad 1. As a result, high-speed recording can be achieved. Furthermore, since the recording belt 2 is immersed in the ink reservoir 6 to replenish ink, even if dirt or the like adheres to it, it can be easily removed and no clogging occurs.

Recording is carried out by causing a heating element of a recording head 1 to generate heat, and by utilizing the foaming of the liquefied ink due to the heat generation or the expansion of air in the recesses or through holes, the liquefied ink is ejected from the recording belt 2. After the liquefied ink discharged from the recording material 50 adheres to the recording material 50, it is cooled, solidified, and fixed on the recording material 50 to form a recorded image.

10 is a roller serving as a means for conveying the recording material 5G. It is preferable that the recording material 50 is moved at the same speed as the recording belt 2, and it is also preferable that the recording material 50 is conveyed in close contact with the roller 10, and 9a and 9b are guide rollers for bringing the recording material 50 into close contact with the roller 10, respectively. It is. The recording material 50 may be brought into close contact with the surface of the roller 10 by providing an opening in the surface of the roller 10 and sucking air from inside.

Although not specifically explained above, the recording belt 2 does not necessarily have to be endless; for example, both the rollers 3 and 4 may be wind-up rollers, and an ink reservoir may be formed between the rollers. It is also possible to perform ink replenishment by arranging the ink cartridge 6. Furthermore, various scanning methods such as serial scanning or full line scanning can be adopted as the scanning method of the recording head 1.

Next, the present invention will be further explained by showing an example of the detailed configuration of the apparatus of the present invention as described above.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an example of the endless belt-shaped recording belt 2 as illustrated in FIG. 1, and the recording belt 2 is configured to have many recesses or through holes 11 as shown. . A desired number of such through holes 11 or recesses may be provided depending on the recording density, for example, 40.
If the recording density is around 0 DPI (dots per inch), it will be every 83.5g, and if it is 300 DPI, it will be 84.
Every 7μs, 105.8 Jla at 240 DPI
It is preferable to provide the above-mentioned through holes 11 or recesses for each degree.
The appropriate thickness of the recording belt 2 is about 50 to 100 mm. The through holes 11 or the recesses may be formed by etching, vapor deposition, or the like.

Although the material of the recording belt 2 is not particularly limited, it is preferable that the recording belt 2 is constructed so that the surface energy on the side of the recording material 50 is larger than that on the side of the recording head l. This is a sectional view of an example of the recording belt 2. As shown in the figure, the recording belt 2 has a two-layer structure, and the recording material side 18 is made of Teflon resin, silicone resin, etc.
The recording head side 17 is made of a material with a high surface energy such as a polyimide resin or a polyamide resin, and the recording head side 17 is made of a material with a smaller surface energy, such as a metal such as stainless steel or nickel, or a mesh-like mesh of such metal wires. It is said to be something like that.

The recording belt 2 can also have a single-layer structure, and in this case, if a material with low surface energy is used as the belt material, a coating film of the above-mentioned Teflon resin or the like is formed on the recording material side 16. The surface energy of the recording material side 1B is increased, and when a material with high surface energy is used, the surface energy of the recording material side 18 is increased by providing a coating film of metal such as stainless steel on the recording head side 17. Of course, there is nothing wrong with having three or more layers.

The size of the through hole 18 provided in the recording belt 2 is 20 mm to 1 mm.
Approximately 00 μs is appropriate.

As described above, in the recording belt 2 in which the surface energy of the recording material side 16 is made larger than that of the recording head side 17, the liquefied ink 19 in the through hole 18 can be easily held in the concave shape by its surface tension. Therefore, the liquefied ink can be smoothly ejected from the through holes 18 without excess ink adhering to the surface of the recording belt. In addition, the liquefied ink is easily replenished from the recording head side 17 where the surface energy is small, and the liquefied ink does not recede as much as it does on the recording material side 18 on this recording head side 17. The liquefied ink is effectively foamed by direct contact with the liquefied ink.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an example of the recording head 1 as illustrated in FIG. The shape of the recording head may be any desired depending on the scanning method, such as serial or full line, and the number of heating elements 12 may be arranged as desired. It is preferable that this heating element 12 is provided corresponding to each of the recesses or through holes of the recording belt.
Two heating elements 12 may be provided so as to correspond to each other.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the internal structure of the recording head 1, in which a heat-insulating and electrically insulating layer 1 made of 5402 or the like is placed on a substrate 15 (preferably one with good thermal conductivity).
4, a heating element 1 made of Hf82 or the like is placed on top of this.
2, and a protective layer 13 made of tantalum or the like is further provided thereon to protect the heating element 12 from ink. Such a recording head may be produced by appropriately applying various known techniques for producing a thermal head or a recording head for thermal transfer.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, high-speed recording is easy without clogging, stable and high-quality recording can be performed over a long period of time, and solid ink can also be used. It has become possible to provide a recording device with a simple configuration.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating an example of the apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an example of a recording belt related to the apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an example of a recording head related to the apparatus of the present invention. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the recording head in FIG. 3, and FIG.
This figure is a schematic cross-sectional view of the recording belt shown in FIG. 2. 1... Recording head 2... Recording belt 3.4
．． 10...Roller 5...Ink 6...Ink reservoir 8...
Heater 9a, 9b...Guide roller 50
...Recording material Figure 1 Figure 2

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) An ink supply member that holds ink that is solid at room temperature and has heating means for liquefying the solid ink, and a recording belt that has a plurality of recesses or through holes for holding the liquefied ink. 1. A recording apparatus comprising at least a recording head having a heating element that generates thermal energy for ejecting the liquefied ink held on the belt. (2) The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the surface energy of the recording belt is larger on the recording material side than on the recording head side.