JPS6353058A - Recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To miniaturize the title apparatus, to stably feed a transfer recoding medium and to obtain a high grade image, in an apparatus using the transfer medium of which the transfer characteristic changes by imparting plural kinds of energies, by mounting the means of feeding the transfer recording medium to a transfer part. CONSTITUTION:A transfer roller 4a is connected to a feed motor 14d through gears 14b, 14c to feed a transfer recording medium 1 in the direction shown by an arrow (a). The feed motor 14d is connected to a take-up roll 6 through a timing belt 14e and a slip clutch 15 and the driving force of the feed motor 15d is transmitted to a take-up roll 6. The take-up speed of the transfer recording medium 1 by the take-up roll 6 is slightly faster than the delivery speed of the medium 1 by the transfer roller 4a and, when this speed difference is absorbed by a slip clutch 15, tension is applied to the transfer recording medium 1. By this constituion, the transfer recording medium is fed at a high speed to make it possible to perform recording imparting high image quality.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Field of Industrial Application> The present invention relates to a recording device that can be used in printers, copying machines, facsimile machines, and the like.

<Prior Art> In recent years, with the rapid development of the information processing industry, various information processing systems have been developed, and i3 devices suitable for each information processing system have been developed.

One of the above-mentioned recording devices is a thermal transfer recording device. Is this the heat generated by dispersing the colorant in the thermofusible binder? Recording is performed on recording paper using an ink ribbon made by coating a ribbon-shaped support with 8-fusible ink.

That is, the ink ribbons are stacked so that their heat-melting ink layers are in contact with the recording paper, and the ink ribbon and the recording paper are conveyed between the thermal head and the platen, and the ink ribbon is transferred from the support side of the ink ribbon to the thermal head. By applying pulse-like heat according to the image signal and pressing the two together and transferring the molten ink to the recording paper, an ink image corresponding to the application is recorded on the recording paper. be.

Above! 3 has been widely used in recent years because the device used is small and lightweight, makes no noise, and can record on plain paper.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> However, conventional thermal transfer recording devices are not without problems.

The reason is that in conventional thermal transfer recording devices, the transfer recording performance, that is, the image quality, is largely determined by the surface smoothness of the recording paper.
Although good image recording can be performed on recording paper with high smoothness, there is a risk that the quality of image recording will deteriorate when recording paper with low smoothness is used.

Furthermore, when attempting to obtain a multicolor image with a conventional thermal transfer recording device, it is necessary to repeat transfer to overlap the colors. For this purpose, it is necessary to provide multiple thermal heads or to make complicated movements such as stopping and reversing the recording paper, which not only makes color misalignment unavoidable, but also makes the entire device large and complicated. There is a problem with this.

<Means for solving the problem> Therefore, the applicant used a photothermally sensitive polymer material, and when thermal energy and light energy were applied, the reaction of the polymer rapidly progressed and the transfer characteristics were irreversible. changed,
Patent application filed in 1986 for the purpose of creating a recording device that forms an image based on the difference in characteristics according to the image signal and transfers it to a recording medium.
0-150597).

According to this recording method, it is possible to record high-quality images even on recording media with low surface smoothness, and when applied to multicolor recording, it is possible to record images with complex movements on the recording medium. It is possible to obtain multicolor images without any color distortion.

The present invention further develops the recording device, and includes:
It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording device that can convey a transfer recording medium with high precision and perform high-quality recording.

Means for this purpose is an apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium using a transfer recording medium having a transfer recording layer whose transfer characteristics change by applying a plurality of types of energy, the apparatus comprising: a recording unit provided along a conveyance path and having an application means for applying the plurality of types of energy to a transfer recording medium; and a recording unit for transferring an image formed on the transfer recording medium to a recording medium in the recording unit. A transfer unit is provided, and the transfer unit is provided with a means for transporting the transfer recording medium.

Effect> According to the above means, the transfer recording medium and the recording medium can be transferred! When the transfer recording medium is set in position A and recording is started, the transfer recording medium is sequentially fed out by the conveying means of the transfer section, and multiple types of energy are applied to the transfer recording medium in the recording section to form an image, and a cough image is created. The image is transferred to the recording medium in the transfer section.

<Example> Next, an embodiment of the present invention to which the above means is applied will be described.

In this embodiment, a case will be described in which thermal energy and optical energy are used as the plurality of types of energy applied to the transfer recording medium.

1st! a(A) is a schematic cross-sectional explanatory view of the recording apparatus, and FIG. 1(B) is a perspective explanatory view.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a long sheet-like transfer recording medium, which is wound into a roll and is removably incorporated into the apparatus main body M as a supply roll 2.

That is, this supply roll 2 is removably loaded onto a rotatable shaft 2a provided in the main body M of the apparatus.

Therefore, first, the leading edge of this transfer recording medium 1 is transferred to the supply roll 2.
It passes through the guide roller 12a, the recording head 3a, and the guide roller 12b, and is changed direction from between the transfer roller 4a and the pressure roller 4b by the peeling roller 5 and the guide roller 12c to reach the winding roll 6, and the tip thereof is wound. Take roll 6
It is engaged by means such as a gripper (not shown).

After that, the transfer roller 4a and the winding roll 6 are operated.
By driving and rotating the transfer recording medium 1 by the means, the transfer recording medium 1 is drawn out in the direction of the arrow a, and is sequentially wound around the circumferential surface of the winding roll 6.

Note that during the winding, a constant back tension is applied to the supply roll 2 by, for example, a hysteresis brake (not shown), and this tension and the guide rollers 12a and 12b cause the transfer recording medium 1 to move toward the recording head. It is configured to be conveyed with a constant pressure and at a constant angle with respect to 3a.

Next, the configurations of each of the above-mentioned parts will be individually explained.

First, the transfer recording medium 1 is made of a transfer recording layer 1 having the property of forming an image when both thermal energy and light energy are applied onto a sheet-like support la (as shown in FIG. 2).
It is made by attaching b.

To explain an example thereof, as shown in FIG. 2, the transfer recording layer 1b uses the components shown in Tables 1 and 2 as cores Xc and ld, and microcapsule-shaped image forming elements are formed by the following method. It forms.

In other words, the ingredients Log shown in Tables 1 and 2 are first mixed with 20 parts by weight of methylene chloride, and then a surfactant with an HLB value of at least 10, such as a cation or nonion, and gelatin Ig are mixed. Mix with dissolved water 200I117, 60
8,000-10. O
Stir at OO rpm to emulsify and obtain oil droplets with an average particle size of 26 μm.

Stirring was continued at 60° C. for 30 minutes, and methylene chloride was distilled off to give an average particle size of 10 pm. Add 20 flt of water in which 1 g of gum arabic was dissolved, cool slowly, and then add NH4OH (ammonia) water.
) Iiii or above to obtain a microcapsule slurry, and a glutaraldehyde 20% aqueous solution 1.0a/
to harden the capsule wall.

After that, solid-liquid separation was performed using a Nunoche filter, and the
C. for 10 hours to obtain a microcapsule-shaped image forming element.

This image forming element has cores lc and l shown in Tables 1 and 2.
d is a microcapsule coated with shell 1e, which is formed to have a particle size of 7 to 15 μm and an average particle size of 10 μs.

The image forming element formed as described above is adhered onto a support la made of polyethylene terephthalate having a thickness of 6 μm using an adhesive 1f to form a transfer recording medium 1.

To explain in more detail, first, the adhesive 1f is a z'tll type epoxy adhesive from Kaspo N.N.
was used. Then, a solution obtained by mixing the above Evolution EAI and EBI at a ratio of 1:1 was diluted twice with water, applied on a polyethylene terephthalate film, and dried to obtain an adhesive layer. This adhesive layer remains sticky even after drying, and the thickness of the adhesive layer when cured separately is approximately 0.3 μm.
Met. Next, on the adhesive surface, a microcapsule-shaped image forming element having core material shown in Tables 1 and 2 obtained above was mixed at a ratio of 1.1. I sprinkled it on and glued it. After that, when one extra image forming element is brushed off, the image forming element becomes approximately one layer and 90
% was placed on the attached 1ffi.

The material obtained as described above was left in an environment of 100° C. for about 2 hours to harden the adhesive 1r, thereby forming a transfer recording medium 1 as shown in FIG. 2.

The photoinitiator in the image forming element shown in Table 1 has the light absorption characteristics shown in FIG. The photoinitiator in the image-forming element shown in Table 2 absorbs light in the band shown in graph B in FIG. 3 and starts a reaction, resulting in a blue color during image formation.

Next, the recording section 3 will be explained. The recording section 3 is composed of heating means and light irradiation means.

The heating means is composed of a line-type heating element row 3b arranged on the surface of the recording head 3a, which is 0.2 m wide, 8 dots/1 m, A-4 size, and generates heat according to the image signal, as described above. The support la side of the transfer recording medium l is configured to be pressed against the heating element array 3b with a predetermined pressure due to bank tension during conveyance. Note that the image number δ may be used as a control unit (not shown) of, for example, a facsimile, an image scanner, or an electronic blackboard, depending on the purpose.
emanates from.

On the other hand, on the transfer recording layer 1b side facing the recording head 3a, two fluorescent lamps 3c and 3d, which are 2OW type light irradiation means having spectral characteristics as shown in Part 4, are installed on the transfer recording medium 1.
They are placed approximately 25 dragons apart.

Furthermore, a fluorescent lamp 3c is provided only in the area directly above the heating element row of the transfer recording medium 1 that is in pressure contact with the recording head 3a.

A temporary slit 7) is provided at a distance of about 0.5 cm from the transfer recording medium 1 so that the direct light of 3d is irradiated thereon, and the opening width is 1.2 In.

In this example, one of the fluorescent lamps 3C having the spectral characteristics shown in graph A of FIG.
A 0W health line fluorescent lamp FL205E is used, and as the other fluorescent lamp 3d having the spectral characteristics shown in graph B, a 20W fluorescent lamp FL10A70E39 manufactured by Toshiba is used.

Next, the transfer section 4 will be explained. The transfer section 4 is disposed downstream of the recording section 3 in the conveyance direction of the transfer recording medium 1, and includes a transfer roller 4a that is driven to rotate in the direction of the arrow as shown in FIG. and a pressure roller 4b. The transfer roller 4a is composed of an aluminum roller whose surface is coated with silicone rubber with a thickness of 1 m and a hardness of 70 degrees, and a built-in 800W
The surface is maintained at a temperature of 90 to 100°C by a halogen heater 4c.

The pressure roller 4b is made of an aluminum roller coated with a 1tl thick silicone rubber having a hardness of 70 degrees, and the pressure roller 4b has a pressing force of 6 to 7 kgf/cm with the transfer roller 4a by a pressure means (not shown) such as a spring. It is set.

Further, the transfer roller 4a is provided with a conveying means 14 for the transfer recording medium 1. To explain the configuration of this conveyance means 14 in detail, as shown in FIG. 1 (II), a gear 14b is fixed to the transfer roller 4a, a conveyance motor 14d is connected to a gear 14c meshed with the gear 14b, The transfer roller 4a is rotated in the direction of the arrow by the driving rotation of the motor 14d, and the transfer recording medium 1 is conveyed in the direction of the arrow a.

Further, the conveyance motor 14d has a timing belt 14e.
and is connected to the take-up roll 6 via a slip clutch 15 attached to the take-up roll shaft 6a,
The driving force of the transport motor 14d is transmitted to the take-up roll 6.

Therefore, when the motor 14d is driven to convey the transfer recording medium 1 in the direction of the arrow a, the transferred recording medium 1 is fed out.
is wound up on a winding roll 6.

In this case, the speed at which the take-up roll 6 winds up the transfer recording medium 1 is set to be slightly faster than the speed at which the transfer roller 4a unwinds the medium 1, and the difference in speed is absorbed by the slip clutch 15. Transfer recording medium
Tennoyon is now applied.

Furthermore, recording paper 8 as a recording medium loaded in the cassette 7
is the feed roller 9. The register roller pair 10a and lob are configured to feed the transfer recording medium 1 to the transfer unit 4 in synchronization so as to overlap the image area of the transfer recording medium 1. A one-way clutch (not shown) is provided at the shaft end of the register roller 10a so that it can rotate freely in the conveyance direction of the recording paper 8.

Therefore, the recording paper 8 is transferred to the transfer roller 4a together with the transfer recording medium 1.
The register rollers 10a are designed to freely rotate when being transported.

Next, regarding the effect when recording is performed using the recording device configured as described above, heat is applied in accordance with the image signal,
The explanation will be based on the case where light is applied uniformly.

As shown in FIG. 1A, when a recording start signal is applied with the transfer recording medium 1 and the recording paper 8 set, the conveyance motor 14d is driven and the transfer roller 4a and the take-up roller 6 are rotated. As a result, the transfer recording medium 1 is sequentially fed out from the supply roll 2 9, and immediately after the start of conveyance of the transfer recording medium 1, the recording section 3 operates to emit light onto the transfer recording layer 1b of the transfer recording medium l being fed out. Heat is applied in response to both signals.

The transfer recording layer 1b has a property that when light and heat of a predetermined wavelength are applied, the softening point temperature increases, that is, the transfer characteristics change irreversibly and it becomes impossible to transfer to the recording paper 8. 5
As shown in the timing chart in the figure, when recording magenta color, the heating element corresponding to magenta in image A 3 of the heating element row 3b is not energized, and the image signal is white and the recording paper 8 is white). Apply 25 times electricity to the part to be
The fluorescent lamp 3c is uniformly irradiated with a delay of 5IIls. The irradiation time at this time is 45 episodes.

Next, when recording blue color, 50 m after the end of the irradiation, that is, 100 ms after the energization time, the heating elements corresponding to the blue color of the image signal in the heating element array 3b are not energized by 1ffi and the image is 251 in the part corresponding to white of the signal
113 is energized, and after SMS, the fluorescent lamp 3d is uniformly irradiated. The irradiation time at this time was also 45 m5 as described above.

In the manner described above, a negative image is formed on the transfer recording layer 1b by controlling the recording head 3a according to the blue, magenta, and white image signals, and transfer recording is performed synchronously at a repeating cycle of 200m5/1ine. Transport medium I. Furthermore, in the transfer section 4,
By pressing the transfer recording layer 1b on which the image has been formed onto the recording paper 8 and heating it, a two-color transfer image of blue and magenta can be transferred onto the recording paper 8. Thereafter, the transfer recording medium 1 and the recording paper 8 are separated by the peeling roller 5, and the recording paper 8 on which the image of the desired color has been recorded is discharged to the pair of rollers 13a.

13b to the discharge tray 11.

Also, the transfer recording medium 1 is peeled off from the recording paper 8 by the peeling roller 5.
is wound up on a winding roll 6. At this time, since driving force is transmitted to the take-up roll 6 via the slip clutch 15, the transfer recording medium 1 is sequentially and stably wound while applying tension to the transfer recording medium l using the set torque value of the clutch 15.

As described above, two-color recording is completed in one shore.

<Other 5 Can Examples> In the above embodiment, in the recording section 3, light of a predetermined wavelength corresponding to a desired color is uniformly irradiated from the transfer recording layer 1b side of the transfer recording medium 1, and the support is Although the configuration is such that heat is applied from the body 13 side in accordance with the image signal, another embodiment may be configured in which heat is applied uniformly and a predetermined light is irradiated in accordance with the image signal.

Furthermore, if the support 1a is made of a translucent material, the support 1a can be made of a transparent material.
A configuration may be adopted in which light is irradiated from the a side and heat is applied from the transfer recording layer 1b side.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, light irradiation and heat application were performed with the support 1a in between, but image formation is also possible by performing both light irradiation and heat application from one side of the support 1a. .

Further, as the heating means, in addition to the method using the recording head 3a described above, a method of selectively heating using a YAG laser and a polygon mirror, etc. may be used.

Further, as the light irradiation means, the above-mentioned fluorescent lamp 3C is used.

In addition to the method using 3D, for example, a method using an LED array, a method using a xenon lamp and a filter matching the light absorption characteristics of the material, etc. can be used.

Incidentally, in the above embodiment, optical energy and thermal energy were applied to the transfer recording layer 1b at the same time, but even if the optical energy and thermal energy are applied separately, both may be applied as a result. Any configuration that provides energy may be used.

Furthermore, although the above-mentioned embodiment has been explained using an example of two-color recording, the types of colorant and photoinitiator constituting the image forming element are appropriately selected, and a light source with a wavelength that causes the photoinitiator to react is selected. By doing so, it is also possible to obtain a grass-colored or full-color recorded image.

Furthermore, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the transfer record 11 of the polymeric material containing the colorant is created by the use of light energy and thermal energy.
Although we have shown an example of transferring and recording an image onto the recording paper by changing the softening point temperature of ffllb, it is also possible to transfer and record the image by changing the adhesion characteristics to the recording paper or the sublimation characteristics. A transfer recording medium whose transfer characteristics change depending on pressure, tension, etc. may also be used. Alternatively, an image can be recorded by providing a transfer recording medium with a layer that imparts color development to the recording paper and changing the color development characteristics of the recording paper, and transferring the image formed on the transfer recording medium to the recording paper. It may be configured so that it can be obtained.

Further, the plurality of types of energy applied to the transfer recording layer tb are not limited to the above-mentioned heat and light energy, and images may be formed using, for example, ground energy such as pressure energy.

In addition to the above-mentioned polyethylene terephthalate, for example, polyamide, polyimide, capacitor paper, cellophane paper, etc. can also be used as the material for the support 1a.

Further, as the transfer recording layer 1b, it is possible to appropriately select and use a material having properties such as heat melting property, heat softening property, or heat sublimation property.

Furthermore, the recording medium is not limited to the above-mentioned recording paper, but can be used, for example, with an overhead projector (OH
Of course, plastic sheets for P) can also be used.

Further, the transfer section 4 is not limited to a roller-like structure such as the transfer roller 4a and the pressure roller 4b, but may be of any structure that can obtain a desired pressure, such as a rotating belt.

Further, if necessary, a fixing means for fixing the image on the recording medium onto which the image has been transferred by the transfer section 4 may be provided in the conveying direction of the recording medium and on the downstream side of the separation roller 5. good.

<Effects of the Invention> Since the present invention sequentially performs the formation of an image on a transfer recording medium and the transfer of this image to a recording medium as described above, it can be applied to recording media with relatively low surface smoothness. Images can be recorded satisfactorily.Furthermore, when the present invention is applied to multicolor recording, multicolor images can be obtained without making complicated movements on the recording medium.

In addition, since the transfer section is equipped with a means for transporting the transfer recording medium, the device can be made more compact.Furthermore, it is difficult to describe changes in the transport load in front of the transfer section, and stable transport of the transfer recording medium is possible, resulting in high quality. This results in a recorded image of .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 (A) and (B) are overall schematic explanatory diagrams of one embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of a transfer recording medium, and Figure 3 is an explanatory diagram of the photoinitiator in the transfer recording medium. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the spectral characteristics of the light irradiation means, and FIG. 5 is a timing chart for applying heat and light. 1 is a transfer recording medium, 1a is a support, lb is a transfer recording layer,
lc and ld are the core, 1e is the shell, 1r is the adhesive, 2 is the supply roll, 2a is the supply roll shaft, 3 is the recording section, 3a is the recording head, 3b is the heating element array, 3c and 3d are fluorescent lamps,
3e is a slit plate, 4 is a transfer section, 4a is a transfer roller, 4
b is a pressure roller, 4C is a heater, 5 is a peeling roller, 6 is a take-up roll, 7 is a cassette, 8 is a recording paper, 9 is a feeding roller, 10a and lOb are register rollers, 11 is a υ output tray, +2a, 12b, 12c are guide rollers, 13
a, 13b are discharge rollers, 14 is a conveying means, 14b,
14C is a gear, 14d is a motor, and I5 is a slip clutch.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) An apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium using a transfer recording medium having a transfer recording layer whose transfer characteristics change when multiple types of energy are applied, the apparatus comprising: a recording section having an application means for applying the plurality of types of energy to a transfer recording medium provided along the length thereof; and a transfer section for transferring an image formed on the transfer recording medium in the recording section to a recording medium. 1. A recording apparatus comprising: a transfer section comprising a means for conveying the transfer recording medium. (2) The recording device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of types of energy are composed of thermal energy and optical energy.