JPH07108571B2 - Recording device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Field of Industrial Application> The present invention relates to a recording apparatus that can be used in a printer, a copying machine, a facsimile, or the like.

<Prior Art> In recent years, various information processing systems have been developed along with the rapid development of the information industry, and a recording device suitable for each information processing system has been developed.

There is a thermal transfer recording device as one of the recording devices. In this method, recording is performed on a recording paper using an ink ribbon formed by coating a ribbon-shaped support with a heat-meltable ink prepared by dispersing a colorant in a heat-meltable binder.

That is, the ink ribbon is superposed so that the thermal transferable ink layer contacts the recording paper, and the ink ribbon and the recording paper are conveyed between the thermal head and the platen, and the thermal head is applied from the support side of the ink ribbon. In addition to applying pulsed heat according to the image signal, the two are pressed into contact with each other to transfer the melted ink to the recording paper, thereby recording an ink image on the recording paper according to the application of heat.

The above-described recording apparatus has been widely used in recent years because the apparatus used is small and lightweight, has no noise, and can record on plain paper.

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

This is because the transfer recording performance, that is, the image quality is greatly influenced by the surface smoothness of the recording paper in the conventional thermal transfer recording apparatus, and good image recording is performed on the recording paper with high smoothness, but the smoothness is low. In the case of recording paper, the image recording quality may deteriorate.

Further, in the conventional thermal transfer recording apparatus, when an attempt is made to obtain a multicolor image, it is necessary to repeat the transfer to superimpose the colors. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a plurality of thermal heads, or to make a complicated movement such as stopping and reverse feeding on the recording paper, and not only color misregistration is unavoidable, but also the entire device becomes large and complicated. There is a problem.

<Means for Solving Problems> Therefore, the applicant of the present invention uses a photothermosensitive polymer material, and when heat energy and light energy are applied, the reaction of the polymer rapidly advances and controls transfer. The physical properties have changed,
We have proposed a recording device that forms an image according to the difference in the physical properties according to the image signal and transfers it to a recording medium (Japanese Patent Application No. 60).
-150597).

According to this recording device, it is possible to record a high-quality image even on a recording medium having a low surface smoothness, and when applied to multicolor recording, the recording medium is caused to make a complicated movement. It is possible to obtain a multicolored image without any trouble.

The present invention is a further development of the recording device, comprising:
When the image is transferred to the recording medium by superimposing the transfer recording medium on which the transfer image is formed and the recording medium at the transfer portion, a portion where the recording medium does not overlap, that is, the transfer recording layer of the transfer recording medium is An object of the present invention is to provide a recording device in which a transfer recording layer does not adhere to a transfer member such as a pressure roller even when the exposed portion comes into contact with the transfer member.

A means therefor is an apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium by using a transfer recording medium having a transfer recording layer whose physical properties governing transfer characteristics are changed by application of light energy and thermal energy. A transport means for transporting the transfer recording medium, a heating means for applying thermal energy to the transfer recording medium provided along the transport path of the transfer recording medium transported by the transport means, and the transfer recording medium. A recording unit having a light irradiation unit for applying light energy, a transfer unit for transferring an image formed on the transfer recording medium by the recording unit to a recording medium, and a transfer unit for transferring the recording medium from the transfer unit. It is characterized in that it is provided on the upstream side in the conveying direction and means for making the transfer recording layer outside the image forming range non-transferable.

<Operation> According to the above means, when the transfer recording medium and the recording medium are set in the apparatus and recording is performed, predetermined thermal energy and light energy are applied to the transfer recording medium in the recording section, and the thermal energy and the light energy are applied. The portion to which both the energy is applied becomes non-transferable, and the portion which is not non-transferable is transferred to the recording medium at the transfer portion.

Further, the portion outside the image forming range of the transfer recording medium is imparted with energy by the non-transfer means before being conveyed to the transfer portion so as to have non-transferability, so that portion comes into contact with the member of the transfer portion. However, the transfer recording layer does not adhere to the member.

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

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view of a recording device.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a transfer recording medium in the form of a long sheet, which is wound around in a roll shape and is detachably incorporated into the apparatus main body M as a supply roll 2. That is, the supply roll 2 is detachably loaded on the rotatable shaft 2a provided on the apparatus main body M.

Therefore, first, the leading end of the transfer recording medium 1 is supplied to the supply roll 2,
After passing through the guide roller 14a, the recording head 3a, and the heat roller 4a, the peeling roller 6 and the guide roller 14b are deflected between the transfer roller 5a and the pressure roller 5b to reach the take-up roll 7, and the leading end thereof is wound. The take-up roll 7 is locked by means such as a gripper (not shown). After that, the take-up roll 7 is driven and rotated by a well-known driving means, whereby the transfer recording medium 1 is fed in the direction of the arrow a
The winding roll 7 is successively wound around the peripheral surface of the winding roll 7.

During the winding operation, a constant back tension is applied to the supply roll 2 by, for example, a hysteresis brake (not shown), and the tension and the guide roller 14a and the heat roller 4a cause the transfer recording medium 1 to move.
Is configured to be conveyed while being pressed against the recording head 3a at a constant pressure and at a constant angle.

Next, the configuration of each of the above parts will be individually described.

First, as shown in FIG. 2, the transfer recording medium 1 comprises a sheet-like support 1a and a transfer recording layer 1b having a property of being non-transferable when both thermal energy and light energy are applied thereto. It is a thing.

To explain one example thereof, as shown in FIG. 2, the transfer recording layer 1b uses the components shown in Tables 1 and 2 as the cores 1c and 1d, and a microcapsule-shaped image forming element is prepared by the following method. Formed.

That is, a mixture of 10 g of the components shown in Tables 1 and 2 was first mixed with 20 parts by weight of methylene chloride, and then a cation or nonionic surfactant having an HLB value of at least 10 or more and 1 g of gelatin.
Was mixed with 200 ml of dissolved water and stirred by a homomixer at 60 ° C with a homomixer at 8,000 to 10,000 rpm to emulsify.
A 26 μm oil drop is obtained.

Further, stirring is continued at 60 ° C. for 30 minutes to distill off methylene chloride so that the average particle diameter becomes 10 μm. To this, add 20 ml of water in which 1 g of gum arabic is dissolved and slowly cool with NH.
Microcapsule slurry is obtained by adding ₄ OH (ammonia) water to pH 11 or above, and 1.0 ml of 20% glutaraldehyde aqueous solution is slowly added to harden the capsule wall.

After that, solid-liquid separation is performed with a Nutche filter, and a vacuum dryer is used for 35
After drying at ℃ for 10 hours, a microcapsule-shaped image forming element is obtained.

This image-forming element is a microcapsule in which the cores 1c and 1d in Tables 1 and 2 are coated with the shell 1e, and the particle size is 7 to 15
The average particle size is 10 μm.

An adhesive 1 prepared by dropping a few drops of a surfactant per 100 cc of a PVA 5% aqueous solution on the image-forming element formed as described above.
Using f, the transfer recording layer 1b is formed by adhering it onto a support 1a made of a polyethylene terephthalate film having a thickness of 6 μm, thereby forming the transfer recording medium 1.

The photoinitiator in the image forming element shown in Table 1 above absorbs the light in the band of graph A in the absorption characteristics of FIG. 3 to start the reaction, and becomes red at the time of image formation. The photoinitiator in the image forming element shown in Table 2 absorbs the light in the band shown in the graph B of FIG. 3 to start the reaction, and becomes black at the time of image formation.

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

The heating means is composed of a line-type heating element array 3b of A-4 size of 8 dots / mm having a width of 0.2 mm which generates heat according to an image signal on the surface of the recording head 3a, and the transfer recording is performed as described above. The support 1a side of the medium 1 is configured to come into pressure contact with the heating element array 3b with a predetermined pressure due to back tension during transportation. The image signal is emitted from a control unit (not shown) such as a facsimile, an image scanner, or an electronic blackboard according to the purpose.

On the other hand, on the side of the transfer recording layer 1b facing the recording head 3a, two fluorescent lamps 3c and 3d, which are 20 W type light irradiating means having spectral characteristics as shown in FIG.
It is arranged apart.

Further, the slit plates 3e and 3f are set to be about 0.5 or less than the transfer recording medium 1 so that the direct light of the fluorescent lamps 3c and 3d is irradiated only to the area directly above the heating element array of the transfer recording medium 1 which is pressed against the recording head 3a.
The opening width is 1.2 mm with a distance of mm.

In this embodiment, as one of the fluorescent lamps 3c having the spectral characteristics shown in the graph A of FIG.
The W health line fluorescent lamp FL20SE is used, and as the other fluorescent lamp 3d having the spectral characteristics shown in Graph B, a 20W copying fluorescent lamp FL20BA-37 manufactured by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. is used.

Next, the non-transfer means 4 will be described. It is arranged on the downstream side of the recording portion 3 in the transport direction of the transfer recording medium 1, and contacts the support 1a side of the transfer recording medium 1 to make it uniform. A heat roller 4a for heating and a light source 4b for irradiating the ink layer 1b side with light are arranged to face each other. Also the light source
A light-shielding plate 4d having a slit 4c with a width of 3 mm is arranged between the 4b and the transfer recording medium 1, whereby the light of the light source 4b passes through the slit 4c and is in contact with the heat roller 4a. The part other than the medium is not irradiated.

The light from the light source 4b has a wavelength that causes the photoinitiators shown in Tables 1 and 2 to react with each other, and blinks in response to the transfer recording medium 1 being conveyed by a signal from a control unit (not shown). Is configured.

Next, the transfer section 5 will be described. The transfer section 5 is arranged downstream of the non-transfer means 4 in the conveying direction of the transfer recording medium 1, and is in pressure contact with the transfer roller 5a which is driven and rotated in the direction of arrow b as shown in FIG. It is composed of a pressure roller 5b. The transfer roller 5a has a surface of 1 m.
It is composed of an aluminum roller covered with silicon rubber having a thickness of 70 m and a hardness of 70 degrees, and the surface is held at 90 to 100 ° C. by a built-in 800 W halogen heater 5c.

The pressure roller 5b is made of silicone rubber with a hardness of 70 degrees.
It consists of an aluminum roller coated with a thickness of 1 mm, and the pressing force against the transfer roller 5a is 6 by a pressing means (not shown) such as a spring.
It is set to ~ 7kgf / cm.

Further, recording paper 9 which is a recording medium loaded in the cassette 8
Is conveyed by the feeding roller 10 and the pair of register rollers 11a and 11b shown in FIG. 1 driven by a feeding motor (not shown) in accordance with the conveyance of the transfer recording medium 1. At this time, the leading end of the recording paper 9 is The recording paper 9 is detected by a resist sensor including a light emitting element 12a and a light receiving element 12b, and the recording paper 9 is superposed on the image forming portion formed on the transfer recording medium 1 and is controlled and conveyed.

Next, the operation when recording is performed by the recording apparatus configured as described above will be described.

When a transfer recording medium 1 is sequentially fed out from a supply roll 2 by driving a motor (not shown) and light and heat are applied to the transfer recording layer 1b of the transfer recording medium 1 in the recording unit 3, both light and heat are applied. The transferred portion becomes non-transferable, and an image is formed at the portion which is not non-transferable.

In the embodiment described below, heat is applied according to the signal of the non-image portion, and light is applied uniformly.

That is, since the transfer recording layer 1b has a property that the softening point temperature rises when light and heat of a predetermined wavelength are applied and the transfer recording layer 1b is not transferred to the recording paper 9, as shown in the timing chart of FIG. At the time of red recording, the heating elements corresponding to red of the image signal in the heating element array 3b are not energized, and the portion corresponding to white of the image signal (the recording medium 9 is white) is energized for 25 ms. Irradiate the fluorescent lamp 3c uniformly with a delay of 5 ms.
The irradiation time at this time is 45 ms.

Next, at the time of black recording, 50 ms after the end of irradiation, that is, 100 ms after the energization time, this time, the heating element corresponding to black of the heating signal in the heating element row 3 b is not energized and the image signal of Energize for 25ms to the part corresponding to white, and 5ms
After that, the fluorescent lamp 3d is uniformly irradiated. The irradiation time at this time is also 45 ms as described above.

As described above, the recording head 3a is controlled according to the black, red, and white image signals to form a negative image on the transfer recording layer 1b.
The transfer recording medium 1 is conveyed in synchronization with a repeating cycle of 0 ms / line.

Further, the transfer recording medium 1 on which the image is formed as described above is processed so that the transfer recording layer 1b outside the image forming area becomes non-transferable when passing through the non-transfer means 4.

The above-mentioned processing steps will be described, for example, in the case where one sheet of recording paper 9 is conveyed and recorded. A portion outside the image forming range, that is, as shown in FIG. The transfer recording layer 1b of the transfer recording medium 1 is exposed in a portion of the downstream side A and the upstream side B of the rear end of the recording sheet 9 (when a plurality of recording sheets 9 made of cut sheets are continuously conveyed, The minute gaps between the sheets are also exposed).

When the exposed portions A and B pass the position of the slit 4c of the non-transfer means 4, the light source 4b is turned on to give light energy, and the heat roller 4a gives heat energy from the support 1a side. Therefore, the transfer recording layer 1 of the portions A and B
In the case of b, the softening point temperature rises and the material becomes non-transferable.

Here, the blinking timing of the light source 4b will be described more specifically in the case where, for example, one recording sheet 9 of A4 size (297 mm) is conveyed and recorded.

As shown in FIG. 7, the distance from the recording head 3a to the heat roller 4a is L ₁ , the distance from the heat roller 4a to the pressure contact position between the transfer roller 5a and the pinch roller 5b is L ₂ , and from the pressure contact position to the peeling roller 6. Assuming that the distance is L ₃ and the distance from the pressure contact position to the registration sensors 12a and 12b is L ₄ , the feeding roller 10 and the registration roller pair 11a are pressed when the start button is pressed as shown in the timing chart of FIG. , 11b
The feeding motor for rotating the recording paper is driven, and the driving is stopped when the leading edge of the recording paper reaches the registration sensors 12a and 12b. At the same time, the transport motor that rotates the transfer roller 5a is driven to transport the transfer recording medium 1 in the direction of arrow a, and T ₃
(While the transfer recording medium 1 is conveyed by a length of 297 mm), the recording unit 3 operates to form an image of the length of A4 size.

At this time, until the image tip reaches the position of the heat roller 4a,
That is, the light source 4b is turned on only during the period T ₄ during which the transfer recording medium 1 is conveyed by the distance L ₁ . After that, the image forming area
While passing the position 4a, at T _3, the light source 4b is turned off, and the rear end of the image forming range passes through the position of the heat roller 4a and is turned on again at the same time until the rear end of the image forming range reaches the position of the peeling roller 6. That is, the period T ₅ during which the transfer recording medium 1 is conveyed by the distance L ₂ + L ₃
Irradiate with light.

It should be noted that, when the period T ₁ during which the transfer recording medium 1 is conveyed by the distance L ₁ + L ₂ −L ₄ is elapsed from the start of the conveyance, the feeding motor is moved to the period T ₂
The recording paper 9 is driven at the same speed as that of the transfer recording medium 1 (stopping the recording paper 9 by L ₄ ) and stopped. As a result, the front end of the recording paper 9 is transferred to the transfer recording medium 1
The recording sheet 9 is superposed and superposed at the image front end and the transfer portion 5, and the superposed recording paper 9 is conveyed by the rotation of the transfer roller 5a.

As described above, the blinking of the light source 4b is controlled to apply the light energy, and the heat energy is applied from the heat roller 4a to make the transfer recording layer 1b outside the image forming range non-transferable.
The transfer recording medium 1 and the recording paper 9 are superposed on each other in the transfer section 5, and the two are heated and pressed to transfer the image formed on the transfer recording medium 1 to the recording paper 9.

As described above, transfer images of two colors, red and black, are recorded on the recording paper 9, and the exposed portion of the transfer recording layer 1b has non-transferability, so that portion contacts the pressure roller 5b. Even if
The transfer recording layer does not adhere to the roller 5b.

Then, the recording paper 9 on which the image has been transferred is separated from the transfer recording medium 1 by the separation roller 6 and is discharged to the discharge tray 13.

As described above, two-color recording can be performed in one shot without attaching the transfer recording layer to the pressure roller 5b or the like.

In the above-described embodiment, the light source 4b of the non-transfer means 4 is controlled to blink to irradiate the transfer recording layer 1b outside the image forming area with light, but as another embodiment, FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, a shutter 4f rotatable about a shaft 4e is provided, and the shutter 4f is rotated by a solenoid 4g which operates with a predetermined signal to open and close the slit 4c portion. The transfer portion may be configured to be irradiated with light.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the thermal energy is uniformly applied in the non-transfer means 4 and the application of the optical energy is controlled to make the non-transfer portion of the transfer recording medium 1 non-transferable. May be uniformly irradiated to control application of heat energy. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, an arm 4j rotatable about a shaft 4i of a fixed guide roller 4h is provided, a heat roller 4a is attached to the arm 4j, and the arm 4j is further moved in a direction of an arrow c by a solenoid 4g. The heat roller 4a is brought into contact with and separated from the transfer recording medium 1 by rotating. By doing so, it is possible to control the contact and separation of the heat roller 4a and apply the thermal energy only to the non-transfer portion of the transfer recording medium 1.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the non-transfer means 4 is arranged on the downstream side of the recording section 3, but it can obtain the same effect even if it is arranged on the upstream side of the recording section 3 as shown in FIG. Can be done.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the heat roller 4a is provided in the non-transfer means 4, and the heat energy is applied to the transfer recording medium 1 by the roller 4a. However, as shown in FIG. The transfer roller 5a may be provided in the vicinity of the transfer section 5 and also serves as a member for applying the thermal energy of the non-transfer means 4. In this way, the non-transfer means 4
This is effective because the number of parts can be reduced.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the example of the two-color recording is explained, but the kinds of the colorant and the photoinitiator constituting the image forming element are appropriately selected, and the light source of the wavelength which reacts the photoinitiator is selected. By doing so, it is possible to obtain a monochrome or full-color recorded image.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, in the recording unit 3, the transfer recording layer 1b side of the transfer recording medium 1 is uniformly irradiated with light of a predetermined wavelength corresponding to a desired color, and the support 1a side outputs an image signal. Although the heat is applied in accordance with the above, the heat may be applied uniformly as another embodiment, and a predetermined light may be applied according to the image signal.

If the support 1a is made of a light-transmissive material, the support 1a may be irradiated with light and the transfer recording layer 1b may be applied with heat.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, light irradiation and heat application were performed with the support 1a sandwiched between them. However, image formation is also possible by separately performing light irradiation and heat application from one side of the support 1a. .

Further, as the material of the support 1a, in addition to the above-mentioned polyethylene terephthalate, for example, polyamide, or polyimide, condenser paper, cellophane paper, etc. can be used.

Further, as the light irradiating means of the recording unit 3, the above-mentioned fluorescent lamps 3c, 3 are used.
In addition to the method using d, for example, a method using an LED array, or a method using a xenon lamp and a filter suitable for the light absorption characteristics of the material can be used. This is the non-transfer means 4
The same applies to the light source 4b.

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

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

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the light energy and the heat energy are applied to the transfer recording layer 1b at the same time. However, even if the light energy and the heat energy are applied separately, as a result, both energy Any configuration may be used as long as it is provided.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the transfer recording layer 1b made of a polymer material containing a coloring agent by light energy and heat energy.
Although the example in which the image is transferred and recorded on the recording medium by the change of the softening point temperature is described, the image may be transferred and recorded depending on the adhesive property to the recording medium or the difference in the sublimation property. Or, by providing the recording medium with a color-forming property and providing a layer on the transfer recording medium that changes the color forming characteristics of the recording medium, and transferring the image formed on the transfer recording medium to the recording medium. Alternatively, the image may be recorded.

In addition, the heat roller 4a of the non-transfer means 4, the transfer roller 5a and the pressure roller 5b of the transfer unit 5 are formed in a roller shape, respectively, but these are not limited to the roller shape. The heat roller 4a may have the same structure as that of the recording head 3a, and the transfer roller 5a and the pressure roller 5b may have a structure such that a desired pressure can be obtained such as a rotating belt that presses each other. .

<Effects of the Invention> As described above, according to the present invention, an image is formed on a transfer recording medium and then this image is transferred to the recording medium. Therefore, an image can be formed on a recording medium having a relatively low surface smoothness. Can be recorded satisfactorily. When the present invention is applied to multicolor recording, a multicolor image can be obtained without causing complicated movement of the recording medium.

Further, since the portion other than the image forming area of the transfer recording medium is configured to have non-transferability, even if the non-transfer portion of the transfer recording medium comes into contact with the member of the transfer portion, the transfer recording layer adheres to the member. It is possible to prevent this and to record a clear image on the recording medium without stains.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic explanatory view of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a structural explanatory view of a transfer recording medium, FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing absorption characteristics of a photoinitiator in the transfer recording medium, and FIG. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the spectral characteristics of a light source, FIG. 5 is a timing chart for applying heat and light, FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which one recording medium is superposed on a transfer recording medium, and FIG. FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing the distance between each member of the recording apparatus, FIG. 8 is a timing chart showing the light irradiation of the non-transfer means and the conveyance relationship between the transfer recording medium and the recording medium, and FIG. FIG. 10 is an explanatory view of another embodiment, FIG. 10 is an illustration of another embodiment in which a means for contacting and separating the heat roller of the non-transfer means is provided, and FIG. 11 is a non-transfer means provided on the upstream side of the recording portion. Explanatory drawing of the embodiment, twelfth
The figure is an illustration of an embodiment in which the heat applying member of the non-transfer means is also used as a transfer roller. 1 is a transfer recording medium, 1a is a support, 1b is a transfer recording layer, and 1c, 1
d is a core, 1e is a shell, 1f is an adhesive, 2 is a supply roll,
3 is a recording unit, 3a is a recording head, 3b is a heating element array, and 3c and 3d.
Is a fluorescent lamp, 3e and 3f are light shielding plates, 4 is a non-transfer means, 4a is a heat roller, 4b is a light source, 4c is a slit, 4d is a light shielding plate, 4e is a shaft, 4f is a shutter, 4g is a solenoid, and 4h is fixed. Guide roller, 4i axis, 4j arm, 5 transfer unit, 5a transfer roller, 5b pressure roller, 5c heater, 6 peeling roller, 7
Is a take-up roll, 8 is a cassette, 9 is recording paper, 10 is a feeding roller, 11a and 11b are registration rollers, 12a is a light emitting element, and 12b is
A light receiving element, 13 is a discharge tray, and 14a and 14b are guide rollers.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium using a transfer recording medium having a transfer recording layer, the physical properties of which govern transfer characteristics when light energy and thermal energy are applied. A recording unit having a heating unit for applying thermal energy to the transfer recording medium and a light irradiation unit for applying optical energy to the transfer recording medium, the recording unit being provided along a transfer path of the transfer recording medium; A transfer section for transferring the image formed on the transfer recording medium in the recording section to the recording medium, and a transfer recording layer provided upstream of the transfer section in the transport direction of the transfer recording medium and outside the image forming range. A recording apparatus having a non-transferring means.