JP2000043299A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: An image forming apparatus capable of forming a regular image by preventing an unintended image non-formed portion from occurring, regardless of an image forming method using any type of ink ribbon. The transfer medium includes a peelable image forming layer on a base material, and an image is previously written on the image forming layer by the image forming unit, and a holding member that regulates a displacement of the transfer target body is provided. Supplying the transfer medium to the transfer-receiving member on the holding member such that the image forming layer side thereof is in contact with the transfer medium, and heating and pressurizing both transfer areas by a heating / pressing unit and the holding member; By moving at least one of the heating and pressing means or the holding member along the direction, the image forming layer and the base material of the transfer medium corresponding to the transfer area are separated, and the written image is transferred together with the image forming layer. An image forming apparatus for transferring to a body, comprising a foreign matter removing means for removing foreign matter attached to a surface of a transfer medium on a substrate side.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for forming an image on an image forming layer on a substrate by a thermal recording method as an image forming means.
The present invention relates to the technical field of forming an image on an object by secondary-transferring the image forming layer from the transfer medium to the object using a next-transfer medium, and particularly to an ink ribbon for heat-sensitive recording in primary transfer. Is an image forming apparatus of a pigment type.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an inverted transfer image is formed on an image forming layer of an intermediate transfer medium on which an image is formed on one surface, and the formed image is transferred to a transfer receiving body. An image forming method for forming a transfer image has been proposed.

In this method, an intermediate transfer film as a transfer medium has a base material and an image forming layer, and in primary transfer, ink of an ink ribbon is printed on the transfer medium by a thermal head. After the image formation on the image forming layer, the print image on the transfer medium is moved onto the transfer receiving body, and is transferred by heating and pressing by a heating and pressing unit. As a result, the image forming layer is transferred to the surface of the transfer object, and the image formed on the image formation layer is also transferred. When the transfer medium is peeled from the transfer object, a transfer image is formed on the surface of the transfer object. .

In the primary transfer, foreign matter removing means is provided on the substrate side of the ink ribbon in order to avoid damage to the thermal head. Further, foreign matter removing means is also provided on the ink side of the ink ribbon and the image forming layer side of the transfer medium so that the image formation can be performed beautifully.

According to this method, for example, paper (plain paper,
Various types of materials such as high-quality paper, art paper, synthetic paper, processed paper, etc.), plastics, metals, glasses, ceramics, etc. can be used. It is also possible to form an image on a wide variety of objects, such as papers (of which the page or cover desired to be transferred is made of paper) or various cards.

[0006]

However, when transfer is performed by such an image forming method, for example, when the ink used in the image forming process is a pigment type,
A platen roller that applies an appropriate transfer pressure to the thermal head during printing with the thermal head, ink ribbon, transfer medium (intermediate transfer film), and supplies a smooth surface in the direction in which the heating elements of the thermal head are arranged. In any case, if the foreign matter is mixed in the first transfer step, an image non-formed portion is formed around the foreign matter on the transfer medium due to the height of the foreign matter in the direction of the “platen roller: thermal head” ( (Hereinafter referred to as "occurrence of kick"), and the image formation may not be performed beautifully.

FIG. 1 illustrates the principle of the primary transfer in which a kick occurs, in which FIG. 1A is a plan view and FIG. 1B is a side view. Ink ribbon 2 having pigment ink 2a on image forming layer 1a of transfer medium 1 having image forming layer 1a
Is inserted between the thermal head 3 and the platen roller 4, and the heating element 3a generates heat based on the image information by the heat generation control of the thermal head, so that the image formed of the pigment ink 2a is formed on the image forming layer 1a of the transfer medium 1. The untransferred portion of the pigment ink thus formed and the base material 2b of the ink ribbon are peeled off from the transfer medium 1, and the primary transfer process ends.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a state near the thermal head 3 when a hit occurs. The transfer medium 1 is placed immediately below the heating element 3a of the thermal head 3 during primary transfer.
When the foreign matter adhering to the substrate 1b side reaches the platen roller 4, the platen roller 4 facing the thermal head 3 is an elastic body. And simultaneously press the foreign matter 5 toward the heating element 3a of the thermal head 3. At this time, a portion where the printing pressure is not uniform in the direction in which the thermal head heating elements 3a are arranged in the transfer medium 1 and the ink ribbon 2 interposed between the thermal head 3 and the platen roller 4 is generated around the position of the foreign matter 5. In particular, the primary transfer is not performed in the specific range 8 where almost no printing pressure is applied near the foreign matter 5.

If the ink ribbon 2 having the sublimation ink 2C is used in accordance with the transfer principle of the primary transfer shown in FIG. Upon receiving heat from the body 3a, the sublimation ink 2C is vaporized to form the image forming layer 1a on the transfer medium 1.
Thus, almost normal image formation could be performed without being greatly affected by the transfer pressure.

FIG. 3 shows the image forming surface of the transfer medium 1 after the primary transfer in which the hicks occur. The image is formed on the transfer medium 1 by the primary transfer using the pigment ink 2a. The non-image-formed portion 7 is generated around the foreign-matter trace image 6 due to the reason why the specific range 8 is generated, and the image formation is not beautifully formed. As is clear from FIG. 3, the conventional technique has a problem that when a pigment ink is used in the primary transfer step, an unintended image unformed portion occurs.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming method using an ink ribbon of any ink type. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of forming a regular image while preventing occurrence of the image.

[0012]

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transfer medium, comprising: a transfer medium provided with a peelable image forming layer on a base material; The image forming apparatus further includes a holding member on which an image is written in advance and which controls a positional shift of the transfer object, and supplies the transfer medium on which the image is written so that the image forming layer side of the transfer medium on the holding member comes into contact with the transfer medium. The heating and pressurizing means and the holding member heat and pressurize both transfer areas, and at least one of the heating and pressurizing means or the holding member is moved along the longitudinal direction of the transfer medium to correspond to the transfer area. In an image forming apparatus that separates an image forming layer and a base material of a transfer medium and transfers the written image together with the image forming layer to a transfer target, foreign matter attached to a base material side surface of the transfer medium is removed. An image forming apparatus characterized by comprising an object removing means is obtained by the.

The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the foreign matter removing means is arranged on the transfer medium substrate side near the image forming means for forming an image on the transfer medium. An image forming apparatus.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the foreign matter removing means is disposed on a platen roller in contact with the transfer medium base material side in the image forming means for forming an image on the transfer medium. Or the image forming apparatus described in 2.

According to the present invention, for example, even if the ink used in the image forming step is of a pigment type, foreign matter is mixed between the thermal head, the ink ribbon, the transfer medium and the platen roller. Foreign matter mixed by the foreign matter removing means before transfer can be removed, and the height in the direction of "platen roller: thermal head" can be kept uniform in the primary transfer step.

Therefore, even if the image forming method uses any type of ink ribbon in the primary transfer step, it is possible to form a regular image while preventing the occurrence of unintended image non-formed portions.

[0017]

Next, an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a primary transfer unit in an image forming apparatus having the foreign matter removing unit of the present invention.

In this apparatus, a cleaning roller 9 as a foreign matter removing means is provided on the side surface of the substrate 1b of the transfer medium before the primary transfer step. This is the roll surface
It is made of urethane rubber, butyl rubber, silicon rubber, or the like, and thereby adheres foreign matter 5 attached to the base material 1b side of the transfer medium 1 supplied to the primary transfer step to the surface of the cleaning roller.

A cleaning roller 11 of the same material as the transfer medium cleaning roller, which is a foreign matter removing means, is disposed in contact with the surface of the platen roller 4. The cleaning roller removes foreign matter 10 attached to the surface of the platen roller 4 that rotates as needed in the primary transfer process.

By the operation of the cleaning roller as the foreign matter removing means, it is possible to prevent the foreign matter from being mixed in the primary transfer step and prevent an unintended unformed portion from being formed, thereby forming a regular image.

In this embodiment, the foreign matter removing means is an adhesive cleaning roller made of urethane rubber, butyl rubber, silicon rubber, or the like. For example, an adhesive tape, air blow, or the like may be used as long as it can remove the air.

Further, in the present embodiment, the cleaning roller 9 as a foreign matter removing means is provided on the side surface of the base material 1b of the transfer medium before the primary transfer step. For example, in a case where the transfer medium 1 includes an operation of returning the transfer medium 1 in a direction opposite to the illustrated traveling direction, the cleaning is performed with respect to a symmetric axis connecting the thermal head heating element 3a and the center of the platen roller 4. A cleaning roller for the transfer medium substrate 1b surface may be provided at a position symmetrical to the roller 9 as another means for removing the transfer medium foreign matter and an auxiliary means for the platen roller foreign matter removal means. The relative positional relationship between the platen roller 4 and the image receiving body 1 relating to image formation is, for example, as shown in FIG. 1 or 4, or as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the sheet may be passed through the platen roller 4 without being wound around the platen roller 4. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to these. Of these two examples, the former has an advantage that it is easier to obtain high image quality in terms of image quality.

[0023]

FIG. 5 shows a schematic structure of an image forming apparatus 50. The image forming apparatus 50 guides the transfer medium 1 from the unwinding reel 12 to the take-up reel 13, and
A platen roller 4 for primary transfer is provided in the middle of the guide path. The transfer medium 1 wound on the peripheral surface of the platen roller 4 is fixed to the peripheral surface of the platen roller 4 by a fixed roller 15 supported by an arm (not shown) supported at both ends of the platen roller 4. The transfer medium 1 wound around the platen roller 4 has an image forming layer 1a on the outside.
(See FIG. 1), and the pigment ink 2a (see FIG. 1) of the ink ribbon 2 is printed on the image forming layer 1a. The primary transfer to the transfer medium 1 is performed by controlling the heat generation of the ink ribbon 2 by the thermal head 3. The ink ribbon 2 is moved from the unwinding roller 18 to the winding roller 1
9 Ink ribbon 2 is yellow, magenta,
A large number of sets of four color ink bands of cyan and black are formed, and printing is sequentially performed for each color. On this occasion,
The platen roller 4 swings so that a fixed transfer area performs primary transfer of multicolor printing. As a result, a transfer image composed of the pigment ink 2a is formed on the image forming layer 1a of the transfer medium 1. The transfer medium 1 on which the transfer image has been transferred is sent to the secondary transfer step.

In the secondary transfer step, a heat roller 20 as a heating and pressing means, a holding member 22 (stage of the transferred object) on which a transferred object 21 formed of a booklet is mounted, and the holding member 22 are reciprocated. A slide rail 23 is provided. The heat roller 20 is a cylindrical tube provided with a heater inside, and moves up and down in a direction perpendicular to the slide rail 23. The holding member 22 has a silicon rubber (HT)
V) A layer 22A is formed, and a clamper (not shown) for fixing the transfer object 21 is provided. The holding member 22 has a slidable bearing 24 on a slide rail 23, and reciprocates between both ends along the slide rail 23. Holding member 22
Is performed by rotation control of a screw rod (not shown) extending in parallel with the slide rail 22 and penetrating the holding member 22. Detailed description of sequence control such as operation and stop of each unit is omitted. The sliding of the holding member 22 can be performed, for example, by fixing the holding member 22 to a timing belt, in addition to the above operation. The holding member 22 is heated and pressed by the heat roller 20.
The transfer medium 1 stuck on the transfer object 21
Is separated from the transfer-receiving body 21 with the movement of the transfer member 21. GR
1 to GR7 are guide rollers of the transfer medium 1, GR8, GR
9 is a guide roller for the ink ribbon 2. CL1 is a cleaning roller for the ink ribbon 2; CL2 is a cleaning roller for the side surface of the image forming layer 1a of the transfer medium 1;
3 is a cleaning roller for the side surface of the substrate 1b of the transfer medium 1,
CL4 is a cleaning roller for the platen roller 4.

Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus will be described.

In this embodiment, the cover 2 of the transfer object 21 is
When the image is transferred to the back page of 1A, the transfer target 21 is opened on the silicone rubber layer 22A of the holding member 22 and the back side of the cover 21A is set at a position facing the heat roller 20, and the transfer target 21 is not transferred. The site is fixed by a not-shown transfer target clamper.

When the image forming apparatus receives a start signal and starts operating, and enters the primary transfer step, the thermal head 3, the ink ribbon 2 and the platen roller 4
In step (1), an inverted transfer image is formed on the image forming layer 1a of the transfer medium 1. At this time, thermal transfer using the pigment ink 2a is performed, but the ink ribbon cleaning roller CL1 inherited from the conventional sublimation ink type image forming apparatus and the cleaning roller CL2 for the image forming layer 1a surface of the transfer medium 1 are used. In addition, the substrate 1 of the transfer medium 1
The transfer medium 1 is moved between the thermal head heating section 3a and the platen roller 4 by the b-side cleaning roller CL3 and the platen roller cleaning roller CL4.
In addition, unexpected foreign matter other than the ink ribbon 2 is prevented.

In the primary transfer step, when performing multi-color superimposition printing at an arbitrary position on the transfer medium 1, the transfer medium is unwound and rewound.
Are disposed so as to contact the side of the base 1b of the transfer medium 1 with respect to the upstream side and the downstream side of the thermal head heating element 3a. Has a more reliable removal performance.

After completion of the primary transfer, when the transfer medium 1 is conveyed by a predetermined amount and enters a secondary transfer step, the transfer medium 1 on which the transfer image has been formed on the image forming layer 1a is
1 is transferred to a position opposite to the transfer position on the back surface of the cover 21A, and is heated and pressurized by the heat roller 20 together with the back surface of the cover 21A of the transfer receiving body 21 to transfer the image forming layer 1a to the back surface of the cover 21A. It is reverse-transferred to the position.

Next, in a peeling step of the transfer medium 1, when the holding member 22 is conveyed in the position direction at the time of setting the transfer object, the transfer medium 1 stuck on the transfer object 21 is held. As the sheet 22 is conveyed, it is wound while being separated from the transfer object 21 while leaving the image forming layer 1a having a transfer image on the transfer surface from the front side to the rear side in the traveling direction. As described above, the holding member 22 is conveyed and returns to the work setting position when the peeling step of the transfer medium 1 proceeds, and the transfer operation is completed.

【The invention's effect】

According to the image forming apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, the transfer medium is provided with foreign matter removing means for removing foreign matter attached to the surface of the transfer medium which supports the image forming layer on the substrate side. Foreign matter can be removed from the surface of the substrate supporting the image forming layer.

According to the image forming apparatus of the second aspect of the present invention, since the foreign matter removing means is arranged on the transfer medium base near the image forming means for forming an image on the transfer medium,
Foreign matter can be more efficiently removed from the surface of the transfer medium on the side of the substrate supporting the image forming layer.

According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the foreign matter removing means is disposed on the platen roller in contact with the transfer medium substrate in the image forming means for forming an image on the transfer medium. Therefore, foreign matter adhering to the platen roller itself and foreign matter that may transfer from the platen roller to the transfer medium base material side can be removed.

Therefore, according to the present invention, even if the ink used in the image forming step is, for example, of the pigment type, foreign matter is generated between the thermal head, the ink ribbon, the transfer medium as the transfer medium, and the platen roller. Even if it is mixed, the foreign matter can be removed by the foreign matter removing means before the primary transfer, so that the height in the direction of "platen roller: thermal head" can be kept uniform in the primary transfer step.

That is, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of forming a normal image by preventing the occurrence of an unintended image non-formed portion, regardless of the image forming method using any type of ink ribbon.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing the principle of transfer of primary transfer in a conventional technique, wherein FIG. 1A is a perspective view and FIG. 1B is a side view.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a kick near a thermal head occurs.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an image forming surface of a transfer medium in which a hit occurs after primary transfer according to a conventional technique.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a primary transfer unit in the image forming apparatus having foreign matter removing means according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an overall schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 1 transfer medium (intermediate transfer film) 2 ink ribbon 3 thermal head 4 platen roller 20 heat roller (transfer booklet) 21 transfer object (booklet) 22 {Holding member (stage) 50} Image forming apparatus 9, 11 {Cleaning roller (foreign matter removing means) CL1, CL2, CL3, CL4} Cleaning roller (foreign matter removing means)

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] July 29, 1998 (1998.7.2
9)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0006

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

However, when transfer is performed by such an image forming method, for example, when the ink used in the image forming process is a pigment type, the thermal head, the ink ribbon, the transfer medium (intermediate transfer film) and the thermal head during printing are used. When a foreign matter is mixed in any direction between the platen roller and a platen roller that applies a suitable transfer pressure to the thermal head and supplies a smooth surface to the direction in which the heating elements of the thermal head are arranged, the foreign matter “platen roller: Depending on the height in the "thermal head" direction, in the primary transfer step, an image non-formed portion mainly on a foreign substance is formed on the transfer medium (hereinafter referred to as "hicking"), and image formation is performed beautifully. May not be.

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Tomio Ando 1-5-1, Taito, Taito-ku, Tokyo Toppan Printing Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Marugame Tomoyuki Marugame 1-1-1, Taito 1-5-1, Taito, Taito-ku, Tokyo Letterpress printing stock In-house F term (reference) 2C061 AQ04 AS02 CM01 CM06 CM13 2C065 AA01 AB09 AB10 CZ16 DA22 DA29 DA33

Claims (3)

[Claims] A transfer medium has a peelable image forming layer on a substrate, and an image is written on the image forming layer in advance by an image forming means, and the image forming layer is held in such a manner as to restrict the displacement of the transfer object. A transfer medium on which the image is written is supplied to the transfer object on the holding member such that the image forming layer side thereof is in contact with the transfer medium, and a portion of the transfer area of both is heated and pressed by the holding member. By applying heat and pressure, at least one of the heating and pressing means or the holding member is moved along the longitudinal direction of the transfer medium to separate the image forming layer and the base material of the transfer medium corresponding to the transfer area from the written area. An image forming apparatus for transferring an image to a transfer object together with an image forming layer, comprising: a foreign matter removing means for removing foreign matter attached to a surface of a transfer medium on a substrate side. 2. An image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said foreign matter removing means is arranged on a transfer medium base material near an image forming means for forming an image on a transfer medium. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said foreign matter removing means is disposed on a platen roller in contact with a transfer medium substrate in said image forming means.
An image forming apparatus according to claim 1.