JPH0511555B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

<Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a recording device that can be used in printers, copying machines, facsimile machines, and the like. <Background Art> In recent years, with the rapid development of the information industry, various information processing systems have been developed, and recording devices suitable for each information processing system have also been developed. One of the above-mentioned recording devices is a thermal transfer recording device. In this method, recording is performed on a recording paper using an ink ribbon made by coating a ribbon-shaped support with a heat-melt ink made by dispersing a colorant in a heat-melt binder. 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 a thermal head and a platen, and the ink ribbon is transferred from the support side of the ink ribbon to the thermal head. A device that records an ink image on the recording paper according to the heat application by applying pulsed heat according to the image signal and pressing the two and transferring the molten ink to the recording paper. It is. The above recording apparatus has been widely used in recent years because it is small and lightweight, has 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 greatly affected by the flatness of the recording paper. In the case of paper, the image recording quality may deteriorate. Furthermore, in order to obtain a multicolor image with a conventional thermal transfer recording apparatus, it is necessary to repeat transfer to overlap the colors. For this purpose, it is necessary to install multiple thermal heads, or to make the recording paper make complicated movements such as stopping and reversing, 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 present 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. proposed a recording device that forms an image with different characteristics depending on the image signal and transfers it to a recording medium (Japanese Patent Application No. 120080-1980).
No. 60-120081, No. 60-131411, No. 60-134831
No. 60-150597, No. 60-199926). According to this recording device, 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 complex movements on the recording medium. It is possible to obtain multicolor images without any color distortion. The present invention is a further development of the recording apparatus described above, and aims to provide a recording apparatus that can record high-quality images even when the apparatus environment changes. To this end, the means described in the following embodiments 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 when light energy and thermal energy are applied. A recording comprising a heating means for applying thermal energy to a transfer recording medium provided along a conveyance path of the transfer recording medium and a light irradiation means for applying light energy to the transfer recording medium. an application amount control means for controlling at least one of thermal energy and optical energy in the recording section to a predetermined application amount; It is characterized by having a transfer section. <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 to form an image. In the transfer section, the transfer recording medium and the recording medium are overlapped, and the image is transferred to the recording medium. Furthermore, in the recording section, the application of thermal energy or light energy is controlled so that the amount of change in the transfer characteristics of the transfer recording layer is constant, so that high-quality images can always be obtained. <Example> Next, an example of the present invention to which the above means is applied will be described. FIG. 1A is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of the recording device;
FIG. 1b is a perspective explanatory view thereof. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a transfer recording medium in the form of a long sheet, which is wound into a roll and is removably incorporated into the main body M of the apparatus 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 the transfer recording medium 1 is passed through the supply roll 2, the guide roller 12a, the recording head 3a, and the guide roller 12b, and then transferred to the transfer roller 4a.
and the pressure roller 4b, the peeling roller 5 and the guide roller 12c change the direction to reach the take-up roll 6, and the tip thereof is locked to the take-up roll 6 by means such as a gripper (not shown). do. Thereafter, the take-up roll 6 is driven and rotated by a known driving means, so that the transfer recording medium 1 is
The sheet is unwound in the direction and is sequentially wound around the circumferential surface of the winding roll 6. Incidentally, the supply roll 2 at the time of winding is equipped with, for example, a hysteresis brake (not shown).
A constant back tension is applied by the guide rollers 12a, 12.
b, the transfer recording medium 1 is 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-mentioned parts will be individually explained. First, the transfer recording medium 1 has a transfer recording layer 1b having a property of forming an image when both thermal energy and light energy are applied to a sheet-like support 1a, as shown in FIG. It is what it is. To explain one example, 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 microcapsule-shaped image forming elements are formed by the method shown below. It forms. That is, first, 10 g of the ingredients shown in Tables 1 and 2 were mixed with 20 parts by weight of methylene chloride, and then mixed with 200 ml of water in which 1 g of gelatin was dissolved and a surfactant such as a cationic or nonionic surfactant with an HLB value of at least 10. 8000 in a homomixer heated at 60°C.
Stir and emulsify at ~10000ppm, average particle size 26μm
Obtain oil droplets. Further, stirring was continued for 30 minutes at 60° C. or below, and methylene chloride was distilled off to give an average particle size of 10 μm.
Add 20ml of water in which 1g of gum arabic has been dissolved, and slowly cool to dissolve NH ₄ OH (ammonia).
Microcapsule slurry was obtained by adding water to make the pH above 11, and 20% glutaraldehyde
Slowly add 1.0 ml of the aqueous solution to harden the capsule wall. Thereafter, solid-liquid separation is carried out using a Nutsuchie filter, and drying is carried out at 35° C. for 10 hours in a vacuum dryer to obtain a microcapsule-shaped image forming element. This image forming element is formed into a microcapsule in which the cores 1c and 1d shown in Tables 1 and 2 are covered with a shell 1e, and has a particle size of 7 to 15 μm and an average particle size of 10 μm. The image forming element formed as described above is
The transfer recording layer 1b is formed by adhering the transfer recording layer 1b onto a support 1a made of polyethylene terephthalate having a thickness of 6 μm using an adhesive 1f, thereby forming the transfer recording medium 1. More specifically, first, as the adhesive 1f, two-component epoxy adhesives manufactured by Kanebo NSC Co., Ltd., such as Epolsion EAI and Epolsion EBI, were used. And the above eporsion
A liquid mixture of 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 remained sticky even after drying, and the thickness of the adhesive layer when cured separately was about 0.3 μm.
Next, a microcapsule-shaped image forming element having core materials as shown in Tables 1 and 2 obtained above is mixed in a ratio of 1:1 on the adhesive layer. I sprinkled it on and glued it. Thereafter, when the excess image forming element was brushed off, the image forming element was arranged on the adhesive layer in approximately one layer and at a ratio of 90%. The material obtained as described above was left in an environment of 100° C. for about 2 hours to harden the adhesive 1f, thereby forming a transfer recording medium 1 as shown in FIG. 2.

【table】

【table】

[Table] The photoinitiator in the image forming element shown in Table 1 absorbs light in the band of graph A in the light absorption characteristics shown in FIG. The photoinitiator in the image-forming element shown in Table 3 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 generates heat on the surface of the recording head 3a according to the image signal with a width of 0.2 mm and an A of 8 dots/mm.
-4 size, line type heating element rows 3b are arranged, and as described above, the support 1a side of the transfer recording medium 1 is applied with a predetermined pressure to the heating element rows 3b by back tension during conveyance. It is configured to be pressed into contact. The image signal is generated from a control unit (not shown) of, for example, a facsimile, an image scanner, or an electronic whiteboard, depending on the purpose. On the other hand, the transfer recording layer 1b facing the recording head 3a
On the side is a 20W battery with spectral characteristics as shown in Figure 4.
Two types of fluorescent lamps 3c and 3d serve as light irradiation means.
is arranged approximately 25 mm away from the transfer recording medium 1. Further, a fluorescent lamp 3c is installed only in the area directly above the row of heating elements of the transfer recording medium 1 that is in pressure contact with the recording head 3a.
Slit plate 3e so that the direct light of 3d is irradiated.
is kept at a distance of about 0.5 mm from the transfer recording medium 1,
The opening width is 1.2mm. In this example, graph A in FIG.
As a fluorescent lamp 3c with the spectral characteristics shown in
A 20W fluorescent lamp FL20SE manufactured by Toshiba Corporation was used, and the other fluorescent lamp 3d having the spectral characteristics shown in graph B was a 20W fluorescent lamp manufactured by Toshiba Corporation.
FL10A70E39 is used. Next, the means for controlling the amount of thermal energy and optical energy applied in the recording section 3 will be explained.
First, the control means 14 for controlling the amount of thermal energy applied will be explained. As shown in FIG.
The heating element array 3b is powered by a head power supply section 14b by a head drive circuit 14a that is driven in accordance with the image signal G.
A thermistor 14c is provided on the head substrate of the recording head 3a, and the head power source 14 is connected to the thermistor 14c from the thermistor 14c.
The substrate temperature information is transmitted to the heating element array 3b, and the voltage value applied to the heating element array 3b is determined in accordance with the information. The thermistor 14c has a low resistance value when the head substrate temperature is high, and a high resistance value when the head substrate temperature is low.
The voltage applied to b is controlled as shown in the graph of FIG. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the thermistor 14c is connected in parallel with the resistor r, and forms a bridge with the other three resistors R ₁ , R ₂ , and R ₃ .
Then, the unbalanced voltage of the bridge due to the resistance change of the thermistor 14c is supplied to the operational amplifier 14d,
According to the output of the operational amplifier 14d, the power supply section 14e
The voltage applied to the heating element array 3b is controlled in synchronization with the timing signal S as shown in the graph of FIG. Therefore, the heating element array 3b generates a high amount of heat when the internal temperature of the device is low or when not printing, that is, when the recording head temperature is low, and conversely, when the internal temperature of the device is high or when continuous printing is performed, that is, when the recording head is When the temperature is high, it generates heat with a low calorific value. Next, each of the two fluorescent lamps 3c and 3d is provided with a light energy application amount control means 15. To explain its configuration in the case of a fluorescent lamp 3c, as shown in FIG. 9, the light intensity of the fluorescent lamp 3c is detected by a light receiving element 15a made of a photodiode or the like, and the output of the light receiving element 15a has an error along with a reference voltage 15b. The signal is supplied to the detector 15c. This error detector 1
The output of the fluorescent lamp 5c is sent to a tube current control circuit 15d, and the circuit 15d is configured to cause a tube current corresponding to the amount of light to flow to the fluorescent lamp 3c. Further, a thermistor 15e is provided on the surface of the fluorescent lamp 3c, and the temperature information detected by the thermistor 15e is sent to the error detector 1 along with the reference voltage 15f.
5g, and the fan switching circuit 15h is operated by the output of the error detector 15g to operate the fan 15i attached adjacent to the fluorescent lamp 3c. In this embodiment, the tube current control circuit 15d is set to flow approximately 600 mA to the fluorescent lamp 3c from the time the power is turned on until the light intensity of the fluorescent lamp 3c reaches a predetermined value, and after reaching the predetermined value, to flow approximately 400 mA. There is. Further, the fan switching circuit 15h switches the fan 15 when the surface temperature of the fluorescent lamp 3c becomes higher than about 50°C.
i is set to operate. 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 rotates in the direction of arrow b as shown in FIG. 1, and a transfer roller 4a.
The pressure roller 4b is in pressure contact with the pressure roller 4b. The surface of the transfer roller 4a has a thickness of 1 mm and a hardness of 70.
Consists of a 40mm diameter aluminum roller covered with high-grade silicone rubber, and has a built-in 800W
The surface is heated to 90-100℃ by halogen heater 4c.
It is configured to be held in The pressure roller 4b is made of an aluminum roller with a diameter of 30 mm and coated with silicone rubber with a hardness of 70 degrees and a thickness of 1 mm.The pressure roller 4b has a pressing force of 6 mm against the transfer roller 4a by a pressure means such as a spring (not shown). ~7Kgf/
It is pressed so that it is cm. Further, the recording paper 8, which is a recording medium loaded in the cassette 7, is transported by a feeding roller 9 and a register roller pair 1.
0a and 10b, the transfer recording medium 1 is configured to be fed to the transfer section 4 in synchronization so as to overlap with the image area of the recording medium 1. Next, the operation when recording is performed using the recording apparatus configured as described above will be explained. In the embodiment described below, an example will be shown in which heat is applied in accordance with an image signal and light is applied uniformly. An image is formed by driving a motor (not shown) to sequentially feed out the transfer recording medium 1 from the supply roll 2, and applying light and heat to the transfer recording layer 1b of the transfer recording medium 1 in the recording section 3 according to the image signal. be done. That is, when the transfer recording layer 1b is exposed to light and heat of a predetermined wavelength, its softening point temperature increases and it is no longer transferred to the recording paper 8. Therefore, as shown in the timing chart of FIG. Specifically, when recording magenta color, the heating elements of the heating element row 3b corresponding to magenta of the image signal are not energized, and the portion corresponding to the white of the image signal (recording paper 8 is white) is heated for 25 m.
The fluorescent lamp 3c is energized uniformly with a delay of 5 ms. The irradiation time at this time was 45
Let it be ms. Next, when recording blue, 50m after the end of the irradiation.
After s has elapsed, that is, 100ms from the energization time
Later, in the heating element row 3b, the heating element corresponding to the blue color of the image signal is not energized, but the portion corresponding to the white color of the image signal is energized for 25 ms, and after 5 ms, the fluorescent lamp 3d is uniformly irradiated. . The irradiation time at this time was also 45 ms, similar to the above. In the manner described above, the recording head 3a is controlled according to the blue, magenta, and white image signals to form a negative image on the transfer recording layer 1b, and the transfer recording medium 1 is synchronously formed at a repeating cycle of 200 ms/1ine. transport. When applying energy in the recording section 3,
Thermal energy application amount control means 14 controls the heat generation amount of the heating element array 3b to be large when the temperature of the recording head is low, and conversely to be small when the temperature of the recording head is high. Therefore, a constant thermal energy is always applied to the transfer recording layer 1b, and a large tube current is applied to the transfer recording layer 1b by the light energy application control means 15 when the power is turned on when the light intensity of the fluorescent lamp is low. The applied light energy is also always constant. Therefore, a high-quality negative image is formed on the transfer recording medium 1 according to the image information without being affected by the device environment or printing conditions. The transfer recording medium 1 on which the negative image has been formed as described above overlaps the recording paper 8 in the transfer section 4, and is heated and pressed by the transfer roller 4a and the pressure roller 4b to transfer the image onto the recording paper 8. Transfer to. Thereafter, the recording paper 8 is separated from the transfer recording medium 1 by a peeling roller 5, and the recording paper 8 on which the desired image has been recorded is discharged onto a discharge tray 11 by a pair of discharge rollers 13a and 13b. As described above, transfer recording of two colors, blue and magenta, is performed in one shot and without being affected by the apparatus environment or the like. <Other Embodiments> In the above-described configuration, in addition to the method of using the recording head 3a as the heating means, 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,
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. Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the amount of thermal energy applied was controlled by controlling the voltage applied to the heating element array 3b, but as another example, the voltage application time may be controlled. Heating element row 3
A configuration that corrects and controls changes in the amount of heat generated due to voltage fluctuations associated with changes in the heat generation ratio for one line of line b, or a configuration that corrects and controls variations in the amount of heat generated due to temperature increases due to continuous heat generation of a specific heating element in the heating element array 3b. A control configuration that performs correction may also be used. The light energy application amount control means 15 also controls the amount of light energy application by changing the magnitude of the tube current in the above-mentioned embodiment, but in another example, the amount of light energy application can be controlled by changing the lighting time of the fluorescent lamp. The amount of application may be controlled. Furthermore, it is not necessary to provide both the application amount control means 14 and 15 of thermal energy and light energy, but a configuration may be adopted in which either one of the control means is provided. For example, if changes in the amount of applied light energy are not affected by environmental temperature and the like and can be substantially ignored, high-quality images can be obtained by controlling only the amount of applied thermal energy. Further, in the above-mentioned 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 image signals are applied from the support 1a side. However, as another embodiment, heat may be applied uniformly and a predetermined light may be irradiated in accordance with the image signal. Furthermore, if the support 1a is made of a translucent material,
A configuration may be adopted in which light is irradiated from the support 1a 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 apart from this, the support 1a
Image formation is also possible by performing both light irradiation and heat application from one side. 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, the recording medium is not limited to the above-mentioned recording paper, and for example, a plastic sheet for an overhead projector (OHP) can also be used. Incidentally, in the above embodiment, light energy and thermal energy were applied to the transfer recording layer 1b at the same time, but even if the configuration is such that the optical energy and thermal energy are applied separately, the result is that both energies are applied separately. Any configuration that is given is acceptable. 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. In this way, monochromatic or full-color recorded images can be obtained. Furthermore, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the softening point temperature of the transfer recording layer 1b of the polymeric material containing the colorant is changed by light energy and thermal energy.
Although an example has been shown in which the image is transferred and recorded onto the recording medium, the image may be transferred and recorded based on differences in adhesive properties or sublimation characteristics to the recording medium. Alternatively, a layer that changes the coloring characteristics of the recording medium by imparting color development to the recording medium is provided on the transfer recording medium, and the image formed on the transfer recording medium is transferred to the recording medium. Therefore, it may be configured to obtain a record of an image. Further, as the transfer recording layer 1b, it is also possible to appropriately select and use a material having properties such as heat melting property, heat softening property, or heat sublimation property. Further, the transfer section 4 is not limited to roller-shaped rollers such as the transfer roller 4a and the pressure roller 4b, but may be of any configuration 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 downstream of the peeling roller. <Effects of the Invention> As described above, 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, so that an image can be formed even on a recording medium with a relatively low surface smoothness. Recording can be performed well. Furthermore, when the present invention is applied to multicolor recording, a multicolor image can be obtained without making any complicated movements on the recording medium. Furthermore, during image formation, at least one of thermal energy and light energy is controlled so that the amount of change in the transfer characteristics of the transfer recording layer is constant, making it possible to obtain high-quality images without being affected by the device environment. I can do it.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1A and 1B are general schematic explanatory diagrams of one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of a transfer recording medium, and FIG.
The figure is an explanatory diagram showing the light absorption characteristics of the photoinitiator in the transfer recording medium, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the spectral characteristics of the light irradiation means, FIG. 5 is a timing chart for applying heat and light, and FIG. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the structure of the thermal energy application amount control means, FIG. 7 is a graph showing the relationship between head substrate temperature and head applied voltage, and FIG. 9 is a construction explanatory diagram of the optical energy application amount control means. 1 is a transfer recording medium, 1a is a support, 1b is a transfer recording layer, 1c and 1d are cores, 1e is a shell, 1f
2 is an adhesive, 2 is a supply roll, 2a is a supply roll shaft, 3 is a recording section, 3a is a recording head, 3b is a heating element array, 3c and 3d are fluorescent lamps, 3e is a slit plate, 4 is a transfer section, 4a is Transfer roller, 4b is a pressure roller, 4c is a heater, 5 is a peeling roller, 6 is a winding roll, 7 is a cassette, 8 is a recording paper, 9 is a feeding roller, 10a and 10b are register rollers, 1
1 is a discharge tray, 12a, 12b, 12c are guide rollers, 13a, 13b are discharge rollers, 14 is a heat energy application amount control means, 14a is a head drive circuit, 14b is a head power supply section, 14c is a thermistor, 14d is an operational amplifier, 14e is the power supply section, 1
5 is a light energy application amount control means, 15a is a light receiving element, 15b is a reference voltage, 15c is an error detector,
15d is a tube current control circuit, 15e is a thermistor,
15f is the reference voltage, 15g is the error detector, 15h
is a switching circuit, and 15i is a fan.

Claims (1)

[Scope of 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 upon application of light energy and thermal energy, comprising: A heating means provided along a conveyance path of the transfer recording medium for applying the thermal energy to the transfer recording medium, and a light irradiation means for applying the light energy to the transfer recording medium. a recording section; a control means for detecting the temperature of the recording section and controlling the amount of heat energy applied according to the detection result; and a control means for detecting the amount of light of the recording section and controlling the amount of heat energy applied according to the detection result. an application amount control means having at least one of the control means for controlling the application amount of light energy; a transfer section for transferring an image formed on the transfer recording medium by the recording section to a recording medium; A recording device characterized by having: