JPH05292274A - Laser recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To irradiate a recording material with laser beams having desired scanning width. CONSTITUTION:A laser diode 24 irradiates a heat sensitive recording material S with laser beams L from a laser emitting plane 40 through a condenser lens 28. An irradiated part 42 on the heat sensitive recording material S with the laser beams L is made elliptical. In this case, the elliptical irradiated part 42 is rotated and displaced by rotating the laser diode 24 with the optical axis of the condenser lens 28 as a center. Thus, the irradiated part 42 can be irradiated with the laser beams L having the desired scanning width in the scanning direction.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for recording image information or the like on a recording material with a laser beam, and more particularly to an apparatus for irradiating the recording material with a laser beam having a desired scanning width. ..

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recording apparatuses for irradiating a recording material with a laser beam to record an image or the like have been widely used. For example, a thermal recording device has been developed which can record an image on a thermal recording material at high speed by using a semiconductor laser as a heat source (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 50-23617 and 58-58).
94494, JP-A-62-77983, JP-A-62.
-78964, etc.).

[0003]

By the way, in order to construct the thermal recording apparatus as described above, it is necessary to use a semiconductor laser having a very large output. Therefore, when an attempt is made to increase the output of the laser beam from the semiconductor laser, the emission surface of the semiconductor laser has a rectangular shape and the transverse mode of the laser becomes multimode. When the recording material is irradiated with this laser beam, the width in the main scanning direction and the width in the sub-scanning direction are different, and thus the recording material may not be recorded with a desired scanning width.
As a result, when recording image information or the like on the recording material, for example, a desired pixel density may not be obtained.

The present invention has been made to solve this kind of problem, and an object thereof is to provide a laser recording apparatus capable of irradiating a recording material with a laser beam with a desired scanning width. And

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention irradiates a recording material wound around a rotating drum with a laser beam from a semiconductor laser, and An apparatus for two-dimensionally scanning a recording material by displacing it in the axial direction of a drum to record an image or the like, wherein a lateral multimode semiconductor laser is used as the semiconductor laser, and a laser output from this semiconductor laser is used. It is characterized in that the beam is rotatable about an optical axis of a condensing optical system for condensing the beam on a recording material wound around a drum.

[0006]

When a recording material is irradiated with a laser beam output from a lateral multi-mode semiconductor laser, a substantially elliptical irradiation portion appears on the recording material. Therefore,
The scanning width of the laser beam is adjusted to a desired scanning width by rotating the semiconductor laser about the optical axis of the focusing optical system.

[0007]

EXAMPLES Examples of the laser recording apparatus according to the present invention will be given in connection with a thermal recording apparatus for carrying out the method.
The following is a detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 indicates a thermal recording device. This thermal recording apparatus 10 scans a thermal recording material S rotated in the direction of arrow A with a laser beam L,
An image or the like is recorded, the drum 12 around which the thermal recording material S is wound, the drive motor 14 that rotates the drum 12 in the direction of arrow A, the drive gear 16 that rotates by the drive motor 14, and the drive. A driven gear 18 that rotates in mesh with the gear 16, a ball screw 20 that rotates integrally with the driven gear 18, and a support base 22 that is displaced in the arrow B direction by the rotation of the ball screw 20 are provided. The support 22
A horizontal multi-mode laser diode 24 that outputs a laser beam L, a box body 26 that covers the laser diode 24, and a condenser lens 2 that condenses the laser beam L are provided above the laser diode 24.
8 and a drive motor 30 for rotating the laser diode 24 about the optical axis of the condenser lens 28. Here, the lateral multimode laser diode 24
For example, SLD304V / W manufactured by Sony can be used. In the heat-sensitive recording material S, a recording medium layer is formed on a support made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and this recording medium layer absorbs a color former, a color developer and a laser beam L to generate thermal energy. It is composed of a material containing a light absorbing dye that is converted into.
As this material, Japanese Patent Application Nos. 3-62684 and 3
It is preferable to use the heat-sensitive recording materials described in JP-A-187494.

That is, the present applicant has applied to such a thermal recording apparatus as a thermal recording material capable of recording a good image with high quality, and a color former, a developer and a light absorber on a support. A material that includes a dye and develops a color at a concentration according to the applied thermal energy has been developed, and a patent has already been applied for.

In this heat-sensitive recording material, microcapsules containing at least a basic dye precursor, a color developer and a light-absorbing dye are dissolved in an organic solvent which is hardly soluble or insoluble in water and then emulsified and dispersed. The heat-sensitive layer is formed by applying a coating liquid containing the emulsion.

The basic dye precursor has a property of developing a color by donating electrons or accepting a proton such as an acid, and is usually colorless and has a lactone, a lactam, a sultone, a spiropyran, an ester, A compound having a partial skeleton such as an amide, which is opened or cleaved by contact with a color developer, is used. Specific examples include crystal violet lactone, benzoyl leuco methylene blue, malachite green lactone, rhodamine B lactam, 1,3,3-trimethyl-6′-ethyl-8′-butoxyindolinobenzospiropyran.

As the color developer for these color formers,
An acidic substance such as a phenol compound, an organic acid or a metal salt thereof, and an oxybenzoic acid ester is used. The developer preferably has a melting point of 50 ° C to 250 ° C, and is particularly preferably a water-insoluble phenol or organic acid having a melting point of 60 ° C to 200 ° C. Specific examples of these color developers are described in, for example, JP-A-61-291183.

The light absorbing dye is preferably a dye that absorbs little light in the visible light region and has particularly high absorption in the infrared region. The dyes include cyanine dyes, phthalocyanine dyes, pyrylium / thiopyrylium dyes, azulenium dyes, squarylium dyes, N
Metal complex salt dyes such as i and Cr, naphthoquinone dyes / anthraquinone dyes, indophenol dyes, indoaniline dyes, triphenylmethane dyes, triallylmethane dyes, aminium dyes, diimmonium dyes, and nitroso compounds be able to. Among these, it is preferable to use one having a high absorption rate of light in the near-infrared region having a wavelength of 700 nm to 900 nm from the viewpoint of practical use of a semiconductor laser that oscillates near-infrared light.

The thermal recording apparatus 10 is constructed as described above, and its operation will be described below in relation to the recording apparatus according to this embodiment.

A drive motor 14 is provided via a control unit (not shown).
When is driven, the drum 12 connected to the drive motor 14 is rotated in the direction of arrow A together with the heat-sensitive recording material S wound around the drum 12. At the same time, the drive base of the drive motor 14 displaces the support 22 synchronously in the direction of arrow B via the drive gear 16, the driven gear 18, and the ball screw 20. At this time, the laser diode 24 outputs the laser beam L modulated according to the gradation of the image or the like recorded on the thermosensitive recording material S in response to a signal from the controller. This laser beam L is guided to the heat-sensitive recording material S via the condenser lens 28 and sub-scans in the direction of arrow B on the heat-sensitive recording material S which is main-scanned in the direction of arrow A.
In this case, the light absorbing dye in the recording medium layer of the thermal recording material S absorbs the laser beam and converts it into heat energy. The thermal energy melts the microcapsules and a desired gradation image is formed.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, the laser emitting surface 40 of the laser diode 24 is, for example, a rectangular body which is long in the X direction and short in the Y direction, and is preferably several hundred microns in width and several microns in length. Because of the shape, the transverse mode of the output laser beam L is multimode in the X direction and single mode in the Y direction. Then, the laser beam L is condensed by the condenser lens 28, and then the thermal recording material S is obtained.
An irradiation portion 42 that is long in the X direction and short in the Y direction is formed above. Therefore, if the drive motor 30 is driven to rotate the laser diode 24 by a predetermined angle, the thermal recording material S
The width of the irradiation portion 42 of the
And the width in the sub-scanning direction A is a1 to a2.
It can be changed within the range. As a result, an image having a desired pixel density can be recorded.

[0017]

According to the laser recording apparatus of the present invention,
The following effects can be obtained.

That is, by rotating the semiconductor laser about the optical axis of the condensing optical system for condensing the laser beam output from the semiconductor laser on the drum, an elliptical irradiation of the laser beam on the recording material is performed. By rotating the portion, the scanning width of the irradiation portion can be adjusted to a desired scanning width. Therefore, an image or the like having a desired pixel density can be formed on the recording material.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration perspective view of a thermal recording apparatus which is an embodiment of a laser recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of a main part of a laser recording device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a beam pattern on a heat-sensitive recording material in the laser recording device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Thermal recording device 24 ... Laser diode 28 ... Condensing lens 40 ... Laser emission surface L ... Laser beam S ... Thermal recording material

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A recording material is two-dimensionally scanned by irradiating a recording material wound around a rotating drum with a laser beam from a semiconductor laser and displacing the semiconductor laser in the axial direction of the drum. A device for recording an image or the like, wherein a lateral multimode semiconductor laser is used as the semiconductor laser, and a condensing optical system for condensing a laser beam output from the semiconductor laser on a recording material wound around a drum. A laser recording device characterized by being configured to be rotatable around an optical axis of a system.