JP3079672B2 - Reheating treatment device for recorded recording media - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of re-recording a recording medium which has been recorded by using a hot-melt type ink-jet recording apparatus or the like to reheat the recording medium, thereby melting the ink and improving the recording quality. The present invention relates to a heat treatment device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A hot-melt ink-jet recording apparatus records a hot-melt ink which is solid at room temperature and melts when heated, using an ink-jet ejection means on a recording medium. According to this type of recording apparatus, clear recording results can be obtained without ink bleeding.
It is also possible to record on a transparent film (hereinafter simply referred to as a film) for projection by an overhead projector or the like. However, since the amount of ink droplets ejected for recording is extremely small, the heat capacity is small. If the ink droplets adhere to the recording medium, the heat is immediately removed and solidified, and the ink rises on the recording medium. In particular, when the recording medium is a film, the bulge of the ink is conspicuous and becomes a convex lens shape. Therefore, in the case of color recording, when projected by an overhead projector or the like, light is refracted and clear colors are lost. For this reason, conventionally, there has been known a method in which a raised film is melted and flattened by reheating a film after recording.

[0003]

However, when the film is reheated, for example, when the recorded film is brought into contact with a heated platen to melt the ink, the contact is insufficient or unstable. Thus, there is a problem that the heat transfer becomes uneven and a uniform and stable processing result cannot be obtained. In particular, there has been a problem that the contact between the film and the platen tends to be insufficient at the leading end portion and the trailing end portion of the film, so that the processing tends to be unstable. The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and when reheating a recording medium such as a film, it is possible to obtain a uniform and stable processing result over the entire recording surface of the recording medium. It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for reheating a recorded recording medium that can be used.

[0004]

According to the present invention, there is provided a recording medium for stabilizing a recording surface of a recording medium by reheating a recording medium recorded by a recording apparatus immediately after the recording. In the apparatus for reheating the already-recorded recording medium, a platen that contacts the recorded recording medium and reheats the medium, a heating unit that heats the platen, and a conveying unit that conveys the recorded recording medium, Detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of the recorded recording medium conveyed by the conveying means, and a conveying speed of the recorded recording medium conveyed by the conveying means, the leading end of the recorded recording medium detected by the detecting means A control means is provided for controlling the predetermined range and the predetermined range from the end to be later than the other ranges.

[0005]

According to the above arrangement, the ink is re-melted by transporting the recorded recording medium in contact with the heated platen. At this time, the leading and trailing ends of the recording medium are detected by the detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of the recorded recording medium, and the transport speed in the predetermined range from the leading end of the recording medium and the predetermined range from the trailing end is controlled by the control means. Is set lower than the transfer speed in the range. As a result, the recorded recording medium comes into sufficient contact with the heating platen, and undergoes a stable reheating process.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a main configuration of a film reheating apparatus according to the present embodiment. In this apparatus, a recorded recording medium printed by a printing unit (not shown), here, the film 3 is carried in the direction of arrow A in the figure. The apparatus includes a platen 1 that contacts and heat-treats the recorded film 3, the platen 1 has a heater 5 for heating the platen 1, and the heating temperature of the heater 5 is detected. A thermistor 7 is provided. Further, an upstream feed roller 9a is provided on the upstream side of the platen 1 in the transport direction of the film 3 (hereinafter, simply abbreviated as the upstream side), and the downstream side in the transport direction of the film 3 (hereinafter, simply abbreviated as the downstream side). ), A downstream feed roller 9b is arranged. A pair of upstream feed roller 9a and downstream feed roller 9
b is rotationally driven by a motor 23 described later. The upstream feed roller 9a and the downstream feed roller 9b have a rotatable upstream pinch roller 11a and a rotatable downstream pinch roller 11 respectively.
b is in contact with a predetermined pressure, and the upstream paper feed roller 9a
The upstream pinch roller 11a and the downstream feed roller 9b rotate while pinching the film between the downstream pinch roller 11b and transport the film 3. A sensor 13 for detecting the presence or absence of the film 3 is provided immediately upstream of the upstream feed roller 9a.

FIG. 2 shows a block configuration of a control unit of the present apparatus. In the figure, a CPU 15 controls the operation of the apparatus according to a control program stored in a ROM 17. The heater 5 and the motor 23 are connected to the CPU 15 via a heater control circuit 19 and a feed control circuit 21, respectively. The heater 5 heats the platen 1, and the motor 23 rotates the upstream feed roller 9a and the downstream feed roller 9b via a gear train (not shown). The thermistor 7 and the sensor 13 are further connected to the CPU 15.
This is for detecting the presence or absence of the film 3. The temperature control of the platen 1 is performed by reading the temperature of the platen 1 with the voltage of the thermistor 7, detecting the temperature by the CPU 15, and controlling the heater 5 by the heater control circuit 19. That is, when the temperature of the platen 1 is higher than the set temperature, the power supply to the heater 5 is cut off, and when the temperature of the platen 1 is lower than the set temperature, the power supply to the heater 5 is performed.

Next, the operation of the apparatus for reheating a recorded recording medium according to this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the CPU 15 executes step S1 (hereinafter, referred to as step S1).
Abbreviated simply to S1. In the same manner for the other steps), it is determined whether or not the film 3 is carried into the present apparatus and the leading end of the film 3 is detected by the sensor 13. If detected, the process proceeds to S2, where the temperature of the platen 1 read by the thermistor 7 is compared with the set temperature. If the temperature of the platen 1 is lower than the set temperature, the process proceeds to S3 and the heater control circuit 19 controls the power supply to the heater 5 so that the platen 1 becomes the set temperature, and returns to S2. This set temperature is higher than the melting point of the ink.

If the temperature of the platen 1 is the set temperature in S2, the process proceeds to S4, where the upstream feed roller 9a and the downstream feed roller 9b are driven to rotate at a speed lower than the normal conveying speed for a predetermined time. Here, the rotation start is determined by the sensor 1
3, after the leading end of the film 3 is detected, it is delayed by a predetermined time slightly longer than the time required for the leading end of the film 3 to reach the upstream feed roller 9a. As described above, the reason that the upstream feed roller 9a and the downstream feed roller 9b are not immediately rotated is that, when the film 3 is conveyed obliquely, if the upstream feed roller 9a is stopped, the leading end of the film 3 will not be rotated. This is because there is an effect of being pressed and matched. This is well known in the art, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted. Also, the upstream feed roller 9a
Is stopped, the rotation amount of the upstream feed roller 9a and the feed amount of the film 3 can be matched, and the subsequent feed amount control can be performed accurately. it can.

After the predetermined time due to the low-speed rotation in S4 has elapsed and the leading end of the film 3 has reached the downstream feed roller 9b, the process proceeds to S5, in which the rotational speeds of the upstream feed roller 9a and the downstream feed roller 9b are increased. Normal speed). The reason why the film 3 is rotated at a low speed for the predetermined time in S4 is that the contact of the film 3 with the platen 1 is insufficient and unstable until the leading end of the film 3 reaches the downstream feed roller 9b. Is reduced by lowering the feed speed. The feed speed may be such that the ratio of the slow speed to the fast speed is changed from 2: 3 to 1: 3. Also, if the roller diameter of the upstream feed roller 9a is smaller than the roller diameter of the downstream feed roller 9b, tension is applied to the film 3 due to the difference in feed speed, and the contact of the film 3 with the platen 1 becomes more reliable and stable. I do. In this case, the upstream feed roller 9a includes an upstream feed roller 9a and a downstream feed roller 9b.
A one-way clutch may be provided to absorb the speed difference between the two.

The feeding of the film 3 proceeds, and in S6, it is determined whether or not the end of the film 3 is detected by the sensor 13. If it is detected, the process proceeds to S7 and returns to the initial low rotation speed again. This is done in the same manner as in the case of the leading end of the film 3 described above, after the end of the film 3 comes off the upstream feed roller 9a.
The reason for this is that the insufficient and unstable contact with the substrate is eliminated by reducing the feed speed. When the film 3 comes off the downstream feed roller 9b, the film 3 is discharged from the apparatus, and a series of operations is completed.
As described in detail above, after the leading end of the film 3 is inserted into the apparatus and reaches the downstream feed roller 9b, after the end of the film 3 comes off the upstream feed roller 9a, the feed speed of the film 3 is reduced. By doing, film 3
Can be sufficiently and stably contacted to the platen 1. When the ink on the recorded film 3 is reheated by the platen 1, the mass of the ink becomes flat as shown in FIG. 1, and the stabilization process is performed.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described in detail above, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. The film reheating apparatus of the present embodiment may be an apparatus which reheats a recorded film as a separate apparatus from the hot-melt ink jet recording apparatus, and may be installed in the hot-melt ink jet recording apparatus. It may be an embedded one. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the reheating treatment operation on the film has been described. However, the recording medium is not limited to the film, and can be applied to plain paper. Even in the case of plain paper, as described above, the amount of ink droplets ejected for recording is extremely small, and the heat capacity is small. The ink may be raised on the medium. Then, the raised ink gets caught on other recording paper or the user's hand,
Although the peeling or the recording result tends to be unclear, such a problem can be solved by the present invention.

[0013]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, during the reheating process of the recorded recording medium, the feeding speed of the medium at the front and rear ends of the recorded recording medium is reduced. Thus, the contact with the heating platen can be stabilized with a simple structure, and uniform and stable processing can be performed over the entire recording surface of the recorded recording medium.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part of a film reheating apparatus according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the control unit.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 platen 3 film 5 heater 9a upstream feed roller 9b downstream feed roller 13 sensor 15 CPU 17 ROM 21 feed control circuit 23 motor

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 2/01-2/015 B41J 11/42 B41J 29/00

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A recording medium reheating apparatus for stabilizing a recording surface of a recording medium by reheating a recording medium recorded by a recording apparatus immediately after the recording, wherein the recording medium has been recorded. A platen that reheats the medium by contacting the recording medium; a heating unit that heats the platen; a conveying unit that conveys the recorded recording medium; and the presence or absence of the recorded recording medium conveyed by the conveying unit. Detecting means, and the conveying speed of the recorded recording medium conveyed by the conveying means, a predetermined range from the leading end of the recorded recording medium detected by the detecting means, and a predetermined range from the end, the other range A re-heating treatment device for a recorded recording medium, comprising: control means for controlling the recording medium to be slower.