JPS62104767A - Ink jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To permit tonal recording by a method in which holes of different sizes are provided in an ink supply sheet, and the sheet is selectively heated by a thermal head to enable ink droplets of different sizes to jet. CONSTITUTION:Many holes of different sizes are periodically provided in the moving direction of an ink supply sheet 1, and position-detecting holes 3 of a larger diameter than the thickness of the sheet 1 are also provided. When the holes 3 pass through between a luminous element 11 and a light receiving element 12, an output signal is sent out from the element 12. On the basis of the output signal, voltage is applied to a thermal head 4 by selecting a timing to contact with the heating element of the head by targeted sizes of the holes, and a desired size of ink droplets are jetted.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an ink cartridge type recording apparatus.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention uses an ink-end method in which recording is performed by heating the ink filled in the holes of the ink supply sheet with a thermal head and ejecting the ink by the pressure of the generated bubbles. By providing holes of different sizes and selectively heating them with a thermal head, a plurality of types of ink droplets of different sizes are ejected to perform gradation recording.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, the ink-end method is widely known as a non-impact recording method. The inkjet method is a recording method with excellent features such as low noise, miniaturization, and easy color printing, but it has the disadvantage that nozzles are easily clogged. As a solution to this problem of nozzle clogging, a printer using an ink supply sheet has been proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 71260/1983. This type of inkjet printer uses an ink supply sheet in which many fine holes are formed, and a thermal head, for example, is brought into contact with one side of this ink supply sheet, and the thermal head is applied to the ink supply sheet by applying heat to the holes in the ink supply sheet. Bubbles are generated at the interface between the ink filled in the thermal head and the thermal head, and the pressure of the bubbles causes the ink to be ejected from the holes to print on the opposing recording paper.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in this conventional method, the large number of holes provided in the ink supply sheet are all the same size, so it is impossible to perform gradation recording by changing the size of the ejected ink droplets. there were.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and includes a plurality of holes of different sizes formed in an ink supply sheet.

[Effect]

Holes of different sizes formed in the ink supply film are filled with different star inks, so if you select the timing when the ink supply note passes through the thermal head section and heat the thermal head with Li1 Power II, , 7 quotient inks of different sizes can be ejected into selected i-sized droplets, and therefore dots of different sizes are formed on the recording paper, allowing gradation recording.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained based on illustrated embodiments.

In Figures 1 to 5, l is a thickness of 10 microns to 2 microns.
An ink supply sheet made with a thickness of about 0.00 microns,
The material is made of metal or resin. The ink supply sheet has a large number of holes of different sizes,
formed periodically. In FIGS. 1A and 1B, holes of the same size are formed in the direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the ink supply sheet 1, and holes of the same size are formed in the direction of movement of the ink supply sheet 1.
Holes 2a to 2d are formed periodically. The holes are of different sizes, with hole 2a being the largest, followed by hole 2b, then hole 2C9, and then hole 2d, and each hole is filled with an amount of ink corresponding to its size. It has become so. Further, one or more position detection holes 3 are provided in a part of the ink supply notebook 1.
The size of the position detection hole 3 is made larger than the size of the ink supply seat 1 so as not to be filled with ink. 212I and FIG. 3 are diagrams showing the relationship between the ink supply sheet I and the thermal head 4. Figure 2 shows 1
This is an example in which one hole is in contact with two thermal head heat generating parts 4a, and FIG.
This is an example in which a plurality of holes are in contact with a. The thermal head 4 is provided with a plurality of thermal head heat generating parts 4a. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 4, 5 is an ink tank;
It holds ink 6 inside. 7 is a platen, and the recording paper 8 is placed on the platen 7, and the ink supply 1
They are placed opposite to the sheet 1 with a slight gap between them. +1 is a light emitting element, and 12 is a light receiving element, which are arranged opposite to each other across the position detection hole of the ink supply sheet l (FIG. 5).
The positional relationship between the ink supply sheet 1 and the holes 2a to 2d of the ink supply sheet 1 is detected.

Next, the operation of the embodiment will be explained. The ink supply sheet 1 is guided by rollers 9 and 10 to the ink tank 5.
, is configured in a loop shape that circulates around the thermal head 4, and the holes 2a to 2d of the ink supply sheet l, which imitates the ink tank 5, are filled with ink, and the thermal head 4 is
reach. At the position of the thermal head 4, the ink supply sheet l is in contact with the thermal head heat generating part 4a, and when voltage is applied to the thermal head 4 in this state, the heat generating part 4a suddenly and violently generates heat to the thermal head, and the ink is Bubbles are generated at the interface with the ink in the holes 2a to 2d of the supply sheet 1, and the ink is ejected from the holes. The ejected ink droplets adhere to the recording paper 8 and printing is performed. As mentioned above, the ink supply sheet 1 is periodically provided with a plurality of holes of different sizes, so the timing when the hole of the desired size comes into contact with the thermal head heating section 4a is selected, and the thermal head is By applying a voltage to the ink droplets, ink droplets of a desired size can be ejected. The ejected ink droplets form dots on the recording paper 8 with an area corresponding to the size of the ink droplets. A position detection hole provided in the ink supply sheet 1 connects the light emitting element 11 and the light receiving element 12.
When passing between the two, a signal is output from the light receiving element. Based on this signal, the positional relationship between the thermal head 4 and the holes 2a to 2d of the ink supply sheet 1 is detected to obtain the print timing. In this embodiment, the light emitting element 11 and the light receiving element 12 are arranged with the ink supply sheet 1 in between, but the pixel elements are arranged on one side of the ink supply sheet 1, and the reflected light is used to position It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the detection hole 3 is detected.

In this embodiment, an ink supply sheet provided with holes of four different sizes has been described as an example, but the types of hole sizes are set depending on the desired number of recording gradations.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, in the present invention, an ink supply sheet in which a plurality of types of holes of different sizes are formed is selectively heated by a thermal head to eject ink droplets of different sizes to obtain a desired size. By forming small dots on recording paper, it is possible to perform gradation recording, which was impossible with conventional inkjet systems.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1(A) is a partial plan view of the ink supply sheet, the first
Figure CB) is a partial sectional view of the ink supply sheet, Figure 2 (
A), FIG. 3(A) is a partial plan view showing the relationship between the ink supply sheet and the thermal head, and FIG. 2(B)5 is a partial plan view showing the relationship between the ink supply sheet and the thermal head. FIG. 4 is a schematic explanatory diagram of the entire apparatus, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an ink supply sheet position detection section. ■ --- Ink supply notebook 2 ---11 hole 3--111 position detection hole 4 --- Thermal head 5 --- Ink tank 6 --- Ink 7 --- Platen 8 --- Recording paper 11 --- One light-emitting element 12 --- Light-receiving element Engraving of the above drawings (no changes to the contents) Molecular surface diagram of the button on the ink supply car number sheet Ink supply sheet's house decoration "Menguchi Homare 51" Diagram (A)
Figure 1 (B) Ink supply sheet and V-manoidal rad Inno 7 supply sheet and thermal to νF and open method and section 7 fair view Figure 2 (A) Second
Figure (B) Figure 3 (A) Figure 3 (B)
A simplified explanatory diagram of the entire device.
Diagram continuation capture +'i' (method)% expression%:

Claims (1)

[Claims] an ink supply sheet in which a large number of holes of different sizes are formed; a thermal head that heats the ink filled in the holes of the ink supply sheet to generate bubbles and ejects the ink; The thermal head selectively heats the plurality of different sized holes of the ink supply sheet to eject the plurality of different sized ink droplets, thereby creating a gradation. An inkjet printer that performs recording.