JPH02249669A - Recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify the printing function thereby to realize a recording apparatus simple in structure with less consumption of ink, etc., by supporting a card-like recording medium by a stage which moves linearly, and pressing a thermal head orthogonal to the moving direction of said stage against said recording medium via a transfer paper for recording, an elongated direction of said recording medium being a main scanning direction of said head and the direction of a shorter side of said recording medium being the moving direction of said stage. CONSTITUTION:When a recording apparatus 1 is set in the printing mode, a stage 10 is moved in a direction B1 as being guided by guide shafts 8a, 8b. On the stage 10 is positioned a card 6 which is inserted from a leading edge thereof at a shorter side. At this time, a line thermal head 11 which has been retreated is turned in a direction C1 by a head driving mechanism with the same timing as that of the movement of the stage 10, thereby pressing the card 6 via a transfer paper 13 mounted in a transfer paper cartridge 12. This card 6 is fed or discharged from a front panel 3 in an elongated direction thereof. The printing direction is orthogonal to the feeding or discharging direction of the card (parallel to the shorter side of the card). Accordingly, the positional control of the becomes easy, and printing can be done without positional deviations.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a recording device for recording image information and character information on recording media such as various flat cards such as magnetic cards and membership cards.

(Prior art and its problems) It is well known that in recent years, with the spread of credit cards and 10 cards due to the decentralization of information processing, prepaid cards such as telebon cards have also become extremely popular.

This type of card is generally made of synthetic resin or the like in the form of a flat plate, and, for example, it is equipped with a magnetic stripe on which a predetermined information signal is recorded.
On top of that, there are various types of photos that have undergone special processing, such as facial photos, in order to further confirm the identity of the person.

Among these cards, IQ records information such as facial photos.
Many cards are used, with a photo attached to the card and the card laminated. On the other hand, although printing is becoming more popular due to improvements in printing technology, it is extremely difficult to immediately create (draw) images on a card from image information captured on the spot with a video camera, etc. Met. Furthermore, printing devices for printing directly onto cards are very complex and large, and have the problems of being difficult to maintain and expensive.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional situation, and its purpose is to inject heat-sublimable ink or heat-melting ink onto business card-sized cards made of synthetic resin, for example. By pressing with a thermal head through transfer paper coated with ink, the image data from a video camera or computer is combined with data such as text and printed, simplifying the conventional printing function. To provide a recording device that uses few consumables, has a simple structure, and is inexpensive.

For this purpose, a recording device that prints data such as image information or character information on a card-shaped recording medium,
The card-shaped recording medium is held on a linearly moving stage, and as the stage moves, a line-shaped thermal head perpendicular to the direction of movement of the stage is pressed against the card-shaped recording medium through the transfer paper to form a predetermined image. A recording device on which data is recorded, and the card-shaped recording medium is positioned on the stage so that its longitudinal direction is in the main scanning direction of the thermal head, and its transversal direction is in the moving direction of the stage. Further, a recording device that prints data such as image information or character information on a card-shaped recording medium, wherein the card-shaped recording medium is held on a linearly moving stage, and as the stage moves, the stage is moved. A line-shaped thermal head perpendicular to the moving direction is pressed against the card-shaped recording medium through a transfer paper to record predetermined data, and the feeding direction of the recording medium to the stage is the movement of this stage. The present invention provides a recording device characterized in that the direction is perpendicular to the direction of the arrow.

(Example) Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the basic configuration of the recording device of the present invention, and Fig. 2 shows a thermal head drive mechanism, a transfer paper cartridge drive mechanism, and their surroundings, which constitute a part of the main parts of the device of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a transfer paper cartridge applied to the apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a transfer paper roll, and FIG. 5 constitutes a part of the main parts of the apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a side view of the stage shown in FIG. 5, FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the stage taken along the line Vl-Vl in FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the stage shown in FIG. The enlarged sectional view of the position regulating section, FIGS. 9 and 10 are plan views of the stage drive system shown in FIG. 5.

First, the basic configuration of the apparatus of the present invention will be explained using FIG.

A front panel 3 of a housing 2 of the recording apparatus 1 is provided with an operating section 4 and a card insertion slot 5 for determining various modes such as a print mode. A flat card 6, which is a recording medium, is inserted into this card insertion slot 5.
Jif from two directions! A guide member 7 for removal is attached with a part thereof protruding from the front panel 3. Further, an opening/closing lid 16 is rotatably attached to the front panel 3 so as to straddle the card insertion slot 5. By opening the opening/closing lid 16, a transfer paper cartridge 12 as shown in FIG. This makes insertion and removal operations (replacement work) easy. In this way, since the card 6 and the transfer paper cartridge 12 can all be operated from the front panel 3 side, which is the operation surface, the operability of the seal is very good.

Inside the casing 2 is a stage 10, which is a moving body guided by a pair of guide shafts 8a and 8b and linearly moved in a direction (B1°B2) perpendicular to the insertion direction of the card 6 by rotation of a ball screw shaft 9. is located.

During printing when the recording apparatus 1 is set to a predetermined mode, the stage 10 on which the inserted card 6 is positioned and placed with the transverse direction side as the leading end is the guide shaft 8a.

8b, and at the same timing, the line-type thermal head 11, which had retreated to the position indicated by the solid line, is rotated in the C1 direction to the position indicated by the two-dot chain line by the thermal head drive mechanism described later. Then, the card 6 is pressed through a transfer paper 13 attached to a transfer paper cartridge 12, which will be described later.

At this time, the transfer paper 13 is sent out in the D direction from the supply roll 14 by a transfer paper drive mechanism, which will be described later, in synchronization with the moving speed of the stage 10, and while supplying a predetermined signal current to the heating resistor of the thermal head, By being wound around the winding roll 15, the first color ink, yellow ink (
After printing Y ink), at the same timing as the thermal head 11 returns to the position indicated by the solid line by rotating in the 02 direction, the stage 10 returns to the 82 direction and reaches the initial position, and then the transfer paper 13 is sent in the D direction to locate the beginning of magenta ink (M ink), which is the second color ink, and sequential printing is started again by the same operation as described above.

When printing of the final color ink is completed, the stage 10 returns to the initial position again, and in response to the completion signal, the card 6 is ejected from the card insertion slot 5 in the A2 direction while being guided by the guide member 7, completing full-color printing. do.

That is, as a basic operation of the device of the present invention, cards 6 are fed and ejected along the longitudinal direction from the front panel 3 of the device, and the printing direction is perpendicular to the card feeding and discharging direction (in the lateral direction). ), it will be more clearly understood from the specific configuration described later that card position regulation is facilitated and high-quality printing without registration errors is performed.

Furthermore, since the card 6 is inserted along the longitudinal direction and printing is performed along the lateral direction of the card 6 (the sub-scanning direction of the thermal head 2), the length of one color of the transfer paper is shortened for printing. Since the time opening can be shortened and all operations can be performed on the Noh mask panel 3 side as described above, the recording device 1 can be downsized and has good operability.

The above explanation should have provided an understanding of the features associated with the basic operation of the device of the present invention.

Here, the detailed configuration of the recording apparatus 1 of the present invention will be sequentially explained. FIG. 2 shows the main mechanisms, a thermal head drive mechanism and a transfer drive mechanism, and FIG. 3 shows a stage and a stage moving mechanism.

(Thermal Head and Related Mechanism) First, in FIG. 2, the frame 17 of the device is formed into a substantially U-shaped cross-sectional shape by a pair of opposing side plates 17a and 17b and a bottom plate 17c connecting the two. and one side plate 17a
includes a thermal head drive mechanism 18 and a transfer paper winding mechanism 1.
9 are arranged respectively, and an insertion hole 17d for inserting the transfer paper cartridge 12 is formed in the other side plate 17b. A thermal head device (assembly) is placed in the upper part of this housing 17, and a stage 10 that moves via the transfer paper cartridge 12 is placed in the lower part, so that each related drive mechanism can be operated effectively. This makes it possible to organically connect each mechanism, making the device more compact.

A line-type thermal head 11 having a plurality of linear heating resistors is arranged so that the main scanning direction (the direction in which the heating elements are arranged) is perpendicular to the moving direction of the stage 10, and both ends thereof are rectangular. Mounting plates 20a, 2 having rigidity in shape
A card 6, which is a recording medium, is fixed at the front end of the head with a screw 21, and a screw 22 located at the top of the head.
The contact (the contact position of the head in the XI and X2 directions) can be adjusted. This adjustment enables printing without color unevenness. The upper ends of the mounting plates 20a and 20b are bridged by connecting rods 23, while the lower parts thereof have a side plate 17a.
By supporting the swing shaft 24 installed between , 17b, the thermal head 11 can be rotated with the swing shaft 24 as the support shaft.
It is rotatably supported in the 1 and C2 directions. These mounting plates 20a and 20b, the thermal head 11, and the connecting rod 23 constitute a thermal head assembly.

Further, this swing shaft 24 is located at a position offset from the connecting rod 23 by an appropriate length in the B+ direction.

Moreover, between the side plate 17a and the mounting plate 20a, the swing shaft 2
A compression coil spring 25 is inserted into the mounting plate 20.
a is constantly pressed in the E direction to restrict movement of the thermal head 11 in the axial direction (the main scanning direction of the thermal head, ie, the direction in which the heating resistors are arranged) during a printing operation to be described later. By using the compression coil spring 25 in this manner, it is possible to absorb the play in the axial direction of the thermal head 11, and at the same time, it is possible to reduce the load when the head swings.

One end support portion 26a of the drive arm 26 formed in an abbreviated shape
is pivotally supported at the center of the swing shaft 24, and the other end is connected to the operating portion 26.
b has a long hole 26c formed in the longitudinal direction, and the upper end of the one end support portion 26a faces the connecting rod 23 with a predetermined distance therebetween.

In the opposing portion 26d of the one-end support portion 26a, there are installed pins 36° 36 that loosely fit into the connecting rod 23, and coil springs 37 and 37 are fitted into each pin. As a result, the coil springs 37 and 37 apply a pressing force to the thermal head 11.

Reference numeral 38.38 denotes a leaf spring that connects the connecting rod 23 and the drive arm 26, one end of which is fixed to the connecting rod 23, and the other end inserted into a long hole 38a in a bottle 39.39 installed in the drive arm 26. , 38a are inserted. Coil spring 37.
Due to the elastic force of 37.

While regulating the distance between the connecting rod 23 and the drive arm 26,
The action of the elongated hole 38a allows relative displacement of the drive arm 26 with respect to the connecting rod 23 (the relationship between the two is clearly shown in FIG. 11). That is, drive arm 2
6 rotates in the C1 direction around the swing axis 24, the movement of the drive arm 26 and the movement of the thermal head 11 are linked at the beginning of the rotation, but at the end of the rotation (when the thermal head is pressed), the drive arm 26 The coil springs 37, 37 are bent and rotated independently, and this bending force becomes the head pressing force, and the force is, for example, about 10 kg.

Further, the long hole 26C of the other end acting portion 26b of the drive arm 26
Inside, there is a cam circle 11 supported by a rotating shaft 30 installed between the bearing part 27a of the connecting rod 27 which is a frame and the side plate 17a.
A cam roller 29 attached at an eccentric position of 28 is inserted. Note that this cam roller 29 may be a fixed shaft. A large-diameter gear 31 is fixed to the other end of the rotating shaft 30 on the outer surface side of the side plate 17a. Further, a pair of reflective parts 132 and 33 each having through holes 32a and 33a are fixed to the rotating shaft 30, and serve as a detection part for detecting the rotational position of the cam disc 28. Detection sensors 34 and 35 attached to 27 are arranged. One detection sensor 34 detects the operating position @ (pressing position) of the thermal head through the through hole 32a, and the other detection sensor 35 detects the non-operating position (separated image from the stage 10 @) of the thermal head through the through hole 33a. ) are detected respectively. For this detection, a disk with slits may be used instead of the reflective disk, and a transmission type detection sensor may be used. Furthermore, it is of course possible to integrate the reflecting disks 32 and 33.

The large diameter gear 31 is connected to the thermal head drive mechanism 18 supported by a shaft 40 provided upright on the side plate 17a.
It meshes with pinion gear 4.1a, which is the output gear of .

The thermal head drive mechanism 18 has a bracket 139 fixed to the side plate 17a, and the rotational force of the motor 42 is transmitted from a timing pulley 43 fixed to the motor shaft to another timing pulley 45 via a timing belt 44. . The rotation of the timing pulley 45 is greatly decelerated by being transmitted to the worm wheel 41 which is integral with the small gear 41a through the worm 46 which is integral with the timing pulley 45, and the decelerated rotational force is transmitted through the drive arm 26. CI with the thermal head 11 centered around the swing shaft 24
, swing in the C2 direction.

Since the force with which the thermal head 11 presses the card 6 on the stage 10 is around 1ON9 as described above, driving the drive arm 26 by the cam disc 28 rotating via the worm 46 and the worm wheel 41 is effective. ,
In addition, in this worm wheel drive, the cam circle 11A28 is not rotated by the reaction force acting on the thermal head suppressing operation, and therefore there is no need to provide a special rotation prevention mechanism due to the reaction force.

(Transfer Paper Cartridge and its Drive Mechanism) FIG. 3 shows a transfer paper cartridge and a drive mechanism for driving the transfer paper cartridge along with FIG. 2.

This will be explained with reference to FIG.

The transfer paper cartridge 12 is inserted into the insertion hole 17d of the frame 17 from the A+ force direction with the gear 50. It is placed between the stage 10 and the stage 10. The entrance sides of the guide plates 52 and 53 are expanded outwardly, respectively, with expanded portions 52a and 53a.
is bent to facilitate insertion of the transfer paper cartridge 12.

Here, the specific configuration of the transfer paper cartridge 12 will be explained. The frame portion of the transfer paper cartridge 12 is constructed by connecting a pair of cartridge side plates 54 and 55 facing each other at a predetermined distance with seven shafts 56a to 56f. A recess 54a is provided at the upper center of the cartridge side plates 54,55.

55a is formed, and the thermal head 11 is allowed to enter in this darkness, and a handle 57 is fixed to the outer surface of one of the cartridge side plates 55, and the transfer paper cartridge 12 is
This makes insertion and removal operations easy.

Furthermore, both cartridge side plates 54 and 55 have position holes 54b for positioning the cartridges when they are installed in the device.

54G, 55b, and 55c are drilled, respectively.
A transfer paper supply roll 14 and a transfer paper take-up roller 15, each of which has a transfer paper 13 wound thereon, as shown in FIG. . This transfer paper 13 is coated with yellow (Y) and magenta (M), which are heat-melting or heat-melting inks, on a polyester film as a base.
.

Cyan (Cy) was applied in a surface-sequential manner.

Both transfer paper supply O-ru 14. Notches 14a and 15a are formed at one end of the transfer paper winding roll 15, and the one-end notches 14a and 15a are provided with roll supports supported by a shaft holder 58 fixed to the cartridge side plate 54. It is fitted into the bins 58a, 59a of the shaft 59°59. On the other hand, the other end of the roll 14.15 is fitted into a roll support shaft 61.61 supported by a shaft holder 60.60 fixed to the other cartridge side plate 55. In addition, this roll support shaft 61.61 and the shaft holder 60.6
Compression coil springs 61 and 62 are installed between the rollers 14 and 0, and by bending the springs, the rolls can be easily attached and detached, and at the same time, the rolls 14 and 15 are always urged toward the cartridge side plate 54. Location is regulated.

Further, a gear 50.51 located on the outer surface of the cartridge side plate 54 and connected to the roll support shaft 58.59 is driven to rotate by meshing with a gear 67.66 (described later) of the device shown in FIG. . As a result, the transfer paper 13 is sent out from the transfer paper supply roll 14 and wound onto the transfer paper take-up roll 15 side.

Note that 64a to 64d are shafts installed between the cartridge side plates 54 and 55 to form a traveling bus for the transfer paper 13, and 65 is a highly reflective reflector plate attached to the mounting bracket 66. , and is in a positional relationship facing an ink detection sensor 93 of the apparatus, which will be described later.

Now that the configuration of the transfer paper cartridge 12 is understood,
The structure of the transfer paper cartridge drive mechanism 19 that drives the transfer paper cartridge drive mechanism 19 and related mechanical parts will be explained with reference to FIG. 2 again.

Gears 66 and 67 are arranged on the side plate 17a of the frame 17 at positions that mesh with the supply-side gear 50 and the take-up-side gear 51 of the transfer paper cartridge 12, respectively.

One gear 66 has an integrated large diameter m*68 and is supported by a shaft.
It meshes with a small gear 70 integrated with 9. And disk 6
The detection sensor 71 facing the pattern 9 is connected to the support part 72.
It is attached to the side plate 17a via. That is, when the supply roll 14 rotates, the disk 6 is supplied via the gear train.
At this time, the detection sensor 71 detects a radial white/black pattern and outputs a pulse-like signal to confirm the rotational state of the supply roll 14. Therefore, when the transfer paper 13 is finished, the rotation of the disk 69 naturally stops, so the apparatus can always check the remaining state of the transfer paper 13.

Further, the gear 5 on the winding side of the transfer paper cartridge 12
The other gear 67 that meshes with 1 has its shaft 74 connected to the side plate 17.
It is slidably and rotatably supported by a shaft boulder 73 fixed to the outer surface of a. A driving gear 76 is attached to the rotating shaft 74 on the shaft holder 73 side, and a toothed gear 76 is attached to the rotating shaft 74. 116
A coil spring 75 is fitted on the 7 side. Therefore, when the gear 67 meshes with the gear 68 of the transfer paper cartridge 12, even if the mutual teeth are out of phase, the gear 67 is displaced in the pressing direction against the elastic force of the coil spring 75. It rotates and elastically returns to the position where the teeth are in phase, allowing an accurate meshing relationship to be maintained.

The drive gear 76 is slidably engaged with a wide small gear 78 which is an output gear of the transfer paper drive mechanism 19. The small gear 78 is integrally formed with the large gear 79, and is supported by a shaft 77 implanted in the side plate 17a.

The large gear 79 meshes with a wide small gear 81 supported by a shaft 8o installed on the side plate 17a, and a felt, which is a friction material, is fixed to a flange portion 81a of this small float 81 and a coaxial gear 83. 82 are pressed from the rear side by a coil spring 84 and are frictionally joined. In other words, the pinion 81 and the gear 83 are connected by a slip clutch mechanism.

The gear 83 meshes with small teeth FI86 on the rotating shaft of the motor 85. This motor 85 is fixed to the side plate 17a by a frame 87.

Therefore, the motor 85 of the transfer paper cartridge drive mechanism 19
The rotation of the small gear 86 is transmitted at a reduced speed to the small float 81 connected to the gear 83 via a slip clutch mechanism, and the small float 81 is further transmitted to the large gear 79 . Small gear 78. gear 7
6 (gear 67) is decelerated to drive the transfer paper cartridge 12.
The transfer paper 13 is wound up by rotationally driving the teeth W151 clockwise. When winding up the transfer paper, the transfer paper 13
If the paper is wound with excessive force, streaks will occur in the main scanning direction of the print screen, so the slip clutch mechanism effectively acts to prevent overload during winding.

Further, the through holes 54b, 54c, 55b, 55c of the cartridge side plates 54, 55 of the inserted cartridge are introduced into the inner surface of the side plate 17a and the outer surface of the side plate 17b, respectively, and positioning pins 89a, 89 for positioning are introduced.
9b, 90a, and 90b are provided in a protruding manner.

These positioning bins 89a, 89b, 90a.

The tip of 90b has a conical shape to facilitate the introduction of a through hole for positioning the cartridge.

Furthermore, a mounting plate 92 is attached to the corner member 91 of the humumum 17.
The ink detection sensor 93 is provided in three tones in a row in the width direction, facing the traveling transfer paper 13. Each detection sensor 93, 93, 93 is connected to the transfer paper 13 shown in FIG.
It is possible to distinguish between the black mark BL, yellow (Y) and magenta (M), and between magenta (M) and cyan (Cy), as will be described later.

Furthermore, a lock lever 94 for locking the transfer paper cartridge 12 is rotatably attached to the side surface of the side plate 17t).
4, movement in the insertion direction is completely restricted.

(Stage and Stage Moving Mechanism) The stage 10 and stage moving mechanism are shown in detail in the perspective view of FIG. 5 and in FIGS. 6 to 8, and in FIG.
1 and 10 are respectively shown in plan views.

Card 6 and stage 10 consist of rectangular blocks,
As shown in FIG. 6, the guide shafts 8a and 8b, which have both ends attached to support plates 100 and 101 fixed to the frame 17, are supported via linear ball bearings 102 and 102, and are rotated by the rotation of the ball screw shaft 9. The card 6 moves in a direction perpendicular to the main scanning direction of the thermal head 11 and is inserted along the longitudinal direction of the guide member 7 from the direction perpendicular to the direction of movement as shown in FIG.
Fix it. This linear ball bearing 102.102
is regulated by stoppers 103 and 103 fixed to the N surfaces 10a and 10b of the stage 10 (7) with screws.

A ball screw shaft 9 is arranged between both guide shafts 8a and 8b,
The nut is fixed to the stage 1o, and both ends are rotatably supported by support plates 1o and ioi fixed to the frame 17 via ball bearings 104 and 105.

One ball bearing 1.5 of the support plate 101 (III!) is in a fixed state, and the other ball bearing 104 on the support plate 1oo side is simply in a supported state. Therefore,
Even when the threaded portion undergoes thermal expansion due to frequent movement of the stage 1o, the ball bearing 1°4 will not move in the axial direction and bend the threaded portion.

The guide shafts 8a and ab have shaft diameters that allow the stage 1o to maintain sufficient rigidity against the pressing force of the thermal head 11, thereby preventing the occurrence of deflection of the ball screw shaft 9 and minimizing gear unevenness during printing. It has a polished finish to hold it in place and allow smooth movement of the stage. Further, by disposing the ball screw shaft 9 on the guide shafts 8a and 8bfl, it is effective against deflection and rattling can be reduced.

The upper surface 10c of the stage 10 is provided with a card fixing section 106 which is a flat surface.
The slot has a groove shape with an opening on the card insertion side formed by a pair of stoppers 107° 107 at the back, a positioning rib 108 and a guide rib 109 at a position approximately corresponding to the width of the card 6 to be inserted.

The bottom of this groove is a flat platen part 110 made of an elastic material such as rubber, and the hardness is appropriately set according to the material and thickness of the card 6, which is a recording medium. For example, the material of the card 6 is made of vinyl chloride polymer, vinyl chloride, vinyl acetate polymer, etc., and the thickness is 0.68 mm.
~0.8011 card has a rubber hardness equivalent of 40
Set at around 65″ and made of paper with a thickness of 0.2111 to 0.
．． For 411 cards, the hardness is equivalent to 60°
By setting it to 85'', the thermal head 11 will be able to better contact the warping and bending of the card 6, and will also prevent the card from sinking into the elastic member more than necessary, thereby preventing registration misalignment. Images with good S/N can be obtained.

As shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 8, the guide rib 109 is attached with a positioning pin 111 whose head 111a protrudes into the groove.
1 is wound with a coil spring 112, so that it can elastically move forward and backward.

Further, the head 111a is formed with a tapered surface to allow the card 6 to be smoothly introduced.

Also, conveyance rollers 113a, 113a, 113b, 113 for feeding and discharging the card 6 in proximity to the positioning rib 108 and guide rib 109 of the platen portion 110 are provided.
b is rotatably attached to the stage 1o. Conveyance roller 113a.

On the outer peripheral surface of 113b, coating layers 115, 115 are formed of rubber or the like having a high coefficient of friction.

Transport o-5113a, 11a (113b, 113b)
is coaxial with the rotating shaft 114a (114b), and is movable up and down within the groove 118 as shown in FIG.
Although the bearing portions 119, 119 are elastically supported by the coil springs 116, 116 disposed below 0, the presser pin 117, which protrudes from the positioning rib 108 and the guide rib 109 in its raised position, 11
MtlJ by 7. These presser bins 117,
117 are both rotatable. Coil spring 116°1
The elastic force 16 is appropriately set so that the card can be brought into close contact with the platen portion 110 during printing when the thermal head 11 presses the card 6 .

A pulley 120, which includes a pair of large and small pulleys 120b and 120a, is attached to the side surface 10a of the stage of the rotating shaft 114a. This pulley 120 is attached to the stage 1o and serves as an output for a card conveyance 61411121 that moves together with the stage 1o.

As shown in FIG. 6, the geared motor 122 of the card transport mechanism 121 is attached below the stage 10, and the rotation of the small pulley 124 fixed to the motor shaft 123 is controlled by the first geared motor 122.
is transmitted from the rubber belt 126 to the large pulley 120b via a pair of idlers 125. Large pulley 120b
The rotation of the second rubber belt 12 is caused by the small pulley 120a.
8 to the small pulley 127 on the rotating shaft 114b of the other conveyance rollers 113b, 113b.

This small pulley 127 has the same diameter as the small pulley 120a, and both rotate in synchronization. These first and second rubber belts 126 and 128 are connected to the large pulley 120b and the small pulley 12.
0a, since the coil springs 116 and 116 are wound horizontally or nearly horizontally with respect to the pulley 127, the coil springs 116 and 116 are compressed by the belt tension, thereby preventing a decrease in the running force of the card.

As previously shown in FIG. 1, the guide member 7, which is connected to the stage 10 when inserting and removing the card, has a positioning rib 108 on the stage 10 and a position where the guide rib 109 extends. Regulation rib 12 for υ1
It has 9.129.

The flat upper surface 7a of the guide member 7 has a groove 7b for preventing scratches.
This is a position corresponding to the position of the magnetic stripe surface of the card defined by JIS standards, etc., and also functions as a guide for the insertion direction when inserting the card. A feeding/discharging sensor 130, which is a reflective optical sensor, is provided in this groove 7b, and detects the presence or absence of a card when feeding/discharging a card to prevent malfunction of the device.

In addition, there is an LED 7c on the front side of this guide member 7,
The status of the device is confirmed using two-color LEDs that emit different colors when a card can be inserted and when printing.

Here, FIG. 5 shows the drive system of the stage 10.

This will be explained with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.

131, the stage 10 is moved in a direction perpendicular to the line direction of the heating element of the thermal head 11<B1. B2) is a stage transport mechanism for transporting the stage 10 to the ball screw shaft 9, which is a large diameter timing pulley 132 fixed to the ball screw shaft 9, and a small diameter timing pulley connected to a stage drive motor (DC motor) 133 by a coupling 134. 135 through the timing belt 136, the rotational motion is converted into linear motion by the ball screw shaft 9.

The stage drive motor 133 and timing pulley 135 are each fixed to the bottom plate 17G via mounting bases 137 and 138. This timing pulley 135
Since the ball bearing 140 is used as the bearing, it has the effect of reducing unnecessary rotational unevenness.

An encoder plate 142 is fixed to the shaft 141 of one of the timing pulleys 135, and the rotation of the stage drive motor 133 is controlled by the FG sensor 1, which is a transmission type optical sensor.
43 to detect. Its FG ratio output stage drive motor 1
It is used for 33 servo control and print timing.

The encoder plate 142 has an origin pattern 144 that outputs one pulse per rotation, and the detection of this pattern is used by the origin sensor 145 as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 to detect the print start timing in the operation described later. .

The movement position of the stage 10 is detected by a start sensor 146. which is a transmission type optical sensor. This is done using a limit plate 148 attached to the side surface of the stage 10 by an end sensor 147. That is, the start sensor 146 is connected to the limit plate 1.
48, the stage 10 is at the card feeding/ejection position, and when the end sensor 147 is blocked, the stage 10 is on the end side, and both sensors 146, 14
When 7 is not blocked, it is recognized that it is in the process of moving.

Furthermore, at the start and end positions of stage 10,
Limit switches 149 and 150 are arranged in each case, and if the device becomes unable to detect the position with the above-mentioned sensor of the stage 10 due to an unexpected situation (for example,
If the microcomputer that controls the mechanism goes out of control due to noise, etc., or if the start sensor 146. If the stage 10 comes into contact with the support plate 100 or 101 and a switch is turned on to prevent destruction of each part of the i-structure (such as disconnection or destruction of the end sensor 147), a reset signal is sent to the microcomputer hardware to stop the program. can be done.

Reference numerals 151 and 152 are card supply/discharge sensors and positioning sensors provided at the starting position of the stage 10, and are attached to the fixed part. One of the feeding and discharging sensors 151 is a transmissive type and is of a reflective type and is used to detect cards of undetectable colors and to detect card jams during feeding and discharging.

The other positioning sensor 152 is used to detect when the card 6 comes into contact with the stopper 107 during card insertion. Since these sensors 151 and 152 are not attached to the moving stage 10, there is no fear of wire breakage and the reliability is high.

(Explanation of Operation of Recording Apparatus) Here, the operation of the recording apparatus according to the present invention configured as described above will be explained by the operation explanatory diagrams shown in FIGS.
A detailed explanation will be given one by one with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

When the power is turned on to the recording device 1 (step 200), the microcomputer of the mechanical controller is initialized (step 201), and then all the motors in the above configuration are stopped and the display L is
The ED is turned off (step 202). As a result of these operations, all outputs of the motors (42, 85, 133) of each drive system become [old OhJ] since the lowJ drive motors are adopted.

Thereafter, IC data for setting the print mode, etc. is set using the power supply control of the thermal head 11 and the operation section 4 of the front panel 3 (step 203).

As for the mechanical operation, first, the separation state of the thermal head 11 from the stage 10 is confirmed (step 204).
.

That is, when the detection sensor 34 detects that the thermal head 11 is not separated from the stage 10 as shown in FIG.
8 rotates clockwise, the thermal head assembly is rotated clockwise in the 02 direction about the swing shaft 24, and the head separation operation is performed, resulting in the state shown in FIG. This is done first, prior to all mechanical operations, in order to prevent the expensive thermal head 11 from being destroyed.

For the operations described below that are mechanically controlled by sensors, such as head crimping and stage movement, the operation time is appropriately limited (timer settings), and if the operation is not completed within the time limit (open at a predetermined time), all operations will be stopped. An error occurs (step 205) and the program is stopped. Please note that the error code is
When "Oo", it is determined that there is no error. This is due to error code detection after each subroutine.

In addition, if the thermal head 11 is 1111 from the beginning of the stage 10 as shown in FIG.
From step 05, the process moves to step 206.

In the subroutine (StlB) of step 206, the start position of the stage 10 is determined. That is, as shown in FIG.
8, the stage 10 is not at the start position and the stage drive motor 133 is reversed to move the stage 10 to the state shown in FIGS. 9 and 11. If this is not completed within the timer setting, the program will be stopped due to mechanical or sensor damage. Note that if the stage 10 is at the start position from the beginning, this process is passed in the same manner as described above, and the process proceeds from step 20γ to the card ejection subroutine of step 208.

In this subroutine, if the card 6 remains in the card fixing part 106 on the stage 10 that has returned to the starting position @, the card 6 will block the positioning sensor 152, so the geared motor 122 of the stage 10 shown in FIG. The card is driven in reverse to eject the card. At this time, if the supply/ejection sensor 151 is not shut off within the timer setting, the program will stop as a card ejection error. Furthermore, if the supply/discharge sensor 130 of the guide member 7 shown in FIG. 5 does not respond within a certain period of time, the program is similarly stopped.

If the supply/discharge sensor 130 reacts, the geared motor 122 is reversed after a certain period of time and then stopped. Thereafter, the program waits until the card can no longer be detected by the supply/discharge sensor 130, and when the card is no longer detected, it is determined that the card has been removed and the program proceeds to the next program.

By performing such steps, double feeding of cards can be prevented and stable operation of the device can be guaranteed.

If there is no card from the beginning, the process proceeds from step 209 to the transfer paper cue subroutine of step 210.

The beginning of Y ink, which is the first color of the transfer paper 13, is moved by the motor 85 of the transfer paper drive mechanism 19.

Here, the black mark BL on the transfer paper 13 shown in the fourth figure in the transfer paper cartridge 12 shown in the third figure is detected by one of the reflective ink detection sensors 93 shown in FIG. 2. The ink detection sensor 93 has an infrared LED emitting light, which transmits dyes of Y, M, and 0 colors, but does not transmit black. Therefore, if the light is not reflected by the reflective plate 65 provided on the transfer paper cartridge 12, it can be detected as a black mark B. This operation is limited by timer settings, and in the event of a sensor failure, the program is stopped to prevent unnecessary winding of transfer paper.

That is, as shown in the subroutine of FIG. 16, if a black mark is not detected in step 240, a predetermined time (for example, 10 seconds) is set (step 241), and then the transfer paper motor 85 is rotated (step 242). When the beginning of the Y ink is located in step 243, the transfer paper motor 85 is stopped (step 244), and the process returns to step 210 of the main routine. Also, in step 243, Y
If the color ink is not started, check whether a predetermined time (for example, 10 seconds) has elapsed (step 245) L.
If the predetermined time has been reached, check again in step 243 that the Y color ink has started, and if the predetermined time has been reached, step 24
Step 6 sets an error code (for example, error code 1) and stops the transfer paper motor 85 in step 21 of the main routine.
Return to 1.

The printing preparation operation is completed through the steps up to this point. Then, returning to the main routine of FIG. 15 again, if there is no operation error in step 211, the display LED 7C on the front side of the guide member 7 for card insertion will indicate rRE^DY J.
Turns on (step 212) and maintains it with the card inserted.

Here, when the cards 6 are manually inserted one by one along the regulating ribs 129 and 129 of the guide member 7 as shown in FIGS. Detected.

That is, when the card 6 is inserted, the supply/discharge sensor 151 responds, and its output causes the geared motor 122 of the card transport mechanism 121 shown in FIGS. 2 and 6 to rotate forward, and the card 6
is conveyed until it abuts on the innermost stopper 107, 107 on the stage 10. As described above, this conveyance is carried out using the rubber belts 126° and 128, so when the card 6 is butted, the tension of the belt ensures reliable positioning.
It is possible to prevent misregistration during printing.

When the card 6 comes into contact with the stopper 107, 107, the positioning sensor 152 is blocked by the card 6, and the geared motor 122 is stopped. If this is not shut off within the timer setting, the program will stop as a supply error.

When the card 6 is accurately placed on the stage 10 and detected, a printing operation is started. For this reason, the recording apparatus 1 itself does not have a print start switch, and subsequent operations proceed automatically, resulting in extremely good operability.

The card 6 is inserted on the stage 10 in step 213), the card 6 is inserted according to the cartridge insertion subroutine in step 214, and the card 6 is inserted in step 215.
If there is no operational error, the head crimping operation is performed.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the motor 42 of the thermal head drive lII#I'18 is driven in normal rotation until the detection sensor 35 on the connecting rod 27 detects the hole 33a of the reflection plate 33.
Head crimping (step 216) is performed. This state is shown in FIG.

If there is no operation error in step 211, step 2
Print at 18. Printing is started according to the subroutine shown in FIG.

A stage drive motor 133 that drives the stage 10 shown in FIG. The motors 19 of the transfer paper drive mechanism 19 shown in FIG. 2 are respectively driven (step 250).

That is, the stage 10 is moved by the rotation of the stage drive motor 133, and the start sensor 146 is interrupted by the limit plate 148.

When the start sensor 146 is disconnected, the origin pattern 144 of the encoder plate 142 passes through the origin sensor 145 shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. Then, the origin pattern 144 passes the origin sensor 145 (
Step 251) and FG counting are started (Step 252).

Since the stage 10 moves at a low speed, there is variation in the timing at which the start sensor 146 is cut off, and this is shown in Figure 19 (a) when shown in analog value, and as shown in Figure 19 (b) when shown in digital form. , the one line count is different in the figure.

In particular, when the stage 10 moves back and forth three times, a one-line lens shift occurs, resulting in poor image quality.

Therefore, if the FG count is performed after checking the origin pattern 144 provided on the encoder plate 142 again, a counting error will not occur. In particular, even if the encoder plate rotates at high speed and has jitter, no counting errors occur. FIG. 19 is a waveform diagram of the FG pattern and the origin pattern, and there is one pulse at the origin for three FG lines.

Further, since the FG pattern and the origin pattern 144 are on the same encoder plate 142, the phase does not change, so no registration error occurs.

After starting the FG count, a certain count (for example, 50
After line count (step 253), energization of the thermal head is started (step 254).

This is to stabilize the motor startup speed.

A heat generating resistor element is supplied to the thermal head 11 as a composite signal obtained by combining, for example, image information photographed by a video camera and character information from a personal computer or the like.

The stage 10 moves in the 81 direction from the position shown in FIG. 9 to the position shown in FIG. 85 rotates and the transfer paper 13
is sent out from the supply roll 14 and wound onto the take-up roll 15 in synchronization with the moving speed of the stage 1o. When energization is started and a predetermined print line (for example, 400 lines) is counted (step 255), the energization to the thermal head 11 is cut off (step 25G).

When the stage 10 reaches the end position, the end sensor 147
detects the limit plate 148 (step 257), the stage drive motor 133 and the transfer paper drive motor 85
are respectively stopped (step 258) L.

Then, as shown in FIG. 14, the thermal head 11 is separated from the stage 10, and printing of the first color, Y, is completed. This head challenge operation is performed in the same manner as the previously described operation. Then, on the card 6, for example, an image such as a person's face is recorded on the left side, and text information such as an organization name or a profile is recorded on the right side. This opposite position I! It may be a relationship, or it may be a superimposition method in which characters are recorded on the video.

When the head separation is completed (step 220), the stage 10 returns to the B2 direction, and the stage origin and the beginning of the transfer paper 13 of magenta (M color ink), which is the second color, are located (step 232).

This operation is performed in a subroutine shown in FIG.

That is, the stage drive motor 133 is reversed and the motor 85 is driven (step 260).

Then, the stage 10 is detected by the origin sensor 146 (step 261) L/, and if the detection is confirmed, the stage drive motor 133 is stopped (step 263),
The process loops until the next ink detection sensor 93 detects the beginning of magenta (M) (step 263).

If the beginning of magenta is detected in step 263, the transfer paper motor is stopped (step 264), and the process returns to step 222 of the main routine.

On the other hand, if the origin of the stage 10 is not detected in step 261, magenta cue detection is performed in step 265 while the stage 10 continues to move. Here, if the magenta cueing is not completed, the process returns to step 261 and detects the origin again. (i.e. 26
1→265→261...) If magenta cue detection is confirmed, the transfer paper motor 8 is turned on in step 266.
5, return to step 261, and repeat steps 261 → 265 → 268 → 261 until the origin of stage 10 can be detected.
Perform a loop of... Thereafter, if the origin of the stage 10 can be detected, steps 261→262→263→264 are performed.

In this case, since the magenta cueing has been completed, there is no loop at step 263.

The magenta (M) cue is detected by a reflective sensor using a green LED as a light source, which transmits the Y color but not the M color, so one of the ink detection sensors 93 detects the boundary. Then, the motor 85 for driving the transfer paper is stopped.

In the program, the start position detection of the stage 10 and the transfer paper detection are performed simultaneously, and either one may be detected first, but independent timer settings are made for both, and when this timer is exceeded, the program is stopped.

If there is no operation error in step 222) and step 223 when the beginning and start position of the transfer paper are completed, the thermal head 1 is placed on the card 6 in the same manner as above.
If there is no operation error in step 225, the stage drive motor 133 rotates normally, and after setting the printing timing in the same way as for Y color, printing of M color is performed (Step 22B). Since this step is carried out in the same manner as the subroutine shown in FIG. 17 for the Y color, a redundant explanation will be omitted.

After completing M color, if there is no operation error in step 227,
Similar to step 204, head separation is performed in step 228, and if there is no operation error in step 229,
Step 230) for finding the stage origin and the beginning of the transfer paper is performed again. Cy color is detected by a reflective piece sensor using a red LED as a light source, which transmits M color but does not transmit Cy color, and uses one of the ink detection sensors 93 to perform positioning.

This cueing makes it possible to print cyan (Cy color), and if there is no operation error in step 231, the head is pressed (step 232).

If there is no operation error in step 233, printing is performed according to the subroutine for printing the Y color, and when printing of the final color is completed, the process returns to the first routine, separating the head, locating the start position of stage 10, ejecting the card, and transferring. After locating the beginning of paper Y color, etc., the state returns to rllEADY J state.

(Series of operations from card supply to paper ejection) Here, in order to summarize the operation of the present invention, the series of operations from card supply to completion of printing and paper ejection will be explained using FIGS. 11 to 14. Explain.

As shown in FIG. 11, the thermal head 11 is spaced apart from the stage 10 so that it can supply cards.

The distance between the thermal heads 11 is determined by the motor 4 shown in FIG.
2 is energized, the cam disk 28 is rotated, and the detection sensor 35 facing the reflection disk 33 detects the hole 33 of the reflection disk 33.
When a is confirmed, the electric current is cut off, resulting in a separation state.

Further, the positioning mark BL of the transfer paper 13 is detected by the ink detection sensor 93, and current is supplied to the motor 85 of the transfer paper 13 which is stopped at that position of the transfer paper drive unit 19.

Further, the start position of the stage 10 is determined by the limit plate 14 of the stage 10 using a start sensor 146 shown in FIG.
8 is detected, and the card becomes ready to be supplied at this time.

Therefore, as shown in FIG.
When the guide member 7 is inserted, the supply/discharge sensor 130 shown in FIG.
13b rotates, and the card 6 is transferred to the transport rollers 113a, 11
3b and the presser bins 117, 117, while being elastically held therebetween.

When the position sensor 152 detects the stop position of the card 6, the current to the geared motor 122 is cut off, and the card 6 is supplied onto the stage 10 as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 12, the thermal head 11 transfers the card 6 to the transfer paper 13.
This shows a state in which pressure is applied from the vertical direction through the .

As described above, when the motor 42 of the thermal head drive mechanism 18 is energized, the cam disk 28 rotates, and the reflection disk 3
The detection sensor 34 detects the second hole 32a, and the hour motor 42 stops based on the detection signal. At this time, a coil spring 3 is installed between the rotating drive arm 26 and the connecting rod 23 that forms the frame of the thermal head assembly.
7 and 37 are bent, and the thermal head 1 is bent according to the amount of bending.
1 rotates in the C1 direction, and a vertical pressing force acts on the card 6.

When the thermal head 11 and the card 6 are in contact with each other, the stage drive motor 133 of the stage transport mechanism 131 rotates the ball screw shaft 9, and the stage 1
0 moves in the B direction using the guide shafts 8a and 8b as guides. At the same timing as the stage 10 moves, the motor 85 of the transfer paper drive mechanism 19 that drives the transfer paper 13 rotates, and the transfer paper 13 is rotated through the gear 67. rotates the gear 51 on the take-up roll 15 side of the transfer paper cartridge 12, and rotates the transfer paper 13.
is sent out from the supply roll 14. A predetermined signal current is supplied to the heating resistor of the thermal head 11 at the same time,
The ink on the transfer paper 13 is sequentially transferred onto the card 6.

When the stage 10 reaches the printing end position as shown in FIG. 13, the end sensor 147 detects the limit plate 148 of the stage 10, and the detection signal cuts off the current to the stage drive motor 133. stage 10
stops.

Then, the cam disk 28 is rotated by supplying N flow to 42,
The cam roller 29 moves within the elongated hole 26c of the drive arm 26, rotates the drive arm 26 in the direction around the swing shaft 24, and moves the thermal head 11 to the stage 10.
14.

Next, the ink detection sensor 93 detects the head position of the second color ink.
Current is supplied to the motor 85 until one of the motors detects the
It will then be detected and stopped. Stage 10 82 in parallel
direction and return to the starting position.

When the above operation is performed again, the second color ink is transferred to the card 6. In this way, Y, M, (
, / completes full-color printing by transferring the three colors of ink.

Note that the transfer paper 13 may be made of 8K black in addition to the three colors Y, M, and CV, and in that case, the number and type of the detection sensors 93 must be appropriately selected.

When the predetermined printing operation is completed in this way, the geared motor 1 is moved from the stage 10 which has returned to the starting position.
22, the card 6 is transferred to the transport rollers 113a, 1
13b in the direction A2 in FIG. 1, and is ejected from the card insertion slot 5.

(Effect of the invention) In the recording device of the present invention configured as described above,
Cards, which are recording media, are fed and ejected along the longitudinal direction from the orientation panel side of the device, and the printing direction is perpendicular to the card feeding and ejection direction (short side direction). It has the advantage that positional regulation is easy and high-quality printing without registration errors can be performed. moreover,
Since the card is inserted from the longitudinal direction and printing is performed in the transverse direction of the card (31 scanning direction of the thermal head), the length of one color of the transfer paper can be shortened, and the printing time can be shortened. In addition, the moving distance of the stage can be shortened to reduce the size of the apparatus, and all operations can be performed from the front panel, so the recording apparatus has the advantage of improved operability.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the basic configuration of the recording apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a thermal head drive mechanism, a transfer paper cartridge drive mechanism, and their surrounding parts, which constitute a part of the main parts of the apparatus of the present invention. , FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a transfer paper cartridge applied to the device of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a transfer paper roll, and FIG. 5 is a stage and stage movement that constitute a part of the main parts of the device of the present invention. Fig. 6 is a side view of the stage shown in Fig. 5, Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the same stage taken along the line ■-■ in Fig. 6, and Fig. 8 is an enlarged view of the card position regulating section. sectional view, FIGS. 9 and 10 are stage drive plan views,
11 to 14 are diagrams for explaining the operation of the present invention, FIG. 15 is a flowchart of the main routine for explaining the operation of the apparatus of the present invention, FIGS. 16 to 18 are flowcharts showing subroutines, and FIG. 19 is a diagram showing the detection timing state of each sensor. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Recording device, 2... Housing, 3... Front panel, 4... Operation part, 5... Card insertion hole, 6... Card, 7... Guide member, 8a , 8b... Guide shaft, 9... Ball screw shaft, 10... Stage, 11...
...Thermal head, 12...Transfer paper cartridge,
13... Transfer paper, 14... Supply roll, 15...
Winding roll, 17... Frame, 17a, 17b.
...Side plate, 18...Thermal head drive mechanism, 19.
...Transfer paper winding mechanism, 20a, 20b...Mounting plate,
23-... Connecting rod, 24... Swinging arm, 26...
Drive arm, 27... connecting rod, 28... cam disk,
30... shaft, 31... large diameter gear, 32.33...
Reflection disk, 34. 35... Detection sensor, 36... Bin, 37... Spring, 38... Leaf spring, 39... Bin, 41... Worm wheel, 42... Motor, 42, 43...Timing pulley, 50...Gear on the supply side, 51...Gear on the winding side, 54.55...Cartridge side plate, 68...Large gear, 69...Disk, 70... small gear, 71...
・Detection sensor, 74...Rotating shaft, 76...Drive gear, 78...Small gear, 85...Motor, 93...Ink detection sensor, 94...O lever, ioo, io
l... Support plate, 106... Card fixing part, 107.
...Stopper, 108...Positioning rib, 109...
・Guide ribs, 113a, 113b...conveyance rollers,
121... Card transport mechanism, 122... Geared motor, 126... First rubber belt, 128... Second
rubber belt, 129...MtA lip, 131...
Stage transport m structure, 133... Stage drive motor, 142... Encoder, 144... Origin pattern, 145... Origin sensor, 146... Start sensor, 147... End sensor, 148... ...Limit plate, 151... Supply/discharge sensor, 152... Positioning sensor. Patent Applicant: Japan Victor Co., Ltd. Representative 6'Thursday
Japanese National 50, General σ Map Kaya/D Map Procedure Amendment October 3, 1989, 1989 Patent Application No. 72633 2, Invention Title Recording Device 3, rWI related to the person making the amendment case

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A recording device that prints data such as image information or character information on a card-shaped recording medium, in which the card-shaped recording medium is held on a linearly moving stage, and the stage moves as the stage moves. A line-shaped thermal head perpendicular to the direction is pressed against the card-shaped recording medium through a transfer paper to record predetermined data, and the longitudinal direction of the card-shaped recording medium is aligned with the main scanning direction of the thermal head. 1. A recording apparatus, characterized in that the recording apparatus is positioned on the stage so that the lateral direction is the moving direction of the stage. (2) A recording device that prints data such as image information or character information on a card-shaped recording medium, in which the card-shaped recording medium is held on a linearly moving stage, and the stage moves as the stage moves. A line-shaped thermal head perpendicular to the direction is pressed against the card-shaped recording medium through a transfer paper to record predetermined data, and the direction in which the recording medium is supplied to the stage is the direction of movement of this stage. A recording device characterized in that the direction is orthogonal to the direction.