JPH07120398B2 - Card recorder - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a recording device for a card in which information is recorded, such as a cash card or a credit card.

(Prior Art) Recently, for example, a card such as a cash card or a credit card in which various information including characters, figures or symbols is recorded on the front surface or the back surface of the card is used.

Card recording devices for recording the information on the front surface or the back surface of these cards are roughly classified into two types.

In the first type, in short, the card is mounted on a carrier that can reciprocate in a predetermined direction, and a thermal head composed of a large number of heating elements arranged linearly is The thermal head is arranged so as to be oriented at a right angle to the carrying direction, and the thermal head is provided so as to be able to approach and separate from the moving area of the carrying table. A thermal ribbon is hung on the thermal head.When the thermal head is pressed against the card surface while the card is moving on the carrier, the thermal ribbon is pressed against the card surface. Information is to be recorded on the surface.

The second type, in short, conveys cards with a large number of sets of rubber rollers. The thermal head is moved toward and away from the card being conveyed in accordance with the rotation of the rubber rollers. The thermal ribbon hung on the head is pressed against the surface of the card to record information at a predetermined position on the card.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in such a conventional card recording device,
The following issues remain.

That is, the first type carries a card on the carrier so that the card is carried, but since both the carrier and the thermal head are rigid bodies, if the card is warped, the surface of the carrier and the card come into close contact with each other. The state of not doing occurs. If the thermal head is pressed against the card surface in such a state, the pressing force of the heating element of the thermal head is not uniform with respect to the card surface, so that the information to be transferred to the card is not accurately transferred. . Such a state is
Since both the carrier and the thermal head are formed of a flexible inner rigid body, it may occur even when the gap between the carrier and the thermal head is not uniform.

In the second type, when the card is conveyed by the rubber roller, the rotational speed of the rubber roller and the card conveying distance are liable to be inconsistent due to elastic deformation of the rubber roller or slipping of the card. There is a problem that it cannot be accurately transferred.

An information card recording device according to the present invention was invented to solve the above problems, and even if the card is warped,
Information is recorded by uniformly inputting the pressing force of the recording head to prevent unevenness in information recording and by accurately conveying the card to a predetermined position when recording information on the card. The purpose is to prevent the displacement of the.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, a card recording device according to the present invention is a card holding device for holding an end portion of a card for information recording and a surface of the card directly or indirectly. A recording head that can be pressed against, a card supporting means that is disposed at a position facing the recording head and that can support the back surface of the card, and an information recording portion of the card is sandwiched by the recording head and the card supporting means. Driving means, a card supporting means, a housing for supporting the recording head and the driving means, and the card holding means is mounted so as to be movable through the recording head and the card supporting means. At the same time, the space for allowing the card support means to enter and exit is opened, and when the card holding means passes over the card support means, the space is provided in this space. The card support means and the recording head sandwich the card.

A card recording device according to a second aspect of the present invention is the card recording device according to the first aspect, wherein the card holding means is provided so as to be movable in a predetermined direction with respect to the housing, and the card holding means has a screw hole. A feed screw rotated by a motor provided in the housing is screwed into the opened screw hole.

(Operation) According to the card recording device of the present invention, since the card holding means holds the end portion of the card, the front side and the back side of the card become a space, but the information recording portion of the card supports the recording head and the card support. When transferred between the recording head and the card supporting means, the information recording portion is directly or indirectly clamped by the recording head and the card supporting means, so that the card is evenly clamped by the recording head and the card supporting means. Information is accurately recorded on the card.

When the card holding means moves with respect to the recording head and the card supporting means, since the end of the card is held by the card holding means, there is no displacement between the card and the card holding means, and the recording head and the card supporting means. Based on the amount of displacement of the card holding means with respect to the means, the existing position of the information recording portion of the card can be accurately obtained.

(Embodiment) Hereinafter, a card recording device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 schematically shows the configuration of the card recording device according to the present embodiment.
And a card stand 20 as a card holding means for holding a plastic card 2 for recording information, and a card stand 20.
A conveying device 30 for conveying the paper in a predetermined direction, a thermal head (recording head) 40 for recording information such as characters and figures on the front surface of the plastic card 2, and a card supporting means for supporting the back surface of the plastic 2 being conveyed. Platen roller
Drive devices 70 and 80 for separating the thermal head 40 and the platen roller 50 from each other in the vertical direction, and the reel 60 for winding the thermal ribbon T wound around the thermal head 40 and the thermal head 40 and the platen roller 50.
(Driving means).

The housing 10 includes a base plate 10a extending horizontally and a back plate 10b rising vertically from the base plate 10a.

A transport device for transporting the card stand 20 on the base plate 2a.
A drive device 70 for moving the platen roller 50 up and down is provided, and a drive device 80 for moving the thermal head 40 up and down is provided on the back plate 10b.

The carrier device 30 includes a bearing plate 3 that is erected on the base plate 10a.
1a, 31b and guide shafts 32a, 32b installed on bearing plates 31a, 31b
, A feed screw 33, and a stepping motor 34 coupled to the end of the feed screw 33. Guide shaft 32a, 32
The card stand 20 is attached to the b and the feed screw 33.
A control device 90 is connected to the stepping motor 34, and a control signal regarding the rotation speed and the rotation direction of the stepping motor 34 is output from the control device 90,
Information about the rotation speed and the rotation direction of the stepping motor 34 is output to the control device 90.

As shown in FIG. 3, the card stand 20 includes a pair of vertical wall portions 21,2.
2 and a horizontal shaft portion that connects the upper end portions of the pair of vertical wall portions 21 and 22 to each other.
23, 23, and a space 24 is formed between the vertical wall portions 21, 22 and the horizontal shaft portions 23, 23. The vertical wall portions 21 and 22 extend in the conveying direction, and the vertical wall portion 21 on the side of the back plate 10b has an insertion hole 21a into which the guide shaft 32a is inserted and a screw hole 21b into which the feed screw 33 is screwed. It is open. The vertical wall portion 22 facing the vertical wall portion 21 has an insertion hole 22a through which the guide shaft 32b is inserted. The horizontal shaft portions 23, 23 are formed so as to extend at right angles to the carrying direction of the card board 20, and the horizontal shaft portions 23,
Grooves 23a, 23a for holding the front and rear ends of the plastic card 2 in the conveying direction are formed on the surfaces of the grooves 23 facing each other.
The plastic card 2 is inserted into 3a and 23a from the direction perpendicular to the carrying direction of the card board 20. In this embodiment,
When the front and rear ends of the plastic card 2 in the carrying direction are held, the front and rear ends of the plastic card 2 come into contact with the bottom walls of the grooves 23a, 23a, so that the displacement of the card stand 20 in the carrying direction is prevented. . Needless to say, the end portion of the plastic card 2 to be held may be either the left or right end portion in the carrying direction or both the left and right ends, and in the case of holding the left and right end portions of the plastic card 2 in the carrying direction. May be provided with a holding means for holding the left and right ends of the plastic card 2 immovably when the plastic card 2 is mounted on the card stand 20, or the card stand forming the space portion 24.
A step portion into which the peripheral edge of the plastic card 2 can be fitted may be provided on the peripheral edge of 20.

The drive device 70 for moving the platen roller 50 up and down includes a mounting plate 71 protruding from the base plate 10a, a solenoid 72 also mounted on the base plate 10a, a slider 73 slidable on the base plate 10a, and a platen roller 50. Arms 74, 74, both ends of which are rotatably held and pivotally attached to both upper end portions of the mounting plate 71, and a spring 75 connecting an intermediate portion of the mounting plate 71 and the slider 73.

The mounting plate 71 has a width that can be positioned between the vertical wall portions 21 and 22 of the card base 20 and the horizontal shaft portions 23 and 23 of the card base 20 of the platen roller 50 so as not to interfere with the transport area of the card base 20. It has a height that prevents it from touching the upper end. Vertical wall parts 21, 22 and horizontal axis part 2
A platen roller 50 can be moved into and out of the space 24 defined by 3, 23.

The solenoid 72 is operated by a control signal output from the control device 90 of the stepping motor 34. That is, in this control device 90, the rotation speed and rotation direction of the stepping motor 34, the pitch of the feed screw 35, the preset movement start reference position of the card base 20, and the horizontal axis portions 23 and 23 of the card base 20. Based on the position of the opposite wall, etc., the card stand 20
The current position of the space portion 24 is calculated, and the calculation result is compared with the position of the rotary shaft 51 of the platen roller 50. As a result of this comparison, immediately before the printing start position 2a of the plastic card 2 (the position at which the recording of information shown in FIG. 3 is started, the same applies below) arrives above the rotary shaft 51, the solenoid 72
A control signal is output to the solenoid 72, the solenoid 72 pulls the slider 73, and the slider 73 slides on the base plate 10a.

The slider 73 functions as a driving cam that moves the platen roller 50 up and down, and the end on the solenoid 72 side is low and the end on the mounting plate 71 side is formed high, and the high portion 73a is parallel to the base plate 10a. It is regarded as a face.

The arms 74, 74 function as a driven cam that engages with the slider 73 to move the platen roller 50 up and down, and a portion located below the mounting shaft 50a that pivotally supports the platen roller 50 is on the slider 73 side. When the protruding cam portions 74a and 74a are formed and the solenoid 73 is actuated to move the slider 73 to the solenoid 72 side, the arms 74 and 74 are lifted to lift the platen roller 50, and the platen roller 50 is placed on the plastic card 2. Abut.

The thermal head 40 as a recording head for recording information on the plastic card 2 is a plate-shaped member in which a large number of dot-shaped heating elements each having a small area are linearly arranged at the lower end, and heat is generated by a control signal from the control device 90. The body heats up and the dye or the like (see FIG. 4) of the thermal transfer type thermal ribbon T is transferred to the surface of the plastic card 2. The thermal head 40 is fixed to the arms 81a and 81b of the drive device 80.

The drive device 80 includes the aforementioned arms 81a and 81b, a mounting shaft 82, and
It is composed of a solenoid 83 and a spring 84. The arm 81a and the arm 81b are pivotally attached to a mounting shaft 82 projecting from the back plate 10b. A portion of the arm 81a disposed near the back plate 10b near the fixing portion of the thermal head 40 is curved so as to be recessed toward the base plate 10a side.
Mounting shaft 61 of reel 60 for winding the thermal ribbon T (second
(Refer to the figure). The rear end portion of the arm 81a is substantially "L" upward from the vicinity of the pivot portion of the mounting shaft 82.
It is bent in a letter shape and is connected to a spring 83a extending from a solenoid 83 provided on the back plate 10b. A spring 84 that urges the rear end of the arm 81a against the tensile force of the solenoid 83 is connected to the rear end of the arm 81a. The end of the spring 84 is fixed to the back plate 10b. The spring 84 normally raises the thermal head 40. The back plate 10b is provided with mounting shafts 61, 61 for pivotally mounting the reels 60, 6 for winding the thermal ribbon T, and a stopper shaft 85 for restricting the moving region of the rear end of the arm 81a. . One end of the arm 81b has a thermal head 4
It is fixed to 0, and the other end of the arm 81b is rotatably attached to the attachment shaft 82.

The solenoid 83 is driven by receiving a control signal E from the control device 90. In this controller 90, the stepping motor
The transport distance of the plastic card 2 is calculated based on the rotation amount of 34 and the pitch of the feed screw 33, and the position information of the print portion (information recording portion) for printing on the plastic card 2 is calculated based on this transport distance. . Based on this position information, the control device 90 sends a control signal E to the solenoid 83.
Is output, the solenoid 83 pulls the rear end of the arm 81a against the urging force of the spring 84, and the thermal head 4
0 descends toward the plastic card 2. When the thermal head 40 descends and the plastic card 2 is sandwiched via the thermal ribbon T, a control signal F for generating heat is output to the thermal head 40 and the thermal ribbon 40
Dye is thermally transferred to the printed portion of the plastic card 2. In the present embodiment, the thermal ribbon T has a color arrangement of three colors of yellow, magenta, and cyan as shown in FIG. 4, and multicolor printing can be performed on the surface of the plastic card 2. . The mounting shaft 61 protruding from the back plate 10b is a stepping motor 6 provided on the back surface of the back plate 10b.
Rotated by 3.

Next, the operation of the card recording apparatus of this embodiment will be described.

First, before printing on the plastic card 2,
20 is located on the left end side in FIG. The position of the card stand 20 at this time is the print standby position. When the card stand 20 is in the print standby position, the plastic card 2 is inserted from the extending direction of the grooves 23a, 23a of the card stand 20. The print standby position of the card stand 20 is set in the controller 90 as a reference position for calculating the rotation amount of the stepping motor 34.

When the plastic card 2 is inserted into the card stand 20, the control signal A for rotating the stepping motor 34 is the control device.
Output from 90 to the stepping motor 34. The control signal A causes the stepping motor 34 to rotate, so that the card stand 20 is conveyed so that the printing start portion S of the plastic card 2 is located above the upper end of the platen roller 50. Information about the carry amount of the card board 20 calculated from the rotation amount of the stepping motor 34 and the pitch of the feed screw 33 is output to the control device 90 as an information signal B. The control device 90 includes the upper end portion of the platen roller 50. Since the reference rotation amount of the stepping motor 34 when the printing start position 2a of the plastic card 2 is located above is set, when the rotation amount of the stepping motor 34 reaches the reference rotation amount, the transmission of the control signal A is stopped. To be done.

After the card board 20 is conveyed, the control device 90 outputs a rotation start control signal C for idling the thermal ribbon T to the stepping motor 63, and the reel 60 rotates to cause the thermal head 40, for example, a thermal head 40 to rotate. Ribbon T yellow
The starting position of Ty is transferred. An information signal C ′ relating to the rotation amount of the stepping motor 63 is input from the stepping motor 63 to the control device 90, and is compared with the information relating to the color arrangement positional relationship of the thermal ribbon T stored in the control device 90. As a result of the comparison calculation in the control device 90, when the start position of the yellow Ty is located on the thermal head 40, the thermal head 40 moves the platen roller via the thermal ribbon T.
As the solenoid 83 operates so as to abut the 50,
In this embodiment, the control signal D is output from the control device 90 to the solenoid 72 while the reels 60, 60 are rotating. This platen roller
The control signal D for raising 50 may be continued until the printing of the plastic card 2 is completed, or the thermal ribbon T
Although the platen roller 50 may be moved up and down each time the color of is changed, in this embodiment, the output of the control signal D to the solenoid 72 is continued until the printing of the plastic card 2 is completed.

Platen roller 50 by output of control signal to solenoid 72
After the rise of the control signal E, the control device 90 outputs the control signal E to the solenoid 83. Due to the output of the control signal E, the solenoid 83 operates and pulls the rear end of the arm 81a toward the solenoid 83 side against the biasing force of the spring 84. As a result, the thermal head 40 and the platen roller 50 sandwich the plastic card 2 via the thermal ribbon T.

While the plastic card 2 is being held, a control signal F that causes the heating element at the tip of the thermal head 40 to generate heat is intermittently output from the control device 90 to the thermal head 40, and the thermal ribbon T is applied to each row of the printing portion of the plastic card 2. The yellow dye is thermally transferred. At this time, the platen roller 50 in contact with the plastic card 2 rotates as the card table 20 is conveyed. When the card holder 20 is fed by the stepping motor 30, the reels 60, 60 rotate in synchronization with this, and the thermal ribbon T is pressed against the plastic card 2 by the pressing force of the thermal head 40. And the plastic card 2 and the thermal ribbon T
While sending and, simultaneously, each line is printed on the surface of the plastic card 2 by controlling the heating element of the thermal head 40. The pressing of the plastic card 20 by the thermal head 40 is continued until the yellow printing is completed when the yellow printing is performed on the card 20, for example. Also,
The heating element of the thermal head 40 is controlled so that the yellow color printing of the plastic card 20 is completed while the yellow dye portion of the thermal ribbon T is in progress.

When the printing of yellow is completed, the operation of the solenoid 83 is stopped. As a result, the urging force of the spring 84 causes the arm
The rear end of 81a is pulled toward the stopper 85, and the thermal head 40 rises above the plastic card 2 together with the thermal ribbon T. After the yellow printing on the surface of the plastic card 2 is completed, the solenoid
After the operation of 83 is stopped, the stepping motor 62 is
The control signal C is output to the stepping motor 62, and the magenta portion, which is the next transfer color of the thermal ribbon T, is rotated.
Tm is located at the lower end of the thermal head 40.

Next, the control signal A is output to the stepping motor 34, the stepping motor 34 rotates, and the plastic card 2
The card stand 20 is conveyed so that the magenta printing start position of is on the upper end of the platen roller 50. After that, the stepping motor 34, the stepping motor 62, the solenoid 83, and the thermal head 40 are controlled as in the case of printing the yellow Ty, and the process is continued until the thermal transfer of cyan, which is the third transfer color, is completed.

After the printing of the plastic card 2 is completed, the drive signal D of the solenoid 72 is stopped so that the operation of the solenoid 72 is stopped, and the slider 73 slides toward the mounting plate 71 side by the urging force of the spring 75. As a result, the cam portion 74a of the arm 74 moves to a lower portion of the slider 73, and the support state of the back surface of the plastic card 2 by the platen roller 50 is released. Next, the stepping motor 34 rotates and the card stand 20 is transferred to the print standby position. When the next plastic card is mounted and the control signal for starting printing is output again from the control device 90 to the stepping motor 34 or the like, printing of the next plastic card is started.

According to the card recording apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, since the front and rear ends of the plastic card 2 in the carrying direction are held by the grooves 23a, 23a and are carried together with the card stand 20, the plastic card 2 is carried in the carrying direction. Does not cause misalignment of printing color in the front-back direction. Moreover, the back surface side of the plastic card 2 is supported by the platen roller 50, and the thermal head 40 descends from above the platen roller 50, so that the plastic card 21 is sandwiched via the thermal ribbon T. Since the heating element presses the plastic card 2 uniformly, the printing cannot be uneven. As a result, the print quality of the plastic card 2 can be greatly improved. Furthermore, card stand 20
Since it is hollow, it is easy to install a supply / discharge mechanism for the plastic card 2. Moreover, since the pressing force of the thermal head 40 is not applied to the card stand 20 itself, the stepping motor 34 for carrying the card stand 20 can be made smaller and lighter.

(Advantages of the Invention) Since the card recording apparatus according to the present invention is configured as described above, even if the card is warped, the pressing force of the recording head is uniformly input so that the information recording is not uneven. In addition to the above, there is an effect that it is possible to prevent positional deviation of recorded information by accurately conveying the card to a predetermined position when recording information on the card.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a card recording device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view showing a side configuration of the card recording device according to FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a card recording device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the shape of a card stand as a conveying means, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the color arrangement of the thermal ribbon used in this embodiment. 1 ... Card recording device 2 ... Plastic card (card) 10 ... Housing 20 ... Card stand (card holding means) 30 ... Conveying device 40 ... Thermal head (recording head) 50 ... Platen roller (card) Supporting means) 60 ... reel 70, 80 ... drive device (drive means)

Front page continuation (72) Inventor Hiroyuki Kuroki 1-5-1 Taito, Taito-ku, Tokyo Toppan Printing Co., Ltd. (56) Reference JP 62-75887 (JP, A) JP 62-102469 ( JP, A) Actually open 63-87610 (JP, U) Actually open 1-148353 (JP, U) Actually open 64-18367 (JP, U) Actually open 62-83249 (JP, U)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A card holding means for holding an end portion of an information recording card, a recording head capable of directly or indirectly pressing the surface of the card, and a card arranged at a position facing the recording head. Card supporting means capable of supporting the back surface of the card, driving means for sandwiching the information recording portion of the card by the recording head and the card supporting means, and the card supporting means, the recording head and the driving means. A housing, the card holding means is mounted so as to be able to pass between the recording head and the card supporting means, and a space portion into which the card supporting means can be put in and out is opened, and the card holding means. When the card passes over the card supporting means, the card supporting means and the recording head hold the card in the space. Card recording apparatus. 2. The card recording device according to claim 1, wherein the card holding means is provided so as to be movable in a predetermined direction with respect to the housing, and a screw hole is opened in the card holding means. The card recording device is characterized in that a feed screw rotated by a motor provided in the casing is screwed.