EP0387698A2 - Thermischer Drucker, insbesondere für Etiketten - Google Patents

Thermischer Drucker, insbesondere für Etiketten Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0387698A2
EP0387698A2 EP90104416A EP90104416A EP0387698A2 EP 0387698 A2 EP0387698 A2 EP 0387698A2 EP 90104416 A EP90104416 A EP 90104416A EP 90104416 A EP90104416 A EP 90104416A EP 0387698 A2 EP0387698 A2 EP 0387698A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
head
heat
band
sensitive material
roller
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP90104416A
Other languages
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0387698A3 (de
Inventor
Franco Lupoli
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
LEPTONS ITALIA SpA
Original Assignee
LEPTONS ITALIA SpA
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by LEPTONS ITALIA SpA filed Critical LEPTONS ITALIA SpA
Publication of EP0387698A2 publication Critical patent/EP0387698A2/de
Publication of EP0387698A3 publication Critical patent/EP0387698A3/de
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J17/00—Mechanisms for manipulating page-width impression-transfer material, e.g. carbon paper
    • B41J17/02—Feeding mechanisms
    • B41J17/08—Feed independent of the record-paper feed

Definitions

  • the subject of the present invention is a thermal printer using a continuous band of heat-sensitive material on which selected points are heated to print on a suitable support, normally a paper web.
  • the invention also concerns a procedure for optimizing use of the band of heat-sensitive material.
  • label printing for example printing bar codes on labels that are fed as a continuous web and are rewound by the machine after printing, it being understood that they may also be "burst" immediately after printing, without being rewound.
  • the band of heat-sensitive material consists of a thin film of plastic material with a coating of waxy ink which, by means of a special thermal head, is brought to melting temperature and transferred to the paper web, with which it is in contact at least during printing.
  • the aim of the invention is to optimize use of a band of heat-sensi­tive material in a printer of the above type.
  • Another aim of the invention is to achieve this optimization with extremely simple and reliable means.
  • the band of heat-sensitive material is fed only during printing on the paper web and is stopped at the end of each printing phase.
  • the band of heat-sensitive material and the paper web are therefore driven by separate motors and means are provided for lifting the head away from the print roller against which it presses the band of heat-sensitive material and the paper web during the operating phase.
  • These means preferably consist of a pivoted lever operated by a stepping motor to which the head is made fast.
  • the stepping motor permits perfect synchronization of the movement of the head and that of the band of heat-sensitive material, and is provided with means of resetting the head position each time the machine is started up.
  • the printer according to the invention is preferably of the canti­lever type, i.e. with the various operating parts supported on pivots or shafts projecting from a vertical side panel. Since it is easier in this type of printer for the head to shift out of line with the print roller, means are provided for regulating the print head and in particular for keeping the print head axis always perfectly parallel to the generatrices of the print roller.
  • number 1 indicates the printer according to the invention as a whole, including a base 2 and a vertical side panel 3 in the form of a rectangular plate.
  • Projecting spindles or shafts are fixed to the side panel 3 to support the various operating parts of the printer, and also to drive the paper web and the band of heat-sensitive material, as will now be described.
  • an idle shaft 4 is provided on the right-hand side of the printer with reference to figures 1 and 3, onto which a paper web 5 is loaded for printing.
  • the paper web 5, whose path is indicated by broken lines in figure 1, passes over guide rollers 6, 7 and 8, over a motor-driven rubber roller 9, opposed to the thermal head 10 which will be described later, then over another motor-driven roller 11, with which a tape tension roller 12 may cooperate, and is then rewound on a roller 13, also motor-driven.
  • the rollers 9, 11 and 13 are driven by the same motor 14, the shaft 15 of which drives the rollers 9 and 11 by means of a timing belt 16 which passes over a tension roller 17, and the paper rewind roller 13 by means of an elastic belt 18.
  • the roller 9 has a free wheel coupling so that if necessary rollers 9 and 11 can turn at different speeds, depending on whether the printed labels are to be rewound onto the rewinding roller 13 or "burst" after printing.
  • the roll of heat-sensitive material is mounted on the idle shaft 20.
  • the path of the band of heat-sensitive material 19 is also indicated by dashes and dots in figure 1, in which it can be seen that it passes first over guide rollers 21, 22, 23, between the head 10 and the rubber print roller 9 and then over another guide roller 24 to be rewound on a motor-driven roller 25.
  • the roller 25 is driven by a motor 26 by means of a belt transmission 27 (see figure 3).
  • the entire path of the band of heat-sensitive material 19 passes over that of the paper web 5.
  • the whole assembly for the band of heat-sensitive material 19, in particular the elements indicated by reference numbers 19 to 25, are contained in a cartridge with two opposed side plates 28 and 29, which can be mounted on the side panel 3 by means of appropriate guide spindles projecting from the side panel or borne on the cartridge.
  • the guide roller 24 provided on the cartridge is tube-shaped, so that it can accommodate a guide spindle mounted to project from the side panel 3, whilst a projecting hollow spindle 31 is fixed on the outer side panel 29 of the cartridge and fits into a hollow spindle 31 in the side panel 3 of the printer (see figure 3).
  • the cartridge containing the roll of heat-sensi­tive material is not covered specifically by this invention, therefore the spindles from 20 to 25 can be considered integral with the side panel 3 of the printer.
  • the thermal head 10 is mounted at the end of a lever 32 pivoted around the spindle 31.
  • the lever 32 includes a plate 33 which supports the printhead 10 pivoted around the spindle 31 and a rod 34 extending from the back of the side panel 3 and subject at an intermediate point to the action of elastic means, in particular a spring 35 which tends to keep the rod 34 raised, thus keeping the head 10 lowered onto the print roller 9.
  • an arm 36 is provided with an end roller 37 in contact with the edge of a cam 38 mounted on the shaft 39 of a stepping motor 40.
  • the cam 38 has an outer flange 41 integral with it, with a perfectly circular edge concentric with the shaft 39 of the motor 40.
  • thermal head 10 is shown in the printing position, i.e. lowered onto the rubber roller 9, against which it presses the paper web 5 and the band of heat-sensitive material 19.
  • a rotation of the cam 38 causes the rod 34 to be lowered and thus raises the head 10 disposed on the opposite side with respect to the fulcrum 32, as shown for example in figure 2.
  • special locators consisting for example of a permanent magnet 42 and a Hall effect sensor made fast respectively to the flange 41 and the side panel 3 of the printer or vice versa.
  • the head 10 can also be raised manually, to a greater extent than that permitted by the cam 38, by means of a cam 44 which acts on top of the rod 34 and can be operated by means of a lever 45, provided at the free end of a spindle 46 made fast to the cam 44 and passing through the drive roller 7 of the paper web 5.
  • This manual raising of the head is normally carried out when the roll of heat-sensitive material 5 and/or the paper web 19 are replaced.
  • the motors 14, 25 and 40 are governed by a control logic that operates to pre-set programs according to the printing operation to be performed, when the machine is started up, the stepping motor 40 automatically moves to the reset position identi­fied by the magnets 42 and 43.
  • the motors 14 and 26 are both operated to feed the paper web 5 and the band of heat-sensitive material 19 respectively.
  • the motor 26 is stopped to halt feeding of the band of heat-sensitive material 19, and at the same time the stepping motor 40 causes the head 10 to be raised by means of the cam 38. It has been found that the use of a stepping motor 40 to raise the head 10 has great advantages over other systems in that the movement of the head and that of the band of heat-sensitive material 19 can be perfectly synchronized.
  • the head 10 is mounted on the supporting plate 33 by means of a spindle 47 the axis of which is perpendicular to the axis of the print roller 9, so that the head can oscillate around said spindle and be regulated if necessary so that its plane is perfectly parallel to the axis of the roller 9.
  • a slit 48 is made in the supporting plate 33 of the head parallel to the axis of the print roller 9 and such as to define a protruding block 49 to which the spindle 47 supporting the head 10 is fixed.
  • the slit 48 has a widening 50 at the end, thus imparting a certain elasticity to the block 49, the position of which can be adjusted relative to the body of the plate 33 by means of an adjusting screw 51 which produces a rotation of the head around a substantially vertical axis at right angles to the axis of the print roller 9. Therefore, by turning the operating screw 51, the axis of the head can be brought perfectly parallel to the generatrices of the roller 9, thus achieving perfect adjustment of the azimuth of the head.

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  • Electronic Switches (AREA)
  • Common Mechanisms (AREA)
EP19900104416 1989-03-13 1990-03-08 Thermischer Drucker, insbesondere für Etiketten Withdrawn EP0387698A3 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
IT8919749A IT1228366B (it) 1989-03-13 1989-03-13 Stampante termica particolarmente per etichette.
IT1974989 1989-03-13

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0387698A2 true EP0387698A2 (de) 1990-09-19
EP0387698A3 EP0387698A3 (de) 1991-07-10

Family

ID=11160910

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP19900104416 Withdrawn EP0387698A3 (de) 1989-03-13 1990-03-08 Thermischer Drucker, insbesondere für Etiketten

Country Status (2)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0387698A3 (de)
IT (1) IT1228366B (de)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5647679A (en) * 1996-04-01 1997-07-15 Itw Limited Printer for printing on a continuous print medium

Family Cites Families (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2498524B1 (fr) * 1981-01-27 1986-07-25 Thomson Csf Dispositif electromecanique d'impression pour imprimante du type serie-parallele et telecopieur comportant un tel dispositif
JPH0611580B2 (ja) * 1982-10-18 1994-02-16 株式会社東芝 熱転写記録装置
US4661826A (en) * 1984-05-23 1987-04-28 Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba Picture image forming apparatus

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5647679A (en) * 1996-04-01 1997-07-15 Itw Limited Printer for printing on a continuous print medium

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
IT8919749A0 (it) 1989-03-13
IT1228366B (it) 1991-06-14
EP0387698A3 (de) 1991-07-10

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