JP2000255148A - Ink-supplying apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate obstacles such as an elongation of an ink sheet and the like even when printing with irregular printing densities is repeatedly carried out with a large-width printing head by constituting each wind core to be supported rotatably to a supporting shaft while a friction part is pressed to a friction part of an adjacent wind core or a friction part of the supporting shaft. SOLUTION: An urging spring 25 urges each of wind cores 16-19 to a friction part 20A of a supporting shaft 20 via a pressing member 22 when a tightening screw 24 is fastened. At this time, each wind core 16-19 is supported rotatably to the supporting shaft 20 while a friction part 16A-19A is pressed via spacer members 21, a pressing member 22 and a friction pad 23 to friction parts of the adjacent wind cores or the friction part 20A of the supporting shaft. Each wind core 16-19 integrally rotates with the supporting shaft 20 in the constitution when a take-up part 10 rotates. However, if a predetermined or more tension is applied to an ink sheet, each friction part, sliding resistance members 21C of the spacer members 21, a sliding resistance member 22C of the pressing member 22 and the friction pad 23 slide and therefore, each wind core rotates idly.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink supply apparatus for a pressure-sensitive or thermal transfer printer using an ink sheet, and more particularly to an ink supply apparatus suitable for use in a printer, such as a label printer, for performing color-coded printing for each transfer area. .

2. Description of the Related Art In order to print on labels and tags used for displaying prices and contents, a wide line head is provided, and ink is transferred from a wide ink sheet corresponding to the head width to printing paper by pressure-sensitive transfer or thermal transfer. Printers are widely used. FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a thermal transfer label printer, 1 is a label as a printing paper, 2 is a thermal transfer ink sheet, 3 is a thermal line head, and 4 is a platen roller. When printing is performed, the line head 3 is inserted between the line head 3 and the platen roller 4 while the ink sheet 2 is superimposed on the label 1.
, And the ink is transferred from the ink sheet 2 to the label 1 by the heat generated by the line head 3.

By the way, in these label printers, if there is a bias in the print items (print locations), a portion having a high transfer frequency and a portion having a low transfer frequency are continuously formed on the ink sheet, and pressure and heat are applied. Thus, there is a problem in that the sheet tension tends to be uneven due to the accumulation of the elongation and the expansion caused by the sheet, which causes a printing failure. In addition, as another problem, there has been a demand for printing in a different color for each printing location from the past, and as shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of transfer inks on a single sheet substrate, for example, 5 (red), 6 (black) is also known as an ink sheet 7 which is applied separately for each part. However, this type of ink sheet is manufactured by repeatedly applying, drying, and winding one color for each color ink on one sheet substrate, and it takes a great deal of time to manufacture. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the related art, and a first object of the present invention is to extend the ink sheet even if printing is performed repeatedly using a wide print head such that the printing density is biased. An object of the present invention is to provide an ink supply device that is less likely to cause an obstacle due to expansion. It is a second object of the present invention to provide an ink supply device capable of performing color-coded printing by combining inexpensive single-color ink sheets.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink comprising a delivery section on which a plurality of ink sheets are pivotally supported and a winding section for winding each ink sheet. In the supply device, at least one of the sending section and the winding section has a plurality of winding cores having friction portions at both ends and a support shaft having a friction portion at at least one end, and each of the winding cores has a frictional portion. An ink supply device is provided, wherein the portion is rotatably supported by the support shaft while being pressed toward a friction portion of an adjacent core or a friction portion of a support shaft. According to the second aspect of the present invention, at least one of the ink sheets can be different in color. According to the third aspect of the present invention, a spacer can be provided at at least one position between the friction portions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In the figure, reference numeral 8 denotes an ink supply device according to the present embodiment.
Is composed of a sending section 9 and a winding section 10. The sending unit 9 is the rotating shaft 1
1 and a plurality of ink sheets 12, 13, 14, 14 of different colors supported on the rotating shaft 11 via a fixing jig (not shown).
15 and each of the ink sheets 12 to 15 is
When the ink sheet is wound up, the rotating shaft 11 rotates to feed out the ink sheet. As shown in FIG. 2, the winding unit 10 generally includes a plurality of winding cores 16, 17, 18, 19 and a support shaft 20. Each of the winding cores 16 to 19 has a flange-shaped friction portion 1 at both ends.
A cylindrical shape having 6A, 17A, 18A, 19A,
A used ink sheet is wound on this cylinder excluding each friction portion. And each core 16 ~
Numeral 19 is rotatably supported on a support shaft 20 via a spacer member 21 described later between the friction portions. As shown in FIG. 3, the support shaft 20 has a flange-shaped friction portion 20A formed on the base end side and a male threaded portion 20B formed on the front end side, and two engagement grooves extending radially opposite to each other in the middle in the middle. 20C are formed. Further, the friction portion 20A is provided on the tip end side of the support shaft 20.
A pressing member (another friction portion) to be described later is provided so as to form a pair. 21 is the winding core 16, 17, 18, 19
Each of the spacer members 21 is a ring-shaped spacer body 21A and a pair of engagement members screwed to the side surface of the spacer body 21A from the radial outside toward the center. Set screw 21B and spacer body 21
A sliding resistance member 2 such as felt adhered to both end faces of A
1C. Then, the spacer member 21 is inserted into the support shaft 20, and the locking screws 21B are tightened so that the engagement grooves 20 are formed.
By entering into C, the rotational movement is regulated, and the movement in the axial direction is allowed. Reference numeral 22 denotes a pressing member disposed on the distal end side of the support shaft 20 as another friction portion.
Reference numeral 2 denotes a main body 22A, a locking screw 22B, and a sliding resistance member 22C adhered only to the core 19, which are substantially the same as the spacer member 21. And attached. 23 is a support shaft 20
The friction pad 23 is formed in a ring shape from felt or the like, like the sliding resistance member 21C, between the friction portion 20A on the base end side and the friction portion 16A of the winding core 16. Alternatively, like the sliding resistance member 21C, it may be integrated with the spacer body 21A by means such as sticking. Reference numeral 24 denotes a tightening screw screwed to the screw portion 20B of the support shaft 20, 25 denotes an urging spring supported between the tightening screw 24 and the pressing member 22 on the outer periphery of the support shaft 20, and the urging spring 25 By tightening the tightening screw 24, each of the cores 16 to 19 is urged toward the friction portion 20 </ b> A of the support shaft 20 via the pressing member 22. At this time, each core 16-1
9 is a spacer member 21, a pressing member 22, a friction pad 23
, And are rotatably supported by the support shaft 20 while pressing the friction portions 16A to 19A toward the friction portion of the adjacent core or the friction portion 20A of the support shaft. The present embodiment is configured as described above. When the winding unit 10 rotates, each of the winding cores 16 to 19 rotates integrally with the support shaft 20 in principle. However, when a tension equal to or more than a predetermined value is applied to each of the ink sheets 12 to 15, each of the frictional portions and the sliding resistance member 21C of the spacer member 21, the sliding resistance member 22C of the pressing member 22,
The friction pad 23 slides, allowing each core to spin. Therefore, if the present ink supply device is used in a label printer, each ink sheet is produced by combining a plurality of ink sheets that are separately produced, so that color-coded printing corresponding to each ink sheet can be performed at low cost. When the ink sheets 12 to 15 are applied with a tension equal to or more than a certain value, the cores 16 to 19 are allowed to idle. Therefore, a printing style or a biased printing density in which a specific color ink is frequently used is used. Printing is performed repeatedly, and even if elongation or expansion due to pressurization and heating occurs in each ink sheet, each ink sheet 12 to 15
Is absorbed as a difference in the winding amount (the amount of rotation of each winding core) of the ink sheet, and it is possible to suppress the occurrence of troubles due to uneven tension in the ink sheet, thereby improving the printing quality. Further, the ink sheets 12 to 15 of different colors may be separated from each other with a gap in the axial direction depending on the printing paper or the printing style. In the present embodiment, the spacer 21 is provided between the respective winding cores 16 to 19 correspondingly. It is provided. Thereby, when the winding unit 10 rotates and winds up the ink sheet, the adjacent ink sheets interfere with each other, or the movement such as overlapping and winding can be restricted by the spacer 21, and the size can be flexibly adjusted. And various other effects. In the above-described embodiment, an ink supply device including four cores (ink sheets) has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is applicable as long as it has two or more cores. It is. Also,
Although the spacer 21 is exemplified as a large-diameter disk-shaped member, any other member such as a fan, square, or rectangle may be used as long as the spacer used in the present invention can maintain a constant gap. This is a concept that also includes those smaller in diameter.
Furthermore, although the case where the sliding resistance member 21C is adhered to both end surfaces of the spacer body 21A has been illustrated, the spacer 21 may be provided without being adhered as in the case of the friction pad 23.

As described above in detail, according to the first aspect of the present invention, even when printing is repeatedly performed with a biased printing density and color arrangement, an ink supply device that is unlikely to cause trouble due to expansion or expansion in the ink sheet. Can be provided, and the printing quality can be improved. According to the second aspect of the present invention, separately produced ink sheets can be used in combination with desired width dimensions and color arrangement, and color-coded printing can be performed at low cost. According to the invention of claim 3, when the ink sheet is sent out,
Alternatively, when the ink sheet is wound up, movement of the adjacent ink sheets to interfere with each other or overlap and be wound up can be regulated by the spacer.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view illustrating an entire ink supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken in the direction of arrows II-II in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an assembly diagram showing a component configuration of a winding unit.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a main part of a conventional thermal transfer label printer.

FIG. 5 is an external view showing a conventional multicolor transfer ink sheet.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 8 Ink supply device 9 Sending section 10 Winding section 12, 13, 14, 15 Ink sheet 16, 17, 18, 19 Roll core 16A, 17A, 18A, 19A, 20A Friction section 20 Support shaft 20C Engagement groove 21 Spacer member 21B Locking screw 21C Sliding resistance member 22 Pressing member 23 Friction pad 24 Tightening screw 25 Urging spring

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An ink supply apparatus comprising: a delivery section on which a plurality of ink sheets are pivotally supported; and a winding section for winding each ink sheet, wherein at least one of the delivery section and the winding section has both ends. A plurality of winding cores having friction portions, and a support shaft having a friction portion at least at one end, wherein each of the winding cores is pressed toward the friction portion of the adjacent winding core or the friction portion of the support shaft. An ink supply device rotatably supported by the support shaft. 2. The ink supply device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the ink sheets has a different color. 3. The ink supply device according to claim 1, wherein a spacer is provided at at least one position between the friction portions.