JP2001088396A - Thermal transfer recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a thermal transfer recorder capable of reducing a cost and shortening a printing time by improving a conveying mechanism of a sheet when recorded. SOLUTION: Reference 21 designates an ink sheet in which three color sublimable inks of Y(yellow), M(magenta) and C(cyan) are sequentially arranged. The sheet 21 is stored in an ink cartridge 22, and arranged between a thermal head 23 having heating elements in a line-like state and a platen roller 24. The roller 24 is obtained by covering a hollow shape sleeve 24 of an aluminum material with a rubber member 26 and press injecting a cam member 27 for controlling vertical motion of the head 23 to both ends of the sleeve 25. A sheet rear surface holding lever 29 and a shaft 30 for holding a rear surface side of the sheet 28 are mounted at the member 27. A sheet printing surface holding lever 31 for holding a printing surface side of the sheet 28 rotatable around the shaft 30 is provided at the shaft 30.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording apparatus such as a line recording type personal computer printer.
The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording apparatus that improves the vertical movement of a sheet conveying means and a thermal head during printing and shortens the printing time.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a thermal transfer recording apparatus such as a personal computer printer of a so-called line recording system which performs recording in units of lines, generally, paper is transported during printing by using an expensive cap having a spike-shaped convex portion on the surface. This requires the use of a stan roller and a pinch roller, and also requires the paper to swing back for each color printing and the vertical movement of the thermal head, which requires a dedicated drive source, greatly reducing the cost and shortening the printing time. Has become.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a sheet conveying means at the time of printing of a printer used in a general line type personal computer as described above. With reference to the drawings, a description will be given of a sheet conveying means through the operation of the mechanism components during actual printing. The ink cartridge 1 is mounted on the apparatus, and paper (not shown) is set. When the print command is executed, the paper is fed into the apparatus by the paper feed roller 2, and the paper is drawn into the printer by the separating roller 3 and the friction pad 4. After that, the paper feed sensor 5 detects the transport position of the paper, and when the paper is pulled a little further than the position where it is gripped by the capstan roller 6 and the pinch roller 7, the paper transport stops. Next, the thermal head 8 is lowered to an intermediate position immediately before the thermal head 8 is pressed against the platen roller 9 using a dedicated driving source (not shown). At this time, the pinch roller 7 is pressed against the capstan roller 6 by the pinch spring 10, and the paper is firmly gripped. Thereafter, the paper is transported in the paper feeding direction by the capstan roller 6 and the pinch roller 7, and is transported until the trailing edge of the paper is detected by the paper feed sensor 5. Next, the thermal head 8 is lowered and pressed against the platen roller 9 via the ink sheet 11 and the paper. In this state, the paper is conveyed in the paper discharging direction, and the thermal head 8 heats the ink sheet 11 while winding it up. By applying pressure, a Y (yellow) image is printed on the paper.

After the printing of Y (yellow) is completed, the thermal head 8 is raised to the intermediate position, and the paper is backed in the paper feeding direction until the leading edge of the paper is detected by the paper feed sensor 5. Thereafter, similarly, M (magenta), C
(Cyan) printing. After the printing of C (cyan) is completed, the paper is discharged out of the apparatus by the paper discharge rollers 12.

[0005]

The conventional thermal transfer recording apparatus is configured as described above, and requires an operation for vertically moving the thermal head at the time of paper feeding, at the start of printing, and at the end of printing, and a dedicated drive source. After the printing of each color is completed, a swingback operation for backing the paper in the opposite direction to the printing direction and the time spent for it are required,
As a result, there is a problem that the apparatus is expensive and the printing time is long.

The thermal transfer recording apparatus of the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and does not require a dedicated drive source for vertically moving the thermal head, and rotates in synchronization with the rotation of the platen roller. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive and short-time thermal transfer recording apparatus which moves a thermal head up and down by a cam to be moved and does not require a swingback operation of a sheet after printing each color.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a thermal transfer recording apparatus comprising: a platen roller that rotates in synchronization with the conveyance of a sheet; a sheet holding member attached to both sides of the platen roller; A lever for controlling the holding / separation of the sheet holding member with respect to the sheet; and a cam for controlling the vertical movement of the thermal head during printing, wherein the thermal head moves up and down in synchronization with the rotational movement of the platen roller. The gist of the present invention is as follows.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the thermal transfer recording apparatus according to the first aspect, the platen roller rotates in one direction at a constant speed from the start of printing to the end of printing. The gist is that. According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the thermal transfer recording apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein a peripheral length of a cylindrical portion of a platen roller pressed by a thermal head is longer than a sheet length, and The gist is that the rubber portion of the platen roller has a D-cut shape and has a flat shape, and the holding member for the paper fits in the flat shape portion.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A thermal transfer recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a side view showing a main mechanism of a thermal transfer recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a platen roller unit.

In the drawing, 21 is Y (yellow), M
An ink sheet in which three sublimable inks of magenta and C (cyan) are sequentially arranged.
2 and disposed between a platen roller 24 and a thermal head 23 having heating elements in a line shape. Here, the platen roller 24 is formed by coating a rubber member 26 on a sleeve 25 made of a hollow aluminum material, and press-fitting cam members 27 for controlling the vertical movement of the thermal head 23 into both ends of the sleeve 25. Further, the cam member 27 is provided with a paper back grip lever 29 and a shaft 30 for gripping the back side of the paper 28, respectively. Also, a paper 2 that is rotatable about the shaft 30 is provided on the shaft 30.
8 is provided with a paper printing surface holding lever 31 for holding the printing surface side. One end of a spring 32 for holding the paper 28 is attached to the paper printing surface holding lever 31, and the other end of the spring 32 is connected to the cam member 27. Attached.

The platen roller 24, more specifically, the rubber member 26 of the platen roller 24 has a D-cut shape as shown in FIG. The holding of 28 is performed at the D-cut portion of the platen roller 24, and the length of the cylindrical portion of the platen roller 24 is configured to be longer than the sheet length in order to prevent the sheets 28 after being held from overlapping.

The thermal head 23 is attached to a head arm 33, and a pressure spring 34 acts when pressure is applied to the platen roller 24. Further, a cam follower unit 35 is provided on the head arm 33.
And the cam member 27 of the platen roller 24
When the shaft of the cam follower unit 35 is pushed up with the rotation of the platen roller 24, the thermal head 23 is moved upward by the cam member 27 with the rotation of the platen roller 24, and the compression spring 34 is pressed in the direction of pressing the platen roller 24. Are configured to operate.

In FIG. 1, the platen roller 24 rotates to a paper feed position in response to a print command. Then the cam member 36
(Details are omitted), the link levers 37 and 38 move with the rotation of the cam member 36, and the link lever 38 moves the sheet printing surface holding lever 31 around the shaft 39. By rotating clockwise, the paper printing surface holding lever 31 is separated from the paper back surface holding lever 29. Next, the paper 28 fed by the paper feed roller 40, the separating roller 41, and the friction pad 42 is
3, the leading end of the sheet is detected, and
9 and between the paper printing surface holding lever 31,
The transport is stopped. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the cam member 36 is rotated counterclockwise to
Of the paper printing surface holding lever 31 is released, and as a result, the paper printing surface holding lever 31 is rotated clockwise about the shaft 30 by the force of the spring 32, and the paper 28 is rotated by the paper back holding lever 29 and the paper printing surface. It is held between the holding levers 31. During the above operation, the thermal head 23 is pressed against the platen roller 24.

Next, the platen roller 24 is rotated counterclockwise to a printing start position. At this time, the shaft portion of the cam follower unit 35 is gradually moved upward by the cam member 27, so that when the paper printing surface holding lever 31 moves directly below the thermal head 23, the paper printing surface holding lever 31 is moved. The thermal head 23 has moved to a position where it does not interfere with the thermal head 23. Thereafter, by rotating the platen roller 24 counterclockwise, the thermal head 23 descends in synchronization with the shape of the cam member 27. In this state, by further rotating the platen roller 24 in the counterclockwise direction, the thermal head 23 is pressed against the platen roller 24, and then the heat and pressure are applied to the paper 2 by the thermal head 23 while winding the ink sheet 21.
8 to print a Y (yellow) image on the paper 28.

After the printing of Y (yellow) is completed, the platen roller 24 is rotated without changing the rotation direction and the rotation speed, and then M (magenta) and C (cyan) are sequentially printed on the sheet 28 in the same manner. Do. Next, after the printing of C (cyan) is completed, as shown in FIG.
4 is rotated counterclockwise so that the rear end of the paper 28 stops between the paper guides 44 and 45, and then the platen roller 24 is rotated clockwise as shown in FIG.
When the trailing end of the paper has moved to the paper discharge roller 46, the cam member 36 is rotated clockwise, and the link levers 37 and 38 are rotated.
Then, the sheet printing surface holding lever 31 is rotated counterclockwise about the shaft 30 to release the holding of the sheet 28, and then the sheet is discharged out of the apparatus by the sheet discharging rollers 46.

As described above, the platen roller 24 is configured to rotate at a constant speed in one direction from the start of printing to the end of printing.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention, a dedicated driving source for vertically moving the thermal head is not required, and the thermal head is vertically moved by the cam rotating in synchronization with the rotation of the platen roller. To provide an inexpensive thermal transfer recording apparatus that does not require the swingback operation of the paper after printing each color, thereby enabling the paper to be transported inexpensively and in a short time, and as a result, enabling high-speed printing. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a thermal transfer recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the platen roller unit.

FIG. 3 is a detailed operation diagram of the thermal transfer recording apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a detailed operation diagram of the thermal transfer recording apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a detailed operation diagram of the thermal transfer recording apparatus.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the platen roller unit.

FIG. 7 is a side view of a conventional thermal transfer recording apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 21 ink sheet 22 ink cartridge 23 thermal head 24 platen roller 25 sleeve 26 rubber member 27 cam member 28 paper 29 paper back side holding lever 31 paper printing surface holding lever 33 head arm 35 cam follower unit 40 paper feed roller 43 paper feed sensor 46 discharge Paper roller

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A platen roller that rotates in synchronization with the conveyance of a sheet, a sheet holding member attached to both sides of the platen roller, and a lever that controls holding / separation of the sheet holding member with respect to the sheet. And a cam for controlling the vertical movement of the thermal head during printing, wherein the thermal head moves up and down in synchronization with the rotation of the platen roller. 2. The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the platen roller rotates at a constant speed in one direction from the start of printing to the end of printing. 3. The peripheral length of the cylindrical portion of the platen roller pressed by the thermal head is longer than the paper length, and the other portion has a flat shape with the rubber portion of the platen roller forming a D-cut shape. 3. A sheet holding member that fits in a shape portion.
The thermal transfer recording device as described in the above.