JP2001233462A - Recording medium package, and recording device using same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent waste of a recording medium by preventing direct touch on a recording surface by finger tips or the like before completion of charging in setting recording sheets as recording mediums into a tray on the device side. SOLUTION: Recording sheets S are packaged in a stacked condition, and a protective sheet H is put on the recording sheet S at the uppermost stack position for preventing direct touch on a recording surface by finger tips or the like before completion of work of taking them out of the package, and charging them into a tray on the device side with the recording surface upward.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording medium package and a recording apparatus using the same, and more particularly to a technique for loading a recording sheet as a recording medium into a tray of the apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is used detachably with respect to a printing apparatus,
A plurality of recording sheets (preferably, dedicated recording paper) are stored in a stacked state, and a tray (also referred to as a sheet cassette) having a function of separating recording sheets one by one is loaded into a printing apparatus, and then the recording sheets are loaded. Various types of printing apparatuses configured to convey the image data to a recording unit have been proposed.

In these printing apparatuses, for example, the recording section is constituted by a line thermal head, a recording ribbon, and a platen roller disposed opposite to a heating section of the line thermal head, and is disposed at a predetermined recording position. By sequentially picking up from the uppermost recording sheet with a pickup roller provided to face the sheet cassette, conveying the recording sheet to the downstream side, and after performing predetermined recording in the above-described recording unit, the recording sheet is placed on the tray cover. Even if the number of components is reduced as much as possible to achieve cost reduction and downsizing and weight reduction, only one recording sheet is discharged onto the cover of the sheet cassette after recording. After taking out each time, a single use mode that waits for the next recording sheet to be discharged and recording on the recording sheet stored in the sheet cassette are described next. And performs continuous emissions used continuously form the printing apparatus can handle is disclosed in JP-A 11-35192 discloses.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing how a conventional recording medium package is set on a tray of a printing apparatus.
As shown in (a) of the figure, a stack of recording sheets S to be printed by thermal sublimation recording (for example, 30 sheets) is put in a transparent bag P shown by a two-dot chain line in a sealing portion. A package packaged with Pa is purchased in a state of being bundled with a ribbon cassette capable of recording 30 sheets. In order to break the sealing portion Pa of the package and take out the recording sheets S in a stacked state, the recording surface of the uppermost recording sheet and the back surface of the lowermost recording surface are gripped, and as shown in FIG. Is loaded into the tray 13 on the apparatus side with the recording surface facing upward, and the biasing member 13c made of a spring material as shown in FIG. , So that it is positioned and set by moving it to one side.

[0005]

However, according to the recording medium package provided to the user in the above-mentioned form, the recording surface of the uppermost recording sheet and the back surface of the lowermost recording surface are gripped, and FIG. As shown in FIG. 5 (b), as shown in FIG.
The fingerprint adheres to the uppermost recording sheet S as shown in FIG.

When recording is performed in such a state that a fingerprint or the like adheres, a trace of a fingerprint portion remains, so that the first recording sheet must be discarded. To prevent this, the problem can be solved by loading with cotton gloves, but the user is required to perform troublesome work.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and when a recording sheet as a recording medium is set in a tray on the apparatus side, it is necessary to use a fingertip or the like until the loading is completed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording medium package that does not directly touch a recording surface and a recording apparatus using the same.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems To solve the above-mentioned problems,
In order to achieve the object, according to the present invention, a plurality of recording media including a recording medium to be printed by a thermal sublimation recording method are packaged in a stacked state, removed from the package, and the recording surface is turned up, and A recording medium package loaded in the tray of the recording medium, wherein a protective sheet, which is prevented from directly touching the recording surface with a fingertip or the like by the time of the completion of the loading, is the recording surface of the recording medium at the uppermost mounting position. It is characterized by being stacked on top.

[0009] The present invention is characterized in that the protective sheet is manually removed after being loaded into the tray, or is automatically discharged by a transport means provided on the apparatus side.

[0010] Further, it is characterized in that the protection sheet displays necessary items such as being a protection sheet and being removed after being loaded.

In a recording apparatus using a recording medium package, a recording ribbon or a protective film is stretched on the recording surface, and a line thermal head is disposed on a base side of the recording ribbon or the protective film. A winding means for energizing the line thermal head in synchronization with a conveyance operation of the recording sheet, and for winding the used recording ribbon or the protective film while peeling it off from the recording surface; and It has a function of automatically discharging by detecting the presence or absence of the protective sheet.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1A is an external perspective view of a recording medium package, and FIG. 1B is a tray 1 of a printing apparatus.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a state of setting at 3, and FIG.
(C) has shown the top view of the protection sheet H, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 1A, a recording sheet S to be printed by thermal sublimation recording is loaded (for example, 30 sheets).
And the protective sheet H placed at the uppermost position is placed in a transparent bag P shown by a two-dot chain line and packaged at a sealing portion Pa.

The user purchases this package in a state in which it is bundled with a ribbon cassette capable of recording 30 sheets.

The user holds the uppermost protective sheet H and the back surface of the lowermost recording surface of the recording sheet S in order to break the sealing portion Pa of the package and take out the recording sheet S in a stacked state. 1 (b) with the protective sheet H facing upward as shown in FIG.
By being loaded inside, as described in FIG. 5, it is positioned and set by being shifted to one side by the biasing member 13c made of a spring material.

On the other hand, since the protective sheet H is used to prevent fingerprint adhesion and is disposable, ordinary paper or recycled paper is sufficient.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1 (c), a gripping portion Ha is formed by folding back and bending a corner of the surface.
The holding sheet Ha after setting is picked up so that the protection sheet H can be removed from the tray 13.

Further, the user is informed of the protection sheet by printing a message such as "Protection sheet" on the protection sheet H and "Please set it up in the direction of the arrow". May be.

Further, by printing marks H1 and H2 detected by an optical sensor described later, as shown in FIG.
You may make it discharge automatically.

According to the recording medium package provided to the user in the form described above, the uppermost protective sheet H and the lower surface of the recording surface at the lowermost position are gripped, and as shown in FIG. Is loaded into the tray 13 on the apparatus side,
Since the fingerprint does not adhere to the uppermost recording sheet S, the recording sheet at the first uppermost mounting position is not wasted.

Next, FIG. 2 is a side view showing a main part of the printing apparatus, and shows a state after the sheet cassette 10 for sheets provided with the above-mentioned tray 13 is loaded.

FIG. 2A shows a state in which a part of the sheet cassette 10 is set so as to enter into an opening formed in the front surface of the printing apparatus, and FIG. 2B.
FIG. 2C illustrates a state in which a sheet is conveyed to a recording unit including a thermal line head 7 and a platen roller 26 by a pickup roller described later, and FIG. 2C illustrates a state in which the protective sheet H is discharged before printing is started. Each is shown. FIG. 3 is an external perspective view showing only the recording unit of FIG.

2 and 3, in the sheet cassette 10, recording sheets including, for example, 30 sheets of A5 size plain paper having a predetermined stiffness are provided in a state in which the protective sheet H is at the uppermost position. S is built in the tray 13 in a stacked state with the recording surface Sa facing upward, and the recording sheet positioned at the uppermost position is sequentially conveyed to the above-described recording unit so that the recorded recording sheet is S is configured to be discharged onto the lid 11 above the sheet cassette 10.

The recording is performed by setting the color ribbon cartridge 8 in the recording section and positioning the line thermal head 7 on the platen roller 26 with the recording ribbon R provided in the color ribbon cartridge 8 interposed therebetween. It is configured as follows.

On the other hand, the sheet cassette 10 is configured as a box body opened upward as shown in the figure, and a plurality of recording sheets S are placed on the tray 13 and the opening of the tray 13 and one of the recording sheets S is covered. And a cover 11 that can be exposed below the pickup roller 21. The cover 11 is disposed on the printing apparatus side by a pressing force of a pressing plate (not shown) disposed on the bottom surface of the tray 13. By pressing the uppermost protective sheet H and the recording sheet S against the pick-up roller 21 to be pressed, 1
It is configured to be conveyed downstream for each sheet.

In the printing apparatus, components to be described later are generally provided on the base 20. That is, a rubber (not shown) for separating the recording sheets S one by one when the paper is conveyed downstream by the pickup roller 21 is provided on the base 20 on the printing apparatus side. The first sheet guide 22 is provided on an upright surface, and only one sheet is fed by handling an excessively fed sheet.

Further, the pickup roller 21 is provided at the base 20.
, And is configured to obtain a driving force from a first motor M1 which is rotatably supported and is intermittently driven to rotate counterclockwise, and is recorded on the downstream side by being picked up at a predetermined timing. The sheet S and the like are sent out. In the vicinity of the downstream side of the pickup roller 21, the above-mentioned first sheet guide 22 for guiding the picked-up recording sheet S to the downstream side is fixed to the base 20. A sensor K1 for detecting the presence or absence of a recording sheet by a method including optically is provided below the tray section. Also, the platen roller 2
6, a sensor K2 for detecting the leading end of the recording sheet and the mark of the protective sheet H by a method including optically is provided. As shown in FIG. 100.

On the downstream side of the first sheet guide 22, a transport roller 24 that obtains a driving force from a second motor M2 that rotates forward and backward, and constantly contacts and follows the transport roller 24. The idle rollers 25 are rotatably held at the base 20, respectively, and are configured to convey the sheet S downstream or upstream by driving the second motor M2 in the forward and reverse directions.

In the vicinity of the downstream side of the transport roller 24,
A platen roller 26 having a so-called platen function for securing a contact force with the heat generating portion 7a of the line thermal head 7 is rotatably provided at the base 20.

In the color ribbon cartridge 8, the recording ribbon R wound by the spool having the supply shaft 5 and the take-up shaft 4 has at least Y (yellow) of a plurality of colors different from each other on the base in the transfer direction. , M (magenta), and C (cyan) are sequentially and repeatedly arranged (so-called gradual pattern), supplied from a supply spool in accordance with a recording operation, and sequentially wound by a take-up spool. Have been. Further, the take-up spool provided with the take-up shaft 4 is driven by a third motor M3 which is a DC motor including a stepping motor.

With the above-described structure, the color ribbon cartridge 8 provided integrally with the cartridge can be inserted into and removed from one end of the line thermal head 7 which is supported in one piece. It can be set at the recording position shown in the figure. Although not shown, a protective film for forming a protective layer provided for protecting the printing surface is also built in the same cartridge and is replaceable.

On the other hand, a second sheet guide 23 for guiding the recording sheet S toward an opposing surface of the pickup roller 21 facing the pickup surface is located between the conveyance roller 24 and the base 20 as shown in FIG. It is fixed and guides the lower surface of the sheet S, which is the back surface of the recording surface in the illustrated state.

In the configuration described above, referring to the flowchart of the operation explanation of FIG. 4, when the sheet cassette 10 is set at the position of FIG. 2A and the apparatus is started in step S1, the sensor K1 is activated. , The presence or absence of the recording sheet S is detected, and if the presence is detected in step S3, the process proceeds to step S8.

On the other hand, if it is detected in step S3 that there is no recording sheet, an alarm is generated to notify the user in step S4. Thus, in step S5, as described with reference to FIG. 1A, the user tears the sealing portion Pa of the package and removes the recording sheet S while keeping it in the stacked state. The back surface of the recording surface at the lowermost position of the recording sheet S is grasped and taken out of the bag P.
As shown in (b), the sheet is loaded into the tray 13 on the apparatus side with the protective sheet H facing upward, and is positioned and set by moving it toward one side.

Since the above is newly replenished, step S
6, when the first motor M <b> 1 is activated, the uppermost protective sheet H is conveyed between the conveying roller 24 and the idle roller 24 along the first sheet guide 22 as shown in FIG. To the sensor K
2 to recognize that it is a protection sheet. At this time, as shown in FIG. 2B, the line thermal head 7 is separated from the platen roller 26 by a functional component (not shown), and conveys the protection sheet further downstream so as not to hinder the conveyance. Proceeding to step S7, FIG.
As shown in (c), the rear end of the protection sheet H is located at a position sandwiched between the line thermal head 7 and the platen roller 26, and the motor M2 is driven in reverse to place the protection sheet H on the lid 11. By discharging, the preparation for printing of the recording sheet S thereunder is completed.

In step S8, the recording sheet S is conveyed to the state shown in FIG. 2C, and in step S9, each of the above-described Y (yellow), M (magenta), and C (cyan) colors is processed. By performing the thermal sublimation printing three times, an image is formed on the recording surface and discharged to the outside. As described above, since the protective sheet can be automatically discharged out of the apparatus, it is possible to prevent forgetting to take it.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described configuration, and it is needless to say that various configurations are possible. For example, the sheet size may be A5 size or larger, and the recording surface may have a different recording surface. It is needless to say that anything may be used as long as the image is printed on the upper side, and the present invention is also applicable to the case of performing monochrome recording in addition to the above-described color recording.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When a recording sheet as a recording medium is set in a tray on the apparatus side, a recording medium package capable of preventing waste of the recording medium by preventing direct contact with the recording surface with a fingertip or the like until loading is completed. A recording device using this can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIGS. 1A and 1B are explanatory views showing a state in which a recording medium package is set on a tray of a printing apparatus, wherein FIG. 1A is an external perspective view, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the protection sheet is loaded, and FIG.

FIGS. 2A to 2C are side views for explaining the operation of the recording apparatus.

FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of a recording unit.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of automatically discharging a protection sheet.

5A and 5B are explanatory views showing a state in which a conventional recording medium package is set on a tray of a printing apparatus. FIG. 5A is a diagram illustrating a state where a package is placed in a transparent bag P shown by a two-dot chain line and sealed at a sealing portion Pa. (B) shows a state where the recording sheet S is bundled with a ribbon cassette having a recording capacity of 30 sheets, and FIG. A state in which the recording surface is loaded into the tray 13 on the apparatus side with the back side of the recording surface being gripped and the recording surface facing up,
(C) shows a plan view of the tray, and (d) shows the X-
It is X-ray arrow sectional drawing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 apparatus 8 color ribbon cartridge 10 sheet cassette 11 lid 13 tray 20 base 21 pickup roller 22 first sheet guide 23 second sheet guide 24 transport roller 25 idle roller R recording ribbon M1 first motor M2 second motor M3 third motor S record sheet H protective sheet P bag

Continued on front page F term (reference) 2C065 AA01 AB10 AC01 DA24 DA26 3E068 AA25 AB07 AC07 BB02 BB05 CC22 CC29 CE03 DD40 DE20 3F343 FA02 FA07 FB04 GA01 GB01 GC01 GD01 GE02 GE09 GE11 HB03 HB07 JA01

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A recording method comprising: packaging a plurality of recording media including a recording medium to be printed by a thermal sublimation recording method in a stacked state, removing the package from the package, and loading the recording surface upward into a tray on the apparatus side. A medium package, wherein a protective sheet, which does not directly touch the recording surface with a fingertip or the like, is overlaid on the recording surface of the recording medium at the uppermost mounting position before the loading is completed. Recording medium package. 2. The recording medium package according to claim 1, wherein the protection sheet is manually removed after being loaded into the tray, or is automatically ejected by a conveyance unit provided on the apparatus side. . 3. The recording medium package according to claim 1, wherein the protection sheet indicates that the protection sheet is a protection sheet and that the protection sheet is to be removed after loading. 4. A recording apparatus using the recording medium package according to claim 1, wherein a recording ribbon or a protection film is stretched on the recording surface, and the recording ribbon or the protective film is stretched. A line thermal head is disposed on the base side of the protective film, and power is supplied to the line thermal head in synchronization with the operation of transporting the recording sheet, and the used recording ribbon or the protective film is removed from the recording surface. A recording device using a recording medium package, wherein a winding unit for winding while peeling off, and the conveying unit have a function of automatically discharging by detecting the presence or absence of the protective sheet.