JP2002086867A - Ink sheet and thermal printer using it - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inexpensive ink sheet which can deal with print recording of several number of sheets and a thermal printer using that sheet in which the size of the thermal printer can be reduced. SOLUTION: A base 4 on which three prime color ink layers 5, 6 and 7 are formed and a recording medium 2 on which a print is formed are stretched such that the base side abuts against the heating section 20a of a thermal head 20 and the recording medium 2 is abutted against the each ink layer side. In order to perform printing by driving the thermal head together with the recording medium in synchronism with specified conduction of the thermal head, the ink sheets 1 are laid repeatedly on the base 4 by an amount equal to an integer times of respective ink layers 5, 6 and 7 required for printing on a sheet of recording medium 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink sheet for printing by holding an ink sheet in a state of being stretched with respect to a heat generating portion of a thermal head and bringing a recording medium into contact with an ink layer, and a thermal printer using the same. It is about.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art According to a conventional thermal printer, a recording ribbon wound in a ribbon cartridge is held in an extended state with respect to a heat generating portion of a thermal head, and the heat generating portion is formed on a recording medium on a platen roller. The recording medium is moved below the heat-generating portion to perform cueing and thermally sublimate the color layer of the recording ribbon. Many thermal printers that perform recording or thermal transfer recording have been put to practical use.

The recording ribbon incorporated in a wound state in the ribbon cartridge has at least three primary colors of the same area as the recording medium sequentially formed on a base. At the same speed, the used recording ribbon is wound up in the ribbon cartridge, and thermal sublimation recording or thermal transfer recording is performed by energizing the thermal head.

[0004]

However, according to the thermal head constructed as described above, it is necessary to supply and wind the recording ribbon in a wound state in the ribbon cartridge according to the number of recording media. Therefore, when the number of recording media increases, the total length of the recording ribbon must be increased, so that the ribbon cartridge becomes large.

[0005] On the other hand, depending on the user, it may be sufficient to record several sheets. Even in such a case, according to the conventional thermal printer, it is necessary to load a ribbon cartridge capable of performing recording on, for example, 30 recording media into the thermal printer, and the remaining recording ribbon after recording is wasted. Left for a long time.

[0006] Further, since a ribbon cartridge having a printing capability corresponding to the number of recording media and a dedicated recording paper are sold as a set, it may be expensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an inexpensive ink that can make a thermal printer compact and can cope with several sheets of photographic printing. It is intended to provide a sheet and a thermal printer using the same.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems The above-mentioned problems are solved,
In order to achieve the object, according to the ink sheet of the present invention, a base holding a plurality of color ink layers, an integral multiple of each color required for printing on a single recording medium,
Along with repeatedly laying on the base, an opening having an inner wall surface close to the left and right edges of the base, each fixing a predetermined portion of the base that becomes the front end side and the rear end side when driven. It is characterized by comprising a detected portion detected at a position corresponding to each color and a frame provided with a driven portion for driving.

In order to form a print on a recording medium,
A thermal printer using an ink sheet having a plurality of ink layers formed on a base, wherein the base side abuts a heat generating portion of a thermal head,
A recording medium is brought into contact with each ink layer side, and in synchronization with a predetermined energization to the thermal head, the ink sheet and the recording medium are driven by driving means to perform printing. An integral multiple of each color required for printing on one recording medium is repeatedly laid on the colorant base, and the front end side and the rear end side when driven by the driving unit. An opening having an inner wall surface near the left and right edges of the base, a detected portion detected at a position corresponding to each color, and a driven portion for the driving. And a frame body provided with a portion, the driving unit is a recording medium driving unit that drives the recording medium, and an ink sheet driving unit that drives the ink sheet by acting on the driven portion.
And when the recording medium driving section drives one sheet of the recording medium, the ink sheet driving section drives one set of each color.

[0010] Further, the invention is characterized in that the driving means is configured so that the ink sheet and the recording medium can be loaded and unloaded through a front opening of a device base.

In the thermal head, a thermal head moving means for moving the heat generating portion between an operating position for urging the heat generating portion onto the platen roller and a retracting position for retracting from the ink sheet is provided. Features.

[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 a plan view of an ink sheet 1, FIG. 1B is a plan view of a recording medium 2, and FIG. 1C is an X-ray of FIG. It is X-ray arrow sectional drawing.

First, in FIGS. 1A and 1B, an ink sheet 1 is formed into a rectangular sheet as shown in FIG. A frame 3 made of cardboard or resin, in which rows of sprocket holes 9 are formed along the left and right edges, is used as a base, and an opening 3a substantially similar to the outer shape of the frame 3 is formed.

Also, by closing this opening 3a,
The base 4 provided with an integral multiple of each of the ink layers 5, 6, and 7 is fixed to the edge of the opening 3a of the frame 3 by bonding including the rear end 4d side and the front end side 4c shown by broken lines. ing. Each of the ink layers 5, 6, and 7 has a width dimension necessary for printing on one recording medium 2 having the size shown in FIG.

As the base 4, a base film used for a conventional recording ribbon can be used.
Each ink layer 5, 6, 7 is laid on the back side as shown in FIG. Each of the ink layers 5, 6, and 7 is a solid ink layer of three primary colors, yellow, magenta, and cyan, which can reproduce all colors by additive color mixture, and has a stone wall structure in the thickness direction. As shown in FIG. 1A, a plurality of ink layers 5, 6, 7 are provided in the opening 3a.

At the positions corresponding to the ink layers 5, 6, and 7, the sense marks 8 to be detected by the optical sensor 23 shown in FIG. 3 are formed respectively.

Referring to FIG. 1C, when the thermal head 20 is mounted on the thermal printer, the base 4 is rotated by a fulcrum 22 with respect to a heat generating portion 20a of the thermal head 20.
The recording medium 2 is brought into contact with the ink layers 5, 6, and 7 at the same time when the recording medium 2 is brought into contact with the ink layers 5, 6 and 7. For this purpose, a platen roller 51 rotatably supported so as to face the heat generating portion 20a of the thermal head 20 is provided.

A sprocket gear 25 meshes with the two rows of sprocket holes 9, and the sprocket gear 2
The frame 3 is driven in accordance with the driving of the motor 5.

Here, in addition to the ink layers 5, 6, and 7,
An overcoat layer for protecting the printing screen may be provided next to the cyan layer 7. Further, in FIG. 1A, an unused portion 4a is continuously formed from front and rear ends 4d and 4c of the base 4.

Next, FIG. 2 is a plan view for schematically explaining a thermal printer using the ink sheet 1 shown in FIG.

In this figure, the same components as those already described with reference to FIG.
The thermal printer is constructed so that it can be placed vertically in the gap next to the main body of the personal computer so as to minimize the area occupied on the desk.

The cassette 30 containing the ink sheet 1 and a plurality of recording media 2 is provided with an apparatus cover 50.
The ink sheet 1 and the recording medium 2 can be attached and detached while being placed vertically in the gap next to the personal computer main body as described above. ing.

Eight recording media 2 including exclusive recording paper are accommodated in a stacked state in a cassette 30. When the recording media 2 are set as shown in FIG. Motor M after every pickup
Drive roller 52 and idle roller 5 driven by 1
After being conveyed to the nip portion between the three and conveyed onto the platen roller 51, the medium is conveyed in the forward and reverse directions along the medium guide 55 shown by the one-dot chain line.

The ink sheet 1 inserted in the direction of the arrow from the opening 50a of the apparatus cover 50 is set further back along the guide 28 shown by a broken line, and the motor M3 is inserted into the two rows of sprocket holes 9. Is brought into a state in which the sprocket gear 25 driven by is engaged. On the other hand, the thermal head 20 is fixed to an arm member 21 that rotates about a fulcrum 22 and is configured to be driven by a motor M2 between a standby position shown in the drawing and an operation position described later. ing.

The sensor 23 is connected to the guide 2 as shown in the figure.
8 are disposed near the entrance of the ink layer 5, and each of the ink layers 5, 6,
7 is detected, and the detection result is sent to the control unit 6.
Send to 0. Further, the motors M1, M2, and M3 are also connected to the control unit 60 via a motor driver (not shown).

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the thermal printer after the ink sheet 1 has been set at the loading position and the recording medium 2 has been conveyed to the recording start position. In FIG.
The recording medium 2 is guided along the medium guide 55.
The ink sheet 1 is guided by a guide 28 and set at a position shown in the figure by driving a motor M3. Subsequently, in the plan view of the thermal printer shown in FIG. 4, the thermal head 20 is rotated by the driving of the motor M2, and the base 4 is moved with respect to the heat generating portion 20a of the thermal head.
It is in a stretched state where the sides abut.

The preparation for printing is now completed, and the ink sheet 1 is driven at the speed V1 and the recording medium 2 is driven at the speed V2 in synchronism with the predetermined energization of the thermal head 20, and the first ink layer 5, the yellow ink layer 5, is formed. Print. Thereafter, the recording medium is returned, printing of the next magenta layer is performed, printing is again completed, and finally printing of the cyan layer is completed.

FIGS. 5A to 5C show the ink layer 5 described above.
3 is an operation diagram sequentially showing the printing operation of the recording medium 2.
Is sent at the speed V2, while the ink sheet 1
2 is sent at the speed V1 at which the printing by the ink layer 5 just ends within the time when the conveyance over the entire length of the recording surface of the recording medium 2 ends. Further, the other ink layers 6 and 7 are printed by being sent at the same speed.

It is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above-described configuration, and various configurations are possible.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to provide an inexpensive ink sheet that can be configured to have a small-sized thermal printer and that can support several print recordings, and a thermal printer using the same.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a plan view of an ink sheet 1;
(B) is a plan view of the recording medium 2, and (c) is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX of (a) after being loaded into the thermal printer.

FIG. 2 is a plan view for schematically explaining a thermal printer using the ink sheet 1 shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the thermal printer after the ink sheet 1 is set at a loading position and the recording medium 2 is conveyed to a recording start position.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the thermal printer in which a thermal head 20 is rotated by driving a motor M2.

FIGS. 5A to 5C are operation explanatory diagrams sequentially showing the printing operation of the ink layer 5. FIGS.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 ink sheet 2 recording medium 3 frame 4 base 5, 6, 7 ink layer 8 sense mark 9 sprocket hole 20 thermal head 22 fulcrum 25 sprocket gear 28 guide 30 cassette 50 device cover 50a, 50b front opening

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A base for holding ink layers of a plurality of colors and an integral multiple of each color required for printing on one sheet of recording medium are repeatedly laid on the base, and When a predetermined portion of the base, which is a front end side and a rear end side, is fixed respectively, and an opening having an inner wall surface near the left and right edges of the base, and a detected position detected at a position corresponding to each color And a frame provided with a driven part for the driving. 2. A thermal printer using an ink sheet in which ink layers of a plurality of colors are formed on a base in order to form an image on a recording medium, wherein the base side contacts a heat-generating portion of a thermal head. A recording medium is brought into contact with each ink layer side, and the ink sheet and the recording medium are driven by driving means in synchronization with predetermined energization to the thermal head to perform printing. In the ink sheet, an integral multiple of each color required for printing on one recording medium is repeatedly laid on the colorant base, and the front end is driven by the driving unit. A predetermined portion of the base to be a side and a rear end side, respectively, and an opening having an inner wall surface near the left and right edges of the base, a detected portion detected at a position corresponding to each color, Drive And a frame provided with a driven part for driving the recording medium, wherein the driving unit drives the recording medium and an ink that acts on the driven part to drive the ink sheet. And a sheet drive unit. When the recording medium drive unit drives one sheet of the recording medium, the ink sheet drive unit drives one set of each color. A thermal printer using an ink sheet. 3. The ink sheet according to claim 2, wherein the drive unit is configured to be capable of loading and unloading the ink sheet and the recording medium via a front opening of a device base. Thermal printer. 4. The thermal head according to claim 1, further comprising a thermal head moving means for moving between an operating position for urging the heat generating portion onto the platen roller and a retracting position for retracting from the ink sheet. A thermal printer using the ink sheet according to claim 2.