JP2003165238A - Heat sublimation type imaging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent deterioration of an ink ribbon by a heater for residually heating the ribbon and to eliminate consideration into a rise time of the heater for residual heating of the ribbon. <P>SOLUTION: When residual heating is not carried out, a solenoid 46 of the heater 40 for residually heating the ink ribbon 23 is turned off and moved to a retreat position where the heater is isolated from the ink ribbon 23 by the action of a spring 43. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal sublimation image forming apparatus for heating an ink ribbon by a print head to print on a recording medium such as paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a printer disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 6-23754, for the purpose of increasing the color development sensitivity of an ink ribbon, a heating element for residual heat is provided in front of a heating element for a printing section, which is used immediately before printing. The ink on the thermal ribbon is preheated.

Further, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 11-11026 discloses a method of preheating an ink ribbon before thermal transfer recording by a thermal head in a speed difference multi-transfer system.

[0004]

However, these conventional methods have the following problems. It takes time to raise the temperature of the residual heat heater itself, and even if it is heated in advance, the ink ribbon once heated deteriorates when it cools. Therefore, if printing is stopped midway, the ink ribbon will be wasted.

If the user touches the remaining heat heater when the ink ribbon is replaced, the user may get burned.

The present invention is to eliminate such a problem caused by using a heater for residual heat.

[0007]

The invention according to claim 1 is
A ribbon residual heat heater for heating the ink ribbon before heating by the print head, and a heater moving means for moving the ribbon residual heat heater to a retracted position separated from the ink ribbon. To do.

The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that, after the ribbon preheating heater preheats the ink portions of a plurality of colors sequentially formed on the ink ribbon, the heater moving means moves the ribbon preheating heater to the retreat position. And

The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the heater moving means has a solenoid, and the ribbon residual heat heater is switched and displaced between an operating position and a retracted position by turning the solenoid on and off.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the ribbon residual heat heater is supported by a rotatable arm, and the arm is rotated by turning a solenoid on and off to move the ribbon residual heat heater to an operating position and a retracted position. It is characterized by switching displacement.

The invention according to claim 5 is characterized by comprising a heater cover which intervenes between the heater and the ink ribbon when the ribbon residual heat heater is in the retracted position.

The invention according to claim 6 is characterized in that when the heater for ribbon residual heat is displaced from the operating position to the retracted position, the heater cover rotates following this and covers the surface of the ribbon residual heat heater. To do.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, the conveyor belt 10 is horizontally wound around a driving roller 11 and a driven roller 12, and is rotated counterclockwise when the driving roller 11 is rotated by a belt driving mechanism (not shown). On the upper side of the conveyor belt 10, three color print heads 13, 14, and 15 of yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C) are provided.
Are sequentially arranged at a constant interval L in the transporting direction of, and on the opposite side of the transporting belt 10 between the yellow, which faces the three-color print heads 13, 14, 15, respectively.
Magenta and cyan platen rollers 16, 17, and 18 are arranged. These platen rollers 16 ・ 17 ・ 1
8 is rotated by a platen drive device (not shown) and is individually moved up and down.

The ink ribbon 23 sequentially forms yellow, magenta, and cyan ink portions Y, M, and C at intervals substantially equal to the interval L between the three-color print heads 13, 14, and 15. When the ribbon feeding shaft 24 and the ribbon winding shaft 25 are rotated by a ribbon driving device (not shown),
The ink ribbon 23 is transported between the print heads 13, 14, 15 and the conveyor belt 10, and is detected by the ink ribbon detection sensor 26 at that time. In the ink ribbon 23,
Tension is applied so as to contact the print heads 13, 14, and 15.

A sheet (recording medium) 30 fed from a sheet feeding device (not shown) is guided by a guide plate 31 and introduced between a pair of sheet conveying rollers 32, and the sheet position detecting sensor 3
After being detected by 3 and aligned in position, the sheet is fed onto the conveyor belt 10 by the sheet conveying roller pair 32. Paper 3
0 is conveyed n times faster than the ink ribbon 23, and when the leading edge of the paper 30 reaches the position of the magenta print head 14, the magenta ink portion M of the ink ribbon 23 sets the distance between the print heads 13, 14, 15 to L. Then, L / n is wastefully sent. When the leading edge of the sheet 30 reaches the position of the cyan print head 15, the cyan ink portion C is L / L.
Only n × 2 is wastefully sent.

In front of the yellow print head 13, an arm 41 holding a ribbon residual heat heater 40 is rotatably supported by an arm rotation shaft 42. This arm 41
Is urged by a spring 43 in a direction in which the ribbon residual heat heater 40 is separated from the ink ribbon 23. The pusher 44 is connected to a plunger 47 of a solenoid (electromagnet) 46 via a spring 45 in order to push the ribbon residual heat heater 40 toward the ink ribbon 23 side against the spring 43.

On the other hand, the heater cover 50 is rotatably supported by a cover rotating shaft 51. The heater cover 50 is biased counterclockwise by a spring (not shown).

When the solenoid 46 is turned on, the pusher 44 descends and pushes the arm 41, as shown in FIG.
It is displaced to the working position where it contacts with and heats it up. At this time, the heater cover 50 is pushed by the arm 41 and moves away from the ribbon residual heat heater 40.

When the solenoid 46 is turned off, as shown in FIG. 2, the pusher 44 is raised, so that the arm 41 is rotated clockwise by the action of the spring 43, so that the ribbon residual heat heater 40 moves from the ink ribbon 23. It is displaced to the retracted position where it is separated. At this time, the heater cover 50 is
Following the rotation of the arm 41, it rotates counterclockwise to cover the surface of the ribbon residual heat heater 40 from below.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the image forming apparatus operates in step S1 of FIG. 3, the ribbon feeding shaft 24 and the ribbon winding shaft 25 rotate counterclockwise in step S2, and the ink ribbon 23 is transferred in the opposite direction as shown in FIG. .

In step S3, when the ribbon position detection sensor 26 detects the cyan ink portion C of the ink ribbon 23 and turns on, the ribbon feeding shaft 24 and the ribbon winding shaft 25 are stopped in step S4, and the ink ribbon 23 The transfer in the opposite direction is stopped. Thereafter, in step S5, the solenoid 46 is turned on, and the ribbon preheating heater 40 is displaced to an operating position for preheating the cyan ink portion C of the ink ribbon 23, as shown in FIG.

Thereafter, in step S6, the ribbon feeding shaft 24
When the ribbon take-up shaft 25 rotates clockwise and the ink ribbon 23 is transported forward, and it is determined in step S7 that T0 seconds have elapsed after the ribbon position detection sensor 26 was turned on, Solenoid 46 at S8
Is turned off, and the residual heat for the yellow, magenta, and cyan ink portions Y, M, and C ends.

When it is determined in step S9 that T1 seconds have elapsed after the ribbon position detection sensor 26 was turned on, the ribbon feeding shaft 24 and the ribbon winding shaft 25 are stopped in step S10, and the ink ribbon 23 is moved to the reference position. Is set to.

After this, in step S11, the sheet conveying roller pair 32 is driven to convey the sheet 30, and in step S12
When the sheet position detection sensor 33 detects the leading edge of the sheet 30 and is turned on, the conveyance belt 10 is driven in step S13, and the sheet 30 is conveyed on the conveyance belt 10.

When it is determined in step S14 that T2 seconds have elapsed after the sheet position detection sensor 33 was turned on, the yellow platen roller 16 is raised by the platen drive device in step S15, and the yellow print head 1
The conveyor belt 10 separated from the sheet 3 is pressed against the yellow print head 13 via the paper 30 and the ink ribbon 23. Then, in step S16, the ribbon feeding shaft 2
4 and the ribbon take-up shaft 25 are rotated clockwise, the ink ribbon 23 is transported in the same direction as the paper 30, and the yellow ink portion Y prints on the paper 30.

Next, in step S17, if it is determined that T2 + T3 seconds have elapsed after the sheet position detection sensor 33 was turned on, the magenta platen roller 17 is raised by the platen drive device in step S18, and the conveyor belt 10 is moved. Is pressed against the magenta print head 14 via the paper 30 and the ink ribbon 23, and the magenta ink portion M prints on the paper 30. Subsequently, after the sheet position detection sensor 33 is turned on in step S19, T
When it is determined that 2 + 2 × T3 seconds have elapsed, the cyan platen roller 18 is lifted in step S20, the conveyance belt 10 is pressed against the cyan print head 15 via the paper 30 and the ink ribbon 23, and the paper 30 The cyan ink portion C is used for printing.

Next, in step S21, if it is determined that T4 seconds have elapsed after the sheet position detection sensor 33 was turned on, then in step S22 the yellow platen roller 1
6 is lowered by the platen driving device, and then step S
23, after the paper position detection sensor 33 is turned on, T4
When it is determined that + T3 seconds have elapsed, step S24
Then, the magenta platen roller 17 is lowered, and at step S25, after the sheet position detection sensor 33 is turned on, T
When it is determined that 4 + 2 × T3 seconds have elapsed, the cyan platen roller 18 is lowered in step S26.

Thereafter, in step S27, the ribbon feeding shaft 2
4 and the ribbon take-up shaft 25 stop, the first printing ends, and when it is determined in step S28 that T5 seconds have elapsed after the sheet position detection sensor 33 was turned on, the conveyance belt 10 is determined in step S29. Is stopped, and the sheet conveying roller pair 32 is also stopped in step S30. In step S31, it is determined whether or not the printing is completed. If not, the process returns to step S2, the same operation is repeated, and the continuous printing is performed.

When the printing is completed in step S31, the process proceeds to step S32, the sheet 30 is discharged, and the operation of the image forming apparatus is stopped.

In the above, T0 to T5 indicate the following times, respectively. T0: Time until the yellow ink portion Y reaches the heater 40 for remaining heat of the ribbon T1: Time until the ink ribbon 23 reaches the reference position T2: Time until the leading edge of the paper 30 reaches the yellow print head 13 T3: Paper 30 Moves between the print heads 13, 14 and 15 T4: Time until the trailing edge of the paper 30 exceeds the yellow print head 13 T5: Time until the paper 30 leaves the conveyor belt 10

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The ribbon preheating heater that preheats the ink ribbon is moved to a retracted position that is separated from the ink ribbon when the preheating is not performed, so that deterioration of the ink ribbon by the preheating ribbon heater can be prevented and the preheating ribbon ribbon heater. It is not necessary to consider the rise time of.

According to the second aspect of the invention, since the ribbon preheating heater is moved to the retracted position after the ink portions of a plurality of colors are preheated, deterioration of the ink ribbon can be prevented even in the case of a color ink ribbon. .

According to the third aspect of the invention, the ribbon residual heat heater can be easily switched and displaced by turning the solenoid on and off.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the ribbon residual heat heater is supported by a rotatable arm, and the arm is rotated by turning a solenoid on and off to bring the ribbon residual heat heater into an operating position and a retracted position. Since switching displacement is performed, the switching can be accurately performed with a simple mechanism.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, when the heater for ribbon residual heat is at the retracted position, the heater cover is interposed between the heater and the ink ribbon, so that the deterioration of the ink ribbon can be prevented further. In addition, it is possible to prevent the user from being burned when the ink ribbon is replaced.

In the invention according to claim 6, the heater cover is
It is safer because the surface of the ribbon residual heat heater is covered by following the displacement of the ribbon residual heat heater.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a state in which a solenoid for turning on a ribbon residual heat heater is displaced to an operating position in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which a solenoid for turning off the ribbon residual heat heater is displaced to a retracted position.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Conveyor belt 13 ・ 14 ・ 15 Print head 23 Ink ribbon 30 sheets (recording medium) 40 Ribbon residual heat heater 41 Arm 43 spring 44 pusher 45 spring 46 solenoid 47 Plunger 50 heater cover

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A thermal sublimation image forming apparatus for heating an ink ribbon by a print head to print on a recording medium,
A ribbon residual heat heater that heats the ink ribbon before heating by the print head, and a heater moving unit that moves the ribbon residual heat heater to a retracted position separated from the ink ribbon are operated. An image forming apparatus of thermal sublimation type, characterized by: 2. The heater moving means moves the ribbon residual heat heater to a retracted position after the ribbon residual heat heater preheats ink portions of a plurality of colors sequentially formed on the ink ribbon. The thermal sublimation image forming apparatus according to claim 1. 3. The heater moving means has a solenoid, and by switching the solenoid on / off, the ribbon residual heat heater is switched and displaced between an operating position and a retracted position. The thermal sublimation type image forming apparatus described. 4. The ribbon residual heat heater is supported by a rotatable arm, and the arm is rotated by turning a solenoid on and off to switch the ribbon residual heat heater between an operating position and a retracted position. The thermal sublimation image forming apparatus according to claim 3, which is characterized in that. 5. The heater cover for interposing between the heater and the ink ribbon when the heater for remaining heat of the ribbon is at the retracted position.
The thermal sublimation image forming apparatus described in 2, 3 or 4. 6. The heater cover covers the surface of the ribbon residual heat heater by following the ribbon residual heat heater when the ribbon residual heat heater is displaced from the operating position to the retracted position. Item 5. A thermal sublimation image forming apparatus according to Item 5.