JP2003285459A - Thermal transfer printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a thermal transfer printer capable of printing on the surface of a common label sheet on the market. <P>SOLUTION: The thermal transfer printer comprises a printer body 12 for containing label sheets 1, and a cover 16 opening/closing freely with respect to the printer body 12 wherein the cover 16 is provided with a thermal head 30 having a plurality of heating elements being heated selectively to print on the label sheet 1, and a mechanism 35 for moving the thermal head 30 while touching the heating elements resiliently onto the label sheet 1 through an ink ribbon 42. When the cover 16 is closed with respect to the printer body 12, the thermal head 30 is moved to print on the label sheet 1 with ink of the ink ribbon 42. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal transfer printer, and more particularly to a thermal transfer printer capable of printing and recording on commercially available general-purpose sticky notes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a sticky note is used by sticking it to a required place such as a book or a bundle of documents such as a plurality of documents. Then, when the necessary information is extracted, the work can be carried out extremely smoothly, for example, by using the mark of the place where the sticky note is attached. When you no longer use it, peel off the sticky note that you stuck and remove it, and there will be no trace of adhesive etc. on the part of the book or document bundle where the sticky note is stuck, so it does not stain the paper surface, so it is extremely It is convenient.

As this sticky note, various products in the form of a bundle of a number of office supplies are commercially available. As shown in FIG. 6A, for example, a sticky note 1 is pre-printed in a color different from that of the base sheet 2, if necessary, at one end of the surface of the base sheet 2 made of rectangular paper. A marking 3 and a pressure sensitive adhesive (adhesive) 4 are applied to the other surface of the base sheet 2 on the other side thereof, and a plurality of base sheets 2 (a large number) are laminated to form a bundle. There is. No adhesive is applied to the back surface of the marking 3 portion. Next, when using the sticky note 1, the marking 3 portion of the base sheet 2 is picked by hand and peeled off one by one from the uppermost base sheet 2 one by one. It has been used as a mark or as a handwritten memo on the surface of the sticky note 1 attached.

In recent years, so-called label printers have been marketed as office equipment. As shown in FIG. 6B, the label printer 50 can be loaded with a label paper cartridge. This label paper cartridge has a delivery core and a winding core in which a long label paper 52 is wound in a roll shape. And the platen roller 5
A part of the label paper 52 in the attached label paper cartridge is exposed between the printer 6 and the thermal head 57 that is in pressure contact with the platen roller 56. The ink of the derived ink ribbon 58 is melted and transferred by the heat of the thermal head, and predetermined print recording is performed.

The label paper 52 printed and recorded is
The cutter 63 is cut to a predetermined length, and the label 63 is completed as shown in an enlarged view of the circle A in the drawing. The used ink ribbon is wound around the winding roll 61.

The label paper 52 is provided with an adhesive layer 53c having a strong adhesive property on the back surface of a resin base sheet 53a, and a release paper 53b is stuck on the entire back surface. Then, after printing and recording, the label 63 cut into a predetermined length is peeled off the release paper 53b to be permanently attached to a necessary place.

Next, in this label printer 50,
It is known to print on a sticky note instead of the label paper 52. That is, in the cartridge for sticky notes, a long, roll-shaped sticky note tape 53 is wound around the tape reel 52. As shown in FIG. 7, the sticky note tape 53 includes a base paper 53a made of tape-shaped plain paper or resin paper, and a release paper 53b. Release paper 53
A pressure-sensitive adhesive 53c is previously applied at a predetermined interval on the back surface of the base paper 53a, which is a surface to be attached to b.

The sticky note tape 53 is printed and recorded by the heat of the thermal head 7 in the same manner as the case of the label paper 52, and is cut at predetermined intervals (marked by B in the figure) of the markings 53d previously printed. Then, by repeating this operation, a plurality of sticky notes printed and recorded on the surface are completed.

[0009]

By the way, in the label printer 50, as described above, if the cartridge for the dedicated sticky note is not purchased, a clean print record of the display with the ink which is not handwritten is displayed on the surface of the sticky note. Could not be achieved. As a result, the commercially available general-purpose sticky notes do not have a thermal transfer printer for printing and recording with ink on the surface, which is inconvenient for the user.

Further, the label printer 50 needs a cutting mechanism portion for cutting the sticky note tape 53 to a predetermined length, and moreover, the cutting mechanism portion must be accurately cut at the boundary of the marking 53d. This has become a factor of complexity and an increase in size of the entire label printer.

An object of the present invention is to provide a thermal transfer printer capable of printing and recording on the surface of sticky notes which are generally commercially available.

[0012]

At least one of the above-mentioned problems
As a first solution to solve the above problem, a printer main body capable of accommodating sticky notes and a lid that can be opened and closed with respect to the printer main body are provided, and the lid has a plurality of heating elements. And a thermal head capable of selectively heating the heating elements to print and record them on sticky notes, and a head moving mechanism section for moving the thermal head while elastically contacting the heating elements on the sticky notes via an ink ribbon. The thermal head is moved to print and record the ink of the ink ribbon on the sticky note when the cover is closed with respect to the printer body.

As a second solving means, a detecting means is provided on either the printer main body or the lid, and the detecting means is turned on when the lid is closed with respect to the printer main body. Then, the print recording is started.

As a third solving means, the sticky note is arranged in the printer body so that a part of the sticky note curls upward when the lid is opened from the printer body.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A thermal transfer printer for sticky notes, which is an embodiment of the present invention, will be described below with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 1, this thermal transfer printer 10
Is mainly composed of a printer body 12 and a lid body 16 which can be opened and closed with respect to the printer body 12 around a hinge shaft 14. With respect to the printer body 12, the lid 16 is
A spring (not shown) always keeps the upper position. The printer body 12 is made of sheet metal,
A rectangular bottom plate portion 12a, and first and second side plate portions 12 bent upward at substantially right angles from both ends of the bottom plate portion 12a.
b and 12c.

The first side plate portion 12b of the printer body 12
A detection sensor (detection means) 18 that is configured to detect opening / closing of the lid body 16 and includes a detection switch for starting and stopping print recording is attached to the. A motor and a gear portion that transmits the driving force of the motor are attached to the outside of the second side plate portion 12c. The power source for the motor or the like is supplied from a battery power source, a portable personal computer, or the like. 1st
Between the second side plate portions 12b and 12c, on the bottom plate portion 12a,
A storage unit 20 for storing a commercially available general-purpose sticky note 1 (see FIG. 5) is provided.

The accommodating portion 20 is made of metal or resin and has a flat plate-like mounting plate portion 2 for mounting the sticky note 1.
1 (see FIG. 3). A plurality of pressure contact springs 41 for arranging the entire bundle of sticky note papers 40 on the ascending side are arranged below the mounting portion 21 so as to have a predetermined elastic contact pressure with relatively high strength. There is. On the front side (right side in FIG. 3) of the storage section 20, the marking 3 side of the sticky note 1 to which the pressure-sensitive adhesive 4 is not applied is arranged so as to be positioned. The accommodating portion 20 has elastically deformable triangular wave-shaped convex portions 2 at the portions in contact with the marking 3 side of the sticky note 1.
0b is continuously formed. The base sheets 2 of the sticky note 1 can be separated from each other on the marking 3 side, and thus the bundle of sticky notes 1 is stored while being brought into contact with the convex portions 20b continuously arranged in the storage section 20 like a bellows. It is possible. If the side to which the pressure-sensitive adhesive 4 is applied is mistakenly positioned on the front side (right side in FIG. 3), the sticky note 1 will not be inserted smoothly because it cannot be inserted smoothly. It is possible to prevent storage.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5, a paper guide portion 22 is provided in the storage portion 20. The paper guide unit 22 is manually moved according to the widths of various commercially available sticky notes 1 to positionally control the width of the sticky notes 1.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the lid 16 is made of sheet metal and has a substantially rectangular flat plate portion 16.
a and side plate portions 16b and 16c which are bent downward at substantially right angles from both ends of the flat plate portion 16a, respectively.

The side plate portion 16b is provided with a pressing piece 24 bent at a substantially right angle at the front end thereof. When the lid 16 is closed with respect to the printer body 12, the pressing piece 24 drives the detection sensor 18 attached to the printer body 12 to turn on. Also,
The side plate portion 16b is formed with an opening portion 26 for inserting a ribbon cassette described later.

As shown in FIG. 2, on the front side (right side in the drawing) of the side plate portion 16c, a long hole portion 28 is formed in the longitudinal direction with a precise hole width dimension. A drive unit 29 for winding up an ink ribbon housed in a ribbon cassette described later is formed on the rear side.

A thermal head 30 is arranged between the side plates 16b and 16c. This thermal head 30
Is a rectangular head mounting plate 32 made of a rigid metal plate, and a plurality of heating elements 34 on the insulating substrate portion 33.
and a heating element 34 in which a is arranged in a line. One end of the head mount 32 projects to the outside through the long hole 28 of the side plate 16c.

Next, the side plate portion 1 is provided outside the side plate portion 16c.
A head moving mechanism portion 35 for moving the entire thermal head 30 along the elongated hole portion 28 of 6c is attached. That is, one end of the head mount 32 protruding outward from the long hole 28 of the side plate 16c is movable while being supported by a shaft (not shown). Here, the other end of the head mount 32 is a free end.

Further, when the lid 16 is closed on the printer body 12, the thermal head 30 is moved by the driving force of a motor (not shown) via the gear portion.
The thermal head 30 may be manually moved without using the motor.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2, the ribbon cassette 40 has a cassette body 40a having a substantially elliptical cross section.
And a ribbon guide portion 40b integrally formed by extending from the cassette body portion 40a to one side (right side in FIG. 2). An ink ribbon 42 is housed in the cassette body 40a, and both ends of the ink ribbon 42 are wound around a supply roller 44 and a take-up roller 46 arranged in the cassette body 40a. Furthermore, the ribbon cassette 40
Is a roller 4 which is rotatable on the leading edge of the ribbon guide portion 40b.
A part of the ink ribbon 42 which has 0c and is led out from the supply roller 44 is folded back by the roller 40c and wound around the winding roller 46.

Next, this thermal transfer printer 10 for sticky notes
The print recording operation will be described. The ribbon cassette 40 is attached to the opening of the lid 16 in advance. First, when the lid body 16 in the state shown in FIG. 1 is pushed by hand against the printer body 12, the lid body 16 rotates about the hinge shaft 14 in the direction of arrow A1 to close the lid body 16. At this time,
The detection sensor 18 is pushed by the pressing piece 24 and is driven ON.

Next, in the thermal transfer printer 10, a motor (not shown) is driven by an ON drive signal from the detection sensor 18, the driving force is transmitted through a gear portion, and the thermal head is moved by the head moving mechanism portion 35. Start moving 30. At the same time, the heating elements of the heating element 34 of the thermal head 30 selectively start heating according to the print recording data (see FIG. 3). More specifically, the state in which the lid 16 is manually pressed against the printer body 12 in the direction of the arrow A1 is maintained. Then, the thermal head 30 attached to the lid 16 elastically contacts the sticky note paper 1 with a predetermined elastic contact pressure by the upward reaction force of the elastic biasing force of the pressure contact spring 41.

Next, the thermal head 30 is elastically contacted by the head moving mechanism portion 35 with the ink ribbon 42 being interposed on the uppermost surface of the sticky note 1, while the thermal head 30 is shown from the state shown in FIG. 3 to the state shown in FIG. The sticky note 1 is moved to the state. Then, in a state where the ink of the ink ribbon 42 is melted, a predetermined print recording is performed on the sticky note 1. It should be noted that the thermal transfer printer 10 of the present invention does not have a platen bar or platen roller that is generally used, but instead of the elastic contact spring 42.
A predetermined elastic contact pressure is adjusted by the mounting plate portion 21 and the sticky note 1 itself.

Next, when the pressing force applied to the lid body 16 which has been maintained in the closed state by hand is released, the printer body 12 causes the lid body 16 to move by the force of a spring (not shown), and the arrow A shown in the figure.
It is pushed up in two directions. Since the ink of the ink ribbon 42 is applied to the uppermost surface of the base sheet 2 of the sticky note 1, a difference in stress distribution is generated between the sticky note 1 and the back surface.
The leading edge of the sticky note 1 (marking 3 portion) is located in a curl shape upward. Therefore, the curled part of the sticky note 1 is picked with a finger and the topmost one is peeled off. It should be noted that the print record printed on the sticky note 1 does not have to have a high resolution, and the sticky note 1 can be attached especially when moving an installation object such as a layout change at work or school. This is convenient for recognizing the printed and recorded information commonly among workers. As described above, the print recording state is clearer and more convenient than the case where the person himself / herself writes and uses it instead of a memo.

When the resolution of the print recording on the sticky note 1 described above is slightly increased, an ink ribbon for the ribbon cassette is used for undercoating and ink of a predetermined color, for example, Y (yellow), M (magenta). ) And C (cyan) are sequentially applied to form what is called a ribbon ribbon. By using this ribbon cassette,
First, a sticky note 1 is transparently undercoated, and then ink of a predetermined color is printed and recorded, so that not only characters but also image recording can be printed. In particular, the convenience can be further improved because it can be visually displayed as a temporary layout change of the shelving arrangement in a store or a display at an event at a neighborhood association or a move. Note that the sticky note 1
By applying the undercoat on the sticky note 1, the amount of curling of the sticky note 1 increases, so that the sticky note 1 can be grasped by hand and peeled off more easily.

Although the thermal transfer printer 10 for sticky notes 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention has been described, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, when a plurality of bundles of sticky notes 1 are mounted in the direction in which the heating elements are arranged and positioned by the paper guide section,
A plurality of print records can be simultaneously formed on the sticky note 1 by one print recording operation. Further, although the thermal transfer printer 10 is mainly used for commercially available sticky notes 1, it is not limited to the sticky notes 1 and may be a stack of general sheets. Further, in this thermal transfer printer 10, a card storage unit for storing a memory card is formed, print recording data is created in advance by a personal computer, and a memory card storing this data is mounted in the card storage unit for printing. It may be recorded.

[0032]

As described above, the thermal transfer printer of the present invention comprises a printer body capable of accommodating sticky notes and a lid body which can be opened and closed with respect to the printer body. A thermal head having a plurality of heating elements, capable of selectively heating each heating element to print and record on sticky notes,
The sticky note is provided with a head moving mechanism section that makes it possible to move the surhead while elastically contacting the heating element via the ink ribbon, and when the lid is closed with respect to the printer body, the thermal head is moved to make the sticky note. By printing and recording the ink of the ink ribbon on the paper, it is possible to print and record the commercially available general-purpose sticky note with a simple structure using the ink of the ink ribbon rather than handwriting. Moreover, it is possible to keep the entire apparatus of the thermal transfer printer small and thin.

Further, either the printer main body or the lid is provided with a detecting means, and when the lid is closed with respect to the printer main body, the detecting means is turned on to start the print recording. By doing so, since the thermal head that elastically contacts the sticky note with a predetermined elastic contact pressure moves after the lid is closed, it is possible to prevent the transfer failure of the print record.

By placing the sticky note in the printer body so that a part of the sticky note curls upward when the lid is opened from the printer main body, the curled part of the uppermost sticky note is removed. It can be picked up with fingers and peeled off more easily than other sticky notes, improving convenience.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a thermal transfer printer which is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a lid of the thermal transfer printer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a thermal transfer printer which is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a thermal transfer printer which is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a print recording portion of the thermal transfer printer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6A is a diagram showing an example of a conventional sticky note, FIG.
FIG. 3B is a diagram schematically showing the internal configuration of a conventional tape printer.

FIG. 7 is an example of a conventional sticky note tape.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 sticky notes 10 Thermal transfer printer 12 Printer body 16 Lid 32 detection means (detection sensor) 30 thermal head 35 Head moving mechanism section 42 ink ribbon

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A printer main body capable of accommodating sticky notes, and a lid that can be opened and closed with respect to the printer main body, wherein the lid has a plurality of heating elements, and the heating elements can be selectively used. A thermal head capable of print-recording on the sticky note by heating the sticky note, and a head moving mechanism section capable of moving the thermal head while elastically contacting the heating element via the ink ribbon on the sticky note, A thermal transfer printer, wherein the thermal head is moved to print and record the ink of the ink ribbon on the sticky note when the lid is closed with respect to the printer body. 2. A detection unit is provided on either the printer main body or the lid, and when the lid is closed with respect to the printer main body, the detection unit is driven to perform printing. A thermal transfer printer characterized in that recording is started. 3. The sticky note is arranged in the printer main body so that a part of the sticky note curls upward when the lid is opened from the printer main body. 1. The thermal transfer printer according to 1.