JP2003341165A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent erroneous loading and loosening of a recording sheet roll. <P>SOLUTION: A black print layer 20 is formed of infrared ray transmissive ink on one end face of a core 13, and a white print layer 21 is formed on the other end face. An information code 27 is printed with infrared absorbing ink on the black print layer 20. Paper holders 24 and 25 being fixed to respective end faces of the core 13 and bearing parts 17 and 18 of the paper holders 24 and 25 have the same colors as those on the corresponding end faces of the core 13. Fixing of the paper holder and setting thereof to the bearing part can thereby be carried out in correct orientation by matching the color. Since the paper holder 24 is formed of infrared ray transmissive plastic in black color so that reading of the information code 27 by means of a photoelectric sensor 29 using infrared ray is not impeded, a flange 24b having such a diameter as can prevent the recording sheet roll 10 from being loosened or wound irregularly can be provided. <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 printer using a recording paper roll.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some recording papers used in printers include
There is a recording paper roll in which a long recording paper is wound around the outer circumference of a winding core to form a roll. This recording paper roll has paper holders attached to both ends of the winding core, and is set in a bearing portion provided in a roll chamber of the printer or a paper feed magazine. The paper holder includes a fitting portion that is fitted to the end portion of the winding core, a flange that protects the end surface of the recording paper roll to prevent winding looseness and disturbance, and a rotating shaft that is held by the bearing portion. ing.

Further, there is a recording paper roll having an information code representing information of the recording paper printed on one end surface of the winding core. In a printer using this recording paper roll, an information code is read by a sensor when the recording paper roll is rotated and used for control during printing.

[0004]

When setting the recording paper roll in the roll chamber of the paper feed magazine or printer, it is necessary to pay attention to the loading direction of the recording paper roll. This is because when the recording paper roll is set in the reverse direction, it is not possible to feed the recording paper or read the information code. However, when the paper holders of the same shape are used on the left and right sides, the recording paper roll is often set in the opposite direction.

In the paper holder used for the recording paper roll having the information code, the diameter of the flange is made smaller than the outer shape of the core in order to expose the information code on the end surface of the core. Therefore, it does not have a function of preventing the recording paper roll from being loosened or disturbed.

The present invention is intended to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to prevent erroneous loading of a recording paper roll and loosening of the recording paper roll.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the printer of the present invention has a fitting portion of a paper holder which has printing layers formed on both end faces of a winding core in different colors and is attached to each end face. And / or the flange, or both,
The bearing portion for holding each paper holder is formed in the same color as the printing layer on the corresponding end face.

Further, the print layer is formed of an ink which allows infrared rays to pass therethrough, the information code is printed with an infrared absorbing ink, and a sensor for irradiating the information code with infrared rays to read the information code is provided. Further, at least the flange of the paper holder attached to the end face on the side where the information code is printed is formed of a material that transmits infrared rays.

[0009]

1 and 2 are schematic views showing the structure of a color thermal printer. A roll chamber in which the recording paper roll 10 is set is provided in the color thermal printer. The recording paper roll 10 is formed by winding a belt-shaped color thermosensitive recording paper 12 around a winding core 13.

As is well known, the color thermosensitive recording paper 12 has a cyan thermosensitive coloring layer, a magenta thermosensitive coloring layer, and a yellow thermosensitive coloring layer which are sequentially laminated on a support. The yellow thermosensitive coloring layer, which is the uppermost layer, has the highest heat sensitivity and develops yellow with a small amount of heat energy. The cyan thermosensitive coloring layer, which is the lowermost layer, has the lowest thermal sensitivity and develops cyan with a large amount of heat energy. The yellow thermosensitive coloring layer has a thickness of 420 nm.
When it is irradiated with the near-ultraviolet rays, the coloring ability disappears. The magenta thermosensitive coloring layer, which is the second thermosensitive coloring layer, develops magenta with heat energy in the middle of those of the yellow thermosensitive coloring layer and the cyan thermosensitive coloring layer, and loses its coloring ability when irradiated with ultraviolet rays of 365 nm. .

The color thermosensitive recording paper 12 is pulled out from the recording paper roll 10 set in the roll chamber and sent to the printing section 15. The printing unit 15 has a thermal head that presses against the color thermosensitive recording paper 12 to generate heat, thereby developing each thermosensitive coloring layer, a fixing device that irradiates ultraviolet rays to the thermorecorded thermosensitive recording layer to fix the thermosensitive recording layer, and a color thermosensitive recording layer. A cutter for cutting the recording paper 12 to a predetermined length is provided.

A pair of bearings 17 and 18 for rotatably supporting the recording paper roll 10 are arranged in the roll chamber in which the recording paper roll 10 is set. One of the bearing portions 17 is colored black, for example, and the other bearing portion 18 is colored white.

The winding core 13 is formed of a paper or plastic cylinder. As shown in FIG. 3, which is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the recording paper roll 10, a black printing layer 20, for example, is formed on the entire one end surface of the winding core 13. Also,
A white printing layer 21, for example, is formed on the entire area of the other end surface of the winding core 13. For coloring both end surfaces of the winding core 13,
Infrared transparent ink having excellent infrared transparency is used.

Paper holders 24 and 25 are attached to both end surfaces of the recording paper roll 10, respectively. The paper holders 24 and 25 include substantially cylindrical fitting portions 24a and 25a fitted to the winding core 13, disc-shaped flanges 24b and 25b that come into contact with the end surface of the recording paper roll 10, and bearing portions 17, The rotary shafts 24c and 25c to be inserted into 18 are integrally formed of plastic. Flange 24b,
25b has a diameter larger than the diameter of the recording paper roll 10, and contacts the end surface of the recording paper roll 10 to prevent loosening or winding disorder.

The paper holder 24 attached to the side of the winding core 13 on which the black print layer 20 is formed and supported by the black bearing portion 17 is made of black infrared permeable plastic. In addition, the white printed layer 21 of the winding core 13
Is attached to the side where the
The paper holder 25 that is supported by is made of transparent plastic.

On the black print layer 20 of the winding core 13, an information code 27 is printed which represents recording paper data such as the type, sensitivity and length of the color thermosensitive recording paper 12. For printing the information code 27, infrared absorbing ink that absorbs infrared rays and does not reflect is used.

At the position facing the end face of the winding core 13 inside the bearing portion 17, the photoelectric sensor 2 for reading the information code 27 is read.
9 is attached. The photoelectric sensor 29 includes a light projecting portion 29a for irradiating the end face of the winding core 13 with infrared rays,
Light receiving section 29 for receiving infrared rays reflected by the end surface of the winding core 13.
b and an amplifier that amplifies the voltage signal photoelectrically converted by the light receiving unit 29b.

The paper holder 24, including the flange 24b facing the photoelectric sensor 29, is made of a plastic having infrared transparency and is formed in black, so that the infrared light emitted from the photoelectric sensor 29 is transmitted. As a result, even if the flange 24b having a diameter that covers the entire end surface of the recording paper roll 10 is provided, the information code 2 by the photoelectric sensor 29 is provided.
The recording paper roll 10
It is possible to prevent the winding from loosening.

The black print layer 20 is formed of infrared transmitting ink, and the information code 27 is formed of infrared absorbing ink. The infrared rays emitted from the light projecting section 29a are reflected only when they are emitted to the black print layer 20, and enter the light receiving section 29c. Therefore, various information such as a bar code can be represented by changing the interval or size of the marks of the information code 27.

The information code 27 read by the photoelectric sensor 29 is input to the code reading circuit 31. The code reading circuit 31 includes an A / D converter that converts a signal input from the photoelectric sensor 29 into digital data, a CPU that decodes the converted digital data, and the like.

The recording paper data of the color thermal recording paper 12 decoded by the code reading circuit 31 is input to a system controller 32 which controls the entire color thermal printer. The system controller 32 uses the code reading circuit 31.
Using the recording paper data input from
Control each part such as 5.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described. When using a color thermal printer, the recording paper roll 10 must first be set. The recording paper roll 10 is sold in a light-shielding bag and a packaging box. The user takes out the recording paper roll 10 from these packages and attaches the paper holders 24, 25 to both ends of the core 13.
The fitting portions 24a and 25a of are fitted.

One end surface of the core 13 of the recording paper roll 10 is colored black and the other is colored white. In the pair of paper holders, one paper holder 24 is made of black plastic and the other paper holder 25 is made of transparent plastic. Therefore, the core 13
It can be intuitively understood that the paper holders 24 and 25 may be attached to the recording paper roll 10 so that the color of the end face of the paper holder 24 and the color of the paper holders 24 and 25 match. As a result, the paper holders 24 and 25 can be attached to the end surfaces of the recording paper roll 10 on the appropriate sides.

The recording paper roll 10 having the paper holders 24 and 25 attached to both end faces is set in the roll chamber of the color thermal printer. When the light-shielding roll chamber is opened, a black bearing portion 17 and a white bearing portion 18 are installed in the roll chamber. When the recording paper roll 10 is set in the roll chamber, the paper holders 24, 25
The recording paper roll 10 may be set in the roll chamber such that the color of the recording paper and the color of the bearings 17 and 18 match. This allows even users who are unfamiliar with the operation of color thermal printers to
The recording paper roll 10 will not be erroneously loaded.

When the power of the color thermal printer is turned on and a printing operation is performed, the recording paper roll 10 is rotated by a paper feed roller (not shown), and the color thermal recording paper 12 is rotated.
Are sent to the printing unit 15.

When the recording paper roll 10 is rotated when the color thermal recording paper 12 is fed, the photoelectric sensor 29 causes the light projecting portion 29 to move.
Emit infrared rays from a. The infrared rays radiated from the photoelectric sensor 29 are transmitted through the flange 24b of the paper holder 24, which is made of infrared permeable plastic and formed in black, and are applied to the end surface of the winding core 13. Infrared is information code 27
When the black print layer 20 is irradiated, the light is absorbed, and when the black print layer 20 is irradiated, the light is reflected and enters the light receiving portion 29c.

The photoelectric sensor 29 generates a voltage signal when infrared rays are incident on the light receiving portion 29b, amplifies the voltage signal by an amplifier, and inputs the voltage signal to the code reading circuit 31. The code reading circuit 31 converts the voltage signal input from the photoelectric sensor 29 into A /
The recording paper data is decoded by D conversion and input to the system controller 32. The system controller 32 controls each unit such as the printing unit 15 using the recording paper data,
Optimal thermal recording is performed on the color thermal recording paper 12.

In the above embodiment, the printer in which the recording paper roll is directly set in the roll chamber provided in the printer has been described as an example. However, the present invention can also be used in a printer in which a recording paper roll is set in a paper feed magazine and the paper feed magazine is set in the paper feed unit of the printer. In this case, the bearing portion matching the color of the flange and the photoelectric sensor are mounted in the paper feed magazine.

Although the information code is printed with an infrared absorbing ink which can be identified by visible light, the information code may be printed using an infrared absorbing ink which transmits visible light and is invisible. Although the information code is printed on the black print layer, the information code may be printed under the black print layer. Further, the print layer on the end surface of the winding core does not necessarily have to be provided over the entire area, and may be provided partially so as to serve as a mark when the paper holder is attached.

Although the paper holder 24 is entirely made of infrared permeable plastic, only the flange 24b may be made of infrared permeable plastic. Also,
The flange 24b may be formed of transparent plastic that transmits infrared rays, and the fitting portion 24a may be formed of black plastic. As described above, when the fitting portion and the flange of the paper holder have different colors, the fitting portion and the flange may be separately formed and assembled, or multicolor molding or painting may be used. .

In the above embodiment, the color thermal printer has been described as an example, but the present invention can also be applied to printers of other recording formats using a recording paper roll, copying machines, facsimiles and the like. .

[0032]

As described above, according to the printer of the present invention, the color of the end face of the core, the color of the paper holder, and the color of the bearing portion are matched with each other to attach the paper holder to the core. Since the paper holder can be intuitively set in the bearing in the correct direction, even an inexperienced user can easily set the recording paper roll and prevent erroneous loading. You can

Further, since infrared rays are used for reading the information code and the paper holder is made of a material having infrared transparency, the diameter of the flange is made larger than the diameter of the recording paper roll to loosen the recording paper roll. It is possible to prevent winding disorder.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a state in which a recording paper roll is not loaded in a color thermal printer embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which a recording paper roll of a color thermal printer according to the present invention is loaded.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a recording paper roll.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Recording paper roll 12 color thermal recording paper 13 winding core 17 Black bearing 18 White bearing 20 Black printing layer 21 White printing layer 24 black paper holder 25 Transparent paper holder 27 Information code 29 Photoelectric sensor

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A recording paper roll, in which a long recording paper is wound around an outer circumference of a winding core, is used as a recording medium, and a fitting portion fitted to an end portion of the winding core and an end surface of the recording paper roll are provided. A pair of paper holders provided with a protective flange,
In a printer provided with a pair of bearing portions that support these paper holders and rotatably hold a recording paper roll, a printing layer is formed in different colors on both end faces of the core, and both end portions of the core are formed. One or both of a fitting portion and a flange of each paper holder to be attached, and a bearing portion holding each paper holder have the same color as the printing layer of the corresponding end face. 2. The printing layer is formed of an infrared ray permeable ink, and an information code representing information on a recording paper is printed with an infrared ray absorbing ink on or under the printing layer on one end surface of the core. The printer according to claim 1, further comprising a sensor for irradiating the information code with infrared rays to read the information code. 3. The printer according to claim 2, wherein at least the flange of the paper holder attached to the end surface of the core on the side where the information code is printed is formed of a material that transmits infrared rays.