JP2005205843A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer which can obtain high-quality recording results by preventing the generation of wrinkles on an ink film provided for recording. <P>SOLUTION: A leading end part of a film wrinkle removing member 11 consisting of an electrostatic attraction film of a high static electricity chargeability is positioned at a part immediately before a heating element 3 to be the transfer direction upstream side of the ink film 21. At the same time, the film wrinkle removing member 11 is supported within a printer body to be brought in face contact with the ink film 21 and attract the ink film 21 in a state that the heating element 3 is butted against a platen 1 via the ink film 21 and a recording paper sheet 22. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a printer that performs a desired recording by transferring ink of an ink film onto a sheet by selectively generating heat from a plurality of heating elements of a thermal head, and more particularly to the entire region in the row direction in the recording range of a recording sheet. The present invention relates to a printer equipped with a line thermal head in which a plurality of heating elements are arranged in a straight line so as to face each other.

  In general, a line thermal head as a recording head mounted on a thermal printer or the like that performs recording using an ink film forms a plurality of heating elements made of heating resistors in a line on a substrate, and according to recording information, By selectively energizing the heat generating element to generate heat, the ink of the ink film is melted and transferred to a recording paper such as plain paper or OHP paper to perform desired recording.

  In such a conventional line thermal head, a heat insulating layer is formed on the surface of the heat-dissipating substrate, and a convex portion protruding at a predetermined height is formed in the vicinity of the tip of the upper surface of the heat insulating layer. Yes. Further, a heating resistor is laminated on the upper surface of the heat insulating layer including the convex portion, and a voltage is applied to the heating resistor on the front end side and the base end side of the heating resistor, respectively. Common electrodes and individual electrodes are formed. A plurality of heating elements in the form of dots are formed in a straight line at a portion sandwiched between the common electrode and each individual electrode of the heating resistor.

  A driver IC chip (hereinafter referred to as an IC chip) connected to the common electrode and the individual electrodes is disposed on the base end side of the substrate. The IC chip is covered and protected by a sealing member made of a sealing resin material.

  In such a conventional line thermal head, the substrate is mounted on the printer main body by being attached to the head mounting base, and the heating element is moved through the ink film and the recording paper by rotating the head mounting base. The center of the portion where the heat generating element and the platen come into contact with each other in the conveyance direction of the recording paper is referred to as a “contact position”).

  When recording is performed using the line thermal head, the heating element of the line thermal head is brought into contact with the platen via the ink film and the recording paper, and the ink film and the paper are transported, and a plurality of recordings are performed based on the recording information. By selectively heating the heat generating element and heating the ink film, the ink of the ink film is transferred to a recording sheet, and characters, images, and the like are recorded on the sheet (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  By the way, in printers equipped with the above-described line thermal head, there is a demand for miniaturization as in other electrical products. There is also a request for cost reduction. Therefore, the size of the printer in the direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the heating elements of the line thermal head substrate is made much smaller than that of the conventional line thermal head, thereby realizing the downsizing of the printer. It has been studied to reduce the cost by increasing the number of line thermal head substrates cut out from one mother substrate.

  As described above, when the dimension of the substrate in the direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the heat generating elements is reduced, the sealing member that protects the IC chip comes close to the heat generating elements on the upper surface of the substrate. Therefore, in a printer equipped with a line thermal head in which the dimension in the direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the heating elements on the substrate is reduced, the contact angle of the line thermal head when the line thermal head contacts the platen, that is, The angle formed by the substrate of the line thermal head with respect to the tangent of the platen at the contact position between the line thermal head and the platen is adjusted so as to be larger than before, and only the heating element is appropriately applied to the platen. It is necessary to configure so that they abut.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-129023

  However, as the contact angle of the line thermal head to the platen increases, the space formed between the platen and the substrate of the line thermal head also increases. In this large space, the transport of the ink film supplied to the recording position where the heating element of the line thermal head and the platen come into contact is likely to be unstable, and the ink film used for recording is loosened. There was a concern that wrinkles were likely to occur and the recording results were adversely affected. In particular, the wrinkles are likely to occur in a recording environment where the temperature and humidity are high.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a printer that can prevent wrinkling of an ink film used for recording and obtain a high-quality recording result.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, the printer of the present invention has a film wrinkle removal member made of an electrostatic adsorption film having high electrostatic chargeability disposed in the printer body, and the film wrinkle removal member has a tip portion. Is positioned in the vicinity of the heat generating element on the upstream side of the ink film transport direction, and makes the surface contact with the ink film while the heat generating element of the thermal head is in contact with the platen through the ink film and recording paper, and adsorbs the ink film. It is characterized by being supported.

  According to the printer of the present invention, the surface of the ink film facing the thermal head (the back surface) is brought into surface contact with the tip of the film scissor removing member that is cantilevered, and the film scissors are removed when the ink film travels. The ink film can be smoothly adsorbed on the surface of the film wrinkle removal member by using the electrostatic attraction force of the member, and wrinkles generated on the ink film can be extended. In this state, a high-quality recording result can be obtained by preventing the heating element of the thermal head from reaching the contact position (recording position) that contacts the platen via the ink film and the recording paper. Moreover, in the printer of the present invention, the leading end portion of the film wrinkle removal member is positioned in the vicinity of the heating element on the upstream side in the transport direction of the ink film, so that the wrinkles of the ink film are stretched in the immediate vicinity of the recording position. In this case, the ink film is slack again before reaching the recording position, and the risk of wrinkles is reduced.

  Then, the base end portion of the film wrinkle removal member is fixed to the head mounting base and supported so as to face the space portion formed between the thermal head and the platen, thereby arranging the heating elements on the substrate. Even if the contact angle of the thermal head when the thermal head comes into contact with the platen is increased, the film wrinkle removal member is attached to the thermal head and the platen. The space formed between the platen and the thermal head substrate can be narrowed, and the transported ink film can be violent and run unstable. Since the ink film can be securely adsorbed to the surface of the film wrinkle removal member, high quality recording results can be obtained. Rukoto is possible.

  The present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a front view showing a configuration of a main part in a recording state of a line printer (hereinafter simply referred to as a printer) as a printer according to the present invention.

  A platen roller 1 as a platen is rotatably disposed in the main body of the printer of this embodiment. Above the platen roller 1, a line thermal head 2 as a recording head has a heating element 3 formed so as to be aligned on the recording surface facing the outer peripheral surface of the platen roller 1, and the longitudinal direction of the platen roller 1. Are arranged so as to extend in a direction parallel to the axial direction.

Here, the line thermal head 2 in the printer of this embodiment is provided with a substrate 4 with good heat dissipation, and a heat insulating layer (not shown) made of glaze or the like with high heat insulating properties is formed on the upper surface of this substrate. ing. In the vicinity of the tip of the upper surface of the heat retaining layer, a convex portion 5 is formed by partially projecting the surface by a photolithographic technique or the like. A heating resistor (not shown) made of Ta—N, Ta—SiO ₂ or the like is laminated on the upper surface of the heat insulating layer including the convex portions 5. A common electrode (not shown) and individual electrodes (not shown) for applying a voltage to the heating resistor are respectively formed on the distal end side and the base end side of the substrate 4 of the heating resistor. It is laminated and patterned by sputtering of Au or the like and photolithography technology. A plurality of heating elements 3 are formed in a dot-like arrangement in the portion sandwiched between the common electrode and the individual electrodes of the heating resistor, and the line thermal head 2 is set at a predetermined position during recording. The heating element 3 can come into contact with the platen roller 1 via the ink film 21 (shown by a one-dot chain line in FIG. 1) and the recording paper 22 (shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 1) when tilted at a contact angle. It has become. Note that the shape of the convex portion 5 is appropriately designed in a shape suitable for contact with the platen roller 1 from the contact angle, contact position, etc. of the line thermal head 2.

  Further, a driver IC chip (not shown) connected to the common electrode and the individual electrodes (hereinafter referred to as an IC chip) is disposed on the substrate 4. The IC chip controls the amount of heat generated by the heating element 3 by controlling the voltage of energization pulses applied to the plurality of heating elements 3, for example. The IC chip is covered and protected by a sealing member 6 made of a sealing resin material in order to protect it from external factors such as mechanical, thermal stress and moisture. As the form of the IC chip and the sealing member 6, COB (Chip On Board) in which the IC chip is directly mounted on the common electrode and the individual electrode on the substrate 4 and the mounting region is sealed with the sealing member 8 is also used. Alternatively, the IC chip may be packaged with a sealing member and mounted on the line thermal head 2.

  Further, the upper surfaces of the heating element 3 and the common electrode and the individual electrodes are hard ceramics such as Si—O—N and SiAlON, which have excellent oxidation resistance and wear resistance, in order to prevent their oxidation and wear. A protective layer (not shown) made of is coated with a predetermined thickness by sputtering or the like.

  Further, an external terminal portion (not shown) composed of an FPC (flexible substrate) connected to the terminal portion of the IC chip is drawn out from the heat insulating layer at the other end portion of the substrate 4 of the line thermal head 2. Yes.

  The line thermal head 2 is attached to a head mounting base 7 made of a metal material such as an aluminum alloy that is lightweight and excellent in heat dissipation (thermal conductivity), and heat is stored in the heat retaining layer during recording. Heat is dissipated through the substrate. The head mounting base 7 is attached to a distal end portion 8a of a head lever 8 whose base end portion 8a is pivotally supported by a support shaft (not shown), and the head lever 8 is connected to a driving source (not shown). The head down position where the line thermal head 2 attached to the head mounting base 7 is brought into contact with the platen roller 1 and the head up separated from the platen roller 1 by rotating around the support shaft with driving force. It is formed so that two positions can be selectively taken.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the recording paper 22 and the ink film 21 are sequentially supplied from the platen roller 1 side between the platen roller 1 and the line thermal head 2 in the head down state. . The contact position between the line thermal head 2 and the platen roller 1 in the head-down state in which the line thermal head 2 is in contact with the platen roller 1 with a predetermined contact force is used for recording ink on the ink film 21. The recording position PP is to be transferred to the recording paper 22 to be transferred.

  Further, a transport path is formed upstream of the recording position PP in the transport direction of the ink film 21 on the head mounting base 7 so that the ink film 21 used for recording does not come into contact with any part other than the heating element 3. An ink film guide 9 is formed. Further, on the downstream side of the recording position PP in the transport direction of the ink film 21 of the head mounting base 7, a peeling member 10 for peeling the ink film 21 used for recording from the recording paper is formed.

  In the printer of this embodiment, the head mounting base 7 is further provided with a film wrinkle removal member 11 for preventing the ink film 21 from wrinkling.

  The film wrinkle removal member 11 is formed of a sheet material made of an electrostatic adsorption film made of a resin having high electrostatic chargeability such as polyvinyl chloride. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the film wrinkle removing member 11 is formed of a sheet material having a low surface friction coefficient, and the slipperiness in the direction (width direction) perpendicular to the transport direction of the ink film 21 is improved, whereby the ink film 21 It is easier to remove the wrinkles generated in the film. Further, in the present embodiment, the film wrinkle removal member 11 has a substantially rectangular shape in which the length of the edge is approximately the same as the line length of the heating element 3. One end side of the opposite sides of the film wrinkle removal member 11 is fixed to the head mounting base 7 as a base end portion 11a of the film wrinkle removal member 11, and the other end side facing the one end side. With the tip 11b facing the space formed between the line thermal head 2 and the platen roller 1, covering the sealing member 6 exposed on the surface of the line thermal head 2, and transporting the ink film 21 It is cantilevered so as to be positioned immediately before the heating element 3 on the upstream side in the direction. FIG. 2 shows the film flaw removing member 11 obtained by chamfering the corner of the front end portion 11b of the resin film material having a substantially rectangular planar shape.

  The ink film 21 has a width corresponding to a recording width (recording width) that is a dimension in the row direction of the recording range of the paper 22, and can be transported together with the paper 22. At the time of recording, the paper 22 is fed out from the ink film cartridge 23 disposed on the sending side (the right side in FIG. 1) upstream of the recording position PP in the transport direction of the paper 22 and guided to the ink film guide 9. The film wrinkle removing member 11 is supplied to the recording position PP in a state in which the slack of the ink film 21 and wrinkles due to the slack are removed, and after being used for recording, the winding side on the downstream side (FIG. 1) It is configured to be wound up sequentially in the middle and left).

  During recording, the heat generating element 3 generates Joule heat and selectively generates heat by selectively energizing the heat generating element 3 based on the recording information with the line thermal head 2 being down. Due to the heat generated by the heat generating element 3, the ink film 21 is partially heated, and ink (not shown) of the ink film 21 is transferred so that characters or images can be recorded on the recording paper 22 positioned on the platen roller 1. It has become.

  In the printer of this embodiment configured as described above, the film wrinkle removal member 11 is in a state where the heating element 3 of the line thermal head 2 is brought into contact with the platen roller 1 via the ink film 21 and the recording paper 22. The surface of the traveling ink film 21 that faces the line thermal head 2 can be brought into surface contact so that the ink film 21 is adsorbed. Then, the ink film 21 that travels using the electrostatic force of the film wrinkle removal member 11 is adsorbed smoothly on the surface of the film wrinkle removal member 11 that faces the platen roller 1, and the ink film 21 is generated on the ink film 21. By extending the wrinkles, it is possible to prevent the wrinkles of the ink film 21 from reaching the recording position PP, and a high-quality recording result can be obtained.

  In addition, the heating element of the line thermal head 2 can be placed in the vicinity of the heating element 3 on the upstream side in the transport direction of the ink film 21 (immediately before) so that the heating element of the line thermal head 2 becomes the ink film and The wrinkles of the ink film 21 can be stretched in the immediate vicinity of the contact position (recording position PP) that contacts the platen roller 1 via the recording paper, and the ink film 21 is slack again before reaching the recording position PP, The risk of wrinkles can be reduced.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various change can be made as needed.

  The ink film used with the line thermal head of the present invention is obtained by applying a heat-meltable ink or heat-sublimation ink to a base film such as a plastic film, and is a concept including an ink ribbon and an ink sheet. In the above-described embodiment, the film wrinkle removal member is disposed on the head mount. However, the film wrinkle removal member is not limited to the head mount and may be disposed at an appropriate location in the printer body. .

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the main configuration of the printer of the present invention. The principal part perspective view for demonstrating the positional relationship of the line thermal head of a printer of this invention, and a film flaw removal member

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Platen roller 2 Line thermal head 3 Heating element 4 Board | substrate 5 Protruding part 6 Sealing member 7 Head mounting base 8 Head lever 8a Base end part 8b Tip end part 9 Ink film guide 10 Peeling member 11 Film wrinkle removal member 11a Base end part 11b Tip Part 21 Ink film 22 Recording paper PP Recording position

Claims (1)

A heat insulating layer formed with a convex part that partially protrudes on the front end side of the upper surface of the substrate, a plurality of heating elements formed on the upper surface of the convex part, an individual electrode for supplying power to each heating element, and a common A line thermal head having an electrode and having a surface covered with a sealing member that covers and protects at least a part of the surface of the substrate on the base end side from the heat generating element is attached to a head mounting base of a printer body Because
A film wrinkle removal member made of an electrostatic adsorbing film having high electrostatic chargeability is disposed in the printer main body, and the film wrinkle removal member is in the vicinity of the heating element whose tip is upstream in the ink film transport direction. The thermal head is supported by the ink film being brought into surface contact with the ink film while the heat generating element of the thermal head is in contact with the platen via the ink film and recording paper. .