JP2005255335A - Card printing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To form a gap for separating cards in advance based on thickness of card to dispense with adjustment work of the gap every time card thickness is changed over. <P>SOLUTION: This card printing device is provided with a card cartridge 2A (2B) storing a plurality of cards, a card take-out part for taking out cards stored in the card cartridge 2A (2B), a separation mechanism 17 provided in the card cartridge 2A (2B) and separating cards one by one by letting a card K1 (K2) taken out by the card take-out part pass through the gap G for separation formed by a block 18 and a separation roller 20, and a printing part for printing information on the card K1 (K2) separated by the separation mechanism 17. The separation mechanism 17 forms the gap G for separation based on thickness of the card K1 (K2) stored in the card cartridge 2A (2B) in advance. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a card printing apparatus that prints information such as images and characters on an identification card such as a license.

  In this type of card printing apparatus, a card cartridge is loaded into a card takeout unit, a card is taken out from the card cartridge, and the taken out card is separated and sent out one by one by a separation unit. The sent card is printed with information such as images and characters on its surface by a printing unit. Further, the printed card is sent to the protective film transfer portion, and the protective film is transferred to the printed surface (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  By the way, in this card printing apparatus, the first card cartridge for storing the card having the first thickness and the card having the second thickness for storing the card having the different thickness from the first thickness card are stored. 2 card cartridges, and a card is selectively taken out from these first or second card cartridges for printing.

  Further, the separation unit for separating the card is constituted by a block and a separation roller facing the block with a gap, and by passing the card through a gap formed between the block and the separation roller, The cards are separated one by one. The gap between the block and the separation roller is adjusted based on the thickness of the card being removed.

  The printing unit that prints information on the card adjusts the print density based on the thickness of the card that is taken out. That is, when the card is thin, the print density is increased. Conversely, when the card is thick, the print density is adjusted thin.

Furthermore, the protective film transfer portion that transfers the protective film to the printing surface of the card is configured to include a heat roller and a backup roller that faces the heat roller with a gap therebetween. The gap between the heat roller and the backup roller is adjusted based on the thickness of the card to be taken out.
JP-A-8-90856

  However, conventionally, since the separation unit for separating the cards is provided not on the card cartridge but on the card removal unit side, the card to be removed is from the first card to the second card or from the second card to the first. Each time the card is switched to another card, the gap between the block constituting the separation unit and the separation roller must be adjusted by the end user or maintenance personnel. For this reason, the adjustment work is troublesome, and the adjustment value may be slightly out of order, which may cause failure or cause deterioration in print quality.

  In addition, the adjustment of the print density and the adjustment of the gap between the heat roller and the backup roller are performed by the end user or maintenance personnel every time the card thickness is changed.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to the above circumstances, and the object is to adjust the gap between the block and the separation roller, to adjust the printing density, and between the heat roller and the backup roller. An object of the present invention is to provide a card printing apparatus that can automatically adjust gap adjustment without adjustment by an end user or maintenance personnel.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a card cartridge for storing a plurality of cards, a taking-out means for taking out the card stored in the card cartridge, and the taking-out means provided in the card cartridge. Separating means for separating cards one by one by passing through a separation gap formed by a gap forming member, and printing means for printing information on the cards separated by the separation means The separating means is characterized in that the separation gap is formed in advance based on the thickness of the card stored in the card cartridge.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a card cartridge for storing a plurality of cards, a taking-out means for taking out the cards stored in the card cartridge, and a separating means for separating the cards taken out by the taking-out means one by one. Printing means for printing information on the card separated by the separation means, determination means for determining the thickness of the card stored in the card cartridge, and thickness of the card determined by the determination means Density adjusting means for adjusting the card printing density of the printing means based on the above.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a card cartridge for storing a plurality of cards, a taking-out means for taking out the card stored in the card cartridge, and a card provided in the card cartridge and taken out by the taking-out means are combined. Separating means for separating the sheets one by one, printing means for printing information on the cards separated by the separating means, and transfer formed on the card printed with information by the printing means between the heat roller and the backup roller A protective film transfer means for transferring a protective film to the printing surface through the gap, a determination means for determining the thickness of the card stored in the card cartridge, and the card determined by the determination means Gap adjusting means for adjusting the gap based on the thickness of the gap.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a card cartridge for storing a plurality of cards, a taking-out means for taking out the card stored in the card cartridge, and a card provided in the card cartridge and being taken out by the taking-out means. Separation means that separates the sheets one by one by passing through a separation gap formed by the forming member, printing means that prints information on the cards separated by the separation means, and information is printed by the printing means A protective film transfer means for transferring the protective film to the printing surface through a transfer gap formed between the heat roller and the backup roller, and the thickness of the card stored in the card cartridge. A discriminating means for discriminating the card and the printing means based on the thickness of the card discriminated by the discriminating means A density adjusting means for adjusting a card printing density; and a gap adjusting means for adjusting the transfer gap based on the thickness of the card determined by the determining means. The gap is formed in advance based on the thickness of the card stored in the card cartridge.

  According to the present invention, the gap adjustment for separation every time the thickness of the card is switched, the adjustment of the printing density of the printing means, and the gap adjustment for the transfer of the protective film are not adjusted by the end user or maintenance personnel. Can be adjusted automatically.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing a license printing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a main body of the license printing machine, and a card take-out portion 4 is provided on the upper side in the main body 1. First and second card cartridges 2A and 2B are set in the card take-out portion 4. In the first and second card cartridges 2A and 2B, cards K1 (K2) having different thicknesses (A dimension and B dimension) are stored in a stacked state. The first and second card cartridges 2A and 2B are provided so as to be movable in a direction orthogonal to a card take-out direction, which will be described later, and are selectively moved to the take-out position to take out the card. .

  The cards in the card cartridges 2A and 2B are taken out one by one and conveyed along the first conveyance path 3. In the first conveyance path 3, a yellow printing unit 5a, a magenta printing unit 5b, a cyan printing unit 5c and a black printing unit 5d as printing means are provided in the card conveyance direction, and a UV cut film transfer unit 6 is provided. Is arranged. The printing units 5a to 5d print an image on the surface of the card and print a description item, and the UV cut film transfer unit 6 transfers a protective film for preventing image deterioration onto the surface of the card.

  A second transport path 8 for transporting the card obliquely downward is connected to the carry-out end side of the first transport path 3, and protective film transfer as protective film transfer means is connected to the second transport path 8. Part 9 is provided. The protective film transfer unit 9 is for transferring the protective film to the surface of the card.

  A third transport path 10 is connected to the lower side of the second transport path 8, and the third transport path 10 is provided with a reader / writer unit 11 for reading / writing information from / to the wireless 1C built in the card. ing. The reader / writer unit 11 writes information to the wireless IC in the card only in the case of an IC license. On the discharge end side of the third transport path 10, a stacking unit 12 that stacks the completed cards K is provided.

  FIG. 2 shows the card ejecting section 4 and the card cartridge 2A (2B) set in the card ejecting section 4.

  A take-out roller 15 is provided on the inner bottom of the card take-out portion 4 so as to be movable in the vertical direction. An opening 2b is formed in the bottom plate 2a of the card cartridge 2A (2B), and a delivery port 2c is formed on the lower side of the side surface of the card cartridge 2.

  The take-out roller 15 is raised by a drive mechanism (not shown), inserted into the opening 2b of the bottom plate 2a of the cartridge 2A (2B), contacts the lowest card K, and rotates to feed the card K 2 to the card cartridge 2. It sends out from the exit 2c.

  FIG. 3 shows a separation mechanism 17 as a separation means.

  The separation mechanism 17 is provided with a block 18 as a gap forming member fixed to the lower front side of the card cartridge 2 by a screw 19 and a separation gap G1 (G2) at the lower end of the block 18. The roller 20 is configured.

  The card K1 (K2) in the card cartridge 2A (2B) is sent out from the lowest one in contact with the take-out roller 15. At this time, the upper card that overlaps the lowest card is also sent out together, but the upper end of the card in the sending direction abuts against the block 18 to restrict the sending, and only the lowest card is sent. Separated and sent out.

  Incidentally, the gap G1 (G2) between the block 18 and the separation roller 20 is set in advance by a factory worker at the time of product shipment. Therefore, when the device is used, the card cartridge 2A, 2B is selectively moved to the take-out position to change the card thickness. The adjustment of G2) is unnecessary.

  Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 10, since the block 102 and the separation roller 103 constituting the separation mechanism 101 are provided at the inner bottom of the card removal portion 4, the card cartridge 2A (2B) is selectively moved to the removal position. When the card thickness is changed, it is necessary to adjust the gap G1 (G2) between the block 102 and the separation roller 103 on the basis of the card thickness each time.

  4 is a side view showing the card cartridge 2A, and FIG. 5 is a front view thereof.

  A thickness discriminating pin 24 used for discriminating the thickness of the card loaded in the card cartridge 2A protrudes from the lower front side of the first card cartridge 2A. The second card cartridge 2B is not provided with a thickness determining pin. Based on the presence or absence of the pin 24, the thickness of the card stored in the card cartridge is discriminated as will be described later.

  A detection sensor 26 is provided in the card take-out portion 4 so that the detection sensor 26 optically detects whether or not the thickness determination pin 24 is present in the card cartridge sent to the take-out position. It has become.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the detection sensor 26 is connected to a determination unit 27 as a determination unit via a transmission circuit. The determination unit 27 includes a density adjustment unit 29 as a density adjustment unit and a transfer gap via the transmission circuit. A cam drive unit 30 as an adjusting means is connected.

  The discriminating unit 27 discriminates the thickness type of the card to be printed based on the detection information transmitted from the detection sensor 26.

  The density adjustment unit 29 selects a print density correction value based on the discrimination information of the discrimination unit 27 and causes the printing units 5a to 5d to execute printing.

  The cam drive unit 45 adjusts the transfer gap by adjusting the pressing amount of the heat roller 32 by changing the rotation direction of the cam 44 described later based on the determination information of the determination unit 27.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the print density setting operation.

  First, the card type is detected by detecting the presence or absence of the thickness determination pin 24 by the detection sensor 26 after the power is turned on or by an initial operation to the card cartridge removal position (step S1). Based on this detection information, the determination unit 27 determines whether or not the thickness of the card in the card cartridge is, for example, A dimension (step S2). That is, when the detection sensor 26 detects the pin 24, it is determined that the thickness of the card is A dimension which is the first thickness, and when the detection sensor 26 does not detect the pin 24 Is determined to be the B dimension, which is the second thickness.

  If it is determined that the card thickness is A, the density adjustment unit 29 sets the printing and printing density to density a (step S3). If it is determined that the dimension is not A, the density adjustment unit 29 sets the printing and printing density to density b (step S4). Then, information is printed on the first or second card K1 (K2) by the printing units 5a to 5d based on the print and print density of the values set in this way (step S5).

  FIG. 8 shows the configuration of the protective film transfer unit 9.

  The protective film transfer unit 9 includes a heat roller 32 and a backup roller 33 that are spaced apart from each other via the second conveyance path 8. A pair of conveying rollers 35 for taking in the card is provided upstream of the heat roller 32 and the backup roller 33 in the card conveying direction, and a pair of conveying rollers 36 for discharging the card is disposed downstream of the card conveying direction. Is provided.

  A protective film ribbon 37 is interposed between the heat roller 32 and the backup roller 33. The heat roller 32 is rotatably attached to the rotation end portion side of the rotation lever 40 supported by the shaft 38. The rotation lever 40 is urged in a direction to separate the heat roller 32 from the backup roller 33 by an urging member (not shown). The backup roller 33 is elastically urged toward the heat roller 42 by the urging member 41. Further, a protrusion 40a is integrally provided on the rotating lever 40 in the vicinity of the heat roller 32, and a cam 44 is in contact with the protrusion 40a. The rotation lever 40 moves toward the backup roller 33 when the protrusion 40a is pressed by the rotation of the cam 44.

  The cam 44 is rotationally driven by a cam drive unit 45. That is, as described above, when the determination unit 27 determines that the card thickness is the first thickness dimension A based on the detection information of the detection sensor 26, the cam drive unit 45 causes the FIG. As shown in (a), the cam 44 is rotated clockwise to press the protrusion 40a of the rotation lever 40. By this pressing, the rotation lever 40 is rotated and the heat roller 32 is moved in the direction approaching the backup roller 33, and a first gap G <b> 1 is formed between the backup roller 33.

  Further, when the determination unit 27 determines that the thickness of the card K is the second thickness dimension B based on the detection information of the detection sensor 26, the cam driving unit 45 changes the thickness of the card K to FIG. 9B. As shown, the cam 44 is rotated counterclockwise to press the protrusion 40 a of the rotation lever 40. By this pressing, the rotation lever 40 is rotated and the heat roller 32 is moved in the direction approaching the backup roller 33, and a second gap G <b> 2 is formed between the backup roller 33 and the heat roller 32. That is, the cam 44 moves and stops the heat roller 32 so that A−G1 = B−G2. Thus, the heat roller 32 can press the protective film ribbon 37 against the card with a constant pressing force regardless of the thickness of the card.

  The first thickness card K1 or the second thickness card conveyed by the take-in conveyance roller pair 35 in the first gap G1 or the second gap G2 thus configured. K2 enters and is transported together with the protective film ribbon 37 by the heat roller 32 and the backup roller 33, whereby the protective film layer of the protective film ribbon 37 is transferred to the card K1 (K2). After the transfer, the card K1 (K2) is carried out by the discharge conveyance roller 36 and conveyed to the next process.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, since the card separation mechanism 17 is provided in the card cartridge 2A (2B), based on the thickness of the card K1 (K2) stored in the card cartridge 2A (2B). A separation gap G between the block 18 and the separation roller 20 can be set in advance at the time of product shipment.

  Therefore, it is not necessary to adjust and set the gap G each time the card cartridge is switched as in the prior art, and it is not necessary to adjust the gap G, and the adjustment accuracy is also improved because it is not necessary to adjust by the end user. Can do.

  Further, since the print density in the printing units 5a to 5d is automatically set based on the card thickness discriminating information to be taken out, each time the card thickness changes as in the prior art, Therefore, it is not necessary to adjust the printing density, and it does not take time.

  Furthermore, since the transfer gap G1 (G2) between the heat roller 32 and the backup roller 33 is automatically set based on the thickness of the card, the gap is adjusted each time by an operator or the like as in the past. There is no need to do it and it does not take time.

  Of course, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be variously modified within the scope of the gist thereof.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a card printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Sectional drawing which shows the card cartridge and a card extraction part. Sectional drawing which expands and shows the card separation mechanism. FIG. 3 is a side view showing the card cartridge. FIG. 3 is a front view showing the card cartridge. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a drive control system of the printing apparatus. 6 is a flowchart showing a print density setting operation of the printing apparatus. The block diagram which shows the same protective film transcription | transfer part. The figure which shows the transfer operation | movement of the same protective film transfer part. Sectional drawing which shows the conventional card cartridge and a card extraction part.

Explanation of symbols

  K1, K2 ... card, 2A, 2B ... card cartridge, 4 ... card takeout part (takeout means), 5a to 5d ... printing part (printing means), G ... separation gap, G1, G2 ... transfer gap, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 9 ... Protective film transfer part (protective film transfer means), 17 ... Separation mechanism (separation means), 18 ... Block (gap formation member), 20 ... Separation roller (gap formation member), 27 ... Discrimination part (discrimination means), 29... Density adjusting section (density adjusting means), 44... Cam (gap adjusting means).

Claims (5)

A card cartridge for storing a plurality of cards;
Removing means for taking out the card stored in the card cartridge;
Separating means that is provided in the card cartridge and separates the cards taken out by the taking-out means one by one by passing through a separation gap formed by a gap forming member;
Printing means for printing information on the card separated by the separation means,
The card printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the separating means preliminarily forms the separation gap based on a thickness of a card stored in the card cartridge. The card printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the gap forming member is a separation roller that is arranged to face the block with a gap between the block and the block. A card cartridge for storing a plurality of cards;
Removing means for taking out the card stored in the card cartridge;
Separating means for separating the cards taken out by the taking-out means one by one;
Printing means for printing information on the card separated by the separating means;
A discriminating means for discriminating the thickness of the card stored in the card cartridge;
A card printing apparatus comprising: a density adjusting unit configured to adjust a card printing density of the printing unit based on the thickness of the card determined by the determining unit. A card cartridge for storing a plurality of cards;
Removing means for taking out the card stored in the card cartridge;
Separating means provided in the card cartridge, for separating the cards taken out by the taking-out means one by one;
Printing means for printing information on the card separated by the separating means;
A protective film transfer means for transferring a protective film to the printing surface by passing a transfer gap formed between the heat roller and the backup roller through the card on which information is printed by the printing means;
A discriminating means for discriminating the thickness of the card stored in the card cartridge;
A card printing apparatus comprising: a gap adjusting unit that adjusts the gap based on the thickness of the card determined by the determining unit. A card cartridge for storing a plurality of cards;
Removing means for taking out the card stored in the card cartridge;
Separating means that is provided in the card cartridge and separates one by one by passing the cards taken out by the taking-out means through a separation gap formed by a gap forming member;
Printing means for printing information on the card separated by the separating means;
A protective film transfer means for transferring a protective film to the printing surface by passing a transfer gap formed between the heat roller and the backup roller through the card on which information is printed by the printing means;
A discriminating means for discriminating the thickness of the card stored in the card cartridge;
A density adjusting means for adjusting the card printing density of the printing means based on the thickness of the card determined by the determining means;
A gap adjusting means for adjusting the gap for transfer based on the thickness of the card determined by the determining means;
The card printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the separating means preliminarily forms the separation gap based on a thickness of a card stored in the card cartridge.

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