JP2006240091A - Thermal transfer printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a thermal transfer printer capable of printing a high quality image by preventing occurrence of trouble such as creasing and the like on an ink ribbon during the printing. <P>SOLUTION: In this thermal printer 1, a peeling plate 7 for peeling an ink ribbon 8 intimately adhered to a recording paper 9 in the printing is provided to a downstream side of a line thermal head 3 in the running direction (the direction of arrow C) of the ink ribbon 8 in the printing. A ribbon sliding section 7a capable of allowing the running ink ribbon 8 to slide is formed on the peeling plate 7. A plurality of first and second striped ribbon guide sections 7b, 7c are formed on the ribbon sliding section 7a on the peeling plate 7 along the running direction of the ink ribbon 8. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a thermal transfer printer, and more particularly to a thermal transfer printer including a peeling plate for peeling an ink ribbon that is in close contact with a recording sheet.

  A conventional thermal transfer printer will be described with reference to Patent Document 1. As shown in FIG. 5, the thermal transfer printer 31 has a cylindrical platen roller 32, and the platen roller 32 is disposed above the platen roller 32. A line thermal head 33 capable of contacting / separating (head up / down) is disposed. The line thermal head 33 has a horizontally long head substrate 33a in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface. The head substrate 33a has a plurality of heating elements 33b aligned on one side on the left side in the figure, and the right side in the figure. A plurality of driving ICs 33c are mounted on the other side.

Further, the recording paper 34 is fed in the direction of arrow A between the line thermal head 33 and the platen roller 32 in the head-up state, and an ink ribbon 35 whose base material is a resin film on the recording paper 34. Is drawn and can be taken up in the direction of arrow B by a take-up reel (not shown).
The line thermal head 33 is attached to the heat radiating plate 36 so that the heat of the head substrate 33a, which is heated by the heat generating element 33b during printing, can be radiated.
In addition, an ink ribbon protective film 38 is attached to the right end of the heat radiating plate 36 via a double-sided tape 37.
The ink ribbon protective film 38 is made of a resin material such as PET (polyethylene terephthalate), and is formed in a substantially U shape with a plate thickness of approximately 1 mm by molding.

The ink ribbon protective film 38 is formed with a ribbon sliding contact portion 38a that covers the driving IC 33c and that the ink ribbon 35 slides on.
When the line thermal head 33 goes down during printing, the ink ribbon 35 slides on the ribbon sliding contact portion 38a and is conveyed toward the line thermal head 33 in the arrow B direction.
JP 2000-79717 A

However, in the conventional thermal transfer printer 31, the ink ribbon 35 made of a resin film partially extends due to the heat of the heating element 33 b of the line thermal head 33 during printing. For this reason, the tension applied when the ink ribbon 33 being printed is wound around a winding member (not shown) varies in the width direction of the ink ribbon 33, and the ink ribbon 33 is subjected to wrinkles or skews. A malfunction occurs.
In addition, when wrinkles occur in the ink ribbon 33 during printing, there is a possibility that a white line or the like is generated in an image recorded by thermal transfer to the recording paper 34 and a printing defect may occur.
An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to provide a thermal transfer printer capable of printing a high-quality image by preventing the occurrence of defects such as wrinkles on the ink ribbon during printing.

As a first means for solving the above problems, a thermal transfer printer of the present invention includes a line thermal head in which a plurality of heating elements are formed, and a wide ink ribbon capable of performing thermal printing on a recording sheet by the line thermal head. ,
A release plate is provided on the downstream side of the line thermal head in the running direction of the ink ribbon during printing to peel off the ink ribbon that is in close contact with the recording paper during printing, and the release plate runs. Ribbon sliding contact portion is formed on which the ink ribbon can slide,
The ribbon sliding contact portion of the peeling plate is formed with a plurality of stripe-shaped ribbon guide portions along the running direction of the ink ribbon.
Further, as a second means for solving the above problem, the plurality of ribbon guide portions include a first ribbon guide portion formed at a position where a substantially central portion in the width direction of the ink ribbon is in sliding contact with the first ribbon guide portion. The first ribbon guide part is formed in parallel with the running direction of the ink ribbon, and the second ribbon guide part is run of the ink ribbon. It is characterized in that it is formed symmetrically with a predetermined angle with respect to the direction.

Further, as a third means for solving the above-mentioned problem, a ribbon guide capable of guiding the ink ribbon to the heating element of the line thermal head is provided upstream of the line thermal head in the traveling direction of the ink ribbon. And a plurality of ribbon guide portions including at least grooves are formed in a portion of the ribbon guide where the ink ribbon is in sliding contact.
Further, as a fourth means for solving the above-mentioned problem, the ribbon guide part is composed of a groove formed in the ribbon sliding contact part with a predetermined depth and width dimension, and a corner part around the groove is chamfered, Alternatively, it is formed in a round shape.

In the ribbon sliding contact portion formed on the peeling plate of the thermal transfer printer of the present invention, the ribbon sliding contact portion of the peeling plate is formed with a plurality of stripe-shaped ribbon guide portions along the running direction of the ink ribbon. Even if the ink ribbon is extended due to heat during printing, the extension is absorbed by the ribbon guide portion so that defects such as wrinkles do not occur in the ink ribbon. Therefore, high-quality image printing is possible.
The plurality of ribbon guide portions include a first ribbon guide portion formed at a position where a substantially central portion in the width direction of the ink ribbon is in sliding contact, and second ribbon guide portions formed on the left and right sides of the first ribbon guide portion. The first ribbon guide part is formed in parallel with the traveling direction of the ink ribbon, and the second ribbon guide part is formed symmetrically at a predetermined angle with respect to the traveling direction of the ink ribbon. The meandering of the ink ribbon that travels sometimes can be prevented more reliably.

In addition, a guide member capable of guiding the ink ribbon to the heat generating element of the line thermal head is disposed on the upstream side of the line thermal head in the running direction of the ink ribbon, and at least a groove is formed in a portion where the ink ribbon of the guide member is in sliding contact. Since the plurality of ribbon guide portions are formed, the ink ribbon can be prevented from being skewed or wrinkled even before printing.
Further, the ribbon guide portion is formed of a groove formed at a predetermined depth and width dimension in the ribbon sliding contact portion, and the corner portion around the groove is formed in a chamfered shape or a rounded shape. It is possible to reliably prevent the ink ribbon that is in sliding contact from being damaged.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a thermal transfer printer of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a thermal transfer printer of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic view for explaining a printing operation of the thermal transfer printer of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a front view, a bottom view, and a side view of a peeling plate according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a side view for explaining a modification of the peeling plate according to the present invention.

First, in the thermal transfer printer 1 of the present invention, a cylindrical platen roller 2 is disposed on the lower side of the figure, and the platen roller 2 can be contacted / separated (head up / down) above the platen roller 2. A line thermal head 3 is provided.
The line thermal head 3 is provided with a long head substrate 3a in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface shown in FIG. 1, and on the left side of the head substrate 3a in the figure, the longitudinal direction of the head substrate 3a. A plurality of heating elements 4 are formed along the line.

The head substrate 3a of the line thermal head 3 is attached to a head mounting base 5 made of a metal such as aluminum having excellent heat dissipation.
A ribbon guide 6 formed in a plate shape with a resin material or the like is disposed on the other side surface of the head mounting base 5 on the right side of the figure.
The ribbon guide 6 is formed with an attachment base portion 6a that can be attached in close contact with the other side surface of the head mounting base 5, and an attachment arm portion 6b is formed extending from the attachment base portion 6a in the left direction in the figure.
The ribbon guide 6 has an attachment arm portion 6b attached to the head mounting base 5 by screwing the end surface 5a of the head mounting base 5 with an adhesive or the like.

Further, the ribbon guide 6 has a ribbon sliding contact portion 6c formed by bending the lower side in the figure to the heating element 4 side. The ribbon sliding contact portion 6c is formed with a ribbon guide portion (not shown) similar to first and second ribbon guide portions 7b and 7c described later, which is composed of at least a groove.
Further, a downstream side of the line thermal head 3 in the traveling direction (in the direction of arrow C) of the ink ribbon 8 to be described later, on one side surface of the left side of the head mounting base 5 is made of a metal plate such as aluminum having a predetermined thickness. A peeling plate 7 is attached, and this peeling plate 7 can peel an ink ribbon 8 that is in close contact with a recording paper 9 described later during printing.

The peeling plate 7 is formed wide enough to allow the entire width of the ink ribbon 8 to be slidably contacted, and a ribbon slidable contact portion 7a to which the traveling ink ribbon 8 is slidably contacted is formed on the lower side of the drawing.
The ribbon sliding contact portion 7a is formed in a substantially arc shape when viewed from the side. The ribbon sliding contact portion 7a includes first and second ribbon guide portions 7b each having at least a groove having a predetermined depth and width. 7c is formed in a plurality of comb teeth as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3B, a first ribbon guide portion 7b parallel to the travel direction (arrow C direction) of the ink ribbon 8 to be described later is formed at a substantially central portion in the width direction of the ribbon sliding contact portion 7a. On the left and right sides of the first ribbon guide portion 7b, there are formed a plurality of second ribbon guide portions 7c that are symmetrically formed at a predetermined angle with respect to the traveling direction of the ink ribbon 8.
The first ribbon guide portion 7b is formed at a position where the substantially central portion in the width direction of the ink ribbon 8 is in sliding contact, and the second ribbon guide portion 7c is formed at a position where the left and right sides in the width direction of the ink ribbon 8 are in sliding contact. ing.

In the peeling plate 7, the second ribbon guide portion 7c in the vicinity of the first ribbon guide portion 7b in the substantially central portion is formed symmetrically at an inclination angle α, and is closer to the end portion away from the first ribbon guide portion 7b. The second ribbon guide portion 7c is formed symmetrically with an inclination angle β larger than the inclination angle α.
That is, the plurality of second ribbon guide portions 7c have an inclination angle that increases from the center to both the left and right ends.
Furthermore, the first and second ribbon guide portions 7b and 7c made of grooves are formed when the corner portions around the grooves are chamfered or rounded to form the first and second ribbon guide portions 7b and 7c. It is designed to remove burrs that occur.
Therefore, the ink ribbon 8 traveling in contact with the ribbon sliding contact portion 7a of the peeling plate 7 is not damaged.

Further, the ink ribbon 8 is supplied from a supply reel (not shown) disposed upstream (on the right side in the drawing) from the line thermal head 3 in the traveling direction of the arrow C, and the line thermal head 3 in a head-up state is provided. It is drawn between the platen roller 2 and wound around a take-up reel (not shown) disposed downstream (on the left side in the drawing) from the line thermal head 3.
The ink ribbon 8 taken up on the take-up reel during printing is guided by the ribbon guide 6 and the peeling plate 7 and travels in the direction of arrow C.
A recording sheet 9 is fed in the direction of arrow D below the ink ribbon 8 drawn between the line thermal head 3 in the head-up state and the platen roller 2.

The ink ribbon 8 has an ink surface having a desired color of a melt type or a sublimation type formed on one surface on the lower surface side in the figure, and a plurality of heating elements of the line thermal head 3 that is head-down during printing. By heating 4 to a predetermined temperature or higher, the ink surface is thermally transferred to the recording paper 9 by melting or sublimation, and a desired image can be printed.
Further, the ink ribbon 8 is a cold peeling type in which, for example, the ink surface thermally transferred to the recording paper 9 after printing is peeled off after being cooled to a predetermined temperature or lower.
For this purpose, the peeling plate 7 is disposed at a position downstream of the heating element 4 by a predetermined dimension in the conveyance direction indicated by the arrow D of the recording paper 9.

The printing method on the recording paper 9 by the thermal transfer printer 1 of the present invention having such a configuration will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 1, the thermal transfer printer 1 in the initial state before the start of printing has a line thermal head 3 with a platen. The head 2 is in a head-up state spaced apart from the roller 2 by a predetermined distance.
The ink ribbon 8 drawn between the line thermal head 3 in the head-up state and the platen roller 2 is in sliding contact with the ribbon sliding contact portion 6c of the ribbon guide 6 and the ribbon sliding contact portion 7a of the peeling plate 7. It runs in the C direction.
Further, between the ink ribbon 8 and the platen roller 2, the recording paper 9 is fed in the direction of arrow D by a paper feeding roller (not shown), and the front end portion of the recording paper 9 is a paper feed roller (not shown). ) And a pressure rotor (not shown).

When the recording paper 9 is sandwiched between the paper feed roller and the pressure roller, the line thermal head 3 is lowered.
After that, as shown in FIG. 2, the ink ribbon 8 and the recording paper 9 are pressed against the platen roller 2 to selectively heat the plurality of heating elements 4, and the paper feed roller (not shown) is driven to rotate. When the recording paper 9 is conveyed in the direction of arrow D, the ink surface of the ink ribbon 8 is thermally transferred, and a desired image is printed on the recording paper 9.

Further, when the ink ribbon 8 after printing is conveyed to the peeling plate 7 in close contact with the recording paper 9, it is peeled off from the recording paper 9 by the peeling plate 7 and taken up on a take-up reel (not shown). The vehicle travels in the direction of arrow C.
The ink ribbon 8 at the time of printing is extended due to the heat of the line thermal head 3, and this extension can be absorbed by the plurality of first and second ribbon guide portions 7b and 7c.
Therefore, the tension of the ink ribbon 8 that is generated when the take-up reel is wound in the direction of the arrow C can be made uniform in the width direction, and the occurrence of defects such as wrinkles in the ink ribbon 8 can be prevented. Further, the skew of the ink ribbon 8 can be prevented.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the first and second ribbon guide portions 7b and 7c have been described as stripe-shaped grooves. However, the protrusions that project from the ribbon sliding contact surface 7a of the peeling plate 7 outwardly in a stripe shape. Part (not shown) may be used.
That is, the ribbon sliding contact portion 7a is formed with a plurality of first and second ribbon guide portions 7b and 7c each including at least a groove along the traveling direction (arrow C direction) of the ink ribbon 8.
In addition, the first ribbon guide portion 7b is formed in parallel with the traveling direction of the ink ribbon 8 indicated by the arrow C, and the second ribbon guide portion 7c is inclined by a predetermined angle. Alternatively, it may be formed in parallel with the traveling direction of the ink ribbon 8.
Moreover, although the 1st ribbon guide part 7b was demonstrated in the drawing with one piece, what was formed two or three pieces may be sufficient.

In addition, the first and second ribbon guide portions 7b and 7c formed of the groove portions have been described as being formed in a comb-teeth shape in the plate thickness direction of the peeling plate 7, but as a modification, by header processing or die casting processing, As shown in FIG. 4, the stripping plate 7 may be formed in a stripe shape with a predetermined depth on the outer peripheral portion on the ribbon sliding contact portion 7 a side.
In addition, the first ribbon guide portion 7b and the second ribbon guide portion 7c are formed on the left and right sides, respectively. However, the first and second ribbon guide portions 7b and 7c are at least three places in total. What is necessary is just to be formed.

1 is a schematic view of a thermal transfer printer of the present invention. It is the schematic explaining the printing operation of the thermal transfer printer of this invention. It is the front view, bottom view, and side view of the peeling plate concerning this invention. It is a side view explaining the modification of the peeling plate concerning this invention. It is the schematic explaining the conventional thermal transfer printer.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Thermal transfer printer 2 Platen roller 3 Line thermal head 3a Head substrate 4 Heating element 5 Head mounting base 5a End surface 6 Ribbon guide 6a Mounting base portion 6b Mounting arm portion 6c Guide portion 7 Release plate 7a Ribbon sliding surface 7b First ribbon Guide portion 7c Second ribbon guide portion 8 Ink ribbon 9 Recording paper

Claims (4)

A line thermal head in which a plurality of heating elements are formed, and a wide ink ribbon that can be thermally printed on recording paper by the line thermal head,
A release plate is provided on the downstream side of the line thermal head in the running direction of the ink ribbon during printing to peel off the ink ribbon that is in close contact with the recording paper during printing, and the release plate runs. Ribbon sliding contact portion is formed on which the ink ribbon can slide,
A thermal transfer printer, wherein a plurality of stripe-shaped ribbon guide portions are formed along a running direction of the ink ribbon at the ribbon sliding contact portion of the peeling plate.   The plurality of ribbon guide portions include a first ribbon guide portion formed at a position where a substantially central portion in the width direction of the ink ribbon is in sliding contact, and second ribbon guide portions formed on the left and right sides of the first ribbon guide portion. The first ribbon guide portion is formed in parallel with the traveling direction of the ink ribbon, and the second ribbon guide portion is formed to be bilaterally symmetrical at a predetermined angle with respect to the traveling direction of the ink ribbon. The thermal transfer printer according to claim 1.   A ribbon guide capable of guiding the ink ribbon to the heating element of the line thermal head is disposed upstream of the line thermal head in the traveling direction of the ink ribbon, and the ink ribbon of the ribbon guide is in sliding contact. 3. The thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of ribbon guide portions each including at least a groove are formed in the portion. The said ribbon guide part consists of a groove | channel formed with the predetermined | prescribed depth and width dimension in the said ribbon sliding contact part, The corner part of this groove periphery is formed in the chamfered shape or the round shape. The thermal transfer printer according to any one of 1 to 3.

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