JP2007050670A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer which easily removes dust or the like adhering to a recording medium or an ink ribbon for color printing just before color printing. <P>SOLUTION: When paper P is carried up to a printing start position, a vibration roller 51 repeatedly contacts with and separates from the paper P and an ink ribbon 42 in a ribbon cassette 41 through its rotation. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a thermal transfer type printing apparatus that performs color printing of video information or the like on a recording medium.

Conventionally, a thermal transfer type printing apparatus uses an ink sheet in which yellow, magenta, and cyan, which are the three primary colors of color printing, are sequentially applied, and each of the colors of yellow, magenta, and cyan is performed three times in total. By repeating the printing operation, a predetermined full color image can be printed on the recording paper (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP-A-10-181145 (page 2-3)

  However, dust or the like in the atmosphere or in the device may adhere to the recording paper or ink sheet. In this case, if color printing is performed on the recording paper or ink sheet to which dust or the like has adhered, As a result, it was not possible to print a beautiful full color image.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described points, and provides a printing apparatus that can easily remove dust or the like adhering to a recording medium or a color printing ink ribbon immediately before color printing. Let it be an issue.

  In order to solve this problem, the invention according to claim 1 includes a paper tray, a supply means for supplying a recording medium stored in a stacked state in the paper tray, and a substrate supplied by the supply means. A sheet conveying means for reciprocally conveying the recording medium; a thermal head provided in a long shape in a direction substantially perpendicular to the conveying direction of the recording medium conveyed by the sheet conveying means; and the thermal head and the recording target A platen roller opposed across the medium, and a thermal head moving means for moving the thermal head in a contact direction / separation direction with respect to the platen roller to press-contact / depress the thermal head against the platen roller; A ribbon cassette containing a color printing ink ribbon disposed between the platen roller and the thermal head is detachably supported. Cassette support means, and the thermal head is not pressed against the platen roller and the recording medium is conveyed to a printing start position, and then the thermal head is pressed against the platen roller. In a printing apparatus in which the recording medium is reciprocated and conveyed in this state, and color printing is performed on the recording medium with the color ribbon ink ribbon of the ribbon cassette supported by the cassette supporting means, the recording medium is recorded by the paper conveying means. A rolling element that repeats contact and non-contact with at least one of the ink ribbon for color printing of the ribbon cassette supported by the cassette support means or the recording medium when transporting to the print start position, It is characterized by.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing apparatus is reciprocally conveyed by the ribbon surface of the color printing ink ribbon of the ribbon cassette supported by the cassette support means and the paper conveying means. Further, the sheet surface of the recording medium is in the vertical direction.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the printing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the cassette support means is used when performing color printing on the recording medium reciprocally conveyed by the sheet conveying means. A color printing ink ribbon of a supported ribbon cassette and a rolling element retracting means for moving the rolling element away from the recording medium are provided.

  That is, in the printing apparatus of the present invention, when the recording medium is transported to the printing start position, the rolling element makes contact / non-contact with the color printing ink ribbon of the ribbon cassette or at least one of the recording medium. Since this is repeated, dust or the like adhering to the recording medium or the color printing ink ribbon can be easily removed immediately before color printing without providing a complicated mechanism.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an appearance of the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment shown in FIG. 5 is a so-called sublimation type photo printer, which includes a main body 11 provided with a paper discharge port 14 and the like, and a paper cassette 21 and the like that can be attached to and detached from the main body 11. Color printing was performed on the paper P (see FIGS. 1 to 4 to be described later) stored in the paper cassette 21 using the ribbon cassette 41 that is installed inside the main body 11. Paper P (see FIGS. 1 to 4 described later) is discharged from a paper discharge port 14 of the main body 11.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the printing apparatus 1 taken along line AA in FIG. 5 and shows a state immediately before feeding. As described above, the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes the main body 11, the paper cassette 21, and the like as shown in FIG.
In this regard, the paper cassette 21 includes a pressure plate 22 on which the paper P is placed, a spring 23 that urges one end of the pressure plate 22 in a predetermined direction, and the like.

  On the other hand, in the main body 11, a cassette port 12 for mounting the paper cassette 21 in a protruding state, an opening 13 for letting out one end portion of the paper P set at the print start position to the outside, the paper discharge port described above. 14, a paper discharge guide path 15 and the like communicating with the paper discharge port 14 are provided.

In addition, the main body 11 transports a paper feed roller 31 with which one end side of the pressure plate 22 of the paper cassette 21 attached to the cassette port 12 contacts via the paper P, and a paper P picked by the paper feed roller 31. Feed roller 32, idle roller 33 that transports paper P through a gap with feed roller 32, thermal head 34 for thermal transfer to paper P transported by idle roller 33, and thermal head 34. A platen roller 35 that performs pressure contact and release (non-pressure contact), an irregular vibration roller 51, and the like are provided internally.
Note that the thermal head 34 is released with respect to the platen roller 35 immediately before the sheet feeding.
The vibration roller 51 is located between the ink ribbon 42 and the paper P set at the print start position. Further, when the thermal transfer is performed by the thermal head 34, the vibration roller 51 is from the direction in which the paper P is conveyed. , Located upstream of the thermal head 34.

  Further, inside the main body 11, a ribbon cassette 41 is mounted on a cassette mounting portion (not shown), and the primary color inks of yellow, magenta, and cyan and the overcoat ink are repeatedly arranged in order on the ribbon cassette 41. An ink ribbon 42 is wound. The ink ribbon 42 is located between the thermal head 34 and the platen roller 35 when the ribbon cassette 41 is mounted in a cassette mounting portion (not shown), and when the vibration roller 51 rotates. The vibration roller 51 is located in the vicinity of the vibration roller 51 that can repeat contact and non-contact.

  In the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, since the paper cassette 21 and the ribbon cassette 41 are arranged vertically, the paper surface of the paper P stored in the paper cassette 21 The ink ribbon surface of the ink ribbon 42 wound around the ribbon cassette 41 is parallel to the direction of gravity.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6, the control system of the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is configured with a control circuit unit 110 as a core. The control circuit unit 110 includes a CPU 111, a ROM 112, a CGROM 113, a RAM 114, an input / output interface 115, and the like, which are connected to each other via a bus line 116.

  Further, the input / output interface 115 includes a host PC 117 which is an external control unit, a head drive circuit 121 for driving the thermal head 34, a paper feed motor M 1 which is a driving source for the conveyance of the paper P and the vibration roller 51. A motor driving circuit 131 for rotating and reversing, a motor driving circuit 132 for driving a head motor M2 which is a driving source when the thermal head 34 is pressed against and released from the platen roller 35, and the vibration roller 51 are at the home position. And a motor drive circuit 133 for rotating the retraction motor M3 as a drive source for moving between the retraction position and the retraction position.

  In this regard, the ROM 112 stores various programs necessary for controlling the printing apparatus 1. Based on the various programs stored in the ROM 112, the CPU 111 performs various calculations.

  The CGROM 113 stores dot pattern data corresponding to each character. Then, the dot pattern data is read from the CGROM 113 as necessary, and the dot pattern based on the dot pattern data is color-printed on the paper P via the thermal head 34.

  The RAM 114 is for temporarily storing various calculation results calculated by the CPU 111, and includes various memory areas such as a text memory, an image buffer, and a print buffer.

In the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, when paper feeding is started by rotating the paper feed motor M1 in the state immediately before feeding shown in FIG. 2, the feeding is performed via a gear mechanism (not shown). The paper roller 31 and the feed roller 32 begin to rotate. As a result, of the sheets P stored in the sheet cassette 21, one of the sheets P in contact with the sheet feeding roller 31 is picked by the rotation of the sheet feeding roller 31, and further, The paper P is conveyed through a gap with the idle roller 33, and as shown in FIG. Immediately thereafter, the paper feed motor M1 is stopped to complete the paper feed.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the printing apparatus 1 taken along line AA in FIG. 5 and shows a state immediately after paper feeding.

However, when feeding is started, the retracting motor M3 is rotated in the reverse direction, and the vibration roller 51 is moved to the home position via a gear mechanism (not shown). Further, the driving force of the paper feed motor M1 is transmitted to the vibration roller 51 through a gear mechanism (not shown) and the vibration roller 51 is rotated. As a result, the vibration roller 51 repeats contact / non-contact with the ink ribbon 42 to vibrate the ink ribbon 42, so that dust attached to the ink ribbon 42 can be removed. Further, since the rotating vibration roller 51 repeats contact / non-contact with the paper P conveyed and set to the printing start position and vibrates the paper P, dust adhering to the paper P may be removed. it can.
The rotation of the vibration roller 51 may be performed immediately after the paper feeding is completed.

After the paper feeding is completed, the head motor M2 is driven, and the thermal head 34 is brought into close contact with the platen roller 35 by moving the thermal head 34 through a gear mechanism (not shown). At the same time, the retraction motor M3 is rotated forward to retract the vibration roller 51 from the home position, so that the vibration roller 51 does not contact the ink ribbon 42 and the paper P. At this time, when the vibration roller 51 is retracted to the home position, the gear roller is disconnected in a gear mechanism (not shown) that transmits the driving force of the paper feed motor M1 to the vibration roller 51, so that the vibration roller 51 does not rotate. Further, by repeating the reverse and forward rotations of the paper feed motor M1, the paper P is reciprocally conveyed between the thermal head 34 and the platen roller 35, whereby each of yellow, magenta and cyan primary color inks and overcoat inks is transferred. Repeat the color printing operation.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the printing apparatus 1 taken along line AA in FIG. 5 and shows a state during color printing.

  During color printing, by rotating the paper feed motor M1 in the forward direction, when transporting the paper P during color printing to the print start position again, the head motor M2 is driven, and a gear mechanism (not shown) is operated. Accordingly, the thermal head 34 is moved away from the platen roller 35 to release the thermal head 34 less than the state immediately before feeding in FIG. 2 or the state immediately after feeding in FIG. After the paper P during color printing is set again at the printing start position, as described above, the head motor M2 is driven and the thermal head 34 is moved closer to the platen roller 35 so as to be thermally moved. The paper P during color printing is transported between the thermal head 34 and the platen roller 35 by pressing the head 34 and reversing the paper feed motor M1.

After the color printing is completed, the reverse of the paper feed motor M1 is continued to discharge the paper P on which the color printing has been completed from the paper discharge port 14 of the main body 11 through the paper discharge guide path 15.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the printing apparatus 1 taken along line AA in FIG. 5 and shows a state during paper discharge.
The vibration roller 51 is returned to the home position via a gear mechanism (not shown) by rotating the retract motor M3 in reverse after the color printing is completed.

  As described above in detail, in the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, when the paper P is set at the print start position, one end portion of the paper P is the discharge outlet of the main body 11. 14 so that dust or the like easily adheres to one end portion of the paper P protruding from the paper discharge port 14 of the main body 11, and the cassette port 12 provided in the main body 11, the opening 13, Dust or the like that has entered the main body 11 from the paper mouth 14 or the like may adhere to the ink ribbon 42 of the ribbon cassette 41. When the paper P is transported to the printing start position, the paper P and the ribbon cassette 41 Since the rotating vibration roller 51 that rotates with respect to the ink ribbon 42 repeats contact and non-contact, the dust or the like attached to the ink ribbon 42 of the paper P and the ribbon cassette 41 is colored without providing a complicated mechanism. It can be easily removed on the printing just before.

  In particular, in the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the paper cassette 21 and the ribbon cassette 41 are vertically arranged, and the paper surface of the paper P stored in the paper cassette 21 and the ribbon cassette. Since the ink ribbon surface of the ink ribbon 42 wound around 41 is parallel to the direction of gravity, dust or the like attached to the ink ribbon 42 of the paper P or ribbon cassette 41 can be more effectively removed.

In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various change is possible in the range which does not deviate from the meaning.
For example, if the irregular vibration roller 51 is capable of removing dust or the like adhering to the paper P and the ink ribbon 42 of the ribbon cassette 41 by vibration when the paper P and the ink ribbon 42 of the ribbon cassette 41 are rotationally contacted, The shape may be any.

  Further, in the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the rotating vibration roller 51 rotating with respect to the paper P and the ink ribbon 42 of the ribbon cassette 41 has repeatedly contacted and non-contacted. Immediately before color printing, dust or the like adhering to either the paper P or the ink ribbon 42 of the ribbon cassette 41 is caused by the contact or non-contact of the rotating vibrating roller 51 with respect to any of the ink ribbons 42 of the cassette 41. May be easily removed.

  In the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the paper cassette 21 and the ribbon cassette 41 are arranged vertically, but in this respect, the paper cassette 21 and the ribbon cassette 41 are placed horizontally. When the paper surface of the paper P stored in the paper cassette 21 and the ink ribbon surface of the ink ribbon 42 wound around the ribbon cassette 41 are perpendicular to the direction of gravity, the cooling fan For example, dust or the like attached to the paper ribbon P or the ink ribbon 42 of the ribbon cassette 41 may be easily removed immediately before color printing.

  Note that, regardless of whether the paper cassette 21 and the ribbon cassette 41 are placed vertically or horizontally, the vibration roller 51 and the cooling fan may be used together to remove dust more effectively.

  The present invention can be applied to a technique for removing dust or the like adhering to a recording medium or a color printing ink ribbon.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 5, illustrating a state immediately after paper feeding of the printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 5, illustrating a state immediately before feeding of the printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 5, illustrating a state during color printing of the printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 5, showing a state when the printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention discharges paper. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the control structure of the printing apparatus by one Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printing apparatus 21 Paper cassette 31 Paper feed roller 32 Feed roller 34 Thermal head 35 Platen roller 41 Ribbon cassette 42 Ink ribbon for color printing 51 Vibration roller 121 Head drive circuit 131 Motor drive circuit 132 Motor drive circuit 133 Motor drive circuit M1 Paper feed motor M2 Head motor M3 Retraction motor P Paper

Claims (3)

A paper tray, a supply means for supplying a recording medium stored in a stacked state on the paper tray, a paper conveyance means for reciprocating the recording medium supplied by the supply means, and a paper conveyance means. A thermal head provided in a long shape in a direction substantially perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the recording medium, a platen roller facing the thermal head and the recording medium, and the thermal head with respect to the platen roller Color printing ink disposed between the platen roller and the thermal head, and a thermal head moving means for moving the head in the contact direction / separation direction to press the thermal head against the platen roller. Cassette support means for supporting the ribbon cassette in which the ribbon is accommodated in a detachable state. The thermal head is brought into a non-pressure contact state and the recording medium is conveyed to a printing start position, and then the recording medium is reciprocated and conveyed with the thermal head in a pressure contact state with respect to the platen roller. In a printing apparatus for performing color printing on a recording medium with an ink ribbon for color printing in a ribbon cassette supported by a support means,
When the recording medium is conveyed to the printing start position by the paper conveying means, contact / non-contact with the color printing ink ribbon of the ribbon cassette supported by the cassette supporting means or at least one of the recording medium is performed. A printing apparatus comprising a rolling element that repeats. The printing apparatus according to claim 1,
A printing apparatus, wherein a ribbon surface of an ink ribbon for color printing of a ribbon cassette supported by the cassette support means and a paper surface of a recording medium reciprocally conveyed by the paper conveyance means are in a vertical direction. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein
A color printing ink ribbon of a ribbon cassette supported by the cassette support means and a rolling element retracting means for moving the rolling element away from the recording medium when color printing is performed on the recording medium reciprocally conveyed by the paper conveying means. A printing apparatus characterized by comprising:

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