JP2008087232A - Multiple series thermal printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To print a plurality of positions at a high speed in the width direction of an article to be printed. <P>SOLUTION: A pair of head carriages 33a and 33b carrying a plurality of thermal heads 62 are operated symmetrically left and right by a driving source 51. A pair of the head carriages 33a and 33b carrying a plurality of the thermal heads 62 are constituted so as to be operated symmetrically left and right by one driving source 51, and a pair of the head carriages 33a and 33b have respectively thermal ribbon feeding mechanisms. The thermal ribbon feeding mechanisms are arranged symmetrically left and right and are constituted so as to be operated symmetrically left and right. A pair of the head carriages 33a and 33b are constituted so as to be symmetrically operated left and right by timing belts 55a and 55b connected to one driving source 51. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a multiple thermal printer that can perform high-speed and reliable printing at a plurality of locations in the width direction on a packaging film or the like in which a plurality of packaging portions are arranged in the width direction.

  Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 13A, thermal printers are often used to print the expiration date on the packaging film 11 for packaging. In the packaging film, as shown in FIG. 13B, there is a packaging film 12 in which the lateral width W of the film is increased, a plurality of packaging portions are arranged in the width direction, and a plurality of packaging can be performed simultaneously. As such a thermal printer capable of printing on a film having a large width direction at intervals in a plurality of positions in the width direction, for example, a thermal printer disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-216723 is known. Yes.

  In the conventional thermal printer, as shown in FIGS. 14A and 14B, the slide rail 22 is arranged at right angles to the feeding direction of the packaging film 21 supplied intermittently. A head unit 23 including a thermal head 25 is slidably disposed along the slide rail 22. The number of the head units 23 is one, or a number smaller than the number of printing positions in the width direction of the packaging film 21, and printing is performed at a plurality of positions while the head unit 23 moves in the width direction. Therefore, the longer the head movement distance, the longer the time required for printing. The head unit 23 is moved in one direction along the slide rail 22 by one head driving mechanism.

One thermal ribbon feeding mechanism is arranged for one or a plurality of head units 23 to wind up the used thermal ribbon 24 and supply unused portions of the thermal ribbon 24. As shown in FIG. 15, the thermal ribbon feeding mechanism performs pitch feeding and batch feeding.
Pitch feed is a ribbon that feeds a thermal ribbon for one print and supplies an unused part between prints when there is an interval that can be printed several times between prints. It is sending. If this pitch feed is performed several times, there will be no unused portion between prints. Here, all the used portions of the thermal ribbon are wound up, and ribbon feeding is performed to supply the unused portion of the thermal ribbon to the entire printing range. This is called batch sending. The time required for ribbon feeding becomes longer in proportion to the distance for winding the thermal ribbon. Ribbon feed takes very little time at a short distance of one print, such as pitch feed, but it takes a long time to wind a long distance ribbon like batch feed. It has become.
JP 2004-216723 A

  There is a packaging machine that uses a packaging film in which a plurality of packaging portions are arranged in the width direction, and can perform bag making and packaging at the same time. Such a packaging machine repeatedly transfers and stops the packaging film, and performs bag making and packaging when the packaging film is stopped. The stopping time of the packaging film that is intermittently fed is very short, and the feeding time of the packaging film is also very short. Furthermore, there are many packing parts arranged in the width direction, and most of them are arranged in 6 to 12 rows.

  As shown in the normal state of FIG. 16, the thermal printer must start the printing process at the same time as stopping the packaging film of the packaging machine, and end the printing process while the packaging film is stopped. If the process cannot be completed, the thermal ribbon is pulled together with the packaging film as shown in the capacity over 1 in FIG. After the printing process is completed, the head unit origin return operation and the thermal ribbon winding operation are started, and the origin return and ribbon feeding must be completed before the next packaging film stops. If it cannot be completed, as shown by the overcapacity 2 in FIG. 16, the next printing starts after one cycle, and printing omission occurs. In other words, the thermal printer finishes the printing process when the packaging film of the packaging machine is stopped, and further, during the cycle of stopping and transferring the packaging film of the packaging machine, the cycle of printing, returning to the origin, and winding the ribbon of the thermal printer. Must be completed.

  As shown in FIG. 14, a conventional thermal printer printing method includes a head unit including a thermal head 25 along a slide rail 22 arranged perpendicular to the feeding direction of the packaging film 21 supplied intermittently. 23 is a method for printing in one direction. In other words, the head unit 23 moves in the width direction while printing to a plurality of desired print locations, and after all the printing in the width direction is completed, it returns to a predetermined origin position. The packaging film 21 cannot be moved until the printing in the width direction is completed, and the longer the moving distance of the head unit 23, the longer the stop time of the packaging film 21 necessary for printing.

  Further, since there is only one thermal ribbon feeding mechanism, in order to perform printing in the entire width direction of the packaging film 21, the thermal ribbon 24 necessary for printing must be supplied to the entire printing range in the width direction. When the supply distance of the thermal ribbon 24 is increased, it is necessary to take a longer time for batch feeding to wind up the used portion of the thermal ribbon 24 and supply the unused portion of the thermal ribbon 24.

When printing is performed with the conventional thermal printer 26 mounted on the packaging machine as described above, if the printing operation cannot be completed due to the short stop time of the packaging film 21, or the batch feeding of the thermal ribbon 24 takes time, In some cases, it is not possible to proceed to the next printing process, and due to insufficient capability of the thermal printer 26, it may not be mounted on the packaging machine.
Further, in the conventional thermal printer 26, since the head unit 23 operates while accelerating / decelerating only in one direction, a force opposite to the operation direction of the head unit 23 acts, and the thermal printer 26 itself is attached to the head unit. As a result, vibrations were generated in 23 operating directions. Therefore, an error occurs in the distance to which the head unit 23 should move with respect to the packaging film 21 and the actual movement distance, greatly affecting the formation of printing, and causing problems such as printing expansion and contraction.

  Further, in the conventional thermal printer 26, the distance of the thermal ribbon 24 supplied for printing in the entire width direction of the packaging film 21 is long, and slight inclinations of the guide rollers 27a, 27b, 27c, 27d, etc. are caused by the thermal ribbon. It greatly affected the running of the No. 24 and was easy to meander (see the conventional thermal printer in FIG. 10). If the thermal ribbon 24 meanders, the thermal ribbon 24 is likely to wrinkle, which is a major cause of print defects.

  The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the conventional thermal printer, and an object of the present invention is to provide a thermal printer capable of printing at high speed at a plurality of locations in the width direction of the printing object. To do.

The invention according to claim 1 is characterized in that a pair of head carriages mounted with a plurality of thermal heads are configured to operate symmetrically with a single drive source.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, a pair of head carriages on which a plurality of thermal heads are mounted are configured to operate symmetrically with a single drive source, and the pair of head carriages each have a thermal ribbon feeding mechanism. The thermal ribbon feeding mechanism is arranged symmetrically and is configured to operate symmetrically.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the multiple thermal printer according to the first or second aspect, the pair of head carriages are operated symmetrically by a timing belt connected to the one drive source. It is characterized by.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the multiple thermal printer according to the second aspect, the ribbon feeding mechanism supplies a thermal ribbon in a direction opposite to a printing operation direction of the pair of head carriages, and the thermal head The thermal ribbon is positioned between the print substrate and the printed material.

  By arranging the number of thermal heads corresponding to the number of print locations in the width direction of the substrate, the thermal head travel distance can be limited to one print operation distance, and the stop time required for the packaging film can be reduced. It can be shortened. Further, by arranging the head unit in two head carriages, two thermal ribbons are required. Thereby, since the supply distance with respect to one thermal ribbon becomes half, the time concerning winding of a thermal ribbon can also be shortened. As a result, the printing ability can be improved.

In addition, the short supply distance of the thermal ribbon reduces the influence on the thermal ribbon caused by the inclination of the guide roller or the like, leading to reduction of running defects such as meandering of the thermal ribbon.
The pair of head carriages on which the head units are arranged can move symmetrically with one drive. Since the force generated by the operation of the head carriage acts in the direction of canceling out, vibration in the operation direction of the head unit of the main body can be eliminated. This eliminates the expansion and contraction of the print, leading to an improvement in print quality.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on embodiments shown in the drawings.
1 to 10 show a multiple thermal printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a film-like printing material 42 is intermittently fed from above to below at a position near the front of the rectangular printer body 31. Air cylinders 43a and 43b are arranged on the opposite side of the printer main body 31 with the printing material 42 interposed therebetween, and a rubber-like receiving member 44 is arranged at the ends of the air cylinders 43a and 43b. A slide rail 32 is disposed in the printer main body 31 at a right angle to the feeding direction of the printing material 42. On the slide rail 32, a pair of head carriages 33 a and 33 b are slidably disposed along the slide rail 32.

  Further, on the pair of head carriages 33a and 33b, a head unit 61 provided with a thermal head 62 is arranged symmetrically, and the number corresponding to half of the number of printing portions in the width direction of the printing object 42 is obtained. The head unit 61 is mounted on a pair of head carriages 33a and 33b. Therefore, the same number of head units 61 as the number of print locations in the width direction of the printing material 42 are placed on the pair of head carriages 33a and 33b. The pair of head carriages 33a and 33b is moved along the slide rail 32 by a head driving mechanism. The head driving mechanism includes a head driving motor 51, a timing belt 52 moved by the head driving motor 51, speed reduction gears 53 and 54, timing belts 55a and 55b, and guide members 56a to 56f.

  The rotation of the rotation shaft of the head drive motor 51 is transmitted to the reduction gear 53 via the timing belt 52 on the back side of the base plate 34 of the printer main body 31. A reduction gear 54 is further provided on the front side of the base plate 34 on the same axis as the reduction gear 53, and a timing belt 55b for driving is engaged. The timing belts 55a and 55b are guided through guide members 56a to 56f. The guide members 56a to 56f are arranged at positions where the timing belts 55a and 55b are enclosed in a square shape around the slide rail 32 and the head carriages 33a and 33b in parallel with the slide rail 32. End portions of the driving timing belt 55b meshed with the reduction gear 54 are fixed to the head carriages 33a and 33b by fixing brackets 57b and 57d, respectively. Since the fixing brackets 57b and 57d are arranged at positions corresponding to the opposite sides, when the reduction gear 54 rotates to the right, the head carriage 33a moves to the right and the head carriage 33b moves to the left. Further, when the reduction gear 54 rotates counterclockwise, the head carriage 33a moves to the left and the head carriage 33b moves to the right.

  The fixing brackets 57a and 57c are disposed at positions corresponding to opposite sides of the head carriages 33a and 33b, and the head carriages 33a and 33b are connected by a connection timing belt 55a. Therefore, when the reduction gear 54 rotates to the right, the head carriage 33a moves to the right by the driving timing belt 55b, and the head carriage 33b connected by the connecting timing belt 55a moves to the left. Further, when the reduction gear 54 rotates counterclockwise, the head carriage 33b moves to the right by the driving timing belt 55b, and the head carriage 33a connected by the connecting timing belt 55a moves to the left. That is, the two head carriages 33a and 33b can move symmetrically with one drive.

The printer main body 31 is supplied with thermal ribbons 71a and 71b in a direction opposite to the printing operation direction of the pair of head carriages 33a and 33b, and the thermal ribbons 71a and 71b are positioned between the thermal head 62 and the printing object 42. One ribbon feeding mechanism is arranged for each of the pair of head carriages 33a and 33b.
The ribbon feeding mechanism includes ribbon original fabric holders 72a and 72b, ribbon guide rollers 73a to 73n, ribbon winding holders 74a and 74b, ribbon winding motors 75a and 75b, and timing belts 76a and 76b. Yes. In the head carriage 33a, an original ribbon holder 72a, ribbon guide rollers 73a to 73g, a ribbon take-up holder 74a, a ribbon take-up motor 75a, and a timing belt 76a are arranged as a ribbon feeding mechanism. In the head carriage 33b, an original ribbon holder 72b, ribbon guide rollers 73h to 73n, a ribbon take-up holder 74b, a ribbon take-up motor 75b, and a timing belt 76b are arranged as a ribbon feeding mechanism.

The thermal ribbons 71a and 71b are guided from ribbon original fabric holders 72a and 72b by ribbon guide rollers 73a to 73n, guided to the thermal head 62 of the head unit 61, and driven by ribbon winding motors 75a and 75b. It is wound up by 74a, 74b.
The two ribbon feeding mechanisms are arranged symmetrically so that they can operate symmetrically.

The head unit 61 is placed on the head carriages 33 a and 33 b on the slide rail 32.
As shown in FIG. 4, the thermal head 62 is disposed on a support member 64 so as to be swingable via a swing mechanism 63. At the time of printing, air cylinders 43a and 43b on the opposite side of the printer main body 31 with the printing material 42 interposed therebetween are operated to move the rubber-like receiving member 44 toward the thermal head 62, and the printing material 42 is moved to the thermal ribbon. It presses against the thermal head 62 through 71a and 71b.

Next, the flow of the printing operation in the multiple thermal printer according to this embodiment will be described.
First, as shown in FIG. 5, the air cylinders 43a and 43b are operated from the standby position shown in FIG. 2 to move the rubber-like receiving member 44 in the direction of the thermal head 62, and the printed material 42 is moved to the thermal ribbons 71a and 71b. To the thermal head 62.
Next, as shown in FIG. 6, the head drive motor 51 rotates, the reduction gears 53 and 54 rotate counterclockwise, and the pair of head carriages 33a and 33b move symmetrically from a predetermined standby position. Then, all the thermal heads 62 on the head carriages 33a and 33b perform printing simultaneously.

Next, when printing is completed, as shown in FIG. 7, the air cylinders 43 a and 43 b are operated to move the rubber-like receiving member 44 in the direction opposite to the thermal head 62, and the print object 42 is moved to the thermal head 62. Move away from.
Next, as shown in FIG. 8, the ribbon take-up holder 74a rotates counterclockwise, the ribbon take-up holder 74b rotates clockwise, and simultaneously with the start of winding of the thermal ribbon 71, the head drive motor 51 rotates and decelerates. The gears 53 and 54 rotate clockwise, the pair of head carriages 33a and 33b move symmetrically, and return to a predetermined standby position.

  According to the multiple thermal printer according to the present embodiment, the number of thermal heads 62 corresponding to the number of print locations in the width direction of the printing object (packaging film) 42 is arranged, so that the moving distance of the thermal head 62 is reduced to 1. Only the printing operation distance for the portion can be set, and the stop time required for the substrate (packaging film) 42 can be shortened. Further, by arranging the head unit 61 in a pair of head carriages 33a and 33b, two thermal ribbons 71a and 71b are required. As a result, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 9, the supply distance for one thermal ribbon is halved, so that the time required for winding the thermal ribbons 71a and 71b can be shortened. As a result, the printing ability can be improved.

Further, the short supply distance of the thermal ribbons 71a and 71b also reduces the influence on the thermal ribbons 71a and 71b given by the inclination of the guide rollers 73a to 73n, etc., and as shown in FIG. In comparison, it leads to a reduction in running defects such as meandering of the thermal ribbons 71a and 71b.
The pair of head carriages 33a and 33b on which the head unit 61 is disposed can move symmetrically by one drive (head drive motor 51). Since the force generated by the operation of the head carriages 33a and 33b works in the direction of canceling out, vibration in the operation direction of the head unit 61 of the printer body 31 can be eliminated. This eliminates the expansion and contraction of the print, leading to an improvement in print quality.

  In the above-described embodiment, the timing belts 52, 55a, and 55b are moved using the head drive motor 51 to show the symmetrical operation of the two head carriages 33a and 33b. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIGS. 11 (A) and 11 (B), a rack and pinion method in which the pinion 91 is rotated left and right using two racks 90a and 90b, and FIGS. As shown, the same operation can be obtained by using a ball screw system in which two ball screws 92a and 92b are rotated left and right by a gear 93. However, although it is relatively easy to synchronize left and right with one drive, in order to synchronize the left and right operations using two drives, the result of amplifying vibrations when the left and right synchronization is shifted slightly. Therefore, a large-scale mechanism and complicated control are required, which is not realistic.

1A is a side view of a multiple thermal printer according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a view of the multiple thermal printer according to one embodiment of the present invention taken along an arrow A. 1 is a plan view of a multiple thermal printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a side view of FIG. 2. 3A is an enlarged front view showing details of the head unit of the multiple thermal printer shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 3B is an enlarged side view showing details of the head unit of the multiple thermal printer shown in FIG. It is a top view which shows the receiving member movement of the head of the multiple thermal printer which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which shows the printing start of the head of the multiple thermal printer shown concerning one Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which shows the completion | finish of printing of the head of the multiple thermal printer which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the head of the multiple thermal printer according to the embodiment of the present invention during return to origin. It is explanatory drawing which shows the ribbon supply distance and ribbon feed distance of the multiple thermal printer which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows meandering of the ribbon by the conventional thermal printer, and meandering by the multiple thermal printer which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. (A) The left-right symmetric drive mechanism of the present invention is configured with a rack and pinion, and the state in which the rack is rotated clockwise is a side view. (B) The left-right symmetric drive mechanism of the present invention is configured with a rack and pinion, FIG. (A) The side view which shows the state which comprised the left-right symmetric drive mechanism of this invention with the ball screw and rotated the gear clockwise, (B) The left-right symmetric drive mechanism of this invention comprised with the ball screw, and rotated the gear counterclockwise. It is a side view which shows a state. (A) Explanatory drawing of narrow packaging film printed with thermal printer, (B) Explanatory drawing of wide packaging film printed with thermal printer. (A) The top view which shows the conventional thermal printer, (B) It is A arrow view of the conventional thermal printer. It is explanatory drawing which shows the ribbon supply distance and ribbon feeding distance of the conventional thermal printer. It is an operation | movement process diagram of a packaging machine and a thermal printer.

Explanation of symbols

31 Printer body 32 Slide rail 33a, 33b Head carriage 34 Base plate 42 Printed material 43a, 43b Air cylinder 44 Receiving member 51 Head drive motor 52, 55a, 55b, 76a, 76b Timing belt 53, 54 Reduction gear 56a-56f Guide member 57b, 57d Fixing bracket 61 Head unit 62 Thermal heads 71a, 71b Thermal ribbons 72a, 72b Ribbon fabric holders 73a-73n Ribbon guide rollers 74a, 74b Ribbon take-up holders 75a, 75b Ribbon take-up motors 90a, 90b Rack 91 Pinion 92a , 92b Ball screw 93 Gear

Claims (4)

  A multiple thermal printer, wherein a pair of head carriages mounted with a plurality of thermal heads are configured to operate symmetrically with one drive source. A pair of head carriages equipped with a plurality of thermal heads are configured to operate symmetrically with one drive source,
Each of the pair of head carriages has a thermal ribbon feeding mechanism,
The thermal ribbon feeding mechanism is arranged symmetrically and is configured to operate symmetrically. A multiple thermal printer, wherein:   3. The multiple thermal printer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the pair of head carriages are moved symmetrically by a timing belt connected to the one drive source. . 3. The multiple thermal printer according to claim 2, wherein the ribbon feeding mechanism supplies a thermal ribbon in a direction opposite to a printing operation direction of the pair of head carriages, and the ribbon feeding mechanism is disposed between the thermal head and a printing object. A multiple thermal printer characterized by positioning a thermal ribbon.

Images