JP2011011494A - Printer and printing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer capable of improving a print quality by vibration of a printed matter and a printing method.SOLUTION: When a label L as the printed matter is printed with the printer 1, the label L is printed by a thermal head 4 while the label L positioned in a region printed by the thermal head 4 is provided with vibration. This allow the label L to be vibrated without vibrating the thermal head 4 and the print quality of the label L can be improved.

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus and a printing method for printing on a printing medium.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, printing apparatuses that perform printing on a printing medium are known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The printing apparatus described in Patent Document 1 is configured such that continuous recording paper as a printing medium is fed in the direction of the thermal head, and the thermal head prints the recording paper on a platen roller.

JP-A-2-169262

  By the way, in the conventional printing apparatus described in Patent Document 1, the thermal head has a vibration part, and the vibration of the vibration part causes the thermal head to vibrate toward the platen roller. It is configured to be obtained. However, the thermal head is a main and precise part that controls the printing function of the printing apparatus. If the thermal head is vibrated in this way, the thermal head may be damaged by vibration.

  On the other hand, it is also conceivable to vibrate the platen roller instead of the thermal head. However, when the printing medium is temporarily attached to one surface of the release sheet, for example, when a label is to be printed, the release sheet is usually non-adhesive, so the platen roller is slippery. In addition, because the fluidity of the adhesive on the label is high, the vibration caused by the platen roller is difficult to be transmitted to the printing surface of the label, so that the vibration effect cannot be obtained and sufficient printing density cannot be obtained. There is. Here, if the vibration width of the platen roller is increased in order to obtain a sufficient excitation effect, there arises a problem that the image quality deteriorates due to fading or blurring of printing. The inconveniences described above also occur when the printing medium is other than a label, for example, even when the printing medium is paper or the like, a material with slippery front and back surfaces is employed. Even if the printing surface is difficult to slip, if the atmosphere in which the printing device is placed is low temperature, it is difficult to transfer the thermal heat, and it is difficult to transfer the ink, and the above disadvantages often occur. To do. Furthermore, even in the case of dot impact printers and laser printers other than thermal heads, the above disadvantages occur due to the fact that printed materials with slippery front and back surfaces are used and the temperature of the atmosphere is lowered. ing.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus and a printing method capable of improving the printing image quality by exciting a printing medium.

  The printing apparatus of the present invention includes: a feeding unit that feeds out the printing medium; a printing unit that performs printing on the printing body; and a first vibration that vibrates the printing body positioned in an area printed by the printing unit. The structure which is provided with a means is employ | adopted.

In this case, the printing apparatus of the present invention includes a ribbon supply unit that supplies an ink ribbon to the printing unit, and a second vibration unit that vibrates the ink ribbon located in an area printed by the printing unit. Preferably it is.
In the printing apparatus according to the aspect of the invention, at least one of the first vibration unit and the second vibration unit may be provided with a vibration direction changing unit that changes a vibration direction of the vibration unit. preferable.
Furthermore, in the printing apparatus of the present invention, at least one of the first vibration unit and the second vibration unit is provided with a vibration width changing unit that changes a vibration width of the vibration unit. preferable.

  On the other hand, the printing method of the present invention is characterized in that the printing body is fed out, and the printing body is printed by the printing means while vibrating the printing body positioned in an area to be printed by the printing means. And

  According to the present invention as described above, a sufficient print density can be obtained by printing on the printing medium while vibrating the printing medium positioned in the area to be printed by the printing means. It is possible to prevent the image quality from being deteriorated due to fading or blurring. At this time, since it is not necessary to vibrate the printing means, it is possible to suppress damage to the printing means.

Further, if the vibration direction changing means is provided, the vibration direction of the vibration means is changed to an appropriate direction according to the type, nature, material, thickness dimension, hardness, etc. of the substrate to be printed. Vibration can be effectively applied in accordance with the characteristics of the printed body. Furthermore, if a vibration width changing means is provided, the vibration width of the vibration means is appropriately set according to the type, nature, material, thickness dimension, hardness, etc. of the substrate to be printed and the configuration conditions of the printing apparatus. By changing, the printing image quality of the printing medium can be further improved.
The printing in the present invention is a concept including printing.

1 is a front view of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The top view of the 1st vibration means in the printing apparatus of FIG. FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory diagram of the printing apparatus of FIG. 1.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, the printing apparatus 1 of this embodiment prints on the label L as a to-be-printed body. Here, the label L is configured by laminating an adhesive layer on one surface of the base sheet, and is prepared in advance as a raw fabric R by being temporarily attached to one surface of the release sheet RL via the adhesive layer. Has been.

  The printing apparatus 1 includes a feeding unit 2 that feeds out the original fabric R, a thermal head 4 as a printing unit that performs printing on the label L of the original fabric R, and a label of the original fabric R that is located in an area printed by the thermal head 4. A first vibrating means 3 for vibrating L, a platen roller 5 disposed opposite to the thermal head 4 with the original fabric R interposed therebetween, a ribbon supply means 6 for supplying an ink ribbon IR to the thermal head 4, and a thermal head 4 The second vibration means 7 that vibrates the ink ribbon IR located in the area to be printed in (2), and the peel plate 8 that peels off the printed label L from the release sheet RL. Further, in the present embodiment, the printing device 1 is provided with pressing means 9 that presses and sticks the printed label L to the adherend W.

  The entire feeding means 2 is supported by the base plate 10. The feeding means 2 includes a support roller 21 that supports the roll R in a roll shape, guide rollers 22A, 22B, and 22C that guide the roll R, and drive rollers 25 that are driven by motors 23 and 24, respectively. , 26 and the drive roller 26, a pinch roller 28 that sandwiches the release sheet RL after the label L is peeled off, and a collection roller 29 that is driven by a driving means (not shown) and collects the release sheet RL. Has been.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the first vibration means 3 abuts on the printing surface LS of the label L and applies vibration to the label L, and a support member 32 that supports the vibration roller 31. The output shaft 33A is connected to the support member 32 to vibrate the vibration roller 31, and the arcuate insertion groove 10A formed in the base plate 10 is inserted into the main body of the vibration body 33. The connecting shaft 34, the connecting arm 35 having the connecting shaft 34 fixed to one end side, the output shaft 36 </ b> A being connected to the other end side of the connecting arm 35, and the rotation connected to the base plate 10 via the support arm 37. A rotation motor 36 capable of position control is provided. The vibration roller 31 is fixed to a rotation shaft 31A, and the rotation shaft 31A is supported by a support member 32 so as to be rotatable in only one direction via a not-shown one-way clutch or the like. That is, the vibration roller 31 can only rotate rightward in FIG. The vibration body 33 includes a vibration source 33B such as various vibration motors and piezoelectric elements (electrostrictive elements) inside the main body, and the vibration of the vibration source 33B causes the output shaft 33A to reciprocate in the direction in which the main body protrudes and retracts. It has become.

  The vibrating body 33 includes vibration width changing means 33C that can arbitrarily set the vibration width via an operating means (not shown). For example, the frequency (frequency) is 0.01 to 10 kHz and the vibration width is 1 μm. One having a vibration performance of 10 mm can be applied, and the vibration roller 31 is vibrated at a predetermined frequency and vibration width appropriately set via the support member 32 connected to the output shaft 33A. It has become. When the vibration roller 31 is configured to be vibrated by the vibrating body 33 via the one-way clutch, the vibration width of the vibrating body 33 must be increased in consideration of the backlash of the one-way clutch. The vibration width of the vibrating body 33 is adjusted so that printing does not fade or blur due to large vibration. In addition, at least one of the drive roller 25 and the vibration roller 31 is made of an elastically deformable material such as rubber, and at least one of the drive roller 25 and the vibration roller 31 is elastically deformed, so that the vibrating body 33 vibrations can be propagated to the label L.

  In the first vibration means 3 described above, the rotation center of the output shaft 36A of the rotation motor 36 is provided coaxially with the axis of the rotation shaft 31A. Thereby, the connection arm 35, the connection shaft 34, the vibrating body 33, and the support member 32 are rotatable about the rotation shaft 31A and the output shaft 36A by the rotation of the output shaft 36A of the rotation motor 36. . The connecting shaft 34, the connecting arm 35, and the rotation motor 36 constitute a vibration direction changing means in the first vibrating means 3, and the vibration direction A of the vibration roller 31 by the vibrating body 33 is arbitrary by the vibration direction changing means. It can be changed in the direction. Therefore, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 3, if the output shaft 33A of the vibrating body 33 is in the guide direction G of the label L between the guide roller 22B and the platen roller 5, the vibration direction A is the same as that of the label L. If the rotation motor 36 rotates and the vibrating body 33 rotates in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 3, the vibration direction A crosses the printing surface LS of the label L in a direction parallel to the printing surface LS. The vibration component acting in the direction parallel to the printing surface LS gradually decreases. 3, if the output shaft 33A is in a direction perpendicular to the guide direction G of the label L, the vibration direction A is perpendicular to the printing surface LS of the label L. Become.

  The thermal head 4 and the platen roller 5 are supported by the base plate 10 and are provided at positions facing each other across the ink ribbon IR and the original fabric R. The thermal head 4 has a heating element for applying heat to the ink ribbon IR and the label L at the position indicated by the symbol C, and printing is performed by transferring the ink of the ink ribbon IR to the label L on the platen roller 5. Apply.

  The ribbon supply means 6 is supported by the base plate 10 as a whole, a support roller 61 that supports the ink ribbon IR by winding it in a roll shape, a guide roller GR that guides the ink ribbon IR, and a drive driven by a motor 64. The roller 62 and the recovery roller 63 that recovers the ink ribbon IR after the ink is transferred to the label L by the thermal head 4 and driven by the motor 65 are configured.

  The second vibration means 7 includes a vibration roller 71 that abuts on the ink ribbon IR to apply vibration to the ink ribbon IR, a support member 72 that supports the vibration roller 71, and an output shaft 73 </ b> A coupled to the support member 72. A vibrating body 73 as a second vibrating means that vibrates the vibration roller 71, and a connecting shaft 74 that is inserted into an arcuate insertion groove 10 </ b> B formed in the base plate 10 and connected to the main body of the vibrating body 73. , A connecting arm 75 having a connecting shaft 74 fixed to one end thereof, and an output shaft (not shown) connected to the other end of the connecting arm 75, and a rotational position control connected to the base plate 10 via a supporting arm (not shown). And a possible rotation motor 76. The vibration roller 71 is fixed to a rotating shaft 71A, and the rotating shaft 71A is supported by a support member 72 so as to be rotatable in only one direction via a one-way clutch or the like (not shown). That is, the vibration roller 71 can only rotate right in FIG. The vibrating body 73 is the same as the vibrating body 33 of the first vibrating means 3 and has the same vibration width changing means as that of the vibrating body 33, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted. Also, in the case where the vibration roller 71 is configured to be vibrated by the vibration body 73 via the one-way clutch, the vibration width of the vibration body 73 must be increased in consideration of the backlash of the one-way clutch. The vibration width of the vibrating body 73 is adjusted so that the IR does not vibrate greatly and the printing is faded or lost. In addition, at least one of the drive roller 62 and the vibration roller 71 is made of an elastically deformable material such as rubber, and at least one of the drive roller 62 and the vibration roller 71 is elastically deformed, whereby the vibrating body The vibration 73 can be transmitted to the ink ribbon IR.

  In the second vibration means 7 described above, the rotation center of the output shaft (not shown) of the rotation motor 76 is provided coaxially with the axis of the rotation shaft 71A. As a result, the connecting arm 75, the connecting shaft 74, the vibrating body 73, and the support member 72 are rotatable about the rotating shaft 71A (not shown) and the output shaft (not shown) by turning the output shaft (not shown) of the turning motor 76. It has become. The connecting shaft 74, the connecting arm 75, and the rotation motor 76 constitute a vibration direction changing means in the second vibration means 7. The vibration direction changing means changes the vibration direction D of the vibration roller 71 by the vibrating body 73. It can be changed in any direction. Therefore, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 3, if the output shaft 73A of the vibrating body 73 is in the guide direction H of the ink ribbon IR between the guide roller GR and the thermal head 4, the vibration direction D is the ink ribbon. When the rotation motor 76 rotates and the vibrating body 73 rotates in the direction of arrow E in FIG. 3, the vibration direction D becomes a direction oblique to the surface of the ink ribbon IR. Thus, the vibration component acting in the direction parallel to the surface of the ink ribbon IR is gradually reduced. If the output shaft 73A is perpendicular to the guide direction H of the ink ribbon IR as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 3, the vibration direction D vibrates in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the ink ribbon IR. To do.

The peel plate 8 is supported by the base plate 10 and peels the label L from the release sheet RL by folding the release sheet RL toward the guide roller 22C.
The pressing means 9 includes a suction plate 91 provided with a plurality of suction holes (not shown) on the lower surface side to suck and hold the printing surface of the label L, and a cylinder that supports the suction plate 91 so as to be able to advance and retract toward the adherend W. 92.

In the printing apparatus 1 described above, the procedure for printing on the label L is as follows. First, as shown in FIG. It is in the standby state in the state located upstream. The vibration direction A of the vibration roller 31 is set to a direction parallel to the printing surface LS of the label L between the guide roller 22B and the platen roller 5 by the vibration direction changing unit of the first vibration unit 3. The vibration direction D of the vibrating body 73 is set to a direction parallel to the surface of the ink ribbon IR between the guide roller GR and the thermal head 4 by the vibration direction changing means of the second vibration means 7.
When the adherend W is transported on a transport path CV such as a conveyor, it is detected by a sensor (not shown) and stops at a predetermined position below the suction plate 91. When it is confirmed that the adherend W has stopped, the motors 23 and 24 and the motors 64 and 65 are synchronously driven to rotate the drive rollers 25, 26 and 62 and the collection roller 63, and the original fabric R and the ink ribbon. Launch IR.

  In the feeding of the original fabric R, the release sheet RL is tension-controlled by both motors 23 and 24 so as to have a predetermined tension between the drive rollers 25 and 26. Further, in a state where the vibration roller 31 and the driving roller 25 sandwich the original fabric R, the vibration of the vibrating body 33 is propagated to impart vibration to the label L, and the label is fed out toward the thermal head 4. Printing is performed by the thermal head 4. The print content is not particularly limited, but in the case of the present embodiment, the production number, lot number, production date, etc. of W are printed.

  On the other hand, when the ink ribbon IR is fed, tension control is performed by the motors 64 and 65 so that a predetermined tension is obtained between the drive roller 62 and the collection roller 63. Further, the vibration of the vibrating body 73 is propagated with the vibration roller 71 and the drive roller 62 sandwiching the ink ribbon IR, and the ink ribbon IR is fed out toward the thermal head 4 while applying vibration to the ink ribbon IR. The ink of the ink ribbon IR is transferred to the label by being heated by the thermal head 4.

  After printing on the label L by the thermal head 4 as described above, the label L is peeled from the release sheet RL by folding the release sheet RL with the peel plate 8. The label L peeled from the release sheet RL is sucked and held by the suction plate 91, and the cylinder 92 lowers the suction plate 91 and presses the label L against the adherend W to be pasted.

  Note that when the vibration directions A and D of the vibration rollers 31 and 71 are changed, the rotation motor 36 and the rotation motor 76 may be rotated via an operating unit (not shown). Thereby, the vibration directions A and D can be changed according to the type, nature, material, thickness dimension, hardness, and the like of the label L and the ink ribbon IR.

According to this embodiment as described above, the following effects are obtained.
That is, when printing is performed on the label L by the printing apparatus 1, the label L and the ink ribbon IR are vibrated by the vibrating bodies 33 and 73 and printing is performed on the label L so that a sufficient print density can be obtained. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the deterioration of the image quality due to fading or blurring of printing. Further, since the thermal head 4 and the platen roller 5 are not vibrated, the thermal head 4 and the platen roller 5 can be prevented from being damaged.

  As described above, the best configuration, method and the like for carrying out the present invention have been disclosed in the above description, but the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the invention has been illustrated and described with particular reference to certain specific embodiments, but without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, Various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art in terms of material, quantity, and other detailed configurations. In addition, the description of the shape, material, and the like disclosed above is exemplary for ease of understanding of the present invention, and does not limit the present invention. The description by the name of the member which remove | excluded the limitation of one part or all of such restrictions is included in this invention.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the substrate to be printed is the label L is shown. However, the substrate to be printed is not limited to the label L. Arbitrary sheets, films, tapes, etc., can be used in any application and shape.

  In the above embodiment, an example in which the thermal head 4 is used as the printing unit has been described. However, a dot impact printer, a laser printer, an ink jet printer, or the like can also be used as the printing unit of the present invention. Further, in the case of an ink jet printer, a laser printer, or the like, or when a heat-sensitive sheet is used as a printing medium even when a thermal head is used, the ribbon supply unit 6 and the second vibration unit 7 may not be provided.

Furthermore, the vibration means can be a known ultrasonic vibration device, a known vibrator using an electric motor or air, etc., and is not limited to this as long as the substrate can be vibrated. There is no.
In addition, the vibration direction changing unit may adopt a configuration other than the above-described embodiment as long as the vibration direction of the vibration unit can be changed.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the vibration rollers 31 and 71 are vibrated to vibrate the label L and the ink ribbon IR. However, the vibration is applied to the drive rollers 25 and 62 by the vibration means. It may be configured.
In addition to the configuration of the vibration means sandwiched by the rollers as in the above embodiment, for example, the raw fabric R and the ink ribbon IR are sandwiched by a plate material or an elastic member, or the motor 23 , 24, a vibration may be applied to the original fabric R by bringing a vibrator into contact with the original fabric from above or below.

Furthermore, the frequency (frequency) and vibration width of the vibration means are not limited to the numerical values of the above-described embodiment, and appropriate frequencies and vibration widths can be set.
In the above embodiment, the vibration direction of the vibrating bodies 6 and 8 by the vibration direction changing means in the first and second vibration means 3 and 7 can be changed within the plane parallel to the paper surface in FIG. You may comprise so that a vibration direction can also be changed also to the 1 sheet paper orthogonal direction. With such a configuration, the vibration direction can be changed in any direction within the three-dimensional space.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printing apparatus 2 Feeding means 3 1st vibration means 6 Ribbon supply means 7 2nd vibration means 33C Vibration width change means 34 Connection shaft (vibration direction change means)
35 Connecting arm (vibration direction changing means)
36 Rotating motor (vibration direction changing means)
74 Connecting shaft (vibration direction changing means)
75 Connecting arm (vibration direction changing means)
76 Rotating motor (vibration direction changing means)
L label (printed material)

Claims (5)

A feeding means for feeding out the substrate;
Printing means for printing on the substrate,
A printing apparatus, comprising: a first vibration unit that vibrates the substrate to be printed located in a region printed by the printing unit. Ribbon supply means for supplying an ink ribbon to the printing means;
The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a second vibration unit that vibrates the ink ribbon positioned in a region printed by the printing unit.   The vibration direction changing means for changing the vibration direction of the vibration means is provided in at least one of the first vibration means and the second vibration means. The printing apparatus according to 2.   The vibration width changing means for changing the vibration width of the vibration means is provided in at least one of the first vibration means and the second vibration means. 4. The printing apparatus according to any one of 3. Feed out the substrate,
A printing method comprising: printing on the printing medium by the printing unit while oscillating the printing medium positioned in a region to be printed by a printing unit.

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