JP2011056959A - Printer and printing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer capable of achieving miniaturization and weight reduction. <P>SOLUTION: A thermal printer includes: a roll accommodation unit 2 for retaining a heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 wound into a roll; a cutter unit 3 for cutting the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1; a printing and thermal activation unit having a printing and thermal activation thermal head 13 for performing printing on a printing surface of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 and for performing thermal activation on a heat-sensitive adhesive surface of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1; and a stocking unit having a take-up device 6 for temporarily stocking the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 by taking up the sheet on a take-up roller 6a. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printer and a printing method for recording on a sheet material, and in particular, a heat generating adhesive force when heated on a recording surface (printing surface) on which recording such as printing is performed and on the back side of the recording surface. The present invention relates to a printer and a printing method used for a sheet material having an active adhesive surface.

  Conventionally, there is an apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 as a printer that performs recording on a sheet material in which one side is a recording surface and the other side is a thermally activated adhesive surface.

  This printer includes a printing unit including a printing thermal head for printing on a recording surface of a sheet material, a cutter unit provided at a subsequent stage of the printing unit, for cutting the sheet material at a predetermined length, and provided at a subsequent stage of the cutter unit. And a thermal activation unit including a thermal activation thermal head that thermally activates the thermal activation adhesive surface opposite to the recording surface of the sheet material. Each of the printing unit and the thermal activation unit is provided with a platen roller for conveying the sheet material while pressing the sheet material against the heat generating part of the thermal head, a motor for rotating the sheet material, and the like as the sheet material conveying means. ing.

  In the printer having such a configuration, after the sheet material is conveyed by the platen roller of the printing unit and the printing thermal head of the printing unit performs printing on the recording surface of the sheet material, the recorded sheet of the predetermined length is recorded. The material is cut by the cutter unit. After that, one recorded sheet material is conveyed by the platen roller of the thermal activation unit, and the thermal activation adhesive surface opposite to the recording surface of the sheet material is heated by the thermal activation thermal head of the thermal activation unit. Is done. As a result, the adhesive force of the heat-activatable adhesive surface is expressed, and a single recorded sheet material can be attached to a corrugated cardboard, a food wrap, a glass bottle or a plastic container as it is.

JP 2003-316265 A (see FIG. 1)

  Today, printers that handle sheet materials as described above are increasingly expected to be smaller and lighter as mobile printers that can be easily carried with one hand.

  However, since the printer disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a printing unit and a thermal activation unit separately, a thermal head and a platen roller for conveying a sheet material to each of the printing unit and the thermal activation unit. It is necessary to prepare a motor for rotating the motor and the like.

  For this reason, the configuration of the printer disclosed in Patent Document 1 has limitations in size and weight reduction.

  As a device that can solve this problem, there is conventionally a thermal printer in which one thermal head is arranged on a platen roller and printing and thermal activation are selectively performed by this thermal head. In this printer, after printing on the surface (printing surface) of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet, the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet is turned upside down with a reversing roller, and the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet that has been turned upside down is inserted again from the discharge side of the thermal head. The back surface (thermally active adhesive surface) was thermally activated.

  However, in the above printer, since it is necessary to separately provide a reversing roller, there is a problem that prevents the apparatus size from being reduced.

  In general, in the thermal planter, as shown in FIG. 9, the heat generating portion 21a portion of the thermal head 21 is brought into close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the platen roller 22, and the structure of the thermal head 21 is reduced in size of the head. For this purpose, a heat generating portion 21a is provided in the vicinity of one end portion 21b of the head. For this reason, the distance between the thermal head substrate and the outer peripheral surface of the platen roller other than the close contact portion is such that the end portion 21b side of the thermal head 21 where the heat generating portion 21a is provided is the opposite end portion 21c. It is extremely narrow compared to Therefore, it is difficult to insert a recording sheet from the end 21b side where the heat generating portion 21a of the thermal head 21 is provided.

  In addition, in order to make it the structure which can insert a sheet | seat from the edge part 21b side, it is good to lengthen the distance from the heat generating part 21a to the edge part 21b. However, such a long length increases the size of the thermal head, leading to an increase in cost.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-described problems of the prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a printer capable of reducing the size and weight of an apparatus and reducing the cost of the apparatus.

  One aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object is a sheet having a printing surface on which printing is performed and a thermally activated adhesive surface that is formed on the back side of the printing surface and generates adhesive force when heated. A printer for performing printing, wherein a printing head for performing printing on the printing surface and a thermal activation head for thermally activating the thermally activated adhesive surface are disposed on one platen roller. An activation unit is provided. In this configuration, the platen roller of the printing unit and the heat activation unit which are conventionally provided separately can be used together, which leads to reduction in size and weight of the apparatus.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, printing is performed on a sheet having a printing surface on which printing is performed and a thermally activated adhesive surface that is formed on the back side of the printing surface and generates adhesive force when heated. A printer and a thermal activation combined unit on a platen roller, on which printing on the printing surface and thermal activation of the thermally activated adhesive surface are combined, and a thermal activation combined head; The printing and heat activation unit is provided at a subsequent stage to temporarily hold the sheet on which the printing surface is printed by the printing and heat activation combined head, and the printing and heat of the temporarily held sheet. And a holding unit for carrying to the activation / use head.

  The printing and heat activation unit has a conveyance path formed along the outer peripheral surface of the platen roller for conveying the sheet, and an outlet of the conveyance path is used to print the printing surface. Sometimes, the sheet is connected to an insertion port when the sheet is inserted between the platen roller and the print / heat activation combined head.

  In this configuration, when the printing surface of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet is printed, the sheet passes between the print and heat activation combined head and the platen roller and is conveyed to the holding unit and temporarily held. On the other hand, when the thermally activated adhesive surface on the back side of the sheet is thermally activated, the printed thermosensitive adhesive sheet is sent from the storage unit to the combined printing and thermal activation unit. The fed sheet is turned upside down through a conveyance path provided along the outer periphery of the platen roller, and is inserted between the print / heat activation combined head and the platen roller through the same insertion port as when printing on the printing surface. In this way, printing and thermal activation can be performed with one thermal head.

  According to the above-described configuration, the print head and the heat activation head are disposed on one platen roller, or one print and heat activation combined head is disposed, so that they are conventionally provided separately. Since the printing unit and the heat activation unit are integrated into one unit, the apparatus can be reduced in size and weight.

  In addition, according to the above-described configuration, by arranging a single thermal head for both printing and thermal activation on the platen roller, the printing unit and the thermal activation unit, which are conventionally provided separately, are combined into one unit. Since they are integrated, the apparatus can be reduced in size and weight. In particular, a platen roller is used as a mechanism for reversing the heat-sensitive adhesive surface on the back side of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet on which the printing surface on the front side is printed. This is not necessary, and the number of parts can be reduced, and the cost of the apparatus can be reduced.

  Furthermore, when both the printing and the thermal activation are performed, the thermal head and the platen roller are inserted by inserting from the same direction when inserting the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet between the printing and thermal activation thermal head and the platen roller. A sheet can be inserted from the end portion side where the space is wide and the heat generating portion of the thermal head is not provided. That is, the sheet can be easily inserted between the thermal head and the platen roller without providing a special mechanism both during printing and during thermal activation.

1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a thermal printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is the schematic for demonstrating operation | movement of the thermal printer of FIG. It is the schematic for demonstrating operation | movement of the thermal printer of FIG. It is the schematic for demonstrating operation | movement of the thermal printer of FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a thermal printer according to a second embodiment of the present invention. It is the schematic for demonstrating operation | movement of the thermal printer of FIG. It is the schematic for demonstrating operation | movement of the thermal printer of FIG. It is the schematic for demonstrating operation | movement of the thermal printer of FIG. It is a figure which shows the positional relationship of the heat-emitting part of a general thermal head, and a platen roller.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

  The printer shown in FIG. 1 includes a roll storage unit 2 that holds a heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 wound in a roll shape, a cutter unit 3 that cuts the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1, and printing of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1. A printing and thermal activation unit including a thermal head 4 for printing on the surface and a thermal activation thermal head 5 for thermally activating the heat-sensitive adhesive surface of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 and the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 are wound. And a holding unit including a winding device 6 that winds and temporarily holds the winding roller 6a. Note that “printing” as used in this specification includes forming an image such as a picture or a pattern in addition to characters and numbers.

  The heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 has, for example, a heat-sensitive adhesive layer in which a heat-sensitive layer and a heat-sensitive color-developing layer (printable layer) are formed on the front side of a sheet base material, and a heat-sensitive adhesive is applied and dried on the back side. It has a formed structure. The heat-sensitive adhesive layer is made of a heat-sensitive adhesive mainly composed of a thermoplastic resin, a solid plastic resin or the like. Further, the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 may not have the heat insulating layer, or may have a protective layer or a colored printing layer (a layer printed in advance) on the surface of the heat-sensitive coloring layer.

  The thermal head 4 for printing has a plurality of heating elements composed of a plurality of relatively small resistors arranged in the width direction so that dot printing is possible. In this embodiment, the thermal activation thermal head 5 has the same configuration as the printing thermal head 4, that is, the surface of a plurality of heating resistors formed by thin film technology on a ceramic substrate is made of crystallized glass. The thing of the structure similar to the print head of the well-known thermal printer provided with the protective film is used. As described above, by using the thermal activation thermal head 5 having the same configuration as that of the printing thermal head 4, it is possible to reduce the cost by using common parts. However, the heating element of the thermal activation thermal head 5 does not need to be divided in units of dots like the heating element of the printing thermal head 4, and may be a continuous resistor.

  In the subsequent stage of the roll storage unit 2, a transport roller 7 that is a transport means for pulling out and transporting the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 from the roll storage unit 2 and a driven roller 8 that is driven and rotated by the transport roller 7 are arranged. Yes. The transport roller 7 is provided with a drive system (not shown) composed of, for example, a stepping motor and a gear train, and the heat-sensitive adhesive attached to the roll storage unit 2 by rotating the transport roller 7 clockwise by this drive system. The sheet 1 is pulled out from the roll and sent to the right side when viewed in the drawing.

  The cutter unit 3 is disposed at the subsequent stage of the transport roller 7. The cutter unit 3 is for cutting the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 printed by the printing thermal head 4 to a desired length, and is movable by a drive source (not shown) such as an electric motor. A blade (not shown) and a fixed blade (not shown) opposed to the movable blade are included.

  A unit for printing and heat activation is arranged at the subsequent stage of the cutter unit 3. In the printing and thermal activation unit, both the thermal head 4 for printing and the thermal head 5 for thermal activation are arranged on the outer peripheral surface of one platen roller 12. At this time, the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is inserted between the insertion opening for inserting the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 between the printing thermal head 4 and the platen roller 12 and between the thermal activation thermal head 5 and the platen roller 12. When inserting, the insertion opening faces in opposite directions. In other words, the thermal head 4 for printing and the thermal head 5 for thermal activation are positioned on the substantially opposite sides on the same platen roller 12 and are considered to be in the same direction when considered on the outer circumference of the platen roller 12. Yes.

  Further, the printing thermal head 4 and the thermal activation thermal head 5 are pressed against the platen roller 12 by the elastic force of a pressing means (not shown) such as a coil spring or a leaf spring. In particular, the heating elements of the printing thermal head 4 and the thermal activation thermal head 5 are in close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the platen roller 12. In addition, since the heating elements are provided at the end portions of the thermal heads 4 and 5, the insertion opening is provided between the end portion opposite to the end portion where the heating elements are provided and the platen roller 12. Is formed.

  Further, the printing and heat activation unit includes a drive system (not shown) composed of, for example, a stepping motor and a gear train for rotationally driving the platen roller 12, and the platen roller 12 is rotated counterclockwise by this drive system. By rotating, the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 drawn out from the roll storage unit 2 is sent to the subsequent holding unit while printing with the thermal head 4 for printing, or the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 drawn out from the holding unit is thermally activated. The thermal head 5 is used for heat activation and is sent to the outside of the apparatus.

  A holding unit is disposed after the printing and heat activation unit. The winding unit 6 of the holding unit is disposed so as to surround the outer peripheral surface of the winding roller 6a and the winding roller 6a for winding the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 that has been printed and conveyed in a cylindrical shape. And a plurality of guides 6b. The take-up roller 6a is controlled using a rotation driving means such as a motor. Further, the frictional resistance between the outer surface of the winding roller 6a and the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is set larger than the frictional resistance between the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 and the guide 6b.

  Each guide 6b is attached to the outer peripheral surface of the winding roller 6a while being urged by an elastic member. Thereby, each guide 6b is closely_contact | adhered to the outer peripheral surface of the winding roller 6a. When the thickness of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 on the take-up roller 6a increases as the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is wound on the take-up roller 6a, the guides 6b of the take-up roller 6a are increased by the thickness. It moves radially outward so that the space between the outer peripheral surface of the take-up roller 6a and each guide 6b expands. In order to realize such a function, for example, each guide 6b is placed on the outer peripheral surface of the take-up roller 6a by applying a rubber band or a spring around the outer periphery formed by all the guides 6b around the take-up roller 6a. On the other hand, it is attached while being urged by a rubber band or a spring.

  Further, the winding device 6 is provided with an insertion port 6c for inserting the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 between the outer peripheral surface of the winding roller 6a and each guide 6b. A transport roller 9 for transporting the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 and a driven roller 10 that is driven by the transport roller 9 to rotate following the insertion opening 6c are disposed. The transport roller 9 and the follower roller 10 carry the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 transported through the printing and heat activation unit into the insertion port 6 c of the winding device 6 or wind it around the winding device 6. The heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is unloaded from the insertion opening 6c toward the printing and heat activation unit. Switching between loading and unloading of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is performed by switching the rotation direction of the conveying roller 9. The transport roller 9 is synchronized with the rotation operation of the take-up roller 6a.

  Further, a conveyance direction regulating means 11 for regulating the conveyance direction of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is provided between the conveyance roller 9 and the platen roller 12. The transporting direction regulating means 11 is configured such that the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 printed by the printing thermal head 4 passes between the printing thermal head 4 and the platen roller 12 of the printing and thermal activation unit during printing. The sheet conveyance direction is regulated so that the sheet is conveyed to the sheet, and at the time of thermal activation, heat is applied from the winding device 6 toward the space between the thermal activation thermal head 5 and the platen roller 12 of the printing and thermal activation unit. The sheet conveyance direction is regulated so that the adhesive sheet 1 is conveyed. With this configuration, the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 temporarily held in the winding device 6 is transported between the thermal activation thermal head 5 and the platen roller 12 of the printing and thermal activation unit at the time of thermal activation. At this time, the sheet is prevented from being conveyed between the printing thermal head 4 and the platen roller 12.

  Next, the operation of the thermal printer according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4 are schematic diagrams showing the operation of the printer of FIG.

  First, the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 wound in a roll shape is mounted on the roll storage unit 2 and pulled out from the roll storage unit 2 while being sandwiched between the transport roller 7 and the driven roller 8 as shown in FIG. .

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 2B, when the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is conveyed through the cutter unit 3, the platen roller 12 rotates counterclockwise, and the print control of the print thermal head 4 is controlled. Begins. The heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is sandwiched between the platen roller 12 and the printing thermal head 4, and printed on the printable layer (thermosensitive coloring layer) by the printing thermal head 4 while being conveyed by the rotational drive of the platen roller 12. Is called.

  After the front end of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 passes through the printing thermal head 4 of the printing and thermal activation unit, it is directed toward the holding unit by the conveyance direction regulating means 11 and is sandwiched between the conveyance roller 9 and the driven roller 10. I'm stuck.

  Then, the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is conveyed by rotational driving of the conveying roller 9 and the driven roller 10 and is inserted into the insertion port 6 c of the winding device 6. At this time, the take-up roller 6 a rotates at the same rotational speed as the transport roller 9.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 inserted into the insertion opening 6c is wound around the winding roller 6a of the winding device 6 as it enters. At this time, since each guide 6b presses the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 against the outer peripheral surface of the take-up roller 6a by the urging force of the elastic member, the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is reliably wound around the take-up roller 6. As the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is wound around the take-up roller 6a, the thickness due to the overlap of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 on the take-up roller 6a increases. Moving outward in the radial direction, the space between the outer peripheral surface of the take-up roller 6a and each guide 6b expands.

  Thereafter, when the printing operation by the printing thermal head 6 is finished, the rotation operations of the winding roller 6a, the conveyance roller 7, the conveyance roller 9 and the platen roller 12 are stopped, and the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is moved to the cutter unit at a desired position. 3 is cut.

  After the cutting, the conveying roller 7 is stopped and the winding roller 6a, the conveying roller 9 and the platen roller 12 are rotated again, and the rear end of the cut heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is shown in FIG. As shown, the take-up roller 6a, the transport roller 9 and the platen roller 12 are driven until reaching between the transport roller 9 and the driven roller 10. At this time, the front end side of the cut heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is further wound around the winding roller 6a.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 4, the rotation directions of the take-up roller 6b and the conveying roller 9 are reversed. Thereby, the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 wound up in the winding device 6 and temporarily held is pulled out from the winding device 6 through the insertion port 6c. At this time, the conveyance direction of the temporarily held heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is directed between the thermal activation thermal head 5 and the platen roller 12 by the conveyance direction regulating means 11.

  When the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is conveyed again to the printing and thermal activation unit, the platen roller 12 rotates counterclockwise, and heating control of the thermal activation thermal head 5 starts. At this time, the printing control of the printing thermal head 4 remains suspended.

  The heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 sent out from the winding device 6 is sandwiched between the platen roller 12 and the thermal activation thermal head 5 and is conveyed by rotational driving of the winding roller 6a, the conveying roller 9 and the platen roller 12. However, the heat-sensitive adhesive layer is heated by the thermal activation thermal head 5. When this heating process is completed, since all the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 temporarily held in the winding device 6 is drawn out, each guide 6b of the winding device 6 is as shown in FIG. Then, the elastic member returns to the state in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the winding roller 6a.

  The heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 having a predetermined length that has been printed, cut, and heated as described above is discharged to the outside of the apparatus, and is directly attached to a cardboard, food wrap, glass bottle, plastic container, or the like as a display label.

  As described above, in the thermal printer according to the present embodiment, the print thermal head 4 and the thermal activation thermal head 5 are arranged on one platen roller, so that the print unit and the thermal activation, which are conventionally provided separately, are arranged. Since the unit is integrated into one unit, the apparatus can be reduced in size and weight.

  In the above embodiment, the description has been given of the case where a thermal printing head such as a thermal printer is applied to the printing head. However, the present invention is not limited to the thermal printing system, ink jet system, laser printing system, etc. It is also possible to apply. In that case, a sheet material in which processing suitable for each printing method is applied to the printable layer of the sheet material instead of the thermal printing layer is used.

In addition, the printer of the above-described embodiment can be a double-sided printing printer in which the thermal activation thermal head 5 is replaced with a printing head. In this case, plain paper is used instead of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet.
(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a printer according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  In the first embodiment described above, a printing thermal head and a thermal activation thermal head are provided on one platen roller for the purpose of consolidating the printing unit and the thermal activation unit, which are conventionally provided separately, into one unit. However, in this embodiment, one platen roller is provided with one thermal head for both printing and thermal activation.

  The printer according to the second embodiment will be described below. However, in describing the printer of the present embodiment, the same reference numerals are used for the same components as those of the printer of the first embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the printer of this embodiment includes a roll storage unit 2 that holds a heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 wound in a roll shape, a cutter unit 3 that cuts the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1, and a heat-sensitive property. Printing and thermal activation combined unit including printing on the printing surface of the pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 or thermal activation of the heat-sensitive pressure-sensitive adhesive surface of the heat-sensitive pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 and a thermal activation combined thermal head 13; From a holding unit including a winding device 6 that winds the sheet 1 around a winding roller 6a and temporarily holds it, and an applied energy control unit that controls energy applied to the printing and thermal activation thermal head 13 (not shown). Composed. This energy control unit is the same as the energy control means used in a known thermal printer, but the energy conditions given to the thermal head when performing printing and the energy conditions given to the thermal head when performing thermal activation are: One thermal head can be selectively given from time to time. Thereby, printing and thermal activation can be effectively performed using one thermal head.

  The thermal head 13 for both printing and thermal activation has a plurality of heating elements composed of a plurality of relatively small resistors arranged in the width direction so that dot printing is possible. This heating element has the same configuration as a print head of a known thermal printer in which a protective film of crystallized glass is provided on the surface of a plurality of heating resistors formed by thin film technology on a ceramic substrate. .

  The printing and heat activation combined unit is disposed between the cutter unit 3 and a holding unit including the winding device 6. In the printing and thermal activation unit, the printing and thermal activation thermal head 13 is disposed on the outer peripheral surface of one platen roller 12. The thermal head 13 for printing and thermal activation is pressed against the platen roller 12 by the resilience of a pressing means (not shown) such as a coil spring or a leaf spring. In particular, the heating element portion of the thermal head 13 for printing and thermal activation is in close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the platen roller 12. Further, since the heating element is provided at the end of the thermal head 13, the insertion port 15 for inserting the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 between the printing and thermal activation thermal head 13 and the platen roller 12 has a thermal opening. The head 13 is formed between the platen roller 12 and the end opposite to the end where the heat generating element is provided.

  Further, a conveyance passage 14 for inverting the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is provided along the outer peripheral surface of the platen roller 12 about a half circumference. The entrance of the conveyance path 14 is on the holding unit side. And the exit of the conveyance path 14 continues to the insertion port 15 when inserting the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 between the printing and thermal activation thermal head 13 and the platen roller 12 at the time of printing. Thereby, the conveyance direction when inserting the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 between the printing and thermal activation thermal head 13 and the platen roller 12 is the same during printing and during thermal activation.

  The printing and heat activation unit includes a drive system (not shown) composed of, for example, a stepping motor and a gear train for driving the platen roller 12 to rotate. The drive system rotates the platen roller 12 clockwise. The heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 drawn out from the roll storage unit 2 is sent to the subsequent holding unit while printing with the thermal head 13 for printing and thermal activation, or the thermally-active adhesive sheet 1 drawn out from the holding unit is conveyed. After reversing the front and back in the passage 14, the print and heat activation thermal head 13 is sent to the outside of the apparatus while being thermally activated.

  Further, a conveyance direction regulating means 11 that regulates the conveyance direction of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is provided between the conveyance roller 9 and the platen roller 12. The conveyance direction regulating means 11 is configured to take up the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 printed by the printing and thermal activation thermal head 13 through the printing and thermal activation thermal head 13 and the platen roller 12 during printing. The sheet conveying direction is regulated so as to be conveyed into the sheet, and at the time of thermal activation, the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is transferred from the winding device 6 through the conveying path 14 on the outer peripheral surface of the platen roller 12 and is used for printing and thermal activation. The sheet conveyance direction is regulated so as to be conveyed between the head 13 and the platen roller 12. With this configuration, when the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 temporarily held in the holding unit is transported between the printing and thermal activation thermal head 5 and the platen roller 12 at the time of thermal activation, from the winding unit 6 of the holding unit. The sheet conveyance direction is restricted only in the conveyance direction to the conveyance path 14.

  Next, the operation of the thermal printer of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8 are schematic views showing the operation of the printer of FIG.

  First, the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 wound in a roll shape is mounted on the roll storage unit 2 and pulled out from the roll storage unit 2 while being sandwiched between the transport roller 7 and the driven roller 8 as shown in FIG. .

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 6 (b), when the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is conveyed through the cutter unit 3, the platen roller 12 rotates clockwise, and the printing and heat activation thermal head 13 is rotated. Printing control starts. The heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is sandwiched between the platen roller 12 and the thermal head 13 for printing and thermal activation, and is transported by the rotational drive of the platen roller 12 while being printable by the thermal head 13 for printing and thermal activation ( Printing is performed on the thermosensitive coloring layer).

  After the leading edge of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 has passed through the printing and heat activation unit, it is directed toward the holding unit by the conveyance direction switching means 11 and is sandwiched between the conveyance roller 9 and the driven roller 10.

  Then, the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is conveyed by rotational driving of the conveying roller 9 and the driven roller 10 and is inserted into the insertion port 6 c of the winding device 6. At this time, the take-up roller 6 a rotates at the same rotational speed as the transport roller 9.

  As shown in FIG. 7A, the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 inserted into the insertion opening 6c is wound around the winding roller 6a of the winding device 6 as it enters. At this time, since each guide 6b presses the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 against the outer peripheral surface of the take-up roller 6a by the urging force of the elastic member, the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is reliably wound around the take-up roller 6. As the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is wound around the take-up roller 6a, the thickness due to the overlap of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 on the take-up roller 6a increases. Moving outward in the radial direction, the space between the outer peripheral surface of the take-up roller 6a and each guide 6b expands.

  Thereafter, when the printing operation by the thermal head 6 for printing and heat activation is completed, the rotation operation of the take-up roller 6a, the conveyance roller 7, the conveyance roller 9 and the platen roller 12 is stopped, and the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is desired. It is cut by the cutter unit 3 at the position.

  After the cutting, the conveying roller 7 is stopped and the take-up roller 6a, the conveying roller 9 and the platen roller 12 are rotated again. The rear end of the cut heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is shown in FIG. As shown, the take-up roller 6a, the transport roller 9 and the platen roller 12 are driven until reaching between the transport roller 9 and the driven roller 10. At this time, the front end side of the cut heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is further wound around the winding roller 6a.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 8A, the rotation directions of the winding roller 6b and the conveying roller 9 are reversed. Thereby, the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 wound up in the winding device 6 and temporarily held is pulled out from the winding device 6 through the insertion port 6c. At this time, the transport direction of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 temporarily held is switched to the entrance side of the transport passage 14 by the lift of the transport direction switching means 11.

  When the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is conveyed again to the printing and thermal activation unit, the platen roller 12 rotates clockwise, and heating control of the thermal head 13 for printing and thermal activation starts.

  As shown in FIG. 8B, the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 sent out from the winding device 6 is sandwiched between the platen roller 12 and the thermal head 13 for both printing and heat activation through the conveyance path 14 and wound. The heat-sensitive adhesive layer is heated by the printing and heat activation combined thermal head 13 while being conveyed by the rotational drive of the take-up roller 6a, the conveyance roller 9 and the platen roller 12. When this heating step is completed, since all the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 temporarily held in the winding device 6 is drawn out, each guide 6b of the winding device 6 is as shown in FIG. Then, the elastic member returns to the state in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the winding roller 6a.

  The heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 having a predetermined length that has been printed, cut, and heated as described above is conveyed so as not to be inserted into the insertion port 6c of the winding device 6 via the conveyance roller 9 and the driven roller 10. After the sheet conveying direction is bent by the direction regulating means 11, the sheet is discharged to the outside of the apparatus and is directly attached to a cardboard, a food wrap, a glass bottle, a plastic container or the like as a display label.

  As described above, in the thermal printer according to the present embodiment, a single thermal head 12 that combines printing and thermal activation is disposed on the platen roller, so that a printing unit and a thermal activation unit that are conventionally provided separately are arranged. Can be reduced in size and weight. In particular, since the platen roller 12 is used as a mechanism for reversing the front and back when the heat-sensitive adhesive surface on the back side of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 on which the front-side printing surface is printed, the reversing roller is used. There is no need to provide it, and the number of parts can be reduced, and thus the cost of the apparatus can be reduced.

  Further, in both printing and thermal activation, the thermal head 13 is inserted from the same direction when the thermal adhesive sheet 1 is inserted between the printing and thermal activation thermal head 13 and the platen roller 12. The recording sheet can be inserted from the end side where the heat generating part of the thermal head 13 is not provided, and the distance from the platen roller 12 is wide. In other words, it is easy to insert a sheet between the thermal head 13 and the platen roller 12 without providing a special mechanism both during printing and during thermal activation.

  In the printer of the above embodiment, printing is performed on one side using a thermal type thermal head on a sheet material that has a thermal printing surface on one side and a thermal adhesive surface on the other side, and the other side is thermally activated. However, it is also possible to perform double-sided printing using a sheet material that is a thermal printing surface on both sides.

  Further, when a printer for double-sided printing is used, it is also possible to apply a printing head of a thermal transfer method, an ink jet method, a laser printing method or the like instead of the thermal type thermal head. In that case, plain paper is used.

  The present invention has been specifically described with reference to two embodiments. However, the printer of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Heat sensitive adhesive sheet 2 Roll storage unit 3 Cutter unit 4 Thermal head for printing 5 Thermal head for thermal activation 6 Winding device 6a Winding roller 6b Guide 6c, 15 Insertion port 7, 9 Conveying roller 8, 10 Driven roller 11 Conveying direction regulating means 12 Platen roller 13 Thermal head 14 for printing and thermal activation Conveying path

Claims (8)

  A printer that performs printing on a sheet having a printing surface on which printing is performed and a thermally activated adhesive surface that is formed on the back side of the printing surface and generates adhesive force when heated, on the platen roller, A printing and heat activation combined head that combines printing on the printing surface and thermal activation of the thermally activated adhesive surface, and a post-printing roller head, and the printing surface is printed by the printing and heat activation combined head. And a holding unit for temporarily holding the held sheet and transporting the temporarily held sheet to the print and thermal activation head.   The printer according to claim 1, wherein the platen roller and the print / heat activation combined head form a print / heat activation unit.   The platen roller and the print and heat activation combined head have a transport passage for transporting the sheet formed along the outer peripheral surface of the platen roller, and the exit of the transport passage is the print surface 3. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the printer is connected to an insertion port when the sheet is inserted between the platen roller and the print / heat activation combined head during printing.   The printer according to claim 1, wherein the holding unit includes a winding device that winds the sheet.   A conveyance roller that conveys the sheet is provided in a preceding stage of the holding unit, and the conveyance roller can be driven in reverse, and when the sheet is inserted into the holding unit and when the sheet is sent out from the holding unit, The printer according to claim 4, wherein the conveying roller is driven in the opposite direction.   When the sheet temporarily held in the holding unit is conveyed between the print and heat activation combined head and the platen roller, the sheet is conveyed only in the conveying direction from the holding unit to the conveyance path. The printer according to any one of claims 2 to 5, further comprising a restricting means for restricting to the above. Printing on the print surface and the heat of the thermally active adhesive surface of a sheet having a print surface on which printing is performed and a thermally active adhesive surface that is formed on the back side of the print surface and generates adhesive force when heated Printing and thermal activation combined head that also uses activation; and
A platen roller that is disposed opposite to the print and heat activation combined head and passes the sheet between the print and heat activation combined head;
A holding unit that is arranged at a subsequent stage of the platen roller, temporarily holds the sheet after printing, and sends the sheet toward the gap between the printing and heat activation combined head and the platen roller after temporarily holding;
Along with the outer peripheral surface of the platen roller, the print and heat activation combined head is formed on the opposite side across the platen roller, and the outlet is used to print the sheet when the print surface is printed. And a conveyance path connected to the insertion port when inserting between the thermal activation combined head,
When the sheet, which is disposed between the platen roller and the holding unit and is temporarily held in the holding unit, is conveyed again between the print and heat activation combined head and the platen roller, the sheet is conveyed. And a restricting means for restricting the direction only to the transport direction from the holding unit to the transport path. A printing process for printing on one side of the sheet with a print and heat activation combined head;
A first platen roller disposed opposite to the print / heat activation combined head is passed between the print / heat activation combined head and the platen roller in synchronization with the printing step. Conveying process;
A holding step for temporarily holding the sheet;
The sheet is conveyed again between the print and heat activation head and the platen roller by a conveyance path for conveying the sheet formed along the outer peripheral surface of the platen roller and the platen roller. A second conveying step;
A thermal activation step of thermally activating the thermal activation adhesive surface formed on the other surface of the sheet to generate an adhesive force by being heated by the print and thermal activation combined head;
A third conveying step in which the platen roller passes the sheet between the print and heat activation combined head and the platen roller in synchronization with the thermal activation step;
Including printing method.

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