JP2012076864A - Printing unit and printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing unit for executing the printing of a card at high quality.SOLUTION: A B-printing unit 25 includes a conveying mechanism 41 for conveying a card 11 having a surface 11a and a back side 11b, a platen roller 45 located at the downstream side of the conveying direction of the card 11 from the conveying mechanism 41, a thermal head 46 provided opposite to the platen roller 45, and a card pressing mechanism 50 provided at the downstream side of the conveying direction of the card 11 from the platen roller 45. The thermal head 46 includes a head heating element 46c for executing the printing on the surface 11a of the card 11, and a heating element supporting unit which supports the head heating element and presses the surface side of the card. The card pressing mechanism 50 presses the card 11 extending from the platen roller 45 downward from the surface 11a side.

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing unit and a printing apparatus for printing on a card.

  In general, in an ID card, image information such as a cardholder's face photo and character information such as the cardholder's address, name, and date of birth are printed on the front or back of the card. For example, Patent Document 1 proposes an ID card manufacturing apparatus that includes a plurality of printing units and generates an ID card from image information and character information associated with each other by an ID number.

JP 2006-137198 A

  As a method of printing image information and character information on a card, a method of printing using a thermal head including a head heating element is known. In this case, a platen roller is provided so as to face the head heating element of the thermal head, and a card to be printed is sandwiched between the platen roller and the head heating element.

  In the method of printing on a card using a thermal head, the pressure applied to the card by the head heating element of the thermal head is greater than a predetermined pressure required to realize stable printing, and the entire surface of the card It is preferable to be uniform over the entire area. As a result, image information and character information can be printed on the card with high quality without causing problems such as color unevenness and missing characters.

  By the way, in a card to be printed, it is generally considered that the degree of unevenness on the surface of the card and the degree of warping of the card are slightly different for each individual. Also in the head heating element of the thermal head used, it is conceivable that the size of the head heating element is slightly different for each individual. Due to such individual differences between the card and the head heating element, the pressure applied to the card by the head heating element is smaller than the above-mentioned predetermined pressure and non-uniform depending on the printing place. Can be considered. In this case, problems such as color unevenness and missing characters occur.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a printing unit and a printing apparatus that can effectively solve such problems.

  The present invention provides a printing unit that prints on a card, a transport mechanism that transports a card having a front surface and a back surface, and a downstream side of the transport mechanism in the card transport direction, and supports the card from the back surface side. And a platen roller extending in a direction perpendicular to the card conveying direction, a head heating element provided on the front side of the card so as to face the platen roller, and a head heating element for printing on the card surface, and supporting the head heating element A thermal head including a heating element support capable of pressing the surface of the card; and a card pressing mechanism that is positioned downstream of the thermal head in the card conveyance direction and that presses the card extending from the platen roller from the surface side. And a printing unit.

  The printing unit according to the present invention is located upstream of the thermal head in the card conveyance direction, and includes a front side guide part that guides the card in the conveyance direction from the front side and a back side guide part that guides the card in the conveyance direction from the back side. A guide mechanism may be further included.

  In the printing unit according to the present invention, when the head heating element prints on the card, preferably at least one of the card pressing mechanism or the guide mechanism is in contact with the card.

  In the printing unit according to the present invention, the card pressing mechanisms are arranged in the width direction of the card orthogonal to the transport direction, and each has a pair of contact portions that press the vicinity of the end of the card in the width direction from the front side. It may be.

  In the printing unit according to the present invention, a neutralizing brush for neutralizing the card may be attached to the card pressing mechanism.

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus that prints on a card, and includes a plurality of printing units that are arranged along a card transport direction and each prints a predetermined color on the card. The printing apparatus is characterized in that the printing unit located on the most downstream side in the transport direction is the printing unit described above.

  According to the printing unit of the present invention, a platen roller that supports the card from the back side and extends in a direction orthogonal to the card conveying direction, and is provided on the front side of the card so as to face the platen roller, and prints on the surface of the card. There is provided a thermal head including a head heating element and a heating element support that supports the head heating element and can press the surface of the card. Further, a card pressing mechanism that presses a card extending from the platen roller downward from the surface side is provided downstream of the thermal head in the card transport direction. For this reason, when a part of the card is sandwiched between the platen roller and the head heating element of the thermal head, the other part of the card located downstream of the part in the transport direction is lowered by the card pressing mechanism. Is pressed. As a result, the other portion of the card is displaced downward, and a force for directing the portion upward is applied to the portion of the card. For this reason, the said part of a card | curd is strongly pressed with respect to the head heat generating body of a thermal head. Thereby, the pressure when printing is performed on the portion of the card can be made sufficiently large and uniform. This makes it possible to print on the card with high quality.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a card issuing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view showing a printing unit included in the printing apparatus of the card issuing system shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view showing a card pressing mechanism of the printing unit shown in FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing a card pressing mechanism of the printing unit shown in FIG. 5A, 5B, and 5C are diagrams showing a card printing method according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a B printing unit in a comparative example.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5A, 5B, and 5C. First, an entire card issuing system 15 for issuing a card will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the card issuing system 15 is provided with a casing 36, a card hopper 21 that is provided above the casing 36, stores a large number of cards and sequentially discharges the cards, and downstream of the card hopper 21. And a printing device 20 that prints image information and character information on the surface of the card.

  As shown in FIG. 1, on the downstream side of the printing apparatus 20, a first protective sheet (not shown) for protecting image information and character information printed on the surface of the card is provided on the surface of the card. A protective sheet forming unit 29 is provided. Further, on the downstream side of the first protective sheet forming portion 29, a second protective sheet forming portion 30 is provided that further provides a second protective sheet (not shown) on the first protective sheet. A distribution mechanism 34 that distributes the cards to the stacking unit 35 is provided on the downstream side of the second protective sheet forming unit 30.

  In this embodiment, an IC chip (not shown) in which the owner's image information and character information are electronically stored may be mounted in the card. In this case, image information and character information may be written on the IC chip of the card by the reader / writer 27 shown in FIG.

  In the present embodiment, the owner's image information or character information may be printed not only on the front side of the card but also on the back side. In this case, image information and character information may be printed on the back side of the card by the back side printing unit 28 shown in FIG.

  Next, the printing apparatus 20 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 1, the printing apparatus 20 includes a plurality of printing units that are arranged along the card transport direction (the direction indicated by the arrow P) and each prints a predetermined color on the card. Specifically, the printing apparatus 20 includes a Y printing unit 22, an M printing unit 23, a C printing unit 24, and a B printing unit 25 in order from the upstream side in the card conveying direction.

  Among them, the Y printing unit 22 prints image information on the surface of the card in yellow, and the M printing unit 23 prints image information on the surface of the card with magenta. The C printing unit 24 prints image information in cyan on the card surface, and the B printing unit 25 prints character information in black on the card surface. Although not shown, the printing apparatus 20 may be provided with a fixing unit that fixes the ink applied by the printing units 22, 23, 24, and 25 to the surface of the card.

  In the present embodiment, “printing” includes not only printing image information such as a face photograph on a card but also printing character information such as character information on a card.

Printing units now to FIG. 2 through FIG. 4 will be described in detail for each printing unit 22, 23, 24, 25 of the printing apparatus 20. First, the B printing unit 25 located on the most downstream side in the card transport direction among the printing units 22, 23, 24, and 25 will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a side view showing the B printing unit 25. As shown in FIG. 2, the B printing unit 25 includes a transport mechanism 41 that transports the card 11 having the front surface 11 a and the back surface 11 b, and a platen roller 45 that is located downstream of the transport mechanism 41 in the transport direction of the card 11. A thermal head 46 provided to face the platen roller 45 and a card pressing mechanism 50 provided on the downstream side of the platen roller 45 in the transport direction of the card 11. As will be described later, the card pressing mechanism 50 is for pressing the card 11 extending from the platen roller 45 downward from the surface 11a side. Note that “pressing the card 11 extending from the platen roller 45 downward from the surface 11 a side” means from the portion of the card 11 held between the platen roller 45 and the thermal head 46 that is held. This also means that a part of the downstream side is pressed downward from the surface 11a side.

(Transport mechanism)
Among these, the transport mechanism 41 is configured to receive the card 11 sent from the upstream printing unit, that is, the C printing unit 24 and to transport the card 11 toward the thermal head 46 located on the downstream side. . Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the transport roller 41a is provided on the front surface 11a side of the card 11 and the transport roller 41b is provided on the back surface 11b side of the card 11.

(Platen roller)
The platen roller 45 is configured to extend in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the card 11 (a direction orthogonal to the paper surface in FIG. 2). The platen roller 45 supports the card 11 from the back surface 11 b side when printing on the card 11 using the thermal head 46. The material for forming the platen roller 46 is not particularly limited, and metal or rubber is appropriately used depending on the material of the card 11 and the like.

(Thermal head)
The thermal head 46 prints character information in black on the surface 11a of the card 11 by a melt type thermal transfer system. As shown in FIG. 2, the thermal head 46 includes a head heating element 46c that heats an ink ribbon 47 including a black ink layer (not shown) in a pattern corresponding to character information, and a heat generation that supports the head heating element 46c. It includes a body support 46a, and a print controller 46b that drives the head heating element 46c and the heating element support 46a toward the card 11, thereby controlling the printing timing. In this case, the ink ribbon 47 heated in a pattern corresponding to the character information by the head heating element 46c is pressed against the surface 11a of the card 11, whereby the character information is printed (printed) on the surface 11a. At this time, the peripheral portion of the surface 11a of the card 11 where the character information is printed is pressed by the heating element support portion 46a. For this reason, it is possible to stably hold the card 11 during printing, and thereby it is possible to print character information on the card 11 with high quality.

(Guide mechanism)
As shown in FIG. 2, a guide mechanism 42 is provided that is positioned upstream of the thermal head 46 in the transport direction of the card 11 and guides the card 11 so that the card 11 moves in parallel with the transport direction. The guide mechanism 42 includes a front side guide portion 43 that guides the card 11 in the transport direction from the front surface 11a side, and a back side guide portion 44 that guides the card 11 in the transport direction from the back surface 11b side. As a result, even if the card 11 is warped upward or downward during transport, the card 11 is brought into contact with the front guide portion 43 or the back guide portion 44 so that the transport direction of the card 11 is upward or downward. It is prevented from moving downward.

  In FIG. 2, the front-side guide portion 43 and the back-side guide portion 44 include a first front-side guide portion 43 a and a first back-side guide portion 44 a that are located upstream of the transfer mechanism 41, and the transfer mechanism 41 and the thermal head 46. An example including a second front side guide portion 43b and a second back side guide portion 44b positioned between each other is shown. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and specific configurations of the front guide portion 43 and the back guide portion 44 are appropriately selected according to the dimensions of the card 11 and the like.

Card pressing mechanism Next, the card pressing mechanism 50 will be described in detail. First, the structure of the card pressing mechanism 50 when viewed from the side will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view showing the card pressing mechanism 50 shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, the illustration of the ink ribbon 47 is omitted for convenience.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the card pressing mechanism 50 has a dogleg shape when viewed from the side, and is configured such that the dogleg-shaped bent portion 53 contacts the surface 11 a of the card 11. . The card pressing mechanism 50 includes, for example, a first plate 51 that extends obliquely downward along the conveyance direction of the card 11, a second plate 52 that extends obliquely upward along the conveyance direction of the card 11, and It is made up of. When the head heating element 46c prints on the card 11, the card pressing mechanism 50 is at least the card pressing mechanism 50 or the guide mechanism 42 (in the example shown in FIG. 3, the second front side guide portion 43b and the second back side guide portion). 44b) is arranged so as to abut against the card 11. That is, the card pressing mechanism 50 is arranged so that the downstream end of the card 11 abuts the bent portion 53 of the card pressing mechanism 50 while at least a part of the card 11 is supported by the guide mechanism 42. .

As shown in FIG. 3, the card pressing mechanism 50 is arranged to bend the card 11 that has reached the bent portion 53 downward by a predetermined distance. Specifically, as the head heating element 46c of the thermal head 46 is bent portion 53 at a position lower by a distance h ₁ from the position abutting the surface 11a of the card 11 abuts against the surface 11a of the card 11, the card pressing mechanism 50 is arranged. As a result, the portion of the card 11 that is in contact with the bent portion 53 of the card pressing mechanism 50 is lower than the portion of the card 11 that is sandwiched between the platen roll 45 and the thermal head 46 by a distance h _1. Displace to In the following description, a portion of the card 11 that is in contact with the bent portion 53 of the card pressing mechanism 50 is referred to as a pressed portion 11c, and the card 11 is sandwiched between the platen roll 45 and the thermal head 46. This portion is referred to as a sandwiching portion 11d.

When pressed portion 11c of the card 11 as described above is pushed downward against the clamping portion 11d by a distance h _1, is the card 11 which is convex upward along the conveying direction is flexed. As a result, a force is generated in the card 11 that causes the platen roller 45 as a fulcrum to displace the sandwiching portion 11d and the upstream portion of the sandwiching portion 11d upward. For this reason, the sandwiching portion 11d of the card 11 is strongly pressed against the head heating element 46c and the heating element support 46a of the thermal head 46. As a result, as will be described later, the pressure when printing is performed on the sandwiching portion 11d of the card 11 can be made sufficiently large and uniform.

The distance h ₁ for depressing the card 11 and the distance l ₁ along the conveying direction from the pressed portion 11c to the clamping portion 11d are sufficient for the head heating element 46c and the heating element support 46a to the clamping portion 11d of the card 11. The card 11 is appropriately set according to the characteristics such as the elastic modulus of the card 11 and the dimensions of the card 11 so that the card 11 is strongly pressed against the card. For example, the distance h ₁ is appropriately set within a range of 0.6 to 1.0 mm, and the distance l ₁ is appropriately set within a range of 24 to 28 mm. As a result, the pressure when printing is performed on the holding portion 11d of the card 11 can be made sufficiently large and uniform.

  As described above, the first plate 51 and the second plate 52 constituting the card pressing mechanism 50 are provided so as to be inclined with respect to the transport direction of the card 11. That is, the direction in which the first plate 51 and the second plate 52 extend and the conveyance direction of the card 11 are not orthogonal or parallel to each other. For this reason, the above-mentioned bending part 53 can be made to contact | abut to the surface 11a of the card | curd 11, hardly disturbing conveyance of the card | curd 11. FIG.

  Next, referring to FIG. 4, the structure of the card pressing mechanism 50 when viewed from above (the surface 11a side of the card 11) will be described. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a case where the card pressing mechanism 50 shown in FIG. 2 is viewed from above. In FIG. 4, as in FIG. 3, the illustration of the ink ribbon 47 is omitted for the sake of convenience.

  As shown in FIG. 4, an opening 54 extending along the width direction of the card 11 is formed at the lower end of the card pressing mechanism 50. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4, the bent portion 53 that contacts the surface 11 a of the card 11 includes one side contact portion 53 a on the one end portion 11 e side in the width direction of the card 11, and the other in the width direction of the card 11. It consists of the other side contact part 53b in the edge part 11f side. That is, the card pressing mechanism 50 comes into contact with the card 11 only in the vicinity of the end portions 11e and 11f of the card 11. For this reason, in the card 11 that has reached the bent portion 53, the one end portion 11 e and the other end portion 11 f of the card 11 are displaced downward from the central portion 11 g of the card 11. That is, the card 11 is bent so as to protrude upward along the width direction. In this manner, the card 11 is bent so as to protrude upward not only in the transport direction but also in the width direction. As a result, the holding portion 11d of the card 11 can be pressed more strongly against the head heating element 46c and the heating element support 46a of the thermal head 46.

In the present embodiment, an identification card defined in JIS X6301 is assumed as the card 11 to be printed. In this case, the length of the long side of the card 11 is in the range of 85.47 to 85.72 mm, the length of the short side is in the range of 53.92 to 54.03 mm, and the thickness is It is in the range of 0.68 to 0.84 mm. As for the characteristics such as elasticity of the card 11, a card having characteristics satisfying the general characteristic test of the identification card defined in JIS X6305-1 is assumed. The above-mentioned range of distance h ₁ of 0.6 to 1.0 mm and the range of distance l ₁ of 24 to 28 mm are distances h ₁ adopted when the card 11 having such dimensions and characteristics is the object to be printed. And the distance l ₁ . If the card other than card is defined as card 11 of the print object in JISX6301 and JISX6305-1 it is assumed that the distance _{h 1} and the distance _{l 1} of the above is determined according to the dimensions and characteristics of the card.

Preferably, as shown in FIG. 4, the card pressing mechanism 50 is attached to a pressing mechanism support 56 having a long hole 56 a extending obliquely with respect to the card 11 transport direction. In this case, the card pressing mechanism 50 is fixed to the pressing mechanism support 56 by the fixture 57 at an arbitrary position of the elongated hole 56a. That is, the arrangement of the card pressing mechanism 50 is variable along the elongated hole 56 a of the pressing mechanism support 56. Therefore, when placing the card pressing mechanism 50, the distance h ₁ and the distance l ₁ it can be easily adjusted.

  Preferably, as shown in FIG. 4, a neutralizing brush 55 that neutralizes the card 11 is attached to the card pressing mechanism 50. The neutralizing brush 55 has a brush portion 55 a that contacts the card 11 and neutralizes the card 11. By attaching such a charge-removing brush 55 to the card pressing mechanism 50, pressing the card 11 downward and discharging the card 11 can be performed simultaneously in the same place. Thereby, the B printing unit 25 can be configured more compactly.

Other Printing Units Next, printing units other than the B printing unit 25 (Y printing unit 22, M printing unit 23, and C printing unit 24) will be described. Each printing unit 22, 23, 24 is different only in that the card pressing mechanism 50 is not provided, and the other points are substantially the same as the above-described B printing unit 25 shown in FIGS. Yes.

  Next, the operation of the present embodiment having such a configuration will be described. Here, a method of printing image information and character information on the card 11 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 (a), 5 (b), and 5 (c).

Printing Method First, non-printed cards 11 are stacked and accumulated in the card stacker 21. Next, the card 11 is sequentially sent from the card stacker 21 to the Y printing unit 22, the M printing unit 23, and the C printing unit 24 (see FIG. 1). As a result, image information is printed in yellow, magenta, and cyan on the front surface 11a of the card 11. Since the operations of the Y printing unit 22, the M printing unit 23, and the C printing unit 24 are substantially the same except that the colors of the printing are different, the operation of the C printing unit 24 will be described here.

  FIG. 5A is a diagram illustrating a state in which image information is printed on the front surface 11 a of the card 11 in the C printing unit 24. In the example shown in FIG. 5A, when the head heating element 46c of the C printing unit 24 prints on the front surface 11a of the card 11, at least the guide mechanism 42 (second front side guide portion 43b and second back side of the C printing unit 24). Either one of the guide portion 44 b) or the guide mechanism 42 (the first front side guide portion 43 a and the first back side guide portion 44 a) of the B printing unit 25 comes into contact with the card 11. Therefore, when the head heating element 46c of the C printing unit 24 prints on the surface 11a of the card 11, a part of the card 11 is sandwiched between the head heating element 46c and the heating element support 46a and the platen roller, The other part is always supported by the guide mechanism 42 of the C printing unit 24 or the guide mechanism 42 of the B printing unit 25. Thus, the card 11 can always be sufficiently pressed by the head heating element 46c and the heating element support 46a of the C printing unit 24. For this reason, cyan image information is printed on the surface 11a of the card 11 with high quality.

  The card 11 on which the cyan image information is printed is received by the transport mechanism 41 of the B printing unit 25, and thereafter, as shown in FIG. 5B, the thermal head 46 and the platen roller 45 of the B printing unit 25 are connected. Sent in between. At this time, the head heating element 46c and the heating element support 46a are driven downward by the drive controller 46b, whereby the ink ribbon 47 is pressed against the surface 11a of the card 11 while being heated. As a result, black character information is printed on the front surface 11 a of the card 11.

  In the state shown in FIG. 5B, when the head heating element 46c prints on the surface 11a of the card 11, the second front side guide part 43b or the second back side guide part 44b of the guide mechanism 42 always contacts the card 11. ing. For this reason, when the head heating element 46c prints on the surface 11a of the card 11, a part of the card 11 is sandwiched between the head heating element 46c and the heating element support 46a and the platen roller, and the other part is the first. 2 Always supported by the front side guide part 43b or the second back side guide part 44b. Thus, the card 11 can be uniformly pressed with sufficient force by the head heating element 46c and the heating element support 46a of the C printing unit 24. For this reason, black character information is printed on the surface 11a of the card 11 with high quality.

Thereafter, the card 11 is further conveyed in the B printing unit 25. Then, as shown in FIG. 5C, the surface 11 a of the card 11 comes into contact with the bent portion 53 of the card pressing mechanism 50. In the state shown in FIG. 5C, when the head heating element 46c prints on the surface 11a of the card 11, a part of the card 11 (clamping part 11d) is the head heating element 46c, the heating element support 46a, the platen roller, while being sandwiched between the other portion (depression portion 11c) is pressed by a force shown by the arrow F ₁ downward by the bent portion 53 of the card pressing mechanism 50. Therefore, in the card 11, the force to displace the portion of the upstream side to above the clamping portions 11d and clamping portion 11d of the card 11 as a fulcrum platen roller 45 (a force shown by the arrow F ₂₎ is generated. As a result, the holding portion 11d of the card 11 is strongly pressed against the head heating element 46c and the heating element support 46a of the thermal head 46. That is, the pressure when printing is performed on the sandwiching portion 11d of the card 11 can be made sufficiently large and uniform. For this reason, black character information is printed on the surface 11a of the card 11 with high quality.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, in the B printing unit 25 provided on the most downstream side, the platen roller 45 that supports the card 11 from the back surface 11b side and extends in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of the card 11, It is provided on the surface 11a side of the card 11 so as to face the platen roller 45, supports the head heating element 46c for printing on the surface 11a of the card 11, and the head heating element 46c, and can press the surface 11a of the card 11. And a thermal head 46 including a heating element support 46a. A card pressing mechanism 50 that presses the card 11 extending from the platen roller 45 downward from the surface 11a side is provided on the downstream side of the thermal head 46 in the transport direction of the card 11. For this reason, when the clamping part 11d of the card | curd 11 is clamped between the platen roller 45, the head heating element 46c of the thermal head 46, and the heating element support part 46a, it is located downstream of the clamping part 11d in the transport direction. The pressed portion 11 c of the card 11 to be pressed is pressed downward by the card pressing mechanism 50. As a result, the pressed portion 11c of the card 11 is displaced downward, and a force is generated in the card 11 to displace the clamping portion 11d upward. For this reason, the sandwiching portion 11d of the card 11 is strongly pressed against the head heating element 46c and the heating element support 46a of the thermal head 46. Thereby, the pressure when printing is performed on the sandwiching portion 11d of the card 11 can be made sufficiently large and uniform. As a result, it is possible to print on the card 11 with high quality.

  Further, according to the B printing unit 25 of the present embodiment, the card pressing mechanisms 50 are arranged in the width direction of the card 11, and each presses the vicinity of the end of the card 11 in the width direction from the surface 11 a side. The contact portion 53a and the other-side contact portion 53b are provided. For this reason, the card | curd 11 can be bent so that it may protrude upwards not only in a conveyance direction but in the width direction. As a result, the holding portion 11d of the card 11 can be pressed more strongly against the head heating element 46c and the heating element support 46a of the thermal head 46, thereby enabling printing on the card 11 with higher quality. it can.

  Further, according to the B printing unit 25 of the present embodiment, the front side guide portion 43 and the back surface 11b side that are located upstream of the thermal head 46 in the card 11 transport direction and guide the card 11 from the front surface 11a in the transport direction. A guide mechanism 42 including a back side guide portion 44 that guides the card 11 in the transport direction is provided. Further, when the head heating element 46c prints on the card 11, the card pressing mechanism 50 and the guide mechanism 42 are configured so that at least one of the card pressing mechanism 50 or the guide mechanism 42 contacts the card 11. . Therefore, when the head heating element 46c of the B printing unit 25 prints on the surface 11a of the card 11, a part of the card 11 is sandwiched between the head heating element 46c and the heating element support 46a and the platen roller, The other part is always supported by the card pressing mechanism 50 or the guide mechanism 42. Accordingly, the card 11 can always be sufficiently pressed by the head heating element 46c and the heating element support 46a of the B printing unit 25. As a result, it is possible to print uniformly and with high quality over the entire surface 11a of the card 11.

Comparative Example Next, the effect of the present embodiment will be described in comparison with a comparative example. FIG. 6 shows an example in which the card pressing mechanism is not provided in the B printing unit 125 arranged on the most downstream side. In the comparative example shown in FIG. 6, when the head heating element 46c prints on the surface 11a of the card 11, a part of the card 11 (clamping part 11d) is between the head heating element 46c and the heating element support 46a and the platen roller. The other parts are not supported at all. In this case, if the pressure from the head heating element 46c to the card 11 is increased in order to perform printing with high quality, it is conceivable that the leading end portion 11h of the card 11 is displaced upward as shown in FIG. That is, since the card 11 is not supported except for the clamping portion 11d, even if it is attempted to increase the pressure from the head heating element 46c and the heating element support 46a to the card 11, the pressure is used to raise the tip end portion 11h. It can be considered. For this reason, in the comparative example shown in FIG. 6, it is considered that the pressure from the head heating element 46c and the heating element support 46a to the card 11 cannot be sufficiently increased.

  On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, when the head heating element 46c prints on the front surface 11a of the card 11, the pressing portion 11c of the card 11 located on the downstream side in the transport direction from the sandwiching portion 11d It is supported from above by the mechanism 50. Therefore, the pressure from the head heating element 46c and the heating element support 46a to the card 11 can be made sufficiently large and uniform. This makes it possible to print on the card 11 with high quality even if the original card 11 has a large degree of surface irregularities and warpage.

Modification The form of the card pressing mechanism 50 is not limited to the form shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 described above, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the example in which the static elimination brush 55 is attached to the card pressing mechanism 50 has been shown. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the card pressing mechanism 50 and the static elimination brush 55 may be provided separately. In the above-described embodiment, the card pressing mechanism 50 has the opening 54 so that the card pressing mechanism 50 contacts the card 11 only in the vicinity of the end portions 11e and 11f of the card 11. showed that. However, the form for bringing the card pressing mechanism 50 into contact with the card 11 only in the vicinity of the ends 11e and 11f of the card 11 is not limited to the above-described form, and various forms can be adopted.

Other Modifications In the present embodiment, the thermal head 46 is an example of a thermal head of a melt type thermal transfer system. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and various types of thermal heads such as a sublimation thermal transfer method and a direct thermal method can be used as the thermal head 46 in the present embodiment.
For example, when the thermal head 46 is of a sublimation type thermal transfer system, the ink ribbon 47 includes a sublimation type ink layer (not shown), and a dye receiving layer (not shown) is provided on the surface 11a of the card 11. Is formed. Then, the head heating element 46c of the thermal head 46 evaporates the ink of the sublimation ink layer of the ink ribbon 47 in a predetermined pattern, and this ink is fixed to the dye receiving layer of the card 11, whereby image information or character information is transferred to the card. 11 is printed.
When the thermal head 46 is of a direct thermal type, a color developing layer (not shown) that develops color by heat is formed on the surface 11a of the card 11. Then, the head heating element 46c of the thermal head 46 heats the coloring layer of the card 11 in a predetermined pattern, whereby the coloring layer of the card 11 is colored in a predetermined pattern, whereby image information or character information is printed on the card 11. The

  In the present embodiment, the platen roller 45 is provided so as to support the back surface 11b of the card 11 from below, and the card 11 extending from the platen roller 45 is pressed downward from the surface 11a side by the card pressing mechanism 50. An example is shown. However, the direction in which the platen roller 45 supports the back surface 11b of the card 11 and the direction in which the card pressing mechanism 50 presses the front surface 11a of the card 11 are not limited to the above-described directions. For example, the platen roller 45 may support the back surface 11b of the card 11 from the side, for example, the right direction. In this case, the card pressing mechanism 50 is configured to press the surface 11a of the card 11 in the right direction.

  Further, in the present embodiment, an example in which the B printing unit 25 that prints character information on the front surface 11a of the card 11 is arranged on the most downstream side of the printing apparatus 20 is shown. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any one of the Y printing unit 22, the M printing unit 23, and the C printing unit 24 that prints image information on the surface 11 a of the card 11 is arranged on the most downstream side of the printing apparatus 20. Also good. In this case, the card pressing mechanism 50 according to the present embodiment is provided in the printing unit arranged on the most downstream side. Thereby, in the printing unit provided on the most downstream side, printing on the card 11 can be performed with high quality.

  In the present embodiment, an example is shown in which a card pressing mechanism 50 is provided that is positioned downstream of the thermal head 46 in the transport direction of the card 11 and presses the card 11 extending from the platen roller 45 downward from the surface 11a side. It was. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and when the head heating element 46c prints on the card 11, a part other than the holding part 11d of the card 11 may be supported by some mechanism. As a result, the pressure from the head heating element 46c to the card 11 can be made sufficiently large, thereby enabling printing on the card 11 with high quality.

11 Card 11a Front side 11b Back side 11c Pressed part 11d Holding part 15 Card issuing system 20 Printing device 21 Card stacker 22 Y printing unit 23 M printing unit 24 C printing unit 25 B printing unit 27 Reader / writer 28 Back printing unit 29 First protection Sheet forming unit 30 Second protective sheet forming unit 34 Sorting mechanism 35 Stacking unit 36 Casing 41 Transport mechanism 41a, 41b Transport roller 42 Guide mechanism 43 Front side guide unit 44 Back side guide unit 45 Platen roller 46 Thermal head 46a Heating element support unit 46b Print Control part 46c Head heating element 47 Ink ribbon 50 Card pressing mechanism 51 1st plate 52 2nd plate 53 Bending part 53a One side contact part 53b Other side contact part 53c Bending part center part 54 Opening part 55 Static elimination brush 56 Pressing mechanism support 56a Slot 57 Fixing tool

Claims (6)

In the printing unit that prints on the card,
A transport mechanism for transporting a card having a front surface and a back surface;
A platen roller that is located downstream of the transport mechanism in the card transport direction, supports the card from the back side, and extends in a direction orthogonal to the card transport direction;
A head heating element that is provided on the surface of the card so as to face the platen roller, and that prints on the surface of the card; and a heating element support that supports the head heating element and can press the surface of the card. Thermal head,
A printing unit comprising: a card pressing mechanism that is positioned downstream of the thermal head in the card transport direction and that presses a card extending from the platen roller from the front side.   A guide mechanism is further provided on the upstream side in the card transport direction from the thermal head, and includes a front side guide part that guides the card in the transport direction from the front side and a back side guide part that guides the card in the transport direction from the back side. The printing unit according to claim 1.   3. The printing unit according to claim 2, wherein when the head heating element prints on a card, at least one of the card pressing mechanism and the guide mechanism is in contact with the card.   The card pressing mechanism is arranged in a width direction of the card orthogonal to the transport direction, and each has a pair of contact portions that press the vicinity of the end of the card in the width direction from the surface side. The printing unit according to any one of 1 to 3.   The printing unit according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a discharging brush for discharging the card is attached to the card pressing mechanism. In a printing device that prints on a card,
A plurality of printing units are arranged along the card conveying direction and each prints a predetermined color on the card,
2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing unit located on the most downstream side in the card conveying direction is a printing unit according to claim 1.

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