JP2017007205A - Marking device and ribbon cassette for marking device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a marking device and a ribbon casette.SOLUTION: A marking device in which a robbin cassette equipped with a supply reel and a winding reel is detachably mounted, a part of said ribbon casette comprises a first guide part for guiding an ink ribbon to an outer side of the ribbon casette and a second guide part for guiding the ink ribbon to an inner side of the ribbon casette, and a clearance for bridging the ink ribbon is formed between the first guide part and the second guide part. The device comprises: a mounting plate which detachably receives the ribbon casette; a drive shaft on a supply reel side and a drive shaft on a winding reel side; a thermal transfer head which is so formed as to be projected from the mounting plate, and is inserted between the first guide part and the second guide plate when mounting the thermal transfer head; and a slide mechanism which movably supports the thermal transfer head, and moves the thermal transfer head in a direction, in which the thermal transfer head approaches and is separated from the ink ribbon fed between the first guide part and the second guide part, when mounting the ribbon casette.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a marking device and a ribbon cassette for a marking device.

The marking device is used for marking alphanumeric characters such as lot numbers and countermarks in automated factories such as automobiles and construction machines.
For example, in Patent Document 1 below, a cylinder, a piston that reciprocates within the cylinder, an elastic member that urges the piston toward the base end, and the surface of the workpiece at the tip following the reciprocating motion of the piston. A vibration pen for a marking device including a stylus for marking is disclosed.

  In order to print on mechanical parts using this vibrating pen, the piston and stylus are vibrated using a compressive fluid and stamped at a specified position, and the stylus is moved along with the vibrating pen at each required position. Repeat the time. By this operation, characters, numbers, symbols, etc. can be marked on the marking portion of the machine part. Further, when the stylus is vibrated at one place, dots are formed at that portion, so that a so-called two-dimensional code can be formed by forming a plurality of dots so as to form a predetermined pattern.

JP-A-11-99798

The conventional marking device described above is a device that performs marking by stamping the tip of a stylus onto a machine part. However, in the method of stamping the tip of the stylus directly on the part, for example, when the object to be stamped is a plastic part, the part itself is damaged by the stamping of the stylus, and the part is damaged especially in the case of a thin object. There is a risk.
Therefore, it is desired to provide an apparatus capable of printing letters, numbers, symbols, etc. on plastic parts, thin parts, and the like.
By the way, although general-purpose printers such as inkjet printers, laser printers, and thermal transfer printers can print on a flat surface of printing paper or the like, the surface of a three-dimensional object such as a resin-made gasoline tank or similar mechanical parts is available. There is a problem that the curved surface cannot be printed. In addition, the laser marking device is easily affected by the color of the surface to be printed, and there is a problem that the black resin cannot be marked. For this reason, in laser marking, a method of mixing a coloring material into the resin may be employed, but there is a problem that the existing resin that does not contain the coloring material cannot be marked and the cost of the coloring material is increased.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is not a conventional marking device using a stylus, but a marking device using a thermal transfer technique as a marking method that does not cause damage to target parts, and the marking device. An object of the present invention is to provide a ribbon cassette.
In addition, the marking device of the present invention can provide colored markings freely, can be marked on resin, and provides a marking device capable of curved surface marking and two-dimensional code marking, and a ribbon cassette for the marking device. And

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention employs the following configuration.
The marking device of the present invention includes a supply reel and a take-up reel, and a ribbon cassette configured to wind an unused ink ribbon around the supply reel and wind up a used ink ribbon onto the take-up reel is detachable. A marking device to be mounted, wherein the ribbon cassette has a first guide part for guiding an ink ribbon taken out from the supply reel to a part of the ribbon cassette and the ink ribbon on the ribbon cassette. A ribbon cassette that includes a second guide portion that guides to the inner side, and a gap is formed between the leading end side of the first guiding portion and the leading end side of the second guiding portion; A mounting plate that detachably receives the ribbon cassette, a drive shaft on the supply reel side and a drive shaft on the take-up reel side that are formed to project freely from the mounting plate; A thermal transfer head that protrudes from an attached plate and is inserted between the first guide portion and the second guide portion when the ribbon cassette is mounted; and the thermal transfer head is interposed between the mounting plate and the thermal transfer head. A slide mechanism that is movably supported and moves the thermal transfer head toward and away from the ink ribbon sent between the first guide portion and the second guide portion when the ribbon cassette is mounted; Is supported by an xy movable shaft so as to be movable in the x and y directions.

  The ribbon cassette of the present invention includes a supply reel on which an ink ribbon is wound, a take-up reel for winding up the ink ribbon, and a cassette body portion that rotatably stores the supply reel and the take-up reel. An ink ribbon conveyance path is provided in a part of a region between the cassette main body and the ink ribbon taken out from the supply reel on the take-up reel in the cassette main body. A window portion for exposing the ink ribbon to the outside of the cassette body portion is formed in a part of the conveyance path at the edge portion, and the ink ribbon is guided to the outside of the cassette body portion on one side of the window portion. A second guide portion for guiding the ink ribbon into the cassette body portion is formed on the other side of the first guide portion, and the tip of the first guide portion Wherein the ink ribbon is stretched between the front end of the second guide portion.

According to the present invention, the marking object can be marked by a thermal transfer method using a thermal transfer head using an ink ribbon. For this reason, even if it is the marking object made from a black resin which could not be marked with the conventional laser system, it has the characteristic that it can mark with distinguishable colors, such as white and silver, without using a coloring material. In addition, the conventional marking-type marking device has a feature that enables marking without damaging the object even if it is a thin object that may be damaged. For example, letters, numbers, symbols, etc. can be printed on thin plastic parts.
Further, the ink ribbon is pulled out from the ribbon cassette and is passed over the gap between the first guide portion and the second guide portion, and the ink ribbon in the gap is used as a marking object by a thermal transfer head provided between the first guide portion and the second guide portion. Since characters, mathematical formulas, symbols, and the like can be transferred by pressing, characters, numbers, symbols, and the like can be printed on a marking object that has a convex portion and a concave portion and has a curved surface to be marked.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The block diagram which shows the whole structure of the system provided with 1st Embodiment of the marking apparatus based on this invention. The perspective view which shows the state which mounted | wore the same marking apparatus and this apparatus with the ribbon cassette. The perspective view which showed an example structure of the ribbon cassette with which the marking apparatus is mounted | worn, and showed a part transparently. The structural example of a thermal transfer tape is shown, (a) is sectional drawing which shows an example of dye type, (b) is sectional drawing which shows an example of pigment type. The attachment plate | board of the marking device is shown, (a) is a front view, (b) is a fragmentary sectional view which shows the principal part of a slide mechanism. The perspective view which looked at the pen mechanism part provided with the mounting plate of the marking apparatus from the diagonally upper side. The perspective view which looked at the pen mechanism part provided with the mounting plate of the marking apparatus from the diagonally upper side. The perspective view which looked at the pen mechanism part provided with the attachment plate of the marking device from the back upper part side. The perspective view which looked at the pen mechanism part provided with the attachment plate of the marking device from the back upper part side. The perspective view which looked at the pen mechanism part provided with the mounting plate of the marking device from the lower back side. The thermal transfer head provided in the marking apparatus is shown, (a) is sectional drawing, (b) is a front view. The structure of the linear slide mechanism provided in the mounting plate back side of the marking device is shown. (A) is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the slide frame is moved upward, and (b) is the slide frame downward. Schematic which shows the state moved. 13A and 13B show the transfer method in the order of processes. FIG. 13A is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the ink ribbon and the thermal transfer head are brought close to the marking object, and FIG. FIG. 6C is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a part of the ink ribbon is transferred to the marking object.

Hereinafter, an example of a marking device and a ribbon cassette according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings as appropriate.
As shown in FIG. 1, the marking device 1 according to the present embodiment includes an xy drive mechanism including an xy movable shaft 2 that can move in an arbitrary x direction and a y direction perpendicular to the x direction in a horizontal plane. 3, a pen mechanism unit 4 supported by the xy movable shaft 2, and a ribbon cassette 5 detachably attached to the pen mechanism unit 4.
A positioning control unit 6 is connected to the drive mechanism 3, a transfer control unit 7 is connected to the pen mechanism unit 4, and signals can be exchanged between the positioning control unit 6 and the transfer control unit 7. . An external controller 8 such as a sequencer is connected to the positioning control unit 6, and control signals such as a marking start signal and a marking stop signal can be input from the external controller 8.

  For example, when a marking start signal is input from the external controller 8 to the positioning control unit 6, the positioning control unit 6 sends an xy positioning control signal to the drive mechanism 3. When the pen mechanism 4 is positioned by the drive mechanism 3, the positioning control unit 6 sends a positioning completion signal to the transfer control unit 7. The transfer control unit 7 can send a pen up / down control signal, which will be described later, to the pen mechanism unit 4 and further send an ink ribbon take-up signal, so that the marking object 9 can be engraved by a thermal transfer method.

The xy drive mechanism 3 is a general-purpose drive mechanism provided with sliders that can move the xy movable shaft 2 in the horizontal direction in the x direction and the y direction perpendicular to the x direction, and is generally known. Various xy drive mechanisms can be applied.
A pen mechanism unit 4 described below in detail is provided in a state of being suspended from an xy movable shaft 2 that is moved along the x direction and the y direction.

FIG. 2 shows the appearance of the pen mechanism unit 4 according to the first embodiment. The pen mechanism unit 4 is supported by being suspended by the xy movable shaft 2 via a support board 4a attached to the upper part. A ribbon cassette 5 whose detailed structure is shown in FIG. 3 is mounted on the front side of the pen mechanism unit 4.
In the ribbon cassette 5, an annular supply reel (first reel) 12 and a take-up reel (second reel) 13 are accommodated inside a thin box-shaped cassette main body 11 so as to be separated from each other left and right. An unused ink ribbon 15 is wound around the outer periphery of the take-up reel 13, and a used ink ribbon 16 is wound around the outer periphery of the take-up reel 13. The cassette body 11 is made of a resin molded product as an example. The cassette body 11 has the same structure as the case of a cassette tape for music, and is usually integrated as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 by bolting a molded product having a structure in which the cassette body is divided into two parts. The

  In the initial state of the cassette body 11, all unused ink ribbons 15 are wound around the supply reel 12, but when the ink ribbons 15 are sequentially fed from the supply reel 12 and used, the used ink ribbons 16 are sequentially transferred. It is taken up on the take-up reel 13 side. In FIG. 3, in order to make the drawing easy to see, a state in which the maximum amount of unused ink ribbon 15 is wound around the supply reel 12 and a state in which the maximum amount of used ink ribbon 16 is wound around the take-up reel 13 are simulated. It shows at the same time. Therefore, when all the ink ribbons 15 are wound on the supply reel 12 side in the actual initial state, the ink ribbon is hardly wound on the take-up reel 13 side, and conversely the take-up reel 13 side. When all the ink ribbons 16 are wound, the ink ribbon 15 is hardly wound on the supply reel 12 side.

  The cassette body 11 is a thin box-shaped body comprising a front wall (one wall) 11a, a back wall (other wall) 11b, side walls 11c, 11d, a top wall 11e, and a bottom wall 11f in the standing state shown in FIG. It is. Inside the cassette body 11, a supply reel 12 and a take-up reel 13 that are spaced apart from each other as shown in FIG. The front wall 11a and the back wall 11b are disposed so as to sandwich the two from both sides in the axial direction. The side walls 11c, 11d, the top wall 11e, and the bottom wall 11f are formed to have a width slightly larger than the thicknesses of the supply reel 12 and the take-up reel 13, and the supply reel 12 and the take-up reel 13 are surrounded by these.

A circular through-hole 17 is formed in the front wall 11a and the back wall 11b at portions facing the circumference of the supply reel 12 and the circumference of the take-up reel 13, and a cylindrical shape is formed in the inner circumference of each through-hole 17. The support portions 18 are formed so as to protrude toward the inside of the cassette body 11, one support portion 18 is formed in a circumferential groove formed in the circumferential portion of the supply reel 12, and the other support portion 18 is provided on the take-up reel. Each is inserted into a circumferential groove formed in 13 circumferential portions. With the above structure, the supply reel 12 and the take-up reel 13 are rotatably supported in the respective circumferential directions while being sandwiched between the support portion 18 on the front wall side and the support portion 18 on the back wall side. Engaging protrusions 12 a and 13 a are formed on the inner peripheral portions of the supply reel 12 and the take-up reel 13.
As an example, the cassette body 11 has a front wall 11a having a width of about 110 mm, a height of about 60 mm, and a thickness of about 10 mm.

The ink ribbon 15 delivered from the supply reel 12 is moved along the bottom wall 11 f of the cassette body 11, moved to the take-up reel 13 side, and taken up by the take-up reel 13. For this reason, a transport path R for the ink ribbon 15 is established in a region along the bottom wall 11 f of the cassette body 11. A window 19 for drawing out the ink ribbon 15 to the outside of the cassette body 11 is formed at the center of the bottom wall 11f located in the middle of the transport path R.
Then, a metal first guide portion 20 protruding outside the window portion 19 is formed on the supply reel side portion of the window portion 19, and on the winding reel side portion of the window portion 19 on the outside of the window portion 19. A protruding metal second guide portion 21 is formed. The 1st guide part 20 and the 2nd guide part 21 consist of metal plates with high intensity | strength, such as stainless steel material, respectively.

The first guide portion 20 extends along the transport path R at a right angle to the strip-shaped base end piece 20a supported by the bottom wall 11f of the cassette body 11 and the end of the base end piece 20a on the supply reel side. The standing piece 20b is provided, and a guide piece 20c extending slightly inclined toward the take-up reel at the tip end side of the standing piece 20b.
The second guide portion 20 extends at right angles to the base end piece 21a supported by the bottom wall 11f of the cassette body 11 along the transport path R and the end of the base end piece 21a on the take-up reel side. The standing piece 21b and a guide piece 21c extending slightly inclined toward the supply reel at the tip end side of the standing piece 21b.

In the 1st guide part 20 and the 1st guide part 21, standing piece 20b, 21b is mutually arrange | positioned in parallel, and the space | interval of guide piece 20c, 21c is made small as the guide piece 20c and guide piece 21c go to those front end sides. A gap d of about several millimeters is formed between the leading ends of the guide pieces 20c and 21c. A space S between the guide pieces 20c and 21c is a space S in which a thermal transfer head described later is disposed.
Further, as an example, the protruding length of the guide portions 20 and 21 from the bottom wall 11f is about 30 to 35 mm, the interval between the standing pieces 20b and 21b is about 20 mm, and the gap d is about 3 to 5 mm.

  In the bottom wall 11f of the cassette body 11, a guide piece support portion 22 is formed by extending the bottom wall 11f outward at a portion of the window portion 19 on the supply reel side, and a portion of the window portion 19 on the take-up reel side is formed. The guide wall support 23 is formed by extending the bottom wall 11f outward. The guide piece support portion 22 is formed with a grip portion 22a that sandwiches and supports the standing piece 20b, and the guide piece support portion 23 is formed with a grip portion 23a that sandwiches and supports the stand piece 21b. A first guide roller 25 is rotatably provided on the inner side of the guide support portion 22 by a first support shaft 26, and a second guide roller 27 is provided on the inner side of the guide support portion 23 as a second support shaft. 28 is rotatably provided. The first guide roller 25 is arranged so that the circumferential surface thereof is along the ink ribbon transport path R and the upright piece 20b, and the second guide roller 27 is disposed around the ink ribbon transport path R and the upright piece 21b. It is arranged along.

The ink ribbon 15 fed out from the supply reel 12 circulates around the first guide roller 25 and is guided along the upright piece 20b by changing the direction by almost 90 °, and then guided along the outer surface of the guide piece 20c. d. When the ink ribbon 15 passes through the gap d, the used ink ribbon 16 reaches the second guide roller 27 along the upright piece 21b from the guide piece 21c after the ink portion is used by a thermal transfer head described later. Then, after being moved along the transport path R, the take-up reel 13 is wound up.
For this reason, the transport path R of the ink ribbon extends along the bottom wall 11f of the cassette body 11 on the side close to the supply reel 12 and the side near the take-up reel 13, but the center side of the cassette body 11 , The first guide portion 20 and the second guide portion 21 are extended so as to protrude in a V shape to the outside of the cassette body 11. The detailed structure of the ink ribbon 15 will be described in detail later.

A guide shaft 29 for guiding the ink ribbon is formed in the vicinity of the region where the ink ribbon 15 is drawn from the supply reel 12 toward the bottom wall 11 f on the inner side of the cassette body 11, and the front wall 11 a and the rear surface near the guide shaft 29 are formed. A round-shaped through hole 30 is formed in a part of the wall 11b. A guide shaft 31 is formed at a position where the ink ribbon 16 is moved from the transport path R near the bottom wall 11 f toward the take-up reel 12 on the inner side of the cassette body 11, and the front wall near the guide shaft 31. A round-shaped through hole 32 is formed in a part of 11a and the back wall 11b. These through holes 30 and 32 are provided for inserting a capstan shaft 66 provided in the pen mechanism section 4 which will be described in detail later.
An insertion hole 33 is formed in the vicinity of the through hole 30 in the bottom wall 11 f of the cassette body 11, and an insertion hole 34 is formed in the vicinity of the through hole 32. These insertion holes 33 and 34 are provided in order to pass a pinch roller 68 provided in the pen mechanism unit 4 which will be described in detail later.

As an example, as shown in FIG. 4A, the ink ribbon 15 has a release agent layer 37, a dye layer 38, and a glazing layer on one side of a tape-like substrate 36 made of a resin such as PET (polyethylene terephthalate). It consists of a dye-type ribbon in which a metal vapor deposition layer 39 such as an aluminum layer and an adhesive layer 40 are laminated. As another example of the ink ribbon 15, a configuration including a pigment-type ribbon in which a release agent layer 37, a pigment layer 41, and an adhesive layer 40 are laminated on one surface side of the substrate 36 may be employed. As an example, the substrate 36 having a thickness of about 10 to 12 μm can be used.
Any of these dye-type ribbons or pigment-type ribbons has the same structure as an ink ribbon used for a general commercially available thermal transfer printer, and conventionally known ink ribbons can be applied. The colors of the dye layer 38 and the pigment layer 41 can be appropriately set according to the color of the marking object 9, regardless of which color is white, black, gold, silver, red, blue, green or the like. When the color of the marking object 9 is black, white or silver can be selected. When the color of the marking object 9 is white, any of black, gold, silver, red, blue, green, etc. A color may be selected. Of course, when the marking object 9 is a silver or metallic glossy surface, a color that is conspicuous with the human eye according to the color of the surface, or a color that can be easily recognized by the discrimination device in the case of machine discrimination can be selected as appropriate. it can. The colors of the dye layer 38 and the pigment layer 41 described above are merely examples, and it is needless to say that other commercially available colors may be selected.

Next, the detailed structure of the pen mechanism unit 4 will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 and 6 to 10.
As shown in FIG. 2, the pen mechanism unit 4 is accommodated in a rectangular parallelepiped case 45 having an opening on one side, and the ribbon cassette 5 is detachably mounted on the front side thereof. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the main structure of the pen mechanism unit 4 with the case 45 and the ribbon cassette 5 shown in FIG. 2 removed.
The pen mechanism unit 4 has a mounting plate 46 for mounting the standing ribbon cassette 5 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and a linear drive mechanism (sliding mechanism) mounted on a base board 47 on the back side thereof. ) 48 is provided.
As shown in FIG. 5 or FIGS. 8 to 10, the linear drive mechanism 48 includes guide rails 50 and 50 that are spaced apart from each other so as to extend vertically on the back side of the base board 47, and these guide rails. 50 and 50, and a traveling body 51 provided so as to be slidable along the line 50.
The traveling body 51 includes two moving pieces 52 slidably provided on the guide rails 50, 50, a rectangular slide frame 53 supported by the four moving pieces 52, and an inner side of the slide frame 53. And an electromagnet 55 provided so as to protrude outside the slide frame 53.

A magnet member 57 made of a permanent magnet plate supported by a support plate 56 extending from the rectangular frame is provided at the center of the inner upper portion of the slide frame 53, and a support extending from the rectangular frame at the inner lower center of the slide frame 53 is provided. A magnet member 59 made of a permanent magnet plate supported by the plate 58 is provided.
An electromagnet 55 having a rectangular parallelepiped coil portion 61 with a core 60 inserted in the center thereof is provided between the upper and lower magnet members 57 and 59 on the center side of the slide frame 53. The electromagnet 55 has the iron core 60 facing up and down, the upper and lower ends of the iron core 60 are disposed between the magnet members 57 and 59, and about half of the coil portion 61 protrudes outside the slide frame 53 toward the base board 47 side. It is fixed.
A buffer material 60 a having a thickness of about 1 mm is attached to the upper and lower ends of the iron core 60. Although omitted in the drawing, an energizing means for energizing the electromagnet 55 is provided. As an example, the lower surface side of the upper magnet member 57 is magnetized to the N pole, and the upper surface side of the lower magnet member 59 is also magnetized to the N pole.

  In a state in which the electromagnet 55 is not energized, the lower end of the iron core 60 is in contact with the lower magnet member 59 as shown in FIG. Is set to N pole, the slide frame 53 moves downward. After exciting the electromagnet 55 in the reverse direction from this state, when the excitation of the electromagnet 55 is canceled, the slide frame 53 moves upward and the lower end of the iron core 60 contacts the lower magnet member 59. When the above operation is repeated, the slide frame 53 can be moved up and down around the electromagnet 55.

Positioning plates 46a are erected on both left and right edges of the mounting plate 46 of the pen mechanism unit 4, and the standing ribbon cassette 5 shown in FIG. 2 or 3 is mounted at a position between the left and right positioning plates 46a and 46a. Is done. Since the recess 11P for receiving the tip of the positioning plate 46a is formed on the lower side of the side wall 11c of the ribbon cassette 5, the ribbon cassette 5 can be positioned with respect to the mounting plate 46.
In the pen mechanism unit 4, the drive shafts 62 and 63 for driving the reel protrude from the front side of the mounting plate 46 to the left and right, and the drive shafts 62 and 63 penetrate the mounting plate 46 in the thickness direction. Is provided. A motor 65 for driving the reel is provided on the back side of the mounting plate 46 and part of the base board 47, and the rotational driving force of the motor 65 is provided via a gear mechanism G provided on the inner side of the base board 47. The power is transmitted to the drive shafts 62 and 63, and the drive shafts 62 and 63 are rotationally driven. The drive shafts 62 and 63 protrude from the mounting plate 46 at a position where the drive shaft 62 can be aligned with the center of the supply reel 12 of the ribbon cassette 5 when the ribbon cassette 5 is mounted on the mounting plate 46. 13 is a position where the drive shaft 63 can be aligned with the center.

  A capstan shaft 66 that projects to the front side of the mounting plate 46 is projected below the drive shaft 62 of the mounting plate 46, and the capstan shaft 66 is provided so as to penetrate the mounting plate 46 in the thickness direction. The capstan shaft 66 is rotationally driven using the rotational driving force of the previous motor 65. The position where the capstan shaft 66 protrudes from the mounting plate 46 is set to a position where the capstan shaft 66 can be aligned with the center of the through hole 30 of the ribbon cassette 5 when the ribbon cassette 5 is mounted on the mounting plate 46. The

  In the mounting plate 46, a pinch roller 68 is provided below the installation position of the capstan shaft 66 and supported by a swing arm 67 that pivots up and down. The pinch roller 68 can move up and down together with the swing arm 67 when the ribbon cassette 5 is mounted on the mounting plate 46, and is inserted into the insertion hole 33 or the insertion hole 34 of the ribbon cassette 5, and is attached to the capstan shaft 66. Contact. By this operation, the ink ribbon 15 is pressed against the outer periphery of the capstan shaft 66, so that the ink ribbon 15 can be accurately sent out along the transport path R by the rotation of the capstan shaft 66. The ink ribbons 15 and 16 are also moved by driving the drive shafts 62 and 63, but are accurately fed out by the capstan shaft 66 so as not to be affected by slack of the ink ribbons 15 and 16 being moved.

A rectangular ventilation hole 70 for ventilation is formed on the lower front center side of the mounting plate 46 shown in FIG. 6, and a metal cooling plate 71 is outwardly directed at a right angle from the mounting plate 46 at the lower edge portion of the ventilation hole 70. It is extended to. A thermal transfer head 73 described below is provided below the cooling plate 71.
As shown in FIG. 11, the thermal transfer head 73 includes a constricted main body 75 made of a rectangular metal block having good heat conductivity such as aluminum or stainless steel, and a rear end side of the main body 75. The electric heater 76 is inserted, and a pin-type stylus 77 is detachably attached to the distal end side of the main body 75.
The main body 75 is spaced below the cooling plate 71 by a predetermined distance from the cooling plate 71 and extends at right angles to the mounting plate 46. When the upright ribbon cassette 5 is mounted on the mounting plate 46, the lower edge portion of the main body 75 is inserted into the space between the guide pieces 20c and 21c of the ribbon cassette 5, A stylus 77 on the distal end side is disposed slightly above the gap between the distal end portions of the guide pieces 20c and 21c.

  In the main body 75, the heater 76 is inserted into an insertion hole 75a extending from the rear end to the vicinity of the front end, and screw holes 75b and 75b are formed above the portion where the heater 76 is inserted. A screw member 78 for fixing the heater is screwed into 75b. A screw hole 75c penetrating the main body 75 up and down is formed on the distal end side of the main body 75, and a stylus 77 is inserted so as to protrude downward from the lower side of the screw hole 75c. A thermocouple 79 for measurement is inserted. Screw holes 75d and 75e reaching the screw holes 75c are formed on the upper and lower sides of the front surface of the main body 75. The thermocouple 79 is fixed by the screw shaft 80 screwed into the screw holes 75d, and the screws screwed into the screw holes 75e. The shaft 81 prevents the stylus 77 from coming off. Since the stylus 77 can be extracted from the main body 75 by loosening the screw shaft 81, it can be replaced as necessary.

  The main body 75 of the thermal transfer head 73 is attached to a support piece 83 made of heat insulating material screwed onto the heat transfer head 73, and the support piece 83 is further attached from the bottom of the slide frame 53 provided on the back side of the attachment plate 46. It is attached to a connecting piece 84 extending in a tongue shape. With this structure, the thermal transfer head 73 can also move in the vertical direction in accordance with the movement of the slide frame 53 in the vertical direction, and at the same time, the stylus 77 can also move in the vertical direction.

  A rectangular ventilation port 70 for ventilation is formed on the lower front side of the front surface of the mounting plate 46 shown in FIG. 6. A ventilation path 85 is formed on the back side of the ventilation hole 70, and the ventilation path 85 It passes through the inside of the base board 47, extends in the lateral direction, and communicates with one side of the base board 47. A blower fan 86 that sends air to the ventilation path 85 is provided on one side of the base board 47. When air is blown from the blower fan 86 to the ventilation path 85, the blown air cools the cooling plate 71 and cools the thermal transfer head 73 and its surroundings, so that the thermal transfer head 73 can be cooled.

  What is shown by the code | symbol 87 in FIGS. 7-10 is a rotary encoder. Although not shown, the rotary encoder 87 is connected to an optical sensor that detects the ink ribbons 15 and 16 existing in the transport path R through a transmission hole provided in a part of the mounting plate 46. , 16 can be detected and abnormalities can be detected.

The marking device 1 configured as described above is used with the ribbon cassette 5 mounted on the front side of the mounting plate 46. A ribbon cassette 5 in which an unused ink ribbon 15 is wound around the supply reel 12 side of the ribbon cassette 5 is used.
When the ribbon cassette 5 is mounted on the front side of the mounting plate 46 as shown in FIG. 2, the drive shafts 62 and 63 can be inserted into the through holes 17 and 17 of the ribbon cassette 5, and the first guide portion 20 and the second guide portion. The thermal transfer head 73 can be inserted between the two.
In this state, the tip of the stylus 77 can be desired between the guide piece 20c of the first guide portion 20 and the guide piece 21c of the second guide portion 21, and the gap between the tip of the guide piece 20c and the tip of the guide piece 21c. The tip of the stylus 77 can be arranged slightly above the portion.
Moreover, the marking object 9 is installed below the front ends of the guide pieces 20c and 21c. The conventional marking type marking apparatus can be applied even to thin parts that may cause cracks.

Here, when a marking start signal is input from the external controller 8 to the positioning control unit 6, the positioning control unit 6 sends an xy positioning control signal to the drive mechanism 3.
When the pen mechanism 4 is positioned in the xy direction by the drive mechanism 3, the positioning control unit 6 sends a positioning completion signal to the transfer control unit 7.
The transfer control unit 7 sends a vertical control signal for the stylus 77 and further sends a winding signal for the ink ribbon 15. The heater 76 is constantly temperature-controlled by a temperature controller (not shown), and can heat the main body 75 to a target temperature and further heat the stylus 77 to a target temperature. Since the temperature at which the ink ribbon 15 accommodated in the ribbon cassette 5 can be thermally transferred is about 200 ° C., the heater 76 is energized and controlled so that the tip of the stylus 77 reaches the target temperature, and the temperature controller controls the temperature. Do.
Further, it is desirable to control the temperature so that the temperature of the main body 75 and the stylus 77 does not become too high by operating the blower fan 86 to send air from the ventilation path to the cooling plate 71 side. The temperature control of the main body 75 and the stylus 77 can be controlled by adjusting the energization amount to the heater 76 based on the temperature measurement result of the thermocouple 79.

  In response to the up / down movement signal of the stylus 77, the pen mechanism unit 4 sends an energization signal to the electromagnet 55 from a power supply (not shown), and moves the slide frame 53 downward along the guide rail 50 as described above with reference to FIG. Let By this operation, the stylus 53 also descends as the slide frame 53 descends. Therefore, when the tip of the stylus 77 is pressed against the ink ribbon 15 exposed between the guide pieces 20c and 21c, and the stylus 77 is further pushed down, the ink ribbon 15 is removed. It can be pressed against the surface of the marking object 9. Here, the pressing force applied to the marking object from the stylus 77 may be a pressing force of about 100 g.

FIG. 13 schematically shows this state, and the tip of the stylus 77 shown in FIG. 13A, which is adjusted to a temperature around 200 ° C., is pressed from above the ink ribbon 15 as shown in FIG. 13B. Then, a part of the ink ribbon 15 can be transferred to the surface of the marking object 9 as shown in FIG. By raising the slide frame 53 again and speaking the position of the tip of the stylus 77 from the ink ribbon 15, it is possible to proceed to the next thermal transfer operation.
The xy movable shaft 2 is moved to a desired position using the xy drive mechanism 3 to change the position of the stylus 77, and the ink ribbon 15 is slightly moved from the supply reel 12 side to the take-up reel 13 side. To prepare for the next thermal transfer operation.

If the stylus 77 is moved to another position on the marking object 9, if the same thermal transfer operation is performed sequentially in the order shown in FIGS. Dots can be transferred, and a plurality of dots can be transferred to transfer letters, numbers, symbols, and the like. Since the used area after the transfer on the ink ribbon 15 becomes the used ink ribbon 16, it can be gradually moved to the take-up reel 13 side.
Further, even if the marking object 9 is a three-dimensional object and the surface has irregularities or curved surfaces, the ink ribbon 15 is pulled out from the ribbon cassette 5 and exposed in a gap of several mm between the guide pieces 20c and 21c. Since the ink ribbon 15 is used, characters, numbers, symbols, etc. can be printed without any trouble even if the surface of the marking object 9 is uneven as long as the leading end side of the guide pieces 20c, 21c can be reached.

For this reason, even if it is the marking target object 9 as a three-dimensional thing with the surface unevenness which a general thermal transfer apparatus cannot print, a character, a number, a symbol, etc. can be printed without trouble. For example, not only mechanical parts such as pistons, connecting rods, and gears, but also resin gasoline tanks, other complicatedly shaped parts, and thin parts with the desired color without damaging the object. Letters, numbers and symbols can be printed.
In addition, since the ink ribbon 15 is capable of thermal transfer printing in various colors as well as gold, silver, white, and black, at present, letters, numbers, Symbols can be printed. For example, if silver or white letters, numbers, symbols, etc. can be printed on the surface of a black resin part, high-quality marking with extremely high contrast and high discrimination can be achieved.

As the transfer of the ink ribbon 15 is repeated, the ink ribbon 15 is sequentially sent to the take-up reel 13 as the used ink ribbon 16, and the thermal transfer is preferably performed while always supplying a new ink ribbon 15 to the tip of the stylus 77. .
Further, since the ribbon cassette 5 has a bilaterally symmetric structure as shown in FIG. 3, it can be used by being attached to the mounting plate 46 with the front side and the back side turned upside down. In this case, an unused area in the width direction of the ink ribbon 15 can be used by turning the cassette 5 upside down. When the ribbon cassette 5 is used upside down, the relationship between the take-up reel 13 and the supply reel 12 is reversed, so that the ink ribbon can be used while returning from the take-up reel 13 side to the supply reel 12 side. For this reason, the ink ribbon 15 mounted on the ribbon cassette 5 can be used without waste.

  d ... Gap, R ... Conveying path, S ... Space, 1 ... Marking device, 2 ... XY movable shaft, 3 ... XY drive mechanism, 4 ... Pen mechanism part, 5 ... Ribbon cassette, 6 ... Positioning control part , 7: Transfer controller, 8: External controller, 9: Marking object, 11: Cassette main body, 11a ... Front wall, 11b ... Back wall, 11c, 11d ... Side wall, 11e ... Ceiling wall, 11f ... Bottom wall, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 ... Supply reel, 13 ... Take-up reel, 15, 16 ... Ink ribbon, 20 ... 1st guide part, 21 ... 2nd guide part, 20a, 21a ... Base end piece, 20b, 21b ... Extension piece, 20c, 21c ... guide piece, 46 ... mounting plate, 48 ... linear drive mechanism (slide mechanism), 53 ... slide frame, 62, 63 ... drive shaft, 70 ... vent, 73 ... thermal transfer head, 77 ... stylus, 85 ... vent 86 ... A fan.

Claims (8)

A marking device comprising a supply reel and a take-up reel, in which an unused ink ribbon is wound around the supply reel, and a ribbon cassette configured to wind the used ink ribbon around the take-up reel is detachably mounted. And
The ribbon cassette has a first guide part for guiding the ink ribbon taken out from the supply reel to the outside of the ribbon cassette and a second guide part for guiding the ink ribbon to the inside of the ribbon cassette. A ribbon cassette in which a gap for spanning the ink ribbon is formed between the tip side of the first guide part and the tip side of the second guide part,
A mounting plate that detachably receives the ribbon cassette, a drive shaft on the supply reel side and a drive shaft on the take-up reel side that are formed so as to be rotatable from the mounting plate, and a ribbon cassette that is formed so as to protrude from the mounting plate. A thermal transfer head that is inserted between the first guide portion and the second guide portion during mounting, and is interposed between the mounting plate and the thermal transfer head to support the thermal transfer head so as to be movable, and to mount the ribbon cassette A slide mechanism that moves the thermal transfer head in a direction to approach and separate the ink ribbon that is sometimes sent between the first guide portion and the second guide portion;
A marking device, wherein the mounting plate is supported by an xy movable shaft so as to be movable in the X direction and the Y direction.   The thermal transfer head protrudes to the front side of the mounting plate, and a slide frame is supported on the back side of the mounting plate along a linear guide rail by a magnetic drive mechanism, and the thermal transfer head is supported on the slide frame. 2. The marking device according to claim 1, wherein the thermal transfer head is connected and movably supported in a direction to approach and separate from the ink ribbon.   A pin-type stylus is provided in the thermal transfer head, and an ink ribbon in which a tip portion of the stylus is positioned between the first guide portion and the second guide portion of the ribbon cassette is disposed between the first guide portion and the second guide portion. The marking device according to claim 2, wherein the marking device can be pushed out to the outside.   In the mounting plate, a ventilation port is formed in the vicinity of the portion where the first guide portion and the second guide portion of the ribbon cassette are arranged, and a blower fan for blowing air to the ventilation port is provided on the back side of the mounting plate. The marking device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein   The marking device according to claim 4, wherein a cooling plate extending adjacent to the thermal transfer head is provided at an opening of the ventilation port. A supply reel around which an ink ribbon is wound, a take-up reel for winding up the ink ribbon, and a cassette body that rotatably stores the supply reel and the take-up reel. A transport path for the ink ribbon is provided in a part of a region during winding the ink ribbon taken out from the supply reel on the take-up reel in the cassette main body, and A window portion for exposing the ink ribbon to the outside of the cassette main body portion is formed in part,
A first guide for guiding the ink ribbon to the outside of the cassette body on one side of the window, and a second guide for guiding the ink ribbon into the cassette body on the other side;
A ribbon cassette, wherein the ink ribbon is stretched between a leading end of the first guide portion and a leading end of the second guide portion.   The ribbon cassette according to claim 6, wherein a space in which a thermal transfer head can be inserted is provided between the first guide part and the second guide part.   A through hole for inserting the cap ribbon shaft for guiding the ink ribbon is formed in a part of the cassette main body near the area where the ink ribbon is pulled out from the supply reel. The ribbon cassette according to claim 6 or 7, wherein an insertion hole for passing a focus roller is formed in an adjacent portion of the through hole.

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