JP2019209503A - Thermal transfer printer - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a thermal transfer printer that solves trouble arising in cutting a margin part of a sheet.SOLUTION: There is provided a thermal transfer printer 1 that comprises: a conveying mechanism 13 which conveys a long-sized sheet 2; a printing mechanism 15 which transfers ink to a surface of the conveyed sheet 2 to print on the sheet 2; and a cutting mechanism 17 which cuts the sheet 2 after printing in a width direction. In panoramic printing in which one image is divided into a plurality of regions along a conveyance direction of the sheet 2, and the plurality of regions are printed one after another along the conveyance direction, the conveying mechanism 13 conveys the sheet 2 to a position corresponding to the cutting mechanism 17 at a point of time before printing of the one image is completed, and the cutting mechanism 17 cuts a margin part B formed on the sheet 2 ahead based upon the printing order of the plurality of regions.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a thermal transfer printer capable of performing panoramic printing.

  According to the description in Patent Document 1, panorama printing in a thermal transfer printer is a size larger than each color ink area of an ink ribbon by printing the next image without cutting the paper after printing one image. Is to realize the printing.

  Thermal transfer printers use long ink ribbons in which yellow, magenta, and cyan ink regions and transparent overcoat regions for protecting the printing surface are regularly arranged in the longitudinal direction (for example, (See FIG. 12 of Patent Document 1). For this reason, the area of one image that can be printed on the sheet (paper) to be printed is limited by the area of each color region. When panorama printing is performed for continuous printing, it is possible to print a panoramic image having a larger dimension in the longitudinal direction of the sheet than the area of each color region.

  As a technique for performing the panoramic printing, for example, in Patent Document 2, two images are printed in succession, and then a sheet (paper) is cut at front and rear cutting positions in the conveyance direction of the printing area. Has been described. Incidentally, in the case of a thermal transfer printer, a blank portion is always generated in front of the print area in the conveyance direction, and it is essential to cut the sheet in order to remove this blank portion.

JP, 2006-182783, A (0002 paragraph) Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2004-082610 (paragraph 0017, FIG. 2B)

  Here, conventionally, the sheet cutting of the margin portion has been performed after the printing of a desired image is completed. For this reason, when printing a plurality of images constituting a panoramic image in order to cut the margin part, the longitudinal dimension of the plurality of images (2 if the panorama image is composed of two consecutive images). It was necessary to pull back the sheet into the printer by an amount corresponding to the image, or three images in the case of three consecutive images.

  When pulling back a sheet for a plurality of images in this way, the sheet loosens inside the printer, so that dust or the like adheres to the printing surface of the sheet, resulting in a decrease in print quality, or a printing time corresponding to the amount of pulling back. There was an inconvenience that became longer.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a thermal transfer printer that has improved the inconvenience associated with cutting a blank portion of a sheet.

  The present invention includes a conveyance mechanism that conveys a long sheet, a printing mechanism that performs printing on the sheet by transferring ink contained in an ink ribbon to the surface of the sheet conveyed by the conveyance mechanism, A cutting mechanism that cuts the sheet in a printed state in the width direction, and one image is divided into a plurality of regions along the conveyance direction of the sheet, and each of the plurality of regions is At the time of panoramic printing in which printing is sequentially performed along the conveyance direction, before the printing of the one image is completed, the conveyance mechanism conveys the sheet to a position corresponding to the cutting mechanism, and the cutting mechanism Is a thermal transfer printer that cuts a blank portion generated in front of the sheet on the basis of the printing order of the plurality of regions.

  According to this configuration, the slack generated in the sheet can be reduced as compared with the case where the conveyance mechanism conveys the sheet to the position of the cutting mechanism in order to cut the blank portion after the printing of all the plurality of regions is completed.

  And the said conveyance mechanism can convey the said sheet | seat to the position according to the said cutting mechanism immediately after the completion of the printing of the said area | region printed among the said several area | regions first.

  According to this configuration, the length of the sheet conveyed by the conveyance mechanism for cutting the blank portion can be suppressed to a size corresponding to one image during normal printing that is not panoramic printing.

  The printing mechanism includes a print head that heats the ink ribbon, and the print head conveys the sheet to a position corresponding to the cutting mechanism, and cuts the blank portion to perform the next. Heat can be kept until printing is started.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to reduce the difference in print quality between adjacent regions among the plurality of regions.

  Since the present invention can reduce the slack generated in the sheet, it can improve the inconvenience associated with cutting the blank portion of the sheet.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a thermal transfer printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a top view which shows the relationship between the printing range and blank part in the sheet | seat used with the said sheet | seat thermal transfer printer. It is explanatory drawing (the 1) which shows an example of the process of the conventional panorama printing. It is explanatory drawing (the 2) which shows an example of the process of the conventional panorama printing. It is explanatory drawing (the 3) which shows an example of the process of the conventional panorama printing. It is explanatory drawing (the 1) which shows the process of the panorama printing which concerns on this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing (the 2) which shows the process of the panorama printing which concerns on this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing (the 3) which shows the process of the panorama printing which concerns on this embodiment. It is the schematic which shows the relationship between the sheet feeding of the thermal transfer printer which concerns on this embodiment, and the temperature change of a thermal head.

  The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings by taking one embodiment. The configuration of a thermal transfer printer (hereinafter simply referred to as “printer”) according to the present embodiment is schematically shown in FIG. In the following description, “front end” refers to an end portion of the printer 1 that is away from the casing 11, and “rear end” refers to an end portion of the printer 1 that is closer to the casing 11. “Draw out” and “retract” refer to operations based on a sheet supply unit 12 (described later) provided in the printer 1. The pull-out direction is the direction indicated by reference numeral Mo in FIG. 1, and the pull-back direction is the direction indicated by reference numeral Mi in FIG.

  Since the configuration of the thermal transfer printer is known, it will be briefly described below. The printer 1 according to the present embodiment is a sublimation printer (an example is not limited thereto), and as illustrated in FIG. 1, a sheet supply unit 12 and a sheet as a conveyance mechanism are mainly provided in a housing 11. A transport unit 13, an ink ribbon transport unit 14, a thermal head 15 as a print head that is a part of a printing mechanism and performs thermal transfer, a platen roller 16, a sheet cutter 17 as a cutting mechanism, a sheet detection sensor 18, and a control unit (illustrated) Not).

  The sheet supply unit 12 is a portion that holds a long sheet (also referred to as “paper”) 2 wound in a roll shape so that it can be pulled out. The sheet conveyance unit 13 is a part for discharging the sheet 2 supplied from the sheet supply unit 12 to the outside of the housing 11 through the printing execution position, and is configured by a plurality of rollers as illustrated. The ink ribbon transport unit 14 is a part that supplies, transports, and collects the ink ribbon 3 so as to face the sheet 2 at the printing execution position. In the ink ribbon 3, as in the prior art, each color ink region to which yellow, magenta, and cyan inks are applied and an overcoat region are regularly arranged in the longitudinal direction. The combination of the areas is not limited to this, and ink areas of other colors can be further provided. As shown in the drawing, the ink ribbon 3 is wound into a roll.

  The thermal head 15 has a built-in heater, and is a part that sublimates the ink of the ink ribbon 3 by heating the heater and adheres it to the surface of the sheet 2. The platen roller 16 is a roller for keeping the sheet 2 at a certain distance from the thermal head 15 at the printing execution position. The sheet cutter 17 is a blade for cutting the sheet 2 in the width direction (direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction). The sheet detection sensor 18 is a sensor for detecting the position of the sheet 2 being conveyed by the sheet conveyance unit 13. Actually, the position of the sheet 2 is also detected by signals acquired from sensors other than the sheet detection sensor 18, a motor provided in the sheet supply unit 12, and a motor provided in the ink ribbon transport unit 14. Similarly to the sheet 2, when printing (transfer of ink from the ink ribbon 3 to the sheet 2) is also performed in the ink ribbon transport unit 14, a sensor (not shown) provided in the ink ribbon transport unit 14 is used for the ink ribbon 3. The position of is detected. The control unit is a part that controls the operation of each unit in the printer 1.

  A space 1S for receiving slack generated in the sheet 2 when the sheet 2 is pulled back, as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. Is provided. It is not essential to provide the space 1S in the printer 1. For example, when a mechanism for reversing the sheet supply unit 12 when the sheet 2 is pulled back is provided in the housing 11 (for the purpose of absorbing the slack of the sheet 2). It is also possible not to provide the space 1S.

  In the printer 1 of this embodiment, the sheet conveying unit 13 performs printing of each color within the range of each ink region of the ink ribbon 3 while moving the sheet 2 in the pull-in direction. When the printing of each color is completed, the sheet conveying unit 13 moves the sheet 2 in the pulling direction, and the sheet 2 is cut at the rear end of the printed range. Here, since the sheet 2 is printed while being supported by the sheet conveying unit 13, a blank portion B that is not printed always occurs on the front end side of the sheet 2. Specifically, a margin B corresponding to the distance between the thermal head 15 and the sheet detection sensor 18 is generated in relation to detecting the sheet position (this is an example of the configuration of the printer 1 of the present embodiment, and The relationship between the margin B and the distance between the printer internal mechanism varies depending on the model). This blank portion B is also cut before the discharge of the sheet 2 is completed. By the way, the “margin” is not limited to the “white part” that is not necessarily printed at all. For example, it is a colored area that was printed in the previous printing operation, and it can be printed next time by cutting. The area left at the top of the sheet 2 to be used may be included in the blank portion.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a panoramic image P that is one image printed by the printer 1 of the present embodiment is divided into a plurality of regions along the conveyance direction (longitudinal direction) of the sheet 2 and is adjacent to each other. It is composed of a first screen area P1, a second screen area P2, and a third screen area P3. “First screen” to “third screen” are names based on the print order. At the time of panorama printing, each of the plurality of areas P1, P2, and P3 is sequentially printed along the transport direction. Each region P1, P2, P3 is overcoated with each color printed while the sheet 2 is conveyed in the pull back direction Mi (see FIGS. 6 to 8). However, the conveyance direction of the sheet 2 during printing is not limited to this.

  Next, prior to the description of the present embodiment, an example of a conventional panoramic printing process will be described with reference to FIGS. First, as shown in FIG. 3, while conveying the sheet 2 in the pull-out direction and the pull-back direction (both arrows are shown), yellow (shown as “Y”), magenta (shown as “M”), cyan (“ C ”) is sequentially deposited on the first screen area P1 of the sheet 2. Then, an overcoat resin ("OP" shown) is attached to the first screen area P1 of the sheet 2. Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the ink of each color and the overcoat resin are sequentially attached to the second screen area P <b> 2 of the sheet 2. Next, as shown in FIG. 5, each color ink and overcoat resin are sequentially attached to the third screen area P <b> 3 of the sheet 2.

  Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 5, after the printing of the third screen area P3 (until the overcoat resin is attached), as shown in FIG. 5, the margin portion B (shown as “margin”) The sheet 2 is pulled back until the boundary with the first screen area P1 coincides with the sheet cutter 17 (shown as “cutter”). At this time, it is pulled back beyond the distance of one screen. Then, the blank portion B is cut (shown as “pre-cut”). Thereafter, the sheet 2 is pulled out by a distance of three screens, and the sheet 2 is cut at the rear end of the third screen area P3 (shown as “post-cut”). Then, the sheet 2 on which panorama printing has been completed is discharged out of the housing 11. Thereafter, the sheet 2 is pulled back to the position where the next printing is started (shown as “cue” and “standby”), and the processing is completed.

  As described above, in the conventional panorama printing process, the thermal head 15 (shown as “head”) and the sheet cutter 17 (shown as “head” in the example shown in FIG. 1 correspond to the longitudinal dimension of a plurality of images. Depending on the distance between “cutter” and the figure), the sheet 2 needs to be pulled back into the housing 11.

  Next, panorama printing processing according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In the present embodiment, at the time of panorama printing, before the printing of one panoramic image P is completed, the sheet conveying unit 13 conveys the sheet 2 to a position corresponding to the sheet cutter 17, and the sheet cutter 17 is moved to the sheet 2. The margin part B generated in front of the plurality of regions (first screen region P1 to third screen region P3) as a reference is cut. In order, as shown in FIG. 6, first, yellow, magenta, and cyan inks are sequentially attached to the first screen area P <b> 1 of the sheet 2 while the sheet 2 is conveyed in the pulling direction and the pulling back direction. Then, the overcoat resin is attached to the first screen area P1 of the sheet 2. The processing of the first screen area P1 is the same as the conventional example.

  In this embodiment, after the printing of the first screen area P1 is completed as shown in FIG. 6, until the boundary between the margin B and the first screen area P1 coincides with the sheet cutter 17, as shown in FIG. The sheet 2 is conveyed. In the present embodiment, when printing (overcoat) of the first screen area P1 is completed, the boundary between the margin B and the first screen area P1 coincides with the thermal head 15 as shown in FIG. The sheet 2 is pulled out by the distance between the thermal head 15 and the sheet cutter 17. And the margin part B is cut | disconnected. Thus, in this embodiment, in order to cut the blank portion B, the boundary in the sheet 2 may be simply moved forward. The conveyance distance of the sheet 2 intended to cut the blank portion B is less than one screen in the illustrated distance relationship, and is smaller (shorter) than the conventional example.

  Next, the sheet 2 is pulled out so that the rear end of the second screen area P <b> 2 coincides with the thermal head 15. Then, as shown in FIG. 7, each color ink and overcoat resin are sequentially attached to the second screen area P <b> 2 of the sheet 2. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 8, the ink of each color and the overcoat resin are sequentially attached to the third screen area P <b> 3 of the sheet 2.

  In the present embodiment, after the printing of the third screen area P3 is completed, the sheet 2 is pulled out as shown in FIG. 8, and the sheet 2 is cut at the rear end of the third screen area P3. Then, the sheet 2 on which panorama printing has been completed is discharged out of the housing 11. Thereafter, the sheet 2 is pulled back to a position where the next printing is started. Thereafter, the sheet 2 is pulled back to the position where the next printing is started, and the process is completed.

  As described above, according to the panorama printing process (printing method) according to the present embodiment, the sheet is printed so as to cut the blank portion B after all the printing of the plurality of regions P1, P2, and P3 is completed as in the related art. Compared with the case where the conveyance unit 13 conveys the sheet 2 to the position of the sheet cutter 17, the conveyance length is reduced (shortened), so that the slack generated in the sheet 2 can be reduced. Therefore, with the occurrence of slackness, inconveniences such as adhesion of dust or the like to the printing surface of the sheet 2 cause the printing quality to deteriorate or the printing time becomes longer by the amount of pulling back in this embodiment. Absent. As described above, for example, when a mechanism for reversing the sheet supply unit 12 when the sheet 2 is pulled back is provided, the space 1S may not be provided in the housing 11, but even in this case, once In the case where the sheet 2 drawn out of the housing 11 is pulled back, the print quality may be deteriorated due to adhesion of dust or the like, and the printing time may be lengthened similarly. It has sex.

  In this embodiment, since the sheet 2 is conveyed after the printing of the first-screen area P1 is completed, it is possible to prevent the conveyance length from exceeding one screen. For this reason, the length of the sheet 2 conveyed by the sheet conveying unit 13 for cutting the blank portion B can be suppressed to a size corresponding to one image during normal printing that is not panoramic printing. For this reason, even if the printer 1 does not have a sufficient margin in the space 1S, the slackness of the sheet 2 can be absorbed in the space 1S, so that the retracted sheet 2 comes into contact with the inner surface of the housing 11. Hard to occur. Further, in a printer that cannot perform panorama printing because of its structure, it can be changed so that panorama printing can be performed only by replacing the control program.

  In the present embodiment, printing of an image printed with each boundary between the first screen area P1 and the second screen area P2 and the second screen area P2 and the third screen area P3 is performed. In order not to make a difference in quality (image quality), both the screens are partially overlapped with each boundary, and control is performed to adjust ink adhesion for the overlapping portions. Since the control for adjusting the print quality at the screen boundary in this manner is known, no specific description will be given here.

  However, in the present embodiment, the margin B is cut after the first screen area P1 is printed, so there is time between the completion of printing of the first screen area P1 and the start of printing of the second screen area P2. Therefore, a time lag occurs compared to the conventional example. If the thermal head 15 cools down during this time lag, there will be a difference in the image quality of the images printed in the first screen area P1 and the second screen area P2. As a countermeasure against this, in the present embodiment, the temperature of the thermal head 15 is adjusted. Specifically, after the printing of the first screen area P1 is completed, the thermal head 15 is transported to a position corresponding to the sheet cutter 17, and after the margin portion B is cut, the next printing (printing of the second screen area P2) is performed. ) Is started as shown in the graph of FIG.

  By keeping the thermal head 15 warm in this way, the difference in print quality between adjacent regions among the plurality of regions in the panoramic image P can be reduced.

  As mentioned above, although one embodiment was taken up and explained about the present invention, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and various changes are possible in the range which does not deviate from the gist of the present invention.

  For example, the printer 1 according to the embodiment is configured such that the sheet supply unit 12 is provided in the housing 11 and the sheet 2 in a state where a series of printing operations is completed is taken out of the housing 11. However, when the printer 1 of the present invention is provided, for example, in a part of an apparatus that performs various processing on the sheet 2, only a part of the constituent members may be provided in the casing 11, or the casing 1 may be provided. The body 11 itself may not be provided.

  Further, the sheet 2 as the printing object is not limited to paper, and may be a sheet made of various materials.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Thermal transfer printer 11 Housing | casing 12 Sheet supply part 13 Conveyance mechanism, sheet conveyance part 14 Ribbon conveyance part 15 Printing mechanism, print head, thermal head 16 Platen roller 17 Cutting mechanism, sheet cutter 1S Space 2 Sheet 3 Ink ribbon B Blank part P Panorama image P1 Panorama image first screen area P2 Panorama image second screen area P3 Panorama image third screen area

Claims (3)

A transport mechanism for transporting long sheets;
A printing mechanism for printing on the sheet by transferring ink contained in an ink ribbon to the surface of the sheet conveyed by the conveyance mechanism;
A cutting mechanism for cutting the sheet in the printed state in the width direction,
At the time of panorama printing in which one image is divided into a plurality of areas along the conveyance direction of the sheet, and each of the plurality of areas is sequentially printed along the conveyance direction,
At a time before the printing of the one image is completed, the transport mechanism transports the sheet to a position corresponding to the cutting mechanism,
The thermal transfer printer in which the cutting mechanism cuts a blank portion generated in front of the sheet on the basis of the printing order of the plurality of regions.   The thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, wherein the transport mechanism transports the sheet to a position corresponding to the cutting mechanism immediately after completion of printing of the first area to be printed among the plurality of areas. The printing mechanism includes a print head for heating the ink ribbon,
2. The print head is kept warm until the transport mechanism transports the sheet to a position corresponding to the cutting mechanism and the next printing is started after the margin portion is cut. 2. The thermal transfer printer according to 2.

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