JP2509452B2 - Printer - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal transfer printing machine, and more particularly to a printing machine capable of multicolor printing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this type of printing machine, a printing machine disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2-71808 previously filed by the present applicant has been known. This printing machine includes a first film having a carbon (application) that can be separated by heat, and a second film arranged so as to be in contact with the first film,
The first film is printed by applying heat to the first film to thermally transfer the carbon to the second film and leave the carbon of the pattern to be printed on the first film (print pattern forming means). And a thermal transfer means for thermally transferring the printing pattern onto the printing symmetrical object by heating while pressing the object.

In the printing press constructed as described above,
There is an advantage that the print head can easily print different contents such as a barcode.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional printing press, when performing multicolor printing, a plurality of printing presses each having a different carbon color are prepared, and each printing press has its own color printer. I was doing color printing. For this reason, in multicolor printing, multiple printing presses are required, resulting in high equipment costs and longer printing times.
Further, since printing of each color is performed separately by each printing machine, there is a problem that color registration is difficult and color misregistration easily occurs.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object thereof is to reduce equipment cost and printing time in multicolor printing, and to perform color registration easily. Another object of the present invention is to provide a printing machine that does not cause color misregistration.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a plurality of first films each having a coating material which can be separated by heat and which are distinguished by the color of the coating material.
A second film capable of receiving the coating material from each of the first films by thermal transfer and delivering the applied coating material to the print target by thermal transfer again, and winding the second film. a platen roller for conveying turning, it said provided corresponding to each of the first film there around the platen roller, before these coating of each first film in accordance with a predetermined print pattern
A plurality of print pattern forming means for heat transfer to the second film on the serial platen roller, the second film
Move in the longitudinal direction and in the direction away from and in contact with this second film
And a heat transfer means for applying heat to the second film to transfer the coating material on the second film to the printing object.

Each of the first films may be configured to move together with the second film at the time of thermal transfer to the second film, and to stop at a time other than the time of thermal transfer to the second film. preferable.

[0008]

In the printer constructed as described above, the second film is conveyed by the platen roller. Then, the print pattern forming unit located on the upstream side of the platen roller thermally transfers the coating material of a specific color from the first film to the second film. As a result, the specific color portion of the print pattern to be formed is formed on the second film. further,
When the second film moves and the portion where the print pattern is to be formed reaches the position of the print pattern forming means on the downstream side,
The other color application is then thermally transferred from the other first film to the second film. In this manner, the coating materials of different colors are sequentially transferred from the first film on the downstream side to the second film by heat, and a multicolor printing pattern is formed on the second film. The print pattern thus formed is moved to the position of the print target by the movement of the second film, and is thermally transferred from the second film to the print target by the thermal transfer means. With the above, multicolor printing on the print target is completed.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

In FIG. 1, 110 is the first film black, 120 is the first film red, and 200 is the second film. The first film black 110 is obtained by providing carbon black C1 (coating material) for printing which is separable by heat on one surface of the film, and the first film red 120
Is a carbon red C2 (coating material) for printing that is separable by heat provided on one surface of the film. Also,
The second film 200 does not have the carbons C1 and C2, etc., and can accept the carbon black C1 or the carbon red C2 from the first film black 110 or the first film red 120 by thermal transfer. At the same time, it can be delivered to the corrugated board (print target) A by a thermal transfer roller (thermal transfer means) 400 described later.

The first film black 110 and the first film red 120 are accommodated in the printing machine in a state of being wound on a cartridge-like first unwind reel black 111 and first unwind reel red 121, respectively. ing. Then, the first film black 110 is drawn out with the carbon black C1 facing inward, and is guided around the platen roller 300 by the plurality of guide rollers 112 and the print head black (print pattern forming means) 113. The first take-up reel black 114 is wound up.

On the other hand, the first film red 120 is drawn out with the carbon red C2 facing inward, and is surrounded by the plurality of guide rollers 122 and print head red (print pattern forming means) 123 around the platen roller 300. The first take-up reel red 124 is guided and further wound up.

The second film 200 is accommodated in the printing machine in a state of being wound on the second unwind reel 210 in the shape of a cartridge. This second film 200
Is drawn out from the second unwinding reel 210, guided by a plurality of guide rollers 211 and idle feed rollers 212 so as to wind the platen roller 300 at a predetermined angle, and further printed by guide rollers 213 and 213. And is taken up by the second take-up reel 214.

The first unwinding reel black 111 and the first unwinding reel red 121 are respectively the first unwinding shaft black 115.
Also, it is detachably attached to the first unwinding shaft red 125. The unwinding shaft black 115 and the unwinding shaft red 125 generate a constant braking torque, and the braking torque causes a constant tension on the first film black 110 and the first film red 120, respectively. To give.

The first take-up reel black 114 and the first take-up reel red 124 are detachably attached to the first take-up motor 116 and the first take-up motor 126, respectively. A torque motor is used as the first winding motor 116 and the first winding motor 126, and the first film black 110 and the first film red 120 are wound with a constant tension. ing.

On the other hand, the second unwinding reel 210 is detachably attached to the second unwinding shaft 215. The second unwinding shaft 215 is adapted to generate a constant braking torque, and this braking torque causes the second film 200 to move.
It is designed to give a constant tension to. The idling roller 212 is operated when the second film 200 is idly fed, and moves the second film 200 at a high speed. The second take-up reel 214 is detachably attached to the second take-up motor 216.
The winding motor 216 is a torque motor and is configured to wind the second film 200 with a constant tension. The platen roller 300 is attached to the stepping motor 301 (see FIG. 2) and
The amount of movement of the film 200 can be controlled accurately.

Print head black 113 and print head red 12
3 has a large number of dot-shaped heating resistors, the print head black 113 is controlled by a black print controller (not shown), and the print head red 123 is provided.
Are controlled by a red print controller (not shown). The print head black 113 is located around the platen roller 300 as shown in FIG.
Is located on the upstream side of the film 200. The print head red 123 is located on the downstream side of the second film 200 around the platen roller 300. Each of the print heads 113 and 123 is adapted to be rotated by the spring 500 and the air cylinder 600 with the base end portion as a fulcrum, and the print portion on the front end side is brought into contact with and separated from the platen roller 300 by this rotation. ing.

The spring 500 draws the printing portion toward the platen roller 300, and presses the first film black 110 (or the first film red 120) against the second film 200 and the platen roller 300 with a constant force. Has become. Further, the air cylinder 600 separates the printing portion from the platen roller 300. The force of the spring 500 can be adjusted by the adjusting bolt 510.

In the case of this embodiment, the carbon black C1 and the carbon red C2, which are necessary for printing, are transferred to the second film 200. The print heads 113 and 123 rotate in a direction away from the platen roller 300 except during the thermal transfer so that the first films 110 and 120 do not move.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a thermal transfer roller (thermal transfer means) is provided between the print guide rollers 213 and 213.
400 is provided. This thermal transfer roller 400 is
Along the longitudinal direction of the second film 200, it moves from the platen roller 300 side to the second take-up reel 214 side, and also moves in the direction in which it comes in contact with and separates from the second film 200. The second film 200 is moved along the longitudinal direction of the second film 200 while pressing the second film 200 against the corrugated cardboard A.
The carbons C1 and C2 on No. 00 are thermally transferred to the corrugated paperboard A.

Further, the thermal transfer roller 400 has a peripheral surface portion formed of a soft layer having a hardness of about 30, and the second film 200 can be brought into close contact with an uneven printed surface such as the corrugated board A. It is like this.
That is, it is possible to reliably print on a curved surface or a surface having irregularities. Also, cardboard A
Is formed in a flat plate shape, and is automatically carried to a printing position between the printing guide rollers 213 and 213 by a conveyor, for example.

Next, the operation of the printing machine configured as described above will be described.

When printing is started, a command signal of a predetermined print pattern is output from a printing press control unit (not shown) to the black print control unit and the red print control unit. Then, first, the print head black 113 on the upstream side of the platen roller 300 moves to the platen roller 300 side and presses the first film black 110 against the second film 200, and the heating resistor in the portion corresponding to black is generated. Fever. At this time, the platen roller 300 is accurately rotated by the stepping motor 301 to accurately move the second film 200 to a position where black should be printed. As a result, the portion of carbon black C1 corresponding to black is thermally transferred from the first film black 110 to the second film 200. When the portion of the print pattern corresponding to black is formed in this way, the print head black 1
13 separates from the second film 200 and the movement of the first film black 110 stops.

Subsequently, the platen roller 300 is used to
When the film 200 of No. 2 moves and the position where red should be printed in the print pattern reaches the position of the print head 123, the print head Red 123 moves to the platen roller 300 side this time, and the first film Red 120 is transferred. Second film 20
Press on 0. Then, the heating resistor of the portion corresponding to red in the print pattern generates heat, and the platen roller 300 moves the first film red 120 and the second film 200 accurately. As a result, the carbon red C2 in the portion corresponding to red is accurately thermally transferred from the first film red 120 to the second film 200. When the portion of the print pattern corresponding to red is formed in this manner, the print head red 123 separates from the second film 200.

When the black and red print pattern is formed on the second film 200 as described above, the platen roller 300 again moves the second film 200 to the corrugated board A side, and the print pattern is printed. Stop exactly at the print position.

Then, the heated thermal transfer roller 400 moves to the side of the second film 200 and moves to the second film 200 side.
The film 200 is pressed against the corrugated cardboard A, and further moved from the platen roller 300 side to the second take-up reel 214 side. At this time, the print pattern on the second film 200 is thermally transferred to the corrugated board A by the heat of the thermal transfer roller 400. After the thermal transfer, the thermal transfer roller 4
00 separates from the second film 200, which separates the second film 200 from the cardboard A. And
The thermal transfer roller 400 returns to the original position on the platen roller 300 side, the second film 200 is conveyed by the idle feed roller 212, and the second film 200 is wound on the second take-up reel 214 by a predetermined amount. .

When printing on the corrugated board A is completed in this way, the printed corrugated board A is carried away by the belt conveyor, and then a new corrugated board A is carried to the printing position. Further, during this time, the above-described print pattern is formed, and the print pattern moves to the print position. Then, printing is performed on the corrugated board A in the same manner as described above.

According to the printing machine configured as described above,
Since the print head black 113 and the print head red 123 are provided around one platen roller 300, the portion printed by the print head black 113 can be accurately moved to the position of the print head red 123, and the color misregistration occurs. It has a remarkable effect that it is unlikely to occur. Moreover, since there is only one platen roller 300, there are advantages that it is easy to control and space is saved. In addition, print head black 1
13 and the print head 123 are close to each other,
The distance between the transfer of black and the transfer of red is short, and the amount of wasteful movement of the second film 200 is reduced.

Furthermore, since a single printing machine can perform multicolor printing, the facility cost can be reduced, the printing time can be shortened, and the color registration can be performed completely. There is an advantage that it is not necessary. Also, each of the first films 110 and 120 to the second film 20
Except when thermal transfer to 0, each print head 113, 123
Is separated from the platen roller 300, and the first films 110 and 120 do not move, so that the film having carbon can be saved.

In each of the above embodiments, the first film was composed of two systems, black and red, but more first films and print heads were added, and three films were added.
One or more print heads may be arranged around one platen roller 300. Further, a plurality of platen rollers may be provided, and a plurality of print heads may be arranged around each platen roller.

Although the flat corrugated cardboard A is shown as the printing object, it goes without saying that it may be a corrugated cardboard formed in a box shape or may be made of wood, iron or other material. . Moreover, the surface to be printed is not limited to a flat surface, and may have a curved surface such as the peripheral surface of a can.

Further, the thermal transfer roller 400 is configured to move only in one direction.
The heat transfer may be performed by alternately changing the moving direction for each printing.

[0033]

According to the present invention, since a plurality of printing pattern forming means are provided around the platen roller, the positional deviation of the coating material thermally transferred from each first film to the second film is unlikely to occur. It has a remarkable effect that it is possible to perform beautiful printing without color misregistration. Moreover, since only one platen roller is required, there are advantages that control is easy and space is saved.

Furthermore, since one printer can perform multicolor printing at one time, the facility cost can be reduced and the printing time can be shortened.
Moreover, there is an advantage that no color alignment is required.
Further, the thermal transfer means moves along the longitudinal direction of the second film while pressing the second film against the print target, and transfers the coating material on the second film to the print target by thermal transfer. It is possible to print on a surface to be printed that has irregularities such as corrugated board, and it is possible to apply box-shaped corrugated board, wood, iron or other material as the printing target, It is also possible to apply it to a curved surface to be printed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a printing machine shown as an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part of the printing machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 110 First Film (First Film Black) 113 Print Pattern Forming Means (Print Head Black) 120 First Film (First Film Red) 123 Print Pattern Forming Means (Print Head Red) 200 Second Film 300 Platen roller 400 Thermal transfer means (thermal transfer roller) A Print target (cardboard) C1 carbon black C2 carbon red

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of first films having a coating material that can be separated by heat and distinguished by the color of the coating material, and receiving the coating material from each of these first films by thermal transfer, A second film capable of transferring each received coating material to a printing object by thermal transfer again, a platen roller that winds and conveys the second film, and a platen roller around the platen roller. provided corresponding to the first film, and a plurality of print pattern forming means for heat transfer to said second film on said platen roller these coating of each first film in accordance with a predetermined print pattern, the second 2 film longitudinal direction and
And a thermal transfer unit that is movable in a direction in which the second film is separated from and brought into contact with the second film, and applies heat to the second film to transfer the coating material on the second film to the printing object. Printing machine. 2. Each first film moves with the second film during thermal transfer to the second film, and the second film
2. The printing machine according to claim 1, wherein the printing machine is stopped except when the heat transfer to the film is performed.