JP2511530B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial field of application> The present invention relates to a printing method for synthesizing and recording special information such as characters not included in an original image on a transfer paper on which a transfer image corresponding to the original image is formed. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having a device.

<Prior Art> In some cases, it is necessary to write down the date of copying, the person who copied the image, other notes, etc. on a sheet of paper on which an image has been copied by an image forming apparatus, such as a copying machine.

In such a case, since the work of creating the above-mentioned memo writing by handwriting or stamping is troublesome, there is known an image forming apparatus that automatically performs the work internally.

In the above image forming apparatus, a printing device is provided inside. In this printing device, an ink ribbon cassette containing an ink ribbon and a thermal head are attached to a casing, and the thermal head is pressed against the paper passing through the platen roller via the ink ribbon to print characters or the like. To do.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> However, in the above-described image forming apparatus, when the ink ribbon is used, a hand is inserted through a through hole provided in one side plate and positioned at the center between the pair of side plates. The ink ribbon cassette has been replaced by sliding the casing along the axial direction of the platen roller and pulling it out from the through hole.

Therefore, in the above-described image forming apparatus, there is a problem that the replacement cannot be easily performed because the user has to put his / her hand into the narrow through hole for the work.

Further, since the ink ribbon cassette attached to the casing and the thermal head are in close proximity to each other, it is more difficult to replace the ink ribbon cassette. Similarly, there is a problem that it is difficult to remove jam around the printing device.

In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus that can easily replace an ink ribbon cassette and perform a jam process.

<Means for Solving the Problems> In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a printing device that prints characters and the like on a paper on which an image is fixed by pressing a thermal head via an ink ribbon of an ink ribbon cassette. In the image forming apparatus provided with the printing apparatus, the ink ribbon cassette is detachably mounted,
In addition, the thermal head is supported by the casing that is rotatable between the set position for printing and the open position where the ink ribbon cassette can be taken out from the paper discharge side of the image forming apparatus main body, and the thermal head is pressed against the ink ribbon. Between the recording position and the retracted position where the thermal head is retracted so that the ink ribbon cassette can be taken out of the main body of the image forming apparatus, a support member rotatable around an axis parallel to the central axis of rotation of the casing, and the casing And a supporting member operating means for rotating the supporting member to the retracted position in association with the rotating operation to the open position.

<Operation> According to the above configuration, when the casing is rotated to the open position, the supporting member operating means is interlocked with this rotating operation.
By rotating the support member supporting the thermal head to the retracted position, the ink ribbon cassette can be easily taken out from the image forming apparatus main body.

<Example> Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view showing a copying machine as an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 6, this copying machine has an electrostatic latent image corresponding to an original image in a housing 1 as a main body of the copying machine. An optical system 11 for forming an image on a photoconductor 12a, and an image processing unit 12 for developing the electrostatic latent image into a toner image and transferring it onto a copy sheet.
And an image processing unit 12, a fixing device 17 for heating and fixing an image on a copy paper, a printing device 2, and a punching device 18 for the paper sent from the manual paper feeding unit 14, the paper feeding cassette 15a or the paper feeding cassette 15b. It has a paper transport unit 13 for sequentially discharging the paper and discharging it onto a discharge tray 19.

With reference to FIG. 2, the punching device 18 is arranged between the printing device 2 and the side surface 1 a of the housing 1, and
The punch blade 18a is pushed into the trailing edge side of the sheet that has passed through to form a plurality of punch holes for binding in the sheet. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the punching device 18 is pivoted outwardly of the housing 1 about a shaft 18b at the lower end so that the printer 2 can be maintained.

Referring to FIG. 4, the printing device 2 includes a casing 3,
An ink ribbon cassette 4 detachably attached to the casing 3 and containing a belt-shaped ink ribbon 41 described later, and a support member 6 rotatably attached to the casing 3 and supporting a thermal head 5 are provided. There is.

The casing 3 includes a box body 31 having an open upper surface and this box body.
It is composed of side plates 32a and 32b fixed to both ends of 31, respectively. The side plates 32a, 32b have a substantially triangular shape, and are directly or indirectly attached to the copying machine main body 1 by a support shaft 34 at the lower end. As shown in FIG. 1, the casing 3 is rotatable about a support shaft 34 between a set position A and an open position B where the ink ribbon cassette 4 can be taken out from the side end of the housing 1. is there.

The ink ribbon cassette 4 includes an ink ribbon 41 and a body.
The ink ribbon 41 is composed of a feed reel 43 and a take-up reel 44 which are mounted parallel to the body 42, and the take-up reel 44 takes up the ink ribbon 41 fed from the feed reel 43. Below the printed portion 41a, the body 42 has an opening 42b, and the box body 3 of the casing 3 is provided.
The bottom plate 31a of No. 1 has an opening 33. Printed part 41a above
Can project below the casing 3 through the opening 42b and the opening 33, and can contact the sheet on the platen roller 90.

In the box body 31 of the casing 3, the ink ribbon cassette 4 described above, a drive device 7 that drives the take-up reel 44 of the ink ribbon cassette 4 to wind the ink ribbon 41, and the casing 3 of the ink ribbon cassette 4 are provided. A lock member 9 for holding the attached state is provided.

The drive device 7 includes a motor 71 and a torque limiter mechanism 72 that transmits the driving force of the motor 71 to the take-up reel 44. Ink ribbon cassette 4 is casing 3
In the state where the torque limiter mechanism 72 is attached, the connecting shaft 73 at the end of the torque limiter mechanism 72 is inserted into and engaged with the winding reel 44.

As shown in FIG. 7, the lock member 9 includes a shaft 91 and an inverted L-shaped member 92 that is rotatable about the shaft 91.
The end portion 92a of the inverted L-shaped member 92 is brought into contact with the one end portion 42a of the body 42 of the ink ribbon cassette 4 to keep the ink ribbon cassette 4 mounted at a predetermined position and prevent the drop.

Referring to FIG. 7, the ink ribbon cassette 4 is removed from the casing 3 by rotating the inverted L-shaped member 92 counterclockwise (indicated by a chain double-dashed line in the figure) to the right of the ink ribbon cassette 4. After opening a space in, move the ink ribbon cassette 4 to the right (indicated by a double-dashed chain line in the figure),
The engagement between the connecting shaft 73 and the take-up reel 44 is released, and in this state, the ink ribbon cassette 4 is taken out upward. The attachment of the ink ribbon cassette 4 to the casing 3 is performed by the reverse operation of the removal.

The thermal head 5 energizes a plurality of minute resistors to generate heat, and forms a print pattern on a sheet.

In the support member 6, the end portions 61a and 61b have side plates 32a and 32b.
The support shaft 61 is rotatably attached to the support shaft 61, and the lower end portion 62b is fixed to the center portion 61c of the support shaft 61, and the thermal head 5 is attached to the upper portion 62a. The supporting member 6 is a recording position C where the thermal head 5 is pressed against the ink ribbon 41 (see FIG. 3).
And a retracted position D where the thermal head 5 is retracted so that the ink ribbon cassette 4 can be taken out of the housing 1.

Further, the support member 6 can be moved from the recording position C to the release position E slightly closer to the retracted position D side than the recording position C. This is because the ink ribbon 41 is attached to the paper and its passage heated to a relatively high temperature by the fixing position 17.
, The ink ribbon 41 deteriorates. Therefore, the support means 6 is moved to the release position E, the thermal head 5 is retracted, and the ink ribbon 41 approaches the passage or the like. This is to prevent the above deterioration by canceling the state.

The support member 6 is rotated from the release position E to the retreat position D by the action of the support member operating means 8 described later, in conjunction with the rotation operation of the casing 3 from the set position A to the open position B. Further, the support member operating means 8 is operated to move the support member 6 to the recording position C and the release position E.

The support member operating means 8 is composed of a shaft 81, a biasing roller 82, a biasing spring 83, a leaf spring 84, a guide member 85, and a tension spring 88.

Both ends of the shaft 81 are directly or indirectly supported by the assembly side plates 1c in the housing 1. Biased roller 82
Has one end 81a of the shaft 81 penetrating the elongated hole 82a, and the biasing spring 83 is disposed in the elongated hole 82a. The action of the biasing spring 83 causes the biasing roller 82 to rotate with respect to the rotation of the shaft 81.
Is biased and rotates.

One end portion 84a of the leaf spring 84 is attached to the end portion 61b of the support shaft 61, and the other end portion 84b extends in the radial direction of the support shaft 61 and contacts the bottom plate 31a of the casing 3 to press the casing 3.
The leaf spring 84 urges the shaft 61 to rotate so that the thermal head 5 can smoothly move from the recording position C to the releasing position E by the reaction force against this pressing.

The guide member 85 has a leaf spring 86 having one end portion 86a attached to the end portion 61b of the support shaft 61 and the other end portion 86b extending in the radial direction of the support shaft 61 and capable of being pressed against the biasing roller 82, and the leaf spring 86. It comprises a shaft 87 extending from the other end portion 86b of the shaft 86 in a direction parallel to the support shaft 61, and a roller 87b rotatably provided at the end portion 87a of the shaft 87. When the casing 3 is opened, the roller 87b engages with the concave guide plate 1b of the assembly side plate 1c in the housing 1 and moves along the guide plate 1b.

The tension spring 88 is disposed between the plate 62 and the casing 17a of the fixing device 17, and keeps the plate 62 in the casing 17a.
Pull in the direction close to.

Next, the operation of the support member operating means 8 for moving the support member 6 to the recording position C and the retracted position D will be described. In the state where printing is not performed, the biasing spring 83 is located at the upper right force of the shaft 81 as shown in FIG. 2, and the pressing force is not applied between the biasing roller 82 and the leaf spring 86 of the guide member 85. It has not occurred. Therefore, the support member 6 has a tension spring 88.
Is urged to rotate clockwise by the pulling force and the reaction force of the leaf spring 84, and is positioned at the release position E.

On the other hand, in the copying machine main body 1, when the mode for printing on the paper is selected, the drive device (not shown) rotates the shaft 81 by half rotation, so that the bias spring 83 is rotated as shown in FIG. It is located at the lower left of 81. As a result, the leaf spring 86 of the guide member 85 is pressed by the biasing roller 82, and the shaft 61 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 3 mainly against the reaction force of the leaf spring 84 against the bottom plate 31a. As it is moved, the plate 62 fixed to the shaft 61 rotates counterclockwise and moves to the recording position C.

When the sheet is ejected from the fixing device 17, the sheet causes the limit switch 17b at the exit of the fixing device 17 to fall. Based on the signal from the limit switch 17b, the discharge roller 95 and the platen roller 90 slow down the paper conveyance speed to a speed at which the printing device 2 can print, and printing is performed by the printing device 2 in this state. Be seen.

The operation of the support member operating means 8 for moving the support member 6 from the release position E to the retracted position D is as follows.

After rotating the punching device 18 around the shaft 18b to the outside of the housing 1, the casing 3 located at the set position A of the printing device 2 (indicated by a chain double-dashed line in FIG. 1).
Is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 1 about the support shaft 34 to move the casing 3 to the open position B (shown by a solid line in FIG. 1). When the casing 3 is rotated from the set position A to the open position B, the support shaft 61 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 1 about the support shaft 34. At this time, the roller 87b of the guide member 85 is rotated. Has a guide plate 1
The support shaft 61 rotates clockwise by engaging with b and moving the roller 87b upward along the guide plate 1b. As a result, the plate 62 fixed to the support shaft 61 rotates clockwise in FIG. 1 and moves to the retracted position D. The support member 6 is pulled by the pulling force of the pulling spring 88.
Is smoothly moved to the retracted position D, and the support member 6 is securely held at the retracted position D.

As described above, according to this embodiment, when the casing 3 is rotated to the open position B, the casing 3 is interlocked with this rotating operation.
The support member operating means 8 moves the support member 6 to the retracted position D. As a result, the thermal head 5 escapes from the casing 3 so that the ink ribbon cassette 4 can be taken out, so that the used ink ribbon cassette 4 can be taken out and easily replaced with a new one, and at the periphery of the printing device 2. Jam processing can be easily performed.

Particularly, the casing 3 is not moved to the lateral direction of the platen roller 90 by pushing the hand through the narrow through hole unlike the conventional case, and the casing 3 is opened to the paper discharge side of the copying machine to take out the ink ribbon cassette 4. Therefore, replacement becomes easier and the ink ribbon is not damaged.

In addition, the empty space above the printing device 2 is effectively utilized, the above-mentioned replacement of the ink ribbon cassette 4 and facilitation of jam processing are achieved, and the image forming device does not become large.

Although the support member 6 is attached to the casing 3 in the above embodiment, it may be attached to the assembly side plate 1c of the housing 1.

Further, in the above embodiment, both the guide mechanism including the guide member 85 and the tension spring 88 are used as the support member operating means 8, but only one of them may be used. Furthermore, as the support member operating means 8, a rotation transmission mechanism such as a gear mechanism may be used.

Further, the support member operating means 8 includes a stepping motor that rotates the support member 6 and an open position B of the casing 3.
To the support member 6 by the stepping motor in response to a signal from the detecting means for detecting the movement to the
May be composed of a control means for rotating the to the retracted position D, and various other design changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

<Effects of the Invention> As described above, according to the present invention, when the casing is rotated to the open position, the support member operating means rotates the support member to the retracted position in conjunction with this rotation operation. As a result, the ink ribbon cassette can be taken out so that the ink ribbon cassette can be easily replaced and the jam processing around the printing apparatus can be easily performed.

In particular, it is easier to replace the ink ribbon cassette because the casing is opened to the paper discharge side of the image forming apparatus and the ink ribbon cassette is taken out without having to poke a hand through a narrow through hole as in the conventional case. Produce an effect.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing the periphery of a printer of an image forming apparatus as an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the image forming apparatus showing a state in which a thermal head of the printer is in a release position. FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of the image forming apparatus showing a state where the thermal head of the printing apparatus is in a recording position, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the printing apparatus showing a state where the casing of the printing apparatus is opened, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus showing a state in which the punching device is opened to the outside of the housing, FIG. 6 is a schematic side view showing the internal structure of the copying machine, and FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view of the printing device showing an ink ribbon cassette replacement operation. It is a figure. 1 ... Copier main body (housing), 2 ... printing device, 3 ... casing, 4 ... ink ribbon cassette, 5 ... thermal head, 6 ... supporting member, 8 ... supporting member operating means, 41 ... Ink ribbon, A ... Set position, B ... Open position, C ... Record position, D ... Retract position.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI technical display location B41J 32/00

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus comprising a printing device for printing characters and the like on a paper on which an image is fixed by pressing a thermal head via an ink ribbon of an ink ribbon cassette, wherein the printing device is an ink ribbon cassette. A casing that is removably mounted and that is rotatable between a set position for printing and an open position where the ink ribbon cassette can be taken out from the paper discharge side of the image forming apparatus main body, a thermal head supported, and a thermal head. Between the recording position where the ink ribbon is pressed against the ink ribbon and the retracted position where the thermal head is retracted so that the ink ribbon cassette can be removed from the main body of the image forming apparatus. The support member is retracted in conjunction with the rotation of the member and the casing to the open position. An image forming apparatus characterized in that it comprises a supporting member actuating means for rotating the.