JP2515727B2 - Thermal transfer recording device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording apparatus, and in particular, a long thermal transfer ink sheet is used to perform multi-color recording on recording paper that has been cut in advance. The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording apparatus equipped with an ink sheet and a recording paper conveying mechanism suitable for the case.

[Background of the Invention]

At present, an inexpensive and small-sized printer capable of recording a plurality of colors is desired. As technical problems for realizing the above printer, there are 1. multi-color recording and no color misregistration, 2. simple configuration, and 3. easy replenishment of multi-color inks. It is necessary to solve one condition at a time.

As one of the solutions to the above technical problems, a combination of 1. a paper feed mechanism of friction feed type, 2. thermal transfer recording by a thermal head and an ink sheet, and 3. formation of a cassette of an ink sheet can be considered.

As a conventional example of the above-mentioned configuration, for example, the one described in JP-A-56-67278 can be mentioned, which is easy to handle,
It has been shown that a compact and inexpensive thermal transfer recording apparatus can be obtained.

However, the above example does not mention the problem in the case of recording a plurality of colors.

As a method of expressing a plurality of colors by the configuration of the thermal transfer device,
As the ink sheet, it is conceivable to use a long material in which a plurality of colors of ink are arranged on the ink sheet in a frame sequential manner and sequentially record the color information of the ink sheet on the recording paper. In this case, the recording paper is conveyed a plurality of times by the recording paper conveyance mechanism to the information recording portion where the thermal head and the drum are in pressure contact together with the ink sheet having the color corresponding to the information.

The paper transport mechanism of the thermal transfer recording apparatus is one in which a recording paper and an ink sheet are pressed against each other by a drum and a thermal head and are transported by rotation of the drum. Since the recording paper is not fixed to the drum in the above-mentioned paper conveyance mechanism, the recording paper is conveyed in a state other than the recording paper conveyance section of the drum in a state where it does not follow the drum surface.
Therefore, the transport amount of the recording paper transported with the ink sheet is influenced by the recording paper transporting capability of the drum and the recording paper transporting capability of the ink sheet.

When the recording paper is conveyed to the recording unit along with the ink sheet,
The leading end of the recording base not in contact with the drum is guided by the ink sheet, and the carry amount is affected by the ability of the ink sheet to carry the recording paper.

At this time, if the tension in the conveying direction of the ink sheet is non-uniformly distributed in the rotation axis direction of the drum, the recording paper conveying ability of the ink sheet is also non-uniformly distributed, and the conveying amount at the leading end of the recording paper becomes non-uniform. .

The problem of uneven tension of the ink sheet is often due to the positional accuracy of the ink sheet supply shaft, and can be solved by increasing the positional accuracy of the ink sheet supply.

However, the ink sheet supply shaft is a member that constitutes an ink cassette, and it is not desirable to increase the accuracy of the cassette in order to secure the positional accuracy of the ink sheet supply shaft in order to provide an inexpensive and small device.

[Object of the Invention]

An object of the present invention is a printer capable of recording a plurality of colors on a recording paper which is cut in advance by using a long thermal transfer ink sheet in a thermal transfer recording system, and can easily convey the paper with high accuracy required for the recording of a plurality of colors. Another object of the present invention is to provide a heat-sensitive transfer recording device.

[Outline of the Invention] In the present invention, a guide member that regulates a conveyance path of a portion where a thermal transfer ink sheet and a recording paper start to contact each other in the process of being conveyed to a recording portion is provided on at least one of the thermal transfer ink sheet and the recording paper. .

Example of Invention

 Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

 FIG. 1 is a side view showing the outline of an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a heat sensitive head 3, an ink separation roller 8 on the ink sheet take-up shaft 9 side of the heat sensitive head 3, and an ink sheet guide plate 11 on the ink sheet supply shaft 10 side are respectively provided with ink on a rotatable drum 1. Drum 1 through seat 4
The ink sheet 4 can be conveyed by rotating the drum 1 in the direction of the arrow A. With the above configuration, when the recording paper 2 is between the ink sheet 4 and the drum 1 during recording, the recording paper 2 can be conveyed together with the ink sheet 4 by the rotation of the drum 1.

The recording paper guide 6 and the paper feeding / discharging block 7 are provided along the drum 1 with an interval that allows the recording paper 2 to be fed.
That is, the distance between the recording paper guide surface 6a of the recording paper guide 6 and the drum 1 of the recording paper guide surface 7a of the paper feeding / discharging block 7 is a minute distance at which the recording paper 2 can be conveyed.

The drum 1 drives the ink sheet 4 from the ink sheet supply shaft 10 to the ink sheet take-up shaft 9 by a driving force (not shown).
When it is rotated in the direction of arrow A, the recording paper 2 fed by a paper feed mechanism (not shown) from between the paper guide 6 and the paper feeding / discharging block 7 has a leading end on which the drum 1 freely rotates. And then conveyed in the rotating direction of the drum 1 between the recording paper guide 6 and the drum 1.

In FIG. 2, the recording paper 2 is the recording paper guide 6 in the conventional example.
The state is shown in which the recording sheet 2 is conveyed between the ink sheet 4 and the drum 1 and is in contact with the ink sheet 4. The same members as those in FIG. 1 are indicated by the same numbers.

If the ink sheet guide plate 11 is not provided, the ink sheet 4 is generally not aligned in the axial direction of the drum 1 because the tension T of the ink sheet supply shaft 10 is poor and the positional accuracy is poor, and thus the tension T in the ink sheet conveying direction is not evenly distributed. It may be twisted as shown. These phenomena are remarkable especially when the ink sheet supply shaft 10 is housed in an inexpensive and simple cassette (not shown). Further, the positioning of the front end of the recording paper 2 in the drum axis direction is also unstable. Therefore, the recording paper 2
The recording paper 2 and the ink sheet 4 are sent to the thermal head 3 in a state where the conveyance capacity of the ink sheet 4 and the tension of the ink sheet 4 are balanced.

The conveyance amount of the recording paper 2 is greatly affected by the conveyance ability of the ink sheet 4 for the recording paper 2, because the angle θ formed between the conveyance direction of the ink sheet 4 and the conveyance direction of the recording paper 2 is large. Due to the balance between the tension and the feeding force of the recording paper 2, there is a variation in the conveyance trajectory drawn by the front end of the recording paper 2, and as a result, the recording position shifts each time recording is repeated.

The recording paper 2 is provided by providing the ink sheet guide plate 11.
In order to reduce the above-mentioned angle θ with respect to the ink sheet 4 and the leading edge of the recording paper 2 to obtain a constant trajectory along the ink sheet guide plate 11, the recording sheet 2 is stably conveyed to the thermal head 3 together with the ink sheet 4.

Therefore, the positional deviation of the recording paper 2 with respect to the position of the recording paper at the time of the previous recording, which is caused by the difference in the transport amount of the leading end of the recording paper 2, is not generated.

In FIG. 1, the ink sheet guide plate 11 is provided with an angle between the ink sheet guide surface 11a and the ink sheet / recording paper guide surface 11b. As shown in FIG. 3A, the ink sheet guide surface 11a and the ink sheet / recording paper guide surface 11b are one flat surface if the sheet 4 has a structure in which the angle formed by the sheet 4 is reduced and the joint has a constant trajectory. However, Fig. 3 (b)
There is no problem even if it is composed of a curved surface that is convex downward as shown in. Further, as shown by a broken line 11c in the figure, an upwardly convex curved surface may be used.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment in which a guide plate is provided only for the recording paper 2. The recording paper guide plate 12 replaces the ink sheet guide plate 11 having the configuration shown in FIG. 1 and keeps the recording paper 2 in contact with the surface of the drum 1 until just before the joint portion with the ink sheet 4, so that the ink sheet 4 and the recording paper The angle formed by 2 is reduced, and the effect of the recording paper carrying capacity of the ink sheet 4 on the recording paper carrying amount is eliminated. Further, the position of the recording paper 2 with respect to the drum 1 is stable because the friction between the drum 1 and the recording paper 2 is large.

In FIG. 4, the recording paper guide plate 12 has a straight guide surface, but even if the recording paper guide surface 12 has a curved cross section as in the example shown in FIG. It is possible to reduce the joining angle of the recording paper 2 and increase the friction between the drum 1 and the recording paper 2, and it has the same effect.

6 and 7 show another embodiment in which a rotatable recording paper guide roller 13 is used instead of the recording paper guide plate 12. Since the recording paper guide roller 13 presses the recording paper 2 onto the surface of the drum 1 immediately before the joining portion with the ink sheet 4, the joining angle between the ink sheet 4 and the recording paper 2 can be reduced, The influence of the asymmetric tension distribution of the ink sheet 4 on the transport amount of 2 is eliminated, and the recording paper 2 and the drum 1
The frictional force between and is secured without increasing the load accompanying the paper conveyance.

The position of the recording paper roller 13 is the same as that of the recording paper 2 and the ink sheet 4.
Since it suffices if it is just before the joining part of the paper guide 6, even if it is provided in the middle of the paper guide 6 as shown in FIG.
There is no problem if it is installed outside.

Even in the embodiment in which the ink sheet guide plate 11 and the recording paper guide plate 12 are separately provided as shown in FIG. 8, the influence of the asymmetric tension of the ink sheet 4 on the transport amount of the recording paper 2 is eliminated. It goes without saying that you can do it.

As shown in FIG. 9, when the thermal head 3 is rotatable around the shaft 14, the ink sheet guide plate 11 is attached to the thermal head 3 via an elastic material 15 such as rubber or a leaf spring. be able to. Further, as shown in FIG. 10 a), the thermal head 3 is provided with a pushing portion 3 ′, and the ink sheet guide plate 11 or b) in FIG. 10 is flexibly attached to a part of the cassette 16 of the ink sheet 4. Recording paper guide plate 12 as shown in
Can be provided.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the present invention, in a printer capable of multi-color recording using a long frame-sequential thermal transfer ink sheet in a thermal recording system, even if there is a roll or misalignment of the thermal transfer ink sheet supply shaft, it is affected by the recording paper conveyance ability. By omitting the above, it is possible to provide a thermal transfer recording apparatus that carries the paper with high accuracy required for multi-color recording.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIGS. 1 and 2 are side views showing the construction of a first embodiment of a paper conveying section according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is a side view showing the shape of an ink ink guide plate, and FIG. 4 is a side view showing the present invention. FIG. 5 is a side view of the configuration of the second embodiment of the paper transport unit, FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing the shape of the recording paper guide plate, and FIG. 6 is a side view of the configuration of the third embodiment of the paper transport unit of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a side view of an example in which the mounting position of the recording paper guide roller is changed, FIG. 8 is a side view of the configuration of a fourth embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 9 is a fifth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a structural side view of the sixth embodiment of the present invention. Explanation of symbols 1: drum 2: recording paper 4: ink sheet 11: ink sheet guide plate 12: recording paper guide plate 13: recording paper guide roller

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP 60-42083 (JP, A) JP 60-228178 (JP, A) JP 58-142887 (JP, A) Actual 60- 75075 (JP, U) Actually opened 56-143054 (JP, U)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A rotatable drum, a heat-sensitive recording head that is in pressure contact with the drum, a length that is sandwiched between the heat-sensitive recording head and the drum and that can be conveyed by rotation of the drum, and the length direction of the drum. A wide thermal transfer ink sheet, a supply portion of the thermal transfer ink sheet, a guide member positioned around the drum with a minute gap, and a recording paper precut to the drum within the above gap. The thermal head and the drum convey the recording paper by rotating the drum a plurality of times in one direction while pressing the ink sheet and the recording paper with each other. In a heat-sensitive transfer recording apparatus for recording a plurality of colors by superimposing a plurality of colors on each other, and at the portion where the recording paper and the thermal transfer ink sheet start to contact, the conveyance direction of the thermal transfer ink sheet and the recording paper Transport direction Guide members for regulating to reduce corner, thermal transfer recording apparatus characterized by being provided near the conveying path of the at least one way of the recording paper or the ink sheet for thermal transfer.