JP2546508B2 - Thermal transfer recorder - 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 recording apparatus, and more particularly to a thermal transfer recording apparatus equipped with an ink support tape and a means for applying a running force to the ink support tape.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a thermal transfer recording apparatus has an ink supporting tape to which a heat-melting ink is applied, a tape running drive means for applying a running force to the ink supporting tape, and a thermal melting property of the ink supporting tape. A thermal head that locally heats the ink layer to transfer the melted ink to a recording sheet, and a platen that faces the thermal head and is installed in the running path of the ink support tape are provided. Since it is possible to obtain a relatively quiet and clear print output, it has been used in a relatively large amount as compared with the conventional one.

[0003]

However, in the conventional thermal transfer recording apparatus, from the viewpoint of heat conduction and resolution, the ink supporting tape used is very thin, from several μm to several tens of μm. Skew occurs in the ink supporting tape due to the positional error of the parts existing in the running system of the tape, and as a result, wrinkles occur at the contact portion between the heating means and the platen roller, and the printed image deteriorates at these wrinkle portions. was there.

Further, in order to prevent the occurrence of wrinkles, high precision is required for the parts provided in the running system of the ink support and the holding portion of the supply roll for supplying the ink support tape, and therefore, the apparatus is required. There was an inconvenience that it caused the cost increase of.

[0005]

It is an object of the present invention to improve the disadvantages of the conventional example, and in particular, the parts mounted in the running system and the holding portion of the ink supporting tape do not require high precision, and the ink supporting tape is not required. It is an object of the present invention to provide a thermal transfer recording device capable of effectively preventing the generation of wrinkles.

[0006]

According to the present invention, an ink support tape to which a heat-meltable ink is applied, a tape running drive means for applying a running force to the ink support tape, and a heat melting of the ink support tape. A thermal transfer print head that locally heats the conductive ink layer to transfer the molten ink to the recording paper, and a platen that faces the thermal transfer print head and that is provided via the running path of the ink support tape. There is.

Further, a straightening guide roller for an ink supporting tape is provided on the upstream side of the thermal transfer print head.
The straightening guide roller is provided with a guide roller main body and one end portion in the width direction of the ink supporting tape provided at one end portion of the guide roller main body in the width direction.
A tape end slip prevention part for preventing slippage, and a portion other than the tape end slip prevention part of the guide roller main body, the ink support tape running and the ink support tape opposite the tape end slip prevention part. It has a structure in which a spiral structure portion that functions to spread out is provided at the side end portion . This aims to achieve the above-mentioned object.

[0008]

[Operation] The straightening guide roller 9 is the ink support tape 1
Is located on the upstream side of the thermal head 5 in contact with the ink support tape 1, and is mounted at a predetermined wrap angle with the ink support tape 1. The thermal head 5 and the platen 6 are located below the straightening guide roller 9, the ink support tape supply roller 2 is located above the straightening guide roller 9, and the ink support 1 and the straightening guide roller 9 are respectively in the arrow directions. Transporting and rotating. The tape end slip prevention portion 9B has a higher friction coefficient than the surface of the guide roller body 9A.

By the tape end slip prevention portion 9B , one end portion of the ink supporting tape 1 is displaced in the width direction of the ink supporting tape 1 with a predetermined holding force.
Transported without. Further, when the correction guide roller 9 rotates, the spiral structure portion 9C acts so as to move to the side end portion on the side opposite to the tape end slip prevention portion 9B with respect to the width direction of the ink support tape 1 , as a result. , Ink support tape 1
Are spread in the width direction and wrinkles are removed.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an ink supporting tape 1 to which a heat-melting ink is applied, and a winding roller as a tape running driving means for applying a running force to the ink supporting tape 1. 3 and the heat-meltable ink layer of the ink support tape 1 are locally heated so that the melted ink is recorded onto the recording paper 4
The thermal head 5 is provided with a thermal head 5 and a platen 6 facing the thermal head 5 via the running path of the ink support tape 1.

A straightening guide roller 9 for the ink supporting tape 1 is provided on the upstream side of the thermal head 5. Then, the corrective guide roller 9, guide roller body 9A and, the width direction end portion in the width direction of the guide roller ink provided at one end of the body 9A support tape 1
A tape end slip prevention portion 9B for preventing the slip of
The ink supporting tape 1 is provided in other parts of the guide roller main body 9A except the tape end slip preventing portion 9B, and the ink supporting tape 1 is opposed to the tape end slip preventing portion 9B as the ink supporting tape 1 runs.
The spiral structure portion 9C that functions to spread the side structure is provided.

Further, in FIG. 1, reference numeral 2 indicates an ink supporting tape supply roller for feeding the ink supporting tape,
Reference numeral 7 indicates a peeling member for separating the recording paper 4 from the ink supporting tape 1, and reference numeral 8 indicates a discharge guide for the recording paper.

Next, the operation of the present invention will be described.

In FIG. 1, the ink supporting tape 1 is wound around the ink supporting tape winding roller 3 while maintaining a predetermined tension by the load of the ink supporting tape supply roller 2. At this time, the heat-meltable ink layer of the ink supporting tape 1 is the lower side of the ink supporting tape 1 in FIG. The recording paper 4 is conveyed by the platen 6 which is pressed against the heating portion of the thermal head 5 by a certain pressing force, and the heating portion of the thermal head 5 locally heats the recording paper 4 so that the heat-melting ink of the ink supporting tape 1 is removed. It is transferred to the recording sheet 4. After that, the ink supporting tape 1 and the recording paper 4 advance at the same speed and are separated by the separating member 7.
Then, the ink supporting tape 1 is wound around the ink supporting tape winding roller 3, and the recording paper 4 is discharged to the outside by following the recording paper discharge guide 8.

Here, the straightening guide roller 9 is located on the upstream side of the thermal head 5 in the running path of the ink supporting tape 1, is in contact with the ink supporting tape 1, and has a predetermined winding angle with the ink supporting tape 1. Equipped.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the straightening guide roller 9 described above. In FIG. 2, the thermal head 5 and the platen 6 is corrected to the lower side of the guide roller 9, the ink support tape supply roller 2 is located respectively above the straightening guide roller 9, the ink support tape 1 and straightening the guide rollers 9
Are respectively conveyed and rotated in the arrow directions. tape
The end slip prevention portion 9B is set to have a higher friction coefficient than the surface of the guide roller body 9A. This tape end slip prevention
Even if another member such as rubber is attached to the portion 9B ,
The surface of the guide roller body 9A may be processed by sandblasting or the like.

By this tape end slip prevention portion 9B , one end portion of the ink supporting tape 1 is locked at that position with a predetermined holding force. Also, the spiral structure portion 9C
When the straightening guide roller 9 rotates, the ink support table
To flop 1 to the width direction acts to go to the side edge portion opposite to the tape end slip preventing part 9B, as a result, in
The support tape 1 is spread in the width direction.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the second embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the tape end slip prevention portion 19B of the straightening guide roller 19 is constituted by a plurality of annular grooves formed in the guide roller body 19A, and the spiral structure portion 19C is formed in the guide roller body 19A. It has a spiral groove formed in a spiral shape. The other structure is the same as that of the embodiment shown in FIG.

Even in this case, it is possible to obtain the one having substantially the same function and effect as those of the embodiment shown in FIG.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the third embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the tape end is
Both the slip prevention portion 29B and the spiral structure portion 29C have a convex shape from the surface of the correction guide roller 29. Of these,
The spiral structure portion 29C is configured by spirally winding a cord-shaped member around the guide roller main body 29A. The other structure is the same as that of the embodiment shown in FIG.

Even in this case, it is possible to obtain the one having substantially the same function and effect as those of the embodiment shown in FIG.

In any of the cases shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, it is possible to perform the same operation as that shown in FIG. By these operations, it is possible to effectively prevent wrinkles from being brought into the ink support tape 1 at the contact portion between the thermal head 5 and the platen 6.

In the present invention, the straightening guide roller is
It is important that any of the tape end slip prevention portion and the spiral structure portion is formed by winding a member having a friction coefficient larger than the friction coefficient of the surface of the guide roller body in an annular or spiral shape, and a member used for it. Is not particularly limited.

Further, in each of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the tape end slip preventing portions 9B and 29B and the spiral structure portion 9 are provided.
When mounting a separate member for both C and 29C, a concave groove may be formed in advance and the aforementioned separate member may be mounted in the concave groove. Also, the tape end slip prevention portion 9B,
29B and the spiral structure portions 9C and 29C may be a combination of different members.

[0026]

Since the present invention is constructed and functions as described above, according to this, the ink support tape can be conveyed on the upstream side of the thermal head without interrupting the conveyance of the ink support tape.
Since a means for functioning so as to widen the width of the ink supporting tape is provided while restricting one end surface in the width direction thereof, the ink supporting tape can be formed without high precision processing of the constituent members of the running system of the ink supporting tape. It is possible to effectively prevent the generation of “wrinkles”, and therefore, it is possible to provide an excellent thermal transfer recording apparatus that has not been available in the related art in which a printed image of high quality can be stably obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a specific example of the guide roller disclosed in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of a guide roller in the second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of a guide roller in a third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Ink support tape 3 Winding roller as tape running drive means 4 Recording paper 5 Thermal head 6 Platen 7 Peeling member 8 Recording paper discharge roller 9, 19, 29 Straightening guide roller 9B, 19B, 29B Tape end for width direction regulation Non-slip
Stop portion 9C, 19C, 29C spiral structure portion

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] 1. An ink support tape to which a heat-meltable ink is applied, a tape running drive means for applying a running force to the ink support tape, and a heat-meltable ink layer of the ink support tape is locally heated. A thermal transfer recording apparatus comprising: a thermal transfer type print head for transferring molten ink to a recording sheet; and a platen provided facing the thermal transfer type print head via a running path of the ink supporting tape, A straightening guide roller for the ink supporting tape is provided on the upstream side of the print head, and the straightening guide roller is provided on the guide roller main body and one end portion of the guide roller main body in the width direction of the ink supporting tape. Prevents slippage in the width direction
Tape end slip prevention part and the front of the guide roller body
Serial Before the ink support tape the running of the ink support tape provided in other parts except for the tape end slip preventing portion
A thermal transfer recording apparatus comprising : a tape end slip prevention portion; and a spiral structure portion that functions to spread to the opposite end portion . 2. The tape end slip prevention portion is formed on the guide roller main body by an annular member having a friction coefficient larger than that of the surface of the guide roller main body. Thermal transfer recording device. 3. The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tape end slip prevention portion has a concave and convex structure such as a knurl formed on the guide roller body. 4. The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tape end slip prevention portion is constituted by a string-like member wound around the guide roller body. 5. The spiral structure is formed by spirally winding a member having a friction coefficient larger than that of the surface of the guide roller main body. Thermal transfer recording device. 6. The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the spiral structure is formed by spirally winding a cord-shaped member around the guide roller main body. 7. The tape end slip prevention portion is constituted by a plurality of annular concave grooves formed in the guide roller main body, and the spiral structure is formed by a spiral groove formed in the guide roller main body. The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 1, 2, 3, or 4, which is configured.