JP2551604Y2 - Card printing equipment - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for printing images and characters such as a face and a name on a card such as a magnetic card, an optical card and an IC card by using a thermal head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a card printing apparatus used for producing various cards, an ink ribbon stretched between a supply roller and a take-up roller is applied to a card-shaped recording medium placed on a stage by a thermal head. While the thermal head is heated in a state where the ink ribbon is pressed, required printing is performed on the card-shaped recording medium. In this printing, the winding roller is rotated while moving the stage to move the ink ribbon.

[0003]

However, when the ink ribbon is moved by rotating the take-up roller together with the movement of the stage as in the above-described card making apparatus, the diameters of the take-up roller and the supply roller change with time. The amount of winding of the ink ribbon fluctuates according to the amount of printing, and it is difficult to keep the amount of movement of the ink ribbon constant in accordance with the amount of movement of the stage. Ink could not be matched to a predetermined location on the card, causing image degradation.

[0004]

According to the present invention, an ink ribbon is stretched between a supply roller and a take-up roller, and the ink ribbon is thermally transferred to a card-shaped recording medium placed on a stage. When printing by pressing with the head, the stage is moved while the winding roller is stopped, and the supply roller is set in a free state.

[0005]

During printing, the stage is moved while the take-up roller is stopped, and the supply roller is in a free state, so that the ink ribbon is attached to the card-shaped recording medium by being heated by the thermal head. Then, the ink ribbon moves integrally with the stage according to the movement of the stage.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Here, FIG. 1 is a main part configuration diagram of the card making apparatus according to the present invention, FIG.
Is a configuration diagram of a winding mechanism of the apparatus, and FIG. 4 is a side view of the winding mechanism.

The card printing apparatus according to the present invention mounts an ink ribbon 3 stretched between a supply roller 1 and a take-up roller 2 and coated with a heat-meltable or sublimable ink, and a card-shaped recording medium C. And a thermal head 5.

When printing is started from the state at the start of printing shown in FIG. 1, the winding roller 2 does not rotate at the start of printing, and the supply roller 1 becomes free (free to rotate). On the other hand, in printing by the thermal head 5, the ink ribbon 3 is pressed against the card-shaped recording medium C by the thermal head 5 while moving the stage 4, and power is supplied to the heating resistor of the thermal head 5 to heat the ink of the ink ribbon 3. Then, the image is transferred to the card-shaped recording medium C.

At this time, as described above, the supply roller 1 is free (free to rotate) while the winding roller 2 is not rotating.
In this state, the ink ribbon 3 heated by the thermal head 5 is lightly attached to the card-shaped recording medium C. Therefore, when the stage 4 moves, the ink ribbon 3 is integrated with the stage 4 in accordance with this movement. To the state shown by the solid line in FIG.

After printing, a driving roller 6 and a sub-roller 7, which are rotated by a driving motor 8, are disposed between the take-up roller 2 and the thermal head 5 as shown in FIGS. Encoder 9 on axis of motor 8
And the amount of rotation of the drive roller 6, that is, the amount of movement of the ink ribbon 3 is detected by the movement amount detection sensor 10. Then, the process proceeds to the next printing. Note that the wound state is shown by imaginary lines in FIG.

Further, the positioning of the ink ribbon 3 is performed as shown in FIG.
This is performed when the sheet passes through the sensor 12 via the positioning roller 11 provided between the supply roller 1 and the thermal head 5 as shown in FIG. Specifically, for example, if a four-color ribbon of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (Bk) is used as the ink ribbon 3, yellow (Y)
And a level difference between magenta (M) and magenta (M). Thereafter, the ink ribbon 3 may be moved by a predetermined amount by the movement amount detection sensor 10.

[0012]

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention,
At the time of printing, the stage is moved with the take-up roller stopped, and the supply roller is set in a free state, so that stable printing can be performed with little influence from the movement of the ink ribbon.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a main part of a card making device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a main part of the apparatus during printing.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a winding mechanism of the apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the winding mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Supply roller, 2 ... Winding roller, 3 ... Ink ribbon, 4 ... Stage, 5 ... Thermal head, 6 ... Drive roller, 8 ... Drive motor, 9 ... Encoder, 10 ... Movement amount detection sensor, 11 ... Positioning roller .

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Yutaka Mizoguchi 3-12-3 Moriyacho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Victor Company of Japan, Ltd. (56) References JP-A-3-248858 (JP, A)

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A supply roller and the take-up roller tensioning the ink ribbon by heating the thermal head while pressing by thermal head in the card-shaped recording medium placed on the stage of the card-like recording medium between In the card printing apparatus for performing required printing on the card, the printing roller is stopped while the winding roller is stopped.
While moving the recording medium,
A card printing device characterized by being in a free state .