JP2573549Y2 - Cassette for thermal transfer film - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a thermal transfer film cassette used in a thermal transfer printer.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, a cassette for a thermal transfer film has been generally used in order to easily load a thermal transfer film into a thermal transfer printer. This thermal transfer film cassette accommodates a feed roll for feeding the thermal transfer film and a take-up roll for winding the roll on the left and right sides of the cassette case. When the cassette is loaded into the printer, the drive of the printer is connected to the take-up roll, and the thermal head of the printer comes into contact with the portion of the thermal transfer film extending from the feeding roll to the take-up roll. The take-up roll rotates to draw out the thermal transfer film from the pay-out roll, and image recording is performed by a thermal head.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, there are various kinds of recording in a thermal transfer printer depending on transfer conditions and uses of the transferred material, and in order to cope with this, many types of thermal transfer films are prepared. Often have. For this reason, when the cassette is loaded, the type is mistaken, so that there is a problem that recording is performed under transfer conditions that do not match the film, or a film for another use is used.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem that a conventional thermal transfer film cassette has, and only by loading the cassette into the printer, the printer automatically automatically transfers the thermal transfer film stored in the cassette to the printer. An object of the present invention is to provide a thermal transfer film cassette capable of distinguishing the ink characteristics and applications.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, a thermal transfer film cassette according to the present invention has a cassette case and a thermal transfer film cassette housed in the cassette case. In the outer surface of the cassette case, provided are reflection marks for specifying the ink characteristics of the thermal transfer film and the application of the thermal transfer film, and these reflective marks form a pattern with black ink on the aluminum-deposited film. It is characterized by being constituted by a seal made.

[Operation] When the thermal transfer film cassette configured as described above is loaded into the printer and used, the printer automatically reads the respective reflective marks on the outer surface of the cassette case using the built-in reflective sensor. Identify that information and recognize ink properties and uses.

[Example] Next, an example of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a thermal transfer film cassette 1, 2 is a black cassette case made of polystyrene, 3 is a roll for feeding a thermal transfer film rotatably held in the cassette case 2, and 4 is a roll The take-up roll 5 is a window formed in the cassette case 2, and 6 is a heat-sensitive transfer film pulled out from the pay-out roll 3 and having a leading end wound around the take-up roll 4. Note that the thermal transfer film 6 is hatched for easy understanding of the drawings.

7 to 10 are mark positions for specifying the ink characteristics and application of the thermal transfer film 6, and for example, a reflective mark for specifying the ink characteristics is provided at the position 7; if the reflective mark is provided, Being a high concentration product,
If not provided, it indicates a standard concentration product.
Further, a reflection mark for specifying the application is provided at the positions 8 to 10, and if a reflection mark is provided at the position 8, the mark is for black and white, and if not provided, it is for color. ing. If a reflection mark is provided at the position 9, it is for OHP, and if a reflection mark is provided at the position 10, it is for cloth transfer.
Various modes can be represented by combining these reflection marks.

As a means for forming the reflection mark, for example, a black case is used for the cassette case 2 and aluminum-deposited PET is used.
There are cases where a film seal is individually attached to the mark position, or a reflective mark is directly patterned on the outer surface of the cassette case 2 by printing such as hot stamping. Then, a seal formed by performing a pattern such as UV printing with black ink on the surface of the cassette case 2 is attached to the outer surface of the cassette case 2.
That is, a reflective mark is formed by a seal printed in a pattern such that the aluminum-evaporated surface is selectively exposed at the mark positions 7 to 10 and the other portions are black ink-coated surfaces. Thus, since only one sticker needs to be attached, the operation is simpler than the case where the seals are individually attached to the mark positions 7 to 10, and the number of mistakes in attachment is reduced.

If it is considered that the seal of the aluminum-deposited PET film may fall off and adversely affect the base in the printer, a non-conductive aluminum-deposited PET film seal may be used.

A method of using the thermal transfer film cassette 1 having the above configuration will be described. The printer using the cassette 1 is provided with a reflection type sensor corresponding to the mark positions 7 to 10. When the cassette 1 is loaded into the printer, the sensor is operated in various manners in advance according to the ink characteristics and application. By sending the signal to the ROM storing the conditions, the conditions such as changing the output energy of the thermal head in the printer are set. Thereafter, the printer is activated, the take-up roll 4 is driven, the thermal transfer film 6 travels in the direction indicated by the arrow, and the thermal head performs image recording according to the characteristics and use of the thermal transfer film 6.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the thermal transfer film cassette of the present invention is provided with reflection marks on the outer surface of the cassette case for specifying the ink characteristics of the heat transfer film and the use of the heat transfer film. Is formed by a seal made by forming a pattern with black ink on a film on which aluminum is deposited.When this cassette is loaded into the printer, the reflection sensor inside the printer reads these high-reflection reflection marks without fail. As a result, the printer automatically sets the operating conditions, so that even when there are a plurality of types of cassettes, the use conditions are not mistaken.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of a thermal transfer film cassette as one embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Thermal transfer film cassette, 2 ... Cassette case, 3 ... Payout roll, 4 ... Take-up roll, 5 ... Window, 6 ... Thermal transfer film, 7-10 ... Mark position

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A heat-sensitive transfer film cassette having a cassette case and a heat-sensitive transfer film accommodated in the cassette case.
Reflective marks that specify the ink characteristics of the thermal transfer film and the application of the thermal transfer film are provided, and these reflective marks are formed by a seal formed by forming a pattern with black ink on an aluminum-deposited film. A cassette for a thermal transfer film, characterized in that: