JP2682679B2 - Thermal transfer printer - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a printing method and thermal transfer in which the ink of an ink ribbon is transferred to a print target sheet by heat generation of a thermal head mounted on a movable carriage. Regarding the printer.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, as a printing method in a thermal transfer printer, for example, while moving a carriage equipped with a thermal head in a state where a thermal head in which a plurality of heat-generating elements are aligned and arranged is in pressure contact with a print target sheet via an ink ribbon, The heating element is selectively heated, the ink of the ink ribbon facing the heated element is melted and adhered to the print sheet, and while the ink of the ink ribbon is still in a molten state, the winding means is used. There is one in which the ink ribbon is peeled off from the print target sheet by winding the ink ribbon, and the ink of the ink ribbon is partially transferred to the print target sheet to perform printing.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, in the printing method in the conventional thermal transfer printer described above, the ink ribbon is separated from the print target sheet while the ink of the ink ribbon is in a molten state, and the ink of the ink ribbon is transferred to the print target sheet. Therefore, depending on the type of the print-receiving sheet, as shown in FIG. 14, when the ink layer 2 of the ink ribbon 1 is in a molten state, the adhesive force between the ink layer 2 and the print-receiving sheet 4 may be the ink layer of the ink ribbon 1. 2 is smaller than the adhesive force between the base layer 3 made of a plastic film and the ink ribbon 1. Therefore, when the ink ribbon 1 is peeled from the print-receiving sheet 4 when the ink layer 2 is in a molten state, the ink ribbon Layer 2
May be transferred to the print-receiving sheet 4 as if it were cut off in the middle of the layer. Therefore, the surface of the ink layer 2 transferred to the print-receiving sheet 4 becomes uneven. As described above, as an example of the print-receiving sheet 4 in which the surface of the ink layer 2 transferred to the print-receiving sheet 4 becomes uneven when being peeled off under heat, an overhead formed of a plastic film and having a smooth surface is formed. There is a projection sheet for the project, but when printing is performed on this projection sheet by peeling at the time of heat, irregular reflection may occur due to the unevenness of the surface of the printed ink layer, and a beautiful screen may not be obtained when projected. there were.

In addition, depending on the type of the print-receiving sheet 4, good quality printing may not be possible without peeling under heat.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a thermal transfer printer which solves the above-mentioned problems in the conventional printer and can perform both hot peeling and cold peeling depending on the type of a print-receiving sheet.

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the thermal transfer printer according to claim 1 forms a carriage having a thermal head movably by a driving means, and at the time of printing, an ink ribbon sandwiched between the thermal head and a printing target sheet is formed. In a thermal transfer printer which is formed so as to be wound by a winding means and in which these driving means and winding means are controlled by a control means, the thermal transfer printer is connected to the control means, and the track of the drive means and the winding at the start of printing. A first drive mode in which the orbit of the take-up means is simultaneously performed and the moving speed of the carriage by the drive means and the take-up speed of the ink ribbon by the take-up means are equalized, and the take-up means is activated by the activation of the drive means. And delaying the moving speed of the carriage by the driving means, It is characterized in that a setting means capable of setting the second drive mode to slow the winding speed of Nkuribon.

(Operation)

According to the thermal transfer printer having the above-described structure, the setting unit connected to the control unit can select the first drive mode for performing the hot peeling and the second drive mode for performing the cold peeling. It is possible to perform printing with good quality by selecting either hot peeling or cold peeling depending on the type of printing target sheet.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 13.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 11 is a main body frame, and a platen 12 extending in the left-right direction is provided on the main body frame 11. A guide shaft 13 extending substantially parallel to the platen 12 is disposed between the left and right frames 11a and 11b forming part of the main body frame 11. A carriage 14 is slidably supported on the guide shaft 13, and a motor (not shown) as a driving means is reciprocally movable along the guide shaft 13 in the carriage 14. On the surface facing the platen 12, a thermal head 15 having a plurality of heat generating elements arranged in line is mounted so as to be able to contact the platen 12.

A rack 16 is formed on the body frame 11 so as to be parallel to the guide shaft 13, and the rack 16 is a gear (not shown) provided in the carriage 14.
It is designed to mesh with. Further, below the platen 12, a paper feed roller 17 supported so as to be rotationally driven by the main body frame 11 is arranged substantially parallel to the platen 12, and the paper feed roller 17 is provided with the main body frame. 11
A small roller 18, which is rotatably supported, is pressed against the roller.
Further, the paper feed roller 17 is connected to a motor 20 via a gear group 19, and the rotation of the motor 20 drives the paper feed roller 17 to rotate, and between the small roller 18 and a plain paper, a plastic film. A desired paper feed is performed while nipping the paper such as.

On the carriage 14, a take-up bobbin 21 and a draw-out bobbin 23 that form a take-up means are rotatably supported by supporting shafts 22 and 24 at appropriate intervals, and the take-up bobbin 21 and In the drawer bobbin 23,
An ink ribbon containing an ink ribbon described below is fitted.

As shown in FIG. 2, a spline 25 is formed at the lower end portion of the support shaft 22 of the winding bobbin 21, and a circular pressure contact plate 26 is engaged with the spline 25.
At the lower end of the support shaft 22, there is rotatably supported a spacer 28 disposed on the lower surface of the press contact plate 26 via a felt plate 27. The spacer 28 is the lower end of the support shaft 22. The stopper plate 29 attached to the shaft prevents the support shaft 22 from falling off from the lower end. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a spindle is provided on the upper surface of the spacer 28 facing the felt plate 27.
A felt plate with concentric concavo-convex 30 formed around 22
The friction force with 27 is increased.

Returning to FIG. 2, the pressure contact plate 26 is constantly urged toward the spacer 28 via the felt plate 27 by the pressing force of the pressure contact spring 31 mounted on the outer periphery of the first support shaft 22. Also,
On the lower surface of the spacer 28, protrusions 32, 33 are provided so as to be located on the diameter of the support 22 at positions different in distance from the center of the support shaft 22, respectively. These protrusions 3
2, 33 are different in distance from the center of the support shaft 22.

Below the spacer 28, a winding gear 34 is provided on the support shaft.
It is arranged so as to be rotatably supported by the carriage 14 by a support shaft 35 which is concentric with 22. The winding gear 34
Is a motor (not shown) mounted on the carriage 14.
The motor is driven to rotate. The rotation speed of this motor is variable. Further, on the upper surface of the winding gear 34, projections 36, 37 are provided at positions corresponding to the projections 32, 33 formed on the lower surface of the spacer 28, respectively.
37 can be engaged with the projections 32, 33, respectively,
By engaging the protrusions 36 and 37 with the 33, the rotation of the winding gear 34 can be transmitted to the spacer 28. The rotation transmitted to the spacer 28 is transmitted to the pressure contact plate 26 by frictional force, and the winding bobbin 21 can be rotated via the support shaft 22. In the winding gear 34, the projections 36 and 37 are always located at positions adjacent to the opposite sides of the counterclockwise end faces 32a and 33a of the projections 32 and 33 of the spacer 28, as shown by solid lines in FIG. The take-up gear 34
Immediately after the start of rotation, the projections 36 and 37 of the take-up gear 34 engage with the projections 32 and 33 of the spacer 28 to start the winding of the ink ribbon.

The motor 20 for driving the paper feed roller 17, the motor (not shown) for driving the carriage 14, and the motor (not shown) for driving the take-up bobbin 21 can be individually controlled by a control means (not shown). The rotation speed of the motor that drives the winding bobbin 21 is controlled by this control means. Further, a setting means such as a changeover switch (not shown) is connected to the control means, and the setting means moves the carriage 14 by a motor (not shown) which is a driving means at the start of printing, and the carriage 14 Ink ribbon winding is performed by rotating a winding bobbin 21, which is a winding means, by a motor (not shown) mounted on the first.
The drive mode and the second drive mode in which the winding speed of the winding bobbin 21 is slower than the moving speed of the carriage 14 can be set.

In this embodiment, when the first drive mode is selected by the setting means, a pair of protrusions on the upper surface of the take-up gear 34 is immediately started when the take-up gear 34 starts to rotate due to the driving of the motor at the start of printing. The winding gear 34 is previously positioned by driving the motor so that the protrusions 36, 37 engage with the protrusions 32, 33 on the lower surface of the spacer 28. Further, in the first drive mode, the moving speed of the carriage 14 and the winding speed of the winding bobbin 21 are made equal to each other.

Next, a first embodiment of the printing method using the above-mentioned thermal transfer printer will be described.

First, in a state in which a sheet is set on the platen 12, the first drive mode for performing the peeling at the time of heating and the second mode for performing the peeling at the time of cold are performed by the setting means according to the type of the set sheet.
Select one of the drive modes.

The case where the second drive mode is selected will be described. A motor (not shown) mounted on the carriage 14 rotates a minute amount in either direction as necessary,
The take-up gear 34 is positioned such that its projections 36, 37 are adjacent to the counterclockwise end faces 32a, 33a of the projections 32, 33 of the spacer 28 in FIG. The rotation position of the winding gear 34 is detected by a sensor (not shown).

When a start button (not shown) is pressed in such a state, the thermal head 15 comes to a position close to the platen 12 for printing, and a motor (not shown) as a driving means is activated to drive the carriage 14. It moves in the direction of arrow C shown in FIG. 1, and at the same time, the heating elements of the thermal head 15 are selectively energized according to the image information to start predetermined printing on the paper. Simultaneously with the start of the movement of the carriage 14, the motor (not shown) mounted on the carriage 14 is activated to start the rotation of the winding gear 34.

By the way, in the second drive mode, when the thermal head 15 prints on the paper, the rotation speed of the motor (not shown) for driving the take-up bobbin 21 is controlled by the control means to control the carriage 14. The take-up speed of the take-up bobbin 21 is slower than the moving speed, whereby the length of the ink ribbon which holds the bonded state with the paper gradually increases as the printing progresses on the downstream side of the thermal head 15, and the ink It is possible to perform cold peeling in which the ribbon is peeled from the paper which is the printing target sheet after the ink is appropriately solidified.

On the other hand, if the first drive mode in which the peeling at the time of heat is performed is selected by the setting means according to the type of paper, the carriage
A motor (not shown) mounted on the motor rotates a minute amount in either direction as needed, and the projection 36, 37 of the take-up gear 34 has its protrusions 36, 37, as shown by the solid line in FIG. The protrusions 32, 33 of 28 are positioned adjacent to the opposite sides of the counterclockwise end faces 32a, 33a.

When a start button (not shown) is pressed in such a state, the thermal head 15 comes to a position close to the platen 12 for printing, and a motor (not shown) as a driving means is activated to drive the carriage 14. It moves in the direction of arrow C shown in FIG. 1, and at the same time, the thermal head 15 is energized to start predetermined printing on the paper. Also, the carriage 14
Simultaneously with the start of the movement, the motor (not shown) mounted on the carriage 14 is activated to start the rotation of the winding gear 34. Immediately thereafter, the protrusions 36 and 37 of the winding gear 34 are engaged with the protrusions 32 and 33 of the spacer 28, respectively, and the spacer 2
8 starts to rotate, and further, the pressure contact plate 26 is rotated by the frictional force between the spacer 28 and the take-up bobbin 21, which is a take-up means, is immediately rotated through the support shaft 22 to take up the ink ribbon. Is started. Moreover, the moving speed of the carriage 14 and the winding speed of the winding bobbin 21 are equal. Therefore, the movement of the carriage 14 and the winding of the ink ribbon are started at the same time, the ink ribbon is separated from the paper at the position adjacent to the thermal head 15, and the melted ink is still in a molten state. The peeling can be carried out when the ink ribbon is peeled off while hot.

As described above, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, in addition to the usual peeling at the time of heat performed on the ordinary paper, the thermal head
The ink on the ink ribbon is melted by the 15 heat press contact,
Adhesion with ink because it is possible to perform cold peeling that peels the ink ribbon from the paper after the ink has appropriately solidified and the binding force has become strong after a certain time has passed after it is attached to the paper. Even when printing on paper with weak strength (printed sheet), by performing peeling at cold,
As shown in FIG. 13, the ink layer 38a of the ink ribbon 38 can be transferred to the paper 39 without being cut off in the middle, and the surface of the transferred ink layer 38b can be smoothed. In particular, when printing is performed on a projection sheet used in an overhead project, it is possible to prevent irregular reflection of the printed portion when projecting and to create a more beautiful screen.

The thermal transfer printer for carrying out the printing method for performing cold peeling of the present invention is not limited to the one described above, and other printers can be applied.

For example, a known device as shown in FIGS. 8 to 10 may be used.

To explain this apparatus, the carriage shown in FIG.
A thermal head 41 is mounted on a carriage (not shown) having substantially the same shape as that 14 so as to be rotatable about a support shaft 43 so that the thermal head 41 can be moved toward and away from the platen 42. The thermal head 41 is constantly pressed by the head pressing spring 44.
In addition to being urged in the direction of 42, the cam 45, which will be described later, acts to separate the platen 42 from the pressing force of the head pressing spring 44. A take-up bobbin 46 serving as a take-up means is rotatably supported by the carriage (not shown), and a take-up gear 47 is attached below the take-up bobbin 46.

On the carriage (not shown), a swing arm 48 has a spindle 49.
It is rotatably supported by a worm wheel 50 attached to the lower part of the support shaft 49. And
The worm wheel 50 is connected via a worm 51 to a motor 52 that reversibly rotates. A gear 53 is attached to the upper portion of the support shaft 49, and the gear 53 is a gear rotatably attached to the tip of the revolving arm 48.
It is connected to 54. The gear 54 is adapted to be meshable with the winding gear 47 by the rotation of the turning arm 48. Further, the gear 54 is also capable of meshing with the gear 55 that rotationally drives the cam 45 by the rotation of the turning arm 48.

The position of the thermal head 41 due to the rotation of the cam 45 is detected by the brush 56, and the thermal head 41 is moved to the platen 42.
When it is separated from, the energization to the thermal head 41 is controlled to be stopped.

On the other hand, a motor (not shown) that drives a paper feed roller (not shown), a motor (not shown) that drives the carriage (not shown), and a motor 52 that drives the take-up bobbin 46 are individually controlled by control means (not shown). The drive is controlled. The rotation speed of the motor 52 is variable, and the rotation speed is controlled by the control means. Further, a setting means such as a changeover switch (not shown) is connected to the control means, and the setting means moves the carriage (not shown) by a motor (not shown) which is a driving means at the start of printing. The speed and the first drive mode in which the winding speed of the ink ribbon performed by rotating the winding bobbin 46 as the winding means by the motor 52 mounted on the carriage are equalized, and the moving speed of the carriage causes the ink ribbon to move. A second drive mode for slowing the winding speed can be set.

A printing method by the thermal transfer printer shown in FIGS. 8 to 10 will be described.

First, in the state where the sheet is set on the platen 42, the first drive mode for performing the peeling at the time of heat and the second mode for performing the peeling at the time of cold are performed by the setting means according to the type of the set sheet.
Select one of the drive modes.

The case where the second drive mode is selected will be described. When the thermal head 41 prints on paper, the rotation speed of the motor 52 for driving the take-up bobbin 46 is controlled by the control means to control the carriage (not shown). The winding speed of the winding bobbin 46 is set to be slower than the moving speed of (1), and as a result, the length at which the ink ribbon maintains the joined state with the paper gradually increases as the printing progresses on the downstream side of the thermal head 41. It is possible to perform cold peeling, in which the ink ribbon is peeled from the printing target sheet after the ink is appropriately solidified, and the same effect can be obtained.

Next, a third embodiment of the printing method by the thermal transfer printer according to the present invention will be described.

First, as a modification of the thermal transfer printer shown in FIGS. 1 to 7, the rotation speed of a motor (not shown) for driving the take-up bobbin 21 as the take-up means is made variable as in the first embodiment described above. The rotation speed can be controlled by the control means described above.

Then, a third embodiment of the printing method using such a motor will be described. By selecting the second drive mode by the setting means, a motor (not shown) mounted on the carriage 14 can be used as needed. Then, the take-up gear 34 is rotated by a slight amount in either direction so that the protrusions 36, 37 of the take-up gear 34 are positioned adjacent to the counterclockwise end faces 32a, 33a of the protrusions 32, 33 of the spacer 28 in FIG. Let

When a start button (not shown) is pressed in such a state, the thermal head 15 comes to a position close to the platen 12 for printing, and a motor (not shown) as a driving means is activated to drive the carriage 14. It moves in the direction of arrow C shown in FIG. 1, and at the same time, the thermal head 15 is energized to start predetermined printing on the paper. Also, the carriage 14
Simultaneously with the start of the movement of (1), the motor (not shown) mounted on the carriage 14 is activated to start the rotation of the winding gear 34. Then, after the winding gear 34 is idled by a predetermined angle, the protrusions 36 and 37 of the winding gear 34 are engaged with the protrusions 32 and 33 of the spacer 28, respectively, and the spacer 28 starts rotating. The pressure contact plate 26 is rotated by the frictional force between the pressure contact plate 28 and the winding bobbin 21, and the winding of the ink ribbon is started.

Therefore, the movement of the carriage 14 is started, the printing by the thermal head 15 is started, the rotation of the winding bobbin 21 is started after the carriage 14 is moved by a predetermined amount, and the winding of the ink ribbon is thereby started. Then, the peeling of the ink ribbon attached to the paper, which is the printing target sheet, is started.

On the other hand, the rotation speed of the motor for driving the take-up bobbin 21 is controlled by the control means to make the take-up speed of the ink ribbon by the take-up bobbin 21 slower than the moving speed of the carriage 14.

In this way, not only is the ink ribbon winding start sent when the carriage 14 starts moving, but the ink ribbon winding speed is slowed relative to the moving speed of the carriage 14 to further stabilize the cooling time. Peeling can be performed.

When the first drive mode is selected, the movement of the carriage 14 and the winding of the ink ribbon may be made equal to the start timing and speed.

On the other hand, as a modification of the thermal transfer printer shown in FIGS. 8 to 10, the rotation speed of the motor 52 for driving the winding bobbin 46 as the winding means can be varied, and this rotation speed can be controlled by the above-mentioned control means. Keep it.

Then, the second printing method using such a motor 52
Explaining the embodiment, when the second drive mode is selected and the start button (not shown) is pressed, the motor 52 is driven and the spindle 49 is rotated clockwise through the worm wheel 50. Swivel arm due to frictional force between
48 is rotated in the same direction, and the gear 54 meshes with the gear 55 via another gear (not shown). Then, the cam 45 is rotated and the thermal head 41 is brought close to the platen 42 by the pressing force of the head pressing spring 44.

Therefore, the thermal head 41 is energized in the state of being close to the platen 42, and the carriage is moved to start printing. After that, at an appropriate time, the motor 52 is rotated in the opposite direction to rotate the revolving arm 48 counterclockwise,
The gear 54 meshes with the take-up gear 47 (Fig. 9). And
Further, the motor 52 is rotated in the same direction to rotate the winding bobbin 46, which is a winding means, in the counterclockwise direction to start winding the ink ribbon.

In this way, after the carriage is moved to start the printing by the thermal head 41, the winding of the ink ribbon can be started after an appropriate time has passed, and the drive of the motor 52 is controlled by the control means. Since the winding speed of the ink ribbon is slower than the moving speed of the carriage, it is possible to stably perform cold peeling of the ink ribbon from the paper after the ink is appropriately solidified.
When the first drive mode is selected, the carriage
The movement of 14 and the winding of the ink ribbon may be made equal to the start timing and speed.

The present invention is not limited to the examples described above,
Various changes can be made as necessary.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, the thermal transfer printer according to the present invention is
There is an effect that high-quality printing can be performed by selecting cold peeling or hot peeling depending on the type of the print-receiving sheet.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 to 10 show an embodiment of a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view, FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view of a winding bobbin, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of a spacer. 4 and 5 are bottom views of the spacer, and FIG. 5 is A- of FIG.
A sectional view taken along the line A, FIG. 6 is a plan view of the winding gear, and FIG.
6 is a sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. 6, FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a part of a carriage on which a take-up bobbin different from the take-up bobbin shown in FIG. 2 is mounted, and FIG. 9 is a take-up shown in FIG. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a thermal head or the like different from the take-up bobbin, and FIGS. 11 and 12 (a) to (c) show different printing states of the printing method by the thermal transfer printer according to the present invention. FIG. 13 is a plan view of the carriage shown in FIG. 13, FIG. 13 is a side view of an ink ribbon or the like showing a printing state by a printing method using the thermal transfer printer of the present invention, and FIG. 14 is a side view of an ink ribbon or the like showing a printing state by a conventional method. Is. 12,42 …… Platen, 15,40 …… Thermal head, 20,52
...... Motor, 221,46 …… Winding bobbin, 23 …… Drawing bobbin, 28 …… Spacer, 38 …… Ink layer bobbin, 38a, 38b
…… Ink layer, 39 …… Paper, 57 …… Carriage.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A carriage on which a thermal head is mounted is formed so as to be movable by a driving means, and an ink ribbon sandwiched between a thermal head and a print sheet at the time of printing is formed so as to be wound by a winding means. In the thermal transfer printer in which the driving means and the winding means are controlled by the control means, the carriage is moved by the driving means and the ink ribbon is wound by the winding means when the printing is started, which is connected to the control means. And a moving speed of the carriage by the driving means and the winding speed of the ink ribbon by the winding means, and a movement of the carriage by the driving means to cause the winding means to move the carriage. Delay the start of winding the ink ribbon and Second driving mode and the thermal transfer printer, characterized in that a setting means capable of setting the to slow the winding speed of the ink ribbon by the winding means than the moving speed of the carriage that.