JP2843205B2 - Thermal transfer printer and drive control method thereof - 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 printer and a drive control method thereof, and more particularly, to selectively operating a peeling roller to perform printing by hot peeling and cold peeling according to the type of ink ribbon. The present invention relates to a thermal transfer printer and a drive control method for the thermal transfer printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 9 shows a conventional general thermal transfer printer. A platen 2 in the form of a flat plate is disposed substantially at the center of a frame 1 of the printer so that its printing surface is substantially vertical. A carriage shaft 3 is arranged below the front side of the platen 2 of the frame 1 in parallel with the platen 2. A flange-shaped guide portion 4 is formed at the front edge of the frame 1. A carriage 5 reciprocates along the carriage shaft 3 and the guide portion 4 on the carriage shaft 3 and the guide portion 4. It is movably mounted. The leading end of the carriage 5 faces the platen 2,
A thermal head 6 is attached to the platen 2 by a driving mechanism (not shown) so that the thermal head 6 can be freely moved toward and away from the platen 2. An ink ribbon is housed inside the carriage 5 on the upper surface thereof. A ribbon cassette (not shown) for guiding between the platen and the platen 2 is detachably mounted. Further, the carriage 5
A take-up bobbin 7 for taking up the ink ribbon of the ribbon cassette and a delivery bobbin 8 for delivering the ink ribbon are provided on the upper surface of the ribbon cassette.

[0003] A paper insertion port 9 for feeding paper (not shown) forward of the platen 2 is formed behind the platen 2, and the paper insertion port 9 is formed at a predetermined speed in the paper insertion port 9. A paper feed roller 10 for transporting the paper is provided. Below the paper feed roller 10, a pressure roller 11 that is pressed against the paper feed roller 10 is rotatably disposed, and on one side of the frame, a transmission gear group 12 is provided with the paper feed roller. A paper feed motor 13 that is driven to rotate via a motor is provided. By driving the paper feed motor 13 to rotate the paper feed roller 10, the paper inserted from the paper insertion opening 9 between the paper feed roller 10 and the pressure roller 11 is nipped and conveyed. It has been made to be.

In the conventional printer, paper is inserted from the paper insertion port 9, the paper is sandwiched between the paper feed roller 10 and the pressure roller 11, and the paper feed roller 10 is driven by a paper feed motor 13. By rotating the sheet, the sheet is transported at a predetermined speed in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the carriage 5. On the other hand, with the thermal head 6 pressed against the paper with a predetermined pressing force, the carriage 5 is moved and the winding bobbin 7 is moved.
The thermal head 6 is driven based on a desired print signal while the ink ribbon of the ribbon cassette is being wound by rotating the print head, thereby performing a desired print on the paper.

There are various types of recording paper used for printing. For example, plain paper which is a general recording paper and a light-transmitting plastic sheet used for an overhead projector (OHP) are used. OHP consisting of
For printing on paper, different types of ink ribbons are used.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4A, a base material 1 made of a resin film such as polyethylene terephthalate is used as an ink ribbon 14 used for printing on plain paper.
5, an ink layer 16 composed of a mixture of a dye such as carbon and a resin is laminated, and an overcoat layer 17 composed of a high-viscosity material such as polyamide is laminated on the surface of the ink layer 16. It is constituted by doing.
FIG. 4B shows another example of the ink ribbon 14.
As shown in the figure, between the base material 15 and the ink layer 16,
It is constituted by interposing a heat-soluble release layer 18 made of wax.

When printing on plain paper using such an ink ribbon 14, by driving the thermal head 6, the ink layer 16 at the melted portion of the ink ribbon 14 is still in a high temperature state. When the ink ribbon 14 is in a semi-molten state and the cohesive force between the ink layers 16 is small, the ink ribbon 14 is peeled off from plain paper by heating. For this reason, it is necessary to make the distance between the printing part by the thermal head 6 and the peeling part of the ink ribbon 14 as short as possible.

On the other hand, as an example of the ink ribbon 14 used for printing on the OHP paper, as shown in FIG. 4C, carbon and wax are mixed on the surface of a base material 15 made of a resin film. It is constituted by laminating the ink layers 16 thus formed.

When printing on OHP paper using such an ink ribbon 14, the thermal head 6 is driven to cool and solidify the ink layer 16 at the melted portion, and then the ink ribbon 14 is removed. The ink is peeled off from the OHP paper to perform a cold peeling so that the surface of the transferred ink becomes smooth. Therefore, the printing part by the thermal head 6 and the ink ribbon 14
It is necessary to make the distance from the peeling portion as long as possible.

Thus, printing on plain paper and OHP
Since the position at which the ink ribbon 14 is peeled off from the recording paper differs from the printing on the paper, the plain paper and the O
Conventionally, in a thermal transfer printer capable of performing printing on both HP papers, a peeling roller 19 for varying the peeling position of the ink ribbon 14 is provided as shown in FIG.

That is, on the upper surface of the carriage 5 and on the downstream side of the thermal head 6 in the running direction of the ink ribbon 14, a driving device (not shown) such as a solenoid is rotated between a solid line position and a broken line position in the drawing. Peeling lever 20
Is provided at the tip of the peeling lever 20.
On the downstream side of the thermal head 6 in the running direction of the ink ribbon 14, a peeling roller 19 made of a sponge or the like that comes into contact with or separates from the ink ribbon 14 is formed so as to protrude upward.

When the peeling lever 20 is moved to the position indicated by the solid line in the drawing, the peeling roller 19 is brought into close contact with the platen 2 and pressed against the ink ribbon 14, thereby peeling the ink ribbon 14 from the recording paper. Is delayed, the ink layer of the ink ribbon 14 is cooled and solidified, and then the ink ribbon 14 is peeled off from the recording paper in a cold state. When the peeling lever 20 is moved to the position indicated by the broken line in the figure, In addition, since the peeling roller 19 is separated from the ink ribbon 14 and located in the ribbon cassette 21, the ink ribbon 14 is immediately peeled from the recording paper as the thermal head 6 passes, and the ink of the ink ribbon 14 is removed. When the layer 16 is still in a molten state, hot peeling of the ink ribbon 14 from the recording paper is performed. .

[0013]

However, in such a conventional thermal transfer printer, hot peel printing and cold peel can be performed only by operating the peeling lever to drive the peeling roller toward and away from the platen. Since printing is controlled by switching between printing and printing, there is not much problem in the case of hot peel printing, but in the case of cold peel printing, the same winding force as in hot peel printing is used. Since the ink ribbon is wound up, the peeling roller is separated from the platen due to mounting of the peeling lever, deformation of the sponge of the peeling roller, and the like. However, there is a problem that a sufficient distance cannot be secured until the ink ribbon is peeled off, and proper cold peel printing cannot be performed.

If the winding force of the ink ribbon is set to a low value, it is possible to perform proper cold peeling printing. However, if the hot peeling printing is performed with such a weak winding force, the ink ribbon can be printed. There is a problem that a sufficient peeling force cannot be obtained or a peeling timing is delayed, and in this case, it is not possible to perform appropriate hot peel printing.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned point, and by changing the winding force of the ink ribbon,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a thermal transfer printer capable of appropriately performing both hot peel printing and cold peel printing, and a drive control method thereof.

[0016]

In order to achieve the above object, a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention has a thermal head disposed on a carriage reciprocally movable along a platen, and an ink ribbon on an upper surface of the carriage. A first take-up mechanism for taking up the printed ink ribbon is provided on the carriage, and a printing unit and the first take-up by the thermal head. A second mechanism for obtaining a peeling force for peeling the printed ink ribbon from the paper between the mechanism and the mechanism.
Wherein the winding amount of the ink ribbon by the second winding mechanism is smaller than the winding amount of the ink ribbon by the first winding mechanism. Preferably, the first winding mechanism and the second winding mechanism are driven by the same drive source.

According to a drive control method for a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention, a thermal cassette is provided on a carriage reciprocally movable along a platen, and a ribbon cassette in which an ink ribbon is stored on an upper surface of the carriage. Is detachably mounted, and a first winding mechanism for winding the ink ribbon after printing is provided on the carriage, and between a printing unit by the thermal head and the first winding mechanism, The amount of winding of the ink ribbon by the second winding mechanism of the thermal transfer printer provided with a second winding mechanism for obtaining a peeling force for peeling the printed ink ribbon from the paper is determined by the second winding mechanism. When the ink ribbon is formed so as to be smaller than the winding amount of the ink ribbon by the first winding mechanism, and the ink ribbon for cold release is used as the ink ribbon, The amount of winding of the ink ribbon by the second winding mechanism is made smaller than the amount of movement of the carriage, and the amount of winding of the ink ribbon by the first winding mechanism is made larger than the amount of movement of the carriage. Controlling, when using an ink ribbon for hot release as the ink ribbon, controlling the amount of winding of the ink ribbon by the second winding mechanism to be larger than the moving amount of the carriage. It is characterized by the following.

[0018]

According to the thermal transfer printer of the present invention, the first winding mechanism and the second winding mechanism are provided on the carriage,
The second winding mechanism is adapted to obtain a peeling force for peeling the printed ink ribbon from the paper, and the winding amount of the second winding mechanism is controlled by the winding amount of the first winding mechanism. Each of the ink ribbons for hot peeling and cold peeling is controlled by controlling the winding amount by the second winding mechanism with respect to the moving amount of the carriage. An appropriate peeling force can be obtained according to the type.

Further, according to the drive control method of the thermal transfer printer of the present invention, when the cold peeling ink ribbon is used as the ink ribbon, the amount of winding of the ink ribbon by the second winding mechanism is controlled by the carriage. Since the amount of movement of the ink ribbon by the first winding mechanism is controlled to be larger than the amount of movement of the carriage while being smaller than the moving amount, the ink is rotated by the winding operation of the second winding mechanism. Since almost no tension is applied to the ribbon, even if the peeling lever is attached or the sponge of the peeling roller is deformed, the peeling roller is not separated from the platen, and the ribbon is properly cooled. When peeling printing can be performed, and when using a hot peeling ink ribbon as the ink ribbon,
Since the amount of winding of the ink ribbon by the second winding mechanism is controlled to be larger than the amount of movement of the carriage, the winding operation by the second winding mechanism allows the ink ribbon to be properly adjusted. Tension is applied,
Hot peel printing can be performed with a sufficient peeling force.

[0020]

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

FIGS. 1 and 2 show an embodiment of a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention, which is reciprocally movable along a platen 2 via a drive belt 22 by driving a carriage drive motor (not shown). The carriage 5 is provided with a head contact / separation motor 23 for moving the thermal head 6 to / from the platen 2. A transmission gear 25 is meshed with an output pinion gear 24 of the head contact / separation motor 23. ing. A gear portion 27 formed on the outer peripheral surface of a cam 26 is meshed with the transmission gear 25, and a head contact / separation cam groove 28 is formed on the upper surface of the cam 26.

A support shaft 29 is provided near the platen 2 of the carriage 5. In the present embodiment, the support shaft 29 is, as shown in FIG. It is formed so as to protrude. A substantially T-shaped head lever 30 is attached to the support shaft 29 so as to be swingable about the support shaft 29.
A head mount 31 facing the platen 2 is fixed to a portion of the head lever 30 near the platen 2 by screwing. Platen 2 of this head mount 31
A thermal head 6 is mounted on the opposite surface of the head mounting base 31, and a stopper 32 is provided on the head mounting base 31 so as to project from the rear surface of the head mounting base 31 at a predetermined interval.

A substantially L-shaped head pressure lever 33 is attached to the support shaft 29 so as to be swingable about the support shaft 29.
One end of the cam 26 has a cam groove 28
Is formed. The other end of the head pressure lever 33 is disposed between the back surface of the head mounting base 31 of the head lever 30 and the stopper 32. The other end of the head pressure lever 33 has a spring holding portion 35. Is erected. Further, the spring holding portion 3
A pressure contact spring 36 is interposed between 5 and the head mounting base 31, and the head pressure contact lever 33 is brought into contact with the stopper 32 of the head lever 30 by the urging force of the pressure contact spring 36. In this state, the head pressure lever 33 and the head lever 30 are integrally rotated by the rotation of the cam 26 when the head is moved up and down. Further, a spring support pin 37 protrudes from the carriage 5, and a weak pressure spring 38 having a spring pressure weaker than the strong pressure spring 36 is provided between the spring support pin 37 and the head lever 30. Is applied so that the head lever 30 always applies a biasing force in the direction of pressing the thermal head 6 against the platen 2.

As shown in FIG. 1, the carriage 5 is provided with a take-up bobbin 7 and a delivery bobbin 8 for an ink ribbon 14 as a first take-up mechanism. As shown, a winding gear 39 is coaxially mounted below the winding bobbin 7 via a friction mechanism (not shown). Further, in this embodiment, the carriage 5 is provided with a second winding bobbin 40 as a second winding mechanism, and a second winding bobbin is provided below the second winding bobbin 40. A taking gear 41 is coaxially mounted via a friction mechanism (not shown). The carriage 5 is provided with a transmission gear 42 meshed with the winding gear 39 and the second winding gear 41, respectively. The transmission gear 42 is meshed with an output pinion 44 of a winding motor 43. Have been. The winding bobbin 7 and the second winding bobbin 40 are driven to rotate by the driving of the winding motor 43 via an output pinion 44 and a transmission gear 42, respectively.

A peeling lever 20 urged by a spring (not shown) in a direction away from the platen 2 is rotatably mounted on the rotating shaft of the second winding bobbin 40. A peeling roller 19 made of a sponge or the like is provided so as to protrude upward from a tip end of the roller. The peeling lever 20 is driven to contact and separate from the platen 2 by a solenoid (not shown) or the like.
When the ribbon cassette 21 in which is stored is mounted,
By operating the solenoid, the peeling lever 20 is rotated so that the peeling roller 19 comes into contact with the platen 2.

Further, on the upper surface of the carriage 5, a photo sensor 4 for detecting the end of the ink ribbon to be used and for detecting the color marker of the color ink ribbon.
5 are provided.

A ribbon cassette 21 accommodating the ink ribbon 14 is removably mounted on the upper surface of the carriage 5. The take-up bobbin 7 and the delivery bobbin 7 are mounted on the ribbon cassette 21. 8, a pair of hubs 46 around which the ink ribbon 14 is wound,
46 are provided. The ribbon cassette 21
A guide roller 47 which is engaged with the second take-up bobbin 40 and guides the ink ribbon 14 is provided. A thermal head 6 is inserted into a center portion of the ribbon cassette 21 on the platen 2 side. Recess 48 is formed. Further, the concave portion 4 of the ribbon cassette 21
A notch 49 into which the peeling roller 19 is inserted is formed at a position on one side of 8.

On the upper surface of the carriage 5, a detection switch 50 for detecting the type of the ink ribbon 14 stored in the ribbon cassette 21 is provided. ON / OFF operation of the solenoid and the winding motor 4
The switching of the drive control of No. 3 is performed.
For example, two types of the ribbon cassette 21 are prepared: a ribbon cassette 21 containing an ink ribbon 14 for cold separation and a ribbon cassette 21 containing an ink ribbon 14 for hot separation. A concave portion (not shown) is formed at the bottom of the ribbon cassette containing the ink ribbon for time release, and the bottom of the ribbon cassette containing the ink ribbon for cold release is formed flat. By doing so, when the ribbon cassette of the hot release ink ribbon is mounted on the carriage 5, the detection switch 50 remains OFF, and when the ribbon cassette of the cold release ink ribbon is mounted, , The detection switch 50 is turned on.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

First, when the ribbon cassette 21 containing the ink ribbon 14 for hot separation is mounted on the carriage 5 and normal printing is performed on plain paper or the like, the head contact / separation motor 23 is driven to drive the cam. By rotating 26 to the right, the head pressure contact lever 33 is pivoted rightward, and accordingly, the head lever 30 is also pivoted via the high pressure contact spring 36. As a result, the head pressure lever 33 is separated from the stopper 32 of the head mount 31,
The head mounting base 31 is pressed by the spring holding portion 35 of the head pressing lever 33 via the strong pressing spring 36. In this state, since the urging force of the low pressure contact spring 38 is applied to the head lever 30, the urging force of the high pressure contact spring 36 and the urging force of the low pressure contact spring 38 are added to the head mount 31. The thermal head 6 is pressed against the platen 2 with a strong pressing force.

At this time, the ribbon cassette 2 for hot peeling
In FIG. 1, since the concave portion is formed, the detection switch 50 of the carriage 5 is not pushed, and the solenoid is not operated while the detection switch 50 is kept OFF. As a result, the peeling lever 20 is rotated. Instead, the peeling roller 19 is held at the same position.

In this state, the carriage driving motor is driven to move the carriage 5 via the drive belt 22, and the winding motor 43 is driven to drive the winding bobbin 7 and the second While rotating the take-up bobbin 40 to take up the ink ribbon 14 of the ribbon cassette 21, the thermal head 6 is driven based on a desired print signal to perform printing on predetermined paper. . At this time, since the thermal head 6 is pressed with a strong pressing force, good printing can be performed.

In this case, in this embodiment, by controlling the driving frequency of the winding motor 43 to be higher, the winding amount of the second winding bobbin 40 becomes larger than the moving amount of the carriage 5. For example, the winding amount is set to be 1 to the moving amount of the carriage 5.
By setting the ink ribbon 14 to about 05 to 110%, the ink ribbon 14 is always wound up with tension, and
The ink ribbon 14 can be peeled from the paper with a sufficient peeling force.

Next, when the ribbon cassette 21 containing the ink ribbon 14 for cold separation is mounted on the carriage 5 and printing is performed on OHP paper, the head contact / separation motor 23 is driven to drive the cam 26. By rotating
The head pressing lever 33 swings rightward together with the head lever 30, and the pin 34 of the head pressing lever 33 is located at the innermost part of the head contact / separation cam groove 28. Is formed large, a gap is formed between the pin 34 of the head pressure lever 33 and the cam groove 28 for head contact / separation. As a result, the head pressure contact lever 33 is rotated so as to abut against the stopper 32 by the urging force of the strong pressure contact spring 36, so that the thermal head 6 is pressed against the platen 2 by the urging force of only the weak pressure contact spring 38. , And printing can be performed with a weak pressing force as compared with normal printing.

Further, since the concave portion is not formed in the ribbon cassette 21 containing the ink ribbon for cold separation, the detection switch 50 is provided by the bottom surface of the ribbon cassette.
Is turned on, the solenoid is operated, the peeling lever 20 is rotated, the peeling roller 19 is pressed by the platen 2, and the peeling distance of the ink ribbon 14 is increased.

In this state, the carriage 5 is similarly moved, and the take-up motor 43 is driven to rotate the take-up bobbin 7 and the second take-up bobbin 40 via the transmission gear 42 to rotate the ribbon cassette. By driving the thermal head 6 based on a desired print signal while winding the ink ribbon 14 of 21, printing is performed on predetermined paper.

In this case, in this embodiment, the drive of the winding motor is switched by the ON operation of the detection switch 50, and the driving frequency of the winding motor 43 is controlled to be lower, whereby the second winding is performed. While the winding amount of the bobbin 40 becomes smaller than the moving amount of the carriage 5,
The winding amount of the winding bobbin 7 is set to be larger than the moving amount of the carriage 5. By setting the amount of winding of the second winding bobbin 40 to, for example, about 90 to 95% of the amount of movement of the carriage 5 in this manner, almost no tension is applied to the ink ribbon 14. That is, even when the peeling lever 20 is attached or the sponge of the peeling roller 19 is deformed, the peeling roller 19 is not separated from the platen 2. Moreover, the winding operation by the winding bobbin 7 allows
The winding operation can be performed while applying an appropriate tension to the ink ribbon 14 without the ink ribbon 14 being loosened.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the second winding portion, in which the amount of winding of the ink ribbon 14 is smaller than that of the winding bobbin 7,
By providing a take-up bobbin 40 and controlling the drive frequency of the take-up motor 43, the take-up amount of the ink ribbon 14 by the second take-up bobbin 40 is changed with respect to the movement amount of the carriage 5. Therefore, when performing cold peel printing, it is possible to prevent separation of the peel roller 19 from the platen 2 and perform proper printing.
When performing hot peel printing, the ink ribbon 14 can be peeled off from the paper with an appropriate peeling force, and proper hot peel printing can be performed.

Further, since only the ribbon cassette 21 of the ribbon cassette 21 in which the ink ribbon 14 for hot separation is stored is formed with a concave portion in which the detection switch 50 is not operated, the type of the ink ribbon 14 can be changed. The switching of the drive control of the winding motor and the operation of contacting / separating the peeling lever 20 can be performed according to the above.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be variously modified as needed.

[0041]

As described above, the thermal transfer printer according to the present invention and the drive control method therefor are provided with a second winding mechanism having a smaller amount of ink ribbon winding than the first winding mechanism. Since the amount of winding of the ink ribbon by the second winding mechanism is controlled, it is possible to prevent separation of the peeling roller from the platen and perform proper printing when performing cold peeling printing. In addition, when performing hot peel printing, it is possible to peel off the ink ribbon from the paper with an appropriate peeling force, and to perform appropriate hot peel printing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a carriage portion of the thermal transfer printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a conventional general thermal transfer printer.

4 (A) and 4 (B) are cross-sectional views each showing a conventional ink ribbon for hot release, and FIG. 4 (C) is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional ink ribbon for cold release.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a peeling roller structure of a conventional thermal transfer printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Platen 5 Carriage 6 Thermal head 7 Take-up bobbin 14 Ink ribbon 19 Peeling roller 20 Peeling lever 21 Ribbon cassette 40 Second take-up bobbin 43 Take-up motor 50 Detection switch

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B41J 33/36 B41J 32/00 B41J 33/14 B41J 35/04

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A thermal head is provided on a carriage reciprocally movable along a platen, and a ribbon cassette containing an ink ribbon is removably mounted on an upper surface of the carriage, and the printing is performed on the carriage. A first take-up mechanism for winding up the ink ribbon after printing, and a peeling-off mechanism for peeling off the printed ink ribbon from the paper between the printing section by the thermal head and the first take-up mechanism. A second winding mechanism for obtaining a force is provided so that the winding amount of the ink ribbon by the second winding mechanism is smaller than the winding amount of the ink ribbon by the first winding mechanism. A thermal transfer printer, wherein the thermal transfer printer is formed. 2. The thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, wherein the first winding mechanism and the second winding mechanism are driven by the same drive source. 3. A thermal head is disposed on a carriage reciprocally movable along a platen, and a ribbon cassette containing an ink ribbon is removably mounted on an upper surface of the carriage, and the printing is performed on the carriage. A first take-up mechanism for winding up the ink ribbon after printing, and a peeling-off mechanism for peeling off the printed ink ribbon from the paper between the printing section by the thermal head and the first take-up mechanism. In the thermal transfer printer having a second winding mechanism for obtaining force, the amount of ink ribbon wound by the second winding mechanism is reduced by the amount of ink ribbon wound by the first winding mechanism. When the ink ribbon for cold separation is used as the ink ribbon, the winding amount of the ink ribbon by the second winding mechanism may be reduced. While controlling the amount of movement of the carriage to be smaller than the amount of movement of the carriage, the amount of winding of the ink ribbon by the first winding mechanism is controlled to be larger than the amount of movement of the carriage, and an ink ribbon for hot separation is used as the ink ribbon. And controlling the amount of winding of the ink ribbon by the second winding mechanism to be greater than the amount of movement of the carriage.