JP3032403B2 - Line thermal printer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a line thermal printer for performing printing using a thermal head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a line thermal printer having a structure in which a plurality of heating elements arranged in a main scanning direction are selectively driven and a desired printing is performed on a sheet by conveying the sheet in a sub-scanning direction is known. Exist. As a conventional example of such a line thermal printer, a line thermal printer mainly used as a label printer is illustrated in FIGS.

[0003] First, a label paper 3 is provided in which a long backing paper 2 to which a plurality of labels 1 are attached is wound in a roll shape, and the label paper 3 is held on a paper supply shaft 4. A paper path 5 for guiding the label paper 3 pulled out from the paper supply shaft 4 to a predetermined path is provided, and a printing position P in the printing unit 6 is provided in the paper path 5.

The printing unit 6 has a platen 7 which is driven by a driving unit (not shown) and rotates, and a plurality of heating elements 8 arranged on a line about several mm (5 to 10 mm) behind the edge portion E. A line-type thermal head 9 and a ribbon supply device 14 for guiding the ink ribbon 13 to a predetermined ribbon path 12 from the ribbon supply shaft 10 to the ribbon take-up shaft 11
And is formed by. Here, the thermal head 9
The heating element 8 is disposed opposite to the platen 7 with the paper path 5 interposed therebetween, and is rotatably held about a fulcrum 15 so that the heating element 8 can be freely moved toward and away from the platen 7. The portion is biased toward the platen 7 side. The ribbon path 12 is bent at an edge E of the thermal head 9 in a direction away from the paper path 5 through a printing position P where the heating element 8 of the thermal head 9 contacts the platen 7.

[0005] Then, the paper path 5 is shifted more than the printing unit 6.
A label peeling plate 16 that bends the mount 2 at an acute angle and separates the label 1 from the mount 2 is provided on the downstream side. The mount 2 bent by the label peeling plate 16 is wound around a mount winding shaft (not shown), and the label 1 peeled from the mount 2 is issued from a label issuing port (not shown).

With such a structure, the label paper 3 in the paper path 5 is conveyed by the rotation of the platen 7, and in the course of the conveyance of the label paper 3, desired contents such as, for example, the label 1 are printed on the label 1 by the thermal head 9. Characters, bar codes, etc. are printed. That is, the heating elements 8 arranged in the main scanning direction are selectively driven, and the label paper 3 is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction, whereby the ink on the ink ribbon 13 is transferred to the label 1 and printing is performed. You. During printing, the ink ribbon 13 is wound around the ribbon winding shaft 11 in synchronization with the transport of the label paper 3, and the label paper 3 and the ink ribbon 13 pass through the print position P at the same speed.

[0007] The label paper 3 which has been conveyed to the platen 7 and has passed the printing position P, has only the backing paper 2 wound on a backing paper winding shaft (not shown). At this time, since the mount 2 is sharply bent by the label peeling plate 16, the printed label 1 is separated from the mount 2, and the peeled label 1 is issued from a label issuing port (not shown). The ink ribbon 13 that has passed the printing position P is several mm from the printing position P.
At the downstream edge portion E, the label 1 is guided by the ribbon path 12 that is bent in a direction away from the sheet path 5 and is separated from the label 1. At this time, the ink transferred to the label 1 is left on the label 1.

[0008]

The ink ribbon 13 includes a cold release ribbon and a hot release ribbon. The cold peeling ribbon is used to peel off the ink that has been melt-transferred onto the paper by being heated by the heating element 8 of the thermal head 9 and cooled and solidified from the paper. For this cold release ribbon, the hot release ribbon is
It is used so that the ink that has been melt-transferred onto the paper by being heated by the heating element 8 is peeled off from the paper while it is in a hot and molten state. High-speed printing is possible, and good transfer is possible even on paper with poor surface properties. It has features such as In the hot release ribbon, when the ink that has been melt-transferred onto the paper cools and solidifies, the ink adheres more strongly to the ribbon than to the paper. Therefore, when the ink ribbon is peeled off from the paper after the ink cools down, the ink that should be transferred to the paper adheres to the ink ribbon side and peels off from the paper together with the ink ribbon. Is greatly impaired.

Here, in the conventional printer, the printing position P where the platen 7 and the heating element 8 are in contact with each other is located several mm behind the edge E of the thermal head 9 as described above.
That is, the ink ribbon 13 cannot be peeled off from the sheet immediately after heating by the heating element 8 because the thermal head 9 is in the way. For this reason, the ink ribbon 13 could not be peeled from the paper while the ink was in a molten state, and therefore, good printing could not be performed with the hot ribbon.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a line thermal printer for performing printing using a hot-release ribbon, comprising: a thermal head having a plurality of heating elements arranged on a line at an edge portion; A platen that forms a print position in contact with the paper, a paper path from the paper supply unit to the paper discharge unit through the print position, and a fulcrum positioned upstream of the paper path from the print position. A head holding unit that freely holds the thermal head with the edge portion directed downstream of the paper path and is urged toward the paper path to cause the heating element to contact the platen; At the edge portion of the printing position from the paper path in a direction away from the paper path and leading to the ribbon winding section, and one end pivotally supported at a fulcrum to be rotatable.
And the tip is the edge portion and the ribbon
The hot stripping is guided along the ribbon path between the winding section and the winding section.
The hot release ribbon is conveyed together with the sheet guided along the paper path from the edge portion by applying tension to the hot release ribbon by rotating by its own weight, facing the release ribbon, thereby causing the hot release ribbon to rotate at this time. And a tensioner for peeling off the paper immediately after heating in a state where the peeling ribbon is in a molten state.

[0011]

In the paper guided along the paper path, the ink of the hot peel ribbon melted by the heat generated by the heating element formed at the edge portion of the thermal head at the printing position is transferred to perform printing. Then, the hot release ribbon that has passed the printing position
At the edge portion, it is bent in a direction away from the paper path and is wound on the ribbon winding section. Here, since the heating element is formed at the edge of the thermal head, the hot release ribbon is separated from the paper immediately after heating by the heating element. Further, when the rise of the printing, for such inertia and backlash of the driving unit for driving the ribbon roll-up unit, the take-up of heat during peeling ribbon <br/> is but slightly delayed, in the present invention, the tensioner heat
In this case, heat is applied to remove the slack by applying tension to the release ribbon.
The release ribbon does not sag. For this reason, when the winding of the ribbon winding section is delayed, the tension releaser absorbs the delay, so that the hot peeling ribbon is in a molten state.
Immediately after the heating , the sheet is guided by a ribbon peeling path which is bent in a direction away from the paper path at an edge portion of the thermal head and peels off from the paper. Therefore, even at the start of printing,
The hot release ribbon peels off the paper immediately after being heated by the heating element, thereby preventing a decrease in print quality at the time of starting printing.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A label printer according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. Inside a main body case (not shown), a paper supply shaft 30 as a paper supply unit and a printing unit 31 are provided adjacent to each other. Then, from the paper supply shaft 30 to the printing position P of the printing unit 31, after passing through the printing position P, it is divided into two paths of a straight traveling direction and a bending direction. A paper path 32 is formed to reach the unmounted mount winding shaft. A part of the paper path 32 is formed in a straight line upstream and downstream of a predetermined range of the printing position P.
It has become. In the vicinity of the downstream side of the printing position P, there is provided a label peeling plate 34 which bends one of the paper paths 32 at an acute angle and divides the paper path 32 into two paths. That is, the paper path 32 is bent by the label peeling plate 34 to the mount winding axis,
The part that is not bent is formed as the straight path 33 so as to reach a label issuing port (not shown) as a paper discharge unit.

Here, a label paper 35 is held on the paper supply shaft 30. The label paper 35 is formed by winding a long mount paper 37 to which a plurality of labels 36 are attached in a roll shape.

The printing unit 31 includes a platen 38 driven and rotated by a driving unit (not shown), a line-type thermal head 40 in which a plurality of heating elements 39 are arranged on a line at an edge portion E, and A ribbon supply device 45 that guides the ink ribbon 44 to a predetermined ribbon path 43 from a ribbon supply shaft 41, which is a ribbon supply unit, through a printing position P to a ribbon take-up shaft 42, which is a ribbon take-up unit. I have. Here, a part of the ribbon path 43 is bent at the edge portion E of the thermal head 40 in a direction away from the straight path 33 to be a ribbon peeling path 43a. Further, the thermal head 40 is held by a head holding portion 47 that is rotatable about a fulcrum 46. As a result, the heating element 39 faces the platen 38 with the paper path 32 interposed therebetween, and the head holding section 47 rotates about the fulcrum 46 so that the heating element 39 moves relative to the platen 38. It is positioned so that it can come and go freely. Further, the thermal head 40 held by the head holding portion 47
Are positioned so as to be inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the straight path 33, and are arranged so as not to interfere with the straight path 33. An urging portion (not shown) for urging the head holding portion 47 is provided, and the head holding portion 47 is urged by the urging portion, so that the heating element 39 moves the platen at the printing position P. 38.

Next, a paper path frame 48 and a ribbon path frame 49 for holding the components of the printing unit 31 and forming the paper path 32 are provided. The paper path frame 48 has a substantially rectangular shape, and the paper path frame 48
A paper width guide 50, a paper holding roller 51, and an externally wound paper guide 52 are attached at the corner closest to zero. In other words, the paper width guide 50 has a structure in which a pair of guide plates 50a opposed to each other at a position that regulates the width direction of the paper path 32 are attached to and separated from each other. The paper holding roller 51 is connected to the paper path 3.
2 and a capstan roller 53 and a pinch roller 54
And the pinch roller 54 is pressed against the capstan roller 53 by a leaf spring 55. The externally wound paper guide 52 has a fan shape, and the label paper 35 which is the externally wound paper held on the paper supply shaft 30 by an arc portion thereof.
Is guided to the paper holding roller 51. The paper path frame 48 includes the paper holding roller 51.
Is located in the corner adjacent to the corner where
The platen 38 is rotatably mounted, and the label peeling plate 34 is mounted. Each part is positioned such that a contact line between the capstan roller 53 and the pinch roller 54 and an outer peripheral surface of the platen 38 are in contact with a plane including an upper surface of the paper path frame 48. The path 33 has been established. In the straight path 33, a transmission type paper sensor 56 is disposed at a downstream side near the paper holding roller 51.

Next, the upstream ribbon supporting portion 57 and the downstream ribbon forming the ribbon path 43 are formed in the ribbon path frame 49 at the upstream and downstream sides of the printing position P in the ribbon path 43, respectively. A support portion 58 is formed. A transmission type ribbon sensor 59 is provided between the upstream ribbon support portion 57 and the printing position P in the ribbon path 43. The ribbon sensor 59 includes the thermal head 4
An upstream ribbon guide 60 that supports and guides the ink ribbon 44 at the time of head-up of 0 is formed. In the vicinity of the downstream ribbon support portion 58, a downstream ribbon guide 61 that supports and guides the ink ribbon 44 together with the downstream ribbon fulcrum 58 when the thermal head 40 is raised is formed. That is, the ink ribbon 44 is supported by the upstream ribbon support portion 57, the edge portion E of the thermal head 40, and the downstream ribbon support portion 58 in the head set state, and is supported by the upstream ribbon support portion in the head up state. Support part 5
7 and the upstream ribbon guide 60, and the downstream ribbon support portion 58 and the downstream ribbon guide 61. The thermal ribbon 40 is in a head-up state.
Each part is positioned so as not to interfere with the straight line connecting the downstream ribbon guide 61 and the downstream ribbon guide 61.

Further, a tensioner 6 for removing slack of the ink ribbon 44 downstream of the thermal head 40.
2 is provided in the ribbon supply device 45. The tensioner 62 has one end rotatably attached to a fixed frame (not shown) at a fulcrum 63, so that the tip 62 a of the tensioner 62 is located between the downstream ribbon support portion 58 and the ribbon winding shaft 42. It is configured so as to face the ink ribbon 44 and further rotate around the fulcrum 63 by its own weight so that the tip end 62 a thereof comes into contact with the ink ribbon 44.

In such a configuration, the label paper 35 in the paper path 32 is conveyed by the rotation of the platen 38, and in the course of the conveyance of the label paper 35, desired contents, for example, characters, are added to the label 36 by the thermal head 40. And bar codes are printed. That is, the heating elements 39 arranged in the main scanning direction are selectively driven, and the label paper 35 is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction, so that the ink of the ink ribbon 44 is transferred to the label 36 and printing is performed. You. At the time of printing, the ink ribbon 44 is wound around the ribbon winding shaft 42 in synchronization with the transport of the label paper 35, and the label paper 35 and the ink ribbon 4
4 pass the print position P at the same speed.

The label paper 35 which has been conveyed to the platen 38 and passed through the printing position P is wound on a mount winding shaft (not shown). At this time, since the mount 37 is sharply bent by the label peeling plate 34, the printed label 36 is separated from the mount 37, and the peeled label 36 is issued from the label issuing port.

The ink ribbon 44 that has passed the printing position P is wound around the ribbon winding shaft 42 to form a ribbon peeling path 43a which is bent in a direction away from the paper path 32 at the edge portion E of the thermal head 40. It is guided and peels off from the label 36. In this embodiment, since the heating element 39 is formed at the edge E of the thermal head 40, the ink ribbon 44 is peeled off the label 36 immediately after the heating by the heating element 39. Therefore, the ink ribbon 44 is peeled from the label 36 while the ink that has been heated by the heating element 39 and melt-transferred to the label 36 is in a hot molten state. Therefore, good printing can be performed with the hot release ribbon, and high-speed printing and transfer to paper having poor surface properties, which are characteristics of the hot release ribbon, can be performed satisfactorily.

Also, at the time of printing start, the ribbon winding shaft 4
The winding of the ink ribbon 44 is slightly delayed due to inertia or backlash of the driving unit for driving the ink ribbon 2, but in this embodiment, the tensioner 62 is rotated by its own weight to remove the slack of the ink ribbon 44. Is acting on
Even in such a case, the ink ribbon 44 does not sag. That is, if the winding of the ribbon winding shaft 42 is delayed, the tensioner 62 absorbs the delay, and the ink ribbon 44 is bent in the direction away from the paper path 32 at the edge portion E of the thermal head 40. It is guided along the ribbon peeling path 43a to be peeled off from the label 36. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the ink ribbon 44 can be peeled off the label 36 immediately after the heating by the heating element 39 even at the time of the rising of the printing, and the deterioration of the printing quality at the time of the rising of the printing can be prevented.

In this embodiment, an example in which the label paper 35 is used as the recording medium has been described. However, the apparatus of this embodiment is not limited to the continuous paper and the cut-sheet paper. General paper can also be used.

[0023]

According to the present invention, there is provided a thermal head having a plurality of heating elements arranged on a line at an edge portion, a platen in contact with the heating element to form a printing position, and a paper path to the sheet discharge unit through the print
Centered on a fulcrum located on the upstream side of the paper path from the position
The thermal head is held rotatably with the edge portion facing the downstream side of the paper path, and
The heating element against the platen.
A head holding unit to be brought into contact with a ribbon path extending from the ribbon supply unit at the edge portion of the printing position in a direction away from the paper path to a ribbon winding unit; and a downstream side of the edge portion in the ribbon path. With the ribbon path
Giving tension to the heat during the peeling ribbon guided the
A sheet guided along the sheet path from the edge portion;
The hot release ribbon conveyed together with this hot release ribbon
And a tensioner that peels off the paper immediately after heating in a molten state, so that the hot peel ribbon is peeled off from the paper immediately after heating by the heating element, and is heated by the heating element. The hot release ribbon can be peeled from the paper while the ink that has been melt-transferred onto the paper is hot and molten, so that good printing can be performed with the hot release ribbon. High-speed printing and transfer to paper with poor surface properties, which are characteristics of ribbons, can be performed satisfactorily. Further, at the start of printing, the winding of the ink ribbon is slightly delayed due to inertia and backlash of the driving unit for driving the ribbon winding unit, but in the present invention, the tensioner applies tension to the hot release ribbon. Since it acts to remove the slack, even in such a case, it is possible to prevent the heat-peeling ribbon from sagging. Therefore, when the winding of the ribbon take-up portion is delayed, by tensioner absorbs the delay, hot
Peeling ribbon, by guiding the ribbon stripping path bent in a direction away from the paper path at the edge portions of the thermal head immediately after the heating is in a molten state can be peeled from the paper, therefore, even when the rise of printing, thermal When peeling ribo
The heating element is peeled off from the paper immediately after heating by the heating element, thereby preventing a decrease in printing quality at the time of printing start.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention and is a side view of a paper path from a paper supply unit via a printing unit to a label release plate and a printing unit.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view showing a printing unit.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view illustrating a printing unit in a state where a thermal head is raised.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing an arrangement state of a thermal head with respect to a platen.

FIG. 5 is a side view of a paper path from a paper supply unit to a label release plate via a printing unit and a printing unit, showing an example of the related art. It is.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing an arrangement state of a thermal head with respect to a platen.

[Explanation of symbols]

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 30 paper feed section 32 paper path 33 straight path 38 platen 39 heating element 40 thermal head 41 ribbon supply section 42 ribbon winding section 43 ribbon path 44 hot release ribbon (ink ribbon) 47 head holding section 62 tensioner E edge section P printing position

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-4-166378 (JP, A) JP-A-3-218858 (JP, A) JP-A-4-234672 (JP, A) JP-A-58-58 7376 (JP, A) Japanese Utility Model Showa 61-56058 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 61-53156 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 4-76465 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 2/32-2/325 B41J 33/52 B41J 35/08 B41J 3/407 B65C 9/46

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] In a line thermal printer for performing printing using a hot release ribbon, a thermal head in which a plurality of heating elements are arranged on a line at an edge portion, and a printing position is formed in contact with the heating element. A platen, a paper path from the paper supply section to the paper discharge section through the print position, and a fulcrum located on the upstream side of the paper path from the print position as a center. A head holding unit that holds the thermal head toward the downstream side of the path and urges the heating element against the platen by being urged toward the paper path; At one end , a ribbon path that bends in a direction away from the paper path to reach the ribbon winding section;
It is pivotally mounted on a fulcrum and is pivotally mounted, with its tip
The ribbon path between the edge portion and the ribbon winding section;
Facing the hot release ribbon guided along the road,
By rotating the hot release ribbon, the hot release ribbon is conveyed together with the sheet guided along the paper path from the edge portion , whereby the hot release ribbon is in a molten state. A line thermal printer comprising: a tensioner that peels off the sheet immediately after heating.