JP3089923B2 - Thermal transfer 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 thermal transfer printer, and more particularly to a thermal transfer printer for transferring ink on an ink ribbon to paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a thermal transfer printer has a supply roller and a take-up roller around which an ink ribbon is wound, a platen roller for transporting paper as a recording medium, and the like. The ink ribbon is sequentially coated with ink of each color such as yellow, magenta, and cyan in the longitudinal direction.
A thermal head is provided on a transport path of the ink ribbon from the supply roller to the take-up roller, and the thermal head transfers the ink to the paper by heating the ink ribbon while abutting the ink ribbon on the paper.

In a conventional thermal transfer printer, when power is turned on, it is detected whether or not paper is left in a conveyance path of a recording medium, and if paper is left, a jam is displayed on a display unit to display a jam. Was stopped.

Although the field is different from that of a thermal transfer printer, in the field of an electrophotographic copying machine, even if a sheet remains in the apparatus by driving a roller of a recording paper conveyance system when power is turned on. There is also a proposal for detecting a jam after discharging.

[0005]

When a communication error occurs during printing or when the power is turned off during printing and the printing operation is interrupted, printing is performed again on another recording medium. Will be. When the power is turned on with the recording medium remaining in the apparatus, a jam is displayed and the apparatus is stopped.If the apparatus is stopped, the user opens the apparatus and removes the recording medium remaining in the apparatus. The device had to be started up again, which was extremely inconvenient. Further, the control proposed in the field of the electrophotographic copying machine described above, that is,
When a control such as driving the recording medium conveyance system immediately after turning on the power and immediately discharging the remaining recording medium is applied to the thermal transfer printer, in the case of the thermal transfer printer, particularly, the recording medium and the ink film come into close contact with each other. In some cases, the ink ribbon is caught in the transport system of the recording medium, causing the device to malfunction, or the ink ribbon is broken and the remaining ink ribbon cannot be used. .

Accordingly, the present invention provides a method for controlling the remaining recording medium and the ink film even if the apparatus is returned to an operable state in a state where the recording medium remains in the printer due to a communication error or interruption of power. Since the residual recording medium is ejected after peeling, printing is started smoothly when the power supply is turned on and the transport system of the recording medium is immediately driven to prevent the ink ribbon from getting caught and jamming. It aims to be able to do it.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to claim 1 comprises a first roller and a second roller for winding an ink ribbon on which ink is applied, and an ink ribbon. A thermal transfer printer having a thermal head for transferring the applied ink to a sheet-fed recording medium, a driving unit for driving at least one of the first roller and the second roller to wind up an ink ribbon; Pressing means for pressing or releasing the thermal head so as to sandwich the ink ribbon and the sheet-shaped recording medium between the platen roller, and conveying the sheet-shaped recording medium to the transfer position, and conveying from the transfer position to the discharge position Transport means to
A power supply that supplies power to the driving unit, the pressing unit, and the transporting unit; and a control unit that controls operations of the driving unit, the pressing unit, and the transporting unit. Is turned on, the pressing of the thermal head by the pressing unit is released, the driving unit is driven to wind up the ink ribbon, and the conveying unit is driven to discharge the sheet-shaped recording medium. Is a thermal transfer printer.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a first roller and a second roller for winding an ink ribbon on which ink is applied.
A driving unit for driving a first roller or a second roller to wind and rewind an ink ribbon in a thermal transfer printer including a roller and a thermal head for transferring the ink applied to the ink ribbon onto a recording medium in a superimposed manner; Conveying means for conveying the recording medium to the transfer position, conveying from the transfer position to the discharge position, detecting means for detecting the remaining recording medium in the apparatus, the driving means, control means for controlling the operation of the conveying means, The control unit drives the driving unit to wind up the ink ribbon based on the detection result of the detection unit, and then drives the conveyance unit to perform a discharge operation of the recording medium. It is a thermal transfer printer.
Further, the thermal transfer printer according to claim 1 or 2 may have a storage unit for storing a status of the printer. In this case, the control unit checks the storage unit and determines whether a jam has occurred. When the recording medium remains, the control may be performed so that the recording medium is not ejected (claim 3).

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the ink ribbon is wound up by the control by the control means even when the remaining recording medium in the apparatus and the ink ribbon are in close contact with each other. And the remaining recording medium is automatically ejected after the slack of the ink ribbon is wound up. According to the second aspect of the present invention, even when the residual recording medium in the apparatus and the ink ribbon are in close contact with each other, the ink ribbon is taken up by the control by the control means, and the ink ribbon and the recording medium are separated. And the remaining recording medium is automatically discharged after the slack of the ink ribbon is wound off.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a thermal transfer color printer according to one embodiment of the present invention. The thermal transfer color printer shown in this figure has a main body frame 10 and a cover 17 provided on the upper part of the main body frame so as to be freely opened and closed. Frame 10
A paper cassette 24 for accommodating a plurality of papers 18 is detachably provided on the front surface (the left side in the drawing) of FIG. 1, and a lifting plate 25 is provided inside the paper cassette 24. The lifting plate 25 is configured to be vertically movable by a motor (not shown), and lifts the leading end of the paper 18, which is one of the stored sheet-like recording media, toward the pickup roller 26. The pickup roller 26 feeds the paper 18 on the paper feed tray 24 to the paper feed roller 2.
7. The sheet is conveyed to the separating roller 28. The separating roller 28 separates the paper 18 one by one by rotating in a direction opposite to the conveying direction of the paper 18. An OHP sheet or the like may be considered as a sheet-like recording medium other than paper. The platen roller 11, the thermal head 14, the ribbon cassette 20, and the like are disposed near the paper feed roller 27 and the separating roller 28. Ribbon cassette 20
Is configured to be detachable from the main body frame 10, and includes a supply roller (first roller) 21, a winding roller (second roller) 2
2 is provided. An ink ribbon 23 is stretched between the supply roller 21 and the take-up roller 22.
With the rotation of 2, the ink ribbon 23 travels from the supply roller 21 to the take-up roller 22. The ink ribbon 23 has a thickness of 3 to 10 μm, and inks of yellow, magenta, and cyan are sequentially applied in the longitudinal direction. Note that black ink may be applied in addition to these three colors. Ribbon sensor 42
Detects the color of the ink on the ink ribbon 23 near the thermal head 14. The paper sensor Ph disposed near the ribbon sensor 42 detects the leading end of the paper 18. The paper 18 is held between a platen roller 11 and a grip roller (not shown) provided on both sides of the thermal head 14. A sponge roller 29 whose surface is formed of a sponge having elasticity is provided on a traveling path of the ink ribbon 23 from the supply roller 21 to the winding roller 22. The ink ribbon 23 is in contact with the sponge roller 29 and rotates as the ink ribbon 23 travels. The thermal head 14 is a fan 16
In addition, the bracket 1 is rotatable around the shaft 12.
3 is fixed. The thermal head 14 includes a plurality of heating elements arranged in a line, and transfers the ink to the paper 18 by thermally dissolving the ink on the ink ribbon 23. An eccentric cam 15 is in contact with the upper part of the thermal head 14, and the thermal head 14 moves up and down with the rotation of the eccentric cam 15. That is, when the thermal head 14 moves downward,
Indicates the ink ribbon 23 on the paper 1 on the platen roller 11
When the thermal head 14 moves upward while pressing against the ink ribbon 8, the ink ribbon 23 is separated from the paper 18.
At a substantially central position in the main body frame 10, there is provided a paper retreat conveyance path formed by the inner guide plate 31 and the outer guide plate 33. The inner guide plate 31 includes a curved portion 31a and a horizontal portion 31b, and the outer guide plate 33 is disposed so as to be parallel to the inner guide plate 31. Furthermore, the inner guide 3 on the paper transport path
A paper transport sensor Pt is provided near the joint between the curved portion 31a and the horizontal portion 31b. Inner guide plate 3
A jam processing roller 34 is disposed in the vicinity of the first horizontal portion 31b.
Paper 18 having a paper jam between the outer guide plates 33
Is discharged to the platen roller 11 side or the opposite side. In the drawing, reference numerals 36 and 38 denote paper discharge rollers, which discharge the paper onto which the multicolored ink has been transferred to the paper discharge tray 35. The solenoid 37 presses or releases one discharge roller 38 against the other discharge roller 36. Specifically, the pressure contact is released when the paper 18 is being conveyed by the platen 11 and the grip roller during the printing operation, and is brought into pressure contact during the paper discharging operation. A paper discharge sensor Pe for detecting paper discharge is provided in the vicinity of the paper discharge roller pair 36, 38, and detects paper discharge. A control board 40 is provided below the main body frame 10, and a control circuit for controlling the operation of the thermal transfer color printer is mounted on the control board 40. The power switch 4 is located on the back of the body frame 10.
1 is provided. The power switch 41 supplies power to the thermal head 14, a paper transport motor, and the like.
This is a switch for switching off, and when an abnormality occurs in the printer main body, the power supply is cut off. In addition, when power is supplied from an outlet (not shown) even when the power switch 41 is off, a weak power is supplied to the control board 40.

Here, the positional relationship between the sensors Ph, Pt, and Pe will be described. The transport path length between the paper transport sensor Pt and the paper discharge sensor Pe is designed to be slightly longer than the length of the paper 18 and substantially equal. Therefore, the paper sensor P
h, the paper discharge sensor Pe and the paper transport sensor Pt do not all detect the paper 18 at the same time.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control circuit and the like mounted on a control board 40 according to the present embodiment. In the figure, a CPU 201 includes a ROM and a RAM, and executes a predetermined process according to a program written in the ROM.
That is, the CPU 201 inputs the input ribbon sensor 4
2. The operations of the motors 202 to 204 and the thermal head 14 are controlled based on signals from the paper sensor Ph, the paper transport sensor Pt, and the paper discharge sensor Pe. The motor 202 drives the platen roller 11 and the like to transport the paper, and the motor 203 drives the sponge roller 29 and the winding roller 22 and the like to transport the ink ribbon 23. Also, the motor 20
Numeral 4 drives the eccentric cam 15 to move the thermal head up and down. Further, an interface IF connected to an external device is connected to communicate with the external device including reception of print data.

In the above configuration, the printing operation will be briefly described. When a print command is output, paper 18 is fed from the paper feed cassette 24 toward the paper retraction conveyance path, and the paper 18 is fed in the paper feeding direction. When the end is detected by the paper sensor Ph, the paper feeding operation is stopped. Next, the thermal head 14 is pressed into contact with the ink ribbon, and the first color is printed while the paper 18 is conveyed in the direction of the paper discharge roller 36 while being synchronized with the ink ribbon. When printing of the first color is completed, the thermal head 1
The press-contact of No. 4 is released, the paper 18 is returned to the paper retraction conveyance path again, and the same operation as described above is repeated. When the printing of the third color is completed, the paper 18 is discharged to the discharge tray 35, and the printing operation is completed.

Based on the above description, the operation of the thermal transfer color printer will be described in detail with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a schematic operation of the thermal transfer color printer according to the present embodiment. First, when the power is turned on, each sensor Ph, Pt,
The output of Pe is checked, and furthermore, paper empty, ribbon empty, no paper cassette, no ribbon cassette, mismatch between ink ribbon and paper, etc. are detected by detecting means (not shown) to determine whether an error has occurred. Confirm (step # 1). If an error has occurred, the flow proceeds to error processing 1 in step # 20.

If no error is detected in step # 1, the flow advances to step # 2 to wait for a print command. When the print command is confirmed (Step # 2: YES), the process proceeds to Step # 3, where the push-up plate 25 is moved.
, The pickup roller 26, the paper feed roller 27,
By driving the separating roller 28 and the like, the paper 18 is fed toward the platen roller 11 and the paper retreat conveyance path (step # 3). Next, cueing of the ink film is performed (step # 4).
1 (step # 5), and the first color (yellow) ink is transferred to the paper 18 line by line (step # 6). Each time printing of one line is completed, it is checked whether an error has occurred (step #).
7). If an error has occurred (step # 7: YE
S) Go to error processing 2 in step # 21. If no error has occurred (step # 7: NO), step # 8
To check if printing of all lines is completed, and repeat steps # 6 to # 8 until printing of all lines is completed. When printing of all lines is completed (step # 8: YES), the pressure contact of the head is released (step # 9), and the paper is returned to the initial position (step # 1).
0, # 11), the second color (magenta), the third color
After the color ink (cyan) ink is sequentially transferred onto the paper 18 in a superimposed manner, the paper 18 is discharged to the paper discharge tray 35 (step # 12), and an error is detected again (step # 13), and an error occurs. If so, the process proceeds to error process 3 in step # 22. If no error has occurred, the process returns to step # 1 and repeats the above-described process.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show a flowchart of the error processing 1 shown in step # 20 of FIG.

First, if the thermal head 14 is in a pressure contact state in step # 51, the eccentric cam 15 is rotated to a predetermined state to release the pressure contact of the thermal head, and then the energization of the thermal head 14 is turned off. (Step #
53). Next, each sensor Ph, Pt,
It is confirmed whether or not any of Pe detects paper (step # 55). If not detected (step #
55: NO), the process proceeds to the step # 57, in which an error display such as paper empty, ribbon empty, no paper cassette, no ribbon cassette, mismatch between ink ribbon and paper, etc. is performed, and the printer is made inoperative. On the other hand, if any one of the sensors Ph, Pt, Pe detects paper (step # 55: YES), it is subsequently checked which sensor is detecting paper. If only the sensor Ph is detecting paper (step #
59: YES), since the paper 18 is being conveyed from the paper feed cassette 24 to the print start position, the paper feed roller 27 is driven to feed the paper from the paper feed cassette by 10 mm in the paper feed direction. It is ensured that the paper is held between the grip 11 and the grip roller (steps # 61, # 63, # 65). Then, the paper 18 is transported in the paper feeding direction by the grip roller and the platen roller until the paper sensor Ph stops detecting the paper 18 (steps # 67 and # 69). Thereafter, the sheet is conveyed in the sheet discharging direction opposite to the sheet feeding direction, and the residual paper 18 is discharged (steps # 71 and # 73).

Next, when the paper sensor Ph and the paper transport sensor Pt detect the paper 18, and the paper discharge sensor Pe does not detect the paper 18 (step # 75: Y
ES) or when the paper sensor Ph and the paper discharge sensor Pe have detected the paper 18 and the paper transport sensor Pt has not detected the paper 18 (step # 77: Y).
ES), where the paper 18 stops during the printing operation. First, the motor 203 is driven to rotate the ribbon take-up roller 22 and the sponge roller 29 for 3 seconds to take up the ink ribbon 23 (Steps # 79, # 81,
# 83). By the operations of steps # 79, # 81, and # 83, the paper 18 and the ink ribbon 23 are completely peeled off, and the slack of the ink ribbon 23 is wound up. Next, the motor 204 is driven to carry the paper in the paper feeding direction, that is, the direction opposite to the paper discharge tray 35 until the paper sensor Ph is no longer detected (steps # 85 and # 87). The paper 18 is rotated, and the paper 18 is discharged to the paper discharge tray 35 by the platen roller 11, the grip roller and the paper discharge roller pair 36, 38 (step # 91). Next, when the paper ejection sensor Pe detects the paper 18 and the paper sensor Ph and the paper transport sensor Pt do not detect the paper 18 (step # 93: YES), a part of the paper 18 is included in the paper ejection guide. Is left, so that the process proceeds to step # 91, where the discharge operation of the paper 18 by the discharge roller pairs 36 and 38 is performed. Thus, the processing exits from the error processing 1 routine and returns to step # 1 of the main routine. In this embodiment, when both the paper sensor Ph and the paper ejection sensor Pe detect the paper, the paper 18 is transported to a predetermined position and then discharged, but the paper may be directly discharged. I do not care.

In the error processing 2 shown in step # 21 of the main routine, when the apparatus is stopped due to a communication error or the like, the same processing as steps # 75 to # 91 of the error processing 1 is performed.

In this embodiment, the thermal transfer color printer has been described, but it is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to a monochrome thermal transfer printer.

Further, in this embodiment, when the paper 18 remains, all the paper 18 is ejected. However, when an abnormality occurs in the thermal transfer printer, the situation is stored in the RAM to prevent the jam. When the paper 18 is generated and the paper 18 remains, performing the discharging operation may damage the thermal transfer printer. Therefore, the discharging operation described above may be prohibited.

Further, in the present embodiment, the ink ribbon is wound by the winding roller 22. However, the ink ribbon may be wound by the supply roller 21 or may be wound by both rollers 21 and 22 simultaneously. You may take it. When winding is performed simultaneously by both rollers, there is an advantage that the winding time is reduced.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, in a thermal transfer printer, the residual recording medium is automatically discharged, which is very convenient for the user. Even in the state, the remaining recording medium is discharged after the ink ribbon and the recording medium have been peeled off.This prevents the ink ribbon from getting caught in the transport system, making it impossible to use the ink ribbon or causing equipment failure. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a thermal transfer color printer according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control circuit and the like of the thermal transfer color printer according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an outline of an operation of the thermal transfer color printer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an outline of an error processing operation of the thermal transfer color printer according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an outline of an error processing operation of the thermal transfer color printer according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Platen Roller 14 Thermal Head 22 Take-up Roller 23 Ink Ribbon 36, 38 Discharge Roller Pair Ph Paper Sensor Pt Paper Transport Sensor Pe Discharge Sensor

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 17/24 B41J 2/325 B41J 11/42 B41J 17/36 B41J 29/38

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A thermal transfer printer comprising: a first roller and a second roller for winding an ink ribbon on which ink has been applied; and a thermal head for transferring the ink applied on the ink ribbon to a sheet-like recording medium. Driving means for driving at least one of the first roller and the second roller to wind up the ink ribbon; and a thermal head for nipping the ink ribbon and the sheet-shaped recording medium between the platen roller Pressing means for pressing or releasing, a conveying means for conveying the sheet-shaped recording medium to the transfer position, and a conveying means from the transfer position to the discharge position, and a power supply for supplying power to the driving means, the pressing means, and the conveying means. And a control unit for controlling the operation of the driving unit, the pressing unit, and the transporting unit, wherein the control unit is configured to control when the power is turned on. ,
Release the thermal head pressing by the pressing means,
A thermal transfer printer, wherein the driving unit is driven to wind up the ink ribbon, and the transporting unit is driven to discharge a sheet-shaped recording medium. 2. A thermal transfer printer comprising: a first roller and a second roller for winding an ink ribbon on which ink is applied, and a thermal head for transferring the ink applied on the ink ribbon onto a recording medium in a superimposed manner. Driving means for driving the first roller or the second roller for winding and rewinding the ink ribbon; conveying means for conveying the recording medium to the transfer position and conveying from the transfer position to the discharge position; Detecting means for detecting, and control means for controlling the operation of the driving means and the conveying means, wherein the control means drives the driving means based on the detection result of the detecting means to wind the ink ribbon. A thermal transfer printer characterized in that, after taking out, a conveying means is driven to perform a recording medium discharging operation. 3. The thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, further comprising a storage unit for storing a status of the printer, wherein the control unit checks the storage unit, and causes a recording medium to be generated due to a jam. When the recording medium remains, the recording medium is controlled so as not to perform the discharging operation.