JP3605299B2 - Ink transfer printer and thermal head - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an ink transfer printer that forms an image by transferring ink to recording paper, and a thermal head used in the ink transfer printer.
[0002]
[Prior art]
The present applicant has proposed an ink transfer printer that uses a film having a through-hole and a thermal head, and is configured so that ink heated by the thermal head is transmitted through the film and transferred to recording paper. No. 9-96548). In such an ink transfer printer, a closed space is formed by a film and a thermal head, ink is held in the space, and a recording paper is brought into close contact with a side of the film opposite to the thermal head.
[0003]
Since the capacity of the space (ink space) between the film and the thermal head is very small, it is necessary to supply ink from outside. However, since a member for adhering the recording paper to the film, for example, a platen, is provided adjacent to the film, it is necessary to arrange the ink container at a certain distance from the ink space so as not to interfere with the platen or the like. is there.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, disposing the ink container at a position away from the platen or the like requires a long flow path for guiding the ink from the ink container to the ink space, and thus has a problem that the configuration becomes complicated.
[0005]
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to simplify the configuration for supplying ink in an ink transfer printer.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, an ink transfer printer according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a film having a through-hole penetrating through the front and back, and a thermal head having a plurality of heating elements. A predetermined closed space is formed, the heating element is located in the space, an ink container for holding ink is provided on the side of the thermal head opposite to the heating element, and an ink flow path formed in the thermal head is provided. The space and the ink container communicate with each other to supply the ink in the ink container to the space, and the recording paper is brought into close contact with the film so that the ink heated by the thermal head passes through the film and is transferred to the recording paper. It is composed.
[0007]
In this way, if the ink container is provided on the opposite side of the heating element of the thermal head and ink is supplied (to the space) through the ink flow path penetrating the thermal head, the configuration of the ink flow path is simplified. become. In addition, the ink container does not interfere with the close contact means such as the recording paper and the platen (both are arranged on the heating element side). Note that the heating element can be formed on a porous glaze. According to this structure, the ink from the ink flow path can reach the space through the glaze.
[0008]
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a thermal head including a housing, a heating element formed on one surface of the housing, and a predetermined space formed on the surface to cover the heating element. A film provided with a predetermined through-hole, an ink container provided on the side of the housing opposite to the heating element for holding ink, and an ink flow path communicating the space and the ink container. Is what is done.
[0009]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a side sectional view illustrating a basic configuration of the ink transfer printer according to the embodiment. The ink transfer printer includes a thermal line head 10, a film 12 (described later) provided on the lower surface of the thermal line head 10, and a platen roller 30 that sandwiches the recording paper P between the film 12 and the thermal line head. ing. The platen roller 30 is a so-called rubber roller. When the platen roller 30 rotates in the direction B, traction acts between the platen roller 30 and the recording paper P, and the recording paper P is transported in the direction of arrow C in the figure.
[0010]
FIG. 2 is a lower perspective view schematically illustrating the structure of the thermal line head 10. The thermal line head 10 includes a rectangular parallelepiped substrate 11, a number of heating elements 13 arranged in a line on the lower surface of the substrate 11, and a glaze 18 as a heat storage element provided between the substrate 11 and the heating element 13. It is configured with. A pair of terminals 21 and 22 are connected to each heating element 13 in order to supply electricity to each heating element 13. One terminal 21 is connected to a control circuit 23 and the other terminal 22 is connected to a common terminal 24. ing.
[0011]
The total thickness of the glaze 18, the heating element 13, and the terminals 21 and 22 of the thermal line head 10 is several tens μm, but is exaggerated in FIGS. 1 to 4 (for easy understanding of the structure). ing.
[0012]
The glaze 18 is made of a porous ceramic material formed by firing glass at a low temperature or firing a calcium phosphate compound such as hydroxyapatite by a known method.
[0013]
As shown in FIG. 2, a large number of through holes 25 are formed in the film 12 in two rows in parallel with the arrangement direction of the heating elements 13 of the thermal line head 10. The through holes 25 are formed so as to correspond to a plurality of the heating elements 13 of the thermal line head 10. The film 12 is fixed to the lower surface of the substrate 11 of the thermal line head 10 so as to cover the heating element 13 and the terminals 21 and 22. The closed space surrounded by the lower surface of the substrate 11 and the film 12 becomes an ink space 15 (FIG. 1) for holding ink.
[0014]
As shown in FIG. 1, an ink container 20 storing ink is provided above the thermal line head 10. In order to communicate the ink container 20 with the ink space 15, the thermal line head 10 is provided with an ink flow path 16 penetrating the upper and lower surfaces thereof. The glaze 18 is located at the lower end opening of the ink flow path 16. In this embodiment, since the glaze 18 is made of a porous material, the ink from the ink flow path 16 is supplied to the ink space 15 via the glaze 18.
[0015]
Generally, the surface of the substrate 11 of the thermal line head 10 is relatively rough. Therefore, when the heating element 13 and the terminals 21 and 22 are directly formed on the surface of the substrate 11, the surfaces of the heating element 13 and the terminals 21 and 22 also become rough (along the irregularities of the surface of the substrate 11). When the film 12 comes into contact with the roughened surfaces of the heating element 13 and the terminals 21 and 22, the film 2 is easily damaged, and the durability may be impaired. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the glaze 18 is interposed between the surface of the substrate 11 and the heating element 13 / terminals 21 and 22, and the surface of the glaze 18 is formed to be smooth, so that the heating element 13 / terminal 21, 22 is made smooth.
[0016]
Further, as shown in FIG. 2, since the plurality of heating elements 13 are formed on the glaze 18, if the surface of the glaze 13 is smoothed, the thickness of the heating element 13 can be uniform. Variations in the resistance value (that is, the heat generation amount) between the heating elements 13 can be suppressed.
[0017]
If the average pore diameter of the glaze 18 is less than 10 μm, it will be difficult for ink to pass through, and if it is more than 20 μm, the smoothness of the surface will be impaired. Therefore, the average pore diameter of the glaze 18 is desirably 10 to 20 μm.
[0018]
3 and 4 are schematic diagrams showing the principle of image formation by the ink transfer printer. 3 and 4, the platen roller 30 and the recording paper P are omitted. The inner diameter of the through hole 25 of the film 12 is formed sufficiently small, and as shown in FIG. 3, the ink does not pass through the through hole 25 when the heating element 13 is not generating heat.
[0019]
When the heating element 13 generates heat, the ink in the vicinity of the heating element 13 is locally heated to vaporize and expand, and a local pressure is generated in the ink by the vapor pressure. At the same time, the film 12 is also heated, and the elastic modulus is locally reduced, and the film 12 is easily deformed. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, the ink is pushed into the through-hole 25 of the film 12, and the through-hole 25 of the film 12 is spread. Then, the ink passes through the through holes 25 and is transferred to the recording paper P (FIG. 1) which is in close contact with the lower surface of the film 12.
[0020]
After the transfer, the heating portion of the ink and the film 12 is cooled by the surrounding ink with the stop of the heat generation by the heating element 13, so that the through hole 25 of the film 12 returns to the original inner diameter (the inner diameter that does not allow the ink to pass through). Thus, the heat generation of the thermal line head 10 is controlled according to the desired print information, and the rotation of the platen roller 30 is controlled so that the recording paper P is sequentially conveyed, whereby an ink image can be formed on the recording paper P.
[0021]
FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a printer 100 to which the ink transfer printer shown in FIG. 1 is applied. The printer 100 is a so-called thermal line printer, and has a rectangular parallelepiped housing 103 that is long in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface. In the housing 103, the above-described thermal line head 10, the film 12, and the platen roller 30, which extend in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper, are arranged to face each other. In FIG. 5, the heating element 13 and the glaze 18 of the thermal line head 10 are omitted.
[0022]
An insertion opening 102 for inserting the recording paper P is formed on the upper surface of the housing 103, and a discharge opening 104 for discharging the recording paper P is formed on the front surface (the right side in the figure) of the housing 103. Then, the recording paper inserted from the insertion port 102 is guided to the discharge port 104 through the space between the film 12 and the platen roller 30.
[0023]
In order to bring the recording paper P into close contact with the film 12 with a predetermined pressing force, the thermal line head 10 is swingably supported by a swing shaft 105 provided at one end thereof, and a plate provided on the ceiling surface of the housing 103. It is urged downward by a spring 106. The platen roller 30 is driven to rotate at a predetermined speed by a drive motor 107. Due to the rotation of the platen roller 30, the recording paper P moves along a line connecting the insertion port 102 and the discharge port 104. In the drawing, reference numeral 108 denotes a driving battery.
[0024]
Below the insertion slot 102, a detection sensor 109 for detecting insertion of a recording sheet is provided. Upon receiving a print instruction from an external device (such as a computer), the printer control unit 110 starts print control. That is, the heat generation of the thermal line head 10 is controlled based on the print information, and the rotation of the platen roller 30 is controlled to sequentially convey the recording paper P. Thus, a two-dimensional ink image can be formed on the recording paper P. If the detection sensor 109 does not detect a recording sheet even though a print instruction is issued from an external device, the printer control unit 110 issues an error display on a display unit (not shown).
If a plurality of rows of heating elements corresponding to a plurality of colors are provided, a color ink image can be formed.
[0025]
As described above, according to the ink transfer printer of this embodiment, the ink container 20 is provided on the side of the thermal line head 10 opposite to the heating element 13, and the ink is transferred through the ink flow path 16 penetrating the thermal line head 10. Is supplied to the ink space 15, the configuration of the ink flow path can be simplified. Further, the ink container 20 does not interfere with the platen roller 30, the recording paper P, and the like located on the same side as the heating element 13.
[0026]
Further, according to the ink transfer printer of this embodiment, since the ink container 20 is provided on the side opposite to the transfer portion of the thermal line head 10 (the side on which the heating element 13 and the platen 30 are provided), the ink container Maintenance such as refilling the ink into the ink container 20 and replacing the ink container 20 is simplified.
[0027]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the ink transfer printer of the present invention, the ink container is provided on the side of the thermal head opposite to the heating element, and the ink is supplied to the ink space via the ink flow path penetrating the thermal line head. By doing so, the configuration of the ink flow path can be simplified. Further, maintenance such as refilling of the ink container and replacement of the ink container is also simplified.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a basic configuration of an ink transfer printer according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a thermal line head.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the principle of image formation by the ink transfer printer of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the principle of image formation by the ink transfer printer of FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing the structure of a thermal line printer using the ink transfer printer shown in FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 ink space 2 film 3 thermal line head 4 platen roller 5 ink container 11 housing 13 heating element 16 ink flow path 18 glaze 25 through hole 100 printer

Claims (7)

A substrate,
A film having a through hole penetrating the front and back, forming a closed space between one side of the substrate,
An ink container arranged on the other side of the substrate for holding ink,
An ink flow path formed to penetrate the substrate and communicate the space and the ink container, so as to move the ink in the ink container into the space;
A porous glaze disposed on the substrate in the space to cover an opening of the ink flow path on one side of the substrate;
A plurality of heating elements that are located on the porous glaze and heat the ink that has moved into the space through the ink flow path,
A thermal head having
Adhesion means for adhering the recording paper to the film,
Has,
An ink transfer printer configured so that the ink heated by the heating element passes through a film and is transferred to recording paper. The ink transfer printer according to claim 1, wherein the thermal head is a thermal line head in which heating elements are arranged in one direction. The ink transfer printer according to claim 2, wherein the contact unit is a platen disposed to face the thermal line head. The ink transfer printer according to claim 3, wherein the thermal line head is located above the platen, and the ink container is located above the thermal line head. The ink transfer printer according to claim 2, wherein the glaze has an average pore diameter of 10 μm or more and 20 μm or less. A substrate,
A film having a through hole penetrating the front and back, forming a closed space between one side of the substrate,
An ink container arranged on the other side of the substrate for holding ink,
An ink flow path formed to penetrate the substrate and communicate the space and the ink container, so as to move the ink in the ink container into the space;
A porous glaze disposed on the substrate in the space to cover an opening of the ink flow path on one side of the substrate;
A plurality of heating elements that are located on the porous glaze and heat the ink that has moved into the space through the ink flow path,
Thermal head with The thermal head according to claim 6, wherein the glaze has an average pore diameter of 10 μm or more and 20 μm or less.

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