JP3661151B2 - Laser heat pen for thermal paper - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a heat pen used when writing on a thermal paper such as leuco writable paper by handwriting, and more particularly to a laser heat pen for thermal paper that heats a pen tip with a laser beam.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In a thermal recording apparatus such as a facsimile or a personal computer printer, there are cases in which additional writing is required at an arbitrary portion of the printed thermal paper. At that time, oil-based magic or water-based ink is often used as a writing instrument for writing. However, when writing is performed using such a writing instrument, there are the following problems. First, in the method of writing with oil-based magic, there is a method of using a solvent such as alcohol when it is desired to erase the written portion. Further, in the method of writing with water-based ink, there is a problem that it takes time to dry the writing portion, and other sheets are soiled when the sheets are stacked.
[0003]
Further, when writing with a pencil, an eraser is used, which not only takes time for erasing, but also has a problem that erased waste remains on the paper. Therefore, various heat pens for writing with a nib heated on thermal paper have been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2, and Patent Document 3).
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-6-143888 (2nd to 3rd pages, FIG. 1 to FIG. 2)
[Patent Document 2]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-183193 (page 2 to page 3, FIG. 1 to FIG. 2)
[Patent Document 3]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-263088 (2nd to 3rd pages, FIGS. 1 to 3)
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
These conventional heat pens take a considerable amount of time to raise the temperature of a resistive material such as a metal or ceramic used for a nib or heater to a temperature at which writing can be performed. In order to increase the heating power, some commercial power sources are used to increase the power supply, but this is not easy to carry because the power cable becomes an obstacle. The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and provides a laser-type heat pen for thermal paper that is capable of heating the nib for an extremely short time, is small, has excellent portability, and is safe. It is the purpose.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
Accordingly, the laser-type heat pen for thermal paper of the present invention includes a pen-type case, a pen tip attached to the tip of the pen-type case, a battery housed in the case, and a laser that generates laser light by feeding from the battery. A first feature is that a light generating unit and a converging lens for converging the generated laser light to irradiate the pen tip are provided, and the pen tip is heated by the thermal energy of the laser light. A second feature is that a laser light absorbing material that absorbs laser light is provided on the irradiated surface of the pen tip.
[0007]
The present invention indirectly uses the thermal energy of laser light to increase the nib temperature of a laser heat pen for thermal paper (hereinafter referred to as laser pen), and this nib contacts the leuco rewritable thermal paper. It is possible to perform color writing. Unlike natural light, laser light has a single frequency with a uniform wavelength and phase, has a stable directivity, and can generate high-energy light. In particular, since it has a single wavelength, it can irradiate at a single point and can easily make a high temperature. In the present invention, a semiconductor laser is used. However, the semiconductor laser can cause laser oscillation by flowing a forward current through a PN junction diode. If this semiconductor laser is used, the apparatus can be reduced in size and weight, and can be operated with low power, and high conversion efficiency can be obtained.
[0008]
The laser light emitted from the semiconductor laser is once condensed by a converging lens and applied to the pen tip. In order to efficiently absorb the laser beam, a laser beam absorbing material is applied to the irradiated surface of the pen tip. As a material for the laser light absorbing material, black zinc, black chromium, molybdenum disulfide, silicon and the like are preferable. The laser light absorbing material is deposited or plated on the cap-shaped inner surface of the nib to form a coating.
[0009]
Thermal paper utilizes the reaction of leuco dyes that occur in an acidic atmosphere, but in many cases the material is a phenolic compound. After the reversible color developer is heated and melt-mixed with the leuco dye, a colored state and a decolored state are selectively created depending on the cooling rate. That is, the color is developed by heating and quenching and becomes transparent by heating and slow cooling. The thermal paper is printed with characters and illustrations using a dedicated thermal paper printer capable of printing and erasing, and can be written with high sensitivity with the same sensitivity as ordinary thermal paper. The printed portion can be erased by heating with a heat roller, etc., and the color image can be repeatedly printed / erased, and it can withstand reuse of hundreds of times. For example, as the thermal paper and the dedicated printer, for example, those described in Japanese Patent No. 3376589 (name of invention “electric transmission / reception printing system”) can be used.
[0010]
To add additional notes, special notes, etc. to the reader, when writing on the thermal paper after printing, letters, illustrations, underlines, etc. can be written with a laser pen as with plain paper. When the printed thermal paper is no longer necessary after the writing, the writing portion can be erased in the same manner as the printing portion when the erasing process is performed by the dedicated printer. In this erasing process, no dirt or print marks remain on the thermal paper or the like, and it is not necessary to provide a special unerased removal mechanism or wiping mechanism in the dedicated printer.
[0011]
The laser pen of the present invention includes a pen type case and a pen tip provided at the tip of the case. Uses heat-resistant and heat-resistant materials such as Teflon (registered trademark) with a thermal conductivity of 0.25 W / m · K or less for the fixed part of the nib so that heat does not escape from the nib. . In the case, there is a rechargeable battery as a power source, a laser generator (semiconductor laser light emitting part) that generates laser light by supplying power from this battery, a control circuit part that controls the output of the laser light, and a control And a laser beam converging lens that converges and irradiates the pen tip with the laser beam. The nib absorbs the thermal energy of the laser beam and rises to a predetermined temperature in a very short time.
[0012]
The emission wavelength of this laser light is infrared light near 800 nm. The nib is made of a metal material having good thermal conductivity such as copper or aluminum. On the inner surface of the nib, a laser light absorbing material having a high absorptance with respect to an infrared ray near 800 nm is applied. That is, by forming a film on the inner surface of the nib by vapor deposition or plating with the laser light absorbing material, the thermal energy of the laser light is efficiently absorbed and the temperature raising effect of the nib is enhanced. The laser light emitted by the laser generator is converged by a (a pair of) converging lenses, and is focused and applied to the center point of the inner surface of the pen tip.
[0013]
In the laser pen, when the power switch is turned on, the specified current controlled by the control circuit unit is supplied to the laser generating unit to generate laser light. The generated laser light is collected by a pair of converging lenses and irradiated on the inner side surface of the nib center. The thermal energy of the laser light is absorbed by the laser light absorbing material at the nib, and the nib is efficiently heated to raise the temperature. In this case, for example, if the laser output is 0.5 W, the temperature of the pen tip is 200 ° C. or higher. Note that this temperature can be changed to a required value in accordance with the coloring temperature of the thermal paper by controlling the laser output in the control circuit section. With a nib that has reached a predetermined temperature, writing can be performed at any location on the thermal paper.
[0014]
When the laser pen of the present invention is used, it is not necessary to dry the writing portion, and the thermal paper is not soiled even when a plurality of thermal papers are stacked. Moreover, it can be used safely without exposing the laser beam to the eyes of the user. When erasing characters, there is no erasure mark left. In addition, the use of a small battery makes the device compact, and it does not require a power cable and is excellent in portability.
[0015]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described based on this example shown in the drawings.
1 is a partially sectional side view showing an internal structure of a laser pen according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged sectional view showing a detailed structure of a grip. Is an exploded sectional view showing details of the pen tip, FIG. 5 is an electric circuit block diagram for explaining the laser generation / control unit, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation procedure of the laser pen.
[0016]
【Example】
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the laser pen of the present invention has a copper nib 26 attached to the tip of a pen-type case 1 and a laser diode (laser generator) that generates infrared laser light 32 in the case 1. ) 16 and a pair of plano-convex lenses 20 and 21 for converging the generated infrared laser beam 32 and irradiating and heating the pen tip 26. Further, a laser light absorbing film (laser light absorbing material) 26 </ b> C is formed on the inner surface of the protruding portion 26 </ b> B that is the irradiated surface of the pen tip 26 in order to efficiently absorb the infrared laser light 32. By irradiating and heating the nib 26 with the thermal energy of the infrared laser beam 32, the nib temperature is raised to a required temperature and written on the leuco rewritable thermal paper.
[0017]
The pen-type case 1 includes a hollow cylindrical power supply storage 2 in which a battery 35 is stored, and a hollow cylindrical grip 4 integrally formed on one end side of the power supply storage 2 via a reduced diameter portion 3. It is made up of. The outer diameter of the power storage part 2 is 28 mm, but the outer diameter of the grip part 4 is set to 9 mm so that it can be easily grasped with one hand. A circuit board 5 is fixed to the center of the case 1 with screws. A laser generation / control circuit 7 and the like are mounted on the circuit board 5, and the circuit board 5 is made of glass epoxy resin. A laser diode portion 8 and a lens portion 9 are provided inside the grip 4, and the laser diode portion 8 and the lens portion 9 are screwed to the inner wall of the grip 4 via a laser diode fixing spacer 13 and a lens fixing spacer 14, respectively. It is fixed with. A nib portion 10 is screwed to the tip of the grip 4.
[0018]
As shown in FIG. 3, the laser diode unit 8 includes a diode holder 15 screwed to a laser diode fixing spacer 13 and a laser diode 16 fixed to the front end surface of the diode holder 15. A semiconductor laser light emitting element (33) is provided. The front surface of the laser diode 16 is a laser generator, and the laser output is set to, for example, 0.5 W of thermal energy.
[0019]
The laser diode unit 8 includes a lens holder 19 screwed to the lens fixing spacer 14 and a pair of plano-convex lenses 20 and 21 fixed in parallel to the front and rear ends of the lens holder 19. The rear plano-convex lens 20 has a convex portion on the laser generation side (front side), while the front plano-convex lens 21 has a convex portion on the rear side. The rear plano-convex lens 20 directs the infrared laser light 32 from the laser diode 16 in a direction perpendicular to the front plano-convex lens 21 (in a direction parallel to the optical axis of the lens 21). The front plano-convex lens 21 converges the infrared laser beam 32 that is a parallel bundle, irradiates and condenses the inner surface of the pen tip 26 of the pen tip portion 10, and heats it up.
[0020]
As shown in FIG. 4, the pen tip portion 10 has a hollow frustoconical pen tip body 23. A tapered center hole 27 is provided inside the nib body 23, and the inner diameter of the center hole 27 is gradually reduced toward the distal end corresponding to the diaphragm of the infrared laser light 32 by the front plano-convex lens 21. doing. On the tip end side of the nib body 23, a stepped nib mounting hole 28 having a diameter (5 mm) larger than the tip diameter of the center hole 27 is formed continuously with the center hole 27. A pen tip 26 is mounted inside the pen tip mounting hole 28 via a pen tip outer cylinder holder 24 and a pen tip inner cylinder holder 25. That is, the nib 26 is held back and forth by the nib outer cylinder holder 24 and the nib inner cylinder holder 25 fitted inside, and the nib outer cylinder holder 24 is fitted into the step-like nib mounting hole 28. In this state, the pen tip 26 is attached and fixed to the pen tip body 23.
[0021]
As the material of the nib outer cylinder holder 24 and the nib inner cylinder holder 25, Teflon (registered trademark) having a thermal conductivity of 0.25 W / m · K or less is used. This prevents thermal energy from being dissipated from the nib 26 that has been brought to a high temperature state by laser irradiation. The nib 26 is integrally formed from a fixed plate 26A and a conical protruding portion 26B, and the protruding portion 26B protrudes ahead of the fixed plate 26A in a V-shaped cross section. The protruding portion 26 </ b> B is exposed to the outside through a nib exposing hole 29 formed in the nib outer cylinder holder 24. A laser light absorbing film 26C is formed on the inner surface of the protruding portion 26B, and the infrared laser light 32 can be efficiently absorbed by the laser light absorbing film 26C. An airtight structure is provided between the nib 26 and the nib body 23 and the like so that the infrared laser beam 32 does not leak to the outside from this portion.
[0022]
As shown in FIG. 5, the configuration of the laser generation / control circuit 7 includes a semiconductor laser light emitting element 33 that generates infrared laser light 32 having an emission wavelength near 800 nm, and a control circuit that controls the irradiation output of the generated infrared laser light 32. The unit 31 includes a rechargeable power source battery 35 for energizing the semiconductor laser light emitting element 33 and a power switch 34 for turning on / off the energization of the semiconductor laser light emitting element 33 from the battery 35. The power switch 34 is provided at a suitable position on the outer surface of the case 1. The irradiation output of the infrared laser beam 32 can be arbitrarily set and changed by the control circuit unit 31.
[0023]
Next, a processing procedure when writing on leuco rewritable thermal paper with the laser pen will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
This processing procedure includes a printing processing step 39 in the printer unit and a writing processing step 40 using a laser pen. First, a printing process is performed on the thermal paper in the printer (step S1). Next, the printing surface of the thermal paper is checked to determine whether it is necessary to add information data or the like (step S2). When no additional writing is required, the user browses or circulates as it is (step S3). If the thermal paper becomes unnecessary after browsing or circulating, the thermal paper is collected and reused (step S4). When reusing, it is only necessary to set the used thermal paper in the paper set section of the printer. As a result, before the printing process is performed on the thermal paper, unnecessary data is erased by the erase bar or the like, and the printing process on the thermal paper becomes possible again.
[0024]
On the other hand, when it is necessary to write on the printing surface of the thermal paper, the process proceeds from the printer unit processing step 39 to the laser pen writing processing step 40. In the writing process 40, an on-input to the battery 35 of the laser pen (step S5), a heating temperature of the pen tip 26 by the infrared laser beam 32 (step S6), and writing on the thermal paper by the pen tip 26 (step S7). ), Each stage of switching off the battery 35 after writing (step S8).
[0025]
Hereinafter, the operation of the laser pen in the writing processing step 40 will be described.
First, when the power switch 34 is turned on, power is transmitted from the battery 35 to the semiconductor laser light emitting element 33 via the control circuit unit 31 (step S5). Then, the specified current controlled by the control circuit unit 31 is supplied to the semiconductor laser light emitting element 33, and the infrared laser light 32 is generated from the semiconductor laser light emitting element 33. The generated infrared laser light 32 is converged and condensed by the pair of plano-convex lenses 20 and 21 and travels toward the pen tip 26 side. The infrared laser beam 32 is locally applied to the inner surface of the tip center of the pen tip 26. Then, the thermal energy of the irradiation laser light 32 is absorbed by the laser light absorption film 26C on the inner surface side of the cone-shaped protrusion 26B of the pen tip 26, and the pen tip 26 is heated to raise the temperature to a predetermined temperature (step S6). ).
[0026]
Here, since the output of the infrared laser beam 32 is set to 0.5 W, the temperature of the pen tip 26 rises to 200 ° C. or more in a very short time (after about 10 seconds). In this case, by controlling the value of the laser output by the control circuit unit 31, it is possible to appropriately change the setting to a required temperature according to the coloring temperature of the thermal paper. When the nib 26 reaches the required temperature, it can be written on the thermal paper (step S7). Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S3, and browsing or circulation by the user is performed. Similarly to the above, the thermal paper entered with the brush pen tip 26 is collected and reused without being discarded even if it becomes unnecessary after use (step S4).
[0027]
As described above, if writing is performed on the thermal paper using the laser pen of the present invention, the problems caused when using the conventional oil-based magic, water-based ink, or pencil are solved. That is, a solvent such as alcohol or erasing at the time of erasing is not required, and it can be erased neatly without leaving unerased or erasing marks. Further, it is not necessary to dry the writing portion, and even when the thermal paper is stacked, other thermal paper is not soiled.
[0028]
Here, a method of writing by directly irradiating the thermal paper with the infrared laser beam 32 can be considered. For this purpose, a laser light absorbing material may be applied to the thermal paper. In this case, when the user writes with the infrared laser light 32, the danger that the infrared laser light 32 is directly exposed to the eyes of the user. There is. In this regard, in the present invention, since the infrared laser beam 32 does not leak out of the case 1, it can be used safely.
[0029]
In addition, when a soldering iron tip or the like is applied as a writing means by heating, it is necessary to heat a member having high thermal conductivity such as metal or ceramic with a resistance heater or the like. For this purpose, since a commercial power supply of AC-100V with high power consumption is used, a power cable is required, and the apparatus cannot be configured in a portable type due to an increase in size. In that respect, the present invention incorporates a rechargeable battery 35 into the housing 1 and eliminates the need for a power supply cable. Therefore, the laser diode (laser generator) 16 itself can be downsized, and the entire housing 1 can be downsized. Can be made portable. In short, in the present embodiment, by using the infrared laser beam 32, the minute portion of the nib 26 can be immediately heated, and the exposure of the infrared laser beam 32 to the user is prevented, and a small and safe laser. A pen can be supplied.
[0030]
In addition, this invention is not limited to the said Example, A various application deformation | transformation is possible. For example, in the above embodiment, the power switch 34 can be automatically turned off when the temperature of the nib 26 rises to a required value or more, or when a predetermined time or more has elapsed after the rise. Further, the grip 4 and the power storage unit 2 can have the same diameter.
[0031]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, since the present invention has a nib heated by laser irradiation, the nib can be heated to a required temperature in a very short time, and a small and safe handy type laser pen can be provided. Has an excellent effect. In addition, in the case where the laser light absorbing material is formed on the irradiated surface of the pen tip, the thermal energy of the laser light can be efficiently absorbed, and the heat rise effect of the pen tip can be further enhanced.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional side view showing the internal structure of a laser pen according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged sectional view showing a detailed structure of the grip.
FIG. 4 is an exploded cross-sectional view showing details of a nib.
FIG. 5 is an electric circuit block diagram illustrating a laser generation / control unit.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation procedure of the laser pen.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Pen type case 2 Power supply storage part 3 Reduced diameter part 4 Grip 5 Circuit board 7 Laser generation and control circuit 8 Laser diode part 9 Lens part 10 Pen tip part 13 Laser diode fixing spacer 14 Lens fixing spacer 15 Diode holder 16 Laser diode ( Laser emission part)
19 Lens holder 20 Back plano-convex lens (convergence lens)
21 Front plano-convex lens (convergence lens)
23 nib body 24 nib outer cylinder holder 25 nib inner cylinder holder 26 nib 26A fixing plate 26B protrusion 26C laser light absorbing film (laser light absorbing material)
27 Center hole 28 Pen tip mounting hole 29 Pen tip exposure hole 31 Control circuit portion 32 Infrared laser beam 33 Semiconductor laser light emitting device (diode infrared laser light emitting device)
34 Power switch 35 Battery

Claims (2)

A pen-type case, a pen tip attached to the tip of the pen-type case, a battery stored in the case, a laser light generator that generates laser light by feeding from the battery, and the generated laser light is converged. And a converging lens for irradiating the nib, and the nib is heated by the thermal energy of laser light. 2. The laser-type heat pen for thermal paper according to claim 1, wherein a laser light absorbing material that absorbs laser light is provided on the irradiated surface of the pen tip.

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