JP4387837B2 - Printing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a bankbook printing apparatus used as, for example, a financial institution or an ID card.

  In recent printing apparatuses for cards and passbooks, there is a demand for a printing method that is not affected as much as possible on the surface of cards and passbooks to be printed. In other words, it is possible to print directly on the printing surface by the melt transfer printing method, such as surface unevenness caused by embedding of IC etc. in cards, and sufficient surface smoothness cannot be obtained unless special surface coating is applied to passbooks. Therefore, there is a need for a printing method that allows the factors that become obstacles.

  As this printing method, there is a method using an intermediate transfer material. In this method, an ink ribbon ink is transferred to the surface of an intermediate transfer film by a thermal head in a printing unit to form an image, and this image is transferred between a heat roller and a backup roller in the transfer unit by conveying the intermediate transfer film. To be located. At this time, a passbook is conveyed between the heat roller and the backup roller so as to face the intermediate transfer film, and from this state, the heat roller is rotated to press the intermediate transfer film. By this pressing, the image on the intermediate transfer film is pressed against the passbooks and transferred to the surface.

  In the intermediate transfer film, a thin film layer such as an image receiving layer (a peeling layer or an adhesive layer if necessary) is applied on a substrate, and an image is formed on the surface thereof. The image is transferred to passbooks together with the image receiving layer. After the transfer, the intermediate transfer ribbon and passbooks are simultaneously conveyed and peeled downstream by a peeling member.

By the way, as a heat roller, in order to improve the finish of image transfer, a rubber roller having a D-cut shape is formed by forming a cutout along the axial direction on the outer peripheral surface thereof (for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2002-066753 A

  However, when a notch is formed in the axial direction on the outer peripheral surface of the heat roller to form a D-cut shape, a large shearing force acts on the rubber portion at the transfer start tip at the start of transfer, and this is repeated, There was a disadvantage that the rubber part was peeled off from the metal core and the life of the heat roller was reduced.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a printing apparatus capable of preventing the elastic material constituting the outer peripheral surface portion of the transfer roller from being peeled off from the core material. It is in.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention described in claim 1 is configured to include a printing unit that prints an image on an intermediate transfer member, a core material, and an elastic material that covers an outer peripheral surface portion of the core material. A surface on which an image of the intermediate transfer body is printed from the edge portion side by forming an edge portion so that the end surface portion of the elastic material is exposed along the rotation axis direction of the core material by cutting the portion. And a transfer roller that contacts the opposite side of the image and transfers the image to the passbook, and the transfer roller is provided with a metal protection member that protects the end surface of the elastic material at the edge thereof. And

  According to the present invention, the elastic material does not peel from the core material at the edge portion of the transfer roller, and the life of the transfer roller can be improved.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing a passbook printing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The passbook printing apparatus 1 includes a passbook collection unit 4. A plurality of books are stacked and set in the passbook collection unit 4 in a state where the passbook T is closed. Yes. The taken passbooks T are transported along the transport path 3 by a plurality of transport roller pairs 2 as transport means. In the conveyance path 3, the first OCR reading unit 5, the page turning unit 6, the direct printing unit 7, the intermediate transfer printing device 8 as a printing device, and the second as reading means are arranged along the conveyance direction of the bankbook T. An OCR reading unit 9, a folding unit 14, and a wireless IC R / W unit 10 are provided.

  A discharge gate 11 for switching the discharge direction of the passbooks T between the first direction and the second direction is provided on the discharge end side of the transport path 3, and a normal passbook for accumulating normal passbooks T in the first direction. In the second direction, the stacking unit 12 is provided with a defective bankbook stacking unit 13 for stacking defective bankbooks.

  FIG. 2 shows the intermediate transfer printing apparatus 8 described above.

  The intermediate transfer printing apparatus 8 is functionally configured to include an information printing unit (hereinafter referred to as a printing unit) 16 and an overcoat transfer unit (hereinafter referred to as a transfer unit) 17 as a transfer unit.

  As the printing unit 16, a thermal melt transfer printing method is adopted. That is, a molten ink ribbon 22 as a transfer material and an intermediate transfer film 21 as an intermediate transfer material are arranged so as to be sandwiched between a thermal head 19 as a printing head and a platen roller 20. Information or the like is printed on the surface of the film 21.

  Features of this hot melt transfer method include high image durability and relatively easy application of functional materials to ink materials (eg fluorescent pigments, aluminum vapor-deposited thin films). Suitable for printed materials.

  The base film thickness and ink layer thickness of the molten ink ribbon 22 are extremely important parameters for print dot reproducibility, and the ink ribbon layer thickness is 3 to 25 μm, preferably 4 to 10 μm.

  On the other hand, the thickness of the base film described later of the intermediate transfer film 21 and the image receiving / adhesive layer thickness are parameters that affect the adhesion and film-breaking properties, and the layer thickness of the intermediate transfer film 21 is 10 to 100 μm. The thickness is preferably 25 to 50 μm.

  The platen roller 20 is a roller using a hard rubber material on the surface, and the reproducibility of minute dots improves as the rubber hardness increases. On the other hand, the optimum positional relationship between the platen roller 20 and the thermal head 19 can be obtained. It becomes difficult. For this reason, hardness is 75 degrees or more, desirably 85 to 97 degrees. In addition, the surface roughness of the polished rubber surface also improves the reproducibility of minute dots as the surface smoothness increases. For this reason, the surface roughness is required to be about 1 μm or less, preferably about 0.5 μm, as the center line average roughness Ra.

  In general, the driving force for conveying the intermediate transfer film 21 is often provided with a driving mechanism on the platen roller 20, but the friction coefficient between the intermediate transfer film 21 and the platen roller 20 does not increase due to the hardness and smoothness described above. Not stable.

  For this reason, a film driving roller 23 is separately provided immediately downstream (on the heat roller side) of the platen roller 20. The film driving roller 23 is a roller having a hardness of 30 to 60 degrees, and the intermediate transfer film 21 should have a winding angle as large as possible with respect to the film driving roller 23. In the embodiment, the tensioner 24 is arranged so as to obtain a winding angle of 90 ° to 130 °.

  The tensioner 24 is provided with a spring mechanism (not shown), and tension is applied to the intermediate transfer film 21 within a limited movable range so that the film driving roller 23 and the intermediate transfer film 21 are always in proper contact with each other.

  The film drive roller 23 is driven accurately by a combination of a five-phase stepping motor, a timing belt, and a speed reduction mechanism using a pulley. The thermal head 19 is preferably a near-edge or corner-edge type head, and it is desirable to perform printing by peeling when heated.

  The transfer unit 17 includes a heat roller 35 and a backup roller 36 as transfer rollers, which will be described in detail later, disposed opposite to each other via the passbook conveying path 3. The heat roller 35 can be accurately driven at a constant speed by a DC servo motor or a stepping motor, and a pressure generated by a coil spring 37 is applied between the heat roller 35 and a rotatable backup roller 36. .

  3A to 3C are cross-sectional views showing the configuration of the intermediate transfer film 21. FIG.

  The intermediate transfer film 21 shown in FIG. 3A is formed on the surface of a PET (polyethylene terephthalate) film 26 as a base material, a transparent hologram layer 28 made of a transparent resin and a metal compound vapor-deposited layer, and an image receiving layer combined adhesive A polyester resin 29 as a layer is laminated.

  Also, the intermediate transfer film 21 shown in FIG. 3 (b) is a transparent hologram formed on the surface of a PET film 26 as a substrate, a phenoxy resin 27 as a release layer, a hologram forming layer made of a transparent resin, and a vapor deposition layer of a metal compound. A layer 28 and a polyester resin 29 as an image receiving layer / adhesive layer are laminated.

  Further, the intermediate transfer film 21 shown in FIG. 3 (c) is formed by depositing a phenoxy resin 27 as a release layer, a protective layer 30, a hologram forming layer with a transparent resin, and a metal compound on the surface of a PET film 26 as a substrate. A transparent hologram layer 28 by layers and a polyester resin 29 as an image receiving layer / adhesive layer are laminated.

  FIG. 4 shows the passbook T set in the passbook take-in section 4 as opened.

  In the middle paper Ta where the passbook T is opened, a passbook specific number 42 as passbook specific information is recorded and a wireless IC 43 is incorporated.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a drive control system of the passbook printing apparatus 1 described above.

  In the figure, reference numeral 51 denotes a data input control unit, to which the printing apparatus 1 is connected. The data input control unit 51 is provided with a main control unit 52, and a memory 53, an interface unit 54, an operation panel 55, and an image input unit 56 are connected to the main control unit 52 through a control circuit.

  The printing apparatus 1 is provided with a device control unit 58 that includes a generation unit 58a as a generation unit and a determination unit 58b as a determination unit. The device control unit 58 directly prints an image via a control circuit. A processing unit 67, an intermediate transfer image processing unit 68, a heater temperature control unit 60, a passbook conveyance control unit 61, an image formation control unit 62, an optical character recognition unit 69, and a wireless reading / writing unit 73 are provided. .

  A head control unit 63 for controlling the printing operation of the thermal head 7a is connected to the direct print image processing unit 67 described above. A head controller 64 that controls the printing operation of the thermal head 19 is connected to the intermediate transfer image processor 66.

  The heater 65 of the heat roller 35 is connected to the heater temperature control unit 60 through a control circuit. A bankbook transport mechanism 2a, a bankbook take-in mechanism 4a, a page detector 4b, a page turning mechanism 6a, and a discharge gate controller 11a are connected to the bankbook transport controller 61 through a control circuit.

  The image forming control unit 62 is connected to a transfer ribbon transport mechanism 32 a, a head lifting mechanism 19 a that lifts and lowers the thermal head 19, and a rotation mechanism 35 a that rotates the heat roller 35 via a control circuit.

  First and second reading optical systems 5 and 9 are connected to the optical character recognition unit 69. The wireless IC read / write unit 73 is connected to the wireless IC R / W unit 10.

  Next, the operation of the passbook printing apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described.

  First, only one passbook T is taken out from the passbook taking-in section 4 shown in FIG. 1 and conveyed to the page turning section 6 (conveying process). Here, the cover of the passbook T is rolled up to a predetermined page. Will be open. Thereafter, the unique information 42 assigned to each passbook T is read by the first OCR reading unit 5 (reading step). The read unique information 42 (characters in this case) is recognized by the optical character recognition unit 69, and the recognition result is transmitted to the printing apparatus control unit 58.

  On the other hand, the face image data of the owner acquired by the image input unit 56 of the data input control unit 51, the security character information of the owner input by the operation panel 55, and the like are sent to the printing apparatus control unit 58. .

  Print data is generated by the generation unit 58a based on the unique information 42 transmitted to the printing apparatus control unit 58, the face image data of the owner, and the security character information of the owner (generation process), and is transmitted to the intermediate transfer image processing unit 68. Sent. The intermediate transfer image processing unit 68 operates the thermal head 19 based on the print data to superimpose four colors of black ink in addition to the three primary colors of Y (yellow), M (magenta), and C (cyan). The face image of the owner is color printed on the surface of the intermediate transfer film 21. The multi-color overlay printing is performed by the intermediate transfer film 21 reciprocating the thermal head 19 as many times as the number of colors. After the color printing of the face image of the owner, the security information to which the passbook-specific information is given by the thermal head 19 is printed on the surface of the intermediate transfer film 21.

  The intermediate transfer film 21 on which the face image and the security information are printed in this way is wound up in the forward direction (the direction of the heat roller 35), and as shown in FIG. The position of the intermediate transfer film 21 is grasped. Based on this grasping result, the intermediate transfer film 21 is sent to the transfer start position.

  At this time, the passbook T is taken in as shown in FIG. 6B in a state where the page to be transferred is opened, and conveyed to a predetermined position with respect to the heat roller 35. The page to be transferred may be a cover-back page or another medium page.

  The intermediate transfer film 21 and the corresponding page of the passbook T thus positioned are overlapped with the rotation of the heat roller 35 having a shape in which a part of the circumference is cut as shown in FIG. Pressurized and heated with the conveyance.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 7, the transfer film base 26 is pulled up at an angle of 60 ° to 110 ° with respect to the bankbook T, and the transfer of the face image, the security information 46 and the image receiving / adhesive layer 29, and the hologram layer 28 is performed. Upon completion, as shown in FIG. 8, the security information 46 including the unique information 42a and the face image 44 of the owner are transferred (transfer process). The passbook T for which the transfer has been completed is conveyed to the next second OCR reading unit 9 with the page being opened as shown in FIG.

  The second OCR reading unit 9 reads the passbook-specific information 42a and the security information 46 of the passbook T. The read unique information 42 a and security information 46 are recognized by the optical character recognition unit 69, and the recognition result is transmitted to the printing apparatus control unit 58. In the printing apparatus control unit 58, data discrimination processing is performed by the discrimination unit 58b (discrimination step).

  If it is determined that the result of data collation by the determination unit 58b is defective, the printing device control unit 58 notifies the data input control unit 51 that the created passbook is defective. The data input control unit 51 transmits the same print processing command to the printing apparatus control unit 58 again based on receiving the notification that the created passbooks are defective, and automatically recreates the passbooks. Let it be done.

  If the collation result of the data in the determination unit 58b is correct, recording data to the wireless IC 43 is generated based on the print data generated by the generation unit 58a of the printing apparatus control unit 58, and wireless IC R / W control is performed. Is transmitted to the unit 73. Based on this transmission, the wireless ICR / W unit 10 records (writes) the security information to which the passbook-specific information is attached to the wireless IC 43 of the book T.

  Further, when the determination unit 58b determines that the passbook is defective, the wireless IC R / W unit 10 records data indicating that the passbook is defective in the wireless IC 43 of the book T.

  In the wireless IC R / W unit 10, normal passbooks whose information is recorded in the wireless IC 43 are discharged to the normal passbook stacking unit 12 by the operation of the discharge gate 11. Are discharged and accumulated.

  Incidentally, the heat roller 35 used in the transfer unit 17 of the intermediate transfer printing apparatus 8 is configured as shown in FIGS.

  That is, the heat roller 35 includes a core metal 75 as a hollow cylindrical core material, a rubber material 77 as an elastic material covering the outer peripheral surface of the core metal 75, and a heater (not shown) provided in the core metal 75. And is configured. As the rubber material 77, silicon rubber having a hardness of 60 to 90 degrees and a thickness of 1 mm to 3 mm is used.

  A part of the outer peripheral surface portion of the heat roller 35 is cut out in a flat shape to form a cut surface 75a, whereby an edge portion 35a is projected along the axial direction. At the edge portion 35a of the heat roller 35, an end surface portion 77a of the rubber material 77 is exposed as shown in FIG.

  A metal plate 79 as a protective member is attached to the core metal 75 constituting the edge portion 35a with an attachment screw 80. The metal plate 79 has an outer diameter dimension from the center of the metal core 75 that is substantially equal to the outer diameter dimension of the heat roller 35, and is joined to the end surface portion 77 a of the rubber material 77 exposed at the edge portion 35 a of the heat roller 35. The end surface portion 77a of the rubber material 77 is protected.

  Further, an R chamfered portion 79 a having a radius of 0.1 mm to 1 mm is formed at the corner of the tip of the metal plate 79, and is brought into contact with the intermediate transfer film 21 from the chamfered portion 79 a when transferring image information. It has become.

  FIG. 11 shows the heat roller 35 and the metal plate 79 in an exploded manner.

  As shown in FIG. 11, a plurality of screw holes 75 c are formed at predetermined intervals in the axial direction in the portion constituting the edge portion 35 a of the core metal 75, and the mounting screw 80 is inserted into the metal plate 79. A plurality of insertion holes 79b are formed at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction. The metal plate 79 is fixed by inserting a mounting screw 80 through the insertion hole 79b and screwing the mounting screw 80 into the screw hole 75c.

  The heat roller 35 configured as described above rotates to contact the intermediate transfer film 21 from the edge 35a side and transfer the image to the passbook T. The edge 35a of the heat roller 35 Since the metal plate 79 is attached to protect the end surface portion 77a of the rubber material 77, the end surface portion 77a of the rubber material 77 does not peel from the core metal 75 even when the transfer operation is repeated, and the life of the heat roller 35 is improved. be able to.

  As shown in FIG. 13, when the end surface portion 77 a of the rubber material 77 is not protected by the metal plate 79, the end surface portion 77 a of the rubber material 77 directly contacts the intermediate transfer film 21 repeatedly. There is a risk of peeling from 75 and reducing the life.

  FIG. 12 shows a heat roller 85 as a modification of the present invention.

  The above-described heat roller 35 is formed with its edge 35a protruding from the cut surface 75a of the heat roller 35. However, the heat roller 85 shown in FIG. 12 has its edge 85a flush with the cut surface 75a. The exposed end surface portion 86 a of the rubber material 86 is protected by the metal plate 87. The metal plate 87 is fixed to the core metal 75 by a fixing screw 88.

  It goes without saying that the present invention can be further modified in various ways within the scope of the gist thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The block diagram which shows schematically the bankbook printing apparatus which is one embodiment of this invention. The block diagram which shows the transfer printing part with which the bankbook printing apparatus is equipped. The transfer film used by the transfer printing part is shown, (a) is the 1st example, (b) is the 2nd example, (c) is the block diagram which shows the 3rd example. The top view shown in the state which opened the passbooks used with the same passbook printing apparatus. The control block diagram which shows the control part of the bankbook printing apparatus. The figure which shows the transfer operation | movement of the transfer printing part. The figure which expands and shows a part of transfer operation | movement of the transfer printing part. The top view which shows the passbooks printed with the same passbook printing apparatus. The perspective view which shows the heat roller used in the transfer printing part. The longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the same heat roller. The perspective view which shows the state which removed the metal plate for protection of the heat roller. Sectional drawing which shows the modification of the heat roller of this invention. The perspective view which shows the state which the rubber | gum of the conventional heat roller peeled.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 16 ... Printing part (printing means), 21 ... Intermediate transfer film (intermediate transfer body), 35a ... Edge part, 35 ... Heat roller (transfer roller), 75 ... Core metal (core material), 75a ... Cut surface, 77 ... Rubber material (elastic material), 77a ... end face portion, 79 ... metal plate (protective member).

Claims (6)

Printing means for printing an image on the intermediate transfer member;
A core material and an elastic material covering the outer peripheral surface portion of the core material are provided, and an end surface portion of the elastic material is exposed along the rotation axis direction of the core material by cutting a part of the outer periphery. A transfer roller that forms an edge portion and abuts against the side opposite to the surface on which the image of the intermediate transfer body is printed from the edge portion side, and transfers the image to passbooks;
The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transfer roller is provided with a metal protection member that protects an end surface portion of the elastic material at an edge portion thereof. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the protective member is in contact with the intermediate transfer member from a front end corner portion, and an R chamfered portion of 0.1 mm to 1 mm is formed at the front end corner portion. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the protective member has an outer diameter dimension from a center portion of the core member substantially equal to an outer diameter dimension of the elastic member. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the elastic material is silicon rubber having a hardness of 60 to 90 degrees and a thickness of 1 mm to 3 mm. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an edge portion of the transfer roller protrudes from a cut surface of the transfer roller. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an edge portion of the transfer roller is formed flush with a cut surface of the transfer roller.

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