JP4783303B2 - Printing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, and in particular, a supply unit that supplies a card, a cleaning roller that cleans the surface of the card supplied from the supply unit, and a printing unit that performs a printing process on a card whose surface is cleaned by the cleaning roller. The present invention also relates to a printing apparatus including a discharge unit that discharges a card that has been printed by a printing unit.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, printing apparatuses that create cards such as credit cards, cash cards, license cards, and ID cards are known. In general, a printing apparatus includes a supply unit that supplies a card, a printing unit that performs a printing process on the card supplied from the supply unit, and a discharge unit that discharges the card printed by the printing unit. The card supplied from the supply unit is conveyed on a card conveyance path extending between the supply unit, the printing unit, and the discharge unit.

  In such a printing apparatus, there is known a printing apparatus in which a supply unit and a discharge unit are arranged on the same side with respect to the apparatus housing in order to make the entire apparatus compact (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this device, the card transport path is switched when the card is supplied from the supply unit, printed on the card by the printing unit, and discharged to the discharge unit disposed on the same side as the supply unit and the device housing. The card is discharged to the discharge section.

  Cleaning that cleans the surface of the card supplied from the supply unit with a cleaning roller to remove dust and dirt attached to the surface of the card before performing printing processing in the printing unit, and further cleans the cleaning roller A technique is also known (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

JP-A-2005-75603 Japanese Patent No. 2848412

  However, if a cleaning unit that cleans the card supplied from the supply unit is arranged on the card transport path separately from the transport unit for transporting the card, there is a problem that the apparatus size becomes large.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus having a small apparatus size in which a card is supplied, discharged, and cleaned by a single mechanism.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a supply unit that is provided on one side of an apparatus housing and supplies cards one by one, and has a sticky and clean surface of the card supplied from the supply unit. A conveying roller composed of a cleaning roller, a printing unit that performs a printing process on a card whose surface has been cleaned by the conveying roller, and one side of the apparatus housing that is the same as the supply unit. The card is switched back and discharged, the transport roller, the first position for receiving the card from the supply unit and cleaning the surface of the card, and the card printed by the printing unit. A transport roller moving mechanism that moves the second position for discharging to the discharge section and the third position for cleaning the transport roller. To.

  In the present invention, a supply unit that supplies cards one by one and a discharge unit that discharges cards printed by the printing unit are arranged on one side of the apparatus housing. When the card is supplied from the supply unit, the transport roller is positioned at a first position where the transport roller moving mechanism receives the card from the supply unit and cleans the surface of the card. The surface is cleaned by a conveyance roller that is also a cleaning roller and printing processing is performed by the printing unit. The card printed by the printing unit is switched back, conveyed, and discharged to the discharging unit. At this time, the conveying roller discharges the card printed by the printing unit to the discharging unit by the conveying roller moving mechanism. Positioned in the second position. The transport roller is positioned at the third position and arbitrarily cleaned by the transport roller moving mechanism except when it is positioned at the first and second positions. According to the present invention, the transport roller, which is also a cleaning roller, receives the card from the supply unit by the transport roller moving mechanism and cleans the surface of the card, and the discharge unit discharges the card printed by the printing unit. Since it is positioned at the second position for discharging to the third position and the third position for cleaning the transport roller, one member can have a plurality of functions, and downsizing of the printing apparatus can be achieved. .

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the third position is provided outside the moving region between the first position and the second position. Further, a cleaner member having a higher viscosity than the conveying roller may be further provided, and the cleaner member may be brought into contact with the conveying roller at the third position to clean the conveying roller. The transport roller moving mechanism includes a geared bracket for holding the transport roller and a motor connected to the geared bracket, and the geared bracket is moved by driving the motor to move the transport roller to the first to third. You may comprise so that it may be located in either of the positions. The transport roller moving mechanism has a rotation shaft between the transport roller on the card transport path and the printing unit, and rotates the transport roller around the rotation shaft while holding the transport roller. It may be positioned at any one of the third positions. Furthermore, a cartridge having an ink ribbon mounted therein may be mounted on the printing unit, and the third position may be disposed between the card transport path and the cartridge. At this time, the cleaner member may be provided in the cartridge. With these configurations, the present invention exhibits other functions and effects in addition to the functions and effects described above, which will be described in detail in the section of the best mode for carrying out the present invention below.

  According to the present invention, the transport roller, which is also a cleaning roller, receives the card from the supply unit by the transport roller moving mechanism and cleans the surface of the card, and the discharge unit discharges the card printed by the printing unit. Since it is positioned at the second position for discharging to the third position and the third position for cleaning the transport roller, one member can have a plurality of functions, and downsizing of the printing apparatus can be achieved. The effect that can be obtained.

  Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, the present invention has a function of printing and recording characters and images on a card-like recording medium (hereinafter simply referred to as a card), and a function of performing a magnetic recording process on a magnetic stripe portion of the card. An embodiment applied to a printer apparatus having the above will be described.

(Constitution)
<System configuration>
The printer device of this embodiment is connected to a host device (for example, a host computer such as a personal computer) via an interface (not shown), and transmits print record data, magnetic record data, and the like from the host device to the printer device. It is possible to instruct a recording operation or the like. As will be described later, the printer apparatus has an operation panel section (operation display section) 5 (see FIG. 1). In addition to a recording operation instruction from the host apparatus, a recording operation instruction from the operation panel section 5 is also possible. It is. The host device generally includes an image input device such as a scanner for reading an image recorded on a document, an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse for inputting commands and data to the host device, and data generated by the host device. A monitor such as a liquid crystal display for displaying is connected.

<Appearance configuration>
As shown in FIG. 1, the printer apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is disposed on one side of a casing 2 as an apparatus housing, and can store a plurality of blank cards before recording processing in a stack (about 100 sheets). The card supply unit 10 is detachably attached to the casing 2 and is disposed below the card supply unit 10 on one side of the casing 2 and can store the card after the recording process in an inclined manner (about The operation state including an error state of the printer device 1 at a position adjacent to the card supply unit 10 on one side of the casing 2 and the card storage unit 20 that is detachably attached to the casing 2. And an operation panel unit 5 for performing various settings for printing processing and magnetic recording processing. The operation panel 5 is provided so as to be rotated in synchronization with the rotation of the dial 6.

  A part of the card storage unit 20 is provided with a card discharge port 21 formed as an opening through which a recording-processed card that has been stored excessively can be discharged to the outside of the apparatus. In addition, an opening / closing cover 7 is provided on one surface of the printer device 1 for accessing the inside of the device when a cartridge 52 containing an ink ribbon R used for print recording described later is attached / detached. Constitutes a part of the casing 2.

  The magnetic encoder unit 80 is disposed on the other side of the casing 2 so as to protrude partly from the casing 2 so as to face the card supply unit 10 or the card storage unit 20.

<Internal configuration>
Next, each internal component of the printer apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the blank card C before recording processing supplied from the card supply unit 10 is conveyed toward the printing unit 50, and the cleaning roller 31 that is also a conveyance roller of the card C being conveyed. It shows a state where the surface to be printed is in contact with the surface and cleaned. At this time, the cleaning roller 31 and the transport roller 41 form a substantially horizontal card transport path by a transport roller moving mechanism 60 (hereinafter, abbreviated as a moving mechanism 60), which will be described later. Is received at the first position for cleaning the surface of the card C.

  FIG. 3 shows a state where the card C recorded by the printing unit 50 or the magnetic encoder unit 80 is discharged toward the card storage unit 20. At this time, the cleaning roller 31 and the transport roller 41 are positioned at a second position where the moving mechanism 60 forms an inclined card transport path and the card C can be transported toward the card storage unit 20.

  Further, FIG. 4 shows a state where the cleaning roller 31 is cleaned by coming into contact with a roller cleaner 32 as a cleaner member. At this time, the cleaning roller 31 and the transport roller 41 are positioned at a third position where the cleaning roller 31 can be cleaned by the moving mechanism 60.

  The printer device 1 passes only one card C when the supply roller 11 that is rotationally driven by a motor (not shown) feeds the lowermost (lowermost) card accommodated in the card supply unit 10 into the device. In order to allow this, a supply roller 12 and a separation gate 13 made of a plate-like member are provided. The supplied card C passes between the supply roller 12 and the separation gate 13 and is led to a card supply port 14 provided on one side of the casing 2 so as to be connected to the card supply unit 10.

  On the other hand, the card storage portion 20 is provided with a storage tray 24 having an inner bottom surface formed in an inclined shape, and is disposed on one side of the casing 2 with an opening below the card supply port 14. The recorded cards C discharged from the card discharge port 23 are sequentially discharged onto the storage tray 24 by the discharge roller 15 (see FIG. 3).

  The discharge roller 15 is fixed on the printer device 1 side, and is rotated by a motor (not shown) that rotates the supply roller 11 described above. The supply roller 11 rotates to supply a blank card C. When the direction of rotation is normal rotation driving, the card C discharged by reverse rotation driving of a motor (not shown) is rotationally driven so as to be discharged onto the storage tray 24. That is, the supply roller 11 and the discharge roller 15 are rotated by forward / reverse driving of a motor (not shown). However, since the supply roller 11 is provided with a one-way clutch (not shown), it can rotate only in the card supply direction. Yes (rotation drive is not transmitted in the direction opposite to the card supply direction due to the action of the one-way clutch). On the other hand, the discharge roller 15 is rotationally driven in both directions by forward / reverse drive of a motor (not shown). In this embodiment, the supply operation of the blank card C before the recording process and the discharging operation of the card C after the recording process are not performed at the same time, and the discharge roller 15 rotates in reverse to the rotation for discharging the card C. There is no problem even if it rotates in the direction.

  The card C supplied from the card supply port 14 is successively taken over to the rotating transfer rollers 41 and 43 having a driving force transmitted from a transfer driving motor 70 which will be described later, to the substantially horizontal card transfer path P1. Conveyed along. The conveying roller 43 is configured by a roller pair having a driving roller and a driven roller (hereinafter, unless otherwise specified, description of the driven roller of the roller pair will be omitted, and only the driving roller will be described). ).

  On the opposite side of the transport roller 41, the cleaning roller 31 is provided so as to be able to advance and retreat with respect to the card transport path P1 so as to face the transport roller 41. When the cleaning roller 31 advances onto the card transport path P1 so as to come into contact with the card C to be transported and is positioned at the first position (the state shown in FIG. 2), the cleaning roller 31 is connected to the transport roller 41 having driving force. By sandwiching and rotating the card C between them, foreign matters such as dust and dirt can be removed and cleaned from the stamp screen printed and recorded by the printing unit 50.

  As described above, the cleaning roller 31 is also positioned at the third position so as to be in surface contact with the roller-shaped cleaner 32 disposed at a predetermined position separated from the card transport path P1 (see FIG. 4). The roller-shaped cleaner 32 is rotatably attached to a support member that is detachably attached to a predetermined portion of the cartridge 52 that houses the ink ribbon R.

  In this embodiment, the cleaning roller 31 is composed of a rotatable roller-like member such as a rubber material having a sticky surface, and the roller cleaner 32 is an adhesive having a sponge layer on a resin-made rotatable roller-like member. Since the adhesive tape has a higher adhesiveness than the adhesiveness of the surface of the cleaning roller 31, dust, dust, etc. removed from the card C and adhered to the surface of the cleaning roller 31. The foreign matter is transferred to an adhesive tape that forms the surface of the roller-shaped cleaner 32 by surface contact between the two, and delivered.

  On the downstream side of the transport roller 43 in the card transport direction, a printing unit 50 that prints and records desired characters or images on the surface of the card C cleaned by the cleaning roller 14 is provided.

  In this embodiment, the printing unit 50 employs a thermal transfer printer configuration, and has a thermal head 51 provided so as to be able to advance and retreat with respect to a platen roller 44 provided at a printing position on the card transport path P1. Yes. Between the platen roller 44 and the thermal head 51, an ink ribbon R in which a plurality of colors such as ink layers Y (yellow), M (magenta), C (cyan), and Bk (black) are repeated in a surface order is interposed. is doing. The ink ribbon R is housed in the cartridge 52 as described above.

  When information such as characters or images is thermally transferred and recorded on the card C that moves along the card conveyance path P1, the ink ribbon R is supplied from the ribbon supply reel 54, and a substantially entire surface of the thermal head 51 is applied to the tip of the thermal head 51. It is conveyed at the same speed as the card C while being in contact, and is wound on a ribbon take-up reel 55 that takes up the ink ribbon R. The ribbon supply reel 54 and the ribbon take-up reel 55 are rotationally driven by a motor (not shown). At this time, desired characters and images are printed on the card C by selectively operating the heating element of the thermal head 51 while pressing the thermal head 51 with the ink ribbon R interposed on the surface of the card C. . In the transport path of the ink ribbon R, a light emitting element 58 and a light receiving element 59 for detecting the ink layer Bk (black) in order to cue a predetermined ink layer (ink layer Y in this embodiment) and a plurality of guide shafts. A transmission type sensor is provided.

  Further, on the upstream side of the thermal head 51 in the card conveyance direction (on the conveyance roller 43 side), from the light emitting element 48 and the light receiving element 49 that detect the leading and trailing ends of the card C conveyed along the card conveyance path P1. A transmission type sensor (hereinafter referred to as a first card detection sensor) is provided.

  Below the printing unit 50, a conveyance drive motor 70 including a series of conveyance rollers 41 and 43 and a stepping motor capable of rotating the platen roller 44 forward and backward is disposed. The rotational driving force by the conveyance drive motor 70 is transmitted to a pulley 73 by a belt 72 by a pulley 71 provided on the rotation shaft of the conveyance drive motor 70, and the belt 74 having one end wound around the pulley 73 by the belt 74. Drive is transmitted to the platen roller 44 via a pulley 75 provided on the rotating shaft. The pulley 73 is constituted by a two-stage pulley, and a belt 72 and a belt 74 are stretched over each step portion.

  A plurality of gears (not shown) are arranged on the rotation axis of the platen roller 44, the rotation axes of the transport rollers 41 and 43, and between the rollers, and are transmitted to the platen roller 44. The rotational driving force is transmitted to the respective transport rollers 41 and 43 through the plurality of gears.

  Further, the downstream side of the platen roller 44 in the card conveyance direction (the ribbon take-up reel 55 side) has a function of conveying the card C, and the card C is sandwiched when the printing unit 50 performs printing recording on the card C. A nip roller 45 is provided along the card transport path P1, and a feed roller 46 for transporting the card C is also provided along the card transport path P1 further downstream of the nip roller 45 in the card transport direction. Yes. Near the center of the nip roller 45 and the feed roller 46, a transmissive sensor (hereinafter referred to as a second card detection) comprising a light emitting element 56 and a light receiving element 57 for detecting the leading end of the card C transported along the card transport path P1. Called a sensor).

  The rotation shafts of the nip roller 45 and the feed roller 46 are provided with gears (not shown), and a plurality of illustrations are also omitted between the platen roller 44 and the nip roller 45 and between the nip roller 45 and the feed roller 45. The plurality of gears (not shown) mesh with each other so that the rotational driving force from the conveyance drive motor 70 is driven by a driving force transmission mechanism including the above-described pulley, belt, and a plurality of gears (not shown). Then, it is branched from the gear provided on the rotation shaft of the platen roller 44 and transmitted to the nip roller 45 and the feed roller 46. The nip roller 45 and the feed roller 46 are configured so that the magnetic encoder unit 80 holds the card C in a stopped state when performing magnetic recording processing on the magnetic stripe portion provided on the back surface of the card C stamp screen. Has been.

  A magnetic encoder unit 80 is provided adjacent to the feed roller 46 on the downstream side of the printing unit 50 in the card conveying direction. The magnetic encoder unit 80 reciprocates so as to scan along the card transport path P1 in order to perform magnetic recording processing on the magnetic stripe portion of the card C held and held by the nip roller 45 and the feed roller 46. A magnetic head 81 (self-running) is provided.

  A part of the magnetic encoder unit 80 is provided with a card outlet 82 formed as an opening through which the card C conveyed along the card conveyance path P1 can be discharged out of the apparatus. That is, the card carry-out port 82 faces the card supply port 14 and is provided on the other side of the casing 2 and on an extension line of the card transport path P1. Therefore, it is also possible to carry in a cleaning card for cleaning a plurality of rollers arranged in the card transport path P1 through the card carry-out port 82 and carry it out after cleaning.

  Inside the magnetic encoder unit 80, a carry-out roller 47 capable of carrying the card C toward the card carry-out port 82 and carrying out the card C from the card carry-out port 82 is disposed. The magnetic encoder unit 80 does not include a drive source for rotationally driving the carry-out roller 47, but a plurality of gears (not shown) are provided between the carry-out roller 47 and the feed roller 46 so as to be connected to the feed roller 46. The transmitted rotational driving force is transmitted to the carry-out roller 47.

  Therefore, the printer device 1 has a configuration in which the card supply port 14, the printing unit 50, and the magnetic encoder unit 80 are provided along a substantially horizontal card transport path P <b> 1 that is continuous from the card supply unit 10.

  Further, as is apparent from the drawing, the magnetic encoder unit 80 has a unit shape in which a part thereof is inserted into the machine body, and the transport drive motor 70 is located below the printing unit 50 and magnetically. It is disposed between the encoder unit 80 and a moving mechanism 60 that moves the cleaning roller 31 and the conveying roller 41 described below to any one of the first to third positions described above.

<Movement mechanism>
Next, the moving mechanism 60 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 5 shows a state in which the cleaning roller 31 and the transport roller 41 are in the first position, FIG. 6 shows a state in which the cleaning roller 31 and the transport roller 41 are in the second position, and FIG. The state where the conveyance roller 41 is in the third position is shown.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, the moving mechanism 60 is equipped with a stepping motor 61 capable of forward / reverse rotation, a motor gear 62 provided on the rotation shaft of the stepping motor 61, and a gear portion that meshes with the motor gear 62. A bracket 63 is provided. In addition, roller shafts 64 and 66 that rotatably support the transport rollers 41 and 43 are held by a geared bracket 63. Further, the cleaning roller 31 is detachably attached to the geared bracket 63. The geared bracket 63 is attached so as to be rotatable about the roller shaft 66 of the transport roller 43, and the geared bracket 63 is rotated by forward / reverse driving of the stepping motor 61, so that the cleaning roller 31 and the transport roller are rotated. 41 is configured to move to any one of the first position, the second position, and the third position.

  5 to 7, the third position is provided outside the moving region between the first position and the second position (see the meshing position of the motor gear 62 and the bracket 63 with the gear). Referring to FIG. 4, it can be seen that the third position is located between the card transport path P1 and the cartridge 52 mounted on the machine body (printer apparatus 1). In the present embodiment, the first position is set as the home position of the cleaning roller 31 and the transport roller 41.

  Next, the control and electrical system of the printer apparatus 1 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the printer device 1 converts a control unit 95 that controls the operation of the entire printer device 1, and converts a commercial AC power source into a DC power source that can drive / operate each mechanism unit and the control unit. Power supply unit 90.

  The control unit 95 includes a microcomputer (hereinafter simply referred to as a microcomputer) that performs overall control processing of the printer apparatus 1. The microcomputer is composed of a CPU that operates with a high-speed clock as a central processing unit, a ROM that stores basic control operations (programs and program data) of the printer device 1, a RAM that serves as a work area for the CPU, and an internal bus that connects these. Has been.

  An external bus is connected to the microcomputer. The external bus temporarily stores an interface (not shown) for communication with a host device, print record data to be printed on the card C, magnetic record data to be magnetically recorded on the magnetic stripe portion of the card C, and the like. A buffer memory is connected.

  The external bus also includes a sensor control unit that controls signals from various sensors, an actuator control unit that controls a motor driver that sends drive pulses and drive power to each motor, and a thermal that controls the thermal energy of the thermal head 51. A head control unit, an operation display control unit for controlling the operation panel unit 5, and a magnetic encoder unit are connected. The sensor control unit includes a first card detection sensor, a second card detection sensor, a transmissive sensor including a light emitting element 58 and a light receiving element 59, and other sensors (not shown), and the actuator control unit includes a stepping motor 61 and a conveyance drive motor 70. The thermal head control unit is connected to the thermal head 51, and the operation display control unit is connected to the operation panel unit 5 to other motors (not shown).

  The power supply unit 90 supplies operating / driving power to the control unit 95, the thermal head 51, the operation panel unit 5, and the magnetic encoder unit 80.

(Operation)
Next, the operation of the printer apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with a microcomputer CPU (hereinafter simply referred to as a CPU) of the control unit 95 as a main component.

  When the control unit 95 is powered on, the CPU reads a program and program data stored in the ROM (develops in the RAM) and performs an initial process for operating each mechanism unit. That is, in the initial processing, after confirming the connection with each control unit such as the sensor control unit and the magnetic encoder unit 80 that are connected to the microcomputer via the external bus and configure the control unit 95, each component unit performs the above-described home operation. It is determined based on a signal from the sensor control unit or the like whether the component is located. If each component is not located at the home position, the component is moved to the home position. Based on the signal from the sensor control unit, etc., if each component does not move to the home position even if the return operation to the home position is repeated a predetermined number of times, it notifies the host device and displays it via the operation display control unit. This is displayed on part 4. Also, in the initial processing, it is also determined whether the card is stored in the card supply unit 10 based on a signal from the sensor control unit, and when it is determined that the card is not stored, Is displayed on the display unit 4, and the card supply unit 10 waits until the card is received. In the initial process, the stepping motor 61 is driven to move the cleaning roller 31 at the first position (home position) to the third position, and then the driving and conveying motor 70 is driven for a predetermined time, so that the third position is reached. Then, the cleaning roller 31 that comes into surface contact (contact) with the roller-shaped cleaner 31 is cleaned.

  On the other hand, the printer driver installed in the host device determines various parameter values for controlling the recording operation in the printer device 1 based on the recording command designated by the operator (user), and the card C is determined from the recording command. Print recording data and magnetic recording data for recording on the printer are generated and transmitted to the printer apparatus 1. In the buffer memory of the control unit 95, various parameter values serving as recording control commands, image data or character data obtained by decomposing the print recording data for each color component of Y, M, C, and Bk, and magnetic recording Data is stored. In this embodiment, color components (original data are R, G, B) are separated on the host device side, converted from R, G, B to Y, M, C by the printer device 1 and used as image data. The Bk data extracted on the host device side is also used as the Bk data in the printer device 1 and used for character data.

  The CPU fetches the recording control commands (various parameter values) stored in the buffer memory, and controls each mechanism unit in accordance with these parameter values and the program and program data developed in the RAM as follows.

  First, the stepping motor 61 constituting the moving mechanism 60 is driven via the actuator control unit, and the cleaning roller 31 and the transport roller 41 are moved from the third position shown in FIG. 7 to the first position shown in FIG. Move to prepare to accept card C. At this time, the moving mechanism 60 positions the transport rollers 41 and 43 so as to form a substantially horizontal card transport path (state shown in FIGS. 2 and 5).

  Next, the CPU operates the conveyance drive motor 70 via the actuator control unit to drive each roller disposed on the card conveyance path P1 via the drive transmission mechanism, and supplies the roller via the actuator control unit. A motor (not shown) that rotates 11 is driven.

  Thereby, the lowest card C of the card supply unit 10 is carried into the casing 2 between the supply roller 12 and the separation gate 13 and via the card supply port 14. The card C is cleaned by the cleaning roller 31 and is transported toward the card exit 82 along the card transport path P1 (see FIG. 2).

  The card C is further transported on the card transport path P <b> 1 toward the card discharge port 82 to a position where both ends are sandwiched between the feed roller 46 and the nip roller 45 by the driving force of the transport drive motor 70. When the number of pulses of the transport drive motor 70 reaches a predetermined value after the card leading edge is detected by the second card detection sensor, the CPU stops driving the transport drive motor 70. As a result, both ends of the card C are stopped and held between the feed roller 46 and the nip roller 45, and the magnetic recording data can be written to the magnetic stripe portion by the magnetic head 81 of the magnetic encoder unit 80. .

  The CPU drives a DC motor with an encoder (not shown) to move the magnetic head 81 from the home position to the operating position to write information to the magnetic stripe portion of the card 6, and the magnetic head 81 is moved to the magnetic stripe of the card 6. Press the part. Next, the CPU outputs the magnetic recording data stored in the buffer memory via the external bus to the magnetic encoder unit 80 and drives a DC motor with an encoder (not shown) to connect the magnetic head 81 to the magnetic stripe portion of the card 6. The necessary range in the entire region from one end to the other is moved to record the magnetic recording data in the magnetic stripe portion.

  When the writing of the magnetic recording data to the magnetic stripe portion of the card C is completed, the CPU stops and reverses the DC motor with an encoder (not shown), and moves the magnetic head 81 downstream in the direction opposite to the writing direction. The magnetic recording data written in the magnetic stripe portion of C is read, and verification (checking whether the data has been correctly written) is performed to check whether the magnetic recording data stored in the buffer memory matches the read magnetic recording data. The magnetic head 81 returns to the home position upon completion of verification.

  When the verification result is a write failure, the CPU notifies the host device and displays that fact on the display unit 4 and drives the transport drive motor 70 by a predetermined number of pulses (forward rotation), thereby Then, it is carried out of the apparatus via the card carry-out port 82. Next, when a new card C is supplied from the card supply unit 10, the magnetic encoder unit 80 is caused to write and verify magnetic recording data in the magnetic stripe unit of the (new) card C in the same manner as described above.

  On the other hand, if there is no problem in the verification result from the microcomputer of the magnetic encoder unit 80 (there is no writing failure of magnetic recording data to the magnetic stripe portion of the card C), the CPU drives the transport driving motor 70 in the reverse direction, The card C, whose both ends are held and held between the nip roller 45 and the feed roller 46, is reversely conveyed along the card conveyance path P1 to the card supply port 14 side. During the reverse conveyance, when the rear end of the card C is detected by the first card detection sensor, the reverse drive of the conveyance drive motor 70 is continued for a predetermined number of pulses, and the drive of the conveyance drive motor 70 is stopped. As a result, the card C is in a state in which the second half in the transport direction is sandwiched between the transport rollers 43 and the first half in the transport direction is sandwiched between the cleaning roller 31 and the transport roller 41.

  During this time, the CPU drives a motor (not shown) to take up the ink ribbon R of the cartridge 52 toward the ribbon take-up reel 55, and the transmissive sensor composed of the light emitting element 58 and the light receiving element 59 becomes the ink layer Bk (black). Triggered at the time when the end of the light is detected (when the light receiving element 59 detects that the light emission of the light emitting element 58 from the ink layer Bk has changed from the non-transmissive state to the transmissive state), the motor (not shown) has a predetermined number of steps. The ink ribbon R is further driven to cue the ink ribbon R so that the tip of the ink layer Y (yellow) is positioned at the position of the thermal head 51 and the platen roller 44.

  Next, the CPU drives the conveyance drive motor 70 to rotate forward, conveys the card C toward the card exit 82 on the card conveyance path P1, and confirms the leading end position of the card C by the first card detection sensor. The printing unit 50 then prints the expected characters and images based on the print record data on the surface of the card C. That is, while the ink ribbon R (ink layer Y portion) is interposed on the surface of the card C and pressing the thermal head 51, the thermal is performed according to the Y color image data (image data obtained by converting the Y component from the RGB data). The heating element of the head 51 is selectively activated. As a result, the Y (yellow) thermal transfer ink component applied to the ink ribbon R is directly transferred to the surface of the card C.

  At this time, the back side of the card C is supported by the platen roller 44. Initially, the card C is nipped and conveyed by the conveying roller 43, and as the card C is conveyed toward the card carry-out port 82 side on the card conveying path P1, the tip side is a nip roller 45, the rear end side is nipped and conveyed by the conveying roller 43, and finally, the rear end side is nipped and conveyed by the nip roller 45 (while the rear end side is supported by the platen roller 44). Accordingly, the transport roller 43 and the nip roller 45 function as a capstan roller that sandwiches the card C and transports it at a constant speed during printing recording by the printing unit 50. The CPU confirms the rear end position of the card C by the first card detection sensor, and further continues the forward drive of the transport drive motor 70 for a predetermined number of pulses, thereby stopping the drive of the transport drive motor 70.

  Next, the CPU reversely drives the conveyance drive motor 70 to reversely convey the card C along the card conveyance path P1 to the card supply port 14 side (switchback conveyance), and the card C is conveyed in the second half in the conveyance direction. When the conveyance direction first half is sandwiched between the roller 43 and the cleaning roller 31 and the conveyance roller 41, the conveyance drive motor 70 stops driving. During this time, the CPU drives a motor (not shown) to slightly wind the ink ribbon R of the cartridge 52 toward the ribbon take-up reel 55, and the leading end of the ink layer M (magenta) has the thermal head 51, the platen roller 44, and the like. Position at. Next, the CPU drives the conveyance drive motor 70 to rotate forward so that the card C is conveyed on the card conveyance path P1 toward the card carry-out port 82 and is applied to the ink ribbon R by the printing unit 50. The thermal transfer ink component of M (magenta) is directly transferred onto the surface of the card C. Similarly, the CPU directly transfers the C (cyan) and Bk (black) thermal transfer ink components applied to the ink ribbon R onto the surface of the card C by the printing unit 50. . Thereby, a color image by Y, M, C, and Bk is formed on the surface of the card C.

  Next, the CPU conveys the card C toward the card discharge port 23. That is, the conveyance drive motor 70 is driven in reverse, and the card C is reversely conveyed (switchback conveyance) to the card supply port 14 side along the card conveyance path P1. When the printing unit 50 performs multi-color surface sequential printing and recording on the printing screen of the card C, when the card C is reversely conveyed to the card supply port 14, the conveying roller 41 forms a substantially horizontal card conveying path. When the card C that has been subjected to the predetermined recording process is discharged toward the card discharge port 23, the card transport path P1 is detected by the first card detection sensor. The CPU controls the driving of the stepping motor 61 by using the time point when the rear end of the card C, which is transported in the reverse direction, is detected, or when the rear end of the card C is detected and several pulses have elapsed as a trigger. By driving the stepping motor 61), the transport roller 41 is moved to a second position positioned so as to form an inclined card transport path, and the supply roller 11 described above is rotated. The motor not shown for driving was reversely driven to drive rotation of the discharge roller 15.

  As a result, the card C is stored in the card storage unit 20 through the card discharge port 23 or is discharged to the outside from the card discharge port 21 (when the card storage unit 20 is full of cards).

  The CPU again drives the stepping motor 61 (reverse rotation drive) at a predetermined timing when the discharging operation of the card C to the card accommodating portion 20 is completed, and the cleaning roller 31 and the conveyance roller 41 are conveyed in an inclined card. The second position positioned so as to form a path is returned to the third position where the roller cleaner 32 abuts, and the conveyance drive motor 70 is driven in reverse for the holding time, and cleaning is performed by the roller cleaner 32. After the roller 31 is cleaned, the reverse drive of the transport drive motor 70 is stopped, and the stepping motor 61 is driven to position the cleaning roller 31 and the transport roller 41 from the third position to the first position that is the home position. As a result, when the recording process to the card C is completed and there is a next job, the above operation is repeated.

(Effects etc.)
Next, effects and the like of the printer device 1 according to the present embodiment will be described.

  In the printer device 1 according to the present embodiment, the moving mechanism 60 causes the cleaning roller 31 that forms the pair of transport rollers together with the transport roller 41 to receive the card C from the card supply unit 10 and clean the surface of the card C. And the second position for discharging the card C printed by the printing unit 50 to the card storage unit 20 and the third position for cleaning the cleaning roller 31. For this reason, the cleaning roller 31 is provided with a plurality of functions such as receiving the card C, cleaning, discharging by switchback, and cleaning. Therefore, according to the printer apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the apparatus can be downsized (downsizing).

  Further, since the cleaning roller 31 removes dust and dirt on the surface of the card C, dust and dust adhere to the surface. If the cleaning of the card C is continued as it is, it becomes impossible to remove the dust, dust and the like on the card C, so it is necessary to remove the dust and dust on the surface of the cleaning roller 31. In the printer apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the cleaning roller 30 is cleaned by the roller cleaner 32 at the third position where the cleaning roller 30 is in surface contact (contact) with the roller cleaner 32 by the moving mechanism 60. That is, since the roller-shaped cleaner 32 is made of a material having a higher adhesiveness than the cleaning roller 31, dust, dust and the like attached to the surface of the cleaning roller 31 can be removed.

  Further, in the printer device 1 of the present embodiment, the third position is provided outside the moving area between the first position and the second position. For this reason, when the cleaning roller 31 moves from the first position to the second position, there is no contact with the card C at the third position, and the supply and discharge operations of the card C are not hindered.

  Further, in the printer device 1 of the present embodiment, the roller shaft 66 serving as a rotation shaft when the cleaning roller 31 rotates is provided on the printing unit 50 side from the cleaning roller 31. For this reason, for example, the cleaning roller 31 can be disposed at a position close to the card housing portion 20 as compared with the rotary carrier as in Patent Document 1 described above. Further, if the rotary transport body is located far from the card storage unit 20, it is necessary to provide a guide member such as a guide or a roller between the rotary transport body and the card storage unit 20, but the printer apparatus 1 has the above configuration. Such guide members (parts) can be reduced.

  Furthermore, in the printer device 1 of the present embodiment, the third position is arranged in the space between the cartridge 52 and the card transport path P1. For this reason, since this space can be effectively used without being wasted, the apparatus can be miniaturized.

  Further, in the printer device 1 of the present embodiment, the card supply port 14, the printing unit 50, and the magnetic encoder unit 80 are sequentially arranged substantially horizontally along the card conveyance direction of the card C to be conveyed, and the card supply The card discharge port 23 is provided on one side of the casing 2 so that the port 14 and the card discharge port 23 are positioned in the vertical direction. For this reason, it is possible to reduce the size of the apparatus without lengthening the card transport path.

  Further, in the printer device 1 of the present embodiment, a roller-shaped cleaner 32 that removes dust adhering to the surface of the cleaning roller 31 is fixed to a part of the cartridge 52. For this reason, since the roller-shaped cleaner 32 can also be replaced by exchanging the cartridge, usability is improved.

  In this embodiment, the card having the magnetic stripe portion and the magnetic encoder unit 80 are exemplified, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, an IC card may be used, and information may be written to the IC card in a contact or non-contact manner. Further, in this embodiment, in order to reduce the cost when a recording failure occurs, an example in which printing is performed by the printing unit 50 after magnetic recording by the magnetic encoder unit 80 has been shown, but the present invention is limited to this. Instead, the magnetic encoder unit 80 may perform magnetic recording after printing by the printing unit 50, and the recording process may be performed by either the printing unit 50 or the magnetic encoder unit 80. .

  In the present embodiment, an example in which the first position is the home position of the cleaning roller 31 and the transport roller 41 is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this. In the present embodiment, the timing for cleaning the positioning cleaning roller 31 positioned at the third position is exemplified before the start of printing and after the printing process, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, every time after supply of the card C, every time after discharge, once after supplying the card C several times according to the setting, once after discharging several times according to the setting, the operator presses a predetermined button via the operation panel 5 And so on. That is, when the cleaning roller 31 and the transport roller 41 do not hold the card C, the cleaning roller 31 and the transport roller 41 may be cleaned anytime.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the system configuration with the host device is illustrated, but the printer device 1 includes a medium reading unit that reads data recorded on, for example, an MO, a CD, a DVD, and the like, and the recording from the operation panel unit 5 You may comprise so that the printer apparatus 1 can be operated by an operation instruction. The present invention can also be applied to a recording apparatus having only the magnetic encoder unit 80 as a recording unit (without the printing unit 50).

  In the present embodiment, color printing by Y, M, C, and Bk is exemplified in the printing process of the printing unit 50. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, printing may be performed using only Bk. .

  Since the present invention provides a printing device with a small device size by supplying, discharging and cleaning cards by a single mechanism, it contributes to the manufacture and sale of printing devices, and thus has industrial applicability.

1 is an external perspective view of a printer apparatus according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applicable. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the printer apparatus according to the embodiment, showing a state where the cleaning roller and the conveyance roller are positioned at a first position. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the printer device of the embodiment, showing a state where the cleaning roller and the transport roller are positioned at the second position. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the printer device of the embodiment, showing a state where the cleaning roller and the conveyance roller are positioned at a third position. It is an enlarged view of a conveyance roller moving mechanism, and shows a state where the cleaning roller and the conveyance roller are positioned at the first position. It is an enlarged view of a conveyance roller moving mechanism, and shows a state where the cleaning roller and the conveyance roller are positioned at the second position. It is an enlarged view of a conveyance roller moving mechanism, and shows a state where a cleaning roller and a conveyance roller are positioned at a third position.

Explanation of symbols

1 Printer device (printing device)
2 Casing (device housing)
10 Card supply section (supply section)
20 Card compartment (discharge unit)
31 Cleaning roller (conveyance roller)
32 Roller cleaner (cleaner member)
50 Printing unit 52 Cartridge 60 Conveyance roller moving mechanism 61 Stepping motor (motor)
63 Bracket with gear 66 Roller shaft (rotating shaft)
C card R ink ribbon

Claims (7)

A supply unit which is provided on one side of the device housing and supplies cards one by one;
A transport roller comprising a cleaning roller having adhesiveness to clean the surface of the card supplied from the supply unit;
A printing unit that performs a printing process on a card whose surface is cleaned by the transport roller;
A discharge unit which is provided on one side of the same device housing as the supply unit, and which is discharged after the card printed by the printing unit is switched back;
A first position for receiving the card from the supply unit and cleaning the surface of the card; a second position for discharging the card printed by the printing unit to the discharge unit; and the conveyance roller. A third position for cleaning, and a transport roller moving mechanism that moves to be positioned at any one of,
A printing apparatus comprising:   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the third position is provided outside a movement region between the first position and the second position.   3. The cleaner according to claim 1, further comprising a cleaner member having higher adhesiveness than the transport roller, wherein the cleaner member contacts the transport roller at the third position to clean the transport roller. The printing apparatus as described.   The transport roller moving mechanism includes a geared bracket that holds the transport roller, and a motor that is gear-coupled to the geared bracket, and the geared bracket is moved by driving the motor to move the transport roller. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing apparatus is positioned at any one of the first to third positions.   The transport roller moving mechanism has a rotation shaft between the transport roller on the card transport path and the printing unit, and rotates the transport roller around the rotation shaft while holding the transport roller. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing apparatus is positioned at any one of the first to third positions.   6. The cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a cartridge having an ink ribbon is attached to the printing unit, and the third position is disposed between the card conveyance path and the cartridge. The printing apparatus according to one item.   The printing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the cleaner member is provided in the cartridge.

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