JP6044515B2 - Stamp surface forming apparatus, stamp surface material holder, and stamp surface forming method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a marking surface forming apparatus, a marking surface material holder, and a marking surface forming method for forming a marking surface on a marking material held by a marking material holder.

  Conventionally, a porous sheet such as sponge rubber is used as a stamping material in order to save the trouble of adhering stamp ink to the stamping surface each time a stamp is printed, and this is pre-impregnated with ink. The stamp is known.

  For example, a stamp made of a porous sheet (printing surface material) attached to a rootstock is fixed on a plate making apparatus, and a thermal head is brought into pressure contact with the surface of the porous sheet and moved. An apparatus has been proposed in which a heating surface of a multi-head is selectively heated to make a printing surface comprising a melt-solidified portion through which ink does not pass and a non-melted portion through which ink passes. (See Patent Document 1.)

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-100464

  The stamping plate making apparatus of Patent Document 1 fixes the stamping material in a state where it is attached to the rootstock, and it is necessary to use an end face head which is an expensive part, and the entire apparatus becomes large. It is difficult to reduce production costs.

  The present invention solves the above-described conventional problems, and an object thereof is to provide a stamping surface forming apparatus and a stamping surface forming method for forming a stamping surface on a stamping material held by a stamping material holder.

In order to solve the above-described problems, a stamping surface forming apparatus according to the present invention includes a porous stamping material that can be made non-porous by heating, and a holder that holds the stamping material in a detachable manner and has a displacement detection target. A plurality of heating elements arranged in a direction along a surface of the stamping material holder on which the marking material is held, and a drive circuit for controlling the heat generation state of the heating element are provided, and forms a marking surface on the marking material. A marking surface forming portion; a transport portion that moves the stamp surface material holder relative to the marking surface forming portion; a sensor that outputs positional displacement information of the positional displacement detection target of the holding body; And a control unit that controls the drive circuit of the printing surface forming unit so as to correct printing data in accordance with the amount of positional displacement of the printing surface material holder based on the positional displacement information.
The marking material holder according to the present invention includes a porous marking material that can be made non-porous by heating, and a holding body that holds the marking material in a detachable manner and has a positional deviation detection target.

  Further, the stamping surface forming method according to the present invention forms a stamping surface by applying a heat to the stamping material, a stamping material holder that detachably holds a porous stamping material that can be made non-porous by heating. A plurality of heating elements arranged in a direction along a surface of the stamping material holder on which the stamping material is held, and a drive circuit for controlling the heat generation state of the heating elements while moving relative to the marking surface forming unit When forming a marking surface on the marking material by the above, the positional deviation of the marking material holder in the heating element arrangement direction is detected by a sensor, and the print data is corrected according to the amount of the positional deviation. A stamping surface forming step of controlling the driving circuit of the stamping surface forming unit;

The present invention uses a stamping surface forming device having a simple structure and a stamping material holder having a simple structure, and forms a stamping surface on a stamping material held by a stamping surface material holder inserted in the stamping surface forming device. A stamp face forming method can be provided.
In particular, even when the center position of the stamping material holder is shifted from the center position of the thermal head, it is possible to form a stamping surface in which the stamping surface does not protrude from the stamping material.

1 is an external perspective view (FIG. 1 (a)) showing a stamping surface forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention together with a stamping material holder, and a perspective view (FIG. 1 (b)) drawn by cutting along a vertical plane along the conveying direction. It is. It is sectional drawing (FIG. 2 (a)) which shows the structure of the discharge port periphery of the stamp surface material holder of the stamp surface forming apparatus which concerns on this embodiment, and the external appearance enlarged view (FIG. 2 (b)) which looked at the discharge port from the front. It is a perspective view which shows the principal part structure of the stamp surface formation part applied to the stamp surface formation apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. In the top view (Drawing 4 (a)) of the principal part composition of the stamping surface formation part applied to the stamping surface forming device concerning this embodiment, and a sectional view (Drawing 4 (b)) cut by the perpendicular plane along the conveyance direction is there. It is a block diagram of the system configuration of the stamp surface forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. It is the schematic which shows an example of the stamp face material holder holding the stamp face material in which a stamp face is formed by the stamp face forming apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. FIG. 6A is a plan view. FIG. 6B is a VIB-VIB cross-sectional view, that is, a cross-sectional view cut along a vertical plane including the transport direction. FIG. 6C is a cross-sectional view showing details of the VIC portion surrounded by a circle in FIG. It is a figure which shows the state which completed the stamping surface formation, and the stamping surface taken out from the stamping material holder was attached to the base plate of the stamp, and was completed as a seal stamp. FIG. 7A is an external perspective view. FIG. 7B is a side view. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the formation state of the stamp surface by the printer which concerns on this embodiment. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the overlapping area (length) of a sensor and a target object, and output current. The stamp material holder to which a slot for detecting a displacement is added is shown. FIG. 10A is a plan view of the stamp material holder, and FIG. 10B is an enlarged view showing the overlapping state of the positional displacement detection elongated hole and the sensor. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the positional relationship of a stamping material holder and a sensor.

<Definition of concepts and terms>
Hereinafter, in describing embodiments of the present invention, definitions of important concepts and terms are given.
The stamping surface forming device is a device that forms a desired image by forming a desired image on a stamping material. In the present invention, a so-called thermal printer can be used. The thermal printer has a thermal head and can selectively heat each heating element by a plurality of heating elements and a drive circuit (driver) for driving them. In addition, the thermal head has a temperature sensor (thermistor) in the vicinity thereof, and measures the environmental temperature (temperature that rises mainly due to the heat generated by the thermal head). The control unit controls the drive circuit based on the information.
The seal face material is a thermoplastic member that is made of a porous sponge body that can be impregnated with liquid ink and is made non-porous by heating. For example, porous ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) can be used.
The stamping material holder is a jig used to pass through a stamping surface forming apparatus to form a desired image on the stamping material. For example, the stamping material held by the stamping material holder is supplied to the user of the stamping surface forming apparatus. In this specification, for the sake of convenience, the stamping material holder includes a stamping material and a holding body that holds the stamping material.
The holding body is made of, for example, cardboard made of a coat ball. After the stamp face is formed, the stamp face material is taken out from the stamp face material holder and then discarded.

The marking surface forming portion is a mechanism portion that performs a process of making a desired portion of the surface of the marking surface material non-porous by selectively applying heat with a thermal head and prohibiting the passage of ink in that portion. .
Printing (printing with a thermal printer) is not printing using ink, but the heating element of the thermal head is selectively heated in accordance with the image data, so that the surface of the printing material is given a predetermined surface. This means that each dot having a size (the size of the heating element of the thermal head) is made non-porous or not.
The printing data is data for forming a desired marking surface on the marking material by a user who is to form the marking surface. Note that printing by the thermal head is a process that prohibits the passage of ink, and the print data is image data that is reversed in black and white when viewed from the seal imprinted by the user's print surface. is there.
The transport unit is a mechanism part that transports the stamp material holder, and can be constituted by, for example, a platen roller and a stepping motor that moves the platen roller.
The control unit is a control unit (CPU) of the stamp surface forming apparatus. The control unit of the stamp surface forming apparatus is connected to a personal computer (PC), a smart phone by wired communication (USB (registered trademark)) or wireless communication (Wi-Fi (registered trademark), Bluetooth (registered trademark), WLAN (registered trademark), etc.). -Connected to smartphones, tablet computers, etc., and can work together.
The stamping material holding step is a step performed in a factory for manufacturing the stamping material holder when the stamping material is supplied to the user while being held by the stamping material holder.
The stamp face forming process is a process performed when the user of the stamp face forming apparatus executes the stamp face formation using the stamp face material holder.

<About the core of the present invention>
An object of the present invention is to provide a marking surface forming apparatus and a marking surface forming method for forming a marking surface in a state where the marking material is held by a marking material holder. In particular, even when the center position of the stamping material holder and the center position of the thermal head are shifted when the stamping material holder is inserted, the center of the stamping surface forms a stamping surface that matches the center of the stamping material. belongs to.
Hereinafter, a stamping surface forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

<< The mechanical configuration of the printing surface forming apparatus (thermal printer) will be described with reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG.
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a stamp face forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention together with a stamp face material holder. Here, FIG. 1A is an external perspective view of the stamp surface forming apparatus according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 1B shows a cross-sectional structure in the XZ plane (vertical plane including the conveying direction). It is a perspective sectional view. FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the structure around the discharge port of the stamping material holder of the stamping surface forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. Here, FIG. 2 (a) is an IIA section shown in FIG. 1 (b) (in this specification, a symbol corresponding to the Roman numeral “2” shown in FIG. 1 (b) for convenience. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the main part showing the cross-sectional structure of “II” and “V” as a symbol corresponding to the roman numeral “5” for convenience. FIG. 2B is a front view showing an appearance of the stamp surface forming apparatus including the discharge port. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a main part of a stamping surface forming unit applied to the stamping surface forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. 4A and 4B are a plan view and a cross-sectional view of the main configuration of the stamp surface forming unit applied to the stamp surface forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. 4A is a plan view of the stamp surface forming portion, and FIG. 4B is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a cross-sectional structure on the XZ plane (vertical plane including the transport direction).

  A printing surface forming apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as “printer”) 1 according to the present embodiment is a so-called thermal printer, and, for example, as shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b), is inserted from an insertion port 10c. Inserted stamping material holder 20 (which will be described later in detail with reference to FIG. 6, includes a stamping material 21, a holding body 22 that holds the stamping material 21, and a film 24 that protects the stamping material 21). Is conveyed toward the discharge port 10d. Then, the printer 1 presses the thermal head 4 from above the film 24 with a predetermined load against the printing material 21 on the printing material holder 20 being conveyed, and selectively heats a plurality of heating elements of the thermal head 4. As a result, a stamp surface (a portion that forms an imprint consisting of characters, symbols, figures, etc. when a stamp or stamp is pressed) representing a desired image (characters, symbols, figures, etc.) is printed on the stamp material holder 20. Formed on the material 21.

  As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, X, Y, and Z directions orthogonal to each other are set. Regarding the signs of X, Y, and Z indicating the directions described in the drawings, the arrow direction is indicated by “+”, the opposite direction to the arrow direction is indicated by “−”, and both directions are indicated. In this case, no sign (“+” or “−”) is added. The X direction is the same direction as the direction in which the stamping material holder 20 including the stamping material 21 that is the object forming the marking surface is conveyed, and is also referred to as the front-rear direction. The Y direction is the same as the width direction of the printer 1 and is also referred to as the left-right direction. The Z direction is the same as the direction in which the thermal head 4 is pressed against the stamping material holder 20, and is also referred to as the vertical direction.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b), the printer 1 includes a case 10 including a lower case 10a and an upper case 10b, and the lower case 10a. An insertion port 10c for passing the stamp material holder 20 and a discharge port 10d are formed on the front and rear surfaces. An input operation unit 6 is provided on the upper surface of the upper case 10b. The input operation part 6 will output the signal according to operation content, if operation by an operator is performed.

  For example, as shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b), the lower case 10a has a discharge port 10d having a predetermined height in the discharge port 10d on the lower inner surface 10e constituting the discharge port 10d. A plurality of ribs (supporting portions) 10f formed so as to protrude are arranged at predetermined intervals along the opening direction (Y direction) of the discharge port 10d. Here, the plurality of ribs 10f are arranged on the conveyance path of the stamp face material holder 20 discharged from the discharge port 10d. That is, the plurality of ribs 10f are such that the stamping material holder 20 inserted from the insertion port 10c is conveyed through the inside of the printer 1, and at least the pressing state of the thermal head 4 against the stamping material holder 20 has changed to a specific state. At this point, the back surface side near the one end side (+ X direction side) of the stamping material holder 20 (the side opposite to the side on which the thermal head 4 is pressed, ie, the lower side in FIG. 2) is supported. It is provided to do. At this time, the plurality of ribs 10f are provided so as to come into contact with the back surface of the stamping material holder 20 to such an extent that the stamping material holder 20 is not curved (deformed), and more preferably for conveying (feeding amount) of the stamping material holder 20. It is provided so as to support the stamp material holder 20 to such an extent that it does not have an influence, for example, it is lightly contacted with little friction.

  For example, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the marking surface forming portion incorporated in the case 10 of the printer 1 is roughly divided into a thermal head (printing surface forming portion) 4, a stepping motor 9, a guide 14, and a platen roller. -La (conveying roller) 12. On both sides of the thermal head 4, the guide 14, and the platen roller 12, a pair of plate-like side frames 13 facing in the Y direction are provided.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b), the platen roller 12 conveys the stamp material holder 20 in the X direction, and is provided between the side frames 13 and 13. Both ends penetrate each side frame 13. Both end portions of the platen roller 12 are supported by the side frame 13 so as to be rotatable with respect to the side frame 13. For example, a roller gear (not shown) is integrally attached to the end of the rotation axis of the platen roller 12 and a drive gear (not shown) attached to the drive shaft of the stepping motor 9. The platen roller 12 is rotated at a predetermined rotation speed by transmitting the driving force accompanying the rotation of (not shown) through the plurality of electric gears.

  The guide 14 is formed with an inclined surface 14 a for guiding the marking material holder 20 (the marking material 21) to the platen roller 12. The inclined surface 14a is represented by an extension line EL (indicated by a one-dot chain line in the drawing) of the inclined surface 14a when viewed in the Y direction (a cross section viewed from the + Y direction) shown in FIG. )) Is arranged in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the platen roller 12. Here, as shown in FIG. 4B, the protruding height, shape, and arrangement of the rib 10f provided on the inner surface 10e of the discharge port 10d are set so that the upper surface thereof is in contact with the extension line EL of the inclined surface 14a. Has been.

  In addition, as shown in FIG.4 (b), the sensor 3 is provided in the recessed part 14b of the inclined surface 14 (a). The sensor 3 is arranged slightly on the −Z side from the track of the stamping material holder 20 so as not to contact the marking material holder 20. Further, in the Z direction view (plan view when viewed from the + Z side) shown in FIG. 4A, the sensor 3 has a left side frame so that the notch 22a of the stamp material holder 20 passes over the sensor 3. It is arranged slightly on the + Y side from 13 and slightly on the minus side from the platen roller 12. A detection scanning line SL indicated by a broken line in FIG. 4A crosses the optical axis L of the sensor 3 and extends in the X direction. The sensor 3 is a reflective optical sensor, and includes a light emitting element that emits light in the + Z direction, and a light receiving element that receives light reflected on the sensor object (here, the stamping material holder 20) and reflected in the −Z direction. . The sensor 3 outputs a signal corresponding to the amount of light received by the light receiving element. Based on this signal, the type (size) of the stamping material 21 fitted in the stamping material holder 20 is specified.

  The thermal head 4 is provided so as to face the platen roller 12 as shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 4 (b). The thermal head 4 presses the marking material 21 on the marking material holder 20 conveyed in the X direction via the film 24. The pressing portion 4 a that presses the marking material 21 in the thermal head 4 is provided in a linear strip shape along the Y direction. Here, the length (the length in the Y direction) of the pressing portion 4a is provided to be longer than the width (the length along the Y direction) of the stamping material 21. Thereby, the linear strip-shaped portion extending along the width direction of the stamping material 21 is uniformly pressed and deformed by the pressing portion 4a. In the pressing portion 4a, a plurality of heating elements (not shown) that are selectively heated at the time of forming the stamp surface (plate making) are arranged along the extending direction (Y direction) of the pressing portion 4a. Further, the thermal head 4 is provided with an IC chip (driver IC) 4b having a drive circuit for controlling the heat generation state of each of the plurality of heat generating elements arranged in the pressing portion 4a. The driver IC 4b is disposed, for example, at a position opposite to the conveying direction of the stamp material holder 20 (−X direction) with respect to the pressing portion 4a provided with a plurality of heating elements. With such a configuration, the portion corresponding to the heating element that is heated and generates heat is heated in the straight strip portion of the stamping material 21 (the portion that is pressed and deformed by the pressing portion 4a).

  Here, the general thermal head 4 includes a pressing portion 4a provided with a plurality of heating elements on one surface side of a printed circuit board (PCB), and a driver IC 4b for controlling the heating state of each heating element. Closely arranged. This is a configuration for reducing the size of the printed circuit board and suppressing an increase in cost. Most general-purpose products adopt this form.

  The interval between the thermal head 4 and the platen roller 12 (indicated as “H” in FIG. 2A) is a constant value set in advance according to the configuration of the stamping material holder 20 described later. The thermal head 4 or the platen roller 12 may be moved in the Z direction to adjust the distance H between the thermal head 4 and the platen roller 12. A mechanism (denoted as “32” in FIG. 2A) may be provided. By using such an adjustment mechanism 32 for the distance H between the thermal head 4 and the platen roller 12, the pressing force of the thermal head 4 on the marking material 21 can be changed. In particular, when the stamping surface is formed (plate making) on the stamping material holder 20 having a different size (particularly, dimension in the width direction), the pressing state of the pressing portion 4a of the thermal head 4 depends on the size of the stamping material 21. Therefore, the adjustment mechanism 32 for adjusting the distance H between the thermal head 4 and the platen roller 12 is extremely useful for forming an appropriate marking surface. Such an adjustment mechanism 32 of the interval H is based on the size of the marking material 21 of the marking material holder 20 specified by the control unit 2 by scanning the notch 22a of the marking material holder 20 with the sensor 3, for example. The interval H is adjusted and controlled. Here, as the interval H is set smaller, the pressing force of the thermal head 4 on the marking material 21 increases.

<< Functional Configuration Controlled and Functioned by Control Unit (CPU) >>
Next, a functional configuration of the printer 1 according to the present embodiment, that is, a functional configuration that is controlled and functioned by a control unit (CPU) will be described.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a system configuration of the stamp surface forming apparatus (printer 1) according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 5, the printer 1 includes a central control circuit 2. The central control circuit 2 includes a sensor 3, a thermal head 4, a power supply circuit 5, a motor driver 8, a display screen control circuit 47, A memory control circuit 48, a UI (user interface) control circuit 49, a USB control circuit 40, a Bluetooth (registered trademark) module and a wireless LAN module 41 are provided.
Further, a stepping motor 9 is connected to the motor driver 8, a display device 43 is connected to the display screen control circuit 47, and a PC (personal computer) 44 is connected to the USB control circuit 40. It is connected.
In the case of this example, the sensor 3 is configured by a reflective optical sensor, and detects the notch 22a and the positional displacement detection long hole 22f provided in the stamp material holder 20. The central control circuit 2 detects the signal from the sensor 3 to detect the print start position, the size of the stamping material, the shift between the center position of the stamping material and the center position of the thermal head, and the thermal head. The energization control to 4 is performed.
Further, the display device 43, the display screen control circuit 47, the UI control circuit 49, the USB communication control circuit (USB communication control circuit) 40, the Bluetooth (registered trademark) module, the wireless LAN module 41, etc. are not necessarily all. Is not necessary.

In FIG. 1, a central control circuit (control unit) 2 controls the entire system. In this figure, most of the circuits are connected only to the central control circuit 2, but it is of course possible for the circuits to perform data communication through the bus. The central control circuit 2 is a circuit including a CPU (central processing unit), and when the CPU reads and executes a computer program as necessary, various functions (for example, conveyance amount detection, dimension setting, Dimension determination, position detection, heating control, pressing force control, etc.) are realized.
The memory control circuit 48 includes devices such as a ROM (read only memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory) and controls them. The display device 43 indicates a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), for example, and the display image control circuit 47 controls data transfer to the display device 43, lighting of the backlight, etc. .
A computer program necessary for realizing various functions is stored in a ROM or the like, and is written in a RAM and referenced and used as necessary. This stamp surface forming apparatus installs driver software and an application program on a personal computer (or smartphone) side, and operates in cooperation with a USB connection or the like. Therefore, the computer program in the stamp surface forming apparatus and the computer program installed in an external device such as a personal computer cooperate to realize various functions.

For example, in the case of a model surface forming apparatus (printer) having a configuration that requires connection to the PC 44 or wireless connection, the user operates on the GUI (Graphical User Interface) such as the PC 44 or a mobile phone terminal (not shown). Therefore, the display screen control circuit 47 and the display device 43 are not essential on the hardware side.
A UI (User Interface) control circuit 49 is used by a user from a keyboard, a mouse, a remote controller, a button, a touch panel, or other input device, via a personal computer, or to the stamp surface forming apparatus (printer). Control of menu screen display and the like is performed based on information input through the provided input device. The power supply circuit 5 includes a power supply IC (integrated circuit) or the like, and generates and supplies necessary power to each circuit.

The thermal head 4 receives the data and the print signal output from the central control circuit 2, controls the energized dots by the driver IC 4b inside the head, and makes a porous ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer in contact with the head. Printing (printing surface formation or printing, the same applies hereinafter) is performed on a marking material such as (hereinafter, EVA). The “printing” in this stamping surface forming apparatus is not printing using ink, but the heating element of the thermal head 4 is selectively heated in accordance with image data, so that the surface of the stamping material 21 is dotted. This means that for each (unit of heating element), processing to make it non-porous or not.
In the configuration example of this system, other circuits receive only data and signals from the central control circuit 2, and power necessary for printing is obtained from the power supply circuit 5. Incidentally, in the apparatus of this example, the thermal head 4 has an effective print width of 48 mm at a resolution of 200 dpi, that is, 200 dots / 25.4 mm (resolution of 0.125 mm per dot).
The motor driver 8 is a driving circuit for driving the stepping motor 9, receives a signal output from the central control circuit 2, and supplies a driving pulse signal and power to the stepping motor 9. Note that only the excitation signal is received from the central control circuit 2, and the actual drive power is obtained from the power supply circuit 5.

The control unit (central control circuit) 2 counts the number of pulses of the signal output to the motor driver 8 to determine how much the stepping motor 9 has been rotated, that is, how many millimeters the printing material holder is moved by the platen roller 12. It is possible to accurately grasp whether it has been transported.
The printer 1 in this embodiment employs 1-2 phase excitation drive, and the gear ratio is configured to be 16 steps per line (0.125 mm). That is, conveyance of 0.0078 mm is performed in one step.
It should be noted that other methods may be used without calculating the transport distance by the platen roller 12 in the control unit 2 based on the number of pulses. For example, the rotational speed of the platen roller 12 may be detected by a rotary encoder, and the transport distance by the platen roller 12 may be calculated based on the detected rotational speed.

<About the structure of the stamping material holder>
Next, the stamp surface material holder 20 for forming (plate making) the stamp surface by the printer 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.
FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing an example of a stamp material holder on which a stamp surface is formed by the printer according to the present embodiment. FIG. 6A is a plan view showing the stamping surface forming side (the side holding the stamping material 21) of the stamping material holder 20. 6 (b) is a VIB-VIB line shown in FIG. 6 (a) (in this specification, as a symbol corresponding to the Roman numeral “6” shown in FIG. 6 (a) for convenience). It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the cross-sectional structure along "VI". FIG. 6C is a cross-sectional view of the main part showing the cross-sectional structure in the VIC part shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a stamp with a stamp material on which a stamp surface is formed. Fig. 7 (a) is a perspective view of the stamp as seen from the stamping material side, and Fig. 7 (b) is when the stamping material side is the bottom surface (when placed on paper etc. when used as a stamp). It is a side view of a stamp.

The marking material holder 20 includes a marking material 21, a holding body 22 that holds the marking material 21, and a film 24 that protects the marking material 21. As shown in FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b), the holding body 22 holds the stamping material 21 fixed to the central portion.
The stamping material 21 has a main surface 21a that actually becomes a marking surface. The stamping material 21 is made of a porous sponge body that can be impregnated with liquid ink, for example, a porous ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (hereinafter referred to as “EVA”), and can be deformed by pressing. . EVA has innumerable bubbles, and the bubbles are impregnated with ink.
Of the stamp face material holder 20, the holding body 22 and the film 24 are jigs used when forming the stamp face of the stamp face material 21, and are separated from the stamp face material 21 and discarded (or reused) after the stamp face formation is completed. The As shown in FIGS. 6B and 6C, the holding body 22 is configured by laminating an upper cardboard 22c and a lower cardboard 22d made of a cardboard. Further, as shown in FIG. 6A, a cutout 22a is formed on one side (right side of the drawing) of the holding body 22. Further, a positional displacement detection long hole 22f formed in a slit shape is provided near the notch 22a on the upper side in FIG.
Here, in order to reflect the light from the sensor 3 with a high reflectance, the surface of the holding body 22 is formed, for example, in white.

  As shown in FIGS. 6B and 6C, the upper cardboard 22c is formed with a positioning hole 22e for fixing the stamp face material 21 at the center thereof. The marking material 21 is fitted and fixed in the positioning hole 22e. As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the lower thick paperboard 22d has the same outer shape as the upper thick paperboard 22c, and no positioning hole 22 is provided. In a state where the lower cardboard 22d and the upper cardboard are bonded together, the lower cardboard 22d is in contact with the entire back surface 21b of the stamping material 21.

  As shown in FIGS. 6B and 6C, the main surface 21a (the left surface of FIG. 6B or the upper surface of FIG. 6C) of the stamping material 21 is the upper cardboard 22c. The upper surface (the left surface of FIG. 6B or the upper surface of FIG. 6C) is slightly protruded. In the present embodiment, the combined thickness of the upper thick paperboard 22c and the lower thick paperboard 22d is set to, for example, 1.2 mm, and on the other hand, the stamping material holder 20 including the film 24 and the stamping material 21. The total thickness of is set to, for example, 1.8 mm. That is, in this example, the stamp material 21 is set to protrude 0.6 mm with respect to the upper thick paperboard 22c.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 6B and 6C, the stamping material holder 20 includes a film 24 that covers the upper surface of the holding body 22 and the upper surface of the stamping material 21. The film 24 is made of PET (Polyethylene Terephtalate) or polyimide as a base material, and has heat resistance, thermal conductivity, and surface smoothness. Here, with respect to the heat resistance of the film 24, a film that can withstand a temperature higher than the temperature of the thermal head 4 and the melting point of the stamp face material 21 when the stamp face is formed is used. As for the thermal conductivity of the film 24, the film 24 is capable of transferring the heat of the thermal head 4 at the time of forming the stamping surface to the stamping material 21 to melt the stamping material 21 satisfactorily. With respect to the surface smoothness of the film 24, it is used that the pressing portion 4a of the thermal head 4 that is in contact with the printing surface when it is slid smoothly with little friction.

As shown in FIG. 6 (c), the upper cardboard 22c and the lower cardboard 22d are bonded together by, for example, a double-sided adhesive sheet 25. The film 24 is adhered to the surface of the peripheral portion of the holding body 22, that is, the surface of the upper thick paperboard 22c on which the stamp material 21 is fitted by a double-sided adhesive sheet 26. The film 24 and the stamping material 21 and the stamping material 21 and the lower thick paperboard 22d are in contact with each other, and are not bonded together.
As described above, the stamping material 21 is fitted and fixed to the stamping material holder 20, but can be removed from the stamping material holder 20 after the stamping surface is formed. A perforation 27 indicated by a broken line in FIG.

6 shows an example of the stamp material holder 20 that is the target of the stamp surface formation in the printer 1 according to the present embodiment, the size of the stamp material 21 (in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction in FIG. 6A). A plurality of types of media 20 having different dimensions) can be the targets for forming the printing surface. Here, the thickness and the width dimension (lateral dimension in FIG. 6A) of each type of stamp material holder 20 are set to be the same, and the length dimension of the stamp material holder 20 (FIG. The vertical dimension of a) is set so as to differ depending on the size of the stamp material 21. Corresponding to the size of the marking material 21 of each type of marking material holder 20, the holding body 22 is provided with notches 22a having different sizes (for example, vertical dimensions) in a one-to-one relationship. Then, the type (size) of the marking material 21 of the marking material holder 20 is specified by scanning the notch 22a of the holding body 22 by the sensor 3 of the printer 1 and detecting the size thereof. Further, when the sensor 3 scans the notch 22a, the control unit 2 acquires the print start position (start position in the X direction), and acquires the print start timing (printing surface formation).
Further, the function and usage of the positional deviation detection long hole 22f will be described later with reference to FIGS. 9, 10, and 11. FIG.

  The marking material 21 is taken out from the holding body 22 by folding the holding body 22 at the perforation 27 after the formation of the marking surface in the printer 1 is completed. The taken stamp material 21 is, for example, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the lower surface of the rootstock 52 of the stamp 50 composed of a spherical handle 51 and a square rootstock 52. Affixed to the bottom surface of the rootstock 52 in FIG. 7B with a double-sided adhesive sheet 53 or the like.

《About the principle of forming the stamp surface》
Next, the principle of forming a marking surface on the marking material 21 will be described.
The stamp material 21 is made of EVA. Since EVA has thermoplastic properties, for example, when heated with heat of 70 ° C. to 120 ° C., the portion to which heat is applied is softened, and once the softened portion is cooled, it is cured. The cured portion is filled with air bubbles and becomes non-porous, and the portion cannot pass ink.
The printer 1 according to the present embodiment uses the characteristics of the stamp material 21 (EVA) to heat an arbitrary portion of the EVA surface with a thermal head for about 1 msec to 5 msec. This part is made non-porous, and the passage of the ink in that part is prohibited. Note that the stamp material 21 is cut into a square in advance by a thermal cutter. For this reason, the four side surfaces (end surfaces) of the stamp material 21 are all made non-porous by the heat applied at the time of cutting and do not allow ink to pass through. In addition, the back surface 21b of the stamping material 21 is also heat-treated, and does not allow ink to pass through. As a result, the ink is prevented from oozing out from the surface other than the main surface 21a to be the marking surface.

  In the formation of the printing surface (thermal printing), the portion that transmits ink is not heated, and the portion that does not transmit heat is heated, so that an ink transmission portion can be formed according to the impression desired to be obtained at the time of stamping. Note that the size of the stamping material 21 is set slightly larger than the desired imprint size, considering that errors may occur during the formation of the stamping surface and that the side surface (end surface) of the stamping material 21 does not pass ink. ing. For example, when the size of the seal impression is 45 mm × 45 mm, the size of the stamp face material 21 is set to 48 mm × 48 mm.

<Regarding the marking face forming operation>
Next, a printing surface forming operation for forming a desired printing surface in the printer 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. Each function shown below is stored in the control unit 2 (more specifically, ROM) in the form of a readable program code, and operations according to this program code are sequentially executed. . As shown in the system block diagram of FIG. 5, this stamp surface forming apparatus (printer 1) normally operates in cooperation with a personal computer or a smartphone. Here, in order to prevent a complicated explanation, explanation will be made only on the operation in the printer 1.

FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the formation state of the marking surface by the printer according to the present embodiment.
In the printing surface forming operation of the printer 1, first, when the input operation unit 6 is pressed and a signal for starting the printer 1 is input from the input operation unit 6, the control unit 2 executes the initial operation of the printer 1. In the initial operation of the printer 1, the control unit 2 sends a drive signal to the motor driver 8 and rotates the stepping motor 9 for a predetermined time. Thus, even when the platen roller 12 rotates for a predetermined time and the stamping material holder 20 remains in the printer 1, the stamping material holder 20 is discharged out of the printer 1 from the discharge port 10d.

  After the completion of the initial operation, the control unit 2 starts from the input operation unit 6 in a state where the stamp material holder 20 is inserted into the printer 1 from the insertion port 10c by the operator of the printer 1 as shown in FIG. When a start signal (for example, a signal output from the input operation unit 6 indicating that the input operation unit 6 has been pressed after the initial operation) is input, the stepping motor 9 is rotated. Then, the platen roller 12 is rotated. Thereby, the stamping material holder 20 is conveyed in the + X direction along the guide 14 (inclined surface 14a).

  Here, when a plurality of types (sizes) of the marking material holder 20 are to be subjected to the marking surface formation, the control unit 2 detects the length of the notch 22a of the marking material holder 20 (holding body 22) by the sensor 3. Then, the type of the stamp material holder 20 (size of the stamp material 21) and information about the print start position are specified. Then, the control unit 2 controls the adjusting mechanism 32 for the distance H between the thermal head 4 and the platen roller 12 based on the specified type of the stamping material holder 20, and according to the type of the stamping material holder 20 The interval H is set. As a result, the pressing force of the thermal head 4 on the marking material 21 is appropriately set according to the type of the marking material holder 20.

Then, as shown in FIG. 8B, when the stamping material holder 20 is further conveyed in the + X direction, the pressing portion 4a of the thermal head 4 reaches the marking material 21 via the upper surface of the holding body 22. . The marking material 21 of the marking material holder 20 is drawn under the thermal head 4 and conveyed while being pressed with a predetermined pressing force set in advance, and is arranged in the Y direction on the pressing portion 4 a of the thermal head 4. The stamp surface is formed by receiving heat from the heating element. The printing start timing is determined based on information obtained by detecting the notch 22a.
Specifically, the control unit 2 generates heat from either the conveyance of the stamp material holder 20 (rotation of the stepping motor 9) or the plurality of heating elements of the thermal head 4 based on the input image data. The position corresponding to the image data of the stamping material 21 is selectively heated to form an ink transmission part and a non-transmission part according to the image data. Thus, a stamp face is formed.

  At this time, the EVA applied to the stamping material 21 is a porous sponge body and very soft. Therefore, in order to appropriately form the stamping surface (thermal printing), the thermal head is stronger than a printer that performs normal thermal printing. 4 heating elements need to be pressed against the marking material 21 of the marking material holder 20. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 6B and 6C, the main surface 21 a of the stamp material 21 is configured to protrude from the upper surface of the holding body 22. The thermal head 4 is pressed against the marking material 21 of the marking material holder 20 as shown in FIG. 8B in addition to the pressing portion 4a in which the heating elements of the thermal head 4 are arranged. The driver IC 4 b arranged in the vicinity is also pressed against the stamping material 21 and is in a state of biting into the stamping material 21.

  Then, when the marking material holder 20 is further conveyed in the + X direction while forming the marking surface on the marking material 21, the thermal head 4 moves the end of the marking material 21 in the −X direction as shown in FIG. It reaches the portion (terminal portion) and passes through the boundary portion between the stamp material 21 and the holding body 22. At this time, the end portion side of the holder 22 of the stamping material holder 20 in the transport direction (+ X direction) reaches at least the discharge port 10d, and the back side in the vicinity thereof (the marking surface forming side on which the thermal head 4 is pressed is defined A plurality of ribs 10f provided on the inner surface 10e of the discharge port 10d are in contact with the opposite surface (the lower surface in the drawing) to support the stamp material holder 20.

  Here, since the stamping material 21 is configured to protrude in the thickness direction from the holding body 22, there is a step at this boundary portion. A driver IC 4b is disposed in the vicinity (−X direction) of the pressing portion 4a of the thermal head 4. In addition, since the thermal head 4 is strongly pressed against the stamping material 21, when the thermal head 4 passes through the boundary portion, the driver IC 4b of the thermal head 4 first descends the step. It becomes. At this time, the pressing force by the driver IC 4b of the thermal head 4 on the stamping material holder 20 (the marking material 21) is instantaneously released, and as shown by the arrow F in FIG. A force is applied to rotate the holder 20 (biasing the end in the + X direction downward and urging the end in the −X direction to information).

  Here, in the configuration in which the rib 10f is not disposed in the discharge port 10d of the printer 1, the end portion side in the + X direction of the stamp material holder 20 is not supported, so the driver IC 4b of the thermal head 4 is At the moment when the step between the stamping material 21 and the holding body 22 is lowered, the stamping material holder 20 is rotated by the force F generated in the stamping material holder 20, and the feed amount (feeding) of the stamping material holder 20 by the platen roller 12 is sent. Density) changes. Therefore, printing unevenness (for example, unevenness extending in a line shape in the Y direction) due to a change in the feed amount occurs on the main surface 21a of the stamping material 21 on which the stamping surface is formed, and appropriate stamping surface formation is not performed. there is a possibility.

  On the other hand, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, conveyance of the stamp material holder 20 conveyed during the marking surface forming operation to the lower inner surface 10 e of the discharge port 10 d. A plurality of ribs (projecting members) 10f formed so that the upper surface is in contact with the extension line EL of the inclined surface 14a that is the path are arranged. Thereby, the stamp material holder 20 is supported on the conveyance path by the inclined surface 14a, the platen roller 12, and the plurality of ribs 10f provided in the discharge port 10d. Therefore, the phenomenon that the stamping material holder 20 rotates by the force F generated in the stamping material holder 20 at the moment when the driver IC 4b of the thermal head 4 descends the step between the stamping material 21 and the holding body 22 is suppressed. Appropriate stamp face formation is performed.

  When the stamp material holder 20 is further conveyed in the + X direction and the formation of the stamp surface on the stamp material holder 20 is completed, the stamp material holder 20 is discharged from the discharge port 10 d of the printer 1. Thereafter, the control unit 2 stops the platen roller 12 by stopping the stepping motor 9 and ends a series of printing surface forming operations. Here, the timing at which the control unit 2 stops the stepping motor 9 is set, for example, after a predetermined time has elapsed since the rear end of the stamp material holder 20 has passed the sensor 3.

<< Role of the holder 22 and the film 24 >>
EVA is a member having a thickness of 1.5 mm, and has high elasticity and a coefficient of friction. For this reason, even if EVA is inserted into the thermal printer as it is and transported, the frictional force between the thermal head and EVA is large, and stable straight transport cannot be performed. In other words, EVA has a large frictional force and is soft like rubber, so even if a guide for obtaining straight running stability is attached to the thermal printer side, it can be bent even a little during transportation. EVA itself is bent, and as a result, skewing occurs immediately.
The difficulty in transporting the EVA described above is a phenomenon that occurs even when the thermal head is not heated and is in an unheated state. However, if the thermal head generates heat, the thermal head takes several milliseconds after the start of heat generation. As the temperature rises to about 200 ° C., the EVA surface is softened at the moment when the surface is heated, and the thermal head is buried in the softened portion, so that the EVA cannot be transported at all.
In the case of a method using an end face head or a method in which a carriage is incorporated to move and drive the head, the above problem does not occur. However, this method causes an increase in the size of the mechanism and a significant increase in the cost of the member used. There is an inconvenience.

In the present invention, the printing surface is formed by using the EVA having difficulty in transportability as described above with the printer 1 using a normal thermal head without causing an increase in the size of the mechanism and a significant increase in cost. Therefore, the stamping material holder 20 and the holding body 22 are used and protected by the film 24.
Further, the stamping material 21 is fixed in position by the positioning hole 24 of the upper cardboard 22c, held from the lower surface by the lower cardboard 22d, and the upper surface is covered by the film 24, so that it is held by the stamping material holder 20 The shape is maintained as it is, and it does not deform even when external forces in the X and Y directions are applied.
Therefore, the stamp material 21 is also transported accordingly as the stamp material holder 20 is transported. If the stamp material holder 20 is conveyed straight, the stamp material 21 is also conveyed straight. Further, the film 24 has heat resistance at a temperature higher than the melting point of the stamping material 21, that is, EVA.
Therefore, even if the surface of the stamping material 21 is melted by the heat generated by the thermal head 4, the film 24 is not melted. That is, the covering property as a film is not lost. The film 24 has a very low frictional force with the thermal head 4.
For this reason, the thermal head 4 is not buried in the stamping material 21 which has been melted and softened due to the covering property of the film 24, and on the surface of the film 24 due to the low friction between the thermal head 4 and the film 24. Heat generation printing (printing surface formation) can be easily continued along. In this way, the formation of the marking surface on the marking material 21 is completed.

《How to use after removing stamp material after forming stamp surface》
In order to take out the stamping plate formed by forming the stamping surface on the stamping material from the stamping material holder 20, simply hold the holding body 22 along the perforation 27 (see FIG. 6A) and pull out the stamping material 21. Good. Thereafter, a stamping material after the stamping surface is formed on the base plate 52, and the stamping surface is immersed in the ink for a certain period of time, or depending on the viscosity of the ink, it is left to be applied. When a predetermined time has elapsed, the ink impregnates the inside of the stamp plate. After the user wipes off the excess ink stain on the surface of the stamp (or after several trial pressings), the user holds the handle 51 with his / her finger and presses it against the object to be stamped. The seal is imprinted.

<< Deviation between center position of stamping material holder and center position of thermal head >>
The outline of the marking surface forming apparatus, the marking surface forming method, and the marking surface material holder according to the present invention has been described above. However, there is one more problem. If the center position of the stamping material holder 20 inserted by the user is shifted from the center position of the thermal head 4, the center of the created stamping face is shifted to the left or right.
As a result of the inventors of the present invention working on this problem and diligently working, the output of the sensor 3 is analog and changes monotonously with respect to the positional deviation. Therefore, the sensor 3 is used for detecting the positional deviation. I realized I could do it.

<< Relationship between sensor and object overlap area (length) and output current >>
The sensor 3 used in the present invention receives a reflection type photosensor, that is, a light emitted from an LED and returns it as a current. Usually, the output of the reflective photosensor is analog, and the output current draws a curve as shown in FIG. FIG. 9 is a graph showing the relationship between the overlapping amount (length) of the sensor and the object and the ratio of the output current to the maximum current (percentage). The horizontal axis represents the amount of overlap (mm) with the object, and the vertical axis represents the relative value of the output current. As shown in FIG. 9, it is a monotonically increasing function for each of the X direction and the Y direction. That is, the positional deviation and the output current have a one-to-one correspondence. Therefore, it is possible to create a conversion formula or a conversion table from the output value of the sensor 3 to the amount of positional deviation. It is possible to identify.
In that case, in the graph of FIG. 9, the state where the positional deviation is zero corresponds to the state where the overlap amount is 1.1 mm. In this state, the output AD value of the sensor is about 50%. Using this value as a reference value, the conversion table can be specified by experiment.

<< Position shift correction in the Y direction >>
In the present invention, when forming a printing surface using the printing material holder 20 with respect to the printing surface forming apparatus (thermal printer) 1, the center position of the printing material holder inserted by the user is determined by the printer. When the center position of the thermal head 4 is shifted, the center position of the print data is also shifted accordingly, so that the image desired by the user on the finally completed print surface is the center of the media. -Correct as if you came to.
By providing a notch 22a in the holding body 22 of the stamping material holder 20, the control unit 2 can acquire the size of the stamping material 21 and the printing start position. The print start position that can be acquired by the notch 22a is the insertion direction of the stamp material holder 20, that is, the X direction. Another object of the present invention is to correct misalignment in the Y direction, that is, in the direction in which the thermal heads 4 are arranged in the heating element.

《Position for detecting misalignment》
In the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 6 (a) and 10 (a), when the stamping material holder 20 (holding body 22) overlaps with the sensor 3, that is, when the stamping material holder 20 is conveyed, the sensor 3 is used. A position shift detection long hole 22f, which is a thin slit-shaped long hole, is provided in a portion corresponding to the reading range. Here, the position misalignment detection long hole 22f indicates that "when the center of the stamping material (center in the Y direction) coincides with the thermal head center (center in the heating element arrangement direction)" It is assumed that it exists at a position where the end faces coincide. Here, the long hole end surface is an end surface selected and determined in advance as one of the two end surfaces extending in the X direction constituting the positional displacement detection long hole 22f. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10 (b), it is an end face on the outer side (side closer to the end of the holding body 22).
In the embodiment of the present invention, when the sensor position and the end face of the long hole (that is, the stamping material holder) are shifted to the right (because LED output light is not reflected), the sensor output is close to 0 and left When it has shifted, it becomes close to 1. This relationship is reversed when the other end face is selected from the two end faces.

<Correction of print data>
Using this result, if the sensor output deviates from the reference value, the position shift amount is calculated from the conversion formula based on the sensor output divergence amount, or a conversion table created based on experiments in advance. The amount of positional deviation is obtained with reference to the bull. Then, by shifting the printing center position based on the amount of misalignment, even if the center of the stamping material and the center of the thermal head are shifted, the stamping surface obtained by forming the stamping surface does not protrude from the stamping material. Formation becomes possible.
For example, when the position center of the stamping material is shifted by about 500 μm from the head center, when the print data is transmitted to the head, the center of the print data is shifted by that amount and the data transfer is performed. The stamp surface forming apparatus according to the present invention operates in cooperation with a personal computer 44 or a smartphone, and forms a stamp surface based on a pattern created or selected by the user using the personal computer or the smartphone. The control unit 2 of the stamp surface forming apparatus 1 temporarily stores the print data sent from the personal computer or the smartphone in the memory of the control unit 2 and corrects the shift of the print center position based on the output of the sensor 3. Is necessary, a signal based on the print data is transferred to the drive circuit of the thermal head 4.
Here, until the scanning by the sensor 3 of the position misalignment detection long hole 22f is completed, the print data is not transferred from the personal computer 44 or the smartphone, and the standby state is set, and the misalignment detection is completed. Therefore, when correction is necessary, a modified embodiment in which the print data is corrected on the personal computer 44 or the smartphone and the print data is transferred to the printing surface forming apparatus 1 is also possible. It is. In that case, the burden on the memory and the burden on the CPU of the control unit 2 of the stamp surface forming apparatus 1 can be reduced.

<< Positional relationship between the stamp material holder and the optical sensor 3 >>
A schematic diagram showing the positional relationship between the stamp material holder 20 and the optical sensor 3 is shown in FIG. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a plan view of a portion of the printer 1 housing from which the upper case 10b is removed, as viewed from above. FIG. 11 shows a state immediately after the user inserts the stamp material holder 20. As shown in FIG. 11, the sensor 3 is provided at a position where the positional deviation detecting long hole 22f and the notch 22a can be read. The platen roller 12 receives the power from the stepping motor 9 through the gear box 9g and conveys the stamping material holder 20. When the platen roller 12 starts to convey the stamping material holder 20, it is considered that the amount of deviation of the stamping material holder 20 in the Y direction (the thermal head heating element arrangement direction) is determined. At that timing, the positional displacement detection elongated hole 22f reaches the reading range of the sensor 3.
Then, the sensor 3 scans the positional displacement detection elongated hole 22f, detects the displacement amount, and sends it to the control unit 2. If necessary, the print data is corrected and the printing surface is formed.

  In order to implement the present invention, the stamp material size needs to be about 1 to 2 mm larger than the user editable area. For example, if the user editable area is 30 mm, the stamp material size is about 32 mm.

<< Modified Example >>
Although the positional displacement detection long hole 22f is provided as a slit-like hole, pattern printing (for example, solid black) may be provided on the back side of the holding body 22 at the corresponding location without making a hole.
Further, a plurality of slits may be provided, or for example, a more detailed positional shift may be detected by providing a plurality of short slits with the positions shifted.
Furthermore, although the sensor 3 is a sensor of a type that emits light with an LED and receives the reflected light, the light receiving unit may be provided on the side opposite to the LED light emitting unit to detect transmitted light.
Further, the reading range of the LED may be wide, and the position of the outer end portion of the holding body 22 may be detected, and thereby the positional deviation in the Y direction may be detected.

<< About the action and effect of the invention >>
When the present invention is applied, by providing a cutout for printing center position calibration in the stamping material holder, the center position of the inserted stamping material holder can be set to the center position of the thermal head of the printer. If there is a shift, the center of the print data is shifted accordingly, so that the print result does not protrude from the stamp material.
That is, in the stamp surface forming apparatus, it is possible to create a stamp surface in which the stamp surface center matches the stamp material center.
This makes it possible to achieve stable print quality.

  Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, the present invention is included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof. Hereinafter, the invention described in the scope of claims of the present application will be appended.

[Appendix 1]
In a direction along the surface of the stamping material holder of the stamping material holder having a porous marking surface material that can be made non-porous by heating and a holder that holds the marking material in a detachable manner and has a displacement detection target. A plurality of arranged heating elements, and a drive circuit that controls a heat generation state of the heating elements, and a marking surface forming unit that forms a marking surface on the marking material;
A transport unit that moves the stamp surface material holder relative to the stamp surface forming unit;
A sensor that outputs positional deviation information of the positional deviation detection target of the holding body;
A printing surface forming apparatus comprising: a control unit that controls the drive circuit of the printing surface forming unit so as to correct printing data according to an amount of positional displacement of the printing surface material holder based on the positional deviation information of the sensor. .

[Appendix 2]
2. The marking surface forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the positional deviation detection target is a slit extending along an insertion direction of the marking surface material holder.

[Appendix 3]
2. The stamp forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the position shift detection target is a pattern extending along an insertion direction of the stamp member holder.

[Appendix 4]
2. The marking face forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the positional deviation detection target is an end of the holding body and extends along an insertion direction of the marking face material holder.

[Appendix 5]
A stamping material holder comprising: a porous marking material that can be made non-porous by heating; and a holder that holds the marking material in a detachable manner and has a position shift detection target.

[Appendix 6]
6. The stamping material holder according to appendix 5, wherein the displacement detection target is a slit extending along the insertion direction of the stamping material holder.

[Appendix 7]
The stamp material holder according to appendix 5, wherein the position shift detection target is a pattern extending along an insertion direction of the stamp material holder.

[Appendix 8]
6. The stamping material holder according to appendix 5, wherein the displacement detection target is an end of the holding body and extends along an insertion direction of the stamping material holder.

[Appendix 9]
Moves the marking material holder that holds the porous marking material that can be made non-porous by heating in a detachable manner relative to the marking surface forming part that forms the marking surface by applying heat to the marking material. When forming a marking surface on the marking material by a plurality of heating elements arranged in a direction along the surface of the marking material holder on which the marking material is held and a drive circuit for controlling the heat generation state of the heating element. A stamping surface forming unit for controlling the drive circuit of the stamping surface forming unit so as to detect a positional shift of the stamping material holder in the heating element arrangement direction by a sensor and to correct print data according to the amount of the positional shift. A stamp face forming method comprising the steps.

[Appendix 10]
The stamp surface forming method according to appendix 9, wherein the stamp surface forming step has a conversion equation for converting the output of the sensor into a displacement amount, and the amount of displacement is calculated according to the conversion equation. .

[Appendix 11]
The marking surface forming step includes a conversion table for converting the output of the sensor into a displacement amount, and an amount of the displacement is obtained with reference to the conversion table. 9. A stamping surface forming method according to 9.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is used for a stamping surface forming device, a stamping material holder, and a stamping surface forming method for forming a stamping surface on a stamping material held by a stamping material holder inserted in the stamping surface forming device in order to perform proper stamping surface formation Can do.

1 Thermal printer for printing surface (printer, printing surface forming device)
2 Central control circuit (control unit)
3 Sensor 4 Thermal head 4a Pressing part (heating element)
4b Driver IC (Drive circuit)
5 Power supply circuit 6 Input operation section 8 Motor driver (stepping motor drive circuit)
9 Stepping motor 9g Gear box 10a Lower case 10b Upper case 10c Insertion port 10d Discharge port 12 Platen roller 13 Side frame 14 Guide 14a Inclined surface 20 Stamping surface material holder 21 Stamping surface material 21a Main surface 21b Back surface 22 Holding Body 22a Notch 22c Upper thick paperboard 22d Lower thick paperboard 22e Positioning hole 22f Slot for detecting misalignment 24 Film 25, 26 Double-sided adhesive sheet 27 Perforation 32 Spacing H adjustment mechanism 40 USB control circuit 41 Bluetooth (registered trademark) module -Wireless LAN module 43 Display device 44 PC (personal computer)
47 Display screen control circuit 48 Memory control circuit 49 UI (user interface) control circuit 50 Stamp 51 Handle 52 Base 53 Double-sided adhesive sheet

Claims (14)

Along with the surface of the stamping material holder having the porous marking surface material that can be made non-porous by heating and the retaining material that holds the marking material in a detachable manner and has a notch and displacement detection target. A plurality of heating elements arranged in a direction, and a drive circuit that controls a heat generation state of the heating elements, and a marking surface forming unit that forms a marking surface on the marking material;
A transport unit that moves the stamp surface material holder relative to the stamp surface forming unit;
A sensor that detects a length of a notch included in the holding body and detects a positional shift amount of the position shift detection target of the holding body;
A control unit that acquires print start position information in the insertion direction of the stamp material holder according to the length of the notch and controls the print start timing of the stamp surface forming unit;
A stamping surface forming apparatus comprising: The control unit corrects the print data in accordance with the amount of positional deviation in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the stamping material holder based on the positional deviation amount of the positional deviation detection target detected by the sensor. The printing surface forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the driving circuit of the printing surface forming unit is controlled.   3. The stamping surface forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the positional deviation detection target is a slit-shaped elongated hole extending along an insertion direction of the stamping material holder.   3. The stamping surface forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the displacement detection target is a pattern extending along an insertion direction of the stamping material holder.   3. The stamping surface forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the displacement detection target is an end of the holding body and extends along an insertion direction of the stamping material holder. The positional shift detection target, when the center of the stamp face member is consistent with heart in said stamp surface forming portion, and characterized by being provided to be present in a position where the center and the end face of the long hole of the sensor coincides The stamp surface forming apparatus according to claim 3. A stamping material holder in which a stamping surface is formed by a stamping surface forming device,
A porous stamping material that can be made non-porous by heating;
The marking material is held in a detachable manner, and the notch and the positional deviation detection target are placed at a position that can be read by one sensor provided in the marking surface forming apparatus when transported to the marking surface forming apparatus along the insertion direction. and retain body that Yusuke,
I have a,
The positional deviation detection object is located in front of the front end of the notch with respect to the insertion direction . A porous stamping material that can be made non-porous by heating;
Holding the marking face material in a detachable manner, and holding bodies having a notch and a position shift detection object at different positions, back and forth in the insertion direction to the marking face forming device,
Have
The positional deviation detection target is located on the front side of the front end of the notch with respect to the insertion direction,
The holding body includes a front end portion on the insertion direction side, a rear end portion located on the opposite side of the front end portion, and both end portions located between the front end portion and the rear end portion,
Between each of the front end portion and the both side end portions, a skew portion that is skewed with respect to the insertion direction is provided.
Between each of the rear end portion and the both side end portions, there is not provided a skew portion that is skewed with respect to the insertion direction.
The stamping material holder characterized by the above. The positional shift detection target, the seal face member holder according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that a slit-shaped long hole extending along the insertion direction of the seal face member holder. The stamp material holder according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the positional deviation detection target is a pattern extending along an insertion direction of the stamp material holder. The stamping material holder according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the position shift detection target is an end of the holding body and extends along an insertion direction of the marking material holder. A porous marking face material that can be made non-porous by heating is detachably held on a holding body, and a marking face material holder having a holding body having a notch and a position shift detection target is applied to the marking face material by applying heat to the marking face. A plurality of heating elements arranged in a direction along the surface of the stamping material holder on which the stamping material is held, and the heating state of the heating elements are controlled while being conveyed relative to the marking surface forming part that forms When forming a marking surface on the marking material by the marking surface forming section provided with a driving circuit for detecting the length of the notch and the amount of positional deviation of the position deviation detection target, a sensor detects the length of the notch. In response, a printing surface forming step of acquiring printing start position information in the insertion direction of the printing material holder and controlling printing start timing,
A stamp face forming method characterized by comprising : In the marking surface forming step, the amount of positional deviation according to a conversion formula for converting the positional deviation amount of the positional deviation detection target detected by the sensor into a positional deviation magnitude in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the marking surface material holder. The stamp surface forming method according to claim 12, wherein: Refer to a conversion table for converting the amount of positional deviation of the positional deviation detection target detected by the sensor into the size of positional deviation in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the marking surface material holder in the marking surface forming step. 13. The method for forming a stamping surface according to claim 12 , wherein the amount of positional deviation is obtained.

Images