JP6788835B2 - Thermal transfer system, take-up device, thermal transfer method and take-up method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a thermal transfer system or a thermal transfer method for transferring ink to an object to be transferred using an ink ribbon having a support layer and an ink layer. The present invention also relates to a winding device or a winding method for winding an ink ribbon that has been transferred with ink.

A transfer system that prints an image of characters or the like on an object to be transferred such as a card using an ink ribbon is widely used. The ink ribbon has a ribbon (support layer) extending in a band shape and an ink layer formed on the ribbon and containing a dye or the like.

Printing is performed by heating the support layer side of the ink ribbon while feeding out the ink ribbon and transferring the ink of the ink layer to the transfer target. Patterns such as printed characters remain on the ink layer after the ink is removed by transfer to the transfer target, and the printed information can be grasped. Therefore, when the ink-transferred ink ribbon is wound around the winding device, the disturbance information is transferred to the support layer of the inner ink ribbon with the ink of the ink layer of the outer ink ribbon, and the ink is transferred. A technique has been proposed in which the printed information cannot be grasped by the ink ribbon (see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-255564

When winding the ink ribbon after ink transfer with the winding device, the head for transferring the disturbance information may stick to the support layer, causing a problem that the ink ribbon cannot be wound normally with the winding device. There is.

A possible cause for the ink ribbon support layer to stick to the head is that the ink layer melts due to the residual heat of the head while the take-up device stops winding, and ink pools accumulate on the traveling direction side of the head. It is formed, and the ink pool forms a convex portion on the support layer so that the ink ribbon cannot get over the head. In particular, when a torque limiter is attached to the motor used to drive the rotation of the take-up device, the rotational torque of the take-up device is limited, so the ink ribbon can move the head even with a slight protrusion on the support layer. It may not be possible to overcome it.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to attach a support layer of an ink ribbon to a head for transferring disturbance information when winding the ink ribbon after ink transfer. The present invention provides a thermal transfer system, a winding device, a thermal transfer method, and a winding method that can prevent the ink ribbon from sticking to prevent defective winding.

In order to solve the above problems, in one aspect of the present invention, in a thermal transfer system that transfers ink to an object to be transferred using an ink ribbon having a support layer and an ink layer.
A delivery unit that sends out the ink ribbon and
It has a first heated body arranged on the downstream side of the sending portion and provided on the support layer side of the ink ribbon, and transfers the ink of the ink layer of the ink ribbon to the transferred body in a first pattern. The first transfer device and
A winding unit that is arranged on the downstream side of the first transfer device and winds up the ink ribbon that has been ink-transferred.
The ink in the ink layer of the ink ribbon, which is provided in the vicinity of the winding portion and has a second heating body that heats the ink transferred ink ribbon from the support layer side, is heated by the second heating body. A second transfer device that transfers to the support layer located inside the ink ribbon in a second pattern different from the first pattern, and
When the sending unit sends out the ink ribbon, the winding unit determines whether or not a winding abnormality has occurred in which the ink ribbon cannot be wound normally, and a first winding abnormality determining unit.
When the winding abnormality determination unit determines that the winding abnormality has occurred, the winding direction of the winding unit is once reversed, and then the winding direction is rotated forward to the original winding direction. A thermal transfer system comprising a control unit is provided.

The sending unit intermittently performs an operation of continuously sending the ink ribbon by a predetermined length.
When the winding abnormality determination unit determines that the winding abnormality has occurred, the winding direction control unit rotates the rotation required for the winding unit to wind the ink ribbon having the predetermined length. The rotation amount or rotation time may be reversed by a rotation amount or rotation time smaller than the amount or rotation time.

A second winding abnormality determining unit that determines whether or not the winding abnormality occurs again in a state where the winding direction of the winding unit is reversed and then rotated forward.
When the second winding abnormality determination unit determines that the winding abnormality has occurred again, it is provided with a repetitive operation unit that repeats the operation of reversing the winding direction of the winding unit and then rotating it forward. You may.

If the winding abnormality occurs even after the repeating operation unit reverses the winding direction of the winding unit and then rotates it forward a predetermined number of times, an error processing execution unit that performs a predetermined error processing is used. You may prepare.

A winding amount detecting unit for detecting the winding amount of the ink ribbon wound by the winding unit is provided.
If the winding amount detected by the winding amount detecting unit is less than the first threshold value, the first winding abnormality determining unit determines that the winding abnormality has occurred.
If the winding amount detected by the winding amount detecting unit is less than the second threshold value smaller than the first threshold value, the second winding abnormality determining unit determines that the winding abnormality has occurred. May be good.

With the motor
A torque limiter that limits the rotational torque of the motor is provided.
The take-up unit may take up the ink ribbon with the rotational torque limited by the torque limiter.

A slack determination unit for determining whether or not slack has occurred in the ink ribbon before the winding unit winds the ink ribbon is provided.
The first winding abnormality determination unit may determine that the winding abnormality has occurred when the slack determination unit determines that slack has occurred.

In another aspect of the present invention, the ink ribbon having the support layer and the ink layer is wound with the ink transferred from the ink layer after the ink in the ink layer is transferred to the transferred body in the first pattern. In the ink strip
A winding unit that winds up the ink ribbon that has been transferred with ink,
The first ink layer of the ink ribbon is provided in the vicinity of the winding portion and has a heating body that heats the ink transferred ink ribbon from the support layer side, and is heated by the heating body. A transfer device that transfers to the support layer of the ink ribbon located inside the ink ribbon with a second pattern different from the pattern,
The first winding abnormality determination unit for determining whether or not a winding abnormality has occurred in which the winding unit cannot normally wind the ink ribbon, and
When the winding abnormality determination unit determines that the winding abnormality has occurred, the winding direction of the winding unit is once reversed, and then the winding direction is rotated forward to the original winding direction. A take-up device comprising a control unit is provided.

In another aspect of the present invention, in a thermal transfer method of transferring ink to a transfer target using an ink ribbon having a support layer and an ink layer.
The process of sending out the ink ribbon and
A step of heating from the support layer side of the ink ribbon with the first heating body and transferring the ink of the ink layer of the ink ribbon to the transferred body in the first pattern.
The step of winding the ink ribbon whose ink has been transferred in the first pattern, and
The ink ribbon to which the ink has been transferred in the first pattern is heated by the second heating body from the support layer side, and the ink in the ink layer of the ink ribbon is heated in a second pattern different from the first pattern. The process of transferring to the support layer of the ink ribbon located inside the ribbon,
A step of determining whether or not a winding abnormality has occurred in which the winding unit cannot normally wind the ink ribbon when the ink ribbon is sent out.
When it is determined that the winding abnormality has occurred, the step of reversing the winding direction of the ink ribbon to which the ink has been transferred in the second pattern and then rotating the ink ribbon in the original winding direction is performed. A thermal transfer method is provided.

In another aspect of the present invention, the ink ribbon having the support layer and the ink layer is wound with the ink transferred from the ink layer after the ink in the ink layer is transferred to the transferred body in the first pattern. In the method of taking
The process of winding the ink ribbon that has been transferred with ink, and
The ink-transferred ink ribbon is heated from the support layer side by a heating body, and the ink in the ink layer of the ink ribbon is the ink located inside the ink ribbon in a second pattern different from the first pattern. The process of transferring to the support layer of the ribbon and
A step of determining whether or not a winding abnormality has occurred in which the ink ribbon cannot be wound normally, and
Provided is a winding method including a step of once reversing the winding direction of the ink ribbon and then rotating it forward to the original winding direction when it is determined that the winding abnormality has occurred. ..

According to the present invention, when winding the ink ribbon after ink transfer, the support layer of the ink ribbon is prevented from sticking to the head for transferring the disturbance information, so that the winding failure of the ink ribbon can be prevented. ..

The figure which shows the schematic structure of the thermal transfer system by 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows the example which prints on a plurality of transfer objects sequentially. (A) is a diagram showing a case where the ink ribbon after being transferred to the transfer body in the first pattern is viewed from the ink layer side, and (b) is a transfer target in which the ink of the ink ribbon is transferred in the first pattern. The figure which shows. FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of the ink-transferred ink ribbon shown in FIG. 3 (a). The figure which shows the detail of a winding device. Longitudinal sectional view of the ink ribbon around the second heating body. (A) and (b) are cross-sectional views showing how the outer ink ribbon is heated in the second pattern by the second transfer device. (A) is a diagram showing the ink layer of the outer ink ribbon after the transfer is performed, and (b) is a diagram showing the support layer of the inner ink ribbon after the transfer is performed. The figure which shows typically the state which the 2nd heating body was attached to the ink ribbon wound around the winding part. The flowchart which shows the processing operation of the thermal transfer system of FIG. The graph which shows the correspondence relationship between the number of pulses of an encoder and the 1st threshold value. The figure which shows the schematic structure of the thermal transfer system by 2nd Embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a thermal transfer system 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The thermal transfer system 10 of FIG. 1 uses an ink ribbon 13 having a support layer 11 and an ink layer 12 to transfer the ink 12a to the transferred body 14 in a desired pattern.

The thermal transfer system 10 of FIG. 1 includes a delivery unit 16, a first transfer device 17, a winding device 20, a winding abnormality detector 1, and a winding direction control unit 2.

Sending unit 16 sends out the ink ribbon 13 in the direction indicated by the arrow _{R 1.} More specifically, the sending unit 16 continuously sends out the ink ribbon 13 by the amount of printing one transferred body 14. FIG. 2 shows an example in which printing is sequentially performed on a plurality of transferred objects 14. In the case of FIG. 2, the operation of printing on each transfer target 14 is repeated while the ink ribbon 13 is sent out by the delivery unit 16. Therefore, the sending unit 16 continuously sends out the ink ribbon by the length L1 obtained by adding the margin to the length of one side of one transferred body 14, and when printing on one transferred body 14 is completed. , The ink ribbon 13 is continuously sent out in order to print the next transfer target 14. In this way, the sending unit 16 intermittently performs the operation of sending out the ink ribbon 13.

The first transfer device 17 is arranged on the downstream side of the delivery unit 16 and has a first heating body provided on the support layer side of the ink ribbon 13. The first heating body transfers the ink of the ink layer 12 of the ink ribbon 13 to the transferred body 14 in the first pattern.

As shown in FIG. 1, the first transfer device 17 is provided with a platen roll 19 that supports the transfer body 14 and a first heating that faces the platen roll 19 with the ink ribbon 13 and the transfer body 14 interposed therebetween. It has a body 18, for example a print head. As shown in FIG. 1, the first heating body 18 is provided on the support layer 11 side of the ink ribbon 13. The first heating body 18 heats the ink 12a of the ink layer 12 of the ink ribbon 13 in a predetermined pattern (first pattern) corresponding to, for example, ID information, whereby the ink 12a of the ink layer 12 of the ink ribbon 13 is heated. Is transferred to the transferred body 14 in the first pattern.

FIG. 3A is a diagram showing a case where the ink ribbon 13 after the ink 12a is transferred to the transferred body 14 in the first pattern is viewed from the ink layer 12 side, and FIG. 3B is a diagram showing the ink. It is a figure which shows the transfer | transfer body 14 which the ink 12a of the ribbon 13 was transferred in the 1st pattern. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the ink-transferred ink ribbon 13 shown in FIG. 3A along line IV-IV. As shown in FIGS. 3A and 4, in the ink ribbon 13 that has been transferred with ink, the ink layer 12 is printed on the ink 12a that remains without being transferred to the transfer body 14 and on the transfer body 14. It is composed of an ink missing portion 12b corresponding to the ID information. In this case, as shown in FIG. 3A, the pattern of the ink-missing portion 12b in the ink-transferred ink ribbon 13 corresponds to the first pattern in the first heating body 18 described above. Therefore, it is possible to specify the ID information printed on the transferred body 14 based on the pattern of the ink missing portion 12b.

As shown in FIG. 5, the winding device 20 has a winding unit 21 and a second transfer device 22. The winding unit 21 is a roll-shaped member that is arranged on the downstream side of the first transfer device 17 and winds the ink ribbon 13 that has been ink-transferred. The second transfer device 22 is provided in the vicinity of the winding unit 21 and heats the ink transferred ink ribbon 13 from the support layer 11 side. The second transfer device 22 includes a second heating element 23 made of a roll-shaped heating element and a support mechanism (not shown) for supporting the second heating element 23.

As shown in FIG. 5, the winding unit 21 winds the ink ribbon 13 so that the support layer 11 of the ink ribbon 13 is located outside the ink layer 12. In the present specification, the ink ribbon 13 located at the outermost periphery of the ink ribbon 13 wound around the winding portion 21 is referred to as an outer ink ribbon 13A, and is wound around the winding portion 21 inside the outer ink ribbon 13A. The ink ribbon 13 that has been taken and is adjacent to the outer ink ribbon 13A is called the inner ink ribbon 13B.

The second transfer device 22 is provided in the vicinity of the take-up portion 21, and has a second heating body 23 that heats the ink transferred ink ribbon 13 from the support layer 11 side. The second transfer device 22 transfers the ink of the ink layer 12 of the ink ribbon 13 heated by the second heating body 23 to the support layer 11 located inside the ink ribbon 13 in a second pattern different from the first pattern. To do. The second pattern is a pattern that disturbs the pattern of the ink-missing portion 12b so that it cannot be identified.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the ink ribbon 13 around the second heating body 23. When the ink ribbon 13 is wound around the winding unit 21, the wound ink ribbon 13 is actually curved along the roll surface of the winding unit 21, but in FIG. 6, it is curved for convenience. The ink ribbon 13 is drawn ignoring the state. Further, in FIG. 6, a state in which the outer ink ribbon 13A is pressed by the second heating body 23 and a part of the ink 12a of the ink layer 12 of the outer ink ribbon 13A is pressed against the support layer 11 of the inner ink ribbon 13B will be described. Therefore, for convenience, a slight gap is drawn between the outer ink ribbon 13A and the inner ink ribbon 13B. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the outer ink ribbon 13A and the inner ink ribbon 13B may be in contact with each other without a gap over the entire surface.

The second heating body 23 is fixed, and the ink ribbon 13 moves in the direction of the arrow in FIG. Therefore, the ink ribbon 13 moves while contacting the protruding print head 23a of the second heating body 23. At this time, by pressing the second heating body 23 against the ink ribbon 13 and heating the second heating body 23, one of the inks 12a remaining in the ink layer 12 of the outer ink ribbon 13A of FIG. The portion is transferred onto the support layer 11 of the inner ink ribbon 13B in the second pattern. The temperature of the second heating body 23 is such that the ink 12a of the ink layer 12 of the outer ink ribbon 13A is melted over the entire area, whereby the phenomenon that the outer ink ribbon 13A and the inner ink ribbon 13B are adhered to each other does not occur. Is set low.

By controlling the heating timing and pressing timing of the second heating body 23 while the ink ribbon 13 is moving, a part of the ink 12a remaining in the ink layer 12 of the outer ink ribbon 13A is used as a support layer of the inner ink ribbon 13B. It can be transferred onto 11. The second pattern, which is the transfer pattern at this time, can destroy the pattern of the ink-missing portion 12b, which is the first pattern corresponding to the ID information, in the ink layer 12 of the outer ink ribbon 13A. This makes it possible to prevent the ID information printed on the transferred body 14 from being specified based on the pattern of the ink-missing portion 12b, which will be described in detail later.

In the winding unit 21, the outer diameter of the roll body composed of the ink ribbon 13 wound by the winding unit 21 increases as the winding progresses. In order to cope with such an increase in the outer diameter of the roll body, the second heating body 23 is supported by a support mechanism (not shown) so as to be movable in the radial direction of the roll body. Further, by supporting the second heating body 23 by such a support mechanism, when the winding drive is stopped or when heating by the second heating body 23 is unnecessary, the second heating body 23 is indicated by an arrow. is moved in the D ₁ direction, it is possible to arbitrarily stop the contact with the ink ribbon 13 that is wound around the winding portion 21.

The take-up portion 21 is rotatable around a rotation axis. This rotating shaft is connected to the torque limiter 3 and the motor 4. When the rotational torque of the motor 4 is higher than necessary, a large amount of tension is applied to the ink ribbon 13 when the winding unit 21 winds the ink ribbon 13. Due to this tension, the ink ribbon 13 may be wrinkled or broken. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the torque limiter 3 limits the rotational torque of the motor 4. If the rotational torque of the motor 4 is weak, the torque limiter 3 may be omitted.

When the rotational torque of the motor 4 is limited by the torque limiter 3, the force with which the winding unit 21 winds the ink ribbon 13 also weakens. Therefore, as will be described later, a problem that the second heating body 23 sticks to the ink ribbon 13 is likely to occur. Therefore, the thermal transfer system 10 according to the present embodiment includes the winding abnormality detector 1 shown in FIG. 1 and the winding direction control unit 2 as countermeasures.

The winding abnormality detector 1 has a first winding abnormality determination unit 1a and a second winding abnormality determination unit 1b. The first winding abnormality determination unit 1a determines whether or not a winding abnormality has occurred in which the winding unit 21 cannot normally wind the ink ribbon 13 when the sending unit 16 sends out the ink ribbon 13. When the winding abnormality determination unit 1a determines that a winding abnormality has occurred, the winding direction control unit 2 reverses the winding direction of the winding unit 21 once, and then rewinds the original winding. Turn forward in the direction. The second winding abnormality determination unit 1b determines whether or not the winding abnormality occurs again in a state where the winding direction of the winding unit 21 is reversed and then rotated forward.

The winding abnormality detector 1 may have a winding amount detecting unit 5. The winding amount detecting unit 5 detects the winding amount of the ink ribbon 13 wound by the winding unit 21. The take-up amount detection unit 5 can be configured by, for example, an encoder. The encoder optically detects the winding amount of the ink ribbon 13 as described later. The encoder may be attached to the roller of the take-up portion 21, or may be attached to the rotating shaft of the take-up portion 21.

If the winding amount detected by the winding amount detecting unit 5 is less than the first threshold value, the first winding abnormality determination unit 1a determines that a winding abnormality has occurred. The second winding abnormality determination unit 1b determines that a winding abnormality has occurred if the winding amount detected by the winding amount detecting unit 5 is less than the second threshold value, which is less than the first threshold value.

Further, the thermal transfer system 10 according to the present embodiment may include a repetitive operation unit 6 and an error processing execution unit 7. When the second winding abnormality determination unit 1b determines that the winding abnormality has occurred again, the repetitive operation unit 6 repeats the operation of reversing the winding direction of the winding unit 21 and then rotating it forward a predetermined number of times. .. When the number of repetitions by the repetitive operation unit 6 reaches a predetermined number, the error processing execution unit 7 performs a predetermined error processing.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment having such a configuration will be described. Here, the ID information is printed on the transferred body 14 by the first transfer device 17 of the thermal transfer system 10, and then the ink 12a of the ink layer 12 of the outer ink ribbon 13A that has been ink-transferred is transferred by the second transfer device 22. The action of being transferred onto the support layer 11 of the inner ink ribbon 13B in two patterns will be described.

First, the transferred body 14 is prepared, and then the transferred body 14 is conveyed toward the first transfer device 17. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, the ink ribbon 13 is sent out from the sending unit 16 toward the first transfer device 17.

When the transferred body 14 reaches between the first heated body 18 of the first transfer device 17 and the platen roll 19, the first heated body 18 heats the ink ribbon 13 in the first pattern corresponding to the ID information. It is pressed against the transferred body 14. As a result, the ink 12a of the ink layer 12 of the ink ribbon 13 is transferred onto the transferred body 14 in the first pattern (first transfer step). As a result, the ID information is printed on the transferred body 14, and the ink removal portion 12b corresponding to the ID information is formed on the ink layer 12 of the ink ribbon 13.

The ink ribbon 13 that has been ink-transferred after passing through the first transfer device 17 is wound by the winding unit 21 of the winding device 20. Then, in a state where the ink ribbon 13 whose ink has been transferred is wound by the winding unit 21, the outer ink ribbon 13A is heated in the second pattern by the second transfer device 22 (second transfer step). Hereinafter, the action of the outer ink ribbon 13A being heated in the second pattern by the second transfer device 22 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 7 (a) and 7 (b) and 8 (a) and (b).

First, as shown in FIG. 7A, the outside of the ink ribbon 13 (support layer 11 side) while rotating the winding portion 21 with the second heating body 23 of the second transfer device 22 fixed. The outer ink ribbon 13A of the above is pressed against the second heating body 23. As a result, the outer ink ribbon 13A is heated from the outside by the protrusion 23a of the second heating body 23. Adjust the heating timing as appropriate. Therefore, a part of the ink 12a remaining in the ink layer 12 of the outer ink ribbon 13A is pressed against the support layer 11 of the inner ink ribbon 13B while being heated. As a result, as shown by reference numeral 12c in FIG. 7B, a part of the ink 12a remaining in the ink layer 12 of the outer ink ribbon 13A is transferred onto the support layer 11 of the inner ink ribbon 13B.

FIG. 8A is a view showing the case where the outer ink ribbon 13A after the transfer by the second transfer device 22 is performed is viewed from the ink layer 12 side, and FIG. 8B is a view showing the case where the second transfer device 22 is used. It is a figure which shows the case where the inner ink ribbon 13B after the transfer by 22 is seen from the support layer 11 side. As shown in FIG. 8A, the ink layer 12 of the outer ink ribbon 13A has an ink removal portion 12b (1) having a first pattern based on a printing pattern of ID information in the first transfer device 17, and a second ink removal portion 12b (1). An ink removal portion 12b (2) having a second pattern 26 based on the arrangement pattern of the protrusions 23a of the second heating body 23 in the transfer device 22 is formed. As shown in FIG. 8A, the ink layer 12 of the outer ink ribbon 13A contains a mixture of the first pattern and the second pattern 26. Therefore, the ink composed of the first pattern corresponding to the ID information. The pattern of the missing portion 12b (1) is destroyed to an unrecognizable degree. This makes it possible to prevent the ID information printed on the transferred body 14 from being specified based on the pattern of the ink-missing portion 12b.

As shown in FIG. 8B, the ink 12c is transferred from the outer ink ribbon 13A to the support layer 11 of the inner ink ribbon 13B by the second transfer device 22 in the second pattern 26. Further, as shown in FIG. 8B, the ink 12c is partially formed with an ink removal portion 12d having a pattern based on the ink removal portion 12b composed of the first pattern of the ink layer 12 of the outer ink ribbon 13A. Has been done. However, as shown in FIG. 8B, the ink-missing portion 12d is only visible in the region overlapping with the second pattern 26, and therefore, based on the pattern of the ink-missing portion 12d, the transferred body is transferred. The ID information printed on 14 is not specified.

As described above, the ink ribbon 13 that has been wound up by the winding unit 21 of the winding device 20 is heated from the outside by the second transfer device 22 in a second pattern. Then, a series of ink-transferred ink ribbons 13 are wound by the winding unit 21, and after being heated from the outside by the second transfer device 22 in the second pattern 26, the ink ribbon 13 is removed from the winding unit 21. Discard. At this time, no adhesive treatment is applied between the ink ribbons 13 wound around the winding portion 21, for example, between the outer ink ribbon 13A and the inner ink ribbon 13B. Therefore, the ink ribbon 13 is used. It can be easily removed from the take-up portion 21. Therefore, the winding unit 21 can be used repeatedly. As a result, the cost for processing the ink-transferred ink ribbon 13 can be reduced as compared with the case where the winding unit 21 is discarded together with the ink-transferred ink ribbon 13.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the torque limiter 3 is provided in order to limit the rotational torque of the motor 4. Therefore, if there is a convex portion 8 on the outer peripheral surface of the ink ribbon 13 wound around the winding portion 21, the ink ribbon 13 cannot get over the second heating body 23, and as a result, the ink ribbon 13 is second heated. There is a risk of sticking to the body 23. FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically showing a state in which the ink ribbon 13 wound around the winding portion 21 is attached to the second heating body 23 having the shape of FIG.

Such sticking occurs when the heating of the second heating body 23 is stopped at the same time as the winding of the ink ribbon 13 is completed, or when the winding end time of the ink ribbon 13 and the heating stop time of the second heating body 23 are set. When the time difference is short, the ink in the ink layer 12 is melted by the residual heat of the second heating body 23, and an ink pool is formed in front of the traveling direction of the second heating body 23, and the ink pool winds around the winding portion 21. It is considered that the main factor is that the convex portion 8 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the removed ink ribbon 13 on the support layer 11 side, and the convex portion 8 cannot get over the second heating body 23.

If the rotational torque of the rotating shaft of the winding portion 21 is sufficiently large, the second heating body 23 can be overcome even if there are some convex portions 8 on the outer peripheral surface of the ink ribbon 13, but in the present embodiment, As shown in FIG. 1, since the torque limiter 3 limits the rotational torque of the rotating shaft, a problem that the ink ribbon 13 sticks to the second heating body 23 is likely to occur.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, it is determined whether or not a winding abnormality has occurred in which the ink ribbon 13 sticks to the second heating body 23, and if it is determined that a winding abnormality has occurred, the winding unit 21 is reversed. After moving the ink ribbon 13 in the opposite direction, the winding unit 21 is rotated in the normal direction in the original rotation direction to eliminate the winding abnormality.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the thermal transfer system 10 of FIG. This flowchart shows an example in which an encoder is provided as a winding amount detecting unit 5 inside the winding abnormality detector 1. The encoder has a light emitter and a receiver (not shown). For example, the winding unit 21 has a slit (not shown) that rotates around its rotation axis, and the light emitter and the light receiver are arranged to face each other with the slit in between. When the winding unit 21 winds up the ink ribbon 13, the number of slits passing between the light emitter and the light receiver changes according to the winding amount. By measuring this number, the winding amount can be detected.

First, the sending unit 16 starts feeding the ink ribbon 13 (step S1), and the winding unit 21 starts winding the ink ribbon 13 accordingly (step S2). When the ink ribbon 13 is wound by the winding portion 21, the second heating body 23 transfers the ink of the ink layer 12 on the outer peripheral side to the support layer 11 on the inner peripheral side of the winding portion 21 in the second pattern. The sending unit 16 stops when the ink ribbon 13 is continuously fed by the amount required for printing on one transfer target 14 (step S3), and the winding unit 21 stops the ink ribbon 13 by the amount sent by the transmitting unit. When 13 is wound up, it stops (step S4). In this way, the sending unit 16 performs an intermittent operation of intermittently sending out the ink ribbon 13 by the amount of printing of one transferred body 14.

The first winding abnormality determination unit 1a determines whether or not the number of pulses detected by the encoder while the ink ribbon 13 is being sent exceeds the first threshold value (step S5). The first threshold value is a value corresponding to the ink ribbon length required for printing on one transfer target 14.

If it is determined that the first threshold value is not exceeded, it is determined that no winding abnormality has occurred, and the process returns to step S1. The reason for returning to step S1 is that the processes of steps S1 to S5 are also performed when the ink ribbon 13 is sent out for the next printing of the transferred body 14. If the next transferee 14 does not exist, the process of FIG. 10 ends.

When it is determined in step S5 that the first threshold value has been exceeded, the take-up direction control unit 2 reverses the take-up unit 21 (step S6). More specifically, the take-up direction control unit 2 reverses the ink ribbon 13 by a distance of, for example, a fraction to a few tenths of the ink ribbon length required for printing on one transfer target 14. Let me. Alternatively, the winding direction control unit 2 may reverse the winding unit 21 for a time of about one-several to several tenths of the time required for printing of one transferred body 14.

FIG. 11 is a graph showing the correspondence between the number of pulses of the encoder and the first threshold value. As the winding diameter of the ink ribbon 13 wound around the winding portion 21 increases, the number of pulses of the encoder decreases linearly. Therefore, it is desirable that the first threshold value is also linearly changed according to the winding diameter of the ink ribbon 13. In the example of FIG. 11, an example is shown in which the first threshold value is set to about 80% of the average number of pulses of the encoder when no winding abnormality has occurred. The value of the first threshold value is arbitrary.

When the process of step S6 is completed, the winding direction control unit 2 subsequently rotates the winding unit 21 in the normal winding direction (step S7). Then, the second winding abnormality determination unit 1b determines whether or not the number of pulses detected by the encoder exceeds the second threshold value while the winding unit 21 is rotating in the normal direction in step S6 (step S8). ). The second threshold value is a value smaller than the first threshold value, and is a value to which it can be determined that the sticking of the second heating body 23 to the ink ribbon 13 has been eliminated.

If it is determined in step S8 that the second threshold value is not exceeded, it is determined that the winding abnormality has been resolved, and the process returns to step S1. On the other hand, when it is determined in step S8 that the second threshold value has been exceeded, it is determined that the winding abnormality has not been resolved, and the determination process by the second winding abnormality determination unit 1b is performed n times (n is 1 or more arbitrarily). (Integer of) It is determined whether or not it has been repeated (step S9).

If it has not reached n times, the repetitive operation unit 6 repeats the processes of steps S6 to S9. When it is determined in step S9 that the number of times has reached n times, the error processing execution unit 7 performs a predetermined error processing (step S10), and ends the processing of FIG.

As described above, in the thermal transfer system 10 of FIG. 1, since the torque limiter 3 is attached to the motor 4, the rotational torque of the take-up portion 21 is not so large. This is the same even if the winding unit 21 is reversed and then rotated forward. However, when the winding portion 21 is reversed and then rotated forward, the distance between the second heating body 23 and the convex portion 8 becomes longer, and even if the rotational torque is the same, the second heating body 23 Since the momentum is generated in the ink ribbon 13, the convex portion 8 of the ink ribbon 13 easily gets over the second heating body 23. That is, by once reversing the winding portion 21, the ink ribbon 13 can be run up by the time the convex portion 8 of the ink ribbon 13 reaches the second heating body 23, and this run-up allows the ink ribbon 13 to run. The convex portion 8 can get over the second heating body 23.

According to the experiment of the present inventor, even if the time and distance for reversing the winding portion 21 are lengthened, the probability that the convex portion 8 of the ink ribbon 13 gets over the second heating body 23 is not so improved. Therefore, in the present embodiment, if the convex portion 8 of the ink ribbon 13 cannot get over even if the winding portion 21 is reversed and rotated in the normal direction, the winding portion 21 is again used for the same distance or time. The operation of reversing and rotating forward is repeated. If the convex portion 8 of the ink ribbon 13 cannot get over the second heating body 23 even after repeating the predetermined number of times, a predetermined error processing is performed.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the ink ribbon 13 is wound by the winding unit 21, the ink of the ink layer 12 on the outer peripheral side is transferred to the support layer 11 on the inner peripheral side in the second pattern, and the ink is second. The winding abnormality detector 1 detects whether or not the winding abnormality in which the ink ribbon 13 is attached to the heating body 23 has occurred, and if a winding abnormality occurs, the winding portion 21 is once reversed. Rotate it in the normal direction to eliminate the winding abnormality. This makes it possible to prevent jamming of the ink ribbon 13. Further, since the period for reversing the winding unit 21 and the length of the ink ribbon may be short, the second heating body 23 is attached to the ink ribbon 13 without significantly affecting the throughput of the print output to the transferred body 14. It can prevent sticking.

(Second Embodiment)
In the first embodiment, it is determined whether or not the ink ribbon 13 is attached to the second heating body 23 by the number of pulses of the encoder, but the ink ribbon 13 is attached to the second heating body 23 by the amount of slack of the ink ribbon 13. It may be determined whether or not it is attached.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a thermal transfer system 10 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 12, the same components as those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the differences will be mainly described below. The thermal transfer system 10 of FIG. 12 has a plurality of guide rolls 15 and a tension bar 9 in addition to the configuration of FIG.

In the normal state in which the ink ribbon 13 is not attached to the second heating body 23, the ink ribbon 13 sent out from the sending unit 16 passes through the back surface side of the first transfer device 17, and is then shown by the solid line in FIG. Then, it is wound around the winding unit 21 through some guide rolls 15. At this time, the tension bar 9 exists at the position p1 in FIG. On the other hand, if the ink ribbon 13 sticks to the second heating body 23, the winding portion 21 does not rotate. Therefore, as shown by the broken line in FIG. 12, the ink ribbon 13 loosens in front of the winding portion 21. The tension bar 9 moves to the position p2 in FIG. The take-up amount detection unit 5 detects the position of the tension bar 9, determines that if the tension bar 9 exists at the position p1, no winding abnormality has occurred, and if the tension bar 9 exists at the position p2, Judge that a winding abnormality has occurred. In this case, the take-up amount detecting unit 5 functions as a slack determining unit that determines whether or not the ink ribbon 13 has slack.

Further, even when the winding portion 21 is once reversed and then rotated forward after the occurrence of the winding abnormality, it may be determined whether or not the winding abnormality has been resolved depending on whether the tension bar 9 is at position p1 or p2. ..

When the tension bar 9 is used, the tension applied to the ink ribbon 13 can be adjusted by the tension bar 9, so that even if the torque motor 4 is omitted, the tension bar 13 is not excessively tensioned. Therefore, the configuration can be simplified as compared with the first embodiment, and the motor 4 having a smaller rotational torque and cheaper than that of the first embodiment can be used.

It should be noted that both the tension bar 9 and the encoder described in the first embodiment may be used to determine whether or not a winding abnormality has occurred. For example, the determination process of step S5 in FIG. 10 may be determined by the position of the tension bar 9, and the determination process of step S8 may be determined by the number of pulses of the encoder.

As described above, in the second embodiment, the tension bar 9 detects the slack of the ink ribbon 13, and determines whether or not the winding abnormality by the winding unit 21 has occurred depending on the degree of slack of the ink ribbon 13. By providing the tension bar 9, the torque limiter 3 becomes unnecessary, and the presence or absence of a winding abnormality can be determined with a simpler configuration than that of the first embodiment.

Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other embodiments, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are also included in the scope of the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof.

1 Winding abnormality detector, 1a 1st winding abnormality judgment unit, 1b 2nd winding abnormality judgment unit, 2 winding direction control unit, 3 torque limiter, 4 motor, 5 winding amount detection unit, 6 repetitive operation unit , 7 Error processing execution part, 8 Convex part, 9 Tension bar, 10 Thermal transfer system, 11 Support layer, 12 Ink layer, 12a ink, 12b Ink missing part, 12c Ink transferred onto the support layer by the second transfer device, 13 Ink Ribbon, 13A Outer Ink Ribbon, 13B Inner Ink Ribbon, 13C Outer Ink Ribbon, 13D Inner Ink Ribbon, 14 Transferee, 15 Guide Roll, 16 Transmission Unit, 17 First Transfer Device, 18 First Heater, 19 Platen roll, 20 winding device, 21 winding part, 22 second transfer device, 23 second heating body, 23a protrusion, 24 support roll, 25 guide roll, 26 second pattern

Claims (10)

In a thermal transfer system that transfers ink to an object to be transferred using an ink ribbon having a support layer and an ink layer.
A delivery unit that sends out the ink ribbon and
It has a first heated body arranged on the downstream side of the sending portion and provided on the support layer side of the ink ribbon, and transfers the ink of the ink layer of the ink ribbon to the transferred body in a first pattern. The first transfer device and
A winding unit that is arranged on the downstream side of the first transfer device and winds up the ink ribbon that has been ink-transferred.
The ink in the ink layer of the ink ribbon, which is provided in the vicinity of the winding portion and has a second heating body that heats the ink transferred ink ribbon from the support layer side, is heated by the second heating body. A second transfer device that transfers to the support layer located inside the ink ribbon in a second pattern different from the first pattern, and
When the sending unit sends out the ink ribbon, the winding unit determines whether or not a winding abnormality has occurred in which the ink ribbon cannot be wound normally, and a first winding abnormality determining unit.
When the winding abnormality determination unit determines that the winding abnormality has occurred, the winding direction of the winding unit is once reversed, and then the winding direction is rotated forward to the original winding direction. A thermal transfer system including a control unit. The sending unit intermittently performs an operation of continuously sending the ink ribbon by a predetermined length.
When the winding abnormality determination unit determines that the winding abnormality has occurred, the winding direction control unit rotates the rotation required for the winding unit to wind the ink ribbon having the predetermined length. The thermal transfer system according to claim 1, wherein a rotation amount or rotation time smaller than the amount or rotation time is reversed. A second winding abnormality determining unit that determines whether or not the winding abnormality occurs again in a state where the winding direction of the winding unit is reversed and then rotated forward.
When the second winding abnormality determination unit determines that the winding abnormality has occurred again, the second winding abnormality determination unit includes a repetitive operation unit that repeats an operation of reversing the winding direction of the winding unit and then rotating it forward. , The thermal transfer system according to claim 1 or 2. If the winding abnormality occurs even after the repeating operation unit reverses the winding direction of the winding unit and then rotates it forward a predetermined number of times, an error processing execution unit that performs a predetermined error processing is used. The thermal transfer system according to claim 3. A winding amount detecting unit for detecting the winding amount of the ink ribbon wound by the winding unit is provided.
If the winding amount detected by the winding amount detecting unit is less than the first threshold value, the first winding abnormality determining unit determines that the winding abnormality has occurred.
If the winding amount detected by the winding amount detecting unit is less than the second threshold value smaller than the first threshold value, the second winding abnormality determining unit determines that the winding abnormality has occurred. The thermal transfer system according to claim 3 or 4. With the motor
A torque limiter that limits the rotational torque of the motor is provided.
The thermal transfer system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the winding unit winds the ink ribbon with a rotational torque limited by the torque limiter. A slack determination unit for determining whether or not slack has occurred in the ink ribbon before the winding unit winds the ink ribbon is provided.
The first winding abnormality determination unit is described in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein when the slack determination unit determines that slack has occurred, the first winding abnormality determination unit determines that the winding abnormality has occurred. Thermal transfer system. In a winding device that winds up an ink ribbon that has been transferred with ink after transferring the ink of the ink layer to an object to be transferred in the first pattern in an ink ribbon having a support layer and an ink layer.
A winding unit that winds up the ink ribbon that has been transferred with ink,
The first ink layer of the ink ribbon is provided in the vicinity of the winding portion and has a heating body that heats the ink transferred ink ribbon from the support layer side, and is heated by the heating body. A transfer device that transfers to the support layer of the ink ribbon located inside the ink ribbon with a second pattern different from the pattern,
The first winding abnormality determination unit for determining whether or not a winding abnormality has occurred in which the winding unit cannot normally wind the ink ribbon, and
When the winding abnormality determination unit determines that the winding abnormality has occurred, the winding direction of the winding unit is once reversed, and then the winding direction is rotated forward to the original winding direction. A take-up device including a control unit. In a thermal transfer method of transferring ink to an object to be transferred using an ink ribbon having a support layer and an ink layer,
The process of sending out the ink ribbon and
A step of heating from the support layer side of the ink ribbon with the first heating body and transferring the ink of the ink layer of the ink ribbon to the transferred body in the first pattern.
The step of winding the ink ribbon whose ink has been transferred in the first pattern, and
The ink ribbon to which the ink has been transferred in the first pattern is heated by the second heating body from the support layer side, and the ink in the ink layer of the ink ribbon is heated in a second pattern different from the first pattern. The process of transferring to the support layer of the ink ribbon located inside the ribbon,
A step of determining whether or not a winding abnormality has occurred in which the winding unit cannot normally wind the ink ribbon when the ink ribbon is sent out.
When it is determined that the winding abnormality has occurred, the step of once reversing the winding direction of the ink ribbon to which the ink has been transferred in the second pattern and then rotating it forward to the original winding direction. A thermal transfer method to prepare. In a winding method for winding an ink ribbon that has been transferred with ink after transferring the ink of the ink layer to an object to be transferred in the first pattern in an ink ribbon having a support layer and an ink layer.
The process of winding the ink ribbon that has been transferred with ink, and
The ink-transferred ink ribbon is heated from the support layer side by a heating body, and the ink in the ink layer of the ink ribbon is the ink located inside the ink ribbon in a second pattern different from the first pattern. The process of transferring to the support layer of the ribbon and
The step of determining whether or not a winding abnormality has occurred in which the ink ribbon cannot be wound normally, and when it is determined that the winding abnormality has occurred, the winding direction of the ink ribbon is once reversed. After that, a winding method including a step of rotating forward in the original winding direction.