JPH01269554A - Thermal printer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To form a distinct picture image having high accuracy by approx imately conforming the locus of revolution of a platen roller and the locus of revolution of a thermal head oppositely faced to the platen roller near a position where a heat- sensitive body is held. CONSTITUTION:A cover body 14, on one end side a fulcrum is freely opened and closed, is installed to the upper section of a casing 12, a recording section 18 is constituted to the cover body 14, and a platen roller 36 pushing an optical fixing type heat- sensitive film F and forwarding time film in the sub-scanning direction is mounted. The cover body 14 is closed to the casing 12, pawl members 32, 32 are engaged with the casing 12 and the cover body is fixed, and the platen roller is abutted against a thermal head 42. A circular arc R1 as a locus on which the platen roller 36 is displaced and a circular arc R2 as a locus on which the thermal head 42 is displaced are set so as to approximately coincide within the range of a circular distance S near a position where the platen roller 36 and the thermal head 42 are abutted. Accordingly, mutual contacting sections are not displaced even when the platen roller is displaced during photographic printing, the thermal head is held at a fixed position, pressure loading is also kept constant, and the recording density of a picture image is maintained uniformly.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a thermal printer device, in particular:
A plurality of heat-generating elements are arranged in the main scanning direction corresponding to a predetermined number of pixels, and the light-fixing type thermosensitive film is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction while being sandwiched between a thermal head and a platen roller, and the heat-generating elements are selectively energized. In a thermal printer device that records an image two-dimensionally on the light-fixing heat-sensitive film, a thermal head is placed opposite to a platen roller that is disposed on a support that can swing freely about one point as a fulcrum. In the vicinity of the contact position, the thermal head is swingably supported so that the displacement locus of the platen roller approximates the displacement locus of the platen roller, and the pressing force of the platen roller against the thermal head is substantially reduced within a predetermined range. The present invention also relates to a thermal printer device configured to ensure uniform recording density on a heat-sensitive film under the biasing action of a thermal head.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the medical field, in addition to conventionally used X-ray imaging devices, various medical imaging diagnostic devices such as ultrasonic diagnostic devices, X-ray CT, and DF are becoming widespread. This type of medical image diagnostic apparatus obtains an image of the affected area by injecting ultrasonic waves, X-rays, etc. from outside the patient's body and detecting changes in the ultrasonic waves, X-rays, etc., and transfers this image to, for example, a CRT. It is displayed as a visible image on the monitor. Therefore, doctors etc. only need to diagnose the affected area via the image displayed on the monitor, and in particular, they can easily observe other affected areas as necessary during the diagnosis, making it possible to perform diagnostic work accurately and efficiently. This enables quick execution.

In this case, it is desirable to selectively permanently record the image of the affected area displayed on the monitor in the medical image diagnostic apparatus as a hard copy on a record carrier. For this reason, various printer devices have been adopted.For example, a thermal printer device has been developed that uses a so-called light-fixing type thermosensitive film (essentially a polyester film), which develops color by heat and fixes by irradiation with ultraviolet light. , has come into widespread use.

The thermal printer device stores a photo-fixable heat-sensitive film wound in a roll, and first sends the photo-fixable heat-sensitive film to a printing section. The printing section has a thermal head equipped with a plurality of heating elements in the main scanning direction substantially corresponding to the number of pixels, and a photofixing type thermosensitive film is held between this thermal head and a platen roller.
The photofixable heat-sensitive film is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction under the rotational action of the platen roller.

At the same time, the heating element is selectively energized based on an image signal sent from the medical image diagnostic apparatus, thereby recording an image two-dimensionally on the photofixing type thermosensitive film.

Next, the photo-fixable heat-sensitive film is transferred to a fixing section, an ultraviolet lamp provided in the fixing section is energized, and fixing is performed using ultraviolet rays irradiated from the ultraviolet lamp, and the photo-fixable heat-sensitive film is After being cut into a predetermined length by a cutter means, the paper is stored in a discharge tray.

By the way, this type of thermal printer device uses a light-fixing type thermal film that is more rigid than general thermal paper, so the platen roller and thermal head apply a relatively large pressing force to the light-fixing film in the printing section. It is necessary to sandwich the thermosensitive film.

For this reason, the platen roller is attached to the main body of the apparatus through a lid body configured to be able to swing freely, and when the lid body is tilted toward the thermal head, the platen roller faces the thermal head and presses it. The model is adopted.

However, in this case, if an external force is applied to the platen roller during recording, the platen roller will be displaced, and the pressing force of the platen roller against the light-fixing thermosensitive film will change, and the recording position of the thermal head will change. This will cause the recording density to become uneven. As a result, for example, the contrast of the recorded image becomes unclear, and there is a concern that the image cannot be viewed accurately, particularly in medical diagnosis, leading to misdiagnosis or the like.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made in order to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages, and includes a thermal head disposed opposite to a platen roller and subjected to the pressing action of the platen roller, which is displaced by the platen roller. By configuring the support so that it can be displaced by drawing a trajectory similar to the trajectory, a uniform pressing force is applied to the photofixing type thermosensitive film held between the platen roller and the thermal head, and at the same time, the recording position can be adjusted. It is an object of the present invention to provide a thermal printer device configured to avoid misalignment and ensure uniform recording density of images, etc.

[Means for Achieving the Object] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention includes a thermal head having a plurality of heat-generating elements arranged in the main scanning direction corresponding to the number of pixels, and a platen roller sandwiching a heat-sensitive member. A thermal blinking device that records an image by selectively energizing the heat generating element while conveying a heat sensitive body in a sub-scanning direction substantially orthogonal to the main scanning direction to cause the heat sensitive body to develop color, the thermal blinking device recording an image with respect to the main body of the device. a rotatable first platen roller held by a rotatable first support; and a rotatable second rotatable roller opposite to the platen roller.
a thermal head mounted on a support body, the first support body and the second support body so that the loci of rotation of the platen roller and the thermal head substantially coincide with each other in the vicinity where the thermal head is sandwiched between the first support body and the second support body; It is characterized by having a body.

Further, in the present invention, the rotation radius of the second support body that supports the thermal head is selected to be smaller than the rotation radius of the first support body that supports the platen roller, so that the rotation angle of the thermal head is substantially within 10 degrees. The rotational trajectory of the platen roller is substantially the same as that of the platen roller.

Further, in the present invention, a heat-sensitive member is held between a thermal head having a plurality of heating elements arranged in the main scanning direction corresponding to the number of pixels and a platen roller, and the heat-sensitive member is conveyed in a sub-scanning direction substantially orthogonal to the main scanning direction. The thermal printer device selectively energizes the heating element to color the heat sensitive body and record an image, the thermal printer device comprising: a platen roller held by a first support rotatable with respect to the device body; , a thermal head mounted on a rotatable second support so as to face the platen roller; The apparatus is characterized in that the central axis of rotation of the body and the tangent line obtained when the platen roller and the thermal head come into contact with each other are substantially on the same plane.

Furthermore, the present invention is characterized in that the first support body comprises a lid that is rotatable with respect to the apparatus main body, and the second support body comprises a bracket rotatably attached to the apparatus main body side.

[Embodiments] Next, preferred embodiments of the thermal printer device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 indicates a thermal printer device according to this embodiment. The thermal printer device 1
0 includes a casing 12, a lid 14 is attached to the upper part of the casing 12, which can be opened and closed using one end as a fulcrum, and an operation panel 15 is formed at the front of the casing 12. As shown in FIG. 2, the casing 12 includes a film loading section 16 that winds and stores a photo-fixable heat-sensitive film F, and selectively heats the photo-fixable heat-sensitive film F to form a predetermined image, etc. A recording section 18 that develops color, a cutter portion 20 that cuts the photo-fixable heat-sensitive film F into a predetermined length, a fixing section 22 that irradiates the photo-fixable heat-sensitive film F with ultraviolet rays and fixes it, A discharge R26 that sends out the cut light-fixing type thermosensitive film F to the discharge tray 24, and a control section 2 for controlling these.
8 is provided.

First, as shown in FIG. 3, a handle 30 is provided on the other end side of the lid body 14, which serves as a first support body and is swingably supported on the casing 12 via a support shaft 29. By pulling up the handle 30, the claw members 32, 32 provided on both sides of the lid 14 swing to release the engagement with the casing 12, thereby opening the lid 14. The lid can be opened. The lid body 14 is provided with an ultraviolet cut filter 34 (substantially a red filter) as a viewing window. It is meant to hide people from the outside.

Next, a platen roller 36 (substantially a rubber roller) that constitutes the recording section 18 and presses the photofixable heat-sensitive film F to send it in the sub-scanning direction is attached to the lid 14. That is, a rotation drive source 38 such as a pulse motor is attached to one side of the lid 14, and a gear train 40 is attached to a rotation drive shaft (not shown) of the rotation drive source 38. The driven gear 40a constituting the gear train 40 is pivotally attached to the rotating shaft of the platen roller 36, and therefore, the platen roller 36 is rotated at a predetermined rotational speed under the driving action of the rotational drive source 38, as shown in FIG. Middle, rotate in the direction of the arrow. Further, a guide roller 41 is rotatably supported on the lid body 14 in parallel with the platen roller 36, and a light reflection type detection sensor 43 for detecting the presence or absence of the light fixing type thermosensitive film F is attached. .

Therefore, the lid 14 is fixed to the casing 12 by closing the lid 14 with respect to the casing 12 and engaging the claw members 32 and 32 with the casing 12. At this time, the platen roller 36 is moved toward the thermal head. 42 (see FIGS. 3 to 5).

For example, several hundred heating elements 44 are arranged along the main scanning direction in the thermal head 42, corresponding to the number of pixels of the photofixing type thermosensitive film F in the main scanning direction. Bracket 46 as second support
will be installed on the The bracket 46 is swingably supported within the casing 12 via pins 48 at both ends thereof, and one end of a coil spring 50 is engaged with the lower side of the bracket 46. The end engages a support plate 52 within the casing 12. Therefore, the bracket 46 is resiliently biased by the coil spring 50, comes into contact with the locking member 53, and is held at this position.

In this case, in the recording unit 18 of the thermal printer device 10, in particular, the thermal head 4 facing the platen roller 36 corresponds to the displacement of the platen roller 36.
2 is configured to be displaced. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the support shaft 29 that supports the lid 14 to which the platen roller 36 is mounted and the pin 48 that supports the bracket 46 to which the thermal head 42 is mounted are aligned with the axis of these support shafts 29. Axis of pin 48 and thermal head 4
2 and the platen roller 36, that is, on substantially the same plane as the main scanning line.

Therefore, as can be understood from the figure, the platen roller 36 is displaced in the range of the circular arc distance S near the position where the platen roller 36 and the thermal head 42 contact each other (substantially the rotation angle range of the thermal head 42). The arc R1 as a locus of displacement is set to substantially match the arc R2 as a locus of displacement of the thermal head 42.

In this case, it is preferable that the thermal head 42 is configured to be rotatable by about 10 degrees.

On the other hand, in FIG. 2, a guide roller 54 is disposed within the casing 12 between the platen roller 36 and the cutter part 20, and a pair of guide plates 55a are provided on the film introduction side of the cutter part 20. , 55b are provided. The cutter part 20 is a fixed first cutter blade 5
6a and a movable second cutter blade 56b. It is configured to be swingable via a link piece 62a and a second link piece 62b that engages with the first link piece 62a.

A flat portion 60a is formed at one end of the disc 60, and the IJ Mitsutwitch 64 engages with this flat portion 60a to detect the position of the second cutter blade 56b.

A guide member 66 is disposed near the second cutter blade 56b, and the end of this guide member 66 is connected to the fixing section 2.
Enter into 2. The fixing unit 22 includes a pair of ultraviolet lamps 5 disposed opposite to each other on both sides of the photofixing type heat-sensitive film F.
3a, 68b, and respective ultraviolet lamps 68a, 68
b are held by lamp holders 70a and 70b, respectively. The lamp holders 70a and 70b are bent,
A light reflecting surface 7 made of aluminum evaporation or the like is provided on each inner surface.
2a172b is formed.

Further, a discharge section 26 is provided adjacent to the fixing section 22 . The discharge section 26 includes a rotational drive source 74 such as a pulse motor, and a small-diameter first gear 76 is pivotally attached to a rotational drive shaft 74a of the rotational drive source 74. A second gear 78 with a large diameter meshes with the first gear 76, a third gear 80 with a small diameter meshes with the second gear 78, and a third gear 80 with a small diameter meshes with the second gear 78.
is pivotally attached to one end of the rubber roller 82. Then, a nip roller 84 comes into sliding contact with the rubber roller 82. The nip roller 84 is supported by one end of an arm 86 rotatably held within the casing 12, and a coil spring 88 is engaged with the other end of the arm 86. Therefore, the nip roller 84 is always in sliding contact with the rubber roller 82 with a predetermined pressing force through the elastic force of the coil spring 88. Further, a mounting plate 90 is disposed above the nip roller 84, and a static elimination brush 92 is planted on the mounting plate 90 so as to extend in the width direction of the photofixable heat-sensitive film F.

On the other hand, a discharge tray 24 is removably attached below the rubber roller 82, and is exposed to the outside through an opening 94 formed in the front surface of the casing 12.

The thermal printer device according to this embodiment is basically constructed as described above, and its operation and effects will be explained next.

In this case, the device 10 is connected to various medical image diagnostic devices such as an X-ray CT or ultrasound diagnostic device (not shown),
A doctor or the like observes the monitor or the like of this medical image diagnostic apparatus and records a desired image on a photofixable thermosensitive film F as a hard copy.

That is, first, when the handle 30 provided on the lid body 14 is grasped and pulled up, the claw members 32.32 that were engaged with the casing 12 swing, and these claw members 32.3
2 is released. and,
With the lid 14 opened in the vertical direction, a photofixable heat-sensitive film F wound into a roll is housed in the film loading section 16.

Next, the end of the photofixable heat-sensitive film F is pulled out and extended from the guide roller 54 toward the cutter portion 20, and then the lid 14 is moved to close. For this reason, the platen roller 36 held by the lid 14 and the thermal head 42 fixed to the bracket 46 are brought into contact with each other, and the bracket 46 is pushed against the elastic force of the coil spring 50 so that the pin 48
In order to rotate the photo-fixable thermal film F slightly downward using the platen roller 36 and the thermal head 4 as a fulcrum,
2 with a predetermined pressing force, and guide rollers 41 and 54 located on both sides of the platen roller 36.
and is held.

Therefore, when a doctor or the like operates the operation panel 15 of the device 10, the rotational drive source 38 is driven via the control section 28. The rotational force of the rotational drive source 38 is transmitted via a gear train 40 to a platen roller 36 that supports a driven gear 40a, and this platen roller 36 rotates at a predetermined rotational speed in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2. Therefore, the photofixing type thermosensitive film F held between the platen roller 36 and the thermal head 42 is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction (in the six directions of arrows). At that time, several hundred heating elements 4 arranged in the main scanning direction on the thermal head 42
4 is selectively energized to generate heat under the driving action of the control section 28, and the photofixable thermosensitive film F selectively develops color in the main scanning direction. As a result, a two-dimensional coloring operation is performed on the light-fixing type heat-sensitive film F that is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction, and a desired image is recorded.

If an external force due to an artificial cause or some other cause is applied to the lid body 14 while printing image information on the light-fixing type thermal film F, as shown in FIG. 4, the platen roller held by the lid body 14 36 is pivoted downward about the support shaft 29, and the bracket 46 and the thermal head 42 attached thereto are pivoted downward about the pin 48 against the elastic force of the coil spring 50. In this case, the platen roller 36 and the thermal head 42, which are facing each other with the photofixing type thermosensitive film F interposed therebetween, are tangent to each other, that is, the main scanning line, the support shaft 29, and the pin 48 are on the inter-track plane. , the trajectories of mutual displacement, that is, the arcs R2 and R2 are displaced in the range of the arc distance S near the contact area, drawing a circular arc between the paths. It will be appreciated that the contact position of the contact point is not displaced, so that the recorded image is not uneven and the image recording density is always uniform.

As the recording unit 18 continues to record images on the photo-fixable thermosensitive film F, the leading end of the photo-fixable thermosensitive film F forms a cutter portion 20 under the guiding action of the guide plates 55a and 55b. The sheet passes between the first cutter blade 56a and the second cutter 56b, and is further conveyed to the fixing section 22 under the guiding action of the guide member 66. In the fixing section 22, the ultraviolet lamps 68a and 68b are energized, and both surfaces of the photofixable heat-sensitive film F are irradiated with ultraviolet rays from the ultraviolet lamps 68a and 68b. At this time, since the lamp holders 70a and 70b are bent and formed with light reflecting surfaces 72a and 72b on their inner surfaces,
The ultraviolet rays emitted from the respective ultraviolet lamps 68a and 68b are suitably reflected by the light reflecting surfaces 72a and 72b, so that the fixing operation of the photofixable heat-sensitive film F can be efficiently performed.

The leading end of the photo-fixable heat-sensitive film F, which is sent out from the fixing section 22 toward the discharge section 26 under the rotation of the platen roller 36, enters between the rubber roller 82 and the nip roller 84. Here, the rotational drive source 74 is driven, and the rotational drive shaft 7
A first gear 76 pivotally attached to 4a rotates in the direction of the arrow, and a second gear 78 meshing with the first gear 76 and the second gear 76 rotate in the direction of the arrow.
The third gears 80 meshing with the gears 78 rotate in the directions of the arrows. Therefore, the rubber roller 82 to which the third gear 80 is attached
rotates in the direction of the arrow, and the photo-fixing type thermal film F held between the rubber roller 82 and the nip roller 84 comes into contact with the static elimination brush 92 to eliminate static electricity that is likely to be generated on the photo-fixing type thermal film F. It is led out to the discharge tray 24 side.

On the other hand, the light-fixing type heat-sensitive film F is removed from the discharge section 26 for a predetermined length.
After being sent out to the side, the rotary drive source 58 that constitutes the cutter portion 20 is driven. Therefore, the disk 60 rotates, and the second cutter blade 56b moves toward the first cutter blade 56a through the first link piece 62a and the second link piece 62b, which are eccentrically engaged with the disk 60. The photofixing type thermosensitive film F is cut by the first right and second right cutter blades 56a and 56b. Then, when the second cutter blade 56b is separated from the first cutter blade 56a to a predetermined position under the driving action of the rotational drive source 58, the flat part 60a of the disc 60 engages with the limit switch 64, and the rotational drive The power source 58 is deactivated. As a result, a predetermined length of the photofixable heat-sensitive film F is accommodated in the discharge tray 24 under the driving action of the discharge section 26 . Photofixable heat-sensitive film F accommodated in the discharge tray 24
will be provided for medical diagnosis, etc. as necessary.

Note that an ultraviolet cut filter 34 is attached to the lid 14, and the remaining state of the photofixable heat-sensitive film F stored in the film loading section 16 can be visually checked from the outside through this ultraviolet cut filter 34. I can do it. Further, it is also possible to automatically detect whether or not the photo-fixable heat-sensitive film F is present by the detection sensor 43 attached to the lid 14.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the rotational locus of the platen roller and the rotational locus of the thermal head facing the platen roller are made to substantially match in the vicinity of the position where the heat sensitive element is held. The locations of the supports that support these are set.

Therefore, even if the platen rollers are displaced during printing, the mutually contacting portions will not be displaced. Therefore, the portion of the thermal head that contacts the heat sensitive body during printing is always secured at a constant position, so that the pressing force is also constant and the recorded density of the image is maintained uniform. This makes it possible to form a clear and highly accurate image, and is especially effective in making it possible to perform highly reliable medical diagnosis.

Although the present invention has been described above with reference to preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.
For example, the support that holds the platen roller is provided so that it can rotate relative to the device body rather than the casing of the device, or the platen roller and the thermal head are each rotatably supported on the same support. It goes without saying that various improvements and changes in design can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a thermal printer device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a partially omitted longitudinal sectional view of the device, Fig. 3 is a partially perspective explanatory view of the device, and Fig. 4 is a configuration of the device. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the positional relationship between the platen roller and the thermal head, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating the appearance of a bracket to which the thermal head is attached. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Thermal printer device 14... Lid body 16... Film loading part 18... Recording part 20... Cutter part 22... Fixing part 26... Discharge part 36... Platen Roller 42...Thermal heater 44...Heating element 46...Bracket 68a, 68b...Ultraviolet lamp patent applicant Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. Heavy FIG, 1 Q

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) A thermal head having a plurality of heating elements arranged in the main scanning direction corresponding to the number of pixels and a platen roller sandwich a heat sensitive member, and the heat sensitive member is conveyed in a sub scanning direction substantially perpendicular to the main scanning direction. A thermal printer device that records an image by selectively energizing a heating element to color the heat sensitive body, the device comprising: a platen roller held by a first support rotatable with respect to the device body; a thermal head mounted on a rotatable second support body so as to face the platen roller, and the trajectory of each rotation is substantially in the vicinity where the platen roller and the thermal head sandwich the heat sensitive element. A thermal printer device characterized in that a first support body and a second support body are arranged so as to coincide with each other. (2) In the apparatus according to claim 1, the rotation radius of the second support body supporting the thermal head is selected to be smaller than the rotation radius of the first support body supporting the platen roller, so that the thermal head substantially A thermal printer device characterized in that it is configured to draw a trajectory substantially the same as a rotation trajectory of a platen roller within a rotation angle of 10°. (3) A thermal head having a plurality of heating elements arranged in the main scanning direction corresponding to the number of pixels and a platen roller sandwich the heat sensitive member, and the heat sensitive member is conveyed in the sub scanning direction substantially perpendicular to the main scanning direction. A thermal printer device that records an image by selectively energizing a heating element to color the heat sensitive body, the device comprising: a platen roller held by a first support rotatable with respect to the device body; a thermal head mounted on a rotatable second support body facing the platen roller; the rotation center axis of the first support body of the platen roller and the rotation axis of the second support body of the thermal head A thermal printer device characterized in that a dynamic center axis and a tangent line obtained by abutting the platen roller and the thermal head with each other are substantially on the same plane. (4) In the device according to claim 3, the first support body comprises a lid rotatable with respect to the device body, and the second support body comprises a bracket rotatably attached to the device body side. A thermal printer device characterized by: