JPH01317780A - Thermal transfer printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the consumption amount of an ink ribbon (transfer paper) and to enhance utilization efficiency without changing the size of a character of a printing result when special printing is performed by providing a transfer paper moving quantity reducing means for making the moving quantity of transfer paper less than that of recording paper relatively moving with respect to a heat generator. CONSTITUTION:An ink ribbon moving control means 2 controls an ink ribbon 8a so as to select the one-dot movement and 1/2-dot movement for the one-dot printing of recording paper corresponding to the moving quantity change-over of usual printing (fair copy printing) and special printing such as trial printing of an ink ribbon moving quantity change-over means 1. A heat generator moving control means 3 moves a heat generating resistor 7 by one-dot printing quantity relatively with respect to the recording paper and, at a printing dot position, a heat generating resistor current supply control means 4 supplies a current to the selected resistor element of the heat generating resistor 7 to allow said resistor element to generate heat. Therefore, a printing pattern is the same pattern as usual fair copy printing and transfer paper can be conserved by the quantity corresponding to the above mentioned reduction in movement.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention involves melting ink applied to a transfer paper using a heating element and transferring the ink onto a recording paper, and relative to the heating element, the transfer paper, and the recording paper. The present invention relates to a thermal transfer printing device that prints while being moved.

[Conventional technology]

A conventional thermal transfer printing device of this type was disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-76.
As described in Publication No. 268, a heating resistor as a heating element is energized to generate heat, and this heat melts the heat-melting ink applied to the transfer paper and transfers it to the recording paper. After the transfer, the heating resistor is moved by one dot and at the same time, the transfer paper is also moved by one dot to print the next dot. This will be explained using drawings.

FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram of printing of a thermal transfer printing device, in which 7 is a heating resistor, 8 is transfer paper, 8' is heat-melting ink, and 8a is ink consisting of transfer paper 8 and ink 8'. Ribbon and 9 are recording paper.

This figure shows that printing is performed from the right side to the left side of the figure, and the heating resistor 7 moves to the left side, and winds up the ink ribbon 8a to the right by the same amount as this movement. In such an operation, when printing is performed at points (a) and (b) in the figure, while the heating resistor 7 is moving to the left,
energizing the heating resistor at points (a) and (b);
The ink 8' on the ink ribbon 8a is melted and transferred onto the recording paper 9.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of (a) recording paper and (b) ink ribbon printed by the operation shown in FIG.
When the letters AJ are printed, a pattern identical to the letters rAJ comes off the ink ribbon 8a.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In the above conventional technology, the feeding (movement) of the ink ribbon
is only considering normal printing for fair copying,
Because there is no consideration given to cases such as trial printing, the same amount of ink ribbon is consumed even for trial printing as for normal fairprint printing, which makes the use of ink ribbon (transfer paper) inefficient. There was a problem.

When performing special printing such as trial printing, the present invention reduces the amount of ink ribbon (transfer paper) consumed without changing the size of characters, etc. of the print result. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a thermal transfer printing device that improves the efficiency of using (transfer paper).

[Means to solve the problem]

The above object is achieved by providing a transfer paper movement amount reducing means that makes the movement amount of the transfer paper smaller than the movement amount of the recording paper that moves relative to one heating element. This is achieved by providing a switching means for switching between the transfer paper and the recording paper by the same amount of movement.

[For production]

When performing special printing such as test printing, by setting the amount of movement of the transfer paper to be smaller than the amount of one dot printed on the recording paper by the heating element, the printing pattern can be the same as that of normal fairprint printing. .

The amount of transfer paper can be saved by reducing the above-mentioned movement.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is an ink ribbon movement amount switching means, and the ink ribbon movement amount is set to be equal to the movement amount of the recording paper, or the ink ribbon movement amount is This is for switching whether or not the amount of movement of the recording paper is made smaller than the amount of movement of the recording paper.

Further, 2 is an ink ribbon movement control means for controlling the movement of the ink ribbon by the movement amount selected by the switching means; 3
is a heating element (heating resistor) movement control means; 4 is a heating element (heating resistor) energization control means; 7 is a heating element (heating resistor);
8a is an ink ribbon.

In the figure, the ink ribbon movement control means 2 moves the ink ribbon 8a to one dot on the recording paper in response to switching of the movement amount of the ink ribbon movement amount switching means 1 between normal printing (fair copy printing) and special printing such as trial printing. The control is performed by selecting a movement of 1 dot for printing or a movement of 1/2 dot for printing 1 dot on recording paper, for example. Further, the heat generating resistor movement control means 3 moves one heat generating resistor 7 relative to the recording paper by printing one dot, and at the printed dot position, the heat generating resistor energization control means 4 selects the heat generating resistor 7. The resistor element is energized to generate heat.

In such a configuration, a printing example in which the amount of movement of the ink ribbon during trial printing is set to one-half of the amount of movement during normal fairprint printing will be described with reference to FIG.

Figure 2 is an explanatory diagram of (a) the recording paper and (b) the ink ribbon when performing trial printing, and when the letter "A" is printed on the recording paper 9, this printing is on the left side of the figure. When moving to the right from the beginning, the correct pattern rAJ is printed on the recording paper 9 as shown in (a), but the ink ribbon 8a prints 1/2 dot for each 1 dot movement of the heating resistor. Since the ink moves only by a certain amount, the ink that is removed and falls from the ink ribbon 8a forms a pattern as shown in (b).

Next, the configuration of the present invention will be explained in more detail.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part of a thermal transfer printer that performs printing using a ribbon cassette in which an ink ribbon is stored, in which a plurality of heating resistor elements 10 are arranged vertically in the vertical direction of the paper surface of the figure. 11 is a ribbon winding shaft for winding the ink ribbon; 12 is a ribbon cassette for storing the ink ribbon; 13 is a carriage for moving the print head and the ribbon cassette; 14 is for rotating the ribbon winding shaft 11 This is a rotation guideline for Note that the recording paper is set on the opposite side of the print head with respect to the ink ribbon, but this is not shown.

In the figure, printing is performed while the carriage 13 is moved to the right in the figure and the ink ribbon is wound up by the ribbon winding shaft 11.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a configuration example in which the amount of movement of the ink ribbon is variable, and (a) shows how the ink ribbon for one dot is wound (moved) for printing one dot.
(b) shows a configuration in which an ink ribbon for half a dot is wound up for printing one dot; aj b,
09 d is a gear, and the same symbols as in FIG. 3 correspond to the same parts. Gears C and d are interlocked with the ribbon winding shaft 11, and the diameter of gear C is half the diameter of gear d.

In the figure, when printing, the carriage 13 moves to the right as indicated by the arrow, as described above.
Gear a meshing with rotation guideline 14 rotates to the left as shown by arrow A, and this rotation is transmitted to gears c and d, respectively, as shown by arrow B.

C, the ribbon winding shaft 11 attached to the gear c(d) rotates, and the ink ribbon is wound up.

Here, when the carriage 13 moves by one dot in the right direction indicated by the arrow in the configuration shown in FIG.

Assuming that the ribbon winding shaft 11 winds up one dot of the ink ribbon, as shown in FIG.
When the carriage 13 moves by one dot, the ink ribbon is wound up by one-half dot.

5 and 6 are configuration diagrams of an example of a mechanism for switching between a normal ink ribbon winding amount and a half of the normal ink ribbon winding amount in one thermal transfer printer.
The figure shows the configuration of the gear, and FIG. 6 shows the configuration of the switching mechanism.

In Figure 5, *at be C is a gear with the same diameter as gears a, b, and c in Figure 4, b' is a gear that is coaxial and rotates the same as gear C, and C' is a gear that is coaxial and rotates the same as gear C. The diameter of gear b' is 2 relative to the diameter of gear -a'.
1/1. When performing normal printing (fair copy printing) in such a configuration, the rotation of gear a is as shown in FIG.

The signal is transmitted to gear S and gear C, as shown in FIG. 4(a) above.
Similarly to the above case, when the carriage 13 moves rightward by one dot, the ribbon winding shaft 11 winds up the ink ribbon by one dot.

Next, if you want to reduce the amount of winding of the ink ribbon by half, as shown in FIG. 5(b), use the gear wheel.

Slide b' upwards in the diagram, the rotation of gear a is transmitted to the gear wheel, and gear b' rotates at the same time as the gear wheel.

The rotation of gear b' is transmitted to gear C', causing ribbon winding shaft 11 to rotate. Here, the diameter of gear b' is gear C'
Therefore, while gear b' makes one revolution, gear C' makes only one half revolution. Therefore, the above (
In case a), when the carriage 13 moves by one dot, the ink ribbon is wound up by one-half dot.

The above-mentioned switching of the ink ribbon winding amount is performed in the sixth step.
6th, which can be carried out by the mechanism shown in the figure.
In the figure, 15 is a member for vertically moving gear b' up and down, and the state shown in FIG. 5(a) is similar to that shown in FIG.
The state shown in FIG. 5(b) is during normal printing, and the state shown in FIG. 5(b) is during special printing such as trial printing shown in FIG. 5(b). This switching is
This is carried out by the ink ribbon movement control means 2 moving the vertical movement member 15 in the direction of arrow E or F in FIG. 6 in response to the switching by the ink ribbon movement amount switching means 1 of FIG. 1. .

As described above, in this embodiment, the size of one character, the layout as viewed from the entire recording paper, etc. are the same as normal printing, and the amount of ink ribbon consumed is one-half.

Further, when printing is performed by pressing the ink ribbon against the recording paper with a heating element and moving the ink ribbon by moving the carriage, a stopper may be installed to prevent the ink ribbon from moving. This will be explained with reference to FIG.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of another embodiment of the present invention provided with a stopper, in which 8a is an ink ribbon, 9 is a recording paper, 1
1 is a ribbon winding shaft; 13 is a carriage on which the print head 10, ink ribbon 8a, etc. are mounted; 16 is a ring around which the ink ribbon is wound; 17a and 17b are guides that determine the path of the ink ribbon 8a; ring 1
6 is a shaft for smooth rotation, and 18 is a stopper for stopping the movement of the ink ribbon.

In the figure, in the case of normal printing, the carriage 13 moves in the right direction in the figure from the position shown in Figure (a) to the position shown in Figure (b). Due to this movement, the ink ribbon 8a is pulled due to frictional resistance with the recording paper 9,
This pulling force causes the ring 16 to move toward the carriage 13.
It rotates by the amount that moves. At the same time, the ink ribbon 8a is loosened by the amount of movement between the print head 10 and the ribbon take-up shaft 11, and the ribbon take-up shaft 11 uses a weak force to take up the slack, and the ink ribbon 8a is loosened by the amount of slack.
Wind up a. Here, the consumption amount of the ink ribbon 8a is set to 2.
To reduce the time to 1/2, move the stopper 18 to the left by half the time it takes the print head 10 to move, as shown in FIG. Make it.

While the stopper 18 is operating, the ink ribbon 8a
Even if there is a pulling force due to friction with the recording paper 9,
Since the ring 16 does not rotate and is not loosened, the ink ribbon 8a is not wound up.

Fig. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the timing for operating the stopper in Fig. 7, and A in the figure shows the timing for printing one dot. and print. FIG. 5B shows the timing of operating the stopper 18, and the stopper 18 is operated during a period of 1''.

Here, in the timing of B in the same figure, if "1" and II OIt exist in the 1-dot printing period name in a 1:1 ratio, the amount of movement of the ink ribbon 8a will be 1/2, and the printing result will be This is similar to that shown in FIG. 2 above.

In the above embodiment, the stopper 18 is used to directly press the ink ribbon 8a, but any means for suppressing the amount of movement of the ink ribbon 8a, such as stopping the rotation of the ring 16, may be used as shown in the figure. The stopper is not limited to this, and other configurations may be used.

Furthermore, the amount of relative movement of the ink ribbon with respect to the print head is not limited to 1/2 as described above, but the object of the present invention can be achieved as long as the amount of movement is smaller than that during normal printing. .

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, the amount of ink ribbon consumed can be reduced without changing the print image such as the size of characters, their positions, etc., and the efficiency of using the ink ribbon can be improved. It is possible to provide an excellent thermal transfer printing device that can perform

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the recording paper and ink ribbon used for test printing, Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the main parts of the thermal transfer printer, and Fig. 4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a configuration example that enables the amount of movement of the ink ribbon, and FIGS. 5 and 6 show a mechanism for switching between a normal ink ribbon take-up amount and a half the normal ink ribbon take-up amount. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of another embodiment of the present invention provided with a stopper, FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the timing for operating the stopper of FIG. 7, and FIG. 9 is a diagram of the thermal transfer printing device. A conceptual diagram of printing, FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a recording paper and an ink ribbon printed by the operation of FIG. 9. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Ink ribbon movement amount switching means, 2... Ink ribbon movement control means, 7... Heat generating resistor, 8a...
Ink ribbon, 9... Recording paper, 10... Print head, 11... Ribbon winding shaft, 12... Ribbon cassette, 13... Carriage, 16... Ring, 18
···stopper. T(] δ 7 '1f-JZ diagram Ffa. 3rd Flash I /4 Figure 4 Figure 5 (, (t,) (b) It Figure 1O of

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A plurality of heating elements, a transfer paper and a recording paper that move relative to the heating elements, and ink applied to the transfer paper by heat generated by the heating elements. In a thermal transfer printing device that performs printing by melting and transferring onto the recording paper,
1. A thermal transfer printing device characterized by comprising a transfer paper movement amount reducing means that makes the movement amount of the transfer paper relative to the heating element smaller than the movement amount of the recording paper. 2. In the thermal transfer printing apparatus according to claim 1, means for equalizing the amount of movement of the transfer paper with respect to the heating element and the amount of movement of the recording paper, and the amount of movement for switching between this means and the transfer paper movement amount reducing means. A thermal transfer printing device characterized by being provided with a switching means.