JPH0219247Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording device that is compact and can perform good recording.

[Prior art]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a conventional thermal transfer recording device. First, its structure will be explained. In the figure, numeral 1 is an endless film made of heat-resistant polyimide or polyester, etc. Thermal ink is applied by peripheral mechanisms such as an ink application roller (described later) and an ink tank (not shown) for supplying ink.

2 is a correction roller, 3 is a platen roller, 4 is a tension roller, 5 is a drive roller, and 6 is a support roller. These rollers 2 to 6 are arranged substantially parallel to each other in a predetermined relationship. 1 is supported by being wound around these rollers 2 to 6.

7 is a thermal head which is a heating means arranged on the back side of the endless film 1; 8 is a recording paper set between the platen roller 3 and the endless film 1; It is pressed against the platen roller 3 via the endless film 1 and the recording paper 8 during recording, and can be separated from the platen roller 3 at times other than when recording.

Tension springs 9 and 10 tension both ends of the tension roller 4 in the radial direction, and appropriate tension is applied to the endless film 1 via the tension roller 4 by the tension springs 9 and 10.

Numerals 11 and 12 are light emitting elements, and 13 and 14 are light receiving elements, both of which are arranged at positions where they can detect one side of the endless film 1, and constitute a detection means for optically detecting lateral displacement due to running. .
That is, when there is no lateral shift of the endless film 1, as shown in FIG. 2, the light emitted from the light emitting element 11 is blocked by the end of the endless film 1 coated with a non-light transmitting material in advance, and the light is transmitted to the light receiving element. 13
The light emitting elements 11 and 12 and the light receiving element 1 are arranged so that the light emitted from the other light emitting element 12 enters the light receiving element 14 and is detected.
3 and 14 are installed facing each other.

An arm 15 rotatably connects and supports one end of the correction roller 2, and is movably held by an arm guide 16, one end of which is pulled by a recovery spring 17, and the other end of which is connected to the solenoid 1.
8 is connected. This arm 15, arm guide 16, recovery spring 17 and solenoid 1
Reference numeral 8 constitutes a roller moving means for moving the correction roller 2, which is arranged as shown in FIG. That is, in FIG. 3, the line D-D is a line that bisects the angle θ formed by the two planes of the endless film 1 with the correction roller 2 as the boundary, and one end of the correction roller 2 is connected to the line D-D. The arm 15, the arm guide 16, and the solenoid 18 are arranged so as to be movable in the right angle direction, that is, in the direction of arrow E or F, and the recovery spring 17 can be recovered via the arm 15 when the solenoid 18 is in the recovery operation. It is arranged like this.

A fulcrum plate 19 supports the other end of the correction roller 2, and its support structure is formed as shown in FIG. 4 to enable the correction roller 2 to be moved by the roller moving means. That is, the fulcrum plate 19 is provided with a hole 20, and this hole 2
0, the shaft of the other end of the correction roller 2 is inserted, and the E ring 2 is further inserted into this shaft so as to sandwich the fulcrum plate 19.
1 and 22 are installed, and these E rings 21 and 2
2 and the diameter of the hole 20, the correction roller 2 can be tilted.

FIG. 5 is a circuit block diagram for correcting the lateral shift of the endless film 1, in which the light receiving element 1
The signals No. 3 and 14 are input to a lateral deviation control circuit 23, and the signals of this lateral deviation control circuit 23 are input to the solenoid 18.

Further, in FIG. 1, reference numeral 24 denotes an ink application roller, which is provided so as to sandwich the endless film 1 between it and the drive roller 5, and which applies thermal ink supplied from a peripheral mechanism such as an ink tank (not shown). Used as a means of coating endless film.

25 is the light emitting element 11, 12 and the light receiving element 1
A light non-transparent small piece provided at the side end of the endless film 1 opposite to 3 and 14, 26 is a light receiving element, 27 is a light emitting element, and the light receiving element 26 and the light emitting element 27 detect the small piece 25. They are placed opposite each other so that

Next, the operation of the above-described configuration will be explained.

First, when the drive roller 5 is rotated in the direction of arrow G shown in FIG. 1 by a drive means (not shown),
The endless film 1 travels in the direction of arrow A, and at the same time, the ink application roller 24 rotates in the direction of arrow H, thereby sequentially applying thermal ink onto the endless film 1. Therefore, when the thermal head 7 is energized to selectively generate heat from a minute heating element, the heat-sensitive ink that has been solidified after being applied to the surface of the endless film 1 is locally heated and melted, and this melted ink is recorded. The image is transferred onto paper 8 and recorded. The thermal ink on the endless film 1 that has been consumed by recording is successively replenished by the ink application roller 24.

By the way, when the endless film 1 runs, there are errors in the parallelism of the axes of the rollers 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, the circumferences of both ends of the rollers 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, and the endless film 1. Due to circumferential errors on both sides of the endless film 1, the endless film 1 causes a lateral shift in the direction of the arrow B or the direction of the arrow C. If the lateral shift occurs in the direction of the arrow B, the light emitted from the light emitting elements 11 and 12 are light receiving elements 13, 14
The signal is sent to the lateral shift control circuit 23.

The lateral shift control circuit 23 sends a drive control signal to the solenoid 18 based on the signals sent from the light receiving elements 13 and 14, so that the solenoid 18 of the roller moving means moves the arm 15 along the guide surface of the arm guide 16 in an arrow direction. By suction in the E direction, one end of the correction roller 2 connected to the arm 15 is moved in the arrow E direction together with the arm 15. That is, the correction roller 2 is tilted in the direction of arrow E, and the direction of rotation is tilted by the tilted angle. As a result, the running direction of the endless film 1 and the moving direction of the surface of the correction roller 2 are different, so that a sliding friction force in the direction of arrow C is generated at the contact portion between the endless film 1 and the correction roller 2. Here, since the tension of each part on the endless film 1 is almost uniform, the contact pressure in the axial direction of the correction roller 2 becomes uniform, and the frictional force in the axial direction of the correction roller 2 is also uniformly distributed, so that The endless film 1 is easily pulled back in the direction of arrow C by the sliding friction force.

On the other hand, when the endless film 1 is displaced in the direction of the arrow C, the light emitted from the light emitting elements 11 and 12 is blocked by the endless film 1. performs the opposite operation to the above, and the correction roller 2
is tilted in the direction of arrow F and the endless film 1 is pulled back in the direction of arrow B.

In this way, two sets of light emitting and light receiving elements 11 and 13 and 12 and 14 are provided at a certain interval, and the
and 13, endless film 1 between 12 and 14
The endless film 1 is always kept in a predetermined running state by performing an operation in which one side of the film is inserted every time a lateral shift occurs.

On the other hand, since the endless film 1 is formed by bonding both ends of a flat band-shaped film to form an endless film, the thickness of the bonded portion 1a is approximately twice that of the other portions of the film. Therefore, if this adhesive part 1a is used for recording, the recording quality will deteriorate, so a small piece 25 that does not transmit light is provided at the side end of the endless film 1 as described above, and this small piece 25 is detected. The light receiving element 26 and the light emitting element 2
7 are placed opposite each other, and the small piece 25 is connected to this light receiving element 26.
and the light-emitting element 27, the small piece 25 is placed in advance so that the light from the light-emitting element 27 does not reach the light-receiving element 26, and the adhesive part 1a is placed above the thermal head 7. A control section (not shown) controls the position of the thermal head 7 so that the positional relationship between the thermal head 7 and the adhesive part 1a can be detected, and the adhesive part 1a is used for recording.

In this way, conventional thermal transfer recording devices use two sets of light-emitting and light-receiving elements in order to correct the lateral shift when the endless film is running, and a separate set of light-emitting and light-receiving elements to avoid recording at the adhesive part of the endless film during recording. Since one set of light emitting and light receiving elements is used, in other words, a total of three sets of light emitting and light receiving elements are used, these light emitting and light receiving elements and their supports or peripheral circuits become complicated and the equipment becomes complicated. Downsizing,
It is not suitable for price reduction, and it also takes time to adjust the position when installing these parts, which has the disadvantage that manufacturing takes a lot of man-hours and time.

[Purpose of invention]

The present invention was developed to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional technology, and aims to reduce the number of light-emitting and light-receiving elements used, simplify peripheral circuits, etc., and reduce the size and cost of the device. , the purpose is to reduce manufacturing man-hours and time.

[Structure of the idea]

In order to achieve this object, the present invention comprises a first detection means for detecting the lateral shift of the endless film, which is composed of a set of light emitting and light receiving elements, and a bonded part of the endless film and a predetermined position on the same side as the first detection means. A second detection means consisting of a light non-transparent small piece in a positional relationship and a set of light emitting and light receiving elements for detecting the small piece is provided, and each time the second detection means detects a small piece, the first detection means The direction of lateral deviation of the endless film is detected, and the lateral deviation is corrected by a control circuit via roller moving means.

〔Example〕

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the thermal transfer recording device according to the present invention. This device is constructed by removing the light emitting elements 12 and 14 from the conventional device shown in FIG. The light-receiving element 13 and the like constitute a first detection means, and the attachment position of the non-light-transmitting piece 25 attached to the endless film 1 is determined by the light-emitting element 11.
And on the same side as the light receiving element 13, this small piece 25
The mechanical configuration differs from that of the conventional device in that the light-receiving element 26, light-emitting element 27, etc., which serve as a second detection means for detecting the light-emitting element 11 and the light-receiving element 13, are also installed facing each other on the same side, but the rest is the same. Therefore, the same reference numerals are used to omit the explanation of the structure.

Further, since the recording operation of this configuration is also the same as the conventional one, the explanation thereof will be omitted.

Next, the control operation for rotating the endless film 1 will be explained.

When an experiment was conducted using the configuration shown in FIG. 6 described above, it was found that the correction roller 2 was moved from the normal position perpendicular to the running direction of the endless film 1, that is, the direction of arrow A, to the direction of arrow E or arrow F shown in FIG. If the moving distance of the connecting point between the correction roller 2 and the arm 15 is approximately 1 cm, the amount of movement of the endless film 1 in the direction of arrow B or arrow C, that is, the amount of lateral deviation, is 10 cm.
It was about 1 cm after traveling m.

The circumferential length of the endless film 1 in this embodiment is 1 m or less, and even if the circumferential length is exactly 1 m, it will shift laterally by 1 cm after 10 rotations.

Therefore, even if the endless film 1 shifts laterally while traveling, the distance from the normal position until the side end of the endless film 1 contacts the side frame (not shown) that supports each roller 2 to 5 is only a few mm.
If the device is designed in advance as described above, it is not necessary to constantly monitor the lateral shift of the endless film 1, and it is sufficient to check it once per rotation of the endless film 1.

For this reason, in this embodiment, the light emitting element 11 and the light receiving element 13 are aligned at the correct position of the correction roller 2, that is, at a position not inclined in the direction of the arrow E or the arrow F, as shown in FIG. These parts are positioned and arranged in advance so that the central axis coincides with one side end of the endless film 1, and a check of the direction of lateral deviation of the endless film 1 is performed using the bonded portion 1a described in the conventional example.
A small piece 25 for detecting the position crosses between the light receiving element 26 and the light emitting element 27 as shown in FIG.
The timing is set such that the light from the light emitting element 27 to the light receiving element 26 is blocked.

That is, if the light from the light emitting element 11 is incident on the light receiving element 13 at the time when the light from the light emitting element 27 is blocked by the small piece 25, one end of the correction roller 2 connected to the arm 15 is moved to the third It moves in the direction of arrow E shown in the figure, and if it has already moved in the direction of arrow E, it maintains that position. Conversely, if the light from the light-emitting element 11 is not incident on the light-receiving element 13 at the above-mentioned time point, the arm 15 moves one end of the correction roller 2 in the direction of arrow F, and if it has already moved in the direction of arrow F, it moves to that position. hold.

Through this operation, the small piece 25 attached to the endless film 1 acts as a light receiving element 26 and a light emitting element 27.
Every time you cross the gap, that is, 1 of endless film 1
Do this every rotation.

As described above, in this embodiment, since a pair of light emitting element 11 and light receiving element 13 are used as the first detection means for detecting lateral deviation, there is no stable point, and the endless film 1 can be moved in either the left or right direction. In other words, the endless film 1 travels in the direction of arrow A while constantly repeating lateral deviation in the direction of arrow B or arrow C. However, as mentioned above, the amount of lateral deviation is very small compared to the amount of travel, so every time the endless film 1 rotates, If an action is taken to correct the amount of lateral deviation, the amount of lateral deviation can be almost ignored, and there is no problem in practical use.

FIG. 9 is a circuit block diagram of the embodiment described above. In the figure, 28 and 29 are comparators, V ₁ and V ₂ are reference voltages to be compared,
Further, 30 is an AND circuit, 31 is an output terminal of the comparator 29, and the detection result of the adhesive portion 1a is output from this output terminal.

Here, the light receiving elements 13 and 26 each output a certain positive value V ₃ when no light from the light emitting elements 11 and 27 is incident, and when light is incident, the output value decreases according to the amount of light. It's becoming like that.

In addition, the comparators 28 and 29 use the reference voltage
The V ₁ and V ₂ values are set in advance to be slightly lower than V ₃ , so that when light is blocked, the output is "1", and when light enters, V ₃ is lower than V ₁ and V ₂ values. “0” if small
is now output.

Therefore, when the output of the comparator 29 becomes "1", the lateral shift control circuit 23 controls the AND circuit 3.
Arm 15 depending on whether the output of 0 is “1” or “0”
controls the solenoid 18 to perform the operation described above, that is, to move one end of the correction roller 2 in the direction of arrow F or arrow E.

Incidentally, instead of the AND circuit 30, an inverter circuit 32 and a flip-flop circuit 33 may be used as shown in FIG.

[Effect of idea]

As explained above, the present invention uses a set of light emitting and light receiving elements as the first detection means for detecting lateral displacement of the endless film, and another set as the second detection means for detecting the adhesive part of the endless film. Using light-emitting and light-receiving elements, each time the second detection means detects the adhesive part, the first detection means detects the lateral shift of the endless film and corrects the lateral shift, which is different from the conventional device. Compared to the above, the number of light emitting elements and light receiving elements used can be reduced, and the supporting stand and peripheral circuits can be simplified, resulting in an effect that the device can be made smaller and lower in price.

Additionally, the two sets of light-emitting and light-receiving elements can be mounted on either side of the endless film or in any position, and position adjustment is easier than with conventional devices, reducing the number of man-hours and time required for manufacturing. You can get the effect that you can.

Furthermore, as mentioned above, when the lateral shift of the endless film is detected using a set of light emitting and light receiving elements,
Due to the positional relationship between the side edge of the endless film and the light emitting and light receiving elements, when the light receiving element outputs an output value that is approximately the same level as a certain value of the comparator, the output of the comparator will alternate between "1" and "0". There is also an unstable state where the output is repeated, and if the output is used directly to drive the solenoid, the solenoid operation may exhibit a kind of oscillation, but in this invention, the output of the comparator is synchronized with the rotation period of the endless film. Since sampling is performed at the specified timing and the sampled value is used, there is also the advantage that oscillation development can be suppressed.

Therefore, the present invention can realize lateral shift control of an endless film coated with thermal ink with a small circuit, so it can be applied to thermal transfer printers, facsimile machines, etc., and has great practical value. .

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a conventional thermal transfer recording device, Fig. 2 is a front view showing the arrangement of the light emitting and light receiving elements for detecting the lateral shift of the endless film in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is the roller in Fig. 1. A side view of the moving means, FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the fulcrum plate portion in FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is a conventional circuit block diagram.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the thermal transfer recording device according to the present invention, FIG. 7 is a front view showing the arrangement of the light emitting and light receiving elements for detecting the lateral shift of the endless film in FIG. 6, and FIG. Fig. 6 is a front view showing the arrangement of the light emitting and light receiving elements for detecting the non-light transmitting small piece, Fig. 9 is a circuit block diagram of the present invention, and Fig. 10 is a circuit block diagram of another embodiment. . 1... endless film, 2... correction roller, 3... platen roller, 4... tension roller, 5... drive roller, 6... guide roller,
7...Thermal head, 8...Recording paper, 11,1
2... Light emitting element, 13, 14... Light receiving element, 15
... Arm, 16 ... Arm guide, 17 ... Recovery spring, 18 ... Solenoid, 23 ... Lateral shift control circuit, 24 ... Ink application roller, 2
5... Light non-transparent small piece, 26... Light receiving element, 2
7... Light emitting element, 28, 29... Comparator,
30...AND circuit, 31...output terminal, 32...
...Inverter circuit, 33...Flip-flop circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] An endless film formed by bonding both ends of a strip-shaped film to each other, a plurality of rollers that support the endless film in a movable manner, and means for applying thermal ink onto the endless film;
A heating means such as a thermal head that heats the thermal ink coated on the endless film and transfers it to the recording paper; In a thermal transfer recording device equipped with a roller moving means for moving one end of the roller in a direction substantially perpendicular to a line bisecting the angle formed by the surface, a set of roller moving means for detecting lateral displacement of the endless film due to running is provided. A first detection means consisting of a light-emitting element, a light-receiving element, etc. is installed on one side of the endless film, and a light-impermeable member is placed on the same side as the first detection means in a predetermined positional relationship with the adhesive part of the endless film. Attach the small piece to the endless film and
A second detection means consisting of another set of a light emitting element and a light receiving element is provided to detect this small piece, and each time the second detection means detects a small piece, the first detection means detects the direction of lateral shift of the endless film. A thermal transfer recording apparatus characterized in that the lateral shift is corrected by a control circuit via the roller moving means.