JPH028771Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an improvement in a thermal head that performs thermal recording on thermal recording paper.

[Prior art]

A thermal head consists of a head substrate made of an insulating and heat-resistant material such as ceramic material, and a large number of heating element resistance elements arranged in parallel in a row, and these are selected according to an electrical signal. It thermally prints required characters, figures, etc. on thermal recording paper by generating heat, and is used in various printer devices including facsimile machines, and has a variety of configurations. Are known.

In this type of thermal head, in order to efficiently and selectively generate heat from a large number of heating element resistance elements, heating element resistance elements 2 are arranged in parallel on a head substrate 1, as shown in FIG. , a plurality of blocks (32 in the case of the figure) are divided into blocks, and one selector terminal 5 (in the figure) is formed by collecting one lead 4 drawn out from the component element 2 corresponding to each element group 3. S ₁ , S ₂ ...) are provided, and driver terminals 7 (indicated by D ₁ , D ₂ ...D 32 in the figure) are provided, which collect the other leads 6 drawn out from the elements 2 with the same number in each element group ₃ . By selectively applying electric signals to both terminals 5 and 7, a desired heating element resistance element 2 can be caused to generate heat. Therefore, in the illustrated example, 32 driver terminals 7 and as many selector terminals 5 as there are element groups 3 are provided, and when the number of selector terminals 5 is eight, for example, there are 32 driver terminals 7 and as many selector terminals 5 as there are element groups 3. The number obtained by multiplying the numbers, 32 (pieces) x 8 (pieces) = 256 (pieces), becomes the total number (number of dots) of the heating element resistance elements 2.

By the way, in the thermal head configured as described above, there is the following relationship between the number of driver terminals and the number of selector terminals, and the number of driver terminals and selector terminals can be selected depending on the usage state of the thermal head. It is something that must be done. That is, when high-speed printing is required, it is better to increase the number of driver terminals and reduce the number of selector terminals instead. However, in this case, a large power source is required. on the other hand,
Contrary to the above, if the number of driver terminals is reduced and the number of selector terminals is increased, the required power supply may be smaller, but printing speed will be lower.

Therefore, in this type of thermal head, the numbers of the driver terminals and selector terminals mentioned above are set depending on the usage conditions, but in the conventional thermal head, once the numbers of both terminals are set, This cannot be changed, resulting in a lack of versatility and problems that make it undesirable from a practical standpoint. In particular, when the usage conditions of the main device incorporating this type of thermal head change and the number of terminals mentioned above needs to be changed, it is recommended to prepare separately formed thermal heads and replace the entire unit. is required, which poses problems in terms of workability and cost.

[Summary of the idea]

The present invention was developed in view of the above circumstances, and the number of driver terminals and the number of selector terminals multiplied by the number of both terminals is equal to the total number of heating element resistance elements, ²ⁿ (n is an integer). ), and prepare multiple types of connection cables with circuit patterns that allow the number of driver terminals and selector terminals to be changed by short circuits, etc., and use any of these connection cables. The simple configuration of selecting and connecting the driver terminals and selector terminals makes it possible to arbitrarily select the number of driver terminals and selector terminals, and easily and appropriately deal with the usage conditions. It provides a thermal head.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail using embodiments shown in the drawings.

Figures 2 to 4 show an embodiment of the thermal head according to the present invention, and in these figures, the same or corresponding parts as in Figure 1 are given the same numbers and their explanations are omitted. do.

Now, according to the present invention, the driver terminal 7 formed at the end of each lead 6, 4 of the heating element resistance element 2
The number of selector terminals 5 multiplied by the number of both terminals is the total number of heating element resistance elements 2.
2 ⁿ (n is an integer), and also connect the number of driver terminals 7 and the number of selector terminals 5 to a short circuit (lead parts 23, 2
5, 26), etc. Multiple types of connection cables 20, 21, 22 with changeable circuit patterns
The main feature is that you can prepare a cable, select any connection cable, and connect it.

That is, in this embodiment, the element group 3 consisting of 32 heating element resistance elements 2 is divided into 16 small blocks each, and selector terminals 5a and 5b (S ₁ - in the figure) are connected to each of these small blocks 3a and 3b. ₁ , S ₁ − ₂ ; S ₂ − ₁ ,
S ₂ − ₂ ...). For example, when there are 8 element groups 3, the number of selector terminals 5a and 5b is 8×2=16. In the figure, reference numeral 10 is a diode array that connects the leads 4 drawn out from 32 elements 2 to selector terminals 5a and 5b, respectively, and 11 is an insulating sheet, and these selector terminals 5a and 5b are placed close to each other on the substrate 1 They are arranged side by side. On the other hand, there are 32 driver terminals 7 (D ₁ , D ₂ . . . corresponding to the number of elements 2 in each group 3).
_D32 ) Provided.

In such a configuration, the number multiplied by the number of driver terminals 7 and selector terminals 5a and 5b is 32×16=512, and this number is equal to the total number of heating element resistance elements 2 (32×8=256 ) multiplied by 2 ¹ .

Incidentally, the circuit diagram of the thermal head shown in FIG. 2 mentioned above is shown in FIG. 5, and the circuit configuration will be easily understood. Here, the reference numeral 10 in the figure is a diode corresponding to the diode array described above.

According to the thermal head having such a configuration, as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, a connecting cable 20 made of a flexible printed wiring board,
By selecting 21 and 22, the number of driver terminals 7 and selector terminals 5a and 5b can be arbitrarily changed depending on the usage condition, and there is no need to manufacture the entire thermal head separately as in the past.
This can be dealt with simply by selecting the cables 20, 21, 22, etc., and it is possible to achieve advantages such as being excellent in terms of ease of assembly and cost.

That is, in FIGS. 6a and 6b, the driver terminal 7 is
The cable 20 is shown in the case where the number of selector terminals 5a and 5b is 8, and in this case, the number of selector terminals 5 corresponding to the element groups 3, 3a, 3b is
Connect the lead part 23 that short-circuits a and 5b to the cable 2.
0, and the number of selector terminals becomes 16/2=8 (pieces). Here, in the figure, 20a is a connecting portion to the head board 1, and 24 is a connector.

Further, FIG. 7 shows a case where there are 16 driver terminals 7 and 16 selector terminals 5a and 5b. In this case, it is preferable to form a lead portion 25 that short-circuits two driver terminals 7 on the board 1 side at a time. Here, the driver terminals to be shorted are configured to be G ₁ and D ₁₇ , D ₂ and D ₁₈ , . . . , D ₁₆ and D ₃₂ as shown in the figure. Note that 21a in the figure is a connection portion to the substrate 1 as described above.

Furthermore, FIGS. 8a and 8b are modified examples of the above-mentioned FIG. 7, and when the driver terminals to be shorted are not adjacent, it is easy to form a lead portion 26 that wraps around and connects them as appropriate. be understood. Here, 22a in the figure is a conductor exposed portion that becomes a connection portion to the substrate 1.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the structure of the embodiment described above, and it is obvious that the shape, structure, etc. of each part can be modified and changed as appropriate. For example, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the last line widget type is shown in which the heating element resistance elements 2 are arranged side by side on one end side of the substrate 1 as a thermal head, but the type in which the elements 2 are arranged in the center side of the substrate 1 is shown. It is obvious that the total number of these heating element resistance elements and the corresponding number of driver terminals and selector terminals can be changed as appropriate.

[Effect of idea]

As explained above, according to the thermal head according to the present invention, the number of driver terminals and the number of selector terminals multiplied by the number of both terminals is equal to the total number of heating element resistance elements equal to ²ⁿ (n is an integer). ), and select any connection cable from among multiple types of connection cables that have circuit patterns that allow you to change the number of driver terminals and selector terminals using short circuits, etc. Despite the simple configuration, all you have to do is change the circuit pattern configuration on the cable side to which both terminals are connected to the required one.
The number of driver terminals and selector terminals can be freely changed according to the usage conditions by simple selection, and the desired number of each terminal can be easily obtained. It also has various practical effects such as being inexpensive.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a conventional example, FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing an embodiment of the thermal head according to the present invention, and FIGS.
5 is a circuit diagram of FIG. 2, and FIGS. 6a and 6b to 8a and 8b are views showing modifications of the connection cable for the thermal head shown in FIG. 2. 1...Head board, 2...Heating element resistance element,
3, 3a, 3b... element group, 4, 6... lead,
5, 5a, 5b... Selector terminal, 7... Driver terminal, 20, 21, 22... Connection cable,
23, 25, 26...Lead portion for short circuit.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In a thermal head comprising a driver terminal formed at one lead end drawn out from a heating element resistance element and a selector terminal formed at the other lead end, the number of driver terminals and the number of selector terminals are , multiplied by the number of both terminals is the total number of heating element resistance elements 2 ⁿ (n is an integer)
The number of driver terminals and selector terminals can be set to be the number multiplied by Features a thermal head.