JPH03159769A - Thermal transfer video printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make a single sensor available for multiple purposes of discrimination between two sides of a paper, judgement for stop position of the paper and judgement for the size of the paper by arranging marks for discrimination between the two sides of the paper and for judgement of the stop position in a line on specified positions of an image pickup paper along the direction of feeding of the image pickup paper, and by providing the sensor that detects the marks in a position facing a passage for feeding of the image pickup papers. CONSTITUTION:Marks for automatic judgement are provided on the rear face of an image pickup paper P. The marks are, for instance, a mark 6a for discrimination between two sides of a paper, a mark 6b for judgement of stop position and a mark 6c for judgement of paper size. The marks are arranged in a line at specified intervals along the direction to which the paper is fed by operation of a feeding belt 3. In a passage extending from the feeding belt 3 to a platen roller 2 for feeding of the image pickup papers, a sensor 7, a kind of reflex photosensor, that detects the marks is arranged.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a thermal transfer video printer, and more specifically, to type determining means when automatically feeding image-receiving paper.

[Conventional technology]

A thermal transfer video printer is equipped with a platen roller that can grip one end of image-receiving paper and a thermal head that selectively presses against the platen roller, and prints an image with the thermal head while the image-receiving paper is wrapped around the platen roller. That's what I do.

The image receiving paper used for this is a cut paper type, and especially in the case of color images, for example yellow magenta, cyan, etc. are layered, so for alignment etc., it is fed to the platen roller by automatic paper feeding. ing.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In order to feed receiver paper automatically, it is necessary to automatically determine at least the front and back sides of the receiver paper, the size of the receiver paper, and the stop position of the receiver paper, but these items are determined using separate sensors. It is not desirable to do so in terms of cost.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention includes a platen roller that rotates while gripping one end of image-receiving paper, a thermal head disposed in relation to the roller, and a hopper that stores image-receiving paper cut into predetermined dimensions. and an image-receiving paper supply means for feeding the image-receiving paper in the hopper toward the platen roller, wherein at least a front/back determination mark and a stop position mark are provided on predetermined portions of the upper image-receiving paper. Marks are provided in a line along the feeding direction of the image receiving paper by the image receiving paper supply means, and the receiving copy paper 4 extends from the hopper to the platen roller.
A sensor for reading the mark is arranged facing the JIi supply path. Note that, depending on the case, a size determination mark may be provided in addition to the above marks.

[For production]

According to the above configuration, one sensor can determine front and back, stop position 1α, and size.

〔Example〕

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

First of all, referring to FIG. 1, this thermal transfer video printer consists of a hopper 2 which stores image receiving paper P of a predetermined size, a platen roller 2 which rotates while gripping one end of the image receiving paper P, and a hopper 2 which rotates while gripping one end of the image receiving paper P. A feed belt 3 that automatically supplies the image receiving paper P toward the platen roller 2, and a platen roller 2.
The thermal head 4 is provided with a thermal head 4 that selectively comes into pressure contact with the thermal head 4 .

In this case, the platen roller 2 is provided with a clamper 2a that opens and closes at a predetermined rotational position to grip one end of the image receiving paper P. A predetermined image is printed on the image receiving paper P held by the clamper 2a by the thermal head 4 while being wound around the platen roller 2 by rotation of the platen roller 2.

Although not shown, this print actually includes:
There is a surface between the platen roller 2 and the thermal bed 4.
ff type ink ribbon is supplied, for example, yellow,
Magenta, cyan, etc. are overlaid to form a color image. Thereafter, the image receiving paper P is discharged through the wandering paper path 5.

Referring to FIG. 2, marks for automatic determination are provided on the back surface of the image receiving paper P. In this embodiment, a front/back determination mark 6a, a stop position mark 6b,
The size determination marks 6c are arranged in a line along the feeding direction by the feeding belt 3 at predetermined intervals. In this example, the size determination mark 6c is not particularly provided in the case of a postcard size. Also, each mark is black and the others are white.

In this connection, from the infeed belt 3 to the platen roller 2
A sensor for detecting the mark, for example, a reflective photo sensor 7, is disposed in the receiving paper supply path leading to the image receiving paper. In the above structure, the image receiving paper P is put into the hopper 1 with its back side facing up. When the image receiving paper P is sent out toward the platen roller 2 by the feeding belt 3, its leading edge is first detected by the photosensor 7, and if the first front/back determination mark 6a is not detected within a certain period of time thereafter, , it is determined that the front and back sides are incorrect. When the front/back judgment mark 6a is detected, the feeding is further advanced,
A second mark 6b indicating the stop position of the image receiving paper P is detected, and the feeding is temporarily stopped. After stopping, the leading end of the image-receiving paper P is gripped by the clamper 28, and the image-receiving paper P is further taken into the interior by the rotation of the platen roller 2. At this time, the size determination mark 6c is removed within a predetermined time.
If it is detected, it is determined that the size is, for example, a standard size, and if it is not detected, it is determined that it is, for example, a postcard size. This size determination controls the feed amount when guiding the rear end of the image receiving paper P to the paper discharge path 5 after image formation.

In the above embodiment, the background color of the back side of the image receiving paper P is white and each mark is black, but this may be reversed, for example. Further, depending on the case, a through hole may be provided at the position of each mark, and further, mechanical detection or electrical detection may be used.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, at least the front/back determination mark and the stop position mark are provided in a line in the feeding direction of the image receiving paper by the image receiving paper supplying means at a predetermined portion of the image receiving paper, and the hopper By arranging the sensor that reads the above mark facing the receiving paper supply path from the paper to the platen roller, a single sensor can determine front and back, stop position, and size, minimizing sensor-related costs. This has the effect of minimizing the amount of damage.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side view schematically showing an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing marks provided on the back side of the image receiving paper. In the figure, 1 is a hopper, 2 is a platen roller, 3 is a feed belt 3, 4 is a thermal head, 5 is a paper discharge path, 6a,
6b and 6c are marks, and 7 is a sensor.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A platen roller that rotates while gripping one end of the image-receiving paper, a thermal head disposed in relation to the roller, and a hopper that stores the image-receiving paper cut to a predetermined size;
A thermal transfer video printer comprising an image-receiving paper supply means for feeding image-receiving paper in the hopper toward the platen roller, wherein at least a front/back determination mark and a stop position mark are provided at predetermined portions of the image-receiving paper. A thermal transfer type, characterized in that a sensor for reading the mark is arranged in a line along the feeding direction of the image receiving paper by the image receiving paper supplying means, and facing the image receiving paper supply path from the hopper to the platen roller. video printer. (2) The thermal transfer video printer according to claim 1, wherein the image receiving paper is provided with a size determination mark in addition to the mark.