JPH03227683A - Ribbon and thermal transfer method using same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To stably perform a thermal transfer with high accuracy in a smooth, easy, and efficient manner by a method wherein a ribbon has a two-layer structure of a first film coated with a carbon and a second film facing the carbon- coated surface of the first film. CONSTITUTION:A ribbon 1 has a two-layer structure of a first film 53 coated with a carbon on one surface thereof and a transparent second film 55 of polyester or the like facing the carbon-coated surface of the first film 53.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a ribbon and a thermal transfer method using the ribbon.

(Prior Art) In general, when printing contents of a small number of fixed patterns are continuously transferred to a large number of printing objects, it can be carried out, for example, by a method such as potato printing.

Furthermore, when a desired print content is thermally transferred to a printing object in a small area using a conventional thermal transfer method, for example, a carbon-coated ribbon is placed at the front (or upper) position of the printing object (not shown). Then, while moving the print head from in front of (or above) that position, thermal transfer was performed on the above-mentioned printing object located on the back side of the ribbon.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) This type of conventional thermal transfer method has the following problems.

In other words, in the conventional thermal transfer method, which targets a small surface area at the same location, the printing target is a large surface area such as cardboard, wood, concrete, etc., and the pattern of the printed content is required to be of various types, such as a bar code. In this case, it became larger and more expensive.

In addition, post-installation of the product name, etc. of the type of content in the department corresponding to a part of the existing printing position on cardboard etc. (
It was mechanically impossible to perform thermal transfer (for example, with a handheld type).

Furthermore, in the conventional thermal transfer method, the position where the print head imprints the printed content on the ribbon and the position where the transcribed printed content on the ribbon is thermally transferred to the printing target are performed at the same position. For example, when the printing target is a large material such as cardboard, the support for the printing target becomes brittle from the left and right, resulting in a lack of stability. Therefore, thermal transfer of barcodes etc. that requires high precision was impossible.

This invention was made in order to solve each of the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to print on a large area of the object, to print in a variety of patterns, and to print at a desired position. It is an object of the present invention to provide a ribbon that can smoothly, easily and efficiently perform high-precision thermal transfer in a stable manner even if post-attached transfer is required, and a thermal transfer method using the ribbon.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problem) In order to achieve the above object, the ribbon of the present invention includes a first film coated with carbon and a carbon coated film in the first film. The gist is that it has a two-layer structure with a second film placed oppositely on the opposite side.

Further, the thermal transfer method of the present invention is a thermal transfer method in which the ribbon according to claim (1) is used to apply prescribed heat at the position of the print head to transfer the printed content to the object to be printed. is wound up, and at an intermediate position on the starting end side of the ribbon, which is self-propelled by being locked to an unwinding means, excess carbon is removed from the first film by a print head that can be edited on the first film. The second film is separated from the first film after the desired print content is transferred to the film, and at the halfway position on the terminal side where the first film runs parallel to the object to be printed, the second film is separated from the first film. A printed object that moves at the same speed in parallel with the first film, with the printed content transcribed on the first film by a thermal transfer roller that moves in a pressing manner toward the running path of the first film. The main point is that the image is transferred under a self-propelled state.

Furthermore, the present invention provides a thermal transfer method for transferring printed content to a printing target by applying prescribed heat at the position of a print head using the ribbon described in claim (1), which Transferring carbon from the first film to a second film by a print head that can be edited on the second film at a midway position on the initial end side of the ribbon that is self-propelled while being engaged with a winding and unwinding means. After reprinting the desired printed content,
The thermal transfer film is separated from the second film, and at an intermediate position on the end side where the second film runs parallel to the printing target, the thermal transfer moves in a pressing manner toward the running path of the second film. The above-mentioned printed content transcribed onto the second film is transferred by a roller to a printing object that moves at the same speed in parallel with the second film under a self-propelled state. This is the summary.

(Function) A ribbon consisting of a two-layer structure consisting of a first film coated with carbon and a second film placed opposite to the surface of the first film coated with carbon is locked at its initial end. After the ribbon is brought into an intermittent self-propelled state by the driving force of the winding and unwinding means, a desired print is made at a midway position on the starting end side of the ribbon by editing at the print head at this position and by thermal control. While forming the printed content, the formed specific printing pattern is sequentially transferred onto the first film surface by transferring excess carbon from the first film to the second film using a thermal transfer roller. When the second film is sequentially separated from the first film, the ribbon is in a self-propelled state along the line;
A print pattern of any length can be easily imprinted on the first film surface without limiting the print content to eight areas.

Furthermore, when the first film, on which a specific printing pattern has been imprinted at the position of the print head, reaches an intermediate position on the end side of its own running path while being parallel to the running path of the object to be printed, the thermal transfer roller at this position is lowered. When the first film surface is pressed toward the moving printing object directly below it, the first film and the printing object are in a self-propelled state at the same speed in the same direction. Moreover, since the printing pattern forming department and the reprinting department are located apart, even if the printing pattern is long, as long as the object to be printed is large or long, It is possible to easily and accurately thermally transfer predetermined printed content to the printer.

On the other hand, the same effect can be obtained by sequentially imprinting a specific print pattern onto the second film surface by transferring the required amount of carbon from the first film to the second film using a thermal transfer roller.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described based on the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a ribbon 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a thermal transfer device (thermal printer) used in a thermal transfer method using this ribbon 1.

First, to explain the ribbon 1, this ribbon 1 includes a first film 53 coated with carbon on one side, and a transparent film 53 made of, for example, polyester, arranged opposite to the carbon coated side of the first film 53. It has a two-layer structure with the film 55 of No. 2.

In the thermal printer of this embodiment, as will be described later, when forming a desired print pattern on the first film 53 by the print head 19, excess carbon is transferred from the first film 53 to the second film 55. Although this ribbon 1 is used with a focus on its usefulness, it goes without saying that the method of use is not limited to this.

Next, a thermal printer will be explained. First ribbon 1
A winding means 3 using a motor or the like is arranged at a position where the first end of the first film 53 constituting the film is locked, and the winding shaft 5 of the first film 53 is concentrically arranged on the motor shaft. Directly connected. Further, at a position where the first end of the second film 55 constituting the ribbon 1 is locked, a winding means 4 using a motor or the like is similarly arranged, and the motor shaft is used for winding the second film 55. The shafts 6 are directly connected concentrically.

Further, at a position where the end of the ribbon 1 is locked, an unwinding means 7 using a motor similar to that described above is arranged, and an unwinding shaft 9 of the ribbon 1 is concentrically directly connected to the motor shaft. . That is, the ribbon 1 is attached to the print head 19 as described later.
After the printed pattern is formed, the first film 53 and the second film 55 are separated and wound up individually.

The first film 55 is separated from the second film 55 which is self-propelled toward the one winding means 3 side by locking the initial end portion to the winding means 3 and the unwinding means 7. film 53
The first film 53 in this lowered position is bent into a U-shape, and an edge-shaped ``! The middle of the film 53 of s1 and the horizontal first film 53 corresponding to the bottom of the U shape
The middle part of the horizontal first film 53 is placed on the belt conveyor 13 placed directly below the middle part of the first film 53, which is parallel to the moving printing target 11. In order to enable self-propelled movement while moving, the first film 53 is provided at the inside corner position of the U-shaped bottom.
Two guide rollers 15 and 17 having the same diameter are pivotally supported on a line corresponding to the running path of the first film 53.

The second film 55 on the unwinding means 7 side arranged in a U-shape as described above and the first film 53 before separation.
At an intermediate position, a print head 19 for imprinting a predetermined print pattern formed by arbitrarily editing the desired print content onto the first film 53 at this position is attached to the first film 53 while holding the fulcrum. The film 53 is arranged so that it can be separated from the film 53. Note that the print head 19 for the first film 53 is located at a position facing this print head 19 with the first film 53 and the second film 55 in between.
A platen roller 21 is arranged to maintain high accuracy in the reprinting operation.

In addition, a thermal transfer roller 23 is placed in the intermediate zone of the guide rollers 15° 17 arranged at the inner corner position of the running path on the bottom side of the first film 53, and rotates at the same speed as the first film 53 at this position. In a possible embodiment, a thermal transfer for moving towards the running path of the first film 53 and thereby pressing the bottom first film 53 onto the printing object 11 moving in the direction of travel in a position directly below it. The roller 23 is arranged so as to be vertically movable with its upper position away from the first film 53 as its original position.

Note that the winding means 3.4 and the unwinding means 7 using the motor or the like described above are controlled in a coordinated manner through a motor control section 25, and their driving timings are coordinated and the first film 53 and the second film of the side layers are They are connected under a setting that allows synchronized rotation at different circumferential speeds by increasing or decreasing the amount of winding at 55.

Further, the print head 19 described above is connected to a print control section 27 in which these contents are programmed in advance so that it is possible to edit print contents that differ depending on the type and to organize a large number of types of barcodes.

Although the print head 19 is configured to be controlled by the print control section 27, an integrated print head including a logic circuit and the like constituting the print control section may be used as the print head. In this case, since it is not possible to print by bringing the print head into contact with the object to be printed, it is necessary to provide some kind of protection means, for example, to protect the logic circuit etc. from printing on a hard object to be printed. do not have.

A method of performing desired thermal transfer on a large-area printing object 11 such as cardboard using a thermal transfer device configured with the print head 19 and thermal transfer roller 23 separated from each other will be described.

First, actuate a switch (not shown) to remove the first film 5.
The winding means 3, 4 using a motor or the like that locks the first end of the second film 55 and the unwinding means 7 are synchronously moved in the same direction by automatic control operation in the motor control section 25. The film 53 and the second film 55 are started so as to be able to rotate at a peripheral speed, and the driving force causes the film 53 and the second film 55 to be intermittently self-propelled toward the winding means 3 and 4, respectively. .

With respect to the first film 53 and the second film 55 that have started self-propelling as described above, editing is performed in response to a command from the printing control unit 27 at the intermediate position on the initial end side of the first film 53 and the second film 55. The predetermined print pattern formed by the print head 19 is removed from the first film 53 by thermal control through contact with the print head 19 arranged parallel to the running path, and the excess carbon is removed from the first film 53 to the second film. 55, it is transferred onto the first film 53 in a negative (or positive) state.

After this, the first film 53 and the second film 55
are separated and self-propelled toward the respective winding means 3 and 4.

When the first film 53 of the section on which the predetermined print pattern has been imprinted at the position of the print head 19 passes through the guide roller 15 disposed at one side corner of the bottom of the track, the first film 53 is transferred to the track. On the belt conveyor 13, which is placed directly under the belt conveyor 13 and has started conveyance operation in one direction, is placed a large-area printing object 11 made of cardboard or the like. It will proceed in parallel with the object 11 at the same speed.

At this time, since the thermal transfer roller 23 is disposed in the middle zone at the bottom of the first film 53 so as to be movable up and down, the first
When the printing pattern transcribed on the first film 53 and the desired thermal transfer position on the printing object 11 match due to the vertical arrangement, the thermal transfer roller 23 at this position descends and transfers the first film to the belt conveyor 13 side. From pressing to
The printed content on the first film 53 side can be thermally transferred to a predetermined location on the printing target 11.

In this case, the position of the print head 19 that imprints the print pattern on the film 53 in section 1 and the position that thermally transfers the print content imprinted on the first film 53 onto the printing object 11 are separated in different directions. Therefore, even if the print pattern engraved on the first film 53 is long, as long as the object to be printed is a long object such as cardboard, this object 11
It is possible to thermally transfer predetermined printed content to the printer.

Therefore, the above-described thermal printer can thermally transfer any print pattern with high precision. In addition, since the first film and the second film are wound synchronously, the first film and the second film wound together with the ribbon can be replaced at the same time. Compared to the case where paper or the like is used separately for the transfer of the images, the rate of operation stoppage of the device for maintenance can be reduced.

In the embodiment described above, thermal transfer is performed by lowering the thermal transfer roller 20, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the thermal transfer roller is moved to the printing target while pressing the first film 53 toward the belt conveyor 13. Thermal transfer may be performed by moving along the object 11.

In addition, the above embodiment describes a method of thermal transfer by placing the thermal transfer device in a stationary manner on the upper part of the belt conveyor. However, the method is not limited to this embodiment. It is possible to easily and reliably thermally transfer the desired printed content to a part of the existing printing position on the handheld type by retrofitting the printer.

On the other hand, in the above-mentioned embodiment, a desired printing pattern is formed on the first film 53 by transferring excess carbon from the first film 53 to the second film 55, but on the contrary, A desired print pattern may be formed on the second film 55 by transferring only the required carbon from the first film 53 to the second film 55. Specifically, in FIG. 2, for example, the ribbon 1 is unwound so that the second film 55 is on the inside of the first film 53, and the position of the print head 19 is accordingly changed to the first film 53. It is arranged on the film 53 side. According to this method, in addition to exhibiting the same effects as the above-mentioned embodiment, the first film 53
Since the amount of carbon to be transferred from the ribbon to the second film 55 can be reduced, the burden on the print head can be reduced, and relative positioning accuracy between the print head 19 and the ribbon 1 is not required, improving operability. Leads to.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, a first film coated with carbon and a second film disposed opposite to the surface of the first film coated with carbon are combined. After the ribbon having a two-layer structure is brought into an intermittent self-propelled state by the driving force of the winding and unwinding means that locks the initial end, the ribbon is moved to this position at an intermediate position on the initial end side. By editing the print head and controlling the thermal system, the desired print content is formed, and the formed specific print pattern is transferred from the first film to the second film using a thermal transfer roller to remove excess carbon. As a result, when the second film is sequentially separated from the first film after being sequentially imprinted on the first film surface, the ribbon is in a self-propelled state along the line, so that 8 of the printed content is separated from the first film.
A printed pattern of any length can be easily imprinted on the first film surface without limiting the area. Then, when the first film, on which a specific printing pattern has been imprinted at the position of the print head, reaches an intermediate position on the end side of its own running path while being parallel to the running path of the printing object, the thermal transfer roller at this position When the first film surface is pressed toward the object to be printed that is moving at a position directly below it due to the downward movement, the first film and the object to be printed are in a self-propelled state in the same direction and at the same speed. Moreover, since the printing pattern forming department and the reprinting department are located far apart, even if the printing pattern is long, as long as the object to be printed is large or long, it cannot be printed. Predetermined printed content can be easily and accurately thermally transferred onto objects.

On the other hand, the same effect can be obtained by sequentially imprinting a specific print pattern onto the second film surface by transferring the required amount of carbon from the first film to the second film using a thermal transfer roller.

In addition, since the object to be printed is placed on the upper surface of a conveyor such as a strong belt conveyor and moved forward, even if the object to be printed is large such as cardboard, the process can be performed in a stable manner, making it possible to print bar codes. Even thermal transfer which requires precision such as the above can be performed smoothly and easily with high precision.

Furthermore, the present invention uses a method in which the print head and the thermal transfer roller are placed apart from each other, and the print head is provided with a print control unit that can edit a large number of printed contents.
It can also be applied to printers that read handwritten data.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the ribbon according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view showing an outline of a thermal transfer device used in the thermal transfer method of the present invention and a mode of thermal transfer.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A ribbon characterized by having a two-layer structure consisting of a first film coated with carbon and a second film disposed opposite to the surface of the first film coated with carbon. (2) A thermal transfer method in which printed content is transferred to a printing target by applying prescribed heat at the print head position using the ribbon according to claim (1), the method comprising: winding up the first and ending ends;
Transferring excess carbon from the first film to a second film by a print head capable of editing the first film at an intermediate position on the first end side of the ribbon that is self-propelled while being locked to an unwinding means. The second film is separated from the first film after imprinting the desired print content, and at the halfway position on the end side where the first film runs parallel to the object to be printed, the running path of the first film is The thermal transfer roller, which moves in a pressing manner toward A thermal transfer method characterized by transferring at the bottom. (3) A thermal transfer method in which printed content is transferred to a printing target by applying prescribed heat at the position of a print head using the ribbon according to claim (1), the method comprising: winding up the first and ending ends;
At a midway point on the starting end side of the ribbon, which is self-propelled while being engaged with an unwinding means, a print head that can be edited onto the second film transfers carbon from the first film to the second film, thereby creating a desired image. After the printed content has been transcribed, the first film is separated from the second film, and at an intermediate position on the end side where the second film runs parallel to the object to be printed, the first film is separated from the second film toward the running path of the second film. A thermal transfer roller that moves in a pressing manner transfers the printed content transcribed onto the second film to a printing target that moves at the same speed in parallel with the second film under a self-propelled state. A thermal transfer method characterized by: