JPH03270970A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent an ink ribbon from being pulled out to a discharge port side due to close contact with a sheet by arranging electric eliminating means for electrically eliminating static electricity of the sheet near a contact position of the ribbon with the sheet. CONSTITUTION:Electric eliminating means 200 is mounted at the front edge of an opening 33 of a bottom plate 31a of a casing 3, and its mounting position is disposed near a contact position of an ink ribbon 41 with a sheet P. The ribbon 41 is pressed to a platen roller 90 through the sheet P by the force of a thermal head 5, and the head 5 is conducted in this state to be printed. The pressed sheet P and the ribbon 41 are separated from the position of the roller 90. In this case, even if an static electricity is generated, the means 200 is disposed near the contact position. Accordingly, the electricity is eliminated through its brush. Therefore, the sheet P and the ribbon 41 are not discharged in close contact state by the operation of the electricity, the ribbon 41 is wound on a takeup reel 44, and the sheet P is smoothly discharged.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a printer installed in a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a printing device, etc. However, the present invention relates to a printer that prints by abutting the printer head from behind the ink ribbon and moves the retractable head backward when not printing.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, as this type of printer, printers as shown in FIGS. 6 and 74 are known.

That is, FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view of the printer when not printing, and the body 42 of the ink ribbon cassette 4 is shown in FIG.
Internally installed are members such as a thermal head 5 that can rotate an ink ribbon 41 degrees, a feed-out reel 43, and a take-up reel 44.

FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the printer during printing, in which paper P is fed onto the plantain roller 9o, while the thermal head 5 rotates downward to transfer the ink ribbon 41 to the ink ribbon cassette. The ink ribbon 41 is pushed out of the cassette through an opening 421+ formed in the front wall 49 of the ink ribbon 41 and pressed against the paper P. In this state, the heating element of the thermal head 5 is appropriately energized to perform printing.

[Problem to be solved by the invention] However, since the ink ribbon 41 is based on PET film, static electricity is generated due to friction on the ink ribbon 41 and the paper P when printing is performed in this way. After printing, the ink ribbon 41 and the paper P are transported while being stuck to each other, and the ink ribbon 41 is dragged by the paper P and heads toward the discharge port, as shown in FIG. 8, which is a problem.

The present invention takes these problems of conventional printers into consideration, and
It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer in which an ink ribbon 41 is smoothly separated from a paper P.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention as set forth in claim 1 is characterized in that a static eliminator for eliminating static electricity generated in the ink ribbon and the paper is disposed near a contact point between the ink ribbon and the paper. This is a printer that uses

Claim 20 The present invention provides that the static eliminating means of Claim 1 includes a flange made of a conductive material, and is located on the paper discharge side,
The printer is arranged between the ink ribbon and the paper.

[Function] In the present invention according to claim 1, when printing is performed by abutting a printer head from behind the ink ribbon while passing a sheet between the ink ribbon and the platen roller, the ink ribbon is In the present invention according to claim 2, characterized in that static electricity is generated on the paper, the static electricity eliminating means can eliminate the generated static electricity using a brush made of a conductive material. Further, since the static electricity eliminating means is disposed on the discharge side of the paper and between the ink ribbon and the paper, it can directly contact the ink ribbon and efficiently eliminate static electricity. It is also possible to prevent the ribbon from moving upwards due to being dragged by the ribbon.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a schematic side view showing a state in which a printer as an embodiment of the present invention is used in a copying machine. In a housing 1 serving as a main body of the copying machine, there are provided an optical system 11 that forms an electrostatic latent image corresponding to a document image on a photoreceptor 12a, a manual paper feeding section 14 that develops the electrostatic latent image into a toner image, Paper feed cassette) 15
an image processing section 12 that transfers the image onto the paper sent out from the copy paper 15b, a fixing device 17 that heats and fixes the image on the copy paper, a printer 2, and a punching device 18. It has a paper transport section 13 that discharges the paper onto a discharge tray 19.

Next, details of the printer 2 will be explained.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the printer 2, and FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view showing the inside of the copying machine with the printer 2 at its center. The printer 2 includes a casing 3, an ink ribbon cassette 4 which is removably attached to the casing 3 and stores a band-shaped ink ribbon 41 to be described later, and a thermal ink ribbon cassette 4 which is rotatably attached to the casing 3 and which is an example of a printer head. The head 5 is supported by a holding member 6. The support member 6 is fixed to a support shaft 6K, and can be rotated by rotation of a cam 82 via an operating piece 86 attached to one end of the support shaft 61.

The casing 3 includes a box 31 with an open top surface, and side plates 32a and 32 fixed to both ends ζ of the box 31, respectively.
1). The side plates 32a and 32b have a substantially triangular shape, and are attached directly or indirectly to the housing l of the copying machine main body by means of a support shaft 34 at the lower end. In this way, the casing 3 is rotatable about the support shaft 34.

The ink ribbon cassette 4 includes an ink ribbon 41, a body 42, a feed-out wheel 43 and a take-up reel 44 attached parallel to the body 42, and takes up the ink ribbon 41 fed out from the feed-out wheel 43. It is adapted to be wound up by a reel 44. Further, an opening /1211 is formed in the front wall 49, and the casing 3
The bottom plate 31a has an opening 33. A part of the ink ribbon 41 is connected to the openings 42b, 3
3, protrudes to the outside of the cassette, and the platen roller 9
It is designed so that it can come into contact with the paper P on the top.

Inside the box body 31 of the casing 3, the ink ribbon cassette 4, a driving means 7 for driving the take-up reel 44 of the ink ribbon cassette 4 to wind up the ink ribbon 41, and a drive means 7 for taking up the ink ribbon cassette 4 into the casing 3 are provided. A locking member 9 is provided to maintain the attached state.

The thermal head 5 forms a print pattern on paper P by applying electricity to a plurality of minute resistors to generate heat. The thermal head 5 can be lifted up by a spring 88 on the housing of the fixing device 17.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which the ink ribbon cassette 4 is removed from the box body 31 of the casing 3. In front of the opening 33 of the bottom plate 31a of the casing 3 (based on the transport direction of the paper P).

In FIG. 4, a static eliminating means 200 is attached to the edge (lower left direction). The removal device of the static eliminator 200 is not limited to the location 1i7 of the illustrated embodiment, as long as it is located near the contact location between the ink ribbon 41 and the paper P. For example, it may be on the lower side of the paper P. Further, the static eliminating means 200 may be made of a metal material such as StJS stainless steel, a carbon material, or other conductive material that eliminates static electricity. Further, its shape is not limited to the brush-like member shown in the illustrated embodiment.
It may be of any shape such as a flat plate or a comb-like member.

In FIG. 3, the paper P is the fixing roller 1 of the fixing device 17.
After being fixed by 71.172, the conveyance roller 100.1
01, passes over the platen roller 90, and is discharged from the discharge guide 102 to the outside of the copying machine.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained.

As shown in FIG. 3, the thermal head 5 is housed within the ink ribbon cassette 4 when not printing. Further, the ink ribbon 41 is also wound up on a take-up reel 44 and stored in four ink ribbon cassettes.

During printing, as shown in Figure 5, paper P is transferred,
After the fixing is completed and the paper P is fed out, the paper P is transferred to the fixing device 17.
Limit switch 17 at the exit! 1, and is sent onto the platen roller 90 through the conveyance rollers 100 and 101. Based on the signal from the limit switch 17b, the discharge roller 48 and the platen roller 9o slow down the conveyance speed of the paper P to a speed at which the printer 2 can print. On the other hand, the thermal head 5 rotates downward via the operating piece 86 and the support member 6 due to the rotation of the cam 82 . Accordingly, the ink ribbon 41 is pulled out downward as shown in the figure. and,
Due to the force of the thermal head 5, the ink ribbon 41 is pressed against the platen roller 90 via the paper P. In this state, the thermal head 5 is energized and printing is performed. The pressed paper P and ink ribbon 41 then leave the platen roller 90. At that time, even if static electricity is generated, a static eliminator 200 is installed near the place of contact.
Therefore, static electricity must be eliminated through the brush.

Therefore, even if static electricity is generated, the static electricity is immediately removed, so there is no worry that the paper P and the ink ribbon 41 will be ejected while remaining in close contact with each other due to the action of static electricity.
Immediately, the two are separated and the ink ribbon 41 is wound onto the take-up reel 44. Further, the paper P is also smoothly discharged. Note that even if the brush of the static eliminating means 200 does not directly touch the ink ribbon 41 or the paper P, it can sufficiently eliminate static electricity because it is nearby. In addition, when touching directly, in addition to the effect of eliminating static electricity, it is possible to physically prevent the paper P from lifting up and the ink ribbon 41 from being pulled by the paper P.

Note that the ink ribbon and printer head of the printer according to the present invention are not limited to the thermal transfer type, but may be of any type such as an impact type.

Further, the printer according to the present invention is applicable not only to copying machines but also to other types of printers such as facsimile machines and computer printers.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, since the printer according to the present invention is equipped with a static eliminating means to eliminate static electricity, the ink ribbon and paper can be smoothly separated. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the inconvenience of the ink ribbon coming into close contact with the paper and being pulled out toward the discharge port.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a copying machine using an embodiment of the printer according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram mainly showing the embodiment. This sectional view, FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of the same embodiment, FIG. 5 is a sectional view for explaining the operation of the same embodiment, and FIGS. 6 to 8 are operations of the conventional printer. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining. 4... Ink ribbon cassette, 41... Ink ribbon, 5... Printer head (thermal head), 90
...Platen roller, 200...Static elimination means, P...
・Paper. Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A printer that prints by abutting a printer head from behind the ink ribbon while passing the paper between the ink ribbon and the platen roller, and retracts the printer head when not printing. 1. A printer characterized in that a static eliminating means for eliminating static electricity generated on the ink ribbon or the paper is disposed near a place of contact with the paper. (2) The static eliminator has a brush made of a conductive material, and is disposed on the discharge side of the paper between the ink ribbon and the paper. Printer listed.