JPH0338366A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform printing of high quality within a large printing range by providing guide rollers arranged in parallel to a platen roller before and behind the printing position to which the platen roller is opposed and pressing an ink film to the platen roller by the guide rollers. CONSTITUTION:Each of the papers 31 stacked in a paper cassette 48 is inserted in a paper running system constituted of a feed sheet 41 by a paper feed roller 49. Guide rollers 35 are brought into contact with a platen roller 32 and the paper 31 is guided by an ink film 34 and wound around the platen roller 32 by the driving force of the feed sheet 41. When difference is provided between the peripheral speeds of left and right sheet guide rollers 36 to unwind the paper 31 to a printing position, the slackening of the paper 31 is removed. Since a thermal head 33 is brought into contact with the platen roller 32 to start the printing of the first color and the paper 31 is held to the ink film 34 by the ink film guide rollers 35 without being slackened, printing can be performed from the leading end of the paper 31 without almost generating a printing impossible range.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a thermal transfer printer used as an output terminal for various computers including CAD-CAM.

Conventional technologyThermal printers are not only capable of printing on thermal paper, which is often used for facsimiles, but also thermal transfer monochrome printing using monochrome ink film and thermal transfer paper T-casing, and even color ink film with sequential multicolor surfaces. Applications are increasing, such as thermal transfer color printing using .

In particular, thermal transfer color printers print by sandwiching an ink film between a thermal head and thermal transfer paper (hereinafter referred to as paper), and print by moving the paper back and forth with high precision many times.
The problem was the method of clamping and running the paper and ink film.

During printing, in order to prevent paper feed deviation when reciprocating, regular paper is clamped with rollers, etc. during the first printing.The clamp is not released until after multiple printings are completed, and multicolor printing is performed, so it is necessary to grip the paper firmly. Therefore, an unprintable area existed in the paper running direction.

Recently, color printers have moved from the conventional CAD-CAM field to being used for personal computer-based business graphics and desk top printing, so color printers use cut paper and have a large print area comparable to PPC copying. is expected.

FIG. 3 is an overall perspective view of a thermal transfer color printer in which paper 26 is supplied as roll paper. In the same figure,
1 is a lower cabinet door, 2 is a circuit section, and 3 is a power supply panel. A pinch roller 4 contacts the capstan roller 5 and applies a driving force. 6 is a platen roller, and pinch roller 4. Together with the capstan roller 5, it constitutes a paper feeding mechanism. Here, the pinch roller 411 and the latin roller 6 are driven by the raw motor 7. 8 moves the pinch roller 4 to the capstan roller 5 by interlocking with the operation of the cam.
This is a pinch roller lever that brings it into contact with and releases it from the contact. Reference numeral 9 is a decoloring roller that separates the paper from the ink film, 1o is a paper feed roller that brings the paper into contact with the grating roller 6, and 11 is a paper guide that guides the paper. 12 is a paper support that stores rolled paper. Reference numeral 13 denotes a cover frame, which is opened and closed by engaging and disengaging the lock lever 14 and the lock lever shaft 16. The cover frame 13 has a ribbon feed gear 16 for positioning one end of the ribbon feed, in which an ink film is wound in a roll.
And, there is the ribbon feed presser 17 that applies pressing force to the opposite ends of this ribbon feed! 'i! It is placed. Reference numeral 18 is a henodoho/redo, and even if a head 19 is fixed, it is also fixed to a head arm 20 that is linked to the operation of a cam. Reference numeral 21 designates a main motor 7, and a cooling fan 22 for dissipating heat from the circuit section 2 and the like is an operation panel. 23 is the top cover 24
is the upper cabinet.

By the way, in a conventional thermal transfer color printer, paper feeding and printing were carried out as shown in FIG.

First, press the button when feeding the paper, as shown in the figure (&).
Due to the counterclockwise driving force of the pinch roller 4 and the platen roller 6, the paper 26 is sent out by one screen in the input direction from the paper holder 26.

At this time, the head 19 is located away from the platen roller 6, and the ink film 27 is in a stopped state, so no printing is performed. In the same figure (2L), 28 is an ink film supply holder, and 29 is an ink film winding holder.

Next, when printing, as shown in the same figure ('b),
The platen roller 6 and the pinch roller 4 rotate clockwise, and the paper 25 is rewound in the B direction by one screen. At this time, the head 19 contacts the platen roller 6, the ink film holder 28 and the ink film take-up holder 29 rotate counterclockwise and press the button, and the ink film 27 is wound in the direction B in conjunction with the paper 25. be returned. In this way, heat is applied to the ink film 27 from the head 19.

A predetermined print is made on the paper 25.

Incidentally, the ink film 27Kld, yellow, magenta, cyan, and black are sequentially arranged on the screen, and the above operation is repeated four times to perform color printing.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention 1 However, in the configuration shown in FIG. 4, the platen roller 6, paper feed roller 10, and capstan roller 5 are
The pinch roller 4 runs the paper 26 until it comes into contact with the paper 26, so in the case of cut paper, a new paper is inserted each time as shown in Fig. 4 (b).
), making it difficult to use in the conventional example.

'1. Ta. In the conventional example, even if roll paper is used, there is a range from point P where the THERMA N head 19 and platen roller 6 contact to point P where paper feed roller 10 and platen roller 6 contact, and there is a range that cannot be printed depending on the paper output size. On the other hand, the printable range of 15 to 251 TIm was smaller. In particular, when using cut paper, the leading edge of the paper has an unprintable area between P and Q, similar to roll paper, and the trailing edge of the second paper is between point P, where the thermal roller 19 and platen roller 6 contact, and the capstan roller 5. R that the pinch roller 4 contacts
6. -1 causes an unprintable area, and even if the roller diameter and distance between rollers are modified, there will physically be an unprintable area of 16 to 25 ff1m at the front and rear edges of the paper output size. become.

The present invention solves these problems by providing a thermal transfer printer at a low cost that can print from conventional roll paper to frequently used cut paper in a large print range comparable to PPC copying and with high quality. The purpose is to

Means for Solving the Problem In order to solve this problem, the present invention provides a platen roller for conveying paper, a thermal head provided opposite to the platen roller, and a thermal head to which heat is applied. An ink film and a guide roller arranged in a V row with the platen roller before and after a printing position where the thermal head and the platen roller face each other, and the guide roller presses the ink film against the platen roller. It is something.

Function: With this configuration, it is possible to provide a thermal transfer printer at a low cost that can print high-quality prints on cut paper with a print area as large as that of a PPC copy.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described based on the printer configuration diagram in FIG. 1 and the printing explanatory diagrams in FIGS. 2Fml to (j).

In FIG. 1, paper 31 is stacked as cut paper in a paper cassette 48, and is inserted between a sheet guide roller 36 and a transport sheet 41 along a transport sheet 41 by a paper supply roller 49. Note that, although not shown in FIG.
A guiding roller 6o is arranged between them. The conveyance sheet 41 is provided between the paper 31 and the platen roller 32, is guided by a sheet guide roller 36, and is accurately run by driving a sprocket wheel 42 with a paper feed remote motor 43. The beginning and end of the winding of the conveyance sheet 410 are wound around a take-up roller 44 and a supply roller 46, and by winding one side, a certain tension is applied to the conveyance sheet 41 by the spring 46. During forward rotation, the ink film 34 is fed with constant tension by the ink film take-up tension roller 37. Further, the ink film 34 is wound up by the ink film take-up roller 38. When reversing, the ink film supply tension roller 39 and the ink film supply roller 40
It will be held in The ink film 34 is attached to the platen roller 3
Before and after the printing position where 2 and the thermal head 33 touch,
The paper 3 is held by the guide roller 36 of the ink film.
1 and the ink film 34 are fed synchronously, the ink film guide roller 35 is in contact with the platen roller 32 side, and when the paper 31 and the ink film 34 are fed independently, the ink film guide roller 36 is in contact with the platen roller 32 side. be canceled from. The thermal head 33 is brought into contact with the platen roller 32 side during printing, and the thermal head 33 is released from the platen roller 32 side during printing.

Reference numeral 47 denotes a paper guide that guides the paper 31 that is rotated in the forward and reverse directions, and an ink film guide roller 35 is inserted between the ink film guide roller 35 before and after the printing position by the platen roller 32 and the thermal head 33 at the outer periphery of the 7° platen roller 32. It is placed in the same position.

Next, the printing method will be explained based on FIGS. 31- and 31-j. First, as shown in Figure 2 O,
The sheets 31 stacked in the sheet 8 are inserted by a sheet supply roller 49 into a sheet transport system made up of a conveyance sheet 41 . At this time, the thermal head 33 and the ink film guide roller 36 are located away from the platen roller 32.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2, the guide roller 36 comes into contact with the platen roller 32 side, and the paper 31
The sheet is guided by the transport sheet 41, and is wound around the platen roller 32 by the driving force of the transport sheet 41.

Then, as shown in Fig. 2C, the left and right sheet guide rollers 3
By making a difference in the circumferential speed of paper 3, paper 3 reaches the printing position.
When rewinding the paper 31, the slack of the paper 31 is taken up. The paper 31 is brought into close contact with a conveyance sheet 41 that is traveling by a platen roller 32 and a sheet guide roller 36.

FIG. 2d shows the state when the thermal head 33 comes into contact with the flatten roller 32 and starts printing the first color. Since the paper 31 is held without slack by the ink film 34 by the ink film guide roller 35,
Printing can be performed from the leading edge of the paper 31 with almost no unprintable area.

FIG. 2 0 shows the point in time when printing of the first color ends. It can be seen that a non-printable area is not necessary at the trailing edge of the paper 31. After printing is completed, the thermal head 33 separates from the platen roller 32, as shown in FIG. 2f, and the paper 31 is rewound. FIG. 2g shows the initial stage of rewinding the paper 31, where the paper 31 and ink film 34 are synchronously reversed until the trailing edge of the paper 31 is sufficiently clamped by the transport sheet 41 and sheet guide roller 36. . Then, as shown in the second diagram, the ink film guide roller 36 is released and the ink film 34 is stopped.

Only the paper 31 is rewound to prepare for second color printing. FIG. 2i shows a state where the beginning of the second color ink film is being located. Thereafter, the operations from C to 1 in FIG. 2 are repeated to print the second, third, and fourth colors. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 2C, the paper 31 with color printing is discharged along the conveyance sheet 41.

Although the above embodiment describes the case where the paper is cut paper, the present invention can also be applied with a similar configuration to roll paper that can be fed in one continuous reading manner.

In addition, although this embodiment uses a paper feeding system that uses a conveyance sheet, the present invention can be applied with the same configuration even if the paper feeding system uses a conveyance sheet and drives a platen roller. can.

Further, in this embodiment, a cut sheet with both ends cut is used as the conveyance sheet, but it is clear that the present invention can be more easily applied even if an endless sheet is used.

Effect of the invention According to the present invention, the following effects can be expected.

(1) During printing with a thermal transfer printer, the leading edge and trailing edge of the paper are always held by guide rollers via an ink film, which greatly reduces the printing problems that occur with conventional printers, where the leading edge and trailing edge of the paper are separated. can do. This effect is especially noticeable when printing on cut paper.

(Threshold) Not only during printing, but also when feeding paper to the printing position and when rewinding paper for color printing, the leading edge and trailing edge of the paper are fully exposed to the ink film and held by the guide roller. Since the paper and the ink film are moved back and forth at the same time, it is possible to provide a thermal transfer printer with less tome misalignment and high print quality.

In addition, since the ink film can be rotated forward or reverse, the ink film can be stopped at a designated position without being affected by printing sequence, which has the effect of minimizing the length of the ink film.

(Dirty) During printing and paper rewinding, when the leading edge and trailing edge of the paper are near the printing position, the transport sheet can hold the paper over a large area and feed the paper with high precision over the entire area. be able to.

In addition, the rollers that guide the paper and the roller receivers are also located at the transfer position, and the paper is run along the sheet, so sagging can be reduced.

By providing a conveyance sheet as described above, there is less tomoe misalignment,
°1S is available to provide high print quality thermal transfer printers.

Furthermore, if the transport sheet is used for paper transport, the paper transport fund can be used relatively freely, so that the layout of the paper discharge 1 can be adapted to the purpose of the printer.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a schematic U4 configuration of a thermal transfer printer according to one embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 a to c are explanatory diagrams of the printing operation of the same printer, and Fig. 3 is a thermal transfer printer according to a conventional example. The exploded perspective view of the printer, FIGS. 4a and 4b, are explanatory diagrams of the printing operation of a conventional printer. 31..., Ell, 32...Platen roller, 33...Thermal navel)", 34...
・Ink film, 36... Ink film guide roller, 36... Sheet guide roller, 3
7... Ink film winding tension control roller,
38... Ink film take-up roller, 39...
...Ink film supply tension roller, 40.
...Ink film supply roller, 41...
・Transportation sheet, 42...Sderokenote wheel, 43...Paper feed mode 1+44...
Sheet winding roller, 45...Sheet supply roller, 46...Spring, 47...Paper guide, 48...Paper case, 49...Paper supply roller.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A platen roller that conveys paper, a thermal head provided opposite to this platen roller, an ink film to which heat is applied from this thermal head, and a printing position where the thermal head and platen roller face each other. A printer comprising guide rollers disposed in front and rear in parallel with the platen roller, the guide rollers pressing the ink film against the platen roller. (2) The printer according to claim 1, wherein the ink film is rotated forward and backward. (3) The printer according to claim 1, wherein a conveyance sheet is provided between the platen roller and the paper, and the paper is conveyed by the conveyance sheet.