JPH0345354A - Thermal transfer serial printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a deterioration in printing quality affected by an ambient temperature by providing heating elements for keeping a flat platen at a proper temperature. CONSTITUTION:A printing head 2 provided with heating elements 3 abuts on a flat platen 4 through an ink ribbon 6 and printing paper 1, and an electric current is passed through the heating elements 3 to apply printing on the printing paper 1. The flat platen 4 is invariably kept at a proper temperature by a heating element 5 regardless of in or out of a printing action. This heat is transmitted to the printing paper 1 and the ink ribbon 6, therefore increasing the temperature of the printing paper 1 and the ink ribbon 6 changed by an ambient temperature to the proper temperature to make the ink easily releasable to prevent a deterioration in printing quality. In addition, a control part 7 is connected to the heating element 5 to conduct a temperature control.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a thermal transfer serial printer, and in particular to a thermal transfer serial printer.
-Relating to a thermal transfer serial printer having a platen.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, this type of thermal transfer serial printer uses a sensor as a means to prevent changes in print density due to the influence of ambient temperature. That is, the ambient temperature is sensed by a sensor, and the heating element of the print head is controlled accordingly.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The conventional thermal transfer serial printer described above uses a sensor to adjust the temperature of the heating element of the print head as a means of preventing deterioration of print quality due to the influence of ambient temperature. However, since the temperature of the ink ribbon is equal to the ambient temperature, the temperature of the heating element must be adjusted just at the moment of printing. Therefore, there are disadvantages in that the burden placed on the heating element is large and control to maintain good print quality is difficult.

An object of the present invention is to provide a thermal transfer serial printer that can prevent deterioration of print quality due to the influence of ambient temperature.

[Means to solve the problem]

The thermal transfer serial printer of the present invention includes a flat platen, a heating element that adjusts the temperature of the platen, and a control section that controls the heating element.

〔Example〕

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view of a printing portion of a thermal transfer serial printer showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of a printing portion of the thermal transfer serial printer not shown in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, this embodiment has a heating element 3.
The print head 2 is in contact with a flat platen 4 via an ink ribbon 6 and a printing paper 1, and prints on the printing paper 1 by energizing a heating element 3. Furthermore, the flat platen 4 is maintained at an appropriate temperature by the heating element 5 regardless of whether the printing operation is in progress or stopped. That is, this heat is transmitted to the printing paper 1 and the ink ribbon 6, so that the temperatures of the printing paper 1 and the ink ribbon 6, which have changed depending on the ambient temperature, are adjusted to an appropriate temperature, and the ink is easily splashed, thereby preventing deterioration of printing quality. Further, a control section 7 is connected to the heating element 5 to perform temperature control.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the thermal transfer serial printer of the present invention has the effect of preventing deterioration of print quality due to the influence of ambient temperature by having a heating element that keeps the flat I to platen at an appropriate temperature.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a printing portion of a thermal transfer serial printer, not showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of a printing portion of the thermal transfer serial printer, not shown in FIG. 1...Print paper, 2...Print head, 3...Heating element,
4. Flat platen, 5. Heating element, 6. Ink ribbon, 7. Control unit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A thermal transfer serial printer comprising: a flat platen; a heating element that adjusts the temperature of the platen; and a control section that controls the heating element.