JPH04158063A - Forming method for card - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten a printing time and to shorten a contact time of a thermal head by independently setting an image printing range, a character printing range and an overcoating printing range on a card. CONSTITUTION:After a card stage 11 is moved and a thermal head 13 is set to a printing position of an image printing range 1a, the head 13 is driven to generate heat in response to printing data, and a face photograph is printed with inks of yellow, magenta and cyan of transfer sheets 12 while moving the stage 11. Then, after the head 13 is set to a printing position of a character printing range, the head 13 is driven to generate heat in response to the printing data, and a character is printed on a card 1 with black of a transfer sheet 12 while moving the stage 11. Thereafter, the card 1 is sent to an overcoating part 5, a thermal head 17 is similarly allowed to generate heat only in an image printing range and a character printing range and to move to be overcoated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a method for creating an ID card or the like by printing images such as a face, name, etc. and characters on a magnetic card or the like.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, as a method for creating ID cards, etc. by printing images such as faces, names, etc. and characters (including characters and graphics) on magnetic carts, etc., there is a method described in JP-A-2-1353. or known. The method disclosed in this prior art sets the entire cart as one print range, combines the image signal of the face part with the character signal such as the name, and creates image data for the entire card. The entire card is overcoated by printing according to the image data.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the conventional card production method described above, the entire card is treated as one printing area, and the image area and the text area are the same image data, so the entire card is always printed. I had to do it, it took a long time to print.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above problems, the present invention independently sets an image printing range, a character printing range, and an overcoat printing range on a card, and prints a thermal head using the set printing ranges. I tried to move it.

(Function) By setting the heating range of 7 degrees to the thermal corresponding to the independently set image printing range, character printing range, and overcoat printing range, and moving the thermal head only in this range. , the printing time is shorter than when printing by moving the thermal head or the entire card.

(Example) Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of the print control section of the card printer according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is an overall perspective view of the printer, Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a card produced by the printer, and Fig. 4 is FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of transfer paper used in the same printer, FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of overcoat transfer paper used in the same printer, and FIG. be.

As shown in FIG. 2, this card printer includes a card supply section (not shown) that sequentially supplies cards 1 to an encoding section 2 one by one from the upstream side, and a card supply section (not shown) that magnetically encodes the cards 1 supplied from the card supply section. 3, and a printing unit 4 that prints images and characters on the card 1 that has been magnetically recorded by the encoder 2.
An overcoat section 5 is installed to apply an overcoat to the card 1 that has been printed by the printing section 4.

As shown in Figure 3, on the card 1, for example, a face photograph and characters (including graphic figures) such as "identification card", "company name", "name", etc. are printed, and the face photograph part is printed. The image printing range 1a is set to include the text portion, and the text printing range 1b is set so that the printing ranges do not overlap. In this case, the face photograph in the image printing range 1a is printed in three colors, for example, yellow, magenta, and cyan, and the characters in the character printing range 1b are printed in black. Further, the image printing range 1a and the character printing range 1b are overlapped and set as an overcoat printing range.

The printing unit 4 includes a card stage 11, a transfer paper 12, a thermal head 13, and a position sensor 14 that detects whether the card 1 has been sent. The card stage 11 has both ends engaged with guide rods (not shown),
The card 1 can be moved in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance line of the card 1 by rotating the screw. Further, a tape-shaped transfer paper 12 is stretched between a feed roller 12a and a take-up roller 12b, and is yellow (Y), magenta (
M), cyan (C), and black (Bk) sublimable inks are impregnated at predetermined pitches.

Incidentally, as shown in FIG. 4, for example, on the transfer paper 12, yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C) inks are applied only to a portion corresponding to the image printing area 1a, and black (
The Bk) ink may be impregnated only in an area corresponding to the character printing area 1b.

The overcoat section 5 includes a card stage 15 which is movable like the card stage 11, a transfer paper 16 impregnated with a heat-melting resin or the like that serves as a protective film, and a card 17 and a card 1 sent to the thermal. Position sensor 1 that detects
8.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the transfer paper 16 may be impregnated with a heat-melting resin or the like to serve as a protective film only in an area corresponding to the image printing area 1a and character printing area 1b.

Print control unit of thermal head 13 (thermal head 17
The print control unit has a similar configuration. ), as shown in FIG. 1, includes a memory 21 that stores print data and reads out the print data using address data from an address circuit 25 (described later), a drive circuit 22 that moves the card stage 11, and a position sensor. When the detection signal from 14 is input, H address data and ■address data are generated based on the clock signal from the clock signal generation circuit 23 and the signal from the position detection encoder 24 attached to the drive mechanism of the card stage 11. It includes an address generating circuit 25 and a print range setting circuit 26.

This print range setting circuit 26 stores address information of the preset image print range 1a and character print range 1b, compares the stored address information with the address data from the address circuit 25, and selects only the print range. The thermal head 13 is made to generate heat, and the card stage 11 is moved via the drive circuit 22. That is, in this embodiment, instead of moving the thermal head 13, the card 1 is moved to move the heads relatively. In addition, Thermal Herad 1
The print control section 7 has a similar configuration.

The operation of the card printer configured as above will be explained below.

First, a card 1 is magnetically recorded in an encoding section 2 and then sent to a printing section 4. In the printing section 4, the card stage 11
When the position sensor 14 detects that the card 1 has been set, the address circuit 25 of the print control section generates H address data and V address data based on the clock signal from the clock signal generation circuit 23 and the signal from the encoder 24. Generate and output.

Here, the print range setting circuit 26 compares the address data of the print range stored in advance with the address data from the address circuit 25, moves the card stage 11, and sets the thermal head as shown in FIG. 13 to the printing position of the image printing range 1a, the thermal head 13 is driven to generate heat according to the print data, and the yellow (Y) and magenta (
A facial photograph is printed using M) and cyan (C) inks.

After that, as shown in FIG. 6, after setting the thermal head 13 to the printing position of the character printing range 1b, the thermal head 13 is driven to generate heat according to the print data, and the card stage 1
Characters are printed on the card 1 using black (Bk) on the transfer paper 12 while moving the card 1.

In this way, the card 1 on which images and characters have been printed is sent to the overcoat section 5, and in the same way, the thermal head 17 is heated and moved only for the image printing area 1a and the character printing area 1b to overcoat the card 1. administer. still,
The overcoat can also be applied to the entire card 1.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the present invention, since the image print range, character print range, and overcoat print range are independently set on the card, the print head is moved within the set print ranges. By doing so, the printing time is shorter than when the thermal head moves and prints over the entire card, and the contact time of the thermal head is also shortened, resulting in a longer life. Moreover, it is possible to reduce the amount of image information in image portions with a large amount of information, and the time required for transfer from the host to the host is also shortened.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of the print control section of the card printer according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is an overall perspective view of the printer, Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a card produced by the printer, and Fig. 4 is FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of transfer paper used in the same printer, FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of overcoat transfer paper used in the same printer, and FIG. be. 1...Card, 1a...Image printing range, 1b...
Character printing range, 2... Encoding section, 4... Printing section, 5... Overcoat section, 11.15... Card stage, 12.16... Transfer paper, 13.17... Thermal head, 26...Print range setting circuit.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In a card production method in which an overcoat is applied after images and characters are recorded on the card by a thermal head, an image printing range where images are printed on the card, a character printing range where characters are printed, and an overcoat. A card creation method characterized by independently setting an overcoat range. (2) Claim (1) characterized in that the image printing range and the text printing range do not overlap, and the image printing range, the text printing range, and the overcoat printing range are set to overlap.
) How to create a card.