JPH05229199A - Card printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a card to be easily attached to and detached from a stage by a method wherein drop of the card from on the stage in printing can be prevented by a simple structure. CONSTITUTION:In a card printer which prints a color image on a card 1 by thermally transferring a printing color material of an ink ribbon onto the card with a thermal transfer head when the card 1 is parallel transferred with a stage 2, the card 1 is pressed onto time stage 2 with a card presser roller 6.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a card printing apparatus for printing a color image on a card (generic term for a card-shaped printing medium) by a thermal transfer system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, based on color image information optically read from a color photograph or the like, or color image information taken by a video camera, cyan, magenta, yellow and black applied at equal intervals to an ink ribbon. A card printing device configured to print a color image on a card by sequentially overlapping and thermally transferring a plurality of printing color materials such as dyes on the card by a thermal transfer head (for example,
JP-A-62-11370).

In the conventional card printing apparatus, the card is placed on the stage which is moved in parallel. Then, while the ink ribbon is being pressed onto the card while being heated by the thermal transfer head, the card is moved in parallel by the stage, so that the printing color material of the ink ribbon is thermally transferred onto the card. Then, this printing process is sequentially repeated for a plurality of printing color materials such as cyan, magenta, yellow, and black of the ink ribbon based on the color image information, so that the plurality of printing color materials are printed on the card. A color image was printed on the card by sequentially superimposing them on each other and thermally transferring them.

[0004]

Therefore, in the conventional card printing apparatus, the thermal transfer head is removed upward from the card and the card is staged after each printing process of cyan, magenta, yellow, black, etc. is completed. However, there is a problem that the ink ribbon and the card are attached to each other and the card is apt to be accidentally dropped from the stage.

Therefore, conventionally, in order to prevent the card from falling off during printing, the card placed on the stage is fixed by a plurality of card holding claws, or a voltage is applied to the stage to place the card on the stage. Although the method of electrostatically adhering to the top was adopted, all of these methods were complicated in structure and costly due to the large size of the device, and the operation of attaching / detaching the card to / from the stage was troublesome. There was a problem saying that.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to prevent the card from falling off the stage during printing with a simple structure, and also to easily attach and detach the card to and from the stage. It is an object of the present invention to provide a card printing device that can be used for various purposes.

[0007]

A card printing apparatus of the present invention for achieving the above object comprises a stage for moving a mounted card in parallel, and an ink ribbon coated with a plurality of printing coloring materials. In a card printing apparatus provided with a thermal transfer head for printing a color image by sequentially thermally transferring a plurality of printing color materials of the ink ribbon onto the card in synchronization with the parallel movement of the card, A card pressing roller for pressing on the stage is provided.

[0008]

In the card printing apparatus of the present invention configured as described above, the card can be pressed on the stage by the card pressing roller during printing of the card.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of a card printing apparatus to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, an outline of the card printing apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS.

This card printing apparatus has a stage 2 on which a card 1 which is a card-shaped printing medium is horizontally placed and is horizontally translated in the directions of arrows a and a ', cyan, magenta, and
The thermal transfer head 4 is provided with an ink ribbon 3 to which printing color materials of yellow and, if necessary, black of 3 to 4 colors are applied at equal intervals. Then, on the basis of the color image information, in synchronization with the reciprocal movement of the stage 1 caused by the parallel movement of the card 1 in the directions of the arrows a and a ', the printing color materials of 3 to 4 colors of the ink ribbon 3 are cyan and magenta. , The yellow and the black are sequentially printed by the thermal transfer head 4 while being pressed by the thermal transfer head 4 to perform thermal transfer by pressing on the card 1, which is repeated 3 to 4 times. This gives card 1
3-4 color printing material of the ink ribbon 3 is cyan,
The color image based on the color image information is printed on the card 1 by sequentially performing thermal transfer by superimposing magenta, yellow, and black in this order.

The card printing apparatus is provided with a card mounting arm 5 for removably mounting the card 1 on the stage 2, and the card 1 is accidentally dropped from the stage 2 during the above card printing operation. In order not to do so, a card pressing roller 6 is provided for constantly elastically pressing the card 1 on the stage 2. Further, the card stock section 7 is arranged at a position adjacent to the card printing section L ₁ on the moving path of the stage 2, and the card stock section 7
The unused cards 1 stacked and accommodated inside can be sequentially and automatically mounted on the stage 2 by utilizing the parallel movement of the stage 2 in the directions of the arrows a and a '. Further, a card ejection mechanism 8 is arranged between the original position P _{1 of the} stage 2 and the card stock portion 7 shown by solid lines in FIGS. 3 and 6, and the used card 1 after card printing is indicated by an arrow on the stage 2. The automatic discharge can be performed by utilizing the parallel movement in the a'direction.

Next, details of each section of the card printing apparatus will be sequentially described.

First, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, a pair of left and right guide shafts 11 are horizontally and parallelly installed between a pair of vertical front and rear side plates 10a of a case 10 also serving as a chassis, and the stage 2 is Guided by both of these guide shafts 11, an arrow a is drawn between an original position P ₁ shown by a solid line in FIGS. 3 and 6 and a card mounting position P ₂ under the card stock portion 7.
It is configured to be horizontally translated in the a'direction. A card printing position P ₃ and a card ejection position P ₄ are arranged between the original position P ₁ and the card mounting position P _2, and the stage 2 has these positions P ₁ , P ₂ , P ₃ ,
The position is detected by _four sensors S ₁ , S ₂ , S ₃ , and S _{4 at} P ₄ .

A horizontal card mounting surface 2a is formed on the upper surface of the stage 2, and a right angled second side surface 1a of the card 1 is positioned on one side of the card mounting surface 2a. A card reference surface 2b is formed. The card reference surface 2b is formed vertically with a height substantially equal to the thickness of the card 1.

The card mounting arm 5 is made of a plate material having a thickness substantially equal to that of the card 1, and has a substantially L-shaped plane.
The card mounting arm 5 is mounted rotatably in the directions of arrows b and b'in the horizontal plane via a fulcrum pin 12 perpendicular to the other side of the card mounting surface 2a of the stage 2. The card mounting arm 5 is formed with a right-angled card engaging surface 5a that engages with a second right-angled second side surface 1b opposite to the first second side surface 1a of the card 1. Then, the card mounting arm 5 is rotationally biased in the direction of the arrow b by the tension coil spring 14 installed between the free end portion 5b and the spring locking portion 13 formed on the side surface of the stage 2 to engage the card. It is configured to come into contact with the stopper 15 on the stage 2 at a position where the surface 5b becomes parallel to the card reference surface 2b. A vertical guide pin 5d is attached to the lower surface of the tip 5c of the card mounting arm 5.

The stage drive mechanism 17 has a pair of front and rear pulleys 18 and 19 arranged below the guide shafts 11 in the case 10, and is parallel to the guide shafts 11 wound between them. Belt 20 and one pulley 18
And a motor 21 for rotationally driving, and a part of an upper path of the belt 20 is fixed to a central portion of a lower portion of the stage 2 by a belt fixing portion 22.

The card pressing roller 6 has a card printing section L.
It is horizontally arranged on the moving path of the stage 2 at a substantially central position of ₁ so as to be orthogonal to both guide shafts 11. The card pressing roller 6 has a large coefficient of friction such as rubber, and
The case 10 is made of a member having appropriate elasticity.
It is fixed to the outer periphery of a horizontal roller shaft 6a rotatably attached to a pair of left and right side plates 10b via a pair of bearings 24. The card pressing roller 6 is configured to elastically press the card 1 mounted on the card mounting surface 2a of the stage 2 from above. A gear 6b is fixed to one end of the roller shaft 6a.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 12, the card mounting arm 5 is opened and closed in the directions of arrows b and b '.
A guide mechanism 25 for guiding the guide pin 5d is provided. This guide mechanism 25, as shown in FIG.
A guide rail 26 is provided horizontally between the original position P ₁ of the stage 2 and the card mounting position P ₄ along the movement path of the guide pin 5d in the directions of arrows a '. The guide rail 26 is rotatably attached to a fulcrum shaft 27 installed in the case 10 in parallel with both guide shafts 11 via brackets 28 in the directions of arrows c and c ', and the eccentricity of the brackets 28 is eccentric. A control arm 30 is connected to the position via a pin 29.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 8, the card stock section 7 has a rectangular card storage frame 32 which is vertically installed in the case 10 and which is open vertically and vertically. On the other hand, a large number of unused cards 1 are horizontally and vertically stacked and stored on a pair of vertically movable front and rear bottom plates 33 which are divided into two in the card storage frame 32. And
A pair of support shafts 34, which are vertically attached to the lower surfaces of the pair of front and rear bottom plates 33, pass through a pair of upper and lower bearings 35 installed in the case 10 and are arrows d and d'in the vertical direction.
Is supported so as to be vertically movable, and each of these support shafts 34
Each bottom plate 33 is urged upward in the arrow d direction by the compression coil spring 36 fitted on the outer periphery of the upper end of the. Then, as shown in FIG. 8, the card mounting surface 2b of the stage 2
A guide surface 37, which is a slanting surface facing diagonally downward, is formed on the end surface on the arrow a direction side, and a guide surface 38 that is a slanting upward surface is formed on the end surfaces on the arrow a'direction side of the pair of bottom plates 33. There is.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 6, 9 and 10, the ink ribbon 3 is arranged above the moving path of the stage 2 in parallel with the longitudinal direction of both guide shafts 11. The ink ribbon winding mechanism 39 that intermittently winds the ink ribbon 3 has the case 10 at the front and rear positions of the original position P _1.
Has a pair of front and rear winding drums 40 and 41 rotatably installed between a pair of left and right side plates 10b, and both ends of the ink ribbon 3 are wound around the outer circumferences of the pair of winding drums 40 and 41. .. Then, one winding drum 40 is configured to be rotationally driven intermittently by a motor 43 or the like.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 6, 9 and 10, the thermal transfer head 4 includes a pair of front and rear winding drums 40, 4.
It is arranged vertically at a position where it contacts the ink ribbon 3 from above in a substantially central portion between the two. The head elevating mechanism 43 that elevates and lowers the thermal transfer head 4 has a head arm 44 whose side surface is formed into a substantially L shape by a vertical arm portion 44a and a horizontal arm portion 44b. A pair of left and right side plates 10 of the case 10
It is configured to be rotatable in the directions of arrows e and e ′ around a horizontal fulcrum shaft 45 provided between the upper portions of b. The thermal transfer head 4 is vertically attached to the lower end of the vertical arm portion 44a of the head arm 44, and the thermal transfer head 44 is provided on both front and rear sides in the directions of arrows a and a'for preventing the ink ribbon 3 from sticking to the thermal transfer head 4. A pair of horizontal rollers 46
Are installed in parallel.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG. 9 to FIG. 11, the card ejection mechanism 8 includes a drive shaft 48 which is horizontally installed between the upper portions of the pair of left and right side plates 10b of the case 10. ,
A motor 49 for driving the drive shaft 48 in forward and reverse directions in the directions of arrows f and f ', a drive lever 50 fixed to the drive shaft 48, and an upper end of the drive lever 50 is connected to a lower end of the drive lever 50 via a pin 51. Control arm 52 and side plate 1 of case 10
The bracket 53 fixed to 0b has a long hole 55 which is formed horizontally and guides the guide pin 54 attached to the lower end of the control arm 52. And the control arm 5
A gear 57 is attached to the outer periphery of a non-rotational support shaft 56 fixed to 2, and a one-way rotation restricting means 58 such as a one-way clutch or ratchet is attached between the gear 57 and the support shaft 56.
A rotation control mechanism 59 for controlling the card pressing roller 6 into a free rotation state and a rotation stop state by engaging and disengaging the gear 57 with the gear 6b fixed to the end of the roller shaft 6a of the card pressing roller 6 is provided. It is configured.

From the card ejection position P ₄ to the original position P
A card ejection rod 64 that is parallel to both guide shafts 11 and horizontal and a card ejection plate 65 that is inclined downward to one side are arranged in the lower part of the movement path of the stage 2 toward a position near _1. , The lower end of the card ejection plate 65 is the case 1
Card outlet 66 formed on one side plate 10b
It is connected to the.

The drive shaft 48, the motor 49 and the drive lever 50 also serve as a drive source for the head lifting mechanism 43, and the free end of the horizontal arm portion 44b of the head arm 44 and the drive lever 50 are linked 67 and. A pair of pins 68,6
They are connected via 9. Further, the control arm 30 of the guide mechanism 25 shown in FIG. 12 is configured to be controlled to move in the directions of arrows g and g ', substantially in synchronization with the rotation of the drive lever 50 in the directions of arrows f and f'.

Next, the operation of the card printing apparatus configured as described above will be described in order.

[0027]

[Explanation of automatic card loading operation]

First, in the state before the card is mounted on the stage 2, the drive lever 50 of the head elevating mechanism 43 is driven by the motor 49 to the original position P _{5 as} shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG.
From the first rotation position P ₆ to the first rotation position P ₆ by a small angle in the arrow f direction, the head arm 44 is rotated in the arrow e ′ direction via the link 67, and the thermal transfer head 4 is positioned above the stage 2 by a small height H _1. Has just been raised.

Then, as shown in FIG. 12A, the control arm 30 of the guide mechanism 25 is moved in the direction of arrow g, and the guide rail 26 integrally with the bracket 28 is moved in the direction of arrow c.
Rotated by 90 ° in the direction, the guide rail 26 is vertically erected in an operating position close to the guide pin 5d for guiding the guide pin 5d of the card mounting arm 5.

Then, when the card is mounted, as shown in FIGS.
The belt 20 of the stage drive mechanism 17 shown in FIG.
Is driven to rotate in the direction of the arrow a via the pulley 18, and the belt 20 translates the stage 2 in the direction of the arrow a from the original position P ₁ shown by the solid line in FIG. 3 to the card mounting position P ₂ shown by the one-dot chain line. Then, as shown in FIG. 8, the stage 2 is inserted from below the unused card 2 at the bottom of the card stock section 7 in the direction of arrow a.

At this time, as the stage 2 is guided by both guide shafts 11 and moved in the direction of arrow a, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 12A, the guide rail 26 of the guide mechanism 25 is connected to the guide pin 5d of the card mounting arm 5.
Is guided in the direction of the arrow b ', and the card mounting arm 5 is rotated in the direction of the arrow b against the tension coil spring 14 from the position shown by the solid line in FIG.

Therefore, the card mounting arm 5 is located outside the unused card 1 at the bottom of the card stock section 7 (arrow b ').
8, the stage 2 is inserted under the unused card 1 at the lowermost stage from the direction of the arrow a in the state of being released to the direction side).

At this time, the guide surface 3 of the stage 2
7 is a guide plate 3 of a pair of bottom plates 33 of the card stock section 7.
8 in order from the direction of arrow a to contact the pair of bottom plates 3
3 are pushed down in the direction of the arrow d'below each pair of compression coil springs 36, so that the stage 2
Is inserted from the direction of arrow a below the unused card 1 at the bottom. Then, by inserting the stage 2, the unused card 1 at the lowest stage is automatically mounted horizontally on the card mounting surface 2 a of the stage 2.

Then, as shown in FIG. 8, when the stage 2 is completely inserted under the unused card 1 at the lowermost stage, the guide pin 5d of the card mounting arm 5 is located on the guide rail 26 in the direction of the arrow a '. Remove from the tip 26a in the direction of arrow a,
The card mounting arm 5 is returned to rotate in the direction of arrow b by the tension coil spring 14.

Then, as shown in FIG. 1, the right-angled card engaging surface 5a of the card mounting arm 5 is engaged with the right-angled second side surface 1b of the unused card 1 in the lowermost stage, and the spring of the tension coil spring 14 is engaged. Due to the force, the right-angled first two side surfaces 1a of the unused card 1 are moved to the right-angled card reference surface 2 of the stage 2.
Press on b from the direction of arrow b. Therefore, the unused card 1 on the lowest stage horizontally mounted on the card mounting surface 2a of the stage 2 is clamped and held from the four sides between the card reference surface 2b and the card mounting arm 5.

When the sensor S ₂ detects that the stage 2 has reached the card mounting position P ₂ , as indicated by the one-dot chain line in FIG. 3, the motor 21 shown in FIG.
After being stopped once, the motor 21 is driven to rotate in the reverse direction, and the belt 20 is driven to rotate in the direction of the arrow a ′ via the pulley 18.

Then, the stage 2 moves to the card mounting position P ₂
From the original position to the original position in the direction of arrow a ', and the stage 2
The unused card 2 at the lowermost stage held above is taken out together with the stage 2 from the inside of the card stock portion 7 in the arrow a'direction.

After taking out the unused card 2 at the lowermost stage, as shown in FIG. 7, the pair of bottom plates 33 are raised and returned by the pair of compression coil springs 36 in the upward arrow d direction, respectively. All unused cards 1 stacked and stored in the card stock section 7 are received from below.

On the other hand, according to the detection of the sensor S ₂ , FIG.
12, the drive lever 50 of the head elevating mechanism 43 is returned by the motor 49 from the first rotation position P ₆ to the original position P _{5 in the} direction of arrow f ′, and as shown in FIG. The control arm 30 of the guide mechanism 25 is moved back in the direction of the arrow g ', and is integrated with the bracket 28 into the guide rail 26.
Is rotated 90 ° in the direction of arrow c ′, and the guide rail 26
Is released to a retracted position below which does not interfere with the guide pin 5d of the card mounting arm 5.

Then, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 9, the drive lever 50 is moved back from the first rotational position P ₆ to the original position P _{5 in the} direction of arrow f ', so that the head arm 44 is moved in the direction of arrow e. The thermal transfer head 4 is moved back in the arrow e direction. Then, almost at the same time when the stage 2 is returned to the original position P ₁ , the thermal transfer head 4 moves the unused card 1 on the stage 2 to the approximate center position between the pair of winding drums 40 and 41 of the ink ribbon 3. The upper end of the arrow a direction is pressed from above.

The fact that the stage 2 is moved back to the original position P ₁ shown by the solid line in FIGS. 3 and 6 indicates that the sensor S ₁
Detected by the motor 21 of the stage drive mechanism 17
Is stopped, and a series of automatic card mounting operation ends.

[0042]

[Explanation of card printing operation]

As shown in FIGS. 4, 6 and 9, the first card printing process at the time of card printing is performed by the thermal transfer head 4
While the ink ribbon 3 is being pressed against the end of the card 1 on the stage 2 in the direction of the arrow a while being heated, the belt 20 of the stage drive mechanism 17 moves the stage 2 to the direction of the arrow a.
Driving in the direction, the card 1 is moved in parallel with the stage 2 in the direction of arrow a from the original position P ₁ to the card printing device P ₃ . Then, in synchronization with this, one winding drum 40 is driven by the motor 43 of the ink ribbon winding mechanism 39 or the like.
Is intermittently rotated in the direction of arrow h by a fixed pitch,
The ink ribbon 3 is intermittently wound in the direction of arrow h by the same pitch as the spacing between the printing color materials.

Then, in this first card printing process,
For example, cyan of the ink ribbon 3 is thermally transferred onto the card 1.

Then, the stage 2 moves to the card printing position P ₃
When it is detected by the sensor S ₃ , the belt 20 of the stage drive mechanism 17 is stopped, and the drive lever 5 of the head lifting mechanism 43 is moved as shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG.
0 from the original position P ₅ to the first rotation position P by the motor 49.
₆ is rotated in the direction of arrow f, the head arm 44 is rotated in the direction of arrow e ′, and the thermal transfer head 4 is moved to the card 1
It is lifted in the direction of arrow e ', which is upward from above. And
Subsequent to this, the belt 20 of the stage driving mechanism 17 is reversely rotated and the stage 2 is returned from the card printing position P ₃ to the original position P _{1 in the} direction of the arrow a ′, and then as shown by the solid line in FIG. , The drive lever 50 of the head lifting mechanism 43
Is moved back from the first rotational position P ₆ to the original position P _{5 in the} direction of arrow f ′, and the thermal transfer head 4 presses the ink ribbon 3 again onto the end of the card 1 on the stage 2 in the direction of arrow a. After returning to the state, the first card printing process is completed.

The card printing process is repeated 3 to 4 times for each of the printing color materials of magenta, yellow and, if necessary, black of the ink ribbon 3, whereby the ink ribbon 3 is printed on the card 1. The four color printing materials are thermally transferred in the order of cyan, magenta, yellow and black to print a color image based on the color image information.

[0047]

[Explanation of card pressing roller operation]

During the above-mentioned card printing, as shown in FIGS. 2, 4, 6 and 9, the card pressing roller 6 constantly elastically holds the card 1 on the card mounting surface 2a of the stage 2 from above. In the pressed state, the reciprocating movement of the card 1 by the stage 2 in the directions of the arrows a and a'follows the arrows i and i '.
Rotate freely in any direction.

Therefore, in each of the three to four card printing steps described above, the thermal transfer head 4 is moved from the card 1 to the arrow e '.
After the card 1 is lifted (removed) in the direction, when the card 1 is returned by the stage 2 from the card printing position P ₃ to the original position P _{1 in the} direction of the arrow a ′, even if the ink ribbon 3 and the card 1 are attached, Since the card 1 can be surely pressed onto the stage 2 by the card pressing roller 6, the sticking thereof can be surely peeled off, and the card 1 integrally with the stage 2 can be reliably returned to the original position P _1. You can That is, the card pressing roller 6 can surely prevent the card 1 from accidentally falling off the stage 2 due to the sticking of the ink ribbon 3 and the card 1.

In the drawing, the arrow a of the thermal transfer head 4 is used.
Although the card pressing roller 6 is arranged only on one side which is the direction side, a pair of card pressing rollers 6 may be arranged on both sides of the thermal transfer head 4 in the directions of arrows a and a '. It is also possible to attach pressure-bonding springs to both ends of the roller shaft 6a so that the card-pressing roller 6 is elastically forcedly pressed onto the card 1 by the pressure-bonding springs.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the thermal transfer head 4
A pair of front and rear rollers 46 arranged on both front and rear sides of the head arm 44 are integrated with the thermal transfer head 4 by arrows e and e '.
Is moved up and down. The pair of rollers 46 reliably prevent the thermal transfer head 4 and the ink ribbon 3 from sticking to each other.

[0052]

[Explanation of automatic card ejection operation]

After the above card printing is completed, the stage 2
When automatically ejecting the printed card 1 above, as shown in FIGS. 2, 5 and 10, the stage 2 is driven in the direction of arrow a by the belt 20 of the stage drive mechanism 17,
The printed card 1 is moved in parallel with the stage 2 from the original position P ₁ to the card discharge position P _{4 in the} direction of arrow a, and the card pressing roller 6 is moved to the end side of the printed card 1 in the direction of arrow a ′. Gather.

Then, the stage 2 moves the card ejection position P ₄
10 is detected by the sensor S ₄ , the belt 20 of the stage drive mechanism 17 is stopped, and the drive lever 50 is moved from the original position P ₅ to the first rotation position P by the motor 49 as shown in FIG. 2nd after passing ₆
It is rotationally driven in the direction of arrow f by a large angle to the rotational position P ₇ . Then, the head arm 44 of the head lifting mechanism 43
There is rotated in the arrow e 'direction, the thermal print head 4 is raised greater height H ₂ partial above the stage 2.

Then, as shown in FIG. 10, when the drive lever 50 is rotationally driven to the second rotational position P _{7 in the} arrow f direction, the control arm 52 of the card ejection mechanism 8 is pulled in the arrow f direction, The control arm 52 is largely translated in the direction of arrow j while being guided by the elongated hole 55 and the guide pin 54, and the gear 57 of the rotation control mechanism 59 is fixed to the roller shaft 6a as shown in FIGS. It is meshed with the gear 6b.

Then, the unidirectional rotation regulating means 58 interposed between the support shaft 56 and the gear 57 causes the gear 5 to rotate.
Card pressing roller 6 through 7, 6b and roller shaft 6a
Is locked in a rotation stopped state in which rotation in the direction of arrow i'is prohibited.

Then, based on the detection of the sensor S ₄ , thereafter, the belt 20 of the stage drive mechanism 17 is driven to rotate in the reverse direction, so that the stage 2 is returned from the card ejection position P ₄ to the original position P _{1 in the} arrow a'direction. Be moved.

Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 10, the stage 2 is moved in parallel in the arrow a'direction while the card pressing roller 6 is in the rotation stop state in which the rotation of the card pressing roller 6 is prohibited in the arrow i'direction. As shown in FIG. 5, the friction between the printed card 1 and the printed card 1 causes the printed card 1 to be placed on the stage 2 while pushing the card mounting arm 5 against the tension coil spring 14 in the direction of the arrow b ′ to open it. Surface 2a
It is automatically discharged from above in the direction of arrow a.

Then, as shown in FIG. 11, the stage 2
The printed card 1 that is automatically ejected from above contacts the card ejection rod 64 and is dropped onto the card ejection plate 65. The card 1 slides down on the card ejection plate 65 in the direction of the arrow k and is inserted into the card ejection port 66. Is discharged.

Then, as shown in FIG. 5, when it is detected by the sensor S ₁ that the stage 2 is returned to the original position P ₁ , the belt 20 of the stage drive mechanism 17 is stopped and at the same time, as shown in FIG. As shown by the solid line in FIG.
0 is returned to the original position P ₅ by the motor 49 in the direction of arrow f ′. Then, the control arm 52 is translated in the direction of arrow j, the gear 57 of the rotation control mechanism 59 is disengaged from the gear 6b of the roller shaft 6a, and the card pressing roller 6 is freely moved in both directions i and i '. It is returned to the free rotation state where it can rotate.

In the drawing, the one-way rotation restricting means 58 of the rotation control mechanism 59 is interposed between the support shaft 56 and the gear 57, but this one-way rotation restricting means 58 is provided in the roller shaft 6a.
And a gear 6b rotatably attached to the outer periphery thereof, the gear 57 is fixed to the support shaft 56, and the non-rotating gear 57 is meshed with the gear 6b. The rotation of the card pressing roller 6 in the arrow i'direction may be prohibited by 58.

The above is a description of one embodiment of the present invention.
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention.

[0063]

The card printing apparatus of the present invention configured as described above has the following effects.

Since the card can be pressed against the stage by the card pressing roller during printing of the card, the card pressing roller can be prevented from falling off from the stage during printing. Compared to the conventional structure in which the card is pressed onto the stage by a method of fixing the card on the stage with multiple card pressing claws or applying a voltage to the stage to electrostatically attract the card onto the stage, It has a simple structure and can be manufactured at low cost.

In the structure in which the card is pressed onto the stage by the card pressing roller, the card can be easily inserted into and removed from the stage by rotating the card pressing roller. Enables automatic mounting and automatic ejection.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a stage and a card mounting arm of a card printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a card ejection mechanism on a stage of a card printing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the entire card printing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a plan view illustrating a printing process of the card printing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a plan view illustrating a card ejection process of the card printing apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 3 for explaining the card stock unit of the card printing apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 7 for explaining an automatic mounting operation of the card on the stage in the card stock section of the above.

FIG. 9 is a side view illustrating a head lifting mechanism and a card ejection mechanism of the card printing apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a side view illustrating a card discharging operation by the card discharging mechanism of the above.

11 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line DD of FIG. 3 for explaining the reversing operation of the guide mechanism of the card mounting arm of the card printing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 card 2 stage 3 ink ribbon 4 thermal transfer head 6 card pressing roller

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A stage for moving a mounted card in parallel, an ink ribbon coated with a plurality of printing color materials, and a plurality of printing colors for the ink ribbon in synchronization with the parallel movement of the card. A card printing apparatus comprising: a thermal transfer head for sequentially thermally transferring a material onto a card to print a color image, wherein a card pressing roller for pressing the card onto the stage is provided.