JPH05301438A - Thermal transfer printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the consumption quantity of an ink ribbon by reducing the taking-up quantity of the ink ribbon. CONSTITUTION:A thermal head 6 is arranged to the carriage 5 made freely reciprocally movable along a platen and a taking-up bobbin 7 and a delivery bobbin 8 are arranged on the upper surface of the carriage 5 in a freely rotatable and drivable manner and a ribbon cassette 48 having the ink ribbon 47 wound around a pair of reels received therein is mounted on the upper surface of the carriage 5 in a freely detachable manner so that the respective reels are respectively engaged with the taking-up bobbin 7 and the delivery bobbin 8. The second taking-up bobbin 40 and second delivery bobbin 41 engaged with the guide rollers formed to the ribbon cassette 48 are arranged to the upper surface of the carriage 5 in a freely rotatable and drivable manner and load is applied to the second taking-up bobbin 40 and the delivery quantity of the second delivery bobbin 41 is set to the moving quantity of the thermal head or less.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal transfer printer,
In particular, the present invention relates to a thermal transfer printer capable of reducing the winding amount of the ink ribbon and reducing the consumption amount of the ink ribbon.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 7 shows a conventional general thermal transfer printer. A platen 2 having a flat plate shape is arranged at a substantially central portion of a frame 1 of the printer so that its printing surface is substantially vertical. A carriage shaft 3 is arranged in parallel to the platen 2 below the front side of the platen 2 of the frame 1. A flange-shaped guide portion 4 is formed on the front edge of the frame 1, and a carriage 5 reciprocates on the carriage shaft 3 and the guide portion 4 along the carriage shaft 3 and the guide portion 4. It is movably attached. A thermal head 6 is attached to the tip of the carriage 5 so as to face the platen 2, and an ink ribbon is stored on the upper surface of the carriage 5, and the ink ribbon is attached to the thermal head 6 and the platen 2. A ribbon cassette (not shown) for guiding between the two is installed. Further, on the upper surface of the carriage 5, a winding bobbin 7 for winding the ink ribbon of the ribbon cassette and a delivery bobbin 8 for delivering the ink ribbon are arranged.

A sheet insertion port 9 for feeding a sheet (not shown) to the front of the platen 2 is formed in the rear of the platen 2, and the sheet insertion port 9 has a predetermined speed at the portion. A paper feed roller 10 that conveys a paper is provided. Below the paper feed roller 10, a pressure contact roller 11 which is brought into pressure contact with the paper feed roller 10 is rotatably arranged, and the paper feed roller is provided with a transmission gear group 12 on one side surface of the frame. A paper feed motor 13 that is driven to rotate is provided. Then, by driving the paper feed motor 13 to rotate the paper feed roller 10, the paper inserted between the paper feed roller 10 and the pressure contact roller 11 is pinched and conveyed from the paper insertion opening 9. It is designed to do.

In the conventional printer, a sheet is inserted through the sheet insertion port 9, the sheet is sandwiched between the sheet feed roller 10 and the pressure contact roller 11, and the sheet feed motor 13 drives the sheet feed roller 10. By rotating and driving, the paper is conveyed at a predetermined speed in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the carriage 5. On the other hand, the thermal head 6 is pressed against the paper with a predetermined pressing force, and in this state, the carriage 5 is moved and the winding bobbin 7 is rotated to wind the ink ribbon of the ribbon cassette, By driving the thermal head 6 based on a desired print signal, desired printing is performed on the paper.

[0005]

However, in such a conventional thermal transfer printer, printing is performed while moving the carriage 5 while the thermal head 6 is in pressure contact with the paper. The ink ribbon is sent out along with the movement and pulled out from the bobbin 8 side, and the ink ribbon after printing is taken up by the take-up bobbin 7. Therefore, the take-up amount of the ink ribbon by the take-up bobbin 7 is taken up. However, there is a problem in that the ink ribbon is consumed in an extremely short period of time.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a thermal transfer printer which can reduce the winding amount of the ink ribbon and the consumption amount of the ink ribbon. is there.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention has a thermal head disposed on a carriage which can reciprocate along a platen and is wound on an upper surface of the carriage. A bobbin and a delivery bobbin are rotatably arranged, and a ribbon cassette in which an ink ribbon wound around a pair of reels is housed in the upper surface of the carriage, and each reel has the winding bobbin and the delivery bobbin In a thermal transfer printer which is detachably mounted so as to be engaged with each other, a second take-up bobbin and a second delivery bobbin which are engaged with guide rollers formed on the ribbon cassette are provided on an upper surface of the carriage, respectively. It is arranged so as to be rotatable, and the second
The load is applied to the winding bobbin, and the delivery amount of the second delivery bobbin is set to be equal to or less than the movement amount of the thermal head.

[0008]

According to the present invention, since the load is applied to the second take-up bobbin and the delivery amount of the second delivery bobbin is set to be equal to or less than the movement amount of the thermal head, the ink ribbon Is not drawn out by sandwiching the thermal head and the paper, and is sent out by the second sending bobbin at a sending amount equal to or smaller than the moving amount of the thermal head.
Due to the load of the second winding bobbin, the winding is performed by the winding bobbin while the resistance is applied, and as a result, the amount of the ink ribbon delivered can be reduced.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

1 to 5 show an embodiment of a thermal transfer printer in which a ribbon cassette according to the present invention is mounted. A thermal head 6 is attached to a carriage 5 which is reciprocally movable along a platen 2. A motor 14 is provided for performing contact / separation operation with respect to the platen 2 and ink ribbon winding control, and a transmission gear 16 is meshed with an output pinion gear 15 of the motor 14. This transmission gear 16
A gear portion 18 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cam 17 is meshed with the cam 17, and the head contact / separation cam groove 19 and the head contact / separation cam groove 19 are wider than the head contact / separation cam groove 19 on the upper surface of the cam 17. The shallow ribbon winding cam grooves 20 are formed, respectively.

A support shaft 21 is arranged near the platen 2 of the carriage 5, and in the present embodiment, the support shaft 21 is located on the upper surface of the carriage 5 as shown in FIG. It is formed so as to project. A substantially T-shaped head lever 22 constituting a head contact / separation mechanism is swingably attached to the support shaft 21 about the support shaft 21, and a portion of the head lever 22 near the platen 2 is attached. A head mount 23 facing the platen 2 is fixed by screws. A thermal head 6 is mounted on the surface of the head mount 23 facing the platen 2, and a stopper 24 is provided on the head mount 23 so as to have a predetermined distance from the back surface of the head mount 23. It is projected.

Further, a substantially L-shaped head pressure contact lever 25 is attached to the support shaft 21 so as to be swingable around the support shaft 21, and the head pressure contact lever 25 is provided.
The head contact / separation cam groove 19 of the cam 17 is provided at one end of the
Is formed with a pin 26. The other end of the head pressure contact lever 25 is arranged between the back surface of the head mount 23 of the head lever 22 and the stopper 24. The other end of the head pressure contact lever 25 has a spring holding portion 27. Is erected. Further, the spring holding portion 2
A strong pressure contact spring 28 is interposed between the head mounting base 23 and the head mounting base 23, and the head pressure contact lever 25 is brought into contact with the stopper 24 of the head lever 22 by the urging force of the strong pressure contact spring 28. The head pressure contact lever 25 and the head lever 22 are integrally rotated by the rotation of the cam 17 when the head is moved up and down.

A drive gear 30 meshing with a rack 29 formed in the printer is rotatably arranged around a support shaft 31 on the carriage 5, and the support shaft 31 and the head lever 22 are provided. A weak pressure contact spring 32 having a weaker spring pressure than the strong pressure contact spring 28 is provided between the head lever 22 and the platen 2 so that the head lever 22 always applies a biasing force to the platen 2. There is.

A swing plate 33 is attached to the support shaft 31 so as to be swingable about the support shaft 31,
A pin 34 that engages with the ribbon winding cam groove 20 of the cam 17 is formed at one end of the swing plate 33. Here, the pin 34 of the oscillating plate 33 is formed thicker than the width of the head contact / separation cam groove 19.
Does not fall into the head contact / separation cam groove 19. Further, support shafts 35 and 36 are provided on both sides of the support shaft 31 of the swing plate 33 so as to project therefrom.
A winding transmission gear 37 and a delivery transmission gear 38 that are meshed with the drive gear 30 are rotatably attached to the gears 5 and 36, respectively.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, an ink ribbon take-up bobbin 7 and a delivery bobbin 8 are arranged on the carriage 5, respectively. As shown in FIG.
Below the winding bobbin 7, the winding transmission gear 3 is provided.
A take-up gear 39 meshing with 7 is coaxially attached via a friction mechanism (not shown).

Further, in the present embodiment, the carriage 5 is provided with a second take-up bobbin 40 and a second delivery bobbin 41, respectively, and below the second take-up bobbin 40. A second winding gear 43, which meshes with the winding gear 39 of the winding bobbin 7 via a transmission gear 42, is coaxially mounted via a friction mechanism (not shown). Below the second delivery bobbin 41, a second delivery gear 45 which is meshed with the delivery transmission gear 38 via a plurality of transmission gears 44 is coaxially attached.
By the swing of the swing plate 33, the take-up transmission gear 37 and the delivery transmission gear 38 are meshed with the take-up gear 39 and the transmission gear 44, respectively, whereby the take-up bobbin 7 and the second take-up bobbin. 40 and the second delivery bobbin 41 are rotationally driven.

In this case, in this embodiment, a load is applied to the second winding bobbin 40 by the friction mechanism, and the second delivery bobbin 41 includes the transmission gear 44 and the first transmission bobbin 41. By setting the gear ratio of the 2 delivery gear 45, the delivery amount is set to be equal to or less than the movement amount of the thermal head 6.

Further, on the upper surface of the carriage 5, a photo sensor 4 for detecting the end of the ink ribbon to be used and a color marker of the color ink ribbon.
6 are provided.

The upper surface of the carriage 5 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, a ribbon cassette 48 accommodating an ink ribbon 47 is detachably mounted, and the ribbon cassette 48 is engaged with the take-up bobbin 7 and the delivery bobbin 8 and the ink ribbon A pair of reels (not shown) around which 47 is wound is arranged. The second cassette bobbin 40 is attached to the ribbon cassette 48.
A pair of guide rollers (not shown) which are engaged with the second delivery bobbin 41 and guide the ink ribbon 47 are arranged. The thermal head 6 is inserted in the central portion of the ribbon cassette 48 on the platen 2 side. A concave portion 49 is formed. Further, the support shafts 21 are respectively provided at symmetrical positions on both sides of the concave portion 49 of the ribbon cassette 48.
Is formed with a notch 50.

Since FIG. 1 shows a so-called multi-time ink ribbon cassette that can be used upside down, two notches 50 are formed at symmetrical positions of the recess 49 into which the thermal head 6 is inserted. However, in the case of a so-called one-time ribbon, the cutout 50 is 1
It may be formed only in one place.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

First, as shown in FIG. 2, when the cam 17 is rotated in the leftmost direction in the drawing, the pin 26 of the head pressure contact lever 25 is located at the outermost periphery of the head contact / separation cam groove 19. The head pressure contact lever 25 is swung to the leftmost side in FIG. 2, the head pressure contact lever 25 is contacted with the stopper 24 of the head lever 22 by the urging force of the strong pressure contact spring 28, and the head mount 23 is moved. Since the head pressure contact lever 25 is operated together with the head pressure contact lever 25, the thermal head 6 is held in the head-up state separated from the platen 2 by the swing of the head pressure contact lever 25.

On the other hand, by the ribbon winding cam groove 20,
The oscillating plate 33 is oscillated to the left, and the take-up transmission gear 37 and the sending-out transmission gear 38 supported by the oscillating plate 33 are meshed with the take-up gear 39 and the transmission gear 44, respectively. When the drive gear 30 meshed with the rack 29 is rotationally driven by moving the plate 5 along the platen 2, the take-up gear 39, the second take-up gear 43 and the second take-up gear 43 and the second take-up gear 43 via the transmission gears 42 and 44. The delivery gear 45 is rotationally driven, and the winding bobbin 7 and the second winding bobbin 40
By the rotational drive of the second delivery bobbin 41, the ink ribbon 47 is wound and delivered.

No printing is performed at the position of the cam 17, and when the color ink ribbon 47 is used, color sensing by the photosensor or the ink ribbon 4 is performed.
The slack removal operation is performed when the slack is at 7.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3, when the cam 17 is rotated to the right by driving the motor 14 from the state of FIG. 2, the head pressure contact lever 25 is not rocked and the thermal head 6 is moved to the platen. The rocking plate 33 is rocked rightward by the ribbon winding cam groove 20 while being held in a head-up state separated from the position 2, and the transmission gears 42 and 44 of the rocking plate 33 are separated from the winding gear 39. It In this state, even if the carriage 5 moves, the rotation of the drive gear 30 is not transmitted to the winding bobbin 7 and the second winding bobbin 40, and the winding operation of the ink ribbon 47 is not performed. Used for return operation or ribbon save operation.

Further, when performing normal printing on plain paper or the like, as shown in FIG. 4, by further driving the motor 14 from the state shown in FIG. 3 to rotate the cam 17 to the right, Since the pin 26 of the head pressure contact lever 25 is located at a position closest to the center of rotation of the head contact / separation cam groove 19, the head pressure contact lever 25 is supported by the support shaft 2
It is swung in the rightmost direction around 1. This allows
The head pressure contact lever 25 is separated from the stopper 24 of the head mount base 23, and the head mount base 23 is separated by a spring holding portion 27 of the head pressure contact lever 25 via a strong pressure contact spring 28.
Is pressed, and in this state, the head lever 22 is
Since the urging force of the weak pressure contact spring 32 is applied, a pressing force that is the sum of the urging force of the strong pressure contact spring 28 and the urging force of the weak pressure contact spring 32 is applied to the head mount 23. The thermal head 6 is pressed against the platen 2 with a strong pressing force.

On the other hand, the oscillating plate 33 is rotated leftward from the state shown in FIG. 3, and the winding transmission gear 37 of the oscillating plate 33 is meshed with the winding gear 39 again and is sent out. The transmission gear 38 meshes with the transmission gear 44, and the movement of the carriage 5 causes the ink ribbon 47 to be wound and delivered.

In this state, by moving the carriage 5, the drive gear 30 is rotationally driven via the rack 29, and the winding gear 39, via the transmission gears 42, 44.
The second winding gear 43 and the second feeding gear 45 are rotated to rotationally drive the winding bobbin 7, the second winding bobbin 40 and the second feeding bobbin 41, whereby each reel of the ribbon cassette 48 is rotated. And the guide rollers are rotated to rotate the ink ribbon 47 of the ribbon cassette 48.
While the sheet is being wound, the thermal head 6 is driven based on a desired print signal to print on a predetermined sheet.

At this time, in the present embodiment, the second
Since the load is applied to the winding bobbin 40 and the delivery amount of the second delivery bobbin 41 is set to be equal to or less than the movement amount of the thermal head 6, the ink ribbon 47 is connected to the thermal head 6. It is not drawn out by being pinched with the paper, and is sent out by the second sending bobbin 41 at a sending amount less than the moving amount of the thermal head 6,
Furthermore, the load of the second winding bobbin 40 causes the winding by the winding bobbin 7 while giving resistance, and as a result, the feeding amount of the ink ribbon 47 can be reduced. .

Further, unlike normal printing, when printing is performed on paper for an overhead projector (OHP) or the like, as shown in FIG.
Is driven to rotate the cam 17 further to the left, the pin 26 of the head pressure contact lever 25 is positioned at the innermost peripheral portion of the head contact / separation cam groove 19, and the head contact / separation cam groove 19 at this position is located. Is formed to have a large width, a gap is formed between the pin 26 of the head pressure contact lever 25 and the head contact / separation cam groove 19. As a result, the head pressure contact lever 25 is rotated so as to contact the stopper 24 by the biasing force of the strong pressure contact spring 28, so that the thermal head 6 is pressed against the platen 2 by the biasing force of only the weak pressure contact spring 32. Therefore, it is possible to perform printing with a weak pressure contact force as compared with the case of normal printing. Also,
Even when the cam 17 is rotated, the take-up transmission gear 37 and the delivery transmission gear 38 of the swing plate 33 are held in a state of being meshed with the take-up gear 39 and the transmission gear 44, so that normal printing is performed. In the same manner as in the above case, the ink ribbon 47 can be wound and delivered by moving the carriage 5. Also in this case, as in the case of printing on the plain paper, a large load is applied to the second take-up bobbin 40 and the second delivery bobbin 41.
With the delivery amount equal to or less than the movement amount of the thermal head 6 of
The feeding amount of the ink ribbon 47 can be reduced.

By selecting the position of the cam 17 according to the required situation as described above, various operations required for the thermal transfer printer can be performed.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the load is applied to the second winding bobbin 40 and the amount of the second delivery bobbin 41 is set to be equal to or less than the movement amount of the thermal head 6. Then, the ink ribbon 47 is delivered by the second delivery bobbin 41 at a delivery amount less than the movement amount of the thermal head 6, and the winding is performed in a state where resistance is applied by the load of the second winding bobbin. Therefore, the amount of ink ribbon 47 delivered can be reduced, and as a result, the amount of ink ribbon 47 consumed can be significantly reduced.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, but various modifications can be made if necessary.

[0034]

As described above, in the thermal transfer printer according to the present invention, the load is applied to the second take-up bobbin and the delivery amount of the second delivery bobbin is equal to or less than the movement amount of the thermal head. Since the setting is made, it is possible to reduce the feeding amount of the ink ribbon, and as a result, it is possible to significantly reduce the consumption amount of the ink ribbon.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of a thermal transfer printer equipped with a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an ink ribbon sensing operation state by the thermal transfer printer of FIG.

3 is a configuration diagram showing a carriage return operation state of the thermal transfer printer of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing a printing state on plain paper by the thermal transfer printer of FIG.

5 is a configuration diagram showing a printing state on OHP paper by the thermal transfer printer of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a conventional general thermal transfer printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 platen 5 carriage 6 thermal head 7 take-up bobbin 8 feed bobbin 17 cam 21 support shaft 22 head lever 25 head pressure contact lever 33 swing plate 37 take-up transmission gear 38 feed-out transmission gear 39 take-up gear 40 second take-up Bobbin 41 Second feeding bobbin 43 Second winding gear 45 Second feeding gear 47 Ink ribbon 48 Ribbon cassette

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A thermal head is provided on a carriage that can reciprocate along a platen, and a take-up bobbin and a delivery bobbin are provided on the upper surface of the carriage so as to be rotatable, and an upper surface of the carriage is provided. In a thermal transfer printer, wherein a ribbon cassette in which an ink ribbon wound around a pair of reels is housed is detachably mounted so that each reel engages with the winding bobbin and the delivery bobbin. A second winding bobbin and a second delivery bobbin that are engaged with guide rollers formed on the ribbon cassette are rotatably driven on the upper surface of the carriage, and a load is applied to the second winding bobbin. In addition, the delivery amount of the second delivery bobbin is set to be equal to or less than the movement amount of the thermal head. Thermal transfer printer.