JPH05309852A - Thermal transfer printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a thermal transfer printer capable of preventing a stain of a paper due to the rubbing of an ink ribbon and properly printing by preventing the lacking of a character. CONSTITUTION:A thermal head 6 is provided so as to move toward or away from a platen 2. A glaze 13 wherein a prescribed number of heating elements are disposed on the top portion thereof is formed on the surface of the thermal head 6 in opposition to the platen 2. An ink ribbon cassette which introduces an ink ribbon 12 to a position between the platen 2 and the thermal head 6 is detachably loaded. The title apparatus is constituted so that the width of the ink ribbon 12 is larger than that of the platen 2 as well as the length of the glaze 13 is longer than the width of the ink ribbon 12.

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 preventing the occurrence of paper stains due to the rubbing of an ink ribbon, and moreover, preventing characters from missing and performing proper printing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 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 that is in pressure contact with the paper feed roller 10 is rotatably disposed. The paper feed roller 10 and the pressure contact roller 1
The sheet inserted from the sheet insertion port 9 is sandwiched between the sheet 1 and the sheet 1 and conveyed.

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 roller 10 is driven to rotate. The paper is conveyed at a predetermined speed in the 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.

Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 5, the width dimension a of the flat platen 2 in the height direction, the ink ribbon 1
The width dimension b of 2 and the length dimension c of the glaze 13 on which the heating elements of the thermal head 6 are formed are a> b ≧
and the thermal head 6
Through the ink ribbon 12 and the paper 14 to the platen 2
The desired printing is carried out by contacting with.

[0006]

However, in such a conventional thermal transfer printer, the width a of the platen 2 is a.
Since the width dimension b of the ink ribbon 12 is made smaller, when the thermal head 6 is brought into pressure contact with the platen 2 via the ink ribbon 12 and the paper 14, the upper and lower side edges of the ink ribbon 12 are the platen 2. Therefore, there is a problem in that the ink ribbons 12 on both side edges of the ink ribbon 12 are peeled off and adhere to the paper 14, and the paper 14 is soiled.

[0007] Also, the glaze 1 of the thermal head 6
Since the length c of the ink ribbon 3 is less than or equal to the width b of the ink ribbon 12, the closeness of the ink ribbon 12 to the glaze 13 is poor, and even when the position of the ink ribbon 12 is slightly displaced, the ink ribbon 12 However, there is a problem in that wrinkles are generated on the surface of the ink ribbon 12 and character missing occurs on the surface of the ink ribbon 12.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and is a thermal transfer capable of preventing the occurrence of paper stains due to the rubbing of the ink ribbon, and moreover, preventing character loss and the like and performing proper printing. It is intended to provide a printer.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, in a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention, a thermal head is disposed on a carriage that is reciprocally movable along a platen so that the thermal head can be moved toward and away from the platen. Along with this, a glaze is formed on the surface of the thermal head facing the platen at the tip of which a heating element of a predetermined dot is formed, and an ink ribbon is stored on the upper surface of the carriage, and the ink ribbon is connected to the platen and the thermal head. In a thermal transfer printer in which a ribbon cassette for guiding between is detachably mounted, a width dimension of the ink ribbon is formed to be larger than a width dimension of the platen, and a length dimension of a glaze of the thermal head is set to that of the ink ribbon. It is characterized in that it is formed larger than the width dimension.

[0010]

According to the present invention, since the width of the ink ribbon is larger than the width of the platen, when the thermal head is pressed against the platen, both the upper and lower edges of the ink ribbon slide on the platen. It is possible to prevent contact, and since the length dimension of the glaze of the thermal head is formed larger than the width dimension of the ink ribbon, even if the ink ribbon is slightly misaligned, As a result, the intimate contact of the ink ribbon with the glaze can be remarkably enhanced.

[0011]

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

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a platen and a thermal head portion of a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention. In the printer, a flat platen 2 is arranged so that its printing surface is substantially vertical. The printer is provided with a thermal head 6 mounted on a carriage (not shown) that can reciprocate along the platen 2 so as to face the platen 2. On the surface of the thermal head 6 facing the platen 2, there is formed a spherical glaze 13 having a heating element (not shown) of a predetermined dot formed at the tip thereof, and the ink ribbon 12 is formed on the upper surface of the carriage. Store this ink ribbon 12
A ribbon cassette (not shown) for guiding between the thermal head 6 and the platen 2 is mounted.

Further, in this embodiment, the width dimension a of the flat platen 2, the width dimension b of the ink ribbon 12 and the length dimension c of the glaze 13 of the thermal head 6 are a.
It is formed so that <b <c.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

In the present embodiment, desired printing is performed with the thermal head 6 pressed against the platen 2 via the ink ribbon 12 and the paper 14.
From the width a of the platen 2 to the width b of the ink ribbon 12
Therefore, it is possible to prevent the upper and lower edges of the ink ribbon 12 from slidingly contacting the platen 2 when the thermal head 6 is pressed against the platen 2. Further, since the length dimension c of the glaze 13 of the thermal head 6 is formed larger than the width dimension b of the ink ribbon 12, even if the ink ribbon 12 is slightly displaced, the ink ribbon 12 is in contact with the glaze 13. Therefore, the closeness of the ink ribbon 12 to the glaze 13 can be remarkably enhanced.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the platen 2 is formed to have a width dimension a larger than a width dimension b of the ink ribbon 12 to prevent both side edges of the ink ribbon 12 from slidingly contacting the paper 14. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the ink ribbon 12 from being peeled off due to the sliding contact of the ink ribbon 12, and it is possible to surely prevent the ink from adhering to the paper sheet 14. Moreover, since the length c of the glaze 13 of the thermal head 6 is formed to be larger than the width b of the ink ribbon 12, the adhesion of the ink ribbon 12 is good and the deviation of the ink ribbon 12 can be prevented. , It is possible to perform proper printing without missing characters.

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the present invention, in which a planar glaze 13 is used as the glaze 13 of the thermal head 6, and in this embodiment as well, the same as the above-mentioned embodiment, Width a of the platen 2, width b of the ink ribbon 12, and glaze 1 of the thermal head 6.
The length dimension c of 3 is formed so that a <b <c.

Therefore, also in this embodiment, as in the case of the above-described embodiment, the side edges of the ink ribbon 12 are the paper 1.
It is possible to prevent the ink ribbon 12 from slidingly contacting, and to prevent the ink ribbon 12 from peeling off due to the sliding contact of the ink ribbon 12 and to reliably prevent the ink from adhering to the paper sheet 14 and causing contamination. Adhesion of the ink ribbon 12 to the head 6 can be enhanced, and deviation of the ink ribbon 12 can be prevented to perform proper printing without character loss.

Further, FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the present invention. For example, in a thermal head 6 having different numbers of printed dots, a thermal head 6 having a large number of dots and a thermal head 6 having a small number of dots are used. In the present embodiment, a large amount of glaze 13 is formed in the thermal head 6 and a heating element is formed only in the lower part thereof in order to improve the manufacturing efficiency. It was done.

In this embodiment, the length dimension c of the glaze 13 of the thermal head 6 is formed to be extremely large with respect to the width dimension b of the ink ribbon 12, but this embodiment is also the same as the above embodiment. Similarly, the ink ribbon 1
It is possible to prevent the ink ribbon 12 from being peeled off due to the sliding contact of the two, so that it is possible to reliably prevent the adhesion and stain of the ink on the paper sheet 14. Further, the adhesion of the ink ribbon 12 to the thermal head 6 is enhanced, and the ink ribbon 12 is It is possible to prevent misalignment of characters and perform proper printing without missing characters.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, but can be variously modified if necessary.

[0022]

As described above, in the thermal transfer printer according to the present invention, by forming the width dimension of the platen larger than the width dimension of the ink ribbon, it is possible to prevent both side edges of the ink ribbon from slidingly contacting the paper. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the ink ribbon from peeling due to the sliding contact of the ink ribbon, and it is possible to surely prevent the ink from being attached to the paper. Moreover, since the length dimension of the glaze of the thermal head is formed to be larger than the width dimension of the ink ribbon, the adhesion of the ink ribbon is good, the deviation of the ink ribbon can be prevented, and the proper character without missing characters can be obtained. There is an effect that printing can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a platen and a thermal head portion of a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a platen and a thermal head portion showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a platen and a thermal head portion showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a conventional general thermal transfer printer.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a platen and a thermal head portion in a conventional thermal transfer printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Platen 6 Thermal head 12 Ink ribbon 13 Glaze 14 Paper

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A thermal head is disposed on a carriage that can reciprocate along a platen so as to come in contact with and separate from the platen, and a predetermined dot is provided at a tip portion on a surface of the thermal head facing the platen. In a thermal transfer printer, which forms a glaze having a heating element formed therein, an ink ribbon is housed on the upper surface of the carriage, and a ribbon cassette for guiding the ink ribbon between the platen and the thermal head is detachably mounted. The thermal transfer printer is characterized in that the width dimension of the ink ribbon is formed larger than the width dimension of the platen, and the length dimension of the glaze of the thermal head is formed larger than the width dimension of the ink ribbon.