JPH06297787A - Thermosensible transcription recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a thermosensible transcription recording apparatus in which a stable recording image is obtained by applying an electric current to a thermal head after the running of a recording sheet being stabilized. CONSTITUTION:An thermosensible transcription recording apparatus is controlled by a method in which a platen roller driving means is driven while a thermal head 30 presses a platen roller 1, and a recording signal is sent to the thermal head 30 after the platen roller 1 being rotated by a given amount to start recording. When recording is started after the pressing by the thermal head 30, an electric current is not applied to the thermal head 30 until the running of a recording sheet is stabilized so that the sheet runs without recording being conducted. A stable recording image can be obtained by starting the application of the current to the thermal head 30 after the running of the recording sheet is stabilized.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording type recording apparatus for recording information and the like on recording paper using a recording head such as a thermal head and ink.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a device of this type, a hollow drum having a large number of suction holes on its surface is used for vacuum suction of a recording paper on the peripheral surface of the drum, or recording is carried out in a groove provided in the axial direction of the drum surface. A method of chucking a paper to perform recording is known (Japanese Patent Publication No. 57-60954 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-52).
No. 756).

[0003]

In the above-mentioned prior art, the fact that the recording paper is brought into close contact with the surface of the drum is taken into consideration. However, immediately after the recording is started, the rotational driving speed of the drum is not stable and the paper is unevenly fed. It didn't take into account the problem of occurring.

[0004]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, the thermal transfer recording apparatus of the present invention has a platen roller that is rotatable by winding a recording paper on the outer periphery, and a platen roller that faces the platen roller. A thermal head for performing recording according to an input recording signal, a thermal head pressing means for pressing the thermal head against the platen roller, and a platen roller driving means for rotating the platen roller, Control means for driving the platen roller driving means while pressing the thermal head against the platen roller to rotate the platen roller by a predetermined amount and then applying a recording signal to the thermal head to start recording. Be prepared.

[0005]

With the above-described structure, in the thermal transfer recording apparatus of the present invention, after the thermal head is pressed, the platen roller is idly fed to perform recording by the thermal head after the rotational speed of the platen roller is stabilized.
It is possible to obtain a high-quality recorded image without unevenness in feeding.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing a sheet conveying system in a hard copy apparatus (thermal transfer recording apparatus), and FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing a partial cross section thereof.

The platen roller 1 comprises a metal shaft 1a and an elastic body such as rubber fixedly formed into a cylindrical shape. Axis 1
2a is rotatably supported by a bearing 4 mounted on the base plate 3 of FIG. 2, and is further rotatably transmitted to a motor shaft 2a of a drive motor 2 mounted coaxially on the base plate 3. A shaft 5 and a shaft 6 are planted on the substrate 3 of FIG. 2, and an ink paper take-up reel stand 7 and an unwinding reel stand 8 are rotatably attached to the substrate 3, and a leaf spring 9 and a brake shoe 10 are mounted on the reel stand 8. The required braking force by is always applied. The reel stand 7 includes a gear pulley 11 rotatably arranged on the shaft 1a, a stopper 13 fixed to the shaft 1a, and a felt washer 12 attached to the stopper 13.
It is driven by a friction rotation torque generated by a slip mechanism composed of a spring 14 arranged between the platen roller 1 and the gear pulley 11.

Further, an arm 15 is rotatably attached to the shaft 1a, and a relay gear 17 rotatable around a pin 16 planted in the arm 15 is constantly meshed with a gear pulley 11 and a gear of the reel stand 7. It is arranged to be engageable with the portion 7a. Further, the arm 15 is coupled by a stopper 19 fixed to the shaft 1a, a felt washer 18 attached to this, and a spring 20 arranged between the arm 15 and the stopper 13, so that the arm 15 can be rotated depending on the rotation direction of the platen roller 1. It is configured to be swingable around the shaft 1a. Further, the gear portion 7 of the reel stand 7 is provided at one end of the arm 15.
It has a claw portion 15a that can be engaged with a.

Claws 7a, 8b which can be engaged with the reel bases 7, 8 so as to be rotatably coupled with the ink paper core when the cores for the ink paper, to which the tips of the ink paper are fixed, are mounted.
Have a section. A raising / lowering motor 25 of a thermal head 30 capable of switching between forward and reverse directions is mounted on a substrate 3 via a bracket (not shown), and a worm 26 is fixed to a motor shaft 25a. The drive arm 28 is rotatably supported by a shaft 27 planted on the substrate 3, has a worm gear portion 28c, engages with the worm 26, and is centered on the shaft 27 when the motor 25 rotates clockwise. Clockwise,
When the motor 25 is rotated in the reverse direction, it is configured to rotate counterclockwise.

A head arm 31 on which a thermal head 30 is mounted is rotatably attached to the shaft 27, and a spring 33 is also axially supported, and a pin 29 and a head arm 31 are planted on the drive arm 28. The pins 32 are mounted so as to be urged in the direction of separating them.
Further, the pin 36 implanted in the head arm 31 is fitted into the elongated hole 28a formed in the drive arm 28, and regulates the relative position of the two together with the spring 33 in FIG. An arm 39 having a guide pin 40 for used ink paper at the tip thereof around a shaft 38 implanted in the head arm 31.
Is rotatably supported. Further, a spring 41 is stretched between the other end of the arm 39 and the head arm 31 and is urged in the clockwise direction, but in FIG. 1, the 39a portion is in contact with the thermal head 30 to regulate the position. Head arm 31
A leaf spring 42 is fixed to the lower part of the sheet with screws or the like, and in the state of FIG. 1, the leaf spring 42 is configured to lightly press against the paper guide wall 50. On the other hand, the drive arm 28 is connected by a rod 35 to a change-over switch 34 having three slide positions. Here, the changeover switch 34 is connected to a drive circuit of the motor 25 (not shown), and is configured to stop the rotation of the motor 25 driven by each operation mode by switching to the statement signal of the designated position. It has been done.

Reference numerals 50 to 54 are guide walls for conveying the recording paper, and 51a is an insertion opening for the recording paper. Guide wall 50, 5
Ribs 50b and 51b are provided on both sides of 1, respectively,
It is configured to guide the width direction of the paper. Further, a plate-shaped spring 55 is fixed to the guide wall 52. The roller 56 is rotatably biased by a spring 55 in a direction in which it is always in contact with the platen roller 1, and is arranged so as to be rotated by the rotation of the platen roller 1. Reference numerals 59 and 60 are photosensors for detecting edges of the recording paper, and 61 is an index 22a provided on the ink paper 22 when the ink paper is loaded on the platen roller 1 by the rotation of the head arm 31 (FIG. 6). Is a sensor for detecting, and is attached to the substrate 3 via a bracket (not shown).

FIG. 6 shows the structure of the ink paper 22. The ink paper 22 has three colors of inks of yellow, magenta, and cyan applied on the base film in a frame-sequential manner in a size larger than the print width of one screen, and a black index 22a is provided at the head of yellow. Further, between the yellow and magenta and between the magenta and cyan, there are provided portions 22b and 22c only of the base film to which no ink is applied.

Next, the printing operation will be described. In order to perform printing, first, as shown in FIG. 3, the ink paper supply core 23, in which the ink paper before use is wound in a roll shape, is placed on the reel base 8.
An ink paper take-up core 24 for taking up used ink paper is mounted on the reel stand 7. On one of the ink paper supply core 23 and the ink paper take-up core 24, the claw portions 7b of the reel stands 7 and 8,
An engaging portion that can be integrally engaged with 8b is provided. At this time, the other of the ink paper supply core 23 and the ink paper take-up core 24 is held rotatably in parallel with the platen roller 1 via a bracket attached to the substrate 3 although not shown. At this time, the ink paper 22 is not formed on the substrate 3 though not shown.
Ink paper detection switch that can detect the presence or absence of
The switch can be switched by mounting the ink paper 22.

When a power button (not shown) is pressed next, the AND switch between the ink paper detection switch and the power switch is taken to start the motor 25 in the counterclockwise direction, and the drive arm 28 drives the worm 26 and the worm gear portion 28c. Starts rotating counterclockwise. As a result, the head arm 31 rotates counterclockwise integrally with the drive arm 28 via the spring 33, so that the thermal head 30 descends and the guide pin 40 sandwiches the ink paper 22 and contacts the platen roller 1. Further, while extending the spring 41 around the shaft 38, it rotates counterclockwise to reach FIG. At this time, the changeover switch 34 is changed over from the first position to the second position by turning the turning arm 28. The rotation of the motor 25 is stopped by this signal. Here, the sensor 61 senses the index 22a of the ink paper 22, and if the index 22a is detected, the motor 25 rotates clockwise and returns to the state of FIG. 3, but if the index 22a does not exist, the motor 25 moves counterclockwise. The thermal head 30 rotates to the ink paper 22
To contact the platen roller 1.

The rotation of the motor 25 advances and the rotation arm 28
When is further rotated in the counterclockwise direction, the spring 33 presses the pin 29 so that the flexure pin 36 and the elongated hole 28a are no longer in contact with each other, and the torsion spring 33 pushes the pin 32. 22 and the platen roller 1 are pressed. Here, the changeover switch 34 is changed over to the third position, the rotation of the motor is stopped, and the state shown in FIG. 4 is reached.

The motor 2 starts to rotate in the clockwise direction in FIG. 1 in response to the changeover signal from the changeover switch 34, and the platen roller 1 is driven to rotate in the clockwise direction. As a result, the arm 15 swings in the clockwise direction in FIG. 1, the relay gear 17 engages with the gear portion 7a of the reel stand 7 and starts to rotate counterclockwise, so that the reel stand 7 is rotationally driven in the clockwise direction. receive. As a result, the ink paper 22 is driven by the pressing force of the platen roller 1 and the thermal head 30 to overcome the braking force of the reel base 8 and is wound onto the reel base 7. However, if the photo sensor 61 detects the index 22a, the motor 25 Is rotationally driven in the clockwise direction and the pressing of the thermal head 30 is released.

At this time, the motor 2 continues to rotate clockwise,
The platen roller 1 and the reel base 7 are rotationally driven, but the winding torque of the reel base 7 is the rotational torque generated by the friction between the gear pulley 11 and the felt washer 12 of the platen roller shaft 1a portion, and the take-up torque on the payout side. The rule table 8 is constantly being braked by the brake shoes 10,
Since this brake torque is set so as to always exceed the winding torque of the reel base 7, the reel base 7 does not rotate after winding the slack ink paper 22 due to the retreat of the thermal head 30. The movement of the paper 22 is stopped. On the other hand, the clockwise rotation of the motor 25 is performed until the changeover switch 34 is switched from the third position to the first position by the clockwise rotation of the rotating arm, and the rotation of the motor 2 is stopped at the same time to return to the state of FIG. The operation of returning to the beginning of the ink paper 22 is completed by returning.

Next, the loading of the recording paper 21 will be described.
When the paper feed button (not shown) is pressed in the state shown in FIG. 5 after the above-described ink cueing operation is completed, the motor 2 starts to drive in the clockwise direction, and the platen roller 1 and the reel stand 7 simultaneously rotate in the clockwise direction. However, since the ink paper 22 cannot be moved as described above, the reel stand 7 is stopped. However, the ink paper 22 is taken up by the winding torque of the reel stand 7 and the reel stand 8
The tension between the reels is always applied by the braking. On the other hand, the recording paper 21 is conveyed while being guided by the guide guides 51 and 52 from the recording paper insertion opening 51a by a paper feed mechanism (not shown) or a manual operation. Eventually, the front end of the recording paper 21 comes into contact with the platen roller 1, but the front end of the recording paper 21 is easily guided in the rotation direction of the platen roller 1 by the frictional force between the front end of the recording paper 21 and the platen roller 1 to the contact portion of the roller 56. Is sent. Further, the recording paper 21 is driven in pressure contact by the roller 56 and the platen roller 1, and the leading end is sent to the position of the photo sensor 59. The photo sensor 59 detects the front end of the recording paper 21, and the rotation of the motor 2 is stopped by this signal and the motor 25 is rotated counterclockwise to reach the state of FIG.

The motor 25 is stopped by the switching signal of the selector switch 34, and the motor 2 starts rotating clockwise again.
The leading edge of the recording paper 21 is easily guided between the ink paper 22 and the platen roller 1 by the frictional force with the ink paper 22, and is conveyed by weight. Further, the guides 50 and 53 guide the sensor 61. The sensor 61 detects the leading edge of the recording paper 21, and the rotation of the motor 2 is stopped by this signal. At this time, in FIG. 6, the coating length of the first color yellow is the sensor 5
Assuming that K is the length by which 9 senses the recording paper 21 and is again sensed by the sensor 60, the coating length is set to be K longer than the second and third colors.

Next, the printing operation will be described. When the copy button (not shown) is pressed in the state of FIG. 4, the index 22a and the recording paper 21 by the photosensors 60 and 61 are used.
Is detected and AND is taken, the clockwise drive of the motor 2 and the energization of the thermal head 30 are started, and the printing operation is performed. Here, in the above description, the paper feed button is pressed and then the copy button is pressed to start printing. However, it goes without saying that the paper can be automatically fed into the apparatus by pressing the copy button. At this time, the recording paper 21 is superposed and conveyed between the ink paper 21 and the platen roller 1, and the energization of the thermal head 30 is started by the leading edge detection signal of the recording paper 21 of the sensor 61. Here, the motor 2 may be intermittently driven by a stepping motor or constant-speed continuous driving by a normal DC motor, and the energization pitch to the thermal head 30 is assumed to be synchronized with the driving amount of the platen roller 1 by the motor 2. At this time, the ink paper 22 and the recording paper 21 are fed integrally by the platen roller 1, and the used ink paper is separated from the recording paper 21 by the guide pins 40 and wound on the core 24 by the reel stand 7. . The braking force applied to the reel base 8 is applied to the ink paper 22 as back tension to prevent wrinkles and skew. On the other hand, the recording paper 21 reaches the outside of the apparatus by the guides 50, 52 and 54.

When a predetermined amount of the first color (yellow) has been printed, the thermal head 30 is de-energized, but the recording paper 21 and the ink paper 22 are continuously conveyed by the pressing of the thermal head 30, and the ink paper is de-energized. When 22 is sent by the length M and the portion 22b (FIG. 6) reaches the position of the thermal head 30, the motor 25 is driven in the clockwise direction to release the pressing of the thermal head 30 and stop the rotation of the motor 2. The movement of the ink paper 22 and the recording paper 21 is also stopped. This operation can be easily performed by predetermining the ink application length of the ink paper 22 and activating the above-mentioned switching after a predetermined time set by a microcomputer after starting printing. At this time, it is assumed that all the recorded ink paper 22 has passed through the guide pins 40 and separated from the recording paper 21. At this time, the end of the recording paper 21 is at least the roller 56.
The length is determined so as to hang on the contact portion between the platen roller 1 and the platen roller 1. The motor 25 rotates clockwise until the changeover switch 34 is switched from the third position to the second position, as shown in FIG. 5, but the motor 2 starts driving in the counterclockwise direction by the switching signal to the second position. To be

In FIG. 1, when the motor 2 rotates counterclockwise, the arm 15 swings counterclockwise. Therefore, the relay gear 17
Is disengaged from the reel base 7, and the claw portion 15a is engaged with the gear portion 7a of the reel base 7. On the other hand, since the recording paper 21 is pressed by the roller 56 by the force of the spring 55, the recording paper 21 starts to be fed backward by the frictional force acting between the recording paper 21 and the platen 1.
At this time, the ink paper 22 is also guided by the spring 41 to the guide pin 4
Although it tries to return by the frictional force that acts between the ink paper 22 and the recording paper 21 due to the pressing force of 0, the reel base 7 has the above-mentioned claw portion 15a.
The ink paper 22 is not moved because it is restrained by. Therefore, only the recording paper 21 is fed backward while sliding between the non-ink coated portion 22b of the ink paper 22 and the recording paper 21.

Here, it is also possible to use the thermal head 30 instead of the roller 56 as the reverse feeding means and apply the pressing force required for the reverse feeding. The recording paper 21 sent back is returned through the passage formed by the guides 50 to 54 and the ink paper 22. When the motor 2 is a stepping motor, the number of steps rotated clockwise from the start of printing is p, and in reverse rotation, the motor 2 sends (p + q) steps and then stops rotation. In the case of a continuous feed motor, the motor 2 rotates. An encoder capable of measuring the amount is built in, and similarly, the amount rotated clockwise from the start of printing is measured, and at the time of reverse rotation, only (p + q) is sent and then the rotation is stopped.

On the other hand, the motor 25 is driven in the counterclockwise direction by the rotation stop signal of the motor 2 and the thermal head 30 is pressed again, but the motor 25 is stopped and the motor 2 is stopped by the third position signal of the changeover switch. Start driving clockwise. When the rotation amount advances by q, energization of the thermal head 30 is started, and the second color (magenta)
Is printed. At this time, if the driving amount of the ink paper 22 by the rotation amount q of the motor 2 is set to N, the relative position of the ink paper 22 and the thermal head 30 is in the magenta area as is apparent from FIG. . Also, since the phase alignment for recording paper printing start is performed only when rotating clockwise,
The printing dots on the recording paper can be superposed with high precision.

In the same manner, the third color cyan is also printed, but the photo sensor 61 causes the ink paper 22 to finish printing the third color.
The motor 25 is driven by detecting the index 22a of 1., the pressure of the thermal head 30 is released, and the movement of the ink paper 22 is stopped. On the other hand, the recording paper 21 continues to move to the outside of the apparatus by being driven by the guide pin 40 and the platen roller 1. The motor 25 returns to the state shown in FIG. 3 and stops, and in the case of cut paper, the motor 2 stops after a predetermined time at least set so that the trailing edge completes the drive by the guide pin 40, and the copy operation ends. To do. When repeating copying below, simply press the copy button for the roll paper, and if it is cut paper, insert slot 5
The copying operation may be performed after inserting one sheet from 1a and performing the paper feeding operation. The leaf spring 42 attached to the rear end of the head arm 31 presses the roll paper that lightly presses the guide 50 in the state of FIG. It is possible to avoid troubles when installing paper equipment.

[0027]

As is apparent from the above description,
The thermal transfer recording paper apparatus of the present invention performs idling of the recording paper without energizing the thermal head until the traveling of the recording paper is stabilized after the thermal head is pressed at the start of recording, and after the traveling of the recording paper is stabilized, the thermal transfer is performed. It is possible to obtain a stable recorded image by starting to energize the head, which is extremely useful in practice.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a hard copy device mechanical unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic front view of a state in which the thermal head is separated from the ink paper.

FIG. 4 is a schematic front view of a state in which the thermal head presses the ink paper.

FIG. 5 is a schematic front view of the state when the changeover switch is changed over.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the configuration of ink paper.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Platen roller, 7, 8 ... Reel stand, 21 ... Recording paper, 22 ... Ink paper, 25 ... Motor, 30 ... Thermal head, 31 ... Head arm, 34 ... Changeover switch, 59, 60, 61 ... Sensor.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Internal reference number FI technical display location B41J 25/304 B41J 25/30 U

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A platen roller which is rotatable around an outer circumference of a recording paper, a thermal head which is disposed so as to face the platen roller, and performs recording according to an input recording signal, and the thermal head. A thermal head pressing means for pressing against the platen roller, a platen roller driving means for rotating the platen roller, and a platen roller driving means for driving the platen roller with the thermal head pressed against the platen roller. A thermal transfer recording apparatus comprising: a control unit for controlling recording of a recording signal to the thermal head after rotating the recording medium by a predetermined amount to start recording.