JPH068612A - Plate making printing apparatus also serving as printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To economically prepare not only a small quantity of papers, but a large volume of papers, and to print the papers with a stencil obtained through plate making CONSTITUTION:The apparatus is provided with a thermal transfer printing means 1 for printing character data or the like to a printing paper according to a thermal transfer method, a plate making means 2 for a stencil which forms apertures in a stencil original, and a stencil printing means 3 for carrying out printing with the use of the stencil obtained by the plate making means 2. The former means 1, 2 share a thermal head as a heating element. A selecting means 4 alternatively selects at least thermal transfer printing or plate making of the stencil original.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can selectively perform thermal transfer recording and heat-sensitive plate making using a heating element such as a thermal head, and also prints using a stencil obtained by the heat-sensitive plate making. The present invention relates to a plate-making / printing device that can be used as a printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese word processors and computers have been rapidly spread, and a large amount of documents created by various printers have been used. By the way, the dot printer reproduces characters such as Chinese characters in dot (pixel) units. Therefore, when trying to reproduce a complicated character such as Japanese, the number of dots occupying one page becomes enormous, and the printing speed of them can cope with the mass production of documents except for some expensive printers. Not a thing.

For this reason, conventionally, even when two or more copies of one document are required, the printer usually prints one copy at a time. Then, a method was adopted in which the printed document was used as the original and the missing portion was copied by a copying machine.

[0004]

However, when such a method is adopted, when a large number of copies are required for one document, there is a drawback that the cost of making the document becomes expensive due to various expenses required for copying. .

Therefore, various low-priced light printing systems have been developed in place of copying machines in preparation for preparing a large number of copies of documents. For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 52-496
No. 9 describes a thermal copying method for stencil printing. In this method, an original master plate is overlaid on a stencil base paper obtained by laminating a thermoplastic synthetic resin film and a porous support. Then, an electron flash discharge tube filled with xenon gas is used to irradiate a flash of a light beam having a wavelength of 0.7 to 1.5 .mu.m to perforate an image on the stencil base paper.

According to this heat-sensitive copying method, however, if the ink or the like used for the original original plate has poor infrared absorption efficiency, sufficient heat is not generated even by irradiation of flash light, and perforations are clearly formed. There was a drawback that it might not exist. Further, if the original original plate or the ink or the like described therein is melted by heating, there is a definite defect that the original plate is damaged to the extent that it cannot be reused by irradiation of flash light.

On the other hand, there is also a plate-making machine of the type which directly punches holes by a wire dot printer or a discharge printer. However, since the former plate-making machine punches holes by using wire dots, there are problems that the processing speed is slow and the sound during plate-making is noisy as in the case of the above-mentioned printer. Further, in the latter case, there is a non-modern problem that not only the plate making processing speed is slow but also a bad odor is generated due to discharge breakdown.

Therefore, as a means for eliminating these drawbacks, JP-A-55-103957 and JP-A-58-103957.
Japanese Patent No. 39457 proposes an invention in which a heat pulse is applied to a stencil base paper to perform perforation. However, even the apparatus embodying these inventions necessarily requires an original plate for plate making. Therefore, when preparing a small number of documents, the price of the original plate greatly affects the cost of preparing the entire document, which is rather uneconomical. Needless to say, if a plate making apparatus, a printer, and a printing machine are gathered in one place to create a system for making documents, such a problem can be solved. However, this makes the overall system expensive and bulky. Further, the operator has to manually set the stencil created by the plate making device in the printing machine, which not only requires skill to perform the work, but also has a drawback that the hand becomes dirty.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to economically produce not only a small number of documents but also a large number of documents, and also to print using a stencil obtained by plate making. An object of the present invention is to provide a plate-making printing apparatus that can be used as a printer.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a heating element that generates heat when energized, a supporting substrate is provided on the side facing the heating element, and a thermal transferable ink layer is provided on the other side. A thermal transfer recording medium, a pressing means for pressing the thermal transfer recording medium in the direction in which the heating element is located, and a stencil base paper on which a thermoplastic synthetic resin film layer is formed on a porous support are provided between the heating element and the thermal transfer recording medium. A stencil raw paper supply path to be supplied between and a stencil raw paper sent through this stencil raw paper supply path is supplied with a stencil obtained by punching with the heating element, and printing is performed using this Means, a printing paper supply means for supplying the printing paper between the thermal transfer recording medium and the pressing means or to the printing means as necessary, and at least a printing paper. Mode designating means for selectively designating a print mode for performing printing and a plate making mode for punching stencil base paper, and the heating element and thermal transfer recording in a state where the mode designating means designates a print mode. Printer part control means for slidingly contacting a medium to selectively transfer the heat transferable ink to printing paper, and stencil base paper for sliding contact with the heating element while the mode designating means designates a plate making mode The plate-making / printing apparatus also serving as a printer is provided with a plate-making-apparatus-partial controlling means for performing a perforation, and a printing-apparatus part-controlling means for performing printing by superposing printing sheets on a stencil when printing is performed by the printing means.

That is, according to the first aspect of the invention, the printer section is used when a small number of documents are to be produced, and the plate making apparatus section and the printing apparatus section are used when a large number of documents are to be produced. In the present invention, the heating element for image formation can be shared by the printer part and the plate making device part, so that not only the cost of the device can be reduced, but also the entire device can be compacted by sharing the heating element. . Further, in the present invention, since the plate making device portion is connected to the printing device portion, anyone can easily obtain a printed matter.

[0012]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to examples.

FIG. 1 shows the basic construction of a plate-making / printing apparatus which also serves as a printer according to this embodiment. This apparatus is a thermal transfer printing means 1 for printing character information and the like on a printing paper by a thermal transfer system, a stencil base paper plate making means 2 for punching a stencil base paper, and a stencil obtained by the stencil base paper plate making means 2. The stencil printing unit 3 is used to perform printing using the. These three means 1,
The former two of the two and three share a thermal head as a heating element. Therefore, the selecting means 4 is designed to selectively select at least the thermal transfer printing and the stencil base paper plate making.

FIG. 2 shows an essential part of such a plate-making and printing apparatus which also serves as a printer. Device body 1 of this device
Inside the 0, a stencil stencil paper 11 is wound into a roll, and a stencil paper supply tube 12 is arranged. The stencil base paper 11 fed from the base paper supply paper tube 12 is conveyed by a pair of base paper supply rolls 13 and sent between the thermal head 14 and the platen roll 15. Base paper supply roll 13
A cutter 16 for cutting the stencil base paper 11 into a predetermined length is arranged between the thermal head 14 and the thermal head 14. When the stencil base paper 11 passes between the thermal head 14 and the platen roll 15, plate making is performed as described later to form a stencil (not shown). The stencil is sent to the printing unit 19 by another pair of stencil transport rolls 17 and a pair of stencil supply rolls 18. Base paper supply roll 13, stencil transport roll 1
In front of the stencil supply roll 7 and the stencil supply roll 18, a blowing means (not shown) is provided between the stencil supply roll 18 and the stencil base paper (stencil) for smoothly feeding the leading end of the stencil base paper (stencil) without folding or wrinkling.

As shown in FIG. 4, the stencil base paper 11 has a stretched thermoplastic synthetic resin film layer 22 adhered on a porous base paper base 21, is thin, and the base paper itself is not so strong. Therefore, in this apparatus, the ink donor sheet 23 as the thermal transfer recording medium is the thermal head 1.
The stencil stencil sheet 11 is conveyed in the portion 4 of FIG. The ink donor film 23 is wound around a film supply paper tube 24, is sequentially fed out from this, and is wound around a winding paper tube 25 after passing between the thermal head 14 and the platen roll 15. However, in the plate making mode in which the stencil base paper 11 is used,
The ink donor film 23 is conveyed in the opposite direction,
It is rewound. As shown in FIG. 5, the ink donor film 23 has a heat transferable ink layer 27 on a film base 26.
And is originally used for performing thermal transfer printing in the print mode.

The printing section 19 is provided with a pair of plate cylinders 31 and 32 and a belt-shaped screen 33 wound around them. When the sensor 34 arranged at the subsequent stage of the stencil supply roll 18 detects the tip of the stencil, it is gripped by the gripper 35 attached to the upper plate cylinder 31, and is superposed on the screen 33 on the upper plate cylinder 31.
In front of the gripper 35, there is provided an air blowing means (not shown) for smoothly gripping the tip of the stencil without bending or wrinkling. The gripper 35 does not interfere with the screen 33,
When the stencil is superposed on the screen 33 to some extent, it is retracted into the upper plate cylinder 31. Since ink is attached to the surface of the screen 33, the stencil is attached to the screen 33 via the ink. The stencil is conveyed together with the screen 33 to the lower plate cylinder 32. A pressure roll 36 is provided below the lower plate cylinder 32 so as to be vertically movable.

A printing paper 41 for thermal transfer printing or printing is laminated on a paper supply tray 42 which is detachably arranged in the apparatus main body 10. The printing paper 41 is in the print mode or in the print mode.
3, the sheet is fed one by one, and is conveyed by a pair of print registration rolls 44.
Then, it is fed between the lower plate cylinder 32 and the pressing roll 36. After that, in the print mode, between the sheet transport direction switching member 46 and the pair of sheet transport rolls 47,
Between the pair of paper registration rolls 48, the thermal head 14
Between the platen roll 15 and the platen roll 15
And the pair of paper discharge rolls 50 are sequentially conveyed and discharged to the paper discharge tray 51. In the print mode, the sheet is conveyed in order between the sheet conveying direction switching member 46 and the sheet guide 52, between the conveying belt 53 and the pair of sheet discharging rolls 54, and is similarly discharged to the sheet discharging tray 51. The sheet conveyance direction restricting member 45 is rotatable about a shaft 55. Normally (even in the print mode), the conveyance direction of the print sheet 41 is set slightly below the lower plate cylinder 32 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the lower plate cylinder 32
It is designed to be slid on. The paper carrying direction switching member 46 is rotatable about a shaft 56. Normally (even in the print mode), the carrying direction of the printing paper 41 is set to the paper carrying roll 47 side as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, it is arranged on the side of the conveyor belt 54. The paper guide 52 is vertically movable, and is normally at the lower limit position as shown in FIG. 2 (even in the print mode), and at the upper limit position in the print mode as shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 shows a part of an operation panel in the plate-making / printing device which also serves as a printer having the above-mentioned structure. The operation panel 61 is arranged on the upper surface of the apparatus body 10, and can be set to an operable state by turning on a power switch (not shown) arranged on the side panel of the apparatus body 10. ing. That is, when the power is turned on by operating the power switch, the apparatus enters a predetermined print mode and the print mode lamp 62 is turned on. In this state, the mode designation button 64
When is pressed, the apparatus enters the plate making print mode, and the plate making print mode lamp 63 is turned on. When the mode designation button 64 is pressed again, the print mode is designated. The ready lamp 65 is lit when the apparatus is ready for printing or plate-making printing, and the in-process lamp 66 is lit when printing or plate-making printing is in process. The start button 67 is a button for instructing the start of printing or the like, and the stop button 68 is a button for forcibly stopping the process for some reason.

A ten key 69 is used to set the number of copies to be printed in the print mode or the plate-making print mode. The set number of sheets and the current number of printed sheets are displayed in a dot pattern on the display 70. If the set number of prints in the print mode is greater than or equal to the set number, the displayed numerical value blinks, prompting a change to the plate-making print mode. In this state, if the operator operates the mode designating button 64 to designate the plate making mode, the characters "mode change" are displayed on the display 70 and the set number is automatically cleared. By operating the numeric keypad 69 in combination with other button switches, it is possible to perform self-diagnosis of the device and set the device to a special mode.

FIG. 7 shows an outline of a circuit configuration of the plate-making printing apparatus which also serves as a printer. This device is a CPU
A (central processing unit) 71 is mounted and connected to each unit through a bus line 72 such as a data bus. Of these, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 73 is a memory in which a program for performing circuit control is written. RA
An M (random access memory) 74 accumulates image data for printing or plate making, while temporarily storing other processed data. The operation panel input section 75 is a data input section for inputting various data on the operation panel 61, and the image data input section 76 is a circuit section for receiving image data 77 from a host computer (not shown). The sensor input port 78 is a circuit portion that inputs and processes data 79 output from various sensors, which will be described later, and sends the data 79 to the bus line 72. Display driver 81
Is a drive circuit for displaying characters and numbers on the display 70 and for lighting lamps such as the print mode lamp 62. A motor driver 82 is used as a power source of the printer system.
A printing motor 83 driven by
A stencil printing motor 85 driven by a motor driver 84 is used as a power source of the stencil printing system.
The thermal head 14 is driven by the head driver 86. The head solenoid 87 is the thermal head 14.
Is operated by a solenoid driver 88. This behavior is
This is performed when the stencil base paper 11 is set between the thermal head 14 and the platen roll 15. The cutter solenoid 89 is for causing the cutter 16 to perform a cutting operation, and is driven by the solenoid driver 91. The gripper 35 is driven by a stencil driver 92 for attaching and detaching the stencil, and superimposes the stencil on the screen 33. Stencil driver 92
Also, the releaser 93 is driven so that the tip portion of the stencil after the printing is completed is peeled off from the screen 33. The sheet-conveying-direction switching solenoid 94 is used to change the sheet-conveying-direction restricting member 45, the sheet-conveying-direction switching member 46, and the sheet guide 52 from the state shown in FIG. 2 to the state shown in FIG. It

The operation of the plate-making / printing device that also serves as a printer will be described in detail with reference to the flowcharts.

When the device is powered on, the CPU 71 determines which mode is designated by the mode designation button 64 (step S101 in FIG. 8). If the mode designation button 64 is not pressed or is pressed even times (N), the print mode is executed (step S1).
02), if it is pressed an odd number of times, the (Y) plate-making printing mode is executed (step S103). Such a determination is made depending on whether the signal "1" or "0" is registered in a mode designation area (not shown) of the RAM 74. That is, for example, the signal "0" is initially registered in this area, and the signal state is inverted every time the mode designation button 64 is pressed. If the print mode is determined by the CPU 71, the print mode lamp 62 is turned on by driving the display driver 81, and if the print mode is the plate-making print mode, the display driver 81 also turns on the plate-making print mode lamp 63.

Outline of print mode

FIG. 9 shows an outline of the operation of the apparatus in the print mode. When the apparatus is set to the print mode, the CPU 71 determines whether or not the ink donor film 23 is present (step S104), the presence or absence of the printing paper 41 (step S105), and the occurrence of jam (paper jam) (step S106). Then, it is sequentially determined whether or not the image data reception is completed (step S107). Other matters except the presence / absence of the reception of the image data are determined by the data 79 as the detection output of various sensors provided inside the apparatus.

When the ink donor film 23 does not exist or the remaining amount is small (step S104; N), the display driver 81 is driven and the display 70 displays "sheet replenishment" (step S108). . When there is no printing paper 41 in the paper supply tray 42 (step S105; N), "paper supply" is similarly displayed on the display 70 (step S109).
When the jam of the ink donor film 23 or the printing paper 41 has occurred (step S106; N), the "jam removal" instruction is similarly displayed on the display 70 (step S110). The image data 77 is demodulated by the image data input unit 76 and taken into the RAM 74,
Until the acquisition of one page is completed (step S1
07; N), and the display 70 indicates that "receiving" (step S111).

On the other hand, if all the conditions for printing are provided (steps S104 to S104).
107; Y), the display driver 71 uses the ready lamp 65
Is turned on (step S112). In this state, CP
U71 determines whether or not the set number N input from the ten key 69 and displayed on the display 70 is smaller than a predetermined reference number N ₀ (step S113). Here, the reference number of sheets N ₀ refers to the economical number of borderline sheets between plate making with stencil base paper and printing one sheet at a time by thermal transfer recording. The reference number N ₀ can be set in the apparatus by, for example, pressing the start button 67 and the stop button 68 at the same time and inputting a numerical value from the ten keys 69.

If the reference number N ₀ is 40, for example,
If the set number N exceeds 50 (step S113; N), the set number "50" displayed on the display 70 is displayed in blinking (step S11).
4). This is to prompt the operator to shift to the plate making mode, as already described. In this situation, if the operator presses the mode designation button 64 according to the instruction (step S
115; Y), the set number is cleared, and instead, "mode change" is displayed for a certain period of time (step S1).
16). After this, the apparatus shifts to the plate making mode (step S103).

On the other hand, if the operator wants to force the print mode for various reasons, the operator does not press the mode designation button 64 (step S115; N) but presses the start button 67 (step S117; Y). As a result, the apparatus prints the set number N (step S11).
8). Even when the set number N is equal to or smaller than the reference number N ₀ (step S113; Y), the start button 67 is pressed (step S119; Y) to print the set number of sheets. During these printing operations, the in-process lamp 66 is turned on.

Outline of plate-making printing mode

On the other hand, FIG. 10 shows an outline of the operation of the apparatus in the plate-making printing mode. When the apparatus is set to the plate-making printing mode, the CPU 71 determines whether the ink donor film 23 is present (step S121), the stencil base paper 11 is present (step S122),
The presence / absence of the printing paper 41 (step S123), the presence / absence of a jam (step S124), and the presence / absence of reception of image data (step S125) are sequentially determined. As described above, in this apparatus, the transport direction of the ink donor film 23 is reversed in the print mode and the plate-making print mode. Therefore, the presence or absence of the ink donor film 23 in the plate-making printing mode has a different meaning from that in the printing mode, and it means that a sufficient amount of the ink donor film 23 has not yet been wound around the winding paper tube 25.
Such a state can occur not only when the ink donor film 23 is set in the apparatus but also when the plate making mode occurs frequently.

When the CPU 71 detects this based on the data 79 (step S121; N), it controls the display driver 81 to cause the display 70 to display a "sheet skipping" instruction (step S126). . This makes R
The sheet idling flag in the AM 74 is turned on (step S127), and the idling of the ink donor film 23 is enabled.

FIG. 11 shows the operation of this sheet idling for plate making preparation. When the operator presses the start button 67 with the sheet skipping flag turned on (step S128; Y) (step S12).
9; Y), the printing motor 83 starts rotating (step S130). In this state, the carry amount of the ink donor film 23 by the platen roll 15 is sequentially detected by a rotary encoder (not shown), and sent as data 79 to the sensor input port 78. The CPU 71 counts this pulse-shaped conveyance data with a built-in counter, and the printing motor 83 until the stencil base paper 11 is conveyed by the length of one page (step S131).
To rotate. When the idling of one sheet is completed in this way (Y), the sheet idling flag is turned off (step S132), and all the sheet idling operations are completed.

Returning to FIG. 10, the description will be continued. Even if there is a sufficient amount of the ink donor film 23, the stencil base paper 11 does not exist (step S123; N), or the printing paper 41 does not exist (step S123;
N) or a jam has occurred (step S124;
N) If the reception of the image data for one page has not been completed (step S125; N), plate-making printing cannot be performed. In such a case, "replenishment of raw paper", "replenishment of paper", "jamming removal" or "receiving" is displayed (steps S133 to S136).

On the other hand, if all the conditions for performing the plate-making printing are provided (steps S121 to S121).
125; Y), the display driver 81 uses the ready lamp 65
Is turned on (step S137). When the start button 67 is pressed in this state (step S138; Y),
Plate making is performed (step S139), and then printing is performed for the set number of sheets (step S140). During the plate making and printing operations, the in-process lamp 66 is turned on.

The outline of the print mode and the plate-making printing mode has been described above. Next, how the printing operation or the plate-making printing operation is performed in these modes will be concretely described.

Print operation in print mode

First, the start button 67 in the print mode
When is pressed (see step S119), the printing motor 83 starts rotating, and the paper supply roll 43 feeds only one printing paper 41. The printing paper 41 hits the printing registration roll 44 and stops with a slight loop being formed. The conveyance of the sheet supply roll 43 is stopped by the sensor 101 arranged in front of the print registration roll 44.
Is performed after a predetermined time t _{1 has} elapsed since the leading edge of the printing paper 41 was detected. This time control is performed by the time management of the CPU 71 based on the data 79 like other controls.

At the same time when the rotation of the paper supply roll 43 is stopped, the rotation of the printing motor 83 causes the print registration roll 44, the two sets of paper transport rolls 47 and 49, the paper registration roll 48, the platen roll 15, the paper discharge roll 50, and The paper roll tube 25 starts to rotate. Such rotation control is performed by turning on and off an electromagnetic clutch (not shown). A predetermined braking force is applied to the supply paper tube 24 by a slip clutch or the like (not shown) while the winding paper tube 25 or the like is rotated, so that the ink donor film 23 is fed out with a constant tension. This is to prevent the ink donor film 23 from slackening or overtensioning.

After passing through the printing resist roll 44, the printing paper 41 is regulated in the transportation direction by the paper transportation direction regulating member 55, and the lower plate cylinder 32 and the pressing roll 3 separated from this.
Pass between 6 Thereafter, the printing paper 41 is guided by the paper carrying direction switching member 46 and carried toward the thermal head 14, and is superposed on the ink donor film 23 in front of the thermal head 14. When the front end of the printing paper 41 is detected by the sensor 102 arranged between the paper registration roll 48 and the platen roll 15, the RAM 74
The reading of the image data is started from, and the thermal head driver 86 drives the thermal head 14. The thermal head 14 is provided with a line-type heating resistor, and the printing operation is performed line by line. In addition, even when copying a large number of sheets, if the host computer cannot be dedicated for a long period of time, the sensor 10
It is also possible to transfer the image data 77 from the host computer when 2 detects the leading edge of the printing paper 41 and supply these to the thermal head driver 86 to perform the printing operation.

FIG. 12 shows the principle of printing in the thermal transfer recording system. In the ink donor film 23 superposed on the printing paper 41, the film base 26 side is the heating resistor 14R of the thermal head 14.
And is supplied with a heat pulse according to the image information. The ink layer 27 is sublimated or heat-melted at the portion to which the heat pulse is applied, and is transferred to the printing paper 41 and then solidified.

The printing paper 41 is then peeled from the ink donor film 23 by the paper peeling claw 103. The peeled printing paper 41 is conveyed by a paper conveyance roll 49, and is ejected by a paper ejection roll 50 into a paper ejection tray 51.
Discharged on top. When the printing of the set number of sheets is completed in this way, all the printing operations are completed and the in-process lamp 66 is turned off.

Plate making operation in plate making print mode

Next, the plate making operation in the plate making print mode will be described. When the start button 67 is pressed in the plate making mode (see step S138), reading of image data from the RAM 74 is started. As described above, the image data 77 may be fetched line by line from the host computer at this point. The image data is read from the RAM 74 in the order of writing for each line. This is because the image for plate making needs to be a "mirror image" of the image to be printed, but since the transport direction of the ink donor film 23 is opposite between the print mode and the plate making print mode, no special mirror image conversion circuit is required.

When the image data is prepared, the head solenoid 87 is excited and the thermal head 14 is appropriately separated from the platen roll 15. At the same time, the stencil printing motor 85 starts to rotate, and the base paper supply roll 13, platen roll 15, stencil transport roll 17, stencil supply roll 18, and film supply paper tube 24 start to rotate. Then, the stencil base paper 11 whose tip position is at the position of the cutter 16 is started to be conveyed by the base paper supply roll 13, the tip portion passes through the gap between the thermal head 14 and the platen roll 15, and further between the stencil conveyance rolls 17. Pass through. The front end portion of the stencil base paper 11 is detected by the sensor 104 arranged at the subsequent stage of the stencil transport roll 17. This makes the CPU 7
1 temporarily stops the rotation of the plate-making / printing motor 85 and sends control data to the solenoid driver 88 to demagnetize the head solenoid 87. Stencil base paper 1
In this way, No. 1 is pressed between the thermal head 14 and the platen roll 15, and the setting is completed.

When the setting of the stencil base paper 11 is completed, the plate-making printing motor 85 starts to rotate again, and the conveyance of the ink donor film 23 and the stencil base paper 11 is started in the direction opposite to the print mode. In this way, punching work is performed line by line according to the image data.

FIG. 13 shows the principle of plate making using a stencil base paper. Stencil base paper 28
Passes between the thermal head 14 and the platen roll 15 so that the stretched thermoplastic resin layer 27 is brought into contact with the heating resistor 14R. At this time, the ink donor film 23 is used only as a carrier for the stencil base paper 11.

The stretched thermoplastic resin layer 27 of the stencil base paper 11 is made of, for example, vinylidene chloride copolymer resin, polyvinyl chloride and vinyl chloride copolymer resin, polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene, polyethylene, or polyethylene and ethylene acetic acid. It is a layer having a thickness of 5 to 250 μm, which is obtained by stretching a synthetic resin such as a vinyl copolymer by an inflation method or a biaxial stretching method at least twice. Further, the base paper base 26 is, for example, a gauze made of fibers such as Tetron, nylon, silk, rayon, and cotton,
It is made of a porous sheet with a relatively high melting point, such as glass fiber, asbestos, or a non-woven fabric made of natural or artificial fiber. For bonding the stretched thermoplastic resin layer 27 and the base paper base 26, a thermoplastic synthetic resin solution such as a vinyl acetate-based copolymer, a vinyl chloride-based copolymer, or a vinylidene chloride-based copolymer is generally used as an adhesive. Is used.

Therefore, at the portion of the stretched thermoplastic resin layer 27 to which the heat pulse is applied by the heating resistor 14R, a hole is opened by heating, contracts and is entangled with the surrounding fibers and the like to be perforated. When this punching operation progresses and the trailing edge of one page of plate making slightly passes the cutter 16 in relation to the image data, the cutter 16 is operated and the stencil base paper 11 is cut. Along with this, stencil base paper supply roll 1
The rotation of 3 is stopped. The stencil base paper 11 is separated from the ink donor film 23 when passing through the platen roll 14, is transported by the stencil transport roll 17, and is transported to the printing unit 19 by the stencil supply roll 18. When the rear end of the stencil base paper 11 is detected by the sensor 104, the platen roll 15 and the base paper transport roll 1
7 and the film supply paper tube 24 are stopped from rotating. The stencil supply roll 18 continues to rotate for the next print. Since almost no thermal energy is transferred from the thermal head 14 to the ink donor film 23 used as a carrier for the stencil base paper 11, it can be reused in the print mode as long as the ink layer 22 at that portion is unused. is there. As in the case of the film supply paper tube 24, a predetermined braking force is applied to the winding paper tube 25 so as not to cause “wrinkles” in the ink donor film 23 and the stencil base paper 11.

Printing operation in plate-making printing mode

Next, the printing operation in the plate-making printing mode will be described. When the sensor 34 arranged at the subsequent stage of the stencil supply roll 18 detects the leading end of the punched stencil base paper 11 (stencil), the CPU 71 operates the gripper 35 at the time when the sub-scanning is performed by a predetermined distance L from this point.
This causes the gripper 35 to grip the tip of the stencil. The distance L can be calculated by counting the number of lines perforated. After that, the rotation of the plate-making / printing motor 85 starts the rotation of the plate cylinders 31 and 32, and the traveling of the screen 33 is started. Screen 3
By the running of No. 3, the stencil is superposed on it. When the rear end of the stencil is detected by the sensor 34, the rotation of the stencil supply roll 18 is stopped.
At the same time, the sheet conveyance direction switching solenoid 94 is excited, and the sheet conveyance direction regulating member 45, the sheet conveyance direction switching member 46, and the sheet guide 52 enter the state shown in FIG. C
The PU 71 detects this state by a micro switch or the like (not shown).

From the time when the sensor 34 detects the rear end of the stencil, the CPU 71 measures the moving distance L in the sub-scanning direction and determines the end of superposition of the stencil on the screen 33. When the stencil is superposed on the screen 33, the paper supply roll 43 starts to rotate, and only one printing paper 41 is delivered and hits the printing registration roll 44. When the rotation of the paper supply roll 43 is stopped,
The print registration roll 44 starts rotating at a predetermined timing in association with the traveling of the screen 33.

After passing through the printing resist roll 44, the printing paper 41 is regulated in the transportation direction by the paper transportation direction regulation box 45, and is fed between the lower plate cylinder 32 and the pressing roll 36. At this time, the pressing roll 36 is pressed against the lower plate cylinder 32 only when the printing paper 41 passes under the lower plate cylinder 32 by the action of a cam mechanism (not shown) that is rotated in synchronization with the traveling of the screen 33. To be done. When the printing paper 41 passes between the lower plate cylinder 32 and the pressing roll 36, ink is supplied from the ink supply roll 105 to the stencil via the lower plate cylinder 32 and the screen 33, and printing is performed. The printing paper 41 after printing is sent between the paper guide 52 and the paper conveyance direction switching member 46. At this time, the front end of the printing paper 41 may be separated from the screen 33 by the front end of the paper transport direction switching member 46. After that, the printing paper 41 is conveyed by, for example, an air adsorption type or electrostatic adsorption type conveyance belt 53, and is ejected to a paper ejection tray 51 by a paper ejection roll 54.

Such printing is performed by the number of prints set in advance, which is input from the keyboard 69. The print setting number is displayed on the display 70. Printing paper 41 during printing
If there is a shortage or other situation in which printing cannot be continued occurs, the CPU 71 controls the drive of the display driver 81 according to the content and causes the display 70 to display the content of the trouble. Further, depending on the device, when a small number of prints, such as about 5, is set as the print setting number, a warning display for delaying the pressing of the start button 67 may be displayed on the display device 70. This is because, as already described, if a hard copy exists, it is more economical to make a document by copying it with a copying machine.

After printing the set number of sheets, the releaser 9
3 works. The releaser 93 operates so that the tip portion of the stencil is pushed up from the inside of the upper plate cylinder 31 to the outside, and this portion is peeled off from the screen 33. The peeled tip portion rides on the claw 106 as the screen 33 runs and is caught by the peeling roll 107. As a result,
The stencil is peeled off from the screen 33 with the rotation of the peeling roll 107, and is discarded in the waste case 108. When the disposal is completed, the rotation of the peeling roll 107 is stopped and the in-process lamp 64 is turned off.

In this way, all the operations from plate making to printing are completed. If the next image information is received during this printing operation, the ready lamp 65 is turned on again, and the next plate making and printing operation can be started.

In the above-described printer / plate-making / printing apparatus of the present embodiment, the plate-making printing is prohibited in the print mode by the control of the printing motor 83 and the plate-making printing motor 85, and the printing is prohibited in the plate-making printing mode. Has become.

The plate-making print button is divided into two parts. When the plate-making button is pressed, plate-making is started and the stencil is stopped in a state of being overlapped with the screen 33. Printing is started only when the print button is pressed. You may
In this case, the stencil may be superposed on the screen 33 even after the printing work is completed, and the stencil may be discarded only when the next plate making is started. In this way, printing can be performed at any time.

[0058]

As described above, according to the present invention, 1
Since it is possible to perform printing, plate making and printing at the same time with a single device, it is less expensive and less noisy than a multi-function device having the same function, and it is an odorless and high-speed device for environmental hygiene and office efficiency. Can contribute to. Further, since the apparatus of the present invention inputs an image signal to perform printing or plate making, not only does the document not be damaged but also it can be connected to a communication means such as a telephone line or a communication satellite, so that information can be transmitted from a remote location. It is possible to receive and immediately print or make a plate. Further, since the plate making device part is connected to the printing device part, anyone can easily obtain a printed matter.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a principle configuration of a printer / plate making apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a plate-making printing apparatus that also serves as a printer in this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of an apparatus in a print mode in this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view of the stencil base paper according to this embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view of the ink donor sheet in this example.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a main part of an operation panel in this embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a main part of an electric circuit in this embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a mode selection operation in this embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the apparatus in the print mode in this embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the apparatus in the plate-making printing mode in this embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a sheet idling operation in this embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a principle view showing the principle of thermal transfer printing in this embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a principle view showing the principle of perforation in this embodiment.

[Explanation of Codes] 1 ... Thermal transfer printing means, 2 ... Base paper punching means, 3 ... Printing means, 4 ... Selection means, 11 ... Stencil base paper, 14 ...
Thermal head, 15 ... Platen roll, 16 ... Cutter, 23 ... Ink donor film, 31, 32 ... Plate cylinder,
33 ... Screen, 36 ... Press roll, 41 ... Printing paper, 46 ... Paper transport direction switching member, 64 ... Mode designation button, 71 ... CPU, 73 ... ROM, 74 ... RAM, 8
3 ... Printing motor, 85 ... Platemaking printing motor

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location B41J 2/32 B41M 5/26

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A thermal transfer recording medium having a heating element which generates heat when energized, a support substrate arranged on the side facing the heating element and a thermal transferable ink layer on the other side, and the thermal transfer recording medium A pressing means for pressing in the direction in which the element is located, a stencil base paper supply path for supplying a stencil base paper having a thermoplastic synthetic resin film layer formed on a porous support between the heating element and a thermal transfer recording medium, and this stencil. The stencil sent from the stencil supply path is fed with a stencil obtained by punching the stencil with the heating element, and a printing means for performing printing using the stencil and the thermal transfer of the printing paper as necessary. Between the recording medium and the pressing means, or a printing paper supply means for supplying the printing means, and a print mode and a printing mode for printing at least the printing paper. A mode designating means for selectively designating a plate making mode for punching the sill base paper, and a thermal transfer recording medium for sliding the heating element and the thermal transfer recording medium in a state where the mode designating means designates the print mode. A printer part control means for selectively transferring ink to a printing sheet, and a plate making apparatus for slidingly contacting a stencil base paper with the heating element in a state where the mode specifying means specifies a plate making mode to perform the selective perforation. A plate-making printing apparatus that also serves as a printer, comprising: partial control means; and printing device partial control means that causes a stencil to print by superimposing printing paper when printing is performed by the printing means.