JPH0696314B2 - Recycling device for heat-meltable transfer material carrier - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a reproducing apparatus for an ink ribbon, an ink sheet or other heat-meltable transfer material carrier used in a thermal recording apparatus, and particularly to the reproducing apparatus. It is a recycling device that is advantageous when it is used independently without being installed in the winding part, and pulls out the printable heat-meltable transfer material carrier stored in the winding part from the winding part, reproduces it, and then rewinds it. The present invention relates to a reproducing device that can be stored in a unit.

"Prior Art" The present inventor previously referred to as a so-called transfer material carrier, which performs a printing operation while repeatedly re-applying the transfer material to a heat-meltable transfer material carrier which has been imprinted after transferring the transfer material to a recording medium. We have proposed a reusable recording device. (JP-A-56-189452,
(Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-63335, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-274453, etc.) “Problems to be solved by the invention” However, when the transfer material carrier reproducing mechanism is incorporated in the recording apparatus, the apparatus inevitably becomes large. .

A warm-up time is required to heat-melt the transfer material (solid ink) in the playback mechanism.

The power consumption of the entire device is increased.

When the transfer material is in a heat-melted state, carrying of the apparatus is restricted to prevent leakage of the transfer material.

There is a risk that the inside of the apparatus is contaminated by the hot melt transfer material.

In order to incorporate the reproducing mechanism, it is necessary to design the recording device exclusively, and the mechanism becomes complicated. There are problems such as
Therefore, depending on the application of the corresponding recording device, it may be advantageous to provide the reproducing mechanism as an independent reproducing device without incorporating it in the recording device.

On the other hand, in recent years, the serial thermal printer is often applied to a small word processor that displays an image on an LCD display, but since this kind of small word processor can display only part of the text to be created on the screen, It is often the case that the text displayed on the screen is sequentially printed on recording paper, and the lack of display capacity of the LCD screen is assisted by the printing of the printer.

In this type of apparatus, since printing is performed by the printer both at the time of writing a sentence and at the time of clear printing, the amount of ink ribbon used increases correspondingly, and the running cost increases.

In addition, there are many cases in which test printing is performed even in normal printers, and the same ink ribbon as that used in clear copy printing is conventionally used in such test printing as well, but if such a printing method is adopted, the ink ribbon is used. The amount increases.

Therefore, the ink ribbon used for the above-described test printing or printing during the writing of the text does not necessarily have to be of high quality, and the cost is rather emphasized.

An ink ribbon reproducing apparatus used for such a serial printer or other ordinary printers has not been proposed as a conventional apparatus at all.

For example, a reproducing apparatus used in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 56-189452 or the like generally has a structure in which an endless belt wound between a pair of rollers is used as a reproducing transfer material carrying member like a belt / pulley mechanism. Since it is extremely dedicated, it cannot be applied at all as an ink ribbon reproducing apparatus in a printer having a ribbon cassette in which a long ink ribbon is wound and housed on a pair of take-up reels like a normal printer.

This also applies to a normal line printer having an ink sheet winding unit.

That is, when a ribbon cassette or the like having a winding portion is attached to the conventional reproducing device for an endless belt to reproduce the transfer material, the transfer material is liquefied due to thermal melting during reapplication of the transfer material. In addition, the liquefied excess transfer material at the time of re-application wraps around to the non-application surface (rear surface) of the ink ribbon or ink sheet, and as a result, the ink ribbon guided to the take-up part Since the winding is performed while the excess transfer material is still attached, the ink ribbons or ink sheets after winding are fixed to the winding part, or the transfer material wraps around to change the thickness of the carrier. However, it is not possible to prevent deterioration of print quality.

From such a viewpoint, the present invention prevents the excessive transfer material after reapplication of the transfer material from being wound around while wrapping around the non-application surface of the ink ribbon or the ink sheet, and as a result, the ink ribbon or the ink after winding is wound. To provide a regenerating apparatus for a heat-meltable transfer material carrier capable of preventing the print quality from deteriorating due to variation in the film thickness of the carrier due to sticking of sheets to each other or wraparound of the transfer material. is there.

Another object of the present invention is to regenerate a heat-meltable transfer material carrier capable of easily and easily regenerating an ink layer of a used ink ribbon or ink sheet which has been printed out and has a predetermined quality or higher. The purpose is to provide.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a regenerating apparatus for a heat-meltable transfer material carrier, in which the carrier formed of the thin film resin film does not curl during drying and solidification of the recoated transfer material. There is a thing.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve such a technical problem, the present invention provides a device for reproducing a print-missing heat-meltable transfer material carrier, which is housed in a winding unit, from the winding unit. A re-applying means for drawing out the heat-meltable transfer material carrying member from which printing has been omitted and re-applying the transfer material on the carrier while heat-melting the transfer material on a substrate forming a moving path for carrying the carrier; A drying and solidifying means for drying and solidifying the carrier along the direction orthogonal to the moving direction while bending the carrier toward the non-application surface side; and a cleaning means for removing the transfer material wrapping around on the non-application surface side, The heat-meltable transfer material carrier is arranged along the moving direction of the moving path, and guides the regenerated transfer material carrier after passing through the cleaning means into the winding portion so that the transfer material carrier can be wound in the winding portion. We propose a playback device.

In this case, the cleaning means may be mechanically scraped off using a knife edge or the like.
By removing the transfer material while melting it by heat, it is possible to prevent wear of the carrier formed of the thin resin film.

Such cleaning means may be performed after the transfer material is dried and solidified or at any time during the dry solidification.
When the cleaning means is configured to be removed while being melted by heat, it is preferably arranged on the moving path after the transfer material is dried and solidified.

In this case, preferably, the excess ink sneaking around the non-application surface side is melted and removed, and the non-application surface side is bent on the downstream side to guide it into the winding portion while curling is prevented. .

Therefore, according to the present invention, the cleaning means is configured to remove the transfer material while heat-melting the molten material, and after the excess ink spilled around to the non-application surface side is melted and removed by the cleaning means, the cleaning material is guided into the winding portion. A second feature is that the non-application side of the carrier is bent so as to guide it into the winding portion while preventing curling.

The moving path of the heat-meltable transfer material carrier is formed as a peripheral surface path in the examples described later, but it is not always necessary to form such a path, and it functions as a winding portion on both sides of the linear moving path. The take-up reel may be arranged, and the various means may be arranged along the linear movement path.

Further, the recoating means comprises a coating section for coating the carrier with overheated transfer material, and a layer thickness correcting section arranged on the downstream side of the coating section, and the transfer material coated on the carrier by the coating section. It is preferable that the layer thickness is corrected while maintaining the molten state.

Further, in order to bend the carrier to the non-application surface side along a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the carrier, a pressure contact member that presses the non-application surface side of the carrier is used, and the pressure contact of the pressure contact member is performed. It is preferable that the surface is arm-bent with a convex curvature along a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the carrier.

Furthermore, by using a polymide-based thin film resin film as the carrier, it has heat resistance, stretch resistance and mechanical strength as compared with a conventional polyester film, which is extremely preferable for repeated recycling.

Although the present invention is advantageous when used independently without being incorporated in the recording device, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to this, and the reproducing device according to the present invention is Even when incorporated in a recording device, it is naturally included in the technical scope of the present invention.

[Operation] According to such technical means, the excess transfer material is allowed to wrap around to the non-application surface (back surface) at the time of re-application of the transfer material, and the hot-melt ink is sufficiently adhered to the print-missing portion at the time of re-application. In this way, it is possible to form a transfer material layer (ink layer) with a uniform film thickness during re-application, and on the other hand, after re-application of the transfer material, before being wound on the winding part, the non-application surface (back surface) It is designed to remove the excess transfer material that has wrapped around, so that when winding the ink ribbon or ink sheet after the transfer material is regenerated, the transfer material that has wrapped around the non-coated surface is There is no sticking to the ribbon surface, and there is no change in the film thickness of the carrier due to the wraparound of the transfer material. As a result, the carrier is fixed after winding the carrier and the transfer material is printed. Can completely prevent print quality deterioration in

The re-applied molten transfer material is dried and solidified while the carrier on the downstream side is moving. However, since the carrier is formed of a thin resin film, The transfer material contracts and tends to curl to the coating surface side along the direction orthogonal to the moving direction.

Therefore, according to the present technical means, the carrier is dried along the direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the carrier on the non-coated surface side while maintaining the arm bending state until the carrier is dried and solidified after reapplication. Therefore, the curl can be completely prevented.

Therefore, it is possible to regenerate the heat-meltable transfer material carrier which has not been printed for the first time by the present technical means by an effective and simple mechanism. Particularly, when it is applied as a reproduction-only type device independently of the recording apparatus, It becomes possible to provide.

[Embodiment] Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be exemplarily described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, unless otherwise specified, the dimensions, materials, shapes, relative positions, etc. of the components described in this embodiment are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only thereto, but merely illustrative examples. Nothing more than.

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic view showing an apparatus for reproducing an ink ribbon mounted in a ribbon cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention. The reproducing apparatus includes a cassette mounting mechanism 2 for mounting a ribbon cassette 1 at a predetermined position and a bypass. Shafts 31-34, photo coupler 35 interposed between detour shafts 32-33, ink re-application mechanism 4, tension roller member 5, idle roller 36,
37, a cleaning member 6, and the shaft members 31 to 33, a backup roller 45, a heating roller 47,
Tension roller member 5, idle roller 36, cleaning member 6, idle roller 37, and shaft member 3
4, a base A forming a peripheral circuit of the ink ribbon 10.

The mounting mechanism 2 is composed of a pair of shafts 21 and 22 that can be fitted into the reel holes of the ribbon cassette 1. The shaft 22 on the ribbon winding side is connected to a driving means (not shown) and circulates on the circuit.
The ink ribbon (10) after the ink layer is regenerated can be wound with a predetermined tensile force.

The ink ribbon 10 uses a polyimide-based tape-shaped resin film of about 6 to 13 μm as a base material, and connects a leader portion having a length of about 300 mm and a film thickness of 20 to 50 μm to both ends of the ribbon, and A detection hole (not shown) having a diameter of about 1 mm, which is detected by a photo coupler, is formed in the connection portion.

The photocoupler 35 is arranged between the pair of detour shafts 32-33 located on the ribbon pull-out side, detects a detection hole drilled on the end side of the ink ribbon 10, and rotates and ink of the ink ribbon 10 described later. Stop layer playback respectively.

The ink reapplication mechanism 4 includes a support portion 41 formed of a heat insulating material,
A substantially semicircular ink storage portion 43 formed on the upper surface of the support portion 41 via a heater 42, a supply roller 44 arranged in the ink storage portion 43, and a slight gap above the supply roller 44. Backup rollers 45 facing each other with a space
A straightening rod 46 disposed in contact with the heater 42 at the upper end of the support portion 41 on the downstream side of the supply roller 44, and a straightening rod 46 and a heating roller 47 disposed on the downstream side. The ink which is solidified at room temperature and which is stored in the ink storage section 43 is melted by heat and the straightening rod 46 is heated.

The supply roller 44 faces the backup roller 45 at an extremely small interval, and the peripheral surface of the supply roller 44 is subjected to chrome plating so that the molten ink is smoothly transferred by the action of surface tension. It is configured to rotate at the same peripheral speed as 45, and the peripheral speed is synchronized with the transfer speed of the ink ribbon 10.

As shown in FIG. 2, the straightening rod 46 is constructed such that a thin wire 46a is tightly wound around the outer peripheral surface along the ribbon transfer direction, and the wound surface is pressed against the ink re-application surface of the ink ribbon 10. .

The heating roller 47 is formed by concentrically enclosing the heat roll 47a, sets the heating temperature at the peripheral surface position in contact with the ink ribbon 10 to the ink melting point or higher, and presses the ink ribbon 10 from the back side of the ink application surface. Then, the ink carried on the ribbon 10 is reheated and melted to smooth the ink layer, and is configured to be rotatable at the same peripheral speed as the backup roller 45. The straightening rod is driven by rotating both rollers 45 and 47. 46
It facilitates stable running of the ink ribbon 10 above.

The tension roller member 5 has a peripheral surface slightly convexly curved like a drum, and when the peripheral surface is pressed against the ink ribbon 10, the ribbon 10 is armed to the non-application surface side along the direction orthogonal to the ribbon transfer direction. It is composed of a roller main body 51 to be bent, and an arm portion 53 that rotatably supports the roller main body 51 and applies a predetermined tension to the ink ribbon 10 by a spring member 52.

The cleaning member 6 is wound around a fixed pulley 63 fitted to the central shaft 61 via a heater wire 62, a movable pulley 64 rotatably fitted to the outer periphery of the fixed pulley 63, and a movable pulley 64. It consists of replaceable cleaning paper 65, and the cleaning paper 65 is formed by heat conduction from the heater wire 62.
The surface temperature of the ink is set above the melting point of the ink.

On both sides of the cleaning member 6, idle rollers 36,
37 is provided to stabilize the running of the ink ribbon 10, and the peripheral surfaces of the idle rollers 36 and 37 are also slightly drum-shaped so that the ink ribbon 10 is moved in a direction orthogonal to the ribbon transfer direction. Along the non-coated side, the arm is bent to further prevent curling.

Next, the operation of the reproducing apparatus will be described.

After mounting the ribbon cassette 1 on the cassette mounting mechanism 2,
After pulling out the leading end side leader portion of the ink ribbon 10 and hooking it on the bypass shafts 31 to 34, the backup roller 45, the heating roller 47, the tension roller body 51, the idle rollers 36 and 37, and the cleaning member 6, the tension roller is attached to the tension roller. The ribbon 10 is pulled on the circuit. In this state, the base material side (ink applying portion) of the ribbon 10 is positioned upstream of the backup roller 45.

In this state, the drive roller (not shown) rotationally drives the backup roller 45, the heating roller 47, and the take-up reel-side shaft 12 to rotate the ink ribbon 10 at a predetermined speed on the peripheral circuit, and a reproducing operation described later. To carry out.

That is, first, the heat-melted ink stored in the ink storage portion 43 which is in a melted state by the heating of the heater 42 is conveyed to the facing position of the ink ribbon 10 transferred onto the peripheral surface of the backup roller 45 by the supply roller 44. At the opposite position, the transferred ink is transferred to the surface of the ink ribbon 10 by the action of the surface tension, and the transferred ink is melted integrally with the residual ink that is missing the print, and the downstream side while maintaining the ink melted state. Is pressed against the peripheral surface of the straightening rod 46 and slidably contacts the winding surface of the thin wire 46a on the peripheral surface of the straightening rod 46, leaving excess ink in the gap between the adjacent wires 46a and storing excess ink in the upstream ink reservoir. After scraping off on the portion 41 to correct the layer thickness to a thin film, it reaches the outer peripheral surface of the heating roller 47, and the heating roller 47
Then, the ink layer in the semi-solidified state is heated and melted from the non-coated surface (back surface) side of the ink ribbon 10 and smoothed by the action of the surface tension of the ink layer itself.

Next, the re-applied ink ribbon 10 is transferred while drying and solidifying the molten ink layer in a state where the re-applied ink ribbon 10 is bent along the peripheral shape of the tension roller toward the non-application surface side.

When the drying and solidification of the ink layer is completed, the ink reaches the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning member 6 and is rubbed by the cleaning paper 65 heated to a predetermined temperature on the outer peripheral surface of the ink ribbon 10 toward the non-coated surface side. The excess ink that has spilled around is melted and removed, and on the downstream side thereof, the idle roller 37 is wound again to bend the non-application surface side and wound around the take-up reel in the cassette 1 while preventing curling.

As a result, the ink ribbon 10 carrying a thin and uniform ink layer is prevented from being curled, and the ink ribbon 10 regenerated without the excess ink flowing around the non-coated surface is sequentially transferred to the cassette 1.
It is wound on the take-up reel inside.

When the predetermined reproduction winding is completed, the photocoupler 35 detects the detection hole formed on the terminal side of the ink ribbon 10 to stop the rotation of the ink ribbon 10 and the ink layer reproduction.

[Advantages of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, as in an ordinary printer, an ordinary ribbon cassette having a long ink ribbon wound and housed on a pair of take-up reels and a winding section is provided. It can be suitably used as an ink sheet reclaiming device, and in particular, it prevents an excessive transfer material after ink reapplication from being wound around the non-coated surface of the ink ribbon or the ink sheet, and as a result, It is possible to prevent the print quality from deteriorating due to sticking of the ink ribbons or ink sheets after mounting or variation of the film thickness of the carrier due to the wraparound of the transfer material.

Further, since the carrier such as the ink ribbon or the ink sheet is formed of a thin resin film, the transfer material shrinks during the drying and is easily curled on the coating surface side along the direction orthogonal to the moving direction. However, according to the present invention, the curl is completely prevented because the carrier is dried on the non-coated surface side while maintaining the arm bending state until it is dried and solidified after reapplication of the transfer material. I can do things.

Accordingly, the present invention accurately and accurately re-applies the transfer agent carrier having the print failure while melting it, prevents curling that occurs during drying and solidification of the transfer material, and removes excess ink sneaking around the non-application side. Since it can be surely performed, when the ink ribbon or the ink sheet after the transfer material is rewound is wound, the ribbons are not fixed to each other, and the fluctuation of the ink film thickness of the ink ribbon or the like, the unevenness It is possible to prevent the deterioration of the printing quality caused by curling, etc., and it is possible to maintain the printing quality above a predetermined level at all times even though it is a transfer material carrier for reuse. It can be effectively applied to a reproducing device such as a ribbon cassette of a thermal recording device other than the reproducing-only device.

It has various remarkable effects.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 4 each show an ink ribbon reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an overall schematic view, FIG. 2 is an outline drawing of a straightening rod, and FIG. 3 is a tension roller. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the cleaning member, and FIG. 4 is an external view of the idle roller.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A regenerating apparatus for a print-deficient heat-meltable transfer material carrier stored in a winding section, wherein the print-deficient heat-melting transfer material carrier is pulled out from the winding section to reproduce the carrier. Re-applying means for re-applying the transfer material on the carrier while heat-melting the transfer material on the substrate forming the moving path, and the carrier on the non-coated surface side along the direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the carrier. Drying and solidifying means for drying and solidifying while bending the arms, and cleaning means for removing the transfer material wrapping around to the non-application surface side are arranged along the moving direction of the moving path, and after passing through the cleaning means. A device for regenerating a heat-meltable transfer material carrier, characterized in that the regenerated transfer material carrier is guided into the winding section. 2. The cleaning means is configured to remove the transfer material while heat-melting it, and after the excess ink spilled around to the non-applied surface side is melted and removed by the cleaning means, it is introduced into the winding portion. 2. A regenerating apparatus for a heat-meltable transfer material-carrying member according to claim 1, wherein the non-coated surface side of the carrier is bent so as to be guided into the winding portion while curling is prevented.