JPH0737159B2 - Printing device for cards, etc. - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a printing device for cards and the like, and is applicable to, for example, printing the balance of a prepaid card.

(Prior Art) For example, some prepaid card issuing machines, vending machines using prepaid cards, and the like are equipped with a thermal destruction type print head or the like in order to print the remaining amount on the prepaid card. FIG. 5 shows an example of such a conventional printing device for a card or the like, which is provided with a printing unit having a drive platen roller 42 and a print head 41 which is provided so as to come in contact with and separate from the drive platen roller 42. A drive roller 48 and a driven roller 49, which are provided in pairs on both sides of the printing section in the card transport direction,
It has a driving roller 50 and a driven roller 51. The driven rollers 49 and 51 are provided so as to come in contact with and separate from the drive rollers 48 and 50, respectively. The distance between the rollers 48 and 42 and between the rollers 42 and 50 is shorter than the length of the card. Printing on the card is performed while the inserted card is conveyed between the rollers 48 and 49 and between the drive platen roller 42 and the print head 41, and between the drive platen roller 42 and the print head 41 and between the rollers 50 and 51. Meanwhile, the card is pressed against the print head 41.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) According to the conventional printing apparatus for cards and the like, as described above, when the card is printed while being conveyed between the rollers 48 and 49 and between the platen roller 42 and the print head 41, , Between the platen roller 42 and the print head 41, and between the rollers 50 and 51. In both cases, the card is conveyed by two drive rollers, and therefore the card may be different due to variations in the diameter of the drive roller. The conveyance speed varies, the printing position on the card varies, and the printing accuracy is degraded. FIG. 6 shows an example of a card printed by a conventional printing apparatus. The distance between the printing positions 56 of the card 55 is narrow as indicated by S at a certain position and is indicated by S'at a certain position. Has become wide.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the problems of the prior art. When the card or the like is printed, the card or the like is conveyed only by the drive platen roller, and the drive rollers before and after that are used to convey the card or the like. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing device for cards and the like, in which the printing position accuracy is improved by preventing the printing device from being involved.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides a drive platen roller and a print head that are provided so as to be able to come into contact with and separate from each other and convey a card by pressing them against each other, and on both sides of a printing unit in the conveyance direction of the card or the like. A driving roller and a driven roller which are arranged in a pair and which can be brought into contact with and separated from each other; and a switching means for performing contact and separation between the print head and the drive platen roller and between the drive roller and the driven roller in a contradictory manner. Is characterized by.

(Operation) When printing on a card or the like, the switching means presses the print head and the driving platen roller into contact with each other, and separates the driving roller and the driven roller on both sides of the printing portion. Therefore, printing is performed while the card is conveyed only by the drive platen roller. When not printing, instead of separating the print head from the driving platen roller by the switching means, the driving roller and the driven roller on both sides of the printing portion are brought into contact with each other, and the card and the like are conveyed by the driving roller and the driven roller.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of a printing apparatus for cards and the like according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2, a main body plate 16 of a device provided with a printing device, and a mounting plate (not shown) fixed in parallel to the main body plate 16 via appropriate columns
A support shaft 14 is supported between the support shaft 14 and the print head support arm 2 and is attached to the support shaft 14 so as to be rotatable in a plane parallel to the paper surface in FIG. Spindle in Fig. 1
The print head 1 is supported on one end side of a print head support arm 2 extending obliquely to the left from the portion 14. The print head 1 is supported by the arm 2 via a gimbal type leaf spring and is urged by an appropriate leaf spring, but the specific support structure of the print head 1 is not directly related to the present invention. Therefore, detailed description thereof will be omitted. First
In the drawing, the other end of the arm 2 extending downward from the support shaft 14 is connected to one end of a horizontal connecting plate 4 by a shaft 13, and the other end of the connecting plate 4 is a plunger 21 of a solenoid 6. Is connected by a shaft 22. Above plunger
The spring 21 is urged by the spring 19 in a direction projecting to the right in FIG. 1, and the urging force urges the arm 2 to rotate counterclockwise.

The print head 1 is, for example, a thermal destruction head (thermal head), and it is assumed that a large number of fine heating resistors are arranged in a row parallel to the spindle 14 on the upper surface side of the print head 1. A drive platen roller 17 is arranged so as to face the heating resistor portion of the print head 1. The print head 1 is normally separated from the drive platen roller 17 by the rotational urging force of the arm 2, but when the solenoid 6 is excited and its plunger 21 is attracted against the spring 19, the arm 2 is moved. The print head 1 is rotated clockwise in FIG.
Can be pressed against the platen roller 17.

The drive roller 8 is arranged on the upper left side of the platen roller 17, and the drive roller 11 is arranged on the lower right side of the platen roller 17. The driven rollers 9 and 10 are arranged to face the drive rollers 8 and 11, respectively. The driven roller 9 is rotatably supported by the shaft 24 of the arm 7, and the driven roller 10
Is rotatably supported by the shaft 28 of the arm 3.
The arm 7 is rotatable about a shaft 15 fixed to a base plate or the like, and the arm 3 is rotatable about the support shaft 14. When the arm 7 and the arm 3 rotate counterclockwise in FIG. 1, the driven rollers 9 and 10 come into contact with the drive rollers 8 and 11, respectively, and when the arm 7 and the arm 3 rotate clockwise, the driven rollers 9 and 10 rotate. Are separated from the drive rollers 8 and 11, respectively. The platen roller 17 and the drive rollers 8 and 11 are rotationally driven in the forward and reverse directions in the same direction at the same speed.

The component portion including the platen roller 17 and the print head 1 constitutes a print portion. When the card is inserted into a device provided with a printing device, the card is guided between the driving roller 8 and the driven roller 9 through the guide passage 25, and is further guided to the printing section. The card passing through the printing section is guided between the driving roller 11 and the driven roller 10 through the guide passage 26. On the contrary,
From the drive roller 11 and the driven roller 10 to the printing section via the guide passage 26, the guide roller 25 is guided from the drive roller 8 and the driven roller 9 to the outside of the apparatus via the guide passage 25. Therefore, the driving roller 8, the driven roller 9, the driving roller 11, and the driven roller, which make a pair, are arranged on both sides of the printing portion in the card transport direction.

A pair of driving roller 8, driven roller 9 and driving roller 1
1. The driven roller 10 is configured to contact and separate from the contact and separation of the print head 1 and the platen roller 17 by the switching means described below.

The tip 3a of the arm 3 supporting the driven roller 10 extends to the left side in FIG. 1 of the shaft 13 connecting the arm 2 and the connecting plate 4. A tension spring 18 is applied to the tip 3a of the arm 3 to urge the arm 3 to rotate counterclockwise, that is, in a direction in which the driven roller 10 contacts the drive roller 11. Rotation of the arm 3 in the counterclockwise direction is restricted by the tip portion 3a of the arm 3 coming into contact with the shaft 13, but in a normal state where the solenoid 6 is not excited, the plunger 21
The shaft 13 moves in a direction to escape from the tip portion 3a of the arm 2 by the force of the spring 19, so that the arm 3 rotates counterclockwise and the driven roller 10 contacts the drive roller 11. When the solenoid 6 is excited, the tip portion 3a of the arm 3 is pushed by the shaft 13 to the left in FIG.
Separate from the drive roller 11.

On the other hand, the arm 7 that supports the driven roller 9 is urged by the spring 27 to rotate in the counterclockwise direction, that is, in the direction in which the driven roller 9 contacts the drive roller 8. The tip of the arm 7 extending downward in FIG. 1 is connected by a shaft 23 to the upper end of the arm 5 arranged vertically. Arm 5
Is supported so that its lower end is supported by a shaft 12 provided on a base plate or the like, so that the shaft can be rotated in a vertical plane about the shaft 12. The arm 5 stands up in a direction substantially orthogonal to the connecting plate 4, and an intermediate portion of the arm 5 is connected to the connecting plate 4 and the plunger 21 by the shaft 22.

As is clear from the description of the operation described later, the solenoid 6,
The components including the connecting plate 4 and the arms 2, 3, 5, and 7 are opposite to the contact / separation between the print head 1 and the platen roller 17, and the contact / separation between the drive rollers 8 and 11 and the driven rollers 9 and 10. It constitutes a switching means for performing.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.

FIG. 1 and FIG. 4 show operation modes when printing is performed on a card by the printing unit. In this operation mode, the solenoid 6 is excited, the plunger 21 is attracted against the spring 19, and the connecting plate 4 is moved to the left. The arm 5 rotates counterclockwise about the shaft 12 by the suction of the plunger 21, the arm 7 rotates counterclockwise via the shaft 23 against the spring 27, and the driven roller 9 moves from the drive roller 8 to the drive roller 8. Separate. Also, the connecting plate 4
The shaft 13 also moves to the left with the movement of the arm 3 to the left, the tip 3a of the arm 3 is pushed to the left, the arm 3 rotates clockwise, and the driven roller 10 separates from the drive roller 11. There is. On the other hand, by moving the shaft 13 to the left, the arm 2 connected to the shaft 13 rotates in the clockwise direction, and the print head 1 supported by the arm 2 is brought into pressure contact with the drive platen roller 17. In this way, the print head 1 and the platen roller 17 are brought into pressure contact with each other, and the card is printed by the print head 1 while the card is conveyed by the rotational driving of the platen roller 17. In contrast,
Since the driven rollers 9 and 10 are separated from the driving rollers 8 and 11, the card is not conveyed by the rotational driving of the driving rollers 8 and 11. Therefore, during the printing operation, the platen roller
The card is conveyed only by 17, and there is no variation in the card conveyance speed due to the difference in rotation with other drive rollers.Therefore, the printing position does not vary and the printing accuracy improves. There are advantages. The card conveying direction during the printing operation is not limited to one direction, and there may be a case where the card is printed during the card insertion direction and a case where the card is ejected during the card discharge direction.

When the card is conveyed without printing, the solenoid 6 is demagnetized. By demagnetizing the solenoid 6, each spring 19,2
Due to the urging force of 7,18, each member is in the operation mode shown in FIG. That is, when the plunger 21 moves to the right, the arm 5 rotates clockwise, the arm 7 connected to the arm 5 rotates counterclockwise, and the driven roller 9 comes into pressure contact with the drive roller 8. When the connecting plate 4 moves rightward together with the shaft 13, the arm 3 rotates counterclockwise by the urging force of the spring 18, and the driven roller 10 comes into pressure contact with the drive roller 11. On the other hand, by moving the shaft 13 to the right, the arm 2 rotates counterclockwise, and the print head 1 separates from the platen roller 17. Therefore, in this case, the card is conveyed by the pair of drive roller 8 and driven roller 9 and the other pair of drive roller 11 and driven roller 10 which are arranged on both sides of the printing section in the card conveying direction.

According to the above-described embodiment, the contact and separation of the drive rollers 8 and 11 and the driven rollers 9 and 10 which are arranged in pairs on both sides of the printing portion in the card transport direction, and the contact between the print head 1 and the platen roller 17. Since the separation is performed by the switching means including the solenoid 6, the connecting plate 4, and the arms 2, 3, 5, and 7, the printing is performed on the card while the card is conveyed only by the drive platen roller 17. Since there is no variation in the card transport speed due to the difference in rotation with the other driving rollers 8 and 11, the printing position does not vary, and the printing accuracy can be improved. .

The device of the present invention can be applied not only to a prepaid card issuing machine or a vending machine using a prepaid card, but also to various devices using other cards, and can be applied to a printing device in a facsimile, a printer or other various devices. . Further, the type of the print head is not limited to the thermal destruction head, but may be any other appropriate type.
In the illustrated example, the driven rollers 9 and 10 are movably supported and pressed against the drive rollers 8 and 11, but conversely, the drive rollers 8 and 11 are movably supported and supported. The driven rollers 9 and 10 may be pressed against each other.

(Effect of the Invention) According to the present invention, the contact and separation of the driving roller and the driven roller and the contact and separation of the print head and the driving platen roller, which are arranged in pairs on both sides of the printing unit in the card transport direction, are achieved. Since it is performed by the switching means in a contradictory manner, the printing on the card can be performed while the card is being conveyed only by the drive platen roller, and the card conveying speed varies due to the difference in rotation with other driving rollers. Since there is no such thing, the printing position does not vary,
This has the effect of improving the printing accuracy.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of a printing device for cards and the like according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the same as above, and FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing one operation mode of the above embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another mode of operation according to FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a side view showing an example of a conventional printing device for cards and the like, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing printing on a card by a conventional printing device. It is a front view which shows an example. 1 ... print head, 2,3,5,7 ... arm that constitutes switching means, 6 ... solenoid that constitutes switching means, 8,11 ...
Drive roller, 9,10 …… Drive roller, 17 …… Drive platen roller.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A drive platen roller and a print head, which are provided so as to be able to come into contact with and separate from each other and convey a card by pressing them against each other, and are arranged in pairs on both sides of a printing unit in the conveying direction of the card and the like. A printing device for a card or the like, which includes a drive roller and a driven roller that can freely come into contact with and separate from each other, and a switching means that contradicts the contact and separation of the print head and the drive platen roller and the contact and separation of the drive roller and the driven roller.