JPH0755569B2 - Thermal transfer image forming device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a thermal transfer image forming apparatus such as a thermal transfer type color copying machine.

(Prior Art) Recently, for example, a thermal transfer type color copying machine for performing color transfer using thermal transfer ink ribbons of a plurality of colors has been put into practical use. The outline of this copying machine is that the image information of the original is read as a color signal of light by scanning the original with an optical scanning means, and the read image information is converted into color information corresponding to each ink of the thermal transfer ink ribbon. The color information of each ink is converted and temporarily stored. Then, the stored color information is sequentially read, and the corresponding ink portion of the thermal transfer ink ribbon is used in accordance with the read color information to thermally transfer the ink to the paper by the thermal head, so that the colors are sequentially transferred to the paper. Then, color copying is performed.

In the copying machine having the above-described structure, an image is formed by the ink heated and melted by the thermal transfer being adhered to the paper, so that the paper and the ink ribbon may be adhered by the ink during the transfer. Has become. After the transfer, the sheet is conveyed between the pressing roller and the platen, and the ink ribbon is taken up between the platen and the guide portion so that the sheets are separated from each other.

By the way, if the paper becomes jammed during transfer,
At that time, the image forming (thermal transfer) operation is stopped. Therefore, the operation may be stopped while the paper and the ink ribbon are partly adhered. As described above, when the operation is stopped without separating the paper and the ink ribbon, if the paper jammed is forcibly pulled out, the ink ribbon is pulled out together with the paper.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The present invention avoids the disadvantage that the image forming medium is pulled out together with the jammed image forming medium, and easily removes the jammed image forming medium. It is an object of the present invention to provide a thermal transfer image forming apparatus capable of performing the above.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving Problems) A thermal transfer image forming apparatus apparatus according to the present invention is a transfer unit including a thermal head and a transfer body, an image forming medium having ink, and an image forming medium. In which the image is formed by transferring the ink from the image forming medium to the image forming medium by heating the thermal head according to the image information by superposing and conveying When the abnormal state is detected by the detecting unit while the ink of the image forming medium is being heated by the thermal head in the transfer unit, the detecting unit that detects the abnormal state, the image forming medium and the image receiving object. From the control means that stops the operation after transporting until the region corresponding to the region of the ink heated by the thermal head is peeled off in the region where the forming medium is polymerized It is intended to be made.

(Operation) According to the present invention, a transfer portion including a thermal head and a transfer body, an image forming medium having ink and an image forming medium are superposed and conveyed, and the thermal head is heated according to image information. By forming the image by transferring the ink from the image forming medium onto the image forming medium by doing so, the abnormal state of the thermal transfer image forming apparatus is detected by the detecting means,
In the area where the image forming medium and the image forming medium are superposed, when an abnormal state is detected by the detecting means while the ink of the image forming medium is being heated by the thermal head in the transfer section. Then, the operation is stopped after transporting until the area corresponding to the area of the ink heated by the thermal head is peeled off.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows an external appearance of a thermal transfer type color copying machine as an example of a thermal transfer image forming apparatus, in which an image information reading device 2 is detachably provided on an upper surface of a main body 1 of the apparatus.
A document cover 3 is provided to the image information reading device 2 so as to be openable and closable, and a document table (not shown) made of transparent glass on which a document is placed is provided below the cover 3. There is. In this image information reading apparatus 2, a scanner section (details will be described later) including an exposure optical system reciprocates along the lower surface of the document table to optically scan the document set on the document table, and It photoelectrically converts optical information. The signal converted by the image information reading apparatus 2 is supplied to an image forming section 5 which is detachably provided on the right side of the apparatus main body 1, and in the image forming section 5, image formation is performed according to the converted signal. An image is formed on a sheet as a medium. An operation panel 6 is provided on the upper front surface of the image forming unit 5.
Is provided. Further, on the front surface of the image forming unit 5,
A guide unit 11 for manually inserting a sheet is provided so as to be openable and closable, and a sheet discharge tray 12 for discharging the sheet after transfer is provided on the upper surface. Further, in the apparatus main body 1 located below the image forming section 5, a paper feed cassette 13 for accommodating paper is provided so as to be able to be put in and taken out. Reference numeral 8 is a door for attaching / detaching a thermal transfer ink ribbon as a transfer agent, which will be described later, to / from the apparatus main body 1.

On the other hand, FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the image information reading device 2. Two light sources 23 are arranged in parallel on a carriage 22 that constitutes the scanner unit 21, and two lenses 24 are arranged in an inverted V shape between the light sources 23. At the lower end of this lens 24 is a photoelectric converter 25 consisting of a color CCD.
Is provided. One end of the carriage 22 is slidably agitated on a guide shaft 26, and a so-called timing belt (toothed belt) 27 is stretched along the guide shaft 26.
Installed on. The timing belt 27 is driven by the pulse motor 28. That is, the timing belt 27 is stretched between the motor pulley P ₁ and the idle pulley P ₂ provided on the rotating shaft of the pulse motor 28,
In accordance with the operation of the timing belt 27, the scanner unit 21 is moved in the directions of arrows a and b in the figure. Incidentally, 29 is an A / D converter for converting the output signal of the photoelectric converter 25 into a digital signal, and 30 is the power output from an inverter 31 for the light source 23.
And a flat cable for supplying the output signal of the A / D conversion unit 29 to the image forming unit 5.

FIG. 4 shows the operation panel 6. This operation panel 6 includes a print key 41 for displaying the start of printing (transfer), a ten key 42 for designating the number of prints, and a clear / stop key 4 for canceling the designation of the number of prints or stopping printing.
3.Numeric display 44 for displaying the number of prints, background color setting section 45 for setting the shade of the background color, color depth setting section 46 for setting the shade of color, and hue setting section 4 for setting the hue.
7. Display 48 for various displays, original mode key 49 ₁ for selecting the mode according to the image quality of the original, display section 49 ₂ for displaying the selected mode, and density designation for switching the print density between 5 levels It is composed of a key 7 ₁ and a display section 7 ₂ which displays the set concentration. The display 48 indicates a jam display portion 48 ₁ that is turned on when a paper jam occurs in the apparatus body 1, various states such as no ribbon in the ribbon cassette mounted in the apparatus body 1 or the cassette itself is not mounted. A ribbon display section 48 ₂ for displaying, a paper display section 48 ₃ for displaying the mounting state of the paper feed cassette 13 or the presence or absence of paper, and a scanner display section 48 ₄ , 48 for displaying the operation status of the scanner section 21.
_5, and a paper size display 48 ₆ for displaying the size of paper in the paper feeding cassette 13 mounted.

Further, the image forming section 5 has a structure as shown in FIG. That is, the platen 50 is arranged at the substantially central portion of the image forming section 5, and the thermal head 51 as a recording head (heat sensitive head) is provided in front of the platen 50 (leftward in the state of FIG. 5). It is arranged so as to be able to approach and separate from the platen 50.

Further, the thermal head 51 is housed in the space of the ribbon cassette Rc, and a thermal transfer ink ribbon (thermal transfer ribbon) 52 as an image forming medium is interposed between the thermal head 51 and the platen 50. Then, the sheet (image forming medium) P is pressed against the platen 50 with the thermal transfer ink ribbon 52 interposed, and in this state, the heating elements (not shown) formed in the line dots of the thermal head 51 form an image. By generating heat according to information, the ink on the thermal transfer ink ribbon 52 is heated and melted and transferred to the paper P.

A sheet feeding roller 53 is provided in the apparatus main body 1 diagonally below the platen 50 so that the sheets P stored in the sheet feeding cassette 13 are sequentially taken out one by one. The taken-out paper P is guided through a paper guide path 54 to a registration roller 55 arranged obliquely above the paper feed roller 53, and the leading end of the paper P is aligned by the registration roller 55. After that, it is moved toward the platen 50 and the pressing rollers 56, 57
It will be wrapped around the platen 50 and sent accurately.

On the other hand, the thermal head 51 presses the paper P against the platen 50 via the thermal transfer ink ribbon 52, and as shown in FIG. 6, the ink 60 on the thermal transfer ink ribbon 52 is heated and melted and transferred to the paper P. It is like this.

Further, the thermal transfer ink ribbon 52 has a size substantially equal to that of the paper P, for example, as shown by a range A in FIG. 7, and ink portions 60a and 60b of yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C). , 60c are arranged side by side, or yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black ( _BL ) ink portions 60a, 60b, 60c, 60d are arranged side by side as shown in the range B. Therefore, the sheets P are transferred back one by one, and the sheets P are returned to the original state, and the sheets P are accurately sequentially overlaid.

In addition, the ink portions 60a to 60d are discriminated at the side edge portions corresponding to the ink portions 60a to 60d of the thermal transfer ink ribbon 52, and the leading ends of the ink portions 60a to 60d and the leading end of the paper P are controlled to coincide. The required barcode BC is provided. This barcode
BC is read by a bar code detector (shown at 78 in FIG. 10) described below.

When the black ink portion 60d is provided on the thermal transfer ink ribbon, the black ink portion 60d is used when it is desired to produce black clearly. Even if it does not have the black ink portion 60d, almost black can be obtained by overlapping three colors (60a to 60c).

In this way, the paper P is reciprocated by the number of colors by the rotation of the platen 50, and the path of the paper P at that time is the output tray.
First and second guides 61, 6 sequentially arranged along the lower surface of 12
2 will be guided over.

That is, the description will be made with reference to FIGS.
First, the paper P supplied from the paper feed cassette 13 passes through the arrangement portion of the registration roller 55 and the first distribution gate 63 and is wound around the platen 50 (see FIG. 8A). .

Next, the platen 50 rotates using a pulse motor (not shown) as a drive source to transfer the paper P at a predetermined speed, and the heating elements of the thermal head 51 formed in line dots along the axial direction of the platen 50 ( (Not shown) generates heat in accordance with image information, and the ink 60 of the thermal transfer ink ribbon 52
Are transferred to the paper P.

Further, the leading edge of the paper P that has passed through the platen 50 is sent by the second sorting gate 64 onto the first guide 61 provided along the lower surface of the paper discharge tray 12 (FIG. 8 (b)). reference).

In this way, the paper P on which the ink 60 of one color has been transferred is fed back by the platen 50 reversing, and the lower surface of the first guide 61 by the rotational displacement operation of the first sorting gate 63. It is fed onto a second guide 62 provided along the line (see FIG. 8C).

As described above, the paper P is reciprocated a plurality of times to transfer a plurality of colors.

Finally, the paper P to which the inks 60 of all colors have been transferred is guided to the paper discharge roller pair 65 by the second sorting gate 64 and is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 12 (Fig. 8 (d)). reference).

In FIG. 5, the roller pair 66 conveys the manually fed sheet, and the sheet conveyed by the roller pair 66 is guided to the registration roller 55 via the guide path 68 and the sheet feeding roller 53.

On the other hand, a plurality of switches are provided around the platen 50. That is, as shown in FIG. 9, a switch 33 for detecting the presence / absence of the sheet P by being turned off in accordance with the passage of the sheet P in the vicinity of the registration roller 55 of the sheet guide path 54, and an upper portion of the platen 50. Is a switch composed of, for example, a photo coupler for detecting the leading edge of the paper P.
34, switches 35 and 36 for detecting the presence or absence of the paper P by being turned off in response to passage of the paper P are provided in the vicinity of the paper discharge roller pair 65 and the second guide 62, respectively. And these switches 33,34,35,36
A paper jam of the paper P is detected by counting the off time of the paper by a main control unit as a control means described later.

Next, the configuration of the image forming unit 5 will be further described. First
In FIGS. 10 to 12, the printer block 71 has substantially the same shape as the outer shape of the ribbon casing Rc. The printer block 71 supports the thermal head 51 from the rear surface and also functions as a heat sink. Head holder 72,
A member (guide portion) 73 integrally attached to the head holder 72, a rod 75 having one end attached to the head holder 72 and the other end connected to a drive link 74, and a rotation support shaft of the drive link 74. 76, a coil spring 77 that urges the drive link 74 to rotate in one direction and moves the thermal head 51 in the platen 50 direction via the rod 75, and detects a bar code BC attached to the thermal transfer ink ribbon 52. A bar code detector 78 including a light emitting element and a light receiving element is provided. The drive link 74, the rod 75, the rotation support shaft 76, and the coil spring 77.
The head moving mechanism is constituted by.

The platen 50 is attached to a frame 79 attached to both sides of the printer block 71, and pressure rollers 56 and 57 for pressing a sheet against the platen 50 are attached to the frame 79.
Support shafts 80 and 81 are provided. The pressure rollers 56 and 57 are driven by a solenoid (not shown). Also, pressure roller 56 and platen 50
A paper guide 82 is provided between them. Further, the frame 79 is provided with a motor 83 and a motor frame 84 for driving the thermal head 51, as shown in FIG. A cam is provided on a rotation shaft (not shown) of the motor 83, the lever 85 provided on the rotation support shaft 76 is rotated by the cam, and the thermal head 51 is rotated by the coil spring 77.
It is designed to be driven against the urging force of. Further, the motor frame 84 has a platen drive motor 86,
Thermal transfer ink ribbon 52 stored in ribbon cassette Rc
Ribbon drive motors 89 and 90 for driving the winding cores 87 and 88 (shown in FIG. 10) are provided. These motors 86,89,90
Is configured to drive the platen 50 and the winding cores 87, 88 via a gear (not shown). Of these, at the center of rotation of the gears driving the winding cores 87, 88, as shown in FIG. Engaging protrusion 91
₁ , 90 ₂ are provided. These, ribbon drive motor 89,
By controlling 90, the thermal transfer ink ribbon 52 can run in both forward and reverse directions.

The ribbon cassette Rc can be attached to and detached from the printer block 71. I.e. ribbon cassette
Rc is, as shown in FIG. 13, between the rear surface of the exposed portion of the thermal transfer ink ribbon 52 and the ribbon cassette Rc, the holder 72,
Space for accommodating the member 73 and the thermal head 51 92
The cross section is formed in a substantially U shape so as to form Further, the ribbon cassette Rc, between the core housing portion 93 _1, 93 _2, the fitting portion 71 ₁ (FIG. 11 of the printer block 71, the first
Slit 93 ₃ fitted and shown in FIG. 2) are formed along the length direction. The length l of the slit 93 ₃ and the fitting portion 71 ₁ is substantially equal, the length l is set to more than half of the width of the thermal transfer ink ribbon 52. Therefore, by moving the ribbon cassette Rc with respect to the printer block 71 in the length direction thereof, the ribbon cassette Rc can be attached to or detached from the printer block 71. Moreover, the core housing portion 93 _1, 93 ₂ of the side portions engaging recess 94 ₁ attached to the core 87, 88 that is housed inside the, 9
4 ₂ is provided, in a state in which the ribbon cassette Rc is installed in the printer block 71, the engaging recesses 94 _1, 94
₂ and the engaging projections 91 ₁ and 91 ₂ are engaged with each other. When the thermal head 51 is driven toward the platen 50 with the ribbon cassette Rc attached to the printer block 71, the thermal transfer ink ribbon 52 is brought into contact with the platen 50 by the member 73 as shown in FIG. A sheet (not shown) is interposed between the platen 50 and the thermal transfer ink ribbon 52, and the thermal head 51 generates heat according to image information, whereby the ink on the thermal transfer ink ribbon 52 is heated and melted and transferred to the sheet. To be done.

FIG. 14 schematically shows the whole control system. That is, the main control unit 100 is mainly composed of, for example, a CPU (central processing unit) and its peripheral circuits, and the bus line 101 is connected to this. The bus line 101 includes an operation panel 6 of the image forming section 5, a display control circuit 103 for controlling the operation panel 6,
The storage unit 104, the scanner control unit 105, the photoelectric conversion unit 106, the color conversion unit 107, the two-color separation unit 108, the transport control unit 109, the thermal head drive unit 110, the thermal head temperature control unit 111, and the switches 33 to 36 are provided. Each is connected. The display control circuit 103 operates according to a signal sent from the main control unit 100 via the bus line 101, and controls the display 48 provided on the operation panel 6. In addition, the operation panel 6
The signal of the key operated in (1) is supplied to the main control unit 100 via the bus line 101, and the control is performed corresponding to these signals. Further, the storage unit 104 operates in response to a signal sent from the main control unit 100 via the bus line 101, and stores the information sent via the bus line 101 or reads the stored information.

On the other hand, the scanner control unit 105 operates from the main control unit 100 to the bus line 10
It operates according to the signal sent via 1, and the scanner unit 21
The light source 23, the pulse motor 28, and the photoelectric conversion unit 106 are controlled respectively. The photoelectric conversion unit 106 detects an image on a document according to a signal sent from the main control unit 100 via the bus line 101, and outputs a digitized light color signal. The color conversion unit 107 converts the color signals of light output from the photoelectric conversion unit 106 into color signals of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black inks, and outputs these color signals to the bus line 101.
The two-color separation unit 108 converts the color signal of the light output from the photoelectric conversion unit 106 into, for example, color signals of black and red ink, and the original image is composed of two colors such as black and red. Used when The output signal of the two-color separation unit 108 is output to the bus line 101. Further, the two-color separation unit 108 and the color conversion unit 107 also perform color conversion on the signal sent from the bus line 101, and output a new signal to the bus line 10.
You can also output to 1.

The conveyance control unit 109 operates according to a signal sent from the main control unit 100 via the bus line 101, and drives the platen 50 by a platen drive motor 86, a paper feed roller 53, a registration roller 55, and a paper discharge roller pair 65. And a solenoid for driving the first and second sorting gates 63 and 64 (neither is shown). The thermal head drive unit 110 operates in response to a signal sent from the main control unit 100 via the bus line 101 and a signal from the thermal head temperature control unit 111, and drives and controls the heating element of the thermal head 51. The thermal head temperature control unit 111 is
A temperature control signal is output to the thermal head drive unit 110 in response to a signal sent from the main control unit 100 via the bus line 101.

Further, the paper transport position detection unit 112 counts the number of drive pulses of a motor of a transport system (not shown) from the start of feeding the paper P to determine the transport position of the paper P (the amount of transport from the paper feed).
Is to detect.

The thermal transfer ribbon drive circuit 113 controls the ribbon drive motors 89 and 90 in synchronism with the position signal of the paper P supplied from the main controller 100 to drive the cores 87 and 88 of the ribbon cassette Rc to drive the thermal transfer ribbon. It drives the 52. As shown in FIG. 15, the thermal transfer ribbon drive circuit 113 is a ROM (read only memory) 1 in which control information for the overall control unit 120 and ribbon drive motors 89, 90 is stored.
21, a counter 122 for counting the rotation amount of the ribbon drive motor 89 by counting the rotation detection signal from the Hall element group described later, D / A converter 123a for converting the control information read from the ROM 121 into an analog signal , 123b, pulse width modulators (PWM) 124a, 124b for outputting pulse signals having duty ratios corresponding to analog signals (voltages) from these D / A converters 123a, 123b, the ribbon drive motor 89, Hall element groups 126a and 126b provided inside each of 90 and outputting a rotation detection signal (used for phase switching timing) according to the rotation of the motor, and these Hall element groups 126.
Distributors 127a and 127b that respectively output phase switching signals according to the rotation detection signals output from a and 126b, and the distributors 1
The winding currents of the ribbon drive motors 89 and 90 are switched according to the phase switching signals from 27a and 127b, and the current value of the winding current is changed by the on-duty of the pulse signal from the pulse width modulators 124a and 124b. Ribbon drive motor 89,9 with corresponding drive force (torque) by deciding
It is composed of drive circuits 125a and 125b for driving 0.

The ROM 121 stores control information of the ribbon drive motors 89 and 90 according to the count value of the counter 122. This control information is different at the time of conveying the paper before transfer, at the time of transfer, at the time of reverse feeding of the ribbon, at the time of stop, and at the time of non-pressurized feeding of the ribbon without pressing the platen 50, depending on the count value at each operation. It is set. The control information can drive the thermal transfer ink ribbon 52 with a larger torque than in other cases, especially when the paper is conveyed before the transfer.

Further, the main control unit 100 is adapted to detect a paper jam by counting the off signal time of the switches 33 to 36. Then, the thermal head driver 110
If a paper jam is detected while outputting the drive signal to
In other words, if a paper jam is detected during transfer, the main controller 100
Controls the conveyance control unit 109 and the thermal transfer ribbon drive circuit 113 to drive the platen 50 and the ribbon drive motors 89 and 90 to convey the paper P and the thermal transfer ink ribbon 52 respectively by a predetermined distance, and then stop the transfer operation. It has become.

Next, the operation in such a configuration will be described. First,
When a power switch (not shown) is turned on, the main control unit 100
Outputs an initial setting signal to the control unit 120 of the thermal transfer ribbon drive circuit 113. Then, the control unit 120 reads the control information for initial setting from the ROM 121 and outputs it to the D / A converters 123a and 123b. These D / A converters 123a and 123b convert the supplied control information into an analog signal voltage, and the pulse width modulator 12
Give to 4a, 124b. Then, the pulse width modulators 124a and 124b output the pulse signals having the duty ratios corresponding to the applied analog signal voltage to the drive circuits 125a and 125b, respectively. As a result, the drive circuits 125a and 125b rotate the ribbon drive motors 89 and 90 by the driving force determined by the on-duty of the pulse signal. As a result, the thermal transfer ink ribbon 52 runs in the forward direction. By this traveling, when the bar code detector 78 detects the bar code BC on the thermal transfer ink ribbon 52, the control unit 120 stops the rotation of the ribbon drive motors 89, 90 and initializes the counter 122.

When the print key 41 is pressed in such a state, the main control unit 100 outputs a take-out signal to the conveyance control unit 109. Then, the conveyance control unit 109 drives the paper feed roller 53 to take out the paper P. When the taking-out of the sheet P is started, the number of pulses of the motor (not shown) of the conveyance control unit 109 is counted by the sheet conveyance position detection unit 112, and the conveyance position of the sheet P is determined according to the count result. It is supposed to be done.

Next, when the paper transport position detection unit 112 determines that the leading edge of the paper P has reached the point C where the member 73 and the platen 50 face each other, the main control unit 100 again causes the thermal transfer ribbon drive circuit 1 to operate.
A drive signal is output to the control unit 120 of 13. Then, the control unit 1
The ROM 20 reads a control signal corresponding to the paper conveyance before transfer from the ROM 121 and outputs it to the D / A converters 123a and 123b. As a result, the drive circuits 125a and 125b are driven by the ribbon drive motor with the drive force determined by the on-duty of the pulse signal.
Rotate 89, 90. As a result, the paper P is conveyed while being sandwiched between the thermal transfer ink ribbon 52 and the platen 50. Further, the counter 122 starts counting by the signal from the Hall element group 126a.

Then, when the control unit 120 determines from the count value of the counter 122 that the front end of the paper P has reached the point A (transfer unit) where the thermal head 51 and the platen 50 face each other, the ROM 1
A control signal corresponding to the sheet being conveyed from the transfer section and thereafter is read from 21 and output to the D / A converters 123a and 123b. As a result, the drive circuits 125a and 125b are respectively driven by the ribbon drive motors 89 and 90 with the drive force determined by the on-duty of the pulse signal.
To rotate. As a result, the paper P becomes the thermal transfer ink ribbon 52.
It is transported in a state of being sandwiched between the platen 50 and the platen 50.

Then, when the control unit 120 determines from the count value of the counter 122 that the leading edge of the paper P has reached the point B between the member 73 and the platen 50, the control signal corresponding to the paper conveyance at the time of transfer from the ROM 121. Read the D / A converters 123a and 123b
Output to. As a result, the drive circuits 125a and 125b rotate the ribbon drive motors 89 and 90 by the driving force determined by the on-duty of the pulse signal. As a result, the thermal transfer ink ribbon 52 is conveyed until the initial position, that is, the print start position faces the point A. Also, at this time,
The thermal head 51 is moved by the head moving mechanism and comes into contact with the platen 50 via the paper P and the thermal transfer ink ribbon 52. Then, the heating element of the thermal head 51 is driven according to the signal from the thermal head temperature control unit 111, and the ink 60 corresponding to the information for each scanning line is obtained.
₁ is thermally transferred onto the paper P by the thermal head 51.

In this state, when a paper jam is detected by the main control unit 100, that is, in a state where the ink 60 ₁ is thermally transferred to the paper P as shown in FIG. Signal (paper jam detection signal)
When a paper jam is detected by the main controller 100, the main controller 100 controls the transport controller 109 and the thermal transfer ribbon drive circuit 113,
The platen drive motor 86 and the ribbon drive motors 89 and 90 are driven to convey the paper P and the thermal transfer ink ribbon 52 by a predetermined distance. That is, the main control unit 100 is shown in FIG.
Rotate the platen 50 in the direction of the arrow (a ₁ ~
by a ₂₎ is as to convey the sheet P, after wound by simply winding core 87 an amount corresponding to a thermal transfer ink ribbon 52 to the conveying distance of the sheet P, and stops the transfer operation. As a result, the paper P and the thermal transfer ink ribbon 52, which are in a state of being bonded by the heated and melted ink 60 ₁ , are separated.

Therefore, the paper jammed paper P during thermal transfer is reliably separated from the thermal transfer ink ribbon 52 by being conveyed for a predetermined distance, and therefore the thermal transfer ink ribbon 52 is prevented from being pulled out when the paper jammed paper P is removed. Therefore, only the paper P can be easily removed.

If the power is turned off when the paper jam is detected, the paper jam is detected by the off signal (paper jam detection signal) supplied from the switch when the power is turned on again, and the paper and the thermal transfer ink ribbon are If the operation is stopped after the sheet has been conveyed for a predetermined distance, the same effect as in the above embodiment can be obtained.

[Advantages of the Invention] As described above in detail, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a thermal transfer image forming apparatus capable of easily removing a jammed image forming medium.

[Brief description of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a view for explaining a peeling operation according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of an image forming apparatus, and FIG. 3 is an image. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the information reading device, FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a configuration of an operation panel, FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing a configuration of an image forming unit, and FIG. 6 is a view for explaining a transfer operation state. 7 is a plan view showing the ink application state of the thermal transfer ribbon, FIGS. 8A to 8D are explanatory views for explaining the movement of the paper during multicolor transfer, and FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining detection of passage of a sheet, FIGS. 10 to 12 are main portions of an image forming unit, FIG. 10 is a side sectional view, and FIG. 11 is a perspective view. FIG. 12 is a side sectional view showing a state in which the ribbon cassette is removed in FIG. 10, and FIG. 13 shows the structure of the ribbon cassette. To a perspective view, FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a control system, FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a thermal transfer ink ribbon drive circuit. 33 to 36 …… Switch, 50 …… Platen (transfer body), 51…
… Thermal head (thermal head), P… Paper (image forming medium), 52… Thermal transfer ink

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI technical display location B41J 17/30 B

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An image forming medium having ink and an image forming medium are superposed and conveyed to a transfer portion composed of a thermal head and a transfer member, and the thermal head is heated according to image information. Thus, in a thermal transfer image forming apparatus that forms an image by transferring ink from the image forming medium onto the image forming medium, a detection unit that detects an abnormal state of the thermal transfer image forming apparatus, and the transfer unit When an abnormal state is detected by the detecting means while the ink is being heated by the thermal head, the thermal head is heated in the area where the image forming medium and the image forming medium are superposed. A thermal transfer image forming apparatus, comprising: a control unit that stops the operation after transporting until a region corresponding to the formed ink region is peeled off. 2. The control means, when the power is turned off in response to the occurrence of an abnormal state, after the power is restored, the image forming medium and the image forming medium are separated from each other by the image forming medium and the image forming medium. Claim 1 wherein the operation is stopped after transporting until the area corresponding to the area of the ink heated by the thermal head is peeled off in the area where The thermal transfer image forming apparatus as described in the item.