JPH0761636A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a printer which prevents a card print medium from floating up and holds the card print medium on a prescribed position on the carrier by simple constitution. CONSTITUTION:A printer is provided with bases 49, 56 which are disposed in a separate body from a carrier 33 and positioned opposed to the mounting face of the carrier 33 and a plurality of rollers 51 which are installed under the bases 49, 50 covering almost all range of the carriage route and when the carrier 33 transfers, they move rotationally abutting against a card 37, and the card 37 is held on the carrier 33 by the rollers 51. Thereby, the card 37 can be prevented from floating up from the carrier 33 by the simple constitution so that falling and position difference at the card 37 is prevented from happening.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

[Table of Contents] The present invention will be described in the following order. Field of Industrial Application Conventional Technology (FIGS. 9 and 10) Problem to be Solved by the Invention (FIG. 10) Means for Solving the Problem (FIGS. 3 and 6 to 8) Action (FIGS. 3 and 6) ) Example (1) Overall configuration (Figs. 1 to 5) (2) Lifting prevention member (Figs. 3 and 6 to 8) (3) Operation of example (Figs. 3 and 6 to 8) ( 4) Effects of the embodiment (FIGS. 3 and 6 to 8) (5) Other embodiments (FIG. 6) Effects of the invention

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, and is suitable for application to, for example, a printing apparatus for printing a color image on a card-shaped printing medium placed on a predetermined carrier.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a card printing apparatus for printing a color image on a card-shaped printing medium by a dye thermal transfer system. In this type of printing apparatus, based on color image information optically read from a color photograph or the like, or color image information captured by a video camera, yellow, magenta, cyan, and A color image is printed on a card by sequentially superposing a dye such as black on a card-shaped printing medium (hereinafter referred to as a card) by a thermal transfer head and thermally transferring the dye (JP-A-62- 11370 publication).

That is, as shown in FIG. 9, in the printing apparatus 1 of this type, the color image information S1 is supplied to the thermal transfer head 3 via the head drive section 2 and the ink ribbon wound around the supply reel 4 is supplied. 5 is wound around the winding reel 6 at a predetermined timing.

Further, in the printing apparatus 1, the ball screw 7 provided so as to extend in the carrying direction indicated by the arrow a,
Since the screw portion 9 is provided at the lower end of the carrier table 8 and is screwed, the carrier screw 8 is rotated in both directions to move the carrier table 8 in the direction of arrow a or in the opposite direction. It is designed to be able to move back and forth. As a result, in the printer 1, dyes such as yellow, magenta, cyan, and black can be thermally transferred to the card 10 placed on the carrier 8 in sequence, and thus a color image can be printed on the card 10. ing.

In this type of printing apparatus 1, a color image is printed at a predetermined position on the card 10 with the card 10 being positioned at a predetermined position on the carrier 8. Therefore, in the printer 1, it is necessary to prevent the card 10 positioned on the carrier 8 from being displaced.

Therefore, in the conventional printing apparatus of this type, as shown in FIG.
And 11B, motors 12A and 12B are provided, and the lock members 11A and 11B are moved up and down by the motors 12A and 12B in the directions indicated by the arrows.
Some cards are designed to hold the card 10 at a predetermined position on the carrier 8.

That is, in the printer 1, when the card 10 is introduced onto the carrier 8 or when the card 10 is discharged from the carrier 8, the lock members 11A and 11B are lifted as shown in FIG. The card 10 is held by moving it to the position and lowering the locking members 11A and 11B during card transportation and printing.

Another method is to position the card 10 at a predetermined position on the carrier 8 by providing an electrostatic attraction mechanism on the carrier 8.

[0010]

However, in the method of providing the lock members 11A and 11B on the carrier table 8 or the method of providing the electrostatic attraction mechanism as described above, the carrier table 8 is
Lock members 11A and 1 such as motors 12A and 12B
Since it is necessary to dispose an elevating drive mechanism or an electrostatic adsorption mechanism for elevating 1B, there is a problem that the structure of the carrier table 8 becomes complicated accordingly. In addition, in the method of holding the card 10 by the lock members 11A and 11B, the lock member 11
Since A and 11B come into contact with the printing surface of the card 10, there is a disadvantage that an image cannot be printed at this contact portion.

Further, if such a mechanism is provided on the carrier table 8, the weight of the carrier table 8 as a whole becomes large, which makes it difficult to move the carrier table 8 horizontally at high speed.
As a result, it has been difficult for a conventional printing apparatus to print a high-quality image at high speed.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and it is possible to prevent the print medium from floating above the carrier by a simple structure and hold the print medium at a predetermined position on the carrier. It intends to propose a printing device that can do this.

[0013]

In order to solve such a problem, according to the present invention, a card-shaped print medium 37 is placed on a predetermined carrier 33, and the carrier 33 is moved to move a predetermined print head 48. In the printing device 20 that prints a desired image on the printing surface of the printing medium 37,
3, a base 80 provided at a position facing the mounting surface 84 of the transfer table 33, and a base 80 provided over a substantially entire range of the transfer path of the transfer table 33. A plurality of rollers 5 that come into contact with the print medium 37 and rotate when the sheet moves
1A to 51D and the roller 51 attached to the base 80
Elastic means 8 for urging A to 51D toward the print medium 37
1A to 81D, and the print medium 37 is held on the transport table 33 by the rollers 51A to 51D.

Further, in the present invention, the rollers 51A-5
1D is arranged such that at least one of the 1D contacts the print medium 37 in the transport path.

[0015]

The plurality of rollers 51A to 51D contact the card-shaped print medium 37 over almost the entire range of the transport path to prevent the print medium 37 from rising from the transport table 33. Thus, the print medium 37 can be held at a predetermined position on the transport table 33 with a simple configuration, and the positional deviation of the print medium 37 on the transport table 33 can be avoided.

[0016]

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

(1) Overall Configuration In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 20 denotes a card printing apparatus as a whole, and a printing unit, a card transport unit, an image processing unit, various driving mechanisms, etc. are built in a housing 21. There is. A card cassette insertion port 22 is provided on the front surface of the housing of the printing apparatus 20, and a card cassette 23 having a plurality of cards to be printed stacked therein is loaded in the card insertion port 22. Further, a ribbon cassette insertion port 24 is provided on the front surface of the housing,
A predetermined ribbon cassette 25 is inserted into the ribbon cassette insertion port 24. Further, on the front surface of the housing, an LED for displaying the operating state of the power switch 26 and the card printing device 20 is displayed.
A display unit 27 and the like are provided. Further, a card ejection port 28 is provided on the side surface of the housing opposite to the side where the card cassette insertion port 22 is provided.
The printed card is ejected from.

FIG. 3 shows the carrying section 30 and the printing section 31 of the printing apparatus 20. In the card carrying section 30, a ball screw 32 provided so as to extend in the card carrying direction indicated by an arrow a has a carrying table 33. It penetrates through a nut portion 34 provided at the bottom of the ball screw 32, and thereby the ball screw 32 is moved to the pulse motor 3
By rotating the carrier table 5 by 5, the carrier table 33 is moved from the card mounting position shown by the solid line in the figure to the card discharging position shown by the alternate long and short dash line. At this time, the carrier table 33 is slidably supported by a pair of linear shafts (not shown) provided so as to extend in the carrying direction indicated by the arrow a. Direction or vice versa.

A card sending unit 36 is provided near the card cassette 23, and the cards 37 stacked in the card cassette 23 are sent toward the carrier 33 by the card sending unit 36. That is, the card sending unit 36
It comprises a motor 38, a gear 39 rotatably driven by the motor 38, a gear 40 meshing with the gear 39, and a half-moon shaped kick plate 41 fixed to the upper surface of the gear 40. The card 37 at the lowest position in the card cassette 23 can be rotated by rotating it at a predetermined timing.
Is kicked out in the direction of the carrier 33.

At this time, the card 37 kicked out in the direction of the carrying table 33 is sandwiched between the card carry-out rollers 43 and 44 which are rotationally driven by the motor 42, and the motor 42 is transmitted via a transmission mechanism (not shown). The card unloading roller 45, which is driven to rotate by, is placed on the transport table 33. Here, the card carrying-out roller 4
A cleaning roller 46 is provided between the cards 3 and 44 and the card unloading roller 45, whereby the printing surface of the card 37 is cleaned prior to printing.

A card holder 47 is provided on the upper surface of the carrier table 33, so that in the printer 20, the card holder 47 can restrict the horizontal movement of the card 37.

In addition, on the conveying paths on both sides of the thermal transfer head 48, floating preventing members 49 and 50 fixed to a main body chassis (not shown) are provided. Lifting prevention member 4
9 and 50 have a plurality of rollers 51,
By contacting the card 37 placed on the transport table 33, it is possible to prevent the card 37 from rising from the transport table 33 during transport and printing.

The card 37 for which printing has been completed is slid on the carrier 33 in the direction of arrow a by the card ejection rollers 52, 53 and 54 and ejected to the outside through the card ejection port 28. It is done like this. That is, the card ejection roller 52 rotates in the clockwise direction by receiving the driving force of the motor 55 via the gear 56, and the ejection rollers 53 and 54 rotate the gears 56, 57 and 57 in which the driving force of the motor 55 is meshed with each other. When it is received via 58, it rotates clockwise, and as a result, the card on the carrier 33 can slide in the direction of arrow a. At this time, the restriction of the card 37 by the card holding portion 47 in the forward direction is released by the lever release shaft 59 provided in the vicinity of the carrier table 33.

In this card printing device 20,
The moving state of the card 37 and the position of the carrier 33 are detected by the optical sensor, and the positioning of the card 37 and the carrier 33 is controlled to the correct position. That is, the sensor S2 detects whether or not the card cassette 23 is loaded, and the sensor S3
Detects whether or not the card 37 is present in the card cassette 23, and the sensor S4 detects the rotational position of the kick plate 41,
The sensor S5 detects whether the card 37 is carried out from the card cassette 23, the sensor S6 detects whether the card 37 is placed on the carrier 33, and the sensor S7 detects whether the card 37 is ejected. To detect.

The sensors S8, S9, and S10 detect the position of the carrier table 33 based on the detection protrusions 60 formed on the side surface of the carrier table 33. That is, the sensor S8 detects whether the carrier table 33 has reached the card supply position,
The sensor S9 detects whether the transport table 33 has reached the print start position, and the sensor S10 detects whether the transport table 33 has reached the card ejection position.

The printing section 31 uses a take-up reel 66 which is driven to rotate by a direct current (DC) motor 65 while the ink ribbon 62 wound around the supply reel 61 is supported by ribbon guides 63 and 64. Take it up. A torque limiter (not shown) is arranged on the supply reel 61, and the ink ribbon 62 is given a back tension with a constant torque. A winding diameter detection encoder (not shown) having an optical sensor structure is arranged on the take-up reel 66.

The ink ribbon 62 is coated with a predetermined amount of yellow dye, magenta dye, and cyan dye as dyes for one page. Ink ribbon 6
In No. 2, a page head mark is applied to the head position of the dye for each page, and a color identification mark for identifying each color is applied to the head position of each color dye. As a result, the printing device 20
Then, an optical sensor (not shown) provided in the running path of the ink ribbon 62 detects the page head mark and the color identification mark, respectively, and the ink ribbon 6 is detected based on the detection result.
2 tension control and the like are performed.

A head unit 70 provided with a thermal transfer head 48 is detachably attached to one end of a pressure lever 72 rotatably held by a rotary shaft 71.
The other end of the pressure lever 72 is provided with a cam plate 74 via a link 73.
It is swingably attached to. As a result, in the head unit 70, the cam plate 74 has a predetermined motor (not shown).
3 is rotated and driven to move up and down, an intermediate position as shown in FIG. 3, an initial position that rises from this intermediate position and is separated from the ink ribbon 62, and a lowermost position that descends from the intermediate position and contacts the card 37. It is designed to be positioned in position.

That is, the head unit 70 moves to the initial position when the ink ribbon 62 is loaded, etc., and the carriage 3
When the card 37 is placed on the sheet 3, the sheet moves to the intermediate position, and when the transport table 33 reaches the print start position, it moves to the lowest position. In the card printing apparatus 20, the up / down state of the head unit 70 is detected by the optical sensors S11 and S12 provided near the cutout portion of the cam plate 74. The thermal transfer head 48 has an end face type structure and is in contact with the card 37 over the entire width direction of the card 37 perpendicular to the paper surface. As a result, when the card 37 moves in the direction of the arrow a, a desired image can be printed on the entire printing surface of the card 37.

Here, the actual printing by the card printing apparatus 20 is executed according to the printing operation procedure SP0 shown in FIGS. That is, first in the printing operation procedure SP0, in the next step SP1, the card 37 is taken out from the card cassette 23, and it is judged in the next step SP2 whether or not the card 37 is taken out. If a negative result is obtained, the step SP3 is carried out. Then, the error processing for displaying a card out, etc. is performed.

On the other hand, when the card 37 is taken out,
At step SP4, the card 37 is carried out, and it is judged at step SP5 whether the card 37 has been carried out.
When a negative result is obtained, step SP4 is repeated, and when a positive result is obtained, the process proceeds to the next step SP6 and the card 37 is placed on the carrier 33. Subsequently, in step SP7, the carrier table 33 is positioned at the position of the thermal transfer head 48, and the carrier table 33 is stopped. At this time, the thermal transfer head 48 is in the raised position (initial position).

Next, at step SP8, the cam plate 74
The driving motor is driven to lower the thermal transfer head 48 to the intermediate position, and in the next step SP9, the ink ribbon 62 is cued for one page. Then, in the case of this embodiment, in the next step SP10, the winding diameter of the ink ribbon 62 is detected, and the drive condition of the DC motor 65 is set according to the winding diameter detected in step SP11.

Then, in step SP12, the drive motor of the cam plate 74 operates again to lower the thermal transfer head 48 to the lowermost position, and in step SP13, the DC motor 65 is driven to start winding the ink ribbon 62. At SP14, the carriage 33 is moved by a predetermined number of lines (α). Next, in step SP15, printing for one color is started, and in step SP16, printing is performed for 965 lines as a printing for one color, and the next step SP15
17, the printing of one color is completed and the ink ribbon 62
Is peeled off, and the carriage 33 is moved by a predetermined number of lines (β).

Subsequently, in step SP18, the thermal transfer head 48 is raised to an intermediate position, and in the next step SP19, it is judged whether or not the printing for three colors is completed. If a negative result is obtained, in the next step SP20 the carrier table is conveyed. 33
Return 965 lines by the number of lines obtained by adding α and β lines. Further, after the ink ribbon 62 of the next color is cued at the next step SP21, the above-mentioned step SP is performed.
Then, the process returns to 12 and the printing process for one color is performed. When a positive result is obtained in step SP19, the card 37 is ejected in step SP22, and color printing can be performed on the card 37 in this manner.

(2) Floating prevention member Here, as for the floating prevention members 49 and 50, as shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of rollers 51A, 51B, 51C and 51D are rotatably attached to a base 80. It is configured.
That is, the rollers 51A to 51D are attached to the U-shaped portion formed on the base 80 with both ends rotatably held. Further, a rectangular slit (not shown) is formed on the surface of the base 80 on which the rollers 51A to 51D come into contact, and the rollers 51A to 51D partially project downward from the base 80 through the slits. It is designed to do.

Further, at positions facing the rollers 51A to 51D, leaf springs 81A having both ends fixed to the base 80,
81B, 81C and 81D are provided so that the leaf springs 81A to 81D come into contact with the rollers 51A to 51D from above and bias the rollers 51A to 51D in the downward direction indicated by the arrow b with a predetermined force. Has been done.

The base 80 has a bent portion 82 which is bent substantially at right angles to the mounting surfaces of the rollers 51A to 51D. Accordingly, the lifting prevention members 49 and 50
As shown in FIG. 7, the bent portion 82 has a main body chassis 83.
It is fixed to the rollers with screws, etc.
D faces the card mounting surface 84 formed on the carrier table 33. As a result, the rollers 51A to 51D can come into contact with the card 37 placed on the carrier table 33 with a predetermined pressing force to prevent the card 37 from rising from the carrier table 33.

As a result, in the card printing device 20,
By attaching the lifting prevention members 49 and 50 to the main body chassis 83, it is possible to prevent the card 37 from falling off or being displaced from the carrier table 33 without complicating the structure of the carrier table 33. Here, the lifting prevention member 49
As shown in FIG. 3, the rollers 51A to 51D of the rollers 50 and 50 are arranged over almost the entire range of the transport path except for the printing position, and at least one or more rollers are in contact with the card 37. It is arranged. As a result, the lifting prevention members 49 and 50 are used not only during printing and transportation of the card 37 but also when the card 37 is placed on the transportation table 33 and when the card 37 is ejected from the transportation table 33.
7 can be held.

(3) Operation of the Embodiment In the above-mentioned configuration, the card printing device 20 has the card 37.
A desired image is printed on the printing surface of the card 37 by reciprocally moving the carrier table 33 on which is mounted in the direction of arrow a or in the opposite direction. At this time, the card 37 is prevented from moving in the horizontal direction by the card holding portion 47 provided on the carrier 33, and the rollers 51A to 51B of the floating preventing members 49 and 50 attached to the main body chassis. The movement in the vertical direction is restricted, and as a result, it is held at a predetermined position on the carrier table 33.

Here, in the card printing apparatus 20, at the time of printing, the operation of moving the card 37 in the direction of the arrow a by the carrier 33 while bringing the thermal transfer head 48 into contact with the printing surface of the card 37, and the thermal transfer head 48. The card 37 with the card 37 separated from the card 37 by the carrier 33.
And the operation of moving in the opposite direction are repeated. At this time, the floating prevention members 49 and 50 hold the card 37 at a position different from the printing position by the thermal transfer head 48. As a result, the card printing device 20 can print a desired image on the entire printing surface of the card 37 while preventing the card 37 from floating.

(4) Effects of the Embodiments According to the above configuration, the floating prevention members 49 and 50 composed of the plurality of rollers 51A to 51D are provided separately from the transport table 33 over almost the entire range of the transport path. The card 37 placed on the carrier 33 is prevented from rising by the plurality of rollers 51A to 51D.
The card 3 is placed at a predetermined position on the carrier 33 with a simple structure.
It is possible to realize the card printing device 20 that can hold the card 7.

(5) Other Embodiments In the above embodiment, each roller 51A to 51D is used.
Leaf springs 81A to 81D are provided at positions corresponding to the rollers 51A to 5D by the leaf springs 81A to 81D.
Although the case where the pressing force is applied to 1D has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and a leaf spring that traverses the rollers 51A to 51D is provided, and the rollers 51A to 51D are provided with predetermined leaf springs. The pressing force may be applied.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention, a card-shaped print medium is placed on a predetermined carrier, and the carrier is moved so that the print surface of the print medium is printed by a predetermined print head. In a printing apparatus that prints a desired image, a base provided separately from the carrier and at a position facing the mounting surface of the carrier and the base over substantially the entire range of the carrier path of the carrier. The print medium includes a plurality of rollers that are attached to the print medium and rotate when the transport table moves, and an elastic unit that is attached to the base and biases the rollers toward the print medium. By holding the printer on the carrier, it is possible to realize a printing device that can prevent the printing medium from falling off the printer and the position of the printer with a simple structure.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external configuration of an embodiment of a printing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an external configuration of an embodiment of a printing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view showing a conveyance unit and a printing unit in an embodiment of the printing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining a printing operation in the card printing apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining a printing operation in the card printing apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an example of a lifting prevention member used in the printing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining an uplifting prevention member.

FIG. 8 is a schematic side view for explaining a floating prevention member.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional card printing apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a lock member used in a conventional card printing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 20 ... Card printing device, 3, 48 ... Thermal transfer head, 4, 61 ... Supply reel, 5, 62 ... Ink ribbon, 6, 66 ... Take-up reel, 7, 32 ... Ball screw, 8, 33 ... Carrier, 9, 34 ... Nut part, 1
0, 37 ... Card, 21 ... Casing, 28 ... Card ejection port, 30 ... Conveying section, 31 ... Printing section, 36 ... Card sending section, 37 ... Card, 41 ... Hard disk, 43 ~
45 ... Card discharge roller, 46 ... Cleaning roller, 47 ... Card holding portion, 49, 50 ... Lifting prevention member, 51A to 51D ... Roller, 52-54 ... Card ejection roller, 59 ... ... Lever release shaft, 60 ... Detection protrusion, 70 ... Head unit, 72 ... Pressure lever, 73 ... Lever, 74 ... Cam plate, 80 ... Base,
81A to 81D: leaf spring, 82: bent portion, S2 to S
12 ... Sensor.

Continued Front Page (72) Inventor Tomohisa Uga 2-16-20 Shimura, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo Copal Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus for placing a card-shaped print medium on a predetermined carrier and moving the carrier to print a desired image on a printing surface of the print medium by a predetermined print head. In a separate body from the carrier, the base provided at a position facing the mounting surface of the carrier, and attached to the base over substantially the entire range of the carrier path of the carrier, The roller includes a plurality of rollers that rotate by contacting the print medium when the transport table moves, and elastic means that is attached to the base and biases the roller toward the print medium. A printing apparatus, wherein the printing medium is held on the carrier. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the rollers is arranged at a position where it abuts on the print medium in the transport path.