JPH08187895A - Method and device for braille printing, and braille print head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To raise a recording layer into a spotted shape by heating a spotted partial area of a sheet with a heat generating body in a state that the recording layer is being pressed to a printing stage so as to foam a foaming microcapsule in a recess. CONSTITUTION: A sheet 4 is supplied to a sheet conveying passage 1 such that a recording layer 4b is opposed to a printing stage 8 and conveyed by a sheet convey means 5. The sheet 4 is stopped and the receiving printing stage 8 is energized by an eccentric cam 15 as an energizing means toward a heat generating block 10. When a voltage is applied to a heat generating body 9 based on a printing data sent from a host computer in a state that the sheet 4 is being pinched between the printing stage 8 and the heat generating block 10, a predetermined part of the recording layer 4b is heated and a heat foaming microcapsule of the recording layer 4b foams in a limited space in a recess 7. Thus, a dot which rises into a semispheric shape whose shape and size are set to be constant by the recess 7 is formed on the recording layer 4b.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a braille printing device, a braille printing head and a braille printing device for forming a raised image on a sheet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various proposals have been made as a method for forming a raised image on a sheet. For example, as shown in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 4-67046, an impact printing apparatus that forms a raised image by colliding a printing wire with a sheet, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-333858, electrophotography. There has been proposed a braille printed matter producing apparatus that transfers a toner image formed on the surface of a photoconductor by a method to a sheet to form a step of the toner on the sheet.

Further, in order to form a raised image using a sheet obtained by mixing thermo-expandable microcapsules and a thermoplastic binder resin and applying the mixture to a base such as paper, or a sheet of the same type, a method of forming a raised image is disclosed. JP-A-56-155786, JP-B-1-17480, and JP-A-62-194.
82, JP-A-1-295292, and JP-A-2
Proposals such as those described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 9661 have been made.

The one disclosed in JP-A-56-155786 forms a visible image on a sheet by electrophotography or handwriting, and irradiates light uniformly on the sheet on which the visible image is formed. In this way, the thermally expandable microcapsules are foamed to form a raised image, and the one disclosed in JP-B-1-17480 is
A thermo-expandable microcapsule is foamed by applying a voltage to a sheet by an electrode to form a raised image, which is disclosed in JP-A-62-19482, JP-A-1-295292 and JP-A-2- What is described in Japanese Patent No. 9661 or the like is to form a raised image by irradiating the recording layer of the sheet with a beam by an optical pickup and foaming the recording layer.

[0005]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Actual Kaihei 4-67046
The impact printing apparatus described in the publication has a problem that noise is generated because the printing wire collides with the paper. The one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-333858 has a problem in that the image that rises on the sheet is toner, so that if the toner is rubbed many times, the toner adheres to the surroundings through fingers and the printed matter becomes dirty.

Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 56-155786,
Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 1-17480, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-19482
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-295292, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-9
No. 661 discloses that the heat-expandable microcapsules of the recording layer of the sheet are foamed in a free space, and therefore the distribution of the heat-expandable microcapsules and the energy given to foam the heat-expandable microcapsules Due to variations and the like, it is difficult to make the size of the raised dots uniform. Moreover, JP-A-56-1557
The one described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 86, before forming Braille,
Since it is necessary to prepare a manuscript by electrophotography or handwriting, the process is increased and cumbersome. In addition, the device is expensive.

[0007]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
A stamp having one or more minute recesses formed on the surface thereof and a heating element facing the recesses are arranged so as to face each other with a predetermined gap, and a recording layer made of thermo-expandable microcapsules and a binder resin is provided on one surface. The formed sheet is provided, and the sheet is inserted between the stamp and the heating element with the recording layer facing the recessed portion, and the recording layer is spot-shaped while being pressed against the stamp. It is a Braille printing method in which a part of the area is heated by the heating element to foam the thermo-foamable microcapsules in the recesses to thereby raise the recording layer in a spot shape.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, one or more minute recesses are formed on the surface of the sheet having a recording layer composed of thermo-expandable microcapsules and a binder resin coated on one surface facing the recording layer. It is a Braille print head composed of a print stand and a heating element arranged to face the recess.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, a heating element block in which a heating element is embedded, and a hemisphere having an edge around an opening edge on a flat surface facing the heating element block. A braille print head including a stamped plate having a circular concave portion and biased toward the heating element block side.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet conveying path in which a sheet conveying means for conveying a sheet having a recording layer made of thermo-expandable microcapsules and a binder resin formed on one surface thereof is provided, and the recording layer is provided. A print table in which one or more minute recesses are formed on the surface facing each other and a heating element facing the recesses are arranged so as to face each other with the sheet conveying path in between, and a Braille print head is provided to transmit a print. It is a braille printing device provided with a drive unit for driving the heating element based on data.

[0011]

According to the inventions of claims 1 to 4,
By applying heat from the heating element from the side opposite to the recording layer of the sheet, the thermally expandable microcapsules of the recording layer are foamed in the restricted space in the recess.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the overall structure will be described with reference to the vertical side view of FIG. 1 and the vertical front view of FIG. In the figure, 1
Is a sheet conveying path, and the sheet conveying path 1 is formed by arranging a pair of guide plates 2 and 3 so as to face each other with a predetermined gap. A sheet conveying means 5 for conveying the sheet 4 and a braille print head 6 are arranged in the sheet conveying path 1. The sheet 4 has a recording layer 4b formed by coating a mixture of thermo-expandable microcapsules and a binder resin on one surface of a base 4a such as paper.

The Braille print head 6 includes the recording layer 4b.
A printing plate 8 having one or more minute recesses 7 formed on the surface facing the plate, and a heating element 9 that generates heat when a voltage is applied.
Is embedded in the heating element block 10. As shown in FIG. 4, the concave portion 7 and the heating element 9 forming a pair are arranged so as to face each other with a straight line C connecting the centers of the concave portion 7 and the heating element 9 being perpendicular to the sheet 4. The shape of the concave portion 7 is defined as a hemispherical shape in which an edge 7a is formed on the periphery of the opening edge.

Further, two feed screws 11 and 12 orthogonal to the conveying direction of the sheet 4 are provided so as to be driven by a forward / reverse rotatable scan motor, and one feed screw 11 has a heating element block. 10 and a support block 13 is screwed onto the other feed screw 12. That is, by rotating the feed screws 11 and 12, the heating element block 10 and the support block 13 are reciprocated in the width direction of the seat 4 while facing each other. In addition, the heating element block 10 and the support block 13 have the feed screws 11, 1
It is slidably held by a guide (not shown) which is parallel to 2.

The stamp base 8 is rotatably held by a support block 13 by a support shaft 14 parallel to the feed screws 11 and 12, and a biasing means 15 for biasing the stamp base 8 toward the heating element block 10 is provided. It is provided. In the present embodiment, the urging means 15 uses an eccentric cam provided along the moving direction of the support block 13, but the present invention is not limited to this. The stamper 8 is configured to be separated from the heating element block 10 by the tensile force of the spring 16 when the biasing force of the biasing means 15 is not applied.

Next, FIG. 3 shows an electronic circuit. Host computer (not shown) for printing data and various commands
An interface 17 received from the computer, a ROM 18 in which fixed data such as a program is stored, a CPU 19 for executing the program, and a RAM 20 for temporarily writing the received print signal and other variable data are connected by a system bus. There is. Further, a feed driver 22 that drives a feed motor 21 that rotates the sheet conveying unit 5, a head driver 23 that serves as a drive unit that drives the heating element 9, and the biasing unit (eccentric cam).
A cam driver 25 that drives a cam motor 24 that rotates 15 and a scan driver 2 that drives a forward / reverse rotatable scan motor 26 that rotates the feed screws 11 and 12.
7. A sheet sensor 28 or the like for detecting the transport position of the sheet 4 for controlling various operations is connected to the CPU 19.

In such a structure, the sheet 4 is fed to the sheet conveying path 1 so that the recording layer 4b faces the printing plate 8 and is conveyed by the sheet conveying means 5. Then, the sheet 4 is stopped, and the receiving table 8 is urged toward the heating element block 10 by the urging means (eccentric cam) 15 to hold the sheet 4 between the printing table 8 and the heating element block 10,
When a voltage is applied to the heating element 9 based on the print data transmitted from the host computer, a predetermined portion of the recording layer 4b is heated, and the heat-foamable microcapsules of the recording layer 4b are foamed in the restricted space in the recess 7. To do. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, the dots 4c, which have a hemispherical shape and whose shape and size are fixed by the recess 7, are formed in the recording layer 4b. In this embodiment, each time the sheet conveying means 5 feeds the sheet 4 by one pitch, the feed screws 11 and 12 are fed.
Is rotated to feed the heating element block 10 and the support block 13 in the width direction of the sheet 4, and a voltage is selectively applied to the heating element 9 to form one line of dots 4c. By thus forming the dots 4c based on the print data, a raised image having the pattern of the arranged dots 4c can be obtained.

A hemispherical concave portion 7 having an edge 7a around the opening edge is formed on the flat surface of the stamp 8 facing the heating block 10, and the stamp 8 is biased by the biasing means 15. By urging and printing on the side,
It is possible to form dots 4c having a clear contour.

When the sheet 4 is conveyed, or when the heating element block 10 and the support block 13 are moved in the width direction of the sheet 4, the urging force of the urging means 15 against the stamp 8 is removed. That is, when the eccentric cam is rotated to release the stamp 8, the stamp 8 is rotated about the support shaft 14 by the tensile force of the spring 16 in a direction away from the seat 4. This makes it possible to avoid a state in which the sheet 4 is conveyed in a state where the raised dots 4c have escaped from the recesses 7 and the shape of the raised dots 4c is destroyed at the edges of the recesses 7.

Further, according to the present invention, the heating element block 1
Since 0 can basically use the thermal head of the thermal printer, the thermal printer can be diverted to the Braille printing device by a simple method of using the printing plate 8 having the concave portion 7 instead of the platen.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, a large number of recesses 7 are formed.
It is also possible to use the printing plate 29 formed along the width direction of the sheet 4 and perform printing while moving the heating element blocks 10 in the arrangement direction of the recesses 7 by the feed screw 11. On the contrary, a large number of heating elements 9 are used instead of the heating element block 10.
It is also possible to use a heating element block (not shown) arranged along the width direction of the sheet 4 to perform printing while moving the printing plate 8 in the width direction of the sheet 4.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, a large number of recesses 7 are formed.
Are arranged along the width direction of the sheet 4 and a heating element block 30 in which a large number of heating elements 9 are arranged so as to face each of the recesses 7 of the printing table 29, and a plurality of heat generations are simultaneously performed. Printing may be performed by applying a voltage to the body 9. In this case, the printing time can be greatly shortened. Further, since it is not necessary to move the stamp board 29 and the heating element block 30 in the width direction of the sheet 4, the structure can be simplified.

[0023]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, as described above, the stamp having the concave portion and the heating element facing the concave portion are arranged so as to face each other with a predetermined gap therebetween, and the sheet has the concave recording layer. The heat-expandable microcapsules of the recording layer are recessed by inserting the recording layer toward the side between the stamp and the heating element, and heating the recording layer against the stamp by heating the spot-shaped partial area of the sheet with the heating element. Since the recording layer is raised in the form of a spot by foaming inside, it is possible to limit the foaming space of the heat-foamable microcapsule of the recording layer with the recessed portion, which allows the dots to be raised in the recording layer of the sheet. Since the size and shape of the sheet can be made uniform to improve the image quality, and the dots can be directly raised on the sheet without performing the work of forming a dark image on the sheet in advance, the image forming process can be performed. Short It can be.

The invention according to claim 2 is, as described above,
Since the print head is composed of a stamp with a minute recess formed on the surface of the sheet facing the recording layer and a heating element disposed facing the recess, the sheet is heated with the stamp facing the recording layer toward the stamp. When it is inserted between the body and the recording layer and the stamp is pressed against it, when a spot-shaped part of the sheet is heated by the heating element, the heat-foamable microcapsules are foamed in the restricted space in the recess. By doing so, the size and shape of the dots raised in the recording layer of the sheet can be made uniform and the image quality can be improved, and the work of directly forming the dark color image on the sheet can be directly performed on the sheet. Since the dots can be raised, the image forming process can be shortened.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a heating element block in which a heating element is embedded, and a hemispherical concave portion having an edge around the opening edge is formed on a flat surface facing the heating element block. Since it is composed of a printing plate biased to the heating element block side, the printing plate is biased to the heating element block side for printing, so that the contour of the dots formed on the recording layer of the sheet is made clear by the edge of the recess. You can

The invention according to claim 4 is, as described above,
A braille print head is provided in which a sheet conveying path is provided in which a sheet conveying unit that conveys a sheet is provided, and a stamp having a minute concave portion formed on a surface facing the recording layer and a heating element facing the concave portion are arranged to face each other. Since the drive unit is provided to drive the heating element based on the transmitted print data, the sheet is inserted between the stamp and the heating element with the recording layer facing the concave side, and the stamp is pressed against the recording layer. When the spot-shaped part of the sheet is heated by the heating element in this state, the size of the dots that are raised in the recording layer of the sheet by foaming the thermo-expandable microcapsules in the restricted space in the recess. Size and shape can be made uniform to improve the image quality, and the dots can be directly raised on the sheet without performing the work of forming a dark image on the sheet in advance. Can be shortened further, the heating element because it is possible to use a thermal head basically thermal printer, can be diverted to braille printer by using the indicia stand having a recess instead of the platen.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional front view.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an electronic circuit.

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional side view showing the relationship between the concave portion of the stamp and the heating element.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a state where dots are raised in the recording layer of the sheet.

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional front view showing a modified example.

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional front view showing a modified example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Sheet Conveying Path 4 Sheet 4b Recording Layer 5 Sheet Conveying Means 6 Braille Printing Head 7 Recess 7a Edge 8 Marking Stand 9 Heating Element 10 Heating Element Block 23 Driving Section 29 Printing Stand 30 Heating Element Block

Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Office reference number FI technical display location B41M 5/26 G09B 21/02

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A stamp having one or more minute recesses formed on the surface thereof and a heating element facing the recesses are arranged to face each other with a predetermined gap therebetween, and the heat-foamable microcapsules and a binder resin are used. A sheet having a recording layer formed on one surface is provided, the sheet is inserted between the stamp and the heating element with the recording layer facing the recessed portion, and the recording layer is pressed against the stamp. Braille characterized in that a spot-shaped region of a sheet is heated by the heating element to foam the thermo-foamable microcapsules in the recesses to thereby raise the recording layer in a spot shape. Printing method. 2. A stamp having one or more minute recesses formed on the surface of a sheet having a recording layer composed of heat-expandable microcapsules and a binder resin coated on one surface, the stamp being provided with at least one minute recess. A braille print head, characterized in that it comprises a heating element disposed opposite to the above. 3. A heating element block in which a heating element is embedded,
The hemispherical concave portion having an edge around an opening edge is formed on a flat surface facing the heating element block, and the marking table is biased toward the heating element block side. Braille print head. 4. A sheet conveying path for conveying a sheet on which a recording layer made of thermally expandable microcapsules and a binder resin or the like is formed, and a sheet conveying means arranged in the sheet conveying path for conveying the sheet. And a braille print head in which one or more minute recesses are formed on the surface facing the recording layer, and a heating element facing the recesses is arranged to face each other with the sheet conveying path in between. A Braille printing device comprising: a drive unit that drives the heating element based on the transmitted print data.