JPH0880629A - Thermal head of heat transfer printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To change inclination at both the sides and the middle part of a paper guide and retreat inclination starting part at its middle part in order to prevent paper from being caught or provide the paper guide over the domain ranging from the rear end part of a ceramic board onto an junction board in order to prevent the paper from being caught and further from being interfered with the adhesive portion formed between the ceramic board and the junction board. CONSTITUTION: When photographic paper 11 is fed along a ceramic board 2, the tip part 11a of the paper is guided by first tilting parts 5a and 5b so as to separate the tip parts 11a from the ceramic board 2. Next, since the photographic paper 11 is guided by the second tilting part 5c at the middle part under the condition that the tip part 11a of the photographic paper 11 is apart from the ceramic board 2, no catching of the tip part 11a of the photographic paper occurs even under the condition that the tilt starting part 5d at the middle part of the second tilting part 5c slightly floats from the ceramic board 2.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal head of a thermal transfer printer, and more particularly to a paper guide structure provided on the thermal head of the thermal transfer printer.

[0002]

8 and 9 are structural views of a thermal head in a conventional thermal transfer printer, FIG. 8 is a perspective view, and FIG. 9 is a side view in the direction D of FIG. In the figure, 21 is a heat dissipation plate, 22 is a ceramic substrate, 23 is a heating element, 24 is a relay substrate, 25 is a paper guide, 25d is a central portion, 26 and 27 are mounting screws, 28 is a connector, and 29 is an adhesive.

A ceramic substrate 22 is fixed to a heat sink 21 made of aluminum, and a heating element 23 is provided on the ceramic substrate 22. Further, a relay board 24 is fixed to the rear portion of the ceramic board 22.
Attach the paper guides 25 on both sides to cover the
It is fixed to the heat dissipation plate 21 by 6, 27. In FIG. 9, a connector 28 is attached to the relay board 24 for transmitting a signal to the outside. Further, a protective adhesive 29 is provided on the joint between the ceramic substrate 22 and the relay substrate 24.
May be applied thinly.

FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 are side views of the mechanism of a conventional thermal transfer printer using a thermal head.
1 is photographic paper, 32 is a feed roller, 33 is a pinch roller,
34 is a side plate, 35 is a lever shaft, 36 is a head lever, 3
6a is a cam pin, 37 is a cam shaft, 38 is a master cam,
38a is a cam groove, 39 is a sensor, 40 is a cam drive gear,
41 is an ink cartridge, 41a is a take-up bobbin,
42 is an ink sheet, 43 is a platen roller, 44 is a bearing, and other parts having the same functions as those in FIGS. 8 and 9 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

In FIG. 10, a photographic printing paper 31 is provided with a feed roller 32 and a pinch roller 33 which is pressed against the feed roller 32.
The sheet is sandwiched between the sheets and conveyed by the clockwise rotation of the feed roller 32 and fed into the apparatus. At this time, a cam pin 36a fixed to a head lever 36 rotatably attached to a lever shaft 35 provided on the side plate 34 is a cam of a master cam 38 rotatably attached to a cam shaft 37 provided on the side plate 34. It is in a state of entering the groove 38a at the position shown in FIG. The other end 3 of the head lever 36
A heat radiating plate 21 of a thermal head is attached to 6a, and the photographic printing paper 31 is guided by a paper guide 25 and further fed into the apparatus.

In FIG. 11, the end portion 31a of the photographic printing paper 31 is shown.
When it reaches the position detected by the sensor 39, the photographic paper 3
1 is stopped, and the master cam 38 is rotated by the cam drive gear 40 engaged with the gear 38b on the outer peripheral portion. Then
The cam pin 36a of the head lever 36 that has entered the cam groove 38a moves in the inner circumferential direction of the master cam 38. As a result, the head lever 36 rotates counterclockwise about the lever shaft 35. Then, the ceramic substrate 22 and the paper guide 25 of the thermal head push down the ink sheet 42 contained in the ink cartridge 41, and the heating element 23 of the thermal head is pressed against the printing paper 31 on the platen roller 43. The platen roller 43
Is rotatably attached to the side plate 34 via a bearing 44. In this state, the feed roller 32 is rotated counterclockwise this time to move the photographic paper 31 in the E direction, and at the same time, the winding bobbin 41a in the ink cartridge 41 is moved.
Is rotated counterclockwise (the drive mechanism is not shown), and the heating element 23 of the thermal head is energized while the ink sheet 42 is being wound up in the F direction, so that the printing paper 31 is printed.

[0007]

In FIG. 8, the paper guide 2 depends on whether the parts accuracy of the paper guide 25 is good or bad.
The central portion 25d of 5 floats above the ceramic substrate 22. In such a case, the gap between the ceramic substrate 22 of the thermal head and the platen roller 43 in FIG.
As shown in, when the photographic printing paper 31 is fed into the apparatus and the front end 31a of the photographic printing paper 31 is warped upward, the front end 31a of the photographic printing paper 31 hits the central portion 25d of the paper guide 25, There is a problem in that the photographic printing paper 31 is caught and cannot be fed into the apparatus.

If both sides of the paper guide 25 are fixed by the mounting screws 26, the inclination start portion does not float up from the ceramic substrate 22, and the tip of the inclination start portion rises gently from the ceramic substrate 22. However, if the accuracy of the parts deteriorates due to cost reduction or the like, there is a problem that edges are generated at the inclination start portions of the first inclination angle regions on both sides and the sheet is caught there.

Further, the ceramic substrate 22 and the relay substrate 2
4 may be coated with a protective adhesive 29. In this case, there is a problem that the inclination angle starting portion 25d of the second inclination angle region in the central portion hits the adhesive 29.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the inclination angle is changed at both sides and the central portion of the paper guide.
To prevent the paper from being caught by retreating the inclination angle start portion at the center, and to prevent the paper from being caught by providing the paper guide from the rear end of the ceramic substrate onto the relay substrate, It is an object of the present invention to provide a thermal head for a thermal transfer printer that avoids interference with an adhesive portion between a ceramic substrate and a relay substrate.

[0011]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides (1) a guide area for guiding a sheet,
A sheet guide having a region having a first inclination angle in the width direction of the sheet and a region having a second inclination angle different from the first inclination angle, or
(2) The guide area for guiding the paper has an area having a first inclination angle on both sides in the width direction of the paper and a second inclination angle which is an inclination angle larger than the first inclination angle. A paper guide having a central region and a paper guide provided from the rear of the substrate having a heating element, or (3) the guide regions for guiding the paper have both sides in the width direction of the paper. In the above, a paper guide having a region having a first inclination angle and a region having a second inclination angle, which is an inclination angle larger than the first inclination angle, in the central portion is provided, The starting portion of the first inclined region is provided from the rear end portion of the substrate having the heating element, and the starting portion of the second inclined region at the central portion is the substrate having the heating element and the relay substrate provided at the rear portion of the substrate. The back of the adhesive applied between It provided al, furthermore,
(4) In the above item (3), the adhesive is applied to a length substantially the same as that of the heating element to help prevent the sheet from being caught.

[0012]

In the thermal head of the thermal transfer printer of the present invention having the above-described structure, (1) the paper is first guided in the first inclined angle regions on both sides, and the front end of the paper is separated from the ceramic substrate. Next, the paper is guided in the second tilt angle area in the central part, but since the leading edge of the paper is already separated from the ceramic substrate, the leading edge of the paper does not get caught even if the central part is slightly floating from the ceramic substrate. Paper can be fed smoothly. (2) Since the relay board is lower than the ceramic board by one step, even if the inclination angle start parts of the first inclination angle areas on both sides of the paper guide are edges, the edges do not protrude from the ceramic board and the paper is caught. It is sent smoothly without. (3) As in the case of the above (2), the first inclination angle regions on both sides of the paper guide do not protrude from the ceramic substrate. or,
The thin protective adhesive in the central portion covers the connecting portion between the ceramic substrate and the relay substrate in a gentle state without forming an edge around the periphery. Further, a guide region having a second inclination angle is provided from the rear part of this adhesive. This allows the paper to be smoothly fed into the apparatus without being caught on any part.

[0013]

Embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 are configuration diagrams for explaining an embodiment (claim 1) of a thermal head of a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention, FIG. 1 is a perspective view, and FIG. 2 is a side view in the A direction of FIG. is there. In the figure, 1 is a heat sink, 2 is a ceramic substrate, 3 is a heating element, 4 is a relay substrate, 5 is a paper guide, 5a and 5b are first inclined portions, 5c is a second inclined portion, and 5d is an inclination start. Parts, 6, 7 are mounting screws, 8 is a connector, 11 is photographic paper,
11a is a tip.

The paper guide 5 has a first inclined portion 5 on both sides.
It has a and 5b, and has a second inclined portion 5c at the center. The second slanted portion 5c has a slant start portion which is the first slanted portion 5c.
It is located at a position farther from the heating element 3 than the inclination start portions of a and 5b, and each inclination start portion is on the ceramic substrate 2. In this way, the paper guide 5 is fixed to the heat dissipation plate 1 by the mounting screws 6 and 7 at the first inclined portions 5a and 5b on both sides.

In such a structure, as shown in FIG. 2, when the photographic printing paper 11 is fed along the ceramic substrate 2, the tip portions 11a are first guided by the first inclined portions 5a and 5b on both sides of the ceramic substrate 2. Board 2 to tip 11a
Will be separated. Next, the photographic printing paper 11 is guided by the second inclined portion 5c in the central portion, but since the front end portion 11a of the photographic printing paper 11 is already separated from the ceramic substrate 2, the center of the second inclined portion 5c. Even if the inclined start portion 5d of the photographic paper 1 is slightly lifted from the ceramic substrate 2 as in the conventional example, the photographic paper 1
The tip 11a of No. 1 does not get caught.

As described above, as the shape of the paper guide, the guide areas on both sides have a shape having a first inclination angle substantially similar to the conventional one, and the central guide area has the inclination angle starting portions on both sides. The second inclination angle is slightly larger than the inclination angles on both sides from the position inclined backward from the first inclination angle start portion.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are structural views for explaining another embodiment (claim 2) of the thermal head of the thermal transfer printer according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view and FIG. 4 is B of FIG. It is a direction side view. In the figure, 9 is an adhesive, and other parts having the same functions as those in FIGS. 1 and 2 are designated by the same reference numerals.

The paper guide 5 is fixed to the heat radiating plate 1 from the rear end of the ceramic substrate 2 on the relay substrate 4 by mounting screws 6 and 7 at the first inclined portions 5a and 5b on both sides. Since the relay substrate 4 is thinner than the ceramic substrate 2, the rising tips of the inclined portions 5 a and 5 b on both sides of the paper guide 5 do not protrude beyond the ceramic substrate 2. Also, claim 1
In the same manner as in the example regarding, the central portion of the paper guide 5 is the second inclined portion 5c, and the inclination start portion is lower than the inclination start portion of the first inclined portion.
Even if d is slightly raised, the printing paper is not caught.
As described above, the paper guide having the same shape as that of the means according to claim 1 is provided on the relay substrate which is one step lower than the ceramic substrate from the rear end portion of the ceramic substrate.

5 and 6 are configuration diagrams for explaining still another embodiment (claim 3) of the thermal head of the thermal transfer printer according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is an inclined view and FIG. 6 is shown in FIG. It is a C direction side view. The reference numerals in the figure are the same as those in FIGS. 3 and 4.

A protective adhesive 9 is applied between the ceramic substrate 2 and the relay substrate 4 in a length substantially the same as the length of the heating element 3. The paper guide 5 is the ceramic substrate 2
From the rear end portion to the relay board 4, the first inclined portions 5a on both sides,
It is fixed to the heat dissipation plate 1 by mounting screws 6 and 7 at 5b. Since the relay substrate 4 is thinner than the ceramic substrate 2,
The rising tips of the inclined portions 5a and 5b on both sides of the paper guide 5 do not project beyond the ceramic substrate 2. Further, a second inclined portion 5c having a slightly larger inclination angle than the inclined portions 5a and 5b on both sides is provided from the rear portion of the adhesive 9 for protecting the connecting portion between the ceramic substrate 2 and the relay substrate 4. As shown in FIG. 6, the adhesive 9 is thinly and gently applied to the connecting portion between the ceramic substrate 2 and the relay substrate 4, and becomes sufficiently hard after curing.

As described above, the paper guide 5 according to the present invention.
Has a structure including first inclined portions 5a and 5b on both sides and a second inclined portion 5c from the rear portion of the adhesive 9.
As a result, the photographic printing paper 11 is guided by the adhesive 9 and is conveyed without being caught. An example using such a thermal head is shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a mechanical side view of a thermal transfer printer using a thermal head according to the present invention. In the figure, 12 is a feed roller, 13 is a pinch roller, 14 is a side plate, 15 is a lever shaft, 16 is a head lever, 16a is a cam pin, 17 is a cam shaft, 18 is a master cam, 18a is a cam groove, 19 is an ink cartridge, 19a is a take-up bobbin, 20 is a cam drive gear, and other parts that have the same functions as in FIGS. 2 and 4. Are given the same reference numerals.

The photographic printing paper 11 is sandwiched between a feed roller 12 and a pinch roller 13 which is pressed against the feed roller 12, and is conveyed by the clockwise rotation of the feed roller 12 and fed into the apparatus. At this time, the lever shaft 1 provided on the side plate 14
5, a cam pin 16a fixed to a head lever 16 rotatably attached to the cam shaft 1 provided on the side plate 14
7, the master cam 18 is rotatably attached to the cam groove 18a at a position shown in FIG. The heat radiation plate 1 of the thermal head is attached to the other end 16a of the head lever 16, and the printing paper 11
Is guided by the paper guide 5 and further fed into the apparatus.

At this time, the photographic printing paper 11 is coated with the adhesive 9 from the ceramic substrate 2 even when the front end 11a is warped upward.
Further, it is smoothly fed into the apparatus along the paper guide 5 without being caught. That is, the leading edge of the printing paper moves from the position indicated by the broken line to the position indicated by the solid line.

As described above, the paper guide having the same shape as the means according to claim 1 is provided on the relay board from the rear end portion of the ceramic board, with the guide areas having the first inclination angle on both sides. The guide region having the inclination angle has a structure in which the inclined portion starts from the rear of the adhesive region.

[0026]

As is apparent from the above description, the present invention has the following effects. (1) Effects corresponding to claims 1 to 3: The conveyance performance of the printing paper is improved, and the quality reliability of the apparatus is improved. As shown in FIG. 7, the printing paper can be conveyed without any problem even if the gap between the thermal head and the platen roller when feeding the printing paper is narrowed. Therefore, by narrowing this gap, the device can be made thinner, that is, smaller and lighter. Further, even if the paper guide is warped to some extent, the photographic paper can be conveyed without any problem, so that the cost of the material for the paper guide can be reduced. (2) Effect corresponding to claim 1: Since the central portion of both sides of the paper guide attached to the thermal head is convex due to problems such as component accuracy, the paper is caught in the central portion. Therefore, the shape of both sides of the paper guide is the area having the first inclination angle as in the conventional case, and the central guide area is the area having the second inclination angle slightly retracted from the inclination start portion. This prevents the paper from being caught. (3) Effect corresponding to claim 2: When the paper guide is provided from above the ceramic substrate in claim 1, the paper is caught by the edges of the tilt start portions in the regions having the first tilt angle on both sides. Therefore, a paper guide having the first inclination angle and the second inclination angle is provided on the relay board which is one step lower than the ceramic board from the rear end portion of the ceramic board to completely prevent the paper from being caught. (4) Effect corresponding to claim 3: Generally, a protective adhesive is applied between the ceramic substrate and the relay substrate. Make sure the paper guides do not interfere with this adhesive area.
Both sides of the paper guide having the first inclination angle are provided on the relay board from the rear end portion of the ceramic substrate, and the guide area having the second inclination angle is such that the inclination portion starts from the rear portion of the adhesive area. With such a configuration, even if the paper guide is warped to some extent, the photographic printing paper can be conveyed without any problem, so that the cost of the material for the paper guide can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view for explaining an embodiment of a thermal head of a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of direction A in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view for explaining another embodiment of the thermal head of the thermal transfer printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view in the B direction of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view for explaining still another embodiment of the thermal head of the thermal transfer printer according to the present invention.

6 is a side view in the C direction of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a mechanical side view of a thermal transfer printer using the thermal head according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a thermal head in a conventional thermal transfer printer.

9 is a side view in the D direction of FIG.

FIG. 10 is a mechanical side view (1) of a conventional thermal transfer printer.

FIG. 11 is a mechanical side view (2) of the conventional thermal transfer printer.

FIG. 12 is a mechanical side view (3) of the conventional thermal transfer printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Heat sink, 2 ... Ceramic substrate, 3 ... Heating element, 4 ... Relay substrate, 5 ... Paper guide, 5a, 5b ... 1st inclination part,
Reference numeral 5c ... Second inclined portion, 5d ... Inclination start portion, 6, 7 ... Mounting screw, 8 ... Connector, 11 ... Printing paper, 11a ... Tip portion.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A guide region for guiding a sheet has a region having a first inclination angle in a width direction of the sheet and a region having a second inclination angle different from the first inclination angle. A thermal head for a thermal transfer printer, comprising a paper guide having: 2. A guide region for guiding a sheet has an area having a first inclination angle on both sides in the width direction of the sheet and a second inclination angle having an inclination angle larger than the first inclination angle. A thermal head for a thermal transfer printer, characterized in that it is provided with a paper guide having a region having a center in the center, and the paper guide is provided from the rear of the substrate having a heating element. 3. A guide region for guiding a sheet has a region having a first inclination angle on both sides in the width direction of the sheet and a second inclination angle having an inclination angle larger than the first inclination angle. And a start portion of the first inclined area on both sides is provided from the rear end portion of the substrate having the heating element, and the start of the second inclined area in the central portion is provided. The thermal head of the thermal transfer printer is characterized in that the part is provided from the rear part of the adhesive applied between the substrate having the heating element and the relay substrate provided at the rear part of the substrate. 4. The thermal head of a thermal transfer printer according to claim 3, wherein the adhesive is applied to a length substantially the same as that of the heating element to help prevent paper from being caught.