JPH09183261A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce a blank portion of a paper even when three inks are printed in parallel by providing three heads. SOLUTION: A paper conveying means that conveys a paper along the arrangement of three heads 31-33 comprises a chuck mechanism 26 that nips and holds a tip of the paper supplied by a paper feed roller 38 and pulls it along the arrangement of the three heads and a capstan mechanism 27 having a rotational roller that receives the tip fed by the chuck mechanism 26 and winds up the paper to convey it. Thereby, the conveying of the paper by the chuck mechanism is surely executed until the tip of the paper reaches the capstan mechanism on the discharge side and the printing operation can be executed during the above period of time. It is possible to reduce a blank portion of the paper even when three inks are printed in parallel by providing the three heads.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

[Table of Contents] The present invention will be described in the following order. TECHNICAL FIELD To which the present invention pertains (Prior Art (FIGS. 31 and 32)) Problems to be Solved by the Invention (FIG. 33) Means for Solving the Problems Embodiments of the Invention (1) Overall Configuration of Color Printer (FIG. 1) (FIG. 6) (2) Ink ribbon configuration (FIG. 7) (3) Paper transport and printing operation (FIGS. 8-18) (4) Positioning of each head (FIGS. 19-24) (5) Printing control ( 25 to 29) (6) Ink ribbon delivery control (FIG. 30) (7) Operation and effect (8) Other embodiment Effect of the invention

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer device, and is suitable for application to, for example, a color printer device for performing color printing using a sublimation type ink ribbon.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of color printer, the principle of subtractive color mixing is applied by thermally transferring yellow, magenta, and cyan inks to paper as necessary, and thereby the desired color mixing is performed. It is designed to print color images. That is, as shown in FIG. 31, in the color printer device 1 of this type, first, the sheet 3 is conveyed along the drum 4 by the capstan 2 on the paper feed side, and the head of the sheet 3 is ejected on the capstan 7 on the paper discharge side. To reach. At this time, the paper 3 is inserted between the ink ribbon 5 and the drum 4. Then, the thermal transfer type head 6 is pressed in the direction of the drum 4 to bring the yellow ink portion of the ink ribbon 5 into contact with the paper 3, and heat is generated from the head 6 while feeding the paper 3 and the ink ribbon 5 together. By doing so, first, the yellow ink attached to the ink ribbon 5 is sublimated to print a yellow image on the paper 3.

When this process is completed, the color printer device 1 conveys the paper 3 in the reverse direction and returns the paper 3 to the print start position again. Then, the magenta ink portion of the paper 3 and the ink ribbon 5 are brought into contact with each other, and heat is generated from the head 6 while feeding the paper 3 and the ink ribbon 5 together, so that the magenta ink is sublimated. Three
Print the magenta image on. When this process ends,
The color printer device 1 again conveys the paper 3 in the opposite direction,
The paper 3 is returned to the print start position. And this time paper 3
And the cyan ink portion of the ink ribbon 5 are brought into contact with each other, and heat is generated from the head 6 while feeding the paper 3 and the ink ribbon 5 together, so that the cyan ink is sublimated to form a cyan image on the paper 3. To print.

In this way, in the color printer device 1, yellow, magenta, and cyan are subjected to subtractive color mixing by printing inks of three colors of yellow, magenta, and cyan in three times and sequentially, and thereby desired colors are obtained. Print a color image of a color. The printed sheet 3 is conveyed by the capstan 7 and discharged from a discharge port (not shown) with the printing surface facing upward so that the user can see it.

Incidentally, such a color printer device 1
In, the ink ribbon 5 as shown in FIG. 32 is used. That is, the three color inks of yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C) are applied to the base film 8 in a frame-sequential manner. In this case, the area of each ink corresponds to the size of the paper 3, and for example, if the size of the paper 3 is A4 size, it is almost the same as A4 size.

[0007]

By the way, in the color printer device 1 having such a configuration, the printing process is divided into three, and the ink of three colors is sequentially printed by one head 6, so that the printing is performed. There is a problem when it takes time to finish.

To solve this problem, a color printer device 10 as shown in FIG. 33 has been conventionally devised. The color printer 10 has separate heads 11 for yellow, magenta, and cyan inks.
13 to 13 are provided, and while the paper 3 is conveyed along the drum 4, the yellow, magenta, and cyan inks are printed in parallel while being slightly shifted in time, thereby shortening the printing time. is there.

By the way, such a color printer device 1
In the case of 0, there is an inconvenience that the margin portion of the paper 3 becomes large because three heads are provided. Specifically, in the color printer device 1 shown in FIG. 31, the portion from the head 6 to the capstan 7 becomes the paper margin,
In the color printer device 10, the portion from the yellow head 11 to the capstan 7 becomes a paper margin,
There is an inconvenience that the paper margin increases.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and it is an object of the present invention to propose a printer device capable of reducing the margin of paper even when three heads are provided and three colors are printed in parallel. .

[0011]

In order to solve such a problem, according to the present invention, as the paper conveying means for conveying the paper along the three heads, the head of the paper fed by the paper feed roller is sandwiched. A chuck mechanism that holds and pulls the paper along the three heads and a capstan mechanism that is a rotating roller that receives the leading end of the paper conveyed by the chuck mechanism and winds the paper and conveys the paper are provided. I did it.

By thus carrying the paper by the check mechanism and the capstan mechanism, it is possible to reduce the paper margin even when three heads are provided and three colors are printed in parallel. Because, in the conventional case, the print operation cannot be performed before the leading edge of the paper reaches the ejection side capstan mechanism, so that the margin from the yellow head to the ejection side capstan mechanism is left blank. However, in the case of the present invention, since the paper can be reliably conveyed by the chuck mechanism until the leading edge of the paper reaches the capstan mechanism on the paper discharge side, the printing operation can be performed during that time.
For this reason, the paper margin is only a portion necessary for sandwiching, and the paper margin can be made smaller than in the conventional case.

[0013]

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

(1) Overall Structure of Color Printer Device In FIG. 1, reference numeral 20 denotes a color printer device to which the present invention is applied as a whole, which is obtained by thermally transferring three color inks of yellow, magenta and cyan onto a sheet. The principle of subtractive color mixing is applied to print a desired color image. First, in the color printer 20, the paper placed in the paper tray 21 is taken out by the paper feed roller provided inside the main body 22 and supplied to the printer unit 23. The printer unit 23 performs color printing on paper according to an image signal supplied from, for example, a computer device (not shown). The printed sheet is conveyed and ejected from the ejection port 24 in such a direction that the printing surface is visible to the user.

The printer unit 23 provided inside the main body 22 is shown in FIG. A drum 25 is provided at the center of the printer unit 23, and the paper supplied from the paper tray 21 is conveyed along the outer periphery of the drum 25. In this case, two conveying mechanisms are provided as the sheet conveying means. One is a chuck arm 26B that is rotatably attached to the drum 25 by a shaft 26A substantially at the center thereof.
And a chuck (not shown) provided at the tip thereof, and a capstan mechanism 27 made up of a rotating roller provided on the discharge port 24 side.

The chuck mechanism 26 holds the top of the fed paper by sandwiching it from above and below, and in this state, the chuck arm 26B is rotated upward about the shaft 26A so that the paper is placed on the outer periphery of the drum 25. Tow along and transport. After that, when the leading end side of the paper reaches the capstan mechanism 27, the chuck mechanism 26 releases the paper, and this time the capstan mechanism 27 winds the paper and conveys the paper. In this way, the printer unit 23
Then, the sheet is conveyed along the outer periphery of the drum 25 by the two conveying mechanisms, the check mechanism 26 and the capstan mechanism 27.

The ink ribbon 28 to which the three colors of ink of yellow, magenta and cyan are attached has one end wound around the supply side spool 29 and the other end wound around the winding side spool 30. Are arranged along the outer periphery of the drum 25 so as to contact the sheet from the outside. Further, on the outer periphery of the drum 25, heads 31 to 33 for printing each color of yellow, magenta and cyan are provided. These heads 31 to 33 are designed so that they can be headed down and headed up to the drum 25. When printing, the heads 31 to 33 are lowered, and when printing is not performed, the heads 31 to 33 are raised. When the heads 31 to 33 are head-up closed, the head arm of the chuck arm 26B is lifted so that it can pass between the heads 31 to 33 and the drum 25.

The printer unit 23 uses the three heads 31 to 33 to attach the ink to the ink ribbon 28.
Print color inks in parallel. As a result, the printer unit 23 can reduce the time required to complete printing. Although not particularly shown in FIG. 2, the printer unit 23 is provided with a printing control unit as described later, and printing is performed by controlling each drive unit by the printing control unit. It is done like this.

The positional relationship between the ink ribbon 28 centering on the drum 25 and the heads 31 to 33 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the yellow head (hereinafter, abbreviated as yellow head) 31 is positioned at about 70 ° with respect to a vertical line passing through the center of the drum 25 when the head is down. The head for magenta (hereinafter, abbreviated as magenta head) 32 is arranged so as to be at a position of approximately 140 ° with respect to the vertical line when the head is down, and the head for cyan (hereinafter, referred to as this). Is abbreviated as cyan head) 33 is arranged so as to come to a position of approximately 210 ° with respect to the vertical line when the head is down. In addition, each head 31-3
3, a platen roller 34 made of rubber, for example, is rotatably attached by a shaft at a position on the drum 25 that faces the roller 3.
To 36 are provided.

As can be seen from FIG. 3, the ink ribbon 28 is arranged so as to cover the range from the platen roller 34 to the platen roller 36 on the outer periphery of the drum 25, and the paper to be conveyed and each head 31. To 33. At the time of printing, the ink ribbon 28 is sent out from the supply side spool 29, and is sequentially wound up by the winding side spool 30 on the opposite side. The feeding speed of the ink ribbon 28 at that time is set to about 1/15 of the paper feeding speed. By the way,
The supply amount of the ink ribbon 28 is controlled by the supply side spool 29, and the tension of the ink ribbon 28 is controlled by the winding side spool 30.

As described above, as the sheet conveying means,
There are two mechanisms, a check mechanism 26 that takes charge of almost the first half of the conveyance and a capstan mechanism 27 that takes charge of the latter half of the conveyance. The capstan mechanism 27 is composed of a capstan 27A rotated by a capstan motor (not shown) and a pinch roller 27B that comes into contact with the capstan 27A with a predetermined pressure, and the capstan roller 27B is used during transportation. The sheets transferred from the check mechanism 26 are sequentially rotated in the discharge direction while sandwiching the sheets, so that the sheets are conveyed and sequentially discharged to the sheet discharge tray 37.

On the other hand, at the tip of the chuck arm 26B forming the chuck mechanism 26, the chuck arm 26B is provided.
A top 26C that is eccentrically attached to the top and is mounted so as to be rotatable;
6C is provided, and the top portion of the paper conveyed from the paper feed tray 39 by the paper feed roller 38 is moved to the top 26C by the rotation of the top 26C during conveyance. It is sandwiched and held by the base 26D and the base 26D (by the way, the top 26C is designed to obtain the sandwiched holding force by the biasing force of the spring). By rotating the chuck arm 26B toward the platen roller 36 in this state, the chuck mechanism 26 conveys the paper while pulling it to the capstan mechanism 27.

Incidentally, as shown in FIG. 4, the outer periphery of the top 26C is formed so that its diameter becomes larger in the conveying direction of the paper 40 (arrow a in the figure), and the paper is fed by the paper feed roller 38. When the back tension is applied to 40 (that is, when a force is applied in the direction opposite to the direction indicated by the arrow a), the friction force between the rubber-coated outer peripheral surface and the paper 40 causes the frame 2 to move.
6C is dragged by the paper 40, and further rotates in the direction indicated by arrow b. As a result, the sandwiching holding force is strengthened, and the paper 40 can be reliably sandwiched and held. Conversely, when the paper 40 is passed to the capstan mechanism 27 and the capstan mechanism 27 winds the paper 40, the top 26C is dragged by the paper 40 by the frictional force between the paper 40 and the outer peripheral surface, and the direction indicated by the arrow b is indicated. It rotates in the opposite direction, and this weakens the holding force. In this way, the check mechanism 26 can control the sandwiching holding force (so-called check force) by the balance balance of the sheet 40.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the chuck arm 2
When 6B comes to the lowest point (hereinafter, this state is referred to as home position), the opening / closing metal fitting 26E attached to the outer position of the top 26C is pressed against the L-shaped metal fitting 41 attached to the housing. As a result, the opening / closing fitting 26
E rotates in the direction indicated by arrow c. As a result, frame 26
Opening / closing metal fitting 26 integrally attached to the C shaft 26CA
The pin 26G of F receives a force in the direction indicated by arrow c, and as a result, the top 26C rotates in the direction indicated by arrow c together with the opening / closing fitting 26F, and the top 26C opens with respect to the base 26D. As a result, a gap is left between the top 26C and the base 26D so that the paper 40 can be inserted.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the chuck arm 2
When 6B reaches the upper position (that is, when the sheet 40 is transferred to the capstan mechanism 27), the tip of the opening / closing metal fitting 26E is pressed against the metal fitting 48 attached to the housing, so that the opening / closing metal fitting 26E is indicated by the arrow. Rotate in the direction indicated by d. As a result, the pin 26G of the opening / closing fitting 26F attached integrally with the shaft 26CA of the top 26C receives a force in the direction indicated by the arrow c, and as a result, the opening / closing fitting 26F.
At the same time, the top 26C rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow c, and the top 2
6C opens to base 26D. As a result, frame 26
A gap is left between C and the base 26D to open the paper 40.

(2) Structure of Ink Ribbon Here, the ink ribbon 28 will be described. In the color printer device 20, an ink ribbon 28 as shown in FIG. 7 is used. That is, the three color inks of yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C) are applied to the base film 28A in a frame-sequential manner. In this case, the area of each ink does not correspond to the size of the paper 40 as in the conventional case, and is smaller than the paper 40. For example, the size of the paper 40 is A4 size (297 [m
m] × 210 [mm]), the area of each ink is about 23 [mm] × 210 [mm] as shown in FIG. 7, and the longitudinal direction is compressed to about 1/15. Has been done. Therefore, as described above, the delivery speed of the ink ribbon 28 is set to 1/15 of the transport speed of the paper 40, and even if the ink ribbon 28 has a short length, the A4 size paper 40 is used.
To be able to print.

When the speed relationship between the paper 40 and the ink ribbon 28 is set as described above, the actually used length of the ink ribbon 28 is about 20 mm in calculation. Further, in this case, since the length of the ink portion is short, the ink of each color is adhered at a high density so that the size of the actual paper can be dealt with.

The actual length of the ink ribbon 28 used is about 20 mm, and the length of each ink is about 20 mm.
23 [mm], and in consideration of these two points, in this color printer device 20, as described above, each head (3
The interval (1 to 33) is set to 70 °, and the head interval length at the time of printing is 25 mm. Further, in the color printer device 20, yellow, magenta, and cyan heads (31 to 33) are arranged in order from the bottom in accordance with the colors of the ink ribbon 28. Incidentally, this ink ribbon 28 is sent out in the direction shown by the arrow e in the drawing during printing. In addition, a dot line in the drawing is a ribbon cue marking, and this portion is detected by a ribbon sensor to perform alignment.

(3) Paper Conveying and Printing Operation Here, the conveying operation of the paper 40 and the printing operation on the paper 40 will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 8, in the home position state (so-called printing preparation state) in which the check arm 26B is at the lowest point, the yellow head 3
1, each head of the magenta head 32 and the cyan head 33 is in a lifted state. Further, the opening / closing metal fitting 26E attached to the chuck arm 26B is pressed against the L-shaped metal fitting 41 attached to the housing, so that the top 26C is opened with respect to the base 26D.

At this time, the ink ribbon 28 is slightly lifted by the paper guide 45 with respect to the drum 25. The reason for doing this is to make it easier for the leading edge of the paper 40 to enter between the ink ribbon 28 and the drum 25 during paper feeding. In addition, this paper guide 4
As shown in FIG. 9, the paper 5 slides along a guide 46 provided on the housing during the paper conveyance, and always lifts the vicinity of the head of the paper 40 of the ink ribbon 28. As a result, the paper 40 is always in contact with the ink ribbon 28 and the drum 25 during paper transportation.
It is easy to get in between.

Next, as shown in FIG. 10, when the paper 40 is fed, the paper feed roller 38 first rotates in the directions shown by arrows f and g to wind the paper 40, and then at the arrow h. The paper 40 is sequentially pushed out in the direction shown. At this time, the paper 40 is supported from below by the paper feed tray 40, and sequentially moves on the paper feed tray 40 in the direction indicated by the arrow h. As a result, the leading edge of the sheet 40 enters between the top 26C and the base 26D of the check mechanism 26. At this time, the paper feed state of the paper 40 is monitored by the paper feed sensor 47. The monitoring result is fetched by the printing control unit described later and used for the control operation of each unit.

In this way, the top of the paper 40 is the frame 26.
When it enters between C and the base 26D, as shown in FIG. 11, a checking operation is performed to sandwich and hold the paper 40. In this case, first, the chuck arm 26B is slightly rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow i. As a result, the opening / closing bracket 26
E separates from the L-shaped metal fitting 41, and the urging force of the spring causes the top 26C to rotate to the right in the figure, so that the top 26C and base 2
The gap with 6D closes. As a result, the sheet 40 is sandwiched between the top 26C and the base 26D. After this,
Rotate the paper feed roller 38 in the directions indicated by arrows j and k,
The paper 40 is back-tacked in the direction indicated by the arrow l. By doing this, the frame 2 is dragged by the paper 40 and
6C further rotates in the right direction in the figure to strengthen the sandwiching and holding force, so that the paper 40 is held by the top 26C and the base 2C.
It is securely sandwiched and held by 6D.

When the checking operation is completed in this manner, then, as shown in FIG. 12, the conveyance of the paper 40 is started to perform the printing operation. In this case, first, the paper feed roller 38 that was rotating at the time of paper feed is stopped, and the lower roller 38A of the paper feed rollers 38 is moved downward. Further, while the sheet 40 is being checked by the top 26C and the base 26D, the check arm 26B is moved by the arrow m.
The paper 40 is conveyed along the drum 25 and the ink ribbon 28 by rotating in the direction indicated by.

At this time, since the ink guide 28 is slightly lifted by the paper guide 45 as described above, the leading end of the paper 40 is smoothly moved to the ink ribbon 28 and the drum 2.
You will be guided between 5 and. At this time, the ribbon sensor 49
Accordingly, the state of the ink ribbon 28 is monitored. The monitoring result is fetched by the printing control unit described later and used for the control operation of each unit. Further, the capstan 27A of the capstan mechanism 27 is rotated in the discharge direction in preparation for the delivery of the sheet 40.

After the conveyance of the paper 40 is started in this way, as shown in FIG. 13, when the check mechanism 26 passes the yellow head 31, the printing of yellow is started this time. In this case, when the check mechanism 26 passes the yellow head 31, the yellow head 31 is first moved toward the platen roller 34 to perform head down. At this time, the supply side spool 29 and the winding side spool 30
The head of the yellow ink of the ink ribbon 28 is aligned with the yellow head 31 by controlling the.

In this way, the paper 40 is continuously conveyed, and at the same time the ink ribbon 28 is sent out at a speed of 1/15 of the conveying speed of the paper 40, heat is generated from the yellow head 31. Then, the yellow ink is thermally transferred onto the paper 40 to print yellow.

In this case, the supply amount of the ink ribbon 28 is controlled by controlling the rotation amount of the supply spool 29. The tension relating to the ink ribbon 28 is performed by controlling the rotation of the spool 30 on the winding side. When the sheet 40 is conveyed while the yellow head 31 is pressed against the sheet 40, a load is applied to the sheet 40. In this case, the platen roller 34 rotates as the sheet 40 is conveyed, so that the load can be reduced. .

After the yellow printing is started in this way, as shown in FIG. 14, when the check mechanism 26 passes the magenta head 32, the magenta printing is started this time. In this case, when the check mechanism 26 passes the magenta head 32, the magenta head 32 is first moved toward the platen roller 35 for head down. Then, heat is generated from the magenta head 32 to thermally transfer the magenta ink onto the paper 40, and a magenta image is printed. At this time, the print start timing is controlled by the print control unit, which will be described later, so that the yellow ink and the magenta ink are exactly overlapped on the paper. In this case also, the paper 4
By rotating the platen roller 35 with the conveyance of 0, the load on the paper 40 is reduced. Further, since the ink ribbon 28 is arranged as shown in FIG. 7, magenta ink has just arrived at the magenta head 32.

After the printing of magenta is started in this way, as shown in FIG. 15, when the check mechanism 26 passes the cyan head 33, printing of cyan is started this time. In this case, when the check mechanism 26 passes the cyan head 33, the cyan head 33 is first moved toward the platen roller 36 to perform head down. Then, heat is generated from the cyan head and the cyan ink is thermally transferred onto the paper 40 to print cyan. At this time, the print start timing is controlled by the print control unit, which will be described later, so that the inks of the three colors are exactly overlapped on the paper. In this case as well, the load on the paper 40 is reduced by the platen roller 36 rotating as the paper 40 is conveyed. Further, since the ink ribbon 28 is arranged as shown in FIG. 7, the cyan ink has just arrived at the cyan head 33.

After the printing of cyan is started in this manner, the chuck arm 26B is rotated to continue the paper 4
When 0 is conveyed, the head of the sheet 40 reaches the capstan mechanism 27 as shown in FIG. The capstan 27A and the pinch roller 27B of the capstan mechanism 27 are respectively rotating in the discharge direction, and the leading end of the paper 40 is rolled up.

At this time, the capstan mechanism 27 moves the paper 40
Almost at the same time when the wire is wound, the opening / closing metal fitting 26E of the chuck arm 26B abuts on the metal fitting 48 attached to the housing. When the chuck arm 26B is continuously rotated in this state, the capstan mechanism 27 completely winds the sheet 40, and the opening / closing metal fitting 26E is pressed against the metal fitting 48 to rotate the opening / closing metal fitting 26E leftward in the drawing. The top 26C rotates to the right in the figure and the base 26D
Begins to open against. As a result, the sandwiching holding force is weakened, and the sheet 40 is delivered to the capstan mechanism 27.

At this time, the top 26C is the opening / closing fitting 2
Instead of being opened only by the rotation of 6E, it is actually opened by being dragged by the sheet 40 caught in the capstan mechanism 27. As a result, the sandwiching holding force is weakened, and the paper 40 can be delivered smoothly. In this way, in the color printer device 20, the load fluctuation when the paper 40 is transferred from the chuck mechanism 26 to the capstan mechanism 27 is reduced. Further, in this case, the opening / closing metal fitting 26E is the metal fitting 4
After abutting against the No. 8, the rotation speed of the chuck arm 26B is also reduced to reduce the load fluctuation at the time of delivery.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 17, the frame 26C
When is completely opened with respect to the base 26D, the rotation operation of the chuck arm 26B is stopped, and the carrying operation by the check mechanism 26 is completed. After this, the sheet 40 is conveyed by the capstan mechanism 27 until the printing operation is completed. The leading side of the paper 40 discharged from the capstan mechanism 27 is sequentially placed on the paper discharge tray 37. The capstan mechanism 27 continues to operate until the printing operation is completed and the paper 40 is completely discharged.
When is completely discharged, the operation ends. When the printing operation is completely completed, the heads of all the heads are closed and the chuck arm 26B is rotated in the direction opposite to the direction in which the paper is conveyed, and the home position is returned to prepare for the next printing operation.

As described above, in the case of this embodiment, the first half of the sheet conveyance is performed by the chuck mechanism 26, and the second half of the sheet conveyance is passed from the chuck mechanism 26 to the capstan mechanism 27 to transfer the sheet 40. 27 (see FIG. 18). Normally, when the sheet is conveyed only by the capstan mechanism, the conveying mechanism can be downsized, but the distance from the yellow head to the capstan mechanism is required as a margin of the sheet. Further, when the sheet is conveyed only by the check mechanism, the margin of the sheet can be as large as necessary for the checking, but the conveying mechanism becomes large. In the case of this embodiment, as described above, the first half of the sheet conveyance is performed by the check mechanism 26 and the latter half is performed by the capstan mechanism 27, thereby realizing the feature of both, the miniaturization and the reduction of the blank area. ing.

(4) Positioning of each head Here, each head 3 in this color printer 20 is used.
Positioning of 1 to 33 will be described. Generally, in a color printer having three line heads, the position reproducibility of the three heads is important in order to minimize the color shift of each color. Therefore, in this color printer device 20, the heads 31 to 33 are positioned with reference to the platen rollers 34 to 36 to improve the position reproducibility of the heads 31 to 33, thereby reducing the color misregistration. I am trying.

First, in the color printer device 20, the platen rollers 34 to 36 are provided on the drum 25 so as to be parallel to each other. Also, each head 31-
A predetermined tab is provided on a metal fitting for attaching 33 to the head-up mechanism, and each platen roller 34-
36 is provided with a predetermined bearing. When the head is down, positioning is performed by the claws and bearings, and the heads 31 to 33 move to the platen rollers 34 to 34.
It should be parallel to 36. In this case, since the platen rollers 34 to 36 are made parallel to each other, the heads 31 to 33 are connected to the platen rollers 34 to 36, respectively.
If it is made parallel to 36, each head 31-
33 can be parallel to each other.

When the heads are down, the heads 31 and 33 are used to position the heads 31 to 33 in the axial direction of the platen roller shafts by the tabs and the flange portions of the bearings. Thus, if the bearings are aligned at the time of manufacturing, the heads 31 to 33 can be aligned in the lateral direction. In this way, in the color printer device 20, the heads 31 to 33 are made parallel to each other and the lateral positions are aligned, so that color misregistration during printing can be suppressed.

Here, the positioning will be specifically described below. However, since the heads 31 to 33 are positioned by the same method, the heads 3 to 31 are used here.
Only 1 will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 19, the head 31 is attached to the front end of the head up-down mechanism 50 by a metal fitting 51, and the head up-down mechanism 50 performs the up-down operation. The heads-up mechanism 50 lowers the second arm 53 downward by rotating the first arm 52 downward about an axis. Thereby, the head 31 attached to the tip of the second arm 53 can be lowered downward.
In addition, this heads-up mechanism 50 is provided with a first arm 52.
The second arm 53 can be moved upward by rotating the shaft about the axis upward, and thus the head 31 attached to the tip of the second arm 53 can be moved upward.

Further, the metal fitting 51 for attaching the head 31 to the head up-down mechanism 50 is provided with positioning tabs 51A and 51B having the same width and projecting toward the platen roller 34 at the same position on both sides of the head 31. Has been. The tips of the claws 51A and 51B come into contact with the platen roller 34 when the head is lowered, and at this time, chamfers are provided so as to be able to come into contact with the platen roller 34 smoothly. These two tabs 51A,
As shown in FIG. 20, the claw 51B of the 51B is provided with a groove 51C so that a flange described later fits therein. The tip of the claw 51B is chamfered obliquely toward the groove 51C so that the flange can be fitted into the groove 51C smoothly.

On the other hand, the platen roller 34 facing the head 31 is provided with bearings 34A and 34B having the same diameter at both ends of the rubber roller portion 34D. A flange 34C is provided at one end of the bearing 34B of the bearings 34A and 34B, and when the head is downed, the flange 34C fits in the groove 51C described above and is axially oriented (that is, the direction of the shaft 34E of the platen roller 34). ) Can be positioned.

First, the head 31 is attached to the platen roller 3
Positioning when paralleling to 4 will be described. When the first arm 52 of the head up / down mechanism 50 is rotated downward to lower the head 31 downward, as shown in FIG. 21, the tips (chamfered portions) of the tabs 51A and 51B are bearings of the platen roller 34, respectively. 34
It contacts A and 34B. When the head 31 is further lowered in this state, as shown in FIG. 22, the side surfaces of the tabs 51A and 51B contact the bearings 34A and 34B, respectively, and the head 31 is moved to the rubber roller portion 34D of the platen roller 34.
Abut. At this time, the urging force of the spring is exerted in the direction indicated by the arrow n, and this force causes the claws 51A, 51
B is positively pressed against the bearings 34A and 34B, respectively, and is biased. This allows the tabs 51A, 5
Positioning is performed by 3 points of 1B and head 31,
The head 31 can be parallel to the platen roller 34. By thus making the heads 31 to 33 parallel to the platen rollers 34 to 36, the heads 31 to 33 can be made parallel to each other.

Regarding the axial positioning, when the head 31 is lowered by the head up-down mechanism 50, the tabs 51A and 51B contact the bearings 34A and 34B of the platen roller 34, respectively, as shown in FIG. Contact. At that time, the diagonally chamfered portion of the claw 51B and the flange 34C first come into contact with each other. When the head 31 is further lowered in this state, as shown in FIG. 24, the entire head 31 is lowered while the flange 34C slides against the diagonally chamfered portion of the tab 51B, and finally the flange 31C is lowered. 34C fits into the groove 51C. At this time, the urging force of the spring is exerted in the direction indicated by the arrow p, and the entire head 31 is biased by this force.
As a result, axial positioning is performed with the flange 34C as a reference, and the lateral position of the head is aligned. In this way, each head 31-33 is based on the flange.
By positioning the axial direction of each head 31-3
The lateral positions of 3 can be aligned.

(5) Print control Normally, in a color printer having three heads, print position alignment by the three heads is necessary, and it is necessary to stably synchronize the print timing of each head and the operation of the transport system. There is. Therefore, in this color printer device 20, the print timing of each head is controlled by the print control unit based on the reference clock, and the operation timing of each transport system is controlled to perform print position alignment.

First, referring to FIG. 25, a sensor system and a drive system provided as a printing control unit for the color printer device 20 will be described. As the sensor, a paper feed FG sensor SE1 that detects a margin portion of the paper 40,
A paper feed sensor SE2 that detects the paper feed state by monitoring the edge of the paper 40, a ribbon sensor SE3 that monitors the feed amount of the ink ribbon 28, and a yellow head sensor (YH sensor) that monitors the up-down of the yellow head 31. SE4 and a magenta head sensor (MH sensor) SE5 that monitors the up-down of the magenta head 32.
A cyan head sensor (CH sensor) SE6 for detecting an up-down of the cyan head 33, and a paper feed roller 38.
Sheet feeding O / C sensor SE7 that detects the open / closed state of the arm, arm sensor (AH sensor) SE8 that detects the home position of the chuck arm 26B, and arm sensor (AS sensor) that detects the drive transfer point of the chuck arm 26B. SE9 and capstan mechanism 2
Capstan O that detects 7 open / closed state
/ C sensor SE10 is provided.

As the driving motors for the respective parts, the paper feed motor M1 for rotating the paper feed roller 38 and the paper feed roller 3 are used.
8, a paper feed O / C motor M2 for opening or closing 8, a ribbon motor M3 for rotating a supply spool of the ink ribbon 28, a ribbon motor M4 for rotating a take-up spool of the ink ribbon 28, and a yellow head. A yellow head motor (YH motor) M5 for driving the up-down operation of 31 and a magenta head motor (MH) for driving the up-down operation of magenta head 32.
A motor) M6, a cyan head motor (CH motor) M7 for driving an up-down operation of the cyan head 33,
An arm motor M8 that drives the rotational movement of the check arm 26B and a capstan 27A of the capstan mechanism 27.
And a capstan O / C motor M10 for opening and closing the capstan mechanism 27.

Further, in the color printer device 20, circuits as shown in FIGS. 26 and 27 are provided as a printing control unit. First, as shown in FIG. 26, the printing control unit 6
A reference clock generating circuit 61 for generating a reference clock is provided at 0, and the timing of each part is controlled based on the reference clock generated here. This reference clock is an arm motor pulse generation circuit 62, a capstan pulse generation circuit 63, a ribbon supply pulse generation circuit 64, Y.
H motor driver circuit 72, MH motor driver circuit 7
3, CH motor driver circuit 74 and capstan O /
It is supplied to the C motor driver circuit 75.

The arm motor pulse generation circuit 62 generates an arm motor pulse signal for driving the arm motor M8 based on the reference clock. The generated arm motor pulse signal is delayed by the delay circuits 65 to 68 and the arms. It is supplied to the motor driver circuit 69. The capstan pulse generation circuit 63 generates a capstan pulse signal for driving the capstan motor M9 based on the reference clock, and the capstan pulse signal generated is used as a capstan motor. It is supplied to the driver circuit 70. The ribbon supply pulse generation circuit 64 generates a ribbon supply pulse signal for driving the ribbon motor M3 based on the reference clock, and supplies the generated ribbon supply pulse signal to the ribbon motor driver circuit 71.

The delay circuits 65 to 68 are counter circuits, each count a predetermined number of input arm motor pulse signals, and use the timing of the end of the count as a trigger signal for the YH motor driver circuit 72, MH.
Motor driver circuit 73, CH motor driver circuit 7
4. Supply to the capstan O / C motor driver circuit 75. The delay circuits 65 to 68 are supplied with a trigger signal from the print start switch 76 as the timing of starting counting, and the counting operation is started based on this trigger signal.

The YH motor driver circuit 72 drives the YH motor M5 using the reference clock, and starts driving the motor based on the trigger signal supplied from the delay circuit 65. The MH motor driver circuit 73 drives the MH motor M6 by using the reference clock.
The motor drive is started based on the trigger signal supplied from the delay circuit 66. The CH motor driver circuit 74 drives the CH motor M7 using the reference clock, and starts driving the motor based on the trigger signal supplied from the delay circuit 67. In addition, the capstan O / C motor driver circuit 75 uses the reference clock for the capstan O / C.
/ C motor M10 is driven, and the delay circuit 68
The motor drive is started based on the trigger signal supplied from.

The capstan motor driver circuit 70 drives the capstan motor M9 by using the inputted capstan pulse signal. Ribbon motor driver circuit 71
Drives the ribbon motor M3 using the input ribbon supply pulse signal, receives the operation timing of the YH motor driver circuit 72 as a trigger signal, and starts driving the ribbon motor M3 at that timing.

The arm motor driver circuit 69 drives the arm motor M8 using the input arm motor pulse signal, and starts driving the arm motor M8 based on the trigger signal received from the print start switch 76. The arm motor driver circuit 69 has a slowdown counter and a stop counter therein. When the slowdown counter finishes counting, the armmotor driver circuit 69 performs a slowdown for delivering and delivering to the capstan mechanism 27. When the counting is completed, the arm motor M8 is stopped.

As shown in FIG. 27, the reference clock generated by the reference clock generation circuit 61 is also supplied to the yellow print circuit 77, the magenta print circuit 78 and the cyan print circuit 79. The trigger signal from the print start switch 76 is also supplied to the delay circuits 80 to 82. The arm motor pulse signal from the arm motor pulse generation circuit 62 is also supplied to the delay circuits 80 to 82.

Each of the delay circuits 80 to 82 is a counter circuit, which counts a predetermined number of input arm motor pulse signals, and uses the timing of the end of each count as a trigger signal for the yellow printing circuit 77, the magenta printing circuit 78, and the cyan printing. Supply to the circuit 79. A trigger signal from the image print start switch 76 is supplied to the delay circuits 80 to 82 as the timing to start counting, and the counting operation is started based on this trigger signal.

The yellow printing circuit 77 prints yellow ink by driving the yellow head 31 using the input reference clock, and the delay circuit 8
Yellow printing is started in response to a trigger signal supplied from 0. The magenta printing circuit 78 prints magenta ink by driving the magenta head 32 using the input reference clock.
The magenta printing is started in response to the trigger signal from 1.
The cyan printing circuit 79 prints cyan ink by driving the cyan head 33 using the input reference clock, and starts cyan printing in response to a trigger signal from the delay circuit 82.

FIG. 28 shows an operation timing chart when the paper is actually fed. As shown in FIG. 28, when the print start switch 76 is pressed and a start pulse is generated, the paper feed motor M1 is first rotated. At the same time, the paper feed FG sensor SE1 starts to generate a pulse signal. After that, when a predetermined time passes, the paper feed sensor SE2 detects the start of paper feed. In response to this, the FG counter counts the number of pulses of the paper feed FG sensor SE1,
The timing at which the head of the paper reaches the check mechanism 26 is detected. When the FG counter finishes counting, it is determined that the leading end of the paper has reached the checking mechanism 26, the paper feed motor M1 is stopped, and the arm motor M8 is slightly rotated for the checking operation. After that, the paper feed motor M1 is rotated in the reverse direction to apply the back tension to the paper,
This ensures that the checking operation is performed.

When the checking operation is completed in this way, the paper feeding O / C motor M2 is rotated to move the paper feeding motor M.
1 is opened. As a result, when the open state is detected by the paper feed O / C sensor SE7, the paper feed O / C is detected.
The rotation of the C motor M2 is stopped and the arm motor M
8 is rotated to start the paper transport operation. In this way, in this color printer device 20, the paper feed operation is performed in response to the operation of the print start switch 76.

Next, FIG. 29 shows an operation timing chart when actually printing an image. When the arm motor M8 is rotated to start the paper transport operation as described above, the YH counter, MH counter, CH counter, slowdown counter, stop counter, Y counter,
The M counter and the C counter start counting operation. In this case, the YH counter, the MH counter, and the CH counter are the delay circuits 65, 66, and 67 described above, and the Y counter, the M counter, and the C counter are the delay circuits 80, 81, and 82 described above, respectively. Further, in the above description, the delay circuits 65 to 67 and 80 to 82 start the counting operation by the trigger signal from the print start switch 76, but in reality, as shown in FIG. 29, the rotation of the arm motor M8 is rotated. The count operation is started by using the operation as a trigger.

When each counter is operated in this manner, it is the YH counter that first ends the counting operation. When the YH counter finishes counting, in response to this, the YH motor M5 is rotated to perform the head down of the yellow head 31. When the head down of the yellow head 31 is confirmed by the YH sensor SE4, YH
The rotation of the motor M5 is stopped and the ribbon motor M
3 and M4 are rotated to send out the ink ribbon. After that, when the Y counter finishes counting, the yellow printing circuit 77 is driven to start printing of yellow ink.

After that, when the MH counter finishes counting, upon receipt of this, the MH motor M6 is rotated to carry out the head down of the magenta head 32. When the head down of the magenta head 32 is confirmed by the MH sensor SE5, the rotation of the MH motor M6 is stopped. After that, when the M counter finishes counting, the magenta printing circuit 78 is driven to start printing of magenta ink.

After that, when the CH counter finishes counting, in response to this, the CH motor M7 is rotated to carry out the head down of the cyan head 33. When the head down of the cyan head 33 is confirmed by the CH sensor SE6, the rotation of the CH motor M7 is stopped. After that, when the C counter finishes counting, the cyan printing circuit 79 is driven to start printing of cyan ink. In this way, the color printer device 20 controls the printing operation of each color based on the reference clock.

(6) Ink Ribbon Feeding Control Here, a method of controlling the feeding of the ink ribbon by the printing control unit 60 will be described. As described above, in the color printer device 20, each ink area of the ink ribbon 28 is as small as 1/15 of the paper. Therefore, the ink ribbon 2 is
The delivery speed of No. 8 is set to 1/15. This relationship is illustrated in FIG.

That is, when the yellow printing is started, the head of the paper 40 (specifically, the head of the printable range in the paper) is located at the yellow head 31. At this time, the ink ribbon 28 is sent so that the head portion of the yellow ink is exactly at the yellow head 31. After that, the paper 40 is conveyed at a predetermined speed, and the ink ribbon 28 is sent out at a speed which is 1/15 of the conveyance speed of the paper 40.

When the ink ribbon 28 is sent out in this manner, when the head of the paper 40 comes to the magenta head 32 and the magenta printing is started, the head portion of the magenta ink of the ink ribbon 28 is located in the magenta head 32. When the head of the paper 40 comes to the cyan head 33 and the cyan printing is started,
The leading portion of the cyan ink of the ink ribbon 28 has come to the cyan head 33.

In other words, in other words, in the color printer device 20, when the leading portion of the sheet 40 reaches the yellow head 31, the leading portion of the used area of the yellow ink reaches the yellow head 31. When the leading portion of the sheet 40 reaches the magenta head 32, the feeding of the ink ribbon 28 is controlled so that the leading portion of the used area of the magenta ink reaches the magenta head 32. When the leading portion of the paper 40 reaches the cyan head 33, the leading portion of the cyan ink use area of the ink ribbon 28 reaches the cyan head 33.
Control the sending out of. As a result, even when the ink ribbon 28 having a small ink area is used on the paper 40, the ink use area, the heads 31 to 33, and the paper 40 can be combined and printed reliably without color misregistration.

(7) Operation and Effects When printing is performed by the color printer device 20 with the above configuration, the paper 40 on the paper feed tray 39 is first conveyed by the paper feed roller 38 to the chuck mechanism 26. . When the leading edge of the sheet 40 reaches the check mechanism 26, the leading edge of the sheet 40 is pinched by the top 26C and the base 26D of the check mechanism 26. In this state, by rotating the check arm 26B upward, the check mechanism 26 pulls and conveys the paper 40 along the ink ribbon 28. When the check arm 26B passes through the yellow head 31, the yellow head 31 is headed down and the yellow printing is started. At this time, the feeding of the ink ribbon 28 is controlled so that the head of the yellow ink is exactly at the yellow head 31.

After that, when the check arm 26B passes the magenta head 32, the magenta head 32 is headed down this time, and the magenta printing is started. At this time, the ink ribbon 28 is sent so that the head of the magenta ink is exactly at the magenta head 32. After that, when the check arm 26B passes the cyan head 33, the cyan head 33 is headed down this time, and cyan printing is started. At this time, similarly, the ink ribbon 28 is sent so that the head of the cyan ink is exactly at the cyan head 33.

After the printing of each color is started, when the head of the paper 40 reaches the capstan mechanism 27, the capstan mechanism 27 winds the head of the paper 40, and the chuck mechanism 26 releases the paper 40, thereby the chuck mechanism 26. The paper 40 is delivered from the capstan mechanism 27 to the capstan mechanism 27.
After that, the sheet 40 is conveyed by the capstan mechanism 27. After that, when the printing is completed in the order of yellow, magenta, and cyan, and all the printings are completed, the heads 31 to 33 are headed up to return to the home position and prepare for the next printing.

In this way, the color printer device 2
At 0, the sheet can be reliably conveyed by the chuck mechanism 26 until the leading edge of the sheet 40 reaches the capstan mechanism 27, so that the printing operation can be performed during this period. Therefore, in the color printer device 20, only a portion necessary for sandwiching the paper 40 is the paper margin, and the paper margin can be made smaller than in the conventional case. By the way, in the conventional case, since the printing operation cannot be performed before the head of the sheet 40 reaches the eject side capstan mechanism, the portion from the yellow head to the eject side capstan mechanism becomes a sheet margin. Was there.

According to the above construction, as the transport mechanism for the sheet 40, the chuck mechanism 26 for sandwiching the leading edge of the sheet 40 and pulling the sheet 40, and the leading edge of the sheet 40 transported by the chuck mechanism 26 are provided. Roll up the paper 4
By providing the capstan mechanism 27 composed of a rotary roller that conveys 0, the chuck mechanism 26 is provided until the leading edge of the sheet 40 reaches the capstan mechanism 27.
Thus, it is possible to reliably carry the paper and perform the printing operation, and it is possible to reduce the paper margin even when three heads are provided and three colors are printed in parallel.

(8) Other Embodiments In the above-described embodiments, the case where the present invention is applied to the color printer device 20 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a color copying device or a color facsimile device. Alternatively, the present invention may be applied to an automatic printer device used in the field of amusement,
The present invention can be widely applied to printer devices.

[0081]

As described above, according to the present invention, as the paper conveying means for conveying the paper along the three heads, the head of the paper supplied by the paper feed roller is sandwiched and held, and the paper is conveyed. By providing a check mechanism for pulling along the three heads and a capstan mechanism made up of a rotating roller for receiving the head of the sheet conveyed by the check mechanism and winding the sheet for conveyance. By the check mechanism, the sheet can be reliably conveyed until the leading edge of the sheet reaches the ejecting side capstan mechanism, and the printing operation can be performed during that time.
Even when three heads are provided and three colors are printed in parallel, the paper margin can be reduced. Thus, even when three heads are provided and three colors are printed in parallel, it is possible to realize a printer device that can reduce the paper margin.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an overall configuration of a color printer device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a printer unit of the color printer device.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of each part around the drum.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a check.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining opening and closing operations of the chuck.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining an opening / closing operation of the chuck.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of an ink ribbon.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a home position state of the color printer device.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram for explaining the operation of the paper guide.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram for explaining a paper feeding operation of the color printer device.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram for explaining a checking operation of the color printer device.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram used to describe a sheet conveying operation of the color printer device.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram for explaining a yellow printing operation in the color printer device.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram for explaining a magenta printing operation in the color printer device.

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram for explaining a cyan printing operation in a color printer device.

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram for explaining a paper delivery operation in the color printer device.

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram for explaining a paper delivery operation in the color printer device.

FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram used for explaining the entire transport operation.

FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram for explaining a head positioning operation.

FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram used to describe a head positioning operation.

FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram for explaining a head positioning operation.

FIG. 22 is a schematic diagram used for explaining a head positioning operation.

FIG. 23 is a schematic diagram used for explaining a head positioning operation.

FIG. 24 is a schematic diagram for explaining a head positioning operation.

FIG. 25 is a schematic diagram showing the arrangement of sensors and motors in a color printer device.

FIG. 26 is a block diagram showing a printing control unit in the color printer device.

FIG. 27 is a block diagram showing a print control unit in the color printer device.

FIG. 28 is a timing chart used for explaining a paper feeding operation.

FIG. 29 is a timing chart used for explaining a printing operation.

FIG. 30 is a schematic diagram illustrating a relationship between an ink ribbon and a sheet feed amount.

FIG. 31 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a conventional color printer device.

FIG. 32 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional ink ribbon.

FIG. 33 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a conventional color printer device having three heads.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 10, 20 ... Color printer device, 3, 40 ...
Paper, 5, 28 ... Ink ribbon, 6, 11-13, 3
1-33: Head, 23 ... Printer section, 26 ... Check mechanism, 27 ... Capstan mechanism, 34-36 ...
... Platen rollers, 34A, 34B ... Bearings, 3
4C: Flange, 37 ... Paper ejection tray, 38 ... Paper feed roller, 39 ... Paper feed tray, 50 ... Heads up / down mechanism, 51A, 51B ... Positioning tabs, 51
C ... Groove, 60 ... Printing control section.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. It has three heads corresponding to respective colors of yellow, magenta, and cyan, and the three heads are used to print three colors of yellow, magenta, and cyan in parallel on a printing target paper. In the printer device, as a paper conveying means for conveying the paper along the three heads, the head of the paper supplied by a paper feed roller is sandwiched and held, and the paper is arranged along the three heads. A printer device, comprising: a check mechanism for pulling the sheet; and a capstan mechanism, which is a rotating roller for receiving the head of the sheet conveyed by the check mechanism and winding the sheet for conveyance. 2. The chuck mechanism is rotatably attached to the tip of an arm, and is composed of a top having a large diameter in the sheet conveying direction and a base serving as a receiving base for the top. 2. The sheet is pulled by holding the top of the sheet by the frame and the base and moving the arm along the line of the three heads. The printer device described. 3. The chucking mechanism holds a pinch holding force by dragging the sheet when the sheet is back-tensioned by the sheet feeding roller and the frame rotates in a direction opposite to a conveying direction. The printer device according to claim 2, wherein the printer device is reinforced. 4. The chuck mechanism weakens the pinch holding force when the capstan mechanism is dragged by the paper when the capstan mechanism winds the paper and the frame rotates in the transport direction. The printer device described.