JPH09272238A - Heat transfer printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow quick and accurate mounting of a roll paper in the apparatus main body. SOLUTION: The printer comprises a pair of roll paper supporting guides 24, capable of adjusting the distance therebetween, for limiting the movement of and rotatably supporting a roll paper 12 comprising a paper tube and a recording paper 26 wound thereto, a thermal head 16, and a pair of recording paper feeding guides 28 provided at both sides of the conveying path in the width direction, capable of adjusting the distance therebetween, for limiting the movement of the recording paper on the conveyance path 29 in the width direction, wherein the roll paper supporting guides 24 and the recording paper feeding guides 28 are interlocked integrally at each side in the width direction of the recording paper so as to form a pair of guide members. The printer further comprises a contacting and detaching mechanism for contacting or detaching the guide members so that the guide members are positioned with the same distance from the center of the passing recording paper in the width direction.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal transfer printer, and more particularly, to a thermal transfer printer capable of restricting the widthwise movement of a roll of recording paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a thermal transfer printer using a roll paper in which a recording paper is wound around a paper tube of this type is provided with a pair of roll paper support guides inside the apparatus main body. In such a conventional thermal transfer printer, the roll paper support shaft is penetrated through the roll paper core, and both ends of the roll paper support shaft are bridged between the pair of roll paper support guides, whereby the roll paper is paired with the roll paper support shaft. It is rotatably supported by the paper support guide. In this case, the pair of roll paper support guides are slidably attached to guide rails and the like, and by adjusting the mutual distances according to the paper width of the roll paper, it is possible to support roll paper of various paper widths. You can do it.

Further, in the conventional thermal transfer printer, the thermal head is arranged so as to face the conveyance path through which the recording paper passes, and the thermal head is disposed on both sides of the conveyance path between the roll paper support guide and the thermal head. Is provided with a pair of recording paper feed guides whose distance can be adjusted. Therefore, when the roll paper is mounted on the apparatus main body, the operator first adjusts the distance between the pair of roll paper support guides according to the paper width of the roll paper, and then the recording paper from the roll paper. By pulling out, the distance between the pair of recording paper feed guides is adjusted according to the paper width.

[0004]

However, the conventional thermal transfer printer has the following problems. That is, when setting the roll paper in the apparatus main body, the pair of roll paper support guides and the pair of recording paper feed guides are respectively moved to adjust the paper width of the roll paper or the paper width of the recording paper supplied from the roll paper. There is a need to. For this reason, it is time-consuming, and the center of the roll paper in the paper width direction and the center of the recording paper pulled out from the roll paper in the paper width direction often deviate.
For this reason, there is a problem that a printed character or the like may be inclined or that the recording paper may be conveyed in a state where the center of the recording paper is displaced, which may cause a paper jam on the conveyance path. In this case, although the adjustment can be performed over time, there is a problem that the time for that is wasted and it is extremely difficult to perform the adjustment accurately.

Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a thermal transfer printer in which roll paper can be quickly and accurately mounted in the apparatus main body.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a thermal transfer printer according to a first aspect of the present invention regulates the movement of a roll paper, which is a recording paper wound around a paper tube, in the width direction, and the roll paper. A pair of roll paper support guides configured to adjust their mutual distances for rotatably supporting, a thermal head arranged so as to face the recording paper conveyance path, and a width direction of the recording paper on the conveyance path. In the width direction of the recording paper, the thermal transfer printer is provided with a pair of recording paper feed guides configured to be adjustable in distance to each other in the width direction of the conveyance path in order to regulate the movement of The roll paper support guide and the recording paper feed guide located on the side of the direction are integrally connected to each other to form a pair of guide members, and the guide members pass from the center in the width direction of the recording paper passing on the conveyance path. Characterized in that it comprises a contact Hanaredo mechanism of the guide members to contact Hanaredo so as to be positioned away.

In this thermal transfer printer, when the roll paper is mounted, if the distance between the pair of roll paper support guides is adjusted to the paper width of the roll paper, the contact / separation mechanism interlocks with the movement of the roll paper support guide. The distance between the pair of recording paper feed guides is automatically adjusted to a distance that matches the paper width of the recording paper passing on the conveying path. Thus, since the pair of roll paper support guides and the pair of recording paper feed guides are integrated to form one guide member, the pair of roll paper support guides are adjusted according to the paper width of the roll paper. With this, the width adjustment of the pair of recording paper feed guides with respect to the recording paper is simultaneously performed. As a result, the roll paper can be set quickly and accurately.

The thermal transfer printer according to claim 2 is
The thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, wherein the contact / separation mechanism includes a pinion gear disposed between a pair of guide members,
And a pair of rack gears protruding from each of the pair of guide members in the pinion gear direction, extending parallel to the moving direction of the guide members, and meshing with each other at symmetrical positions about the rotation axis of the pinion gear. Is characterized by.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The thermal transfer printer 10 is a so-called label printer. This thermal transfer printer 10
Then, when an operator uses a keyboard to input print data of characters and graphics on a separate information input device (for example, a personal computer), based on the print data, a desired character is printed on a label previously adhered to recording paper. And graphics are printed. Thereafter, the operator can peel the printed label from the recording paper and adhere it to an arbitrary place.

Next, a schematic configuration of the thermal transfer printer 10 will be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 1, the thermal transfer printer 10 has a lower body portion 14 in which the roll paper 12 is stored, and an upper body portion 20 having a rear end rotatably attached to the lower body portion 14 and serving also as an upper cover. And a main body cover 22.

A pair of plate-shaped roll paper support guides 24 for supporting the roll paper 12 and a pair of plates for regulating the widthwise movement of the recording paper 26 fed from the roll paper 12 are provided in the lower body portion 14. Recording paper feed guide 28 and conveyance path 2
, A plurality of guide rollers 30, 30... For transporting the recording paper 26, and a thermal head (hereinafter, simply referred to as a "head") 16, and together with the head 16 during printing. A platen roller 32 for sandwiching the recording paper 26, a recording paper discharge port 33 for discharging the recording paper 26, and a guide roller 30 via a gear mechanism (not shown).
.. And a motor 34 (see FIG. 2) for rotating the platen roller 32 are provided.

A head 16 is mounted on the upper body portion 20, and a transfer ribbon cassette (hereinafter, referred to as "cassette") 18 in which a transfer ribbon is stored is detachably mounted.

The head 16 is provided in the upper body 20 so as to be movable toward and away from the platen roller 32, and is moved toward and away from the head by a head moving mechanism also provided in the upper body 20. The head moving mechanism includes a manual lever 36. When the manual lever 36 is located in the state shown in FIG. 2, the head 16 is located at a position separated from the platen roller 32. When the platen roller 32 is rotated in the direction of the arrow, it is driven by this rotation to press the platen roller 32.

The cassette 18 is configured to be removably mountable on a mounting portion 38 formed on the upper body portion 20, and includes a transfer ribbon supply roll 40, a transfer ribbon take-up roll 42, And a detecting means 46 for detecting the presence or absence of the transfer ribbon 44 disposed in the printer. The transfer ribbon take-up roll 42 is connected to the cassette 18
When it is mounted on the upper body portion 20, it is connected to a reel (not shown) arranged on the inner wall surface of the mounting portion and rotationally driven by the motor 34 to rotate in the winding direction.

The main body cover 22 is attached to the lower body part 14.
After the upper body part 20 is set, the upper body part 20 is turned upward to cover the side surface of the upper body part 20 on the cassette 18 mounting side.

Next, referring to FIG.
The operation outline of will be described. When a print command is output from outside the apparatus, the motor 34 is driven, and the rollers 30 and 30 are driven.
.. And the platen roller 32 rotates. Along with this, the recording paper 26 fed from the roll paper 12 is transported on the transport path 29. On the other hand, the transfer ribbon supply roll 40
The transfer ribbon 44 wound around the head 16 and the recording paper 26
And the head 16 prints on the recording paper 26. Next, the recording paper 26 is fed to the recording paper discharge port 3
3, the ink is ejected from the recording paper 2 by the head 16
The transfer ribbon 44 transferred to No. 6 is wound around the transfer ribbon winding roll 42. It should be noted that the recording paper 26 is provided on the lower side of the tip portion of the lower body portion 14 by the rollers 30, 30.
It is also possible to automatically separate the label 27 from the recording paper 26 by sandwiching it between the leftmost rollers 30 in the figure.

Next, each component will be described in detail.

First, a mechanism for supporting the roll paper 12 and the recording paper 26 will be described with reference to FIGS. A pair of roll paper support guides 2 disposed inside the lower body portion 14
Reference numeral 4 is for rotatably supporting the roll paper 12 while restricting the movement of the roll paper 12 in which the recording paper 26 is wound around the paper tube 48 in the width direction. The distance between the roll papers 12 can be adjusted so that the roll papers 12 having various widths can be supported.

The support structure of the roll paper 12 will be further described. Semicircular concave portions 50, 50 are formed at the upper ends of the pair of roll paper support guides 24, respectively, and are penetrated by the paper tube 48. Roll paper support shaft 52
Are mounted in the concave portions 50 of the respective roll paper support guides 24 so as to bridge between the upper ends of the pair of roll paper support guides 24. As a result, the roll paper 12 is rotatably supported by the pair of roll paper support guides 24. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the roll paper support guide 24 and the roll paper support shaft 52 are made of a metal material, so that the roll paper support guide is reduced in order to reduce mutual friction. A plate 54 made of synthetic resin is mounted on the upper end of 24, and a recess 50 is formed in the plate 54. Either the roll paper support guide 24 or the roll paper support shaft 52 uses a synthetic resin material. If the concave portion 50 is formed by
It may be formed on the surface 4.

A pair of recording paper feed guides 28 disposed inside the lower body portion 14 are arranged on both sides of a transport path 29 between the head 16 and the roll paper support guide 24 so that the distance therebetween can be adjusted. ing. Then, the distance between each other is set on the recording paper 26.
Has the function of restricting the movement of the recording paper 26 supplied to the head 16 in the width direction.

A feature of the thermal transfer printer 10 is that the recording paper feed guide 28 and the roll paper support guide 24, which are located in the same direction with respect to the width direction of the recording paper 26, are integrally connected to each other to form a pair of guide members 56. It is in the point that is configured. As a result, both roll paper support guides 24, 24
It is possible to simultaneously adjust the mutual distance of the roll paper 12 and the mutual distance of the two recording paper feed guides 28, 28, and the roll paper 12 can be mounted in a short time as compared with the conventional individual adjustment. You can do it.

Next, the detailed structure of the pair of guide members 56 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 3, the guide member 56 is provided with a pair of slide bases 58a and 58b formed in parallel, and the slide bases 58a and 58b are attached to the lower body portion 14 in parallel. Guide rail 60
a, 60b, and 60c are slidably attached to two of them, respectively. The slide base 58a is attached to the guide rails 60a and 60c, and the slide base 58b is attached to the guide rails 60b and 60c. Guide rails 60a, 60b are provided on each slide base 58a, 58b.
The legs 62a and 62b are formed to extend along the guide rail 60, respectively.
a, 60b are slidably mounted. Therefore,
The guide rails 60a to 60a are kept parallel to each other.
The sliding on c becomes possible. Also, the slide base 58
A pair of recording paper feed guides 28 and a pair of plate-shaped roll paper support guides 24 are vertically provided on a and 58b so as to face each other so as to be parallel to each other.

Next, the contact / separation mechanism 63 will be described.

The contact / separation mechanism 63 includes a pair of guide members 56.
It is provided with a pinion gear 64 arranged at an intermediate position between them and a pair of rack gears 66, 66. Rack gear 6
Reference numerals 6 and 66 extend from each of the pair of guide members 56 and 56 in the pinion gear 64 direction in parallel with the moving direction of the guide member 56 (parallel to the guide rails 60 a to 60 c), and rotate the pinion gear 64. It meshes in a symmetrical position about the shaft 68.

When one of the pair of guide members 56 is moved by the contact / separation mechanism 63, the other guide member 56 correspondingly moves in the opposite direction by the same distance. By disposing the rotation shaft 68 of the pinion gear 64 on the center line in the width direction at the regular setting position of the recording paper 26, the pair of guide members 56 can be moved from the center of the recording paper 26 in the width direction. They can be moved so that they are always equidistant. In this embodiment, the roll paper 1
Since both end surfaces of the roll paper 2 are directly sandwiched by the roll paper pressing plate 70 attached to the roll paper supporting shaft 52, the roll paper supporting guide 24 has a structure for supporting the roll paper 12 via the roll paper pressing plate 70. The mounting position of the roll paper support guide 24 on the slide bases 58a and 58b is set in advance at the recording paper feed guide 2
It is set to the outer side in the width direction by the thickness A of the roll paper pressing plate 70 from the mounting position of 8.

Incidentally, the contacting / separating mechanism is constituted by a pair of pulleys arranged along the moving direction of the pair of guide members 56 and an endless belt spanned between the pulleys instead of the above mechanism. You may do it. In this case, by attaching a pair of guide members 56 to the opposite sides of the infinite belt, if one guide member 56 is also moved, the other guide members 56 can also move in the opposite direction by the same distance.

Next, a mechanism for mounting the cassette 18 on the upper body portion 20 will be described. As shown in FIG. 5, the cassette 18 is removably mountable on a mounting portion 38 which is opened in a side surface of the upper body portion 20 and formed in a concave shape.
Specifically, the structure of the cassette 18 will be described with reference to FIGS. The cassette 18 has a cassette body 72 formed using a synthetic resin material.
Is configured such that the transfer ribbon supply roll 40 and the transfer ribbon winding roll 42 around which the transfer ribbon 44 is wound can be mounted inside. More specifically, in the cassette body 72, two pairs of notches 76a and 76b are formed on a side wall 74 formed to be slightly wider than the widths of the rolls 40 and 42. The notches 76a and 76b are formed. Each roll 40,
Fixed circumferential grooves 80 formed at both end portions of the ribbon set shaft 78 which is penetrated by 42 are fitted. Also, each notch 76
The shape of the inner wall surfaces of a and 76b is formed to be a tapered surface that becomes narrower toward the inner part, and the inner part is formed to have a diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the fixed circumferential groove 80 of each roll 40 and 42. It is formed in an arc shape and facilitates attachment of the ribbon set shaft 78 to the cutout portions 76a and 76b, and unless external force is applied after the ribbon set shaft 78 is once attached to the inner portions of the cutout portions 76a and 76b. It has a structure that does not easily come off. A fixed peripheral groove 80 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the ribbon set shaft 78.
In addition, a plurality of adjusting circumferential grooves 82, 82 ... Are formed, and a roll regulating plate 84 that can be fitted into the adjusting circumferential groove 82 is attached to the adjusting circumferential grooves 82, 82. The widthwise movement of the rolls 40, 42 on the set shaft 78 can be restricted.

Further, the side wall 74 is formed with two pairs of supply arms 86a and 86b extending apart from each other, and a guide roller 87 is provided between the pair of supply arms 86a and 86b.
Is rotatably attached so as to be parallel to the rolls 40 and 42, and the transfer ribbon 44 sent out from the transfer ribbon supply roll 40 is laid between the two guide rollers 87 and 87 to transfer the transfer ribbon winding roll 42. To be wound up.
The lengths and intervals of the supply arms 86a and 86b are set so that when the cassette 18 is mounted in the mounting portion 38, it protrudes from the inner wall surface of the mounting portion 38 toward the opening of the mounting portion 38. Head 16 is located on both supply arms 8
6a, 86b and the transfer ribbon 44 laid between the two guide rollers 30 are formed so as to be able to enter the space 88.

A first cassette cover 90a and a second cassette cover 90b are rotatably and pivotally attached to the cassette body 72. Each of the covers 90a and 90b includes a transfer ribbon supply roll 40 and a transfer ribbon winding roll 42 mounted on the cassette body 72, and a transfer ribbon 44 from the transfer ribbon supply roll 40 to the supply arm 86a and a transfer ribbon winding from the supply arm 86b. Take roll 42
Up to the transfer ribbon 44. Also, on both side walls of the covers 90a and 90b, the covers 90a and 90b are attached.
A pair of closing pieces 92 for closing the notches 76a and 76b are formed near the arc-shaped inner part where the ribbon set shaft 78 is mounted when b is closed.
8 is reliably prevented from being removed from the notches 76a and 76b.

As a structure for mounting the ribbon set shaft 78, as shown in FIG. 7, both notches 76a,
By forming the holes 93, 93 in the side wall 74 near 76b, the closing pieces 92, 92 can be made unnecessary. In this case, when the ribbon set shaft 78 is mounted, the notch portions 76a and 76b are easily elastically deformed, so that the ribbon set shaft 78 can be easily mounted, and the ribbon set shaft 78 is once mounted. Thereafter, both notches 76a and 76b are connected to the ribbon set shaft 78.
Can be reliably prevented from being pulled out.

Further, one side wall 74 has a cutout portion 76.
b, an insertion hole for the ribbon set shaft 78 is formed. When the ribbon set shaft 78 is mounted, one end of the ribbon set shaft 78 is inserted into the formed insertion hole, and then the fixed circumferential groove at the other end is inserted. 80 may be configured to fit into the notch 76a.

Further, on the outer surface of each of the covers 90a and 90b described above, the mounting guide grooves 94a and 94b (formed on the inner peripheral surface of the mounting portion 38 so that the cassette 18 can be positioned and mounted on the mounting portion 38). Fitting protrusions 96a and 96b which are fitted to (see FIG. 5) are formed so as to extend in a direction parallel to the axes of the rolls 40 and 42, respectively.

Further, on the side surface of the cassette body 72 in the direction of withdrawing from the mounting portion 38, there is provided a grip portion 98 for gripping the cassette 18 by hand, and a manual lever 36 constituting a part of a head moving mechanism described later. The arc-shaped pushing rib 10 that abuts and locks the cassette 18 while pushing the cassette 18 to the inner side of the mounting portion 38.
0 is formed. As for the wall shape of the pushing rib 100, the surface that first comes into contact with the manual lever 36 is formed as a slant surface for a predetermined length, and thereafter, the surface is formed substantially parallel to the side surface of the cassette body 72. Due to this shape, the cassette 1
8 is the manual lever 36 by the protrusion length of the pushing rib 100.
Is pushed into the mounting part 38 by the mounting part 38, and then the mounting part 3
It is prevented from coming off from 8.

Next, the structure of the ribbon set shaft 78 and the roll regulating plate 84 will be described with reference to FIG. The ribbon setting shaft 78 is formed in a cylindrical shape using a synthetic resin material and can be inserted into each paper tube of the transfer ribbon supply roll 40 and the transfer ribbon take-up roll 42. A pair of concave fixed circumferential grooves 80, 80 and a plurality of adjusting circumferential grooves 82, 82, ... On the outer peripheral surface thereof, and a plurality of protruding portions which come into contact with the inner wall of the paper tube to prevent positional deviation in the rotational direction. ., 83, ... Are formed. The roll regulating plate 84 is formed into a disk shape by using a synthetic resin material having elasticity as an example,
A fitting hole 102 having a diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the adjustment circumferential groove 82 is formed in the central portion, and the fitting hole 102 is formed from the edge portion.
An insertion slit 104 is formed up to. When attaching the roll regulation plate 84 to the ribbon set shaft 78, the roll regulation plate 84 is elastically deformed by pressing the roll regulation plate 84 against the ribbon set shaft 78 after bringing the fitting slit 104 into contact with the adjustment circumferential groove 82. While the ribbon set shaft 78 passes through the fitting slit 104,
Is set to Since the fitting hole 102 is formed with a diameter smaller than the outer diameter of the adjustment circumferential groove 82, the ribbon set shaft 78
The diameter of the ribbon set shaft 78 is expanded when it is mounted, and the ribbon set shaft 78 is constantly tightened by its own elastic force to return to the original diameter. As a result, the roll regulating plate 84 is not easily detached from the ribbon setting shaft 78.

According to this structure, the adjusting circumferential groove 82 for mounting the roll regulating plate 84 in accordance with the width of each roll 40, 42 is provided.
By changing, the rolls of various widths can be mounted in a state of being positioned on the ribbon set shaft 78. Further, since the roll restricting plate 84 can be elastically deformed, even after being once attached to a certain adjusting circumferential groove 82, it is forcibly moved along the axial direction of the ribbon set shaft 78 so that the other adjusting circumferential groove 82 can be deformed. It is also possible to fit it into the. In addition, in order to further facilitate elastic deformation of the fitting slit 104, elongated holes 106 along the fitting slit 104 are provided on both sides of the fitting slit 104 of the roll regulation plate 84.

Note that, instead of the structure in which the above-mentioned fitting slit 104 is formed, the roll regulating plate 84 has locking pieces 108, 108 extending vertically from the edge of the fitting hole 102, as shown in FIG. .. may be arranged in parallel along the rim of the fitting hole 102. In this case, an engagement projection 110 that engages with the adjustment circumferential groove 82 of the ribbon setting shaft 78 is provided on the inner surface of the protruding end of at least one locking piece 108. The roll regulating plate 84 is attached to the ribbon set shaft 78 by inserting the ribbon set shaft 78 into the fitting hole 102. When changing the mounting position of the roll regulating plate 84, if a force is applied along the ribbon set shaft 78, the locking piece 108 on which the engaging convex portion 110 is formed is elastically deformed so that the engaging convex portion 110 is formed. When it comes out of the adjustment circumferential groove 82 and moves to the adjacent adjustment circumferential groove 82, it engages with the adjustment circumferential groove 82.

Next, a head moving mechanism for moving the head 16 to and from the platen roller 32 will be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

The head moving mechanism 112 is a spring 1 as a biasing means for biasing the head 16 toward the platen roller 32.
14 and an outer wall surface of the upper body portion 20, which is rotatably arranged in a plane parallel to the outer wall surface, and has a movable end positioned at an opening portion of the mounting portion 38 and a release position at which the movable end portion is disengaged from the opening portion. And a manual lever 36 that moves between
Is rotated to the release position, the head 16 is separated from the platen roller 32 against the urging force of the spring 114, and the spring 11 is rotated when the manual lever 36 is rotated to the lock position.
4 and a lock mechanism 116 for bringing the head 16 into close contact with the platen roller 32.

An example of the lock mechanism 116 will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 11.
6, a transmission shaft 118 rotatable about a first shaft B, a cam 120 attached to the other end of the transmission shaft 118, and a first shaft B extending at one end above the cam 120. The pressing arm 122 is rotatable about a second axis C parallel to the first axis B, and the pressing arm 122 is rotatably provided about a third axis D orthogonal to the first axis B. The head 16 is provided at one end. And a support arm 124 that is axially mounted. The other end of the support arm 124 extends below the other end of the pressing arm 122, and when the other end of the pressing arm 122 moves downward due to the rotation of the pressing arm 122, the other end of the supporting arm 124 is accompanied by it. Head 1 that is pressed downward and is axially attached to one end
6 is moved upward. The head 16 is separated from the platen roller 32 by this movement. The spring 114
Is connected to the other end of the support arm 124, and urges the other end upward, that is, the head 16 axially attached to one end of the support arm 124 in the direction of the platen roller 32. The head 16 is supported by a pair of support guides 128 provided on a head cover 126 protruding from the mounting portion 38 so as to be vertically movable.

Next, the operation of the head moving mechanism 112 will be described. When the manual lever 36 in FIG. 9 is in the release position (the position indicated by the dotted line), the cam 120 attached to the transmission shaft 118 is in a state where one end of the pressing arm 122 is pushed upward, whereby the pressing arm 12
The other end of the support arm 12 is located at a position turned downward.
4 is pushed downward. As a result, the support arm 124 rotates about the third axis D and
One end to which is attached has moved upward. Therefore, in this state, the head 16 is
In a state separated from the platen roller 32 located below. Subsequently, when the manual lever 36 is turned from the release position to the lock position (the position indicated by the solid line), the cam 120 is turned around the first axis B via the transmission shaft 118 in the same direction as the manual lever 36. Then, the upward movement of one end of the pressing arm 122 is released. In this state, the support arm 12
4 is urged by a spring 114 to rotate upward about the third axis D, so that the downward rotation by the pressing arm 122 is released to rotate upward. Move. Therefore, the head 1 of the support arm 124
One end to which the plate 6 is attached moves downward, and the head 16 moves in the direction of the platen roller 32 located below the head 16 and comes into contact with the platen roller 32. Normally, the recording paper 26 and the transfer ribbon 44 are superposed in this order between the platen roller 32 and the head 16 from the platen roller 32 side. Can be transferred to the recording paper 26.

As described above, the manual lever 36
Contacts the pushing rib 100 of the set 18 and pushes the cassette 18 in the mounting direction via the pushing rib 100 as the set rib 18 rotates to the lock position. Further, in the locked position, the manual lever 36 is located at the opening of the mounting portion 38 and is in contact with the pushing rib 100.
It also functions as a lock mechanism for preventing the cassette 18 from coming off. When the manual lever 36 is at the release position, the head 16 is separated from the platen roller 32 and the manual lever 36 is at a position separated from the opening of the mounting portion 38. Therefore, in this state, the cassette 18 can be attached to and detached from the mounting section 38.

Next, the mounting structure of the head 16 to the support arm 124 will be described with reference to FIGS.

The head 16 is formed with a pair of mounting pieces 130a, 130b extending upward and in parallel with each other, and one mounting piece 130b has the first insertion hole 1
32 is formed, and the other attachment piece 130a has the same center line as the first insertion hole 132 and the first insertion hole 13
Second insertion hole 134 having a diameter larger than 2 and second insertion hole 13
A slit 136 having a width narrower than the diameter of the second insertion hole 134 extending from 4 to the edge of the other mounting piece 130a is formed. On the other hand, at one end of the support arm 124 that constitutes the head moving mechanism 112, a pair of mounting pieces 130a, 130 that extend downward in parallel with each other and are spaced apart from each other.
A pair of support pieces 13 formed slightly narrower than the distance b.
8, 138 are formed. A hole 133 having the same diameter as the first insertion hole 132 is formed in each of the support pieces 138, and a hole 133 of the pair of support pieces 138 and 138 is formed.
First insertion hole 132 of the pair of mounting pieces 130a, 130b
The head 16 is attached to the support arm 124 by slidably penetrating a support shaft 142 having a knob 140 at one end through the second insertion hole 134.

The knob portion 140 is easy to pick by hand.
Although the supporting shaft 138 is formed to have a larger diameter than other portions of the supporting shaft 142, the supporting piece 138 has a slightly smaller diameter so that the supporting piece 138 can be inserted into the second insertion hole 134 of the other mounting piece 130a and the width of the slit 136. Is formed to have a larger diameter. Further, between the support arm 124 and the support shaft 142, or between the support piece 138 and the support shaft 142, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, a spring 144 is arranged to bias the support shaft 142 in a direction in which the knob 140 always contacts the support piece 138. In the present embodiment, the coil spring as the spring 144 is
The second large diameter portion 146 and the support piece 138 are bridged in a contracted state.

According to this mounting structure, when the head 16 is mounted on the support arm 124, the support shaft 1
The knob 140 of 42 is pulled and pulled to the position indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 12 against the urging force of the spring 144, and the other end of the support shaft 142 (the right end in FIG. 13) has the support piece 138. Make it almost the same as the outer wall. In this state, the pair of mounting pieces 13 of the head 16 are
0a and 130b are brought close to each other so as to sandwich the pair of support pieces 138. Next, on the other end side of the support shaft 142, the first insertion hole 132 is inserted into the support shaft 142.
Of the support shaft 142,
On the 0 side, from the slit 136 to the support shaft 14
2 is fitted into the second insertion hole 134. When the knob 140 is released in this state, the spring 144
13, the supporting shaft 142 moves to the right in FIG. 13, and the other end of the supporting shaft 142 is attached to the mounting piece 130b.
Into the first insertion hole 132 of the
The small-diameter portion of is inserted into the second insertion hole 134 of the other mounting piece 130a. As a result, the head 16 is attached to the support arm 124 in a non-removable and rotatable manner.

When the head 16 is removed from the support arm 124, pulling the knob portion 140 causes the first insertion hole 132 and the second insertion hole 134 to move the support shaft 1
The head 16 can be removed from the support arm 124 because the head 42 is removed. Note that the outer peripheral surface of the small-diameter portion inserted into the second insertion hole 134 of the knob portion 140 may be formed in a tapered surface shape whose diameter gradually decreases toward the support piece 138. According to this configuration, the outer peripheral surface of the knob portion 140 surely comes into close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the second insertion hole 134, and as a result, the mounting position of the head 16 on the support arm 124 is also reliably positioned.

The attachment structure of the head 16 to the support arm 124 is not limited to the above-mentioned structure, and various modifications can be made. For example, the first insertion hole 132 formed in the attachment piece 130b may have the same structure (combination of the insertion hole and the slit) as the second insertion hole 134 formed in the attachment piece 130a. Specifically, in a state after the head 16 is attached, the diameter of the shaft of the support shaft 142 through which the first insertion hole 132 is inserted is set to the first insertion hole 1.
The first insertion hole 1 is formed to have a diameter substantially equal to that of the hole 32, and when the knob 140 is pulled against the biasing force of the spring 144 when the head 16 is removed.
By forming the shaft diameter of the portion of the support shaft 142 through which the shaft 32 is inserted to be smaller than the slit width of the slit formed in the mounting piece 130b, the support shaft 142 is removed from the first insertion hole 132 side when the head 16 is removed. When the support shaft 1 is pushed toward the second insertion hole 134,
The head 16 can be easily detached from 42.

Although various preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be modified as appropriate.

[0052]

As described above, according to the thermal transfer printer of the present invention, the adjustment of the paper width of the pair of roll paper support guides relative to the roll paper and the adjustment of the paper width of the pair of recording paper feed guides relative to the recording paper are performed at the same time. This makes it possible to set the roll paper quickly and accurately.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a structure of a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of the inside of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a structure of a pair of guide members according to the embodiment.

4 is a partially enlarged perspective view of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view when the transfer ribbon cassette is mounted on the mounting portion of the upper body.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a structure of a transfer ribbon cassette.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a cassette main body of the transfer ribbon cassette.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a ribbon setting shaft and a roll regulating plate.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a main part of a head moving mechanism.

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view showing a connection structure between a support arm of the head moving mechanism and the head.

FIG. 11 is a front view of a head moving mechanism.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line EE of FIG. 11 for illustrating a connection structure between the support arm of the head moving mechanism and the head.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a roll regulating plate according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Thermal Transfer Printer 12 Roll Paper 16 Thermal Head 24 Roll Paper Support Guide 26 Recording Paper 28 Recording Paper Feeding Guide 29 Conveying Path 48 Paper Tube 56 Guide Member 63 Contact and Separation Mechanism 64 Pinion Gear 66 Rack Gear

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A pair of rollers configured to regulate a widthwise movement of a roll paper formed by winding a recording paper on a paper tube and to adjust a distance between the roll paper so as to rotatably support the roll paper. Roll paper support guide, a thermal head arranged so as to face the conveyance path of the recording paper, and a width direction of the conveyance path for restricting movement of the recording paper in the width direction on the conveyance path. A thermal transfer printer having a pair of recording paper feed guides each of which is configured to be adjustable in distance from each other, the roll paper support guide and the recording paper being positioned on the same side in the width direction of the recording paper. A paper feed guide is integrally connected to each other to form a pair of guide members, and each of the guide members is located at an equal distance from the widthwise center of the recording paper passing on the transport path. Thermal transfer printer characterized in that it comprises a contact Hanaredo mechanism for contact Hanaredo the respective guide members. 2. The contacting / separating mechanism is a pinion gear arranged between the pair of guide members, and projects in the pinion gear direction from each of the pair of guide members, and is parallel to the moving direction of the guide member. 2. The thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, further comprising a pair of rack gears that extend in a vertical direction and mesh with each other at symmetrical positions about the rotation axis of the pinion gear.