JPH1016266A - Heat transfer printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate peeling of the portion adhered to an intermediate transfer member during the conveyance, such as idle feeding of an ink ribbon by rotating the intermediate transfer member in the direction the same as the conveyance direction of the ink ribbon when the pressure of a thermal head on the intermediate transfer member is released and the ink ribbon is wound. SOLUTION: When a thermal head 3 is moved in the arrow B direction for releasing the pressure on an intermediate transfer roller 1 via an ink ribbon 5, the ink ribbon 5 is slackened to adhere to the surface of the intermediate transfer roller 1. After turning the intermediate transfer roller 1 by about 30 deg. in the arrow E direction, the ink ribbon 5 is conveyed in the arrow F direction with a ribbon winding means. At the time, since the portion of the ink ribbon 5 adhered on the surface of the intermediate transfer roller 1 is ahead of the peeling angle of the ink ribbon 5, it can be peeled off smoothly.

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 method for selectively melting an ink layer of an ink ribbon by heat of a thermal head to transfer ink to an intermediate transfer member, and retransfer the ink to paper. And a thermal transfer printer for performing desired recording.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, desired recording is performed by selectively melting an ink layer of an ink ribbon by heat of a thermal head, temporarily transferring ink to an intermediate transfer member, and retransferring the ink to paper. An intermediate transfer type thermal transfer printer is known.

[0003] Such a conventional thermal transfer printer is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, an intermediate transfer roller 1 having a cylindrical metal member covered with a rubber material as an intermediate transfer body is rotatably disposed.
Is provided with a heater 2 for heating the intermediate transfer roller 1.
Are arranged. In the vicinity of the intermediate transfer roller 1,
A thermal head 3 is provided. The thermal head 3 has a plurality of heating elements arranged in a straight line so as to face the center of the intermediate transfer roller 1. A pair of ribbon rolls 4a, 4a for guiding the transfer roller 1 and the thermal head 3 substantially linearly are provided.

A drum 7 pressed against the intermediate transfer roller 1 with a strong pressing force at a position opposite to the thermal head 3 in the diameter direction of the intermediate transfer roller 1 is provided by a stepping motor (not shown). A heater 10 for heating the drum 7 is disposed inside the drum 7 so as to be rotatable by driving, and one end of a predetermined recording paper 8 such as plain paper is provided on the surface of the drum 7. A clamper 9 to be held is provided.

The ink ribbon 5 used in the conventional example includes yellow (hereinafter abbreviated as Y), magenta (hereinafter abbreviated as M), cyan (hereinafter abbreviated as C), and black (hereinafter abbreviated as Bk). (Hereinafter abbreviated as)) are used.

The recording order in the conventional example is Y → M → C →
At first, the ink ribbon 5 is wound so that the head position of the Y ink 6 is at a position facing the recording head. The determination of the color of the ink ribbon 5 is performed while recognizing a marker (not shown) printed between the colors of the ink ribbon 5 with a photo sensor (not shown) or the like.

Next, the clamper 9 provided on the drum 7
The drum 7 is rotated with one end of the recording paper 8 held therebetween, and the recording paper 8 is wound around the drum 7 and a recording start position is specified by a sensor (not shown). Pause. Then, the drum 7 is pressed against the intermediate transfer roller 1 with a strong pressing force, and in this state, the ink ribbon 5 is conveyed at a constant speed. Heat is generated based on a desired recording signal, and the intermediate transfer roller 1 is rotated by driving a stepping motor (not shown). Then, the recording paper 8 on which the Y ink 6 transferred to the surface of the intermediate transfer roller 1 is conveyed by partially melting the Y ink 6 of the ink ribbon 5 by selective heat generation of each heating element of the thermal head 3. Is retransferred by the pressing force of the drum 7.

After the Y ink 6 on the ink ribbon 5 has been retransferred to the recording paper 8, the ink ribbon 5 is conveyed empty and when the head position of the next M ink 6 is completed, the above-described Y ink 6 In the same manner as in the steps of transfer and retransfer, the press contact between the intermediate transfer roller 1 and the thermal head 3 and the press contact between the intermediate transfer roller 1 and the drum 7 are performed to record (re-transfer). Thereafter, a desired recording is obtained by repeatedly performing a process of releasing each pressure contact.

[0009]

However, according to such a thermal transfer printer, the ink ribbon after the thermal head 3 is pressed as shown in FIG. 8 and the ink ribbon after the thermal head 3 is released as shown in FIG. 5 is an intermediate transfer roller 1
Is attached to That is, the intermediate transfer roller 1 has a function of temporarily transferring the ink of the ink sheet 5 as a primary recording image and retransferring the primary recording image on the intermediate transfer roller 1 to recording paper. Used. In this state, the ink ribbon 5 is conveyed in an empty state to try to find the head of the next color ink, or to take up the slack of the ink ribbon 5 by a ribbon winding means (not shown) in the direction of arrow F. When the ink ribbon 5 is to be transported, as shown in FIG. 10, the ink ribbon 5 adheres to the intermediate transfer roller 1 in the range of the arrow G behind the peeling angle in the transport (winding) direction of the ink ribbon 5, so that the ink ribbon 5 is pulled. If the ink ribbon 5 cannot be peeled off,
Had the problem of being cut off.

Further, if the next operation is performed without properly completing the peeling of the ink ribbon 5, the ink ribbon 5 becomes entangled with the rotation of the intermediate transfer roller 1, so that not only the operation of removing the recording paper but also the printing is performed. And the printer becomes unusable.

The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and when the ink ribbon is conveyed, for example, when the ink ribbon is fed, the portion adhered to the intermediate transfer roller can be easily peeled off, and the apparatus can be stably used. It is an object of the present invention to provide a thermal transfer printer that can be driven.

[0012]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention releases the intermediate transfer body when the thermal head pressurizing the intermediate transfer body is released and the ink ribbon is wound. The point is that the ink ribbon is rotated in the same direction as the transport direction. By employing such a configuration, the ink ribbon can be easily peeled off from the intermediate transfer member without requiring excessive force.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part of a thermal transfer printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. The thermal transfer printer includes an intermediate transfer roller 1, a heater 2 for heating the intermediate transfer roller 1 from the inside, and a primary recording. A thermal head 3 for forming an image, an ink ribbon 5, a drum 7 for pressing the recording paper 8 against the intermediate transfer roller 1 for retransfer, a heater 10 for heating the drum 7 from the inside, and the like are provided. The schematic configuration of the thermal transfer printer according to the present invention is similar to that of the above-described conventional printer, and the description thereof will not be repeated.

The diameter of the intermediate transfer roller 1 is desirably 20 mm or more from the viewpoint of securing its rigidity. However, if the rigidity can be ensured by the material of the core bar 1a, it can be further reduced. In the present embodiment, the outer diameter of the core 1a is 31 mm, the inner diameter is 28 mm, and the material of the core 1a is carbon steel N.
i-plating is used. Further, in the present embodiment, the thickness of the rubber portion 1b of the intermediate transfer roller 1 obtained by coating the surface of the core metal 1a with the silicone rubber is 0.5 mm, and the intermediate transfer layer is laminated on the surface of the rubber portion 1b. The body was made of silicone rubber made of a material different from the silicone rubber of the rubber portion 1b, and the thickness of the layer was 150 μm.

The heater 2 of the present embodiment includes
A 500W halogen lamp is used.
In addition to the 0 W halogen lamp, any heater 2 may be used as long as it can generate heat that can maintain the melting and softening state of the ink 6 of the ink ribbon 5 transferred to the surface of the intermediate transfer roller 1. A heater or the like can be used.

In the vicinity of the intermediate transfer roller 1, a thermal head 3 is provided. This thermal head 3 has a plurality of heating elements 200 to
600 dpi line head, width 75-300
mm. In the present embodiment, 30
A 0 dpi, 220 mm wide, 2560 dot number dot is used. On both sides of the thermal head 3, a pair of ribbon rolls 4a, 4a for guiding the ink ribbon 5 wound around the bobbin 4 in a substantially linear manner between the intermediate transfer roller 1 and the thermal head 3 are provided. ing. The ink ribbon 5 has the same configuration as a generally used thermal transfer ink ribbon. In the present embodiment, PET 3.5 μm is used for the base film, the ink layer is composed of two layers, and the lower layer is a 1 μm-thick W to be a release layer.
An ink ribbon 5 having an AX layer and an upper layer having a 1 μm-thick resin layer serving as an ink layer was used. Although a two-layered ink ribbon is used here, a single-layered structure having only a WAX layer can be used.

Further, a cylindrical drum 7 pressed against the intermediate transfer roller 1 with a strong pressing force is rotatably provided as a recording medium holding mechanism at a position diametrically opposite to the thermal head 3 of the intermediate transfer roller 1. It is arranged.

The drum 7 includes a recording sheet 8 as a recording medium.
And a pair of flat plate-shaped clampers 9 for holding one end of the recording paper 8 and fixing the recording paper 8 to the drum 7 in parallel with the axial direction of the drum 7 on the surface thereof. It is arranged in. In the present embodiment, the size of the recording paper 8 wound around the drum 7 is set to A4 letter size.
00mm) and the installation space for clamper 9 (about 14mm)
In order to ensure the above, the diameter of the drum 7 was set to 100 mm.

On the other hand, a substantially disc-shaped detection plate 13 configured to rotate coaxially with the drum 7 is attached to one end of the drum 7.
A square detection piece 14 protruding outward in the diameter direction is integrally formed.

In addition, a recording start position of the recording paper 8 wound around the drum 7 is detected by detecting a detection piece 14 on a casing (not shown) of the drum 7 (for example, a drum holding frame or a printer body case). A sensor 15 is provided.

A heater 10 for heating the drum 7 to a predetermined temperature is provided inside the drum 7. In the present embodiment, a 1 KW halogen lamp is used as the heater 10. However, the recording paper 8 wound around the drum 7 can be heated and kept warm to improve the re-transfer performance of the ink onto the recording paper 8. Any heater 10 that can generate heat can be used.

The recording paper 8 is a general recording paper 8
Or an OHP film.

Next, a recording method according to an embodiment of the thermal transfer printer of the present invention will be described. In the initial state, the thermal head 3 moves the intermediate transfer roller 1 in the direction of arrow B in FIG.
And the thermal head 3 is also separated from the ink ribbon 5. Further, the drum 7 is also separated from the intermediate transfer roller 1 in the direction of arrow D in FIG.

Then, when the power is turned on to the thermal transfer printer, a current flows through the heater 2 and the heater 10 to start heating the intermediate transfer roller 1 and the drum 7. Further, the temperature of the thermal head 3 is increased by intermittently applying a predetermined pulse to the thermal head 3.

While these temperatures are sensed by a thermistor or an infrared radiation temperature sensor (not shown), the temperature is controlled so as to heat to a predetermined temperature and keep the temperature.

This temperature control is performed by controlling each of the thermal head 3, the intermediate transfer roller 1 and the drum 7 to 40 to 70 ° C.
Are controlled so that they all have the same temperature. More preferably, it is sufficient that the temperature can be controlled at a temperature between 50 and 60 ° C., and in the present embodiment, all the temperatures are controlled to be 55 to 58 ° C.

This temperature control is performed and the recording paper 8
Is wound around the drum 7 in parallel.
This is provided with a paper feed tray (not shown), from which the recording paper 8 is conveyed to the drum 7 one by one. The conveyed recording paper 8 is conveyed to an initial recording position in such a manner that one end of the conveyed recording paper 8 is sandwiched by a clamper 9 on the drum 7 and is wound along the outer periphery of the drum 7 as the drum 7 rotates. Becomes

The rotation of the drum 7 is performed not by a driving mechanism dedicated to the drum 7 but by a frictional force with the intermediate transfer roller 1. That is, after the drum 7 is moved in the direction of arrow C to bring the drum 7 into pressure contact with the intermediate transfer roller, the intermediate transfer roller 1 is rotated by a drive mechanism (not shown). It rotates due to the frictional force with 1.

When the recording paper 8 is conveyed to a desired recording start position, the sensor 15 detects the detecting piece 14 and stops the rotation of the intermediate transfer roller 1 to stop the rotation of the drum 7.

In this way, the recording paper 8 is conveyed to the initial recording start position, and at the same time, the ink ribbon 5 is conveyed to locate the head of the ink 6 of a desired color.

In this embodiment, four color dander ribbons of Y, M, C, and Bk are used, and the recording order is Y.
Since the order of M → C → Bk is satisfied, the ink ribbon 5 is first conveyed so that the leading position of the Y ink 6 is at a position facing the thermal head 3. The determination of the ink color at this time is performed by a photo sensor (not shown) or the like recognizing a marker printed between the colors of the ink ribbon 5.

When the leading position of the Y ink 6 comes to a position facing the thermal head 3 due to the empty conveyance,
The thermal head 3 moves in the direction of arrow A and is pressed against the intermediate transfer roller 1 via the ink ribbon 5. The heat of the thermal head 3 causes the Y ink 6 of the ink ribbon 5 to be melt-transferred to the intermediate transfer roller 1. Since the intermediate transfer roller 1 is heated by the heater 2, the melt-transferred Y ink 6 rotates while maintaining a molten state or a semi-molten state on the intermediate transfer roller 1. Thereafter, the Y ink 6 is pressed by the pressing force of the drum 7 against the intermediate transfer roller 1 and the heating of the heater 10 disposed in the drum 7.
The image is reliably re-transferred to the recording paper 8 wound around the drum 7.

Here, the thermal head 3 and the ink ribbon 5
The relationship between the roller and the intermediate transfer roller 1 will be described in detail.
As shown in FIG. 7, the thermal head 3 has a heating element 3a, an IC circuit 3b for controlling heat generation of the heating element 3a,
An IC cover 3c for protecting the C circuit 3b is provided, and the thermal head 3 is pressed against the intermediate transfer roller 1 via the ink ribbon 5.

The Y ink 6 of the ink ribbon 5 is applied to the recording paper 8
When the re-transfer is completed, the ink ribbon 5 is conveyed in the empty state, and the operation moves to the head position of the head position of the next M ink 6.

First, the thermal head 3 is moved in the direction of arrow B to release the state in which the thermal head 3 has been pressed against the intermediate transfer roller 1 via the ink ribbon 5. FIG. 3 shows this state.
When the head 3 is released, the ink ribbon 5 sags, and the ink ribbon 5 adheres to the surface of the intermediate transfer roller 1 as shown in FIG. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, after rotating the intermediate transfer roller 1 by about 30 ° in the direction of arrow E, the ink ribbon 5 is transported in the direction of arrow F by using a ribbon winding means (not shown). At this time, as shown in FIG. 5, since the portion of the ink ribbon 5 adhering to the surface of the intermediate transfer roller 1 is located ahead of the peeling angle of the ink ribbon 5, the ink ribbon 5 can be peeled off without difficulty. When the leading position of the M ink 6 comes to a position facing the thermal head 3 by the empty conveyance of the ink ribbon 5 in this way, the thermal head 3 moves in the direction of arrow A and moves through the intermediate transfer roller 1 via the ink ribbon 5. To start fusion transfer.
Transfer and re-transfer can be repeated for the remaining C and Bk inks 6 in the same manner as described above.

In this embodiment, the empty transfer is performed after the rotation of the intermediate transfer roller 1 during the empty transfer of the ink ribbon 5, but the rotation of the intermediate transfer roller 1 and the empty transfer may be performed simultaneously.

The rotation amount of the intermediate transfer roller 1 may be appropriately adjusted according to the diameter of the intermediate transfer roller, the conveyance route of the ink ribbon 5, and the slack amount after the head 3 is released.

Next, another embodiment of the thermal transfer printer of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The same components as those described in the embodiment of the present invention are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will not be repeated.

In the present embodiment, the above-mentioned intermediate transfer roller 1 is an intermediate transfer belt 21, and the intermediate transfer belt 21 is composed of a platen roller 22 and a pressure roller 2.
3 to rotate while applying tension.

As the intermediate transfer belt 21, a seamless belt is suitable, but there is no problem even if a belt or the like having a joint is used while avoiding ink transfer and retransfer at the joint position. In the present embodiment, a seamless belt made of polyimide having a thickness of 50 μm is used as the intermediate transfer belt 21. Further, a coating rubber layer for transfer is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 21 with a thickness of 150 μm.

The platen roller 22 and the pressure roller 23 have independent functions, and the platen roller 22 transfers the ink 6 to the intermediate transfer belt 21, while the pressure roller 23 performs recording. The retransfer of the ink 6 to the paper 8 is performed. The platen roller 22 in the present embodiment uses an aluminum alloy having a diameter of 16 mm as the core metal 22a, and a rubber portion 22b of 1 mm in thickness made of silicone rubber is formed on the outer periphery thereof. Further, inside the platen roller 22, a halogen lamp having a power consumption of 200 W is used as the heater 2a, and the surface temperature of the intermediate transfer belt 21 is maintained at 4 °.
The temperature is controlled to be 0 ° C.

In this embodiment, the pressure roller 23
Is made of an aluminum alloy having a diameter of 42 mm as a metal core 23a, and a rubber portion 23b of 0.5 mm in thickness made of silicone rubber is formed on the outer periphery thereof. further,
Inside the pressure roller 23, a halogen lamp with a power consumption of 200 W is used as the heater 2b, and the temperature is controlled so that the surface temperature of the intermediate transfer belt 21 becomes 65 ° C.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the transfer position and the re-transfer position are divided into the platen roller 22 and the pressure roller 23, respectively. Recording under optimum conditions can be performed.

[0046]

As described above, in the thermal transfer printer according to the present invention, the intermediate transfer roller is slightly rotated in the transport direction of the ink ribbon when the ink ribbon is transported, for example, when the ink ribbon is transported. Since the ink ribbon attached to the printer can be easily peeled off, it is possible to supply a thermal transfer printer capable of stably driving the apparatus without increasing the number of components.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing an embodiment of a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an operation of an intermediate transfer roller when the ink ribbon is peeled off in the embodiment of the thermal transfer printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the operation of an intermediate transfer roller when the ink ribbon is peeled off in the embodiment of the thermal transfer printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the operation of the intermediate transfer roller when the ink ribbon is peeled off in the embodiment of the thermal transfer printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of the operation of the intermediate transfer roller when the ink ribbon is peeled off in the embodiment of the thermal transfer printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a main part showing another embodiment of the thermal transfer printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a main part showing a conventional thermal transfer printer.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of an operation of an intermediate transfer roller when an ink ribbon is peeled off in a conventional thermal transfer printer.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of an operation of an intermediate transfer roller when an ink ribbon is peeled off in a conventional thermal transfer printer.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of an operation of an intermediate transfer roller when an ink ribbon is peeled off in a conventional thermal transfer printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Intermediate transfer roller 2 Heater 3 Thermal head 5 Ink ribbon 7 Drum 8 Recording paper 9 Clamper 10 Heater

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A thermal head having a heating element for selectively heating and partially melting ink on an ink sheet, and applying the ink on the ink sheet melted by the heating of the heating element to the thermal head. An intermediate transfer member that is transferred by pressure to form a primary recording image; and a thermal transfer printer that retransfers the primary recording image on the intermediate transfer member to recording paper. Wherein the intermediate transfer member is rotated in the same direction as the direction in which the ink ribbon is conveyed when releasing the ink ribbon and winding the ink ribbon.