JPH1058721A - Thermal printer and heat radiating method of thermal head therein - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize the favorable recording at the thermal sublimation transfer recording, which requires to give high recording energy to the heating element of a head by a method wherein the heat radiating member of the thermal head is arranged at the part opposite to the thermal head outside the recording range in a thermal printer. SOLUTION: The recording action of a thermal head 7 is temporarily interrupted when a thermistor provided near the thermal head 7 detects the temperature, which is higher than the predetermined temperature set by a recording mode. After that, by moving a carriage 4, the thermal head 7 is moved to a heat radiating member 9 part arranged at one longitudinal end part of a platen 2. In succession, the thermal head 7 is headed-down so as to urge the recording surface of the thermal head 7 against the heat radiating member 9 is order to reciprocate the carriage 4 within the range indicated with the arrows so as to slide the thermal head 7 against the heat radiating member 9. Thus, the heat accumulated in the thermal head 7 is radiated and the stain of the thermal head 7 can be also removed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal printer and a method for radiating heat from a thermal head in a thermal printer. More particularly, the present invention relates to a thermal transfer method in which thermal sublimation ink is used as the ink of an ink film for recording. The present invention relates to a thermal printer capable of radiating heat stored in a thermal head satisfactorily and a method of radiating a thermal head in a thermal printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a thermal printer (hereinafter, referred to as a thermal transfer printer) that performs recording by a thermal transfer system supports a sheet in front of a platen and has a carriage.
Equipped with a thermal head with multiple heating elements formed,
Between the thermal head and the platen, an ink ribbon as an example of an ink film obtained by applying a desired ink to a base film and the paper are sandwiched, and the ink is moved while moving the thermal head along with the platen along with the carriage. The ink of the ink ribbon is partially transferred to paper by feeding out a ribbon and selectively applying a current of energy to the plurality of heating elements of the thermal head based on recording information to selectively heat the heating elements. Then, an image such as a desired character is recorded on a sheet. Such thermal transfer printers are frequently used as output devices such as computers and word processors because of high recording quality, low noise, low cost, and ease of maintenance.

[0003] As a conventional thermal transfer printer, recording is performed on paper using an ink ribbon (hereinafter, referred to as a hot-melt ink ribbon) in which a hot-melt ink is applied to a base film such as a plastic film. In addition to the above, there is also known an apparatus in which recording is performed on paper using an ink ribbon in which a heat sublimable ink is applied to a base film (hereinafter, referred to as a heat sublimable ink ribbon).

Among these, a thermal transfer printer (hereinafter, referred to as a hot-melt printer) that performs recording on paper using a hot-melt ink ribbon can record on a wide variety of paper such as plain paper, cardboard, and postcards. It is easy to use and excellent. In order to perform gradation recording using this heat-meltable ink ribbon, a dither method or the like has been used because density gradation of one dot cannot be performed.

On the other hand, in a thermal transfer printer (hereinafter, referred to as a thermal sublimation type printer) which performs recording on paper using a thermal sublimation ink ribbon, the thermal sublimation is controlled by controlling the energy applied to a thermal head. Because the amount of ink transferred to the ink paper can be controlled by adjusting the sublimation amount of the ink, and the density of the recorded image on the paper can be adjusted,
By using a special paper subjected to a surface treatment as a paper, a high-quality full-color recorded image comparable to a silver halide photograph can be obtained. For this reason, thermal sublimation printers have recently been widely used as high-quality video printers and the like.

In general, when a high-density recorded image is obtained in a thermal sublimation type printer, the energy applied to the heat generating element of the thermal head needs to be several times the energy applied to the heat melting type printer. .

[0007]

In such a case where a large recording energy is required, when a plurality of sheets are continuously recorded, immediately after the start of recording, a sufficient amount of recording energy is supplied and the recording is performed by the thermal head. There is a difference in the degree of sublimation of the ink of the ink ribbon from the recording immediately before the end, and the recording density may be different.

Immediately after printing is completed due to sufficient storage of printing energy, ink on the ink ribbon is erroneously transferred to an area other than the original printing area due to energy (heat storage) remaining in the thermal head. In some cases, causing recording stains.

Further, in the above-described conventional thermal transfer printer, recording is performed while the ink ribbon runs while the thermal head is pressed against the back surface of the ink ribbon. Due to friction caused by sliding with the back surface of the ink ribbon, a part of the back surface of the ink ribbon is peeled off, and debris due to the peeling of the ink ribbon adheres to the heat-generating portion of the thermal head on the downstream side in the running direction of the ink ribbon. This causes a problem that the thermal head is stained. Particularly, in a thermal transfer printer capable of performing full-color recording, for example, after recording a predetermined line on a sheet in a predetermined color, the sheet is returned by one line to record the next color. This operation is performed for each color to perform a desired full-color recording. In this case, the ink of the color already recorded on the downstream side of the thermal head in the paper feeding direction is caused by sliding. In some cases, the thermal head is peeled off and adhered as scum due to friction.

In such a case, conventionally, the thermal head is periodically cleaned manually. However, since the cleaning operation is performed manually, the operation is troublesome and the cleaning is neglected. In such a case, there is a problem that a malfunction of the thermal head is caused, or a stain adheres to the sheet to cause recording stain.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above point, and has a thermal printer and a thermal printer which have a mechanism for radiating (and cleaning) heat stored in a thermal head and which can obtain good recording results. It is an object of the present invention to provide a heat radiation method for a thermal head.

[0012]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a thermal printer, wherein a carriage reciprocally movable along a platen is attached to and detached from the platen via a sheet. A thermal printer comprising the thermal head described above, wherein a heat radiating member of the thermal head is disposed in a portion facing the thermal head outside a recording range.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the thermal printer according to the first aspect, the heat radiating member is provided on the platen.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the thermal printer according to the first or second aspect, the heat radiating member also has a function as a cleaning member for the thermal head. A thermal printer according to a fourth aspect is characterized in that the heat radiation member of the thermal printer according to the third aspect is a felt impregnated with ethanol.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for radiating heat from a thermal head in a thermal printer, wherein the thermal head mounted on a carriage reciprocally movable along a platen is moved at least downstream or upstream in the direction of a recording digit of the platen. The heat-dissipating member of the thermal head disposed on the extension of the platen on the side thereof is slid without electricity.

According to these thermal printers and the heat radiating method of the thermal head in the thermal printer,
When the recording environment temperature of the thermal head has reached the appropriate temperature or higher, with the ribbon cassette removed from the carriage,
The carriage is moved to move the thermal head to a portion where the heat radiating member is provided. Subsequently, the thermal head is brought down, the recording surface of the thermal head is pressed against the heat radiating member, and in this state, the thermal head is slid without electricity so that the thermal head comes into contact with the heat radiating member. In the case where the heat radiating member also has a function as a cleaning member, it can remove dirt attached to the thermal head by friction when the thermal head slides. It is.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention in which both types of ink ribbons, a thermal sublimation ink ribbon and a hot-melt ink ribbon, can be selectively used. The embodiment shown in FIG. In the thermal transfer printer 1, a flat platen 2 is disposed at a desired position of a frame (not shown) so that its recording surface 2a is substantially vertical.

In this embodiment, the thermal head 7 is located outside the recording range of the thermal head 7 described later.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a heat radiating member 9 is disposed on the downstream side of the platen 2 in the recording beam direction, which is a portion facing the platen 2. It is formed at a substantially uniform height with respect to the surface. The heat dissipating member 9 may be disposed on the upstream side of the platen 2 in the recording beam direction, or may be disposed on both the upstream side and the downstream side.

The heat dissipating member 9 is desirably formed of a material having a high thermal conductivity. In this embodiment, silicone rubber (a product of Shin-Etsu Silicone Co., Ltd., TC-8) is used.
0BC, thermal conductivity: 3.8 W / m ° C.). The heat dissipating member 9 may be a dry type or a wet type. In the wet type,
The heat dissipating member 9 is used by impregnating a material such as felt, gauze, or the like, paper such as tissue, or absorbent cotton with a volatile solution such as alcohol, acetone, or toluene. This can enhance the heat radiation effect by the heat of vaporization of the volatile solution. Also,
With such a volatile solution, residues adhering to the thermal head can be removed. Further, the heat dissipating member 9 is formed by applying particles of a material having good heat conductivity such as alumina on a sheet having a cushioning property, thereby enhancing a contact heat dissipating effect, and a thermal head by a polishing effect of alumina particles. It can also be cleaned.

A guide shaft 3 is provided below the front side of the platen 2 in parallel with the platen 2.
At an appropriate position of the guide shaft 3, a vertically divided carriage 4 is attached. One carriage 4a shown below is a lower carriage attached to the guide shaft 3, and the other carriage 4 shown above is the other carriage 4a. The carriage 4b is an upper carriage to which a ribbon cassette 5 to be described later is attached and which can be vertically moved toward and away from the lower carriage 4a.

The carriage 4 is provided with an appropriate drive belt 6 wound around a pair of pulleys (not shown) by a carriage motor 36a such as a stepping motor 36 described later.
To reciprocate along the guide shaft 3. The carriage 4 is controlled by a control unit 25 described later by the carriage motor 36.
a by controlling the rotation speed of a
Either one of the moving speeds of the stages can be selected.

The carriage 4 can be brought into and out of contact with the platen 2 by a well-known head moving mechanism (both not shown) which faces the platen 2 and can be operated by the driving force of a driving motor. A thermal head 7 for recording on a sheet (not shown) on the platen 2 in a pressure-contact state (head-down state) in contact with the thermal head 7 is provided. The thermal head 7 has a plurality of heating elements (not shown) arranged and arranged to selectively generate heat based on desired recording information input by an appropriate input device (not shown) such as a keyboard. It has. The thermal head 7 is controlled by a control unit 35 described later.
The pressing force on the platen 2 can be selected from either strong pressing or weak pressing, and the thermal head 7
One of two stages of large and small heat energy (specifically, two stages of a long time and a short period of time for energizing the heating element) can be selected. A thermistor 8 for detecting the temperature of the thermal head 7 is provided near the thermal head 7. The thermistor 8 is connected to a control unit 35, which will be described later, which controls the recording operation and the like of the thermal transfer printer 1 disposed at a desired position of the thermal transfer printer 1.

Next, the carriage 4 will be described in more detail. The carriage 4 has a substantially parallel plate-shaped upper carriage 4b on the upper surface of a lower carriage 4a attached to the guide shaft 3 by a parallel crank mechanism 18. 4a is attached so as to be freely movable in parallel so as to come into contact with and separate from the base 4a. This parallel crank mechanism 1
As shown in FIG.
A pair of links 19 provided in pairs and crossing each other in an X shape
a, 19b, and these links 19a, 19b
b is pivoted by the pin 20a and the link 19
a, 19b are pins 20b, 20c, 20d, 20
e, elongate holes (not shown) formed at the upper end portions on the left and right sides of the lower carriage 4a and the upper carriage 4b, respectively.
Is slidably locked at

The lower carriage 4a is provided with a rotary crank mechanism 21. The rotary crank mechanism 21 operates to move the upper carriage 4b in parallel. This rotary crank mechanism 21
A rotating plate 22 serving as a rotating member rotatably supported by the lower carriage 4a; and a connecting link 24 serving as a connecting member pivotally connected to the eccentric position of the rotating plate 22 by a pin 23a. The tip of 24 is pivotally connected to the upper carriage 4b by a pin 23b.
The rotating plate 22 is driven to rotate by an appropriate driving means (not shown) such as a motor.

Returning to FIG. 1, a plate-like arm is formed on each of the left and right sides of the upper carriage 4b as an engaging portion 25a having a tip gently curved inward and a projection formed at the upper and lower ends. Reference numerals 25 stand upright at intervals substantially equal to the width of the ribbon cassette 5. At the center of the upper carriage 4b, a pair of rotatable bobbins 26 are disposed at predetermined intervals from each other so as to protrude upward.
The bobbin 26 allows the ink ribbon 27 to travel in a predetermined direction. One of the pair of bobbins 26 is a winding bobbin 26 a for winding the ink ribbon 27, and the other is a sending bobbin 26 for sending the ink ribbon 27.
b. On the edge of the carriage 4 farther from the platen 2, an optical sensor 28 a is provided as a sensor 28 for detecting the type of the ink ribbon 27 stored in the ribbon cassette 5. This optical sensor 2
In this embodiment, a reflection type is used as 8a. Then, the optical sensor 28a is connected to a control unit 35 described later provided at a desired position of the thermal transfer printer 1.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, above the carriage 4, there is provided a substantially plate which is supported on a frame (not shown) so as to be openable and closable as shown by a double-headed arrow A in FIG. A canopy 29 is provided. The canopy 29 functions as a paper presser on the exit side of a paper feeding mechanism (not shown) in the closed state, and is disposed so as to face the carriage 4. The length is almost the same.

A plurality of cassette holders (not shown) for holding the ribbon cassette 5 are provided at predetermined positions on the lower surface of the canopy 29 facing the carriage 4 in parallel. In the embodiment, a ribbon cassette 5a in which an ink ribbon (heat-meltable ink ribbon) 27a coated with a heat-meltable ink is housed, and an ink ribbon (heat-sublimable ink ribbon) coated with a heat-sublimable ink. The ribbon cassette 5b in which the cartridge 27b is housed is arranged in a line in the moving direction of the carriage 4. Each of the ribbon cassettes 5a and 5b is, as shown by a double-headed arrow B in FIG.
The canopy 29 and the upper carriage 4b are operated by the operation of the parallel crank mechanism 18 operating with the rotary crank mechanism 21.
Delivery is selectively performed between and. The cassette holder may hold a ribbon cassette 5a containing the heat-meltable ink ribbon 27a or a ribbon cassette 5b containing the heat-sublimable ink ribbon 27b.

Each of the ribbon cassettes 5a, 5b of the present embodiment
Regardless of the type of the ink ribbon 27, all are formed in the same shape and the same size, and are rotatably supported by a pair (not shown) rotatably supported in a case body 30 having a pair of upper and lower planes and a substantially rectangular plane. , A pair of rotatably supported ribbon feed rollers, a plurality of guide rollers facing the rotatably supported ribbon path, and the like. The ink ribbon 27 is wound between a pair of reels, and an intermediate portion of the ink ribbon 27 is led out. When the ribbon cassette 5 is mounted on the upper carriage 4b, one of the pair of reels is a take-up reel for winding the portion of the ink ribbon 27 used for recording, and the other is a reel for feeding the ink ribbon 27. Out of the reel. On the inner peripheral surface of each reel, a plurality of key grooves are formed in a spline shape at intervals in the circumferential direction, and the inner peripheral surface of the take-up reel is
a with the take-up hole 31a with which the delivery bobbin 26b is engaged.
b. A concave portion 32 facing the thermal head 7 is formed on a surface of the ribbon cassette 5 facing the platen 2 while being mounted on the carriage 4, and an intermediate portion of the ink ribbon 27 is led out of the concave portion 32. ing.

An identification mark 33 for identifying the type of the ink ribbon 27 stored in each ribbon cassette 5 is provided on the rear surface of the ribbon cassette 5 extending parallel to the surface on which the recess 32 is formed. Are located. The identification mark 33 of the present embodiment is a reflective seal 3 having a different number of striped non-reflective portions 34a depending on the type of the ink ribbon 27.
4.

Then, the identification mark 33 is provided on the carriage 4 as an optical sensor 28 as a cassette type detecting means.
a, and outputs the detection signal to the control unit 3 of the printer.
5 and counts the number of the identification marks 33 in each ribbon cassette 5 in the control unit 35, so that the ink ribbon 27 stored in the ribbon cassette 5 is counted.
Is determined.

That is, in the ribbon cassette 5a shown on the left side in FIG. 1, a reflective seal 34A having four non-reflection portions 34a is arranged as the identification mark 33, and the ribbon cassette 5b shown on the right side in FIG. , A reflective seal 34 </ b> B having two non-reflective portions 34 a is arranged as the identification mark 33. And the ribbon cassette 5
In FIG. 1, the left end of the rear surface shown on the near side is a reference position BP for detecting the identification mark 33 and the identification mark 3
3, the distance L to the right end face of the non-reflective portion 34a located at the right end is the same for all the identification marks 33, and a desired distance L for identifying the type of the ink ribbon 27 within this distance L. The non-reflection part 34a is formed. The identification mark 33 can identify the color of the ink ribbon 27 as well as the type of the ink ribbon 27 stored in the ribbon cassette 5. The carriage 4 can be stopped when the optical sensor 28a detects the identification mark 33 to be used. When the carriage 4 is stopped, the ribbon cassette 5 stored in the cassette holder is moved to the upper carriage 4
b.

The identification mark 33 may be printed on the ribbon cassette 5, and is not particularly limited to the configuration of the present embodiment.

The lower carriage 4a, which is reciprocally movable along the platen 2, has a stepping motor 36 for moving the thermal head 7 toward and away from the platen 2, and the ink ribbon. A stepping motor 36 (hereinafter, referred to as a ribbon take-up motor 36b) for take-up control 27 is provided, and transmits power to the thermal head 7 and the take-up bobbin 26a via a transmission gear (not shown). It has become.

The control section 35 is formed of a memory, a CPU (not shown), and the like. As shown in FIG. 6, the control section 35 includes a mode changeover switch 37 provided at a desired position on a frame (not shown). Based on the transmitted mode signal, at least the first recording mode in which recording is performed on a sheet of paper, such as plain paper, using the heat-fusible ink ribbon 27a by heat-melt transfer, or heat is applied to special paper using the heat-sublimable ink ribbon 27b. A mode discriminator 38 for discriminating a second recording mode for recording by sublimation transfer, and a rotation speed of the carriage motor 36a and the ribbon take-up motor 36b and a power supply to the thermal head 7 based on the discrimination result of the mode discriminator 38. The first control is to control the time, the pressing force of the thermal head 7 against the platen 2, the ribbon cassette 5 and the like so as to correspond to each mode. And a mode control unit 39 and the second recording mode control unit 40.

Here, in the control by the first recording mode control section 39 and the second recording mode control section 40, the rotation speed of the carriage 4 and the ribbon winding motor 36b is changed between the first recording mode and the second recording mode. Change.

That is, in the first recording mode, since the recording is performed using the heat-meltable ink ribbon 27a, the rotation speed of the winding motor is set to be slightly higher than the moving speed (recording speed) of the carriage. While the ink of the hot-melt ink ribbon 27a is in a molten state, control is performed so as to perform hot separation in which the ink ribbon 27a is separated from paper.

In the second recording mode, recording is performed using the thermal sublimation ink ribbon 27b. Therefore, the rotational speed of the winding motor is made slower than the moving speed (recording speed) of the carriage, and this thermal Sublimation ink ribbon 27
After the ink b is solidified, the ink ribbon 27b is controlled to be peeled off at a cold time to be peeled from the paper.

Further, the control unit 35 includes the carriage 4
The presence or absence of the ribbon cassette 5, the type of the ink ribbon 27 stored in the ribbon cassette 5, the moving distance of the carriage 4 with respect to the home position, the open / close state of the canopy 29, the ribbon The distance between the cassettes 5 is determined or detected.

Further, the control unit 35 determines when the temperature of the thermal head 7 detected by the thermistor 8 disposed in the vicinity of the thermal head 7 becomes higher than the temperature which is determined to be appropriate in the recording mode. In order to control the attachment / detachment of the carriage 4, the thermal head 7 and the ribbon cassette 5 with respect to the carriage, and to release the heat stored in the thermal head 7, the thermal head 7 is slid against the heat radiating member 9 so as to slide. Control.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.

By driving the thermal transfer printer 1 of this embodiment,
The recording mode selection operation for selecting the recording mode so as to match the recording purpose can be performed automatically or by operating the mode changeover switch 37 by the operator.
a) a first recording mode in which recording is performed on paper such as plain paper by thermal fusion transfer using a
b. Recording by thermal sublimation transfer on special paper using b
This is performed by selecting one of the recording modes.

When a recording mode selection operation is performed, a mode signal corresponding to one of the selected modes is transmitted from the mode changeover switch 37 to the control unit 35, and the mode determination unit of the control unit 35 38 determines whether the mode signal sent from the mode changeover switch 37 is the first recording mode or the second recording mode, and selects one of the first recording mode control unit 39 and the second recording mode control unit 40 based on the determination result. By operating either of them, the selection operation of the ribbon cassette 5 containing the ink ribbon 27 having the heat-meltable ink or the heat-sublimable ink corresponding to one of the first recording mode and the second recording mode is started.

Then, the carriage 4 located at the home position is moved (runs) by a command from the control unit 35 (specifically, one of the first recording mode control unit 39 and the second recording mode control unit 40). Then, the optical sensor 28 a disposed on the carriage 4 detects the identification mark 33 of the ribbon cassette 5. And the optical sensor 28a
A unique detection signal of each identification mark 33 based on the arrangement and pitch of the non-reflection portions 34a is sent to the control unit 35, and it is determined whether or not the identification mark 33 corresponds to the instruction issued by the control unit 35. In the case of the identification mark 33 corresponding to the command, the movement of the carriage 4 is stopped. When the identification mark 33 is not the command corresponding to the command, the movement of the carriage 4 is continued until the identification mark 33 corresponding to the command is detected.

Then, the ribbon cassette 5 containing therein the ink ribbon 27 corresponding to the selected recording mode.
Are the parallel crank mechanism 18 and the rotary crank mechanism 21
As a result, as shown by a double arrow B in FIG.
9 and selectively transferred between the upper carriage 4b,
The ribbon cassette 5 is mounted on the carriage 4 and the operation of selecting the ribbon cassette 5 ends.

Next, a sheet corresponding to the selected recording mode is set between the platen 2 and the thermal head 7 manually or by a sheet feeding device (not shown), and thereafter, the recording data is transferred to the thermal transfer printer. .

The control unit 35 controls the carriage 4 and the thermal head 7 so as to perform printing based on the print data. During the recording operation of the thermal head 7 based on the recording data, the control unit 35 determines that the thermistor 8 disposed in the vicinity of the thermal head 7 has a predetermined temperature (60 ° C. to 100 ° C.) set in the recording mode. When a higher temperature is detected, the recording operation of the thermal head 7 is temporarily interrupted, and the ribbon cassette 5 mounted on the carriage 4 is removed by the parallel crank mechanism 18 and the rotary crank mechanism 21, and as shown in FIG. In this state, the carriage 4 is moved and the thermal head 7 is moved.
A heat radiation member 9 disposed at one longitudinal end of the platen 2.
Move to the part. Subsequently, the thermal head 7 is moved down, the recording surface of the thermal head 7 is pressed against the heat radiating member 9, and the carriage 4 is reciprocated in this state, thereby obtaining a range indicated by a double arrow in the drawing. Slides the thermal head 7 with respect to the heat radiating member 9. At this time, it goes without saying that the heating elements of the thermal head 7 are not energized. By doing so, the heat stored in the thermal head 7 is radiated. The heat radiating member 9 also has a cleaning function as described above, so that the dirt adhered to the thermal head 7 is removed by friction when the thermal head 7 slides on the heat radiating member 9. Is possible.

Next, after the completion of heat radiation of the thermal head 7 is confirmed by the thermistor 8, the ribbon cassette 5 is mounted on the carriage 4 again by the parallel crank mechanism 18 and the rotary crank mechanism 21, and Restarts the recording operation. This control is repeated to complete the recording.

In the case of full-color printing, after printing on one sheet of paper with the first color (yellow) ink ribbon 27 is completed, the sheet is reversely conveyed by a sheet conveying means (not shown) to start recording. And return to carriage 4
The upper ribbon cassette 5 is replaced with a ribbon cassette 5 containing an ink ribbon 27 of the next recording color (magenta), and recording is performed on top of recording by the yellow ink ribbon 27. It is also well known that after the recording using the magenta ink ribbon 27, the recording using the cyan ink ribbon 27 is repeated.
Needless to say, in the recording using the recording head 7, the thermal radiation of the thermal head 7 is sequentially performed as described above.

As a means for radiating heat from the thermal head in the thermal transfer printer, the thermal radiation from the thermal head 7 can be performed by the same color ink ribbon 27 on one sheet without disposing the thermistor 8 in the thermal printer main body 1A. After the recording is performed, control may be performed so that the ribbon cassette 5 mounted on the carriage 4 is replaced when the ribbon cassette 5 is not on the carriage 4. That is, each time the ribbon cassette 5 containing the ink ribbon 27 of each color is replaced, the thermal head 7 is dissipated, and depending on the configuration of the heat dissipating member 9 that slides the thermal head 7, the thermal head 7 is cleaned. Do it.

According to the thermal transfer printer of the present embodiment and the method of radiating the thermal head in the thermal transfer printer as described above, the thermal head 7 contacts and slides on the radiating member 9 so that the thermal head 7 can store heat. Will be robbed by a heat dissipating member with good heat conduction,
This has the effect that the heat storage is about half that of the conventional one. Specifically, in the conventional thermal head 7, the heat storage amount is 1
What was 00 ° C. becomes 50 ° C. in this embodiment. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the ink of the ink ribbon 27 from being erroneously transferred to an area other than the original recording area due to the heat accumulation of the thermal head 7, thereby preventing recording stains. In order to prevent the occurrence of recording stains, the time required for the temperature of the thermal head 7 to drop to a predetermined temperature can be reduced, and thus the total time required for recording can be significantly reduced. .

As described above, by radiating the heat stored in the thermal head 7 in the thermal transfer printer of the present embodiment, it is possible to stably control the temperature of a plurality of heating elements formed on the thermal head 7. Was.

Further, if a cleaning function is also added to the heat radiating member, the residue adhering to the thermal head 7 can be removed, and a better recording result can be obtained.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be changed as needed. For example, the thermal printer of the present embodiment is not a thermal transfer printer that can selectively use both types of ink ribbons, a thermal sublimable ink ribbon and a thermal fusible ink ribbon, as described above. The printer may be a dedicated thermal transfer printer for recording by using a thermal printer, or a thermal printer of the thermal recording system that performs recording by coloring thermal paper, or a thermal printer that combines the thermal transfer system and the thermal recording system. Of course.

[0055]

As described above, according to the thermal printer of the present invention, high-speed recording can be performed by contacting the thermal head with the heat radiating member to promote heat radiation. In particular, when recording is performed by thermal sublimation transfer in which it is necessary to apply high recording energy to the heating element of the head, the effect is obtained that better recording can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a main part of a thermal transfer thermal printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic front view illustrating a positional relationship between a platen and a heat radiating member of the thermal transfer thermal printer according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship between a platen and a heat radiation member, a carriage, and a thermal head in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of a carriage of the thermal transfer printer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a schematic side view showing a main part of the thermal transfer printer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control system of the thermal printer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship of a carriage when heat is released from a thermal head.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Thermal transfer printer 2 Platen 3 Guide shaft 4 Carriage 7 Thermal head 8 Thermistor 9 Heat dissipation member

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A thermal printer comprising a carriage which is reciprocally movable along a platen, and a thermal head which is movable toward and away from the platen via a sheet, wherein the thermal head is located outside a recording range. A thermal printer, wherein a heat radiating member of a thermal head is provided at a portion facing the head. 2. The thermal printer according to claim 1, wherein the heat radiating member is provided on the platen. 3. The thermal printer according to claim 1, wherein the heat radiating member also has a function as a cleaning member for the thermal head. 4. The thermal printer according to claim 3, wherein the heat radiation member is a felt impregnated with ethanol. 5. A thermal printer according to claim 1, wherein a thermal head mounted on a carriage reciprocally movable along a platen is slid on a heat-dissipating member of the thermal head out of the recording range. Heat radiation method of thermal head.