JPH11179972A - Printing method, printer and card - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a matter to be printed with a display which is easily identifiable by a person with a visual trouble, at a low cost. SOLUTION: This printer comprises a printing unit 31 which heats, with a thermal head 15, an ink ribbon 33 interposed between a matter to be printed 3 and the thermal head 15, to stick an ink, in a specified pattern, to the matter 3 while causing the matter 3 to be supplied by a supply means 1 for supplying the matter 3 to pass between the thermal head 15 and a platen roller 17 and a heating means 35 which heats the matter 3 to be sent out of the printing unit 31 at a temperature higher than the heating level by the thermal head 15. The ink ribbon 33 is of such a construction that an ink layer of such a nature as to foam by heating at a temperature higher than specified is formed on the surface of a base material. The ink on the surface of the matter 3 is heated upto a temperature level higher than specified after printing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printed matter such as a card having an uneven surface, a method of printing such a printed matter, and a printer used for carrying out this printing method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, bank cards, credit cards,
A wide variety of cards are infiltrated into daily life, such as various prepaid cards and even commuter passes. Also, non-contact IC cards capable of reading or writing information from a card without directly inserting the card into a reader are being put into practical use.

FIG. 6 shows a conventional example of a print issuing machine that prints and issues characters and figures on the surface of a printing material such as the above-mentioned various cards. Reference numeral 1 denotes a stocker unit. The stocker unit 1 accommodates a large number of unprinted cards 3 and other printing materials 3 in an accumulated state. At the bottom of the stocker unit 1, a feeding roller 5 is provided with a part of the outer periphery thereof being exposed. On the other hand, a pressurizing means 7 is provided on the upper part of the printed matter 3 in the accumulated state, and presses the printed matter 3 downward. The positioned object is pressed against the feeding roller 5. When the feed roller 5 is rotated in such a state, a frictional force acts on the printing material 3 at the lowermost portion, and the printing material 3 is pushed out in the surface direction (horizontal right direction in FIG. 6) and is taken into the graphic / character printing unit 9.

The graphic / character printing unit 9 sends the ink ribbon 13 from one of the pair of rollers 11, 11 to the other, and moves the ink ribbon 13 and the printing material 3 while overlapping and moving the thermal head 15 with the printing head 3. The printhead 3 is passed between the platen roller 17 and the printing material 3 by the platen roller 17 by a predetermined amount.
By causing the heating element constituting the heat generating element 5 to generate heat in a predetermined pattern, a predetermined design or character is transferred from the ink ribbon 13 to the surface of the printing material, and the image printing unit 19 or the character printing unit 21 is printed on the surface of the printing material 3. Can be formed.
The thermal head 15 is configured to be able to move up and down as shown by the arrow in the figure, and to be brought into contact with the platen roller 17 when a print execution command is issued, so that the printing material 3 is moved between them. The printing is performed while being sandwiched between and sent.

In the printer having the above-described structure, a large number of minute heating elements (for example, arranged at a density of 12 / mm in the width direction of the printing medium) constituting the thermal head 15 are individually driven and controlled. While the substrate 3 is running, the ink ribbon 13 at the corresponding position is heated by the heating element that has generated heat. Heated ink ribbon 13
In the sublimation type, by sublimating the ink,
In the case of the melting type, the ink is transferred from the ribbon 13 to the surface of the printing material 3 by softening the ink.

Generally, the ink ribbon 13 is formed of a thin (about 6 to 10 μm thick) film made of PET as a base material.
This surface is protected by applying a transfer ink and further applying a heat-resistant coating material on the surface opposite to the ink application surface (the surface that contacts the thermal head). Further, the ink ribbon 13 for color printing has a structure in which five kinds of inks, that is, sublimation ink for three colors, molten ink for black, and an overcoat material, are applied. Printing is performed by heating the ink of each color to a predetermined density by the thermal head 15 while reciprocating.

[0007]

However, in the printer of the above-mentioned type, the ink is simply transferred flat on the surface of the printing material or the ink is permeated into the printing material, so that the surface of the printing material is not easily transferred. Image printing unit 19 and character printing unit 21 must be visually recognized. Specifically, there is a problem to be solved that it is difficult for visually impaired persons to understand the printed contents.

[0008] Braille is sometimes used for the purpose of recognizing visually impaired persons. In the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 9-115005 for the purpose of printing Braille, a so-called embossing process is performed by pressing a printing material with a pin and plastically deforming the printing material. Printing of braille on the surface has been performed. However, embossing requires a special mechanism for individually driving a large number of pins, so that it is impossible to print fine images and characters. Further, there is a problem that embossing can be performed only on a printing material having a specific material and thickness.

[0009] As another conventional technique relating to Braille printing, there is a recording material for a card disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 25554632. In this technique, a card is used in which a resin having a property of being foamed by heat is laminated in a layered manner, and the card is partially heated to foam a predetermined pattern to form a convex portion of a predetermined pattern. doing. However, in this conventional technique, it is necessary to use a card having a special structure in which a foamable resin layer and a protective layer are laminated as a print material, so that the selection range of the print material is extremely limited. Therefore, there is a problem that it cannot be used for an application in which Braille is additionally displayed on a general printed matter.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object the general method of using a thermal head and an ink ribbon, as well as the printing of a printing material made of a general material. It is intended to print a projection such as Braille on the surface.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, a printing method according to a first aspect of the present invention provides an ink having a property of foaming when heated to a predetermined temperature or higher at a temperature lower than the predetermined temperature. It is characterized by comprising a step of transferring and printing on the surface, and a step of heating the ink printed in this step to the predetermined temperature or more to foam the ink on the surface of the printing object. A printing method according to a second aspect is characterized in that, in the first aspect, the ink is printed in a Braille shape. The printer according to claim 3, wherein the printing medium is supplied between the thermal head and the platen roller while the printing medium supplied from the supplying means is interposed between the printing medium and the thermal head. A printing unit that heats an ink ribbon to be applied by the thermal head to apply ink from the ink ribbon to a printing material in a predetermined pattern, and heats the printing material sent from the printing unit to a temperature equal to or higher than the heating temperature of the thermal head. And a heating unit, wherein the ink ribbon has a structure in which an ink layer having a property of foaming when heated to a predetermined temperature or more is formed on the surface of the base material, and the ink layer has a thickness equal to or less than the predetermined value. The thermal head adheres to the surface of the base material in a state where the ink ribbon can be peeled off at a predetermined temperature. Heated to below degrees temperature, the heater is characterized by heating the ink ribbon to a temperature higher than the predetermined temperature. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the printer according to the third aspect, wherein another printing unit is provided separately from the printing unit, and the other printing unit performs printing with ink that does not foam due to heating of the heater. And
6. The printer according to claim 5, wherein the control unit converts the character data into a Braille pattern corresponding to the character data with reference to a Braille dictionary file, and controls the thermal head based on the Braille pattern. I do. Claim 6
The printing method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the printing method uses a printing material as the printing material, and the printing method prints Braille in a predetermined pattern.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In the figure, the same components as those of the conventional example are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description will be simplified. FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration of a printer according to an embodiment. This printer has a basic configuration in which a Braille printing unit 31 is provided downstream of a graphic / character printing unit 9 of a conventional example. The Braille printing unit 31 has the same basic configuration as the graphic / character printing unit 9 and differs from the Braille printing unit 31 in that a Braille ink ribbon 33 for Braille printing is used.
The point is that a heater section 35 for heating a printed material and ink is provided on the downstream side of the printing section including the thermal head 15 and the platen roller 17. The Braille ink ribbon 33 is formed by laminating an ink having a property of expanding by heating in the heater section 35 on a base material, and a specific configuration thereof is as shown in FIG.

That is, on one surface (the surface on the thermal head side) of the base film 37, the base film 37 is protected from heating by the thermal head 15 and
A heat-resistant lubricating layer 39 for lubricating the thermal head 15 is provided. The other surface (the surface on the platen roller 17 side) is provided with a release layer 4 for allowing ink or the like to be transferred to be easily separated from the base film 37.
1. A heat-expandable ink layer 43 laminated on the surface of the base film 37 via the release layer 41 and expanded by heating in the heater section 35; And a heat-sensitive adhesive layer 45 for adhering to a printing substrate.

The heat-expandable ink layer 43 contains, for example, a substance that decomposes upon heating to generate a gas, and expands by foaming with the generated gas. Then, by selecting a thermal decomposition temperature higher than the temperature obtained by heating the thermal head and lower than the temperature obtained by heating the heater section, the gas is thermally decomposed by the thermal expansion ink when passing through the heater section 35. Is generated and foamed, and expands to a volume and a protruding amount that can be recognized as Braille. Specifically, the graphic / character printing unit 9
The ink transferred from the ink ribbon 33 to the surface of the printing substrate 3 when passing through the ink 35 forms a flat shape having a thickness corresponding to the amount of ink applied before heating by the heater 35, and is thereafter heated by the heater 35. As a result, gas is generated and foams, and as shown in FIG. 4, expands to such an extent that it can be recognized with a fingertip, and becomes a dot 49 forming a part of the braille printing unit 47.
Generally, in the Japanese braille standard, the dot 49 is 1.
It is defined as 4 mmφ. Therefore, when a general thermal head having a resolution of 12 dots per millimeter is used, the printing substrate 3 is moved over 17 lines while controlling 17 heating elements, thereby corresponding to one dot constituting Braille. You can print the area you want.

FIG. 5 shows a configuration of a control system of the printer shown in FIG. Reference numeral 51 denotes a CPU.
Reference numeral 51 is connected to an external computer via an external interface 53, and controls a print controller 55 and a mechanical controller 57 in accordance with a supplied command. The print control unit 55 temporarily stores the character data and the image data supplied from the outside in the page memory 59 and reads out each of the heat generated by the graphic / character printing unit 9 and the thermal head 15 of the braille printing unit 31 while reading the data as necessary. It outputs control signals for turning on and off the heat of the body, and the amount of heat generated. The print control unit 55 is connected to a Braille code conversion unit 61 and a Braille dictionary file 63. The braille code conversion unit 61 includes the braille dictionary file 63
, A braille code of a pattern corresponding to the character data supplied via the external interface 53 is generated and supplied to the print control unit 55. For example, the character data supplied from outside
If a bit is added and a flag indicating whether or not printing of braille is required is set in the bit, the print control unit 55 determines whether or not a flag indicating printing of braille is set in this bit. Based on the determination, it is possible to determine whether conversion to the Braille code is necessary.

The print control unit 55 includes a page memory 59
Is supplied to the thermal head control unit 65, and the thermal head control unit 65
The heat generation of each heating element of the thermal head 15 of the printing medium printing unit 9 is turned on by the supplied character / image data,
Turn off, and control the calorific value. On the other hand, the printing control unit 65 supplies the Braille data to the thermal head control unit 67, and the thermal head control unit 67 uses the supplied data of the Braille pattern to control the heating elements of the thermal head 15 of the Braille printing unit 31. Controls on / off and the amount of heat generated.

The mechanical controller 57 includes the CPU
51, the stocker unit 9, the graphic / character printing unit 9, and the braille printing unit 31 in synchronism with the thermal head controllers 65 and 67.
Is controlling. That is, the mechanical controller 57
Depending on whether printing of characters and images or printing of braille (or both) is performed, the thermal head 15 is moved to a predetermined distance with respect to the platen roller 17 so as to be in a printable state and fed out. The roller 5 controls the feeding of the printing medium, and the feed amount and direction of the platen roller 17 and the ink ribbons 13 and 33 of the card printing unit 9 and the Braille printing unit 31. Further, the heating amount of the heater 35 is controlled as needed.

Next, with reference to FIG. 2, the contents of control in the printing of the braille will be described together with the operation of the printer. S1 In response to an instruction to start printing of a printing material, an instruction is output from the mechanical controller 57, and the feeding roller 5 rotates clockwise in FIG. 1 and is sent between the thermal head 15 and the platen roller 17 of the graphic / character printing unit 9. . S2 The thermal head 15 and the platen roller 17 are brought into contact with each other in advance, and the thermal head controller 65 controls the feed amount of the printing material 3 and the ink ribbon 13 while the mechanical controller 57 controls the feed amount. Are individually controlled to generate heat, characters or graphics of a predetermined print pattern are transferred from the ink ribbon 13 to the surface of the printing substrate 3, and the image printing unit 19 and the character printing unit 21 are printed. S3: It is determined whether or not there is a signal for a blind person indicating whether or not braille printing is necessary in the data regarding the print content.
Proceeding to S4, Braille printing is performed. If there is no braille printing, proceeding to S5, the mechanical controller 57 raises the thermal head 15 of the braille printing unit 31 (separates from the platen roller 17).

S4 Platen roller 1 of Braille printing unit 31
7 is rotated to control the feed amount of the printing material 3 and the ink ribbon 33, and a predetermined pattern is printed on the surface of the printing material 3 from the Braille printing ink ribbon 33, and the printed printing material is heated by the heater 35. By sending to
The printed Braille printing ink is heated to a temperature equal to or higher than the thermal decomposition temperature to generate gas and foam, thereby forming Braille of a predetermined size. This heating is also effective for drying the ink printed by the preceding figure / character printing unit 9. S6 The printing medium on which the Braille printing has been completed is further sent to the right side of FIG. 1 to be issued. That is, as shown in FIG.
Image printing unit 19, character printing unit 21, and Braille printing unit 4
The printing medium having the number 7 is issued.

In the above-described embodiment, the print target is mainly a card such as a prepaid card, a cash card, and the like, but other prints that require Braille printing, for example, securities such as gift certificates and cash vouchers, lotteries, and entrances. It can also be applied to tickets such as tickets. In the above-described embodiment, the graphic / character printing unit 9 for normal printing is arranged in the upstream and the braille printing unit 31 is arranged in the downstream in series. Further, when printing only Braille, it goes without saying that the graphic / character printing unit may be omitted. In addition, the print pattern is not limited to Braille, and may be a three-dimensional character or shape other than Braille as long as it can be used as a mark for recognizing with the sense of a fingertip. .

[0021]

As is clear from the above description, the invention described in each claim has the following effects. In the printing method according to the first aspect, the ink having a property of foaming when heated to a predetermined temperature or higher is transferred to the surface of the printing material at a temperature lower than the predetermined temperature, and the transferred ink is heated to the predetermined temperature or higher. Then, the ink on the surface of the printing medium is foamed, so that the foaming of the ink causes the printed figures and the like to swell from the surface of the printing medium, and as a result, a mark that can be visually recognized by a visually impaired person by the sense of a fingertip is obtained. It can be printed easily. According to the printing method of the second aspect, since the Braille is printed by the printing, a visually impaired person can easily understand the contents of the card through the Braille. A printer according to claim 3, wherein the thermal head heats an ink ribbon interposed between the printing material and the thermal head to apply ink in a predetermined pattern from the ink ribbon to the printing material, and a heating temperature of the thermal head. A heating means for heating as described above, wherein the ink ribbon has a structure in which an ink layer having a property of foaming when heated to a predetermined temperature or more is formed on the surface of the base material, and the ink layer is The thermal head heats the ink ribbon to a temperature lower than the predetermined temperature, and the heater heats the ink ribbon to a temperature higher than the predetermined temperature. The ink is transferred to the printing material from the ink ribbon, so that it does not foam, By foaming in step it is possible to form the protrusion of a predetermined raised. further,
A printing unit is provided separately from the printing unit, and in this printing unit, printing is performed with ink having a property that does not foam due to heating of a heater, so that characters, figures and the like by normal printing and projections such as braille are combined. You can get printed matter. In addition, since the control unit converts the character data into the corresponding braille pattern by referring to the braille dictionary file, it receives the supply of normal character data, converts it to braille as necessary, and prints it. It can be performed. Furthermore, by using a printing material as a printing material in the printing method of claim 1 and printing Braille in a predetermined pattern by the printing method, a printing material that can be shared by healthy persons and visually impaired persons. Can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an ink ribbon for Braille in one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a printing medium in a Braille printing state according to an embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a side view of one conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 stocker 3 substrate
5 Feeding roller 13 Ink ribbon 15 Thermal head
17 Platen roller 19 Graphic printing unit 21 Character printing unit
31 Braille printing unit 33 Braille ink ribbon 35 Heater
37 Base film 39 Heat-resistant lubricating layer 41 Release layer
43 thermal expansion ink layer 45 heat-sensitive adhesive layer 47 Braille printing section
51 CPU 55 Print control unit 57 Mechanical controller
61 Braille code converter 63 Braille dictionary file 65, 67 Thermal head controller

Claims (6)

[Claims] A step of transferring an ink having a property of foaming by heating to a predetermined temperature or more onto a surface of a printing material at a temperature lower than the predetermined temperature to perform printing; Heating the ink to the predetermined temperature or higher to foam the ink on the surface of the printing medium. 2. The printing method according to claim 1, wherein the ink is printed in a Braille shape. 3. A supply means for supplying a printing material, and an ink interposed between the printing material and the thermal head while passing the printing material supplied from the supply means between the thermal head and a platen roller. A printing unit that heats a ribbon by the thermal head to apply ink from the ink ribbon to a printing material in a predetermined pattern, and a heating unit that heats the printing material sent from the printing unit to a temperature equal to or higher than the heating temperature of the thermal head. And a control means for controlling the thermal head, wherein the ink ribbon has a structure in which an ink layer having a property of foaming by heating to a predetermined temperature or more is formed on the surface of the base material, The ink layer adheres to the substrate surface in a state where the ink layer can be peeled off at a temperature equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature. Head heats the ink ribbon to a temperature lower than the predetermined temperature, the heater is a printer, which comprises heating the ink ribbon to a temperature higher than the predetermined temperature. 4. The printing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein another printing unit is provided separately from the printing unit, and printing is performed in the other printing unit using ink having a property not to foam by heating the heater. Printer. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the control unit converts the character data into a Braille pattern corresponding to the character data with reference to a Braille dictionary file, and controls the thermal head based on the Braille pattern. Item 5. The printer according to any one of Items 3 or 4. 6. A card according to claim 1, wherein a card is used as a print material in the printing method according to claim 1 or 2, and braille is printed in a predetermined pattern by the printing method.