JPS59103776A - Ink sheet take-up device for thermal transfer printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable to easily detach an ink sheet without exerting any needless tension thereon, by a method wherein a driving force of a motor is transmitted to the first holder shaft through a friction means, and engagement for holding a core member is effected and released by oscillation of the second holder. CONSTITUTION:A turning force of a driving motor M3 is transmitted through the friction means 43 constituted of pressing of a friction member 433 and a flange surface of a rotary member 44 against each other, and is used to rotate a shaft 401 connected to the core member 15 for taking up the ink sheet S. Therefore, when a predetermined load is exerted on the shaft 401 by the tension of the ink sheet S, slipping is generated in the friction means 43, so that the problems of damage on the ink sheet and imperfect recording are obviated. When the entire part of the ink sheet is taken up by the core member 5, the second holder 41 is rotated clockwise around a supporting shaft 413 against a spring 49 to release the engagement between the holder 41 and the core member 5, and the ink sheet thus taken up is detached from a main body of the printer together with the core member 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Technical Field) The present invention relates to an ink sheet winding device for a thermal transfer printer.

(Prior art) A recording sheet is brought into contact with the ink layer of an ink sheet having an ink layer on a base, and the recording head is applied to selectively apply ink in the ink layer onto the recording sheet according to the signal to be recorded. A thermal transfer printing method is known in which thermal transfer is carried out.

There are two types of recording heads: heat-generating types and current-carrying types. In a heat-generating recording head, minute heat-generating elements are arranged in an array, and the heat-generating elements selectively generate heat in response to a recording signal.The heat melts the ink on the ink sheet and thermally transfers the ink onto the recording sheet. Ru. In a current-carrying type recording head, minute electrodes are arranged in a 71/2 array, and when a signal is applied, current is passed through the ink layer from the electrode corresponding to the signal, and the generated sealing heat causes the melted ink to melt. Record 7 - The heat and the angel are on the top.

Now, when using a long strip as an ink sheet,
The problem is how to handle the used ink sheet portion that has passed the recording position.

In thermal transfer printers that have been proposed in the past, a processing method has been proposed in which the used part of a long strip of ink sheet is wound up into a roll. To the best of the inventor's knowledge, no concrete presentation has been made regarding the handling of the sheet, that is, how to remove the rolled up ink sheet from the printer.

(Purpose) Therefore, the present invention is a novel ink sheet winding device that has a simple mechanism, is compact, and can be easily removed and disposed of after being wound up from a printer body. The purpose is to provide equipment.

(Structure) The ink sheet winding device according to the present invention includes first and second holding bodies, a drive motor, a rotating member, a grinding means, and a fixing means.

The holding body rotatably holds the core member at one end thereof. The ink sheet is wound around this core member, but this core member is separate from the ink sheet winding device, and a new ink sheet is wound 1'4! ;'
A new core member is newly set in the winding device each time the core member is removed. The holding body of the drive 1 has a flange, and this reluctance is for regulating one end in the width direction of the ink sheet to be wound up.

The second holder rotatably holds the other end of the core member. This second holder also has a flange, the function of which is similar to the flange of the first holder. Further, the second holding body is swingable, and by swinging, it is engaged with and disengaged from the core member.

The drive motor supplies power for winding up the ink sheet.

The rotating part 1 is provided on the axis of the holder of the drive 1, is rotatable about this axis, is connected to a drive motor, and is rotated by the motor.

When the rotating member is rotated by the drive motor, the polishing means transmits the rotation to the first holder using the polisher, thereby rotating the core member. However, when the load on the J-th holding body reaches a certain value, it slips and the I
Cuts off rotational transmission of EI to the holder.

The fixing means is for fixing the second holding body in the holding position when the second holding means holds the core member together with the first holding means.

The present invention will be described below with reference to specific examples.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a color thermal transfer printer equipped with an ink sheet winding device according to the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 indicates a recording head, 2 indicates a platen roller, 3 indicates an ink sheet supply roller, 4 indicates an ink sheet winding device according to the present invention, 6 indicates a sensor, and 7 indicates a separating claw. Father, symbol M], M2 and M3 are drive motors, symbols P1 and P2 are a pair of pinch rollers.
It shows.

The winding device 4 will be described in detail later, but first, an overview of the color thermal transfer printer and the printing process will be briefly described.

Het] is a heat-generating type, and is shown in drawing V.
r: It is a thin plate shape whose longitudinal direction is the perpendicular direction, and on the surface of ll[tl+ facing the platen roller 2, the minute heating elements 1A are arranged in the longitudinal hair array.

The recording head j is supported for a support, and this support 11
is swingably held by a shaft 11A at one end thereof. There is a heald 14 between the disk J3 held in rotation by the shaft 13A and the drive motor jXA2.
is wrapped around. disk] 3 and support body 11A
A bar 12 is passed between the two for connection. One end of this bar 12 is pivotally connected to the support II by a pin 12A, and the other end is pivotally connected to the pin 12B and to the disk 3.

Thus, the support 11, the bar J2, the disc ]3 constitute a crane/lever mechanism and thus the drive motor M2
By rotating the disk 13 in one direction, the support 11, and therefore the recording head 1, is moved to the shaft 11A.
The center L can be closed and swung, and by this swiveling, the recording head can be brought into pressure contact with or separated from the platen roller whose rotating shaft position is fixed.

The long strip-shaped ink-1-8I is wound around the supply roller 3 in a roll shape, and is pulled out from the supply roller 3 to the west side of the press contact area between the recording position, that is, the recording head and the platen roller 2, and the used part is , the ink sheet is wound up by the ink sheet winding device 4. The winding is performed by the drive motor M3 of the winding device 4.
This is done by rotating in a fixed direction. Note that the direction perpendicular to the drawing in FIG. 1 is the width direction of the ink/sheet.

The platen roller 2 has a fixed rotating shaft position as described above, but the gear 20 is fixed to the rotating shaft.
It's been revealed. This gear 20 and 1. Between the gear 22 equipped with 1υ on the drive 1Iilr shaft of the drive motor M,
A timing belt 21 is wound around it.

The drive motor M1 is a step motor capable of forward and reverse rotation, and is loaded by a given number of pulses.

The pair of pitch rollers PL and P2 are arranged in parallel to the platen roller 2, and are given IEf contactability to the platen roller 2 by a suppressing means (not shown).

The recording head 1-S is held by pinch rollers P and P2 on the circular surface of the platen roller 2 facing the d recording head 1 so as to be wound several times.

Due to the pressing force of the pitch rollers PI and P2 on the platen roller 2, the recording path S is held in a position protruding from the circular surface of the platen roller 2, and the pinch roller P],
P2 is driven by the platen roller 2VtC, so by rotating the platen roller 2 forward and backward, the recording head 1-S can be reciprocated, and at this time, the recording head 1-S can be moved back and forth. In other words, the relative size of the cow is not high.

Such recording/-+-S can be maintained on the platen roller 2 regardless of whether the recording track is a sheet piece or a long strip.

As shown in Figure 2, the ink sheet SI has a long strip shape and is divided into area areas of a certain size in the longitudinal direction, and a yellow ink layer Y is applied to each area area at a ratio of one color. , magenta ink layer M, /A/ color ink layer C1, and black ink layer N are periodically formed in the order shown in the figure.

Marks for detecting the ink layer ■N, MKM%MKC, Ml(Y
is formed.

To carry out the recording process, first, drive motor M2 is activated to rotate the recording head support shaft 11A.
The recording head 1 is separated from the platen 2 by rotating it counterclockwise around the platen 2. Under this condition, the drive motor M3 of the ink sheet winding device 4 is operated ωI to wind up the ink sheet SI.
It will be carried to the left.

At this time, the sensor 6 detects the mark, and when it detects the mark (Y), it issues a signal and stops the operation of the drive motor M3.At this time, the sensor 6 and the mark MKY
According to the positional relationship, a yellow ink layer Y is deposited at the recording position.

Then, the recording track S is held on the platen roller by a pair of pitch rollers PL% P2, as shown. At this time, one of the pinch rollers PI and P2 is rotated manually or visually, so that the recording sheet S
Wrap it tightly around platen roller 2.

In this state, the drive motor M2 is operated to bring the recording head 1 into pressure contact with the platen roller 2, and then the drive motor M3 is operated.

In this state (■), the drive motor M1 is rotated in steps in the forward direction, and while conveying the recording sheet S and the ink cartridge S■, an image signal for a yellow image is applied to the recording pad 1. Yellow ink is thermally transferred onto a recording sheet S.

After the thermal transfer of the yellow ink is completed, the drive motor Ml transports both sheets S% SI and separates them at the position of the separation claw 7, and then the drive motor M1
stop operating.

Next, the recording head 1 is separated from the platen roller 2, the ink sheet S is conveyed by the drive motor M3, and when the sensor 6 detects the mark (G), the operation of the drive motor M3 is stopped. .

With this stretching, the magenta ink layer following the yellow ink layer Y has been set.

When the platen roller 2 separates from the recording head 1, the drive motor M1 operates again, rotates the platen roller 2 in the opposite direction, and returns the image recording start point of the recording sheet S to the recording position again. When this state is achieved, the drive motor is activated and the recording head is moved again to both sheets.
I is pressed together with the platen roller 2. Then,
Magenta ink is transferred while rotating the drive motor Ml in the forward direction. Such a process is repeated, and when the transfer of the dark color ink and the transfer of the black ink are completed, the color printing process is completed and the recording sheet S is discharged.

Now, the ink 7 winding device 4 according to the present invention used in the color thermal transfer printer shown in FIG.
As shown in the diagram (configured).

In FIG. 3, the first holder, designated by the reference numeral 40, is
It has a shaft 401 and a flange 402, and the shaft 401 is rotatable as a fixed member of the printer body.

The singing part of the shaft 401 is a retaining part 4011 for the core member 5.
It becomes.

The second holder 41 includes a flange 411, a bent portion 414,
It has a support part 412, and in the support part 4]2, the shaft 4]3
In addition, it is swingably supported by an immovable member of the main body of the device. An engaging portion 415 is formed in the center of the flange 74]l. Therefore, as shown in the figure, the first and second holding bodies 4
0.41, when holding the core member 5, the engaging portion 40]1 of the first holding body 40 engages with one end of the core member 5,
ft of the engaging portion 415 of the second holding body 41 and the force core member 5! 2
Engage the end.

The locking relationship between the core member 5 and the locking portions of the first and second holders is removable. The core member 5 engaged with the engagement portion 415 is rotatable, but the engagement at the engagement portion 4011 integrates the shaft 401 and the core member 5 with respect to rotation.

Therefore, the core member 5 can be rotated through the shaft 401.

Now, a tension spring 49 is tensioned between the bent portion 414 of the second holder 41 and the bottle 48 which is fixed to a stationary member of the printer main body, and the elastic force of this spring 49 As a result, the support shaft 413 of the holder 4 is given a counterclockwise rotational habit. The rotation of the second holder 41 based on this rotational behavior is such that the stopper 47 fixed to the immovable member engages with the end of the arc-shaped elongated hole 416 closed in the bent portion 4]. It is prevented by engaging. Therefore, the bottle 48, the spring 49, the stopper 47
, the elongated hole 416, etc., constitute a fixing means, and when the first and second holders hold the core member 5, the second
The holding body of is fixed in the holding position, and the engaging portion 4011.415
The engagement between the core member 5 and the core member 5 is ensured.

A rotating part @44 is provided on the shaft 401 so as to be rotatable relative to the 'Ill 401 via a bearing 45, and between this rotating member 44 and the drive motor M3,
The timing belt 46 has been wound.

A flange member 431 is also fixed to the shaft 40 by screws 432, and a disc-shaped grinding member 433 is fixed to the flange surface of the flange member 431. The flange member 431, screw 432, and grinding member 433 are
The polishing member 433 constitutes a polishing means 43 and is in pressure contact with the flange-shaped surface of the rotating member 44. Note that the polishing member 433 may be fixed to the rotating member 44 instead of being fixed to the flange member 43. Further, the pressure force between the rotating member 44 and the polishing means 43 is adjusted by a screw mechanism (not shown).

Therefore, if the drive motor M3 is operated while holding the core member 5 and fixing one end of the ink sheet SI to the core member 5 as shown in the figure, the rotation of the drive shaft of the drive motor M3 will be controlled at the timing. Rotating member 44 via belt 46
The shaft 401 rotates by activating the polishing means 43, and the core member 5 rotates together with the shaft 401, and the ink sea) SI is wound around the core member 5. At this time,
Inc.) Both ends in the width direction of SI are flan 7402.4
11 [Since it is strictly regulated, the ink sheet should be attached to the core member 5.
It is neatly rolled up on top.

Incidentally, at the recording position, the ink sheet s is pressed together with the recording sheet S by the platen roller 2 and the recording head 1, and the conveyance of these two sheets during recording is performed by the rotation of the platen roller 2 as described above. It will be done. As the platen roller 2 rotates, the ink sheet S discharged from the recording position is wound around the winding device 4. By the way, since the rotation transmitted from the drive motor M3 to the shaft of the first holder 40 is constant, the rotational speed of the core member 5 is constant.

However, as the core member 5 winds up the inksheet SI, the diameter of the ink sheet S wrapped around the core member 5 increases, so if the rotational speed of the core member 5 is constant, the amount of the ink sheet to be wound up will increase. gradually increases, and eventually the winding speed becomes greater than the transport speed of the ink sheet at the recording position. When this happens, tension is generated in the ink sheet between the winding device and the recording position, and if no measures are taken, the ink sheet SI may be damaged or
Alternatively, a slippage may occur between the ink sheet SI and the recording head l at the recording position, resulting in a recording failure.

However, in the winding device of the present invention, 1. The rotational force generated by the drive of the rumble motor M3 is transmitted to the shaft 401 through the polishing means 43, so when a predetermined load is applied to the shaft 401 due to the tension of the ink sheet, the polishing means 43 As a result, rotation transmission to the shaft 401 is interrupted.

Therefore, the problems of damage to the ink sheet and failure of nFL recording can be effectively avoided.

When all the ink sheets have been wound onto the core member 5, the second holder 4J is moved against the elastic force of the spring 49, and the support shaft 4]3
Rotate clockwise to release the engagement between the holder 41 and the core member 5, and then further rotate the core member 5 and the holder 4.
0, the wound ink sheet, including the core member 5, can be removed from the main body of the printer and discarded.

Note that this winding device is of course applicable not only to color thermal transfer printers but also to conventional monochrome thermal transfer printers.

(Effects) As described above, according to the present invention, an ink sheet winding device for a thermal transfer printer can be provided. In this winding device, the core member holding is engaged and released by swinging the second holding body, so that the wound ink sheet can be easily moved by the printer force.
It can be removed. Further, since the driving force of the drive motor is transmitted to the shaft of the second holder through the polishing means, no unnecessarily large tension is applied to the ink sheet being wound up. Furthermore, since the rotating member that transmits rotation to the holder of the IUI and the polishing means are both located on the axis of the first holder, the entire winding device is compact.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side view schematically showing only the main parts of an example of a color thermal transfer printer equipped with an ink sheet winding device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view for explaining the shape of an ink sheet, and FIG. Figure 3 shows one of the ink sheet winding devices according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a partially cross-sectional plan view showing an example. l... Recording head, 2... Platen roller, 4...
... ink sheet winding device, 40 ... first holding body,
4o]... shaft, 402... flange 7.41... second holder, 411... flange, 43... polishing means, 44... rotating member, 47... Stopper, 4
16... Arc-shaped long hole, 413... Support shaft, 49...
・Spring, 5... Core member.

Claims (1)

[Claims] ＼ A long strip-shaped ink sheet having an ink layer on a base,
In a thermal transfer printer in which a recording sheet is brought into contact with the ink layer and a recording head thermally transfers the ink of the ink layer onto the recording sheet in a position-selective manner according to the signal to be recorded, the ink that has passed through the recording position by the recording head A winding device for winding a sheet, the core member around which the ink sheet to be wound is wound is held at one end thereof in a detachable and rotatable manner,
a first holder having a flange for regulating one end in the width direction of the ink sheet; a drive motor; provided on the axis of the first holder and connected to the drive motor; a rotating member rotatable about the shaft; and transmitting the rotation of the rotating member to the first holding body,
When the core member is rotated and the load applied to the first holder reaches a certain value, a total of 9 is generated and the zi
and a flange for regulating the other end of the ink sheet in the width direction, the ink sheet is swingably arranged, and rotates the core member at the other end a second holder that can be held freely and can be attached to and detached from the core member by swinging, and when the second holder holds the core member together with the first holder, the second holder an ink sheet winding device for a thermal transfer printer, the ink sheet winding device having a means for fixing the ink sheet in a holding position.