JPS5914974A - Transfer type heat sensitive printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the titled printer capable of obtaining a dot smaller than the size of a heat generating element, constituted by such a structure that the heat generating element is arranged so as to heat the part of recording paper contacted with a heat sensitive ink bar having a cross area of which the shape is almost same to the dot to be printed. CONSTITUTION:A solid heat sensitive ink bar 9 guided by a guide pipe 8 is brought into contact with a position corresponding to a heat generating element 4 through recording paper 2. The cross area of the heat sensitive ink bar 9 is formed into a circle with an outer diameter of about 0.1mm. or other arbitrary shapes so as to be capable of changing the shape of a dot. By this constitution, an ink ribbon or an ink re-coating apparatus is not required and the fabrication of the heat generating element is easy as well as the dot can be made minute.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a printer that performs transfer by bringing solid ink shaped into a rod into contact with recording paper and heating the recording paper.

One of the drawbacks of thermal transfer printers is the use of ink ribbons. Processing and storage of used ribbons takes up a lot of space, and the ribbon supply and take-up reels are a constraint on downsizing the machine. As a method to improve this, there is an ink reapplying method that eliminates the disposable ink ribbon and uses a roller or rotating endless tape to apply melted ink at a location away from the recording paper.

These require a heater to melt the ink, a device to apply it to a uniform thickness, a roller for transfer, a fan to solidify the ink once on the roller, and a device for temperature control, etc. It became complicated and was insufficient in terms of cost and space.

Another drawback of thermal transfer printers is that the size of the dots printed depends on the size of the heating element, and it is difficult to miniaturize the heating element, making it difficult to miniaturize. The present invention focuses on this point, and the ink and
The present invention aims to provide a transfer-type thermal printer that can produce dots smaller than the size of a heating element without using a ribbon or an ink reapplying mechanism. The details of one embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. Recording paper 2, which is plain paper wound on a supply reel 1, passes over a guide roller 3 and a transfer table 5 that has a built-in heating element 4 that instantaneously generates heat in response to an electric signal, and passes over a paper feed roller 6.
It is pulled out and cut with a cutter 7. A guide pipe 8 is located at a position corresponding to the heating element 4 through the recording paper 2.
A solid heat-sensitive ink stick 9 guided by is in contact with it. The heat-sensitive ink stick 9 has a face I view V score 11W, and its cross section is round, triangular, square, etc. with an outer diameter of about 0.1 mm, hexagonal, etc.
It is shaped into an octagonal shape or the like. The guide pipe 8 has a well-finished hole 8a in which the thermal ink rod 9 can easily slide and has few gaps, and is supported so that the thermal ink rod 9 is in the correct position and at an appropriate distance from the recording paper 2 so as not to break. ing. The recording paper 2 has a guide roller 6 and a paper feed roller 6.
is applied with tension by the transfer table 5, and is in tight contact with the transfer table 5. If the tension of the recording paper 2 is not sufficient due to the load on the supply reel 1, two guide rollers 6 may be used to increase the tension of the recording paper 2.
A spring (not shown) is attached to one shaft of the supply reel to sandwich the
It is preferable to apply a load by applying a frictional force by bringing the supply runner into contact with the supply runner 1, or by engaging a clutch mechanism with the shaft of the supply runner 1 and rotating it at a low speed in the opposite direction.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the area around the transfer table. The transfer table 5 has an arcuate portion 5a, on which the recording paper 2 slides.

On the transfer table 5, two rows of square heating elements 4 are provided side by side, with dimensions of about 0.12 mm and an interval of about 0.08 mm. The recording paper 2 corresponding to the heating element 4 has a diameter of 0.
．． A 1 mm round heat-sensitive ink stick 9 is in contact with it. The heat-sensitive ink stick 9 may be formed in a polygonal shape such as triangular, quadrangular, hexagonal, etc., instead of a circle.

Also, if you want to create multiple colors, you can easily do this by simply increasing the number of rows of heating elements 4 and adding colored thermal ink sticks 9.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an example in which a thermal ink stick is brought into contact with recording paper. The thermosensitive ink rod 9, 1, is fixed with a tube 10 having a constant weight, and as it is worn out by printing, it descends inside the guide pipe 8, and eventually stops when it hits the stop surface 8b.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of another example in which the thermal ink stick is pressed against the recording paper. The heat-sensitive ink stick 9 has a bottle 11 having a recess that fits into one end thereof, and is pressed down by the force of a spring 16 between it and a lid 12 that is pushed into the guide pipe 8 and brought into contact with the recording paper 2. There is. When the thermal ink stick 9 wears out, the pin 11 hits the stop surface 8b and stops.

Next, the effect will be explained. Paper feed roller 6 is supply reel 1
The recording paper 2 is pulled out from the transfer table 5 while being in contact with the transfer table 5. Current is selectively supplied to the plurality of heating elements 4 of the transfer table 5 to generate heat depending on the characters or figures to be drawn. Heat generating element 4
The heat generated according to the heating element 4 heats a portion of the recording paper 2 directly above the heating element 4, and further heats and melts the contact surface of the thermal ink stick 9 via the recording paper 2. The melted portion of the thermal ink stick 9 adheres to the recording paper 2. When the supply of current is stopped, both the thermal ink stick 9 and the ink transferred onto the recording paper 2 harden, and printing ends. By appropriately selecting the time during which the current is passed through the heating element 4, the size of the printed dot becomes equal to the cross-sectional area of the thermal ink stick 9, and is not directly affected by the size of the heating element 4. do not have. By making the area of the heating element 40 a little thicker, alignment of the heat-sensitive ink stick 9 becomes easier.

Although there is a fair degree of tolerance regarding the thickness of the paper, when considering the case where extremely thick or thin paper is used, the temperature of the surface of the recording paper 2 on the heat-sensitive ink rod 9 side above the heating element 4,
That is, it is preferable to detect the thermal conductivity and control the surface contact time to the heating element 4. If the heating element 4 for detection is not used for printing and is provided separately for temperature detection,
Since the guide pipe 8 is not required, the detection device can be easily arranged.

As described above, according to the present invention, an ink ribbon and an ink reapplying device are not required, making it possible to simplify and downsize the machine configuration. Since the size of the dot, which is the smallest unit of printing, is determined by the cross-sectional area of the heat-sensitive ink stick itself, it is possible to easily work on the heating element and make the dots more precise. Since the ink is made into a solid stick, the shape of the dots can be changed freely, and there is no need to worry about stains during maintenance or where to store them. It has the effect of being able to create multiple colors by adding just a few parts.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a model diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the area around the transfer table, Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the thermal ink rod being pressed against the recording paper, and Fig. 4. is a sectional view of another thermal ink stick pressed against recording paper. 1... Supply reel, 2... Recording paper, 6... Guide roller, 4... Heat generating element, 5... Transfer table, 6...Paper feed roller, 8...Guide pipe, 9.
...Thermal ink stick, 10...Tube,
11...bottle, 12...lid,
16... Spring. Figure 4

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) In a printer that uses a heating element to melt thermal ink and transfer it to recording paper, the thermal ink is formed into a rod shape with a cross-sectional area approximately the same as the dots to be printed, and is brought into contact with the recording paper. . A transfer type thermal printer characterized in that a heating element is arranged so as to heat a portion of the recording paper in contact with the thermal ink stick. (2) The transfer type thermal printer according to claim 1, wherein the thermal ink stick has means for generating contact pressure against the recording paper. (3) The transfer type thermal printer according to claim 1, wherein the heating element is arranged so as to abut the surface of the recording paper opposite to the surface of the recording paper that is abutted by the thermal ink rod. (4) The transfer type thermal printer according to claim 1, wherein the area of the heating element is made larger than the cross-sectional area of the thermal ink stick. (5) Claim 1, characterized in that at least one of the heating elements is used for detecting the thermal conductivity of recording paper.
The transfer type thermal printer described in Section 1.