JPS60151069A - Thermal transfer printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the mounting work of a thermal head on a carriage and an exchanging work by placing the head on the carriage by detachably and tiltably engaging a mounting member for holding the intermediate parts of the head and a flexible cable with the carriage and tilting the head by inclining a mounting member at the engaging part as a center. CONSTITUTION:When a thermal head 18 is placed on a carriage 11, the head 18 is first mounted on a mounting member 41 which is not yet mounted on the carriage 11 by utilizing its hook plate 18a, the intermediate part of a flexible cable 33 is inserted into and held at the slit 41f of the member 41. Then, after one end of the cable 33 is connected with a main printed board 35 with a connector 34, legs 41b, 41c are restricted in the state that the interval is contracted, and inserted to a space between the stands 11a and 11b on the carriage 11. Then, the restriction is released at the position where projections 41d, 41e and holes 11c, 11d are opposed, and the projections 41d, 41e are engaged within the holes 11c, 11d, respectively.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Technical Field) The present invention includes a thermal head mounted on a carriage that moves in a direction perpendicular to the running direction of recording paper, and tilts the thermal head so that the transfer material (ink, etc.) The present invention relates to a thermal transfer printer that presses a coated transfer medium (such as an ink ribbon) against the recording paper and performs recording by thermal transfer.

(Prior Art) The schematic structure of a conventional thermal printer of this type can be shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. In these figures, 1
is a platen, and a recording paper 3 is pressed against the platen 1 by a paper presser 2. Reference numeral 4 denotes a cassette in which a thermal transfer ink ribbon 5 is stored, and a rectangular notch 6 is provided in the center of the end on the platen 1 side. The ink ribbon 5 is exposed to the outside at the cutout portion. Further, one end of the ink ribbon 5 is fixed to a take-up roller 7, and the other end is fixed to a delivery roller 8. The take-up roller 7 is manually rotated by a knob 7A formed on the upper part of the take-up roller 7 as necessary, and during the 11th stroke of the printing operation (when moving in the right direction in FIGS. 1 and 3). is adapted to be rotated by a drive shaft 9.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a cassette holder, which is fixed to the four-way jaw 11. Loading of the cassette 4 into the cassette holder 10 is done with the aid of a positioning pin 12. The gear ridge 11 is guided by a guide shaft 13, and the gear ridge 11 is guided by a guide shaft 13.
It moves in the horizontal direction of Figures and Figure 3, and its drive is as follows:
This is accomplished by moving a belt 16, which is wound between a drive pulley 14 and a driven pulley 15 and is locked to the carriage 11, by a motor 17 via the drive pulley 14. A thermal head 18 is disposed in a space between the notch 6 of the cassette 4 and the ink ribbon 5, and its lower part is pivotally mounted to the carriage 11 so as to be tiltable. Although not shown, the rotating head 18 is constantly urged by a spring in the direction away from the ink ribbon 5 (that is, it is urged so as to maintain the position shown in FIG. 2), and is not shown in the drawings. During stroke (movement in the right direction in FIGS. 1 and 3), the ink ribbon 5 side is forcibly tilted using a solenoid, etc., and the back side of the ink ribbon 5 (
The surface of the ink ribbon 5 (on which no ink is applied) is pressed with the heating element portion, and the recording paper 3 is pressed against the platen 1 to bring the surface of the ink ribbon 5 into contact with the recording paper 3. Further, 20 is a felt rod, and 21 is a felt plate, which are in contact with both sides of the ink ribbon 5 using the elastic force of a leaf spring 22. Therefore, dust and the like attached to the ink ribbon 5 are removed here.

Recording with a thermal printer in such a configuration involves moving the key A ridge 11 in the lateral direction in FIGS. 1 and 3,
3- is accomplished by intermittently driving the platen 1 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1 for each horizontal line of printing. Incidentally, during the backward stroke of the printing operation (when moving in the left direction in FIGS. 1 and 3), the thermal head 18 is separated from the ink ribbon 5, and no thermal transfer is performed.

As a mounting structure for the thermal head 18 in the above printer, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, a connector 32 is provided on the tilting member 31 of the carriage 11, and the connector 32. The main printed circuit board 35 and the thermal head 18 are electrically connected via the flexible cable 33 and the connector 34, and as shown in FIG. 5, the flexible cable 33 shown in FIG.
33b, which are connected by a connector 36 and the thermal head 18 is fixed with screws 37. By the way, the thermal head 18 has a limited lifespan and needs to be replaced after a certain period of use.

Therefore, in the above two examples, a connector 32 is provided, and when the thermal head 18 is replaced, the old thermal head 18 is separated at the connector 32 and replaced with a new thermal head 18. However, if these configurations are adopted, it is necessary to use two or three connectors between the thermal head 18 and the main printed circuit board 35, which have a high contribution to cost increase. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, there is also a device in which a flexible cable 33 is integrally connected to the thermal head 18 in order to omit the connector 32 (reducing costs) and to reduce the occurrence of poor contact at the connector. However, all of the above-mentioned configurations, including this, require the work of attaching the thermal head 18 to the tilting member 31 attached to the carriage 11, and since the tilting member 31 moves during this work, the workability is extremely low. It has the disadvantage of being bad. In particular, in the case of a configuration in which the flexible cable 33 is integrally connected to the thermal head 18, when replacing the thermal head 18 for reasons such as lifespan, the flexible cable 33 must be handled with care during the replacement work, which generally takes up space. Because of this, it is extremely troublesome to replace the main printed circuit board 35 by removing the connector 34 on the main printed circuit board 35 located below. Therefore, as shown in FIG.
The main printed circuit board 35a on one side is arranged in such a way that the connector 34 is moved upward to a position where it is easy to work, thereby improving workability. However, this requires a new flexible cable 38 and connector 39.
40 is required for electrical connection between the printed circuit boards 35a and 35b, and cost reduction cannot be achieved.

(Object of the Invention) The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and its object is to provide a thermal transfer printer in which the installation work of the thermal head to the carriage and the replacement work are easy and the cost can be reduced. There is a particular thing.

(Structure of the Invention) The structure of the present invention that achieves this object includes a thermal head mounted on a carriage that moves in a direction perpendicular to the running direction of recording paper, and a transfer material applied by tilting the thermal head. In a thermal transfer printer that presses a transfer medium against the recording paper side and performs recording by thermal transfer, the thermal head is integrally connected to a flexible cable for supplying driving power, and the thermal head is installed. , by removably and tiltably fitting a mounting member holding the thermal head and the intermediate portion of the flexible cable into the carriage; j. (1) The thermal head is tilted by tilting the mounting member around the fitting portion.

(Example) Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

7 to 11 are explanatory diagrams of one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 shows the connection state of the thermal head, flexible cable, and main printed circuit board! l Schematic configuration diagram, Figure 8 is a side view showing the configuration of the main parts of the side part, Figure 9 is a rear view showing the configuration of the main parts on the back, and Figure 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the method of fitting the mounting member. , FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the lower part of the mounting member. In each figure, parts corresponding to those in FIGS. 1 to 6 are designated by the same reference numerals 7-. In these figures, reference numeral 41 denotes a mounting member for mounting the thermal head 18 on the carriage 11, and a groove 41a is provided in the upper part of the mounting member into which the hook plays 1 to 18a of the thermal head 18 can be inserted from above. . Further, the lower part of the mounting member 41 is bifurcated, and each leg portion 411i, 4. The IC has a cylindrical projection 41d facing outward. 4.1e is provided protrudingly. Furthermore,
A slit 41f for holding the intermediate portion of the flexible cable 33 integrally connected to the thermal head 18 is formed in one leg 41b. This flexible cable 33 has a bent portion 33c in which the cable surface is bent in a right angle direction, and the holding in the slit 41f is performed at a horizontal portion near the bent portion 33. Note that the material of the mounting member 41 is such that when the legs 41a, 41b are pushed inward, the distance between the protrusions 41d, 41e is
It is preferable to use a material (for example, synthetic resin) that elastically shrinks to the extent of the total height of d and 41e. On the other hand, carriage 1
Stands 11a and 11b are erected on the 1 side. This stand 11a. The distance L+ between the inner surfaces of the legs 411) and 4.1c is the distance L+ between the outer surfaces of the legs 411) and 4.1c.
It is selected to be equal to or slightly smaller than No. 2, so that no gap will be created when fitting as will be described later.

Further, the stands 11a and 11b each have a protrusion 41d.
, 41e are rotatably fitted into the bearing hole 110,
11d is bored.

Next, the procedure for mounting the thermal head 18 on the carriage 11 will be described. In this case, first the thermal head 1
8 to the carriage 1 using its hook plate 18a.
1, and the intermediate portion of the flexible cable 33 is inserted into the slit 41f of the attachment member 41 and held. Next, after connecting one end of the flexible cable 33 to the main printed circuit board 35 using the connector 34, the legs 41b and 41c are restrained in a state where the distance between them is shortened, and the stand 11a on the carriage 11 is
, 11b. And protrusions 41d, 41e
The above constraint is released at the position where the holes 11c and 11d face each other,
The protrusions 41d and 41e are fitted into the holes 11c and 11d. As a result, the mounting member 41 is attached to the carriage 11 so as to be freely and tiltably l1JH2, and as a matter of course, the thermal head 18 is also mounted on the carriage 11 so as to be tiltable, and the tilting operation during recording is performed. will also be ensured. Note that the thermal head 18 is mounted on the carriage 11.
When it is removed from the holder, the above-mentioned mounting operation may be reversed. Of course, there is no problem even if the procedure is slightly changed.

According to such a configuration, it is possible to avoid a situation in which force is applied to the connection portion between the thermal head 18 and the flexible cable 33, and there is no need to worry about strength. Furthermore, mounting of the thermal head 18 (attachment member 41) on the carriage 11 and replacement of the thermal head 18 can be easily performed with one hand, so work efficiency is greatly improved. Furthermore, since the number of connectors is also reduced, costs can be reduced.

It should be noted that the present invention is not applied only to the printers shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, and the embodiments are not limited to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 4 to 11. for example,
The thermal head 18 may be attached to the attachment member 41 by adhesive or the like, and the attachment member 41 may also be replaced at the time of replacement.

Moreover, the structure of the mounting member 41 itself is not composed of only a single member, but as shown in FIG. Alternatively, it may be fixed to the leg portion 41b with a screw 41h. in this case,
Of course, it is not necessary to provide the slit 41f in the leg portion 41b. Furthermore, the lower part of the mounting member 41 may be formed into two forks, or
Although a case is shown in which the bending portion 33c is formed in the flexible cable 33, there is no need to limit it to this configuration if compactness is sacrificed. That is, it is also possible to have three or more branches, or to use a flexible cable 33 without a bending part or with a different bending shape.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to create a thermal transfer printer that is easy to attach and replace the thermal head to the cartridge and is inexpensive.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the schematic configuration of a conventional thermal transfer printer, Figure 2 is a side view of the printer in Figure 1 (showing the cassette being lifted up), and Figure 3 is the printer in Figure 1. 4 to 6 are explanatory views of the mounting structure of the thermal head conventionally used in printers as shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 7 is a partially cutaway plan view of the thermal head, flexible cable, and main printed circuit board. A schematic configuration diagram showing the connection state, FIG. 8 is a side view showing the main part configuration of the side part,
Fig. 9 is a rear view showing the configuration of the main parts on the back side, Fig. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing how to fit the mounting member, Fig. 11 is a diagram showing the lower part of the mounting member, and Fig. 12 is another example of the mounting member. FIG. 1... Platen 2... Paper presser 3... Recording paper 4... Cassette 5... Ink ribbon 6... Notch 7... Winding roller 8... Delivery roller 12-9. ... Drive shaft 10 ... Cassette holder 11
... Carriage 11a, 11b ... Stand 12 ... Positioning bin 13 ... Guide shaft 1
4... Drive pulley 15... Driven pulley 16...
Timing belt 17... Carriage drive motor 18... Thermal head 18a... Hook plate 31... Tilting member 32, 34, 36, 39, 40... Connector 33.3
8...Flexible cable 35.35a, 35b
...Main printed circuit board 41...Mounting member 41b, 4
1c...Legs 41tJ, 41a--Protrusions Patent applicant Konishiroku Photo Industry Co., Ltd. Ikeda Denki Co., Ltd. Representative Patent attorney Fuji Ijima 1 extraterritorial 1 famous figure 8 figure 9 old figure + 1c c' PI cu C) □

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A thermal head is mounted on a carriage that moves in a direction perpendicular to the running direction of the recording paper, and the thermal head is tilted to press the transfer medium coated with the transfer material against the recording paper side, thereby performing thermal transfer. In a thermal transfer printer that performs recording, the thermal head is integrally connected to a flexible cable for supplying driving power, and the thermal head is mounted on a carriage by holding an intermediate portion of the thermal head and the flexible cable. a mounting member attached to the carriage so as to be detachable and tiltable;
The tilting of the thermal head is carried out by using the crotch fitting means, and the tilting of the thermal head is performed using the Iii+! A thermal transfer printer characterized in that this is achieved by tilting the mounting member around the tray part. (2) The flexible cable is characterized in that the cable surface is bent at right angles near the mounting member, and the cable is held by the mounting member at a horizontal portion near the bend. A thermal transfer printer according to claim 1.