JPS60234870A - Heat transfer printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To form a release mechanism which enables a stable feeding and holding of a paper with a simple construction by energizing a paper roller to the platen with a spring to drive a release lever directly. CONSTITUTION:When a release lever 20 is set at the right position where a pin 48 is above the line connecting a shaft 44 and a shaft 52, it receives a tension with a release spring 57. This can maintain a stable state and enhance it as an arm 59 is under an upward spring force with a spring 58. At this point, a transmission arm 37 is so far away from a release lever (a) 46 as to be kept from being under an operating force from the release lever 20. Under such a condition, a paper feed roller 31 and a paper press roller 17 both abut on a platen 18. The paper feed roller 31 and the paper press roller 17 combine to hold a paper by a proper pressing force respectively with a spring 36 and the release spring 57 thereby enabling a stable printing with a higher quality.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to a thermal transfer printer, and more particularly to an improvement in a paper transport mechanism including a release mechanism.

[Background of the invention]

In the conventional device, as described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 120019/1980, the IJ1 earth lever in the release mechanism and the lever connected to the paper pressing roller, or the lever connected to the print head, etc., are constructed independently. The release lever is linked in the middle of its movement. Therefore, it is necessary to bias the paper press roller or the print head with a spring force, so a method is known in which a spring for the above purpose is provided for each lever.

This method required installing a spring for each lever. Furthermore, since each spring force is applied to the release lever, there is a problem in that a large operating force is required because the combined force of the spring force for setting the release lever position is the operating force.

In addition, since the operating force for each set position of the release lever is different, a sense of moderation cannot be obtained, and since the holding force for each set position is different, it does not cause rattling. There was a problem that the setting position was easily shifted.

[Purpose of the invention]

An object of the present invention is to provide a release mechanism that has a simple structure and performs stable paper feeding and paper holding.

[Summary of the invention]

Regarding the print quality of thermal transfer printers, paper feeding accuracy including skew and paper retention in the printing state play a large role. Therefore, the paper feed roller is biased toward the platen by a spring, and the single paper push roller can be driven directly with the release lever, eliminating any backlash caused by the conventional indirect connection. Furthermore, the release lever is supported with appropriate holding force in the printing state and at each release lever setting position, eliminating the influence of external factors on printing.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an external view of a thermal transfer printer.

A shaft (1) 4 is fixed between the side plate (1) 1 and the side plate (2) 2. A rear stay 23 and a front stay 24 are connected between the side plate (1) 1 and the side plate C2) 2, forming a frame.

Further, a carriage 5 is arranged so as to be able to slide on the shaft (1) 4, a ribbon cassette 7 and a thermal head 15 are mounted on the carriage 5, and inside the ribbon cassette 7,
An ink ribbon 16 is stored.

The carriage 5 is configured to be movable in the left-right direction in FIG. 1 by a carriage motor 8 via a timing belt 10.

The line feed motor 11 transmits driving force to a gear (102) connected to the shaft of the platen 18 to feed one sheet of paper 14. Paper can also be fed in the same way by rotating the platen knob 13 by hand. 19 is a paper guide. be.

By moving the release lever 20 in the front-back direction, the paper presser row 217, which is slidably disposed on the shaft 3, is released from the surface of the paper 91 pressed against the printing medium (hereinafter referred to as paper). . (Details of the structure will be described later.) The home position sensor 6 is a sensor for setting the printing start position.

The flexible cable connector 9 is a conductor for energizing the thermal head 15 and the like.

Carriage motor8. The line feed motor 11, home position sensor 6, thermal head 15, etc. are controlled by a controller 21.

The platen cover 22 covers the fritten 19 and also serves as a guide for inserting one sheet.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the paper guide 190 according to the present invention.

The paper guide 19 has shaft parts 30 on both sides, and the side plate (1) 1
It is sandwiched between the side plate (2) and the side plate (2) and is configured to be able to rotate once.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the paper feed row 231 is attached to the elongated hole-shaped bearing portion 3 of the arm 32 at the cut-out portion on the back side of the paper guide 19.
3 by a shaft 34 so as to be rotatable and movable in the vertical direction of the elongated hole. The thrust direction is E IJ 7g 3 on both sides.
Positioned by 5.

Furthermore, it is pressed against the ellipsoidal platen by a spring 36.

FIG. 5 shows 1. the transmission arm 37 which is a power transmission member.
The arm end (a) aS is the power (operating force) receiving part 3 in Fig. 2.
9, the operating force of the release lever 20 is transferred to the paper guide 1.
9 to rotate the one-sheet guide 19.

The arm end (b) 40 is the part that primarily receives the operating force of the release lever 20.

FIG. 6 shows the arrangement of the components of the IJ-space mechanism.

The transmission arm 37 connects the shaft plate 41 constituting the bearing section with the screw 42.
By fixing it to the rear steering wheel 23.

It is rotatably supported. The bearing 43 is attached to the side plate (1) t
.

It is fixed to the side plate (2) 2 and rotatably supports the platen 18.

The release lever 20 is inserted into a shaft 44 which is crimped and fixed to the rear steering wheel 23, and is rotatably attached with an EIJ ring 45. The release lever 20 is composed of a transmission release lever (a) 46, which is an operating force transmission part, and a rotation release lever (b) 49, which rotates the lever 47 via a pin 48.

The lever 47 is rotatably supported by an E IJ ring 53 on a shaft 52 which is crimped and fixed to a paper press lever 51 .

As shown in FIG. 7, the lever 51 is rotatably fixed to the rear steering wheel 23 with a pin 54.

A shaft 3 having a paper pressing roller 17 is fixed to the other end with a screw 55.

The paper guide 19 is biased by a spring 56 in a direction to rotate close to the elliptical platen 18.

The release spring 57, which is the key point of the present invention, is connected to the shaft 44 of the release lever/<-2111 and the shaft 57 fixed to the lever 51.
It is attached between the two and biases both inward. Similarly, the release spring attachment position on the release lever 20 side may be a position near the rotation center of the release lever 20.

The positioning spring 58 has a corrugated shape, and is fitted into the positioning arm 59 at the lower end of the release lever 20 to maintain the position for paper loading, adjustment, and printing, which will be described later.

The operation of the IJ lease mechanism with the above configuration will be explained.

Figures 7-10 show the paper loading state.

When the release lever 20 is in the center position, the shaft 44, the pin 48, and the shaft 52 are almost in line, and the release spring 57 is in its maximum extended state, that is, it is located on the dead center.To maintain this state, the spring 58 and Arm 59 is fitted as shown. The transmission arm 37 does not receive any operating force from the IJ+J-slever 20.

In this state, the paper feed row 231 comes into contact with the platen 18 and
The paper press roller 17 is released. When the paper 14 is inserted in the direction shown by the arrow and the platen knob 13 is rotated, the paper is supplied and one paper 14 is loaded.

8 and 11 show the paper set adjustment state.

When the release lever 20 is on the left side, the bottle 48 is connected to the shaft 44 @
Since it is under tension from the release spring 57 below the line connecting 52, a stable state is maintained. Furthermore, arm 5
9 is receiving upward spring force from the spring 58, so
Even better stability.

At this time, the arm end (b) 40 of the transmission arm 37 is applied with operating force by the lower end of the release lever (a) 46 of the release lever 20 and rotates once. Then arm end (a)
38 presses the receiving part 39 of the paper guide 19 and removes one paper guide 19
Rotate.

In this state, the paper feed roller 31 and the paper press roller 17 are separated from the platen 18. Since the paper 14 is now free, it is possible to make adjustments such as bending and positioning the paper.

9 and 12 show the printing state.

When the release lever 2o is on the right side and the bottle 48 is above the line connecting the shafts 44 and 52, 171J-subafu 57 causes
It maintains a stable state because it is under tension. Furthermore, since the arm 59 receives an upward spring force from the spring 58, it has excellent stability.

At this time, since the release lever (a) 46 is far away, the transmission arm 37 does not receive the operating force from the IJ1 earth lever 20 force 1, etc.

In this state, both the paper feed roller 31 and the paper press roller 17 are in contact with the platen 18.

In this state, the paper feed roller 31 holds the paper with appropriate pressing force by the spring 36, and the paper press roller 17 holds the paper with appropriate pressing force by the release spring 57, so that stable and high-quality printing is possible.

Note that the pressing force of the paper press roller 17 is unstable.

When paper 14 is fed, one paper is fed unevenly in a certain direction and 1
The print position shifts with respect to the paper, and the print quality deteriorates. Furthermore, the paper becomes wavy in the vicinity of the printing thermal head 16, causing irregular printing.

As described above, the paper feed roller 31 is
, the paper can be pressed against the platen using the paper pressing roller 17 with an appropriate pressing force. 1. There is no backlash at the position of each release lever 20. Further, the release spring 57 and the spring 58 act at the operating position of each release lever 20, improving the feeling of moderation of the operation.

Therefore, it is possible to provide a high-quality printer that is easy to handle and provides stable printing.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, there are the following first-order functions and effects.

(1) Release spring 57. This allows the spring force to be applied directly to the paper pressing roller without any backlash.

(2) A spring dedicated to the conventional paper presser is not required.

(3) IJ! Each position of the J-slever can be set with a good sense of moderation, and the unpleasant backlash of the release lever is eliminated.

(4) Push the release lever into the release spring 57. spring 58
It can be held securely.

(5) Due to (1) and (4), paper feeding is stabilized and the paper can be held securely during printing, resulting in stable printing and high quality.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an external view of the thermal transfer printer, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the paper guide of the present invention, Fig. 3 is a detailed view of the paper feed roller, Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the paper feed roller, and Fig. 5 is an arm of the present invention. A perspective view, FIG. 6 is a parts layout diagram (plan view) of the present invention, and FIGS. 7 and 10.
The figure is an explanatory diagram of the paper loading state (main parts only), the 8th and 11th diagrams are explanatory diagrams of the paper set adjustment state (main parts only), and the 9th and 1st
Figure 2 is an explanatory diagram of the printing state (main parts only). DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Side plate (1), 2... Side plate (2), 3... Axis, 4... Axis (1), s... Carriage, 6... Home position sensor, 7...・Ribbon cassette, 8・
... Carriage motor, 9... Flexible motor,
10...Timing belt. 11... Line feed motor, 12... Gear (1
). 13... Platen knob, 14... Paper, 15... Thermal head, 16... Ink ribbon, 17... Paper pusher (0-RA, 18... Platen, 19... Paper guide, 20...Release lever, 21...Controller, 22
...Platen cover, 23...Rear steering wheel, 24.
・Front stay. 30... Shaft portion, 31... Paper feed roller, 32...
arm. 33... Bearing part, 34... Shaft, 35... E-ung, 36... Spring, 37... Arm, 38... Arm end (a), 39... Receiving part, 40... Arm end (
b), 41...Shaft plate, 42...Screw, 43...Bearing, 44...Shaft, 45...E ring. 46...Release lever (a), 47...Lever 1
．． 48... Pin, 49... Release lever (b),
51...Lever. 52...Shaft, 53...E ring, 54...Pin,
55...Screw, 56...Spring, 57...Release spring, 58...11 Figure 21 Straw 2 Figure K 3 Figure\l Figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A platen, a paper feed roller that contacts the platen, a paper press roller, a paper guide that guides the printing medium to the printing section, and a lease that changes the state of contact between the printing medium and the platen using the rollers. 1. A printer having a mechanism, characterized in that a lever for rotating a release lever and a lever linked to a paper press roller is rotatably connected, and a spring is provided that acts in a direction to bring the two levers closer to each other. 2. In claim 1, a portion of the release lever is fitted into a spring provided on the base, and the printing medium is mounted;
A pudding characterized by a release lever that can be set at each position for adjustment and printing status. the law of nature. 3. In claim 1, the lever connected to the release lever and the paper pressing roller is rotated, and the mounting position of the spring provided between the levers is set such that the release lever side is approximately at the center of rotation of the release lever, etc. A printer characterized in that the lever side of the printer is located a certain distance away from the center of rotation.