JPS6112362A - Serial type thermal transfer color printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable high speed color printing, by arranging a number of thermal heads corresponding to the number of monochromatic parts of an ink ribbon so as to shift the same to the feed direction of recording paper and the running direction of the ink ribbon. CONSTITUTION:Thermal heads 16-19 correspond to monochromatic parts (a)- (d) of an ink ribbon 13 and arranged so as to be mutually shifted to the feed direction of the ink ribbon 13. Printing operation is performed when a carriage 10 runs to the direction shown by the arrow B and the pressure contact of the thermal heads 16-19 are released when the carriage 10 runs to the direction shown by the arrow B' while the recording paper 20 is sent by one pitch toward the direction shown by the arrow A. The feed pitch of the recording paper 20 is equal to the arrangement pitch of the heat generation elements 16'-19' of the thermal heads 16-19 shifted to the feed direction of the recording paper 20.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] This invention relates to a serial type thermal transfer color printer.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, several means have been known as color printers.

The first means is to move both ends of an ink ribbon 1 having a plurality of monochromatic portions a, b, c, and d of different colors in the length direction to a winding core 9 on a carriage (not shown) as shown in the first figure. 3. 4, move the desired monochrome parts a to d of the ink ribbon 1 to the front of the thermal head 2, and press the monochrome parts a to d onto a recording paper (not shown) by the thermal head 2. The printer was configured to print in the desired color.

In this case, since the color selection operation depends on the ink ribbon being wound up and unwound twice, the ink ribbon tends to shift in the width direction, resulting in poor print quality, and the frequent winding and unwinding process takes time. , there was a problem that high-speed printing was not possible.

As shown in the second figure, both ends of the ink ribbon 1 having a plurality of monochromatic portions a, b, c, and d of different colors in the width direction are wound on a carriage (not shown) and wound on a winding core 3. The ink ribbon 1 is wrapped around a recording paper ( (not shown) and independently drives the heating elements 2a to 2d corresponding to the desired monochromatic portions 2-, -1), thereby printing the color of the monochromatic portion corresponding to the location where heat is generated. Was. In this case, the selection of colors is performed by selectively driving the heating elements 2a to 2d, so there is no problem like the first method, but the ink ribbon does not have the same problem as the first method, but when printing, all the monochromatic parts are simultaneously printed by the thermal head. Since it is pressure-bonded to the recording paper, there is a problem in that areas other than the printed area are rubbed against the recording paper, causing fog.

The third means is to move both ends of an ink ribbon 1 having a plurality of monochromatic portions a, b, c, and d of different colors in the width direction to a winding core 3 on a carriage (not shown) as shown in the third figure. . It was configured to print in that color. In this case, since the thermal head presses only the corresponding monochromatic portion onto the recording paper, the problem of the second method described above is eliminated, but the thermal head must be moved not only in the running direction of the ink ribbon but also in one width direction. Because of this, the mechanism was complicated, resulting in poor accuracy (and poor printing quality).

[Purpose of the invention]

This invention is intended to solve the above problems all at once.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a serial type thermal transfer color printer that is capable of high-speed color printing, has high reliability in ink ribbon winding and head operation, and has excellent print quality.

[Structure of the invention]

This invention relates to a serial type thermal transfer color printer using an ink ribbon having a plurality of monochromatic portions of different colors in the width direction, in which a number of thermal heads corresponding to the number of monochromatic portions of the ink ribbon are connected in the feeding direction of the recording paper and the ink ribbon. The above objective is achieved by arranging the vehicle to be installed offset in the direction of travel.

〔Example〕

Next, the present invention will be explained based on the embodiments shown in FIGS. 4 to 6.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a carriage, which is guided by a slide jab) 1) and moves in the feeding direction of the recording paper 20 (arrow A).
The carriage 10 is movable in the direction perpendicular to the arrow B-B' direction) and the central box part 12.
A source winding core I4 and a winding core 15 of the ink ribbon 13 are provided on both sides of the ink ribbon 13, and the ink ribbon 13 pulled out from the two winding core 14 passes through the front surface of the central box portion 12 and winds up the winding core 1.
It is designed to be wound up to 5 times. That is, ink ribbon 1
3 travels in the direction of arrow B'.

The ink ribbon 13 has a plurality of monochromatic portions having different colors in the width direction, for example, red a, blue, yellow C1 and black d from the top.

16.1? , 18 and 19 are thermal heads provided on the front surface of the central box portion 12 of the carriage 10, and the thermal heads 16 to 19 are used for each monochromatic portion a of the ink ribbon 13.
-d, and are arranged offset from each other in the feeding direction of the recording paper 20 and the running direction of the ink ribbon 13 (fourth
(see figure), each of the thermal heads 16 to 19 is normally located away from the ink ribbon 13.

The heating elements 16', 17', 1B' are independently projected in response to the print signal, and simultaneously press the corresponding monochromatic portions a to d of the ink ribbon 13 onto the recording paper 20.

19' is independently driven to generate heat, and printing in a desired color is performed by main scanning of the carriage IO.

The above printing operation is performed when the carriage 10 travels in the direction of arrow B. When traveling in the direction of arrow B, the thermal heads 16 to 19 are released from pressure, and the recording paper 20 is fed by one pitch in the direction of arrow A. It looks like this. The feeding pitch of the recording paper 20 is equal to the arrangement pinch of the heating elements 16' to 19' of the thermal heads 16 to 19, which are shifted in the feeding direction of the recording paper 20.

Further, while the carriage 10 reciprocates in the range from the solid line to the two-dot chain line in FIG.
Start printing when you reach the dot.

Printing ends when P' is reached.

In other words, when the carriage travels in the direction B, the thermal head 19 at the lowest stage is separated from the ink ribbon until it reaches point P, and when it reaches point P, it protrudes and transfers the single color portion d at the lowest stage of the ink ribbon 13 to the recording paper 20. It is crimped and when the point P' is exceeded, the crimping is released. The other thermal heads 18 to 16 operate in the same manner.

The ink ribbon 13 has a color width 7!1 of the monochrome portions a and d at both edges in the width direction, which is wider than the color width 12 of the intermediate monochrome portions a and c. This ensures stable running of the ink ribbon so that even if the ink ribbon and the heads are slightly misaligned during pressure bonding by the top and bottom thermal heads 16 and 19, the overall frictional force will not change.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained.

During the first scan of the carriage 10, only the lowest thermal head 19 operates and prints.

The thermal head 19 reaches point P as shown in FIG. 6(I), presses the lowermost single-color portion d of the ink ribbon 13 onto the recording paper 20, and prints in the color of the single-color portion d, that is, black. When the thermal head 19 exceeds point P', it separates from the recording paper 20 and returns to its original position together with the carriage 10 (to the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 5). During this return, the recording paper 20 is fed one pitch.

Next, the second scanning of the carriage 10 is started. In this scanning, printing is performed by the lowermost thermal head 19 and the thermal head 18 above it. The thermal head 18 reaches the point P as shown in FIG. overlapping
Print with -. At this time, the thermal head 19 also prints the second line in black. When both thermal heads 19 and 18 exceed point P, they return to their original positions in the same manner as described above, and the recording paper 20 is further fed one pitch.

Next, the third scan of the carriage 10 is started. In this scanning, printing is performed by the thermal heads 19, 18 and 17. The thermal head 17 reaches point P as shown in the figure (n[), and presses the monochromatic portion of the third row from the bottom of the ink ribbon 13 onto the recording paper 20, completing black and yellow printing previously performed. The first line is further printed in blue. Then, the thermal head 18 prints yellow overlappingly on the second line, and prints black on the third line. When the carriage 10 returns, the recording paper 20 is fed one pitch.

Furthermore, during the fourth scan of the carriage 10, all of the thermal heads 19, 18, 17, and 16 operate simultaneously. As shown in FIG.
Crimp it on.

Red is printed on the first line, blue is printed on the second line, yellow is printed on the third line, and black is printed on the fourth line. In this fourth scan, a printing surface of four colors is obtained in the first row. Therefore.

In order to print in all four colors from the second line to the fourth line, the carriage 10 must be scanned three times.

By repeating the above operations.

Continuous color prints are obtained.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, the present invention provides a serial type thermal transfer color printer using an ink ribbon having a plurality of monochromatic parts of different colors in the width direction, in which a number of thermal heads corresponding to the number of monochromatic parts of the ink ribbon are used to feed the recording paper. Since the ink ribbon is disposed staggered in both directions and in the running direction of the ink ribbon, the selection operation of nine colors is different from that of winding and rewinding the ink ribbon nine times, and high-speed printing is possible. In addition, with the ink ribbon, only the monochromatic area necessary for printing and writing is pressed onto the recording paper, and there is no problem of areas other than the printing area rubbing against the recording paper and causing fog, resulting in a high-quality printing surface. . Furthermore, the thermal head only needs to be moved in the running direction of the ink ribbon, which simplifies the movement mechanism and increases the reliability of head operation, providing various excellent effects.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 3 are schematic perspective views showing a conventional example, FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing the scanning range of the carriage, and FIG. Figure (1), (
n), (IIF), and (IV) are explanatory diagrams of the printing operation of each thermal head. 10- Carriage 13- Ink ribbon 14-
Original winding core 15-winding core 16, 17.18.1
9.--Thermal head 16', 17', 18', 19
' - - Heating elements a, b, c, d - Color N (single color part) Figure 1 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In a serial type thermal transfer color printer that uses an ink ribbon that has a plurality of monochromatic parts of different colors in the width direction, the number of thermal heads corresponding to the number of monochromatic parts of the ink ribbon is set in the recording paper feeding direction and the ink A serial type thermal transfer color printer characterized by the fact that the ribbons are installed staggered in the running direction of each ribbon. (2) The serial type thermal transfer color printer according to claim 1, wherein the color width of the monochrome portions at both edges in the width direction of the ink ribbon is wider than the color width of the monochrome portion in the middle.