JPS61139470A - Image recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable an ink sheet cassette to be easily attached and detached from a main unit of thermal transfer recording device by providing an ink sheet cassette guide means and a positioning means at the main unit and cassette respectively. CONSTITUTION:The set of an ink sheet cassette 20 allows the arc part 43a of a cassette frame 42 to be located between a positioning pin 48 and a guide pin 46 and guided to a main unit of the title device. Next, if a winding roll side 45 is permitted to rotate until a notch 43c hits a positioning pin 47, the notch 43c is automatically engaged with the pin 47 to be positioned. Then the intermeshing among a driven gear 25, a feed-side gear 24 and a winding-side gear 26 is maintained in an ideal state, closing a recording cover unit 6. If gear intermeshing is not ideal, a leaf spring 21 absorbs the cause and when the gears 24, 26 shift slightly by rotation, the intermeshing state is normalized.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus such as a thermal transfer recording apparatus in which an ink sheet conveyance system is integrated as an ink sheet cassette.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, as this type of thermal transfer recording device, there is one shown in FIG. 88, for example. In this apparatus, a recording paper conveyance system is attached to a lower frame 101, and an ink sheet conveyance system and a thermal recording head 1021 are attached to an upper frame 103. 101 so as to be rotatable. The recording paper 105 is conveyed by a capstan roller 106 and a pinch roller 107 that are pressed together, and is delivered to a cutter 109 via a platen roller 108. The ink sheet 110 is transferred from a supply reel 111 to a guide roller 112 and a guide roller 113.
The film is wound onto the take-up reel 114 via the. The conveyance system for this ink sheet 110 is an ink sheet cassette 11.
5, the ink sheet cassette 1
15 is removably attached to the upper frame 103 by being pivotally supported on the rotation shaft 104 via a pair of U grooves 116 provided on both sides of one end thereof. The recording section consists of a thermal recording head 102 and a platen roller 108.The ink sheet 110 and the recording paper 105 are overlapped near the platen roller 108, and the recording operation is performed by the thermal recording head 102 while being conveyed by the platen roller 108. It will be done.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the case of such a conventional example, the rotation shaft 104 of the upper frame 103 is used as a support part when setting the ink sheet cassette 115''4I in the apparatus. Because
When setting the ink sheet cassette 115 on the lower frame 101, it is necessary to fit the U groove 116 of the ink sheet cassette 115 into the rotating shaft 104. that time,
Since the ink sheet cassette 115 is relatively large and heavy,
The above fitting operation must be carried out by holding the ink sheet cassette 115 with both hands. Furthermore, since the heavy ink sheet cassette 115 is held and the pair of small U grooves 116 are respectively fitted to the rotating shaft 104, the ink sheet cassette 115 must be held with both hands. There was a problem that mounting the cassette 115 was extremely troublesome and the operability was poor.

The present invention was made in order to solve the problems of the prior art, and its purpose is to make it extremely easy to attach and detach the ink sheet cassette, and to improve the productivity of the ink sheet cassette. An object of the present invention is to provide an image recording device.

(Means for Solving the Problems) Therefore, in order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image recording apparatus in which an ink sheet conveying system is integrated as an ink sheet cassette, and an ink sheet cassette is installed inside the apparatus main body. By providing a guiding means for guiding the ink sheet cassette and a positioning means for positioning the ink sheet cassette at a predetermined position within the apparatus main body, respectively, in the apparatus main body and the ink sheet cassette, and dropping the ink sheet cassette into the apparatus main body. , the ink sheet cassette is configured to be attached to the main body of the apparatus.

(Example) The present BA will be explained below based on an illustrated example. FIG. 6 shows a facsimile device as an image recording device according to the present invention, and this facsimile device 1 generally consists of a recording means 2 on the right half of the figure and a reading means 3 on the left half of the figure. It has become.

The recording means 2 includes a recording cover unit 6 rotatably supported on the main body 4 of the apparatus via a rotation shaft 5.
A thermal recording head 7 is attached to the recording cover unit 6. This thermal recording head 7 has a head bracket 8
The head bracket is attached to the recording frame 10 so as to be rotatable about the fulcrum 9. Further, the thermal recording head 7 is pressed by a head pressure spring 12 whose one end is fixed to the recording 7 frame 10 so as to be pressed against the platen roller 11 .

On the other hand, the recording paper 14 stored in the recording paper holder 13 in the apparatus main body 4 is recorded by the thermal recording head 7 while being in pressure contact with the ink sheet 16 in the recording section 15, and is sent by the platen roller 11 in the direction of arrow A. After the recording is completed, the recording paper 14 is separated from the ink sheet 16 by a separating roller 18 held by a bracket 17 extending from the thermal recording head 7, cut into a predetermined length by a cutter 19, and then cut into a predetermined length by a cutter 19. discharged outside. The recording paper 14 remaining in the main body 4 of the apparatus is returned to a predetermined position by the reverse rotation of the platen roller 11. The platen roller 11 is driven by a motor (not shown).
, 71 is a recess N that positions the thermal recording head 7 by fitting into the shaft portion 11a of the platen roller 11.
17a is provided.

The recording frame 10 is provided with a plate spring 21 for pressing and holding an ink sheet cassette 20 installed in the apparatus main body 4. This ink sheet cassette 20
K. will be explained in detail later.

This is an integrated conveyance system for the ink sheet 16.

The ink sheet 16 comes out from the reel 22 on the supply side of the ink sheet cassette 20, overlaps the recording paper 14 near the recording section 15, and is recorded in the recording section 15 while being recorded on the platen roller 11. is sent to separation roller 1
The recording paper 14 is separated from the recording paper 14 at 8, and wound in the direction of arrow B on a reel 23 on the winding side.

The reel 22 on the supply side is driven by a motor (not shown) via a supply side gear 24 and a driven gear 25 provided on the reel 22, and the reel 23 on the winding υ side is driven by a motor (not shown). ], the winding side gear 26 and the reel 23
It is driven via a driven gear 25 provided at the.

During recording, in order to tension the ink sheet 16, back tension is applied to the supply side glue 12, and the percentage take-out side glue
A tension of 70 is applied to the ink sheet 23 to prevent the ink sheet 16 from wrinkling. At this time, the reel 23 on the winding side winds up the ink sheet 16 while maintaining the front tension.

After recording, the recording paper 14 is returned to the predetermined position as described above.
However, the ink sheet 16 is rewound onto the supply side glue reel 22 by the same length as the rewound length of the recording paper 14. At this time, the roll 23 on the winding 9 side is free in the unwinding direction by a one-way clutch (not shown). A recording cover 29 is attached to the recording frame 10 of the recording cover unit 6 and is provided with an original width guide 28 that is movable according to the width of the original. This recording frame 10
As described above, the recording cover unit 6 equipped with
It is attached to the main body 4 of the apparatus so that it can be opened and expanded around the center, and is configured so that the recording paper 14 and ink sheet 16 can be easily replaced.

On the other hand, the reading means 3 is constructed as follows.

The original 31 guided by the original width guide 28 is
The document is separated into one sheet by the feed section 32 and the ADF separation section 33, and sent to the reading section 35 by a pair of document conveying rollers 34.
The document is discharged out of the apparatus main body 4 by a pair of document discharge rollers 36 .

When the document 31 passes through the reading section 35, the fluorescent light 37
The light reflected by the original 31 is guided by the mirror 38 to the lens e39, and the light is reflected by the lens 31.
The light focused at 9 is converted into an electrical signal by a photoelectric conversion element 40. In the figure, 41 indicates a power source for the entire device.

Furthermore, in the present invention, the ink sheet cassette 20 is configured as follows.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, this ink sheet cassette 20 has a cassette frame 42 having a rectangular planar shape. 9, a pair of mutually opposing side plates 43, 43 of the cassette frame 42 are paired with each other.

It is formed into a typical shape. That is, the side plate 43.
43 has an arcuate portion 43a on its lower side (FIG. 2) as a guide means when installing the ink sheet cassette 20 in the apparatus main body 4, a supply roll 44, and a winding roll 45.
Notches 43b, 43 serve as positioning means to maintain engagement between the driven gear 25 that transmits driving force to the supply side gear 24 and the winding side gear 26 attached to the device main body 4.
c is formed.

The cutouts 43b and 43c are connected to the supply side gear 24 and the winding side gear 26 by engaging with positioning pins 46 and 47 as positioning means provided on the main body 4 of the apparatus.
and the driven gear 2 of the supply roll 44 and take-up roll 45
It has a shape that ensures meshing with 5. Arc part 4
The notch 43b on the side 3a performs positioning in the X direction and the Y direction in FIG.
The direction is a 2r shape, and positioning is performed only in the Y direction.

Further, the arcuate portion 43a allows the ink sheet cassette 20 to be attached to the apparatus main body 4 by bringing it into contact with an id pin 48 serving as a guide means provided in the apparatus main body 4 and a positioning pin 46 serving as a guide pin. K is designed to guide you when installing it. The arc portion 43a has a shape and size such that the center of the arc is the center of the driven gear 25 of the supply roll 44, and the backlash between the driven gear 25 and the supply side gear 24 is slightly larger than the normal value. 9, when the ink sheet cassette 20 is installed, the driven gear 2
5 and the supply side gear 24 is avoided. In the illustrated embodiment, an arcuate portion 43d whose arc center is the center of the driven gear 25 of the winding roll 45 is also provided at the end opposite to the arcuate portion 43a.

Further, the cassette frame 42 includes a bracket 4.
Two sets of spindles 50, 51 are each coaxially and rotatably supported via the shaft 9. These spindles 50.5
The tip portions 50a and 51a of the roller 1 are tapered to improve operability during centering and fitting with the supply roll 44 and take-up roll 45. One spindle 50
is fixed in the axial direction, but the other spindle 5 is slidable in the axial direction.
1 is constantly pressed in the direction of the other spindle 50 by a spring 52. By this pressing operation, the system spindle 51 holds the supply roll 44t or the take-up roll 45, and these rolls 44, 45 are prevented from coming off even if tension is applied to the ink sheet 16. As shown in FIG. 3, the spindle 51 rotates a lever 53 provided at one end in the direction of arrow C about a lever fulcrum 54, so that one end of the lever 53 comes into contact with the cassette 7 frame 42. In particular, slide in the direction of the arrow and stop.

The supply roll 44 and the take-up roll 45 include a cylindrical reel 22 and a support shaft 55 fitted to both ends of the reel 22.
56. An unused ink sheet 16 is wound on the supply side reel 22, and the ink sheet 16 is wound on the wide take-up side reel 22.

As shown in FIG. 5, the support shafts 55, 56 are provided with protruding details 55a, 56a for fitting onto the reel 22, and the tips 50a, 50 of the spindles 50, 51.
It fits with 1a. Recessed portion 55b.

56b is provided. In addition, one of the support shafts 55 has
The driven gear 25 for transmitting driving force to the supply roll 44 and the take-up roll 45 is integrally provided.

The ceiling of the cassette frame 42 also has a rectangular shape so that the thermal recording head 7 attached to the recording blade bar unit 6 can come into contact with the ink sheet 16 when the ink sheet cassette 20 is installed in the apparatus main body 4. window 58 is open.

In the above configuration, the image recording apparatus of the present invention operates as follows. That is, in order to replace the recording paper 14 or the ink sheet cassette 20, the recording cover unit 6 is opened and expanded as shown in FIG. By doing this,
The ink sheet cassette 20 is released from the pressing force of the leaf spring 21 and is merely placed on the positioning bins 46, 47, so that it can be easily taken out from the main body 4 of the apparatus. After taking out the ink sheet cassette 20Y, the recording paper 14 can be freely taken in and out of the recording paper holder 13.

When setting a new ink sheet 16 in the ink sheet cassette 20, the supply roll 44 on which the unused ink sheet 16 is wound is inserted into the notch 43b of the cassette frame 42.
The take-up roll 45, which is set on the spindle 50.51 on the supply side nearby, and on which the ink sheet 16 is not wound, is set on the spindle 50.51 on the take-up side near the notch 43a.

More specifically, the supply roll 44 and the winding roll 44
5, rotate the spindle 51 Leno Z-53 about the lever fulcrum 54 in the direction of arrow C (FIG. 3), slide the spindle 51 in the direction of the arrow, and remove the supply roll 44 and take-up 90. - recess 5 of support shaft 55 of rule 45;
5b is fitted into the tip 50a of the spindle 50, as shown in FIG. After that, the recess 156 of the other support shaft 56
b to the tip 51a of the spindle 51, and then press the lever 5.
3 to the illustrated position (FIG. 3), the tip 51a of the spindle 51 is moved toward the support shaft 5 by the elastic force of the spring 52.
6, and the supply roll 44 and take-up roll 45 are set in the ink sheet cassette 20.

Next, the ink sheet 16 on the supply side is wound up on the reel 2 on the p side.
2 to complete setting of the ink sheet 16.

To set the ink sheet cassette 20 in the main body 4 of the apparatus, as shown in FIG. The sheet cassette 20 is guided to the main body 4 of the apparatus.

Note that the movement of the ink sheet cassette 20, which corresponds to one direction of the ink sheet 16, is regulated by a side guide (not shown). The side guides have a tapered shape such that as the ink sheet cassette 20 gets closer to the positioning pin 46 and the guide pin 48, looseness in the width direction is restricted.

Next, if the notch 43c on the 1% intake port 0-ru 45 side is rotated in the direction of arrow E until it hits the positioning pin 47, the notch 4
3c is automatically engaged with the positioning pin 47, and the position of the ink sheet cassette 20 is maintained so that the LL driven gear 25, the supply side gear 24, and the winding side gear 26 are properly engaged with each other. . Finally, close the recording cover unit 6.

Even if the meshing of the gears is not proper, the leaf spring 21 will absorb the problem and if either the supply side gear 24 or the take-up side gear 26 rotates a little, then
The meshing of the gears is in a proper state.

The supply roll 44 and the take-up roll 45 are connected to the supply side gear 2
The ink sheet 16 is rotated via the winding side gear 26 and the driven gear 25, and the ink sheet 16 is wound around the winding roll 45 while being applied with tension.

When the use of one roll of the ink sheet 16 is completed, the used ink sheet 16 is scattered on the reel 22 on the take-up side 9, and the supply side reel 22 is filled with nitrogen. The used ink sheet 16 is discarded, and the empty supply reel 22 is used as the reel 22 of the take-up 9111. In addition, the supply roll 44 and the take-up crawl 45'? :
When removing the ink sheet from the ink sheet cassette 20, the same procedure as above is used.

(Effects of the Invention) The present invention has the above-described structure and operation, and since means for guiding the ink sheet cassette and means for positioning the ink sheet cassette are respectively provided in the apparatus main body and the ink sheet cassette, the ink sheet cassette is - When installing the ink sheet cassette into the apparatus main body, the ink sheet cassette can be installed by guiding the ink sheet cassette to a predetermined position on the apparatus main body using the guiding means and positioning the ink sheet cassette using the positioning means. Since it is sufficient to simply take out the ink sheet cassette when installing and removing it, the ink sheet cassette can be installed and removed from the main body of the apparatus very easily. In particular, when setting the ink sheet cassette, there is no need to consciously fit the ink sheet cassette to the main body of the device, so the operability can be significantly improved.

[BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS] FIGS. 1 to 7 show an embodiment of the image recording device according to the present invention, and FIG. 1 shows the state of the recording frame unit of the device when it is expanded. 2 is a plan view of the ink sheet cassette, FIG. 3 is a front view of the ink sheet cassette, FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the ink sheet cassette, and FIG. A partially broken sectional view, FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the image recording device in use, FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the ink sheet cassette of the same device in a layered state, and FIG. FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a conventional image recording device. Explanation of the symbol

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) In an image recording apparatus in which an ink sheet transport system is integrated as an ink sheet cassette, there is provided a guide means for guiding the ink sheet cassette into the apparatus main body, and the ink sheet cassette is positioned at a predetermined position within the apparatus main body. An image recording apparatus characterized in that the apparatus main body and the ink sheet cassette are each provided with positioning means for positioning the ink sheet cassette, and the ink sheet cassette is mounted on the apparatus main body by dropping the ink sheet cassette into the apparatus main body. . (2) The image according to claim 1, wherein the guide means is comprised of a circular arc portion provided on the ink sheet cassette and a guide pin provided on the apparatus main body and abutting the circular arc portion. Recording device. (3) The positioning means comprises a notch provided in the ink sheet cassette and a guide pin provided in the main body of the apparatus and engaged with the notch. The image recording device according to item 2.