JPS61172780A - Thermal transfer printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the slackening of a transfer ribbon at the start time of recording, by controlling the title printer so that a take-up motor is driven during the pressure contact operation of a thermal head to recording paper at the start time of recording and a carriage motor is synchronously driven after the completion of pressure contact. CONSTITUTION:The CD value corresponding to a rotary amount, until a thermal head 35 is perfectly contacted with a platen under pressure, is set to the counter in RAM102 and an exciting pulse is sent out to a head operation motor 109 through an output I/O port 104 and a drive controller 106 and, further, the CD value is counted down and an exciting pulse is continuously sent out until the CD value reaches the value (i) immediately before the head 35 is perfectly contacted with the platen under pressure. In a transfer printing mode, the exciting pulse is also supplied to a wind-up motor 110 from this state and repeated until CD=0. By this method, the thermal head 35 is perfectly contacted with the platen under pressure and a wind-up spool becomes unnecessary and the taking-up of the ribbon is eliminated and the slackening of the ribbon can be prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a thermal transfer printer, and more particularly to a thermal transfer printer for a serial thermal transfer printer in which a carriage carrying a thermal transfer ribbon cassette horizontally scans a recording paper. This invention relates to a ribbon feeding device.

1 suction ΔA4 This invention includes a thermal transfer ribbon supplying means, a winding means for winding up the used transfer ribbon, and a thermal head for transferring and recording onto recording paper by generating heat from the transfer ribbon. , a mechanism is provided to press the thermal head against and release from the recording paper, and the carriage is moved in a direction perpendicular to the recording paper feeding direction by a carriage motor, and the carriage is moved in a thermal transfer printer that records via a transfer ribbon. Separately from the carriage motor, a winding motor is provided which is driven in synchronization with the carriage motor to rotate the ribbon winding means, and drives the thermal head pressure contact/separation mechanism in response to the start of recording to cause the thermal head to record. After the thermal head press-contact/removal mechanism is driven and before the thermal head press-contact is completed, that is, during the press-contact operation, the take-up motor is driven to prevent the transfer ribbon from loosening. It is equipped with a circuit that controls the take-up motor, the carriage motor, and the thermal head operating motor, which drive the carriage motor in synchronization with the take-up motor after the completion of pressure contact of the head, and prevents the transfer ribbon from becoming loose at the start of recording. By providing a winding motor that rotates the transfer ribbon winding means separately from the motor, the load on the carriage motor can be reduced and an engagement mechanism between the carriage scanning mechanism and the ribbon winding means can be eliminated.

Conventionally, in this type of thermal transfer printer, a transfer ribbon is sent out from a supply spool, is brought into pressure contact with the recording paper between a thermal head and the recording paper, and is wound onto a take-up spool. The take-up spool is engaged with and rotated by the scanning mechanism of the carriage and is configured to take up the transfer ribbon.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the thermal transfer printer described above, in response to the start of recording, the pressure contact mechanism of the thermal head is driven to bring the thermal head into pressure contact with the recording paper, and then the carriage motor is driven to move the carriage. Since the transfer ribbon winding means is rotated by the rotary carriage motor, the transfer ribbon is wound up after the thermal head is pressed, and the transfer ribbon is not wound up during the thermal head's pressing operation.
There was a problem that the transfer ribbon became loose. In addition, in conventional devices, the carriage motor is the driving source for taking up the ribbon, which increases the load, which requires a large motor, and an engagement mechanism between the carriage scanning mechanism and the take-up spool. There have been various problems, such as the need for readjustment due to changes in the characteristics of mechanical elements (springs, wires, etc.) due to long-term use.

This invention provides a winding motor for the thermal transfer ribbon that is independent of the carriage scanning mechanism, and drives the winding motor during the pressing operation until the thermal head comes into pressure contact with the recording paper at the start of recording to transfer the ribbon. The ribbon is prevented from loosening, and the carriage motor is controlled to be driven in synchronization with the take-up motor after the thermal head has been pressed, thereby preventing the transfer ribbon from becoming loose at the start of recording. This is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems. Specifically, a carriage includes a means for supplying a thermal transfer ribbon, a winding means for winding the transfer ribbon, a thermal head for heating the thermal transfer ribbon for recording, and a means for pressing the thermal head against and releasing the recording paper. A thermal transfer printer having a mechanism and a carriage motor for moving the carriage includes a take-up motor provided on the carriage to rotate a transfer ribbon take-up means, and a take-up motor for rotating a transfer ribbon take-up means provided on the carriage, and a take-up motor for rotating a transfer ribbon take-up means provided on the carriage, and a take-up motor for rotating a transfer ribbon take-up means provided on the carriage, and a take-up motor for rotating a transfer ribbon take-up means provided on the carriage, and a take-up motor for rotating a transfer ribbon take-up means provided on the above-mentioned carriage, and a take-up motor for rotating a transfer ribbon take-up means provided on the above-mentioned carriage, and a take-up motor for rotating a transfer ribbon take-up means provided on the above-mentioned carriage, and a take-up motor for rotating a transfer ribbon take-up means provided on the above-mentioned carriage, and a take-up motor for rotating a transfer ribbon take-up means provided on the above-mentioned carriage, and a take-up motor for rotating a transfer ribbon take-up means provided on the above-mentioned carriage. The thermal head press-contact/separation mechanism is driven so as to press the thermal head, the take-up motor is driven before the press-contact is made, and after the press-contact is completed, the carriage motor and the take-up motor are controlled to be driven synchronously. The present invention provides a thermal transfer printer characterized by being equipped with a control circuit.

K1 carp This invention will be explained in detail below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.

Overall configuration of the printer>1. FIGS. 1 and 5 In FIG. 1 showing the external appearance of the thermal transfer printer of the present invention,
10 is a chassis, 14 is a platen, 20 is a paper feed motor,
30 is a carriage, 32 is a ribbon supply reel which is a thermal transfer ribbon supply means, 31 is a ribbon take-up reel which is a ribbon winding means, 35 is a thermal head, 37 is a ribbon end sensor consisting of a photoelectric element, and 38 is a cassette attachment detection. 39 is a carriage cover, and 70 is a cassette mounting sensor consisting of a microswitch. FIG. 5 shows the control circuit of this printer, and 100 is Cp
u, 101 is ROM, 102 is RAM, +03 is system bus, 106 is drive control, 107 is carriage motor, 109 is thermal head operating motor, 1
10 is a winding motor, and 111 is a thermal head drive circuit.

The chassis 10 includes a seat plate 9, and side plates L that stand upright on both sides of the seat plate 9! , 12 and a front plate 13, and a side plate 11.
．． 12, the rear half side part is formed one step higher than the front half side part. The platen shaft 15 of the platen 14 is connected to the side plate 11,
The side plate 11 is rotatably supported at the rear side of the side plate 12.
, 12, the ends of a pair of guide shafts 16, 17 for guiding the movement of the carriage 30 are fixed, and these guide shafts 16, 17 are mounted in parallel in the front and rear.

Further, from the bottom to the rear of the platen 14, the lower paper guide plate 18 is attached to the side plates 11, 12 at a predetermined interval.
The paper feed motor 20 consisting of a stepping motor is attached to the side plate 11 at the rear of the guide plate 18, and the motor gear 21 attached to the rotating shaft of the motor 20 projects outward from the side plate 11. , is engaged with one idler gear 22 having a two-row configuration. The other gear (not shown) of the idler gear 22 is engaged with the platen gear 23 fixed to the tip of the platen shaft 15, so that the platen 14 is rotated by the rotation of the paper feed motor 20, and the recording paper (not shown) is engaged with the platen gear 23 fixed to the tip of the platen shaft 15. ) is fed vertically.

Between the guide shafts 16 and 17, a timing belt 28 is provided in parallel with the pulleys 24 and 25 mounted on the seat plate 9 of the chassis lO, and both ends of the timing belt 28 are connected to the carriage 30. It is fixed at One of the pulleys 25 is integrally formed with an idler gear 26, and a carriage motor 107 consisting of a stepping motor is provided with the idler gear 26 installed on the chassis lO.
It engages with a motor gear 27 attached to the rotating shaft of the motor.

Therefore, the rotation of the carriage motor rotates the idler gear 26 and pulley 25 to move the timing belt 28, and in accordance with the movement of the timing belt 28, the carriage 30 is moved back and forth along the guide shafts 16, 17. Note that recording is performed on the recording paper when moving in the right direction in the figure. The specific configuration of the control circuit will be described later. 1. A cover 39 that covers the top surface of the carriage 30, which is a flat box with an opening on the top surface, has a ribbon supply reel 32 and a ribbon take-up reel 31 protruding from inside the gear box of the carriage 30. There is. A paper guide plate 3 is installed on the rear surface of the cover 39.
6 is provided in a protruding manner, and the guide plate 36 is formed into an arc shape having a circumferential surface concentric with the circumferential surface of the platen 14. The cover 39
A transfer ribbon cassette 40 shown in FIG. 4 is mounted on the top, and guide members 33 and 34 for mounting are provided protruding from the front and back center of the cover 39, and the front guide member 33 is a plate spring. It is formed by Further, a ribbon end sensor 37 made of an optical element is provided protrudingly on the cover 39, and is inserted into the ribbon cassette 40 to be mounted, for example.
Detection is performed using the translucency of the end of the ribbon. Further, on the cover 39, an operating lever 38 of a cassette mounting sensor 70 installed inside the gear box protrudes from below, and the mounting is detected by the operating lever 38 coming into contact with the side plate of the cassette 40 to be mounted. , it is designed to detect that the device is not attached if it does not operate.

Explanation of the thermal head>9. The carriage 30 in FIG. 3 has a thermal head 35 shown in FIG.
is installed. That is, the head support plate 67 of the thermal head 35 is attached to the carriage 30 via a shaft 68 so as to be rotatable about the shaft 68 as a fulcrum, and a spring 69 is stretched between the support plate 67 and the carriage 30. The support plate 67 is urged in the direction of the arrow in the figure, that is, in the direction in which the thermal head 35 is moved away from the platen 14 (removal direction). An L-shaped head slider 66 is fixed to the support plate 67, and the head slider 66 is moved up and down by a drive unit 6I which is installed in the carriage 30 and serves as a thermal head press-contact/separation mechanism to be described later. 35 is completely pressed against the platen 14,
It is designed to separate from the platen 14 at the bottom.

<Configuration of transfer ribbon cassette> 9. FIG. 4 A transfer ribbon 47 is wound around the ribbon supply reel 32 in a transfer ribbon cassette 40 mounted on the carriage cover 39.
It rotatably supports a ribbon supply spool 41 that is engaged with the ribbon take-up reel 31, and rotatably supports a ribbon take-up spool 42 that is engaged with the ribbon take-up reel 31. The transfer ribbon 47 wound around the ribbon supply spool 41 is led out from the supply spool 41 and attached to three guide pins 4.
4A, passes through the notch 45 into which the thermal head 35 and the guide member 34 are inserted, and the three guide pins 4
4B and is wound onto a take-up spool 42. Therefore, by rotating the ribbon take-up reel 31 and rotating the take-up spool 42 counterclockwise, the transfer ribbon 47 is pulled out from the supply spool 41 to the notch 45, that is, the recording section.

A hole 43 is bored in the bottom plate of the cassette 40, and the ribbon end sensor 37 is inserted into the cassette 40 through the hole 43.

<Internal structure of carriage> 8. A supply reel unit 50 and a take-up reel unit 56 are provided inside the carriage 30 in FIG. unit 6
1 is provided.

The supply reel unit 50 includes clutch plates 52 and 53 that sandwich the reel shaft 51 and the felt member 54.
The supply reel 32 is formed by extending the upper part of the reel shaft 5I, and the supply reel 32, the reel shaft 51, and the clutch plate 53 are integrally formed, and The inner sleeves are more upright (
(not shown) is rotatably supported. Further, the other clutch plate 52 is connected to the clutch plate 53 by a spring 55.
The tension mechanism for the reel 32 is configured by pressing the reel 32 and fixing it so as not to rotate. Therefore, when the transfer ribbon 47 is pulled out, the supply spool 41 of the cassette 40 overcomes the frictional force of the felt member 54 and rotates. Also,
The friction of the felt member 54 prevents excess transfer ribbon 47 from being supplied due to inertial rotation. The ribbon take-up reel 31 also has the same structure as the supply reel 32, except that a take-up gear 57 is used in place of the clutch plate 52. The take-up gear 57 engages with a motor gear 60 attached to the rotating shaft of a take-up motor 110, which is a stepping motor mounted on the carriage 30, via an idler gear (not shown in the drawing and located behind the take-up gear 57). It matches. Therefore, by rotating the take-up motor 110 in the counterclockwise direction, the take-up gear 57 is rotated in the direction of the arrow in the figure.
A ribbon take-up spool 42 is rotated counterclockwise via the take-up reel 31, and the take-up spool 42 is driven in synchronization with a carriage motor 107 that moves the carriage 30.

The rotation of the winding gear 57 has a torque greater than the adhesive force with which the transfer ribbon 47 adheres to the paper for recording, and the ribbon 4
7 from peeling off and loosening. Further, the amount of rotation of the take-up gear 57 is set to be larger than the amount of rotation of the carriage motor 107, that is, the amount of movement of the carriage 30. Winding of the transfer ribbon 47 is suppressed by pressing the thermal head 35 against the platen 14, but the winding motor 110 is controlled by the carriage motor 1.
07, the take-up gear 57 rotates idly by overcoming the frictional force of the felt member of the take-up reel unit 56. Therefore, the frictional force of this felt member needs to be set to be greater than the adhesive force of the transfer ribbon and smaller than the pressure contact force of the thermal head 35 so that the transfer ribbon 47 does not unnecessarily slide on the recording paper.

In the drive unit 61 that presses the thermal head 35 against and away from the platen 14, a cam gear 62 is rotatably supported on the bottom plate of the carriage. is formed. The gear of the cam gear 62 is engaged via an idler gear 64 with a motor gear 65 provided on the rotating shaft of a head operating motor 109 consisting of a stepping motor attached to the bottom of the carriage 30. The tip of the Herad slider 66, which is integrated with the thermal head 35, is in pressure contact with the cam ridge of the cylindrical cam 63, and this cam ridge gradually becomes higher and forms a sharp notch following the highest position. Due to the rotation of the cam gear 62, when the head slider 66 is positioned at the top of the cam mountain, the thermal head 35 is moved to the platen 1.
When the head slider 66 is in pressure contact with the platen 14 and the head slider 66 is located at the bottom (cam gear plane), the thermal head 35 is in pressure contact with the platen 14.
I try to detach myself more. In addition, as described above, the spring 69 moves the thermal head 35 to the platen 14.
It is encouraging them to leave more. With this configuration, the thermal head 35 is brought into pressure contact with the platen 14 by rotating the head operating motor 109 during recording, and the head operating motor 109 is rotated during non-recording such as when returning or space. By further rotating, the thermal head 35 is suddenly separated from the platen 14, and this state is maintained while the carriage 30 is moved.

Additionally, a transfer ribbon cassette 40 is provided inside the carriage 30.
A cassette mounting sensor 70 consisting of a microswitch for detecting the mounting of a cassette is installed, and its operating lever 38 protrudes above the carriage cover 39 as described above. The operation of the cassette installation sensor 70 switches between performing recording control using a thermal transfer ribbon or recording control using thermal paper, and stops driving the winding motor when the cassette 40 is not installed. ing.

Circuit configuration>, 5. FIG. 5 Next, the configuration of the system control circuit of this printer will be explained with reference to FIG.

Cpuloo performs system control of the entire printer according to a system program stored in advance in the ROM10I, and is connected to the system bus 103.

The ROM10I is connected to the system bus 103, and stores a system program as shown in FIG. 6 in advance.
It is read out sequentially under the control of puloo and is controlled by the system.

The RAM 102 is connected to the system bus 103 and
The successive output or writing of data is controlled by the control of ulOO, and this RAM 102 has an area for recording recording data from the host computer, various control registers, counters, flags, and the like.

Reference numeral 115 denotes an interface device that exchanges data with a host computer such as a Centro interface. For example, character or image data for one line or a predetermined line is supplied, and R
Store data area 1 of AM102.

104 is the output [10 boats, system bus 1
03, and each of the above-mentioned motors (carriage motor 107, paper feed motor 20
, head operating motor 109, take-up motor 110), and a drive circuit 111 of the thermal head 35.

105 is input! The No. 10 boat takes in the ribbon end sensor 37, the cassette mounting sensor 70, and other key signals (not shown) and inputs them to CPU.

The drive controller 106 controls each of the above motors 107.2.
0.109.110 and the thermal head 35, it supplies excitation pulses of each phase to each of the above-mentioned stepping motors based on control data from CpulOO, and also controls the drive of the head described below. Each recording dot data is supplied to the circuit 111. Through the above control, the take-up motor 11O, carriage motor 107, and head operating motor 109 drive the head operating motor 109 to press the thermal head 35 against the recording paper in response to the start of recording, and the thermal contact of the thermal head 35 is completed. Before this, the take-up motor 110 is driven and rotated to prevent the transfer ribbon 47 from loosening, and when the thermal head 35 is completely pressed, the carriage motor 107 is moved to the take-up motor 110.
It is designed to rotate and drive in synchronization with the

The head drive circuit 111 is composed of a shift register having a capacity corresponding to the number of dots in the thermal head 35, and a buffer connected in parallel to this shift register and connected to a switching circuit of a heating element group. The drive circuit ill
The thermal head 35, which is driven via the heating element, has heating elements arranged in a vertical line, for example.

Action〉1. FIGS. 6 and 7 Next, the operation of this printer will be explained with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

One line of recording data is stored in the storage data area of the RAM 102 from the host computer via the interface device 115, and when the data is ready, the process shown in FIG. 6(a) is executed to start the recording operation.

It is determined whether the cassette attachment sensor 70 is ON10FF, and if it is OFF', the recording mode is set to normal thermal paper, and if it is ON, the transfer print flag is turned ON. Furthermore, 0N10FF of the ribbon end sensor 37 is determined,
If it is ON, it is determined that all the transfer ribbons in the transfer ribbon cassette 40 are used, and an error process is performed, for example, a notification sound is made and a lamp is turned on, and the recording operation is not executed. When recording on thermal paper, the thermal temperature is higher than that of a thermal transfer ribbon, and therefore, in the case of thermal paper, it is necessary to set the heat generation temperature of the thermal head 35 high, and the energization time is lengthened.

Subsequently, the head operating motor 109 and the winding motor 11
Performs initial drive control of O. This control rotates the head actuating motor 109 to press the thermal head 35 against the platen 14, and also applies a constant tension to the transfer ribbon 47 to prevent the thermal head 35 from coming into pressure contact with the recording paper. The motor 110 is rotated. This control of the take-up motor 11O is activated only during the transfer print mode, and is not activated during thermal paper printing. This specific action is as shown in FIG. 6 (b), which is shown consecutively with *■, by calculating the CD value corresponding to the rotation amount until the thermal head 35 is completely pressed against the platen 14 by using the counter in the RAM 102. Set to . This is the head slider 6 in Figure 2.
A cam gear 6 rotates the head actuating motor 109 until it comes into contact with the highest part of the cylindrical cam 63 62.

After that, the output I1 is sent to the head operating motor l'09.
An excitation pulse is sent out via the 0 port 104 and the drive control 106, and furthermore, the CD value is counted down and the excitation pulse is continuously sent out until CD≦i is reached. This state is shown in FIG. 7(a)A.

Here, the i value is immediately before the thermal head 35 comes into complete pressure contact with the platen 14, and corresponds to about 10 steps before the stepping motor. From this state, if the transfer print mode is selected, an excitation pulse is also supplied to the take-up motor 110, and this is repeated until CD=0 is reached. This state is shown in Figure 7 (
b) Shown in B. In addition, each motor in FIG. 7 (head operating motor 109, take-up motor tio, carriage motor 10
7) Ha! It shows the time chart of two phases. The reason why the first excitation pulse is made wider than the others is to increase the rising torque. Through this series of operations, the thermal head 35 is completely pressed into contact with the platen 14, and the take-up spool 42 is unnecessarily removed from the ribbon 47.
There is no need to wind up the ribbon 47, and the ribbon 47 can be prevented from becoming slack.

Returning again to FIG. 6(a), the process moves to the recording operation. Prior to recording, it is determined whether the mode is transfer print mode again, and the cassette attachment sensor 70 is activated in transfer print mode.
When it is determined that the ribbon end sensor 37 is ON10FF and the cassette attachment sensor 70 is OFF or the ribbon end sensor 37 is ON, error processing is executed, the carriage 30 returns to its original state as described later, and the recording operation is interrupted. do. This happened when the cassette 40 was accidentally inserted while recording.
This is to interrupt recording when the ribbon 47 is removed or when the ribbon 47 ends.

Once these conditions are met, recording is performed and the RAM
102 recording data are output one after another, skip command (empty feed of thermal head 35), line feed (LP)
A command (carriage return command) is determined, and if it is print data, one column of print data is transferred to the shift register of the head drive circuit 111, and the heating element of the thermal head 35 is energized to perform printing.

The recording operation is shown in Fig. 6 (c), where the recording operation is continued with *■. In the transfer print mode, the PL value corresponding to the thermal temperature of the thermal transfer ribbon is stored in the RAM! 02, and if it is not the transfer print mode, set the PH value corresponding to the thermal temperature of the thermal paper (PR<PH). Further, a strobe signal is sent, the data in the shift register is transferred to the buffer of the head drive circuit 111, and among the heating elements of the thermal head 35, the element where the recording dot data exists is energized to start recording. Thereafter, the PH or PL value is counted down and repeated until it reaches PH(L)-0. That is, the energization time is determined by the value of this PH(L) value, and when PH(L)=0 is reached, the buffer is reset, the energization ends, and recording is completed.

Returning again to FIG. 6(a), when the recording by the above operation (c) is completed, the rotation of the carriage motor 107 and the take-up motor 110 is controlled, and the carriage 30 is moved to the next column position. Of the transfer ribbon 47 that was sandwiched between the thermal head 35 and the platen 14, the amount of ribbon removed by this movement is wound up and peeled off from the recording paper, and the above operations are continued as shown in Fig. 6 ( D)
Shown below.

First, an excitation pulse is supplied to the carriage motor 107 and the take-up motor 110 (only in the transfer print mode). Further, a CL value representing the amount of movement of the carriage 30 is counted up. Here, excitation pulses are also supplied to the take-up motor 110 in the same steps as the carriage motor 107, but this is because the gear ratios of the motor gear 60, idler gear (not shown), and take-up gear 57 in FIG. 1st
Since the gear ratio of the carriage motor gear 27 and idler gear 26 shown in the figure is set to be slightly larger, the amount of rotation of the take-up gear 57 is greater than the amount of movement of the carriage 30, and the transfer ribbon 47 is moved onto the take-up reel 31 from the recording paper. Gives enough torque to peel it off.

This torque applies a predetermined tension to the ribbon 47, and the frictional force of the felt member under the winding gear 57 absorbs a torque greater than the pressure contact force of the thermal head 35, causing the ribbon 47 to unwind unnecessarily. I'm trying not to get caught. Therefore, the amount of rotation between one column of the two motors 107 and 110 is not limited to 1:1, and depending on these gear ratios, the excitation pulse supply ratio of the take-up motor 110 may be made smaller than that of the carriage motor 107. , it is sufficient to set the above-mentioned torque relationship.

Returning again to FIG. 6(a), the above operation is repeated until recording of one line is completed. (FIG. 7C) If one line of recording, that is, the LF command in the recording data is read out, or if the carriage 30 moves to a predetermined position, then the carriage motor 107 and the take-up motor 110 remaining amount rotation control is performed. This is to empty the thermal head 35 by a predetermined amount and peel off the transfer ribbon 47 adhered to the recording paper. This operation is shown in Fig. 6 (d) in succession with *■. When CL=l (l is the end position of a line in a predetermined recording range) or when the LF' command is read, a CL value corresponding to the peeling control and slack removal described above is set in the counter in the RAM 102. Subsequently, the carriage motor 107 and the take-up motor 1
10 (only in transfer print mode), an excitation pulse is sent out, the CL value is counted down, and the CL value is counted up. This operation is repeated until GE=i' is reached. [FIG. 7(b)D] The above i' value corresponds to the amount of movement of the recording tod from the pressure contact portion of the thermal head 35, and is approximately 10 tod. Next, the carriage motor! 07 is stopped, and the winding motor 11O (
(only in transfer print mode), head operating motor 109
At the same time, the CL value is counted down and repeated until CE=0 is reached. [Figure 7 (b)
E] At this time, since the head slider 66 immediately comes into contact with the lowest part of the cam ridge of the cylindrical cam 63, the thermal head 3
5 instantly separates from the platen 14, and thereafter the cylindrical cam 63
At this time, the winding motor 110 is rotated to remove the slack.

In the series of operations described above, the carriage 30 was moved by an amount equivalent to the peeling force, but this operation may not be performed and the operation E described above may be performed immediately, but at this time, the take-up motor 110 is moved by the force equivalent to the peeling force. To provide torque, supply spool 4
There is a possibility that more ribbon 47 is taken out than necessary from 1, and there is a problem that adjustment of the tension level of the supply loop 32 and the winding torque becomes complicated.

Returning again to FIG. 6(a), the winding rotation of the carriage motor 107 and the rotation of the paper feed motor 20 are controlled, and the return operation of the carriage 30 and the feeding of the recording paper by a predetermined amount are completed. As shown in Fig. 6 (e), the carriage motor 107 supplies excitation pulses of opposite phase until the CL value reaches zero, and the paper feed motor 20 is supplied with excitation pulses in advance. Excitation pulses are supplied for the determined paper feed amount CF value.

Returning again to FIG. 6(a), when the skip command is read from the recorded data, the carriage motor 107 described above
, the remaining rotation control of the winding motor 110 and the end rotation control of the head operating motor 109 and the winding motor 110 are shown in FIG.
d).

After that, an excitation pulse is supplied to the carriage motor 107, the carriage 30 is moved by the number of skips read out as recording data, the non-recording area (space) is not recorded, the winding is not performed, and the thermal head 35 is empty. Send.

As is clear from the above description, according to the thermal transfer printer according to the present invention, the control circuit drives the operating motor of the thermal head to press the thermal head against the recording paper in response to the start of recording. Since the take-up motor is rotated to take up the transfer ribbon before the press-contact is completed, that is, during the press-contact operation, the transfer ribbon can be prevented from loosening at the start of recording. Further, since the ribbon winding motor is installed separately from the carriage motor, the load on the carriage motor is reduced, and the motor can be made smaller. In addition, since an engagement mechanism between the carriage scanning mechanism and the transfer ribbon winding means is not required, the mechanism is simple and there is no need for adjustment of the retaining mechanism. Furthermore, by winding up the ribbon in synchronization with printing using the winding motor, stable feeding of the transfer ribbon is achieved. In addition, since the take-up motor is disabled except in the transfer print mode, it has various effects such as reducing idle noise of the take-up reel and reducing power loss. It goes without saying that this printer can also be applied to a color printer having each color component in series.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the internal structure of a carriage,
Figure 3 is a perspective view of the thermal head, Figure 4 is a perspective view of the transfer ribbon cassette, Figure 5 is a circuit diagram of the printer,
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the order of operation of this printer;
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the correlation between the driving states of each motor of this printer. lOo, chassis 14. , platen 200. Paper feed motor 309. Carriage 310. Ribbon take-up reel 39 Ribbon pick-up reel 358. Thermal head 371. Ribbon end sensor 3811 actuation lever 391. Cover 405. Transfer ribbon cassette 418. Supply spool 4298 Take-up spool 500.
Supply reel unit 5619 Take-up reel unit 571 Take-up gear 601.
Motor gear 611. Drive unit 626, cam gear 651. Motor gear 709. Cassette attachment sensor 100, CPU 101. , ROM1021.
RAM 103. , system bus 106 , drive control 107 , carriage motor 109 , head actuation motor 110 , take-up motor 111 , head drive circuit 115 , interface device

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) On the carriage, there is a means for supplying a thermal transfer ribbon, a winding means for winding up the transfer ribbon, a thermal head for heating the thermal transfer ribbon for recording, and pressing the thermal head against the recording paper and releasing it. In addition to having a mechanism,
In a thermal transfer printer having a carriage motor for moving the carriage, a take-up motor is provided on the carriage and rotates a transfer ribbon take-up means, and a take-up motor is arranged to press the thermal head onto the recording paper in response to the start of recording. a control circuit that controls the thermal head press-contact/separation mechanism to drive the thermal head press-contact/detachment mechanism, drives the take-up motor until the press-contact is completed, and controls the carriage motor and take-up motor to be driven synchronously after the press-contact is completed; A thermal transfer printer characterized by being equipped with.