JPS6127273A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to attach and detach an image forming medium without touching a high temp. thermal head and to secure safety, by providing a cover to the side surface, which is reverse to the insert direction of the image forming medium to an image forming part, of the image forming medium. CONSTITUTION:A core 99 having a handle 98 made of plastic is provided to the end surface (side surface), which is opposite to the mount direction of a ribbon cassette Rc to a printer block 71, of the ribbon cassette Rc. Because this cover 99 is provided so that the thermal head 51 heated to high temp. in the printer block 71 is not exposed when the ribbon cassette Rc is mounted to the printer block 71, the hand of an operator is prevented from touching the high temp. thermal head 51 in the printer block 71 when the ribbon cassette Rc is mounted to the printer block 71 or detached therefrom and the attachment and detachment of the ribbon cassette can be performed safely.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention is applicable to, for example, thermal printers, thermal transfer printers,
The present invention relates to image forming apparatuses such as thermal transfer copying machines.

[Technical background of the invention]

Recently, a thermal transfer type color copying machine has been considered that performs color copying using, for example, thermal transfer ink ribbons of multiple colors. The outline of this copying machine is to scan the original with an optical scanning device, read the image information of the original as a light color signal, and convert this read image information into color information corresponding to each ink on the thermal transfer ink ribbon. 1 to - Temporarily store the color information of each ink in the storage means.

The stored color information is sequentially read out, and the corresponding ink section of the thermal transfer ink bin is used to thermally transfer the ink onto the paper using the thermal head according to the read color information, thereby sequentially transferring each color onto the paper. It is used to make color copies.

[Problems with background technology]

However, in such copiers, when replacing the ink cartridge, the thermal head that generates heat is exposed, so the person setting the machine may touch the hot thermal head and get burned. There was a problem that there was a risk.

[Purpose of the invention]

This invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide an image forming apparatus which is excellent in safety and allows an image forming medium to be attached and detached without touching the high temperature thermal head. be.

[Summary of the invention]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a cover on the side opposite to the direction in which the image forming medium is inserted into the image forming section.

[Embodiments of the invention]

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

FIG. 1 shows the external appearance of a thermal transfer type color copying machine as an example of an image forming apparatus. An image information reading device 2 is detachably provided on the upper surface of a main body 1 of the apparatus. This image information reading device 2 is provided with a document cover 3 that can be opened and closed freely, and a document table (not shown) made of transparent glass on which a document is placed is provided below the cover 3. . This image information reading device 2 optically scans a document set on the document table by reciprocating a scanner section (details will be described later) consisting of an exposure optical system along the lower surface of the document table. It photoelectrically converts information, and an operation panel 4 is provided on the top surface. The signal converted by this image information reading device 2 is supplied to an image forming section 5 detachably provided on the right side of the device main body 1, and in this image forming section 5, an image is formed on the object according to the converted signal. An image is formed on paper as a medium. An operation panel 6 is provided on the upper front side of the image forming section 5 .

This operation button 6 includes an online scanner key 7 for selecting the image information reading device 2 connected to the device main body 1.
, an eject key 9 that is operated when taking out the thermal transfer ribbon as a transfer agent from a door 8 provided on the side surface, and a display 1
0 is set. Further, a guide section 1 for manually feeding paper is provided on the front surface of the image forming section 5 so as to be openable and closable, and a paper discharge tray 12 is provided on the top surface for ejecting the paper after transfer. . Furthermore, a paper feed cassette 13 for storing paper is provided in the main body 1 of the apparatus located below the image forming section 5 so as to be freely accessible and removable.

On the other hand, FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the image information reading device 2. As shown in FIG. Two light sources 23 are arranged in parallel on the carriage 22 constituting the scanner section 21.
Two lenses 24 are arranged in an inverted V shape between each other. A photoelectric converter 25 consisting of a color CCD is provided at the lower end of this lens 24. Said carriage 2
2 has one end slidably inserted into the guide shaft 26 and is attached to a so-called timing belt (toothed belt) 27 stretched along the guide shaft 26 . This timing belt 27 is driven by a pulse motor 28.

In other words, the timing belt 27 is stretched between the motor pulley P1 provided on the rotating shaft of the four-wheel motor 28 and the idler pulley 927, and the timing belt 2
7, the scanner section 21 is moved in the directions of arrows a and b in the figure.

Note that 29 is an N-converter that converts the output signal of the photoelectric converter 25 into a digital signal, and 30 is a converter that supplies the power output from the inverter 31 to the light source 23 and converts the output signal of the ψ converter 29 into a digital signal. This is a flat cable that supplies the image forming section 5.

FIG. 3 shows the operation panel 4 of the image information reading device 2. As shown in FIG. This operation panel 4 includes a glint key 41 for instructing to start printing, and a numeric keypad 42 for specifying the number of prints.
, a clear/stop key 43 for canceling the number of prints or instructing to stop printing, a number display 44 for displaying the number of prints, etc., a halftone mode key 45 for specifying the halftone mode corresponding to full color and its density, single color or 7 color power 2
A binary mode key 46 for specifying a corresponding binary mode and its density, a mode display 47 for displaying the set mode key, and a display 48 for various displays.Two-color printing or multicolor overprinting. Print mode key to switch 49
,,49,. This indicator 48 is a jam indicator 4 that lights up when a paper jam occurs in the main body 1 of the apparatus.
81, mounted on the device main body 1? Can it display various conditions such as the cassette is missing or the cassette itself is not installed? a paper display section 483 that displays the installation status of the paper feed cassette 8 or the presence or absence of paper;
Scanner display unit 4 that displays the operating status of the scanner unit 11
84.4&, a density display section 48 for displaying the density set by operating the mode keys 45, 46; It consists of

Further, the image forming section 5 has a configuration as shown in FIG. 4. That is, the grating 60 is located approximately at the center of the image forming section 5, and the platen 5
00 (to the left in the state of FIG. 4), a thermal head 51 as a recording head (thermal head) is attached to the platen 50.
It is arranged so that it can come into contact with and separate from it.

Furthermore, the above thermal head 51? Thermal head 5 and platen 50 are housed in the space of
A thermal transfer ribbon (ink ribbon) 52 as an image forming medium is interposed between the two. Then, the paper P is transferred to the platen 5 with this thermal transfer margin 52 interposed therebetween.
0, and in this state, a heating element (not shown) formed in a line head shape of the thermal head 5 generates heat according to the image information, so that the ink on the thermal transfer ribbon 52 is heated and melted, and the paper ( The image is transferred onto the image forming medium (image forming medium) P.

Further, a paper feed roller 53 is provided in the apparatus main body 1 diagonally below the platen 50, and is adapted to sequentially take out sheets P as transfer materials stored in the paper feed cassette 13 one by one.

The taken out paper P passes through the paper guide path 54 and passes through the registration rollers 55 disposed diagonally above the paper feed row 253.
The registration roller 55 aligns the tip.

Thereafter, the pressing row 256 is transferred toward the platen 50.
．． 57, it is accurately fed in a state where it is wound around the platen 50.

On the other hand, the thermal head 51 performs thermal transfer! The paper P is pressed against the platen 50 via the printer 752, and as shown in FIG. 5, the ink 60 on the thermal transfer screen 52 is heated and melted and transferred onto the paper P.

Further, the thermal transfer ribbon 52 is, for example, yellow (A), approximately the same size as the paper P, as shown by range A in FIG.
Magenta (B) and cyan (C) ink portions 60a
, 60b, and 60e are provided side by side, or yellow (a) as shown by the range opening.

Magenta (goods), cyan (C), and ffi (B) ink portions 60a.

60b, 60c, 60d are arranged [provided, 1
After transferring the colors one by one, the paper P is returned to its original position and overlapped one after another accurately.

In addition, the side edge portions of the thermal transfer ribbon 52 corresponding to the respective ink portions 60a to 60d are provided to identify each of the ink portions 60a to 60d, and to control the leading edge of each ink portion 60a to 60d to coincide with the leading edge of the paper. The necessary barcode BC is provided. This barcode BC is read by a barcode sensor (indicated by 78 in FIG. 8), which will be described later. When a black ink portion 60d is included in the main body, this black ink portion 60d is used when it is desired to produce black clearly. Even if the ink does not have the black ink portion 60d, substantially black can be produced by overlapping three colors.

In this way, the paper P is reciprocated by the number of colors by the rotation of the platen 50, but the path of the paper P at this time is the first one, which is sequentially arranged along the lower surface of the paper output tray 12. It will be guided onto the second guide 61.62.

That is, the explanation will be made with reference to FIGS. 7(a) to 7).

First, the paper P supplied from the paper feed cassette 13 passes through the registration roller 55 and the first sorting dart 63 arrangement portion, and is wound around the platen 50 . (See FIG. 7 0)) Next, the platen 50 is rotated using a pulse motor (not shown) as a driving source to transport the paper P at a predetermined speed and to form a line tod shape along the axial direction of the platen 50. The heating element (not shown) of the thermal head 5 generates heat according to the image information to perform thermal transfer. Ink 60 of 52
is transferred to paper P.

Furthermore, the leading edge of the paper P that has passed through the platen 50 is
The paper is sent onto a first guide 6 provided along the lower surface of the paper discharge tray 12 by a sorting gate 64 . (Refer to Fig. 7 ←) In this way, the paper P onto which the ink 60 of one color has been transferred is transported backwards by reversing the grating 50, and by the rotational displacement operation of the first sorting dart 630. It is sent onto a second guide 62 provided along the lower surface of the first guide 6. (See FIG. 7(c)) In this way, by reciprocating the paper P a plurality of times, a plurality of colors are transferred.

Finally, the paper P to which all the colors of ink 60 have been transferred is
The paper is guided by the second sorting dart 64 to a pair of paper discharge rollers 65 and discharged onto the paper discharge tray 12. (See Fig. 7)) In Fig. 4, roller pairs 66 and 67 are for transporting manually fed paper;
The paper conveyed by 1 is guided to registration rollers 55 via a guide path 68.

Next, the configuration of the image forming section 5 will be further explained. In FIGS. 8 to 10, a printer block 71 has a shape that is almost the same as the outer shape of the cassette Rc, and this block 71 supports the thermal head 51 from the back side and also functions as a heat sink. head holder 7
2. A member (guide portion) 73 integrally attached to the head holder 72, a rod 75 whose one end is attached to the head holder 72 and whose other end is connected to the drive link 24, and a rotation support for the link 74. The shaft 76 rotates and biases the link 74 in one direction, and connects the thermal head 51 via the rod 75.
A coil spring 77 that moves the thermal transfer (ink) in the direction of the platen 50. A barcode detector 78 consisting of a light-emitting element and a light-receiving element detects the barcode attached to the barcode 52.
is provided. The drive link 74, the rod 25,
The rotation support, the shaft 76, and the coil spring 27 constitute a head moving mechanism.

The grating 50 is attached to a frame 79 attached to both sides of the printer block 71, and this frame 29 is provided with support shafts 80, 81 for the grate rollers 250, 57 that press the paper against the platen 50. ing. This pressure roller 517.57 is driven by a solenoid (not shown). Additionally, a paper guide 8 is provided between the pressure roller 50 and the platen 500.
2 is provided. Further, the frame 79 includes a motor 83 for driving the thermal head 51 as shown in FIG.
and a septa frame 84 are provided. A cam is provided on the rotating shaft (not shown) of the motor 83, and this cam causes the lever 8 provided on the rotating shaft 76 to be rotated.
5 is rotated, and the thermal head 51 is driven against the urging force of the coil spring 27. The motor frame 84 also includes a platen drive motor 86 and a thermal transfer (ink) cartridge housed in the ribbon case. Drive the winding core 81.88 (shown in FIG. 8) of the winding 52?
drive motors 89 and 90 are provided. These motors 86, 89, and 90 are connected to the platen 5 through gears (not shown).
0, the winding core 87.88 is driven, and the rotation center of the gear that drives the winding core 87.8B is the first gear.
As shown in Figure 0, retaining protrusions 911m91m are provided. By controlling these motors 89.9''01r, the thermal transfer roller 752 can run in both forward and reverse directions.

Also, the previous cassette R8 is Printer Pro, R7
It is said that it can be attached to and detached from 1. In other words, Su? As shown in FIG. 11, the connector cassette Rc has a space 9 for accommodating the holder 2, the member 73, and the thermal head 51 between it and the backside cassette R of the exposed portion of the thermal transfer plate 752.
2, the cross section is formed into a substantially U-shape. Further, the ribbon cassette Rc has a core storage section 931.

The fitting part 71K of the printer block 71 between the
(shown in Figures 9 and 10)
3 are formed along the length direction. The lengths L of the shaft 93s and the fitting portion 7 are approximately equal, and the length t is set to be more than half the width of the thermal transfer IJ and yn 52. Therefore, by moving the ribbon cassette R relative to the printer block 7 in its length direction, the ribbon cassette R can be attached to or removed from the printer block 71. Further, on the side surface of the core storage portion 931.93°, an engaging recess 941.942 is attached to the core 81.8B stored inside.
is provided, the ribbon cassette R is the Zolin tab opening,
This engagement recess 941
．． 942 and the engaging protrusion 911 .

911 are engaged with each other. vinegar? When the thermal head 51 is driven in the direction of the platen 50 with the printer cassette R attached to the printer 2, the thermal transfer ribbon 52 is brought into contact with the platen 50 by the member 73, as shown in FIG. A sheet of paper (not shown) is interposed between the platen 50 and the XPn 52 for thermal transfer, and when the thermal head 51 generates heat according to the artist information, the ink on the thermal transfer ribbon 52 is heated and melted to form a paper sheet. transcribed into.

12 and 1 on the end (side) opposite to the direction in which the ribbon cassette R is attached to the Zolin tab opening and ri 71.
A cover 99 made of plastic as shown in Figure 3
is provided.

This cover 99 is provided with a handle 98 that can be held when installing or removing it.

The cover 99 is designed to prevent the door 51 from being exposed to the high temperature thermal inside the printer block 71 when the cover 99 is attached to the printer block 71. As a result, when the cover 99 is removed, the ribbon cassette H is attached to the printer block 71, or the ribbon cassette H is removed from the printer block 71, the thermal head 51 of the printer block 21 is exposed to a high temperature. This can be done safely without touching.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As detailed above, according to the present invention, for high temperature heat sensitivity,
To provide an image forming medium that can be attached and detached without touching the board and has excellent safety.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is an external perspective view schematically showing the overall configuration, FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing the configuration of a stroke number information reading device, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the structure of the scanning panel, FIG. 4 is a side sectional view showing the structure of the image forming section, FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the transfer operation state, and FIG. 6 is the structure of the thermal transfer ink cartridge. A plan view showing,
Fig. 7 is an explanatory diagram shown to explain the movement of paper during multicolor transfer, Fig. 8 is a side sectional view of the image forming section, Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the image forming section, and Fig. 10 is an image forming section. What about the department? 11. Side sectional view showing the state with the engine cassette removed.
Figures 12 and 12 are perspective views showing the configuration of seven cassettes, and Figure 13 is a side sectional view showing the state in which the rebin cassette is installed in the image forming section. Forming medium), 2... Original scanning section, 8... Image forming section, 5o... Platen, 51...
・Thermal head (to heat sensitive, de), 52...Thermal transfer ink number? (image forming medium), R...Librin cassette, 71 River printer block, 98...Handle, 99.
...Cover, Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 5 Figure 6 I1 = S silj (. Figure 7 Figure 7 p Figure 8

Claims (1)

[Claims] It has an image forming section having a thermal head, and an image forming medium inserted into the image forming section, and by driving the thermal head in accordance with information, an image is formed on the image forming medium using the image forming medium. An image forming apparatus that forms an image corresponding to the above information, characterized in that a cover is provided on a side surface opposite to a direction in which the image forming medium is inserted into an image forming section.