JPS6151379A - Cassette carrier - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance printing quality by eliminating the feed inferiority of a film, by constituting the titled carrier so that the rotation of a film wind-up shaft is cooperated with that of a pulley and the pulley is not rotated by the running of a wire in a clamp opened state but allowed to rotated by the running of the wire in a clamp closed state. CONSTITUTION:In a cassette carrier, the friction torque between a pair of pulleys 43 and a wire 42 is made smaller than that between a pulley 45 and the wire 42. Therefore, when a lock plate 46 is separated from the wire 42 and a carrier table 41 is moved to the direction shown by the arrow (or the direction reverse to the arrow), the pulley 45 is not rotated but the pulleys 43 are rotated and the wire 42 is rotated to the direction shown by the arrow (or the direction reverse to the arrow). Subsequently, when the lock plate 46 is operated so as to press the wire 42 to a fixed member 45 and the carier table 41 is moved to the direction shown by the arrow (or the direction reverse to the arrow), the pulleys 43 are not rotated but the pulley 44 is rotated and the support shaft of the pulley 44 is rotated to the direction shown by the arrow (or the direction reverse to the arrow).

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a cassette containing a strip-shaped film that is selectively run, for example, a film that develops color in a heated portion and transfers the dye to a recording medium. The present invention relates to a cassette carrier for moving a travelably housed thermal transfer film sheet along a guide, and more particularly to a structure for selectively interlocking the travel of the film with the movement of the carrier.

Transfer-type serial thermal printers generally have a cassette containing a reel wound with thermal transfer film attached to a carrier of a thermal head, and the thermal transfer film is interposed between the thermal head and printing paper. move it to the left and right along with the thermal head. At the same time, a plurality of resistance heating elements formed on the thermal head are energized to color the thermal transfer film in the portion facing the resistance heating elements, and the dye is transferred to the printing paper (recording medium) on the opposite side. Printing is done using this method.

In such a thermal printer, the thermal transfer film is wound up when the carrier for printing is moved, but is not wound up when the carrier is moved for non-printing.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 4 is a side view showing an example of the main configuration of the printing mechanism of a conventional thermal transfer serial thermal printer; FIG. 5 is a side view showing the thermal head of the printing mechanism separated from the platen; and FIG. This figure is a perspective view showing the carrier shown in FIG. 4 and its guide, and FIG. 7 is a plan view showing the internal structure of the film cassette shown in FIG. 4.

In FIGS. 4 to 6, 1 is a carrier table, 2 is a thermal transfer film cassette mounted on the carrier table 1, 3 and 4 are guide rods of the carrier table 1,
Reference numeral 5 denotes a thermal head holder whose intermediate portion is pivotally supported by the carrier table l, 6 a thermal head attached to the holder 5, 7 a drive roller for running the recording paper, 8 a pressing roller for pressing the recording paper against the roller rough, 9 1 is a recording paper guide provided with a through hole 10 having a U-shaped cross section; 11 is a recording paper that is run in the direction of the arrow; 12 is a platen attached to the open end of the recording paper guide 9; and 13 is rotated by being carried by the holder 5. 15 is a hook that locks the cassette 2 on the top surface of the carrier table 1; 16 is a shaft that rotates the thermal transfer film take-up reel 38 (FIG. 7) of the cassette 2; 17 is attached to the lower end of the shaft 16; 26 is a pin implanted in the carrier table 1, and 27 is a shaft that fits into the thermal transfer film winding reel 37 of the cassette 2 and rotates idly.

Further, 18 is a base, 19 is a motor, and 20 is a motor 19.
21 is a small gear, 22 is a sector gear that meshes with the gear 21, 23 is a sector cam that rotates together with the gear 22, and 24 is a cydrosodium at both ends so as to swing with the rotation of the cam 23. 4 is a pendulum metal fitting with a U-shaped cross section, and 25 is a rubber plate fixed to one side of the pendulum metal fitting 24.

In the printing mechanism having such a configuration, the carrier table 1 is rotated by the rotation of a drive wire (not shown), so that the guide rod 3, which has a length in the left-right direction (the paper thickness direction in FIG. 4),
4, and the holder 5 is rotated by the drive of the motor 19. Switching is performed between a printing state in which the thermal head 6 is pressed against the platen 12 via the recording paper 11 and a non-printing state in which the thermal head 6 is separated from the platen 12.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the printing state, in which the gear 12, which has been rotated by a predetermined angle in a predetermined direction by the drive of the motor 19, rotates the gear 22 and the cam 23 by a predetermined angle, and the pendulum fitting 24 is in a downward position. At the same time, the rubber plate 25 is pressed by the roller 17, the holder 5 becomes almost upright, and the resistance heating element forming portion of the thermal head 6 is pressed against the recording paper 11 (platen 12).

Therefore, when the holder 5 is moved to the right or left by the movement of the carrier 2 and electricity is applied to the resistance heating element of the thermal head 6, the thermal transfer film 36 (FIG. 7) runs due to this movement and a predetermined dot row is printed. be done.

Next, when the motor 18 is driven in the opposite direction by an appropriate angle, the cam 23 rotates by a predetermined angle, as shown in FIG.
rotates the pendulum fitting 24 by a predetermined angle, and the roller 17 and the rubber plate 25. The thermal head 6 and recording paper 11 are separated from each other.

Therefore, when printing, the thermal head 6 as shown in FIG.
is pressed against the platen 12 through the recording paper 11. On the other hand, when inserting a new recording paper between the thermal head 6 and the platen 12, and when returning the thermal head 6 to the printing starting position, the thermal This is done by moving the head 6 away from the platen 12.

Note that the recording paper 11 is run by sandwiching the recording paper 11 between the drive roller 7 and the press roller 8, and rotating the drive roller 7 at a predetermined speed.

In FIG. 7, which shows the inside of the cassette 2 with the top cover removed, the case 31 made of molded plastic has a recess 32 from which the upper end of the thermal head holder 5 protrudes, and a locking claw on the carrier table 1. A recess 33 into which the tool 15 is engaged, and a through hole 34 into which a pair of pins 26 are fitted.
A reel 37 on which the thermal transfer film 36 is wound and a reel 38 for winding up the thermal transfer film 36 are rotatably fitted into the recess 35 on the upper surface, and the recess 32 Four bins 39 are installed to run the thermal transfer film 36 across the vicinity of the opening.

When such a cassette 2 is mounted on the carrier table 1, the tip of the shaft 16 fits into the through hole 40 of the reel 38, so the shaft 16 rotates, that is, the carrier table 1 is mounted with the rubber plate 25 pressed against the roller 17. When moved, the shaft 16 rotates, and the thermal transfer film 36 wound around the reel 37 is
The thermal transfer film 36 is sequentially wound onto the reel 38 across the vicinity of the opening of the recess 32, and the thermal transfer film 36 is pressed against the recording paper 11 by the thermal head 6 at the portion crossing the vicinity of the opening.

Therefore, when the resistance heating element of the thermal head 6 is selectively energized and heated, the portion of the thermal transfer film 36 facing the heating element develops color, and the dye is transferred to the recording paper 11 to print characters and characters made of multiple dots. To print symbols, etc., the thermal head 6 moves from one side of the recording paper 11 to the other side to print that line (
When printing of the dot line) is completed, it is separated from the recording paper 11 and returns to the negative side to print the next line.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

Conventionally, in a cassette carrier such as a thermal transfer film holder containing a strip-shaped film that is selectively run, a configuration in which the run of the film is selectively linked with the movement of the carrier has conventionally been achieved by using a roller 17 mounted on a rotating shaft. It was configured to rotate along the rail (the side surface of the pendulum 24) and to be able to swing either the roller or the rail.

Therefore, in order to ensure contact for rotating the rollers along the rails, the rails must be straight and parallel to the direction of movement of the carrier.There is a problem in that the creation and assembly of the rails is troublesome, and it is difficult to ensure the above-mentioned accuracy. There was a problem in that if the film was not wound at a constant speed, uneven printing would occur.

[Means for solving problems]

The above-mentioned problem is that in a carrier that moves a cassette storing a strip film to be selectively run along a guide, there is a wire that is stretched almost parallel to the guide and can run freely, and a wire that is attached to the carrier and that can run freely. a boob around which the middle portion of the film is wound and is rotatable; a wire clamp that can be opened and closed to selectively allow or stop the wire; and a means for moving the carrier; rotation is linked to the rotation of the pulley, running of the wire with the clamp open does not rotate the pulley, and running of the wire with the clamp closed rotates the pulley. This problem is solved by the case/nod carrier of the present invention, which is characterized by the following.

[Effect]

According to the above means, a flexible wire, a pulley attached to a film winding shaft and around which the wire is wound;
and a clamp that prevents the wire from running, so that running the wire with the clamp open does not rotate the pulley, and running the wire with the clamp closed rotates the pulley. However, by operating the clamp, the carrier and the rotation of the winding shaft can be linked to each other, eliminating the need for a complicated rail for processing and assembly, realizing reliable film winding, and making it possible to apply the present invention to printers. It is widely used and can improve printing quality.

〔Example〕

Below, a cassette carrier according to an embodiment of the present invention will be explained using the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a principle explanatory diagram of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to the thermal transfer serial thermal printer, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the main parts of the embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing main parts.

In FIG. 1, 41 is a carrier table on which a thermal transfer film winding/nod is mounted, 42 is an endless steel wire, 43 is a pulley for tensioning and rotating the wire 42, and 44 is a wire 42 mounted on the carrier table 41. is a pulley wound with only one turn, 45 is wire 4
The fixing member 46 facing the fixing member 46 is a wire lock (clamp) plate that faces the fixing member 45 with the wire 42 in between and is movable in the opposing direction.

In such a cassette carrier, a pair of boos IJ43
The friction torque between the pulley 45 and the wire 42 is
The friction torque is smaller than that of the

Therefore, when the lock plate 46 is released from the wire 42 and the carrier table 41 is moved in the direction of the arrow (or in the direction opposite to the arrow), the pulley 43 rotates without rotating the pulley 45.
The wire 42 rotates in the direction of the arrow (or in the opposite direction to the arrow).

Next, when the locking plate 46 is operated so that the opening and opening plate 46 presses the wire 42 against the fixing member 45 and the carrier table 41 is moved in the direction of the arrow (or in the direction opposite to the arrow), the pulley 43 does not rotate. The pulley 44 rotates, causing the support shaft of the pulley 44 to rotate in the direction of the arrow (or in the direction opposite to the arrow).

In FIGS. 2 and 3, parts common to those in FIGS. 1 and 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals. In FIGS. 2 and 3, the carrier table 41 corresponds to the carrier table 1 in FIG. The lock plate 46 and its operation utilize the pendulum 24 and its operation shown in FIG. 4.

Therefore, the wire 42 can be clamped freely by the rotation of the motor 19, and the rotation of the winding shaft 24 can be controlled by the pulley 44.
The rotation of the coaxial shaft 24 is performed at a uniform set speed, and the thermal head 6
The rotation of the pulley 44 can be easily blocked so that the film 36 will not be wound up during the operation of the carrier table 41 to return it to the printing start position and the operation of emptyly feeding the thermal head 6 in the printing direction.

In the above embodiment, the pendulum 24 required in the conventional configuration is used as is, and the wire 42 is sandwiched between the surface of the rubber plate 25 to which it was fixed and the lock plate 46. Therefore, only the portion of the fixing surface of the rubber plate 25 that faces the lock plate 46 is necessary, and the other portions are unnecessary in the configuration of the present invention.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to selectively run the strip film stored in a cassette with respect to the movement of the carrier on which the cassette is mounted, and the present invention can be applied to a transfer type serial thermal printer. This has the effect of eliminating transfer film feeding defects and improving printing quality.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a principle explanatory diagram of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a thermal transfer serial thermal printer, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the main parts of the embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the main parts of the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a side view showing an example of the main configuration of the printing mechanism of a conventional thermal transfer serial thermal printer; FIG. 5 is a state in which the thermal head of the printing mechanism is separated from the platen. 6 is a perspective view showing the carrier shown in FIG. 4 and its guide, and FIG. 7 is a plan view showing the internal structure of the film cassette shown in FIG. 4. In the figure, 1.41 is a carrier table, 2 is a thermal transfer film force center, 3.4 is a guide, 16 is a film winding shaft, 36 is a thermal transfer film, 42 is a wire, 43.44 is a wire pulley, 46 is a wire clamp , indicates. Corpse 1 Figure 2 and 3 Figure fq f6 /LI22 23 Taku 6 Figure 7

Claims (1)

[Claims] A carrier that moves a cassette storing a strip film to be selectively run along a guide includes a wire that is stretched approximately parallel to the guide and can run freely, and an intermediate part of the wire that is attached to the carrier and is wound. It comprises a pulley that can be rotated and rotated, a wire clamp that can be opened and closed to selectively allow or stop running of the wire, and means for moving the carrier, and the rotation of the film winding shaft is controlled by the pulley. The wire is linked to rotation, and is configured such that when the wire runs with the clamp open, the pulley does not rotate, and when the wire runs with the clamp closed, the pulley rotates. cassette carrier.