JPS6164479A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reinforce a frame structure and to reduce the wall thickness of a frame to enable wt. reduction, by providing a support means for supporting the opening part of the frame by the side surface part of a transfer material cassette in the side opposite to the insert end side of said cassette when said cassette is inserted and set. CONSTITUTION:When a transfer material cassette 34 is set to a frame 31, said transfer material cassette 34 is inserted after the insert side end part of said cassette 34 was opposed to the opening part 35 provided to one end side of the frame 31. At the time of this setting, first - fourth pins 41, 42, 43, 44 provided to the opening end side of the frame 31 are respectively engaged with first - fourth engagement holes 37, 38, 39, 40 provided to the side plate 36 in the opposite insert end side of the transfer material cassette 34. By this engagement, the opening part 35 of the frame 31 is supported by the side plate 36 of the transfer material cassette 34 and the structure of the frame 31 is reinforced.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a transfer type image forming apparatus that forms an image on the surface of the transfer material by transferring, for example, a colorant of a thermal transfer material to the transfer material. .

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

Thermal transfer image forming devices are small and inexpensive, make less noise, and can use plain paper as the transfer material, so in recent years they have been used not only for recording output from computers and word processors, but also for copying devices. It is also being put into practical use.

Normally, this type of image forming apparatus has a platen and a thermal head that approaches and separates from the platen attached to the frame, and also includes a transfer material cassette containing transfer material, and this transfer material cassette is placed inside the frame. By inserting and setting the thermal head through the opening at one end and pressing the thermal head against the platen through the transfer material and paper, the colorant of the transfer material is transferred to the paper to form an image.

However, in the past, since the opening of the frame remained unsupported, there was a risk that the reframe would be easily deformed due to the frictional force acting between the platen and the thermal head. However, it is possible to reduce the wall thickness of the frame, which increases the weight and costs. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus that does not deform even when the wall thickness is reduced.

[Summary of the invention]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is designed to strengthen the frame structure by providing support means for supporting the opening of the frame by the side surface on the side opposite to the insertion end when the transfer material cassette is inserted and set. It is.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the external appearance of the image forming apparatus, and FIG. 2 shows its schematic configuration. In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 indicates a main body of an image forming apparatus, and an operation panel section la is formed on the upper front surface of the apparatus main body 1. As shown in FIG. Further, a document table 2 having a document holding cover 3 on the left side of the upper surface of the apparatus main body 1 is provided.
The lower side is a document scanning section (scanner section) 4 that scans the document set on the document table 2, and the right side inside the apparatus main body l is an image forming section (printer section) 5.

A copy number setting section 7 consisting of a display section 6 and a numeric keypad 7, buttons 8, etc. are arranged on the operation panel section Ja.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the document scanning section 4 optically scans the document set on the document table 2 by moving the movable scanning section 9 of the exposure optical system back and forth against the lower surface of the document table 2. This optical information is photoelectrically converted and input to the image forming section 5.

Further, the image forming section 5 has a configuration as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. That is, a platen 1o, which is located approximately at the center of the image forming section 5 and constitutes a transfer section, is arranged, and a thermal head 11 serving as a recording head is located in front of the grade differential 100 (toward the left in the state of FIG. 3).
is arranged so as to be able to move toward and away from the platen 10.

Furthermore, a thermal transfer ribbon (ink ribbon) 15 as a transfer material is interposed between the thermal head 11 and the platen IO.

Then, the paper P is pressed against the platen 10 with the thermal transfer ribbon 15t'' interposed therebetween, and in this state, a heating element (not shown) formed in the shape of a line tod of the thermal heater 11 generates heat according to the image information. As a result, the colorant (ink) on the thermal transfer ribbon 15 is heated and melted and transferred to the paper P. In addition, a paper feed row 216 is provided diagonally below the platen 10 to feed the paper. The sheets of paper Pi as a transfer material stored in the cassette 17 are taken out one by one. The taken out sheets of paper P are placed diagonally above the paper feed roller 16, and their leading edges are adjusted by the nine registration straws 218. After this, the sheet is transferred toward the platen 1o, and is wound around the platen 10 by the pressing loaves 19 and 20, and is accurately fed.

On the other hand, the thermal head 11 presses the paper P against the platen 10 via the thermal transfer ribbon ts1c as a transfer material, and as shown in FIG. It is designed to be transferred to P.

The thermal transfer ribbon 15 has approximately the same size as the paper P, as shown by range A in FIG.
C are arranged side by side, or each ink portion 21a of yellow (Y), mazenotar, cyan (q, black 031) is provided as shown by the range opening.

21b, 21G, and 21d are arranged side by side, and 1
After transferring the colors one by one, the sheets are returned to the original sheet P2 and overlapped one after another accurately.

A thermal transfer ribbon containing a black ink portion 21d is used when it is desired to produce black clearly, and even a ribbon without a black ink portion 21d can produce approximately black by overlapping three colors.

In this way, the paper P is reciprocated by the number of colors as the platen rotates 100 times, but the path of the paper P at that time is the first one which is arranged in sequence on the lower surface of the paper output tray 22. It will be guided onto the second guide 23.24.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, the platen Io and the thermal head 11 are supported by a frame 3 which is integrally formed with a plastic snack or the like and has a substantially U-shaped cross section.
There is. This frame 31 has an opening 35 on one end side,
This opening 35 is also adapted to allow a transfer material cassette 34, which will be described later, to enter and exit. Also, this frame 311
) On the opening end side, there is a first protrusion constituting the support means.
~Fourth bins 41, 42, 43° 44 are provided protrudingly. The first bin 41 is attached to the platen 10f of the frame 31.
c The second and third vias 4 are provided protrudingly from the supporting portion.
As shown in FIG. 7, 2 and 43 are integrally formed at the tips of shafts 56 and 56 for cassette guides disposed above and below the guide section 55 of the thermal head 11. The pin 44 is provided protrudingly from the end surface of the frame 31. Also, a coupling 47.47 rotated by a ribbon motor 46.46 is provided on the side plate 45 on the side opposite to the entrance of the frame 31. .

Furthermore, the movement of the thermal head 11 towards and away from the platen 10 is controlled by a head moving mechanism 48. That is, a head motor 49 is attached to the side plate 451C of the frame 31, and the eccentric cam 5I is rotated by the motor 49, and the pressing levers io and so are rotated via the lever 52 and the shaft 53.
The thermal head 11 is operated through the connecting rods 54 and 54t. Meanwhile, the thermal transfer ribbon 15
As shown in FIG. 3, both ends thereof are wound around a core 32, 32, and the core 32, 32 is assembled into a case 33 to form a cassette, thereby forming a transfer material cassette 34. As shown in FIG. 8, the side plate 36 serving as the side surface on the side opposite to the insertion end of the transfer material cassette 340 has first to fourth fitting holes 37 and 3 serving as fitting portions constituting supporting means.
B.

39.40 are drilled. This transfer material cassette 34
When inserted and set into the frame 31, the ends of the winding cores 32.32 are fitted and connected to the couplings 47.47, and the first to fourth fitting holes: I7, 3g, 39
．． 40, the first to fourth pins 41, 42, 43, 44 on the opening I2I side of the frame 31 are fitted.

When setting the transfer material cassette 34 on the frame 31, as shown in FIG. Insert it and set it in the frame 31 as shown in FIG. Frame 3 with this set
1st to 4th pins on the open end side of 1/41°42.43.4
4 is the first side plate 36 on the side opposite to the insertion end of the transfer material cassette 340.
~The fourth fitting holes 37°sg, sg, and 4oK are fitted, respectively.

By this fitting, the opening 35 of the frame 31 is supported by the side plate 36 of the transfer material cassette 34, and the structure of the frame 31 is strengthened.

Therefore, even if the thermal head 1 and the platen 10 are subjected to frictional force (in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 6) during image formation, the frame 31 does not deform.
In addition, the thermal head 11 does not hit the platen 10 unevenly, and the occurrence of transfer misalignment and skew of the paper P can be reliably prevented.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment,
Of course, various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, since the present invention is provided with a support means for supporting the opening of the frame by the side surface on the side opposite to the insertion end when the transfer material cassette is inserted and set, the frame structure can be strengthened, and the recording head and printer can be It will not deform even if the entire frictional force between it and Te/ is removed. As a result, the thickness of the frame can be made thinner, making it possible to reduce weight and reduce costs.Furthermore, the recording head does not swing one-sidedly against the platen, causing transfer misalignment and transfer material. This has the effect of preventing skew of the image.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an image forming apparatus, FIG. 2 is the same (partially cut away schematic perspective view), and FIG. 3 is a schematic 4 is a perspective view for explaining the transfer operation state, FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the ink application state of the thermal transfer ribbon, FIG. 6 is a side view showing the frame, and FIG. 7 is its perspective view. 8 is a perspective view showing the transfer material cassette, FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing the operation of inserting the transfer material cassette into the frame, and FIG. 10 is a side view showing the transfer material cassette set in the frame. 31... Frame, 35... Opening, lO... Printer/(transfer part), 15... Thermal transfer ribbon (transfer material)
, 34... Transfer material cassette, 21... Ink (coloring agent), P... Paper (transferred material), 36... Side plate (side part), 41.42j43, 44... First ~4th bottle (supporting means), 37.38, 39.40... 1st to 4th fitting holes (supporting means). Applicant's Representative Patent Attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 1 District 2 Figure 4 Figure 5 A Figure 6

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A transfer material cassette containing a transfer material is inserted and set through the opening in a frame that has a transfer section inside, and the transfer section transfers the colorant of the transfer material to the transferred material to form an image. An image forming apparatus according to the present invention, further comprising a support means for supporting an opening of the frame by a side surface on the side opposite to the insertion end when the transfer material cassette is inserted and set. (2) The supporting means is characterized by comprising a protrusion provided at the open end of the frame, and a fitting part provided on the side surface of the transfer material cassette on the side opposite to the insertion end and into which the protrusion fits. An image forming apparatus according to claim 1.