JPS62227660A - Thermal printing head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To furnish a thermal printing head of a thin film type which can perform gradation printing, by a method wherein one heating dot is divided in the direction perpendicular to a dot column and it is made possible to impress voltage separately on each divided dot element. CONSTITUTION:A number of groups of heating dots 1 are formed in columns. Each heating dot 1 is divided in two in the direction perpendicular to the direction of a dot column, i.e. in the direction of the width thereof. Divided dot elements 1a, 1b are provided with individual leads 2a, 2b and common leads (commons) 3a, 3b respectively, and electrification and heating are conducted through a U-shaped channel in each of the divided dot elements 1a, 1b. One of the common leads 3a, 3b is used commonly for a set of divided dot elements 1a, 1b being adjacent to each other in the direction of the dot column, and the common leads 3a, 3b are connected in continuity by jumper wires 4a, 4b respectively. In one heating dot 1, accordingly, printing can be implemented in four gradations obtained from the state wherein voltage is impressed only on either of the divided dot elements 1a, 1b, the state wherein voltage is impressed on both of the divided dot elements 1a, 1b, and the state wherein no voltage is impressed.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] <Industrial application field> The present invention relates to a thin film type thermal print head.

<Prior art> In a thin film type thermal printing head, as shown in Fig. 5, one heating dot 1° is generally formed between one individual lead 2° and a common lead 3°. It was a target.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> However, in the above-mentioned conventional configuration, since one heating dot 10 performs heating printing as a whole, an intermediate heating state cannot be obtained.
Gradation printing was not possible.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a thin film type thermal print head capable of gradation printing.

Means for Solving the Problems The characteristic configuration of the present invention is that one heating dot is divided in a direction perpendicular to the dot row, and voltage can be applied independently to each divided dot part. .

Effect> According to the above configuration, by controlling the voltage application to each of the plurality of divided dot parts, it is possible to cause one heating dot to generate heat in multiple stages.

<Example> FIG. 1 shows a heat generating part pattern on a substrate of a thin film type thermal printing head according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a cross section taken along line AA in FIG. 1.

In these figures, l is the width dimension 0.1 to 0.2 mm
One heating dot is shown, and a group of many heating dots are formed in a column. Each heating dot 1 is divided into two parts in the direction perpendicular to the dot row direction, that is, in the width direction, and each divided dot part 1 a, 1 b has an individual lead 2 a, respectively.
2b and common leads 3a and 3b,
Electricity is generated in each of the divided dot portions 2a and 2b along an rUJ-shaped path. One common ground 3a, 3b is shared by each set of divided dot parts 2a, 2b adjacent in the dot row direction, and each common ground 3a, 3b is used as a jumper. Lines 4a, 4b
Continuously connected.

According to the above configuration, in one heating dot 1, there are two states: a state where voltage is applied only to either of the divided dot parts 1a and 1b, a state where voltage is applied to both dot parts 1a and 1b, and a state where voltage is applied only to the divided dot parts 1a and 1b, and a state where voltage is applied only to the divided dot parts 1a and 1b. Printing is possible in four gradation levels depending on the application state.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 6 is a glaze layer formed on the surface of the substrate 5, 7 is a resistor, 8 is an oxidation-resistant layer, and 9 is an abrasion-resistant layer.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3, the pair of divided dot parts 1a and 1b constituting one heating dot 1 may be shifted in the dot row direction, or the heating element may be U-shaped. , there is a difference in resistance between the outside and inside, and the corners of the rectangle become regions with relatively low heat generation, as shown in Figure 4.
By forming it in an arcuate shape and removing the corners, it is possible to obtain a dot pattern suitable for graphic printing with high definition.

Furthermore, the lead part has a multilayer structure, and the common lead 3a
, 3b as shown in FIG. 3, the individual leads 2a.

It may also be formed by extending it in an insulating manner under 2b.

<Effects of the Invention> As explained above, according to the present invention, one heating dot made up of a plurality of divided dot parts can be heated in multiple gradations by controlling the voltage application to each divided dot part. , it became possible to print in various gradations.

In addition, by setting the shape and arrangement of the divided dots, it becomes easy to arbitrarily set the shape and size of the heating dots themselves, making it possible to obtain dot patterns suitable for various types of printing, including graphic printing. Ta.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a heat-generating dot pattern of a thermal printing head according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 1, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are respective examples of heat-generating dot patterns. FIG. FIG. 5 is a plan view of a conventional heating dot pattern. In the figure, 1 is a heating dot, and 1 a and 1 b are divided dot parts.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A thermal print head configured to divide one heating dot at least in a direction perpendicular to the dot row and to be able to apply a voltage independently to each divided dot portion.