JPS63122589A - Ink ribbon device of thermal transfer printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the decoding of the data content transferred to a printing paper from an ink ribbon by a outside person, by providing a heating means for melting the residual ink layer of an ink layer after used in printing on the downstream of a printing head along the running direction of the ink ribbon. CONSTITUTION:A heat generating member 10 slides on an ink ribbon 6 in the state contacted therewith under pressure from the back surface side of the base layer 6b of the ink ribbon 6 having an ink layer 6a formed thereto and a heat generator is mounted in the heat generating member 10. A sucking member 11 is provided so as to be contacted with the surface of the ink layer 6a of the ink ribbon 6 to suck the residual ink of the ink layer 6a brought to a molten state by the heat generating member 10 and constituted of a material such as felt. Therefore, the ink ribbon 6 after printing due to a printing head 5 is sent out to a heating means 3 by a take-up reel 8 and the residual ink of the ink layer 6a is melted by the heat generating member 10 and sucked up by the sucking member 11.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a thermal transfer printer capable of printing by thermally transferring ink from an ink ribbon to a printing paper, and particularly relates to a thermal transfer printer capable of printing by thermally transferring ink from an ink ribbon to a printing paper, and particularly relates to a thermal transfer printer capable of printing by thermally transferring ink from an ink ribbon to a printing paper. The present invention relates to an ink ribbon device equipped with a ribbon cartridge.

[Conventional technology]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various printers have been developed that can print information recorded in, for example, a personal computer or a word processor on print paper. and,
For example, a thermal transfer type printer is known as such a printer. In this thermal transfer type printer, as shown in FIG. An ink ribbon device has been developed that prints characters and the like by thermally melting ink from an ink layer and attaching it to the printing paper 104 side.

By the way, in this type of ink ribbon device, after the printing operation by the head unit 105, the ink ribbon 103 has a portion 103a corresponding to the printed characters (hereinafter referred to as character omission), as shown in FIG. In some cases, a portion 103b (referred to as a portion 103b) may be removed as white, and the remaining portion 103b may remain as residual ink in a dark state such as black.

[Problem to be solved]

By the way, such printing ribbon devices are usually disposable, and if you discard the ink ribbon cartridge containing the ink ribbon after using the ink ribbon, for example, you can pick up the discarded ink ribbon cartridge and replace the ink ribbon with the ink ribbon. It is possible to decipher the printed information based on the character cutout from which the ink ribbon 103 is removed from the inside of the cartridge 100, especially when printing information such as a secret document that you do not want others to know. What to do with the ink ribbon cartridge has become an important issue.

In view of the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, the present invention provides an ink ribbon device for a thermal transfer printer in which the information transferred from the ink ribbon side to the printing paper side cannot be deciphered from the ink ribbon after the transfer. The purpose is to provide

[Means for Solving the Problems] That is, the present invention thermally transfers the ink layer of the ink ribbon wound around a pair of reels in the casing of the ink ribbon cartridge onto the surface of the print paper using the print head to print. In this thermal transfer printer, heating means for melting residual ink in the ink layer after printing is provided downstream of the print head along the running direction of the ink ribbon.

[Effect]

The ink ribbon device for a thermal transfer printer of the present invention heats residual ink having a character cutout portion of an ink layer of an ink ribbon immediately after printing by a heating means, and converts the residual ink forming the character cutout portion into the shape of a character. The ink ribbon is melted so that it does not stay in place, making it impossible to decipher characters transferred from the ink ribbon after printing.

〔Example〕

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

FIG. 1 shows an ink ribbon device for a thermal transfer printer according to this invention, and this ink ribbon device has the following features:
A heating means 3 is provided in a casing 2 of an ink ribbon cartridge set in a print head moving section 1. In addition, the reference numeral 4 in the figure is a roll of printing paper;
is a print head for printing characters, etc. on the print paper 4.

6 is an ink ribbon, 7 is a supply reel around which the ink ribbon 6 is wound, and 8 is a take-up reel for winding up the ink ribbon 6.

The heating means 3 is for erasing the characters on the ink ribbon 6 after being printed by the print head 5, and as shown in FIG. 5 on the downstream side (that is, on the front side). That is, the heating means 3 of this embodiment is composed of a heat generating member 10 and a suction member 11 provided on a base 9 attached to the casing 2 side of the ink ribbon cartridge. The base 9 is provided with a wall that stands up on its peripheral edge side, so that even if liquid ink should drop downward from the ink ribbon side, it will not leak outside. The heat generating member 10 has a base layer 6b on which the ink layer 6a of the ink ribbon 6 is not formed, and is adapted to slide into pressure contact with the ink ribbon 6 from one side, and a heat generating element is attached inside. The suction member 11 comes into contact with the ink ribbon 6 from the surface side on which the ink layer 6a of the ink ribbon 6 is formed, and becomes melted by the heat generating member 10, that is, the part 6c of the character cutout is replaced with the original one. It is used to absorb residual ink from ink N6a that has become a liquid that does not retain its shape. It is made of felt or other material, and can be replaced with a new one at any time using an attachment (not shown). Although the heating means 3 of this embodiment is provided with a suction member 11, this is not particularly required.

Therefore, according to the ink ribbon device of the thermal transfer printer according to this embodiment, the ink ribbon 6 after being printed by the print head 5 is sent out to the heating means 3 side by the take-up reel 8, and left by the heat generating member 10. After the ink is melted, the remaining liquid ink is absorbed by the absorbing member 11.

〔effect〕

As described above, according to the ink ribbon device for a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention, the remaining ink after being used for printing is heated and melted by the heating means, thereby forming characters on the ink layer after printing. Since the removal part is erased, even if the ink ribbon cartridge is disposed of after use, it is effectively prevented from knowing the information printed on the ink ribbon stored in it. This is very effective when printing confidential documents and the like.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an ink ribbon device for a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the main parts of the ink ribbon device for a thermal transfer printer according to the invention.
FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing a conventional ink ribbon cartridge, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the cutout portion of the ink ribbon when a conventional ink ribbon device is used. 2... Ink ribbon cartridge casing, 7.8... Reel. 6... Ink ribbon. 6a... Ink layer. 5...Print head. ４・・・・・・・・・Print paper. 3...Heating means. Applicant NEC Home Electronics Co., Ltd. Agent Patent Attorney Masu 1) Takeo Figure 2 113 Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A thermal transfer printer that prints by thermally transferring ink from an ink layer of an ink ribbon wound around a pair of reels in a casing of an ink ribbon cartridge onto a printing paper surface using a print head, An ink ribbon device for a thermal transfer printer, characterized in that a heating means for melting residual ink in an ink layer after being used for printing is provided downstream of the print head along the running direction of the ink ribbon.