JPS63128964A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the number of replenishing works by half and to facilitate maintenance, by receiving paper and a sheet material having the length almost equal to the total feed distance of said paper in the single cassette provided to an apparatus main body in a freely detachable manner. CONSTITUTION:Paper 3 is fed to thermal head 12 with the movement of a reading part 21 and an image is successively formed. An ink ribbon 2 is drawn out with the feed of the paper 3 and a new ink ribbon is successively brought into contact with the surface of the paper 3 closely between a thermal head 12 and a platen roller 11. Since the rotation of a stepping motor 2 is simultaneously transmitted to a feeding roller 8, a tension roller 10 and the platen roller 11, the ink ribbon 2 is drawn out by the same quantity even during a time when the leading end part of the paper 3 is guided to the platen roller 11 after the operation of a start switch. Therefore, the ink ribbon 2 is set to the value obtained by multiplying the length, which is obtained by adding the length between the feeding roller 8 and the platen roller 11 to the length of the paper 3 in the feed direction thereof, by the number of papers received.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (A field of industrial application)
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that drives a radar to transfer ink carried on a sheet material to the surface of a sheet of paper to form an image.

fb) Conventional Technology In a small, portable image forming apparatus, image data read by an image reading section is sent to a printing section, and a print head is driven based on this image data. In small-sized image forming apparatuses, a thermal head is used as the print head. In the printing section, the print head comes into contact with a sheet material that is in close contact with the surface of the paper. This sheet material supports heat-melting ink or sublimation dye, and is generally called an ink ribbon. By driving the thermal head, ink carried by the ink ribbon is transferred onto the surface of the paper, forming an image corresponding to the image data. As described above, it is necessary to bring the paper and ink ribbon into close contact with each other in the printing section, so in conventional image forming apparatuses, the ink ribbon and paper are stored separately, and each has its own transport path that joins the paper at the thermal head position. It consists of

(C1 Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in conventional image forming apparatuses, paper and ink ribbon are stored separately, and the amounts of storage do not match, so the timing when the stored paper and ink ribbon run out is delayed. Therefore, each time either the paper or the ink ribbon runs out, it is necessary to replenish the paper or the ink ribbon, making maintenance complicated. By storing paper and sheet materials in one material and matching the storage amount so that they run out at the same time, it is possible to replenish them at once, halving the number of replenishment operations, and simplifying maintenance. The objective is to provide an image forming apparatus that can.

Means for Solving the TDI Problem The image forming apparatus of the present invention is an image forming apparatus comprising a sheet material carrying ink and a print head device that transfers the ink of the sheet material to the surface of the paper based on image data. The device includes a cassette that stores sheet material with a length approximately equal to the total conveyance distance of the paper together with the paper and is removably attached to the device body, and a conveyor that conveys the paper and the sheet material to the print head device at the same speed. It is characterized by providing means.

(81 Effect) In this invention, paper and a sheet material having a length approximately equal to the total conveyance distance of the paper are stored in a single cassette that is detachably attached to the main body of the apparatus. The sheet material is transported to the print head device at the same speed by the transport means.Therefore, when paper and sheet material are transported to the print head device, both will be exhausted almost simultaneously.At this time, - cassettes will be transported to the print head device. By exchanging, both paper and sheet material are replenished.

(f) Embodiment FIG. 1 is a schematic front sectional view showing the configuration of an image forming apparatus which is an embodiment of the present invention.

The image forming apparatus main body 16 can be opened and closed using a hinge 16a as a fulcrum. On the top surface of the image forming apparatus main body 16,
A document table 15 made of transparent hard glass is formed. The upper surface of this document table 15 is a document cover 14 that can be opened and closed freely.
covered by. A light source 2 is provided on the underside of the document table 15.
2. Focusing light transmitter lens 23 and CCD array 2
4 is provided so as to be horizontally movable in the direction of arrow A or B. This reading section 21 is driven by a stepping motor M2, which will be described later, and is driven by arrows A and B.
Move back and forth in the direction.

The cassette 1 is mounted on a mounting plate 5 at the lower inside of the image forming apparatus main body 16 . This mounting plate 5 is supported by a rotating shaft 6. Further, one end of a coil spring 7 is attached to the lower surface of the mounting plate 5. The inside of the cassette 1 is divided into two stages, upper and lower, by a cutting plate 4.

Paper 3 is stored on the lower side of the partition plate 4, and sheet material 1 is stored on the upper side of the partition plate 4. Paper 3 is a cut sheet cut to a standard size. The sheet material 2 is an ink ribbon carrying a sublimation dye, and is stored in a state in which a long sheet material is folded at predetermined intervals and then folded in half with a space provided inside.

An opening 17 is provided on one side of the image forming apparatus main body 16 . Inside the image forming apparatus 16, a paper feed roller 8, a tension roller 10, and a platen roller 11 are provided between the cassette 1 and the opening 17.

Driving force is supplied to the paper feed roller 8 and the platen roller 11 by a stepping motor M1, which will be described later. A guide 9 is provided between the paper feed roller 8 and the platen roller 11. The paper feed roller 8 contacts the leading edge of the upper surface of the paper stored in the cassette 1, and rotates to feed the paper one by one toward the platen roller 11. The guide 9 guides the leading edge of the paper fed by the paper feed roller 8 to the platen roller 11 . A tension roller 10 applies a constant tension to the sheet material 2 pulled out from the inside after being folded in half.A thermal head 12 is in contact with a platen roller 11, with the paper 3 and the sheet material 2 in between. The thermal head 12 is driven by a head drive unit (not shown),
Heat the sheet material. Due to this heating, the sublimation dye carried by the sheet material increases by one on the surface of the paper 3.

It is slightly longer than the sum total. Further, the width of the sheet material 2 in the direction perpendicular to the conveying direction is equal to the width of the paper 3. Further, due to the elastic force of the spring 7 in the direction of arrow C, a force in the direction of the arrow is applied to the mounting table 5 and the cassette l with the rotating shaft 6 as a fulcrum, and the top surface of the leading end of the paper 3 stored in the cassette 1 is always in contact with the paper feed roller 8. In addition, a cutter 13 is provided on the upper surface of the opening 17.

This cutter 13 is used when cutting the sheet material 2 exposed to the outside from the opening 17.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a conveying means provided in the image forming apparatus.

Gear Ml fixed to the rotating shaft of stepping motor M1
a is meshed with transmission gear 8a and transmission gear llb. The speed change gear 8a is fixed coaxially with the paper feed roller 8. The transmission gear llb meshes with a speed change gear 11a fixed coaxially with the platen roller 11. Gear Mla and transmission gear 11b have the same number of teeth. Further, the ratio of the number of teeth between the speed change gear 8a and the speed change gear lla is made equal to the ratio of the diameters of the platen roller 11 and the paper feed roller 8.

From the above, the paper feed roller 8 and the platen roller II rotate in the same direction at the same circumferential speed. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the control section of the image forming apparatus.

The CPU 31 outputs control data to the lamp drive section 3o, head drive section 37, and motor drive section 38 according to the program written in the ROM 32. At this time, R.A.
A part of M33 is used as a working area.

The lamp driving section 35 turns on the lamp 22 when reading an image. The reflected light from the lamp 22 passes through the lens 23 to the CCD.
Array 24 is reached. Each C constituting the CCD array 24
The OD outputs a voltage according to the amount of light that has arrived, and this output voltage is binarized by the binarization circuit 36 and input to the CPU 31 via the I1 poison interface 34. The image data input from the binarization circuit 36 is temporarily stored in a data buffer and output to the head drive section 37. The head driving section 37 drives each element constituting the thermal head 12 based on image data. Furthermore, the motor drive section 38 is
Stepping motors Ml and M2 are driven according to the control data output from U31.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the image forming apparatus.

Before starting the operation, the reading unit 21 is stopped at a position where the lens 23 is across from the end in the direction of arrow B in front of the document table 15. When a start switch (not shown) is turned on after an original is set on the original platen 15 (nl), a driving pulse corresponding to the number of pulses is output to the stepping motor M1. The number of pulses A corresponds to the amount of rotation of the stepping motor M1 necessary to move the leading end of the paper 3 stored in the cassette 1 from the position of the paper feed roller 8 to the position of the platen roller 11. After this, drive the lamp 22 (n3)
, the image data of the original image is read by the CCD array 24 (n4), and this image data is transmitted to the head drive section 37 (n5). The CCD array 24 is arranged in a line in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the reading section 21, and the range that can be read at one time in the moving direction of the reading section 21 is equal to the range in the paper conveyance direction that can be printed at one time by the thermal head 12. .

After this, output one driving pulse to stepping motors M1 and M2. n6. n7), and increments the counter C (n8). This counter C counts the number of pulses output to the stepping motors M1 and M2. That is, the amount of movement of the reading unit 21 and the amount of conveyance of the paper 3 are measured.

Note that the reduction ratio when the rotation of the stepping motor M2 is transmitted to the reading unit 21 is equal to the reduction ratio when the rotation of the stepping motor Ml is transmitted to the paper feed roller 8. Therefore, the reading section 21 moves at a speed equal to the transport speed of the vJ13.

The above steps n4 to n8 are repeated until the contents of the counter C match the set value N (n9). This set value N is the number of pulses corresponding to the amount of rotation of the pulse motor M2 necessary for the reading section 21 to move over the entire surface of the document table 15.

When the contents of the counter C match the set value N, the lamp 22
At the same time as turning off (nlO), the stepping motor M
1 to invert and output the driving pulse number N, and n1l) completes the operation. At this time, the reading section 21 has returned to the position before the start of operation, that is, to the position where the lens 23 is in front of the end of the document table 15 in the direction of arrow B.

Through the above operations, image data is read every time the stepping motors M1 and M2 are driven one pulse at a time.
An image corresponding to the image data is formed on the paper 3 by the thermal head 12 . As the reading section 21 moves, the paper 3 is conveyed to the thermal head 12, and images are formed one after another. As the paper 3 is transported, the ink ribbon 2 is pulled out, and new ink ribbons are successively brought into close contact with the surface of the paper between the thermal head 12 and the platen roller 11. The ink ribbon 2 is made by folding a long sheet material to a certain length and then folding it in half with a space provided in the center. Since the ink ribbon 2 is pulled out from this central portion, almost no contact resistance occurs during pulling out, and it can be easily pulled out continuously. Furthermore, since the rotation of the stepping motor 2 is simultaneously transmitted to the paper feed roller 8, tension roller 10, and platen roller 11, the ink ribbon 2 is The same amount will be withdrawn. Therefore, the ink ribbon 2 has a paper feed roller 8 and a platen roller 1 along the length of the paper 3 in the conveyance direction.
1 multiplied by the number of sheets of paper stored.

Note that by configuring the paper feed roller 8 to be able to rotate independently from the platen roller 11 using a solenoid, the sheet material 2 is The length of the sheet material 2 to be stored in the cassette 1 can be shortened. Also,
The sheet material 2 exposed to the outside from the discharge port 17 is
3, the used sheet material 2 can be cut and discarded. Therefore, there is no need to collect the used sheet material 2 inside the device, and the device can be downsized.

(Effects of the Invention According to this invention, the paper and the sheet material are transported to the print head device at a constant speed, so the amount of transport for both is equal per unit time.The length of the sheet material is the same as the length of the sheet material. Since the distance is made equal to the total conveyance distance, the sheet material and the paper are used up at the same time, and both can be replenished at the same time.

In addition, the sheet material and paper are stored in a single cassette, and both can be replenished by replacing one member, reducing the number of maintenance operations by half and making the work easier.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front cross-sectional view showing the configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of essential parts showing a conveying means that constitutes a part of the image forming apparatus, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a control section of the image forming apparatus, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the image forming apparatus. 1-cassette, 2-ink ribbon, 3-paper, 8-paper feed roller, 11-platen roller, 12-thermal head, 8a, 1la-transmission gear, Ml-stepping motor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In an image forming apparatus comprising a sheet material carrying ink and a print head device that transfers ink from the sheet material to the paper surface based on image data, An image forming apparatus includes a cassette that stores sheet materials together with paper and is removably attached to the main body of the apparatus, and a conveyance means that conveys the paper and the sheet materials at the same speed to a print head device.