JPS63193867A - Image-receiving paper feeder for thermal transfer printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent color misregistering from occurring, by so disposing first and second rollers that the line of clamping of an image-receiving paper by the rollers substantially coincides with the line of clamping of the paper by a thermal head and a platen drum. CONSTITUTION:An image-receiving paper is clamped by first and second rollers 32, 34, one of the rollers is driven to rotate, thereby feeding the paper forward, while an ink donor film 20 is fed forward at the same velocity with that of the paper, and one of predetermined colors is transferred onto the paper 26. After transfer, a thermal head is lifted up, the rollers 32, 34 and a platen drum 30 are reversely driven to position the leading end of the paper 26, the ink donor film 20 is fed forward, and the next color part is positioned beneath the thermal head. Then, the head is lowered to clamp the paper and the ink donor film between the head and the platen drum, the rollers 32, 34 and the platen drum are again driven to feed the paper and the ink donor film forward, and a new color is transferred to the paper.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for transporting image receiving paper in a thermal transfer printer.

Rev.1/2011 A thermal transfer printer is equipped with a platen drum and a thermal head disposed opposite to the platen drum, and the ink donor film and image receiving paper are overlapped and transferred between the platen drum and the thermal head by the thermal head. By pressing the image receiving paper and the ink donor film against a platen drum and heating them, a desired image is transferred from the ink donor film to the image receiving paper.

In such thermal transfer printers, there are the following two typical devices for transporting image receiving paper.

First, as shown in FIG. 3, an image receiving paper grip 4 is provided on the platen drum 2, and the front edge of the image receiving paper P is gripped by the grip and wound around the platen drum, thereby rotating the platen drum. The image receiving paper is transferred by the following. In FIG. 3, 6 indicates a thermal head, and C indicates an ink donor film.

Second, as shown in FIG. 4, pinch rollers 12 and 14 are set at intervals before and after the platen drum 10, and the mutually stacked image receiving paper P and ink donor film C are sandwiched between the pinch rollers. It is meant to be transported.

However, such a receiving paper transport device has the following drawbacks.

That is, in the first device, the platen drum requires a circumferential length sufficient to wrap one sheet of image-receiving paper, and therefore, the size of the platen drum becomes large. Furthermore, as the size of the platen drum increases, the contact area with the thermal head increases, and therefore the pressing force of the thermal head against the platen drum must be increased accordingly. This increases the wear on the thermal head and therefore shortens its lifespan.

In the second device, a pinch roller 12 located in front of the platen drum 10 pulls the image-receiving paper sandwiched between the thermal head and the pinch roller. Therefore, when making color prints, after printing one color of yellow, magenta, and cyan, if you want to print the next color, lift the thermal head, return the receiving paper,
The thermal head locates the part of the image-receiving paper to be transferred, and the ink donor film is advanced to the next color area. Since the tension between the roller and the thermal head (platen drum) is eliminated, the deformation of the image-receiving paper caused by the tension is reversed, making it difficult to perform the above-mentioned cueing accurately, and color shift is likely to occur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a receiving paper transfer device that eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks.

In other words, the transfer device according to the present invention is an image receiving paper transfer device in the transfer printer as described above, in which the image receiving paper is aligned with both sides of the thermal head in the axial direction on the thermal head side of the image receiving paper. a pair of first rollers provided, and a pair of second rollers provided facing the first roller on the platen drum side of the image receiving paper and aligned with each other in the axial direction; When performing the above transfer, the first
The image-receiving paper is sandwiched between the first roller and the second roller, and the image-receiving paper is transported by rotationally driving at least one of these rollers, and the line where the image-receiving paper is pinched by these rollers is aligned with the thermal head. It is characterized in that the roller is arranged so as to substantially match the pinching line between the platen drum and the platen drum.

Effects of the Invention The transfer device according to the present invention has the above configuration, and when performing color printing in a thermal transfer device, after performing the first or second color transfer, the transfer device transfers the next new color. Even if the thermal head is lifted away from the platen drum to transfer the image, the image receiving paper remains firmly sandwiched between the platen drum and the first and second rolls, so the image receiving paper must be returned. When locating the beginning of the transferred portion, color misregistration, which occurs in the second conventional device described above, is less likely to occur.

Further, there is no need to make the platen drum large as in the first conventional transfer device π, and therefore, the above-mentioned problems associated with making the platen drum large can be avoided.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will now be described in detail based on the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.

1 and 2 show a transfer printer incorporating a receiving paper transport device according to the present invention.

That is, this transfer printer basically includes an ink donor film supply roll 22 that supplies the ink donor film 20, an ink donor film winding roll 24 that winds up the ink donor film, and a device that supplies the image receiving paper 26. (not shown) and thermal head 2
8 and a platen drum 30 for sandwiching the image receiving paper and the ink donor film 20 between the thermal head 28 and the thermal head 28.

The image receiving paper 26 is transferred to the thermal head 28 and the platen drum 3.
The image-receiving paper transport device according to the present invention, which transports the image-receiving paper through the thermal head 28 side, includes a pair of first rollers 32 provided on both sides of the thermal head in alignment with each other in the axial direction. .32 and the platen drum 3 of the same image-receiving paper.
0 side, a pair of second rollers 34.34 arranged in alignment with the first roller 32.32.

In the illustrated embodiment, the twentieth roller 34.34 is concentric with and of the same radius as the platen drum 30, and is integrally formed therewith.

In addition, the line where the image receiving paper is pinched by the first and second rollers 32 and 32, that is, the line where these rollers engage and pinch the image receiving paper, is the line between the image receiving paper (and the ink donor film) between the thermal head and the platen drum. substantially coincident with the clamping line.

In the above transfer printer, when performing color printing, the image receiving paper is sandwiched between the first and second rollers 32 and 34, and the image receiving paper is advanced by rotationally driving at least one of these rollers ( In FIG. 1, the ink donor film 20 is moved to the left by the ink donor film winding roll 24.
The image receiving paper is advanced at the same speed as the image receiving paper, and one of predetermined colors such as yellow, magenta, cyan, etc. is applied to the image receiving paper 2 by the thermal head 28.
Transfer to 6. After this transfer, the thermal head is lifted and the first and twentieth rules 32, 34 and the platen drum 30 are driven in reverse to locate the beginning of the image receiving paper 26 for the transfer of the next color. Donor film 2
0 and position the next color section under the thermal head.

Then, the thermal head is lowered again, and the image receiving paper and ink donor film are sandwiched between the platen drum and the thermal head. At the time of nipping, the first and 20th wheels and the platen drum are driven in the forward direction again to transfer a new color, and in the same manner, transfer a third color.

In the present invention, even if the thermal head is lifted to transfer a new color, the first and second rolls firmly sandwich the image receiving paper, so the displacement of the image receiving paper will not occur. Therefore, even if the image-receiving paper is returned to the thermal head and the platen drum, color shift can be prevented from occurring.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a transfer printer equipped with an image-receiving paper transport device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a side view of a conventional transfer printer. , FIG. 4 is a side view of another conventional transfer printer. 20-1~ Ink donor film 26-m- Receiving paper 28-m- Thermal head 30-m- Platen drum 32-m- First roller 34-1~ Second roller. Tail L concave, 11 Tail 2 calculation, 3 figures! , d ward

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Comprising a platen drum and a thermal head disposed opposite to the platen drum, the ink donor film and the image receiving paper are transferred between the platen drum and the thermal head in a layered manner, and the thermal head is used to transfer the image receiving paper and the ink donor film. An image-receiving paper transfer device for a thermal transfer printer, which transfers a desired image from an ink donor film to an image-receiving paper by pressing an ink donor film against a platen drum. a pair of first rollers provided on both sides in alignment with each other in the axial direction; and a pair of first rollers provided opposite to the first roller on the platen drum side of the image receiving paper and aligned with each other in the axial direction. a pair of second rollers, which sandwich the image receiving paper between the first and second rollers when performing the transfer;
The image receiving paper is transferred by rotationally driving at least one of these rollers, and the line where the image receiving paper is pinched by these rollers substantially coincides with the line where the image receiving paper is pinched by the thermal head and the platen drum. An image-receiving paper transport device for a thermal transfer printer, characterized in that the roller is arranged so as to (2) The image-receiving paper transport device for a thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, wherein the second roller is set to be coaxial with the platen drum.