JPS63222878A - Ink sheet cassette for thermal transfer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To clean a heat generating part of a thermal head by a handy and inexpensive means and enhance thermal recording quality, by providing an ink sheet cassette for thermal transfer with a member for cleaning the thermal head. CONSTITUTION:A cleaning member 3 is fixed to a cassette casing 2. For example, a felt or the like impregnated with a silicone oil or the like is used as the cleaning member 3. At the time of fitting an ink sheet cassette for thermal transfer to a thermal transfer recorder, the cassette is guided by the recorder, and the cleaning member 3 is moved in contact and engagement with the surface of a heat generating part 4a of a thermal head 4, so that contaminants on the surface of the part 4a are removed. When the ink sheet 1 runs out, the cassette casing 2 and the cleaning member 3 are thrown away together with the ink sheet 1, because the cassette is inexpensively constructed. A new cleaning member is fixed to a new ink sheet cassette for thermal transfer, so that the cleaning member 3 is renewed again and again.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention is applied to an ink sheet cassette in a color thermal transfer recording device that performs color recording using ink sheets coated in a plurality of colors and a thermal head.

Conventional technology The cleaning of a conventional thermal head for thermal recording in a thermal recording apparatus is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 49-21220, the configuration of which is shown in FIGS. 6 and 6. there were.

FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view of a thermal recording device with a conventional cleaning member. Further, FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional view of FIG. 5. To explain this, 21 is a thermal head having a cooling part, 22 is a heat generating part fixed to the thermal head 21, 23 is a cleaning member provided on the apparatus side to clean the surface of the heat generating part 220, and 24 is a heat generating part. A recording sheet on which records are recorded depending on the department.

The operation of the conventional thermal recording device having the cleaning member configured as described above will be described below. For example, when the cleaning member 23 is made of felt or the like impregnated with silicone oil, monoethyl diphenyl, diethyl diphenyl, etc., when the heat generating part 22 of the thermal head 21 moves to the left to a position where it is removed from the recording paper 24, the cleaning member 23 By contacting the cleaning member 23 and moving while contacting and engaging with the cleaning member 23, dirt on the surface of the heat generating portion 22 is removed and the quality of thermal recording is improved.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, with the above configuration, each time the cleaning member 23 removes dirt from the surface of the heat generating part 22, the cleaning effect deteriorates, so the cleaning member 23 must be replaced. There is a need. However, since the cleaning member 23 is built into the inside of the thermal recording device, there is a problem that it takes a lot of effort to replace the cleaning member 23. A special mechanism for crimping and sliding the 23 is required, which has the problem of increasing the cost of the device.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention makes it easy to replace the cleaning member, does not require a special mechanism for cleaning, and cleans the heat generating part of the thermal head using a simple and inexpensive means, thereby improving the quality of thermal recording. The present invention provides an improved thermal transfer ink sheet cassette.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, an ink sheet cassette for thermal transfer according to the present invention is an ink sheet cassette for thermal transfer that is provided with a member for cleaning a thermal head for thermal transfer.

Effect The present invention, with the above-described configuration, makes it easy to replace the cleaning member, and does not require a special mechanism for cleaning.
This method improves thermal recording quality by cleaning the heat generating part of a thermal head using a simple and inexpensive method.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, an ink sheet cassette for thermal transfer according to an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Figure WJ1 is a perspective view of a thermal transfer ink sheet cassette according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and Figures 2 and 3 are views showing the thermal transfer ink sheet cassette of Figure 1 installed in a thermal transfer recording device. It is.

In FIG. 1, 1 is an ink sheet coated with yellow, magenta, cyan, etc. ink for color thermal transfer recording, 2 is a cassette housing that stores the ink sheet 1, and 3 is a cassette housing 2. It is a fixed cleaning member.

In FIGS. 2 and 3, 4 is a thermal head that heats the ink sheet 1 to cause a chemical change in the ink sheet 1, and 4a is a heat generating section fixed to the thermal head.

The thermal transfer ink sheet cassette of this embodiment configured as described above will be explained. When the cleaning member 3 is made of felt or the like impregnated with silicone oil, monoethyl diphenyl, diethyl diphenyl, etc., and the thermal transfer ink sheet cassette is installed in the thermal transfer recording device (in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 3), the thermal transfer The ink sheet cassette is guided by the device (not shown), and the cleaning member 3 moves while contacting and engaging the surface of the heat generating part 4a of the thermal head 4, so that dirt on the surface of the heat generating part 4a is removed. be removed.

When the ink sheet 1 is used up, the cassette housing 2 and the cleaning member 3 are discarded at the same time as the ink sheet 1, since each thermal transfer ink sheet cassette is constructed at low cost. Next, a new cleaning member is fixed to a new thermal transfer ink sheet cassette, and the cleaning member 3 will be updated one after another.

According to this embodiment as described above, by configuring the thermal transfer ink sheet cassette to include a cleaning member for cleaning the thermal transfer thermal head, the cleaning member can be easily replaced, and the cleaning member can be easily replaced. Does not require any special mechanism,
To provide an ink sheet cassette for thermal transfer that improves thermal recording quality by cleaning the heat generating part of a thermal head by a simple and inexpensive means.

A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a thermal transfer ink sheet cassette according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 11 is an ink sheet, and 12 is a cassette housing, which is the same as the configuration shown in FIG. 1. The difference from the configuration shown in FIG. 1 is that the length of the cleaning member 13 is approximately the same as the length of the heat generating portion of the thermal head in the longitudinal direction.

The operation of the thermal transfer ink sheet cassette configured as described above will be described below. When the ink sheet cassette for thermal transfer is installed in the apparatus, the heating part of the thermal head is cleaned by the cleaning member 13, which is the same as in the first embodiment, but the ink sheet cassette for thermal transfer is installed in the apparatus. By pulling out only the cleaning member 13 in this state, the cleaning member 13 comes into contact with the surface of the heat generating part of the thermal head and is pulled out, so that the surface of the heat generating part of the thermal head is also cleaned.

As described above, by making the length of the cleaning member 13 approximately the same as the length in the longitudinal direction of the heat generating part of the thermal head,
The contact engagement length between the cleaning member 13 and the heat generating portion of the thermal head can be increased, and the cleaning effect can be further improved.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, by providing a thermal transfer ink sheet cassette equipped with a cleaning member for cleaning a thermal transfer thermal head, it is possible to easily replace the cleaning member, and a special cleaning member for cleaning is provided. The heat generating part of the thermal head can be cleaned by a simple and inexpensive means without requiring a special mechanism, and the quality of thermal recording can be improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a thermal transfer ink sheet cassette according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are views showing the thermal transfer ink sheet cassette of FIG. 1 installed in a thermal transfer recording apparatus. , FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a thermal transfer ink seed cassette according to a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view of a thermal recording device having a conventional cleaning member, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the same device. It is. 1... Ink sheet, 2... Cassette housing, 3... Cleaning member, 4... Thermal head, 4a... Heat generating part . Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person No. 3
Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6

Claims (1)

[Claims] An ink sheet cassette for thermal transfer equipped with a cleaning member for cleaning the thermal head for thermal transfer.