JPS63272154A - Thermal transferring and copying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To contrive compact size and maintenance-free of a device by driving a printing means during detecting a copying paper with a paper sensor regardless of the size of an original to be read with an image sensor unit, and driving the printing means during a constant time and thereafter stopping it, after the detection of the rear edge of the copying paper with the paper sensor. CONSTITUTION:The titled device is constituted in such a way that regardless of the size of an original 3 to be read by an image sensor unit 30, while a copying paper 12 is detected by a paper sensor 75, a printing means 10 is driven and after the paper sensor 75 detects the rear edge of the copying paper, the printing means 10 is driven during a constant time and stopped. Thus, an original image read by the image sensor 36 is, printed by a thermal head 50 through a thermal ink sheet 55, and can be copied on a normal paper not to be surface- processed. Even when papers of various sizes of long or short are used, a paper clogging is not generated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention includes a thermal transfer type printing unit using an edge-type thermal head and a thermal ink sheet, and an image sensor unit that reads original images. The present invention relates to a thermal transfer copying device for copying originals onto plain paper.

(Conventional Example) In recent years, various types of copying devices have been realized and become popular. In general, direct printing type copying machines that use surface-treated paper such as thermosensitive coloring paper, and electrostatic type electrophotographic copying machines that use Azusa paper are well known.

There is an electrophotographic copying machine as a device that makes copies using paper that has not been surface-treated.Mechanisms such as 4i) tt, exposure, development, transfer, and cleaning are installed around a photoreceptor drum made of selenium, etc. After applying a 4 pf electric current to the surface of the rotating photoreceptor drum, the irradiated light image of the original is sequentially exposed to the Surin 1 using optical means consisting of mirrors, lenses, etc.
~The exposed latent image is developed with toner to become a visible image, and this toner image is transferred to plain paper that is fed synchronously, and the copy paper on which the toner image has been transferred is fixed by heat and pressure to make copies. I try to get things.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the above-described direct printing type copying apparatus, although it is possible to make the structure smaller by using fins, it is not possible to use paper passing through.

Further, in an electrophotographic copying apparatus that can use a 9f paper feed, a certain amount of volume is required because the optical system such as mirrors and lenses is moved to expose the Surin 1. For this reason,
There is also a limit to the miniaturization of the configuration, making it difficult to make the device more compact. Furthermore, in order to heat and fix the toner image, it is necessary to provide a fixing device having a heat source of about IKW, which causes an increase in power consumption and an increase in the internal temperature of the machine.

Therefore, it was necessary to provide a preheat control means to reduce power consumption and an exhaust fan to discharge the heated air to the outside of the machine.

Furthermore, the use of fine powder toner for development''-1
The 1-ner powder will be scattered inside the machine, staining the inside of the machine, and having an adverse effect on copied images. Therefore, in order to obtain stable copies of high quality, various problems have occurred, such as the need for maintenance work to periodically clean the scattered toner powder.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a thermal transfer copying apparatus that is compact, lightweight, and does not require maintenance as in conventional apparatuses.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above problems, the thermal transfer copying apparatus of the present invention uses a thermal head and a thermal ink sheet 1 to perform thermal transfer onto pre-cut copy paper. and an image sensor unit configured to scan a document to be copied and read the document, and a paper sensor for detecting the presence or absence of copy paper is provided in the copy paper insertion portion of the printing device, and the Regardless of the size of the document read by the image sensor unit, the printing means is driven while the paper sensor is detecting the copy paper, and after the paper sensor detects the trailing edge of the copy paper, the printing means is driven for a certain period of time. It has a configuration that allows it to be stopped later.

(Function) According to the present invention, with the above-described configuration, the original image read by the image sensor is printed by the thermal head via the heat-sensitive ink sheet, and can be copied onto plain paper without surface treatment. .

Further, since the transfer roller continues to rotate until a certain period of time has elapsed after the paper sensor detects the trailing edge of the copy paper, paper jams will not occur even if copy papers of various lengths and short lengths are used.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a thermal transfer copying bag according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, there is a document platen glass 2 on the front side of the main body 1 on which a document to be copied is placed, and the document 3 placed on top of this is pressed down so that it comes into close contact with the document platen glass 2. The manuscript cover 4 is
It is supported so that it can be opened and closed using the back side 5 as a fulcrum. The document platen glass 2 is arranged to be horizontally long when viewed from the front so that an A4 size document can be placed horizontally. On the rear side of the main body 1, printers 1 to 10 for copying images onto copy paper are provided.

First, a copy paper insertion slot 11 for inserting copy paper is opened in the printer 1 part 10, and one end of the copy paper 12 is inserted thereinto. The inserted copy paper 12 is
It is held leaning against the guide lid 13 so that it does not fall down and come out from the insertion opening 11. The guide lid 13 is supported by a hinge at the innermost position of the main body 1, and can be opened and closed.

The guide lid 13 can be closed when the main body 1 is not used to cover the copy paper insertion slot 11 and the like.

A copy paper output port 14 is located in front of the copy paper insertion port 11.
The guide plate 15 that forms the opening is provided with an opening of
As shown in FIG.
'It is tilted as if it were changed more than that. Copy paper 1
2 can use up to the maximum size of A4 size paper, and the A4 size paper is fed in the longitudinal direction, and is copied upward from the copy paper outlet 14 and comes out. Copy paper 12 coming out from copy paper outlet 14
is printed and ejected in such a direction that the printed copy image can be seen when viewed from the front side, and if the copy paper is paper with low rigidity, it will fall toward the copy paper insertion slot 11 side. There is. Therefore, the person making the copy can perform the copying operation while always checking the printed surface from the front side.

In this embodiment, the original 3 is placed at the left front end 20 of the original platen glass 2.
The copy paper I2 is set so as to match the right edge 21 of the copy paper insertion slot 11.

When copying onto paper having a width narrower than A4 size, a copy paper guide 22 slidably provided in the copy paper insertion slot 11 is slid to match the width of the copy paper.

A start button 23 is provided on the top surface of the main body 1, and a power switch 24 is provided on the left side of the main body.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an image sensor unit provided under the document table glass 2. As shown in FIG.

In the image sensor unit 30, a sensor main body 33 is placed on a sensor base 32 which is slidably guided by a guide shaft 31 fixed to the main body 1.

The sensor body 33 includes an illumination L for illuminating the original.
An ED array 34, a light converging fiber lens 35 for forming and projecting an optical image of the original at the same magnification, and a contact image sensor 36 provided on the imaging plane of the original image are attached. .

If the positional relationship between the document 3 placed on the document platen glass 2 and the contact image sensor 36 is not set correctly, the optical image projected onto the contact image sensor 36 will be out of focus, resulting in a contact image. An appropriate output signal will not be obtained from the sensor 36.

In this embodiment, in order to accurately determine the distance between the x document surface and the contact type image sensor 36,
A roller 37 is provided at the front and back ends of the , and the roller 37 is pushed upward by a compression spring 38 provided between the sensor base 32 and the sensor main body 33 and comes into contact with the lower surface of the document platen glass 2. It slides while rotating. Therefore, by keeping the thickness of the h1 platen glass 2 constant, the copy surface of the document placed on the platen glass 2 and the contact image sensor 36 can always be kept constant.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a method of driving the image sensor unit. A guide l1iIII 31 is fixed along the longitudinal direction of the original platen glass 2, and the image sensor unit 30 is guided by the guide shaft 31 and moved to the roller 37.
While sliding on the lower surface of the document table glass 2, the fixed end 41 is pulled by the belt 40 and moves from side to side. The bell 1-40 is stretched between the left and right ends of the main body 1, and is driven by the rotation of a pulse motor 42. The image sensor unit 30 is driven by a pulse motor 42 and reciprocates between an origin switch 43 and an end point switch 44 . The power supply to the LED array 34 of the image sensor unit 30 or the output from the image sensor 36 is connected to the main body side by a line 39 shaped like a flange 1.

As shown in FIG. 4, the end-face type thermal head 50 is attached to the main body 1 from the bottom of the substrate in a direction substantially ``.''.

Thermal head is maintenance-free and requires no Km.
It is used in thermal recording type facsimile machines, electronic typewriters, word processors, computer printers, etc. due to its features such as 'rf and low price. Plate puddings 1 to J on one side of the board.

The circuit element is an array of fine heating elements, for example 8 dots per 1 mm, arranged in a row, and although it has the advantage of being easy to manufacture due to its flat layout, the area occupied by the thermal head is large. This was not desirable in terms of making the device more compact.

On the other hand, the thermal head 50 used in this embodiment is of the so-called end-face type, and as shown in FIG.
A glass glaze layer is formed on the glass glaze layer 2 on the end face 51, and a heating resistor film is formed on the glass glaze layer 2 on the end face 51, and the heating resistor film is connected to the circuit element 60 on the side surface through an electrode film. .

In this embodiment, the heating element formed on the end face 51 is composed of a heating element divided into 8 dots per Im over a 210-an width of an A4 size sheet. However, it is not necessarily necessary to have the same length as the paper surface portion, but it is sufficient that the length is the same as the image forming dimension on the paper surface. The surface of the heating element is protected by a wear-resistant protective film. The edge-type thermal head has a convex heating element surface and has the following characteristics: good thermal transfer characteristics, good linearity of the heating element forming surface, uniform print density, and compact head. have. As shown in FIG. 4, a heat-sensitive ink sheet supply shaft 53 and a winding shaft 54 are arranged on both sides of the end-face type thermal head. A heat-sensitive ink sheet 1-55 is wound around the supply shaft 53 with its heat-sensitive ink surface facing outward, and this heat-sensitive ink sheet 55 is wrapped around a metal weight shaft 56.
It is guided to the heating element end surface 51 of the thermal head 50 while being under tension. As shown in FIG. 5, the heating element end face 51 is pressed from above by a transfer roller 59 made of a rubber material and held by a roller frame 58 that can be opened and closed about a fulcrum 57. The transfer roller 59 has a length of 220 m, a diameter of 20 mm at the center, and a diameter of 0.1 mm at both ends.
It has a tassel-like shape that is 5mm smaller. Diameter 20nw
n is a range of 70 mm at the center, and the finish is tapered linearly from that position to the 19.85 mm diameter portions at both ends. In this way, the transfer roller 59 is shaped like a cone,
By pressing both ends with a spring of about 1.2 kg on each side, the adhesion between the transfer roller 59 and the end surface 51 of the heating element is improved, and uniform density can be obtained over the entire width.

Further, the cylindrical transfer roller 59 also serves to prevent wrinkles that tend to occur on the thermal ink sheet 55 and the copy paper 12.

Note that the shape of the cylindrical transfer roller is such that its tapered portions are connected by a straight line, but in this example, connecting them with a straight line was more effective against wrinkles than connecting them with a curved line. .

Immediately to the left of the contact surface of the transfer roller 59 on the end face 51 of the heating element, a blade 61 made of a plastic material is fixed, the details of which are shown in FIG.

The heat-sensitive ink sheet 55 that has passed through the heating element end face 51 is wound up on the winding shaft 54 so that the heat-sensitive ink surface is on the inside. As shown in FIG. 6, the edge 62 of the blade 61 is in the tangential direction of the transfer roller 59, which is in pressure contact with the heating element end surface 51, and is approximately 7 inches away from the contact position on the downstream side in the copy paper feeding direction. Therefore, the copy paper 12 is fed into the gap between the transfer roller 59 and the thermal ink sheet 55, is suppressed and heated by the transfer roller 59 and the thermal head 50, and the ink is transferred to the copy paper 12 until it reaches the edge 62. During this period, the copy paper 12 and the thermal ink sheets 1-55 are fed in close contact for a certain period of time, and then the thermal ink sheets 1-55 suddenly change their direction downward at the edge 62, and the copy paper 12 continues to move straight. Become. The angle of the edge 62 of the blade 61 is less than 90'' so that the downward direction change toward the thermal ink sheet 55 is rapid.

The thermal ink sheet 1-55 is then wound around the winding shaft 54 at an angle O with respect to the feeding direction.

If the angle 0 is 30 degrees or more, it will work to separate the copy paper 12, but it is preferably between 60 degrees and 90 degrees.

It should be noted that if the angle is 90° or more, a better separation effect will be produced, but the manner in which the thermal head 50 is arranged will change.

The thermal head 50 transfers the ink to the copy paper 12.
The structure is such that the ink transferred to the copy paper 12 cools down and is adsorbed to the copy paper surface for F minutes before being peeled off, so the ink is transferred to the thermal ink sheet again. Good transfer can be performed without sticking to the 1~ side.

Further, the position of the edge 62 where the thermal ink sheet 55 and the copy paper 12 separate is in the tangential direction of the transfer roller 59, and while the copy paper 12 tends to move straight due to its rigidity, the thermal ink sheet 1- 55 undergoes a sudden direction change at the edge 62, resulting in copy paper 1
2 and the heat-sensitive ink sheet 55 can be separated well. The heat-sensitive ink sheet supply lll1l153 and the winding shaft 54 are held in the casing 0, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The ink sheet cartridge 71 has a casing 70. Supply shaft 532, winding shaft 54, weight shaft 56.
The ink sheet cartridge 71 consists of a thermal ink sheet 55, and when copying is used, the ink sheet cartridge 71 is loaded into the thermal head 50 from above. Ink sheet car 1~
The casing 70 of the ridge 71 is provided with an open lower 2 on the lower surface into which the thermal head 50 can be inserted, and an open lower 3 on the upper surface from which the upper surface of the heating element end surface 51 of the thermal head 50 can slightly protrude. There is. Felt is used as a bearing for the supply shaft 53, and this felt is fixed to the casing 70, and the frictional resistance generated when the supply shaft 53 rotates causes a pack when the thermal ink sheet 55 is wound onto the winding shaft 54. It works to give tension. Similarly, the weight shaft 56 also serves to absorb torque fluctuations when the thermal ink sheet 1-55 is wound up, and also serves to provide pack tension.

As shown in FIG.
It also serves as a guide surface. The upper surface 83 on the entrance side is set at such a height that when the copy paper 12 is inserted, its leading edge is just guided into the nip formed by the transfer roller 59 and the heating element end surface 51 of the thermal head 50. After the ink is transferred, the thermal ink sheet 55 is separated by the edge 62 of the blade 61, and the two surfaces 84 on the exit side are attached to the copy paper 12.
A guide surface is formed to prevent the leading edge of the copy paper from falling down due to being pulled by the heat-sensitive ink sheet 1-55 when the copy paper moves straight ahead. The upper surface 84 guides the leading edge of the copy paper 12 to the copy paper outlet 14. The reason why there is one step 85 in the middle of the top surface 84 is that when the previous copy operation is completed and the next copy is made as it is, the copy paper ^II is pushed by the leading edge of the previous copy paper, and this step It is provided for the function of falling and holding at 85. Winding shaft 54 and transfer roller 59 for thermal ink sheet 1
are driven by the same pulse motor (not shown). The driving force of the pulse motor is transmitted to the transfer roller 59 via a gear train for deceleration, whereas the driving force to the winding shaft 54 is transmitted by a slip mechanism made of felt and a spring provided on the way. Therefore, even if the thickness of the thermal ink sheet 55 wound around the winding shaft 54 changes and the diameter increases, a constant amount of the thermal ink sheet 55 fed at the peripheral speed of the transfer roller 59 is always wound up reliably. ing.

A pulse motor for driving the transfer roller 59 and a pulse motor 42 for driving the image sensor unit 30.

The reduction ratio is set so that when the same number of pulses is applied, the amount by which the copy paper 12 is fed by the transfer roller 59 and the amount by which the image sensor unit 30 is moved are equal.

Black is usually used for general copying,
In this embodiment as well, the heat-sensitive ink sheet 55 is coated with black ink, but the color is not limited to black.
A variety of thermal ink sheets can be used, such as red, blue, green, yellow, cyan, magenta, brown, gold, silver, etc. To replace the heat-sensitive ink sheets 1 to 55, the roller frame 58 is opened upward and the ink sheet cartridges 71 are installed and removed (FIG. 5).

Next, a procedure for actually performing copying according to this embodiment will be explained. First, after confirming that the ink sheet car 1-ridge 71 is properly sealed, the power switch 24 is turned on. The original platen cover 4 is opened and the original 3 to be copied is set face down on the original platen glass 2. Insert the copy paper 12 from the copy paper insertion slot 11. Copy paper guide 22 according to the width of copy paper 12
Adjust. When the copy paper 12 is inserted into the copy paper insertion slot 11 and the leading edge of the copy paper 12 reaches the nip between the transfer roller 59 and the thermal ink sheet 1-55 covering the heating element end surface 51 of the thermal head 50, the paper is inserted into the copy paper insertion slot 11. The sensor 75 is turned on, and the state becomes ready for copying.

When the copy start button 23 is pressed in this state, the pulse motor 42 and the pulse motor for driving the transfer roller 59 start rotating, the image sensor unit 30 starts scanning the document 3, the transfer roller 59 starts rotating, and the copy paper 12 When the ink sheet 1-5 is sent, the heating element of the thermal head 50 is heated according to the image of the document 3, and the thermal ink sheet 1-5 is heated.
The melted ink is transferred to the copy paper 12 according to the image No. 5. In this embodiment, the copy paper guide 22 is adjusted to match the width of the copy paper 12. Next, this adjustment mechanism will be explained.

As the copy paper guide 22 slides, the rack and i
The movement of the copy paper guide 22 is transmitted to the slide volume via a deceleration mechanism based on Ip.

The resistance value of this slide volume is electrically detected and
Depending on the value and the dimensions of the copy paper guide 22, a non-printing portion 81 of about 5 m on both ends in the width direction is created. Although it is possible to continuously change the print width according to the value of the slide volume, in this embodiment, it is possible to change the printing width to the generally used paper size A4. B5. A5. B6
The width changes step by step. However, it is not limited to this.

Corresponding to the paper width set by the leading edge of the copy paper 12 and the copy paper guide 22, as shown in FIG. 7, there are portions 80 and 81 where no printing is performed, each having an area of about 5III11. Since printing is stopped when the trailing edge of the copy paper 12 passes the paper sensor 75, the trailing edge of the copy paper 12 is also approximately 511I! Part 8z where about 1 degree is not printed
Can be done.

The non-printing portion 80 at the leading edge of the copy paper 12 has a great effect in ensuring that the copy paper 12 and the thermal ink sheet 55 are separated when they begin to separate at the edge 62. The non-printed areas 81 on both sides of the copy paper I2 are the original 3.
is wider than the copy paper 12, the copy paper 12
This prevents unnecessary ink from being transferred to the transfer roller 59 due to heat being applied to the thermal head 50 up to the portion where there is no .

When the image sensor unit 30 reaches the end point switch 44, it begins to return. However, the transfer roller 59 continues to rotate as long as the paper sensor 75 detects the presence of paper. Therefore, the copy paper is extremely long,
Even though the image sensor unit 30 has finished scanning, the copy paper 12 continues to be fed, so there is no possibility of a single paper jam.

Also, when copy paper that is short in length arrives, the paper sensor 75 detects the end of the paper, and after a while the transfer roller 5
Since the rotation of 9 is stopped, there is no need to use too much extra heat-sensitive ink sheet.

The image sensor unit 1-30 returns to the same starting position as before the start of scanning and stops.

In this embodiment, when the copy paper is set in the copy paper insertion slot 11 again during the return operation until the image sensor unit 30 returns to the start position, the image sensor unit 30 automatically returns to the start position and the next copy is automatically inserted. This is useful when making multiple copies in succession.

(Effect of the invention) The present invention has the following excellent effects.

(1) The original image read by the image sensor is printed by the thermal head via the thermal ink sheets 1 to 1, and can be copied onto plain paper without surface treatment.

(2) Since the transfer roller continues to rotate until a certain period of time has elapsed after the paper sensor detects the trailing edge of the copy paper, paper jams will not occur even if copy papers of various lengths and short lengths are used.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a thermal transfer copying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an image sensor unit of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the image sensor unit of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the main part of the printing section of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing details of a part of the thermal head of the printer 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a plan view of a copy sheet for explaining the present invention in detail. It is. 1...Main body, 2...Original table glass, 3...Original, 10...Print section, 11...Copy paper insertion slot, 12...Copy paper, 14...Copy paper eject Exit, 22... Copy paper guide, 30...
Image sensor unit I-133...sensor body, 3
4... LED array, 35... Light converging fiber lens, 36... Image sensor, 37... Roller, 38... Spring, 50... Thermal head, 5
3... Supply shaft, 54... Winding shaft, 55... Thermal ink sheet, 56... Weight shaft, 59... Transfer roller, 6I... Blade, 71... Ink sheet 1-cartridge , 72, 73...opening, 83.8
4...Top surface. Patent applicant Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. Figure 1 1 Main body 2 Document platen cover 3'
#, Kusunoki 4 Usagusudai
Noha-5 Hara restraint right cover 4 back (mouth) 10
Buri 7 name p11 ゛ Copy and enter the main entrance
12. Copy paper. 13 Gaito Tomb 14 Copy”
Paper, 1 杵 口 20 璋 also has 5 powers ゛ ゛ ゛ ゛ ゛ ゛ ゛ 〇 21 Kodo ° - town hoe, paralysis entrance 11 ぢ incitement 22 Copy copy to the body, car < y 23 Start key; Kun 24 Power source 17 pieces Figure 2 2, Hara Kusunoki, Las 34, LED array 43
Original rules 35 ・Nine yield rice sacrifice fidelity 30 ・4 system assembly unit 36
°4 Mace 7-pin 31 ・Power side shaft 3
7 Roller 32 Senosa Base 381 Yone 33 Sen 7 Main Body Figure 4 Figure 5 1 4 Books 11 Copy 1 Ya Entrance 12 Tsushio - Kosei 14 Koji Ichimokudai) Sakugaguchi 15 Power 4F Tentative 22
Copy “-Akura Ujirikiite 50-'i-mashinhet 51 light heat wood brown side 53
Body supply spider 54 Benevolent glaze 55
Setainoftuto 56 λb axis 57
Fulcrum 58 Row 7 frame 5
9 Transfer roller 70 Goo /7 75 Old snoring section 1 To Figure 5 I 14 ・Copy - Circular pit 4 opening mouth j5 Force 4 to 1 counter 50 - Therma 2 level 7)'
51 Start-up mouth (place 53 Sleep supply axis)
54 Minato Miriya i5
5 Publicly/Kushito 56 J-
11 + axis 57 ・Support, ridge 58
υ-La frame 59 Yamsha roller 7
0 Kane/Ge71 Jltsuk'/-) Car)・8y:z'72"' 75 'U73-Terror

Claims (1)

[Claims] It consists of a printing means that performs thermal transfer onto pre-cut copy paper using a thermal head and a thermal ink sheet, and an image sensor unit that scans and reads the original to be copied, and inserts the copy paper into the printing means. A paper sensor for detecting the presence or absence of copy paper is provided in the unit, and regardless of the size of the document read by the image sensor unit, the printing means is driven while the paper sensor is detecting the copy paper, and the paper sensor A thermal transfer copying apparatus characterized in that after detecting the trailing edge of copy paper, the printing means is driven for a certain period of time and then stopped.