JPS6333469B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an ink ribbon recyclable printing device.

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, printing apparatuses have been developed that use ink ribbons in which a heat-melting ink film is formed on an ink film support.

However, after printing with this kind of ink ribbon, the ink is removed in the form of a printed image, and the ink layer in that area becomes thinner, which can cause the ink ribbon to be in insufficient condition for subsequent printing. It's tough. Therefore, it becomes necessary to regenerate the ink ribbon, and for this purpose it is necessary to replenish the used ink ribbon with ink, and for this purpose it is necessary to hold the used part of the ink ribbon horizontally.

On the other hand, when printing, it is generally convenient for the ink ribbon in the printing area to stand at a certain angle with respect to the horizontal plane.

The present invention has been made to satisfy the above two requirements, and will be described in detail below based on the drawings.

The illustrated printer includes a roller 1, for example a typewriter platen, mounted for rotation about an axis 2 and designed to receive a sheet of paper 3 for printing. An endless print ribbon 4, covered on one side with a film of ink 5, is attached to four guide pulleys 6.
It is suspended around a, 6b, 6c, and 6d. As seen in Figure 1, the ribbon section 4a
runs parallel to the long axis of the roller 1, in this part the film of ink 5 is placed on the side facing the sheet of paper 3. Compression rollers 6e, 6
The portion 4b located between e' and 6f, 6f' is
The ribbon is rotated 90 degrees relative to its resting position.
Therefore, the film of ink 5 will be placed horizontally there.

The print head 7 is mounted on a support 8 in the form of a parallelepiped. This is roller 1
It is mounted so as to be slidable in the direction indicated by the double arrow F with respect to a base fixed to a slide 9 consisting of a sleeve mounted on a guide rod 10 lying parallel to the axis 2 of. This slide 9 is integral with one end of a connecting rod 11, and the other end of the connecting rod is integral with a toothed belt 12 meshing with two toothed pulleys 13 and 14. The pulley 13 is integrated with the conveyance device and the output shaft of the drive unit 15, and the drive unit 15 clutches (not shown) the pulley 6a, that is, the conveyance pulley of the print ribbon 4.
It includes an electric motor driven by. This drive unit at the same time includes a motion synchronizer for driving a voltage generator connected by a lead 29 to the reproduction device 16, which is the object of the invention.

The playback device 16 is located on the side of the loop portion 4b formed by the print ribbon 4.

Next, the device, which will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, includes two screw means 24a and 2.
It has a heating station 17 fixed to the base 23 by 4b. This station includes a heating plate 18 placed at a level above the respective contact surfaces of the pairs of compression rollers 6e, 6e' and 6f, 6f'. As seen in FIG. 2, the lower end 18a of the heating plate 18 is bent downward.

The scraper is mounted on the opposite side of the heating plate 18. This scraper has two blades 19a and 19b perpendicular to the heating plate 18.
(Fig. 3), and each of these blades is
It is arranged so as to form an acute angle with respect to the direction _F1 of movement of the ribbon 4. Blades 19a and 19b
is attached to a support 19 integral with a rod 20 attached at right angles to the plate 18. This rod 20 is slidably mounted on the arm 21 with a screw 22 so that the pressure applied to the ribbon 4 by the blades 19a and 19b can be adjusted.

There is a part that flattens the ink layer downstream of the scraper with respect to the moving direction _F1 of the ribbon. This part consists of a blade 25 placed criss-cross with respect to the ribbon 4. The base of this blade is
bent downstream relative to the direction of ribbon movement;
Then, the curved portion 18a of the heating plate 18
It is attached to a support part 26 (FIG. 3) placed on the opposite side of the . This support 26 is attached to the heating plate 18 by two arms 27a and 27b which are slidably mounted on the heating plate 18 on either side of the ribbon 4.

A fan 28 is located near the print ribbon 4 and downstream of the heating station.

Next, I will briefly describe the operating cycle of this printer.

FIG. 5 shows the conveying pulley 13 and the connecting rod 11 of the toothed belt 12 extending between the pulleys 13 and 14.
The respective movement sequences 0, A, B, C, D, E, F are shown transmitted to the guide part 9 by means of the figure. At the beginning of the cycle, the end of the connecting rod 11, which is of integral construction with the belt 12, as shown in FIG.
It is placed near one of the pulleys 13 or 14 where the speed transmitted to the guide 9 is zero.
During sequence 0A, the guide section is accelerated. Between points A and B, the guide moves at a constant speed.
This sequence corresponds to a printing phase during which the head is brought into contact with the surface to be printed by means not described here and is withdrawn from such surface at point B of the cycle.
Between points B and C, the guide 9 decreases its speed to zero at point C, then between points C and D,
The velocity increases in the opposite direction, moving at a constant velocity between points D and E, decelerating between points E and F, and stopping at point F.

At point C' of the cycle, the synchronizer of the drive unit 15 couples between the motor and the pulley 6a so as to transport the ribbon 4 in the direction F ₁ in the sequence C' to F'. At the same time, i.e.
At point C″ of the cycle, the heating plate is brought to temperature t ₁
The voltage constantly applied to the heating plate 18 to keep the temperature constant is increased to increase the temperature from t ₁ to t ₂ during the sequence C″ to F″.
Finally, the synchronizer supplies a current V _A to the fan 28 during the corresponding time, ie between points C ^* and F ^* .

While returning from the operation diagram to the starting point of the guide section, that is, between points C and F in FIG.
It can be seen that the ribbon 4 is conveyed in the direction of arrow _F1 . The ribbon passes over a heating plate.
The temperature of the heating plate is chosen to melt the film of ink 5 while the ribbon passes over the plate. The ink film leaving the plate 18 is cooled as it passes within the operating range of the fan 28.

The ribbon 4 is stopped at a point F' and the fan is operated so that at the corresponding point F ^* the temperature of the plate 18 changes from _t2 to
It is stopped when it is reduced to t ₁ .

Figure 4 shows that the portion of the film to be played is 5.
Indicated by a. It will be seen that the print already printed on the paper can be read in this part. The area 5b is the scraper blade 19
a, 19b, and the blade 2 forming the flattening member.
The part of the film between 5 and 5 is shown. Finally, area 5c represents the beginning of the reproduced film section.

The plate 18 is kept at a temperature t ₁ so that
The ink placed in the regions 5a, 5b and the beginning of region 5c, that is, in the region corresponding to the ribbon portion resting on the plate 18, is transferred to the point C' of the cycle when the pulley 6a is connected to the drive unit 15. The ribbon 4 is already melted when it is slid onto the surface. As the ribbon moves forward, area 5
As shown in FIG.
As the film passes under 9b, it is pulled toward the center of the ribbon, and since the blade is inclined with respect to the direction of the ribbon's movement, the ink is concentrated in a narrower width, thus reducing the ink concentration. thick region 5b
Can be done. This region 5b is held in a molten state along its entire length and is pulled by a continuous movement of the ribbon under a curved blade 25, which serves as a flattening member. This blade 25
is placed at right angles to the direction of movement F ₁ of the ribbon 4,
The still melted ink layer is spread laterally to form a recycled film 5c. This film 5c has a uniform thickness and, due to the considerable amount of ink transferred to the surface of the area to be printed,
In region 5a, the clearly visible printed image completely disappears. The ribbon then passes near a fan 28 which cools the ribbon to the point where it solidifies the film of ink. There, the film
As already mentioned, it is prepared to be brought into contact with the sheet 3 to be printed in the course of a new printing cycle.

The rollers 1 are rotated about their axis 2 in unison, either manually or by an electric device (not shown), thus shifting the sheet 3 to the side opposite the print head 7. The surface to be used is prepared and a new line of characters is now printed on sheet 3.

The blade 25 forming the flattening element is placed facing the curved part 18a of the heating plate, and the blade 25 is attached to the plate 18 by means of two arms 27a and 27b, as described above. It should be noted that it is mounted so that it can be slid along. Thanks to this configuration, a close adjustment of the required thickness of the recycled film is obtained. In fact, such adjustment is achieved by moving the arm 27 along the plate parallel to the direction of forward movement of the ribbon.
Obtained by sliding a and 27b. The blade 25 is opposed to the curved portion 18a of the plate, so that when displaced downstream relative to the plate it increases the thickness of the film, while when displaced upstream relative to the plate it decreases the thickness of the film. let

Using the heating plate for regeneration purposes means that ink can be added to the ribbon 4 at the same time. To achieve this, the as yet unregenerated region 5a of the ink film of the ink ribbon is placed at a point upstream from the scraper formed by the blades 19a and 19b, i.e. on the horizontal plane of the plate. Alternatively, the ink may be supplied in the form of a powder or small blocks. The heat of plate 18 melts such blocks as the ribbon moves progressively forward, and the amount of ink thus applied is gradually spread over the length of the ribbon and mixed into the film of ink 5. It will be done. Therefore, it is unnecessary to remove the ribbon from the printer or to completely shut down the device to perform such ink refills.

In addition, the ink ribbon is stretched almost vertically near the platen to be suitable for printing, but after printing, the ink ribbon is fed to the regeneration device so that the regeneration surface is horizontal, and the ink ribbon is stretched almost vertically. Since the ink ribbon passes through the heating section for regeneration while placed horizontally, the molten ink is placed on the film surface of the ink ribbon, and there is no fear that the molten ink will flow down due to gravity. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a uniform state of ink application on the recycled ink ribbon.

This small detail significantly increases the advantages of the device described here, since it eliminates the need to provide a sump of liquid ink. This solves the always difficult problem associated with compactness.

As described above, according to the present invention, when printing, it is possible to visually observe the printed surface from a sitting position as in a conventional general printing device, and the ink ribbon can be regenerated reliably and easily. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a printing machine incorporating a reproduction device, and FIG. 2 is a side view of this device.
FIG. 3 is a plan view of the same device, FIG. 4 is a partial view showing the print ribbon before, during and after regeneration, and FIG. 5 is an operational diagram for the printer shown in FIG. be. 4... Ribbon, 5... Ink, 11... Coupling rod, 12... Toothed belt, 13... Toothed pulley, 14... Toothed pulley, 15... Drive unit, 16... Regeneration device, 18 ...heating plate,
19...Scraper, 25...Blade.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A platen that supports a recording paper to be printed, an endless ink ribbon coated with a heat-soluble ink for recording on the recording paper, and a platen for carrying the ink ribbon for printing. In the vicinity, a ribbon guide for stretching the ink ribbon at an angle with respect to a horizontal plane, an ink ribbon moving means for moving the ink ribbon, a printing means for selectively melting the heat-soluble ink of the ribbon to print, and the ink. a heating means having a horizontal plane portion for heating the ribbon to at least the melting point temperature of the thermofusible ink to melt the thermofusible ink; means for flattening the ink melted by the heating means; and a horizontal plane portion of the heating means. a ribbon guide means for changing the stretching direction of the ribbon to a horizontal direction so as to bring the ribbon into contact with the ribbon.