JPS6367177A - Serial color thermal printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the dimensions of carriage and printer and to reduce the size of the printer, by arranging a ribbon feed reel and a ribbon rewind reel of an ink ribbon cassette such that a line connecting said reels makes a right angle with the moving direction of the cassette. CONSTITUTION:A line connecting a feed reel and a rewind reel of an ink ribbon cassette 5 makes a right angle with the longitudinal direction (the moving direction of a carriage section 20) of a planar platen 92 so as to reduce the width of one cassette. Even when four cassettes are mounted, the width of the carriage section 20 is reduced as short as possible so as to shorten the reciprocating travel path of the carriage section 20 thus increasing the ink ribbon containing capacity of the cassette. The ink ribbon cassette 5 is formed with a body 5a and a cover 5b into a thin box, and a rotatable feed hub 5c wound with ink ribbons R of respective color and a rewind top 57 which is rotated by a rewind top 57 are contained in the box.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a thermal transfer type serial color thermal printer.

(Prior Art) Printers are widely used as output devices for information equipment, but as CRT displays have become more color-oriented, the need for color printers has increased, and various color printers have come on the market.

Conventional color printers include relatively low-cost printers that display color in several colors with no gradation, and high-priced printers that can display full color with 16 to 64 gradations. In addition, recording methods include a thermal transfer method, an inkjet method, and a dot impact method.
(Yellow), M (Magenta), and C (Cyan) are mixed to print seven colors, but the black obtained by mixing the three colors Y, M, and C is pure. Since the color is not black, only black is prepared separately, and four colors are used: Y, M, C, and B (black).

By the way, there are two types of printers: serial printers that record one line sequentially in the line direction on recording paper, and line printers that record one line at a time.Let's consider a conventional thermal transfer serial color printer. As you can see, an ink ribbon with hot-melt inks of Y, M, and C applied sequentially on a transparent resin base is stored in a cassette and used, and unnecessary colored parts of this ink ribbon are removed according to the color to be recorded. The necessary colored portions are overlaid and melted by the head's heat generated by the recording signal, and the color is transferred onto the recording paper. However, in such a recording method using an ink ribbon, the idle feeding portion of the ink ribbon is jI! ! :! ! It will be L, Y, M, C.
If an attempt is made to record in a color other than the original color, three round trips are required, which limits the recording speed and is not suitable for high-speed recording.

The same problem occurs when performing monochrome recording using this serial color printer.

Therefore, the present inventors proposed a patent application entitled ``Serial Color Thermal Printer'' filed in August 1981, No. 2811, in which ink ribbon cassettes of different colors are placed in a predetermined manner in a carriage with the aim of eliminating wasted ink ribbons and increasing the recording speed. We have proposed a serial color thermal printer in which each ink ribbon cassette is arranged in a sequential order and has a thermal head that melts the ink ribbon of each ink ribbon cassette.

By the way, in a serial color thermal printer that is equipped with a plurality of ink ribbon cassettes and performs color recording by overlapping colors, as proposed in the above application, the carriage is designed to cover the sum of the recording area and the area occupied by the plurality of ink ribbon cassettes during recording. Since it is necessary to move a distance corresponding to , the larger the number of ink ribbon cassettes, the larger the dimensions of the carriage and the range of movement of the carriage. Therefore, the capacity of the carriage drive motor becomes large, and the width of the printer also becomes large, making it difficult to downsize the printer.

(Objects and Structure of the Invention) The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and is an object of the present invention to reduce the size of the carriage and the printer in a serial color thermal printer equipped with a plurality of ink ribbon cassettes. The purpose is to
In order to achieve this purpose, the ribbon supply reel and the ribbon take-up reel of the ink ribbon cassette are arranged so that the line connecting them is perpendicular to the direction of movement of the cassette.

(Example) The present invention will be explained below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the external appearance of a serial color thermal printer according to the present invention. An operating section 4 is provided on the right side of the top surface. Color ink ribbon cassettes 5, 6, 7.8 can be replaced by opening the opening/closing lid 3 upwards.J:
It's becoming a sea urchin. The operation unit 4 includes an online switch for connecting the printer to an external device (such as a computer), a density adjustment button, a paper foot button for feeding the recording paper, as well as a recording paper out warning, an ink ribbon out warning, and a cassette warning button. A display unit is provided that displays a warning message indicating that l~ is not loaded.

FIG. 2 shows the serial color thermal printer according to the present invention with the cover removed, and P is recording paper.

A main control circuit board lO, a carriage part 20, a paper feed part 30, and a power supply part (not shown) are arranged on the main body base l.

The main control circuit board 10 receives recording signals supplied from the outside and signals from various sensors and switches provided in the printer, and controls the paper feed motor of the paper feed unit 30 and the carriage unit 20.
This is a circuit board that outputs control signals to the carriage motor and a sub-control circuit board attached to the carriage section 20, which will be described later.

The carriage part 20 is attached to the housing 21 (see Fig. 3).
Four head units 22, 23° 24.25 on two sides, and these head units 22 to 25 are mounted on a flat platen 92.
A head crimping release mechanism for crimping and releasing the head unit and an ink ribbon winding mechanism are provided, and a sub-control circuit board having a control circuit for driving the head unit is placed thereon. It is covered with a carriage cover 26, and four ink phone cassettes 5, 6, 7.8 can be loaded onto this carriage cover 26,
The entire carriage part 2o is connected to two guide shirts (27) via a sliding bearing (not shown) provided in the housing 21.
．． 28 is engaged with 12, and is configured to reciprocate by a mechanism described later.

As shown in FIG. 4(a), each of the head units 22 to 25 includes a heating element 22a made of a resistance heating element and a heat sink plate 22b made of metal such as aluminum that functions as a heat sink.
This heat dissipation plate 22b has a bearing part 22d on the lower side.
, 22e are fixed to the head holder 22c with screws or the like.

A hanging piece 2 is attached to one bearing portion 22e of the head holder 22c.
2f is formed, and one end of a tension spring 42 constituting a part of a head pressure release mechanism to be described later is hooked to this lower piece 22f.

Reference numeral 34 denotes a flat I cable for supplying current to the heating element 22a, one end of which is connected to the sub-control circuit board via a connector.

As can be seen from FIG. 3, the head units 22 to 25 having such a configuration have their bearing parts (22d and 22e) successively and loosely inserted into the holder shaft 31 fixed on the housing 21 at a position close to the recording section side. A collar 32 of a predetermined length is interposed between each head unit, and the head units 22 to 25 and the collar 32 are urged in the axial direction by a compression spring 33 from one side of the head unit 25 (on the right side in the figure). This is how it is installed. compression spring 33
By appropriately selecting the spring constant, each head unit can rotate independently around the Holt shaft 31, and play between the head units is eliminated, so that the head can always be held in an accurate position.

Next, the head pressure release mechanism will be explained. As can be clearly seen from FIG.
On the top, there is a solenoid 40 corresponding to each head unit,
A lever 41 is provided which is rotatable around a lever shaft 41a which is integrally fixed to a holding plate on which a solenoid 40 is held, and a tension spring 42 described above with respect to the head unit is attached to one end of this lever 41. The other end of the lever 41 is hooked, and one end of an auxiliary spring 43 is pulled on the other end of the lever 41. The other end of this auxiliary spring 43 is hooked onto a pin 44 planted on the housing 21, and the plungers 40a of the solenoids 1 to 40 are loosely connected near the other end of the lever 41. Further, a protrusion 41b is formed in the center of the lever 41, and a protrusion 45 for controlling winding of the ink ribbon, which will be described later, is provided at the tip of the protrusion 41b. In addition, the solenoid 1ζ4 used here
No. 0 has a built-in permanent magnet, and when the plunger 40a is momentarily energized only when energized, the plunger 40a is held in the intraocular position or the pulled-out position by the permanent magnet even if the energization is cut off thereafter.

When the solenoid 40 is energized and the plunger 40a is attracted (solid line position in FIG. 3), the tension spring 42 is pulled by the clockwise rotation of the lever 41, and the head unit (for example, 22) or the holder shaft is pulled. 31 to press the heating element 22a against the flat platen 92 (see FIG. 1) with a predetermined pressure. When a reverse voltage is applied to the solenoid 40 to energize it, the plunger 40a is pulled out (position shown by the chain line in FIG. 3), and in conjunction with the action of the auxiliary spring 43, the lever 4
1 or counterclockwise, resulting in spatula 1 ~ unit 1 ~
rotates on the holder shaft 31, and the heating element 22a separates from the flat platen 92. The operation of each head unit is exactly the same.

Next, the ink ribbon winding mechanism will be explained.

As shown in FIG. 5, the ink ribbon winding mechanism includes a drive gear 51 integrally formed with a gear 51a at the top and a timing pulley 51b at the bottom, and a lever that can swing coaxially with the drive gear 51. 52 and the gear 51 of the drive gear 51
It is composed of an idler gear 53 that is always engaged with the idler gear 53, and a winding gear 54 that is engaged with and disengaged from the idler gear 53. As shown in FIG. 6, the pivot shaft 52a of the lever 52 and the shaft 51c of the drive gear 51 are inserted into the boss 55 formed on the housing 21 of the carriage section 20, and one arm of the lever 52 is inserted into the boss 55 formed on the housing 21 of the carriage section 20. 52b
A shaft 53a of an idler gear 53 is inserted through a protrusion hole 52c formed in the . Further, a winding member 56 with a felt 56a stretched on the negative side is provided coaxially with the winding gear 54 and in close contact with the lower surface of the gear 54 so that the felt 56a is in contact with the lower surface of the gear 54. A spring 56c is provided around the shaft 56b of the winding member 56 that extends, and a winding top 57 is provided at the tip of the shaft 56b.
is installed.

The lever 52 is provided with another arm 52d, and as will be described later, the tip of this arm 52d cooperates with the protrusion 45 of the protrusion 41b of the lever 41 of the head pressure release mechanism to take up the ink ribbon. Control behavior.

A timing belt 59 stretched between two side plates 57 and 58 mounted on the main body base plays a major role in transmitting power to the ink ribbon winding mechanism. On one side of the timing belt 59, uneven parts are formed at regular intervals, and the driving gear 5 is connected to the driving gear 5 through the uneven parts.
1 timing pulley 51b.

In addition to the above, the carriage section 20 is provided with an ink ribbon sensor 60 at a position corresponding to each ink ribbon cassette on a sub-control circuit board (see FIG. 2). The ink ribbon sensor 60 is a light transmission type sensor, and the ink ribbon runs between a light emitting part and a light receiving part, and detects the presence or absence of the ink ribbon and its end. Of the four types of ink ribbons used, Y (yellow), 9M (magenta), and C (cyan) ink ribbons are transparent, so an aluminum vapor-deposited piece is attached to the end of the ribbon, and B (black) ink is By making the ends of the ribbons transparent, it is possible to detect the ends of all four types of ink ribbons using the same type of sensor.

On the other hand, a housing 211 of the carriage portion 20 is provided with a microswitch (not shown) for detecting the presence or absence of a cassette. This is because the ink ribbon during color transfer is transparent, so the presence of the ink ribbon is detected even if the ink ribbon cassette is not loaded. This is because an ink ribbon cassette is not required when recording in the thermal recording mode, so it is necessary to detect the presence or absence of a cassette. The carriage cover 26 is provided with an actuator that is protected against removal by +1, and when a cassette is loaded, a microswitch for detecting the presence or absence of a cassette is activated via this actuator, thereby detecting the presence or absence of a cassette.

Carriage cover 26 has -/F unit 2 22~
25 and the ink ribbon sensor 60, and an escape hole 26b for allowing the ink ribbon winding l/tube 57 to protrude upward, and the upper surface is provided with a cutout 26a for avoiding the ink ribbon sensor 60, and a hole 26b for positioning the ink ribbon winding l/tube 57 when loading the cassette. 1 dowel for each cassette. There are two each.

Next, the ink ribbon cassette will be explained.

The ink ribbon cassettes 5 to 8 loaded into the carriage cover 26'' have the same structure for all four colors of Y, M, C, and B as shown in FIG. 7, and the recording direction (from the right in FIG. 2) B, Y, M, and C are arranged in this order. The ink ribbon cassettes are arranged in a straight line connecting the supply reel and take-up reel or perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the flat platen 92 (that is, the moving direction of the carriage section 20), so that the width of one cassette is narrow, and four cassettes are arranged. Even when loaded, the width of the carriage section 20 is made as short as possible to keep the carriage section 20
The length of the reciprocating path is shortened, and the amount of ink ribbon stored in the cassette is increased.

The ink ribbon cassette 5 is formed into a thin box shape with a main body 5a and a cover 5b, and includes a rotatable supply hub 5c on which ink ribbons R of each color are wound inside and a winding hub 5d rotated by a winding top 57. It is provided. At the front of the cassette, a part of the head unit 22 (
The fourth part 5e into which the ink ribbon sensor 60 (indicated by the chain line) can be inserted, and the fourth part 5 into which the ink ribbon sensor 60 (indicated by the chain line) can be inserted.
f is formed so that the ink ribbon R contacts the head unit 22, and the ink ribbon sensor 60
In order to cross the line, an inlet/outlet is provided, and three guide rollers 5g are provided along the running path from the supply reel to the head section. These guide rollers 5g are rotatable around fixed shafts, and are provided with a collar at the bottom to prevent the ribbon from shifting in the vertical direction when the ink ribbon runs. Two fixed guides 5h are provided along the travel path from the head section to the winding hub 5d. Although not shown, a hole is formed in the bottom surface of the cassette body 4a to engage with a dowel provided on the carriage cover 1 surface for positioning when loading the cassette. Furthermore, a compression spring (not shown) is installed between the cassette cover 5b and the supply reel, and this compression spring applies a frictional load to the supply reel, causing friction to occur in the ribbon travel path when the ribbon is wound. It has the effect of preventing walnuts.

Next, the drive mechanism of the carriage section 20 will be explained.

As can be seen from FIG. 2, a carriage motor (stepping motor) 100 is fixed to a stand 71 of the main body base II-, and a timing pulley (not shown) fixed to the shaft of the carriage motor lOO is attached to one corner of the stand 71. A timing pulley 72,74 integrally formed with the shaft is engaged.

A timing belt 73 is stretched between the timing booby fixed to the shaft of the motor 100 and the timing pulley 72, and an uneven part is formed on one side between the timing booby 974 and the timing pulley 75, which is also attached to the main body base 1''2. A timing belt 76 formed with a timing belt 76 is stretched in a closed loop, and a portion of the timing belt 76 is fixed to the housing 21 of the carriage portion 20 by an appropriate method.

When the carriage motor lOO rotates in the forward and reverse directions, the timing belt 76 reciprocates in the direction of the arrow, and the housing 21 and therefore the carriage portion 20 reciprocate accordingly.

Next, the paper feed section 30 will be explained. The paper feed section 30 consists of a mechanism that feeds the recording paper P line by line during recording, and includes a paper feed motor 80 and a gear train 81a, 81b that transmits the rotation of the paper feed motor 80.

81c, 81d, a pair of paper feed rollers 82a and 82b rotated via the gear train 81a to 81d, and these paper feed rollers 82a.

The gear trains 81a to 81d and the paper feed rollers 82a and 82b are connected to the side plates 84 and 82b fixed on the main body base l.
It is supported by 85.

A paper feed roller 82a is provided on the outside of the side plate 84.

A paper feed knob 87 is fixed to the mounting shaft 86 of 82b, and by turning this paper feed knob 87 by hand, the paper feed rollers 82a, 82b can be rotated, thereby pressing the paper feed rollers 82a, 82b. Rollers 83a, 83b
You can manually feed the recording paper held between the

On the other hand, the pressure roller shaft 88 to which the pressure rollers 83a and 83b are fixed is urged in the direction of the shaft 86 by the compressive force of the spring 89.
2b and a pressure roller 83a.

831: A clamping force is generated between the record r and the record r. By manually rotating the pressure roller shaft 88 in the direction opposite to the force of the spring (=J), the pressure roller shaft 88 can be removed from the shaft 86 against the compressive force of the spring 89, and thereby the paper feed rollers 82a, 82
The recording paper can be freely taken out by releasing the clamping force between the recording paper and the pressing rollers 83a and 83b.

On the other hand, a flat platen 92 is provided near the paper feed section 30. As shown in FIG. 9(a), the flat platen 92 has a U-shaped metal frame 92 stretched between the side plates 84 and 85.
A long flat rubber plate 92b is held in the inside of the frame 92a, and semicircular protrusions 92c are formed at both ends of the frame 92a, and these parts are connected to the side plate 8 as shown in FIG.
4°85 (only the side plate 84 is shown)
It is engaged through a platen holder 93 having a slanted hole 84a and can be rotated slightly around a protrusion 92e.

Next, a recording operation by the serial thermal printer according to the present invention having the above configuration will be explained.

When the power of the printer is turned on, the carriage section 20 once moves to the left end, then moves to the right (in the recording direction) and stops at approximately the center.

Before starting recording, open the open/close M3 and load the ink ribbon cassettes 5, 6, 7.8 from the right onto the carriage cover 26 in the order of black, yellow, magenta, and cyan, and operate the roller release lever (not shown). By moving the cam plate, the pressure contact between the paper feed rollers 82a, 82b and the pressing rollers 83a, 83b is released, and the recording paper P is loaded as shown in FIG. After loading, return the roller release lever to its original position and release the paper feed rollers 82a, 82b.
By bringing the pressure rollers 83a and 83b into pressure contact again and manually turning the paper feed knob 87, the recording paper is advanced to a position suitable for recording.

At this time, the main control circuit of the main control circuit board IO detects the presence or absence of an ink ribbon cassette using a microswitch (not shown) and the presence or absence of an ink ribbon using an ink ribbon sensor 60. If there is an abnormality as a result, an abnormality warning is sent to the operation unit 4. Display.

Now, when the online switch of the operation unit 4 is turned on with the ink ribbon cassettes 5, 6, 7, and 8 loaded and ink ribbons stored in each cassette, a recording signal from an external recording information output device (for example, a personal computer) is output. is input to the printer and the recording operation begins.

The carriage section 20 once returns to the left end home position and begins to move in the recording direction (rightward).

When the carriage part 20 rotates the carriage motor 100 in one direction, the rotation is transmitted to the pulley 72 via the belt 73, and as a result, when the timing pulley 74 is rotated integrally, the housing 21 is rotated to the right via the timing belt 76. move in the direction.

For example, if you try to print in orange, orange is produced by mixing Y (yellow) and M (magenta), so first, the Y ink ribbon force set 1-7, which reaches the printing area first when viewed in the recording direction, is applied. A flat cable 34 (fourth
(see figure), and when the printing area is reached, a printing signal is applied.

On the other hand, since the head unit 24 needs to be in pressure contact with the recording paper via the ink ribbon (Y) slightly before reaching the printing area, the solenoid 40 is energized. When the solenoid 40 is energized, the plunger 40a is attracted and assumes the solid line position shown in FIG.
1- and L, the heating element 24a is brought into pressure contact with the recording paper. At this time, the flat platen 92 can swing around circular protrusions 92c provided at both ends via platen holders 93 attached to the side plates 84 and 85, so that the flat platen 92 is in close contact with the heating element surface of the head unit 24. Become.

On the other hand, as the carriage section 20 moves to the right, the drive gear 51 is rotated in the direction shown by the arrow in FIG. The idler gear 53 is also rotated in the direction of the arrow.

Now, when the head unit 24 approaches the printing area, the solenoid 40 is energized and the plunger 40a is sucked, and when the plunger 40a is sucked, the protrusion 41b provided at the tip of the lever 41 that was in contact with the tip of the arm 52d of the lever 52 is moved. Since the protrusion 45 is removed from the arm 52d, the lever 52 is connected to the drive gear 51.
The counterclockwise rotation causes the idler gear 53 to rotate counterclockwise, and as a result, the idler gear 53 meshes with the take-up gear 54 and rotates. The rotation of the winding gear 54 is caused by the winding member 5
shaft 56b via 56a and spring 56c
, and further transmitted to the winding top 57. Since the winding top 57 is engaged with the winding hub of the ink ribbon (Y) 7, the ink ribbon (Y) is wound up.

When the head unit 24 reaches the printing area, the heating element 2
4a is heated according to the print signal, and the heat causes the ink ribbon (Y
) is melted and attached to the recording paper. Thereafter, the ink ribbon cassette (M) 6 cooperates with the adjacent ink ribbon cassette (M) 6 after a predetermined time delay. The head unit 23 is brought into pressure contact with the recording paper, and then a print signal is applied to heat the heating element 23a, and M (magenta) is printed on the Y (yellow) color printed by the head unit 24. To go. In this way, orange color, which is a mixed color of Y and M, is printed on the recording paper.

When printing for one line is completed, the solenoid 4o of the head unit 24 for Y is first deenergized, and as a result, the plunger 40a is pulled out (indicated by the chain line position in FIG. 3), and due to the compressive force of the spring 42. The head unit 24 is separated from the recording paper. After the predetermined time, the ink ribbon C
The head unit 23 for M) is similarly separated from the recording paper.

The above-mentioned print signals to the head units 24 and 23 and the timing delay in energizing and de-energizing the solenoid 40 are determined by the head spacing being H, the distance L that the carriage section 20 moves per pulse applied to the carriage motor 100, and the application being applied. When the pulse frequency is f, it is determined by H/f L sec.

The printing characters are formed in the following manner.

Characters are formed by, for example, a 9×8 dot matrix, and nine heating elements 24a of the head unit 24 are provided vertically at regular intervals, and a voltage is selectively applied depending on the characters to be printed. . Further, the pitch in the lateral direction can be obtained by applying a voltage in synchronization with a pulse signal level having a constant period depending on the moving speed of the carriage. The pulse frequency applied to the heating element is limited by the thermal responsiveness and durability of the heating element. - For example, the pulse frequency applied to the heating element is kept constant, and the printing pitch is obtained by selecting the moving speed of the carriage.

When 1947 minutes of printing is completed and all the head units used in connection with the printing are separated from the recording paper, the carriage motor 100 is reversed and the carriage section 20 returns to the home position. After that, the paper feed motor 80 is driven, and the gear trains 81a to 81d and the set of paper feed rollers 82a, 82
The recording paper is fed by one line via b.

Printing is performed by repeating the above operations.

In the above embodiment, an example was explained in which orange color printing is performed using two colors, Y and M, but in addition, it is also possible to print in green, which is a mixture of Y and C, and purple, which is a mixture of M and C. Yes, each ink ribbon cassette can also record in a single color.

Further, in the above embodiment, since the ink ribbon is wound up when the head unit is crimped, the ink ribbon may be fed and wasted even if the space in one line continues for a long time. Therefore, when the space is larger than 10 characters, for example, by releasing the pressure bonding of the head 2 unit, it is possible to eliminate wasted ink ribbon, and this can be easily achieved by controlling the solenoid 40. can do.

Furthermore, if characters with different pitches (e.g. Pi-Ryoku and Elite) coexist in one line, it is impossible to suddenly change the carriage movement speed at the boundary between characters, so printing characters with the same pitch is impossible. It is also easy to think of a method in which the carriage is returned a distance necessary for a run-up to change the speed at the end of printing, and then the speed is changed and printing is performed.

In addition, in this type of serial thermal printer, it is generally possible to record in a thermal mode using thermal paper without using an ink ribbon cassette. By dividing the printing area into four equal parts and dividing the printing area into four, it is possible to reduce the reciprocating distance of the carriage and significantly increase the printing speed. This idea can also be applied to a recording mode that uses ink ribbons, and if medium-color recording is acceptable, use all four ink ribbon cassettes of the same color to determine the recording area of each head unit. If you shift it to %, you can also increase the recording speed.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, in the present invention, ink ribbon cassettes of different colors are arranged on a carriage in a predetermined order, and a thermal spatula l~ for thermally melting the ink ribbon of each ink ribbon cassette is arranged for each ink ribbon cassette. Each ink ribbon cassette is arranged so that the straight line connecting the ribbon supply reel and take-up reel is perpendicular to the moving direction of the cassette (that is, the recording direction), and multiple ink ribbons are placed on the carriage. The area occupied by the take-up 1 can be reduced, the width of the carriage can be reduced, and as a result, the movement of the carriage can be reduced, and the size of the printer in the width direction can be reduced.

Another advantage is that since the carriage does not have to be made large, the capacity of the carriage drive motor does not have to be made large.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a serial color thermal printer according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the main part of the serial color thermal printer according to the present invention with the cover removed, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of the carriage section. Figure 4 (A) is a perspective view of the head unit, (B) is a side view of the same head unit, Figure 5 is a partially exploded perspective view of the ink ribbon winding mechanism, and Figure 6 is the ink ribbon shown in Figure 5. 7 is a plan view of an ink ribbon cassette used in the serial color thermal printer according to the present invention; FIG. 8 is a front view showing the mechanism of the paper feed section; and FIG. 9 is a serial color printer according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view showing the mounting portion of the flat platen of the thermal printer. l...Printer main body base, 2...Cover, 3...
- Opening/closing lid, 4... Operating unit, 10... Main control circuit board, 20... Carriage part, 21... Housing, 22
~25... Spatula 1~unit, 30... Paper feed section, 4
0... Solenoid, 51... Drive gear, 53...
Idler gear, 54... Winding gear, 59.76-
...Timing Belt Patent Applicant Konishiroku Photo Industry Co., Ltd. Agent Patent Attorney Hiroshi Suzuki Figure 4 (A) (B) Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] A plurality of ink ribbon cassettes that are loaded in a predetermined order in the recording direction are provided on a reciprocating carriage, and a plurality of thermal head units that heat melt the ink ribbons stored in each ink ribbon cassette are installed. The set is a serial color thermal printer characterized in that the ribbon supply reel and ribbon take-up reel are arranged so that the straight line connecting them is perpendicular to the moving direction of the cassette.