WO1996014990A1 - Appareil d'impression - Google Patents

Appareil d'impression Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO1996014990A1
WO1996014990A1 PCT/GB1995/002643 GB9502643W WO9614990A1 WO 1996014990 A1 WO1996014990 A1 WO 1996014990A1 GB 9502643 W GB9502643 W GB 9502643W WO 9614990 A1 WO9614990 A1 WO 9614990A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
thermal
printing
thermal head
printing apparatus
edge
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/GB1995/002643
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Christopher Ronald Calvert
Original Assignee
Open Date Equipment Limited
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Open Date Equipment Limited filed Critical Open Date Equipment Limited
Publication of WO1996014990A1 publication Critical patent/WO1996014990A1/fr

Links

Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J25/00—Actions or mechanisms not otherwise provided for
    • B41J25/304—Bodily-movable mechanisms for print heads or carriages movable towards or from paper surface
    • B41J25/312—Bodily-movable mechanisms for print heads or carriages movable towards or from paper surface with print pressure adjustment mechanisms, e.g. pressure-on-the paper mechanisms

Definitions

  • Thermal printing apparatus can e fect printing by means of impression dies - as in the hot foil printing process - or by a thermal head having a linear or 2-dimen ⁇ ional array of thermal elements that are in use selectively energised in accord with data representative of an image to be printed, e.g. the output data from a computer, a telefax or a scanning device.
  • this invention is specifically concerned with thermal printing apparatus incorporating a said thermal head.
  • the print quality provided by such a thermal printing head i ⁇ highly dependent on the pressure of the thermal head upon the substrate being printed.
  • this pressure has usually been applied pneumatically or via a solenoid- operable device, and it has been difficult to vary the pressure setting to account for different qualities and/or different thicknesses of substrate to be printed.
  • the present invention aims to provide thermal printing apparatus incorporating a thermal head and which can overcome or at least minimise the above-mentioned and/or other difficulties of the prior art.
  • thermal printing apparatus comprising a support surface for the substrate to be printed, and a printing device including a thermal head and drive means to move the thermal head in a direction towards the substrate support surface characterised in that the thermal head is coupled to the drive means via resilient mean ⁇ which, when the drive means is in use operated to move the thermal head in said direction and a first contact pressure level between thermal head and substrate is attained (e.g. that obtaining upon initial contact between them) , permits an increase in pressure to the thermal head as the drive means is operated to move the thermal head further in said direction.
  • the drive means comprises a stepping motor whereby the degree of said pressure increase to the thermal head is dependent upon the number of incremental step-wise outputs of the stepping motor.
  • the stepping motor is drivingly coupled to a pinion wheel engaged with a rack member, a loading member is coupled to the rack member for motion therewith, a bracket member (preferably C-shaped) id mounted for relative slidable movement with respect to the loading member, the thermal head is attached to the bracket member and the said resilient means (preferably comprising one or more coiled compression springs) acts between the loading member and the bracket member.
  • the thermal printing apparatus comprises a housing having guide means therein and the printing device is mounted on a carriage movable along said guide means within the housing. This permits printing to be effected in either one of two opposite directions across the substrate.
  • the thermal printing apparatus comprises a support frame housing a pair of legs connected by an upper cross-bar, the said housing depends from said cross-bar and is movable arcuately, about a generally vertical axis, for fixing in any desired set position with respect to the cross-bar.
  • the support frame comprises a lower platen to define, or support, the said substrate support surface.
  • thermal printing apparatus for a hot foil printing process
  • the apparatus comprising a printing device including a linear printing edge comprising a row of heating elements, the thermal head being characterised by guide means for the foil to guide the foil along a path across an in contact with the printing edge, said guide means being disposed adjacent the level of the printing edge to each side of the printing edge and such that the said path approaches an angle of 180° with respect to the printing edge.
  • the angle is in the range of about 170° and 179.9 ⁇
  • the said guide means comprises a pair of guide bars extending parallel to the linear print head tip, one to each side of thereof and in spaced relation thereto.
  • Figure l is a perspective view of printing apparatus according to this invention.
  • Figure 2 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view through part of the apparatus illustrated in Fig 1.
  • the illustrated thermal printing apparatus 10 comprises a support frame 12 having a legs 1 A,14b upstanding from a base plate or platen 15, and interconnected by a cross-bar 16.
  • Leg 14fl is formed by a pair of fixed-height pillars
  • leg 14b is formed as a pillar-type jack comprising a hollow tube with a threaded rod therein that is extendible by rotation of a lever or wheel 19 engaged with the threaded rod.
  • the cross-bar 16 is hinged to the double legs 14ft and is angularly adjustable and settable in position by handwheels 18 and 19.
  • a spindle 21 is directed downwardly, normal to and midway along the cross-bar 16.
  • a housing 20 hangs from spindle 21 so as to be arcuately adjustable in position about the axis of spindle 21, and a rotatable clamp 17 serves to set the housing 20 in any arcuate position selected.
  • the front wall 22 of housing 20 serves as a closure member for the housing and carries, on its inner surface, a printing foil ribbon magazine.
  • wall 22 provides a support for a feed spool, a take-up spool and guide rollers (not shown) for the printing foil ribbon 11 (Fig 2).
  • a pair of guide rails 26 extend horizontally between the housing's sides adjacent the rear wall of the housing.
  • a carriage 28 is mounted on the guide rails 26 for movement thereal ⁇ ng by a motor (not shown).
  • the carriage 28 supports the printing device 30 which comprises inter alia a so- called "true edge" thermal printing head 32.
  • the ribbon 11 passes between the bottom printing edge 31 of the thermal printing head 32 and a pair of foil stripper rods 24.
  • the latter are provided by two parallel, spaced apart, roller pine attached to the carriage 28 so as to extend transversely of the ribbon adjacent an opening 13 in the lower horizontal wall of the housing 20.
  • the thermal printing head 32 is mounted adjustably, by set screws 33 in arcuate slots 34, on a generally C- ⁇ haped bracket 35.
  • Two vertical rods 36 extend in parallel between the upper and lower horizontal limbs of the C-shaped bracket 35, and a block-shaped loading member 38 is slidably mounted on the vertical rods 36.
  • a coiled compression spring 40 encompasses each vertical rod 36 and acts between the lower limb of C-shaped bracket 35 and the underside of loading member 38.
  • a micro-switch 46 is mounted to operate upon relative movement between bracket 35 and loading member 38.
  • the loading member 38 is attached to a rack member 48 by a horizontal pivot rod 42 that interconnects the two members 38,48 adjacent their upper ends.
  • the rack member 48 is mounted slidably on a pair of vertical guide rods 41 extending between the upper and lower horizontal limbs of C-shaped bracket 43 mounted on carriage 28.
  • the rack member 48 is engaged by a pinion wheel 44 that is driven by an electric stepping motor 45 screw-mounted on the outer face of the bight wall 47 of the C-shaped bracket 43.
  • the stepping motor 45 is energised by a pulsed electrical supply thereby to move pinion wheel 44 arcuately in a direction corresponding to the current direction. It will be appreciated that the extent of the arcuate movement of the pinion wheel 44 corresponds to the number of pulses with which the stepping motor 45 is energised.
  • the thermal head 32 is shown in full lines in Fig 2 in its out-of-use or rest position, and is shown in broken lines at 32ft in its lowered, pre-print position.
  • the head 32 has its linear printing edge 31 as a narrowly radiussed formation capable of providing a print line of 672 dots at a resolution of 11.81 dots/mm (300 dpi), and has a pair of foil guide bars 39 located one to each side of the printing edge 31 (e.g. laterally about 1 to 5 mm away) at a level closely approaching that of the printing edge 31.
  • the level of guide bars 39 can thus be from 0.01 mm to 1 mm above the lowermost tip of printing edge 31, and in this embodiment is preferably 0.05 mm above the lowermost tip of printing edge 31.
  • the combined closure member and printing foil ribbon magazine 22 can be mounted on the housing 20, the arrangement being such that a lowermost, horizontal length of the printing foil ribbon 11 of the magazine passes, without deflection or deformation of the foil, beneath printing edge 31 and guide bars 39 of the head 32 (and above the pair of foil stripper rods 24).
  • the print head is lowered to its pre-print position shown in broken lines at 32ft (in a manner to be described below)
  • the length of ribbon 11 between the stripper rods 24 is displaced by the printing edge 31 and guide bars 39 into a very shallow V-shape such that the apex of the 'V can effect substantially line-engagement of the substrate 60 to be printed.
  • the shallowness of the 'V that is provided by lateral guide bars 39 enables a good print effect to be obtained even if some of the heating elements (the "dot creators") of the printing edge 31 are not perfectly colinear with the design-intended line of such heating elements (which, for example, can in practice be directed at up to 10° to the vertical plane through the horizontal axis of rounded printing edge 31).
  • foil guidance means which guide the foil 11 along a path across and in contact with the tip 31 and such that the path approaches an angle of 180°
  • the thermal print head 32 engages the substrate 60 to be printed - or rather causes the intervening foil ribbon 11 to engage the substrate 60 - and urges that substrate against its support surface (provided by platen 15 or a pad 65 thereon), a resistance to further downward motion is manifested as a reaction force that acts through c-shaped bracket 35 to effect compression of the springs 40.
  • the control apparatus 50 As soon as the springs 40 start to compress, the upper limb of C-shaped bracket 35 moves, relatively, away from the upper surface of loading member 38 and the micro-switch 46 is thereb operated, e.g. switched from ON to OFF. This signals to the control apparatus 50 to start a pre ⁇ determined count of further pulses to be supplied to the stepping motor 45.
  • This contact pressure is largely independent of the thickness of the substrate and, in general, will not need adjustment when substrates of different thicknesses are to be printed. However, where substrates of different quality are supplied, it is often necessary to vary the contact pressure between the thermal head 32 and the substrate 60, and this can be readily effected by modifying the pre ⁇ determined count or number of further pulses to be provided to the stepping motor 45. It will be appreciated that this simply requires a suitable keyed input to the program controlling the control apparatus 50.
  • the carriage 28 carrying the printing device 30 travels linearly along the horizontal guide rails 26, and transfers the transfer medium or pigment of the thermal foil ribbon 11 onto the substrate 60 at zoned corresponding to the selected heated elements of the thermal printing head 32.
  • the stripper rode 24 that it carries separate the unheated (and thus non-bonded) portions of the ribbon's transfer medium away from the substrate to leave the printed portions adhering and bonded onto the substrate.
  • the out-of-use position for the thermal head 32 is elevated a substantial distance from the substrate 60. This allows the magazine 22 to be fitted easily to the housing body without damage to the thermal head 32 or the latter possibly interfering with the printing foil ribbon of the magazine.
  • a microswitch 62 serves as a vertical home position sensor responsive to the top vertical (rest) position of the thermal printing head 32 in which the magazine or cassette of ribbon 11 can be removed without damaging the printing head or the thermal transfer foil 11.
  • the pre-print position 32fi for the thermal printing head is level with the bottom of the stripper rods 24 -and a small distance (e.g. 2 to 3 mm) from the surface of the foil ribbon.
  • the control apparatus 50 is operated to supply a predetermined number of pulses to the stepping motor 45. This number of pulses is pre-set during final assembly of the apparatus to take account of manufacturing tolerances, and is programmed into the control apparatus 50.
  • the pivotal mounting (via pivot 42) of the loading member 38 to the rack member 48 permits the head 32 to print effectively and with good quality on substrates that are not fully level and it permits accommodation of planar imperfections in the substrate 60.
  • a pair of restoring springs 52 are provided in tension between studs 54,56 directed away from mutually facing surfaces of respectively the rack member 48 and the loading member 38. These restoring springs 52 serve to level the printing edge 31 of the thermal head 32.
  • a pair of light compression springs 49 are provided between the rack member 48 and the lower limb of the C-shaped bracket 43.
  • these springs encompass the lower portions of the guide rods 41.
  • the illustrated thermal printing apparatus can be used on its own or can be attached to a reel-fed packaging or labelling machine to provide a versatile, in line, programmable overprinting facility.
  • the thermal head 32 can print onto a stationary web or other substrate 60 whilst moving in one or other (or both) directions as the carriage 28 moves reciprocally along the guide rails 26.
  • the control apparatus 50 permits key pad entry - even during operation - of values for setting up or for modifying control data to the apparatus 10 and thereby reduces the time needed to change product or batch information, for example bar codes, sell-by/use-by date coding, price marking, graphics, batch expiry and/or other information (e.g.
  • the information can be downloaded directly from a computer or from a PCMCIA card 58 inserted into a slot in the hand-held key pad device 50.

Landscapes

  • Common Mechanisms (AREA)
  • Electronic Switches (AREA)

Abstract

Il s'agit d'un appareil d'impression thermique (10) qui se compose d'une surface servant de support (15, 65) au substrat (60) à imprimer, ainsi que d'un dispositif d'impression (20). Ce dispositif comprend à son tour une tête thermique (32) et un système de commande (45) permettant de déplacer celle-ci vers la surface servant de support au substrat (15, 65). La tête thermique (32) est couplée au système de commande (45) par un dispositif à ressort (40). Lorsque l'on utilise le système de commande (45) pour déplacer la tête thermique (32) dans la direction donnée et qu'un premier niveau de pression de contact est atteint entre la tête thermique (32) et le substrat (60) (par exemple, la pression obtenue lors du contact initial, quand la feuille est prise en sandwich entre ces deux éléments), le dispositif à ressort (40) permet d'accroître la pression à la tête thermique (32) pendant que le système de commande (45) continue de la déplacer dans cette même direction.
PCT/GB1995/002643 1994-11-10 1995-11-10 Appareil d'impression WO1996014990A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB9422707.1 1994-11-10
GB9422707A GB9422707D0 (en) 1994-11-10 1994-11-10 Printing apparatus

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO1996014990A1 true WO1996014990A1 (fr) 1996-05-23

Family

ID=10764183

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/GB1995/002643 WO1996014990A1 (fr) 1994-11-10 1995-11-10 Appareil d'impression

Country Status (2)

Country Link
GB (2) GB9422707D0 (fr)
WO (1) WO1996014990A1 (fr)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US8961045B2 (en) 2007-03-07 2015-02-24 Videojet Technologies (Nottingham) Limited Tape drive
US9233553B2 (en) 2000-09-11 2016-01-12 Videojet Technologies (Nottingham) Limited Tape drive and printing apparatus

Families Citing this family (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2318094A (en) * 1996-10-14 1998-04-15 Esselte Nv Tape cassette with tape printing apparatus
CA2243722A1 (fr) 1997-07-25 1999-01-25 Asahi Kogaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha Systeme de formation d'image
GB201017594D0 (en) 2010-10-19 2010-12-01 Domino Printing Sciences Plc Printing apparatus
AU2012335952B2 (en) 2011-11-07 2015-04-23 Zebra Technologies Corporation Media processing device with enhanced media and ribbon loading and unloading features
US9744784B1 (en) 2016-02-05 2017-08-29 Zih Corp. Printhead carriers and adapters
JP7074024B2 (ja) 2018-10-31 2022-05-24 ブラザー工業株式会社 印刷システム

Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4151397A (en) * 1977-08-12 1979-04-24 E-Systems, Inc. Self-aligning thermal print head
US4641151A (en) * 1984-12-28 1987-02-03 Victor Company Of Japan, Limited Thermal transfer recording apparatus
EP0213934A2 (fr) * 1985-08-29 1987-03-11 Seiko Epson Corporation Dispositif pour le positionnement d'une tête d'impression
JPS648055A (en) * 1987-06-30 1989-01-12 Tokyo Electric Co Ltd Thermal head holding device
EP0345079A2 (fr) * 1988-06-03 1989-12-06 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Dispositif d'enregistrement thermique
US5309176A (en) * 1992-08-25 1994-05-03 Sci Systems, Inc. Airline ticket printer with stepper motor for selectively engaging print head and platen

Family Cites Families (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4879566A (en) * 1987-01-13 1989-11-07 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Thermal recording apparatus
US5206662A (en) * 1991-04-08 1993-04-27 Intermec Corporation Method and apparatus for adjusting contact pressure of a thermal printhead

Patent Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4151397A (en) * 1977-08-12 1979-04-24 E-Systems, Inc. Self-aligning thermal print head
US4641151A (en) * 1984-12-28 1987-02-03 Victor Company Of Japan, Limited Thermal transfer recording apparatus
EP0213934A2 (fr) * 1985-08-29 1987-03-11 Seiko Epson Corporation Dispositif pour le positionnement d'une tête d'impression
JPS648055A (en) * 1987-06-30 1989-01-12 Tokyo Electric Co Ltd Thermal head holding device
EP0345079A2 (fr) * 1988-06-03 1989-12-06 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Dispositif d'enregistrement thermique
US5309176A (en) * 1992-08-25 1994-05-03 Sci Systems, Inc. Airline ticket printer with stepper motor for selectively engaging print head and platen

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 13, no. 177 (M - 818)<3525> 26 April 1989 (1989-04-26) *

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US9233553B2 (en) 2000-09-11 2016-01-12 Videojet Technologies (Nottingham) Limited Tape drive and printing apparatus
US8961045B2 (en) 2007-03-07 2015-02-24 Videojet Technologies (Nottingham) Limited Tape drive

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB2294907A (en) 1996-05-15
GB9422707D0 (en) 1995-01-04
GB2294907B (en) 1998-01-21
GB9523111D0 (en) 1996-01-10

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US5193918A (en) Print-head positioning system having a paper sensor
US5542768A (en) Apparatus for printing on plastic disk
US5468080A (en) Poly bag printer for packaging machine
CN1270890A (zh) 喷墨打印机
WO1996014990A1 (fr) Appareil d&#39;impression
US20020134516A1 (en) Card laminator and method of card lamination
CN1970307B (zh) 金属箔转印机
JPH0725042A (ja) カラー熱転写式プリンタ装置及び印刷方法
EP0856409A2 (fr) Imprimante à transfert thermique
AU782076B2 (en) Franking machine
CA1214071A (fr) Imprimante matricielle a tetes d&#39;impression multiples
US5372440A (en) Printing machines
GB2300603A (en) Thermal transfer printing apparatus having transfer material guide means
US5017028A (en) Substrate clamping apparatus for a thermal printer
EP0622216B2 (fr) Imprimante thermique dotée d&#39;une alimentation électrique de meilleure qualité
CA2104985C (fr) Machine a affranchir
AU598363B2 (en) Improvements in and relating to printing apparatus
KR100360832B1 (ko) 열용해 잉크를 사용한 판지상의 바코드 인쇄
US4907531A (en) Drawdown machines
JP3449380B2 (ja) 自動車用伝動ベルトとそのベルトマーク印刷方法及び印刷装置
CA2192054C (fr) Dispositif d&#39;impression a tete etalonnee et procede d&#39;etalonnage
JP2944584B2 (ja) カードガイド機構
CN115038590A (zh) 调整打印介质与打印头之间的距离
NL1008195C2 (nl) Drukinrichting voor het bedrukken van niet flexibele platen.
JPH08216478A (ja) サーマルスタンパ

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
AK Designated states

Kind code of ref document: A1

Designated state(s): CA US

AL Designated countries for regional patents

Kind code of ref document: A1

Designated state(s): AT BE CH DE DK ES FR GB GR IE IT LU MC NL PT SE

DFPE Request for preliminary examination filed prior to expiration of 19th month from priority date (pct application filed before 20040101)
121 Ep: the epo has been informed by wipo that ep was designated in this application
122 Ep: pct application non-entry in european phase
NENP Non-entry into the national phase

Ref country code: CA