WO2022118388A1

WO2022118388A1 - Printer and ink cassette for printer

Info

Publication number: WO2022118388A1
Application number: PCT/JP2020/044812
Authority: WO
Inventors: 功泰神原
Original assignee: 三菱電機株式会社
Priority date: 2020-12-02
Filing date: 2020-12-02
Publication date: 2022-06-09

Abstract

A printer that conveys a print sheet to be printed on a conveyance path and performs printing using an ink sheet is provided with guide units that guide the print sheet so as not to deviate from the conveyance path in a width direction, but a user is needed to adjust positions of the guide units in accordance with the width of the print sheet. Therefore, a conveyance failure of the print sheet occurs due to forgetting of an adjustment operation or an erroneous operation. In view of this, when a printer is provided with an ink cassette that is installed in a printing unit and has an ink sheet having a width corresponding to the width of a print sheet and guide units separated from each other at a width corresponding to the width of the ink sheet and a user installs the ink cassette in the printing unit, the guide units of the ink cassette protrude toward a conveyance path and guide the print sheet. Thus, when a print sheet having a different width is used, a conveyance failure of the print sheet due to a mistake made by an operator does not occur.

Description

Printers and ink cassettes for printers

The present invention relates to, for example, a printer that transfers ink from an ink sheet to printing paper by a thermal transfer method to perform printing, and an ink cassette used for this printer.

The thermal transfer printer uses an ink cassette equipped with an ink sheet that corresponds to the width of the printing paper to be printed. When printing on print paper of different widths using the same printer, replace the print paper and also the ink cassette.

Further, in such a printer, the print paper is displaced in the width direction in the transport path for transporting the print paper from the supply port to which the print paper is supplied to the discharge port for discharging the printed print paper via the printing unit. A width guide will be provided to guide the printing paper.

As a width guide that regulates the displacement of the print paper in the width direction, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a width guide provided in a thermal printer. This width guide has a width adjustment mechanism that can adjust the spacing of a pair of width guides according to the width of the printing paper, and adjusts the spacing of the width guides even when printing paper of different widths is used in the same printer. This makes it possible to guide the printing paper.

When a width guide provided with such a width adjustment mechanism is applied to a thermal transfer printer that prints on print paper of different widths using the same printer, the user replaces the print paper and prints by replacing the ink cassette. It is necessary to replace the ink cassette with an ink cassette that corresponds to the width of the paper, and to adjust the spacing between the width guides to match the width of the printing paper. In this user's work, if there is a work error such as forgetting to adjust the width guide interval or setting the width guide interval to an interval different from the width of the replaced print paper, the print paper may not be conveyed properly or meandering. There was a problem that the print quality was deteriorated due to the above.

International Publication No. 2013/129305

The present disclosure has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and is intended to prevent printing paper transport defects due to operator mistakes when changing the width of the printing paper.

The printer according to the present disclosure has a transport path forming section that forms a transport path in which the print paper is transported from the supply section to the ejection section via the printing section, and holds ink transferred to the print paper to the width of the print paper. A plurality of ink cassettes having an ink sheet having a corresponding width, separated from the ink cassette by a width corresponding to the width of the ink sheet, and projecting toward a transport path when the ink cassette is installed in the printing portion. A guide portion, which is a protrusion of the ink, is provided.
Further, the ink cassette according to the present disclosure includes an ink case portion, an ink sheet provided in the ink case portion, having a width corresponding to the width of the print paper, and holding ink transferred to the print paper, and an ink case. A guide portion is provided on the outer surface of the portion at a width corresponding to the width of the print paper, and is provided with a guide portion composed of a plurality of protrusions protruding toward a transport path in which the print paper of the printer is conveyed.

In the printer according to the present disclosure, when an ink cassette having an ink sheet having a width corresponding to the width of the printing paper is installed in the printing portion, a guide portion separated by a width corresponding to the width of the ink sheet is provided in the transport path. Since it protrudes toward the printing section, the width of the installed printing paper can be accommodated by installing an ink cassette with an ink sheet having a width corresponding to the width of the printing paper installed in the supply section of the printer in the printing section. Since the width guide portion protrudes into the transport path of the printer and guides the print paper in the transport path, it has the effect of preventing the print paper from being poorly transported due to a work error of the user.

It is a block diagram which shows the schematic structure of the printer in Embodiment 1 in the side cross section. A perspective view showing the configuration of the ink cassette according to the first embodiment. Front view showing the configuration of the ink cassette according to the first embodiment. Front view showing the configuration of the ink cassette according to the first embodiment. Front view showing the configuration of the ink cassette according to the first embodiment. Front view showing the configuration of the ink cassette according to the first embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the schematic structure of the printer in Embodiment 1 by the side cross section. A perspective view showing the configuration of the ink case portion in the second embodiment. A perspective view showing the configuration of the guide portion in the second embodiment. A perspective view showing the configuration of the ink case portion in the second embodiment.

Embodiment 1.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a schematic configuration of the printer 1 according to the first embodiment in a side cross section. The printer 1 is provided in a printer housing 2, and includes a print paper installation unit 4 on which a print paper 3 sprinkled on a core material is installed, and a paper feed roller 5 which is a transport unit for transporting the print paper 3. An ink cassette 8 having a supply unit 6 for supplying the paper 3 and an ink sheet 7 having a width corresponding to the width of the print paper 3 supplied from the supply unit 6 and holding an ink transferred to the print paper 3. The ink cassette 8 is installed, and the printing unit 9 that heat-transfers the ink of the ink sheet 7 to the printing paper 3 for printing, and the cutter 10 that cuts the printing paper 3 printed by the printing unit 9 to a predetermined size are cut. It is composed of a paper discharge roller 11 which is a transport unit for transporting the printed paper 3, and includes a discharge unit 12 for discharging the print paper 3 to the outside of the printer 1.

The printing unit 9 includes a thermal head 13 that melts the ink of the ink sheet 7 and heat-transfers it to the printing paper 3, a platen roller 14 that presses the ink sheet 7 and the printing paper 3 onto the thermal head 13, and printing paper at the time of printing. It is provided with a grip roller 15 and a pinch roller 16 for carrying the three, and a printing main body 17 to which these configurations are attached. Further, a replaceable ink cassette 8 is installed in the printing main body 17. Note that FIG. 1 shows only the U-shaped locking portion 18 in which a part of the ink cassette 8 is housed and installed in the printing main body portion 17, and the other parts are not shown.

Further, the printer 1 is formed with a transport path in which the print paper 3 is transported from the supply section 6 to the discharge section 12 via the printing section 9, and as a transport path forming section for forming this transport path, the printer 1 is formed. When the print paper 3 supplied from the supply unit 6 is conveyed to the printing unit 9, the paper guides 19a and 19b that guide the print paper 3 and the print paper 3 printed by the printing unit 9 are transferred from the printing unit 9. Paper guides 19c and 19d are provided to guide the print paper 3 when it is conveyed to the discharge unit 12.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the ink cassette 8 according to the first embodiment, and FIG. 3 shows the printing main body 17 and the ink cassette 8 installed in the printing main body 17 according to the first embodiment as viewed from the transport path side. It is a front view. The ink cassette 8 includes an ink case portion 20 and an ink sheet 7 (not shown) that is housed in the ink case portion 20 and holds ink transferred to the printing paper 3. The ink cassette 8 corresponds to a print paper 3 having a predetermined width, and an ink sheet 7 having a width corresponding to the width of the print paper 3 is stored. Further, on the outer surface of the ink case portion 20 of the ink cassette 8, there are two protrusions separated by a width corresponding to the width of the stored ink sheet 7, and when the ink cassette 8 is installed on the printing main body portion 17. Is provided with a flat plate-shaped guide portion 21 projecting toward the transport path of the print paper 3 of the printer 1.

The ink sheet 7 is wound around the supply bobbin 22 in a roll shape, and is held in the ink cassette 8 in a state where the outermost periphery is pulled out and the tip is wound around the winding bobbin 23. In the ink sheet 7, the supply bobbin 22 and the take-up bobbin 23 rotate, so that the portion exposed from the supply bobbin 22 is used for printing by the printing portion 9, and the used portion is taken up by the take-up bobbin 23. ..

As shown in FIG. 3, when the ink cassette 8 is locked and installed in the U-shaped locking portions 18 located at four positions on the top, bottom, left, and right of the printing main body portion 17, the guide portion 21 and the printing main body portion 17 are installed. A space for projecting into the transport path without interference is formed in the printing body portion 17. That is, the printing main body 17 is provided with a guide setting portion that forms the space.

Next, the operation of the printer 1 and the ink cassette 8 configured as described above will be described. When the printer 1 operates, the grip roller 15 crimping the print paper 3 rotates counterclockwise, the pinch roller 16 rotates clockwise, and the print paper 3 supplied from the supply unit 6 becomes a paper guide. It is transported counterclockwise along a transport path consisting of 19a to 19d. At this time, since the paper guides 19a to d sandwich the upper and lower sides of the paper surface of the print paper 3 with an appropriate margin, the print paper 3 is conveyed without bending in the vertical direction. Further, the left and right side portions of the paper surface of the print paper 3 are separated by a width corresponding to the width of the print paper 3 and come into contact with the guide portion 21 protruding from the transport path, so that the movement in the left-right direction is restricted. , The print paper 3 is conveyed without meandering in the left-right direction.

When the printing start position on the printing paper 3 reaches a certain position of the thermal head 13 and the platen roller 14, the ink sheet 7 and the printing paper 3 are crimped by the thermal head 13 and the platen roller 14, and the heat of the thermal head 13 causes the ink sheet 7 and the printing paper 3 to be pressure-bonded. The ink of the ink sheet 7 is transferred to the printing paper 3. By performing thermal transfer while transporting the print paper 3 by rotating the grip roller 15 and the pinch roller 16 and transporting the ink sheet 7 by rotating the take-up bobbin 23 and the supply bobbin 22, printing is performed on the print paper 3. Will be printed. When the printing for one color is completed, the crimping between the thermal head 13 and the platen roller 14 is released. When multicolor printing is performed instead of printing with one color, for example, one color with black ink, the grip roller 15 and the pinch roller 16 rotate in the reverse direction after printing for one color. Then, the print paper 3 is conveyed in the opposite direction to the printing operation until the print start position of the print paper 3 becomes the position of the thermal head 13, and the color to be subsequently thermally transferred by the rotation of the supply bobbin 22 and the take-up bobbin 23. The ink sheet 7 is pulled out to the position of the thermal head 13. After that, the printing operation of the second color is performed in the same manner as the first color described above, and the printing operation for the number of colors is repeated. Even when the print paper 3 is conveyed in the reverse direction in the printing operation of the second and subsequent colors, the guide portion 21 abuts on the left and right side sides of the print paper 3 to prevent the print paper 3 from meandering in the left-right direction. ..
After all the printing operations of all colors are completed, the grip roller 15 rotates counterclockwise and the printing paper 3 is conveyed toward the ejection unit 12, and the printing paper 3 is cut to a predetermined size by the cutter 10. It is discharged.

In the printer 1 and the ink cassette 8 configured in this way, the ink cassette 8 having the ink sheet 7 having a width corresponding to the width of the print paper 3 is separated from the ink cassette 8 by a width corresponding to the width of the ink sheet 7, in other words. Since the guide portions 21 separated by a width corresponding to the width of the print paper 3 project to the transport path, the guide portions 21 come into contact with the left and right side portions of the print paper 3 to cause the print paper 3 to move in the left-right direction. It is transported without meandering.

Next, a case where printing is performed on a print paper 3 having a width different from that of the print paper used will be described using this printer 1. First, the used print paper 3 is removed from the print paper installation unit 4, and print paper 3 having a different width is installed in the print paper installation unit 4. Next, the used ink cassette 8 is removed from the printing main body 17, and an ink cassette 8 having an ink sheet 7 having a width corresponding to the width of the installed printing paper 3 is installed in the printing main body 17. The installed ink cassette 8 is provided with a guide portion 21 that corresponds to the width of the ink sheet 7, that is, is separated by a width corresponding to the width of the newly installed print paper 3, and the guide portion 21 is used as a transport path. The printing paper 3 is conveyed without meandering in the left-right direction in the same manner as described above. In this way, the installation work of the ink cassette 8, which is an operation inevitably performed by the user according to the width of the print paper 3 to be printed, that is, the ink cassette having the ink sheet 7 having a width corresponding to the width of the print paper 3. Since the guide portion 21 corresponding to the width of the print paper 3 is also installed only by installing the 8, the user does not need to separately perform the work of adjusting the width of the guide portion 21.

Although the guide portion 21 described above has a flat plate shape, the shape of the guide portion 21 is not limited to the flat plate shape, and has a width corresponding to the width of the print paper 3 so as to be in contact with the left and right side portions of the print paper 3. Other shapes may be used as long as they are separated from each other. For example, the guide portion 21 may have a cylindrical shape as shown in FIG. 4, which is a front view of only the ink cassette 8. In the case of the flat plate-shaped guide portion 21, the guide portion 21 has a linear contact point with the side portion of the print paper 3, but in the case of the cylindrical guide portion 21, the side of the print paper 3 is used. Since the guide portion 21 comes into contact with the side portion at a point, it is preferable to provide two or more guide portions 21 on the left and right sides in order to stably guide the guide portion 21 in the left-right direction. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the guide portion 21 may have a bent plate shape having a portion in which the distance between the guide widths gradually narrows as it approaches the thermal head 13.

In the ink cassette 8 of the first embodiment, the guide portion 21 is provided near the supply bobbin 22 on the outer surface facing the transport path of the ink case portion 20, but the installation position of the guide portion 21 is provided. And the number is not limited to this. For example, the guide portion 21 may be provided near the take-up bobbin 23 on the outer surface facing the transport path of the ink case portion 20, or as shown in FIG. 6, both the vicinity of the supply bobbin 22 and the vicinity of the take-up bobbin 23. It may be provided in. FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram showing a side cross section of the printer 1 when the ink cassette 24 shown in FIG. 6 is installed in the printer 1. As shown in FIG. 6, two guide portions 21 separated by a width corresponding to the print paper 3 are provided in the vicinity of the supply bobbin 22 and the vicinity of the take-up bobbin 23 on the outer surface of the ink case portion 20. When the ink cassette 24 is installed in the printing main body 17, as shown in FIG. 7, the guide portion 21 provided in the vicinity of the supply bobbin 22 protrudes into the transport path formed by the paper guides 19a to 19b and is wound. The guide portion 21 provided near the take bobbin 23 projects into the transport path formed by the paper guides 19c to 19d. Therefore, the print paper 3 is guided at two places in the transport path, and the print paper 3 is more stably transported.

The printing unit 9 may be configured to provide a hole or a groove as a guide passage portion that forms a space through which the guide portion 21 passes and projects into the transport path when the ink cassette 8 is installed.

As described above, in the printer 1 and the ink cassette 8 of the first embodiment, when the ink cassette 8 is installed in the printer 1, the guide unit 21 conveys the ink cassette 8 without interfering with the guide unit 21 of the ink cassette 8. A space for projecting from the path is provided, and the ink cassette 8 is provided with guide portions 21 separated by a width corresponding to the width of the print paper 3, so that printing can be performed on the print paper 3 having different widths. In this case, the guide portion 21 corresponding to the width of the print paper 3 is also installed by simply replacing the ink cassette 8 having the ink sheet 7 having the width corresponding to the width of the printed paper after the replacement. Therefore, it is not necessary for the user to separately adjust the width of the guide portion, which has the effect of preventing poor transport of the print paper due to the user's work mistake.

Embodiment 2.
In the first embodiment, the printer 1 provided with the ink cassette 8 in which the guide portion 21 is integrally provided on the outer surface of the ink case portion 20 has been described. In the case of this ink cassette 8, since the width of the print paper 3 and the separated width of the guide portion 21 have a one-to-one correspondence, the guide portion 21 differs by the same number as the number of types of the width of the print paper 3. It is necessary to manufacture the ink cassette 8 having a width. For example, when the ink case portion 20 is manufactured by plastic molding, it is necessary to prepare a plurality of molds having different structures. In the second embodiment, the ink case portion and the guide portion are formed separately, an installation portion for fitting the guide portion into the ink case portion and installing the guide portion is provided, and the guide portions are appropriately separated by different widths. A case will be described in which ink cassettes corresponding to different widths of printing paper 3 can be formed by using a common ink case portion.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the ink case portion 25 of the ink cassette 8 according to the second embodiment, and FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the guide portion 26 according to the second embodiment. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the ink case portion 25 and the guide portion 26 are formed separately. The guide portion 26 is installed in the ink cassette 8 by fitting two fitting portions 28 of the guide portion 26 on the left and right sides of the supply bobbin 22 side and the take-up bobbin 23 side of the outer surface of the ink case portion 25. Slits 27a to 27h are provided as guide installation portions.
The slits 27a and 27b, and the slits 27c and 27d are provided at positions separated from each other with the same width A. By fitting the guide portion 26 into these slits 27a to 27d and installing the guide portion 26, the ink cassette 8 corresponding to the print paper 3 having the width A can be formed. FIG. 10A is a perspective view of the ink case portion 25 in which the guide portion 26 is fitted into the slits 27a to 27d.
Similarly, the slits 27e and 27f, and the slits 27g and 27h are provided at positions separated from each other with the same width B. By fitting the guide portion 26 into these slits 27e to 27h and installing the slits 27e, the width B is provided. It is possible to form the ink cassette 8 corresponding to the print paper 3 having the above. FIG. 10B is a perspective view of the ink case portion 25 in which the guide portion 26 is fitted into the slits 27e to 27h.

When the ink case portion 25 having such a configuration is used, an ink sheet having a width A (not shown) is stored, and the guide portion 26 is fitted into the slits 27a to 27d, as shown in FIG. 10 (a). It is possible to form an ink cassette corresponding to the print paper 3 having the width A by having the guide portions 26 separated by the width A as described above. Further, the guide portion 26 is separated by the width B as shown in FIG. 10B by accommodating the ink sheet having the width B (not shown) and fitting the guide portion 26 into the slits 27e to 27h. It is possible to form an ink cassette corresponding to the print paper 3 having a width B.

The ink cassette 8 configured in this way operates in the same manner as the ink cassette of the first embodiment. That is, when the ink cassette 8 is installed in the printing main body portion 17, the guide portion 26 protrudes into the transport path, the printer 1 operates, and the guide section 26 prints when the print paper 3 is conveyed in the transport path. By coming into contact with the paper 3, the print paper 3 is guided and prevented from meandering in the left-right direction.

The ink cassette 8 configured in this way manufactures a common ink case portion 25 and guide portion 26 regardless of the width of the print paper 3, and stores an ink sheet having a width corresponding to the width of the print paper 3. By fitting the guide portion 26 into the slit at the position corresponding to the width thereof, the ink cassette 8 having the guide portions 26 provided at a width corresponding to the width of the print paper 3 is formed. can. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a plurality of types of ink cassettes 8 corresponding to the print papers 3 having different widths without manufacturing ink cassettes having different structures depending on the type of width of the print paper 3. Therefore, for example, when the ink case portion 20 is manufactured by plastic molding, it is possible to obtain an ink cassette corresponding to the printing paper 3 having a different width only by preparing one mold.

The material of the guide portion 26 may be changed to a material different from that of the ink case portion 25, depending on the material and hardness of the print paper 3. For example, when the printing paper 3 is a sealing paper containing an adhesive, the guide portion 26 is formed of polyacetal, polytetrafluoroethylene, polyamide, or the like, which is a material having good slidability to which the adhesive does not easily adhere. Further, when the hardness of the printing paper 3 is low, the guide portion 26 may be formed of a soft material such as an elastomer.

The printing method of the printer 1 shown in the above embodiment is a thermal transfer method, but the present disclosure is a printer of another printing method as long as it is a printer using an ink sheet 7 corresponding to the width of the printing paper 3. Even if it is applicable.

1 printer, 2 printer housing, 3 print paper, 4 print paper installation unit, 5

paper feed rollers

5, 6 supply unit, 7 ink sheet, 8 ink cassette, 9 printing unit, 10 cutter, 11 paper ejection roller, 12 ejection Part, 13 thermal head, 14 platen roller, 15 grip roller, 16 pinch roller, 17 printing body part, 18 locking part, 19ad paper guide, 20 ink case part, 21 guide part, 22 supply bobbin, 23 winding Bobbin, 24 ink cassette, 25 ink case part, 26 guide part, 27ah slit, 28 fitting part

Claims

With the housing
A supply unit provided in the housing and supplying printing paper,
An ink cassette that holds ink transferred to the print paper and has an ink sheet having a width corresponding to the width of the print paper.
A printing unit provided in the housing, the ink cassette is installed, and the ink is transferred to the printing paper for printing.
A discharge unit that discharges the print paper printed by the print unit to the outside of the housing, and a discharge unit.
A transport path forming section that forms a transport path in which the print paper is transported from the supply section to the discharge section via the printing section.
A transport unit that transports the print paper in the transport path,
A plurality of protrusions provided on the ink cassette separated by a width corresponding to the width of the ink sheet, and a guide portion protruding toward the transport path when the ink cassette is installed on the printing portion. A printer equipped with.
The ink cassette is installed on the opposite side of the printing section from the transport path, and when the ink cassette is installed in the printing section, the guide section passes through the printing section and projects into the transport path. The printer according to claim 1, further comprising a guide passing portion forming a space to be formed.
The printer according to claim 2, wherein the guide passing portion is a hole into which the guide portion is inserted when the ink cassette is installed in the printing portion.
The printer according to claim 2, wherein the guide passing portion is a groove into which the guide portion is inserted when the ink cassette is installed in the printing portion.
With the housing
A supply unit provided in the housing and supplying printing paper,
It is provided in the housing, holds an ink transferred to the print paper, has an ink sheet having a width corresponding to the width of the print paper, and is provided at a distance corresponding to the width of the ink sheet. The printing section where the ink cassette with the guide section, which is a plurality of protrusions, is installed, and the printing section.
A discharge unit that discharges the print paper printed by the print unit to the outside of the housing, and a discharge unit.
A transport path forming section that forms a transport path in which the print paper is transported from the supply section to the discharge section via the printing section.
A transport unit that transports print paper in the transport path,
A printer provided with a guide installation unit that forms a space in which the guide unit is projected from the transport path when the ink cassette is installed in the printing unit.
Ink case and
An ink sheet provided in the ink case portion, having a width corresponding to the width of the printing paper, and holding ink transferred to the printing paper, and an ink sheet.
A guide portion composed of a plurality of protrusions provided on the outer surface of the ink case portion at a width corresponding to the width of the print paper and projecting toward a transport path through which the print paper of the printer is transported, and a guide portion.
An ink cassette characterized by being equipped with.
The ink cassette according to claim 6, wherein the guide portion is formed separately from the ink case portion and is fixed to a guide installation portion provided in the ink case portion.