JP2001105493A - Laminating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a laminating device capable of eliminating the generation of flashes by moving a film by a sharp angle from the rear end side of a recording medium after thermal transfer without changing anything particularly on the film feed side. SOLUTION: A laminating device 1 is used for carrying a card C between a heating roller 3 and a platen roller 5 and thermal transferring a protective layer, and provided with a main body 2, a lifting and lowering mechanism for lifting and lowering the heating roller between the operating position and the standby position of the platen roller, a feed section 6 feeding a film from a roll film formed of a film F rolled into the roll shape, a take-up section 7 for taking up the film, a film feed mechanism constituted of a guide shaft 8 for guiding and a member 14 separating the film F from the rear end of the carried card C after the heating roller 4 is driven to the standby position after the thermal transfer.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a laminating apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is known that a recording surface on which a color is printed on a recording medium by a sublimation-type printer has chemically unstable plasticity. For this reason, for example, if a plastic eraser is placed on the recording surface, the printing color will be decolored due to the effect of the contained plasticizer. Therefore,
After printing each colorant layer, the recording medium is taken out of the apparatus, and a protective layer precut to the same size as the recording medium is patched.

[0003] Alternatively, the above-mentioned decolorization is achieved by forming a YMC colorant layer and a transparent protective layer on a base film in order and providing the protective layer by overlaying the protective layer with the same apparatus after color printing. We try to prevent it. Alternatively, JP-A-08-230235 and JP-A-1
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 0-71789, an apparatus provided with an inversion mechanism for overlaying a protective layer on the front and back of a recording medium such as an information card has been proposed.

[0004]

As described above, the mechanism for overlaying the protective layer will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 9A is an external perspective view showing the operation principle of the overlay mechanism. In this figure, a card C is transported in the direction of arrow D on a transport path formed between a transport roller (not shown) and an idle roller. A heat roller 3 that is driven to rotate around a rod-shaped heater 4 has a platen roller 5.
A film F in which a light-transmitting resin coating layer Fa as a protective layer or a hologram layer for preventing forgery is formed on a base film Fb is interposed between rollers, and It is configured so that the resin film layer Fa or the hologram layer is transferred by heating while synchronizing the transport speed.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 9C, the outer peripheral surfaces of the heat roller 3 and the platen roller 5 are smooth cylindrical surfaces and have a width W, so that the heat roller 3 When the card C and the film F are sandwiched between the nip portions, a repulsive force is generated due to the elastic deformation of the silicon rubber layer provided on the platen roller 5, and the pressure P is applied to the back of the card C. Will be given to. This pressure P is deformed so that the rubber layer escapes in the lateral direction on both sides in the width direction.
2 is equal to or lower than the pressure P, and cannot be a uniform pressure P over the entire width direction.

For this reason, as shown in FIG. 9 (b), there is a problem that defective portions K, K of the resin coating layer Fa are generated from the edges.

Further, as shown in an enlarged view of the main part showing the operation principle of the overlay mechanism in FIG. 10B, the film F is wound up in the direction of the arrow from the rear end portion Cb of the card C after the heat transfer. Then, as shown in the plan view of the card C in FIG. 10A, burrs B of the resin coating layer Fa are generated from the rear end portion Cb toward the rear side in the transport direction. This burr B
The reason is that an extra protective layer is peeled off from the base film. An overcoating device for preventing such burrs is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-08-276496.
No. pp. 147-64. According to this proposal, the cutter is moved by the card conveying force to take measures against the occurrence of burrs, the cutter is lowered after the card is conveyed, and the burrs are cut.

On the other hand, if the film F is moved at a steep angle from the rear end portion Cb after the heat transfer as shown in FIG. 10 (c), no extra protection layer is peeled off from the base film, and the generation of burrs is extremely small. Although it may be negligible, since the film transport path has restrictions on arrangement and driving, it is not possible to configure the film supply means to move the film F from the rear end Cb at a steep angle after the heat transfer. Near impossible.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and moves a film at a steep angle from the rear end side of a recording medium after heat transfer without specially changing the film supply side. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a laminator device that can eliminate the generation of burrs.

[0010]

According to the present invention, there is provided a film having a light-transmitting resin coating layer or a hologram layer formed on a base film. In order to heat-transfer to the heat transfer surface of the recording medium including the card body, the recording medium is conveyed between a heat roller and a platen roller by conveying means having a conveying path formed between the conveying rollers. A laminating apparatus for performing thermal transfer, a main body serving as a base, elevating means for elevating and lowering the heat roller between an operation position with respect to the platen roller and a standby position, and a roll in which the film is wound in a roll shape A supply unit for supplying the film from the film, a winding unit for winding the film, and the film between the heat roller and the platen roller. A film feeding means comprising a guiding section for guiding the heat transfer, and after the heat transfer, after the heat roller is driven to the standby position by the elevating means, the film is fed from the rear end of the conveyed recording medium. The image forming apparatus further includes a peeling unit that is driven between a standby position retracted from the conveyance path to peel off the heat transfer surface and an operation position for hitting the film.

The peeling means includes a first swinging member integrally formed with a shaft supporting portion supported by the main body and a shape portion along the rear end for hitting the film; An urging means for generating an urging force for moving the oscillating member to the standby position; and an electromagnetic means for driving the first oscillating member to the operating position against the urging force to strike the film by energization. And driving means including a solenoid.

A first member extending from a pivot portion pivotally supported by the main body and having at its end a shaped portion along the rear end for hitting the film; A second swing member extending from the shaft support and forming a second member provided with a cam follower, and moving the second swing member to the standby position and adding the cam follower to a cam. A biasing means for generating a biasing force to be moved, and a motor for rotating the cam by energization and driving the shape follower to hit the film by the cam follower falling into a recess formed in the cam surface. It is characterized by being done.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing the main internal structure of the laminating apparatus 1. A card C as a recording medium is printed from the left side of the drawing after being printed by a sublimation-type printer, and is conveyed from the direction of arrow D1 in the conveying path. H shows the state immediately after the hologram layer or the light-transmitting resin coating layer for preventing forgery is heat-transferred to the heat transfer surface of the card C. The recording medium includes, for example, various certificates including personal employees, personal information cards, car driver's licenses, and the like. The printing performed in the process before sending to the laminating apparatus 1 is not limited to the above-described sublimation printing. Needless to say, printing may be performed by all printing apparatuses.

In FIG. 1, a conveying path H includes a plurality of idlers 11 indicated by broken lines and a conveying roller 10 to which a driving force is transmitted.
The card C having a predetermined rigidity is sequentially transported in the directions of arrows D1 and D2, and is discharged to the outside of the apparatus from the direction of arrow D3. A rod-shaped heater 4 is fixed at the center of a substantially intermediate portion of the conveyance path H, and the heat roller 3 is driven to rotate around the rod-shaped heater.
Is provided so as to be driven up and down in the direction of arrow A, and a platen roller 5 provided with a silicon rubber layer having excellent heat resistance on the outer peripheral surface is rotatably driven by a bearing 12 below the heat roller 3. It is provided so that.

A film F shown by a broken line in the figure is:
As described with reference to FIG. 9A, a light-transmitting resin coating layer Fa as a protective layer or a hologram layer for preventing forgery formed on a base film Fb is wound into a roll. The roll F is prepared so that it can be exchanged, and after setting the roll F in the supply unit 6 disposed at the upper left of the apparatus main body 2, the film F is moved along many film guide shafts 8 as illustrated. The film F is wound up in the winding section 7 which winds up only the base film by thermal transfer.
Is guided between the heat roller 3 and the platen roller 5 so that the state shown in FIG. At this time, to prevent loosening, the film F
Has an appropriate tension in the winding direction so that it can return to its original state within a short time after being hit as described later.

With the above configuration, the card C of the film F
After the heat transfer to the heat transfer roller, the heat roller 4 is driven to a standby position shown in the drawing by energizing a lifting mechanism (not shown), and is driven to a heat transfer position described later for the heat transfer, so that the protective layer is thermally transferred.

In this manner, in order to peel the film F from the heat transfer surface from the rear end of the card C which is thermally transferred while being conveyed, the film F and the standby position where the shape portion is retracted from the conveyance path H are indicated by arrows. A first swing member is provided, which is driven between an operative position for tapping in a direction. The first swinging member is a member 14 processed as shown in the figure.
Is used as the pivot 13 as the center of rotation. For this purpose, the support portion 13 of the member 14 is supported by the main body 2 and a flat plate-shaped portion having the same width as the rear end of the card C is integrally formed.

A spring 1 is used as an urging means for generating an urging force for moving the first swinging member to the standby position shown in the figure.
Reference numeral 5 is provided between the actuators of the electromagnetic solenoid 16 so as to drive the member 14 to an operation position to be described later against the urging force by energizing the solenoid 16.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a drive system of the laminating apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and shows that each transport roller 10, platen roller 5, and heat roller 3 are driven by a common drive motor 18. ing. In this figure, a gear whose center circle is shown by a dashed line in the figure is fixed to the output shaft of the drive motor 18, and the power is supplied to the upstream conveying roller 10 via a gear train 19 meshing with this gear. Power is transmitted to the platen roller 5 and the transport roller 10 on the downstream side through a gear train 20 which meshes with a gear.
Power is transmitted to the heat roller 3 via the first roller 1.

FIG. 3 is an external perspective view showing the appearance of the heat roller 3. As shown, the main body 2 and the base 9 are provided with a pair of left and right annular bearings 22.
2, the heat roller 3 is provided so as to be rotatable in the arrow direction. The rod-shaped heater 4 is fixed.

FIG. 4 shows a meshing mechanism for transmitting power from the gear train 20 to the gear train 21 shown in FIG. 2. The gear is rotatably provided around a lever 26 as shown. And urges the lever 26 to move upward. In this way, when the heat roller 4 is moved upward from the predetermined position for setting the film F and then returned to the predetermined position, the teeth can be engaged again.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are views for explaining the operation of the first swing member described above. In both figures, the same reference numerals are given to the components already described, and the description is omitted. First, in FIG. 5A, the card C is conveyed in the direction of arrow D1, and the heat roller 3 and the platen roller 5 are transferred. When reaching the nip portion between them, the heat roller 3 is lowered in the direction of arrow A1. Subsequently, in FIG.
The temperature of the heat roller 4 is increased by the application of current to the card C, and the heat transfer of the transparent resin layer of the film F is performed on the card C. FIG.
When the heat transfer to the nip is completed in (c), the heat roller 4 is raised in the direction of arrow A2. On the other hand, the card C and the film F are transported and peeled.

Next, in FIG. 6A, the card C is further conveyed in the direction of arrow D2, and the rear end portion Cb of the card C is 1 to 2 mm immediately after the shape portion 14a of the member 14.
6, the electromagnetic solenoid 16 is energized, and the shape portion 14a is vigorously moved upward as shown in FIG. 6B, so that the film is hit upward. As a result, generation of burrs can be effectively prevented. Thereafter, the energization of the solenoid is stopped, and the actuator of the electromagnetic solenoid 16 returns to the original position by the action of the spring 15, whereby the shape portion 14a descends and returns to the position shown in FIG. Will be.

As described above, the film is moved at a steep angle from the rear end portion Cb of the recording medium C after the heat transfer without changing the mechanism for supplying and winding the film F. Thus, it was confirmed that burr generation was eliminated.

Next, FIG. 7 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of a laminator device of another embodiment, and the same reference numerals are given to the components already described in this drawing, and the description thereof will be omitted. The second swinging member extends from a shaft support 13 that is supported by the main body 2 and has a first portion 14b provided at an end with a shape portion 14a for hitting a film. A member 14 extending upward and forming a second member 14c provided with a cam follower 31 at the upper end; and a member for moving the member 14 to a standby position shown by a solid line and causing the cam follower 31 to follow the cam 30. The cam 30 is driven to rotate by energizing a tension spring 115, one end of which is fixed to the main body 2 and the other end of which is fixed to the member 14, to generate a force, and a motor 116 shown by a broken line. Is configured to rapidly move to the position of the shaped part 14a by the cam follower 31 falls broken line shown in the formed recess 30b, the motor 11
The cam is driven by the rotation of 6, and the cam follower falls as described above to hit the film F. As described above, the swing member may be driven using the motor 116 as a drive source.

Next, FIG. 8A is an enlarged view of a main part showing a state in which a card C and a film F are sandwiched in a nip portion composed of a heat roller 3 and an outer peripheral surface of a platen roller 5. FIG. 8B is a half sectional view of the platen roller. In FIG. 8, the surface of the heat roller 3 is configured to have excellent heat resistance and a smooth cylindrical surface so that the transfer surface can be finished smoothly. As shown, the heat roller 3 has substantially the same width dimension W as the platen roller 5 opposed thereto.

In FIG. 8B, when the card C and the film F are sandwiched, the silicon rubber layers 5a and 5b provided on the platen roller 5 form a step having a width W1 as shown. The silicon rubber layers 5b on both sides of the platen roller 5 are slightly larger in diameter (with a radius of about 0.3 mm).
05 mm). As a result, when the pressure P due to the repulsive force accompanying the elastic deformation is applied to the back surface of the card C, the pressures P1 and P1 on both sides in the width direction can be set to the same pressure P as the width dimension W, and the entire width direction can be set. To a uniform pressure P. As a result, generation of a defective portion K of the resin coating layer Fa as shown in FIG.

As described above, a great effect could be obtained by a very simple processing step of adding a polishing step of providing a step portion on the silicon rubber layer. That is, it is well known in the printing industry and the like that in order to apply the above-described pressure P to the card C, it is only necessary to use a platen roller in which an extra width dimension is set on both sides to reduce the pressure decrease due to escape. However, if the width dimension of the platen roller is excessively set in this way, it also affects the conveyance path and the like sandwiched between the main bodies 2, which leads to an inconvenience of increasing the size of the apparatus. Therefore, if the defective portion can be eliminated by simply providing the step portion, there is no problem at all.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A laminator device that eliminates burrs by moving the film at a steep angle from the rear end side of the recording medium after heat transfer without any special change to the device for feeding and winding the film carrying the protective layer Can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a main internal configuration of a laminating apparatus 1. FIG.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a drive system of the laminating apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the appearance around a heat roller.

4 is a front view showing a part of the gear train 20 and the gear train 21. FIG.

FIGS. 5A to 5C are explanatory views of the operation in which the first swing member is located at a retracted position.

FIGS. 6A to 6C are explanatory views of an operation in which a first swing member is located at an operation position.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing a main internal configuration of a laminating apparatus 1 of another embodiment provided with a second swing member.

FIG. 8A is an enlarged view of a main part showing a state in which a card C and a film F are sandwiched in a nip portion formed by a heat roller 3 and an outer peripheral surface of a platen roller 5, and FIG. FIG.

FIG. 9A is an external perspective view of a conventional heat transfer mechanism,
(B) is a plan view of a card C having a defective portion K, and (c) is a cross-sectional view of a nip portion formed by a conventional heat roller 3 and an outer peripheral surface of a platen roller 5.

10A is a plan view of a card C having burrs B by a conventional heat transfer mechanism, FIG. 10B is an operation explanatory view of the conventional heat transfer mechanism, and FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Laminating apparatus 2 Main body 3 Heat roller 4 Bar heater 5 Platen roller 6 Supply part 7 Winding part 8 Guide shaft (guide part) 10 Transport roller 11 Idle roller 13 Shaft support part 14 Member 15 Spring 16 Electromagnetic solenoid 18 Motor 19, 20, Reference Signs List 21 gear train 22 annular bearing 30 cam F film H transport path C card (recording medium) Cb rear end

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A method according to claim 1, wherein the heat transfer is performed on a heat transfer surface of a recording medium including a card body by using a film having a light transmitting resin coating layer or a hologram layer formed on a base film. A laminating apparatus for carrying out the heat transfer by transporting the recording medium between a heat roller and a platen roller by a transporting means having a path, wherein a base body, an operation of the heat roller with respect to the platen roller Lifting means for raising and lowering between a position and a standby position, a supply unit for supplying the film from a roll film obtained by winding the film into a roll, a winding unit for winding the film, and a winding unit for winding the film. A film supply unit comprising a heat roller and a guide portion for guiding between the heat roller and the platen roller; After the heat roller is driven to the standby position by the elevating means, the standby position retracted from the transport path to separate the film from the heated transfer surface from the rear end of the transported recording medium; and A laminating apparatus comprising: a peeling means driven between an operation position for hitting a film and a moving position. A first swing member integrally formed with a shaft supporting portion supported by the main body and a shape portion along the rear end for hitting the film; An urging means for generating an urging force for moving the oscillating member to the standby position; and an electromagnetic means for driving the first oscillating member to the operating position against the urging force to strike the film by energization. The laminating apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a driving unit including a solenoid. 3. A first member extending from a pivot portion pivotally supported by the main body and having at its end a shaped portion along the rear end for hitting the film; A second swing member extending from the shaft support portion and forming a second member provided with a cam follower; and moving the second swing member to the standby position and adding the cam follower to a cam. An energizing means for generating an urging force to be moved, and a motor for rotating the cam by energization, and driving the shape portion to hit the film by dropping the cam follower into a concave portion formed on the cam surface. The laminating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the laminating is performed.