JP2001105681A - Thermal transfer printer apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make the whole of an apparatus further small by eliminating limits on a volume of a plurality of driving sources and a driving transmission system and on an arrangement of the driving sources and driving transmission system in a conventional apparatus required to have the plurality of driving sources. SOLUTION: In the thermal transfer printer, a transfer system for an ink sheet and a photoprint paper is driven by one motor, and moreover, a pressure contact mechanism for pressing a platen roller to a thermal head and for pressing a pinch roller to a capstan roller can be driven by one motor.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer for printing by thermally transferring an ink sheet to photographic paper. More particularly, the present invention relates to a printing apparatus, in which a plurality of photographic papers are stacked and stored and fed one by one to form a cartridge type ink paper. A drive transmission system switching mechanism driven by a single or a plurality of drive sources for thermal transfer in a plane-sequential manner, for transporting recording paper and winding ink paper,
Further, the present invention relates to a thermal transfer printer provided with a mechanism for pressing and releasing pressure from a platen roller or a thermal head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, an example of a thermal transfer printer apparatus for stacking and storing a plurality of recording paper sheets, feeding the recording sheets one by one, and thermally transferring a cartridge type ink sheet in a face-sequential manner will be described with reference to FIGS. Will be described.

In the prior art, a capstan roller gear 9
1 and a feed roller gear 97 via a capstan roller gear 50 or a feed roller drive gear 96 for driving a capstan roller 84 which rotates coaxially and integrally therewith, and for feeding and discharging photographic paper 88. A main motor as a drive source for driving a feed roller 86 that rotates coaxially and integrally, and for driving an ink pulley gear 94 for winding up an ink sheet via a capstan roller gear 50 or an ink pulley drive gear 93. 90, a cam drive gear 71 or a cam interlocking gear 72
, The head lever 75 with the thermal head 81 is driven to press and release the thermal head 81 against the platen roller 83 by driving the master cam 73, or the mode driven by the master cam 73. A pinch lever 76 for pressing and releasing the pinch roller 85 to and from the capstan roller 84 in accordance with the position of the shifter 74, and a paper feed / discharge press for pressing and releasing the printing paper 88 to the feed roller 86 via the pinch lever 76. A cam motor 70 is provided as a drive source for driving the lever 77 and the like.

[0004] This is because the capstan roller gear 91 having a worm wheel portion that meshes with the worm gear portion of the main motor 90 rotates coaxially and integrally with the capstan roller 84, so that the main motor 90 is driven by a single drive. When the master cam 73 is driven as a source and the head lever 75 or the like is operated via the mode shifter 74, when the photographic paper 88 is pinched by the pinch roller 85 and the capstan roller 84 and is on the capstan roller 84, Since the photographic paper 88 is also transferred by the rotation of the capstan roller 84,
The positioning of the photographic paper 88 becomes difficult, and similarly, the pinch roller 8 is used to hold the photographic paper 88 at a predetermined position.
Even when the pressure release of the photographic paper 5 is performed once, the main motor 90 is rotated for the pressure release operation, so that the photographic paper 88 is transported while it is in contact with the capstan roller 84. It would be impossible to stay in position.

[0005] Because of the above disadvantages, a cam motor 70 as a drive source for driving the master cam 73 is independently provided.

[0006]

In an apparatus such as the above-mentioned apparatus which must be provided with a plurality of drive sources, the volume of the drive source and the drive transmission system itself, and the arrangement of the drive source and the like, further limit the entire apparatus. There is a problem that it is difficult to reduce the size.

The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and is intended to enable a thermal transfer printer to be operated by a single drive source.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention provides means for solving such problems, and comprises the following technical means.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printer apparatus for performing printing by thermally transferring ink from an ink sheet to printing paper, and a drive switching gear as a first swing gear and a second switching gear. A one-way rotation of a motor, which is a single driving means, provided with a reversing gear as a oscillating gear, an ink driving gear as a third oscillating gear, and a paper feed driving gear as a fourth oscillating gear; The master cam is driven by the rotation of the drive switching gear, which is the first swing gear driven by the above, slides the mode shifter, which is the gear swing prevention means, and the reversing gear, which is the second swing gear, And the position of the paper feed drive gear, which is the fourth swing gear,
By rotating the motor in the opposite direction, the drive switching gear, which is the first swing gear, rotates in the opposite direction, and is the second swing gear regulated according to the position of the mode shifter. It is characterized in that it is configured to perform a predetermined operation by being connected to a reversing gear.

A second aspect of the present invention is a thermal transfer printer,
The ink drive gear, which is the third swing gear, performs a swing operation in accordance with the rotation direction of the capstan roller gear to mesh with and drive the ink take-up gear, and is driven by a platen roller pressure lever driven by a master cam. The position is regulated.

A third aspect of the present invention is a thermal transfer printer device,
The position of the paper feed drive gear, which is the fourth swing gear, is regulated by the mode shifter, which is the gear swing prevention means, according to claim 1, and the rotation direction of the motor, which is the single drive means, is single. The paper feed roller gear is driven.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is a thermal transfer printer device,
The position of the pinch roller pressure lever for pressing and releasing the pinch roller against the capstan roller is regulated by a platen roller pressure lever driven by a master cam.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

In FIG. 1, a photographic paper 21 is stored in a photographic paper stocker 20 capable of stacking and storing a plurality of photographic papers. , Only one sheet abutting on the paper feed roller 22 is limited by the lower surface of the photographic paper upper guide 26 and the upper edge of the photographic paper stocker 20 on the capstan roller 13 side, and advances toward the capstan roller 13.

In FIG. 2, the paper feed roller 22 is a fourth swing gear according to claim 1, according to the position of a mode shifter 37 driven via a master cam 36 by rotation of a motor 31. Drive gear idler 62
The second drive gear 61 is held by a reversing gear idler 41 as a second swing gear for engaging the sheet feeding drive gear 61 held by the second gear with the sheet feeding relay gear 60 and at the same time inverting the capstan roller gear 50. The drive switching gear 34 held by the drive switching gear idler 33, which is the first swing gear according to claim 1, rotates the reversing gear 42 so as to rotate 34.
b to the position where it engages with the motor 31
Is rotated in one direction only when the capstan roller gear 50 is rotated in a rotatable direction.

The printing paper 21 that has advanced on the capstan roller 13 is pressed against the capstan roller 13 by a pinch roller 14.

The pinch roller 14 is held by a pinch lever 15 whose one end is rotatably supported, and is rotated by a platen lever 17 and a double-acting platen lever 18 driven by a master cam 36.
The crimping and crimping release operations are performed.

The capstan roller 13 has a motor 31
Is driven only when the drive switching gear 34 directly meshes with the capstan driving gear 40 or meshes with the capstan driving gear 40 via the reversing gear 42.

A mode shifter as a gear swing prevention means according to claim 1, wherein the reversing gear (42) is driven by the master cam (36) only when driving the paper feed roller (22) and when transferring the printing paper (21) to the printing start position. In accordance with the position of 37, it moves to a position where it meshes with the drive switching gear.

An ink drive gear 5 held by an ink drive gear idler as the third swing gear according to claim 1.
2 rotates in a direction meshing with the ink take-up gear 53 depending on the rotation direction of the capstan roller gear 50,
The ink take-up gear 53 is driven according to the position of the ink drive gear idler 51 whose rotation is restricted by the position of the platen lever 17 driven by the master cam 36.

The thermal head 11 is fixed, and the platen roller 16 moves via a platen double-acting lever 18 and a platen lever 17 driven by a master cam 36, and performs pressure bonding and pressure release operations on the thermal head 11. I do.

The platen lever 17 has a pair of left and right platen rollers 16 at one end, and a double-acting platen lever 18 having one end rotatably held at one end with respect to the platen lever 17 at the other end. It is connected by a spring 19 and is driven from the master cam 36 via the platen double-acting lever 18.

The double-acting platen lever 18 is driven by a single master cam 36 integrally with the left and right sides, and is coaxial with the rotation axis of the platen lever 17 until the platen roller 16 contacts the thermal head 11 or via the printing paper 21. In order to further press the platen roller 16 against the thermal head 11 in the direction in which the platen pressure spring 19 extends about a rotation axis that is not coaxial with the rotation axis of the platen lever 17 on the platen lever 17. Rotate.
The master cam 36 is a single unit, has two continuous cam grooves for controlling the mode shifter 37 and for controlling the platen double-acting lever, is engaged with the cam drive gear 35, and is disposed coaxially with the worm wheel 32. It is driven only when the drive switching gear 34 meshing with the small gear portion integral with the worm wheel 32 held on the switching idler 33 coaxially rotatable with the cam drive gear 35.

The operation of the embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. As for the rotation direction of the motor 31, the direction in which the master cam 36 is rotated is defined as normal rotation, and the direction in which the capstan roller 13 is rotated is defined as reverse.

Before the photographic paper is fed into the main body, the motor 31 is rotated forward in order to shift to an ink initialization mode for performing a head mark operation of the ink sheet, and the master cam 36 is rotated in FIG. Mode shifter 37
a, the reversing gear is moved to the position 42a, and the sheet feeding drive gear is moved to the position 61a.

The motor 31 is reversed, the drive switching gear moves to 34c, meshes with the capstan drive gear 40, and rotates the capstan roller gear 50 clockwise in FIG. 3 to move the ink drive gear to 52a. It moves to drive the ink take-up gear 53.

At this time, the motor 31 is rotated forward to move the mode shifter 37 to the position 37a, and at the same time, the platen lever 17 is moved from 17d to 17d by the master cam 36 via the platen double-acting lever 18 in FIG.
b, the ink drive gear idler 5
When the position regulation by the platen lever 17 is released and the motor 31 is reversed, the ink drive gear idler 51 can move from the position 51c to the position 51a, and the ink drive gear 52 moves the ink take-up gear 53 at the position 52a. Drives by meshing with.

The ink sheet is wound up until the head mark is detected (the detection means is not shown), and the motor 31 stops.

Further, referring to FIG.
Is the capstan roller 1 by the pinch crimp spring 23
3, the pinch lever 15 is held at the position 15b by the platen double-acting lever 18d during the standby mode, but at the same time when the mode shifter 37 moves to the position 37b. When the platen double-acting lever 18 moves from the position 18d to 18c, the pinch lever 15 moves from the position 15b to the position 15a by the urging of the pinch pressure spring 23, and the pinch roller 14
Then, it moves from the position b to the position 14a and is pressed against the capstan roller 13.

In order to shift to the paper feed mode, the motor 31
In FIG. 4, the drive switching gear is rotated to the position 34a so as to mesh with the cam drive gear 35, the master cam 36 is rotated via the cam drive gear 35, and the mode shifter is shifted from 37a to 37c. The feed drive gear 61 is moved from the position 61a to the position 6 by the mode shifter 37.
1c to engage the paper feed drive gear 61 with the small gear portion of the paper feed relay gear 60,
It is moved from the position a to the position 42c so that the drive switching gear 34 meshes.

The motor 31 is reversed so that the drive switching gear 3
4 rotates to the position 34b, meshes at the positions of the reversing gears 42 and 42c, and the paper feed roller gear 63 is driven by the capstan drive gear 40 or the paper feed drive gear 61,
The printing paper advances toward the capstan roller 13.

At this time, the platen lever 17 is at the position 17b by the master cam 36. However, since the capstan roller 13 rotates counterclockwise,
2 does not mesh with the ink take-up gear 53, and the ink sheet is not taken up.

In FIG. 1, the printing paper 21 is sandwiched between the capstan roller 13 and the pinch roller 14 and, when fed to the vicinity of the thermal head 11, the motor 31 is rotated forward to shift to the printing paper leading mode. 5, the mode shifter 37 is rotated by rotating the master cam 36.
Is moved to the position 37b, and the reversing gear 42 is moved to the position 42b, and the paper feed drive gear 61 is moved to the position 61b so that the paper feed relay gear 60 and the paper feed drive gear 61 do not mesh with each other. The motor 31 is reversed so that the drive switching gear 34 meshes with the reversing gears 42 and 42b at the position 34c, and the capstan roller 50 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. The photographic paper 21 is transported to a predetermined print start position.

The end of the photographic paper 21 on the side of the paper feed roller 22 is separated from the leading end of the photographic paper upper guide 26.

As in the paper feed mode, the platen lever 17 is at the position 17b by the master cam 36, but the ink drive gear 52 meshes with the ink take-up gear 53 because the capstan motor rotates counterclockwise. Without
The ink sheet is not taken up.

In order to shift to a mode in which the head mark of the Y (yellow) color of the ink sheet is set, the motor 31 is rotated forward and the master cam 36 is rotated to rotate the mode shifter 3.
7 to 37a and the reversing gear 42 to the position of 42a,
The paper feed drive gear 61 is moved to the position of 61a.

At the same time, since the platen lever 17 is moved to the position 17a by the master cam 36 via the platen double-acting lever 18, the motor 31 is turned over, and the ink drive gear idler 51 is rotatable to the position 52a. The motor 31 is stopped after detecting the head mark of the Y color of the ink sheet that engages with the winding gear 53 (detection means is not shown).

At this time, since the photographic paper 21 is also fed toward the paper feed roller 22 at the same time as the ink sheet is wound up, the mode is shifted to the photographic paper leading mode again, and the mode shifter 37 is moved to the platen lever 37b. After moving 17 to the position 17b, the motor 31 is reversed and the capstan roller 13 is driven to return the photographic paper 21 to the predetermined print start position.

In order to shift to the print mode, the motor 31 is rotated forward, the mode shifter 37 is moved to the position 37a, the double-acting platen lever 18 is moved to the position 18a, and the platen roller 16 is moved between the printing paper 21 and the ink sheet. And pressed against the thermal head 11.

The motor 31 is turned over to start the winding of the ink sheet and the conveyance of the printing paper 21, and at the same time, the ink is transferred by the thermal head 11.

When the photographic paper 21 is sent to a predetermined position, Y
After the transfer of the color ink is completed, the motor 31 is rotated forward to shift to the photographic paper leading mode, the mode shifter 37 is moved to the position 37b, the platen lever 17 is moved to the position 17b, and then the motor 31 is moved. The printing paper 21 is returned to a predetermined print start position by driving the capstan roller 13 in the reverse direction.

The ink sheet further includes M (magenta) color, C
The transfer is performed in the order of (cyan) colors, and when the transfer of the C color is completed, the motor 31 is rotated forward and the master cam 36 is rotated in order to shift to the discharge mode.
7 stops at the position 37a, and the platen lever 17 is moved to the position 17c.
2 moves to the position 52c and moves away from the ink take-up gear 53, so that when the motor 31 is reversed and the capstan roller 13 is rotated, only the printing paper 21 is sufficiently disengaged from the sandwich between the capstan roller 13 and the pinch roller 14. And the motor 31 is stopped.

Further, the motor 31 is rotated forward in order to shift to the standby mode, and the mode shifter 37 continues to be stopped at the position 37a by the master cam 36. Similarly, the platen double-acting lever 18 is moved to the position 18d by the master cam 36. Position and move the pinch lever 15 from 15a to 15b.
And move the pinch roller 14 from 14a to 1
4b to prevent the pinch roller 14 from being deformed due to contact with the capstan roller 13 during standby.

[0044]

According to the present invention described above, the following effects can be obtained.

Since the thermal transfer printer according to the first aspect of the present invention has the above-described configuration,
Driving the master cam with one drive source to press and release the platen roller or pinch roller, and driving the capstan roller or reversing the capstan roller according to the position of the mode shifter driven by the master cam Becomes possible.

Since the thermal transfer printer according to the second aspect of the present invention has the above-described configuration,
The ink take-up gear can be driven according to the position of the platen lever driven by the master cam.

Since the thermal transfer printer according to the third aspect of the present invention has the above-described configuration,
The paper feed roller can be driven in only one direction according to the position of the mode shifter driven by the master cam.

Since the thermal transfer printer according to the fourth aspect of the present invention has the above-described configuration,
The pinch roller can be pressed against and released from the capstan roller according to the position of the platen lever driven by the master cam.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view illustrating an embodiment of a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a main part of a drive system of the thermal transfer printer shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a main part for explaining the operation of the thermal transfer printer shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a side configuration diagram of a main part for explaining the operation of the thermal transfer printer shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 5 is a side view of a main part for explaining the operation of the thermal transfer printer shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 6 is a side view of a main part for explaining the operation of the thermal transfer printer shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 7 is a side configuration diagram of a main part for describing the operation of the thermal transfer printer shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 8 is a side view illustrating an example of a conventional thermal transfer printer.

FIG. 9 is a side view of a main part of a drive system of the thermal transfer printer shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Thermal head 12 Ink cartridge 13 Capstan roller 14 Pinch roller 15 Pinch lever 16 Platen roller 17 Platen lever 18 Platen double action lever 19 Platen pressure spring 20 Printing paper stocker 21 Printing paper 22 Feed roller 23 Pinch pressure spring 25 Spring 26 Guide on photographic paper 31 Motor 32 Worm wheel 33 Drive switching gear idler 34 Drive switching gear 35 Cam drive gear 36 Master cam 37 Mode shifter 40 Capstan drive gear 41 Reverse gear idler 42 Reverse gear 50 Capstan roller gear 51 Ink drive gear Idler 52 Ink drive gear 53 Ink take-up gear 60 Feed relay gear 61 Feed drive gear 62 Feed drive gear Idler 63 Feed Roller gear 70 Cam motor 71 Cam drive gear 72 Cam interlocking gear 73 Master cam 74 Mode shifter 75 Head lever 76 Pinch lever 77 Feed / discharge switching lever 80 Thermal head 82 Platen roller 83 Capstan roller 84 Pinch roller 85 Feed roller 86 Recording paper 90 Main motor 91 Capstan roller gear 92 Ink pulley drive gear 93 Ink pulley gear 94 Feed roller drive gear 95 Feed roller gear

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A printer device for performing printing by thermally transferring ink on an ink sheet to photographic paper, wherein a first oscillating gear, a second oscillating gear, a third oscillating gear, and a fourth oscillating gear are provided. The master cam is driven by the rotation of the first oscillating gear driven by the unidirectional rotation of the single driving means, and the gear oscillating prevention means is slid.
By regulating the positions of the oscillating gear and the fourth oscillating gear and rotating the single driving means in the opposite direction, the first oscillating gear rotates in the opposite direction, A thermal transfer printer device configured to perform a predetermined operation by being connected to a second swing gear that is regulated according to the position of the gear swing preventing means. 2. The third swing gear performs a swing operation in accordance with a rotation direction of a capstan roller gear to drive an ink take-up gear and a platen roller pressure lever driven by a master cam. 2. The thermal transfer printer device according to claim 1, wherein the position is regulated. 3. The fourth swing gear, wherein the position of the fourth swing gear is regulated by the gear swing prevention means, and the fourth swing gear drives a sheet feed roller gear in the rotation direction of the single drive means. The thermal transfer printer device as described in the above. 4. A pinch roller pressing lever for pressing and releasing a pinch roller against and pressing against a capstan roller is position-controlled by a platen roller pressing lever driven by a master cam. The thermal transfer printer device as described in the above.