JP2001301292A - Thermal transfer printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a thermal transfer printer in which an ink ribbon can be rewound at a high speed by ungearing a winding member and a roller drive member when a multi-type ink ribbon is rewound from a winding reel, rotating the winding member and the roller drive member independently, and rewinding the ink ribbon without slipping the slip mechanism of the winding member thereby reducing a tension being applied to the ink ribbon under rewinding. SOLUTION: A member 22 for ungearing a winding member 8 and a roller drive member 10 is provided and when an ink ribbon 17 wound around a winding reel 16b is rewound around a supply reel 16c by means of a rewind member 8, the releasing member 22 ungears the winding member 8 and the roller drive member 10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal transfer printer, and more particularly to a thermal transfer printer capable of rewinding an ink ribbon stored in a ribbon cassette to a supply reel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a recording medium and an ink ribbon have been supported in front of a platen, and a thermal head having a plurality of heating elements is reciprocated along a platen together with a carriage, while a heating element of the thermal head is moved. By selectively generating heat based on print information, a thermal transfer printer that transfers the ink of the ink ribbon to a recording medium and prints an image such as a desired character or graphic on the recording medium has high print quality and low print quality. Due to noise, low cost, ease of maintenance, and the like, they are often used as output devices for computers and word processors.

In printing by such a thermal transfer printer, the carriage is moved in the printing line direction while the thermal head is pressed against the platen, and the ink ribbon held by the platen and the thermal head is moved by the printing line of the carriage. Along with the movement in the direction, the reel is fed from the supply reel and wound on a take-up reel. The printed ink ribbon wound on the take-up reel is a one-time ribbon that cannot be used again after one printing operation, so that the ink ribbon wound on the supply reel is completely used. Had to be replaced with a new ribbon cassette containing a new ink ribbon.

[0004] For this reason, there has been a problem that the consumption of the ink ribbon is increased and the running cost is increased. In addition, the number of replacements of the ribbon cassette is increased, and the operation is troublesome. Therefore, as one method of reducing the running cost of the ink ribbon, a multi-time ribbon that can be used for printing the same portion a plurality of times has been proposed. Repetitive printing became possible, and running costs could be reduced.

[0005] In such a multi-time ribbon, the thickness of the ink film is formed thicker than that of the one-time ribbon, so that the same portion can be used for printing a plurality of times. Such a multi-time ribbon can be repeatedly printed about 5 to 20 times. The ribbon cassette for storing the multi-time ribbon, the front and back are formed in a target shape,
When one-time winding using the multi-time ribbon is completed and winding in one direction is completed, the ribbon supply side and the ribbon winding side are reversed by the operator reversing the ribbon cassette and mounting the ribbon cassette again. It has become.

However, since the multi-time ribbon as described above has a thicker ink film than the one-time ribbon, the ribbon length when wound around a supply reel and stored in a ribbon cassette, that is, an area to be used for printing. And the operator has to frequently turn over the ribbon cassette, which makes the operation of the thermal transfer printer cumbersome. As a countermeasure, conventional thermal transfer printers provide markers at the beginning and end of the multi-time ribbon, and when the one-way winding of the multi-time ribbon is completed by the printing operation, the end marker is detected by the detection means on the carriage side. And the printing operation stops. Then, after stopping the printing operation, the multi-time ribbon wound on the take-up reel is rewound to the supply reel by rotating the ribbon rewinding member engaged with the supply reel. When the detecting means detects the first marker, the rewinding operation is automatically stopped, and printing can be performed again.

In such a conventional thermal transfer printer, the multi-time ribbon is separated from the recording medium by a thermal head during printing, so that the multi-time ribbon is disposed upstream of the take-up reel in the take-up direction. Arranges a ribbon roller that contacts the multi-time ribbon,
By rotating this ribbon roller, the multi-time ribbon that is in close contact with the recording medium is separated from the recording medium. The ribbon roller is engaged with a roller driving member provided on the carriage side, and is rotatable by rotation of the roller driving member.

[0008]

However, in the thermal transfer printer as described above, a take-up member for taking up the multi-time ribbon on a take-up reel and a roller drive member are gear-connected, and the take-up reel When rewinding the multi-time ribbon wound on the supply reel, the slip mechanism provided on the take-up member causes the take-up member to slip while the supply reel slips due to the gear ratio relationship between the take-up member and the roller drive member. Was to rewind the multi-time ribbon. Therefore, the slip torque of the slip mechanism of the winding member is applied to the multi-time ribbon during the rewinding, and the rewinding torque of the rewinding member increases, and the multi-time ribbon is rotated by rotating the rewinding member at a high speed. There was a problem that it was difficult to rewind at high speed. Also, when performing rewinding at a high speed, there is a problem that a motor as a driving source becomes large and power consumption increases.

Further, since a large tension is applied to the multi-time ribbon being rewound by the slip mechanism of the winding member, uneven winding may occur on the multi-time ribbon rewound on the supply reel. There was a possibility that the printing quality at the time of printing was reduced. The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and when rewinding a multi-time ribbon wound on a winding bobbin to a supply reel, the gear connection between the winding member and the roller driving member is released. By rotating the take-up member and the roller drive member independently of each other, it is possible to reduce the tension applied to the ink ribbon during rewinding, and to perform high-speed rewinding of the ink ribbon. It is intended to provide a printer.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a thermal transfer printer including a carriage having a thermal head and reciprocating along a platen, and an ink ribbon. A ribbon cassette which is housed and detachable from the carriage, a take-up reel which is provided in the ribbon cassette and winds one end of the ink ribbon, and a supply reel which winds the other end of the ink ribbon; A winding member disposed on the carriage capable of winding the ink ribbon wound on a supply reel by winding the winding reel, and an upstream side of the winding reel in a winding direction of the ink ribbon. A ribbon roller abutting on the arranged ink ribbon, and the winding member engaged with the ribbon roller and rotatable in conjunction with rotation of the winding member. A roller drive member connected to a gear, wherein the carriage has a rewind member capable of engaging and rewinding the ink ribbon wound on the take-up reel with the supply reel; A release member capable of releasing the gear connection between the roller drive member and the roller drive member. When the ink ribbon wound on the take-up reel by the rewind member is rewound to the supply reel, the release member is The gear connection between the winding member and the roller driving member is released.

As a second solution for solving the above-mentioned problem, the ink ribbon is constituted by a multi-time ribbon which can be used for printing the same portion a plurality of times. As a third solution to solve the problem, the carriage has a drive source for rotating the winding member, and a first gear capable of transmitting the rotation of the drive source. A second gear is formed on the take-up member, and a second gear capable of transmitting the rotation of the take-up member is formed on the roller drive member, and the roller drive member is moved vertically in a direction orthogonal to the cassette mounting surface of the carriage. The first and second gears are connected or released by movably attached to the carriage and the release member moving the roller drive member up and down.

As a fourth solution to solve the above-mentioned problem, an elastic member for elastically urging the roller driving member upward is provided below the roller driving member in the vertical direction. And As a fifth solution for solving the above problem, the carriage has a printing area where the ink of the ink ribbon can be transferred to a recording medium by the thermal head by reciprocating,
A taper portion is formed on the release member, and the carriage is moved out of the print region outside the print region, whereby the upper end portion of the roller drive member is pressed by the taper portion, and the roller drive member is pressed. The structure is such that it is pushed down.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the carriage has a drive source for driving the winding member to rotate, and the winding member includes a drive source for driving the winding source. Forming a first gear capable of transmitting rotation,
A second gear capable of transmitting the rotation of the winding member to the roller driving member is formed on the roller driving member,
The second gear is gear-connected via an intermediate gear, and the release member moves the intermediate gear in a direction to separate from the first and second gears to release the gear connection between the first and second gears. Such a configuration was adopted.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the carriage is mounted on the take-up member and is pivotable about the center of rotation of the take-up member. The intermediate gear is rotatably attached to the rocking plate, and the elastic plate disposed on the carriage elastically moves the rocking plate in a direction in which the intermediate gear is connected to the first and second gears. The configuration was biased.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing method in which the carriage reciprocates along the platen to transfer the ink of the ink ribbon to a recording medium by the thermal head. Moving the carriage out of the printing area out of the printing area so that the release member presses and rocks the rocking plate, and causes the first and second gears to move the intermediate gear. And the first and second gears are disconnected from each other.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A thermal transfer printer according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a thermal transfer printer of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a top view of a main part inside a carriage according to the present invention.
FIGS. 5 and 6 are cross-sectional views illustrating the operation of a roller driving member according to the present invention, and FIGS. 7 and 8 are cross-sectional views illustrating the operation of a release member according to the present invention. It is a top view explaining other embodiment of.

First, a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
This housing 1 has side plates 1a, 1
b are integrally formed. At a predetermined position of the housing 1, a plate-shaped, horizontally long platen 2 is attached.
The platen 2 has a flat printing surface 2a formed on the surface. Below the platen 2 in the figure, there is provided a paper feed roller 3 made of rotatable rubber or the like, and a pressure contact roller 4 which is in pressure contact with the paper feed roller 3 and which can rotate following the rotation of the paper feed roller 3. Are arranged.

A paper discharge roller 5 is disposed above the platen 2 in the figure so that a printed recording medium (not shown) sent from the platen 2 can be discharged.
A paper feed unit 6 to which an automatic paper feeder (not shown) on which a plurality of recording media are placed is formed at the back side of the platen 2 in the drawing. The recording medium sent to the paper feed roller 3 and the pressing roller 4
Thus, the sheet can be conveyed to the platen 2 side.

A carriage 7 that can reciprocate along the longitudinal direction of the platen 2 is provided on the side of the platen 2 that faces the printing surface 2a. This carriage 7
The timing belt 1 is supported by a rod-shaped guide shaft 12 so as to be able to reciprocate, and is wound around a drive gear 13.
4 is stretched. Then, by driving the drive gear 13 to rotate, the timing belt 14 rotates,
The carriage 7 can reciprocate along the platen 2. A flat cassette mounting surface 7a is formed on the upper surface of the carriage 7, and a winding member 8 formed of a rotatable winding bobbin is provided at a predetermined distance from the center of the cassette mounting surface 7a. And a rewinding member 9 composed of a supply bobbin are formed so as to protrude upward.

The take-up member 8 can be engaged with a take-up reel 16b of a ribbon cassette 16, which will be described later. The take-up reel 16b can be taken up. The take-up member 8 has a slip mechanism capable of automatically slipping the rotation of the take-up member 8 when a take-up tension of a predetermined value or more is applied to the ink ribbon 17 during take-up of an ink ribbon 17 described later. (Not shown) are formed. The rewinding member 9 can be engaged with a supply reel 16c of the ribbon cassette 16 described later.

A thermal head 15 is attached to the carriage 7 on the side opposite to the printing surface 2a of the platen 2 so as to be able to contact and separate from the platen 2. The thermal head 15 is formed with a plurality of heating elements (not shown) arranged on the side facing the platen 2 in the vertical direction. The plurality of heating elements can selectively generate heat based on print information. The thermal head 15
Can be moved toward and away from the platen 2 by a cam member (not shown), that is, the head can be moved up and down.

The carriage 7 has a thermal head 1 mounted thereon.
5, a roller driving member 10 that can be engaged with a ribbon roller 16d of a ribbon cassette 16, which will be described later, protrudes from the left corner. The roller driving member 10 is gear-coupled to the winding member 8 inside the carriage 7, and is connected to the winding member 8.
When the roller rotates, the roller driving member 10 also rotates. The gear connection between the winding member 8 and the roller driving member 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. An intermediate gear 11 is disposed between the winding member 8 and the roller driving member 10. The intermediate gear 11 has a two-stage shape in which a first intermediate gear 11a having a small outer diameter and a second intermediate gear 11b having a large outer diameter are integrated.

The winding member 8 is provided with a first gear 8a capable of transmitting the rotation of a drive source 18 composed of a motor.
The first intermediate gear 11a of the intermediate gear 11 is connected to the first gear 8a.
Are connected. The roller driving member 10 is provided with a second gear 10a, and a second intermediate gear 11b is connected to the second gear 10a. That is, first and second gears 8
a and 10a are gear-connected via an intermediate gear 11. Therefore, when the winding member 8 is rotated, the roller driving member 10 rotates via the intermediate gear 19.

An elastic member 10b composed of a coil spring is disposed below the second gear 10a in the figure, and the roller driving member 10 is elastically urged upward by the elastic member 10b to load the cassette on the carriage 7. It is movable in the vertical direction perpendicular to the placing surface 7a. for that reason,
6, the second gear 10a is connected to the intermediate gear 11, and the take-up member 8 and the roller drive member 10 are gear-connected. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, when the roller driving member 10 is pressed down below the arrow C against the urging force of the elastic member 10b,
The connection between the second gear 10a and the intermediate gear 19 is released, and the gear connection between the winding member 8 and the roller driving member 10 is released.

As shown in FIG. 2, the rotation of the drive source 18 can be transmitted to the rewind member 9 via a plurality of swing gears 20. A cam gear 21 rotatable independently of the rewind member 9 is provided at the center of rotation of the rewind member 9.
The cam gear 21 has a cam groove 21a formed on the back surface thereof. In this cam groove 20a, FIG.
An engaging portion 19a formed at one end of a substantially L-shaped head lever 19 as shown in FIG.
A thermal head 15 is mounted near the other end of the head lever 19, and by rotating the cam gear 21, the head lever 19 rotates about the rotation fulcrum 19 b as a fulcrum, and the thermal head 15 is attached to the platen 2. The head can be moved away from the head, that is, the head can be moved up and down. Inside the carriage 7, detecting means (not shown) comprising, for example, a light sensor, capable of detecting markers formed at the beginning and end of the ink ribbon 17 described later.
Are arranged.

The cassette mounting surface 7a of the carriage 7
, A ribbon cassette 16 can be mounted. As shown in FIG. 1, the ribbon cassette 16 has a substantially rectangular case 16a forming an outer shell and has a hollow inside. A take-up reel 16b that can be spline-engaged with the take-up member 8 of the carriage 7 and a supply reel 16c that can be spline-engaged with the rewind member 9 are provided in the case 16.
It is arranged at a substantially central portion of a.

The ribbon cassette 16 has a case 16
a concave head insertion portion 16d is formed on one end side of
When the ribbon cassette 16 is mounted on the carriage 7,
The thermal head 15 is inserted and positioned in the head introducing portion 16d. A ribbon roller 16e rotatable in contact with an ink ribbon 17 to be described later is provided at the left corner of the head insertion portion 16d in the figure. The ribbon roller 16e is configured such that the roller driving member 10 of the carriage 7 can be spline-engaged. When the roller driving member 10 is engaged with the ribbon roller 16e to rotate the roller driving member 10, the ribbon roller 16e is rotated, and the ink ribbon 17 can be taken up by the take-up reel 16b. .

An ink ribbon 17 coated with a heat-meltable ink of a predetermined color is accommodated in the hollow of the ribbon cassette 16, and one end of the ink ribbon 17 is connected to the take-up reel 16b and the other end is connected to the take-up reel 16b. It is wound around the supply reel 16c, and a part thereof is pulled out to the outside from the head insertion part 16d and is exposed. The ink ribbon 17 is formed of a multi-time ribbon having a thick ink film so that the same portion can be used for printing a plurality of times. Therefore, printing with the ink ribbon 17
Printing can be repeated about 5 to 20 times.

Markers (not shown) are provided at the beginning and end of the ink ribbon 17, respectively. Then, when the detection means on the carriage side detects this marker, the printing operation is stopped, and the carriage is moved in the direction of arrow A so as to be positioned outside a printing area deviating from a printing area R described later. ing.

As shown in FIG. 1, the carriage 7 reciprocates along the platen 2 in the directions of arrows A and B, so that the ink ribbon 1 is moved by the thermal head 15.
7 has a print area R in which the ink of No. 7 can be transferred to a recording medium (not shown), and a gear connection between the winding member 9 and the roller drive member 10 is provided at a position outside the print area deviating from the print area R. A releasable release member 22 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 3, the release member 22
The release member 22 has a tapered portion 22a formed on the lower left side of the carriage 7 which is disposed above the left side of the carriage 7 located outside the printing area. The release member 22 is a side plate 1a shown in FIG.
Is mounted in the vicinity where the guide shaft 12 is supported. Alternatively, the release member 22 may be formed integrally with the side plate 1a. Then, by moving the carriage 7 out of the print area outside the print area R in the direction of arrow A,
As shown in FIG. 4, the upper end portion of the roller driving member 10 is pressed by the tapered portion 22a, and the roller driving member 10 is pushed down below the arrow C.

In the printing operation of the thermal transfer printer according to the present invention, first, the ribbon cassette 16 is mounted on the cassette mounting surface 7a of the carriage 7. Then, the ink ribbon 17 exposed at the head insertion portion 16d of the ribbon cassette 16 is positioned between the thermal head 15 in the head-up state and the platen 2. Next, the recording medium (not shown) conveyed from the paper feeding unit 6 is pressed and held between the paper feed roller 3 and the pressure roller 4, and the platen 2 and the thermal head are rotated by the rotation of the paper feed roller 3. 15 is conveyed. At this time, the ink ribbon 17 is located between the sent recording medium and the thermal head 15.

Next, the thermal head 15 is lowered, and the ink ribbon 17 and the recording medium are pressed against the platen 2. Then, based on the print information, the thermal head 1
5 is selectively heated by a heating element (not shown), and the carriage 7 is moved in the direction of arrow B along the platen 2 so that the ink of the ink ribbon 17 is transferred to the recording medium. Lines or multiple lines of images are printed. After printing one or more lines, the thermal head 15 is moved up to
Is returned to the printing start position, and the line feed operation is repeated by rotating the paper feed roller 3, whereby a desired image can be printed on one recording sheet.

By repeating such a printing operation,
When the use of the ink ribbon 17 wound on the paper supply reel 16c is completed and the winding of the ink ribbon 17 in one direction is completed, and the detecting means on the carriage side detects the marker at the end of the ink ribbon 17, a printing operation is performed. Is temporarily stopped.
Then, the carriage 7 is moved out of the print area R to outside the print area in the direction of arrow A, and the release member 22 causes the roller driving member 1 to move.
Press 0 down. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, by releasing the gear connection between the second gear 10a of the roller driving member 10 and the intermediate gear 11, the gear connection between the roller driving member 10 and the winding member 8 is released.

Next, the rewinding member 9 is rotated by the rotation of the drive source 18 to rewind the ink ribbon 17 wound on the take-up reel 16b to the supply reel 16c. At this time, since the gear connection between the winding member 8 and the roller driving member 10 is released, the winding member 8 and the roller driving member 10 rotate independently. Therefore, since the slip mechanism of the winding member 8 does not operate,
The rewind tension applied to the ink ribbon 17 during the rewind can be reduced, and the rewind member 9 can be rotated at a low torque and at a high speed.

When the detecting means on the side of the carriage 7 detects the leading marker of the ink ribbon 17, the carriage 7 is moved in the direction of arrow B to be positioned in the print area R, and printing is repeatedly performed with the same ink ribbon 17. Operation can be resumed. Therefore, the printing operation and the rewinding operation of the ink ribbon 17 can be automatically repeated,
The operation is easy without reversing the conventional ribbon cassette 7 many times.

In the embodiment of the present invention described above,
Although the intermediate gear 11 is attached to the carriage 7, as another embodiment of the present invention, the intermediate gear 11 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 8, the first and second gears 8a and 10a and the intermediate gear 11 are disconnected from each other by rotatably mounting the swinging plate 23 and swinging the swinging plate 23. It may be something that has been done. Such another embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The same members as those in the above-described embodiment of the present invention are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. First, a plate-shaped swinging plate 23 to which the intermediate gear 11 is rotatably mounted is provided. The swing plate 23 has a swing center attached to the center of rotation of the winding member 8, and swings the swing plate 23 about the swing center so that the intermediate gear 11 moves in the directions of arrows F and G. It is possible.

The rocking plate 23 has a spring locking portion 23a formed at the left end in the drawing at the position where the intermediate gear 11 is mounted. An elastic member 2 composed of a tension coil spring disposed on the carriage 7 is
4 is locked at the other end. For this purpose, the swinging plate 23 is always elastically urged by the elastic member 24 in the direction of arrow F connecting the intermediate gear 11 to the first and second gears 8a and 10a. Further, a release member 25 capable of releasing the gear connection between the winding member 9 and the roller driving member 10 is provided at a position outside the printing region outside the printing region R. The release member 25 has a pressing portion 25a formed at the distal end as shown in FIG. 7, and the pressing portion 25a can enter the inside of the carriage 7 from the left side surface of the carriage 7 in the drawing. The release member 25 is attached to the side plate 1a of the housing 1 shown in FIG. Alternatively, the release member 25 may be formed integrally with the side plate 1a.

When the winding of the ink ribbon 17 in one direction is completed, and the detecting member of the carriage 7 detects the marker at the end of the ink ribbon 17, the carriage 7 moves out of the print area R in the direction of arrow A. Move out of the print area. Then, as shown in FIG. 7, the pressing portion 25a of the release member 25 enters the inside of the carriage, and as shown in FIG.
The pressing portion 25 a of the release member 25 presses the side surface of the swing plate 23. Then, the swinging plate 23 swings in the direction of arrow G against the urging force of the elastic member 24, the intermediate gear 11 is separated from the first and second gears 8a, 10a, and the winding member 8 and the roller driving member The gear connection with the gear 10 can be released.

Therefore, when the ink ribbon 17 is rewound to the supply reel 16c by the rewind member 9, the winding member 8
When the ink ribbon 17 is rewound, the slip mechanism of the winding member 8 does not operate.
Can be rotated with low torque and at high speed.

[0041]

As described above, in the thermal transfer printer according to the present invention, when the ink ribbon wound on the take-up reel by the rewind member is rewound to the supply reel, the release member drives the roller with the release member. Since the gear connection with the member is released, the slip mechanism of the take-up member does not operate at the time of rewinding the ink ribbon, and the rewind member 9 can be rotated at a low torque and at a high speed. Also, without reversing the ribbon cassette many times as in the past,
An easy-to-operate thermal transfer printer can be provided.

Further, since the ink ribbon is a multi-time ribbon that can be used for printing the same portion a plurality of times, it can be printed a plurality of times repeatedly, and the running cost can be reduced.

The roller driving member is mounted on the carriage so as to be vertically movable, and the connection between the first and second gears is released by pushing down the roller driving member with the release member. By moving the carriage out of the printing area, the gear connection between the winding member and the roller driving member can be automatically released, so that a thermal transfer printer with good operability can be provided.

Further, since an elastic member for elastically urging the roller driving member upward is disposed below the roller driving member, the roller driving member can be moved up and down without malfunction and high quality can be obtained. Can be provided.

Further, a taper portion is formed on the release member, and the carriage is moved out of the print region outside the print region, whereby the taper portion presses the upper end of the roller driving member, Since the roller driving member is pressed down, a large driving force is not required when the carriage is moved out of the printing area and the roller driving member is pressed down. Therefore, a drive source having the same capacity as that of the conventional drive source for reciprocating the carriage can be used.

Further, the first and second gears are gear-connected via an intermediate gear, and the first and second gears are moved by moving the intermediate gear away from the first and second gears by a release member. The gear connection of the first and second gears can be released by moving the intermediate gear. Therefore, the roller drive member does not move up and down, so that the vertical play of the ribbon roller can be eliminated, and the turbulence at the time of rewinding the ink ribbon to the supply reel can be reduced.

Further, the carriage has a swing plate which can swing about the center of rotation of the winding member as a swing center,
The intermediate gear is rotatably attached to the rocking plate, and an elastic member provided on the carriage elastically biases the rocking plate in a direction in which the intermediate gear is connected to the first and second gears. Therefore, when the ink ribbon is wound, the rotation of the winding member can be reliably transmitted to the roll driving member via the intermediate gear. Therefore, the ink ribbon that is in close contact with the recording medium after the printing is completed can be reliably peeled off by the ribbon roller.

Further, by moving the carriage out of the printing area out of the printing area, the release member presses and rocks the rocking plate, and the intermediate gear shifts the first and second gears. And the first and second gears are disconnected from each other.
The swing plate can be easily swung by the inertial force when the carriage is moved, and the load on the drive source can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a thermal transfer printer of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of a main part inside a carriage according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of an essential part for explaining the operation of a release member according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view for explaining the operation of the release member according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of an essential part for explaining the operation of the roller driving member according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of an essential part for explaining the operation of the roller driving member according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a top view illustrating another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a top view illustrating another embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Housing 1a, 1b Side plate 2 Platen 7 Carriage 7a Cassette mounting surface 8 Winding member 8a First gear 9 Rewind member 10 Roller driving member 10a Second gear 10b Elastic member 11 Intermediate gear 15 Thermal head 16 Ribbon cassette 16a Case 16b Take-up reel 16c Supply reel 16d Head insertion part 16e Ribbon roller 17 Ink ribbon 18 Drive source 20 Swing gear 22 Release member 22a Taper part 23 Swing plate 23a Spring locking part 24 Elastic member 25 Release member 25a Pressing part

Claims (8)

[Claims] A carriage mounted with a thermal head and reciprocally movable along a platen; a ribbon cassette accommodating an ink ribbon therein and capable of being mounted on a cassette mounting surface of the carriage; A take-up reel wound around one end of the ink ribbon, a supply reel wound around the other end of the ink ribbon, and rotating the take-up reel around the ink ribbon wound around the supply reel. A winding member disposed on the carriage capable of winding, a ribbon roller abutting on the ink ribbon disposed upstream of the winding reel in a winding direction of the ink ribbon, and a ribbon roller. A roller driving member gear-coupled to the winding member rotatable in conjunction with the rotation of the winding member; A rewinding member capable of engaging the ink ribbon wound on the supply reel with the supply reel and rewinding the ink ribbon, and a release member capable of releasing the gear connection between the winding member and the roller driving member. When the ink ribbon wound on the take-up reel by the rewind member is rewound on the supply reel, the gear connection between the take-up member and the roller drive member is released by the release member. A thermal transfer printer characterized in that: 2. The thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, wherein the ink ribbon is a multi-time ribbon capable of printing the same portion a plurality of times. 3. The winding member has a driving source for rotating the winding member, and a first gear capable of transmitting the rotation of the driving source is formed on the winding member. Forming a second gear capable of transmitting the rotation of the roller drive member, attaching the roller drive member to the carriage so as to be vertically movable in a direction orthogonal to the cassette mounting surface of the carriage, and 3. The thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, wherein the first and second gears are connected or released by moving the roller driving member up and down. 4. The thermal transfer printer according to claim 3, wherein an elastic member for elastically urging the roller driving member upward is disposed below the roller driving member in the vertical direction. 5. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the carriage has a printing area in which the thermal head can transfer ink on the ink ribbon to a recording medium by reciprocating along the platen, and a taper portion is formed on the release member. Then, by moving the carriage out of the printing area out of the printing area, the tapered portion presses the upper end of the roller driving member to push down the roller driving member. The thermal transfer printer according to claim 3, wherein 6. The carriage has a drive source for driving the winding member to rotate, and the winding member forms a first gear capable of transmitting rotation of the driving source.
A second gear capable of transmitting the rotation of the winding member to the roller driving member is formed on the roller driving member,
The second gear is gear-connected via an intermediate gear, and the release member moves the intermediate gear in a direction to separate from the first and second gears to release the gear connection between the first and second gears. The method according to claim 1,
Or the thermal transfer printer according to 2. 7. The carriage has a swing plate that can swing around a rotation center of the winding member as a swing center. The intermediate gear is rotatably attached to the swing plate, and the carriage is attached to the carriage. 7. The thermal transfer printer according to claim 6, wherein the elastic member is arranged to elastically urge the swing plate in a direction in which the intermediate gear is connected to the first and second gears. 8. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the carriage has a print area in which the thermal head can transfer ink on the ink ribbon to a recording medium by reciprocating along the platen, and the carriage is displaced from the print area. By moving the swinging plate out of the printing area, the release member presses and swings the swinging plate, and separates the intermediate gear from the first and second gears to connect the first and second gears. 8. The thermal transfer printer according to claim 6, wherein the image is canceled.