JPH05246099A - Printer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To directly visually observe a state that each color of an ink ribbon is successively printed on printing paper. CONSTITUTION:A paper supply guide 30 for guiding printing paper P to a printing mechanism part is provided between a paper supply port 22 and a paper discharge port 23, which are respectively disposed on the upper and lower sides of a paper travel area. At the time of printing, paper is fed through the paper travel area provided on the top surface of a printer body 20. Through the paper supply guide 30 made of a transparent synthetic resin material or the like, the printing paper P in process of printing can be directly seen.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention uses an ink ribbon cassette and uses each color of the ink ribbon for postcards (plain paper).
The present invention relates to a printer device such as a fusion-type thermal transfer type color printer device, which is configured to sequentially perform color printing on print paper such as paper and photographic paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a picture is drawn by using a painting apparatus (an image input pad consisting of a graphic computer), and the picture is displayed on the screen using a general television receiver or the like as a monitor, or a printer is used. Are printed. Conventionally, this type of printer device and painting device have become independent products because of their purpose and versatility. This will be specifically described with reference to FIG. 9. Reference numeral 100 is a painting device (graphic computer), and the device main body 101 has a pad 10
2, function keys 103 and a painting switch 104 are arranged. Further, 105 is a pen for painting. Further, 106 and 107 are video cables, one video cable 106 connects the video output of the apparatus main body 101 and the video input of the printer apparatus 110, and the other video cable 107 is the video output of the printer apparatus 110 and the monitor 120. Is connected to the video input. With these connections, the picture signal drawn by the painting apparatus 100
It is transferred to the printer device 110 and the monitor 120 via the printer device 110. The printer device 110 has a paper feed tray 112 in which a print paper P is stored in a paper feed port 111 so that the print paper P can be freely taken in and out. It is of the thermal transfer type. Also, the monitor 120
As a television receiver, a dedicated display is used.

When the user draws a picture with the painting pen 105, he or she presses the painting switch 104 to write. The function keys 103 are "color designation" and "line thickness".
The drawn picture is converted into a video signal and is projected on the monitor 120 through the video cables 106 and 107. When it is desired to print this image, the printer device 110 is operated to instruct printing. As a result, the video output of the painting apparatus 100 is printed out, and the printed print sheet P is ejected from the paper ejection port 113 of the printer apparatus 110.

[0004]

However, in the printer apparatus 110 used in the conventional painting apparatus 100,
Since the print paper P is set in the printer device 110 and the print paper P is discharged to the paper discharge port 113 after the printing is completed, it is possible to see the printing state at all during printing. I could not know the print status. Although a printer device has been developed that electrically informs the user of the printing status by using a display element such as an LED, a liquid crystal display, a fluorescent display tube, etc., the selling cost is very high and the printing status can be viewed at a low price. It is desired to develop a simple printer device.

Therefore, the present invention provides an inexpensive printer device in which the print state at the time of printing can be directly observed.

[0006]

A paper feed port and a paper ejection port are provided on the upper and lower sides of a printer body so as to face the printing mechanism section, respectively, and the printing mechanism is provided between the paper feed port and the paper ejection port. A paper feed guide that guides the print paper to the print unit is provided, and when the print paper sent from the paper feed port to the print mechanism unit through the paper feed guide is printed by the print mechanism unit, the print paper is ejected. In a printer device that is moved to the paper mouth side, the paper feed guide is formed of a transparent material.

[0007]

[Function] Since the paper feed guide for guiding the print sheet to the print mechanism section in the printer body is formed of a transparent material, the inexpensive print body allows the print state to be directly observed when printing on the print sheet by the print mechanism section. Be done.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a printer device,
The painting apparatus main body (graphic computer) 10 and a fusion type thermal transfer printer main body 20 integrally attached to the painting apparatus main body 10 are provided. A pad 11, function keys 12, and a painting switch 13 are arranged on the upper surface side of the painting apparatus main body 10. Also, FIG.
Among them, 14 is a painting pen and 16 is a video cable. The video cable 16 connects the video output of the painting apparatus main body 10 and the video input of the monitor 17. By this connection, the signal of the picture drawn by the painting pen 14 on the pad 11 of the painting apparatus main body 10 is transferred to the monitor 17.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the printer main body 20 is formed of synthetic resin in a substantially casing type. A paper feed port 22 for feeding the print paper P and a paper ejection port 23 for ejecting the printed print paper P are opened above and below the recess 21 formed on the front surface 20a of the printer body 20. The right side surface 2 of the printer body 20
At 0b, a cassette insertion port 24 for inserting the ink ribbon cassette 60 is opened. From the paper feed port 22 to the print mechanism unit 40 in the printer main body 20, and the print mechanism unit 40.
From the sheet ejection port 23 to the sheet ejection port 23 is a sheet movement area A when printing the print sheet P, and the sheet feeding port 22 is provided on the sheet movement area A. A print button 25 is provided on the upper surface 20c of the printer body 20.

Further, at a position between the paper feed port 22 and the paper ejection port 23 of the concave portion 21 of the printer body 20 facing the printing mechanism 40, the print paper P manually inserted from the paper feed port 22 is provided.
A paper feed guide 30 for guiding the sheet to the printing mechanism section 40 is attached. The paper feed guide 30 is formed of a transparent synthetic resin material into a substantially rectangular plate shape, and is detachably attached to a pair of flanges 21a, 21a protruding in the middle of both side surfaces of the recess 21. Further, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the paper feed guide 30 is formed in a front concave shape in which both sides project in two steps, and the side surfaces 31a, 31a of the pair of projecting portions 31, 31 in the first step. The space (width L ₁ ) corresponds to the size (width 100 mm) of the postcard used as the print paper P, and the width 1
The width between the side surfaces 32a, 32a of the pair of projecting portions 32, 32 in the second stage (width L ₂ ) corresponds to the width 105 mm of the A6 size printing paper (printing paper) P. The width is set to 105 mm to 108 mm. Further, a plurality of convex ribs 33a for preventing sticking of the printing paper are provided on the upper surface 33 of the bottom portion between the pair of projecting portions 31, 31 of the first stage of the paper feed guide 30 and side surfaces 31a, 32a. It is integrally molded so as to be parallel. The upper surface of each rib 33a and the pair of protrusions 3 in the first step
The difference d in height between the upper surfaces 31b of the reference numerals 1 and 31 is about the thickness of the print sheet P (d = about 0.5 mm, each rib 31a
Depending on the interval of d, d = 0 may be set). And postcards (postcard-sized plain paper, etc. are also acceptable)
When P is manually inserted into the paper feed guide 30, the side surfaces 31a and 31 of the pair of protrusions 31 and 31 in the first stage are arranged.
The postcard P is distributed to the center by a, and is located at the center of the paper feed guide 30 and slides on each rib 33a. Further, when the A6 size print paper P is manually inserted into the paper feed guide 30, the side surfaces 32a, 32 of the pair of protrusions 32, 32 in the second stage thereof.
The print paper P is distributed to the center by a.
Located at the center of the paper feed guide 30, the upper surfaces 31b and 31b of the pair of protrusions 31 and 31 and the ribs 33 of the first stage.
It is designed to slide on a. Even for the A6 size print paper P, the ribs 33a can sufficiently exert the print paper sticking prevention function.

The printing mechanism section 40 includes the printer body 20.
A platen 41 rotatably supported in the inside by a shaft 42 so as to be parallel to the front surface 20a;
1, a head 43 that is pressed against and separated from a head rod arm 44 that swings from above the rear of the printer body 20, a pinch roller 46 that is rotatably supported on the front side of the platen 41, and this pinch roller. When the print roller P abuts on the rotary roller 46 and the head rod arm 44 swings through a link 48 and a flap arm 49, the print paper P is fed from the paper feed port 22 to the paper ejection port 23 side during printing. Flapper 50 to sort to move to
A paper discharge roller 51 rotatably supported by both side portions 50b of the flapper 50, a print paper detection sensor 52 for detecting a moving state of the print paper P, and a paper feed port 22.
A paper pan 53 for guiding the print paper P inserted from between the pinch roller 46 and the feed roller 47, and a supply of the ink ribbon cassette 60 mounted in the printer body 20 from the cassette insertion port 24 of the right side surface 20b of the printer body 20. The reel 62 and the take-up reel 63 are roughly constituted by a supply reel base 54 and a take-up reel base 55 that rotate the reel 62 and the take-up reel 63.

The platen 41 and the head rod arm 4
4, the pinch roller 46 and the reel stands 54, 55 are driven by a motor or the like (not shown). Further, the head rod arm 44 swings via the shaft 45. Further, the link 48 and the flap arm 49 are the base end portion 44 a of the head rod arm 44.
It is always pulled by a tension coil spring not shown on the side. Accordingly, when the tip end portion 44b of the head rod arm 44 is positioned above, the upper piece portion 5 of the flapper 50 is
0a is always oriented toward the paper discharge port 23 side. In addition, the supply reel 62 in the ink ribbon cassette 60
The melt-type thermal transfer ink ribbon 61 is wound around the take-up reel 63.

According to the printer apparatus 1 of the above embodiment, since the painting apparatus main body 10 and the printer main body 20 are integrated,
As shown in FIG. 1, the signal of the picture drawn by the painting pen 14 is transferred to the monitor 17 and displayed on the pad 11 of the painting apparatus main body 10, and the print button 25 of the printer main body 20 is pressed to display the monitor signal. The image shown in 17 can be directly printed on the print paper P via the printing mechanism unit 40 without converting it into a video signal.
When printing an image drawn with the painting pen 14 on the print paper P, first, as shown in FIG. 2, the melting type thermal transfer ink ribbon 61 is inserted into the printer body 20 from the cassette insertion port 24 of the printer body 20. The accommodated ink ribbon cassette 60 is attached. In this case, as shown in FIG. 6, since the head 43 of the printing mechanism unit 40 is located at the uppermost position (standby position), the ink ribbon cassette 60 can be attached and detached without any trouble. At the time of this mounting, the ink ribbon cassette 60 has a pair of positioning pins 26, 27 protruding from the right side surface 20b of the printer body 20.
Positioning is performed by inserting the pair of positioning holes 60a and 60b into the.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2, the printer main body 2
The print paper P is inserted from the 0 paper feed port 22 along the paper feed guide 30. When the head 43 in the printer body 20 is in the standby position, as shown in FIG. 6, the upper part of the flapper 50 is moved through the link 48 and the flap arm 49 which are moved to the front side of the printer body 20 by the head rod arm 44. Since the portion 50a is rotated in the direction away from the paper pan 53, when the print paper P is inserted through the paper feed port 22, the leading end of the print paper P is sandwiched between the pinch roller 46 and the feed roller 47 that are in contact with each other. Is inserted up to. When the print paper P is inserted between the pinch roller 46 and the feed roller 47 via the paper feed guide 30, a plurality of ribs 33a are integrally formed on the upper surface 33 of the bottom of the paper feed guide 30, so that the ribs 33a are integrally formed. The print paper P does not stick to the upper surface 33 of the bottom of the paper feed guide 30, and is slidably inserted between the pinch roller 46 and the feed roller 47. When the print button 25 is pressed, the print paper P is automatically sent to the platen 41 and printed.

As shown in FIG. 7, the head 43 is in pressure contact with the platen 41 during printing. At this time,
Since the base end portion 44a of the head rod arm 44 moves in a direction away from the link 48, the link 48 and the flap arm 49 are moved to the rear side of the print body 20 by a tension coil spring (not shown). This allows the flapper 5
The upper piece 50a of 0 rotates (faces) toward the paper pan 53. Then, when printing is started, the three colors of YMC or four colors of YMCB of the ink ribbon 61 of the ink ribbon cassette 60 are sequentially printed on the print paper P. At this time, as shown in FIG. 7, the base end of the print paper P is inserted below the upper piece 50a of the flapper 50 and between the paper discharge rollers 51 and conveyed below the paper feed guide 30 in the paper movement area A. To be done. That is, the print paper P reciprocates in the paper moving area A between the lower part of the ink ribbon cassette 60 and the lower part of the paper feed guide 30 by the number of colors printed on the head 43. During this printing, as shown by the solid line in FIGS. 1 and 7, the base end of the print paper P does not go out from the front edge side of the paper feed guide 30. Further, during this printing, since the paper feed guide 30 is transparent, it can be seen that each color is sequentially printed.

When all the colors of the ink ribbon 61 are printed on the print paper P and printing is completed, 2 in FIG.
The head 43 is slightly separated from the platen 41, as indicated by the dashed line. Then, as indicated by the one-dot chain in FIGS.
The printer main body 2 is discharged from the paper discharge port 23 through the paper discharge roller 51.
The paper is ejected from the front surface 20a of No. 0 so as to be slightly outward.
In this way, the print paper P that has been printed is discharged so as to come out further from the front edge side of the paper feed guide 30, so that the operator can easily take out the print paper P.

Since the sheet moving area A at the time of printing and the sheet discharge port 23 for the printed sheet P which has been printed are also used, the structure of the printer body 20 can be simplified, downsized and the cost can be reduced. .. Further, the sheet moving area A is vertically divided by the sheet feeding guide 30, and the upper side is the sheet feeding port 2.
2. Since the lower side is used as the paper discharge port 23, and the paper feed guide 30 is detachably attached to the recess 21 on the front side of the printer body 20, the paper feed guide 30 is used when the print paper P jams. By removing it, the processing is easy, and furthermore, even when a problem occurs in the printing mechanism 40 or the like at the time of printing, the repair is easy.

As described above, one-third or more of the area of the print paper P to be printed can be seen through the transparent paper feed guide 30. The operator can feel a sense of security by looking directly at the print status, and if the print does not operate normally for some reason, the operator can immediately know the status. At that time, if the printing is stopped halfway, the ink ribbon 61 is saved, and the printing can be stopped before the fatal damage or the like. Also, you can enjoy the printing time by watching the printing process. Furthermore, since it is possible to know how many colors are currently being printed, it is possible to stop printing at some intermediate color or combination of colors.

According to the above-mentioned embodiment, the fusion type thermal transfer type color printer device in which the main body of the painting apparatus is integrated has been described. However, as in another embodiment shown in FIG. 8, a sublimation type thermal transfer ink ribbon is used. The above embodiment may be applied to the sublimation type thermal transfer type color printer 1'used. In the color printer 1 ', the same parts as those in the above embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and 18 is a video cable for connecting the video signal from the VTR 19 to the printer body 20.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, the paper feed port and the paper ejection port are provided on the upper and lower sides of the printer main body so as to face the printing mechanism, respectively, and the paper feed port and the paper ejection port are provided. A paper feed guide for guiding the print sheet to the printing mechanism section is provided between the openings, and when the print sheet sent from the paper feed opening to the printing mechanism section through the paper feed guide is printed by the printing mechanism section, In the printer device in which the print paper is moved to the paper exit side, and the paper feed guide is made of a transparent material, it is printed when the print mechanism unit prints on the print paper. You can see the status.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printer device showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part of the printer device.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a paper feed guide used in the printer device.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line MM in FIG.

5 is a sectional view taken along the line NN of FIG.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a main part of the printer device at the time of paper feeding.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a main part of the printer device at the time of printing.

FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printer device according to another embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional printer device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 1 '... printer device, 20 ... printer body, 22 ...
Paper feed port, 23 ... Paper ejection port, 30 ... Paper feed guide, 40 ... Printing mechanism section, P ... Print paper.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A paper feed port and a paper ejection port are provided on the upper and lower sides of a printer main body so as to face the printing mechanism unit, respectively, and a print sheet up to the printing mechanism unit is provided between the paper feeding port and the paper ejection port. When a print sheet fed from the sheet feed port to the print mechanism section through the sheet feed guide is printed by the print mechanism section, the print sheet reaches the discharge port side. A printer device that is moved, wherein the paper feed guide is formed of a transparent material.