JPH07315590A - Enclosed type paper feeding cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an enclosed type throwaway paper feeding cassette which is precharged with color thermosensible paper sheets and prevents moisture absorption. CONSTITUTION:A paper feeding cassette 10 is precharged with a plurality of laminated color thermosensible recording paper sheet. When the paper feeding cassette 10 is set in a thermal printer, a shutter plate 16 is evacuated, opening an opening 14, and printer side driving force is transmitted to a connection gear 13. Printer side drive is transmitted to the connection gear 13 by the printing operation of the thermal printer, rotating a paper feeding roller. A color thermosensible recording paper sheet is fed to the thermal printer through the paper sheet sending opening 14 by the rotation of this paper feeding roller. All the used empty paper feeding cassettes 10 for color thermosensible recording paper sheets are recovered to a factory and recycled.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hermetically sealed paper feeding cassette used in a thermal recording type thermal printer, and more specifically, a single-use hermetically sealed paper feeding cassette which does not require a user to load color thermosensitive recording paper. It relates to a paper cassette.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A color thermosensitive recording paper has a magenta thermosensitive coloring layer, a cyan thermosensitive coloring layer, and a yellow thermosensitive coloring layer, which are sequentially laminated on a support. Thermal recording is performed in order from the thermosensitive coloring layer on the surface. When heat recording is performed on the heat-sensitive color developing layer of, in order to prevent the heat-recorded heat-sensitive color forming layer on it from being heat-recorded again, electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength range peculiar to each heat-sensitive color developing layer is applied after heat recording. Then, the coloring ability is lost. This color thermosensitive recording paper affects the color development characteristics when exposed for a long time even under a normal light source, so a plurality of laminated color thermosensitive recording papers were stored in a light-shielding bag, which was then placed in a paper box. It is marketed in the state.

[0003]

When the color thermal recording paper is loaded into the thermal printer, the bag is first taken out from the paper box and opened, and the laminated color thermal recording paper is taken out from the bag. Next, this is loaded into a paper feed cassette, and this paper feed cassette is inserted into a thermal printer.
As described above, loading the color thermosensitive recording paper is troublesome, and when the color thermosensitive recording paper is taken out of the bag, the color thermosensitive recording paper is exposed to outside light, or the surface of the color thermosensitive recording paper is touched by hands. There is a problem that it gets dirty.

In general household thermal printers, color thermosensitive recording paper is often left in a paper feed cassette. The color thermosensitive recording paper curls due to the difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion of the thermochromic layer.
As a result, a gap is formed between the curled thermal recording paper and the thermal recording paper underneath. When this gap is formed, the moisture content of the thermosensitive coloring layer becomes large because almost the entire surface of the thermosensitive coloring layer of the curled thermosensitive recording paper is exposed. Since the color-developing characteristics of the thermosensitive color-developing layer change depending on the water content, the curled thermosensitive recording paper has a drawback that it is not possible to develop the color to a desired density even if thermal energy corresponding to image data is applied.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a hermetically sealed paper feeding cassette which can prevent moisture absorption of a color thermosensitive recording paper by eliminating the need for the user to load the color thermosensitive recording paper. .

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, a light-shielding case in which color thermosensitive recording paper having a photo-fixing property is previously stored, and a part of the light-shielding case is exposed. A connecting gear connected to the drive system of the thermal printer, a paper feed roller housed inside the light-shielding case, and rotated by the connecting gear to send out the color thermosensitive recording paper, and a color sent by the paper feed roller. It is provided with a delivery port through which the thermosensitive recording paper is passed, and a shutter unit which normally closes the delivery port and retracts and opens the delivery port when the thermal recording paper is set in the thermal printer.

[0007]

[Operation] If the closed paper cassette is left for a long time,
The color thermosensitive recording paper absorbs moisture and the color development characteristics change. Therefore, in the hermetically-sealed paper feeding cassette according to the second aspect, the desiccant is stored in the light shielding case.

If the connecting gear rotates due to vibration during transportation or a user's careless operation, the paper feed roller may rotate and the color thermosensitive recording paper may be fed. Further, if the paper feed roller is constantly pressed, the roller may be deformed. For this reason, it is desirable to keep the paper feed roller away from the color thermosensitive recording paper when not in use and press the paper feed roller against the color thermosensitive recording paper during use. Therefore, in the hermetically-sealed paper feeding cassette according to claim 3, the paper feeding roller is set to a retracted position apart from the color thermosensitive recording paper when being detached from the thermal printer, and is brought into contact with the color thermosensitive recording paper during paper feeding. It was moved to the paper feeding position.

Since the thermosensitive color recording paper is loaded in advance in the closed type paper feed cassette, after the closed type paper feed cassette is purchased, it is set in the thermal printer. When the hermetically sealed paper feed cassette is set in the thermal printer, the coupling gear is connected to the gear on the thermal printer side, and the shutter means retracts and the delivery port is opened. The printing operation of the thermal printer rotates the paper feed roller via the connecting gear. The rotation of the paper feed roller causes the color thermosensitive recording paper to be fed into the thermal printer through the delivery port. When the hermetically-sealed paper feed cassette is removed from the thermal printer, the delivery means is closed by the shutter means so that the color thermosensitive recording paper is not exposed to external light. It is desirable that the used light-shielding case that uses all color thermal recording paper should be collected and reused in the factory rather than being discarded because of environmental protection issues. In this way, the price of the closed type paper feed cassette is not so high.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As shown in FIG. 1, a hermetically sealed paper feeding cassette (hereinafter simply referred to as "paper feeding cassette") 10 includes a light shielding case 9 composed of a lid 11 and a case body 12. . The light shielding case 9 includes a connecting gear 13 and a lever 1.
5 are formed with openings 12a and 12b for exposing one end 15a of the sheet 5, and a delivery port 14 which is a passage for the color thermosensitive recording paper. This delivery port 14 is normally a shutter plate 16
Is closed by.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the case body 1
2 includes two desiccants 17, a plurality of laminated color thermal recording papers 18, a tray 19, a shutter mechanism 20, a conveying roller 21, a paper feeding roller 22, and a roller moving mechanism 23.
And are built in beforehand. In addition, the lid 11 has a tray 1
A spring member 24 is attached to prevent the curl by pressing the large number of color thermosensitive recording papers 18 stored in the sheet 9 downward.

An opening 25 is formed on the upper surface of the tray 19, and a large number of color thermosensitive recording papers 18 are stacked from here.
Are loaded with the thermosensitive coloring layer facing downward. This loading is
It takes place in the factory. A support frame 26 for supporting a large number of color thermal recording papers 18 from below is provided on the bottom surface of the tray 19.
Is formed, and an opening 27 is formed in the support frame 26. The paper feed roller 22 enters the opening 27, and the color thermosensitive recording paper 18a at the bottom is fed out. Further, the opening 27 is provided with a pair of separation claws 28 at both corners on the front end side of the color thermosensitive recording paper 18. The pair of separation claws 28 prevent the multicolor thermal recording paper 18 from being fed in large numbers.

The color thermosensitive recording paper 18 is a sheet cut into a predetermined size, for example, A6 size. This color thermosensitive recording paper 18 uses high quality paper or PET (polyethylene terephthalate) as a base, and a cyan thermosensitive coloring layer, a yellow thermosensitive coloring layer, and a magenta thermosensitive coloring layer are sequentially formed on the base. There is.
In practice, an intermediate layer is formed between the thermosensitive coloring layers in order to adjust the thermosensitivity of each thermosensitive coloring layer.

A pulley 30 is provided coaxially with the connecting gear 13. A belt 32 is hung between the pulley 30 and a pulley 31 provided coaxially with the paper feed roller 22, and the paper feed roller 22 is driven by the driving force of the thermal printer transmitted through the coupling gear 13. It rotates in the paper feeding direction (counterclockwise direction shown in FIG. 3).

The transport roller 21 is a pair of nip rollers 3.
The nip roller 3 is formed by meshing gears 35 and 36 that are coaxially provided.
4 rotates clockwise in FIG. 3, and the nip roller 33 rotates counterclockwise. Of these, the rotation of the coupling gear 13 is transmitted to the gear 35 of the nip roller 33 via the intermediate gears 37 and 38.

The paper feed roller moving mechanism 23 has one end 15a exposed to the outside of the case body 12, and the other end 15b rotatably attached to the shaft of the paper feed roller 22.
And a shaft 40 for rotatably supporting the lever 15 between the retracted position where the paper feed roller 22 is separated from the color thermosensitive recording paper 18a and the paper feed position where the paper is in contact with the color thermosensitive recording paper 18a. Normally, the lever 15 is set to the retracted position. The openings 12a, 12 of the case body 12
Is provided with a light-shielding member that shields the inside in a light-tight manner, and one end 15a of the lever 15 and the coupling gear 13 are exposed through this light-shielding member.

The shutter mechanism 20, as shown in FIG.
The shutter plate 16 is movable between a closed position and an open position for closing the delivery port 14, and a spring 42 for urging the shutter plate 16 toward the closed position.

As shown in FIG. 5, the thermal printer 43 includes a printing section 44, an operating section 45, and a cassette loading chamber 4
6, a drive mechanism 47, a driver 48, and the like, which are comprehensively controlled by the control unit 49. The drive mechanism 47 causes the nip roller 49, which conveys the color thermosensitive recording paper 18 toward the printing unit 44, to move the motor 5
0 drive is transmitted.

The printing section 44 is provided for the color thermosensitive recording paper 18
Is color printed by a thermal recording system. For example, a color thermal recording paper 18 is wound around a platen drum, and yellow, magenta,
And three-color images of cyan are thermally recorded in a frame-sequential manner. At this time, after the yellow image is thermally recorded, the yellow thermosensitive coloring layer is fixed by the yellow fixing ultraviolet lamp, and after the magenta image is thermally recorded, the magenta thermosensitive coloring layer is fixed by the magenta fixing ultraviolet lamp. I do. And
After the final cyan image is thermally recorded, the color thermosensitive recording paper 18 is sent to the discharge port 51.

In the cassette loading chamber 46, the paper feed cassette 1
0 is set. As shown in FIG. 6, a drive gear 53, a push lever 54, and a projecting plate 55 are provided in the cassette loading chamber 46. The drive of the drive mechanism 47 is transmitted to the drive gear 53, and the connecting gear 13 meshes when the paper feed cassette 10 is loaded. Push lever 53
Turns on the solenoid 56, and the end 15a
Is pressed to move the lever 15 of the paper feed cassette 10 from the retracted position to the paper feed position. The solenoid 56 is energized by the driver 48 which is turned on by the print operation from the operation unit 45. The driver 48 is turned off after the color thermosensitive recording paper 18 is fed to the printing section 44. As shown in detail in FIG. 4, when the paper feed cassette 10 is loaded, the projecting plate 55 enters the delivery port 14 of the paper feed cassette 10 and moves the shutter plate 16 to the open position.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The paper feed cassette 10 is assembled at the factory. This assembly consists of the case body 12 and the shutter mechanism 20.
After the transport roller 21, the paper feed roller 22 and the roller moving mechanism 23 are attached, the tray 19 is attached. After that, two desiccants 17 are put in, a large number of laminated color thermal recording papers 18 are loaded in the cassette body, and then the lid 1
Complete by doing 1.

The manufactured paper feeding cassette has openings 12a,
The connecting gear 13 and one end 15a of the lever 15 are exposed from 12b, and inside, the lever 15 is in the retracted position in which the paper feed roller 22 is separated from the lowermost color thermosensitive recording paper 18. . Further, the shutter plate 16 is set to the closed position by the urging force of the spring 42, and the delivery port 14 is closed by the shutter plate 16. The color thermosensitive recording paper 18 is pressed against the support frame 27 of the tray 19 by the spring plate 24. The paper feed cassette 10 is shipped after being packed in a moisture-proof and temperature-proof bag.

After purchasing the paper feed cassette 10, the user breaks the moisture-proof and temperature-proof bag and takes out the paper feed cassette 10. The paper feed cassette 10 taken out is set in the cassette loading chamber 46 of the thermal printer 43. At this time,
The drive gear 53 of the cassette loading chamber 46 causes the sheet feeding cassette 10 to move.
Mesh with the connecting gear 13 of. Also, as shown in FIG.
The projecting plate 55 of the cassette loading chamber 46 enters the delivery port 14, and the shutter plate 16 is moved to the open position against the bias of the spring 42.

When printing, the print key of the operation unit 45 is operated. As a result, the control unit 49 turns on the driver 48 and energizes the solenoid 56. When the solenoid 56 is energized, the push lever 53 causes the lever 1 to move.
One end 15a of No. 5 is pressed, and the lever 15 moves to the paper feeding position. When the lever 15 moves to the paper feeding position, the paper feeding roller 22 is in pressure contact with the lowermost color thermosensitive recording paper 18a.

After the operation of the solenoid 56, the control unit 49 operates the drive unit 47. As a result, the rotation of the motor 50 is transmitted to the interlocking gear 53 to rotate. Interlocking gear 53
Is transmitted to the connecting gear 13 to rotate the paper feed roller 22, and the color thermosensitive recording paper 18a at the bottom is sent out. At this time, the separation claw 28 prevents a large number of sheets from being fed. The sent out color thermosensitive recording paper 18 a is gripped by the conveying roller 21 through the opening 27.

Since the driving of the thermal printer 43 is also transmitted to the conveying roller 21 via the drive gear 53 and the connecting gear 13, the color thermal recording paper 18a sent by the paper feeding roller 22 is sent by the conveying roller 22. Mouth 1
4 and is fed to the cassette loading chamber 46 of the printer 43. A paper feed passage 60 is provided in the cassette loading chamber 46 at a position facing the delivery port 14, and the color thermosensitive recording paper 18 a passes through the paper feed passage 60 and the printing unit 4 passes.
4 is transported. At this time, the control unit 49 causes the driver 48 to
The solenoid 56 is turned off via. As a result, the lever 15 is moved to the retracted position, and the paper feed roller 22 is separated from the color thermosensitive recording paper 18.

In the printing unit 28, the leading end of the conveyed color thermosensitive recording paper 18a is fixed by a clamper,
The plante drum is rotated together with the clamper, and the color thermosensitive recording paper 18a is wound around the platen drum.
At this time, the color thermosensitive recording paper 18a is wound with the thermosensitive coloring layer facing outward.

The thermal head thermally records the yellow thermosensitive coloring layer of the color thermosensitive recording paper 18a at the first rotation of the platen drum. When the heat-recorded portion comes under the yellow fixing ultraviolet lamp, the yellow thermosensitive coloring layer is fixed.

Upon entering the second rotation of the platen drum, the thermal head thermally records on the magenta thermosensitive recording layer. At this time, the yellow fixing ultraviolet lamp is turned off, and instead, the magenta fixing ultraviolet lamp is turned on to fix the magenta thermosensitive coloring layer. Then, when the platen drum enters the third rotation, the thermal head thermally records the cyan thermosensitive coloring layer. The cyan thermosensitive coloring layer is not fixed. After that, when the platen drum enters the fourth rotation, the clamp pad retracts to release the fixing of the color thermosensitive recording paper 18a, and ejects it to the ejection port 51.

When all of the color thermosensitive recording paper 18 in the tray 19 is used, the paper feed cassette 10 is removed from the cassette loading chamber 46. This used paper cassette 1
0 is submitted to a store or the like. At the store, the used paper feed cassette 10 is returned to the factory. In the factory, work for reusing the collected paper feed cassette 10 is performed. In this work, first, the lid 11 of the paper feed cassette 10 is opened. After that, the paper feed roller 22 and the transport roller 23 are cleaned. At the time of this cleaning, the operation of these rollers 22 and 23 is confirmed. Then, the used desiccant 17 is taken out. The desiccant 17 taken out is discarded.

Next, the tray 19 is loaded with a large number of new color thermosensitive recording papers 18 stacked therein, and after loading a new desiccant 17, the lid 11 is closed. The paper feeding cassette 10 is packed in a moisture-proof and temperature-proof bag before shipping.

The above embodiment is a line printer for recording by moving the color thermosensitive recording paper 18 relative to the fixed thermal head in the sub-scanning direction, but a serial printer for recording by moving the thermal head in the sub-scanning direction. It may be a printer.

In the embodiment described above, the color thermosensitive recording paper 18 is used as a sheet, but the present invention is not limited to this. As shown in FIG. 8, a belt-shaped color thermosensitive recording paper 64 is loaded in a roll form. It may be the paper cassette 65.
In this embodiment, a roll type color thermosensitive recording paper 64 is used.
Is wound around the reel 66. A pulley 67 is coaxially provided on the reel 66. The pulley 67 is connected by a belt 69 that is wound around a pulley 68 that is provided coaxially with the connecting gear 13. Color thermal recording paper 64 sent out by rotation of reel 66
Are conveyed toward the delivery port 14. In addition, reel 6
6 is removable and will be removed at the factory after collection.

At the time of paper feeding, the color thermosensitive recording paper 64 is fed out at a constant rate and then cut by the cutter mechanism 70. The cutter mechanism 70 moves the movable blade 71 toward the fixed blade 72 and cuts the color thermosensitive recording paper 64 when the connecting gear 13 rotates a predetermined amount. Note that, in FIG. 8, members that are substantially the same as those of the embodiment described in FIGS. 1 to 7 are given the same reference numerals. Further, as the timing of operating the cutter mechanism 70, a rotary encoder that comes into contact with the color thermosensitive recording paper 64 and rotates may be provided, and the number of pulses from this rotary encoder may be counted to measure the length.

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Color thermal recording paper is loaded in the light-shielding case in advance,
In addition, the user does not need to load the color thermosensitive recording paper in the paper feeding cassette because the connecting gear for feeding the color thermosensitive recording paper, the paper feeding roller, the outlet and the shutter means are built in. Becomes Therefore, the color thermosensitive recording paper is not stained or exposed to light. Moreover, since the color thermosensitive recording paper is loaded in the light-shielding case, the color thermosensitive recording paper will not be exposed even if the cassette is detached from the thermal printer and left alone. And if you collect the used paper cassette and load a new color thermal recording paper, you can reuse it.
Low cost.

Further, in the closed type sheet feeding cassette according to the second aspect, since the desiccant is put in the light shielding case, it is possible to surely prevent the color thermal recording sheet from absorbing moisture. Further, in the closed type paper feeding cassette according to claim 3, since the moving means moves the paper feeding roller from the retracted position to the paper feeding position in contact with the color thermosensitive recording paper after the light shielding case is set in the thermal printer, the transportation is performed. It is possible to reliably prevent the color thermosensitive recording paper from being fed out by the vibration of the inside or the user's careless operation causing the connecting gear to rotate.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the outer appearance of a paper feed cassette of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a paper feed cassette.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a paper feed cassette.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of a shutter mechanism.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of a thermal printer.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a main part of a cassette loading chamber.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing reuse of a paper feed cassette.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of a paper feed cassette loaded with color thermosensitive recording paper in a roll form.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Paper Feed Cassette 11 Lid 12 Case Body 13 Connecting Gear 14 Outlet Port 15 Lever 16 Shutter Plate 17 Desiccant 18 Color Thermal Recording Paper 19 Cassette Body 20 Shutter Mechanism 21 Conveying Roller 22 Paper Feeding Roller 23 Roller Moving Mechanism 43 Thermal Printer

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Office reference number FI technical display location B65H 1/26 314 B 8712-3F Z 8712-3F 3/46 310 8712-3F // B65H 3 / 06 350 C 8712-3F

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A light-shielding case in which color thermosensitive recording paper having a photo-fixing property is stored in advance, a coupling gear part of which is exposed from the light-shielding case and which is coupled to a drive system of a thermal printer, and a light-shielding member. A paper feed roller which is housed inside the case and which is rotated by the connecting gear to feed the color thermosensitive recording paper, a feeding port for passing the color thermosensitive recording paper fed by the paper feeding roller, and usually a feeding roller. A hermetically sealed sheet feeding cassette, characterized in that it comprises a shutter means having a closed mouth and retracting and sending out when the printer is set in a thermal printer. 2. The sealed paper feed cassette according to claim 1, wherein the light shielding case contains a desiccant. 3. The paper feed roller is movable between a paper feed position in contact with an edge of a plurality of laminated color thermosensitive recording papers and a retracted position separated therefrom, and further, in a thermal printer. 3. The sealed paper feeding cassette according to claim 1, further comprising moving means for setting the paper feeding roller at a paper feeding position in association with mounting.