JPS60125685A - Thermal transfer type printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the cassette of donor sheets by a method in which a platen roller is pivotally supported when a cover is closed in a power transmittable manner, and the donor sheet of a donor sheet cassette is closely wound around the platen. CONSTITUTION:A cover 3 is opened, the cover plate 10 is temporarily removed out, and a donor sheet cassette 4 is housed on cassette receives 5 and 6. When the plate 10 is attached and the cover 3 is closed, the plate support shaft 8 is positioned on the platen support bearing 18, and the platen roller 7 is coupled with the drive system in a power transmittable manner. A rocking arm 27 is turned around the guide bar 14, the support shaft 8 is locked by a holder 28, the donor sheet 17 is guided by an intermediate guide roller 30 on the tip and closely wound around the platen roller 7, and the setting of the cassette 4 is completed. The cassette formation of the donor sheet is made possible, and the setting of the donor sheet can thus be made easily and exactly.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates to the construction of thermal transfer printers, and more particularly to the construction of thermal transfer printers that use donor sheet cassettes.

[Prior art]

In a thermal transfer printer, as a suitable format for high-speed color transfer, a wide donor sheet is wrapped around the circumferential surface of a platen drum, and paper is fed between the drum surface and the P-chie sheet and held between them. , a structure has been proposed in which these are printed while the paper is fed in an integrated manner.

This type of thermal transfer printer has a structure in which a wide donor sheet is wrapped around most of the surface of the platen drum, and it is necessary to wrap the donor sheet deeply and closely around the platen drum. It is difficult to use a cassette, that is, a cassette in which a donor sheet supply reel and a take-up reel are housed in an integrated case, and such a donor sheet cassette type has not yet been proposed.

Therefore, in conventional thermal transfer printers of this kind, especially for color transfer, the donor sheet must be stretched accurately and stably, and the donor sheet must be stretched wide and thin (for example, 6 μm thick).
There has been a problem in that it takes a lot of effort and time to replace the old and new film donor sheets.

〔the purpose〕

The purpose of the present invention is to eliminate such drawbacks of the prior art,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a thermal transfer printer of the above type in which a donor sheet can be made into a cassette, thereby making it possible to easily replace the donor sheet.

〔composition〕

In the present invention, a cylindrical platen roller is pivotally supported inside an opening/closing lid that is hinged to the main body frame, and platen support bearings are provided on both sides of the main body frame, so that power can be transmitted to the platen roller when the opening/closing lid is closed. The above object is achieved by arranging the donor sheet cassette to be pivotally supported by the platen roller and closely wrapping the donor sheet of the donor sheet cassette around the platen roller.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

In Figures 1 to 4, the body frame 1 of the thermal transfer printer
An opening/closing lid 3 is connected to the body frame 1 via a hinge 2, and cassette receivers 5 and 6 are provided within the body frame 1 for positioning and mounting a donor sheet cassette 4.

A cylindrical platen roller 7 is attached to the inside of the opening/closing lid 3. This platen roller is rotatably mounted by supporting shafts 8 at both ends thereof with brackets 9 on both sides. Further, a guide plate 11 is attached to the front end of the opening/closing lid 3, which forms a paper feed/discharge port between the lid and the cover plate 10 when the lid is closed.

A guide shaft 13 and a guide bar 14 are provided within the main body frame 1 for guiding the carriage 12 that moves left and right, and both ends of these shafts 13 and 14 are supported by side plates 15 of the main body frame.

A print head 16 is mounted on the carriage 12. This print head has a heating element array and operates to apply heat to the donor sheet 17 in nine turns corresponding to image information and transfer ink to the paper. The print head is rotatably supported by a carriage 12 and is driven to press against or separate from the platen roller 7.

Platen support bearings 18 for positioning and supporting the platen support shafts 8 at both ends of the siratin roller (5) are fixed on both sides of the main body frame 1, that is, at positions separated by an interval equal to or longer than the length of the platen roller 7. When the opening/closing lid 3 is closed and the platen support shaft 8 is positioned on the platen support bearing 18 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a step motor, a gear (or timing gear, etc.) The platen drive system is configured to be engaged in a power transmitting manner.

The cassette case of the donor sheet cassette 4 includes a supply reel housing 19 and a take-up reel housing 2.
0 is integrated with the connecting part 21, and the supply reel 2
2, the hedner sheet 17 is transferred to the take-up reel 23 through the connecting portion 21. Outlet of supply reel housing 19 and take-up reel housing 2
Id rollers 24 and 25 for guiding the donor sheet are provided at the 00A opening.

The donor sheet 17 is a wide sheet having a width that covers the printing area of the paper, and therefore, the cassette case also has a size (6) (left and right width dimensions when installed) to accommodate the donor sheet. There is.

The connecting portion 21 of the cassette case is formed by connecting members 26 on both sides, and a space is provided between these connecting members to accommodate the entire length of the platen roller 7 and its support shaft 8. That is, each connecting member 26 is positioned outside each platen support bearing 18 when the cassette is attached.

Between the platen support bearing 18 on both sides of the main body frame 1, that is, on the left and right sides in the illustrated example, and the connecting member 26 of the attached cassette case (however, between the brackets 9 on both sides,
9), a swinging arm 27 is provided. In the illustrated example, each swing arm 27 is supported to rotate around the guide bar 14 .

Thus, each swinging arm 27 is formed with a partially arcuate platen support shaft holding portion 28, and when the rear limb swinging arm is rotated to the state shown in FIG. The platen support shaft 8 is prevented from being removed at the portion 28 and is pivotally supported.

The swing arms 27 on both sides are connected to each other by a stay 29, and an intermediate guide roller 30 having a length that covers the width of the donor sheet is attached to the stay. This intermediate guide roller 30 operates to guide the donor sheet 17 and increase the circumference of the donor sheet wrapped around the platen roller 7 when the swing arm 27 rotates to the state shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state when the donor sheet cassette 4 has been completely installed. In this state, a paper feed/discharge port 31 is formed between the cover plate 10 and the guide P plate 11. Further, the platen roller 7 is driven and controlled in a clockwise forward direction (printing direction) and a counterclockwise direction (paper ejection direction). Therefore, the paper fed from the paper feed/discharge port 31 of the paper supply line is held between the platen roller 7 and the donor sheet 17, and is fed integrally in the same direction.

Further, the paper is discharged by rotating the platen roller 7 in the reverse direction and sending the paper out from the supply/discharge port 31. 3
Reference numeral 2 denotes a platen roller 7 and a rotating conveyance roll for the ink donor sheet 17.

The installation of the cassette type donor sheet explained above is shown in Figure 1~
The sequence shown in FIG. 4 is followed, and the removal is performed in the reverse order.

As shown in FIG. 1, the opening/closing lid 3 is opened, the cover plate 10 is temporarily removed, the donor sheet cassette 4 is positioned and stored on the cassette receivers 5 and 6, and the second
Set it to the state shown in the figure. Next, when the cover plate 11 is attached and the opening/closing lid 3 is closed, the state shown in FIG. 3 is obtained. Following this, the swing arm 27 is rotated upward to the state shown in FIG. 4, and the cassette mounting is completed. To remove the cassette, follow the steps in reverse. In addition, the cover plate 10 has an opening/closing lid 3.
It is also possible to mount the cover plate 11 integrally thereon.

According to the embodiment described above, it is possible to easily implement a thermal transfer printer equipped with a donor sheet cassette that can easily print not only monochrome (single black) printing but also color printing in which multiple colors are superimposed and transferred. can. In the case of color printing, use a sheet with multiple colors of ink (for example, cyan, magenta (9), and yellow) sequentially attached in lengths corresponding to the circumference of the platen. Overlapping transfer is performed while the platen roller 7 is rotated in the forward direction a plurality of times, and then the paper is discharged by being driven in the reverse direction. In the case of monochrome printing, printing is completed in one rotation.

The donor sheet 17 is a wide and thin (for example, 6 μm thick) silasnax film, which is weak and tends to stretch and wrinkle. Furthermore, especially in color printing, it is necessary to feed the donor sheet in a stable manner with high precision. However, with the conventional technology, it is difficult to deal with these problems and it takes time and effort to attach the donor sheet, but according to this embodiment, since a donor sheet cassette can be used, it is possible to easily replace the donor sheet. This makes it possible to easily achieve accurate and stable rner sheet feeding.

〔effect〕

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, donor sheets can be made into cassettes regardless of monochrome printing or color printing, and (10) donor sheets can be easily and accurately loaded. A thermal transfer printer is provided.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 4 are central vertical cross-sectional views showing one embodiment of a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention. FIG. 1 shows the donor sheet cassette with the opening/closing lid opened, and FIG. FIG. 3 shows the state immediately after the seat cassette is inserted, FIG. 3 shows the state immediately after the opening/closing lid is closed, and FIG. 4 shows the state after the swinging arm has been rotated upward to complete mounting the cassette. 1... Printer body frame, 2... Hinge, 3...
Opening/closing lid, 4...Donor sheet cassette, 5.6...
cassette receiver, 7... platen roller, 8... platen support shaft, 12... carriage, 16... print head, 17... donor sheet, 18... platen support bearing, 24, 25.・・Guide roller (cassette), 2
7... Swinging arm, 28... Platen support shaft holding part,
30... Intermediate guide roller, 31... Paper feed/discharge port. (11)

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) An opening/closing lid is attached to the main body frame of the printer so as to be freely openable/closing, a cassette holder for mounting a donor sheet cassette is provided in the main body frame, a platen support bearing is provided in the main body frame, and a circular plate is provided inside the opening/closing lid. By pivotally supporting the columnar platen roller, mounting the donor sheet cassette in the main body frame, and closing the opening/closing lid, the platen roller is pivotally supported on the upper part of the platen support bearing so that driving force can be transmitted, and the platen roller is supported by the donor sheet. A thermal transfer printer, characterized in that the paper is placed in close contact with a sheet and faces a print head, and the paper is fed between the platen roller and the donor sheet to perform thermal transfer printing. (2) A swing arm having a platen support shaft holding portion is provided on both sides of the main body frame, and by rotating the rear swing arm with the opening/closing lid closed, the platen support shaft is prevented from being pulled out by the platen support shaft holding portion. Claim 1 characterized in that it is pivotally supported.
Thermal transfer printer described in section. (3) Attach an idle roller in the middle to the swing arm,
The thermal transfer printer according to claim 2, characterized in that when the swinging arm is rotated, the intermediate guide roller guides the donor sheet to increase the length of the donor sheet wrapped around the platen roller. .