JPS62169676A - Thermal transfer printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to effectively erase an erroneous printing part, by a method wherein the heat generating capacity per unit area of a thermal head is selectively changed over to either one of large and small ones and, at the time of the erasion of erroneous printing, the erroneous printing part is lifted off in such a state that the above mentioned heat generating capacity is made large. CONSTITUTION:When erroneous printing is generated, a ribbon selector 14 is rotationally controlled to hold a cassette 5 to an inclined state. In this state, an erasing transfer ribbon 7 is opposed to the heat generating part 4a of a thermal head 4 and take-up driving force is imparted only to the erasing transfer ribbon 7 to perform desired lift-off. At this time, the voltage supplied to each heat generating resistor element 4a of the thermal head 4 is raised so as to be made higher at the time of the erasion of erroneous printing than that at a usual recording time and control is performed so that heat is generated by large power only at the time of erasion. Because a control means increasing power only at the time of erasion is mounted as mentioned above, it is unnecessary to especially increase power at a usual recording time and the life extension of the thermal head can be attained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a thermal transfer printer suitable for use in word processors, typewriters, and the like.

[Conventional technology]

A thermal transfer printer, as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 49-26245, for example, uses a thermal transfer ribbon containing reversible heat-melting ink between a recording paper and a thermal head, and uses the heat generated by the thermal head to It records characters, symbols, etc. on recording paper by dissolving the ink on the thermal transfer ribbon.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

This type of thermal transfer printer has recently become widely used as an output device for office equipment, and is also being applied to word processors, electronic typewriters, and the like. Such word processors and typewriters are required to correct the characters and symbols recorded on the paper, but conventional general thermal transfer printers are required to correct the characters and symbols that have been recorded on the paper. - It is difficult to erase symbols, etc. to correct them, and if a mistake is made, there is a drawback that the incorrectly printed part must be corrected by hand or reprinted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a thermal transfer printer capable of effectively erasing erroneously printed portions of erroneously recorded characters, symbols, etc., while eliminating the drawbacks of the prior art described above.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides a switching means for selectively switching the heat generation capacity per unit area of the thermal head to either large or small. The printer is characterized in that the erroneously printed portion is lifted off while the heat generating capacity per unit area of the thermal head is increased.

〔Example〕

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

FIGS. 1 and 2 are side views schematically showing a thermal transfer printer according to an embodiment of the present invention, with FIG. 1 showing a normal recording state and FIG. 2 showing a state where erroneous printing has been erased. There is.

In these figures, 1 is a frame, 2 is a guide shaft fixed to a side bracket (not shown) attached to this frame 1, and 3 is a reciprocating drive along this guide shaft 2 in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing. This carriage 3 has a thermal head 4 erected thereon and a cassette 5 mounted thereon. Inside the cassette 5, a recording transfer ribbon 6 carrying heat-melting ink and an erasing transfer ribbon 7 carrying a heat-adhesive resin are wound around a pair of hubs (not shown), respectively. The recording transfer ribbon 6 and the erasing transfer ribbon 7 are each independently transported by a drive shaft (not shown) that rotates the hub.

8 is a platen fixed to the side bracket, and an elastic body 9 such as neoprene rubber is stuck to the platen 8 facing the heat generating part of the thermal head 4; 10 is a platen fixed to the side bracket. A large-diameter paper feed roller 11 is pivotally supported, a paper guide 11 is attached to the frame 1, and 12 is a small-diameter driven roller pivotally supported by the paper guide 11. Reference numeral 13 denotes a recording paper, and after the recording paper 13 is inserted along the paper guide 11, a paper feed roller 10 that is rotationally driven and a driven roller 12 that rotates in conjunction with the paper feed roller 10. While being held between
It is designed to be transferred along a predetermined path between the thermal head 4 and the platen 8.

14 is a ribbon selection device installed on the carriage 3, and this ribbon selection device 14 is composed of, for example, a cylindrical cam having an oblique cam groove on its circumferential surface and a cam pin that engages with the cam groove. The cylindrical cam is provided on the carriage 3 side, and the cam pin is provided on the cassette 5 side. With this configuration, when the cylindrical cam is rotated in either the forward or reverse direction by a drive motor (not shown), the cassette 5 reciprocates within a predetermined angular range, and as a result, the recording transfer ribbon 6 and the recording transfer ribbon 6 are erased. One of the transfer ribbons 7 is selectively placed at the heat generating portion of the thermal head 4, that is, at the recording position.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained.

When performing normal transfer recording on the recording paper 13, the ribbon selection device 14 is rotationally controlled by a drive motor (not shown) to hold the cassette 5 in a horizontal state as shown in FIG. In this state, the recording transfer ribbon 6 of both ribbons 6°7
is opposed to the heat generating portion of the thermal head 4, and winding driving force is applied only to this recording transfer ribbon 6 to perform desired transfer recording. That is, the recording paper 13 inserted into the apparatus along the paper guide 11 is transferred between the recording transfer ribbon 6 and the elastic body 9 of the platen 8 by the rolling of the paper feed roller 10 and the driven roller 12. The thermal melting ink on the recording transfer ribbon 6 is applied to the recording paper 13 by the thermal head 4.
The heat generated instantly melts and transfers the image. Therefore, by selectively controlling the heat generating part of the thermal head 4 and controlling the movement of the carriage 3 along the guide shaft 2, desired characters, symbols, numbers, etc. can be printed on the recording paper 13.
Print is formed on the top.

On the other hand, if erroneous printing occurs, the ribbon selection device 14 is rotationally controlled to hold the cassette in an inclined state as shown in FIG. In this state, the erasing transfer ribbon 7 faces the heat generating portion of the thermal head 4, and a winding driving force is applied only to this erasing transfer ribbon 7, thereby performing a desired lift-off.

That is, the thermal adhesive resin on the erasing transfer ribbon 7 is melted and adhered to the erroneously printed area recorded on the recording paper 13 by the heat generated by the thermal head 4, and after the thermal adhesive resin is cooled, the erroneously printed area is removed. is peeled off and erased.

During normal recording and during erasing of erroneous printing, the heat generating section of the thermal head 4 is controlled as described below.

That is, FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the heat generating part of the thermal head 4, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the recording paper 13 and the printing part recorded thereon. 4a is a resistance heating element that is divided into multiple parts in the height direction of the printed characters, and during normal recording, the hatched width W
, and when erasing incorrect printing, all the resistance heating elements 4a with a width W are used, and W, < W,
It becomes. Therefore, during normal recording, the heat-melting ink of the recording transfer ribbon 7 is transferred to area A shown by hatching in FIG. 4, and when erasing erroneous printing, it is transferred to area 8 shown by broken lines in FIG. The thermoadhesive resin of the erasing transfer ribbon 7 is transferred, and the transferred portion B during erasing completely covers the transferred portion A during recording, eliminating the possibility of remaining erased portions.

Furthermore, when comparing the respective melting temperatures of the heat-melting ink of the recording transfer ribbon 6 and the heat-adhesive resin of the erasing transfer ribbon 7, the melting temperature of the heat-adhesive resin is generally higher.
Erasing using the erasing transfer ribbon 7 requires a larger heat generating capacity than recording using the recording transfer ribbon 6. Therefore, the voltage supplied to each resistive heating element 4a of the thermal head 4 is controlled to be higher when erasing erroneous printing than during normal recording, so that heat is generated with a large power only during erasing. In this way, since the control means is provided to increase the power only during erasing, there is no need to particularly increase the power during normal recording, which is effective in extending the life of the thermal head 4.

The transfer of the erasing transfer ribbon 7 at the time of erasing described above calls back the signal at the time of erroneous printing stored in a storage section (not shown), and applies heat only to the erroneous printing part recorded on the recording paper 13. It is also possible to lift off the erroneously printed portion by transferring an adhesive resin, or it is also possible to lift off the erroneously printed portion by transferring a thermal adhesive resin to the entire character surface including the erroneously printed portion.

Further, in the above embodiment, as an example of a selection means for selecting the recording transfer ribbon 6 and the erasing transfer ribbon 7 as recording positions, a cylindrical cam whose rotation can be controlled and an inclined cam groove of this cylindrical cam are used. Although the ribbon selection device 14 comprising a cam pin that engages with the ribbon selection device 14 has been described, the present invention is not limited to such a ribbon selection device 14, and a gear may be used to move the cassette 5 up and down. Furthermore, the movement of the cassette 5 is not limited to the rotation movement using one end as a fulcrum as in the above embodiment, but may also be moved up and down while remaining in a parallel state.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily and reliably erase the erroneously printed portion on the recording paper without the need for complicated operations such as handwriting correction or reprinting.
During normal recording, it is possible to suppress an increase in the voltage supplied to the thermal head, and it is possible to provide a thermal transfer printer that can eliminate the disadvantages of the above-mentioned prior art and effectively erase erroneous print areas.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The figures all relate to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing a normal recording state of a thermal transfer printer, FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing a state of erasing erroneous printing of a thermal transfer printer, and FIG.
This figure is a plan view showing the heat generating part of the thermal head, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the recording paper and the printing part recorded thereon. 3... Carriage, 4... Thermal head, 4a.
... Resistance heating element, 5... Cassette, 6... Transfer ribbon for recording, 7... Transfer ribbon for erasing, 8... Platen, 10... Paper feed roller, 12... Followed roller , 13... Recording paper, 14... Ribbon selection device. Figure 1 Figure 2 5144θ! ', 7'/' // Figure 3 Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] A thermal transfer printer in which a thermal transfer ribbon carrying a heat-fusible ink is interposed between a recording paper and a thermal head, and the heat-fusible ink is melted by the heat generated by the thermal head and transferred and recorded onto the recording paper. A switching means is provided to selectively switch the heat generation capacity per unit area of the head to either large or small, and when erasing incorrect printing,
A thermal transfer printer characterized in that the printer is configured to lift off an erroneously printed area while increasing the heat generation capacity per unit area of the thermal head compared to normal recording.