JPS6230057A - Heat-transfer recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To manufacture a heat-transfer recording device, which can print data distinctly and can reduce the abrasion of a thermal head, by providing a contact-angle varying means changing the angle of contact of the thermal head to a platen. CONSTITUTION:Guide shafts 3 are mounted in parallel with a platen 2 on the front side of the platen 2, and a thermal head 5 and an ink ribbon cassette 6 are loaded on a carriage 4 moved guided by the guide shafts. A lever member 11 rotatable centering around a shaft 10 is fitted onto the carriage 4, notches 22 for regulating the position of revolution at a plurality of steps are formed at the nose section of the member 11, either of these notches is connected selectively to a holding spring 23 mounted to the carriage 4 and the angle of contact alphaof the thermal head 5 to the platen 2 of the lever member 11 can be changed within a desired range containing 0 deg., the angle of contact is adjusted properly in response to the kinds (smoothness) of a sheet 1, and disinct printing is enabled at all times.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a thermal head support structure for a thermal transfer recording device.

(Prior Art) A thermal transfer type is used as a type of recording device such as a printer or a facsimile.

This thermal transfer recording device presses a thermal head against a sheet such as paper or plastic film backed up on a platen via an ink ribbon, and records while moving the thermal head along the sheet.
The structure is such that it is printed (printed).

The thermal head is provided with one or more rows of heat generating dots, and each heat generating dot is formed by a plurality of heat generating dots.
Characters and the like are formed by driving 4 or 32 heating elements based on print pattern signals to heat and melt the ink on the ink ribbon and transfer it to the sheet.

Conventionally, in this type of recording device, when an ink ribbon is brought into contact with a sheet by a thermal head, the ink is melted and transferred to the sheet, and after the ink cools and becomes fixed, the ink ribbon is peeled off from the sheet. The contact angle of the thermal head with respect to the platen (or sheet) has been set as small as possible (for example, 0 to 3 degrees) from the viewpoint of being able to print clearly.

In addition, in the case of a thermal head (dual head) that has multiple rows of heat-generating dots for high-speed printing, such as a thermal head (dual head) with two rows of heat-generating dots, the contact angle should be set to 0.
degree (parallel to the platen).

However, with such a thermal head where the contact angle is small or 0 degrees, a sheet with high smoothness (for example, a sheet with a Beck smoothness needle of 30 seconds to 200 seconds) can be printed clearly, but In the case of sheets with low smoothness (for example, sheets such as bond paper, which are coated with a Bekk smoothness needle for less than 10 seconds), there is a problem in that the ink is transferred only to the image areas with uneven surfaces, making it impossible to obtain clear prints.

Incidentally, an ink ribbon has been developed that transfers the ink in a semi-solid state by simply lowering its viscosity, instead of heating and melting the ink. If the contact angle is small, the once-transferred ink becomes individualized again during cooling and is returned to the ink ribbon, which causes a problem that stable transfer cannot be performed.

Furthermore, when using only rough paper (a sheet with large surface irregularities), it is possible to obtain clear prints by positioning the heating dot part at the edge of the thermal head and setting a large contact angle to increase the contact pressure. Conceivable. However, with such a structure, a problem arises in that the thermal throat is subject to severe wear.

〔the purpose〕

It is an object of the present invention to solve the problems of the prior art, and to solve the problems of the prior art, regardless of whether a sheet with high smoothness or a sheet with low smoothness is used, and also when using multiple rows of heating dots such as dual pends. It is an object of the present invention to provide a thermal transfer recording device which can print clearly even in the case of printing, and which can reduce wear of a thermal head.

(ffi required) The present invention achieves the above object by providing a contact angle changing means for changing the contact angle of the thermal head with respect to the platen (therefore, the sheet).

〔Example〕

The present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

In addition, although the embodiment described below shows an example in which a thermal head is provided with multiple rows of dot portions, the present invention is not limited to this, and is similarly applicable to the case of printing with a single row of heat-generating dots. It is something.

1 and 2 show plan views of the main parts of a thermal transfer recording device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a state where the contact angle of the thermal head is approximately zero, and FIG. 2 shows a state where this contact angle is approximately zero. Each shows a large state.

In Fig. 1, a guide shaft 3.3 is installed parallel to the platen 2 in front of the platen 2 for banking up a sheet 1 of paper, plastic film, etc., and a carriage 4 that moves guided by the guide shaft has a thermal A head 5 and an ink ribbon cassette 6 are mounted.

The ink ribbon cassette 6 includes a ribbon supply reel 7 and a ribbon take-up reel 8, and by driving the ribbon take-up reel in conjunction with the movement of the carriage 4 during a printing operation, the ink ribbon 9 is transferred between the thermal head 5 and the sheet. 1 (platen 2) and is detachably attached to feed in the direction of the arrow.

On the other hand, a lever member 11 that is rotatable about a shaft 10 is mounted on the carriage 4, and a shaft 12 is mounted on the lever member 11.
A head holder 13 rotatable around is mounted, and the thermal head 5 is fixed to the head holder 13.

FIG. 3 shows an enlarged front view of the head holder 13 and the thermal head 5. FIG.

In FIG. 3, the thermal head 5 is connected to the ceramic substrate 1.
4, two rows of heating dots 1 are arranged at a predetermined interval in the printing direction.
5.16, and further, in the illustrated example,
A driver circuit (IC) 17 for driving the head is also provided on the ceramic substrate 14.

A flexible cable 18 is connected to the thermal head 5 for transmitting head driving signals and power.

Each of the heating dot portions 15 and 16 has a structure in which a plurality of (for example, 24 or 321 [!i!>) heating elements (dot elements) are vertically arranged.

On the lever member 11, the head holder 13 (
Therefore, the thermal head 5) is pressed against the sheet 1,
A solenoid 19 is provided for driving away (up and down). Between the movable element 19A of the solenoid 19 and the head holder 13, there is a pressure spring 2 for the sofa.
Further, a return spring 21 is provided between the lever member 11 and the head holder 13 for holding the thermal head 5 in the separated position when the solenoid 19 is turned off.

A plurality of notches 22 for regulating the rotational position are formed at the tip of the lever member 11, and one of these notches is selectively engaged with a retaining spring 23 provided on the carriage 4. By doing so, the angle of the lever member 11 relative to the platen 2 (sheet 1) can be adjusted (
(See angular difference α in FIGS. 1 and 2).

Note that the two-dot chain line 24 indicates a knob for rotating the lever member 11.

Guide pins or guide rollers 25, 2.6 for guiding the ink ribbon 9 to the printing section are provided on both sides of the front of the ink ribbon cassette 6, that is, at positions corresponding to both sides of the lever member 11 when the cassette is installed. There is.

Further, the lever member 11 includes a platen 2 (sheet 1
), that is, the ink ribbon 9 on the downstream side of the printing direction P of the thermal head 5.
A guide pin or guide roller 27 is provided for changing the peeling angle from the sheet 1.

The position of this guide pin 27 is such that when the solenoid 19 is turned on and the thermal head 5 is pressed against the sheet 1 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the position of the lever member 11 is set as shown in FIG. The head 5 is almost parallel to the seat 1 (the contact angle α is almost zero) or the contact angle α is small.
(for example, 3 degrees or less), the peeling angle β becomes relatively small (for example, 30 degrees or less), and the position of the lever member 11 is adjusted to the thermal head 5 as shown in FIG.
When the contact angle α of the ink ribbon 9 with respect to the platen 2 (sheet 1) is adjusted to be large (for example, 3 degrees to 15 degrees), the peeling angle β of the ink ribbon 9 is relatively large (for example, 40 degrees).
degree to 60 degrees).

In the illustrated example, a guide pin (or guide roller) 27 for adjusting the peeling angle β is provided on the lever part 411, but this guide pin 27 may be provided on the carriage 4 so that its position can be adjusted independently. You can also do it.

Further, the adjustment range of the rotational position of the lever member 11 is set to include the position where the contact angle α of the door 5 to the thermal platen 2 is zero (parallel as shown in FIG. 1). ing.

Furthermore, in the illustrated example, the thermal head 5 is provided with two rows of heat-generating dots 15 and 16 for the purpose of high-speed printing, but it is also possible to provide only one row of heat-generating dots as in a normal thermal head. It is also possible to provide three or more rows.

Furthermore, the contact angle α of the thermal head 5 and the peeling angle β of the ink ribbon 9 are adjusted (changed) not only stepwise as in the illustrated example, but also continuously and steplessly. Furthermore, both manual operation and automatic remote operation can be performed.

According to the embodiment described above, the contact angle α of the thermal head 5 with respect to the platen 2 can be changed within a desired range including zero degrees (parallel to the platen 2), so that it can be adjusted according to the type (smoothness) of the sheet 1. The contact angle can be adjusted appropriately, making it possible to always print clearly regardless of the smoothness of the sheet.

Furthermore, the peeling angle β of the ink ribbon 9 from the seam 1-1 is
can be changed within a desired range, so that it is also possible to maintain the sharpness of printing, which is related to the smoothness of the sheet.

In addition to printing with a single row of heat-generating dots, even when printing with multiple rows of heat-generating dots for high-speed printing, by opening the hit angle α and the peeling angle β appropriately, it is possible to print clearly. It is now possible to print on.

〔effect〕

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, a thermal transfer recording device capable of producing clear prints regardless of the degree of flatness of the sheet can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the main parts of a thermal transfer recording device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partial plan view showing a state in which the contact angle of the thermal head is changed in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 2 is an enlarged front view showing details of the thermal head of FIG. 1; 1.--111 sheet, 2..--platen, 4-
1---Carry'; , 5---Thermal head, 9
−・− Ink ribbon, β −−− Peeling angle. Agent Patent Attorney Yasushi Ooto Figure J, P Figure 2 Wa

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) In a thermal transfer recording device that presses a thermal head against a sheet backed up on a platen via an ink ribbon and records while moving the thermal head along the sheet, the thermal head hits the platen. A thermal transfer recording device characterized by being provided with a perpendicular angle changing means for changing the angle. (2) Claim 1, wherein the thermal head has a plurality of rows of heat-generating dots provided at predetermined intervals in the printing direction.
The thermal transfer recording device described in . (3) The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the contact angle changing means changes the contact angle within a predetermined angle range including zero degrees.