JP2000255149A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer in which a print section is fed with a stabilized ribbon tension even if the winding diameter of ribbon is varied. SOLUTION: Members for stabilizing ribbon tension are arranged on the ribbon feeding side 4 and ribbon take-up 5 side of a print section. The printer comprises a print section 3 for printing a thermal transfer ribbon 12 being fed from a ribbon feeding section 4 to a ribbon take-up section 5, in the way thereof, onto a recording sheet, a first ribbon feed means 6 disposed between the print section 3 and the ribbon feeding section 4, and a second ribbon feed means 7 disposed between the print section 3 and the ribbon take-up section 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer for printing on recording paper using a thermal transfer ribbon, and more particularly to an improvement in the stability of tension in a thermal transfer ribbon.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional printer will be described with reference to FIG. The printer 40 includes a supply unit 2 and a printing unit 3
And a ribbon supply section 4 and a ribbon winding section 5. The supply section 2 has a supply shaft 9 for rotatably holding the rolled recording paper 8, and the fed recording paper 8 is transferred to the printing section 3 via the guide roller 37. Printing unit 3
A platen roller 10 and a thermal head 11 are arranged, and a recording paper 8 and a thermal transfer ribbon
2 is provided so as to print on the recording paper 8 while holding it.

[0003] The roll-shaped thermal transfer ribbon 12 is fed out from the ribbon supply unit 4 and transferred to the printing unit 3 via the guide roller 39. The thermal transfer ribbon 12 transferred to the printing unit 3 transfers ink to the upper surface of the recording paper 8 by the heat generation action of the thermal head 11 to print desired information. The transferred thermal transfer ribbon 12 is taken up by the ribbon take-up unit 5 via the turning roller 38. The recording paper 8 is transported forward.

[0004] As described above, printing is performed on the recording paper 8. The winding diameter of the roll-shaped thermal transfer ribbon 12 initially loaded in the ribbon supply unit 4, that is, the wound diameter of the thermal transfer ribbon 12 is determined by the ribbon winding unit. 5 is larger than the winding diameter of the thermal transfer ribbon 12, and the ribbon winding section 5 is gradually printed by sequentially printing.
The diameter of the ribbon 12 to be wound becomes larger, and the diameter of the ribbon 12 of the ribbon supply unit 4 becomes smaller. However, the tension of the ribbon 12 changes with the change of the winding diameter of the ribbon 12, so that there is a problem that the printing position for printing on the recording paper 8 is shifted with respect to the transport direction with the change of the tension.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a stable tension to a printing unit by absorbing a change in tension with respect to a change in the winding diameter of a thermal transfer ribbon. This provides a printer that does not shift the printing position.

[0006]

According to the present invention, a member for stabilizing a ribbon tension is arranged on a ribbon supply side and a ribbon winding side of a printing unit.
According to a printer provided with a printing unit for printing a thermal transfer ribbon transferred from a ribbon supply unit toward a ribbon winding unit on recording paper by a printing unit arranged in the middle thereof, the thermal transfer ribbon transfer of the printing unit is performed. A first ribbon transfer unit for transferring the thermal transfer ribbon to an upstream side in a direction, and a second ribbon transfer unit for transferring the thermal transfer ribbon to a downstream side of the printing unit in a transfer direction of the thermal transfer ribbon. It is a printer characterized by.

A second aspect of the present invention is the printer according to the above-mentioned printer, wherein braking means is provided in the first ribbon transferring means and the second ribbon transferring means.

A printer according to a third aspect of the present invention, wherein the first ribbon transfer unit and the second ribbon transfer unit are configured to hold the thermal transfer ribbon between a pair of rollers. It is.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned printer, a pair of rollers provided in the first ribbon transfer means and the second ribbon transfer means are arranged to be separated from each other.

Therefore, according to the first aspect, the first transfer means and the second transfer means are arranged before and after the transfer direction of the thermal transfer ribbon through the printing section.
The first transfer means and the second transfer means can absorb a change in tension with respect to a change in the winding of the ribbon in the ribbon supply section and the ribbon take-up section, thereby providing stable printing. Can be printed at the position.

According to claim 2, the first transfer means and the second transfer means
Since the transfer means has a braking means and a predetermined torque can be obtained, the torque can be adjusted according to the type of the ribbon or the type of the recording paper, and it can be applied to any ribbon and recording paper.

According to the third aspect, the first transfer means and the second transfer means
And the transfer means are each composed of a pair of rollers, so that the ribbon can be reliably transferred by sandwiching the ribbon between the pair of rollers.

According to claim 4, the first transfer means and the second transfer means
Is provided so that the pair of rollers are separated from each other, so that the ribbon can be easily set.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The same parts as those in the related art are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the details are omitted. FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view of a printer according to the present invention. A supply unit 2, a printing unit 3, a ribbon supply unit 4, a ribbon winding unit 5, a first transfer unit 6, and a second transfer unit 6 are provided on a support plate 1a of the printer 1. And a transfer unit 7.

The supply section 2 has a supply shaft 9 for rotatably holding the roll-shaped recording paper 8, and the fed recording paper 8 is guided by guide rollers 37 and transferred to the printing section 3. The printing unit 3 includes a platen roller 10 and a thermal head 11, and the platen roller 10 is rotatably provided by a stepping motor 27 described later. Further, the thermal head 11 is provided so as to be able to freely contact and separate from the platen roller 10.

A roll-shaped thermal transfer ribbon 12 wound around a winding core or the like is loaded in a ribbon supply unit 4, and the unwound thermal transfer ribbon 12 is supplied to a first transfer unit 6, a printing unit 3, and a second transfer unit 3.
Is transferred and wound by the ribbon winding unit 5. The first transfer section 6, which is a first transfer section, is disposed between the ribbon supply section 4 and the printing section 3, and has a drive roller 13 and a driven roller 13a made of rubber. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the drive roller. The drive roller 13 has braking members in which the following members are fitted to the rotation shaft 15 in order from the drive roller 13 side of the rotation shaft 15.

That is, a disk-shaped ribbon boss disk 16, a felt disk-shaped clutch plate 17, and a disk-shaped rotation shaft disk 18 are fitted on the rotation shaft 15 in this order from the drive roller 13 side. I have. Then, the rotating shaft disk 18
Is provided rotatably on a rotating shaft, and has a pressing surface 20 including a surface coated with a fluorine-based fixed lubricant on the clutch plate 17 surface side. The clutch plate 17 is the rotating shaft 1
5 includes a disk which is rotatable with respect to the disk 5 and whose disk side for the rotating shaft and the disk side for the ribbon boss are both coated with a fluorine-based fixed lubricant.

The ribbon boss disk 16 is fixed to the drive roller 13 and rotates integrally with the drive roller 13. Also, the clutch plate 17 of the ribbon boss disc 16 is provided.
A pressing surface 19 is provided, including one whose surface is coated with a fluorine-based fixed lubricant or the like. As described above, the clutch portion 21 is formed by the configuration of the disk 16 for the ribbon boss, the clutch plate 17 and the disk 18 for the rotating shaft.

A dry metal 22, a disc-shaped spring disk 23, a helical spring 24, and a spring stopper 25 are inserted into the shaft support side of the clutch portion 21 and inserted into the rotary shaft 15 to allow the torque adjusting portion 32 to be inserted. It is composed. The spring stopper member 25 is fixed to the rotating shaft 15 by a set screw 26. The drive roller 13 is pressed toward the clutch section 21 by a spring 24. Further, the dry metal 22 is provided rotatably so as to slide and rotate with respect to the rotating shaft 15.

On the other hand, the driven roller 13a is
, And the thermal transfer ribbon 12 is inserted between the driving roller 13 and the driven roller 14. The second ribbon transfer unit 7 serving as a second ribbon transfer unit is disposed between the printing unit 3 and the ribbon take-up unit 5 and, like the first transfer unit 6, has the drive rollers 14 and And a driven roller 14a. Further, as shown in FIG.
1 and a torque adjusting unit 32.

FIG. 3 is a schematic explanatory view showing a driving system of the printer.
7 are arranged. The stepping motor 27 drives the platen roller 10 to rotate by a timing belt 29 interposed between a motor shaft (not shown) and a gear 28 provided on the shaft of the platen roller 10. Also, the first
The driving roller 13 is driven to rotate by a pulley 30a provided on the axis of the driving roller 13 of the transfer unit 6 and a round belt 30 interposed on the axis of the stepping motor 27. Pulley 31 provided
a and the round belt 3 interposed on the shaft of the stepping motor 27
1, the driving roller 14 is driven to rotate.

Further, the support frame 1a has a long hole 3
4 and 36 are formed, and the shafts 33 and 35 of the driven rollers 13a and 14a are vertically movable along the elongated holes 34 and 36, so that the driven portion of the first transfer portion 6 is driven. A roller 13 a is provided so as to be able to contact and separate from the drive roller 13, and the driven roller 14
a is provided so as to be able to freely contact and separate from the drive roller 14. Although not shown, the shafts of the driven rollers 13a and 14a do not come off. With this configuration, the setting of the thermal transfer ribbon 12 is facilitated.

In the printer 1 configured as described above,
The operation will be described. The recording paper 8 fed from the supply unit 2 is transferred to the printing unit 3 via guide rollers 37, and the thermal transfer ribbon 12 fed from the ribbon supply unit 4 is driven by a driving roller, a first transfer unit 6. 13 and is transported to the printing unit 3 while being nipped by the driven roller 13a. In the printing unit 3, the recording paper 8 and the thermal transfer ribbon 12 are sandwiched between the platen roller 10 and the thermal head 11, and the heat generated by the thermal head 11 dissolves the ink on the ribbon to print desired information on the recording paper. The recording paper 8 is transported leftward in FIG. 1 by driving the platen roller 10.

The printed recording paper 8 is fed forward (to the left in FIG. 1), and the thermal transfer ribbon 12 is turned upward by the turning roller 38 and transferred to the second transfer section 7. Thermal transfer ribbon 1 transferred to second transfer unit 7
2 is transported to and wound on the ribbon winding unit 5 while being sandwiched between the driving roller 14 and the driven roller 14a. in this way,
By sequentially printing on the recording paper 8, the thermal transfer ribbon 12 of the ribbon supply unit 4 is fed out.
Is gradually reduced from the initially loaded diameter, and the diameter of the thermal transfer ribbon 12 of the ribbon winding section 5 is gradually increased.

When the ribbon is supplied from the ribbon supply unit 4 to the ribbon take-up unit 5, the winding diameter of the ribbon changes. However, in the printer 1 of the present invention, the ribbon supply unit 4 and the printing unit 3 A first transfer unit 6 disposed between the first transfer unit 6 and a second transfer unit 7 disposed between the printing unit 3 and the ribbon winding unit 5;
The first transfer unit 6 and the second transfer unit 7 absorb the ribbon tension on the ribbon supply unit 4 side and the ribbon tension on the ribbon take-up unit 5 side, and the first transfer unit 6 and the second transfer unit. A stable tension of the ribbon 12 can be supplied to the printing unit 3 disposed between the units 7. Therefore, since the printing position on the recording paper 8 does not shift, the appearance of printing can be kept constant, and the productivity can be improved.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to an example in which a clutch portion is provided on the driving rollers of the first transfer portion and the second transfer portion, the clutch portion may be provided on the shaft of the ribbon supply portion and the ribbon take-up portion. Good. The recording paper may be any paper as long as the ink on the thermal transfer ribbon can be transferred. Also, the first
Although the example in which the clutch unit is provided on the driving rollers of the transfer unit and the second transfer unit has been described, stable ribbon tension can be supplied to the printing unit without the clutch unit.

[0027]

As described above in detail, according to the first aspect of the present invention, since the ribbon tension on the ribbon supply unit side and the ribbon winding unit side can be absorbed, printing can be performed with a stable printing position. Can be. Further, productivity can be improved. According to claim 2, the first transfer means and the second transfer means
Since the transfer means is provided with the braking means, a predetermined torque can be obtained, so that special ribbons or recording paper can be handled. According to claim 3, the first
Since the transfer means and the second transfer means are each formed of a pair of rollers, the friction force is reduced by sandwiching the ribbon between the pair of rollers, so that the ribbon can be transferred reliably. According to the fourth aspect, the pair of rollers provided on the first transfer means and the second transfer means are provided so as to be separated from each other, so that the ribbon can be easily set.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view of a printer of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a driving roller.

FIG. 3 is a schematic explanatory view showing a driving system of the printer.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 printer 2 supply unit 3 printing unit 4 ribbon supply unit 5 ribbon take-up unit 6 first ribbon transfer unit (first ribbon transfer unit) 7 second ribbon transfer unit (second ribbon transfer unit) 8 recording paper 12 thermal transfer ribbon (ribbon) 13 drive roller 14 driven roller 16 disk for ribbon boss 17 clutch plate 18 disk for rotating shaft 34 long hole 36 long hole 40 printer (conventional)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A printer provided with a printing section for printing a thermal transfer ribbon transferred from a ribbon supply section toward a ribbon winding section on recording paper by a printing section arranged in the middle thereof, wherein the thermal transfer of the printing section is performed. A first ribbon transfer unit that transfers the thermal transfer ribbon upstream in the ribbon transfer direction; and a second ribbon transfer unit that transfers the thermal transfer ribbon downstream in the thermal transfer ribbon transfer direction of the printing unit. A printer characterized in that: 2. The printer according to claim 1, wherein braking means is provided on said first ribbon transfer means and said second ribbon transfer means. 3. The first ribbon transfer means and the second ribbon transfer means.
3. The printer according to claim 1, wherein said ribbon transfer means is configured to hold said thermal transfer ribbon between a pair of rollers. 4. The first ribbon transfer means and the second ribbon transfer means.
4. The printer according to claim 3, wherein the pair of rollers provided in the ribbon transfer means are arranged to be separated from each other.