JP2003094702A - Thermal printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a thermal printer capable of printing characters, or the like in a color different from the color to be developed by the thermosensitive paper by transferring an ink of an ink ribbon onto a thermosensitive paper with high quality at a low cost. SOLUTION: Since this thermal printer comprises a first thermal head 2 capable of executing a first printing operation by developing the color of a thermosensitive paper 1 being conveyed by a conveyance roller 5 and a second thermal head 6 capable of executing a second printing operation by thermally transferring an ink of the ink ribbon 11 by pressing an ink ribbon against the thermosensitive paper 1 being conveyed by the conveyance roller 5 such that the first printing operation and/or the second printing operation are executed on the thermosensitive paper 1 by the first and second thermal heads 2, 6, an image of characters, or the like can be printed on an inexpensive thermosensitive paper in at least two colors by thermally transferring the ink of an ink ribbon.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal printer, and more particularly to a thermal printer that performs thermal transfer printing by color-developing a thermal paper and transferring the ink of an ink ribbon to the thermal paper that has been colored.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional thermal printer is used to print on thermal paper.
When performing color printing, two-color printing was performed using two-color thermal paper that can develop two different colors. To print characters or the like composed of two colors, red and black, on the two-color thermal paper, for example, control the thermal energy of the heating element of one thermal head and apply a small thermal energy to the thermal paper. In order to produce a red color, a large amount of heat energy is applied to the thermal paper to produce a black color.

[0003]

However, in the two-color thermal paper used in the conventional thermal printer, when a large amount of heat energy is applied to develop a black color, heat is transmitted to the thermal paper around the printing dots, and printing is performed. There has been a problem that the thermal paper around the dots develops a red color that can be colored with a small amount of heat energy, and the surroundings of black characters and the like become reddish, degrading print quality. Further, there is a problem that the two-color thermal paper is more expensive than the one-color thermal paper.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points, and it is possible to transfer the ink of the ink ribbon to the thermal paper and print a character of a color different from the color developed by the thermal paper. It is an object of the present invention to provide a thermal printer capable of high-quality printing at low cost.

[0005]

As a first means for solving the above problems, a thermal printer according to the present invention comprises a thermal paper, a transport roller capable of transporting the thermal paper at a predetermined transport speed, and the thermal paper. A first thermal head having an ink ribbon coated with an ink that can be transferred onto paper, capable of performing a first printing by coloring the thermal paper carried by the carrying roller, and the thermal paper carrying by the carrying roller A second thermal head capable of performing second printing by transferring the ink of the ink ribbon to the first thermal head by pressing the ink ribbon onto the thermal paper; 1
And / or the second printing.

As a second means for solving the above-mentioned problems, a transport speed V1 of the thermal paper which is transported by the transport roller when performing the first printing on the thermal paper,
The relation with the transport speed V2 of the thermal paper transported by the transport roller when performing the first and second printing on the thermal paper at the same time is V1> V2.

As a third means for solving the above-mentioned problems, the conveying rollers are platen rollers to which the first and second thermal heads can be brought into pressure contact with each other, and the conveying speeds V1 and V2 are the same. Is configured to control and change the rotation speed of the platen roller.

As a fourth means for solving the above-mentioned problems, while the first printing is on standby, the first thermal head is in pressure contact with the platen roller via the thermal paper, and The thermal paper is printed at the printing speed V
It was configured to be conveyed at the same speed as 1.

As a fifth means for solving the above-mentioned problems, while the second printing is on standby, the second thermal head is separated from the platen roller and the ink ribbon is wound. The configuration is such that the winding on the take-up core is stopped.

As a sixth means for solving the above-mentioned problems, the ink color of the ink ribbon printed on the thermal paper in the second printing is the same as that in the first printing. The configuration is different from the color that is developed.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The thermal printer of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining the thermal printer of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining the operation of the present invention.

First, an embodiment of the thermal printer of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. At a predetermined position in a case (not shown), for example, one color is wound in a roll shape. The thermal paper 1 capable of coloring only is stored. The thermal paper 1 can be transported in the transport direction indicated by arrow A. Further, a first thermal head 2 composed of a line head is arranged in the transport path of the thermal paper 1. On the first thermal head 2, a plurality of heating elements (not shown) are formed in line in the width direction of the thermal paper 1.

The first thermal head 2 is fixed to a head mounting base 3, and the head mounting base 3 is pivotally supported about the rotation center of a rotatable guide roller 4. Further, in the first thermal head 2, the head mount 3 is elastically biased toward the transport roller 5 side, which will be described later, so that the first thermal head 2 is always in pressure contact with the transport roller 5. On the side of the first thermal head 2 that faces the heating elements, a conveying roller 5 composed of a platen roller is arranged. The transport roller 5 is connected to a stepping motor or the like which is a drive source and can be rotationally driven in the rotational direction of arrow B.
The rotation speed is controllable.

The thermal paper 1 is guided by the guide roller 4 and is conveyed between the first thermal head 2 in the pressure contact state and the conveying roller 5, and the first thermal head is rotated by the conveying roller 5 in the direction of arrow B. The head 2 can be conveyed downstream. Then, the thermal paper 1 transported in the transport direction of the arrow A by the transport roller 5 is colored by the first thermal head 2 so that the first printing, which is thermal printing, can be performed. The characters and the like that are colored in the first printing are, for example, black.

A second thermal head 6 is arranged downstream of the first thermal head 2 in the carrying direction indicated by arrow A. This second thermal head 6
It consists of a line head, and on the side facing the transport roller 5,
A plurality of heating elements (not shown) are formed in an array in the width direction of the thermal paper 1. The second thermal head 6 is fixed to a rotary arm 8 which is rotatable about a support shaft 7 as a fulcrum. Then, the second thermal head 6 includes a rotating arm 8
By rotating around the support shaft 7 as a fulcrum, the roller comes into a down state in which it is pressed against the transport roller 5 as shown in FIG. 1 or an up state in which it is separated from the transport roller 5 as shown in FIG. ing.

Then, the second thermal head 6 is lowered, and the ink ribbon 11 to be described later is brought into pressure contact with the thermal paper 1 on which the first printing is performed by the first thermal head 2. The second printing, which is thermal transfer printing, is made possible by transferring On the left and right sides of the second thermal head 6 in the drawing, a pair of rotatable pinch rollers 9 are pivotally supported by a rotating arm 8. Further, a rotatable pressure contact roller 10 is arranged in pressure contact with the conveyance roller 5 downstream of the second thermal head 6 in the conveyance direction of the thermal paper 1. The thermal paper 1 transported between the transport roller 5 and the pressure contact roller 10 can be transported in the transport direction of arrow A by the rotation of the transport roller 5 in the direction of arrow B.

A paper cutting device (not shown) is arranged downstream of the pressure roller 10 in the direction of conveyance of the thermal paper 1 indicated by the arrow A, and the thermal paper 1 is a roll paper after printing.
Can be cut into a predetermined length by a paper cutting device and discharged to the outside of the thermal printer. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, between the second thermal head 6 in the up state and the transport roller 5, an ink ribbon 11 having one surface coated with ink of a desired color is supplied. Then, the second thermal head 6 is moved down and brought into pressure contact with the transport roller 5, so that the ink ribbon 11 is pressed against the thermal paper 1 at one surface side on which the ink is applied, so that the ink is thermally transferred to the thermal paper. It has become.

The ink ribbon 11 includes a winding core 12
Is wound around one end and the supply core 13 is wound around the other end. Then, the other surface side not coated with the ink abuts on the pair of rotatable pinch rollers 9 and the winding core 1
It can be wound up to 2. In the supply core 13,
The unused ink ribbon 11 is wound, and the unused ink ribbon 11 is pulled in the winding direction of the arrow D by the rotation of the winding core 12 in the direction of the arrow C, and the winding core 12 is wound. It can be rolled up.

Further, the winding core 12 is engaged with a winding bobbin (not shown) capable of slip rotation. Then, the second thermal head 6 is lowered, and the thermal paper 1
During the second printing in which the ink of the ink ribbon 11 is subjected to thermal transfer printing, the ink ribbon 11 is wound around the winding core 11 while slipping the winding bobbin. Therefore, the second thermal head 6 in the down state
A predetermined tension is applied to the ink ribbon 11 located between the ink ribbon 11 and the take-up core 12, so that the ink ribbon 11 is not loosened during printing.

The thermal printer of the present invention as described above is
The first printing or the second printing can be individually performed on the thermal paper 1, and the first and second printing can be performed at the same time. That is, the first printing on the thermal paper 1 by the first and second thermal heads 2 and 6,
Alternatively and / or the second printing can be performed.

When only the first printing, which is thermal printing, is performed, only the first thermal head 2 is moved to the transport roller 5
Since it is pressed against, the rotational load applied to the transport roller 5 is small. Therefore, the thermal paper 1 when performing the first printing
Is configured to increase the rotation speed of the conveying roller 5 and convey at the conveying speed V1. Further, when the first and second printings are simultaneously performed, the rotational load applied to the transport roller 5 is larger than when only the first printing is performed. Therefore, when the first and second printings are simultaneously performed, the thermal paper 1 controls the rotation of the stepping motor or the like that is the drive source of the conveyance roller 5 to slow down the rotation speed of the conveyance roller 5 and convey it. It is designed to be transported by V2. The transport roller 5
By lowering the rotation speed of, the rotational torque of the transport roller 5 can be increased, and even if a large rotational load is applied to the transport roller 5, the transport roller 5 can be smoothly and smoothly rotated.

As shown in FIG. 2, the printing operation on the thermal paper 1 by the thermal printer of the present invention as described above is carried out by the carrying roller 5 which is rotating in the direction of arrow B, and the carrying roller 5 is always in a pressure contact state. The thermal paper 1 is pressed and sandwiched between the thermal paper 1 and the first thermal head 2. Then, the thermal paper 1 is transferred to the transport roller 5
Rotation, the second thermal head 6 and the transport roller 5 are transported to the downstream side in the transport direction of the arrow A and are in the head-up state.
Between the conveyance roller 5 and the pressure contact roller 10, and is nipped by pressure. Then, the thermal paper 1 is transported in the transport direction indicated by the arrow A at the transport speed V1.

In order to perform the first printing on the thermal paper 1 which is transported at the transport speed V1 as described above, a plurality of heating elements of the first thermal head 2 which is in pressure contact with the thermal paper 1 are selectively energized. By doing so, the thermal paper 1 is caused to develop a color, and black characters, for example, are printed. Further, even during the standby for the first printing without performing the first printing, the first thermal head 2
Presses against the transport roller 5 via the thermal paper 1, and transports the thermal paper 1 at the same speed as the transport speed V1 at the time of the first printing. That is, the first thermal head 2 is in pressure contact with the transport roller 5 both during the first printing and during the standby for this printing. Then, the thermal paper 1 is transferred to the transport roller 5
With the rotation of 1, the sheet is conveyed at the conveying speed V1.

Then, the thermal paper 1 on which the first printing is applied
Is the rotation of the transport roller 5 and the second transport roller 5 downstream of the first thermal head 3 in the transport direction indicated by the arrow A.
It is conveyed to the thermal head 6. Then, in order to simultaneously perform the second printing while the thermal printing is performed on the thermal paper 1 by the first printing, the second thermal head 6 is lowered and the thermal paper 1 on which the first printing is performed is Ink ribbon 1
The first ink is thermally transferred to perform the second printing.

In the second printing, the ink of the ink ribbon 11 is composed of, for example, a cyan color different from the color printed in the first printing, and the ink of the cyan color is used for one-point printing, for example, a store name or Product logos can be printed to make them stand out. The thermal paper 1 when performing the first and second printing operations at the same time is transported at a transport speed V2 slower than the transport speed V1. That is, the thermal printer of the present invention controls the rotation speed of the transport roller 5,
The relationship between the transport speed V1 of the thermal paper when performing the first printing and the transport speed V2 of the thermal paper 1 when performing the first and second printing simultaneously is set to V1> V2. ing.

Therefore, when performing the first and second printings simultaneously, the current consumption of the stepping motor or the like, which is the drive source, can be reduced by slowing the rotation speed of the conveying roller 5. Further, the rotation torque of the transport roller 5 can be increased, and when performing the first and second printing simultaneously,
Even if a large rotational load is applied to the transport roller 5, the transport roller 5 can be smoothly rotated, and the thermal paper 1 can be transported smoothly.

Further, while the second printing is not performed and the second printing is on standby, the second thermal head is separated from the transport roller 5 and the winding of the ink ribbon 11 onto the winding core 12 is stopped. To do. Therefore, wasteful consumption of the ink ribbon can be reduced. Further, when the second thermal head 6 is moved down to perform the second printing, the ink ribbon 11 after thermal transfer onto the thermal paper is wound onto the winding roller 12 while the winding roller 12 is slippingly rotated. is doing. Therefore, the ink ribbon 11 that is in close contact with the thermal paper 1 in the second printing can be smoothly and smoothly peeled from the thermal paper 1.

When the second printing is completed, the second thermal head 6 is moved up to convey the thermal paper 1 to the downstream side in the conveying direction of the arrow A, and the ink to the take-up roller 12 is conveyed. The winding of the ribbon 11 is stopped. Then, the thermal paper 1 on which the first and second printing has been completed is pressed by the pressure roller 10
The paper is discharged to a downstream side of a predetermined size, cut into a predetermined length by a paper cutting device, and then discharged to the outside.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the conveying roller 5 is composed of the platen roller. However, the platen roller and the conveying roller are separately formed, and they are provided downstream of the platen roller in the conveying direction of the thermal paper 1. It is also possible to dispose a transport roller and a pressure contact roller, and to draw the thermal paper 1 that is in pressure contact with the platen roller by the transport roller and the pressure contact roller. Further, the first thermal head 2 has been described as being in a state in which it is constantly in pressure contact with the transport roller 5, but it may be one that can be moved up / down (contactable / separable to the transport roller 5).

In the present invention, the two-color printing is performed on the thermal paper 1 by the first and second thermal heads 2 and 6. However, for example, the thermal paper 1 is first printed by the first thermal head 2. After performing the printing of No. 1, full color printing may be performed on the thermal paper 1 with three thermal heads using three color ink ribbons of yellow, magenta and cyan. Further, in addition to the three colors, a black ink ribbon may be further added to perform full-color printing with a more beautiful color expression with the four colors.

[0031]

As described above, according to the thermal printer of the present invention, the first and / or second thermal heads are used for the thermal printing of the first printing or / and the ink of the ink ribbon. Since the above-described printing is performed, the ink of the ink ribbon can be thermally transferred to a low-priced thermal paper that can develop only one color, and an image such as characters of at least two colors can be printed. In addition, since the thermal paper develops only one color with the first thermal head, the surroundings of characters and the like are not reddish like the case of using the two-color thermal paper described in the conventional example, and high quality is achieved. Can be printed.

Further, the transport speed V1 of the thermal paper transported by the transport roller when performing the first printing on the thermal paper, and the thermal sensitivity transported by the transport roller when performing the first and second printing on the thermal paper at the same time. Since the relationship with the paper transport speed V2 is set to V1> V2, it is possible to increase the rotation torque of the transport roller when performing the first and second printing simultaneously. Therefore, when performing the first and second printings simultaneously, even if a large rotational load is applied to the transport roller or the output of the drive source is small, the transport roller can be rotated without difficulty, and the drive source The power consumption can be reduced as well as the cost reduction. In addition, since the rotational load is reduced during only the first printing, the thermal paper conveyance speed can be increased and the printing speed can be improved.

The transport rollers are platen rollers to which the first and second thermal heads can be brought into pressure contact with each other, and the transport speeds V1 and V2 of the transport rollers can be varied by controlling the rotational speed of the platen rollers. Therefore, the first and second printing can be performed with only one conveying roller, and a thermal printer having a simple structure can be provided.

Further, during the waiting for the first printing, the first thermal head is pressed against the platen roller via the thermal paper and the thermal paper is conveyed at the same speed as the printing speed V1, so that The up / down operation of the thermal head is not required and the structure can be simplified.

Further, during the second printing standby, the second thermal head is separated from the platen roller and the winding of the ink ribbon onto the winding core is stopped, so that the second thermal head is added to the conveying roller. The rotation load can be reduced and the drive source can be downsized.

Since the color of the ink of the ink ribbon printed on the thermal paper in the second printing is different from the color developed by the thermal paper in the first printing, one-point printing in the second printing, For example, a store name or a product logo can be printed on a receipt or the like to make it stand out.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a thermal printer of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the present invention.

[Sharp sign]

1 Thermal paper 2 First thermal head 3 head mount 4 Guide roller 5 Conveyor rollers 6 Second thermal head 7 spindle 8 rotating arm 9 pinch rollers 10 Pressure roller 11 ink ribbon 12 winding core 13 Supply core

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) B41J 15/20 B41J 3/20 117A 3/58 F term (reference) 2C055 KK05 KK06 KK10 2C058 AB17 AC06 AD01 AE04 AE10 AF15 AF31 DA10 DA42 DC09 DC13 2C060 BA02 BC02 BC72 BC93 2C065 AA01 AB01 AB03 AC01 DA01 DA03 DA10 DA12 DA26 DA34 DC04 DC05 DC20 DC29 DC30

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A thermal paper which comprises thermal paper, a transport roller capable of transporting the thermal paper at a predetermined transport speed, and an ink ribbon coated with ink capable of being transferred to the thermal paper, and which is transported by the transport roller. The first color that can be printed to make the first print
And a second thermal head capable of performing second printing by pressing the ink ribbon onto the thermal paper conveyed by the conveying roller to transfer the ink of the ink ribbon. 1. A thermal printer, wherein the first and / or the second printing is performed on the thermal paper by the first and second thermal heads. 2. The transport speed V1 of the thermal paper transported by the transport roller when the first printing is performed on the thermal paper.
And a transport speed V of the thermal paper transported by the transport roller when the first and second printing are simultaneously performed on the thermal paper.
2. The thermal printer according to claim 1, wherein the relationship with 2 is V1> V2. 3. The transport rollers are platen rollers to which the first and second thermal heads can be pressed, respectively, and the transport speeds V1 and V2 are variable by controlling the rotation speed of the platen rollers. The thermal printer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the thermal printer is formed. 4. During the standby of the first printing, the first thermal head is pressed against the platen roller via the thermal paper, and the thermal paper is conveyed at the same speed as the printing speed V1. The thermal printer according to claim 2, wherein 5. During the standby of the second printing, the second thermal head is separated from the platen roller and the winding of the ink ribbon around the winding core is stopped. The thermal printer according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that: 6. The color of the ink of the ink ribbon printed on the thermal paper in the second printing is different from the color developed by the thermal paper in the first printing. The thermal printer according to claim 1.