JPH03164284A - Recording erasing method in thermal transfer printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To certainly erase the recording on paper within a short time by forming the recording erasing region corresponding to a printing unit containing recording to be erased and dividing the recording erasing region into a plurality of erasure units and heating a thermal head so as to correspond to the shapes of the respective erasure units to perform the erasure of recording in a plurality of times. CONSTITUTION:As the result of the erasure of recording over three times, picking 35 is generated in the vicinity of the downstream ends of all of small regions 34c in the release direction thereof but, since the width of each of the small regions 34 is small, the pickings 35 in the respective small regions 34c overlap each other only within a small range and therefore, the damage to the paper of picking 35 is reduced. Since the recording 32 in the whole of the recording erasing region 33b corresponding to one section of printing is erased, even when paper feed accuracy is bad, a part of the recording 32 on the paper is not left. Since erasure is performed at every erasure unit consisting of a plurality of the small regions spaced apart from each other over three times, possibility such that the temp. of a heating element continuing the generation of heat reaches proper temp. or higher is eliminated and the contamination of the paper due to the melting of the ink of an ink ribbon is prevented.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a thermal transfer printer that performs printing by melting ink on an ink ribbon and transferring it to paper using heat generated by a ballast element of a thermal head, and particularly relates to , relates to a record erasing method in a thermal transfer printer that can erase records on paper.

[Conventional technology]

The ink ribbon and paper are sandwiched between the thermal head and platen mounted on a reciprocating carriage, and the ink ribbon is peeled from the paper at a υ161I position to selectively print on the paper and erase records on the paper. Thermal transfer printers capable of carrying out this process have been known for some time.

Figures 3 and 4 show a typical thermal transfer printer of this type, with a platen 1 extending in the horizontal direction.
Platen rubber 2 that defines the printing position along the longitudinal direction of
An arc-shaped paper guide 4 is arranged below the platen 1 to guide the paper 3 wound around the platen 1 and the platen rubber 2 along the platen rubber 2. A cylindrical paper feeding mechanism 5 is disposed above the paper feed mechanism 4 . At a position facing the platen rubber 2, a thermal head 6 having a plurality of heating elements 6a arranged vertically at the rear end in the printing direction is arranged. A carriage 8 is mounted movably in the left and right direction in FIG.
It is mounted on the platen rubber 2 so as to be able to come into contact with and separate from it. Moreover, on this carriage 8, a ribbon cassette 9 is provided with two winding cores 9a and 9b inside.
An ink ribbon 10 is stored in the ribbon cassette 9 in a state where it is wound around the winding cores 9a and 9b. It is arranged to be interposed between the thermal head 6 and the thermal head 6.

Further, at one end of the platen 1, a pulse motor 11 as a drive source and a gear δr12 for transmitting the rotational driving force of the pulse motor 11 are disposed.
1 is applied via the clutch mechanism 13 to the t! of the paper 3. Moving the feeder 845 and carriage 8! ! ll mechanism.

Furthermore, a guide mechanism 1 for the ink ribbon 10 is provided at a predetermined position on the downstream side of the carriage 8 in the ink ribbon feeding direction.
4 is on IG. As shown in FIGS. 5a and 5b, this guide machine side 14 has a solenoid 16 having a plunger 15, a rotatable connecting shaft 18 connected to the plunger 15 by a pin 17, and a protrusion 19. @
The lever return spring 21 is rotatably supported by the lever 20.
The lever 22 is biased in the counterclockwise direction 11 in the figure.
an arm driving spring 25 having one end coupled to the protrusion 19 and the other end coupled to a protrusion 24 provided on the arm 23; a hole 26 into which the protrusion 19 is loosely fitted; and the protrusion 24.
a stopper 28 having a slit 27 therein for slidably supporting the ink ribbon, and a rotating shaft 3 rotatably supporting the protrusion 24 and a roller 29 serving as an ink ribbon guide.
0 and is rotatably supported at rotation @31
It is composed of. When the solenoid 16 is OFF, the lever return spring 21 causes the lever 2 to
2 is rotated counterclockwise in the figure about the rotation shaft 20 to the stroke limit of the flange 1715 of the solenoid 16. Also, as a result, the stopper 28, which is rotatably held by the projection 19 provided at the end of the lever 22, presses the projection 24 provided at one end of the arm 23 with the base of the slit 27. Cage, arm 23
The roller 29 is rotated clockwise in the figure around the rotation shaft 31, and the roller 29 is maintained apart from the paper 3.

On the other hand, when the solenoid 16 is turned ON from this separated state, the plunger 15 of the solenoid 16 rotates the lever 22 against the lever return spring 21 so that it rotates clockwise in the figure around i3.1J@20. solenoid 16
sucked inside. At this time, the protrusion 19 to which one end of the arm drive spring 25 is coupled moves as the lever 22 rotates clockwise, but the protrusion 24 to which the other end of the arm drive spring 25 is coupled moves. Since the arm 23 remains in place due to its inertia, the arm drive spring 25 will be stretched beyond its natural length, so that when the arm drive spring 25 has a tensile force, the protrusion 24 will As the paper 3 is pulled and moved, the arm 23 rotates in the counterclockwise direction 31 in the figure, so that the roller 29 supported by the pant portion of the arm 23 comes into pressure contact with the paper 3.

According to the above-mentioned structure, the pulse motor 11 is driven, the gear group 12 and the clutch mechanism 13 are driven, the paper feed mechanism 5 is rotated, and the printer 3 is set at the printing position. At this time, as shown in FIG. 4b, for example, a rotating mechanism (not shown) of the carriage 8 is operated to rotate the thermal head 6, and thereby the thermal head 6 is rotated between the platen rubber
It is held in a head-up position, separated from the

When the pulse motor 11 is driven from this state, the rotary am mechanism in the carriage 8 (not shown) is activated.
As shown in FIG. 4a, the thermal head 6 rotates clockwise in the figure, contacts the platen rubber 2 via the ink ribbon 10 and the paper 3, and transfers to the paper 3, that is, prints, or performs a printing operation on the paper 3. The head down state is reached, in which erasing of the recording, that is, the collection operation can be performed.

When printing, the ink ribbon 10 is pressed against the paper 3 by the thermal head 6, and at this time, the solenoid 16 of the guide 1@14 is turned OFF, so that the roller 29 is moved away from the paper 3. in a state. Then, by driving the pulse motor 11 and applying printing energy to the thermal head 6 while moving the carriage 8 along the platen 1, the heating element 6a of the thermal head 6 selectively generates heat. , the ink on the ink ribbon 10 at the opposing portion is melted, and while the ink is in a molten state, the ink ribbon 10 is peeled off from the paper 3, thereby transferring the ink to the paper 3 and printing is performed.

Further, when erasing the recording transferred to the paper 3, the ink ribbon 10 is pressed by the thermal head 6 so that the ink layer side faces the recording on the paper 3 to be removed. Furthermore, the solenoid 16 of the guide mechanism 14 is turned on, and the roller 29
is pressed against the paper 3, and as a result, the ink ribbon 10
The roller 29 also presses against the paper 3 on the rear side of the thermal head 6 in the printing direction. That is, even after the ink ribbon 10 passes through the thermal head 6, it is kept in contact with the paper 3 for a while. and,
From this state, when the heating element 6a is selectively heated by applying erasing energy higher than that during printing to the thermal head 6, even the recorded ink on the paper 3 is melted, and the ink on the ink ribbon 10 is melted. The ink and the ink of the recording to be erased are bonded together, and then the ink ribbon 10, which has passed through the heating element 6a of the thermal head 6, remains in contact with the paper 3 for a while by the mouth roller 29, and the ink is After the temperature of the ribbon 10 decreases and the release layer and ink solidify, when the ink ribbon [0] is peeled off from the paper 3,
The recorded ink on the paper 3 is integrated with the ink on the ink ribbon 10, separated from the paper 13, and transferred to the ink ribbon 10, thereby completing erasing.

By the way, regarding the erasure of the record 32 printed on the paper 3 mentioned above, as shown in FIG.
The recording/erasing area 33a is formed to correspond to the shape of the recording 32 itself and is slightly wider than the recording 32 itself.
As shown in FIG. 7, there is a method of selectively heating and erasing the printed record 32, and a record erasing area 33b corresponding to one section of the print is formed at the time of removal of moisture without storing the printed record 32. There is a method in which all the heating elements 6a of the thermal head 6 generate heat to erase the heat.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Among the record erasing methods described above, in the method shown in FIG. 6, if the feeding viscosity of the paper is poor or a slight slippage occurs between the paper feeding mechanism 5 and the paper 3, the record to be erased will be erased. Heating element 6a of thermal head 6 for 32
There is a problem in that the timing of heat generation may be shifted, and a portion of the record 32 that should be printed remains on the paper 3.

Furthermore, in the method shown in FIG.
Since each heating element 6a continuously generates heat, heat is accumulated in each heating element 6a, and the heating element 6a reaches an appropriate temperature or higher, overheating the ink ribbon 10 and melting the ink on the ink ribbon 10. There is a problem that the paper 3 is stained.

The object of this invention is to provide a method for erasing records in a thermal transfer printer, which overcomes the problems of the conventional methods described above and enables erasure of records on paper in a short time and reliably.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the recording erasing method in a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention involves sandwiching an ink ribbon and paper between a thermal head and a platen mounted on a reciprocating carriage, and moving the carriage to erase the paper using the thermal head. In a thermal transfer printer that selectively prints on and erases the records on the paper, and also moves the paper by separating the thermal head from the platen, when erasing the records on the paper after printing and before feeding the paper, The thermal head generates heat to erase the record in accordance with the shape of the record to be erased, and if the record on the paper is to be erased after the paper is sent after printing, the record to be erased on the paper is thermally After returning the paper so that it hangs facing the head, a record erasing area corresponding to the printing unit including the record to be erased is formed, and this record erasing f! 4
The recording area is divided into a plurality of erasing units, and the recording is erased in multiple steps by generating heat from the thermal head in a manner corresponding to the shape of each erasing unit.

[For production]

According to the present invention having the above-described configuration, when erasing the record on the paper after printing and before sending the paper, the thermal head should be erased to prevent the paper from shifting due to a defect in paper feeding accuracy. The recording on the paper can be reliably erased by erasing the recording on the paper by applying heat in accordance with the shape of the recording. In addition, if the thermal head generates heat to erase the records on the paper in accordance with the shape of the record to be erased, the heat generation rate of the thermal head is small, so energy consumption can be reduced. Also, the paper is not stained due to the high temperature of the legal head.

In addition, if you want to erase the records on the paper after sending the paper after printing, first return the paper so that the record to be erased can correspond to the thermal head, and then Since this area is divided into multiple erasing units and records are erased, even if the paper is misaligned due to paper feed accuracy problems, the entire recording erase area can be erased multiple times. Since the records are erased separately, the records on the paper can be erased reliably. Note that since the entire area of the recording/erasing area is erased in multiple steps, the thermal head becomes hot to some extent, but the entire area of the thermal head does not generate heat at the same time, and heat is radiated from adjacent parts. , it is possible to remove records without spending much money on stains on paper.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be explained below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.

Figures 1a-d and 2 show an embodiment of the method for erasing records in a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention, and Figures 1a-d show information that should be erased on the paper after printing and feeding the paper. A record containing records! This shows a case where recordings within the 1st area are erased.

In order to erase the recording 32 on the paper, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. Elongated small regions 34c, 34c, . . . are formed in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the carriage, and are arranged in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the carriage. In this embodiment, the number of small areas 34C is set to 24, which is a multiple of 3, because erasing is performed in three times vIL. This is called the first erasing method.

On the other hand, in order to erase the records on the paper before feeding the paper after printing, as explained above with reference to FIG. A recording erasing area 33a corresponding to the shape of the recording 32 and slightly wider than the recording 32 itself is formed.
The heating element 6a is selectively heated and erased.

This is called the second erasing method.

Next, the recording/erasing method of the present invention will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, printing is started and printing is performed as shown in step ST1. When it becomes necessary to correct, delete, or add to the record 32 on the work w13, the user presses the erase button on the keyboard of the printer. Then, an erase signal is output as shown in step ST2, and then in step ST3
As shown in FIG. 3, it is determined whether the paper has been fed after printing the record to be erased.

If the paper is being fed after printing the record to be erased, the first erasing method is performed as shown in step ST4.

According to this first erasing method, the paper 3 is returned so that the record to be erased faces the thermal head 6, and then the actual record is erased. Then, in the first erasing J5, as indicated by diagonal lines in Figure 1b, when n is a natural number, ( 3 n-2
)? An erasing unit is formed only within the B-th small region 34c, and each small region 34 constituting this erasing unit
For each (3n-
2) Only the heating element of the thermal head facing the second small area f434c is continuously heated to transfer a part of the ink constituting the recording 32 to the ink ribbon. At this time, in the vicinity of the downstream end in the peeling direction, which is the right end in the figure, of each (3n-2)th small area 34c, there is a paper peeling 35.
However, since the width of the small area 34G is narrow, this paper picking 35 has a small area.

When the thermal head 6 is returned to the same position as the erasing shown in FIG. 1 and the second erasing is performed,
As indicated by diagonal lines in , another erasing unit is formed only within the (3n-1)th small region iii 234C from the top, and erasing is performed only within each small region 34c constituting this erasing unit. , only the heating element of the thermal head facing each (3n-1)th small head region 34C continuously generates heat, and the other part of the ink constituting the recording 32 is transferred to the ink ribbon. At this time, each (.3n
A small paper peeling 35 occurs near the downstream end of the −1)th small region 34c in the same peeling direction.

In the third erasing performed after Pi by returning the thermal head 6 to the same position as the erasing in FIGS. 1 and 2, the 3nth small area from the top is Other erase units are formed more roughly within 34c, and each small territory il! that constitutes this erase unit 1-! 3
Each 3n
Only the heating element of the thermal head facing the second small region 340 continuously generates heat to transfer the remaining ink constituting the recording 32 to the ink ribbon, completing erasure of the recording. At this time, in the vicinity of the downstream pane in the same peeling direction of each n-th small head area 34c, there is a small area of paper peeling 3.
5 occurs.

As a result of three times of record erasing, paper peeling 35 occurs near the downstream ends of all the small regions 34c in the peeling direction, but since the width of each small region 34G is small, paper peeling occurs in each small head region 34c. 35 overlap only within a small range, therefore, in this embodiment, the damage to the paper by the filter paper 35 is small.

Further, since the recording 32 is removed from the entire area of the recording erasing area 33b corresponding to one section of printing, there is no risk that part of the recording 32 will remain on the paper even if the paper feeding accuracy is poor.

Furthermore, since the erasure of the record 32 is divided into three times and is performed for each erasing unit consisting of a plurality of small areas 1434c spaced apart from each other, a specific heating element of the thermal head is continuously heated during each erasing. However, the heat of the heating element that is generating heat can escape toward the adjacent heating element that is not generating heat, so there is no risk that the temperature of the heating element that continues to generate heat will exceed the appropriate temperature. There is no risk that the ink on the ink ribbon will melt and stain the paper.

The first erasing method is performed as described above, and the recording 32
can be erased reliably without staining the paper 3.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step ST3 that the paper has not been fed after printing the record to be erased, the second f4 removal method is performed as shown in step ST5.

This second erasing method involves simply returning the thermal head 6 without returning the paper 3 as described above, and then erasing records corresponding to the shape of the records 32 to be erased on the paper 3 as shown in FIG. The area 33a is shaped and the heating element 6a of the thermal head 6 selectively generates heat to erase the recording 32 on the paper 3.

According to this second erasing method, the thermal head 6 can be accurately opposed to the recording 32 to be erased regardless of the feeding accuracy of the paper 3, so that it can correspond to the small recording erasing area gA area 33a. Even if each heating element 6a of the multi-head 6 is selectively heated, the recording 32 can be erased reliably.

In this way, once the recording 32 is erased by the first erasing method in step ST4 or the second erasing method in step ST5, the process returns to the printing shown in step ST. Note that if the erase signal is not output in step ST2 described above, the process returns to printing in step S11.

According to the embodiment described above, the record 3 on the paper 3 to be erased
The record on the paper 3 can be accurately erased even if the paper is fed or not after the printing of 2, and according to the second erasing method, a small record corresponding to the record 32 to be erased can be erased. Since it is only necessary to selectively generate heat in the heating element 6a of the thermal head 6 only within the area 33a, the recording 32
can be erased reliably and quickly, and consumes less energy.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications can be made as necessary. for example,
If the recording on the paper is to be erased in multiple steps after the paper is sent after printing, it is also possible to form an erasing unit with a checkerboard pattern or a direction of division different from that in the embodiment.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to achieve the excellent effect that recordings on paper can be erased reliably and without staining the paper.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1a, b, c, and d are explanatory diagrams showing a first embodiment of the record erasing method in a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a flowchart of the embodiment of FIG. 1;
The figure is a plan view showing a general thermal transfer printer, Figure 4a,
b is a side view in a different state from Fig. 3, Figs. 5 a and b are enlarged plan views in which main parts of Fig. 3 are in different states, Figs. 6 and 7
Each figure is an explanatory diagram showing a conventional recording/erasing method. 3...Paper, 6...Thermal head, 6a...Heating element, 10...Ink ribbon, 32...Recording, 3
3a, 3 3 b...Record erasure ilri area, 34a
, 34b, 34c, 34d...Small area, 35...Paper facing.

Claims (1)

[Claims] An ink ribbon and paper are held between a thermal head and a platen mounted on a reciprocating carriage, and by moving the carriage, the thermal head selectively prints on the paper and erases records on the paper.
In a thermal transfer printer that feeds paper by separating the thermal head from the platen, when erasing records on the paper after printing and before feeding the paper, the thermal head must be heated to correspond to the shape of the record to be erased. When erasing records and sending the paper after printing, if you want to erase the records on the paper, return the paper so that the record to be erased on the paper can face the thermal head, and then erase it. A recording/erasing area corresponding to a printing unit including recording is formed, this recording/erasing area is divided into multiple erasing units, and the thermal head is heated to correspond to the shape of each erasing unit to perform recording in multiple times. A record erasing method in a thermal transfer printer, characterized by erasing records.