JPH03182376A - Thermal printer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION I. Field of Industrial Use] The present invention relates to a thermal printer that performs printing using a serial or line head used in facsimiles, printers, etc.

1. Prior Art In recent years, thermal recording has been used in many fields such as facsimiles, computer terminals, recorders, etc. because it has excellent characteristics such as non-impact, noiseless, maintenance-free, low cost, can be made smaller and lighter, and can be colored. It is used in

Next, an example of a conventional structure around a head of a thermal printer will be explained with reference to FIG. The printer head 101 is fixed to a head unit 102 and held by a head frame 106 via a rotating shaft 103. During printing, a unit shaft 115 connected to the head unit 102 moves the printer head 101 up and down by rotating a lever 109, and the printer head 101 is fixed on the platen 108 so that a specific pressure is applied. . Further, there was a transfer paper and a thermal ribbon set above the platen, and the heat generated by the thermal head 101 melted the ink on the thermal ribbon and transferred it onto the transfer paper.

I Problems and Objectives to be Solved by the Invention 1 However, in addition to commonly used thermal ribbons, there are also ribbons for rough paper used for printing on paper with low smoothness, and multi-purpose ribbons that can be used for repeated printing. There is a time ribbon, each with its own composition and structure. The transfer paper used also varies in paper thickness and surface condition, ranging from specialized paper with high smoothness to rough paper with low smoothness. Therefore, the appropriate head pressure conditions for a thermal printer differ depending on the thermal ribbon and transfer paper used. For example, a multi-time ribbon that can be used repeatedly can be used under pressure conditions when printing on paper with low smoothness using a ribbon for rough paper. When printing on thermal paper using a printer, there was a problem in that the paper curled due to pressure.

The present invention has been made to solve these problems, and its purpose is to provide a thermal printer that does not cause curling and has excellent transfer properties even when using any thermal ribbon or transfer paper.

[Means for Solving Problem R] In order to solve the above problems, the thermal printer of the present invention is a thermal printer that prints on transfer paper using a thermal head having a plurality of heating elements. It is characterized by a mechanism that varies the pressure of the thermal head against the transfer paper.

Furthermore, the pressure is selectively varied depending on the thermal ribbon and transfer paper used for transfer.

[Function 1] According to the above configuration of the present invention, by providing a mechanism that selectively varies the head pressure of the thermal head of the thermal printer against the platen, printing can be performed with an appropriate pressure even when using any type of thermal paper or transfer paper.

It is possible to print, the transfer paper does not curl, and high-quality transfer is possible.

[Example j Examples of the present invention will be described in detail below based on the drawings, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention, showing a head unit 10 holding a printer head 101.
A rotating shaft 103 is attached near the printing element portion No. 2. At both ends of the rotating shaft 103, there are two head support levers 104a that rotatably support the rotating shaft 103.
104b, and the component parts 104a and 104b are held via a lever fulcrum shaft 105 so as to be slidable in the A direction with respect to the head frame 106. Further, a spring 107 is installed between the head frame 106 and the head support lever 104.
There is. Here, by sliding the lever fulcrum shaft 105 by a specific amount, the head frame 106 pushes the head unit 102 and the printer head 101 presses the platen 108 with a specific pressure in the P direction. Note that the printer head 101 is structured to be separated from the platen 108 when a transfer sheet is inserted.

Next, for comparison with a thermal printer with the above mechanism, a thermal printer with a fixed head pressure was used to print on the next transfer paper using the following thermal ribbon to check the print quality and the curl of the transfer paper. The degree was evaluated.

Thermal Ribbon Thermal Ribbon for Rough Paper Multi-time Ribbon Transfer Paper Thermal Special Paper (Beck Smoothness 300 seconds) Rankanutono Paper (Smoothness 2 seconds) The evaluation results are shown in Table 1. Note that the numbers in the table indicate head pressure (unit: kg/cm), and ◎ to X are graded evaluations from best to poor by visual inspection.

Table 1 As shown in the table above, in the thermal printer of the present invention, the head pressure can be varied depending on the thermal ribbon and transfer paper used, so printing and printing can be performed under appropriate conditions, without curling of the paper, and without compromising print quality. There is no. On the other hand, with conventional thermal printers that have a constant head pressure, although they may be able to perform excellent transfer onto special paper when the pressure is low, the print quality on rough paper such as bond paper is poor, and when the pressure is high, the print quality is poor. Although the quality is good, the special paper has curls.

1. Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, a mechanism is provided for varying the spatula pressure of the thermal head against the platen, and it can be selectively varied depending on the thermal ribbon and transfer paper used for transfer. To obtain prints and prints that do not cause curling and have excellent transferability even when using any thermal ribbon or transfer paper.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of a head pressure switching structure for a thermal printer according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing the structure of a conventional printer head. 101... Printer head 102... Head unit 103... Rotating pongee 104a, 104b... Head support lever 05 06 07 08... Lever fulcrum shaft... Head frame... Spring... Platen that's all

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A thermal printer that prints on transfer paper using a thermal head having a plurality of heating elements, characterized in that the thermal printer is equipped with a mechanism that varies the pressure of the thermal head against the transfer paper. . (2) The thermal printer according to claim 1, wherein the pressure is selectively varied depending on the thermal ribbon and transfer paper used for transfer.