JPH0351149A - thermal transfer printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable simultaneous printing of both surfaces of, for example, a postcard by arranging the carrier and platen of each printing device symmetrically at points on both sides of a paper feed path. CONSTITUTION:Printing devices 20, 30 are arranged so that the front printing device 20 is inverted to a rear printing device 30 and thereby both devices are symmetrical at dots on both sides of a paper feed path for printing paper P. Consequently, a thermal head 22 of the front printing device 20 becomes opposed to a platen 38 of the rear printing device 30. At the same time, a thermal head 32 of the rear printing device 30 becomes opposed to a platen 28 of the front printing device 20. Next an ink ribbon cassette 5 is mounted on each carrier 21, 31, and motors 23, 33 are rotated forward and backward when printing is performed. Then a printing signal is connected to the thermal heads 22, 32 with carriers 21, 31 moving forward and backward and thus perfect printing is performed simultaneously on the front and rear surfaces of printing paper such as postcard.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a thermal transfer printer, and more specifically, to a thermal transfer printer capable of simultaneously printing on both the front and back sides.

[Conventional technology]

As schematically illustrated in FIG. 3, a thermal transfer printer has a paper feed roller 1 that feeds printing paper P in a predetermined direction.
, a carrier 2 having a thermal head 3 and reciprocating in parallel to the printing surface thereof, and a platen 4 provided along the movement path of the thermal head 3 so as to face it.

An ink ribbon cassette 5 is placed on the carrier 2, and when the carrier 2 moves, the ink ribbon cassette 5 is
While unwinding the ink ribbon from.

The thermal head 3 prints on the printing paper P line by line.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

As shown in 1-1, in conventional thermal transfer printers, 1
You can only print on one side. Of course, it is possible to print on both sides by printing on one side and then inserting the printing paper P into the paper feed roller 1 with the printing paper P on the back side, but this operation is troublesome and doubles the time. It will take some time soon.

This invention was made in view of the above-mentioned conventional circumstances, and the first point is that, for example, the same H on both sides of a postcard, etc.
An object of the present invention is to provide a thermal transfer printer capable of printing on p.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, in this invention.

A thermal transfer printer is equipped with a front side printing means and a back side printing means disposed on both sides of the paper feed path of the printing paper, and is capable of printing on both sides of the printing paper at the same time. Each has a carrier that includes a thermal head and reciprocates parallel to the surface of the printing paper, and a platen that corresponds to the thermal head of the other carrier, and the carrier and platen of each printing means are arranged point-symmetrically on both sides of the paper feed path. It is arranged in an oval shape.

[For production]

By moving the carrier of each printing means and applying a printing signal to the thermal head, printing is simultaneously performed on both the front and back sides of the printing paper.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

This thermal transfer printer includes, for example, paper feeding means 10.11 arranged at predetermined intervals.

In this case, one of the paper feeding means 1o includes a rubber roller 10a driven by a motor (not shown) and a paper pressing roller 10 that selectively holds the printing paper P between the rubber roller 10a and the rubber roller 10a.
The other paper feeding means 11 consists of a pair of paper pressing rollers 11a and 11b that selectively hold the printing paper P. On both sides of the paper feed path defined by the paper feeding means 10.11, front side printing means 20 and back side printing means 30 are arranged in pairs.

Each printing means 20.30 has a carrier 21.31 that reciprocates parallel to the surface of the printing paper P.

Each carrier 21.31 has a thermal head 22.3.
2 and a motor 23.33 for self-propulsion.

Traveling gears 24, 34 are attached to the motors 23, 33, respectively. On the other hand, the carrier 21.3 is attached to the frame 25.35 of each printing means 20.30.
A guide shaft 26.36 for guiding the printing paper P parallel to the surface of the printing paper P, a rack 27.37 in which the running gear 24.34 meshes, and a platen 28.38 are provided. .

Each of the printing means 20 and 30 is arranged point-symmetrically on both sides of the paper feeding path of the printing paper ■, that is, in this embodiment, the back-side printing means 30 is arranged in an inverted manner with respect to the front-side printing means 20. It is being done. As a result, the thermal head 22 of the front side printing means 20 and the back side printing means 30
The thermal head 32 of the back side printing means 30 and the platen 28 of the front side printing means 20 face each other.

When printing, the ink ribbon cassette 5 is placed on each carrier 21.31, and the motor 23.33 is rotated forward or reverse to move the carrier 21.31 back and forth while sending a print signal to the thermal head 22.32. Double-sided printing is performed by giving

In the above embodiment, the motor 23.33 is attached to the carrier 21.31.
However, instead of this, the carrier may be pulled with a wire or the like.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a thermal transfer printer that can simultaneously print on both the front and back sides of printing paper such as postcards.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the same embodiment, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a conventional example. In the figure, 5 is an ink ribbon cassette, 10.11 is a paper feeding means, 20.30 is a printing means, and 21.31 is a carrier. 22, 32 are thermal heads, 23.33 are motors, 2
4.34 is a gear, 25.35 is a frame, 26.36 is a guide shaft, 27 and 37 are racks, and 28.38 is a platen.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A thermal transfer printer comprising a front side printing means and a back side printing means arranged on both sides of the paper feed path of the printing paper, and capable of printing on both sides of the printing paper at the same time. , each of the printing means has a carrier that includes a thermal head and reciprocates in parallel with the paper surface of the printing paper, and a platen corresponding to the thermal head of the other carrier, and the carrier and platen of each of the printing means have the A thermal transfer printer characterized by being arranged point-symmetrically on both sides of a paper feed path. (2) The thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, wherein the carrier is equipped with a self-propelled motor.