JPH059193Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a thermal transfer printer, and particularly to a thermal transfer printer that can erase erroneous recordings.

[Conventional technology]

An example of a conventional thermal transfer printer capable of erasing erroneous printing is JP-A-61-217275 proposed by the applicant.
As described in the above publication, there is a thermal transfer printer in which recording and erasing operations can be performed using a single thermal transfer ribbon interposed between recording paper and a thermal head.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

However, in conventional thermal transfer printers, there was no idea of reusing the part of the thermal transfer ribbon used to erase erroneous prints for printing, so different parts of the thermal transfer ribbon were used for printing and erasing operations. There were problems such as an increase in the amount of ribbon used and a high running cost due to the short replacement cycle of the thermal transfer ribbon.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and provide a thermal transfer printer that can reduce the amount of thermal transfer ribbon used.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention erases ink by a lift-off mechanism that erases ink transferred to recording paper using a thermal transfer ribbon, and also rewinds the thermal transfer ribbon by a winding means that winds the thermal transfer ribbon.
The feature is that the portion used for erasing can be used again for printing.

[Function] Since the portion of the thermal transfer ribbon used for erasing is used again for printing, the amount of thermal transfer ribbon used is reduced.

〔Example〕

The thermal transfer printer of the present invention will be explained using figures.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the overall structure of an embodiment of the thermal transfer printer of the present invention, and FIGS. 2a and 2b are side views showing the operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, respectively.

In the figure, 1 is a platen, 2 is a platen rubber that defines the printing position, and 1a is these platen 1.
and recording paper wound around the platen rubber 2. 3 is a paper guide that guides the recording paper 1a along the platen rubber 2; 4 is a thermal head that is arranged to face the platen rubber 2 and has a plurality of heating elements 4a; 5 is a thermal head on which this thermal head 4 is mounted and which is connected to the platen 1 in the left-right direction in FIG. 1. Reference numeral 6 denotes a thermal transfer ribbon which will be described later and which is interposed between the thermal head 4 and the recording paper 1a and has a heat-melting ink; 7, which houses this thermal transfer ribbon 6 and has ribbon winding bobbins 7a and 7b; This is a ribbon cassette attached to the carriage 5.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a carriage holder which movably holds the carriage 5 and is rotatably provided with respect to the platen 1, and is biased counterclockwise in the figure by a spring 9 as shown in FIG. . A pin 10 is provided on the platen 1 side of the carriage holder 8, and a cam 11 is engaged with this pin 10.

In addition, 13 shown in FIG. 1 is a drive source, that is, a pulse motor, 15 is a gear group that transmits the rotational force of this pulse motor 13, and 16 is a gear group that transmits the rotational force from the pulse motor 13 via the gear group 15 to the movement of the carriage 5. Mechanism and paper feed shaft 1 that feeds the recording paper 1a
This is a clutch mechanism that selectively transmits information to the rotation mechanism of No. 4.

The cam 11 shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b is movable in the left and right directions in FIGS. 2a and 2b as the pulse motor 13 rotates.

Next, the schematic structure of the thermal transfer ribbon 6 described above will be explained with reference to an enlarged sectional view of the main part shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, the thermal transfer ribbon 6 used in the present invention includes a base film 21 made of a heat-resistant resin film such as polyethylene terephthalate (PETP), a release layer 22 made of a thermoplastic resin, and a film made of, for example, carbon black. It has a three-layer structure including an ink layer 23 containing a colorant and a binder and having a softening point lower than that of the release layer 22. In such a thermal transfer ribbon 6, the ink layer 23
When the thermal transfer ribbon 6 is peeled off from the recording paper 1a while the peeling layer 22 is melted, the ink layer 23 is transferred and recorded onto the recording paper 1a.
When the ink layer 23 and the peeling layer 22 are melted, cooled, solidified, and then peeled off, no transfer or recording is performed on the recording paper 1a even though they are pressed against the recording paper 1a when melted. By utilizing this property, it becomes possible to print and erase erroneously printed portions using the same thermal transfer ribbon 6.

When printing and erasing with the above-mentioned thermal transfer printer, first the pulse motor 13 shown in FIG. 1 is driven,
The gear group 15 and clutch mechanism 16 are driven to rotate the paper feed shaft 14 and set the recording paper 1a at the printing position. At this time, as shown in FIG. 2b, the pin 10 provided on the carriage holder 8 engages with the high part of the cam 11 against the force of the spring 9, thereby causing the thermal head 4 to move toward the platen rubber 2. kept away from. In this state, no printing is performed even if the carriage 5 is moved, and furthermore, the thermal transfer ribbon 6 is not wound up.

When the pulse motor 13 is driven in such a state, the cam 11 moves through the gear group 15 as shown in FIG.
2a, so that the pin 10 engages with the lower part of the cam 11, as shown in FIG. The thermal head 4 comes into contact with the platen rubber 2 with the thermal transfer ribbon 6 in between, and becomes ready for transfer to the recording paper 1a, that is, for printing, or for erasing the recording on the recording paper 1a.

Please note that when performing printing and erasing operations,
The clutch mechanism is switched, whereby the rotational force of the pulse motor 13 is transmitted to the carriage moving mechanism via the gear group 15 and the clutch mechanism 16, thereby moving the carriage 5 along the platen rubber 2.

Although not shown, when the thermal head 4 is in contact with the platen rubber 2, the driving force is transmitted to either one of the ribbon winding bobbins 7a, 7b by a clutch mechanism or the like. When moving to the right in FIG. 1, the bobbin 7b rotates, and when moving to the left, the bobbin 7a rotates to wind up the thermal transfer ribbon 6 so that it does not slacken.

When performing a printing operation in the preparation state shown in FIG. 2a described above, as shown in FIG. (arrow A)
Direction) Printing is performed. If you do this,
Thermal transfer ribbon 6 heated by heating element 4a
Immediately after being heated and melted, it is separated from the recording paper 1a at the end of the thermal head. Therefore, at this point, the ink layer 23 and release layer 2 of the thermal transfer ribbon 6 are removed.
3 is still in a molten state, and as mentioned above,
At this point, the image is transferred and recorded onto the recording paper 1a.

Also during erasing, as shown in FIG. 5, it is moved in the same direction as during printing, that is, with the heating element 4a side of the thermal head 4 facing first (in the direction of arrow A). However, the thermal transfer ribbon 6 is pressed against the recording paper 1a by a movable ribbon guide (not shown) at the rear in the moving direction. By doing this, the thermal head 4 heats and melts the release layer 22, the ink layer 23, and the ink layer of the recording part of the thermal transfer ribbon 6, and the ink layers are integrated with each other. 22 is the heating part 4
Due to the presence of the ink layers a and l, the ink layers 23 are naturally cooled and solidified, and when the thermal transfer ribbon 6 and the recording paper 1a are separated, both ink layers 23 are removed from the thermal transfer ribbon 6.
Glued to the side. Erasing by lift-off is performed in this way.

Next, FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of a control circuit for controlling each component of the thermal transfer printer described above.

In the figure, numeral 31 is a known microprocessor that controls the entire thermal transfer printer, including a RAM (random access memory) 32 that stores recorded data and other data, and a ROM that stores control programs, etc. (Read only memory) 33 is connected. Further, the microprocessor 31 is connected to an external host device such as a computer via an interface 34. The microprocessor 31 also includes a head driver 35 that drives the heating element 4a of the thermal head 4 described above, and a carriage driver 3 that drives the carriage 6 that moves the thermal head 4.
6, and a driver 37 for a cam 11 that presses the thermal head 4 into contact with and separates it from the recording paper 1a.

Based on the above configuration, the microprocessor 31
It performs control operations according to the control program in the ROM 33, and when it receives print or erase data input from the host device, it temporarily stores the data.
Using the RAM 32, each driver 35, 36 and other drivers are controlled to perform printing or erasing operations.

The present embodiment has the above-described configuration, and after the operation for erasing erroneous printing is completed, a new character is printed again while the thermal head 4 remains in contact with the platen rubber 2, as shown in Figure 2a. The thermal head 4 is moved to the position for printing. As a result, the thermal transfer ribbon 6 is rewound by the amount used for erasing erroneous printing and wound onto the take-up bobbin 7a, and when reprinting, the part of the thermal transfer ribbon 6 used during the erasing operation is used for the printing operation. can be used.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

This embodiment is also basically the same as the previous embodiment in terms of the structure of the thermal transfer printer and the principles of printing and erasing. The difference is that the direction of movement of the thermal head 4 during printing and erasing operations is different. That is, in this embodiment, when printing is performed, the thermal head 4 is moved in the direction A shown in FIG. 4, as in the previous embodiment. On the other hand, during the erasing operation, printing is performed by moving the thermal head 4 in the direction B shown in FIG. As a result, in this embodiment, the thermal head 4 itself is connected to the movable ribbon guide (not shown) of the previous embodiment.
The thermal transfer ribbon 6 serves as the heating part 4a.
Recording paper 1a at a position that is the length L of the head from
Since the material is peeled off from the surface, it is naturally cooled and solidified when it is peeled off, and is removed by lift-off as in the previous embodiment.

Furthermore, since the thermal head 4 moves in opposite directions during printing and erasing operations, the thermal transfer ribbon 6 moves to the take-up bobbin 7 during the printing operation, as described above.
In contrast to the winding on the winding bobbin 7a during the erasing operation. Accordingly, in this embodiment, after the erasing operation is completed, if a new character is reprinted from that position, the portion of the thermal transfer ribbon 6 that was used during the erasing operation can be used for the reprinting operation.

It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and that various modifications can be made.

[Effect of idea]

Since the present invention has the configuration and operation described above, the portion of the thermal transfer ribbon used for the erasing operation can be reused for the printing operation, so it is possible to provide a thermal transfer printer that can save the amount of thermal transfer ribbon used.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figures all relate to embodiments of the present invention, with Figure 1 being a plan view showing the overall configuration of a thermal transfer printer, Figure 2 a,
b is a side view showing the operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;
Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of main parts showing the schematic structure of the thermal transfer ribbon, Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the printing operation state, Fig. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the erasing operation state, and Fig. 6 is a control for controlling each configuration. The block diagram of the circuit, FIG. 7, is an explanatory diagram of the erase operation state of another embodiment. 1a... Recording paper, 4... Thermal head, 5...
... Carriage, 6 ... Thermal transfer ribbon, 7 ... Ribbon cassette, 7a, 7b ... Ribbon winding bobbin, 21 ... Base film, 22 ... Peeling layer,
23...Ink layer.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A lift-off mechanism for erasing ink transferred to recording paper using the thermal transfer ribbon in a thermal transfer printer in which a thermal transfer ribbon for printing and erasing is interposed between recording paper and a thermal head and printing and erasing is performed by heat generating means of the thermal head. erasing the ink, and rewinding the thermal transfer ribbon by a winding means for winding the thermal transfer ribbon;
A thermal transfer printer characterized in that the portion used for erasing can be used again for printing.