JPH0653155U - Thermal transfer recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] An object of the present invention is to provide a thermal transfer recording apparatus provided with an inexpensive film retainer having a simple structure for suppressing the occurrence of wrinkles in an ink film. A film retainer 21 is arranged at a position upstream of the thermal head 1 in the ink film moving direction in a passage through which the ink film moves, and the film retainer has a bow shape along the width direction of the ink film. The film holding surface has a surface 21a, and at least the central projection of the film pressing surface projects from the passage of the ink film to the recording paper side and is in a position in contact with the ink film.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording apparatus for performing thermal transfer recording on a recording paper while passing a roll-shaped ink film and a recording paper in an overlapping manner between a thermal recording head and a platen roller.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 The thermal transfer recording device has the structure shown in FIG.

That is, in the figure, 1 is a thermal head, and 2 is a platen roller provided facing the thermal head 1. An unused ink film 3 wound around a holder 4 is provided upstream of the thermal head 1 in the ink film moving direction. A film winding shaft 5 for winding the used ink film 3 is provided downstream of the thermal head 1 in the ink film moving direction.

Reference numeral 6 is a recording paper conveyance roller provided upstream of the thermal head 1 in the ink film moving direction, 7 is a pinch roller, and 8 is recording paper conveyance provided downstream of the thermal head 1 in the ink film moving direction. Rollers and 9 are pinch rollers, and 11 is a separation roller. Then, the tip of the ink film 3 is fixed to the film winding shaft 5 through the thermal head 1.

When performing thermal transfer recording, the platen roller 2 and the recording paper conveying rollers 6 and 8 are rotated by a rotating device (not shown), and the recording paper 10 is indicated by an arrow A in the drawing by the recording paper conveying roller 6 and the pinch roller 7. Is conveyed in the direction and passes through the thermal head 1. Further, the film winding shaft 5 is rotated by a rotating device (not shown), the ink film 3 is fed from the holder 4, and is moved in the direction of arrow A in the figure at the same speed as the recording paper 10 to pass the thermal head 1.

As a result, the recording paper 10 and the ink film 3 are superposed on each other immediately upstream of the thermal head 1 and pass between the thermal head 1 and the platen roller 2. The thermal head 1 heats the ink film 3 to transfer the ink onto the recording paper 10 for recording.

After recording, the recording paper 10 is conveyed by the recording paper conveyance roller 8 and the pinch roller 9, and the ink film 3 is separated from the recording paper 10 by the separation roller 11 and wound on the film winding shaft 5. The ink film 3 has a thickness of several μm, a width of 200 to 300 mm, and a length of 30 to 200 m.

[0008]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 The ink film 3 used in this thermal transfer recording apparatus is very thin. During recording, the thermal head 1 partially heats the ink film 3 according to the recorded image. For this reason, wrinkles are likely to occur on the ink film 3, which may cause deterioration of the recorded image.

In order to suppress the generation of the wrinkles, it is necessary to apply a tension to the ink film 3. However, the ink film 3 has already been wound by the winding shaft 5 and the braking force of the holder 4 has already applied tension along the length direction.

Therefore, in the conventional thermal transfer recording apparatus, as shown in FIG. 3, by pressing the ink films 3 respectively on the upstream side in the ink film moving direction with respect to the thermal head 1, tension is applied toward the outside in the width direction. A tension roller 12 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 4, the tension roller 12 is constructed by mounting a pair of sliding material rollers 14 on a metal shaft 13 so as to be positioned on both sides in the width direction of the ink film 3 with a space therebetween. ing. When the ink film 3 passes through the tension roller 12, tension is applied to both sides of the ink film 3 in the width direction, and the wrinkles are suppressed. The separation roller 11 has the same structure as the tension roller 12 in order to supplementarily suppress the generation of wrinkles in the width direction of the ink film 3.

However, the manufacturing cost of the tension roller 12 having a structure in which the pair of sliding material rollers 14 are attached to the metal shaft 13 at intervals is high, and the tension roller 12 is rotatably supported. The structure also had the problem of high manufacturing cost and high economic efficiency.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a thermal transfer recording apparatus provided with an inexpensive film retainer having a simple structure that suppresses the generation of wrinkles in an ink film.

[0014]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a thermal transfer recording apparatus of the present invention is an apparatus for performing thermal transfer recording on a recording paper while allowing a roll-shaped ink film and recording paper to pass between a thermal recording head and a platen roller. In the ink film moving passage, a film pressing body is arranged at a position located upstream of the thermal head in the ink film moving direction, and the film pressing body has a bow shape along the width direction of the ink film. The film pressing surface is characterized in that at least the central projection of the film pressing surface projects from the moving path of the ink film to the recording paper side and comes into contact with the ink film.

[0015]

[Action]

 By combining the shape of the arched film holding surface and the positional relationship with the ink film, it is possible to apply tension to the ink film toward the outside along the width direction thereof to suppress the generation of wrinkles in the ink film. Therefore, the film pressing body has a simpler structure than the tension roller which presses the wrinkle generation in the ink film which has been used conventionally.

[0016]

【Example】

 An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. This embodiment is intended for the thermal transfer recording apparatus shown in FIG. 3. In FIG. 1, the same parts as those in FIG. 3 are designated by the same reference numerals.

That is, in the figure, 1 is a thermal head, 2 is a platen roller, 3 is an ink film, 4 is a holder, 5 is a film winding shaft, 6 is a recording paper conveying roller, 7 is a pinch roller, and 8 is a recording paper conveying. Rollers, 9 are pinch rollers, and 11 are separation rollers.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 21 denotes a film retainer, which is provided at a location upstream of the thermal head in the ink film moving direction in the passage through which the ink film 3 moves. As shown in FIG. 2, the film pressing body 21 is made of a plate material made of metal or synthetic resin, and has a length larger than the width of the ink film 3 so as to give sufficient tension in the width direction to the ink film 3. And a rectangular plate having a width of a predetermined size.

The film pressing body 21 is formed in a curved shape along the width direction of the ink film 3, and a surface on the outer peripheral side thereof serves as a film pressing surface 21 a that is held in contact with the ink film 3 to hold it down. The arched shape of the film pressing body 21 gives a tension to the ink film 3 along its width direction, and a predetermined size of a local force is applied to the ink film 3 without impairing its movement. It is drawn with a rate radius.

The film pressing body 21 is arranged at a position on the side opposite to the side where the recording paper 10 is located with respect to the ink film 3, with its bow-shaped projection facing the ink film 3 side. Has been done.

The film pressing body 21 is arranged so that at least the central projection of the film pressing surface 21 a projects toward the recording paper side from the passage of the ink film 3, that is, at least the central projection contacts the ink film 3 in the width direction. It is held by a holding member (not shown) whose position is set so as to apply tension along the direction.

When the projection at least at the center of the film pressing surface 21 a projects toward the recording paper side from the path of the ink film 3, the path of the ink film 3 means that the film pressing body 21 is not provided and the film is pressed from the holder 4. It indicates the passage of the ink film 3 when the ink film 3 fed out is moved to the thermal head 1. The member for holding the film pressing body 21 is configured so that the position of the film pressing body 21 can be adjusted in the direction of moving toward and away from the ink film moving passage. The operation of the thermal transfer recording apparatus thus configured will be described.

When performing thermal transfer recording, the platen roller 2 and the recording paper conveying rollers 6 and 8 are rotated in the same direction at the same speed by a rotating device (not shown). The recording paper 10 is conveyed toward the thermal head 1 by the recording paper conveyance roller 6 and the pinch roller 7 in the direction of arrow A in the figure.

Further, the film winding shaft 5 is rotated by a rotating device (not shown), the ink film 3 is delivered from the holder 4, and is moved in the direction of arrow A in the figure toward the thermal head 2 at the same speed as the recording paper 10. It

The recording paper 10 and the ink film 3 are overlapped with each other at a position immediately upstream of the thermal head 1 in the moving direction and pass between the thermal head 1 and the platen roller 2. The ink film 3 is heated by the thermal head 1 according to the image signal, and the ink is transferred to the recording paper 10 for recording.

After recording, the recording paper 10 and the ink film 3 are separated, the recording paper 10 is conveyed by the recording paper conveyance roller 8 and the pinch roller 9, and the ink film 3 is separated from the recording paper 10 by the separation roller 11. The film is wound around the film winding shaft 5.

Here, the ink film 3 is taken up by the film take-up shaft 5 and is given a tension in the length direction (moving direction). Therefore, even if the ink film 3 is heated by the thermal head 1, the generation of wrinkles in the lengthwise direction due to this heat is prevented.

Further, the ink film 3 comes into contact with the film pressing surface 21a of the film pressing body 21 before passing through the thermal head 1 to pass therethrough, and thereby a tension directed outward in the width direction is applied.

That is, the film pressing body 21 has a film pressing surface 21a which is curved in a bow shape along the width direction in the ink film 3, and the central protrusion of the film pressing surface 21a is located closer to the recording paper than the ink film moving passage. The position is set so that it protrudes toward. The ink film 3 is brought into contact with the film pressing surface 21 a of the film pressing body 21 and is moved, whereby tension is applied outward in the width direction.

That is, the film pressing body 21 presses the ink film 3 moving toward the thermal head 1 to the outer side in the width direction by the combination of the shape of the film pressing surface 21 a forming a bow and the positional relationship with the ink film 10. It is possible to give a directed tension. Therefore, even if the ink film 3 is heated by the thermal head 1, the generation of wrinkles in the width direction due to this heat is prevented.

In this embodiment, the film pressing body 21 has a simple structure formed by bending a plate material in a bow shape, and a tension roller used to suppress the generation of wrinkles in the ink film 3 in the related art. The configuration is very simple in comparison. That is, the film pressing body 21 is a member that suppresses the generation of wrinkles in the ink film 3 and is very easy to manufacture and can be manufactured at a low cost.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be implemented with various modifications. For example, the film pressing body is not limited to being made of a plate material, and may be, for example, a block having a film pressing surface.

[0033]

[Effect of device]

 As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a thermal transfer recording apparatus having a simple structure which suppresses the generation of wrinkles in an ink film and which includes an inexpensive film retainer.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a thermal transfer recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state where a film retainer is retaining an ink film in the same embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a conventional thermal transfer recording apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a tension roller for pressing a film used in the conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Thermal head, 2 ... Platen roller, 3 ... Ink film, 10 ... Recording paper, 21 ... Film retainer, 21a ...
Film holding surface.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An apparatus for performing thermal transfer recording on a recording paper while passing a roll-shaped ink film and a recording paper in an overlapping manner between the thermal head and a platen roller, wherein the thermal head is provided in a passage along which the ink film moves. A film pressing body is arranged at a position located on the upstream side in the ink film moving direction, and the film pressing body has a film pressing surface which forms a bow along the width direction of the ink film, and the film pressing surface has at least a central projection thereof. The thermal transfer recording apparatus is characterized in that the portion is located at a position where it projects from the moving path of the ink film toward the recording paper and comes into contact with the ink film.