JPH081968A - Thermal transfer recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To improve the heat dissipation efficiency of the thermal head and realize a thinner device. [Structure] Thermal head 1 and this thermal head 1
A fan 5 disposed on the side of the heat sink 3, a heat sink 3 having a back surface joined to the back surface of the thermal head 1, a wind guide 6 having one end joined to the surface of the heat sink 3 and the other end extending to the fan 5. It is provided with an ink cassette 11 in which one of the cylinders is arranged between the thermal head 1 and the fan 5 in a state where an air guide space is formed between the wind guide 6 and the thermal head 1. The fan 5 is obliquely attached to the wind guide 6 so as to face the wind guide 6 and the air guide space.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording apparatus, such as a video printer, for recording on recording paper using a thermal head and an ink sheet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional printer will be described. Figure 7
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a main part of a conventional printer. In FIG. 7, 101 is a recording paper, 102 is an ink sheet in which three colors of yellow, magenta, and cyan are applied in order, 103 is a thermal head, 104 is a platen, 105 is a recording paper roll, and 106a and 106b sandwich the recording paper 101. Front feed rollers 107a and 107b, rear feed rollers, 108 conveyance rollers, 109 pressure rollers, 110 discharge rollers, 111 discharge pressure rollers,
Reference numeral 12 is a rotary blade, 113 is a fixed blade, 114 is a feeding roller that winds an unused ink sheet 102, 115 is a take-up roller that winds the used ink sheet 102, and 116.
Is a pressing arm that rotatably holds the thermal head 103, 117 is a support shaft that is the center of rotation of the pressing arm 116, and 118 is for sending wind to the thermal head 103 to radiate the heat accumulated in the thermal head 103. I am a fan.

The operation of the printer configured as described above will be described below. First, the recording paper 10
In order to load No. 1, the recording paper roll 105 is manually mounted at a predetermined position. At this time, the front paper feed rollers 106a and 10
6b, the rear paper feed rollers 107a and 107b, the conveyance roller 108 and the pressure roller 109, the thermal head 103 and the platen 104, and the paper discharge roller 110 and the paper discharge pressure roller 111 are separated from each other, and the recording paper is manually separated. The recording paper 101 is pulled out from the roll 105, the front paper feed rollers 106a and 106b, the rear paper feed rollers 107a and 107b, the transport roller 108 and the pressing roller 109, the thermal head 103 and the platen 104, and the paper discharge roller 110 and the paper discharge. Pressure roller 1
Located between 11 Mounting of the recording paper 101 is completed,
At the time of shifting to the recording operation, the front paper feed roller 106b is moved to 106a.
, The rear sheet feeding roller 107b to 107a, the pressing roller 1
09 to the transport roller 108, the thermal head 103 to the platen 104, and the paper discharge pressing roller 111 to the paper discharge roller 1
Press 10 respectively. The thermal head 103 can press the pressing arm 116 by rotating it counterclockwise about the support shaft 117.

The transport roller 108 is rotated clockwise to transport the recording paper 101 upstream, and the thermal head 103 is energized to generate heat to transfer the yellow ink of the ink sheet 102 onto the recording paper 101. At the same time, the winding roller 115 is rotated to wind the ink sheet 102. The recording paper roll 115 is also rotated so that the recording paper 101 does not sag. After the recording of yellow is completed, the pressing arm 116 is rotated clockwise about the support shaft 117 to rotate the thermal head 103 to the platen 104.
The recording paper 101 is returned by further separating it and rotating the conveying roller 108 counterclockwise.

Similarly, magenta and cyan recording is performed, and after the recording of cyan is completed, the pressing of the thermal head 103 is released and the conveying roller 108 is rotated counterclockwise to convey the recording paper 101 downstream. After the recorded image passes between the rotary blade and the fixed blade, the transport roller 108 is stopped and the rotary blade 112 is rotated clockwise. Recording paper 10
1 is cut by the rotary blade 112 and the fixed blade 113, and the recorded image is discharged to the outside of the printer.

During this time, the fan 118 is the thermal head 10.
The air is continuously blown to the thermal head 103 so that 3 does not overheat.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the above conventional configuration,
The wind from the fan 118 efficiently causes the thermal head 103
The fan 118 was provided above the delivery roller 114 in order to guide it to. In this configuration, when the delivery roller 114 is sandwiched between the fan 118 and the thermal head 103, the wind emitted from the fan 118 is fed by the delivery roller 114.
This is because the thermal head 103 does not reach the thermal head 103 and the heat radiation of the thermal head 103 becomes insufficient. In this way, the fan 11 is prevented from being disturbed by the feeding roller 114.
Since it was necessary to provide 8 above the feeding roller 114, there was a problem that the thinning of the device was hindered.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a thermal transfer recording apparatus capable of efficiently cooling and realizing a thin apparatus.

[0009]

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a thermal transfer recording apparatus including a thermal head, an air blowing unit disposed on a side of the thermal head, a heat radiating member having a back surface joined to a back surface of the thermal head, and An air guide member having one end joined to the surface of the heat dissipation member and the other end extending to the air blower, and one side between the thermal head and the air blower with a wind guide space formed between the air guide member and the air blower. And an ink cassette in which the cylindrical portion of the.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the thermal transfer recording apparatus according to the first aspect, the air blowing means is obliquely attached to the air guide member so as to face the air guide member and the air guide space.

[0011]

In the thermal transfer recording apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the air blown from the air blowing means travels with the ink cassette and the air guide member as a guide and hits the heat radiating member. In the thermal transfer recording apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, since the air blowing means is attached obliquely, most of the wind reaches the air guide member and is guided by the air guide member to hit the heat radiating member.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a sectional front view of a thermal transfer recording apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a main portion, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the main portion, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of each roller, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an ink cassette. FIG. 6 is a front view at the time of non-recording.

A plurality of heating elements (not shown) arranged in parallel with each other and a protective cover 2 are attached to the lower surface of the thermal head 1. The protective cover 2 is attached to protect the circuit for selectively energizing the heating element provided in the thermal head 1, and also serves as a guide for the recording paper 19 and the ink sheet 8. Aluminum heat sink 3
(The heat dissipation member) fixes the thermal head 1 and
It has a role of radiating the heat accumulated in the thermal head 1. The side plates 4a and 4b fix the heat sink 3 with screws 7b (only one is shown in the figure, but the other one is hidden behind the screws 7b). In FIG. 4, the side plates 4a and 4c are indicated by a chain line.

The ink sheet 8 is a film-like sheet on which inks of three colors of yellow, magenta, and cyan are repeatedly applied. An unused ink sheet 8 is wound around the supply reel 9, and a used ink sheet 8 is wound around the take-up reel 10. Supply reel 9
The take-up reel 10 is contained in the ink cassette 11. As shown in FIG. 4, the ink cassette 11 has cylindrical portions covering the supply reel 9 and the take-up reel 10, and the portion covering the supply reel 9 covers the supply-side cylindrical portion 11a and the take-up reel 10. The part that is shown is the winding side cylindrical part 11b. The ink cassette 11 has a connecting portion 11c that connects the supply-side cylindrical portion 11a and the winding-side cylindrical portion 11b, and the connecting portion 11c has an opening 11d through which the ink sheet 8 is seen. Opening 11
The platen roller 12 is provided at the time of recording to press the platen roller 12 against the thermal head 1 via the ink sheet 11 and the recording paper 8.

A roller platen 12 whose periphery is covered with rubber is provided so as to face the heating element on the thermal head 1. The platen 12 is rotatably supported by pressing arms 13a and 13b at both shaft ends. There is. Pressing arm 13a
And 13b are rotatably supported by support shafts 14a and 14b provided on the side plates 4a and 4b, respectively.

The capstan 15 is supported by the side plates 4a and 4b and is rotated by a paper transport motor (not shown). The pinch roller 16 whose surface is covered with rubber has both shaft ends rotatably supported by the pressing arms 17a and 17b.
The pressing arms 17a and 17b are rotatably supported by supporting arms 18a and 18b provided on the side plates 4a and 4b, respectively.

The thermal head 1 with the heat sink 3 in between.
A flat plate-shaped wind guide 6 is provided on the side plates 4a and 4b so as to face the screw 7d (only one screw is shown in the figure,
The individual is hidden behind the screw 7d). In FIG. 3, the wind guide 6 is represented by a one-dot chain line. Supply reel 9 contained in the supply side cylindrical portion 11a
The fan 5 is mounted so as to be located between the thermal head 1 and the thermal head 1. The fan 5 is an axial fan, and is fixed to the side plates 4a and 4b by the metal fitting 20. The fan 5 is located at the intersection of the vertical line drawn from the center of the supply reel 9 to the wind guide 6 and the wind guide 6.
The straight line extending from the center of the fan to the airflow direction is installed in a direction that substantially coincides. The metal fitting 20 is a U-shaped metal plate, and a large hole (not shown) is provided in the air intake portion of the fan 5 so as not to interfere with the air intake of the fan 5.

The operation of the thermal transfer recording apparatus of this embodiment constructed as described above will be described below.
During recording, the pinch roller 16 moves the recording paper 19 as shown in FIG.
It is pressed against the capstan 15 via the platen 12, and the platen 12 is also pressed against the thermal head 1 via the recording paper 19 and the ink sheet 8. By energizing the heating element on the thermal head 1 while rotating the capstan 15 counterclockwise, the ink on the ink sheet 8 is heated and the ink is transferred onto the recording paper 19. At the same time, the used take-up reel 10 rotates the take-up reel 10 in the clockwise direction to take up the used ink sheet 8. A part of the wind emitted from the fan 5 mounted at an angle hits the wind guide 6 and is then guided to the heat sink 3 along the wind guide 6. Further, since the outer circumference of the supply side cylindrical portion 11a is a curved surface, the wind flowing near the outer circumference of the supply side cylindrical portion 11a smoothly flows to the heat sink 3. The wind generally flows to the heat sink 3 while being guided by the supply-side cylindrical portion 11 a and the wind guide 6, so that most of the wind emitted from the fan 5 flows to the heat sink 3. The heat generated by the heating element of the thermal head 1 is stored in the heat sink 3, but the wind from the fan 5 is radiated into the air as cooling air.

In order to obtain a color image, three colors of yellow, magenta and cyan are sequentially recorded and superposed, and when recording of yellow is completed, the pressing arm 13a and 13b is rotated clockwise to separate the platen 12 from the thermal head 1. The state at this time is shown in FIG. Further, the capstan 15 is rotated clockwise to convey the recording paper 19 to the recording start position. At this time, the pinch roller 16 is still pressed against the capstan 15 via the recording paper 19.
Further, the fan 5 also blows air onto the heat sink 3 in the same manner as during recording.

After the recording paper 19 is conveyed to the recording start position, the pressing arms 13a and 13b are rotated again counterclockwise to press the platen 12 against the thermal head 1 via the recording paper 19 and the ink sheet 8. Magenta recording is performed in the same manner as when recording yellow. Thereafter, similarly, after the recording of magenta is completed, the recording paper 19 is conveyed to the recording start position and then recording of cyan is performed. After the recording of cyan is completed, the recording paper 19 is ejected to a predetermined position. During this time, the fan 5 continues to blow air to the heat sink 3.

A color image can be obtained by performing the above operation. As described above, according to this embodiment, the supply side cylindrical portion 11a and the wind guide 6 are used as wind guides, and the fan 5 is placed at the intersection of the perpendicular line drawn from the center of the supply reel 9 to the wind guide 6 and the wind guide 6. By mounting so that the straight line extending from the center of the fan 5 in the air blowing direction substantially coincides, most of the air blown from the fan 5 is guided to the heat sink 3, so that efficient cooling can be performed. Further, since the gap between the wind guide 6 and the supply side cylindrical portion 11a is smaller than the blower port of the fan 5, the velocity of the wind passing through this gap increases and the cooling capacity of the heat sink 3 improves.

In this embodiment, the sheet metal-like wind guide 6 is used as the air guide member, but the ceiling portion of the housing may be used instead.

[0023]

In the thermal transfer recording apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the cooling efficiency is improved because the air blown from the air blowing means travels with the ink cassette and the air guide member as a guide to hit the heat radiating member. Further, since the air blowing means can be brought close to the level of the thermal head, the device can be made thinner.

In the thermal transfer recording apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, since the air blowing means is attached obliquely, most of the wind reaches the air guide member and is guided by the air guide member to hit the heat radiating member to further improve the cooling efficiency. Even if the diameter of the blowing means is large, the device can be made thin, and the device can be downsized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional front view of an embodiment of a thermal transfer recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a main part in an embodiment of the thermal transfer recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part in an embodiment of the thermal transfer recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a roller in an embodiment of the thermal transfer recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an ink cassette in one embodiment of the thermal transfer recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a thermal transfer recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention during non-recording.

FIG. 7 is a front view of a conventional thermal transfer recording device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Thermal Head 3 Heat Sink (Heat Dissipating Member) 5 Fan (Blower) 6 Wind Guide (Blower Member) 9 Supply Reel 11 Ink Cassette

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hirofumi Iwakawa 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A thermal head, a blower arranged laterally of the thermal head, a heat radiating member having a back surface joined to the back surface of the thermal head, and one end joined to the surface of the heat radiating member and the other end being the aforesaid. An air guide member extending to the air blower, and an ink cassette in which one cylinder is arranged between the thermal head and the air blower in a state where an air guide space is formed between the air guide member and the air blower. Thermal transfer recording device. 2. The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the air blowing unit is obliquely attached to the air guide member so as to face the air guide member and the air guide space.